Vettori cleverest finger spinners in the world, says Boock

Colombo, Aug 30(ANI): Former New Zealand cricketer Stephen Boock reckons that captain Daniel Vettori is one of the cleverest finger spinners to grace the cricketing world.

“Everyone knows what Dan bowls: little spinners that turn away [from the right-hander] or ones that skid through, that’s the guts of it. There’s no secrets in his armoury but the way he uses what he’s got is the best I’ve seen,” Boock told the Sunday Star-Times.

“What you’ve got to do is be able to read the wicket and work out what is about this wicket that will give me the best result. How fast should I bowl, how much effort should I put into turning he ball. Dan either does that naturally or by learning,” he added.

Speaking after Vettori double feat of 3000 runs and 300 wickets, Boock said Vettori’s intelligence as a bowler was without peer, as he possessed the ability to figure up the pitch in order to adjust his bowling pace and spin to get the best results, Stuff.co.nz reports.

“Dan’s not a flamboyant player, but he’s a clear thinker who has a good understanding of cricket and he will have no expectation that he will be treated as a movie star because that’s not what he is: he’s a spin bowler who works very hard,” Boock said.

He further said that if Vettori keeps on playing for another four-five years, he could go beyond Sir Richard Hadlee as New Zealand’s wicket-taker and could join Kapil Dev. (ANI)

Govt. plans 2,500 model schools on PPP model in two years: Sibal

Koraput (Orissa) , Aug.29 (ANI): Union Human Resource Development (HRD) Minister Kapil Sibal on Saturday said the Government was planning to set up over 2,500 model and 200 central schools on public-private- partnership (PPP) basis in the country in next two years

Inaugurating the much-awaited central university in this tribal-dominated town, which often witnesses Maoist violence, Sibal informed that the proposed model schools would be set up in the backward areas to provide primary education to all as “higher education has no meaning unless primary education was strengthened.”

“The schools would be set up in PPP as part of our efforts to strengthen the human resource base,” Sibal said during the function.

Sibal also asked corporate houses to invest in a big way in the education sector.

Corporate houses should come forward to invest in the education sector as developing human resources is the key to the success of any nation, Sibal said.

He remarked that though the country made progress in the field of education in the last 62 years, it required much more.

“About 1.5 lakh Indian students are going abroad for education. We will like to provide all facilities in the country so that students need not go to foreign countries.”

Sibal also said only 12 out of 100 students reach the graduation level in India, while the figure was 85 in the US and added that the Central universities in backward places like Koraput could help students get into higher learning. (ANI)

100,000 Indians have signed a petition to free Sarabjit, claims his lawyer

Lahore/Islamabad, Aug.27 (ANI): Over 100,000 people in India, including former test cricketers and chief justices, have signed a petition addressed to Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari seeking clemency for Sarabjit Singh, an Indian currently on death row in a Pakistani prison.

Awais Sheikh, the counsel for Sarabjit, was quoted by a private television channel as saying that said he had brought back a mercy petition with more than 100,000 signatures from a recent visit to India.

“The signatories include former test cricketer Kapil Dev, the Imam of Delhi’s Jama Masjid Syed Ahmed Bukhari, Syed Amin Hashmi of the Ajmer Sharif shrine, former Chief Justices R S Mongia and Rajindar Sachar, members of Indian human rights groups, Christian and Muslim bodies, doctors, engineers, lawyers, farmers and students,” Sheikh said.

Sheikh said he would submit the mercy petition to the President and also apprise him about the sentiments of the Indians in this regard.

“Since Sarabjit has been in prison for long, his sentence can be commuted to life imprisonment under the law,” he said. Commuting Sarabjit’s sentence will help improve relations between India and Pakistan, he added.

Sarabjit has been on death row since he was convicted for alleged involvement in four bomb blasts in Pakistan’s Punjab province that killed 14 people in 1990. His family insists that he was wrongly convicted for the bombings.

