MNS has hit us hard, says NCP

October 14th, 2009 San Jose mulls $200K to firefighter over pornSAN JOSE, Calif. — The San Jose City Council is set to vote on a $200,000 settlement offer to a female firefighter who said she was harassed after complaining about hard-core pornography at her firehouse.

October 7th, 2009 THIRUVANATHAPURAM - Minister of State for External Affairs Shashi Tharoor, drawing flak for many of his Twitter postings, has found support from Congress general secretary Rahul Gandhi. "He has a slightly different role...

August 23rd, 2009 MUMBAI - The Prince Dance Group from Orissa won the grand finale of a TV reality show "India's Got Talent" that was staged in Mumbai on Saturday night. The group won a cash prize of Rs five million and a Maruti Suzuki Ritz car.

August 5th, 2009 CHENNAI - Continuing her tirade against electronic voting machines (EVMs), Leader of Opposition in Tamil Nadu and AIADMK general secretary J. Jayalalithaa said Wednesday that the voting machines can be hacked or manipulated.

July 24th, 2009 Hard-liners increase pressure on Iranian presidentTEHRAN, Iran — Fellow Iranian hard-liners stepped up pressure on President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad on Friday to obey the supreme leader's order to dismiss his top deputy, warning that continued defiance would undermine his legitimacy and alienate his supporters. The deepening rift between Ahmadinejad and other hard-liners comes at a precarious time for the president since he needs their support against opposition claims that his victory in last month's election was marred by massive fraud.

July 18th, 2009 Hard-liners accuse top Iranian cleric of defianceTEHRAN, Iran — Iranian hard-liners on Saturday accused one of the country's most powerful clerics of encouraging opposition supporters to continue their postelection protests, a day after he criticized the ruling system's response to the disputed election. Former President Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani's Friday sermon was a direct challenge to Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and his hard-line supporters, who have said last month's election was fair and have called on opposition supporters to drop their claims of massive vote fraud.

July 16th, 2009 Obama pushing hard for health care overhaulWASHINGTON — With votes set in the House, President Barack Obama is still pounding away hard for a bill overhauling the health care system before Congress takes a summer recess. In a nationally broadcast interview, Obama acknowledged a controversy over the cost of reinventing the system at a time when the economy remains hobbled, but declared: "There is no free lunch." In one of a series of network interviews, he said it's time to stop "putting money into things that aren't making people healthy." Obama has proposed increasing taxes on well-off people to help underwrite the cost.

June 9th, 2009 WASHINGTON - The Obama administration has said it would to "work really hard" to strengthen ties with New Delhi as part of a strategic set of priorities, saying India is very important to the United States as the world's largest democracy. "This region of the world is very important to us.

May 24th, 2009 MUMBAI - Playback singer Kumar Sanu enthralled an audience at a production award function, where he was the chief guest on Saturday in Mumbai. Speaking on the occasion, Kumar described the production unit as the main pillar of the film industry, and appealed to the film fraternity to come forward and support them.

May 16th, 2009 NEW DELHI - Congress president Sonia Gandhi Saturday thanked the people for reposing their faith in the party even as Prime Minister Manmohan Singh invited all parties to support the secular UPA government at the centre. Sonia Gandhi also said that a decision on her son and party general secretary Rahul Gandhi, who played an important role in the Congress victory, would be taken by Manmohan Singh.

May 16th, 2009 NEW DELHI - With Sonia Gandhi content to stay in the background, a beaming Prime Minister Manmohan Singh Saturday invited all parties to support 'a secular government'. Clearly the man of the moment, Manmohan Singh said after a meeting with the Congress chief at her residence 10 Janpath: 'I invite all parties to support the secular goverment.

May 16th, 2009 GANGTOK - Chief Minister Pawan Chamling, whose Sikkim Democratic Front (SDF) secured a landslide victory in the assembly polls Saturday, said his party's election for a fourth consecutive term was 'true testimony' to his government's hard work. 'The people understand the programmes and policies of the SDF.

May 13th, 2009 LUCKNOW - Mohammad Azharuddin, former Indian cricket team captain and Congress candidate for Uttar Pradesh's Moradabad Lok Sabha seat, said Wednesday that his hard work would give him an edge over other contestants. 'During the last one month or so we worked very hard and I am confident the voters in Moradabad will recognise our efforts and support us,' Azharuddin, who is making his political debut, told reporters in Moradabad.

March 20th, 2009 NEW DELHI - With Varun Gandhi's alleged communal tirade fetching him unprecedented publicity, some leaders of his Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) can't stop comparing him with his more famous cousin Rahul Gandhi. 'Let's send the hard-hitting Varun after Rahul,' quipped one at the party office, even though the BJP has officially distanced itself from Varun's alleged hate speech against Muslims in Pilibhit, Uttar Pradesh.

January 8th, 2009 RANCHI - Known to be a hard bargainer, Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) chief Shibu Soren could now demand that he be given back the coal ministry at the centre, having lost the assembly by-poll which will cost him the chief ministership of Jharkhand. Soren, who became chief minister in August last year, this week lost the Tamar assembly by-election.