5 die in Assam Rajdhani blast
Adivasi outfit may be responsible
Guwahati, December 13
Five persons were killed and four others seriously injured when a bomb explosion rocked 2423 Down Dibrugarh-Guwahati-New Delhi Rajdhani Express between Naojan and Chungajan Railway stations of Assam’s Golaghat district, about 282 km from here, at around 1:10 am on Thursday.

Army moves 6,000 troops to border with China amid ‘intrusion’ reports
New Delhi, December 13
Amid reports of intrusion by Chinese forces in Bhutan,
the Army has moved more than 6,000 troops to the
Sino-Indian border, close to tri-junction of India, Bhutan and China.

CJI dispels impression on ‘overreach’
New Delhi, December 13
A Supreme Court Bench, headed by Chief Justice K.G. Balakrishnan, today dispelled the impression on
judiciary’s “overreach” in the public interest litigation (PIL) cases, gained in the wake of a judgement of a Division Bench this week that had raised a controversy on the judicial “overactivism”.

Vajpayee woos voters for Modi
Ahmedabad, December 13
With questions raised over his "silence’ on Gujarat, local newspapers came out with an advertisement in which former Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee sought votes for the return of the Narendra Modi in the elections. The advertisement came just a day ahead of the close of the campaign on Friday for the second and last phase of the elections on Dec 16, which has virtually been Modi's show for the BJP.

Indian docs get US boost
New Delhi, December 13
The United States has said India’s recognition system for undergraduate medical courses is at par with theirs, an achievement that could facilitate mobility of doctors from here to the US.

Number of poor up in Punjab
Chandigarh, December 13
Now lakhs in Punjab have applied to be classified “poor” just to get subsidised “atta-daal” to be supplied by the SAD-BJP combine government. During an ongoing survey to identify “poor families” 6.90 lakh more families in the state have claimed to be classified as poor.

Members of “People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals” (PETA), dressed as a sheep and a rooster, hold placards to promote vegetarianism in Mumbai on Thursday. — AFP photo

Kashmir highway reopens
Srinagar, December 13
The Srinagar-Jammu National Highway, the only surface link between Kashmir and the rest of the country, reopened today after remaining closed for three days due to heavy snowfall, with the 1,175 stranded vehicles being allowed to start their onward journey to here.