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US automakers in trouble as US Senates refuses to bail them out
(Business) |
12-12-08
The fate of US auto majors - General Motors and Chrysler - landed in uncertainity zone as US lawmakers fail to agree on a bailout for this ailing industry.
General Motors Corp. and Chrysler LLC had made an urgent appeal earlier this month for an emergency bailout package of 15 billion dollars failing which their very survival could be in jeopardy.
A 14 billion dollar emergency loan had been approved by the House of Representatives, Wednesday, send a wave of positive optimism across to the investors, but the deal failed to go through in the Senate, on Thursday night.
The ramifications of the collapse of the 2 American automobile giants could be huge. Millions of jobs would be lost and the cascade effect would send the globe into a recession.
Harry Reid, Senate Majority Leader saidI dread looking at Wall Street tomorrow. It's not going to be a pleasant sight"
This is the second time the bailout appeal has failed to find favour with the political bosses of United States. |
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Bomb explosion in Bilaspur claims 2 lives
(Bilaspur) |
12-12-08
Bomb blast in Bilaspur sends shockwaves throughout this peacefully town. According to reports two persons have lost their lives while 3 others are seriously injured.
The incident occurred today, Friday morning around 8:30 in the morning when the shops in the locality had not yet opened, near Bilaspur's busy business Gole Bazar locality close to City Kotwali.
The explosive device went off at a scrap dealer's place (कबाड़ीवाला) near Gole Bazar. According to reports, the explosion happened when some rag-pickers had arrived at the scrapyard to sell scrap that they had collected roaming around the city.
As they were sifting through the items one of the boxes they were handling exploded. The explosion was so big that glass panes of buildings around were shattered.
It appears that the rag-pickers must have picked some unattended items during the night and come to this scrap-dealer to dispose them. If the two killed are the very persons who picked the device it may be difficult to track where it was actually kept. |
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India seeks action against Pakistan based Lashkar-e-Toiba at United Nations
(General) |
09-12-08
India goes to United Nation Security Council to demand action against the Pakistani militant outfit responsible for the terror attacks in Mumbai on 26-Nov-2008.
The Minister of State for External Affairs of India, E. Ahamed, said that the attacks in Mumbai marked a qualitatively new and dangerous escalation of the terrorism which India had faced for over two decades and which originated outside its borders.
He maintained that the group known as Lashkar-e-Toiba was responsible for the Mumbai attack and that its members were trained in Pakistan. He called for the Council and Pakistan to proscribe the associated group Jammat-ud-Dawa and urged that all those who were in any way responsible for the Mumbai attacks be brought to justice.
He stressed that India had acted with restraint and added that the country must protect its people.
E. Ahamed also called for the adoption of the Comprehensive Convention on International Terrorism that India had tabled in 1996 to provide a framework in international law. “That adoption cannot be held hostage to definitions, while terrorists continued to take innocent lives”, he said. |
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Governor of Illinois arrested for trying to sell the post of US Senator
(International) |
09-12-08
 Rod Blagojevich the 51 year old Governor of Illinois in United States was arrested on Tuesday alongwith his chief of staff John Harris for trying to sell an appointment of US senator.
He was trying to derive personal benefits out of his authority to fill the vacancy created when Barack Obama won the US general election late last month.
According to 76 page affidavit of the FBI, the governor had been conspiring to trade the vacant senate seat for benefits for himself and his wife. In the affidavit he has been quoted saying "I want to make money".
It is said that the governor was trying to work out a high salary position for himself in a non-profit organization and a director's position in some corporate for his wife.
Governor Rod Blagojevich is also accused of demanding kickbacks in government contracts and jobs. He is also said to have used his political clout against Chicago Tribue to get certain editors fired for being critical about him and his administration.
The governor and his chief of staff John Harris had been taken into custody early in the morning at 6:15 am local time (5:45 pm Indian time).
Later in the day, yesterday, the governor was produced in court where he was released on a bond of $4500. |
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10:20 pm - State Elections - Round up of NCT of Delhi and Rajasthan
(General) |
08-12-08
Tally at the 10:20 pm today stands at...
Rajasthan:
No political party has won a clear majority in this state. Congress party has emerged as the largest single party by winning 96 seats in the 200 seater assembly and likely to form the next government with the help of independents. Bharatiya Janata Party is the second largest party with seats 78 going in its lap.
The other winners in the state are Bahujan Samaj Party 6 seats, Communist Party of India (Marxist) 3 seats, Janata Dal (United) 1 seat, Samajwadi Party 1 seat, Loktantrik Samajwadi Party 1 seat while independents have 14 seats to their credit.
NCT of Delhi:
Elections were held for 69 seats in NCT of Delhi.
Indian National Congress has won the polls in this state with 42 seats going in its favour. Sheila Dixit is likely to become the Chief Minister of Delhi for the third consequtive term.
Bharatiya Janata Party is the second largest winner in the state with 23 seats.
The other winners in the state include Bahujan Samaj Party 2 seats, Lok Jan Shakti Party 1 seat and independents 1 seat.
Election Commission has successfully completed counting for 3 states - Mizoram, Delhi and Rajasthan. Results have not yet been published for 17 seats in Chhattisgarh and 2 seats in Madhya Pradesh. |
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10:00 pm - State Elections - Round up of Chhattisgarh, Mizoram & MP
(General) |
08-12-08
Tally at the 10pm today stands at...
Chhattisgarh:
BJP is leading in this state with 40 seats + leading in 6 seats. Nearest competitor was Congress which won 31 seats and is leading in 1 seat. 2 seats have been won by the Bahujan Samaj Party.
