Tuesday, May 21, 2002, Chandigarh, India
 Updated at 3:00 am (IST)

Six Pak troops killed
10 bunkers smashed; jawan dies in attack on Army camp
Jammu, May 20
Six Pakistani soldiers were killed and 10 enemy bunkers destroyed in retaliatory firing and shelling by Indian troops as heavy exchange of firing continued until this morning in the Poonch and Rajouri sectors of Jammu and Kashmir, a defence spokesman said.
In Videos: 
Security forces bust a major communication network of Hizbul Mujahideen in Kashmir. (28k, 56k)

Indian and Pakistani troops continue to trade fire along the Line of Control (LoC). (28k, 56k) 

GRAPHIC: MAJOR TERRORIST TRAINING CAMPS IN PoK AND PAKISTAN Indian soldiers sight a missile launcher near the Attari border with Pakistan in Amritsar on Monday. — Reuters

George rushes to Rajasthan
To assess war preparedness
New Delhi, May 20
Taking into account the severe heatwave conditions sweeping through the North India, Defence Minister George Fernandes has airdashed to forward locations in Rajasthan with a view to make an on-the-spot assessment of the troops’ preparedness to launch a possible offensive against Pakistan.

• Vajpayee’s 3-day visit to J&K from today

• India to sensitise world on Pak’s role

• Hurriyat for dialogue, not war, with Pak

Army needs just 2-day notice
Offensive against Pakistan
New Delhi, May 20
The Indian Army is understood to have told the Cabinet Committee on Security that it required just two days’ notice to launch any kind of offensive against Pakistan, but the CCS is still to take a final decision on the military option.

More IAF squadrons deployed
Jammu, May 20
Following reports that more than 12,000 Pakistani troops have been deployed in the “thrust area” across Poonch and Rajouri sectors, the IAF has received the thumbs-up signal with the deployment of additional squadrons in the Northern Command.

• Army asked to consult War Book

• Editorial: Unified command

Ghandhi Western Air Command AOC-in-C
New Delhi, May 20
In a strongest possible signal from the government till now of taking action against Pakistan for its continued support to cross-border terrorism, a key position was filled in the Indian Air Force today by appointing Air Marshal A.R. Ghandhi as the AOC-in-C of the strategic WAC.

Pak moves troops to Sutlej-Ravi corridor
New Delhi, May 20
Over the past three days, Pakistan is reported to have moved the major part of its strategic reserve corp based in frontier town of Peshawar to bolster its defences facing India on the Ferozepore-Ganganagar sector.

• Pakistan deploys Shaheen missiles

• Pak meeting

Badal flays Cong, calls PAC meeting
May announce indefinite morcha
Chandigarh, May 20
Shell-shocked by developments during the past few days, including the stunning defeat of the SAD-BJP alliance in the municipal corporation elections and the murder of the party’s Vidhan Sabha candidate from Valtoha and six others yesterday, the Shiromani Akali Dal chief, Mr Parkash Singh Badal, has convened an emergency meeting of the PAC of his party at Kalgidhar Nivas here on May 23 at 10 a.m.

• Badal asks Amarinder to quit

• Killings not political, says Amarinder

Minister booked in Gurdial murder case
Amritsar, May 20
Even as the Tarn Taran police has conducted a series of raids to nab those involved in the sensational broad daylight murder of Senior Akali leader and five others, two persons whose names figured in the FIR today surrendered in the judicial court, at Patti. 

Kurukshetra to be model of tourist attraction Kurukshetra, May 20 The Union Ministry of Tourism has sanctioned a bonanza of projects worth crores of rupees for the Mahabharata-age twin towns of Thanesar and Kurukshetra.