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CWC members submit resignations to Sonia Gandhi (Go To Top)

          New Delhi, Dec 21: Congress Central Working Committee (CWC) members have submitted their resignations to party president Sonia Gandhi to enable her to reconstitute the body. Party sources said here on Sunday that some of the members had resigned on Saturday, while others submitted their resignations today. All India Congress Committee treasurer Moti Lal Vora told reporters on Sunday that he too had submitted his resignation to Sonia Gandhi. Asked whether the new CWC would be meeting in the near future, Vora said a date was yet to be announced for the meeting.

DMK ministers resign from Vajpayee Cabinet (Go To Top)

          New Delhi, Dec 21: Two Union ministers of the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) party, a key ally of Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee's National Democratic Alliance (NDA), resigned on Sunday. Union Minister for Environment and Forests TR Baalu and Union Minister of State for Health and Family Welfare A Raja submitted their resignation letters to the Prime Minister this morning. Baalu said he was only following his party's orders. "Myself and Mr Raja have handed over the resignation letters to the Prime Minister just 90 minutes back. He was feeling worried, why you have not informed me earlier. We told him that we followed the party's orders. There was some difference of opinion in the high level committee in Madras yesterday. We were narrating the incidents which has happened," Baalu told reporters outside Vajpayee's official residence in New Delhi.

          The DMK has 11 members in the 545-member Lower House, the Lok Sabha. Top party leaders had cited differences with Vajpayee's Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the continuation of a controversial anti- terror law among the reasons behind the decision to pull out. DMK, the main Opposition in Tamil Nadu, is opposed to the Prevention of Terrorism Act, which sets strict rules for the arrest, interrogation and investigation and allows suspects to be detained for 30 days without producing them before a court. The law has attracted criticism from minority Muslim leaders and civil rights groups who say it is being abused. Both the BJP and the DMK's main rival in the state, the ruling All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam, favour the law.

CBI registers case against Judeo, three others (Go To Top)

          New Delhi, Dec 21: The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) registered a case against former Union minister Dilip Singh Judeo and three others on Sunday in connection with the cash-on- camera scam and began searches at 17 places in the national Capital, Chhattisgarh, Haryana and Madhya Pradesh. Judeo's personal secretary Natwar Rateria, Bhupinder Patel alias Rahul, shown on the tape allegedly giving bribe and Arvind Vijay Mahajan, who arranged for the logistics, including the camera, are the others against whom the case was registered, CBI sources said. The case was registered under various sections of the Prevention of Corruption Act, including Section 7 (taking gratification as a public servant). Over the last fortnight, the CBI has questioned Judeo and Rateria twice. CBI sources alleged the amount given to the former minister was Rs 9 lakh.

Bhutan prince injured in RBA operation (Go To Top)

          New Delhi, Dec 21: The Royal Bhutan Army received a setback of sorts on Sunday with the news that Bhutan King Jigme Singye Wangchuk's second son, Prince Jigyel Wangchuk, had been injured by Indian insurgents. Reports reaching here from Samdrup Jongkhar district in southern Bhutan said that the prince had reportedly been injured in the 'Operation All Clear' being carried out by the RBA to flush out Indian insurgents from its soil. The prince was said to have sustained bullet injuries in the dense jungles at Lilibum along the Indo-Bhutan border area. However, there was no official confirmation of the incident from either side. Cadres of the ULFA, the NDFB and the KLO have over the past decade and a half overrun the Himalayan kingdom. The RBA, which launched the flush-out on December 15 has already destroyed 30 rebel camps, killed 120 insurgents and forced many of them to surrender.

          Meanwhile, a Bhutanese military spokesman said that the offensive operations have been stopped for two days to regroup and reinforce troops. The operations would move into the second phase next week.

Shiv Sainiks on the rampage demanding reservation (Go To Top)

          Mumbai, Dec 21: Shiv Sena activists destroyed several shopping malls here on Sunday demanding reservation for locals. Around 300 members of the youth wing of the party entered the premises of a mall complex smashing the windows, glass doors and office furniture. Nobody was, however, injured. ACP SP Gupta said 11 people have. The agitation comes barely a month after the city was hit by a similar agitation demanding a 100 percent reservation in railway jobs for the locals. The tension is fallout of the recent violence in Assam where 59 people were killed, mostly migrants from neighbouring Bihar, in a row triggered by competition for jobs.

Daler produced in Patiala court (Go To Top)

          Patiala (Punjab), Dec 21: Indi-pop singer Daler Mehndi, allegedly involved in illegal human trafficking, was produced before a court in Patiala on Sunday even as he alleged that he had been falsely implicated. The Delhi-based singer was produced before duty Magistrate Satpal, who remanded him to three days' police custody. The singer, before entering the court premises, said he was being falsely implicated in the case and that Punjab police had demanded Rs 1.5 crore from him to settle it. He had earlier appeared twice before police in October for questioning in the case.

