Pranab Mukherjee likely to visit Sri Lanka

NEW DELHI: As Tamil parties continue to build pressure on the government over the Sri Lankan issue, external affairs minister Pranab Mukherjee is
likely to travel to the island nation to assess the situation and discuss the matter with the country's leadership.

Official sources here on Sunday said the visit is being considered in view of the prevailing situation in Sri Lanka.

Mukherjee is expected to meet President Mahinda Rajapaksa and foreign minister Rohitha Bogollagama.

However, no date has been fixed for the visit so far and it is being worked out, they said.

After a telephonic conversation between Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Rajapaksa on Saturday, Bogollagama extended a formal invitation to Mukherjee to visit Sri Lanka to assess the situation.

The government's key ally DMK has been demanding India's intervention to stop Sri Lankan military offensive in north Sri Lanka. To build pressure, its ministers in the Union Cabinet and MPs have tendered their resignations to the party chief.

Mukherjee's visit is intended to enable India to get first-hand account of the situation, particularly the condition of ethnic Tamils there.

During the telephonic talk with Rajapaksa, Singh said the Sri Lankan government should ensure that the rights and safety of Tamils are protected and that they don't get "enmeshed" in the conflict with LTTE.

The Sri Lankan president, on his part, assured Singh that his government is ensuring safety and security of the Tamils.

Singh has also asked Rajapaksa to look for a political settlement to the ethnic problem, insisting that there could be no military solution to it.

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Raj Thackeray a mental case, ban MNS: Lalu

NEW DELHI: Condemning the attack on railway board examination centres in suburban Mumbai by MNS activists, railway minister Lalu Prasad on Sunday
demanded a ban on the outfit, saying its chief Raj Thackeray was a "mental case".

"I strongly condemn the incident. There should be an inquiry into the attack. There should be strong action against that party...MNS should be banned," the minister told reporters here.

His comments came as a response to the attack on 13 railway board examination centres in suburban Mumbai by MNS activists who protested "inadequate representation" to locals and chased away candidates from north India.

Prasad said the directions of the Supreme Court or any other courts did not have any impact on the MNS leader. "We can see such incidents when the elections are near," he said.

The minister said he had spoken to Maharashtra Chief Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh who assured him of a proper inquiry into the incident.

Source : Times Of India

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Mayawati promises quota for upper caste poor

LUCKNOW: With the next Lok Sabha elections round the corner, Uttar Pradesh chief minister Mayawati on Sunday promised to provide reservation to th
e poor among the upper castes if her Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) came to power at the national level.

"The reservation on the basis of economic and other parameters will enable the upper caste community members to address their problems, especially those related to poverty and unemployment," she said.

"I have already written a letter to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in this regard."

Addressing a convention of upper castes here, Mayawati held the Congress Party "most responsible for the sorry status" of these communities.

Post-Independence, the Congress has ruled the country and this state most of the time, but it never thought seriously of addressing the problems of upper castes, she said.

Accusing the Bharatiya Janata Party of misguiding the upper castes, Mayawati said: "The BJP projects itself as a custodian of upper caste rights. But during my three earlier stints (as chief minister) when BSP ruled with the support of BJP, the latter always pressurised us to drop the welfare schemes for the upper caste community members."

Mayawati called upon the upper castes to join hands with Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and Other Backward Classes "in order to get the key to the central and the state governments".

"With this master key, all communities will be able to get rid of their problems themselves by involving themselves in policy-making," she said.

Talking about the representation of various upper castes in the Lok Sabha and the assembly, Mayawati said: "The BSP ticket will be given only to those who can solicit full support of their community members."

This was why more Brahmin candidates than those from other upper castes were fielded in the last assembly elections, said Mayawati.

The chief minister also accused the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government of not taking adequate steps for the all-round development of the state.

"For undertaking welfare schemes for upper caste sections and other communities, I have written several letters to the central government, but it has not replied to any of the letters," she said.

"Had the central government released funds for the Rs.80,000 crore (Rs.800 billion) package we sought, the development scene of the state would have been altogether different."

The chief minister said the BSP was the sole political outfit that can work for an-all round development of all communities.

"BSP has no vested interests - unlike other political outfits, which have become a puppet in the hands of industrialists and multinational companies," Mayawati told the gathering.

Source : Times Of India

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