L A T E S T      N E W S

Black ink thrown on Baba Ramdev's face

NEW DELHI: A man threw black ink on the face of yoga guru Baba Ramdev as he was holding a press conference on black money and corruption at the Constitutional Club here on today. A nonplussed Ramdev remarked later, "What have I done to deserve this?"

The offender was caught and roughed up by Ramdev's supporters. He was repeatedly slapped and he bled from the mouth.

Reacting after the incident, Ramdev said he had asked for the black money being returned to the country and instead got black ink.

"Those who fight for truth have to pay the price. We are fighting to get black money back to the country and instead I got black ink...What did I do to deserve this?" Ramdev said to reporters later.

"This incident wont’ affect me. We will continue to fight against the odds, come what may,” he added. — IANS

Air India pilots report sick, flights cancelled

New Delhi: Flight operations of Air India were severely affected on Saturday after its pilot reported sick as part of their 'work to rule' agitation against the airline management's failure to pay their salary.

Eight flights to Nagpur, Ahmedabad, Chennai, Leh, Bangalore, Bagdogra, Amritsar and Kolkata were cancelled after 12 pilots reported sick this morning. "We have clubbed the early morning flight to the above destinations with the flights operating later in the day," an Air India official said.

Protesting non-payment of their salary and allowances, a section of Air India pilots had on Friday decided to go on "no-pay-no-work" agitation from midnight Friday.The pilots held a meeting in Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata and Chennai and decided to go on the agitation.

Congress disowns Khurshid’s remarks on quota

New Delhi: After supporting him initially, the Congress on Friday disowned law minister Salman Khurshid’s promise to provide 9% reservation for backward Muslims in Uttar Pradesh. “It is his individual view. It would be better if you ask Khurshid for his reaction. There is inner party democracy in our party,” Congress spokesperson Rashid Alvi told mediapersons here.

The party’s U-turn came after reports from UP suggested that the promise had not gone down well with the OBCs, who perceived it as an encroachment on their turf. Out to regain the political ground it had lost in the northern state in 1989, the Congress is going all out to woo different castes and communities that have moved away from it in the past 22 years. And the support of OBCs and Muslims is crucial for the party’s revival in UP.

Gilani, Kayani to come face to face today

Islamabad: Pakistan prime minister Yousuf Raza Gilani and army chief Gen Ashfaq Parvez Kayani will come face to face for the first time since they crossed swords over the memo issue, when a cabinet committee meets on Saturday to discuss crucial issues related to national security and relations with the US.

The government has convened a meeting of the defence committee of the cabinet, Pakistan's highest decision-making body for security matters, at the prime minister's house on Saturday afternoon, officials said.

Kayani is among those who will attend the meeting, the officials said.This will be the first meeting between Gilani and Kayani since a testy exchange between the civilian government and the military earlier this week.

On Monday, Gilani said during an interview that the army and Inter-Services Intelligence chiefs had acted in a "unconstitutional and illegal" manner while submitting affidavits to the Supreme Court on the alleged memo that had sought US help to stave off a possible coup in Pakistan after the killing of Osama bin Laden last year.

The military reacted to Gilani's remarks by saying that they could have "grievous consequences". Kayani met with the army's Corps Commanders and his Principal Staff Officers yesterday to assess options for dealing with the political crisis.