India Decides @ 9

After 15 months in jail, former telecom minister A Raja is back home. He was welcomed with the traditional aarti and bursting of crackers; supporters from his DMK party also shouted slogans. Dinner for 200 people was organised at his home in Delhi for a grand welcome for the man accused of crafting and implementing India's biggest scam.

After the Nehru-Ambedkar cartoon row, many other cartoons could now be on the hit-list for being 'inappropriate'; an emotional Chidambaram defends his family in Parliament in the Aircel-Maxis deal; 13 Indians die in a plane crash in Nepal; BJP's Yeddyurappa says while he is not quitting the party now, he is not ruling it out too; and a lot more on the 9 o'clock news.

India's Parliament marks the 60th year of its first sitting; BJP's Yeddyurappa praises Sonia Gandhi; Anna extends a hand of friendship to Army Chief General VK Singh; and more on the 9 o'clock news.

Seven ministers in the Karnataka cabinet offer to quit from their posts in support of BS Yeddyurappa; an NCERT advisors office gets ransacked over a cartoon on BR Ambedkar that created a political storm in Parliament; Air India passengers apologise to passengers as they stay on strike; and a lot more on the 9 o'clock news.

A cartoon of Dr BR Ambedkar and Jawaharlal Nehru, which has been in NCERT text books for years, creates an uproar in Parliament; The Supreme Court orders the CBI to probe BS Yeddyurappa in three cases; sources say Nitin Gadkari will get a second term as BJP President; and more on the 9 o'clock news.

The allegations against P Chidambaram over the Aircel-Maxis deal took centrestage in Parliament, provoking ugly scenes of confrontation and quotes from Franciscan nuns. "God forgive them for they know not what they do," Mr Chidambaram said, as he declared that no member of his family owns any stake in either Aircel or Maxis, the company that bought the telecom venture in 2006. The BJP has decided to raise the issue again in parliament tomorrow, largely by questioning the assurances offered by Mr Chidambaram today.

Jharkhand Chief Minister Arjun Munda and five others who were travelling with him had a narrow escape today when their helicopter crash-landed at the Ranchi airport. Those on board included two pilots and Mr Munda's wife. They were rushed to hospital and are being treated for minor injuries.

Air India passengers across the country are left stranded as pilots cripple the airline. The aviation minister questions the need for a national airline saying the time for these have gone; Pranab Mukherjee strongly defends retrospective tax, singling out UK's Vodafone; Maoists in Odisha kidnap and kill an assistant sub-inspector; and more on the 9 o'clock news.

There's no consensus on the National Counter Terrorism Centre at the Chief Ministers' meet; at least four Air India flights have been hit after pilots called in sick; as Mamata Banerjee keeps the Congress guessing, DMK chief M Karunanidhi backs Pranab Mukherjee for President - all this and more on the 9 o'clock news.

After a meeting with the Prime Minister, Mamata Banerjee has refused to give the Congress the reassurances it was hoping for. Ms Banerjee, an unpredictable ally, has said that "all options are open" when it comes to deciding who she will support as a candidate for the election for President of India. She also emphasized that she remains stridently opposed to the proposed National Counter Terrorism Centre (NCTC), a new agency blueprinted by the government that has upset several chief ministers like her.

Sukma Collector Alex Paul Menon, who was kidnapped by Maoists in Chhattisgarh almost two weeks ago, has been released by his abductors.