South Asia | India | Corruption

Sonia returns Modi punch: What about Vyapam, Sushma?

Congress president Sonia Gandhi on Thursday asked why Prime Minister Narendra Modi was still silent on the Vyapam and Lalit Modi scams. External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj as well as Chief Ministers of Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh are facing allegations of corruption in the two scams. When asked about Modi's 'hawalabaazi' response to her 'hawabaazi' remarks, Sonia asked, "What about the Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh's case, the Foreign Minister's case and Rajasthan Chief Minister's case? Why did he not have a word to say about these things?" Speaking at an event in Bhopal, the c

South Asia | India | Corruption

Sushma, Smriti, Raje: BJP’s women are canny politicians and not weepy ‘abla naaris’

Source: First Post

By unhappy coincidence the four BJP politicians in a fix these days are all women. Vasundhara Raje Scindia is hunkered down while the Lalit Modi revelations come closer and closer to her doorstep. After denying she signed anything supporting Modi’s bid for UK residency, her allies are changing their tune. The signature might be hers but the contents of the statement might have been inserted later. Or as Barkha Dutt has tweeted that while she might have signed the affidavit it was only a “proposed witness statement”. This is sounding increasingly like Bill Clinton trying to finesse the

South Asia | India | Corruption

Court acquits adored party leader in corruption case

Source: Pangea Today

Celebrations broke out in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu after the High Court acquitted the former chief minister of the state, J Jayalalitha. She was charged with disproportionately amassing assets. Following the verdict, party members held special prayers, burst crackers, distributed sweets, and held demonstrations in support of their leader. The ruling has huge implications for the state as a conviction would have left Jayalalitha ineligible to contest elections. Her party would have found it difficult to survive with its leader locked up in jail. Jayalalitha had to resign after the c

South Asia | India | Corruption

Marital rape? Marriage sacred in India, says government

Source: DNA India

In a statement that could entangle the government in a major controversy and sully its image of a liberal, equitable democracy at the world forum, the government on Wednesday said the concept of marital rape cannot be applied in the Indian context as marriage is considered sacred here. "It is considered that the concept of marital rape, as understood internationally, cannot be suitably applied in the Indian context due to various factors, including level of education, illiteracy, poverty, myriad social customs and values, religious beliefs, mindset of the society to treat the marriage as a