Kolkata, May 09: In a remarkable change of stance in favour of the Congress, CPI (M) General Secretary on Saturday skirted questions regarding his party’s response to Congress’ gestures to the Left for support in a post-electoral tie-up.
In response to questions whether Left would support a Congress led government, Karat told reporters at the airport here, "Let the elections be over first. Let the results come. After May 16 we will think."
Karat said there would be a "realignment" after the elections and added that parties like JD(U) and NCP would have to decide whether they would join the Left-initiated combination of non-Congress secular parties.
Asserting that the BJP would not be in the picture at all, he said the UPA has started disintegrating and "it is very clear now that nobody can form government without the Third Front's involvement or support."
Asked whether the front would go with BJP or Congress if it did not get the required numbers, he ruled out going with BJP and said "nobody will have the numbers. It will be for Congress to take a decision whether they will facilitate the formation of a secular government at the Centre."
He said "the Third Front is going to do well. If you take into account the BSP, which is now fighting separately but will come with us after elections, (these parties) are doing pretty well. We can match the Congress and BJP easily.
"We may be number one. Don't forget that the UPA has practically ceased to exist. So we are talking about Congress with very few allies. I think the struggle is between Congress and the remaining allies that it has and the non-Congress, non-BJP parties. BJP is not going to be in the reckoning."
The Congress would have to decide what it would do if "they cannot form a government with the numbers that they would have along with its allies" like Trinamool Congress, which he described as "very undependable".
The Left had earlier shifted itself away from the Congress party and was in favour of a non-BJP, non-Congress led Third Front in the country. Karat had earlier also categorically declared that the Left would not back any government under the leadership of Dr Manmohan Singh. This was in the background of the stringent criticism of the Left for the PM signing the nuclear deal.
However, Karat's party colleague and West Bengal Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee had said earlier that the issue was "open" and a decision will be taken based on the poll results.
Reports say that the change in policy could be due to the massive 75% voter turnout, indicating a vote against the ruling CPM. West Bengal has been under Communist rule consistently for 30 years.
Meanwhile the Congress is reported to have welcomed any support to it.
Moily rubbishes reports of his ouster, Cong quiet on the issue
New Delhi/Bangalore:Veerappa Moily suddenly ceased to be Congress Party's chief spokesman on Saturday amid media speculation that he has been removed for his remarks against JD(U) leader Nitish Kumar, whom the party has been wooing, but he tried to dispel that interpretation.
AICC General Secretary Janardhan Dwivedi has been asked to look after the work of Moily, who said this was an "internal administrative arrangement" by the party.
In the morning, Moily himself said that he had given the charge to Dwivedi as he would be away in Karnataka till May 17. He has contested the Lok Sabha elections from Chikkaballapur in Karnataka and the results would be out on May 16.
However, when reporters approached him at his residence in Bangalore for comments he appeared agitated terming the reports as "mischievous news planted by someone".
"As I have been selected as a candidate from Chikkaballapur, somebody has to be in charge of the media cell. Dwivedi was put in temporary charge," he said.
The AICC order giving charge of the media department to Dwivedi was issued on March 31 after Moily's selection as party candidate.
As media speculated that the party leadership was annoyed over Moily's attack on Nitish Kumar, a senior leader said "too much is being read into" the decision to give temporary charge to Dwivedi.
Rahul Gandhi had on Tuesday made remarks praising Kumar which were interpreted as attempts to woo the JD(U) as part of post-poll options.
Yesterday, Moily had attacked Kumar saying Congress was not going to make a hero of him as he had aligned with the BJP and was carrying on with that relationship to continue as Chief Minister. That was polluting his secular credentials, he had said.
Taliban vow to 'eliminate' Pakistan's top leadership
ISLAMABAD: Angered by Pakistan government's decision to launch an all out war against them, the Taliban has vowed to "eliminate" country's topleadership including President Asif Ali Zardari and Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani and their close family members. ( Watch )
"We thought that being a member of a religious family, Gilani will support our demand of implementing Sharia in the Malakand division but instead he has announced an all-out war against us, which has angered our commanders as well as fighters," an unnamed Taliban commander told The News daily.
The militant commander, who spoke to the newspaper by phone, said after Gilani declared during an address to the nation on Thursday that the Taliban would be wiped out from the Swat Valley and adjoining areas, the militants had started planning to "eliminate the top leaders of the ruling alliance, including President, Prime Minister and their close family members and aides".
The commander said Gilani's hometown of Multan and tomb of former premier Benazir Bhutto might also be targeted by the militants.
