Natwar, Kasuri hold positive talks
India has “open mind” on oil pipeline

New Delhi, September 5 A new area of possible cooperation between India and Pakistan emerged on the day one of Foreign Minister-level talks here as New Delhi, for the first time, told Islamabad that it had an “open mind” on an Indo-Iran overland pipeline passing through Pakistani territory subject to three conditions. In video (28k, 56k)

Pakistan’s Foreign Minister Khurshid Mehmood Kasuri (right) shakes hand with his Indian counterpart Natwar Singh before the start of talks between the two countries in New Delhi on Sunday. — Reuters photo

 A Tribune Exclusive 
Bush lobbied for Boeing with Vajpayee
New Delhi, September 5
Governments come and governments go but the aircraft manufacturer Boeing goes on. While cutthroat lobbying and competition by the aircraft companies vying for the more that Rs 20,000-crore aircraft acquisition contract for the two national carriers Air-India and Indian Airlines is well known; it now transpires that US President George Bush had called the then Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee to lobby for Boeing after IA shortlisted rival Airbus.

Samajwadi Party MLC shot dead
FIR names MLA as an accused
Lucknow, September 5
The law and order situation in UP received a fresh jolt late last night when Samajwadi Party MLC Ajit Singh and a 12-year-old boy were shot dead at his birthday bash at a motel in Unnao on the Lucknow-Kanpur highway.

BJP divided on demand to sack Mulayam Govt

Fifteen ministers join Chandy Cabinet
Thiruvananthapuram,  September 5
Kerala Chief Minister Oommen Chandy today expanded his Cabinet inducting 15 ministers, 10 of them from the Congress, three from the Indian Union Muslim League and one each from the Kerala Congress (M) and the RSP (B).
In video (28k, 56k)

Manipur peace talks fail
Imphal, September 5
Crucial talks between Home Minister Shivraj Patil and the leaders of Manipur agitation against the Armed Forces Special Powers Act collapsed here tonight following divergent stands on the continuance of the legislation.
Detailed report on Nation page

Nation page: Dawn-to-dusk strike in Manipur

3 terrorists held; 15 kg RDX seized
Move to revive terrorism, says police
Gurdaspur, September 5
The district police has managed to prevent a terrorist strike in Punjab with the recovery of a huge cache of arms, including 15 kg RDX, following the arrest of three terrorists and two suspected Pakistan nationals hiding in the Pathankot area.

Bhagat Singh’s brother dead

Chandigarh, September 5 Kultar Singh, younger brother of freedom fighter Bhagat Singh, died here this evening following brief illness, sources close to his family said. Family members of Kultar Singh said no politician or bureaucrat visited him in hospital during the week.	Kultar Singh

Fly ash flows into Sutlej; third incident in two years Ghauli (Ropar), September 5 The leakage of contaminated water from the stage-1 dyke of Guru Gobind Singh Super Thermal Plant, Ropar, has been polluting the Sutlej for the past two days posing a threat to environment in the region. Fly ash flows out of the southern part of the Stage-1 dyke of Guru Gobind Singh Super Thermal Plant on Sunday. — Tribune photo by Kiran Deep