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

In most political parties, defeat often brings out the worst in its members. Yet in the case of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) its spectacular victory in the Delhi assembly election last month has sparked off a vicious internal war. Two prominent leaders Yogendra Yadav and Prashant Bhushan were ousted from the party’s Political Affairs Committee (PAC) for criticizing party chief Arvind Kejriwal for running the party as a one-man show.   read more

The new state government in Jammy and Kashmir is barely a week old and already the coalition partners have found that living with each other may be troublesome. With Chief Minister Mufti Mohammad Sayeed playing to his political constituency in the Kashmir valley, he has already sparked off needless controversies and miffed off his coalition partner, the BJP. The latest spat is over the release of separatist leader Masarat Alam from jail.   read more

The government’s latest auction of radio wave frequencies for telecoms networks got off to a strong start this week, with bids worth about Rs. 65,000 billion ($10.4 billion) so far. The government expects to raise Rs. 82,000 crore ($13.1 billion) in the auction, the proceeds of which will help ease the fiscal deficit.   read more

In the controversy surrounding the BBC documentary film on the December 16, 2012 brutal gang rape in Delhi, the police and activists have found themselves on the same side against the filmmaker. Delhi Police on Tuesday obtained a restraining order from a court against the film’s broadcast, while activists raised questions over its “white saviour” complex.   read more

The state government of Maharashtra has banned the slaughter of cows and the sale and consumption of beef. Anyone found breaking the law could face a fine and up to five years in prison. According to the BBC, the Maharashtra beef ban is the toughest so far in India - along with cows, it also forbids the killing of bulls and bullocks and even possessing beef, which will now be considered as contraband. Critics say the move will leave thousands jobless and push up the cost of other meat.   read more

In his first full Budget, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley announced plans on Saturday for a tough new law to tackle black money with imprisonment up to 10 years and 300% penalty on tax for concealing income and assets abroad. But the new law has also raised fears that it would put unbridled powers in the hands of enforcement agencies. And it is not likely to make any dent in the huge amount of black money in the economy.   read more

Madhya Pradesh Governor Ram Naresh Yadav is under pressure to resign after he was named on Tuesday in a FIR on a recruitment scam. Yadav is perhaps the first state governor to be booked in a cheating case. It is alleged that he had recommended the names of five candidates for recruitment as forest guards.   read more

All eyes are on the railway budget to be unveiled on Thursday. It could show how far Prime Minister Narendra Modi is prepared to drive investment in a vital transport sector. India's railway network is the world’s fourth largest, and may receive a 25 percent boost in investment to over $9 billion, funded solely by falling fuel costs.   read more

The opposition staged a walkout in the Lok Sabha when the NDA government introduced the land acquisition amendment bill on Tuesday. The prime objection to the ordinance was that it removed the need for consent from 70% of landowners for joint public-private projects. With the government's first full-year budget expected on February 28, it may consider the opposition’s demands on the land bill to prevent a parliament washout.   read more

Swine flu has already affected 11,000 people and killed 700 across India, but some political leaders remain clueless about the respiratory disease. “Swine flu is a heart disease,” Mumbai mayor Snehal Ambekar told reporters, while West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee blamed mosquitos for a disease that is spread by coughing and sneezing.   read more

Seven more people were detained on Friday in the corporate espionage scandal that is engulfing the petroleum sector, with several private energy companies being linked to the theft of classified documents from the petroleum ministry. In total, 12 people have been arrested since two government officials, an employee of Reliance Industries, and two "middlemen" were held at the petroleum ministry on Tuesday night.   read more

Prime Minister Narendra Modi is auctioning off his controversial suit with his name embroidered in gold pinstripes that had created a controversy when he wore it while hosting U.S. President Barack Obama in January. A textile merchant from Surat, Rajesh Juneja, has already bid a massive Rs 1.21 crore ($184,000) for the suit at a charity auction that ends on Friday.   read more

Prime Minister Narendra Modi finally broke his silence on the recent attacks against Christian institutions in Delhi, and vowed on Tuesday to protect all religious groups. This is the first time that Modi, a self-proclaimed Hindu nationalist, has condemned religious intolerance. Since coming to power last May the prime minister has been criticised for not commenting on incidents of religious violence and on conversions by Hindu right-wing groups.   read more

India has put the Rajapaksa decade firmly behind it with the government sealing a nuclear energy agreement with the new Sri Lanka president Maithripala Sirisena, who is in Delhi on his first trip abroad since winning his country’s election in January.   read more

Young couples need to be on their toes on Saturday. Merely expressing their love in public could lead to them being married off, with right-wing Hindu groups vowing to force marriage on couples found celebrating an indecent "Western festival". But the annual threats have now become commonplace. Students in New Delhi have used Facebook to ask people to gather in wedding finery outside the headquarters of the Hindu Mahasabha to mock its campaign against Valentine's Day.   read more

Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Thursday that he is shocked and disappointed at news of a ‘Modi temple’ being inaugurated in Gujarat's Rajkot district. He tweeted that it was against Indian traditions and that building temples is “not what our culture teaches us.” Modi is clearly keen on avoiding another public relations disaster, so soon after he wore an expensive suit with his own name embroidered on it when hosting U.S. President Barack Obama last month.   read more