'It has been said that justice delayed is justice denied. It is important that concerted cooperative efforts are made by the government, the judiciary and the bar association to deal with the mounting arrears in our courts and the growing cost of litigation,' Manmohan Singh told a meeting here.

The prime minister was addressing the Golden Jubilee National Conference of the Bar Association of India.

He said that equality before law cannot become a living reality if ordinary citizens cannot have access to justice at affordable cost.

'The plight of the large number of under trial prisoners in our jails should move the machinery of justice to speedy corrective measures as part of the process of reforming and improving the quality of governance in our country,' he said.

The prime minister also urged the bar association to have fruitful discussions on 'important subjects like funding of elections and law and education'.

The proposed Terrorist Expatriation Act would authorise the State Department to revoke citizenship of anyone who supports Al Qaeda or other terrorist groups or who helps in attacks against the US or its allies.

Identical bills were introduced this week in the House and Senate.

'We're fighting an enemy who doesn't wear the uniform of a conventional army or follow the law of war,' said Senator Joseph Lieberman, independent of Connecticut, who co-sponsored the Senate bill with Scott Brown, Republican of Massachusetts.

'Those who join such groups join our enemy and should be deprived of the rights and privileges of US citizenship and the ability to use their American passports as tools of terror.'

The bill would expand a 1940 federal law that authorises the State Department to strip Americans of their citizenship.

Under the 1940 law, Americans could lose citizenship for serving in the military of a country at war with the US, for treason or for voting in another nation's elections.

However, they can contest their loss of citizenship in court.

The Supreme Court narrowed the authority of the 1940 law by ruling Americans could lose citizenship only if they renounce it.

The 1967 ruling involved the case of a naturalised American born in Poland who voted in an Israeli election. The State Department took away his citizenship but he won it back in the Supreme Court.

The proposed act is likely to face a legal challenge if Congress approves it. Civil rights activists have warned of possible conflicts with the constitution's right of equal protection for American citizens.

From the Obama administration, only Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has so far promised to 'take a hard look' at the proposed legislation.

'Clearly, US citizenship is a privilege. It is not a right... And people who are serving foreign powers - or in this case, foreign terrorists - are clearly in violation, in my personal opinion, of that oath which they swore when they became citizens,' she said during a press conference. 'So we're going to take a hard look at this.'

Voters in at least 14 constituencies in eight cities including London, Sheffield and Birmingham were affected by the chaos.

Long queues formed outside polling stations as returning officers were overwhelmed by the numbers wanting to vote. Several were turned away after queuing for hours.

In some cases, however, returning officers kept the polling booths open in contravention to election rules, The Telegraph reported.

The scenes were 'unworthy of a mature democracy like ours', civil rights campaigners said and urged people to take legal action.

Geoffrey Robertson QC, a human rights lawyer, said people could get as much as 750 pounds each in compensation under European law for being denied the right to vote.

He said: 'They were terribly disappointed, they should all sue.'

Under the 1983 Representation of the People Act, people would have to prove that they lost their right to vote because of a substantial failure to oversee the election.

Shami Chakrabarti, director of civil rights group Liberty, said: 'Liberty will use all legal and campaigning means to ensure that this disgrace is never repeated.'

Harriet Harman, the Labour Party deputy leader, said it was likely that several constituency results would be open to legal challenge.

Tory leader David Cameron said he would 'get to the bottom of what has happened and make sure that never ever happens again'.

More than 300,000 Canadians Tamils will join their brethren in different parts of the world to remember Tamil civilians killed in the war, said the Canadian Tamil Congress in a statement here Friday.

'As part of remembrance, the Tamils will wear black clothes to mourn the innocent civilians killed by the Sri Lankan army. The community will also wear red ribbons to symbolize the innocent blood spilled in the war crimes against our people in Sri Lanka,'' Canadian Tamil Congress national spokesman David Poopallapillai said.

Tamils, who had brought Toronto to a virtual halt with their demonstrations last year in the later stages of the war, will once again hold rallies in the city on remembrance days.

'The Tamil diaspora will hold prayers, pujas and candlelight vigils during the two days. There will also be masses in churches across Canada,'' said Poopalapillai.

