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Monsoon hits southern coast early

            Thiruvananthapuram: India's crucial southwest monsoon, accounting for 80 percent of the rainfall in the country, has arrived days early in Kerala. The rains, welcomed with jubilation by farmers and city dwellers, have brought them the much-needed relief after a scorching summer. The monsoon normally hits Kerala on June 1 before progressing to other parts of the country during June-September. "This monsoon for 2004, for the country, it has come to Kerala on the 18th of this month. Normally, 1st June is normal time but it has come early in Kerala," Bhaskaran Nair, in-charge of the meteorological department here said. India's weather office has forecast a near normal monsoon rain this year with a five percent probability of deficient rains, suggesting brisk growth for the economy after a strong 2003. The weather office has said there was "zero" probability of a drought in parts of Karnataka and Kerala, where the rains have not been so good over the past two years.

67 ministers sworn in (Go To Top)

          New Delhi: Senior Congress leader Pranab Mukherjee, RJD chief Laloo Prasad Yadav and NCP leader Sharad Pawar were on Saturday sworn in as Cabinet ministers in the 68-member Congress-led coalition headed by Manmohan Singh at the Ashoka Hall of Rashtrapati Bhawan. Among the first to be administered the oath of office by President Abdul Kalam was Manmohan Singh. His team included 28 Cabinet ministers and 39 ministers of state. Arjun singh, K Natwar Singh, Ghulam Nabi Azad, P R Dasmunsi, Shankersinh Vaghela, P M Sayeed and H R Bhardwaj were other Congress eladers taken into the ministry. Laloo's senior colleague Raghuvansh Prsasad Singh, LJP president Ram Vilas Paswan, JMM Chief Shibu Soren and TRS Chief K Chandrashekhar Rao were also inducted into the Cabinet. DMK leaders who got Cabient berths were T R Balu, Dayanidhi Maran and A Raja. PMK Chief S Ramadoss' son Ambumani Ramadoss also made it to the Cabinet.

          Other Congress leaders who got into the Cabinet were: Kamal Nath, S Jaipal Reddy, Shish Ram Ola, P Chidamabaram, Mahavir Prasad, P R Kyndiah, Mani Shankar Aiyer, Sunil Dutt and Meira Kumar. Former Lok Sabha Speaker Shivraj Patil and former Deputy Speaker PM Sayeed both of whom were defeated in the recent Lok Sabha polls were also inducted in the ministry. Portfolios were not announced. Clad in white kurta pyjama and blue turban Manmohan Singh became the country's 14th Prime Minister. Santosh Mohan Deb and Jagdish Tytler, Oscar Fernandes, Renuka Choudhary, Subodh Kant Sahay, Kapil Sibal, Vilas Muttemwar, all Congress, were sworn in as ministers of state with independent charge. Selja (Cong), Praful Patel (NCP), Prem Chandra Gupta (RJD) were also sworn in as ministers of state with independent charge. E Ahmed (IUML), Suresh Pachauri (Cong), B K Handique (Cong), Padma Lakshmi (Cong), D Narain Rao (Cong), Shakeel Ahmed (Cong) were sworn in as ministers of state.

          Others sworn in as Ministers of State were Congress' Rao Inderjeet Singh, Narain Bhai Rathwa, K Rehman Khan, K H Muniappa, M V Rajsekharan. Kanti Lal Bhuria, Manik Rao Gavit, Sri Prakash Jaiswal and Prithviraj Chauhan, all Cong and RJD's Taslimuddin were also sworn in as ministers of state. Suryakanta Patil of NCP, M A A Fatimi, Kanti Singh, Jayaprakash Narayan Yadav and Akhilesh Singh of RJD, A Narendra of TRS, R Velu of PMK, Palani Manickam, S Raghupathy, a Venkatapathy and Subbalakshmi Jagdeeshan of DMK and E V K Elangovan, Namo Narayan Meena of Congress were sworn in as ministers of state. Outgoing Prime Minister A B Vajpayee and five former Premiers including I K Gujral, V S Chandrashekhar, V P Singh, Narasimha Rao and H D Deve Gowda were present at the swearing-in ceremony.

UPA ministers fumble over English pronunciation (Go To Top)

          New Delhi: It was a much awaited and heralded event. Nine days after doing the impossible of turning the tables on the Atal Bihari-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA), Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's selected 68 members of the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) were sworn in as ministers at an impressive and colourful ceremony at Rashtrapati Bhavan this evening. But the landmark event had its share of unexpected faux pax. Of the 28 Cabinet Ministers (18 from the Congress) and 39 Ministers of State, only three of them could correctly pronounce or figure out the difference between the words conscientious and conscious. Of the three, only Mani Shanker Aiyer, an ex-foreign service officer and Rajiv Gandhi's key speechwriter during his term as Prime Minister (1984-1989) pronounced the word correctly. Former Finance Minister P.Chidambaram and probably Mahavir Prasad absolutely fumbled over the word when taking their oath of office and secrecy in the august presence of President A.P.J. Abdul Kalam.

