Three dams full, Bhakra board calls meeting
Bhakra, Pong, Ranjit Sagar nearing danger mark
Chandigarh, August 23
Northern dams are brimming. The Bhakra Dam is inching towards the maximum permissible level of 1,680 feet. (It is expected to cross the 1,674-feet mark by Monday night).

Nuclear Liability Bill
After Oppn tough talk, Govt willing to modify language
BJP rules out support till changes dropped; Chavan to meet Left leaders today
New Delhi, August 23
Working overtime to save the contentious Civil Nuclear Liability Bill from collapsing, the government today assured an angry Opposition that it is willing to accommodate its concerns by modifying the language of the proposed legislation.

Lord of the Greens
Atwal first Indian to win on PGA Tour
Greensboro (USA), August 23
Arjun Atwal scripted history by becoming the first Indian golfer to clinch a US PGA Tour title as he lifted the Wyndham Championship trophy here, capping a remarkable turnaround of fortunes.

Arjun Atwal hits his second shot on the first hole during the final round of the Wyndham Championship in Greensboro. — AFP

Unhappy MPs get Rs 10k more
New Delhi, August 23
The Union Cabinet today decided to increase allowances of the MPs by another Rs 10,000 a month. Meeting under the chairmanship of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, it decided to increase the office maintenance and constituency allowances of MPs by Rs 5,000 each per month, taking it to Rs 45,000 each. Both allowances are exempt from income tax.

Deluge here, near-drought elsewhere
New Delhi, August 23
Fighting the flood threat, North Indians may find it hard to believe that cumulative monsoon rainfall for the country is five per cent below the Long Period Average. It’s largely because the rain gods have not been particularly kind to the northeastern region.

The Tribune Ladakh Relief Fund: An Appeal To Readers

The Last Word
Mayawati
Larger than life
Battles with farmers and political opponents have turned Mayawati into the ‘Iron Lady’ of Uttar Pradesh
She wears either beige or pink, yet she is one of the most colourful political figures of India. She represents the Dalits, yet also courts the Brahmins and other upper castes. A select few get to see her these days, but many huge statues of Mayawati dominate urban skylines in Uttar Pradesh.

Now stones reverse swing in the Valley Fed up with strikes, traders revolt, hurl stones at protesters! Srinagar, August 23 Fed up with repeated strikes by separatists in Kashmir, shopkeepers are up in arms against protesters, who are getting the taste of their own bitter pill as locals are attacking them with stones. Clerics have also started making fervent appeals from mosques to open shops and restore normalcy in areas affected by violence.