BCCI yet to receive advisory on Pak tour (Go To Top)

          Kolkata: Even as media reports have suggested that the Union Home Ministry has expressed a desire that the Indian team's tour to Pakistan be postponed to a later date, the Board of Control of Cricket in India (BCCI) is yet to receive anything in black and white. BCCI president Jagmohan Dalmiya was on Friday quoted as saying: "Not yet. I have not received any communication from the government till now." A re-think was being done on the tour in the wake of the recent happenings in Pakistan, especially with regard to the exposure of nuclear proliferation by the Pakistani scientists, Minister of State (Home) Swami Chinmayanand had confirmed last evening. "We have been forced to think again. Our intelligence agencies have advised us to think again," he had said. The Board president has also said the position would become clear only after the three-member BCCI team, currently in Pakistan to oversee the security arrangements, returns on Monday.

Polls in second half of April: EC (Go To Top)

          New Delhi: The general elections will be held in the second half of April, the Election Commission said on Friday. The Commission, which on Thursday began an exercise to review poll preparedness with state governments, is contemplating a four-phase polling schedule from April 17, reportedly at the Union Home Ministry's suggestion. "The ministry has suggested it, and it is definitely under consideration," an EC official said, adding "but the dates will be finalized only a day before an official announcement. In any case, they will be held only after April 15." The Commission is expected to announce dates any time after February 20, when it winds up its comprehensive review with a meeting with various political parties.

BJP parliamentary board meeting on February 16 (Go To Top)

          Chennai: The BJP parliamentary board would meet on February 16 to discuss the prevailing political situation in the country, and finalize the party's strategy in all the states for the forthcoming general elections. Talking to reporters at the airport here last night, BJP president M Venkaiah Naidu said that the issues like entering into alliances with different parties, the number of seats to be contested by the party, and the prospective candidates would be finalized at the meeting. About the proposed BJP-AIADMK alliance, Naidu admitted that the BJP was yet to come to an understanding with the new-found ally. The state unit of the BJP would hold discussions and finalise it, he added. On the BJP's reported demand seeking ten seats in Tamil Nadu, Naidu said, "the number of seats to be contested by the BJP and the candidates...all these things will be announced to you once the understanding is finalized. There is no hurry. We have enough time, as the election dates are not announced yet. We will be able to discuss it and come to conclusions."

Work hard for a clean sweep in Tamil Nadu: Sonia to party workers (Go To Top)

          Chennai: Leader of the Opposition and Congress president Sonia Gandhi has called upon her party workers to work hard in order to make a clean sweep in Tamil Nadu in the forthcoming general elections. "Let us all work collectively. Let us all work to ensure the victory of our party in all the 39 parliamentary seats in Tamil Nadu," Sonia, who was here on a mission to meet DMK chief M. Karunanidhi, said on Friday while addressing a group of her party workers. After advising her party workers, the Congress chief met Karunanidhi. The Congress had in December clinched an alliance with the DMK to jointly fight the elections. The move is aimed at forming a pre- poll alliance of secular parties to take on the ruling BJP-led coalition. The Congress is likely to contest 10 seats in Tamil Nadu and leave the rest for its allies.

Fernandes optimistic on seat-sharing with AIADMK (Go To Top)

          Chennai: NDA convener and Defence Minister George Fernandes on Friday expressed optimism that seat-sharing between the BJP and the AIADMK for the forthcoming general elections would be worked out amicably. Refuting media speculations about his meeting Jayalalitha during the day, Fernandes said, "'I have no such plans." He was talking to newspersons at the Chennai airport On the rival DMK-Congress-led Democratic Progressive Alliance (DPA) having worked out its seat-sharing process while there seemed to be some problems between the BJP and the AIADMK, Fernandes said, "all alliances have some problem or other. Hopefully, the seat-sharing issue would be settled soon." On Deputy Prime Minister LK Advani's statement that the Ram temple at Ayodhya would be built, he said there was ''nothing wrong'' in the statement. "It's only a question of in what form the decision on the temple would be taken, whether by consultations between the parties in dispute or the court order," he added.

EC reserves order on NCP dispute (Go To Top)

          New Delhi: The Election Commission (EC) reserved its orders on the dispute between two factions of the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) over the party flag and symbol `clock' after a three-hour hearing here Friday. Presided over by CEC TS Krishna Murthy, the Commission gave time till Thursday to the faction led by Sangma to file additional documents in support of their claim, if it wished to do so. Praful Patel, leader of the NCP (Pawar), told reporters that the Commission has told both the sides that there would be no more hearing and it would pronounce its order later. The arguments before the Commission saw Pawar and Sangma factions crossing swords with the former arguing that there was "not a whisper of foreign born" in the party's constitution. The Sangma group contended that it should be allotted the party's flag and symbol as it was the only "true follower" of the party ideology, which calls for opposition to any naturalised citizen occupying high office. "Ideology is the foundation of the NCP and this cutting edge resulted in parting company with Congress," Parag Tripathi, senior Supreme Court lawyer representing Sangma faction told the three member EC panel. Senior Supreme Court lawyer Ashok Desai, pleading the case of Pawar group, said that ideology played a "smaller role", and insisted that the party was floated on the issue of secularism.

