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Karnataka CM Yeddyurappa breaks down on TV, confesses to ditching confidantes

NEW DELHI: Karnataka Chief Minister B S Yeddyurappa broke down on television and confessed to "ditching" confidantes under pressure from dissident Reddy brothers, who were still holding out despite a reported compromise formula.

He also apologised to the flood victims saying he has been distracted from concentrating on rehabilitating flood victims in the state because of dissidence.

"For my selfish ends, I was forced to ditch those who were trusted my trusted people. Be it Shobha or Baligar. Even God will not forgive me for this," he told Kannada channel "Suvarna".

Under pressure from the brothers, the Chief Minister yesterday transferred his Principal Secretary P V Baligar to another department and is said to have promised to sack Rural Development Minister Shobha Karandlaje, from the Cabinet.

"I apologise to the flood victims. When they are facing so many problems, we should not have wasted time on this crisis," Yeddyurappa said.

He said the people he trusted did not support him. "I should not have been distracted,” the chief minister said.

Karnataka CM says crisis over, rebels disagree

BANGALORE/NEW DELHI: Karnataka tourism minister G. Janardhana Reddy, who leads the campaign for the removal of chief minister B.S. Yeddyurappa,on Saturday said there was no change in his stand and rubbished reports of a compromise between the warring groups.

"The party leaders have not given us any such thing. I am confident they will take the right decision in the next two days," Janardhana Reddy told reporters in Hyderabad after overnight discussions with ministers and legislators supporting him.

Around 40 legislators, including some ministers, supporting the demand for Yeddyurappa's ouster have been staying in a hotel in Hyderabad for a week.

Reddy later flew to Bangalore to meet his elder brother and revenue minister G. Karunakara Reddy. The third Reddy sibling G. Somashekara is a legislator.

Janardhana Reddy's reiteration of the dissidents' stand came as Yeddyurappa claimed in New Delhi that "everything has been resolved".

Yeddyurappa told reporters before leaving to pray at Vaishno Devi temple in Jammu and Kashmir that he was "thankful to the party leadership for reposing faith in me. I will take everyone into confidence", he added.

According to reports, the compromise formula includes dropping some ministers close to Yeddyurappa, making assembly speaker Jagadish Shettar a minister, setting up a coordination committee to oversee functioning of the government, final say for the Reddy brothers in posting officials in their home district Bellary, about 400 km from Bangalore, and transfer of chief minister's principal secretary V.P. Baligar.

Yeddyurappa on Friday shunted out Baligar as principal secretary of the industries and commerce department. He has also agreed to drop the lone woman minister Shobha Karandlaje, who holds the Rural Development and Panchayat Raj portfolio.

Upset stomach saves Koda from arrest

RANCHI: Former Jharkhand chief minister Madhu Koda got a reprieve from imminent arrest by the Enforcement Directorate in the Rs.2,500 crore money laundering case as doctors at the Apollo hospital here Saturday decided to keep him under medical examination for "a day or two".

"The team of doctors will again review the health condition of Koda in a day or two and decide on his discharge," Javed Akhtar, the hospital spokesperson, said.

The doctors said Koda has a stomach upset.

Koda, an independent MP from Singhbhum, faces arrest after the Income Tax department (IT) and the Enforcement Directorate (ED) exposed the scam running into thousands of crores. Koda was hospitalised Nov 3 once it became clear that he would be arrested.

Ujjawal Choudhary, director of investigation with the Income Tax department, Saturday said: "Right now we cannot specify the amount. But we have come across documents and information related to huge investments in Liberia, Thailand, Malaysia, Dubai and other countries."

"The IT and ED are together investigating the case and sharing documents seized during raids," he said.

Vikas Sinha, brother of Koda's close aide Vinod Sinha, was Saturday sent to ED custody for 10 days.

According to sources, Vikas has admitted to sending Rs.40 crore abroad for Koda.

The ED sources say that they have found undisclosed assets worth Rs.11.8 crore with Vikas.

According to IT officials, Vinod sent Rs.550 crore through hawala to countries like Thailand, Malaysia and Liberia.

