Godowns full but Pawar rules out wheat export Can’t handle excess crop, warn Punjab, Haryana
New Delhi, March 18 Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar today ruled out exporting surplus wheat lying in warehouses to reduce the stock. “There is no question of allowing wheat export until its prices, availability and improvement is stabilised,” said Pawar while talking to reporters on the sidelines of Kharif Conference here.	Govt to extend duty-free import till March 31 Centre has double buffer stock Pawar says sugar situation improving, raises estimates

MLAs: Drop criminal cases against politicians
‘Let’s shed vindictiveness’
Chandigarh, March 18
Punjab Vidhan Sabha legislators have finally admitted the existence of political vendetta in the state. Something hitherto denied by every political party while in power.

Punjab page: ‘Graft cases not part of political vendetta’

26/11 suspect Headley pleads guilty to all 12 charges
Chicago, March 18
In a volte-face, Pakistani-American LeT operative David Coleman Headley, accused of plotting the 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks and conspiring to target a Danish newspaper, today pleaded guilty before a US court here. Headley (49), who was arrested by FBI's joint terrorism task force on October 3 last year, told US District Judge Harry Leinenweber that he wanted to change his plea to guilty, in an apparent bid to get a lighter sentence than the maximum death penalty.

Saina zooms into top-five
New Delhi, March 18
Ace Indian shuttler Saina Nehwal touched a new high today as she zoomed into the top-five of the world rankings at a career-best fifth spot following her stupendous show in the All England Badminton Championships earlier this month.

The Last Word
kapil sibal
The man in a hurry
New Delhi, March 18
“Wait ? Wait for what ? We have waited long enough,” says an impatient Kapil Sibal (62) with a grimace. The Union Human Resources Development Minister is clearly in a hurry and not afraid of tripping. In a short span, Sibal has done enough to prompt both cheers and jeers.

Believe it or not
Car-free days mooted in Mumbai
Mumbai, March 18
Maharashtra Pollution Control Board (MPCB) has mooted car-free days in different areas of Mumbai as part of efforts to control air pollution. According to MPCB officials the first such exercise conducted at Carter Road in Mumbai’s suburb of Bandra last month has yielded encouraging results.

Rags to riches, this innovator shows the way Yamunanagar, March 18 Dharamvir (46), who once used to pull a rickshaw in New Delhi, spent four days at Rashtrapati Bhawan last week. The middle-aged farmer from Damla was one of the 36 innovators from rural India who were hosted by Rashtrapati Bhawan at the National Grassroots Innovation Exhibition held for the first time on its sprawling campus. Dharamvir, the innovator