Krishna okayed Nedumaran: Karunanidhi
The Tamil Nadu Chief Minister, Mr. M. Karunanidhi, today said that his Karnataka counterpart, Mr. S.M. Krishna, had approved of sending the Tamilar Desiya Iyakkam president, Mr. P. Nedumaran, as an emissary to negotiate with brigand Veerappan for the release of Kannada actor, Mr. Rajkumar.

'Rajkumar release main aim'
The Karnataka Chief Minister, Mr. S.M. Krishna, issued the following statement today in response to the observations of his Tamil Nadu counterpart, Mr. M. Karunanidhi.

Suicide-bomber strikes in Colombo
Two persons were killed in a LTTE suicide- bombing that rocked the Sri Lankan capital as the country's new Cabinet was being sworn in today.

Laxman strikes a different note
The differences within the BJP on how to project its relationship with the RSS, and especially on its views on the minorities, erupted sharply today with the party president, Mr. Bangaru Laxman, asserting that the BJP's views were ``significantly different from that of the RSS.''

Cyclonic storm dissipates
Andhra Pradesh came out of a cyclone threat on Thursday as the cyclonic storm that remained off the coast for four days keeping the coastal belt on the tenterhooks weakened into a low pressure area and waned even without crossing the coast.

Mamata calls on PM
The Union Railway Minister, Ms. Mamata Banerjee, today called on the Prime Minister, Mr. Atal Behari Vajpayee, at the Breach Candy hospital but did not raise the issue of petroleum prices' rollback. All that was touched upon during the half-hour meeting was the West Bengal flood situation.

RSS fascist, says Christian Council
The six-million strong All India Christian Council today asked the people, the minorities and the Hindus to reject the RSS' ``divisive call for a nationalism based on religion'' which went against the Constitution.