Hindu radicals protest against V-Day in Agra (Go To Top)

          Agra: The city witnessed angry protests here on Friday over the observance of Valentine's Day that falls on Saturday. Scores of Bajrang Dal activists protested against the love festival, burning effigies and shouting slogans such as "Ban Valentine's Day". The activists carrying banners and placards shouted slogans against the celebrations and appealed people to refrain from celebrating Valentine's Day. Many of them condemned Valentine's Day as "cultural corruption" from the West. "Valentine's Day is symbolic to Western culture and Bajrang Dal activists, all across the country, have been protesting against the celebrations because it's a direct attack on our culture and tradition. We will never let people celebrate it in Agra," said Ram Bhanduria, a Bajrang Dal activist. With its popularity in the country soaring with each passing year, Valentine's Day has also attracted the ire of hardline Hindu groups like the Shiv Sena and the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP), who say that the celebrations are commercialised and offend the country's traditional sensibilities. But, despite the opposition, restaurants, upmarket hotels and retailers have been selling an increasing number of love souvenirs ranging from red balloons and velvet pillows tailor- made for the occasion.

Hashish seized in Kullu (Go To Top)

          Kullu: The local police claimed to have seized hashish worth one crore rupees here Friday. They said the consignment of 25 kilograms of fine quality hashish packed in cloth bags was being transported to New Delhi in car at the time it was intercepted. Police said a four-member gang was operating the business under the garb of a travel agency by sending the contraband to foreign smugglers. One person has been arrested while the rest three, who managed to escape, are yet to be traced. "We have seized 25 kilograms of good quality of hashish. It is not possible to asses the actual price but it will easily be worth one crore rupees. We have arrested one person, but his accomplices managed to escape," Kullu SSP O.P Sharma said. The senior police official said that they had launched a big campaign to check drug peddling in the valley and recovered 165.5 kilograms of cannabis this year and registered 13 cases, many of them involving foreign nationals. Cannabis cultivation, locally known as charas, has mushroomed in Himachal Pradesh, a major tourist destination for its spectacular view of Himalayan peaks and picturesque valleys.

Bird flu scare hits West Bengal poultry sales (Go To Top)

          Kolkata: Poultry sales in the country have been drastically hit by bird flu in South Asia, and the demand is down to a trickle in Kolkata. Although not a single case of avian flu has been reported in the country so far, people have dumped chicken, preferring mutton and fish products. "Mutton prices have increased drastically as nobody is having chicken because of the bird flu. We are eating fish only", said Anita Ray, a customer at a fish market witnessing brisk sales these days. Abdullah Gati, a mutton shopkeeper, said: "Now-a-days, people are not eating chicken at all, causing mutton prices to soar from Rs. 140 to 160 per kilogram."

          Industry watchers estimate a loss of Rs. 850 million since the first bird flu case was reported in Thailand. So far, 19 people have been killed due to the bird flu epidemic sweeping through Asian poultry flocks, and more than 80 million birds have been culled in Asia so far, with Thailand slaughtering by far the most. The human victims are all believed to have caught the flu after coming into contact with infected chickens. But, health officials fear the H5N1 avian flu virus might mix with human influenza and unleash a pandemic among people with no immunity to it.

Indian envoy in Bangladesh receives bomb threat (Go To Top)

          Dhaka: Security has been tightened around the office and the residence of India's Deputy High Commissioner to Bangladesh, Dilip Sinha, after he received a bomb threat. The police in Dhaka's Rajshahi area confirmed that Sinha had received a letter reportedly from the Al Qaeda that threatened to blow up his office unless the diplomat paid Taka 50 million or 851,789 dollars. The letter, which was quoted extensively by the Daily Times, further went on to say that anti-Islamic groups were killing hundreds of Muslims in India and that Bangladeshi Mujahids (freedom fighters) needed funds to go to India to fight the persecutors. The letter dated February 7 carries an address of a small town, Gaibandha, and was posted from another town. It had reached Sinha's office on February 8. The group has identified itself as the Jihadis of Al Qaeda, and has given the diplomat a week to comply.

