TOP STORIES

Deadly strain of TB stalks Faridabad
Faridabad, March 22
As another ‘World TB Day’ falls on March 24, the health authorities seem to have turned a blind eye to a fatal form of the disease which claims about 4 lakh lives each year in India.

All the world and his wife praying for the Cup today
New Delhi, March 22
Faith can move mountains. Reason enough for a nation of more than a billion to root for the home team, as it pulls out all the stops to play the crucial match against Australia.

National Akali Dal president Paramjit Singh Pamma with supporters after a ‘yagna’ held for the Indian victory.

Khurana bats for traders against VAT
New Delhi, March 22
Delhi Pradesh BJP president Madan Lal Khurana today said the Government of NCT of Delhi should consult trade and industry before formulating a suitable legislation for introducing Value Added Tax (VAT) in the Capital.

A CPM activist during the party’s protest against the US war on Iraq at Teen Murti in the Capital on Saturday. — Tribune Photo Mukesh Aggarwal

DEMOLITION DRIVE
Chautala effigy burnt 
Faridabad, March 22
While the bulldozers of the district administration razed hundreds of extensions and constructions done by the residents in Sector-3 here, the activists and supporters of the BJP took out a procession and burnt the effigy of the Chief Minister, Mr Om Prakash Chautala. 

GDA flats go a-begging in Kaushambi, Vaishali
Ghaziabad, March 22
Wrong policies have landed the Ghaziabad Development Authority in the soup.

Water shortage may be a thing of past 
Sonepat, March 22
The public health authorities have decided to close its more than one thousand common water stand posts in the town to overcome the problem of water shortage and supplement potable water supplies to the consumers.

Students in a formation titled the ‘I’ of India on the eve of the World Optometry Day in the Capital on Saturday. Tribune Photo

COMMUNITY

Mahapanchayat gives ultimatum to political parties on SYL 
Gurgaon, March 22
After the political parties, it is now the turn of the various social organisations to come out in support of the early completion of the Sutlej Yamuna Link (SYL) canal project.

307 farmers receive credit cards worth  Rs 1.99 crore 
Sonepat, March 22
The Deputy Commissioner of Sonepat, Mr Balwan Singh, gave away kisan credit cards worth Rs 1.99 crore to 307 farmers of this district, at a function organised on the premises of the Panchayat Bhavan by the Punjab National Bank here today.

SEARCHWITHIN
‘Once I was blind, but now I see...’
It is better to light a candle than curse the darkness,’’ so goes a saying. Here is a story about one, destined to struggle with his blindness all his life, but able to bring hope for the hopeless like himself.

One ‘model village’ in each block of Haryana
Sonepat, March 22
The Haryana Government has decided to develop one village in each block of the state as ‘model village’ at par with the cities and towns. According to official sources, the villages of Murthal, Khewra, Sandal Kalan, Purkhas, Khanda, Kathura and Baroda have been selected for this purpose in Sonepat, Ganaur, Rai, Kharkhauda, Gohana, Mundlana and Kathura blocks of the district.

SPECIAL FOCUS ON  REWARI
State-of-the-art cable to connect telephone exchanges
Rewari, March 22
All the 62 telephone exchanges in the Rewari telecom district will be connected with the optical fibre cable system by the end of March 2003. The optical fibre cable system is the most reliable transmission media in the country today.

Marine trainee goes missing
Rewari, March 22
The family members of Ashu Malik, a resident of Rewari, who had joined in October 2002 as a trainee on the ship “M. V. Prince G” at Dubai, UAE, are still unclear about his where about. Ashu Malik was a student of Indian Marine Institute, Noida, and had joined the ship for training through Prakash Naik, owner of the contract company, Aarti Ship Management, Mumbai.

Role of media, public in disaster management stressed
Gurgaon, March 22
The one-day work shop on disaster management organised here by the district authorities under the supervision of the office of the Commissioner, Gurgaon Division, Mr L. M. S. Salins, emphasised the need of public participation to reduce the effects of any possible tragedy.

NCR BRIEFS
Sanjay Atri in MDU Executive Council
Rohtak, March 22
Dr Sanjay Atri, lecturer of G. B. Ayurvedic College, Brahmanwas, was elected to the Executive Council of Maharshi Dayanand University from amongst the members of the University Court. He polled 30 votes out of a total 64 votes. His term expires on February 14, 2004.

