A 63-year old woman gives birth to healthy baby (Go To Top)

          Coimbatore: In a bizarre incident, a 63-year old woman recently gave bith to a healthy baby boy in Coimbatore, creating medical history and a new milestone in assisted reproductive technology. The boy, weighing less than 1.75 kg, has been named Thamathaputhran, meaning "the son who rises late" in both Sanskrit and Tamil. Pappathi and Subramanium had been childless for 47 years and despite many attempts, she could not conceive. Last year, the old couple consulted doctors who suggested them reproductive technology for conceiving. Though rules worlwide discourage reproductive technology for couples beyond the age of 45, Pappathi and Subramanium gave it a chance. "We were really worried because we did not have children. Initially we thought, we will have children later but when we realised we cannot have them, it was really horrible for us. We consulted many doctors and we came to this very late," said Pappathi.

          Seventy four year-old Subramanium said they relied on the procedure after failing everywhere else. "We consulted many doctors both in Madras and Coimbatore. We experimented with different kinds of treatment, but it was not successful. Finally we came to Dr. Malti and it became successful and we got a baby boy." The procedure for reproductive technology is the same as test tube baby. In the test tube baby procedure the egg zygote is grown for two days in an incubator before placing it back to the uterus. But in blastocyst culture, performed on Pappathi, it is grown outside for five days. Doctors say Pappathi is the first woman in the world to have delivered a baby under five-day blastocyst culture technique.

Chavan passes away (Go To Top)

         Mumbai: Former Union Home Minister and veteran Congress leader SB Chavan died here on Thursday after a prolonged illness. He was 83. Chavan underwent a surgery at a city hospital for removal of blood clot in brain on February 20. He was in a critical condition and on life support system for a few days, hospital sources said. The end came at 3:55 pm. Chavan's body will be taken to his Sagar residence at Narayan Dabholkar Road in south Mumbai to enable people to pay their homage to the departed soul. Later, the body will be flown to Nanded by a defence aircraft and the cremation will take place there on Friday, family sources said.

CIA chief personally debriefed Khan on Feb 12: Report (Go To Top)

          Islamabad: In order to cross-check the authenticity of information supplied by Islamabad to the US over nuclear proliferation, CIA chief George Tenet privately interrogated Pakistan's nuclear scientist Dr AQ Khan earlier this month in Islamabad. The scientist continues to be under house arrest for his involvement in nuclear proliferation to other countries, including Libya and Iran. Quoting official sources, a report in the Nation said that Tenet, during his visit to Pakistan recently, debriefed Dr Khan on February 12 in Islamabad. The debriefing session was arranged following the Bush administration's assertion to have direct contact with Dr Khan, it said.

Congress to contest 17 seats in Kerala (Go To Top)

          Thiruvananthapuram: The Congress-led United Democratic Front (UDF) government in Kerala has reached a seat-sharing agreement with the allies for the forthcoming parliamentary elections. The UDF comprising the Congress, Indian Union Muslim League and the Kerala Congress (Mani) group met here for over four hours before reaching an agreement. UDF convener Omen Chandy said the party would contest 17 seats. "All the groups have asked for a seat but during the discussions, the outcome is, - 17 seats to Congress, two seats to the Muslim League, and one seat to Kerala Congress (Mani) group," Chandy later told reporters.

          In the 140-member legislative Assembly in Kerala, the UDF has the support of 100 members while the Opposition Left Democratic Front (LDF) has 40 members. The Congress, the main constituent of the UDF, recently suffered a setback when octogenarian leader and former Chief Minister K. Karunakaran protested against Chief Minister A.K. Antony. The party survived a split ahead of the early national elections after Karunakaran reached a compromise following his son's induction into the state Cabinet.

          Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee's Bharatiya Janata Party, bouyed by the victories in the provincial elections in December and a bumper harvest resulting from an abundant monsoon rains last year, has called early elections, eight months ahead of schedule. India's independent election commission is expected to announce the dates for national elections very soon. Opinion polls show Vajpayee is far more popular than main opposition Congress party leader Sonia Gandhi.

