A veteran politician, Peerzada has been winning elections from Kokkernag in south Kashmir.

This is the second time in four years that Peerzada has resigned.

In 2008, he stepped down following charges that he demanded a bribe from a legislator.

This time, it was alleged that his son used unfair means in the Class 10 examination in 2009. The chief minister had ordered a probe.

The probe by the Crime Branch of the state police indicted the minister for allegedly helping his son. The report was submitted Wednesday.

Since Peerzada belongs to Congress, the chief minister was waiting for the green signal for action against the education minister.

In 2010, the chief minister sacked public works minister G.M. Saroori when it was discovered that his daughter had allegedly used an impersonator in an entrance test to secure admission into a medical college.

All three – Cooperation and Agricultural Marketing Minister Laxman Savadi, Women and Child Development Minister C.C. Patil and Minister for Environment, Ecology and Ports Krishna Palemar – claimed they had quit “voluntarily” and were ready for a probe.

“We have resigned to avoid embarrassment to our party and not give the opposition a flimsy excuse to disrupt the assembly proceedings. We are ready to face an enquiry by the speaker (K.G. Bopaiah) as we did no wrong by watching a video clip of some rave incident in a foreign country to know what a rave party is,” a rattled Savadi told reporters at the party office here.

A communique from the Raj Bhavan said Governor H.R. Bhardwaj had accepted their resignations on the recommendation of Chief Minister D.V. Sadananda Gowda.

Terming the incident as unfortunate, Gadkari said in Allahabad that the party took action against the disgraced ministers.

“They said they are innocent, we said resign immediately. An inquiry will be done,” Gadkari said.

The scandal comes in the wake of a series of troubles for the BJP in Karnataka, the first state in south India where the party has taken power.

With local and national news channels beaming through the night the footage of Savadi and Patil animatedly viewing the sleaze on Palemar’s cell phone, the party’s embarassed leadership came under pressure to immediately sack the tainted trio.

With the state legislature in a 10-day session since Jan 30, the party’s central and state leadership prevailed on the ministers to quit.

The chief minister said the ministers resigned voluntarily.

The ministers were caught watching porn when the house was discussing a call-attention motion on a pro-Hindu group allegedly hoisting a Pakistani flag Jan 1 at Sindagi town in north Karnataka.

Savadi claimed that Palemar showed them a video clip of the rave party held late Saturday on St.Mary’s island off the western coast, about 400 km from here, late Saturday by foreign tourists.

“As there was a heated debate on the controversial rave party during the day, we were trying to understand how such parties are conducted in foreign countries. As the handset also had video clip on some rape and murder incident in a Muslim country, it was on the screen in motion,” an unfazed Patil tried to explain.

Seizing the opportunity, the Congress and the Janata Dal-Secular (JD-S) urged the speaker to expel the three legislators as they had brought down the dignity of the house by indulging in perverted conduct when even the use of mobiles are banned in the house, especially during the session.

“Resignation is not adequate. They should be expelled from the assembly. We will insist on their expulsion,” state Congress unit president G. Parameshwara told reporters.

The JD-S sought immediate disqualification of the trio.

The two parties have planned to protest in the assembly till the three are expelled.

Admitting that the incident was an embarrassment to the party, BJP’s state unit president K.S. Eshwarappa said it was unfortunate.

“I cannot say it has not caused embarrassment to the party,” Eshwarappa said.

Gadkari linked the incident to the larger deterioration in values. “Whether it is the media or administration or society, it is a matter of concern.”

After the departure of the first democratically elected president in the history of the Maldives, Vice President Mohammad Waheed Hassan, a former top UNICEF official, took oath as the president.

A tourist haven, the Maldives is made up of several atolls and lies southwest of Sri Lanka. It has a population of over 350,000, most of them Sunni Muslims. The main language is Dhivehi, a Sinhalese dialect.

Hussain Shareef, chief spokesperson and member of the interim council of the opposition Progressive Party of Maldives (PPM), said Nasheed is in the custody of the army and will be granted constitutional rights.

Nasheed was elected president Oct 28, 2008, when he defeated president Maumoon Abdul Gayoom who had ruled the Maldives for three decades.

Nasheed’s resignation happened only after the army applied pressure on the Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) leader, leading him in the morning to the television office to make his dramatic announcement, media reports said.

“I resign because I am not a person who wishes to rule with the use of power. I believe that if the government were to remain in power, it would require the use of force which would harm many citizens,” he said in a statement broadcast on state-run television seized by rogue policemen.

