Manmohan pulls up Commonwealth bosses
New Delhi, September 23
In a last-ditch effort to retrieve India’s prestige and esteem in organising the Commonwealth Games, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh today asked the parties concerned to pull up their socks and get going.

World page: Games an appealing target for LeT, says US

Glitches Galore Labourers pull a hand cart loaded with bricks and sacks of sand in front of boards advertising the Games. — Reuters

‘World Statesman Award’ for Manmohan Singh
New York, September 23
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has been honoured with the 2010 “World Statesman Award” by a US-based interfaith coalition for his commitment to democracy, freedom, human rights and peace. The Prime Minister was awarded in absentia by the Appeal of Conscience Foundation. Indian Ambassador to the US Meera Shankar accepted the award on behalf of the Prime Minister at a glittering ceremony here. — PTI

Vacate J&K parts: Krishna to Pak
New York, September 23
Stating that Jammu and Kashmir is an internal matter of India, External Affairs Minister SM Krishna has asked Pakistan to end its illegal occupation of some parts of the state before advising New Delhi.

World page: Stop calling Kashmir as yours, Pak tells India

GMADA ‘loses’ ` 116 cr
While the boss was away, dues of a promoter reduced from ` 121 cr to ` 5 cr in a day
Chandigarh, September 23
In a major embarrassment to Greater Mohali Area Development Authority (GMADA), a housing project promoter managed to get the dues, he owed GMADA, reduced from Rs 121 crore to a meagre Rs five crore in a single day.

The Tribune Ladakh Relief Fund: An Appeal To Readers

Special to the tribune
Heritage auctioned, that too for peanuts
The sale of Chandigarh’s heritage furniture fetched a miserly £10,560 (Rs 8.96 lakh) when it came under the auctioneer’s hammer in London on Wednesday. The auction consisted of eight lots of furniture, including an Indian rosewood and leather desk, a teak and cane chair and library chairs, all designed by Le Corbusier’s Swiss cousin and architect and designer Pierre Jeanneret.

CIA’s private army in Pak to hunt Al-Qaida The clandestine Afghan force reportedly drawn out from private militias and armies of former warlords has been trained in CIA’s facilities in the US New York, September 23 The CIA is running a 3,000-strong covert army to hunt down key leaders of Taliban and Al-Qaida in Afghanistan and Pakistan, with US officials saying that the force is proving “highly effective”.