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January 17, 2003, Chandigarh, India |
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St Columba’s boy whisked away from school
driveway New Delhi, January 16 The suspect kidnapped the victim, Shivam Arora, just after he stepped out of a Tata Sumo, his school transport. Shivam is a student of class – I. The police suspect that the kidnapper is known to the family members as he called the victim after he stepped out of the school vehicle. The victim went across to meet him and did not come back. However, no ransom call has been received by the parents of the victim, the police said. The victim was the son of a Karol Bagh trader, Parveen Arora, who has a mobile phone shop. He resides in the same locality. When the victim was kidnapped, he was wearing a track suit and a green colour sweater with the St. Columba’s insignia. Besides, he was wearing P.T. shoes, black colour socks and was carrying a RUF-TUF school bag. The victim’s parents came to know about the kidnapping when the driver of the Tata Sumo informed them that Shivam had not boarded the bus after school. He went over to the victim’s house along with other students and inquired whether they had brought Shivam home from school. Later, his parents rushed to the school to make further inquiries. When they could not find Shivam, they reported the matter to the police and a case of kidnapping was registered at the Mandir Marg police station. The police questioned the other students who had accompanied the victim in the morning. The students told the police that a youth, whose height was five feet and five inches, had addressed the victim by name. Shivam went to the suspect and did not come back. The suspect was wearing a black pant, blue sweater and had a thin built and a light moustache. The police said that employees of Mr Arora were being questioned and a special team had been constituted to work out the case. A few teams have been sent to Haryana and Uttar Pradesh to hunt for the victim and arrest the suspect. |
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Arrest warrant against Modi Tyres
MD Ghaziabad, January 16 The Modi Tyres factory was set up in 1987 as an associate company of Modi Rubbers on the premises of Modi Mills. The Managing Director of Modi Silk Mill, Mr Satish Modi, reportedly receives Rs 8 lakh per month as rent from Modi Tyres. Modi Silk Mill was closed down by the management following a labour agitation in 1982-83. Later, Modi Silk Mill workers were adjusted in the Modi Tyres factory under an agreement. But the Modi Tyres factory was also closed down by the management last year in December. The workers were, however, still hopeful that one day the mill will reopen. But the announcement that the property of the mill had been attached and would be auctioned this week has come as a jolt to the workers. The workers have been visiting the mill offices and the Labour Department for the past one year for expediting the payment of their arrears, which are a colossal Rs 93 lakh. But the arrest warrant issued against the MD of Modi Mills has rattled the management of the mill. All that the stunned management could say was: “How can it be true?” It may be recalled that in 1991-92 the district administration had issued arrest warrants against three managers of Modi Industries for default in payment of electricity arrears. Two out of them had been sent to jail while the third had promptly deposited the arrears. |
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Longest cold spell in Jan after 40
yrs New Delhi, January 16 The Met Department points out that the Capital is facing the longest cold spell in January in the last 40 years, with the minimum temperature dipping to 3.5 degree Celsius. The last such spell was experienced in January 1999 when day and night temperatures remained below normal for 14 days. The weather forecasts reveal that the fog is likely to persist for a few more days. The Met department said a particular cyclonic circulation system — that is stagnant over Pakistan and neighbouring areas — is responsible for the moisture in the atmosphere, which results in fog. Traffic remained disrupted. The air traffic was erratic and the fog had reduced visibility to non-operation levels for several hours. The Runway Visibility Range (RVR) was just 50 meters at 1.30 am and made flight operations impossible till late noon. The Railways had a similar story to tell, with some trains being cancelled and others delayed by over 12 hours. The minimum temperature recorded today was four degrees below normal while over the last three days it was around two degrees below normal. The city roads, too, presented a pathetic sight with vehicles inching ahead at a snail’s pace.
