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Swearing-in delayed; ghost of dissidence not New Delhi, December 11 A miffed Dikshit held several rounds of discussions during the day in a bid to reconcile the differences that arose after she decided to induct two “loyalists” in her Cabinet, ignoring the claims by the faction led by Delhi Pradesh Congress Committee (DPCC) president Prem Singh. She was also in constant touch with Mrs Sonia Gandhi. “We will give you a good team,” she told reporters after returning home from 10 Janpath. Sources said Dikshit was likely to call on the Lieutenant-Governor tomorrow and hand over the letter from the All India Congress Committee (AICC) nominating her as leader of the Congress Legislature Party. She would also tender her Ministry’s resignation to pave way for the installation of the new Council of Ministers. The swearing-in is expected at the earliest on Saturday or Sunday. The development has delayed the swearing-in of the new Council of Ministers, which was earlier tipped to take place tomorrow. As per convention, the chief minister-designate’s letter staking claim to form the government will be handed over to the Lieutenant-Governor to be forwarded to the Union Ministry of Home Affairs, which will get it endorsed by the President of India. Emboldened by her nomination as leader of Congress Legislature Party, the sources said, Sheila Dikshit had got down to constituting her Council of Ministers late last night. Exercising her prerogative as the chief minister-designate, which she thought was hers, she decided to retain the quartet of Ajay Maken, Raj Kumar Chauhan, AK Walia and Haroon Yusuf and induct two new faces in her “team”, both loyalists. By this morning, the factions opposed to Dikshit insisted that the high command should take a “pragmatic” and “reasonable” view and intervene to sort out the matter. |
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Five arrested for defrauding ICICI Bank of Rs 1.34 cr New Delhi, December 11 The accused have been identified as Vinay Gupta (23), Pankaj Chopra (25), Dinesh Bhalla (45), Ramdev Puri (54) and Ashok Kumar (35). Deputy Commissioner of Police (Economic Offences Wing) Dinesh Bhatt said that one Darshan Lal of Ludhiana who had opened an account with ICICI Bank, Preet Vihar, in the name of a non-existing firm, Jai Maa Dyeing & Co, which encashed the cheque is absconding. Investigations revealed that
Naim, an NRI, procured a stolen cheque of Fortis Banque and came to India in August. He contacted his associate Dinesh, who had been in Paris for about four years. Thereafter, the two contacted Ashok of Tank Road, Delhi, and Ramdev of Ludhiana to get the cheque encashed. Ramdev then got in touch with Darshan, a hosiery trader of Ludhiana. On an agreement reached between them, Darshan opened a fictitious account in ICICI Bank in the name of Jai Maa Dyeing & Co, Gandhi Nagar, representing himself as a sole proprietor. The stolen cheque for Rs 1.5 crore was deposited in the bank and the amount credited to the account of the fictitious firm. Darshan then withdrew Rs 1.34 crore between August 26 and September 13. However, on October 10, ICICI Bank received information from Fortis Banque that the cheque was stolen and immediately the balance Rs 16 lakh was blocked. Meanwhile, Dharshan gave Rs 20 lakh to Ramdev as commission, of which Rs 10 lakh was to be given to Dinesh. Darshan also paid Rs 4.80 lakh to Ashok as his share. Darshan was to get Rs 55 lakh. Naim was supposed to visit India in October to collect his share of Rs 70 lakh. Vinay, son of Darshan, was also a conspirator as he forged the signatures of one Pankaj Gupta on whose name the rent agreement of the firm was signed with the landlord. Scrutiny of the bank statement of Jai Maa Dyeing revealed that a sum of Rs 30 lakh was transferred in Vinay’s account which he maintained with HDFC Bank, Radhu Palace. Goods worth Rs 5-6 lakh purchased by Vinay and Pankaj out of this amount had been recovered from the firm, Mr Bhatt said. |
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National
Highway 2 Faridabad, December 11 Incidentally, a major chunk of Mathura Road, which passes through the town, is bereft of street and traffic lights. In the latest accident, two brothers travelling in a car were killed after their vehicle collided with a tractor-trailer near Bamnikhera village on the highway, about 30 km from here, on Tuesday night. Three other occupants of the car were injured in the accident. The deceased, in their early 20s, were sons of an SDO employed with the Municipal Corporation, Faridabad (MCF), and were on their way to Kosi in Mathura district of UP to attend a marriage. The accident occurred around 8 pm. Eyewitnesses say that the area has no street and traffic lights and the tractor-trailer was perhaps not visible to the car driver. Such mishaps keep recurring, they lamented. Most of the tractor-trailers have no lights and reflectors, thus endangering the vehicles travelling at great speed on the highway. The national highway has a length of about 60 km from Badarpur border to UP border. This stretch is notorious for being witness to many accidents. Increased traffic congestion is stated to be one of the underlying reasons for this sorry state of affairs. Mr Arun Kumar, who was serving here as Deputy Commissioner in 2002, had started a campaign to provide lighting on the 25-km stretch, starting at the Delhi border. This project, however, fell through after his transfer. More than 14,000 three-wheelers and autorickshaws, besides heavy vehicles like trucks and tractor-trailers, have made travel quite risky for motorists on the highway. The proposal for a service lane and an operational bypass has been hanging fire despite tall claims made in recent years. |
