Jerusalem - Addressing the swearing-in ceremony for Israel's newly-elected Knesset members, President Shimon Peres called on the parliament to try wrap up a peace treaty with the Palestinians by the end of its four-year term.

"Distinguished Arab leaders have told me that a peace accord with the Palestinians would be recognized as a regional peace agreement that includes Israel," he said.

New Delhi, Feb 24: If the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) returns to power in the 2009 Lok Sabha polls, the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) will attempt to regain ownership of the prominent newspaper Hindustan Times, which is currently owned by the Birlas, a website has claimed.

According to Politicsparty. com, the Akalis are very keen to regain the ownership of the Hindustan Times, which was first launched by Master Sunder Singh Lyallpuri.

Lyallpuri sold the newspaper to his friend Pandit Madan Mohan Malviya due to financial problems. Later, Malviya sold the Hindustan Times to industrialist Ghanshyamdas Birla, politicsparty. com claimed.

The Supreme Court on Monday asked a larger bench to decide on a 'no vote' choice for voters as the question involved interpretation of a citizen's fundamental right. A bench of justices BN Agrawal and GS Singhvi said the bench would also examine the "width and amplitude" of the EC's powers under Article 324.

The court said earlier judgments create a doubt whether the voter's right to exercise his choice was a necessary concomitant of the voter's freedom of expression guaranteed under Article 19(1)(a). 

In a jolt to former Punjab chief minister and expelled legislator Amarinder Singh, the Supreme Court on Monday refused to allow him to attend the assembly. The budget session is to begin on February 27.

A five-judge constitution bench headed by chief justice KG Balakrishnan declined to grant any interim relief to Singh, expelled last September from the House for alleged involvement in the Amritsar land scam. "We are not inclined to pass any interim order," the bench said, declining the plea to allow Singh to participate in assembly proceedings without the right to vote.

The West Bengal state secretariat meeting of the CPI(M) unanimously decided on Monday to field fresh faces in several vital constituencies in the Lok Sabha polls. At least eight of the 19 sitting party MPs in the state will not contest this time.

The decision will have to be ratified by the party's state committee, which is meeting here on Tuesday. After this, there will be a Left Front meeting on Thursday or Friday, which will decide Front candidates for the 42 constituencies in the state. Of the 42, 19 are with CPI(M), three each with CPI, Forward Bloc and Revolutionary Socialist Party, six with the Congress and one with Trinamool.

Even as the anger over Sopore killings continues to simmer, the main opposition People's Democratic Party (PDP) is all set to embarrass the Omar Abdullah-led government by bringing in a resolution in the assembly for the revocation of the Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA) and reduction of troops.