Joshi, who heads the Congress party in Uttar Pradesh, was arrested on Thursday following her comments, which were condemned by members across parties including the Congress and has since snowballed into a major political controversy.

“Joshi’s act was unpardonable and the law will take its course,” Mayawati said. “Like Varun Gandhi, she may also get bail but I am sure that sooner or later she will be punished.”

Joshi remains in police custody, as her bail petition could not be filed on Friday because of a lawyers’ strike. Her comments, made during a rally in Moradabad, were seen as insulting dalits and has given Mayawati an opportunity to stage a political comeback after the reverses in the recent Lok Sabha elections.

Rahul Gandhi sought to shut that window of opportunity by deflecting attention to larger issues of governance in Uttar Pradesh. He described Joshi’s remarks as “unfortunate” but said her anger against Maywati’s administration was genuine.

“For all practical purposes, the UP government has become fully non-functional and non-operational,” Gandhi said. “We work here in UP. It is our job to deliver on our programmes. We (the Centre) send money and it does not reach people,” he said, referring to plans such as the NREGA.

To a question on installation of statues by Mayawati, he said the chief minister’s priority are her own but his party’s priority is to work for the poor. “There is place for statues and elephants (BSP symbol) but there should also be space for development and electricity,” Gandhi said.

In its reply to the query, the urban development ministry’s estate department said it has prepared a list of 36 “unauthorised occupants of general pool bungalows”, including many high profile former parliamentarians. On the procedure and present status of evicting the unauthorised occupants, the department said: “Cancellation of allotment is made against the allottee in case of unauthorised occupation and eviction proceedings under the Public Premises (Eviction of Unauthorised Occupants) Act, 1971, are initiated to get the accommodation vacated. All such cases have been referred to litigation division for necessary action.”

Asked if electricity and water supply has been stopped to such unauthorised occupants, it said this was the responsibility of the civic agency concerned – the New Delhi Municipal Council (NDMC). Agrawal said these former MPS should take inspiration from Shabana Azmi, who went to attend her last day in Rajya Sabha after vacating her government-bungalow allotted to her. “They should also take lesson from healthy tradition in Britain where new Prime Minister enters his official residence at 10 Downing Street (London) just after taking oath, because the outgoing Prime Minister immediately vacates it after quitting as Prime Minister,” he added.

Noting that the supreme court had been passing strictures against politicians staying on in their official accommodations, he said the apex court should ask other courts not to be soft towards petitions requesting permission to retain government accommodation when not entitled to it. “Apart from amending Section 441 (criminal trespass) of Indian Penal Code as suggested by the apex court, the government can stop pensions of retired parliamentarians for overstaying, apart from disqualifying them from contesting elections or having some official post like of governor or chairperson of a commission,” Agarwal said.

The ex-MPs or ministers who are unauthorised occupants of general pool bungalows are A. Narendra, Jagdish Tytler, L. Ganeshan, Saleem Sherwani, Basanagouda R. Patil, Faggan Singh Kulaste, Jual Oram, Kashiram Rana, Santosh Gangwar, Vallabhbhai Kathiriya, Vinod Khanna, Charanjit Singh Atwal, S.N. Jatiya, S.S. Badal, Subhash Maharia, K. Yerran Naidu, George Fernandes, V. Radhika Selvi, Naranbhai Rathwa, Raghunath Jha, Renuka Chowdhury, Shankersinh Vaghela, Kanti Singh, Priyaranjan Dasmunsi, Akhilesh Prasad Singh, Taslimuddin, Mahavir Prasad, Mani Shanker Aiyar, Suryakanta Patil, Ram Vilas Paswan, Santosh Mohan Dev, Subbalakshmi Jagadeesan, Mohd Ali Ashraf Fatmi, Jai Prakash Narain Yadav, Shakeel Ahmed and P.R. Kyndiah.

i) Additional allocation of Rs.1400 crore to clear the backlog of Technology Upgradation Fund Scheme (TUFS) (further allocation of Rs.3140 crore in the Budget 2009-10 has been announced);

ii) All items of handicrafts included under ‘Vishesh Krishi & Gram Udyog Yojana (VK&GUY)’;

iii) Across-the-board cut of 4% in the ad-valorem Cenvat rate till 31.3.2009;

iv) Interest subvention of 2% upto 31.3.2009 subject to a minimum of 7% per annum on pre and post-shipment export credit (since extended to 31.3.2010 in the Union Budget 2009-10);

v) Provision of additional funds for full refund of Terminal Excise Duty/Central Sales Tax.

vi) Enhanced back-up guarantee to ECGC to cover for exports to difficult markets/products;

vii) Refund of Service Tax on foreign agent commissions of upto 10% of FOB value of exports as well as refund of service tax on output service while availing benefits under Duty Drawback Scheme;

viii) Credit targets of Public Sector Banks revised upward to reflect the needs of the economy;

ix) State Level Bankers Committee to hold meetings for resolution of Credit issues of MSMEs;

x) Guarantee cover under Credit Guarantee Scheme doubled to Rs. 1 crore with cover of 50%;

xi) DEPB rates restored to pre November, 2008 levels and extended till 31.12.2009;

xii) Duty Drawback on knitted fabrics enhanced retrospectively from 1.9.2008.

