Nuke Bytes
No polls, please: Allies
New Delhi, June 23
UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi’s consensus-building exercise on the Indo-US nuclear deal hit a roadblock today as the worried UPA allies told her that they did not favour an early election that would be necessitated if the Centre moved ahead on the deal by defying the Left parties.

Post-deal, Aussies may sell uranium
Canberra, June 23
Australia has said it will consider joining any consensus to authorise global nuclear commerce with India, including the sale of uranium, if and when the India-US nuclear agreement becomes operational.

Nation page: UNPA to meet on nuke issue soon: Mulayam
N-deal support may cost Muslim votes: CPM warns SP
No change in stand on N-deal: Amar Singh

Oil Toil
FM: India to follow up price band idea
Jeddah, June 23
India has said it will follow up its suggestion on having a price band for crude oil once the producing nations reflect on the idea, even as it asked them to step up oil output. “It (price band) is an idea that I have mooted in the earlier IMF meetings and it is the first time I am addressing an oil ministerial meeting. So let them reflect on that, we will follow it up,” finance minister P. Chidambaram told NDTV before leaving for India.

6 Hemkund pilgrims buried under glacier
Dehra Dun, June 23
Six pilgrims on way to Hemkund Sahib shrine in Garhwal Himalayas were killed and a dozen others injured when a glacier moved from its place and fell on them near Hemkund Sahib this evening. According to Chamoli district magistrate, the incident occurred due to heavy rains in the entire state for the past few days.

Shootout in Vienna, Spain survive
Vienna, June 23
Spain beat Italy 4-2 on penalties after a goalless Euro 2008 quarter-final on Sunday to end their shootout hoodoo and reach the last four of a major tournament for the first time in 24 years. (Details in Sports page)

Nerves, nerves: Spain’s fans await the penalty shootout during their team’s Euro 08 quarterfinal against Italy in Vienna on Monday. — Reuters photo

Nawaz Sharif can’t contest elections, rules court
In a dramatic ruling, a three-member full Bench of the Lahore High Court on Monday declared former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif as ineligible for contesting elections. The court also questioned the eligibility of Chief Minister of Punjab Shahbaz Sharif though it rejected the plea to restrict him from functioning as the Chief Minister.

World page: US: Musharraf made ‘a number of mistakes’

Former spies can bare and tell no more New Delhi, June 23 Facing embarrassment after several former spymasters from the Intelligence Bureau (IB) and the Research & Analysis Wing (RAW) authored books exposing the shortcomings of various governments in the past, the Government of India has now issued a notification to muzzle the former spies.