Jaswant is Defence Minister
The External Affairs Minister, Mr. Jaswant Singh, has been appointed the country's new Defence Minister in place of Mr. George Fernandes who resigned on account of the tehelka.com ``expose''.

Sonia calls for 'all-out war'
The Congress president, Ms. Sonia Gandhi, today gave a clarion call to her partymen to wage a relentless battle against the BJP, and not to spare any effort to ensure the exit of the Central Government.

Were Russian shells good enough?
The reference to the Rs. 150-crore Krasnopol artillery shells contract in the Tehelka tapes has indicated that the deal was not about corruption alone; the quality of the shells may also have been compromised on.

BJP has become 'Congressised': RSS
The RSS today charged that the BJP had become ``Congressised'' and that it was the long Congress rule that had corrupted the entire system and made it rotten. The RSS had always wanted the BJP not to imitate the Congress style, the RSS sarsanghchalak, Mr. K.S. Sudershan, today said to the press on the concluding day of the national council session being held here.

Hizb calls for strike in Kashmir
The Hizbul Mujahideen has given a call for strike in Kashmir on March 20 to protest the alleged manhandling of the senior All-Party Hurriyat Conference (APHC) leader, Syed Ali Shah Geelani, by the police.

Kanpur toll up
Unabated violence in Kanpur led to at least eight more casualties taking the toll to 17 in three days of communal violence.

Nadeem wins case
In a major setback to the prosecution in the Gulshan Kumar murder case, the British House of Lords has rejected an appeal by the Indian Government for extradition of prime accused Bollywood music director, Mr. Nadeem Akhtar Saifi, to India, to stand trial.