BJP ignores EC’s advice
Refuses to drop Varun
New Delhi, March 23
Accusing the Election Commission (EC) of bias and acting under political pressure, BJP and its candidate for the Pilibhit Lok Sabha seat, Varun Gandhi, questioned EC’s jurisdiction to advise the party to withdraw him as a candidate. BJP president Rajnath Singh made it clear that the party has no plan to drop Varun Gandhi from its list.

Gandhi vs Gandhi "I would advise him to read the Gita properly and try to understand it. Varun’s comments are against the traditions and principles of the Gandhi family and he has gone against what the Gandhis have lived and died for. It made me very sad to see him saying those things on TV… what can I say? Priyanka Gandhi in Rae Bareli on Monday. — PTI

‘PM not keen on contesting’
Amritsar, March 23
Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh has told his family members that he was not interested in contesting Lok Sabha election from anywhere in the country. The Prime Minister replied to a query of APS Chatha, who was among 18 family members of the Prime Minister, who met him in the Circuit House here today evening.

Poll Notification issued
Five-phase process begins
New Delhi, March 23
A presidential notification to formally start the five-phased Lok Sabha elections was issued here today by the President Pratibha Patil. The first phase of the poll starts on April 16. The polls will progress in phases, culminating in the counting on May 16.

Personal loan now for only the salaried
Chandigarh, March 23
Availing personal loans till the time economic downturn had set in used to be an easy mode of borrowing money from any bank. But no more does the service come with that old leisure.

Kasab admits he is from Pak
Mumbai, March 23
Ajmal Kasab, the lone gunman arrested in the Mumbai attacks, today accepted before the trial judge that he was a Pakistani national and told the court he was fine with a government-provided lawyer to defend him.

Nano for India, electric car for Norway
Mumbai, March 23
Ratan Tata today announced plans to launch an Electric Indica model in Norway and a US version of the Nano. He was speaking after the commercial launch of the people’s car, booking for which will begin on April 9.

Business page: Nano rolls out for India

Girl killed for opposing eve teasing
Udhampur, March 23
In a gruesome incident, a youth hacked to death a teenage girl, Nasim, for opposing eve teasing in remote Debrah village of Udhampur district this morning. Another girl Noushad was seriously injured while trying to rescue the victim from the clutches of the youth.

BCCI scouts for IPL venue Mumbai, March 23 A BCCI delegation is due to leave for South Africa and England tonight in order to finalise venues for holding cricket matches of the Indian Premier League. BCCI had earlier declared its decision to move IPL, the hugely popular version of inter-city and inter-state tournament launched last year, out of the country.