All 91 UP ministers quit to meet downsize deadline

          Lucknow: In a major overhaul of governments, ministers across the states, including Uttar Pradesh, resigned, in a bid to help their chief ministers downsize the government. The move comes in the wake of an amendment in the Constitution, which restricts the size of the ministry to 15 per cent of the total seats in legislatures. The new law comes into effect from July 7.

           In Uttar Pradesh, which has the largest cabinet, all 91 ministers resigned. Chief minister Mulayam Singh Yadav faces the uphill task of pruning his team to 61, and is expected to announce the new names by Saturday. "It was very difficult for me to accpet the resignations. They (legislators) were very happy to tender their resignations. They were all very excited," Singh told reporters in Lucknow. Analysts say Singh, who is sure to face much bickering, heartburns and infighting on the issue will try and soften the axe for some, by giving chairmanships of various state corporations. In Maharashtra as well, all ministers of the Congress party, ruling the state in coalition with regional parties, resigned. The ministry will be chopped from 65 to 43. "There was a meeting at my residence early in the morning and after the meeting all the cabinet ministers resigned. Six ministers were not there at that time, they have also tendered their resignations here," chief minister Sushilkumar Shinde told reporters in Mumbai.

           In Bihar as well all eight ministers of the Congress, a junior coalition partner with the ruling Rashtriya Janata Dal, put in their papers. India has been trying aggressively to prune its mammoth employee base, costing billions to the state exchequer. But efforts to axe those in state-run offices and corporations, many of them running in loss for decades, have seldom gone without opposition, as poverty and unemployment lead to frustratred workers staging massive and often violent protests.

Sena activists demand Mufti ouster (Go To Top)

          Amritsar: Dozens of Shiv Sena activists on Wednesday demanded the removal of J-K chief minister Mufti Mohammad, saying he had failed to ensure safety of pilgrims to the Amarnath cave shrine. They also demanded an extension of the pilgrimage by a month and an increase in the number of devotees. The state government has agreed to increase the duration of the pilgrimage by 15 days. Several times in the past, the annual pilgrimage to the holy Amarnath cave shrine has been targeted by Islamic militants. "In Jammu and Kashmir, Hindu pilgrims going to the cave shrine of Amarnath have been attacked on many occasions.The government has not been able to contain this violence. We appeal to the federal government that the chief minister should be made to resign and the pilgrimage be extended to two months," Raman Pahalwan, regional chief of Shiv Sena, said. The protesters also burned an effigy of Mufti Mohammad Sayeed. Every year, hundreds of thousands of devotees trek the steep, slippery 48-kilometre Amarnath cave shrine.Amarnath stands at a height of nearly 12,500 feet above sea level.

Jakhar new MP Governor (Go To Top)

          Bhopal: Former Union Minister Balram Jhakar took over as the Governor of Madhya Pradesh.Chief Minister Uma Bharati, however, took the opportunity to lash out at Congress president Sonia Gandhi. Balram Jhakar was administered the oath of office by the Chief Justice of Madhya Pradesh High court Justice Rajiv Gupta. Jhakar took oath in Sanskrit. "I have welcomed it earlier and express my happiness even today. He has a long experience as Speaker and a Union Minister for an important portfolio like agriculture. He is a veteran parliamentarian and belongs to a farmer family.His coming is a pleasant feeling for me," said Uma Bharati. But Uma did not have kind words for Sonia Gandhi and accused her of preventing the progress of the state. "They want to stop the electricity generation in Madhya Pradesh through Harsud. Roads and electricity, two major aspects of development, are being prevented. And all these things are happening at the behest of Sonia Gandhi.There are some protege of Sonia Gandhi here and they want to please Sonia and hamper the development of the state," alleged Uma Bharati.

China not in favour of granting nuclear status to India, Pak (Go To Top)

          New Delhi: China has stated that it does not want India and Pakistan to be recognised as nuclear powers. The Chinese Assistant Foreign Minister Shen Guofang made these remarks while talking to reporters in Beijing yesterday. "In our region we have seen many wars and conflicts, which have been either due to historical reasons or mutual no confidence. So we believe that peace and development should be the main principles and policies for the countries in this region," He reportedly said when asked to comment on whether New Delhi and Islamabad should be recognised as nuclear powers along with Britain, China, France, the United States and Russia. He further said that the international community should stick to the principles of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) as well as the spirit of the UN Security Council resolution, which was passed soon after the nuclear tests conducted by India and Pakistan. "The international community should stick to the spirit and principles enshrined in the NPT as well as the consensus reached in UN Security Council resolution 1172," media reports quoted him as saying.

Hundreds protest against 'puppet' Govt in Iraq (Go To Top)

          New Delhi: Hunderds communists on Wednesday protested against what they termed as "puppet" government in Iraq. The activists marched down the streets of New Delhi, shouting slogans against U.S President George Bush, who termed his administration's low key handover of power in Iraq, as new reign of freedom. The Bush administration put a celebratory face on Tuesday's handover of power, which formally ended 14 months of U.S.-led occupation in a modest ceremony that was moved up by two days partly to foil possible guerrilla attacks. Bush followed up the transition by renewing his call for countries across the Middle East to embrace democratic reforms. He had said ousting President Saddam Hussein was aimed at making the whole region more peaceful and more democratic. Critics, however, said his Iraq policy was a diplomatic failure that tarnished U.S. relations with long-standing allies and stirred anti-American anger in the Muslim world. They said it could still result in civil war.