Don't criticise Dhoni for just ONE bad Tournament - Muralitharan

India's Twenty20 World Cup flop show notwithstanding, Mahendra Singh Dhoni remains one of the best skippers in international cricket and it is unfair to criticise him on the basis of just one bad tournament, said Sri Lankan spin wizard Muttiah Muralitharan.

World's highest Test wicket-taker both in Tests and ODIs, who plays under Dhoni in the Indian Premier League champion side Chennai Super Kings, said he was amused to see the outrage that greeted India's early exit from the showpiece event in the West Indies.

Goa to rope in Ex-Naval officers to guide Coastal security

The Goa government has decided to rope in former defence officers to guide its marine police force, armed with sophisticated boats to man the coast.

“We do not have trained manpower to handle such boats. We will have to be dependent on ex-officers of Indian Navy or Indian coast guard for the guidance,” chief secretary Sanjay Srivastava said.

“Officers can be employed with the special police unit for two to three years. The marine police will work in tandem with the Navy and coast guard to safeguard the state coastline, where vigil has been stepped up after 26/11 and recent terror alerts,” he said.

Food inflation raises to 16.49% for week ending May 8

India's annual food inflation edged up for the second week, rising to 16.49% for the week ended May 8 as shown by the official data released on Thursday.

The food inflation stood at 16.44% the previous week, up from 16.04% for the week ended April 24.

Data on the wholesale price index (WPI) released by the commerce and industry ministry showed that food inflation rose though the index for this group dropped marginally during the week under review.

Desai scandal widens as CBI investigation continues

Within a month of his arrest in a corruption case, the CBI has unearthed clinching evidence against former Medical Council of India (MCI) chief Ketan Desai and initiated the process to register half-a- dozen more cases against him.

Sources said Desai who was arrested by the CBI last month on charges of seeking a Rs 2-crore bribe to help Gyan Sagar Medical College in Patiala, has been found to be involved in showering favours on several other private medical institutions. Not only has the CBI unearthed his movable and immovable assets worth over Rs 50 crore so far, but it has received over 100 complaints from across India.

Bank of Rajasthan to be merged with ICICI

Bank of Rajasthan (BoR) will be merged with ICICI Bank. A decision to this regard was taken on Tuesday by both the banks. According to ICICI Bank, the share swap ratio has been fixed at 25 shares of ICICI Bank for 118 shares of Bank of rajasthan.

ICICI Bank has entered into an agreement with Tayal family of BoR to effect the amalgamation with a share exchange ratio of 25 shares of ICICI Bank for 118 shares of Bank of Rajasthan. This is based on an internal analysis of the strategic value of the proposed amalgamation, average market capitalization per branch of old private sector banks and relevant precedent transactions, ICICI Bank in a statement said. The proposed merger would substantially enhance ICICI Bank's branch network, already the largest among Indian private sector banks, and especially strengthen its presence in northern and western India.

Power tariff to be hiked by Re.1/unit

Power minister Sushil Kumar Shinde on Thursday said that power tariff would go up by about Re 1 per unit (kwh) owing to the government's decision to hike gas prices on Wednesday evening.

"The power tariff would go up. We have not worked out the details, but it is likely to be about Re 1 per unit," Shinde told reporters on the sidelines of a Ficci event.

Power tariff is regulated by the Central Electricity Regulatory Commission (CERC).

Allahabad HC refuses to revive Babri Masjid Demolition case

Senior Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader LK Advani and 20 others got a reprieve on Thursday with the Allahabad High Court rejecting a plea to revive criminal cases against them in the 18-year-old Babri Mosque demolition case.

The Lucknow bench of the court dismissed a plea of the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to revive criminal cases against the accused.

In his 44-page judgement, Justice Alok Kumar Singh of the Lucknow bench of the high court said, "...Nothing is found against the correctness, legality, propriety or regularity in respect of any of the findings of the lower court".

RBI ready to Cope Huge Cash flow for 3G spectrum Bids

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) will keep liquidity ready to support the banking system cope with huge cash outflows following the just-concluded third- generation spectrum auction, its top officials said on Thursday.

The auction, that lasted 34 days, will generate USD 14.6 billion for the government, nearly double what it had earlier expected.

"I want to assure you that we are taking into account... we are monitoring the liquidity situation," RBI Governor Duvvuri Subbarao said after a central bank board meeting in Thiruvananthapuram.

Maoists are 'our own people' --- Narendra Modi

BJP's forthright poster boy, Narendra Modi, today embarrassed his senior party leaders by calling Maoists "our own people" and urging the government to sit down for talks with them. His statement came as a surprise to the top brass of the party that has been insisting on dealing with the Maoists with an iron hand. While defending the Gujarat CM, the party spokesperson blamed the media for misquoting him and said the issue was unnecessarily being blown out of proportion.

BJP later clarified that Modi was just responding to a question posed by a student on what his message was for the youngsters who are picking up arms. The statement by the Gujarat government's spokesperson read: "Narendra Modi was not asked about what the government must do to tackle Maoism and he has not responded to any such question... However, he is of the view that the government should not bow to the Maoists and strong action should be taken against those who are involved in killing innocent civilians."

Reliance & Videocon to Facebook free of charge @ 0.facebook.com

  Popular social networking site Facebook can now be accessed through mobile devices for free or without any data charges in 45 countries, including India, on select mobile networks.

Facebook, which has over 400 million users worldwide, has tied up with Indian wireless operators -- Reliance Communications and Videocon -- to make the site available for cell phone users with zero data charges.

For this purpose, the entity has launched a new site ’0.facebook.com’ that includes all key features of Facebook but is optimised for speed.

Ruchika case Verdict postponed till May 25

A sessions court here on Thursday deferred the verdict on plea for enhancing sentence of former Haryana police chief SPS Rathore in a molestation case to May 25.

Additional District and Sessions Judge Gurbir Singh deferred the verdict to May 25 saying since the judgment is lengthy it is being postponed by five days to provide time to complete the process of writing the judgement.

The Judge had on May 11 last fixed the verdict for today on the three pleas — one by the former DGP challenging his six month rigorous imprisonment for “outraging the modesty” of 14-year-old tennis player and two appeals by the victim’s family and the CBI seeking enhancement of the sentence awarded to him by the trial court.

Ruchika case Verdict postponed till May 25

A sessions court here on Thursday deferred the verdict on plea for enhancing sentence of former Haryana police chief SPS Rathore in a molestation case to May 25.

