April 18, 1999

Report on plight of children born with HIV who are now, because of medical advances, living far longer than anyone expected, and thriving into their teens and beyond; as these children grow, normally turbulent issues of youth--like dating and independence--are colliding with their chronic terminal illness in ways that their families never envisioned when children were babies; until early 1990's, HIV-infected children were considered lucky to make it to first grade; but their life expectancy has been so extended that they are graduating from high school; AIDS deaths dropped by 50 percent in children from 1996 to 1997, reduction that Federal health officials say is probably result of combination drug therapies and medicines to treat opportunistic infections; examples of some HIV-infected teenagers, and their families, discussed; photos (L)

Gretchen Morgenson Market Watch column on recent rally in value stocks; graph (M)

Hindu nationalist-led Government that turned India into declared nuclear power collapses; loses vote of confidence by 269 to 270, narrowest parliamentary defeat for a government in India's 51-year history; opposition Congress Party, led by Sonia Gandhi, will not try to cobble together new government coalition; within hours of vote, India's President accepts resignation of Prime Min Behari Vajpayee, leader of Bharatiya Janata Party, but asks him to stay on as caretaker while efforts to form new government go forward (M)

Sports of The Times column in tribute to retiring hockey star Wayne Gretzky; photos (M)

New York chapter of American Institute of Architects has purchased street-level storefront and two below-ground floors in co-op building on LaGaurdia Place and Bleeker Street in Greenwich Village for $1.2 million; ground-level space is to be filled with offices, meeting rooms and exhibition spaces (S)