After euphoria, The agony!
Tribune News Service

New Delhi, March 23
Coming events had cast their shadows before. After the failure of Sachin Tendulkar, disappointment was writ large on the faces of Indians. Though many of them put up a brave front for a while, thinking that the exit of the master blaster was just one of the slips between cup and lip. Even the joy brought by the rain was short-lived. India finally lost, dashing the hopes of millions of fans.

The country had played Australia to win the Cup, long overdue. During the day, the streets of the city witnessed a cricket-crazy nation follow every movement made on the field in a far-away land. The mood and moment when the home team encountered the defending champions and two-time winners, remains indescribable. Roads bore a deserted look. Lakhs of cricket buffs huddled near the TV sets put up by the shopkeepers. Fans shouted themselves hoarse at pubs that had come up with the offers too hard to miss.

Patriotism was at its peak, markets were adorned with the tricolour. Special prayers were offered for the country’s win. Priests in many temples had brought in the idiot box to keep a tab on the scoreboard.

Najafgarh was perhaps the hot spot. Virendra Sehwag’s neighbourhood was submerged in anxiety as the star performed on the field. Many of them missed a heartbeat as their hero was run out, dashing the last hope of an Indian resurgence.

The city had witnessed a similar scene when India played arch rivals Pakistan earlier this month. “Thankfully it is a day off. We do not need to call the boss and make inane excuses. A legitimate ‘chutti’ to watch the grand finale, what else can one hope for,” said Naresh Kapur, adding, “for a nation that breathes cricket, today’s match is crucial.”

As for the class X students who had a harrowing time, trying to study for their exam while the matches were on, the final match, a day after the exams had got over, was a “sort of compensation”.

“All these days, our time would be divided between books and cricket, now with the exams behind us, it’s only cricket,” quipped Kamal.

Elsewhere in the city, cinema halls and pubs did what they could to liven up the mood. Instead of screening the Bollywood and Hollywood fare, the cineplexes chose to screen the final match.

When the things were going in favour of the Kangaroos, many Indophiles consoled one another: “It is not over till the fat lady sings.” However, the final outcome was dismal. Even the rain gods flattered only to deceive.

Sonepat sans sports stadium for three decades
B. S. Malik

Sonepat, March 23
Despite several sportspersons from Sonepat district excelling at the national and international levels, it remains without a sports stadium, which is considered the first requirement in the promotion of sports. Sonepat was upgraded to a district headquarter way back in 1972. A number of efforts have reportedly been made in all these years by the district administration to set up a stadium, but in vain. The latest proposal for a stadium near Chhotu Ram Government Engineering College or near Rai Pur village between Sonepat town and G. T. Road has reportedly been sent to the sports department for sanction.

According to the information available, Sonepat district alone has had around 60 sportspersons of international standard and more than 300 of national standard in the past despite the lack of sports infrastructure. On the basis of their performances, six sportspersons including four wrestlers from the district have been decorated with Arjuna awards.

It is another matter that most of the successful sportspersons from here had taken shelter in organisations of the central and other state governments for their training and availing better facilities. They never returned to the state.

A number of sportspersons who belong to this district and have won awards at the national and international levels for the country and the state have expressed their resentment over the lack of sports facilities here.

International Rajbir said: “Sports stadium is the first requirement of a sportsperson. Because of the non-availability of a stadium at Sonepat, a number of sportspersons took shelter in Delhi, Punjab and the Railways for their training. They were finally absorbed by these states and organisations.”

Similar opinions have also been expressed by several other sports personalities including Satyavan, Vazir Singh, Rohtas, Rakesh, Narender and Ramphal. They said that if the government is really interested in promoting sports, it must provide a sports stadium in Sonepat.

Rajesh, who has been a national champion a number of times in the past, has remarked that the state government has not yet provided a stadium at Sonepat, a district headquarter with around two lakh population, but has reportedly okayed a proposal for a stadium at Purkhas village having a population of just over 10,000.

CRIME SPIRAL
Seven PPCL officials in CBI net
Our Correspondents

Ghaziabad, March 23
The Central Bureau of Investigation had filed a case of fraud and cheating involving crores of rupees against the seven officials of the PPCL, a Government of India Undertaking, and the owner of a firm in Pucca Bagh, Hapur.

