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September 21, 2003, Chandigarh, India
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Fire in Delhi Police chief’s office New Delhi, September 20 Seven persons, who were trapped in the visitor’s room, were rescued by firemen with the aid of a skylift vehicle. No one was injured in the blaze, which started at around 1330 hrs and was brought under control at around 1430 hrs. Ten fire tenders were rushed to the site to douse the fire, the fire department sources said. The police said that the fire could have occurred due to sparking in the AC stabilizer in the visitor’s room. The fire extinguishers kept in the adjacent room were also used to douse the blaze. Even as the firemen fought the blaze, the staff posted on the third floor in the Police Control Room, including several women, continued to discharge their duties. Incidentally, the Police Headquarters was blacklisted along with 41 other buildings in the Capital, which were flouting fire safety norms prescribed under the Delhi Fire Prevention and Fire Safety Act 1986. These buildings are mostly owned by the government of National Capital Territory, the Central Government and autonomous bodies. The police headquarters is yet to implement fire safety measures, even though the high court passed an order on May 29, 2003, and directed the Delhi Fire Service to issue notices to the concerned agencies for immediate action. A senior Delhi Police official disclosed that their headquarters was constructed in the early 70s while the fire safety laws were amended subsequently. Since at the time of construction the building had met all necessary fire safety procedures, it is the new norms which need to be enforced. The Delhi Police has already written to the Public Works Department (PWD), seeking installation of fire safety equipment like sprinklers. |
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BJP seeks EC intervention on bogus voters, ready New Delhi, September 20 “There are more than ten lakh bogus voters registered in the list. There are names which are registered at two or more places. We have asked the Election Commission to remove the anomalies and, if it fails to do so, we would seek judicial intervention,” senior party leader and chairman of its campaign committee for Delhi polls, Mr. V. K. Malhotra, said here today. Claiming that the figures were collected from the duplicate list prepared by the State Election Commission, he attributed the discrepancy to Election Commission’s circular which allowed enrolment of voters without deletion of their names from the list of the area where they had resided earlier. He assailed commission’s refusal to entertain three letters written by the party demanding review and rectification of the order, which made it easier for people from outside the state and illegal Bangladeshi migrants to register themselves as voters. The Prime Minister has been informed about the poll panel’s “discriminatory approach” towards the BJP, he said, adding that a party delegation would call on Mr. Atal Behari Vajpayee in this regard on his return from abroad. Mr Malhotra also announced that Deputy Prime Minister L K Advani would be addressing a ‘Parivartan’ rally at Jantar Mantar on September 30. The Parivartan rallies were launched by the Delhi BJP earlier this month to expose the five-year misrule of the Congress government in the National Capital Territory of Delhi. |
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NDMC festive campaign: CM to lead cleanliness drive with padyatra New Delhi, September 20 Mrs Sheila Dikshit, Chief Minister, Delhi, will lead the padyatra on September 24 from Balmiki Sadan, Mandir Marg. The campaign will be concluded on October 2, 2003. Such padyatras will be organised in all the three MLAs’ constituencies of the NDMC area throughout the nine-day drive. During the campaign, stress will be on cleaning and washing subways, provision of dustbins near eating places, pan shops, tea and juice corners, cleanliness of the roads, market areas, residential areas, sidelanes, public toilets, removal of garbage and cleaning and washing of dhalos/dustbins. In order to achieve the desired result, adequate number of safai karamcharies will be deployed in J J clusters. Their regular attendance will also be ensured. People found violating the health laws would be challaned by the Municipal Magistrate deployed for the purpose. During the campaign, sewer lines will be cleaned and wherever manholes cover are found missing, they will be provided. The damaged water and sewer lines will also be replaced. In order to give a clean look to the city before the festive season, all cracks and potholes on the roads will be repaired. Channels, footpaths and kerbstones, signage, speed-breakers, bus boxes, bus shelters, railing along the roads, parks and roundabouts will be painted. To ensure sufficient lighting on the roads and streets, wires of the electric poles will be maintained; covers of junction boxes will be provided; light reflectors will be cleaned; road signage will be illuminated; and the electric fittings of subways will be repaired. Parks, roundabouts and the central vista lawns will be given a facelift. During the period, the public land will be made free of encroachments and roads cleared of stray cattle. Poster from the walls and banners will be removed. People found littering or dumping malba will be challaned. To inculcate awareness, padyatras will be organised involving schoolchildren. Debate and painting competition on the subject will also be held besides lectures by the principals in coordination with the doctors in the schools. The New Delhi Municipal Council appeals to the citizens to cooperate with the civic body in this campaign. To have better results of the sanitation, citizens will be educated to segregate garbage at the initial stage by using different receptacles. |
