NEW DELHI:   Lack of adequate Central forces and "sheer compulsions" in the interest of free and fair elections forced the Election Commission to opt for a six-phased assembly polls in Bihar, Chief Election Commissioner S Y Quraishi said today.

"Left to us, we will also like to do a one-day poll and be done with it if security forces are available", he said during an interaction with members of the Editors Guild here.

Quraishi said there was a clamour for Central forces from all political parties in the state and the basic requirement was to ensure free and fair polls.

Patil starts her two-nation tour with a five-day visit to Laos Thursday. This will be the first visit by Patil to Laos and only the second to the southeast Asian country by an Indian president, the external affairs ministry said here ahead of Patil's visit.

In Vientiane, the capital of Laos, Patil will hold talks with President Choummaly Sayasone and Prime Minister Bouasone Bouphavanh.

CHANDIGARH:   Normal life was partially affected in Punjab, Haryana and Chandigarh today in the wake of the day-long nationwide strike called by various trade unions against price rise, alleged violation of labour laws and disinvestment in PSUs.

Public transport and banking services were the major casualties of the strike though industries in both Punjab and Haryana remained insulated from the strike.

Even as government officials claimed that the strike has fizzled out, members of unions took out protest marches and blocked traffic across both the states against alleged anti-people policies of the Centre.

LUCKNOW:   Senior Uttar Pradesh Congress leader Ram Lotan Nishad was expelled from the party today for his alleged remarks against party president Sonia Gandhi and general secretary Rahul Gandhi.

Nishad, UPCC secretary, had been expelled from primary membership of the party for six years for his "remarks" against Sonia Gandhi and Rahul, a UP Congress spokesman said.

His conduct amounted to violation of party discipline, Dwijendra Tripathi said.

The remark that came from Union Home Minister is shameful", he said. The Home Minister should concentrate on taking strict action against Maoists, tackle naxalism and terrorism and refrain from making such remarks, he added.

Emphasising the need to bring about changes in the existing laws in the country, Baba Ramdev said corruption should attract death sentence. Corruption has spread from top to bottom in the Indian administration.

The activists held the strike ahead of the eighth round of tripartite talks, to be held in New Delhi today.

The BOBBBC strongly opposed any type of talks that promote or encourage the formation of a separate state of Gorkhaland.

NEW DELHI:   The Centre will not come in the way of formation of a new government in Jharkhand led by BJP and may initiate the process of revoking President's rule there once a report from Governor M O H Farooq comes tomorrow.

Farooq had a telephonic talk with Home Minister P Chidambaram today and briefed him about the latest political developments in Jharkhand.

The Governor is believed to have conveyed to the Home Minister that he is verifying the support offered to the BJP by JMM, JDU, AJSU and two independent MLAs and would send his report to the Home Ministry tomorrow for necessary action.

JAIPUR:   Terming P Chidambaram's "saffron terror" remark as a serious mistake on his part, former BJP chief Rajnath Singh today threatened an agitation by nationalist forces if Prime Minister Manmohan Singh did not seek an apology from the Home Minister for his statement.

"Home Minister Chidambaram has committed a serious mistake. Nationalist forces would raise this issue, and launch an agitation if the PM does not seek an apology from him and direct him to withdraw his words," Singh told a press conference after launching state BJP's house journal "Maru Kamal Darpan" here.

The Home Minister's clarification that the remark was not directed against the BJP would not be sufficient, he said adding that the party will make it an issue.

The relation between the BJP and the JMM turned sour in April when Shibu Soren voted in favour of the Manmohan Singh government against the BJP cut motions in parliament. An angry BJP withdrew support to Soren's government in May and the JMM chief was forced to resign May 30.

Now both the parties have joined hands again to form government.

The issue was raised by Slessor at his meeting with Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal here.

Slessor, who assumed charge as the Canadian consul general here, met Badal and told him that the Canadian minister for citizenship, immigration and multiculturalism Jason Kenney will visit Chandigarh Thursday to interact with the top brass of the civil and police administration of Punjab to find a permanent solution to curb the practice of illegal migration.

