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Lalu, Paswan to attend VP's rally

      Lucknow: Former Prime Minister VP Singh and expelled Samajwadi Party (SP) leader Raj Babbar will organise the first 'Jan Morcha' rally here today in which Lalu Prasad Yadav and Ramvilas Paswan are also participating alongwith Left leaders. Besides, mobilising support from all over the state, Singh said that presence of Lalu and Paswan is a good sign. Left leaders A B Bardhan, Sidharammaiya, D Raja besides Rakesh Tikait, son of Bhartiya Kisan Union (BKU) leader Mahendra Singh Tikait, will also participate in the rally.

    V P Singh said that the rally may give an indication of the future politics of the country, which is going through a bad phase where money and muscle power is dominating. Uttar Pradesh is our priority where there is complete anarchy and the youth are facing unemployment problem and the minority are living in constant fear, Babbar said. The 'Morcha' has been able to woo several smaller political parties - the Indian Justice Party led by Udit Raj, National Loktantrik Party of Dr Masood, Om Prakash Rajbhar of Bharatiya Samaj Party, Akhilendra Pratap Singh (CPI-ML), Mahendra Singh Tikait's Bharatiya Kisan Union and others. Uttar Pradesh Minister for Culture Brijendra Pratap Singh, MLA Kaushal Kishore and former Minister Masood Ahmad announced that they would also join the party. Lok Sabha MP from Agra, Raj Babbar on April 23 had launched a new political front called 'Jan Morcha' (Peoples front) along with V P Singh. Babbar had said that the new political front, which is the extension V P Singh's Kisan Morcha launched earlier, will fight for the rights of the farmers, youth, poor and weaker section of society. 'Jan Morcha' is not a political party but a political front. The front has been formed by the leaders who have been associated with the common people and would struggle against the atrocities done to farmers and poor. Babbar was suspended from the SP last month after he alleged that senior party leader Amar Singh had led to the downfall of the party by bringing in broker culture in the party.

TN to provide colour TV sets from Sept 15 (Go To Top

       Chennai: The new DMK-led-coalition Government in Tamil Nadu on Tuesday announced that it would provide colour TVs to the families not owning one from September 15. Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M Karunanidhi told the State Assembly that global tenders would be floated for the purchase of these sets. A committee of legislators would be formed to decide the tenders and to monitor the implementation of the scheme to be implemented in phases, he added. Replying to a debate on the motion of thanks to the Governor for his address to the State Assembly, Karunanidhi said, all defamation cases filed by the previous AIADMK Government against political parties and cases filed under the Tamil Nadu Essential Services Maintenance Act (TESMA) would be immediately withdrawn. The cases against the employees of the State Civil Supplies Corporation would also be withdrawn, he said. Karunanidhi went on to say that over 13,000 public welfare workers, retrenched by the previous Jayalalithaa-led-AIADMK Government, would be reinstated and their salary would be hiked by Rs 200. Students of unaided schools would be extended the benefit of free text books from the current academic year, he said. All matriculation schools in the State would be allowed to start Tamil medium sections from this year, he added. The Chief Minister said that orders for up-gradation of a hundred government middle schools and an equal number of high schools to high schools and higher secondary schools respectively would be issued in June. The primary agricultural co-operatives would issues "no-due" certificates to the farmers whose co-operative loans have been waived, which would enable them to raise fresh crop loans, he said.

One more year for Cabinet Secretary (Go To Top

        New Delhi: Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh has extended the term of appointment of Cabinet Secretary B.K.Chaturvedi by a year. Chaturvedi is an Uttar Pradesh cadre IAS officer of the 1966 batch. Earlier, sources had said on Monday that necessary amendments to the rules would be made to enable Mr. Chaturvedi to continue as Cabinet Secretary for another year. According to newspaper reports, at least five senior IAS officers from the 1968 and 1969 batches were in the race for the Cabinet Secretary's post. They included Reva Nayyar, Secretary Women and Child Development, Dhanendra Kumar, Executive Director World Bank, both from the 1968 batch; and P.K. Hota, Secretary Health, Adarsh Kishore, Secretary Finance, and Prathyush Sinha, Secretary Personnel, all from the 1969 batch. The Government decided to make an exception in Chaturvedi's case in favour of his vast administrative experience and the continuity factor.

