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TOP REPORTS
Christina Rocca arrives in New Delhi
The US assistant secretary of state for South Asia visit takes place amid concerns in Washington of an Indo-Pak military engagement.

India blames Pakistan for tensions
A government spokesperson said: 'The lack of action by Pakistan on our list of the 20 terrorists reveals that there is no shift or change in Islamabad's hostile attitude against India.'

No change in basic structure of Constitution: PM
Vajpayee said the Constitution Review Commission had only recommended measures to further strengthen the parliamentary democracy in the country.

'NSCN (IM) in favourable mood for talks'
Mizoram Chief Minister Zoramthanga, who met NSCN (IM) leaders in the run up to a dialogue with the Centre, said the meeting 'changed the mood' in the Naga camp.

Parliament celebrates golden jubilee
It was on this day fifty years ago that people's representatives elected through the first general election met in the Lok Sabha under Speaker G V Mavalankar.

Defence ministry report slams Pakistan
It says that Pakistan is unwilling to give up its strategy of 'confrontation, violence and deception towards India'.

Blast in shrine causes tension in Saharanpur
Police said the blast was the work of some unknown fundamentalist organisation called Arya Sena. No serious damage was caused and no lives were lost.

British reporter of Indian descent held in Pakistan
Amardeep Basi of the Sunday Mercury failed to register his name at Torkham checkpoint while crossing over to Afghanistan.

SHRAMJEEVI DERAILMENT FOLLOW UP
Statutory inquiry ordered into train mishap
The commissioner of railway safety, Northern Circle, has been asked to hold the inquiry, Railway Minister Nitish Kumar said.

Rail mishap: Survivors glad to reach Patna
A special train brought the passengers of the Shramjeevi Express, which derailed near Jaunpur in UP on Sunday morning, to Patna.

Rail traffic on mishap route to be restored by Tuesday
Commissioner Railway Safety (Northern Circle) G C Garg would visit the accident site on May 15 to enquire into the rail tragedy, railway sources said in Lucknow.

GUJARAT VIOLENCE
One injured in stabbing in Ahmedabad
While curfew was lifted for four hours in Kagadapith and Kalupur police station areas, it was relaxed in Shahpur, Karanj and Vejalpur from 0900 to 1900 hours, police said.

'Media projecting one-sided picture of Gujarat'
VHP senior vice-president Acharya Giriraj Kishore alleged that many Hindus have been killed and temples destroyed in the weeks of violence, which began on February 27.

'Congress not averse to heading a coalition'
However, senior Congress leader Arjun Singh insisted that the party's primary aim would be to capture power on its own.

COLUMNS
After the carnage: the predatory 'intelligentsia'
'The 'secular' 'progressives' always mouth meaningless platitudes when there is aggression against Hindus. Then why isn't it perfectly legitimate for me, in reverse, to weep for Hindus, and to downplay aggression against Muslims?' says Rajeev Srinivasan.

Modi in, Modi out?
Why did the prime minister waffle on the issue of sacking Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi? Capital Buzz. Gossip from the Delhi durbar.

INTERVIEW
'Indian democracy is based upon corruption'
'Our conviction rate in corruption cases is as low as six per cent. Hence corruption has become a low-risk, high-profit activity,' says Central Vigilance Commissioner N Vittal.

OTHER REPORTS
2 killed, 53 injured in Nandurbar clash
A minor tiff during a game of cards on Sunday night sparked the violence, Chief Minister Vilas Deshmukh told reporters. Curfew has been imposed in the town.

Union minister quits to contest Goa polls
The North Goa MP has been roped in to take on the Congress heavyweight Ravi Naik, who quit as the deputy chief minister on Friday and defected to the opposition Congress.

BJP leaders rule out Abdullah for vice-presidentship
His party's stand on Gujarat when the opposition brought a censure motion in the Lok Sabha may have ruined his chances.

Soren among 90 aspirants in by-polls to three LS, 11 assembly seats
Soren and 14 others are in the race for the Dumka Lok Sabha seat in Jharkhand, election to which has been necessitated by the resignation of Chief Minister Babulal Marandi following his election to the Jharkhand assembly.

US expert urges J&K separatists to take part in elections
Shabir Shah said they were not afraid of elections, `but elections have to be linked to a resolution of the Kashmir problem.'

Local authorities contradict railway sabotage theory
A retired senior railway officer told rediff.com: `I think the sabotage theory is being planted by the top railway brass only to shield their erring engineers.'