Though he was to be hanged on April 1 last year, Pakistani authorities put off his execution indefinitely after Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani intervened in the matter. (ANI)

IIT-Delhi professors go on mass casual leave demanding pay hike

New Delhi, Aug 25 (ANI): Faculty members of the Indian Institutes of Technology (IIT) in Delhi went on mass casual leave on Tuesday protesting disparities in pay.

Earlier, professors at IIT-Madras went on a mass causal leave on Friday, while their colleagues in IIT-Bombay boycotted classes on Monday.

Professors alleged that the Ministry has completely ignored the Mehra Committee recommendations which recommended hikes in pay scale of apex technical educational institutions.

On Friday, HRD Minister Kapil Sibal had said he will discuss the issues raised by IIT professors with officials. (ANI)

National Literacy Mission to substantially focus on women: Sibal

New Delhi, Aug 21(ANI): The Government on Friday said that the National Literacy Mission is being recast, so that, 80 per cent coverage of the mission is of women, whose literacy rate at present is at an unacceptable level of 54 per cent.

Union Minister for Human Resource Development Kapil Sibal said this while chairing the 11th Meeting of the National Literacy Mission Authority (NLMA) here on Friday.

Sibal informed NLMA members that while the total budgetary support during the last three plans for the programme was Rs. 2862.95 crore, the outlay for the 11th plan was at a much higher level of Rs.6000 crore.

Sibal said that the Mission would be run in active participation with the State Governments unlike in the past when the mission was run directly from the centre through the different implementation agencies at the district level.

He also said that Adult Education Centres would be set up at the Gram Panchayat, which will be the unit for implementation of the programme.

He also informed that the Panchayat would work in tandem with the community to implement the programme.

Sibal further highlighted that a Curriculum Framework for Adult Literacy will be developed with adequate reflection of locally relevant issues and aspects.

He pointed out that unlike in the past, each learner will be tagged and tracked for the learning achievement. Besides an efficient MIS system, concurrent monitoring systems will be put in place for field validation.

Thirty two of the forty four members of the NLMA participated in the meeting, which passed the agenda put before it.

Union Minister for Rural Development C.P. Joshi, Minister of State for Human Resource Development D. Purandeswari, Secretary for Department of School Education and Literacy Anshu Vaish, were among those present in the meeting. (ANI)

Reform of Education system on anvil

New Delhi, July 13 (ANI): In a bid to check the drop out rate in higher education, the Centre would launch Madhyam Shiksha Abhiyan programme as part of the proposed education reforms.

“We want to take Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan forward as Madhyam Shiksha Abhiyan as the drop out rate increases in higher education,” Human Resource Development Minister Kapil Sibal said during Question Hour in the parliament.

Sibal also said that the government has no policy to introduce “uniform syllabus” in all the universities.

“Let there be creativity. Let there be competition among universities. So this is not government’s policy to introduce uniform syllabus in universities,” he said.

There may be a university focussing on bio-science and another on humanities, he said adding that let the student choose the university based on his or her preference.

He, however, said there should be a CBSE (class 10th or 12th) degree for skilled education as children want jobs immediately after completing school rather than pursuing professional courses.

On the issue of complaints regarding diversion of funds by states under the Sarva Siksha Abhiyan, Sibal said there were lakhs of schools across the country, it was not possible to carry out audit of each and every school and the CAG takes a sample audit.

Furthermore, he informed the parliament that the Government is in favour of bringing about a regulatory body to monitor the functioning of foreign universities as it is determined to prevent the exploitation of Indian students.

“We will not allow our students to be exploited by any one. We have our eyes firmly on setting up several world-class educational institutions which could make our children compete with others anywhere,” Sibal said. (ANI)

Government adopts zero tolerance against ragging

New Delhi, July 3 (ANI): Union Government reiterated its stand of zero tolerance for ragging in institutions of higher education and said tough regulations have been put in force against this menace.

