NEW DELHI: The clear victory for the Congress-led alliance in recent general elections has sidelined an array of regional and left leaning parties, which came to the center stage of Indian politics over the last two decades as national parties lost influence. The elections have also paved the way for the Congress Party to recover its position as India's dominant political force. Days after the Congress Party-led alliance won comfortably in the general elections, Mayawati, the head of a caste-based regional group known as the Bahujan Samaj Party, pledged her party's support to the coalition. Mayawati says she is making the offer to extend a friendly hand to the Congress Party "without any conditions."Hers is among several regional and caste based parties which have volunteered to support the Congress-led alliance, which is returning for its second term in office. This is not what any of these parties had expected to do. Rather they had nurtured ambitions of being wooed by the Congress Party, and driving a hard bargain such as prized seats in the Cabinet in return for their support.Their optimism stemmed from forecasts that the results in this year's election would be even more fractured than it has been in past elections. Since 1991, India has been governed by unwieldy coalition governments, dependent on an array of small parties for their survival.But the 2009 elections reversed the trend. The Congress Party-led alliance confounded all forecasts, and has emerged slightly short of a majority - but strong enough to survive without the support of regional parties.
Sunday, February 28, 2010 HAVANA: Hundreds of wealthy merchants and cigar aficionados from all parts of the world gathered in Havana this week to bid high stakes for humidors full of premium cigars. Cuba's annual Habanos festival ended on Friday night with an auction of ornate humidors of cedar and mahogany stacked with hand-rolled stogies that raised 800,000 euros ($1.09 million dollars). Habanos S.A. executives this month said cigar sales fell 8 percent to $360 million in 2009, so they have created the Julieta, a smaller, milder version of the Romeo y Julieta cigar, aimed specifically at female smokers. Women now make up only 5 to 10 percent of customers for Habanos. But even with the creation of the Julieta, Garcia said Habanos has only modest hopes for 2010 sales, due largely to a weak economy in Spain, the biggest market for Cuban cigars. The flavor of premium tobacco relies on the soil and climate in which it is grown. The western province of Pinar Del Rio, famous fo...
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