Basmati issue rocks Houses
New Delhi, August 21
The government today agreed to make a statement in Parliament tomorrow on the reported patent of three strains of basmati rice by an American firm. Minister for Parliamentary Affairs Pramod Mahajan said he would request the Commerce Minister to make a statement on the issue during zero hour tomorrow.

Repatriation of 21 Pakistanis stalled
Amritsar, August 21
The repatriation of 21 Pakistani nationals scheduled for today had to be cancelled at the eleventh hour as the Government of Pakistan said it could not accept them.

HC dismisses plea to ban ‘Gadar’
Chandigarh, August 21
“The preacher of a faith and the producer of a film have to respect each other’s sensitivities. The diversities have to be accepted. The society has to recognise that the artiste has the right to articulate.

India pulls out of Asian Test Championship
New Delhi, August 21
The government today refused permission to the national cricket team to participate in the Asian Test Championship.

Ultras set new deadline on burqa
Officials say they are foreign mercenaries
Srinagar, August 21
The Lashkar-e-Jabbar, a hitherto unknown separatist group, has issued fresh threats against women not wearing burqa and set September 1 as the new deadline for adhering to the “Islamic dress code”.

“Trace our missing kin first” Amnesty move a betrayal, say affected families Ludhiana, August 21 “Tell them to return my lost ‘innocent’ brother or at least inform us about the real culprits responsible for his disappearance and I will be the first one to pardon them.” These words by Jasbir Singh of Wadla village near Khanna, whose younger brother Chamkaur Singh was allegedly picked up by the police in 1991 and is missing since then, aptly express the mood of a number of such families in the district.