TOP STORIES

Mayawati records name for posterity by remote
Noida, October 23
Politicians are understandably too keen to lay foundation stones and inaugurate projects, buildings, roads and what not as the ‘inaugural plaques’ record their names for posterity.

INTEGRATED TRANSIT SYSTEM
CII fears delays will ambush projects
New Delhi, October 23
The Government of NCT of Delhi’s Transport Policy has been welcomed but scepticism abounds. The Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) says the policy is welcome but is circumspect about its implementation given the finite timelines for various tasks outlined in the Operating Plan and the ubiquitous delays that ambush such ambitious projects.

PUBLIC PLACES
You can easily get lost in Sonepat’s legal maze
Sonepat, October 23
Walk into Sonepat district courts and you will get a shock of your life. The premises resemble a seedy, rundown market place, crammed with litigants, lawyers, visitors and touts. 

Playing havoc with young minds, not just crackers
New Delhi, October 23
Awareness coupled with concern about the harm that fire crackers cause to the environment spurred school children in the Capital to start the ‘Say no to crackers’ campaign a couple of years ago. But pollution apart, a little known fact is that the high decibels of noise that these crackers produce cause psychological havoc in young children.

Punjabi Bagh building toll mounts to five
New Delhi, October 23
The toll in yesterday’s building collapse in West Punjabi Bagh today rose to six as one Dr R S Chandel (50) died in the hospital and two more bodies of labourers, Tapan (32) and Pradeep (20), were recovered from the debris. Ten persons, who were reportedly injured in the collapse, are still in the hospital.

The star cast of ‘Dil Pardesi Ho Gaya’ at a press conference in the Capital.

HC orders probe into hospital project
New Delhi, October 23
The unusual delay in the setting up of a mental hospital for which a budget of Rs 18 crore was earmarked by the Centre has prompted the Delhi High Court to order an enquiry by the Cabinet Secretary. In an order issued here today, the court has asked the Cabinet Secretary to fix the officials responsible for it and submit the inquiry report before the court within three months.

Panel wants ban on mining to continue
Faridabad, October 23
The Environment Protection and Control Authority (EPCA) has again recommended the continuation of the ban imposed on mining in Haryana in the 5 km areas from the Delhi border.

Women call for closure of liquor vends 
Ghaziabad, October 23
Liquor vends in residential area have created unpleasant and unfortunate situation in Hapur, according to women of the town. The women have started demonstrations against these vends to pressurise administration to remove these liquor vends like the one in Mohalla Girdhari Pura on Garh Road.

COMMUNITY

Rape victims’ families say they are being harassed
Rewari, October 23
Inordinate delay in the arrest of alleged rapists of two teenaged cousins of Gangaicha Jat village under Rewari Sadar police station as well as the threats allegedly given by the prime suspect to the victims’ families have made their life quite miserable.

Lynching case: RPI warns of mass conversions
Jhajjar, October 23
The Republic Party of India (RPI) has warned of mass conversions by Dalits in Haryana if justice was not delivered to the victims’ families in Dulina lynching case. The party demanded the resignation of the state Chief Minister, Mr Om Prakash Chautala, for government’s failure to arrest the culprits even after eight days of the incident.

Intelligentsia blames police for lynching of Dalits
Rohtak, October 23
Former Union Minister Chand Ram, university teachers, writers from the Javadi Lekhak Sangh and social activists have held the police responsible for the lynching of five Dalits at Dulina near Jhajjar on the Dasehra day. 

Diwali fest for ‘differently abled’
New Delhi, October 23
Diwali barely a fortnight away, the Capital is already exhibiting the fervour that marks the festival. Diwali fairs and shopping extravaganzas are being organised in the city. Jan Madhyam has organised a Diwali Utsav in Vasant Vihar creating a platform for the disabled to showcase their ability.

Telecom engineers begin fast
Rohtak, October 23
Members of the Telecom Engineers Officers Association (TEOA) today started a relay hunger strike in protest against the non-acceptance of their demands by Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) and Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Limited (MTNL).

NCR BRIEFS
Woman commits suicide, children follow suit
Sonepat, October 23
A housewife, Naresh Devi, is reported to have committed suicide by taking sulphas tablets in her house at Basodi village, about 15 km from here, last evening. On seeing their mother dead, her son Anil and daughter Preeti also took sulphas tablets and fell unconscious in the house. Both were rushed to the local civil hospital where they died later.

