Karnataka impasse over, 10 ministers sworn in

          Bangalore: The eight-day old Congress-JD (S) coalition ministry in Karnataka was expanded on Saturday with the induction of ten new ministers. Five ministers from the Congress and JD (S), each, were inducted into the state ministry here at a simple ceremony. State Governor TN Chaturvedi administered the oath of office and secrecy to the new ministers. The new ministers are: M. Mallikarjun Kharge, Prakash Hukkeri, K. Srinivasa Gowda, S.R. More and Tanvir Sait from the Congress, and MP Prakash, PGR Sindhia, HD Revanna, D Manjunath and Mirajuddin Patel from the JD (S). While Sait was sworn in as a minister of state, the rest were given cabinet rank.

12 killed in Nalanda district (Go To Top)

         Patna: Unidentified gunmen shot dead 12 persons, at Dinar village in Bihar's Nalanda district on Friday night. Twelve heavily-armed persons stormed the "Pankaj Brick-kiln" in the village under the Asthawan Police Station late last night and opened fire the labourers. Superintendent of Police, Nalanda, Amit Lodha was quoted as saying. Kamata Prasad, the owner of the Kiln, and eight labourers were killed on the spot. A dispute over the running of the brick-kiln was stated to be the cause for the attack. The proprietor of an adjoining brick-kiln, Vijay Kumar, has been taken into custody. Further investigations have been ordered into the incident.

TUs pitch for higher EPF, PPF, GPF rates, fuel price cuts (Go To Top)

         New Delhi: Major trade unions today pitched for restoring 12 per cent return on small savings schemes, including EPF, PPF and GPF, as a social security to the salaried class and a cut in LPG, kerosene, diesel and petrol prices to check inflation. These demands were made at a three-hour pre-budget meeting with Finance Minister P Chidambaram. Left trade unions, particularly CITU and AITUC, demanded that the income tax limit be raised to Rs one lakh and stringent action be taken to recover outstanding dues of over Rs 87,000 crore. They also asked the government to increase taxes on companies.

Five terrorists killed in J and K (Go To Top)

         Mendar (Jammu): At least five terrorists were shot dead in an encounter with the defence forces in Kashmir here Saturday. The slain terrorists, belonging to a Pakistan-based rebel outfit, were holed up at a house in Mendar village, 322 km from Jammu during a counter-insurgency operation. A huge quantity of arms and ammunitions and a state-of-the-art cellular phone with GSM, fax, e-mail and other facilities were also recovered from their bodies. Two Indian Army soliders were also killed in the encounter. "We intercepted two groups in Saujia and Sunegali. We carried out an operation and two of the guerrillas were killed in Saujia and three were killed in Sunegali. We lost two of our soldiers," R.K Sharma, an Indian Army official said while giving details.

India concerned over Nepal insurgency: Natwar (Go To Top)

         Kathmandu: New Delhi is much concerned at the problem of Maoists in Nepal and gave the "highest" importance to resolving the ongoing political turmoil in the Himalayan kingdom. Indian External Affairs Minister Naywar Singh, who was on a two- day visit here, said this on Saturday. "It (the situation in Nepal) is of concern not only for Nepal but also to India because they are our closest neighbours. We have very friendly ties with them but from time to time we have to take stock of the situation. And since there has been a kind of a political vacuum we give this the highest priority," Singh told a news conference. Singh also appealed to former Nepal prime minister Girija Prasad Koirala to take an active and constructive part in solving the crisis. "Koirala has a very key role to play and I respectfully said to him that as the senior most political leader in Nepal everybody looked up to him to take the lead in resolving the crisis," he said. Singh's visit to Kathmandu is his first trip abroad since taking over last month and underlines the importance India attached to ties with the restive kingdom.

        His statement comes as the new Nepali Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba appealed to Maoist guerrillas to resume talks, an offer rejected both by the rebels and the biggest political party, saying it would not end the kingdom's woes. The Maoists, meanwhile, have said the appointment of the 57-year- old Deuba as prime minister would only exacerbate a civil war that is thought to have cost 9500 lives since 1996. The guerrillas, who want to turn the small Himalayan country into a communist republic, insist on elections for an assembly to write a new constitution to decide the role of the monarchy.

Laloo vows to cleanse mafia influence from Railways (Go To Top)

         Gorakhpur: Railway Minister Laloo Prasad Yadav on Saturday visited Gorakhpur railway station as part of his visit to different parts of the country so as to ensure cleanliness in stations and ensure smooth functioning of railways. Admitting that Banaras and Gorakhpur had a strong scrap mafia, Laloo said: "We won't allow scrap mafia to work at any cost. I have decided to uproot mafia." Commenting on the deteriorating condition of security in Railways, Laloo said: "I won't allow any rowdyism and take proper security measures." He also added that he would streamline the duty hours of railway drivers so as to avoid accidents and have more efficiency. The minister said that he won't allow railway wheels to be imported from outside the country. "We have ordered to make wheels in the country. I won't allow country's money to go outside. We will import technologies and set up factories here. That will increase employment." Ruling out retrenchment or introducing voluntary retirement schemes, he said that the Railways would not ask any employee to retire before time. On the occasion, Laloo also categorically ruled out privatisation of the Railways. "If there is any talk of privatisation in railways, I would step down," he said.

Al Khobar blast victim's body returns home (Go To Top)

          Mangalore: Relatives of Lawrence Gregory Monis, an Indian victim of last week's Al Khobar killings, received his body here on Saturday. Monis was later among the eight Indians killed in the shooting and hostage-taking attack on May 29 in Saudi Arabia. Lewellyn Monis, the son of the deceased, and other relatives received the body. The body was taken to their native place at Madanthyar, around 40 km from Mangalore. Monis was shot at point blank range by some people dressed like police officers when his car stopped at a signal. "He (Monis) was on his way to the office from home, at 7.10 a.m (local time), waiting at a traffic signal opposite the Al-Khabor hospital when the terrorists opened fire at him. It is a great loss to us," said a relative. The 46-year old was working in an insurance company in Saudi Arabia since 1982.

US-led coalition may to hand over Saddam to Iraqis (Go To Top)

          United Nations: Ousted Iraqi President Saddam Hussain may be handed over to the Iraqi authorities soon. Moves are also afoot too hand over the charge of prisons to Iraqis as a part of the transfer of sovereignty on June 30. Western diplomats said they would like this transfer to take place as soon as possible and that would include the transfer of custody of Saddam Hussain and his top officials.