Jaya cosies up to Cong
‘DMK’s time has run out, think of me’
Chennai, February 19
In a major development in Tamil Nadu, AIADMK supremo J Jayalalithaa, who is negotiating seat sharing with the Left parties, today openly invited the Congress to break its ties with the DMK and join her alliance.

US: Don’t let bad guys take over
Ambassador Richard C. Holbrooke says the US is deeply troubled by the Pakistani government's decision to enter into a truce with the Taliban in the Swat valley, whom he compared to the terrorists who attacked Mumbai.

Pact in limbo

Fresh Innings
It’s official: Azhar’s in Cong team
New Delhi, February 19
Former Indian cricket team skipper Mohammad Azharuddin formally joined the Congress party on Thursday.

‘IS IT THE RIGHT FIX?’ Former Test captain Mohd Azharuddin 
at a press conference after he joined the Congress in New Delhi on Thursday. Tribune photo: Mukesh Aggarwal

Cong inducting fixers: BJP

Speaker: I think Parliament should be adjourned permanently...
New Delhi, February 19
“I think the Parliament should be adjourned permanently. Useless allowances should not be given to you. You don’t deserve a paisa,” was the desperate reaction of the Lok Sabha Speaker Somnath Chatterjee today, after members ignored his repeated pleas to restore order in the House, and forced the adjournment of the question hour.

Indefinite curfew in Imphal
Protest against killing of 3 govt officials turns violent
Guwahati, February 19
Indefinite curfew was clamped in Imphal today after the police resorted to baton-charge and teargas shelling in different parts of the city after the protest against killing of three government officials by unidentified militants turned violent.

Kasuri: India, Pak were close to agreement on Kashmir
New Delhi, February 19
Revealing for the first time details of the back-channel talks between India and Pakistan during the Pervez Musharraf regime, former Pakistan Foreign Minister Khurshid Mahmood Kasuri has said the two countries were close to working out the outline of a solution to the Kashmir issue.

Khurshid Mohd Kasuri, ex-foreign minister of Pakistan

Bus overload kills 2 students in Jalandhar
Jalandhar, February 19
Two students of CT group of educational institutions were crushed to death while over 35 sustained injuries, six of them serious, when a private bus in which they were travelling turned turtle this morning.

Defence varsity for Haryana Chandigarh, February 19 The Indian National Defence University has finally come to Haryana with Binola in Gurgaon getting the nod of the Prime Minister’s Office. However, Haryana’s gain has been Punjab’s loss which, too, had been vying for this university, hanging fire for nearly nine months. PMO asks state to acquire land