Mumbai, Mar 20 : Maharashtra Police on Friday said it would be better if the Indian Premier League (IPL) is held in the state after elections.

Maharashtra's Director General (Elections) Suprabhat Chakravarty suggested that the tournament should be put on hold till the election is over.

"There is no point in putting extra strain on policemen. They are already busy due to elections. It is a very strenuous duty to provide security during both the IPL matches and the elections," Chakravarty said.

New Delhi, Mar 20 : Party workers of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Friday gathered outside the residence of senior party leader L K Advani here to press for tickets for the upcoming general elections.

Supporters of Parvesh Verma, son of former Delhi Chief Minister and BJP leader Saheb Singh Verma gathered to request the party for his ticket.

"We want Parvesh to fight Lok Sabha elections from Delhi. We have come here to meet Advani and to request him for his ticket," said Ram Kishan Singh, a party worker.

Srinagar-Leh highway, Mar20 : Border Roads Organisation (BRO) officials are toiling hard to reopen the Leh- Srinagar highway in Kashmir, which remains snow-blocked for six months.

"Leh remains cut-off from Kashmir for six months. We want to open the highway as soon as possible so that Leh and Kashmir could stay connected," said Abdul Rasheed, a BRO worker.

The work which had started on March 9 is expected to be over within a month.

The highway linking Srinagar with Ladakh region, passes through Zojila, one of the highest mountain passes of the world.

Hamilton (New Zealand), Mar. 20 : New Zealand cricket coach Andy Moles has bemoaned his side''s performance in the first Test against India as a "poor advert" for their skills.

India have totally dominated all but one session of the contest through three days at Seddon Park – when Daniel Vettori and Jesse Ryder scored hundreds on Wednesday''s opening day to resuscitate New Zealand from a parlous 61 for six.

India''s grip tightened today as Sachin Tendulkar''s grafting 160 guided the tourists to a 241-run first innings lead.

New Delhi, Mar 20 : The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Friday released the names of candidates for two Lok Sabha seats in Jammu and Kashmir.

Advocate Leela Karan Sharma will be BJP’s candidate for the Jammu-Poonch Lok Sabha seat while the former State BJP Chief Dr. Nirmal Singh will try his luck from the Udhampur-Doda seat.

Meanwhile, the Jammu and Kashmir National Panthers’ Party has announced the name of Professor Bhim Singh as its candidate from the Udhampur parliamentary constituency.

Hyderabad, Mar 20 : The Andhra Pradesh Government on Friday forwarded the names of three Police officers to the Election Commission for it to name the State’s new Director General of Police (DGP).

The names were forwarded after the Election Commission had ordered the transfer of current DGP S. S. P. Yadav for praising Chief Minister Y. S. Rajasekhara Reddy during an official tour.