Pak. accuses India of firing on LoC
For the first time since it announced the policy of `maximum restraint' on the Line of Control (LoC) in December last, Pakistan accused India of indulging in ``artillery fire'' on the LoC and said it would retaliate if its troops were fired upon by the Indian troops.

'Cross-border terrorism was linked to Kashmir'
The Pakistan President, Gen. Pervez Musharraf, has claimed that India had agreed at the Agra summit to the `centrality of Kashmir' as the main cause that has bedevilled relations between India and Pakistan.

Pak. firing in Kargil continues
Pakistani troops opened fire on Indian positions in Kargil district of Jammu and Kashmir for the second successive day today, a defence spokesperson said. However, the intensity of the firing had reduced. The firing started around 4 p.m. today and there was no report of any casualty, he said.

Ex-UTI chief arrested
The former Unit Trust of India (UTI) chairman, Mr. P.S. Subramanyam, executive directors of UTI, Mr. M.M. Kapur and Mr. S.K. Basu and stock broker, Mr. Rakesh Mehta were arrested today by the Central Bureau of Investigation on charges of misappropriation of public funds to the tune of Rs. 32.8 crores and produced before a Special Court which remanded them to police custody till July 27.

Cabinet expansion likely today
Mr. Ajit Singh, the Rashtriya Lok Dal leader, is likely to be inducted in the Union Council of Ministers, tomorrow. The swearing-in ceremony is tentatively scheduled for tomorrow evening at the Rashtrapati Bhavan. Unless the Prime Minister, Mr. Atal Behari Vajpayee, succumbs to pressure at the last minute, Mr. Ajit Singh will be the sole entrant to the Union Cabinet.

'Sivaji' Ganesan dead
One of Tamil cinema's legendary actors, Mr. `Sivaji' Ganesan, died in Chennai on Saturday. He was 72.

Basic phone services for one company
In a major victory for the policy pushed by the Communications Minister, Mr. Ram Vilas Paswan, the Government today signed licence agreements for basic phone services for 16 States and cities with a private company, Reliance Communications.

Leaders turn attention to poverty, ecology
Leaders of the world's major industrial countries, struggling to regain control of a summit marred by a protester's death, said on Saturday that they were providing real help to the billion people in the world living in extreme poverty.

Mamata not in a hurry to return to NDA?
While the Trinamool Congress supremo, Ms. Mamata Banerjee, was today addressing a rally here to observe the `martyr's day', the party's rebel MP, Mr. Ajit Panja, also held an impressive rally in Chinsurah in Hooghly district. Both the warring factions claimed to have drawn the biggest crowd.

Mayawati expels three leaders
The Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) today expelled three senior leaders from the party for `anti-party activities'.

Could MEA spokesperson have gone beyond her brief?
As the dust begins to settle on the Agra summit and post-mortem gather momentum, ``media management'' entrusted to the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) has come in for sharp criticism.