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MARTYR’S
DAY VENUE Rewari, September 20 The order, which has stayed the cancellation of the official permission granted by the municipal authorities to the Sarva Jati Janata Panchayat for using the local Rao Tula Ram Park for organizing the conference on September 23, has come in the wake of a writ petition filed by the SJJP, challenging the cancellation orders. The cancellation orders, issued by the executive officer of the municipal council on September 2, had followed granting of permission by the Deputy Commissioner to the Rao Tula Ram Shaheedi Samaroh Samiti for organizing a Martyr’s Day conference in Rao Tula Ram Park on September 23. The Martyr’s Day marks the death anniversary of Rao Tula Ram, a hero of 1857. The stay orders have given a tremendous boost to Mr. Raghu Yadav, President of the SJJP, and hundreds of his supporters who will now be holding the conference Addressing a crowded press conference here today, a jubilant Raghu Yadav announced that the HPCC president and former chief minister, Mr. Bhajan Lal, would be the chief guest in the conference, which would also be attended by the four MLAs of Ahirwal — Capt. Ajay Singh Yadav, Rao Narender Singh, Rao Dharam Pal and Mrs. Anita Yadav — and a host of other prominent party leaders. Prior to this, a press conference was also held by senior Congress leader and MLA Rao Inderjit Singh, who announced that the RTSSS had voluntarily decided to shift the venue of their conference to the spacious ground of Rao Tula Ram Public School, which lies at a short distance from Rao Tula Ram Park. Mr. Rao also confirmed that Mr. Nawal Kishore Sharma, General Secretary of AICC and in-charge of party affairs in Haryana, would be the chief guest at the conference, which would also be attended by a host of party MLAs and prominent Congressmen. Rewari will now witness two-state level parallel rallies, hosted by the two factions of the Congress. The political observers will be keenly awaiting the outcome of the twin rallies. |
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Two teachers suspended for dereliction of duty
Bhiwani, September 20 In a press release, the Board Chairman, Mr O. P. Chaudhary, said that these four teachers failed to check copying and also connived with the candidates in the use of unfair means. Giving the names, Mr Chaudhary said that Bhisham Chander, a science teacher in Government Senior Secondary School, Neemriwali, and Ashok Kumar, PTI, Government Senior Secondary School, Loharu, had been suspended by the department. The department had also given strict instructions to the management of S.D. Jagdish Girls Senior Secondary School, Bhiwani, to take disciplinary action against the principal and the chief superintendent, Mrs Parvesh Sethi. Further, the management of Vaish Senior Secondary School, Charkhi Dadri, had been asked to take action against Vinod Kumar, a mathematics teacher, he added. Mr Chaudhary said that disturbances at the examination centres had been checked effectively. OC
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CONNING THE
PUBLIC New Delhi, September 20 The accused, Bhagwan Das Soni (43) and his courier, Trilochan Singh, were apprehended by the police on September 20. The police, on a tip-off that some persons were involved in selling fake coins of Rs 5 denomination to bus conductors at Shivaji Stadium, apprehended two persons, Balkishan (40), a resident of main Sagar Pur, and Kumar Singh (25), a resident of Uttam Nagar, and seized 7,000 counterfeit coins from them. The accused told the police that they used to procure the coins from a Sikh gentleman and were not aware about his whereabouts. The police again received information about the supply of fake coins and, on September 19, apprehended Trilochan near Regal Building, where he had come to make a delivery. Two thousand counterfeit coins, contained in plastic bags, were recovered from him. Trilochan told the police that when he suffered huge losses in his garment business, he had approached Bhagwan Das for assistance. Bhagwan engaged him for selling the coins. |
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BJP ‘only party’ that serves defence personnel Bhiwani, September 20 Disclosing about the cell functioning, Brig Misra said that there were only three states where the sainik cell was in operation when he joined the BJP, but today it was working for the welfare of soldiers’ families in 21 states. He said that the cell was considering to include the para-military forces personnel. He said that the cell had agitated against the imposition of tax on the items of defence canteens in Punjab following which the Chief Minister, Capt Amrinder Singh, had to withdraw the order. Brig Misra said that it was the
