Food Bill gets Parliament nod
Rajya Sabha passes historic legislation; Rejects 200 amendments by Oppn
New Delhi, September 2
Parliament stamped its approval to the National Food Security Bill with the Rajya Sabha tonight passing by voice vote the landmark legislation aimed at providing cheap foodgrain to nearly 82 crore people in the country.

Cash crunch: Punjab staff will have to wait for salaries
Chandigarh, September 2
Three lakh employees of Punjab will have to wait for some more days to get their salary for August. With the state government having used its revenue receipts for the last month in order to clear its ways and means advances (a kind of overdrawal) and disburse pensions, it has been left with no money to pay almost Rs 1,200 crore as salary to its employees.

Asaram sent to 14-day judicial custody, facing ‘strong case’
Jodhpur, September 2
Self-styled godman Asaram Bapu, accused of sexually assaulting a 16-year-old girl at his ashram here, was remanded in 14-day judicial custody by a local court. Wearing a white dhoti and kurta and a red skull cap, the controversial godman was produced amid tight security before the district and sessions court where the magistrate Manoj Kumar ordered to send him to judicial custody till September 15.

Asaram Bapu is escorted by police to a court in Jodhpur on Monday. — AFP

Syria regime behind gas attack: France
Paris, September 2
France was set today to provide what it says is clear evidence that the Syrian regime was behind a devastating chemical attack, as Western leaders bid to overcome widespread scepticism to military action.

World page: To sway Syria vote, Russian MPs want to fly to Washington 
Editorial: The crisis in Syria

U-turn: Moily says not shutting petrol pumps at night
New Delhi, September 2
The Petroleum Ministry today clarified that there is no proposal under consideration of the government to allow sale of petroleum products from the retail outlets only during certain hours. In a statement, the ministry has denied the media reports in this regard which had stated that petrol pumps may be ordered to shut operations between 8 pm and 8 am.

Punjab penalises 2 IAS officers for irregularities, lowers their grade pay Chandigarh, September 2 The Punjab Government has decided to lower the grade pay of two IAS officers — Kripa Shankar Saroj and B Sarkar — as a punishment for financial irregularity and misuse of official position.