MUMBAI: The Maharashtra Federation of Junior College Teachers' Organisation has called off its 41-day-old strike following the intervention of Shiv Sena chief Bal Thackeray.

``Thackeray appealed to the striking teachers to call off the agitation in the interests of the students. He also termed our demands as justified and assured that the State Government will consider them without delay,'' said Mukund Andakar, general secretary of the Mumbai Junior College Teachers' Union. ``We hope for a favourable settlement of our demands by the Cabinet which has promised to deliberate over the issue in its next meeting,'' he added. The teachers will meet Sudhir Joshi tomorrow.

Jnanpith award for Girish Karnad

NEW DELHI: Playwright, director and actor Girish Karnad was today chosen for the prestigious Jnanpith award for literature for 1998.

The selection committee, headed by Dr Karan Singh, chose Karnad for the honour for his outstanding contribution to theenrichment of Indian literature, Jnanpith foundation sources said.

Airports corporatised

NEW DELHI: The Union Cabinet today decided in principle to corporatise five major airports in the country by giving away all airport services, barring air traffic control, to the domestic private sector or foreign firms. The airports are Delhi, Mumbai, Calcutta, Chennai and Bangalore. Seven or eight more airports would soon be corporatisated.