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| Wednesday,
September 11, 2002, Chandigarh, India
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Cong treads middle way New Delhi, September 10 The resolution reads: “This House expresses its resolve that the Government of NCT of Delhi be granted statehood by bringing about major institutional and structural reform based on broad consensus to empower citizens of Delhi through their elected representatives to provide good city governance befitting the national capital of our country.” The resolution was drawn up after the Congress Legislature Party (CLP) met during the day. The resolution is a toned-down version complete with ‘strategic ambiguity’ as the party, especially Chief Minister and Leader of Congress Legislature Party Sheila Dikshit had been pressing for a ‘workable’ model of statehood. The move is a climbdown of sorts for while the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) was maintaining ‘full’ statehood it had to be and with all the powers, the INC was insisting on a ‘workable’ model of statehood that will confer certain powers but not all. According to Congress sources, the resolution was revised after the Chief Minister spent the whole of Tuesday afternoon and evening confabulating with her party’s legislators and certain members of Parliament holding positions in the AICC. The Chief Minister, her aides say, was “torn between a realistic but critical appraisal of what statehood should hold out for Delhiites and popular sentiment.” Emerging from the informal meeting (“strategy session”) of the Congress Legislature Party, the Chief Minister had earlier told the waiting media persons that the legislators had discussed threadbare the party’s stance and how it should go about Wednesday’s special session. The party will move two resolutions – one condemning the ‘curtailment’ of powers and demanding the withdrawal of July 25 and August 29 circulars, and two, demanding statehood. Explaining the rationale behind the revised resolution, party sources said, “Considering the national ramifications of such a resolution, it was essential that one understood what powers one can demand and get and what powers one can only demand but never get.” |
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Many an obstacle in the path of CNG Faridabad, September 10 Hundreds of Haryana roadways buses converge at the Inter State Bus Terminus (ISBT) in New Delhi, daily along with the buses of other state roadways to ply on various long and short routes. As Faridabad is adjacent to the Capital and is one of the most busiest highways, the traffic movement is quite heavy here. Pollution has been on the increase ever since the industrialisation began in the district about three decades ago. Cities like Faridabad, Ghaziabad, Noida, Gurgaon have begun to feel the pinch, since the massive drive launched in Delhi on the directions of the Supreme Court to reduce pollution caused by the diesel-operated vehicles and pollutant factories operating in residential areas. The authorities also banned the entry of heavy vehicles, including trucks that used to pass from Delhi as part of the campaign. Experts and environment watchers feel that the campaign launched in the Capital has been successful in containing the air and noise pollution, but the drive in Delhi has failed to move the authorities in Haryana which covers or touches Delhi from three sides. There is no proposal to convert buses or other commercial vehicles into CNG or LPG mode. But it is learnt that the authorities in Delhi are worried over the movement of a large number of roadways buses in Delhi, which belong to Haryana, Rajasthan, Punjab, Himachal Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh among others. These buses spew dangerous fumes into the air as they are operated on diesel engines. Experts believe that if things do not improve, the authorities could request the Supreme Court to ban all diesel buses’ entry and order all the state roadways to send only CNG-operated buses to Delhi or limit their plying up to their border. Such a situation, the experts feel could pose a big problem to the state governments like Haryana, whose large number of buses visit ISBT terminus or pass from Delhi. On query, a senior official of the Haryana roadways said that there was still no proposal to run buses on CNG in the state.
