• Former Governor of West Bengal, Punjab and Karnataka Dharma Vira, 93, passes away in New Delhi.

• Weighlifter Karnam Malleswari wins bronze medal in the millennium's first Olympic Games at Sydney.

• Surface to air missile 'Akash' is successfully test-fired from Interim Test Range at Chandipur-on-sea.

• Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee returns after a two-week visit to the United States.

• India and Russia agree to identify areas to promote strategic partnership in information technology sector.

• Government slashes STD tariff up to 33 per cent from 1 October.

• Asian Development Bank approves $300 million loan to help some 1.3 million low income Indians to gain access to housing finance.

• Mr. Narendra Sharma is appointed new Chairman and Managing Director of MTNL.

• Foreign Investment Promotion Board clears 25 foreign direct investment proposals totaling Rs.81 crore.

• Cabinet approves additional dearness allowance and dearness relief to Central Government employees and pensioners.

• Sixteen Indian, seven of them from the United States, are among the world's top 400 billionaires listed by The Forbes magazine.

• Government approves an investment of $21.9 million by Telecommunications Consultants India Limited in a joint venture for providing basic telecom services in Kenya.

• Government announces 10 per cent cut in non-plan expenditure and fuel expenses.

• Government announces a fast-track scheme for defunct companies seeking to de-register their names from the register of companies.

• India's short-range surface-to-air missile is successfully test fired twice from Interim Test Range at Chandipur-on-sea near Bhubaneswar.

• Centre increases the number of Padma awards from 60 to 100 from next year.

• Central Board of Director Taxes notifies several sectors, which would fall within the ambit of IT-enabled services and would enjoy tax cover under the provision of Section 10A and 10B of the Income Tax Act.

• Cabinet approves the transfer of assets and liabilities of Department of Telecom Services and the Department of Telecom Operations to the corporatised entity at a provisional value of Rs.63,000 crore.

• India and France sign a Memorandum Of Understanding to promote closer cooperation and exchange of information pertaining to the information technology sector.

• South African Archbishop Emeritus, Desmond Tutu and Mr. Bhaskar Hirji Save are chosen for this year's Jamnalal Bajal awards.

• World's highest observatory is commissioned in Ladakh.

• A special court convicts the former Prime Minister, P.V. Narasimha Rao and his Cabinet colleague Buta Singh, in the 'Jharkhand Mukti Morcha case' on charges of bribing members of Parliament to buy votes to save the minority Congress(I) government in the confidence motion in 1991.

• Cabinet Committee approves the appointment of Mr. Tata Ramachandra Prasad as Cabinet Secretary. He will succeed Prabhat Kumar, who retires on October 31.

• Government increases the prices of LPG, petrol, diesel and kerosene with immediate effect.

• About $20 billion foreign direct investment is expected to come into India after Prime Minister's recent US visit.

• Gen. S. Padmanabhan takes over as the new Chief of Army Staff from Gen. V.P. Malik.

• Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee expands his Cabinet. Besides two new Cabinet rank Ministers, there are four new Ministers of State. With these additions, the strength of the Council of Ministers goes up to 75.

• Dr. D.P.S. Seth is appointed Chairman-cum-Managing Director of the newly-created Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited.

• The task force on intelligence recommends the setting up of a National Intelligence Board.

• The death toll in West Bengal floods shot up to 758.

• Election Commission derecognises the CPI-M as a national party and gives it the status of a regional party in West Bengal, Kerala and Tripura.

• Germany announces to resume bilateral aid to India which was stopped since Pokhran II nuclear tests.

• Dr. Sisir Kumar Bose, 80, nephew of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose passes away in Calcutta.

• M.H.M. Ashraff, a senior Sri Lankan Minister and 14 others are killed in a helicopter crash in Sri Lanka.

• American shooter Nancy Johnson bags first gold medal of the Sydney Olympics.

• Nineteen persons are killed in bomb blast in Islamabad.

• India decides to pull out its forces from Sierra Leone.

• Yugoslavia's Electoral Commission announces second- round presidential election on October 8.

• Mr. Pierre Trudeau, 80, who headed the Canadian Government for 15 years, passes away in Montreal.

• British Government to introduce new "standard visa" to help visitors enter the UK more easily from October 2.

previous