Shiv Sena's Vikhe Patil joins Congress (Go To Top)

          New Delhi: The Congress received a shot in the arm on Wednesday when former Union minister and Shiv Sena leader Balasaheb Vikhe Patil joined the party. He met Congress president Sonia Gandhi who welcomed him into the party fold. "I welcome you back to the party," he quoted Sonia as having told him during his meeting with her. A former Congressman, Patil had been reportedly sulking for over a year since he was removed from the Union Cabinet by the Shiv Sena leadership. Patil had joined the Shiv Sena ahead of the 1998 Lok Sabha elections, and represented Kopergaon constituency in Maharashtra as the Sena candidate in the 12th and 13th Lok Sabha.

Congress to go it alone in Karnataka; 16 JD MLAs join party (Go To Top)

          New Delhi: Karnataka Chief Minister Krishna on Wednesday said his Congress party would fight election on its own in the state. "We have said that we are not going to have any alliances in Karnataka. In Karnataka as I said earlier, the Congress is strong enough to fight on its own," Krishna said addressing a news conference in New Delhi. Karnataka, which is going for Assembly elections along with national elections, is ruled by the Congress party. The state is considered to be one of the very few states, that are the strong bastions of the once unbeatable Congress party.

          The Congress got a big boost in the state when 16 legislators from Janata Dal (United) party joined it on Wednesday. "They have decided and they have conveyed it to me..in writing that all of them are joining Congress party unconditionally to strengthen secular forces in the country and bring back a Congress government in state in Karnataka. And thereby providing maximum number of seats to Congress in Lok Sabha to strengthen Soniaji's hands," Krishna said.The Election Commission is expected to announce shortly the dates for Assembly elections along with the national election, which is expected to be held in April-May, eight months ahead of the schedule.

Jaya allots seven Lok Sabha seats to BJP (Go To Top)

          Chennai: The BJP has been allotted seven Lok Sabha seats in Tamil Nadu for the upcoming elections. Pondicherry is among the seven seats. The ruling All-India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) and a senior BJP leader and Union Minister Sushma Swaraj finalised the pact last evening following an hour-long talk with AIADMK supremo J Jayalalithaa here. Besides the three sitting seats - Coimbatore, Nilgiris and Nagercoil - the BJP, which was clamouring for at least ten seats, was allotted North Chennai, Chidambaram (Reserved) and Dharmapuri in Tamil Nadu and Pondicherry. Jayalalithaa announced the allocation of seats in a party release here.

Over 200 killed, 350 injured in Iran train mishap (Go To Top)

          Tehran: Over 200 people were killed and 350 others injured when a goods train loaded with sulphur, petrol and fertiliser derailed and exploded in north-east Iran, the state news agency reported on Wendesday. "The number of people killed is more than 200," the head of disasters in Khorassan province, Vahid Barakchi, was quoted as saying. Rescue workers are trying to shift more than 350 injured people to nearby hospitals. "The explosion happened when the firefighters and the rescue workers were trying to put out the fire," the official said. "A number of firefighters and local villagers were also killed in the explosion."

Fire breaks out at film's set in Mumbai (Go To Top)

          Mumbai: A major fire broke out on the film sets of director Sanjay Leela Bhansali at Film City at Goregaon in north- west Mumbai on Wednesday morning. The sets were installed for the shooting for the film "Black". No causalities have been reported so far. Four fire engines, three tankers and two ambulances have been rushed to the spot to douse the flames, which broke out at stage number two at 8.45 am, fire brigade sources said. The cause of the fire is yet to be ascertained, the sources added.

French writer exposes Khan's links with LeT (Go To Top)

          New York/Lahore: Pakistani scientist Dr. A.Q. Khan, the man behind the proliferation of nuclear technology to Iran, North Korea and Libya, had connections to terrorist outfits like the Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), claimed a French observer. In an article published in Wall Street Journal's website, French writer Bernard-Henri Levy established Khan's links with the LeT, which he described as a fundamentalist terrorist group at the heart of the Al Qaeda, reports the News. Describing Khan as a 'mad scientist' and a `fanatical Islamist', Levy further goes on to say that Khan sincerely believed that the "bomb should belong, if not to the Ummah itself, at least to its avant-garde, as incarnated by the Al Qaeda."