          State police registered a case against Mehndi and six others, on a complaint filed by one Bakhshish Singh of Balbehra village in Patiala district alleging that he had been fleeced by the singer on the pretext of being sent abroad as a member of his troupe.

Six Pak militants killed (Go To Top)

          Srinagar, Dec 21: In its first major operation against militants since the declaration of an Indo-Pak ceasefire in Jammu and Kashmir, security personnel on Sunday foiled an infiltration bid killing six Pakistani terrorists near the Line of Control (LoC) in Poonch district. Alert army personnel detected a group of militants moving along the LoC in Balakote area of Mendhar sub-sector in Poonch district around 4:30 a.m. and immediately cordoned off the area by deploying additional troops, said official sources. Eight to nine militants walked straight into the cordoned area, the sources said, adding that apart from the six killed, two security personnel received minor injuries. "Two to three militants, still holed up in the cordon area, are engaged in the gun battle with the troops," the sources said. Armed forces recovered five AK rifles, 23 magazines, 21 grenades, nine UBGL grenades, three pistols, 318 rounds, five IEDs, three radio sets besides medicines, documents from the militants, a news agency report said.

India gears up for second NRI meet (Go To Top)

          New Delhi, Dec 21: Eminent Indians from across the world are expected to gather in the national Capital next month for a three-day brainstorming session on how to leverage their contributions to their country of origin. At least 1,200 non-resident Indians (NRIs) from over 50 countries are espected to take part in the second Pravasi Bharatiya Diwas (non-resident Indians day) celebrations in New Delhi. The government would also felicitate the NRIs for their role in nation-building. The event is organised by the ministry of external affairs and a leading industrial lobby, Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI).

          The first NRI day was organised last year on the recommendations of a high-level committee chaired by LM Singhvi, India's former High commissioner to Britain. Officials said this year's meet would try to overcome the shortcomings of the initial event. Last year's event saw the Central government announcing dual citizenship to the 20 million-plus Indian diaspora. A legislation on the issue is pending before parliament. Under the present law, Indian citizenship is automatically forfeited when a citizen acquires the passport of a foreign country. Those granted dual citizenship would be entitled to all rights and privileges enjoyed by Indian citizens but would not be allowed to contest elections. The event will be held on January 9 every year, to mark the return of Mahatma Gandhi, father of the nation, to India from South Africa on the same day in 1915. Guyanese President Bharrat Jugdeo, a person of Indian origin, will be the chief guest at this year's celebrations.

US, India finalise 'Glide Path' pact (Go To Top)

          Washington, Dec 21: India and the United States have reportedly finalized an agreement that would allow India to obtain sensitive defence technology from the United States. The agreement called Glide Path will enable India to seek US cooperation in space, nuclear, hi-tech and missile defence areas. The agreement is likely to be formally announced early next year. This is the first that Washington has signed such agreement with another country. It will ease controls on Indian firms from buying high-tech equipment from American companies, and open the way for the transfer of sensitive technology to India. Satish Chandra, a senior member of India's National Security Council, led the Indian team at the talks, while Stevel Hadely, deputy national security adviser, led the US team.

         Indian officials later told reporters that the agreement indicated the Bush Administration's commitment to strengthening its strategic ties with India. India and the U.S. have been working on this agreement for almost a year now. They were to announce the agreement in September after a meeting between President George Bush and Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee in New York during the UN General Assembly session. Diplomatic sources here say that there are also legal restrictions on sharing some of these technologies with India, which is not a signatory to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NNPT).

Kumaratunga extends her term to 2006 secretly (Go To Top)

          Colombo, Dec 21: In a secretive move, Sri Lankan President Chandrika Kumaratunga has extended her term in office till 2006. According to a Sunday Times report, the swearing-in ceremony was carried out at an "undisclosed" destination, and was conducted by the country's controversial Chief Justice Sarath N de Silva. The next presidential election is not due until January 2007. According to the existing 1978 Constitution, a Sri Lankan citizen could contest the post of President only twice. President Kumaratunga first contested for the Presidency in November 1994. Before completing her first term of six years in November 2000, President Kumaratunga called for a fresh Presidential election in December 1999 and was elected to office for the second term.

Pak arrests 47 Indian fishermen (Go To Top)

          Islamabad, Dec 21: The Pakistan Maritime Security Agency (PMSA) has over the past 48 hours arrested 47 Indian fishermen after they encroached the country's territorial waters. Reports from Karachi said that 35 Indians in six boats were arrested on Saturday, while 12 fishermen were arrested on Friday. Pakistan had released nearly 300 detained Indian fishermen in several batches during the last four months while India released 93 Pakistani fishermen, held in Gujarat prisons.