“I resign because I believe that if the government continues to stay in power, it is very likely that we may face foreign influences,” he said. “I have made this decision.”

Nasheed had hit the global headlines three years ago when he held a cabinet meeting under water to highlight global warming and the threat to his atoll nation.

As fast paced events unfolded at Male, Maldivian authorities went out of their way to deny intense speculation that a coup had taken place. The Maldivian and foreign media reported jubilation on the streets of capital Male as opposition activists celebrated.

Nasheed had run into widespread anger after a senior judge, Abdulla Mohamed, was arrested by the Maldives National Defence Force (MNDF) over a fortnight ago on corruption charges.

The judge was reportedly confined to one of the lesser inhabited islands. The Maldives is made up of about 1,200 mostly small islands, with only 200 inhabited.

Supporters of former president Maumoon Abdul Gayoom control parliament and have organised protests against the judge’s internment.

Tension and sporadic violence had been escalating, with the ruling MDP alleging attacks on its supporters and offices by opposition activists not happy with long-time ruler Gayoom’s departure.

Since Tuesday morning, there was intense speculation that Nasheed had been taken into custody. Shops and businesses in Male quickly shut down.

In the meantime, officers of the Maldivian National Defence Force (MNDF), the number ranging from 60 to 600, joined the demonstrations.

Events galloped rapidly thereafter. Opposition protesters and rogue policemen then seized the Maldives National Broadcasting Corp (MNBC) and quickly renamed it Television Maldives (TVM), reports said.

That led a government official to say a coup attempt was underway, causing concern in many capitals, including New Delhi.

The presidency denied Nasheed had resigned, until the president actually stepped down.

The opposition Dhivehi Qaumee Party (DQP) told Sri Lanka’s Sunday Leader that most police and army personnel were backing Nasheed’s removal.

DQP spokesperson Mohamad Malech Jamal said there were now celebrations in Male and the airport and the state broadcaster were under the control of the police and army.

“About 800 police officers gathered at the Republic Square. Several of them called for the president’s resignation,” Jamal was quoted as saying.

The Maldivian government appealed for calm.

“The government of Maldives together with all state institutions will work to ensure peace and stability in Male,” a statement said.

“Government calls to people to remain calm and support to stabilize the situation,” it added.

The licences were issued to companies, which now operate under the brand names Uninor, Loop, Etisalat, Videocon, STel, Tata Tele, Idea and MTS. But not all the licences that are currently with them pertain to the tainted ones awarded in 2008.

The judges virtually thanked the petitioners — Janata Party president Subramanian Swamy and lawyer Prashant Bhushan — and said the “misuse and arbitrary use of powers” may not have come to light but for some enlightened citizens seeking good governance.

The court also slapped a fine of Rs.5 crore each on Unitech, Tata Teleservices and Swan Telecom and ordered half of that to go towards the court’s legal aid services and the remaining to defence services. It also imposed varying costs on other companies.

“The exercise by the officers between September 2007 and March 2008 under the leadership of then telecom minister A. Raja was wholly arbitrary, capricious and contrary to public interest apart from being violative of the doctrine of equality,” the verdict said.

“He (Raja) virtually gifted away the important national asset at throw away prices.”

The verdict pushed Communications Minister Kapil Sibal into an overdrive. He met Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee before a press conference in which he defended the government, saying implementation of policy alone was wrong.

“The court has indicted the ‘first come first serve’ policy. This was the policy of NDA (National Democratic Alliance) government,” he said. Blaming Raja, he added: “The order says the advise of finance ministry and Prime Minister’s Office wasn’t followed by then minister.”

His own ministry was then overseen by Raja, an undertrial who began his second year in jail Thursday.

India’s telecom network has grown into the the second largest in the world after China, with 926.53 million subscribers, serviced by 15 operators, including two state-run companies, Mahanagar Telephone Nigam and Bharat Sanchar Nigam.

With elections underway in five states, the opposition seized the opportunity to renew its demand for the ouster of the home minister, and said the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government under Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had no moral right to continue.

“The Bharatiya Janata Party would like to ask Prime Minister Manmohan Singh: Would you take some action against Chidambaram or will you continue to express your confidence in him despite so much evidence?” wondered spokesperson Ravi Shankar Prasad.

The main petitioner was clearly elated.

“The court has said the government must now get market value of these licences,” Swamy told reporters here. “As far Chidambaram is concerned, the court said the trial court can decide.”

Justices Singhvi and Ganguly also said the Special Trial Court of the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) — that is hearing the 2G spectrum allocation case in which former telecom minister Raja is prime accused — will decide on Chidambaram within two weeks.

