Suspicious object found outside Delhi's Gargi College

New Delhi, May 30: A suspicious object was found outside Delhi's Gargi College on Monday afternoon.

According to television reports, the suspicious material was found near the bus stand of the college.

The bomb disposal squad has been sent to the spot. Police is checking the object and it has not been declared a hoax yet.

Monsoon hits Kerala 3 days ahead of schedule

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM/NEW DELHI: Three days ahead of schedule, the monsoon arrived in Kerala Sunday, with heavy rains being reported since Saturday night in the central and southern districts of the state, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) said.

"The southwest monsoon has set in over Kerala on Sunday, May 29, three days in advance to the normal onset on June 1," said a press release issued by the IMD in Delhi on Sunday.

It added that the onset of the monsoon "took place in association with an upper air cyclonic circulation over southeast Arabian Sea off the Kerala coast".

The monsoon has also advanced into most parts of south Arabian Sea and some parts of Tamil Nadu, south Bay of Bengal and south Andaman Sea, said the IMD.

Kumarakom, the pristine tourist destination in Kerala, has recorded the heaviest rainfall of 12cm, an official said.

The IMD report said that conditions were favourable for the advance of the monsoon over some more parts of the Arabian Sea, remaining parts of Kerala, some more parts of Tamil Nadu, south Bay of Bengal and the Andaman Sea and some parts of Karnataka during the next two-three days. From 2005, the IMD has been issuing a forecast on the onset of the monsoon over Kerala using an indigenously developed statistical model.

The forecasts based on this model during the last six years have been correct.

The department has forecast that the monsoon is likely to be normal this year, with 98% of the expected rainfall. As per the normal schedule, the monsoon reaches Delhi by June 29.

Diesel, LPG prices may be hiked on June 9

NEW DELHI: The ministerial panel on fuels under FM Pranab Mukherjee is expected to raise diesel and cooking gas prices on June 9. Diesel price is likely to be increased by Rs 2-3 a litre and cooking gas by about Rs 35 per cylinder. The increase in price of diesel, which is the main transportation fuel, is expected to push up cost of essential items, all goods that move on trucks as well as bus and taxi fares.

A revision in diesel and cooking gas prices was in the offing since petrol price was jacked up on May 15 by Rs 5 a litre, the steepest-ever increase. The ministerial panel was expected to meet on May 11, the day after the last phase of polling was to get over in Bengal. But the government pushed the pause button in view of a see-saw in global crude prices after Osama bin-Laden's killing.

The fluctuation in crude price in the intervening period has brought down the loss on a litre of diesel from a high of Rs 19 or so, when the price of Indian crude mix averaged nearly $121 a barrel before Osama was killed. Diesel and cooking gas prices were last revised in June 2010. The present pump price of diesel corresponds to around $70 a barrel of crude mix bought by the state-run refiners. That mix is ruling at $118 now. As a result, oil marketers are currently losing Rs 16.49 on every litre of diesel and Rs 329 on each cooking gas refill.

The oil ministry will also push for an increase in the price of kerosene, politically the holy cow of fuels. The companies are losing almost Rs 30 a litre on the poor man's fuel, nearly 40% of which flows into the black market. The panel is unlikely to tinker with fuel taxes for fear of upsetting the government's calculations. Top finance ministry officials have, over the week, categorically ruled on reducing taxes to pare increase in fuel prices.

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President rejects mercy plea of 2 death row convicts

NEW DELHI: The death row waiting list has shortened by two with President Pratibha Patil rejecting the mercy petitions of two convicts — Devinder Pal Singh Bhullar of Punjab and Mahender Nath Das of Assam — clearing the way for their execution.

Rashtrapati Bhawan sources confirmed that the President rejected Das's plea last month while she denied Bhullar's mercy plea on Wednesday. This is the first time after 2004 – when the BJP attacked the government for sitting on Parliament attack accused Afzal Guru's mercy plea — that the President has given the nod for executions.

The rejection of Bhullar's mercy plea comes after the Supreme Court on Monday expressed "surprise" over the eight-year delay in disposal of his plea.

Bhullar was sentenced to death by a trial court on August 25, 2001, for plotting terror attacks on Punjab SSP Sumedh Singh Saini in 1991 and then Youth Congress president M S Bitta in 1993, leading to several deaths in Delhi.

On Monday, Bhullar's lawyer K T S Tulsi had urged the Supreme Court that either his mercy petition be decided expeditiously or his death sentence be commuted.

While the Opposition parties have lashed out at the "delay" in taking a decision in the case of Afzal Guru's petition, home minister P Chidambaram maintains that there is no fixed time for deciding the mercy petitions and that the ministry will go serial wise on deciding the pleas.

At least 15 cases have been referred, and decision obtained in 11. The case of three persons sentenced to death in the assassination of former PM Rajiv Gandhi and two other terrorist cases are currently pending as is the Parliament attack accused Afzal Guru's case.

Guru's wife Tabasum Afzal had petitioned the President on October 3, 2006, for commutation of his death sentence. The Delhi government was asked for its view. The Delhi government's comments were furnished by the Lieutenant Governor of Delhi in June 2010, and they are being examined by the home ministry.

Under Article 72 of the Constitution, the President is empowered to grant pardon and commute the death sentence of a convict. She can also suspend and remit the death sentence of a condemned prisoner on the advice of the Centre.

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Sardar Patel statue to cost Rs 2,000 cr

GANDHINAGAR: It's official. The proposed 182-metre high statue of Sardar Patel downstream of the Narmada dam will cost Rs 2,000 crore as against earlier estimates of Rs 1,000 crore.

The Sardar Sarovar Narmada Nigam Ltd (SSNNL) has invited expressions of interest from reputed consultants for the project. Already, state government officials are in talks with builders of Burj Khalifa - Samsung Construction & Technology (C&T) - to take up the project.

The state government proposes to rope in Gujarati diaspora, top business houses and general public to collect money for the project.

While officials in the SSNNL claimed money may not be a problem, a top aide of chief minister Narendra Modi said, "One has to take into account cost escalation while building such kind of a statue. It is possible that by the time the state government floats tenders, the cost of the project would have escalated to Rs 2,500 crore".

The Gujarat government has collected Rs 55 crore for the high-profile project. Of this, Rs 50 crore has been collected from different state public sector undertakings, while Rs 5 crore has been contributed by Adani group. The PSUs have provided money from their corporate social responsibility funds.

Called Statue of Unity, to be built on Sadhu island which is about 3.5 km downstream of Narmada dam, the state government has formed Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel Rashtriya Ekta Trust to implement the project.

As per the official note, the consultant will be required to do overall area planning, including spaces for hospitality, health, education, convention and training centres, development and formulation of tourism plan and provide technical and managerial assistance for bids to invite EPC contract.

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Counter the Dragon: With $5 billion pledge, India takes big step into Africa

NEW DELHI: India took a diplomatic leap in Africa on Tuesday, with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh pledging $5 billion for the continent's development over the next three years. Spreading out the Indian presence from agriculture to information technology, tele-medicine to a virtual university, India now rivals China for top honours in the new Great Game in Africa.

Hosting the second Africa-India Forum summit in Addis Ababa, the first to be held overseas, Singh said, "There is a new economic growth story emerging from Africa. Africa possesses all the prerequisites to become a major growth pole of the world... The India-Africa partnership is unique and owes its origins to history and our common struggle against colonialism, apartheid, poverty, disease, illiteracy and hunger... India will work with Africa to realize its vast potential."

"We will offer $5 billion dollars for the next three years under lines of credit to help Africa achieve its development goals," Singh said. To put the figure in perspective, India's healthcare budget is around $ 5.9 billion. This credit would be apart from $700 million pledged for new institutions in Africa.

And for all those who said only China builds infrastructure for Africa, India announced a railway line between Ethiopia and Djibouti at a cost of $300 million. The initial plan by the African Union was for a line running across the breadth of Africa, but the task of coordinating land acquisition through so many sovereign states was a challenge they weren't willing to take just yet.

China has the biggest presence in Africa, churning out airport terminals and football stadiums at a breathtaking pace, in return for access to resources and minerals. Its bilateral trade with Africa in 2010 was $126.9 billion, as compared to just over $40 billion India-Africa trade. Earlier this week, India declared a target of $70 billion by 2015.

India has had a long-standing relationship with African countries, particularly on the eastern seaboard, but it took a backseat when China strode into Africa with its deep pockets and insatiable demand for energy and resources. Since then, India has been playing catch-up. At the India-Africa summit in 2008, India signalled its seriousness about Africa. But this week, India announced that it will be playing in the big league here. India's interests in Africa are not very different from China's – with the added lure of 53 votes pushing for a reform of the UN Security Council.

But India prides itself on doing things differently from China. It sees itself as less extractive in its engagements and more inclined towards helping African countries improve their capacity. As a senior African diplomat observed, "China invests in our today, India in our tomorrow."

African nations are not unhappy at being the centre of attention and largesse by India and China. Although China is more efficient in the way it processes aid in Africa, India has been actively invited by African leaders themselves as they seek to balance the Chinese presence.

To that end, Singh announced a slew of new institutes in Africa on Tuesday – India-Africa Food Processing Cluster, Integrated Textiles Cluster, Centre for Medium Range Weather Forecasting (India has donated a Param supercomputer to Tanzania), University for Life and Earth Sciences and an Institute of Agriculture and Rural Development. This is apart from a diamond institute and information technology and management institutes across the five regional groupings in the emerging continent.

The Indian presence is also mainly in the private sector, unlike the state-driven presence of China. This makes the Indian engagement far less threatening in Africa. Having said that, Indian companies are increasingly getting into mining for coal, copper and more industrial-use metals in different African countries. Indian farmers are engaging in commercial farming in countries like Ethiopia, Kenya and Uganda. In a recent agreement, Andhra Pradesh will send 500 farmers to become farming entrepreneurs in these countries.

PM Singh declared that India would invite all African airlines to Indian cities over the next three years. That's because no Indian airline now flies to Africa even as Chinese airlines are increasing their flights to the continent.

Singh will travel to Tanzania on Thursday for a bilateral summit – to a country where India has huge investments of over $1 billion, but also a country that, along with Mozambique, Mauritius and Seychelles, is forming part of India's security grid in the Indian Ocean.

