Mukhtar Ahmad reports from Srinagar.  

Two paramilitary Central Reserve Police Force troopers were wounded in a powerful hand-grenade explosion in uptown Karan Nagar area of Jammu and Kashmir's summer capital Srinagar on Thursday evening.  

A senior police official said militants tossed the grenade at a CRPF bunker which exploded, injuring the two troopers who were manning the bunker.   The injured troopers were immediately evacuated to the SMHS hospital for treatment.  

The explosion triggered heavy panic in the busy Karan Nagar area.  

Security forces have surrounded the area for search operations.  

No group has yet claimed responsibility for the attack.  

Pakistan Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani today said he would rather go to jail for committing contempt of court than violate the Constitution by acting on the Supreme Court's ultimatum to reopen graft cases against President Asif Ali Zardari. 

Gilani's remarks at two public events in Bahawalpur region of Punjab province marked an escalation in the standoff between the PPP-led government and the Supreme Court, which has been pushing the premier to revive cases of alleged money laundering against the President in Switzerland. "If I write (to the Swiss authorities), then I violate the Constitution because parliament has given the President immunity in Pakistan and abroad.

Just in: State-owned oil firms to hike jet fuel (ATF) price by 2 per cent with effect from midnight tonight. This is the third time it's been hiked since November. But for a one-off marginal reduction in mid-October, ATF prices have been on the climb since September. IOC and other state retailers, Hindustan Petroleum and Bharat Petroleum, had on October 1 and September 16 and raised jet fuel prices by 2.5 per cent and 1.5 per cent respectively, as imports became costlier due to fall in rupee against the U.S. dollar. Jet fuel makes up for 40 per cent of an airlines' operating cost and the steep hike in prices will raise burden on the cash-strapped airlines.

No immediate comment was available from airlines on the impact of the price hike on passenger fares.

Paul Beckett's interesting take for the Wall Street Journal.

In the wee hours of Thursday, we found Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee furiously re-writing Friday's budget speech in a bid to ensure that Mamata Banerjee's latest antics over the railway budget don't derail the government. India Real Time happened to be there and, just for fun, we grabbed his copy. 

More

An earless baby rabbit that became a rising star on Germany's celebrity animal scene had its 15 minutes of fame brought to an abrupt end when it was accidentally stepped on and killed by a television cameraman.

See

Almost three-quarters of women from Pakistan's minority communities have faced sexual harassment while 43 per cent complained of  religious discrimination at workplaces, educational institutions and neighbourhoods, according to a new report.

The report, prepared by the National Commission for Justice and Peace, states that about 74 per cent of the women faced sexual harassment. "Some 27 per cent minority women (Christians and Hindus) faced discrimination in admissions to educational institutions and were forced to take Islamic studies in the absence of anyalternative subject," NCJP executive director Peter Jacob said.

Update on the terrible bus accident in Switzerland that killed 22 children and six adults. The first rescuers on the scene of the Swiss coach crash have described how the "screams of survivors" put them into a state of shock.

On the Telegraph.

The Commission comprises defence lawyers Khwaja Haris, Riyaz Akram Choudhary, Fakhar Haayat, Raja Ehassan Ulhakhan and Isaam Bin Haris, special public prosecutors Choudhary Mohammed Azhar and Choudhary Ali and court official Azad Khan.

Ujjwal Nikam, who was Special Public Prosecutor in the terror trial, would accompany Indian officers to be questioned by the Pakistani panel.The panel will collect evidence on behalf of the Pakistani court trying Lakhvi and other suspects in the case.

The Pakistani judicial commission arrived in Mumbai to record the statement of four key persons in connection with the 26/11 Mumbai attacks, including a magistrate who recorded the confessional statement of Ajmal Kasab, the lone surviving terrorist.

The statements of the four witnesses will be used as evidence in the trial against LeT top commander Zaki-ur-Rehman Lakhvi and six other suspects in the brazen strikes going on in Pakistan, reports Outlook.

April might be the cruelest month, but, for India's major political parties this year, March was fairly brutal. On March 6, following an American-style "Super Tuesday' of its own, India announced the results of five state assembly elections, which confounded pollsters, surprised pundits, and shook a complacent political establishment. Nothing went according to script.

