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| Wednesday,
November 14, 2001, Chandigarh, India
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Penny pains afflict minorities
commission New Delhi, November 13 The Commission had sent an annual budget proposal of Rs 1.01 crore for the fiscal 2001-02. However, the state government has released only Rs 25 lakh, the amount for the first quarter, leaving the autonomous institution in financial doldrums. “The financial condition of the Commission is in a bad shape. We are forced to utilise the project money to pay the salary of the staff,” said Mr Navinpal Singh Bhandari, a member of the Delhi Minorities Commission. He said the Commission was hoping that the government will release the second quarter funds, but that has not been done so far. And, now the third quarter has begun but there is still no sign of any funds being released by the government. In fact, the staff is being paid salaries a month or two late. The Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Limited could disconnect the office telephones of the Commission any time, as bills have not been paid for the past several months, he said. The state government has stopped even the petrol allowance for the Chairman, Zafar Ali Naqvi’s official car, he said. The Commission has three members - Zafar Ali Naqvi (Chairman) and two members, Rev. Valson Thampu and Mr Navinpal Singh Bhandari. Asked about the reasoning given by the state government for not releasing the funds, Mr Navinpal Singh said: “The Finance Department and the General Administration Department have not given any reasoning, but at the same time they are not releasing the funds.” The Delhi Finance Minister, Mr M S Saathi, said he was not aware of the financial crunch faced by the Commission. “I have not been informed about the financial status of the Commission. I would look into it, as it has now been brought to my notice,” he said. The Commission has allocated sums for different projects, which are aimed at protecting the interests of the minorities. The Commission has received over 150 complaints, and about 45 complaints have been resolved since January this year. Following the intervention of the Commission, Jaspreet Singh, arrested by the police for his alleged involvement in an extortion case, was operated upon and his leg was saved from amputation. The undertrial was lodged in the Tihar Jail and was not being operated upon on one pretext or another. In another case, the Park Royal Hotel changed its menu following the Commission’s intervention. The hotel had prepared a Singh Sabha menu, which had such fare as Raan Hari Singh Nalwa and Murg Korma Maharaja Ranjit Singh. Noted culinary experts Jiggs Kalra had designed the menu. Following complaints by a section of the minority community, that the menu hurt had their sentiments, the Commission intervened and the hotel has revised the same, he added. |
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JNU left of the centre again New Delhi, November 13 Amidst high drama, the counting for the polls ended this evening with an upbeat Albeena Shakeel of SFI – the newly elected president of JNUSU – leading a procession of supporters on the sprawling campus. The SFI-AISF combine wrested all the seats of the Central Council, including the posts of president, vice-president, general secretary and joint secretary defeating their nearest rivals of the ABVP by a comfortable margin. While Albeena Shakeel was elected president by defeating ABVP candidate, Sandeep Mahapatra, by more than 500 votes, Rohit of the SFI-AISF combine was elected vice-president defeating his rival of ABVP by more than 600 votes. Jeenu Zakharia Oomen of the combine was elected general secretary while Parimal Maya Sudhakar was elected joint secretary. In all the posts of the Central Council, ABVP secured second position while All India Students Association (AISA) -- the other leftist political bigwig on the campus – turned a poor third. A similar trend was seen in the election to the councillors to the various schools where the SFI-AISF combine winning 21 (including the four central councillors) of the total 29 seats. Perhaps for the first time in the history of JNU, all the five councillors of the School of Languages went to the SFI-AIS combine – a clear indication that the leftism continues to remain the core of political consciousness among the students of this campus. The counting of polls which began late last night amidst high drama after the ABVP lodged a complaint following the disqualification of its campaign coordinator Manish Kumar. Agitated ABVP activists gheraoed chief election commissioner Ali Raza Moosvi for about an hour in protest against the public display of the election council’s notice disqualifying Manish Kumar. The run-up to the elections to the JNUSU saw rival parties launching scathing attacks on each other on ideological grounds and issues ranging from the current war against terror in Afghanistan to lumpenisation of the campus, ruled the pre-election debates. Celebrities and political bigwigs turned out as star campaigners for the parties to woo the voters. Only 62 per cent of the students came to vote. |
