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We're ready to accept Sonia as PM: Pawar

         Thane: NCP chief Sharad Pawar, who had formed his separate party over Sonia Gandhi's foreign origin issue around four years back, today said that he had no objection if the Congress president becomes the country's prime minister. "We were all ready for her leadership as Prime Minister," Pawar said while addressing a public rally in run up to the forthcoming Maharashtra Assembly elections. Showering a heap of praises on Sonia, Pawar said that she had no greed for power and she sacrificed for the nation by appointing Manmohan Singh as the Prime Minister. Pawar's NCP is contesting the polls in alliance with the Congress, with the latter being the senior party. Pawar, along with Tariq Anwar and Purno Sangma, had parted ways from the Congress and formed a separate party while opposing Sonia being made the Congress chief. Around a couple of years back, Sangma fell apart from the Pawar's NCP alleging that the party was inclined to Sonia-led Congress thereby defeating the very move of forming a separate party.

Kapila Vatsyayan to represent India at UNESCO (Go To Top)

         New Delhi: Kapila Vatsyayan, an eminent personality in the field of art and culture, has been nominated to represent India at the UNESCO. Vatsayan, who will replace noted jurist LM Singhvi, will hold the post till 2005, HRD Ministry sources said today. UNESCO has already been informed about change in the Indian delegate, sources said.

Manorama rape case: Army's plea for DNA report rejected   (Go To Top)

          Imphal: A local court rejected an application of the Army Court of Inquiry to direct Manipur Police for producing the DNA profile of semen found on the undergarments of Thangjam Manorama who was arrested by Assam Rifles on July 10 and found dead the next day. She was allegedly raped by the Assam Rifles personnel. CJM, Imphal, Padmeswar Singh rejected the application saying a judicial commission was inquiring into the circumstances that led to the death of Manorama Devi and his court had no jurisdiction in this matter. The Army Court of Inquiry and the judicial commission of retired judge C Upendra are separately probing the death of Manorama Devi. The Army court wanted to compare the DNA profile of the semen found on Manorama's undergarments with those of blood samples of the Assam Rifles personnel. The state government refused to produce it on the ground that the Upendra Commission was probing the case. Following this, blood samples of 33 Assam Rifles personnel had been sent to the Laboratory by the AR authorities for DNA Test.

UP is a hub of criminals, alleges Mayawati   (Go To Top)

         Jammu: Former Uttar Pradesh chief minister and BSP leader Mayawati has said that the state had become a hub of criminals. She also said that law and order situation in the state had turned from bad to worse under Mulayam Singh Yadav's government. "The security situation in Uttar Pradesh is very bad. Not only the lower castes, everyone is suffering in the state. In Uttar Pradesh, goons and mafia are ruling. There is complete jungle rule. During my government's rule, all the criminals were in jail but now they are roaming freely. People are not safe, criminals are," Mayawati told reporters during her visit to Jammu. Mayawati claimed that development and law and order situation was better during her rule in the state.

Scams of NDA Govt will be probed: Azad (Go To Top)

         Lucknow: The UPA Government would "investigate scams that had taken place" during the NDA regime, Union Urban Development Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad today said in Lucknow. "The issues that were raised in Parliament by the Congress and other UPA allies will be taken to their logical conclusion," Azad told reporters. The minister alleged that the BJP-led previous government had demolished 1025 CPWD flats and houses on government land worth Rs 3500 crore and distributed it to RSS and its sister organisations. "The market price of the land is over Rs 10 thousand crore," he claimed. Brushing aside the issue of tainted ministers in the UPA Government, Azad said it was "like peanuts when compared to the corrupt deeds of the NDA regime. He added: "Now we know why the BJP is not allowing Parliament to run", he said, adding, "they (BJP) do not want their corrupt deeds to be exposed." He sarcastically said it's like "Chor Machaye Shor".

Laden is alive, but my security forces not aiding him: Musharraf (Go To Top)

         New York: Osama bin Laden is still alive, living somewhere in the tribal areas along the Pakistan-Afghan international border, but Pakistan security forces were not assisting him, Pakistan President said in an interview with CNN on Saturday evening. Stating that he was "reasonably sure" that Laden was still alive, Musharraf said that he had little doubt that the fugitive was still alive. He denied that his own security service was aiding Al Qaeda militants. According to the Daily Times, the President in the interview said that the reason Bin Laden was still at large was a combination of the terrain where he disappeared - in remote eastern Afghanistan or western Pakistan - and that he had supporters in the area where he was hiding. The report said that the President also denied that the US had been increasing pressure on Islamabad during the past few months to capture or kill Laden. "There is absolutely no pressure," he said adding that "it's a joint responsibility of the whole coalition, and also Pakistan, to eliminate terrorism from Pakistan."

BCCI gives go ahead to graded payment (Go To Top)

        Kolkata: The BCCI today have the go ahead to the much-delayed graded system of payment for top Indian cricketers. The BCCI announced the initial list of 17 players to be given the yearly contracts. The contracts will be reviewed on September 30 next year, BCCI president Jagmohan Dalmiya announced after a meeting of the Board's Gradation Committee in Kolkata. The 17 players have been divided into three pools: Group A: Sourav Ganguly, Rahul Dravid, Sachin Tendulkar, Anil Kumble, VVS Laxman, Virender Sehwag and Harbhajan Singh. Group B: Yuvraj Singh, Mohd Kaif, Zaheer Khan, Irfan Pathan, Ashish Nehra, Ajit Agarkar, Laxmipathy Balaji. Group C: Parthiv Patel, Aakash Chopra and Murali Kartik. Dalmiya said players in Group A would receive a retainership of Rs 50 lakh each, those in Group B Rs 35 lakh while Group C players would get Rs 20 lakh. "In addition, the contracted players as well as any other player selected to play for a series will be paid a match fee," he added. The match fees for a Test at home will be Rs two lakh while that for a one-day international it will be Rs 1.60 lakh. For a Test match abroad, the players will get Rs 2.40 lakh and for an ODI Rs 1.85 lakh.