Mind your language: Buddha tells Chidambaram
West Bengal Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee on Monday hit back at Union Home Minister P Chidambaram for his comments that the buck stopped at his table on maintaining law and order in the state and asked him to "mind" his language.
"Buck is the not the language of politicians. It is a
slang. I will tell him to mind his language. I had asked him to tell the Opposition to cooperate with the government," Bhattacharjee told reporters here.
Asked to comment on Chidammbaram's views, the chief minister said, "I do not accept what he said. I know my responsibility. Let me do my job and and let him do his," Bhattacharjee said.
Chidambaram had, during a visit to Lalgarh on Sunday, expressed unhappiness over recurring inter-party clashes in the state and said he had told the chief minister "the buck stops with you".
Bhattacharjee said he knows the responsibility lies with him. "I am trying to discharge my responsibilities. I have my own views about the law-and-order situation of the state. He gave me his views and I gave him mine.
"But I also told him that it is very difficult to maintain law and order if the Opposition does not cooperate. I told him that you should tell the Opposition to attend meetings when called by the government," he said.
Asked to comment on Chidambaram's statement that the law and order situation was very bad in eight select police stations in the state as agreed to by Bhattacharjee himself, he said, "I had only told him that there are difficulties in maintaining law and order in these areas."
On whether the home minister was within his jurisdiction to comment on the law-and-order situation in any state, Bhattacharjee said, "He can give his own observation, but maintaining law and order was the state's responsibility."
Now, Mulayam wants reservation for women in IIMs, govt jobs
New Delhi: Raising a new demand on the women's bill, Samajwadi Party on Monday sought 50 per cent quota to women in educational institutes as well as jobs.
The demand was made by Mulayam Singh Yadav, who has already called for "reservation within reservation" for Muslim women and backward classes in the Women's Reservation Bill.
He said political parties should be asked to give reservation to women in distribution of election tickets and representation should be given to those from backward classes and also Muslims and Dalits.
"During the all-party meeting today, I made my stand clear that till the time women do not get educated, they cannot move ahead. Therefore, at the first place, women should get 50 per cent reservation in admission to IIMs, IITs, AIIMS and all medical colleges and government and private jobs.
"Women can't progress by merely becoming MPs and MLAs," Yadav told reporters here, adding SP has been saying that parties should be made to reserve seats for women. "Those who don't, should face disqualification," he said.
The SP chief was referring to an Election Commission suggestion that providing reservation to women be made mandatory for political parties.
"Majority of the memoranda received by the committee rejected the formula suggested by the then CEC M S Gill on the ground that it might lead to political parties giving seats to women, which they perceive are not winning seats, thereby negating actual representation of women in elected bodies," the report of the Parliamentary Standing Committee which went into the quota for women issue had Referring to the recent interim order of the Supreme Court upholding the validity of four per cent reservation provided to backward members of Muslim community in the state, Yadav said the judgement has cleared the way for providing reservation to Muslim women in Lok Sabha and state assemblies.
Taliban claim attack on US consulate in Pak's Peshawar
MIRANSHAH: Pakistan's main Taliban faction on Monday claimed responsibility for an attack on the US consulate in the city of Peshawar and threatened to carry out further assaults on Americans.
"We accept the attacks on the American consulate. This is revenge for drone attacks," Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) spokesman Azam Tariq said over telephone from an undisclosed location.
"We have already told you that we have 2,800 to 3,000 fidayeen (suicide bombers). We will carry out more such attacks. We will target any place where there are Americans," he said.
Militants armed with guns and suicide vests targeted the US consulate in Pakistan's northwestern capital and unleashed carnage at a political rally on Monday, killing 43 people.
The apparently coordinated attacks were the deadliest so far this year in nuclear-armed Pakistan, where the government is closely allied to the US-led war against al-Qaida and in neighbouring Afghanistan.
The ability of heavily-armed militants to get so close to the US mission and other military installations, such as the provincial headquarters of Pakistan's premier spy agency, will raise further questions about endemnic insecurity.
Up to 15 militants armed with explosives and driving in two vehicles targeted the heavily guarded US consulate in Peshawar, a city of 2.5 million on the edge of Pakistan's lawless tribal belt, setting off multiple explosions.
