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February 12, 2003, Chandigarh, India
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SUICIDE SPREE Bulandshahr, February 11 The girl, Aruna, was reportedly a computer engineering student while the young man, Sanjeev, was running a travel agency in Jaipur. His extreme step has jeopardised the lives of his wife and three kids. According to the police, they were found by the hotel staff writhing in pain and gasping for breath on Sunday around 4 am. The hotel staff barged in after hearing frenzied screams from the room. They informed the Kotwali police who rushed the lovebirds to the district hospital, where they breathed their last a short while later. They had reached the hotel, situated on the Delhi road under the city Kotwali area, in a Santro car with Rajasthan registration numbers on Saturday. They were on the second floor of the hotel. Liquor bottles, sulphas tablets, a woman’s purse and a suicide note were recovered by the police from the room. Their names and addresses were mentioned in the suicide note. The young man had identified himself as Sanjeev and the girl as Aruna. No reason was assigned for committing suicide. The phone numbers in the note enabled the police to inform the two families. Woman kills kids, commits suicide New Delhi: In a bizarre incident, a woman killed her three minor children and committed suicide at Devli village in South Delhi area yesterday. Thirty-five year-old Munni strangled her three-year-old daughter and two sons, aged six and 10 years, at her rented accommodation in the village, the police said. Subsequently, she hanged herself from a fan using her dupatta, they said, adding the incident came to light at around 7.15 pm when her brother-in-law came to meet the family. When he did not get any response from inside after knocking repeatedly at the door, he informed the police. The police broke open the door and found her hanging from the ceiling fan. Her husband had gone to his native village in Uttar Pradesh when the incident happened. The exact reason behind her extreme step was not immediately known, the police said. (Photo on page 3) Man hangs from tree New Delhi: A 40-year-old unidentified man was found hanging from a nylon cord from a tree on Bandematram road in New Delhi district today. He was wearing gray colour trousers and a brown jacket. His shoes were lying under the tree in such a manner that he would have climbed on the tree to commit suicide, the police said.
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PUBLIC PLACES Ghaziabad, February 11 A large board in front of the Ayurvedic hospital in Modi Nagar announces emphatically that it has facilities for family planning, mother and child care, emergency services etc. But once you step inside the 25-bed hospital on Sarda Road, Modi Nagar, the stark reality hits you: the hospital itself is ailing and needs to be put on the drip. For instance, there are 12 beds in one ward while the other rooms are being used as exalted store rooms only. It is another matter that there are hardly any articles to be kept in the stores. According to sources, patients are refused admission because the facilities in the hospital are pathetic. And those who are admitted can’t be kept for longer than three to four hours a day. Most of the patients come for advise on family planning, medical termination of pregnancies etc. Cough, cold, fever etc are the other complaints. All the patients have to pay Rs 2 for an admission card to avail of the treatment. Housed in a rented accommodation, the government hospital is almost in a dilapidated condition. Except for the doctor’s room, all other rooms are without electricity - no bulbs or tube lights can be seen. Sanitation and cleanliness are alien to this place. There is only one water tap on the premises and the lone hand pump is worth its value in scrap. There is of course a bathroom and a toilet block, but without doors; so that lady patients cannot possibly use them. The government is reportedly incurring an expenditure of Rs 82,000 on the hospital per month, mainly to pay the wages and salaries of the two doctors and nine other employees. The table in the labour room has rusted, so that no delivery has taken place in the hospital for the last six months, says Dr Shiksha Rani, the doctor in-charge. Umpteen times she has written to the authorities for out-of-stock medicines but to no avail. The hospital had last received its supply — a box containing some 25 medicines — in July 2002. . “In these circumstances, if something goes wrong, the villagers will make mince meat of us.” In the Casualty Department, “We can dress or stitch only minor injuries,” the doctor said. Body & mind course for Tihar inmates New Delhi: A one-year diploma course in holistic science for prisoners was launched at Prison No 2 of Tihar Jail in South West Delhi on Tuesday. To be run jointly by the Jail administration and an NGO, the course deals with human body at all three levels – body, mind and soul. Delhi Health Minister A. K. Walia launched the course. He said 50 prisoners had been selected and would undergo training for a year in basic anatomy and physiology, naturopathy, yoga, chromotherapy, hydrotherapy and aromatherapy.
