HEAD LINE:

• April 8 to May 15: EC gives out poll timeframe (IE)
• In poll mode, BJP names candidates for 16 more seats (IE)

LEAD:

The US Senate was today told that India "unfortunately" had become the "sponge" that was protecting America and the western liberal world from the hate unleashed by Lashkar-e-Toiba which had emerged as second only to the Al-Qaeda in being a threat to global security. As the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs concluded its hearings on "Lessons from the Mumbai Terrorist Attacks," two influential policy advisors testified that despite better preventive and response systems in the US, a Mumbai-like attack on America by LeT was "not inconceivable". "It would be a gross error to treat the terrorism facing India including the terrible recent atrocities as simply a problem for New Delhi alone. In a very real sense, the outage in Bombay was fundamentally a species of global terrorism not merely because the assailants happened to believe in an obscurantist brand of Islam but, more importantly, because killing Indians turned out to be simply interchangeable with killing citizens of some fifteen different nationalities for no apparent reason whatsoever," said Ashley J Tellis, Senior Associate with the Carnegie Endowment of International Peace, a prominent think-tank. (IE)

• New Delhi: Indicating for the first time a timeframe for the next general elections, Election Commissioner S Y Quraishi has said Lok Sabha elections will be held between April 8 and May 15. "We, in the Election Commission, have not yet discussed the final dates, but it will be held between April 8 and May 15," Quraishi said after delivering a lecture on "J&K Elections 2008" at India House in London last evening. High Commissioner Shiv Shanker Mukherjee was also present. In 2004, general elections were held in four phases between April 20 and May 10. Since the 14th Lok Sabha completes its term on May 30 (having met for the first time on June 1, 2004), the House will have to be constituted before its expiry the 15th Lok Sabha can meet by June 1. Sources in Election Commission say the timing of the polls and the Model Code of Conduct that would come into force would be for the Commission to decide. (IE)
• Jaipur: A day after public outrage over the attack on girls in a Mangalore pub forced the BJP Govt in Karnataka to arrest Sri Rama Sene chief Pramod Muthalik, Rajasthan's Congress CM Ashok Gehlot, out to reverse some major policy decisions of predecessor Vasundhara Raje, kicked up a storm when he slammed "pub culture" and said he was "against boys and girls walking hand in hand in pubs and malls." Speaking on a slew of reforms in the state's excise policy, including reduction in the number of liquor shops, Gehlot said: "We want to put a stop to the previous govt's promotion of liquor and are against this activity of boys and girls walking hand in hand in pubs and malls." With the remarks, beamed on TV, creating ripples all around, Gehlot's office tonight issued a statement, saying it had been taken out of context. The CM, according to the statement, was only trying to elucidate the previous BJP govt's promotion of liquor in the state which had become a problem. Close to 6,000 liquor-related rapes were registered.(IE)
• New Delhi: Keen to build bridges with senior party leaders to get a reprieve from the high command, suspended Congress leader Narayan Rane on Wednesday expressed regret to Ahmed Patel, political secretary to Congress president Sonia Gandhi, and also his readiness to sit across the table with his bete noir, former Maharashtra CM Vilasrao Deshmukh. It was his outburst against these leaders last month that had led to his suspension from the party. "I am and will be in the Congress. There is no question of floating any new party. I will discharge whatever responsibility is given to me by the party high command," Rane told The Indian Express after a telephonic conversation with Patel followed by a half-an-hour meeting with AICC in-charge of the state A K Antony who is also the chairman of AICC Disciplinary Action Committee. (IE)
• New Delhi: Samajwadi Party leader Amar Singh on Wednesday strongly defended the poll pact between party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav and former BJP leader Kalyan Singh, saying that the former Hindutva poster boy has now joined the "jehad" against his former party. The SP general secretary, considered the party's troubleshooter, was fielded to defend the party following shrill protests from within the SP as well as from a section of Muslims in Uttar Pradesh against the pact. "After Kalyan Singh left the BJP, he joined the jehad for the total annihilation of BJP. His jehad against the BJP and the pledge of the minorities to wipe out BJP are one and the same. His tirade against the BJP and our fight against the BJP is the common link," Amar Singh told reporters. The strong defence is being seen as an attempt by the party ahead of the general elections to keep its main Muslim vote bank on its side in the face of four party MPs from the community openly protesting the pact with Kalyan Singh, a former CM considered one of the main players in the 1992 Babri Masjid demolition. (IE)
• NEW DELHI: Passing on the benefit of the falling crude oil prices, the Central govt on Wednesday cut the retail price of petrol by Rs. 5 a litre and that of high speed diesel by Rs. 2 a litre. The price of LPG was also reduced by Rs. 25 a cylinder. The price cut comes into effect from midnight on Wednesday. The decision to undertake a second cut in fuel prices in less than two months was taken at a meeting of the Cabinet Committee on Political Affairs headed by External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee. He chaired the meeting in the absence of PM Manmohan Singh, who is recuperating from a heart surgery. With this, an LPG cylinder will cost Rs. 279.70 in Delhi, down from Rs. 304.70. In Chennai, the new price will be Rs. 314.60; in Kolkata, 327.05; and in Mumbai, 324.50.(HINDU)
• NEW DELHI: Petroleum and Natural Gas Minister Murli Deora said after a meeting of the Cabinet Committee on Political Affairs (CCPA) on Wednesday that the fuel prices were cut "keeping in tune with the falling crude oil prices in the international markets and the commitment of the UPA to give relief to the common man at large. It is for the first time that a reduction in LPG cylinder prices has been undertaken as earlier decisions were about rollbacks," he said. (HINDU)