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Murder case against Dholana police filed Ghaziabad, December 11 Bir Singh had died last Saturday while in the custody of the Dholana police. The way people had taken to roads and had held demonstrations had its effect. If a murder case had been filed on the basis of the autopsy report which had clearly established the cause of Bir Singh’s death, the outburst of public anger and resultant humiliation to district authorities could have been avoided. The news of Bir Singh’s death had spread like wildfire in the Mussori area. The mood of the people could be gauged from the fact that over a hundred persons had created a commotion at the Dholana police station. They had reportedly beaten up some cops too. Even a demonstration by livid people at the Collectorate, the DM’s residence and the Civil Hospital were treated lightly by the police and the administration. All government functionaries were seen trying to protect the cops responsible for Bir Singh’s death in custody. People do not view it as a solitary incident but as symptomatic of serious excesses committed by the police on innocent and hapless villagers by trapping them in false cases and extorting money from poor people under threats. |
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Murder most foul New Delhi, December 11 The victim Rahul and his cousin Uma (3), both went to a nearby shop to buy some sweets. Only Uma came back home. Worried about Rahul, his maternal uncle Anurag rushed out and spotted a huge crowd near a house. On reaching the house, he found Rahul was lying in a pool of blood in a fodder store room. Immediately Anurag informed Rahul’s mother and his sister Kavita about the incident. Deputy Commissioner of Police (West) Satish Golcha said that during the preliminary investigation, the police suspected the hands of one woman Santosh, sister of Samunder Singh, in whose house Rahul was found killed. On questioning, the accused Santosh confessed to have committed the murder. She also said that Pawan, her cousin, helped her kill the child and also concealed the weapon used in the crime. Santosh said her husband was a habitual drinker and used to beat her every day after reaching home in the evening. Her desperate efforts to change him came to nought. Santosh used to meet a number of tantriks. One tantrik then told Santosh that she should sacrifice a child and all her problems would be immediately solved. Taking his advice, Santosh who had come to her brother’s house, spotted a child Rahul. She killed him mercilessly. Later, she dumped the body in a fodder store room. |
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Rape victim’s murder, cops clueless Faridabad, December 11 Shakti Vahini, an NGO based here has decided to take up the case with the National Commission for Women (NCW) and demanded immediate arrest of the culprits. It may be recalled that the girl aged 22 years had been employed with a limited concern on Mathura Road as computer operator and fashion designer. Daughter of a junior engineer in the power supply department and resident of Sector 7A here, she had gone to her office on December 6, but did not come back. Her body was found hanging from a tree in Sector 30 in a nude condition, with her jeans used to strangulate her. The medical examination confirmed that the culprits, suspected to be two to four had first committed rape before killing her. Some of belongings have been found missing. The police had reportedly taken into custody some of the employees of the company, where she worked but could not get any clue, said the sources. Spokesman of Shakti Vahini, Mr Rishi Kant claimed here today that as the matter was of grave concern and the local police failing to catch the criminals, the NGO would take up the case with the NCW and the NHRC. He said four days had passed but the police seemed to be unconcerned. |
