Steel Minister Beni Prasad Verma openly rebuked Arcelor Mittal's front man for 'maligning India' to the national and international press corps.

The remark referred to Lakshmi Mittal's statement that the Indian government was condemning millions to poverty because of the political gridlock in the country. Also, Mittal has been trying to obtain certain land rights so he can build more steel mills in hotly contested states in India but native groups living in the area protested successfully against building the steel mills there.

In Minister Verma's comment he said the federal government had no say over the six year long dispute over land issues related to Mittal's projects in Jharkand and Orissa, because it was the states' right to refuse the projects. He asked Mittal to be more flexible in his demands.

Mittal had in May said "We continue to have difficulties in India and it is possible the projects may not see the light for 5 to 10 years.

ArcelorMittal is one of the world's largest steel companies. It is headquartered in Luxembourg from where Lakshmi Mittal oversees his steel empire.

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After a clash between police and farmers of Charason and Balbera village in Punjab over possession of a common area of land recently, police have booked some 61 farmers, of whom 15 died years ago, one has been in Iraq for the last 12 years, ten do not reside in the villages, twenty are over 70 years of age, eight are over 80 and three are over 90 and suffering from various ailments including being bedridden and have not ventured out of their homes for a number of years.

The anomalies were revealed by members of a special committee formed by struggling farmers who met the victims of the false FIR and announced they would launch an agitation if the administration does not cancel the FIR.

When contacted Patiala police officials did not respond.

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A teacher in a co-ed government school in Gaighata made a13-year-old girl take off her leggings because she was not in proper uniform. The embarrassed girl wept and pleaded but the teacher ignored her pleas and even made the girl walk home with her legs bare.

The Headmaster dismissed it as a minor incident and said that the teacher apologised in a letter to the managing committee of the school, and the girl's father was pressurised to submit a document to police saying the matter had been sorted out and he does not want to press charges.

Even so, the Education Minister has ordered an inquiry by the district inspector of Schools and promised action will be taken if the teacher is found guilty.

The girl is said to be still traumatised and refuses to come out of her room. Her classmates were also shocked and complained to their parents, who staged a demonstration outside the school.

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A Delhi court acquitted a man accused of raping a mother and her daughter, and rebuked the pair for their habit of lodging several false rape cases with ulterior motives including grabbing property.

The judgment came after the woman admitted during cross-examination that she filed a false case at the instance of and in connivance with her mother who had a grudge against the accused.

The court also noted that the woman had, in an earlier case, admitted that her mother filed a false case of rape against a woman school teacher and a man, because the mother was annoyed with the lady and man because they did not support her claim over a plot of land.

The judge also rebuked the prosecution for failing miserably at their job to bring home the guilt of the accused.

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President Pratibha Patil's recent clemency policy that commuted the death sentences of 35 convicts, included on man who died almost five years ago. He was sentenced to death for the rape and murder of a teenage girl.

The questionable pardons raised even more doubts on whether the decision was taken in haste based upon inaccurate information provided by the Union home ministry.

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