More

The CBI alleged that Dayanidhi Maran who was Telecom Minister between 2004 and 2007 in the UPA-I government had deliberately delayed the licences to Aircel and showed undue favour to Malaysia-based Maxis. In return, investments were made by the company in Sun TV.

It was alleged that Maran "armtwisted' Aircel owner C. Sivasankaran to sell his stake to the Maxis group of Malaysia. Chennai-based Aircel was applying with the Department of Telecommunications for UAS licences from March 2004 onwards. Mr. Sivasankaran who was already quizzed by the CBI officials claimed that irrelevant issues were raised in order to delay the award of licences.

Two stories unfolding now:

• Kingfisher Chairman Vijay Mallya holds talks with agitating pilots in Delhi

• The Enforcement Directorate has summoned Dayanidhi Maran in the Aircel-Maxis deal. He has been asked to furnish funding details and his statement will be recorded on March 20.

In other news,

Four people, including two policemen, have been arrested for their alleged involvement in the controversial Jarawa tourism episode wherein members of
the tribe were made to dance in return for food by foreign tourists, the government said today. In written reply to a question in the Rajya Sabha over
inquiry into exploitation of Jarawa tribes, Minister of State for Tribal Affairs Mahadeo Singh Khandela said several steps have been taken by the Andaman administration to ensure safety and security of tribal population there.

The story that needed to be told, from the Guardian.

Punjab Congress MPs are concerned about the future of their political careers, says our Delhi correspondent.

After the Cong rout in Punjab, these MPs don't want to chat with their colleagues. The reason for their black mood is that they believe the Congress will be wiped out in the 2014 polls.

Parliament gossip from our Delhi correspondent.

Trinamool Congress MPs were seated together inside the Central Hall of Parliament to discuss the strategy ahead.

Almost all of them were speaking on their phones perhaps to Kolkata. On seeing Trinamool MPs in a huddle, many mediapersons rushed in, but were turned away when Sudip Bandopadhyay requested them not to overhear or report what was being discussed.

Dinesh Trivedi's so-called rebellion has nothing to do with the railway budget; it has nothing to do with his proposal to hike passenger fares. Mamata Banerjee has sacked Trivedi because she doesn't trust him. It is as simple as that. This is the story of the leader losing faith in his junior. She was suspicious, always, of his closeness to the Congress and he gave ample reasons to make her go mad.

Read Sheela Bhatt's report on rediff.com.

The Guardian appears to have come across a major scoop: a cache of 3,000 emails written by Syrian regime insiders, including President Bashar al-Assad  and his wife Asma.  The e-mails werereportedly leaked to a Syrian opposition group by "a mole in the president's inner circle," and many of them were verified to the Guardian by a number of people whose emails appear in the cache. The emails also include information -- family photographs, Assad's identity card, and a family member's birth certificate -- that would be difficult to fake.

On the Foreign Policy

BJP senior leader Venkaiah Naidu addressing a press meet on the railway budget mess. First takes...

The budget is a burden on the common man and the government has failed on all fronts. The Congress has violated the term coalition.

The elaborate ceremony of India's Budget Day, in which the finance minister formally presents the country's budget to Parliament, is in itself a giant colonial holdover, harking back to a similar budget speech that has been delivered by Britain's Chancellor of the Exchequer for many decades.

Read it on the NYT

Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee, who has demanded that the Prime Minister replace Railway minister Dinesh Trivedi with her trusted lieutenant
Mukul Roy, today said no one was above party discipline. "No one is above party discipline. Dinesh Trivedi did not consult me or Mukul Roy (the party all India general secretary)," party insiders quoted Banerjee telling the Trinamool Congress Legislature Party meeting ahead of the budget session of the West Bengal Legislative Assembly.

"Increase in rail fares (will ) lead to increase in the people's burden," she said explaining her stand on Trivedi yesterday hiking railway fares across the board in the budget. Party legislators endorsed the party chief's stand and criticised Trivedi.