This information was given by the Minister of State for Textiles, Smt. Panabaaka Lakshmi in the Rajya Sabha today, in a written reply to a question by Smt. Hema Malini.

“The plan provisions for the ministry has been enhanced from Rs.130.89 crore in 2006-07 to Rs.500 crore in 2007-08, Rs.1,000 crore in 2008-09 and Rs.1,740 crore for the year 2009-10, Khurshid told the Rajya Sabha in a written reply.

While replying to a question related to the implementation of the recommendations of the Sachar Committee, the minority affairs minister said that a multi-prolonged strategy to address the educational backwardness of the Muslim community, as brought out by the Sachar Committee has been adopted.

Khurshid also gave details of the scholarships that are being provided to the students of the minority community.

For the economic welfare of the minority community, Khurshid said that multi-sectoral development programmes have been launched in identified minority concentration districts in 2008-09 and all public sector banks have been directed to open branches in districts having a substantial minority population.

To address communal issues, Khurshid said guidelines on maintaining communal harmony have been issued to the home ministry.

There are already two top politicians in the MCA, president Sharad Pawar and new entrant Vilasrao Deshmukh, who was elected unopposed as one of the two vice-presidents. Now the entry of Rane into the MCA politics in future cannot be ruled out. Over the years, politicians of various hues and affiliations have found out that cricket is the right vehicle to gain wide media attention.

And to their credit, quite a few of them have contributed significantly over the years to the development of the game’s infrastructure. Who can forget the stellar role played by the late Sesharao Wankhede who took it up as a personal challenge when the MCA was snubbed by Vijay Merchant, then president of the Cricket Club of India, over the former’s demand for an increased number of seats at the Brabourne Stadium for Tests.

Aqda-e-qaumiat Muslim Kashood/Az watan aqqae ma hijrat namood. In other words, our prophet Muhammad (PBUH) untied the knot of nationalism by performing Hijrat from his home. He left his home for the sake of his beliefs and faith. Iqbal criticizes the League of Nations thus: Makke ne diya khaak-e- Geneva ko ye paigham/ Jamiat aqwam ke Jamiat Adam. In other words, mankind’s problems will not be solved by forming a unity of nations. In such a body, every nation’s representative would act out of his nation’s interests which would prevent him from thinking about the good of all humankind. To act for the common good it is necessary to transcend narrow national, ethnic, and linguistic prejudices just as the Prophet (PBUH) taught us to unite in the worship of a single God.

Soon after the creation of Pakistan, those responsible for framing the country’s foreign and defence policies decided to make cooperation with the USA the cornerstone of these policies. To achieve that end, they decided to exploit Pakistan’s geographical location and Islamic worldview to portray the country to the Americans as a bastion against communism. The foundations of this policy were laid by Liaquat Ali Khan, Sir Zafarullah Khan, General Ayub Khan and Iskander Mirza. American aid was considered as a means of making Pakistan strong vis a vis India and to make the country stand on its own feet.

India, meanwhile, decided to follow a policy of non-alignment towards the US and the USSR. Eventually, India emerged as a leader of the non-aligned bloc and made a name for itself as a powerful independent voice on the world stage. In contrast, Pakistan gradually became a virtual satellite of the US. Meanwhile, the US kept changing its attitude towards Pakistan according to the changing scenario. When India kept itself aloof from Washington, the US patronized Pakistan. By joining CENTO and SEATO, Pakistan allied itself totally with the US and the western bloc. However, the US continued to seek the cooperation of India with its huge population and resources.

Pak-US relations, meanwhile, continue to witness ups and downs during different periods. During General Zia’s rule, the US got the opportunity to use Pakistan to humiliate the USSR in Afghanistan. For this reason, the US was even willing to overlook Pakistan’s nuclear programme to some extent and restored its aid which had earlier been blocked in order to penalize Pakistan for its nuclear ambitions and to encourage the return of democracy Pak-US relations once again went through a rocky patch after the Russians withdrew from Afghanistan. The Mujahideen, who the US had earlier encouraged with the help of Pakistan to prop up the resistance to the Soviet presence in Afghanistan, were soon seen as a potential threat to US interests when they made Afghanistan a base for anti-US activities and for allowing a foothold to Al-Qaeda.