Additional District and Sessions Judge Gurbir Singh deferred the verdict to May 25 saying since the judgment is lengthy it is being postponed by five days to provide time to complete the process of writing the judgement.

The Judge had on May 11 last fixed the verdict for today on the three pleas — one by the former DGP challenging his six month rigorous imprisonment for “outraging the modesty” of 14-year-old tennis player and two appeals by the victim’s family and the CBI seeking enhancement of the sentence awarded to him by the trial court.

Cyclone Laila lashes Coastal Andhra

Heavy rains lashed all the nine districts of coastal Andhra Pradesh on Thursday inundating low lying areas and disrupting normal life as the severe cyclonic storm, `Laila', in the Bay of Bengal, threatens to cause devastation.

Although it showed signs of weakening, `Laila' continued to be severe and travelling steadly towards the direction of Bapatla in Guntur district. According to a bulliten issued by the Indian Meteorological Department at 7 am, "the system is weakening due to wind shear and land interaction".

Mumbai-Lucknow Kingfisher airline lands on Bomb scare

A Lucknow-bound Kingfisher Airlines flight with 166 passengers on board was grounded here on Thursday after an anonymous phone call warning of a bomb planted in the plane.

The aircraft was taken to a remote bay and all the 166 passengers have been deplaned, a Kingfisher Airlines spokesperson said.

The flight, IT-3149 was scheduled to take off from the Mumbai's domestic airport at 1645 hrs when the call came.

Tropical cyclone could Hit India & Bangladesh

Officials have issued a cyclone alert at ports in the eastern state of Orissa and begun preparations for mass evacuations amid fears of flooding.

Authorities in Bangladesh have also warned fishing boats to stay close to shore and not to venture into deep water.

Early monsoon rains increase the prospect of better rice, corn and soybean crops but cyclones are a regular hazard through the summer months.

Blockade affests transportation to Manipur

India is flying in emergency supplies to the remote north-eastern state of Manipur after key roads were blocked by separatists from a neighbouring state.

Road links were cut off by supporters of Thuingaleng Muivah, a rebel leader from Nagaland who has been denied entry to Manipur by the state government.

Mr Muivah's home village is in Manipur, which says allowing him to visit would inflame ethnic tensions.

The road blockade has led to a severe shortage of fuel and medicines.

Delhi Govt want Afzal guru to be hanged

Delhi government has backed death for Afzal Guru, sentenced in the Parliament attack case, sources.

Earlier on Tuesday, Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit said that the file on Afzal Guru's mercy petition has been sent to the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA).

"The letter goes from one department to the other. Neither the ministry writes it nor do I receive it. Moreover, that file has already gone," said the chief minister.

Time to change tactics against Naxals

On a day when over 30 people were killed in a Maoist attack in Dantewada, Home Minister P Chidambaram spoke exclusively to NDTV on a range of issues, including the government's Maoist strategy, Mamata Banerjee's demand for early polls in West Bengal and the need for a caste census.

Here's the full transcript of the interview with Home Minister P Chidambaram
on NDTV.com

BCCI issues one more notice to Modi

The Indian Cricket Board on Thursday slapped suspended IPL Commissioner Lalit Modi with one more show-cause notice for activities "detrimental to Indian Cricket, English Cricket and World cricket at large".

In a rather cryptic statement which did not reveal details, BCCI secretary N Srinivasan said the board acted on an e-mail from England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) chairman Giles Clarke.

Clarke wrote a mail to BCCI President Shashank Manohar and informed him about the activities of Modi that he found detrimental to the game of cricket.

Praveen Kumar out of India's T20 world Cup squad

India's World Twenty20 campaign has been dealt a huge blow after pacer Praveen Kumar was ruled out of the championship with an abdominal injury on Thursday.

Vidarbha pacer Umesh Yadav will be flying to the Caribbean as his replacement.

Praveen had sustained the injury during a practice session at the 3Ws Oval and the Indian team management sent him for an MRI which revealed a tear in abdomen muscle.

His injury happened just a day before India play their first Super Eight match with Australia.

Yadav also plays for the Delhi Daredevils in the IPL. The 22-year old bowler has so far played 11 first-class matches and has picked 42 wickets

Petrol & Diesel to cost more in 13 cities

Petrol and diesel prices will go up by up to 50 paise a litre from Wednesday midnight in 13 big cities, including Delhi and Mumbai, where cleaner Euro-IV grade fuel will be supplied from Wednesday, government official said.

Petrol price in Delhi will go up by Rs 0.50 per litre to Rs 47.93 a litre and diesel by Rs 0.26 to Rs 38.10 a litre on account of supply of cleaner Euro-IV fuel, the official said but did not wish to be identified.

Thirteen big cities, including Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Chennai, Hyderabad, Bangalore, Lucknow, Kanpur, Agra, Surat, Ahmedabad, Pune and Sholapur will move from Euro-III grade fuel to Euro-IV from April 1. Rates will vary from city to city depending upon local taxes.

44 Deemed Varsities allowed to admit students this year

The Supreme Court Thursday declined a plea by the Human Resource Development ministry to restrain 44 deemed universities - facing the prospect of being derecognised - from admitting students for academic session 2010-11 commencing July.

A bench of Justice Dalveer Bhandari and Justice Gyan Sudha Mishra also declined a plea by the Solicitor General Gopal Subramaniam that the admission for the coming academic year to these deemed universities should be subject to the final outcome of the hearing of the matter.

Japan to help India build 'SMART' city

Having provided funds and expertise for the metro rail, Japan will now help India build futuristic smart city with minimal pollution, maximum recycling and consumption-efficient public transport system.

The project, which will also include 11 investment regions and 13 industrial areas, is being touted as the next big thing in the country's urban infrastructure space.

After roads, ports and airports, now cities will be built via public private partnership.

Vodafone's cheapest Phone to cost Rs.849 in India

After months of waiting, Vodafone as launched the much awaited Rs.700 phone in India starting May 5.

The phone, the cheaper one amongst the two low-cost handsets goes by the name Vodafone 150. The interesting thing about this launch is that the phone is not network locked - in spite of being sold by Vodafone. Vodafone, however, offers free connections and low calling rates for users who purchase the phone and use a Vodafone SIM.

25 Yr arrested on charges of raping his Friend's Mom

A 40-year-old woman was allegedly raped by her son's friend in Pune.

