TOP STORIES

Sheila to press for stringent rape law, NCW seeks helpline
New Delhi, October 16
Calling for more stringent laws to arrest the spurt in crimes against women including rape, Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit on Thursday said she had sought appointments with Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee and Deputy Prime Minister LK Advani to seek the intervention of the Union Government.

The Delhi Pradesh Congress Committee (DPCC) on Thursday held a sit-in outside Parliament House and sought the resignation of Deputy Prime Minister and Union Minister of Home Affairs LK Advani for the deteriorating law and order situation in the Capital. Effigies of Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee and Mr Advani were burnt. Office bearers of the DPCC led by President Prem Singh gathered at Jantar Mantar and shouted slogans like, “Advani istifa do, istifa do,” and “Balatkarion ko phansi do, phansi do”. Mr Prem Singh charged that the deputy prime minister was a mute witness to the spate of crimes against women in the national Capital. (The Union Ministry of Home Affairs administers the Delhi Police.) Mr Singh said the BJP-led NDA Government had forfeited its right to continue in office as the law and order situation in the Capital had hit an all-time low. He said a situation had developed wherein girls and women were not only afraid to venture out during the day, but were feeling unsafe in the confines of their own homes. — Tribune photo by Mukesh Aggarwal

Viral fever claims three lives
Faridabad, October 16
Viral fever has claimed at least three lives in the district in the past 48 hours. meanwhile, about 25 more cases of suspected dengue have surfaced in the civil hospital in the past 24 hours. The total number of dengue positive cases in the district has reached 24.

MCD teachers under the banner of United Primary Teachers’ Sangharsh Samiti, Delhi, give voice to their demands at Jantar Mantar in the Capital on Thursday. — Tribune photo by Mukesh Aggarwal

Khap sets deadline for action in missing youths case
Rohtak, October 16
Act swiftly, or face the consequences. This is the gist of the ultimatum given to the district administration by a 31-member delegation led by Mr Bhim Singh, president of the Ahlawat Khap, as well as members of the Chaugama Panchayat, which met the Deputy Commissioner here today in connection with the Sampla episode.

SFI protests against HCS officer’s poor handling of rape case
Panipat, October 16
The indefinite dharna organised by the Student Federation of India outside the deputy commissioner’s office, to exert pressure for the arrest of an HCS officer for his shoddy handling of a rape case, entered the second day today.

MESS ON THE TRACKS
Coupling snaps, sends rail traffic for a toss
Sonepat, October 16
Rail traffic on the Sonepat-Delhi section of the Northern Railway remained disrupted for about two hours following the delinking of the coupling of a goods train bound for Punjab between Badli and Hlambi Kalan railway stations, about 40 km from here last night.

Truck driver’s penchant for fun kills two in van
Faridabad, October 16
A truck driver’s desire for fun on the road resulted in the death of two youths, including a girl yesterday evening. The victims, Kusum and Rocky, were among seven friends who were returning from Surajkund in a Maruti van.

COMMUNITY

DC orders probe into leakage in newly constructed Gobindpura water works
Bhiwani, October 16
The Deputy Commissioner, Mr Harpal Singh Malik, has ordered an inquiry into the leakage in the newly constructed Gobindpura water works. The Additional Deputy Commissioner, Mr R. P. Gupta, has been entrusted with the task to head the inquiry committee. He has been asked to submit his report as soon as possible. 

Emotion on display as MPs from Pakistan meet locals
Faridabad, October 16
Despite the hard feelings due to the continuing cross-border terrorism, emotions came to the fore during a meeting between the visiting Parliamentarians from Pakistan and a section of residents here last evening.

Refinery oustees urge PM to cancel visit to Panipat
Panipat, October 16
The Berozgari Hatao Kshatra Bachao Samiti today urged the Prime Minister, Mr Atal Behari Vajpayee, to cancel his visit to the Panipat Refinery complex on October 18 since the Indian Oil Corporation had failed to fulfil the promises made to the residents of Baholi village whose lands were acquired for setting up the refinery.

SPECIAL FOCUS ON ROHTAK
Rohtak co-op sugar mill may start crushing operations by Nov 15
Rohtak, October 16
Facing the unprecedented problem of arranging space for storing sugar produced in the previous seasons, the Co-operative Sugar Mills, Rohtak, is likely to start the 2003-04 crushing season approximately by November 15.

Corpn chief rules out free power supply
Rohtak, October 16
The Chairman of the Haryana Power Transmission and Distribution Corporation, Maj-Gen Bhoop Singh Rathi (retd), has ruled out the supply of free electricity to consumers. “It is not possible for any government to supply power free of cost to consumers”, he said while addressing rural gatherings at Baliana and Kharwar villages today. Moreover, the decision of giving free power to farmers in Punjab had also failed miserably, he said.

Sheila, Khurana cross swords in battle of ballot
New Delhi, October 16
“There are no full stops in a developing city like Delhi” and “The government is known not by the crises it faces, but how it solves the crises” was how Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit chose to respond to Delhi Pradesh BJP President Madan Lal Khurana as the two chief ministerial candidates locked horns in a debate on Thursday.

