Sunday, April 6, 2003, Chandigarh, India
Updated at 3:00 am (IST)

US tanks roll into Baghdad
* Suspected chemical weapons site being dug up
* Iraq says airport still with it
Near Baghdad, April 5
US armoured forces rolled into Baghdad today, smashing through Iraq’s Republican Guard to reach the ultimate destination - at least briefly - of their two-week surge across southern Iraq, US officials said. Iraqi television played patriotic music and soldiers and militiamen loyal to President Saddam Hussein vowed to keep fighting.
In video (28k, 56k)
Iraqi President Saddam Hussein seen on TV, visiting residential bomb-damaged buildings in Baghdad.  (28k, 56k)

  World page: Garner team prepares post-war plan

A convoy of US tanks passes through an Iraqi village on a road southeast of Baghdad as it makes its way into the Iraqi capital; and (right) an Iraqi policeman holds his weapon and flashes a victory sign in front of the mosque next to the Palestinian Hotel in Baghdad on Saturday. — Reuters photos

Interpol alert as NRI family goes missing
London, April 5
An international search involving Interpol has been launched to locate a London-based wealthy Indian family that has gone missing for the past six weeks with the police expressing apprehension that they might have been kidnapped by a smugglers gang.

BJP distances itself from VAT
Indore, April 5
Realising that the ever-increasing resentment over value added tax could have a disastrous impact on the electoral prospects of the party in the coming Assembly elections in four states, the BJP today clarified that it was wrong to suggest that the Central Government or the BJP had forced this legislation on state governments.

  Business page: Postpone VAT implementation

Panjwar’s accomplice held
Amritsar, April 5
The Rajasthan Police and the Punjab Police in a joint operations today claimed to have arrested Sukhchain Singh alias Mann, an accomplice of Paramjit Singh Panjwar, a self-styled chief of the Khalistan Commando Force, who figures in the list of India’s 20 most wanted terrorists.

MiG-23 crash toll rises to five
Mullanpur Dakha (Ludhiana), April 5
The death toll in the MIG-23 crash that took place here yesterday has risen to five with Manjinder Kaur (23) succumbing to her injuries in the Intensive Care Unit of DMC hospital in the morning today. 

  Ludhiana page: Hundreds came to help at crash site

Amarinder gets bail
Shimla, April 5
Mr A.S. Jaswal, Chief Judicial Magistrate, granted bail to the Punjab Chief Minister, Capt Amarinder Singh, in a defamation case filed by Prof P.K. Dhumal, a former Chief Minister, here today.

  Himachal page: Virbhadra ‘hushing up’ cases against Cong leaders

HP to enforce ban on RSS shakhas

MP youth ‘not suffering from SARS’
Bhopal, April 5
A pneumonia-affected patient, admitted to a local hospital, was not suffering from dreaded respiratory disease SARS, a five-member committee set up by the Madhya Pradesh Government said today.
Dr Gro Harlem Brundtland, the Director-General of WHO, says her organisation is trying its level best to control the spread of SARS. (28k, 56k)

Sand mafia digs, civic body covers up! Hoshiarpur, April 5 Dumping of hundreds of tonnes of garbage in the Bhangi choe by the civic body authorities and alleged illegal mining of sand from the choe bed and even from adjoining fields for years together has not only posed a serious threat to the environment, but has also threatened the health of residents. Countless heaps of garbage and plastic bags in the bed of the Bhangi choe pose a serious threat to residents of Hoshiarpur town and adjoining villages. — Photo Deepak