NEW DELHI: Socialite Bina Ramani, owner of an unlicenced bar where model Jessica Lal was shot dead last week, was on Saturday arrested along with daughter and husband for violating the excise act. Metropolitan magistrate Rajneesh Kumar granted them bail on a personal bond of Rs 10,000 and a surety of a like amount each. Police also took away the passports of all the three for verification.

Pak scribe arrested

ISLAMABAD: Cops stormed the house of prominent Pakistani news magazine editor and publisher Najam Sethi on Saturday and took him into custody for allegedly having links with Indian external intelligence agency RAW. The arrest is the latest in a series of crackdowns by the Sharif Government on the Pak print media.

Pak MFN status

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan may finally agree to accord the Most Favoured Nation status to India which it has been holding back since years. The move is seen as a bid to ease its way into the Indian Ocean Rim Association (IOR-ARC).Pakistan hinted at this in its phone missive to an IOR-ARC meet in Mozambique April last expressing readiness to extend MFN status to all member nations.

CTBT delay

NEW DELHI: External Affairs minister Jaswant Singh on Saturday said India may not be able to sign the CTBT as the country was facing mid-term polls. "I doubt that a policy initiative of this kind can be taken in the midst of elections", Jaswant said.

Nimbus deal upheld

MUMBAI: The Bombay HC today upheld the decision of Prasar Bharti to award the World Cup contract to Nimbus communications after it undertook to furnish a bank guarantee of Rs 30.56 crore. The order was passed by Justice S Radhakrishan who heard two pleas one filed by Nimbus and the other by Stracon.

INS Kesari

VISAKHAPATNAM: INS Kesari, the second of the landing ships of the Indian navy was decommissioned on Saturday. The ship, commissioned into the Navy on August 15, 1975, at Hyonia in Poland, formed the fourth landing ship squadron of the EasternNaval Command along with INS Ghorpad and INS Sharabh.