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Vedanti told to expel Sarna for New Delhi, February 11 In a joint statement, Mr Rajinder Singh Ladi and Mr Inderjeet Singh Vikaspuri of the SAD (Badal) alleged that the DSGMC president had sought the help of Congress leader Sajjan Kumar to win the committee polls. Though this issue had been raised by different leaders earlier, the two SAD leaders today said the president of the All India Anti-Terrorist Front and former Indian Youth Congress president, Mr Maninderjit Singh Bitta, has now confirmed the help sought by Mr Sarna. This, Mr Rajinder Singh Ladi and Mr Inderjeet Singh Vikaspuri said, clearly indicates that the SAD Delhi president had betrayed the faith reposed in him by the community by seeking the help of a person whom the Sikhs continue to hold guilty for the 1984 anti-Sikh riots, even though the judiciary had acquitted him. The statement urged the Akal Takht Jathedar to summon Mr Sarna and expel him from the community for his act. Mr Sarna had denied this allegation and had threatened to expose the nexus of SAD (Badal)
leaders with different Congress leaders. On the parking issue, the two leaders said the DSGMC, by asking the NDMC to construct the parking lot, has denigrated the image of the community. Recalling the government’s offer to rebuild the Akal Takht after the Operation Bluestar, Mr Rajinder Singh Ladi and Mr Inderjeet Singh Vikaspuri said the community had rejected the offer and built the Akali Takht on its own. The Sikh community in the Capital does have the capability to build the parking lot opposite Gurdwara Bangla Sahib, but that opportunity has been denied to the community, they added. |
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Youths rob Rs 7 lakh from Hyundai showroom Gurgaon, February 11 According to police sources, four smartly dressed youths reached Orion Automobiles Private Limited, the Hyundai showroom, in a Maruti Esteem car at about half past six yesterday evening. While one youth remained in the driver’s seat, three entered the showroom and pretended that they were interested in buying a car. While talking with the sales executives, they inched towards the cashier’s window, whipped out revolvers and threatened the staff. Under duress, the cashier handed over the cash to them. After snatching the cash, the youths rushed towards the car whose engine was kept running by their associate. They were seen speeding towards Delhi. The staff later told the police that the robbers appeared to be educated as they had spoken some words in English. “When they entered the showroom, we thought that they were customers who had come to buy a vehicle,” said one staff member who was present at the time of the incident. The Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) reached the spot soon after and started investigations after lodging an FIR. Senior Superintendent of Police Kuldeep Singh Siag said that various teams had been formed to trace the culprits.
Qualis snatched New Delhi: Three unidentified youths, armed with country-made pistols, robbed a Toyota Qualis from Mehrauli last night. The vehicle belonged to Rajesh Jain, a resident of Pusa Road, and was driven by his driver. As the driver reached Aaya Nagar on way to Gurgaon, the suspects, who were in a Maruti car, overtook his vehicle. They dragged him out of the vehicle and robbed it at gunpoint, the police said.
