Kalmadi was mastermind of TSR scam: CBI

May21,2011

NEW DELHI: The CBI squarely named arrestedCommonwealth Games chief organizer Suresh Kalmadi as the "mastermind" in fixing and inflating costs of a timing, scoring and results contract awarded to a Swiss firm that caused a loss of Rs 95 crore. 

In the first chargesheet it filed in a Games-related case on Friday, CBI countered Kalmadi's claim that the controversial contract awarded to a Swiss firm was cleared by an executive board and the sports ministry, maintaining the Pune MP was "the supreme authority in the Organising Committee having overriding powers". 

Agency sources said they were tracing an elaborate conspiracy that began at the Commonwealth Youth Games organized by Kalmadi at his parliamentary constituency of Pune where event organizer Wizcraft was asked to facilitate an appearance by Bollywood actor Shilpa Shetty. 

A partner in the plan was a firm Gem International – now named as a conspirator along withSwiss Timing Omega and Kalmadi and his Organizing Committee associates. Gem forked out Rs 72 lakh for the event and Rs 18 lakh was allegedly paid to Shetty. Later, after it won the timing, scoring and results contract, Swiss Timing allegedly paid Rs 23 crore to Gem, seen to be an exercise in routing the money. 

The agency said the buck stopped with Kalmadi as prime accused as he oversaw forgeries and tender conditions were tweaked to benefit Swiss Timing at his behest by his aides Lalit Bhanot and V K Verma, who were arrested in February. 

Along with Kalmadi, Bhanot and Verma, the 60-page chargesheet on the Rs 141 crore contract names former OC treasurer M Jaychandran and five others. Two companies -- Swiss Timing Omega and AKR Constructions -- have been indicted. 

The agency is likely to next file a chargesheet in the Queen Baton's Relay case involving allegedly illegal payments to British firm AM Cars and AM Films. Jaychandran was arrested in the case and is on bail with two other former OC officials. Kalmadi is likely to be main accused in this case as well. 

The two private entities – Swiss Timing and AKR Constructions – have been chargesheeted for routing payments and conspiring with OC officials with the final sub-contractor carrying out the work awarded for a fraction of the deal. 

The CBI court of judge Talwant Singh is due to take cognizance of the chargesheet on Monday. The agency has been helped by two former OC officials, one of whom V K Gautam was believed to be close to Kalmadi. He along with Sujit Panigraphi are among the main prosecution witnesses. The other important testimony is that of Rahul Bhatnagar, a senior official in the sports ministry. 

Kalmadi and his associates decided to award the contract to Swiss Timing before a tender was floated and the terms were changed after its issuance to specifically ensure the firm won the deal. A much lower Rs 62 crore bid by Spanish firm MSL was rejected. Swiss Timing's bid was accepted despite a 2:2 split in the evaluation committee, investigation has revealed. 

"They (the officials) had a pre-planned design to give contract to Swiss Timing, much before Expression of Interest and Request for Proposal (RPF) was issued and they had done forgeries, manipulations and machinations to give award to Switzerland based company." 

Since it could not find direct evidence of money trail, the agency cited circumstantial and documentary evidence in a bid to nail him for cheating, forgery and other charges. It said that he had himself "manipulated the eligibility criteria for the TSR contract to favour Swiss Timing." 

The agency based its chargesheet on the statement of around 70 witnesses and several documents including a forged contract and expression of interest and a hand-written note recovered from Kalmadi's house stating the TSR contract would go to Swiss Timing. 

OC officials to be chargesheeted include Surjit Lal, A S V Prasad and three private persons – promoters of Faridabad-based Gem International A K Madan and Purushottam Arya and MD ofHyderabad based AKR Constructions A Krishna Reddy. CBI has charged all of them for cheating, forgery, and criminal conspiracy, use of forged documents and prevention of corruption act. 

Reddy, Madan and Arya are on the run and CBI is looking for them armed with non-bailable warrants. 

The two firms Swiss Timing and Gem conspired with OC officials. "They then conspired with A K Reddy of AKR Constructions and raised highly inflated and bogus invoices for Rs 11 crore for temporary cabling work for justifying the huge payment received from Swiss Timing," said the chargesheet.

China, Pakistan move closer as Gilani visit ends

May 21 , 2011

China signalled its intent to deepen strategic ties with Pakistan and back the country’s counterterrorism efforts against international pressure, with the “all-weather” allies signing a number of defence agreements to mark the conclusion of Prime Minister Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani’s four-day visit.

Pakistani officials confirmed on Friday that China agreed to speed up the delivery of 50 JF-17 fighter jets to the country, a deal analysts said underscored the importance of Chinese assistance to Islamabad at a time when relations with Washington have come under strains, with some U.S. legislators calling for a scaling back support.

A joint statement issued on Friday said China believed that Pakistan’s “efforts for promoting peace and stability in South Asia should be recognised and supported.”

It also reiterated Chinese support to Pakistan in the wake of criticism following the May 2 killing of Osama bin Laden, repeating Beijing’s displeasure at the United States for violating Pakistan’s sovereignty by conducting the raid in Abbottabad.

China believed “Pakistan’s sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity should be respected,” the statement said, adding that China “recognised the tremendous efforts and the great sacrifice that Pakistan has made in fighting terrorism,”

On Friday, Chinese President Hu Jintao also voiced strong support for Pakistan’s counterterrorism strategy in talks with Mr. Gilani, pushing back against recent international criticism.

In talks earlier this week, Chinese officials told Mr. Gilani they had taken up the country’s concerns over the May 2 raid in meetings with U.S. officials, calling on them to respect Pakistan’s sovereignty.

Chinese officials said “there should be no harm to the Pakistani sovereignty and the US should understand and appreciate concerns of Pakistan,” Mr. Gilani told reporters.

While his visit has been seen as underscoring the deepening ties between the two countries, Chinese analysts downplayed its significance on the rest of the region, and particularly on the two countries’ relations with the U.S.

“The focus of this visit was the sixtieth anniversary of ties between the two countries, and to deepen economic and trade ties” and not defence or terrorism, Rong Ying, vice president of the China Institute for International Studies (CIIS), told The Hindu.

He, however, added that “China has made clear that Pakistan’s policy on counterterrorism is based on national conditions and interests.”

“This,” he said, “has to be respected by relevant countries.”

DMK’s first daughter Kanimozhi sent to jail

May 21, 2011

New Delhi A CBI court today ordered the immediate arrest of DMK Rajya Sabha MP Kanimozhi in the 2G spectrum scam, calling the allegations against her “very grave” and the “magnitude of the crime enormous”. She was “in conspiracy with accused A Raja as far as grant of licence and allotment of spectrum to Swan Telecom is concerned”, the court observed, dismissing her bail plea.

