Friday, February 15, 2002, Chandigarh, India
 Updated at 3:00 am (IST)

55 to 90 pc turnout in UP, Uttaranchal and Manipur
Stray incidents of violence, booth-capturing
New Delhi, February 14
Two BSF personnel were killed in Manipur which recorded a 90 per cent turnout in the first phase of the Assembly elections while an estimated 55 per cent voters cast ballots amid tight security for 92 Assembly seats in Uttar Pradesh and all 70 constituencies in Uttaranchal which went into the exercise to elect its maiden Assembly.

Editorial: Now, the long wait Security personnel stand guard as voters wait in line in the city of Roza, 350 km from New Delhi, in Uttar Pradesh on Thursday. — Reuters photo

Exit poll says BJP ahead in UP
New Delhi, February 14
The BJP was ahead of others in Uttar Pradesh in the exit poll conducted by three news channels after the first phase of polling today for 92 seats of the 403-member state Assembly.

• Officer ‘disappears’ with EVM, repoll ordered

Pearl dead: Omar Sheikh

Pak Government rubbishes claim Karachi, February 14 The key suspect in the abduction of Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl told a court today that the journalist was dead. Officials said they would reserve judgement until a body was found.

The Pakistani police escorts Sheikh Omar into a Karachi court on Thursday. — Reuters photo

In video: Indian External Affairs Minister Jaswant Singh says Pakistan has yet to take one step to stamp out terrorism. (28k, 56k)

USA rules out F-16s to Pak
Bush promises $ 1 bn debt relief
Washington, February 14
President George W. Bush has promised his Pakistani counterpart Pervez Musharraf relief, but the military ruler got little else he was looking for in the USA.
In video (28k, 56k)

• Pak media boycotts Qureshi’s briefing

• Musharraf’s remarks dent his image

• Editorial: Musharraf goes berserk

Plague spreads to Uttaranchal
Two more deaths reported
Shimla, February 14
After the Rohru area of Himachal Pradesh, the fatal pneumonic plague has spread to the neighbouring Uttaranchal where it claimed the life of a young woman, Pushpa, today.

3 members boycott interview
Sore at PPSC Chairman’s functioning
Patiala, February 14
Three members of the Punjab Public Service Commission today abstained from the interview held to select Block Development and Panchayat Officers to protest against the ‘’manner’’ in which the PPSC was being run by its Chairman Ravinderpal Singh Sidhu.

Country liquor to cost less in Haryana
Chandigarh, February 14
Country liquor will become cheaper in Haryana as the new excise policy of the state, approved at a meeting of the Cabinet here today held under the chairmanship of the Chief Minister, Mr Om Prakash Chautala, brought down excise duty on such liquor from Rs 21 per proof litre to Rs 11. An official release said that the duty was reduced “to minimise smuggling from neighbouring states”.

Bonfires of cards mark Valentine’s Day
New Delhi, February 14
Eight Shiv Sena activists were detained even as hundreds of them opposed the Valentine’s Day celebrations in the Capital today by lighting bonfires of greeting cards and distributing handbills urging people not to celebrate the “western festival” of love.

Creating artificial wombs London, February 14 Doctors are developing artificial wombs in which embryos can grow outside a woman's body. The work has been hailed as a breakthrough in treating the childless. Scientists have created prototypes made out of cells extracted from women's bodies. Embryos successfully attached themselves to the walls of these laboratory wombs and began to grow.