The issue of women's safety in Gurgaon has come into the spotlight this week, after a woman who said she worked for a pub there was gang-raped as she was leaving work. More than 150 people gathered Wednesday night in front of the Sahara Mall, where the pub is located, in protest.

Read the report on the NYT.

Asha Bhosle has filed a complaint with the police against veteran actress Sadhna for encroaching and trespassing her Khar bungalow, reports NDTV.

Sadhna, who is a tenant in Asha Bhosle's Khar bungalow, has been embroiled in a defamation case against builder Yusuf Lakdawala who she claims has been threatening her.

More

Samantha Cameron and Michelle Obama go head-to-head in fashion show down Samantha Cameron and Michelle Obama kept up their reputations as the first ladies of fashion in floor length blue gowns for a star studded state dinner in Washington.

See

The 2003 story in the Outlook on Raja Bhaiya...

Today there are 35 cases against him, out of which 14 were filed after incurring Mayawati's wrath, although he had even earlier been charged under the Gangster Act and almost all the sections of IPC. The lake spread cross 35 bighas in Beti and Bhadari is the stuff of horrifying and mysterious legend and folklore among the people in Pratapgarh and Kunda.

If the stories  are to be believed, crocodiles were kept in the lake and anyone opposing the feudals became a meal for the crocodiles. The government has now declared it as Ambedkar Sanctuary.

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People who took heart from Samajwadi Party leader Akhilesh Yadav's promise that his new government will not tolerate goons and "goondaism" must note this.

Raghuraj Pratap Singh, the notorious politician infamous as Raja Bhaiyya, was sworn in as a minister in Yadav's government in Lucknow on related stories Akhilesh sworn in as youngest CM of Uttar Pradesh SP men beat up Dalits near Maya village in Dadri Thursday. 

Singh, an independent MLA from Kunda in Pratapgarh district, is one of UP's most feared 'bahubalis' and has several criminal cases pending against him. He was once charged with Prevention of Terrorism Act and there are allegations that he once fed his enemies to crocodiles he keeps as pets in his family mansion.

Prakash Sharma ' @Prakash_Sharma  Reply   Retweet   Favorite   Open RS Pandey who raided Raja Bhaiyya's house ws killed in road accident aftr Mulayam Singh Yadav freed Bhaiyya within 25 mins of assuming power.

Prakash Sharma @Prakash_Sharma  All jailed goons will be freed or made minister like Raja Bhaiyya @firstpostin: #AkhileshYadav: It's a day of freedom for Uttar pradesh

rupa subramanya @RupaSubramanya  Lovely.Akhilesh breaks promise,makes notorious Raja Bhaiyya min..rumored to ve once fed his enemies to pet crocodiles.#developmentpolitics

UP CM Akhilesh defends Raja Bhaiya's inclusion in the state cabinet: We all know who is behind the cases.

Akhilesh, who has been feted for trying to keep away people with dubious antecedents from the Samajwadi Party as he fought a winning battle for UP, will find himself having to repeatedly explain the induction of Independent MLA from Kunda, Raghuraj Pratap Singh or Raja Bhaiyya, in his cabinet, says a NDTV report.

Raja Bhaiyya, the local strongman of Pratapgarh, has known criminal antecedents; today, after taking over as UP CM, Yadav defended his minister accusing his predecessor Maywati of filing false cases against Singh.

The gilded lifestyle continued for Assad coterie as conflict raged in Syria. Bashar al-Assad appears to have emailed his wife song lyrics and video clips, while she shopped for shoes and chandeliers.

Read the Guardian report

In yet another mid-sea attack, Sri Lankan Naval personnel allegedly hurled petrol bombs at a group of fishing boats from here, sinking one of them and damaging 20 others near Katchatheevu in the Palk Strait, officials said today.
The fishermen, who had put out to sea from here, came under the attack around midnight last night.

They said the Sri Lankan Naval personnel hurled petrol bombs at two boats. One of the vessel owned by one Arumugam sank while another narrowly escaped.

Four occupants of the sunk boat were rescued by the others and brought to the shore. Twenty other boats suffered damage when the Lankan Navalmen attacked them with a variety of missiles inlcuding bricks, rocks, they said.

