Despite incessant rains and inclement weather, Uttar Pradesh recorded 62-64 per cent polling in the first phase of the crucial Assembly elections on Wednesday, when votes were cast in 55 seats across

Delivering a body blow to the government, the Supreme Court on Thursday cancelled 122 2G licences granted during the tenure of former communications minister A. Raja. The court declared the grant of licences “illegal” and blamed the government for its “flawed first-come-first-served policy”. A two-judge bench of Justices G.S. Singhvi and A.K. Ganguly allowed the impugned licences to run for four months, after which the cancellation order becomes operative.

The Delhi police has lost the trail of the 22-year-old taxi driver Rajkumar who is considered to be a key link in establishing the identity of the parents of the two-year-old baby girl who is battling for her life in the ICU of AIIMS Trauma Centre.

A meeting of the high-level Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS) took place in the capital on Tuesday amid speculation that the date of birth (DoB) controversy involving Chief of Army Staff (COAS) Gen. V.K. Singh as well as the MMRCA (combat aircraft) mega deal for the Indian Air Force was discussed.

Another example of the government’s right hand not knowing what the left is doing. Only this time around the mistake may prove to be very costly. Even though the Mumbai police’s ATS was quick to claim on Monday that it has managed to crack the 13/7 Mumbai serial blasts, it has now been revealed that the case is far from solved largely due to the turf war between Mumbai ATS, Intelligence Bureau and the Delhi police Special Cell.

The CBI is also taking the assistance of the ED whose officials are examining FIRs filed by the CBI in the NRHM scam case. “The ED may register case against accused, named by the CBI in its FIRs, under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, and also under the Foreign Exchange Management Act if it finds violations of forex rules,” sources said. Sunil Verma is the fourth victim in the NRHM scam.

The CBI has so far registered eight cases in connection with the irregularities in implementation of the multi-crore NRHM scam in Uttar Pradesh. It has booked Pradeep Shukla, the former principal secretary, family welfare department, and five others in the case.

The Indian railways can be expected to make production of proof of identity mandatory for all passengers travelling in air-conditioned classes anywhere in the country starting February 15.

Writer Salman Rushdie’s India visit to attend this weekend’s Jaipur Literature Festival looks uncertain, with Rajasthan chief minister Ashok Gehlot telling Union home minister P. Chidambaram on Tuesday it “may lead to security problems”.

Amid a day of hectic parleys between Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, defence minister A.K. Antony and other top ministers of the UPA government in the wake of the legal challenge thrown by Army Chief Gen. V.K. Singh on his date of birth controversy, the government — in a cautious move to avoid any “ex parte” (one-sided) interim order from the Supreme Court — filed a “caveat” on Tuesday, which gives it a right to be heard simultaneously.