TOP STORIES

Campaigning ends, polls today

New Delhi, March 23 The fortunes of 1,165 candidates will be decided by 78 lakh voters in tomorrow’s elections to the 134-member Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD).

Poll shenanigans: Kamal Nath, Subhash Chopra and Sheila Dikshit at a press conference.—Tribune Photo Mukesh Aggarwal

MCD ELECTIONS
Cong upbeat over poll projections
New Delhi, March 23
Local issues, national implications. This is how the Congress views the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) elections. On the eve of the elections, an assertive Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit, flanked by All India Congress Committee (AICC) general secretary Kamal Nath and Delhi Pradesh Congress Committee (DPCC) president Subhash Chopra, said the outcome of the polls would have a ripple effect nationwide. 

BJP keeping its fingers crossed
New Delhi, March 23
Weighed down by the anti-incumbency factor and the poor performance in the recent elections to state assembles, the Delhi unit of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) was a little subdued in its claims on the eve of the MCD elections, a sharp contrast to the local Congress camp. Not that the party did not make any effort to retain its supremacy in the 134-seat corporation.

Computer courses, a drain on MDU budget
Rohtak, March 23
The introduction of computer courses has proved a windfall for Maharshi Dayanand University. That is on paper. However, in actual practice, it eats away most of the university budget.

Crime-Busters
Being a woman helps fight crime: Inspector Shyama Pant
New Delhi, March 23
When the going gets tough, the tough get going. This is how, Inspector Shyama Pant, additional Station House Officer (SHO) of the Shahdara police station, describes her role in the city’s police force. Daughter of a Delhi Police head constable and a Delhi University graduate, she joined the Delhi police in 1973 and since then has never looked back.

GDA told to charge original prices
Ghaziabad, March 23
The State Consumer Protection Forum has ordered the Ghaziabad Development Authority (GDA) not to increase the prices of the residential flats allotted by it to the applicants under the Indirapuram Residential Scheme. 

DSGMC chief gets bail over Gurpurb rally case
New Delhi, March 23
The Delhi Sikh Gurdwara Management Committee (DSGMC) president and other office-bearers were released on bail today by a Delhi court after they appeared in person in a case relating to the procession taken out on the occasion of the martyrdom day of Guru Tegh Bahadur in December.

FOLLOW-UP
EDC deadline extended by three months
Gurgaon, March 23
The issue of External Development Charge (EDC) in general and the fast industrialisation of Gurgaon overshadowed all other issues in a conference on ‘Destination: Haryana’ organised here today by the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII). Facing widespread outrage from member participants from the industries on the imposition of EDC, the Haryana Government announced the extension of the deadline of March 31 for depositing the first instalment by another three months.

• Girl killed, mob blocks traffic

COMMUNITY

GETTING AWAY
A gateway to the gods called Haridwar
It is said that when the gods left their footprints on the land of Haridwar, they also left an indelible mark on the spiritual ethos of the people of the country. Haridwar stands as the gateway to the four pilgrimages of Garhwal. Mentioned as Mayapuri, Gangadwar, Mokshadwar in the ancient scriptures and epics, Haridwar has always remained as a major Shaktipeeth for the devotees. 

Chandi Devi  Maya Devi temple Har ki Pauri Gurukul university

Mansa Devi temple Mahadev temple  Pakshi Vihar

BDO, JE suspended for misusing housing funds
Gurgaon, March 23
The working of Haryana bureaucracy was exposed today when the separate inquiries by the Sub Divisional Magistrate and Gurgaon Divisional Commissioner in the same case came out with different conclusions.

Wedding high jinks create a nuisance
New Delhi, March 23
The residents of several residential colonies in the Capital are up in arms against marriages taking place in the parks of the colonies, which apart from destroying the beauty of the parks, contribute to noise pollution.

SEARCH WITHIN
Santhigiri Ashram for an all-round health
It has become obvious to man in the twenty-first century that science is not going to save the world. Science has given man unprecedented power only to confront him with the ancient fact that “power is never good, except he be good that has it.’’ (Alfred the Great)

Traffic curbs for Tazia  procession
New Delhi, March 23
Shia Muslims will take out a Tazia procession on the occasion of Moharram on the night of March 24. The procession will start from Bara Hindu Rao and will go through Pahari Dhiraj, Sadar Bazar, Chowk Qutab Road, Lal Kuan, Hauz Quazi, Chawari Bazaar and will culminate at Jama Masjid in the early morning. The procession will begin at 10 pm.

