TOP STORIES

Meerut medical college hospital will soon need crutches 
Meerut, February 21
The budgetary allocation of Sardar Vallabhai Patel Hospital, which is housed on the LLRM Medical College campus, has been slashed from Rs 52 lakh to Rs 2.18 lakh.

HC ISSUES NOTICES
VHP challenges Wakf Board’s right to 123 properties
New Delhi, February 21
The Delhi High Court today issued notices to the Centre, the city government and its agencies on a petition filed by the VHP challenging the conferring of the right to manage 123 properties attached to mosques and some monuments in the city on the Wakf Board.

Will someone respond to Shallu’s cry for justice? 
Ferozepur Jhirka (Mewat), February 21
Shallu (name changed), a resident of Raniyali village near here and mother of two, has learnt a bitter truth: That the long arm of the law is not long enough to punish those who violate women’s human rights.

Love nest on a high-rise. —  Tribune Photo Mukesh Aggarwal

ON CAMPUS
MDU plans to cut interest rate on PF accounts
Rohtak, February 21
The Maharshi Dayanand University (MDU) proposes to reduce the rate of interest on the Provident Fund (PF) account of its employees from 12 per cent to 10 per cent per annum from the coming financial year.

Parents to stage dharna for meaningful education 
New Delhi, February 21
With repeated requests and reminders failing to produce results, angry and distressed parents have decided to stage a peaceful demonstration to register their concern at a school’s inability to provide meaningful education to their children.

Relive fantasy of walking through a secret tunnel…
New Delhi, February 21
Adolescents may soon be able to relive their Enid Blyton days by walking through a secret tunnel leading to the bank of the Yamuna. One such tunnel connects the Red Fort to the Yamuna; the good news is that it will shortly be opened to the public.

CITY ALERT
Tight security for dharam sansad
New Delhi: The Delhi police have made elaborate security arrangements to ensure that the two-day VHP Dharm Sansad, beginning tomorrow at the Ram Lila grounds here, passes off peacefully.

Mahapanchayat on demolition
Faridabad, February 21
A ‘mahapanchayat’ will be held here on March 30 against the demolition. This was stated by a former minister and RPI MLA from Palwal, Mr Karan Singh Dalal, and the MLA from Mewla Maharajpur, Mr K P Gurjar, at a press conference held here.

COMMUNITY

DELHI IN PARLIAMENT
SC monitoring Yamuna pollution level
New Delhi, February 21
The pollution of the Yamuna is monitored by the Supreme Court under a public interest litigation. The apex court had directed the Government of the National Capital Territory of Delhi in April 2001 for taking action to ensure the minimum desired water quality of class ‘C’ in the river by March 2003.

Unseasonal rain compounds civic problems of Sonepat
Sonepat, February 21
Unseasonal rain that lashed the city during the past three days has left behind a trail of un-cleared garbage bins and waterlogged roads. Conditions are appalling in slum clusters, particularly on the embankments of Drain 6 where many pockets are submerged. Nearly 20,000 people live in unauthorised slum clusters and resettlement colonies where planned development has taken the backseat.

Save power for unhindered supply: Governor
Sonepat, February 21
The Haryana Governor, Babu Parmanand, has said power and energy play a very important role in the growth of several spheres of human life and per capita consumption of electrical energy is an indicator of the level of development of any country.

Rs 15 crore sanctioned for 224 works
Sonepat, February 21
The Haryana Chief Minister, Mr Om Prakash Chautala, sanctioned Rs 15.46 crore for 224 development works in 54 villages of the Rohat Assembly constituency in Sonepat district at an open darbar at Kharkhauda town, 19 km from here, recently.

Admiral’s servant turns out to be Bangladeshi
Noida, February 21
A senior military officer, in fact an Admiral, has been saved from the blushes by the police when he tried to save his servant. The said servant was picked up by the police from Sector 12 near Metro Hospital here. He had tried to flee when the police patrol team wanted to check him. He was overpowered and taken to the police station.

Three-day bonanza in Capital for garden lovers
Garden of Five Senses opens
New Delhi, February 21
Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit inaugurated Delhi Tourism’s 16th Garden Tourism Festival and the Garden of Five Senses, Said-ul-Ajaib, on the Mehrauli-Badarpur Road today.

SPEAKING OUT Choosing a life partner This is with reference to the article, ‘Delights of falling in love’ (NCR Tribune, February 9, 2003), by Mr M. P. K. Kutty. I endorse the view that the choice of a life partner is a serious business and cannot be treated lightly, because marriage has the potential to make or mar the rest of one’s life. Gathering dust. — Tribune photo Mukesh Aggarwal

Indian Airlines had helped blind passenger Easy access to HPSC application forms Paper tigers  of cricket

In a fairyland in Surajkund Give death penalty to rapists All’s well with  the college Netas, protect supremacy of law

Mushroom growers unhappy over lack of marketing facilities  Sonepat, February 21 Though a 80-village belt in Sonepat district has become a leading mushroom growing area of northern India, the state government has failed to provide marketing facilities here compelling the farmers to take their produce to Delhi’s Azadpur Market to get remunerative prices.