MANMOHAN SINGH & GOVT

With PM Manmohan Singh making good progress after his heart surgery, doctors plan to discharge him over the weekend. "If things continue like this, he is likely to be discharged by Saturday or Sunday. All the Intensive care monitoring units have been removed as he is doing very well," Dr Ramakanta Panda told The Indian Express. Dr Panda, who led the teams of doctors which conducted the surgery, said the PM would not require any major changes in his daily routine once he is discharged. "He has needed this bypass surgery after 18 long years, which says it all. He has been extra careful. So no major changes would be required once he returns to work," he said, adding that the physiotherapy lessons will however continue for at least two more weeks. "As of now he has been making excellent progress, but it cannot be said when he will be back at work," he added. (IE)

BJP

The BJP on Wednesday announced a list of 16 candidates for the forthcoming Lok Sabha elections, including 12 from Uttar Pradesh, after a meeting of the party's central election committee (CEC) here. "Till now we have declared candidates for 32 Lok Sabha seats from UP. The social combination in the state has been kept in mind while selecting the candidates," CEC secretary Ananth Kumar said. The list from Uttar Pradesh also included Kairana seat, currently represented by Rashtriya Lok Dal leader Anuradha Chaudhuri. Leaders from Uttar Pradesh were busy confabulating with central BJP leaders through the day. One of them said that a consensus could emerge only "on these many seats". The CEC would meet again on Thursday where it would finalise more names from Uttar Pradesh, besides taking up other states like Jharkhand, Karnataka and West Bengal. The party, however, could fall short of the target that it had fixed for itself for the two-day CEC. (IE)

CONGRESS

Congress President and the Congress Party condoles the passing away of Shri Ram Babu Sharma, former President, Delhi Pradesh Congress Committee. Shri Sharma was MLA for the last couple of terms and had served the Congress Party in various capacities. We pay our deep homage to his memory. We convey our sincere condolences to members of his family and pray for peace to the departed soul. Dr. Shakeel Ahmed said that Congress Party welcomes the trip of Shri Pranab Mukherejee, External Affairs Minister, Government of India to Sri Lanka; to discuss the plight of the Tamil civilians. Shri Mukherjee has expressed concern that the civilian population, especially the people of Tamil origin, should not get affected in the cross-fire between the LTTE and the Sri Lankan Security forces and that all humanitarian support should be extended to them. Dr. Shakeel also welcomed the spirit behind this trip. On the question of issue of a statement by Shri Qureshi, Election Commissioner that Lok Sabha elections will be held between 8th April and 15th May 2009, Dr. Shakeel Ahmed said that since this statement has been made by an official holding constitutional post, the Congress Party does not want to comment on this. Dr. Shakeel said that the Congress Party does not react on the people who are holding constitutional posts. (Highlights of the Press briefing, AICC)

LEFT PARTIES

Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) chief and Union Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar on Wednesday said he would hold discussions with CPI(M) general secretary Prakash Karat in the near future. "The CPI(M) broke ties with the UPA over the nuclear deal. However, I recently read Karat's statement on his wish to talk to secular parties. Therefore, I have decided to hold discussion with the Left leader," Pawar said. He, however, refused to divulge further details. In New Delhi, CPI(M) general secretary Prakash Karat said the party had appealed to non-Congress secular parties to come to a common platform. "The Central Committee had appealed to non-Congress secular parties to come to a common platform. It is clearly minus the Congress," Karat told The Indian Express. (IE)

