PANAJI:  Dempo and Sarvodaya Sporting took first innings lead in their drawn matches of the 3-day GPL cricket tournament on Wednesday. At MCC, Sarvodaya Sporting took a 95-run first inning lead over Al-Fatah of Vasco.

MAPUSA: Hosts Calangute Association Sports Club had to wait for the sudden death to get past Sodiem Siolim Sports Club, with a 6-5 win, to enter the quarter-finals of the Calangute Panchayat Cup, at Poriat grounds, here on Wednesday.

BARCELONA: Lionel Messi produced a stellar performance in the Champions League, netting all four goals as Barcelona beat Arsenal 4-1 to set up a semi-finals date against Inter Milan.

MAPUSA: Aveline Fernandes’ four-goal blitz enabled Adarsh Yuvak Sangh Saligao to register a 5-1 win over United Club Benaulim, to enter the quarter-finals of 21st Late V M  Salgaoncar Trophy, organised by Saligao Sporting Club, at Sporting grounds, here on Wednesday.

HYDERABAD: In a dramatic turnaround, Pakistan cricketer Shoaib Malik on Wednesday divorced Ayesha Siddiqui, the local girl whom he had married seven years ago, under a compromise worked out by Muslim community leaders paving the way for his marriage with tennis star Sania Mirza on April 15.

BY PRAFUL BIDWAI
THE reconstitution of the National Advisory Council under Ms Sonia Gandhi, announced by India’s United Progressive Alliance government, is good news. The original NAC died prematurely because Ms Gandhi quit it in 2006 over the office-of-profit controversy.

THE Afghanistan President, Mr Hamid Karzai has never been chummy with the US President, Mr Barack Obama. But the harsh words used by Mr Karzai against the West, accusing them of orchestrating electoral fraud to undermine his administration and run a ‘puppet’ regime has widened the chasm between the two leaders.

WHATEVER the political consideration, the Transport Minister, Mr Sudin Dhavalikar’s intiative with a letter to the Chief Minister calling for a thorough vigilance probe in the tender process of the High Security Registration Plates (HSRP) scam, is in public interest.

Non-Availability of Water

THE summer season is upon us with a vengeance and with the temperatures rising each day, water has become an extremely indispensable commodity.

NT NETWORK
The CII Goa State Office with the CII – LM Thapar Centre for Competitiveness is organising a two-day programme on Effective Inventory Management and Becoming Lean - Keys to Waste Management on April 8 and 9, from 09:30 to 06:00 at the Convention Hall – Hotel Mandovi Panaji.