With this the focus shifts to the trial court, being presided over by Judge O.P Saini. This court has heard a separate petition of Swamy to prosecute Chidambaram and reserved its order on that matter for Feb 4.

Apart from the political arena, Thursday’s development had its impact on other areas as well. The stocks of the companies which hold the tainted licences fell sharply, even as that of older telecom firms gained in anticipation of subscribers shifting to them.

While subscribers served by these 122 tainted licences were left wondering about the fate of their service, experts said they were free to use the mobile number portability (MNP) scheme, which is in full force across the country.

“Basically, the time period of four months is the time for government to decide to come up with an enhanced market mechanism,” Rajan Mathews, director general of the Cellular Operators Association Of India (COAI), told IANS.

Thursday’s order does not affect companies that got licences before 2008, nor does it have an impact on 3G services for which licences were auctioned two years ago, even as Sibal remained optimistic on the future of India’s telecom sector.

“The judgement will bring clarity to the situation. It will bring sanity to the sector and it will bring hope to the sector because now the roadmap is clear. And we will get large investments,” Sibal said.

“The commission’s order giving reasons for the discretion has been upheld and vindicated by the Gujarat High Court. So certainly, Modi’s stand has been vindicated,” he added.

The Jan Sangharsh Manch, which is representing the riot victims, had filed the petition after the commission rejected its application seeking Modi’s deposition.

The NGO said it will now move the Supreme Court.

“We will move the apex court on this issue. The state government had itself asked the commission to inquire into Modi’s role in the riots. It is only proper that Modi should have deposed before the commission,” said lawyer and activist, Mukul Sinha, who filed the petition.

The Gujarat government had set up a commission of enquiry headed by retired high court judge K.G. Shah on March 6, 2002 to enquire into the Godhra train burning and the subsequent communal violence and submit a report in three months. On May 22, 2002, the state government reconstituted the commission under retired Supreme Court judge G.T. Nanavati.

Over 1,000 people, mostly Muslims, died in violent clashes after the S-6 coach of the Sabarmati Express carrying kar sevaks returning to Gujarat from Ayodhya was torched at Godhra railway station on Feb 27, 2002.

An apex court bench of Justices G.S. Singhvi and A.K. Ganguly said the time period would be extended by another month if the government wanted to take the opinion of the attorney general.

Justice Singhvi said the government was bound by the apex court verdict in the Vineet Narain case holding that any application seeking sanction should be decided within three months.

In a separate observation, Justice Ganguly said if the government fails to decide on such an application, then it would be deemed as a sanction.

He also asked parliament to consider amending Section 19 of the Prevention of Corruption Act to provide for a timeframe for deciding applications seeking sanction for prosecution. He said the right to go to court is a constitutional right.

The court had reserved its order on Swamy’s application on Nov 24, 2010.

The senior Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer was vice chairman and managing director of the Andhra Pradesh Industrial Infrastructure Corporation (APIIC) when its equity was reduced in a joint venture with Dubai-based real estate major Emaar, causing huge losses to the state exchequer. Acharya is presently the principal secretary (home).

Acharya has been arrested on charges of cheating, criminal conspiracy, criminal breach of trust under various sections of Indian Penal Code and also under Prevention of Corruption Act, CBI sources said.

The CBI will present him in the special court dealing with the CBI cases. He is the fourth accused to be arrested in Emaar case and the second IAS official held on charges of corruption.

IAS official Y. Srilakshmi was last month arrested in an illegal mining case involving former Karnataka minister G. Janardhana Reddy.

Acharya, who was MD of APIIC between 2005 and 2009, allegedly colluded with Emaar and its Indian associates to bring down APIIC’s equity in the Emaar Hills Township Private Ltd (EHTPL) from 26 percent to six percent.

EHTPL, the joint venture company of Emaar and APIIC, was formed to build a township at Gachibowli in Hyderabad. APPIC had allotted 535 acres prime land for the upscale township.

Acharya and others allegedly diluted APIIC’s equity without approval from APIIC board.

The CBI Saturday arrested G.G.V. Vijay Raghav, Chief Financial Officer, EHTPL. Earlier, Sunil Reddy, a businessman and an aide of YSR Congress party chief Y.S. Jaganmohan Reddy, was arrested.

Koneru Prasad, an industrialist, was arrested by the CBI in November last year. His Stylish Home, which acted as marketing agency of EHTPL, allegedly siphoned off huge money by selling villas to politicians, businessmen and film personalities at much higher rate than shown on paper.