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Rohtak admn to verify age of old pensioners Rohtak, September 10 The Deputy Commissioner, Mr Ashok Yadav, told the ‘NCR Tribune’ that this was being done to weed out the ineligible persons getting pension from the government exchequer. He revealed that the birth registers pertaining to 1942 to 1947 in the police stations were being scrutinised to ascertain the age of the scheme beneficiaries. So far, the verification has been completed in the Kalanaur and Rohtak Sadar police stations. The administration, he said, was also facing practical difficulties in the verification of the beneficiary’s age as the entire records of the birth registers maintained during the pre-Partition period were in Urdu, a language unknown to the present-day employees. These records, Mr Yadav said, were being translated into Hindi with the help of some of the old persons who know Urdu. The old-age pension scheme was introduced by the Devi Lal Government in 1987 to provide social security to the persons above 60 years of age. Though initially the beneficiaries were paid Rs 100 a month but after Mr Om Prakash Chautala became Chief Minister in 1999, the amount was raised to Rs 200 a month. However, many ineligible persons, in connivance with unscrupulous government officials, got enrolled in the old-age beneficiaries lists and started getting the pension. With a view to weeding out such elements, the government conducted a survey of the scheme beneficiaries and the names of the bogus persons were deleted. Another survey was also conducted in April 2000. After the second survey, many ineligible persons got themselves enrolled among the beneficiaries. Thus, the Deputy Commissioner again ordered a survey of the beneficiaries a couple of months ago. Surprisingly, of the 8,068 beneficiaries registered after April 2000, as many as 2,500 were found ineligible in the recent survey. At present, the district has 47,208 old-age pension scheme beneficiaries, of whom nearly 50 per cent are women. The eligible persons, who have been left out of the scheme, are medically examined and photographed when they complain to the Deputy Commissioner. After verification of their antecedents, their names are forwarded to the government for registration. |
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Jhajjar
schools in disrepair Jhajjar, September 10 An incident of a roof collapse in the government school in Ukhalchana on July 10, proved an eye-opener to the administration, in which about 32 girl students and two teachers were injured. After that, the Deputy Commissioner, Mr Mohinder Kumar, directed to conduct a survey of all the government schools, at middle and secondary levels. The survey was conducted by the Panchayati Raj department in July and found 242 school buildings in disrepair. Of which, the survey report disclosed, 123 school buildings were classified under A category, needing rebuilding of roofs of the rooms and verandahs. These school buildings have been leaking profusely during the rain. As a result, the rooms could succumb to a heavy dose of rains. Verandahs in another 38 schools needed to be overhauled at the earliest while another 81 buildings needed minor repair like tile tracing and renovation work. According to this survey report, repair work in around 110 secondary schools require more than Rs 2.82 crore while another Rs 1.71 crore were demanded for repairing the damages of around 130 primary schools. Most of these schools are in the rural areas. The Executive Engineer, Panchayati Raj, Mr B.S. Jakhar, told that the administration has conducted such a survey exclusively in Jhajjar, first-ever in the state on the initiative of the deputy commissioner. He told that all the buildings were in deplorable condition as no repair work had been taken up after the construction. School buildings constructed about 50 years ago had been lying neglected and it was impossible for a building to sustain in workable condition for such a long time without maintenance. |
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Truck mows down eight pavement-dwellers New Delhi, September 10 According to the police, the accident occurred when the driver of the truck with Haryana registration reportedly swerved to save a cow and lost control. The vehicle, which was apparently being driven at high speed, ploughed through the people sleeping on the pavement before it crashed to a halt The victims were identified as Shiv Nath, 27, Lakhan, 30, Sunil, 19, Gopi, 28, Baggu, 30, Suresh, 18, Richpal, 25 and Annu, 25, all residents of the jhuggi cluster near the Delhi Cantonment railway station. The injured, Joginder, Dhani Ram, Karan and Munna have been admitted to the Safdarjung Hospital where their condition was described as serious. The truck driver had been arrested for causing death by rash and negligent driving and the vehicle impounded. The police said that trucks and buses tend to speed