THE PAKISTAN CRICKET TOUR
300 Sena 'commandos' in Delhi to prevent Test
Poonam Singh, general secretary of the UP unit of the Sena, said the 'commandos', who have been trained in the Chambal valley, will go to Madras if the first Test is to be staged there.
OTHER REPORTS
Vajpayee postpones Cabinet expansion
The decision comes in the wake of reported differences between the BJP and its allies over the allotment of plum portfolios. The expansion is now expected to take place at the end of January.
Mamata's flip-flops rile Trinamul MPs
With the question of joining the Vajpayee ministry becoming a bone of contention within the party, it will not be a surprise if Banerjee now threatens to withdraw support unless she is made railway minister. But then, it is to be seen how many of her MPs will back her on this issue.
India rejects regional non-proliferation
"If some nuclear powers are here to stay, including those in our immediate neighbourhood, then India has no choice but to maintain its minimal, assured nuclear/missile capabilities," Deputy Chief of Mission in the Washington embassy T P Sreenivasan said.
US to try new tack in Talbott-Singh talks
President Clinton's National Security Adviser Samuel 'Sandy' Berger said if there was enough progress in meeting American non-proliferation concerns, Clinton might visit New Delhi and Islamabad by the end of 1999.
Apang gets another jolt, 2 more ministers quit
In separate but identical letters addressed to the CM, T G Rinpoche, minister of state for trade and commerce, and Naresh Glow, minister of state for social welfare, resigned, citing, among other reasons, "your (Apang's) lack of faith in the council of ministers, encouraging dynastic rule, and disparity in fund allocations".
'My husband was killed in fake encounter'
Pushpa, wife of Suresh Waghmare alias Dadu, who was allegedly killed in an encounter with the Bombay police last week, has submitted a memorandum to Maharashtra Director-General of Police Arvind Inamdar demanding an inquiry into the incident.
Tohra urged to rise against Badal
Akali Dal (Democratic) president Kuldip Singh Wadala has invited the Shiromani Gurdwara Prabandhak Committee president to join the forces ranged against the Punjab chief minister.
Photo exhibition brings Delhi's phatphatias back to life
Samar S Jodha's camera traces the life and times of the trikes that ruled the capital's streets for four decades before being ordered off by the Supreme Court last October.
Last elephant march comes to an end in Kerala
Several factors contributed to the discontinuation of the pageant. These include the growing apathy of foreign tourists to artificial festivals, their changing preference from package tours to individual tours, and the feeling that the march amounts to cruelty to the beasts.
JMM registers third split
Dissident leaders of the Shibu Soren faction, led by former general secretary Sudhir Mahato and central secretary Prabhakar Tirkey, have joined hands with the Mardi group to float a new political party, the Akhil Jharkhand Mukti Morcha.
Where the black buck is for worshipping
For the villagers of Baguda in south Orissa, the rare antelope is a sign of prosperity. Not to be preyed on with a gun, but to be prayed to.
THE REDIFF CHAT
'There are clean Indian politicians like Vajpayee whom no scandal has touched'
'Politicians will continue to interfere and make unreasonable demands. It is always possible to stand up to them as I did. Most politicians want to eat their cake and have it too,' former CBI director Joginder Singh tells The Rediff Chat.
THE REDIFF INTERVIEW
'The US does have important interests in both China and Pakistan that it is not going to sacrifice'
'India dominates the region. It should do so by consensus rather than by power. I think the BJP understands this. India today appears like a great country dragged down by its relations with other countries. India has to find a way of dealing with Pakistan so as to not always be dragged down by that country.' Dr Stephen Cohen, senior fellow at the Brookings Institute, Washington, and an old India hand, gives a recipe for a nation he clearly loves.
THE REDIFF COLUMNISTS
Failing Hopes, Rising Crime
'Cutting across caste and creed and community, young people are migrating towards the criminal underworld. It offers them excitement, a quickening of the pulse, the rush of adrenaline in the blood. It also offers them the opportunity to punish those whom they see as bloodsuckers in a corrupt and unequal world,' says Pritish Nandy.
And the tap tells a tale
'The maharaja gives a few tribal families a plot of land. Years later, the Baroda Municipality gives the colony that has formed there a tap, their only source of water. Some more years later, the same municipality demolishes about half the houses in the colony, those nearest the tap, to make way for new multi-storeyed buildings. Today, the uprooted families live on top of the shit that flows from those buildings,' says Dilip D'Souza.
THE WEATHER
Cold kills two more in Rajasthan
The deaths were reported from Karauli and Alwar, taking the toll in the state this winter to seven.
