Natwar resigns
New Delhi, December 6
Minister without portfolio K. Natwar Singh tonight announced his resignation from the Union Cabinet, saying that he did not want to be an excuse for the Opposition to stall Parliament.

Nation page:
NDA to disrupt Parliament until Natwar quits
ED team leaves for Iraq

Opposition targets Sonia
Both Houses adjourned
New Delhi, December 6
With Mr Natwar Singh, now almost certain to resign from the Union Cabinet, the Opposition targeted the National Advisory Council head and Congress chief, Mrs Sonia Gandhi, and disrupted proceedings in both Houses of Parliament today.

Disruptions by Oppn not good: Dasmunsi
New Delhi, December 6
With the BJP-led Opposition not softening its stand on the Volcker issue yet, the government today said continuous disruption of the two Houses was “detrimental to the honour of Parliament and interest of people.”

India, Russia to expand N-energy ties

Moscow, December 6 Russia today responded positively to India's request for expansion of their nuclear energy ties but, at the same time, indicated that any forward movement on cooperation in this area will depend on New Delhi meeting the conditions laid down by the United States and the members of the Nuclear Suppliers' Group (NSG).

Putin to visit India

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh shakes hands with Russian President Vladimir Putin at the Kremlin in Moscow on Tuesday. — Reuters photo

Agreements on space, defence signed
Moscow, December 6
India and Russia today signed four agreements, including one on Reciprocal Protection of Intellectual Property Rights (IPRs) in the field of Military Technical Cooperation, at the end of the annual summit meeting between Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and President Vladimir Putin.

Reconsider expulsion, says Uma
Bhopal, December 6
Appealing for reconsideration of her expulsion, Ms Uma Bharati today sent a petition to the BJP disciplinary committee requesting she be given a chance to explain her viewpoint.

In video: Uma Bharati resumes Padyatra.(28k, 56k)

Editorial: Spurned sanyasin
Nation page: Vajpayee refutes Uma’s allegations

Woman raped in train
Mumbai, December 6
The Government Railway Police has arrested five followers of Babasaheb Ambedkar for the rape of a 20-year-old woman in Pawan Express plying between Mumbai and Nashik.

Produce ‘real’ Simran, orders SC
Amritsar’s baby custody case
New Delhi, December 6
In a unique case pertaining to the custody of 13-year-old girl Simram, who was “snatched” away from her mother in Amritsar by her in-laws soon after the death of her husband seven years ago and allegedly sent to the USA, the Supreme Court today directed that the “real” child be produced before it as the in-laws had produced a “fake” child earlier to deceive the court.

Lalu likely to face probe in graft cases
Patna, December 6
Close on the heels of the decision by the state vigilance commission to bring the brother-in-law of Lalu Prasad, Sadhu Yadav, in the ambit of the probe into the multi-crore flood relief scam last year, two more bouncers have been hurled on the already beleagured RJD supremo.

Fate snuffs out a promising flying career Amritsar, December 6 The career of the Indian Navy’s fighter Sea Harrier pilot, Lt-Commander Harparveen Singh Pannu, popularly called ‘Shelly’ by his friends here, came to a tragic end following an air crash at Abolim Airport in Panaji yesterday. Shell-shocked relatives of Lt-Commander H.S. Pannu, who died in an air crash in Goa, wait for the body at his house in Amritsar on Tuesday. — Tribune photo by Rajiv Sharma