Finance ministry refuses to pay Rs 105cr to Air India

NEW DELHI: Debt-ridden Air India does not seem to be getting life-saving money in a hurry. The finance ministry has turned down aviation ministry's request to release Rs 105 crore to the Maharaja. The home and defence ministries owe this money to Air India for the VVIP flights operated by the airline. The finance ministry had earlier asked aviation authorities to work out a long-term cash requirement for AI based on some reliable plan to turn around the airline.

"AI had taken Rs 200 crore last month from a bank for 15 days to pay salaries. We had hoped payment of Rs 105 crore dues of VVIP flights would help us repay that loan. But that request has been turned down," said sources. Now a group of ministers on AI will meet next week to discuss how to keep the airline alive. With Tuesday's Cabinet reshuffle ending the uncertainty over Vayalar Ravi (who got additional charge of the ministry this January) continuing as aviation minister, AI employees are looking forward to firm steps from the veteran Congress leader.

"No amount of money pumped in the airline or plans made for AI can work without the right management in place. In the past also we have seen plans like merger and buying planes going horribly wrong and AI is now on death bed. The minister must do something about the serious mismanagement," said a union leader on condition of anonymity.

Thanks to questionable decisions like mega plane deals and AI-IA merger taken during UPA-1, AI is facing an uncertain future with the airline now not able to pay salaries or bank loans on time. A turnaround plan worked out for the airline has pegged AI's cash requirement at over Rs 44,000 crore over the next decade along with over 100 more planes for the airline to survive.

But given its gross mismanagement, whether the government does pump that kind of money remains to be seen. Long time employees including senior pilots feel a board of governance should be formed for AI so that no one individual is able to hold sway over the dying airline. "AI needs money but it also needs the right people at top to ensure that money does not go into a black hole," said a senior pilot who has seen the airline's change of fortunes in past few years.

Group seeks to recover expenses in search for Casey Anthony's daughter

(CNN) -- A search and rescue group filed a civil suit against Casey Anthony on Tuesday to recover the money the organization spent in an attempt to find her daughter Caylee during the summer and fall of 2008.
The suit by Texas EquuSearch (TES) alleges the search organization spent over $112,000 and coordinated more than 4,200 volunteers in an unnecessary attempt to locate Caylee for months after her mother knew the two-year-old girl was dead.
"Casey Anthony made ongoing misrepresentations to TES and its founder Tim Miller, and failed to correct materially false information provide to Mr. Miller in order to convince TES, its staff and volunteers to engage in extensive, costly and time-consuming searches for Caylee," the lawsuit says.
During the trial, Casey Anthony's lawyers argued that Caylee accidentally drowned in the Anthony family's above-ground pool, and that Casey Anthony and her father, George Anthony, panicked and covered up the death -- something George Anthony denied on the witness stand.
The case began drew national attention in part because Casey Anthony failed to report Caylee missing for a month, during which she moved out of her parent's home, partied in Orlando nightclubs and shopped. When confronted, she accused a nonexistent nanny of taking the girl.
Caylee's skeletal remains weren't found until December 2008, six months after she was last seen alive.
The suit asks for compensatory damages of $115,00, plus interest and attorneys' fees.

Casey Anthony, 25, is set to be released Sunday after receiving credit for time served on a four-year sentence. She was convicted of lying to police during the investigation into Caylee's disappearance. She was acquitted of murder and manslaughter charges in her death.

Obama urges Republicans to follow Reagan example

WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama urged Republicans to draw inspiration from the hero of fiscal conservatives, Ronald Reagan, who had agreed to revenue increases to cut the US deficit.

"Ronald Reagan repeatedly took steps that included revenue, in order for him to accomplish some of these larger goals," Obama told CBS in an interview.

"And the question is if Ronald Reagan could compromise -- why wouldn't folks who idolize Ronald Reagan be willing to engage in those same kinds of compromises."

Reagan was a staunch Republican, who led the United States for two terms from 1981 to 1989, and was in power when Congress was controlled by the Democrats.

He was known for adopting aggressive tax cuts, but amid a burgeoning deficit agreed to several measures designed to raise revenue for government coffers such as closing loopholes and cutting tax breaks.

In a parallel with today's drama being played out between Democrat Obama and Republican House Speaker John Boehner, Reagan forged a budget with Democratic speaker Tip O'Neill despite their political and ideological differences.

On the third straight of key budget talks, Obama told CBS that he was confident a deal would get done, although he denounced "the kind of brinksmanship that I think is pretty dangerous."

"If it turns out that the other side won't budge on anything, then -- we're gonna be here every day until we get this done," he added.

But he warned "we should not be leaving an issue of this magnitude that affects the world economy as well as the American economy, to the last minute."

Obama urges Republicans to follow Reagan example

WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama urged Republicans to draw inspiration from the hero of fiscal conservatives, Ronald Reagan, who had agreed to revenue increases to cut the US deficit.

"Ronald Reagan repeatedly took steps that included revenue, in order for him to accomplish some of these larger goals," Obama told CBS in an interview.

"And the question is if Ronald Reagan could compromise -- why wouldn't folks who idolize Ronald Reagan be willing to engage in those same kinds of compromises."

Reagan was a staunch Republican, who led the United States for two terms from 1981 to 1989, and was in power when Congress was controlled by the Democrats.

He was known for adopting aggressive tax cuts, but amid a burgeoning deficit agreed to several measures designed to raise revenue for government coffers such as closing loopholes and cutting tax breaks.

In a parallel with today's drama being played out between Democrat Obama and Republican House Speaker John Boehner, Reagan forged a budget with Democratic speaker Tip O'Neill despite their political and ideological differences.

On the third straight of key budget talks, Obama told CBS that he was confident a deal would get done, although he denounced "the kind of brinksmanship that I think is pretty dangerous."

"If it turns out that the other side won't budge on anything, then -- we're gonna be here every day until we get this done," he added.

But he warned "we should not be leaving an issue of this magnitude that affects the world economy as well as the American economy, to the last minute."