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Court orders probe into life threats to lawyers Sonepat, February 11 According to a report, the order follows the filing of a complaint in the court by president of the District Bar Association Prem Atrey and lawyer Raj Kumar who have alleged that the police authorities were not taking keen interest in solving the cases of repeated threats received by some lawyers from time to time. The District and Sessions Judge also ordered the SP to send the progress report of investigations on alternative days to the court. The court also fixed February 14 as the next date of hearing in the case. |
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Farmers demand probe into canal water shortage Sonepat, February 11 In a joint memorandum sent to the Chief Minister, Mr Om Prakash Chautala, a copy of which was released to the press here, they expressed concern over the unsatisfactory working of the division and demanded an immediate suspension of the executive engineer, the SDOs and other subordinate officials responsible for the shortage of canal water even during the period of rotation. The memorandum blamed the officials of the division for not cleaning the canals and distributaries properly despite the instructions issued by the Chief Minister. It alleged that the desilting and deweeding operations carried out by the officials were merely eyewash as the farmers whose fields are situated at the tail-end villages had been facing the shortage of canal water for irrigation. Consequently, the farmers are suffering huge financial losses. Meanwhile, most of the irrigation schemes undertaken by various water service divisions during the past few years are infested with corrupt practices and have come in handy by some corrupt officials of the department to make quick money at the cost of the state exchequer. According to informed sources, the heavy amount spent on the schemes had been misappropriated by the officials. Some of the works executed remain on paper only and the officials paid for the works! The muster rolls included the names of the persons who were never put on the job, it was alleged. The SDO (vigilance) appointed by the state government had remained a silent spectator as he failed to check the malpractices in the use of public funds. |
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SPECIAL FOCUS ON GURGAON Gurgaon, February 11 The seminar was organised to provide inputs to the committee constituted by the government to study the need for changes in the course structures for schools, colleges and higher educational institutes, including Engineering courses, ITIs and polytechnics. The committee is headed by the Finance Commissioner of the Labour Department. Speaking on the occasion, the president of the PHD Chamber of Commerce and Industry (Phdcci), Mr P.K.Jain, expressed serious concern at the decline in job opportunities in the country. As per an estimate, about five million unemployed people are added to the huge unemployed force in the country. In this scenario, the existing backlog and the future projections would pose a serious challenge. It was stated that our ‘rigid and over protective’ labour policy has had negative impact on employment generation. Building up a case for better skilled labour, he compared the industrial scene today with the one prevailing before the nation began on the path of liberalisation. Earlier, it was possible to absorb large number of unskilled labour in both public and the private sector, he said. He stated that in the protected economy, it was possible to resort to labour intensive production methods. On the other hand, their counterparts in the developed countries had moved on to highly mechanised system of production. The speakers at the seminar stressed that the structural changes in the economy have taken such a drastic turn that this phenomenon is no more sustainable. The need for modernisation and mechanisation, along with the economic recession, has taken a toll on the employment scene in the country. Hence, employing unskilled labour is no longer a feasible option for the industry, he said. The president of the Gurgaon Industrial Association (GIA), Mr J.N.Mangla, said that there was a lack of ‘quality manpower’ in Haryana. He lamented that there was lack of requisite mindset and work culture among the work force. He said these values and ethics must be inculcated among the youths while in schools and technical institutes. The president of the Gurgaon Chamber of Commerce and Industry (GCCI), Mr Arun Jain, also stressed the importance of skilled workforce in the state. The Director of Labour Department, Haryana, Mr Fateh Singh Dagar, who presided over the proceedings, expressed unison with the industry in favour of skilled force. He said that according to a rough estimate there were about 13 lakh unemployed persons in the age group of 20-39. He urged the industry to provide placements to youths even while improving their quality and production. He invited suggestions from the industry to improve the quality of skilled manpower in the state. |
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District
