OLYMPIAN KICK
India fail to qualify after 80 years
Santiago, March 10
Indian hockey today sunk into its darkest pit of despair as the men’s team failed to qualify for the Olympics for the first time in 80 years following a shocking 0-2 defeat against Britain in the final of the qualifying tournament here.
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Indian Horror Confederation
Throw him out: Gurudas
Sports page: Saddest day, say former Olympians
Chief coach Joaquim Carvalho quits
Gill brushes aside resignation demand
Chandigarh page: Bhatti comes out with ‘Cric-Hockey’ stick
Editorial: ‘Chak de’ was only a flicker

Kannur Attack
BJP plea for judicial probe rejected
New Delhi, March 10
Home minister Shivraj Patil said today that action would be initiated against those involved in yesterday’s attack on the CPM headquarters. Responding to concerns of members in the Rajya Sabha over yesterday’s violence, he said anybody who had committed the crime would be proceeded against.

Nation page: Suspected Hindu activists attack CPM leader’s home

Punsup DM kills himself
Kapurthala, March 10
Amarjeet Singh Saini (48), Punsup district manager (DM), has committed suicide by hanging from a ceiling fan at his rented house in Prem Nagar here. Saini, in a suicide note recovered from his pocket, said he was committing suicide due to pressure of official work.

1,300 cases pending against sitting MPs, MLAs
New Delhi, March 10
In statistics that do not show the country’s politicians in good light, around 1,300 cases are pending against sitting MPs and MLAs in various courts. Law and justice minister H. R. Bhardwaj provided the information in a written reply in Rajya Sabha on Monday quoting the figures as on March 31, 2007.

Haryana page: MLAs come to near blows

Ossification test to be conducted on Brit teen’s body Panaji, March 10 The Goa police have ordered an ossification test to be conducted on the body of the 15-year-old British girl, who was found dead under mysterious circumstance on a popular beach in the state.
Fiona Mackeown, mother of 15-year-old Scarlet Keeling, speaks to the media in Panjim, Goa, on Monday. — Reuters photo

Punjab staff sell lottery tickets Chandigarh, March 10 Getting your job done in a government office in Punjab is now no more a matter of chance. There is a new “tout” at work — the sarkari staffer at district headquarters. For obtaining his assistant, all you have to do is buy a lottery ticket from him.