Blackouts blamed on weather Blame it on the weather and the surge in demand, Transco says, giving a clichéd explanation for the blackouts. The Transmission Company (Transco) says power cuts are occurring because the frequency in the network is falling below the “danger mark.” Transco spokesperson Madhu Malti says, “The frequency continues to be far below the danger mark of 50. It was 48.9 at 9 am but recovered later to rise up to 49.8 at 12 noon. “There was a shortfall of 700 megawatt at 9 am with only 1,755 megawatt of power available against the required demand of 2,455 megawatt,” she went on to disclose. The state also continued to overdraw from the allotted quota of 1,450 megawatt, withdrawing 1,508 megawatt from the Northern Grid. With repairs on the Rihand-Dadri line still continuing, the situation was not expected to improve for another two to three days. |
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Haryana seeks time to reply
on Yamuna water demand New Delhi, January 16 The DJB had sought a direction to the Government of Haryana to release 65 cusecs of Yamuna waters per day to the water treatment plant in Nangloi and 70 cusecs per day to the water treatment plant in Bawana that is to be commissioned soon. The DJB had alleged the Government of Haryana was releasing only 60 cusecs per day to the Nangloi plant in spite of the court directing it to release 125 cusecs of water per day to Delhi. The Central Pollution Control Board, which was assigned to monitor the quality of Yamuna waters regularly, in its latest affidavit said the quality of the river water in the Capital was still very poor. The affidavit said that on November 1, 2002, the coliform content in the 22 -km-long Delhi stretch of the river was 11,80,00,000 per 100 ML as against the maximum permissible limit of 5,000 per 100 ML. The water quality in the river in which 25 drains discharge sewage had not improved despite commissioning of all sewage treatment plants due to lack of constant flow of fresh water in the river, the affidavit pointed out. The affidavit said that for maintaining a minimum flow in the river, 350 cusecs of additional fresh water per day was required. |
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SCHOOLBAG
FARCE New Delhi, January 16 This startling revelation was made at a meeting of the House recently by the Leader of the House while discussing revised budget estimates of the civic body. According to the present leader of the Congress-led House, Mr Ram Babu Sharma, the then BJP-led corporation announced a scheme under which schoolbags were to be distributed free of cost to almost eight lakh students of the corporation-run schools in the Capital. The Prime Minister, Mr Atal Behari Vajpayee, was invited to hand over the first bag to a student at a much publicised, specially organised function. News about this and photographs of the function were carried prominently by both the print and the visual media. Much to the chagrin of the officials of the then MCD, hundreds of students turned up at the Town Hall, demanding their free schoolbags. But there were no bags. It was at this stage that the Congress corporators, who were in the opposition then, jumped into the fray and escorted the students clamouring for free schoolbags to the office of the Mayor. The later, too, was caught by surprise. It turned out that there was no provision in the corporation’s budget for procurement and distribution of free schoolbags. Caught on a sticky wicket and to save themselves from further embarrassment, the corporators went into a huddle and sought special sanction for the purchase of bags at Rs 25 each. The corporation was poorer by several lakhs of rupees but the students of the MCD-run schools were happy. For once, the MCD was made to deliver. |
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CM asks panchayat leaders to accelerate
development Narnaul, January 16 The government has enough funds at its disposal for development projects and it will not shirk from giving all assistance to the panchayats, he added. Addressing a joint meeting of the panches, sarpanches and members of the Village Development Committees of Mahendergarh district. The projects include those that were promised during the government’s “Sarkar aap ke dwaar” programme, presided over by the chief minister. Mr Chautala said that in spite of criticisms from his opponents for setting up Village Development Committees, they were functioning well and were contributing immensely towards the overall growth of their areas. He said this was particularly true for the district of Mahendergarh. He assured the farmers that the policy of giving monetary compensation to the farmers whose kharrif crops were damaged would be strictly implemented. According to the policy, only those farmers would be compensated whose 50 per cent kharrif crops had been damaged. Mr Chautala reiterated his party’s opposition to the Kelkar Committee Report, which has recommended taxing the farmers on their income. He said the INLD government was functioning according to the vision of the former Deputy Prime Minister, Mr Devi Lal. Mr Devi Lal always had the interest of the farming community at his heart. The INLD government will never subscribe to the recommendations of the Kelkar Committee, he added. Dwelling on the report of the committee, he came down heavily on his opponents in the state saying that they have always agitated for trivial issues. They do not denounce the report with the intensity as was expected of them, he added. Referring to the burning SYL issue, he assured the people of South Haryana that it will be completed and the Ravi-Beas water will come to Haryana from Punjab. The state government will fight for the interest of the state. He lamented that the Congress, the principal Opposition party in Haryana, boycotted the all-party meeting convened by him on the SYL issue on January 14. |