BJP to finalise list by mid-March (Go To Top)

          Chennai/Patna: Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Thursday said it would finalise its candidates for the upcoming general elections by March 15. BJP chief Venkaiah Naidu told reporters in Chennai that the central election committee of the party would hold a five-day meeting to finalise the list of candidates. "Up to 5th March, the state units have been advised to finalise their recommendation. From 10-15th (of March), the CEC (Central Election Committee) of BJP (Bharatiya Janata Party) will sit together to finlaise the names statewise," Naidu said. Naidu was in Tamil Nadu for his party campaign in southern states. Naidu, who had already covered Jammu and Kashmir, Punjab, Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh and Orissa is scheduled to address several public rallies in two days. BJP-led government, buoyed by the victories in the Assembly elections in December and a bumper harvest resulting from an abundant monsoon rains last year, has called early elections, eight months ahead of schedule.

          Naidu said recent events showed that his party was being accepted by minorities also. "This (joining of a few prominent Muslim leaders to the BJP) is the indication of the present thinking among the minorities, particluarly Muslims and Christians. They are now moving towards the BJP. They have realised that the Congress used them as vote banks," Naidu said. A former Congress and prominent Muslim leader Arif Mohammed Khan along with some others joined the BJP earlier this week. The election commission is expected to announce the poll dates very soon.

Pilot killed in Jaguar crash (Go To Top)

          Jaisalmer: A Jaguar fighter jet of the Indian Air Force (IAF) crashed on Thursday near Pokharan killing the pilot. Police said the plane, which had taken off this morning during a training exercise for next month's air show, crashed near the field firing range of Pokharan. An inquiry has been ordered into the mishap.

IAF pilots refuse to fly MiG 21: Report (Go To Top)

          New Delhi: The pilots in the Indian Air Force have reportedly refused to fly the ageing MiG 21 in view of the growing fatal casualties and have asked the authorities to immediately replace the fighter aircraft. After a Flying Officer, GS Grumman, managed to eject from his troubling MiG 21 in Jamnagar last Friday, the young pilots assembled at the base and lodged a written protest over forcing the fliers to have sorties on these machines which have been nick-named "flying coffins" in view of the high rate of crashes and the loss of human lives. The pilots' assembly almost wore the look of a street protest, but seniors prevailed to cool down the young pilots assuring them of redress of their complaints. Coupled with inadequate flying skills, lack of situational awareness and errors of judgment, the MiG 21 has several design limitations from a deadly mix, admitted an officer.

Pak jihadis go in for a political makeover (Go To Top)

          Lahore: Militant outfits in Pakistan have re- christened themselves thereby getting rid of words like `jihad', `lashkar', `jaish' or `mujahideen', in a bid to look more political than smelling of extremist activities. According to a report in the Daily Times, Muttahida Jihad Council (MJC), an alliance of Kashmiri jihadi organizations, has been restructured with six smaller alliances within it representing various groups.

          "These semi-alliances are the Kashmir Resistance Forum (KRF) 1, 2 and 3 and Kashmir Freedom Forum (KFF) 1 and 2, while only Hizbul Mujahideen (HM) is allowed to use its original name", the paper quoted the sources in the MJC as saying. "We have been told that these names are damaging Pakistan's image abroad as well as the Kashmiri freedom movement," a jihadi leader said. Asked why Hizb was allowed to use its original name, he replied, "It also holds the chairmanship of the jihad alliance and quarters abroad consider it representative of the Kashmiri freedom movement alone".

          Sources said this decision was taken in October 2003, implemented in January 2004. KRF 1 represents the Lashkar-e-Taiba (LT), Birgade 313 (a Harkatul Jihad-e-Islami faction lead by Commander Illyas Kashmiri), Lashkar-e-Islam (LI) and Al-Bader Mujahideen, while KRF 2 is an alliance of Al-Jihad, Al-Fateh, Hizb Ullah and Muslim Janbaz Force (MJF). KRF 3 consists of Harkat-ul-Jihad-e-Islami (Maulana Muzaffar group), Jamiat-ul Mujahideen (JM) and Jamiat-ul-Ansar (JA), while KFF 1 is an alliance of Jaish Muhammad (JM) and Al-Umer Mujahideen and KFF 2 includes Islamic Front, Jamaat-ul-Furqan (JF), Tehrik-e- Jihad (TJ), Al-Barq and Tehrik-ul-Mujahideen (TM)."

