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Admin decides on monorail for city
In yet another jolt to your household budget, the rates for washing of cars and two-wheelers at the service stations being run by the petrol stations in the city have gone up. Even as the increase has come in for criticism from the car and two-wheeler owners, the petrol station dealers justified the hike as the cost of inputs such as water and labour had gone up. In fact, the residents are at their wits� end as there is no uniformity in the rates being charged by different petrol stations.
A random survey of the city petrol stations revealed that the prices of washing the cars ranged between Rs 120 and Rs 180, depending on the size of the car and �quality� of washing demanded by the owner. Similarly, for scooters and motor cycles, the prices ranged between Rs 35 and Rs 50.
Some of the petrol stations, particularly in the southern sectors, recently displayed the new rates much to chagrin of the residents, who rued that the hike was �unwarranted� and �unjustified�. More>>
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Former aide blames Bush for leak deceit
In an excerpt from his forthcoming book, McClellan recounts the 2003 news conference in which he told reporters that aides Karl Rove and I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby were "not involved" in the leak involving operative Valerie Plame. "There was one problem. It was not true," McClellan writes, according to a brief excerpt released Tuesday. "I had unknowingly passed along false information. And five of the highest-ranking officials in the administration were involved in my doing so: Rove, Libby, the vice president, the president's chief of staff and the president himself."
Bush's chief of staff at the time was Andrew Card.
The excerpt, posted on the Web site of publisher PublicAffairs, renews questions about what went on in the West Wing and how much Bush and Cheney knew about the leak. More>>
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Lynne Spears's Parenting Book 'Delayed Indefinitely'
Lynne Spears's book about raising her famous daughters Britney and Jamie Lynn has been put on hold, the publisher confirms to PEOPLE. "The book is delayed indefinitely. It's delayed, not cancelled," says a spokeswoman for Thomas Nelson, which publishes inspirational books and Bibles. It had been scheduled for a spring 2008 release and was put on hold last week, says the rep. On Tuesday, news hit that 16-year-old Jamie Lynn is pregnant with her boyfriend's child. Publishers' Weekly described the book as "Lynne Spears's personal story of raising high-profile children while coming from a low-profile Louisiana community." The publisher declined to comment on whether the focus of the book would change in light of the pregnancy announcement. "We are standing behind Lynn at this time and understand that she needs time with her family – we support that," says the spokeswoman. More>>