TOP STORIES

NCR SPECIAL

Kargil donors left high and dry New Delhi, November 6 As thousands of Indian troops battle a storm of artillery and machine guns to protect the country’s territorial integrity, some patriotic citizens are paying a heavy price for coming to the help of the jawans during a testing time. Bus operators of the Sriganganagar region, who donated over Rs 1 lakh to the Prime Minister’s Relief Fund for the Kargil martyrs, have not only lost track of their money, but some of them are also allegedly being harassed by the District Transport Authority for following up the matter. A file picture of a height captured during Kargil war.

Did MCD lead Centre up the garden path?
New Delhi, November 6
The Municipal Corporation of Delhi appears to have taken the Centre for a ride to secure a grant of Rs 100 crore, as it has shown only those roads to be laid, for which it has already given an action plan to the Delhi Government, according to the official records of the state government.

Crackers can leave a crack in a child’s psyche
New Delhi, November 6
Everyone seems to be against crackers theses days. First, the Supreme Court clamped a ban on fireworks (exceeding 125 decibels); then, the Delhi Police banned 20 types of high-decibel fireworks and embargoed the bursting of crackers after 10 p m. Now, it is the turn of psychologists to come out against the adverse effects of crackers on the psyche of children.

Waiting for a helping hand
MENTALLY challenged children, drawn from a few institutions run by non-governmental organisations, spent the whole of Tuesday picnicking at Rail Museum and Nehru Park, courtesy the Indian Navy. The gesture formed a part of the cultural activities planned by the naval community, particularly INS India, in the run up to the Navy Week celebrations that begin in the first week of December.

‘Godman’ held in 14-yr-old murder case
New Delhi, November 6
The police today claimed to have solved the 14-year-old mystery behind the murder of a Greater Kailash couple with the arrest of a self-styled godman and his accomplice.

Faridabad plot holders in the lurch
Faridabad, November 6
The much-publicised residential scheme of the Municipal Corporation of Faridabad, undertaken in Aravali Vihar in Sector 49 here, has left over 400 people in the lurch. The scheme launched six years ago is yet to take off, even though plot hlolders deposited the required amount for the development of the area four years back.

COMMUNITY

CNG mess has another fallout — Prostitution
New Delhi, November 6
The serpentine queues at compressed natural gas filling stations across the Capital have given rise to yet another problem - prostitution and drugs. It is a fact that prostitutes and drug peddlers are taking advantage of the situation of autorickshaws and buses lined up in large numbers outside filling stations because of the shortage of the non-polluting fuel.

Sugarcane farmers will have it sweet this year
Ghaziabad, November 6
Record payments of 97.33 per cent of sugarcane procurement prices have already been paid to the farmers of the state this year. While UP sugar mills have purchased sugarcane worth over Rs. 3985 crore this year, over Rs. 3879 crore have already been disbursed to farmers up to November 2 this year.

Nothing left in Sonepat to encroach upon
Sonepat, November 6
Welcome to Sonepat, the city of encroachments, cannot be that inviting, can it be? Here is a typical Indian city where places and spaces are not used for the purposes they are to be. Rampant encroachments on public and municipal lands in the city and other parts of the district have become a perpetual menace.

Twiddling leaves Azadpur flyover in twilight zone
A flyover was planned as long back as 1978-79 to evade the traffic congestion on Azadpur T-junction but till date the authorities concerned have been unable to complete the project. A one-kilometre-long flyover was planned to link Inner Ring Road at GT Karnal Road besides the traffic approaching from Shalimar Bagh and Mall Road to Outer Ring Road behind Jahangir Puri. A 500m- long stretch needs to be constructed near Kewal Park, Gopal Park, Suraj Nagar and Gopal Nagar.

DTC drivers get tips on managing stress
New Delhi, November 6
Concerned over the increasing number of road accidents, several of them fatal, in the Capital, the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers organised a skill enhancement session for Delhi Transport Corporation drivers in the Capital. Over 100 drivers participated in the two-day session which concluded today.

Tiny-tots enliven Divali mela
New Delhi, November 6
Digamber Jain Mahila Sangathan Bedwara today organised a Divali mela at the Daryaganj- based Jain Sports Club. About 100 stalls were put up to give it a mela-like look. These stalls sold a variety of things ranging from eatables to gift items.

Sangh plea to end Escorts stir
Faridabad, November 6
The district unit of the Sarva Karamchari Sangh, Haryana, has supported the stand of the All Escorts Employees Union and has asked the management to accept the workers’ demand to end the ongoing stir in the industrial group.

• Winter is here

EDUCATION

Historians castigate education purge
New Delhi, November 6
‘Communalisation of education’ has been the talk of symposia in the country for some time. Eminent historians, who assembled in the Capital today, once again blamed the Vajpayee government of giving a leeway to communal forces and accused the government of launching an onslaught on the country’s history.

CM promises to complete college
New Delhi, November 6
The Delhi Government on Tuesday said that work on the construction of an engineering college at Geeta Colony in east Delhi would be completed by the end of the next year.

HEALTH

Cardiologists harp on fat-free diet, exercise
Gurgaon, November 6
In order to save oneself from heart failure, one has to avoid a stressful lifestyle, excessive smoking, alcohol consumption and a rich fat diet. Hypertension and diabetes also need to be controlled. Most important is the need for regular exercise, sum up doctors of Escorts Heart Institute and Research Centre.

Fake drugs: DMA calls for stringent laws
New Delhi, November 6
Calling for severe punishment, even death sentence, to people guilty of manufacturing and selling spurious drugs, the Delhi Medical Association has suggested that the government make suitable amendments to the existing laws in order to give more teeth to agencies such as the police and the drug controller.