Hizb 'operational commander' backs Abdul Majid Dar
'Hizbul Mujahideen is not a personal belonging of anyone and one cannot ignore the contribution of Dar.' Bilal Shahid said.

Ashok Gehlot ministry in Rajasthan expanded
The induction of 15 new members has raised its strength to 44. Two ministers of state have been promoted to cabinet rank.

No trace of Bihar speaker's missing grandson
It has been 20 days since five-year-old Sagar went missing. The family says it has not received any demand for ransom so far.

IAF to give go ahead to resume MiG-21 flights
A total of 84 MiG-21 fighters have crashed in the past five years prompting two key parliamentary committees to demand phasing out of the aircraft.

Mayawati denies differences with BJP
She indicated that the Bahujan Samaj Party is keen on a long-term association with the party.

'Pak army planned nuclear attack on India in 1999'
The Pakistan army had mobilised its nuclear arsenal without the knowledge of the then prime minister Nawaz Sharif, who came to know about it from US president Bill Clinton.

May 12, 2002

TOP REPORTS
12 killed as Shramjeevi Express derails
The Patna-bound super-fast train jumped off the rails at Kheta Serai village near Jaunpur, about 200km east of Lucknow, early on Sunday.

Dar-led Hizb faction to expel Salahuddin
The move is aimed at establishing complete local control over the Hizb and re-structuring its command council, which will be headed by Dar.

Youth slashed to death in Ahmedabad
Police opened fire and burst teargas shells to disperse rioting mobs even as K P S Gill sent out a strong message to the force not to spare the guilty.

Ansari reveals close links with Omar Sheikh
The alleged mastermind of the attack on the American Centre reportedly told the Delhi police that he first met Omar Sheikh in an Indian jail.

MiG experts blame HAL for crashes: Izvestia
The newspaper said certified spares imported from Russia were being re-exported by HAL to Algeria and Vietnam while the IAF was being supplied with cheap and uncertified spares picked from former Warsaw Pact countries.

Top Chhota Rajan aides shot dead
Gangsters Sadhu Shetty and Nagraj Mudaliar were killed in an encounter with the police at Mankhurd in northeast Mumbai on Sunday evening.

TMC decides to merge with Congress
The modalities of the merger will be discussed at a meeting between Congress president Sonia Gandhi and TMC chief G K Vasan.

May 11, 2002

TOP REPORTS
Gill meets Muslim leaders in Gandhinagar
Later in the day, he met Chief Minister Modi and briefed him about the deliberations.

Expelled Hizb leader backs political initiatives
But Abdul Majid Dar said he considers the armed struggle a necessity till the resolution of the problem.

Home Trade's Sanjay Agarwal surrenders
Agarwal has been named a key figure in the gilt scam involving the Nagpur District Central Cooperative Bank whose chairman Sunil Kedar is already in magisterial custody.

PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION
NDA authorises PM to decide candidate
Vajpayee will hold talks with all the allies as well as opposition parties before deciding on the issue.

TDP backs Rangarajan for V-P's post
Party leader N Chandrababu Naidu conveyed this to Vajpayee during their meeting on Friday evening.

OTHER REPORTS
Congress MP surrenders in murder case
Rajo Singh was wanted in connection with the killing of nine RJD activists on December 26, 2001.

Congress list in Goa full of defectors
It includes five former chief ministers, three former deputy chief ministers and 12 former ministers. Most of them came to power by joining the opposition.

Joshi receives rousing welcome in Mumbai
Mayor Mahadev Deole received and garlanded the new speaker of the Lok Sabha.

Mayawati transfers over 200 officers in 7 days
Nearly one-fourth of the entire IAS/IPS cadre in Uttar Pradesh has been affected by the changes. And there are indications that the chief minister may not be through yet.

BSP to withdraw support to Rabri Devi
The RJD government has failed to check the 'continuing cycle of violence' on dalits, it said.

Alleged ISI agent held in Kanpur
Mohammed Imran alias Munna was arrested from the Parade area.

First Indo-US war games in 4 decades
The military manoeuvres will be held in the backyard of the Taj Mahal, Agra, for two weeks.

Wife of former president Zail dead
Pradhan Kaur, 83, left behind a son and three daughters.

INTERNATIONAL
Indian charges US authorities with racial profiling
Ayub Ali Khan, arrested a day after the September 11 attacks, said he was singled out because he was a Muslim.

Pak commandos to track Al Qaeda fighters
About a dozen American 'communications experts' are assisting them, the Dawn newspaper said.

US still wants to try Sheikh Omar
But in the Daniel Pearl murder case, 'the Pakistani judicial system should go first and that is where the matter stands', state department spokesman Richard Boucher said.

