Rajasthan govt invites Bainsla for talk

Rajasthan government tonight invited for talks Gujjar leader Kirori Singh Bainsla, who is demanding a five per cent quota in state jobs for his community. A CMO spokesman said Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot has invited the Gujjar leader for talks to resolve the issue and the message has been communicated to Bainsla, who is leading a march on the issue, through the District Collector of Karauli Neeraj K Pawan.
Energy Minister Jitender Singh who is the government intermediary in the matter also appealed to the marchers to maintain peace and harmony in the state. Earlier, amid tight security, hundreds of Gujjars led by Bainsla began their march from Gudla village, 400 km from here, demanding five per cent quota in state jobs for the community.

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Poland's president dead in Russian plane crash

Poland's president Lech Kaczynski was feared dead after his plane crashed on approach to a Russian airport on Saturday, a Polish government official at the airport told Reuters. Russian news agencies reported at least 87 people died in the crash near Smolensk airport in western Russia, citing the Russian Emergencies Ministry. They reported 132 people were aboard the Tupolev Tu-154. Polish state news agency PAP said there were no survivors. The Polish government official in Smolensk said there was no information about survivors. The crash occurred about 1.5 km (a mile) from Smolensk airport in foggy conditions.

The official said the head of the Polish army and the head of the presidential administration were also on board the plane, along with the president's wife and families of other senior officials. "The plane caught fire after the crash. Teams began attempting to pull out passengers from the badly damaged airplane," said a Polish Foreign Ministry spokesman in Warsaw.

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Planning Commission approved 24,000 Crore for Annual plan of Rajasthan

The Annual Plan size for Rajasthan for the year 2010-11 was today finalized at Rs 24,000 crores, with State Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot making a fervent appeal to the Commission to include the desert state in the list of special category states in view of the distressing problems of water supply. The Planning Commission has approved Rs 24,000 crore outlay for the Annual Plan of Rajasthan for the fiscal 2010-11. Energy sector and social and community services are to be given top--most priority in the biggest ever plan approved by the Commission for the desert state. Agriculture and allied services, rural development, irrigation and flood control are also to get higher priorities.

The plan also includes one time additional Central Assistance sanctioned by the Commission for construction of High Court building in Jodhpur and development of Durgah and Ana Sagar Lake area in Ajmer. The annual plan was finalised after discussions between the Commission Deputy Chairperson Montek Singh Ahluwalia and state Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot in New Delhi this afternoon. Presenting the state's case and priorities before his government, Chief Minister Mr Gehlot told the Commission that the the state policies and programmes would be focused on common man.
He said special efforts were being made for uplift of the poor and the downtrodden and the efforts had so far yielded encouraging results. Mr Gehlot reiterated that the state government was committed to provide responsive, transparent and accountable administration and was working for the development of basic infrastructure in rural areas, strengthening of food security, increasing opportunities of education and extension of health facilities with ambitious goal of attaining sustainable development. Stressing his demand of status of special category for his state, the Chief Minister said if this was not possible, then Rajasthan should be given special status at least for drinking to Bundelkhand for agriculture-related work. He also sought special assistance of Rs 3,045 crore for drinking water for next eight years.
The Chief Minister further said financial position of the power companies was continuously deteriorating due to lack of adequate resources. He requested that the Central Government should authorise the state government to issue power bonds to the limit of their liabilities. He also said this should be considered as one time relief and kept separate from loan ceiling and the Central Government should provide subsidy to the states against the payable interest. Mr Gehlot also requested for special allocation of coal blocks, keeping in view the requirement of coal for the power projects of the state and for speedy action for the establishment of nuclear power station in tribal-dominated Banswara district. Referring to the Jaipur Metro Rail Project, the Chief Minister stated that this ambitious project would be implemented in a time--bound manner and its estimated cost is around Rs 7500 crore.
He requested that 20 per cent of the total cost of this project should be provided by the Union Government. Mr Gehlot also urged that that cities with the population of more than five lakh should be included under the Jawahar Lal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission. He requested to provide 90 percent subsidy for irrigation projects in desert areas under the Accelerated Irrigation Benefit programme on the lines of drought prone areas. He requested the Central Government to increase the calorie norms ratio in the unit cost in supplementary nutrition and amending the funding pattern under the post matric scholarship scheme. The Chief Minister said the state government would require additional financial resources to the tune of Rs 1758.92 crore for providing various facilities under the Right to Education Act implemented from April 1. He also requested that the provisions of the act should be included under the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan and its funding pattern should be made in the ratio of 85 and 15 between the Centre and the State Government respectively.

