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September 8, 2003, Chandigarh, India
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College
affiliation row snowballs in Bhiwani Bhiwani, September 7 The local trading community, which is concerned about the difficulties that stem from the new arrangement, has backed the bandh call. The state government’s decision to alter the affiliation of degree colleges and technical institutions of the district is playing havoc with the career and future prospects of the students. There are 19,780 regular students; another 6,500 candidates are enrolled in various courses under the distance education programme. A number of engineering colleges — the Technological Institute of Textiles and Sciences, Bhiwani, BRCM, Behal, and JITI, Jind — have also come under the ambit of the newly-formed Ch Devi Lal University, Sirsa. It is learnt that this university, which has been entrusted with the responsibility of conducting examinations for all the engineering colleges, does not even have an engineering department. Nor does it have the resources or the infrastructure to handle the sudden influx of so many students. The students of BRCM Engineering College, Behal, are observing a strike for the last fortnight against the decision. When asked, a student observed: “The change of university is not restricted to the first year students who will be joining colleges this year, but will apply to all the existing batches.” Thus, students who till date were affiliated to the MDU or KU will suddenly be shifted to a new curriculum. “The new university also does not enjoy NAAC accreditation. As against this, MDU has been granted a B + grade. Thus, the status of the college affiliated to the Sirsa university has been devalued overnight, it is pointed out. Agitating students said that all prestigious institutes, before granting admission to post graduate courses, took into account the standard of the university from which the degree had been obtained. The status of a university, which was in its infancy and had no worthwhile reputation or infrastructure, could hardly help in facilitating admissions in foreign varsities or recruitment in the corporate sector. |
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Residents
cut up over volte-face Sonepat, September 7 Sonepat has a population of around two lakh, which resides in 160 residential colonies besides half a dozen sectors and complexes of the Haryana Development Authority and the Haryana Housing Board. These localities comprise the 31 wards of the Sonepat Municipal Council. On the recommendation of the Municipal Council, as many as 69 colonies were regularised by the Urban Development Department on September 2,2002. Backtracking on its own decision, the department de-regularised these colonies on January 15, 2003. It is pointed out that immediately after these 69 colonies were regularised, the municipal authorities had started receiving the development charges from the residents. In turn, the municipal body had started issuing them no objection certificates. According to official sources, there was a great rush for depositing the development charges among the residents of the newly regularised colonies and, within 4 to 5 months, the council had collected more than Rs 78 lakh. But when the orders for de-regularisation were passed in the middle of January this year, the deposits trickled down to Rs two lakh (in a 6-month period). Interestingly, there was no clarification in the orders of de-regularisation about collection of development charges from the residents of the `unauthorised’ colonies. The residents have now expressed serious concern over these developments; many of them have doubts about the government’s intentions and fear that their colonies have been de-regularised, so that they can be razed. This palpable fear has forced them to form a coordination committee to plan their future course of action. A leading property dealer of the town, on condition of anonymity, told the NCR Tribune that the recent move was part of the monopolization of the urbanisation process. The HUDA and the housing board were likely to be the major beneficiaries of such a move, which will deprive the poor of an opportunity to construct their own dwelling units. The General Secretary of the Haryana Vikas Party, Mr Rajiv Jain, said the residents of the affected colonies constitute about one-third of the town’s population. Each resident had spent lakhs of rupees on the construction of his house. ``If the government can impose house tax and collect water, electricity and sewerage charges, there is no logic in deregularising the regularised colonies. Residents of Shastri colony feel that regularisation and development of unauthorised colonies is the norm everywhere. Any reversal of this practice is neither in their interest, nor that of the government. |
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Delhi car dealers in tax dragnet New Delhi, September 7 The sales tax department has served the notices on the dealers
for undertaking the bookings and organising the finance, delivery and registration of the cars in Delhi, where the sales tax was 10 per cent. These cars were, however, invoiced in low sales tax
levy sates like Haryana, union territories of Chandigarh, Daman and
Pondicherry, where the ST ranges between 2 and 4 per cent. The sales tax department has reopened the cases of tax
avoid antecedently, which were put on the back burner by the previous
governments. In 1994-95 also, the sales tax department had issued notices to a large number of car owners, who used this modus operandi for taking advantage of the inter-state tax differential. Many car buyers/respondents had confirmed that
the 'sites of sale’ in all deals was Delhi during 1991-94 and the
dealers had offices in low sales tax levying states. Among the dealers who have been served notices are Competent Motors, Gautam Motors, Ganga Automobiles, Aganal Motors and Classic Motors (all authorised dealers of Maruti), Vivek Auto, R S Ajit Singh and Company, Delhi Automobiles and Ramasanghi Auto (all Fiat dealers), and Ambassador dealer Rajiv Motors. Over 60 per cent of the tax demand raised is from Maruti
dealers. Ganga Automobile and Classic Motors have already closed their shops.