admn for a new look Gurgaon, February 11 A decision to this effect was taken at a ‘face to face’ joint meeting of the members of the Residents’ Welfare Associations (RWAs) of the city, organised a few days ago. The participants asked searching questions and made critical references on the quality of civic amenities in the city. The meeting drew a ‘master plan’ for action by the administration and identified water, electricity, garbage disposal, encroachments and sewage system as thrust areas that needed to be addressed immediately. Besides the Deputy Commissioner, the Additional Deputy Commissioner (ADC), Mr Mehatab Singh Sehrawat, who is also the administrator, along with other senior officers of the district were present in the meeting. Mr Rastogi took the opportunity to urge the participants to make “conscious” use of water and electricity in order to avoid wastage. While making out a case for their judicious use, he said that these were the possible areas, which had the potential to create problems for the residents, especially during the coming summer months. In response to demands from the participants, he assured that HUDA would issue a kind of “White Paper” on the money spent from the External Development Charges (EDCs). The participants alleged that they had no knowledge how the money collected from the plot holders in the form of EDC was spent. With regard to the disposal of garbage, he said that a plan was being worked out with the joint efforts of the Municipal Council, HUDA and the HSIDC to transport the garbage, collected in sectors and colonies, to the main dumping grounds on Basai road and village Gairatpur Baas. The residents also drew his attention to their other issues including the problem of extortion of money from traders, power theft, collection of “maintenance charges” by the private colonisers in spite of a ruling against it by the Punjab and Haryana High Court. Most of the issues and grievances raised in the meeting were from the residents of the posh DLF City. Many senior citizens and retired bureaucrats including the former foreign secretary, Mr J.N.Dixit, was also present on the occasion. He also spoke on the occasion and emphasised the need for transparency while utilising the money collected as part of
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Factory clogs the air with pollutants Rewari, February 11 The residents complain that the pollution has increased manifold after the factory’s expansion, taken place in 1999. The residents mainly comprise labourers and other weaker sections. They say that it is all the more agonising that their repeated written as well as verbal representations made to the factory management and the governmental authorities for the elimination of the menace have failed to yield any result. While the factory management maintains that the emission from their chimneys is much below the permitted level and the appropriate authorities also have from time to time furnished their concurrence in this regard, the ground reality seems to be contrary to such an assertion. Giving a precise description of the residents’ woes, their spokesman Sant Singh Makkar said that the pollution caused by the factory’s chimneys linked to the furnaces in which diesel and LDO were consumed to melt metals. This has not only affected the quality of the air but also spread out a sheet of black carbon particles over all household articles every day. Secondly, the hefty exhaust fans of the factory added to the noise pollution. Thirdly, the constant running of heavy and hefty machines of the factory also generated a high degree of noise pollution, making the life miserable for the residents, particularly during the night. Mr Makkar said that they have now submitted a memorandum to the Deputy Commissioner, Mr Vineet Garg, seeking prompt redressal of their grievances against the factory management. Besides, a copy of the memorandum has been sent to the chairman of the Haryana State Pollution Control Board Chandigarh for the necessary action, he added. |
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Water supply tariff revised Faridabad, February 11 According to details available, the domestic water supply charges for the metered section will be Rs 1.25 per kilo litre (KL) and Rs 2.50 per KL for the consumption between 1 and 15 KL per month and between 15 and 30 KL respectively. For the consumers using 30 KL and above the rate will be Rs 4 per KL. For commercial sector, it will be Rs 4 per KL. In the flat rate category, the consumers of single-storey house up to four marla size of plot will be Rs 50 while for a double-storey house, the charges will be Rs 60. Other charges are as under: 6 marla (single-storey)- Rs 90, 6 marla (double) Rs 135, marla (single) Rs 120, 8 marla (double) Rs 180, 10 marla (single) Rs 150, 10 marla (double) Rs 225, 14 marla (single) Rs 200, 14 marla (double) Rs 300, 1 kanal house (single) Rs 250, 1 kanal (double)- Rs 375, 2 kanal (single) Rs 700, 2 kanal (double) - Rs 1,000, one acre (single)- Rs 3,000, and one acre (double) Rs 5000/-. Two kids killed:
The incident took place at about 7 pm on Monday when the truck was coming from Sohna to Ballabgarh. As it entered the limits of Karnera village, it hit two children sitting outside a shop near the road. The deceased is the son of an armyman. The mishap led to traffic blockade by the villagers who set the truck on fire. The driver of the truck has been arrested. Meanwhile, a police constable who reached the spot and slapped the victim’s father has been suspended for being drunk. Child drowns:
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NCR BRIEFS Rohtak, February 11 Mr Surender Singh, cleaner of the truck said he along with the driver was moving from Sonepat to Hansi. He alleged the driver of the speeding Tata vehicle hit the truck from the opposite direction at around 11 pm. The truck driver died on the spot while the driver of Tata vehicle succumbed to his injuries at the PGIMS. A case under Section 279 and 304-A of the IPC has been registered in this connection.
