Pak. wants revival of peace process
Pakistan today proposed to India a relaunch
of the derailed peace process and urged New Delhi to implement
commitments Islamabad says it made a year ago. The Foreign
Minister, Mr. Abdul Sattar, in an interview with Reuters
television on the eve of the first anniversary of the Lahore
summit, said the Pakistani military ruler Gen. Pervez Musharraf's
Government would join the process ``honestly and sincerely''.
``On the first anniversary we can look back upon the last year as
a lost opportunity, as an opportunity that has been missed,
perhaps wilfully,'' he said.
'No talks till return of PoK'
The Prime Minister, Mr. A. B.
Vajpayee, today reiterated that India would not hold any dialogue
with Pakistan ``until and unless'' the latter vacated Pakistan-
occupied Kashmir (PoK).
18 burnt alive in train mishap
At least 18 passengers were charred to death and
23 others, including three women, were injured when the
Ferozepur-bound 2137-down Punjab Mail caught fire early this
morning between Duskheda and Savada stations near Bhusaval, about
433 km from here. The train had departed from Mumbai at 7.10 p.m.
on Friday.
Persuading India, Pak. to sign CTBT 'not easy'
The U.S. has said it was ``not easy'' to
convince India and Pakistan to give up the right to conduct
nuclear tests when Washington retained it, but said it would
continue its efforts in the interests of the international
community.
PM writes to President on RSS membership issue
The Prime Minister, Mr. Atal Behari Vajpayee,
is understood to have replied to the President, Mr. K.R.
Narayanan in response to a Rashtrapati Bhavan query on allowing
the Government employees to participate in the activities of the
Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh.
Historians ask ICHR to apologise
Prominent historians of the country today
demanded an unconditional public apology from the Indian Council
for Historical Research (ICHR) for its attack on the academic
integrity of the late Prof. Partha Sarathi Gupta, editor of a
couple of volumes of the Council's `Towards Freedom' project.
They dubbed it as part of the ongoing effort to doctor history to
suit the Hindutva agenda.
UNCTAD calls for true partnership'
The tenth session of the United Nations
Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), which concluded in
Bangkok this evening, called for a ``true partnership'' among the
countries on both sides of the development divide as a
prerequisite for global peace and security. A commitment to a
``fair, equitable and rules-based multilateral trading system''
was also outlined.
Pak. Rangers, BSF trade fire
Tension mounted along the international
border in the Bikaner district of Rajasthan as the Pakistani
Rangers and Border Security Force traded gunfire today.
Minister hints at 'harsh Budget'
The country is faced with a huge fiscal
deficit and the ``expenditure has seeped out of the hands of
Government'', Mr. V. Dhananjaya Kumar, Union Minister of State
for Finance, said here today.
'Bajrang Dal convention a success'
The VHP leader, Acharya Giriraj Kishore, today
claimed that the Bajrang Dal had succeeded in holding its
convention in Bhopal yesterday despite the State Government's
efforts to prevent them from doing so.
DD signs pact with TWI
Doordarshan's money-spinning spree over
international cricket coverage in India came to a climax today
with the public broadcaster signing $43.75 million (about Rs. 190
crore) pact with Transworld International-Stracon combine for
global marketing rights covering four-and-a-half years.
BJP, allies set to win in three States: survey
The BJP and its allies are set to sweep to
power in Bihar, Orissa and Haryana where Assembly elections are
being held now, India Today newsweekly said in a survey
published today.