The 24-year-old accused was arrested following a complaint filed by the woman at Chinchwad police station.

According to the complaint, the accused called on the woman at her residence saying her son was lying in an inebriated condition on the nearby Ravet road. He then took the anxious woman in his car to get the boy and raped her by parking the vehicle at a remote spot.

Woman alleges Gangrape at her husband's behest on Dowry issue

A woman in her early 20s, today alleged she was gangraped by her husband's friends at his behest as she had not been able to meet his dowry demands.

The woman narrated her tale of woes to Director General (Administration) Swaranjit Singh, a police department spokesman said.

The woman, who belongs to an affluent Dalit family from Ahar village in Panipat district, alleged that her husband, a Jat from Naru-Kheri village in Karnal, had been harassing her to bring more dowry ever since the two got married in April 2009, the spokesman said.

2 Judgements on Ambanis case

The Supreme Court’s verdict on the Mukesh Vs Anil Ambani case is due on Friday, and   it’s likely that there will be two judgements. 

The Ambani dispute was heard by a three-judge bench headed by the Chief Justice of India, KG Balakrishnan.

 The Supreme Court’s list of cases for Friday shows that Justice P Sathasivam and Justice B Sudershan Reddy  will deliver separate judgements.   If the two judgments don’t concur, the majority opinion will prevail.

Karnataka Minister alleged on rape charges gone missing

Haratalu Halappa, who quit as Karnataka minister on Sunday following rape charges, seems to have gone into hiding prompting police to stick notices at his residences for appearance before them by May 10, an official said here Thursday.

Police did not find Halappa at his residences in Bangalore, his assembly constituency Sorab in Shimoga district, about 270 km from Karnataka's capital , and the room at the Legislators' Home in Bangalore.

Faisal shahzad still under investigation; arrested on Times Square failed car bombing case

U.S. officials say a Pakistani-American charged with an attempted car bombing in New York City is cooperating with investigators as they try to determine a motive for the planned attack. Faisal Shahzad was arrested late Monday and charged with trying to blow up a sports utility vehicle in crowded Times Square on Saturday.  Meanwhile, authorities in Pakistan say they have made arrests in connection with the failed car bombing.

The man charged with numerous counts of terrorism was born in this tiny northwestern village known as Mohib Banda.  Faisal Shahzad's father is a retired air vice marshal in the Pakistani military. He comes from an upper-middle class family.  Neighbors in this town of 5,000 are saddened by the news.

Muivah postpones his visit in Manipur

Manipur is simmering after the state government banned T Muivah, a Naga separatist leader, from visiting his ancestral village in Manipur's Ukrul district.

Although the Nagas in Manipur were eager to receive him, Manipur Chief Minister Okram Ibobi Singh stopped Muivah's homecoming, leading to a big standoff at the border.

Two women were killed in clashes with the police, and 50 people were injured, all of them Naga protestors, most of them women.

Kasab sentenced to death by spl court

Ajmal Amir Kasab was convicted for his role in the 26/11 Mumbai carnage, India’s worst terror attack, on the basis of evidence gathered against him and not on the basis of his confession, Home Minister P.Chidmbaram said on Thursday.

“Kasab was convicted not on the basis of his confession but on the basis of the evidence gathered against him,” he said while replying to a discussion in the Rajya Sabha on the functioning of the Home Ministry.

Plot to omb MNC in Hyderabad disrupted

Police have disrupted a Lashkar-e-Taiba plot to bomb the Hyderabad offices of multinational Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu — one of the four largest auditors in the world.

Hyderabad resident Mohammad Zia-ul-Haq, held over the weekend in the course of a National Investigation Agency-led operation, was planning to attack Deloitte's Hi-Tech City offices using grenades supplied by the Lashkar, police sources said.

30 physically challenged persons among 875 candidates passed in Civil services exam

Of the 875 candidates who cleared the Civil Services Exam, 30 are physically challenged, it was announced on Thursday.

Among the 30, 14 are orthopaedically challenged, five are visually-impaired and 11 are hearing-impaired, the Union Public Service Commission said.

A total of 680 male and 195 female candidates have been recommended for appointment to the prestigious Indian Administrative Service, Indian Foreign Service, Indian Police Service and other central services.

Shah Faesal, a doctor from Kashmir, has topped the civil services examination. Prakash Rajpurohit, a BTech from the Indian Institute of Technology-Delhi, has bagged the second position while Iva Sahay from the Jawaharlal Nehru University has secured the third position. Ms. Sahay is the topper among women candidates.

Karnataka Education board to announce results for PUC & SSLC on May 6

The Karnataka education board will announce the results of the SSLC on 6th May 2010 at 07:00 AM. The result of PUC will also be announced on the same day.

Result will be published on the official website of  PUC and SSLC. The official websites for SSLC and PUC are www.kseeb.org and pue.kar.nic.in

The SSLC exam was conducted from April 1 and Around 8.35 lakh appeared fro the examination. PUC exam was conducted from March 18 and 6.51 lakh students appeared for the exams.


Result can also be checked from the following websites: http://results.karnatakaeducation.net/ 
http://karresults.nic.in/
www.kseeb.org

Intel to produce chips for Mobile phones

Intel is virtually synonymous with processor technology. Intel has been the leading developer of the chips that drive servers, desktops, notebooks, and even net books, but it is conspicuously absent from the rapidly growing smartphone--and now tablet--market.

Intel is playing catch-up to try and challenge ARM-based processors like the A4 that drives the Apple iPad.Intel has a dominant stake in the processor market--with about 70 percent, and it has only one real competitor in AMD. Multiple core processors and server virtualization, combined with a trend toward mobile platforms like smartphones and tablets, however, threaten the future of Intel's dominance.

eScan's Antivirus for Linux systems

eScan has announced the launch of its latest version for protection of Linux systems - eScan for Linux version 3.0. According to eScan, this solution works fine for both Linux desktops and file servers.

eScan for Linux Version 3.0 boasts of an improved antivirus engine that is claimed to enable quicker scanning and better detection of the latest threats. It can read inside the data stream and virtually scans all types of files; including zipped and archived files to detect threats. It allows the user to run preset action like disinfect the file or delete the infected file or rename it or prompt for action. It also provides the user commonly seen features (on Windows based antivirus softwares) like scheduling an automatic scanning and downloading of updates.