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‘Chautala’s land in Punjab being irrigated by SYL canal’ Sonepat, January 16 Talking to mediapersons at the Rai PWD (B and R) Rest House, 13 km from here, last evening, he also announced that he would join the struggle launched by any political party against the misdeeds of the Chief Minister. He alleged that Mr Om Prakash Chautala was fooling the people on the issue of SYL canal construction, thereby betraying the cause of the farmers. He also alleged that Mr Chautala had purchased thousands of acres of land in Punjab during the regime of Mr Parkash Singh Badal as Chief Minister and his land was being irrigated by the water of this canal. Mr Dalal also accused the BJP-led NDA government at the Centre of discriminating against Haryana on this issue. It was the duty of the Centre to safeguard the interests of Haryana and its people when the Supreme Court had ordered the construction of the SYL canal in the Punjab territory. He urged the central government to take action against the Punjab Chief Minister, Mr Amarinder Singh, as he had utterly failed to implement the apex court order and complete the construction work within the stipulated period. He also accused all political parties of Haryana of politicising the issue for their selfish ends and the people of the state were fed up with their stand during the last three decades. According to Mr Dalal, Haryana owed Rs 12,000 crores as loan before Mr Chautala took over charge and this had increased to Rs 32,000 crore during the past three-and-a-half years. The 45 per cent income of the state was being spent on the payment of interests on these loans. He alleged that Mr Chautala was engaged in amassing wealth through objectionable means like liquor contracts, allotting of sand dunes, allotting of work for the desilting and de-weeding of canals and replacing the electronics meters. He also alleged that Mr Chautala was also misusing public funds on foreign tours and entertainment of party legislators and other dignitaries. Mr Dalal further said that Mr Chautala was discriminating in the allotment of funds for the development works in the state. The bulk amount, he alleged, was being allotted to Sirsa district and this was highly objectionable because other districts were being ignored by him. He also said that the state Government had given priority to the people of Sirsa district, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh in giving government jobs during its current tenure. The remaining districts of Haryana, he alleged, had been ignored by the Chautala government. |
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HIDDEN TREASURE Rohtak, January 16 He has published nearly 85 research papers in national and foreign journals of repute. His work on thermodynamics of binary mixtures of electrolytic and non-electrolytic solutions is very useful in increasing our understanding of the nature of ion-ion and ion-solvent interactions. The knowledge about liquid state is still incomplete. The molecules interact with each other and how they arrange themselves in liquid lattice depends upon the shape, size and polarity of molecules when one component is mixed with another. The thermodynamic study of such systems not only give us deeper understanding of matter but also find its applications in phase separation, ion exchange and fractions distillation plants. In 1990, Professor William E. Acree from the University of North Texas expressed his desire to collaborate in research work when he saw his published work on thermodynamics of binary mixtures of non-electrolytes in J.C.S. Farady Trans-I (England). He has also been involved in the publication of research papers with Dr Schreiber of Illinois University, USA. Dr Andras Dallos from the University of Veszprem, Hungary, discussed the technical and theoretical aspect of fluid phases and also on the experimental determination and data evaluation of thermodynamic quantity of solutions and transport properties of liquid mixtures. Dr Singh was invited to the Korea Institute of Energy Research, Korea, as a visiting scientist in 1990 for the development of water electrolysis technology by solid polymer electrolyte. He successfully completed the project and presented a paper at an international conference held at Pusan University, Pusan, Korea. In 2001, he was invited to develop ozone production technology by solid polymer