TOP STORIES

Sheila has her way, keeps rebels at bay
Maken appointed Speaker; Prem Singh, Subhash Chopra kept out; Yoganand Shastri re-inducted
New Delhi, December 12
Ending days of intense bickering in the Congress party, Chief Minister-designate Sheila Dikshit on Friday called on the Lieutenant Governor and staked claim to form the government. 

Prem Singh: Dissidence capped, for now. 

NDMC twin towers to be checked for violation
Proximity to Jantar Mantar in question
New Delhi, December 12
The Delhi High Court has directed the Chief Architect with Delhi Development Authority to inspect and report within three weeks on whether New Delhi Municipal Council office building in Central Delhi and another private building had been constructed in the prohibited zone around the historic Jantar Mantar.

Wrestler wins laurels despite dubious namesake
Jhajjar, December 12
A doping row, the result of a confusion over names, could not deter this Jhajjar wrestler from winning the gold in the senior national wrestling championship held in Puri, Orissa, held from December 3 to December 7 this year.

Survey frowns on Dargah’s affairs
New Delhi, December 12
In a report submitted to the Delhi High Court, the Delhi Wakf Board Survey Commissioner has indicated mismanagement in the running of the 700-year-old Dargah of Hazrat Nizamuddin Aulia and has recommended that the affairs be controlled by a management committee constituted by the government.

Strike in district courts over Lok Adalats
New Delhi: The work in the district courts in the National Capital was today affected following a strike call given by the Bar Associations. They demanded the suspension of the Lok Adalats organised to settle the cases pending with the regular courts for a long time.

Students nabbed, seven stolen cars seized
Noida: The police have busted a gang of vehicle thieves, including a group of students, who used to sell stolen vehicles in Meerut and in Haryana towns after changing their number plates. Three students have been arrested in this connection and seven Maruti cars recovered from them.

Loot bid foiled by alert cop, public
New Delhi, December 12
Three armed assailants, who came to loot an employee of Tata Motors near the Syndicate Bank, Hassan Pur depot, East district, were beaten up by the public. While two of the assailants were caught by the victim and the public, the other assailant, who tried to run away with a suitcase containing Rs 6.75 lakh, was overpowered by a Delhi Police constable Suresh Chand.

COMMUNITY

Govt aid for girl child runs into rough weather
Jhajjar, December 12
The much publicised scheme of the state government to benefit the girl child on her birth by giving financial aid to the parents in her name finally seems to have come to a grinding halt as the government has directed the nodal offices not to accept the forms for the aid of Rs 2,500 under the scheme.

SPEAKING OUT
IT is true that corruption is a worldwide phenomenon. But in our country, this octopus of corruption is spreading its poisonous tentacles rapidly and eating the vitals our polity. Bofors scam, urea scam, tehlaka scandal, coffin scam, JBT recruitment scam, fodder scam, hawala scam and fake stamps paper scam are some of the scams, which have been exposed and widely published. Now people have become inured to scams and scandals. Corruption is prevalent almost in every office and department. No work is done without taking or giving bribes.

Canopy on mind Photo by Kamal Singh

• Secret of longevity

• Two thesis in ten days

• Red tape

• Mystery of death

Eve-teasing cases mounting in Capital

S N A P S H O T

Haryana Chief Minister Om Prakash Chautala and acting Ambassador of Japan Wataru Nishigahiro at a function organised to mark the birthday celebrations of His Majesty the Emperor of Japan in the Capital on Thursday. Mr M.M. Sabharwal, president, HelpAge India, with former President R. Venkataraman, who is a patron of HelpAge India, at a function held to mark the silver jubilee celebrations in the Capital on Thursday. — Photos by Kamal Singh

SONEPAT
Two persons killed as bus rams motorcycle
Sonepat, December 12
Two persons were killed when their motorcycle was hit by a school bus near Bichpari village, about 45 km from here yesterday. According to a report, the victims, identified as Samunder Singh and Phool Singh, were brothers and were residents of Khandrai village.

• HVP Rally on Jan 18

• Driver Beaten up

• Man acquitted

• Demonstration by residents

Railway coaching terminal mooted at Anand Vihar
New Delhi, December 12
The Government is considering developing a new railway coaching terminal at Anand Vihar in Delhi at an estimated cost of Rs 83 crore, the Rajya Sabha was informed today.

President’s Police Medal for Noida SSP
Noida, December 12
The Senior Superintendent of Police of Gautam Budh Nagar, Dr G. K. Goswamy, has been awarded the President’s Police Medal for his bravery and professional competence. Dr Goswamy had slain a dreaded criminal carrying an award of Rs 1 lakh on his head in an encounter in Varanasi in 2001 where he was posted as an ASP. The dreaded criminal, Pritam Singh of Mirzapur, had terrorised the entire area.

ITBP welfare exhibition gets under way
New Delhi, December 12
Mrs Kamla Advani, wife of the Deputy Prime Minister, Mr L. K. Advani, today inaugurated a three-day exhibition, showcasing various utility items and crafts, organised by ITBP’s Himveer Wives Welfare Association.