The software is available for major Linux distro's including Debian, Fedora, RedHat, Slackware, Suse and Ubuntu. You might want to visit the eSacn website for more on this.

SonyEricsson's X series phones will be upgraded with Android 2.1

Sony Ericsson's Xperia X10, X10 Mini and X10 Mini Pro will all get upgraded from Android 1.6 to version 2.1 during the fourth quarter, the phone vendor said in a blog post on Wednesday.

After the upgrade, the Xperia X10 will be able to record video at 720p and connect to other consumer electronics devices using DLNA (Digital Living Network Alliance). Sony Ericsson will improve their own additions to Android, Timescape and Mediascape, as well. The two applications organize messages such as Twitter posts, Facebook updates and SMS messages, as well as phone calls and multimedia.

Skype's New plan

Skype on Wednesday confirmed new monthly call subscription plans that, according to Skype, bring down the costs of Skype-enabled Internet calls even further. In addition, according to one report, Skype has a long-sought group video chat function in the works that it plans to test as a public beta as early as next week.

The new subscription plans cover 170 countries and will launch Thursday. According to Skype, the plans, which start at $1.09 a month and offer call rates as low as 1 cent per minute to any of the 170 countries, come in one-month, three-month and 12-month calling increments and 60-minute to unlimited time increments. Skype claims the plans will save users as much as 60 percent of what they pay for Skype's existing Pay As You Go rates.

Now its Zetabytes ... PetaBytes storage capacity is nowhere

Every man, woman and child on the planet using micro-blogging site Twitter for a century. For many people that may sound like a vision of hell, but for watchers of the tremendous growth of digital communications it is a neat way of presenting the sheer scale of the so-called digital universe. The explosion of social networking, online video services and digital photography, plus the continued popularity of mobile phones, email and web browsing, coupled with the growing desire of corporations and governments to know and store ever more data about everyone has created an unprecedented amount of digital information and introduced a new word to the nerd lexicon: a zettabyte.

Google to start Google Editions by late June

Google Inc. plans to begin selling digital books in late June or July, a company official said Tuesday, throwing the search giant into a battle that already involves Amazon.com Inc., Apple Inc. and Barnes & Noble Inc.

Google has been discussing its vision for distributing books online for several years and for months has been evangelizing about its new service, called Google Editions. The company is hoping to distinguish Google Editions in the marketplace by allowing users to access books from a broad range of websites using an array of devices, unlike rivals that are focused on proprietary devices and software.

Rediff releases List of Most read NewPapers in India

Dainik Jagran continues to be India's most read newspaper across all languages.

Meanwhile, of the Top 10 English dailies, five dailies, including The Times of India, The Hindu, Deccan Chronicle, The Economic Times and DNA have seen a drop in total readership.

Interestingly, the readership of Hindustan Times, The New Indian Express, Mid-Day and Mumbai Mirror has gone up
                          

India's most read Newspapers list

Bajaj to compete with Nano in Partnership with Global major Renault

Bajaj Auto on Wednesday promised a competitor to the Tata Nano by 2012, with a similar price tag of around $2,500 but better fuel efficiency, in collaboration with global auto giant Renault Nissan.

“If people who ride two-wheelers have to move up to a four-wheeler, what is most important is that the monthly cost of ownership must be affordable. This is rooted in three parameters — the price, the mileage and the maintenance,” managing director Rajiv Bajaj told reporters here, unveiling the company’s new range of three-wheeled passenger vehicles.

Asked if the price of the car will be around $2,500, as mentioned by Renault chief executive Carlos Ghosn, he replied in the affirmative.

Airtel in Partnership with Novatium to Boost its Internet business

Telecom service provider Bharti Airtel on Wednesday entered into partnership with cloud computing service provider Novatium to expand broadband business in India.

Under the tie-up, Novatium would offer cloud computing services, 'Airtel Net PC', for Airtel broadband customers in India, Bharti Airtel Telemedia Services-CMO Vikas Singh told reporters here.

Pan India 3G license fee raises to Rs.11,000 Crore on 22th round

The bid for pan-India 3G spectrum crossed Rs 11,000 crore on Day 22 of the auction on Wednesday, assuring the government a revenue of over Rs 44,500 crore.

According to the latest figures on the website of Department of Telecom (DoT), the pan-India 3G bid touched Rs 11,045 crore with Mumbai being the costliest circle at Rs 1,909.18 crore.

DoT, however, said that operators would be asked to bid for 'B' and 'C' category circles also after another four rounds of the bidding.

Indian born Professor to be Dean in Harvard business school

An India-born professor and IIT alumnus who has long championed a pledge for organizational leaders and managers on the lines of the Hippocratic Oath for doctors to enhance accountability in the corporate world has been named Dean of the prestigious Harvard Business School.

Nitin Nohria, who is currently the Richard P. Chapman Professor of Business Administration at Harvard Business School (HBS), will become the School's 10th dean, Harvard President Drew Faust announced on Tuesday.

Nohria is the first Indian, and indeed the first non-white, to become the dean of the 102-year old institution that typically ranks among the top three business-schools in the world.

Jagran Prakashan to buy Mid-Day for Rs.175Crores

Jagran Prakashan, which publishes one of India's largest read language dailies, Wednesday said it will acquire all the publications of Mid-Day Multimedia in a stock deal valued at around Rs.175 crore (nearly $40 million).

The board of the group said all the publications, including Mid-Day, published from four centres, Sunday Mid-Day, Gujarati Mid-Day and the Inquilab, among the largest circulated Urdu newspapers, will be acquired by way of a de-merger.

The print businesses of Mid-Day are run by a wholly-owned subsidiary, Mid-Day Infomedia Limited, and includes its internet-related properties, the company said in a regulatory filing with stock exchanges.

Top officials from Chinese telecom equipment suppliers to meet Govt officials

Top honchos of Chinese telecom companies will meet senior government officials here in the next two days to resolve all issues, including security concerns, regarding export of equipment to India.

The meetings take place amid reports that Chinese companies are being disallowed from bidding for some contracts to supply telecom equipment to Indian companies. And some of their shipments are stuck in the country for want of various clearances.

"We are examining the situation and meeting government officials. We hope that we will certainly reach a solution soon," a top official of ZTE, one of China's largest telecom equipment maker.

Pak foreign minister to visit Delhi

Keen on taking the bilateral dialogue process forward, Pakistani Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi is expected to visit New Delhi to meet his counterpart S M Krishna, which will be followed by a meeting of Foreign Secretaries in Islamabad, according to the diplomatic sources.

