Move to ban Sikh jathas to Pak flayed
New Delhi, April 11
The government’s move to ban Sikh jathas to Pakistan on the occasion of Baisakhi evoked strong criticism from a section of the community leaders here today. The general secretary of the Shiromani Akali Dal Delhi, Mr Harcharan Singh, said the government’s move had deeply hurt the Sikh sentiments.

FIRST ELECTRIC CAR: Reva will be priced at Rs 2,54,340 lakh (ex-showroom) in the Capital. Its power pack has a life of 40,000 km which should last 3-4 years in the city driving conditions. It gives 80 km on a single charge and can be charged anywhere, anytime, at home or at work, using only a 22-volt, 15-amp power source.  — Tribune Photo Mukesh Aggarwal

Jind RPF runs amok as vendors ‘refuse’ to comply
Panipat, April 11
The personnel of the Railway Protection Force stationed at Jind destroyed the medical certificates, card passes, permission letters of vendors of a Panipat-based railway kitchen contractor whose staff have been authorised to operate between Panipat and Jind section by the Delhi Division of Northern Railways.

CBI-IB probe urged into links of fake IAS man
Sonepat, April 11
The arrest of alleged ISI man Abhikar Raj, when he was staying in the PWD (B&R) rest house here last week posing himself as an IAS officer, has taken a new turn with Mr Krishan Murti Hooda, senior Congress leader and former Haryana minister, calling for a joint CBI-IB probe into his activities and his association with senior bureaucrats and other high-ups in the country.

Farmers refuse to accept compensation
Panipat, April 11
Hundreds of farmers of four villages adjoining Panipat today refused to accept the compensation amounts assessed by the government for their land acquired for developing part II of industrial Sector 29.

Panipat first in small  saving deposits
Panipat, April 11
The Panipat district has achieved first position in small savings deposits in the state during 2001-2002 by depositing more than the doubled deposit target of the district.

FARIDABAD
Three kids fall in heap of hot ash dumped by factory
Faridabad, April 11
Three children received burns after they fell into a heap of hot ash thrown by a factory in Sector 24 here near its boundary wall while playing on Wednesday. The condition of one of the children is reported to be serious.

Woman beaten to death
Faridabad, April 10
A married woman was beaten to death in the district. Though the incident occurred on Sunday, she died on Wednesday. Pushpa, wife of Sita Ram of Prem Nagar hutments in Sector 17 here, had a quarrel with her neighbours over using an open space for toilet by her son on Sunday. 

NCR BRIEFS
Dhaba worker shot dead by owner’s kin
Panipat, April 11
A dhaba worker, Vijendar, was shot dead by a relative of the owner of the dhaba, Sanjay, on the GT Road near the Panipat Refinery overbridge today.

Missing child found dead in neighbour’s house
New Delhi, April 11
Pankaj alias Amit (11), who was missing since Tuesday from his house in Rohini in North West district, was found dead last night in his neighbour’s house. The owner of the house, Usha, who is suspected to have kidnapped and killed the victim, is absconding.

Huge drugs haul, five peddlers nabbed
New Delhi, April 11
The Delhi Police Narcotics Cell has apprehended two persons and claimed to have seized heroin worth Rs 70 lakh and hashish worth Rs 1 lakh from them in Uttam Nagar. The police acting on a tip-off nabbed Vikas Gupta (30), resident of Raja Puri, and Arvind Kumar alias Kaley, resident of Chanakya Place.

Pak national held for overstaying
New Delhi, April 11
The Delhi Police today arrested a Pakistani national from the central Delhi area for allegedly overstaying. The suspect, Mohd Sheikh Budgez, was arrested from a house in the Churiwala area of Chandni Chowk on a tip-off. Budgez had been allegedly staying illegally alone here since 1994, sources said.

• Gang busted

DM orders filing of FIR against Dadri MC engineer
Noida, April 11
District Magistrate Deepak Kumar ordered an FIR to be filed against an Engineer of the Dadri Nagar Palika for having ignored his orders and neglecting the development work today. The order came after the Tehsil day held here there on Wednesday in which 49 complaints were received and 18 of them resolved on the spot.

Court orders arrest of cop
Ghaziabad
A notice for the contempt of court has been issued against the inspector incharge, Sihani Gate police station, Ghaziabad. He had incurred the wrath of court by his failure to execute the summons for witnesses in a 12-year-old murder case. 