STATES

JHARKHAND

Congress on Wednesday distanced itself from Jharkhand Multi Morcha's move to propose two new names for the post of CM, saying that it would not initiate any step to form a new govt in Jharkhand which is under President's Rule. "Our working committee recently resolved not to initiate the formation of a new govt. The JMM's decision to project two new names is its own and let them talk to the Central UPA leadership," Pradesh Congress Committee (PCC) spokesman Alok Dubey said here. PCC would abide by the high command's direction on the matter, he added. The Jharkhand unit of RJD has already said it would not make effort to form govt in Jharkhand. "Like Congress, we will not take any initiative to form Govt in the current house. We are ready for elections," senior RJD leader and former minister Girinath Singh had told newsmen in Medininagar. Shibu Soren's JMM has made a fresh bid at govt formation, deciding to place the names of party MLAs Salkhan Soren and Nalin Soren before the Central UPA leadership to choose one of them. Mr. Soren had said on Tuesday night that "Champai Soren's name as my successor to CM's post was rejected. (HINDU)

KERALA

Clearly demonstrating that he would not toe the Politburo decision to stand with CPI(M) Kerala secretary Pinarayi Vijayan who has been named in the SNC-Lavalin case, CM V S Achuthanandan on Wednesday was reluctant to term the case against his rival politically motivated. Addressing the media after the weekly Cabinet meeting, Achuthanandan said he was examining the case and did not answer in the affirmative when asked whether the case was politically motivated. Hardening his "non-compromising approach" towards corruption, Achuthanandan indicated that he would not even share a venue with his tainted bete noir. (IE)

KARNATAKA

KPCC president R.V. Deshpande and working president D.K. Shivakumar on Wednesday demanded that the 13 activists of the Sangh Parivar in the Anti-Terrorist Campaign Committee be dropped and directed the party cadre not to participate in the campaign till it was done. Speaking to presspersons here, they said that active members of the RSS, Bajrang Dal and ABVP had been included in the committee to implement the Sangh Parivar agenda. The leaders warned that the party would launch a movement against communalisation of the anti-terrorist campaign using the name of Swami Vivekananda and Subhas Chandra Bose, who were known for their secular credentials. They said that the Govt would be held responsible if there was any law and order situation because of their protest. A delegation, led by Mr. Deshpande, met Governor Rameshwar Thakur and presented a memorandum to him. It sought the resignation of Home Minister V.S. Acharya for the failure to reign in communal elements. (HINDU)

RAJASTHAN

The Congress-led Govt in Rajasthan on Wednesday revived the Minorities Cluster Development Programme of the National Minorities Development and Financial Corporation discontinued by the previous BJP regime in the State. The State Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment will shortly sanction Rs.1.50 crore each to Tonk and Sikar districts for providing loan facility to the people belonging to minority communities mostly for their self-employment ventures. CM Ashok Gehlot approved a proposal of the Minister of State for Social Justice and Empowerment, Ramkishore Saini, for re-starting the programme aimed at bringing the religious minorities to the mainstream of development. The NMDFC had selected 338 urban areas in 24 States of the country while launching the Minorities Cluster Development Programme during 2008-09. Tonk and Sikar districts of Rajasthan with a significant population of Muslims were among these urban areas. (HINDU)

EDITORIAL

Next steps: External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee's dash to Colombo comes quick upon Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M. Karunanidhi's renewed call to the Centre to show some insistent diplomacy. With the Sri Lankan army piling up successes against the LTTE, Tamil Nadu's politics has been simmering with demands that New Delhi put pressure on Colombo to kickstart a political process to solve the longstanding ethnic conflict. In this context, Karunanidhi had threatened to withdraw the DMK from the UPA coalition. With Mukherjee undertaking the visit, the ultimatums in Chennai have subsided somewhat. The visit, though sudden, is therefore timely. With it, the MEA should take control of the direction and tenor of diplomacy with India's island neighbour. Mukherjee has correctly separated the status of the LTTE from that of Sri Lanka's Tamil population. India, he said before leaving for Colombo, has no sympathy with terrorist organisations like the LTTE. Its chief, V. Prabhakaran, is after all among the most wanted terrorists in this country. But for the series of swift military successes against the Tigers to be fully beneficial, the Sri Lankan authorities need to see that humanitarian assistance is rushed to the civilians, mostly Tamils, in the affected theatres of battle. (IE)