The Prime Ministers' of both countries met during the XVIth SAARC summit at Thimphu last week and asked their foreign ministers and foreign secretaries to work on modalities for restoring trust and to meet as soon as possible.

It is expected that the two foreign ministers may meet before the Indo-US strategic dialogue to be held in Washington on June 3.

Videocon debarred from World Bk operations for 3Yrs

In a blow to the image of India Inc, the World Bank has debarred Venugopal Dhoot-led Videocon for three years beginning January 10, 2010 for indulging in fraudulent and corrupt practices in some of its dealings with the bank. Ban on the company will be operative till January 11, 2013, a World Bank news release posted on its website said.

The ban came after investigations by the World Bank as part of its broader governance and anti-corruption agenda, the bank said in a news release from Washington. Charges against Videocon include violation in procurement guidelines of the bank. Action was earlier initiated against two other Indian companies - Satyam computers and Wipro, on charges of fraudulence related to contractual norms.

No radioactive materials in NewDelhi 'NOW'

Radioactive materials are no longer lying in the open in India's national capital and the Atomic Energy Regulatory Board (AERB) has taken possession of all such pieces, an official said in Mumbai on Wednesday.

The AERB experts have succeeded in recovering all the 16 radioactive pencils which led to radiation poisoning in a scrap dealer’s shop. The radiation claimed life of one person, injured seven other people, and created a scare in Delhi.

“There is now no radioactive material anywhere in the open in the affected areas which were investigated,” the official said.

Twists in young Journalists death in NewDelhi

In a new twist to the alleged honour killing of 22-year-old journalist Nirupama Rathak, who died at her family home in Koderma, the chief civil surgeon of the area claimed on Tuesday that at least three persons were probably involved in the murder.

Pranoy Mohan, chief civil surgeon (Koderma district), told that the postmortem report indicates that it would have taken at least three persons to smother the girl. "There are no external injuries on her body. It seems that someone stuffed a pillow over her nose and face, and two others used cloth to tie down her hand and feet to stop her from breaking free. The noose was tied around the neck definitely after her death," Mohan said.

SC slams illegal use of narcoanalysis tests; Govt reacts causitiously

Government on Wednesday reacted cautiously to the Supreme Court verdict declaring as illegal compulsory use of narcoanalysis test, saying it had to go through the judgement.

"Judiciary has given a judgement. We need to go through it...it is too early to react on that (judgement)," law minister M Veerappa Moily told reporters.

He said the issue of narcoanalysis has been "agitating" the mind of the jurists and the judiciary and the issue has been a subject of national debate.

The Supreme Court on Wednesday declared as "illegal" compulsory use of narcoanalysis, brainmapping and polygraph tests on suspects.

Google India revamps the search result page

Google India added some features to the search results page.

Some of the features include Updates from twitter, pages during a particular timeline , news items etc.... Check out to find the latest features.

Here are some of the screenshots:

Plane made Priority Landing in Kolkata after reports

A SpiceJet flight with 123 passengers on board had a scare today after two Russian nationals including a woman in burqa behaved "suspiciously" and the plane made a priority landing at Kolkata airport.

The Delhi-Kolkata-Dhaka flight (SG 208) of the low-cost air carrier touched down at the NSC Bose airport at 11:23 am after being given clearance by the Air Traffic Control(ATC) to land ahead of other aircraft over Kolkata airspace, airport sources said. All passengers were safe.

The aircraft was immediately taken to an isolation bay and was surrounded by CISF personnel, the bomb squad, fire brigade and the police in line with an emergency drill, sources said.

Iceland Volcano erupts again ; disrupts flight ops

Ash from the Icelandic volcano Eyjafjallajokull again caused the closure of airspace in Ireland and parts of Britain for hours on Tuesday, but this did not impact flights from India to Europe or the UK.

When Eyjafjallajokull erupted on April 14, flights to and from Europe were disrupted for about a week, leading to widespread chaos at airports around the world as passengers remained stranded.

On Tuesday, an increase in volcanic activity resulted in a fresh ash plume being pushed about 5.5km into the air. Due to wind conditions, the cloud moved towards the northern parts of the UK.

An officer and Soldier Martyed in a gun Battle in Kashmir

An army officer and a soldier succumbed to injuries sustained in a gun battle between separatist guerrillas and security forces in Jammu and Kashmir's Bandipora district, police said Wednesday.

A raiding party of the army and local police was moved out Tuesday night to lay a cordon in Chatibandi village in the district following specific information that a group of militants was hiding there, police added.

US to announce date for India's access to Headley

The US will inform India by next week about possible dates, most likely in this month, for giving direct access to Pakistani-American terrorist David Coleman Headley.

Sources in the Home Ministry said by May 15, the US will convey to India when a team of Indian investigators will visit Chicago for "direct access" to Headley.

"India in all likelihood will get direct access within this month only," they said.

Sources said apart from National Investigating Agency (NIA) and Mumbai Police officials, a team comprising a Magistrate, legal experts and MHA officials will go to the US to interrogate Headley.

TamilNadu Transport offices will give RCs & Licences as Smart cards soon

Issuing of driving licence and Registration Certificate (RC) in the smart card format will commence soon.

The exercise, which will start in Chennai, will be extended to all the 110 RTOs and unit offices in the State.

Once the system comes into place, procedures such as name transfer and re-registration will be just a database update. It will greatly reduce the amount of time one has to spend in an RTO to get things done, according to officials.

Karnataka Minister resigns after Rape charges

Karnataka food and civil supplies minister H Halappa today resigned following media reports about an alleged sexual assault by him in his home district of Shimoga.

Halappa faxed his resignation to the office of chief minister BS Yeddyurappa, who is currently out of station.

The minister dismissed the report carried by a leading Kannada daily, which alleged in a front-page story that he sexually assaulted the wife of one of his friends. The report did not name him. No case has been filed.

Paid News an awful phenomenon in India - Hindu chief editor Ram

Media organisations, both big and small, must observe self-regulation as “there will be public support for external regulation if we don't regulate corruption in the media,” N. Ram, Editor-in-Chief of The Hindu, said here on Saturday.

Mr. Ram said corruption in the form of paid news, an “awful phenomenon,” would grow in the absence of self-regulation and “I don't see how we can stop external regulation, by establishing a law or some authority set up.”

