he Indian Olympic Association (IOA) on Sunday yet again sought to dilute International Olympic Committee's directive to bar charge-framed persons from contesting elections and instead decided to refer such cases to the Ethics Commission of the IOA to take a decision.

Ace shooter Abhinav Bindra refused to react to the personal attack launched against him by Indian Olympic Association (IOA) president Abhey Singh Chautala, saying the remarks made by the suspended body's chief do not deserve a rebuttal.

The International Olympic Committee has told the Indian Olympic Association to sack "charge-framed" officials through constitutional amendments by October 31 and conduct fresh elections by December 15 if it wants to return to the Olympic fold.

Setting up of an Appellate Sports Tribunal and a Sports Election Commission and provisions to bar charge-sheeted persons from contesting elections are some of the salient features included in the Draft National Sports Development Bill 2013 which was presented to the government on Wednesday.

Tata Steel constitutes committee headed by Ishaat Hussain to ascertain the facts

Congress on Wednesday distanced itself from Union minister Beni Prasad Verma's tirade against Samajwadi Party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav saying it does "not approve" of anybody using "objectionable" language against any person or any community.

Who are the politicians who either build illegal housing or protect them, or worse, secure compliance from the civic officials who wink at the contraventions? More importantly, where is the blacklist of builders who have indulged in rule-breaking as a business practice so that the buyers can avoid their projects, asks Mahesh Vijapurkar.

US Principal Deputy Solicitor General Srikanth 'Sri' Srinivasan on Wednesday moved a step closer to creating history, reports Aziz Haniffa.

Described by United States President Barack Obama as a "trailblazer", Indian-American Srikanth Sri Srinivasan has moved closer to become the first South Asian circuit court judge in the history of the United States.

The government on Sunday said Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde had not apologised for his controversial remarks but only expressed regret, which was accepted by the BJP. "Well, it is regret. That is the word that has been used. I cannot change the language once it is used," Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kamal Nath said.

The panel's report is candid in identifying that the state has abysmally failed to promote gender equality and eradicate gender bias, says Kumkum Sen

Aabhas Sharma gives us the low down on what really went wrong between IOA and IOC.

After raising strong objections to Congress leader Mani Shankar Aiyar's comments allegedly comparing Members of Parliament shouting slogans in the Well of Parliament with animals -- three Bharatiya Janata Party MPs on Friday gave a notice in the Rajya Sabha for alleged breach of privilege by him.

Bharatiya Janata Party spokesperson Rajiv Pratap Rudy on Friday criticised Congress leader Mani Shankar Aiyar for comparing Opposition Members of Parliament with animals.

Nothing has changed from the day we fought for a revolution and today. The issues are the same, and they are also committing the same foolishness, former Naxalite Philip M Prasad tells rediff.com's Shobha Warrier

Soon after the panel cleared her of wrongdoing giving her a major political victory last evening, Haley wrote on her Facebook page: "It's My Life.... Bon Jovi. Great song! 'You better stand tall. When they're calling you out. Don't bend, don't break. Baby, don't back down'".

An ethics probe into whether South Carolina's Indian-American Governor Nikki Haley illegally lobbied for her employers when she was a legislator would be launched by a key legislative panel on Thursday in a first such investigation against the state's top elected official.

Attacking the messenger with the threat of a defamation suit is a misguided attempt on the part of our medical leaders which is likely to further erode public trust in doctors, warns Dr Kunal Saha

The most positive development over the last 60 years is the political empowerment of disadvantaged groups, introduction of the committee system and better policing of members. However, we still need to address the issue of dysfunctionality of Parliament, MPs' disdain for law making and the absence of periodic audit of the working of Parliament by independent citizens, says A Surya Prakash.

Clarifying that the government has not asked athletes to boycott the London Olympics over the Dow Chemicals sponsorship, Sports Minister Ajay Maken said that the matter has been pursued at a diplomatic level with the host nation.