Slum children find a reason to smile on World Food Day New Delhi, October 16 Appu Ghar organized a fun filled event for 200 underprivileged slum children by providing them free rides at the Amusement Park. Moreover, the children enjoyed meals provided by Intercontinental, The Grand. Eight-year-old Raj Kumar said, “I always wanted to visit Appu Ghar and enjoy the exciting rides here. Today, we have had such fun that will undoubtedly be the most memorable day in all our lives, thank you, Appu Ghar.” Slum children enjoying their day out on World Food Day at Appu Ghar in the Capital on Thursday. — Tribune photo by Mukesh Aggarwal

Rewari native on a voyage of self-discovery
Rewari, October 16
Mr Lalit Rastogi, grandson of late Shri Goverdhan Das, an eminent educationist of Rewari and son of Mr Radhey Shyam Arif, a noted Urdu poet of London, visited his hometown after an interval of 36 years. Mr Rastogi (41), who was with Philips Electronics (UK) till recently, is currently on a world tour.

All pending tubewell connections to be released
Sonepat, October 16
The Chairman of the Haryana Vidyut Nigam, Mr Bhoop Singh Rathi, said that the Nigam had decided to release all the pending tubewell connections within two months. He said this was being done as the Nigam had already purchased the necessary material required for releasing the tubewell connections.

DELHI DIGEST
Tips for a safe Diwali
New Delhi, October 16
Taking precautionary measures, the Loss Prevention Association of India has asked parents to buy firecrackers only from licensed shop and not allow children to light the dangerous firecrackers themselves.

NCR BRIEFS
Elderly man killed on G T Road
Sonepat, October 16
An aged man, Mr Ram Chander (60), resident of Rai Village, was knocked down and killed by an unknown vehicle on the G T Road near his village, about 13 km from here last night. According to a report, he was crossing the road when the accident occurred.

BUSINESS

Shifting of dyeing units runs into roadblock
Panipat, October 16
An ambitious project to shift about 500 dyeing units from the residential areas to the Sector-29 Industrial Area has been hanging fire for the past years, playing havoc with the lives of the residents on account of large-scale water pollution.

EDUCATION

Education society to hold elections after five years
Sonepat, October 16
Finally, after a wait of five years, the schedule for holding elections to the management committee of Tika Education Society, Sonepat, has been announced by the returning officer-cum-Sub-Divisional Magistrate, Sonepat, Mr Sujan Singh Yadav.

CULTURE

ARTSCAPE Creating grids of musical scales in art Treating Delhi’s art connoisseurs once again, the most widely travelled and veteran artists, Om Prakash, showcases his 50th exhibition of recent works at The Grand, in the Capital. Former Prime Minister and art collector I. K. Gujral inaugurated the exhibition of paintings, titled, ‘Music in Art’, at the Brixs Foyer, The Grand, New Delhi on October 10. I. K. Gujral inaugurating the exhibition, Music in Art.

MUSIC ZONE
Deeply soulful
Rococo recently released ‘Dil Ki Gahraiyan’, a music album replete with original soulful music. Rococo is a joint venture between Rococo Media Productions, Massachusetts, the USA and Rococo Media Productions Pvt Ltd, New Delhi.

DANCE BEAT
Rashmi’s arangetram
Rashmi Singh presented her cultural concert, ‘Sumiran’, in which she performed her arangetram in Bharatnatyam at Triveni Kala Sangam in the Capital. Rashmi is the disciple of famous dancer Kalyani Shekhar. Rashmi surprised everybody with her excellent performance.

HEALTH

Situation under control, no malaria alert in Jhajjar
Jhajjar, October 16
Although 68 cases of malaria have been tested positive and are being given fever radical treatment for the disease since October 1 in the district, none of the patients are in a serious condition and all of them are recovering fast.

SPORTS

National edge past K N Colts
New Delhi, October 16
National Stadium Cricket Centre scored a thrilling one-run victory against K N Colts in the DDCA Under-17 Cricket Tournament at the Yamuna Vihar Sports Complex ground.

Shikhar Dhawan to lead under-19 team
New Delhi, October 16
Shikhar Dhawan will lead the Delhi Under-19 team for the Cooch-Behar Trophy. Delhi and District Cricket Association sports secretary Sunil Dev, who is also the convenor of the selection committee, which includes Sunil Aggarwal and S. S. Dutta, said 27 players have been selected for the squad.

Shahabad, Ranchi girls earn full points
New Delhi, October 16
In comparatively low-scoring matches, SGNP Girls School, Shahabad (Haryana) defeated Birsa Munda Vidyapitha, Rourkela 3-1 while Government School, Ranchi defeated Sanjay Gandhi Vidyapith 4-1 in the Nehru Girls Hockey Tournament at the Shivaji Stadium on Thursday.

Rajesh Manchanda moves up in DDCA TT New Delhi, October 16 Rajesh Manchanda defeated Rajinder Singh 21-7, 21-13 to enter the third round of the Delhi and District Cricket Association Table Tennis Tournament at the DDCA premises on Thursday. Rajesh had beaten Dr S. S. Sareen 21-10, 21-13 in the second round.
Former DDCA president K K Mehra inaugurating the DDCA Table Tennis Tournament in the presence of S S Sareen, Anil Khanna and other DDCA office-bearers on Thursday.

Shah Satnamji Girls School win
New Delhi, October 16
Shah Satnamji Girls School, Sirsa beat GRGN Girls School, Sirsa 3-0 in the CBSE North Zone Hockey Tournament held at the Ganga International School ground, Hiran Kudna. In the boys section also, Shah Satnamji made their imprint of class when they trounced Police DAV School, Jalandhar 5-0.

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