30 million workers go on strike against Supreme Court ruling (Go To Top)

         New Delhi: Millions of workers from the government, financial and industrial sectors went on strike on Tuesday to protest against a Supreme Court ruling against work stoppages. Union leaders said workers ranging from bank employees to electricians and civil servants wearing black badges held rallies outside their offices.

          Union leaders said 30 million workers were taking part in the strike. This strike is basically to demand review of the Supreme Court judgement which says that government employees do not have the right to go on strike. There are two other major issues confronting everyone, one is disinvestment and privatisation of public sector banks and the other is anti-labour policies of the government of India," T.N Goel, president of All India Bank Officers' Confederation, said in New Delhi.

          Economists, however, did not expect much impact. Government workers often strike in India, the world's second-most populous country, crippling services and pinching tax revenues. But in August last year, the Supreme Court said government employees had no right to strike because it inconvenienced citizens and cost the state money. All unions in the financial sector are participating in the strike, including insurance, Reserve Bank of India and banking institutions. Jet Airways, largest private-sector airline, said it would not operate some flights to and from West Bengal and Kerala due to the strike. Other domestic airlines like Sahara Airways and Indian Airlines said there were no schedule changes.

North-east again in grip of bird flu scare (Go To Top)

         Guwahati: More than 1,000 pigeons have died in the Kamakhya temple premises in Guwahati, renewing the scare of the deadly bird flu virus. More than 22 people have been killed by bird flu or avian influenza, which hit South Asia last month. Not a single case of bird flu has so far been reported in India. The temple authorities have not confirmed the disease and said it might be due to food poisoning. "We are not aware about the cause of the death of such a large number of pigeons, but it is assumed that it might be because of food poisoning. As many as 1,000 of pigeons have died within two- three days," said Sibnath Sarmah, chief priest of Kamakhya temple. Taranath Sarmah, publicity secretary of the temple, said autopsy reports of the dead pigeons were awaited. World Health Organisation has warned that bird flu could be more deadly than the SARS outbreak that killed over 800 people worldwide last year. WHO has issued a sharp warning to Asian countries not to relax in the war on the bird flu virus because the epidemic was still spreading. India, the world's second most populous nation with more than one billion people, has banned processed poultry imports. It imports no live birds.

225 ill after taking milk and sweets (Go To Top)

          Jamnagar: Over 225 people, mostly children, were hospitalised after consuming spurious milk and sweets in Jamnagar. The Muslims had gathered near a mosque for a procession marking the month of Muharram, in which they mourn the 7th century slaying of Imam Hussain, a grandson of Prophet Mohammad. Officials said on Monday a sweetmilk concoction mixed with dry fruit and some flavouring was distributed to the crowd. Within hours, the children started showing symptoms of diarrhoea and were rushed to a nearby hospital. No casualty has been reported so far.

BJP saves skin, gets rid of `don' DP Yadav (Go To Top)

          New Delhi: After facing severe criticism from the media over the past few days, the BJP on Tuesday announced that it had "withdrawn" the primary membership extended to Rajya Sabha member and western UP don D.P. Yadav. BJP president M.Venkiah Naidu announced this while addressing reporters after introducing Arif Mohammad Khan and Lakshman Singh, the younger brother of former Madhya Pradesh chief minister Digvijay Singh, to the media. Naidu said that the decision was taken after having spoken to Yadav. "Yadav called me in the morning and said that if the party's image was suffering due to my induction, I am willing to walk out of the party for its sake," Naidu quoted him as saying.

          Yadav, a known history-sheeter, was inducted into the party on February 20 amid much fanfare. Besides, the BJP president, party general secretaries Pramod Mahajan and Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi were also present at the press briefing at which Yadav formally joined the party on that day. Immediately after joining the BJP, Yadav had attracted a lot of media attention even as the party was severely criticized for inducting a "criminal" into its fold.

          Though, the party's senior leadership and Yadav himself said that the decision of his joining the BJP was taken with the "full knowledge" of the party's top leaders, including Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee and his deputy L.K. Advani, it was widely believed that the move was taken by Mahajan-Naidu duo "in haste." On Friday evening, after joining the BJP, Yadav had told ANI that he had simply gone to meet Mahajan to discuss the possibilities of entering into the party fold. "Pramodji hurriedly called up Naiduji on his telephone and proposed the idea. I was handed over the phone and Naiduji directed me to meet him at the party office at Ashoka Road. And, in less than half-an-hour, I was presented before the media and declared as having joined the BJP. It all happened very fast," Yadav said.