On September 11, 2001, a devastating incident took place in the US. Several aircraft were hijacked from various US airports simultaneously and attacks staged on symbols of America’s economic power, the Twin Towers in New York, the nerve-centre of its military, the Pentagon, and on the White House. America blamed the attacks on Al-Qaeda and in order to crush the organization, the US decided to attack Afghanistan. Once again, America needed Pakistan for this and Islamabad, in keeping with its old habits and basic policy, was ready and willing to cooperate.

So much so that General Pervez Musharraf did not even feel the need to consult anyone before agreeing. After all, the US had sought cooperation and it was not in the make-up of the Pakistani leadership to deny this request. From day one, it has been our rulers’ main aim to seek such cooperation. But this time it was neither Pakistan’s geographical location nor its Islamic ideology that was its main strength. This time it was support for the US war on terror that was on top of the agenda. General Pervez Musharraf immediately agreed to become a front-ranking ally in this war.

Today, the Pakistani nation is asking questions about who the main foe is in this war on terror. Is it those Mujahideen that Pakistan had itself gathered from all over the globe and organized, and who were motivated in the name of Islam to fight against the Soviet communists and for the Muslims of Afghanistan? When they were fighting against the Russian occupation they were Mujahideen. The Pakistani people and army were fighting a jihad with their Afghan brethren. When the Soviets were replaced by the western powers and NATO several years later, the Afghan people continued to struggle against foreign intervention. The sympathies of the Pakistani people are with them. What argument does the army and the government have for becoming a frontline US ally against those resisting the occupation?

By fighting someone else’s war, today our army is engaged in a conflict with the madressahs, the ulema and the tribals of their own country. This is giving an opportunity to our enemies to foment terrorism and strife in the country. American author Stephen Cohen has said in his recent book that when the last Al-Qaeda member and Taliban are no longer in Pakistan, US aid to Pakistan will also come to a halt. That is why the Pakistan government and army would like to prolong this war. But Pakistanis themselves are dying in this war. The Pakistan Army and the people are killing each other in this war. Do our rulers have the courage to rethink the policy of being staunch allies of the US in its war before we reach the brink of destruction?

An FIR (first information report) has been lodged against Nalin Soren and Nistar Minz in the vigilance police station. An officer will investigate the case and take action after ascertaining the facts, D.K. Pandey, deputy inspector general of police in the vigilance department, told IANS.

A special court Tuesday had directed the vigilance department to lodge the FIR while hearing a petition filed by Vineet Kashyap charging both of them corruption in farmers’ welfare schemes. Soren, a Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) legislator, was also a contender for the post of chief minister in January after Shibu Soren quit the post.

The vigilance department has in the recent past registered cases against former chief minister Madhu Koda and five former ministers – Enos Ekka, Harinarayan Rai, Kamlesh Singh, Bandhu Tirkey and Bhanu Pratap Sahi. The vigilance court has also issued arrest warrants for Ekka and Rai.

Why did Freud dislike us so much? There may be a clue in an incident during a London dinner attended by the Australian cricket team in 1972. Freud was at the dinner and, as one of the Australian team recalled this week, he reacted testily when an Australian player put a packet of cigarettes on the table. “I trust you don’t intend to smoke any of those things,” Freud said in an icy voice.

Immediately, word spread among the Australian players about the up-himself Englishman who objected to their smoking. From then on, various Australian players took it in turns to stand close to Freud’s chair – on the pretext of yarning to players sitting near him – and blow cigar smoke over him. Freud would have known what they were up to, which may help explain his aversion to Australians thereafter. What does all this have to do with anything? Well, late that same night after the dinner, when the Australian players were apparently the worse for wear, the team went to a studio to record a couple of songs in male-chorus style, one of which was Here Come The Aussies.

It happens that this song is one of 17 cricket songs re-released on Stumped! Songs We Love About Cricket, a CD that SBS is marketing to coincide with its Ashes telecasts. Cricket author Kersi Meher-Homji does the notes to the CD. Promos for the CD, which includes three tracks by Paul Kelly and two by John Williamson, will be heard during breaks in play.

One cricket fan emailed Square Eyes this week to say that the biggest inducement for him to watch the Ashes telecasts would be the prospect of seeing Phillip Hughes in action. “I think that large numbers of Australians will sit down at their TVs next Wednesday evening with the express hope of watching Hughes bat,” he wrote. “If it were Matt Hayden and Justin Langer again, not nearly as many. If on the other hand England is batting and I see Brett Lee measuring out his run to bowl the first over, I’ll be tempted to switch to the History Channel for some riveting documentary on who really did kill Julius Caesar and why.”