The Prime Minister, Dr. Manomohan Singh, and his wife, Gursharan Kaur, received him in the forecourt of Rashtrapati Bhavan.

Tusk, who is on three-day official visit of India, is accompanied by his wife and senior ministers and officials.

RTI applicant Subhash Chandra Agrawal filed a query under the act on the status of the 16 Commonwealth Games projects which were slapped with corruption charges and irregularities.

In a reply to the RTI query filed Aug 3, the CVC said: 'The Chief Technical Examination Officer (CTEO) has conducted intensive examination in a routine manner on the 16 project works related to CWG, 2010. As the matters are under investigation, further information is denied.'

BENGALURU:   JD-S legislature party leader in Karnataka Assembly H D Revanna today asked Chief Minister B S Yeddyurappa to resign if he failed to prove the allegation that relatives of his predecessor H D Kumaraswamy were involved in illegal exports of iron ore.

Revanna, son of former prime minister H D Devegowda and brother of Kumaraswamy, dared the Chief Minister to provide documents to the Karnataka Lokayukta which is probing the issue.

The Chief Minister has been levelling baseless charges against Deve Gowda and his family, Revanna alleged.

KOLKATA:   Parts of North 24-Parganas district were today brought under curfew and the army was requisitioned to assist paramilitary forces in restoring peace after several places of worship were desecrated following clashes between two groups.

North 24-Parganas District Magistrate Vinod Kumar said curfew has been imposed in Deganga area in the wake of violence that left a deputy superintendent of police and a civilian injured.

The DSP was injured in brickbatting, while the civilian received bullet injury.

MADURAI:   Highlighting some anomalies and shortcomings in the Protection of Human Rights Act 1993, the Madras High Court today expressed the hope that lawmakers will enact appropriate amendments to make it "workable".

Justice S Nagamuthu of the Madurai bench said sections 2(d) and 30 of the Act were vague.

A conjoint reading of these two provisions may lead one to believe that all offences committed by public servants relating to human rights shall be tried only the human rights courts.

These sites will be protected and conserved by the Archaeological Department of Jammu and Kashmir.

The state government has included a dome of the newly explored sites like Kutbal, Lethpora, Sheikh Abraham shrine, Hari Parbat Fort and a medieval wall build by the Mughal rulers. Other heritage sites are the royal Palace Mubarak Mandi, SPS Museum and Bahu Fort.

"For the proposed campaign, the Government and the private sector would work in tandem to make the campaign effective. In order to refrain the people from buying pirated goods, celebrities would endorse the campaign to enhance its impact and outreach," said Soni, while delivering the keynote address a seminar on anti-piracy and Regulation of Content- Legal Issues here today.

Ambika Soni stated that a multi pronged approach was necessary to tackle the menace of piracy, taking into account the demand and supply equation.

NEW DELHI:   With some harsh words against the Army, the Armed Forces Tribunal today refused to review its order for correction of 1999 Kargil war records which did not reflect the actual role played by the then Brigade Commander Brigadier Devinder Singh.

The Tribunal rejected a review petition against its May 27 order in which the Army was directed to correct the records of the Kargil conflict following contention by Singh that the battle accounts were fudged by his superior Lt Gen Kishan Pal.

Taking a serious view of the review petition, Tribunal Chairperson Justice A K Mathur said the Army should be "thankful" as the previous verdict could have been "worse" as decorations of Lt Gen Kishan Pal could have also been withdrawn.

RANCHI:   The BJP staked claim to form the government in Jharkhand after its national President Nitin Gadkari called up legislature party leader Raghuvar Das last night from Moscow.

Das told reporters that Gadkari asked him to convene a meeting of BJP MLAs and pass on the mantle to former chief minister Arjun Munda.

"At 11:30 pm I got a phone call from our party president, who asked me to call a legislature party meeting today at 9:00 to elect Munda in my place," he said.

