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July 16, 2003, Chandigarh, India
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CAPITAL
TALK New Delhi, July 15 “I am told the draft Bill is doing the rounds of the Ministries but I do not have the faintest idea what it is like. The Government of the NCT of Delhi has not been consulted at all,” Ms Dikshit told mediapersons today during the “Meet The Press” hosted by the Press Club of India. Ms Dikshit says she has sought the status of the Bill in her letter to Deputy Prime Minister and Union Minister of Home Affairs L. K. Advani. “I wrote to Mr Advani last week about the resolution passed by the Delhi Legislative Assembly and the consensus reached thereafter.” The Chief Minister says the “nomenclature” is not as important as is the shape the State of the NCT of Delhi will take. “‘Full’ statehood is a misnomer. What the NCT of Delhi needs is removal of the multiplicity of authorities and layers of governance.” For that to happen, Ms Dikshit reasons, land should come to vest in the Government of the NCT of Delhi. “Also, the Delhi Development Authority (DDA) and Planning … so that a co-ordinated attempt is made to rid the NCT of Delhi of its ills,” she told mediapersons. Pondicherry, according to Ms Dikshit, could serve as a model for drawing up the blueprint for the State of the NCT of Delhi. “In Pondicherry the municipal agency is under the government. It is not so in the NCT of Delhi where the Lieutenant-Governor runs a parallel administration.” Ms Dikshit was categorical the 1998 Bill for Statehood was not relevant as the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Indian National Congress (INC) had rejected the same. “We are opposed to territorial division. We must not forget the NCT of Delhi is also the Capital of the country.” She answered a volley of questions pertaining to the poor upkeep of civic amenities and the quality and pace of public works. She also dwelled on a gamut of issues and listed some of the achievements and challenges before her Ministry. The situation, she says, is aggravated by the steady influx of people into the NCT of Delhi. “Several millions move into the NCT of Delhi every year. The NCT of Delhi is already bursting at the seams … the infrastructure runs the risk of collapsing if nothing is done urgently.” “The Union Government is not sincere. The Union Ministry of Urban Development has done precious little to check the urban chaos or develop the NCR. If the Centre is not interested, the states governments of Haryana and Uttar Pradesh are equally lethargic.” The situation is likely to improve by December when the Sonia Vihar Water Treatment Plant becomes operational. “Then, 140 million gallons of water will be available per day. The situation will improve in East and South Delhi because of the plant.” Loves being cm:
Scotching rumours of not running for Chief Minister, she told the mediapersons, “I enjoy more being Chief Minister while my stint in the Union Cabinet gave me enough experience.” Being the Chief Minister, she feels, gives her the opportunity to work and deliver more. On the side of consumer:
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LONGER HOURS, 6-DAY WEEK New Delhi, July 15 From the academic session that begins on Wednesday, all colleges in Delhi University will function for six days a week, which means saying goodbye to Friday night outs with Saturday being just another college day. What is more, students will have to prop up for five extra minutes of each lecture. “The duration of each lecture has been increased from 50 minutes to 55 minutes. The new academic session that begins on July 16 will have colleges working six days a week to fulfil the 180 teaching days’ norm approved by the Academic and Executive Councils”, said Dr A. S. Reddy, Principal, Sri Venkateswar College. Tutorials will also no longer mean free periods as the university authorities have taken up the issue of tutorials and preceptorials a bit too seriously. Earlier this year the Executive Council had agreed to accept in principle the recommendations related to the implementation of 25 per cent internal assessment on a continuous basis. This move could well sound the alarm bells for “last minute studying” species as the teachers will be assessing the students on the basis of their performance throughout the year. Teachers too, however, will not have it so easy. Apart from their routine lectures, which have now been extended, they will have to take out time for consultation periods, which will be held outside the teaching periods and will facilitate interaction between them and the students. The longer working hours apart the consultation periods will have to be not less than three hours per week. With the 180 working days schedule to be followed, students and teachers will have to sacrifice a few holidays. There is a proposal for a moveable autumn break in September– October to minimise the loss of working days. The authorities have a word of caution for the ‘seniors’. Strict action would be taken against those violating the norms of no ragging on the campus and in the hostels. “There are anti-ragging squads to ensure that senior students do not rag the newcomers. The committees, which include students, teachers and the non-teaching staff, will report cases of ragging and action will be taken against those involved”, pointed out Dr Kavita Sharma, Principal, Hindu College. The university is all set to combat ragging. Sealed complaint boxes will be placed in college hostels for “potential victims of ragging”. Regular and unannounced inspections across colleges and police pickets have all been organised to ensure that there is no violation of the Supreme Court guidelines against ragging. |
