Decision to attack Advani was a conscious choice: Manmohan Singh

Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh said that his decision to counter attack Leader of Opposition L.K. Advani was a conscious one.
Commenting on Advani's repeated charge that he was "weak Prime Minister", Dr. Singh said: "Any serious political observer knows my remarks on Advani are true. I owe it to myself and the people of India to show where the shoe pinches. Enough is enough."
Interacting with members of the Editors Guild of India, the Prime Minister targeted the BJP for its "personal remarks" against him, and said distribution of roles between him and Congress president Sonia Gandhi were conducive for greater efficiency in the functioning of the government.
Dr. Singh added that such an arrangement has worked well for the country.
Asked why he kept quiet for so long despite repeated personal attacks by Advani, Dr Singh said he did not respond earlier because he had not been named the Congress prime ministerial candidate.
Talking about his career, Dr Singh said he has been a politician since 1991 when he was the Finance Minister.
When asked about alliances, Dr. Singh said that future of Congress and Left parties coming together would depend on circumstances.
Remembering his experiences as a politician, Singh said he has dealt with the Left, RJD's Lalu Prasad Yadav, SP's Mulayam Singh Yadav, AIADMK supremo Jayalalithaa, the PDP, and had managed them all well.

11 CISF men killed by Maoists, fresh gun battle near Nalco

Bhubaneswar: Altogether 11 CISF personnel and four Maoists were killed in a gunfight following a daring attack on an armoury and bauxite mine of public sector Nalco in Orissa's Koraput district, even as a fresh gun battle broke out this evening when security forces closed in on the fleeing rebels.
"Eleven CISF jawans posted at mines in Damanjodi were killed and 15 others injured in a five hour gunbattle after the ultras struck last night," Director General of Police M M Praharaj said today.
Bodies of four Maoists, including a woman, along with a light machine gun and a rifle were found at the spot, he said.
Over 200 heavily armed Maoists, including women cadre, looted the CISF armoury and took away at least a dozen rifles and light machine guns shortly after 9:30 pm last night in a well planned attack.
The fresh gun battle broke out this evening during joint combing by central forces, Orissa's anti-naxalite force Special Operation Group (SOG) and commandos from Andhra Pradesh after the maoists were spotted by two helicopters hiding at Panchpatmali jungle, the police said.

I have no ambition to be PM, says Jayalalitha

Chennai: AIADMK leader J. Jayalalitha Tuesday denied she had prime ministerial ambitions, and asserted that the alliance led by her would sweep Tamil Nadu's 39 Lok Sabha seats.
Asked if she had a desire to be the prime minister, Jayalalitha told Times Now TV channel: "I do not have any personal ambition. All I want is that our country should prosper and take its rightful place as a global superpower."
The former Tamil Nadu chief minister said she was confident the AIADMK-led alliance would sweep the Lok Sabha elections in Tamil Nadu. In 2004, the AIADMK did not win even a single Lok Sabha seat.
The AIADMK alliance includes the PMK, Vaiko's MDMK, the Communist Party of India (CPI) and the Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M).
Asserting that "a good politician never rules out anything", she insisted that her aim was to work for a government not led by either the Congress or the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
"It is premature to talk of post-poll alliances now. What we have been working towards is a dispensation at the centre which is non-BJP led and non-Congress led.
"As such it would stand to reason after the results are out, we will engage in a discussion with the Left parties and our electoral allies, the PMK and MDMK, and other liked-minded parties." Jayalalitha was asked if she was in touch with the BJP, a claim she has already denied.
"As of now our party is in alliance with the Left parties, with PMK and MDMK. So there is no question of conducting any talks with any party on a post-poll alliance... I think we are very clear."
The AIADMK chief hit out at both the central and Tamil Nadu governments for not doing enough to stop the war in Sri Lanka.
"The central government and the (Tamil Nadu) government have failed miserably in trying to solve the ethnic issue in Sri Lanka. The central and state governments have done nothing to stop the genocide of Tamils in Sri Lanka. "
It is a fact that the people of Tamil Nadu are greatly exercised over what they perceive as injustice being meted out to their brothers and sisters in Sri Lanka. "There is a very strong feeling that if the DMK government had wished, it could have brought pressure to bear on the central government to stop the war in Sri Lanka." Jayalalitha made light of MDMK leader Vaiko's militant outburst against India's Sri Lanka policy in which he warned that "rivers of blood" would flow in Tamil Nadu if Tamil Tigers chief Velupillai Prabhakaran suffered any harm. "What Vaiko has said is nothing new as far as he is concerned. He has been making these statements for so many years.
"The AIADMK is firmly committed to upholding the sovereignty and safeguarding the integrity of India. We will not tolerate or condone any talk of secession. So that is dangerous talk."

SRK apologises to Gavaskar over multiple captaincy row

Mumbai: Bollywood superstar and co-owner of Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) IPL team Shah Rukh Khan, who had criticised Sunil Gavaskar on the issue of multiple captaincy, has now apologised to the legendary batsman.
"I have not said anything against Gavaskar. I just wanted to have a breathing space to try something new. I have sent him an apology letter if he felt so because he was in America that time," Shah Rukh said before his departure to South Africa, last night.

He said, "due to the wonderful methodology that television applies, that comment was for people who don't understand cricket and are still telling me how to run the team." "If Gavaskar asks me to walk on my head and run the team, I would. Any thing that Gavaskar says that has to do with cricket, if he mentions, should be followed," the actor said.

The apology comes in wake of Shah Rukh's criticism of Gavaskar, who had lashed out at KKR coach John Buchanan for his proposal to have multiple captains in the team.

Shahrukh said the controversy had hurt him.

"People are making comments without understanding what the concept of multiple captaincy is," he said.