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Gorkhas get more autonomy in Bengal

Pintail Village (Sukna), July 18 Ending two decades of uncertainty in the Darjeeling hills, a historic tripartite agreement for a new council with more powers was signed today even as the West Bengal government ruled out any division of the state.

(L-R): Gorkha People's Liberation Front supremo Bimal Gurung, Home Minister P. Chidambaram and West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee after signing an ‘historic’ deal. — PTI

Mumbai blasts probe widens
No clues yet about detonators used
New Delhi/Mumbai, July 18
Investigators looking into the July 13 bombings in Mumbai have extended their probe to various parts of the country as they intensify the hunt for clues leading to those behind the terror attack, informed sources said Monday.

Hillary reaches India for talks
New Delhi, July 18
US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton arrived here tonight on a three-day official visit to hold the second India-US strategic dialogue with External Affairs Minister SM Krishna tomorrow.

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton (L) with Foreign Secretary Nirupama Rao in New Delhi on Monday. Tribune photo: Mukesh Aggarwal

NRHM audit reveals mess in Maya land 
New Delhi, July 18
Close on the heels of investigators finding evidence of links between the murders of three top-ranking UP Health Department officials and the alleged bungling of National Rural Health Mission funds, the Central team auditing mission accounts in the state has reported massive irregularities in the award of contracts for various works under the programme.

LEH REVISITED
Almost a year after tragedy, relief hasn’t reached people
Leh cloudburst victims are struggling to take hold of their lives. A first-hand account of their travails
Nimmu, July 18
Yang Chan Dolma of Nimmu, a proud owner of a substantial piece of land and a general store before the cloudburst hit various parts of Ladakh division in August last year, has now been working as a labourer to make both ends meet.
11 months after Leh cloudburst, scars still visible:  Stenzia Dolma shows the uncultivated fields in Nimmu village. Tribune photo: Anand Sharma

Protest a constitutional right, says Anna
New Delhi, July 18
Proclaiming that it was his “constitutional right” to protest, social activist Anna Hazare today informed Prime Minister Manmohan Singh about his decision to go on an indefinite fast from August 16 if the points raised by Team Anna in its version of the Jan Lokpal Bill are not incorporated in the draft introduced in the coming monsoon session.

BJP attempts to rein in Uttarakhand CM
Party in a tizzy to put its house in order in hill state before the Assembly poll
Nishank told to retain only 14 of the 40 departments he now controls
New Delhi, July 18
Burdened with a negative mood against its government in Uttarakhand on account of incessant charges of corruption and land scams, coupled with apparent infighting, the BJP is trying to rein in Chief Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank well before the assembly elections due early next year.

Too much gaming makes kids obese, violent: Survey New Delhi, July 18 Excessively playing video games can generate a greater risk of obesity, aggressive and violent behaviour in children and teenagers, finds a new survey. The recent survey by Assocham reveals that over 82 per cent of teenagers spend an average of 14-16 hours per week playing games on computer, web portal or consoles and about 7 per cent of children surveyed qualified as being pathological video gamers (over 20 hours per week).