Former Minister Omkar Lal Chauhan passes away

Former Rajasthan Minister Omkar Lal Chauhan passed away last night after a protracted illness. Omkar Lal (86) was not keeping well for past sometime and was being treated at a hospital in New Delhi. He breathed his last while being brought here from New Delhi last night, family sources said. He is survived by wife and five daughters. Omkar Lal was cremated at the Rampura Cremation ground here this afternoon with state honour.
Born in Chhipa Barod in Baran district in 1924, Omkar Lal had begun his law practice here after completing his law degree. Elected to Rajasthan Assembly from Dag in 1972, Omkar Lal served as Minister in 1971 and 1972. He was also elected to the Lok Sabha once in 1962.

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Karnataka Governer ask for President's Rule in state

A constitutional crisis loomed over K'taka on Monday as Gov H.R. Bhardwaj recommended President's rule in the state after beleaguered CM B.S. Yeddyurappa won a trust vote amid chaotic scenes in the assembly and 16 rebel legislators went to court against their disqualification by the speaker. On a day of swift and dramatic political developments, Bhardwaj faxed a report to the central government for declaring president's rule and keeping the assembly in suspended animation citing a constitutional breakdown in the state due to the conduct of the speaker, who allowed the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government to prove its majority through a voice vote.
The governor's report comes in the wake of the opposition Congress and the Janata Dal-Secular (JD-S) parading 120 legislators at Raj Bhavan to demonstrate that the Yeddyurappa government was in minority and hence deserved to be dismissed. 'The speaker conspired with the minority government to get the trust vote passed in an unconstitutional and undemocratic manner as an agent of the ruling party after disqualifying the 16 legislators and preventing their entry into the house,' Congress legislative party leader Siddaramaiah told reporters later.

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Krishna Poonia creates history in athletics, Gold after 52 yrs

India created history by breaking the 52-year-old Commonwealth Games gold medal jinx with Krishna Poonia winning the yellow metal in women's discus throw to become the first woman from the country to win a Commowealth Games gold in New Delhi on Monday. India swept the event with Harwant Kaur and national record holder Seema Antil also winning the silver and bronze respectively.
Poonia's gold, which she won by throwing the discus to 61.51m, was the first gold after 'Flying Sikh' Milkha Singh's 440 yard race gold in the 1958 edition of the Games in Cardiff, Wales. Harwant came up with an effort of 60.61m, a tad below her season's best of 60.66m, while national record holder Seema Antil threw the discus to a distance of 58.46m

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Three pilgrims die in Ajmer durgah sharif by fasting

Three members of an Allahabad-based family, who were reportedly fasting seeking favour and blessings from Sufi Saint Khwaja Moinuddin Hasan Chisti, died in the durgah sharif in Ajmer this afternoon. Ten of their kins were being treated at hospital there, Police sources said. The family of one Mohammad Mustaq Sheikh(52) of Marethi village in Allahabad district of Uttar Pradesh are regular visitors and staying at the durgah for fulfillment of their wishes for past some days, the police said.
The family which reportedly engaged in treatment of people through occult methods, were said to be on fast for some days for attainment of their "mannat"(wish) for some powers to boost their practice.

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Govt could offer Vedanta stake in Rajasthan plant

The government is likely to offer a significant stake in its proposed refinery project in Rajasthan to UK-based Vedanta Resources, which is looking to enter the crude oil business in India by acquiring majority stake in Cairn India that controls the nation's largest onshore oilfield in the desert state. While Vedanta would fit into the central and state governments' scheme of things as a lead investor in the proposed refinery, it would be an opportunity for the London-listed mining major to integrate Cairn India's crude production with the much-needed refining capacity.
The refinery project, for which state-owned ONGC is already doing feasibility studies, is conceived to have the capability for processing the high-residue crude from Cairn's Barmer field in Rajasthan. The petroleum ministry is expected to probe whether Vedanta would be keen to invest in the project while processing Cairn Energy Plc's application for clearing its majority stake sale to Vedanta for $9.6 billion. It is yet to be decided if the offer is to be overtly presented as a condition for clearing the deal. For Vedanta, which wants to have a foothold in India's oil sector, the government's offer if it comes as a rider for clearing the deal would be a blessing in disguise.

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Rajasthan's Krishna Poonia wins gold in discus throw

It was a historic day for Indian athletics and rajasthan on Monday as Krishna Poonia clinched the gold in the women's discus throw event at the Commonwealth Games in New Delhi. Krishna won the gold with a throw of 61.51 metres while Harwant got the silver with 60.16m. The bronze went to Seema with a throw of 58.46m. India swept the event with Harwant Kaur and national record holder Seema Antil also winning the silver and bronze respectively.
Poonia's gold, which she won by throwing the discus to 61.51m, was the first gold after 'Flying Sikh' Milkha Singh's 440 yard race gold in the 1958 edition of the Games in Cardiff, Wales. Harwant came up with an effort of 60.61m, a tad below her season's best of 60.66m, while national record holder Seema Antil threw the discus to a distance of 58.46m.

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Karnataka Assembly disqualifies 16 MLAs

Sixteen rebel MLAs, including eleven from ruling BJP, were disqualified by Karnataka Speaker ahead of the crucial trust vote in the Assembly on Monday. Speaker K G Bopaiah signed the disqualification order on Sunday night after firing a strong missive to Governor H R Bhardwaj contesting his directive to him not to change the configuration of the House and maintain status quo on its strength as on October six, Assembly secretariat sources said. The rebel MLAs had withdrawn support to the government on 6th October.
In his order, Bopaiah said these 16 MLAs have been disqualified under the provision of the anti-defection law as envisaged in the Tenth Schedule of the Constitution. Those BJP MLAs who were disqualified are:
Balachandra Jarkiholi, Belur Gopala Krishna, Anand Asnotikar, Dr Sarvabowma Bagali, V Nagaraju, Raje Kage, Y Sampangi, Nanjundaswamy, S K Bellubbi, H S Shankara Lingegowda and Shivanagouda Naik. Former ministers Venkataramanappa, Shivaraj Tangadagi, Goolihatti Sekhar and M P Narendraswamy and independent MLAs have also been disqualified.
With this action, Bopaiah has brought down the strength in the 224-member Assembly to 208.

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CWG - India again at 2nd Spot with 29 Gold

India produced yet another eye-catching all-round display to scoop up a sackful of medals and surge past England to the second spot in the medals rostrum at the Commonwealth Games on Sunday. The hosts raked up five gold medals and as many silver and bronze medals from wrestling, archery, shooting, athletics and tennis on another very fruitful day of competitions. Late in the evening the men's hockey squad routed arch-foes Pakistan 7-4 in a do-or-die pool match to enter the semi finals in front of a packed crowd.
Ranchi-born teenage shooter Deepika Kumari set the tone with a gold in the women's individual recurve at the archery range. Fellow-archer Rahul Banerjee (men's individual recurve), Harpreet Singh (men's 25m centre fire pistol) and world freestyle wrestling champion Sushil Kumar (66kg) followed suit before Somdev Devvarman lived up to his billing as the top seed by winning the men's singles gold. The silverware provided earlier in the day by Vijay Kumar (centre fire pistol) and freestyle grapplers Anuj Kumar (84kg) and Joginder Kumar (120kg) was boosted in the evening by field athletes Vikas Gowda (men's discus) and Malliakal Prajusha (women's long jump). The 14 medals bagged on Sunday increased the country's haul to an impressive 29-22-22, three gold medals clear of third-placed England who were second last night.

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