SC Upholds MP Expulsion (January 17, 2007)
The Supreme Court (SC) upheld the Parliament’s controversial expulsion of 11 Members of Parliament (MPs) caught in a media sting over the cash for query scandal and said that the expulsion was in accordance to law. The Constitutional bench voted 4-1 upholding the expulsion but the dissenting judge said that the MPs should have been tried under the Prevention of Corruption Act.<More>

NHRC Orders Compensation for STF Victims (January 17, 2007)
In a landmark verdict, the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) found the Special Task Force (STF) charged to capture now-dead criminal Veerappan guilty of perpetrating atrocities on civilians and order an interim compensation of Rs. 2.8 crore. <More>

US Accuses Pak of Harboring Taliban (January 17, 2007)
NATO troops claimed to have killed 150 ill-equipped and ill-trained insurgent recruits sent to fight by Jalaluddin Haqqani whom senior US officials lives in Pakistan even as there is a surge of Taliban fighters crossing the border to fight coalition troops.<More>

“Progress” in Indo-Pak Talks (January 17, 2007)
Urging analysts to take a “holistic view of relations with Pakistan,” Prime Minister Manmohan Singh guardedly said the 3 year old peace process was making “progress” but acknowledged that it was “premature” to conclude to claim success. <More>

Maoist Join Nepali Government (January 17, 2007)
In a landmark event, Nepal’s Maoist insurgents gave up violence and joined the interim government and assumed “responsibility to conduct the elections for the constituent assembly” as part of a peace deal with mainstream political parties. <More>

US for More Sanctions on NK (January 17, 2007)
The US complained that the UN committee monitoring sanctions on North Korea (NK) has not adopted US-sponsored and other amendments to October 14 sanctions that would limit transfer of equipment, goods, and technology to the communist regime. <More>

FDI & FII May be Merged (January 17, 2007)
The government is reportedly mulling to amend the Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA) to remove theoretical distinction between foreign direct investment (FDI) and foreign institutional investor (FII). <More>

Tele-Density Rises (January 17, 2007)
Keeping pace with a smart economic growth, tele-density (the number of telephone subscribers) surged to 17.16% or 189.33 million users in December 2006 with wireless subscribers registering the largest segment with 149.5 million. <More>

Stronger Pitch in Sakhalin Bid (January 17, 2007)
Responding to Russian President Vladimir Putin’s invitation of a higher Indian participation in his country’s energy sector, Indian oil major Oil and Natural Gas Company (ONGC) may tie-up with Russian firms for a larger bid in Sakhalin-III project. <More>