The fraud pertains to the misuse of government subsidy allowed on fertilisers, it is learnt. The CBI team had raided the firm on Saturday morning. Though the traders had protested against the raid, the investigating team did not allow them to interfere. The CBI team, under Asstt Superintendent of Police R N Azad, had raided the NFC firm’s premises at Nai Market, Pucca Bagh, Hapur. Before that, they had brought Harsh Vardhan, son of Nand Kishore, Khad Wala, from their residence in Jawahar Ganj.

The SO incharge Kotwali Dharam Veer Singh accompanied the CBI and the police team.

The team had allowed two employees of the firm to be present on the premises during the raid, but they would not be allowed to come out before the completion of investigations.

When the leaders and office-bearers of western UP Udyog Vayapar Mandal, including Satinder Kumar, Sanjay Agarwal, BJP’s Jagdish Pradhan and Tukki Ram Gaye wanted to go inside the premises, the CBI sleuths clarified that were simply examining some documents and would not be making any arrests. Asstt Superintendent of CBI disclosed that the PCCL had signed an agreement with this firm for the purchase of rock phosphate and sulphuric acid and for the supply of 20,000 tonnes of superphosphate worth Rs 5 crore to the firm, in return.

Gangster killed in encounter

Meerut: A robber was killed in an encounter with the police in Ganga Nagar Colony on late Saturday night, while his injured accomplice escaped. A hunt was on for the gangster.

According to the Senior Superintendent of Police, Mr Mukul Goel, two youths on a motorbike robbed a couple of his scooter and cash at pistol-point on Saturday evening. The victim Ramnaresh and his wife rushed to Bhavanpur police station. A message of robbery was flashed and the SHO started the combing operation and checked vehicles. They intercepted two youths on a scooter and asked them to stop. However, they opened fire on the police and tried to flee. The police chased them on motorbikes and jeeps in the remote area, near the border of Incholi and Bhavanpur police station. Both the gangsters entered a sugarcane field and again opened fire.

The police fired in self-defence. As the gangsters stopped, the cops entered the sugarcane field and found one gangster lying down with a bullet injury while another with injuries on his neck. Police rushed both of them to the district civil hospital. Meanwhile, one of the gangsters succumbed to injuries on the way and was declared brought dead by the doctors. Hearing the news of the encounter, the SP, Rural Area Circle Officer and other senior official rushed to the spot. The identity of the slain gangster is yet to be established. 

CRIME AGAINST WOMEN
NH blocked against rape, murder
Tribune News Service

Faridabad, March 23
Hundreds of residents of Omchagaon village of Ballabgarh sub-division came out on the road today to block the National Highway No. II passing from here in protest against the ‘delayed’ police action in the incident of abduction, rape and murder of a teenaged girl of the village. The victim, 13, died in the hospital last night. She had been abducted on March 18 and abandoned in a semi-conscious condition.

According to the relatives of the victim, the girl, a student of Class VII was allegedly raped and administered a poisonous substance. She had been admitted to a hospital a few days ago. She died there last night. As the news reached the village, about 500 persons assembled on the National Highway at Ballabgarh and blocked the traffic for about two hours till 4 pm. It is reported that they were agitated over the ‘insufficient’ action taken by the police. It is alleged that the police did not register the case of abduction and rape till the girl died. The residents said that the police had also failed to arrest some family members of the main accused involved in the incident. While the police claimed that the accused identified as Dharmender had been arrested and case under Sections 302 and 37 of the IPC registered against him, the protestors alleged that the police had been trying to shield some persons in the case. The blockade was lifted after the senior officials, including the SDMs of Faridabad and Ballabgarh and the ASP reached the spot and assured a proper action.

Conducting exams not a service: NCDRC

New Delhi: The National Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission (NCDRC) has ruled that institutions, including universities and the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) do not render any service as contemplated by the Consumer Protection Act when they conduct examinations, and hence cannot be sued in consumer courts for the same. Institutions holding examinations are not rendering any service within the meaning of Consumer Protection Act, the Commission said while dismissing an appeal by the father of a student whose result was not declared by the CBSE about 12 years ago and thus causing a loss of two years of further studies.