The IT department had Nov 2 asked Vinod, Sanjay Kumar Choudhary, Devendra Mukhiya, Basant Bhattacharya, Manoj Punamiya and Anil Bastawde to appear before it by 11 a.m. Friday. None of them turned up. ED has issued an alert to all Indian airports to ensure they don't leave the country.

On Oct 9, the ED lodged a case under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) against Koda, three more former ministers as well as his associates Vinod and Sanjay Chaudhary.

Rosaiah meets Sonia, says no fixed tenure for CMs

New Delhi: Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister K Rosaiah, who took over the stewardship of the state amid a campaign by supporters by late Y S Rajasekhara Reddy to give his son the top post, on Saturday said a meeting of Congress Legislature Party would be held before year-end.

The meeting of CLP is considered important because Rosaiah is yet to be formally elected its leader since he took over as Chief Minister following the death of Rajasekhara Reddy in a helicopter crash in September.

Rosaiah, on his maiden visit to Delhi, told reporters after meeting Congress chief Sonia Gandhi, that he was "comfortable" but there have been no fixed tenures of Chief Ministers.

The veteran leader, who was made the CM after the death of Rajasekhara Reddy in a helicopter crash, said he was getting cooperation from party MLAs "to the extent necessary".

He said this when asked whether party MLAs were backing him without any reservations.

Sidestepping questions whether the party was united in the state and whether he was getting support from Jaganmohan Reddy, he remarked "every Congressman in the state will abide by the decisions of the high command and there are no two opinions about it".

"For all of us, from me to the youngest boy look to the leadership and will follow decisions taken by the high command", Rosaiah said.

His remarks came close on the heels of Jaganmohan meeting the Congress President.

Rosaiah said his as also Jagan's meeting Gandhi on the same day was a "coincidence".

Maha gets new govt, 2 weeks after Assembly poll results

Mumbai: Ashok Chavan was on Saturday sworn in as Maharashtra Chief Minister at the head of 26-member Congress-NCP ministry on Saturday evening, two weeks after the Assembly elections results were declared.

NCP leader Chhagan Bhujbal, who will be deputy chief minister, was also sworn in.

Former ministers R R Patil, Rajendra Darda, Laxmanrao Dhoble, Anil Deshmukh and Jaidutt Kshirsagar have made a come back into the new cabinet ministers but a number of cabinet ministers in the previous ministry have been dropped including Vijaysinh-Mohite Patil, Surupsinh Naik and Dilip Walse Patil.

Anees Ahmed, Vimal Mundada, Chandrakant Handore, Nawab Malik, Vinay Kore, Rajendra Shingane, Raviseth Patil, Madan Patil, Rameshchandra Bang and Dilip Deshmukh also did not find a place in the ministry this time.

Ministers of state in the previous government Naseem Khan, Suresh Shetty and Hasan Mushrif were elevated to cabinet rank.

Chavan and 26 other cabinet ministers were administered the oath of office and secrecy by Governor S C Jamir at the Raj Bhawan lawns.

Indian Business News

Banking reforms dominate G-20 talks

London: Differences over exiting economic stimuli, reforming banking system and fighting climate change are threatening to derail efforts of Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee and his G-20 counterparts as they met on Saturday in Scotland to pursue an agenda of sustainable economic growth.

Host Britain, still in the grip of recession, is keen to continue global effort to support recovery. Others, including the US, Japan and Germany, want to debate ending the massive government spending, low interest rates and expansion of the money supply measures employed to boost growth.

There are disagreements on banking reform, with Canadian Finance Minister Jim Flaherty acknowledging on the eve of the meeting that there were "disparate views" on how to address the problem of banks being too big to fail. France is pressing for more actions to stop excessive bonuses in the banking sector.

Addressing the finance ministers and central bankers from the 20 rich and developing nations, Britain's Chancellor of Exchequer Alistair Darling wanted them to agree on a financial package to help poorer nations develop green industries.

The EU, which has agreed to a euro 100-billion annual package of public and private finance by 2020, is urging the US to lay out its position.

With the major UN climate conference in Copenhagen a month away, he said "heavy lifting" was needed to push through a deal on so-called climate finance.

Freddie Mac posts $5 bn loss

New York: Freddie Mac, the second largest provider of US residential mortgage funding, on Friday posted a loss of $5 billion in the third quarter and predicted it would need more government support amid a "prolonged deterioration" in housing.

