Ruling out speculation of a price-cut in diesel on Thursday, Petroleum Minister Murli Deora said the issue is not on the Cabinet's agenda.

Talking to reporters here today, Deora refused to comment on the meeting of the Cabinet Committee on Political Affairs, scheduled for Friday evening to discuss fuel price revision.

Petroleum Secretary R S Pandey said: "I have not been informed of any meeting till now."

With the state-owned oil firms gaining Rs 3.26 per litre, a reduction in retail rates is expected.

Union Minister of State for Planning and Parliamentary Affairs V. Narayanasamy on Thursday said that despite implementing key components of Central Government's Bharat Nirman Yojana in Jharkhand and Orissa, if the two State governments requested, a special package could be considered.

He also said that special schemes like the Indira Awas Yojana (IAY), Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana (PMGSY), Accelerated Irrigation Benefit Programme and NREGA are being implemented in both Jharkhand and Orissa.

CPI (M) General Secretary Prakash Karat saw a post-poll realignment of forces opposed to both the Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

At a political rally held in Kerala, he hoped aloud about a fresh realignment of non-Congress and non-BJP forces take shape after the impending general elections.

Addressing the rally, Karat lambasted the Congress-led UPA Government and the BJP. He claimed that CPI (M) was the only party capable of creating an alternative to them.

Lahore, Feb. 26: Furious over the Supreme Court's decision to disqualify him from being a member of the Parliament, former Prime Minister and Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) chief Nawaz Sharif has termed the verdict `an edict'.

"This is not a court decision but an edict and the entire nation knows where this edict came from," The Daily Times quoted Sharif, as saying.

Talking to media persons after the apex court's verdict, he accused President Asif Ali Zardari of gambling over the issue.

Barely a year after Pakistanis reinstated a democratically-elected government by voting Pervez Musharraf out of power, the country is again faced with a major political turmoil with the Supreme Court on Wednesday barring former prime minister Nawaz Sharif from contesting elections because of prior criminal conviction.

The apex court unseated his brother Shahbaz, chief minister of Punjab, because of alleged irregularities in the elections. While charges against Nawaz stemmed from the Musharraf-led coup in 1999, Shahbaz's rivals had challenged his election to the provincial assembly.

Governor's rule has been imposed in the province.

The city police, it seems, is in no mood to entertain the state government's idea of holding a massive rally at Palace Grounds on Saturday at the culmination of the students' anti-terror campaign.

Aravind Limbavalli, state minister for higher education, had indicated that he expected around six lakh students to gather. But Police Commissioner Shankar M Bidari has different plans. "I have informed the education department that the police will not accept an application for such a large gathering. They can apply for the license as per the ruling of the High Court.''