The complainant Sachida Nand Sharma alleged in his complaint that only after protracted correspondence and many personal visits to its office in Ajmer and Delhi, the CBSE informed him that his son’s results could not be declared for want of Internal Grade Certificate from the principal of the school at Bareilly where the boy was studying.

The complainant alleged that CBSE had issued the same roll number to two students and added that while the result of the other student was declared, his son’s was not. The NCDRC pointed out that any concomitant omission or commission by the institutions cannot be termed as deficiency in service. The Commission comprised NCDRC President, Justice D P Wadhwa, Members, Justice J K Mehra, Rajylakshmi Rao and B K Taimni.

Shaheed Smarak: Kargil martyrs to go down in history
Tribune News Service

New Delhi, March 23
A centenarian has done what the institutions and corporate entities would find it hard even to plan. At 127, Swami Kalyan Devji Maharaj wears his age well and shows little sign of slowing down. At Shukratal on the Ganges, the ageless Swami recently consecrated a special memorial to all 527 martyrs of the Kargil war, the only one of its kind in the country.

Shukratal, 30 km from Muzzafarnagar, is a natural choice for the memorial for the India’s brave sons, ‘who gave their today for our tomorrow’. Shukratal is one of the most important pilgrimage centres of India where each year, lakhs of pilgrims come in search of moksha.

The Kargil Shaheed Smarak is born out of the resonance between the Swamiji’s desire to immortalise the martyrs of Kargil and the soldierly devotion of Lt-General Niranjan Malik, PVSM, a former Deputy Chief of Army Staff. The pristine memorial is built on the quiet banks of the Ganges. The structure is a double-storeyed eight-sided building, topped by the national flag flying high, carrying a message of peace to the departed souls of our heroes.

The eight marbled walls of the sanctum proudly bear the names of every single martyr, along with his unit, district and state.

In the centre is a simple marble platform that bears the sacred stones, brought all the way from Kargil, sanctified by the blood of martyrs. A reversed assault rifle with the traditional helmet depicting the fallen hero is mounted in between these sacred stones in a simple tribute to the warriors. On the front wall is a huge map of the entire theatre of the Kargil war, code-named Operation Vijay. Visitors can locate every single unit of the Indian Army as also those of the enemy they vanquished. Gen Niranjan Malik has personally conceptualised the creation of this map.

Gen. Malik said, “The Kargil Shaheed Smarak marks an important departure in the tradition of confining war memorials to the isolation of cantonments.”

Shukratal, he said, places the war memorial exactly where it belongs—in the heart of our society's traditions, connected to the holy places by the waters of the Ganges.

A special part of the ceremony was the presence of a large number of students and young people, especially the NCC cadets on whose faces you could see a sense of pride that could only come from a sense of closeness to the martyrs of Kargil.

Wreaths were laid on behalf of the Armed Forces of India, Indian Army, then by the Shaheed Parivar, followed by the ex-servicemen and other dignitaries present. Mr and Mrs Gopichand Pandey, the parents of Shaheed Capt. Manoj Pandey, PVC, led the Shaheed Parivar Shraddhanjali to their departed ones. It was the most touching moment and every one present had his eyes moist.

Swami Kalyan Devji Maharaj paid his tribute by laying a wreath and blessing the gathering. 

Wrong identification led to 
demolition: Badmalik villagers
Our Correspondent

Sonepat, March 23
More than a dozen houses in Badmalik village reportedly constructed on encroached village panchayat land were razed to the ground on Saturday by a demolition squad of the administration, led by Panchayat Officer Vedpal, in the presence of a police contingent.

The demolition, which started in the morning, continued till noon despite resentment among the affected families, which alleged that the village sarpanch had wrongly identified the encroachments because of his casteist attitude. However, the sarpanch denied the allegation stating that the identification was done by a proper survey on the basis of government land records.

The demolition began with the removal of encroachments from the common path leading to the village cremation ground. The affected families were of Chandu Ram, Sant Lal, Girdhari and Chander Bhan.

It is also pointed out that after receiving notices of demolition, a number of people had started removing encroachments of their own, fearing that the government demolition might cause loss of material. But as stated by the administration authorities, these removals were not complete and the encroachers were adopting a wait and watch approach.

