BJP expels Jain from Executive
NEW DELHI, Jan 4 . Sending a tough signal to all those opposed to Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee within the party, the BJP party has expelled the former party MP J.K. Jain, who has been in the thick of a controversy following alleged branding of him as an .ISI agent., from the National Executive.

LCA takes to the skies
BANGALORE, Jan 4 .The first prototype of India.s indigenously developed Light Combat Aircraft, billed as one of the most advanced multi-role fighter planes in the world, took to the wings in a successful maiden flight here today, officials said. The LCA, said to be the smallest light weight multi-role combat aircraft, took to the azure skies in clear weather, marking the beginning of a series of test-flights.

LCA puts India in select group





The first prototype of the light combat aircraft (LCA) on its maiden flight in Bangalore on Thursday. . PTI photo

Hurriyat in catch-22 situation
Jehad Council refuses to hold talks
JAMMU, Jan 4 . The APHC has been placed in a catch-22 situation with the Muttahida Jehad Council comprising 15 militant groups announcing its refusal to hold talks with India.

Pak intruder shot dead on Punjab border
AMRITSAR, Jan 4 . The BSF foiled an infiltration bid and killed a Pakistani intruder suspected to be a trained militant near Khangarh border outpost, about 150 metres away from the Wagah international checkpost, on the intervening night of January 2 and 3.

Blackouts in the offing
Absence of power reforms
New Delhi, Jan 4.As Indian whizkids are rewriting technology history in the digital precincts of Silicon Valley, the country.s power sector is yet to respond to the IT revolution which is waiting to radically change our lives.

• Statewise reforms

Point 5353 claims first victim
NEW DELHI, Jan 4.The latest controversy generated on the touchy Point 5353 peak in the Kargil region of Jammu and Kashmir, where the Defence Minister, Mr George Fernandes, was quoted as saying that he had visited the area and got himself photographed, has claimed its first victim.

Edit: Importance of Point 5353

 

Clash averted minutes before CM.s arrival SUNAM, Jan 4 . Just five minutes before the arrival of Mr Parkash Singh Badal, Chief Minister, Punjab, to lay the foundation stone of a 50-bed modern hospital in the existing hospital complex here, the timely intervention of the police averted a clash between two groups belonging to local Sitasar Sarovar Kar Seva Coordination Committee.s supporters and members of a particular community who also claim their right over the land.