Google's new venture on Book Online (Go To Top)

          London, Dec 21: Google will begin offering a feature that allows users to read pages from books on its Web site. The new service named "Google Print Beta," for the time being has been showing up in search listings. The Google Print feature is being compared to Amazon.com's "Search Inside the Book" service. Amazon's search system allows users to pinpoint books based on content. "What Google is doing today is returning metadata," says Meta Group analyst Tim Hickernell in a report by Newsfactor, "but it's just an experiment. It doesn't add much more value than just looking up the metadata on Amazon or on the publisher's site." He added, "I don't expect Google's book search to remain like this. There are a lot of directions they could take before they go commercial, and that includes what Amazon is doing by allowing full contextual searching of what is in the book." The promise of the Internet was that all information might suddenly become available at a fraction of the cost of producing paper-based texts and distribution. For now, Google search results display links to book pages posted by select publishers. But it could apparently to lead to commercial e-book hosting.

MJ Gopalan dead (Go To Top)

          Chennai, Dec 21: MJ Gopalan, one of India's oldest cricket and hockey players at the international level, died here on Sunday after a brief illness. He was 97. Gopalan was admitted to the Apollo Hospital a couple of days back for pneumonia. He had no children and his wife died in 1981. An all-rounder, Gopalan played the Test against England in Calcutta in 1934. He also captained South Zone against John Goddard-led West Indians in 1948-49, the first team to visit the country after India gained independence from British colonial rule. In hockey, he played alongside the legendary Dhayan Chand. In 1936, he had to make the difficult choice between going on India's cricket tour of England and representing the country's hockey team at the Berlin Olympics. His passion for cricket superseded everything else.

Bottomlines

Samjhauta will reunite her with hubby! (Go To Top)

          Varanasi, Dec 21: India and Pakistan's decision to resume train services from next month has brought a ray of hope to a young Muslim bride here. Simmi Faridi had taken the oath of marriage with a Pakistani boy on telephone. After a long agonizing separation, Simmi is now looking forward to reunion with her Pakistani husband to whom she got married in August 2001. Three months after her marriage the ties between the two countries nose-dived following an attack on Indian parliament by Kashmiri separatists. Following this New Delhi snapped all transport links with Pakistan.

          But, the decision to resume the Samjhauta Express, the only rail link between the two countries, has rekindled hopes for the young bride. For Simmi, it's more than just a train. It's an emotional link with families and friends on either side of the border. "The resumption of the Samjahauta Express would allow people to move from one country to another without any hassle and meet their near and dear ones. It would also cost them less. As it is so many people come from Pakistan to India," said Simmi.

          Her father is also very pleased at the new developments. "On 15th August, the Prime Minister of India said that the relations between the two countries should improve. So keeping that in view we got our girl married to a Pakistani boy. After the marriage she would be staying in Dubai," said her father J.M. Faridi.

          The trans-border passenger train is by far the cheapest means of travel-the fare being as low as Rs 166, and a large number of people travelled by it to meet their families and relatives separated during the 1947 partition. It also supports numerous local businesses like porters, taxi services and restaurants. The train was introduced on July 22, 1976 as a result of Simla Pact between India and Pakistan.

Ambitious Posh Spice refuses to live off hubby's millions! (Go To Top)

          Washington, Dec 21: Posh Spice, Mrs Beckham is refusing to sit back and live off her husband David's multi-million pound pay packet because she's a woman with ambition. The former Spice Girl who has reinvented her pop sound in a bid to kick-start her solo singing career is determined to follow her career goals, and has a low opinion of women who depend on their partner's earnings, reports Ratethemusic. Mother of two now, Victoria says, "I could be a housewife and live off David but I don't see what's wrong with a woman who has ambition. I think it's commendable."

Jude is a great kisser: Nic Kidman (Go To Top)

          London, Dec 21: Hollywood sensation Nicole Kidman has revealed that she will not forget her steamy on-screen kisses with Jude Law in critically acclaimed movie 'Cold Mountain'. Nicole has said that, "It was the best kiss I have ever had. It brought us to our knees." According to a report in the Sun, Nicole also hinted that Jude was a better kisser than his good friend Ewan McGregor who co- starred with her in 'Moulin Rouge'. Jude said jokingly, "I'll tell him what Nicole said."

'Mobile' love talk of 'Posh Spice' and David Beckham (Go To Top)

          London, Dec 21: Former Spice Girl, Victoria Beckham has revealed that she spices up her love life by having phone sex with husband David Beckham. Posh has also admitted that the lyrics of her new single, 'This Groove', is about erotic long-distance phone calls. According to the Sun, Beckham, 28, is based in Madrid while Victoria, 29, spends much of her time in Britain. Victoria says, "The song is about telephone sex. We have a long distance relationship. Come on, I'm sure there are a lot of people out there who know what I'm talking about." However, the lovey-dovey couple's lusty calls have its own pitfalls like the whopping cost of phone bills. Posh says, "My mobile bill this month was about #1,000. Actually I'm lying - it was much more."

-ANI