"The target was certainly the American consulate but they didn't succeed in getting there," Pakistani police officer Ghulam Hussain said.
"One of the suicide bombers blew himself up close to the gate. Police guarding the US consulate started retaliatory fire. More blasts took place. We have recovered unexploded material from four different points," he said.
Three powerful explosions and bouts of gunfire echoed through the area, where a reporter said the attacks occurred at a checkpoint about 20 metres (yards) from the US consulate where heavy thick smoke spewed into the sky.
"We can confirm there has been an attack on the US consulate Peshawar facilities," US embassy spokeswoman Ariel Howard said, unable to provide any details about the nature of the attack, possible damage or casualties.
Pakistani police and army sealed off the area, preventing journalists from accessing the scene and later carried out a number of controlled explosions.
A provincial cabinet minister said four militants, a policeman and another person were killed during the attack.
"They came in two vehicles. The militants were well-equipped. It was a well-organised attack," Bashir Ahmed Bilour, senior minister in the North West Frontier Province government headquartered in the city, told reporters.
"The situation is now under control," he said, following a gun battle between the assailants and security forces.
"The militants were trying to enter the American consulate, but they did not succeed," he said.
It was not clear whether some of the assailants may have escaped.
Peshawar lies on the edge of Pakistan's tribal belt — branded by Washington a global headquarters of al-Qaida — and has been subject to numerous attacks by Islamist militants, although recent months have seen a relative lull.
Around 3,200 people have been killed in suicide and bomb attacks over the last three years in Pakistan, blamed on militants opposed to the US alliance in the war on Al-Qaeda and against the Taliban in neighbouring Afghanistan.
Earlier on Monday, a suicide bomber attacked an open-air rally in the northwest district of Lower Dir, where Pakistan waged a major offensive against local Taliban insurgents last year.
The attack killed 41 people during a celebration organised by the leading secular political party in northwest and was the deadliest in Lower Dir since the anti-Taliban offensive.
"Forty-one people have been killed and 82 others wounded," Qazi Jamil, police chief for the northwestern region of Malakand, told AFP, saying it had been a suicide car bomb attack.
Residents reportedly said the bomb exploded close to the stage at the political gathering.
The Awami National Party (ANP) said it organised the meeting to celebrate plans to rename North West Frontier Province — Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, as laid out in a package of constitutional reform being debated in the federal parliament.
The new name honours the Pashtun-majority population in the province, replaces a name that dates back to British colonial rule and is part of efforts to devolve greater authority to the provinces.
Lower Dir borders Pakistan's lawless tribal belt, where suspected Taliban armed with petrol bombs and rockets torched eight tankers used to supply fuel to NATO forces in Afghanistan before dawn on Monday, officials said.
Dozens of fighters launched the attack at Zakha Khel in the tribal district of Khyber, local administration chief Shafeerullah Wazir said.
Obama's goal to intensify diplomacy to ease Indo-Pak tensions: Report
WASHINGTON: In a secret directive, President Barack Obama has asked his administration to intensify efforts to make India resolve its tensions with Pakistan, a priority for progress of the "US goals in the region".
He has also asked his officials to intensify American diplomacy aimed at easing tensions between India and Pakistan, asserting that without detente between the two rivals, the administration's efforts to win Pakistani cooperation in Afghanistan would suffer, the Wall Street Journal reported.
The directive, issued in December, concluded that "India must make resolving its tensions with Pakistan a priority for progress to be made on US goals in the region," the US daily said quoting 'people familiar with its contents'.
According to officials, the Pentagon, in particular, has sought more pressure on New Delhi, it said.
The only specific US request to New Delhi has been to "discourage India from getting more involved in training the Afghan military, to ease Pakistani concerns about getting squeezed by India on two borders", the journal said quoting US and Indian officials.
The move comes amid continued requests by Pakistan for an intercession by the US in Indo-Pak disputes, despite a longstanding resistance from India to any mediation by a foreign country.
Pakistan has long regarded Afghanistan as providing "strategic depth" or a buffer zone in a potential conflict with India, and does not want India to have a larger influence in the country.