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Rupee down 10 paise against US dollar in early trade

MUMBAI: The Indian rupee lost 10 paise to Rs 45.31 per US dollar in early trade on the Interbank Foreign Exchange on Wednesday, weighed down by dollar gains against the euro and other currencies overseas.

Forex dealers said strengthening of the dollar against the euro and Asian currencies and a lower opening in the stock market mainly put pressure on the rupee.

The rupee rose by 1 paise to close at Rs 45.21/22 against the US dollar in yesterday's trade after equities closed a shade higher.

Meanwhile, the Bombay Stock Exchange benchmark Sensex fell by 87.71 points to 17,924.26 in opening trade today.

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Monsoon delayed in Andamans

PUNE: The southwest monsoon has not kept its date with the Andamans yet but the Met department maintains that is no cause for concern. The monsoon normally reaches the Andamans around May 20, but this time the weather conditions there are not yet favourable for the rain-laden winds.

But all that can change swiftly and the monsoon could arrive in the Andamans as early as Thursday, say India Meteorological Department officials.

"Though there is a delay... this will not affect the arrival of monsoon in Kerala. The monsoon can reach both places on the same day. We still see the monsoon hitting Kerala on time, that is, on May 31," said P C S Rao, director (weather central), IMD.

Though rains hitting Andamans around May 20 is taken as a good omen, the monsoon is officially declared to have arrived in India when it hits the Kerala coast.

India Meteorological Department officials said the monsoon's arrival over the Andamans can be announced only if specific weather factors develop there – cloudy conditions and a particular wind speed. "These conditions are not present in the Andamans right now. There is not enough pre-monsoon rainfall in that region," P C S Rao, director (weather central), said.

A westerly trough in the southern parts of the country has been preventing the formation of rain-bearing deep convective clouds, which has delayed the arrival of the monsoon in the Andamans, says J R Kulkarni, senior scientist at the Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology (IITM) here. "These clouds develop just before the monsoon. However, the trough is posing a hurdle to the formation of these clouds. It is difficult to say when the impact of the trough will reduce but it is likely it will happen in the next few days," he said.

The onset of southwest monsoon over Kerala heralds the beginning of rainy season in the Indian subcontinent. From 2005 onwards, the IMD has been issuing operational forecasts for the onset of the monsoon over Kerala using an indigenously developed statistical model with an error of plus or minus four days.

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A K Seth to be cabinet secretary

NEW DELHI: Senior IAS officer Ajit Kumar Seth will be the country's next cabinet secretary. The 1974 batch Uttar Pradesh cadre officer, who is at present secretary public grievances and coordination in the Cabinet Secretariat, will succeed K M Chandrasekhar. The latter will retire next month after holding the post for four years including two extensions.

Seth's appointment has been cleared by the Prime Minister. He will be an Officer on Special Duty (OSD) in the Cabinet Secretariat till June 13 and assume charge on June 14. As cabinet secretary he will have a fixed two-year tenure. Seth has been on deputation at the Centre since January 2009. In the 1980s, he served in the commerce ministry and for three years was the first secretary in the Permanent Mission of India to the UN at Geneva.

Colleagues describe the St Stephen's College alumnus as a man of "impeccable integrity" – something which many believe was the key to his selection ahead of other "favourites" – and very methodical. He is also the senior-most empanelled officer of the 1974 batch. Sources in the Department of Personnel and Training said that the Prime Minister was keen to go by seniority. "Anybody in the establishment would vouch for his (Seth's) honesty. And he is an excellent officer, very clear about what he is to do and how it should be done. He is a stickler for rules," said a bureaucrat.

A former collegemate recalls the 59-year-old Seth as a keen debater and one who was a very enthusiastic participant in extracurricular activities. He has a masters' degree in chemistry and an M.Phil in life sciences from Jawaharlal Nehru University. Seth later did a master's in development financé from University of Birmingham.

Sources say among the 1974 batch officers Seth edged out are Pulok Chatterjee, K Mohandas, Deepak Gupta, Alka Sirohi, Anup Mukherjee, K M Acharya and Vivek Mehrotra.

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Guarding Kasab: Maharashtra govt gets Rs 10cr bill

MUMBAI: Maharashtra government is stunned after receiving a Rs 10 crore bill from the Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) towards reimbursing expenses on guarding 26/11 terrorist Ajmal Kasab, lodged in the Arthur Road jail here.

Confirming that the state government did receive the Rs 10 crore tag from ITBP, Medha Gadgil, principal secretary, Home, said that the Maharashtra authorities are writing to the ITBP.

"We are in the process of writing to them. We will explain that 26/11 terror attacks is not only an issue limited to Maharashtra but a national issue," she said.

The state government received a request for reimbursement of Rs 10.87 crore from the Director-General, ITBP, New Delhi, R K Bhatia for expenses incurred between March 28, 2009 and September 30, 2010.

"What Kasab and his associates did is an attack not only on Mumbai but an attack on India and it is unfair to ask the state government to bear the burden (for ITBP guarding Kasab)," another senior Home department official said.

The ITPB was deployed in the jail in the run-up to the 26/11 trial, held in a special sessions court set up in the jail premises.

Last year, the home department sought an extension for the deployment of the ITBP which comprised around 200 commandos, armed with sophisticated weaponry and communication equipment, guarding Kasab 24x7.

The ITBP team was deployed for the trial period, after which the state government wrote to the Centre, seeking an extension, the official said.

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Communication satellite GSAT-8 launched successfully

BANGALORE: India's latest communication satellite GSAT-8 was today successfully launched by Arianespace from Kourou in French Guiana to give a boost to direct-to-home services in the country.

GSAT-8 was injected into space by European launcher Arianespace's Ariane 5 rocket which lifted-off at 02.08 am (IST), with Japan's ST-2 spacecraft as co-passenger.

French Guiana is a region of France on the North-East coast of South America.

Weighing 3,100 kg at lift-off, GSAT-8 is one of the heaviest and high-powered satellites built by the Bangalore-headquartered Indian Space Research Organisation.

An ISRO team, which witnessed the launch, expressed delight over the successful mission.

"I am extremely happy to announce that ISRO's Master Control Facility at Hassan near Bangalore has confirmed the reception of signals from GSAT-8 and taken charge of the command and control of GSAT-8 immediately after its injection into the geo-stationary transfer orbit," ISRO Chairman K Radhakrishnan said.

"...This (the launch) is another great moment for us...," he said.

Radhakrishnan said the user community in India was looking forward for the operationalisation of the 24 high-power Ku band transponders into the Indian National Satellite system.

ISRO officials said the launch was doubly gratifying as the space agency had lost two satellites last year in two unsuccessful GSLV missions launched from the home soil. ISRO was desperately looking to augment transponder capacity, which is in great demand.

Built by Japan's Mitsubishi Electric Company, ST-2 would be operated by the ST-2 Satellite Ventures joint company of Singapore Telecommunications Ltd (SingTel) and Taiwan's Chunghwa Telecom Company Ltd.

GSAT-8 carried 24 transponders to augment India's Ku-band relay capabilities - primarily for direct-to-home TV broadcast services - with a coverage zone including the entire Indian subcontinent.

Additionally, GSAT-8 carried the two-channel GAGAN system for aircraft navigation assistance over Indian airspace and adjoining areas.

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Mamata's mix-n-match team

KOLKATA: Chief minister Mamata Banerjee's cabinet promises to be a unique mix of carrer politicians and first-timers, where experts and former bureaucrats will have a crucial role to play.

Along with political veterans like Subrata Mukherjee, there are three former IPS officers of DGP and ADG level ^ Rachpal Singh, H A Safwi and Upen Biswas ^ along with Manish Gupta, who retired as chief secretary. Former Ficci secretary-general Amit Mitra, the new finance minister, was among the first two to get their portfolios. Then there is theatre personality Bratya Basu. Together, they bring a wealth of administrative and creative experience.

It's rare to find so many `outsiders' in any cabinet, rarer still for so many of them to be given the most important portfolios. Mamata has bigger plans of involving experts from various fields as advisors. Some of them may even be made ministers if her plan for a Vidhan Parishad comes true. Former IPS officer Sultan Singh, for example, has not been made a minister but Mamata could use his experience in the several committees she proposes to set up to sort out critical issues.

Mamata has already put Mitra to work. "I have asked him to find out if there are sufficient funds to pay salary," the chief minister said on Friday.

The inclusion of former top cops like Rachpal Singh, Upen Biswas and H A Safwi is a masterstroke as they know the administration like the back of their hands. They will prove invaluable in the administrative reforms that Mamata is so passionate about.

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Mamata Banerjee's 18-year-long journey to Writers' Building

KOLKATA: It was the same corridor down which she was dragged by the hair and shoved out. Eighteen years later, when Mamata Banerjee walked into the chamber that said 'Chief Minister' on Friday, heels clicked, hands snapped up in salute or joined in awed obeisance, while outside, thousands cheered.

Trailed by a sea of supporters shouting "Didi, Didi", Mamata walked the 1km to Writers' Buidling from Raj Bhavan, where she took oath as the first non-Left chief minister in 34 years and West Bengal's first woman CM.

Bureaucrats and police brass escorted Mamata up the same flight of stairs she was dragged down in 1993. In the corridor, she suddenly broke her brisk stride and turned towards a balcony where she stood and waved to the delirious crowd. A bodyguard swiftly crouched before her, hanging on to the low guard rails to protect her from the mad scramble of photojournalists. With a final wave, Mamata walked off purposefully to the CM's chamber. It was 4.44pm.

On the way to Raj Bhawan, she waded through a sea of fans. "This is your day. It is you who are going to Raj Bhavan today. I am just representing a wish. For the next seven days I will not see anybody. I will work day and night, even on weekends, to sort out certain issues. After that I will start seeing you again, once a week. My doors will be open for you," she promised. Within hours, she announced her government's first major decision ^ returning 400 acres of land to farmers in Singur, where her campaign had prevented Tatas from setting up a Nano plant.

As she strode in to take oath, facing her, in the front row, were her glum political foes ^ ex-CM Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee, Left Front chairman Biman Bose and ex-finance minister Asim Dasgupta. Bhattacharjee and Mamata have always avoided each other. This time, they made an exception and exchanged polite namaskars.

