S P O T L I G H T

Hurriyat leaders meet Jethmalani
New Delhi, September 7
Hurriyat Conference leaders arrived in Delhi today to have a second round of talks with the Kashmir Committee headed by Mr Ram Jethmalani. Four Hurriyat Conference leaders, led by conglomerate chairman Abdul Ghani Bhat, arrived at Mr Jethmalani’s residence at 7 pm for a dinner meeting. Other leaders in the Hurriyat delegation included Mirwaiz Omar Farooq of the Awami League, Sheikh Mohammad Ali of the Jamaat-e-Islami and Javed Mir of the JKLF. TNS

Chhari yatra 
Chamba, September 7
The ‘Chhari’ yatra for the Manimahesh left here this afternoon for the Kailash Mount. The sadhus of the Dashnami Akhada, local residents and district officers accompanied the ‘charri’. The insignia of Manimahesh and ‘trishul’ was at the head of the yatra. Mr Rahul Anand, Deputy Commissioner, Chamba, said the district administration was all set about providing adequate security cover to pilgrims, especially from Bhadarwah of Jamu and Kashmir. OC

Laloo’s men lose
Patna, September 7
In a major setback to RJD chief Laloo Prasad Yadav, his nominees, including his sister-in-law, for the mayoral elections of the Patna Municipal Corporation, were defeated today. While Mansa Devi, wife of Chief Minister Rabri Devi’s eldest brother Prabhunath, lost the Mayor’s post to Krishna Murari Yadav, Santosh Mehta was elected Deputy Mayor, defeating Mumtaz Jehan, also a nominee of the RJD supremo, in a keenly contested election held on a non-party basis. PTI

6 Indians held
Bangladesh, September 7
The Bangladeshi security forces have captured six suspected Indian tribal rebels in a south-eastern hill region, the army said today. The six men were carrying automatic weapons when they were picked up yesterday in hills of Ramu district by a joint team of the Bangladesh Army and border security guards, an army official said. AP

Leopard kills boy
Vadodara, September 7
One more boy was killed by a leopard in the district, taking the toll due to the animal’s attack in Gujarat to three during the past 15 days. PTI

Blast in Nepal
Kathmandu, September 7
Suspected Maoist insurgents today triggered a powerful explosion in the Bhaktapur municipality building here damaging windowpanes and some furniture, the police said. Six armed men reportedly kept a “pressure cooker bomb” on the ground floor of the municipality office, locked the door and fled. UNI