Along with her, Special CBI Judge O P Saini also sent Kalaignar TV Managing Director Sharad Kumar to Tihar jail, where other accused in the scam are already lodged.
“Kumar and Kanimozhi were involved in a dubious transaction to transfer Rs 200 crore as quid pro quo from DB Group companies to Kalaignar TV disguising it as a genuine business transaction,” the 144-page order said. “The role of both accused is clear from the above incriminating material... the magnitude of the crime is enormous. The allegations are very grave. The supporting evidence is also on record.”
The judge dismissed the contention that being a woman, Kanimozhi should be granted bail.
“Considering the magnitude of the crime and the allegations against her, I am unable to show any consideration to her on this ground, though I wish I could show some consideration, considering her extremely dignified conduct in the court.”
Making a note of the statement of public witness G Rajendran before the CBI, Saini said: “He states that the meeting of board of directors of Kalaignar TV held on 13.2.2009 in which Sharad Kumar was authorised to raise funds from Cineyug Limited up to Rs 200 crore was attended by Kumar and Kanimozhi.”
The CBI has charged Kanimozi with criminal conspiracy (Section 120 B of IPC) and under Sections 7 and 12 of the Prevention of Corruption Act.
Rejecting the defence contention that the Rajya Sabha MP did not play an active role in Kalaignar TV affairs, Judge Saini said she was “an initial director of the company and resigned only for the reason that her clearance from MHA (Ministry of Home Affairs) was pending... she was also widely covered by the Kalaignar Seithigal (News) channel”.
The judge also noted that “considering that many witnesses are employees of Kalaignar TV, there is every apprehension that the witnesses may be influenced if the accused is relealsed on bail”.
The judge relied on statements of three witnesses before the CBI: Asservatham Achary, the additional private secretary of A Raja; G Rajendran, General Manager (Finance), Kalaignar TV; and P Amritham, Additional Director, Kalaignar.
Achary said Kanimozhi was an active brain behind Kalaignar TV and frequently visited the camp office of A Raja, where company work was discussed. Rajendran testified that shares subscription and shareholders’ agreement dated 19.12.2008 was executed between Cineyug Films and Kalaignar TV and its three promoters, M K Dayalu, Kanimozhi Karunanidhi and Sharad Kumar. The agreement was also signed by the trio. Amritham pointed out that Kanimozhi was Director (Kalaignar TV) from 6.6.2007 to 20.6.2007.
About Kumar, the order said: “He has signed all the agreements purportedly signed with Cineyug Films and other relevant documents, not only on behalf of the company but also on behalf of himself and other directors/shareholders of the company.”
Rejecting the defence argument that since the duo were produced following summons they could not be taken into custody, the order said: “When an accused appears in court in response to summons issued by it, he surrenders himself to the custody of the court.”
“By way of abundant caution,” Saini also added that his observations were “tentative” and did not “tantamount to expression of opinion on the merit of the case”.

Mega satellite GSAT-8 successfully put into transfer orbit

May 21, 2011

Country's mega geo-stationary satellite GSAT-8 was successfully deployed in an elliptical geo-synchronous transfer orbit on early Saturday by the Ariane-VA-202 rocket, an official of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) said. "The 3.1-tonne satellite was injected in the GTO 31 minutes afte The space agency's master control facility (MCF) at Hasan, about 180 km from Bangalore, started receiving the signals from GSAT-8 within minutes after it entered the geo-synchronous transfer orbit (GTO). The MCF also took command and control of the heavy satellite.The satellite will be gradually put into the 36,000-km geosynchronous orbit over the next couple of days and its antenna and solar panels will be deployed."The MCF will test and monitor the health parameters of the payloads by June 1. It will be available for DTH services from July 1," ISRO director S Satish said.Along with GSAT-8, the space agency sent the global position system (GPS) aided geo augmented navigation (Gagan) as an additional payload to improve the accuracy of the US' GPS. 

20May 2011

20May 2011

20May 2011

18May 2011

18May 2011

ULFA keen on talks: Chidambaram

 Agartala: Union Home Minister P. Chidambaram on Tuesday said ULFA leaders had expressed their willingness to resume peace talks.

“ULFA leaders met Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and expressed willingness to resume peace talks. We advised them to prepare a document on the basis of which talks would start soon to reach an honourable solution to the problem,” the Minister said. “We will start talks with [Arabinda] Rajkhowa and his friends. Paresh Barua should come back to India for the talks.”

 

Governor invites Mamata to form government

KOLKATA: Governor M. K. Narayanan has issued an order appointing Mamata Banerjee as Chief Minister of West Bengal.

This is “in exercise of the power conferred on him [the Governor] by Article 164 (1) of the Constitution of India,” said a statement issued by the Governor's secretariat at Raj Bhavan here on Tuesday.

Ms. Banerjee, along with other members of her Ministry, will be sworn in by the Governor on Friday. The ceremony will commence at 1.01 p.m.

Mr. Narayanan had invited Trinamool Congress chief Ms. Banerjee, to form a new government in the State in a letter on Monday, a day after the Trinamool Congress leadership had formally staked its claim to do so, submitting a list of 184 newly-elected MLAs of the party.

Ms. Banerjee had been unanimously elected leader of the Trinamool Congress Legislature Party on Sunday. She had announced then that her Ministry would be, for now, “small” in size.

The Congress with which the Trinamool Congress had forged an electoral alliance has already submitted a letter of support to the government to be headed by Ms. Banerjee.

Though Ms. Banerjee, who had called on Congress president Sonia Gandhi in New Delhi on Monday, has invited the Congress to be part of her new government, a final word on the matter is awaited.

She had also invited both Ms. Gandhi and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to the swearing-in ceremony. But neither of the two leaders is likely to attend because of commitments.

Mamata meets Somnath

Ms. Banerjee called on the former Lok Sabha Speaker, Somnath Chatterjee, at his residence here late on Tuesday evening.

Arrangements have begun in earnest within the Raj Bhavan compounds in preparations for the swearing-in ceremony to which nearly 3,200 persons from various walks of life have been invited.

Last function as Railway Minister

Staff Reporter writes:

In what was her last function as Union Railway Minister, Ms. Banerjee on Tuesday thanked every member of the “railway family” for the “support and cooperation” extended to her in the last two years, and promised her successor all possible help for the all-round development of the Railways.

With Ms. Banerjee all set to become the next Chief Minister, the cabinet berth for Railways will most probably be handed over to a Trinamool Congress nominee. Party MP and Minister of State for Shipping Mukul Roy is being touted as the frontrunner.

Pointing out that both the State government and the Railways Ministry will henceforth be overseen by the Trinamool, Ms. Banerjee said both would “make giant strides towards development simultaneously.”

“The Railways and the West Bengal government are now linked to each other and will remarkable progress by working together. I will extend a helping hand to my colleague and successor for the development of the Railways alongside running the State government,” she said amid applause from the audience at the Howrah station, where she flagged off seven trains and laid the foundation for a host of projects.

Claiming that ‘Vision 2020' she prepared for the Railways was enough to keep it on the development track for the next 20 years, Ms. Banerjee said her successor would work on the same lines.

India and Uzbekistan to firm up communication, security links

NEW DELHI: Uzbekistan President Islam Karimov arrived here to hold talks on strengthening security, communication and energy links.

This would be the first high level India-Uzbekistan interaction after the killing of Osama bin Laden, whose ideology had caused violence and mayhem in several Central Asian countries, particularly Uzbekistan, which is contiguous to Afghanistan.

The convergence of views on Afghanistan, Uzbekistan's efforts to enhance ties with South Asia, particularly India and Pakistan, and its bid to diversify customers for gas and oil will occupy centre stage during talks between Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Mr. Karimov, who is on his fourth visit to India.

Afghanistan situation

The views of Uzbekistan and India converge on regional security especially with respect to the situation in Afghanistan. Tashkent agrees with New Delhi's reasoning of winnowing the bad Taliban from the good and then going in for reconciliation with sections that have repudiated the al-Qaeda ideology of militancy and violence to usher a universal Islamic caliphate.

At the receiving end of an al-Qaeda inspired militancy, Uzbekistan has cracked down ruthlessly and nearly decimated the feared Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan especially after the Andijan stand-off with its security forces in 2005.

In opening up communication links, India will be especially interested in two proposed routes that would bypass Pakistan and the restive southern Afghanistan while giving it access to Central Asia. Both originate from Tashkent, pass through Termez in Uzbekistan and Mazar-e-Sharief in Afghanistan. They then branch off from the western Afghan city of Herat.

The proposed western spur goes to Delaram, follows the India-built road till the Iran border and, if the missing links are put in place, connects to the Iranian port of Chabar. The second alternative would pass through Iran's Sangan and Kerman cities before ending at the Banda Abbas port.

In both cases, India will have to ship its goods to the Iranian ports and then transport them by land into Afghanistan and Central Asian countries that lie in the north and the east.

Currently, part of the route in Uzbekistan is used by the NATO to send supplies to its forces in Afghanistan.

Another promising area of cooperation is energy. National companies have reached an understanding over sourcing underground coal gasification technology from Uzbekistan and are likely to sign a pact over identifying blocks for exploration, said senior Ministry of External Affairs official Ajay Bisaria.