Mahila Morcha demands dismissal of Punjab ministers
New Delhi, February 21
The Delhi Pradesh BJP Mahila Morcha and Yuva Morcha have demanded the dismissal of the two Punjab Government ministers and a Congress MLA for their alleged involvement in a sex scandal.

New four-storey building for Shakarpur police station 

New Delhi, February 21 A building matters but more than that the people who work there matter. This assumes more significance when people are there for the redressal of public grievances, Police Commissioner of Delhi, Mr R. S. Gupta, said today while inaugurating the newly constructed building of Shakarpur police station in East Delhi. He said the police officers, including reporting and investigative officers, should take every case seriously.

Delhi Police Commissioner R.S. Gupta visiting the lock-up after the inauguration of the new building of the Shakarpur police station in the Capital on Friday. —Tribune Photo Mukesh Aggarwal

NCR BRIEFS
94 colonies regularised in Sonepat
Sonepat, February 21
The Haryana Government has regularised as many as 94 unauthorised residential colonies out of 163 in this city. According to a report, the remaining residential colonies will be regularised on February 24 at a meeting scheduled to be held at Chandigarh.

Employment awareness camp Youth kidnapped for ransom

Money stolen from scooter Student beaten up

Conductor dies as wall collapses on him New Delhi, February 21 Kartar Singh (21), a bus conductor, died this morning when a wall collapsed on him near Rakesh Roadways office in Kamla Market. The wall collapsed when a truck coming from the opposite direction hit the wall. Kartar was giving some signal to the driver of the bus when the wall collapsed.

CRIME

Woman ‘thrashed by in-laws’, dumped on road
Rohtak, February 21
The in-laws of a woman allegedly beat her severely and threw her at the Shiela bypass chowk here in an unconscious condition last evening. The only fault of the victim was that her father could not satisfy the ‘thirst for dowry’ of her in-laws.

Four held as betting racket is busted
New Delhi, February 21
With the arrest of four persons, the North-West district police today claimed to have busted a racket of match betting on the World Cup Cricket being played in South Africa. The district police had a tip-off that a few persons were running satta in Mukherjee Nagar. A raid was conducted. The four persons arrested were found fixing bets on the cricket match between Holland and Australia. A decoy customer was sent there, the police said.

EDUCATION

SPECIAL FOCUS ON JHAJJAR/BAHADURGARH
Government College in Badli a boon to students of countryside
Jhajjar, February 21
Government College, Badli, is still in its infancy. The eight students in the first batch are going to complete their graduation this year. Situated in Badli village, 18 km from Bahadurgarh, it is a godsend for students of the countryside who otherwise may have to discontinue their studies after completing schooling.

CULTURE

Feast for cine buffs every weekend 
New Delhi, February 21
Following the signing of a memorandum of understanding (MoU) between the India Trade Promotion Organisation and the National Film Development Corporation recently, select Indian and foreign movies will be screened every weekend in the morning at Shakuntalam Theatre, Pragati Maidan, from March 2003.

SPORTS

Sunil Khanna elected chairman of Sood Cricket
New Delhi, February 21
Mr Sunil Khanna, joint secretary (sports) of the Delhi and District Cricket Association, was elected chairman of the Om Nath Sood Memorial Cricket Tournament at an executive committee meeting held at Rani Bagh. The meeting was chaired by Om Nath Sood Memorial Cricket Tournament committee president S Sarabjeet Singh Bedi.

Sahil, Samarth slam hundreds
New Delhi, February 21
Dashing unbeaten centuries by Sahil Kher (158) and Samarth Singh (131) helped Bharat National Cricket Academy defeat Madan Lal Academy by 195 runs in the Mata Durga Devi (Under-13) Cricket Tournament at the Bharat National School ground.

Yogesh Mehra’s display in vain

Kanav Anand shines

Narayan Sunderam jumps to lead New Delhi, February 21 Narayan Sunderam tallied 42 nett stableford points to take the lead in the Can Support Golf Tournament at the Delhi Golf Club course on Friday. The tournament is being held to raise funds for cancer patients.

Shastri Club enter semis
New Delhi, February 21
A fine all-round performance by Sumit Rana (2 for 10 and 52 n o) helped Lal Bahadur Shastri Club defeat K N Colts by seven wickets and entered the semi-final of the Deep Chand Yadav Memorial Cricket Tournament at the Nangloi ground.

• Orient down Citi Corp

NDA lift Thimayya Cup
New Delhi, February 21
National Defence Academy (NDA) defeated Indian Military Academy (IMA) 4-3 to lift the Gen. Thimayya Cup. In an exciting contest, played between cadets, GC S Choudhary scored three goals for IMA while DCC Vishal Chouhan scored four goals for NDA. The trophy was presented by Maj-Gen D K Palit, former Commandant of the Indian Military Academy.

ADMINISTRATION

Senior cops slated for promotion
New Delhi, February 21
Long awaited promotions of some senior Delhi Police officers are in the offing. The proposal, which has been lying in the Union Home Ministry for its nod, is likely to be cleared soon, according to the sources. The sources said that Joint Commissioner of Police (Headquarters) Sewa Dass was likely to be promoted as Special Commissioner of Police.