Friday, May 24, 2002, Chandigarh, India
 Updated at 3:00 am (IST)

We won’t allow Pak’s proxy war: Vajpayee
Srinagar, May 23 Short of declaring war against Pakistan, Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee today said India would no longer allow Islamabad to continue its proxywar and stated, “We are preparing ourselves for a decisive victory against the enemy’’. In video (28k, 56k)	Factfile *  India preparing for decisive battle *  Situation on border challenging *  Dialogue process in J&K to continue *  Match words with action, Musharraf told

         Editorial: Vajpayee’s warning
         J&K page: PM chairs Unified Command Council meeting

PM announces Rs 6,165-crore package for J&K
Srinagar, May 23
Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee today announced a Rs 6,165-crore economic package for the development of Jammu and Kashmir.

Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee addresses a news conference in Srinagar on Thursday.
— Reuters photo

PM invites Hurriyat for talks
Dialogue without Pak useless, says Bhat
Srinagar, May 23
Ruling out the involvement of Pakistan in talks on the Jammu and Kashmir issue, Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee today said his government was open to discussions with all legitimate groups, including the All-Party Hurriyat Conference to bring about peace and development in the state.

90 houses burnt in Pak shelling
18,000 flee border villages
Jammu, May 23
Ninety houses have been gutted and nearly 18,000 persons have migrated from 50 border villages of Kathua district in Jammu and Kashmir following shelling and firing by Pakistani troops from across the international border since yesterday, official sources said here today.
In video (28k, 56k)

A girl and a boy along with elders leave their village after Pakistan mortar shelling at Chadwal, 70 km south of Jammu, on Thursday. — Reuters photo

Translate words into action, Pak told
New Delhi, May 23
India tonight sought action from Pakistan rather than words and expressed scepticism over President Pervez Musharraf’s statement that Islamabad must stop sending terrorists into India in a bid to avert a war.

• Check infiltration into valley, USA tells Pak

• Pak to withdraw troops from western border

28 PCS officers lose jobs
18 nominated ones reverted
New Delhi, May 23
The Punjab Government has proceeded against 46 PCS (Executive) officers, now under probation, and who were selected in 1999 during the tenure of controversial Punjab Public Service Commission Chairman Ravinder Pal Singh Sidhu.

• None to be spared: CM

• PCS papers were on sale in ’93, ’95

SAD MLAs to court arrest 
Badal submits memo to Governor
Chandigarh, May 23
The Shiromani Akali Dal President, Mr Parkash Singh Badal, today led a delegation of party MLAs to Punjab Raj Bhavan and submitted a memorandum to the Governor, Lt-Gen J.F.R. Jacob (retd.).

Chief Justice initiates probe Lawyers to abstain from work today Chandigarh, May 23 Weeks after reports appeared in the media on the alleged involvement of High Court Judges in the PPSC scam, the Chief Justice has initiated an inquiry into the allegations. Dissatisfied with his claim, however, the members of the Punjab and Haryana High Court Bar Association today resolved to hand over a memorandum to the Governors of the two states on May 28, besides abstaining from work tomorrow. “Three cheers for The Tribune”