up in the early hours of the morning as there is little traffic and the roads are generally clear. The accident is reported to have occurred around 2 a.m. There was considerable confusion initially as hundreds of residents of the jhuggi cluster woke up on hearing the loud screech and thud. The police were informed and later the injured were taken to the hospital. Deputy Speaker of Delhi Legislative Assembly Kiran Chaudhry said it was a “disaster waiting to happen” as the slum dwellers had been forced to sleep in the open, on the central verge of road after supply of electricity was cut to the slums post-privatisation of Delhi Vidyut Board (DVB.) “The slum dwellers are willing to pay for the one-point connection but the Defence authorities on which the slum stands have not issued the No Objection Certificate (NOC). Tata Power, which is the sole distributor in the area, claims inability on account of that,” she alleged. The chief minister said compensation to the bereaved families would be announced after she visited the slum. |
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25 shops
gutted in Sadar Bazar New Delhi, September 10 More than 25 fire-tenders were pressed into service and the personnel had a tough time in extinguishing the blaze. No death was reported. The incident occurred around 12.30 am when a building, which had godowns of imitation jewellery, purses, belts, bangles, rakhi materials and other things, collapsed. According to the fire service sources, even though the exact cause of the fire was not known, the fire could have occurred due to a short circuit. This is the third major fire in the Sadar bazar area during this year. Even the previous big fire, which occurred in January, had destroyed property worth crores of rupees. Again, the reason was a short circuit. |
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Shiv Sainiks ransack cinema, beat up manager Meerut, September 10 According to sources and eyewitnesses, a special show for journalists was organised by the youth wing of the city Congress at the busy Plaza Theatre in the Delhi road area. As the journalists from various organisations started gathering at the hall, activists of the Shiv Sena, holding banners, started shouting slogans like ‘Bal Thackeray zindabad’ and ‘Vir Shivaji Amar Rahe’ and entered the hall premises. They demanded stopping of the screening. Some of the over-enthusiastic Shiv Sainiks were seen having a heated exchange with the manager of the hall while others turned violent and started tearing posters. They pelted stones on the windows and ransacked the office of the cinema hall. Some of the Shiv Sainiks managed to enter the canteen, beat up attendants there and looted articles kept there. The manager of the hall was also beaten up with belts
and sticks. The Shiv Sainiks were protesting against the obscene scenes in the movie which, they said, were against the Indian culture. They also shouted slogans against the director of the movie. Some passers-by then informed the police and CO Sadar N. P. Singh, SHO Sadar, ACM, and SP City D. K. Chaudhry rushed to the spot and tried to pacify the agitators but failed. Finally, the police used force and took into custody at least six Shiv Sainiks. Some security personnel were deployed at the cinema hall. Later, the manager lodged a, FIR with the Sadar police station against some unidentified Shiv Sainiks. The screening of the movie could be only started after the deployment of the police force. |
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‘Clean
Haryana’ campaign from October 2 Sonepat, September 10 This was stated by Mr Ajay Chautala, MP and president of the youth wing of the INLD, while addressing a party workers’ meeting here on Sunday evening. He said the main aim of this campaign was to create awareness among the people for making their houses neat and clean. He said the Chief Minister, Mr Om Prakash Chautala, had made the political atmosphere clean in the state. He also appealed to the people not to use polythene bags and desist from littering the roads and streets. Mr Chautala also appealed to party workers to face the challenge thrown by the Opposition and asked the people not to be misled by the false propaganda unleashed by the opposition parties against the Chautala government. The INLD leader alleged that Mr Bansi Lal had accumulated wealth by introducing prohibition in the state and shielding liquor mafia gangs. Similarly, Mr Bhajan Lal had minted huge sums of money by misusing funds meant for development works. He also accused Mr Bhupinder Singh Hooda of not safeguarding the interests of Haryana in Parliament. He termed the present government as pro-people and said that it had undertaken development works worth crores of rupees in the urban and rural areas of the state. Referring to the recent statement of the Union Agriculture Minister, Mr Ajit Singh, denying Haryana’s request for assistance from the Centre for giving compensation to the farmers of the drought-hit areas, Mr Chautala described it as unfortunate and misleading. The Chief Minister had approached the Centre a number of times to get funds for giving relief to the farmers whose crops had been destroyed by the drought. He disclosed that one lakh people would be mobilised to donate their eyes after
