 |
|
| Saturday,
June 21, 2003, Chandigarh, India
|
|
|||
|
Prem Singh cautions dissidents New Delhi, June 20 Addressing his first news conference, Chaudhary Prem Singh, who replaced Ms Dikshit’s known detractor, Mr Subhash Chopra, was dismissive of reported groupism in the party unit but asserted that “indiscipline would not be tolerated at any cost.” He also said the conditional access system (CAS) was not in the “interest of the people” and that his party would take to the streets against its implementation. The NDA government was trying to implement CAS at the cost of the common man who would be adversely affected, he told reporters. “CAS will be an expensive exercise which the majority will not be able to afford,” he said, adding that the party would whip up a people’s agitation if the Centre tried to implement it against “public will.” According to the schedule, CAS was to be implemented in the four metros from July 14 and talks were on between the government, cable operators and the broadcasters for deciding the cost of services. The third time Congress unit chief alleged the Capital was facing “unprecedented” problems under the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government. “A sword of uncertainty is hanging over the heads of lakhs of people living in unauthorised colonies as the Union Government is on a demolition spree,” said Chaudhary Prem Singh, a Dalit, who has been appointed to the post just a few months ahead of the Assembly elections with an eye on a huge chunk of voters of the community. |
|
Petrol pump land allotment to be more transparent New Delhi, June 20 The new policy was approved in today’s meeting chaired by Lieutenant Governor Vijai Kapoor, who is the ex-officio chairman of DDA. The new policy allows for temporary allotment of land to all oil companies for setting up petrol stations. The temporary allotment, subject to paying the licence fee and valid for five years, would be done by way of auction or tender. (The DDA is allotting land by a draw of lots.) The reserve price for a petrol station or gas godown will be five per cent and two per cent of the commercial value, respectively. The Price Fixation Committee will fix the reserve price for the area disposed off for the setting up of a petrol station or a gas godown. The licence fee will increase by eight per cent annually. The successful tenderer or bidder will deposit one year’s worth of licence fee in advance as security deposit. For the sites already allotted, the licence fee will be revised and fixed anew as determined by the Price Fixation Committee on the basis of commercial value of the land. Furthermore there will be no out-of-turn allotment on compassionate grounds. (The DDA is charging a licence fee that was fixed in 1994.) The DDA says the policy has been revised because the allotment was being made strictly on the basis of seniority of the waitlisted Letter of Intent. The oil companies used to reject sites on the ground of economic
unviability leading to delay in allotment and a long waiting period for the people who have been issued the Letter of Intent. The licence fee will be revised to reflect the true commercial value of the land and stem the trend of petrol stations being used for other commercial purposes like automated teller machine (ATM) centre, snack bar, etc. The DDA says the revised policy will ensure that the site itself will determine its market value and it would not lie undisposed of by the DDA on the pretext of its unviability. Also, there will be no request for change of site, once allotted, on the ground of poor viability or feasibility. |
|
Protocol
problems as post of MCF Commissioner Faridabad, June 20 The state government has upgraded the post of the Commissioner, MCF, to that of Zonal Commissioner and has posted Mr S. C. Jain, IAS, as the new incumbent. Mr Jain, who had been the Deputy Commissioner of Faridabad in 2001, took over as the Commissioner, MCF, here yesterday. Till now, the man holding this post had been junior to the Deputy Commissioner as the latter was the seniormost officer in the district. But now the MCF Commissioner has become the seniormost bureaucrat in the district. The DC, who takes care of all development work, will have to abide by the protocol entailing this change. Grievances and complaints made at the DC level cannot be marked directly to the MCF boss because of rules of seniority. Till now all meetings of district officials were chaired by the Deputy Commissioner but if the MCF Commissioner chooses to attend any meeting he ought to chair it in keeping with protocol. This is perhaps the first time in the history of any district in the state that a bureaucrat posted as the head of a civic body in a district is senior to the DC. Earlier, the MCF Commissioner had to report to the Divisional Commissioner at Gurgaon regarding the corporation and its functioning. Matters like election of a new Mayor, giving oath to MCF members and any decision about a no-trust motion against the Mayor were to be decided by the Divisional Commissioner. The state government has reportedly decided to post senior IAS officers of Commissioner level as administrative heads of the municipal corporations. At present, only Faridabad has a municipal corporation in Haryana. It has a budget of about Rs 120 crore. The civic body has been facing acute shortage of funds for development schemes since the abolition of octroi in 1999. Although some of the works, including operation of tubewells and sanitation, have passed into private hands on contract basis, things have failed to improve on the civic front. |
|
