Senior BJP leaders, including party president Nitin Gadkari, parliamentary party chairman LK Advani, Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Sushma Swaraj and her Rajya Sabha counterpart Arun Jaitley, led party MPs to the Rashtrapati Bhavan to present the memorandum.

The leaders marched from Parliament House to the presidential palace a short distance away after both houses were adjourned for the day.

Gadkari later told reporters that the government had promised to bring prices under control within 100 days of coming to power but it had been an all round failure. “The common man is suffering because of this.”

“The basic reason of price rise is the wrong economic policy of the UPA government. We have urged the president to intervene and find solution after talking to the government,” Gadkari said outside Rashtrapati Bhavan after presenting the memorandum.

“Foodgrains worth Rs.58,000 crore are rotting because of the failure of the government to arrange adequate storage facilities.”

Quoting a Planning Commission report, he said 90 percent of the people in the country have a daily income of less than , while 51 percent of the population earns less than Rs.20 (less than 50 cents).

“If things continue like this, the poor man would not be able to afford a one time meal. Already, farmers are committing suicide.”

Veteran leader Advani added that the party had “fulfilled its main responsibility as the main opposition party by presenting signatures of aam admi in whose name the government had come to power”.

“I was surprised (by the government’s statement Wednesday that it had not failed in containing the prices). If it is not government failure, what else is it,” he asked.

The former deputy prime minister said the July 5 Bharat Bandh organised by the opposition was very successful as the common man had expressed his anger against the increasing prices of essential commodities, petrol, diesel and kerosene.

He caused anger in Israel by saying in Turkey that Gaza was a “prison camp”, and went on to offend Islamabad when he suggested in front of an Indian audience in Bangalore that Pakistan “promoted the export of terror”.

While in Ankara, he also dismissed opponents of Turkish membership of the European Union as “protectionist, polarised or prejudiced”, an analysis which will not be shared in Paris or Berlin. France and Germany oppose Turkish entry.

“He doesn’t shrink from giving sometimes tough messages, and he doesn’t shrink from doing that to their faces, as well as wherever he is around the world,” Foreign Secretary William Hague told reporters on Thursday in New Delhi.

At 43, Cameron is the youngest British prime minister in nearly two centuries. He has been in office since May.

His comments on Pakistan delighted the Indian media, which devoted much of its coverage of his visit to the subject, to the detriment of his core message that he wanted to boost trade and business links between Britain and India.

Pakistan’s high commissioner to Britain, Wajid Shamsul Hasan, called Cameron’s comments “completely contrary to the realities on the ground.”

“A bilateral visit (to India) aimed at attracting business could have been conducted without damaging the prospects of regional peace,” he wrote in a column in Thursday’s edition of the British newspaper The Guardian.

A great diplomat

The Israeli ambassador to Britain, Ron Prosor, was equally unimpressed. “The people of Gaza are the prisoners of the terrorist organisation Hamas,” he said in a sharp retort to Cameron’s “prison camp” comment.

In a briefing with British journalists covering the tour, Hague came under a barrage of questions on whether Cameron might watch his words more carefully in future and whether his approach was compatible with the care required in diplomacy.

“The prime minister speaks the truth and we are all united and clear and happy about what he said,” said Hague.

“The prime minister is a great diplomat and I see that in action every day when he’s dealing with foreign leaders. He is a natural at it, so I don’t think you need to be worried on that score,” he said.

Cameron will get a direct response from Pakistan when he hosts President Asif Ali Zardari at his Chequers country residence in Britain next week.

At the Nivsar railway station, around 20 kms from Ratnagiri, the tracks of Konkan Railway have sunk about 15 feet. There is now no foundation. It was an eventuality authorities were expecting as the track has been constructed over a water canal that flows beneath it.

Experts have been studying the weakened embankment since 2005. Their proposal to build a bridge over the existing railway station is yet to get the green flag and experts say landslides will continue to pose a threat.

“Most of the cuttings are vulnerable. We are looking to make the slopes more safe by reducing height of the cutting. This is an ongoing process under capital budget. We have already spent around Rs 90 crore on that,” says Nagadut R, Regional Railway Manager, Konkan Railway.

