NEW DELHI: Finance Minister Yashwant Sinha today ruled out any immediate imposition of a war tax or cess to meet the expenditure incurred in the Kargil operations. Sinha said. The Finance Minister had hinted on Thursday that he would have to consider some measure to finance the expenditure incurred in the Kargil conflict.

Film awards

NEW DELHI: Shyam Benegal's latest creation Samar, a sensitive tale on the caste system, has been declared the best film while Shabana Azmi walked away with the best actress award for portraying an underworld don in the controversial Hindi film Godmother, which swept five other top prizes in the 46th national film awards announced today. Ajay Devgan and Mammootty shared the best actor award for their performances Zakhm and Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar.

Bhatia target

MUMBAI: Controversial IAS officer Arun Bhatia, who was recently moved to the State Archives, today urged the Mumbai High Court to directthe CBI or Pune police to register FIR on alleged irregularities committed by Chief Secretary Arun Bongirwar, during the latter'S Tenure as Pune municipal commissioner. The petition would come up for hearing before on August 2 next.

Laloo's bail

NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court today rejected the CBI's plea to cancel the interim bail granted to Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) president Laloo Prasad Yadav in the multi-crore fodder scam cases and extended his bail period by four months.

Bomb attack

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: An undertrial was killed on the spot and another seriously injured in a daylight bomb attack in front of the sub-jail in Attakulangara. The undertrials were being brought to the sub-jail after producing them in the Attingal magistrate court when a gang arrived on the scene in an autorickshaw and threw a country-made bomb.