Violence mars Ajnala bypoll
Over 100 injured; complaints of booth
capturing, rigging
Ajnala, February 23
Large-scale violence, clashes, firing incidents and attempts of rigging/booth capturing today left more than 100 persons of both the Shiromani Akali Dal and the Congress injured, some of them seriously, in the Ajnala byelection.

FREE-FOR-ALL: Activists of the SAD and the Congress clash at Chakk Bala village, 2 km from the Pakistan border, during the Ajnala byelection.  — Photo by Rajiv Sharma

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10 killed in Bihar, Jharkhand elections
Patna/Ranchi, February 23
Incidents of violence marred the third and final phase of elections in Bihar and Jharkhand. At least 10 persons were killed, said reports. 
In video (28k, 56k)

Exit polls show split verdict in Bihar
Nation page: BJP lauds EC for ‘clean poll’
Haryana page: Repolling passes off peacefully

Daring Air Force men with flying machines
Srinagar/Jammu, February 23
From evacuating stranded troops and civilians from snow-bound areas in Kashmir to maintaining the lifeline to the world’s highest battlefield, Siachen, it is the call of the Air Force’s helicopter pilots and the Army’s aviators.

Sonia calls for speedy relief and rescue operations
Sonia’s chopper fails to land  (28k, 56k)
Fresh avalanche in Rajouri, two killed
9 more rescued from Banihal

More stories on J&k page Ms Sonia Gandhi (far left) walks through snow towards a waiting helicopter in Srinagar on Wednesday.  — Tribune photo by Manoj Mahajan

SC refuses to refer Badal, Bhattal cases to Bench
New Delhi, February 23
The Supreme Court has declined to refer a batch of petitions by some important politicians, including Punjab Deputy Chief Minister Rajinder Kaur Bhattal and former Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal, to the Constitution Bench to examine the issue of prior sanction from a “competent authority” for their prosecution in corruption cases.

Karzai for trade corridor through Pak
New Delhi, February 23
Visiting Afghan President Hamid Karzai today told External Affairs Minister K. Natwar Singh that he had taken up with Pakistan the possibility of a trade corridor for Indian exports to Afghanistan through Pakistan and “would push this further”.
In video (28k, 56k)

Afghan President Hamid Karzai (right) shakes hands with External Affairs Minister Natwar Singh before a meeting in New Delhi on Wednesday. — AFP photo

Blow to business along Indo-Nepal border Jhulaghat (Nepal/India), February 23 Traders at the once busy trade post of Jhulaghat on the Indo-Nepal border look jaded. On the nippy February morning no one shows the spirit of enterprise the businessmen at the traditional trade posts along the Indo-Nepal border are known for.