suchithkc
As we write, there is near-unanimous consensus that Governor H R Bhardwaj has made a fool of himself by recommending president's rule in Karnataka.
The arguments against him are: (a) he is a goof incapable of rational action; (b) he is a Congress retainer who doesn't understand the idea of neutrality required of a governor; (c) he is acting at the behest of H D Deve Gowda, the wily old man of Karnataka politics; and (d) he is a lawyer who employed all his cleverness for a cause that backfired.
As if to confirm his worst critics, Bhardwaj is saying and doing the most astoundingly contradictory things.
A day after Chief Minister B S Yeddyurappa paraded 114 MLAs before President Pratibha Patil, Bhardwaj suddenly changed his tune, praising Yeddyurappa's hard work and describing him as a "friend".
He also believes Yeddyurappa has the majority necessary to continue in power. http://in.news.yahoo.com/yeddyurappa-massive-majority-bhardwaj-074500626.html
How did this U-turn come about? Did Bhardwaj's boss Pratibha Patil, besides his alleged party bosses Sonia Gandhi and Manmohan Singh, instruct him to pipe down? Has he suddenly realised that he was overstepping his gubernatorial brief? Has the media outrage curbed his plans of effecting a change of government at the Vidhana Soudha? Did fellow legal eagles in the Congress shoot down his proposals?
The reason for his about-turn could be one or more of these. In all this confusion, no one is giving him a chance: Could he be acting fairly, as a governor should, in not accepting the MLAs' support for Yeddyurappa?
What if he is doing his duty in spirit, if not so much in letter? The 11 BJP MLAs now proclaiming their unconditional support for Yeddyurappa were the very ones who started all the tamasha by threatening to bring down the government. The speaker then disqualified them, and the High Court said the speaker was right to throw them out. The speaker's decision was reversed in the Supreme Court last week.
These MLAs have used their power to destabilise the government. They have profited from blackmail, switching their positions with unabashed opportunism. They have switched loyalties and held Yeddyurappa to ransom time and time again. They have flirted with the JD(S) and the Congress, and made it impossible for the government to function smoothly. After some hard bargaining now, they are again pledging everlasting love for Yeddyurappa. Can citizens believe them? And if citizens can't, should Bhardwaj have believed them?
Legally, Yeddyurappa has the support of a majority of MLAs, who probably came together in fright when it looked like the government would fall. He has thanked Bhardwaj for helping unite the various factions within the party. It's no secret that many notorious characters in Yeddyurappa's cabinet would be in trouble if his government were to go.
Should such a government remain in power?
Bhardwaj is no Gandhi: as central law minister, he allegedly let the guilty off the hook in the Bofors case, and is accused of not doing right by the nation when other huge swindles and scandals came to light.
But what if, just what if, Bhardwaj as Karnataka governor is breaking procedural propriety to serve the larger cause of conscience keeping? Smirk all you like. What if we saw Bhardwaj as a bungler who just might have got something right, even if by goofing up?
Saturday, May 21, 2011
Kids These Days
suchithkc
My fellow columnist Deepak Shenoy is a cheap guy. He's supposed to write a finance column - sober, straightforward, and professional - but he is funny when he does this. This is outrageous. The humour is supposed to be left to me and Anand Ramachandran. As Majikthise and Vroomfondel put it, "Demarcation, that's the problem!"
To show Deepak that he can't just walk into rigidly defined areas of humour without facing the consequences, I am retaliating with a column about finance. Specifically, I am going to rant about the worst thing about insurance today.
The worst thing about insurance is not that the regulator is mildly clueless. It's not even that insurance companies insist on selling you ULIPs where you don't see your money again for ten years. It isn't even the compulsory medical test (with twelve hours fasting!) that you have to endure to get life insurance.
It's the advertising.
In the good old days, insurance ads used to play on your insecurities. They used to tell you that even if you died, your widow would have the money to marry off your daughter. And you know what? That's what insurance is supposed to do! But now we have all this newfangled advertising which is supposed to give you a good feeling instead of playing on your fears.
For a brief period this meant that we had insurance ads with cute curly haired girls. Incidentally, in both the ads I linked to, the characters are named Sharma. It's tempting to imagine that they're both the same family, except in parallel universes. In one reality, Mr Sharma didn't die, his daughter bought him a car instead of getting married, and we actually got to see her on screen. But this was too good to last, and now we have a situation where insurance ads are full of kids.
It would be one thing if this was only for the child plans, but kids show up even in ads for pensions1. To be fair, in the pensions ads they don't speak. In the child plan ads they do, and they're insufferably smug. They're always faking a bad report card or wanting new parents. Rascals.
The kids in the child plan ads these days are also always boys, in sharp contrast to the earlier golden age of cute curly haired young women and for that matter even cute straight haired young women (bonus awesomeness in that ad: she's reading Marjane Satrapi's Embroideries, a graphic novel about old Iranian aunties sitting around and talking about the cost of hymen reconstruction surgeries. Pwnage.). And instead of using their insurance plan money to buy their dad a car, they use their parents' money for their own education. Like I said. Rascals.
I don't know whether this absence of girl children is because insurance companies feel their customers don't want to educate their daughters, or because being insurance companies, they don't want to take unnecessary actuarial risks on the daughter in question surviving. It can't be because the child sex ratio is already so low that they can't find a little girl to model for them - I mean, Dairy Milk found one. The Dairy Milk little girl is a spoilt brat2, though, which suggests that the trend of smarmy kids is now spreading beyond the insurance industry. In the past, I had wished for fewer ads with celebrities in them, but I didn't know that the alternative would be this horrific. It's like The Monkey's Paw - the wish came true, but in a grotesque, twisted way.
To see how far this malaise can go, look at the Voltas AC ad. Here, there is no longer just one kid. Instead, there is a roving, almost feral, band of them. They invade peoples' houses without compunction or mercy. And that isn't the most alarming thing. It's the reaction of the people facing the invasion. You, dear reader, are a sensible person and would be surprised and alarmed to wake up to strange children demanding that you change your AC settings. The woman in the ad doesn't. She simpers beatifically. This may be the result of years of seeing kids doing strange things in ads. Clearly, a nightmare future lies ahead.
Other nations have enacted legislation to protect children from being manipulated by advertising. There cannot be advertisements with cartoon characters, or which are blatantly targeted to children. In India, we need to look at this from the opposite angle - we need rules to protect advertisements from containing children, and adults from being manipulated by cute children3. I hope that the government takes up this issue soon. After all, it's as important as all the other stuff it does - preparing Most Wanted lists, managing Air India, and censoring the internet.
1: Pension plan ads are slightly pointless, though. If you're as rich as my friend Kodhi (who is also tall, funny, and single) you don't really need a pension plan. And if you do need a pension, an insurance company isn't necessarily the best option. You should ask Deepak to do a column on how to plan for retirement properly.
2: My darling girlfriend sympathises with the little girl, though, on the grounds that life for an only child is tough and chocolate is delicious. This shows her sweet, loving nature (my girlfriend's, not the little girl's).
3: I am cool with being manipulated by adults, though. Like the thatha in this ad. Whattaguy.
My fellow columnist Deepak Shenoy is a cheap guy. He's supposed to write a finance column - sober, straightforward, and professional - but he is funny when he does this. This is outrageous. The humour is supposed to be left to me and Anand Ramachandran. As Majikthise and Vroomfondel put it, "Demarcation, that's the problem!"
To show Deepak that he can't just walk into rigidly defined areas of humour without facing the consequences, I am retaliating with a column about finance. Specifically, I am going to rant about the worst thing about insurance today.
The worst thing about insurance is not that the regulator is mildly clueless. It's not even that insurance companies insist on selling you ULIPs where you don't see your money again for ten years. It isn't even the compulsory medical test (with twelve hours fasting!) that you have to endure to get life insurance.
It's the advertising.
In the good old days, insurance ads used to play on your insecurities. They used to tell you that even if you died, your widow would have the money to marry off your daughter. And you know what? That's what insurance is supposed to do! But now we have all this newfangled advertising which is supposed to give you a good feeling instead of playing on your fears.
For a brief period this meant that we had insurance ads with cute curly haired girls. Incidentally, in both the ads I linked to, the characters are named Sharma. It's tempting to imagine that they're both the same family, except in parallel universes. In one reality, Mr Sharma didn't die, his daughter bought him a car instead of getting married, and we actually got to see her on screen. But this was too good to last, and now we have a situation where insurance ads are full of kids.
It would be one thing if this was only for the child plans, but kids show up even in ads for pensions1. To be fair, in the pensions ads they don't speak. In the child plan ads they do, and they're insufferably smug. They're always faking a bad report card or wanting new parents. Rascals.
The kids in the child plan ads these days are also always boys, in sharp contrast to the earlier golden age of cute curly haired young women and for that matter even cute straight haired young women (bonus awesomeness in that ad: she's reading Marjane Satrapi's Embroideries, a graphic novel about old Iranian aunties sitting around and talking about the cost of hymen reconstruction surgeries. Pwnage.). And instead of using their insurance plan money to buy their dad a car, they use their parents' money for their own education. Like I said. Rascals.
I don't know whether this absence of girl children is because insurance companies feel their customers don't want to educate their daughters, or because being insurance companies, they don't want to take unnecessary actuarial risks on the daughter in question surviving. It can't be because the child sex ratio is already so low that they can't find a little girl to model for them - I mean, Dairy Milk found one. The Dairy Milk little girl is a spoilt brat2, though, which suggests that the trend of smarmy kids is now spreading beyond the insurance industry. In the past, I had wished for fewer ads with celebrities in them, but I didn't know that the alternative would be this horrific. It's like The Monkey's Paw - the wish came true, but in a grotesque, twisted way.
