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Patil may meet Sonia Gandhi: Cabinet reshuffle?

          New Delhi: Union Home Minister Shivraj Patil was likely to meet Congress President Sonia Gandhi in the evening, a meeting termed significant amid reports that there is growing pressure on the government from within the Congress and the Left to replace him. The demand to replace Patil is being made over his reported unsatisfactory handling of the situation in the northeast and Jammu and Kashmir. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Sonia Gandhi have already indicated that they would like to go in for a Cabinet reshuffle after the Maharashtra polls.

Kher sends legal notice to Surjeet

        New Delhi: Alleging that he had been removed as Censor Board chairperson under pressure from the Left parties, veteran actor Anupam Kher on Thursday said he had sent a legal notice to Marxist leader Harkishen Singh Surjeet for labelling him an RSS appointee. In a press conference here, a day after he was sacked from his post, Kher said that he would continue to attend office as he had not received any order removing him from the post. According to a PIB release, the order issued by the Information and Broadcasting Ministry yesterday had merely announced the appointment of veteran actress Sharmila Tagore as the new Censor Board chairperson, making no mention of his name, he said. Kher said his lawyers had sent a copy of the legal notice to I and B Minister S Jaipal Reddy. Surjeet in an article in CPI(M)'s mouthpiece 'People's Democracy' had stressed the need for desaffronising key posts and implied that Kher was an RSS man. Kher said "this is too dangerous and grossly erroneous since I cannot by any standard be linked to any political ideology."

No CBI probe into explosives scam: Patil (Go To Top)

         New Delhi: Union Home Minister Shivraj Patil today ruled out a CBI probe into the recovery of explosive shells and other ammunition in imported metal scrap from various parts of the country, but said that the investigating agency would not hesitate to help the state police if it was sought. "No, at the moment, let the state government and the state police department handle the matter. CBI should not be involved in everything. Once the state government asks for a CBI inquiry it will be done," Shivraj Patil told reporters at the AICC headquarters. However, he said that the CBI would not hesitate to help the state police if it was required.

Ultras blow up block office in Jharkand (Go To Top)

         Jharkhand: A block office in Palamu district of Lesliganj, Jharkand was blown up by People's War Naxalites here today, official sources said. Half of the structure and important files has been destroyed in the blast, but no casuality was reported. Around hundred PW ultras raided the Lesliganj block office, 15 km from the district headquarters here, around one am and blew it up with dynamite, said superintendent of Police, M.L. Meena. The ultras left a note owning responsibility for the act, he added.

Maharashtra Governor seeks alliance info ahead Govt formation (Go To Top)

        Mumbai: Maharashtra Governor Mohammed Fazal has sent a letter to all political parties in the state to give details of their electoral alliances for the purpose of government formation before October 18. A Raj Bhavan release today said that the letter had been sent to the parties on Tuesday, a day before elections to the 288-member Assembly.

Government clears salaries and dues of 45,000 PSU employees (Go To Top)

       New Delhi: The Government has cleared salaries and statutory dues of 45,000 employees of 24 loss making companies under the heavy industries ministry amounting to Rs 517 crore, extended purchase preference scheme till March 31, 2005 and enhanced ex-gratia to PSU employees opting for VRS. The payment of salaries of employees of 24 PSUs till July 2004 will start from today and the process will be concluded before Durga Puja. Heavy Industries and Public Enterprises Minister Santosh Mohan Dev said while other statutory dues of employees of three PSUs - Heavy Engineering Corporation, HMT Bangalore and Hindustan Cables - would be settled in the first phase their provident fund dues would be paid by December when Parliament approves supplementary demand for grants in the winter session.

Winter session of Parliament to begin on Dec 1 (Go To Top)

       New Delhi: The winter session of Parliament will begin on December 1 and the three-week session will end on December 23. Defence Minister Pranab Mukherjee indicated this after a meeting of the Cabinet Committee on Parliamentary Affairs, which decided on the winter session schedule. Those who attended the meeting included Railway Minister Lalu Prasad, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad, Minister for Chemicals and Fertilizers and Steel Ram Vilas Paswan, Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs Suresh Pachauri and Minister of State in PMO, Prithviraj Chauhan.