"Besides, the personnel and installations of security forces, we have now also included civilian rulers in our hit list. We will definitely need some time to plan our actions but it is not impossible for us and we have all the means to implement our plan of attack anywhere in Pakistan," he claimed.
Varun's comments on sterilisation his personal views: BJP
London:BJP distanced itself from the reported comments of its leader Varun Gandhi that he supported forced sterilisation as ordered by his father Sanjay Gandhi during national emergency, saying these were his "personal views".
"What Varun Gandhi has said about forced sterilisation may be his personal views. The BJP encourages and promotes family planning but does not support any policy of forced sterilisations," said BJP spokesperson Siddharth Nath Singh.
Earlier, Varun Gandhi, whose hate speeches landed had him in jail, has stirred further controversy by favouring revival of his father Sanjay Gandhi's compulsory sterilisation policy.
The BJP candidate from Pilibhit Lok Sabha constituency also favoured "compulsory military service" for all Indians. In an interview to 'The Daily Telegraph', Varun said he hoped to follow in his father's footsteps by offering strong leadership which, according to him, India lacked for 20 years.
Politics, the 29-year-old fire-brand BJP leader said, was his destiny, and added: "Anyone who says they have no ambition to achieve power at some stage is lying."
Besides reviving the forced sterilisation policy, Varun said he would also propose a bill in parliament to introduce compulsory military service for all Indians to unite the country and overcome caste and religious differences.
"Instead of people thinking of themselves as Tamils or Brahmins, they should think of themselves as Indians," he said. Referring to his recent controversial remarks, Varun denied threatening Muslims, but had vowed to protect local people from "anti-social" elements after three local girls were reportedly gang-raped.
As he toured his constituency in a convoy accompanied by armed guards, he made a clear reference to his controversial stand when he told voters that he was "fighting for your self-respect".
Indian Business News:
US will soon realise benefits of outsourcing: PM
Chennai:Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Saturday said a US proposal to disincentivise companies moving jobs to countries like India could "hurt the competitiveness" of American corporations themselves.
"There are I think several US corporations who have been representing to the Congress of US that these official restrictions on outsourcing from India and other countries would in fact hurt the competitiveness of the US corporations themselves," he said, replying to a question on US' proposals on outsourcing, at a press conference here.
Singh also said: "I think governments take certain postures but they learn very fast" and that he was confident of US realising the "reality" soon.
"Very fact, the US corporations have access to cheaper facilities in India, also help them in their competition with their rivals... am confident that in not very distant future the US government would recognise this reality," he said.
Earlier this week, US President Barack Obama had ridiculed the existing tax code that provides for tax breaks to those companies which outsource jobs to Bangalore in India rather than those which create jobs in Buffalo, New York.
The US President had also indicated that the new budget proposal would disincentivise those outsourcing jobs.
This move is expected to impact nearly 10 lakh Indian IT professionals and a sizable chunk of the country's BPO industry.
SBI Q4 Net up 46 pc at Rs 2,742 cr
Mumbai:The country's largest lender the State Bank of India reported 45.62 per cent growth in net profit at Rs 2,742.31 crore for the quarter ended March 31, 2009 on Saturday.
The bank had a net profit of Rs 1,883.25 crore in the March quarter of the previous fiscal, SBI said in a filing to the Bombay Stock Exchange.
The bank has declared 290 per cent dividend at the rate of Rs 29 per share for the financial year 2008-09. The total income of the bank during the quarter rose by 34.57 per cent to Rs 22,060.61 crore from Rs 16,393.93 crore in the corresponding period a year ago.
During the quarter ended March 31, 2009, interest income of the SBI grew by 28 per cent to Rs 17,342.39 crore from Rs 13,576.73 crore in the same quarter a year ago.
During the same period the operating profit of the bank rose by 21 per cent at Rs 5,277.05 crore against Rs 4,373.13 crore.
For fiscal 2008-09, the net profit of the bank increased by 36 per cent at Rs 9,121.2 crore compared to Rs 6,729.1 crore in the previous fiscal.
Its total Income rose to Rs 76,479.2 crore in FY 2009 against Rs 57,645.2 crore a year ago, up by 33 per cent. During the year, interest earning of the SBI stood at Rs 63,788.43 crore, up 30 per cent, from Rs 48,950.31 crore in he previous fiscal.
However, on the consolidated basis, the SBI group posted a 22 per cent increase net profit after minority interest at Rs 10,955.2 crore for the year ended March 31, 2009 compared to Rs 8,960.6 crore a year ago.