Incidentally, the notice has been served only on car dealers and not on commercial and multi-utility vehicle dealers, who were also indulging in similar trade practices. “If the government slaps such notices on commercial and multiutility vehicle dealers, it can recover Rs 25 crore,’’ the sources added. |
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SIGN OF
THE TIMES New Delhi, September 7 The suspects were identified as Vishal, Mohammad Wasim Raja alias Babloo, Pankaj and Harpreet Singh. One stolen car and 10 stolen cellular phones have been recovered from their possession. During the search, the police recovered narcotics substance from Vishal, for which he has been booked under NDPS Act, the Deputy Commissioner of Police (South), Mr Vivek
Gogia, said. The DCP disclosed that cellular phone snatching incidents were on the rise in the area; the local police was alarmed and a special team had been constituted, comprising Sub-Inspector Suresh Sharma, ASI Paramjit, Head Constables Raj Kumar and Manoj, Constables Beer Singh and Rajbir, to control such incidents. The team had developed intelligence and kept surveillance on the affected bus routes. The suspects were arrested from Govindpuri while they were moving around in a stolen Maruti car. On verification, the car was found to be stolen from Sarojini Nagar area in South-West district. During interrogation, Vishal disclosed that he was arrested in a murder case and was released on bail in 2000. Later, he formed this gang. He was involved in 11 cases of murder, robbery and theft committed in running buses. He was also involved in drug smuggling. Pankaj, an electronic engineer, used to work in a reputed company dealing in medical equipment for the last four years. He had befriended Vishal due to his fondness for smack. The addiction had left the former without a job and he started picking pockets and snatching cellular phones along with Vishal. He had a diploma in electronics engineering from Dehra Dun. Harpreet used to receive the stolen mobile phones as he had a retail outlet in Govindpuri. Another receiver of stole cellular phones, Samsuddin, is still absconding, the DCP said. |
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Father shot at for not taking son to task Noida: The father of a youth, who used to tease and harass young girls, was shot at and wounded yesterday. Later, the assailant himself surrendered in the police station and handed over the country-made-revolver used in the firing. S P City Vijay Bhushan said that Ravi, son of Suraj Bhan, a sweetmeat seller in Baraula village, used to manage his father’s shop. He was fond of teasing girls of the locality. Some people had complained to Suraj Bhan about this, but he did not take the complaints seriously. Yesterday afternoon, Ravi happened to tease a girl while he was sitting in his shop. The relatives of the girl complained to Suraj Bhan, but he not only defended his son but also challenged the complainants. When the argument refused to die down, Kale Gujjar of the village lost his cool and trained a .315 country-made-revolver on Suraj Bhan, at which the latter tried to flee from the spot. Kale chased him and shot Suraj Bhan in the back. The bullet hit Suraj Bhan in the spine and he collapsed in a pool of blood. |
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Woman acquitted of murdering hubby, New Delhi, September 7 Acquitting Basanti and her paramour, Pramod, Additional Sessions Judge I P Mehta said that the prosecution had failed to prove the case beyond reasonable doubt. Mr Mehta said the case was based on circumstantial evidence and the theory that the police had recovered the weapon of offence from their house three months after the murder was questionable. He said it was not plausible that a murderer would preserve the weapon for so long. Mr Mehta further observed that no bloodstains were found on the butcher’s knife recovered from the house of the accused. According to the police, deceased Ram Kishan’s father arrived from Rajasthan at their Pappankalan house in August 1999, where his son was staying with his wife, and found a foul smell emanating from it. The neighbours disclosed that the house was locked for the past three or four months and Basanti used to visit the house sometimes. When the neighbours broke open the lock, the house, it was found, was splattered with blood and a stench was emanating from the kitchen. The police recovered the body after breaking the wall; the neck of the deceased had been slit. Later Basanti was arrested, along with her paramour, from a Rana Enclave house where they were staying. They allegedly admitted before the police that they had murdered Ram
Kishan. The police said that they had recovered the weapon on the basis of information provided by them. |