To see how far this malaise can go, look at the Voltas AC ad. Here, there is no longer just one kid. Instead, there is a roving, almost feral, band of them. They invade peoples' houses without compunction or mercy. And that isn't the most alarming thing. It's the reaction of the people facing the invasion. You, dear reader, are a sensible person and would be surprised and alarmed to wake up to strange children demanding that you change your AC settings. The woman in the ad doesn't. She simpers beatifically. This may be the result of years of seeing kids doing strange things in ads. Clearly, a nightmare future lies ahead.
Other nations have enacted legislation to protect children from being manipulated by advertising. There cannot be advertisements with cartoon characters, or which are blatantly targeted to children. In India, we need to look at this from the opposite angle - we need rules to protect advertisements from containing children, and adults from being manipulated by cute children3. I hope that the government takes up this issue soon. After all, it's as important as all the other stuff it does - preparing Most Wanted lists, managing Air India, and censoring the internet.
1: Pension plan ads are slightly pointless, though. If you're as rich as my friend Kodhi (who is also tall, funny, and single) you don't really need a pension plan. And if you do need a pension, an insurance company isn't necessarily the best option. You should ask Deepak to do a column on how to plan for retirement properly.
2: My darling girlfriend sympathises with the little girl, though, on the grounds that life for an only child is tough and chocolate is delicious. This shows her sweet, loving nature (my girlfriend's, not the little girl's).
3: I am cool with being manipulated by adults, though. Like the thatha in this ad. Whattaguy.
Practically no work was done by Left Front govt in WB: Mamata
suchithkc
Kolkata, May 21 : Taking stock of the functioning of various departments, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee today attacked the Left Front rule in West Bengal, saying "practically no work" has been done.
On her second day in office, Banerjee said, "I called all the departments, particularly health, land and land reforms, power, agriculture and education."
"It has become clear after having detailed discussions with the secretaries of the departments that practically no work has been done over many years during the Left Front''s rule," she told reporters.
Getting down to business, the 56-year-old chief minister asked the battery of waiting cameramen not to follow her and allow her to work.
"I have to do a lot of work. What is the use of taking so many pictures of me?" she asked lensmen while entering her office accompanied by city Mayor Sovan Chatterjee.
Arriving at the Writers'' Building at 12 noon, she held a series of meetings with the departments she holds to get a first-hand knowledge of the state of affairs in the administration.
The chief minister will look after the portfolios of home, land and land reforms, power, agriculture, hill affairs and minority affairs.
Banerjee, who has stated that she will have a Chief Minister''s Office on the lines of the PMO, said the CM''s secretariat would be expanded to facilitate speedy work.
The chief minister has convened a meeting of all DMs and SPs on Tuesday afternoon to review the overall law and order situation in the state.
Meanwhile, the newly-appointed ministers formally took charge and had meetings with their respective secretaries.
Today being a Saturday, the flurry of activity seen in the corridors of the secretariat was unusual as previously it used to be a holiday.
Kolkata, May 21 : Taking stock of the functioning of various departments, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee today attacked the Left Front rule in West Bengal, saying "practically no work" has been done.
On her second day in office, Banerjee said, "I called all the departments, particularly health, land and land reforms, power, agriculture and education."
"It has become clear after having detailed discussions with the secretaries of the departments that practically no work has been done over many years during the Left Front''s rule," she told reporters.
Getting down to business, the 56-year-old chief minister asked the battery of waiting cameramen not to follow her and allow her to work.
"I have to do a lot of work. What is the use of taking so many pictures of me?" she asked lensmen while entering her office accompanied by city Mayor Sovan Chatterjee.
Arriving at the Writers'' Building at 12 noon, she held a series of meetings with the departments she holds to get a first-hand knowledge of the state of affairs in the administration.
The chief minister will look after the portfolios of home, land and land reforms, power, agriculture, hill affairs and minority affairs.
Banerjee, who has stated that she will have a Chief Minister''s Office on the lines of the PMO, said the CM''s secretariat would be expanded to facilitate speedy work.
The chief minister has convened a meeting of all DMs and SPs on Tuesday afternoon to review the overall law and order situation in the state.
Meanwhile, the newly-appointed ministers formally took charge and had meetings with their respective secretaries.
Today being a Saturday, the flurry of activity seen in the corridors of the secretariat was unusual as previously it used to be a holiday.
Manmohan speaks to Obama
suchithkc
New Delhi, May 9 : Prime Minister Manmohan Singh Monday spoke to US President Barack Obama over phone and discussed the situation in the region, exactly a week after the killing of Al Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden in Pakistan.
A PMO spokesman said Singh and Obama discussed further growth and development of Indo-US relations and the situation in the region.
He said the conversation was warm and covered wide-ranging subjects.
Sources, however, did not say whether issues related to Osama's killing figured in the talks.
The conversation between the two leaders comes as the US president in a TV interview expressed apprehension that some people in the Pakistan government may have been involved in providing support structure for Osama, who was killed in the garrison town Abbottabad.
This is the first conversation between the Indian prime minister and the US president since Osama was killed May 2 in a raid by US commandos in Abbottabad.
Earlier, in Islamabad, Pakistan Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani said that Pakistan had not created Al Qaeda or invited Osama. He accepted 'intelligence failure' over the presence of the Al Qaeda chief in Pakistani territory for the past few years.
In his comments after Osama's killing, the prime minister had termed it as a significant step forward and called upon the international community and Pakistan in particular to work comprehensively to end the activities of all terror groups.
The prime minister had hoped that Osama's elimination would deal a decisive blow to Al Qaeda and other terrorist groups.
The Indian government had also taken note of the fact that the killing of Osama had taken place in Abbottabad 'deep inside Pakistan' and had underlined its concerns that terrorists belonging to different organisations find sanctuary in the neighbouring country.
It said that perpetrators of the Mumbai terror attack, including the controllers and handlers of the terrorists who actually carried out the attack, continue to be sheltered in Pakistan and had called upon the neighbouring country to arrest the people whose names have been handed over.
In another development related to 2008 Mumbai terror attack, the second chargesheet filed in a US court against Tahawwur Rana, one of the plotters of the attack names Major Iqbal, a suspected officer of Pakistan's ISI spy agency, as one of the five accused.
According to officials, the April 26 chargesheet has also named Sajid Mir, Abu Qahfa, Mazhar Iqbal and Lashkar Member D. Among the Pakistani men, four are wanted by India in the Mumbai terror strike that left 166 people dead over three days of mayhem Nov 26-29, 2008.
New Delhi, May 9 : Prime Minister Manmohan Singh Monday spoke to US President Barack Obama over phone and discussed the situation in the region, exactly a week after the killing of Al Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden in Pakistan.
A PMO spokesman said Singh and Obama discussed further growth and development of Indo-US relations and the situation in the region.
He said the conversation was warm and covered wide-ranging subjects.
Sources, however, did not say whether issues related to Osama's killing figured in the talks.
The conversation between the two leaders comes as the US president in a TV interview expressed apprehension that some people in the Pakistan government may have been involved in providing support structure for Osama, who was killed in the garrison town Abbottabad.
This is the first conversation between the Indian prime minister and the US president since Osama was killed May 2 in a raid by US commandos in Abbottabad.
Earlier, in Islamabad, Pakistan Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani said that Pakistan had not created Al Qaeda or invited Osama. He accepted 'intelligence failure' over the presence of the Al Qaeda chief in Pakistani territory for the past few years.
In his comments after Osama's killing, the prime minister had termed it as a significant step forward and called upon the international community and Pakistan in particular to work comprehensively to end the activities of all terror groups.
The prime minister had hoped that Osama's elimination would deal a decisive blow to Al Qaeda and other terrorist groups.
The Indian government had also taken note of the fact that the killing of Osama had taken place in Abbottabad 'deep inside Pakistan' and had underlined its concerns that terrorists belonging to different organisations find sanctuary in the neighbouring country.
It said that perpetrators of the Mumbai terror attack, including the controllers and handlers of the terrorists who actually carried out the attack, continue to be sheltered in Pakistan and had called upon the neighbouring country to arrest the people whose names have been handed over.
In another development related to 2008 Mumbai terror attack, the second chargesheet filed in a US court against Tahawwur Rana, one of the plotters of the attack names Major Iqbal, a suspected officer of Pakistan's ISI spy agency, as one of the five accused.
According to officials, the April 26 chargesheet has also named Sajid Mir, Abu Qahfa, Mazhar Iqbal and Lashkar Member D. Among the Pakistani men, four are wanted by India in the Mumbai terror strike that left 166 people dead over three days of mayhem Nov 26-29, 2008.
India launches communication satellite GSAT-8 successfully
suchithkc
Bangalore, May 21 ): India's advanced communication satellite, GSAT-8, was on Saturday successfully launched by the Ariane-V launch vehicle of Arianespace from Kourou, French Guiana.
GSAT-8 was injected into space by European launcher Arianespace's Ariane 5 rocket which lifted-off at 2.08 a.m. with Japan's ST-2 spacecraft as co-passenger.
Weighing 3,100 kg at lift-off, GSAT-8 is one of the heaviest and high-powered satellites built by the Bangalore-headquartered Indian Space Research Organisation.
The satellite was captured in three axis stabilisation mode. It will boost Direct to Home Services in the country.
The 24 Ku band transponders will augment the capacity in the INSAT system.
The GAGAN payload provides the Satellite Based Augmentation System (SBAS), through which the accuracy of the positioning information obtained from the GPS Satellite is improved by a network of ground based receivers and made available to the users in Aviation sector in the country through the geo-stationary satellites.
Bangalore, May 21 ): India's advanced communication satellite, GSAT-8, was on Saturday successfully launched by the Ariane-V launch vehicle of Arianespace from Kourou, French Guiana.
