Vajpayee, Sonia trade charges
NEW DELHI, Dec 22 — Even as the Lok Sabha adjourned sine die today, Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee and Leader of the Opposition Sonia Gandhi were in no mood to drop matters and blamed each other for the lack of business conducted during the winter session of Parliament.

Mr Surjit Singh Barnala, Governor, Uttaranchal, addresses the World Punjabi Conference which opened in Chandigarh on Friday. Also seen in the photo are Mr Fakhr Zaman (third from left), leader of the Pakistani delegation, and Babu Parmanand, Governor, Haryana (second from right). — Tribune photo by Manoj Mahajan 

Cricketers may lose Arjuna awards
15-day notice to Azhar, Ajay, Manoj
NEW DELHI, Dec 22 — The government may withdraw the Arjuna Awards given to cricketers Mohammad Azharuddin, Manoj Prabhakar and Ajay Jadeja, who have been banned from playing cricket, the Minister for Sports, Ms Uma Bharti, told the Rajya Sabha today.

Azharuddin      Jadeja       Prabhakar

No-trust motion against Dhumal rejected
SHIMLA, Dec 22 — The Himachal Assembly late tonight rejected the no-confidence motion moved by the Congress against the P. K. Dhumal government by voice vote after an 11-hour long debate.

MoD to study Samba verdict
Officers say they fell victim to vested interests
NEW DELHI, Dec 22 — The Ministry of Defence (MoD) is to study in detail the verdict of the Delhi High Court in the Samba spy case passed yesterday and then decide the further course of action.

• Haryana page: Ray of hope for Capt Sharma
• Edit: Slap and Samba case

No place for terrorism: Dosanjh
AMRITSAR, Dec 22 — Mr Ujjal Singh Dosanjh, first Indo-Canadian Premier of British Columbia, today received the first Indian degree of doctor of philosophy in laws (honoris causa) at a special convocation organised by Guru Nanak Dev University here.

HC orders protection for Mamta
CHANDIGARH, Dec 22 — The Punjab and Haryana High Court today directed the Senior Superintendent of Police, Kurukshetra, to safeguard the life and liberty of Mamta.

• Punjab page: Mamta may not appear before probe officer