Mamata threatens to form separate block
CALCUTTA, Dec 18 — Railway Minister and Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee today threatened to form a separate block within the National Democratic Alliance to force the BJP to adhere to the NDA agenda on the Ayodhya issue.

• Will BJP play ball with Mamata?

PM asked to restrain allies
NEW DELHI, Dec 18 — Senior Congress leader and Chief Whip of the party in the Rajya Sabha, Mr Pranab Mukherjee, today said the government could ill afford to make any provocative statements on the Ayodhya issue.

BJP: PM never held ministers guilty
NEW DELHI, Dec 18 — Defending Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee’s remarks about the three charge-sheeted Union Ministers, the BJP today said that question of giving clean chit to them by Mr Vajpayee did not arise as he did not hold them guilty in the first place.

Dangi’s remand extended
ROHTAK, Dec 18 — The Special Judge, Mr Shiva Sharma, today extended the judicial remand of former Revenue Minister, Mr Anand Singh Dangi, pending investigation and directed that he should be produced in the court on January 1.

Power supply to Zail Singh’s house cut?
NEW DELHI, Dec 18 — A member of the Bahujan Samaj Party today claimed in the Lok Sabha that the power supply at the residence of late President Zail Singh, which is occupied by his widow now, has been disconnected for the last 18 days, prompting the Home Minister, Mr L. K. Advani, to intervene.

Bush names Rice Security Adviser
AUSTIN, Dec 18 — President-elect George W Bush named trusted foreign policy aide Condoleezza Rice, 46, who is of African descent, as his White House national security adviser today.


Night curfew clamped along Bhutan border
GUWAHATI, Dec 18 — Indefinite night curfew has been imposed along the Indo-Bhutan border in apprehension of the killing of innocent people by extremists.

Hardliners overshadowed JAMMU, Dec 18 — The All-Party Hurriyat Conference (APHC), a conglomerate of 23 organisations, has overshadowed the hardliners within the party by not accepting the line which senior Jamait-e-Islami leader, Syed Ali Shah Geelani, had favoured.