Narendra Modi congratulates Nitish

Gandhinagar: Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi Wednesday congratulated his Bihar counterpart Nitish Kumar on the sweeping victory of the Janata Dal-United (JD-U)-Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) alliance. The Bihar result was 'yet another forceful reminder that the politics of development and progress had come to stay in the country', Modi said. 'It should be aptly clear that the people of the country want development and would support a party that could take the people on the path of progress,' he told reporters. Modi, however, skirted questions over Nitish Kumar's opposition to the Gujarat chief minister campaigning in Bihar. He also did not say whether he would attend Nitish Kumar's swearing-in ceremony Friday. Congratulating both Nitish Kumar and the BJP Deputy Chief Minister Sushil Kumar Modi, the Gujarat chief minister said: 'Bihar will progress faster in the coming years.'

Congress condemns Narendra Modi government over farmer's suicide

The farmer Jabardaan Gadhvi committed suicide yesterday by immolating himself in front of the office of the Mamalatdar (Tahsildar) at Rapar as he failed to get information about his ancestral land.

In a statement here today, Leader of the Opposition in the Assembly Shaktisinh Gohil said injustice by the state government drove a common man to commit self-immolation and it was the most shameful incident in the golden jubilee year of the state's formation.

Alleging that the government was running after a handful of industrialists, he said the government neglected the common man to the extent that a farmer was forced to immolate himself as he failed to get a piece of information which he was legally entitled to. ''It is sad that the government and the machinery have become so insensitive that the voice of a common man goes unheard,'' he said.

Ban futures trading: Narendra Modi

New Delhi: As part of steps to control high food prices, PM's Working Group on Consumer Affairs -- led by Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi -- called for ban on futures trading in essential items and favoured liberalising agri-markets via organised retail.

The group has made 20 recommendations with 64 action points, ranging from banning futures trade in essential items to making offences under the Essential Commodities Act as non-bailable. It has also suggested setting up of special courts for early trials.

The Working Group, set up in April 2010 to find ways to control retail prices, today submitted the report to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh here.

Apart from Gujarat, Chief Ministers of Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and Maharashtra were members of the group.

"Considering lack of strong linkages between spot and future markets at present, the Modi Report suggested that for the time being, essential commodities should be kept out of the futures