Tuesday, March 11, 2014, Chandigarh, India,
Edition update time 2:30 am (IST)

End MP, MLAs’ graft trial in 1 yr: SC
Law Commission wants lawmakers indicted in criminal cases disqualified
New Delhi, March 10
The Supreme Court today set a one-year deadline for courts to complete the trial of MPs and MLAs involved in corruption cases. This is part of an initiative to cleanse politics of criminal elements. A Bench headed by Justice RM Lodha passed the order while hearing a PIL pleading for minimising the role of money and muscle power in elections, besides preventing those facing criminal and corruption charges from completing their five-year tenure in Parliament or Assembly by delaying court proceedings.

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Cong seals poll pact with Manpreet; CPI stays away
New Delhi, March 10
The Congress and the People’s Party of Punjab (PPP) on Monday finalised its pre-poll alliance and will make the formal announcement in Chandigarh tomorrow, even as the CPI decided to stay away from the tie-up. PPP chief and Akali Dal ex-leader Manpreet Badal will contest from Bathinda parliamentary constituency. He said he was “happy with the alliance and was waiting to see what the CPI decided”. 

Walk on, Cong tells front-line campaigners
New Delhi, March 10
The Congress has decided to get state leaders to walk across the length and breadth of Lok Sabha segments to connect better with voters in an attempt to counter the BJP’s Narendra Modi-centric tea parties. All state units have been instructed to not just plan “walkathons” of sorts as campaign strategy, but also see to it that each local Congress leader in a given Lok Sabha segment covers at least 10 km a day on foot when taking part in such an event.

Ludhiana judge, son killed in car crash
Ludhiana, March 10
Judicial Magistrate Sukhbir Kaur (32) and her four-year-old son Alam Singh died in a road accident near Phillaur (Jalandhar). The accident took place at around 7.30 am when she, along with her family, was on her way from Amritsar to Ludhiana. Her husband was driving the car. She was sitting on the adjoining seat with her son on her lap. When the car reached near Phillaur, it hit a gas tanker. The injured were taken to Dayanand Medical College and Hospital here where she was declared brought dead. Her son succumbed to his injuries an hour later.

10 nations search for missing Malaysian plane
Kuala Lumpur, March 10
The “unprecedented mystery” of a missing Malaysian plane deepened today as no trace of its wreckage was found even after three days of multinational operations, prompting authorities to expand the area of search and look into “every angle”, including hijacking. Hopes faded for the relatives of 239 people on board, including five Indians, as Malaysian authorities failed to locate the Beijing-bound Boeing 777-200 flight MH370 of Malaysia Airlines that went missing over the South China Sea on Friday.