TOP STORIES

VAT: A mire of confusion
Faridabad, March 26
Confusion prevails among traders and the manufacturing community here over the fallout of Value Added Tax (VAT) when implemented from April 1. Besides holding meetings with sales tax authorities, the business community is trying hard to get a clear idea of the scenario after the new tax regime comes into force.

DELHI BUDGET
Bad for VAT, good for service: Industry
New Delhi, March 26
Captains of industry today gave a guarded opinion on the measures announced in the Delhi Budget with the glaring absence of any specific announcements on the proposed comprehensive VAT regime, raising fears of stifling economic growth in the Capital.

Addicts find their happy hunting-ground
New Delhi, March 26
The Deputy Commissioner of Police, South District, Mr P. Kamraj, is inquiring into the allegations that the staff of the Nizammuddin police station are accepting gratification to allow addicts to use the parks around the historical tomb in the area.

World-renowned model Petra at a press conference announcing the launch of the Indian operations of Elite institute in the Capital on Wednesday. — Tribune Photo Mukesh Aggarwal

HEROIC ACT
Chain-snatchers get the taste of women’s might 
New Delhi, March 26
Three women have taught a lesson to chain-snatchers which they would not forget in their life in East district last night. According to police, Shamim Bano, a resident of Yamuna Vihar, came to a medical shop adjacent to the Surya Hospital in the East district last night to purchase a strip of sleeping pills for her sisters who also accompanied her.

UHBVN held guilty, asked to refund money
Sonepat, March 26
The Sonepat District Consumer Disputes Redressal Forum has directed the Uttar Haryana Bijli Vitran Nigam (UHBVN) to refund the amount of Rs 13,718.89 along with nine per cent interest from the date of deposit till the date of realisation to Mr Surinder Singh Gill, a son of late Mr Baksha Singh, resident of Mohalla Mashad, Sonepat, within 10 days from the pronouncement of the order.

Love could not conquer caste!
Meerut, March 26
A boy and a girl ended their lives by consuming poison on Tuesday morning near the Karimpur village under Mawana police station, 30 km from the district headquarters. Their parents performed their last rites secretly without informing the police. Rumour has it that they were killed by their parents.

COMMUNITY

VIVA band at the launch of Channel [V] Pop Star 2 in the Capital on Wednesday. — Tribune Photo Mukesh Aggarwal

J&K team condemns Pulwama massacre
Sonepat, March 26
A 26-member team of Jammu and Kashmir, participating in the National Unity Camp in this city, has strongly condemned the massacre of 24 Pandits in Pulwama and demanded the dismissal of the Mufti government.

Sewerage collapses in Sonepat
Sonepat, March 26
Sewerage in most parts of the city seems to have collapsed due to various reasons. According to a report, the sewers in most of the areas are decades old. They have been badly damaged due to poor maintenance and misuse. They get clogged, frequently flooding the roads and streets.

SPECIAL FOCUS ON PANIPAT

Project to upgrade skills of 1 lakh weavers  Panipat, March 26 The Union Minister of State for Textiles, Mr Basanagouda R. Patil, today inaugurated the five-day ‘Tantavi Exhibition’ of exclusive handloom products here in Skylark Tourist Complex. The exhibition, which is the sixth in this second series of Tantavi Exhibitions, has been organised by the National Centre for Textiles Design, New Delhi, and the Weavers Service Centre, Panipat.

Textile unit associations protest against VAT Panipat, March 26 Thousands of representatives of textile units, business establishments, shopkeepers of cloths and blanket markets and office-bearers of six different associations today staged a protest here against the imposition of Value Added Tax (VAT) on blankets and textiles products. Almost all shops and showrooms in the markets remained closed today.

Roads are clean, CM’s coming! Sonepat, March 26 The visit of Chief Minister Om Prakash Chautala here tomorrow has come as a boon to the local residents. The city has been given a facelift with the roads repaired, roundabouts painted, pavements cleaned of weeds and grass, storm water ducts scavenged and opened and welcome arches bedecked with flowers erected all over the city.

Residents fed up with menace of stray animals
Panipat, March 26
A major industrial town of Haryana and popularly known as the ‘Handloom Nagari’, Panipat has become a haven for stray animals. They have also emerged as a major cause for road accidents in the city. The residents of different localities are “disturbed” over the problems created by stray animals.