Meanwhile, MNS candidate Yatin Wagh was today elected as Mayor of Nashik. 

Wagh polled 54 votes with the backing of the BJP in the 122-member Nashik civic body. Shiv Sena, Congress and NCP abstained from voting.

The Raj Thackeray-led party with 40 seats was able to muster the required numbers to win the Mayoral election held today with the help of BJP - which has 14 corporators in the newly elected NMC - and with also support from Independents and others.

The Shiv Sena with 19 seats had fielded its own candidate for the post.
The MNS had emerged as the single largest party in Nashik but fell short of the majority mark (62).  MNS had supported Sena-BJP combine in last week's Mayoral poll in Thane.

Here's why the Sri Lankan High Commissioner Prasad Kariyawasam Members had to apologise today.

MPs from Tamil Nadu in Rajya Sabha today raised strong objections to the reported remarks of Sri Lankan High Commissioner Prasad Kariyawasam against MPs of the state and demanded a categorical response from the
government on the matter.

Raising the issue during Zero Hour, D Raja (CPI) waved a copy of the media report quoting the Sri Lankan envoy as asking the Government of India to probe the activities of MPs from Tamil Nadu sympathetic to the LTTE cause.

Raja along with other Left members and those of DMK and AIADMK were on their feet demanding immediate response of the government over the Sri Lankan envoy's remarks against them saying he had committed gross violation (of diplomatic norms). 

At his press conference Akhilesh says that a probe on corruption cases is already on and action against corrupt officers will be taken.

He says the government will fulfill all its promises made in the manifesto, especially on law and order.

Akhilesh also announced a cabinet meet in the evening.

UP chief minister Akhilesh Yadav addresses the media in Lucknow hours after his swearing-in.

Says this is a day of freedom for Uttar Pradesh after years of corruption. Big decisions will be taken after the cabinet meeting. Akhilesh took oath in the presence of Mulayam Singh Yadav, family members, leaders of various political parties and prominent personalities. 19 ministers of Cabinet rank were also admistered oath besides 29 ministers of state.

This is his first press meeting after he became CM.

Ravi Ghiyar @RaviGhiyar 
Raja Bhaiya is a minister under Akhilesh Yadav. Hail law and order and good governance ! God Save UP !

Dr Pooja Tripathi @drpoojaa 
The whole songs of change in UP,youth power was shown a middle finger by SP when they inducted Raja bhaiya in cabinet

Russia's regional policies are poised to take a dramatic turn with the move to offer an air base for the use of the United States to ferry troops and military cargo to Afghanistan. There is some delightful irony as well insofar as the base being offered happens to be located in the city of Ulyanovsk on the Volga, which happens to be none other than the birthplace of Vladimir Ilyich Lenin.

Read

Samajwadi Party leader Akhilesh Yadav, who is to be sworn in as Uttar Pradesh chief minister, said the priority of his government would be maintaining law and order which would help attract industry to the state. 

Read the report on the Daily Mail.

And another report on Sri Lanka.

Sri Lankan officials say raking over rights abuses during the country's 26-year civil war that ended in 2009 will open a can of worms and delay reconciliation between Sinhalese people and the minority Tamil community.

On the WSJ

The US and some Indian politicians believe now is the moment to publicly pressure Sri Lanka to address rights abuses committed by its military at the end of the country's 26-year war against the Tamil Tiger separatists in 2009.

Read more on the Wall Street Journal.

Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah, who supported the hike in railway fares, today said he would not mind being sacked for doing the right thing. 

"If I had to be sacked, I'd rather be sacked for doing the right thing," he wrote on micro-blogging site twitter in reference to demand for removal of Railway Minister Dinesh Trivedi by his own party Trinamool Congress.

Omar is among the very few politicians who have supported the hike in train fares proposed by Trivedi in his maiden railway budget tabled in the Lok Sabha yesterday. "We take populism to ridiculous levels. I genuinely believe people would happily accept the modest hike if safety and quality of service are better," the NC leader said.