Meanwhile, a complaint has been sent to the Chief Minister regarding encroachments by influential persons in Kundli village, according to a block samiti member, Mange Ram. It is alleged in the complaint that the district authorities had been approached for removal of encroachment a number of times in vain. The district administration has been pursuing its anti-encroachment drive in the urban and rural areas of the district vigorously for the last six months.

CITU strike on March 27 against lockouts
Our Correspondent

Ghaziabad, March 23
In a mahapanchayat organised by the district unit of the CITU, different labour leaders expressed concern at the increasing trends of lockouts and retrenchment of workers. The mahapanchayat has decided to express solidarity with the workers’ causes by opposing the “high-handedness and anti-worker policies” of the management and to observe a one-day strike in industrial units on March 27.

Addressing the mahapanchayat, held in Nav Yug Market Park, the president of the Delhi State CITU, Suraj Bhan Bhardwaj, said that the increasing global capitalisation was adversely affecting the workers and their basic interest.

Mr Bhardwaj said the minimum wages of a worker should be Rs 5,000. The interim wages of the engineering and other workers were fixed at Rs 500 two years ago, but till date wages at this rate have not been paid to the workers.

He said the illegal lockouts at Hero Cycles factory has rendered thousands of workers unemployed. In a number of other companies too, workers are being retrenched in the name of lockouts, he alleged. However, the department concerned and district administration have not taken any notice of it.

Maha Nagar president J. P. Shukla alleged that a number of industrial units in the district, including Sheela Foam, Jain Tubes, Ajanta Textiles, Poyesha, Swadeshi Polytex, Modi Cloth Mill, Modi Steel, Modi Rubber, Harsha Tractors, Usha Automobiles, Durga Industries etc, have been locked out. Over a lakh workers have thus been affected. The government is not taking tough measures in getting these industrial units restarted, he alleged.

In case no solutions are forthcoming by March 2, the mahapanchayat decided that a strike will be observed in all the industrial units on March 27. The workers will take out rallies, block traffic and hold a demonstration in front of the collectorate, it was decided.

Mahila Vikas Nigam to give Rs 5 crore as loan
Our Correspondent

Sonepat, March 23
The chairperson of the Haryana Mahila Vikas Nigam, Mrs Bimla Sangwan, has claimed that the nigam had done commendable work in the socio-economic uplift of women in the state during more than three years’ rule of the Chautala government. During this period, the share capital of the nigam had been increased from Rs 5 crore to Rs 10 crore.

The nigam would also provide loan of Rs 5 crore and subsidy of Rs 50 lakh to the deserving women during the next financial year, she said.

Presiding over the Basant Mahotsav, organised by the Natraj theatre group here yesterday, she disclosed that a World Bank-aided project was being implemented in 649 villages by 14 voluntary organisations in 23 development blocks of Sonepat, Jind and Bhiwani districts to create awareness among the women towards self-employment and to cultivate the habit of small savings.

Besides giving subsidies and loans to start their own income-generating activities, the nigam was also arranging their training in different trades including cutting, tailoring, stenography, embroidery, dairy farming, mushroom cultivation, clay modelling, computer education etc, she said.

She disclosed that the nigam had already advanced over Rs 11.70 crore as loan and Rs 1.1 crore as subsidy to as many as 4,698 women in the state during the last three years for various occupations.

She also pointed out that as the women had excelled in the field of education year by year, they could also outpace the men in income-generating activities if proper and timely opportunities were provided to them and if there was no sex discrimination against them in the society.

Haryana chemists to observe bandh on March 25
Tribune News Service

Faridabad, March 23
Over 6,700 chemists and drug retailers of Haryana will observe a strike or bandh on March 25 in protest against the Value Added Tax (VAT) proposed to come into force from April 1.

According to a spokesperson of the Haryana State Chemists and Druggists Association (HSCDA), the strike would be observed on a call given by the `All India Organisation of Chemists and Druggists (AIOCD). He said the studies conducted by the AIOCD and the HSCDA had found that the rules framed under the VAT system for medicine and drugs trade had been very complicated and fully detrimental to the interests of the chemists. It is added that the penalties imposed for non-compliance or even for a small mistake were very harsh.