The Konkan Railway winds through treacherous terrain. Repair work is going on at Pomendi.

The wire mesh and concrete wall meant to protect against landslides have been unable to withstand the elements and small landslides keep occurring even as JVCs struggle to clear the debris

Officials say the route will be ready in two days, but workers here say it could take many more weeks to solve the chronic problem of landslides and track collapses this route faces every monsoon.

In a bid to resume services, the Konkan railway has also begun ferrying railway passengers between affected stations in Ratnagiri by bus. But as the rains continue to lash this region, railway authorities will have to find a more permanent solution.

Underworld don Abu Salem is an accused in the 1993 Bombay blasts and was extradited from Portugal in 2005. Salem was a Dawood Ibrahim gamng member but later on turned enemy.

Mustafa Dossa is also an accused in 1993 Bombay blasts and was extradited from Dubai in 2003. He is a trusted Dawood aide too.

Both the dons, lodged in Mumbai’s high-security Arthur Road Jail, on Saturday got into a scuffle similar to ones seen several times in Hindi movies, which left Salem with gashes on his face.

Though both have been now shifted to separate jails, what has now come tumbling out of the jail’s closet are the shocking details of the lavish lives of underworld dons behind bars.

“I saw that they had new cloths in their cells and the bathrooms that they use have new tiles and are very clean. The toilets look just like it is in a good hotel,” says Maharashtra Minister of State for Home Ramesh Bagwe.

The details with CNN-IBN are far more shocking. Seated in a jail a don can just about get anything for a price 5-10 times the market rate. Some underworld dons possess three-four mobile phones with numerous SIM cards and Rs 10,000 is the minimum monthly maintenance cost per mobile phone and SIM cards are hidden inside the jail premises. Separate mobiles are used for talking to their bosses, subordinates and family.

A pack of cigarettes comes for Rs 200 and that of a bidi for Rs 25 while a toothpaste costing Rs 25 outside is available for Rs 300. Raw chicken is available for Rs 500. Some even cook their food on gas stoves inside the jail and a bottle of liquor is for Rs 2000. Contraband drugs like charas are available for Rs 1000.

Sources have told CNN-IBN us that while the underworld dons spend Rs 5-6 lakh a month to lead a lavish jail life, other petty criminals struggle to get even the basic facilities. While the smuggling of all the articles takes place during the night, the jail authorities say they are terribly under-staffed to curb these activities and the jails are over crowded.

Arthur Road Jail can hold upto 804 inmates but over 2100 inmates are lodged right now and the figure even touches 2400 at times. The total jail staff is a mere 250 when it should be at least 750

Due to the severe manpower crunch and corruption dreaded underworld dons can smuggle into the jail whatever they want and even manage their crime syndicate from right inside the jail. What’s even more alarming is that high-value convict involved in November 2008 Mumbai terror attack, Ajmal Amir Kasab is also lodged in the Arthur Road Jail.

Kolkata: A teacher in West Bengal’s first Muslim university has not been able to hold her classes for the last three months after she rebelled against the tradition and decided not to wear burqa.

Though the guidelines at Aliah University in Kolkata do not stipulate that women teacher should wear burqa, the students’ union say the 24-year-old teacher, Sirin Middya, can teach but only in burqa.

Sirin joined Aliah University as a guest lecturer in March 2010 after completeing her MA in Bengali from Jadavpur University. The students union warned her in the second week of April that she should wear a burqa and come to the university.

“I was told that I would not be allowed to attend college if I did not agree to come in a burqa. The University Grants Commission does not prescribe any such dress code and even the university does not have a dress code. But the most unfortunate part is that students are forcing us to wear burqa,” she was quoted as saying by The Indian Express.

Sirin says she has no issues with wearing a burqa, but it would be of her own free will. The university has not taken any decision on the students union stand and is hoping that it would die down.

The university owns its origin to the famous Calcutta Madrasah which was started in 1781 by Governor General of Bengal Warren Hastings. Calcutta Madrasah was upgraded into the Aliah University in 2008.

No pilgrim was allowed to leave from the base camp of Bhagwati Nagar here for onward journey to the cave shrine in south Kashmir Himalayas, official sources said.