He was addressing the IPS officer trainees and officers undergoing mid-career training at the Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel National Police Academy.

Raina empower India's victory against SA - qualify for super8

India qualified for the Super Eight stage of the Twenty20 cricket World Cup after defeating South Africa by 14 runs in a group C match at Beausejour stadium here today.

Suresh Raina became the first Indian batsman to hit a Twenty20 International hundred and powered the team to a commanding 186 for five against South Africa in their group C World Cup match here today.

Raina is only third batsman to score a hundred in T20 internationals with the first two centuries coming from the bats of West Indies' Chris Gayle and Brendon McCullum of New Zealand.

TNEA applications to be issued from May 3 till May 31

Around 50 new engineering colleges are expected to be started in the State with an additional 12,000 seats from this year.

Applications forms for the Tamil Nadu Engineering Admissions will be issued from May 3 and the university is gearing up for single window counselling, P. Mannar Jawahar, Vice-Chancellor, Anna University, Chennai, said here.

Last date

Dr. Jawahar said 1.8 lakh application forms had been printed by Anna University and they would be issued at 58 places across the State from May 3 (Monday). The last date for submission of application forms is May 31.

McDonalds to open McCafe chain by 2012

Fast food chain McDonald’s today said it plans to bring its globally renowned McCafe, the chain of coffee shop within its outlets, into India by 2012

The move is aimed at tapping the estimated over Rs 1,000 crore organised retail coffee chain market.

“The plans for introducing McCafe are in the drawing board right now ... It will take one—and—a—half to two years to implement the idea,” a company spokesperson told.

US authorities investigating possible scenarios of failed attempt

U.S. authorities are investigating a thwarted car bombing in New York's famed Times Square where thousands of people gather each day and night to eat, drink and shop. As yet authorities have only described it as a potential act of terrorism and have not identified a suspect or motive.

Times Square has always been believed to be a target for attack and, in addition to being a major tourist destination, its buildings are occupied by big corporate names, major news and television outlets and the Nasdaq Stock Market.

Following are scenarios for who may have been responsible for the failed attempt.

Toyota Kirloskar reports a 77% jump in sales

Carmaker Toyota Kirloskar Motor on Saturday reported 77.23 per cent jump in its sales at 6,001 units during April, 2010.

The company had sold 3,386 units in the corresponding month last year, Toyota Kirloskar Motor (TKM) said in a statement.

"We are happy to announce our quantum increase in sales for the month of April 2010, which goes on to prove our customers faith in Toyota brand," TKM Deputy Managing Director (Marketing) Sandeep Singh said.

India cements reports a gross turnover of Rs.4221 Crores

The India Cements has reported a gross turnover of Rs.4,221.69 crore for the year ended March 2010, up from Rs.3,954.53 crore in the previous year. The operating profit before interest and depreciation is Rs.863.51 crore (Rs.1,043.20 crore). Interest charges are higher at Rs. 142.64 crore (Rs.112.15 crore). Depreciation stands at Rs.233.12 crore (Rs.203.32 crore). The profit before exceptional items is Rs.487.75 crore (Rs.727.73 crore). Foreign exchange translation difference has resulted in an exceptional gain of Rs.43.57 crore (against a loss of Rs.79.43 crore). The net profit after exceptional item stands at Rs.541.43 crore (Rs.648.30 crore). The provision for taxation is Rs.163.32 crore (Rs.181.45 crore). The provision for deferred tax is Rs.13.66 crore (Rs.29.89 crore). There is no provision for fringe benefit tax during the year under review (Rs.4. 78 crore). The profit after tax is lower at Rs.354.34 crore (Rs.432.18 crore). The board of directors has declared a dividend of 20 per cent for 2009-10.

Private Bks make profit this quarter but may not long last

Large private banks have posted healthy profits for the three months to 31 March, but their public sector peers reported mixed results, indicating, say analysts, that times could turn tough as interest rates rise amid limited upside to credit growth.

The country’s largest private sector lender, ICICI Bank Ltd, posted a 35% year-on-year increase in net profit to Rs1,006 crore for the quarter. HDFC Bank Ltd and Axis Bank Ltd saw net profit rise by 32.6% and 31.5% for the quarter, respectively.

Experts search scrapyard for radioactive materials

Experts continued their searches at Mayapuri scrap market where radioactive Cobalt-60, exposure to which has claimed one life and injuries to six others, was recovered a month ago.

Scientists from the Atomic Energy Regulatory Board (AERB) and Bhaba Atomic Research Centre (BARC) conducted the “close searches” of the shops for another day today.

The atomic regulator decided to conduct a second round of survey of the market to ensure there was no source of radiation left unattended in the scrap market, which is one of the largest such facility in Asia.

Ten arrested for breach in security in CJM court

The police arrested 10 people for allegedly hurling stones at the CJM court, where NDFB chief Ranjan Daimary was produced today, and attempting to break the security cordon leading to injuries to 10 others, including a security man.

Daimary's sister Anjali Daimary, chief of the Bodo Womens' Forum, led the people, all supporters of the NDFB chief, to breach the cordon around the court.

They shouted slogans like 'Long Live NDFB' when Daimary was brought to the court and tried to move close to him, but the police prevented them by resorting to a baton charge.

Shibu soren will continue to be Jharkand CM - Hemant soren

Hemant Soren, who has emerged as the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha's (JMM) key negotiator with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) to save the Jharkhand government, on Sunday claimed his father Shibu Soren would continue to be the chief minister.

Talking to reporters at Ranchi airport after his arrival from New Delhi, Hemant Soren said: "At this moment Shibu Soren is chief minister and he will continue on the post."

He refused to divulge details of the meeting with the BJP in New Delhi on Saturday.

AJmer blast accused person queationed about possible Mecca masjid blast link

With the Anti Terrorist Squad of Rajasthan Police making a possible breakthrough in Ajmer blast, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has joined the probe to ascertain the role of arrested persons with the 2007 Mecca Masjid terror strike in Hyderabad.

Official sources said a joint team of ATS, CBI and central security agencies were questioning two of three arrested persons - Davindra Gupta and Chandrashekar - in connection with their possible involvement in the Mecca Masjid blast.

The role of the duo was purchasing of SIM cards and timer devices which were used to trigger the blast in Ajmer on October 12, 2007.