death. The list of the prospective donors would be presented to the Prime Minister, Mr Atal Behari Vajpayee, on the birth anniversary of Mr Devi Lal. |
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Sonepat
goes without water Sonepat, September 10 According to a report, thousands of residents, particularly women, faced inconvenience and were seen fetching water from far-off places. The Public Health Department authorities, however, failed to inform the residents about the non-supply of water for six hours and make alternative arrangements by sending tankers to the worst affected areas, like the old section of the city, including Ram Bazar and Mohalla Kalan. Many residents allege that disruption in the drinking water supply system has become the order of the day. Regular water supply has become a dream for them. They also allege that water pressure is always low when a key man, Mukesh, is on duty as he is in the habit of opening all sluice valves of the four zones simultaneously in Ram Bazaar and Mohalla Kalan. When this happens, water cannot reach the houses and the taps remain dry. The residents also say that all their complaints made to the officials of the PHD from the junior engineers to the Superintending Engineer in this regard have fallen on deaf ears. They also point out that the officials do not pay heed to public complaints and are reluctant to shift the said key man. The key man, on the other hand, holds thousands of residents to ransom and fails to ensure regular supply of drinking water. Meanwhile, hundreds of women hailing from Jain Bagh Colony and Ashok Vihar held a demonstration in front of the Deputy Commissioner’s residence yesterday to register their protest against the non-supply of drinking water. The protesting women took out a procession, which passed through the main bazaars of the city, and raised anti-government slogans. Ms Bharpai Chahal, a BJP leader, led the procession. The DC immediately summoned the Executive Engineer of the PHD who assured the protesting women that the department would lay the pipelines within a month in their colonies to ensure drinking water supply. |
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Rohtak
to have metalled roads along rail tracks Rohtak, September 10 Mr Yadav told NCR Tribune here today that he planned to connect the roads along the rail lines with the major roads passing through the city. This would help in decongesting the traffic on the city roads besides saving precious time of those travelling. He has also urged the Railway authorities to widen the railway crossings within the municipal limits commensurate with the width of the road. The narrow railway crossings were major traffic bottlenecks and if the crossings were widened it would decongest the traffic, he held. The Railways Ministry, he said, had agreed to widen the crossings. The Deputy Commissioner said that a 12-ft-high statue of Mahatma Gandhi would be installed in “D” Park in the Model Town area, situated on the Delhi Road. The statue would be made of fibre glass and cost approximately Rs 2 lakh. This amount would be donated by the Jat Education Society, Mr Yadav said. The road around “D” park was being widened and a six-ft-high mound would be constructed on which the statue of the Mahatma would be installed. |
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MEERUT Meerut, September 10 He was talking at a meeting of District Magistrates and SSPs of the districts of the division at the Commissioner's conference room. The Commissioner specially mentioned two of the incidents of kidnapping for ransom in the district and directed the SSP (Meerut) Mukul Goel to keep a tab on the activities of criminals and also to secure the release of Dr Rastogi and a student, Sudhansu Gupta, as soon as possible. Both Dr Rastogi and Sudhansu were kidnapped in broad daylight. While Dr Rastogi was returning from his clinic when he was kidnapped, Sudhanshu faced the same fate when was going to his school at the Mawana road. More than 10 days have passed but there has been no progress in the case. According to some high-level sources in the police department, officials are still groping in the dark. Even though it was learnt that the kidnap of Sudhanshu was planned in his locality, Ganga Nagar, the SHO of the area could not get any lead in the case. The Commissioner also stressed on the prosecution rate of the department as it had been very low. He directed the police chiefs of the districts to complete the investigation within a fixed timeframe so that the charge sheet could be submitted in the court on time and the accused could not escape the law. The Commissioner also directed all the District Magistrate of the division to detain all the anti-social and goonda elements under the National Security Act and Goonda Act. He also said that habitual offenders must be booked under the provisions of the Gangster Act. The District Magistrates of Meerut, Bulandshahr, Baghpat, Ghaziabad, Gautam Budh Nagar and the SSP of Ghaziabad, Meerut, G B Nagar and the SP of Baghpat and ASP of the Bulandshahr attended the meeting. The DM of Meerut, Mr Rama Raman, also assured the Commissioner to see a ground level change in the law and order situation of the district within a week. |
