LAW-BREAKER
Police HQ gives fire safety the go-by

New Delhi, August 7 The multi-storeyed Delhi Police Headquarters building is among the 42 buildings in Delhi owned by the government of the National Capital Territory or the Central government or autonomous bodies which are flouting the fire safety measures prescribed in the Delhi Fire Prevention and Fire Safety Act, 1986.
The multi-storeyed Delhi Police Headquarters is among the 42 buildings in Delhi which are flouting fire safety norms. — File photo

MoD transfers land, decks cleared for mini secretariat
Panipat, August 7
The decks have finally been cleared for the construction of the mini secretariat here with the Defence Ministry transferring 66 acres of its land to the district administration.

BJP knocks at HM’s door with dossier on CM
New Delhi, August 7
A delegation led by Delhi Bharatiya Janata Party president Madan Lal Khurana today presented Deputy Prime Minister and Union Minister of Home Affairs L. K. Advani with the “chargesheet” prepared by the party against the “misrule” of the Sheila Dikshit ministry.

BJP threatens agitation against “British legacy” Madan Lal Khurana, Vijay Goel, Vijay Kumar Malhotra and Lal Bihari Tiwari call on Deputy Prime Minister L.K. Advani to submit a chargesheet against the Sheila Dikshit Government at his office in the Capital on Thursday. — Tribune photo Mukesh Aggarwal

(Dis)Service Tax: Providers pass on burden to users
Faridabad, August 7
The decision to impose tax on the service industry and professionals has only burdened the common man. Nearly all consultants and service providers have hiked their charges, on the pretext that they have to pay service tax now.

Clans heading for showdown on cremation
Jhajjar, August 7
The Kadian and Sangwan khap row over the cremation of Ranbir Singh snowballed today with the former deciding to take the body in a procession of about 20,000 people for the last rites to Charkhi tomorrow. The panchayat of the Kadian khap met again in Beri village today.

DEFENCEGATE: Congress activists protesting against the NDA government for shady defence deals at Jantar Mantar in the Capital on Thursday. — Photo Kamal Singh

CBSE releases list of fake boards
New Delhi, August 7
It is bad news for students who, having failed to score in examinations, procured “fake” marksheets. Acting on complaints filed against organisations claiming to be educational boards and supplying fake marksheets to students, the Central Board of Secondary Education has released a list of the illegal boards.

Suicide by cop: Family blames harassment by officers
Ghaziabad, August 7
In two different incidents, a police constable and a head constable committed suicide. Both died in hospital. The head constable had swallowed sulphas tablets while the constable had shot himself with a countrymade revolver.

• Jawans hold up traffic

• Polluted water claims 12 lives

COMMUNITY

Princely states are dead. Long live the princes and their darbars!
Faridabad, August 7
The rule of the princely states may be over but not their style of functioning. The power that be still believe in the concept of holding ‘darbars’, prevalent during the reign of medieval kings in India.

Sonepat admn fails to provide proper civic services
Sonepat, August 7
The district administration appears to be absolutely ignorant of the inconvenience being caused to the residents here due to poor civic services- lack of cleanliness, poor drainage, street lighting and other amenities.

Sonal Mansingh, L. Subramaniam and Kavita Krishnamurthy at a press conference to announce the inauguration of the international dance theatre, ‘Asmita: A Celebration of Indian Identity’, in the Capital on Thursday. — Tribune photo Mukesh Aggarwal

Ghaziabad Nagar Nigam approves proposals worth Rs 15 crore
Ghaziabad, August 7
The working committee of the Ghaziabad Nagar Nigam cleared 15 proposals worth Rs 15 crore, including a Rs 9.35 crore proposal for construction works, at a meeting here. Included in these were three proposals, which had not been a part of the circulated agenda.

No check on illegal commission on property registration
Sonepat, August 7
Officials of the sub-registrars of Ganaur, Kharkhauda and Gohana tehsils are learnt to be charging an unofficial commission (one per cent) for registration from the owners of properties. This is happening despite the district collector having fixed the land rates for urban and rural areas and the registration deeds being valued according to the rates fixed.

Police stay put despite order to vacate building
Sonepat, August 7
The police authorities in Sonepat are reluctant to vacate the dilapidated building of the revenue department in Gohana town despite directions from the commissioner, Rohtak division.

IN PARLIAMENT
MTNL services below par
New Delhi, August 7
The government today said that the overall quality of services offered by the Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Limited in Delhi remained below average. Minister of State for Communications Ashok Pradhan in a written reply to the Rajya Sabha said that in many of the cases there have been abnormal delays.

• Delhi-Hanoi rail link

• Graft cases against Super Bazar

DELHI DIGEST
Sonia to launch poll campaign tomorrow
New Delhi, August 7
Indian National Congress (INC) president Sonia Gandhi will launch her party’s campaign for the Assembly elections, to be held later this year in NCT of Delhi, on Saturday.

