Chautala heads 11-member govt
KURUKSHETRA, March 2 — The Haryana Governor, Mr Mahabir Prasad, here today administered the oath of office and secrecy to an 11-member ministry headed by Mr Om Prakash Chautala, comprising five Cabinet Ministers and five Ministers of State.

Mr Om Prakash Chautala meets guests after the swearing-in ceremony (from left) Mr Sahib Singh Verma, Bollywood star Aditya Pancholi, Mr Madan Lal Khurana and Dr Farooq Abdullah in Kurukshetra on Thursday. — Tribune photo by Manoj Mahajan

Advani rejects Oppn demand
Balayogi meets PM on RSS issue
NEW DELHI, March 2 — Lok Sabha Speaker G.M.C. Balayogi today had a meeting with Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee and asked him to take the initiative to end the week-long stand-off on the RSS issue but the government ruled out giving a constitutional directive to Gujarat to withdraw its controversial order.

Slogans greet Governor
Oppn boycotts Shastri’s address
SHIMLA, March 2 — The Governor, Mr Vishnu Kant Shastri was greeted with slogans of “RSS pracharak go back” by the Opposition Congress legislators when he arrived in the Vidhan Sabha to deliver his maiden address on the opening of the Budget session here today.

Bibi Jagir’s terms for appearance
AMRITSAR, March 2 — In a significant development, Bibi Jagir Kaur, President, SGPC who was excommunicated from the Sikh Panth through a controversial edict, has agreed to appear before Akal Takht if directed by the five Sikh High Priests of all Takhts.

Murder, rape convicts
Slap heavy fines on heinous crime convicts
CHANDIGARH, March 2 — The Punjab and Haryana High Court today took exception to the manner in which trial courts impose petty fines on persons convicted of murder, rape and other crime. Converting the death sentence awarded to Santokh Singh, a resident of Jhaloor village in Sangrur district, into life imprisonment by the Sessions Judge for murdering his sister-in-law and injuring his nephew and niece, Mr Justice Jawahar Lal Gupta and Mr Justice Mehtab Singh held that the amount of fine should have a rational relationship to the loss.

Punjab bans fertiliser sale
BATHINDA, March 2 — Punjab government has imposed temporary ban on the sale of fertiliser in the state till further orders. This was disclosed here today by Mr Deep Singh Sahota, Director, Agriculture, Punjab. He added that all Chief Agriculture Officers (CAOs) of all districts of Punjab had been asked to send the information of stock of fertiliser with the dealers in their respective areas to the head office at the earliest.