Tatas, SBI, Infosys among world's top 50 reputed firms
WASHINGTON: The Tata Group, State Bank of India (SBI) and Infosys Technologies are among 17 Indian firms that figure among the top 50 in a list of the world's 200 most reputable companies.
With a pulse score of 80.89 on a scale of 0-100, the US-based Reputation Institute ranked the Tata Group 11th above global giants like Google, Microsoft, General electric, Toyota, Coca-Cola, Intel
and Unilever.
Italy-based chocolate producer Ferrero was ranked as the most reputable company on the planet right now. With its pulse score moving from 83.52 last year up to 85.17, Ferrero came up from fourth place last year to first, more than a full point ahead of second ranked IKEA.
"However it is the people of India who love their companies the best," noted US business magazine Forbes. "Of India's 27 corporations ranked by the institute, 24 (89 percent) placed above the average. Seventeen of them landed in the top third of the list."
The Reputation Institute's global pulse of 600 companies is a measure of corporate reputation calculated by averaging perceptions of four indicators - trust, esteem, admiration and good feeling - obtained from a representative sample of at least 100 respondents in the companies' home countries.
SBI, India's largest bank, is ranked 29th with a score of 78.11. India's second largest software exporter Infosys is at 39th, with a pulse score of 77.45.
Larsen & Toubro comes next at 47th position with a pulse score of 76.58, while India's largest carmaker Maruti Suzki has been ranked 49th with a pulse score of of 76.26.
Other Indian firms in the top 200 are: Hindustan Unilever (69 - 74.99); ITC Ltd (95 - 73.50); Canara Bank (102- 73.34); Hindustan Petroleum (111 - 73.08); Indian Oil (112 - 73.01); Wipro (116 - 72.77); Mahindra & Mahindra (137 - 71.61); Bharti Airtel (163 - 70.32); Bank of Baroda(174 -- 69.81); Bharat Petroleum(175 - 69.79) and Punjab National Bank (177- 69.67.)
Johnson & Johnson, which placed first in the US for reputation, lands third globally. Kraft Foods places eighth, making the US one of only two countries with two businesses in the global top 10. Brazil is the other. Its Petrobras and Sadia landed fourth and fifth respectively.
Brazil had the second highest percentage of its participating companies ranked above the global average at 76 percent, while 62 percent of American companies received pulse scores above the average.
Indian Sports News:
Latest IPL News
Kings XI Punjab stun Deccan Chargers by 3 wickets
KIMBERLEY: Kings XI Punjab bounced back into contention with a nail-biting three-wicket victory over Deccan Chargers in an Indian Premier League thriller on Saturday.
Punjab needed 8 runs off the last over as Lee and Chawla safely helped their side to the much-needed win with one ball to spare.
After restricting the formidable Deccan Chargers to 168 for 5, built around Andrew Symonds' unbeaten 60, the Kings XI Punjab rode on Mahela Jayawardene's quickfire 43 and some lusty hitting by the tail-enders to scamper home with just one ball to spare.
Fortune fluctuated from one team to the other till the dying moments before Kings XI, who desperately needed a victory to keep themselves afloat in the tournament, tilted the balance in their favour on a tricky track at the De Beers Diamond Oval.
With eight runs required from the last over, Punjab's Piyush Chawla cracked a boundary off pacer RP Singh's first delivery and then held nerves to rotate strikes with Brett Lee to achieve a competitive target of 169.
Punjab's Sri Lankan import Mahela Jayawardene, with his fighting 43, laid the foundation of the win which denied the Deccan their second victory on the trot.
The dismissal of Yuvraj, who was looking dangerous and just started stepping on the accelerator, bogged down Punjab's run-rate after the 10th over.
The team might have expected some lusty shots from Irfan Pathan (10 off 12) but he did not give much trouble to the scorers as Shoaib pouched a diving catch off T Suman's delivery.
However, Jayawadene's fighting innings which he built with the help of three sixes and one four before getting run out in the 18th over, kept the hope of Punjab team alive.
Earlier, put into bat first, Symonds cracked an unbeaten 60 off just 36 balls to guide Deccan Chargers to competitive 168 for 5. The Australia all-rounder, playing his first IPL match of the season, hit two boundaries and four sixes in 36 balls. He shared the highest fifth-wicket stand of the tournament with Venugopal Rao (32 off 25 balls).
Symonds revived Deccan's innings after a period of dominance by the Punjab bowlers. Deccan lost captain Adam Gilchrist for 20 in the fourth over when the former Australia wicket-keeper flicked a short delivery from Sreesanth to Ramesh Powar in the deep.
Australia fast bowler Brett Lee, also playing for the first time in the series, was impressive with the new ball, bowling at good pace and length to claim 1-24 from four overs.