Since Tamils have become a powerful voting bloc in the Toronto area which sends the largest number of MPs to the Canadian parliament, the community is also inviting top leaders of major political parties.

'As the first anniversary of the war approaches, Tamils around the world are united in their grief for those innocents who became victims of war crimes. We would appeal to the international community not to forget the war crimes committed by Sri Lanka, and bring the perpetrators to justice,'' the Canadian Tamil spokesman said.

'When the General (former army chief Sarath Fonseka) who conducted the war has confirmed that war crimes were committed, what proof do you need to prosecute the guilty?'' Poopalapillai asked.

The number of Tamils civilians killed in the later stages of the war differ, but the Times of London has put the figure at 20,000 even as UN representative Gordon Weiss stationed in Sri Lanka at the time of the conflict says at least 40,000 civilians perished in the later offensive.

'But the figure is even higher. Nobody knows exactly how many thousand Tamils perished. We have yet to ascertain exact figures,'' said the Canadian Tamil Congress which vowed to continue struggle for their right to self-determination.

Canada is home to the largest Sri Lankan Tamils outside the island nation, with most of the 300,000-strong community settled in the Toronto area.

Between 2004 and 2008, the global number of child labourers declined from 222 million to 215 million, according to ILO data from the report 'Accelerating action against child labour.'

The small three percent drop was seen by the agency as being slow and uneven across the globe.

The Dutch government, along with the ILO, is next week due to hold a conference, which in part will focus on the goal of eliminating the worst forms of child labour by 2016.

According to the ILO, 'a staggering 115 million are still exposed to hazardous work'.

The best progress was made amongst young girls in the labour markets, while boys' participation decreased by smaller levels and minors between 15 and 17 actually increased their presence by 20 percent.

Asia Pacific, Latin America and the Caribbean saw continued reductions in child labour, but sub-Saharan Africa saw increases.

'The situation calls for a re-energized campaign against child labour. We must scale up action and move into a higher gear,' said ILO chief Juan Somavia.

In Ranchi, Chief Judicial Magistrate (CJM) N.K. Agrawal directed police to lodge an FIR against Ranjan under different sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), including sexually exploiting Nirupama Pathak, misleading her for marriage and forcing her to commit suicide. The order was issued on a petition of Nirupama's mother Sudha Pathak.

In her petition, Sudha charged Ranjan with sexually exploiting Nirupama by alluring her with promise of marriage.

As soon as the order came, a joint team of Jharkhand and Delhi Police questioned Ranjan in New Delhi for over seven hours about his relationship with the scribe.

Police from Koderma district, Jharkhand, had also interrogated Ranjan in New Delhi Thursday night for five hours and reportedly seized his mobile phone. Police also took possession of clothes and other belongings used by Nirupama in Delhi.

'He was questioned for over seven hours at the Pushp Vihar police station. He was asked various questions about Nirupama and their relationship,' a close friend of Ranjan told IANS.

Nirupama's mother, who was arrested May 1, was released on a three-day bail at the directive of the Ranchi court.

Nirupama's family insists that she committed suicide. But the post-mortem examination revealed she was smothered to death and that she was 10-12 weeks pregnant.

The family has admitted that they were opposed to Nirupama's planned marriage with Ranjan, her former batchmate at the Indian Institute of Mass Communication (IIMC). The family members have also alleged that Ranjan was influencing the probe and a rape case should be lodged against him.

Nirupama's father Dharmendra Pathak and brother Samrendra are both government officers working in Gonda and Mumbai, respectively. They are also being questioned in what some believe to be a case of 'honour killing'.

Koderma police have also interrogated Kedar, who is Nirupama's maternal uncle. Kedar is a contractor in Bihar's Bara district and he was reportedly against Nirupama's marriage with Ranjan.

On Thursday, K.P. Singh, one of the three doctors who conducted the autopsy on Nirupama, said he did not have the requisite qualification to conduct the post-mortem examination that he had conducted for the first time in his career.

According to police sources, the three-doctor team that conducted the autopsy did not mention the time of death of the journalist. They also did not preserve the viscera and foetus which was important for further investigations. The foetus could have disclosed the identity of the father.

