Cong. may consider delinking formula
The Congress today indicated that it was willing to consider delinking of the Pondicherry issue vis-a-vis alliance for Assembly elections, but said no final decision has been taken.

Narayanan arrives in Port Louis
The President, Mr. K.R. Narayanan, the First Lady, Mrs. Usha Narayanan, and the Indian delegation arrived here early this evening to a warm welcome at the airport where the Mauritian Prime Minister, Sir Anerood Jugnauth, his wife and others received him.

Court asks Hindujas to give details of Bofors payment
The Delhi High Court today asked the Hinduja brothers, accused in the Rs. 64-crore Bofors payoffs case, to furnish on oath details of money they received from the company.

Rumour triggers tension in Maharashtra towns
Sporadic incidents of arson have been reported from several Maharashtrian towns following rumours that pages of a religious book were burnt in New Delhi.

PoK leaders may not get visa
The Centre is unlikely to give visa to the Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK)-based leader, Mr. Amanullah Khan, and others to visit India to attend Mr. G.M. Shah's conference in Jammu on ``In search of peace and solution''. Mr. Khan and 25 other ``leaders'' from the PoK and the Northern Areas have applied for visa from the Indian High Commission in Islamabad.

Stock markets continue to crash
The preventive measures by the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) notwithstanding, major stock exchanges in the country continued to crash on Friday, almost a repeat of the ``black Friday'' of March 2.

Protest against film
Protests over the screening of the controversial film `Chori Chori Chupke Chupke' by Shiv Sena activists took an unexpected turn today when two activists consumed poisonous pills in a cinema in this city.

Balco switch-off
With the smelting plant of the Bharat Aluminium Company Limited (BALCO) being switched off today, fears of new management declaring a `lock-out' were being expressed.

Maran presents Rs. 30 cr. cheque for quake relief
The Commerce and Industry Minister, Mr. Murasoli Maran, today presented a cheque of Rs. 30 crores on behalf of the Tamil Nadu Government to the Prime Minister, Mr. Atal Behari Vajpayee, for the PM's National Relief Fund towards the Gujarat earthquake relief work.

Terrorism to feature in talks with Kofi Annan
India is expected to raise developments in Afghanistan, international terrorism and the expansion of the United Nations Security Council during the visit of the U.N. Secretary-General, Mr. Kofi Annan, next week.