Youth body found Jhajjar: The Bahadurgarh police found a body of a youth lying in mysterious circumstances near Sankhol village of the district last night. The body was identified as that of Bijender (30) of Kheri Sadh village. Some sulphas pills were also recovered near the body. However, the cause of the death has not been confirmed yet. The body was sent for a post-mortem.
Athletic meet The 43 annual athletic meet of the government college, Jhajjar, concluded here today. Mr Pankaj Agrawal, SDM was the chief guest on the occasion who distributed the prizes to the winners of their respective events. Naresh Kumar of BA 1, and Kumari Manju of BA 11 were declared best athletes in men and women events respectively. Prof Azad Singh presented the annual report of the college on the occasion.
Shop burgled Burglars reportedly struck into an electronics shop in Bahadurgarh town and decamped with gadgets worth Rs 40,000 last night. Satish Kumar, owner of the shop, lodged a complaint with the police today.
Rabi crop Faridabad: Sowing of rabi crops has been done on an area of 1,41,000 hectares in the district so far. According to the authorities concerned wheat has been sown on about 1,26,000 hectares while pulses, barley and oil seeds have been sown on 1,000, 4,000 and 9,500 hectares. It is stated that light to moderate rainfall in the last week of January has come as a booster for rabi crops. Meanwhile, it is learnt that the agriculture department has distributed about 35,680 tonnes of urea among the farmers, besides 19,760 tonnes of DAP, 265 tonnes of SGP, 192 tonnes of zinc sulphate and 81 tonnes of other variety.
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DELHI DIGEST New Delhi, February 11 Based on the complaint from the person, the CBI laid a trap and caught Gill red-handed while he was accepting a bribe of Rs 5,000 as the first instalment. Since the complainant had rented his computers to a company from where the computers were seized, he demanded the release of the computers. ESI blood bank ‘excellent’: The study pointed out that the 600-bedded hospital at Basaidarapur on the Ring Road was rated as the best among 16 blood bank laboratories in nine countries. “In all the parameters, the blood bank of the ESI hospital has secured excellent rating,” the study said. The hospital is the largest in the country with all specialities including an Intensive Care Unit (ICU) and a full-fledged Cardiology Unit.
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Property
tax scheme New Delhi, February 11 He said that under the new scheme, the house tax would be levied on the basis of covered area, which would affect the old constructions and benefit the builder lobby. The report was directly submitted before the Chief Minister, Mrs Sheila Dikshit, which was unethical as the committee was constituted by the Standing Committee of the corporation and the report should also be submitted before the committee. He also advised that the corporation should start one primary model school in each zone of the Capital to raise the education standard of the corporation schools. He regretted that the MCD did not have enough staff to maintain its parks. A number of parks are there in his ward in Pratap Nagar which have only 12 gardeners.
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Punjabi
mela in Capital from Feb 13 New Delhi, February 11 The mela would provide an opportunity for the people to witness the glorious culture and traditional crafts from the land of five rivers.
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Youth killed by friends Noida, February 11 The murder came to light in the morning. A report was lodged by one Mukesh. The police have sent the body for a post-mortem. The murder is stated to be committed in revenge. Investigations are on. Man stabbed to death:
Three persons including two brothers have been arrested for the murder of Shamshad, 22, a resident of Bhojpur, Faridnagar. He had come to kill Asif. But before he could do anything, Asharif and Asif, sons of Illyas, pounced upon him. He was stabbed to death later, the police said. Soon the police Circle Officer, Shishpal Singh, and the Mussori police station SO reached there with the police force. They said that the deceased had a criminal record and was wanted by the police of Seemapuri, Modi Nagar, Bhojpur and Muradnagar for cases of loot, theft and murderous attacks. He had been
extended under Goonda Act. According to police, one of Shamshad’s cousins had eloped with Aasif who later married her. Shamshad had apparently come to take revenge.