A part of Delhi's power list was also there. Union home minister P Chidambaram walked in a few minutes after Bhattacharjee. He greeted Amit Mitra, the new finance minister, and the two had a quick conversation. Finance minister Pranab Mukherjee and defence minister A K Antony also attended the event.

Raj Bhavan had never seen such glitter. Among the filmstars there were Prosenjit, Ranjit Mallik and daughter Koel, Rituparno Ghosh, Supriya Debi, writer Mahasveta Devi, painter Suvaprasanna. Top industrialists like Yogi Deweshwar and Harsh Neotia also attended.

Exactly four hours earlier, Mamata had set off from her humble house on Harish Chatterjee Street on a journey to change Bengal's history. By then thousands of supporters lined the route she would take to Raj Bhavan, holding puja thalis and blowing conch shells. Many came bare-feet, as if they were going to worship a deity.

Near her house, there was a Puja-like atmosphere. When she emerged wearing a crisp off-white saree with a blue zari border, a chant of Didi... Didi went up. Her black Santro revved to take her to Raj Bhavan, but Mamata walked into the crowd, catching the Special Security Unit guards by surprise. She touched as many hands as she could, smiled, and folded her hands. Someone passed her a microphone.

Neighbours showered flowers as she got into the Santro, ignoring a bulletproof car. Five of her brothers and their families followed. Mother Gayatri Devi could not make it because she was ill.

At exactly 12.50pm, Mamata walked into Raj Bhavan. She greeted Governor M K Narayanan warmly and took up the sheet of paper she was to read out from. A deafening applause signalled the beginning of her reign.

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Kalmadi was mastermind of TSR scam: CBI

NEW DELHI: The CBI squarely named arrested Commonwealth Games chief organizer Suresh Kalmadi as the "mastermind" in fixing and inflating costs of a timing, scoring and results contract awarded to a Swiss firm that caused a loss of Rs 95 crore.

In the first chargesheet it filed in a Games-related case on Friday, CBI countered Kalmadi's claim that the controversial contract awarded to a Swiss firm was cleared by an executive board and the sports ministry, maintaining the Pune MP was "the supreme authority in the Organising Committee having overriding powers".

Agency sources said they were tracing an elaborate conspiracy that began at the Commonwealth Youth Games organized by Kalmadi at his parliamentary constituency of Pune where event organizer Wizcraft was asked to facilitate an appearance by Bollywood actor Shilpa Shetty.

A partner in the plan was a firm Gem International – now named as a conspirator along with Swiss Timing Omega and Kalmadi and his Organizing Committee associates. Gem forked out Rs 72 lakh for the event and Rs 18 lakh was allegedly paid to Shetty. Later, after it won the timing, scoring and results contract, Swiss Timing allegedly paid Rs 23 crore to Gem, seen to be an exercise in routing the money.

The agency said the buck stopped with Kalmadi as prime accused as he oversaw forgeries and tender conditions were tweaked to benefit Swiss Timing at his behest by his aides Lalit Bhanot and V K Verma, who were arrested in February.

Along with Kalmadi, Bhanot and Verma, the 60-page chargesheet on the Rs 141 crore contract names former OC treasurer M Jaychandran and five others. Two companies -- Swiss Timing Omega and AKR Constructions -- have been indicted.

The agency is likely to next file a chargesheet in the Queen Baton's Relay case involving allegedly illegal payments to British firm AM Cars and AM Films. Jaychandran was arrested in the case and is on bail with two other former OC officials. Kalmadi is likely to be main accused in this case as well.

The two private entities – Swiss Timing and AKR Constructions – have been chargesheeted for routing payments and conspiring with OC officials with the final sub-contractor carrying out the work awarded for a fraction of the deal.

The CBI court of judge Talwant Singh is due to take cognizance of the chargesheet on Monday. The agency has been helped by two former OC officials, one of whom V K Gautam was believed to be close to Kalmadi. He along with Sujit Panigraphi are among the main prosecution witnesses. The other important testimony is that of Rahul Bhatnagar, a senior official in the sports ministry.

Kalmadi and his associates decided to award the contract to Swiss Timing before a tender was floated and the terms were changed after its issuance to specifically ensure the firm won the deal. A much lower Rs 62 crore bid by Spanish firm MSL was rejected. Swiss Timing's bid was accepted despite a 2:2 split in the evaluation committee, investigation has revealed.

"They (the officials) had a pre-planned design to give contract to Swiss Timing, much before Expression of Interest and Request for Proposal (RPF) was issued and they had done forgeries, manipulations and machinations to give award to Switzerland based company."

Since it could not find direct evidence of money trail, the agency cited circumstantial and documentary evidence in a bid to nail him for cheating, forgery and other charges. It said that he had himself "manipulated the eligibility criteria for the TSR contract to favour Swiss Timing."

The agency based its chargesheet on the statement of around 70 witnesses and several documents including a forged contract and expression of interest and a hand-written note recovered from Kalmadi's house stating the TSR contract would go to Swiss Timing.

OC officials to be chargesheeted include Surjit Lal, A S V Prasad and three private persons – promoters of Faridabad-based Gem International A K Madan and Purushottam Arya and MD of Hyderabad based AKR Constructions A Krishna Reddy. CBI has charged all of them for cheating, forgery, and criminal conspiracy, use of forged documents and prevention of corruption act.

Reddy, Madan and Arya are on the run and CBI is looking for them armed with non-bailable warrants.

The two firms Swiss Timing and Gem conspired with OC officials. "They then conspired with A K Reddy of AKR Constructions and raised highly inflated and bogus invoices for Rs 11 crore for temporary cabling work for justifying the huge payment received from Swiss Timing," said the chargesheet.

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Kanimozhi's new address is Tihar Jail No. 6

NEW DELHI: Dressed in an orange salwar suit, Kanimozhi stepped into Tihar Jail around 4.30pm on Friday after a Delhi court ordered her arrest "forthwith". Hours ago, outside the court she had told reporters: "I was expecting it."

Kanimozhi, former Tamil Nadu chief minister M Karunanidhi's daughter, was driven into the prison complex in a police van with other woman inmates returning from court.

For the next few nights, she will sleep on a concrete platform in a 10x15 foot cell of Tihar's female ward 8 jail number 6. She will be allowed a layer of blankets to use as cushion. First-time offenders are detained in this ward. For company, Kanimozhi will have a small TV set and some newspapers. Her neighbours: Alleged spy Madhuri Gupta and infamous pimp Sonu Punjaban.

A woman constable escorted the DMK MP to prison. But her sullenness disappeared the moment she got off the prison van as personnel from the Tamil Nadu Special Police surrounded her. "They chatted in Tamil for about 15 minutes and she smiled with them and asked them about their job," a jail source said.

Some DMK MPs, including T R Baalu, and her husband G Aravinthan came to meet her in the jail later. The DMK leader's cell has a small toilet, a fan, a TV set and light. Similar facilities have been given to other 2G accused including former telecom minister A Raja. Like the former telecom minister, she will be given south Indian food. Her clothes and bedding came from home. Asked to take off her jewellery, Kanimozhi was a picture of resignation as she complied. "As per jail rules, she was immediately made to undergo a medical examination after which she was taken to her cell. She was shown her cell after which she showered.

Kanimozhi used a toilet that only had a curtain. "The bathrooms are inside the cell and there is no wall. We string up curtains when the inmate has to go to the bathroom. This is regular," he said. Her dinner was chapatti, rice, subzi and dal. She ate inside her cell and the food was the same as given to other inmates. Kanimozhi, the prison official said, expressed concern over mosquitoes and asked if she would be provided a mosquito repellant. Kanimozhi also struck up a conversation with other woman prisoners, especially those from Tamil Nadu. But officials made it clear she won't be allowed to interact with any of the 2G accused lodged in jails 1, 3 and 4.

Kalaignar TV MD Sharad Kumar was sent to jail number 4 where former Commonwealth Games chief organizer Suresh Kalmadi is also lodged. He was lodged in ward number 15 and also given bedsheets, a mattress, a TV, books and attached bathroom. "Medical tests were also conducted on him and he ate dinner but did not take a shower.

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2G scam probe: Kanimozhi denied bail, arrested

New Delhi: A special Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) court on Friday denied bail pleas of DMK MP Kanimozhi and Kalaignar TV chief Sharad Kumar, named as co-conspirators in the 2G spectrum scam.

The court directed the CBI to take her and Kalaignar TV Managing Director Sharath Kumar into judicial custody. The Rajya Sabha MP will be taken to Tihar jail.

The CBI had named Kanimozhi, daughter of DMK chief M. Karunanidhi, and Sharad Kumar as co-conspirators in its April 25 supplementary charge sheet after it traced an illegal money trail of Rs.214 crore in the scam.

She is accused of conspiring and accepting bribes to rig 2007/08 grants of lucrative telecoms licences.

Metro to Vaishali by July: DMRC

NEW DELHI: This summer, the Delhi Metro will cross another border. With trial runs starting in June, the extension of the Yamuna Bank-Anand Vihar line to Vaishali in Ghaziabad is expected to be up and running from July, Delhi Metro Rail Corporation sources said.

For residents of Vaishali, Vasundhara, Indirapuram and Kaushambi – all across the UP border — the opening of the extension line is a much-awaited event. The 2.57km stretch, which will have only two extra stations at Kaushambi and Vaishali, will cater to a large catchment area, say officials. The daily ridership on the Yamuna Bank-Anand Vihar line is expected to jump by 40,000, easily crossing the one lakh figure from the current 90,000.

DMRC plans to get the mandatory safety clearances for the new stretch in June itself, as soon as the trial runs start.

"Once we're satisfied with the trials, we'll also go in for the CMRS (commissioner of metro rail safety) inspection. If the approvals come in time, we expect to start operations by July," said the DMRC spokesperson. The civil work on the extension line is complete, the spokesperson added, with only finishing work taking place inside the stations.

That the Vaishali station will be a major stop for the DMRC is also apparent from the current ridership figures at the Anand Vihar Metro station. Of the 35,000 people using the Metro at the Anand Vihar station, only 15,000 are token-users, say officials.

The extension to Vaishali is expected to add 40,000 riders to the Yamuna Bank-Anand Vihar line.

