In Rakhine, mistrust deepens divide
The one common element between the Rohingya camps and the Rakhine Buddhist camps is the curiosity about the riots in Assam in August. Both sides are quick to draw their own parallels between their conflict and the recent riots in Assam. »Congress throws its weight behind FDI at Delhi rally
Noting that the opposition had not allowed key legislations to be passed
or allowed discussion on issues in parliament, she said the Congress
would not allow them to succeed in their bid.
»
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Explain U-turn in retail, BJP tells Congress
Related: Sonia: India needed a large dose of investment, of which FDI was a part
Related: Sonia: India needed a large dose of investment, of which FDI was a part
With 48 hours to go, US headed for a photo-finish
With 48 hours to go, US headed for a photo-finish
WASHINGTON: You know the campaign finale is close at hand when the voice of the principals has turned hoarse. Democrat incumbent Barack Obama and Republican challenger Mitt Romney entered the rough and raucous final 48 hours in the race to the White House locked at 48-48 in nationwide popular vote and eyeing a handful of states that could play the electoral vote tie-breaker.
'Barnstorming' and 'whistlestop' are two of the more colourful words American elections have contributed to English lexicon. Both Obama and Romney are doing the 21st century equivalent of them, storming not barns but factory floors, and using not trains but airplanes that fly them in and out of half-dozen states in a single day.
Their speeches are well-worn, repeating claims and pledges made over the past several months to loyal supporters. But in the final hours the aim is to ask them not to take anything for granted and get them to the polling stations on Tuesday.
Both sides seem aware that a few hundred votes could make the difference in winning and losing a 'battleground' state and with it the whole election; which is why among their vapour trail visits just a few hours apart on Saturday was one to Dubuque, Iowa, a town that seems to come straight out of a limerick, and a state that has only six electoral votes.
The Obama campaign also released an ad on Saturday evocatively titled '537 votes' — the margin of a controversial Bush victory in Florida that tipped its 25 electoral votes, and with it the White House, in his favour in 2000. The message: every vote counts in toss-up states. The Romney campaign similarly is straining nerve and sinew to make sure its flock will vote on Tuesday. Turnout is the key.
By the time Obama ended Saturday at a rally in a Jiffy Lube station in Virginia and returned to the White House it was close to midnight and his voice was cracking, but he was off again at the crack of dawn on Sunday for another four-state swing in the company of the party's explainer-in-chief, Bill Clinton, whose voice is equally shot.
Romney meantime headed out on Sunday morning to Des Moines, another Iowa town that was uncharitably trashed by the writer Bill Bryson in the opening lines of a travelogue which read, "I come from Des Moines; somebody had to". Never before has the little guy in small-town USA mattered so much.
All this when nearly a million New Yorkers and New Jersians are still without power and fuel a week after hurricane Sandy upturned their lives. In an ironic display of the meaning of 'toss-up', an expression much bandied about in this election, the local administration in the storm affected region decreed, in an effort to address fuel shortage, that vehicles with license plates ending with odd numbers would get gas on odd dates, and those with even numbers on even dates.
There was just one problem. Many licence plates, including vanity plates, end in letters.
Political experts are wondering if such a wrinkle is afoot in Tuesday's election; something obvious that no one had quite thought of.
'Barnstorming' and 'whistlestop' are two of the more colourful words American elections have contributed to English lexicon. Both Obama and Romney are doing the 21st century equivalent of them, storming not barns but factory floors, and using not trains but airplanes that fly them in and out of half-dozen states in a single day.
Their speeches are well-worn, repeating claims and pledges made over the past several months to loyal supporters. But in the final hours the aim is to ask them not to take anything for granted and get them to the polling stations on Tuesday.
Both sides seem aware that a few hundred votes could make the difference in winning and losing a 'battleground' state and with it the whole election; which is why among their vapour trail visits just a few hours apart on Saturday was one to Dubuque, Iowa, a town that seems to come straight out of a limerick, and a state that has only six electoral votes.
The Obama campaign also released an ad on Saturday evocatively titled '537 votes' — the margin of a controversial Bush victory in Florida that tipped its 25 electoral votes, and with it the White House, in his favour in 2000. The message: every vote counts in toss-up states. The Romney campaign similarly is straining nerve and sinew to make sure its flock will vote on Tuesday. Turnout is the key.
By the time Obama ended Saturday at a rally in a Jiffy Lube station in Virginia and returned to the White House it was close to midnight and his voice was cracking, but he was off again at the crack of dawn on Sunday for another four-state swing in the company of the party's explainer-in-chief, Bill Clinton, whose voice is equally shot.
