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Khurana innings in Delhi over? To quit Moti Nagar seat today New Delhi, December 16 Khurana would tender his resignation in the chamber of Speaker of Delhi Legislative Assembly tomorrow morning. He won the Moti Nagar seat in the December 1 Assembly election, defeating Alka Lamba of the Congress. He had declared on more than one occasion that he would rather continue as Member of Parliament. The Assembly Secretariat will notify Khurana’s resignation in the Gazette before forwarding a copy of the same to the Delhi Election Commission with a note that a vacancy has been caused in the Assembly. According to the prescribed rules, the Election Commission has six months to hold the bye-election. Khurana’s decision to vacate his Moti Nagar Assembly brings to an end speculation over the past fortnight about his role in the political affairs of Delhi. After his victory in the Assembly election, Khurana had come to hold three positions : Member of Parliament, Member of Legislative Assembly and President of Delhi Pradesh BJP. The party sources said Khurana was likely to continue as president of Delhi Pradesh BJP. “He will continue to head the party for now”, said the sources. Khurana, they added, had time only till tomorrow since the newly sworn-in Sheila Dikshit Ministry had yesterday decided to convene the Assembly on December 18. The party, however, is still to nominate an MLA as Leader of Opposition in the Assembly. The sources said Khurana had not decided yet when to call the meeting of the BJP Legislature Party. “You can expect the meeting very soon”, the sources said. Only after the meeting is called can the nomination for the post of Leader of Opposition be formalised. In the last Assembly, Prof Jagdish Mukhi had been nominated as Leader of Opposition. Mukhi contested the December 1 Assembly election and has won from his traditional seat of Janakpuri yet again. Mukhi is tipped to don the mantle for a second time, even though the decision would be arrived at only in the meeting of the legislature party. The newly elected Delhi Legislative Assembly will convene on Thursday for a four-day session. The newly elected MLAs will be administered the oath on the first day of the session. The election of the Speaker and the Deputy Speaker will take place on Friday. The Lieutenant Governor’s address would be on December 22. The Council of Ministers led by Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit decided that the motion of thanks on the Lieutenant Governor’s address would be taken up on December 23. The Congress has nominated Ajay Maken for the post of Speaker of the 70-member House in which it has 47 members. The Congress’ tally is five less than what it won last time. |
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Akali Dal claims credit for Balli’s victory New Delhi, December 16 Omkar Singh Thapar of the SAD (Badal), who is also deputy leader of opposition in the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD), said Harsharan Singh Balli’s allegation that the Akalis did not co-operate with the BJP during the Assembly election in Delhi was “false”, “fabricated” and “baseless”. Harsharan Singh Balli of the BJP had yesterday accused the SAD (Badal) of non-cooperation during the Assembly election. Balli, a former minister, had said that senior Akali leader Onkar Singh Thapar and SAD Delhi unit chief Avtar Singh Hit sided with his opponents during the Assembly election. The BJP leader was re-elected for the third time from Delhi’s Hari Nagar constituency from where the Akalis were keen to contest because of huge presence of Sikh voters. However, the BJP has time and again rejected their demand by fielding its Sikh warhorse Balli from the seat since 1993. The SAD’s Delhi unit, he said, had instead expressed resentment over the allocation of seats to its four candidates by the BJP, saying the ally offered only those constituencies which it itself felt shy of fighting. All four Akalis, who fought elections on the BJP’s lotus symbol, suffered crushing defeats. Thapar said that if he and Hit had actually mobilised public opinion against the BJP, Balli would have lost the election by 20,000 odd votes. “It is I who worked hard and undertook development works in the constituency with the blessings of Dr VK Malhotra, who is the area’s Member of Parliament”, he said. “The credit for the work done by me,” Thapar said, “went in Balli’s favour and ensured his victory”. He said the five seats of Tilak Nagar, Hari Nagar, Janakpuri, Vishnu Garden and Delhi Cantonment could not have been won without the support of the Akalis and the leadership of the party’s president, Parkash Singh Badal. Echoing similar sentiments, Avtar Singh Hit said Balli did not seek his party’s help during the campaign. “We moved across the Capital in support of the BJP and in accordance with SAD High Command directives. But in the case of Mr Balli, we were never invited to participate in his canvassing”, he added. |
