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Vajpayee arrives in Beijing

          Beijing, June 22: Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee arrived here on Sunday for a six-day official visit. The special flight of Air India touched down at Beijing International Airport shortly after 1630 IST. Vajpayee was received at the airport by Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Wang Yi and the Indian Ambassador to China Shivshankar Menon.(Contd)

Border dispute not to block Indo-Chinese co-operation: Envoy   (REPORT)
Tiananmen Square now a favoured tourist spot  (REPORT)

Ayodhya solution by July 6, says Sankaracharya

          Chennai, June 22: Kanchi Sankaracharya Sri Jayendra Saraswathi on Sunday said a solution to the vexed Ayodhya issue would be definitely found by July 6. Talking to the media after his 90-minute meeting with Union Finance Minister Jaswant Singh and Defence Minister George Fernandes on the issue, he said the All-India Muslim Personal Law Board has said it would meet in July to discuss his proposals.

          Jaswant Singh said, " Any speculation that George Fernandes and I came here on a mission is baseless." Although George Fernandes, meanwhile, kept away from disclosing anything, he said: "Any initiative is welcome and this initiative by the Sankaracharya is more welcome ." This is not the 75-year old Kanchi Sankaracharya's first effort at peace. He said, "I am not in a position to disclose anything, everything should be clear for media by the 6th of next month."

Benazir, Nawaz both coming back home on same plane? (Go To Top)

          London, June 22: Pakistan's former prime ministers Benazir Bhutto and Nawaz Sharif contemplate coming back home on the same plane. They have reportedly decided to challenge the "president in uniform". They also plan to launch a decisive struggle against the proposed Constitutional amendments in the garb of Legal Framework Order (LFO). The News quoted head of PPP media office Farhatullah Babar as saying: "There is a possibility of both the former prime ministers returning to Pakistan together on the same plane. The situation is changing very fast and there are several forward movements in the thinking of ARD, which is considering this issue as well."

          Their return would be a rapturous and titillating occasion for a section of Pakistani leadership who had been persuading both during their respective governments to work closely for mutual reconciliation aimed at obviating their differences, added Babar. During her recent visit to Europe, Benazir sounded very optimistic on the future of her struggle for the restoration of democracy in Pakistan. She said her party was in consultation with the PML-N and other Opposition parties at the forum of Alliance for the Restoration of Democracy (ARD), which would take a decision on the modalities of her return to Pakistan.

A Hurriyat on the other side (Go To Top)

          Islamabad, June 22: Now, Pakistan-occupied-Kashmir has its own Hurriyat. Formulated exactly on the lines the All Parties Hurriyat Conference (APHC), the one-point agenda of the All Parties National Alliance (APNA), which according to them is a "holy alliance of nationalists and political groups", is to liberate Kashmir from both India and Pakistan. The Alliance has come out in the open criticising the Pakistan government's policy over the Kashmir issue. They say successive governments in Pakistan have done nothing except making the issue complex while unnecessarily prolonging it.

          Rejecting the "formulas" proposed by Pakistani governments, including the Chenab formula, the group says the Kashmir issue must be resolved according to the wishes and desires of the Kashmiris. "Chenab formula is not the solution of issue of Kashmir. We reject all such formulas that are against our motherland's integrity and sovereignty. Only Kashmiri nation reserves the right to decide about their motherland without complying to international pressure", said Wajahat Hasan Khan while addressing a press conference here on Saturday, the News reported.

          He said, "State of Jammu and Kashmir is a disputed territory and not part of either India or Pakistan legally speaking. So both countries must withdraw troops from ceasefire line and international peacekeeping force must be deployed along the borders of Kashmir. Trading of shelling and firing is against international laws."