The Gas Authority of India Limited is engaged in talks with Uzbekneftgas for scouting for gas in Karakal-Pakistan region.

 

18May 2011

Maoists kill 5 CRPF men in Chhattisgarh

At least five Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) personnel were killed in an ambush by the Maoists in the rebel-dominated Dantewada area of Chhattisgarh on Tuesday night.

Initial reports said the CRPF men were in a vehicle which was blown up by a landmine planted by the Maoists.

Details of the incident that occurred near Sukma are awaited.

Last year there were some major attacks on men in uniform in the region by the Maoists.

On May 17 of 2010, a landmine blast had killed more than 40 people, including civilians and Special Police Officials (SPOs).

The attack had occurred just a month after Dantewada witnessed the killing of 76 CRPF men in April that year.

Recall Bhardwaj, demands BJP

New Delhi: The battle between Karnataka Governor H.R. Bhardwaj and the BJP government, led by Chief Minister B.S. Yeddyurappa, has reached the flashpoint, with BJP president Nitin Gadkari parading the BJP MLAs before President Pratibha Patil at the Rashtrapati Bhavan here on Tuesday. They requested her not to impose President's rule in the State.

The leaders wanted the “immediate recall” of Mr. Bhardwaj claiming that he was functioning against the spirit of the Constitution.

The delegation, which included the Chief Minsiter and 114 MLAs of the BJP (some were absent with prior permission), also consisted of party seniors Sushma Swaraj, Arun Jaitley, MPs and MLCs.

Later, Mr. Gadkari told journalists that Ms. Patil was informed by the delegation that Mr. Bhardwaj's decision recommending President's rule was "undemocratic and unconstitutional and President's rule should not be imposed on the State. We sought protection from the President [against invoking Article 356 of the Constitution] and asked her not to take any action on the recommendation of the Governor."

He said the BJP government had the support of 122 MLAs, including Mr. Yeddyurappa and the Speaker. Since the President is the guardian of the Constitution, the BJP wanted to take the issue to her.

Mr. Gadkari said he apprised the President of the Governor's actions and how he had recommended President's rule despite Mr. Yeddyurappa enjoying the majority. "Since he has time and again acted against the Constitution he should be called back. We told the President that she should exercise her powers to recall the Governor."

A memorandum presented by the BJP to the President claimed that the "dignity and prestige of the office of Governor in Karnataka has suffered a great deal."

Earlier in the day, addressing the MLAs, Mr. Gadkari praised Mr. Yeddyurappa and said the party would emerge “101 per cent” victorious in the battle with Mr. Bhardwaj. "We are a majority government, a popular government ...We will definitely win as we are going through the democratic process," he said.

 

Free rice distribution scheme from June 1

CHENNAI: The scheme of free distribution of 20 kg rice to beneficiaries under the public distribution system (PDS) will come into force on June 1.

At present, rice is given at Re. 1 a kg to those who are entitled to receive the commodity. As per the existing norms, rice of four kg per adult and two kg per child is supplied subject to a minimum of 12 kg and a maximum of 20 kg per month per card except in the Nilgiris where the minimum will be 16 kg and the maximum 24 kg.

According to a government order issued on Tuesday, the existing norms will continue.

In the case of Antodaya Anna Yojana (AAY) beneficiaries, rice of 35 kg will be given free.

The government order follows the announcement of Chief Minister Jayalalithaa on Monday on her first visit to the Secretariat. Her party, the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam, had made an electoral promise regarding the provision of rice free.

Sources say that the latest decision of the government will cover 18.62 lakh AAY beneficiaries and 1.83 crore card holders who are entitled to rice. This will result in an increase of the food subsidy by Rs.500 crore.

As for the Chief Minister's another announcement on the marriage assistance schemes, an official explains that under the scheme for educated poor women, prospective beneficiaries belonging to tribal communities should have passed fifth standard, and 10th standard in respect of other communities. Apart from Rs. 25,000, four gram gold for making sacred thread would be given. In respect of the scheme for graduate women or diploma holders, the assistance of Rs. 50,000 and four gram gold would be given. The limit on parental annual income for the two schemes is Rs. 24,000.

Approximately, 1.7 lakh women are expected to be covered under the two schemes. This would cost about Rs.290 crore additionally to the exchequer.

The government has issued another order, increasing the duration of maternity leave to married women government servants from 90 days to 180 days, which may be spread over from the pre-confinement rest to post-confinement recuperation at the option of the servant.

 

Indian trio not sure for SLPL

Colombo: As many as 12 Indian cricketers, including the likes of Munaf Patel and Ravichandran Ashwin, are expected to feature in the first edition of the Sri Lankan Premier League (SLPL), scheduled to commence from July 19.

However, among the Indian players on the SLPL radar, the inclusion of Patel, Ashwin and Praveen Kumar, who were recently selected for the West Indies tour, comes as a surprise as the trio is likely to be on national duty during that period.

India are scheduled to visit England during the month of July for a four-match Test series, followed by a one-day series and a one-off Twenty20 match.

According to a report in a Sri Lankan website, Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) has secured the services of several prominent overseas cricketers, including Chris Gayle and Kieron Pollard.

Apart from Gayle, SLPL is also expected to feature Daniel Vettori.

The other Indian players who figure in the list posted by the website include Dinesh Karthik, Irfan Pathan, Manish Pandey, Manoj Tiwary, Paul Valthaty, Ravindra Jadeja, Saurabh Tiwary, Umesh Yadav and R. Vinay Kumar.

A ‘special’ win for WI

Calcutta: Sunday’s win in the first Test was special for the members of the West Indies team, but especially “sweet” for some of the younger players who were tasting victory in a Test the first time.

It was the first ever Test match for leg-spinner Devendra Bishoo and he celebrated the 40-run win over Pakistan with his mother.

“This is a feeling I can’t explain. I can’t find the words to describe how I feel right now. Before today, the West Indies had not won a Test match for over two years, and to come in my first match, in front my home crowd, with mum in the stands watching, is truly special,” the 25-year-old said.

“This is a great start to my career. I could not have asked for better. From here I have to kick on and continue to get better and do better for West Indies cricket,” Bishoo added.

Bishoo played well in the match and was a candidate for the Man-of-the-Match award. He took four wickets in the first innings and also batted resolutely on a difficult pitch. The award eventually went to skipper Darren Sammy, who took seven wickets for 45 runs from 29 overs in the match. He said the secret to his own success with the ball was straightforward.

“It was to bowl straight and I think we stuck to that throughout the test match and hence we came out victorious. I have immense self- belief to go out there and do well. Today, I showed that once you believe you can achiev,” said Sammy.

The 27-year-old skipper, in his fourth test as captain, was thrilled about claiming his first victory. “It’s a good feeling. I have to commend the effort from the boys, every single person that batted on that hard wicket, from the partnership of Bishoo and Shiv (Chanderpaul) right down at the end… It was a team effort to come out on the winning side of things,” he said.

Fast bowler Ravi Rampaul was superb throughout the match and ended with seven wickets. “I want to thank all the members of the team for believing in me.

“For a while in my career I was the water boy and things weren’t happening for me… But this result goes to show what can happen when you have faith in yourself. Every ball I bowled out there I received support from everyone on the field.”

Chargers switch off the Warriors’ hopes

Mumbai: It wasn’t supposed to be a super match with instant rewards. But whatever little it had to offer, was solely meant for the Pune Warriors, not the Deccan Chargers.

A win would still have kept the complicated mathematics, of the Warriors making it to the play-offs, alive. And for a certain Sourav Ganguly, it was a chance to sharpen his blade before the evergreen warrior’s battle against the Knights, on Thursday.

But as often in life, the googly of events castled the expectations. The Warriors lost and Sourav fell for a duck.

For the Chargers, pride, and not two points, were at stake as their name had already been struck off from the race to the play-offs. They had humbled the formidable Mumbai Indians in their last match. And they can rightly be called the party poopers after their six-wicket victory on Monday wiped out whatever little hope the Warriors had.

