New Delhi, Aug 19 : The UPA Government has urged the Supreme Court to extend its stay on a tribunal’s order lifting the ban imposed on Students Islamic Movement of India (SIMI) charged with indulging in terrorist activities, including the recent Ahmedabad and Bangalore blasts.

New Delhi, Aug 14: The Union Cabinet as an Independence Day bonanza for the civil servants, armed forces, paramilitary personnel and central government employees, approved the Sixth Pay Commission recommendations on Thursday.

The revised pay structure will ensure that there will be a 40 percent increase in the salary of government as well as defence employees.

The Sixth Pay Commission, which was headed by Justice B N Srikrishna, had in March submitted its report to the government, recommending an average 28 per cent hike for central government staff and defence personnel.

New Delhi, Aug 12 : The all party delegation today appealed to all the concerned groups from Jammu as well as the Kashmir Valley to work for restoring peace and normalcy in the State.

The all party delegation which visited Jammu and Srinagar on August 9-10 had two rounds of discussions here on Monday and Tuesday and asked the the people of J-K to desist from adopting the path of agitation.

Srinagar, Aug 10 : An 18-member all-party delegation headed by Union Home Minister Shivraj Patil met here today to assess the situation in the wake of the continuing agitation in Jammu over the Amarnath land transfer controversy.

The meeting was attended by Arun Jaitley (BJP), Amar Singh (Samajwadi Party), former Jammu and Kashmir chief ministers Farooq Abdullah and Ghulam Nabi Azad, PDP leader Mehbooba Mufti and Saif-ud-din Soz and Mohsina Kidwai (both Congress), besides the local Kashmiri leaders.

New Delhi, August 9 : The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Saturday blamed the United Progressive Alliance (UPA)-led Congress government for the ongoing row over the controversial revocation of the forestland allotted to Shri Amarnath Shrine Board (SASB).

Addressing a party rally in New Delhi on Saturday, senior leader L. K. Advani alleged that the decision of the Jammu and Kashmir government to rescind the allotment of forestland to SASB was not its own but it was taken on the directions of the Central government.

New Delhi, July 29 : The Centre today told the Supreme Court that it does not consider the Rama Sethu a national monument.

Senior advocate Fali S. Nariman, appearing for the Centre, told a Bench headed by Chief Justice K. G. Balakrishnan, "As far as we are concerned, the stand of the Government is very clear, that Rama Sethu could not fulfill the criteria of national monument."

Earlier, the Supreme Court had stopped construction work of the Sethusamudram project after writ petitions were filed to counter the demolition of the mythological Ram Sethu believed to have been constructed by Lord Rama.