GSAT-8 was injected into space by European launcher Arianespace's Ariane 5 rocket which lifted-off at 2.08 a.m. with Japan's ST-2 spacecraft as co-passenger.
Weighing 3,100 kg at lift-off, GSAT-8 is one of the heaviest and high-powered satellites built by the Bangalore-headquartered Indian Space Research Organisation.
The satellite was captured in three axis stabilisation mode. It will boost Direct to Home Services in the country.
The 24 Ku band transponders will augment the capacity in the INSAT system.
The GAGAN payload provides the Satellite Based Augmentation System (SBAS), through which the accuracy of the positioning information obtained from the GPS Satellite is improved by a network of ground based receivers and made available to the users in Aviation sector in the country through the geo-stationary satellites.
NCW says women molested in Bhatta-Parsaul, seeks CBI probe
suchithkc
New Delhi, May 21 : Backing Congress general secretary Rahul Gandhi's claim that women were raped and molested in Uttar Pradesh's Bhatta-Parsaul village, the National Commission for Women (NCW) Saturday demanded a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) probe into the matter.
'We have prepared a preliminary report which states that the women in the village have been molested and sexually assaulted. There are allegations that they have been raped but it could be confirmed only after all the investigations are over,' said Yasmeen Abrar, acting NCW chairperson, demanding a CBI inquiry into the incidents.
The village in Greater Noida, near the Indian capital, has become the epicentre of the movement against land acquisition for an expressway project.
An NCW team which visited the village May 12 noticed ransacked homes, horrified women, hungry and helpless children and bones of human beings lying in the ashes on the ground.
'There are bones of human beings lying with the ashes of burnt bodies. The family members of the villagers have been burnt alive. The burnt houses bear the marks of flames on the walls. Villagers, especially women, are not just broken, but terrified,' said Abrar.
An NCW team visited the village after a delegation of villagers met its officials and alleged rape, molestation and sexual assault of women by policemen countering protests over land takeover.
Supporting Gandhi's claim that women were molested in the village, the report said the women alleged that a group of about 10-12 policemen tore their clothes, paraded them naked and teased them.
Besides demanding an inquiry into the matter, the report also asked the government to deploy women constables and lodge a first information report (FIR) on the victims' complaint.
'Till now, not even a single FIR has been lodged, neither is there any women constable for rescue (of women)...we request for a CBI probe as police is itself a party in the crime,' said the report.
According to the report, women in the village go out in groups as they were terrified of police.
Meanwhile, reacting to the forensic examination done by the state government to check if there were any human bones in the heaps of ashes in the village, Abrar said: 'I do not believe in the forensic report which denies the presence of any human bones in the village. We have got certain proofs and pictures, which we cannot disclose now, to prove it.'
The report also has testimonies of around 20 villagers with their signatures that describe the condition of villagers and all that they have been going through.
The women rights panel would be submitting the report to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.
A fresh 11-member team comprising retired judges, lawyers, social activists, civil society members and some NCW members would be visiting the village in a couple of days to work on the second report.
'This time, we will bring more facts and proof along with us to prove the negligence of the Uttar Pradesh government,' said Abrar, who would be heading the 11-member team.
Gandhi earlier staged a daylong sit-in to back the farmers' demand for higher compensation for land takeover after a clash saw four people, including two policemen, killed in firing May 7.
He also met the prime minister with a delegation of farmers from Bhatta-Parsaul and handed over pictures of ashes with bones, injured people and ransacked houses.
He quoted villagers speaking of 'mass murders, repression and rapes' by police in the village.
New Delhi, May 21 : Backing Congress general secretary Rahul Gandhi's claim that women were raped and molested in Uttar Pradesh's Bhatta-Parsaul village, the National Commission for Women (NCW) Saturday demanded a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) probe into the matter.
'We have prepared a preliminary report which states that the women in the village have been molested and sexually assaulted. There are allegations that they have been raped but it could be confirmed only after all the investigations are over,' said Yasmeen Abrar, acting NCW chairperson, demanding a CBI inquiry into the incidents.
The village in Greater Noida, near the Indian capital, has become the epicentre of the movement against land acquisition for an expressway project.
An NCW team which visited the village May 12 noticed ransacked homes, horrified women, hungry and helpless children and bones of human beings lying in the ashes on the ground.
'There are bones of human beings lying with the ashes of burnt bodies. The family members of the villagers have been burnt alive. The burnt houses bear the marks of flames on the walls. Villagers, especially women, are not just broken, but terrified,' said Abrar.
An NCW team visited the village after a delegation of villagers met its officials and alleged rape, molestation and sexual assault of women by policemen countering protests over land takeover.
Supporting Gandhi's claim that women were molested in the village, the report said the women alleged that a group of about 10-12 policemen tore their clothes, paraded them naked and teased them.
Besides demanding an inquiry into the matter, the report also asked the government to deploy women constables and lodge a first information report (FIR) on the victims' complaint.
'Till now, not even a single FIR has been lodged, neither is there any women constable for rescue (of women)...we request for a CBI probe as police is itself a party in the crime,' said the report.
According to the report, women in the village go out in groups as they were terrified of police.
Meanwhile, reacting to the forensic examination done by the state government to check if there were any human bones in the heaps of ashes in the village, Abrar said: 'I do not believe in the forensic report which denies the presence of any human bones in the village. We have got certain proofs and pictures, which we cannot disclose now, to prove it.'
The report also has testimonies of around 20 villagers with their signatures that describe the condition of villagers and all that they have been going through.
The women rights panel would be submitting the report to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.
A fresh 11-member team comprising retired judges, lawyers, social activists, civil society members and some NCW members would be visiting the village in a couple of days to work on the second report.
'This time, we will bring more facts and proof along with us to prove the negligence of the Uttar Pradesh government,' said Abrar, who would be heading the 11-member team.
Gandhi earlier staged a daylong sit-in to back the farmers' demand for higher compensation for land takeover after a clash saw four people, including two policemen, killed in firing May 7.
He also met the prime minister with a delegation of farmers from Bhatta-Parsaul and handed over pictures of ashes with bones, injured people and ransacked houses.
He quoted villagers speaking of 'mass murders, repression and rapes' by police in the village.
BJP stages anti- Governor protest in Karnataka
suchithkc
Bangalore, May 21 : The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Saturday intensified its agitation against Karnataka Governor HR Bhardwaj.
The agitation is a twin-pronged move with two teams of BJP leaders traversing through 11 districts for five days.
A team led by Yeddyurappa will tour Raichur (May 21), Mangalore (May 22), Tumkur (May 23), Kolar (May 24) and Bagalkot (May 25) as part of the campaign.
A team led by State unit President K S Eswarappa will carry on agitation in Mysore (May 21), Chitradurga and Bellary (May 22), Koppal (May 23), Gulbarga (May 24) and Bidar (May 25).
On Wednesday, Bhardwaj told Yeddyurappa that he expected the Centre's decision on his recommendation for imposition of President's Rule by Thursday.
Apparently awaiting the Centre's move, Bhardwaj asked Yeddyurappa to wait for a day or two for his decision on the state cabinet recommendation for convening the Assembly.
Yeddyurappa had on Sunday shot off a protest letter to President Pratiba Patil, Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh and Union Home Minister P. Chidambaram against Governor Bhardwaj's move to recommend President's rule in Karnataka.
He appealed to them to prevent a constitutional crisis in Karnataka.
The report from Bhardwaj came in the wake of Supreme Court reversing the Karnataka high court decision disqualifying 11 BJP rebel MLAs and five independents ahead of the October 10, 2010 floor test in the assembly.
A rebellion by some lawmakers last year had reduced the Yeddyurappa ministry to a minority in the 225-member Assembly, leading Bhardwaj to order the Chief Minister to seek a trust vote.
Bhardwaj ordered another trust vote, which Yeddyurappa won on October 14 with 106 votes in favour and 100 against.
Of the 11 BJP rebels who had won back their membership, 10 again expressed their support to Yeddyurappa on Monday, while the 11th refused to do so.
Bangalore, May 21 : The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Saturday intensified its agitation against Karnataka Governor HR Bhardwaj.
The agitation is a twin-pronged move with two teams of BJP leaders traversing through 11 districts for five days.
A team led by Yeddyurappa will tour Raichur (May 21), Mangalore (May 22), Tumkur (May 23), Kolar (May 24) and Bagalkot (May 25) as part of the campaign.
A team led by State unit President K S Eswarappa will carry on agitation in Mysore (May 21), Chitradurga and Bellary (May 22), Koppal (May 23), Gulbarga (May 24) and Bidar (May 25).
On Wednesday, Bhardwaj told Yeddyurappa that he expected the Centre's decision on his recommendation for imposition of President's Rule by Thursday.
Apparently awaiting the Centre's move, Bhardwaj asked Yeddyurappa to wait for a day or two for his decision on the state cabinet recommendation for convening the Assembly.
Yeddyurappa had on Sunday shot off a protest letter to President Pratiba Patil, Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh and Union Home Minister P. Chidambaram against Governor Bhardwaj's move to recommend President's rule in Karnataka.
He appealed to them to prevent a constitutional crisis in Karnataka.
The report from Bhardwaj came in the wake of Supreme Court reversing the Karnataka high court decision disqualifying 11 BJP rebel MLAs and five independents ahead of the October 10, 2010 floor test in the assembly.
A rebellion by some lawmakers last year had reduced the Yeddyurappa ministry to a minority in the 225-member Assembly, leading Bhardwaj to order the Chief Minister to seek a trust vote.
Bhardwaj ordered another trust vote, which Yeddyurappa won on October 14 with 106 votes in favour and 100 against.