Noida artist donates money to famine-hit Rajasthanis

Looted car recovered Married woman elopes

DELHI DIGEST Gandhian Brij Mohan Sharma dead New Delhi, March 22 Noted Gandhian and freedom fighter Brij Mohan Sharma, who served as president of the Delhi Pradesh Congress Committee, died here this morning after a prolonged illness.

Woman assaulted by husband with sharp weapon
Sonepat, March 22
A young housewife, Mrs Rajwanti (26), was allegedly beaten up and assaulted with a sharp-edged weapon by her husband Surinder in their house at Jawahar Nagar area here last evening. According to a report, the man managed to escape immediately after the incident. The injured woman was rushed to the local civil hospital from where she was referred to a trauma centre in Delhi for further treatment.

CRIME

Gang involved in petrol pump robberies busted
New Delhi, March 22
Five members of the Sanjiv alias Ganja gang of inter-state robbers, who had committed three sensational petrol pump robberies earlier, were apprehended by the North-West district police.

Manpower racket smashed, 1 held
New Delhi, March 22
The Delhi Police Crime Branch today claimed to have busted a gang of manpower agents who used to cheat job aspirants on the pretext of getting them jobs. One person, Anil Kumar (23) from Bulandshahr, was arrested near Badarpur and a large number of demand drafts, each of Rs 1,600 from candidates, a mobile phone, a copy of an advertisement in ‘Sandesh’ and an HDFC ATM card were recovered from the hideout.

Drunk neta bashed up for un-Holi advances
Noida, March 22
Who says our ‘netas’ do not have a romantic heart? One such leader had to pay a heavy price for showing his romantic inclination too much to a young woman of Khora colony on the pretext of celebrating Holi on March 19.

EDUCATION

People must have right to use of natural 
resources: Medha Patkar
Rohtak, March 22
Noted social activist Medha Patkar today pleaded that people should have the freedom to decide about the use of the natural resources like water, land, jungles and subterranean wealth failing which their very existence is likely to be in jeopardy like that of the displaced and ruined fishermen suffering due to mechanised trawling.

COURTS

Prem Singh Atri re-elected Bar Council president
Sonepat, March 22
Prem Singh Atri has been re-elected president of the Sonepat District Bar Council. He defeated Anoop Singh Dahiya in a direct contest by a margin of 58 votes. Mr Atri polled 184 votes against his rival’s 126 votes in the election held here today on the court premises.

HEALTH

BODY&MIND
WHO’s strategy to check lifestyle diseases
The World Health Organisation is formulating a global strategy to prevent non-communicable diseases as diabetes, cardiovascular diseases

Simple therapy for menstrual problems
Sonepat: Dr P.M. Gopinath, a leading gynaecologist at the Sooriya Hospital, Chennai, has said that thermachoice uterine balloon therapy provides simple, effective and quick relief to the women suffering from heavy and irregular menstrual bleeding, a major cause of anemia among the women of the country.

SPORTS

Leaders sign on giant ‘Good Luck India’ bat
New Delhi, March 22
Prominent Congress leaders, including Delhi Pradesh Congress Committee president Subhash Chopra, appended their signatures on a giant ‘Good Luck India’ bat on the eve of India’s clash against Australia in the World Cup Cricket Championship in South Africa.

BSES lift Corporate Challenger Cup
New Delhi, March 22
BSES defeated E-Funds by seven wickets in the ESPN Star Sports Corporate Challenger Cup at the Bhagat Singh College ground. Batting first, E-Funds scored 182 in the allotted 25 overs with Mohd Awais scoring 62 and Vikas Sharma chipping in with 24. S R Gautam claimed three wickets for 28 runs.

State Bank shortchange K G Colts
New Delhi, March 22
State Bank of India shortchanged K G Colts by 24 runs in an A-I Division match of the DDCA League at the RSC ground. Batting first, State Bank scored 196, thanks to a fine knock of 72 by Pankaj Kaushik and a half century by Ajay Verma. And then Ravinder Bhandari produced a devastating spell of 4 for 34, to wreck K G Colts’ batting lineup.

Delhi to host Senior National Boxing
The Senior National Boxing Championship for men will be held at the Indira Gandhi Indoor Stadium from March 25 to 30. All the top boxers of the country are expected to participate in the championship.