EMPTY COFFERS Noida, June 20 Mr Ravi was joined by the Chairman of the Noida and Greater Noida administration in stressing that officials should, in an effective way, try to convince the property owners to pay up the stamp duty before the deadline. The Assistant Director (Stamp), Mr Sewa Lal, said builders and departments should go in for registry right now. Otherwise, they would have to cough up registry charges at hiked Collector rate later. All properties on power of attorney can be registered on procuring an NOC. All officers attending this meeting had presented a list of properties in their respective areas which have not been duly registered even after their physical possession was taken. Two held for palming
off property The police have arrested two persons who used to palm off other people’s property fraudulently. The police are looking for certain property dealers of Noida who are suspected to have been involved in this fraud. According to Mr Sudesh Gupta, Station Officer, Sector 20 police station, Geeta Miglani of Faridabad had filed a complaint on May 13 that someone had sold off her plot in Sector 46. After registering a case for fraud, the police started looking for the culprits. Soon after, a Delhi resident, Rajeshwar Tiwari, also lodged a report, stating that his plot in Sector 46 had been sold off by some cheats after getting the duplicate documents prepared. Three persons, Sohan Singh of 107 Green Valley, Sector 18, Rohini, Delhi, Bal Kishan of Roop Nagar, Delhi, and Sunder Gupta have been named in this report for cheating and fraud. The police have nabbed Sohan Singh and Bal Kishan while Sunder Gupta has been absconding. |
|
WAKE-UP CALL New Delhi, June 20 Giving details, Mr Arya informed that up to June 7 this year, only 1, 15, 246 metric tonnes of silt had been taken out of nullahs as against 4, 36, 233 metric tonnes taken out last year. Mr Ram Babu Sharma, Chairman, Standing Committee, had assured at the start of the year that the MCD would spend Rs 15 crore for desilting of nullahs but till today Rs 19.51 crore had been spent and the quantity of silt removed was no less. He further alleged that out of a total of 1,166 nullahs, the work of desilting had been completed only in 130 nullahs and was in progress in the other 640. The remaining would be left out, causing great inconvenience to the public. Out of 641 septic tanks, only 285 had been cleaned so far. Mr Arya said that yesterday’s rain had created waterlogging in many areas. The low-lying areas were still submerged, causing great inconvenience to the public. He lamented that water pumps had not been installed so far to drain out the water. He alleged that low-lying areas like Shahdara would be submerged in the next spell of rain, if water pumps were not installed. He demanded that the work of desilting of remaining nullahs should be completed on a war footing and pumps deployed at vulnerable points. The stagnant water in many colonies should be drained out immediately. The Municipal Commissioner, Mr Rakesh Mehta, said the zonal offices had been provided mobile pumps to be used in an emergency. Desilting work of the nullahs was being done on a war footing and it would be completed before the start of the monsoon. He claimed the corporation also had plans to install 252 additional pump sets. Besides, the corporation had 79 permanent and four temporary pumping stations to pump out logged water. He said cow dung was a major cause of water logging in some areas. People have dairies in most of the unauthorised colonies and dung is washed out in drains which makes them waterlogged. |
|
Drug-coated stents cost-effective alternative to bypass New Delhi, June 20 In a study presented at the American College of Cardiology last month, interventional cardiologists from Holland presented their follow-up experience on more than 500 patients on all types of blockages, including 26 per cent with multi-vessel disease who were treated with Rapamycin-coated cypher stent. The results showed the use of drug-coated stents in all types of coronary artery blockages had resulted in a strikingly low rate of recurrence of angina and heart attacks. Repeat procedure was required in less than two per cent of such patients. As a result of their ability to prevent recurrent blockage, drug-coated stents were found to be cost-effective and in fact cheaper than bypass surgery on a one-year follow-up. He further informed that the study was likely to change the strategies for treatment of patients with multi-vessel coronary artery disease. The preference would shift from a more invasive open heart surgery to a less invasive
balloon angioplasty using drug-coated stents. The overall procedure would turn out to be cheaper, considering the recurrence with ordinary stents and loss of working days after bypass surgery. Such patients could return to work after a week’s time. In his personal experience of using more than 75 drug-coated stents in 50 patients with several of them receiving two or more such stents for multi-vessel disease, all were free from angina and none required bypass surgery. He is of the opinion that pooled data from other centres in our country will strengthen the observation made in Europe and hopes that drug coated stents may soon emerge as an effective treatment with long-term durability. |
|
More rain augurs well
for Monsoon watchers New Delhi, June 20 Till 8.30 a.m. on Friday, the weathermen had recorded eight cm rainfall in the last 24 hours in the city. The maximum temperature dipped five degrees below normal to touch 33.8 degree Celcius while the minimum was recorded at 23 degree Celsius, which was six degrees below normal. While there were fewer power cuts on Friday, the civic agencies were beseeched with complaints of flooding in many areas. The weather pundits, however, say that Saturday is likely to be hotter by around two degrees; there is also possibility of
