India

Lucknow, October 9: Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) supremo Mayawati will kick off her party's 2014 Lok Sabha election campaign on Tuesday with a grand rally in Lucknow. The rally coincides with sixth death anniversary of party founder Kanshiram. Mayawati is expected to come down heavily on the UPA government on issues like allowing FDI in multi-brand retail and the diesel price hike. Mayawati will also

New Delhi, October 8: Giving a push to aviation infrastructure development, Government is planning to build 10-15 greenfield airports and modernising 50 others in the non-metro cities over the next few years. "About 50 non-metro airports are being modernised within the next 2 years and overall 10-15 new greenfield airports are being planned," Civil Aviation Minister Ajit Singh told reporters on

New Delhi, October 8: Congress president Sonia Gandhi's son-in-law Robert Vadra and India Against Corruption members on Monday sparred on online social media after Vadra posted a contemptuous message about the anti-corruption activism in the country. Vadra wrote on his Facebook page: "Mango people in banana republic." The Facebook status update comes two days after the Indian Against Corruption

Mumbai, October 8: Shiv Sena chief Bal Thackeray Monday launched a stinging attack against union Rural Development Minister Jairam Ramesh for his remarks comparing toilets with temples and said the Congress was responsible for the sorry state of affairs. It was indeed shocking how nearly two-thirds of the countrymen still defecated in the open, Thackeray said. "In the past 65 years (since

Jangipur (West Bengal), October 8: The welfare projects undertaken by his father President Pranab Mukherjee during his tenure as Lok Sabha MP have stood son Abhijit, contesting the Oct 10 Jangipur Lok Sabha by-poll in West Bengal's border district of Murshidabad, in good stead. Abhijit, a first-time Congress legislator from Nalhati assembly constituency of Birbhum district of the state, is being

New Delhi, October 8: In a major move aimed at checking unnecessary medical tests and procedures, the health ministry on Sunday said it was working on a plan to make it mandatory for all private hospitals to declare and display the treatment costs of different diseases. Jagdish Prasad, director general of health services (DGHS), told TOI that the ministry's plan would check overbilling and bring

Rameswaram, October 8: Tension prevailed at Tiruvadanai, about 70 km from here after some Dalit Christians reportedly indulged in violence, questioning non-inclusion of six Dalit priests in special rituals in a church in connection with its silver jubilee celebrations, police said. Susai Manickam, priest of Oriyur Punitha Arulanandhar church said about 200 priests and nuns coming in a procession

Raipur, October 8: Union Minister Sharad Pawar on Sunday came out in support of Robert Vadra, the embattled son-in-law of Congress President Sonia Gandhi and dared social activist Arvind Kejriwal to approach court if he felt that his allegation against Vadra had any substance. "Of late, this is becoming a trend that anyone levels allegations, then keeps mum and later asks the government to conduct

Thiruvananthapuram, October 8: Former Kerala chief minister K Karunakaran's son K Muraleedharan alleged on Sunday that if there was a conspiracy in the Indian Space Research Organisation (Isro) spy case, then former Prime Minister PV Narasimha Rao would have had a role in it. "Rao often used to target his political rivals by hoisting false cases on them. If there was a conspiracy in the Isro spy

New Delhi, October 7: Activists of the Vishwa Hindu Parishad and the Bajrang Dal Sunday sat on an hour-long protest outside the house of union Rural Development Minister Jairam Ramesh here, seeking an apology for his remark that the country needed more toilets than temples. Ramesh Friday remarked that "toilets are more important than temples. No matter how many temples we go to, we are not going