How many do choose to watch, and perhaps why, will become clear after the first Test starts on Wednesday. SBS and Fox Sports will both have their usual Australian commentary teams on duty. In SBS’s case, this will consist of Stuart MacGill, Greg Matthews and Damien Martyn in a Sydney studio and Rodney Hogg on the ground in England. A number of former players will also make appearances, among them Neil Harvey, Bob Simpson, Doug Walters, Brian Booth and Rick McCosker.

Fox Sports will field its usual cricket panellists – Allan Border, Mark Waugh, Brendon Julian, Greg Blewett, and Damien Fleming – while both SBS and Fox will take the same feed from Sky Sport, whose commentators will include Ian Botham, David Gower, Michael Holding and, of course, Shane Warne. One of the Paul Kelly songs on the new CD is his calypso-style tribute to Warne, titled simply Shane Warne. “We wondered what will Warney do next,” Kelly sings. We still do.

Six of the seven successful candidates were the beneficiaries of the 4% reservation quota while one Ms. Ayesha Khan was successful in general category. The results of the APPSC Group I exams were announced recently in which about 150 candidates were declared successful.

Congratulating the candidates on their achievement, the Chief Minister expressed satisfaction that the reservation policy was yielding results for the Muslim community. This was first time that seven Muslims got selected for Group I jobs.

“Good. Keep it up. Muslims should fully use the opportunities the government was trying to provide them”, he said. CM was keen to know why only one Muslim could get through in the general category and hoped that they will work hard to further improve the situation.

Speaking on the behalf of the successful candidate, Ayesha Khan told the Chief Minister that it was thanks to his policy of reservation that at least a few Muslims were selected. “60 years ago the efforts of Dr B R Ambedkar to provide reservations to Muslims could not succeed but now you have succeeded and because of this we could get this opportunity”, another candidate observed.

Significantly there are three women among the seven successful Muslims. While Ayesha Khan has been appointed the Joint Collector in Adilabad district, the six candidates who were selected under reservation quota opted for different departments.

They are Shakella Bano (deputy superintendent of police, Nalgonda district), Kareemulah Shareef (DSP-Krishna district), Ms. Yasmeen Basha (deputy collector Ranga Reddy district), Abdul Quader Jeelani (Divisional Forest Officer, Krishna), Shaikh Zaheer (Treasury Officer) and Md Rahmatullah (AAO).

The doors of progress will be open for the office of the Group I in state services as they can be promoted at a later stage to the Indian Police Service and Indian Administrative Service. This is significant because there are only a handful of Muslim IPS and IAS officers in the state.

They include Janna Hussain, Special Secretary to the Chief Minister, Syed Ilyas Rizvi, the managing director of Muslim Minorities Financial Corporation, SM Rizvi, vice chairman, Deccan Infrastructure and Land Holdings and Mohammed Shafeequzzaman.

The Muslim IPS officers in the state include Abdul Khayyum Khan (Additional Director General of Police, Law and Order), Anwarul Huda (Head, Enforcement and Vigilance), Ahsan Raza (Anti Corruption Bureau) Shaikh Mohammed Iqbal (District superintendent of police, Medak).

The meeting of the successful candidates with the Chief Minister was organized by Muslim Welfare Forum to thank the Chief Minister. Speaking on the occasion secretary M Babar and other officials said that the reservation policy had already benefited Muslims extensively in the field of reservation as last year 200 Muslim students got admission in medical colleges and 4000 in engineering colleges.

But as the case challenging the legal and constitutional validity of the Muslim Reservations Act 2007 was still pending in the High Court, the Chief Minister assured that the government will do everything possible to remove all the hurdles in the way of its implementation.

As the High Court has allowed the admission under reservation policy pending the final judgment, Muslim students will continue to benefit from the reservation quota in professional colleges this year too.

The investigating agency alleged that Koli had informed the Netherlands ambassador here on Feb 3, 2003, that all arrangements had been made for his travel and that of nine others to Amsterdam by the Indian ambassador there. The ex-MP allegedly claimed all nine fellow travellers were members of the All India Koli Samaj and they were going to Amsterdam to visit some showrooms of agricultural equipments apart from sight-seeing.

Of the nine people, one flew to Amsterdam Feb 9 and others followed two days later but none of them returned to India, the CBI alleged in the 40-page charge sheet. Besides Koli, other accused in the case are Sushil Sinha, the former MP’s personal assistant, Deepak Arora, director of Utell Travels and Cargo (Pvt) Ltd, Naresh Arora, Harbhajan Singh, Dalip Singh, Ajmer Singh and Praveen Chugh, all travel agents. The CBI sought their prosecution for alleged cheating and criminal conspiracy under the Indian Penal Code.