rain accompanied with dust and thunderstorm. TNS |
Allottees forced to pay for covering council’s ad expenses Ghaziabad, June 20 The state government had issued a government order (No. 3) on January 1 this year, which made it mandatory that plots and houses will be registered as per the new rates, although original allottees are given the option to get their registration completed at old rates. An interest of 21 per cent has also been levied as a penalty on the cost of plots and houses. This way the price of a house, which had originally cost Rs 2.30 lakh, is fixed at Rs 13 lakh now. Thus, an original allottee will have to add Rs 23,000 by way of stamp duty on a house priced at Rs 2.30 lakh while the person who has acquired the property for Rs 13 lakh on the power of attorney basis would have to add 10 per cent as stamp duty, which comes to Rs 1.30 lakh. When the registration is done in the name of a person(s) who has acquired it on the power of attorney basis, Rs 3,000 will have to be added to the total value on account of the advertisement expenses, it is learnt. This is being done for getting a NOC from the original owner. According to the Vasundhara RWA president, Prem Singh Chauhan, the UP Avas Vikas Parishad has fixed the value of the house so high that those who have got the property on the power of attorney basis are not in a position to go in for a formal registration in their own name. Such persons have been forced to get the same done in the name of original allottees. But the parishad has ruled that even for power of attorney, the allottees will have to pay Rs 3,000 more, because the parishad wants to cover the cost of the press advertisement it issued to demand an NOC from the original allottees. The parishad would not have incurred any expenditure for getting the no objection certificates from the original allottees if, instead of press advertisement, it had used the postal facility, it would not have cost more than Rs 25 per allottee, says the general secretary of the Vasundhara RWA, Chetanya Chaturvedi. |
|
Agra, Gurgaon canals: A bridge too far? Faridabad, June 20 According to the district authorities, the bridges would be built near Kheri and Palla villages. While it has not been announced when the construction will start, the authorities claim that the new bridges would be ready before the onset of monsoon next year. The bridge near Kheri is estimated to cost Rs 1.72 crore and the Palla bridge Rs 1.65 crore. During a visit here a few months ago, the Chief Minister had announced the construction of the bridges. The estimates of the project have been prepared by the PWD, but the construction work would be the responsibility of the Irrigation Department. It is reported that except one bridge, the condition of about half a dozen bridges across these canals has been poor. These bridges are too narrow and two vehicles cannot pass side by side; the roads leading to them are also in a poor condition. These two canals run parallel to each other in the eastern part of the district, the absence of a bridge is a major bottleneck for residents of several villages situated along the bank of these canals. The Agra canal was constructed before Independence whereas the Gurgaon canal was built in 1960. ‘ Owing to the bottleneck, residents of this area, dubbed `Pul par’, have been living in a state of utter neglect. An ambitious plan of carving out HUDA sectors just across the canals was shelved about a decade ago. It is now felt that the development of urban sectors could have improved the communication and road facilities in the area. Though the decision of the government has brought some cheer, many residents are worried that unless the roads in the area are reinforced and widened, the bridges may end up being just showpieces. |
|
Clash over possession of land averted Sonepat, June 20 According to information, a number of farmers of the village had been cultivating nearly 600 acres of panchayat land for the past 47 years. But the administration, following directions from the state government, wanted to get the agriculture land vacated. Sensing the government move, these farmers, who were possession holder, filed a case in the court of the District Collector for naming the land in their names, but it was rejected on December 17, 2002. Then the administration organised an open auction of the land. The land was auctioned to some farmers of the village. And the administration also completed the formality of giving possession to the new bidders. However on Thursday, farmers of the group, who had cultivated the land during last 47 years, went to the fields with their tractors and reportedly armed with sharp-edged weapons to plough the fields. When the news leaked, the farmers who had got possession of the land after the auction, also started moving towards the fields. The situation was saved by the village sarpanch, Balbir, who succeeded in persuading the new bidders to return to their houses and not to clash with the other party. The sarpanch later lodged a complaint in the police station against 11 persons, including Shiv Charan, Ramesh, Sarua, Satbir, Mahabir, Bhira, Sukhbir, Surender, Daya Nand, Naresh and Master Ram Chander. The incident has caused tension in the village, but the police are allegedly not taking the situation seriously. |
|
SPECIAL
