Quicktakes

Najma posting

NEW DELHI: Najma Heptulla, Deputy Chairperson of the Rajya Sabha, became the first acting woman president of the Inter-Parliamentary Council comprising 138 countries. She returned from Geneva yesterday after taking over as president. This is first time in the 112 year-old history of the IPC that a woman and that too from theAsia-Pacific region, has become its president. Heptulla is set to contest for the post of the president of the IPC slated to be held later this year.

Bajpai dead

ALLAHABAD: Veteran Congress leader, former lt governor of Pondicherry and freedom fighter Rajendra Kumari Bajpai died here today after protracted illness, family sources said. She was 85. Bajpai is survived by her husband D N Bajpai, son Ashok Bajpai, a local Congress leader, and a daughter. Bajpai was suffering from kidney ailment and other acute problems.

Pak cricket board

ISLAMABAD: In yet another dramatic turn in the murky state of cricket in the country, Pakistan Cricket Board PCB has been suspended and a two-member ad hoc committee constituted in its place following the nationwide outcry over the team8217;s humiliating defeat in the World Cup.