Of the 11 BJP rebels who had won back their membership, 10 again expressed their support to Yeddyurappa on Monday, while the 11th refused to do so.
Adarsh Society was proposed much prior to Kargil, panel told
suchithkc
Mumbai, May 21 :Chief promoter and secretary of the controversial Adarsh Housing Society has told a judicial panel, probing the scam, that the complex was proposed much before the Kargil war and hence the reports of it being reserved for war heroes and their widows are false.
R C Thakur, a former officer with the defence estates office and an accused in the case, in an affidavit filed before the two-member inquiry Commission has said, "The Society was proposed much prior to the Kargil war and hence there was no question of it being reserved for Kargil war heroes and their widows."
The affidavit relies on a letter of intent dated January 18, 2003 issued by the Maharashtra government which does not impose any such condition on the Society in posh Colaba area.
The high-rise was constructed after obtaining permissions from authorities, the affidavit stated. "All applications for memberships were scrutinised and verified by the government before allowing them," it said.
The affidavit was filed after the Commission issued summons to Thakur.
The Commission, set up by the state government in January this year, is looking into issues such as whether the land was reserved for kin of Kargil war martyrs and alleged violation of Coastal Regulation Zone and environment rules.
Mumbai, May 21 :Chief promoter and secretary of the controversial Adarsh Housing Society has told a judicial panel, probing the scam, that the complex was proposed much before the Kargil war and hence the reports of it being reserved for war heroes and their widows are false.
R C Thakur, a former officer with the defence estates office and an accused in the case, in an affidavit filed before the two-member inquiry Commission has said, "The Society was proposed much prior to the Kargil war and hence there was no question of it being reserved for Kargil war heroes and their widows."
The affidavit relies on a letter of intent dated January 18, 2003 issued by the Maharashtra government which does not impose any such condition on the Society in posh Colaba area.
The high-rise was constructed after obtaining permissions from authorities, the affidavit stated. "All applications for memberships were scrutinised and verified by the government before allowing them," it said.
The affidavit was filed after the Commission issued summons to Thakur.
The Commission, set up by the state government in January this year, is looking into issues such as whether the land was reserved for kin of Kargil war martyrs and alleged violation of Coastal Regulation Zone and environment rules.
Diplomatic cables show joint U.S.-Pakistan intelligence missions
suchithkc
ISLAMABAD - U.S. special forces were embedded with Pakistani troops on intelligence-gathering missions by the summer of 2009, confidential American diplomatic cables showed, a revelation that could hurt the Pakistani military's public image.
The disclosure comes a day after another set of cables showed that Pakistan's powerful army chief not only tacitly agreed to the covert U.S. drone campaign against militants, but asked for "continuous Predator coverage" of the tribal areas by these aircraft. The army denied the contents.
The local Dawn newspaper, which said it obtained the secret dispatches from WikiLeaks, said they reveal that U.S. special forces were deployed with Pakistani troops in joint operations in Pakistan by September of 2009.
"Through these embeds, we are assisting the Pakistanis collect and coordinate existing intelligence assets, the cables quoted then American ambassador to Pakistan Anne Patterson as saying.
Pakistan's powerful military faced rare criticism after a secret U.S. special forces raid that killed al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden not far from the capital Islamabad this month.
The infuriated army said the assault, which has severely strained ties between the two countries, was a violation of Pakistan's sovereignty. But Pakistanis lashed out at the country's generals because they did not know about the raid.
Several cables showed the United States was eager to embed American troops with Pakistani soldiers, Dawn reported.
Patterson wrote in November of 2009 of the possibility that "operations in the northern FATA (Federally Administered Tribal Areas) may provide additional opportunities to embed US Special Operations Forces ... ".
FATA is seen as a global hub for militants, including al Qaeda and Afghan militant factions who cross the border and attack U.S.-led NATO forces and Afghan troops.
By September 2009, plans for the joint intelligence activities had been expanded to include army headquarters, according to the cables.
"Pakistan has begun to accept intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance support from the US military for COIN (counterinsurgency) operations," Patterson wrote.
"In addition intelligence fusion centers" had been established "at the headquarters of Frontier Corps and the 11th Corps and we expect at additional sites, including GHQ and the 12th Corps in Balochistan."
Pakistani military officials were not immediately available for comment on the cables.
The presence of U.S. trainers in Pakistan has been publicly acknowledged, but such joint operations have not.
Anti-American sentiment runs high in Pakistan, partly because of the drone strikes on militants, which are seen as a violation of sovereignty and have killed civilians.
DRONES
According to cables published by Dawn on Friday, Pakistan's chief of army staff General Ashfaq Kayani asked Admiral William J. Fallon, then commander of U.S. Central Command, for increased surveillance and round-the-clock Predator coverage over North and South Waziristan, strongholds for Taliban militants.
The Pakistan Army denied the contents of those cables.
Pakistanis are frustrated by their government's inability to subdue al Qaeda-linked homegrown Taliban militants, who seem to stage suicide bombings at will despite a series of military offensives on their strongholds.
Pakistan has come under further U.S. pressure to crack down harder on militancy since it was discovered bin Laden was living in a garrison town not far from intelligence headquarters.
Cooperation between Islamabad and Washington is needed to stabilise neighbouring Afghanistan.
"Previously, the Pakistani military leadership adamantly opposed letting us embed our special operations personnel with their military forces. The recent approval by GHQ appears to represent a sea change in Pakistani thinking, said a 2009 U.S. cable carried by Dawn.
"These deployments are highly politically sensitive. Should [they] receive any coverage in the Pakistani or US media, the Pakistani military will likely stop making requests for such assistance."
ISLAMABAD - U.S. special forces were embedded with Pakistani troops on intelligence-gathering missions by the summer of 2009, confidential American diplomatic cables showed, a revelation that could hurt the Pakistani military's public image.
The disclosure comes a day after another set of cables showed that Pakistan's powerful army chief not only tacitly agreed to the covert U.S. drone campaign against militants, but asked for "continuous Predator coverage" of the tribal areas by these aircraft. The army denied the contents.
The local Dawn newspaper, which said it obtained the secret dispatches from WikiLeaks, said they reveal that U.S. special forces were deployed with Pakistani troops in joint operations in Pakistan by September of 2009.
"Through these embeds, we are assisting the Pakistanis collect and coordinate existing intelligence assets, the cables quoted then American ambassador to Pakistan Anne Patterson as saying.
Pakistan's powerful military faced rare criticism after a secret U.S. special forces raid that killed al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden not far from the capital Islamabad this month.
The infuriated army said the assault, which has severely strained ties between the two countries, was a violation of Pakistan's sovereignty. But Pakistanis lashed out at the country's generals because they did not know about the raid.
Several cables showed the United States was eager to embed American troops with Pakistani soldiers, Dawn reported.
Patterson wrote in November of 2009 of the possibility that "operations in the northern FATA (Federally Administered Tribal Areas) may provide additional opportunities to embed US Special Operations Forces ... ".
FATA is seen as a global hub for militants, including al Qaeda and Afghan militant factions who cross the border and attack U.S.-led NATO forces and Afghan troops.
By September 2009, plans for the joint intelligence activities had been expanded to include army headquarters, according to the cables.
"Pakistan has begun to accept intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance support from the US military for COIN (counterinsurgency) operations," Patterson wrote.
"In addition intelligence fusion centers" had been established "at the headquarters of Frontier Corps and the 11th Corps and we expect at additional sites, including GHQ and the 12th Corps in Balochistan."
Pakistani military officials were not immediately available for comment on the cables.
The presence of U.S. trainers in Pakistan has been publicly acknowledged, but such joint operations have not.
Anti-American sentiment runs high in Pakistan, partly because of the drone strikes on militants, which are seen as a violation of sovereignty and have killed civilians.
DRONES
According to cables published by Dawn on Friday, Pakistan's chief of army staff General Ashfaq Kayani asked Admiral William J. Fallon, then commander of U.S. Central Command, for increased surveillance and round-the-clock Predator coverage over North and South Waziristan, strongholds for Taliban militants.
The Pakistan Army denied the contents of those cables.
Pakistanis are frustrated by their government's inability to subdue al Qaeda-linked homegrown Taliban militants, who seem to stage suicide bombings at will despite a series of military offensives on their strongholds.
Pakistan has come under further U.S. pressure to crack down harder on militancy since it was discovered bin Laden was living in a garrison town not far from intelligence headquarters.
Cooperation between Islamabad and Washington is needed to stabilise neighbouring Afghanistan.
"Previously, the Pakistani military leadership adamantly opposed letting us embed our special operations personnel with their military forces. The recent approval by GHQ appears to represent a sea change in Pakistani thinking, said a 2009 U.S. cable carried by Dawn.
"These deployments are highly politically sensitive. Should [they] receive any coverage in the Pakistani or US media, the Pakistani military will likely stop making requests for such assistance."
Kanimozhi's arrest not to impact UPA, says Congress
suchithkc
New Delhi, May 20:The Congress Friday refused to comment on the arrest of DMK MP Kanimozhi in the 2G spectrum case, but said the development will have no impact on the ruling United Progressive Alliance (UPA).
Congress spokesman Abhishek Manu Singhvi said it was not necessary for a political party to comment upon ongoing judicial proceedings involving merits of individual cases.
'This is a matter between the accused concerned, the relevant court and the lawyer concerned... You can be rest assured that this being an individual matter between investigating agencies and accused persons, there is absolutely no connection with or impact on the alliance which continues as we had said earlier,' Singhvi said.
He said all parties have legal rights and recourse to appellate legal remedies.
'There is absolutely no impact on the coalition which remains as before,' Singhvi said.
The DMK with its 18 MPs is a major partner of the ruling UPA at the centre and has two union ministers in the cabinet.