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Haryana
to set up indoor stadium in Gurgaon Gurgaon, July 15 Her said the total cost of the proposed stadiums would be about Rs 40 crore. Panchkula, Sirsa and Chautala village in Sirsa district will be the other venues for the stadiums. Incidentally, the chief minister hails from Sirsa district. Each of the stadiums would cost Rs 10 crore, he added. Five members of the Under-19 team are from Haryana. The felicitation ceremony was held in Radisson Hotel on the
Delhi-Gurgaon border. The INLD activists at the venue appeared to be more interested in cheering Mr Ajay Chautala than the players, who notched the second place after the Brazilians in the finals. Praising the team’s achievement, Mr Chautala said that the Indian Volleyball Federation would be given a cash reward of Rs 20 lakh. The vice-president of the Indian Volleyball Federation and Deputy Speaker of the Haryana Vidhan Sabha, Mr Gopi Chand Gehlot, was also present on the occasion when the announcement was made by Mr Ajay Chautala. Mr Chautala said that the Haryana Government was giving thrust to the promotion of sports in the state. The pro-active measures included state’s direction to the boards and corporations to make provisions for employment of players from all sports faculties. Under the matrix of the promotion policy, the boards and corporations had been encouraged to form their own teams of any sport of their choosing. According to him, the state had set up 48 new game wings and 13 play nurseries to nurture talent and meet international standards. |
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CRIME
BUSTERS New Delhi, July 15 It was like a big reward for this brave officer who spent many months with his investigation team in a small, cramped house in the Khicharipur area of East Delhi due to the proximity of this place to the scene of the crime. There, even basic civic amenities like drinking water and electricity were not available. He searched more than a thousand houses and interrogated hundreds of possible suspects in the area. He spent many sleepless nights on the highway where the incident occurred, thinking it might have been a case of highway robbery. The noted cartoonist was found murdered in his car in the area while he was apparently on his way home from office late at night. Subsequently, perseverance paid off and led to a breakthrough and the suspects were caught on the same highway. When he was the ACP (Kamla Market), a record number of minors were rescued from the red light area of G B Road. A record number of arrests were made and convicted brothel owners were also registered. Even the Delhi High Court and the National Human Rights Commission had commended his achievements in busting crime and bringing criminals to book. When he was the ACP (Vasant Vihar), he investigated a very interesting case. Four young girls had been stabbed in a short span of 15 minutes in different parts of Munirka and there was an atmosphere of panic in that area. Mr B. K. Singh along with his team immediately started combing the area. At around midnight he saw a young man moving around in a suspicious manner. He was caught and interrogated. Later, he confessed to the crime. Actually, he was a hardcore criminal and was on parole at that time. He would accost every passing girl, asking her to accompany him and on refusal he would stab her. When he was the ACP (Karol Bag), he had solved a major bank robbery case of Rs 49 lakh in which a constable of the Delhi Police, Jaggu, was involved. When Mr K. R. Narayanan was the Vice-President of India he was in his personal security staff for many years. Along with him he travelled to more than 60 countries across the world. Among all countries, he found that the American policing system was the best in the world. “There is a complete dividing line between official and private duty and it is embedded into their attitude. They are also best on the level of enforcement”, he recalls. Married with three children, this police officer, who has an M. Phil in Political Science, is a voracious reader. Any free time he has is devoted to books, magazines and periodicals. |
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Immolation
