Delhi Test
Maya nets Mulayam faithful
New Delhi, July 19
As different political formations intensified their efforts to shore up support for the crucial July 22 trust vote, UPA crisis managers were busy tallying their numbers amidst fears that the Samajwadi Party could prove to be the proverbial weak link in the chain.

From PM’s ‘Shahid Saab’ to Maya’s boy

JD(S), Shiv Sena not to support govt
New Delhi, July 19
The Janata Dal (S) was tonight understood to have decided to vote against the UPA government in the trust vote to be held on Tuesday. Party chief and former Prime Minister H.D. Deve Gowda is believed to have conveyed this to the Prime Minister when he met him here this evening. Sources said Gowda also conveyed this to UNPA and Left parties leaders who met him during the day.

Cong: Wait for surprises
Nation page: Mamata welcomes the move
Two absentee Cong MPs to stand by govt
Shankaracharya, Ulemas for N-deal

Editorial At stake is people’s faith in Parliament and democracy By H. K. Dua There are times when India has to rise above the ordinary, set its sights high, and tell the world that it has arrived not only as the largest democracy but also as a major power of the 21st century. Unfortunately, the present is not an ennobling moment of this nation of over a billion people who are helplessly watching all that they would not have liked to see 61 years after Independence.

IED Blast
Nine jawans killed
Srinagar, July 19
Militants blew up an Army convoy by triggering off a massive blast at Narbal on Srinagar-Baramulla highway on Saturday, killing at least nine jawans and injuring at least 20 others, police said. Most of the victims were soldiers heading for their homes on leave.

An Army jawan takes pictures of what remains of  the bus that was blasted by militants on the Srinagar-Baramulla highway on Saturday. The  bus was a part of  an Army convoy bound for Srinagar from Baramulla. — Tribune photo by Amin War

Relocated tigers ‘homing in’ on Sariska
New Delhi, July 19
In what comes as welcome news, a big cat and its mate, who were flown to Sariska Tiger Reserve in the first-of-its-kind tiger relocation programme in the world, are doing well and appear to have settled down. Sariska, which was poached off all its tigers four years back, received the first male tiger on June 28 and within a week a tigress was flown in from Ranthambore National Park.

Govt under renewed pressure
SC status for Dalit Muslims, Christians
New Delhi, July 19
UPA’s desperation to steer clear of the trust vote on July 22 is costing it too much, too fast. As the number-crunching game continues, the government is finding itself under pressure to consider the long-pending demand of granting Scheduled Caste (SC) status to Dalit Muslims and Dalit Christians.

Brigadier sues Air-Marshal, Maj-Gen for disputing history Seeks damages of just Rs 1 Chandigarh, July 19 The controversy generated over the authenticity of the Battle of Laungewala, fought on the western frontier during the 1971 Indo-Pak War, took a new twist with a decorated brigadier suing two former senior officers, who had recently disputed the standing history of the battle.