Monsoon rains lash Kerala, three dead  (Go To Top
by K Ashik

       Thiruvananthapuram: At least three persons have died and another 25 have been hurt after torrential monsoon showers damaged hundreds of houses and inundated large tracts of agricultural land in Kerala during the past 24 hours. One person was killed and 25 injured at Muvattupuzha when a tree fell on a running bus. In another incident, a 14-year old girl was killed at Cherukulam near Vadakara when a tree fell on her. A third person was killed at Cherayinkiz in Thiruvananthapuram. So far, over 350 houses have been damaged by the rains. Sources in Thiruvananthapuram said that at least seven houses have been destroyed and 114 damaged partially, while seven have been completely damaged and 62 partially damaged in Malappuram. Four houses were completely destroyed in Alappuzha and 42 partially, while 88 houses were partially damaged in Kollam. As many as 15 houses were destroyed in Kozhikode. They said about Rs 3.46 crore agricultural crop loss was estimated across the state. The loss at Thiruvananthapuram was 2.63 crore, Kottayam 1.93 crore and Alappuzha 63 lakh. Reports said that the coastal areas of the state are under threat from the sea and due to land erosion.Vizhinjam, Poovar and Poonthura in Thiruvananthapuram District are particularly under threat as also some other low lying areas.

     Meanwhile, Kozhikode District officials have confirmed the shifting of 16 persons to relief camps from low lying areas. About 53 persons have been shifted to their relatives' houses from the Centremukku area, they added. The local administration is holding emergency meetings of revenue officers to brief them about the relief operations. Alappuzha District is partially under water and about 100 families have been shifted to relief camps. Low-lying areas in Ernakulam are inundated and about 100 families have been shifted to relief camps. Sea Erosion was reported from Vaipin and Chellanam in the district. Land-slips were also reported from Alakkad in Kannur district. The Met office here said the southwest monsoon was vigorous over Kerala, with most places receiving heavy rains. Kannur, Karipur, Koilandi and Kodungalur had the maximum rain of 13 cm while it was 11 cm at Kozhikode, Perinthalmanna and Thallssery.

Oil-for-food scam: Jagat Singh examined (Go To Top

      New Delhi: Jagat Singh, son of former External Affairs Minister K Natwar Singh, appeared before the Justice Pathak Commission looking into Iraqi oil-for-food scandal. The one-man Pathak Inquiry Authority will be examining in detail Jagat's role in the alleged scam in which Natwar Singh and the Congress party have been named as non-contractual beneficiaries.

     Earlier, Natwar Singh's kin Aditya Khanna, Jagat's friend and Director of Hamadan Exports Andaleeb Sehgal and Aneil Matherani were called before the Pathak Commission in connection with the oil-for-food scam. Officials said that after intense grilling Khanna had admitted to having played a role in transferring kickbacks to "beneficiaries". In the hearing before the panel, Andaleeb Sehgal and Aditya Khanna had admitted that Jagat and his father were non- contractual beneficiaries. Jagat had denied any involvement in the scandal. Jagat in his reply to a notice issued by the authority had maintained that he had given his bank account number, business details and income tax returns to the authority and if it wanted it would get certain other details submitted to the ED. The Pathak Commission on Monday had questioned India's former envoy to Croatia Aniel Matherani in connection with his alleged role in the deal. The Commission questioned Matherani for nearly two hours as he was part of a four-member delegation led by former External Affairs Minister K Natwar Singh which had visited Iraq in January 2001. Matherani had created a political storm in December 2005 in remarks to a weekly in which he claimed that Natwar was involved in getting oil vouchers for himself and Congress party from the then Iraqi government headed by Saddam Hussein. Vipin Khanna, father of Congress legislator from Sangrur Arvind Khanna, and Youth Congress leader from Rajasthan Jameel Saidi was also quizzed by the panel. An interim report has been prepared by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) on the Volcker controversy.