ARTSCAPE
This ‘new media’ man heals through colours
New media is the buzzword these days. While for the young generation, it’s time to try their hand at something new, for the senior artists, it is a discovery served in platter. But, there is always a distance between the lip and cup. Yet, a breed of young generation has erased this demarcation. Pankaj Verma, a young, energetic artist of 25 summers belongs to this category.

MUSIC ZONE
A captivating concert
Music has no language, goes the popular saying. It was also proved through the first-ever concert of violin and piano by the leading duo of Russia’s Bolshoi theatre, Alaxander Kalashov and Valentina Igoshina.

PLAY TIME
Girish Karnad sets audience a-thinking
Last week, Shakespeare’s Hamlet was in town. Although, in part and with a different look altogether — as a half-human and half-horse, i.e. Hayvadan and it surprised many with its contemporary relevance of ‘to be or not to be’ psyche.

YOUNG VOICE
Mrinal hitches her wagon to a star
New Delhi, April 11
At first sight, she appears to be nothing more than the girl next door, but her achievements belie this maiden impression. She is a promising face on the small screen. Right now, this 23-year-old fashion designer-turned actress, Mrinal Deshraj, is busy acting in two big serials of Star Plus, ‘Sanjeevani’ and ‘Dil Main Dard Hota Hain’. She says that she always wanted to become a fashion designer but destiny had something entirely different for her.

HEALTH

ESI scheme comes a cropper
Sonepat, April 11
The Employees State Insurance scheme is meant to provide medical care and cash benefits to organised workers in case of illness, accident or death. It is a scheme which draws its revenue largely from the contributions by both the employees and the employers for the benefit of the former.

Rajan, Himanshu on a run riot for Shastri Club
New Delhi, April 11
Rajan Gupta and Himanshu Mehta put on an explosive batting display to help Lal Bahadur Shastri Club beat Youngsters Club by four wickets to enter the semi-final of the 12th All-India Om Nath Sood Memorial Cricket Tournament for the HRS Trophy at the Khalsa College ground on Thursday.

Daryaganj down LIC in DDCA League
New Delhi, April 11
Daryaganj Gymkhana defeated Life Insurance Corporation by 62 runs in an A-II Division match of the DDCA League at the Ramjas Sports Complex ground.

Salim gets Allwyn-Hindustan Award
New Delhi, April 11
Goalkeeper Salim Ansari of Allwyn-Hindustan Club has been chosen for the “Allwyn-Hindustan Best Footballer Award” for his outstanding performance in the recently-concluded DSA Senior Division Football League.

Top guns for Hyatt-Trans Meridian Tennis
New Delhi, April 11
Diplomats and leading corporate bigwigs will be seen in action in the Hyatt-Trans Meridian Tennis Tournament, which began at the Hyatt Regency Tennis grounds in the Capital on Thursday.

Joshi, Rishi shine for Najafgarh Club
New Delhi, April 11
A dashing knock of 69 runs (2x6, 7x4, 52b) by Vinod Joshi and devastating bowling of 3 for 14 by Rakesh Rishi enabled Najafgarh Sports Club beat Young Star Club by four wickets in the inaugural match of the first Najafgarh Cricket Tournament for the Rajdhani Cup in the Capital.

CRPF kabaddi team excel
New Delhi, April 11
The Central Reserve Police Force kabaddi team excelled in the Chhatrapati Shivaji Chasak All-India Kabaddi Tournament which concluded at Nagpur recently.

SPORTS CORNER
Sonnet Club enter Sheetal Jain Cricket final
New Delhi, April 11
An unbeaten knock of 81 by Shikar Dhawan and 54 not out by Yashpal Singh helped Sonnet Club beat Rajdhani Sports by nine wickets to enter the final of the third Sheetal Prasad Jain Memorial Cricket Tournament at the Mohan Meakin ground.

ADMINISTRATION

Bahadurgarh MC defends absentee staff, flays action
Jhajjar, April 11
The district administration’s campaign to tackle the problem of absenteeism in various government offices has come in for severe criticism from the Municipal Council of Bahadurgarh after two of its officials were found absent during a surprise visit by the sub-divisional officials in the town.

MCD zonal committee members elected
New Delhi, April 11
Newly elected members of the House of the Municipal Corporation of Delhi today elected president, vice-president and one standing committee member each of the zonal committees from each of the 12 zones.