Sonia remains non-committal on supporting SP in UP

NEW DELHI, Feb 24: In what could give SP leader Mulayam Singh Yadav a sleepless night, Congress president Sonia Gandhi today remained non-committal on extending support to his party in formation of a Government in Uttar Pradesh even as AICC indicated that a decision on this would take "some time". .........more

Budget session likely to be stormy
Parliament to meet amid tighest ever security

NEW DELHI, Feb 24: With the BJP suffering a major debacle in the Assembly elections, Parliament’s budget session beginning tomorrow is likely to be a stormy affair as a buoyed opposition gears up to attack Government on several issues including the coffin scam and its handling of the Ayodhya problem and terrorism. .......more

Sheikh to face murder charges for Pearl's death

KARACHI, Feb 24: Pakistani officials said today they would pursue murder charges against the confessed mastermind of US journalist Daniel Pearl’s abduction, as investigators pledged to keep looking for accomplices in the reporter’s grisly slaying. British-born Islamic militant Sheikh Omar, who has said he was behind the Wall Street Journal correspondent’s kidnapping here January 23, is expected to be ordered into judicial custody when he appears again in anti-terrorism court tomorrow. .......more

NEW DELHI, Feb 24: After announcing a parallel Election Commission, the Hurriyat Conference has launched an "intimidation" drive to silence critics of this move among the separatist elements, informed sources said. Hurriyat leaders, who feel disgruntled over the formation of the Commission, have started distancing themselves from the 23-party conglomerate and are building up pressure with the help of the second rung leadership to counter the move, primarily initiated by JKLF chief Yaseen Malik and actively supported by amalgam chairman Abdul Gani Bhat and fire-brand Jamaat-e-Islami leader Syed Ali Shah Geelani. ............more

Tough budget likely, no sops for salaried class

NEW DELHI, Feb 24: Far-reaching agriculture reforms including hard decisions, like a cut in food and fertiliser subsidies, are on the anvil in the union budget that is likely to cut excise duty on textiles and automobiles and reduce import tariffs in a bid to kickstart a sluggish economy. .......more

Israelis claim slain US journalist as their own

JERUSALEM, Feb 24: Israelis claimed murdered American journalist Daniel Pearl as one of their own today, amid revelations that his parents were Israelis and that he said on videotape that he was a Jew just before he was killed. .......more

BJP Parliamentary Board to meet today

NEW DELHI, Feb 24: Stunned by the drubbing in Assembly elections, particularly in Uttranchal and Uttar Pradesh, the Bharatiya Janata Party has decided to convene its parliamentary board meeting tomorrow to review the situation. ..........more

Congress to prevent BJP from forming Govt in UP.....

Party-wise strength in LS after results of by-polls ....