Seat-sharing talks between the Congress and the Samajwadi Party were tottering on the brink of collapse after the former upped the ante by declaring its first list of 24 candidates from Uttar Pradesh for the Lok Sabha election. In addition to the nine seats that the Congress won in 2004, the party has decided to put up candidates in 15 other constituencies, some of which currently have Samajwadi MPs.

Prominent among those in the list released by Congress general secretary in charge of UP Digvijay Singh are Sonia Gandhi from Rae Bareli and Rahul Gandhi from Amethi in addition to Union minister of state Sriprakash Jaiswal, Mahavir Prasad, Jitin Prasada and five other sitting MPs.

The Big 2 received Rs105 crore between them, but this is only the tip of the iceberg

Whose cash are the major political parties banking on this time? A good part of election financing is obviously done with black money, but a close look at formal business funding in the recent past offers enough clues on who's bankrolling whom.

Quite clearly, businessmen have their favourites, but many others tend to back all major parties even-handedly. Else, they offer donations based on the popular votes/seats received by each major party at the last elections.

Birlas are Congress' main donors while Adanis and Sterlite back BJP

Whose cash are the major political parties banking on this time? A good part of election financing is obviously done with black money, but a close look at formal business funding in the recent past offers enough clues on who's bankrolling whom.

Chief Minister BS Yeddyurappa's son Raghavendra will be BJP's candidate for the the Shimoga Parliamentary constituency. Raghavendra's name was cleared after the local BJP unit put pressure on the selection committee.

Washington  - The US economy shrank in nearly all parts of the country in the first two months of the year, the Federal Reserve said Wednesday in the latest sign of a deepening US recession.

Ten of 12 US regions reported "weaker conditions or declines in economic activity" since the start of 2009, according to the central bank's Beige Book, which is compiled from local business reports around the country.

Washington  - A US senator has proposed establishing a truth commission to investigate former president George W Bush's policies in the war on terrorism that many believe led to abuse.

Senator Patrick Leahy, the chairman of the Judiciary Committee, said Wednesday a commission should be established to examine the wiretapping of communications and how policies led to mistreating prisoners.