UAE Calls on Saddam to Step Down

          DUBAI: The United Arab Emirates (UAE) issued an appeal at the Arab summit here on Saturday for Iraqi President Saddam Hussein to resign and put Iraq under the tutelage of the Arab League and the United Nations, a source said. The call came in a four-point initiative addressed to the summit by UAE President Sheikh Zayed Ben Sultan al-Nahyan. It calls on the Iraqi leadership to quit power and leave Iraq. The initiative provides judicial guarantees, binding on both international and national levels, to the Iraqi leadership, to make sure that it won't be prosecuted.

Congress Unseats BJP in Himachal (Go To Top)

          NEW DELHI: The Congress grabbed 40 seats in the 68-seat Himachal Pradesh Assembly while the ruling BJP, which also heads the national coalition at the Centre, won 17, down from 31 seats in the outgoing House. A jubilant Sonia Gandhi, the Congress president, who had campaigned in the hill-State described the result as "encouraging." "It is most encouraging and we are all very happy," Ms Gandhi said.

           Speaker Gulab Chand Thakur, State BJP president Jaikishan Sharma and five ministers lost their seats according to early reports. However, PK Dhumal, who was the chief minister, retained his Bamsan seat.

           Voters went to the polls on Wednesday in Himachal as well as in three militancy-hit north-eastern States where the BJP has always been a minor force. In Tripura, the ruling Left Front was returned to office, wresting 41 seats in the 60-member Assembly. The Congress party won 13. In Nagaland, the contest appeared to be close with the Opposition Naga People's Congress, said to have the support of NSCN (I-M), bagging 10 seats against ruling Congress' eight in the 60-member House. The BJP won two seats and others three. The ruling coalition in Meghalaya that included Congress retained power in the State

           Analysts cautioned against reading too much into the Congress win in Himachal Pradesh, noting its voters traditionally boot out the incumbent party in State elections.

Economy Passing Through Most Difficult Times: Jaswant (Go To Top)

          NEW DELHI: A day after presenting the budget for fiscal 2003-2004, finance minister Jaswant Singh on Saturday said Indian economy is passing through the "most difficult" circumstances. Singh defended his budgetry measures saying it was the best he could do considering the severe impact last year's drought and the unceasing fight against Pakistan-sponsored militancy had on the economy.

           Singh told a gathering of Indian industrialists at a post-budget discussion held in New Delhi that the federal Government had to shell out over 20 billion rupees in relief packages as over nine States reeled under the most severe drought in decades, in June last year. India, fighting a separatist rebellion in disputed Kashmir and scores of smaller revolts has hiked defence spending to 653 billion rupees, compared with a budgeted 650 billion in 2002/03 and the 560 billion rupees the military actually spent.

           The finance minister had lived up to market expectations on Friday and pleased all as he scrapped taxes on capital gains on equities and spared investors from dividends in the budget for the fiscal year beginning April. He also promised continued liberalisation of the economy through privatisation and deregulation of State-protected sectors. Indian industry captains have already given a thumbs up to the budget, terming it as "good, constructive, innovative and historic." The Bharatiya Janata Party, which heads the coalition Government, is also keen to boost growth ahead of State elections due by November and national elections next year. The growth is estimated at just 4.4 per cent in the financial year ending in March.

US Pledge to Work for Indo-Pak Dialogue: Powell (Go To Top)

          ISLAMABAD: US Secretary of State Colin Powell said on Saturday the United States would carry on its efforts for resumption of talks between India and Pakistan and for peace and stability in South Asia. He expressed these views in an interview to Radio Pakistan. All outstanding issues, including Kashmir, need negotiations between the two countries, said Powell.

Gunfight with BDR as BSF Tries to Halt Camel Smuggling (Go To Top)

          KOLKATA: The Border Security Force has said that it exchanged fire with Bangladesh soldiers at a border area to prevent a group of people from smuggling camels into that country.The clash took place on Thursday at Peasbari, about 300 km from Kolkata, a BSF officer said on Friday. There was no immediate report of casualties on either side but two camels were injured in the gunfight.The BSF accused the Bangladesh Rifles of conniving with the smugglers.

           Villagers along the border areas said that at least two or three Bangladeshi soldiers could have died in Thursday's exchange of fire. "It is the corridor through which smugglers often smuggle camels and cows. BSF obstructed them but BDR opened fire against BSF personnel. Then BSF men retaliated. We have reports that two- three men died during this crossfire on the Bangladeshi side," said Ratan Kumar Mandol, a resident of Sagardighi village near the site where the incident took place.

           Ties between New Delhi and Dhaka have soured after India said last month it wanted to deport some 20 million Bangladeshis living on its soil and prevent more entering through the porous 4,000 km boundary between the two neighbours. India and Bangladeshi troops occasionally clash on the border. In April 2001, 16 BSF men and three Bangladeshi soldiers had died in a sudden flare-up.

Clinton to Appear in Bond ? (Go To Top)

          WASHINGTON: Bill Clinton, former President of the United States, is up to something different now! Well, he may be seen in the next Bond film, it is reported. According to a US magazine, called the Star, the offer to appear in the next 007 caper was extended by Pierce Brosnan during a recent Hollywood party. Clinton, who has recently been earning a mind-bogling fortune for after-dinner speaking, has been considering his own chat show with NBC, and is rumoured to be in the running to take over as Chancellor of Oxford University, said a report in People News.

Kylie-Timberlake Romance That Never Was, Forget Last Week's (Go To Top)

          WASHINGTON: Hearthrob Kylie Minogue has been avoiding crooner Justin Timberlake, instead choosing hunky actor Olivier Martinez for a romantic evening together. The First Lady of pop avoided the N Sync star, even though at one point the pair were just a stone's throw from each other in Los Angeles. Kylie, taking a break in LA after the Grammy Awards, met up with hunky Martinez, who starred alongside Richard Gere in Unfaithful. They booked a table for two at the Ivy restaurant in Beverly Hills, where they enjoyed an intimate chat and a late lunch, according to a report in the Sun.

           Meanwhile, Justin had a night out with American Pie wildchild Tara Reid at the trendy Standard Hotel - just across the road from Kylie. One of sources told the Sun: "Contrary to rumours of romance, Justin and Kylie seemed to make every effort not to meet up in Los Angeles. It would have taken Justin a minute to go and see her in her hotel but nothing happened." Last week Justin made every red-blooded British bloke green with envy when he groped Kylie's bum as they performed a duet at the Brits Awards.

Busty Raise for Dannii (Go To Top)

          LONDON: After denying it for years, Dannii Monogue, Kylie's sister, has finally confessed that she had gone for a bust implant to look good. "I have had a boob job," the Aussie, who posed naked recently for Playboy, was quoted as saying by the Sun. "I had a bigger bust when I was a teenager. Then I lost weight and it shrank," she said, adding, "the operation was something to do that I felt good about."

Playboy Not to Entertain Tatu Duo in Nude (Go To Top)

          LONDON: The lesbian duo of the infamous Eastern European Tatu band have been refused permission to appear nude in Playboy. The pair were desperate to appear together in the men's magazine as soon as they passed their 18th birthdays, according to Sun.

          They made their feelings clear after Julia - the slightly better-looking one with the brown hair - turned 18 last week. Normally it works the other way round, with Playboy begging celebrities to appear. But now both the German and American editions of Playboy have said they are not interested in using nude pictures of the girls. But Tatu will be featuring in the music section of the April release of the magazine's US edition, the report adds.

-ANI