TOP STORIES

An open invitation to pollution on Yamuna bridge
New Delhi, February 2
It is a classic case of “the fence eating the grass”—- the wire barricade set up at high cost on the Yamuna barrage at ITO to stop the dumping of debris into the river..

BAWANA PROJECT
CM scouting for partners as ties with BSES cool off
New Delhi, February 2
The jury may be still out on the success of unbundling of Delhi Vidyut Board (DVB) and allowing private sector participation in distribution of electricity but the Government of NCT of Delhi has begun scouting for private players who may be interested in a joint venture in power generation that has thus far been the exclusive preserve of governments.

Muslims offer namaz on the occasion of Id at Jama Masjid in the Capital on Monday. — Tribune photo by Mukesh Aggarwal

Delhiites not chickening out over eating chicken?
New Delhi, February 2
The fear of catching bird flu saw the sales crash, but barely days later the sales have started surging. The sale of chickens at the wholesale Ghazipur Mandi over the last two days is an indication that the fear of bird flu has been put on the back burner with Delhiites ready to indulge in their all-time favourite Butter Chicken again.

Snaps of Manish Mishra’s killer doing the rounds
Meerut, February 2
The police interrogated some youth in the Baraut police station on Sunday evening in connection with the murder of Manish Mishra, grandson of Prime Minister A B Vajpayee. Senior police officials, who are involved with the investigation, believe that some youths from Baraut were on board the Chhatisgarh Express on the fateful day.

A lamb worth a deluxe family car
Noida, February 2
Every lamb, it seems, has its day. And the handsomest of them is worth its weight in gold, so to say. Lambs and goats, this season, were evaluated for a change on a new criteria of colour, beauty and texture and not on the basis of the traditional yardstick of body weight.

Sun fails to take sting out of icy winds
New Delhi: Though the sun came out and spread its warmth, Delhiites woke to icy winds blowing in the city, which brought the temperatures down. A chilly night led to a dip in the minimum temperature as the mercury touched 6.1 degree Celsius, three degrees below normal, as against 7.5 degrees, two degrees below normal, recorded yesterday.

COMMUNITY

Commuters demand regulation of trains
Sonepat, February 2
The late running of long-distance and suburban trains on the Sonepat-Delhi section of the Northern Railway has become routine, thanks to the failure of the railway authorities to take any remedial steps despite repeated complaints made by the commuters.

FACE TO FACE
Invoking Chanakya’s legacy
For 32-year-old Manish Mishra life could well have been the proverbial bed of roses. Having been born in an affluent and illustrious family of Bihar, he could have had anything for the asking. But, instead, he chose to involve himself in social work. He has founded the Chanakya Parishad, through which he hopes to propagate the philosophy and vision of the legendary Chanakya and restore the lost `Soney Ki Chidya.’

Kalpana Chawla remembered 
New Delhi, February 2
Paying tributes to Kalpana Chawla here yesterday, the US Charge d’ Affaires, Mr. Robert Blake said that she has today become a symbol of growing links between India and USA. Speaking at a meeting organised by the Punjab Engineering College, Chandigarh Old Boys Association (PECOBA) to mark the first anniversary of the Columbia shuttle crash, Mr. Blake said that recently Mr. A B Vajpayee and Mr. George Bush have agreed to expand cooperation in areas of civil space and high technology trade.

Japanese team impressed with Noida land use
Noida, February 2
A Japanese delegation, which had gone around various sectors of Noida, described it as excellent from the point of view of town planning, environment and land use. The five member Japanese delegation was so impressed with what they saw that they congratulated the Noida chairman, Mr Vinode Malhotra, for the job.

Congress activists protesting against Pramod Mahajan for his comments against Priyanka and Rahul Gandhi at AICC in the Capital on Monday. — Tribune photo by Mukesh Aggarwal

R.N. Khanna, CMD of C&S Group, along with Domenico Bosatelli, President of Grewiss Group, at the launch of a joint venture for manufacturing electrical installation products in the Capital on Monday. — A Tribune photograph

ncr briefs
Rewari Road accident toll rises to nine
Jhajjar, February 2
The toll in the accident on Rewari Road near Silani village on January 28, has increased to nine, with two seriously injured women succumbing to their injuries in the PGIMs, Rohtak last evening. Seven persons died on the spot when a maxi cab collided with a truck. All the deceased were travelling in the cab.

Woman labourer killed No power, water for unauthorised colonies Cables, motors worth lakhs gutted in textile mill

Id celebrated Bid to smuggle cows foiled

delhi digest 70 orphans enjoy ride on Metro New Delhi, February 2 Seventy orphaned children from Kashmir took a ride on the Delhi Metro train today from Kashmere Gate Metro Station to Shahdara Metro Station and back. The children were extremely delighted to see the modern facilities available on the Metro such as automatic ticketing, escalators, lifts for the handicapped and the new-look air-conditioned Metro trains.

