Panel probing Rajiv's killing gets extension

The government has decided to extend the term of the high-profile Multi-Disciplinary Monitoring Agency (MDMA), set up under the CBI in 1998 to probe the conspiracy aspect of the Rajiv Gandhi assassination case, by another year — till May 31, 2009.

The term of MDMA, which is probing the role of controversial godman Chandraswami and others — including some LTTE leaders in the conspiracy — was to expire on May 31, 2008. The decision for extension was taken after reviewing the demand of the CBI in this regard following the meeting of agency chief Vijay Shanker with home minister Shivraj Patil last week.

"The home ministry has agreed in principle to give MDMA another extension and a required notification in this regard will be issued shortly,” said a senior home ministry official, adding the agency has, however, been asked to speed up its probe as it has already taken a lot of time since 1998.

The MDMA, comprising officials from the Intelligence Bureau (IB), Research and Analysis Wing (RAW) and Enforcement Directorate (ED), has, on its part, asked the government to use diplomatic channels to ensure help from different countries in locating the conspirators and their financial network.

Read more,
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/India/

Kingfisher to fly to Lanka soon

Kingfisher Airlines, India's first and only five star airline, is planning to fly to Sri Lanka at end of the year.

Regional Manager Trade Sales, of the airline, Ritam Saha in an exclusive interview told the Daily News Business that they hope to initially operate three frequencies per week to Sri Lanka.

Business tycoon Dr. Vijay Mallya ranked among the richest businessmen in the world owns the airline and he recently acquired Air Deccan. Saha said the airline has become stronger and has been growing very fast. "We would be flying to Bangladesh, Huston and New York by end of August. Sri Lanka has been in the list of Kingfisher expansion of horizons for a long time," he said.

Asked if they would look for a partner in Sri Lanka he said "We would be going on our own when we fly Colombo," he said. "Sri Lanka has tremendous growth potential since many Indians travel to Sri Lanka," he added. Commenting on speculation that the airline was keen to purchase Emirates airline shares he said this was not something in the pipeline. "We want to consolidate our Indian operations and moving into another country is not in our agenda right now," he said.

Read more,
http://www.dailynews.lk/2008/05/12/bus01.asp