          Terming Pakistan's nuclear capability "the Islamic Bomb", Levy suggests that, "Pakistan's nuclear weapons need to be secured. They cannot - will not - be secured by Pakistan alone." He also advised that efforts should be made to seek Pakistan's consent for a double-key security system for its nuclear arsenal. It was also inconceivable that Dr. Khan operated alone without orders or cover. "On the one hand, the Pakistani nuclear arsenal is under control, and that not a warhead can budge without the authorities' knowledge, and on the other, Khan was acting alone, working on his own account, with no official connivance," says Levy. Levy believes that Khan was at the centre of an immense network, an incredibly dense web. "There were Dubai front companies, meetings in Casablanca and Istanbul with Iranian colleagues, complicities in Germany and Holland, Malaysian and Philippine agents, and detours through Sri Lanka, with Chinese and London connections - a world of crime and dirty war that the West, mired in a big game that is beginning to get ahead of it, has so blithely allowed to develop," he says in his article.

          He wrote that the terrifying nuclear traffic continued well after the September 11, 2001 attacks in the US. "A list trip to Pyongyang, his 13th, was made in June 2002 by the good Dr Khan; not to mention the ship inspected last August in the Mediterranean, transporting elements of future nuclear plant to Libya. The eyes of the world, emulating the eyes of America, were fixed on Baghdad, while the tentacles of nuclear proliferation were being extended from Karachi."

Record 11 million pound ad revenue likely from Indo-Pak tour (Go To Top)

          Islamabad: A record 11 million pounds in television and advertisement revenue is likely to be generated from the much awaited Test and one-day series between Pakistan and India, with Indian firms contributing a major share of the spoils. "We've never had access to this kind of money before ... it means we're going to be able to do a lot in terms of developing cricket in Pakistan and improving our infrastructure," the News quoted Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) marketing manager Subhan Ahmad as saying in an interview with the Guardian. "Indian companies are certainly investing heavily in Pakistani cricket," he reportedly said. Two of India's biggest companies - Samsung India and Hero Honda - have won rights to be the series' main sponsors, contributing 4.1 million pounds in endorsement deals. Two more Indian companies - Inverse Communication and Madison Outdoor Media Services - will also be among the prominent sponsors, said the report. Riding on massive public interest in the series across the subcontinent, the PCB is expecting to net over five times as much money as it has made from any previous series in Pakistan. Ten Sports, a Dubai-based television station, will broadcast the series, including three Tests and five One-Day Internationals.

Computerised ticketing system for Indo-Pak series: PCB chief (Go To Top)

          Karachi: Keen to limit the chances of counterfeiting and the black-marketing of tickets during the Indo-Pak cricket series, the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has decided to computerize the ticketing system. "We are finalizing a system where a person who buys the ticket (s) would have all his details recorded on computer including his photograph. When he enters the stadium his ticket (s) would be put in the automatic machine which will show up all his details on the computer," the News quoted PCB Chairman Shaharyar Khan as saying.

          Automatic teller machines and computers would be set up at ticket sale outlets across the country and at the entrance of various stadia where the matches are to be played to prevent illegal ticket sales, Khan told reporters on Tuesday. "The tickets would also carry a special security mark," he added. Taking into consideration that time was short for the tickets to be printed and marketed, he said, "We realize this, but because of the delay over the finalization of the itinerary we are holding back the tickets that now have the title sponsor logos. Once the itinerary is finalized, we will put the tickets on sale at outlets and online also. But online tickets can only be purchased through credit cards and we will get all the details of the purchaser."

          He said that the Board would keep a close watch on the number of tickets purchased by a buyer, and efforts would be made to ensure no person buys in bulk. Besides, he said, the tickets would clearly spell out the seat numbers and the details of the rows and enclosures so that spectators face no hassles. Assuring that the price of the tickets would not be on the high side, the PCB chief also made it clear that no free tickets would be given out to anyone.

Indian colts beat Kiwis by 69 runs (Go To Top)

          Dhaka: India maintained their winning streak with a 69-run victory over New Zealand in the ICC Under-19 World Cup cricket here on Wednesday. Rudra Pratap Singh, Abhishek Sharma and Praveen Gupta picked up two wickets each as India bowled out the Kiwis for 146 in 44.5 overs in reply to a modest target of 216 in a Group 'C' match at the Bangabandhu Stadium. At one stage, New Zealand were 94 for two and then 132 for four before their batting collapsed. Delhi 's 18-year-old Abhishek Sharma (2-33) ended the 68-run second wicket partnership between wicketkeeper batsman Bradley Watling and Brad Wilson by having the latter caught by Sunny Singh.