BJP which had opened as many as 281 medical units in the country for the retired army personnel
where they could get free medical facilities. He said that the Central government had sanctioned accommodations to be built at the cost of crores of rupees in each cantonment so that the married servicemen could keep their families with them. He said Mr Madan Lal Khurana, who was the chairman of Sainik Parliamentary Committee, had strongly recommended one-rank, one-pension, stating it as mark of honour to those who serve the nation. Former minister Ram Bilas Sharma while condemning the assassination of journalist Parmanand Goyal sought the CBI inquiry and said that the slain journalist had been tortured for the last six months and jailed for four months. |
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SPECIAL FOCUS
ON REWARI Rewari, September 20 In pursuance of the above campaign, an educative workshop on family planning and women empowerment was recently (September 16) held at Rao Lal Singh College of Education, Siddhrawali under the auspices of the women cell of the college. In her keynote address, Dr Tara Saxena, president of ROGS, exhorted the audience, particularly the women, to make a relentless effort towards halting the population explosion, which had distorted most of our developmental plans. Emphasising the need for adopting simple means of family planning, she urged them to help end all kinds of gender discrimination. She also emphasised the need to prevent the misuse of ultrasound, particularly for the purpose of family planning. At the same time, she also pleaded for combating social evils like illiteracy, poverty, corruption, unemployment and communalism. Similarly, the secretary of ROGS, Dr Usha Sachdeva, presented a graphic account of the different methods of family planning. In the end, a highly informative interactive session between the panelists and the audience led to a number of queries being raised. Dr. Pratima Takshak, Dr. Rajni Joshi, Dr. Vandana Pathak, B.S. Mudgal and several others had taken special pains to make the workshop a success. In the concluding session, the college principal P.S. Yadav thanked the doctors for imparting valuable information to the staff and students of the college. Earlier in August, a seminar on ‘Family Planning and Women Empowerment’ was also held with the collaboration of the ROGS and the college staff in Public Girls College, Rewari. The seminar was attended by a large number of students and teachers of the college. Women Flying Squad for Gurgaon range: Giving details of the decision, a spokesman of the Rewari district police administration said that the flying squad would consist of a woman Sub-Inspector, three women Assistant Sub-Inspectors, three women head constables, three women constables and three men constables, who would act as drivers for the squad. Besides, Mr Balram Singh, DSP, Gurgaon, would act as the supervisory officer of the squad. The spokesman further said that aggrieved women from the four districts could lodge their complaints with the squad, which would launch legal proceedings against the accused after the due investigation of the matter. The aggrieved woman could also make a complaint on telephone number: 0124-2225502, the spokesman added. It may be mentioned that of late there has been a spurt in crimes against women, particularly in rural areas of this region. Thus, it is felt that the constitution of this “Women flying Squad’ is a step in the right direction and is expected to provide prompt relief to aggrieved women throughout the region. New office-bearers of Beopar Sangathan: The president-elect, Mr Inder Mal Kasera, has urged the administration to provide better civic amenities in the town. To begin with he has demanded the repair of all damaged roads and streetlights and the removal of the garbage dump from the backyard of the Old Subji Mandi. |
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SEARCH WITHIN Have you ever tried forgiveness in your life? Have you tried forgiving your worst enemy? It is said that he who has not forgiven an enemy has never tasted one of the most sublime enjoyments of life. “What can Jesus Christ do for you now?” said an inhuman slave master derisively when in the act of applying the lacerating whip to an already half-murdered slave. “Him teach me to forgive you massa,’’ was his reply. A spirit of repentance must often precede seeking of forgiveness. This is not easy. It means breaking old habits. It means admitting that we have been wrong. It means, in some cases, losing face. It means saying ‘I am sorry’. It means recognising that we have the ability to change. The alternative to change is to get trapped in old habits of revenge and its tragic consequences. What can forgiveness do to us? “Forgiveness as an act of love, is felt, not achieved. It can be given, but it may not always be received. It cannot be bestowed either as a triumph over another person or as the means to secure their humiliation or acquiescence. It is most healing, most profound when it grows our of humility and realism, a hard won sense that, whether you are entirely to blame in these events and I am blameless, there is in each