"Populism will destroy the Indian railways. Then where will the 'aam aadmi' go?" he asked. Omar had words of sympathy for Trivedi, wishing him well in whatever he does. "What ever Dinesh bhai does, I wish him well. He's a good and decent person and we shared some laughs at the Kolkata
book fair recently," he tweeted.

After Railway Minister Dinesh Trivedi, who put the interests of the country and the Indian Railways ahead of that of his party, maybe Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee needs to do the same. What he does with the general budget on Friday is even more crucial to this country's economic well-being than Trivedi's. Here are the parallels between what happened in the railways and what is happening in the economy.

Read the report on Firstpost.com

Samajwadi Party supremo Mulayam Singh Yadav today advised his son and Akhilesh Yadav (just before he was sworn in as CM) to lead a clean social and political life. "I will be happy to see if Akhilesh keeps his personal and social life clean. This will be fulfilment of my dreams,' he said addressing a meeting of newly-elected party MLAs here.

More on Firstpost

After Akhilesh Yadav and the cabinet's swearing in ceremony, Samajwadi Party workers climb on to the dais, tear up sofas in glee (?)

Apparently, the police were dancing too.

Rajdeep Sardesai @sardesairajdeep PM on Trivedi: if situation arises, we will consider Trivedi's resignation

pragmatic_desi @pragmatic_d Winds of change blowing in UP. Raja Bhaiyaa becomes a minister in Akhilesh Yadav's cabinet. :-(

TMC leader Sudip Bandopadhyay's day in Parliament so far...

Q. Mukul Roy not acceptable to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh

A. "Roy can be the all out and the best acceptable person in the Railway
Ministry... We have given a letter to the Prime Minister for a change in the Railway Ministry."

Q. Will Trivedi be removed or dismissed from the Party

A. "We have not yet thought about this issue as there are so many other important things to do." 

Q.  If Trivedi was invited by the Party for taking part in the dharna in Parliament for protesting several issues including rail fare hike.

A. "We have been informed about it through SMS.

Q. Was Trivedi asked to resign from his post?

A. "We have no information whether someone has resigned or not."

Q. Is Trivedi defying party diktats?

A. "We have not given any orders to him. Our party leader and MPs want that Mukul Roy should be given this (Raliways Ministry).

You do know that the government will present its budget tomorrow -- the 81st in the history of independent India.

Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee will present the Union Budget for the seventh time, the second-highest by any Finance Minister. The Parliament has so far hosted 80 budget speeches, including interim and special-situation budgetary proposals, ever since the first union budget of indepdendent India was presented by then Finance Minister R K Shanmukham Chetty on
November 26, 1947.

The maximum number of 10 budgets have been presented by Morarji Desai, while Mukherjee will tomorrow join the league of P Chidambaram, Yashwant Sinha, Y B Chavan and C D Deshmukh, who have presented seven budgets each in the past.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and the country's fourth Finance Minister T T Krishnamachari have presented six budgets each during their tenures in the Finance Ministry. 

The Economic Survey report projects economic growth of 7.6 per cent,
plus or minus 0.25 per cent, for the next financial year and maintains a 6.9 per cent growth for 2011-12. The report projects 6.5-7 per cent inflation for March.

The report puts forward challenges that finance minister Pranab Mukherjee faces ahead of the budget announcement tomorrow.

The economic Survey is actually the road ahead for the economy. It is a report card on the performance of the economy and works as guidebook for the budget estimates for the next year.

Mamata Banerjee, the unpredictable head of the Trinamool Congress and West Bengal chief minister, has a well-known habit of embarrassing the Congress party, which runs the coalition in New Delhi to which the Trinamool belongs.

On the Wall Street Journal.

Soumik Bose @Soumik_BoseMukul Roy for #Railways is a disastrous decison by #Mamata.He should be left where he's best at..as a Party leader & organizer not minister.

22mCloud Capped @cloud_capped PM ever goes 4 Mukul Roy 's background checking b4 handing him over d Railway Ministry?how many of us aware of his linkage with Rail?

