Monday, September 18, 2006, Chandigarh, India
Updated at 3:00 am (IST)

NAM endorses India’s stand on terror
Supports developing nations’ right to peaceful use of N-energy
Havana, September 17
In a strong endorsement of India’s position, the 118-nation Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) today expressed its total opposition to terrorism in all its forms and manifestations and asked countries to combat the menace, including by prosecuting and extraditing its perpetrators.

Editorial: Handshake in Havana

Manmohan meets Castro
Havana, September 17
Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh met with Cuban President Fidel Castro a little before midnight Sunday, among a handful of leaders here who met with the 80-year-old Leftist icon.

Castro turns nostalgic
PM leaves Cuba for home

Talks augur well for solving Kashmir
issue: Musharraf
Islamabad, September 17
Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf said today that his talks with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on the sidelines of the NAM summit in Havana “augured” well for resolving bilateral issues, including the Kashmir problem.

No shift in stance on Pak: govt

Russian swimmers perform during the free routine team event in the Synchronised Swimming World Cup in Yokohama in suburban Tokyo on Sunday. Russia won gold medals in all four events and captured the World Cup. — AFP

Karnataka Govt justifies probe into
corridor deal
New Delhi, September 17
The JD(S)-BJP coalition in Karnataka, led by Chief Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy, allegedly under pressure form his father and former Prime Minister H.D. Deve Gowda on the issue of acquiring excess land from farmers for the Bangalore-Mysore infrastructure corridor project, has justified the judicial probe into the matter in its reply to the Supreme Court.

India almost loses on China issue at IMF
Singapore, September 17
Developing nations led by India and Brazil today virtually lost their campaign to stall the move for enhanced powers to China and three others at the IMF with its Managing Director R.D. Rato claiming "consensus" on the controversial proposal a day before the conclusion of voting.

Blasts kill 23 in Kirkuk
Kirkuk (Iraq), September 17
Four blasts killed 23 persons in Iraq’s ethnically mixed city of Kirkuk today, including a huge suicide truck bomb, a day after Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki urged divided Iraqis to embrace reconciliation.

Mufti suspended for issuing fatwa for money
Deoband, September 17
Maulana Margub-ur-rahman, the rector of Darul-Uloom, a noted Islamic educational institution, today suspended senior mufti Maulana Habibur Rahman Khairabadi who was shown by a private news channel taking money for issuing a fatwa (edict). — UNI

A Tribune Special Killing the unborn daughter — V Fear of law can end murders in the womb Chandigarh, September 17 In the villages across the state, tales of the girl-child blossoming are finding their way into the chronicles of hope. Though few and far between, these stories have given rise to the belief that there can be a turnar- ound in the situation. Nirad Bala (second from left) with her three daughters at their home in the village of Shutrana in Patiala district. — Tribune photo by Parvesh Chauhan