JANUARY 13
Sonia's quota for women upsets senior Congressmen
Gandhi wants to induct more women into the CWC and the AICC by March. Party functionaries maintain that she has just two options: to either sack male members or expand the committees.
The hidden agenda behind Advani's 'Kamaraj Plan' for BJP
The plan, where senior leaders quit the BJP governments in the states and at the Centre, could save the party any embarrassment should charges be framed against sitting ministers in the Ayodhya case.
THE BHAGWAT DISMISSAL
Delhi HC calls for all the records
The court also overruled the contention of Additional Solicitor-General C S Vaidyanathan that the petitioner, Wing Commander (retd) H M Sethi, has no locus standi in the matter as he is not the affected party and the issue is not of public interest.
THE CHRISTIAN ATTACKS ROW
Violence resumes in the Dangs
Two chapels were set ablaze barely a day after Prime Minister A B Vajpayee's visit to the district, when he gave a clean chit to the state administration.
Hindus order Christians away from tribal village near Nasik
The Christians of Kayre-Sadadpada in Peth taluka are living in the shadow of fear following an order from the 'Dharmaraksha Samiti' to leave the place by March 31.
Pawar assails PM's stand on attacks
The leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha said Vajpayee's statement that a nation-wide debate is needed on the issue of conversions was uncalled for and would create more tension.
RSS welcomes PM's statement on conversions
Sarsanghachalak Rajendra Singh said Vajpayee's call assumes significance in the light of the incidents in Gujarat which "have been 'blown out of proportion'' by the media.
VHP claims Hinduism is in danger
National convenor Acharya Dharmendra said the government must act in a way that issues like the attacks on Christians in the Dangs do not draw the attention of the international community.
Reconversion isn't conversion, claims VHP
The Vishwa Hindu Parishad has stepped up its demand for the enforcement of a legislation banning conversions in the country.
'Conversions have increased after Sonia became Congress chief'
The VHP's international secretary general, Praveen Togadia, said the international conspiracy at the behest of foreign powers and the ''church'' is meant to encourage separatist tendencies in the country.
THE ANJANA MISHRA RAPE CASE
Opposition 'exaggerating' rape, says Patnaik
The Orissa chief minister has alleged that some individuals and the opposition are going all out to defame him.
THE PAKISTAN CRICKET TOUR
PM hopes 'better sense' will prevail on Thackeray
Vajpayee said he did not approve of the Shiv Sainiks digging up the Ferozeshah Kotla ground and the pat on the back they subsequently received from their chief Bal Thackeray.
OTHER REPORTS
Cabinet expansion on Jan 15, says PM
Contrary to his earlier announcement that he would never contest a parliamentary election again, Vajpayee today gave ample indications that he is not averse to trying his luck at the hustings.
Vajpayee admits casteism has affected BJP
The prime minister also admitted that the conflicts within the once-disciplined party had become public. "Various steps are being taken at Delhi and Lucknow to improve [the situation]," he said.
Karnataka Janata Dal settles internal squabbles
Party president Sharad Yadav has set things right, letting J H Patel continue as chief minister and making the neutral K Siddaramaiah the state unit chief.
Sabarimala tantri takes on board
The confrontation between the priest and the Travancore Devaswom Board, which administers the Ayyappa temple, has struck a discordant note in the spiritual ambience of the hill shrine in Kerala at the fag end of the makaravilakku pilgrimage season.
Crashed DRDO plane was on test flight
The aircraft, belonging to the Centre for Airborne Systems, was fitted with a turning rotordome and was a technology demonstrator for an indigenous airborne early warning capability.
Army expects increased Pak action along J&K border
A senior officer said that last year India inflicted a total of 202 casualties on the Pakistani forces while 822 bunkers and field fortifications were destroyed.
N-powers must demand safeguards before dealing with India, Pakistan: UN
Otherwise such deals could unleash commercial pressures to abandon a responsible global standard, said UN Undersecretary-General for Disarmament Jayantha Dhanapala.
Jemima Khan charged with smuggling
Her husband and Pakistani politician Imran Khan claims it's a trumped-up charge, made because he criticised the Nawaz Sharief government.
THE REDIFF INTERVIEW
'Everybody in Wynad knew Varghese was brutally murdered by the police after torture'
'Women were always in an inferior position in the [Naxalite] movement. The men either showed a protective approach towards women or treated them as a sexual commodity.' Former revolutionary Ajitha, the woman who exposed the Calicut sex scandal involving a top Kerala politician, speaks out in a freewheeling interview.