DMK MP Kanimozhi and Kalaignar TV chief Sharad Kumar, named as co-conspirators in the 2G spectrum scam, were Friday taken into custody after a special Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) court rejected their bail pleas.
Kanimozhi, daughter of DMK supremo M. Karunanidhi, is a stake-holder in Kalaignar TV.
New Delhi, May 20:The Congress Friday refused to comment on the arrest of DMK MP Kanimozhi in the 2G spectrum case, but said the development will have no impact on the ruling United Progressive Alliance (UPA).
Congress spokesman Abhishek Manu Singhvi said it was not necessary for a political party to comment upon ongoing judicial proceedings involving merits of individual cases.
'This is a matter between the accused concerned, the relevant court and the lawyer concerned... You can be rest assured that this being an individual matter between investigating agencies and accused persons, there is absolutely no connection with or impact on the alliance which continues as we had said earlier,' Singhvi said.
He said all parties have legal rights and recourse to appellate legal remedies.
'There is absolutely no impact on the coalition which remains as before,' Singhvi said.
The DMK with its 18 MPs is a major partner of the ruling UPA at the centre and has two union ministers in the cabinet.
DMK MP Kanimozhi and Kalaignar TV chief Sharad Kumar, named as co-conspirators in the 2G spectrum scam, were Friday taken into custody after a special Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) court rejected their bail pleas.
Kanimozhi, daughter of DMK supremo M. Karunanidhi, is a stake-holder in Kalaignar TV.
Jan Lokpal Bill offers immunity to none except Prez: Hegde
suchithkc
Hyderabad, May 20: Karnataka Lokayukta Justice N Santosh Hegde today said the proposed Jan Lokpal Bill against corruption offers immunity to no one except the President of India and the Governor.
"According to Jan Lokpal Bill, there is no immunity except for those who have been given immunity under the Constitution of India -- which is the President of India and the Governor in some cases... and I agree with this," said Hegde, who is a part of the 10-member Joint Drafting Committee, on the sidelines of a function here.
Hegde said if there are allegations against the Lokpal, a seven-judge bench of the Supreme Court would hear the complaint, investigate it, and if found true, make a recommendation to the President to remove the Lokpal.
Hegde said three meetings of the committee, comprising representatives of government and civil society, have been held so far, and the fourth meeting would be held on Monday.
Union Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee had said the meetings could be conducted on a day-to-day basis, he added.
"The third meet was quite fruitful. The government opened up its mind with regard to certain sections of the Jan Lokpal Bill. We had discussions with regard to (brining under the ambit of the Jan Lokpal Bill) the Prime Minister and the higher judiciary. But no final conclusion has been arrived yet. But we have started, now, going into the crux of the matter," Justice Hegde said.
"I''m of positive view that things would move in one direction."
Hyderabad, May 20: Karnataka Lokayukta Justice N Santosh Hegde today said the proposed Jan Lokpal Bill against corruption offers immunity to no one except the President of India and the Governor.
"According to Jan Lokpal Bill, there is no immunity except for those who have been given immunity under the Constitution of India -- which is the President of India and the Governor in some cases... and I agree with this," said Hegde, who is a part of the 10-member Joint Drafting Committee, on the sidelines of a function here.
Hegde said if there are allegations against the Lokpal, a seven-judge bench of the Supreme Court would hear the complaint, investigate it, and if found true, make a recommendation to the President to remove the Lokpal.
Hegde said three meetings of the committee, comprising representatives of government and civil society, have been held so far, and the fourth meeting would be held on Monday.
Union Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee had said the meetings could be conducted on a day-to-day basis, he added.
"The third meet was quite fruitful. The government opened up its mind with regard to certain sections of the Jan Lokpal Bill. We had discussions with regard to (brining under the ambit of the Jan Lokpal Bill) the Prime Minister and the higher judiciary. But no final conclusion has been arrived yet. But we have started, now, going into the crux of the matter," Justice Hegde said.
"I''m of positive view that things would move in one direction."
Jagan Mohan issue comes in focus at Andhra cabinet
suchithkc
Hyderabad, May 20 : The alleged presence of the sympathisers of the Kadapa MP Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy in the N Kiran Kumar Reddy Cabinet became a topic of debate today following the allegations by some senior leaders in this regard.
Senior party leader and MLC K R Amos hit out at Jagan saying all those who are sympathetic towards him should leave. "You (Jagan)take all the covert leaders you have. Why should you say that Congress would come down soon?" he said. He added that if Jagan had the power to pull down the government, he should prove so.
State Rural Development Minister D Manikya Vara Prasad denied that there were any leaders sympathetic towards Jagan. "Those, who are loyal to the Chief Minister and the party high command, will remain so and all those in the Cabinet are party loyalists," he said.
Education Minister S Sailajanath said Congress leadership is competent enough to deal with those who work against party interests. "Congress has got a strong network and can recognise those working for the party and those working against it," he said.
The issue of sympathisers came in focus in the aftermath of the visit of Congress general secretary, in-charge of party affairs in AP Ghulam Nabi Azad to the city this week. Azad was in Hyderabad for two day to take stock of party affairs. He held meetings with a number of Congress leaders.
Chief Minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy, who will visit the national capital tomorrow, is likely to discuss various party affairs with the leadership.
Hyderabad, May 20 : The alleged presence of the sympathisers of the Kadapa MP Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy in the N Kiran Kumar Reddy Cabinet became a topic of debate today following the allegations by some senior leaders in this regard.
Senior party leader and MLC K R Amos hit out at Jagan saying all those who are sympathetic towards him should leave. "You (Jagan)take all the covert leaders you have. Why should you say that Congress would come down soon?" he said. He added that if Jagan had the power to pull down the government, he should prove so.
State Rural Development Minister D Manikya Vara Prasad denied that there were any leaders sympathetic towards Jagan. "Those, who are loyal to the Chief Minister and the party high command, will remain so and all those in the Cabinet are party loyalists," he said.
Education Minister S Sailajanath said Congress leadership is competent enough to deal with those who work against party interests. "Congress has got a strong network and can recognise those working for the party and those working against it," he said.
The issue of sympathisers came in focus in the aftermath of the visit of Congress general secretary, in-charge of party affairs in AP Ghulam Nabi Azad to the city this week. Azad was in Hyderabad for two day to take stock of party affairs. He held meetings with a number of Congress leaders.
Chief Minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy, who will visit the national capital tomorrow, is likely to discuss various party affairs with the leadership.
Obama faces narrower path to 2012 re-election
suchithkc
WASHINGTON - President Barack Obama's path to re-election in 2012 is likely to be narrower than in his first campaign because he is at risk of losing several traditionally Republican states he captured in 2008.
Obama dramatically expanded the political playing field in 2008, competing and winning in states that had not backed a Democrat for president in a generation, but next year's map could look more like President George W. Bush's tight 2004 re-election win over Democrat John Kerry.
The sputtering economy and unhappiness with Obama's leadership have battered his popularity nationwide, hitting him particularly hard in conservative states like North Carolina, Indiana and Virginia where in 2008 he broke Democratic losing streaks dating to the 1960s.
High unemployment and a declining manufacturing industry also have helped drive down his poll numbers in traditional Rust Belt battlegrounds like Ohio, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin, which are crucial to his hopes of putting together the 270 electoral votes needed for re-election.
Obama won 365 electoral votes, awarded on a state-by-state basis, in a smashing 2008 victory that gave him 95 electoral votes to spare. This time around, his margin for error will be smaller, Quinnipiac University pollster Peter Brown said.
"He has a cushion, but it's going to be a lot closer than in 2008," Brown said. "It is hard to see, given the current situation, Obama winning states in 2012 that he did not win in 2008. The question is, how many more states does he lose?"
The Obama campaign has promised to push hard to compete in states like North Carolina and Virginia, where he was helped last time by a big voter turnout among blacks. In a sign of the commitment, the Democratic nominating convention will be held in Charlotte, North Carolina.
It was chosen over St. Louis, Missouri -- a state Obama narrowly lost in 2008 that many Democrats believe has drifted even further toward Republicans. Conservative Indiana also appears likely to be less welcoming to Obama.
Republicans scored big wins in Congress and governor's races last year on concerns about the economy and deficits, and Republican strategists say Obama will have a tougher campaign task in 2012 selling his record on spending and healthcare.
A DIFFERENT CAMPAIGN
"Last time Obama was able to get elected on inspiration -- he would change Washington, he's a new kind of leader, he was not George Bush," Republican strategist Jim Dyke said.
"There wasn't much of a record to judge him on and that will be different this time," he said. "He may still have that rhetorical flourish in his voice, but his hands are full of some very heavy policy positions he will have to explain."
In addition to the traditional big three battlegrounds -- Ohio, Pennsylvania and Florida -- Nevada and Colorado will be critical to Obama's hopes.
Those two Western states and New Mexico are home to big Hispanic populations that Democrats hope will create a Western stronghold in 2012. Some Democrats hope to add Arizona to the mix.
Obama has stepped up his push for immigration reform on the campaign trail despite little chance for congressional approval before the election. Polls show Republican resistance on the issue has hardened Hispanic support for Democrats.
"No matter who is on their ticket, Republicans are going to have problems in 2012 with Latino voters," said Simon Rosenberg, head of the Democratic advocacy group NDN. Hispanics also could have an impact in Florida, North Carolina, Virginia and be a factor in a few other states, he said.
A video featuring Obama campaign boss Jim Messina last month highlighted the importance of defending 12 states Obama won in 2008 by less than 15 percentage points -- Nevada, Iowa, Colorado, Ohio, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Indiana, Pennsylvania, New Hampshire, Virginia, North Carolina and Florida.
