Quicktakes

Pak submarines
The state-of-the-art Agosta 90-B submarine would be formally inducted into the Pakistani Navy on Tuesday, a newspaper report said on Sunday, claiming it would give a "clear edge over India". The highly sophisticated French-made submarine would be inducted at Karachi port in the presence of Pakistan’s army ruler Gen Pervez Musharraf, leading English daily The News said.

Crackers banned
BANGALORE:Concerned over the rising noise pollution in different parts of the country, the Union government, for the first time, has prohibited the manufacture of certain categories of crackers. Official sources stated the manufacture, sale and use of crackers, generating a noise level, exceeding 125 decibels at 4 m distance from the point of bursting have been prohibited.