The court had earlier stayed the project after a petition was filed by Joginder Singh, a villager of Kanjhawala, who alleged that the land belonged to the 'Gaon Sabha' (village council) and the state government did not have any right over it.

Singh submitted that the panchayat has absolute control over the land and contended that the city government had not held the panchayat election for more than 15 years.

A division bench of Justices Sanjay Kishan Kaul and Ajit Bharihoke, however, turned down the villager's plea and asked the farmers to make a proper representation before the Delhi lt governot for seeking any other relief.

Terming the entire capital as a metropolitan area, the bench said: 'It is not in dispute that elections to the municipal corporation have been held from time to time. The petitioners and similarly situated persons have had an opportunity to elect municipal councillors. The question, thus, arises that having elected municipal councillors, whether the petitioners and other such members of the village are further entitled to have an elected panchayat? In our considered view, the answer to this question is in the negative.'

'The petitioners cannot be said to have a right to participate and vote for two different fora of local self government,' the court said.

UPA Chairperson Sonia Gandhi had inaugurated the project and assured the people that the central government would give Rs.1,500 crore towards making cheap houses available to poorer sections in the capital.

The Delhi government had vowed to resolve the housing crisis before the Commonwealth Games in October and had proposed this scheme to provide houses to the poor people in the city.

'Seventy-six boys from Assam and Manipur in the age group of 6 to 14 were rescued from Betesta Blessing Home in Kanyakumari district in Tamil Nadu on Jan 23 after they were found in squalid conditions in the home,' the minister said in a written reply in the Lok Sabha.

'Also, 20 children from Manipur, including 11 girls, were rescued in Chennai Jan 21 after they were found living in squalid conditions,' she added.

Taking up the matter, the Supreme Court directed the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) to carry out an enquiry into the matter, the minister added. The homes have not been registered with the government.

'The children have been rescued and restored to their parents and guardians and action has been taken against the accused persons,' Tirath said.

Furthermore, it wanted the authorities to research and bring out provisions of central and state acts which would benefit them.

Acting on a suo motu petition in case of one Shirinbanu Sheikh, who was reportedly deprived of financial help without any justifiable reason, a division bench of Chief Justice S.J. Mukhopadhaya and Justice Akil Kureshi said: 'Find out from central and state acts if there are any provisions which would benefit such women and widows. In absence of provisions in the law, the court will pass the appropriate order.'

Counsel for the respondents stated about a government scheme which provides Rs.500 per month as pension to widows. The court, however, stressed on overall growth of such women and emphasised on providing overall training and education to them.

The chief justice said: 'Merely giving out money does not resolve the problem. Proper action is required for these women who actually are facing problems and reportedly live in a pathetic state. Find out whether any provisions of law authorise such training and education. In absence of the provision, we will give the appropriate directions.'

On Feb 21, 2005, a local daily newspaper reported pathetic condition of large number of widows and deserted women in the state. Based on the report, the high court admitted the suo motu petition and asked the state government, director of pension and provident fund, collector and mamlatdar to file their affidavits in this connection.

The next hearing of the case is scheduled on June 16.

When the plea came up in the special CBI court, Rathod sought time to engage a lawyer and the matter was posted for May 12.

Meanwhile, the CBI has sent a team to Andhra Pradesh in pursuit of clues pertaining to the abduction, by the Gujarat police, of Sheikh and his wife Kauserbi from a bus while on their way to Sangli. It is particularly looking for proof of collusion by some Andhra cops with their Gujarat counterparts.

Another team which had gone to Surendranagar is reported to have laid its hands on jewellery worth a large sum of money suspected to be part of the illegal stash of a senior police officer, who is now in their custody, who had parked it with a business associate.

Meanwhile, a court in Banaskantha district has granted five days' police remand of Indian Police Service (IPS) officer Vipul Agrawal, who was arrested in connection with the encounter of Tulsi Prajapati, a close associate of Sohrabuddin. Prajapati was a witness to the Sohrabuddin kiling in a fake gun battle with Gujarat police.

Agrawal, currently posted as superintendent of police in Dahod district, was heading the Banaskantha district police when Prajapati was killed in a 'gunfight' near Ambaji about a year after Sohrabuddin's killing.