Bandaranaike is dead
COLOMBO, Oct 10— Srimavo Bandaranaike, the world’s first elected woman Prime Minister and mother of Sri Lankan President Chandrika Kumaratunga, died today following a cardiac arrest after she had cast her vote in the country’s Parliamentary elections. 

Surgery on PM successful
MUMBAI, Oct 10 — The 90-minute knee replacement surgery carried out on Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee this morning at Mumbai’s Breach Candy Hospital was successful, said doctors attending on the Prime Minister. Mr Vajpayee was resting peacefully, it was learnt.

Trains diverted, cancelled
5 unions to jam rail traffic on Oct 13
AMBALA, Oct 10 — As many as 14 express and passenger trains were today diverted or cancelled in the wake of rail roko agitation in Punjab by the Bharatiya Kisan Union (BKU) supporters at Maur Mandi under the Ambala-Bathinda rail section of Northern Railway.

Growing frustration of kisans
The paddy crisis in Punjab is getting more and more serious with every passing day. It is shameful that the governments in the state and at the Centre have failed to come quickly to the aid of the kisans, who have to suffer because they have made the country more than self-sufficient in foodgrains! An incisive study of the problem by Hari Jaisingh appears on Edit page today.

Khanna mandi full to brim KHANNA (Ludhiana), Oct 10 — The condition of glut of paddy in grain markets of Ludhiana district and especially in Asia’s biggest grain market here has reached a critical stage. With the two markets in this town filled to the brim, farmers have no option but to use the footpath and berms along the Grand Trunk Road to pile up their paddy produce. Rice specifications relaxed