 |
Saturday,
February 9, 2002, Chandigarh, India  
|
Defence
deal Iran
deserves a chance End of an
alloy unit |
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Lawbreakers
in lawmaking positions
Oh, to
be henpecked!
The
right to reject
Will
short antibiotic courses work?
Estrogen
behind odour-detecting power of young women?
1995, Physiology or Medicine: LEWIS, VOLHARD & WIESCHAUS
|
Defence deal DEFENCE cooperation has been the bedrock of relations between India and Russia, so much so that even a multi-billion dollar deal is nothing out of the ordinary. In fact, the decision to become partners in development, production and marketing of strategic weapon systems should have been reached a long time back. It would have been to the benefit of both countries. Since then many major changes have come about in the international situation. Russia is no longer the power that it used to be. That is why today it has been trying to give defence items to India as a package deal, under which an aircraft carrier sale has got linked with nuclear submarines. A cash-strapped Russia is bound to strike a hard bargain, even with an old friend like India. It needs dollars desperately and its salvation lies only in defence sales. As such, payments in soft currency are no longer welcome. The prices are also not as low as they used to be. India is none too happy with the altered situation, but cannot do much about it. However, in the new scenario, it can strike some good bargains. Negotiations have to be carried out aggressively to bring prices down to the rock bottom. As said earlier, while India has to look towards Russia for arms and armaments, the latter too cannot do without orders from this country. This is also the right time to resolve the issue of a regular supply of spare parts from Russia. Besides exploring foreign markets for the defence equipment made by the two countries jointly, India and Russia have identified several new areas of cooperation such as the development of a 100-seater multipurpose transport aircraft. They have also decided to make more investments in the energy sector and the opening up of a “north-south corridor” for Indian goods into Europe via Russia and Iran. This alternate supply route is expected to give a fillip to Indo-Russian trade as well. Such agreements should help reverse the fall in bilateral trade that has been witnessed during the past few years. The expanding financial cooperation can also take in China at some stage. Right now, no country is keen to be seen on the wrong side of the USA but there is growing realisation that these three giants should shed mutual animosities and come closer together. A positive spin-off of the trade diplomacy is that Indian political line is winning greater respect now. For the second time in a week, Russia has endorsed the Indian position on cross-border terrorism vis-à-vis Pakistan. |
|
Iran deserves a chance US President George W. Bush must have been prepared for the sharp reaction to his reference to Iran, Iraq and North Korea as the "axis of evil". The first unpleasant response came from some of the "partners" in the campaign against global terrorism. The US President had obviously not taken into confidence any of the "partners" about the contents of the State of The Nation Address in which he mentioned the three Asian countries as the possible next target of attack for eliminating international terrorism. And no one — not even close friends — likes to be taken for granted. However, each and every word that he uttered was chosen with care. The term he used for putting Iran, Iraq and North Korea on notice was meant to revive memories of the period when the "allies" represented the forces of good against the "axis of evil". So what if there is absolutely no visible or invisible link between the three countries either diplomatically or "satanically"? Be that as it may, it is about time the international community played the role of an impartial referee in the stand-off between the USA and the countries that are believed to be engaged in backing terrorism and making weapons of mass destruction. A case for harsh action against North Korea would, perhaps, pass muster. As would a similar initiative against Iraq. But the Bush Administration has been more than unfair to Iran by clubbing it with the other two as the next possible target of attack. The global community would be failing in its duty if it did not draw the attention of the USA to certain positive developments that have taken place in Iran. The re-election of Mohammad Khatami as President was one of them. He represents the dreams and aspirations of the new generation of Iranians who want their country to turn a new leaf . They want Iran to be recognised as a country that believes, like the rest of the civilised world, in the adoption and absorption of liberal values based on logic and reason. The western media deserves to be rapped for not keeping the world informed about the recent developments in Iran that indicate the weakening of the orthodox elements over the administration. The first sign of defiance of the authority of the spiritual leader came during a soccer World Cup qualifying round match played in Teheran. The home team won the match and thousands of delirious fans burst into spontaneous dancing and singing. The police used force to break up the party because according to the orthodox view dancing and signing are unIslamic acts. However, thereafter crowds started raising anti-Khamenei slogans after every soccer game. And when a liberal member of parliament Loghmanian got into trouble for his anti-judiciary comments, the Speaker created a stink. Khamenei had to grant Loghmanian unconditional pardon. The most recent development that somehow failed to attract the attention of the western media was the alleged involvement of Khamenei's brother in acts of corruption. It is clear that the winds of change that are blowing across Iran need to be nursed. President Bush should be told to place Iran in a different category than the one in which he reserves the right to pummel nations out of existence for allegedly promoting terrorism. |