electrolyte. Subsequently, many teachers and scholars from the Chemistry Department were invited to work there. The most significant contribution of Dr Singh has been to initiate joint research and faculty exchange programme with the Korea Institute of Energy Research, Korea. Dr Singh argues for the development of hydrogen production technology by solid polymer electrolyte. Hydrogen is projected as a fuel for the future because it is clean, energy efficient and eco-friendly. Significantly, when it is used in fuel cells, the waste product is H2O. Therefore, to develop a technology for the large-scale production of H2 is urgently needed. Fighting the curse of malaria Dr Surendra Gakhar of the Department of Bio-Sciences has the rare distinction of being actively involved in both academics and administration. With a brilliant academic record, Dr Gakhar is on the faculty of Maharshi Dayanand University since 1986. During this period, he has published 55 research papers in international and national journals of repute. Besides this, he has completed five major research projects sponsored by various central funding agencies on Anopheles Stephensi mosquito, a vector for malaria parasite on the Indian sub-continent where its control has been hampered due to insecticidal resistance. He has also published two books and four students have been awarded the Ph.D. degree under his supervision. Dr Gakhar was awarded the ‘Young Scientist Award’ in 1991 for his outstanding contribution in the field of Developmental Biology for working on the pattern of
isoenzymes, proteins and amino acids related to differentiation programme during insect development. In 1995, he organised a national symposium on Developmental Biology in which more than 200 delegates from all over the country gathered to make recommendations on the future pathway of research in this field. In the same year, he was invited by the American Ageing Association at the University of Texas, USA to attend their annual conference on ‘Biomedical Ageing Research’. Dr Gakhar was sponsored by the Ministry of Science and Technology for a training programme on “Animal Cell Culture and Gene Transfer” at Madurai Kamraj University. Subsequently, he was awarded Biotechnology National Associationship by the Department of Biotechnology, Ministry of Science and Technology. He worked at the Department of Biotechnology, AIIMS, on molecular characterisation of knob gene of malaria parasite, plasmodium falciparum, which causes cerebral malaria. Knob gene product is an antigen for malaria vaccine. For the past 22 years, he has been actively pursuing research, particularly on the malaria parasite and vector interactions. His main aim is to control the noxious properties of the female Anopheles mosquitoes. He has identified certain immune responsive genes, which are responsible for the immunity of mosquitoes. Currently, Dr Gakhar has identified some antigens genes for the vector directed malaria transmission blocking vaccine. Though, it will be an altruistic vaccine, it will bring down mosquito population and also block the development of parasites of mosquitoes. His work was recognised when his research paper was adjudged as the best research paper in the UGC working conference on Entomological Research at Punjab University in 2002. Recently, he was invited to present his work at an international conference on Dipterology held at Queensland University, Brisbane, Australia. In addition to all these academic achievements, Dr Gakhar is holding the additional charge of director, Directorate of Distance Education. He has also been director, Public Relations,
MDU. |
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Sonia asked to sort out factionalism Rohtak, January 16 Mr Subhash Batra, a senior Congress leader and a former minister alleged today that some party leaders boycotted the party rally for personal reasons. He said the demonstration was organised to mount pressure on the Centre for the completion of the SYL canal, considered to be the lifeline for the farmers of Haryana. He claimed that a large number of people from different parts of the state attended the rally despite the bitter cold. However, he accepted that factionalism and political rivalry had led to the absence of certain leaders of the party from the rally. He said these leaders had not only given a wrong signal to the masses but had betrayed the feelings of the people, especially the farmers, as the demonstration was part of a campaign to put pressure on the Centre for the completion of the SYL canal. Describing the ‘boycott’ of the rally by some leaders as harmful for the interest of the party, Mr Batra said a delegation of the leaders of Haryana unit would soon meet the AICC chief, Ms Sonia Gandhi, to apprise her of the gravity of the situation. He said a memorandum would also be submitted to Ms Gandhi seeking that the ‘erring’ leaders of the party be directed to express their solidarity on such occasions. Mr Krishan Murti Hooda, a former minister and spokesman, HPCC, alleged that certain political parties had opposed the demonstration due to political reasons. He said that the agitation for putting pressure on the union government for the completion of the SYL canal would continue till the goal was fully achieved. He appealed to other political parties not to ignore the interests of the people of Haryana on political ground. Mr Sushil Saini, general secretary, Haryana Youth Congress and Mr Dalip Singh Hooda, president, Human Rights Cell of the DCC condemned Mr Bhupinder Singh Hooda, the leader of the Opposition in Haryana, Mr Birender Singh, a former HPCC chief and Ms Shailja, a senior Congress leader for boycotting the demonstration. |
