BHOPAL: No dates have been fixed till now for the next Lok Sabha elections in the country, the Chief Election Commissioner, Dr M S Gill said here on Saturday. Addressing media persons, Gill said reports appearing in the press about the date of polls were mere speculation. Gill said the EC has not yet made up its mind whether the polls would be held in the last week of February or the first week of March next year. However, the elections would have to be completed before March 15 so that the new government is formed sometime before March 31, he said.Jain's securityNEW DELHI: Security for Justice Milap Chand Jain has been beefed up in view of the controversy generated over his interim report on the Rajiv Gandhi assassination case. Home Ministry sources said this followed an assessment of the threat faced by him soon after the report was tabled in Parliament.Scribes scholarshipNEW DELHI: Three journalists of The Indian Express Group have been awarded the prestigious British Chevening Scholarships for 1998. Sharad Gupta, Lucknow Bureau Chief of The Indian Express; Shivani, New Delhi-based Principal Correspondent in the Special Investigative Bureau, and Rajita Bansal, Assistant Editor of The Financial Express, are among the 16 young print journalists to be selected from over 1,000 aspirants for the scholarships awarded by the UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office. The scholarship entitles each awardee to a three-month stay in London for courses at the University of Westminster and professional training at Britain's leading publications.Sharma caseNEW DELHI: The Delhi HC has cancelled five LPG dealerships, including one granted to a relative of Mulayam Singh Yadav, and a petrol pump from the discretionary quota of former Petroleum Minister Satish Sharma, taking the total number of cancellations to 115.Keishing voteIMPHAL: Manipur chief minister Rishang Keishing on Saturday said he would seek a vote of confidence in the special session of the State Assembly on Monday although the Guwahati High Court had stayed the order of the deputy speaker recognising the newly-formed Manipur State Congress. Justice M Sharma of Guwahati HC on Friday stayed the operation of the deputy speaker's order recognising the new party formed by former speaker W Nipamacha Singh.New governorBHUBANESWAR: The governor of West Bengal, K V Raghunatha Reddy, was on Saturday sworn in as the Governor of Orissa at a function in Raj Bhavan. Reddy will hold the charge during the absence of the state governor Gopala Ramanujam who is undergoing treatment in Chennai. The Chief Justice of Orissa High Court S N Phukan, administered the oath of office to Reddy.