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CBI files chargesheet against DDA
officials New Delhi, December 16 On February 4, 1991, complainant R K Sharma had alleged that the engineers demanded illegal gratification of Rs 3,000 each for clearing his pending bills and for allotting him a site for construction of concrete path. CBI then laid a trap and caught the engineers red handed at their office in Lawrence Road here. The bribe amount was recovered from their pockets, the agency alleged. |
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New Delhi, December 16 In the first case, the sleuths had received a tip-off that a trafficker, Pankaj Sharma (30), a resident of Bareilly, who was working for a syndicate headed by Anis Khan and Guddu Khan, both brothers and residents of Bareilly, would be delivering a huge consignment to a foreigner near the Inter-continental Hotel. Accordingly, the sleuths laid a trap on December 15 and at around 9.50 apprehended the supplier, Pankaj, with 10 kg of heroin. The sleuths are still trying to locate Frank, the foreigner. Deputy Commissioner of Police (Narcotics) D L Kashyap said “It seems the foreigner is an international drug trafficker. Efforts were being made to trace him.” Pankaj told the sleuths that he came in contact with Anis and Guddu in Bareilly and had started supplying drugs at their behest. Anis and Guddu, who manufacture heroin, used to bring the crude stuff from Mohammad Ganj and other chemicals from Bisarat Ganj in Bareilly.
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IN
PARLIAMENT New Delhi, December 16 The policy envisages among other things construction of multi-storeyed and underground parking, implementation of the metro rail project, introduction of high-capacity bus system as well as an electric trolley bus system in selected corridors and an inter-city rail network, the Union Minister of State for Home Affairs, Mr Harin Pathak, said during Question Hour. It also includes ‘pedestrianisation’ of markets, optimum utilisation of land for enhancing parking spaces and to ensure people’s cooperation in this regard, he said. The policy was formulated by the Government of NCT of Delhi, the Delhi Development Authority, the Municipal Corporation of Delhi, the New Delhi Municipal Council and the Delhi Police, after the Delhi High Court directed them to do so. Asked by Raghunath Jha (Samata Party) whether there was any timetable to implement the policy, Mr Pathak said the agencies were required to furnish to the court a progress report every three months. Mr Pathak said the Delhi Master Plan also included a major plan for providing parking facilities, adding that 70 parking sites had been allotted to contractors recently. |
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Heavy downpour to help in rabi sowing Sonepat, December 16 The sowing of wheat had been affected for want of canal water, which was inadequate and erratic for the past few months. According to a report, the region experienced more than 5 mm of rain during the past 48 hours. The heavy rain intensified the cold weather in the region. Normal life was partially affected on account of intermittent rain throughout the day yesterday. According to officials of the Agriculture Department, the rains will prove to be beneficial for the growth of the Rabi crops. The rain has, however, caused waterlogging in the streets of this city.
Theft in godown Thieves are reported to have broken into the godown of a wholesale trader and taken away goods worth several lakhs of rupees last night. According to a report, the owner of the godown informed the police about the theft. However, the police were unable to find any clue regarding the theft. The police also summoned the dog squad, but failed to trace the culprits. The spate of thefts caused panic among the residents and shopkeepers in this city, particularly in the light of the failure of the police to trace the culprits in the past few months. The residents and the shopkeepers urged the district and police administration to take steps for intensifying night patrolling in the city. |
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Immorality on TV contributes to AIDS: NACO chief Jhajjar: The Chairman of the National AIDS Control Organisation (NACO) of Safdarjung Hospital, New Delhi, Dr R. S. Mishra, said television contributed a lot in the increase in AIDS cases in the country as the youth of the country were in a dilemma and had lost a sense of ethics due to the picturisation of obscenity in TV serials. Extramarital affairs and illicit relationships were routine on TV. The youth had been directed towards open sex and AIDS was spreading due to that. Dr Mishra revealed that there had been a considerable downfall in the ethical behaviour of the youth due to modern lifestyle. That’s why venereal diseases had also increased. Dr Mishra