Govt. throws the Kashmir talks door wide open
The Government today offered a broad-based
dialogue on ``peace, and how it may be attained'' in the troubled
State of Jammu and Kashmir in a bid to get out of the dead-end
the Kashmir peace process had reached. In spite of several
extensions of the unilateral ceasefire announced by the
Government since Ramzan late last year, the general impression
was that the peace process was going nowhere. The current three-
month ceasefire goes up to May.
Ready for Kashmir-centred talks?
India today declared its readiness to engage
Pakistan on the long-standing dispute over Jammu and Kashmir and
called on Islamabad to facilitate the resumption of dialogue by
putting an end to cross-border terrorism.
Vajpayee ridicules Cong. challenge
The Prime Minister, Mr. A.B. Vajpayee, on
Thursday accepted the Congress challenge on the Tehelka issue and
declared that he would not oblige it with his resignation. He was
addressing a well-attended public meeting organised by the
National Democratic Alliance as part of the campaign to counter
the Congress threat on the Tehelka exposures.
BJP cancels NDA rallies
The BJP has cancelled all the National
Democratic Alliance rallies planned to counter the adverse
fallout of the Tehelka episode. The strategy is to be redrawn
after yet another meeting of the NDA leaders which is likely to
take place on April 8.
Bank chief surrenders
The chairman of the Madhavpura Mercantile Co-
operative Bank, Mr. Ramesh Parikh, surrendered before the CBI
here today.
Two officers suspended
Two senior officers of public sector steel
plants have been placed under suspension. According to the
Ministry of Steel, Mr. R. C. Jha, Managing Director of the
Rourkela Steel Plant (RSP), and Mr. N. K. Singh, Executive
Director of the Visakhapatnam Steel Plant (VSP), have been
suspended for their lapses which caused a loss of over Rs 100
crores due to the premature breakdown of coke oven batteries at
the VSP.
Chhatisgarh files affidavit
The Chhatisgarh Government has sworn before
the Supreme Court that it was ready to pay up Rs. 552 crores to
buy 51 per cent equity share in the Bharat Aluminium Company
(BALCO), which was sold to Sterlite Industries for Rs. 551.5
crores.
65 Indian fishermen held
Pakistan has arrested 65 Indian fishermen who
allegedly strayed into its territorial waters in the Arabian Sea.
Jogi rushes to Delhi
The Chhatisgarh Chief Minister, Mr. Ajit Jogi,
today rushed to New Delhi in connection with the deadlock over
the Bharat Aluminium Company Limited issue, following talks with
the senior Congress leader, Ms. Ambika Soni.
Clinton lauds reconstruction efforts
The visiting former United States President,
Mr. Bill Clinton, held a meeting with the non-government
organisations helping in the reconstruction of the earthquake-hit
Kutch and other affected areas and was given a presentation by
the Gujarat Government on its efforts to rehabilitate the
affected.