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NPCIL to reach out to TISS students on Jaitapur issue

NEW DELHI: After Union environment minister Jairam Ramesh faced agitating students at Tata Institute of Social Sciences protesting against the clearance to the Jaitapur nuclear power plant, the Nuclear Power Corporation of India has promised to make a presentation to the faculty and students at the Mumbai campus.

NPCIL has also set up a committee under the head of the Bombay Natural History Society to study the marine ecology and bio-diversity in a 10-kilometre radius of the proposed Jaitapur site. The study will not be used to alter the decision to have the project at the site but will submit a comprehensive marine and bio-diversity management plan in one year.

The move by NPCIL to engage with TISS comes after Ramesh wrote to NPCIL asking it to improve its 'public communication' and at least talk to its next door neighbours – the premier institute in social sciences education.

Ramesh noted in his letter to NPCIL that the students had raised various issues about the project that he heard out for 75 minutes. The students had claimed that their field surveys showed a very large number of locals had not accepted the compensation and a large number of fishermen would be adversely affected besides taking up other issues about the project that has turned into a political battleground for the Prithviraj Chavan government in the state.

NPCIL, which is already reeling from bad press and has been indirectly blamed by Ramesh for not adequately handling protests and demands on ground, has reacted quickly to the minister's suggestion this time and reached out to TISS.

It has suggested that it could give a detailed presentation to the TISS faculty and students in June as well as take them for a site visit to the plant running at Tarapur.

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Now petrol is dearer than jet fuel

MUMBAI: Jet fuel is cheaper than petrol now, but airlines do not appear to be in any mood to cut the fuel surcharge on tickets. With jet fuel or aviation turbine fuel (ATF) prices dropping by over 2.9% and petrol prices rising by Rs 5 a litre, it's cheaper now to fuel a jet aircraft than it is to fuel your car. On Monday, the cost per litre of ATF in Delhi was Rs 58.8, while that of petrol was Rs 63.4. In Mumbai the gap between prices of aircraft and car fuel was wider than that of Delhi with ATF costing Rs 59.6 per litre while petrol stood at Rs 68.3 a litre.

The ATF prices went down on Sunday, after international oil rates slumped bringing about the first reduction in ATF costs this year. In Delhi, the ATF price fell by Rs 1,766/kilolitre, while in Mumbai the fall was Rs 1,827. The 3% fall in ATF prices is not going to translate into reduction in fuel surcharge. The reduction in ATF price has come after 14 successive hikes since October, 2010, when international crude oil prices started soaring.

But there is no respite for the passenger. If you are planning a last-minute summer holiday and have not booked your airline tickets yet, then the only good news is that fuel surcharge will not shoot up till the month end. Airfare still be on the higher side with the peak season demand influencing the prices.

"When ATF prices go up in succession, we raise the fuel surcharge after a few hikes,'' said an airline official, requesting anonymity. "Now, it has gone down only by 2.9%, which is too small a drop to effect a change in fuel surcharge,'' he added. Unfortunately, for the passenger there will be no respite. In short, the savings will be pocketed by the airline. "The drop maybe only 2.9%, but considering the quantity of fuel an airline's entire fleet guzzles per month, the savings will not be negligible,'' said an aviation analyst. It's not the first time that jet fuel became cheaper than car fuel. Only two months ago, between March 1 and 15, ATF was Rs 55.5 per litre in Mumbai, while petrol price was Rs 63. In Delhi too, ATF was priced Rs 54.93, while petrol stood at Rs 58.37.

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Monsoon on time, says Met

PUNE: The India Meteorological Department (IMD) has predicted that the southwest monsoon will arrive on time. It is expected to reach the Andaman Sea this week and Kerala by May 31.

"The southwest monsoon usually moves to the Andaman Sea around May 20. It is expected to cover the Andaman Sea in the next few days, which will be close to its normal date of arrival," said P S P Rao, IMD director (weather central).

The Met department has used a forecast model that suggests the monsoon's advance to Kerala on May 31 with an error margin of four days. The southwest monsoon over Kerala marks the beginning of the rainy season from June to September in India. The IMD uses an indigenously developed statistical model for operational forecasts of the monsoon's onset. Last year, the monsoon reached the Andaman Sea on May 17, three days ahead of schedule. It hit the Kerala coast on May 31, a day in advance. Cyclone 'Laila' over the Bay of Bengal had hastened the advance of the monsoon, IMD had said.

This year, IMD has used the forecast model based on Principal Component Regression technique with six predictors. These include minimum temperature over northwest India, pre-monsoon rainfall peak over the southern peninsula, outgoing long-wave radiation over the South China Sea, lower tropospheric zonal wind over southeast Indian Ocean, upper tropospheric zonal wind over the east equatorial Indian Ocean, and outgoing long-wave radiation over the southwest Pacific region.

Outgoing long-wave radiation, that is, radiation of heat from the earth helps better monsoon forecast. Satellites can measure this radiation in a particular area between specific latitudes and longitudes.

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Assembly Elections 2011 results- Historic victory for Mamata; red bastion falls

Breaking the Red citadel, Mamata Banerjee's Trinamool Congress ended the 34-year hegemony of the Left Front in West Bengal, while Jayalalithaa's AIADMK scored a landslide victory to oust DMK from power in Tamil Nadu as results of the assembly elections was out. Congress scored a spectacular hattrick in Assam bagging a near two-third majority to retain power and managed to wrest power from the Left Democratic Front in Kerala by a wafer-thin majority but lost Puducherry to its rebel. We bring you the latest news and happenings from the five states that matter. Join us on Monday for Live updates.

Tamil Nadu

Alliance	Change	Won
ADMK	+126	203
DMK	-119	31
Others		0

Kerala

Alliance	Change	Won
UDF	+31	72
LDF	-24	68
Others		0

West Bengal

Alliance	Change	Won
TMC	+173	225
Left	-166	63
Others		6

Assam

Alliance	Change	Won
Cong	+23	76
BJP	-6	4
AGP	-14	10
Others		36

Puducherry

Alliance	Change	Won
NRC	+16	20
Cong	-10	9
Others		1

Gogoi's hat-trick in Assam

GUWAHATI: Tarun Gogoi earned a larger-than-life place in the hearts of his fellow partymen by leading Congress to victory for the third successive time in Assam.

The writing on the wall was clear — the Congress won an absolute majority in the 126-member state assembly, winning in 78 seats. The majority mark in the Assam assembly is 64.

Despite winning a majority, the Congress is set to form the next government with its pre-poll ally, Bodoland People's Front (BPF), led by Hagrama Mohilary, a former militant. The BPF managed keep its hold on the Bodo heartland and improved its tally by winning 12 seats.

Gogoi proved he is the Congress's best mascot in Assam by leading the party to victory from panchayat to Parliament in all the elections, barring one, since 2001. He also showed, once again, that the people of Assam have no alternative to him at this juncture, when the state is seriously trying to buy peace with rebel outfit Ulfa.

The biggest surprise in this election was the All India United Democratic Front (AIUDF), led by perfume baron Badaruddin Ajmal. By winning 18 seats, the AIUDF emerged as the largest opposition party. Its 2006 tally was only 10.

The party, which champions the cause of Muslims, proved wrong the predictions of all exit polls.

The main opposition, AGP, which went all out against Gogoi, accusing his government of being neck-deep in corruption, faced a humiliating defeat and managed only 10 seats.

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Assembly elections: Historic win for Trinamool Congress in Bengal

KOLKATA: The Trinamool Congress on Friday headed for a historic win in West Bengal, bringing down the curtain on the 34-year uninterrupted rule of the Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPM) led Left Front.

The Left Front - the longest serving Communist-led government in a democratic set-up headed for a rout.

West Bengal chief minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee tendered his resignation to governor MK Narayanan at 1.15pm on Friday. He lost his seat and is only the second chief minister in Bengal's history to lose the assembly seat. Prafulla Sen, the third chief minister of Bengal, was the first to lose.

As the state was poised to get its first woman chief minister in Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee after about 64 years after independence, the defeat of the Left Front spanned almost the entire geographical map of West Bengal.

Its candidates were losing even in erstwhile red citadels like Burdwan, Bankura and Purulia districts and in seats where the coalition had never been defeated since coming to power in 1977.

The Trinamool headed for a landslide bagging 42 of the 294 seats and leading in 144 demolishing the 34-year-old Left citadel in West Bengal in the assembly elections.

Trinamool's ally Congress won 12 seats and was leading in 30.

As per the trends, the Trinamool Congress could form the ministry on its own as the magic figure for government formation is 148.

Left Front major, CPM has so far bagged 13 seats and was ahead in 24.

LF partner, Forward Bloc won three seats and was ahead in nine, while RSP and CPI, two other constituents were leading in 6 and 3 seats respectively.

Independents were leading in two and others in six. Majors Left Front figures including finance minister Ashim Dasgupta, tndustry minister Nirupam Sen, housing minister Goutam Deb and IT minister Debesh Das were trailing.

Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee dedicated her party's stupendous victory to 'Ma, Mati, Manush' drawing parallels with the freedom struggle and promised good governance, while saying that there would be an end to "autocracy and atrocities".

"Not only in Bengal and India, people across the world were waiting for this verdict and we express our gratitude to all of them," Banerjee said.

Accepting the poll verdict, a joint statement by the chief minister and Left Front chairman, Biman Bose described the debacle as 'unexpected'. They, however, said the Left would play the role of a responsible and constructive opposition in the assembly.
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Kerala assembly elections 2011: UDF wins by narrow margin

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Backed by a consolidation of religious minorities, Congress-led UDF in Kerala on Friday gained a narrow majority over the CPM-controlled LDF in the 140-member state Assembly.

The Congress-led UDF won 72 seats, just one more than a simple majority. The LDF bagged 68 seats.

Outgoing Kerala chief minister VS Achutanandan said on Friday that he would not try to garner a majority using disgruntled members from other parties and would sit in the opposition.

The Congress on Friday said its less than expected performance in Kerala, where it managed a wafer-thin majority, was due to CPM leader and chief minister VS Achuthanandan getting voters' sympathy for attacks on him by his own party.

"We were not expecting such a narrow win for UDF but it was the sympathy of voters for VS Achuthanandan which helped him garner the votes," a senior Congress leader said here.

Though the state was poised to live up to its reputation of giving mandate to the rival coalitions alternately, the UDF tally fell far short of its expectations going by its splendid showing in the Lok Sabha polls in 2009.

