The city sessions court on Wednesday deferred the hearing on the revision application filed by the Special Investigation Team (SIT) till Thursday after investigating officer, assistant commissioner of police PL Mal, forgot to bring the case diary of the Naroda case to court. The application had been filed against an earlier order of the metropolitan court sending former second inspector of the Naroda police, VS Gohil, to judicial custody. “Mal forgot the case diary at the Gujarat high court during a hearing. Because of this, he could not bring it to court today and the sessions court deferred hearing in the case till Thursday,” a highly placed source said.

Rivals were envious of his hold in GEB

Police suspect hand of professional killers in the assassination of Gujarat Electricity Board (GEB) contractor Narendrasinh Parmar, who was shot dead at Mithakali on Tuesday. Police sources said business rivalry could be the reason behind the murder.

According to sources, police could interrogate two contractors - Lalji Masani and Premaji Oad - to gather more information. Four years back, Masani was the main contractor with the GEB but his monopoly ended as soon as Parmar started taking GEB contracts. Sources said Masani was not happy with Parmar's hold in the business as the deceased was clinching all major contracts.

Traces of poison

Three days after a senior executive of Infosys BPO was found murdered in his Ramaswamypalya house, police now believe that they have enough reasons to suspect the victim’s wife.

Forensic experts, who had conducted a post-mortem examination on Umesh Krishnan, aged 27, have reported that traces of poison were found in his body. This led the police to suspect Honey Mary, who had married Umesh four months ago. Police believe that Umesh might have consumed food laced with poison.

Just when the Congress was wondering about NCP chief Sharad Pawar's intentions in opening channels with the Shiv Sena, the old Maratha warrior surprised everybody by meeting Congress general secretary Rahul Gandhi in Pune. It was a low-key meeting but no less high profile for that and replete with significance. The very next day the two parties announced they had finally worked out their state-level agreement — the NCP gets 22 seats, one more than the last time - a coincidence, perhaps but nonetheless significant.

February saw good dispatches by the cement makers, particularly Grasim Industries and Ambuja Cements. While Grasim’s dispatches rose 10% year on year to 29.19 lakh tones, Ambuja saw a growth of 11.27% at 16.49 lakh tonnes. In comparison, ACC’s dispatches grew by a modest 3.5% to 17.5 lakh tonnes.

All the same, the improving dispatches reflect the various stimulus measures taken by the government.

Going by dealers, demand was robust, driven by government projects and higher spending on account of the upcoming elections. Additionally, higher prices and peak season off-take helped dispatches.

The alumni of MSIHMCT will be making a Crocumbouche for their favourite teacher; intend to enter the Limca Book of Records

Too many cooks spoil the broth! But, the case is quite opposite for the alumni of the Maharashtra State Institute of Hotel Management and Catering Technology (MSIHMCT). The enthusiastic bunch of 23 executive as well as the Sous chefs are all geared up for their entry into the Limca Book of Records by making the country’s largest Crocumbouche—measuring a minimum of 15 feet in height and 5 feet at the base.