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NAD holds march for Sept 11 victims New Delhi, September 10 The NAD also took out a peace march near Teen Murti. Artistes like Shankar Sawhney and Shamsher Mehndi, social activist Dharamveer, Rashtriya Samajwadi Party general Secretary S. N. Sharma and Delhi University Research Association president Sunil Tiwari were among those who participated in the peace march. The members of the NAD also took an oath to fight terrorism on the occasion. A two-minute silence was also observed at the function. Speaking on the occasion, Mr Paramjeet Singh Pamma said that India had been fighting terrorism for the last 25 years and lakhs of people had been victims of terrorism in Jammu and Kashmir, Punjab and the North-East. He added that when India raised a voice against terrorism, no one paid any heed and this was one of the reasons why the United States too became a victim of terrorism. Mr Pamma pointed out that unless the war against terrorism was taken on at a universal level, there was little hope. He said that the US should think beyond its own gains and ensure that the war against terrorism was taken more seriously. |
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112 get police jobs on compassionate grounds New Delhi, September 10 The Delhi Police today said all facilities would be extended for completion of education of all those children who had to take up jobs in the city police on compassionate grounds. “The children who had to take up jobs on compassionate grounds should complete their education either through correspondence courses or open schools and the Delhi Police will extend all help possible in this regard,” Mr R. S. Gupta said, while addressing the wives and wards of the police personnel. “The biggest step we can take to heal the wounds of these grief-stricken people is to make jobs available and today, members of 112 families will be getting a new lease of life.” He also told the gathering that the police quarters would not be readily available as there would be an additional problem for appointees hailing from rural areas. This year, 48 women received appointment for various posts as compared to last year’s figure of 73. |
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All except two teachers found absent in school Sonepat, September 10 Laden’s effigy burnt:
The procession was headed by Mr Satish Bansal, national vice-president of the front. Other leaders who joined the procession include Mr Arun Jaitly, general secretary of the Haryana unit, Mr Narinder Jhamb and Mr Dinesh Sharma. Janta
darbar:
According to another report, Mr Padam Singh Dahiya, an INLD MLA, also held an open darbar at the office of the party at Kharkhauda town, 19 km from here, on the same day. He disposed of 33 complaints on this occasion. Mr Dahiya will distribute cheques amounting to more than Rs 2 lakh among the sarpanches of 43 gram panchayats of the Rohat assembly constituency on September 16 for undertaking development works. Principals
honoured:
Killed on track:
Three hurt in
clashes:
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PANIPAT Panipat, September 10 This interesting bit of information was given by a Delhi-based Vaastu consultant, Mr Naresh Singal, at a Vaastu awareness workshop, organised by the Lions Club Greater on Sunday night. Advising the participants to keep the ready goods in the north-west corner, Mr Singal wanted them to keep their head southward while sleeping. The implementation of the basic values of Vaastu could give health, Trader shot at:
According to information, Vijay was signalled to stop by a Maruti car driver. As he stopped, four masked men grappled with him. In the melee, one of the assailants fired from a country-made pistol injuring Vijay in the arm. The assailants escaped with Rs 8,500 and a gold chain. The victim has been admitted to the civil Hospital and a case registered. |
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Six of family die in Sumo-bus collision Meerut, September 10 Hearing the news of the mishap, Circle Officer Vikas Vadhya rushed to the spot and supervised the relief operation. |