In 2006 assembly polls, LDF won 98 seats and UDF 42. Even as the UDF is all set to scrape through, the performance of the coalition leader Congress' performance was none too impressive as it could win only 23 seats.

While UDF's main partner, Indian Union Muslim League, put up a sterling performance, minor components JSS and CMP were washed out.

The prominent UDF candidates who romped home include its chief ministerial probable Oommen Chandy, KPCC president Ramesh Chennithala, K Muraleedharan (Cong), IUML leader P K Kuhalikutty and Kerala Congress leader K M Mani (Pala).

Chief minister VS Achuthanandan scored a hat-trick from the CPM stronghold Malampuzha by a huge margin of 20,000 votes over Lathika Subhash of the Congress.

Most of the ministers including home and tourism minister Kodiyeri Balakrishnan received a fresh mandate.

The LDF maintained sway over most of the northern districts, except the Muslim League-dominated Malappuram.

While the UDF put up a good showing in the Christian heartland Central Travancore, the trend was mixed in down south including the state capital.

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Tamil Nadu assembly polls: Jayalalithaa's AIADMK sweeps state

CHENNAI: The Jayalalithaa-led AIADMK front forged ahead of its rival the ruling DMK front and is heading for a sweep, according to trends for assembly election in Tamil Nadu.

The AIADMK had established leads in over 190 seats in the 234-member House. The ruling DMK front is way behind, leading only in 39 constituencies.

Corruption charges on various DMK leaders arising out of the 2G spectrum allocation scam have come to haunt the party.

As the AIADMK juggernaut rolls on in Tamil Nadu, a majority of DMK ministers are trailing.

M Karunanidhi has submitted his resignation as the Tamil Nadu chief minister to governor Surjit Singh Barnala.

Among the DMK ministers trailing are finance minister K Anbazhagan, higher education minister K Ponmudi, food minister E V Velu, transport minister KN Nehru, health minister M R K Paneerselvam, backward classes minister K K S S R Ramachandran, agriculture minister Veerapandi Arumugham, hindu religious and charitable endowments minister K R Periyakaruppan, school education minister Thangam Thennarasu, tourism minister Suresh Rajan, sports minister T P M Mohideen Khan, commercial tax minister S N M Ubayadulla, foresh minister N Selvaraj, IT minister Poongothai Aladi Aruna and fisheries minister K P P Samy.

AIADMK chief Jayalalithaa was ahead in Srirangam.

Post-poll surveys were not very clear about who would come to power.

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Mamata takes Bengal, TN goes to Jaya; Assam, Kerala to Cong

NEW DELHI: Mamata Banerjee stormed the Red bastion terminating the Left Front's 34-year stranglehold on West Bengal, while Jayalalithaa wrested power with a landslide victory over DMK in the assembly elections whose results were out on Friday.

Congress added to Left's discomfiture by snatching power in Kerala by a slender margin while it scored a spectacular hattrick in Assam bagging a near two-third majority to retain power.

However, the party surrendered power to a rebel in Puducherry who left the party only a few months ago and teamed up with AIADMK to secure two-thirds majority in the 30-member assembly.

Although it put up a brave face, there was more bad news for the Congress in the two Lok Sabha by-elections.

The Congress was humiliated in Kadapa in Andhra Pradesh -- a development bound to cost the party dearly in the politically crucial state -- and defeated by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in Bastar in Chhattisgarh.

In Kadapa, the Congress candidate came second but lost his deposit after YS Jaganmohan Reddy, son of the late chief minister YSR Rajasekhara Reddy, retained the seat with a record margin of 543,053 votes -- three times the winning margin of 2009.

Riding a wave of change in a state where Left ideology ruled the roost for over three decades, Banerjee along with allies Congress and SUCI gave a severe drubbing to the Left Front.

The Banerjee-led alliance was set to capture over two-thirds majority by winning over 225 seats in the 294 seat assembly. Banerjee, railway minister at the Centre, did not contest the elections.

Trinamool Congress has won 224 seats and was leading in 1 seat, while Congress bagged 42.

On the rival side, the CPI(M), which headed the Left Front, has won 63 seats.

The CPI(M) suffered humiliation when a number of its bigwigs, including chief minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee, bit the dust. Shortly after defeat, Bhattacharjee resigned.

With defeats in West Bengal and Kerala, the Left will have power only in Tripura.

Tamil Nadu lived up to its 'winner takes all' reputation as Jayalalithaa swept back to power with a landslide victory with her alliance set to cross the 200 mark in the 234-member assembly.

Riding the plank of DMK's alleged corruption in the form of 2G spectrum scam and perceived resentment over the 'family rule' of chief minister Karunanidhi, AIADMK on its own is set to get 151 seats.

The party has won 198 seat and was leading in another 6 seats. The DMK and allies won 28 seats and was ahead in 2.

State Congress president KV Thangkabalu, who made a dramatic entry into the contest after the alleged bungling over his wife's candidature, lost the Mylapore seat by nearly 30,000 votes.

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Arunachal woman conquers Mt Everest on half-plate of Maggi noodles

KATHMANDU: The raging wind made it difficult for her to stand upright and knocked off her tent when she reached 7200m on the slope of the majestic Mt Everest, forcing her and her Sherpa guide to seek shelter in the tent of anther expedition.

"We were not carrying any food with us since we had planned to head for Mt Everest the same day," says Tine Mena, tired but triumphant after becoming the first Indian to summit the 8848m Mt Everest this spring as well as the first woman climber from the North-East to accomplish the feat. "We were given a packet of Maggi noodles and shared it between the two of us, going out the next day to head for the summit, though people warned us not to. They said the wind was rough. But I am from Arunachal Pradesh and we have strong winds at home too."

On Monday, the 25-year-old, the daughter of a farmer from remote Roing village, made mountaineering history when she carried the flags of India and her state to the top of the world. "I also carried the logo of Jindal, who sponsored my trip," says Tine Mena, who was sponsored by the state government for her mountaineering courses at the Himalayan Mountaineering Institute in Darjeeling after the Sports Directorate felt she could be groomed to take on the world's highest mountain.

"My mother, Lone, died the day I left for my advanced training course," says Tine Mena. "During the week-long course, I did not eat anything. When I began my final climb Sunday night, despite the cold, wind and fatigue, I thought I had to succeed to fulfil my mother's dream and to repay my sponsors."

Though she reached the peak on Monday 11am, due to the bad communication system, her mountaineering agency could be informed only on Wednesday, after she had reached the safety of the Everest base camp. When she returns home, Tine Mena, who is unemployed, says she wants to start an adventure camp. "Arunachal has everything," she told TNN. "You can trek there, go rafting or climb mountains. But there is no one to teach people to do these things. I am glad I have the skill now to do something." She has already been promised support by a state MLA who says it will provide job opportunities to hundreds of young people in the state who are sitting idle for lack of opportunities.

Tine Mena was part of an international team that includes two more Indians and a Pakistani. They are now headed for the upper camps, readying to make the final push this week. A second woman from Arunachal Pradesh, Anshu Jamsenpa, 32, is also making the attempt this week.

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India releases list of 50 'most wanted fugitives' in Pak

NEW DELHI: Turning more heat on Pakistan, India on Wednesday released a list of 50 "most wanted fugitives", including underworld don Dawood Ibrahim, 26/11 mastermind and LeT founder Hafiz Saeed and dreaded terrorist Zaki ur Rehman Lakhvi, hiding in that country.

Five Pakistani army majors also feature in the list of India's top 50 wanted men, some of whom are believed to be hiding in Pakistan soil, according to Times Now.

Hafiz Saeed, who is involved in Mumbai terror attack and various other attacks in India, tops the list, which TIMES NOW has possession of.

The list also includes Jaish-e-Mohammed chief Maulana Masood Azhar, the principal accused in the 2001 Parliament attack after his release in exchange of hostages in the Khandhar hijack episode in 1999.

The list is as follows:

Hafiz Mohammed Saeed
Sajjid Majid
Syed Hashim Abdur Rehman Pasha
Major Iqbal
Illyas Kashmiri
Rashid Abdullah
Major Sameer Ali
Dawood Ibrahim
Memon Ibrahim
Chota Shakeel
Memon Abdul Razak
Anis Ibrahim
Anwar Ahmed Haji Jamal
Mohammed Dosa
Javed Chikna
Salim Abdul Ghazi
Riyaz Khatri
Munaf Halari
Mohammed Salim Mujhahid
Khan Bashir Ahmed
Yakub Yeda Khan
Mohammed Memon
Irfan Chaugule
Feroz Rashid Khan
Ali Moosa
Sagir Ali Shaikh
Aftab Batki
Maulana Mohammed Masood Azhar
Salauddin
Azam Cheema
Syed Zabiuddin Jabi
Ibrahim Athar
Azhar Yusuf
Zahur Ibrahim Mistri
Akhtar Sayeed
Mohammed Shakir
Rauf Abdul
Amanullah Khan
Sufiyan Mufti
Nachan Akmal
Pathan Yaqoob Khan
CAM Bashir
Lakhbir Singh Rode
Paramjit Singh Pamma
Ranjit Singh
Wadhawa Singh
Abu Hamza
Zaki ur Rehman Lakhvi
Amir Raza Khan

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SC dismisses CBI petition, rejects harsher punishment for Bhopal gas tragedy accused

NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court turned down on Wednesday a government demand to re-open the case into the 1984 Bhopal gas tragedy and hand harsher sentences to seven men convicted of negligence.

The court dismissed CBI's curative petition seeking restoration of stringent charges against Bhopal tragedy accused saying it was filed 14 years after the 1996 judgment, which was only a prima facie view of evidence that had come on record till that time.

A five-judge constitutional bench, headed by Chief Justice S H Kapadia, however, left a window of opportunity open saying the pending proceedings before the sessions court against the Chief Judicial Magistrate's judgement awarding two years sentence to the accused, including Union Carbide India Chairman Keshub Mahindra will not be influenced by any order passed by it, PTI reported.

The unanimous order was passed by the bench that included justices Altamas Kabir, R V Raveendran, B Sudershan Reddy and Aftab Alam.

