2 Punjab XENs suspended
Flaws in MIMIT complex
CHANDIGARH, Aug 25 — After dithering over a month, the Punjab Urban Development Department has placed under suspension two executive engineers and ordered repatriation of a Superintending Engineer (SE) to his parent Public Works Department (PWD). 

Vajpayee in no hurry
Induction of new ministers
NEW DELHI, Aug 25 — The Prime Minister, Mr Atal Behari Vajpayee, will have to bridge the gaps in his jumbo Union Council of Ministers sooner than later even as low key lobbying by ministerial aspirants has begun.

BJP to decide on agenda at Nagpur
NEW DELHI, Aug 25 — The two-day meeting of the national council of the Bharatiya Janata Party, commencing from August 27 at Nagpur, will not only instal a Dalit Bangaru Laxman as the new president of the party but will also set the direction for the 20-year-old organisation.

SC: don’t take rape cases lightly
Himachal HC order reversed
NEW DELHI, Aug 25 — A three-Judge Bench of the Supreme Court headed by Chief Justice A.S. Anand, while reversing a judgment of the Himachal Pradesh High Court which confirmed the acquittal of an accused in a rape case, has taken exception to the High Court and the Sessions Court, Chamba division, dealing with the case “so lightly”.

Death is just a shell-burst away SOMEWHERE IN THE NORTHERN SECTOR, Aug 25 — Rifleman Rajkumar stays some 3000 km away from his family, but seldom feels homesick. Posted barely 100 metres from the Line of Control (LoC), he has a job demanding both dedication and teamwork. He has a set of colleagues so intimately friendly with each other that the young jawan (name changed) has little time and still less the urge to think about home.