April showers play spoilsport
Inclement weather, wet spell to continue
Chandigarh,/Jalandhar April 6
Weather forecast that the wet spell might continue in the region for the next few days has both farmers and farm experts worried. As it is, moderate to heavy rain on Monday accompanied by hailstorms is said to have inflicted extensive damage to the standing wheat crop in Punjab and adjoining states.

Rain, rain go away: A farmer prays for good weather

Blasts rock Assam
Eight killed, 62 injured
Guwahati, April 6
Three explosions rattled Assam today, killing eight persons, including a 10-year-old girl and a woman, and injuring 62 others. The blasts sent security forces into a tizzy on the eve of the ‘foundation day’ of the outlawed United Liberation Front of Assam, the suspect behind the terror act.

Nation page: Mob attacks lensmen, cops

Sacking of employees facing criminal cases
Holding of inquiry essential: HC
Chandigarh, April 6
The Punjab and Haryana High Court has made it clear that mere registration of an FIR is not enough to terminate the services of an employee; the holding of an inquiry is essential before initiating such action.

Frame norms on tractor registration: SC to Centre
New Delhi, April 6
The Supreme Court today directed the Centre to frame guidelines within a week to deal with the problem of dealers selling tractors across the country without registration and insurance, thereby denying farmers ownership of their vehicles.

EC notice to Hooda; Panchkula DC shifted
Chandigarh, April 6
The Election Commission (EC) has issued a notice to Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda asking him to explain why he had travelled in a vehicle with read beacon atop it while he was allegedly on a political visit to Rohtak. The EC has also ordered the transfer of Panchkula DC Rajinder Kumar Kataria with immediate effect.

Kasab wants to meet his advocate
Mumbai, April 6
Mohammed Ajmal Amir (alias Kasab), the lone Pakistani terrorist captured alive in the 26/11 attack, on Monday expressed a desire to meet his advocate Anjali Waghmare as the special court set April 15 for beginning the trial into the terror attacks case.

Assets Sonia left far behind Rae Bareli, April 6 Sonia Gandhi does not possess a car or a house in the country and has only Rs 75,000 in the bank. According to the affidavit furnished by her while filing her nomination for Lok Sabha here, she does mention an ancestral home in Italy worth Rs 18.05 lakh as per wealth tax returns dated March 31, 2008.