Amarinder ignoring Punjab’s interests: PM
Patiala, March 18
Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee today took potshots at the Punjab Chief Minister, Capt Amarinder Singh, virtually accusing him of being immature and letting power go to his head and ignoring the interests of the state.

Captain Kanwaljit Singh, former Punjab Finance Minister, makes a point with Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee at an election rally in Patiala, on Thursday. Mr Parkash Singh Badal looks on. — Tribune photo by Karam Singh

Punjab page: Cong in a tearing hurry for coalitions, says PM

Pak to get non-NATO ally status: Powell
Islamabad, March 18
The US today announced it would designate Pakistan as a “major non-NATO ally”, a move that would strengthen defence cooperation between the two countries and lift restrictions on weapon sales to Islamabad.
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Ganguly pins hopes on Pathan, Zaheer
Peshawar, March 18

Indian cricket captain Sourav Ganguly is banking on youngster Irfan Pathan to deliver the goods in the absence of the in-form Ashish Nehra while hoping that strike bowler Zaheer Khan will return to form soon to help the side turn the tables on Pakistan in the third one-dayer tomorrow.

Pakistani policemen escort Sachin Tendulkar as he arrives for a training session in Peshawar on Thursday ahead of the third One-Day International between India and Pakistan on Friday. — Reuters

Poll panel orders removal of hoardings forthwith
New Delhi, March 18
All hoardings portraying the achievements of the governments should be removed forthwith, the Election Commission said here today.

Remaining Class XII papers postponed
Mohali, March 18
Within a day of having postponed four of the remaining papers of Class X, the Punjab School Education Board today postponed all remaining Class XII papers as well. The decision was taken following leakage of the Class XII question papers this morning, hours before the exam was due to begin this afternoon.

JD (U) leader killed in J&K
Srinagar, March 18
In stepped-up violence ahead of the Lok Sabha polls, militants gunned down youth Janata Dal (United) vice president Mukhtiar Ahmad Bhat here today.

Ambika may not get Hoshiarpur seat
New Delhi, March 18
AICC general secretary Ambika Soni, who was the Punjab Congress choice for the Hoshiarpur Lok Sabha seat, today indicated that she may opt out of the electoral race.

Poverty forces man to sell son Abohar, March 18 Beset by poverty, Teja Ram, a rickshaw-puller sold his four-year-old son Govinda to a milkman here, sources said. Teja Ram had migrated from Bagwala village of Etah District in Uttar Pradesh to work in a spinning mill here a decade also.