|
End of an alloy unit JANUARY
has been a bad month for Punjab. A proud unit of the state, Punjab Concast, based in Ludhiana, closed down leaving 200 employees jobless. It was one of the top five alloy units, adding value to steel and serving special industries like truck manufacturers and ball bearing makers. Concast has been ailing for sometime and was forced to thin down the staff strength from about 600 to 200 to sustain the unit as a viable one. But the end was inevitable since the truck makers were facing a slump and needed less alloy. A similar trend exists in all factories making a variety of alloy steels and this is worrisome. These units need fewer employees but make not only a vital intermediate product and also earn good profit. Concast was a landmark industry, not so well known as Hero Honda or Oswal but belonging to the creditable stable of the Nahars. As it is, the closure of Concast does not ring an alarm bell for industry in Punjab but several units in Mandi Gobindgarh and other industrial estates are feeling the heat of an economic recession at national level. This is a blow to the state government since excise duty collection will dip and add to the woes of the state finance department. This is in a pattern with the closure of mini-steel plants in North India, whose number has come down from 180 to 20. This region is the most seriously affected and obviously so since Punjab’s industrial sector depended almost exclusively on small scale units catering to the automobile repair sector. With the opening up of this sector, the old units have become redundant. Like in agriculture, there has been no forward thinking or planning and the famed Punjabi industrialist has come to suffer as has his heroic farm counterpart, the wheat producer. The government that will take over after the Assembly election has its task cut out: it should seek a long term remedy for its kisans and also the small scale industrialists. It has to sustain its position as the top in per capita income in the country and that calls for a radical restructuring of the policies at the state and national level. |
Lawbreakers in lawmaking positions ELECTIONS in Uttar Pradesh, Uttaranchal, Punjab and Manipur starting from February 13, will see the largest democracy in action, as over 180 million people will be electing new State Governments. As society is a mixture of all kinds of people, some good, some bad, some evil and some noble, this election, like the previous ones, will have the same kind of people, featuring, both on the Centre and off-Centre stage. But whatever may be happening in other walks of life, expectations of the people from lawmakers are always fairly high. Man in the street expects his rulers. which the lawmakers are in a sense, to be not only fair and upright but also have an inspiring past. He also expects the elected representatives to inspire confidence and hope that they would do their best to bring about an orderly society where the expectations of the common man can be fulfilled. The Delhi High Court has given a far-reaching ruling, in which it has sought to help the electorate in securing information about the antecedents of candidates. Unfortunately there is no consensus in the political parties on the point of preventing the entry of lawbreakers into the lawmaking forum. The court also expressed its helplessness in issuing any direction to Parliament or Legislative Assemblies, for adhering to the Election Commission’s recommendations. But it emphasised that the citizens had the right to information. The Election Commission has been asked to supply relevant information about the candidates so as to enable the electorate to assess the capabilities of candidates who intend to become lawmakers. The court also said that if criminalisation of politics, is to be prevented, the fundamental right to information for the benefit of the citizens must be enforced in letter and spirit. All candidates seeking election to Parliament or a Legislative Assembly must submit relevant information about their background at the time of filing nomination papers. The Bench said: “Furnishing of false information will result in prosecution of the candidate. Persons with questionable background do not deserve to be occupying seats in Parliament and the Legislative Assemblies,” and added: “Such persons need to be eliminated from the race”. There has been a crying need to ban history-sheeters, bad characters, extortionists and harbourers of criminals from contesting and holding any elective offices. Earlier, the criminals used to support in election some candidates as a kind of insurance against their past and future misdeeds. The criminals, these days are no longer content with helping others win elections. After seeing dacoits and criminals getting elected to Parliament, assemblies and becoming ministers both in states and the Centre, they are naturally encouraged to join the fray themselves. “The irony is, that those, who live by breaking the law, are turning into lawmakers and some of them had even found, ministerial berths. It is a dangerous development which does not augur well for