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OCTOBER 11
Sushma Swaraj replaces Verma as Delhi CM
The BJP leadership felt that with Sahib Singh Verma at the helm, the party faced certain defeat in the November 25 assembly elections in Delhi.
PM suggested Swaraj as a compromise
Sensing that the Verma-Khurana fight was once again reaching a flashpoint with the assembly elections approaching, Vajpayee and Home Minister Advani had been planning a change in leadership for some time now.
Onion prices may become key issue in assembly polls
Officials at the National Co-operative Agricultural Marketing Federation, which has been drafted to augment onion imports from Dubai, Holland and Iran, said prices cannot be brought below Rs 30 if the government does not subsidise imports.
Jaya keeps her options open
The AIADMK chief, who had stated publicly that a foreigner like Sonia Gandhi cannot hold the office of prime minister, in a volte-face said she would not answer any question regarding the Congress president. But she went hammer and tongs on a wide range of issues, including the CTBT, international terrorist Osama bin Laden, and the Bihar issue. She also said the Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka governments should be sacked if they were found to be encouraging terrorists.
Coalition partners skirt contentious issues, focus on rising prices
The co-ordination committee of the BJP-led coalition expressed grave concern at the skyrocketing prices of essential commodities, particularly onions, but avoided discussing the issue of imposing President's rule in Bihar or the postponement of the Cabinet's expansion.
India treated me with disdain, trashed my work: Rushdie
India banned the book (The Satanic Verses) without even having read it. They prevented me from going to India. I am still banned from entering that country despite the fact that I have a right to go there, that I have non-resident Indian status... I will never write about India again after this.
US backs Celeste's views on Kashmir
State department spokesman James Foley also said, ''The United States has long held the position that all of the pre-independent state of Jammu and Kashmir is a disputed territory.''
Justice Anand sworn in as chief justice of India
He was administered the oath of office and secrecy by President K R Narayanan at a simple ceremony at the Rashtrapati Bhavan.
RSS chief takes ill at Nagpur meeting
A group of volunteers rushed towards Rajendra Singh, who complained of breathing trouble after being on the dais for nearly two hours. He was helped down and taken to the RSS headquarters in Mahal, central Nagpur.
India, Israel, Pak should sign CTBT, says Israeli envoy
''We fear that there will be certain nuclear proliferation in West Asia. Iran and Iraq are ready to pay any amount of money to buy knowhow to make the Islamic atom bomb,'' Yehoyada Haim said.
THE REDIFF COLUMNISTS
All's quiet in the Laloo zone
If you thought law and order was getting out of hand in Bihar, rest assured that the proxy CM still has the goons bowing to his dictates. Capital Buzz. Political gossip from the Delhi Durbar.
Integrity Inc
'Powerlessness leads to mindlessness. The jamboree the Congress leaders arranged for themselves at Pachmarhi has yielded a load of cliches. The model code of conduct lays repeated stress on the need to practise, wonder of wonders, integrity in public life,' says Ashok Mitra.
THE REDIFF INTERVIEW
'MCC also feels that if the movement is to achieve more momentum, all revolutionary ranks must unite'
'Both the central committees (of the MCC and the unified PW) want to put an end to violence. When there is such a desire, the problems will definitely get solved,' says CPI-M-L People's War top-rung leader Prasad, who was Party Unity's secretary before its merger with the PWG, in an exclusive interview.
Orissa: Nagabhushan Patnaik passes away
Tamil Nadu: Special court to try caste clash cases
TODAY'S WEATHER
Wet spell along the west coast
Rain or thundershowers are likely to occur at most places in coastal Andhra Pradesh, coastal Karnataka, Kerala and Lakshadweep, at many places in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, the Konkan, Goa, central Maharashtra, Rayalaseema, and interior Karnataka, and at a few places in Marathwada, Telangana, and south Tamil Nadu.
OCTOBER 10
Allies fear delay will deny them Cabinet berths
As the BJP leadership thinks that the complexion of the Vajpayee coalition might change after the forthcoming assembly elections, many believe the expansion of the Cabinet would be a sensible idea only after the polls.