No information has been released by the Election Commission about the fate of the remaining 10 seats in this state so far.
Mizoram:
In this north-eastern state, results for all 40 seats have been announced and the Indian National Congress has emerged as the winner.
The Congress party has won 32 seats while the Mizoram National Party has bagged 3 seats. Mizoram People's Conference got 2 seats, Zoram Nationalist Party got 2 and the Maraland Democratic Front bagged 1 seat in the 40 seater assembly of this state.
Madhya Pradesh
Election Commission of India has declared the results for 228 seats out of 230 in MP.
Bharatiya Janata Party has emerged as the winner in this state with 142 seats and is leading in 1. While its nearest rival the Indian National Congress has bagged 70 seats and is leading in 1.
Bahujan Samaj Party won 7 seats in the state, while the Bharatiya Jan Shakti party bagged 5 seats.
Samajwadi party got 1 seat while 3 seats have gone to independent candidates in this state.
The biggest political surprise in this state was the defeat of firebrand leader of Bharatiya Jan Shakti, Uma Bharati. |
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16:45 - BJP could retain its strength in Chhattisgarh Assembly
(General) |
08-12-08
Counting trends early in the day had shown that the swing could be in favour of Congress in Chhattisgarh State, but as the day progressed Bharatiya Janata Party made a strong comeback and seems to be in a strong position where it could form the government once again in Chhattisgarh state.
The winning party will need 46 seats in the 90 seater assembly of Chhattisgarh.  The results available on election commission's website is showing the trend/result for only 80 seats. It is already indicating that BJP is ahead in 47 seats while congress is maintaining a lead in only 32 seats.
If the current ratio continues for the remain 10 seats, BJP should be able to maintain the strength it has in the assembly.
Meanwhile, speaker of Chhattisgarh government Prem Prakash Pandey has lost from his constituency. He joins the list of other surprises which include Satyanarayan Sharma, Mahendra Karma and Ajay Chandrakar |
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Ashok Chavan and Chhagan Bhujbal to be sworn at 4:50 pm on Monday
(General) |
08-12-08
Ashok Chavan the nominated chief minister and Chhagan Bhujbal the nominated deputy chief minister are to be sworn in at the Raj Bhavan in Mumbai, today - 08-Dec-2008.
The swearing-in ceremony is proposed to a simple function that will take place at 4:50 pm.
The new CM and Dy.CM were chosen after the resignations of Vilasrao Deshmukh and R. R. Patil.
The name of Ashok Chavan as CM was announced by the Indian National Congress, while Chhagan Bhujbal was selected as his deputy by the National Congress Party (NCP).
The announcement of Ashok Chavan as the new Chief Minister of Maharashtra had not gone well with fellow congress leader Narayan Rane, who declared to revolt against the congress party. Rane has since been suspended from the party for his statements against the party leadership including Sonia Gandhi.
The new chief minister faces the dual task of tackling a revolt from Rane as well as winning the confidence of the public of Maharashtra and especially of Mumbai which is cross with the government over its failure in curbing terror attacks.
Ashok Chavan is expected announce his team of cabinet ministers. He has been in consultation with party high command in New Delhi for finalizing the names. |
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4:00pm - Shiela Dixit headed for a third term in Delhi
(General) |
08-12-08
Shiela Dixit is all set to become Chief Minister of the National Capital Territory of Delhi (NCT of Delhi) for the third time in succession.
Indian National Congress party is showing a lead in 41 seats out of trends which are available for 69. BJP is a distant second with a lead in only 23 seats.
Elections had been held for 69 seats out of the 70 seats in Delhi assembly. A total of 863 candidates were in the race from this state.
Delhi had gone to polls just after the Mumbai terror attack, where BJP had released an ad in the newspapers seeking vote on the terror attack. The party had been severely critisized for the ad and it is being attributed as one of the factors that lead to last minute swing in favour of the Indian National Congress.
In fact, if we see the trend, BJP has won in the states Chhattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh where elections were over before the impact of the Mumbai terror attack was realized.
New Delhi, Mizoram and Rajasthan had polled on 27 Nov 2008, 2 Dec 2008 and 4 Dec 2008 respectively and Congress is ahead in all these three states. |
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03:30 pm - State Elections - BJP leading in Chhattisgarh
(State) |
08-12-08
Out of the trends and results out in Chhattisgarh so far BJP is ahead in 42 seats, Congress is leading in 37 seats while both BSP and NCP are ahead in 1 seat each.
Chhattisgarh State Elections 2008 - A summary.
 Polling was conducted in Chhattisgarh in 2 phases. 39 seats in south Chhattisgarh polled on 14 November 2008, while remaining 51 seats had polled on 20 November 2008.
Election Commission carried out polls in almost 21000 polling stations across the state for its 1.52 crore voters out of which 69.58% people cast their votes.
1066 candidates from contested for 90 seats in the state out of which 387 were independents. Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) were the only parties to contest in all the 90 seats of the state.
Congress had fielded candidates in only 87 seats, leaving out 3 seats for its poll alliance partner NCP
Results / trends for Bilaspur district in Chhattisgarh are as follows...
- Marwahi - Ajit Jogi (INC)
- Kota - Renu Jogi (INC)
- Lormi - Dharamjeet Singh
- Mungeli - Punnulal Mohle
- Takhatpur - Raju Kshatriya
- Bilaspur - Amar Agrawal (BJP)
- Beltara - Badridhar Diwan (BJP)
- Bilha - Dharamlal Kaushik (BJP)
- Masturi - Dr. Krishnamurti Bandhi (BJP)
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