Three-day police remand for Shilpa's father (Go To Top)

          Surat (Gujarat), June 22: A local court in Surat on Sunday remanded Surendra Shetty, father of film actress Shilpa Shetty, to three-day police custody. Shetty faces charges in an alleged extortion case linked to the underworld. "The police had filed a remand application and then the court had called for a date for hearing. After hearing arguments from both the sides, the court said that till June 24 he will be sent to remand," said Jatin Gandhi, Shetty's lawyer. Police had registered a case against Shetty, his wife and a gangster for allegedly extorting money from the owner of a garments company, to recover eight million rupees payable to Shilpa, who had acted in an advertisement film produced by the company.

Two Congress leaders shot dead in Bhopal (Go To Top)

          Bhopal, June 22: Two Congress leaders, Dilip Sharma and Yuginder Udwe, were shot dead here on Sunday when they were returning after announcing the panchayat election results, which were won by their party. Police arrested two suspects in this connection.

Our Sukhois can match F-16s: Fernandes (Go To Top)

          Pune, June 22: Defence Minister George Fernandes on Sunday said the country need not worry about F-16 fighter planes Pakistan plans to get from the United States, as "we have our Sukhois to match". "First, the US has denied the report that they are intending to sell F-16 to Pakistan", Fernandes told mediapersons on the sidelines of his historic 40-minute flying sortie on board the IAF frontline SU-30 MKI from the Pune airbase. "Secondly, even if we assume that they are going to sell it, we need not have any reason to worry about it as we have our own best aircraft," he said. Most of the armoury of Pakistan is either US made or made in China, hence we have no reason to worry about it as it is a business deal between two countries, he added.

Trishul missile successfully test-fired (Go To Top)

          Balasore, June 22: India's most sophisticated short range missile Trishul was successfully test-fired from the Integrated Test Range (ITR) at Chandipur, about 15 km from here, on Sunday. Indigenously developed by the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO), the surface-to-air missile has a triple battlefield role for the Army, Air Force and Navy, has a range of 500 metres and can carry a 15 kg warhead.

Iranian opposition leader held in France (Go To Top)

          Paris, June 22: Maryam Rajavi, the figurehead leader of the Iranian People's Mujahedeen movement, was placed in detention early Sunday in Paris, the News quoted her lawyer Henri Leclerc as saying. Rajavi, wife of Massoud Rajavi who is the dissident movement's military leader, had earlier been placed under judicial investigation by anti-terrorist judge for conspiring with a terrorist organisation. She was ordered detained after a two-hour hearing before a special judge who decides on the question of release or incarceration, and taken to prison.

Vajpayee arrives in Beijing (Go To Top)

          (Contd) Vajpayee is visiting China at the invitation of his Chinese counterpart Wen Jiabao with whom he would hold official talks on Monday on a wide range of bilateral, regional and international issues of common concern. Apart from Wen, Vajpayee would also have talks with the entire top Chinese leadership, including President Hu Jintao and Chairman of the Central Military Commission Jiang Zemin.

B'day in the plane      Aboard Prime Minister's special aircraft, June 22: Ajay Bisaria, private secretary to Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee, on Sunday celebrated his birthday 39,000 feet above sea level, while entering the Chinese airspace. A chocolate cake was distributed by Vajpayee's foster daughter Namrita and son-in-law Rajan Bhattacharya. There was an atmosphere of bonhomie and all including the mediapersons wished Bisaria many happy returns of the day with loud clappings.

          Earlier, Vajpayee told reporters at the New Delhi airport that building better ties with Beijing would top his agenda during the visit. "We give priority to India's relations with China. Both the countries have very old traditions and civilizations. Both the clountries want to progress. I am sure that in this connection, my visit would be fruitful," Vajpayee said. Vajpayee's visit would mark an Indian Prime Minister's fourth visit to China in more than 50 years.

          While the vexed boundary dispute is expected to figure prominently in the talks this time, economic ties may just dominate the agenda. India and China are still trying to agree to final demarcation of their 4,500 km border, which stretches through remote and mountainous terrain. Beijing also does not recognise the accession of the Himalayan kingdom of Sikkim to India. The world's most populous, the two nations have fought a brief border war in 1962which India tamely lost but the two sides have warmed up since the eighties. "There are talks going on about the borders and we want that these talks should go on. But other issues such as trade relations will also be discussed," Vajpayee said.

