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Pawar undergoes surgery

          Mumbai: Former Union Minister and president of the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) Sharad Pawar was operated upon at the Breach Candy hospital here this morning for a swelling in his cheek. Pawar, who was admitted to the hospital on Friday night, underwent an hour-and-a-half-long surgery, which was performed by Dr. Sultan Pradhan and his team. Pawar has been shifted to the ICU where he will be kept under observation for the next 48 hours, said Vijay Krishnan, the hospital's CEO. Hospital sources also denied reports that Pawar was suffering from cancer. Earlier in the day, the former Maharashtra chief minister filed his nomination papers from his constituency of Baramati in Pune district. He told his supporters then that he had undergone a check-up abroad recently, and the doctors then had said they were satisfied with the line of treatment he was taking in India.

Santiniketan heist: ex-employee arrested (Go To Top)

         Kolkata: The police here have arrested a former part- time employee of the Vishwa Bharati University in connection with the theft of Rabindra Nath Tagore's memorabilia, including his Nobel prize medal. Pradeep Bauri, 27, a former contract gardener, was arrested after his fingerprints matched those found at the site of crime in the Rabindra Bhavan in Santiniketan. Bauri was earlier detained from the neighbouring Bolpur area on March 29. RK Mahanti, Additional Director-General of the Criminal Investigation Department, told reporters here today that Bauri has been handed over to the CBI for further investigation. Mahanti said though Bauri had confessed his crime initially and was beginning to divulge details about his aides, he retracted his statement after getting legal opinion from his counsels.

Top B-school not to slash fees despite government order (Go To Top)

          Ahmedabad: The top B-school here on Saturday said its fee structure for the coming term will remain unchanged, defying a Central government directive to cut tuition fees. The Ahmedabad-based Indian Institute of Mangagement (IIM-A) has been in the eye of a storm ever since the Central government ordered its annual fee to be cut from Rs. 150,000 to 30,000. The IIM has already filed a petition in the apex court seeking assurance on autonomy from the government after the apex court ruled in favour of the fee cut. The school feared that the fee rebate would compromise the quality of education being offered and also herald government interference in the school functioning. The government is yet to give any guarantee that it would not a interfere in the functioning of the IIM. The fees were hiked by board of directors of the six IIMs recently citing expenditure but the government argued that higher education should be affordable to all.

Jaguar, pilot's body found (Go To Top)

         New Delhi: Indian Air Force (IAF) helicopters today located the wreckage of the two missing Jaguar fighter aircraft, four kilometres north of Sonamarg in Jammu and Kashmir. The body of one of the pilots was found in the wreckage. However, IAF officials said the name of the pilot will be given out only after his family has been informed. The wreckage has been found in an extremely inhospitable terrain laden with thick snow, making it impossible for helicopters to reach it. Officials added that an enquiry has been initiated to probe the cause of the crash. The two deep-penetrating strike aircraft went missing in bad weather in Sonamarg area in north Kashmir near the Line of Control on Friday, while on a routine training sortie. The fighters may have collided in mid-air. Police officials in Srinagar, quoting residents in the area, said two explosions were heard around the time when the aircraft went missing. Four Jaguars were on a valley training sortie after taking off from Ambala airbase when they lost contact with the ground control. While two Jaguars returned to the base, the other two went missing.

Demonstrations rock Nepal Capital (Go To Top)

          Kathmandu: The police here have clashed with huge crowds over the past 48 hours who have been demanding changes in the government of King Gyanendra. Some 25,000 people are estimated to have taken to the streets on Friday. At least 50 people were injured after police launched a baton charge and a teargas attack on demonstrators approaching the Narayanhiti Palace. There has been political deadlock in Nepal since last year, when the king assumed executive powers. King Gyanendra dismissed the government in October, saying it was failing to deal with the long-running Maoist rebellion in which thousands of people have been killed. The coalition of parties which then found itself in opposition has been in confrontation with the king ever since. The protests were in contrast to a relatively good-natured rally on Thursday, when tens of thousands of people staged the biggest rally since the king's controversial assumption of executive powers. The king is at present in western Nepal, visiting areas affected by the Maoist rebellion. The king has just suggested new elections within a year, but protesters say that is impossible in the current violent climate. They are demanding the formation of an all-party government and direct talks with the Maoists.