also quoted a survey conducted on aids patients in Delhi during their treatment that neutralisation towards our culture and rich tradition besides the downfall in social values were responsible for that. Dr Kaushal Verma from AIIMS made a presentation on cosmetic surgery technique and laser technique and the treatment of skin diseases with these techniques. He said that skin disease could be cured with these modern techniques. Prof M. Ramam of AIIMS also told about his experiences and the various modes of treatment available to these patients. Experts also said on this occasion that the number of AIDS patients in the Hindi language states, including UP, was less than in southern states. Dr Mishra revealed that 40 lakh HIV positive patients and 50 lakh other aids patients had so far been identified. |
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Disability camp sends home many with smiles & more Sonepat, December 16 But she was seen walking with the support of artificial legs and crutches provided to her at the disability camp organised jointly by the Bhagwan Mahavir Viklang Sahayata Samiti, Delhi, the District Red Cross Society, Jain Samaj and Lions Club, Sonepat. During a visit to the camp on Monday, Seema informed the NCR Tribune that she felt very happy now as she would not remain a burden on her family members who had to drop her in school. “I will go on my own like other students.” The 45-year-old Pratap of Kakroi village said he became handicapped in a road accident around 35 years back. “I faced lot of problems in my childhood and my disability disgusted me. Now I have come to the camp and the doctors have assured me after my medical examination that I will be able to walk again with artificial limbs which the camp organisers will provide to me.” Similarly, a number of other persons, including 27-year-old Anila of Hullaheri village, 60-year-old Brahma of Bhigan who became handicapped after a road accident about 20 years back, 24-year-old Bijender of Puthi village who was paralysed at the age of one year and 10-year-old Bittu of Sonepat, have come to the camp for treatment with the hope to lead a life like other normal people. The coordinator of the camp, Mr Harish Chander Jain, informed mediapersons that Haryana Chief Minister Om Prakash Chautala would distribute artificial limbs, including Jaipur foot, calipers, hearing aids, wheelchairs, crutches etc to the persons treated during the six-day camp which will conclude on December 17. The persons who had come to the camp had been provided free boarding, lodging, treatment, including operations, and they would be given artificial limbs, he added. |
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MEERUT Meerut, December 16 Night devices and increased fire power had taken over the old traditional system of war and every soldier must be familiar with these changes in the field of war techniques. GOC R K Singh also asked all the officers, JCO’s and soldiers to be prepared to make the highest sacrifice for the country. Earlier, a glittering ceremony was held at PINE War Memorial to commemorate the victory of the Indian Army over Pakistan. The GOC along with other serving and retired officers paid floral tributes and laid wreath to all the martyrs, who made the supreme sacrifice in the service of their motherland during 1971 war with Pakistan.
Maj-Gen Singh also praised the valour and achievements of the Indian Army, both during the 1971 war and subsequently, whenever called in the service of the Motherland. The 1971 war was thrust upon India by Pakistan by launching air attack simultaneously on eight air fields of India on December 3 1971. The Indian forces retaliated and emerged victorious after a fierce battle. Bangladesh was created as a free nation in the aftermath of the war. |
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Move to increase route permits meets with resistance Sonepat, December 16 In the opinion of members of the Cooperative Transport Societies, like the previous experiences, the private bus operators and bound to suffer financial losses but mainly on account of enhanced taxes, permit fees and plying of unauthorised vehicles on the routes in connivance with the police, transport officers and politicians. The Union of Haryana Roadways Employees has outrightly opposed the government decision to hand over inter-state routes to the private bus operators under its new transport policy. The union has made it clear by announcing that it will not allow opening of the invited tenders for inter-state bus routes. The union has also taken a decision to organise a state sammelan on December 20 to oppose the government move, pointing out that it would lead to retrenchment of thousands of roadways employees. Besides, the passengers would also not get better transport facilities from the private operators. According to information, the state government has planned to issue around 2,000 new route