TOP STORIES

Ministry washes hands of fuel row
Wants States to set emission norms only
New Delhi, January 5
With barely 25 days left for the expiry of the deadline set by the Supreme Court for the conversion of all public transport buses in the National Capital Territory into compressed natural gas, the Union Petroleum Ministry today said that it had accepted the auto-fuel policy, which called for setting up of emission standards.

Lid lifted off ‘guaranteed medical admission’ racket
New Delhi, January 5
With the arrest of four persons, including the Managing Director of Shiksha Consultant Private Limited, Kalkaji, the Economic Offences Wing of the Crime Branch of the Delhi Police today claimed to have busted a gang, which cheated a number of medicos all over the country by assuring them admission in MS and MD courses.

The Punjabi mela continues to enthral the crowd in the Capital. — Tribune Photo Mukesh Aggarwal

7 kg heroin seized in the nick of time
New Delhi, January 5
The sleuths of Narcotics Control Bureau, Delhi unit, apprehended four persons yesterday in Delhi and seized seven kg of high quality heroin packed in a rexine bag. Acting on a tip off, the officials have apprehended the four while they were about to deliver the drugs to an unknown foreigner near Nehru Park.

Plan to hardsell Delhi as a shoppers’ stop
New Delhi, January 5
Undeterred by the tension on the external front and the multitude of civic problems plaguing the city, the Delhi Government is preparing an action plan, laying out the broad parameters of the roadmap to pitchfork the national capital on the global tourism map.

Illegal deals in foreign notes busted
Gurgaon, January 5
With the arrest of five persons, the district police claimed to have busted a gang involved in selling of foreign currency. Senior Superintendent of Police Kuldeep Singh Siag informed that a team of the Crime Investigation Agencyraided a house in Om Nagar, Gurgaon, and found five persons in possession of currency notes of various countries and a fake certificate of currency.

Soya unit raided
New Delhi, January 5
The District Authorities have unearthed a trading concern and a factory allegedly involved in producing soya bean oil, which was fraudulently marketed as a well-known brand.

COMMUNITY

Locals take pot-shots at civic bodies in janata darbar
Sonepat, January 5
Shortage of drinking water, erratic power supply and corruption at the local bodies were among several issues raised by the public at a Janata Darbar held by Dr Sultan Singh, Sub-Divisional Magistrate of Sonepat, at Rai village, 13 km from here, yesterday. As many as 26 complaints were received at the darbar.

SEARCH WITHIN
See the mote in your eye first… 
THERE is good news at the beginning of the New Year: “We are ready to talk peace,” declared Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee in his New Year message to the nation on December 31. “India would be willing to walk more than half the distance to resolve all the issues with Pakistan,” he had added.

Ghaziabad: Summer is bad enough, winter is worse
Ghaziabad, January 05
Assurances from Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Raj Nath Singh and UP Power Minister Hukam Singh notwithstanding, people in Ghaziabad are reeling under severe power shortage in this cold and bleak weather. Locals are extremely peeved over the power cuts, both during day and at night time. Aggravating their woes is the erratic water supply in the city.

Mukhi slams govt stand on power crisis
New Delhi, January 5
Accusing the Power Minister of making false claims, the Leader of Opposition in the Assembly, Mr Jagdish Mukhi, yesterday said almost the whole of Delhi was facing load-shedding of eight to 10 hours and up to 11 hours in industrial areas. The Power Minister, Mr Ajay Maken, had asked the Delhi Vidyut Board to enforce uniform load-shedding such that no area went without electricity for unusually long periods of time.

Out of jail, MLA begins public contact
Faridabad, January 5
After being incarcerated in the jail and out of contact for several months altogether, the Bharatiya Janata Party MLA from the NIT constituency here, Mr Chander Bhatia, has launched a programme to re-establish his connections with voters of his constituency.

NCR BRIEFS
MLA protests against new house tax structure
Faridabad, January 5
Mr Krishan Pal Gurjar, BJP MLA from the Mewla Maharajpur assembly segment here, and activists of his party have submitted a memorandum to the district authorities regarding the alleged discrimination in the amended house tax structure.

Stray animals dog Faridabad
Faridabad, January 5
Stray animals have become a menace in several colonies of the town. About 62 cases of animal bite have been reported in the past few days. Of the cases reported at the civil hospital and other clinics, majority of the victims had been bitten by stray dogs.

