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Politics Business Expressions General Sports Leisure States 14 January 1998   Mamata denies breaking off talks with BJP Former Congress MP Mamata Banerjee has put paid to rumours that talks between her party, the Trinamul Congress, and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) have reached a dead-end. Leaders of both the parties are still confident of working out an electoral tie-up by the weekend.   Markets recover from Peregrine shock Markets, the world over, seemed to be recovering from the effects of the collapse of the Hong Kong-based Peregrine Investments. On Tuesday, the BSE Sensex rose by 36 points to close at 3431.72. The Hong Kong and Indonesian markets have led the recovery in other Asian markets with share prices rising by 7.4% in Hong Kong and 9.1% in Indonesia. Rupee sinks to new low against dollar The rupee on Tuesday plumbed new depths against the US Dollar, sinking to a historic low of Rs 39.94 against the dollar at the inter-bank foreign exchange in Mumbai. The situation was retrived to some extent by the State Bank of India (SBI) which engaged in spot deals and the RBI which conducted forward swaps to help the rupee rise up to Rs 39.87/89. 66 die as Bengal bus falls into river At least 66 people travelling on a tourist bus in West Bengal's Murshidabad district met with a watery grave when the bus plunged into the Padma river. Fifty-four bodies have been recovered and a search is still on for the other 12 bodies. The mishap occured at 5.15 am when the driver failed to negotiate a sharp curve in the dense morning fog.   Gujral is in my kitty, claims Laloo Yadav Rashtriya Janata Dal chief Laloo Prasad Yadav claims to have a secret understanding with Prime Minister I K Gujral. Yadav claimed that Gujral was already in his party, daring Gujral to contradict him. Yadav further added that he had offered his support to Gujral in the event of Gujral contesting the polls from Bihar. Rerun in Gulf: Iraq halts UN arms team Another explosive situation seems to be brewing in the Middle East. The latest spark has been set off by Iraq which has ordered a UN wepons inspection team to cease its inspections. Iraq took this move, stating that the team leader, Scott Ritter, was an American spy. The UN, however, announced that the team would proceed with its work.   LEISURE   Sonia Gandhi: The portrait of a campaigner   Weeding out seeds of human cloning SPORTS   Dolan, Kowal take US to top   World No 2 status for Paes-Bhupathi EXPRESSIONS   Tickets for women   Comrades at loggerheads BUSINESS   Peregrine scout for buyers   Indo Rama to convert Re loans GENERAL   Onward march: Jawans set to be officers & gentlemen   Govt employees arrested for taking part in Vajpayee rally POLITICS   Rao in focus as Cong gears up for poll list   No place for Seshan in Sena list; offered `safe' Washim seat