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Murli Industries to set up Cement plant in Rajasthan

Murli Industries Ltd has announced that it plans to set up cement plants in Rajasthan. The plants are expected to have a capacity to produce 3 MTPA of cement along with 50 MW Captive Power Plant. The plant in Rajasthan will cater to markets of Rajasthan and NCR. Commenting on this N L Maloo, Managing Director, Murli Industries said, "We see a huge potential with the Infrastructure and housing boom fueling cement demand. The added capacity will help us to cater the growing demands of our present and potential customers."

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Rajasthan HC ban high music, crackers during IPL at Jaipur

Rajasthan HC ban high music, crackers during IPL at Jaipur after 10:00 PM. The two remaining IPL matches scheduled for April 11 and 14 may not have the same fun and frolic. A division bench of Rajasthan High Court on Friday rejected Rajasthan Cricket Association’s (RCA) plea to allow drums, DJ music and trumpets between 10 pm and midnight. Rajasthan Royals take on Mumbai Indians on Sunday. The 8pm high-voltage match will decide Royals' fate. Royals have already played 11 matches and won six. On the other hand, Mumbai Indians have played 10 matches and won seven. It was again Kings XI Punjab that spoiled Mumbai India’s run-up to the semis on Friday night. Mumbai Indians are expected to reach here on Saturday. The division bench comprising Justices K S Rathore and Justice Mahesh Chand Sharma on Friday refused to allow use of any high-pitch musical instruments in the remaining two matches.

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Sania Mirza - Shoaib Malik marriage today!

Indian tennis star Sania Mirza will tie the knot with Pakistani cricketer Shoaib Malik here on Friday. Qazi Azmatullah Jafari, one of the qazis of the area in which Sania's house is located, told reporters that the nikah would be performed after the 'maghrib' prayers after sunset. Sania's parents, Shoaib's mother and close relatives of the duo would attend the simple nikah at Sania's house in Jubilee Hills. The ceremony has been kept a closely guarded secret in view of the row over Shoaib's first marriage and divorce with a resident of Hyderabad city.

Shoaib had on Wednesday divorced Ayesha following mediation by Sania's family members and community elders after Ayesha filed a police complaint against him. There were also speculations that Shoaib's marriage with Sania could be postponed as he has not yet got back his passport which was seized by police after they questioned him Monday. Though Ayesha has informed the police that she is withdrawing her complaint, police told Shoaib that he would get back his passport after completing the formalities in court. Qazis in Hyderabad do not perform marriages of foreigners without passport and no objection certificates from their respective governments. Sania's family will be hosting the wedding reception at a star hotel in Hyderabad on April 15.

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PM rejects Chidambaram’s offer to resign

In a letter to the Prime Minister, Union Home Minister P Chidambaram offered to resign after the Dantewada massacre in which 76 CRPF jawans were killed by Maoists. Earlier, in a press conference, Chidambaram accepted full responsibility for the attack. Chidambaram also sent a letter to Congress President Sonia Gandhi. However, the Prime Minister has rejected the resignation offer.
Earlier, Janata Party president Subramanian Swamy has demanded the resignation of Union Home Minister P. Chidambaram following the massacre of Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) personnel in Chhattisgarh

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P Chidambaram accept full responsibility on Dantewada attack

The Home Minister, P Chidambaram, has written to the Prime Minister to accept "full responsibility" for India's worst-ever Naxal attack on Monday, in which 76 jawans were killed Chidambaram said "The buck stops at my desk" at a function to honour Central Reserve Police Fiorce (CRPF) jawans on Valour Day. Over the last few days, "the buck stops" has become a catch phrase in the polemic on the Naxal issue, with different politicians hurling it at each other publicly. First, Chidambaram said "The buck stops with the Chief Minister" in reference to the West Bengal state government after he visited Lalgarh, the Naxal stronghold in West Bengal. Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee, the West Bengal Chief Minister, took strong exception to Chidambaram's language. Then BJP leader Arun Jaitley said "The buck stops with the Home Minister."

"April 9 is celebrated as Valour Day. Bravery must be saluted. Today we stand on the shadow of what happened in Dantewada. Let us remember their bravery and courage." Meanwhile, about 100 Naxals attacked the Kenarsila village in Sasaram district of Bihar on Friday, killing two villagers. "Usually Naxals attack security forces or symbols of govt domination. Attacking civilians is something we don't hear of too often," said Rohtas SP Vikas Vaibhav.

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