Najma remark 'unfortunate' (Go To Top)

          New Delhi: Rajya Sabha Deputy Chairperson Najma Heptulla's attack on Congress president Sonia Gandhi has been termed as unwarranted and unfortunate. Party spokesman Anand Sharma said on Tuesday that it was pertinent to point out that in 1998, Heptulla was re-elected to the Rajya Sabha following a personal intervention of Sonia Gandhi. In a recent interview with NDTV, Najma was quoted as saying that she was really sorry to say that there was no respect left for senior leaders and party workers in the Congress. Sharma recalled that Heptulla had hurt the sentiments of rank and file of the party two years ago when she had accepted an RSS award from its chief K Sudarshan and showered all praise on the organisation.

AIADMK hopeful of winning all 40 seats (Go To Top)

          Chennai: Tamil Nadu's ruling All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Khazgham (AIADMK) party said on Tuesday it aimed at sweeping all the 40 seats from the region in the forthcoming national elections. The AIADMK, an ally of the Central ruling BJP, reached an agreement on seat sharing for 39 seats in Tamil Nadu and one seat in neighbouring tiny Pondicherry. "For the coming Lok Sabha elections, the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Khazgham will win all 40 seats. We will work hard to win all the seats and we will dedicate the victory to Jayalalitha," said Mohammad Ibrahim, a leader of AIADMK, on the occasion of state chief Jayaram Jayalalitha's birthday celebrations in Chennai.

EC to strictly monitor poll expenses (Go To Top)

          New Delhi: India's top poll panel on Tuesday said it will strictly monitor campaign-related expences of candidates during the forthcoming national elections. Deputy election commissioner A.N. Jha said the commission will also liaise closely with the Income Tax department to keep tab on expences by parties for the ensuing polls. "A link will be established by the Income Tax department so that the expenditure statements which come later can be scrunitised. We are setting up an system for the sharing of information," Jha told a news conference in New Delhi.

          Jha had announced on Monday Deputy Prime Minister Lal Krishna Advani will not be entitled to fly official Indian Air Force planes for campaigning, an exemption made for Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee. The election commission had earlier said it would exempt travel expenses of a few top political leaders from the spending per constituency limit, currently capped at 2.5 million rupees.

         Political parties are gearing up for an early national election, which is expected to be held in April-May. Vajpayee's National Democratic Alliance has called for early elections, instead of going full term to October, in a bid to capitalise on a booming economy, strong gains in state polls and prospects of peace with Pakistan. The Commission last week announced that the polls would be held in four phases but it stopped short of announcing dates for the vote.

In-flight Internet set to take off! (Go To Top)

          London: Soon the days of compensating air travel stress with a gin and tonic or a film and a snooze will end. From next month, two airlines will launch an in-flight Internet access service, bringing e-mail to 40,000 ft for the first time. According to the Telegraph, the hermetically sealed tube in the sky has succumbed to broadband satellite links and wireless networking. Passengers on Lufthansa and the Emirates with laptops will have access to all office-related facilities within the cramped confines of their airline seats. British Airways is expected to follow suit later this year. The satellite link will also enable aircraft to show up to 12 channels of live television.

Pak troops move against Al Qaeda, Taliban (Go To Top)

         Islamabad: A major operation to flush out Al Qaeda and Taliban suspects from the remote Wajiristan tribal agency bordering Afghanistan was launched by Pakistan's armed forces today. The security forces are believed to be concentrating their efforts near Zarodai, where it is rumored that Al Qaeda chief Osama Bin Laden is holed up with some of his close aides. The state-run PTV quoted Pakistan's Information Minister Sheikh Rashid Ahmed as saying that only national troops were being used for the operation. Interior Minister Makhdoom Faisal Saleh Hayat confirmed that about 10,000 troops had been moved into the area for the operation. In Afghanistan, American and Afghan troops have reportedly mobilized themselves to prevent the militants from crossing over.