Lucknow Brahmins seek sweepers' job (Go To Top

      Lucknow: Contrary to the quota proposal meant for the upliftment of backward and lower castes, Brahmins, who are considered superior to all other castes, in Lucknow are now seeking jobs as sweepers, an occupation traditionally meant for the lowest in the caste hierarchy. Brahmins here have applied for jobs with civic authorities, inviting the wrath of low-caste candidates, who fear it would slash their opportunities for lower-level jobs. "They (Brahmins) get enrolled but they never do the menial jobs. They cannot do it. We are protesting against the Corporation as it will mar our employment opportunities, which has been our job for ages. What will we do if they take away our jobs?" said Shyam Lal Valmiki, President, Sweepers' Association. But the Brahmin candidates, say they were forced to enroll themselves for these jobs in the absence of any employment opportunities. According to official, over 6000 candidates have applied for the jobs of sweepers of which 1607 are Brahmins.

Killing of Hindus sparks protest in Sindh (Go To Top

     Karachi: At least two Hindu pilgrims were killed and seven injured when unidentified men opened indiscriminate firing at them while they were returning from a holy place, police said on Monday. All the dead and wounded were Pakistani Hindus, they added. A convoy of about 20 vehicles was carrying Pakistani and Indian Hindus when the incident occurred late on Sunday in Sukkur district of Sindh province, they added. This was the first such incident in recent times. "They were returning from a holy place when three armed men opened fire and killed two men and wounded seven," The News quoted police official Rana Sanaullah as saying. Ramesh Lal, a pilgrim from India, said: "It was terrorism. They're trying to discourage us from coming here." The incident assumes significance in the wake of the recent decision by the Pakistan government to relax entry restrictions for Indian Hindus and Sikhs wishing to visit holy sites, as part of gradually improving relations between the South Asian rivals. Following the killings, the local Hindu community observed a shutter-down strike followed by a sit-in on the National Highway as a mark of protest. The Hindus announced a complete shutter-down strike for three days if the killers were not arrested soon. A heavy contingent of police rushed to the scene of the incident and chased the killers. The footprints led the police to the village Gul Muhammad Korai, which was cordoned off, and during house-to-house search the police rounded up some 14 suspects, but declined to disclose their identities.

US plan to tighten net around Iran: Post (Go To Top

       Washington: The US is learnt to be pressing Europe and Japan to impose wide-ranging sanctions designed to stifle the Iranian leadership financially if diplomatic efforts fail to resolve an impasse over the country's nuclear programme. Quoting reliable sources, the Washington Post has reported that the US' scheme was developed by a Treasury Department task force that reports directly to Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice. The plan is designed to curtail the financial freedom of every Iranian official, individual and entity the Bush administration considers connected not only to nuclear enrichment efforts but to terrorism, government corruption, suppression of religious or democratic freedom, and violence in Iraq, Lebanon, Israel and the Palestinian territories.

     Besides, it would restrict the Tehran government's access to foreign currency and global markets, shut its overseas accounts and freeze assets held in Europe and Asia, the report added. However, according to the paper, internal US assessments had suggested that the sanctions could not hurt Tehran without causing significant economic pain for Washington's friends like Italy and Japan, both large importers of Iranian oil. The newspaper disclosed that American intelligence agencies had calculated the amount of foreign investment at stake and even which charities have connections to Tehran. With Britain, France, Germany, Italy and Japan on board, sanctions would "isolate the Iranian regime" and see it "shunned by the international financial community," according to one internal memo. "The sanctions could make Iran miserable, and Iran can respond by making everyone miserable back. In the end, the whole world is miserable and Iran gets to keep its nuclear programme," the paper quoted one senior Western official as saying.