TOP STORIES

MEERUT
Major fire in cricket bat unit
Meerut, July 25
Property worth lakhs of rupees was destroyed in a fire, which devastated the famous B. D. Mahajan and Company, manufacturers of cricket bats, on the Delhi Road here this afternoon. No one was reported injured in the fire which continued to blaze till late at night even as more than two dozen fire tenders battled to contain it and prevent it from spreading to adjoining areas.

Grain trade: Haryana to reimpose licensing
Rohtak, July 25
The Haryana Government is planning to reintroduce licensing requirements to carry on grain business in the state. The gazette notification reimposing the licensing system is likely to be issued any day. The Union Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution had on February 15 removed the licensing requirements from the grain dealers in India.

Chautala gives Gurgaon the go-by
Gurgaon, July 25
The industrial community here is cut up by the omission of this district in the programme of the Haryana Chief Minister, Mr Om Prakash Chautala, wherein he will meet industrialists by visiting different districts of the state.

FLAGS UP: The three service chiefs arrive in full official regalia to meet new President Dr A. P. J. Abdul Kalam, who is also the Supreme Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces, at the Rashtrapati Bhavan in the Capital on Thursday. — Tribune Photos Mukesh Aggarwal

Farmers literally feeling like a fish out of water
Faridabad, July 25
Like the kharif crop, fish farming in the region, especially in this district, is in the grip of drought, which has become a reality due to shortage of rainfall. Further delay in rains could result in heavy loss in the production of fish, feel the farmers.

Crop change reaps dividends
Kherla (Mewat), July 25
Irshad Mian of Baghola village in Ferozepur Jhirka revenue block of Mewat area is happy that he had the courage to change the cropping pattern in his field. It has paid him rich dividends and now he wants to replicate the rewarding experience on a larger tract of his agricultural land.

Khurana demands CBI probe into advt scam
New Delhi, July 25
In a move to put the Congress-led Delhi Government on the defensive, the Delhi BJP chief, Mr Madan Lal Khurana, today alleged that pressure was being applied from the state Chief Minister’s office on the CBI to stall the Rs 100 crore advertisement scam.

Wanna develop memory like an elephant? Meet this man Panipat, July 25 What was the day on January 1, 1,600? Or for that matter what was the day of the week when India got her independence? For all such queries, you do not have to shuffle the record books. Just meet the “national memory record holder” and founder of the Dynamic Memory Private Limited, Mr Biswaroop Roy Chowdhury, who will answer your questions in a jiffy.

Down memory lane: The wizard in one of the classic sessions. — Photo by Pramod K. Chaudhari

FOLLOW-UP
Jail inmates go berserk
Meerut, July 25
The inmates of the district jail here on Wednesday turned violent on hearing the death of fellow prisoner. The whole drama unfolded on Tuesday night and soon gripped the jail premises. The inmates even beat up the cook of the jail kitchen. Then they proceeded to sit on dharna and started an indefinite hunger strike against the alleged atrocities perpetrated by jail guards.

COMMUNITY

Growing concern over drought conditions
Rewari, July 25
Congress legislator Rao Inderjit Singh, who is also a member of the All India Congress Committee, has asserted that it was a matter of grave concern that south Haryana has been severely hit by drought. Inadequate power supply as well as the negligible supply of canal water had further aggravated the situation, he added.

Committee to sort out farmers’ land disputes
Noida, July 25
The farmers of Tugalpur village in Greater Noida seem to have won the first round as a committee is being constituted to sort out all disputes concerning the land acquisition policy to the satisfaction of farmers in Greater Noida area.

IN PARLIAMENT
Task force to look into Capital’s power woes
New Delhi, July 25
A task force will be set up under the chairmanship of the Central Electricity Authority chief to look into the problems relating to power supply in the national Capital, informed the Minister of State for Power, Ms Jayawanti Mehta, in the Lok Sabha today.

And now, a mag on natural lifestyle

New Delhi, July 25 Nature and natural lifestyle are the buzz words today. Foundation for Promotion of Natural Products went a step further in this direction and launched a monthly magazine “Nature and Wealth” which was formally released by the former Social Welfare Minister, Ms Maneka Gandhi. A wealth of nuggets: Former Social Welfare Minister Maneka Gandhi launching ‘Nature and Wealth’.

DELHI DIGEST
CBSE compartment exams from July 29
New Delhi, July 25
The CBSE compartment examinations will commence from July 29. All admit cards and other details have been sent to the respective examination centres. Regular students should contact their school and the private candidates can approach the examination centres for details. Anyone seeking duplicate intimation card can obtain the same from the CBSE reception counter.

• Meet of women councillors
• Test for cop recruitment

NCR BRIEFS
Hafed manager booked for fraud
Faridabad, July 25
The police at Palwal town in the district have booked a former district manager of the `Hafed’ (Haryana Agricultural and Marketing Federation) on charges of fraud to the tune of Rs 17 lakh. The accused is reported to be posted as district manager at another town now.

Auto thefts Website on institutes Water supply scheme	Hafed manager dead ‘Murderers’ held
Minor fire at Pusa Institute New Delhi, July 25 Two minor fires broke out in the Capital during the last 24 hours. One incident was reported from the Pusa Institute and another from the Pink City shopping complex in the Delhi Cantonment area. The fire at the Pusa Institute was noticed by a watchman, who informed the Delhi Fire Service.

CRIME

SI held for taking bribe from CPWD AE
Ghaziabad, July 25
Anti-corruption organisation teams from Lucknow and Meerut have arrested a Sub Inspector of Police red-handed while accepting a bribe from an Assistant Engineer of CPWD. The SI had demanded Rs 60,000 from the AE for filing the last report in a criminal case.

