Lucknow, Apr 25 : Uttar Pradesh Congress unit chief Rita Bahuguna Joshi on Saturday slammed state Chief Minister Mayawati for not utilizing Central Government funds allotted for the development of the state properly.

“Mayawati-led Uttar Pradesh Government has misused the money allotted by the Central Government for the development of the State. The millions of rupees handed over to the state under the Jawaharlal Nehru City Development scheme were used to build statues. If Mayawati comes to power, she will turn around the look of the city,” Joshi said during a roadshow here.

India's national carrier, Air India, and the recently-created Airport Economic Regulatory Authority, AERA, will likely have new chiefs named on Friday, after a high-profile meeting - under the chairmanship of Cabinet Secretary K M Chandrasekhar - takes a decision regarding the persons to be at the helm of affairs of the two organizations.

Other known dignitaries to participate in the top-level meeting include Prime Minister's principal secretary TKA Nair, civil aviation secretary M Madhavan Nambiar, and public enterprises selection board chairman Naresh Narad.

Bhopal, Apr 24: Congress General Secretary and former Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Digvijay Singh on Friday said his party would not have any problem if Afzal Guru, who has been sentenced to death for his involvement in the 2001 Parliament attack case, was hanged.

“The Congress would not defend Afzal Guru or any other terrorist. The Congress would not have any problem if the punishment given to any terrorist was carried out,” Singh said.

In its endeavor to protect domestic industry from a gush of cheap imports from China, Thailand, Japan, and the US, the Indian government has provisionally imposed 'anti-dumping' duty on some of the high-end stainless steel products. To be effective for a six-month period, up to October 21, 2009, the anti-dumping duty would be payable in Indian rupees.

Bhopal, Apr 23: Congress President Sonia Gandhi on Thursday took a dig at Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) prime ministerial candidate Lal Krishna Advani, saying he depends on a particular organisation to take decisions.

“The top most office bearers in BJP cannot take even a small decision on their own and need permission from an organisation to chalk out the course of action,” Sonia Gandhi said at an election rally here.

Gandhi further said that Congress runs on its wishes and does not seek permission from any organisation.

Dhar (Madhya Pradesh), Apr 23: Congress President Sonia Gandhi on Thursday said that her party did not need the Bharatiya Janata Party’s advice for tackling issues like terrorism.

Sonia Gandhi also accused the BJP of kneeling down to terrorists during the Kandahar plane hijack episode.

“When the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) was in power, it had bowed down to terrorists, but now, the same party is telling us how to deal with terrorism,” she said at an election rally here.