Thursday, July 4, 2002, Chandigarh, India
 Updated at 3:00 am (IST)

PM in a bind on Mamata issue
New Delhi, July 3
Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee’s refusal to join the Atal Behari Vajpayee government till the controversial issue of bifurcating Eastern Railway is reviewed or put on the back burner is beginning to escalate into a direct confrontation between West Bengal and Bihar.

    Nation page: Mamata, Samata on collision course

3 Pak parties may be out of poll arena
Islamabad, July 3
The three major political parties of the country — the Pakistan Muslim League (Nawaz group), the Pakistan People’s Party and the Muttahida Qaumi Movement — may not be allowed to contest the October elections if they do not remove their present top leadership.

    Editorial: Musharraf in difficult straits

Hoon holds talks with George
Infiltration unabated, says India
New Delhi, July 3
India today conveyed to Britain that Pakistan was still to rein in the terrorist groups and that there was a spurt in the cross-border infiltration after a brief lull last month.
In video (28k, 56k)

    World page: Hoon holds talks on Indo-Pak standoff

Sinha flays Pak on infiltration issue
New Delhi, July 3
Newly appointed External Affairs Minister Yashwant Sinha today lashed out at Pakistan for going back on its promise to plug infiltration, saying that India reserved the right to take appropriate action to foil the proxy war being waged by Islamabad.
In video (28k, 56k)

India, Pak in de-escalation mode
New Delhi, July 3
India and Pakistan are on a de-escalation mode — diplomatically as well as militarily — despite New Delhi’s concerns about Islamabad’s continued cross-border infiltration and heavy shelling along the Line of Control. Confirming this, well-placed sources here chose not to divulge the details of the military de-escalation.

Nangal may lose heavy water plant Ropar, July 3 Owing to the proposed disinvestment of National Fertilisers Ltd., the Department of Atomic Energy was planning to dismantle Asia’s oldest heavy water plant at Nangal. Reliable sources told The Tribune that the heavy water plant situated in the Nangal unit of the NFL was a major hurdle in the disinvestment process of the company.