Replying a short duration discussion on increasing incidents of ragging in the country in Rajya Sabha today Union Human Resource Minister Kapil Sibal said the policy of the government shall be zero tolerance for anti social activities like ragging.

Sibal said stringent measures against ragging could include rustication of student, withholding of scholarship, derecognising the institution, debarring student from appearing in any test and stopping of grant to the institution.

He said previously, the government made its mind to educate students to not to indulge in ragging activities, but now the focus would be on taking strict measures to prevent ragging incidents.

Ruling out the demand for national law against ragging, Sibal said the regulations made by the University Grant Commission (UGC) have the backing of the constitution, and all educational institutions in the country have to abide by these regulations.

The HRD minister also disclosed that his ministry has written letter to All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE), Medical Council of India (MCI), Dental Council of India (DCI) and Indian Nursing Council (INC) to adopt the regulations made by the UGC against ragging.

In the mid June President of India wrote a letter to the Governors and Lt Governors of all the states to use their office to control the menace of ragging in their respective states. (ANI)

Kapil Sibal promises to implement higher education recommendations in 100 days

New Delhi June24 (ANI): Union Human resource Development Minister Kapil Sibal said here today that the recommendations given by the Prof Yashpal committee on Renovation and Rejuvenation of Higher education will be implemented in the first 100 days of the UPA Government.

The committee was constituted in February 2008 to study the functioning of different agencies in higher education and to suggest measures to restructure the system .

The committee had submitted its interim report in March this year.

The committee had observed that there is too much inspection, interference and delay in the dealings of universities with the state and central governments, and recommended for an efficient funding management of the higher education.

Prof Yashpal had suggested converting all IITs and IIMs as Universities. The committee felt that the universities should become self-regulating partners in managing the overall education system as continuous monitoring and inspection caused delays and led to corruption. (ANI)

New cabinet ministers take charge of their offices

New Delhi, May 29 (ANI): Newly inducted ministers took charge of their offices in different ministries on Friday.

Former United Nations diplomat and writer Shashi Tharoor, who was appointed as the Minister of State in the Ministry of External Affairs, said he would work towards strengthening India’s place in the world.

“India’s place in the world is of great importance. India has had an honoured place in the world. I wish to make my own contribution to strengthening that very honoured place,” said Tharoor.

Preneet Kaur also took charge as Minister of State in the Ministry of External Affairs along with Tharoor.

Jairam Ramesh, who took charge as the Minister of State (Independent Charge) of the Ministry of Environment and Forests, is also expected to play a crucial role keeping in view the negotiations on global warming which are on agenda later this year.

Meanwhile, Kapil Sibal took charge of the Ministry of Human Resource Development. Petroleum Minister Murli Deora and Minister of State for Petroleum Jitin Prasada also took charge of their offices.

Fifty-nine new ministers including 14 of the cabinet rank were sworn-in by President Pratibha Patil on Thursday.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh was successful in bringing the key allies to his new government.

Singh’s new Council of Ministers includes 59 from the Congress and 19 from five allies- seven each from the DMK and the Trinamool Congress, three from the Nationalist Congress Party and one each from the Muslim League and the National Conference. (ANI)

Indians win three golds in Asian Grand Prix archery

Kolkata, May 25 (IANS) The 16-member Indian archery contingent bagged three gold and four silver medals at the second Asian Grand Prix meet at Tehran, according to information received here.

The men’s recurve team of Tarundeep Rai, Muni Ram Tirkey and Kapil took the gold medal beating Iran 217-211 in the final. Punya Prabha, V. Pranitha and Reena Kumari finished best in the women’s recurve team final defeating Iran 198-194 in the final.

Compound archer L. Haridas Singh earned India the third yellow metal in the individual event when he annihilated Hungary’s Robert Bojti in the tie breaker after the two tied 109-109 in the final. Singh shot a 10 as against Bojti’s 9 in the tie-breaker.

