By Our Correspondent,

Bangalore, May 10: Polling began in 89 constituencies of Karnataka today. Reports coming from hinterland in the state say that the polling has been brisk since the early morning and people are queuing up at polling booths in large numbers.

The areas where polling is being held today include Bangalore, that has 28 seats, Kolar, Hassan, Kodagu, Mysore, Chamarajanagar and Mandya.

BJP, Congress and the Janta Dal (S) are fighting a triangular electoral war this time. Stakes are high as it is being seen as a prelude to the next year’s general elections. Though the pre poll surveys have shown a better performance by the Congress party, but BJP is upbeat for its chances. BJP has also demanded the pre poll surveys be banned.

BRUSSELS , May 5: The President of the European Commission, Jose Manuel Barroso, underlined here Monday that Islam is part and parcel of Europe and he also condemned the concept of clash of civilisations.

"Islam today is part of Europe. It is important to understand this.One should not see Islam as outside Europe. We already have an important presence of Islam and Muslims among our citizens," Barroso told a press conference this afternoon after an informal dialogue between EU leaders and around twenty high-level representatives of Christianity, Judaism and Islam in Europe.

"We can be a European citizen being a Christian, being Jewish or Muslim or having no religion," he noted.

By Khabrein.info Correspondent,

New Delhi, May 2: Time magazine has once against put Sonia Gandhi in the list of 100 most powerful people in the world. The other two Indians who feature in the list are PepsiCo CEO Indra Yooyi and Tata group chairman Ratan Tata.

Sonia Gandhi, the Congress president and the chairperson of India’s ruling alliance United Progressive Alliance (UPA) is seen as the real power center in the country. It is another matter that she never gives any sign of her being the power center.