of us, insufficiencies and imperfections that can be our greatest teachers. You may not recognise forgiveness even when you have experienced it…you will however feel it in your body. Something—very nearly a thing—has left you. You are no longer carrying the load you were; you have put it down. Anger may have given rise to sorrow and regret. Rage may have flattened out into indifference or pity. The world looks better. You are more available to other people and a great deal more available to yourself, yet you think about yourself less, and less anxiously.” It is Michael Henderson quoting Stephanie Dowrick in his excellent book, Forgiveness. Though these days we hear more about violence and terror caused by the spirit of vengeance, and the best defended nations are in the throes of fear, it is clear that no armed might could insulate against the growing hate culture enveloping the globe. Legislatures, churches, organisations in Australia apologised to the Aborigine people for the way their children were taken from them and often abused. The Prime Minister of Japan apologised to British prisoners of war for his country’s treatment of them. The Pope apologised to the Jews for the shortcomings of the church in confronting Nazism in World War II. The Good Friday agreement was signed in Northern Ireland with the Nobel peace prize being awarded to a Catholic and a Protestant political leader. The release of the report of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission in South Africa represented another milestone in the co-existence of Black Africans and their White colonial masters. South Asia is also in need of a culture of reconciliation. What happened in Ireland has a parallel in Indo-Pakistan relations and it must be the prayer of every man of goodwill that peace must be victorious even as it happened in Ireland. The speech then made by Prime Minister Tony Blair seems so relevant to our situation. He had said that down through the centuries, Ireland and Britain had inflicted too much pain on each other and now as two modern countries, they could try to put their histories behind them and “try to forgive and forget those age-old enmities. “Like Ireland and Britain, India and Pakistan has so much “shared history’’ and “shared pain.” And like Ireland and Britain, they must recognise there must be a better way to relate to each other in the twenty first century than through murder, terrorism, armed might and sectarian hatred. “Forgiveness is the greatest thing in the world,” Mother Teresa told Matt Manson, a Scottish missionary as they were flying together from Melbourne to Hong Kong in 1978. “Their work as Sisters of Charity was to mediate forgiveness, for without it there was no reconciliation between God and man or man and man,” she added. Forgiveness: the rich and the poor, the employer and the employee, the higher and the lower caste, the producer and the consumer need it all to promote harmony and peace in society. M P K Kutty
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Over 1,200 telephones go phut Sonepat, September 20 The villages affected include Gumar, Rajlu Garhi, Lalehri, Aghwanpur, Ahir Majra, Kheri Gujjar, Garhi Jhinjhara and Bhora Rasulpur. The officials of the Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) went into action and removed the fault by last evening. The technical fault also caused inconvenience to the subscribers throughout the day. Rally against sarpanch:
According to a report, the residents also sat on a dharna and submitted a memorandum to the DC, demanding a high-level probe into their complaint against the sarpanch. The memorandum warned that if the district administration failed to take action against the sarpanch, they will approach the Chief Minister, Mr Om Parkash Chautala, on the issue. Lok Adalat on
September 27:
Mr Singhal told mediapersons here today that civil and criminal cases besides the Motor Vehicles Act and the Hindu Marriage Act will be disposed of by the Lok Adalat. He made an appeal to the litigant public to come forward and settle their cases through the Lok Adalat. Body found:
According to a report, the body bore multiple injuries. The police believe that a deadly weapon had been used to inflict the injuries on the youth. The police have registered the case of a murder and further investigations are on. The body remains unidentified. |
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NCR BRIEFS Noida, September 20 The students have been picketing at the gate of the institute since Friday against the fee hike and the hike in development fee from Rs 4,000 to Rs 7,000 and from Rs 9,000 to Rs 17,000 respectively and against the teachers’ ‘partisan’ attitude with regard to the internal marking. The students’ bid to have the college closed two days ago had resulted in a traffic jam on the roads in the area. The City Magistrate had visited the college on the DM’s orders and held discussions with the college management and student leaders. But for want of a written assurance, the students had taken out a procession in the city yesterday. The students have in their memorandum also included two additional demands for holding re-examination for the failed students in the same year and that the college management should secure placement of students in the industrial units and commercial companies in the area. The students had also given a copy of their memorandum to the college legal advisor, Mr M L Gupta. More than 250 first, second and final year students of the MCA had participated in the procession. All the student leaders had signed their charter of demands along with some local leaders. Rail facility sought Jhajjar: The Sarya Dalia Rail Lao Sangharsh Samiti raised its demand yesterday to connect the district with the railway network. Jhajjar is the only district headquarters in Haryana without rail facility. 50 ticketless passengers Sonepat:
As many as 50 ticketless passengers were caught during a surprise checking by the railway staff, headed by the Railway Magistrate, on a Delhi-bound passenger train 4 DKM at Ganaur railway station about 16 km from here yesterday. Municipal staff awarded for promoting Hindi The Mayor, Mr Ashok Kumar Jain, today awarded prizes to 15 municipal employees who carried out their entire work in Hindi during the last year. The award was distributed on the concluding ceremony of the Hindi week organised by the Municipal Corporation of Delhi. Speaking on the occasion, the Mayor said that Hindi is the most popular language among Indians and is a carrier of Indian culture and heritage. It is the foremost duty of Indians to promote Hindi at all levels so as to strengthen unity and democratic values in the country. Bhojpuri Samaj function New Delhi:
The annual function of Bhojpuri Samaj is to be held on October 1 at 2 pm in DDA Park in Dwarka Sector 1. Its president Ajit Dubey said that there was need of social and cultural awakening amongst the people from Poorvanchal so that they could get their rightful place in society. |
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DELHI DIGEST New Delhi, September 20 A total of 56 cases were taken up. Of them, 46 cases were disposed of and the remaining 10 cases referred back to their regular courts. These cases were screened by the fingerprint bureau of the Delhi Police so as to eliminate habitual offenders. This was the 38th court in succession in which a total of 2,613 cases of petty offenders have been decided by the special courts. The special courts are being held following the direction given by the former Chief Justice of India, Dr A. S. Anand. ‘Effective
governance’:
The objective of the workshop was to enhance the effectiveness of various philanthropic organisations in the non-profit sector through appropriate involvement of their governing boards. Speaking on the occasion, SICP executive director Mrs Pushpa Sunder said most NGOs depend on foreign funds and are seen with scepticism by the traditional Indian donors. Established in 1996, SICP is a national non-profit registered society that aims to motivate all sections of society to go beyond alms-giving. IIIE award for BHEL:
Instituted by the Indian Institution of Industrial Engineers (IIIE), the award for 2001-02 has been conferred on BHEL under the Engineering Industry category. The company has been honoured for its financial and operational strengths which were assessed under five perspectives, namely financial achievements, internal processes, innovation and learning and external customer orientation. The award, carrying a shield and a citation, will be presented by Mr Sudarshan Agarwal, Governor of Uttaranchal, on September 21 at the sixth CEOs conference. |
Man defrauds housing society; siphons off Rs 55 lakh New Delhi, September 20 He was arrested following a complaint lodged by the member secretary of the M/s Welcomgroup Cooperative Housing Society Ltd. The complainant alleged that a sum of Rs 55 lakh was siphoned off from its account in the Delhi Cooperative Housing Finance Corporation (DCHFC), police said. During investigation, it was found that Kamal Chandra Das, manager of the society, had opened an account in the name of M/s Welcomgroup Cooperative Housing Society Limited with the Delhi Cantonment branch of the Punjab and Sindh Bank. He had siphoned off Rs 55 lakh from the society’s account by forging and fabricating the signature of the president and secretary of the society. Thereafter, he left the job and went underground, the police said. The police made efforts to find out the suspect. A secret watch was kept on his possible hideouts. Raids were conducted at various addresses in Delhi, Kolkata and the interior parts of West Bengal from where he was arrested. Incriminating documents, counterfoils and pay-in slips of Canara Bank, Punjab and Sindh Bank, Punjab National Bank, ICICI Bank, South Indian Bank Limited and check books of Punjab and Sindh Bank and Canara Bank were recovered from him. His modus operandi was to deposit cheques and drafts received from the members of the society in the fictitious account. He also transferred fixed deposits of the members of the society deposited with the DCHFC in the fictitious account. The money deposited in the fictitious account was transferred to another bogus account opened by the suspect with Canara Bank on Jeet Singh Marg in the name of HS Nag and Associates. From this account, the money was diverted to various other accounts opened in his name with ICICI Bank, Vasant Vihar, The South Indian Bank Limited, Janak Puri and Punjab National Bank in Delhi Cantonment, the police said.
