New Delhi, Jan 31 : President Pratibha Devi Singh Patil has inaugurated the launch of Pulse Polio campaign on Saturday at Rashtrapati Bhawan.

To mark the National Immunization Day, she administered oral polio drops to five children below five years.

Speaking on the occasion, the Union Health and Family Welfare Minister, Ambumani Ramadoss said that India would be polio-free within next two years, as 33 out of 35 states and union territories are already polio-free.

New Delhi, January 31 : Every 30 seconds, a Chinese infant is brought into the world with physical defects owing to the country's environmental pollution, reveals an official of the National Population and Family Planning Commission (NPFPC).

According to Jiang Fan, vice-minister of the NPFPC, the soaring birth defects had become a matter of such concern that a free pre-pregnant examination program was being offered to expecting women to control the condition, reports China Daily.

New Delhi, Jan 31 : Prime Minister Manmohan Singh will undergo pre-discharge tests at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) today, a week after undergoing coronary heart surgery.

Dr. D''Silva, one of the doctors attending to Singh, informed that the Prime Minister''s condition is stable and he is following a routine exercise pattern.

The Prime Minister also held discussions with some officers of the PMO today.

However, the doctors say they might need to monitor him further.

New Delhi, Jan 31 : Election Commissioner Navin Chawla has ruled out the possibility of his resignation in the wake of a recommendation by the Chief Election Commissioner N Gopalaswami seeking his removal.

"We will work unitedly towards general elections, there is no confusion," Chawla said.

Earlier, Chief Election Commissioner N. Gopalaswami had demanded Chawla's removal over charges of "partisanship". He had sent his recommendation to the President nearly fifteen days ago, and has been forwarded it to the Prime Minister.

New Delhi, Jan. 31 : Former U. S. Ambassador to Sri Lanka, Teresita C. Schaffer, has said that the government in Colombo would need to initiate changes in the way it manages the affairs of island-nation to restore harmony between its several communities.

Schaffer, who is now the Director of the Washington-based Center for Strategic and International Studies, told ANI in an interview that while Sri Lanka has made progress under a regime headed by President Mahinda Rajapakse, major political changes still needed to be undertaken to facilitate an end to the over two-decade long ethnic conflict.

New Delhi, Jan 31: State-run Punjab National Bank (PNB) reported hefty increases in its quarterly profit, helped by treasury gains and rising net interest incomes.

This was disclosed by K C Chakrabarty, Chairman and Managing Director of PNB at a press conference here on Friday.

The Bank registered an 85.8 percent increase in the net profit at 10.06 billion rupees for the quarter ended December 31, 2008, against 5.41 billion dollars for the same period, a year ago.