Increases in the value of securities Freddie Mac held over the period helped buoy its net worth, however, erasing its need to tap government funds for a second straight quarter to stay solvent while continuing to buy and guarantee home loans.

Including a $1.3 billion dividend payment on senior preferred stock bought by the Treasury in previous quarters, Freddie Mac's third-quarter loss increases to $6.3 billion.

The home funding company's loss comes amid a rise in provisions for credit losses to $7.6 billion in the quarter, up 46 percent compared with the previous quarter, as delinquencies worsened on loans it guarantees. Provisions will remain high this quarter, it added.

"I would say we are just beginning to see the impact of the chargeoffs on their guarantee book," said Janaki Rao, vice president of mortgage research at Morgan Stanley in New York.

Its larger rival Fannie Mae on Thursday said it would need $15 billion from the U.S. Treasury after a whopping $18.9 billion third-quarter loss.

Results at Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae are widely watched as a barometer of the U.S. housing market since they own or back nearly half of outstanding mortgages.

The losses have presented a dilemma to Congress as it wants to protect taxpayers' money but is also counting on the companies to undertake foreclosure prevention efforts which are significantly adding to expenses.

Indian Sports News|Sports News

Dhoni looks to start afresh, backs Jadeja to perform with bat

Guwahati: The disappointment of the three-run loss in Hyderabad behind them, Indian captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni said on Saturday that his team is focussed on making a fresh start in the must-win sixth cricket one-dayer against Australia in Guwahati on Sunday.

"It was hurting and disappointing. But we have left everything in the dressing room. We have two more games to go and that's what count now. Whatever has happened has happened. You cannot change much about it. It's important to concentrate on what lies ahead and stay fresh mentally," Dhoni said at the pre-match press conference.

India trail the seven-match series 2-3 after the loss in Hyderabad. Asked about the team's strategy, Dhoni said the hosts would rely on a good batting effort and an improved fielding display.

"Strategy is to get off a good start and then capitalise on it and dictate terms on the opposition side. We have done well in patches. It's important to be consistent especially when it comes to fielding. So we are hoping to field well," he said.

On whether the middle-order's inconsistent form is a concern, Dhoni said though the performance has not been too good, he is not worried.

"We rely on a good start but every now and then your openers don't score and the pressure comes to the middle order. This is one of the series, where the middle order has not performed consistently," he said.

"It's not a worrying thing. But of course it's good if we get a good start so that the middle order and lower order capitalise on that," Dhoni added.

India win 2 gold on final day, end at 7th in Asian Indoor

Hanoi (Vietnam): India claimed four medals, including two gold, on the final day of the competition to end the third Asian Indoor Games on a high here on Saturday.

With today's four medals, India ended the continental event on seventh position with 40 medals (six gold, nine silver and 25 bronze).

China led the medal tally with 47 gold, 23 silver and 19 bronze.

Hosts Vietnam secured second second position with 41 gold, 29 silver and 21 bronze while Kazakhstan stood third with 21 gold, 16 silver and 21 bronze.

India won a gold medal each in the men's 4X100m medley relay and men's snooker team event. Ratnadeepti Kamalakar won a silver in 50 kg semi-contact kick-boxing while the chess mixed team brought a bronze.

The Indian quartet of Rehan Poncha, Sandeep Sejwal, Aaron Agnel D'souza and Virdhawal Khade won 4X100m medley relay in a new meet record of 3:37.03. Vietnam (3:37.85) and Hong Kong (3:37.91) won silver and bronze respectively.

In men's snooker team final, the Indian duo of Manan Chandra and Aditya Mehta beat Qatar 3-0 to win gold.

Manan beat Saif Ahmed 66-0 in the first tie followed by Aditya defeating Mohana Alobaidley 64-30. Later, Manan-Aditya duo beat Saif-Alobaidley pair 62-12.

In women's semi-contact 50 kg kick-boxing final, Ratnadeepti Kamalakar beat local challenger Thi Thoan Dao 12-9 to win the gold.

In chess, Harikrishna Pentala, Parimarjan Negi, Harika Dronavalli and Esha Kharvade won a bronze in mixed team event.