The CBI and the Madhya Pradesh government filed the curative petitions after a public outcry over what was considered as a mild punishment for a tragedy that claimed over 15,000 lives in December 1984 and had left several thousands maimed by the leakage of deadly Methyl Isocyanate gas.

In 1996, a two-judge bench of the apex court, headed by the then Chief Justice A H Ahmadi had diluted the charges against the accused from Section 304 Part II of the IPC providing for a maximum of ten years imprisonment to Section 304(A) that deals with rash and negligence act with a maximum punishment of two years.

The CBI and the MP government have filed revision petitions in the sessions court against the judgement of the CJM, Bhopal, which had awarded two years jail term to various accused in the Bhopal gas tragedy case.

Last month, the apex court had questioned the CBI for approaching it 16 years after it had diluted in the charge of culpable homicide not amounting to murder against the accused in the Bhopal gas tragedy case.

Then, a five-judge special bench headed by Chief Justice S H Kapadia had raised the question on delay and asked the CBI as to why it had not filed the review petition during all these years.

Attorney General G E Vahanvati, appearing for the CBI, said: "I don''t know why it was not filed by the CBI but a review petition was filed in the case by someone else and it was dismissed."

He said there was a series of illegal omissions on the part of the accused from 1982 onward which led to that disaster.

He further said there was serious security default besides a default in the design in the plant which led to the disaster.

The bench was then hearing a petition filed by the CBI seeking to recall the apex court''s 14-year-old judgement that had diluted the charges against the accused who were prosecuted just for the offence of being negligent.

The CBI petition sought restoration of the stringent charge of culpable homicide not amounting to murder instead of death caused due to negligence against the accused.

The Supreme Court had on August 31 last year reopened the Bhopal gas leak case and issued notices to all the accused on the basis of a petition filed by the CBI seeking to restore against them the stringent charge of culpable homicide, which attracts a maximum punishment of ten years jail term.

In in-chamber proceedings, a bench comprising Chief Justice S H Kapadia and Justices Altamas Kabir and R V Raveendran sought response from the accused on the curative petition filed by the CBI, which wanted a reconsideration of the 1996 judgement, which diluted charges against former Union Carbide India Chairman Keshub Mahindra and six others.

In the early hours of December 3, 1984, around 40 metric tonnes of toxic methyl isocyanate (MIC) gas leaked into the atmosphere and was carried by the wind to the surrounding slums.

The government says around 3,500 died because of the disaster. Activists however calculate that 25,000 people died in the immediate aftermath and the years that followed.

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Exit polls say Mamata likely to sweep WB, split on TN, Kerala

The Left Front's 34-year rule in West Bengal is set to end with the Trinamool Congress-led alliance likely to win three-fourths of the seats, according to exit polls and post-poll surveys by various media outfits.

While unanimous on this, the polls released on Tuesday differed on what will happen in Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Assam and were silent on the outcome in Puducherry.

Two exit polls, done by AC Nielsen for Star Ananda and by CVoter for a host of media organizations, as well as two post-poll surveys done by CSDS for CNN-IBN and Week and by ORG for Headlines Today, gave the Mamata Banerjee-led alliance between 210 and 235 of the 294 seats in the West Bengal assembly.

Not all of them gave a break-up for the alliance, but if their projections come true, it would mean the Trinamool Congress alone would have a comfortable majority in the assembly, which may be almost as much of a worry for the Congress as for the Left.

The Star Ananda-Nielsen poll was confined to West Bengal, but the other three disagreed on the outcome in Kerala. The CSDS post-poll survey suggested it would be a really close contest with the CPM-led Left Democratic Front marginally more likely to form the government, largely thanks to the popularity of chief minister V S Achuthanandan. The CVoter and ORG polls in contrast gave the Congress-led United Democratic Front a clear edge.

A poll done by Asianet-C-Fore for Kerala has projected the UDF winning between 72 and 82 seats with the LDF winning 58-68 seats.

If the latter predictions come true, it would mean that the Left would be out of power in both of its major states for the first time in over three decades.

In Tamil Nadu, the CSDS and ORG post-poll surveys project a very close fight.

While the CSDS poll predicts that the AIADMK-led opposition alliance has the edge and is likely to get a slim majority, the ORG poll suggests the reverse. The CVoter exit poll is the only one to suggest the state will deliver a decisive mandate favouring the opposition front. Its projection is that the J Jayalalithaa-led coalition will win between 168 and 176 of the 234 seats in the assembly.

In Assam, the CSDS poll is the only one that projects a clear winner, predicting between 64 and 72 seats for the Congress in the 126-member assembly. The ORG survey gives the Congress between 41 and 47 seats and the CVoter exit poll gives the party between 41 and 45 seats.

Even if these projections come true, however, the Congress will be most likely to form the next government given the projected distribution of the remaining seats between the Asom Gana Parishad, the BJP, the Assam United Democratic Front and other smaller groups.

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SC verdict in Bhopal gas case, Amar Singh tapes today

NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court will have a busy day on Wednesday as it is scheduled to pronounce judgments on whether to apply new and stringent charges against former top officials of Union Carbide in the Bhopal gas leak case, as also the plea for making public the contents of the Amar Singh tapes.

Both these judgments will be pronounced simultaneously at 10.30 am, though by separate benches. The judgment on Bhopal will be pronounced by a five-judge constitution bench headed by Chief Justice S H Kapadia, while the verdict on the plea for making public the intercepts of Amar Singh's conversations will be given by the bench of Justice G S Singhvi and A K Ganguly.

The CBI had filed a curative petition seeking application of Section 304-II charges against accused, including former UCIL chairman Keshub Mahindra. The agency questioned the rationale behind the SC's earlier judgment diluting the charges to Section 304A of Indian Penal Code. Section 304-II entails a maximum punishment of 10 years imprisonment whereas a person convicted under Section 304A could be punished for a maximum of two years jail term.

Member of Parliament Singh will also be anxious to know whether the apex court agreed with his plea against publication of his telephone intercepts, carried out through a forged authorisation letter in 2005. Singh had obtained an injunction from the SC against the disclosure of contents of the "Amar Singh" tapes on grounds that these contained his private conversations which were tapped illegally. However, a PIL had sought publication of all those intercepts which were not in the private domain alleging that they pertained to fixing several deals at the cost of the public exchequer.

In addition to these two, the court is scheduled to hear former BJP president Bangaru Laxman's plea against the CBI in the case under the Prevention of Corruption Act that was lodged against him when a sting operation captured him taking a bribe.

It will also hear a petition filed on behalf of Sarabjit Singh, who is facing death penalty in Pakistan for alleged involvement in terror activities. The petitioners were buoyed by the release of Gopal Dass by Pakistan after a request by the Supreme Court.

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Breaking News: India rejects Rehman Malik's claim that Dawood is not in Pakistan

NEW DELHI: India on Tuesday rejected Pakistani interior minister Rehman Malik's claim that the designated global terrorist Dawood Ibrahim was not in his country, insisting that Pakistan needed to disclose the whereabouts of the don who has houses in Karachi, Lahore and Islamabad.

"If the minister ( Rehman Malik) is so sure that Dawood is not in Pakistan, he should tell us where is he.... According to our information, Dawood is in Pakistan," home secretary Gopal K Pillai said in a sharp riposte to Malik's assertion, in an interview to an Indian TV channel, that Dawood was not lodged in the neighbouring country.

Malik made light of Dawood's daughter being married to former Pakistan cricketer Javed Miandad's son, as he shrugged off New Delhi's charge that the gang lord, also wanted for the 1993 serial bomb attacks in Mumbai, had been sheltered by Pakistan as part of its anti-India agenda. "I think marrying a lady in Pakistan does not give a certificate that Dawood is in Pakistan. But if you have any information, we will happy to have a look into it. If we get hold of him, naturally we will look into it. But as far as our information is concerned he is not here."

The disclaimer failed to wash with India's home secretary. Asked to comment on Malik's claim, Pillai asserted that India's most wanted criminal has houses in Karachi, Lahore and Islamabad. "We would welcome any more information (from Pakistan about Dawood)," he told reporters.

New Delhi has on a number of occasions shared information with Islamabad on Dawood's houses, with the latest being passed on during the home secretary-level talks between the two countries here in March. But Pakistan has always remained in the denial mode.

An Interpol Red Corner Notice (RCN), pending against Dawood since 1993, has even clearly mentioned the don's address in Karachi's Clifton area. Indian intelligence agencies suspect that Dawood is hiding there in one of the safe-houses of the Pakistani intelligence agency, the ISI.

Asked about Pakistan's response to India's demand for voice samples of the 26/11 perpetrators, Malik said: "The lower court has rejected the plea and now we have moved to high court. This shows our interest to give the voice sample.....I assure Chidambaram (Indian home minister) and people of India that we are at it but we cannot go beyond law. We will use every possible legal means to get it."

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Ayodhya title dispute: SC stays Allahabad HC verdict

NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Monday put a stay on the Allahabad high court order partitioning the disputed land in Ayodhya into three parts

The SC said it was "something strange" on the Allahabad high court's part to order partitioning of the disputed land at Ayodhya as no party had sought it. The partition of disputed land has "opened a litany of litigation", it said.

A bench of justices Aftab Alam and R M Lodha, while terming the high court's judgement "as something strange," said the partition of the land was ordered despite none of the parties to the dispute seeking it.

"How could the high court engineer something like partitioning of disputed land on its own", the SC asked.

While directing that there shall be no religious activity on the 67 acre land, acquired by the central government adjacent to the disputed structure, the apex court bench said the status quo shall be maintained with regard to the rest of the land.

In the wake of the court's order, prayers at Ram Lala's make-shift temple at the disputed site in Ayodhya would be going on as usual.

"We are not disturbing anything which was going on", said a bench of Justices Aftab Alam and R M Lodha.

The Lucknow bench of the high court had in September last year passed the verdict directing partition of the 2.77 acre on which the disputed structure once stood into three parts among Muslims, Hindus and Nirmohi Akhara.

This was the first hearing in the apex court after the Allahabad high court's verdict in the title suit delivered in September last year.

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CPM may bleed in red zone

KOLKATA: The undulating plateau, the apparently timid Adivasi, under-development in forest hamlets: all this look the same as they did a decade ago. Yet, much has changed in Jangalmahal since the 2008 tribal upsurge.

