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Sonia is Indian, she can become PM: Basu

         Kolkata: The "Bhishma Pitamah" of West Bengal politics Jyoti Basu has said that as per the Constitution, the Congress president Sonia Gandhi is an Indian and she can become the country's prime minister like any other Indian citizen. "I don't think it (foreign origin issue) is having much effect. I don't know in the northern part of India but here it doesn't have any effect. But there are some people even in the Congress who talked about this foreign origin," Basu reportedly said in an interview with a TV channel. The veteran CPM leader added: "But it need not stop her - if she wants to become the prime minister as the leader of the largest party - because under the Constitution she is an Indian citizen. She has all the rights that the Indian citizens have."

           In his opinion, the ongoing general elections would result in a hung parliament and the next prime minister will have to be chosen by consensus. "It looks to me that it will be a hung parliament and the parties will now have to sit together and think of a coalition. There is a lot to discuss. It cannot be any party's programme but a minimum common programme as we have in West Bengal. Of course, a prime minister will then have to be chosen," said Basu, a former chief minister of West Bengal who own his own stepped down after ruling the state for 23 years. To keep the NDA out, he said his party would support Sonia as a prime ministerial candidate despite the issue of her foreign origin. The CPM could play a crucial role in putting together a non-BJP government, he added.

CJI sees prosecution collusion in Gujarat riots case (Go To Top)

         New Delhi: There was an understanding between the accused and prosecution in Gujarat, and the Supreme Court had stepped in to protect the victims and witnesses in the post- Godhra riot cases, Supreme Court Chief Justice V.N. Khare said on Saturday. Khare, who is set to retire on Sunday, in an interview with a leading news agency said: "There was no prosecution in the riot cases at all. Therefore, the Supreme Court stepped in to break the collusion between the prosecution and the accused. What will happen to the victims and witnesses if the prosecution and the accused collude throwing the rule of law to the wind." He added: "I gave a new dimension to criminal jurisprudence as on the one hand one Bench of the Supreme Court monitored the progress of prosecution in riot cases while another Bench decided on the judicial side the correctness of the High Court order (in acquitting the accused in Best Bakery case)." Meanwhile, in a related development during the day, Justice Rajendra Babu was sworn in as the country's next Chief Justice. He will take over from Justice Khare tomorrow. The new CJI would be in office for nearly a month.

SC notice to Meghalaya Assembly Speaker (Go To Top)

          Shillong: The Supreme Court has issued notice to the Meghalaya Assembly Speaker and six MLAs who had defected from opposition NCP and joined the ruling Congress-led coalition last December attracting the anti-defection law. A division bench comprising Chief Justice VN Khare, Justices Rajendra Babu and S H Kapadia served the notice on Friday giving them six weeks time to reply. The NCP had filed a special leave petition on January 14, party's lawyer said. The order asked Speaker Martin M Danggo why his order dated December 17 last would not be set aside in which he had recognised the breakway NCP group led by Cyprian R Sangma as the Meghalaya Nationalist Congress Party and allotted them separate seats in the state assembly. The six MLAs led by Sangma, who had split the 14-member NCP in December and floated the MNCP before joining the Lapang government, were asked why they should not be disqualified for attracting anti-defection laws. The SLP sought quashing the Speaker's order of December 17 on the ground that before recognising the MNCP and allotting them separate seats he did not give any opportunity to the NCP leadership and thereby 'violated natural justice'.

Unexpected rain fuels hope of bumber apple crop (Go To Top)

          Kullu: Apple growers in Himachal Pradesh, the largest producer of apples in the country, are jubilant after an unexpected rain bonanza raised hopes of a bumper crop. Orchads across the Kullu valley are blossoming with beautiful white flowers as a good snowfall, which works as a natural fertilizer, kept the plants pest free besides providing the requisite moisture. Growers say the rainfall, unexpected at this time of the year, has cooled off the region giving the crop the minimum required "chilling" hours, which helps prevent the shedding. "It is unpredictable weather. God has given us such a wonderful weather...all the gardners and farmers are very happy," Nakul Khullar, a grower, said. The maximum temperature for apple cultivation should be 24 degree Celsius. The state horticulture department estimates that with the temperatures remaining under control, the production will cross expectations. "Our projection about apple prodution was around 100,000 metric tons but I think it will go much beyond our expectation," Tek Chand Dogra, Kullu district horticulture officer, said. In 2003, Himachal Pradesh had a very favourable 348,263 metric tons of apple produce. This year farmers are estimating a massive 459,492 metric tons of production, the highest ever for the beautious state.

