NEWS
ISI is training NSCN guerrillas
During the cease-fire in Nagaland, about 200 of them passed out from ISI camps, according to Indian intelligence inputs.

NEWS
Schools, colleges ordered shut in Tamil Nadu
The state government ordered an inquiry by the crime branch of the criminal investigation department of the state police into the incident in Dharmapuri where three college girls were burnt to death by a mob that set their bus alight.

NEWS
'They burnt to death in front of our eyes'
''They burnt to death in front of our eyes': "The other girls started getting out of the bus immediately, but these three went for their luggage. It is fate that made them do that stupid thing."

NEWS
South Bihar sees sea change
Many educated tribals have started realising that in this age of rampant horse-trading smaller states may not be politically stable. The experience of much-advanced Goa and Haryana or less developed Seven Sisters of the north-east has made them wiser.

INTERVIEWS
'Laloo is a conman in the lowest sense of the term'
"Laloo's reconciliation with the ground realities in Bihar is spurring him to do desperate things. It is as if he is no more in possession of his mental faculties," says Samata Party politician and chief ministerial aspirant Nitish Kumar.

'To make conservation work we must first find a contemporary engine to drive the process'
'People have no idea about how supportive the heritage legislation actually is. It allows enormous incentives. There are actually many, many misinterpretations of the legislation, that is the problem,' urban designer Rahul Mehrotra tells Pritish Nandy.

'What do you say to a bacterium?'
'The one thing I emphasise to the critics of SETI is that there is only one probability that we know for certain. And that is the probability of finding intelligent life if we do not search. And that is zero,' says Dr Paul Shuch, executive director, SETI League.

MESSAGE BOARD
Remembering Alla Rakha
The ustad's wonderful love affair with the tabla ended abruptly on Feb 3. What remains are haunting echoes -- of a man gifted beyond the ordinary. Here is a message board. For you to condole. Mourn. And celebrate his music.

'Thank you for the music'
Message Board for Ustad Alla Rakha.

'Those INS officers wouldn't have dared to do the same to the Chinese'
Message Board: The unwelcome Indian.

THE REPUBLIC, 50 YEARS ON
Celebrating 50 Years of the Indian Republic

'Yeh review, review, kya hai?'
'The Vajpayee government probably has in mind major, substantive changes which could not be effected through the amendment process... which is why Venkaiah Naidu vehemently says there could be no amendment without a review,' says Krishna Prasad.

BUSINESS INTERVIEW
'Govt can help the seafood sector to emerge as the biggest forex earner'
'For FIs and banks, the seafood industry is taboo. Some states have imposed 1% cess on seafood exports. The Budget can throw up a solution,' says Elias Sait, president, Seafood Exporters' Association of India.

MONEY
Manna for mobile users
The reduction in rentals and airtime rates has thrown up some interesting offers for mobile and potential mobile users.

MONEY
Good scope for appreciation
Dhirendra Kumar says UTI Mastershare is available at a discount and also has a major upside potential if the economy turns around.

SPORTS
India lead Lebanon 2-0
Leander Paes and Syed Fazaluddin posted comfortable victories in the opening singles of the Asia-Oceania Zone Group-I Davis Cup tie.

SPORTS
Australia take tri-series title 2-0
An explosive batting display by Australia and the usual professionalism in the field made it a cakewalk against Pakistan in the second, and last, final at Sydney. Prem Panicker reports.

TRAVEL
Hot new connections!
Sahara introduces new flights out of New Delhi to Madras, Bangalore and Bombay.

MOVIES
Pukar is a potential espionage thriller...
That falls woefully short of the mark.

MOVIES
Abhishek creates a stir in Varanasi
People turn up to catch a glimpse of Bachchan Jr.

MOVIES
Juhi, Shah Rukh find a fan in Basu
West Bengal CM watches Phir Bhi... at a special screening.

MUSIC
'Winning the Grammy was a great high'
Pandit Vishwa Mohan Bhatt, on his musical journey, his audiences, his legacy.

BOOKS
The adman and the bissyaar
The Showcase of Indian Advertising reveals Indian advertising's use of subliminal sex, writes Ashok Banker.

COLUMNS
Do badly, get a prize
'The very parts of India that drag India down on so many counts are rewarded with greater slices of political power. The states that point the way to a better India are politically penalised for their pains,' says Dilip D'Souza.

Australia awesome
Pakistan were disappointing and turned in perhaps the worst fielding ever seen from an international side, says Bobby Simpson.

Missed chances
Jatin Paranjpe on West Zone's campaign in the Deodhar Trophy.