The target — 137 — was never an imposing one. With some handsome contributions from the Chargers batsmen, the Warriors ended up being no match for the visitors.

In a way, it was also a revenge well taken for the Hyderabad side as they had lost the first leg clash. Interestingly, the target in that match, too, was 137, but it were the Warriors who had crossed the finishing line last time.

The opening wicket stand of 67 between Sunny Sohal (34) and Shikhar Dhawan (28) paved the way for Sangakkara (25), JP Duminy (23), Daniel Christian (14 not out) and Bharat Chipli (5 not out) to complete the steps to victory.

The Warriors’ bowlers never managed to extract proper bite from the wicket and thus their resistance, in short, was toothless.

Earlier, the Warriors looked a limping side after Sangakkara ‘tossed’ them to bat first on a pitch which had life in it for the bowlers.

It wasn’t really a superlative show from the Chargers’ bowlers, but the right balls came out of their hand at the right time. The Warriors’ batsmen, too, were jittery in their shot selection, either overdoing it or being terribly short of the required effort.

Jesse Ryder, however, was looking to defuse the Chargers with some lusty hitting. Sangakkara opted to start the bowling, and weirdly too, with Duminy. The part-timer didn’t appear at ease with this responsibility and Ryder (18) launched him out of the ground with the fifth ball of the day.

Dale Steyn wasn’t as good as his reputation, but somehow he managed to strike the first blow for Chargers when Ryder’s ill-timed drive was lapped up brilliantly by D. Ravi Teja at covers.

In came Sourav. After making a solid ‘debut’ for the Warriors, expectations were ripe. But it wasn’t Dada’s day. After a couple of tentative pushes and a swing-and-miss attempt, all that the former Knight managed was a half-hearted lob, off Christian. Pragyan Ojha accepted the chance at covers as the ‘home’ team slumped to 35/2.

With Robin Uthappa and Yuvraj still in the bank, a turnaround for the Warriors wasn’t really stuff of fiction.

All it needed was some sensible investment of time and shots on a tricky pitch. But then, when you have decided harakiri would be your plan of action for the day, expecting sanity is like fanning a volcano.

Manish Pandey (23), Ryder’s opening partner, decided to be a superman using ferocious power to punish the ball. But lack of judgement for the good and bad balls brought his downfall as his attempted backfoot cut off Ojha crashed onto his stumps.

Uthappa (4) played a coach as he gave Amit Mishra some catching practice off his own bowling. Mishra struck again with his very next ball, a googly, as a hapless Mithun Manhas (0) was castled searching for the ball at the wrong place.

It was actually a splendid over from the Man of the Match leg-spinner — two wickets conceding zero runs.

At 45 for five after eight overs, Pune were looking like a defeated band of Warriors. Chances of putting up a decent total on the board were as dead as the proverbial Dodo.

That Yuvraj’s side managed 136, losing nine wickets, from their quota of 20 overs, was commendable.

First it was the captain himself, hitting 23 off 17 balls. Then Mitchell Marsh played a useful innings of 37 off 28 balls pushing the total past 120.

Judge denies bail to Kahn in sex assault case Time in court: 26 minutes

New York, May 16: Dominique Strauss-Kahn, the leader of the IMF, was ordered today to be held without bail over allegations that he had sexually assaulted a maid in a $3,000-a-night suite at a New York hotel.

Prosecutors had asked the judge, Melissa Jackson, supervising judge of Manhattan Criminal Court, to remand Strauss-Kahn, 62, contending that he was a flight risk.

They also highlighted the serious nature of the allegations.

“The defendant restrained a hotel employee inside his room,” said John McConnell, an assistant district attorney. “He sexually assaulted her and attempted to forcibly rape her,” and when that failed, he forced her to perform oral sex.

Benjamin Brafman, one of Strauss-Kahn’s lawyers, argued that “there is a very very defensible case and he should be entitled to bail”. He added that his client was not trying to flee when he was arrested on an Air France plane that was about to take off from Kennedy International Airport on Saturday.

Brafman said that Strauss-Kahn’s travel plans had been set for some time, and he indicated that there was evidence that between the time of the alleged attack and his flight, Strauss-Kahn was in the area, taking care of other business.

But Judge Jackson ruled against Strauss-Kahn, and returned him to custody.

Strauss-Kahn’s appearance in the court, which lasted only 26 minutes, capped a 43-hour odyssey through New York’s criminal system. He was arrested, held in a special cell in East Harlem, placed in a police line-up, and submitted to a forensic medical exam for possible evidence.

He even was subjected to a ritual familiar to high-profile suspects: the so-called perp walk, providing newspapers around the world with a front-page picture of Strauss-Kahn being led away from a police station in handcuffs.

He first appeared in the court at 10.49am (New York time), brought in from the back-room cells to the gasp of a rows packed tightly with reporters. Some stood up to get a glimpse of him as he sat on a bench with other defendants. Court officers quickly admonished the reporters to sit down.

But just eight minutes after he had been brought into the courtroom, Strauss-Kahn was ushered back out by a police officer wearing a short-sleeved polo shirt, signalling an even further delay in the arraignment.

Strauss-Kahn looked just as he had the day before — in a dark, full-length coat, hands cuffed behind his back and a stern gaze on his face.

The long wait for Strauss-Kahn’s arraignment unfolded as an international corps of reporters, photographers and camera crews were crowded outside the courtroom because there was not enough seating to accommodate everyone.

Yesterday afternoon, Strauss-Kahn’s accuser picked him out of a line-up in East Harlem, where he was being held at the Special Victims Unit, and new details emerged on how he came to be taken into custody.

The authorities said they had moved to obtain a court order granting them a search warrant to examine Strauss-Kahn for signs of injury that he might have suffered during a struggle or for traces of his accuser’s DNA.

“Things like getting things from under the fingernails,” a law enforcement official explained, “the classic things you get in association with a sex assault.”

Irish bomb threat in London

London, May 16 (Reuters): Irish militants opposed to the peace process with Britain warned of a bomb in central London today on the eve of Queen Elizabeth’s historic visit to Ireland, security sources said.

“A bomb threat ... has been received relating to central London today. The threat is not specific in relation to location or time,” London police said in a statement.

A security source said the caller had used a codeword known to the police, lending credibility to the threat.

The warning came on the eve of the first visit to Ireland by a British monarch in a century and a week before President Barack Obama makes a state visit to London. Police said earlier that a security alert had led to the closure of the Mall, a broad avenue leading to Buckingham Palace, Queen Elizabeth’s residence.

Saudi diplomat shot dead in Karachi

Karachi, May 16 (AP): Gunmen on a motorbike shot and killed a Saudi diplomat as he was driving in Pakistan’s largest city today, just days after two hand grenades were tossed at the Arab state’s consulate building, police in Karachi said.

The police believe the primary motive was sectarian tension between Islam’s Sunni and Shia branches. But the attack also follows the killing of Saudi-born Osama bin Laden in an American raid on May 2.

Al Qaida is a fierce opponent of the Saudi regime and has sworn revenge for the death of Osama. But no one immediately claimed responsibility for the diplomat’s slaying.

A spokesman for the Pakistani Taliban, the country’s most high profile militant group, called the Associated Press to say it did not kill the diplomat.

The spokesman, Ahsanullah Ahsan, added: “Although we believe Saudi Arabia is an even bigger slave to America than Pakistan, we are not involved in today’s killing.”

Tariq Dharejo, a police investigator in Karachi, said officers believe the shooting was motivated by anger over Saudi Arabia’s decision to send troops to Bahrain to quell protests by Shias, who comprise 70 per cent of the population there but are excluded from key positions in the Sunni-dominated government. Saudi Arabia is almost entirely Sunni.

Sunni-Shia tensions trace back to a seventh century dispute over the true heir to Prophet Mohammad.

Today’s attack took place not far from the consulate building. The diplomat — who was driving a silver Toyota Corona and was alone — appeared to be on his way to work, said police officer Zameer Husain Abbasi. He said a 9 mm pistol was used in the assault.