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Noida Ganga Jal Project in limbo Noida, September 7 Scheduled for completion by June 1, 2003, its date had repeatedly been postponed since then. The Noida administration officials had promised that Noidaites would be supplied with Ganga water without fail by September 1, 2003. Now they say it may take another fortnight to complete. But the technical experts associated with the project confide privately that it may not be possible to supply the water before December this year as the technical ground work is yet to be completed. It may be recalled that the work on Ganga canal water project at Murad Nagar for bringing 50 cusec of Ganga water for Noida, Ghaziabad and UP Avas Vikas Parishad colonies (Residential Development Council) was started about a decade ago. The UP Jal Nigam had been entrusted with the responsibility to complete this project. Chief Project Engineer Yadav Singh was overlooking this work in Noida. Water reservoirs have been constructed in Noida, but connecting pipe works are yet to be completed. The target date was at first kept as May 30 this year so that on June 1, Noidaites could start getting Ganga water. Then this date was shifted to July 1 and the Noida administration officials had given a written assurance to the then Minister of State for Irrigation Nawab Singh Nagar that by August 31, the project would be commissioned. This was repeated by the Irrigation Minister of State many times in his public addresses as well as in meetings. But after the change of guard in UP, two officers looking after the project have been shifted. DCEO Hira Lal has been transferred from Noida and Chief Project Engineer (Jal) Yadav Singh was removed from this post and attached to the Chief Executive Officer’s office. But now some officers of UP Jal Nigam have reportedly told Noida chief K M Pandey that the Ganga Jal Project can in no case be completed by September 15. An expert of the Noida administration connected with the project has confided that at this pace, the project may not be completed by even December 2003. |
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SPECIAL FOCUS ON SONEPAT Sonepat, September 7 According to information, six of these villages have already deposited their share of ten per cent contribution for the project. The amount deposited by different villages include Rs two lakh by village Khewra, Rs 1.50 lakh by Deepalpur, Rs 2.20 lakh by Baiyanpur, Rs2.50 lakh by Nangal Kalan, Rs 2.20 lakh by Joshi Chauhan, Rs 60,000 by Hullaheri and Rs 25,000 by Khijjarpur Jat Majra. The Public Health Department had already forwarded the proposals to the Central government for necessary sanction so as to commence the work on the water supply schemes. The chairman of the Sonepat Zila Parishad informed that the people in the villages would be provided water connections in their houses after the completion of the projects, for which the consumers would be required to pay a minimum charge every month. The money collected through these monthly payments would be utilised for giving salary to the staff working in the supply project and other repair works of ‘Jalghar’, he added. He pointed out that large number of villages in the district had brackish sub soil water and high percentage of fluoride in the water. Moreover, it was also not possible to provide canal-based water supplies in all the villages of the district, he said, and added that the state government did not have sufficient financial resources to arrange water supply in every house of the villages. He disclosed that the representatives of the Panchayati Raj institutions have been asked to motivate the villagers to opt for this scheme. He hoped that most of the villages would opt for it because the people in many villages have even started using the drinking waster supplied by private parties. Giving out the details about the scheme, he said the concerned village would be required to deposit 10 per cent of total estimated cost, while the remaining 90 per cent of the expenditure would be borne by the Central government. Besides the construction of a ‘Jalghar’, water pipelines would be laid in the entire village to supply safe drinking water to every house. |
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Atlas Cycles restructured to face future challenges Sonepat, September 7 The restructuring process has been undertaken by the board of directors so as to impart efficiency in the organisation. It is hoped that the restructuring would help in the growth of the company and provide the desired push in the right direction. According to a report, the mother unit has been put under the control of Mr Vikram Kapur, the son of late Mr Bishamber Das Kapur. The second unit located at Sahibabad will be looked after by Mr Jaidev Kapur, whereas the third unit at Malanpur (MP) has been handed over to Mr Salil Kapur, the son of late Mr Jagdish Kapur. Under the reorganised scheme, Mr Vikram Kapur has been designated as the president, Mr Rajiv Kapur as the joint president and Mr Angad Kapur as the vice-president of the mother unit. Mr Jaidev Kapur has been designated as the resident of the Sahibabad and its allied units of the Milton Cycle Industries. Mr Salil Kapur has also been designated as the president of the Malanpur unit in Madhya Pradesh. Mr Vikram Kapur will look after the working of the Jankidas Kapur Memorial Hospital, Sonepat, the Jankidas Kapur Public School, Sonepat, a modern hospital at Delhi and an ashram at Hardwar. By having the presidents of the three units as members of one of the other three management committees, it is hoped that it would lead to increase in efficiency and better over all financial health of the company. |
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DELHI DIGEST New Delhi, September 7 Speaking on the occasion, the Minister of Revenue, Development, Food and Supplies, Delhi government, Mr Haroon Yusuf, said India has been a traditional exporter of spices and herbs since ancient times. With the growing demand for value-added spices and herbs, farmers should lay emphasis on growing spices and herbs.
