TOP STORIES

Noida erupts as protests spread
Noida, January 15
Noida and Dadri erupted in angry protests on Thursday over the recent decision of the Mulayam Singh Yadav Government, scrapping the nine districts created by Ms Mayawati. (Noida is the worst hit since it has been merged with the district of Ghaziabad.) The protests turned violent with people taking to streets in Noida and Greater Noida and venting their anger on vehicles. 

Extended College Scheme stays, but
norms laid down
New Delhi, January 15
Providing relief to the colleges of Delhi University covered under the Extended College Scheme, the University Grants Commission (UGC) has clarified that the scheme will not be withdrawn, but the colleges will have to adhere to certain norms. The UGC had earlier sent letters to various colleges informing them about the decision to withdraw the scheme. The announcement had caused a furore in the university as it meant an additional financial burden on the colleges.

Daily ritual: Trains held up by fog
New Delhi, January 15
The heavy fog in Delhi and poor visibility continued to disrupt train services from different parts of the country to the Capital. A number of trains were cancelled. Several trains were rescheduled and many more were running several hours behind schedule, a Northern Railway release said.

Sikh leaders rake up
100-year-old issue
New Delhi, January 15
The President of the Delhi Sikh Gurdwara Management Committee, Mr. Prehlad Singh Chandok, has urged the National Commission for Minorities Chief, Mr Tarlochan Singh, to take up with the Centre an almost 100-year-old issue of land compensation with the Central government.

Ban on headphones, too,
while driving
New Delhi, January 15
If you are thinking of using mobile headphones while driving a car, you could end up paying Rs 1,000 as fine. Many motorists had switched over to headphones, when the police turned the heat on drivers using mobiles. Having latched on to their latest ploy, a special drive has now been launched against those using headphones. ‘’We have already challaned some such drivers,’’ said Joint Commissioner of Police (Traffic) Qamar Ahmed.

Nipped in the bud
MCD’s new tax proposals spiked
New Delhi, January 15
The newly elected chairman of the Standing Committee of the Municipal Corporation of Delhi, Mr Mukesh Goel, has rejected Municipal Commissioner’s proposals for introducing new taxes in the estimated budget for 2004-2005 for generating more income for the corporation. He also announced that resettlement colonies, villages and residents of slums will not be subjected to property tax under the Unit Area Method that would be in force from April 1, 2004.

POLITICS

Haryana BJP for snapping ties with INLD 
Jhajjar, January 15
The Bharatiya Janata Party will organize a series of rallies in the Parliamentary constituencies represented by the party in Haryana in February. Senior leaders of the party including the Union Home Minister, Mr Lal Krishan Advani, the party president, Mr M. Venkaiya Naidu and the Union Health Minister, Ms Sushma Swaraj would participate in these rallies.

COMMUNITY

Rs 197 cr for linking 600 districts with central control room 
Sonepat, January 15
The Union Government has earmarked Rs 197 crore for inter-linking as many as 600 districts with the central control room located in the national Capital. According to a report, the connected police stations could get information about inter-state criminals. The various information will be sent through the central control room to other police stations in the country.

Sugarcane farmers sore with new payment guidelines
Sonepat, January 15
The state government has revised its policy on making payments to the sugarcane growers for the sugarcane supplied to the cooperative sugar mills in the state. The sugarcane growers are feeling disillusioned after knowing the new guidelines of payment being implemented from the current season.

city scan
Mass awareness drive to conserve oil and gas
New Delhi, January 15
“To improve our self-sufficiency levels in energy generation from the main sources of oil and natural gas, we need to pursue oil and gas conservation on the one hand and look for viable alternatives on the other,” with these words Mrs Sumitra Mahajan, Minister of State for Petroleum and Natural Gas inaugurated the Oil and Gas Conservation Fortnight-2004, organised by the Petroleum Conservation Research Association, Oil companies and Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas.

ncr briefs
Unidentified body found in Datauli 
Sonepat, January 15
The Ganaur police found a body of an unidentified man aged between 30 and 35 years from Datauli village about 25 km from here yesterday and sent it for the postmortem examination.

Man gets life term Mother of former Rotary chief dies

Demo against atrocities on dalits

delhi digest Gang using fake Hewlett cartridges busted New Delhi, January 15 With the arrest of two persons, the Central district police claimed to have busted a gang which used to sell fake Hewlett Packard cartridges and toners. The police also claimed to have seized Rs 1.57 crore of fake and counterfeit products from their possession.

CRIME

Murder of truck driver solved, 2 held 
New Delhi, January 15
West district police today claimed to have worked out a murder case of a truck driver, Nagender Kumar Dubey with the arrest of two suspects. The murder was committed in Punajbi Bagh a few days back.