The victim, identified as Hasan Khattani, was a member of the security staff at the consulate, said Iqbal Mehmood, Karachi’s deputy inspector of police. He said the shooting was carried out by two men on a motorbike and appeared to be linked to last week's grenade attack on the mission, which caused some damage but no injuries.

The Saudi foreign ministry condemned the diplomat's killing and said in a statement issued today that Saudi Arabia has asked Pakistani authorities to increase security measures around the Saudi embassy and consulate in Pakistan. Prince Saudi al-Faisal, the statement said, gave condolences to the family.

Tea bodies demand 2 berths in new Cabinet

DIBRUGARH, May 16 – Assam Tea Tribes’ Students’ Association (ATTSA), All Adivasi Students’ Association of Assam (AASAA), All Assam Mundari Sahitya Sabha (MSS) and Adivasi Sahitya Sabha (ASS) have called upon the high command of the Indian National Congress (INC) to induct Etuwa Munda into the new Assam government.
ATTSA general secretary Poban Bedia said that the Congress high command should consider the fact that Munda defeated AGP candidate Anup Phukan with a margin of over 15,000 votes to regain the Tingkhong LAC seat. Munda is dynamic and is also a senior Congress leader among the energetic MLAs from the tea garden communities.

AASAA publicity secretary, Jiten Lakra said that there are various ethnic communities working in tea gardens membership around 80 lakhs in population and they should have at least two of their elected members in the new ministry of the State government. AASAA, which has also put forward the name of Munda, did not name the second elected member.

Adivasi Sahitya Sabha president Wilfred Topno has also demanded that the name of Etuwa Munda be preferred while selecting names for the ministry from among the MLAs belonging to tea and ex tea garden tribes. Topno said that Munda has previous experience of being the PWD Minister for State and so should be eligible to get a ministerial berth.

Etuwa represents various communities of the tea gardens in Assam, he said.

Adivasi Sahitya Sabha is also of the opinion that the new State government should have at least two MLAs from the tea and ex tea garden communities as ministers. Joshua Barjo, president of the All Assam Mundari Sahitya Sabha (MSS) too in a statement requested Tarun Gogoi and the leaders of the Indian Nation Congress to induct dynamic leaders like Munda into the Cabinet.

Assam-Mizoram boundary dispute to be resolved’

Newmai News
AIZAWL, May 16 – Mizoram Chief Minister Lal Thanhawla today expressed his optimism in solving the long pending boundary dispute with Assam in a peaceful way.
Sending out a congratulatory message to Tarun Gogoi and the Congress party in Assam for the thumping victory in the recent Assembly erlections, the Mizoram Chief Minister said the issue of boundary dispute will be resolved in the negotiating table. “I have full confidence that the boundary issue with Assam will be resolved soon with the forming of a new Ministry in Assam. Negotiation is necessary for this purpose for which a Commission will be set up very soon,” said Lal Thanhawla.

The boundary dispute with Assam had become complicated after the Mizoram Peace Accord was signed in 1986. Mizoram accuses Assam of encroaching its land near Bairabi railway station in Kolasib district bordering Assam.

Mizoram students bodies such as Mizo Zirlai Pawl (MZP) and MSU have raised their voices demanding that the inter-State boundary between Mizoram and Assam be demarcated in accordance with the notification issued in 1875 under Bengal Eastern Frontier Regulation Act, 1873. MZP also urged the State Government to deploy more police personnel to effectively guard the border.

Meanwhile, the Chief Minister had attended Rongali Bihu which was celebrated with traditional gaeity and enthusiasm in Aizawl on Saturday last, official sources revealed.

Speaking on the occasion, the Mizoram Chief Minister said that of all the festivals that he had seen in the country, Bihu is one of the best and hilarious festivals endowed with amazing joy and flavour.

He said that Assam is the ‘mother’ of almost all the States of the NE. “We, therefore, all have a deep sense of belonging in one way or the other. We hope Assam and its poeple also share this sentiment”, the Mizoram Chief Minister added.

Chidambaram on visit to Tripura, Mizoram

Spl Correspondent
NEW DELHI, May 16 – Union Home Minister P Chidambaram will unveil the foundation stone for the construction of an Integrated Check Post (ICP) at Agartala tomorrow. Tripura Chief Minister Manik Sarkar and other dignitaries are attending the function.
The ICPs are envisaged to overcome the infrastructural bottlenecks at the various entry and exit points on the land borders of the country. They are expected to provide facilities for the effective and efficient discharge of functions such as security, immigration, customs and quarantine, while also providing support facilities for smooth cross-border movement of persons, goods and transport.

Setting up of ICPs along India’s internal border is a major initiative, with an initial outlay of Rs 635 crore during the 11th Five Year Plan. The estimated cost of Agartala ICP Project is Rs 73.50 crore. Rs 42.17 crore has been approved for the civil construction of the ICP. The schedule for the completion of the project is around 14 months. The project is likely to be completed by July, 2012.

The Department of Border Management has finalised the Detailed Project Reports for all the 13 ICPs to be initially set up on the borders between India and Bangladesh, Nepal, Pakistan and Myanmar.

Official sources said Government of Bangladesh has also been apprised to create similar infrastructure and facilities to bring about proper synergy.

Agartala Correspondent adds: Chidambarm is scheduled to lay the foundation stone for the ICP at Akhaura, near Indo-Bangla border. Industries Minister Jitendra Chowdhury will also be present in the programme.

After laying the foundation stone of the ICP, Chidambaram will go to the Raj Bhavan where he will have a meeting with Chief Minister, Chief Secretary and DGP.

Besides reviewing the overall law and order situation, progress of erection of barbed wire fencing, problems related to fence victims and repatriation of Reang refugee will come up for discussion in the meeting.

Though 3341 Reang refugees sheltered in North Tripura’s Kanchanpur subdivision have returned to their home – Mizoram since November last year, the State Government wants Mizoram Government to take back all the refugees who are still living in six refugee camps.

Chidambaram will leave Agartala for Aizwal on May 18. Sources said, the Union Minister will hold a meeting with Mizoram Chief Minister to oversee the resettlement of repatriated Reang refugees.

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Top Headlines »

Tough time for Gogoi in selecting ministry
GUWAHATI, May 16 – Tarun Gogoi is set to get re-elected as the leader of the Assam Congress Legislature Party tomorrow as the newly-elected legislators of the party are meeting at the State Guest House to elect their new leader. ...
India scoffs at ISI chief’s threat
NEW DELHI, May 16 – India is unlikely to give any credence to Pakistan’s ISI chief Ahmed Shuja Pasha’s threat that any Abbottabad-like attack would invite a befitting response, calling it a “tall claim” to hide his own failure, reports PTI. ...

intervention
NEW DELHI/BANGALORE, May 16 – The BJP today launched a campaign against Karnataka Governor HR Bhardwaj demanding his immediate recall and knocked at the doors of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, who gave an assurance that “nothing unconstitutional” wil ...

Pending criminal cases against 13 new MLAs
NEW DELHI, May 16 – The new Assembly in Assam would have the dubious distinction of having the highest number of 13 MLAs with criminal background, with All India United Democratic Front (AIUDF) leading the pack with six MLAs with a shady past includi ...

Kalmadi tarnished country’s image: CBI
NEW DELHI, May 16 – “Suresh Kalmadi’s conduct has tarnished the image of the country,” was how CBI described him while opposing the bail plea of the former CWG Organising Committee chief arrested on charges of cheating, conspiracy and corruption in t ...

SC raps IT dept over 2G scam probe
NEW DELHI, May 16 – The Supreme Court today pulled up the Income Tax department for not taking timely action against the companies involved in the 2G spectrum scam and said had it not intervened, the officials would have “slept over it” and the overs ...

Govt may hike PF interest rate
BANGALORE, May 16 – Union Minister for Labour and Employment M Mallikarjun Kharge today said the government was looking at further hiking the interest rate on Provident Fund from the present 9.5 per cent, reports PTI. .

