TOP STORIES

Was the leopard a farmhouse pet?
New Delhi, January 3
The Delhi Police are trying to ascertain whether the leopard that was carted out of a plywood factory in Neb Sarai yesterday was being kept as a pet in one of the farmhouses in Mehrauli.

Zoo officials examining the body of the leopard, which had strayed into the residential area of Neb Sarai , South Delhi. The animal died of bullet wounds on Friday. — Tribune Photo Mukesh Aggarwal

Sedated leopard was shot at thrice, allowed to die
New Delhi, January 3
The leopard that made a startling entry into a farmhouse yesterday succumbed to bullet injuries this morning.

FIRST PERSON
‘It was like finding an elephant in an oven’
New Delhi, January 3
Dr Kartick Satyanarayan, who runs a NGO, Wildlife SOS, refused to believe that a leopard had been spotted in a farmhouse. “ It’s like saying that an elephant has been found in your microwave. I was just not prepared to see a leopard. In fact, I went with my dog catchers, thinking it will probably be a big cat or something”, recalled Satyanarayan, who incidentally received a bullet injury in his leg.

CRIME AGAINST WOMEN: BULANDSHAHR
Cops attempt to water down rape case
Noida, January 3
A young woman raped in Nangla Uggersen village in Bulandshahr was not sent for a medical examination by the local police who had allegedly tried to dilute the crime from ‘rape’ to an ‘attempt to rape’.

Mewat women find it easier now to bring home the bacon
Nuh (Gurgaon), January 3
The production and usage of ‘energy cakes’ have brought cheer to the women of Mewat, one of the most backward areas of Haryana. The energy cakes are being produced by Self-Help Groups, constituted exclusively by women with the help of non-government organisations and under the auspices of Mewat Development Agency (MDA), a body created by the Haryana government for speedy and integrated development of Mewat.

Industry lukewarm to drive against illegal settlers
Panipat, January 3
The drive to flush out illegal Bangladeshis, launched by the police with much fanfare in October last year, seems to have come a cropper due to the lackadaisical attitude of the police and, more important, due to the alleged unwillingness of the powerful exporters and manufacturers of the handloom products to register the Bangladeshis workers under the Foreigners Registration Act.

Nature’s scavengers: A sore sight at Gazipur landfill site.—  Photo by Anil Sharma

No bar on impounding autos without e-meters
New Delhi, January 3
The Delhi High Court on Friday stayed the impounding of those autorickshaws in the city that have not been converted to CNG mode. The court, however, allowed the Government of NCT of Delhi’s agencies to seize those autorickshaws not fitted with electronic meters.

Huge haul of spurious drugs
Ghaziabad, January 3
In one of the biggest haul of spurious drugs in recent months, the Ghaziabad Police have seized drugs worth Rs 2.5 crore following a raid in Loni in Sahibabad area and arrested one person, claiming to be the owner of the drug manufacturing unit.

COMMUNITY

Hooda sees Cong making waves
Sonepat, January 3
Mr Krishan Moorti Hooda, a former Haryana minister and spokesman of the Haryana Pradesh Congress Committee, has claimed that a Congress wave is sweeping the state as people were fed up with the Indian National Lok Dal (INLD) government, headed by Mr Om Prakash Chautala, and they were rallied behind Mr Bhajan Lal, former Chief Minister and the HPCC president.

South Haryana leaders to rally behind Bhajan Lal
Rewari, January 3
Almost all prominent Congress leaders of South Haryana have joined hands and resolved to work for the success of the HPCC president Bhajan Lal’s rally in Rewari on January 12. In an announcement here yesterday, they claimed that it would be a historic rally.

Yet another all-party meet on SYL 
Faridabad, January 3
The Haryana Chief Minister, Mr Om Prakash Chautala, has convened an all-party meeting on the ‘SYL issue’ on January 14, but will it bear fruit, seems to be the question hogging the minds of the people, aware of the problem.

The albatross of unemployment in Haryana
Sonepat, January 3
Unemployment has assumed alarming proportions in this district and elsewhere in the state. In Sonepat district, it has had a devastating impact on the educated youth. Even highly qualified youths— postgraduates, engineers, both degree and diploma holders, and draftsmen are struggling to get jobs.

SPECIAL FOCUS ON JHAJJAR/BAHADURGARH 
Still sleepless over Dulina lynching
Jhajjar, January 3
Lynching of five Dalits in Dulina was the most sensational crime in this district in 2002, a year that saw the overall crime rate registering a marginal increase as compared to 2001. However, heinous crimes like murder, dowry death and rape declined.

BJP asks Centre to challenge Sajjan Kumar’s acquittal 

New Delhi, January 3 The Delhi BJP today demanded that the government must challenge the acquittal of Sajjan Kumar in a higher court claiming that the recent acquittal of the Congress leader in the 1984 anti-Sikh riots case was based on the witness of two police officers who gave him a “clean chit”.

Delhi BJP president Madan Lal Khurana speaking at a sit-in, staged at Raj Ghat to express the ‘anguish and anger’ of the Sikh community over the acquittal of Sajjan Kumar in a 1984 riots case, on Friday. Tribune Photo Mukesh Aggarwal

Suicide in CP: Katyal had reached Capital on January 1
New Delhi, January 3
Investigations into the suicide case of Raman Katyal, who was found dead inside his car in the Connaught Place area yesterday near Marina Hotel, has revealed that the deceased had reached Delhi on January 1.