CRIME

Four of dacoit gang nabbed
New Delhi, January 5
With the arrest of four persons, the North-West district police today claimed to have busted a gang involved in more than 14 cases of robberies and dacoities. The police have seized button-actuated knives and booked them under the Arms Act and sections regarding dacoity.

ROHTAK
Youths on mobike snatch purse
Rohtak, January 5
Making a mockery of the police claim of having busted the gang involved in chain/purse snatching in the town, three motorcycle-borne youths snatched the purse containing Rs 3,800 of a woman near ITI gate here yesterday.

• Milkman shot

• Rs 1.3 lakh robbed

EDUCATION

• NSC wants VC suspended

HEALTH

BODY & MIND
RML Hospital to have a trauma centre soon

EXACTLY a year from now, the Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital in the Capital will have a trauma centre. The foundation stone for the Centre was laid here recently by the Union Minister of Health and Family Welfare, Mr C P Thakur. The new trauma centre will offer specialty services in orthopaedics, neurosurgery, plastic surgery, cardiothoracic surgery and general surgery related to trauma and all other support services. NEW SPECIFICATIONS LEPROSY SERVICES

Multi-drug therapy, known to have cured more than one crore persons suffering from leprosy.

Bright prospects for Indian nurses in UK
THE Indo-UK Nurses Association (INUKNA), a membership-based, non-profit organisation headquartered in London, has welcomed the increase in pay for nurses. The starting salary for a nurse has risen to 16,000 pound sterling per year that translates to Rs 11 lakh. At the same time, the salary of a matron has shot to 32,000, which is approximately Rs 22.5 lakh. This follows from the inflation necessitating 3.6% pay rise for the nurses as announced by the Ministry of Health, UK.

SPORTS

‘Unlimited’ fare on ESPN menu
New Delhi, January 5
The ESPN Star Sports will offer sports 'unlimited' to viewers in 2002, but the 'sports bonanza' may not include the World Cup Soccer to be co-hosted by Japan and Korea and the World Cup Hockey Championship, in which India have a special interest, as the Indian team have qualified for it.

GETTING AWAY
From skiing to snowballs, Auli has it all
New Delhi, January 5
The slopes of Garhwal in the Himalayas are all decked up in white to attract tourists this winter. Under a thick blanket of snow, the virgin hills appear to be dressed up like a bride ready to take the marriage vow.

Delhi Police, Air Force earn full points in DSA League
New Delhi, January 5
Delhi Police and Indian Air Force (New Delhi) earned full points from the Group A and B matches respectively in the Delhi Soccer Association (DSA)-SAIL Senior Division Football League at the Ambedkar Stadium in Delhi on Saturday.

• Ram Pal to lead Delhi U-16 squad

Neelam hattricks as Delhi school record another big win
New Delhi, January 5
Mother Khazani Convent School, Mungeshpur (Delhi) recorded their second big victory when they trounced St. Xavier’s Higher Secondary School, Mapusa (Goa) 8-0, after leading by 7-0 at half time, in the eighth Nehru-NDMC Girls Hockey Tournament at the Shivaji Stadium in the Capital on Saturday.

N Rly sail into cricket final
New Delhi, January 5
The Northern Railway, Delhi beat Bright Club, Bhiwani by four wickets to enter the final of the second Friends Cricket Tournament at Dharuhera. A fine knock of 44, studded with five fours, by Rakesh Bal and 38, with three fours and two sixes by Mobin Ahmed, and their 52-run partnership for the fourth wicket, enabled Northern Railway score a comfortable victory to set up a title clash against Sumit Dogra Academy of Delhi.

ADMINISTRATION

HUDA on a project-launch spree in Faridabad
Faridabad, January 5
The Haryana Urban Development Authority has launched the work on various projects in the Faridabad circle. These projects costing about Rs 10 crore are likely to be completed by the end of December this year.

280 vehicles challaned
Sonepat, January 5
On the instructions of the state government, officials of the Transport Department, in co-ordination with the Excise and Taxation Department and the police, had challaned as many as 280 autorickshaws and other vehicles, which were found plying on the roads without licences and other documents.

DDA squad demolishes gate of sports centre
New Delhi, January 5
The demolition squad of the Delhi Development Authority yesterday razed to ground the boundary wall and gate of the Ramjas Sports and Mountaineering Institute in West Patel Nagar.