Its founder president, Ashok Chauhan, was charged with fraud in the 1990s by authorities in Germany, where he ran a network of companies. He returned to India and was never extradited. A plastics company in the U.S. also sued Chauhan in 1995 for failing to pay $20 million in debts. "They are a subsidiary of a conglomerate of companies," said Barmak Nassirian of the American Association of State College and Universities. "This is by no means reassuring, if you ask me."   read more

President Pranab Mukherjee had a message for both the government and opposition on Monday: he cautioned the government that ordinances should only be used for “exigencies and under compelling circumstances”; he also told the opposition that it should not disrupt parliament as that paralyses policy-making.   read more

A seven-layer security ring is planned during the Republic Day parade with the chief guest being U.S. President Barack Obama. The capital has already turned into a fortress, with a key road sealed off a week in advance. The U.S. president arrives on January 25 to attend the parade in Delhi and to visit Agra and Varanasi.   read more

A self-styled godman has made a Bollywood film starring himself, showing him protecting society by beating up sword-wielding bad guys and destroying a car with his fist. Sikh groups are protesting against the film and political parties too have entered the fray. Then, just when you thought it couldn’t get more complicated, the Censor Board chief has resigned over government “interference”. This entire saga sounds like a film plot in its own right.   read more

Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar has begun putting his stamp on the key personnel in his team, with DRDO chief Avinash Chander the first to go. The government has terminated Chander’s contract more than a year before the 64-year old's tenure was to end, ostensibly to make way for a “slightly younger generation”.   read more

Indian passport holders living abroad will soon be able to cast their vote without having to fly back to India during elections. The Supreme Court has directed the government to enable e-ballot voting and proxy voting by Non Resident Indians (NRIs) within eight weeks.   read more

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said that the United States wanted to increase bilateral trade with India to $500 billion a year, a five-fold jump from $97 billion in 2013. He was in India for a two-day visit to set the stage for U.S. President Barack Obama's visit in two weeks.   read more

It comes as no surprise that government jobs are much sought after in India, with a government employee A.K. Verma hanging on to his job for 24 years despite last appearing for work in December 1990. Urban Development Minister Venkaiah Naidu has finally fired Verma, an assistant executive engineer at the Central Public Works Department, for unauthorized absence.   read more

Former Uttar Pradesh minister and BSP leader Haji Yakub Qureshi sparked a controversy when he appeared to defend the terror attack on French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo, saying that whoever shows disrespect to Prophet Mohammad would invite death. Earlier in 2006, Qureshi had declared a reward of Rs 51 crore ($10 million) for anyone who killed the Danish cartoonist behind the controversial cartoons.   read more

The unions of Coal India are on a five-day strike to protest the government's move to allow private companies to mine and sell coal for the first time in 42 years. Yet by threatening to prolong their strike that began on Tuesday, the workers are hampering government efforts to reform the industry and ease the power crisis.   read more

The home ministry has proposed setting up 150 special police teams across the country to probe crimes against women and ensure victims get justice. Reports of crimes against women increased by 26.7 percent to 309,546 in 2013 compared to the previous year, according to the National Crime Records Bureau.   read more

An ordinance issued by the Rajasthan state government on December 19 makes it mandatory for candidates contesting panchayat elections to have minimum education qualifications for the first time. This has been criticised by activists and by opposition parties, but the Supreme Court said on Monday that it would not interfere with the election schedule a day ahead of the deadline for filing nominations.   read more

US-based economist Arvind Panagariya has reportedly been picked as vice-chairman of the National Institution for Transforming India (NITI) Aayog that the government is setting up to replace the Planning Commission. He is a staunch advocate of free-market economics and is considered close to the ruling BJP.   read more

The government is launching a nationwide online programme to check whether people are using the new toilets built under Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s cleanliness drive. From February, officials will use mobile phones, tablets and iPads to report on whether toilets are being used in rural India, with results uploaded onto a website in real time.   read more

The government followed up its insurance reform last week with another ordinance to ease land acquisition rules in sectors like power, housing and defence. The aim is to kick-start hundreds of billions of dollars in stalled projects, but investments are unlikely to flow in till the changes are confirmed by parliament in February.   read more

With the 10th anniversary of the 2004 tsunami disaster commemorated on Friday, India has not only an effective warning system in place to prevent a repeat of the tragedy, but it is also capable of providing advisories to the 25 countries around the Indian Ocean. The country built and operationalized its warning system in 2007, and is now adding another layer of detection that would reportedly ensure an almost certain warning of any tsunami in the region.   read more

With opposition parties stalling the Rajya Sabha in the session that ended on Tuesday, the government has gone ahead with its reform of the insurance industry using the ordinance route instead. Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s cabinet has approved a measure to raise the cap on FDI in insurance from 26 per cent to 49 per cent.   read more