DMK chief rules out Raja's resignation in Spectrum scam

Tamil Nadu Chief Minister and DMK supremo Karunanidhi came to Delhi on Sunday - his first visit in the current UPA regime. But his visit comes at a time when the government is being attacked by the Opposition over Telecom Minister - the DMK's A Raja.

It's becoming tougher for the Congress to defend him in the face of corruption allegations that Raja caused a loss of about 60,000 crores by selling of 2G spectrum at much cheaper rates in 2008.

India win by 7 wickets in their first encounter in ICCworld T20 2010

A clinical performance by India enabled them to beat Afghanistan in their opening match in the Twenty20 World Cup against Afghanistan. Ashish Nehra won the man-of-the-match for his three wicket haul

India galloped to a seven-wicket win over Afghanistan in their Group C World Twenty20 opener but not before the team from the war-ravaged nation showed promise as if it belonged to the top league.

Chasing a winning target of of 116 runs, India made it in 14.5 overs with Murali Vijay (48) and Yuvraj Singh (23 not out) doing the bulk of the scoring. Skipper Mahendra singh Dhoni (15) struck two sixes to finish the match in a jiffy.

Delhi Unversity under scanner after the radioactive substance mishandled

India's atomic energy regulator said on Friday that it was investigating claims that Delhi University (DU) buried radioactive material on its campus, amidst an escalating scandal over its handling of toxic waste.

Police on Thursday blamed DU for dumping an irradiation machine containing radioactive Cobalt-60, which ended up in scrapyard in New Delhi, where it killed a 35-year-old worker and put seven others in hospital.

The incident has highlighted the lax enforcement of waste disposal laws in India and raised fears of further contamination from the university, the city's biggest institute with 300,000 students spread over two sites.

Dia Mirza declines rumors about marrying Shoaib akhtar

Bollywood actress Dia Mirza is upset about rumours of her wedding plans with Pakistani cricketer Shoaib Akhtar, saying this was "untrue".

"I would like to place on record that the story that I'm marrying Shoaib Akhtar is patently untrue, unfounded and wildly speculative," Dia posted on her Twitter page on Saturday.

"I don't like this fictitious story gaining any more momentum and I do not desire such attention," she added.

Ranjitha objects her so called association in the Video clip with S(ex)wami Nithyananda

Actress Ranjitha, on Thursday, termed the video clips telecast by television channels purportedly showing the tainted self-styled godman Paramahamsa Nithyananda engaging in acts of physical intimacy as “malicious.”

“Our client dissociates herself from the said video which has caused danger to her life, limb and property,” a Delhi-based law firm representing Ranjitha said, adding, “our client strongly objects to being referred to as one of the persons in the video.”

Adobe gives their employees Android based phone with Flash version loaded

This will come as little surprise to anyone who followed technology news this week, but let there be no doubt about the preferred smartphone platform at Adobe: it isn't the iPhone.

Adobe confirmed Thursday that it plans to demonstrate a version of Flash for Google's Android software in May at the Google I/O conference, in responding to Apple CEO Steve Jobs' criticism of Flash in an open letter. And the company wants to make sure its employees use those phones: it's preparing to give away Android phones running Flash to employees, according to three sources familiar with the plan.

Newly wed Women was strangulated to death by her husband for refusing physical intimacy

A newly wed woman was strangulated to death, allegedly by her husband, on Friday at their rented house at Muthappa Block in RT Nagar, following her reported refusal to physical intimacy with him, police said.

The husband, Bijoy Samuel, 33, allegedly attempted suicide by slashing his wrist, after murdering Ranjini Rajan, 25, police said. Timely medical attention saved his life.

Police arrested Bijoy from a city hospital and produced him before a court. He was remanded in judicial custody.

Google TV software a reality soon- in talks with industry major

Google Inc. is planning to introduce Android-based television software to developers at an event in May, according to people familiar with the matter.

The technology—designed to open set-top boxes, TVs and other devices to more content from the Internet—is attracting interest from partners that include Sony Corp., Intel Corp. and Logitech International SA, which are expected to offer products that support the software, these people said. None have so far discussed the efforts publicly.

Indians have educated themselves of Cyber crime

If you think cyber crime is a growing menace in the city, think again. The police efforts have started showing results.

Cyber crime, which had seen a 12.5%increase last year as compared to 2008, has decreased by nearly 40% in the first quarter of this year. The police give credit to public awareness for the trend.

According to the statistics available with the Cyber Crime Investigation Cell (CCIC) of the Mumbai police, complaints of credit card fraud saw an increase of around 54% in 2009, as compared to 2008. That has come down by 75% in the first quarter of this year.

Oil spill a major environmental disaster in American continent

As oil edged toward the Louisiana coast and fears continued to grow that the leak from a seabed oil well could spiral out of control, officials in the Obama administration publicly chastised BP America for its handling of the spreading oil gusher in the Gulf of Mexico.

Yet a review of the response suggests it may be too simplistic to place all the blame for the unfolding environmental catastrophe on the oil company. The federal government also had opportunities to move more quickly, but did not do so while it waited for a resolution to the spreading spill from BP.

Gordon Brown bigot

On the morning after the final leader’s debate, Gordon Brown witnessed a potential disaster. Upon spying the Prime Minister on a street corner, a lorry driver swerved and a second vehicle veered off the road.

Though reassured to hear no one was hurt, Mr Brown might have reflected that this has been a week of car crash politics, albeit chiefly in a less literal sense. First, he forgot he was wearing a television microphone and committed the unimaginable gaffe of referring to Gillian Duffy, a Labour voter whom he had greeted warmly, as “a bigoted woman”.

Then his bravura comeback in the televised debate on the economy failed to procure the boost he might have hoped for. Despite a consensus that this was Mr Brown’s most impressive showing, most snap polls taken after the broadcast put him in third place.

Nokia to launch E72 white edition

When Elegance meets high performance it is equal to Nokia E72 White. This White version of Nokia E72 has joined black, grey, brown and purple editions. This white edition of Nokia E72 will be first launched at the end of April in Malaysia, Thailand, Vietnam and Singapore.

The high performance handset is designed for unlined business and personal communication. Nokia E72 White comes complete with matching white accessories to accompaniment your style. The accessories include Nokia Bluetooth Headset BH-216, Nokia StereoHeadset WH-205, white pouch, white strap and Nokia C-313 jewellery

Pan India 3G license fee raises to Rs.9521 Cr

India on Friday concluded 104 rounds of an auction to award spectrum for third generation (3G) telecom services in the country, with the provisional winning price for a nationwide licence crossing Rs 9,500-crore mark.

