A war of attrition has begun between the Centre and the Punjab government over the terms of reference given to Justice D A Desai, who was asked to identify the 70,000 acres of land to be transferred from Punjab to Haryana in lieu of Chandigarh. While the Punjab Cabinet repudiated the reference made to Justice Desai, the Prime Minister, Rajiv Gandhi, in a communication to the Punjab Chief Minister, Surjit Singh Bamala, pointed out that the terms of reference of the Desai Commission were amended in accordance with the text settled in consultation with Bamala and accepted by him.

Centre-MNF accord likely

The negotiations between the Government and the Mizo National Front to end the insurgency have reached the final stage, and an agreement is expected “very soon”. After an hour-long meeting between the Union Home Minister, Buta Singh, and the MNF chief, Laldenga, in New Delhi, an official spokesman said that a draft agreement had already been prepared.

Army to vacate Red Fort

The Army has agreed to vacate the Red Fort and hand over most of the complex to the Archaeological Survey of India. Of the 80.45 acres in the Red Fort complex, 68.45 acres are with the Army, which does not permit even ASI officials in this portion. The decision to hand over this historic fort to the ASI was taken under a directive from the late Indira Gandhi some years ago that the Army should vacate all ancient forts under its control.