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 Maharashtra, the 25-year old alliance between regional party Shiv Sena and the BJP is on the verge of breaking up over the number of seats they would each contest in the upcoming state election. The saffron combine is expected to win the election from the incumbent Congress-NCP alliance, but the ongoing public spat could throw the election wide open.   read more

This may have been the result of a prank, but the issuance of an Aadhar card in the name of Lord Hanuman has left more than a few red faces at the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI), the government agency responsible for issuing an unique identity to each resident of India.   read more

Half a million people remain to be rescued in Srinagar, despite the best efforts of the armed forces that have already rescued over 100,000 people in the worst floods seen in Jammu & Kashmir since 1950. Public anger is growing against the state administration that has been conspicuous by its absence. The federal government has been forced to take charge of relief operations, rallying all resources to fill the void left by the local government.   read more

An alleged sting video by the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) has thrown Delhi politics into disarray and dealt a serious blow to the BJP’s chances of forming a state government. Both the Congress and AAP want a fresh election in Delhi as they fancy their chances, given that food inflation has remained high since May and there have been power shortages in the capital, which may have dented the BJP’s popularity.   read more

The massive contingents that India usually sends for international sporting events have finally come under scrutiny, with the Prime Minister’s Office issuing guidelines that have reduced the contingent proposed for the Incheon Asian Games by 28 percent. The hardest hit are sports officials, who have seen their numbers slashed by 42 percent.   read more

This kind of tragedy seems to be happening with increasing frequency: unusually heavy rain in a mountainous region unleashes floodwater or a landslide that submerges villages and kills many residents. In Uttarakhand last year, near Pune in July, and now in Jammu & Kashmir, the rampant deforestation of India’s hilly areas is being seen as responsible for magnifying these natural disasters.   read more

The director of the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) allegedly had private meetings at home with businessmen and politicians who were being investigated by his agency, on several occasions, sometimes late at night. With growing calls for Ranjit Sinha to recuse himself from his agency’s ongoing investigation into the 2G and coal allocation scams, the government is also considering modifying the law to allow a CBI director to be fired on the grounds of proven misbehaviour.   read more

The formation of a new wing of al Qaeda in South Asia is being seen as the last roll of the dice by the terror organisation to stay relevant after the spectacular success of the Islamic State in Syria and Iraq. In a video posted online, al Qaeda chief Ayman al Zawahri promised to spread Islamic rule and "raise the flag of jihad" across the "Indian subcontinent". The Indian government has warned state governments to be on increased alert.   read more

After two years of negotiation, Australia looks set to supply uranium to India. Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott said on Wednesday that he hoped to sign a civil nuclear deal during his visit to India this week that will allow the sale of uranium for peaceful power generation.   read more

Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s single point objective in his first bilateral visit outside South Asia was to take Indo-Japanese ties to the next level. And he has achieved that handsomely. He visited ancient Buddhist temples, playing a taiko drum in an impromptu jam session, and met business leaders and school children. In short, the Prime Minister has shown Japan that India is a reliable friend, a serious partner, and, most importantly, open for business.   read more

A major deadline is looming for the 5 million or so bureaucrats in the Indian government. They have to file returns declaring all their assets by September 15 under the new anti-corruption Lokpal law. According to the form, officials need to declare any motor vehicles, aircraft, yachts or ships, gold and silver jewellery and bullion possessed by them, their spouses and dependent children.   read more

It is a poorly kept secret that India’s massive food distribution system (PDS) is riddled with inefficiency and corruption, but the scale of the problem continues to surprise. The state administration in Bihar has now discovered almost 800,000 fake ration cards that could have cost the exchequer Rs. 3.23 crore ($538,000) every month.   read more

Inspired by the famous "ice bucket" challenge, thousands of Indians are taking it up with an Indian twist. Instead of throwing ice-cold water on themselves, they are donating rice to people in need. The challenge, already going viral on social media, involves donating a bucket of rice and sharing a photo online to raise awareness.   read more

The promise that Prime Minister Narendra Modi made in his Independence Day speech two weeks ago was implemented on Thursday as he launched the new Jan Dhan Yojana (People’s Wealth Scheme). This aims to provide a bank account to every family in India, and end what Modi calls 'financial untouchability'. Some critics fear though that the overdraft facility in these accounts may end up swelling bad loans in the banking system.   read more

Two weeks have passed since a report by Greenpeace India that shows a high level of pesticides found in tea packaged in India, yet little effort appears to have been made by the government to tackle the long-term problem of pesticide use in tea plantations. Tea industry bodies have dismissed the report, but individual companies are exploring alternatives to pesticides.   read more

Kerala Governor Sheila Dikshit resigned on Tuesday, two days after another UPA-appointee K Shankaranarayanan quit as governor of Maharashtra. This has cleared most of the key governors appointed by the previous UPA administration, allowing the NDA a free hand to appoint its aging leaders to the plum posts. 82-year old Kalyan Singh was appointed as governor of Rajasthan on Monday, along with three others for Maharashtra, Karnataka and Goa.   read more