Tuesday, 1 February 2005, 1400 hrs

TOP STORIES
Ballot scores over bullet in
J&K municipal elections  
High voter turnout in elections to civic bodies after a gap of 27 years certainly demolishes the myth that everything about J&K is decided in Delhi, but the disenfranchisement of Kashmiri Pandits is a stark reminder about the forgotten and ignored

BUSINESS & ECONOMY
Centre tweaks excise law
Cigarette maker ITC Ltd will have to cough up Rs 450 crore in excise dues within 30 days

Indian Express
Joining the dots in J&K
The government must decide whether it is willing to give Kashmir full autonomy within India. If the past is any indication, the committees are constituted not to face the facts but to cloud them, says KULDIP NAYYAR

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Outlook
Achtung! Here Be Demons!
The recent violations of the more than a year-long ceasefire along the LOC by Pak army and its allegations of violations by the Indian security forces appear for now as isolated incidents, but it is best seen in conjunction with pressures faced by Musharraf in Balochistan. By B RAMAN 

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The Hindu
In pursuit of energy security
For ensuring energy security, all options for diversification of our fuel basket need to be pursued vigorously. This also means the process of inter-fuel substitution in industrial processes must begin now, writes SUDHA MAHALINGAM

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Financial Express
Integrating economies into growth
Dhaka will be hosting the 13th summit of Saarc towards the end of the week. The Islamabad summit last year adopted a landmark framework agreement on South Asian Free Trade Area. By NAGESH KUMAR

TOP PICKS

OPINION


Breach of federal faith (The Hindu)
Iraq: Another false dawn (The Hindu)
Security: Restoring the old order (Pioneer)
Disinvestment: Moving ahead (Hindu)
Justice for the disabled (Hindu)
Fake encounters