bid at mini-secretariat Rohtak, July 15 Sri Bhagwan (40) is employed as a driver in an engineering college at Kashmere Gate in Delhi. As soon as he set himself on fire in front of the office of the Deputy Commissioner, he ran towards a pool of rainwater that had accumulated in the complex. But before he could do anything, the onlookers in the mini-secretariat complex had doused the flames. He was immediately rushed to the PGIMS with nearly 10 per cent burns. According to Deputy Commissioner Ashok Yadav, Sri Bhagwan was among the 19 persons who had encroached upon the village shamlat land and constructed houses on it. While the structures of 18 of these persons were demolished, the house of Sri Bhagwan was spared following his claim that he had procured a stay order from a court against the demolition. But before he could make this claim, a portion of his house was demolished about a month ago. The Deputy Commissioner said Sri Bhagwan had never met him with any complaint. However, his father Ram Chander had met him on May 9 and offered to purchase the land which his son had encroached upon. The Deputy Commissioner said he ordered the DDPO, Sampla, to examine the proposal which, if it fitted with the government policy, may be accepted. The BDPO submitted his report on May 23 stating that the proposal was in line with the government policy. Thereupon, the village panchayat adopted a resolution on June 23, permitting the sale of the land to the occupant. Surprisingly, within two days the panchayat reversed its decision (June 25) and adopted another resolution opposing the sale of the land. As per the state government policy, the consent of the village panchayat is mandatory for the purpose of selling shamlat land. Sri Bhagwan, it is said, had met the District Development and Panchayat Officer today with the plea to persuade the panchayat to agree to sell land under his occupation. |
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Patiala
House courts likely to be shifted New Delhi, July 15 A Bench, comprising justices R. C. Lahoti, Y. K. Sabharwal and Ashok Bhan, asked the Union Government to finalise the choice between the two sites, one selected in Netaji Nagar near Chanakayapuri and the other in Rouse Avenue near ITO, within six weeks and report back to the court. Additional Solicitor General Raju Ramachandran informed the Bench that during a recent meeting between the Union Urban Development Minister and Lieutenant Governor of NCT of Delhi, two sites in Netaji Nagar and Rouse Avenue were short-listed. He said the site in Rouse Avenue, measuring four acres, seemed more suitable for the purpose of shifting the district courts from the existing complex at Patiala House. Meanwhile, the New Delhi Bar Association and the Delhi Bar Association have given a representation to the Chief Justice of Delhi High Court, seeking space for accommodating 64 judges presiding over Fast Track courts, chamber space for growing number of lawyers and sitting space for litigants. |
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Interact more with government: CM tells citizenry New Delhi, July 15 She was of the opinion that frequent interaction apart from keeping a vigil on governance would also help the government function efficiently by getting regular feedback from its people. While inaugurating a panel discussion on the Bhagidari System to overcome a few problems like waterlogging, shortage of potable water and water harvesting, Mrs Dikshit said, “In a democracy, the election is not an end in itself. In a democracy, governance has to be, rather, should be in partnership with the people.” The Bhagidari System introduced by the Delhi Government sometime back is being considered a successful step in this direction. Highlighting the need for greater transparency and better modes of governance, the Chief Minister said, “We have to become more open. We have to work through partnership via measures such as e-governance.” On the issue of transparency, she asserted that every citizen has been awarded with the right to information. She drew attention to the new system introduced by her government to make information more accessible. The new scheme will make mandatory for the officers to share information that a citizen might ask for, either by providing immediately or after sometime. An erring officer found guilty of breaching the provision of the scheme would have to face a penalty of Rs 1000, the Chief Minister said. The systems prevailing in the country are too archaic, consume enormous time and eat into the resources of the country. It required to be replaced by faster methods like e-governance. The government should rely more on information technology and get as fast as possible on e-governance, she said. Sharing his perspectives, the MCD Additional Commissioner observed that 55 per cent of Delhi’s population lived in unapproved areas, thus posing a greater challenge to the sanitation of the city. Waterlogging is witnessed by the residents of these localities as there was no drainage system. The corporation has over a hundred pumps