the country and parliamentary democracy.” There has also been mounting corruption in all walks of life. People are generally hued to enter politics or contest elections for getting rich overnight. It would be a mockery of the democratic system of governance if the electorate do not have access to information about the persons who they are supposed to vote for. It is largely because of lack of information or misinformation that lawbreakers have managed to gain foothold in lawmaking bodies. In its judgement regarding the election of a Maharashtra politician, the Supreme Court had stressed the need for imparting relevant information about candidate to the electorate. The High Court also referred to the growing influence of money power in election. It must be said to the credit of the judiciary that it has tried its best to check the criminalisation of the polity. The public outcry forced the government to lay on the table of Parliament the report of a committee headed by a former Home Secretary, which admitted the existence of a nexus among politicians, underworld dons, bureaucrats, and businessmen. It was the direction of the Supreme Court, which led to the setting up of an independent Central Vigilance Commission, with the power to supervise the working of the Central Bureau of Investigation, and Enforcement Directorate, so that nobody, including the high and mighty, could be spared. But this is only half a story. In one of the seminars, an enthusiastic young man met me and told me that he could suggest ways of selecting candidates by the political parties, which would lead to the elimination from the selection process of candidates with a doubtful past. I had discussion with a high-level politician and asked him as to what they were doing to eliminate the criminals who might be entering the election fray. He laughed at my naivete, in raising such a question and said: “Do you think that the party bosses do not know about the background of the criminals, who are given party tickets, for contesting elections? There is a dossier on everybody in the party office. If by any chance such information is not available, then his rivals in the party, vying for the same seat, make sure that a duly embellished history and chargesheet, is presented against such a person to the high command of the party. The deciding factor is the winnability of the candidates and not his past or the criminal cases pending against him”. He also said that Gandhiji had fought against the British Government for introducing separate electorate, as it would have divided society. Unfortunately, the same policy for the sake of getting votes, has been introduced in the polity by Mandalisation. There may be no formal, castewise reservation, for Assembly or Parliament seats, but the same has come to stay now, as the caste divisions have been sharpened, thanks to zeroes, who have become heroes, on the basis of their caste. So any party distributing the tickets does not always go by the merit or competence of the candidate, but on the basis of the caste composition of the areas and how many votes he can garner. The cupboards of all political parties are full of such caste data. There is no such thing as star campaigning now or dynastic or political charms. All parties unabashedly field candidates with mafia links in the hope of having sure shot winners”. He also added that despite all these factors the party bosses like to make hey while the sun shines. A party in South collected a non-refundable application fee of Rs 10,000 from each one of the ten thousand hopefuls, who applied for a few Assembly byelections seats. It collected Rs 1 crore as application fee. Even a national party was charging Rs 5,000 along with each application for State Assembly elections. He also added that some members of a selection committee of one party, collected Rs 25 lakh to Rs 1 crore for giving the party ticket. The last piece of information was no surprise for me, because one of the party hopefuls approached me and offered to spend millions of rupees for getting the party ticket. I got out of it by saying that I had no experience of this kind of dealing and neither did I know anybody in political circles. Obviously, a person who spends this kind of money for getting a party ticket and an equally big or larger amount, for winning the elections is going to recover this all with compound interest after coming to power. The voter is faced with a difficult choice. It may perhaps be correct to say that sometimes he has no choice as to for whom to vote. It is for this reason that at the time of elections people vote their resentments and against a party. They generally do not vote for anybody, but mostly against somebody. Ultimate solution lies in the character of the person and it is something which cannot come overnight. In this murky scene, the only salvation lies in not going by the party or caste lines but by the candidate whose past gives confidence, that if elected the candidate turned representative would not go the same way as a fairly large number have gone in the past. According to one estimate 40 MPs and 678 MLAs, in the country and in various states, have cases against them in the police records. Voters, no doubt, face the Hobson’s choice, of choosing between the devil and the deep sea. But since no better form of selecting rulers, except through the democratic election, is known to mankind, the voters will have to make the best of whatever choice they have in the basket of the candidates. This is the only way we can get rulers and hence good governance. The writer is a former Director of the CBI. |