Thousands of pilgrims were also stranded at transit camps en route to cave shrine due to slippery tracks.

Despite rains, the 300-kms Jammu-Srinagar National Highway remained open for traffic but Amarnath pilgrims were not allowed to proceed further as a precautionary measure to avoid overcrowding at base camps in the Valley, they said.

About 3,000 pilgrims are waiting at the base camp here, the sources said.

Over 3.70 lakh pilgrims have offered prayers at the cave shrine since the yatra started on June 30.

“Pakistan has, in our view, made a strategic shift in the last year or more. It has taken aggressive action at considerable expense to Pakistan,” State Department spokesman PJ Crowley, told reporters at his daily news conference.

“The Pakistani people are suffering as much if not more than any other people in the world from terrorism. But there is clearly more to be done,” he said.

“Our joint concern here is to eliminate the safe havens that exist in the region and to prevent the emergence of new safe havens from which there can be the export of terrorism that can threaten US, Europe, or other parts of the world,” Crowley said.

When asked about the comment made by British Prime Minister David Cameroon, that his country would not tolerate export of terrorism by Pakistan, the State Department spokesman said US does not want to see the export of terror by any country.

“We are concerned about and have said many times that extremist element within the borders of Pakistan, in the tribal areas between Pakistan and Afghanistan, first and foremost, it represents a threat to Pakistan, it represents a threat to Afghanistan,” Crowley said.

“As we have seen, extremists with links to these areas have made their way to Europe, have made their way to the United States. This is an important component of our relationship and our strategic dialogue with Pakistan, and we are both satisfied with the aggressive steps that Pakistan has taken in recent months at considerable expense to Pakistan,” he said.

“As we’ve made clear, we want to see Pakistan stay on the offensive in combating these extremist elements. I know Pakistani officials in recent days have publicly stated their commitment to continue to do that,” Crowley said.

The spokesman said there is a vast difference between the previous Musharraf regime and the current civilian government.

“Oh, is there a difference between a military-led governments and is there a difference between a civilian-led government with the kind of legitimacy that General Musharraf lacked? Of course there is. This is a new government, and even the decision to extend the term of General Kayani was the Pakistani civilian government’s decision to make,” he said.

“There is a vast difference in this current government. It enjoys more support from its people. And we are trying to help Pakistan build even more trust and support within its population. Some of its institutions are fragile,” he said.

“It is expressly why the supplemental is important to us that was passed by the House yesterday, to provide the resources so that we can continue to assist Pakistan, build up its institutions of government, have the government be able to deliver stronger services, more reliable services to its people.

Through that public support, that’s how you narrow the space that extremists currently have to function,” Crowley said.

The remodelled 60,000 capacity stadium, built at a cost of Rs 960 crore, got delayed umpteen times because of the construction of an underground tunnel for the opening ceremony of the October 3-14 event.

The stadium will host the Games’ opening and closing ceremonies and athletics, weightlifting and Lawn tennis events.

Also present on the occasion were Games Organising Committee chairman Suresh Kalmadi, Sports Authority of India Director General Sayan Chatterjee and several sports persons and senior officials of the sports Ministry.

“This is an auspicious day for us. Even the monsoon is obliging us. All the stadiums now stand completed except the weightlifting one which will be inaugurated in 2-3 days time.

By August 1, we will hand over all the stadiums to the Organising Committee,” Gill said.

“It’s the first time in India that such a complex has been built. It’s a job well done under pressure. The roof’s design is very complex and designers made no mistakes in coming out with a flawless design. I want to say to everyone that we are ready for the Games,” Gill said.

Kalmadi said through the Commonwealth Games, the whole world will see the potential India has got in terms of infrastructure.

“I again want to repeat that all the stadiums are world class. JLN stadium is an engineering marvel and nobody can deny that. Commonwealth Coordination Commission which held his meeting here two months ago had said that we won’t be coming to India again as everything in place and we are a satisfied lot,” Kalmadi said.

“We overcame each and every situation that came our way during the construction of this infrastructure and I assure you that we will conduct the best Games ever,” Kalmadi added.