Supreme Court asks Bihar to constitute five special courts to try corruption cases, upholds fundamental right of speedy trial of accused
The direction was issued by a three-judge bench on an appeal against a Patna high court order. The latter had dismissed the writ petition filed by an accused who pleaded that the proceedings against him should be quashed considering an 18-year delay in the trial. Setting aside the high court order, the apex court noted several judgments recognising the fundamental right of speedy trial of an accused. It also issued five new directions in this regard.
Detractors gun for Naidu as gastro claims 881 lives in Andhra
With as many as 450 of these deaths being reported from Adilabad district and 313 from Hayatnagar, a suburb of Hyderabad, the deadly disease threatens to strike the state capital.
Samata threatens to launch civil disobedience in Bihar
The party urged the government to send the Cabinet's recommendation to dismiss Rabri Devi back to the President, saying only a paralysed body of people would wait for the next election to rid themselves of tyranny.
TN caste war helping to consolidate dalit votes
There seems to be a method in the madness that is slowly enveloping the southern state.
Clashes were pre-planned, says Krishnaswamy
The Puthiya Tamizhagam leader has accused the Thevars of inciting the violence. He has also promised to raise the issue of dalit oppression in Ramanathapuram at the Dalit International Conference in Kuala Lumpur next week.
Allies demand urgent steps to curb prices
The first consignment of imported onions is to land in Bombay on October 14, Agriculture Minister Surjit Singh Barnala told the co-ordination committee of the ruling coalition.
Lay off Kargil, army chief warns Pakistan
Gen Malik, however, said the situation in Kargil was not as bad as was being made out in the media. He said 750 to 800 vehicles were crossing the sector daily and winter stocking in Leh and Kargil was almost complete.
BSP defection case referred to five-judge constitution bench
The division bench that heard former chief minister Mayawati's special leave petition against the Uttar Pradesh assembly speaker's decision recognising the split in the BSP legislature party was divided on the matter, with one judge allowing the appeal and the other dismissing it.
Basu's speech ends up bowdlerised in CPI-M's souvenir
While the welcome speech to the 16th party congress dealt with the Congress party and the United Front, the article in the souvenir, which was otherwise the same as the speech, remained silent on the two issues, leading to speculation that the article was censored.
First Indo-US joint parliamentary working group set up
Members of the Indian Parliament and the US congress have set up a US-India Inter-Parliamentary Working Group, the first cooperative legislative venture which seeks to establish regular contacts between lawmakers of the two countries.
Pakistani lower house adopts Islamisation bill
But before the constitutional amendment can become law it requires a two-thirds majority in the senate or powerful upper house of parliament, something Prime Minister Nawaz Sharief may have difficulty acquiring.
US, Japan set terms to ease sanctions on Pak
The economic superpowers want Islamabad to enact a law forbidding the sale or transfer of its nuclear and fissile materials to a third country.
Kalam deplores premature junking of imported medical equipment
The top defence scientist offered the services of the defence laboratories in restoring valuable equipment, junked only for want of routine maintenance.
NHRC finds project to end child labour slipping
An NHRC team visiting Ferozabad found that the number of inspections under the Factories Act and the Child Labour (Regulation and Prohibition) Act had tumbled from 119 and 242 respectively in 1995 to one and four in 1997 and three (under both heads) till August this year.
THE REDIFF COLUMNISTS
Dance of the scorpions
While we readily sense the sorrow in this war and the mindlessness of it all, 50 years have been insufficient to muster a closing chapter. We can but accuse each other of various atrocities, says Ashwin Mahesh.
A limit to consumption?
'The harsh truth is that we live in a highly unequal world, when a small minority allocates to itself a bulk of the world's resources. Some 225 billionaires collectively own $1 trillion - as much as the annual income of almost half the world's population or 2.5 billion people! Just 32 individuals have assets exceeding the total GDP of South Asia. Just the assets of one individual, Bill Gates, at around $40 billion are an indication of the vagaries of the "invisible hand" of profit, so extolled by laissez faire economists,' says Darryl D' Monte.