Oh, to be henpecked! MALE dominance, especially in the home, is regarded, and often accepted, as a familiar social norm. Our hearts go out in sympathy for the neglected, slighted and oppressed wife. But when it happens to be the fate of man to be at the receiving end of a domineering spouse, no words of commiseration occur to us. What to talk of compunction for the badgered husband, people rather deride his unbecoming timidity and disgraceful want of assertiveness. This piece is to express fellow feeling for the tame and mute creature at his lot. Everybody knows that woman is quite unlike man. For instance, she has the higher voice, longer hair, smaller waistline, daintier feet and prettier face. But only the henpecked husband knows that she invariably has also the upper hand. For, he is being constantly pushed around, manipulated, directed, upbraided and nagged. He has no opinion that he can call his own; it is the wife who has the final say in everything. She decides which theatre to go to, what programme on TV to see, where the pegs should be fixed in the walls, in what corner the bookcase should stand, and to which school the toddler has to be sent. He has, according to Steele, several other grievances, such as: being overlooked in the public assemblies, having his queries unanswered, being helped last at the table, and placed at the back of a coach or a car; with many other distresses, which prey on his mind. Often he tries to humour her with gifts to
commemorate some event of their life, e.g. first meeting, first kiss, birthday, wedding anniversary, first baby etc. But the gift never turns out to be right — the sari is garish, the nightgown is old-fashioned, it was a necklace she wanted and not the bracelet, and so on. Ungrudgingly, he takes his share of the domestic chores, by washing the linen, brewing the tea, laying the table, scrubbing the plates. When the kitty party is on, he is ever in attendance. Like the domesticated Mary's lamb he always walks behind her. He reduces himself to a fraction in order to appear whole to her. If he is expected back home at eight in the evening, he is anxious to be at his doorstep before the clock chimes the dreaded hour. But something or the other continually goes sour. Then he has had it — acrid comments and stern warning follow on the spot, or are only deferred, but never abandoned. There is one ray of hope, though: if he admits his mistake, he may win a pardon. An anecdote is told about the plight of a pestered and husband. During the celebration of their 10th marriage anniversary, the wife noticed a tear in the husband's eye". Since when have you become so sentimental?" she demanded. "No, it isn't that," he replied, "Do you remember this day, 20 years back, when your father had caught us making love in the barn, and he had raved and thundered that if I didn't marry you, he would have me sent to prison for 20 years?" Baffled, she said, "yes, I remember, so what?" Wistfully, the husband sighed: "Well, had I opted for the sentence, I would have been a free man today!" There is much to be admired in, and learnt from, husbands who wear the henpecked mantle out of sagacity or astuteness. Some of them suffer the vituperations of a scolding, carping and brawling wife, not out of any fear, but because they hate kicking up a row, or losing their peace of mind, or making a scene in public. They consider acquiescence to be the better part of valour. Such stock heroism is, however, rare and is to be found only in the likes of an Aristotle, who, by all counts, is regarded as the head of the henpecked tribe. There is a Persian saying that if a man wishes to kill for all time the prospect of petticoat supremacy in his life, he should, on they very first day of marriage, make it clear that he is the lord of the house and that only his writ will run. This is all bosh! It might have been a fine strategy in the era gone by, but it would look barbaric today. Good marriage, it is said, can subsist only on the basis of give-and-take, and the principle of mutual respect. Or, as Montaigne would have us believe, that between a blind wife and a deaf husband. But jokes apart, if a man earnestly desires to fall into her woman's arms, without
falling into her hands, he should exercise prudence. He must not marry above his rank; to do so would be to sell his liberty. The wife should be of comparable years, but in no case much too young for his age. Her looks ought to be of the appealing but not the ravishing or devastating kind. At the same time, according to the good old advice of Goldsmith, he should choose his wife, not for a fine glossy surface, but such qualities as would wear well. With these few safeguards he can be reasonably certain that no calamity will befall him, unless of course he is genetically disposed towards the henpecked variety. In that case there is, alas, no redemption for him. Like Aristophanes he can only lament: "These impossible women! How they get around us!/The poet was right: can't live with them, or without them." |
