TOP STORIES

Power crisis: Delhi Govt pleads not guilty…
New Delhi, January 17
The Government of NCT of Delhi has thrown its hands up in despair. “It has been an extraordinary winter. Unlike Punjab, Haryana, Jammu and Kashmir, Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan, Delhi cannot shed load in villages to light up cities simply because it is predominantly urban,” Chief Secretary Shailja Chandra told a hurriedly convened news conference on Friday.

St Columba’s boy rescued
New Delhi, January 17
In a joint operation conducted by the Delhi and Rajasthan police, Shivam Arora, a class I student of St Columba’s school, who was whisked away from the school driveway on January 15, was rescued safely from the Karol Bagh area in Central Delhi today.

Six-year-old St Columba’s student Shivam Arora with his mother. — Tribune Photo Mukesh Aggarwal

NCR SPECIAL
Move to shift fire station hangs fire
Panipat, January 17
True to their reputation, the district administration and the municipal council authorities have failed to learn any lesson from past mistakes. At least, this seems to be true with regard to the modernisation of the fire service. In case, a major fire due to petroleum products engulfs the city the lives of thousands of residents would be at risk.

Purpose of remand not punitive: Court 
Rohtak, January 17
Rejecting the bail application of Ravi, who is charged with extortion, Additional Sessions Judge, Dr Shiva Sharma, said that the deprivation of personal liberty by not enlarging an accused on bail was not for punitive reasons but to meet the bifocal ends of justice to the person aggrieved and the society.

DDA plans to turn park into concrete
New Delhi, January 17
A park, which had been developed by prominent citizens of the Capital in collaboration with the Municipal Corporation of Delhi in 1996 to provide a green cover to the concrete jungle around Nehru Place, has become a bone of contention between the developers and the Delhi Development Authority (DDA).

Eight murders in a fortnight 
Faridabad, January 17
The district got off to a bad start in the New Year with the crime graph spiralling upwards. The first fortnight of January saw eight murders being committed here. There has been no let-up in robberies and thefts during this period either.

Holy cow! 35 of them die at gaushala
Panipat, January 17
Mystery shrouds the death of 35 cows at Sithana Gaushala, near here. While villagers alleged that the cows had died on account of severe cold and starvation, the Gaushala Society claimed the animals had died a natural death.

Fog returns with a vengeance
New Delhi, January 17
Warm sunshine greeted office-goers today with the fog dissipating after causing the usual disruption in the wee hours. However, it had returned with a vengeance in the evening, reducing visibility virtually to zero.

• 15 hurt in mishap caused by fog

Special courts sought for Tihar undertrials
New Delhi, January 17
Faced with the overcrowding of the high security Tihar Jail, the authorities concerned have sought the setting up of special courts for disposal of cases of undertrials, who had spent over seven years in the jail. The jail authorities have also sought the construction of eight new jails in the Capital.

COMMUNITY

Dehat Morcha gheraoes collectorate
Ghaziabad, January 17
The leaders and workers of Dehat Morcha gheraoed the collectorate in support of their demands, which include the release of the arrested president Kesri Singh Gujjar and vice-president Satpal along with 13 other Morcha workers in Modi Nagar.

Poison case mired in row
Noida, January 17
The widow of a UP police head constable has been running from pillar to post between Meerut and Bulandshahr police stations to file the report of her daughter’s death who had been poisoned by her in-laws.

Special Focus on Jhajjar/Bahadurgarh
Drought
Govt rethink on compensation
Jhajjar, January 17
The Haryana Government has woken up to the cause of the farmers in the district. In a belated move, the district administration is considering to provide compensation for the crops affected in the drought during last summer.

Shortage of staff hits roadways’ services; commuters suffer
Jhajjar, January 17
Travelling in this district is always a tough task as transport services here are in a shambles. The commuters have to undergo several hardships daily on account of the shoddy services of the Haryana Roadways coupled with the risk involved in depending on the private transport services.

Forest dept workers to hold six-day dharna
Sonepat, January 17
The Forest Department Mazdoor Union, affiliated to the CITU and the Sarv Karamchari Sangh Haryana, has decided to organise a six-day dharna beginning from March 4 in front of the office of the Chief Conservative Officer at Panchkula Sector 6, in support of the demands of the agitating employees of the department.

THE ACHIEVERS
Helping the disabled is his life’s mission
New Delhi, January 17
It was like any other day in 1998. Dr Rakesh Jain was returning from his clinic when at a red light, some disabled beggars approached his car. Some of them were without limbs. The young doctor felt chagrined and immediately decided to do something for the hapless lot.
                                                 Raring to start afresh.

Brahma Baba’s message underlines stoicism
Rewari, January 17
The 34th ascension anniversary of Prajapita Brahma, alias Brahma Baba, founding father of the Brahma Kumaris Ishwariya Vishwa Vidyalaya (Mount Abu, Rajasthan), falls on January 18, 2003.

SPEAKING OUT
I have gone through the news report in the Tribune, “UT, Amritsar, Patiala varsities get 5-star status” (December 23, 2002). The report was based on `Higher Education Summit’ organised by the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), National Assessment and Accreditation Council (NAAC) at Chandigarh on December 20-21, 2002. I was one of the participants at this conference.

• Politics of Metro Rail
• Caught and bowled
• HDR needed for Haryana
• Mata Sundari
• Cheated and trapped

Feathered friends in fine fettle. — Tribune photo Mukesh Aggarwal

Section 144 in Buwani Khera
District Magistrate H. S. Malik has promulgated Section 144 in and around Buwani Khera and Siwani in order to maintain law and order situation during the municipal committee elections.

NCR BRIEFS
Four killed in mishaps
Rohtak, January 17
Four youths were killed and eight others injured in different road accidents in the district today. In the first incident, an oil tanker collided head-on with a TATA Sumo between Ismaila and Gandhra villages.

• MDU appointment

• No shortage of LPG

• Youths snatch car

SPORTS

Delhi crush Kerala in SBI cricket
New Delhi, January 17
Sanjiv Chopra hit a stroke-filled century and left-arm medium pacer Ravinder Bhandari claimed five wickets for eight runs to help Delhi trounce Kerala by 199 runs in a league match of the All-India State Bank of India Inter-Circle Cricket Tournament at the Khalsa College ground.

St Michael School move into final
New Delhi, January 17
An all-round performance by Ajajuddin, who scored a strokeful 75 and claimed two wickets for 22 runs, and deadly bowling performances by Babar Rizvi (3 for 22) and Saif Khan (2 for 23) helped St Michael School, Bhopal trounced DAV, Chandigarh by 51 runs and entered the final of the HT-Pace National Young Cricket Tournament at the Salwan School ground, Rajinder Nagar.

Akash, Manish star in Rajiv Gandhi cricket
New Delhi, January 17
A fine knock of 49 by Akash Talwar and fierce bowling by Manish Singh (3 for 9) helped Sovereign Cricket Academy defeat Scindia Indraprastha Academy by nine runs and entered the semi-final of the first Rajeev Gandhi Memorial Under-17 Cricket Tournament at the Picknick Hut ground, Ashok Vihar.

St Columba’s School win in ESPN soccer
New Delhi, January 17
St. Columba’s School edged past Modern School, Vasant Vihar 1-0 in a Group B match of the ESPN Inter-School Soccer League at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium on Friday. Johnson scored the match-winner. Sardar Patel Vidyalaya drew with Mt Carmel School 1-1 in another Group B match.