India, Pakistan sign pact to stop border crimes (Go To Top)

        Chandigarh: Officials of India and Pakistan have signed a nine point agreement, which includes elimination of border crimes and enhancement of co-operation between the security forces. The agreement was signed in the four-day talks at Chandigarh between the n Pakistani and Indian delegations where Director General Pakistan Rangers Jawed Zia lead the Pakistani delegation and AK Mitra of the Indian Border Security Force (BSF) led the Indian delegation.

Excesses were committed during Emergency, admits Rahul (Go To Top)

       Amethi: Member of Parliament and the grandson of former premier Indira Gandhi, who imposed emergency in 1975, Rahul Gandhi has admitted that excesses were committed on the countrymen during emergency that lasted two years. It is perhaps the first time that a scion of Nehru-Gandhi family has admitted to the fact that excesses were committed during emergency. Both the Congress and Nehru-Gandhi family has faced the flak all these years for the excesses committed during the emergency.

Nirupa Roy passes away (Go To Top)

       Mumbai: Renowned yesteryears actress Nirupa Roy died of a massive heart attack here last night, family sources said today. She was 73. She is survived by her husband and two sons. She will be cremated in the afternoon at the Chandanwadi crematorium. The sources said that she suffered the heart attack at her home in Napean Sea Road in South Mumbai. The actress belonged to the 'black and white' era and had shot to fame in her 'mother' roles.

Bush botched up Indo-US ties trying to placate Pak: John Kerry (Go To Top)

       New York: US Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry has said the Bush Administration has time and again through its insensitivity botched its relations with India. Speaking in an interview with the New York-based India Abroad weekly, Kerry was quoted by the Daily Times as saying that New Delhi had and continues to voice its displeasure over the Bush Administration taking its bilateral ties with it (Delhi) for granted and doing everything to placate Pakistan at India's cost. "Time and again, the President (Bush) has damaged our nation's friendships," Kerry said and cited as an example Washington's recent move to designate Pakistan as a major non-NATO ally without informing India. He also reiterated his commitment to tackling the resolution of the Kashmir issue in a more humane way, adding that it was time for the international community to see the 57-year-old dispute as "something other than a crisis-management issue". "Cross-border terrorism must stop. Period. I cannot say that often enough. The support Pakistan has given to terrorist actions in Kashmir, official or unofficial, must cease," he concluded.

US agency confirms Khan was the tip of the nuke iceberg (Go To Top)

        Washington: The Institute for Science and International Security (ISIS), a US-based nuclear monitoring agency, has said that a large number of sensitive nuclear components sold to Iran and Libya by a Pakistani nuclear scientist for building uranium enrichment plants was actually made at workshops in Europe and Southeast Asia. In one of its recent reports, the ISIS confirmed Islamabad's claim that the network might have been headed by its scientist Dr A.Q. Khan, but added that it was a gang of international proliferators and smugglers that had bases and workshops at many places across the globe.

Aus 235 all out, India 28/1 in second test (Go To Top)

       Chennai: India lost their first wicket on the opening day of the second Test against Australia in Chennai after bowling out the visitors for 235. Shane Warne took the prize wicket of Yuvraj Singh (8) caught by Adam Gilchrist behind the wickets. At stumps, India were 28 for 1 with Virender Sehwag (20) and Irfan Pathan at the crease. Earlier, veteran leg spinner Anil Kumble picked up seven wickets to pull India back into the game after the Aussies were going steady at 189 for two. Kumble first struck just before tea to remove middle order batsman Damien Martyn, caught by Mohammad Kaif for 26. He sent back new man Darren Lehmann back to the pavilion for a duck just after play resumed. Soon after, he trapped last Test's centurion Michael Clarke leg before wicket for five to put a lid on Aussie run flow. The leggie then dismissed stand-in skipper Adam Gilchrist for three and followed it up with the wicket of Shane Warne to leave the Aussies tottering at 216 for seven. Australia lost their eighth wicket in the 70th over when Jason Gillespie was caught by Kaif off Kumble for five. Three balls later Michael Kasprowicz was caught by V V S Laxman off Kumble for four. Kumble took seven wickets for 48 runs. The visitors' first innings folded at 235 in 71.3 overs when Glen McGrath was run out for 2. Simon Katich was not out on 36.

Ponting ruled out of Nagpur Test (Go To Top)

        Sydney: Australian captain Ricky Ponting was today ruled out of the third cricket Test to played against India in Nagpur because his broken thumb needs more time to heal. According to a Sydney Morning Herald report, Ponting had further x-rays in Sydney today which revealed that he will be unable to resume playing for some more time