FOCUS ON JHAJJAR/BAHADURGARH Jhajjar, June 20 In a statement issued in Bahadurgarh on Thursday, the MLA claimed that the result of the Fatehabad byelection had proved the popularity of the Chief Minister. He said certain Congress legislatures were eager to defect to the INLD and were in contact with Mr Chautala. He said that Mr Bhajan Lal became president of the HPCC by befooling the party president, Ms Sonia Gandhi, that he would dislodge the government within three months. Mr Rathee termed Mr Bhajan Lal as a liar and said that he had become the Chief Minister earlier by employing unethical means. He said that the state Congress had been facing successive debacles, first in the Lok Shaba elections, then in the Assembly elections and now in the byelection. Its workers had lost every hope of a comeback. He said that the development works being carried out by the state government did not go down well with
the Congressmen as they had a habit of embezzling funds meant for development. He alleged that there used to be around 45-50 ministers in the cabinet of Mr Bhajan Lal who spent crores of rupees on them, but now Mr Chautala maintained the smallest ministry in the country. He claimed that his party would also form the next government in the state as the Congress was virtually non-existent in the state due to its internal bickering, which was evident from the scuffles occurring on stage during rallies organised by its leaders. |
|
Vigilance
probe sought into entry of trucks in Delhi New Delhi, June 20 He said that while hearing a PIL, the Supreme Court had directed that the trucks going to the neighbouring states should not pass through the Capital. “It is unfortunate that the orders are being violated and thousands of trucks are passing through the Capital during night. The trucks can be seen on GT Road,
Shahadra, Bhopura, Mohan Nagar, Ghazipur, Singhu Border, Rojokari, Aya Nagar, Badarpur Border and Kalindi Kunj”, he alleged. He also alleged that the entry of trucks had indirectly caused huge financial losses to the MCD. He disclosed that while awarding tenders for collection of toll tax to private agency, the reserved amount was reduced, from Rs 75 crore to Rs 65 crore, keeping in view the ban imposed by the Supreme Court. But the illegal entry of thousands of trucks in connivance with the traffic police is putting private company responsible for collection of Toll Tax at profit whereas the MCD is gaining nothing except losses to the tune of Rs 10 crore. |
|
When hapless kids have a tryst with Jaggu Dadda New Delhi, June 20 In the Prayas Institute of Juvenile Justice, where the actor came calling today, the thrill of having a star in the midst was amply displayed in smiles that refused to cease. Excited, eager and even edgy, the inmates of Prayas had the actor touching a chord, with his rustic and streetsmart lingo. Refusing to address the questions pertaining to himself and his forthcoming movies, Jackie instead chose to focus on the kids. The day clearly belonged to the kids as Jaggu Dadda generously shook hands, signed autographs and posed for that one special picture that will occupy a place near the bedstead. Jackie who has been a part of the Prayas family came calling to spend time with the children who have been given shelter and a chance to escape the drudgery that awaits them on the streets. Jackie’s visit to Prayas was not just plain pleasure, but a chance to assert his commitment to a good cause. For the General Secretary Prayas, and Joint Commissioner, Delhi Police, Mr Amod Kanth, “Jackie is easily identified with children’s causes. He enjoyed the interactive session as much as the children who put it together for him, he is the role model for the children and his presence meant a lot for them.” India with the largest number of children living on the streets has an overwhelming 100 million in the age bracket of 5-14 years who are out of school. Institutions like Prayas have been making efforts to represent the issues and concerns of the underprivileged and the marginalised. Prayas, it was pointed out, began as an emergency relief and rehabilitation measure for thousands of children who became homeless owing to a devastating fire in the Jehangirpuri resettlement colony in 1988. What started with a mere 25 children today helps around 50,000 children working in the streets and slums in the Capital, Gujarat and Bihar. |
|
NCR BRIEFS Noida, June 20 Counselling for B Pharma postponed Rohtak: The centralised counselling for admission to the Bachelor of Pharmacy course in the institutions in Haryana, to be conducted by the Maharshi Dayanand University (MDU) from June 24 has been postponed. The university Registrar, Dr AK Rajan, said that the decision had been taken due to unavoidable circumstances and the revised schedule would be notified shortly. He said that admission process to various courses of the university teaching departments and postgraduate regional centre, Rewari had already begun. Central admission-making agency Maharshi Dayanand University has been authorised by the Haryana Government as the central admission-making agency for making admissions to BE, B Tech and B Arch courses in Haryana for 2003-04. A university spokesperson today informed that the candidates desirous of seeking admission to the said courses in various Government/government-aided/private engineering colleges/institutions and universities can apply to the university. Those seeking admission under the 15 per cent all-India quota seats can also apply to the university. He said the university would prepare a joint merit list of all the candidates, belonging to Haryana as well as other states, and admission to all-India quota seats would be based on this joint merit list of AIEEE-2003. Haryana Beopar Mandal to discuss VAT The state body of the Haryana Beopar Mandal (Laxmi Chand Gupta group), will meet