Thursday, November 16, 2006, Chandigarh, India
Updated at 3:00 am (IST)

Day 2: Siachen fog
No pull-out, says India
New Delhi, November 15
Even as India and Pakistan held the Secretary-level talks here to resolve various contentious issues, Defence Minister A.K. Antony today asserted that there would be no demilitarisation of Siachen glacier, which had been under India’s control for almost 20 years, till the time Islamabad accepted ground realities.

Anti-terror  set-up in place New Delhi, November 15 India-Pakistan peace process ventured into strategic areas as the two nuclear powers today agreed to set up a three-member anti-terror mechanism.

OPENING UP: Shiv Shankar Menon (left) and Riaz Mohammed Khan

No finger-pointing please, Pak tells India
New Delhi, November 15
Pakistani Foreign Secretary Riaz Muhammad Khan today made reference to Malegaon and Gujarat violence twice and advised India not to indulge in finger-pointing whenever incidents like the Mumbai train blasts happen.

Block transfer of SBI to govt: Tarapore
New Delhi, November 15
The transfer of ownership of the State Bank of India (SBI) to the government should be blocked by Parliament as it will not only be bad in principle, but disastrous in practice, Mr S.S. Tarapore, who headed the committee on fuller capital account convertibility, said here today.

Karzaispeak: We are stable but not peaceful

The President of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, Mr Hamid Karzai, today gave a clarion call for collectively fighting terrorism and said that terrorism affected both “who played with it and those who faced it”. “Afghanistan is stable but not peaceful and grappling with problems like illiteracy and lack of healthcare facilities. There is need to build institutions to resurrect the country and we are doing it,” he said.

Developers con Manmohan kin
Ludhiana, November 15
A close relative of the Prime Minister, Dr Manmohan Singh, today alleged that a group of developers in the south city area, which was already booked for fleecing several people, had defrauded him by selling his plot to another person.

Punjab okays 35 mega projects
Chandigarh, November 15
The Empowered Committee, which met here under the chairmanship of the Chief Minister, Capt Amarinder Singh, today approved 35 new mega projects worth Rs 7313.11 crore.

CPMT leak: HP minister’s brother held
Shimla, November 15
The police today arrested the parents of four candidates, including the brother of a minister, for their alleged involvement in the HP-CPMT leak case.

What cash? asks Aish
Jaipur/Mumbai, November 15
Bollywood star Aishwarya Rai today expressed surprise at reports that the Customs Department had received a parcel addressed to her that contained 23,000 Euros (Rs 13 lakh) and said she would sort out the issue with the authorities.

Groundwater for a price? New Delhi, November 15 In future, big users of groundwater, including farmers, may have to pay more for extracting groundwater while the economically weaker section of the society and small farmers likely to be charged a subsidised rate.