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Heroin worth Rs 2 cr
seized at check post Ghaziabad, November 13 Senior Superintendent of police Prashant Kumar said that they were getting reports of sale and smuggling of smack and heroin in the state for sometime. Though many people were arrested, the kingpin of these gangs was evading the police dragnet. SP (Rural) Subash Singh was put in the special task force for the purpose. The force, tipped off by an informer that a smuggler had been transporting heroin worth Rs 2 crore in a car, conducted vehicle check at Dasna police post. A cherry colour Maruti car No DL-37-N-7498 was seen coming from Hapur, as mentioned by the informer. When the police signalled it to stop, the driver tried to escape but the police force was able to stop it. The two occupants of the car were taken into custody. The police seized 2 kg heroin and 750 gm opium from them. On interrogation, the criminals identified themselves as Ashok Jaiswal alias Ramesh Jaiswal, resident of Adarsh Nagar – Modi Nagar and
Sanjeev Kumar s/o Ramesh Chand of Bulandshahar. Meanwhile, the police raided their godown, but somehow their accomplices had removed the drugs from there. The SSP has recommended a reward for the police team for the excellent work done by it. |
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Escorts
stir ends Faridabad, November 13 The strike had affected the work in the
agro-machinery plant. As a result, the production of tractors had came to a halt during the period. As per the agreement, the company has agreed to pay a compensation of Rs 1 lakh to each employee, besides offering a VRS scheme to all those who had been removed on charge of furnishing ‘fake’ educational certificates. The court’s decision would be adhered to in cases, where the dismissal of employees is in question. The management also agreed to conduct a ‘probe' in some cases. Earlier, there was a marathon meeting, where the two sides agreed on majority of issues. |
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60 shops gutted in Lajpat Rai
Market New Delhi, November 13 According to reports, no one was injured in the fire, which lasted for at least three hours before it was brought under control. More than a dozen fire tenders were rushed to the spot to prevent the fire from spreading to the adjoining areas in the congested locality. According to the Delhi Fire Service (DFS), the fire started from an electric goods shop. It soon spread since there was no one to inform the fire brigade. It was only after the flames became visible that some people called the DFS. Fortunately, the market was closed for the day. The police said that a case had been registered and efforts were being made to ascertain the cause of the fire. Initial reports suggest that it was caused by an electric short circuit. This is the second fire in the area specialising in the sale of electric goods, within a week. A shop was destroyed in a fire in the market earlier also. |
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Roadways staff in cahoots with dhaba
owners Sonepat, November13 Usually, these dhabas are located at deserted places where no other mode of conveyance is available and no other shop is in sight. The frustration of passengers compounds as these unofficial halts are stretched to an unusually long time, causing delays and inconvenience to the passengers. In many cases, rates have been fixed. A long route driver is paid Rs 50 or more besides being offered meals and liquor free of cost. Short route bus drivers are paid Rs 20 or more besides being offered non-vegetarian or vegetarian meal free of cost. The conductors are given only food free of cost. Some good dhaba owners offer more money. A survey conducted by this correspondent revealed that even contractors at main bus stands offer meals free of cost to the drivers and conductors in order to lengthen the halts. This helps these stall owners sell more of their foodstuff. Usually, sub-standard food is provided at these dhabas but the passengers are made to shell out more money. Any protest against this kind of swindling goes unchecked. While the transport authorities are deaf to the complaints of the passengers, the Health Department authorities never bother to check the quality of the foodstuff sold there. As the cops keep