If caught, Osama will be handed over to US: Pak (Go To Top)

         Islamabad: Pakistan will hand over the most wanted man on earth, Osama Bin Laden, to the US if he is caught on its soil, the country's Foreign Minister Khurshid Mehmood Kasuri has said. Stating this here Monday, he said that the amnesty offered by President Musharraf, where foreigners surrendering in Pakistan would not be handed over to any power, would not apply to Osama Bin Laden. "If somebody had committed a crime against the US that is separate issue," the News quoted him as saying. However, Kasuri said that Islamabad had neither received any request from the US to provide it bases nor it would provide such facilities to the US Army to launch anti-Osama operation in Pakistani territory.

Pak for bilateral resolution to LoC, water treaty issues (Go To Top)

         Islamabad: Amid the ongoing thaw in relations with India, Pakistan has decided to resolve the issues of fencing along the Line of Control (LoC) and violation of the Indus Water Treaty bilaterally, the country's Foreign Minister Khurshid Mehmood Kasuri reportedly said Monday. Kasuri said Pakistan would hold bilateral talks on these issues with the Indian leadership, instead of raising them at international forums. "Due to the recent thaw between the two countries, Pakistan will not raise the LoC fencing at international fora," the News quoted him saying at a press conference. Stating that Pakistan would also not be taking up water disputes with India at international fora, the minister said: "Even in case of certain violations of the Indus Water Treaty by India, in case of building new dams, and despite certain clauses in the treaty about appealing to international fora, Pakistan has decided to discuss these issues with India bilaterally."

Sr. Bush stopped me from assembling nukes: Benazir (Go To Top)

          Islamabad: Pakistan's former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto has admitted that there was a time when the United States pressured and prevented her government from assembling nuclear devices, and even a nuclear bomb. In an interview with the BBC, Bhutto said that Washington's pressure forced her to convince the then President and the army not to assemble the nuclear devices. "I sat down and convinced the President and the army and co-opted the nuclear scientists to ensure there were no export of nuclear weapons and that we would not put together our nuclear devices," she was quoted by the News, as saying. Referring to the negotiations that her government had with the administration of President George H. Bush Sr., she said the U.S. government was then very worried about Pakistan's nuclear programme.

Pak assures visas to Indian cricket fans with tickets (Go To Top)

          Islamabad: Pakistan has assured to issue visas to all Indian cricket fans who manage to buy tickets for the cricket series between the two countries beginning March 13, the country's Interior Minister Faisal Saleh Hayat has said. "We expect around 8000-10,000 Indian fans altogether during the Indian cricket series and our High Commission in Delhi has been instructed to issue visas to ticket-holders in a smooth manner," the News quoted Hayat as saying Monday. According to the report, Pakistan has ordered its embassy to issue travel visas to anyone holding tickets. The cricket series between the two cricketing rivals is being held after nearly 15 years. In a related development, the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has ruled out segregating Indian and Pakistan fans, saying the Indians will be mixed with the home supporters.

          Meanwhile, the PCB has decided to launch ticket sales on the Internet. But, the tickets would be sold through outlets and booths seven days before a match. It had been decided to put on sale 30 to 40 per cent of the total tickets on the Internet and the remaining would be sold through booths and outlets, PCB chief executive Rameez Raja reportedly said. "We have also ensured that there is no bulk buying of tickets on the Internet, or in booths by allowing a maximum of 10 tickets per person/credit card," he said. "Obviously there would be attempts to black market the tickets, but we have put into place some measures to catch such people. While we have taken stringent measures to ensure there is no counterfeiting of tickets," he said. He further said that the Indian cricket fans would be sold a certain percentage of the tickets on the Net and tour operators will have to approach the PCB directly for bulk sales. The PCB is said to have kept a maximum price of Rs 1500 on the tickets and Rs 100 for the general enclosures for the series.

          The PCB head expressed his complete satisfaction over the revenue being generated from the series through sale of television, radio and Internet rights, sponsorship and advertising deals, merchandising and sale of tickets. "On the basis of deals we have sealed and signed we will be making over Rs 120 cr from the series and this does not include revenue from sale of tickets," he said. According to Rameez, Board Chairman Shaharyar Khan will announce all details of the sponsorship and other deals live at a press conference and on television. "All I can say is we have not earned this sort of money from any other series," he added.