Change in train reservation timings on Holi
New Delhi, March 23
The Northern Railways has announced some changes in the reservation timings on the occasion of Holi on March 29. The reservation offices at Sarojini Nagar, Lajpat Nagar, Okhla, Karkardooma, Noida, Delhi-Shahdara, Ghaziabad, Naya Azadpur, Subzi Mandi, Kirti Nagar, Tughlakabad and the Indira Gandhi International Airport will remain closed during the morning hours from 8 am to 2 pm.

NCR BRIEFS
Two held for murder in Rohtak village
Rohtak, March 23
The police arrested two youths of Naya Baans village today for allegedly murdering a youth of the same village in a dispute over an inter-caste marriage recently. The couples belonged to Ohlan and Dahiya gotras.

Car thieves held Cyclist injured

Five acquitted

CRIME

Girl crushed to death in Naraina 
New Delhi, March 23
New Delhi: In a shocking incident, a six-year-old girl was crushed to death by a speeding truck in the Naraina area on Friday night. The victim, Sabia, resident of Lona Jhuggi, was playing outside when the speeding Tata truck (DL-1LB-0014) crushed her to death. 

EDUCATION

Students making a human chain to express their solidarity on the occasion of World Optometry Day in the Capital on Saturday. —Tribune Photo Mukesh Aggarwal

Mass copying in Haryana schools 
Rohtak, Sonepat & Faridabad, March 23
Although the various district administration in Haryana had made ‘foolproof’ arrangements and had claimed to have left no stone unturned in order to conduct free and fair examination of the CBSE, Board of School Education Haryana and the Maharshi Dayanand University (MDU), a large number of cases have come to light where the use of unfair means were rampant. In a rare initiative, the Rohtak district police deputed five gazetted officers, six Inspectors, 65 non- gazetted officers, 170 Head Constables and 250 Constables for the smooth conduct of the examinations.

HEALTH

BODY & MIND
A holistic healing centre in Chanakyapuri
Yashwant Place in Chanakyapuri now has a holistic healing centre and research forum. The main objective of ‘Healing Hands’ is to bring together the therapists of alternative systems of medicine under one roof. The centre has been conceptualised by Satish Kapoor, an aeronautical engineer turned businessman.

ICMR building

Award ceremony

The scourge of tuberculosis

Faridabad, March 23 Tuberculosis is a deadly disease; it kills one human life in every minute in India. If all the TB patients of our country were to assemble at one place, it would make a city bigger than Delhi. There are 1.4 crore TB patients in India, maximum number for any country in the world.

Minister’s message
Union Health Minister, Dr C.P. Thakur has expressed confidence that 80 per cent of the Indian population would be covered under the Revised National Tuberculosis Control Programme (RNTCP) by 2004. In a message on the eve of World Tuberculosis Day, Dr Thakur said that though this is an ambitious plan, past experience, careful planning and strict monitoring would help the country in controlling this age-old problem. 

SPORTS

Uma Bharti opens women’s sports festival
Rewari, March 23
The Union Minister of Youth Affairs Minister, Ms Uma Bharti, inaugurated the 15th Haryana State Women’s Sports Festival by unfurling the flag at Rao Tula Ram Stadium here today. She declared the festival open amidst deafening sound of bursting of crackers.

Sportspersons honoured in Rohtak
Rohtak , March 23
The Vice-Chancellor of Maharshi Dayanand University (MDU), Rohtak, Maj-Gen (Retd.) B. S. Suhag, has advocated laying down of minimum qualifying standards in sports. He was addressing sportspersons at the annual prize distribution function organised by the university’s sports council here today.

Indian Oil bags PSCB Trophy

New Delhi, March 23 Indian Oil Corporation Ltd has bagged the Trophy of Excellence instituted by the Petroleum Sports Control Board (PSCB), for its outstanding contribution to sports. Mr M A Pathan, chairman, Indian Oil, received the trophy from Mr V N Kaul, Comptroller and Auditor General of India, at a presentation ceremony held in New Delhi, in which Mr M S Ramachandran, director (Planning and Business Development) and Mr A K Mitra, director (Human Resources), Indian Oil were also present.

Champion of sports: Mr M A Pathan, chairman of Indian Oil, receiving the PSCB Trophy from Mr V N Kaul, Comptroller and Auditor General of India.

Super Star rout BOI in DDCA League
New Delhi, March 23
Super Star Club beat Bank of India by seven wickets in a DDCA ‘B’ Division League match at the Kotla ground II.