TOP STORIES

UGC chokes aid to teach college lesson
New Delhi, January 3
Hundreds of employees of the School of Correspondence Courses and Continuing Education of Delhi University may have to prepare for an irregular and delayed salary schedule, thanks to the discontinuance of ‘maintenance grant’ by the University Grants Commission (UGC) on grounds that authorities say are “flimsy and unsubstantiated”.

Braving all odds Jaivati Devi, wife of late Vijendra Singh (head constable-Delhi Police) who died in the Parliament house shootout on December 13, at a commemorative meeting. — Tribune Photo Mukesh Aggarwal

Centre, Delhi slug it out over Capital’s poor 
New Delhi, January 3
Who should be eligible for the Antyodaya Anna Yojana and how is a “below the poverty line” household to be defined?

Convict out on bail shot dead 
New Delhi, January 3
Deepak, a 30-year-old accused in a 1992 murder case who was out on bail, was reportedly shot dead right outside his house in Rajpura village in Mehrauli this morning by half a dozen armed persons.

Fog invites ban on schools in Sonepat
Sonepat, January 3
The District Magistrate of Sonepat, Mr S. N. Roy, has promulgated prohibitory orders under Section 144 of the CrPC, closing down all schools in the district for four days in view of the inclement weather. But, as luck would have it, the sun was beaming brightly by 10 am in the region, bringing residents the much-needed respite.

A cop, at his foggiest best
Noida, January 3
Fog not only makes the going tortuous for the pedestrians and drivers on the road, but it can also leave policemen on duty in a tizzy. It had the in charge of the Phase-II police station in Gautam Budh Nagar, Mr B. B. Jual, and other cops wandering all over the place last night when they lost both their way and bearings in the dense fog.

Land worth Rs 127 cr recovered
Faridabad, January 3
The Haryana Urban Development Authority (HUDA) here has been able to recover about 70 acres of land worth Rs 127.05 crore, after removing encroachments present since April 1, 2001.

Clamp down on buses without permits
Gurgaon, January 3
The district administration has launched a drive against transporters, especially private bus operators, who are plying their vehicles without permits. According to sources in the administration, the Deputy Commissioner, Mr A. K. Singh, has directed officials to take strict measures against such vehicles.

COMMUNITY

SNAPSHOTS

WARM UNDER WINTER SUN

BACK TO THE BUILDING BLOCKS

Auto drivers give the pre-paid system at rly station the go by
New Delhi, January 3
Ask an auto-rickshaw driver to drop you inside the New Delhi Railway Station, and the chances are that you may get stranded. The reluctance of auto-rickshaw drivers in the national Capital to drop passengers inside the New Delhi Railway Station is the fears of being put in the pre-paid queue for several hours by the traffic police.

Heavily chlorinated water, take it or leave it
Sonepat, January 3
The residents of the city here are peeved at the supply of heavily chlorinated water by the Public Health Department (PHD) for the past one week.

Telecom district turns around a fortune
Noida, January 3
The Gautambudh Nagar Telecom district had considerably improved its performance during 2001 as compared to that in 2000. As against a revenue collection of Rs 110 crore in 2000, the telecom district earned Rs 138 crore during the past year, said Mr A. K. Garg, general manager of Telecom, Noida.

NCR BRIEFS
Road safety week to be observed in Faridabad from January 7
Faridabad, January 3
Road safety week will be observed in the district from January 7 to January 13 in order to make the public more conscious of the various rules, regulations and safety norms.

Workers’ stir turns ugly

First woman chief of ICSI

CRIME

CRIME UNABATED

Tofeeque gang member held
Noida, January 3
The Javer police have nabbed an active member of the dreaded Tofeeque gang of dacoits after an encounter last night. The dacoit, Zile, carried an award of Rs 1,500 and has about 20 cases of murder, loot, dacoities registered against him by police of various districts.

CULTURE

ARTSCAPE
Will the young artists always be waiting in the wings? 
Indian showbiz made global waves in the year gone by. So did the overseas artists in India. But it seems that art itself is dubbed worthy or trash, depending on whose insignia is etched on the product.

PLAY TIME
A rib-tickler for a serious audience
The worth of a nation is often reflected in its Parliament proceedings. If we go by Ranjit Kapoor’s political satire Ek Sansadia Samiti ki uthak baithak, we don’t have to hazard a guess why our political system is going to the dogs.

HEALTH

Eight HIV testing centres to be set up
New Delhi, January 3
Thirteen years after the first case of AIDS was detected in Delhi, and 167 deaths later, a large cross-section of 1.32 crore population of the Capital continues to remain vulnerable to the disease, if statistics are any indication.

(From left) Pankaj Choudhry of UNESCO, N. C. Ray, Officer of the Delhi State AIDS Control Society, and Dr A. K. Walia, Health Minister, at a press conference on AIDS control in the Capital on Thursday.
— Tribune photo Mukesh Aggarwal

SPORTS

HOCKEY
Gujarat School chalk out huge win in Girls Hockey
New Delhi, January 3
Prerna Hindi Higher Secondary School, Chandkheda (Gujarat) got off to a flying start when they used Government Bhoj Girls Higher Secondary School, Dhar (Madhya Pradesh) for target practice to chalk out a huge 6-0 victory in the opening match of the eighth Nehru-NDMC Girls Hockey Tournament at the Shivaji Stadium in the Capital on Thursday.

Gujarat girls call the shots against MP in the Nehru-NDMC Girls Hockey Tournament at the Shivaji Stadium in the Capital

Amarneet Singh slams century in Himang's victory
New Delhi, January 3
Amarneet Singh struck a brilliant century knock of 108 studded with 14 fours and two sixes to pilot Himang XI to a mammoth 79 runs victory against Sethi XI in a limited overs match organised by the Dronacharya Cricket Foundation in the Capital.

FOOTBALL
Indian Nationals crush Goans in DSA League
New Delhi, January 3
Defending champions Indian Nationals Club, sponsored by SAIL, scored a crushing 5-0 victory against Nestor Goans Club in a Group B preliminary league match of the Delhi Soccer Association (DSA)-SAIL Senior Division Football League Championship at the Ambedkar Stadium in the Capital on Thursday.

Seeded players win in DDA badminton
New Delhi, January 3
Seeded players had a field day in ladies badminton while the seeds bit the dust in snooker in the DDA Annual Indoor Games.