In 2004, Democrat Kerry won only four of those -- Wisconsin, Minnesota, Pennsylvania and New Hampshire.
"Republicans are going to be fired up to take on President Obama," Messina said in the video, sent to Obama supporters. "This is not 2008."
The reapportionment of electoral votes based on the 2010 Census also will shift a few votes to Republican-leaning states. In 2008, Obama won eight of the 10 states losing seats.
The stubbornly high unemployment rate also will be vital to Obama's hopes, and several crucial 2012 battlegrounds have unemployment rates above the national average of 9 percent.
Nevada, where an influx of new residents and the growing Hispanic population propelled Obama to a 2008 win, has the highest state unemployment rate at 11.9 percent. Florida and North Carolina also have unemployment rates above 9 percent.
Rosenberg said the political map would be heavily influenced by how the economy fares in the next 18 months.
"A year from now, if the economy is in good shape, Obama gets re-elected. If it's not, he doesn't. It's that simple," he said.
WASHINGTON - President Barack Obama's path to re-election in 2012 is likely to be narrower than in his first campaign because he is at risk of losing several traditionally Republican states he captured in 2008.
Obama dramatically expanded the political playing field in 2008, competing and winning in states that had not backed a Democrat for president in a generation, but next year's map could look more like President George W. Bush's tight 2004 re-election win over Democrat John Kerry.
The sputtering economy and unhappiness with Obama's leadership have battered his popularity nationwide, hitting him particularly hard in conservative states like North Carolina, Indiana and Virginia where in 2008 he broke Democratic losing streaks dating to the 1960s.
High unemployment and a declining manufacturing industry also have helped drive down his poll numbers in traditional Rust Belt battlegrounds like Ohio, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin, which are crucial to his hopes of putting together the 270 electoral votes needed for re-election.
Obama won 365 electoral votes, awarded on a state-by-state basis, in a smashing 2008 victory that gave him 95 electoral votes to spare. This time around, his margin for error will be smaller, Quinnipiac University pollster Peter Brown said.
"He has a cushion, but it's going to be a lot closer than in 2008," Brown said. "It is hard to see, given the current situation, Obama winning states in 2012 that he did not win in 2008. The question is, how many more states does he lose?"
The Obama campaign has promised to push hard to compete in states like North Carolina and Virginia, where he was helped last time by a big voter turnout among blacks. In a sign of the commitment, the Democratic nominating convention will be held in Charlotte, North Carolina.
It was chosen over St. Louis, Missouri -- a state Obama narrowly lost in 2008 that many Democrats believe has drifted even further toward Republicans. Conservative Indiana also appears likely to be less welcoming to Obama.
Republicans scored big wins in Congress and governor's races last year on concerns about the economy and deficits, and Republican strategists say Obama will have a tougher campaign task in 2012 selling his record on spending and healthcare.
A DIFFERENT CAMPAIGN
"Last time Obama was able to get elected on inspiration -- he would change Washington, he's a new kind of leader, he was not George Bush," Republican strategist Jim Dyke said.
"There wasn't much of a record to judge him on and that will be different this time," he said. "He may still have that rhetorical flourish in his voice, but his hands are full of some very heavy policy positions he will have to explain."
In addition to the traditional big three battlegrounds -- Ohio, Pennsylvania and Florida -- Nevada and Colorado will be critical to Obama's hopes.
Those two Western states and New Mexico are home to big Hispanic populations that Democrats hope will create a Western stronghold in 2012. Some Democrats hope to add Arizona to the mix.
Obama has stepped up his push for immigration reform on the campaign trail despite little chance for congressional approval before the election. Polls show Republican resistance on the issue has hardened Hispanic support for Democrats.
"No matter who is on their ticket, Republicans are going to have problems in 2012 with Latino voters," said Simon Rosenberg, head of the Democratic advocacy group NDN. Hispanics also could have an impact in Florida, North Carolina, Virginia and be a factor in a few other states, he said.
A video featuring Obama campaign boss Jim Messina last month highlighted the importance of defending 12 states Obama won in 2008 by less than 15 percentage points -- Nevada, Iowa, Colorado, Ohio, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Indiana, Pennsylvania, New Hampshire, Virginia, North Carolina and Florida.
In 2004, Democrat Kerry won only four of those -- Wisconsin, Minnesota, Pennsylvania and New Hampshire.
"Republicans are going to be fired up to take on President Obama," Messina said in the video, sent to Obama supporters. "This is not 2008."
The reapportionment of electoral votes based on the 2010 Census also will shift a few votes to Republican-leaning states. In 2008, Obama won eight of the 10 states losing seats.
The stubbornly high unemployment rate also will be vital to Obama's hopes, and several crucial 2012 battlegrounds have unemployment rates above the national average of 9 percent.
Nevada, where an influx of new residents and the growing Hispanic population propelled Obama to a 2008 win, has the highest state unemployment rate at 11.9 percent. Florida and North Carolina also have unemployment rates above 9 percent.
Rosenberg said the political map would be heavily influenced by how the economy fares in the next 18 months.
"A year from now, if the economy is in good shape, Obama gets re-elected. If it's not, he doesn't. It's that simple," he said.
Kanimozhi lodged in 15ftx10ft cell at Tihar Jail
suchithkc
New Delhi, May 20 : DMK MP Kanimozhi was today lodged in a 15 ftx10 ft cell at the Tihar Jail after being sent there for her role in the 2G spectrum case, far from the air-conditioning and other comforts which she is used to at her palatial bungalow in Chennai''s CIT colony.
43-year-old Kanimozhi was taken to Jail No 6 by women personnel after a special CBI court rejected her bail plea and order her "forthwith" arrest.
A woman police personnel was seen holding Kanimozhi''s hands when she was taken from the Patiala House complex.
According to jail officials, Kanimozhi will have access to a television set, newspapers, a ceiling fan and a cot in her 15ft x 10 ft cell.
Madhuri Gupta, a former official of the Indian High Commission in Islamabad arrested on charges of spying, Sonu Punjaban, arrested in the biggest prostitution network in Delhi and NCR through "word of mouth" and Sharda Jain, who was given a life term last year for her role in the murder of city councillor Atma Ram Gupta too are lodged in jail no. six.
Co-accused in the case Sharad Kumar, MD of Kalaignar TV, will be kept in jail no four.
Kumar will join former NALCO CMD Abhay Kumar Srivastava and sacked CWG Organising Committee chairman Suresh Kalmadi in jail no four.
New Delhi, May 20 : DMK MP Kanimozhi was today lodged in a 15 ftx10 ft cell at the Tihar Jail after being sent there for her role in the 2G spectrum case, far from the air-conditioning and other comforts which she is used to at her palatial bungalow in Chennai''s CIT colony.
43-year-old Kanimozhi was taken to Jail No 6 by women personnel after a special CBI court rejected her bail plea and order her "forthwith" arrest.
A woman police personnel was seen holding Kanimozhi''s hands when she was taken from the Patiala House complex.
According to jail officials, Kanimozhi will have access to a television set, newspapers, a ceiling fan and a cot in her 15ft x 10 ft cell.
Madhuri Gupta, a former official of the Indian High Commission in Islamabad arrested on charges of spying, Sonu Punjaban, arrested in the biggest prostitution network in Delhi and NCR through "word of mouth" and Sharda Jain, who was given a life term last year for her role in the murder of city councillor Atma Ram Gupta too are lodged in jail no. six.
Co-accused in the case Sharad Kumar, MD of Kalaignar TV, will be kept in jail no four.
Kumar will join former NALCO CMD Abhay Kumar Srivastava and sacked CWG Organising Committee chairman Suresh Kalmadi in jail no four.
Shahrukh had a crush on Mumtaz, Saira Bano
suchithkc
Mumbai, May 20 : Bollywood superstar Shahrukh Khan, who has an enviable female fan following, confesses to having a crush on yesteryear actresses, Mumtaz and Saira Bano.
"My first two crushes have been Mumtaz ji and Saira ji. Now I address them with a ''ji''. I always felt that they were the most beautiful ladies in the world. My father used to find Madhubala ji very beautiful," Shah Rukh told reporters here at the sidelines of the music launch of his upcoming production movie ''Always Kabhi Kabhi''.
The actor said that he used to shake a leg when he heard songs picturised on the two actresses.
"I remember Sairaji''s ''Bhai Batur''. She was in a tub in the video. Even I would get into a tub and dance. Then there was Mumtazji''s ''Chakke Mein Chakka''," he said.
Asked if he had a crush on any of the actresses from the current league, Shahrukh, known for his witty answers said, "Times have changed. Now the girls have crushes on me."
''Always Kabhi Kabhi'', produced by SRK''s Red Chillies Entertainment will see producer Karim Morani''s daughter Zoa, Giselle Monterio, who played Harleen alongside Saif Ali Khan in ''Love Aaj Kal'', Satyajit Dubey and Ali Fazal, who played John Lobo in ''3 Idiots'', in lead roles.
Directed by debutante Roshan Abbas, ''Always Kabhi Kabhi'' is based on the theme of high-school life. The film is slated to release on June 17.
Mumbai, May 20 : Bollywood superstar Shahrukh Khan, who has an enviable female fan following, confesses to having a crush on yesteryear actresses, Mumtaz and Saira Bano.
"My first two crushes have been Mumtaz ji and Saira ji. Now I address them with a ''ji''. I always felt that they were the most beautiful ladies in the world. My father used to find Madhubala ji very beautiful," Shah Rukh told reporters here at the sidelines of the music launch of his upcoming production movie ''Always Kabhi Kabhi''.
The actor said that he used to shake a leg when he heard songs picturised on the two actresses.
