Tuesday, July 2, 2002, Chandigarh, India
 Updated at 3:00 am (IST)

Shatrughan, Jana, Verma inducted into Cabinet
New Delhi, July 1
Weighed in by the caste factor and endeavouring to provide greater representation to the South, Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee inducted 13 ministers — four of Cabinet rank and nine Ministers of State — here this evening.

        Family touch to swearing-in
        Editorial: Will new-old team deliver?

 
Newly sworn-in Ministers with President K.R. Narayanan, Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee and Deputy Prime Minister L.K. Advani at Rashtrapati Bhavan in the Capital on Monday. 
— Tribune photo Mukesh Aggarwal

Reshuffle denotes PM’s demotion: Cong
New Delhi, July 1
The Congress said today that the reshuffle of the BJP-led government denoted the demotion of Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee, heralded the dominance of the BJP and the total eclipse of the NDA, besides indicating that the BJP was brazenly getting back to its original Hindutva agenda.

       PM’s position in peril: Paswan
      Advani to be helping hand: PM

Musharraf ‘not worried’ over Cabinet reshuffle
Islamabad, July 1
Pakistan’s President Pervez Musharraf said today that progress in resolving tensions with India was possible through dialogue with whoever was in charge in New Delhi.

Venkaiah takes over as BJP chief
New Delhi, July 1
Mr Muppavarapu Venkaiah Naidu today took over as the President of the BJP, replacing Mr Jana Krishnamurthi as part of Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee’s twin plans of revamping the party and reshuffling the Union Cabinet.
In video (28k, 56k)

       Nation page: Change is for the better: Jana

30 Afghans killed  in US bombing
Kabul, July 1
At least 30 members of an Afghan wedding party were killed and many more wounded when a US plane bombed a village in the central province of Uruzgan today, Afghan officials and residents said. The bombing happened at 01.00 hrs (local time). 

Probe indicts Punjabi varsity Dean
Patiala, July 1
A controversy in Punjabi University has arisen with the submission of a report by a former bureaucrat who acted as inquiry officer during the tenure of ousted Vice- Chancellor Dr Jasbir Singh Ahluwalia indicting Dean, Academics, Dr U.C. Singh saying that he was not eligible for appointment as Professor and that the appointment be cancelled.

Infiltration bid foiled Srinagar, July 1 The Army today foiled a Pakistan-backed intrusion bid in the Kupwara sector killing two militants and asserted that infiltration across the Line of Control in Jammu and Kashmir was going on in spite of Islamabad’s promises to stop it. The infiltration bid, assisted and supported by the Pakistan army, was foiled by troops deployed in Kupwara sector early this morning, an Army spokesman said.