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Congress wants to retain chief ministership in Maharashtra

         Mumbai: The Congress it seems, does not want to give up the Chief Minister's chair in Maharashtra in favour of the Sharad Pawar led NCP. "Congress and other friendly parties have more in their kitty than the Sharad Pawar-led party," Congress party leader Digvijay Singh was quoted as saying. While the Congress had on its own won only 69 seats out of the total 157 it had contested, its total tally along with its allies is at 74, three seats above the NCP's tally of 71. The chief ministership issue has become big with the party, with senior Congress leaders including Singh, Margaret Alva, MPCC Chief Prabha Rau and Sanjay Dutt, MLC reportedly holding meetings in this regard.

Probe into Manorama Devi rape case heads for deadlock (Go To Top)

        New Delhi: The probe into the alleged rape of Manorama Devi by Assam Rifles personnel has apparently reached a deadlock. Officials say that the state police has reportedly complained to the Ministry of Home Affairs and Prime Ministers' Office that not only has Assam Rifles not co-operated in the investigations, it has also not given any DNA samples to the investigating authorities. State officials are now presently claiming that probe has reached a deadlock with the Army refusing to comply with the investigations. Army authorities on the other hand are saying that since the post mortem and forensic report had practically ruled out any indication of sexual abuse, therefore it made no sense as to why the state government was still pressing with the rape charges. The army had also citing security reasons, asked the state police to collect the DNA samples from Kangla Fort, a condition, which was categorically refused by the state police on grounds of violation of norms prescribed for DNA sample taking.

Six LeT militants and three army men killed in J-K (Go To Top)

        Srinagar: Six Lashkar-e-Toiba militants, including the group's commander and three army personnel were killed in two separate encounters in Jammu and Kashmir, said an official spokesman today. As per reports, while four Pakistani militants and an army personnel were killed in Rajwar forests in Kupwara district, two others and an equal number of army jawans were killed at Malipora-Qazigand area in Anantnag today. Following intelligence reports about militants hiding in the area, troops belonging to the seven sector Rashtriya Rifles and one para launched a joint operation in the Rajwad forests. In the ensuing gunfight four militants, including Abdul Rehman, and an army jawan were killed. Arms and ammunition, including four AK rifles, 11 magazines, 440 rounds of ammunition, 10 hand grenades and a radio set were recovered from them.

Now Lalu earns a berth in Limca Book of Records (Go To Top)

        Patna: RJD president and Railway Minister Lalu Prasad has won a place in the prestigious Limca Book of Records for being the longest serving president of a political party in India. Officials of the Limca Book of Records handed over the certificate to this effect to Lalu in Patna last week. Prasad is serving as president of RJD ever since 1997, when the party was formed in the month of July. He was re-elected national president of the party last year for the third time. The tenure of presidency in RJD is of three years. Unlike the constitution of other parties, which restricts a person to stay as president for not more than two terms, there is no such limitation for president's post in RJD's constitution.

Gujral returns from Pakistan by Ravinder Singh Robin (Go To Top)

       Wagah: Expressing satisfaction over the two government's process to bring peace in the south Asia Former Indian Prime Minister Inder Kumar Gujral said that though both nuclear power could not solve the issue overnight but the way I have initiated the process with Pakistan's former Prime minister the Nawaz Sharif government in Pakistan in 1996, are now progressing very well and soon it will reach its destination. However, it will take time, he added. Gujral visited Pakistan on the invitation of South Asians for Human Rights (SAHR), Lahore. While talking to media after his return to India via Wagah Land route on Sunday he said that he finds the people of two nations wants peace and they have expressed their feeling in people the people contact.

        On third party intervention Gujral replied that India and Pakistan did not need any third-party intervention for resolving the their own issues. "Whenever there were differences between subcontinent states, the beneficiary was a third party," he said. While replying another question on Kashmir he said that the ongoing dialogue process between the governments of both nations indicates sincerity on the part of both parties to resolve the pending Kashmir dispute.

US trains Pak cops (Go To Top)

       Lahore: The US Embassy's Narcotics Section has trained 52 Pakistani police officers in basic police command skills. According to the Daily Times, the training has been imparted by the US Department of Justice's International Criminal Investigative Training Assistance Programme (ICITAP) as a part of its programme to enable the law enforcement agencies and the public to work jointly more cohesively. "The police cannot possibly combat crime, fight terrorism, control the flow and use of narcotics and provide law and order without strong community participation. Your community can act as your eyes and ears," the paper quoted US embassy deputy chief of mission Patricia A Butenis as saying. Reiterating the US commitment to help train law enforcement agencies in Pakistan she added that it was necessary for a well trained and disciplined police force to earn the respect and support of the community for maintaining law and order situation in both the urban and rural areas.

Karzai leading in Afghanistan presidential vote (Go To Top)

        Kabul: President Hamid Karzai maintained his early lead in Afghanistan's election after nearly five percent of the ballots had been counted, the election commission said Sunday, The News quoted. Karzai has polled 66.9 percent of the estimated 4.8 percent of votes counted, the commission said. Trailing in second place with 16.3 percent was former education minister Yunus Qanooni, the Joint Electoral Management Body said on its website in a statement. In third place with 7.2 percent was ethnic Uzbek warlord Abdul Rashid Dostam, and ethnic Hazara military strongman Mohammed Mohaqeq was in fourth place with 2.7 percent. In fifth place was the only woman out of the 18 presidential candidates, Massooda Jalal, who had garnered 1.1 percent of the vote. The other 13 presidential candidates all received less than 1.1 percent of the vote.

Britain agrees to station US missiles: report (Go To Top)

        London: Prime Minister Tony Blair has secretly agreed to let the United States station interceptor missiles on British soil for the so-called "Son of Star Wars" defence system, according to a newspaper report Sunday. Britain has agreed in principle to a US request to site the interceptor missiles at an existing early warning radar centre in Fylingdales, Yorkshire, northern England, the daily said. According to the paper, agreement was reached at a meeting last May in Washington attended by senior officials from the British embassy and the US State Department. However, the British diplomats asked that no official announcement be made until after Blair faces a general election likely in the middle of next year, the newspaper said, without citing its sources.

Fourth day's match ends on a dramatic note with Martyn's century (Go To Top)

        Chennai: The fourth day of the second cricket Test between India and Australia at the MA Chidambaram Stadium ended on a dramatic note with Damien Martyn scoring a gritty century to help Australia make a commendable comeback into the game. Martyn's eight test century changed the whole complexion of the game and enabled Australia to post a respectable 369 in their second innings. The day's game ended with India at 19 for no loss at the end of three overs with Virender Sehwag at 12 and Yuvraj Singh at seven. India now has to score the remaining 210 runs on a wearing fifth day to win the match and level the series.