CRIME

Two persons killed as car rams truck
Sonepat, February 2
Two persons were killed when the car in which they were travelling rammed into a truck from the rear side on the Sonepat-Bahalgarh road near the office of the ‘Truck Operators Union’, about 3 km from here last night. According to a report, the victims were identified as Rohtas of Bhatgaon village and Sudhir of Butana village.

100 cases of snatching solved with arrest of two
New Delhi, February 2
With the arrest of two persons, the South district police today claimed to have solved as many as 100 cases of snatching in South, South-West and New Delhi districts. One knife, one Pulsar motorcycle and four stolen mobile phones were recovered from their possession.

BUSINESS

New director for BHEL
New Delhi, February 2
Mr Ramji Rai has taken over as director (Engineering, Research and Development) and member of the board of Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited (BHEL), India’s premier engineering enterprise. Earlier, as executive director, Mr Ramji Rai, was heading BHEL’s Electronics division at Bangalore.

EDUCATION

Two-day national seminar: 160 scholars brainstorm
the status of English
Sonepat, February 2
The two-day national seminar on ‘Prevailing Scenario of English—A Realistic Appraisall’ concluded in the Government College at Gohana town, 35 km from here late last evening.

Students block highway
Sonepat, February 2
Hundreds of the students of the new Tagore Girls Senior Secondary School, Bahalgarh blocked the Sonepat-Meerut highway for more than half an hour in protest against the attempts of the police to lock up the school today. They raised slogans against the police and the school management and supported the school principal who opposed the police attempt to put a lock on the school building.

‘Young Ambassadors’ for the needy children 

New Delhi, February 2 Students of Red Roses Public School were bestowed with the status of “Young Ambassadors” by SOS Children’s Villages of India when they along with their Principal, Mrs Anuradha Mehta called upon the President, SOS+ India, Mr J N Kaul and presented a cheque towards the welfare of children of SOS villages. President, SOS India, Mr J N Kaul awarding ‘Young Ambassadors’ certificate and a memento to Red Roses Public School in the Capital.

HEALTH

Verma draws flak for launch of ‘bogus’ hospital 
New Delhi, February 2
The Congress today flayed Union Labour Minister Sahib Singh for laying the foundation stone of a hospital in West Delhi that did not have an official sanction. A day after the ceremony for upgrading the primary health centre in Najafgarh to a hospital, Congress leader and former MP Sajjan Kumar said Mr Singh’s launch of the hospital was “bogus”.

Healthcare to become costlier, warns DMA
New Delhi, February 2
The Delhi Medical Association (DMA) today expressed concern over the Centre’s decision to impose a 10 per cent annual permissible fee on nursing homes, clinics and hospitals in residential areas, on a par with the banks, and termed it ‘unfair and exploitative’.

Escorts heart centre launched in Gurgaon
Gurgaon, February 2
With the launch of a centre in the local Kalyani Hospital by the Delhi-based Escorts Heart Institute and Research Centre (EHIRC), Gurgaon took yet another step in its effort to provide world class facilities to its residents.

SPORTS

Kartik Bhat downs Gayatri Krishnan
New Delhi, February 2
Gayatri Krishnan, daughter of former Indian Davis Cup captain Ramesh Krishnan, put up an engaging fight before bowing out to Kartik Bhat 6-2,6-3 in a girls’ singles first-round match of the Adidas ITF International Junior Tennis Championship, an ITF Grade II event, at the Delhi Lawn Tennis Association court on Monday.

China’s ‘Red Brigade’ warm up before their Pool A match against India in the Asia Cup Women’s Hockey Championship at the National Stadium on Monday. — Tribune photo by Mukesh Aggarwal

Shruti Khanna retain title
New Delhi, February 2
Shruti Khanna of Delhi retained her title in the Navision 87th All-India Ladies Amateur Golf Championship at the Karnataka Golf Association course on Monday. Despite a seven-over 79 on the second day, Shruti aggregated nine-over 153 to win by ten strokes over compatriot Anjali Chopra in the gold division (handicap 0-12).

Malviya Club record convincing victory

New Delhi, February 2 Malviya Club scored a convincing eight-wicket victory against R P Academy and entered the semi-final of the fifth Goswami Girdhari Lal Memorial Cricket Tournament at the Kalindi College ground. Ramakant Goswami conducts the toss to inaugurate the Goswami Girdhari Lal Memorial Cricket Tournament.

DTC, Kishan Ganj move up in DDCA League
New Delhi, February 2
Delhi Transport Corporation (DTC) defeated Rehman Club by eight wickets and Kishan Ganj Gymkhana too scored an eight-wicket victory against Darling Club in the DDCA League A-I Division matches.

HDFC to meet Gillette in final
New Delhi, February 2
HDFC will take on Gillette in the final of the ESPN Star Sports Corporate Challenger Cup Limited-Over Cricket Tournament. In the semi-finals, HDFC defeated Hughes by eight wickets while Gillette defeated Hero Honda by seven wickets.