to pump out rain water from the areas where waterlogging takes place. The problem of waterlogging still exists in different parts of the Capital. The corporation has invited NGOs to help it overcome waterlogging during rains. Ms Gita Sagar, Secretary, Directorate of Education, Delhi Government underlined some of the initiatives undertaken by the state government to improve the education standard in the government schools. With the Bhagidari System adopted by the education department, results of the government schools have improved during the last two years. Kamaljeet Singh, a senior official of the Delhi Jal Board said that ground level was decreasing in the Capital. Water harvesting is important to rise the ground level. The housing societies and resident welfare associations can be useful for this job. If any society takes interest in water harvesting, the Jal Board will give financial aid of Rs 50,000 to do the project. |
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SPECIAL
FOCUS ON GURGAON Gurgaon, July 15 The municipality has a lot of stakes in the auction on account of the prospective revenue this would fetch it. According to the official version, 23 shop-cum-office sites, booths and towers will be auctioned. The authorities hope to mop up about Rs 20 crore from the proposed auction. The highest bidders are to construct specified shops. Set up on 12 acres on the busy Gurgaon-Mehrauli road, the sadan is claimed to be about a Rs 75-crore project. Of the 151 commercial sites in it, 89 of them have already been auctioned. The auctions have been taking place in batches; the first in the series was held in 1984, according to official sources. Of the total commercial sites, six of them are towers, each of which would have a six-storey structure. It will be for the first time that six-storeyed commercial sites will be allowed in the municipal limit. Although the decks have been cleared for the auction of some of the sites, the authorities of the Haryana Government appear to have caused financial loss to the public exchequer. According to many, their claim of earning a huge amount from public auction is an eyewash. The land was acquired by the municipality in 1980. If one were to compute the projected loss on interests on the principal amount earned from possible auctions about two decades back and the subsequent investment of the money on public welfare projects, the claims fall flat on their face. What appears to have prodded the process of bringing the project on ground, even though partially so far, is the advent of private builders who have set up glitzy malls near the sadan complex. These builders came on scene only recently but finished their projects virtually in dawn-to-dusk operations even while the municipality and state authorities stalled the auctions of the remaining sites at one go. In the interregnum, three sprawling malls near the sadan complex have come up with business in full blast. It does not take much imagination to realise that in real terms and on a comparative study, the presence of the malls set up by private parties like Sahara group, DLG and MGF will have reduced the market value of the commercial sites offered by the municipality. The moot question is: Has there been some confluence of vested interests among the higher echelons of the government and some private builders at some point of time to delay the project? Or, is the timing of the auctions calibrated to suit some possible bidders? |
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Foot
and mouth disease vaccination project begins Sonepat, July 15 The project, sponsored by the Centre as per the requirements of the Office International des Epizooties, has been named as the Foot and Mouth Disease Control Programme (FMDCP). Talking to the NCR Tribune here in Panchayat Bhawan on Sunday, the Director of the Haryana Animal Husbandry Department, Dr K. S. Dangi, said that the country had been divided into three zones for the implementation of this programme. Besides eight districts in Haryana, eight adjacent districts in Punjab, 20 districts in Uttar Pradesh and entire Delhi as one district has been included in one zone. He explained that FMD had remained one of the major constraints in the development of livestock industry in the world and it had been regarded as one of the most devastating and highly contagious diseases of cloven-footed animals. “Haryana has already submitted a project of the FMDCP to be implemented during the year 2003-04 and 10th Five Year Plan, amounting to Rs 952.8 lakh and Rs 2,091.28 lakh respectively, and the project had been ranked as number one by the Government of India,” he claimed. As per the survey of the Animal Husbandry Department under the FMDCP, the total population of the livestock including cows, buffaloes, sheep, goats and pigs in these eight districts was 41,98,428, he said and added that the department had 1,174 veterinary institutions in the identified districts He added that under the programme, 40 lakh animals would be vaccinated against FMD during 2003-04 and vaccination cards would be issued to the owners of these animals so that it could be used for the second and subsequent vaccinations. “For effective implementation of the project, the movements of the animals from one state to another will be controlled at check-posts, from bordering Rajasthan districts to Haryana,” he said. As all preparations were complete, the project was likely to commence from September or October this year, he added. During the project, he said, special care would be taken to protect the “murrah” breed of buffaloes, which were considered as the best ones world over. |