To protect the community from these draconian laws, the organisation had decided to go for a one-day nationwide bandh. According to Mr Chander Prakash Bathla, general secretary of the district unit of HSCDA, the AIOCD had about 5.5 lakh members and claimed that the body had been actively involved in all kinds of social activities and extending help to the victims of national calamities and tragedies including wartime operations.

The AIOCD has put forward demands, which include inclusion of medicines in the schedule of essential commodities with a floor rate not exceeding 4 per cent, making the list of life-saving drugs uniform throughout the country and putting these under zero per cent VAT.

SPECIAL FOCUS ON SONEPAT
Tributes paid to Bhagat Singh
Our Correspondent

Sonepat, March 23
Rich tributes were paid to the revolutionaries and martyrs like Shaheed-e-Azam Sardar Bhagat Singh, Rajguru and Sukhdev at a meeting organised by the Shaheed Yaadgaar Sangathan here today.

Mr S. N. Solanki, president of the state committee of the CITU and others highlighted the sacrifices made by these revolutionaries for the freedom of the country and asked the people to follow the path shown by these men and maintain the unity and integrity of the country at this juncture.

According to another report, the All India Democratic Youth Organisation (AIDYO) also organised a separate meeting on the occasion.

The leaders of the organisations also lauded the contributions of the martyrs. They also said that the people of the country would never forget their sacrifices and would continue the struggle against the enemies of the country.

Chautala's visit: The Haryana Chief Minister, Mr Om Prakash Chautala, is visiting here on March 27 in connection with the third phase of his “Sarkar Aaap Ke Dwar” programme. According to a report, Mr Chautala will listen to the grievances of the panches and sarpanches of the villages of Sonepat block and sanction the development schemes on this occasion.

Use of unfair means: Only two cases of use of unfair means in the ongoing plus two annual examinations being conducted by the Board of School Education, Haryana were detected in this district yesterday. According to a report, the police had to chase groups of toughs and anti-social elements gathered outside the examination centres in this city and other parts of the district.

HVP flays VAT: The general secretary of the Haryana Vikas Party (HVP), Mr Rajiv Jain, has criticised the Value Added Tax (VAT) legislation and termed it as a foreign legislation.

Talking to mediapersons here today, he said that it posed a great danger to the economy and the trading structure. Due to its complicated provisions, traders would face difficulty in complying with it. In the VAT system, there is not much scope for appeals in case of prosecution.

He also said that the traders feared harassment from tax officials as their powers would increase under the new law. Implementation of multiple taxes on the same product at many stages would increase corruption, he added.

Mr Jain also flayed the Indian National Lok Dal (INLD) government, headed by Mr Om Prakash Chautala, over the doublespeak on VAT implementation. He accused the state government of compounding the confusion by not sticking to a cogent policy on VAT, which resulted in the Chief Minister and the Finance Minister contradicting each other.

He defended the proposed two-day bandh on March 31 and April 1, the call for which has been given by the All India Traders Association, and asked the party workers to mobilise the traders to join the bandh.

Meanwhile, Mr Azad Singh Nehra, secretary of the Haryana Pradesh Congress Committee, has extended his support to the proposed bandh against the VAT and said that his party would continue its support to the agitating traders.

NCR BRIEFS
Heart surgery facility at Gurgaon 
Tribune News Service

Gurgaon, March 23
The Umkal Hospital and M.P Heart Research Institute here will soon have facilities for heart surgery. This was disclosed by the director and senior cardiologist of the hospital, Dr Umesh Gupta. Dr Gupta made the disclosure during the seventh anniversary celebrations of the hospital yesterday evening. The hospital has multiple facilities with stress on cardiological diagnosis and treatment. The hospital has its other branch in Delhi. According to him, the youths of Gurgaon are comparatively showing more health consciousness.

Swami passes away

Jhajjar: Swami Omanand Saraswati, president of the Arya Pratinidhi Sabha and Gurukul, Jhajjar, passed away at the Jaipur Golden Hospital in Delhi today. He was 93. Swami Omanand was a leader of Arya Samaj movement in the country. Swami Omananad Saraswati had played a significant role in the formation of Haryana. He was an ardent supporter of Arya Samaj movement and was instrumental in organizing agitation against cow slaughter.