US to watch Pak general election: Rocca
The assistant secretary of state said the US wanted all political parties in Pakistan to participate so that real democracy is restored.

GUEST COLUMN
What is new about Gujarat?
'Narendra Modi failed to govern when it was needed the most. How could a man who failed in his primary duty ever be a hero?' asks Sajid Bhombal.

DIARY
I missed you, Ma
Mansi Bhatia's tribute to her mother on the eve of Mother's Day.

May 10, 2002

GUJARAT RIOTS AND AFTER
No end to violence, 6 more killed in Ahmedabad
Three persons were killed and over a dozen injured when police opened fire and burst tear-gas shells to contain violence in Jamalpur and Raikhad areas.

Ahmedabad police commissioner shifted; Muslim assistant for Gill
The Gujarat government shunted out P C Pande in the 'public interest' and appointed A I Syed, joint director of the state police academy, as officer on special duty to assist K P S Gill.

Criminals planning retaliatory attacks: Advani
They are seeking arms, ammunition and explosives to undertake acts of violence, the Union home minister told members of the parliamentary consultative committee attached to his ministry.

Modi took firm steps: M M Joshi
Addressing a joint meeting of the Council of Foreign Relations and the Asia Society in New York, he said the BJP had nothing to gain from allowing the riots to continue.

Naidu meets PM; differences persist
The Andhra Pradesh chief minister declined to say whether there had been a meeting point on Gujarat. All he allowed was that the matter was discussed.

DEATH OF A POET
Kaifi Azmi, Urdu poet and lyricist, is dead
Azmi, 87, leaves behind wife Shaukat, actress daughter Shabana and cinematographer son Baba.

Azmi buried at Andheri cemetery
Eminent personalities from the film and literary worlds thronged Azmi's bungalow in suburban Juhu (in Mumbai) to pay their last respects.

'He was today's Mirza Ghalib'
Bollywood pays tribute to the litterateur.

THE RITU SINGH CASE
Natasha's death disturbed Ritu: friends
The daughter of senior Congress politician Natwar Singh apparently committed suicide at her Vasant Vihar residence on Thursday.

Ritu died of strangulation: post-mortem
She is believed to have been suffering from depression and was apparently undergoing treatment.

THE GOA ASSEMBLY ELECTION
Goa deputy chief minister quits BJP
Ravi Naik is expected to join the Congress and contest the assembly polls, scheduled for May 30, from Ponda.

Good riddance, says Goa CM
Manohar Parrikar said those uncomfortable with the party's tough stand on corruption were bound to go.

OTHER REPORTS
Police get 14-day custody of Lashkar men
Sheikh Sajjad, Merajuddin Peer and Feroz Ahmed Sheikh were produced amidst tight security before Special Judge S N Dhingra.

Delhi police interrogating LeT terrorists
'Merajuddin alias Hilal, Sajjad Sheikh and Feroz had come to Delhi with some diabolical plans,' Ashok Chand, deputy commissioner of police (special branch), told rediff.com

Manohar Joshi elected Lok Sabha speaker
The resolution for the 65-year-old's election was proposed by Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee and seconded by Home Minister L K Advani.

Privilege notice against prime minister
Congress chief whip Priyaranjan Dasmunshi has accused Vajpayee of quoting wrongly in the Lok Sabha from his speech in Goa.

SC upholds order banning strikes
A bench comprising Justice V N Khare and Justice Ashok Bhan upheld that portion of the Kerala high court order, which banned 'forceful strikes' by political parties.

Geelani taken into preventive custody
The former Hurriyat Conference chairman was on his way to Baramulla to address a Friday congregation when police took him in.

TN assembly passes bill on dual membership
It prevents a person from being a member of both the state assembly and a civic body.

Balayogi's widow files nomination for LS
The Congress has decided not to put up a candidate against her as a mark of respect to the late speaker of the Lok Sabha.

Orissa bypoll will be Patnaik's acid test
It is the first by-election the BJD is facing after coming to power in 2000. Dissidence and the departure of important leaders like Dilip Ray have had an adverse impact on the party.

INTERNATIONAL
Air-India trial delayed till March 2003
Justice Ian Bruce Josephson, a British Columbia supreme court judge, postponed the trial following a request from a lawyer for one of the accused, Inderjit Singh Reyat.

US ambassador to Pakistan to quit
Wendy J Chamberlin, a divorcee with two teenaged daughters, who has been in Pakistan for less than a year, has cited personal reasons for her decision.

