Putin visits India, eyes arms sales, trade and political ties

Arms sales will be on the agenda when Russian President Vladimir Putin visits India on Monday to court a country that has traditionally been a top client.

Putin's trip, his first to India since he started a new Kremlin six-year term in May, is a chance to reaffirm Russia's interest in India, long a regional ally and now a partner in the BRICS group of emerging market nations.

In an article for publication in the The Hindu on Monday, Putin stressed that "deepening friendship and cooperation with India is among the top priorities of our foreign policy".

"India and Russia show an example of responsible leadership and collective actions in the international arena," he wrote, a veiled swipe at the West and in particular the United States, whom Putin accuses of seeking to impose its will on the world......read more.

Kingfisher Airlines submits revival plan; stock gains

Financially stretched Kingfisher Airlines Monday submitted its revival plans to the aviation regulator which had cancelled its flying licence over safety concerns.

"They (Kingfisher Airlines) submitted their revival plans to the director general of civil aviation (DGCA) in a meeting held today (Monday)," a civil aviation ministry source told IANS.

The company, however, refused to comment on the development.

The aviation regulator Oct 20 suspended the operating licence of the airlines, citing the passenger carrier's inability to provide any reasonable revival plans.

The airline was then asked to prepare a credible revival plan and present it to the DGCA, which will take a final call on restoring the airline's operating licence.

The regulator had also rejected the carrier's winter schedules for flight departures. The airline last year had a departure rate of 2,930 flights per week, but has since reduced capacity due to mounting debt and an exodus of employees.

The airline is desperately trying to stay afloat and wants to restart operations which were crippled since Oct 1 by an employees' strike, a lockout and suspension of its flying licence.

The development is also seen in the light of an impending license renewal that was supposed to have taken place on Dec 31. The airline is also trying to woo potential investors.

Last week, the airline said it will restart operations in a phased manner. However, it did not give any time line for it.

"We will restart in a phased manner and will provide funding ourselves. We have not asked the banks for any support," the company said in a statement after a meeting with lenders in Mumbai.

"We have also shared a full recapitalisation plan which will be further discussed with a small designated group of bankers," the company said.........read more.

Protests continue in Manipur, curfew reimposed

Protests against the Naga militant outfit NSCN-IM, presently observing a ceasefire, continued in Manipur Monday, even as five policemen were suspended over the firing incident a day earlier at Thangmeiband Sinam Leikai area in Imphal that left a television journalist dead.

The journalist was killed in police firing on protestors demanding the arrest of a member of National Socialist Council of Nagalim-Isak-Muivah (NSCN-IM) for sexually assaulting a film actress.

Thangjam Nanao Singh of Prime Time, a Guwahati-based satellite channel, was killed Thangmeiband area in the afternoon when police opened fire to disperse supporters of the Manipur Film Forum who had allegedly torched a police vehicle, a police official said.

Police said the journalist succumbed to his bullet wounds at the Regional Institute of Medical Science and Hospital here.

As the news of the journalist being killed in a police firing spread, protestors went on a rampage, torching a government office at Laiphamkhunou in Imphal west and four vehicles at Andro parking area, Langol and Khurai area.

The authorities Monday reimposed curfew from 11 a.m. in Imphal East and Imphal West districts after a large number of protestors took to the streets in Imphal to protest the police's inability to arrest the NSCN-IM (National Socialist Council of Nagaland - Isak-Muivah) leader who had allegedly molested a Manipuri film actress Dec 18 during a musical concert in Chandel district....read more.

SP, BSP could decide fate of weakened government

Sonia Gandhi, the usually reserved and poised leader of the ruling Congress party, leapt from her front-bench seat in parliament last week to grab back a document that a Member of Parliament (MP) had snatched from a government minister's hands.

She caught the MP by the arm, some media reports said, but failed to retrieve the document before it was torn up. A minor scuffle ensued between members of Congress and the offending lawmaker's Samajwadi Party (SP).

The extraordinary drama lasted less than a minute.