UP police raped women: Rahul Gandhi

New Delhi: Upping the ante on the issue of land acquisition in Uttar Pradesh, Congress general secretary Rahul Gandhi on Monday met Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and discussed the land acquisition issue in Bhatta Parsaul village in Uttar Pradesh.

Gandhi also facilitated a meeting of a delegation of farmers from Bhatta Parsaul with the Prime Minister.

“The Prime Minister gave a patient hearing to the farmers’ woes and assured all help from the centre,” the senior Congress leader said while talking to reporters outside 7, Race Course Road here right after the meeting with the Prime Minister.

Gandhi said it was during his short stay at Bhatta Parsaul, the villagers requested him to facilitate a meeting with the Prime Minister.

Taking on the Uttar Pradesh government head on, the Congress general secretary accused the Mayawati government of atrocities against the villagers.

“Poor people are being brutalised. Women are being raped and houses are being destroyed. I am quite concerned about the situation and it is still pretty bad,” he said.

Gandhi alleged that huge heaps of ash of burnt bodies have been found in the villages where farmers were agitating for better compensation for their land acquired by Maaywati government.

Gandhi also showed the Prime Minister pictures purportedly of bodies burnt and other forms of violence against farmers and their family members.

"The issue here is a more fundamental one with regard to these villages in particular and a large number of villages in UP all down the Agra highway, where state repression is being used, where people are being murdered,” he saidThis was his first comment after his arrest at Bhatta Parsaul.

Congress demanded a judicial probe into the charges of rape of women and murder of farmers.

"What we are asking for is a judicial inquiry...if there are grave allegations made, if there are charges where photographs have been produced, I don't understand what problem the UP government can possibly face in ordering a judicial inquiry", Congress spokesperson Jayanthi Natarajan said.

BSP dubbed Rahul's meeting the Prime Minister Minsiter with the farmers of Bhatta Parsaul near Greater Noida as another instance of Congress' "indulging in petty politics" and dismissed as "baseless" the allegation that a large number of lives were lost and women raped in Bhatta Parasul near

BSP leader Syed Kazim Ali Khan "it is yet to be determined if the photographs are genuine. “What is the authenticity of the photographs, who these people are. Are they actually from the village? Are they from the state? Did they disappear? Were they murdered or did they die of natural causes? All this has to be determined," he asked.

The Uttar Pradesh government arrested Gandhi in Bhatta Parsaul village on May 11 under Section 151.

Four people, including two policemen, were killed on May 07 when villagers clashed with policemen for greater compensation for their lands acquired by the Uttar Pradesh government for development projects.

With Uttar Pradesh election a year ahead, Rahul Gandhi is trying to consolidate Congress by raising the grass root issue.
This was his first comment after his arrest at Bhatta Parsaul.

Congress demanded a judicial probe into the charges of rape of women and murder of farmers.

"What we are asking for is a judicial inquiry...if there are grave allegations made, if there are charges where photographs have been produced, I don't understand what problem the UP government can possibly face in ordering a judicial inquiry", Congress spokesperson Jayanthi Natarajan said.

BSP dubbed Rahul's meeting the Prime Minister Minsiter with the farmers of Bhatta Parsaul near Greater Noida as another instance of Congress' "indulging in petty politics" and dismissed as "baseless" the allegation that a large number of lives were lost and women raped in Bhatta Parasul near

BSP leader Syed Kazim Ali Khan "it is yet to be determined if the photographs are genuine. “What is the authenticity of the photographs, who these people are. Are they actually from the village? Are they from the state? Did they disappear? Were they murdered or did they die of natural causes? All this has to be determined," he asked.

The Uttar Pradesh government arrested Gandhi in Bhatta Parsaul village on May 11 under Section 151.

Four people, including two policemen, were killed on May 07 when villagers clashed with policemen for greater compensation for their lands acquired by the Uttar Pradesh government for development projects.

With Uttar Pradesh election a year ahead, Rahul Gandhi is trying to consolidate Congress by raising the grass root issue.
This was his first comment after his arrest at Bhatta Parsaul.

Congress demanded a judicial probe into the charges of rape of women and murder of farmers.

"What we are asking for is a judicial inquiry...if there are grave allegations made, if there are charges where photographs have been produced, I don't understand what problem the UP government can possibly face in ordering a judicial inquiry", Congress spokesperson Jayanthi Natarajan said.

BSP dubbed Rahul's meeting the Prime Minister Minsiter with the farmers of Bhatta Parsaul near Greater Noida as another instance of Congress' "indulging in petty politics" and dismissed as "baseless" the allegation that a large number of lives were lost and women raped in Bhatta Parasul near

BSP leader Syed Kazim Ali Khan "it is yet to be determined if the photographs are genuine. “What is the authenticity of the photographs, who these people are. Are they actually from the village? Are they from the state? Did they disappear? Were they murdered or did they die of natural causes? All this has to be determined," he asked.

The Uttar Pradesh government arrested Gandhi in Bhatta Parsaul village on May 11 under Section 151.

Four people, including two policemen, were killed on May 07 when villagers clashed with policemen for greater compensation for their lands acquired by the Uttar Pradesh government for development projects.

With Uttar Pradesh election a year ahead, Rahul Gandhi is trying to consolidate Congress by raising the grass root issue.