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Chautala against early elections in Haryana Panipat, December 11 This was announced by the Chief Minister while addressing the party workers meet here on Tuesday. Mr Chautala asserted that during the remaining 14 months of the present government, the developmental works including roads, electricity and water would be taken up on priority basis. He directed the party MPs, MLAs and other functionaries to visit their areas and examine the developmental works done. The Chief Minister announced that he would visit every village of the state to see the developmental works himself as he had already visited 15 villages in the state so far. He disclosed that on December 14 and 15, he would visit the villages of Rajondh constituency and go to all 90 constituencies covering 6,745 villages of the state. He said that the purpose of his visit to the villages was to ascertain the facts about the developmental works. While extending his greetings to the workers for their performance in the recently concluded Vidhan Sabha elections in Rajasthan, he said that the main reason of the victory of the Indian National Lok Dal (INLD) in Rajasthan was due to innovative party policies and programmes conceived by ‘Jannayak’ Ch. Devi Lal. The Chief Minister said that he never believed in casteism. The INLD was a secular party committed to fulfilling the dreams of Ch. Devi Lal who always advocated the upliftment of the rural people of the state. He said that the ‘Rajasthan Jat Sabha’ tried to grab the vote with the help of the Bharatiya Janata Party, but it could not succeed in its design. He criticised a ‘Samajik Manch’, formed in Rajasthan with a view to garner votes on the basis of raising the reservation issue. Mr Chautala asserted that the INLD party had emerged as the third force in Rajasthan as they were unhappy with the party and the policies of the BJP and the Congress. |
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A story of poor drainage & nightmarish Sonepat, December 11 According to a report, the main reason for the poor condition of the roads is drainage system. Drainage is built in such a manner that it shows the short-sightedness of engineers. Moreover, the road dividers have become dangerous for the motorists and pedestrians for lack of blinkers. Most dividers are death traps for the low-bodied vehicles and the absence of blinkers to caution motorists complicates the situation. On the other hand, the official agencies claim that the city roads have a very high degree of riding quality and are some of the best maintained roads in the state. Most of the roads are rough and structurally weak. The depression, bumps and uneven surface, which the city roads have become notorious for, have another lethal addition, open manholes. With complete disregards to the commuters’ safety, the official agencies content themselves with cosmetic patchwork here and there. To walk on or cross a Sonepat road, one must risk life and limb. Reckless speed of the vehicular traffic, callous overtaking and other brazen violations continue to kill and maim. Sonepat continues to carry the burden of its dubious distinction of recording the highest number of road casualties among the cities of the state. The number of vehicles plying on Sonepat’s road has risen manifold. The fast growing number of vehicles along with the burgeoning industrial goods traffic, has taken a heavy toll on the road development. During the past one year, a number of official measures had been taken to expedite the development of roads and highways in and around Sonepat. However, in reality far less money than the sanctioned had been spent on the maintenance and construction of roads with compromise made on the expected quality of material and thickness. The state government, on the whole, has neglected the road sector for long. It is high time the policy makers came out of their dilemma and not let uncertainty mar the pace of development which is already far below the standard. Meanwhile, erratic power supply has led to the indiscriminate use of high power generators by shopkeepers, traders and bankers as well as the owners of the commercial establishments all over the city aggravating the twin problem of chemical and noise pollution. And the government which spends crores on popularising the need to save the environment remains blind to the menace. It is incumbent upon the users of generators to seek permission from the Uttar Haryana Bijli Vitran Nigam (UHBVN) and other law enforcing agencies. But the police never bother to intervene even when deluged with complaints by the affected people. The inaction on the part of the district authorities has emboldened traders and shopkeepers to install generators even on pavements, lanes and bylanes, impervious to the inconvenience caused to the public. |
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HelpAge India celebrates 25 years of noble existence New Delhi, December 11 During the period of 25 years, ageing has become one of the hottest debate subjects in the world with governments grappling with its onslaught on economies. The entire developed world is focusing on reworking pension systems and social security so that this rapidly rising population of older persons can live a dignified life. The United Nations too has recognised ageing as the one of the biggest challenges of the 21st century. The President of HelpAge India, Mr M. M. Sabharwal, said, “ For the first time in human history, the population of those above 60 is set to surpass that of children. This means there will be more mouths to be fed and fewer hands to work.” This issue has particular significance in the Indian situation where 90 per cent of older people belong to the unorganised sector and have no pension, retirement benefits, medical cover or social security of any kind. It is for this segment