Herschelle Gibbs on 13 followed in the seventh over after Mahela Jayawardene held on to a low catch at point off leg-spinner Piyush Chawla. Tirumalsetti Suman was next when he was caught on 27 on the boundary by Jayawardene off Wilkin Mota to leave Deccan on 70/3 in the tenth over.
Rohit Sharma then edged to wicketkeeper Kumar Sangakkara off Lee for 9 in the 11th over. The last wicket to fall was Venugopal Rao, who was run out by Simon Katich's throw back to Sangakkara in the final over.
Rajasthan Royals looking for revenge against Super Kings
KIMBERLEY: Chennai Super Kings will take inspiration from their last win over defending champions Rajasthan Royals as the two lock horns again for the second time in the Indian Premier League (IPL) on Saturday.
Both teams top the points tally after winning their respective games on Thursday but Super Kings hold a slight edge over Rajasthan Royals in net run-rate.
While Royals thumped Bangalore Royal Challengers, Super Kings stifled the run chase of Kings XI Punjab.
Chennai strength is their batting with Matthew Hayden in a blazing form. The Australian is also the unrivalled owner of the Orange Cap (leading run scorer) with 378 runs. He has been fittingly complemented by Suresh Raina, whose strokeplay has impressed fans and critics alike.
Lakshimapathy Balaji, with 11 wickets, also have proved to be an asset to the side and the way he bowled the last over of the match against Kings XI Punjab, reflects a great deal of maturity. With spin wizard Muttiah Muralitharan and upcoming Shadab Jakati, Chennai are not short of bowling options.
But Rajasthan Royals have been badly hit after their new bowler Amit Singh was reported by umpires Daryl Harper and K. Hariharan for suspected actions. Amit's economical spell of 4-19 was instrumental in Royal's win over Royal Challengers.
To make matters worse for them, Shane Watson who played a key role in Rajasthan Royals title win in the inaugural season and also won the player of the tournament, has pulled out from this edition after the resurfacing of a groin injury during the Australia Twenty match against Pakistan Thursday.
Watson was to fly to South Africa after Thursday's match but the Australian medical staff's decision to rest him keeping in mind the Twenty20 World Cup in June followed by the Ashes put an end to his flight to play in the second edition.
That apart, Rajasthan Royals efforts have received a fillip by return of form of dangerous South African skipper Graeme Smith with big hitting Yusuf Pathan always a potential match winner. Naman Ojha with two back to back 50's too has shown an appetite for runs and so did Ravindra Jadeja.
In the bowling department, Rajasthan have the great Shane Warne himself along with Munaf Patel.
The area of concerns for the two teams have been fielding and Chennai skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni himself has been vocal about it.
IPL openly promoting gambling: MS Gill
New Delhi, May 09: Sports Minister MS Gill today lashed out at the BCCI saying that the board is using the cash-rich Indian Premier League to mint more money rather than promote the game of cricket in the country.
Concerned about the "commercial use of cricket for business gains", Gill criticised the BCCI for introducing an SMS game which requires fans to make ball by ball predictions for cash prizes in the ongoing Indian Premier League.
"I see the commercial use of cricket for business gains that is going on. I am concerned, at knowledgeable comments, from serious followers of cricket about the latest venture of encouraging viewers to make ball by ball predictions of runs scored for economic gain in the shape of cash prizes," Gill said in a statement.
"This is viewed as 'openly encouraging gambling and betting', which official bodies do not resort to, even in countries where betting is legal; all this 'to make money and enlarge their TV viewership base'," the minister added.
The game has been widely criticised by cricket experts and the BCCI has been accused of promoting betting through it. Gill said the BCCI should have thought of the damage done to the game by the 2000 match-fixing scandal before introducing such a game.
"Cricket is part of the family of sports in our country. Its current riches, do not set it apart from other games. The actions of the BCCI, are bound to impact the thinking in other sports, sometime or the other. We have already had, sometime back, a match-fixing scandal, in the game. It seems the ICC, had expressed concerns about such possibilities, in the IPL league," he said.
The second edition of the IPL involves more money than its inaugural season. And with the event being played away from India, in South Africa, there is a further more possibility of betting and gambling being involved in the tournament.
He also added that the IPL could promote gambling in a ‘new format’, and proper measures should be taken to avoid any happening that taints the gentleman’s game.
Reports suggest that millions of dollars have already been put at stake in the matches held so far.
The sports minister said that IPL has become more of a business for the BCCI than a venture to enhance the status and reputation game in the country, which shouldn’t be the case.
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