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Factory collapse: Owner arrested 

Jalandhar: Prominent industrialist Sheetal Vij has been arrested after a factory building owned by him collapsed, leaving at least six workers dead and many trapped under the debris, police said on Tuesday as rescue teams continued to hunt for survivors.

Vij was arrested on Monday night and booked for culpable homicide not amounting to murder. The Punjab government has ordered a probe by a senior officer into the collapse of the four-storeyed building of Sheetal Fabrics, a blanket manufacturing unit, Sunday night. 

Rescue efforts continued through Monday night and early Tuesday to find any survivors. Dog squads and gas cutters were being used to locate trapped people.
A massive rescue operation has been mounted by various agencies, including the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF), Punjab Police, army and local authorities.
While district authorities confirmed two people dead, NDRF officials said their teams had seen at least four more bodies buried under the collapsed factory’s debris in Focal Point area of Jalandhar, about 150 km from the state capital Chandigarh.

RBI may cut interest rate 

Mumbai: Signalling a possible interest rate cut to boost economy at its annual credit policy on Tuesday, the Reserve Bank said it would shift the focus to arresting declining growth while keeping inflation under control.

"Inflation expectations moderated in the fourth quarter of 2012-13 but remain high. With significant upside risks to inflation, monetary policy needs to keep them anchored, while shifting the balance of policy to arrest the deceleration in growth momentum," RBI said on the eve of annual monetary policy.

RBI in its Macroeconomic and Monetary Development Report also cautioned that inflation is likely to remain "sticky" at the current level through out the fiscal (2012-13). Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee too described the rising food inflation as "disturbing".

The inflation, according to latest data, was 6.89 percent during March. As regards growth, it declined to three year low of 6.9 percent during 2011-12.
"Monetary policy needs to support growth without risking external balance or inflation by excessive fuelling demand," it said.

MCD polls: BJP ahead 

New Delhi: The ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Tuesday appeared to be maintaining a comfortable lead on main opposition Congress in the early hours of the counting for the total 272 wards in three civic bodies carved out of the existing Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD)on Tuesday. 

According to latest trends available till 10.05 am for 264 seats out of total 272 wards, BJP is ahead in 132 seats, Congress in 107, BSP in 8 seats, while independents were leading in 17 seats. 

Early trends showed that BJP is leading in 53 seats and has a comfortable lead in South Delhi Corporation over Congress, which is leading in 35 seats. 

BJP, which is leading in 55 seats has a thin edge over the main opposition Congress in North Delhi as the latter is ahead in 37 seats for which trends are available. 
In East Delhi Corporation, BJP is surging ahead in 30 seats, while Congress is said to be moving closer to its rival as it leads in 25 seats.