NEW DELHI:   Top Congress leaders today discussed the evolving political situation in Jharkhand, which is currently under President's Rule, in the wake of BJP and JMM coming together again and staking claim to form a government.

In the meeting of the Core Group, which lasted for over an hour, Home Minister P Chidambaram is learnt to have briefed Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Congress President Sonia Gandhi on the situation in the state and options before the UPA.

The meeting was also attended by Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee, Defence Minister A K Antony and Law Minister M. Veerappa Moily.

KOLKATA:   The countrywide trade unions strike against price rise largely affected IT and ITeS operations while banking sector was entirely paralysed.

The hub of IT and ITeS (IT enabled Services) operations, Salt Lake sector five, registered a very thin attendance.

"The sector has been severely affected due to the strike. While all the IT companies remained closed, the ITeS firms operated with thin attendance," chairman of Descon and president of Sector Five Industries Association, S Radhakrishnan said.

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM:   Union Home Secretary G K Pillai today said growth of religious fundamentalism in Kerala was a cause for concern and it could pose a serious threat to the state's future if not checked.

"Religious fundamentalism is a cause for concern. We should not allow it to grow. We need to take effective steps to contain the menace. Otherwise it could pose a serious threat to Kerala's future," Pillai said.

He was replying to reporters queries after discussions on security scenario in the state with Chief Minister V S Achuthanandan and Home Minister Kodiyeri Balakrishnan here.

NEW DELHI:   The Supreme Court today sought an explanation from the Mayawati government for allegedly constructing unauthorized structures at the old jail premises in Lucknow in violation of its order.

A Bench of Justices P Sathasivam and A R Dave rejected the U P government's plea that it was only constructing boundary walls and public utilities.

"Photographs show many structures. It looks like a dam site. Why are you wasting so much of cement and steel if they are meant only for a boundary wall?" asked Justice Sathasivam who is heading the Bench.

With the cycle of street protests and firing by security forces taking lives and challenging the authority of the Indian state, there is pressure on officialdom to restore normalcy in the dominantly Muslim valley.

Everyone agrees that this is easier said than done, considering the huge gap between what any government can offer and what separatists will accept to call off anti-India demonstrations that began in June.

NEW DELHI:   Telecom Secretary P J Thomas, against whom BJP had raised objections, was today appointed the new Central Vigilance Commissioner (CVC).

President Pratibha Patil administered the oath of office to Thomas, a 1973 batch IAS officer of Kerala cadre, at a function in Rashtrapati Bhavan.

Thomas succeeded Pratyush Sinha, a 1969 batch IAS officer of Bihar cadre, who demitted office yesterday after a four-year tenure as the CVC.

LEH:   Army has noticed "hell of a lot of attempts" by terrorists to infiltrate into Indian territory along the international border in Jammu and Kashmir this year.

But, "we have a tight noose all over. The Army has taken on them. Our intelligence is good and we come to know about infiltration attempts," Army's Northern Command Chief, Lieutenant General B S Jaswal, told PTI.

"There have been hell of a lot of attempts to infiltrate along the border. They (terrorists) are trying hard to infiltrate," he said.

NEW DELHI:   Categorically ruling out a law to regulate the broadcasting sector, I&B Minister Ambika Soni today said the Government was only mulling over a National Broadcasting Authority to address the concerns of this sector.

"Very categorically we are not contemplating bringing in a Bill for regulating broadcasting. There is a draft Bill but the feedback has not been good," Soni said at a seminar on piracy here.

She said that a task force has been interacting with civil society on the issue and they are on the threshold of completing the exercise.

LUCKNOW:   Financial services in Uttar Pradesh today remained disrupted in the wake of the nation wide strike called by various trade unions to protest against price rise, alleged violation of labour laws and disinvestment of PSUs.

While banking and insurance service were affected due to strike, state government employees, excluding those on emergency services, abstained from work.

"Though there is complete the strike, essential services have been excluded," president of Rajya Karamchari Mahasangh Lallan Pandey said. Convenor of Power Employees Action Committee Shailendra Dubey said that barring essential services power staff boycotted work across the state.