The Indian Express

Thursday, November 27 1997

The takes you to the story

Using Sonia enigma to keep hawks at bay
The sphinx-like silence of Sonia Gandhi on her political debut is proving to be Sitaram Kesri's biggest asset in containing the hawks within the Congress party. As Kesri triumphed again yesterday to help the Gujral government to live another day, dispirited Congressmen admitted that with Sonia Gandhi refusing to commit herself one way or another, the move to dislodge the United Front from office is losing momentum.

Speculators drive down rupee further
Even as the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) made a desperate bid to contain the rupee's descent, the Indian currency plunged by another 25/30 paise to close at yet another low of Rs 38.55/60 against the dollar. Speculators seem to have taken firm control of the Indian currency at the inter-bank foreign exchange market as the rupee has slid 7.95 per cent since its pre-crisis time in August this year.

First-timers cross 100 mark
The Bharatiya Janata Party's moves to rope in first-time Members of Parliament in the hope of forming a Government continued yesterday, with campaign leaders claiming that the number of Lok Sabha members who had signed the memorandum against dissolution of the House had risen to 150. However, the Congress, which is the BJP's main target, began damage control measures after learning that nearly 23 party MPs, including some senior MPs, had signed the memorandum.

Another Indo-Pak war will be catastrophic: Pentagon

Sena shuts door on defecting Cong leaders in search of power