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Brig Nambiar gets VSM for exemplary
service Meerut, January 16 Brigadier Nambiar joined the prestigious Indian Military Academy in 1967 and was commissioned into the Artillery Unit in 1969. Brigadier Nambiar was awarded the VSM for his development work in the Meerut Cantonment. It is due to his efforts that the Meerut Cantonment became the role model among all the 66 cantonments in the country. As the Sub-Area Commander and president of the Cantonment Board, Brigadier Nambiar started a war against the land mafia, who had encroached on a large area of Army land worth crores of rupees. He masterminded the demolition of illegal constructions in the cantonment area as these illegal constructions were posing a threat to the security of the cantonment. Brigadier Nambiar also played an important role in the beautification of the Meerut Cantonment through his vision. Beautification of the famous Chatt Bazar, Haat, construction of the working women’s hostel, renovation of the oldest Army club, Wheeler Club (1862), also took place during his short tenure. As the president of the Cantonment Board, Brigadier Nambiar is also popular in the city as he had been instrumental in giving Meerut city a totally new look. In a telephonic conversation with the ‘NCR Tribune’, Brigadier Nambiar said that it was due to the efforts and co-operation of his seniors that he could do something for the people of Meerut. |
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HVP leader flays govt on drought
relief Rewari, January 16 Addressing a series of meetings in various villages on Wednesday as part of the party’s public awareness campaign, he said that it was ironical that out of the 414 villages of the district, only about half a dozen villages had been declared drought-affected while the ground reality depicted horrible drought conditions throughout the district. It was all the more agonising that only a paltry amount of Rs 27,820 had been sanctioned as the first instalment of drought relief for formers of the district. He wondered whether this was not a cruel joke by the government as it had sent hundreds of truckloads of fodder to Rajasthan apparently to earn accolades for itself while entire the south Haryana had been facing a severe fodder crisis. |
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Employers of illegal migrants to be
targeted New Delhi, January 16 “The Crime Branch would also crack down on these immigrants and is in the process of identifying those people who are harbouring them illegally,” said Joint Commissioner of Police (Crime) U. K. Katna. “The coordination committee meetings, which were initiated in the year 2000, have been yielding fruitful results as we have better coordination between the states in nabbing the criminals who are also involved in various other crimes”, said Mr Katna. The criminals of these states can strike in the Capital and go scot-free, taking advantage of the borders. |
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NCR BRIEFS Panipat, January 16 In a memorandum to the DC, the residents alleged that inebriated hooligans thronged the shop all through the day and indulged in eve-teasing and other undesirable activities. It has become difficult for women to venture out of their home. AIATF
to honour Sunita The All-India Anti-Terrorist Front (AIATF) has decided to honour the Indian middle-distance runner, Sunita Rani, who was returned her 1500m gold and 5000m bronze medal, which she won at 14th Asian Games at Busan. Stating this here today, the president of the Haryana unit, Mr Satish Bansal, said that the front would also honour the family members of those killed at the Akshardham Temple in Gujarat on January 27 in New Delhi. Woman shot Sonepat: Ms Sheela Malik, a member of the District Red Cross Society and an inspector of a cooperative society, was shot dead by an unidentified youth in broad daylight. She was glancing through a newspaper at an auto service station on the Atlas road here yesterday when the alleged assailant shot her. He managed to escape immediately towards the railway track. The police have registered a case and launched a hunt to nab the assailant. The cause of the murder is still being ascertained by the police. The incident has caused panic among the shopkeepers and other residents of the area. Youths hurt in clash Three youths are reported to have received knife injuries in a clash between two groups in Ashok Nagar (Kutcha quarters) here last night. According to a report, all the injured youths — Navdeep, Virender and Devinder — were immediately hospitalised and they are stated to be out of danger. Eve-teasing of the sister of an injured youth was stated to be the main cause of the clash. The police are still investigating into the case. No arrest has been made yet in this connection. |
