Mumbai 'shuts' for Sahara weddings (Go To Top)

          Mumbai: The whole of the Mumbai film industry will shut shop between February 10 and 16. This has never happened in the history of Bollywood. The occasion that has led to this unprecedented exodus out of "the city that never sleeps" is the wedding of media moghul Sahara Sri Subrata Roy's sons that will see the who's who in Bollywood make a beeline for 'Sahara Saher' in Lucknow. Around 11,000 guests are expected and invitatees also include former US President Bill Clinton and PM Atal Bihari Vajapyee. Shah Rukh Khan, Amitabh Bachchan, Govinda, Aishwarya Rai, Kareena Kapoor, Rani Mukherji and industrialists Adi Godrej and Anil Ambani will make their presence felt at Sushanto's and Seemanto Roy's weddings.

Stars favour Atal (Go To Top)

          Varanasi: Ecstatic over a booming economy and gains in recent Assembly polls, the BJP has one more reason to "feel good". Astrologers have predicted that the BJP's massively-popular leader, Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee, will come back with a thumping majority in the upcoming national elections. Astrologers say Vajpayee will lead his party to victory, while the main Opposition Congress party remains star crossed. Astrologers say though the 79-year old premier does not keep perfect health, his zodiac signs are very strong. "Currently the stars are very favourable for Atal Behari Vajpayee and as per the stars he will definitely be the next Prime Minister," Santosh Shikar, a prominent astrologer, said in Varanasi.

         Meanwhile, the heavens are not as benevolent on the main Congress party leader Sonia Gandhi. Congress, which has not held office since 1996, faces a tough challenge in unseating the BJP with Sonia, being a weak point for the party in opinion polls and with potential coalition allies. Kameshwar Upadhaya, another astrologer, said: "The stars which enable a person to become a leader are not there in Sonia Gandhi's horoscope." In contrast, the Congress is in disarray. There is private dissent about having a foreign-born leader. It was badly trounced in three of four key state elections last month and the party's campaign machinery looks rusty. The Chief Election Commissioner is expected to set dates this week for voting, which could be staggered over several days from mid-April. More than 600 million people are eligible to vote.

Media advt is tax-payers' money, says CEC; Vajpayee justifies (Go To Top)

          New Delhi: A day after the disapproval by the new Chief Election Commissioner, Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee on Monday sought to justify the government's media advertisement campaign saying he did not see any wrong in it. But once the model of code of conduct came into force, it would be strictly implemented, he said. Vajpayee, who was interacting with BJP workers and leaders from his Lucknow Lok Sabha constitutency at his residence, told them that the code of conduct should be implemented "in letter and spirit" once it came into operation. "Ours is a democratic party and we believe in democratic traditions," he said, recalling that every Government in the past had resorted to ad campaign to highlight its achievements. Just after he took over as the new CEC yesterday, T S Krishna Murthy said his personal view was that as far as possible tax payers' money should not be used for electoral advantages. He appealed to political parties to follow the code of conduct though election schedule was yet to be announced.

Sonia kicks off election campaign in UP (Go To Top)

          Gorakhpur: Main Opposition Congress party leader Sonia Gandhi on Monday kicked off her party's election campaign in Uttar Pradesh by hitting out at the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). Gandhi accused Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee-led ruling coalition of following anti-farmer policies. "There is some change in the minds of the people towards us, towards the Congress party. The biggest issue here is that of the farmers who cultivate sugercane, potato. There is also a big problem of the weavers," Gandhi told reporters in Gorakhpur during one of her election tours. Gandhi will visit several districts in the eastern side of the state during her three-day tour. Uttar Pradesh, the most populous state, sends 85 MPs to Parliament. Parliament was dissolved on Friday, paving the way for early polls.

Karnataka CM meets CEC (Go To Top)

          New Delhi: Chief Minister of Karnataka SM Krishna on Monday met the Chief Election Commissioner TS Krishnamurthy amidst speculation that the state wanted Assembly polls to be held along with national elections. Krishna said the dissolution of the state legislature would depend on the recommendation of the state's ruling Congress party. "As Chief Minister, I have said and consistently I have been saying that the budget session is on. My budget is being discussed. So the budget session is on and at an appropiate time as and when we take a decision either way it will be known," Krishna told reporters here.

          Karnataka Congress president Janardhan Pujari had earlier this week stated that polls in the state would be held simultaneously. BJP-led coalition government at the Centre is seeking fresh mandate nearly six months ahead of schedule in April-May in a bid to capitalise on the economic boom, gains in state polls and peace moves with neighbour Pakistan. Parliament was dissolved last week paving the way for early polls.

Israeli foreign minister arrives ahead of defence deal (Go To Top)

          Mumbai: Israeli foreign minister Silvan Shalon visited financial capital Mumbai on Monday as his country prepares to sign a 1.1 billion dollars deal for the Phalcon warning radar system with New Delhi. Shalon, who arrived on a four-day visit, went to the historical Gateway of India, beside interacting with business leaders and the local Jewish community. Shalon leads a four-member delegation, which will later fly to New Delhi to meet foreign minister Yashwant Sinha and Defence Minister George Fernandes. Cooperation between the two countries has grown rapidly since they established diplomatic relations in 1992. Both nations have decided to work together on eliminating terrorism and bolster cooperation in the areas of biotechnology, pharmaceuticals and health care. Shalon's visit succeeds that of head of Israel Aircraft industries (IAI) in October when the two nations struck a preliminary deal on the radar system. The Phalcon can pick up aircraft, including at low altitude, hundreds of km away in any weather, day or night. It can also intercept and decode radio transmissions, anticipating in many cases the weaponry an enemy might deploy. The technology would enable the Indian air force to pry deep into the air space of its arch foe and nuclear-armed neighbour Pakistani.

