President Zardari, PM Gilani agree to accept PML-N's resignations

ISLAMABAD: President Asif Ali Zardari and Prime Minister Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani have agreed to accept resignations of PML-N's ministers and expansion of federal cabinet.

The decision has been taken in a meeting between President Zardari and Premier Gilani in the President House Wednesday. Premier Gilani briefed the president on key issues faced by the government.

It was decided in the meeting that resignations of PML-N members of federal cabinet would be accepted soon.

Pakistan Muslim League-N (PML-N) had resigned from federal cabinet in central executive committee meeting on May 12, 2008.

An expansion and reshuffling of the federal cabinet is on the cards for sometime this week. "The formal announcement (of the expansion) would be made within the next few days," said sources.

Speaking on the occasion, President Zardari said, “Immediate measures should be taken to provide relief to the people.”

The president further said he believed in supremacy of parliament and offered his full support for stabilizing the government.

Source : The News

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Punjab's ex-CM Amarinder expelled from Assembly for 3-5 yrs

CHANDIGARH: Beleaguered former Punjab CM Amarinder Singh has been expelled from the Assembly for the next three to five years over corruption charges.

He will be asked to vacate his MLA seat.

Vigilance Department has been asked to probe the corruption charges against him.

Amarinder Singh, who is facing graft charges, on Wednesday, said he feared arrest but will not seek anticipatory bail even as his party rival Rajinder Bhattal asked him to come clean on the allegations.

The Congress leader was indicted by a special committee of the Punjab Assembly for alleged irregularities in exempting 32.10 acres of land for private development in Amritsar during his tenure as chief minister.

"I am carrying anticipatory bail plea in my pocket... but I will not use it," Singh had said.

He had alleged that the Akali Dal-BJP combine government could take any decision against him but he would not leave unchallenged any move to disqualify him from the House.

Congress Legislature Party (CLP) leader Bhattal, Singh's bete noire, had said the party stands by Singh but he should explain the allegations against him and let the truth come to fore.

Source : Times Of India

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Good news on Kashmir likely before LS polls in India: Zardari

ISLAMABAD: Suggesting that there could be forward movement on resolving the Kashmir issue soon, Pakistan's new President Asif Ali Zardari on Tuesday said there will be "some good news" before the general elections in India slated for next year.

"Insha Allah, we will have some good news" on Kashmir before the general elections in India, Zardari said at a joint press conference with Afghan President Hamid Karzai after being sworn-in as Pakistan's 12th President.

He said the PPP government will consult all political forces in Pakistan, both inside and outside Parliament, to forge some kind of a strategy to resolve the Kashmir issue.

This will be taken to the Kashmir Committee in Parliament, Zardari said, adding the work done through back-channel diplomacy will also be part of this.

Source : Times Of India

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Don't embarrass Big B: Sena to Jaya

MUMBAI: Shiv Sena mouthpiece Saamna has asked Samajwadi Party MP and actor Jaya Bachchan not to "vitiate' ' the social climate of Maharashtra by making anti-Marathi statements.

Stating that Mumbai has given a pan-Indian identity to the Bachchan clan, the newspaper-whose editor is Sena chief Bal Thackeraysaid Jaya's anti-Marathi diatribe at a recent film function amounted to confining Amitabh to Uttar Pradesh.

But political observers say the Saamna rhetoric has to be viewed against the Raj Thackeray-led Maharashtra Navnirman Sena's on-going crusade for Marathi. "If the Sena doesn't raise its decibel level on the issue of Marathi, it risks losing its GenNext grassroots workers to the MNS in the run up to the legislative assembly elections,'' an expert said.

Incidentally, close on the heels of the MNS' campaign for Marathi signboards, senior Sena leader Manohar Joshi had held a press conference to reiterate that Marathi and Marathi 'manoos' constitute the party's agenda since its inception in the 1960s.

"Amitabh doesn't belong to a particular state or region . His art transcends barriers of caste, creed and language . However, Jaya has announced that she and her family belong to UP,'' said the Sena mouthpiece on Tuesday, adding, "Her utterances in the recent past have been a source of mental agony for Amitabh Bachchan.''

Incidentally, the saffron daily also came down heavily on Shahrukh Khan for publicly flaunting his Delhi credentials. "If he (SRK) loves Delhi then why did he come to Mumbai? These people come here, fill up their bellies and then burp in the name of their own states. However, if a Marathi reiterates his affection for Maharashtra , he is branded as parochial.'' Reference to Khan, say Sena watchers, is aimed at placating Bachchan, a close friend of Thackeray.


Source : Times Of India

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