           For the record, 18 Congress veterans found their way back into the Ministry. Among them were Pranab Mukherjee, Arjun Singh, K Natwar Singh, Ghulam Nabi Azad, P R Dasmunsi, Shankersinh Vaghela, P M Sayeed and H R Bhardwaj, Kamal Nath, S Jaipal Reddy, Shish Ram Ola, P Chidamabaram, Mahavir Prasad, P R Kyndiah, Mani Shankar Aiyer, Sunil Dutt and Meira Kumar. A surprise inclusion was former Lok Sabha Speaker Shivraj Patil and former Deputy Speaker P M Sayeed both of whom were defeated in the general elections. NCP Chief Sharad Pawar, RJD President Laloo Prasad Yadav and his senior colleague Raghuvansh Prsasad Singh, LJP President Ram Vilas Paswan, JMM Chief Shibu Soren and TRS Chief K Chandrashekhar Rao were also inducted into the Cabinet. The other UPA members given a berth in the cabinet were DMK leaders T R Balu, Dayanidhi Maran and A Raja, besides PMK Chief Ramadoss' son Ambumani Ramadoss.

11 of marriage party die as boat capsizes (Go To Top)

          Ghazipur: Strong winds capsized a boat, drowning at least 11 people of a marriage party in the Ganga in Ghazipur on Friday. The incident occurred late in the night in Ghazipur, when the party was returning after attending a marriage in Varanasi. The bodies were fished out of the river early morning on Saturday. Although the boat was carrying 40 people, a few managed to swim to safety, while a few were rescued by villagers. "The mishap happened when there was a storm. We tried to prevent them from going, because a storm was blowing. They did not listen to us, and the boat later capsized," said Ram Bachchan Yadav, a relative of the deceased.

Khurana's future uncertain (Go To Top)

          Jaipur: The Congress party's return to power after eight years in the Indian capital has put a question mark on the future of Madan Lal Khurana's future as the Governor of Rajasthan. Speculations are afloat that all BJP appointed governors may be removed with the arrival of the Congress party-led coalition at the Centre. Informed BJP sources were quoted by a television channel as saying that if this happens, Khurana might be asked to return to active politics by the BJP top brass. However, Khurana is keeping all his cards close to his chest as of now.

43 killed in Arunachal bus plunge (Go To Top)

          Itanagar: Forty-three persons, including 20 women, were killed on Saturday when a crowded bus plunged into a deep gorge near the Shiva temple, about seven kms from Itanagar, capital of Arunachal Pradesh. Eight of the critically injured were rushed to the Ramakrishna Mission Hospital. The bus carrying over 60 passengers was negotiating a sharp bend in the hilly terrain when it plunged into the gorge. Police teams and senior government officials, including the Chief Secretary, rushed to the spot to supervise rescue operations. The government has declared Rs 50,000 compensation to the kin of each of the dead, while Rs 25,000 would be given to the kin of the injured, official sources said.

Pak changes Samjhauta Express schedule (Go To Top)

          Islamabad: The schedule of the Samjhauta Express, the passenger train that runs between the Wagah check post and Atari will change from May 24, a Pakistan Railways official said. Talking to reporters, Nasrullah Gulzai, the Director Public Relations, Pakistan Railways, quoted as saying that the Samjhauta Express would now depart from Lahore to Atari every Tuesday and Friday. The return journeys would be on Mondays and Thursdays, he added. The arrival and departure timings of the train, however, would remain the same, Gulzai was quoted by the Dawn as saying.

British mission in Dhaka closed indefinitely (Go To Top)

          Dhaka: Authorities here have closed the British High Commission in Bangladesh to public for an indefinite period from Saturday. "The British High Commission will be closed to the public from today until further notice," an announcement made by the commission said on Saturday evening. The closure notice came following the British High Commissioner to Bangladesh Anwar Chowdhury injured in a Muslim shrine bomb blast in Sylhet district, some 350 kilometers from the capital city, on Friday.

Five Indian nationals arrested at Bangla airport (Go To Top)

          Dhaka: Bangladesh authorities have arrested five Indian nationals from an airplane at Zia International Airport on Saturday for their suspicious stopover in Dhaka. Airport officials said they flew to Dhaka from Hong Kong by a Biman Bangladesh Airlines flight (BG-079) that landed at Zia Internatonal Airport in Dhaka on Friday night. They stayed inside the aircraft after all other passengers got down, said one official. "They were detected inside the plane when it was taken to the engineering hangar for routine cleaning in the afternoon," said the official adding they were hiding in the toilet rooftop of the aircraft. Biman authorities handed the five Indian nationals to the police who refused to comment about the detainees aged between 25 and 35. Official said that the suspects first travelled by road from Kolkata to Dhaka. They then boarded an aircraft for Hong Kong last Sunday and flew back on Friday night . The government has had an emergency meeting with the law- enforcement agencies, and is currently brooding over the reason for the suspect unscheduled stopover in Dhaka.

Shi'ites protest US attacks on holy Iraqi shrines (Go To Top)

          Islamabad: Members of Pakistan's Shi'ite, community staged a demonstration here on Friday to protest against alleged U.S. attacks on holy Shi'ite sites in Iraq. Chanting "Down with America!" "Down with Israel!" "Down with United Kingdom!," they marched through the streets of the capital. The demonstrators attempted to enter Parliament, but were thwarted by the police. They also burnt the US flag.