Romney meantime headed out on Sunday morning to Des Moines, another Iowa town that was uncharitably trashed by the writer Bill Bryson in the opening lines of a travelogue which read, "I come from Des Moines; somebody had to". Never before has the little guy in small-town USA mattered so much.
All this when nearly a million New Yorkers and New Jersians are still without power and fuel a week after hurricane Sandy upturned their lives. In an ironic display of the meaning of 'toss-up', an expression much bandied about in this election, the local administration in the storm affected region decreed, in an effort to address fuel shortage, that vehicles with license plates ending with odd numbers would get gas on odd dates, and those with even numbers on even dates.
There was just one problem. Many licence plates, including vanity plates, end in letters.
Political experts are wondering if such a wrinkle is afoot in Tuesday's election; something obvious that no one had quite thought of.
Anna Hazare: A Jan Lokpal by 2014
PANAJI: Anna Hazare
will launch a travel-movement across India from January 30, 2013, to
create mass awareness among the people that will force the government to
pass the Jan Lokpal bill by 2014.
Announcing this at an ideas conclave at Bambolim on Sunday, Hazare said he will not just stop with the Jan Lokpal Bill but also work to bring to reality the right to recall, the right to reject and other such reforms.
Hazare said that besides the thousands of youth who are with him, he also has the support of 100 army officers including former Army chief V K Singh and IAS and IPS officers. Hazare said they will use information technology to galvanize people across India.
The movement will build an organizational network at the block, district and state level and a movement of such proportions will force the government to pass the Jan Lokpal Bill, Hazare said.
He endorsed his former associate Arvind Kejriwal's decision to launch a political movement. "Our paths are two but our destination is one-that of a corruption-free India. His path is political, mine is that of agitation. I have told him that if he selects people with character to fight elections, then we will support them to get them elected," Hazare said, adding that Kerjiwal still phones him regularly to check on his health.
Asked why he is not joining politics, Hazare said politics has degenerated into "money from power and power from money". Hazare asserted that good people need to get into politics to clean it up and that is why he is supporting Kejriwal's move to enter politics.
Hazare reiterated his criticism to allowing foreign companies in India. He said Mahatma Gandhi always advocated strengthening rural economies to strengthen the nation and that is why instead of bringing in foreign companies, the government should look at the villages. He cited the success of his own village in Maharashtra where some years back, people were starving due to lack of water but today the area is exporting vegetables.
Asked why he was angry with Union minister Kapil Sibal, Hazare said he was not angry with the minister, but he dislikes it when people tell lies.
Hazare recounted the entire dialogue with the government representatives during his %agitation for the Jan Lokpal Bill and said Sibal had gone back on his word. Hazare will address a %public meeting at Hotel Manoshanti, Panaji, at 10.30am on Monday.
Announcing this at an ideas conclave at Bambolim on Sunday, Hazare said he will not just stop with the Jan Lokpal Bill but also work to bring to reality the right to recall, the right to reject and other such reforms.
Hazare said that besides the thousands of youth who are with him, he also has the support of 100 army officers including former Army chief V K Singh and IAS and IPS officers. Hazare said they will use information technology to galvanize people across India.
The movement will build an organizational network at the block, district and state level and a movement of such proportions will force the government to pass the Jan Lokpal Bill, Hazare said.
He endorsed his former associate Arvind Kejriwal's decision to launch a political movement. "Our paths are two but our destination is one-that of a corruption-free India. His path is political, mine is that of agitation. I have told him that if he selects people with character to fight elections, then we will support them to get them elected," Hazare said, adding that Kerjiwal still phones him regularly to check on his health.
Asked why he is not joining politics, Hazare said politics has degenerated into "money from power and power from money". Hazare asserted that good people need to get into politics to clean it up and that is why he is supporting Kejriwal's move to enter politics.
Hazare reiterated his criticism to allowing foreign companies in India. He said Mahatma Gandhi always advocated strengthening rural economies to strengthen the nation and that is why instead of bringing in foreign companies, the government should look at the villages. He cited the success of his own village in Maharashtra where some years back, people were starving due to lack of water but today the area is exporting vegetables.
Asked why he was angry with Union minister Kapil Sibal, Hazare said he was not angry with the minister, but he dislikes it when people tell lies.
Hazare recounted the entire dialogue with the government representatives during his %agitation for the Jan Lokpal Bill and said Sibal had gone back on his word. Hazare will address a %public meeting at Hotel Manoshanti, Panaji, at 10.30am on Monday.
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