The men and women compound teams lost to Iran in the final. The men lost 220-227 and the women went down 207-208. Olympian Tarundeep Rai, perhaps the most experienced in the field, could get only a silver medal losing to Iran’s Milad Vaziri Teymoorlooei at 107-108 in the men’s recurve individual event final.

Compound women archer Sweety Kumari too failed in the final going down to Seyedeh Vida Halimian Avval of Iran 102-108 to settle for silver.

Tirkey and Sushma (both individual recurve) lost to Nadar M. and Zahara Nemati of Iran respectively in the bronze medal play-off. All other medals went to host Iran which emerged the best in the four-day tournament which saw 60 archers from six nations take part.

Asian Grand Prix: Five Indian archers in medal race

Kolkata, May 23 (IANS) Five Indians have made it to the medal round of the individual section of the second Asian Grand Prix archery tournament in Tehran.

Three Indians, Tarundeep Rai (men’s recurve), L. Haridas Singh (men’s compound) and Sweety Kumari (women’s compound) moved into the final while Muni Ram Tirkey (men’s recurve) and Sushma (women’s recurve) – reached the bronze medal play-off, Friday.

Rai, seeded second, will take on fourth seed Milad Vaziri Teymoorlooei of Iran for the gold medal, according to information received here. The Indian army archer, who missed the individual bronze medal by a whisker in the 2005 Madrid World Championship, showed enough touch and class in this meet. Rai had scores of 109, 106 and 106 in the three rounds he played so far and would look to avenge his compatriot Tirkey’s defeat in the semi-finals in the hands of Milad.

The Iranian had defeated top seed Tirkey in the semi-finals 109-106. The semi-final loss pushed Tirkey against sixth seed Nadar M. of Iran in the bronze medal play-off. The other two, Kapil and K. Shiv Shankar, lost in the quarterfinals.

Fifth-seeded Indian L. Haridas Singh will come up against third seed Hungarian Robert Bojti in the men’s compound division final. Singh scored 116 in the first round, 112 in the second and in the semifinals he downed top seed Hamzeh Nekooi of Iran 109-107.

The other Indians, L. Chinglensana Luwang (seed No. 2), Amrinder Singh (eighth seed) and Arun Sharma (11th) were eliminated early.

Sweety Kumari, the best among four Indian women compound archers, ensured a place in the final against second seed Iranian Seyedeh Vida Halimian Avval.

The other three disappointed with miserable display with Manjudha Soy (2nd seed) losing to Leila Sakhaeifar of Iran in the quarter-finals 102-108 while Vrushali Gorle lost to Sweety at the same stage 99-104. Sakro Besra lost to the second seed also in the quarterfinals at 100-111.

Sushma, the sixth-seeded Indian reached the women’s recurve semifinals where she lost to ninth ranked Farideh Mirzaei of Iran 91-95. Sushma will play 10th seed Zahara Nemati of Iran for the bronze medal. Reena Kumari (top seed), Olympian V. Pranitha (second seed) and Punya Prabha (third seed) all lost in the second round.

Manmohan Singh calls first Cabinet meet today

New Delhi, May 23 (ANI): A day after taking oath as Prime Minister for the second term, Manmohan Singh called a meeting of the Union Cabinet today.

According to sources, it is likely to take a decision on convening a Parliament session to enable new members to take oath. President Pratibha Patil will be addressing a joint sitting of both the houses during the session.

Earlier, Dr. Singh visited Mahatma Gandhi’s memorials besides those of other departed leaders and placed a wreath on them.

He was sworn-in as Prime Minister for a second term along with 19 other Cabinet ministers on Friday.

The 76-year-old, soft-spoken economist is the first Prime Minister since post-independence after Jawaharlal Nehru to be returned to office after completing a full term.

Senior Congress leader Pranab Mukherjee, NCP chief Sharad Pawar, A K Antony, P Chidambaram, Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee, former Chief Ministers S M Krishna, Ghulam Nabi Azad, and Veerappa Moily were inducted in the Cabinet.

