127-year-old man casts vote in India

NEW DELHI, May 13 (Xinhua) -- A 127-year-old man, who voted in the
country's first general election in 1952, Wednesday became the oldest person in
the country to vote, said an Election Commission official.

"Bhadaru voted in a polling booth in Kasumpti under hill station Shimla's
parliamentary constituency, the capital of the northern Indian state of Himachal
Pradesh. He came on a horse to exercise his francaise. This is history in our
democracy," the official told the media.

Responding to media questions after voting, Bhadaru, who voted for India's
first modern time Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru in 1952, expressed
dissatisfaction over the repeated inquires about his age.

"Why are you asking me again and again about my age? I am not getting
pension," he said.

Some 107 million voters in India were eligible to vote in the fifth and
last phase of the marathon month-long general elections.

20 cases of suspected H1N1 flu tested negative in India

NEW DELHI, May 6 (Xinhua) -- India has tested negative 20 samples of suspected A/ H1N1 flu cases so far and remained free of the flu, while three samples are still being tested, said the Indian Health Ministry Wednesday.

Among the three remaining cases, two of these are from Hyderabad, central India, and one person who reported himself for test from Jalandhar, Punjab in northern India, said the ministry.

A total of 39,315 passengers have been screened at all major Indian airports, among them 5,987 passengers being from affected countries and regions, said the ministry.

The ministry has also issued an advisory informing Indian people that retail sale of Tamiflu, the tablet for curing A/H1N1 flu, is not permitted in India over the counter.

"Indiscriminate use of this drug by the public could result in the virus developing resistance to this only known treatment of the H1N1 influenza," the advisory said.

The Indian government has adequate stockpiles of the drug that will be distributed free through the public health network in case of need to the confirmed cases of the disease, said the advisory.