here on June 25 to discuss the issues concerning Value Added Tax (VAT). The Beopar Mandal had been opposed to the VAT introduction, which it said was harmful to society in general and the trading community in particular. The meeting will discuss its future course of action if the state government insisted on implementing the VAT system. The meeting will also decide the date for holding the elections of the Mandal president. Dowry harassment Sonepat: A young housewife Mrs Sheela Devi of Palri Khurd village has submitted a memorandum to the Superintendent of Police, Mr Paramjit Singh Ahlawat, alleging harassment to her by her husband and other members of the in-laws’ family for demanding dowry. According to a report, the woman demanded immediate arrest of the culprits named by her. The SP assured that he would look into the complaint and take necessary action in this regard. |
|
DELHI DIGEST New Delhi, June 20 The decision regarding this was taken by the Delhi Health Minister, Dr A K Walia, in a meeting attended by the Health Secretary S P Aggarwal, Director of Health Services and other officials yesterday. Dr Walia informed, that a number of private institutions were running such courses all over the country, and the Government is lagging behind in this field, whereas the maximum number of such personnel are required in the government hospitals.
7 years RI for raping
eight-year-old A Delhi court today sentenced a man to seven years and seven months of rigorous imprisonment for kidnapping and raping an eight-year-old girl in North-West Delhi nearly eight years ago. The court ordered the accused, Dharmender (34), to pay a fine of Rs 10,000 in default of which he would have to undergo a further rigorous imprisonment of one month, said Additional Sessions Judge, Veena Birbal. However, the convict can walk free after paying the fine as he has already served the sentence-period in jail during the pendency of the trial. Though the minimum punishment for the crime is 10 years imprisonment, the court gave him seven years and seven months after accepting the leniency plea of the defence that Dharmender is the lone bread-winner of his family, comprising his widowed mother and a sister of marriageable age. The incident took place on November 6, 1995 in the slum area of Ashok Vihar, when Dharmender, finding the girl alone, kidnapped and violated her. |
|
SPEAKING
OUT
THE case of Mrs Neerja Ahlawat, Research Assistant at the Maharshi Dayanand University (MDU), reported in the NCR Tribune (“Selection panel cannot remain valid for indefinite period: Advocate General”, May 16, 2003) by Jatinder Sharma from Rohtak is a typical example of dilly-dallying tactics and red-tape mechanism prevailing in the university. Even though she was also selected as lecturer in October 1995, she did not receive the appointment letter from the university. After waiting for sometime for the appointment letter, she filed a writ petition in the Punjab and Haryana High Court, Chandigarh, praying to the court to direct the respondent university to promote/redesignate her in the lecturer cadre in pursuance of the government decision of June 16, 1993...” The High Court disposed of her petition with a direction to the “University and the State Government to decide the representation of Dr Ahlawat” within six months.” MDU sought guidance from the Haryana Higher Education Commissioner in November 2002, after six months of the judgement of the Punjab and Haryana High Court. After receiving the ‘guidance’ from the Higher Education Commissioner, the MDU sought the ‘guidance’ of the Advocate General, Haryana. The Advocate General said that if research assistants, who fulfil the conditions laid down in the government circulars, are adjusted as lecturers against the vacant posts, it will not be a case of direct recruitment under Statute 12 (c) read with statute 22 of MDU. I have also read these two statutes of MDU Act, 1975. Dr Ahlawat had prayed before the High Court “to promote/redesignate” her on the basis of her selection made by the MDU in October 1995 and not sought appointment as lecturer. Hence, it is a clear case of dilly-dallying tactics adopted by the MDU. Any literate persons can well understand the difference between direct recruitment and adjustment/promotion. However, it is amazing that the legal branch of the university could not brief the authorities in a proper manner. This case, lingering on since 1995, had been put up before the Executive Council (i.e. Syndicate) of the University “at its meeting held on February 24, 2003”. The case could not be settled even by the syndicate and the matter was referred to the Advocate General, Haryana. This is not an exceptional case. There are dozens of similar cases, which are lingering on for the last 10-12 years. Bureaucracy in any society is essential for running the administration. However, the bureaucracy has come to be identified with red-tape mechanism. Walter Bagehot in his book ‘British Constitution’ writes: “It is an inevitable defect that bureaucrats will care more for routine than for results”. Clearly, the case brings out the fact that the major defect of our bureaucracy is its excessive adherence to formalism. OM PARKASH WADHWA,