VAT criticised

Rohtak: Mr Krishan Murti Hooda, a former minister and spokesman, Haryana Pradesh Congress Committee, has charged the state government with misleading the traders regarding the Value Added Tax (VAT) system. In a statement here today, Mr Hooda alleged that the Haryana Government had been trying to conceal the anti-trader provisions in the VAT system. He said the government should have taken the trading community into confidence before imposing the VAT system.

Prize distribution

The annual prize distribution function of the University College was held today. Mr M.S.Malik, Director-General of Police was the chief guest on the occasion. He urged the students to have a burning desire to achieve their goals if they wanted to succeed in life.

CRIME

Two criminals nabbed after encounter in Noida 
Our Correspondent

Noida, March 23
The police have arrested two criminals after an encounter and recovered country-made revolver, cartridges and a stolen motorbike from them. According to Mahesh Chander, SO incharge of the police station (Phase-II), he had been tipped off by a source that two criminals were moving around Kulesara on a motorcycle, apparently to commit a crime.

When challenged, the criminals fired at the police and tried to flee from the spot.

However, their motorbike skidded and were eventually overpowered by the police. When the police frisked them, a .315 revolver and cartridges were recovered from them.

On interrogation, the arrested duo identified themselves as Sanjay of Barsat and Sanjay Yadav, resident of Kulesara Surajpur.

It was also revealed that they were involved in a number of crimes and had terrorised the people of the area, the police said. The police investigations are continuing. Meanwhile, a case under Section 307 of Arms Act has been registered against them.

3 held with heroin: The police have arrested four persons, including a woman, and recovered 1.5 kg of heroin from them last night. During patrolling in Sector 61, the police found a woman moving in suspicious manner near a religious place. On frisking her, the police recovered .5 kg heroin from her.

The police also recovered 1kg heroin from two men who were spotted by the police nearby. The identified themselves as Billoo, Samey Pal and Bharat. The police also recovered two knives from two of their companions, identified as Ajay and Thakur. 

Truck loaded with tyres looted 
Tribune News Service

New Delhi, March 23
Truck loaded with tyres worth lakhs of rupees was robbed by four unidentified youths armed with lathis near Bakoli village in North West district yesterday. The tyres were loaded in the truck from a godown in the village and left for its destination in Haryana in the evening.

After stopping the truck, three of the suspects took the driver Hukam Singh, helper Yatin Pal and Arjun Kumar to a nearby field while the fourth one drove away with the truck. A case of robbery has been registered, the police said.

Youth commits suicide: An unemployed youth, identified as Sher Singh (22), reportedly committed suicide in his house in Anand Parbat by hanging from a ceiling fan last night. His wife, Mamta, was out of the house when he took the extreme step. When she came back to the house, she found him hanging and informed the police immediately.

The police said that he was mentally upset as he was without any job, the police said.

SHOWCASE
Accessories designed to complement the aspirations of the young

Oriflame has announced its new men’s range of grooming aids, Rebel, that include shaving foam, aftershave balm, talc and soaps and fragrances designed to thrill the masculine spirit. The CEO, Oriflame, Peter Hauggaard, said, “this range is a celebration of the characteristics that make Oriflame products very popular in India. Oriflame’s products are designed to complement the aspirations of the young and energetic.”

Hard Rock: Sansui India has launched its latest colour TV, Hard Rock 21. The new television, besides the regular feature boasts of 1500 watts PMPO sound output with detachable front speaker grills. It also offers different coloured grills sets, so that one can mix and match keeping the surrounding ambience in mind.

The vice–president of Sansui India, Mr Anil Khera, said, “we are happy to offer customers a better television viewing experience. With its technically superior features, the Hard Rock 21 is sure to revolutionize sound systems in colour televisions.”

Ahead of time: Rado has introduced its latest product ‘Carpe diem.’ The watch has been created in close collaboration with the famous Swiss artist Karl Gerstner and was unveiled in India by Rado brand ambassadress Lisa Ray. Peter Kaser, vice-president of Rado, said, “Rado timepieces have always been inspired by artistic uniqueness and innovation. We went a step further with Carpe diem.”

