TOP STORIES

Sikh head count on despite appeals
New Delhi, January 16
Defying an appeal by the Census Commissioner and Registrar General of India, the Delhi Sikh Gurdwara Management Committee today decided to go ahead with the Census of the Sikh community in Tilak Nagar, to drive home the point that the community has been under represented in the Census 2001. The DSGMC Census committee held a meeting today and decided to go ahead with the enumeration and shortlisted two organisations to carry out the work.

CM denies family hand in gurdwara demolition bid
New Delhi, January 16
The Delhi Chief Minister, Ms Sheila Dikshit, today categorically denied the allegation that her family members were involved in the move to demolish the Nishan Sahib Gurdwara in Nizamuddin East. The Delhi Sikh Gurdwara Management Committee member, Mr Kuldip Singh, had levelled this allegation at a news conference on Monday.

Chautala will lend Faridabad an ear
Faridabad, January 16
Chief Minister Om Prakash Chautala's decision to chair the monthly meeting of the district grievances and public relation's committee has brought cheer to the residents here. They are now sure that it will make the local administration more responsive and the basic amenities would also improve.

• Gurgaon promised all help

Noida DM wants all arms deposited before polls
Noida, January 16
The District Magistrate, Gautam Budh Nagger, has ordered that all licensed arms should be deposited with the police in view of the elections in the state. There are 193 polling centres which have been declared sensitive and super-sensitive in the district.

Koshambi builder did not stick to original plan
Ghaziabad, January 16
The death toll in an under-construction three-storey building, which collapsed yesterday in the posh Koshambi colony, stands at eight with seven persons still undergoing treatment in the hospital. Around 40 labourers were working on the structure at the time of the Mishap. All of them have been extricated from the debris. Most of the workers were from Bihar.

Conquer the Everests, within and outside
New Delhi, January 16
Date back to May 29, 1965. For Major H.P.S. Ahluwalia, it was the most memorable day he can ever recall. He was among the three persons who had conquered the Mount Everest, but a few months later, a bullet changed his destiny. The Indo-Pak War was on. He was injured and confined to a wheel chair.

The spinal injury centre set up by Major HPS Ahluwalia.

MCOCA to rein in inter-state gangsters
New Delhi, January 16
The Union Government was forced to impose the Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA) in Delhi in view of the rise in organised crimes and the trend of criminals from neighbouring Uttar Pradesh, Haryana and Rajasthan finding safe hideouts in the national Capital, a senior official of the Delhi Police said.

SC/ST loan benefits for minorities
New Delhi, January 16
Extending the financial assistance currently available to Scheduled Castes and Tribes to minorities also, the Government of NCT of Delhi on Wednesday launched two economic development schemes under which applicants belonging to the five communities of Sikhs, Buddhists, Christians, Parsis and Muslims would be eligible for loans to undertake “commercially viable and technically feasible ventures.”

COMMUNITY

Lottery vendors gambling with the lives of poor
Sonepat, January 16
Lottery business is becoming brisker every day to the discomfiture of the police. The practice has now caught the imagination of even greenhorns who are on the look-out for a quick buck.

Minister defends education allocation
New Delhi, January 16
The Chairman of the Standing Committee of the MCD, Mr Prithvi Raj Sawhney, today presented the budget estimates of the corporation for 2002-2003, allocating a major part of the funds to education. This year’s budget will provide relief to Delhiites as no new tax has been imposed.

COUNTDOWN MCD POLL
BJP-Akali Dal tie-up for polls
New Delhi, January 16
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) will contest the forthcoming Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) elections in alliance with the Akali Dal.

Zila Parishad met only four times in two years
Faridabad, January 16
The Zila Parishad of Faridabad has been able to meet only four times in the past two years, thanks to the political dissension and lack of co-ordination among elected members. According to the parishad bylaws, it must have met at least six times in a year.

DELHI DIGEST
BJP conspiring to postpone Cantonment Board elections: Congress
New Delhi, January 16
Accusing the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) of conspiring to defer the Cantonment Board polls, the Congress today demanded that the elections must be held on time. The Delhi Pradesh Congress Committee (DPCC) president, Mr Subhash Chopra, told newspersons that the BJP wanted to postpone the polls as it was on a sticky wicket in the states where assembly elections are due.