At the end of the 18th day of the auction, which began April 9, the provisional winning price for a pan-India licence stood at Rs 9,521.02 crore, up 172.03 per cent from the Rs 3,500 crore reserve price fixed by the government.

For the fifth consecutive day, Mumbai attracted the highest bid, at Rs 1,506.41 crore. The provisional winning price for Delhi stood at Rs 1,459.96 crore, followed by Maharashtra at Rs 1,010.63 crore, according to data available on the website of the Department of Telecommunications (DoT).

China stepped up security after attacks in school

A Chinese city shaken by one of three back-to-back attacks on schools stepped up security and urged its citizens to "trust the government" Saturday, a day after parents of the injured children protested outside a local hospital.

A dozen police and security guards patrolled the lobby of the Taixing city People's Hospital the morning after marching parents chanted "We want the truth," asked to see their children and demanded a better government response to the crisis. Photos and video posted online showed hundreds of people massed outside the hospital Friday night, pushing so hard to get in that they shattered a glass door.

The school attack in Taixing came Thursday when a 47-year-old unemployed man armed with an 8-inch (20-centimeter) knife wounded 29 students aged 4 or 5 — five of them seriously — plus two teachers and a security guard.

The city government tried to ease fears in a mobile phone text message sent to citizens Saturday.

Corruption King Ketan Desai sent on judicial custody

A Delhi court today remanded MCI president Ketan Desai and three others to 13-day judicial custody after their arrest for allegedly taking bribe to allow a medical college in Punjab to admit students despite lack of infrastructure.

Additional Sessions Judge O P Saini sent them to jail till May 14 after the CBI told that their custodial interrogation was no more required in the investigation of the case.

Meanwhile, Desai moved his bail application in the court which has been fixed for hearing on May 3.

Men spray Acid on women

Men on a motorbike sprayed acid on three sisters in the Kalat, south-western Pakistan, yesterday, causing serious burns.

The sisters, aged between 14 and 20, were on their way home when attacked. The girls' father, Abdul Karim, said that he had no idea of the motive.

Up to 135 women were victims of similar attacks in 2009, either being set on fire or having acid thrown on them, the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan said.

Diplomat Spy Madhuri gupta sent to judicial custody

Indian diplomat Madhuri Gupta held on spying charges, who was produced in Tis Hazari Court in Delhi on Saturday, was sent to 14-day judicial custody.

The Court rejected police request of 2-day remand for Madhuri Gupta.

Gupta faces charges of spying for Pakistani Intelligence agencies.

She was arrested in Delhi on April 27, after being summoned from Pakistan on the pretext that she was needed for the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) meet in Thimphu.

India gain access to Headley after talks

Indian authorities have obtained access to David Coleman Headley and can question him about his role in the Mumbai carnage any time now, reports said on Saturday.

Moreover, the US has not imposed any pre-conditions for allowing access to Headley, who is currently under the custody of FBI.

The roadblocks, what so ever existed in the process, were cleared in a meeting between the Solicitor General of India Gopal Subramanium and the US Attorney General Eric Holder.

US issues advisory of possible attacks in NewDelhi

The U.S. on Saturday issued a fresh advisory asking its citizens to take precautions in view of possible “imminent” terror attacks in crowded markets in the Indian capital.

This is the third American advisory in a month. It advises Americans travelling or residing in India to maintain “a high level of vigilance” and watch out for unattended packages.

The American embassy said that terrorists had in the past targeted market places in New Delhi also frequented by U.S. citizens or Westerners.

India -Pak talks will resume soon

A day after Prime Ministers Manmohan Singh and Yousuf Raza Gilani agreed to resume talks at the level of foreign ministers, Pakistan said the meeting in Thimphu had gone “better than expectations”, but sustained efforts would be needed to bridge the “trust deficit” between the two sides.

The outcome of the engagement had been “better than the expectations,” Pakistan Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi told a news conference here today. “It (the resumption of dialogue at the political level) is a step in the right direction, it is a concrete development and we will build on it.”

Raja turn to face the heat after Tharoor in 2g spectrum row

While former Union Minister Shashi Tharoor paid a heavy price for the allegations against him, it's now Union IT Minister A Raja's turn to face the heat on the 2 G spectrum issue. Can the Dravida Munnettra Kazhagam (DMK) save Raja? DMK chief Karunanidhi will be in Delhi on Sunday to meet Sonia Gandhi.

From being a lawyer in rural Tamil Nadu to becoming the Telecom Minister, A Raja has come a long way. But with Opposition demanding his ouster over 2 G spectrum allotments, will he resign?

No way, say DMK sources. The reason -- Raja has emerged as the Dalit face of the DMK and enjoys a good rapport with his party chief Karunanidhi.

ICC world T20: Afghan Vs India

Match Facts
Saturday, May 1, Gros Islet
Start time 0930 (1330 GMT)

The Big Picture

    Mirwais Ashraf and Mohammad Shahzad are ecstatic after the fall of Mohammad Iqbal's wicket, United Arab Emirates v Afghanistan, ICC World Twenty20 Qualifier, Super Four, Dubai, February 13, 2010
Will Afghanistan have further reason to celebrate? © International Cricket Council

Afghanistan make their big-screen debut on Saturday's morning show, a sleeper that suddenly became a smash hit by defying every script written for them. A team from a war-torn, dysfunctional country, with half their players born in refugee camps, they narrowly missed qualifying for the 2007 World Cup but are making up for it with this tournament. They have surprised many an Associate team during their stunning rise from Division Five to a world event. Yet they will know that what they are going to face - the pace of Zaheer Khan, the spin of Harbhajan Singh, the might of MS Dhoni and Yuvraj Singh - is nothing like anything they have faced so far.

Jharkand yet to see a stable Govt in the state

 Despite the numerous political outfits that have mushroomed in the past decade, there's no sign of any ideologically coherent and stable coalition. The state has already witnessed seven governments in last 10 years.

The only thing certain about politics in Jharkhand is that it's uncertain. The powerful tribal movement that led the struggle for a separate state is now fragmented.

The Jharkhand Mukti Morcha's move to allow the BJP to occupy the Chief Minister chair has split the party. JMM MLA Teklal Mahto claims he has the support of many MLAs and he is on his way to Delhi to meet UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi.