Vice-president Hamid Ansari and Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh on Thursday paid homage to the departed former vice-president Bhairon Singh Shekhawat at a prayer meeting held at his official residence on Aurangzeb Road here. Lok Sabha Speaker Meira Kumar and other senior ministers and leaders from the BJP and other parties also attended the prayer meeting. Mr Shekhawat had breathed his last on May 15.

The demand for raising prices of petroleum products by the oil refining companies and the oil and gas ministry has been growing louder since the government made quite a hefty hike in the natural gas prices.

Often mired in controversy earlier, the railways will be holding the first combined all-India exam for recruitment to nearly 40,000 posts on Sunday. Nearly 70 lakh candidates across the country are expected to appear for the exam.

Hinting towards the senior partner in the UPA, NCP chief and agriculture minister Sharad Pawar on Thursday cautioned that taking minorities for granted would be a big mistake. Qualifying his statement the minister said, it is a big misconception among the secular parties that the minorities have no option but to support them.

Palazzio’s Sun, Awarding and Diamond Hunter excelled in the workouts when the horses were exercised on Thursday.
Outer sand

Former West Bengal chief minister Siddhartha Shankar Ray on Thursday said that either chief minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee should step down voluntarily and recommend early Assembly polls or the Centre should dismiss the Left Front government and conduct elections under the President’s Rule.

The Congress party maintained a status quo by renominating its sitting MPs for the ensuing biennial elections to the Rajya Sabha from Andhra Pradesh here on Thursday night.

Five horses are in fray for the K.N. Guruswamy Memorial Cup, the feature event of the races to be held on Saturday. Following are the runners in the eight-events-card.
1. The Southern Regent Trophy Terms race, three-years-old only 1400 metres 2 pm: Astounding Gallop 56, Mythos 56, Recharged 56, Reformation 56, Secretary General 56, Allez Vite 56, Matias 54.5, Karisini 54.5.

Pointing finger at the big brother party for the rout in civic polls, the Left Front partners have now become stoic and a bit sceptical about the “turnaround theory” which the CPI(M) had tried to present on Wednesday. The major Front allies believe that “the winds of change are now a reality” and there is no chance for the Left Front to bounce back in the 2011 Assembly polls.

With the Delhi government’s PWD department throwing open the Ghazipur underpass for public on Friday, commuters coming from Ghaziabad to Anand Vihar can expect a smooth ride. The underpass will act as a gateway between east Delhi and Uttar Pradesh.