Caught in bind over SC/ST quota, PM calls all-party meet
New Delhi, May 16
Responding promptly to a recent animated debate in the Rajya Sabha on amending the Constitution to provide for reservations in promotions for SC/ST employees, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has convened an all-party meeting on May 23 to evolve a consensus on the subject.

US slaps sanctions on key Dawood aides Chhota Shakeel, Tiger Memon
New Delhi, May 16
In a move welcomed by India, the US has designated Chhota Shakeel and Ibrahim Tiger Memon, two key aides of underworld don Dawood Ibrahim, as narcotics traffickers and imposed sanctions on them.

Punjab MC polls on June 7, 10
Chandigarh, May 16
The Punjab State Election Commission has decided to hold municipal elections in Punjab in two phases on June 7 and 10. The polls are expected to be notified early next week, according to sources in the government. The first phase of the poll will see elections in some municipal committees, notified area committees and wards of committees. During the second phase on June 10, elections will be held in four municipal corporations of Amritsar, Jalandhar, Ludhiana and Patiala.

200 steel furnaces in Punjab strike work to protest enhanced billing
Chandigarh, May 16
Over 200 steel furnaces in Punjab have gone on an indefinite strike in protest against the enhanced billing charges being imposed on them by the Punjab State Power Corporation Limited (PSPCL). The strike is bound to have wide ramifications for the already staggering industry in the state. 

China violated LAC 505 times since Jan 2010 
Triggered by differing perceptions of disputed line
New Delhi, May 16
Differing perceptions of the disputed Line of Actual Control (LAC) between India and China has led to a whopping 505 transgressions by Chinese soldiers since January 2010. Explaining ‘transgressions’, officials said India and China do not agree on the LAC, hence soldiers on either side patrol up to the point they perceive as the LAC.

PATERNITY ROW Use police to get Tiwari’s blood sample: HC New Delhi, May 16 Rejecting former Uttarakhand Chief Minister ND Tiwari’s plea for an adjournment, the Delhi High Court today asked a court official to collect the blood DNA sample of the defiant 86-year-old Congress leader with police assistance to ascertain a claim that he is the biological father of 32-year-old Rohit Shekhar.