looking the other way, the poor passengers are being fleeced without any compunction. At many places, the dhaba owners have also installed skill games without proper permission from the authorities concerned. Meanwhile, a large number of roadside hotels, restaurants and dhabas on National Highway 1, particularly near the Murthal Chowk, are conducting roaring business and charging exorbitant rates for eatables from the passing customers. These include truck drivers and car drivers. What is strange is that the owners of these establishments are not paying sales tax and income tax. This has caused a great loss to the departments concerned. According to informed sources, some dhabas have become so popular that the people from far-off places visit them for partaking of meals. The owners charge rates equivalent to those of five-star hotels. Many travellers, after taking meals, complain that all eatables and dairy items are adulterated but the owners do not pay any heed to their complaints. The owners of these establishments serve liquor and beer to the customers on demand though they do not have any licence for their sale. The officials of both the Excise Department and the police fail to take any action against these owners, who are indulging in this illegal practice. They are said to be in league with them and allegedly get monthly commission from them. Many a times, samples of foodstuffs are taken from these establishments by the officials of the Health Department and have been found to be adulterated. Some of the owners have indeed been prosecuted and sentenced in the past. Most of the owners of these establishments have encroached upon the public land in front of their hotels, dhabas and restaurants but the authorities of the PWD (B and R) have utterly failed to get the public land vacated in spite of the directives of the Punjab and Haryana High Court. The Uttar Haryana Bijli Vitran Nigam (UHBVN) has been suffering a huge financial loss on account of power theft by most of the owners of these establishments but the officials concerned have failed to check the menace. It is alleged that some officials of the UHBVN are in league with them and getting monthly nazrana from them. Meanwhile, the Residents Welfare Association today urged the state government as well as the UHBVN to order a high-level probe and punish the owners of dhabas and the officials of the UHBVN who are found responsible for power theft. |
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It is difficult to steal cars now, claim police New Delhi, November 13 Police say that an uncontrolled increase in the number of cars, lack of adequate parking spaces and poor security lead to the auto thefts. In fact, the innovative ways of car stealing have taken over the conventional methods like stealing with duplicate keys or by way of overpowering owners. Now, an average auto-lifter is educated, highly trained and possesses exceptional skills, to drive away stolen vehicles blissfully, often leaving the owners stupefied. Recently, a novel way of theft was reported in Shastri Park area of North-East district. A crane driver allegedly tried to tow away a fiat car. The police immediately swung into action and arrested Ranjit, when he was taking away the car parked in one of the alleys. Interestingly, the accused told the police later that he worked as a hired crane driver for the traffic police in the Kotwali area and was engaged by a resident of Nand Nagari to tow away the car for Rs 1000. According to the Joint Commissioner (Crime), Mr K K Paul, the crime branch has arrested a number of auto-lifting groups operating in the city and also worked out many sensational cases of car robberies recently. Besides, efforts are also being made to keep a tab on gangs. The Delhi Police Crime Branch has also sent various teams to places like Himachal Pradesh, Haryana, Sikkim, Arunachal Pradesh, Jammu & Kashmir, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, and seized fake papers and number plates. Officials in the crime branch say although a number of isolated cases were worked out, some unscrupulous officials were identified as having nexus with auto-lifters. “Some officials of State Transport Association (STA) in Haryana were detained and interrogated by the Crime Branch officials and it was revealed that these officials were helping the auto-lifters in preparing fake papers,” said Mr Paul. The Crime Branch recently arrested Pradeep Gupta, a notorious auto-lifter. He was allegedly involved in preparing bogus papers, which were procured in advance in Jammu & Kashmir and number plates used to be made in Delhi. Once a car is stolen in Delhi, the new