THE REDIFF COLUMNISTS
To convert or not is an individual's right
'Let these self-styled defenders of the faith usher in a genuine renaissance and not focus on breaking masjids and chapels, and they will find that there is no need to ban conversions. Nobody will want to convert from a faith that treats them as equal human beings, regardless of caste, community, creed or colour,' says Saisuresh Sivaswamy.
Mission: Conversion
'With the doctrinal foundation of Christianity being in trouble, leading Catholics are reportedly distraught with the feeling that the Church is collapsing. Indeed, Dr Rajaram believes that "Christianity has collapsed in Europe" and that the Catholic Church, having realised that fact, has come to the conclusion that "without its expansion in India, organised Christianity will be finished",' says Arvind Lavakare.
What did Laloo do in jail?
He prayed. From the "core of my heart".
THE WEATHER
Cold kills 13 in Bihar
The deaths were all reported from Barh division, where the toll has now reached 24.
JANUARY 12
Vajpayee begins talks to expand Cabinet
With the Trinamul Congress agreeing to join the government, the PM's problems have worsened. Not only has Mamata Banerjee demanded Cabinet berths for three of her senior colleagues, she wants Ajit Panja to be the railway minister and Sudip Bandopadhya to take over the industries department.
Trinamul Congress ready to join government
In a reversal of the party's earlier stand, Ajit Kumar Panja said they had staked claim to the railway and programme implementation portfolios.
Rallies turn violent in Bangalore, Hegde's house attacked
The police resorted to a baton-charge and burst teargas shells to disperse stone-throwing mobs in the city. The police chief said the attack on Hegde's house seemed pre-planned.
George may sign several defence deals in France
While New Delhi's official line is that the visit is not for signing contracts, a report from Paris said the defence minister's discussions will focus on buying 10 Mirage-2000 warplanes, engines for the advanced light helicopter, electronic components for the MiG-21 fleet, and advanced jet trainers.
THE CHRISTIAN ATTACKS ROW
PM refuses to sack Gujarat government
Vajpayee also the rejected the idea of banning organisations like the Vishwa Hindu Parishad and the Bajrang Dal.
BJP calls for rules to govern conversions
Welcoming the PM's call for a national debate on the subject, party vice-president K L Sharma said religious conversions are "at times" being carried out through allurements and "misguidance".
THE ANJANA MISHRA RAPE CASE
Special squad arrests one man
Police claim that the man, Padia Sahoo, has confessed to the crime.
Orissa government orders judicial inquiry
But Mishra moved the high court, praying for a CBI inquiry into the incident.
Protests rocks Orissa
Widespread protests, demonstrations, burning of effigies and road blockades were organised in the capital Bhubaneswar.
OTHER REPORTS
Kalyan Singh will remain CM
The BJP leadership arrived at the decision after the Uttar Pradesh chief minister met Union Home Minister L K Advani and party president Kushabhau Thakre in New Delhi.
Jaya gets a breather
The Supreme Court refused to stay the Madras high court judgment holding that she is entitled to copies of material records in Tamil in connection with a disproportionate assets case.
DRDO plane crashes near Madras
The four senior DRDO officials and four crew members aboard the Avro are believed to be dead.
Union forest minister promises 'green guard' in every village
Suresh Prabhu said the government is making efforts to bring in maximum participation from the citizens in the conservation of natural wealth. The 'green guards' are one such attempt.
Dwarka museum may throw light on Indus civilisation
The Marine Archaeology Centre and the National Institute of Oceanography have jointly submitted a proposal to the Gujarat government to preserve the submerged site.
Moderate Sikhs oppose jathedar's visit to US
They fear the visit could result in bloodshed. But supporters hope the American government that had revoked his visitor's visa will relent.
THE REDIFF COLUMNISTS
We told you so!
'The reason why the fascists have not taken over is Vajpayee. Proving conventional wisdom right on his essential decency, he has held firm, even going so far as to propose declaring 1999 as the Year of the Christian at a time when his party cadres were running around looking for Bibles to burn and bishops to bully,' says Vir Sanghvi.
Fallen in the fray
'The sacking of Admiral Bhagwat has more to do with Bhagwat the man than Bhagwat the CNS. Therefore this act of the government should not be construed, as in Pakistan, of putting the military in its place,' says General Ashok K Mehta.
Bihar: Remarks against PM will prove costly, BJP warns Rabri
Karnataka: CM orders judicial inquiry into Suratkal riots
Kerala: JD minister resigns
Uttar Pradesh: Vajpayee to visit Lucknow
THE WEATHER
Cold wave worsens in Rajasthan
Night temperatures have further dipped by two to three degrees at many places.
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