RELIEVE ME : VETERAN MARXIST LEADER

In an appeal to his party members, 94-year-old Left patriarch Jyoti Basu has expressed his desire to be relieved from the Politburo meetings.

Basu's request comes ahead of the Politburo meet scheduled for the end of March in Coimbatore. Basu has sighted health reasons repeatedly in the past, asking his party to relieve him from the helm of affairs.

But the CPI(M) for whom Basu's presence has more of symbolic meaning, has maintained that founding members like Basu will not be relieved from the core Politburo even if they don't attend the party meet.

Basu has said: "I have written to them that I can't attend the party congress. I have also told them verbally that I wanted to be relieved from politburo."

PAKISTANS' NEW ERA BEGINS.....!!

Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) and Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) have joined hands to form new government in Pakistan.

Asif Ali Zardari and Nawaz Sharif, whose parties had a good showing in the February 18 general elections in Pakistan, met on Thursday amid reports of differences over the issue of deposed judges and future status of Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf.

Addressing a press conference they said that efforts are on for a national consensus government in Pakistan.

Zardari said among the priorities will be restoration of sacked judges. Sharif also said that there was no disagreement with PPP on the issue.

Nawaz Sharif has said that PPP and PML-N have agreed to form government in centre and provinces.

''We are trying to form a national consensus government,'' added Asif Ali Zardari.

Reacting on joining hands with Sharif, the PPP boss said that they have agreed in principal to come together.

When questions were put on President Pervez Musharraf, Sharif said that the sooner President Musharraf respects the will of the people, the better.

Sharif further said that he does not want any help from Musharraf, as according to him, he was not capable of helping.

The PPP leader emphasized that they intend to implement the 1973 Constitution and promised to give full freedom to media, and also asked media to keep a check on the new government.

TOP CEO ON THE DOCK....

Two and a half years after Pratibha Murthy - an employee of a BPO company - was killed in Bangalore by the driver of the car taking her home after work, the Supreme Court has given the go ahead for criminal proceedings against Som Mittal, the then Managing Director of the company Hewlett Packard where Pratibha was working.

Pratibha Murthy was raped and murdered by the company driver in 2005 in Bangalore and Mittal was accused of negligence, leading to the rape and death of the BPO employee. Police had accused HP of violating the 2002 order of Karnataka Government that directed companies, employing women in night shifts, to provide security for them during their travel home.

Som Mittal is the former MD of BPO Branch of HP and is the currently the President of NASSCOM.

The Supreme Court's ruling has stated that, the managers and administration are also liable to ensure the safety of women employees especially during night shifts. The three judges from the SC bench have also stated that the latest ruling is not a direction but an obersavation.

Pratibha's parents, who spent the past two years in and out of courts seeking justice, are taking some comfort from the Supreme Court order on Wednesday (Feb 20), which found that Mittal should be held responsible for negligence. Pratibha's uncle S Srinivasa said, "A man who heads any institution is always responsible, whether he's in the institution or outside the institution, negligence is negligence. It's associated with them, it's caused by them." Pawan Shetty, Pratibha's husband voiced his take and said that it is the best thing that has ever happened and hopes that the companies do not lapse in their employees' welfare, security and safety.

The General Secretary of IT Union - Karthik Shekhar - has meanwhile made it clear that the company violated the amended act of Karnataka's Shops and Establishment Act for which it deserved to be pulled up by the Supreme Court.

He added that employees are the knowledge capital of the company and their protection should be of high priority. He also believes that over the past two years nothing has changed with regard to the attitude of corporate companies. Shekhar also felt that even if Som Mittal is fined, the amount would likely not be phenomenal. He has been trying to get in touch with Mr Mittal ever since the tragic incident, but says there has been no response at all from his end.

However, HP has issued a statement on SC's observation on the case and have said that since the matter is sub judice the company would not like to comment on the same. Meanwhile, neither Som Mittal nor HP has been pronounced guilty on any court.