Saturday, April 19, 2003, Chandigarh, India
Updated at 3:00 am (IST)

PM offers friendship to Pakistan
Srinagar, April 18
On one of the rare visits and a rarer public address here, Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee today offered a hand of friendship to Pakistan and dialogue with the people of Jammu and Kashmir to settle “internal and external issues” but made it clear that the gun could not resolve problems.
In video: (28k, 56k)

  Cong leaders not allowed on dais
  Editorial: PM in Kashmir
J&K page:
  PM leaves educated youth disappointed
  Srinagar airport to be upgraded

Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee addresses a gathering in Srinagar from behind a bullet-proof glass on Friday. (Right) An impatient crowd waiting to get a glimpse of the Prime Minister. 
— Reuter/PTI photos

Rs 400 cr increase in J&K Annual Plan
Srinagar, April 18
Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee today announced a Rs 400 crore increase in the annual plan outlay for Jammu and Kashmir during the current fiscal year and assured the state of “all Central help” in tapping its hydel power potential.

Minor SARS suspect in Delhi
Goan patient discharged from hospital
New Delhi, April 18
A seven-year-old girl here is suspected to have contracted a killer pneumonia that has killed 159 people worldwide, the third such case detected in the country, officials said.
In video: (28k, 56k)

PSGPC releases parallel calendar
Amritsar, April 18
Following the SGPC's release of Nanakshahi calendar here on Baisakhi. The Pakistan Sikh Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee also released a parallel calendar a day earlier on April 13 to mark the Baisakhi celebrations at Gurdwara Panja Sahib Hassan Abdal there.

DSGMC jatha back from Pak
Wagah, April 18
The President of Pakistan, General Pervez Musharraf, has agreed in principle to liberalise the policies to ensure a smooth flow of Sikh pilgrims from India to pay obeisance at gurdwaras of Pakistan.

8 killed, 20 hurt as buses collide
Jhansan (Tanda), April 18
Eight passengers were killed and 20 injured in a head-on collision between two overloaded buses early today. The accident occurred at about 7.45 am when the driver of a Jalandhar-bound bus of Jalandhar’s Society Bus Service lost control of the vehicle in his bid to overtake another bus of the same company.

USA seeks Iraqi help on WMD
Baghdad, April 18
The USA says it needs the help of Iraqis to find Saddam Hussein’s alleged weapons of mass destruction as a diplomatic row brewed between Washington and the United Nations over economic sanctions.

  US delegation meets Advani  In video: (28k, 56k)
  Edit page: The eagle has landed in Iraq
World page: 
  USA accused of ‘crime of century’
  White House art advisers quit
  Egyptian museum displays antiquities