In Haryana, PM plays development card
Modi says corruption worse than cancer, promises tough measures to weed out menace
Kaithal, August 19
Prime Minister Narendra Modi today took the infrastructure-building route to development and said it was the only way to take the country forward and address various problems faced by the people.

PM Narendra Modi greets the crowd as CM Bhupinder Singh Hooda looks on in Kaithal. Pradeep Tewari

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Defiant Pak envoy meets 3 Kashmiri separatist leaders
New Delhi, August 19
A day after an angry India cancelled the August 25 Foreign Secretary-level meeting with Islamabad, Pakistan’s High Commissioner Abdul Basit today held parleys with Kashmiri separatists amid demands for his expulsion from the country.

World page: Imran Khan, Qadri march towards Pak Parliament, army in position
Nation page: It’s setback for peace: Pak media
Editorial: Back to square one

Hurriyat hardliner Syed Ali Shah Geelani, JKLF chief Yasin Malik and moderate Hurriyat leader Mirwaiz Umar Farooq who met Pak envoy.

Indo-Pak chill freezes Ferozepur trade hopes
Chandigarh/Amritsar, August 19
The Indo-Pakistan foreign secretary-level talks, which were called off yesterday, have dashed the hopes of the people in the border belt, especially in Ferozepur district where people have been eagerly awaiting the opening of Hussainiwala border as the second route to enhance trade between the two neighbouring countries.

Modi invites public views on replacing plan panel
New Delhi, August 19
After having announced the end of the road for the Planning Commission, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has invited the public to participate and offer ideas on the new body. According to a statement issued by the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO), Modi has invited ideas from people on what shape the new institution to replace the Planning Commission can take.

Shastri new boss, Fletcher cut to size
London, August 19
Duncan Fletcher, the Indian coach who's known best for his technical acumen and sealed lips, will now have someone looking over his shoulder. Ravi Shastri has been appointed as the ‘director’ of the Indian team, to “oversee and guide” it. This is an interesting development — Shastri has no coaching experience and led the team in only one Test match, 26 years ago; it could be argued that he's the BCCI's unsecret agent who will keep a close watch on the phlegmatic Fletcher. (Details on Sports page)

special to the tribune Stowaway Sikhs were minutes from suffocating to death Afghan Sikhs rescued from suffocating inside a shipping container at Tilbury docks in the UK have told British authorities they would die rather than continue living persecuted lives in Kabul. The 15 Sikh families, as fluent in Pushtu as in Punjabi, have told translator Kamaljit Singh Matharu how they watched one of them die in front of his children.