AUTO STIR
Transport officials, traffic police to meet today
New Delhi, January 3
Officials from the Department of Transport would meet with their counterparts in the Delhi Traffic Police on Monday to take stock of the situation arising out of the strike by autorickshaw operators.

Speaking out

The sensibility of the BCCI is being questioned this time not due to any absurd team selection but because of their irresponsible conduct regarding the contract issue. With the World Cup 2003 just round the corner, this entire controversy surrounding the contracts issue is doing no good to the spirit of the game. Looking for a shore. — Tribune Photo Mukesh Aggarwal

Inculcating civilised behaviour  Woes of aged Ecological  Balance in hills

Secretariat for Panipat Indifferent HUDA

Fog plays havoc with traffic New Delhi, January 3 A foggy morning for the third consecutive day in the national Capital delayed trains and air services by several hours even as the Met office predicted a further dip in the temperature tomorrow. Two die in cold wave Goats, sheep perish

DELHI DIGEST
Infant dies in Nangloi house fire
New Delhi, January 3
An infant was charred to death here today when a fire broke out in a house in the Nangloi area of West Delhi. The one-year-old victim has been identified as Meenu. She was rushed to Sanjay Gandhi Hospital with severe burns where he was declared brought dead, fire brigade sources said. The report about the fire was received at about 7.50 am. and it was soon brought under control, the DFS claimed.

CRIME

Mystery shrouds death of two
Panipat, January 3
Mystery shrouds the death of two persons at Raksheda village in the district late Wednesday night. According to information, the condition of five persons, Ilyas, his granddaughters, Farmana and Farmina, his grandson, Farman and his daughter-in-law, Hasina, deteriorated around noon. While Ilyas and Farmana died on their way to hospital, the others were discharged after being administered first aid. Both were laid to rest last night. 

Man run over by truck
Jhajjar, January 3
One person was killed as a truck ran him over in Bahadurgarh town of the district last night. According to the police, driver of a truck Karamvir Singh reported to the police today that he along with his helper Satyavir Singh was tightening the ropes of the loaded truck after parking the vehicle along the road on the National Highway 10, when a truck coming from Delhi side hit his helper.

Mystery behind school owner’s death solved
Bhiwani, January 3
The CIA branch of the district police claimed of having solved the mystery behind the death of a private school owner, Surender Singh, who was found dead near Prehladgarh village on the Charkhi Dadri-Bhiwani road. The police have arrested two persons in this connection.

SPORTS

Sachin helps Malviya Club win

New Delhi, January 3 A dynamic knock of 60 by skipper Sachin Khurana helped Malviya Club defeat Khalsa College (Evening) by 23 runs in the opening match of the seventh Sahibzada Ajit Singh Cricket Tournament, organised by the Guru Gobind Singh College of Commerce, at Pitam Pura in West Delhi.  DDCA joint secretary Sunil Khanna and Guru Gobind Singh College principal Dr Jaspal Singh with the participating teams before the inaugural match of the Sahibzada Ajit Singh Cricket Tournament.

Gyan Bharti Academy down Shastri Club
New Delhi: Gyan Bharti South Delhi Cricket Academy defeated Lal Bahadur Shastri Club by four wickets and entered the quarter-final of the third All-India Shakuntala Devi Memorial Under-19 Cricket Tournament at the East Point Sumit Dogra Academy ground. Aprajit Singh, who produced a fine all round show, was named the man of the match.

Turf Cricket Samarth, Sahil  hit tons

AIIMS move up Ravindra School win

Sodhi to lead North Zone New Delhi, January 3 Ritender Singh Sodhi of Punjab will lead North Zone in the Prof. D B Deodhar Trophy Cricket Tournament to be held in South Zone.

• Sadar Bazar Youth Club win

Sapient beat Hughes, win title

New Delhi, January 3 An all-round performance by Neeraj Jain, who was later adjudged the man of the match, helped Sapient Corporation beat Hughes Software Systems by four wickets in the final match of the second Eventus Cup Cricket Tournament, at the Airport Authority ground. Sapient team who won the Eventus Cup Cricket Tournament.

CRPF clip wings of Air-India
New Delhi, January 3
Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) rallied to beat Air-India 3-1 in the fifth Chhattrapati Shivaji Hockey Tournament for the Dhyan Chand Cup at the Shivaji Stadium on Friday.

New Era enter super league
New Delhi, January 3
New Era School defeated DAV School, Hazaribagh to enter the Girls Under-16 super league of the fourth CBSE National Badminton Tournament played at the New Era School courts, Mayapuri.

PNB sports meet
New Delhi, January 3
Over 550 sportspersons, representing 17 zones from all over the country, will participate in the 20th Punjab National Bank (PNB) All-India Inter-Zone Sports Meet, starting at the Karnail Singh stadium on Saturday.

ADMINISTRATION

HC approves DDCA-govt  settlement on JP’s statue
New Delhi, January 3
The statue of Sarvodaya leader Jai Prakash Narayan would be installed on the land adjacent to Ferozshah Kotla Stadium, following an out-of-court settlement between the Delhi District Cricket Association and the Centre. The Delhi High Court today gave its approval to the settlement reached between the two parties.