Kamal Nath, Sushilkumar Shinde, S Jaipal Reddy, Meira Kumar, Vayalar Ravi, Murli Deora, Kapil Sibal, B K Handique, Ambika Soni, Anand Sharma and C P Joshi also took oath as Cabinet Ministers.

Friday’s swearing-in would be followed by an expansion of the Council of Ministers on May 26. The expansion would include Cabinet Ministers, Ministers of State (MoS) with independent charge as well as other Ministers of State. (ANI)

Manmohan Singh takes oath as PM along with 19 cabinet ministers

New Delhi, May 22 (ANI): President Pratibha Patil administered oath of office and secrecy to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh along with 19 Cabinet ministers.

The 76-year-old, soft-spoken economist is the first Prime Minister since post-independence after Jawaharlal Nehru to be returned to office after completing a full term.

Senior Congress leader Pranab Mukherjee, NCP chief Sharad Pawar, A K Antony, P Chidambaram, Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee, former Chief Ministers S M Krishna, Ghulam Nabi Azad, and Veerappa Moily were inducted in the Cabinet.

Kamal Nath, Sushilkumar Shinde, S Jaipal Reddy, Meira Kumar, Vayalar Ravi, Murli Deora, Kapil Sibal, B K Handique, Ambika Soni, Anand Sharma and C P Joshi also took oath as Cabinet Ministers.

Mukherjee is likely to retain finance portfolio, which he got as additional charge towards the end of the tenure of the outgoing government.

The names of Krishna and Kamal Nath are being mentioned for External Affairs Ministry. Chidambaram and Antony are expected to retain home and defence respectively.

Today’s swearing-in would be followed by an expansion of the Council of Ministers on May 26. The expansion would include Cabinet Ministers, Ministers of State (MoS) with independent charge as well as other Ministers of State.

National Conference leader Farooq Abdullah, Mukul Wasnik, Vilas Muttemwar figure in the list of names, who will likely find place on Tuesday in the expanded Cabinet.

The Congress would also be looking to bring the DMK around by then so as to also include its representatives in the Cabinet.

The grand swearing-in ceremony, which started around 6:30 p.m., took place in Ashoka Hall of the Rashtrapati Bhavan where President Pratibha Patil administered the oath of office and secrecy to Dr Singh and his council of ministers.

The first session of the newly constituted Lok Sabha is expected to begin from June 2, and is likely to continue till June 10. (ANI)

President invites Manmohan Singh to form government

New Delhi, May 20 (ANI): President Pratibha Devisingh Patil invited the Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh to form the new Government at the centre after he claimed that he had the support of 322 members of Parliament.

On Wednesday evening, Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh and United Progressive Alliance chairperson Sonia Gandhi called on President Pratibha Patil to stake the claim to form the government.

The President handed over to Manmohan Singh the letter to form the Government. He and the new Council of Ministers will take oath of office and secrecy on May 22.

After meeting the President, Dr. Manmohan Singh said that apart from its 274 seats, the UPA has the support of Samajwadi Party, Rashtriya Janata Dal and Bahujan Samaj Party.

The outside support of RJD, SP and BSP takes the UPA’s tally to 322 seats.

Earlier, the crucial UPA meet to decide Cabinet berths concluded at 10 Janpath, the residence of Congress president Sonia Gandhi. All the key pre-poll partners of the Congress attended the meeting.

National Conference leader Farooq Abdullah, Trinamool chief Mamata Banerjee, DMK chief M Karunanidhi, NCP president Sharad Pawar and leader Praful Patel were present. Senior Congress leaders who attended the meeting included, Manmohan Singh, Sonia Gandhi, Pranab Mukherjee, P. Chindambaram, A.K. Antony and Rahul Gandhi.

Sonia Gandhi was re-elected UPA chairperson during the meeting. Her name was proposed by Karunanidhi and seconded by Mamata Bannerjee .