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Bid to steal milch cattle foiled Sonepat, September 10 According to a report, the members of the gang entered the village around 10 pm and surreptitiously started herding away the milch animals. When some residents spotted them, they raised the alarm and tried to apprehend them. Thereupon, the gang members made an attempt to flee from the village but they were surrounded by the village people. One of them was caught by a youth but the others managed to escape after inflicting injuries on two youths, namely Rakesh and Pradeep. Another youth, who grappled with the apprehended youth, was also injured when he was attacked. The captured youth was given a severe beating by the residents of the village before being handed over to the police for interrogation. The injured youths were immediately hospitalised. They are stated to be out of danger. The police have registered a case against the culprits and launched a massive hunt to apprehend those who escaped. The villagers gave chase to the fleeing members of the gang but failed to hold on to them. According to another report, the police have arrested five youths on the charge of possessing unauthorised arms during Operation Agni launched in this district. The arrested youths have been identified as Jamil and Safia, alias Chauhar, of Idgah Colony, Sonepat, Rohit of Ladrawan village, Raju of Gohana and Subhash. The police also seized three unlicensed pistols. |
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NCR BRIEFS Jhajjar, September 10 According to information, accountant Pawan Kumar and labour contractor Dayaram of Plance Footwear Private Ltd, situated in MIE, were returning after withdrawing the cash from the MIE branch of State Bank of India around 1 pm. When they reached near a park just before their factory on a scooter, another scooter carrying three youths collided with their vehicle. As the factory employees fell on the ground, one of the youths snatched the bag containing the cash. When the duo tried to resist, other two robbers brandished a pistol and a knife. Meanwhile, the robbers managed to drive away with the scooter of the factory employees. While one of the desperadoes who was carrying the cash bag rushed towards Bahadurgarh on scooter, his accomplices drove towards Delhi. The police arrived on the spot and have started investigation.
Fake licences: Woman held Faridabad: The police have arrested a woman in connection with the preparation of fake driving licences. The accused, identified as Kamlesh, a resident of Jawahar colony, was produced in the CJM Court today, which remanded her to judicial custody. A case under Sections 420, 467, 468, and 471 of the IPC has been booked against her. In another case, a person, identified as Rakesh of Kheri Kalan village, has been arrested on the charge of selling illicit liquor. |
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Gang of vehicle thieves busted Rohtak, September 10
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Breakthrough in road lighting, thanks to Bajaj New Delhi, September 10 Trendsetter lights will illuminate the Phulwari Road at Pragati Maidan. “Bajaj is happy to present the unique gift to Delhi and hope that this is a step forward in helping solve the power problems faced by the citizens of Delhi,” said Mr Shekhar Bajaj, Chairman and Managing Director, Bajaj Electricals Ltd. Trendsetter, which is best suited for highways, arterial roads, multi-level junctions is controlled as per the solar radiation. Its other salient features include adjustable lamp holder, distribution confirms to spread, throw and control the required air volume for cooling. It is also highly adjustable according to traffic density. The higher the volume of traffic density, the higher should be the illumination level. Trendsetter is a unique concept for energy saving, it is an accessory for the luminaire which when fitted on a road light or floodlight luminaire can achieve 22.5 per cent energy saving. What’s more, this Trendsetter does not make any compromise in the quality of lighting. |
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New water filter launched New Delhi, September 10 Launched initially at premium sanitary outlets in Delhi, Zero B Watermarts will soon be set up in major cities across India. The initiative will provide consumers with relevant information, analysis of water, demonstration and finally offer of single window solution. The Zero B Water Mart, retail outlet of the future, combines a clinical approach to provide customers with the right solution. Water treatment specialists at these water marts would provide expert advice on customised solution based on the analysis of the water quality and nature of application. The water mart would also provide live water testing facilities and demonstrations. Ion Exchange India has specialised in water treatment for almost four decades and offers total water management solutions. During the last financial year, the company clocked a turnover of Rs 180 crore.
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New Delhi, September 10
