Quicktakes

Bhindranwale’s a hero at bash

ANANDPUR SAHIB: Posters glorifying Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale are being sold at one of the stalls raised here by the Damdami Taksal as part of the Khalsa tercentenary festivities. Also being sold are picture postcards of militant leaders killed during Operation Bluestar at the Golden Temple complex in 1984. And although the state has put militancy behind, many pilgrims are picking up these items.

Thakazhi dead

ALAPPUZHA: Eminent novelist, Thakazhi Sivasankara Pillai, a colossus who strode the Malayalamliterary scene for over half a century, died at Thakazhi, his native village today He was 87. The Jnanpith recipient wrote 35 novels, 600 short stories a play , recording social changes in Kerala, spanning over several generations, in a lucid style.

INSAT orbit

BANGALORE: The last of the second generation INSAT multipurpose satellites, INSAT 2E was today successfully placed in the geostationary orbit by the spacecraft controllers of ISRO.

Bhosale-Sonia meet

NEW DELHI: Maharashtra PCC president Prataprao Bhosale met Congress president Sonia Gandhi last night during which he apprised her of the political situation in the state.

IAF exercise

NEW DELHI: The three-week-long operational exercise Trishul-99 of Western Air Command (WAC) concluded today after having successfully put to use for the first time the new air defence information system.