Bottomlines

Girl married off to dog! (Go To Top)

          Khannan village (West Bengal), June 22: A nine-year-old girl in West Bengal was married to a dog amid religious chants after a priest told her parents wedding would ward off evil. The marriage between Karnamoni and a mongrel dog called Bachchan - after popular movie star Amitabh Bachchan - took place earlier this month in Khannan village, some 60 km north-west of the state Capital Calcutta. Karnamoni's aunt, Sunha Moni Handsa, on Saturday said the ritual was conducted to ward off evil.

          "What we believe is since we do this, the obstacles in her life would be removed. Then nothing bad will happen. Many people do this. I did the same with my elder brother also during the winters. What to do? There was no other way. I had to give her hand in marriage, that night only, because the next day was her birthday and both of us were fasting," said Handsa.

          Karnamoni's gums used to bleed and this was considered as an evil sign by her superstitious guardians. Officials and witnesses said Karnamoni married the dog, which has a brown, white and black coat, on a raised dais amid chanting of religious hymns and the feeding of the canine "groom" with rice. Saltu Handsa, Karnamoni's uncle, said such practices were common in their community. "In our community, there is a ritual that when a girl is born and the first teeth come out, we get her married to either a dog or a moss plant. If we do this, whatever obstacles the girl has in her life goes away. But let me mention one thing, the marriage is only temporary," he said. The communist government in West Bengal said it planned to investigate the wedding, although it was merely a ceremonial one and the girl will be free to marry a man when she is older.

Kids move Becks to tears (Go To Top)

          London, June 22: He has inherited an emotional streak from mother Sandra - so says David Beckham, as his tear glands gave way after being mobbed by 500 adoring children, during a trip to Tsuksi primary school in Tokyo. "I am very emotional. When I watch a sad film I have to go into another room and cry. I think I get it from my mum but the children at the school this morning were just so cute. I've always loved children, even before I had my own", said Becks in a TV interview.

          Meanwhile, in a black satin dress, wife Victoria, 29, also wowed the Tokyo crowd as she visited two exclusive boutiques owned by Samantha Tiara. Excited teenage girls chanted "Posh, Posh, Posh" and held up mobile phone cameras to get a photograph as she got out of her black limousine. A giggling Victoria turned the tables by holding a camcorder up to the window and filming them. According to a report in the Mirror, during his visit to the school, Beckham wore a T-shirt with the logo of the Meiji chocolate firm. Earlier a 15ft chocolate statue of him was unveiled, prompting a chuckle from the England star. He reiterated his plan to run soccer schools.

           He said: "When I retire I don't want to be a manager or a coach. I want to have soccer schools in Japan, Korea, China, America, England and Spain. I want to have soccer schools all around the world, not just for boys but for girls, where they can stay off the streets, be safe, enjoy themselves and hopefully become footballers. That's my dream, to have soccer schools around the world."

Sarandon stars with Lopez and Gear in `Shall We Dance' (Go To Top)

          Washington, June 22: Oscar-winner Susan Sarandon is starring with Richard Gere and Jennifer Lopez in the romantic comedy 'Shall We Dance.' Sarandon, who featured in Ice Bound, is playing Gere's wife in the new movie. Actor Stanley Tucci, who appeared with J. Lo in 'Maid In Manhattan,' has also been cast in it. According to a report in E-Online, Richard Gere plays a businessman who falls for ballroom-dancing instructor played by Jennifer Lopez. Bobby Cannavale, Lisa Ann Walter, Nick Cannon and Richard Jenkins also star in the movie.

          The Oscar-winning actress is known throughout Hollywood as an activist, lending her name, time and presence to many political, cultural and health organizations. While the Iraq war was on, she lashed out at American TV coverage of the war in Iraq, saying that viewers were being subjected to pro-US President George W Bush propaganda.