TOP STORIES

Damp weather dampens spirits at Surajkund mela
Surajkund (Faridabad), January 31
The crowded Press preview to the fortnight-long Surajkund Crafts Mela came a cropper due to a combination of natural and man-made factors.

Goodbye fog, say hi to rain
New Delhi, January 31
Incessant rains lashing the Capital since late last night have brought in a wet weekend complete with the misery of traffic jams and water-logging.

Incessant rain lashed the Capital on Friday, throwing life out of gear. — Tribune Photo Mukesh Aggarwal

City under siege for mahapanchayat
Meerut, January 31
The administration in Muzaffarnagar is fully geared for the Bharatiya Kisan Union mahapanchayat on February 1. A large number of armed policemen from each district of Meerut zone and at least 12 companies of paramilitary forces were rushed to Muzaffarnagar on Friday evening to keep a tab on the BKU activists. Senior officials, including IGP, Meerut zone, Prem Chand Sabarwal, and Dy IG of the Saharanpur Range are also camping here.

Man, 2-yr-old son mowed down
Sonepat, January 31
Virender a resident of Chandausi district in Uttar Pradesh, and his two-year-old son Akash were killed when they were hit by a goods train at the railway station here last night.

Biggest weakness of Indian diaspora is its disunity
New Delhi, January 31
It has been a long haul for Indians in the United States of America since 1790 when perhaps the first Indian to have migrated there was spotted on the streets — a lowly paid domestic helper to an American businessman. Two centuries later, the Indian community's average earnings are substantially higher than that of a native American.

SC asks IGL bosses to reply to price hike charges
New Delhi, January 31
The Supreme Court on Friday directed past and present executives of Indraprastha Gas Limited, the sole distributor of CNG in the NCT of Delhi, to explain their stand on the allegation of misleading the court and hiking the price of gas without any basis.

Vandana murdered for taking lid off illicit ties
Ghaziabad, January 31
The case of a woman, Vandana, who was murdered by her brother-in-law, who later himself committed suicide in Indirapuram, on Tuesday has taken a new turn. Her parents have alleged she was murdered because she had threatened to expose the misdeeds, including illicit relations, of Ravinder, Bunty, Jagdish and Rambir - cousins of her husband Chander Pal.

COMMUNITY

Indictment of Bansi by panel part of conspiracy: HVP
Panipat, January 31
Terming the indictment of HVP supremo Bansi Lal and his son, Surinder Singh, by the Chahal Commission, probing various aspects of prohibition, as a conspiracy, Mr Surinder Ahlawat, general secretary of the party’s youth wing, threatened a state-wide agitation on the issue.

A four-year-old girl was charred to death in a fire that broke out in a jhuggi cluster near Shamsan Ghat in Geeta Colony in East district last night. — Tribune Photo

SPECIAL FOCUS ON JHAJJAR/BAHADURGARH
Politics of rally over SYL canal 
Jhajjar, January 31
The politics over the SYL canal issue in Haryana continues to dominate political discourse in the state. The stage is set for yet another political rally. In the game of one-upmanship, it is now the turn of the leader of the Opposition in the state Assembly and the Congress Legislative Party leader, Mr Bhupinder Singh Hooda, to announce his ‘course of action’ over the politically sensitive issue of the SYL canal.

Maken outlines steps to put Delhi on fast track
New Delhi, January 31
Delhi Transport Minister Ajay Maken today announced here that about 200 buses belonging to the Delhi Transport Corporation (DTC) will have Automatic Vehicle Tracking System (AVTS) by the end of March for better public transport management and for disciplining erring drivers.

Electric trolley buses soon
New Delhi: After the Metro, the Government of NCT of Delhi is toying with the idea of introducing electric trolley buses and high capacity bus system to augment the mass rapid transport system in the Capital that has more numbers of vehicles than all the three other metros put together.

Blessed are the couples blessed by this patriarch
Noida, January 31
Born in March 1908, Pandit Sohan Lal, who is endearingly called as “Raja Bhaya”, was one of the most respected and loved patriarchs of the town. A simple soul, Sohan Lal had to wage a grim struggle for survival in his childhood as a young man, but had never deviated from the path of honesty, truthfulness and sincerity. 

Speaking out The New Year celebrations have acquired various tones like obscene dances, drunken brawls, copious use of drugs, ostentatious dinner with gift packages etc. The New Year gift culture has bred another phenomenon. It has fostered a feeling of graft in the mind of file-pushers and bureaucrats. I am not badmouthing the gift culture nor am I throwing tantrums against the pious culture of gift sharing. Big brother is watching

Report on mystery deaths wrong Child labour menace Old age woes

Candlelit  autopsies! Backward  in Jhajjar

Wheat stocks damaged Sonepat, January 31 The Haryana Government has suffered a huge financial loss on account of the non-lifting of procured wheat from the new grain market and the godown of the Food and Supplies Department in this city.

