Women's commission is satisfied with our action: Yediyurappa

B D Narayankar

Bangalore: Justifying his plans for curbing pub culture in Karnataka, chief minister B S Yediyurappa said that the National Commission for Women has experessed satisfaction over the government''s action on the issue so far.

Speaking to a TV correspondent at Bangalore on Thursday, Yediyurappa said banning Sri Ram Sene and any other organisation would serve no purpose. "Instead, there is a need for us to curb goonda activities. If they (Sri Ram Sene) indulge in such activities, we will take stringent action," he said.

"After the Mangalore incident, we succeded in arresting 13 people in just eight hours after the attack. The law and order has been brought under control," Yediyurappa said.

"We have arrested 13 people in just eight hours after the unfortunate incident in Mangalore," added.

Khusrokhan - Satyam CEO front runner

B D Narayankar

Hyderabad: Homi R Khusrokhan, a former managing director of Tata Chemicals, is said to be the front runner to head the tainted Satyam Computers.

However, Corporate Affairs Minister P C Gupta declined to name the identified candidate. "This gentleman has a vast experience of running large multinational and national companies in India," he said.

Satyam''s new board, which last week said it had narrowed the shortlist for CEO and chief financial officer to three, has said it would outline the proposed management structure this week.

Satyam, India's No. 4 software exporter, has been battling for survival since founder Ramalinga Raju resigned as chairman earlier this month, saying profits had been falsified for years and $1 billion of cash on the books did not exist.

Since then the government has stepped in and appointed a new board to try to resolve India's biggest corporate fraud.

On Tuesday, the board named Boston Consulting Group as management advisor to help revive the firm, with Goldman Sachs and Indian firm Avendus appointed as investment bankers to identify strategic investors and obtain expressions of interest.

U.S. based outsourcer iGate said last week it would be interested in buying Satyam with help from private equity funds.

On Wednesday, a Hyderabad court dismissed bail petitions of Raju, his brother and former managing director Rama Raju, and former CFO Valdamani Srinivas. They are currently being held in a Hyderabad jail.

No fuel without payment: Oil industry to Mallya

B D Narayankar

Mumbai: "First clear our outstanding payment of Rs 158 crore, or else we will stop aviation fuel supply to you," said the state-run oil marketing companies to Kingfisher Airlines Chairman Vijay Mallaya.

Sources said the oil industry had already started supplying aviation turbine fuel (ATF) to Kingfisher and Jet Airways on ''cash and carry basis' from January 27 as they had not paid their dues for October 22 to October 31 even though the 90-day credit was over.

Jet immediately responded and paid off Rs 97.87 crore today, the sources said. But there was no response from Kingfisher which owes Rs 73.08 crore to Hindustan Petroleum for the 10-day supplies and Rs 85 crore to Bharat Petroleum for old instalment.

Vijay Mallya's Kingfisher is the most troubled airline in India with the carrier chalking cumulative loss of Rs 2,500 crore in the first half of fiscal 200-09, largely due to sharp hike ATF of prices.

The three major airlines, including National Aviation Company of India Ltd, owe Rs 3,735 crore to the OMCs as on January 27 for ATF supply but not all is immediately payable as the government extended the 60-day credit by another 30 days in October as reprieve to airlines on condition that they do not fire their employees.

On October 22, it was decided that the airlines could pay their cumulative outstanding of Rs 1,506 crore in six monthly instalments by March 31 and that the OMCs would revise ATF prices every fortnight instead of every month to pass on the benefit of falling ATF prices in the international market.

Fuel price cut, all for political gain: BJP

B D Narayankar

New Delhi: Opposition BJP has slammed Congress-led government for reducing fuel prices in small doses aimed at drawing political mileage with Lok Sabha elections approaching.

The government last night cut petrol price by Rs 5 a litre and diesel by Rs 2 per litre, while the domestic LPG rate was also slashed by as much as Rs 25 per cylinder.

"The parity with the international crude oil prices have still not been attained, justice has not been done to the commonman," BJP spokesperson Rajiv Pratap Rudy said.

The reduction comes on back of the Rs 5 a litre cut in petrol price and Rs 2 per litre cut in diesel price on December 6 last year.

80 flights delayed due to bad weather

B D Narayankar

New Delhi: As many as 80 flights were delayed due to heavy fog at Indira Gandhi International Airport on Thursday.

Airport authorities were caught unawares as fog suddenly enveloped the airport after a clear morning. More than 40 flights departing from here were delayed by over two hours while four SpiceJet flights from Mumbai, Pune, Kolkata and Ahmedabad scheduled to arrive here at 7.45 am were diverted to Jaipur. Most flights arriving in New Delhi were delayed by over two hours.

The fog reduced the runway visibility to less than 50 metres.

Early morning flights went as per schedule as the visibility was above 1,500 metres and general visibility was 100 metres at around 6.30 am.

All flights which were scheduled to take off after 7.30 am were badly affected, as passengers had boarded and doors were closed when the fog descended.

A huge backlog of flights has aggravated the situation as no flights were taking off. Fog has delayed several flights this month. Flights were affected on Wednesday and over 50 flights were delayed on January 26. Since December 29 last year, over 1,000 flights have been delayed and around 150 cancelled.

PM may be discharged tomorrow

B D Narayankar

New Delhi: Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, who is recuperating after a successful coronary by-pass surgery, is likely to be discharged on Friday.

Singh, here on Thursday, walked in the hospital corridor and did his morning exercises.

The Prime Minister is stable, has done his exercises, and has also taken a walk in the corridor at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), doctors attending on him said.

Singh has been listening to music, they said.

The Prime Minister on Wednesday also held discussions with his aides.

Karnataka cabinet to discuss ban on Sri Ram Sene

B D Narayankar

Bangalore: Karnataka Chief Minister B S Yeddyurappa has said he will discuss the issue of banning Sri Ram Sene, the outfit accused in the pub attack case, in the state cabinet.

"We will discuss it with the police officers and I will discuss it with the cabinet," he told a TV channel while replying to a question on the issue of banning the outfit.

"Anyhow, we are not going to allow such incidents to happen again in the state. Nobody should take law into their hands and it is a very unfortunate incident. That is why I have taken immediate action and the situation is under control," he said.

Noting that so far the state authorities have arrested 33 people including Sene chief Pramod Muthalik, Yeddyurappa said, "From the government''''s side, we have taken action and we will take strong action against anti-social elements irrespective of their religious or political affiliations.

"Sri Rama Sene has no connection with BJP or any other political party. That's an individual organisation," the Chief Minister said.