Government College, Gohana Regaining hockey’s glorious past People generally look to the future. However, our hockey team wants to regain the past status when India was known as the hockey superpower of the world. India was unbeaten in the Olympics for 32 successive years, from the 1928 Amsterdam Olympics to the 1960 games at Rome. We remained undefeated in 30 matches. India won six Olympics gold in a row from 1928-56 and then in 1964. After the Moscow Olympics India was unable to win any medal in hockey. Clearly, the glorious days of Indian hockey are in the past. Even though hockey is our national game, it is cricket that has caught the imagination of our youths. However, it is heartening to note that with improved performance of our hockey team in the last two years, the game has begun to get its due recognition and popularity. In the recently held three-nation tournament in Australia, the Indian team under the captainship of Dhanraj Pillay won the tournament, beating Australia in final by 5-3. The present Indian team is a good combination of experienced seniors and dashing juniors. Returning back to the Indian team after a gap of one year, Baljit Singh Dhillon showed his experience, agility and killer instinct and performed superbly. Prabhjot Singh, a junior player scored a goal in each of the matches and was the highest scorer of the tournament. I think this is the perfect combination we are looking for to regain our past glory in hockey. However, to win the gold medal at the Athens Olympics we have to play more consistently than we have done in the past few years. SAURABH
DUGGAL, Faridabad Respect for the
girl-child The Punjab Health Systems Corporation deserves admiration for its commitment to the cause of the girl-child by inserting a purposeful advertisement in The Tribune (May 24, 2003). Its concern is genuine. According to the latest survey, the ratio of women and men in Punjab is 793:1000. Punjab boasts of its granary, prosperity and rich cultural ethos. But the existing gap in the ratio of women and men in Punjab is revealing. It raises a question mark against its so-called rich culture. In fact, it shows its inherent disrespect for the girl-child and cultural bankruptcy, which is a clear blot on its so-called prosperity. People of Punjab worship the girl-child (Kanka Pujan) during the holy Navratras. They are proud of their open society. In reality, however, they lament when a girl-child is born in their household. The sad truth is that even the rich and the educated Punjabis practice female foeticide. A few years ago, I met an educated woman, who was on a good post in a public sector company. Her husband was an executive with a reputed oil company. Unfortunately, they were always lamenting the birth of the second girl-child in their family. The woman’s mother was inconsolable. On the other hand, I met a poor driver, whose wife gave birth to their sixth girl-child in a nursing home, was quite satisfied and grateful to God. I particularly agree with the logo in the advertisement and its precautionary message: If you are not against it, you support it. UJJAL PAL SINGH,
NIT, Faridabad Effective Censor Board needed The other day I saw a movie titled “Aghaz”. It carried certain scenes, which would shatter the nerves of anyone except the professional criminals. It showed a sister being publicly raped before the eyes of her brother and the brother being brutally assaulted before his sister. The monsters did all this merrily while the whole colony watched helplessly. It was hardly a consolation that they were punished in the end. Its effect on the young minds and the cult of crime it is promoting cannot be washed away by a good ending. Movies such as these deserve to be withdrawn from circulation at once. I wonder how the Censor Board allowed such filth to be shown in the market. It seems that public outcry is the only way to eradicate this evil trend. The National Commission for Women has a special role to play in this regard. RAM SARAN BHATIA,
Faridabad Disappearing grooms need to be brought to books There are increasing incidence of NRI grooms disappearing after marriages. Their brides become victims of rape, torture, cheating including ever-increasing dowry demands. It is sad that victims of such cases have to wait for years before any kind of settlement can be arrived at. The laws need to be rewritten so that these unfortunate victims can receive justice at the earliest. J. SINGH,
Delhi Lifeline of Haryana Indeed, it was heartening to learn that the Haryana Chief Minister, Mr O. P. Chautala, is making sincere effort to get the SYL canal completed at the earliest. As a matter of fact, the SYL canal is the lifeline of Haryana. It will cater to the need of nearly 7.5 lakh acres of land, positively affecting the crop irrigation in south Haryana. It is the need of the hour that all the political parties of Haryana extend full co-operation to the Haryana Government so that sincere efforts are made to complete the SYL canal at the earliest. In this regard, the Punjab Government must keep in mind that Haryana is their younger brother and must complete the SYL canal at the earliest so that it gets its due share of water. SUBHASH C. TANEJA,
MDU, Rohtak |
|
Woman held, charas seized Sonepat, June 20 According to a report, a case under the NDPS Act has been registered against the woman. The police also recovered a sword from the arrested woman and another case under the Indian Arms Act has also been registered against her. According to another report, the police have also arrested a youth Raju, son of Mr Subhash Chander on the Subzimandi-Kami Road and recovered 550 grams of ‘bhang’ from him. The youth belonged to Adarsh Nagar in this city. Meanwhile, the police have arrested five persons on the charge of satta gambling and recovered Rs 965 and some articles of gambling from their possession. The persons were identified as Ved Parkash of Mohalla Kot, Ashok Kumar of Sonepat, Virender of Ram Bazar, Sonepat, Harish Kumar of Mohalla Kot and Suresh Kumar of Prabhu Nagar mandi area of the city. A case under the Gambling Act has been registered against them.
