Arafat is dead, say Palestinians
Hospital denies report
Paris, November 9
Palestinian President Yasser Arafat is dead, senior Palestinian political sources said on Tuesday, but this was denied by the hospital where he is being treated. At least three sources close to Arafat said he had died but asked not to be identified.

Government to move SC
Quashing of Air Marshals’ promotion
New Delhi, November 9
The Ministry of Defence (MoD) will file an appeal in the Supreme Court against the Delhi High Court order quashing promotion of four Air Marshals. In its order, the High Court had also indicted the Ministry and Air Force Chief of Staff S. Krishnaswamy for not acting “impartially” while dealing with the promotion process.

Patil, Chidambaram may be shifted
Bimal Jalan likely to be Finance Minister
New Delhi, November 9
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh is expected to reshuffle his Council of Ministers before November 28 when he is to leave for Laos to attend the tenth ASEAN Summit, well-placed sources told The Tribune today.

PM promises more tax reforms
The Hague, November 9
Promising to usher in further tax reforms in the next Budget and to bring down tariffs in India to ASEAN levels, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has assured multinational corporations that an independent petroleum regulatory authority would be set up to provide a level playing field to them in the oil sector.

Ponty on Punjab Games committee
Patiala, November 9
Liquor baron Ponty Chadha finds himself in exalted company as his name figures along with top industrialists in the Finance and Marketing Committee of the first Indo-Pakistan Punjab Games to be held in the Chief Minister’s home town here from December 5 to 11.

French Sikhs meet Sonia
New Delhi, November 9
Congress President Sonia Gandhi today assured a delegation of Sikhs from France that the turban issue would be taken up through diplomatic and other channels.

Nation page: Sikhs from France call on Tarlochan

Opinions page: Dress and discrimination Members of the French Sikh delegation discuss the turban issue with Congress President Sonia Gandhi at her residence in New Delhi on Tuesday.  — Tribune photo by Rajeev Tyagi

Infighting may figure at BJP meeting
New Delhi, November 9
A debate on growing indiscipline in the party, as reflected in verbal dual between party vice-president Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi and secretary Syed Shahnawaz Hussain, is likely to be top on the agenda at the BJP’s central office-bearers’ meeting here tomorrow.

Exiled couple gets taste of panchayat farce Jaundhi, November 9 In a blatant eyewash, a couple exiled from their village by a khap panchayat four years ago because of a gotra controversy over their marriage was today allowed to return but told to live like outcasts outside the phirni (village boundary demarcating the residential area).