Constructed during the 1982 Asian Games, the remodelling of the stadium started in January 2008. The venue spans over an area of 4,04,686 sqm and the oval shaped building has fabrication and erection of high strength steel work as per international standard.

The 150m tunnel, which connected the two ends of the stadium, is for the performers to enter into the ground during the opening and closing ceremonies.

“I like to congratulate all those who were associated with the making of the stadium, you deserve a huge round of applause. World-class work has been done and we have a piece of art to cherish for all our life,” Dikshit said.

“Sports Minister worked as a locomotive to get the stadium done at the scheduled time. By August 31, we will have everything in place and in September, we will be giving finishing touch to our preparations. Every stadium is ready for anyone to visit,” Dikshit added also praising the efforts of Kalmadi.

The entire building is earthquake resistant and has two tier seating capacity for 60,000 spectator. The three independent structures of the main stadium building, are the lower tier, main building and supporting structure for PTFE membrane roof.

The Field of Play is divided into Competition, Training and Warm up area. The competition area is a 400×9 lane synthetic warm-up track with 10 sprint lane of Class-I certification.

The training area boasts of a synthetic track with nine sprint lanes.

Yadav thrashed 16-year-old Rajesh Mahato mercilessly accusing him of a rape attempt. But the teenager says all he did was question corruption in the local housing scheme, which rattled Yadav and his wife, the village chief.

“My father had given Rs 10,000 to Shagun Lal Sharma. He told me to take money from Sangeeta Devi, so I went there. I was threatened by them. They came to my place and woke me up and took me on the road and beat me up,” said Rajesh Mahto, victim.

Acting swiftly, Nitish Kumar ordered strict action against his party member. But at the police station today, Shambhu Yadav s surrender was a story in itself.
More than 500 supporters accompanied Yadav, as he surrendered and was subsequently arrested. Later, Yadav was also expelled from the JD(U).

But far from showing any remorse, Yadav brazenly defended his action.

“The villagers wanted to kill the boy as he is accused of molesting a girl. I tried to save him by beating him up and letting him go,” said Shambhu Saran Yadav, ex JD(U) leader.

When Nitish Kumar came to power, he promised the people of Bihar some relief from the mindless violence that had become common in previous regimes perhaps, the reason why today, the Chief Minister lost no time in stepping in to control the damage.

“The airlines would shift their operations to T3 from 2 pm onwards. We have chosen Wednesday to shift from T2 to T3, because on this day there are least number of flights between 2 pm and 7.30 pm,” Andrew Harrison, Chief Operating Officer, DIAL, said.

Passengers of Air India’s flight (AI-102) from JFK New York would be the first to arrive at the world’s sixth largest airport, when its commercial operations begin, he said, adding Air India’s Jaipur-Delhi-Dubai flight (IC-895) would be the first flight to take-off from here.

AI-102 will arrive at T3 at 1645 hours while IC-895 would depart for Dubai at 1850 hours.
Today, all the international flights would arrive at T2 till 1645 hours, but after the departure of Gulf Air flight (GF-135) to Bahrain at 1805 hours, all the operations at T2 will be shifted to the new terminal.

“Check-in for the first departing flight (IC-895) from T3 would begin from 1450 hours and, all the facilities like food and beverage counters, shops and other facilities would also start functioning,” Harrison said.

He said that DIAL has put up signages and deployed a battery of volunteers to help and guide the passengers to T3.

Apart from it, DIAL would be running the shuttle services for the passengers between T2 and T3.

He also assured that T3 would provide seamless connectivity to the international and domestic passengers with world class experience, after three full service carriers , Air India, Jet Airways and Kingfisher will also shift their domestic operations from August 27.

“It will be a hub like the airports in Dubai, Changi in Singapore, from where passengers like to fly to other destinations, as T3 would truly transform the experience of those travelling to and from India,” he added.

On the first day of the operations, around 90 flights would operate from T3, of which around 50 would be foreign airlines.

DIAL had pushed back the operation date of T3, which was inaugurated by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on July 3, by a fortnight to provide more time to all stakeholders to deal with any glitches, including setting up of airline offices, synchronising security procedures, baggage handling and the whole range of airport operations.