Assam: Bodo militants gun down 14
Bihar: Congress to do or die for Jharkhand
Maharashtra: Sena's 'saffron week' begins
TODAY'S WEATHER
Thundershowers expected in most of south India
With the south-west monsoon still active over Andhra Pradesh, heavy rains or thundershowers have been predicted in most parts of southern India, especially along the coast.
OCTOBER 9
Prime minister defers Cabinet expansion
The expansion was put off under pressure from the Akali Dal which wanted the exercise to be deferred till the Udham Singh Nagar issue was settled.
AIADMK invites BJP to tea party
In a conciliatory gesture, reversing its earlier decision, the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam extended an invitation to the Bharatiya Janata Party to its much-publicised tea party on Friday.
Militants try to blow up J and K secretariat with scooter bomb
Officials admitted that it was a major security lapse. Eight pedestrians were injured in the blast.
Kashmiri counter-insurgents on the run
The police fear the elimination of several pro-government
militants will have an adverse effect on the situation in
the valley. Their biggest fear, however, is that the scare
may spread to the grassroots political activists who, at
great personal risk, helped to revive the political process
in the state two years ago.
Pakistan turns to female allure to woo Kashmiri support
A large number of women militants in their mid-twenties have entered the Indian state and are active in Poonch and Rajouri districts. The burqa-clad recruits have formed an organisation, Anjuman-e-Khawateen, to entice local girls and enlist them for carrying out subversive activities.
BJP threatens to pull out of Goa coalition
Expressing dissatisfaction over the government's indifference to corruption cases, the BJP has set a November-end deadline. ''Willy should not take our unconditional support for granted. If we can bring down (de Souza's predessor) Pratapsing Rane, then we can also pull down the present chief minister,'' warns BJP leader Manohar Parrikar.
Governor submits fresh report on law and order in Bihar
Sunder Singh Bhandari's 45-minute meeting with Home Minister L K Advani assumes significance in view of the continuing demand to sack the Rabri Devi government.
Supreme Court issues notices to Centre, Maharashtra over Srikrishna report
The notices were issued on a petition filed by the Bombay-based Action Committee for Implementation of Srikrishna Commission Report and four others seeking quashing of the memorandum of action to be taken on the report as notified by the state government.
Government hopes talks with NSCN in New York will prolong ceasefire
Home ministry sources said the prime minister met the
NSCN leadership during his New York tour last month, and discussed various aspects of peace negotiations. It was then agreed to carry forward the peace process by holding discussions on substantive issues and to explore ways and means to arrive at a mutually acceptable political solution.
CPI-M won't support Congress to topple BJP govt
Party general secretary Harkishen Singh Surjeet said his party would extend conditional support if the government got toppled because of infighting among the constituents and the Congress decided to form a government since the people would not like another general election.
No RLM-Congress tie-up for assembly polls
Asked about the possibility of a division of ''secular votes'' if
the Morcha and the Congress failed to strike an electoral deal,
RLM spokesperson Amar Singh said they were not solely responsible for such a split and
other parties should also think about it.
Siwan MP plays hide-and-seek with authorities over arrest warrant
The police tried to serve an arrest warrant on M Shahabuddin,
the Rashtriya Janata Dal MP from Siwan, but thought the better of it after getting a taste of his muscle power. So they decided to
serve the warrant on the MP's official address in New Delhi, but find that he is missing!
Kerala IG sets off storm with interpretation of shoot orders
The IG had said he wanted the police officials to judge the
legality of the shoot order before carrying it out. "If the government seeks to penalise the policemen for carrying out the order of an executive magistrate, they would shy away from controversial actions," pointed out a Kerala Police
Association leader.
More Pak army generals resign
General Ali Quli Khan, the general next in line to be Pakistan's
army chief of staff resigned after he was passed over for
promotion. General Khalid Nawaz, another senior general, also
submitted his resignation, they said.
Pak
Onion export banned, 13,000 tonnes to be imported
While the National Agricultural Federation would import
10,000 tonnes for sale across the country, the Delhi government
would bring in 3,000 tonnes to tide over the onion crisis in the
capital where the vegetable was selling at over Rs 50 in the open
market. The ban on onion exports would be in force till the arrival of the fresh crop.