The right to reject DEMOCRACY may flow from the barrel of a gun in quite a few constituencies. So it appears. With elections round the corner there are reportedly 104 candidates in U.P. alone with long criminal records. Offences range from extortion, murder, kidnappings etc. In a country which boasts of being the largest functioning democracy, with a rule of law, one would have imagined such history sheeters would have been in jail booked under the National Security Act in election time when opportunities for mischief are accentuated. But nay. They are out in the fray being protected by some of the same policemen who probably had arrested and interrogated them earlier. They are also being escorted by their own hoodlums presumably carrying unlicensed weapons. It is learnt that in one constituency all candidates are history sheeters. Hence one of them will get elected and expect to be saluted by the rank and file. Terribly demeaning for self-respecting individuals in the administration. And who knows individuals with history sheets may occupy ministerial positions and give all kinds of directions which are contrary to rule of law. Let us for a moment see what enables such a system in India to gain legitimacy and the power of enforcement. Why has it been succeeding all these years that has enabled the political-police-bureaucrat nexus to grow. Is it in the law or is it the practice? The answer is, it is in the practice of the existing law. And the law is the Police Act of 1861. Section 3 of the Act vests the superintendence and control of the police force in the state government which means the political executive. In 1861, all that the British Administration required was total control. Control over India as a British colony. Hence control was understood and did not need elaboration. After Independence the same Act continues with same provision and same monopoly. Control remains undefined and unbridled barring where the judicial pronouncements limited the powers (Reference hawala case). It is this fact of undefined, uncircumscribed control by the political executive which is the root cause of 104 candidates with criminal records in the election fray. Contrast it with the U.K. Police Act of 1996, (section 36). Here instead of control they define responsibilities of the minister or government and lay down in clear terms how that responsibility is to be discharged. For instance, the main function of the Secretary of State in the United Kingdom is to exercise his powers “in such manner and to such extent as appears to him to be best calculated to promote the efficiency and effectiveness of the police. The U.K. model provides for a tripartite structure for superintendence consisting of the Secretary of State representing (a) the political executive (the Home Minister in our case), (b) the police authority i.e. community, (nil in our case), (c) the local Chief Constable (DGP in our case. Most of the times never even consulted and often overruled even in his power of appointments and transfer). The U.K. laws enable participative and accountable rule of law in all its dimensions. No wonder Prime Minister Tony Blair had to go to the police station to bail out his own son. He had to. Can and does such a situation happen here? No, almost never. We have an opaque outdated monolith system which keeps the DGP and the community basically out of policy making in policing. Hence the system produces what we see today. The character of some of the candidates is evidence enough. The National Police Commission 20 years ago made recommendations to insulate the police from the monopoly of the political executive. It suggested the setting up of state security commissions. By this the superintendence of the police force will vest in the state government but is to be exercised through the state security commission. One recommendation was the appointment of the DG of the State from a panel of names by the commission of which was the Home Minister would be one of the members only, and give a fixed tenure of four years to insulate him/her from vagaries of political changes. But all this remains on paper. Had these recommendations been implemented, Robinhoods or men in the "rogues gallery" as one report described them, would have instead gone underground. People would have got cleaner and reliable choices. The election issues would have been more on governance and improved delivery services rather than caste and creed. We have straight two choices for the present till the law is corrected. One, give voters the right to reject on the ballot paper itself. The point in issue is: should the voters be compelled to vote for candidates who are unsafe and untrustworthy? Why should they not have a right to vote their rejection. The right to reject be equally a right, as the right to elect. Second, the public interest petition filed by Mr Parkash Singh, former DGP of UP, pending before the Supreme Court now for quite some time on the same matter of ‘state control, gets expeditiously decided. In fact, this is the only hope left and on it will depend the destiny of India’s rule of law for years to come. |
|
Will short antibiotic courses work? HIGH doses of antibiotics over a shorter period of time have always led to debates among researchers and medicos about the possible side effects but now researchers are saying that it might be possible to treat uncomplicated urinary tract infections in three days rather than seven and sinusitis could be handled in seven days instead of ten. And typhoid treatment could be as short as two days, according to a paper presented by Ethan
Rubinstein, Head, Chaim Sheba Medical Center, said the New Scientist journal. "We need to hit them early and hit hard," said Dr
Rubinstein. "We are trying to find the minimal effective antibiotic duration that will still afford a complete cure." The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