All eyes are now on the likely candidates who would head some of the most important ministries in the next Congress-led UPA government.

The Ministry of Human Resource Development, headed by Congress leader Arjun Singh could throw up a surprise. Pranab Mukherjee has indicated that he would like to remain as the Finance Minister. Kapil Sibal’s name is doing the rounds as the new Foreign Minister. Rahul Gandhi has stated that he would like to remain outside the Government but speculation is rife that he may agree to join the Cabinet. (ANI)

Prabhakaran shot dead: Sri Lanka army

Colombo: Tamil Tiger supremo Velupillai Prabhakaran was on Monday shot dead by Sri Lankan special forces as he tried to stage a dramatic breakout from the army encirclement, a military spokesman said.

Prabhakaran and his top aides came out of their last hiding place in a small convoy of van and an ambulance and tried to drive out of the war zone, but were gunned down, he said.

However, the army is withholding an official announcement till a DNA test of the bodies is conducted.

The Tiger chief was killed with two others, who are yet to be identified but believed to be his closest associates LTTE intelligence chief Pottu Amman and Sea Tigers’ chief Soosoi.

The deaths of the top LTTE leaders came a day after Tamil Tigers conceded defeat saying the decades-old battle has reached its “bitter end” and they have decided to ‘silence’ their guns.

Earlier in the morning, military spokesman Brigadier Udaya Nanayakkara had said that Prabhakarn was still alive but completely encircled by advancing Sri Lankan forces in a tiny jungle area north of Vellamullivaikkal after most of the LTTE’s top leaders were found killed.

The army said that its special forces had encircled Prabhakaran, Pottu Aman and Soosoi who were boxed into a 100m x 100m area.

The killing of Prabhakaran came as officials confirmed that more than 220 frontline rebel cadres, including his elder son Charles Anthony, LTTE political head Balasingham Nadesan and LTTE peace Secretariat chief S Pulidevan had been killed in fierce battles in the last 12 hours.

The other top LTTE leaders slain include Black Tigers' chief Ramesh, Tigers' police wing chief Ilango and senior leaders Sundaram and Kapil Amman.

The body of 24-year-old Anthony, chief of LTTE's air wing, was found during mopping up operations in the last rebel-held territory in the no-fire zone on Monday morning, the defence ministry said.

Nadesan, a former constable of Sri Lankan police, was heading the political wing of the Tamil Tigers. S Pulidevan was the head of "LTTE peace secretariat" while S Ramesh was the chief of Black Tigers.

According to the defence sources, the body of Anthony was found after an unsuccessful attempt by the Tamil Tigers to evacuate their leader's son early on Monday morning.

Anthony was known to be the head of Information and Technology department of the LTTE.

After being cornered, LTTE on Sunday said it had no other option but to silence its guns.

"We remain with one last choice – to remove the last weak excuse of the enemy for killing our people. We have decided to silence our guns," LTTE's chief of international relations Selvarasa Pathmanathan said.

"This battle has reached its bitter end," Pathmanathan said, adding that "our only regrets are for the lives lost and that we could not hold out for longer."

The rebels' statement followed President Mahinda Rajapaksa's declaration on Friday in Jordan that the LTTE has been defeated militarily.

"My government with the total commitment of our Armed Forces, has in an unprecedented humanitarian operation, finally defeated the LTTE militarily," Rajapaksa had said.

The over three-decades old conflict for a separate Tamil state waged by LTTE has left more than 70,000 dead in pitched battles, suicide attacks, bomb strikes and assassinations.

PM wants Montek Singh Ahluwalia as Finance Minister?

New Delhi, May 17 (ANI): As the Congress core committee brainstorms over the issues related to government formation, there are reports that Dr. Manmohan Singh wants deputy chairman of the Planning Commission Montek Singh Ahluwalia as the next Union Finance Minister.

Ahluwalia will have to enter the cabinet through the Rajya Sabha route, the same as the Dr. Singh, CNN-IBN reports.

