Land scam: Army Chief evasive on action against his men

Under extreme pressure from the government and media to take action against officials embroiled in the Sukhna land scam, Army chief Deepak Kapoor on Thursday vaguely hinted that action would soon be taken against the offenders.

''The Army has a history of taking expeditious action against such cases and I have already issued a set of directions,” he said. "We will take due action as per the rules in the Army Act," he said.

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Ensure aid to Pakistan not misused: India tells US

Ruling out any Indian threat to Pakistan, Foreign Secretary Nirupama Rao on Thursday urged the US to ensure that the billions of dollars of American aid given to Islamabad is not diverted for anti-India activities.

A day after External Affairs Minister SM Krishna spoke to his Pakistani counterpart Shah Mehmood Qureshi and asked him to bring the perpetrators of the 26/11 Mumbai terror attack to justice speedily, Rao made it clear that any normalisation of relations with Pakistan is possible only when the patronage extended to anti-India forces is stopped in that country.

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SAD (A) to contest the coming SGPC elections on Khalistan issue: Mann

President of the SAD (A), Simranjit Singh Mann has announced to contest the coming SGPC elections on the issue of Khalistan.He said establishing Khalistan is only solution to save Sikh religion. While addressing political conference at Maghi Mela here on Wednesday, he lashed out at the ruling SAD (B) and rued it for poor governance. He also flayed Congress for weak opposition.

He asked all to break the rulers-followers nexus that misuse power for the sake of personal benefits. Mann demanded a ban upon the enrollment of migrants as voters of Punjab as well as the issuance of ration card to them. He alleged that the state government was directionless and had no policy to eradicate unemployment, poverty and corruption.

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Big gain in RIL takes Sensex higher

Advances in oil & gas stocks, led by 3 per cent gains in RIL, helped the Sensex to end higher moderately amid mostly positive global markets. But some selling pressure in banking stocks and select frontline stocks limited the gains.

The Sensex ended up 75 points at 17,584 while Nifty ended at 17,584, up 25 points. But gains in the broader markets were stronger than frontline stocks, with BSE midcap and smallcap indices up 0.90 per cent and 1.20 per cent respectively.

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Liverpool to focus on top 4 after FA Cup loss

Liverpool manager Rafa Benitez's job appears to be safe despite the club's FA Cup elimination by lower-league Reading. The loss has left the Europa League as Liverpool's only likely consolation prize, but more important for Benitez than winning the reformatted _ but still widely derided _ UEFA Cup is ensuring the team finishes in the top four of the Premier League and qualifies for next season's Champions League.

Going into Saturday's match at Stoke, the Reds are seventh in the league _ five points behind fourth-place Manchester City with 18 matches remaining. Yet it appears that Benitez will be given time to turn around Liverpool's fortunes with the club hierarchy privately dismissing the mounting pressure on the Spaniard following the 2-1 extra time loss to Reading on Wednesday.

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