NEW DELHI: A government ally in the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu will forge a new regional alliance in a blow to the ruling Congress party's attempts to secure a national coalition, weeks before the general election.The Pattali Makkal Katchi (PMK) party said it would join Congress opponent the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK). The main national vote battle is between a coalition led by Congress -- the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) -- and the National Democratic Alliance (NDA), an alliance led by the Hindu-nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party. The United Progressive Alliance put together by Congress president Sonia Gandhi in 2004 unravelled with the exit of the PMK on Thursday. The formal announcement sent shockwaves through the Congress. This could be a sign that in Tamil Nadu, which proved to be a decisive swing state in the 2004 elections, the ground is shifting from under Congress' feet.
Friday, August 14, 2009 MUMBAI: A 26-year-old woman died Thursday of H1N1 swine flu in the southern city of Bangalore, raising India's death toll from the virus to 20, authorities said.The death was the first reported in India's information technology capital, the Press Trust of India reported.Meanwhile in Pune, the worst-affected in India, two more victims of the virus died Thursday, raising the death toll in that western city near Mumbai to 12, the report said. The victims were an 11-month-old boy and a 75-year-old old woman.US media reported movie halls, schools and colleges were ordered closed Thursday for three days to a week in Mumbai, the commercial and financial capital of the country, as fear of the pandemic spread.Prajakata Lavangare, a spokeswoman for the government of Maharashtra state of which Mumbai is the capital, said similar orders were issued in Pune, which is also located in the state.The woman who died in Bangalore was identified only as Roopa, a teacher in...
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