Equestrian show a big draw at RVC Corps Day celebrations
Meerut, December 12
A two-day-long celebration in convention with the 9th Reunion and 224th Corps Day of the Remount Veterinary Corps concluded here on Thursday. Quarter Master-General, AHQ, and Colonel Commandant of the RVC, Lt-Gen V. G. Patankar, UYSM, VSM, inspected the joint parade of man and horse and dog organised to mark the occasion. General Patankar also had a lunch, `barakhana,’ with all ranks of serving and retired soldiers and interacted with them to know their grievances.

NCR BRIEFS
2 murdered in Ghaziabad in broad daylight
Ghaziabad, December 12
Two persons were murdered in separate incidents in Ghaziabad district yesterday. A young man in Babu Garh was shot dead in broad day while another middle-aged man was stabbed to death in Sahibabad industrial area. In the first incident, the assailants gunned down the youth in broad daylight in Babu Garh police station area and escaped.

• Food Samples seized

• Swachhata Karamchari

• Tributes paid to Bal Krishan Munje

CRIME

The three armed assailants, who tried to loot an employee of Tata Motors at Hassan Pur depot in East Delhi on Friday. — A Tribune photograph

Fake appointment racket busted, kingpin held
New Delhi, December 12
With the arrest of one Ashwani, a resident of Karawal Nagar, the Special Investigation Team of the Crime Branch, claimed to have busted a gang of cheats today. The SIT sleuths received an information that the suspect ran a bogus company in the name of ‘Aggarwal Business Centre’ at Shakarpur, and cheated unemployed youths.

Minor girl kidnapped by two youths
Sonepat, December 12
A minor girl was reportedly kidnapped by two youths in Jiwan Nagar area here last evening. According to a report, her parents were worried after she failed to return from the bazar. They tried to locate her but failed in their effort.

BUSINESS

More than 50 corporate heads attend workshop
New Delhi, December 12
The Arindam Chaudhuri Workshop organised by Planman Consulting here today was attended by more than 50 corporate heads of India Inc, which consisted names like Mr Amitabh Kant (Chairman and MD, ITDC), Ms Subhadra Jindal (Chairperson, Jindal Photofilms), Mr Pranav Ansal (Chairman, Ansal Properties), Mr Rajiv Sawhney (CEO, Hutch), Mr Ankur Bhatia (MD, Amadeus (India), Mr Vikram Bakshi (MD, McDonalds India), Mr Nitin Ghadiyar (CEO & President, Morepen), Mr Arun Sehgal (Director, Gillette India), Mr Amit Chatterjee (Director, Hewlett Packard), Mr V. C. Aggarwal (Executive Editor, IOCL) among other corporate stalwarts from organisations like Rediff DY & R, Hughes, Tata Telecom, American Express, Reckitt Benckiser, JM Morgan Stanley, IMRB, AbN Amro, Dabur, KPMG, Reliance Infocomm, Ericsson, and many more.

SPORTS

Manjit Kaur bags best athlete trophy
New Delhi, December 12
Manjit Kaur of Punjab Police, who won the 400m gold, was adjudged the best woman athlete of the 52nd All-India Police Athletic Championship which concluded at the BSF camp, Chhawla on Friday.

Ganga enter hockey final
New Delhi, December 12
Ganga School, Hiran Kudna defeated Mavi College, Ajmer 4-1 to enter the final of the All-India CBSE Hockey Tournament. Anoop scored a brace while Parveen Huda and Satish slotted in a goal each for Ganga.

• Manish hits century

• GE Capital win

Parzowar finish third in World Cup
New Delhi, December 12
Parzowar Kalindi School, Bangladesh defeated Razzak High School, Bangladesh by eight wickets to win the third place in the DPS World Cup Cricket for Schools at the SGTB Khalsa College ground.

• Shakti Vidyalaya win

• Sonnet garner 12 points

• Teri beat Australian HC

• Shakuntala Devi Cricket

Chowrasia in sight of NGC title
New Delhi, December 12
SSP Chowrasia of Kolkata, despite hitting a double bogey on the par-3 16th hole, enhanced his lead to eight strokes at the end of the penultimate round of the NGC Open, the 10th leg of the Hero Honda Indian Golf Tour, at the Noida Golf Course on Friday.

Rameez, Shivam star in DPS victory
New Delhi, December 12
A dashing knock of 87, off 86 balls with three sixes and 13 boundaries, by Rameez Nemat and an all-round display by Shivam Sharma (44, 3x6, 1x4, 40b; 3 for 22) helped Delhi Public School, Mathura Road defeat Don Bosco School, Alak Nanda by 129 runs in the opening match of the Laxman Memorial Cricket Tournament at the Laxman School ground.
Cricket coaches Gurcharan Singh and Maninder Singh with Laxman School principal Mrs Usha Ram after the inauguration of the Laxman Memorial Cricket Tournament at the school ground on Friday.