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JE held for bribe Sonepat, February 11 According to a report, a case under the Anti-Corruption Act has been registered with the vigilance wing of the Haryana police. It is stated that a team of officials, headed by Mr R K Ranga, a Naib Tehsildar and a Warrant Officer, deputed by a court, carried out a surprise raid in the office of the UHBVN at Bhatgaon village and caught the junior engineer while he was accepting Rs 400 as bribe from the consumer. However, the junior engineer managed to flee from the spot but was chased by the raiding party who again caught him from a powerhouse. The party also recovered the currency notes signed by the officials. It is also stated that a consumer Mr Karamvir of Mahra village approached the inspector of the vigilance department and told him that the junior engineer had been demanding Rs 400 from him for releasing the power connection. Thereupon, the inspector approached the court and a warrant officer was deputed to apprehend the culprit. Cyclist killed:
According to a report, the police have impounded the canter and launched a hunt for the driver. Two hurt in accident:
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Hoax callers get their just deserts New Delhi, February 11 The train had left the railway station. It was stopped at Naya Azadpur Railway Station. The train had been thoroughly checked, but nothing was recovered. The call was declared hoax. The caller’s mobile number was traced. Subsequently, he was arrested and sent in judicial custody. In another case, the police arrested Deepak Kumar who had allegedly called the PCR on March 18 last year that a bomb had been planted in Avadh-Assam train. It was also a hoax call. The report was submitted before the court and the suspect was then called through a notice. He was also fined Rs 6 000 by the court. The amount will be deposited in the Police Welfare Fund, the police said. |
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Rs 22 lakh in fake notes seized Ghaziabad: The Kotwali police claimed to have nabbed three youths with over Rs 2.22 lakh in fake Indian currencies and a revolver. These operators in fake notes were nabbed by in charge of the Special Operations Group A. K. Gautam and SO of Kotwali, Ghaziabad K. K. Gautam. Two of them have been identified as Vinode and Zahid, both residents of Dadri. The fake notes were in the denominations of Rs 500, Rs 100, and Rs 50. A large quantity of semi-printed notes and a revolver were recovered from the third accused, Amit Gujjar, SSP Chandra Prakash said. A costly scanner, a photocopier, a motorbike and a scooter were also seized from them. OC
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A ‘hassle-free’ housing project Gurgaon, February 11 The total cost of the project would be around Rs 250 crores. “While Unitech will contribute Rs 45 crores for the development of the project, some money would be taken as loans from financial institutions. The rest will be funded from the sale of flats,” said Mr Ramesh Chandra, MD, Unitech Limited, while speaking to mediapersons yesterday. Uniworld is a lush green 15 acres oasis, with enchanting oriental landscaping. With maintenance-free exteriors exuding old-world warmth, the interiors have all possible amenities for modern day convenient living. These spacious apartments are accessed through high-speed lifts and the picturesque surroundings are visible from their windows. A large foyer lends privacy to the rest of the house, with a panoramic view of lush green surroundings unblocked by adjacent buildings, said Mr Chandra. The complex is being designed by Rajinder Kumar and Associates, who have over 500 projects to their credit in India and abroad. The club, which would have a swimming pool, pool tables, TV lounge, squash and badminton courts, and restaurants with perfect ambience, is the perfect place to unwind after a hard day’s work. The complex would have provision for power backup, 24-hour water supply and an extensive security network. The security set up includes closed circuit television, swipe card security systems and intercoms linking each apartment to guard blocks and the lobby. Mr Chandra said that the company also plans to construct 550-600 flats every year. Unitech is the only Indian real estate developers to have been awarded an ISO 9002 certification. |
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