number plate and the bogus papers are provided to the stolen vehicle, to evade the police. A large number of car thefts, according to the officials, are reported from South district, North-West district and Central district. Maruti car is reportedly stolen in increasing numbers from busy market areas like Connaught Place, Karol Bagh, South Extension, Lajpat Nagar. The Crime Branch has issued strict guidelines to residential colonies and other posh areas where the vehicles are forced to park on roads due to inadequate parking space. Residents were told to erect gates, install anti-auto-theft devices and to strengthen the colony’s security. Officials also partly attribute the decline in car theft cases to the public, as they have become more aware now. The usage of security devices like remote-controlled locks and steering locks have considerably reduced auto-theft. |
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Haryana
Jats to step up stir for OBC quota Sonepat, November 13 Giving this information, Mr Tara Chand Mor, co-convenor and spokesman of the Samiti, told mediapersons here today that the All India Jat Maha Sabha has created a special cell of women under the chairmanship of Mrs Chandrawati, a former Lt-Governor of Pondichary and a senior Congress leader of Haryana. This cell would give a boost to the demand of the Samiti, which is struggling to seek the benefit of reservations in the government jobs for the Jat community as per the recommendations of the Mandal Commission. He blamed the Chief Minister, Mr Om Prakash Chautala, for adopting an anti-Jat attitude and causing delay in the declaration of reservations in government jobs for the Jat community. Mr Mor further disclosed that the office-bearers of the women cell of the Maha Sabha would soon launch a mass contact campaign in the state to mobilise the people to join the just struggle of the Samiti on this issue. Rallies would be held at all the district headquarters in the state which would be addressed, among others, by the noted film actor and President of the Maha Sabha, Mr Dara Singh, he added. He said that the Samiti would extend its support to the Jat Maha Sabha in intensifying the agitation against the Chautala Government in the state. He made a fervant appeal to the womenfolk to join the stir and expressed their solidarity with the Samiti and the Maha Sabha. |
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SONEPAT
Sonepat The culprit, it may be recalled, was arrested by the Delhi police a few days ago and handed over to the Sonepat police in a case of murdering V. K. Jain, Deputy Registrar of Indraprastha University, Delhi and an RSS leader of Haryana in day light in the Model Town area of this city last year. Later, he absconded and evaded arrest. The Sonepat police had carried out a number of raids at his hideouts in Delhi, Uttar Pradesh and some other states but had failed to arrest him. The culprit is allegedly involved in as many as 19 cases of murder, dacoity, looting and extortion. He also carried a reward of Rs 25,000 on his head. Quiz contest
The Rotary Club of Midtown organised a painting competition and quiz contest on the premises of S. M. Hindu Senior Secondary School here on Sunday on the concluding day of the Road Safety Week observed by the police department under the Sadbhavna Operation campaign. The following is the detailed results: Painting (Senior Category): Sajjan Kumar of S.M.H.S.S.S. (I prize), Yoga Sain of the same school (II) and Parvinder of Shambhu Dayal Modern School (III). Harish Bhardwaj of Shambhu Dayal Modern School and Pardeep Kumar of S.M.H.S.S.S. were given the consolation prizes. Painting (Junior Category): Ravinder of S.M.H.S.S.S.(I), Shyama of the same school (II) and Devinder of the same school (III). Kavita of Jankidas Public School and Mukesh of Shambhu Dayal Modern School were given consolation prizes. Quiz contest (Senior Category): Shambhu Dayal Modern School (I), Rishikul Vidyapeeth (II) and DAV Public School (III). Quiz (Junior Category): Rishikul Vidyapeeth (I), S.M.H.S.S.S. (II) and Shambhu Dayal Modern School, Sonepat (III). Mr Hardeep Singh Doon, Deputy Superintendent of Police (Headquarters), gave away the trophies and prizes on the occasion.
Cow slaughter
The Haryana State Gaushala Sangh on Tuesday sent a letter to the Union Home Minister, Mr L. K. Advani, urging the Central Government to impose a complete ban on cow slaughter in the country without any further delay. According to a press release, it also demanded that a special law for the purpose be formulated.
HUDA union
The following persons have been elected as the office-bearers of the HUDA Public Health Karamchari Union, Sonepat District: president - Mr Raj Singh Sharma; vice-president - Mr Dharamvir Tyagi; secretary - Mr Roshan Lal, organising secretary - Mr Ajit Singh; and treasurer - Mr Jaipal Singh.
