Elahi promises to protect gurdwaras in Pakistan
Amritsar, December 2

West Punjab Chief Minister Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi announced that the Government of Pakistan would not only remove encroachments from all Sikh shrines, it would also ensure preservation of each and every brick of the holy places. The original design of gurdwaras in Pakistan would be preserved while carrying out any renovation, he added.
Punjab (Pakistan) Chief Minister Parvaiz Elahi is flanked by Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh and SGPC President Jagir Kaur as they come out of Golden Temple in Amritsar on Thursday. — Tribune photo by Pawan Sharma

President Putin begins three-day visit today
New Delhi, December 2
Russian President Vladimir Putin is scheduled to arrive here early tomorrow morning for the fifth annual Indo-Russian Summit during which a host of agreements and Memoranda of Understanding are expected to be signed.

Vladimir Putin 

Kalyan appears before Liberhan panel
New Delhi, December 2
Twelve years after the demolition of Babri Masjid, former Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Kalyan Singh, a key witness in the case, finally appeared before the Liberhan Commission today, promising to depose to the panel tomorrow in an affidavit.

Real autonomy, not independence, is the goal, says Dalai Lama
Bangalore, December 2
Advocating a “middle-way approach” towards a solution for Tibet, the Dalai Lama said here today that Tibet was indeed a part of China, and what he sought was not independence but “genuine autonomy.”

The Dalai Lama

SC orders CBI probe into ‘antics’ of Pappu Yadav
New Delhi, December 2
The Supreme Court today took a serious note of yet another antic of RJD MP Rajesh Ranjan alias Pappu Yadav, whereby many of his supporters unauthorisedly entered the Beur jail for a party thrown by Yadav, and ordered a CBI probe into the matter.

Kanshi Ram’s kin move SC for his custody
New Delhi, December 2
The 95-year-old mother of BSP leader Kanshi Ram and his brothers today filed a petition in the Supreme Court seeking his custody while accusing party leader Mayawati of keeping him in “illegal confinement”.

Uma apologises to Advani
New Delhi, December 2
Suspended BJP leader Uma Bharti today tendered an unconditional apology for her public spat with BJP President L.K. Advani last month.

Khap panchayat bans celebrations
Jaundhi, December 2
The rehabilitation process of a couple exiled from this village four years ago by a khap panchayat because of a gotra controversy over their marriage was derailed late this evening when the panchayat decided to challenge the petition they had filed in the Punjab and Haryana High Court seeking rehabilitation.

20-hour bus journey along Karakoram Highway Graveyard near Gilgit where 200 Chinese were laid to rest Rawalpindi, December 2 Waking up on a bright morning to be told that it was cloudy is a strange experience. But the clouds were not over Gilgit but the Nanga Parbat over which we had to fly in a PIA Fokker Friendship aircraft. Finally when the news came that the flight had been cancelled, our hearts missed a beat.