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Sikh
Forum flays power struggle in DSGMC New Delhi, July 15 It is also
reported that attempts were being made either not to hold the elections at all or to manipulate the same. Marshalling of muscle/money power and its use for the control of the DSGMC might end in violence making the whole Sikh community a laughing stock before the world. “We earnestly urge all elected members of the DSGMC not to betray the trust of the ‘sangat’ (electorate) and to elect the new committee of mutually accepted persons with proven track record of their honesty and integrity,” a release said. “The Sikh Forum appeals to the saner, honest and prudent members in the DSGMC to act together in the best interest of our institutions to safeguard the sanctity of gurdwaras and to save the community from public ridicule. The Delhi sangat is intelligent, perceptive and sensitive to discriminate and will not condone any acts of betrayal,” it said. The appeal has been issued on behalf of Lt Gen Jagjit Singh Aurora, Justice R. S. Narula, Bhai Mohan Singh, Dr Amrik Singh, H. S. Phoolka, Anup Singh, Dr Maheep Singh, Pushpinder Singh Chopra, Dr J. S. Neki, Dr Surjit Kaur Jolly, Dr Amrjit Singh Narang, Mr Manohar Singh Batra, Maj-Gen M. S. Chadha, Col Manohar Singh, Wing Commodore R. S. Chhatwal, Capt L. S. Behl (chairman, SYCA Defence Colony), G. S. Alag, R. S. Ahuja and Harinder Singh. |
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Unscheduled
power cuts cause resentment Sonepat, July 15 Areas fed by the Essential Feeder remained powerless for three hours between 2 pm and 5 pm yesterday. Power was cut without any prior information. Mohalla Kalan, Ram Bazar, Faiz Bazar and adjoining areas were the worst-hit and the residents faced great inconvenience. Moreover, streetlights also do not shed any light these days. All these areas have been in darkness for the past two weeks and all complaints made to the officials of the UHBVN in this regard have fallen on deaf ears. Meanwhile, representatives of various political parties and other organisations have expressed grave concern over the inefficient and unsatisfactory working of the UHBVN and demanded a high-level probe into the public complaints about the inadequate and erratic supply of power in the city and suburbs. They also urged the state government and the district authorities to take a serious note of the public complaints and take stern action against the officials found responsible for the unannounced and unscheduled power cuts. |
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Troops
to Iraq: Parties call off dharna Rohtak, July 15 The dharna has been called off in view of the Centre’s announcement of rejecting the US demand for sending Indian forces to Iraq, the CPM state secretary, Mr Inderjit Singh, said. The six parties – the CPM, CPI, Samajwadi Party, SUCI, Lok Janshakti Party and JD (S) - had last week given a joint call to stage dharnas on July 23 to pressure the Vajpayee government against sending Indian troops to Iraq. Mr Inderjit Singh claimed that the NDA government had to bow down in the face of the overwhelming will of the people against the US design to consolidate its illegal occupation of Iraq at the cost of the blood of Indian soldiers, which would have been a national shame. He, however, added that the Vajpayee government continued to follow pro-US economic and foreign policies. Therefore, there was every reason to resist these policies, which continue to erode national sovereignty. |
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Radio
astronomer Radhakrishnan gets G M Modi award New Delhi, July 15 Mr Satish Kumar Modi, who announced the award, said that Mr Radhakrishnan, former director of the Raman Research Institute, Bangalore, was a noted astronomer, who made original contributions in the areas of millimeter and pulsar astronomy, liquid crystals and condensed matter physics. The annual G M Modi award instituted by the Gujar Mal Modi Science Foundation consists of a cash prize of Rs 1.01 lakh, a silver shield and scroll of honour and is the highest cash award in the field of science of technology. The award, which was instituted in 1988, is given to people who demonstrate qualities of excellence and innovation in science and technology research. Some of the earlier recipients of the awards are Dr A. P. J. Abdul Kalam, Prof Satish Dhawan, Prof C. N. R. Rao, Prof M. G. K. Menon, Prof C. S. Seshadri, Prof U. R. Rao, Dr M. S. Valiathan, Dr Kasturirangan and Prof R. Narsima. |
