GUWAHATI: In all 20 woodcutters died when suspected militants of the National Democratic Front (NDF) opened fire at them in a forest at Kokrajhar district on Saturday. Five others were injured while one member of the group is missing.

Solzhenitsyn spurns award

MOSCOW: Russian Nobel laureate Alexander Solzhenitsyn has refused to accept post-Communist Russia's highest civilian award the Order of St Andrew.While thanking President Yeltsin for honouring him on his 80th birthday yesterday, Solzhenitsyn, declined to accept the offer saying, ``I cannot accept any award from the regime which has led Russia to the perilous state it is in now.''

Women's Bill

NEW DELHI: The showdown between Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee and the Rashtriya Loktantrik Morcha over the Women's Reservation Bill has put paid to the Vajpayee Government's hopes of finally getting down to business in Parliament next week. At stake are two important bills, the Insurance RegulatoryAct and the Patents Bill.