“Aneesh found countless ways to engage the American people using technology, from electronic health records for veterans, to expanding access to broadband for rural communities, to modernizing government records.”

“His legacy of leadership and innovation will benefit Americans for years to come, and I thank him for his outstanding service.”

While the official announcement gave no reason for Chopra’s resignation from White House, the Washington Post citing unnamed Democrats said he is widely expected to announce that he will run for lieutenant governor in Virginia.

Chopra has flirted with running for statewide office in Virginia for years, building up support among Democratic activists and serving on Obama’s transition team in 2008, it said.

The timing of his resignation allows Chopra to campaign this year for his two former bosses: former governor Tim Kaine, who is running to replace retiring Senator James Webb this year; and Obama, who will face a tough fight in the swing state of Virginia.

He is expected to attend Virginia Democrats’ biggest fundraiser of the year, the Jefferson-Jackson dinner, Feb 11 in Richmond, where those who are looking to run statewide host parties and mingle with more than 1,500 activists, the Post said.

The eldest son of Indian immigrants, Chopra, 40, was sworn in into his White House job on May 22, 2009 after serving as Secretary of Technology for the Commonwealth of Virginia from January 2006 to April 2009.

He previously served as Managing Director with the Advisory Board Company, a publicly-traded healthcare think tank.

Chopra was named to Government Technology magazine’s Top 25 in their Doers, Dreamers, and Drivers issue in 2008.

Aneesh Chopra received his BA from The Johns Hopkins University and his MPP from Harvard’s Kennedy School.

It also wants to defuse the agitation of Anna Hazare, who has threatened to go on a fast from Dec 27 if a stringent Lokpal bill is not passed.

As per the new schedule, both houses of parliament will adjourn for Christmas holidays Dec 22 and re-convene Dec 27.

The Lokpal bill is scheduled to be come up for approval in the cabinet meeting to be held at 7.30 p.m. Tuesday. It will be tabled alongwith the whistleblowers’ bill, Labour Minister Harish Rawat told IANS.

Angry MPs forced two disruptions of the Lok Sabha after Biju Janata Dal leader Bhartruhari Mahtab raised the issue during Zero Hour in the house and asked the government to intervene immediately because it had threatened the religious freedom of Hindus in Russia.

The house was adjourned till 2 p.m. and then till 4 p.m. Peace returned to the house after a short discussion was allowed in the Lok Sabha. At least eight MPs spoke on the matter.

Mahtab raising the issue said a court in Siberia’s Tomsk city was hearing a case filed by state prosecutors, as was reported by IANS Saturday when Prime Minister Manmohan Singh was on an official visit to Moscow.

The case, which has been going on since June, seeks a ban on a Russian translation of the “Bhagavad Gita As It Is” written by A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, the founder of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness (Iskcon).

It also wants the Hindu religious text banned in Russia, declared as literature spreading “social discord”, and its distribution rendered illegal in Russia.

Indians in Moscow, numbering about 15,000, and followers of the Iskcon religious movement in Russia have appealed to the Indian government to intervene diplomatically to resolve the issue.

“I want to know from the government what it is doing. The religious rights of Hindus in Russia should be protected. The government should impress upon the Russian authorities through diplomatic channels,” Mahtab said, asserting that the Indian text “doesn’t preach hatred”.

Shouting the slogan “Bolo Krishna Bhagwan ki jai”, Lalu Prasad of the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RLD) said “any insult to Gita is an insult to Lord Krishna”.

“This will stir anger among millions of Krishna devotees in the world. Let this parliament pass a resolution and send a protest note to Russia against this insult,” Lalu Prasad said.

Many members recited shlokas from the Gita to assert that the book teaches the essence of life, the art of living and striving.

BJP MP Hukumdeo Narayan Yadav said India should lodge a protest with the Russian authorities and the case in the Siberian city was an “insult to the entire humanity because Gita is not a religion-specific book and it concerns all human beings”.

Arun Kumar Vundavalli of the Congress also condemned the incident but he also seized the moment to drive home the point that MPs need to learn from the Gita, be disciplined and not create disruptions in parliament.

“Let’s stick to the rule book. Gita teaches us to work without caring about returns. Let’s not fight and let the house run smoothly,” he said.

Winding up the short discussion, Parliamentary Affairs Minister P.K. Bansal assured the house that S.M. Krishna will be speaking Tuesday after he gets the full details of the case. “We are all united over the issue and I respect the sentiments of the house.”