6 Nov : A close aide of former Jharkhand chief Minister Madhu Koda became the first person to be arrested on Friday in the Rs.2,000 crore illegal assets case as the Enforcement Directorate (ED) prepared to arrest Koda who is likely to be discharged from hospital on Saturday.
Vikas Sinha, brother of Binod Sinha who is believed to be the right-hand man of Koda, was produced before Special Judge Pankaj Kumar who remanded him to 14-day judicial custody.Vikas is allegedly involved in investing and routing Koda’s money through hawala channels.

A spokesman …

5 Nov : The Enforcement Directorate(ED) has summoned former Jharkhand CM Madhu Koda and his associates for questioning them on alleged Hawala transactions and investments under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act.
Official sources said that the summons for questioning was served to Koda in the hospital in Ranchi where he was admitted following complaints of high blood pressure and stomach ache.
It said that the notice was also issued to seven of his associates. A team of ED officials is also in the process of taking copies of the seized documents …

21 Oct : Relatives of Indian pilgrims going for Haj will now be able to remain in contact with them as computers have been installed at various locations of the pilgrimage, External Affair Minister S M Krishna said on Tuesday. “Relatives sitting in India can now find out through the website of the Haj Committee of India the whereabouts of their relatives performing Haj and can communicate with them during their stay in Saudi Arabia,” he said during the flag off ceremony of the first batch of pilgrims at …

19 Oct : The Union Cabinet today approved the following salient features for this year’s Haj operations :
1. The Haj operations 2009 would commence from 20th October, 2009 and conclude on 1st January, 2010.
2. The number of Haj pilgrims would be approx. 1,23,211 under the Government subsidy scheme.
3. Every Haj pilgrim would pay only Rs.16,000/- as fare. The remaining fare would be borne by the Government of India.
4. The Haj operations would be carried out from 19 embarkation points as against 17 of last year.
5. Two embarkation points i.e. Ranchi …

13 Oct :Congress general secretary Rahul Gandhi will embark on a two-day tour of Jharkhand from 14th October where Assembly elections are expected by January next year.
Party sources said this will be the first major visit of Gandhi to the tribal state.
The visit comes against the backdrop of the killing of a police Inspector in the state recently by the Maoists and the violence perpetrated by them in the last two days.
Gandhi will start his tour with a visit to Sahibganj, followed by Dumka, Dhanbad, Hazaribagh and state Capital Ranchi …