Monday, May 21, 2007, Chandigarh, India
Updated at 3:00 am (IST)

Takht calls for Punjab bandh
*Seeks closure of deras by May 27
*Rejects dera chief’s apology
Amritsar, May 20
Akal Takht today took an unprecedented decision to give a call for complete Punjab bandh tomorrow (May 22) in protest against the blasphemous acts of Dera Sacha Sauda chief, apart from serving yet another ultimatum to close down all its branches, including the one at Salabatpura in Bathinda by May 27.

A Sikh devotee grabs an ASI by the neck at a meeting of the Akal Takht Secretariat in Amritsar on Sunday. — Photo by Rajiv Sharma

Dera rejects Akal Takht edict
Sirsa, May 20
Dera Sacha Sauda today outrightly refused to accept the Akal Takht edict for closure of all deras in Punjab by May 27, declaring that they would not vacate the deras and legal course be adopted to protect their rights.

Edict puts govt in a fix
Chandigarh, May 20
Punjab continues to be on a boil for the seventh day today. Fragility of the peace at the surface after a day free of any major incident of violence became apparent when the hardcore Sikh organisations tried to wrest back the initiative after the Sikh clergy pronounced its second edict against Sirsa-based Dera Sacha Sauda this evening.

India: The Tasks Ahead
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ASI beaten up in front of Akal Takht
Tribune lensman among 3 mediapersons injured
Amritsar, May 20
Sikh youths severely beat up an Assistant Sub-Inspector when his revolver fell down in front of Akal Takht, here today. Mediapersons, especially photographers, also earned the wrath of the agitated Sikh youths when they tried to click pictures.

Case against Dera Sacha Sauda chief
Bathinda, May 20 The police has registered a case against Ram Rahim Gurmit Singh, head of the Sirsa-based Dera Sacha Sauda, for his alleged involvement in the act causing hurt to sentiments of the Sikh community and subsequent violence here. Punjab Police and BSF personnel stand guard at the Sirsa-based Dera Sacha Sauda branch at Salabatpura on Sunday. — Photo by Sonu
Punjab page: Salabatpura dera under tight security Another dera attacked Sacha Sauda followers fleeing state Section 144 imposed on Amritsar

Pension Scheme
Left against fund managers’ appointment
New Delhi, May 20
Top leaders of four Left parties today shot off an angry letter to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh asking him to put on hold the process of appointing pension fund managers initiated by the interim Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority.

Singur flares up again
Kolkata, May 20
Singur flared up again today on the eve of the Nandigram peace talk as a fresh attempt made by the evicted farmers to get back their farm lands occupied forcibly for Tata Motors project.

Mosque blast: Police finds more clues
Hyderabad, May 20
The old city is limping back to normalcy even as the police teams today recovered another mobile phone, a Nokia 6030, and a remote device from a water tank inside the Mecca masjid complex, where a blast had killed 11 persons on Friday.

She found empowerment in junk Kiran, a junk dealer from Patna. — PTI photo New Delhi, May 20 Feisty Kiran, who is mentioned in the NCERT maths textbook for class IV, is a role model for women in her neighbourhood in Patna. The reason? She is a junk dealer who once slapped a man for misbehaving and today enjoys the grudging respect of her male counterparts for her professionalism and straightforward attitude.