Eye camp
As many as 300 patients suffering from various eye diseases were treated and 45 others were operated upon by a noted eye-surgeon of Delhi, Dr R. N. Khanna, at a five-day free eye operation camp, organised by the Atlas Cycle Industries Limited, which concluded here on Monday. According to a press release, the management of the company provided free boarding and lodging facilities to those who needed to be admitted. |
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Students
vs crackers Gurgaon, November 13 |
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Strict vigil on Divali Ghaziabad, November 13 A publicity campaign has been mounted on loud speakers to make people aware of the risks of allowing children to play with crackers and fireworks alone and in congested localities. According to Mr Debasish Panda, who has taken over as the District Magistrate last week, the city has been divided into wards for intensive patrolling and a magistrate will be in charge of each ward along with a police officer (DSP). |
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Naval treat To celebrate the Navy week and the Navy Day, to be observed on December 4, 2001, the Naval Band is all set to treat the national capital with their scintillating performance. A 31-member band, comprising a brass and jazz band, is based at INS India to meet various ceremonial requirements in the national Capital. The Naval Band, the premier band of the Indian Navy, was commissioned in the early 40s. The band, which began with 50 members and played martial music, today boasts of a repertoire which includes arrangement of symphonies, overtures, solos, duets, concertos and various forms of contemporary music, including classical. classical. |
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Car-lifter gang busted, 4
held Noida, November 13 According to the SP (Rural), Mr Rajinder Prasad Yadav, a team under the Circle Officer of the Javer police station, Mr Sudhakar Yadav, was constituted to tackle the increasing number of car thefts. When members of the gang came to sell a stolen Maurti car in Javer yesterday, members of the police team posing as customers nabbed them. A Maruti car No DL-30R 9702 was also seized from them. The arrested included Chaman Singh, alias Guddu, of Shahpur Garhi, Noida, Deepak of Bagpet, Noida, Rajesh and Yashpal. While a country-made pistol was seized from Chaman, a .315 revolver was seized from Yashpal. The four suspects also confessed to have stolen one Maruti Esteem and a Maruti van which were also seized later on the information extracted from them. Rajesh also confessed that he had stolen a Maruti van from the Shahpur area under Sector 39 police station in Noida on August 31. The van was later seized from the Nehru Place area in South Delhi. The gang also told the police that they used to steal the vehicles while Yoginder Singh, alias Masterji, used to help them in forging documents . |
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3 held for selling duplicate
tea Faridabad, November 13 A case under Sections 420 and 406 of the IPC has been booked on a complaint by the manager of Tata Tea. One of the accused is stated to have absconded. Duplicate packets, labels and tea have been seized from the spot. Meanwhile, in another case, the police has found the body of a new-born baby from a secluded spot in Ballabgarh town. An unidentified person was run over by a train near the Ballabgarh railway station Tuesday morning, in another
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Industrial plots to be handed over by
Dec New Delhi, November 13 According to the Industries Minister, Mr Narendra Nath, about 2,925 plots were ready “in all respects” for the actual handing over of the possession. He told mediapersons here today that the Delhi State Industrial Development Corporation (DSIDC) had been entrusted with the task of developing industrial estates to facilitate the relocation of industries operating in residential / nonconforming areas to conforming areas. The Bawana project is being developed by the DSIDC on a self-financing basis. The estimated cost of the project is likely to be Rs 1,100 crore. An area of 1,903 acres of land has been acquired in Bawana and Holambi Kalan villages in which about 16,310 plots have already been earmarked for development. As many as 10,925 plots have been allotted in five sectors developed after getting the structural and layout plans cleared, change of land use approved and obtaining the sanction of the Delhi Urban Arts Commission. The minister said that the area being developed would have well laid-out roads that would be surrounded by 60, 80 and 100-metre wide Master Plan roads. “The entire development works would be completed before the target date of September 30, 2002,” he told reporters. Besides the Bawana industrial area, where 14,924 industrial units have already been allotted plots, the vacant land in already developed industrial areas has also been developed as plots in sizes measuring 100 to 250 sq m and allotted to the units under the relocation scheme. Giving details of the works, the minister said that 378 factories had been constructed and allotted under the scheme. In four acres of land in Patparganj, 76 plots measuring from 100 to 250 sq m had been developed and allotted while 930 plots of various sizes had been allotted in the Narela industrial complex. Another 650 plots were being developed which would be completed by the end of this month, Mr Narendra Nath said. Plans are also afoot for preparing 100 m and 80 m Master Plan roads linking G. T. Road with Rohtak Road via Bawana Industrial Area and the portion of the land between G. T. Road and Bawana has been notified for acquisition. |