It has unsettled political equations in the red bastion. On Tuesday, 14 assembly segments spread over West Midnapore, Bankura and Purulia go to polls in the last phase in West Bengal.

Though the Left Front maintained a comfortable lead in most of the 14 seats in the 2009 Lok Sabha polls, it's different this time. If the voting percentage increases in Jhargram, Balarampur and Baghmundi on Tuesday, Jangalmahal may spring some surprises.

Many in the forest hamlets of Kantapahari, Purnapani and Birkand in Jhargram assembly segment, for instance, did not vote in 2009 because of the vote boycott call by Maoists. With spectacular security arrangements in 2011 (it works out to one paramilitary jawan for 23 voters), villagers are likely to have a free choice in the last lap of the make-or-break election.

In December 2008, Jhargram had voted for status quo despite the tribal dissent in West Midnapore. Mamata Banerjee and her party could not cash in on the anti-incumbency even after a dharna in Midnapore town. Three years later, Trinamool Congress leader Subhendu Adhikari has established his influence in around 40 booths in Jhargram. This is apart from the Maoist-led PCPA strongholds in forest hamlets.

In Jhargram, the PCPA attacks both the CPM and Trinamool. CPM leaders are banking on this division of votes to scrape through in a constituency where they had led by nearly 20,000 votes two years ago.

CPM's position is the worst in Nayagram and Gopiballavpur where the Opposition including the PCPA have come under the Shramik-Krishak Oikya banner, trying to tear into the CPM in a segment where the Left had won by 29,076 votes in 2009.

Statistics may go against the prediction of a CPM defeat in Nayagram. The Left's vote machinery has been marginalised in this area, bordered by the Subarnarekha river and flanked by Orissa and East Midnapore, a safe corridor for Maoists. It is also a strategic place for Trinamool. Here, five members of the Aguan family were killed in Nichu Patina village. Subhendu Adhikari has established a working unity among the Opposition in this assembly segment.

In Gopiballavpur, Trinamool candidate Churamani Mahato is an old Naxalite who had built the PCPA network after June 2009. The network has strengthened in two years. Trinamool is its political face.

CPM Midnapore district secretariat member Dahareswar Sen draws succour from the party's 47,248 margin in the Lok Sabha polls. "There has been some erosion in our support base. Even then the Opposition can't wipe out the huge margin we had," said Sen.

Trinamool's Adhikari, who has been camping in this zone, said his party will wrest at least four seats. "We will win Nayagram, Balarampur and Baghmundi and have bright prospects in Gopiballavpur, Salboni and Jhargram. We will win Jhargram if Chattradhar Mahato's brigade is unable to cross the 10,000-mark. We are in a close fight with CPM in Midnapore," he said.

In Garbeta, CPM's margin is likely to fall dramatically, Adhikari predicted. He has also managed to get the support of Jharkhand Party leader Babu Bose who had sided with CPM in the last election.

Adhikari concedes that his party won't be able to make much headway in Binpur constituency, cradle of the upsurge. Belpahari has changed in a year. JKP (Naren) candidate Chunibala Hansda has lost her credibility among the tribals to a large extent. The Congress is backing young tribal candidate Arjun Hansda, who is likely to fetch maximum votes from the Jamboni block. CPM's Dibakar Hansda has a good chance of steering clear in this triangular fight. Situation in Joypur assembly segment is similar where the Opposition led by 6,871 votes in 2009. The Opposition here is a divided lot, while CPM and Forward Bloc stand united.

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PM, Sonia, Chidamabaram pay last respect to Khandu

ITANAGAR: Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, Congress president Sonia Gandhi and Union home minister P Chidambaram on Friday paid their last respects to former Arunachal Pradesh chief minister Dorjee Khandu, who was killed in a helicopter crash along with four others on April 30.

The Prime Minister, Gandhi and Chidambaram landed at the Raj Bhavan helipad here in IAF helicopters and were driven straight to the Nitin Vihar residence of Khandu.

They were at Khandu's residence for 20 minutes.

They had arrived at the Lilabari Airport in Assam by a special flight from Delhi.

Prior to their arrival, thousands of people had gathered near Khandu's official residence.

Khandu's body was found from the crash site at Luguthang in Tawang district on May four, five days after his B3 single engine, four-seater helicopter disappeared after being last sighted at the Sela Pass.

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Indian Navy thwarts pirate attack; rescues Chinese vessel, crew

NEW DELHI: An attack by Somali pirates on a Chinese cargo ship with 24 crew members on board in the Arabian Sea was successfully thwarted by Indian naval warships and aircraft, which forced the brigands to abandon the attempt and flee, an officer said on Friday.The operation was carried out by the Indian maritime forces in coordination with the NATO and Chinese task forces on anti-piracy patrol in the Indian Ocean region, the Indian Navy officer said.

The Chinese-owned bulk carrier, MV Full City, came under siege from the pirates at 8.45am on Thursday about 450 nautical miles (850 km) west of Karwar in Karnataka.

The entire Chinese crew deftly locked themselves up in the merchant vessel's safe house, preventing their capture by the pirates, and sent out an emergency message.

On receiving the distress call, Indian Navy and Coast Guard ships patrolling in the vicinity rushed to its help, even as the navy's TU-142 maritime reconnaissance aircraft flew to the spot in 30 minutes and carried out several low passes over the merchant vessel, warning the pirates to abandon their attempt to hijack the Panama-flagged vessel.

With the aircraft crew warning the pirates over radio that Indian and NATO Task Force warships were closing in on MV Full City to carry out an operation, the brigands abandoned the vessel, boarded a skiff and rushed to a pirate mother vessel nearby, which fled from the site at full speed, the officer said.

"As there were no surface forces in the immediate vicinity to board MV Full City and sanitise the ship, the Indian naval aircraft circled overhead MV Full City for over three hours, assisting the rescue operation by coordinating with the NATO Task Force," the officer said.

The TU-142 aircraft finally left the area after over four hours only after ensuring that surface forces were within range to proceed with the boarding and sanitising operations.

"MV Full City was saved from getting hijacked by the very prompt action of the Indian naval aircraft," the officer added.

The operation to rescue the Chinese vessel was carried out by the Indian Navy and Coast Guard in coordination with the NATO Task Force, the Chinese Task Force and the Maritime Rescue Coordination Centre at Beijing, highlighting the international cooperation in the anti-piracy efforts in the Indian Ocean.

"The Chinese Task Force also thanked the Indian Navy for its prompt and persistent action leading to the pirate attack on MV Full City being repelled," the officer said.

MV Full City is now continuing its passage through the eastern Arabian Sea, with its safety assured by the sustained anti-piracy vigil being maintained by the Indian Navy and the Indian Coast Guard, the officer added.

The Indian Navy has, since January, sunk four pirate mother ships in the Arabian Sea, apart from capturing 120 brigands and jailing them in India.

With independent as well as collaborative efforts, the maritime forces have effectively checked piracy in the Arabian Sea in general and the eastern Arabian Sea in particular.

There has been a drop of over 80 percent in the number of pirate attacks in the eastern Arabian Sea. In April, there was not a single reported pirate attack in the eastern Arabian Sea.

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India's population will peak at 1.7bn in 2060: UN study

India's population is projected to peak at 1.718 billion in 2060, after which it will decline. At its peak, India will be the most populous country there has ever been or probably ever will be.

According to population projections released by the United Nations on Tuesday, India's share in the world's population will peak in 2030 after which it will decline, and the growth in the world's population from then on will be fuelled by Africa.

China at its peak in 2025 will have 1.395 billion people. In fact, when China peaks, India will have already surpassed it in population.

India's population will begin to decline only in 2060, a full 35 years after China. By the turn of the century, India's population, though declining, will be almost double that of China.

The latest numbers come from the UN's 2010 revision of the World Population Prospects. The last revision was in 2008. The "medium variant" for 2010 – the population projections based on national trends, which is neither the best nor worst-case scenario – produces a world population in 2050 of 9.31 billion, that is 156 million larger than the 2008 revision.

At the turn of the century, the world will have 10.1 billion people. On October 31 this year, the world will have its seven billionth person.

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Arunachal chief minister Dorjee Khandu's body recovered

NEW DELHI: A ground rescue team on Thursday morning transferred the bodies of Arunachal Pradesh chief minister Dorjee Khandu and four others, who died in a helicopter crash in Tawang district, to the nearest helipad at Luguthang, about 3 km from the crash site, according to television reports.

It is reported that army personnel brought the body of Dorjee Khandu to Luguthang village by the land route.

Home ministry has confirmed that the body of the chief minister has been identified. His body would be taken to Itanagar at 12.30 pm.

was taken to Tawang helipad and autopsy would be conducted at the Tawang post at 12.30 pm.

After four days of search by over 3,000 security forces and choppers, it was finally a group of tribals who on Wednesday found the wreckage of a helicopter that went missing Saturday and the mutilated bodies of Dorjee Khandu and four others.

The wreckage of the chopper that Dorjee Khandu was travelling in was located near the Sela Pass on Wednesday, five days after it went missing.

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Arunachal CM Dorjee Khandu killed in chopper crash

NEW DELHI: Government on Wednesday indicated that Arunachal Pradesh chief minister Dorjee Khandu and four others may not have survived the crash of the helicopter in which they were travelling on Saturday.

"From whatever I can piece together the information from the information given by the villagers and assuming it to be true, I am afraid the news is grim and sad," home minister P Chidambaram told reporters here in his second update on the search operations.

Giving details, he said some villagers had reportedly reached the site of the crash of a helicopter and communicated to the control room in Itanagar that they had identified two bodies while three were charred beyond recognition. . (Read: Krishna condoles demise of Arunachal CM)

"These are interrupted communications by villagers who have reached the site. But no official of the government, army or police has been able to reach there," he said.

"It may take several hours for any of these officials to reach the spot because it is about five kilometres from Kyela," Chidambaram said.

Isro pictures identified crash site of Khandu. Six helicopters have been sent to the crash site to confirm the identity of bodies.

Chidambaram said a Cheetah helicopter, which flew over the site, has been able to locate the debris of a crashed helicopter and some bodies lying there.

"We are trying to land another Cheetah from Lubothang," the home minister said, adding a team of the government to reach the accident site which is about 5 kms from Kyela.