With party leaders insisting that the UPA does not need the support of any new big allies, the Congress is also likely to keep key portfolios with it.

There is also a demand from within the party to bring Rahul Gandhi into the Cabinet especially after his successful campaigning strategies, particularly in Uttar Pradesh.

According to the sources, Rahul is likely to be included as the Rural Development Minister in the Cabinet.

Sources revealed that the new Cabinet would include several young MPs.

The other young MPs apart from Rahul who are likely to be inducted into the Cabinet include Sachin Pilot, Jitin Prasada, and Sandeep Dikshit.

The major UPA allies such as the Dravida Munnettra Kazhagam (DMK), the Trinamool Congress and the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) also are expecting ministerial berths.

Reports claimed that the UPA Chairperson Sonia Gandhi has already called up Rashtriya Janata Dal chief Lalu Prasad to attend the Cabinet meeting.

There are speculations doing rounds that the External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee will be shifted to the Finance Ministry, which the Manmohan Singh has been handling so far.

Commerce Minister Kamal Nath is likely to be shifted to the External Affairs Ministry.

Home Minister P Chidambaram and Defence Minister A K Antony are likely to continue in their posts. Science and Technology Minister Kapil Sibal may get the Commerce Ministry. (ANI)

Congress sweeping Delhi in initial voting results

New Delhi/Kanpur/Mathura, May 16 (ANI): With their arms in the air and banners of star campaigners Rahul and Priyanka Gandhi in either hand, Congress Party supporters set off firecrackers in New Delhi over the news that their party is surging in on all the seven seats.

Senior Congress leader Kapil Sibal appeard joyous over the initial leads. He said, “This is a mandate for Sonia Gandhi’s leadership and the Prime Minister’s leadership in government. People have voted overall for stability, secularism and a Prime Minister who wants to serve the nation, and not be involved in politics.”

Sibal added that all allies are with the UPA and there is no falling out.

Meanwhile in Kanpur, Congress Party workers organised fire ritual in anticipation of the party’s victory.

“In the last five years the way Manmohan Singh’s UPA Government has worked for country’s development and prosperity, we wish that it once again comes to power. We have offered prayers and organized fire ritual. We wish that Congress Government-led by Manmohan Singh and Sonia Gandhi comes to power,” said Ram Manohar, a party worker.

In Mathura, hordes of people are busy preparing ‘Ladoo’ in large numbers which would be distributed after the final results are out.

The UPA is leading in 224 seats and the NDA in 154 seats. The Third Front is leading in 69 and Others are leading in 30, till the reports last filtered in. (ANI)

Polling for fourth phase of Lok Sabha elections begins

New Delhi, May 7 (ANI): Polling for the fourth phase of Lok Sabha elections began today amid tight security.

In this phase, the election is being held in 85 constituencies spread across the states of Bihar, West Bengal, Haryana, Jammu and Kashmir, Punjab, Uttar Pradesh and New Delhi.

Polling for all 25 seats in Rajasthan, 10 in Haryana and seven in Delhi will be completed in one-go.

A total of 1,315 candidates, including 119 women, are in the fray in this phase.
Prominent among the candidates are BJP President Rajnath Singh contesting from the Ghaziabad Lok Sabha constituency, Congress’ Pranab Mukherjee from Jangipura, SP supremo Mulayam Singh Yadav from Mainpuri and RJD chief Lalu Prasad from Saran and Pataliputra.

The other prominent candidates are National Conference’s Farooq Abdullah (Srinagar), Congress’ Kapil Sibal (Chandni Chowk), Sachin Pilot (Ajmer), Shekar Suman (Patna Saheb), BJP’s Shatrugan Sinha (Patna Saheb) and HJC’s Bhajan Lal (Hisar).

As many as 9.46 crore people are eligible to vote in this phase.

Polling, which commenced at 7: 00 a.m., is being held across 1.29 lakh booths.

