Our demands accepted: Samiti
Pact on exclusive use of Baltal land; stir may be called off
Jammu, August 30
Following over two months of agitation in Jammu, the Amarnath land row was resolved today with the state government agreeing to set aside 800 kanals of land in Baltal exclusively for Shri Amarnath Shrine Board during the Amarnath Yatra.

A Central Reserve Police Force soldier stands guard in front of closed shops during a protest in Jammu on Saturday. — Reuters

India not to accept NSG waiver if ‘red lines’ are crossed: Narayanan
New Delhi, August 30
India is not averse to the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG) making certain suggestions at its meeting on September 6 “as long as they are not laid down as conditions”. The NSG had sought the redrafting of the waiver petition presented by the USA on behalf of India in the last meeting of the NSG held earlier this month to enable India to purchase from the world market nuclear material and plants for its civilian nuclear energy requirements.

Nation page: PM discusses revised NSG draft with Sonia

Curfew in Koraput
Koraput (Orissa), August 30
Curfew was imposed in Jeypore town of Orissa’s Koraput district today after five police personnel were injured in mob violence following a clash between members of two communities.

Flood-hit Bihar workers return to their second home
Ludhiana, August 30
Trying to find some hope at a place that had become a second home to them, labourers continue to arrive in this industrial town after floods hit Bihar. Most of them are the ones who had recently left this state as they had begun finding better employment opportunities back home.
(Details on Punjab page)

SP refuses PM’s offer to join Cabinet
New Delhi, August 30
Samajwadi Party president Mulayam Singh Yadav has declined the offer of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to join the Union Cabinet. The Prime Minister is reported to have made the offer to the SP leader at the first meeting of the six-member coordination committee of the Congress and the SP which met at his residence here today to discuss key government policy issues.
(Details on Nation page)

Judges feel bugged
Chandigarh, August 30
The judges of the Punjab and Haryana High Court believe that someone has been eavesdropping on them. Available information suggests the judges are of the belief that “some state agency” has not only placed their incoming and outgoing numbers under surveillance, but is also listening to their conversations.

Nano plant closed for 2nd day
NHAI team fails to remove blockade
Kolkata, August 30
The Singur crisis deepened further today as a team of the National Highway Authority of India (NHAl), which went to Singur with the Calcutta High Court order for “freeing” the Durgapur highway of encroachment, returned after it failed to execute the order.