Minister's Stolen Buffaloes found, 3 Cops Punished

As per a report:

Seven buffaloes robbed from powerful Uttar Pradesh minister Azam Khan's home, which had scores of policemen on their toes over the weekend, have been found. Read more here at............Minister's Stolen Buffaloes found, 3 Cops Punished

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Minister given ‘Milk Bath’ after Ink attack

As per a report:

In a public display of blind faith, NCP workers bathed Maharashtra Labour Minister and party leader Hasan Mushrif in milk to ‘purify’ him from an ink attack by a fellow worker. The incident in Kolhapur on Friday ironically occurred in a state which is the first in the country to pass a legislation against superstition. Read full story here at Minister given ‘Milk Bath’ after Ink attack

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Controversial minister puts foot in mouth

Bhopal, A controversial Madhya Pradesh minister made a bizarre statement in the state assembly Wednesday, asserting that promises made in election manifestos are by a party and not the government and hence, there was no need for a government to implement them.

State Cooperatives Minister Gauri Shankar Bisen’s statement was in response to a question by Congress legislator Arif Aqueel on the issue of loan waiver. Aqueel asked as to when loans up to Rs.50,000 to small farmers would be waived off as promised by the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in its election manifesto. Read More................Controversial Madhya Pradesh minister puts foot in mouth

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Minister for industries draws salary as principal, teacher

LUCKNOW: Uttar Pradesh minister for small-scale industries Chandra Dev Ram Yadav, who is already under the Lokayukta's scanner for doubling up as a serving headmaster in his home town Azamgarh, holds a third lucrative charge. In a chance discovery on Thursday, Lokayukta Justice NK Mehrotra found that Yadav had been functioning as manager at Kashi Vidya Mandir, a primary school in Azamgarh's Hajipur.

While his contribution as manager to the school is still not clear, the assignment is making him richer by approximately 4,50,000 a month as salaries of all 17 teachers in the staff, was found to be credited to his account regularly. It was discovered that the list of teachers was fictitious. Read More................UP minister for small-scale industries draws salary as principal, teacher

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Minister calls women 'vipers'

Shillong: Meghalaya Deputy Chief Minister B M Lanong's controversial remarks calling women activists "vipers" has evoked vociferous protests from women's organisations who boycotted functions to mark the International Women's Day today.

"Some women have the habit of biting like vipers", Lanong had said while referring to two women activists. Read More................Meghalaya minister calls women 'vipers'

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Drunk motorist rams into wall of minister's house

Driving allegedly under the influence of alcohol, a man rammed his luxurious car into the wall of a cabinet minister's house after hitting and injuring a motorcyclist here, police said Thursday. Read More................Drunk motorist rams into wall of minister's house

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Priests 'purify' Temple after Minister's visit

BHUBANESWAR: An Orissa minister has learnt the hard way that she can win popular mandates and earn her way into the Cabinet but can’t shake off her outcaste tag.
Read full story here at TOI................Priests 'purify' Orissa temple after Dalit minister's visit

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Rajasthan minister just learnt to sign

JAIPUR: "It took three days to teach her how to sign," says Kirorilal Meena about his wife Golma Devi. But the fact that the woman had to practice putting her signature on her oath letter hasn't come in the way of her becoming a minister in Ashok Gehlot's congress government, thanks to caste politics of please and appease. Read more...............................Rajasthan minister just learnt to sign

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Male Minister gets voter card with Woman's photo

Raipur(Chhattisgarh): Amar Agrawal, who is a cabinet rank minister in the Chhattisgarh government, was surprised when he received his voter identity card - every detail was perfect except for the photograph that showed a married woman wearing a coloured sari. Read more.........................................Male minister gets voter card with woman's photo

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60 percent Staff absent during surprise checking

CHANDIGARH: The Rural Development and Panchayats Minister Punjab Ranjit Singh Brahampura today found about 60% officers and employees absent from their offices during surprised checking in the morning in the offices of the department situated at Chandigarh. Read more.........................Punjab minister found 60 percent staff absent during surprise checking

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Short Mayawati demands taller Statue

LUCKNOW, India - She may be diminutive, but the fiery leader of India's most populous state has no patience for short statues of herself.

Mayawati, the 5-foot tall chief minister of the northern India state of Uttar Pradesh, ordered officials to replace a 12-foot bronze statue of herself with a larger one because it was 3 feet shorter than nearby statues of other leaders.

"Her statue was just a mismatch, so it was replaced with a bigger and a heavier statue," Diwakar Tripathi, as per a government spokesman. Read more.............................Short Indian leeader demands taller statue

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'Excise portfolio for Muslim against Islam'

Excise minister of Bihar State, Jamshed Ashraf has been asked by the amir (head cleric) of Imarate Sharia, one of the largest Islamic bodies of Bihar, Jharkhand and Orissa, to change his ministry.

