<br>"I wish to officially wish the 'suit boot ki sarkar' a happy birthday," says Rahul Gandhi:</br> Rahul Gandhi took a dig at the Modi government saying he wished the 'suit boot ki sarkar', which completed one year in office today, a happy birthday. He said "if they continue in this fashion they will not be able to celebrate their fifth birthday." "Suit boot ki sarkar is the best definition for the BJP-led NDA government', Gandhi remarked. "Unfortunately, birthday celebrations is only for a few powerful friends of the government. Kisan, farmers and mazdoor have nothing to celebrate', he said. On the Prime Minister's attire, Gandhi said Modi "seems to have a fascination with clothes and he has been called a fashion icon. That is a good thing. But wherever I go, farmers and labourers ask me why PM wears a Rs 10 lakh suit." (PTI) (26/05/2015) 
<br>Centre goes soft on AAP govt after court rap:</br> Striking a conciliatory note, the Centre today said it will not interfere with the functioning of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government, a day after it was hauled by the Delhi High Court over the "suspect" notification that gave the Lt Governor massive powers in some matters. While affirming that there would be no interference by the Centre, Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh, however, said everybody should work within the constitutional framework. "Delhi government has been elected by the people and the central government will not create any hurdles in its functioning. We will also give them full cooperation," Singh said. His comments came on a day the AAP government moved a resolution in the Assembly against the Centre's notification giving "absolute" powers to the Lt Governor on transfer and posting of senior bureaucrats and restraining the Anti-Corruption Bureau from probing central government employees. (PTI) (26/05/2015) -
Over all, the five national parties received funds to the tune of Rs 870.15 crore over the period (Rs 247.77 crore in 2013-14 and Rs 622.38 crore in 2014-15), the report said. (PTI Photo)
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<b>Heat wave toll goes up to 2,005 : </b>The nationwide death toll today rose to 2005 as the intense heat wave continued to sweep many parts of the country, with Palamau in Jharkhand recording the highest temperature of 47 degrees celsius. Andhra Pradesh and Telangana, which bore the brunt of the scorching sun, together accounted for 1979 deaths. The two states saw the death of 205 people since yesterday — 156 in Andhra Pradesh and 49 in Telangana. In Odisha, the Special Relief Commissioner's Office received reports of 108 deaths allegedly due to sun stroke but it confirmed only 17 deaths related to heat and said 70 other cases are under investigation. Gujarat has reported 7 deaths and Delhi two deaths due to heat. Heat wave conditions also continued in many other states, including Delhi, Jharkhand, Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Haryana and Rajasthan. (PTI) (29/05/2015)
<br>'Make-in-India' now is 'Make-in-France', says Congress:</br> Keeping up the offensive against the Modi government over the Rafale deal, Congress today accused it of giving a go bye to its much-flaunted 'Make in India" programme while entering into an agreement for the purchase of the fighter jets from France. "Modi government has converted 'Make-in-India' into 'Make-in-France' by this unilateral Rafale deal," Cong leader Ghulam Nabi Azad said. Azad insisted that the bidding process undertaken during the Congress government entailed that only 18 Rafale aircraft would be purchased in fly away condition. Remaining 108 aircraft would be manufactured under 'Transfer of Technology Agreement' by Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd. (Reuters) (26/05/2015) 
<br>Can't blame Modi for 'none' taking photos with Rahul Gandhi, says Prasad:</br> Hitting out at Rahul Gandhi, Telecom Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad today said Prime Minister Narendra Modi should not be blamed for "nobody" taking photographs with the Congress leader. "Rahul Gandhi had said suit-boot ki sarkar…. I would say Mr Modi's government is neither a suit-boot ki sarkar nor a suitcase ki sarkar, but as Arun Jaitley said it is soojh boojh ki sarkar." Prasad said "as far as the selfie part is concerned, wherever Modiji goes, people want their photographs to be taken with him including leaders," adding, Modi should not be blamed for "nobody" taking photographs with Rahul Gandhi. (PTI) (26/05/2015) 
<br>Heatwave: Death toll 266 in Telangana”:</br> The searing heatwave has claimed more than fifty lives in Telangana in the last 24 hours taking the toll over a month to 266 in the state, officials said today. At least 51 persons have died due to heat-related problems in the state in the last 24 hours, officials said. Nalgonda district recorded the highest number of deaths at 73 followed by Khammam 60, Mahabubnagar 32, Medak 26, Karimnagar and Adilabad district 22 each, Warangal 9, Nizamabad 8, Hyderabad and Ranga Reddy 7 each, a senior official of State Disaster Management Department told PTI. The highest maximum temperature of 45 degrees Celsius was recorded at Hanumkonda, Khammam, Nalgonda and Ramagundam on Monday. (AP) (26/05/2015) -
Asserting that Islam was "not a religion of inequality", Najma Heptullah said that the practice of 'triple talaq' was being "wrongly interpreted", as the concept of one-time 'triple talaq' does not exist. (PTI)
<br>"Selfie", not selfless leadership: Nitish on Modi's 1st year:</br> Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar took on Prime Minister Narendra Modi on his government completing one year in office, saying what people have got is "selfie leadership" instead of "selfless leadership" they had voted for in the Lok Sabha polls. Slamming his bete noire, Kumar said the only remarkable thing during the one-year NDA rule was that the prime minister has more selfies than all his cabinet colleagues put together. "He (Modi) has more selfies than all the ministers in his cabinet put together… What the people voted for was selfless leadership and what they have got is selfie leadership," Kumar said. "Apparently some of this (selfies) have created a new global recognition for India… Its typical illustration of more style over substance, more raucous about nothing than the music of change to the ears of common man," he said. (PTI) (26/05/2015) -
Congress, he said, therefore, demands that Irani and Dattatreya as also Appa Rao should be immediately sacked. (Reuters)
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