BUSINESS

New computerised telephone exchange to ease demand 
Sonepat, January 15
The Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) has decided to install a new computerised 420-line telephone exchange near the Government Industrial Training Institute (ITI) on the Sonepat-Rathdhanna road to meet the rising demand of the subscribers for new telephone connections.

It’s fun unlimited for Noida children!

New Delhi, January 15 Swings and slides and merry-go-rounds, it can well be a dream come true for the children in Noida. With the opening of the Noida Children’s Park, the little ones can look forward to unlimited fun as they go whirling on a swing or up and down a slide. DREAMLAND: Social acitivist Nafisa Ali inaugurating a children’s park in Noida.

EDUCATION

IIFT workshop to enhance linkages between academia and industries
New Delhi, January 15
The Indian Institute of Foreign Trade (IIFT) has retained BHEL’s Human Resource Development Institute (HRDI) for organising a strategic workshop aimed at enhancing linkages between management institutes and industries in an increasingly globalised world.

Don’t make periodic changes in syllabus, schools told
Gurgaon, January 15
The Governor of Haryana, Babu Parmanand, today urged the schools and universities to desist from resorting to periodic changes in the syllabus as they adversely affect the rhythm of academic curriculum.

CULTURE

artscape
Using movie stars as motifs in landscapes
The Anant Art Gallery here is showcasing the works of three well-known artists, Arunanshu Chowdhury, Ebenezer Sunder Singh and Irana G. Rukumpur, from January 16 to February 8. While all the three artists have excelled in amalgamating their thoughts in colour on canvas, Arunanshu has effectively used the images of popular movie stars against the backdrop of landscapes, giving the message of milestones in the modern social set up. 

Bronzed relationships Main hoon

Photographic fusion

PLAYTIME “Gandhi Ne Kaha Tha... Blaming Gandhi for imagined and real ills of the present day Indian society has become a trend in certain circles. Some question his ideals and others find fault with his vision. Like any thinker/visionary/ideologue Gandhi is not above questioning. But when prejudiced, regressive, divisive and fascist elements wear the questioning garb and use Gandhi as a punching bag, it is time to expose these forces for what they are.

The essential collection
Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan is one of the most popular singers in the sub-continent. Although he was predominantly a qawwali singer, he incorporated other classical forms to evolve a new style. Khan, who was born in Faisalabad in Pakistan, performed with a group of trained Pakistani singers, including family members.

HEALTH

Month-long camp to detect osteoporosis from today
New Delhi, January 15
To create awareness about osteoporosis, a disease which causes the bones to become fragile, a month-long detection camp is being organised in the Capital tomorrow.

SPORTS

Philippoussis to feature on CNN show
New Delhi, January 15
Australian tennis heartthrob Mark Philippoussis will feature in the CNN’s Talk Asia show on Saturday at 8 p.m(IST) and on Sunday at 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. Joining host Lorraine Hahn from his hometown in Melbourne, the 27-year-old Philippoussis talks about Australia’s victory in the Davis Cup last year, and also about his previous knee injuries.

Akshay, Chetan shine in Winsom’s victory in DDCA League
New Delhi, January 15
Akshay Singh performed a devastating bowling trick to bag 3 for 23 and Chetan Bisht struck an unbeaten 59 as Winsom Club defeated Little Master Club by six wickets in a Super A Division match of the DDCA League at the Yamuna Sports Complex ground. Deepak Bhatnagar hit a century for Little Master, but it went in vain.

Delhi women annex cricket crown

New Delhi, January 15 Fine all-round displays by Sunita Yadav (30 and 2 for 11) and Neha Tiwari (3 for 11) helped Delhi defeat Haryana by 30 runs and annex the inaugural All-India Senior Super Seven Girls Cricket Tournament held at Chandanpur in Maharashtra. The Delhi women’s cricket team, who won the first Senior Super Seven Girls Cricket Tournament held at Chandanpur in Maharashtra, with the trophy.

Delhi Gymkhana down Shastri Club
New Delhi, January 15
Deadly bowling by Sachin Adhikari (4 for 49) helped Delhi Gymkhana defeat Lal Bahadur Shastri Club on point basis and entered the semi-final of the Aviva Young Achiever Under-13 Two-Day Cricket Tournament at the Bharat Nagar ground.

Ankur hits century
New Delhi, January 15
An unbeaten century by Ankur Julka helped Gyan Bharati South Delhi Academy defeat Poorvi Delhi Academy by three wickets in a league match of the Rajeev Gandhi Memorial Under-17 Cricket Tournament at the Picnick Hut ground at Ashok Vihar.