The Gujarat genocide in 2002, resulting in the killing of nearly 1500 innocent citizens, mostly from India's major minority community, and the subsequent pervasive subversion of governmental machinery to sabotage justice delivery to riot victims, has to be understood as a man-made disaster, writes R B Sreekumar

Apparently under pressure from the International Olympic Committee and amid a continuing tug of war among its own members, the IOA has re-constituted the Ethics Committee with a few additional judges within weeks of its controversial scrapping.

A day after Indian Olympic Association secretary-general Randhir Singh warned of serious repercussions on disbanding of some important committees, the apex sports body said it will soon set up the Ethics Committee and Arbitration Commission.

An active, vigilant citizenry is a vital partner in the fight against terrorism. However, Dr Jayaprakash Narayan, founder of the Lok Satta Party, argues that this can only be possible with a new legal framework that emphasises efficiency and inclusiveness.

The new batch of Rhodes scholars includes South Asians. The prestigious international scholarship is awarded to high academic achievers who are also active in sports and community work.

It may not be a war cry yet, but the voice is definitely getting shriller.

The enslavement of the Muslim mind to the diktats of the mullahs has everything to do with the mullahs' political and personal interests in their capacity as self-styled 'authoritative' interpreters of Islam, says Yogi Sikand

Five MLAs - three from the Telangana Rashtriya Samiti and two from the Telegu Desam Party -- were suspended for seven days from the Andhra Pradesh Assembly for unruly behaviour during Governor E S L Narasimhan's address to the joint Legislature session. T Harish Rao, K Sammaiah, Vidyasagar (all TRS), A Revanth Reddy and P Mahender Reddy (both TDP) were suspended.

Sacked as Commonwealth Games Organising Committee chief, the embattled Suresh Kalmadi got the full backing of the Indian Olympic Association, the national apex sports body which he heads, in its General Body Meeting (GBM) in New Delhi.

The GoM, which would be headed by Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee, would suggest a comprehensive policy and institutional mechanisms to tackle paid news, sources said.

'The crossing of lines has dangerous implications for the credibility of the media -- its greatest asset. Already, many journalists have strayed from the profession's proper boundaries. It would be even worse, and ethically more repugnant, if journalists become political fixers or take instructions from corporate lobbyists.'

The silence by Congress top brass at the All India Congress Committee session on Tuesday on scams involving party leaders fuelled a war of words with the Bharatiya Janata Party asking whether it was "completely neutral" to corruption and the Congress saying this issue does not have to be reminded by everyone.

With just over a month to go for the general election, the three top-tier Democratic Indian American candidates -- Manan Trivedi, Ami Bera and Raj Goyle -- have upped the ante against their Republican opponents with a chutzpah unprecedented in the annals of Indian-American Congressional campaigns.All three candidates are flush with campaign war chests in excess of $1 million and are strongly backed by the Democratic establishment.

It was an ignominious defeat and perhaps the end of a political career of an Indian American state legislator who at one time held such promise that he was often touted as a future national politician either in the United States House of Representatives of US Senate, with some even arguing that he was gubernatorial material.

In a bid to check the phenomenon of paid news, the Press Council of India on Friday recommended among other things amendment to elections laws to declare any payment for publication of news as a corrupt practice.

Till recently, United States Congressman Charles B Rangel, 80, was undeniably one of the most influential lawmakers, thanks to his position as the chairman of the powerful House Ways and Means Committee, which formulates tax laws and other important pieces of legislation. But the dapper, flamboyant, 20-term Democratic US lawmaker from New York was forced to resign for allegedly violating ethics regulations and accepting free Caribbean vacations and golf outings.

Diplomatic and political observers in Washington said that the controversy had now moved beyond simply targeting Chatwal and a deliberate effort to embarrass Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh and his Principal Secretary T K A Nair by not just the saffron lobby but by vested interests within the Congress.

In a bold statement, Vice President Mohmmad Hamid Ansari on Wednesday reminded journalists their primary duty of protecting the people's right to information and referred to the 'pay packages' given to them by political parties during elections.

US Senators Christopher Dodd, Connecticut Democrat and John Cornyn, Texas Republican have launched an attempt to revive the largely comatose US Senate India Caucus.

A Canadian House of Commons Standing Committee on Citizenship and Immigration report says that immigration consultants need to be regulated, just as lawyers and other professionals are.