Gang doubling currency notes smashed, three nabbed
New Delhi, July 25
With the arrest of three persons, the Delhi Police Crime Branch today claimed to have busted a gang of cheats who used to indulge in doubling the currency notes. The gang also used to defraud people by keeping one original currency note on top of the bundle and just white paper notes shaped like currency notes underneath.

DDA security guard held for taking bribe
New Delhi, July 25
The Anti-Corruption Branch of the Delhi Government arrested a security guard of the Land Protection Branch of the DDA in Subhash Nagar for allegedly demanding and accepting an illegal gratification for submitting a favourable report in connection with the survey of a plot of a complainant in Sector 15, DDA Colony, Bharat Vihar. The suspect was identified as Bishan Singh Negi.

Bus looted near Pilkhua
Ghaziabad
A UP Roadways bus (UP-02/D-6648) from the Kathgodam depot was looted after being hijacked by three persons at gunpoint near Dohri village on the national highway last night. The bus was on its way to Pilkhua from Delhi and according to the police the three criminals had boarded at Ghaziabad.

BUSINESS

Industry concerned on disruption of gas supply
New Delhi, July 25
Expressing its concern over the recent incidence of stoppage of natural gas supply by GAIL to the NCT industries, the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) today said the spill-off effect on the industries reliant on natural gas as a fuel cannot be overlooked.

A swish store for the stylish set Noida, July 25 To capture the fashion-conscious public of Noida, East Delhi, Ghaziabad, Greater Noida, the Wills Life Style store was launched in Noida’s fully air-conditioned posh five-storey shopping mall in Sector-27 today. Wills Life Style store was launched in Noida’s posh five-storey shopping mall.

Traders form panel to oppose changes in Delhi Rent Act
New Delhi, July 25
Fearing the introduction of the proposed amendments to the Delhi Rent Act in the ongoing monsoon session of Parliament, Delhi traders have constituted a 11-member joint action committee to take stock of the situation and devise ways to stop it.

EDUCATION

MDU employee seeks filing of case against ex-Registrar
Rohtak, July 25
Mr Ishwar Sharma, deputy chief security officer of the Maharshi Dayanand University, has sought registration of a case under Sections 186, 332, 353, 323,506,120-B and 34 of the IPC and Sections 61(1) 14 of the Excise Act against Dr Satpal Singh Dahiya and Dr Amar Verma, the then Registrar and chief warden of the university respectively, in connection with a scuffle involving him and the duo on the university campus in the wee hours on June 29.

CULTURE

ARTSCAPE
Different strokes of colour on Indian mythology
AN exhibition titled ‘Colours of Eternity’ by Shreekant Dubey was on display at the Lalit Kala Academy, Gallery No. 3. An amazing display of art and that too with watercolours, which hardly anyone can identify. It was a definite refreshing change and slightly different from the usual art presentations. Some vivacious shades of blue and yellow light up the picture space as Krishna and black along with Radha.

• Another face of art

• Dome Over India

Exhibition on Indian Literature
"SECOND Look”, an exhibition based on Amit Chaudhuri's Picador Book of Modern Indian Literature, is being held at the Queen's Gallery of British Council in New Delhi. It is a collection of posters from various renowned authors' books including from the ‘English Teacher’ by R. K. Narayan and Bankim Chandra Chatterjee’s ‘A Popular Literature for Bengal’. It has contributions from numerous authors across the country Arvind Krishna Mehrotra, Salman Rushdie, Vikram Chandra to name a few.

SPORTS

India pin hopes on Kunjarani New Delhi, July 25 Ace weightlifter Kunjarani Devi is expected to play a pivotal role in India’s medal hunt in the Commonwealth Games Weightlifting Championship, as past records speak highly of her medal-lifting ability. Kunjarani has some nostalgic memories about Manchester, the venue of the Commonwealth Games, as in 1989, she had lifted three silver medals at the same venue in the World Championship, despite losing her baggage and lifting kit.

The country’s lifting hope.

Sponsorship deal signed for Golf Tour
New Delhi, July 25
The Indian Professional Golf Tour will be continued to be supported by Hero Honda for another season as an agreement to renew the contract has been signed. The sponsorship deal will include three main events — West, South and the Chandigarh Open championships. Each tournament will carry a prize money of Rs 10 lakh.

Modern School edge past Gyan Bharti
New Delhi, July 25
Modern School, Barakhamba Road edged past Gyan Bharti School 2-1 in a junior division league match of the Bro Mahony Inter-School Football Tournament at the Mount St. Mary’s School ground, Delhi Cantt.

Ten elected to DDCA Sports Committee
New Delhi, July 25
In keenly-contested elections, ten club representatives were elected to the Working Committee of the Sports Committee of the Delhi and District Cricket Association at the Ferozeshah Kotla ground on Thursday.

ADMINISTRATION

Finger Print Bureau chief transferred
New Delhi, July 25
The Director of the Finger Print Bureau of the Delhi Police, Randhir Singh Bhardwaj, was transferred to Security following the recommendation of the vigilance branch as an inquiry of sexual harassment case was being conducted against him. He has been replaced by Assistant Commissioner of Police Jagjit Kumar Kaushik.

I-T camp held for govt staff
Faridabad, July 25
A special `income tax’ camp was organised by the district administration and the Income Tax Department to enable the government employees to file their IT returns and apply for the permanent account number at 'Bachat' Bhawan here today. The last date for filing the IT returns is July 31.