(CDC) has mounted a nationwide campaign promoting careful antibiotic use, estimating that one in three antibiotic prescriptions is unneeded and may promote resistant bacteria. Advocates say shorter courses may save money, shorten in-patient treatment and make patients more likely to take their medications. Higher doses may kill more bacteria faster and, most importantly, may be a possible solution to the emergence of resistance. "Duration of therapy is very soft to begin with. It's not based so much on science as it is on opinion," said Randolph Regal, clinical pharmacist, University of Michigan Hospital. "We need scientific information that short courses are beneficial over the more traditional courses. "The concept is very good. Giving a high concentration over a short course would not allow for the heavy growth of a subpopulation of resistant bacteria," said Philip
Tiemo, Director, diagnostic microbiology and immunology, New York University Medical Center and Mount Sinai Medical Center. "It would knock out the susceptible form, and the immune response could then eradicate those few organisms that might be resistant." But not everyone is sold on the concept, and some question whether the approach will deliver all that its advocates say it will. A shorter course may not completely kill the infection and may not always lower costs, particularly since hospital stays have already been shortened through the use of at-home IV
therapy. ANI |
Estrogen behind odour-detecting power of young women? WOMEN of childbearing age have an added advantage over postmenopausal counterparts, little girls or men. This lies in their ability to improve the olfactory power simply by smelling more frequently, researchers in Pennsylvania have found. The researchers think that this capacity may be due to the female hormone estrogen. The phenomenon was first noticed during an earlier study in which the researchers determined small thresholds among volunteers for the cherry-almond scent of benzaldehyde. Men and women are equally sensitive to the smell when they started, but the women showed marked improvement. The researchers at the Monell Chemical Senses Centre in Philadelphia repeated the study using new volunteers and a new
lemony-orange smell. Strangely, the women once again were able to detect the odour at increasingly lower thresholds. Researchers found exposure to a smell does not sensitize the women to every odour, but rather only to the specific one being tested. Four girls aged between eight and ten and four postmenopausal women showed no improvement across the sessions. Researchers are now testing postmenopausal women on eastrogen replacement theory.
ANI Artificial heart to be modified after stroke fear To reduce the chances of a blood clot forming on the device and subsequent possibilities of stroke, the first entirely self-contained artificial heart is to be modified, reported the New Scientist journal. Blood clots have been found on the struts of artificial hearts removed at autopsy from two patients who died since receiving the device. Abiomed said on Wednesday that there was no evidence discovered so far to suggest a design flaw, but it remains a possibility. A plastic “cage” on a surgical cuff that attaches the device to tissue will be removed from future hearts. Ed Berger, Abiomed Vice- President, said: "This is the only thing that we have seen that is a potential source" of clots. The components were used during testing on calves, but are not needed in human patients, Abiomed said. Overall, Abiomed believes that the trials have been a major success. Three of the six patients to have received the artificial hearts are still alive. Two have experienced a fever and a lung complication that Abiomed doctors claim might have killed patients with other forms of artificial hearts. However, some experts are not convinced by the design. Steven Westaby, Surgeon, John Radcliffe Oxford Heart Centre, UK, describes the Abiocor as a “throwback” to much earlier types of artificial heart.
ANI |
|
Almost every thinking man, whatever may be his faith or religion accepts at an intellectual or philosophical level that all things are transient. We have only to look at an old photograph of ourselves to realise how much we have changed. It is easier to tame a wild elephant or a horse than to tame and control the mind. If only this could be done then all our thoughts, emotions, words and actions, could be controlled. Such control is the key to peace, tranquillity and happiness. Control of mind comes through the observation of the mind. The mind keeps wandering — reliving the past, a past which has gone for ever, a past which can never be obtained again; or living in the future, indulging in fantacies — dreaming away, wasting precious psychic energy. So the first step is to bring the roaming mind back into our bodes and to become aware of our physical bodies... The simplest way to come within ourselves and to remain in a state of awareness is to be aware of our breath. The quiet mind deep in meditation, observes the continuous changes occurring in us, both on the surface and even within. Here we witness... the Truth that all things are transitory, are continuously changing, and will ultimately decay and pass away. — Kalyani G. From Sayagyi U Ba Khin Journal, Vipassana Research Institute, 1998 *** Where there is no discrimination power, one makes a mistake. Merge everything of the past in such a way that you never blame anyone. Until you become the embodiment of knowledge, there would not be happiness or contentment. Tell others such good things that they become light. — Dadi Janaki, Purity, October 1992 |
 |
| Punjab | Haryana | Jammu & Kashmir | Himachal Pradesh | Regional Briefs | Nation | Editorial | | Business | Sport | World | Mailbag | In Spotlight | Chandigarh Tribune | Ludhiana Tribune 50 years of Independence | Tercentenary Celebrations | | 122 Years of Trust | Calendar | Weather | Archive | Subscribe | Suggestion | E-mail | |
