If this is war, we will fight back, says PC
l No plan to use the Air Force for now l Cong wants Naxals ‘wiped out’
New Delhi, April 7
A war has been thrust on the government, acknowledged Union Home Minister P Chidambaram at Jagdalpur on Wednesday and declared that if it becomes necessary, the government would re-visit the mandate on the use of Air Force in the offensive against the Naxalites. Air Force in the offensive against the Naxalites. 
Policemen stand guard at Amausi Airport in Lucknow on Wednesday as wreaths are laid on the coffins of security personnel massacred by Maoists in Chhattisgarh on Tuesday. — AFP

Rs 38 lakh grant to kin of slain personnel
What the Government Can Do
Editorial: Some heads must roll 

Naxals fire at CRPF camp, no casualties
Raipur/Bhubaneswar, April 7
Naxals tonight fired at a CRPF camp in Dantewada district of Chhattisgarh defying stepped-up security in the wake of yesterday’s bloodiest-ever attack on security forces.

India, China PMs to connect via hotline 
Move to enable both hold direct talks whenever required
Beijing, April 7
India and China today signed an agreement to establish a hotline between Prime Ministers of the two countries, as External Affairs Minister SM Krishna and his Chinese counterpart Yang Jiechi resolved to take the bilateral relationship to new heights.

After fireworks, Shoaib-Ayesha truce
Hyderabad, April 7
After several twists and turns, the Shoaib-Ayesha saga ended today on a conciliatory note with the Pakistani cricketer divorcing the Hyderabadi girl, who, in turn, withdrew the criminal complaint against him. 

Special to the tribune
UK poll: NRIs to play crucial role
The outcome of the British general election on May 6 is still a gamble. Hence Prime Minister Gordon Brown’s decision to wait till the last possible moment to call the election because he hoped for some last-minute improvement in his party’s standing with the electorate.
THE INCUMBENT: Gordon Brown, the PM and Labour Party leader (left) and THE CHALLENGER: David Cameron, Tory chief

Tytler Case
Court reserves order on CBI’s closure report
New Delhi, April 7
The fate of senior Congress leader Jagdish Tytler hangs in balance after a local court kept its order reserved on CBI’s closure report giving him a clean chit in a 1984 anti-Sikh riots case.Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Rakesh Pandit, after hearing arguments of the CBI and the counsel for Lakhwinder Kaur, a riot victim, who opposed the probe agency’s report, said the court would pronounce its order on the matter on April 20.

Retired? Don’t sulk, come back on contract  ‘Pro-youth’ Punjab re-inducting govt officials even if it means bending some rules Chandigarh, April 7 Can you imagine retired and mostly tainted officers, re-employed with statutory powers and no accountability in terms of annual confidential reports, or fear of penal action, running the state administration? The fact that some of them, known for their “wayward” ways while in service, can again bring in corrupt practices does not seem to bother the government as it re-inducts them as additional deputy commissioners, subdivisional magistrates and assistant excise and taxation commissioner, on a contractual basis.