MP Governor Ram Prakash Gupta dies (Go To Top)

          New Delhi: Madhya Pradesh Governor and former Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Ram Prakash Gupta died on Saturday at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences in New Delhi after a prolonged illness. Gupta, 82, who breathed his last at 11.45 a.m., was admitted to the hospital on April 21. Gupta, who had taken over as Governor of Madhya Pradesh in May last year, is survived by his wife and two sons. He was the 13th Governor of the state. Gupta was born in village Sukwan-Dhukwan of Jhansi district in Uttar Pradesh on October 26, 1923. His father Gopalkrishna Gupta later shifted to Sikandrabad in Bulandshahar district. Here he completed his high school. Ram Prakash Gupta passed M.Sc. (Mathematics) in the first division from Allahabad University. He was associated with Rashtriya Swayam Sevak Sangh (RSS) from his student days. After completion of studies, he fully devoted himself to R.S.S. activities. During his student life, he also participated actively in the freedom movement in Balia district. From 1946 onwards, he started working as a RSS "Prachark". He was elected as a member of the Uttar Pradesh Legislative Council in 1964 and appointed as the Minister for Legislative Affairs of Jansangh Party. He was made Deputy Chief Minister and Education Minister in the first non-Congress Government formed under the leadership of Chowdhary Charan Singh in 1967. In 1998 Gupta was appointed as the Vice Chairman of Uttar Pradesh Planning Board. In 1999 he became the Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh and continued for eleven months.

Pakistan arrests 13 Indian fishermen (Go To Top)

          Karachi: Pakistan Maritime Security Agency apprehended 13 Indian fishermen including a boy alongwith two boats for illegal fishing in its territorial waters in the Arabian Sea and handed them over to police on Saturday in Karachi. The apprehended fishermen are Hindus and natives of Gujarat. Rab Nawaz Niazi, a sub-inspector of police from Docks police station, Karachi, said a case has been registered against the fishermen. "They are 13 fishermen. They were in two boats. They were catching fish in Pakistani territorial waters. Pakistan Navy, MSA (Maritime Security Agency) arrested them yesterday at 9:am and handed them over to us this morning at about 8:am. We have registered a case against them," said Niazi. Kandhi, an arrested Indian fisherman from Dev, said the boats strayed into the water because it was too dark in the night. "I had left Porbandar for fishing. It became dark and we didn't know where the boats were going. Then came Pakistan Coast Guard and arrested us, and brought us here in Pakistan," he said. The MSA has arrested more than 100 Indian fishermen since November 2003. The coast guards of both countries routinely detain each other's fishermen for straying across maritime borders.

US names five Pak organizations as terror outfits (Go To Top)

          Islamabad: As many as five Pakistani organizations including Harkatul Mujahidin (HUM), Lashkar-e-Tayyiba (LT), Lashkar I Jhangvi (LJ), Hizbul Mujahedin (HM) and Sipah-I- Sahaba Pakistan (SSP) are from among 37 other foreign organizations which have been designated as "terrorist organizations" by the US State Department. According to a report in the Online News, the State Department released the list of terrorist organizations on April 29 in a report titled "Patterns of Global Terrorism". About 40 other terrorist groups are named in the annual report, the news agency said.

Five Indians find pride of place in Wisden list (Go To Top)

          New Delhi: Virender Sehwag, Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid, VVS Laxman and ace spinner Anil Kumble have made it to this year's Wisden's list of world's 40 top cricketers in which Australian captain Ricky Ponting has been named as the Leading Cricketer of the World. Only Australia with 14 players and South Africa have more players than India in the prestigious list that appears in the 141st edition of this cricketing bible. Four Pakistanis  captain Inzamam-ul-Haq, Shoaib Akhtar, Yousuf Youhana and Mushtaq Ahmed  also figure in the book that has on its cover the picture of former and present Aussie captains Steve Waugh and Ponting. Dravid had a phenomenal 2003, scoring 803 runs in five Tests at an average of 100.37. In one-dayers he compiled 623 runs in 23 matches. Sehwag had an average of 52.20 in five Tests and 32.25 in 27 one-dayers. Tendulkar had a dismal outing in Tests managing just 153 runs from five Tests but made up for it by his show in the one-dayers in which he scored 1441 runs from 21 matches at an average of 57.05. Laxman compiled 595 runs at an average of 85.00 in Tests and 232 runs at 29.00 in eight ODIs. Kumble claimed 21 wickets in four Tests at an average of 36.42 and 13 wickets in 10 ODIs (25.76) during the year.