Thursday, April 20, 2006, Chandigarh, India
Updated at 3:00 am (IST)

Curfew in Kathmandu

*Nepal releases 2 political detainees *Karan Singh arrives for talks with King Kathmandu, April 19 Nepal's royalist government freed the country's two top political prisoners on Wednesday, a sign that King Gyanendra may want to negotiate with anti-monarchy protesters who have brought the kingdom to a standstill. Editorial: Karan and the King

Nepalese political activists shout slogans during an anti-King Gyanendra protest rally in Kathmandu on Wednesday. — AFP photo

HC asks for police diary in Jessica case
New Delhi, April 19
A day after the Delhi High Court had granted bail to Jessica Lall murder case prime accused Manu Sharma and six other co-accused, it today issued direction to the Delhi police to place before it complete case diary, the most vital document in any criminal case while hearing a suo motu petition on alleged botching of investigation.

Govt cracks whip against Dogra, Ernst new envoy
New Delhi, April 19
In a firm action against defiant diplomat Harish Kumar Dogra, the Union Government has not only stripped him of his accreditation as an envoy to New Zealand but also appointed today a 1975-batch Indian Foreign Service officer, Mr K.P. Ernst, as his successor.

A TRIBUNE INVESTIGATION Farmhouses coming up in dried-up choes

Chandigarh, April 19
Hundreds of ecolo- gically- fragile seasonal rivulets (choes) criss-crossing the Shivalik foothills in Punjab are slowly vanishing. Land-hungry people are either buying the rights of riverbeds or illegally occupying the same to build farmhouses for themselves.
Farmhouses like these have come up on riverbeds along the Shivalik foothills in Punjab. In this picture a kutcha causeway can be seen passing through a choe and the farmhouse. — Tribune photo by Parvesh Chauhan

India win by 51 runs, level series
Abu Dhabi, April 19
Virender Sehwag overcame his worst slump in form to play a vital role in India’s emphatic 51-run series-equalling win in the two-match DLF Cup one-day cricket tournament against Pakistan here today. (Details on Sports page)

Japanese tourist raped in Rajasthan
Jaipur, April 19
A Japanese tourist alleged on Wednesday that she was raped by a guest house manager in the Hindu holy town of Pushkar in Rajasthan, the police said.

UPA changes Centre’s stand on Ayodhya
New Delhi, April 19
The UPA government today took dramatically opposite stand than that of its predecessor NDA in the Babri Masjid demolition case before the Liberhan Commission, accusing the BJP and other sangh parivar outfits of "conspiring" the demolition.

21 years gone, no data on Bhopal waste yet!
New Delhi, April 19
Even after 21 years of the Bhopal gas tragedy, one of the worst industrial disasters in the world, there is no comprehensive or scientific assessment of the exact depth or spread of tonnes of toxic wastes lying at the ill-fated Union Carbide Corporation (UCC) factory.

Normal to near-normal monsoon expected New Delhi, April 19 The government is expected to make public the monsoon predictions for 2006 next week. The Tribune, however, managed to get a sneak preview of the monsoon report that as for now predicts that it would be “normal to near-normal”.