Onam festivities The Chief Minister, Mrs Sheila Dikshit, will inaugurate the Onam celebrations to be organised by the Delhi-Malayalee Association at Sri Fort Auditorium tomorrow. Traditional feasts and impressive cultural performances will be part of the festivities. Hundreds of people took part in a massive Onam Sadya (feast), organised as part of the week-long Onam Fair at the Kerala Pavilion in Pragati Maidan today. An impressive Onam Sadya on the traditional plantain leaf will also be organised at the pavilion tomorrow. Spices, handloom products, Ayurvedic medicines and cosmetics, coir products, handicraft items, banana and chips have been made available at the pavilion. |
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NCR BRIEFS Sonepat, September 7 Suicide by youth Vikram (30) was reported to have committed suicide by taking sulphas tablets in his house at Rukhi village last night. The police have sent the body for a postmortem. Pledge against dowry Girl students of Tau Devi Lal Government Girls College took a pledge against the dowry and pesticide evils at a function held on the premises of the college at Murthal village about 8 km from here. According to a report, non-teaching staff and other employees of the college also took a pledge on the occasion. Dengue case A case of dengue fever has come to light in Mandaura village of this district. According to a report, a six-year-old boy suffering from dengue has been undergoing treatment in a private hospital at Narela (Delhi) for the past few days which has caused panic among the villagers. Students to boycott dowry Faridbad:
Many students in the district have taken oath to boycott social evils like dowry and sex determination of foetus. At a function held at the government postgraduate college in Sector 16-A here yesterday, Principal J P Jain administered the oath to dozens of students of the college, which included both girls and boys. |
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New guarantee cover for hassle-free loan Faridabad, September 7 According to Mr Chopra, units applying for a loan up to Rs 25 lakh would not have to provide a collateral security to
SIDBI. He said SIDBI had provided loans and credit worth about Rs 6,789 crore last year and had been working on ways and means to become more friendly and helpful to small scale units in the country as these industries formed the base of the economy. He said SSI’s contribute considerably not only towards production and revenue, but also provide employment and job opportunities to lakhs of persons. He said the Union Government had decided to throw open flexible and usable schemes for small entrepreneurs on order to promote SSI’s in the country. He asked the management of SSI’s to improve their work performance by cutting down cost and upgrade their technology so that they could compete in the open market and survive the competition due to the ongoing globalisation process. Mr Rajiv Chawla, the general-secretary of the FSIA, said that institutions like SIDBI had become a dependable friend of SSI’s today as the majority of commercial banks were hesitant in forwarding loans to SSI’s. He said the share of commercial banks in providing loans to SSIs had been decreasing each year and had been reduced to just 14 percent. He said that it was ironical that while SSIs provide employment to a large-section of our society, the loans provided by commercial banks to SSIs had been very low. Stating that SIDBI’s new loan scheme was laudable, he emphasised the need for transparency in operation of all such schemes. He appealed to the Union Government and SIDBI to improvise and simplify the ‘Fast Track Finance Scheme’ and urged them to issue credit cards to small entrepreneurs. The Deputy Managing Director of SIDBI, Mr N. Balasubramanyam, Director, SIDBI, Mr Satyapal, FSIA chairman, Mr M. L Sharma, Mr Ravi Vasudeva, industrialist Mr K. C. Lakhani, Mr K. S.