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Greater Noida farmers bracing for another
agitation Noida, January 16 The farmers are piqued more because the presence of three persons from the area in the Cabinet also has not been of help in getting their demands accepted. The farmers have been trying to secure land compensation at the rate prevalent in Noida for a long time. However, due to the politics of instability in the state, they say, their demand has repeatedly been ignored. In a meeting at the district headquarters on December 23 last year, the farmers had presented a 15-point charter of demand to Deputy Chief Executive of GNIDA Komal Ram. The DCEO had assured farmers that their demands would be realistically considered. The farmers had warned the GNIDA officers that in case their demands were not considered in a realistic manner, they would be forced to hold a huge rally at the office of the authority on February 17 and that they would jam its functioning. “How fair is it when Noida farmers are being given land compensation at the rate of Rs 325 per square yard while in adjacent Greater Noida we are being offered Rs 223 per square yard?” the farmers ask. If the rates of residential sectors, commercial sectors and institutional areas in both the authorities can be similar, why can’t the rates of land compensation from both the development authorities be the same is their second poser. |
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Workers demand law against
exploitation Rewari, January 16 The conference was held under the auspices of the Haryana Construction Workers Union, which is affiliated to the Centre of Indian Trade Union (CITU). Several other resolutions were passed. The conference also sought constitution of a workers welfare fund and formulation of a pension scheme for the benefit of the workers of the unorganised sector. Addressing the conference, Mr Subhash Jangra, state president of the workers’ union, warned that if the government failed to provide them legal protection against exploitation, the union would be compelled to resort to peaceful agitation at various levels. Earlier in his keynote address, comrade Khem Chand, district president of the CITU, flayed the state government as well as officials of the State Labour Department for their persistent apathy towards the aggrieved workers of the unorganised sector. |
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Four of family killed in road mishap Sonepat According to a report, the victims were on their way to Punjab from Maharashtra in a jeep. The victims have not been identified so far. The injured are Inder Singh (50), Maninder (18), Harbhajan Kaur (40), Ram Singh (40), Jaswinder Kaur (35) and Subhdeep (18). According to another report, 15 persons were injured when due to the dense fog three vehicles were involved in an accident at Kumaspur village on the GT Road today. The injured have been hospitalised.
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Two killed, four injured in road
accident Faridabad, January 16 Commits suicide A 13-year-old girl student committed suicide by hanging herself in her house at Shiv Nagar locality here on Wednesday. The deceased, identified as Veena, was a student of a government school in Sarai Khwaja area and had been reportedly perturbed over her performance. It is learnt that she took the extreme step in her house with the help of a dupatta. |
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Two women found
murdered New Delhi, January 16 The watchman told the police that he found the victim’s main door open while taking rounds and tried to inquire if everything was all right. When there was no response, he went inside and found Sanchita Jindal stabbed to death. She had injury marks on her neck and abdomen. The police found a lunch box and two days’ newspapers outside her house. The victim lived alone as she was separated from her husband. A case of murder has been registered in the Lajpat Nagar police station, the police said. In Badarpur, Kusum (28) was reportedly strangled in her house. She was married to Dharam Dev, a TSR driver, seven years ago and had two sons, aged five and three. The victim’s husband went to his work last night. He returned today morning and find Kusum strangled with a belt. A friendly entry is suspected in the house. A case of murder has been registered by the Badarpur police. |
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Man deprived of car New Delhi Robber's
gang busted The West district police today claimed to have busted a gang of robbers with the arrest of five suspects. The suspects were identified as Shalender Kumar, Braham Chari, Ram Dhari, Rajbir and Ramjeet. They specialised in the theft of industrial raw material. Two knives and one country-made revolver with one live cartridge were recovered from their possession. They were arrested from the Kirti Nagar area.
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