SPECIAL
Balancing the scales
Chief Justice B N Kirpal has robust common sense, a sense of justice and an extraordinary capacity for solving problems.

May 9, 2002

TOP REPORTS
Ritu Singh used night gown to hang herself
Congress politician Natwar Singh's daughter was found hanging from the ceiling of her first-floor room at around 7.30pm. The room was locked from inside, police sources said.

2 Pak militants shot dead in Delhi
Abu Bilal, an accused in the December 2000 Red Fort shootout, and Abu Zabi-ullah were killed in a brief encounter near Humayun's tomb.

GUJARAT RIOTS AND AFTER
3 more killed in Ahmedabad
Police saved two Muslim youths when they were about to be cornered by an armed crowd in Behrampura.

Punjab rejects Gill's request for forces
The Punjab government said its forces were committed permanently in areas adjoining Jammu & Kashmir and normal policing duties with just one battalion available in reserve.

Amjad Ali asks Vajpayee to act
The sarod maestro said he has a lot of expectations from Vajpayee because he is a poet and every artiste is a compassionate human being.

JAMMU & KASHMIR
Hizb expels 2 more commanders in Kashmir
They had opposed the expulsion of former 'chief commander of operations' Abdul Majid Dar and two other divisional commanders.

Hurriyat will not contest assembly election
Prof Abdul Gani Bhat said the separatist conglomerate would prefer a seat at the negotiating table to discuss solutions to the Kashmir problem.

PARLIAMENT
Some BJP allies unhappy with new speaker
'The fact remains that we were not consulted,' the JD-U's Devendra Prasad Yadav said. 'So how can he [Manohar Joshi] be regarded a consensus candidate?'

Joshi all set to become speaker
Ten nominations, backed mainly by National Democratic Alliance constituents, were filed in his favour.

Coffingate: Fernandes ready for debate
The defence minister's assertion came after Opposition members in the Lok Sabha attacked him on the issue.

OTHER REPORTS
3 killed as police fire on mob in UP
The mob, which was protesting against the arrest of three persons in a kidnapping case, looted two firearms, cartridges and a wireless set before setting a police outpost on fire.

Jaguar crashes while taking off in Ambala
An air force public relations officer said the pilot, Flying Officer S Pallarwal, died in the accident.

Lakshya successfully test-flown
Lakshya, a sub-sonic reusable aerial target system, is designed to impart training to both airborne and air-defence pilots for weapons engagement.

100 Rajasthani labourers flee Bihar
Armed Ranveer Sena men had on Sunday killed six of their colleagues working on the Sone canal modernisation project in Bhojpur district for failing to comply with their extortion demand.

India more reliable US ally than Pak: study
But the US will be loath to press President Musharraf to take further action against the Kashmiri groups as long as they need his co-operation, it said.

Vajpayee, Musharraf to attend Kazakh meet
This will be the first time in five months since the SAARC summit in Kathmandu in January that the two leaders will be present at the same forum.

NEIGHBOURHOOD
Nepal's Maoists declare unilateral ceasefire
The rebels have lost nearly 1,000 men in a weeklong crackdown launched by security forces in the Maoist stronghold of Rolpa district.

Talks should aim at core issues: Kumaratunga
Just giving away what the LTTE wants will only lead to a division of Sri Lanka, the president said.

US condemns 'heinous' Karachi bombing
'We strongly condemn the heinous attack against France and Pakistan, two of our closest allies in the war on terrorism,' state department spokesman Richard Boucher said.

500 detained in Pak suicide bombing
Overnight raids were conducted on houses, religious seminaries and offices of militant outfits across Pakistan, especially in southern Sindh and eastern Punjab.

INTERNATIONAL
11 Indians held in Philippines for illegal entry
They were on a fishing boat that was boarded by Filipino authorities in Sarangani Bay in the southern Philippines on Wednesday.

DIARY
The evil side of friendship
Friendship is after all supposed to be the highest form of regard between humans. Why, then, do we cringe at the good fortune of someone we hold so dear, wonders Nikita Agarwal.

COLUMNS
Secularism and appeasement
'India does not have any political party that can take on communal forces. If one appeases Muslims, the other appeases Hindus. No one cares to appease Indians,' says Amberish K Diwanji.

Musharraf's farce
'Despite the outward bravado, Musharraf knows that the referendum has exposed the chinks in his armour,' says G Parthasarathy.

May 8, 2002

GUJARAT RIOTS AND AFTER
9 more killed as violence continues
Five persons were killed and 13 injured when police opened fire to disperse clashing mobs in Maninagar area of Ahmedabad late on Tuesday night after a bomb blast triggered panic.