permits to the cooperative transport operators for plying their buses on nearly 750 routes. And it will include more than 1700 permits for 52-seat buses and more than 250 for mini buses. The former general secretary of the Haryana Cooperative Transport Society Operators Federation, Mr Vinod Bansal, informed that under the new plan the government had increased monthly permit fee from Rs 16,000 to Rs 20,000 for full size buses and from Rs 12,000 to Rs 16,000 for mini buses. Besides, other fees like bus stand fee, road tax etc were also to be paid by the transporters. He also pointed out that the government was allowing plying the bus only up to total distance of 250 km each day whereas for roadways buses this limit was up to 600 km. A large number of unauthorised vehicles, particularly jeeps, were being operated on routes allotted to the cooperative transport operators. The government had totally failed to curb this menace which had been causing direct losses to the bus operators, he said, adding that more than 75 per cent of the route permit holders had withdrawn their buses from the routes. “In this situation, a transport operator who buys a bus on a loan of Rs 10 lakh is bound to suffer losses,” he remarked. When Bhajan Lal was the Chief Minister in 1993-94 the Haryana Government had introduced a new scheme of cooperative bus societies in order to generate employment for the educated unemployed youth by allotting them route permits for plying buses on local routes. At that time a large number of people had applied for permits and routes were allotted through lucky draws. When Mr Bansi Lal came into power in the state in 1996 his government introduced maxi-cab scheme. But with the passage of time the bus operators started facing financial losses due to a number of reasons. They were forced to withdraw their buses from the routes. Now the state government is coming up with a revised scheme by liberalising area and distance limits and providing some other relaxation. However, the bus operators are still hesitant. A number of local cooperative bus operators categorically told the NCR Tribune that “until some strict rules are enforced to curb the illegal and unauthorised plying of maxi-cabs, no scheme is going to succeed.” |
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Unregulated crossings lead to anarchy on roads Sonepat, December 16 According to a report, as many as 423 road accidents were reported during the current year, in which 497 persons sustained injuries. As many as 109 people were killed in the accidents and 120 people were referred to trauma centres at Delhi for further treatment. Some of them were also sent to the PGIMS at Rohtak. It was also reported that a number of deaths and injuries went unregistered. The highway police challaned as many as 248 auto vehicles on various charges during the past 10 days and recovered Rs 98,200 as penalty from the erring drivers. According to an estimate, a large number of the accidents had occurred on the National Highway no. 1 at Rai, Kundli, Bahalgarh, Murthal and Ganaur, and occurred while people were trying to cross the roads. In this light, it was shocking that the state government had failed to construct under bridges and over bridges on the National Highway no. 1, or construct red lights for the safe crossing of the pedestrians. It was unfortunate that a single traffic constable has been put on duty at Bahalgarh chowk leading to the G T Road for regulating traffic here. The officials of the highway police maintain that the high speed of vehicles on this road was the main cause of the accidents. Desperate overtaking of vehicles was also major cause of the accident, as drivers often lost control of their vehicles. Officials pointed out the accident in which a Himachal Pradesh Roadways bus rammed into a school bus near Rai, resulting in injuries to 35 schoolchildren. They also stated that a truck had hit a motorcycle, resulting in the death of two persons on the bike. The truck driver, however, managed to escape. |
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Man planning to kill in-laws held with illegal arms New Delhi, December 16 The accused, identified as Ramesh Bareja (33), resident of Noida, was apprehended by the sleuths from the Ring Road near Wazirpur, who was on his way to kill his father-in-law and brother-in-laws in Derawal Nagar. The culprit accused them of interfering in his personal life and sending him to jail once. He told the sleuths that his in-laws had interfered in his personal life and on several occasions, his wife had left him to stay at her father’s house. When Ramesh had gone to pick his wife, he told the sleuths that his father-in-law had demanded money from him.
Blood donation camp organised The Air Hostess Academy in association with the Rotary Club organised a blood donation camp at its Head Office in Lajpat Nagar today. The academy’s over 700 students participated in the camp.