'Korea signed N-deal with Pakistan' (Go To Top)

          Tokyo: A top North Korean defector has claimed that his country used Pakistan's help to start its uranium-based nuclear weapons program in 1996. Hwang Jang-Yop, the former secretary in charge of international affairs at Korea's all-powerful Workers Party, told the Tokyo Shimbun newspaper that the deal was concluded in Pakistan during a month-long visit by a North Korean envoy. Hwang said that Jon Pyon-Ho, the then party's secretary in charge of the military industry, visited Pakistan in 1996 and signed the contract. Jon had previously consulted Hwang on the possibility of buying plutonium from Russia and other countries to "produce more nuclear weapons", he was quoted by the News, as saying.

Russia is alarmed over Pak 'Nuke Gate' (Go To Top)

          London: Pakistan needs to put more effective control mechanisms in place to prevent a repetition of the nuclear scandal promoted by its top scientists, said Russian Defence Minister Sergei Ivanov. Expressing alarm and concern over last week's revelations by Dr. AQ Khan and the debriefing sessions that had been going on for nearly two months, Ivanov told delegates attending the 40th annual security conference in Munich that everything possible must be done to curtail such trends. "It is now quite obvious that there is not an efficient control of proliferation of WMDs (weapons of mass destruction). That is something that worries everybody," Ivanov was quoted by the Daily Times, as saying over the weekend.

'I am mother of Pakistani bomb': Benazir (Go To Top)

          Washington: Former Pakistan Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto has declared herself as the "Mother of Pakistan's Nuclear Programme". Talking to a group of Pakistani journalists here, Bhutto, who is currently in self-exile, said that it was she who had protected Pakistan's nuclear programme when it was under grave threat. According to the Daily Times, she said that when she was the Prime Minister, "There were moves afoot to have Pakistan declared a terrorist state and she had fought off all the challenges." Bhutto further went on to say that she had gone to North Korea and obtained missiles for Pakistan and paid in cash for them. Pakistan had all the money it needed then, and there was no need for any exchange deals to be made with anyone, she added in apparent criticism of the present regime's policies.

Nobody can question AQ Khan (Go To Top)

          Islamabad: No international body can question the Father of Pakistan's nuclear bomb, Dr. AQ Khan, including the United Nations and the European Union under the international law as Pakistan is not a signatory to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty. This was the view of international law experts, practitioners, academicians and diplomats, the News reported. Interviewing a host of experts, the paper further went on to say that a majority of them supported the Pakistan Government's stance of carrying out a voluntary investigation after receiving a letter from the Vienna-based International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).

Pak traders arrive to explore business opportunities (Go To Top)

          Wagah Border: A 15-member delegation of Pakistani traders arrived in Wagah border on Monday seeking greater trade opportunities with India. The traders called upon the governments of both countries to withdraw trade barriers. "The multi-nationals, like the agro industry, the dairy farm, the food are thriving in India and Pakistan. The benefit is going to the MNCs. Subsidies are being reduced. The situation is bad and there is unemployment," Ghulam Idress Tabassum, President of Pakistan Garments, Manufacturers and Dealers Association told reporters here. Both India and Pakistan, members of a south Asian regional group, recently signed a free-trade area treaty, which would help increase business between the nuclear- neighbours.

           Analysts say once the South Asian Free Trade Area (SAFTA) came into force, two of South Asia's powerful economies would have to bring tariffs down to 20 percent within two years and to between zero and five percent in the five years after that. Pakistan and India are presently engaged in 1.5 billion dollars trade through unofficial channels. Raja Hamid Riyaz, president of Mall Road Traders' Association in Lahore, said increased trade ties between the two countries would help in improving relations. "This is going to benefit traders of both the countries. If there is an increase in peace and brotherhood. This will translate into more trade. It will definitely improve the trade as well the economy of both the countries," said Riyaz.

          Trade between the two countries, which was a fraction of their imports and exports, came to a grinding halt as tensions soared in the wake of December 2001 terrorist attack on Indian Parliament. But a recent thaw in relations came when Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee extended a hand of friendship to Pakistan last April. Since then, the neighbours have resumed diplomatic and transport links. The arch rivals also had a path-breaking meeting, first in two years earlier this year, to resume the stalled dialogue process. India and Pakistan have agreed to talk on all issues, including Kashmir, at a joint secretary level meeting to be held in Islamabad starting February 16.

Olympics torch to arrive in Delhi on June 10 (Go To Top)

          New Delhi: The Indian Capital, New Delhi, which is set to bid for the 2016 Olympic Games, will receive the Olympic torch for the first time later this year. The torch, which will travel through 34 cities in 27 countries starting in March, will arrive in New Delhi on June 10 from Beijing and will then leave for Cairo on its way to Athens. "It's a great moment for all of Delhi, a great moment for India and a great moment for the Olympics sports. The torch is coming in on June 10 from Beijing which is the host of 2008 Olympics and hopefully in 2016 when India hopes to organise Olympics, that is the time when the torch will rest here," Suresh Kalmadi, the president of the Indian Olympic Association (IOA), told reporters on Monday. The summer Olympics will be held in Athens this year and Beijing in 2008. The 2012 hosts will be decided next year.