Sugar-free corn: Weikfield has launched sugar free crispy ‘Golden Sweet Corn Kernels.’ The managing director of Weikfield, Mr Mukesh Malhotra, says, “it is our constant endeavour to provide premium quality food products to the discriminating Indian buyer. Our tie-up with Liberty Gold in its category, is a step in the same direction.”

Unlike other sweet corn products that contain added sugar to maintain their sweetness, the new product is naturally sweet and sugar free. The crispy corn is rich in fibre, protein and carbohydrates.

Nutritive fruit drinks: Coco Foods has launched a new range of nutritive fruit drinks. The specialized range of health juices include flavours like orange, mango, litchi and pineapple. With its ongoing in-house research and development, the company is geared to expand the range of products for wide spectrum of end users. According to Pradip Khanna, managing director, “market leadership through innovation” is the motto of the company.

Kit for shoes: Lee Cooper shoes has launched “grooming kit for shoes.” The kit consists of shoe freshener, instant shoe spray, instant shoe shiner, shoe revitalizing cream, shoe polish, quick shine and shoe laces.

The kit is specially designed to cater to all kinds of shoe related problem such as foul smell. It has introduced Lee Cooper shoe deodorant that not only eliminates foul smell caused by sweat, but provides “fresh feeling” even after wearing it all daylong.

Summer kidswear: Gini and Jony, the kidswear brand has launched the summer 2003 collection. The collection includes ‘recycle run’, ‘stamp seals’, ‘techno and tendrils’, ‘gj pirates boys’, ‘sports and colourama’, ‘bugs unite’ and ‘blooming dales’ with emphasis on earthy shades like browns and military greens combined with pinks, lemon greens, fuchsia, purple and oranges.

Monochrome laser printer: Lexmark has introduced the Lexmark T42od monochrome laser printer with advanced capabilities including business-class functionality, net-workability and ‘duplexing standard’. The new product is designed to meet the needs of small workgroups, making it suitable for the distributed enterprise-printing environment, as well as small and medium businesses.

Stitching experience: Singer Fashion Maker has introduced their new range, which offers the choice of three sophisticated machines, ‘Neptune’, ‘Meg’ and ‘Mars’. These machines are exclusively designed to provide the complete stitching experience and can perform jobs like quilting, buttonholing, monogram, embroidery and button fixing with ease.

Equipped with features like full rotary shuttle and free arm provision, these state-of-the-art machines also have advanced features like in-built attachment, twin needle, over locking, needle position selector and design selector.

Mobile accessories: Malik Digitect has launched Spacetel mobile batteries and accessories in India. Spacetel has launched the maximum number of caller ID phone models, and is the only one with a 2-line caller ID facility. The phones are equipped with other latest features like call memory storage, dual mode, battery free, 3-line display that is tipped to revolutionize basic telephony in the country. The 900 MHz-2.4 GHz state-of-the-art technology phones supersede the distortion and disturbance, providing a better and natural sounding voice quality.

Hi-fi storage media: Sony has launched a second-generation flash memory based storage media, ‘Micro Vault USB2.0’ with a ‘USB2.0 Hi-speed interface’. Harnessing the latest state-of-the-art storage media technology, the micro vault USB2.0, which is the size of a highlighter pen, offers rapid, convenient and easy storing, sharing and transporting of files between computers without the need for cables or adaptors. It also offers a security function to password-protect personal files.

Multifunctional digital scanner: Sharp has launched the AL 1217 multifunctional digital copier that functions as a colour scanner as well as a printer. This high quality copier is packed with features such as ‘Scan One / Print Many’ (SOPM).

This enables it to store scanned originals into the memory and can then quickly produce upto 99 sets of documents at a continuous copy rate of 12 cpm. Its quick first copy time is of just 9.6 seconds, which saves valuable time when performing multiple short-run jobs.

Season-friendly apparel: Monte Carlo, the premium apparel brand of Oswal Woolen Mills, has launched its delectable collection of men’s trousers that are not only season-friendly but also worth the optimum value for money. This all-new summer range comprises of corporate wear, semi-casual styles and promises to fulfill all the sartorial needs. Added to all this is the spanking new denim range from Monte Carlo. When it comes to jeans, most guys have only one expectation–they should fit right.