CNBC Awaaz, Live Hindi Business News TV Channel, India

CNBC Awaaz, Live Hindi Business News TV Channel, India

IMF chief charged with sex assault, France in shock

NEW YORK (Reuters) - IMF chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn was charged on Sunday with trying to rape a New York hotel maid in a scandal that appeared to wreck his hopes of becoming France's next president.
A handcuffed and drained Strauss-Kahn appeared before before reporters for the first time on Sunday night when two police detectives escorted him from a police station to a gray, four-door sedan. Police said he would be taken to the booking station at Manhattan Criminal Court.
His hair neatly parted, Strauss-Kahn wore a black overcoat, blue dress shirt and black dress slacks. He kept his eyes straight ahead, avoiding looking at the battery of cameras that had staked out the site for hours.
The sexual assault charges throw the IMF into turmoil just as it is trying to ease an escalating euro zone debt crisis, and they turn France's presidential election campaign upside down when polls had made Strauss-Kahn a clear front runner.
The charismatic 62-year-old, who led the International Monetary Fund through the 2007-09 global financial meltdown and has been central in galvanizing Europe to tackle its debt woes, for long had the reputation of a womanizer. But the charges he faces are in another realm.
A maid, 32, said he emerged naked from the bathroom and sexually assaulted her inside his $3,000-a-night suite at the Sofitel hotel near New York's Times Square on Saturday afternoon.
He would plead not guilty, his lawyers said.
Strauss-Kahn's first court appearance before a state judge had been expected on Sunday night but was delayed after investigators asked a judge for a warrant to search his body for scratches, a police spokesman said.
The defendant agreed to a medical examination voluntarily, one of his defense lawyers said. It was unclear where or when the exam would take place.
"Our client willingly consented to a scientific and forensic examination tonight ... at the request of the government and in light of the hour we have agreed to postpone the arraignment until tomorrow morning," said lawyer William Taylor. No specific time was given for the court appearance.
"He's tired but he's fine," said Taylor, Strauss-Kahn's longtime, Washington-based lawyer.
Police say he fled the hotel after the alleged assault and a few hours later they pulled him from his first-class seat on an Air France plane minutes before it was to take off for Paris.
Strauss-Kahn was charged with a criminal sexual act, unlawful imprisonment and attempted rape, moving him from luxurious hotel suite and a glittering public career to scandal and a bare holding cell in New York's tough Harlem neighborhood in the space of a few hours
The contrast could barely have been more dramatic. At the Sofitel, Strauss-Kahn's suite had a conference room, living room, foyer, spacious marble bathroom and a bedroom with a sumptuous king-sized bed and feather and down duvet.
While he was locked up in Harlem on Sunday, the woman identified him from a police lineup that included five other men, a police spokesman said.
Police say Strauss-Kahn does not have diplomatic immunity from the charges, which if proven could carry a prison sentence of 15 to 20 years. They have collected DNA evidence from the hotel suite, The New York Times reported.
The IMF said Strauss-Kahn had been in New York on private business. He has hired New York lawyer Benjamin Brafman, a seasoned defense attorney who has successfully represented several celebrities, to lead his defense team.
The IMF chief's wife, well-known French television personality Anne Sinclair, jumped to her husband's defense.
"I do not believe for a single second the accusations leveled against my husband," she said in a statement.
IMF CRISIS, ELECTION 'THUNDERBOLT'
The IMF tried to fill its leadership vacuum by naming No. 2 official, John Lipsky, as acting managing director. The charges against Strauss-Kahn are a huge embarrassment for an institution that oversees the global economic system and has authorized hundreds of billions of dollars of loans to troubled countries as well as playing a major role in the euro-zone debt crisis.
The euro fell to a six-week low against the dollar and a two-month trough against the Japanese yen when markets opened in Asia on Monday as the news added uncertainty to aid for Greece and other indebted euro zone countries.
The allegations immediately threw France's presidential race wide open.
He had not yet declared his candidacy but Strauss-Kahn was widely expected to run for the Socialist Party and early opinion polls showed him with a big lead over the conservative incumbent, Nicolas Sarkozy, who is seeking a second term at the election next April.
"The news we received from New York last night struck like a thunderbolt," said Socialist leader Martine Aubry, appealing for party unity.
France's government as well as Strauss-Kahn's political allies and rivals called for caution and respect for the presumption of innocence, but his presidential ambitions appeared to be dead unless the case against him quickly unravels and he is shown to be innocent.
"All this is completely astounding, immensely troubling and distressing. If the facts prove true ... it's something degrading for all women. It's terrible for the image of France," said Francois Bayrou, a centrist opponent.
Far-right leader Marine Le Pen said her rival's presidential hopes had been crushed.
Christine Boutin, president of the Christian Democrat Party, suggested Strauss-Kahn may have been set up.
"I think it's very likely a trap was set for Dominique Strauss-Kahn and he fell into it," she told France's BFM television. "It's a political bomb for domestic politics."
French voters are famously tolerant of political leaders' extramarital affairs. The allegations against Strauss-Kahn are entirely different, and much more serious.
If they are proven, Strauss-Kahn's fall from power in a scandal would be one of the most dramatic of any high-profile international figure in decades.
Many politicians have fallen after being caught in extramarital affairs and others have survived them, including former U.S. President Bill Clinton as well as former French President Francois Mitterrand.
Rarely have senior figures faced brutal assault charges like those filed against Strauss-Kahn.
With Strauss-Kahn in the dock, the IMF also now faces many questions of its own, because his character had been questioned before.
In 2008, Strauss-Kahn apologized for "an error of judgment" after an affair with a female IMF economist who was his subordinate.
The Fund's board of member countries warned him against further improper conduct, but cleared him of harassment and abuse of power and kept him in his job. It will now face new scrutiny over whether that response was too weak, especially as there have been persistent rumors about Strauss-Kahn making sexual advances to women.
PIVOTAL IN EUROPE'S DEBT WOES
An economics professor and former French finance minister, Strauss-Kahn took over the IMF in November 2007 for a five-year term, and won praise for helping galvanize leaders to inject billions of dollars into the world economy during the global financial crisis.
He introduced sweeping changes to ensure vulnerable countries swamped by the crisis had access to emergency loans, and others to give major emerging market countries such as China, India and Brazil greater voting powers in the IMF.
Witty, multilingual, a skilled public speaker and sharp back-room negotiator, Strauss-Kahn also weighed into thornier issues by urging China to let its currency rise in a dispute with the United States.
A crisis of leadership at the Fund now will especially worry European nations given Strauss-Kahn's pivotal role in brokering bailouts for Iceland, Hungary, Greece, Ireland and Portugal.
Strauss-Kahn had been due to meet German Chancellor Angela Merkel on Sunday and join euro zone finance ministers on Monday to discuss the bloc's debt crisis and how to handle Greece, which is struggling to meet the terms of a 110 billion euro European Union/IMF bailout last year.
"This might definitely cause some delays in the short term," a Greek official told Reuters on condition of anonymity.
Strauss-Kahn's lawyers moved quickly to cast doubts on the allegations against him.
Brafman, his U.S. lawyer, previously defended pop star Michael Jackson against child molestation charges as well as other celebrities in trouble.
The maid who accused Strauss-Kahn told police he attacked her when she went in to clean his suite.
"She told detectives he came out of the bathroom naked, ran down a hallway to the foyer where she was, pulled her into a bedroom and began to sexually assault her, according to her account," New York police spokesman Paul Browne said.
"She pulled away from him and he dragged her down a hallway into the bathroom where he engaged in a criminal sexual act, according to her account to detectives. He tried to lock her into the hotel room."
The woman, who has not been named, was treated in hospital for minor injuries, Browne said. She has worked at the hotel for three years and the property's manager said on Sunday she has been a "completely satisfactory" employee in her work and her behavior.
Under New York state law, attempted rape and a criminal sexual act both carry a potential sentence of 15 to 20 years. Unlawful imprisonment carries a potential sentence of three to five years.
(Additional reporting by Michelle Nichols, Lesley Wroughton, Noeleen Walder, Christine Kearney, John Irish, Andrew Longstreth, Brian Love, Catherine Bremer and John Irish; Writing by Tim Ahmann and Kieran Murray; Editing by Stella Dawson, Daniel Trotta, Peter Cooney and Jackie Frank)

HCL Tech gets automation contract from US bank

NEW DELHI (Reuters) - HCL Technologies, India's fourth largest software services firm, said late on Friday it got a contract from a unit of U.S. bank First Horizon National Corp to automate its commercial lending operations.
HCL, which did not disclose the value of the contract, said the contract will cover banking lines of small business, business banking, commercial banking, commercial real estate, corporate banking and private banking.
(Reporting by Anurag Kotoky)

Petrol price hiked Rs.5 per litre; opposition, people fume

New Delhi, May 14 (IANS) In its steepest hike so far, the price of petrol will be raised Rs.5 per litre in an over 8 percent increase from Saturday midnight. The increase comes only a day after the assembly poll results in five states, and was greeted by anger and derision from ordinary citizens and opposition parties.
According to officials, the three state-run companies will increase the price in a move to plug the losses suffered due to sale of subsidised domestic fuel.
In Delhi, petrol is currently priced at Rs.58.37 per litre, while it is Rs.63.08 per litre in Mumbai till Saturday. From midnight, it will be raised to Rs.63.37 and Rs.68.33, respectively.
In June last year, the government had allowed oil companies to set the price of petrol as per the market situation, following which they had raised the price of petrol by Rs.3 per litre.
Then, another substantial price rise took place in December 2010, when companies had hiked the price by Rs.3 per litre.
The last price hike was in January, when oil companies had raised the price by four to two percent. Thus, in the last nine months, the price of petrol has increased from Rs.47.93 per litre to Rs.63.37 - through nine revisions.
Despite the hike, oil company officials said they will still be losing about Rs.5 per litre of petrol, due to rising international crude prices, with India meeting eighty percent of its fuel consumption through imports. Another hike may be done next week, said officials.
There has been steady increase in the international prices, with the Indian crude basket priced at $113.09 per barrel Friday. The average of the previous fortnight from April 16-30 stood at $119.4 per barrel.
The last time the monthly average was above $100 level was in August 2008, when the crude basket price was calculated at $113.05 per barrel.
The biggest loss of the companies, however, is due to the sale of diesel, cooking gas and kerosene, whose price continues to be controlled by the government. Every day, oil companies lose Rs.495 crore due to the sale of these three products alone.
The empowered Group of Ministers (eGoM) on fuel prices is scheduled to meet next week, to consider a proposal to raise prices.
According to sources, there are proposals to increase the price of diesel by about Rs.4 per litre. Similarly, cooking gas cylinder could become costlier by about Rs.20.
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Left parties condemned the hike in petrol prices Saturday, terming it as an 'attack' and a 'cruel hoax' on the common man.
The BJP said it would fight against the measure 'inside and outside parliament' while the Left called it hypocrisy, coming a day after the election results to five states.
'The petrol price hike exposed the failure of the economist Prime Minister Manmohan Singh,' BJP spokesman Ravi Shankar Prasad told reporters here.
Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) leader Sitaram Yechury said the price hike was highly condemnable.
'This is a cruel hoax on the common people,' he told reporters here.
Forward Bloc national secretary G. Devarajan said the government was 'indulging in hypocrisy by increasing the prices of petrol just one day after the assembly poll results'.
The moment the news flashed across the media, petrol stations in the city saw long queues of vehicles with people in a hurry to fill up the tanks before the hiked prices came into effect.
Shweta Arya, consultant in an infrastructure firm, lamented that her transportation budget has spiked in the last one year.
'My petrol expenditure has doubled in the last one year. How will the common man survive after such a price hike,' she wondered.
Vinay Verma, 32, wondered if the government could tolerate corruption among politicians and bureaucrats, which has drained the country's coffers, then why couldn't it also take on the burden of subsidy.
'I know that the hike is because of the international increase in prices. But what angers me is that the government can tolerate scams worth thousands of crores of rupees but fails when it comes to international fuel rates,' lamented Verma, a human resources executive.