Tribal woman raped, set on fire (Go To Top)

          Shivpuri: A tribal woman was allegedly raped and then set on fire by her landlord and his friend in Madhya Pradesh's Shivpuri district. She is undergoing treatment at a local hospital. Lila Bai, who has sustained 90 percent burn injuries, was allegedly raped due to non-payment of rent. The police said the landlord and his friend locked Lilabai in a room and raped her on Sunday night before setting her on fire when she threatened to complain about it. "She (Lilabai) said that Laloo and his son Damodar raped me on February 7-8 and then when she tried to file a complaint then they poured kerosene and burnt her. We have arrested the two accused," said Shivpuri police-in-charge TC Usare. A case of attempt to murder and rape has been registered against the accused, the police officer added.

Pak upset by media ploy to 'scuttle' tour (Go To Top)

          Karachi: The Pakistan Government has expressed its dismay and disappointment over what it called the Indian media's campaign to scuttle the Indian cricket team's March-April tour to Pakistan "We are very upset with the various reports coming out in the Indian press, casting doubts over our ability to provide the Indian players security and putting the tour into doubt," one senior official told the News. "One thing I can say for certain, the government is not prepared to accept a late cancellation of the tour at this stage in the context of where relations stand between the two countries at the moment," he added. "A tour cancellation or delay would put the Pakistan Government under pressure because of the backlash which will come from the public which wants the tour to happen and could mean a severance of all cricket ties between the two countries," he warned.

           "The Indians have to understand that our President, Prime Minister and the government have been directly and keenly involved in the series progress and want it to be held on schedule. The Pakistan Cricket Board has been given complete assurances by the government on security and other organizational administrative aspects. The Indian delegation has been given all cooperation and assurances. So, if the Indian Government or Indian cricket board decides to derail the tour at this stage it would have adverse results," an Interior Ministry source, was quoted as saying.

          Commenting on the possible impact the tour would have on elections in India, he said that "making the elections or security an excuse to pull out of the tour was not understandable." "It is not just a case of a cricket tour. It is a case of the image of our country being at stake. More importantly, the Pakistani people want this tour to take place. It is now a matter of prestige for us," the source said.

          PCB officials are also not happy with the Indian media reports, but its spokesman insisted that the PCB had a letter in its possession from the Indian board confirming the tour of three Tests and five one day internationals with the approval of the Indian Government. "Jagmohan Dalmiya in his confirmation letter has outlined clearly the Indian's team's tour has government clearance, and so far, no one from the BCCI has told us anything different," he said. He further pointed out that if the tour was postponed or cancelled, the PCB stood to lose sponsorship worth Rs.65 cr. "We can't even think about the negative impact it would have on us if they don't come," the spokesman said.

          Pakistan's former Test captain Zaheer Abbas pointed out that the Pakistan team had also toured India in 1999 despite direct security threats to the players. "The threats were more real then. Yet, our players went because of the assurances given by the Indian Government. I don't think security is such a big issue. There is another agenda if the Indians are thinking about calling off the tour. It would be a big tragedy and leave the Pakistani people hugely disappointed," he said. Former PCB chief Arif Ali Khan Abbasi warned that if the Indians backed out this time, it would put a big question mark on upcoming events in which Pakistan and India are supposed to play against each other like in the Champions trophy in England. "The sort of public pressure that would be on the government if India cancels or postpones this tour, I don't think it would be in a position to allow the Pakistan board to have cricket relations with India," Abbasi said. "This could upset the international cricket equilibrium and also hit the SAF Games next month in Islamabad," he added. Former Test player Iqbal Qasim pointed out that the Indian players must stop thinking on a personal level and start thinking about the great importance of them playing in Pakistan in the context of relations between the two nations.

A first, ICC deputes 3 officials to monitor Indo-Pak series (Go To Top)

          Karachi: The Anti-Corruption Unit of the International Cricket Council (ICC) has announced the names of three persons who will monitor the forthcoming Test and one-day series between Pakistan and India in Pakistan. Colonel (retired) Muhammad Nur of Pakistan, John Rhodes of Australia and NS Virk of India have been designated as the regional security officers for the month-and-a-half-long tour, should it take off. This is the first time that the ACU has assigned so many security officers for a bilateral cricket series and for carrying out other operational protocols meant to discourage corruption in the game and of matches being fixed. Normally, the ACU deploys just one of its regional security officers for an international series. Under its operational protocol, every regional security officer of the ACU is assigned to cover series of two teams. For example Nur covers Pakistan and Bangladesh. Virk does India and Sri Lanka and Rhodes is posted for all the series played by Australia or New Zealand. Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) spokesman Samiul Hasan confirmed this news when talking to the News. India is scheduled to tour Pakistan to play three Tests and five One-day Internationals from March 5, their first full tour in 14 years. The ACU is viewing the Indian tour with keen interest, especially in the wake of its investigations into the 1999 World Cup match between Pakistan and India and their inquiries into the activities of an Indian bookie Ratan Mehta.