Festival to screen films on Indo-Pak conflict (Go To Top)

          Washington: An Indian film festival to be held here from April 5 to 10 April will show a number of anti-Pakistan films. Among the movies likely to be screened are Sunny Deol's "Gadar Ek Prem Katha", a "period piece set around the partition of the Indian subcontinent in 1947, Sunjay Dutt's "Mission Kashmir", Aamir Khan and Naseeruddin Shah's "Sarfarosh" and "Roja", which is about a Tamil computer specialist who is in Kashmir with his bride on a work plus pleasure trip when he is abducted by militants. Also on the bill are: Khakhee, the story of a senior police officer on the brink of retirement who is sent on a dangerous anti-terrorist mission.

          According to the Daily Times, the Johns Hopkins University's Paul H Nitze School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS) has organized the festival. All the films depict Pakistan as a hotbed of terrorism and intolerant Islam. The screenings will be followed by a seminar to be addressed by Tavisihi Alagh, an independent filmmaker who has worked on the production and direction of about 10 films and television programs in India, the United States and other countries. Ruchira Gupta, the president of Apne Aap Women Worldwide an anti- women's trafficking Indian NGO and Zahir Janmohamed of the Centre for the Study of Islam and Democracy in Washington are the others who will address the seminar.

LoC conversion only solution: Talbott (Go To Top)

          Washington: Converting the Line of Control that presently divides Kashmir into a permanent international boundary is the only solution for resolving the over five-decade-long Kashmir dispute between Pakistan and India. For US Deputy Secretary of State for Political Affairs Strobe Talbott expressed this view at a conference here. The Sigur Centre for Asian Studies on US-India bilateral cooperation organized the conference. According to the Daily Times, Talbott said that a permanent division of Kashmir along the Line of Control, with minor adjustments at best, was favourite American formula for the settlement of a dispute that has kept India and Pakistan at loggerheads since 1947.

         Talbott said that if the LoC were accepted as the permanent solution, borders would need to be opened up, trade and travel facilitated and India could work out some arrangements with its portion of Kashmir, including autonomy, that could find local acceptance. The "concerns" of the Kashmiri people would need to be addressed, he added, without spelling out what those "concerns" were. The former US official said before 9/11, the United States was not sure what side of the fence Musharraf was on.

Bomb discovered on Spanish rail track (Go To Top)

          London: Bomb disposal squads in Spain discovered an unexploded bomb on a high-speed railway line between Madrid and Seville late on Friday. The discovery immediately sent alarm bells ringing across the country, forcing the authorities to direct the Spanish Army to guard rail links across Spain. All traffic on the line was halted after the discovery of the bomb at Mocejon, in the Toledo area, about 60km south of Madrid. The explosive content was said to be the same as that used in last month's Madrid train bombs, which killed 191. Forty-five helicopters, sniffer dog teams and armored vehicles are involved in the security operation. The explosives were connected to a detonator with a 130m cable. It failed to explode because it had no trigger - suggesting that those responsible may have been scared off by security guards as they were planting the bomb. Spanish authorities said the line would reopen after it had been checked "kilometre by kilometre", a BBC report said. On Friday, NATO foreign ministers agreed to a series of measures to fight terrorism, including more sharing of intelligence. In Washington, security officials warned that the Madrid bombings had increased the level of concern about a possible attack on US soil. The FBI and the department of homeland security said extremist groups might try to bomb buses and rail lines in the US, hiding explosives in luggage and carry-on bags.

Indian spikers beat Pakistan to retain SAF gold (Go To Top)

          Islamabad: Defending champions India were given a tough fight by hosts Pakistan but they kept their cool to retain the title in men's volleyball at the 9th SAF Games here on Saturday. The Indian spikers, who had won four of the five previous SAF summit clashes against their arch-rivals, faced some stiff resistance as they lost the second and third sets but rallied superbly to win 25-18, 23-25, 23-25, 25-18, 15-9, to record the first ever win against Pakistan on their home soil. Earlier, Sri Lanka won the bronze medal beating Bangladesh's challenge 25-22, 23-25, 24-26, 25-19 15-10. Though Pakistan have won five of the 20 gold medals, India are still leading on charts with 42 gold medals.

'Stomach bug' stops Shoaib (Go To Top)

          Lahore: Pakistan's "Rawalpindi Express"Shoaib Akhtar shied away from a special nets session here on Friday, explaining that he had an upset stomach and sore knees. "He has an upset stomach and is not feeling well so the doctor advised him to rest today," Pakistan manager Haroon Rasheed was quoted by The News, as saying. Another source, however, said that when Shoaib was asked to bowl, he refused to do so, stating his knees were not feeling good. Given his past record of missing matches due to injury or illness, his not bowling in the nets on two consecutive days has raised doubts about his participation in the second Test that begins here on April 5. But Shoaib has reportedly dispelled this speculation by saying that he is very keen to play in Lahore.