Sunday, October 27, 2002, Chandigarh, India
Updated at 3:00 am (IST)

Mufti to be CM
Cong, PDP agree on rotation
New Delhi, October 26
Mr Mufti Mohammed Sayeed is set to be the new Chief Minister of Jammu and Kashmir as head of a coalition of the Peoples Democratic Party, Congress, smaller parties and Independents.
In video (28k, 56k)

A Mehbooba, Sonia initiative
Jammu, October 26
The Congress has sided with those who mauled the otherwise invincible National Conference. This is the lesson one learns from the way the AICC leadership agreed to the demand of the PDP to instal Mufti Mohd Sayeed as Chief Minister in Jammu and Kashmir.

    Edit page: J&K elections and after: where do we go
from here?
    Regional divide comes to the fore once again

750 hostages freed, 90 dead
Moscow, October 26

In a pre-dawn operation, Russian crack commandos stormed a theatre here, killing 50 Chechen rebels, including three women, and freed over 750 persons held hostage by them since Wednesday, but 90 captives also died in the process.
Russian special forces remove hostages from a theatre where Chechen guerrillas were holding hundreds captive in Moscow on Saturday. — Reuters photo

Free power after economy revives: CM
Bathinda, October 26
The Chief Minister, Capt Amarinder Singh, said here today that free power for agriculture would be restored after the economy of the state revived as the Congress stood committed to promises made in its manifesto.

Mr K.S. Aulakh, Vice-Chancellor of Punjab Agriculture University, (left) explains a point to Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh during his visit to a farm near Bathinda on Saturday. The owner of the farm claims that he did not use any pesticide for cultivating the cotton crop. — Photo Kulbir Beera

No trial of strength in UP
Lucknow, October 26
The Governor of Uttar Pradesh, Mr Vishnu Kant Shastri, said the five-month-old BJP-BSP government led by Ms Mayawati was still in a majority and there was no need to convene a special session of the Assembly for trial of strength.

    Amar Singh meets Cong leaders
  BJP allows rebels to meet PM

A reminder for Punjab CM
Leh, October 26
The Ladakh Scouts Regimental Centre is waiting for the response of Punjab Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh to supply essential items like rice, sugar and edible oils from the state's "food surpluses" or "welfare funds" for the boys and girls living in hostels run by the LSRC, as once promised in 1996 when he did not have the reins of power.

SUNDAY ANCHOR Where a quiet “revolution” sits pretty Hari Jaisingh LEH: Jammu and Kashmir's most backward region, Ladakh, is witnessing a low-key silent social revolution, especially in and around Leh. There are no beating of drums, signalling new winds of change. Awaiting a new dawn with a smile