Kalam says women hold the key to India's development
The father of the Indian missile programme cited the examples of women scientists who have played a role in developing the Akash and Agni missile systems. "The tasks were difficult... but they have proved their competence by executing the jobs successfully," he said.
One person dies every hour due to air pollution in Delhi
India chapter president of the Trieste-based International Centre for Theoretical Physics, Prof H P Garg said pollution testing instruments failed to measure the pollution levels in certain areas of Delhi as they were beyond the inbuilt
measuring scales.
THE REDIFF COLUMNISTS
Directionless CPI-M inching into dustbin
'The likes of Surjeet, Karat and Yechuri have no roots. The likes of Jyoti Basu have, at eighty or more, no future. Between them they ensure that the Left has no direction,' says T V R Shenoy.
Assam: Hardcore Bodo militant shot dead
Tripura: Top CPI-M tribal politician shot dead
TODAY'S WEATHER
Heavy rains likely along AP coast
The south-west monsoon is still active in coastal Andhra Pradesh and heavy rainfall is likely to occur at isolated places in this region as well as in Kerala in the next 48 hours.
OCTOBER 8
Govt mum on India's 'secret' demands for signing CTBT
Though Vajpayee had declared that India would sign the CTBT after its demands were fulfilled, government officials are tightlipped. The Prime Minister's Office refused to speak on the matter, passing the buck on to the ministry of external affairs. And the latter pleaded that since the talks are still going on, it would be premature to reveal the demands and where they stand.
Vajpayee buys time till November 30 on Udham Singh Nagar row
A three-member committee headed by Defence Minister George Fernandes has been asked to go into the Akalis' demand to exclude the district from the proposed Uttaranchal state. The other members of the panel are Punjab Chief Minister P S Badal and his Uttar Pradesh counterpart Kalyan Singh.
Bihar voters unhappy with Rabri rule, want fresh assembly elections
'More than two-thirds of Bihar voters are dissatisfied with RJD chief Laloo Prasad Yadav and the Rabri Devi government for their failures, particularly on the law and order and development fronts. They prefer the state going to polls,' reveals a survey conducted by the Centre for Media Studies.
A humbler Jayalalitha embarks on Delhi visit
The AIADMK leader left for Delhi with an open-ended schedule,
and also with an open mind. While seeking to dispel the
BJP's anxieties over her party's earlier plans to part company, she may still want to project her as a counter-
force within the coalition.
Jaya now turns her attention to Taliban presence in Kashmir
The AIADMK general secretary has taken exception to the external affairs ministry dismissing as 'speculative', new reports that dreaded terrorist Osama bin Laden had ordered Afghan and Arab mercenaries to gather in Kashmir for a major terrorist offensive in the valley and other regions of India.
India moots cess on firms using technical manpower
According to the ''India Country Paper'' placed at the ongoing UNESCO World Conference on Higher Education, the contribution of the private sector to higher education has not been encouraging.
Chidambaram ridicules Western doubts over nuclear tests
The five tests were carried out in five different shafts and the explosions have produced craters which are visible to anybody and can be detected by a satellite of even low resolution, Dr R Chidambaram remarked caustically while chiding the Western experts.
Security first, everything else later, says Joshi
HRD Minister Murli Manohar Joshi strongly defended India's nuclear tests at the UNESCO conference on higher education in Paris, saying "only a well-defended nation can indulge in high academic pursuits".
'Chief justice recommendation not binding on executive if it doesn't conform to Supreme Court norms'
The assertion was made by Attorney General Soli J Sorabjee
before the Supreme Court. He was initiating arguments on the questions of law, referred to the court by President K R Narayanan in regard to the 'consultative process' to be followed by the CJI in the appointments of Supreme Court and
high court judges.
PWG-Party Unity merger may spark more violence in Bihar
Bihar might witness increased violence with the newly unified Naxalite group expected to mount an offensive against the Maoist Communist Centre in a battle for supremacy.
Minorities insecure under BJP, says Goa Congress leader
Luizinho Faleiro, leader of the opposition in Goa, announced that the Congress would collect 100,000 signatures from all over the state condemning the rape of three nuns in Jhabua, Madhya Pradesh, as well as attacks on church property in that state and elsewhere.
