Make the border more secure, pleads Punjab
Chandigarh, July 29
Alarmed at increased militant activities in the state, Punjab is pleading with the Centre to plug the international border with Pakistan ‘more effectively’. Seizures of narcotics, arms, fake currency, point out senior officials, have all gone up in recent months, indicating heightened activity from across the border.

TERROR TRAIL IN JULY   Punjab wants border patrolling stepped up

Games under CVC scanner
New Delhi, July 29
The Central Vigilance Commission has found some serious discrepancies in the ongoing work of Commonwealth Games and has highlighted suspected cases of corruption in which exorbitant expenditures were made and inadmissible factors were considered to jack up prices.

UNDER SCANNER: Shyama Prasad Mukherjee swimming pool is among the 15 CWG projects that have caught the CVC’s attention. — Reuters

Oppn slams price rise @ Rs 2 crore a day!
New Delhi, July 29
The paradox is only getting starker. As the Opposition paralysed Parliament for the third consecutive day today insisting that discussions on price rise be held under rules that entail voting, losses to the exchequer due to disruptions continued to mount.

Cameron backs remark on Pak
New Delhi, July 29
British Prime Minister David Cameron today strongly defended his controversial remarks on Pakistan’s record in tackling terrorism even as they threatened to affect London’s ties with Islamabad ahead of Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari’s visit to Britain next week.
(Details in Nation page)

2 killed as bridge falls near Shimla Shimla, July 29 Two persons were killed and two others seriously injured when an overbridge, constructed on the key Dhami-Basantpur-Kingal Highway last year to provide all-weather connectivity to Rampur and Kinnaur, gave in. Four trucks plunge into a rivulet due to a bridge collapse on the Basantpur-Kingal stretch on the outskirts of Shimla on Thursday. — PTI

Top forest officer gets jail for defamation
Chandigarh, July 29
A Bhiwani court today sentenced a senior officer of the Indian Forest Service (IFS) of the Haryana cadre to three months’ simple imprisonment and imposed a fine of Rs 1,000 for defaming a colleague. (Details in Haryana page)

House nod for President’s rule in Jharkhand
New Delhi, July 29
In the midst of a bedlam created by the Opposition over the spiralling prices, both Houses of Parliament today approved without a debate the imposition of President's rule in Jharkhand. A statutory resolution approving President's rule was put to voice vote and adopted in the Lok Sabha as well as the Rajya Sabha.

Thirty years to nowhere Batalvi’s birth celebrations shifted to a wedding hall Batala, July 29 When the Punjab Deputy Chief Minister attends the 75th birth anniversary celebrations of Shiv Kumar Batalvi here tomorrow, he will be doing so in a ‘marriage hall’ and not in the fancy ‘cultural centre’ named after the poet across the street. Birha da Sultan Bovine tribute to poet! The poorly maintained Shiv Batalvi Cultural Centre.