But it illustrated the vulnerability of a government that, now reduced to a minority in parliament, depends for its survival on unreliable allies like the SP. Not only will they hamper further economic reform, they could bring the government down and trigger a general election before it is due in 2014...read more.

Gang-rape protest: Nine metro stations to stay shut Monday

Unaware that nine Metro stations would stay shut Monday, hundreds of commuters got a rude shock in the morning, unable to emerge from or enter several metro stations in central Delhi. The decision to shut these stations was taken after protests in the heart of the capital turned violent Sunday.

"Entry and exit of commuters at Metro stations at Pragati Maidan, Mandi House, Barakhamba Road, Rajiv Chowk, Patel Chowk, Central Secretariat, Udyog Bhavan, Race Course and Khan Market was disallowed from early morning as per instructions from Delhi Police," a Metro official said.

Rajiv Chowk Metro station alone sees a footfall of about five lakh commuters a day. Office-goers who routinely use the station found themselves having to get off elsewhere.

However, commuters were allowed to change trains at both Rajiv Chowk and Central Secretariat.

As metro stations were shut Sunday, there was chaos and buses plied at full capacity.

Since Saturday night, eight Metro stations in the heart of the capital were closed to commuters. Later, Pragati Maidan Metro station too was ordered closed, and major roads leading to Rashtrapati Bhavan and India Gate were blocked...read more.

You can't march in protest to president's house: Shinde

The government is not opposed to people holding peaceful protests, but staging a march to the presidential house is not right, Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde said Monday.

Shinde said he has been meeting student representatives since the day protests started in the capital against the gang-rape of a young woman Dec 16.

"I accept that calm and quiet protestors can demonstrate, and there is no problem (with that) as it is the right of the public," he told a TV channel.

"But gathering at Vijay Chowk, trying to breach barricades and marching to Rashtrapati Bhavan is not right. Rashtrapati Bhavan is prestigious for the country."

According to Shinde: "Hooligans have now joined the protestors."

He said the home ministry was daily briefing the prime minister on the issue....read more.

PM appeals for calm, expresses sadness at clashes

Reiterating his plea for maintaining peace, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, in a televised address Monday, assured the government would examine without delay the police response to the savage gang-rape of a 23-year-old woman.

Manmohan Singh expressed sadness over the clashes between protesters and police that have left scores injured and said all steps would be taken to ensure the safety and security of women in the country.

Terming the outpouring of public protest as "genuine and justified anger and anguish" , Manmohan Singh said he felt strongly about the gangrape as "a father of three daughters". He said while anger over the crime is "justified" "violence will serve no purpose".

The prime minister's statement comes as the father of the young woman appealed for peace and also asked people to pray for his daughter, who is in a critical condition in hospital.

"I appeal to all to refrain from vandalism and help the police so that the process of capturing and sentencing the culprits is successful," the father told TV news channels.

The prime minister issued the appeal after the national capital was witness to largescale protests and also violence over the Dec 16 gangrape.

Manmohan Singh said his wife and family were all "joined" in their concern for the young woman.

"As a father of three daughters myself, I feel as strongly about this as each one of you. My wife, my family and I are all joined in our concern for the young woman who was the victim of this heinous crime. We are constantly monitoring her medical condition. Let us all pray for her and her loved ones during this critical time....read more.

Marathi actors Anand Abhyankar, Akshay Pendse killed in road accident

Well-known Marathi actors Anand Abhyankar and Akshay Pendse were among three people killed in an accident on the Mumbai-Pune Expressway early Monday, police said.

According to the State Highway Police, the accident occurred shortly after midnight when a rashly driven tempo on the Mumbai-Pune lane climbed on the road divider and rammed into the Wagon R car coming in the opposite (Pune-Mumbai) lane, near the Urse Toll checkpost.

The seriously injured victims, travelling in the Wagon R, were rushed to a hospital in Nigdi, a suburb of Pune, where Abhyankar, Pendse and his two-year-old son Pratyush Pendse, succumbed after a couple of hours, said investigation officer S.P. Mane of Wadgaon Police Station....read more.