"Current and former US officials said the discussion in Washington over how to approach India has intensified as Pakistan ratchets up requests that the US intercede in a series of continuing disputes," it said, adding the White House declined to comment on Obama's directive or on the debate within the administration over India policy.
I want to clear my name: Shoaib Malik
HYDERABAD: Pakistani cricketer Shoaib Malik, whose passport was taken away by police, on Monday said he will not leave India till he clears his name and that he was being emotionally blackmailed by Ayesha who claims to have married him.
Appearing before the media with Sania Mirza, who he is going to marry on April 15, by side, he said he has not done anything wrong and questioned why Ayesha was not appearing in public to make her allegations.
Both he and Sania said they were from respectable families with the tennis star adding that "to see my future husband like this (answering questions about marriage) is painful for both the families".
Shoaib was questioned at Sania's house this morning by a team of police officials who took his passport and alerted immigration authorities after asking him not to leave India.
"I'm here for the marriage and to clear my name. I'm not leaving the country. Inshallah, I'll clear my name. I have no objections (to police taking the passport) and I'm cooperating with the police and Indian government. I have got respect for the authorities and I will do everything to clear my name. I'm ready to face any type of questions. I'll get my passport in the evening," Shoaib said.
Though police did not disclose much about their investigations in the case registered on the basis of the complaint filed by Ayesha's father MA Siddiqui, officials said Shoaib told them during questioning that he was tricked into the marriage.
Asked about the allegations by Ayesha Siddiqui, who claims she was pregnant through Shoaib, he said, "I just want to ask something. I don't know her exactly why she is making these allegations behind the camera. Where is she. Ten years back I was 18-years-old. Find out her age."
He said first she has to prove (the marriage) in a court of law but maintained that the 'nikahnama' was invalid. Better leave the issue to courts, he said.
Sania interjected to say that "we are all from very respectable families. These are questions people (don't) face before getting married. That is not what we want. We want to clear his name and as Indian, it's my responsibility and our responsibility to let police investigate."
She also questioned the 'nikahnama' saying "If there was no 'nikah', it cannot be proved. If the court proves, then he will do whatever is required. If it is not proved by them, then we know, our families know what to do."
Sania also asked the media to leave the issue to the court, saying it's not right to discuss it in public.
"Of course I'm upset (to face questions) but we are happy that we are together and we are happy that we are getting married," she said.
Shoaib ridiculed the Siddiqui family's demand for divorcing their daughter before the impending marriage saying, "I know only Maha apa (elder sister). Please for God's sake how can they ask me to divorce her."
To a question whether they have made an offer of money to sort out the issue, Shoaib shot back saying "Why one million, say one billion."
Sania said they were not going for any out-of-court settlement. Maintaining that calling names was not good, she said the chief Qazi of Hyderabad has already held that there can be no telephone 'nikah'.
Again when asked whether he had stayed with Ayesha in hotels, Shoaib replied he was still in the dark about who was Ayesha. "I have met only 'apa' which means elder sister."
He said his family would definitely be coming for the marriage.
"I want to respect all. I'm not like them. Till (the alleged marriage) is not proved I cannot be touched by anybody," he said.
Asked what were his plans, he said he was waiting for the report of investigations.
"They are investigating it and I'm sure they would not find anything because I did nothing. Once that news comes then I'll decide what to do," he said.
He said he spoke to Pakistan High Commissioner who said he had the government's backing.
Earlier in the day, Dr Shams Babar, the relative of the Siddiquis, addressed a press conference outside their residence in Banjara Hills, claiming that Ayesha had a miscarriage and that information on it was part of "several proofs" that were handed over to the police to "nail" Shoaib.
He said even now what they were demanding was only an apology and divorce from Shoaib and not any monetary compensation.
"He should acknowledge the marriage with Ayesha and now give her divorce. If he does so we are prepared to drop the charges against Shoaib," Babar said.
"We do not want any monetary damages or help from Shoaib. If the things are set right, we have no objection to the proposed marriage of Shoaib and Sania Mirza. It's (an issue) only between Siddiqui's and Shoaib Malik," he said.