Security has been tightened in New Delhi as police erected barricades and frisked passengers entering the capital.

Vehicles coming in and going out of New Delhi were being stopped on the border and strict security checks were being conducted to keep a check on any untoward activity.

Following militant threats to disrupt elections, security forces are on a high alert and are taking all possible steps to ensure that the massive election exercise in which more than 714 million people are eligible to vote, passes off without any untoward incident.

Maoist violence hit the first two rounds of voting in the general election, killing at least 21 people as rebels targeted police and polling officials.

The first, second and third phases of polling were held on April 16, 23 and 30 respectively.

The counting of votes will take place on May 16.

The 543-member House will be constituted before June 2. (ANI)

Security beefed up across India for fourth phase of elections

New Delhi/Patna/Oraiya (Uttar Pradesh), May 6 (ANI): Tight security arrangements have been made across the country for the fourth phase of Lok Sabha elections to be held on Thursday.

A total of 85 parliamentary constituencies across the states of Bihar, West Bengal, Haryana, Jammu and Kashmir, Punjab, Uttar Pradesh and New Delhi will go to polls.

A total of 1,315 candidates, including 119 women, are in the fray in this phase that will witness polling to 85 Lok Sabha seats in eight states and union territories.

Polling for all 25 seats in Rajasthan, 10 in Haryana and seven in Delhi will be completed in one-go.

Prominent among the candidates are BJP President Rajnath Singh contesting from the Ghaziabad Lok Sabha constituency, Congress’ Pranab Mukherjee from Jangipura, SP supremo Mulayam Singh Yadav from Mainpuri and RJD chief Lalu Prasad from Saran and Pataliputra.

The other prominent candidates are National Conference’s Farooq Abdullah (Srinagar), Congress’ Kapil Sibal (Chandni Chowk), Sachin Pilot (Ajmer), Shekar Suman (Patna Saheb), BJP’s Shatrugan Sinha (Patna Saheb) and HJC’s Bhajan Lal (Hisar).

In Patna, Border Security Personnel (BSF) personnel of staged a flag march on the streets of Pataliputra parliamentary constituency to ensure fair polling.

“We want people to know that we have enough forces and have made proper arrangements for their security so that they fearlessly cast their votes,” said R Malgar Giri, Senior Superintendent of Police, Patna.

Voters said that were satisfied with the security arrangement.

“Administration has made good security arrangements to ensure peaceful polling. BSF personnel have been deployed. We also want that there should be peaceful polling,” said Mohammad Miraj Akhtar, a resident.

BSF personnel also staged a flag march in Oraiya region of Uttar Pradesh.

The counting of votes will take place on May 16.

The 543-member House will be constituted before June 2. (ANI)

Campaigning for fourth phase of Lok Sabha polls ends today

New Delhi, May 5 (ANI): Campaigning in 85 constituencies spread over eight states that will go to polling in the fourth phase of polls on May 7 will end on Tuesday evening,

A total of 1,315 candidates, including 119 women, are in the fray in this phase that will witness polling to 85 Lok Sabha seats in eight states and union territories.

Polling for all the 25 seats in Rajasthan, 10 in Haryana and seven in Delhi will be completed in one-go.

Prominent among the candidates are BJP President Rajnath Singh contesting from Ghaziabad Lok Sabha, Congress’ Pranab Mukherjee from Jangipura, SP supremo Mulayam Singh Yadav from Mainpuri and RJD chief Lalu Prasad from Saran and Pataliputra.

The other prominent candidates are National Conference’s Farooq Abdullah (Srinagar), Congress’ Kapil Sibal (Chandni Chowk), Sachin Pilot (Ajmer), Shekar Suman (Patna Saheb), BJP’s Shatrugan Sinha (Patna Saheb) and HJC’s Bhajan Lal (Hisar).

The counting of votes will take place on May 16.

The 543-member House will be constituted before June 2. (ANI)