Newsreel 21.03.04

• Yes, he will. Enduring mystery of Congress cadres is solved by Ambika Soni as she announces Rahul Gandhi’s candidature in the Lo...

• Yes, he will. Enduring mystery of Congress cadres is solved by Ambika Soni as she announces Rahul Gandhi’s candidature in the Lok Sabha polls, from Amethi. On her part, mother Sonia decides to shift to neighbouring Rae Bareli, while the word is mum on Priyanka’s future.

• But, for the party, the bad news seems to have just begun. A survey by The Indian Express and NDTV, conducted by AC Nielsen, predicts good news for NDA, but reserves the worst for Congress. According to the survey — with a sample size of 45,578, spread over 207 LS constituencies, which also makes it the largest ever — NDA will be back in Delhi with a little under 300 seats. The Congress, the study says, will have to contend with under 100 seats.

• The whistle he blew on the Great Indian Corruption is echoing in London. One of the world’s leading freedom-of-expression organisations, the London-based Index on Censorship, posthumously honours the IIT engineer Satyendra Kumar Dubey with the prestigious Whistleblower of the Year Award.

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• Tel Aviv hawks deal a deadly blow to Gaza strip jehadis as a precision strike takes out Sheikh Ahmed Yassin, founder of terror group Hamas. Pushed to the edge, the new Hamas chief Al-Rantissi calls for targeting Israeli interests — military or civilian everywhere — and says Sharon will pay for this with his blood. On its part, Israel says all Palestinian leaders are very well in its sight.

• Under the Lahore lights Indian cricket saw a new dawn. Sourav Ganguly became the first captain to win a series in Pakistan. But that’s just half of the job for the Indians in Pakistan with the stage state for the three-match Test series. Elsewhere New Zealand and England continued to be on the roll with wins over South Africa and the West Indies. And in Sri Lanka Shane Warne and Muralitharan were busy chasing Walsh’s record of 519 wickets. Champions League football saw the return of Ronaldo and subsequently victory for Real Madrid and defending champions AC Milan’s strong showing.