The Pakistani cricketer had on Sunday claimed that he was emotionally forced into the 'nikahnama' with the Hyderabad girl but said the marriage was invalid as her family had cheated him and ruled out divorce.
Sania said it was painful to face unpleasant questions days before her marriage.
"We all come from respectable families and these are not nice questions. We would rather get married and be happy than answer questions about first marriage, second marriage," she said.
The tennis star said she and her family had complete faith in Shoaib who never hid anything from them.
"Me and my family have known the truth all along. At no point he kept us in the dark. Even when he decided to go ahead with the marriage (with Ayesha), he informed us," Sania said.
Shoaib's Delhi-based lawyer Ramesh Gupta said he had no apprehensions about the cricketer getting arrested here.
"Shoaib's passport and mobile have been seized by police. We have not decided on seeking an anticipatory bail yet and we have no apprehension that he will be arrested," Gupta said.
Business News
Sensex up 243 pts, closes at 2-yr high
Mumbai:The Bombay Stock Exchange benchmark Sensex surged by over 243 points to over 25-month high on Monday on brisk buying by funds in anticipation of good fourth quarter earnings by India Inc.
Supported by positive global trends, the 30-share Sensex shot up by 243.06 points, or 1.37 per cent, to 17,935.68, a level last seen on February 20, 2008.
The National Stock Exchange index, Nifty, too spurted by 77.90 points to settle at 5,368.40.
Brokers said buying got a boost as there is an all-round optimism in the market that India Inc would post impressive fourth quarter results. Asian markets rallying to 19-month high, buoyed by an upbeat US job data, also helped lift the investor sentiment, they added. US markets too had soared at 18-month high on last Thursday.
Realty, oil and gas, auto, bank, small-cap and mid-cap shares were the major gainers of the day.
The petrochemicals major Reliance Industries, which gained 2.88 per cent, contributed the maximum in today's rise.
ICICI Bank shot up 3.26 per cent while Bharti Airtel was another smart gainer at 4.45 per cent.
Reliance Infra jumped Rs 51.80 to Rs 1,067.45 to emerge as the best performer on Monday.
The realty sector index gained the most by adding 2.66 per cent to 3,398.01 with the segment major DLF gaining Rs 10.20 to Rs 321.35.
Small-cap index rose by 1.97 per cent to 8,875.29 and mid-cap index 1.45 per cent to 6,965.71.
World economy ‘not out of woods’: IMF
International Monetary Fund head Dominique Strauss-Kahn said on Sunday the world economy was not "out of the woods" despite a faster recovery in developing and emerging countries than earlier forecast.
He told reporters during a visit to the country that although global recovery was "resuming sooner than expected, private demand was still not strong enough to signal the end of the prolonged recession experienced by the world economy.
"You see growth resuming almost everywhere but that almost everywhere these growth figures are related to public support and private demand remaining rather weak and not strong enough. Until private demand is sustainable to provide growth it will be difficult to say the crisis is over," he added.
The IMF sharply raised its estimates back in January, predicting that the world economy would expand by 3.9 per cent in 2010, much higher than the 3.1 per cent it projected last October, with the pace picking up to 4.3 per cent next year.
"The recovery is coming sooner than expected. But we are not out of the woods and we have to be cautious," he added.
Predictions for recovery have been improving steadily since last year in tandem with an explosive stock market recovery.
But much of the US economy's recovery from the most brutal downturn since the 1930s has been driven by government stimulus and businesses being less aggressive in reducing inventories.
This has raised concerns that growth could stutter later this year when the boost from the two sources fades, given tepid consumer spending and high unemploymment.
Strauss-Kahn, a former French finance minister, said that although a double dip could not be ruled out, the IMF did not forecast one.
The head of the IMF refused to be drawn into commenting on the next World Economic Outlook before it was released in "ten days" he said.
Strauss-Kahn also warned of the risks in a premature recovery that could prompt governments to retreat from public stimulus policies too early and thus "shooting themselves in the foot".
Along with concerns over sovereign debt in the euro zone, Strauss-Kahn added that a third risk was the "huge amount of capital inflows that could go to countries such as Brazil and Indonesia that would create bubbles".