New girls’ college The Haryana Chief Minister, Mr Om Parkash Chautala, will inaugurate a new girls’ college on June 23 at Murthal village in this district. Mr Suraj Mal Antil, MLA and the Chairman of the HAFED told mediapersons here today that Mr Chautala will also address a public meeting on the premises of the college.
Held for killing wife The police have arrested one Devi Ram on the charge of murdering his wife last week. According to a report, the culprit confessed to the crime and told the police that he had killed his wife for carrying ‘illicit’ relations with another man.
Housewife suffers
serious burns A young housewife Mrs Roshni Devi sustained serious burns when her clothes caught fire while preparing meals in her house at Pritampura village about 15 km from here last evening. According to a report, the woman was immediately hospitalised by some neighbours in the absence of her husband who was away at work in Delhi. The condition of the woman was serious. It is stated that while she was preparing the meals, the power supply went off. She then lit a kerosene lamp which fell on her after sometime. |
|
Two clerks held for stamp duty evasion Sonepat, June 20 According to a report, the clerks were involved in the evasion of stamp duty to the tune of several lakhs of rupees. It is stated that some four acres of valuable land near a school on the Mission Road was sold at Rs 73.5 lakh per acre to Messrs Chander Singh and
associates including Anil, Angrez Singh, Suresh Kumar, Sanjay, Ajay, Surinder and Sures by the owner of the land. The purchasers got it registered at Rs 30 lakh without presenting the power of attorney to the employees and the officials of the revenue department. They deposited Rs 27,900 as stamp duty when this amount was due to Rs 4.65 lakh. A dispute between the purchasers has led to the disclosure of the scandal and the purchasers deposited another amount of Rs 4.65 lakh with the revenue department to hush up the case on February 15 last. But they failed in their attempts in this regard, as the stamp duty was estimated at Rs 40 lakh. On receiving the complaints, the Deputy Commissioner took a serious note and ordered an inquiry and the issuing of notices to the purchasers. When the allegations were found correct, the DC ordered the suspension of both the clerks. Non-auction of sand dunes The Haryana Government has been suffering a loss of about Rs 1 crore every month on account of non-auction of the sand dunes in the Khadar tract near the Yamuna river in this district. According to a report, the government had auctioned the sand dunes at Rs 10.5 crore during 2002-2003 and it increased the reserved price to Rs 20.50 crore during 2003-2004, but this amount was rejected by the bidders leading to the suspension of the auction for the fourth time since the beginning of the current financial year. Now the government has fixed the reserved price at Rs 15 crore but the bidders declined to accept it and the auction was again cancelled on June 16. |
|
Policeman
among four booked for murder Faridabad, June 20 It is reported that the accused, identified as Sanjay, Ravinder, Dharamvir and
Vijender, fired from a countrymade revolver at two youths on Wednesday, near Dayalpur village in the Ballabgarh sub division. Ravinder is reported to be a policeman and posted in the CID department in some other district. An old enmity is stated to be the cause behind the incident that left three persons injured. Lineman electrocuted A lineman of the Dakshin Haryana Bijli Vitran Nigam (DHBVN) died near Palwal town after he was electrocuted while repairing a fault yesterday. The victim, identified as Dalchand was attending a complaint near Baroli road when a high-tension wire fell on him. He died on the spot. He was a resident of Silhoti village. In another incident, a girl, identified as Manju, committed suicide after consuming sulphas tablets at her house in housing Board colony at Palwal. Malfunctioning
fair price shops Security deposit of as many as four fair price shops was seized in the district on charges of irregularities. According to authorities, while licences of six depots were suspended, the supply to two others was stopped due to malfunctioning. There are total of 961 fair price shops, which include 646 in urban and 315 in rural areas. About 109 shops are located in labour colonies. |
|
Preparation
of voter identity cards in full swing Faridabad, June 20 According to officials, the identity cards of more than 10,000 persons have already been prepared, owing to the ‘online and off line’ photographic system being adopted. The online system, which is faster, is available at select areas, like the office of the additional deputy commissioner, Panchayat
Bhawan, Ballabgarh, Community Centre, 21C, and the primary school building in Sector 8 here. The photographic teams would be available at Bhatola village on June 21, Faridpur on June 22, Neemka on June 24 and at Tigaon from June 25 to June 27. |
|
Government
elicits public views on DDA New Delhi People can send five copies of their memoranda containing their opinion on the subject to Mr K. Chakraborty, Deputy Secretary, Lok Sabha Secretariat, Room No 330, Parliament House Annexe, New Delhi 110001, in a sealed cover by July 10. They can also fax their views on 23012629.
