TOP STORIES

HOW BRAZEN CAN BRAZEN BE?
Hit with revolver butt in market, robbed of Rs 2 lakh
Ghaziabad, April 3
Two criminals snatched Rs 2 lakh from a woman after hitting and injuring her with the butt of a revolver at 11 am in a busy marketplace in Dibai town and fled on a motorbike towards Bhimpur crossing, brandishing their revolvers in the air.

Extortionist killed in encounter

New Delhi, April 3 Charanjit Singh, alias Bittoo, a dreaded criminal of the North-West district, who used to reportedly extort money from businessmen in the area, was killed in an encounter near Japani Park in Rohini late last night.

Cops inspecting the motorcycle involved in the encounter. — Tribune Photo

Akhil Bhartiya Muslim Yuva Ekta Committee activists protest against the US-led war on Iraq in the Capital on Thursday. — Tribune Photo Mukesh Aggarwal

SC slaps Rs 1 lakh fine on polluting unit
New Delhi, April 3
The Supreme Court has imposed a fine of Rs1lakh on a hot mix plant in the national Capital for causing air pollution. The court fined the owner of the plant and sentenced him to one week’s imprisonment on finding him guilty of contempt for violating the court orders that called for its closure.

Illegal huts facing demolition gutted
Noida, April 3
A fire broke out in an illegal jhuggi cluster in Sector 44 on Thursday, gutting some 350 hutments. Most of these makeshift shelters were located at the corner of the Dadri Road, behind the petrol pump.

Give subsidised LPG for langar: DSGMC
New Delhi, April 3
Taking strong objection to the Centre’s move to charge commercial rate for cooking gas used in gurdwaras, the Delhi Sikh Gurdwara Management Committee said the gas was used for preparing langar only and not for any commercial purpose.

Brig M P S Bajwa, YSM, Deputy Director General, NCC Directorate Kerala, receives the Rashtra Bhasha trophy from Prof Chaman Lal Gupta, Minister of State for Defence in the Capital on Thursday.

Chautala’s sops for Haryana cops
Gurgaon, April 3
The Haryana Government has taken a policy decision to promote constables and hawaldars who have put in 16 and 30 years of service, respectively. Also, the assistant sub-inspectors completing 35 years of service will now retire with the rank of sub-inspector. 

Subhash Sharma arrested in DDA scam
New Delhi, April 3
In the continuing crackdown in the DDA land scam case, the Central Bureau of Investigation today arrested former vice-chairman of the authority Subhash Sharma. However, the agency has failed to get any breakthrough in tracking down property developer and a key accused in the case Dharamvir Khattar.

The great Indian tradition: Squat and write exams in the open
Sonepat, April 3
Although the State government allocates several crores to the Education Department for the development of infrastructure every year, the department fails to provide even basic facilities like chairs and tables to board examinees in urban and rural areas of the district.

• 20 cases of unfair means detected

POLITICS

LJP flays defacing of statue
Panipat, April 3
The Lok Janshakti Party (LJP) in Haryana has condemned the defacing of the statue of Dr Bhim Rao Ambedkar in Kaithal and termed it as an insult to the entire nation. In a press statement issued here, general secretary of the party Surender Singh Hooda stated that the incident was the result of neglect of the interests of the people of weaker sections and continuous increase in the incidents of exploitation of Dalits in the state.

COMMUNITY

TRENDSETTERS
Sonepat sonias prefer ‘arranging’ their love
marriages
Sonepat, April 3
The age-old division between an ‘arranged’ and a ‘love’ marriage seems to have fudged. Most marriages today can be described as ‘semi-arranged’. According to a report, the most acceptable form in the institution of marriage is a ‘semi-arranged’ wedding. The marriage is arranged by the parents with the consent of the couple!

MCD rendering yeoman’s service in healthcare
New Delhi, April 3
The Municipal Corporation of Delhi, which is in the process of electing a new Mayor, is one of the largest municipal bodies in the world providing civic services to more than 13.78 million citizens. One of its key areas of service is healthcare. No mean task, given the area and the fluctuating demography it has to cover in the Capital.

Special Focus on Rohtak
Town planning official ‘among encroachers’ in HUDA sectors
Rohtak, April 3
There appears to be a race for encroachment in HUDA sectors of this town in spite of a drive by the district administration against this menace in the old city areas. Interestingly, the encroachers include a senior functionary of the Town Planning Department, who claims to be a relative of the Town Planning Minister of the state.

• Rohini Aggarwal appointed HoD of Fine Arts

• MC fails to pass budget

Human kindness at its best
Sonepat, April 3
There are people who always volunteer to work for some social and humanitarian cause. It was evident when the founder of ‘Ahuti’, a voluntary organisation, Surender Biswas donated blood 90th time in a blood donation camp at Gohana, about 35 kms from here on Wednesday.

18 policemen in the doghouse
Bulandshahr (Noida), April 3
The police department is chalking out a plan to get rid of policemen who have a bad image in order to improve the public perception of the department. As part of the exercise, comments of police officers of all districts have been solicited about the cops whose name is mud.

Class V annual exams from April 21
Sonepat, April 3
The Haryana Education Department has decided to conduct the annual examinations of Class V from April 21 to April 24 in the primary schools of this district. According to official sources, it has set up 129 examination centres in the district for this purpose.

3 murder accused acquitted 2 women among 6 killed

Minor girl rescued Goods worth Rs 60,000 charred

The prophet of universal brotherhood
New Delhi, April 3
A large number of people from India and abroad assembled at Kirpal Bagh yesterday on the occasion of the ‘55th Barsi Bhandara’ of Baba Sawan Singh Ji Maharaj. Mata Harbhajan Kaur sang a melodious verse from the Gurbani on the occasion.

NCR BRIEFS
Wife hangs self from grill
Ghaziabad, April 3
Manju, a married woman in Panchwatti Colony under Kotwali police station here, committed suicide by hanging herself with her sari from a grill in her room. She had not opened the door of her room in the morning. When her family members peeped through a window, they saw Manju hanging from the grill.

• CM misleading: HPCC

• Two held with stolen container

DELHI DIGEST
16-yr-old rescued from abductors within minutes
New Delhi, April 3
A 16-year-old girl was today safely rescued from the clutches of abductors by the staff of Police Control Room (PCR) within minutes of her abduction from her house in Sector 13 in Rohini in North-West district. The girl’s father complained to the PCR at 8.50 am that her daughter had been whisked away by four persons in a white Maruti car (No DL-4CL-0286).

• Navratra Mela at Jhandewala Devi Mandir

CRIME

55 kg of ganja seized
New Delhi, April 3
With the arrest of a man, the Delhi Police today claimed to have seized 55 kgs of ganja brought from Assam to various places in the country.

BUSINESS

Traders protest against imposition of excise duty
Panipat, April 3
The protest against the imposition of excise duty on blankets and shoddy yarn picked up momentum today with various trader associations organising protest marches and vowing to continue the struggle till the decision was withdrawn.

Industrialists criticise Exim policy
New Delhi, April 3
Industrialists in the Capital have criticised the government for not providing incentives to the small and cottage sector exporters in the Exim policy.

COURTS

DBA groups bury the hatchet
Jhajjar, April 3
The confrontation between the rival factions of the District Bar Association seemed to be over following the intervention of the district administration here.