Dial code numbers changed Ex-serviceman found dead

HUJ elections in December

DELHI DIGEST HC action on traffic  regulation at crossings New Delhi, October 23 To streamline traffic and to make roads safe for pedestrians, especially at zebra crossings, where motorists were found to ignore their right of first use of the road, the Delhi High Court today sought details from the city police on the steps being taken by them to regulate traffic in the Capital. Two killed in Okhla jhuggi fire Treat workers as partners: Verma

CRIME

Maid assaulted, house ransacked
New Delhi, October 23
A woman who has been working as a domestic help in a house in Kailash Apartments in Greater Kailash was found injured after being hit by a blunt object. The house was also found ransacked.

Armyman elopes with minor, villagers jam road
Jhajjar, October 23
Hundreds of residents from Jamalpur and neighbouring villages blocked the Jhajjar-Kosli road for nearly eight hours today demanding the arrest of the Army personnel who reportedly eloped with a minor girl of the same village two months ago.

Dreaded gangster shot dead in encounter
Noida, October 23
An inter-state criminal who was wanted in many sensational crimes like kidnapping and murder, Tejveer, has been shot dead by the Noida police in an encounter. However, his companion succeeded in escaping under the cover of darkness.

BUSINESS

Faridabad consumers to get the best of festive season
Faridabad, October 23
With the onset of festive season, ‘melas’ and shopping carnivals have started attracting the consumers, offering them all kinds of lollipops. The market which had been getting a rather dull response from the customers in the past few months has suddenly become vibrant with several discounts and tantalising offers to the consumers.

EDUCATION

DUTA executive plans to checkmate UGC move
New Delhi, October 23
The DUTA executive at its meeting on Tuesday chalked out plans to defeat the UGC’s move to transfer disbursement of funds to Delhi University colleges to the state government and to press the government to honour its commitments on teachers’ service conditions.

CAMPUS
Phoenix-based varsity to set up campus in Delhi
The Western International University (WIU) is setting a precedent in the field of higher education by being the first American university to set up a full-fledged campus in India. The Phoenix-based university is slated to invest close to $ 2 dollars in the New Delhi campus, which is widely being perceived as the first in a series of expected investments from foreign institutions in the higher education segment now that the government has declared its intentions of inviting FDI.

Hero Mindmine ties up with Daksh Demand to review promotion Seminar on banking

MHRD to increase IIT seats Educating disabled children Residence for women in DU

Commodify education, govt’s new mantra Focus on higher education has always been a controversial issue in India with the opinion ranging from “first let us provide primary education and then worry about higher education” to “it is only through investment in higher education that we can effectively harness the potential of our human resources.”  The LSE Director, External Programmes, Ms Rosemnary Gosluph, at the graduation ceremony of the ITM ‘Twinning Programme’. MDU professor elected secy of Commerce Association

CULTURE

First daily Punjabi soap goes on air today

New Delhi, October 23 The first-ever daily soap in Punjabi, ‘Kade Dhup Kade Chhanv’, goes on air tomorrow on DD Punjabi and DD Jalandhar. The 260-episode soap, aptly using the metaphor of sunlight and shade in its title, deals with the ups and downs of life. It will be telecast every day of the week except weekends at 2:30 p.m. ‘Kade Dhup Kade Chhanv’: The soap deals with the ups and downs of life.

SPORTS

CRPF bag three more gold in Police Aquatics
New Delhi, October 23
The Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) swimmers continued to rule the pool on day two of the 51st All-India Police Aquatic Championship at the Talkatora swimming pool when they lifted three more gold medals to swell their gold tally to six.

MRF team emerge second in China rally
New Delhi, October 23
Team MRF’s Stuart Warren with Darryl Judd as co-driver emerged third overall and second among Group N cars in the Rally of China, the third leg of the 2002 Asia Pacific Rally Championship, which concluded on Monday. 

• Sonnet, Bright locked in a tie in title match

ADMINISTRATION

MCD for limited tendering
New Delhi, October 23
The Municipal Corporation of Delhi has recommended “restricted tendering” when it privatises the collection of toll tax in the Capital. According to the proposals in a report on toll tax collection, the tender would be given to only those contractors who have at least three years of experience in tax collection.