• Power shortage

• Rs 10,000 for pilgrim

• Women’s education

• Shalaka Samman

NCR BRIEFS
Life term for murder accused
Sonepat, August 7
Mahender Singh, one of the three accused in a murder case, was today sentenced to life imprisonment and imposed a fine of Rs 5000 by the Additional District Sessions Judge of the Fast Track Court, Mr B.S. Rawat.

• Raids by UHBVN

• Goods worth Rs 1.50 lakh gutted

• Demand to ban Coke, Pepsi

• Educational institutes to reopen

• Membership drive by shiv sena

CRIME

EMBEZZLEMENT CASE
Two senior MCD officials held
New Delhi, August 7
The Anti-Corruption Branch of the Delhi Government today claimed to have arrested two senior officials of the Municipal Corporation of Delhi on charges of embezzlement.

Woman strangled by husband
Noida, August 7
A young man in Nithari village under Sector 20 police station has reportedly killed his wife Neera. Ravinder was married five years ago and the couple have a two-year-old son also. The man was allegedly having an affair with another woman in the neighbourhood.

Narcotics worth Rs 1.10 cr seized, four arrested
New Delhi, August 7
The Narcotics Branch of the Delhi Police today claimed to have arrested four persons, including a woman, on charges of drug trafficking. The police recovered 1.10 kg of heroin in two different cases. The price of the seized heroin would be around Rs 1.10 crore in the international market.

• Gambling racket

EDUCATION

SPECIAL FOCUS ON ROHTAK
Congress, BJP silent on fee hike issue
Rohtak, August 7
The unprecedented hike in the fee structure of professional courses is likely to emerge as one of the major issues in the forthcoming parliamentary elections. Though the Lok Sabha elections are due in October/November 2004, the possibility of early elections is not ruled out in view of the unstable political situation prevailing in the country.

CULTURE

ARTSCAPE
Untold story of an artist's struggle
An exhibition of drawings and paintings by Makhan Saha, ‘Story Untold’, is on display at Shridharani Art Gallery, Triveni Kala Sangam. The show will be on till August 17. The Delhi-based artist, Makhan Saha, was born in West Bengal. After his initial schooling, he did his graduation in Fine Arts from the Delhi College of Art in 1974.

MUSIC ZONE
Shankar packs his punch in album
Noted Punjabi singer Shankar Sahney is hoping to repeat his past successes in his new power-packed album, ‘Kede Yaar Nu’. Released by T-Series, the album is bundled with tremendous energy and melodies of Punjabi folk music.

• Janasheen on T Series

PLAY TIME
Theatre lovers to have a gala time
August has spelt a bonanza for theatre lovers in the Capital. With Yatrik celebrating its 40th anniversary, the stage will be set for a series of plays catering to a multitude of emotions from pathos to mirth.

HEALTH

140 people examined at cancer awareness camp
New Delhi, August 7
The Health Department of NDMC organised a Cancer Awareness Camp at its Charak Palika Hospital, Moti Bagh, in association with Batra Hospital, here yesterday. The objective of organising the camp was to create awareness, especially in women, about the disease and its treatment.

SPORTS

Air Force zoom into Super League
New Delhi, August 7
Indian Air Force, Palam defeated Navjyoti Nepal 3-0 in a Group A preliminary league match of the Delhi Soccer Association (DSA)-SAIL Football Championship and qualified for the Super League at the Ambedkar Stadium on Thursday.

When Achrekar came calling...
New Delhi, August 7
It was a pleasant surprise for the trainees of the National Stadium cricket centre of coach Sunita Sharma when Dronacharya cricket coach Ramakant Achrekar came calling unannounced.

DPS, Modern annex tennis titles
New Delhi, August 7
Delhi Public School, Mathura Road and Modern School, Barakhamba Road, shared the titles in the inaugural Delhi Lawn Tennis Association Inter-School Tennis Tournament at the DLTA deco-turf courts on Thursday.

DDCA vice-president C K Khanna, who is also the vice-chairman of the National Cricket Academy, and club secretary Anil Khanna display the building plans of the new stadium to former BCCI president P M Rungta at the Ferozeshah Kotla ground on Thursday.

Manas, Jajit move into semis
New Delhi, August 7
Manas Teku beat Rajeev 15-4, 15-8 and Jajit beat Sanjay 10-8, 7-12, 13-12 as Ganga School entered the semi-final beating St. Marks School, Meera Bagh in the Zonal Badminton Tournament.

• Mount Abu upset Apeejay

Committee for Hockey Championship
Rohtak, August 7
A high power committee has been constituted for the smooth conduct of the 26th Haryana Hockey Championship scheduled to be held from September 19 to 22 at War Heroes Memorial Stadium, Ambala Cantt.