Even as the government on Thursday scrapped the S-Band spectrum deal between Isro’s commercial arm Antrix and Devas Multimedia, the main Opposition appeared not satisfied with the move, as it asked why was the deal made in the first place and then why did it take so long to annul it.

After facing an intense custodial interrogation for 14 days by the CBI over his role in the 2G spectrum allocation scam, former telecom minister A. Raja now has to cool his heels in the high-security Tihar jail, as a special CBI judge on Thursday sent him to 14 days judicial custody till March 3.

The CBI on Thursday questioned Essar Group CEO Prashant Ruia in connection with its probe related to 2G spectrum scam. The agency officials put direct questions to Mr Ruia about the alleged role of Essar in Loop Telecom, which got Unified Access Service (UAS) licences for 21 circles in January 2008.

The government on Thursday announced the scrapping of the controversial contract between Isro’s commercial arm, Antrix Corporation, and Devas Multimedia due to strategic reasons.

Compulsion of coalitions, as referred by Prime Minister during his interaction with the media in New Delhi, has put the UPA constituents in the dock. Top leaders of the Trinamul Congress, DMK, NCP and the National Conference have not so far reacted. But their “action” could be seen during seat-sharing talks in Tamil Nadu and West Bengal polls.

The West Bengal Pradesh Congress Committee (PCC) wants to contest one-third of Assembly seats in alliance with the Trinamul Congress (TMC) in the forthcoming state elections.

The ruling Bharatiya Janata Party has wrested from the Congress both Sonkutch (Scheduled Caste) and Kukshi (Scheduled Tribe) Assembly seats in Madhya Pradesh with a convincing margin.

Jharkhand chief minister Arjun Munda’s victory on Thursday in the Kharsawan Assembly bypoll gave the state’s ruling BJP-JMM alliance a major boost and promised political stability for the time being, but the tribal leader’s low winning margin in his home turf signalled a shift in public opinion.

In a significant development, Assam BJP president Ranjit Dutta and in-charge of the party affairs in the state Vijay Goel have sought prosecution sanction from Assam governor J.B. Patnaik to file cases against seven ministers of the Gogoi Cabinet for their alleged involvement of `1,000-crore NC Hills scam in Assam.

The Supreme Court on Thursday reserved its verdict on the petitions of SP leader Mulayam Singh and his family members seeking review of the top court’s 2007 order for CBI investigation into their assets.