Nitish offers safe passage to Maoists for dialogue
Rebels feel the heat, offer to free hostages today
Patna, September 4
Thirty-six hours after the expiry of the Maoists’ second deadline, the fate of the three abducted policemen held captive by the rebels hung in balance on Saturday evening. 

Cops give a guard of honour to the ASI Lucas Tete. — PTI

Maoists turn to China to get Prachanda elected 
Kathmandu, September 4
Ahead of the key polls for Nepal's new premier, Maoists have landed in a controversy as a wiretap alleged that the party had sought Rs 50 crore from China to “buy” lawmakers to get their supremo elected to the coveted post after five rounds of voting failed to produce a winner.
Both Prachanda (above) and Nepali Congress Vice-President Ramchandra Poudyal had been rejected in the previous five rounds of voting in Parliament for the post of Prime Minister.

The Tribune Ladakh Relief Fund: An Appeal To Readers

‘Govt’s anti-Naxal policy weak’
New Delhi, September 4
For the seven years that Kishore Kumar Verma has been principal of a leading government school in Lohardaga, one of the country’s worst affected Naxal districts, he has not faced problems teaching children. No Maoist cadre has so far threatened to raze his school located in one of Jharkhand’s Fifth Schedule areas (listed under the Constitution as an extremely backward forest and tribal land) but he has once received a death threat by Naxals.

PC admits to presence of CPM’s armed camps
Asks WB govt to dismantle structures immediately
Kolkata, September 4
The controversy over the presence of the CPM’s armed camps in the Jangalmahal and Lalghar area took a new turn following the admission of the union home minister P.Chidambaram about the existence of these camps in the Maoists-inflected areas in west Midnapore.

S Asian varsity becomes operational
New Delhi, September 4
With the visa issue concerning Pakistani students having been settled, the South Asian University (SAU), a dream project of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, has finally taken off. The university launched its first academic session on August 26, starting two courses-MA in Development Economics and Masters of Computer applications. 

Money yes, but not for ‘fixing’
‘It was for sponsorship deals’
Islamabad, September 4
Three Pakistani cricketers — captain Salman Butt and pacers Mohammad Asif and Mohammad Aamir— under the scanner for spot-fixing, have reportedly admitted before the Scotland Yard inquiry that the British currency recovered from their hotel rooms was given to them by bookie Mazhar Majeed.
Pakistan’s captain Salman Butt (C) leaves a police station after being questioned by cops in London. — AFP
  Sports page: PCB threatens to sue ICC