"I remember Sairaji''s ''Bhai Batur''. She was in a tub in the video. Even I would get into a tub and dance. Then there was Mumtazji''s ''Chakke Mein Chakka''," he said.
Asked if he had a crush on any of the actresses from the current league, Shahrukh, known for his witty answers said, "Times have changed. Now the girls have crushes on me."
''Always Kabhi Kabhi'', produced by SRK''s Red Chillies Entertainment will see producer Karim Morani''s daughter Zoa, Giselle Monterio, who played Harleen alongside Saif Ali Khan in ''Love Aaj Kal'', Satyajit Dubey and Ali Fazal, who played John Lobo in ''3 Idiots'', in lead roles.
Directed by debutante Roshan Abbas, ''Always Kabhi Kabhi'' is based on the theme of high-school life. The film is slated to release on June 17.
Fugitive blooper: CBI withdraws RCN list from its web site
suchithkc
New Delhi, May 20 : Embarrassed over the goof up in the list of wanted accused, the CBI today withdrew the list of accused for whom Interpol Red Corner Notice had been given as those wanted by the agency in connection with other cases.
The list was taken off from the official website of CBI after the agency announced late last night that it will update the list before making it public.
The action comes close on the heels after it was found that an accused -- Feroz Abdul Khan who figured on the list of 50 accused sent to Pakistan was languishing in Arthur Road Prison in Mumbai.
CBI had issued an Interpol Red Corner Notice against Khan in 1994 but the notice was not withdrawn even after the agency has got his custody.
Khan is alleged to have facilitated transport and distribution of arms and ammunitions during the blast and subsequently. Mumbai police had alleged that following Dawood Ibrahim''s instructions, Khan arranged for landing of arms allegedly used in the blast.
After the blooper came to light, CBI Director A P Singh ordered a complete review of the Interpol wing and the most wanted list will be thoroughly scrutinised in consultation with state police and other agencies.
In the second instance, the name of Raj Kumar Meghen, a United National Liberation Front leader, figures in the list. He is now in the custody of the National Investigation Agency. His name continues to figure on the Interpol watch list for terrorism, use of explosives and organised crime.
Earlier, Wazhur Kamar Khan, whose name had also figured in India''s most wanted list handed over to Pakistan, was traced to Mumbai.
New Delhi, May 20 : Embarrassed over the goof up in the list of wanted accused, the CBI today withdrew the list of accused for whom Interpol Red Corner Notice had been given as those wanted by the agency in connection with other cases.
The list was taken off from the official website of CBI after the agency announced late last night that it will update the list before making it public.
The action comes close on the heels after it was found that an accused -- Feroz Abdul Khan who figured on the list of 50 accused sent to Pakistan was languishing in Arthur Road Prison in Mumbai.
CBI had issued an Interpol Red Corner Notice against Khan in 1994 but the notice was not withdrawn even after the agency has got his custody.
Khan is alleged to have facilitated transport and distribution of arms and ammunitions during the blast and subsequently. Mumbai police had alleged that following Dawood Ibrahim''s instructions, Khan arranged for landing of arms allegedly used in the blast.
After the blooper came to light, CBI Director A P Singh ordered a complete review of the Interpol wing and the most wanted list will be thoroughly scrutinised in consultation with state police and other agencies.
In the second instance, the name of Raj Kumar Meghen, a United National Liberation Front leader, figures in the list. He is now in the custody of the National Investigation Agency. His name continues to figure on the Interpol watch list for terrorism, use of explosives and organised crime.
Earlier, Wazhur Kamar Khan, whose name had also figured in India''s most wanted list handed over to Pakistan, was traced to Mumbai.
Authorities not to allow proposed Hurriyat rally tomorrow
suchithkc
Srinagar, May 20 : Authorities here tonight decided not to allow the proposed rally of moderate Hurriyat Conference headed by Mirwaiz Umar Farooq at Eidgah in downtown Srinagar in view of killing of Maulvi Showkat Ahmad Shah last month.
The decision not to allow the rally at Eidgah, held every year to pay tributes to slain separatist leaders Mirwaiz Mohammad Farooq and Abdul Gani Lone, was taken at a high level meeting of police, intelligence and civil administration officials here, official sources said.
They said there were "apprehensions that elements inimical to peace and stability in Kasmir" might take advantage of the large gathering to target the leaders present there.
They said keeping in view the killing of Jamiat-e-Ahli Hadees chief outside a mosque at Maisuma last month and killing of Abdul Gani Lone at a similar rally in 2002, it was decided that no congregation will be allowed at Eidgah.
The sources said large number of police and paramilitary CRPF personnel have been deployed in five police station areas in old city to prevent any gathering of people.
Earlier in the day, Mirwaiz had announced that Hurriyat Conference will lay a foundation for a Martyrs� Memorial at the Eidgah graveyard.
The Hurriyat Chairman claimed that senior civil administration and police officials visited his residence and asked him not to go ahead with the construction of the memorial.
"I told the officials that every nation has a memorial for their martyrs and we are going to have one for ours. We are not going to call of the programme," he said.
Srinagar, May 20 : Authorities here tonight decided not to allow the proposed rally of moderate Hurriyat Conference headed by Mirwaiz Umar Farooq at Eidgah in downtown Srinagar in view of killing of Maulvi Showkat Ahmad Shah last month.
The decision not to allow the rally at Eidgah, held every year to pay tributes to slain separatist leaders Mirwaiz Mohammad Farooq and Abdul Gani Lone, was taken at a high level meeting of police, intelligence and civil administration officials here, official sources said.
They said there were "apprehensions that elements inimical to peace and stability in Kasmir" might take advantage of the large gathering to target the leaders present there.
They said keeping in view the killing of Jamiat-e-Ahli Hadees chief outside a mosque at Maisuma last month and killing of Abdul Gani Lone at a similar rally in 2002, it was decided that no congregation will be allowed at Eidgah.
The sources said large number of police and paramilitary CRPF personnel have been deployed in five police station areas in old city to prevent any gathering of people.
Earlier in the day, Mirwaiz had announced that Hurriyat Conference will lay a foundation for a Martyrs� Memorial at the Eidgah graveyard.
The Hurriyat Chairman claimed that senior civil administration and police officials visited his residence and asked him not to go ahead with the construction of the memorial.
"I told the officials that every nation has a memorial for their martyrs and we are going to have one for ours. We are not going to call of the programme," he said.
Portfolios of West Bengal council of ministers
suchithkc
Kolkata, May 21 : Following is the list of West Bengal ministers with their portfolios announced after midnight Friday:
Chief Minister: Mamata Banerjee - Home, Health, Land and Land Reforms, Agriculture, Information and Cultural Affairs, Hill Affairs, Minority Affairs, Madrasah Education, Personnel and Administrative Reforms, Power
Cabinet Ministers:
1) Subrata Buxi - Public Works Department, Transport
2) Partha Chatterjee - Industry and Commerce and Parliamentary Affairs, Public Enterprises, Industrial Reconstitution, Information Technology
3) Amit Mitra - Finance, Excise, Textile
4) Manish Gupta - Development and Planning
5) Subrata Mukherjee - Public Health Engineering
6) Abdul Karim Chowdhury - Mass Education Extension and Library Services
7) Sadhan Pande - Consumer Affairs
8) Upendranath Biswas - Backward Classes Welfare
9) Javed Khan - Disaster Management, Fire and Emergency Services, Civil Defence
10) Rabindranath Bhattacharjee - School Education
11) Sabitri Mitra - Woman and Child Development and Social Welfare
12) Jyotipriya Mullick - Food and Supplies
13) Shantiram Mahato - Self Help Group and Self-employment
14) H.A. Sawfi - Cooperation, Inland Water Transport
15) Malay Ghatak - Law and Judiciary
16) Purnendu Bose - Labour
17) Bratya Basu - Higher Education
18) Rachpal Singh - Tourism
19) Hiten Burman - Forest
20) Gautam Deb - North Bengal Development
21) Noor-e-Alam Chowdhury - Animal Resource Development
22) Shankar Chakrabarty - Non-conventional Energy Sources, Correctional Administration
23) Rabiranjan Chatterjee - Technical Education and Training, Science and Technology, Biotechnology
24) Sudarshan Ghosh Dastidar - Environment
25) Ujjal Biswas - Youth Services
26) Shyamapada Mukherjee - Housing
27) Firhad Hakim - Municipal Affairs and Urban Development
28) Sukumar Hansda - Western Zone Development Affairs
29) Soumen Mahapatra - Water Resources Investigation and Development
30) Arup Roy - Agricultural Marketing
31) Chandranath Sinha - Panchayat and Rural Development
32) Manas Bhuniya - (Cong) Irrigation and Waterways, Micro and Small scale Industries
33) Abu Hena - (Cong) Fisheries, Food Processing Industries
Ministers of State:
1) Manjulkrishna Thakur - Refugee Relief and Rehabilitation (Independent Charge) Micro and Small Scale Enterprise and Textile
2) Madan Mitra - Sports (Independent Charge)
3) Subrata Saha - Public Works
4) Shyamal Mandal - Sundarban Affairs (Independent Charge), Irrigation and Waterways
Kolkata, May 21 : Following is the list of West Bengal ministers with their portfolios announced after midnight Friday:
Chief Minister: Mamata Banerjee - Home, Health, Land and Land Reforms, Agriculture, Information and Cultural Affairs, Hill Affairs, Minority Affairs, Madrasah Education, Personnel and Administrative Reforms, Power
Cabinet Ministers:
1) Subrata Buxi - Public Works Department, Transport
2) Partha Chatterjee - Industry and Commerce and Parliamentary Affairs, Public Enterprises, Industrial Reconstitution, Information Technology
3) Amit Mitra - Finance, Excise, Textile
4) Manish Gupta - Development and Planning
5) Subrata Mukherjee - Public Health Engineering
6) Abdul Karim Chowdhury - Mass Education Extension and Library Services
7) Sadhan Pande - Consumer Affairs
8) Upendranath Biswas - Backward Classes Welfare
9) Javed Khan - Disaster Management, Fire and Emergency Services, Civil Defence
10) Rabindranath Bhattacharjee - School Education
11) Sabitri Mitra - Woman and Child Development and Social Welfare
12) Jyotipriya Mullick - Food and Supplies
13) Shantiram Mahato - Self Help Group and Self-employment
14) H.A. Sawfi - Cooperation, Inland Water Transport
15) Malay Ghatak - Law and Judiciary
16) Purnendu Bose - Labour
17) Bratya Basu - Higher Education
18) Rachpal Singh - Tourism
19) Hiten Burman - Forest
20) Gautam Deb - North Bengal Development
21) Noor-e-Alam Chowdhury - Animal Resource Development
22) Shankar Chakrabarty - Non-conventional Energy Sources, Correctional Administration
23) Rabiranjan Chatterjee - Technical Education and Training, Science and Technology, Biotechnology
24) Sudarshan Ghosh Dastidar - Environment
25) Ujjal Biswas - Youth Services
26) Shyamapada Mukherjee - Housing
27) Firhad Hakim - Municipal Affairs and Urban Development
28) Sukumar Hansda - Western Zone Development Affairs
29) Soumen Mahapatra - Water Resources Investigation and Development
30) Arup Roy - Agricultural Marketing
31) Chandranath Sinha - Panchayat and Rural Development
32) Manas Bhuniya - (Cong) Irrigation and Waterways, Micro and Small scale Industries
33) Abu Hena - (Cong) Fisheries, Food Processing Industries
Ministers of State:
1) Manjulkrishna Thakur - Refugee Relief and Rehabilitation (Independent Charge) Micro and Small Scale Enterprise and Textile
2) Madan Mitra - Sports (Independent Charge)
3) Subrata Saha - Public Works
4) Shyamal Mandal - Sundarban Affairs (Independent Charge), Irrigation and Waterways
400 acres to be returned to Singur farmers: Mamata
suchithkc
Kolkata: Hours after being sworn in, the new West Bengal government of Mamata Banerjee Friday decided to return to farmers 400 acres of land taken against their will by the previous Left Front regime for the Tata Motors small car Nano project at Singur.
