Two Harijans, Dinanath Baitha and Karu Ram, rescued from the residence of Bihar Cooperative Minister of State Lalit Yadav where they were allegedly tortured. — photo by PTI

Bihar minister sacked, absconds PATNA, July 10 — Embarrassed by charges of torture of two Dalits by Minister of State for Cooperatives Lalit Yadav, Chief Minister Rabri Devi today promptly sacked him.

SC seeks report on tiger deaths
NEW DELHI, July 10 — Expressing anguish over the recent tragic death of 12 white tigers in the protective custody of Nandankanan Zoo, the Supreme Court today directed the Centre to file within three weeks a copy of the report of the expert committee assigned with the task of going into the causes of their death along with the action taken report (ATR).

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12 killed, 37 hurt in accidents
CHAMBA, July 10 — Twelve persons were killed and 37 seriously injured in two separate accidents in HP. In the first accident a truck veered off the road and fell into a 60-metre-deep gorge at the Tissa bridge near Tissa township on the Chamba-Bairagarh highway, about 60 km from the district town of Chamba, today.

IYC chief’s arrest stayed
CHANDIGARH, July 10 — The Punjab and Haryana High Court today stayed the arrest of the Indian Youth Congress President, Mr Randeep Singh Surjewala, and five other party activists till July 20 in a case of robbery, criminal intimidation and rioting registered against them on the complaint of a liquor contractor, Mr Babu Ram, by the Narwana police yesterday.

Bridge on Yamuna sinks, traffic hit
YAMUNANAGAR, July 10 — The main bridge on the Yamuna, which connects Haryana and Uttar Pradesh at Kalanaur, about 10 km from here, was damaged today due to heavy rain. Now the traffic was being diverted via Paonta Sahib and Karnal resulting in inconvenience to commuters.

Dhirmalias part of Sikh fold: sect chief KARTARPUR, July 10 — The issue of “readmission” the Dhirmalia sect into the Sikh fold took a new turn with Mr Karamjit Singh, the head of the sect, maintaining that he had never sought his community’s readmission into the Panth, as it was already a part and parcel of the Sikh mainstream since the times of the ninth Guru, Guru Teg Bahadur.