NEWS
Nepal lukewarm towards hijack probe
Intelligence agencies are also looking into an allegation that the first secretary of the Pakistani embassy in Kathmandu drove into Tribhuvan International Airport in an embassy vehicle (42-CD-14) with his assistant and handed over a bag to the hijackers.

NEWS
US in no hurry to brand Pak a terrorist state
Officials and experts on international affairs point out that despite Pakistan's apparent weaknesses, the Americans envisage a positive role for it in central Asia.

SPECIAL
Time to hijack Taleban from Pakistan?
'By officially declaring that they had released the hijackers on the Pak-Afghan border, the Taleban made it known that they endorsed the Indian assessment of Pakistan's role in the hijacking,' says Sreedhar, senior research associate at the Institute for Defence Studies and Analysis.

PHOTOFEATURE
The Agony...
Flight IC-814 was nothing short of hell for relatives of the hostages. Photographer K M Joseph records the traumatic eight days.

NEWS
CPI-M, Church to launch TV channels in Kerala
While the Marxists claim their channel will be used to put across their political views, Church leaders say their venture -- christened Jeevan TV-- will aim to protect morality.

MONEY
Where to invest in 2000
Niraj Bhatt gazes into the crystal ball to find emerging investment trends.

SPORTS
Paes sets up meeting with Pioline
On a day when four seeds bit the dust, the Indian ace turned in a fine display to get past Frenchman Julien Boutter.

THE MILLENNIUM SPECIAL
'Azharuddin is a great batsman and fielder'
'Vinoo Mankad is the best opening batsman ever... Srinath the fastest bowler India has ever produced... Eknath Solkar the only player who could field very well without headgear...' E A S Prasanna on his dream team.

BUSINESS
'A business should be run only by professionals'
'If six out of 10 billionaires in India are first-generation entrepreneurs, it doesn't mean that others are doing badly. It could simply be that the market is not giving high valuations to non-pharma, non-IT and non-consumer goods companies,' says Vijay Sankar, heir to the Chemplast Sanmar Group.

MUSIC
Listen to the heart
Javed Akhtar and Jatin-Lalit come up trumps with Phir Bhi Dil Hai Hindustani.

MOVIES
Abhishek, Kareena quit Aryan
Salman steps in to help brother Sohail

MOVIES
Put on your dancing shoes
In step with Anil, Raveena... on the sets of Bulandi.

COLUMNS
A time to celebrate
'Tony Blair and his merry men attracted more tourists to London on a freezing winter day than we get here in this gorgeous country in an entire year. Where there is so much to offer in terms of beauty, history, nature and celebrations,' says Pritish Nandy.

'Kumaratunga realises her army cannot win the war for peace'
'The most distressing feature of this war in India's backyard is its hands-off-Sri Lanka policy. Will India do nothing were the Tigers to come close to achieving Eelam? That would send a dangerous signal to secessionists in India,' says Major General Ashok K Mehta (retd).

Y2K and the police bug
If the IT Bill is passed in its present form, the police can put you behind bars for playing a card game on the computer, writes Devangshu Datta.

Four stumps and no umps
Martin Crowe's perception of the game by the middle of the 21st century.

Storm after the calm
Harsha Bhogle salutes V V S Laxman on his gritty innings. 'What a pity these were the dying embers of a forgettable tour,' he laments.