          This new 'adjustment' is called "Muwakhaat" (an Arabic word meaning agreement on the basis of brotherhood) and sources said this would also reduce the jihadi groups' internal differences. "These organizations' new identities will improve their image, making them look like political groups", they added. The MJC earlier consisted of 15 organizations; HM, TM, JM, Al- Barq, MJF, Hizb Ullah, Al-Jihad, Al-Fateh, HJI (Muzaffar group), IF, LI, Jammu Kashmir Liberation Front, Al-Umer, JA, TJ, and all of these were Kashmir-based. Five Pakistan-based organizations LT, JM, Brigade 313, Al-Bader Mujahideen and JF were not the part of MJC, but they have been included in the new structure. "The MJC constitution barred Pakistan-based organization from the alliance but circumstances have changed. We need unity and no one can deny their role in jihad", a jihadi leader said. Sources also claimed that Syed Salahudin would remain the chairman of MJC for five more years, being acceptable to all concerned.

React rationally to any untoward incident: PCB to India (Go To Top)

          Karachi: The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has agreed with the Board of Control of Cricket in India (BCCI) that in case any untoward incident happened during the upcoming series between the two countries, it would not be handled in haste or emotionally. PCB chief executive Rameez Raja said that the Board had put a clause in the MoU signed with the BCCI that any untoward incident on the tour should be treated with a clear mind and the significance of the tour should be kept in mind. "We are taking all possible security measures to ensure there are no incidents on this tour which is so important for all of us and relations between the two countries. The government is also taking keen interest in the security arrangements," the News quoted Raja as saying.

Ganguly confident of winning series in Pakistan (Go To Top)

          New Delhi: India could achieve their maiden Test- series win in Pakistan on the back of their impressive performances in Australia, captain Saurav Ganguly said on Thursday. India had a fabulous start in the recent Test series against Australia but lost the one-day tri-nation series tamely to the hosts. "But it's true that we haven't played well in the finals in the last four finals. We somehow managed to lose everytime against Australia. It's an area of concern for us but at the same time we keep in mind that the only team that has beaten us is Australia whether it's West Indies, England or any other side they have not managed to do that. So probably with Pakistan it's going to be different," Ganguly told reporters in Chennai.

          India face a huge challenge on their first full tour of Pakistan for 14 years, which starts on March 10 as they have never won a Test in Pakistan, losing five and drawing 15. But their confidence of playing abroad has been bolstered by the 1-1 Test series draw in Australia, when they confounded predictions of a drubbing by the world champions. Sachin Tendulkar, who made his debut as a 16-year old on that tour, is the only member of the current team to have played Test cricket in Pakistan. Ganguly praised Pakistan's formidable bowling line-up. "I think they are a good attack but by just being fast you don't pick wickets. You got to have quality but they are a good attack," Ganguly said.

          The Indian skipper said there would be immense pressure on both sides as the tour follows years of political tension between the two countries. "I think India-Pakistan (matches) is always pressure, it's different from other games. So it's going to be pressure on both sides. To be honest, interational cricket is about handling pressure. I am hoping that except for Harbhajan everybody will be fit to tour Pakistan," Ganguly said. Navjot Sidhu, former Indian opener and now a commentator, said the team that handled pressure better would come on top.

           "It is a pressure cooker scenario. Very tight situation over there and those who have been to the situation can only withstand the pressure...and pressure is what you allow it to be...will be I think more viable and more feasible. If you take inexperienced guys over there, I think it is going to be a difficult proposition. He who wants a full farm must have an old cock and a young bull," Sidhu said. India play five one-day internationals, starting in Karachi on March 13, followed by three tests.