Selja, Ahmed escape as chopper crash-lands
Khanvel (Gujarat), March 16
Senior Congress leaders Prithviraj Chouhan, Ahmed Patel and Kumari Selja had a miraculous escape when the rear portion of their chopper, which was following party President Sonia Gandhi's helicopter, broke on landing at the helipad in this South Gujarat village.

Policemen stand near a partially damaged helicopter after it crash-landed in Khanvel, Gujarat, on Tuesday. — Reuters photo

Despite Sachin’s 141, Pakistan force a win
Rawalpindi, March 16
India and Pakistan played another sensational thriller here tonight before the visitors lost the second one-day international by 12 runs despite Sachin Tendulkar's return to pristine form which enabled him to hit his 37th one-day century and cross a record 13,000 runs.

Pakistan’s Shoaib Akhtar applauds a century knock by Sachin Tendulkar in the second One-Day International between India and Pakistan in Rawalpindi on Tuesday. — Reuters photo

Tendulkar Man of the Match Tendulkar hits India’s first ODI ton in Pak More stories on SPORTS page Fans throng Rawalpindi stadium for the second India-Pakistan ODI. (28k, 56k) Let’s settle it out of court, says Ten Sports

Cong MLAs refuse to endorse Gill’s nomination
Chandigarh, March 16
Visibly upset over the nomination of former Chief Election Commissioner M.S. Gill for the Rajya Sabha Elections, a number of Congress MLAs categorically refused to sign his nomination papers today.

BJP opposes Cong proposing ex-CEC’s name for RS
Punjab page: Tohra, M.S. Gill file papers for RS poll

States can prescribe eligibility norms for pro courses: SC
New Delhi, March 16
In an important judgement that would have an impact on admissions to technical institutions in the country, the Supreme Court today ruled that any higher standard fixed by a state for entrance tests to the professional courses would prevail upon the norms set by the AICTU.

CEC to visit J&K on April 1
New Delhi, March 16
The three-member poll panel headed by Chief Election Commissioner T.S. Krishna Murthy will embark on a three-day visit to the strife-torn state of Jammu and Kashmir on April 1 to review the preparations for the Lok Sabha poll.

BJP, JD (U) agree on sharing seats in Bihar
New Delhi, March 16
The BJP and JD (U) today reached seat-sharing arrangement in the Lok Sabha elections in Bihar. Under the agreement, the BJP will contest 17 seats, while the JD (U) 21 with decision on Muzaffarpur and Siwan yet to be taken.

Powell walks a tightrope on Indo-Pak ties New Delhi, March 16 US Secretary of State Colin Powell today walked a diplomatic tightrope and sought to please both India and Pakistan — the former by stressing that Islamabad should end “cross-border violence” and the latter by refraining from using words like “terrorism” and “terrorist training camps”. US Secretary of State Colin Powell.  In video (28k, 56k)