Vaibhav Bansal @vaibhavbansal Welcome "Mukul Roy" the new puppet of UPA government

Shuja-ul-Haq ' @ShujaUH  Dear Mamata Banerjee isn't it the same Mukul Roy who was kicked out for not even visiting accident sites as the MoS rail in 2011

Divya Singh @I_Madcap  Mamta Banerjee wanted Mukul Roy even the last time but it wasn't acceptable to Dr. Manmohan Singh. Would it be now?

Ratnakar Sadasyula @ScorpiusMaximus Mukul Roy was the same guy who refused to visit the site of the train accident in Assam, all ye Mamta fans Yenjoy now.

Another important international development today is that China has removed prominent politician Bo Xilai from his post as Chongqing's Communist Party leader. The 62-year-old was a strong contender for promotion to China's top rungs when the party changes its leadership later this year.

More on the bbc.

Samajwadi Party leader Mulayam Singh Yadav's son, Akhilesh Yadav, takes oath as the next chief minister of UP.

Railway Minister Dinesh Trivedi, whose party has demanded his removal, today attended Parliament, saying it is his "duty" as a Minister but parried questions on his resignation. 

A day after Trinamool supremo and West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee demanded that he be removed, Trivedi said he will be in Lok Sabha during the Question Hour as scheduled to reply to queries raised by members.

"I am going to Parliament as a Minister. I have come for Question Hour. I have to answer my questions. I am doing my duty, let me do that please" he told reporters at his residence and outside Parliament House before entering Lok
Sabha shortly before the commencement of Question Hour in the House. Trivedi was seated in the front row in the Treasury Benches.

The Trinamool leader declined to anwser when asked whether he has resigned.
"Let's see what happens. I have to go...," he added.

TMC's Sudip Bandopadhayay tells Parliament that the TMC has NOT asked for Trivedi's resignation. He says the UPA will complete its tenure and there is no threat to the government. The TMC, a key UPA ally has 19 seats in Parliament.

Pranab Mukherjee says Mamata Banerjee's communication is under active consideration. He says the approval of the PM is not required for a railway budget, only the FM's approval is required. And now that it has been presented in the House, the rail budget becomes the property of the house.

The government has so far ruled out a rollback on the rail fare hike. Meanwhile, Mukul Roy, has reached Delhi and is expected to reach Parliament in a bit.

Roy is likely to replace Trivedi as rail minister.

The CPI presents a notice for adjournment in the Lok Sabha. Opposition says the government is unstable. Pranab reiterates that the PM has not received Dinesh Trivedi's resignation.

Sushma Swaraj says that railway budget is always presented in Parliament after a go-ahead from the PM and the finance minister. Swaraj, who is leader of the opposition in the Lok Sabha, asks, "Can the PM and the finance minister wash their hands off this budget?"

Tables thumped enthusiastically.

Chaos takes over in the Rajya Sabha. House is adjourned till 12 pm.

In the Lok Sabha, finance minister Pranab Mukherjee says much the same as Rajiv Shukla. Chaos reigns supreme. House to be adjourned as well? 

Complete chaos in the Rajya Sabha. MoS Parliamentary Affairs Rajiv Shukla tells Parliament that the PM has not received any resignation letter, but accepts that Mamata Banerjee has sent a "communication" to the PM.

Arun Jaitley calls the unfolding spectacle a "theatre of the absurd."

S Bandopadhyay's repartee to Pranab Mukherjee's plea to Mamata to reconsider Dinesh Trivedi's resignation: "Can Pranab Mukherjee present the budget without Sonia's nod."

Yesterday, an upset Trivedi had said that the railway ministry does not work out of the Writers' Building (Mamata Banerjee's office in Kolkata)

Dinesh Trivedi whose railway budget turned into a resignation says he will come to Parliament to answer questions.  

LOK SABHA

1. Obituary Reference
2. Motion of Thanks to President's Address
3. General Discussion on Railway Budget 2012-13

 RAJYA SABHA

1. Motion of Thanks to President's Address

TMC's Sudip Bandopadhyay says the party and not the Congress elected Dinesh Trivedi.

Trivedi says he has come to Parliament ot answer questions.