Load shedding announced The North Delhi Power Limited announced load shedding on the Rajpur Road and Civil Lines areas on December 17 from 10 am to 6 pm due to maintenance work. |
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MCD accused of leaving poor people shelterless New Delhi, December 16 In a statement issued here, Mr Arya alleged that the Congress government did not construct a single night shelter during the last financial year as a result of which hundreds of people will have to spend the night out in the cold. He said despite an allocation of Rs 2.60 crore in the budget for the slum wing for construction of 100 night shelters, not even a single such construction had been constructed. He said the MCD had spent only Rs 30.17 lakh of the allocated amount and the budget on this count for the year 2004-05 had been reduced to just Rs 60 lakh. Referring to the amount of money spent on the construction of toilets to prevent people from defecating in the open, Mr Arya said a provision of Rs five lakh had been set aside for the construction of Jan Suvidha Complexes. However, the MCD spent only Rs 22.47 lakh and this amount too had been reduced to Rs 1 crore in the next budget. Mr Arya alleged that despite having failed to provide facilities to people, the MCD was proposing to levy more taxes on the people. He suggested that instead of increasing revenue through taxes, the MCD should improve the financial resources through properties vested with the MCD. |
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NCR
BRIEFS Ghaziabad, December 16 According to SSP Jai Narayan Singh, the fake stamp papers had been used in tenders and other official documents. This discovery was made by the Joint Commissioner, Stamps, Mr Ajay Kumar Goel, when he examined some documents in banks and government offices. In all, 95 documents had been examined. According to the Sihani Gate police, this inquiry was conducted through Inspector Tej Pal Verma by the SSP, STF, Lucknow, in which 65 persons have been found guilty prima facie. In one report Anil Chander and 48 others and in the second Om Pal Singh and 17 others have been indicted. Most of these persons are contractors. A case under Sections 255/420 and 120 of the Anti-Corruption Act has been filed. The inquiry had brought out negligence at the official level also. Even a look for watermark can establish a stamp paper’s genuineness. Besides, on some stamp papers, the name of the buyer had been replaced with overwriting and cutting. According to the inquiry officer, such incidents should have been brought to the notice of the senior officers by the dealing officer concerned. This is tantamount to deliberate attempts at misleading the administration with a view to causing loss to the state exchequer. The government officials concerned can be hauled up for “cooperating” with certain people for causing loss to the exchequer. Their conduct is being critically viewed by the administration in this connection, it is learned.
Arrested car snatcher operated in UP, Haryana Faridabad: The local police have claimed that the two gangsters, who were arrested during a car snatching attempt yesterday, had been operating in Uttar Pradesh and Haryana. According to a press release issued here today, the accused have been identified as Manoj, alias Rahul, and Amit, alias Pravin, alias Rohit; they were both residents of UP and had been involved in several cases of attempted murder, dacoity and kidnapping. The police had even announced a cash reward on their heads. The police department has also claimed that Manoj had been injured when his associate fired a gun: this happened when they were stopped by the police at a check post on Sohna road. It is stated that the criminals had a loaded revolver and they had fired in the air. It is stated that the three accused, including Dinesh, alias Rajiv, had slipped away during the chase; they were all members of the Jain Sarohi gang based in UP.
BJP can form govt On its own: Dhankar Jhajjar: The Bhartiya Janata Party will form the government on its own strength in the state, Mr Om Parkash Dhankar, national-secretary of the party, claimed while inaugurating a ‘Jan Jagran’ campaign in Chimani village of the district. He said that the Assembly elections in three states had proved that the people were happy with the performance of the NDA government. The main Opposition party, Congress, had become a
party without any base, he alleged. The BJP leader visited Chimani, Sivana, Majra, Dubaldhan, Duthana, Bhaharana, Dighal and Gochhi villages to make the people aware of the development activities of the Central government. |
451 retail loans aggregating Rs 18 cr disbursed by PNB Panipat, December 16 Mr Kuljas Rai, Assistant General Manager, Zonal Office, Chandigarh, who chaired the function, said loans totaling Rs.230 crore were disbursed by the bank during the current financial year, which is a record as compared to other banks in the region. He said the loans disbursed today included retail lending covering housing loans, vehicle loans, personal loans, consumer loan, pension loan for ex-servicemen and traders. While providing details of the activities of the bank in Karnal region, including Sonepat, Karnal and Panipat districts, the regional manager, Karnal Region, said that the Punjab National Bank had become the leading bank in Panipat. He said that retail loans were disbursed to community as a whole, and to make the scheme attractive and workable, the interest rate was reduced. Repayment was scheduled in a manner that the money could be rotated and asset created for the bank, he added. The district lead bank officer, Panipat, Mr S.P.Arora, said that the Punjab National Bank had achieved good results in the recovery of non-performing assets (N.P.As) in the Karnal region. While reviewing the progress under Securitisation Act 2002, Mr Arora said that notices under Section 13(2) was sent to as many as 197 account holders with dues aggregating Rs.16.03 crore. Further, Mr. Arora said that 139 account holders had come forward for compromise for loans amounting to Rs.11.99 crore. Mr Om Prakash Nagpal of Ms Daya Handloom Private Limited, Panipat, Dr. Saxena from Sonepat and Mr Gupta from Karnal also addressed the gathering. |
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