of society that HelpAge India was set up and has been working for the past 25 years. Over this quarter century it has implemented 3,188 projects having spent nearly Rs 200 crore, thus bringing a smile on the faces of millions of older people. In support of old age homes and day care centres besides income generation activity, HelpAge conducts free cataract operations, AIDS, cancer, leprosy camps. It also sponsors older people under the Adopt-A-Grandparent programme. Its mobile medicare unit programme, which gives quality healthcare at the doorstep of older people, is the largest of its kind in Asia. HelpAge India also lobbies for the rights of older people and was largely responsible for the formulation of the National Policy of Older Persons in 1999. Recognising its achievements, the government has accorded it 100 per cent exemption on collections, a benefit enjoyed by very few voluntary organisations. Two former Presidents of India, Mr R. Venkataraman and Mr K.R. Narayan, are its patrons and active supporters of the cause. |
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House tax
recovery notices sent to cinema houses Sonepat: Following a court order, the Sonepat Municipal Council has sent notices to owners of cinema houses here, asking them to pay arrears of house tax pending for the past three years or face warrants of attachment of their property. According to a report, there are six cinema houses, namely Bawa, Tarana, Amrit Palace, Sarang, Anand Palace and Minerva and a sum of about Rs 1 lakh is outstanding against them towards house tax. The owners of these cinema houses had failed in paying house tax since 2001-02 as they had pleaded in the court that the cinema industry should be given the status of industry. The court, however, had declared it a commercial establishment. After this decision, the Sonepat Municipal Council has sent notices to the owners of these cinema houses for the recovery of arrears of house tax from them. The state government, it may be recalled, had given a concession in the payment of house tax to the industries for accelerating their growth in the state. Thereafter, the owners of the cinema houses had filed a suit in the court for getting the status of industry for the cinema houses. The state government has also directed the civic bodies in the state to recover house tax on the basis of the old survey of the year 2001-02 and not to harass any one during the process of the recovery.
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CM promises surplus power after 2005 Panipat, December 11 This assertion was made by Chief Minister Om Prakash Chautala after inaugurating the 33KV sub-station at Kutani village, which was constructed at a cost of Rs 2, 25 crore here recently. The Chief Minister said special thrust was given to promote industry in the state as it was not possible to provide a job to every youth in the state. He said the number of industrial units had increased from 4,000 in 1966 when the state came into existence to 82,000 now. He said special thrust was being given to increase the availability of power in the state. The seventh unit of Tau Devi Lal Thermal Power Plant would be ready by October 2004 while the eighth unit of the same would be ready by February 2005. Mr Chautala urged the people to deposit their bills on time to help the government in checking pilferage of power through “ kundi system”. He assured the people that there would be no scarcity of power in the state as a number of power projects were in the pipeline and special thrust was being given to strengthen the distribution and generation system in the state. |
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NCR Briefs Ghaziabad, December 11 The SOG in charge, Mr Shatrudhar Upadhya, was informed that two persons would arrive from Barabanki with brown sugar and hand it over to one Yash Pal at Lal Quan. Subsequently, the police arrested the two persons with the bag containing the consignment while trying to hand it over to the third person waiting for them. Simultaneously, the SOG team also nabbed the third person, who had come to receive the bag containing the brown sugar. During interrogation, the arrested criminals identified themselves as Surinder Singh of Nawada Tuglakpur, Rajesh Sharma of Patel Nagar, Delhi and Yash Pal of Dankaur. The police seized 700 gm of brown sugar, Rs.70,000 in cash and three mobile phones from them. Mr Upadhya said, Surinder Singh and Rajesh Sharma used to smuggle brown sugar from Lucknow and Barabanki, which they would hand over to Yash Pal in Ghaziabad and charged Rs70,000 for the work. The SOG chief said that the arrested persons were involved in this illegal trade for the last couple of years. They named a leading smuggler of Lucknow as the kingpin of the whole operation. A police team had been dispatched to Lucknow to nab him, Mr Upadhya said.
Medicines, goods worth Rs 1 lakh looted Sonepat: Thieves reportedly broke into a medico shop at Bahalgarh village, about 10 km from here last night, and escaped with medicines and other goods worth about Rs one lakh from it. According to a report, the police have registered the case and further investigations were in progress.
