NEW DELHI: United States President Bill Clinton today spoke to Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee and expressed his understanding of India's position on Kargil while being hopeful of visiting New Delhi in the "near future." Clinton, who had a 20-minute telephonic conversation with Vajpayee, touched upon bilateral issues as well as the situation in Kargil, official sources said.

JD meet fails

NEW DELHI: Janata Dal appeared heading for a split with the party today favouring merger with Lok Shakti and Samata Party under one banner but remained sharply divided over the issue of joining the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA). This was clear after a two-hour long meeting of DAL's political affairs committee this evening with party president Sharad Yadav admitting "sharp division" among senior leaders on aligning with NDA.

US duty on steel

WASHINGTON: The United States has imposed provisional anti-dumping duty on import of steel plates from Indiaand four other countries saying it has evidence that these countries subsidised exports.

The tariffs proposed would range between 1 and 23 per cent as the five countries gave subsidies in that range, the Commerce Department said.

Chandra launch

CAPE CANAVERAL (FLORIDA): A potentially dangerous buildup of hydrogen gas in space shuttle Columbia's engine compartment stopped the countdown early today with just six-and-a-half seconds remaining. The shuttle was to have blasted off at 10.06 am (IST) with Eileen Collins, the first female space shuttle commander and the world's most powerful X-Ray telescope, `Chandra'.

Price rise

NEW DELHI: In a move likely to benefit thousands of farmers, the Centre today announced around 10 per cent increase in minimum support price of 14 commodities including paddy, cotton and pulses. The increase ranges from Rs 25 to Rs 145 a quintal and was fixed slightly higher than the Agriculture Price Commission recommendations.