Wednesday, August 28, 2002, Chandigarh, India
 Updated at 3:00 am (IST)

Work restored to 3 HC judges
Chandigarh, August 27
In less than two months after work was withdrawn from Mr Justice Amar Bir Singh Gill, Mr Justice M.L. Singhal and Mr Justice Mehtab Singh Gill of the Punjab and Haryana High Court, Chief Justice Arun B. Saharya today announced its restoration. Though officials in the High Court are maintaining silence over the issue, sources confirm that announcement to this effect was made during a 15-minute formal meeting held with the Judges during the lunch hour.

TRIBUNE SPECIAL
Truce in J&K on cards?
Bush brokering ceasefire with ultras
Lahore, August 27
The Bush Administration has secretly launched a diplomatic drive to broker a ceasefire between the Indian forces and Kashmiri ultras led by the Hizbul Mujahideen and other militant groups. Sources say the move aims at enabling Washington to concentrate on its war against terrorism that is getting distracted due to the continuing stand-off between India and Pakistan.

    PM, Advani not to meet Shabir Shah
    J&K page: Hurriyat rejects US appeal
    World page: USA trying for Musharraf-Vajpayee talks?

Nation page: Gas tragedy: decision on charges today

Gas victims wear masks on Tuesday in Bhopal during a demonstration outside the courts. The court began hearing a landmark case in which the Indian Government is attempting to reduce the gravity of the charges stemming from one of the world’s worst industrial disasters. At least 3,000 persons died in Bhopal on December 3, 1984, after a toxic gas leak at a chemical factory owned by the now defunct US company, Union Carbide. — AFP

Ban functions of Ashutosh: NCM
New Delhi, August 27
The National Commission for Minorities (NCM) has directed the Punjab Government to ensure that no function of self-styled spiritual leader and founder of the Divya Jyoti Jagrati Sansthan (DJJS), Baba Ashutosh, is allowed to be held in Punjab till the next hearing.

Uneasy calm at NIT
Students leave for homes
Hamirpur, August 27
An uneasy calm prevails on the campus of the National Institute of Technology here on the second day. It presented a deserted look as students have started going back to their homes after the institute’s closure.

Missing councillor murdered, colleague arrested
New Delhi, August 27
Atma Ram Gupta, a 50-year-old Congress municipal councillor from Tri Nagar, who was reported missing for the past four days, has been murdered and his body disposed of somewhere in western Uttar Pradesh allegedly by his fellow corporator, Sharda Jain and her brother, Raj Kumar, alias Raju.

• NCR Tribune: Sharda Jain expelled

• Petty criminals, amateur killers