Union minister for development of North Eastern region B K Handique said in Itanagar that a relative and panchayat leader of Khandu's Assembly constituency has identified his body. (Read: Khandu's relative identifies his body)

He told reporters that the panchayat leader Thupten has identified the body of 56-year-old Dorjee while the other four bodies have been charred beyond recognition.

The minister, however, said that only after the divisional commissioner takes charge of the body and the formalities are completed, they could officially confirm news about Dorjee.

Handique said that the body would be sent to Khandu's home village in Tawang, "but the final rites will be observed simultaneously at Tawang and Itanagar with state honours."

If transporting the body by chopper was delayed, it would be sent by road from Tawang, around 500 km from here, he added.

Khandu's family members had rushed to Tawang immediately after the chopper went missing.

Earlier in the day, Chidambaram said the information from the search teams was "not encouraging and not good news".

He said the search parties had "sighted three bodies. This sighting has been made from a height. They have not been able to go down to the place where the aircraft is crashed. The message has been given to the nearest Army post which is sending a team."

Chidambaram had said that an Army team has been dispatched on foot to the crash site and "we will know more about the crash site and the bodies lying there once they reach there".

The place is located at a height of 4900 metres and, therefore, it will take some time and difficulty to reach there, he said.

"When they reach there, they will communicate to us what they have found there," he said, adding he was unable to state as to what type of aircraft or whose bodies they were.

"But I am afraid it is on the flight path of the chopper after it had taken off from Tawang. We are keeping our fingers crossed and let us wait for the official word to come from the team," he said.

The single engine four-seater Pawan Hans helicopter with Khandu and four others on board went missing soon after taking off from Tawang on Saturday.

Besides Khandu, others on board were pilots Captain J S Babbar, Captain T S Mamik, Khandu's security officer Yeshi Choddak and Yeshi Lhamu, sister of Tawang MLA Tsewang Dhondup.

Inclement weather had prevented teams from carrying out aerial searches.

Honouring the wishes of the people, Khandu's body would be brought here and kept at his bungalow for the people to pay their last last respects, Handique said.

Asked about the successor to Dorjee, he said, "Everything will be taken care of."

A pall of gloom descended on the state capital with thousands thronging Khandu's official bungalow at Niti Vihar here. MLAs, officials and local leaders were among those in grief.

A group of youth enraged over the news ransacked the local Pawan Hans office. The glass panes of the director's chamber and booking counter were damaged in the attack, police sources said.

"Never before has Arunachal witnessed such massive development the way Khandu did after taking over the reins on April 9, 2007," Power Minister Jarbom Gamlin who is also state government spokesman said while recalling his last meeting with Khandu on April 24.

His views were echoed by RWD Minister Kalikho Pul. Home Minister Tako Dabi said "Let God bless the people of Arunachal, particularly family members to bear the irreparable loss.

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CWG scam: Suresh Kalmadi remanded to judicial custody till May 18

NEW DELHI: A Delhi court has sent sacked Commonwealth Games Organizing Committee chairman Suresh Kalmadi and two others to judicial custody till May 18.

Suresh Kalmadi was produced in a special Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) court at Patiala House today.

Kalmadi's eight-day CBI remand comes to an end today.

Kalmadi was arrested by the CBI on April 25 for fraud and conspiring with other officers of the Organising Committee for overpaying a Swiss firm 95 crores for timing and scorekeeping equipment that was used at different venues during the Commonwealth Games.

The arrest order was carried out after the CBI had questioned Kalmadi extensively on the two incidents, particularly on the documents relating to the two deals.

The CBI had earlier asked Kalmadi to appear before it on Monday to clarify some new issues, which surfaced during the visit of the agency's officials to London in connection with Queen's Baton Relay scam.

Kalmadi had earlier expressed his inability to appear before the CBI citing his foreign visit, saying he would return home only after April 19. But even after returning from his visit abroad, he did not turn up before the sleuths, saying he was still not in Delhi, sources said.

Kalmadi has been accused of sanctioning payments to AM Films and AM Car at rates that were hugely inflated.
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Bengal: Voter turnout in 4th phase above 87%

KOLKATA: Ballot, and not the bullet, won in the fourth phase of polls in West Bengal despite complaints of terror and intimidation. The average polling percentage in Howrah, Hooghly, East Midnapore and 13 seats in Burdwan is expected to cross 87%, up by 4% from the tally in past elections. Polling was held in 63 seats in this phase.

The Election Commission scored points on Tuesday. People who used to be locked up in highrises of Howrah or in remote villages of Hooghly and East Midnapore in earlier Assembly polls came out to vote. The polling percentage rose a few notches above the average polling in the past in these districts.

Voter turnout in East Midnapore was 89.40%. It could go above the 89% mark in recorded in the previous Lok Sabha and Assembly elections. Unlike in the past, Trinamool Congress could depute polling agents in all the booths in the CPM-dominated Arambagh belt in Hooghly. The CPM though could not field polling agents in 40 booths in Nandigram. In East Midnapore's Khejuri, another flashpoint, though they deputed polling agents in all booths.

Flashpoints from Burdwan's Mangalkote to Hooghly's Khanakul remained peaceful on poll day due to EC's elaborate security arrangement.

The surge in voter turnout has kept political parties on their tenterhooks. CPM leaders were worried even in places where the CPM had a comfortable lead in the 2009 Lok Sabha polls.

CPM polling agents chased Trinamool candidate and retired IPS officer Rachpal Singh from a polling station in Hooghly's Tarakeswar. CPM activists lodged an FIR against Trinamool heavyweight and retired IPS officer Sultan Singh in Howrah's Bally. Trinamool polling agent Sheikh Daru Salam was arrested from a polling booth in Nandigram. Seven presiding officers and four polling officers were changed following complaints of bias or due to illness.

Voters were firm though. Seventy five families in Singur's Joymollah, for instance, announced while going to the polling booth that they would vote for industry. Joymollah is a Trinamool bastion despite the exit of Tata Motors.

Whatever the result in the four Assembly seats in Arambagh, Goghat, Pursura and Khanakul, Trinamool activists have a reason to be happy. "This is the first time the Opposition could field polling agents in booths here," said Trinamool supporter Sanjib Biswas.

Left Front chairman Biman Bose, however, won't give the EC a clean chit. "Some criminals wanted by the police were campaigning for the Trinamool Congress in Nandigram. The EC did not take any step against them even after we submitted complaints. One such person arrested from a Nandigram polling booth on Tuesday vindicates us," Bose said.

Poll pundits are analysing the outcome of this increased voter turnout. Some chose to go with the popular belief that it went in Trinamool's favour. CPM leaders attributed the high turn out as a result of the high-voltage election campaign. According to them, both parties mobilised their supporters at polling booths like never before.

But there were voters in parts of Howrah, Hooghly and East Midnapore, who could not vote in past elections out of fear. They will most likely vote against perpetrators of violence.

Trinamool chief Mamata Banerjee said people won't let her down. She believed her tally would get a massive push in the fourth phase. CPM leaders in Burdwan sounded equally confident, despite the Opposition making major dents in Burdwan (South), Kalna, Purbasthali, Katwa and Mangalkote. Seven ministers in the fray ^ Nirupam Sen, Naren De, Sudarshan Roy Chowdhury, Soumendranath Bera, Mohanto Chatterjee, Pratim Chatterjee, Chakradhar Maikup ^ are having a tough time. Bera, a CPM candidate contesting from the red bastion of Pursura in Hooghly, complained against Trinamool activists. The complaint indicates there are surprises in store in this phase.

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Search for Arunachal chief minister enters fifth day

ITANAGAR: Six Indian Air Force helicopters on Wednesday began an aerial survey along the dizzy heights of Sela Pass in Arunachal Pradesh even as the search by more than 4,000 army, paramilitary troopers, and civilians for the missing chopper carrying chief minister Dorjee Khandu entered its fifth day.

"Efforts are on but so far we have not got any definite clues about the missing helicopter," Arunachal Pradesh Home Minister Tako Dabi told IANS.

Six helicopters - two each of the Mi-17, Cheetah, and Cheetak - took off from bases in Tawang and Tezpur in Assam at 5.05 a.m. Wednesday for rescue and search mission, IAF spokesperson Ranjeeb Sahoo said.

The Pawan Hans AS350 B-3 helicopter carrying the chief minister and four others went missing after it took off from Tawang at 9.50 a.m. Saturday. The last radio contact with the ground was about 20 minutes after take off as it flew over the Sela Pass along the Chinese border perched at an altitude of 13,700 feet.

Authorities had identified seven probable locations -- six in Arunachal and one inside Bhutan, based on satellite images by the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO).

Rescue teams failed to get any clues or debris in two of the seven probable locations.

"Heavy snowfall and rains, coupled with poor visibility has been greatly hampering the rescue operation with the troops unable to venture with speed," the minister said.

"One probable location is Nagarjiji in West Kameng district and another site is in Potujiji in Bhutan side. Efforts are on by rescue teams to reach the two locations soon."

Meanwhile, 38 commandos of the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) have also been pressed into service.

Arunachal Pradesh MP Takam Sanjay, leading the search and rescue operation in the West Kameng district, said they have sought an additional 2,000 army soldiers for the search mission.

"The area is rugged and vast and hence we need 2,000 more army soldiers and a request to this effect has already been sent to the central government," Sanjay said.

With the search yielding no results, locals are getting restive and are planning holding protest meetings to demonstrate their anger against the central government.

"If India is not capable of tracing the helicopter, they should not hesitate to take China's help so that we could get technological support from them in locating the chopper," said Takam Tatung, president of the All Arunachal Pradesh Students' Union.

Beijing in 2003 gave up its territorial claim over the Indian state of Sikkim but still holds on to its stand that nearly all of Arunachal Pradesh belongs to it.

The mountainous state of Arunachal Pradesh shares a 1,030 km unfenced border with China with the two countries fighting a bitter border war in 1962 with Chinese troops advancing half way into the northeastern state.

"It is a shame on the Indian government that they were unable to locate the helicopter even after four days. Now with Osama Laden's death, the entire Indian government is busy giving reactions and have simply forgotten about our chief minister," said Likha Maj, an angry community leader .

Meanwhile, the Arunachal Pradesh government announced a cash reward of Rs.1 million to anyone who could provide information about the missing helicopter.


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