Wheat bags lying in open for three years
Sonepat, March 26
Thousands of bags of wheat worth several crores of rupees, procured by the Food and Supplies Department and other state agencies three year ago, are still lying in the open on the premises of the new grain market at Gohana town in this district.

NCR BRIEFS
Mother and child killed, four injured 
Sonepat, March 26
In a road accident near the ‘Truck Union’ on Bahalgarh Road, a mother and her child reportedly were killed and four others injured this morning. Two of them have been seriously injured and have been referred to the Trauma Centre in Delhi.

One killed, two injured in truck collision 18 chemists fined

Woman commits Suicide LPG cylinders scarce

DELHI DIGEST Dilli Haat to be barrier-free tourist spot New Delhi, March 26 After having earned the distinction of being a favoured destination for shopping and eating out, Dilli Haat will now set an example as the first barrier free tourist spot. Dilli Haat has been selected to be the first tourist spot, which being barrier free, will provide physically challenged visitors easy access into the scope area.

Two sentenced to life imprisonment for murder 
Narnaul, March 26
The District and Sessions Judge, Mr V S Malik, sentenced two people to life imprisonment on charges of murder. According to the prosecution, a complaint was registered at Satnali (Mahendergarh) Police Station on June 9, 2001 against two youths, Prem Kumar and Kartar Singh of the same village that they had stabbed to death Balwan Singh, when the latter had complained regarding disturbances caused during the nikasi of Prem Kumar.

CRIME

Two criminal gangs busted in Noida
Noida, March 26
The Noida police today claimed to have busted two criminal gangs, one of which used to cheat jewellers by palming off fake gold biscuits for real ones. The second gang specialised in snatching chains and cell phones from ladies.

EDUCATION

Absenteeism rampant among college teachers
Sonepat, March 26
The Haryana Government has taken a serious view of increasing absenteeism among college teachers of the state. According to a report, it is contemplating disciplinary action against more than 50 erring teachers, who were found absent from their classes during the surprise inspections by officers in various colleges of the state during the past few months.

CAMPUS
Students and teachers say no to war
What with opinions voicing concern and protest over the US aggression in Iraq reverberating from across the globe, corridors in the city’s universities have expressed solidarity with those demanding peace.

PAF holds ninth convocation FDDI students felicitated

APTECH leads in China Convocation at Ahimsa

YAMUNA PUSHTA Universal literacy still a distant dream  New Delhi, March 26 The findings of a survey conducted in the congested Yamuna Pustha area by Navjyoti Foundation, a well- known social service organisation, shows the uphill task in front of the policy makers, who have promised universal literacy for children between five and 14 years.

HEALTH

MENTAL WELL-BEING
One out of three Indians goes through depression

Mental health remains a taboo despite health experts and psychiatrists cautioning that brushing mental health concerns under the carpet is not the solution but tantamount to fostering the ailment. With the incidences of mental health ailment on the rise, health experts are now relying on education and awareness through workshops and interaction through the media to drive home the message of mental well-being. A seminar on the state of mental health was held at the Amity Institute of Behavioural and Allied Sciences.

SPORTS

South Asian Wushu in Delhi
New Delhi, March 26
The second South Asian Wushu Championship will be held at Talkatora Indoor Stadium in New Delhi from March 27 to 29. Wushu Association of India secretary-general Anand Kacker said teams from Sri Lanka, Nepal, Bangladesh, India A and India B will take part in the championship.

Timex honours Andaman expedition

New Delhi, March 26 Timex presented its “expedition range” watches to the international team going on an Andaman Island Eco Tourism and Volcano Expedition, designed to map the eco-tourism potential of the Andaman groups of islands. Timex presents a memento to leader of the Andaman expedition Mandeep Singh Soin.

OK Dinghy Open in Goa New Delhi, March 26 The Cidade de Goa will host the OK Dinghy Open National and World Sailing Championships from March 28 to April 4 and the OK Dinghy Open National Championship from March 21 to March 24. Twenty foreign competitors from eight countries will participate in the championship. An OK Dinghy sailing practice session in progress at the Vainguinim beach in Goa.

B L Kashyap sail into semi-final
New Delhi, March 26
B. L. Kashyap beat GE Capital by six runs and entered the semi-final of the Teri Cup Cricket Tournament at the Teri Oval.

PMG beat Ravi Brothers
New Delhi, March 26
Professional Management Group (PMG) defeated Ravi Brothers by seven runs in an A-II Division match of the DDCA League at the RSC ground.