Thursday, August 1, 2002, Chandigarh, India
 Updated at 3:00 am (IST)

Mamata gives NDA 12 days
Keeps options open, announces stir plan
Kolkata, July 31
Keeping her options open, Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee today threatened to walk out of the NDA if the Eastern Railway bifurcation decision was not reviewed within 12 days by the Vajpayee government, saying that during the period a series of agitations, including a Bangla bandh on August 5, would be launched.

Mamata addresses newsmen in Kolkata.

    Nation page: Nitish refutes Mamata’s charge

Hanspal is PPCC President
Bhajan Lal, Hooda swap places
New Delhi, July 31
The Congress today appointed Mr H S Hanspal as president of the Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee and Mr Bhajan Lal as chief of the party in Haryana.

Hawk deal finalised, says George
London, July 31
India has finalised the price for the purchase of 66 Hawk trainer jets from UK-based BAe Systems and the deal is “much closer now”, Defence Minister George Fernandes has said.

ARF asks Pak to halt terrorism
Bandar Sri Bagwan (Brunei), July 31
A security grouping of Asian and Western nations today asked Pakistan to take “urgent further steps” to halt cross-border terrorism as an immediate way to de-escalate the Indo-Pak standoff and not to disrupt Assembly elections in Jammu and Kashmir.
In video (28k, 56k)

    ARF: India to oppose Pak inclusion

Action against Badals in offing
Govt says it has details of their ‘illegal’ properties
Sunam, July 31
The Punjab Chief Minister, Capt Amarinder Singh, said today that the state government had details of properties acquired by former Chief Minister and Shiromani Akali Dal President Parkash Singh Badal in various countries through “illegal” means and that action would be taken against him after completion of investigations into the matter.

SPS Rathore retires
Chandigarh, July 31
Former Director-General of Haryana Police, S.P.S. Rathore retired from service today. An IPS officer of the 1965 batch, Mr Rathore remained on leave from December, 2000, to January, 2002, following his indictment by the CBI in the infamous Ruchika molestation case.

18 hurt in Malout firing, lathi charge Malout, July 31 Mr Charanjit Singh Channi, head of the Khalsa Panchayat, and two others received bullet injuries and more than 15 activists of the Dal Khalsa, the AISSF (Mehta), the Khalsa Mission Committee, the Khalsa Panchayat, the United Sikh Organisation and the Khalra Dharam Parchar Committee were injured when the police allegedly opened Policemen “attack” the driver of a vehicle with lathis during a scuffle at Malout on Wednesday. — Tribune photo Kulbir Beera fire and resorted to lathi charge at Dabwali Malko Ki village today.