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Centre stalling welfare schemes: DPCC New Delhi, July 15 The DPCC president said the Co-operative Bill was a case in point. The Bill, he said, had not been returned to the Government of NCT of Delhi for reasons best known to the Union Government. “The BJP-led NDA Government at the Centre,” he alleged, “is deliberately trying to put roadblocks in the way of people-friendly schemes and projects of the Government of NCT of Delhi.” Mr Singh said his party was opposed to the implementation of the Conditional Access System (CAS). The Delhi Pradesh Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), he said, was opposing the move only because the Assembly elections were only a few months away. “The DPCC will not allow the CAS to be implemented even after the polls are held because it unnecessarily puts a burden on the people,” he said. Ridiculing the Delhi Pradesh BJP president Madan Lal Khurana’s attempts to stall the implementation of CAS, Mr Singh said he
(Khurana) was only interested in staving off public criticism till the Assembly elections. “He is not bothered if the Union Government implements this anti-people scheme once the Assembly elections are held,” he added. |
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Rai villages get
Rs 14.41 lakh for welfare works Sonepat, July 15 Speaking on the occasion, Mr Antil praised the INLD Government, headed by Mr Om Parkash Chautala, Chief Minister, for allocating funds to the gram panchayats for executing development works in their villages. He appealed to the sarpanches and panches of the gram panchayats to utilise the funds for the development schemes finalised by the government. According to another report, the officials of the Chief Minister’s Flying Squad, conducted a surprise raid on the office of the Block Development and Panchayat Officer at Rai and checked the records yesterday.
Sonepat sugar mills:
According to a report, the amount collected has created a record in the history of the Sonepat Cooperative Sugar Mills. Housewife burnt:
According to a report, she was immediately rushed to the PGIMS at Rohtak for treatment where she succumbed to her injuries. The police have registered the case and further investigations are on. Scooterist killed:
According to a report, the victim was identified as Ravi Kumar of Pochanpura village in Delhi state whereas the injured was identified as Mr Dalbir of Bad Khalsa village. Both of them were going to Delhi on scooter. The police have registered the case and sent the body for a post-mortem. |
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NCR
BRIEFS Faridabad, July 15 In a similar case, a motorcycle was looted by some gangsters in Hasanpur area. The police have also booked two cases of chain snatching from the women in Sector-7 here recently.
Nine candidates in fray for MDU teachers poll Rohtak: As many as nine candidates are in the fray for the election of teachers (other than professors) from the university teaching departments to the two posts of member, executive council while seven candidates would contest for five posts of member, university court of Maharshi Dayanand University. A spokesman for the university administration today said that the candidates who filled up the nomination for the election to the post of member of the university court were-Mr Bhagat Singh, Lecturer, Department of Physical Education, Dr N K Rattan, Reader, English Department, Mr Nikhilesh Yadav, Lecturer in English, PG Regional Centre, Rewari, Dr Radhey Shyam, Reader, Psychology Department, Dr S K Bansal, Lecturer, Geography Department, Dr Suresh Chander Malik, Reader, Statistics Department and Dr Vimal Joshi, Reader, Law Department.
OC
IT admission notice The Directorate of Distance Education of Maharshi Dayanand University has issued the admission notification for its Information Technology and Management programmes for the academic semester commencing from this month. |
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Nine held for racket in spurious petro products New Delhi, July 15 The police, on receiving a tip-off that some persons were involved in making spurious diesel and kerosene by mixing some chemicals, sent a decoy customer. After a deal was struck, the accused were nabbed from the godown. On July 14, a decoy customer with Rs 500 was sent to buy diesel and kerosene, and accordingly, the manager of the godown gave kerosene to the customer. It was during this time, the police surrounded the entire area and apprehended the culprits. The accused were later identified as Arvind Singh, resident of Ghaziabad; Ganesh Chobey, resident of Azamgarh; Ram Parvesh, resident of Jharkhand; Shiv Singh, resident of Badarpur; Dev Bahadur from Nepal; Umesh Kumar, Brijesh, Vishwanath and Babu—all from Kanpur.. During interrogation, the accused disclosed that they had been involved in the business for the last two years and used to sell about 20,000 litres of diesel and kerosene every day at the rate of Rs 15 and Rs 7 per litre respectively. They used to earn Rs 2.5 to Rs 3 lakh per day depending on the sales of the spurious items. Cyclist killed:
