Cauvery dispute
BANGALORE, Aug 1 (PTI) — The Karnataka Government tonight rejected as "atrocious" certain modifications made by the Centre in its draft scheme for the implementation of the interim award of Cauvery water dispute tribunal, ahead of a meeting of the riparian states called by Prime Minister A.B. Vajpayee in New Delhi on August 6.

Business summit
DHAKA, Aug 1 (PTI) — Bangladesh Premier Sheikh Hasina today announced that her Indian and Pakistani counterparts had agreed to her proposal to hold another three-nation business summit to follow up the first such meeting held here in January. The date for the summit will be finalised according to convenience of India and Pakistan, Ms Hasina said.

ASEB stir banned
GUWAHATI, Aug 1 (PTI) — The Assam Government today issued a notification prohibiting strikes in all services related to the Assam State Electricity Board (ASEB) to ensure power supply. The strikes have been prohibited as per the provisions of the Essential Services Maintenance (Assam) Act, 1980, official sources said. The order shall remain in force for a period of six months, the sources added. The ASEB workers had gone on a 72-hour strike on July 22.

Lok Shakti plans stir
NEW DELHI, Aug 1 (PTI) — The Lok Shakti today announced its decision to launch a week-long movement beginning August 9 to mobilise mass opinion against price rise and corruption. Party sources said all state units would launch demonstrations and dharnas at district headquarters and state capitals to create mass awareness.

Women activists burn effigies
From Our Correspondent
ROHTAK, Aug 1 — A activists of the Bharatiya Janata Party Mahila Morcha today held a demonstration and burnt the effigies of Mr Mulayam Singh Yadav and Mr Laloo Yadav, presidents of the Samajwadi Party and the Rashtriya Janata Dal, respectively, in protest against their negative stand on the women reservation Bill.
The demonstrators were led by Ms Asha Hooda, district president of the morcha.

Ten feared drowned
PATNA, Aug 1 (PTI) — Ten persons, mostly women and children, have been feared drowned in a country boat capsize in a river in Araria district’s Jokihat village, the police said today. The boat, which capsized last night, was carrying 20 persons. Ten of them swam ashore, the police said. Three bodies have been recovered so far. Search operations have been intensified to recover the rest.

New districts
AIZAWL, Aug 1 (PTI) — The Mizoram Government has created three more districts by trifurcating existing Aizawl district and bifurcating Chhimtuipui district, according to a notification issued here. The two new districts, created by trifurcation of Aizawl district, are Aizawl North District and Aizawl South District. Another new district, Chhimtuipui West District, comprises the areas covered by the Lai and Chakma autonomous district councils excluding the areas under the Sangau assembly constituency.

JMM (S) threat
RANCHI, Aug 1 (PTI) — The Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (Soren) has threatened to launch a "long-drawn agitational programme" pressing for early creation of a separate Vananchal state. JMM (S) vice-president Suraj Mandal said a meeting of the party’s executive committee would be called after August 5 to chalk out a strategy for their agitational programmes, which would include bandhs and economic blockades.

Opposed
BANGALORE, Aug 1 (PTI) — The Lok Shakti, the political outfit of Union Commerce Minister Ramakrishna Hegde, today opposed setting up of the Cauvery river authority by the Centre and said dialogue was the only way to solve the Cauvery dispute between Karnataka and Tamil Nadu. Dr Jeevaraj Alva, Karnataka unit president of the Lok Shakti, a partner in the ruling coalition at the Centre, said here that the best way to find a solution to the vexed Cauvery issue was through people-to-people contact of the two states.

Benazir’s charge
ISLAMABAD, Aug 1 (PTI) — Pakistan’s opposition leader Benazir Bhutto has accused the Nawaz Sharif government of launching a "bogus propaganda" and media trial against her and demanded that she be tried in ordinary courts under ordinary laws instead of the ehtesab benches (accountability commission) under special laws. Charging that at the behest of the present government the atmosphere had been poisoned, she told newspersons yesterday, "in such an atmosphere I do not expect a free and fair trial."

6 officials suspended
LUCKNOW, Aug 1 (PTI) — The Uttar Pradesh Government has suspended six officials, including one Executive Engineer and two Assistant Engineers of the Irrigation Department, for their alleged involvement in making false payments to the tune of Rs 1.23 crore. Irrigation Minister Om Prakash Singh today said that the officials were found guilty of making fake payments for the works undertaken under the Upper Ganga Canal project department in Bulandshahr district. A crime branch criminal investigation (CB-CID) inquiry ordered by the government in this regard submitted its report recently, the minister said.

Joshi’s charge
CALCUTTA, Aug 1 (PTI) — Union Minister for Human Resource Development Murli Manohar Joshi today charged the Left Front government in West Bengal with not cooperating on the issue of detection and deportation of illegal Bangladeshi infiltrators. Stating there are 1 crore illegal Bangladeshi infiltrators in India, half of them in West Bengal alone, Mr Joshi said the Left Front government should take action against them.

Bandh threat
CALCUTTA, Aug 1 (PTI) — The West Bengal Youth Congress today threatened to call an "indefinite bandh" from August 13 if the ruling CPM tried to forcibly foil the 10-hour Bangla bandh on August 12. "We will confront ruling party cadres if they are deployed on the streets on August 12 to break the "bandh", state youth Congress president Paresh Pal told newspersons here.