Mumbai, Dec. 8 : Ashok Chavan, the new Chief Minister of Maharashtra has reshuffled his cabinet soon after assuming office.

Chavan has dropped Minister of textiles Satish Chaturvedi , Minister of State for Labour Baba Siddiqui and Public Works Department (PWD) Minister Anil Deshmukh.

New faces in the cabinet include Naseem Khan from Kurla, Mumbai, Nitin Raut from Nagpur and Shobha Bachhao from Nasik.

The Congress quota in the cabinet however, still remains vacant as it was in Vilasrao Deshmukh’s regime.

Prague - The Czech Republic recorded a foreign trade deficit of 3.95 billion koruny (200 million dollars) in October, the first gap in 2008, as exports fell significantly amid the global financial crisis, preliminary government data showed Monday.

The October trade balance was 12.1 billion koruny lower compared to the same period last year, the worst negative year-on-year change since 1994, the Czech Statistical Office said.

The statisticians said that exports dropped 10.7 per cent in October year-on-year, the biggest drop in nearly 10 years, while October imports were down 5.9 per cent annually.

New Delhi, Dec 8 : Chief Election Commissioner N Gopalswamy has said that the Lok Sabha elections are to be held on schedule in April-May next year, adding that there is no particular interest to advance the dates unless it is necessary.

The general elections in the country are held just before the end of the government’s tenure, he said.

Gopalaswamy today strongly advocated on the public to exert pressure to cleanse the political system from criminal elements.

Frankfurt - German football has enjoyed a successful year despite the lost Euro 2008 final and some problems off the field, German football federation (DFB) supremo Theo Zwanziger said on Monday.

"We have had great sports highlights," said Zwanziger.

The men's national team reached the Euro 2008 final in Vienna which it lost to 1-0 to Spain. Joachim Loew's team then started the qualifying round for the 2010 World Cup with three wins and a draw, while the women's team won Olympic bronze in Beijing and qualified for the 2009 European championship.

Jerusalem - Israel postponed to next week the release of some 230 Palestinian prisoners, originally planned for Tuesday as a goodwill gesture for the Muslim holiday of Eid al-Adha, Israel Radio reported.

Israeli government officials told the radio that they decided to delay the release by one week at the request of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.

Abbas is currently in Mecca and scheduled to return later this week. The Palestinian president was present during the last prisoners' release by Israel in August and personally welcomed the 198 ex- detainees who at a ceremony in his Ramallah headquarters.

London - Michael Stone, one of the most notorious figures among former Protestant paramilitary groups in Northern Ireland, was Monday sentenced to 16 years in jail for the attempted murder of Sinn Fein leaders Gerry Adams and Martin McGuinness.

The 53-year-old former leading member of the Ulster Defence Association (UDA), was sentenced by Belfast Crown Court for an armed attack on the Stormont regional parliament in November, 2006.

The court heard that the dramatic attempt to storm the building was aimed at "slitting the throats" of Adams and McGuinness who were in the chamber in Belfast at the time.