While Anirudh (34), resident of Okhla was declared brought dead at the Apollo Hospital, Phool Giri, 29, resident of Ekta Vihar, was discharged after being given first-aid. The police have arrested the driver Harvinder Singh, resident of Vikaspuri and have registered a case of causing death due to rash and negligent driving. |
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Kidnapping
case solved; three held New Delhi, July 15 Interestingly, the kidnappers released the child the same night after negotiating with the child’s father and did not turn up to get the ransom. They were arrested yesterday evening after the sleuths received a tip-off that the accused would be visiting Rohini. The incident took place on July 10, at around 2.30 pm, when the victim, Aditya Pal Singh, alias Dollar, resident of Sector-8 Rohini was returning home after he was dropped by the school bus. When Aditya started heading towards his house, three youths in a Santro car intercepted him. The victim’s father, Harcharan Singh, was a witness to the whole incident as he was on his way to pick up his son. Mr Singh is a car dealer in Rohini. Initially, the kidnappers demanded Rs 25 lakh and finally settled for Rs 3 lakh. The accused told Mr Singh that they would meet him at the Saraswati Vihar bus stop to take the money, but did not show up. The accused took the child to Rohtak, Panipat and Sonepat in their car and left him the same night at Sai Baba Chowk, Rohini. But the local police had received information that the accused would be coming near M2K cinema in Sector 3, Rohini in a white Santro car. Accordingly, on July 14, the sleuths spotted a white Santro, DL-8C-J-2117, and apprehended the three occupants in the car. They were later identified as Puran Dass, alias Vicky, 22, resident of Shalimar Bagh, Bholu Saini 25, resident of Rohini and Vijay, 22, resident of Shakarpur. During interrogation, the accused revealed that Puran had hatched the conspiracy to kidnap the child as he had earlier stayed with Mr Singh’s family in the same apartment. Since Puran knew about the victim’s family and their financial status, he roped in two of his associates to commit the crime. The trio are school drop-outs. |
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‘Baba gang’ smashed; kingpin caught
Sonepat, July 15 On June 30, half a dozen armed gangsters of the gang descended on the farmhouse and looted Rs 17,000, a licensed revolver of Mr Tyagi and a Maruti Zen. On receiving the information, the police surrounded the gangsters in the fields of village Bhatgaon and after over an hour’s encounter, nabbed the gangsters who got injured in the encounter and could not escape. The gangsters were identified as Sunder (16) of village Saragthal and Joginder of village Badwasni. However, the other gangsters, Surender alias Baba of village Kurar, Krishan of village Atta in Panipat district, Sunil of Bawana (Delhi) and a gangster of village Khairpur (Delhi) managed to escape. OC
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Touchtel offers speedier Internet access Gurgaon, July 15 Touchtel has offered new tariff plan for Zipnet Speed to its DSL subscribers. This plan shall make DSL service affordable and will allow the subscriber the flexibility to define his/her monthly usage. The new tariff plans will offer high speed DSL Internet access with maximum bandwidth of 128 kbps. The subscriber will have to combine this DSL package with any Touchtel tariff plan of his choice. Under the new tariff structure, the subscribers will only have to pay the nominal DSL plan charges of Rs 200 a month and one-time registration charges of Rs 1,000. To top it all, the usage charges as per the new tariff plan will be as low as Rs 30 hour in the daytime and Rs 15 per hour in the night time, both of which are similar to the current usage costs being paid for dial-up access. According to Mr Rajeev Kohli, CEO, Touchtel, North Operations, the new DSL tariffs are pegged to replace the dial-up market where in the subscriber pays up to Rs 34 per hour (Rs 10/ hr ISP charge and Rs 24 phone charges) with limited bandwidth. “With our service, subscribers can look forward to faster Internet speeds, more bandwidth and the freedom to make and receive calls within the access charges of Rs 30,” he added. While Internet usage is universal in the country, there is an emerging need for a more economical, uninterrupted, high-speed broadband access. Keeping in line with this trend, the company’s strategy is to increase the country’s broadband penetration by encouraging new users by offering lower monthly charges and a low entry cost, said Mr Kohli. |
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The biggest challenge:
NCR
has few takers:
Leaks being plugged:
