Price Rise
Maya threatens to withdraw support
Lucknow, April 19
BSP supremo Mayawati today threatened to withdraw support from the UPA government within a few months if price rise was not checked and the central government did not provide a Rs 80,000-crore special package to Uttar Pradesh.

Cong cool to Maya’s threat

HJC secy gunned down in Gurgaon
Gurgaon, April 19
Unidentified assailants today shot dead state secretary of the Haryana Janhit Congress (HJC) Vikram Pehalwan (40) at his native village Wazirabad in Sector 56 here. Another person was injured in the incident. DCP Satish S. Balan, who reached the spot, said preliminary investigation showed that Pehalwan was sitting in his timber shop along with his salesman Santosh and a servant around 12.45 pm.
                                                           Vikram Pehalwan

Amarinder summoned to Delhi over road show
Amritsar, April 19
Taking a serious view of the ‘ show of strength’ by supporters of Amarinder Singh to mark his tour of border belt under the pretext of meeting the party workers facing “political vendetta” , the Congress high command at New Delhi has asked the former Chief Minister to come to New Delhi to discuss party affairs.                                                   Amarinder Singh

Special courts on graft needed: PM
New Delhi, April 19
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh today said corruption was posing a serious challenge to both government and judiciary. Speaking at a conference of Chief Ministers and Chief Justices of the High Courts the PM also spoke in favour of setting up special courts to combat the menace. Also speaking at the same conference the Chief Justice of India K.G. Balakrishnan sought “serious judicial reforms”.
In video (56k)
CJI guarded on PM’s remark

Govt fixes min wages for maids abroad
New Delhi, April 19
Waking up to the need of protecting women employed in household jobs abroad, the Government of India has decided to fix minimum wages for them. The Indian Missions in the concerned nations have been asked to fix the minimum wages for female household service workers within the range of $300 to $350. The wages will come into effect from June this year.

Rights body official meets Murugan
Vellore, April 19
Nearly a month after the well-publicised meeting Priyanka Vadra had with Nalini, who is serving a life term in the Rajiv Gandhi assassination case, an official of the Human Rights Commission (HRC) met Nalini’s husband, Murugan, and four others convicted in the case and conducted an “inquiry”.

Pak envoy in Taliban custody
Islamabad, April 19
Pakistan’s ambassador to Afghanistan Tariq Azizuddin, who went missing in February, today appeared in a video beamed by an Arabic TV channel and said he was being held by the Taliban. The footage aired by Dubai-based Al Arabiya channel showed Azizuddin, his driver Gul Nawaz and guard Amir Sultan surrounded by armed militants.

N-deal on the back burner After more than two years of intense negotiations that involved frequent flights between Washington and New Delhi, officials on both sides now appear resigned to the fact that the civilian nuclear deal will not be wrapped up any time soon. Millions of dollars have been spent on lobbyists in an effort to win support in the United States Congress for the deal, which seeks to overturn three decades of US policy by allowing Washington to sell nuclear technology and fuel to India.