Washington, Feb 26: Ranbaxy Laboratories, India's largest drug manufacturer, manipulated data and laboratory tests for generic drugs that had been approved for sale in the United States at its Himachal Pradesh facility, the US Food and Drug Administration has said.

The FDA disclosure marks completion of the first phase of a probe it had begun soon after Japanese drug major Daiichi Sankyo entered into an agreement with Ranbaxy's promoters to acquire majority shares in the company for over four billion dollars, becoming Daiichi subsidiary in November 2008.

Washington, Feb 26: Women who are fertile for more than 39 years and have natural menopause are at a lower risk of contracting Parkinson's disease, says a new study.

The study, which will be presented at the American Academy of Neurology's 61st Annual Meeting in Seattle, April 25 to May 2, 2009, provides evidence that longer exposure to the body's own hormones may protect women from the disease.

Washington  - President Barack Obama met top congressional leaders and economic officials from his administration Wednesday to take the "critical first step" in overhauling a financial regulatory system that has shared blame for the devastating credit crisis.

Obama called for "serious oversight" of the country's biggest financial institutions in future but said there was no intention to stifle market activity.

He said legislation would be drawn up in the coming weeks and months to pull the US agencies out of a "20th century" regulatory structure and prevent another crisis of similar magnitude.

Washington  - NASA technicians on Wednesday removed three fuel valves from the space shuttle Discovery that they feared could break off and damage the craft during launch.

The valves control the flow of hydrogen from the engines to the external fuel tank. NASA planned to replace the valves with models that had flown on fewer missions, after a piece broke off a similar valve on the space shuttle Endeavour in November. There was no damage, but the incident raised fears that shuttles could be damaged in the future.

Washington  - US central bank head Ben Bernanke on Wednesday rejected the idea that the government plans to nationalize major US banks in danger of collapse, during a second day of testimony before legislators.

The Federal Reserve chairman insisted that President Barack Obama's administration preferred to use public-private partnerships, which were temporary in nature and involved taking only a portion of banks' shares in exchange for emergency government funds.

Washington - Former Washington state governor Gary Locke was nominated by US President Barack Obama as commerce secretary on Wednesday, making him Obama's third choice for one of the remaining vacancies in his cabinet.

Locke, a 59-year-old Democrat, became the country's first Chinese- American governor when he was elected to the post in 1996 and served two four-year terms.