Phone tariff hike flayed 
Sonepat, January 31
The Haryana Pradesh Janata Dal (U) president, Mr Ved Parkash Vidrohi, has demanded immediate withdrawal of the hike in charges of basic telephone services and rentals, calling it another anti-people policy of the BJP-led NDA government at the Centre.

Sikkim cop rides on a peace mission
New Delhi, January 31
Bhoj Kumar Pradhan, 50-year-old Sub Inspector in the Sikkim Police, is on an un-policeman like mission. He is on an all-India tour to spread messages of unity, peace and honesty, particularly in observing traffic rules to prevent accidents.

HVP welcomes court decision on Chahal panel 
Rohtak, January 31
The Haryana Vikas Party (HVP) has welcomed the recent decision of the Punjab and Haryana High Court in which it quashed the notification regarding setting up of Chahal Commission. The commission was set up by the Chief Minister, Mr Om Prakash Chautala, to inquire into the irregularities allegedly committed when prohibition was enforced by the government of Mr Bansi Lal.

DELHI DIGEST
LJP seeks CBI probe into power bill ‘loot’
New Delhi, January 31
Lok Janshakti Party chief Ram Vilas Paswan may have cosied up to the Congress in the run up to the Gujarat Assembly elections but in the NCT of Delhi that goes to the polls later this year, the party has sided with the BJP in demanding a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) probe into the “state-sponsored loot” of people in unauthorised colonies, resettlement colonies and slums who are having to pay electricity bills to private contractors.

Rational distribution of water stressed
New Delhi: Faced with frequent power failure and water scarcity, the Government of NCT of Delhi has said that only an equitable distribution of available amenities could solve the water and power problems of the Capital.

Auto, taxi fare hike on hold
New Delhi: The revised autorickshaw and taxi fares will not come into force from Saturday as the Lieutenant Governor has not given his approval for the same. Raj Niwas is understood to have sent back the file to Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit.

CRIME

Woman raped by fellow villager
New Delhi, January 31
A 26-year-old woman was reportedly raped by her acquaintance in her jhuggi at Viklang camp in the Lodhi Colony area. Both the suspect and the victim belong to same village in Pratapgarh district in UP. The victim lived separately from her husband.

EDUCATION

A boon to higher education for girls 
Jhajjar, January 31
The founding of the Maharaja Aggarsen College for Women in 1984 by the Aggarsen Society was a boon for girls aspiring of pursuing higher studies. In absence of a separate college for women, most of the students had to quit studies after completing their schooling, as parents were reluctant to send their girls to other towns for college studies.

SPORTS

P&S Bank Hockey Academy make waves

New Delhi, January 31 The fledgeling Punjab and Sind Bank Junior Hockey Academy have been creating waves in the hockey circuit with their excellent performances. The sub-junior team of the academy, in fact, “outperformed” many other established teams during the Junior National Championship, to finish as runners-up.

The Punjab and Sind Bank Hockey Team, who finished as runner-up in the National Junior Hockey Championship, with Indian Hockey Federation president K P S Gill.

RCF roll over ICF,  finish third
New Delhi, January 31
Rail Coach Factory (RCF) rolled over Integral Coach Factory (ICF) 5-0 to take the third place in the men’s section of the PNB-All India Railway Hockey Tournament at the Shivaji Stadium on Friday.

Parimarjan Negi felicitated New Delhi, January 31 Master Parimarjan Negi, who won the Asian Youth Chess Championship for Under-10 in Teheran in April last year, was felicitated at a function in the Capital. He is also the National Under-9 Boys Chess champion. Parimarjan was ranked number one in the Delhi State Under-12 Championship and the Delhi State Rapid Chess Championship.  He is the country’s youngest-rated player and youngest ever to figure in the International Rating List of the FIDE, the world governing body of chess. Chess prodigy Parimarjan Negi in action in the Capital on Friday. — Tribune Photo Mukesh Aggarwal

Najafgarh Sports Club lift Shanti title
New Delhi, January 31
A fine knock of 60 by man of the match Pradeep Sangwan and a deadly bowling of 3 for 12 by Sourabh Shukla helped Najafgrh Sports Club defeat West Delhi Cricket Academy by five wickets and won the first Shanti Memorial Under-19 Cricket Tournament at the Najafgarh Sports Club ground.

• Sachin deadly

Pankaj Mishra shoots gold
New Delhi, January 31
Inspector Pankaj Mishra of 107 Bn shot 403 out of a possible 600 to emerge the champion in the full bore rifle individual event of the 33rd Border Security Force Inter-Frontier Platoon Weapon Shooting Competition held at the Reoti Shooting Range, Central School of Weapons and Tatics, BSF, Indore.

• Udayan shines