Vajpayee sits over resignations
The Prime Minister, Mr. Atal Behari Vajpayee, was yet to decide whether or not to accept the resignations of the two PMK ministers, Mr. N.T. Shanmugham and Mr. E. Ponnsusamy, who had resigned yesterday from the Union Council of Ministers.

Smoking in public to be curbed
The Union Cabinet today decided to curb smoking in public places and also gave its approval to ban advertisements of all tobacco products.

'India one of UNDP's stakeholders'
India is a quarter of my global constituency. In that sense I am coming very humbly to learn about India's problems because I see India as one of my absolutely key stake holders...

Musharraf wants one-to-one with Vajpayee
Close on the heels of the first-ever contact over telephone with the Prime Minister, Mr. Atal Behari Vajpayee, Pakistan's military ruler, Gen. Pervez Musharraf, has said he was ready to invite the Indian leader to Pakistan for talks to resolve the vexed Kashmir issue.

DPC invokes guarantee
The Enron-promoted Dabhol Power Company invoked the Central Government's counter-guarantee today following the Maharashtra State Electricity Board's failure to clear its bill of Rs. 79 crores for November 2000.

V. N. Gadgil passes away
The former Information and Broadcasting Minister, Mr. V. N. Gadgil, who had been the chief spokesman of the Congress during the tenure of four party presidents right from Rajiv Gandhi to Mrs. Sonia Gandhi, died today.

Pak. court seeks details of poll plans
The Supreme Court of Pakistan has asked the military Government to spell out its plans for holding elections and restoring democracy.