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Let private sector, not DDA, build houses: PHDCCI New Delhi, November 13 As the private sector has a crucial role to play in meeting the targets of the housing sector in Delhi, the chamber yesterday said that the DDA’s role should be limited to planning and development of land only, and the private sector should be permitted to construct houses in the Capital as per the DDA’s norms. In fact, the chamber also suggested that the land should be made available to private sector developers in bulk and at competitive rates. The town planners should also focus on matching the development of infrastructure with that of housing which has unnecessarily resulted in delaying the constructions. Further, the definition of household industries under the current Master Plan is restrictive and there is need for its amendment in the next Master Plan. The norms need to be revised taking into account that such industries running in residential or commercial areas do not become a nuisance to other residents, said the chamber. Moreover, while emphasizing the need to develop more commercial centres at reasonable prices to avoid commercialisation of the residential areas, the chamber said that the size of existing commercial centres must be increased to accommodate big showrooms and the building norms had to be relaxed to provide for basement for parking. |
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Gift galleries do brisk
business Gurgaon, November 13 Shops selling sweets were the most frequented ones today as it has become a tradition to exchange sweets on Divali. Without sweets, this festival seems to be incomplete. The leading sweet shops had exhausted most of their stock till this afternoon. Shops selling gift items were also doing brisk business today. Gift galleries, electronic, kitchenware and toy shops were the places where people were going in droves to choose gifts to suit their taste and pocket. However, some old persons opined that Divali was slowly and steadily losing its charm. Celebrating Divali had just become a formality, they regretted. |
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Trespassing in a woman's domain Contrary to the perception that jewellery is a woman's domain, men too have a penchant for the glittering metal. From the Bappi Lehari-style, portrayed in chunky gold chains, to the discreet style, where a simple ring and a bracelet are common, men are increasingly moving beyond the tie pin and cuff link zone. Keeping in with the trend, Inter Gold has launched its latest collection of men's jewellery. Each and every piece of jewellery has been designed with a view of making it look sophisticated. There is extensive use of white gold and sandblasted textures to give the jewellery a dull good look rather than the usual flashy look. For the sporty men, the collection boasts of a classy thematic variety such
as 'cricket jewellery' and 'golf jewellery'. The price of the exclusivity for men is between Rs. 800 and
Rs. 70,000. |
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Prince of Kolkata's new avatar What is Saurav Ganguly's latest avatar? Ever heard of ‘Kalaripettyu’, the Indian form of martial art from Kerala? Our cricket crazy Sourav will be seen enacting the Kalaripettyu along with the Bengal boys. The new avatar is part of the deal that Emami has clinched with the Cricket Association of Bengal for endorsing the ‘sona chandi Chyawanprash’ and sporting its logo for two years. The Rs 450 crore Kolkatta-based Emami Group
has shelled out Rs 45 lakh for the deal. Along with Ganguly, Deep Das
Gupta, Devang Gandhi, Rohan Gavaskar and Arindam Das have been
selected to star in the commercial. |
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Vibrant reds & midnight blues With the Yuletide spirit knocking at the door, red will be the colour of the season, vibrancy will be the key word and there definitely will be no blues, except the denims the fashion conscious have always sworn by. Lee Cooper, a casual wear brand for both men and women, has unveiled a whole new range of vibrant ‘Reds’ in tops and T-shirts and ‘blues’ in denim wear. The special highlight of the collection is a host of new washes like the ‘Deep Indigo’, 'Midnight', 'Dark Rinse’ and ‘Blackout’ and a collection of tinted-sandblasted denims, which are being introduced in India for the first time. The new fabrics being introduced in this range are lycra denim, overdyed lycra, modal denim, denim canvas and polyester denim. The
collection is priced at Rs. 999 onwards and is available at outlets of
chain stores and leading retail outlets. |
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