‘Salary a/cs to get 25% more interest’
New Delhi:Salary account holders could see their interest income rise by up to 25 per cent on the back of a new RBI rule from this month, under which banks will compute 3.5 per cent savings interest on daily basis instead of taking the lowest deposit during a month, Crisil Ratings said on Monday.
Crisil said the new method of interest computation will increase the effective interest rate on savings balances, particularly for salary account holders.
"It is estimated that for a salary account holder with a minimum savings balance between 1-2 times of the monthly salary, the increase in interest income will be between 10 and 25 per cent," it said.
The new computation method has taken effect from April 1, 2010. Earlier, banks gave interest of 3.5 per cent on savings accounts on the basis of the least deposit in an account between the 10th and the last day of each month.
The interest is credited in the account twice a year, in March and September.
As for impact on banks, Crisil said the cost of deposit for them will increase by 10-20 basis points (100 bps = 1 per cent), depending on the share and pattern of the current and savings accounts (CASA).
"This will not materially impact their profitability or lead to any significant change in the share of low-cost deposits, that is CASA in the banking system," it added.
Crisil said, however, that the impact is expected to be higher for banks that have a dominant share of salary accounts with highly fluctuating balances.
At the end of February, all the commercial banks had a total deposit of over Rs 44 lakh crore, including savings, current and fixed deposits. The country's largest lender State Bank of India has over 1.56 crore savings bank account holders.
Crisil said the average CASA levels in the domestic banking system stood at 33 per cent, with savings deposits accounting for 22 per cent as of March 2009.
But it added, "The share of savings deposits is estimated to have increased to 25 per cent as on December 2009, which would translate into an increase of 2-4 per cent in CASA levels by March 31, 2020."
While announcing the annual monetary policy for 2009-10 unveiled last April, the Reserve Bank had said, "payment of interest on savings accounts by scheduled commercial banks would be calculated on a daily product basis with effect from April 1, 2010."
Sports News
I'm not going anywhere, I'll clear my name: Shoaib
Hyderabad: Pakistan cricketer Shoaib Malik, who is scheduled to marry tennis star Sania Mirza on April 15 in Hyderabad, on Monday said that he was in the city to clear his name vis-à-vis the alleged marriage with Hyderabad girl Ayesha Siddiqui, as he would not like to lose the respect that he had earned.
Addressing a press conference with Sania this evening, Shoaib said: "I have not married the girl who goes by the name of Ayesha. I have never met her. I have met Maha Apa, and Apa in Islam means elder sister. I won't apologise. I am not leaving the country, I am cooperating with the police here."
"I would not like to lose the respect that I have earned. If you want to question the validity of the 'so-called marriage'', go and ask the clergy. Ten years ago, I was 18-years-old. I now believe that I was trapped by Maha Apa. I am here to clear my name. The Siddiquis are doing this for cheap publicity. You people are from the media; I would like to ask why this Ayesha is not appearing in public? Why is she talking to television channels behind the scenes? I believe in God. I represent Pakistan. I am strong and believe I will see this through," Malik added.
Sania said that she and Shoaib saw no reason to postpone the marriage. Shoaib said the fact that he was alone here, without his relatives, was proof enough of his innocence.
"There is no reason to postpone the marriage. Shoaib has said there was no marriage. We believe him. We both come from respectable families, and obviously are not happy about this. We are looking forward to our marriage, to the best days of our lives," said Sania."
Pakistani cricketer Shoaib Malik on Monday handed over his passport and mobile phone to an investigation team, which questioned him on a complaint filed by Mohammed Siddiqui father of his alleged first wife Ayesha.
Earlier in the day, Hyderabad Police questioned Malik for over two hours at Sania''s house.
Malik reportedly claimed his signature on the nikhanama was forged.
Earlier, acting on Mohammed Siddiqui's complaint, police asked Malik not to leave the city without their permission and also alerted immigration officials.
Ayesha has alleged that she and Mailk are already married, and, he is marrying Sania without her consent.
The Siddiqui family charged Malik with harassing Ayesha, cheating to marry another girl and accused criminal intimidation.
A police team has also questioned the Siddiqui family at their residence, following an allegation of forgery levelled by Malik.
Hyderabad police may ask Malik to undergo scientific tests.
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