Majithia, Mr Satish Bhatia, Mr Charanjit Sachdeva Mr Arvind Cheema, Mr O. P. Kataria and Pradip Sethi were among others who were present on the occasion. |
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SHOWCASE Jindal Photo films has launched the FinePix A310 digital camera. The FinePix A310 model has a stylish design with point and shoots simplicity. The model offers simple user-friendly controls and a sleek body style with a high quality retractable 3X optical zoom. Rathi B Pal, managing director, said, “It has been our constant endeavour to bring the best of technology, products and latest equipment for the people of India.”
Gemplus Jewellery and Damas have come together to launch the D’damas, a contemporary collection of diamond jewellery for the first time in India. Positioned as a brand that combines the international quality with the Indian values, D’damas brings with it the Damas heritage of luxury and trust. All diamonds in the D’damas collection are certified by IGI guaranteeing their quality and purity.
Chic lingerie T T Limited has introduced an international quality of trendy and colourful lingerie in the Indian market. The line presents a wide range of bright, lively coloured bras, panties, briefs and camisoles made from hundred per cent cotton which can be either worn on their own or imaginatively matched to the items from other groups. Sanjay Jain, director, said, “These are designed according to the international sense of style and standard which can be adapted to the Indian taste.”
Osram, the leading light giants have introduced a new series of energy-saving lamps called ‘New Generation’. These lamps continue Osram’s current trend towards miniaturisation. ‘New Generation,’ are weightless and more compact than their predecessors. The current range of these Osram Dulux EL Economic Classic lamps has four traditional shaped bulbs and three candle shaped.
Healthy sugar Dhampur Sugar Mills has introduced the concept of healthy, sulphurless sugar to the discerning clientele to redefine the age-old sweetener–mishri made and packed hygienically. The Shuddh Mishri is manufactured in highly equipped state-of-the-art Dhampur factory. Unlike the local unbranded Mishri largely available in the market of which the source and ingredient is unknown, Dhampure Mishri is pure and clean from any artificial bleaching agents.
Shoe for the
fashion-savvy Allen Cooper has launched ‘Bikers’, targeted at today’s fashion- conscious youth. The shoe has been made specifically to suit the Indian foot shapes and sizes and also to add to the fun of driving with added skill in one’s feet for better control on motorbike. Bikers have been crafted from the finest leather, styled in clean, sleek English designs with an architectural edge. It is a handsome assortment of men’s fashion accessory that looks best with your khakis
Hair care solution Schwarzkopf Professional has launched its new ‘BC Moisture Mask’, for right intensive treatment for extremely dry and damaged hair. This new magic mantra for hair care is ideal for all hair types, including naturally curly or permed hair and its unique innovative formula won’t weigh down fine hair. The mask comes packed with an exclusively ApHinity technology, which means that it delivers intelligent hair care solution precisely where it is required.
Amitabh teams up with Hema Baghban, a film by B R Chopra and directed by Ravi Chopra makes Amitabh Bachchan and Hema Malini a hit pair once again. Amitabh and Hema have sung in the film to the tune of music director Aadesh Srivastava. Zameen, Himesh Reshmiya who has composed music for ‘Tere Naam’, has composed the music for this film. This movie has a collection of seven songs and lyrics by Sameer. Inteha, directed by Vikram Bhatt and produced by Kukkum Sehgal, the music of the film ‘Inteha’, will be another melodious blockbuster from Annu Malik. Rahat Indori, Praveen Bajaj and Dev Kohli have written the lyrics. Ishque Di Aag, famous Punjabi singer Surjeet Bindrakhiya, who has many hits in the last few years is all set to make another album ‘Ishque Di Aag’. The album is based on the Punjabi folk music, the lyrics are by Shamsher Sandhu and music by Atul Sharma.
Quality sunglasses Dayal Opticals, a leading opticians has an array of classy, designer and quality sunglasses which includes ‘premium international brands’, ‘medium-range Italian brands’ , and an ‘assorted mix of reasonable Korean and Indian brands’, to suit every pocket. Dayal Opticals retails has an array of international brands in frames, contact lenses, sunglasses and spectacles.
High fibre health food Bagrry’s India Limited is the leading manufacturer of Fast Moving Health Foods in India. Bagrry’s Oat Bran is a high fibre health food and an excellent source of soluble fibre, which can be incorporated into one’s daily cooking as a complete or partial substitute for wheat flour. The Bran has been prepared, keeping strict hygienic norms in mind. In-house research and development at Bagrry’s has resulted in top quality of raw materials, final material and packaging of all Baggrry’s High Fibre Health Foods. |
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