TNS |
|
|
Four held for snatching jewellery, bags New Delhi, June 20 According to the police, two of the suspects, who were identified as Ravinder of Aali Vihar and Vikram of Badarpur, were arrested from Sangam Vihar while snatching a bag from a man boarding a bus. A stolen motorcycle was also recovered from them. The motorcycle was stolen from the Nizamuddin area, the police said. They reportedly snatched Rs 50,000 from a man in Aali Vihar near Sarita Vihar police station. Besides, they were involved in 10 snatching cases in the area. They operated between Sangam Vihar and Nizamuddin. West district police arrested two other youths involved in several cases of snatching in Punjabi Bagh and other areas. They were identified as Praveen and Gurdhan. Two knives, one motorcycle and one scooter were recovered from them. They were involved in 15 snatching cases. Women going to attend wedding parties and people who withdrew money from the banks used to be their targets. During interrogation, they disclosed that one of their gang members used to keep a watch on people who withdrew money from banks in Punjabi Bagh. They followed them from the bank and snatched the bags of the victims. The accused also used to snatch purses, the police said. |
|
Two former Marketing Board officials held New Delhi, June 20 The anti-corruption authorities alleged that the officials had entered into a criminal conspiracy with the other officials, and issued fresh licences, despite a notification order that the land was meant for the purpose of Delhi Metro project. The officials, Dharmbir Singh, resident of Gazipur, the then Assistant Secretary of the board and Sagar Singh, resident of Azadpur, the then Supervisor tampered with the files by entering back dates.
Five robbers apprehended The Crime Branch has apprehended five robbers who were active in Old Delhi Railway Station. The robbers, Jaswant Singh alias Pritam Singh (26), resident of Rohini, Chiranjee Lal alias Mota (39), resident of Shivani Kunj, Shiraj (26), resident of Aligarh, Jamil (25), resident of Nizammudin and Sagir Ahmed, resident of Kotwali, were arrested by the sleuths after receiving a tip-off that the robbers would assemble in an abandoned area near the railway station.
Pirated software worth Rs 6.5 crore seized The Economic Offences Wing has arrested one person, Harender Malik, and seized 1306 pirated software worth Rs 6.5 core from a hideout in Nehru Place. The pirated items include Norton 2003, Tally 6.3, Window XP, Wisdoms 98, Macro Media, Corel Draw 9, Auto Cad, Cad Cam and MS Office 2000. MP3 audio songs were also recovered from his possession.
Youth shot dead Rohtak: Rajender, alias Teetu, was shot dead by two brothers at Patel Nagar here last night. According to information, the accused, Gurmeet and Gurnaam, sons of municipal councillor Preetam Kaur, invited Rajender to their house at Patel Nagar locality to discuss some monetary transaction. The duo, reportedly, offered him wine and threw a blanket over him when he got drunk. Thereafter, they took out their revolvers and fired several shots at him. The victim received six bullets on various parts of his body and died on the spot. The deceased was also the president of Punjabi Swarnakar Samiti and booked in several criminal cases including murder. |
 |
| Punjab | Haryana | Jammu & Kashmir | Himachal Pradesh | Regional Briefs | Nation | Editorial | | Business | Sport | World | Mailbag | Chandigarh Tribune | Ludhiana Tribune 50 years of Independence | Tercentenary Celebrations | | 123 Years of Trust | Calendar | Weather | Archive | Subscribe | Suggestion | E-mail | |