The reason put forth by Haji Mohd Nizammuddin is that anything which concerns alcohol is "unislamic". Read more.................'Excise portfolio for Muslim against Islam'

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India's minister for youth affairs is aged 71

How do you define 'youth'? The median age of our nation is 24.8, and those below fifteen are 31.8 per cent of the population. China, our nearest neighbour, has a median age of 33.2 and only 20.4 per cent of its people are under fifteen. Whichever way you look at it India is a very young nation, something known to Dr Manmohan Singh, who made his living by dabbling in statistics.

So whom does our scholarly prime minister appoint as minister for youth affairs and sports? A man who faces 72 candles on the birthday cake two months from today! Can you think of anything sillier?

Actually, 'silly' is not the word for this particular appointment; I think 'dangerous' might be the better choice of word. Because the man in question is none other than that former Chief Election Commissioner Dr M S Gill, and in appointing him the prime minister has crossed a line. Read more..........................Our minister for youth affairs is 71!

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MLAs come to Assembly on a Bullock-Cart

Lalu Prasad loves his cattle. So do the MLAs of Lalu’s RJD.

Proof? They today travelled to Bihar Assembly on a bullock-cart “driven” by former minister Rajesh Singh. Goal: to highlight the “plight” of farmers in the state.

The sight of Singh and RJD MLAs Bimla Bharti, Akhtar-ul-Imam and Babloo Dev standing on the cart with sugarcane sticks in their hands drew everyone’s attention, as they entered the Assembly premises around 11am.

Earlier, the MLAs defied security personnel’s request and entered the House premises through the main gate. Other RJD members, including former minister Gajendra Singh, joined the rest of the group on the cart as it headed towards the House portico.

BJP member Bhola Singh requested the Speaker Uday Narain Choudhary for a ruling on the matter. “Today, they (RJD) came in a bullock cart. Tomorrow they may come riding donkeys to highlight the problem of washermen,” said Singh, calling upon the Speaker to “submit a ruling to avoid a repeat” of such a scene. Read more................Lalu Prasad’s men take cart to Bihar House

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Minister's son peddles newspapers

In an era when even mukhiyas' wards driving four-wheelers are not an uncommon sight, Uday Prakash Gupta is the odd man out. Like any other newspaper hawker, his day starts at 4.30 am when he -- be it summer or winter -- rushes out of his Naya Tola home here, loads bundles of newspapers on his bicycle and then pedals off to sell them. Unlike his colleagues, however, Uday's CV reveals he is the son of Mohanlal Gupta, a former Bihar minister. Read more...........................................This minister's son peddles newspapers

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Temple purified after minister’s visit

Guruvayoor is one of the most sacred and important pilgrim centers of Kerala state in India. Recently Mr. Vayalar Ravi’s , union Minister for Overseas Indian Affairs visited Sri Krishna temple at Guruvayoor in Kerala state of India but interestingly after his visit “purification” rituals were carried out at the premises of the temple following the entry of Vayalar Ravi’s family to make an offering.

Commenting on the ‘punyaham’ (purification rituals) held by the temple, Ravi said: “I wanted my grandchild to get the blessings of Lord Guruvayurappa, that’s why we went there. Now it seems the priests shall decide on who would get the blessings of the lord.”

Ravi and his family had gone to the temple to perform the ‘annaprasan’, or the ceremonial first rice feeding, of his six-month-old grandson Rajiv Krishna on Saturday. Ravi’s wife Mercy Ravi, a former Congress legislator in Kerala assembly, is a Christian by birth and the temple is closed to non-Hindus.

The temple chief priest Chenas Raman Namboodiripad ordered the purification rituals after Ravi’s son Ravi Krishna failed to produce a certificate to prove he was a Hindu.

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When Minister is haunted by Ghosts

'Monazir Hussain', the state building construction minister in Bihar state of India is a troubled lot nowadays. Reason, a fading picture in the big official bungalow / house appears to be haunting him. The picture's sudden transformation from Eastman color to black-and-white has puzzled the minister and his staff. He, however, puts up a brave front. "I am a 'tantrik' and 'ojha' myself. I do not fear 'bhoots' and djinns," he said.

The staff at Monazir's bungalow, however, have been saying "ominous" things about the sudden change in the picture's color. They say it indicates the house is "inauspicious". Incidentally, the minister's son recently met with a nasty accident.

To top it all, the minister's wings were recently clipped, as the housing department was taken away from him and attached to the urban development ministry. The minister himself rues that although he puts in so much of hard labor in his ministry, he has not received the returns he deserved.

His staff appear convinced that the sprawling bungalow is "jinxed". They point out that the previous occupant of the house and former road construction minister Illiyas Hussain had to go to jail several times in connection with the multi-crore bitumen scam and he finally ended up losing his Dehri-on-Sone assembly seat which was considered his fiefdom. Read more..........'Spooky' bungalow haunts minister, staff

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