Extremism has halted development: Assam CM
Prafulla Kumar Mahanta said though the state government had made efforts to solve the insurgency problem by bringing different militant groups to the negotiation table, satisfactory progress could not be achieved.
Pak govt silent on army chief's proposal
Most people see the proposal to set up a national security council as a warning from the defence establishment to the government to get its act together. But the speaker of the National Assembly has welcomed it, saying there is no threat of martial law being reimposed on the country.
Civil suit against au pair Woodward opens to poor media interest
While Louise Woodward is back in her home country, England, trying to lead a normal life, her legal troubles are continuing, as the civil case against her by Sunil and Deborah Eappen started on Monday.
THE REDIFF COLUMNISTS
Out with Laloo
'Do we want to live in an India that will one day look like today's Bihar? Laloo's Bihar defies logic, defies your worst imagination. While every child in India knows that Laloo is a crook, the mighty government of India cannot put together the evidence to keep him behind bars. So he preens around, cocky and completely self assured about the immunity his political power gives him, destroying Bihar a little bit more every day,' says Pritish Nandy.
The lesson Sonia learned and Blair was taught
'For a political party to survive, especially in a democratic milieu, it is impossible to say, as Deng Xiaoping said, that it does not matter whether a cat is black or white so long as it catches mice. For a party like the Congress, which traces its history back 130 years and learned its politics from its Gandhis and Nehrus, means do matter. The ends cannot justify the means. Any old mousetrap will not do. It has to be an indigenous mousetrap designed in-house,' says Mani Shankar Aiyar.
THE REDIFF INTERVIEW
'Unification is the only way to advance the cause of the Indian revolution'
'The PWG invites all genuine revolutionary organisations to unify. We welcome the comrades in the other rightist and leftist groups to fight against their leadership and join the revolution. Some of the Left groups reject the parliamentary process and support the protracted people's war -- but they practise this in a sectarian manner. If they are ready to rectify this mistake, we will definitely hold talks with them, even with the smallest.' Chindu Sreedharan tracks down Muppalla Lakshmana Rao, notorious as Ganapathy,head of the banned Communist Party of India-Marxist-Leninist People's War Group on whose head there is a king's ransom.
Gujarat: Surat wins Dubai International Award
Madhya Pradesh: 12 arrested for rape of nuns
Maharashtra: New RPI president on October 28
TODAY'S WEATHER
More rain forecast over Andamans, AP, TN
Isolated cases of rainfall are likely in south interior Karnataka, Kerala and at a few places in Orissa, south Konkan, Goa, Rayalaseema, north interior Karnataka, Lakshadweep and at isolated places in south central Maharashtra, south Marathwada and Telangana.
OCTOBER 7
Akalis defer decision on Udham Singh Nagar
Senior Akali leaders P S Badal, S S Barnala and G S Tohra
are to meet Prime Minister Vajpayee on Wednesday in an attempt
to break the deadlock, and are expected to take a
decision on withdrawing support only after that.
Violence returns to TN district
A village headman was hacked to death
on Tuesday, shattering the fragile peace which was holding for the last
36 hours in the riot-torn Ramanathapuram district. With this, the
toll in the caste violence and police firings since Saturday has risen to nine.
Top counter-insurgent killed in Kashmir blast
Ghulam Nabi Jan, his wife, two daughters, personal security officer, and driver were among 12 persons killed when his vehicle was blown up near Tral in Pulwama district of south Kashmir. No one has claimed responsibility for the attack yet.
Surjeet reiterates issue-based support to Congress
The CPI-M leader said in the wake of the dangerous growth of
criminalisation in BJP-led politics, and the
government's ''utter failure'' to carry forward the momentum of the
liberalisation and globalisation process, there was no
alternative but to seek an immediate replacement of the present BJP
government at the Centre.
Sonia plans human rights cell in Congress
The rights body will enquire into complaints of
violation of human rights by party members and intervene in any human rights
cases pending before a court with the approval of such court.
It will visit any jail or institutions
to study the living conditions of
inmates and make recommendations.
It will also study allegations of "fake encounters" in insurgency-hit
states like Jammu and Kashmir and the north-east.
