Modi scraps ministerial groups
PMO says move will ensure swifter decisions with greater accountability
New Delhi, May 31
Prime Minister Narendra Modi today struck down 30 existing Empowered Group of Ministers (EGoMs)/Group of Ministers (GoMs), the preferred route adopted by the previous coalition regimes. The move is aimed at making swifter decisions and bringing in greater accountability.

UP rape horror
Under fire, Akhilesh ready for CBI probe; all key accused held
Lucknow, May 31
Amid mounting pressure, the Akhilesh Yadav government today decided to recommend a CBI probe into the rape, murder and public hanging of two minor Dalit cousins in Badaun district.

Congress V-P Rahul Gandhi with the family members of the two victims at Katra Shahadatganj village in Badaun district. PTI

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Vigilance grills Anurag again in HPCA case
Dharamsala, May 31
BJP MP from Hamirpur and Himachal Pradesh Cricket Association (HPCA) president Anurag Thakur today appeared before the Vigilance and Anti-Corruption Bureau in Dharamsala.

Himachal page: Vigilance seeks satellite images of HPCA land

HPCA chief Anurag Thakur

Jammu hotel blaze kills 4
Jammu, May 31
At least four persons, including a police constable, were killed and 10 others suffered injuries after a fire broke out in a hotel near the main bus stand early this morning.

Fire-fighters near the hotel in Jammu on Saturday. PTI

World no tobacco day
India loses more to tobacco than it spends on health, reveals study
Health Minister Harsh Vardhan hints at raising tax on tobacco to curb its use
New Delhi, May 31
India is annually losing more in terms of economic costs of tobacco use than it is spending on health. A new research on the financial consequences of tobacco use has revealed that economic costs of tobacco use, which causes serious diseases, was Rs 1,04,500 crore in 2011 for users aged 35 to 69 years.

	Children during an awareness campaign on World No Tobacco Day in Kolkata on Saturday. PTI

SC says media stings no basis for dismissal Reinstates Haryana cop who was dismissed after a sting showed him taking bribe New Delhi, May 31 The Supreme Court has ordered reinstatement of a police sub-inspector fired by the Mewat Superintendent of Police in 2008, holding that no government servant could be dismissed merely on the basis of any media sting operation showing him accepting bribe.