Friday, September 1, 2006, Chandigarh, India
Updated at 3:00 am (IST)

Baluchistan heading for federal rule
Quetta/Karachi/Islamabad, August31
Pakistan largest, yet poorest province of Baluchistan is almost certainly heading for federal rule, with a majority of Pakistan's opposition parties saying on Thursday that their members were ready to resign from the Baluchistan provincial assembly, to register their protest against the killing of senior Baluch leader Akbar Khan Bugti in a military operation last Saturday.

Bugti’s body retrieved 

Family feud likely over Bugti’s legacy
Islamabad, August 31
A family feud is likely over who claim slain Baluch leader Akbar Khan Bugti’s legacy and wealth.
(Details on World page)

Menon is new Foreign Secy
New Delhi, August 31
India’s High Commissioner to Pakistan Shiv Shankar Menon was today appointed the next Foreign Secretary. He will assume the office on October 1.                       Shiv Shankar Menon

India: The Tasks Ahead
SPECIAL SUPPLEMENT
125TH ANNIVERSARY CELEBRATIONS,
INAUGURAL SESSION

Divedi differs with him Payal, August 31 Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee president Shamsher Singh Dullo and Mr Janardhan Divedi general secretary, AICC and in charge Punjab affairs seem to be on different wave lengths on the status of the Congress party with the former claiming it a party of sycophants only while the latter stressing the view was wrong.

Congress leaders honour Mata Jaswant Kaur, wife of late Chief Minister Beant Singh, at his 11th martyrdom function at Payal village in Ludhiana district on Thursday. — Tribune photo by Sayeed Ahmed

A Tribune Exclusive
MEA grounds Amarinder, ministers 
Chandigarh, August 31
Peeved at the frequent foreign jaunts of Punjab ministers without seeking prior permission or, in some cases, simply seeking the mandatory go-ahead at the proverbial last minute, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) has come down heavily on the state government.

Indicted official made A-I safety chief
New Delhi, August 31
In spite of a high-power internal committee holding former Director of Operations of Air India Capt M.K. Hathi guilty of ad-hocism in appointments and giving a go by to the overarching DGCA’s Civil Aviation Rules (CAR), the carrier’s CMD V. Thulasidas has appointed him Executive Director, Air Safety.

Mehbooba wants Dy CM changed
Crisis in Congress-PDP coalition deepens
Jammu, August 31
The crisis within the ruling Congress-PDP coalition in Jammu and Kashmir deepened tonight with the PDP president, Ms.Mehbooba Mufti, asking Chief Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad to remove Mr.Muzaffar Beig from the post of deputy chief minister and appoint Mr.Abdul Aziz Zargar to the post.

Muftis miffed with CM over Beig’s portfolio issue
Jammu, August 31
The expansion of the Cabinet by Chief Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad today triggered a full-blown crisis within the ruling Congress-PDP coalition as he turned down the request of Ms Mehbooba Mufti to take away important portfolio of Finance and Planning from Deputy Chief Minister Muzaffar Hussain Beig.

Azad allocates portfolios to ministers
Srinagar, August 31
The Chief Minister, Mr Ghulam Nabi Azad, today assigned portfolios to the ministers following the expansion of the Cabinet on Tuesday. The Deputy Chief Minister, Mr Muzaffar Hussain Baig, has been relieved of the Tourism portfolio and will now be having Finance, Planning, Law and Parliamentary Affairs, said an official spokesman.
(Details on J&K page)

PM for reform of criminal justice system
New Delhi, August 31
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh today asked the legal fraternity to ponder upon certain important questions raised by noted lawyer Fali Nariman in his latest book on various malaise of the Indian legal system, particularly the criminal justice in the face of the crimes perpetuated by terrorists.

2 sisters to die for murder of 13 kids New Delhi, August 31 Two sisters from Pune, who had been convicted by lower courts of brutal murder of 13 minor children over a period of five years — after using them in an organised racket of petty offences — were shown no mercy by the Supreme Court today when it upheld the death sentence awarded to them by the lower courts.