Cabinet expansion proves a headache for Vajpayee
All the major allies of the BJP are pushing for more ministerial berths. Even the Akali Dal's purported anger over the inclusion of Udham Singh Nagar in the proposed Uttaranchal state is believed to be nothing but a ploy for greater representation at the Centre.
Kashmir is not just India's internal affair, says US Ambassador Celeste
But he maintained that the US wants India and Pakistan to resolve the issue through bilateral talks, and hoped the foreign secretary-level talks that are to be resumed will bear fruit.
Ahluwalia exposes chinks in Congress's Bihar stand
The deafening silence from the Bihar chief minister over the recent abduction of a young girl, carried out in front of her parents in Patna and who was brutally raped by three men, seems to have caused further discomfiture within the Congress. Party leaders from the state, including Sarfraz Ahmed, are understood to have repeatedly urged the central high command to distance itself from and condemn the Bihar government.
Congress MPs rule out political motive in Jhabua rapes
But they said some link between the rapists and the activists carrying out organised attacks on Christian institutions and workers in neighbouring Gujarat could not be ruled out.
No reprieve for the bandit queen
Supreme court dismisses Phoolan's plea against Allahabad high court order
Candu nuclear reactor manufacturer denies Jane's report
The Canadian company that manufactures Candu
nuclear power reactors says it supplied one of the heavy water
reactors to India and halted construction on a second after India
detonated a nuclear device in 1974.
Mehtas' fortunes go on a rollercoaster ride
It has not been a good week for renowned conductor Zubin Mehta and his wife,
Nancy. While Mehta had been winning acclaim in China for backing an opera
presentation in Beijing, his wife Nancy was sweating out in a court in the
trendy and affluent Santa Monica.
THE REDIFF COLUMNISTS
The colour gray
Colour, in politics at least, comes not with consensus but with confrontation. And thus, politics lost its piquancy once the era of carrying everyone along came about, courtesy P V Narasimha Rao, says Saisuresh Sivaswamy.
So is justice anti-Hindu?
'If Justice Srikrishna's report is so biased, why won't this unbiased government take action against riot criminals?' asks
Dilip D'Souza, 'The truth is simple. Despite claims of a glorious unbiased Hindutva, this government has done close to nothing that benefits anyone: Muslim, Hindu, farmer, Maharashtrian, city-dweller. Indian.'
Maharashtra: Government accepts pay panel's recommendations
TODAY'S WEATHER
Heavy rain forecast in Andamans
Rain or thundershowers have occurred at most places in Konkan and Goa, at many places in the Andaman and Nicobar islands, coastal Andhra Pradesh, coastal Karnataka and Kerala, at a few places in plains of west Uttar Pradesh, central Maharashtra, Marathwada, south interior Karnataka and Lakshadweep and at isolated places in Saurashtra and Kutch, Telangana and Tamil Nadu.
OCTOBER 6
Rajiv aide fires salvo at Sonia
Senior Congressman S S Ahluwalia has taken on the party president by questioning her decision to back the Bihar government. Ahluwalia, a former Rajya Sabha member from the state, demanded that the party reverse its stand on the crucial issue forthwith.
AIADMK hopes to make most of BJP's woes
"Others too are now feeling the pinch," said an AIADMK source, referring to the BJP's problems with the Akali Dal and the Trinamool Congress. A section of the AIADMK feels that "if we sit back and relax, there will soon be greater appreciation of our own predicament, not only among our allies, but even among the Tamil Nadu voters".
Crucial Akali-BJP meeting on Wednesday
Akali Dal secretary-general Sukhdev Singh Dhindsa said the party still has an open mind on the issue of contesting the next assembly elections in league with the BJP.
BJP intensifies drive for Rabri's ouster
The party has released a fifteen-page booklet on the misgovernance, financial bungling and lawlessness in the state which says that "with every passing day, Bihar is being sucked deeper into the vortex of total anarchy and chaos".
CRPF, RAF bring back peace in TN district
Chief Minister M Karunanidhi said the situation in Ramanathapuram district had been brought under control, and warned of stern action against those instigating violence.
