No JPC probe on tapping,IPL: PM

Speaking to journalists on the sidelines of the defence investiture ceremony at Rashtrapati Bhawan,the Prime Minister maintained that Home Minister P Chidambaram had already explained the phone tapping allegations in Parliament. I had offered to come before Parliament after 3.30 pm if there was a sitting,but there was restlessness in the Opposition, he said adding that he could not come earlier because of scheduled engagements with visiting Afghanistan President Hamid Karzai.

The Prime Minister also expressed confidence that the government would survive cut motions on budgetary grants in Parliament. We are as confident as possible, he said.

His confidence was shared by Congress president Sonia Gandhi who said she did not apprehend any danger to the government. Of course we are confident. The government is safe, she said.

Likely to run into Gilani at SAARC

New Delhi: Prime Minister Manmohan Singh Monday said though a meeting with his Pakistani counterpart Yusuf Raza Gilani on the sidelines of the SAARC Summit in Bhutan had not been scheduled,there was a chance of the two leaders running into each other. If we all come together at the same time in the same place,it is inevitable you run into each other, Singh told reporters on the sidelines of the Defence Investiture Ceremony at Rashtrapati Bhawan. ENS