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Need for awareness among consumers Faridabad, September 20 At a seminar-cum awareness programme organised here recently by the BIS officials with the help of the Laghu Udyog Bharti (LUB), an organisation of small-scale industries and entrepreneurs, it was stressed that ISO certification had not reduced the importance of ISI certification of products and services in daily life. Speaking on the occasion, Mr K. K. Sharma, the Deputy Director-General of the BIS, said that the bureau had been making efforts to ensure proper standards and quality of products as it was the right of every consumer to ‘get the best product for the money paid by him’. He said there might be some confusion prevailing among the people about the importance of ISI vis-a-vis ISO certification these days. He said ISI was still the sign of quality and standard of a product and it was very important that a consumer should ensure that the product bought or used had an ISI certification. He said it was encouraging that increasing number of companies and organisations, including those from the service sector, had shown interests in getting an ISO certification. He emphasised the difference between ISI and ISO, as the former was still a sign or measure of quality. The BIS officials said that ISO was about the standard procedure or norms followed by an organisation, which were recognised internationally. Mr Ashok Nagpal, Chief Scientist, BIS, gave a detailed report and mandatory certification about consumer rights. Mr P. Rajesh, joint-director, BIS, talked about ISO-9000 certification and standards, including HACCP and certification and marking on jewellery items. Mr Man Mohan Gupta and Mr Vidur Bhaskar of the LUB asked the small and medium entrepreneurs to ensure proper quality of products and the need for getting ISI certification. It is reported that more than 90 per cent of small industrial units have not acquired ISI certification for their products so far in the district. ‘AAA’ rating for NHPC:
The ‘AAA’ rating denotes highest rating which would help it in its ambitious borrowing programme of Rs 58,000 crore to meet the 10th and 11th plan targets. |
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Spurt in use of plastic, fibre affects timber business Sonepat, September 20 Besides, more than two-dozen hacksaw mills in the district have closed down and number of timber merchants have either left the business or changed over to plastic and fibre business. The carpenters and masons have also been adversely affected in one way or the other. A timber merchant, Rajesh, informed the NCR Tribune that the cost of arranging good quality timber from Hapur, Saharanpur, Assam and other north-east states has increased tremendously. “The sheesham timber, which used to be available at rates ranging from Rs 100 to Rs 600 per quintal about five years back, has now increased to between Rs 800 and Rs 2,500. Moreover, the prices of local wood have jumped up from between Rs 80 and Rs 100 per quintal to more than
A timber worker, Sohan Lal, disclosed that following decrease in demand for timber, more than two dozen hacksaw mills have closed down rendering hundreds of skilled and unskilled workers jobless. One carpenter-cum-mason, Mehar Singh of village Kasanda, said earlier most of the houses used to be covered with timber beams in the villages. However, as the price of timber have soared in the last decade, the villagers have started preferring RCC roofs. Moreover, household furniture like chairs and tables are now made of plastic and iron. Another carpenter, Karambir, said that use of timber had become costly and beyond the reach of the common man. |
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