Two youths injured Two youths were injured when the scooter on which they were travelling collided with a tractor on the BST road at Ganaur mandi, about 16 km from here last evening. According to a report, the injured youths were identified as Balwan and Ajay and were admitted to a private hospital for treatment. The condition of both the youths was stated to be out of danger. The police were still investigating into the case.
Train delayed The New Delhi-bound Jhelum Express was delayed for about half an hour following a clash between the commuters and Army jawans travelling in it at the railway station here yesterday. According to a report, the clash took place over the refusal of the Armymen to open the door of the coach, which was already packed to the capacity. Incidentally, such clashes have become a routine and the GRP officials and the Railway authorities have failed to take preventive steps so far. |
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RVC enters 225th year of glorious service Meerut, December 11 In an exclusive conversation with the NCR Tribune, Commandant of the RVC Centre and School, Brigadier K. S. Rao, claimed that the Corps had the distinction of being the pioneer in scientific crossbreeding programmes of cattle, which heralded the ‘White Revolution’ in the country. The scientific fraternity of the Corps associated with disease diagnosis and investigation of animals, had developed cutting edge lab technologies, undertook applied research projects at its prestigious Central Military Veterinary Laboratory (CMVL), which had emerged as the premier institute in the country, added Brigadier Rao. He also revealed that the Crops had tried to improve the standard of equestrian in the country and had brought laurels to the country by wining as many as 73 gold medals, 54 silver medals and 34 bronze medals in international, national and Army equestrian championship, said Brigadier Rao. The Corps comprises of major establishment namely RVC Centre and School, EBS, Babugarh, EBS Hisar, RTSD Saharanpur, RTSD Hempur and Central Military Veterinary Laboratory CMVL, Meerut Cantt, in addition to an array of Advance Field Vet Hospitals, Mobile Field Vet Hospitals, Military Vet Hospitals, Field Vet Labs and Army Dog units. As such, the RVC has an effective infrastructure in peace and operational areas, said Brigadier Rao. |
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Man run over on G T Road Sonepat, December 11 According to a report, the victim was crossing the road when the accident occurred. The driver of the vehicle, however, managed to escape and the police have registered the case in this connection. The body still remains unidentified and it has been sent for the postmortem examination. According to another report, a labourer was killed on when an electric pole fell on him while he was trying to put it up at Gohana town, 35 km from here last evening. The victim was identified as Dabloo Roy from Bihar. The police have registered a case under Section 304A IPC against the driver of the crane, who is still at large. A hunt is on to apprehend him. |
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Heroin worth Rs 2 cr seized, two arrested New Delhi, December 11 The Deputy Commissioner of Police (Narcotics), Mr D. L. Kashyap, said based on a secret information that one rehriwala was supplying heroin near DDU Hospital, the police apprehended Mohammad Shakir Khan (24), resident of Bareilly and seized 560 grams of heroin from his possession. Shakir told the sleuths that he was introduced to one Bhagwati, resident of Subhash Nagar by one Musi Raza, resident of Bareilly. Bhagwati paid Rs 5,000 for every consignment delivered by Shakir. In another case, one woman, identified as Qamar Begam (55), resident of Bareilly, was apprehended and 1.5 kilograms of heroin was seized from her possession. She told the police that she was in the illegal trade for the last 10 years.
Two dreaded
criminals held With the arrest of two dreaded criminals, the South-West police have claimed to have solved as many as 10 cases of murder, robbery, abduction and cheating in Delhi, Bahadurgarh and Rohtak. The police also claimed to have recovered one Hyundai Accent car, a country- made pistol and two live cartridges from their possession. The accused were identified as Satpal Singh Rathi (35), resident of Bahadurgarh and Ravi Dabas (27), resident of
Kanjhawala. |
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Arrested for gambling Sonepat: The police have arrested four persons on the charge of gambling at a public place at Gohana town, 35 km from here yesterday. According to a report, the police have recovered Rs 350 in cash and other articles involved in gambling from the possession of the arrested persons, identified as Deepak of Satya Nagar, Vikas of Adarsh Nagar, Jai Parkash and Rajbir of Ahulana village. The police have registered a case of gambling against the arrested youths.
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