Inquiry blames military intelligence for check on air chief's background
The 'goof-up' that led to the Indian Air Force chief's character and antecedents being checked out by a sub-inspector of the Uttar Pradesh state intelligence unit has been traced to a letter written by an officer of MI-9.
Terrified Sena out to kill me: Mulayam
The SP leader claimed that after the success of the recent RLM rally at Shivaji Park in Bombay, the Sena was upset with his increasing influence in Maharashtra and hence was trying to incite violence against him by misinterpreting his statement about providing financial assistance to Pakistan.
BJP to finalise poll lists on November 1-3
Unfolding the party's plans for the elections, general secretary M Venkaiah Naidu said the central election committee would take up Madhya Pradesh and Mizoram on November 1, Rajasthan the following day, and Delhi on November 3.
Jaya supports BJP's demand for debate on Article 356
Accusing Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M Karunanidhi of double standards, she said he had no moral authority to demand repeal of the Article or reject the suggestion for a debate.
Subramanian Swamy touts Chinese trip as major success
Accusing the Vajpayee government of taking wrong steps resulting in the deterioration of Sino-Indian relations, the Janata Party president said that during his talks with Chinese leaders it became clear that in a more conducive bilateral atmosphere, China could co-operate with the country in checking foreign-aided terrorism.
PWG hopes merger with Party Unity will boost cadre morale
"The unified party retains the PWG name," PWG secretary Ganapathy said. "It was a vertical joining. All lower committees, right down to the grassroots, have been merged and will work under a provisional central committee."
Advani proposes death to rapists
The Union home minister pointed out that the present laws are inadequate, as the maximum punishment allowed for rape is seven years in prison.
Onion prices drive lawyers to court
The All-India Lawyers' Union has urged the Delhi high court to pass orders to prevent hoarding and black-marketing and ensure adequate supply of essential commodities in the market.
No peace unless Kashmir is resolved: Sharief
The Pakistani prime minister said India's decision to go nuclear had added a new urgency to the issue.
Delhi Muslims asked to prove nationality
Several Muslims owning property in Delhi have been receiving notices from sub-divisional magistrates that since their forefathers were Pakistani nationals they are now required to prove their Indian nationality, the Indian National League Delhi unit claimed.
Sex scandal rocks another educational institution in TN
Meeran Mohideen Bharati, managing director of a chain of private nursing schools and technical and teacher training institutes, and his brother Kichali were arrested four days ago at Tirunelveli on charges of attempt to murder and attempt to rape girl students at his Pettai institute.
Purveyor of racist hatred on Net in trouble for violating parole
Last week Richard Machado was sentenced to serve four months in prison for failing the condition of his parole, and must serve another eight months of supervised release after his release from prison.
THE REDIFF COLUMNISTS
Leftier ideals
'Actually, Marxists value murderers: In June 1997, a powerful campaign was waged by Leftists in Andhra Pradesh to save the lives of two goons who had burnt 23 bus passengers to death. This year, in January, CPI-M's Harkishan Singh Surjeet actually justified the 1989 Tiananmen Square massacre of students. Why can't Indians see the plain politics of it? Why do common people take pinkos at face value? What attracts people to Communism? Is it a desi phenomenon?' questions Varsha Bhosle.
THE REDIFF INTERVIEW
'Elections in just four states can hardly be a referendum on the central government'
'I totally disagree with what the President has said. In Bihar, the Constitution is not followed. You are not allowed to discuss any state governor's action in the legislature, and in the Bihar assembly, they are passing a resolution against the governor. They are abusing the President's nominee! What is this?' BJP president Kushabhau Thakre turns expansive.
Maharashtra: 5 years' RI for 4 in Ramdas Nayak murder case
Maharashtra: Teenaged girl burnt alive by two students
Maharashtra: 7 held for killer blast in restaurant
Maharashtra: Munde endorses Thackeray's scheme of free power supply to farmers
TODAY'S WEATHER
Heavy rains likely in coastal Karnataka
Rain or thundershowers are also likely to occur in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Gangetic West Bengal, Orissa, Konkan, Goa, Andhra Pradesh, and Tamil Nadu.
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