• ROAD PROJECT LAUNCHED
• BANK OF PUNJAB BRANCH
• HIGH-TECH BUS TO JODHPUR

NCR BRIEFS
HUDA staff to hold dharna
Rohtak, January 16
Members of the state committee of the HUDA-Public Health Employees Union have threatened to hold an indefinite dharna at the office of the Executive Engineer, HUDA, here in case the decisions taken at a recent meeting were not implemented in two days.

• NO SALARIES FOR TWO MONTHS
• JUMPS FROM TRAIN, KILLED
• ABDUCTED MAN FOUND DEAD
  
  

CRIME

Greater Kailash double murder case cracked, suspect arrested
New Delhi, January 16
With the arrest of Deepak Chaudhury (23), the South district police today claimed to have solved the double murder of Greater Kailash – 1 two weeks ago in which two domestic helps, Vinod and Pushpa of the same area, were found killed in the former’s servant quarters. Deepak has been in love with the daughter of Vinod’s employer, Mrs Mona Oberoi.

Bus robbers’ gang busted, 5 held
New Delhi, January 16
With the arrest of five persons from Saraswati Vihar, the North-West district police today claimed to have busted a gang of bus robbers and pickpockets who were involved in a daylight robbery. The arrested suspects are Sanjay, alias Pradeep, alias Silencer (27), Sunil, alias Gogi (26), Daljit Singh, alias Vicky (25), Sanjay, alias Billu (24), and Mukesh (27), all residents of Mangolpuri and Sultanpuri.

• CHEATS NABBED

• RACKETEER HELD

• DSIDC STAFF ROBBED
  
  

EDUCATION

CAMPUS
Exams round the corner, guides sell like pancakes
Examination fever is just discernible in the campus with students getting down to make up for the lost time. With annual examinations less than three months away, libraries are seen packed with students, busy writing down notes.

• IT CONVERGENCE

• AMITY ROUNDTABLE

• IMM CONVOCATION

• ANIMATION ACADEMY

• AIMA QUIZ

• VAASTU COURSE
  
  

Over 2 lakh kids to get polio drops in Sonepat
Sonepat, January 16
Around 2.14 lakh children, below five, will be administered pulse polio drops in Sonepat district on January 20 during the second phase of countrywide immunisation campaign, according to Mr S N Roy, Deputy Commissioner.

The Prime Minister, Mr Atal Behari Vajpayee, giving pulse polio drops to a baby during a countrywide immunisation campaign.

SPORTS

Goans score win, garner full points
New Delhi, January 16
Nestor Goan Sports Club scored a narrow, but crucial,1-0 victory against Youngsters Club to garner full points 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 Wednesday. Goan Club completed their preliminary league engagements with this victory to secure five points from seven matches and saved themselves the ignominy of relegation to the lower division.

Kartikey, Anuj star for Hansraj School
New Delhi, January 16
A quick-silver 96-run partnership between Delhi Under-14 players Kartikey Bhatia (88) and Anuj Jain (34) helped Hansraj Model School, Punjabi Bagh beat Montfort ‘A’ by 79 runs to win the seventh Brother Ambrose Memorial Cricket Tournament (Under-14) at the Montfort School ground.

Madhaiah nets ‘Passion’ with a hole-in-one
New Delhi, January 16
Bangalorean S. Madhaiah snatched the limelight from the more established names on the Hero Honda Golf Tour when he shot a rare hole-in-one in the second round of the Royal Challenge Grand Prix, being played at the Bombay Presidency Golf Club.

Motilal Nehru win in Zakir Husain soccer
New Delhi, January 16
MotiLal Nehru College (Evening) trounced Shaheed Bhagat Singh College (Evening) 3-0 in the opening match of the 15th edition of the Zakir Husain Memorial Football Tournament at the Ambedkar Stadium in the Capital on Wednesday.

Teri to meet JRA in Supersixes final
New Delhi, January 16
Hosts Teri (Tata Energy Research Institute) will take on JRA in the final of the third Teri Supersixes Cricket Tournament.

ADMINISTRATION

Plan to acquire more areas for sanitary landfill
New Delhi, January 16
Reviewing the performance of the Urban Development Department, Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit today said the Action Plan for the year 2001-2002 envisaged the acquisition of large tracts of land on the periphery of Delhi for use as sites for sanitary landfill.