UN chief urges restraint from Israel, Arab sides

United Nations, May 16 (IANS) UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon has called for restraint from all sides in Israel and Lebanon and urged them to refrain from 'provocations', Xinhua reported.
The UN chief's call came following the deadly clashes along the Blue Line, a border demarcation between Lebanon and Israel in the occupied Golan Heights and in the occupied Palestinian territory.
About a dozen people were killed on the Syrian and Lebanese borders when Israeli forces opened fire at the demonstrators who climbed the fence to enter Israel, reports said.
Palestinians and Arabs demonstrated in the Palestinian territories and on Israel's borders with Syria and Lebanon to mark the 63rd anniversary of the Nakba, or catastrophe, the term they use to refer to Israel's creation in 1948 and the subsequent uprooting of Palestinians from their hometowns and villages.
'The secretary-general is deeply concerned that a significant number of people have been killed or injured. He calls on all concerned to show restraint and refrain from provocations so as to prevent escalation of tensions and ensure civilians are not killed or injured,' said a statement issued here by Ban's spokesman.
'The secretary-general calls for calm throughout the region and utmost responsibility from all concerned,' the statement said.
'He reiterates the urgent need for a just, lasting and comprehensive Arab-Israeli peace, which ensures dignity and security for all, including an end to occupation, an end to conflict, and a just and agreed solution to the plight of Palestinian refugees.'
'The secretary-general calls for a renewed and sustained effort to resume Israeli-Palestinian negotiations and advance the broader goal of a comprehensive regional peace in the Middle East,' the statement said.

Mamata to meet Sonia, to seal berth deal today

New Delhi: The Trinamool and Congress are likely to finalise their berth sharing deal for the West Bengal cabinet on Monday.
The Congress will submit a report of its Bengal MLAs to Sonia Gandhi today. The MLAs want to be part of the Mamata government. So, to keep the cadre happy, central leaders may agree to join the Trinamool government.
Senior Congress leader Pranab Mukherjee and party general secretary Shakeel Ahmed will meet Sonia Gandhi with a report on the role the Congress should play in the newly elected West Bengal governemnt.
Trinamool Chief Mamata Banerjee buoyed by a historic mandate is likely to meet Sonia Gandhi later today. She may also meet the Prime Minister.
Mamata will invite them for the swearing in ceremony and will also insist that the Railways ministry stays with Trinamool.
"I will meet Sonia Gandhi and PM and then we will make an announcement," said Mamata Banerjee.

DMK mulls pullout after Sonia call

CHENNAI: Upset with Congress chief Sonia Gandhi's courtesy call to AIADMK leader J Jayalalithaa, the DMK is considering pulling out its ministers from the Union cabinet and provide only outside support to its long-time ally at the Centre.

An AIADMK statement on Saturday said Sonia had called Jaya to convey her ''best wishes'' on her electoral success.

DMK seniors, including party chief M Karunanidhi, have held informal discussions for two days since Saturday and probed the option of providing outside support to Congress. While Sonia's greetings to Jayalalithaa may be perceived by some as mere courtesy, in Tamil Nadu political opponents are not known to exchange such pleasantries. The Sonia-Jaya telephone conversation is seen as a needless provocation by DMK which is sore about the perceived apathy of the Congress in the wake of CBI action against Karunanidhi's family members.

A section within the DMK, however, cautioned restraint, pointing out that with the party now out of power, it should not lose its clout at the Centre as well. DMK has six Union ministers, including two Cabinet ministers M K Alagiri and Dayanidhi Maran. Pulling them out would leave the DMK with no political capital at a time when the party has suffered a major rout in the assembly elections. ''Until the next Lok Sabha polls in 2014, the party should focus on rebuilding its image and strengthening relations with political allies,'' some senior leaders told Karunanidhi.

The mood in the DMK camp, grim since its disastrous performance, plunged further after news of Sonia's call on Saturday. ''Thalaivar (leader) expressed reservations about Sonia's call to Jayalalithaa. We can understand his feelings. We didn't mind the Prime Minister calling the AIADMK leader. But the political implication of Sonia calling her is different. They have never shared a good relationship. We believe Congress is now opening doors to the AIADMK.

In our opinion, they seem to be planning for the 2014 Lok Sabha elections,'' a former minister told TOI.

Congress spokeswoman Jayanti Natarajan said the AICC president also congratulated leaders of other parties who won state elections along with Jayalalithaa. ''In a democracy, it is a healthy trend,'' she told the media in Delhi. On reports that Sonia had invited Jayalalithaa for tea to Delhi, she said, ''I have no idea, I have no information.''

BJP battles Governor H R Bhardwaj to save Karnataka government

BANGALORE: The ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in Karnataka seems set to take to New Delhi its battle against Governor H.R. Bhardwaj for reportedly seeking the government's dismissal and direct central rule in the state.

The BJP legislators are meeting here Monday to decide the strategy to save their government.

They are likely to opt to present themselves to President Pratibha Patil in Delhi to prove the party has majority in the assembly.

The legislators meeting will be followed by a cabinet session of Chief Minister B.S. Yeddyurappa who late Sunday wrote to Patil to reject Bhardwaj's "unconstitutional move".

Bhardwaj has not made public the "special report" he says he has sent to central government on the Karnataka developments following the Supreme Court restoring the membership of 16 rebel lawmakers May 13.

Of the 16 legislators, 11 are from BJP and five are independents.

The rebellion in October last year had reduced Yeddyurappa ministry to a minority in the 225-member assembly and Bhardwaj had ordered the chief minister to seek trust vote.

The 16 rebels were disqualified ahead of the Oct 11 trust vote which helped Yeddyurappa win it amid chaos in the assembly.

Bhardwaj ordered another trust vote which Yeddyurappa won Oct 14 with 106 votes in favour and 100 against.

Of the 11 BJP rebels who won back their membership, 10 again expressed their support to Yeddyurappa Sunday while the 11th refused to do so.

The 10 waited outside Raj Bhavan late Sunday to hand over their individual support letters but Bhardwaj did not meet them.

He, however, met a group of ministers after which BJP spokesperson and former central minister V. Dhananjaya Kumar announced that Bhardwaj had "accepted" the support letters, indicating Yeddyurappa had survived the crisis.

However, the jubilation in the BJP camp was short-lived as the ruling party apprehended that Bhardwaj had quietly sought dismissal of the Yeddyurappa government and imposition of direct central rule, keeping the assembly in suspension.

It was Dhananjaya Kumar who told the media that Bhardwaj was possibly seeking dismissal of the Yeddyurappa government, within an hour of claiming that the governor had "accepted" the support letters.