Ministers voice concern over unending violence
Some ministers wanted to know from Chief Minister Modi the circumstances that had led to the appointment of K P S Gill as his security adviser.

Gill meets police top brass
The chief minister's new security adviser discussed steps to end the violence with DGP K Chakravarty and Ahmedabad Police Commissioner P C Pandey at the latter's office.

Centre to send 2000 CRPF personnel
Sources said eight companies of the CRPF were being transported to Gujarat from various parts of the country.

Oppn resents Centre's reluctance to act
The Centre appears to be backtracking after promising to do fulfil its obligation under Article 355 to protect the people of Gujarat, Opposition leaders said.

JAMMU & KASHMIR
Expelled Hizb men may form third front
The proposed separatist outfit will vie with the militants and the All-Parties Hurriyat Conference for the people's support.

Two terrorists killed in Kashmir
The army busted a terrorist hideout at Chowkibal Behak in Kupwara.

DEFENCE SCANDALS
Coffin scam rocks RS, Oppn stages walkout
The Opposition demanded a statement from Prime Minister Vajpayee on a court notice to the CBI asking it to register cases against those involved in the Tehelka expose.

Tehelka helped Pakistan, demoralised troops: Fernandes
Appearing for the first time before the Venkataswamy Commission, the defence minister described the expose as a 'sham'.

NEIGHBOURHOOD
Suicide bomber kills 16 in Karachi
Eyewitnesses said a Pakistan Navy bus carrying French technicians to the Karachi shipyard was about to start at 7.40am when an explosive-laden red Toyota Corolla rammed into it.

Pakistan facing systematic terrorist campaign: Musharraf
The president, who was addressing a meeting of his security chiefs, said the Karachi blast was an attempt to drive a wedge between Pakistan and France.

Pak may seek international help to probe blast
The Pakistanis suspect a foreign hand, meaning pro-India elements, international terrorist organisations, specially Al Qaeda, or local militant groups, which were banned in January.

SPECIAL
Who bombed the French?
The perpetrators could have been anyone from Al Qaeda supporters to Pakistan-based pro-Kashmir organisations, says B Raman.

OTHER REPORTS
Manohar Joshi to be Lok Sabha speaker
Government sources said the NDA had decided on the candidature of the Shiv Sena politician.

Another massacre in Bihar, 6 killed
PWG rebels swooped on Bhadaura village and sprayed bullets, killing the dalits on the spot, Additional Director General of Police Ashish Ranjan Sinha said.

7 held for Rajasthani labourers' murder
Six Rajasthani labourers were killed in Bihar's Bhojpur district on Sunday. Those arrested belong to the Ranvir Sena.

PWG declares month's truce in AP
In this period, the Naxalites will stop all attacks on politicians, policemen and police informants and desist from destroying private/public properties.

AP govt welcomes PWG ceasefire
A brief statement from the chief minister's office said the government was committed to create a conducive atmosphere for talks with the rebels.

Division bench divided on dissolution of Goa assembly
While Justice A S Aguiar quashed the governor's order dissolving the state assembly, Justice P V Hardas dismissed the petitions against it.

Balayogi's sister files nomination for Amalapuram
She will contest against Balayogi's wife, who will be the TDP candidate. The Congress is yet to decide whether to field a candidate.

Naidu has tough task during Delhi visit
He will have to strike a balance between party members who do not wish to distance themselves from the NDA and the TDP's secular obligations.

BJP MLA, supporters lay siege to party office
Raja Chandramani Kant Singh, the MLA from Bhinga in Bahraich district, is unhappy at his non-inclusion in the UP cabinet.

Litterateur Durga Bhagwat dies at 92
Bhagwat will be remembered as a staunch upholder of democracy and for her fiery speech against the Emergency as president of the 51st All India Marathi Literary Meet at Karad.

INTERVIEW
'It will take time to eliminate insurgency'
'On an average, the security forces have been killing ten terrorists in a day. This means a big setback to the rebels.' Nepal's state minister for home, Devendra Raj Kandel, on the Maoist threat.

INTERNATIONAL
Suicide bomber kills 16 near Tel Aviv
The attack at 0133 IST came shortly after Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon began his meeting with US President George Bush in Washington.

COLUMN
Op Parakram: the balance shifts
'Parakram was not for fighting. War was never a viable option, but given the political and geo-strategic dynamics, it can't be ruled out now,' says Maj Gen (retd) Ashok K Mehta.

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