Announcing the decision taken at its first cabinet meeting at a media conference in the state secretariat, Banerjee said the Tatas were free to set up a factory in the remaining around 600 acres in the Hooghly district rural belt.
'The cabinet decision is to return 400 acres to farmers from whom land had been taken against their will. If the Tatas are interested in investing, they can set up the factory in the remaining 600 acres,' Banerjee said hours after being sworn in as the state's first woman chief minister.
Asked whether it was possible legally to return land once acquired, she replied: 'You don't have to think about that. The government has taken a decision. The government will do everything legally.'
Asked whether she would invite the Tatas to invest in Bengal, she said: 'I think they will invite themselves to Bengal to invest. Everybody is welcome to come to Bengal'.
She avoided a query as to whether she could give a deadline for returning the 400 acres. 'We have just started and you are asking for a deadline. I have given you a boundary line,' Banerjee quipped.
Banerjee's Trinamool Congress, decimated in the 2006 Assembly polls, saw its political graph climb again after it spearheaded a peasants agitation against the state government's acquisition of land for the Nano project demanding that 400 acres out of a total 997.11 acres be returned to farmers as it was taken against 'their will'.
Faced with the sustained and intense protests, the Tata Motors shifted the plant to Sanand in Gujarat. The agitation helped in turning the fortunes for Trinamool, which in later years went from strength to strength to unseat the 34-year-old Left front government in the recent assembly elections and take over power in alliance with the Congress.
Tata Motors still holds the lease of the factory.
Trinamool had then made a strong pitch for bringing into public domain the deal signed between Tata Motors and the state government.
'I have told my officials to show me the deal struck with the Tatas. We are transparent. Let me see the details,' Banerjee said to queries whether she will make the deal public.
Kolkata: Hours after being sworn in, the new West Bengal government of Mamata Banerjee Friday decided to return to farmers 400 acres of land taken against their will by the previous Left Front regime for the Tata Motors small car Nano project at Singur.
Announcing the decision taken at its first cabinet meeting at a media conference in the state secretariat, Banerjee said the Tatas were free to set up a factory in the remaining around 600 acres in the Hooghly district rural belt.
'The cabinet decision is to return 400 acres to farmers from whom land had been taken against their will. If the Tatas are interested in investing, they can set up the factory in the remaining 600 acres,' Banerjee said hours after being sworn in as the state's first woman chief minister.
Asked whether it was possible legally to return land once acquired, she replied: 'You don't have to think about that. The government has taken a decision. The government will do everything legally.'
Asked whether she would invite the Tatas to invest in Bengal, she said: 'I think they will invite themselves to Bengal to invest. Everybody is welcome to come to Bengal'.
She avoided a query as to whether she could give a deadline for returning the 400 acres. 'We have just started and you are asking for a deadline. I have given you a boundary line,' Banerjee quipped.
Banerjee's Trinamool Congress, decimated in the 2006 Assembly polls, saw its political graph climb again after it spearheaded a peasants agitation against the state government's acquisition of land for the Nano project demanding that 400 acres out of a total 997.11 acres be returned to farmers as it was taken against 'their will'.
Faced with the sustained and intense protests, the Tata Motors shifted the plant to Sanand in Gujarat. The agitation helped in turning the fortunes for Trinamool, which in later years went from strength to strength to unseat the 34-year-old Left front government in the recent assembly elections and take over power in alliance with the Congress.
Tata Motors still holds the lease of the factory.
Trinamool had then made a strong pitch for bringing into public domain the deal signed between Tata Motors and the state government.
'I have told my officials to show me the deal struck with the Tatas. We are transparent. Let me see the details,' Banerjee said to queries whether she will make the deal public.
I am interested in a consultancy job in IPL: Warne
suchithkc
Mumbai, May 20 : Australian spin legend Shane Warne, who played his final competitive game today, made it clear he won''t be returning as a full-time coach for the Rajasthan Royals or any other team next season but said he was interested in a consultancy role.
"This is my last game, never say never but at this stage of my life I don''t see myself playing a game again. I am certainly not coming back as full time coach," Warne said after bringing down curtains on his two-decade long career with a 10-wicket win over Mumbai.
"I won''t be 100 per cent in the entire tournament. Definitely no point in being here for seven weeks if you are not playing. I may come in as consultant may be ten days prior or some time in between. If they are happy I will be here for a week or so. If not I am done with the tournament will watch it on the telly," he added.
Warne said his team Rajasthan Royals was the best in the IPL competition when everything falls in place.
"We showed that when we do fire we are the best team in the competition. Our batsmen fired at the top," said the 41-year-old Australian legend after the Royals finished their IPL engagements on a high though they couldn''t qualify for the play-offs.
Warne said that the blistering knock of 89 by Shane Watson that flattened Mumbai who had a modest score of 133 to defend indicated his Australian compatriot was among the very best in the world.
"If Watson is not the best batsman in the world currently, I don''t know who is? He''s fantastic, you could argue if he is not he is among the top two batsmen in the world. He has already apologised to me for not doing it in the earlier games. He came away with his confidence high after scoring 180 in Bangladesh," he said.
Warne also rued that prior to today''s game, the Royals played poorly at home and lost their qualifying hopes.
"We won six games, had a washout and did not play well in the last three or four games. Disappointed with the way we have played the last three or four games. But the way we played the last game we have showed we can turn it on. One or two games here or there, that would have fetched us 17 points," he said.
"Unfortunately our batsmen did not fire through the tournament. If (Shane) Watson had one more innings like that, Ross Taylor had one or two innings like that, we would have been first or second."
Mumbai, May 20 : Australian spin legend Shane Warne, who played his final competitive game today, made it clear he won''t be returning as a full-time coach for the Rajasthan Royals or any other team next season but said he was interested in a consultancy role.
"This is my last game, never say never but at this stage of my life I don''t see myself playing a game again. I am certainly not coming back as full time coach," Warne said after bringing down curtains on his two-decade long career with a 10-wicket win over Mumbai.
"I won''t be 100 per cent in the entire tournament. Definitely no point in being here for seven weeks if you are not playing. I may come in as consultant may be ten days prior or some time in between. If they are happy I will be here for a week or so. If not I am done with the tournament will watch it on the telly," he added.
Warne said his team Rajasthan Royals was the best in the IPL competition when everything falls in place.
"We showed that when we do fire we are the best team in the competition. Our batsmen fired at the top," said the 41-year-old Australian legend after the Royals finished their IPL engagements on a high though they couldn''t qualify for the play-offs.
Warne said that the blistering knock of 89 by Shane Watson that flattened Mumbai who had a modest score of 133 to defend indicated his Australian compatriot was among the very best in the world.
"If Watson is not the best batsman in the world currently, I don''t know who is? He''s fantastic, you could argue if he is not he is among the top two batsmen in the world. He has already apologised to me for not doing it in the earlier games. He came away with his confidence high after scoring 180 in Bangladesh," he said.
Warne also rued that prior to today''s game, the Royals played poorly at home and lost their qualifying hopes.
"We won six games, had a washout and did not play well in the last three or four games. Disappointed with the way we have played the last three or four games. But the way we played the last game we have showed we can turn it on. One or two games here or there, that would have fetched us 17 points," he said.
"Unfortunately our batsmen did not fire through the tournament. If (Shane) Watson had one more innings like that, Ross Taylor had one or two innings like that, we would have been first or second."
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