Chawla set to head EC
Prez rejects CEC’s recommendation
New Delhi, March 1
President Pratibha Patil on Sunday rejected the controversial recommendation by Chief Election Commissioner N Gopalaswami for the removal of Election Commissioner Navin Chawla. A Rashtrapati Bhawan communique said the President arrived at a considered opinion, and it is now expected that Chawla will head the poll panel.

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Pressure on Pak worked: Sonia
Uchana (Jind), March 1
Informally kicking off the campaign for the Lok Sabha elections in Haryana today, Congress president Sonia Gandhi said it was the diplomatic pressure built up by the UPA government which forced Pakistan to admit the use of its soil for launching terror attack on Mumbai in November last.

UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi and Haryana Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda share a point at a public meeting in Uchana, Jind, on Sunday. Photo: Manoj Dhaka

Rethink on tie-ups: Pawar to Cong
Nashik, March 1
NCP chief Sharad Pawar today asked Congress to reconsider its decision of not having an alliance with UPA partners at the national level. “We hope that Congress rethinks the decision of not having pact with UPA allies at national level.

Mulayam meets Sonia
Offers 15 seats to Cong in UP
New Delhi, March 1
After weeks of speculation over the fate of the Samajwadi Party-Congress alliance in Uttar Pradesh, SP president Mulayam Singh Yadav accompanied by party general secretary Amar Singh met Congress president Sonia Gandhi here today.

1,000 BDR soldiers face murder charge
Dhaka, March 1
Murder charges were today filed against over 1,000 personnel of Bangladesh’s paramilitary force BDR following the 33-hour mutiny by them during which they killed 73 Army officers, even as the government said the revolt was “well-orchestrated” and that a group of “outsiders” was also involved in the carnage.

Nation page: ISI behind BDR mutiny?

News Analysis
UPA fails women on burning issues
No action on quota bill, acid attacks, sexual harassment at workplace, relief for rape victims
New Delhi, March 1
As many as 80 major projects got going last week in the last-minute haste displayed by the Union Cabinet ahead of the Lok Sabha polls. Not one among them directly concerned women, whose clamours for attention during the past five years of UPA rule, invariably ended in whimpers.

Power Crisis
Congress, BJP play blame game in MP
Bhopal, March 1
The Congress today hit back at Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chauhan for allegedly trying to make the UPA government the villain of the piece vis a vis the savage power cuts being imposed in the state, even as the Chief Minister prepared to undertake a “coal Satyagraha” at New Delhi tomorrow.

BJP leader LK Advani tries his hand at driving a tractor as Madhya Pradesh CM Shivraj Singh Chouhan looks on at a loan distribution ceremony in Gwalior. — PTI

Punjabis thumb nose at recession From luxury cars, lush weddings to lavish junkets, region’s rich are relishing it all Chandigarh, March 1 Recession be damned. The deep pockets of the Punjabis have only grown deeper. From buying customised luxury cars to hiring private jets, the super rich in the region still believe in “have it, flaunt it.”