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Delhi to iron out all problems now: Sheila New Delhi, May 20 Speaking to the reporters after meeting with Prime Minister-designate Singh at his residence this morning, Dikshit reaffirmed that the Government of NCT of Delhi was committed to making the Capital one of the best cities in the world within the next two years. “Now I expect all speed-breakers in the way of Delhi’s development to be removed,” the Chief Minister said. This was Dikshit’s first meeting with Mr Manmohan Singh after the latter was elected leader of the Congress Parliamentary Party (CPP), and thereafter, invited by President APJ Abdul Kalam to form the government. Incidentally, the only time Manmohan Singh contested a Lok Sabha election was from the South Delhi parliamentary constituency in 1999 when he lost to Vijay Kumar Malhotra of BJP by 29,999 votes. The speed-breakers the Chief Minister referred to were the multiplicity of authorities. With a ‘hostile’ BJP out of the way, the Chief Minister hopes to expedite all the projects and finish the agenda she has set out in her second consecutive term in office after the INC was voted back to power in the Assembly election later last year.
Just few party workers remain outside
Sonia’s house After two days of high drama outside 10, Janpath, the official residence of Congress president Sonia Gandhi, things changed for the better today. Except a few party workers who were still camping outside her residence, the large number of crowd which caused a law and order problem in and around the area over the last two days simply disappeared. However, the security has been beefed up for Sonia Gandhi and a contingent of armed police along with the local police has been stationed outside her residence to handle any law and order situation. “During the last two days, we had a tough time managing the security as hordes of Congressmen from across the country had gathered outside Ms Gandhi’s residence to protest against her decision. But fortunately, the police handled the show well and there were no security problems,” said a police officer. Except a handful of diehard workers from Amethi and Rai Bareli, most of the party men have accepted their leader’s “no” to the top job. “She will continue to be our leader forever and we will ensure that we return with over two-thirds majority in the next elections,” Rajendra Pandey, an activist from Faizabad, said. |
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Sikh leaders congratulate Manmohan Singh
New Delhi, May 20 Earlier, Delhi Sikh Gurdwara Management Committee chief Prehlad Singh Chandok had told the mediapersons that they would illuminate five historic gurdwaras on May 22 when Dr Singh takes oath as the first Sikh Prime Minister of the country. However, the DSGMC withdrew the idea later, fearing violation of Sikh Maryada (code). Apprehending “flak from the Sikhs”, Mr Chandok has now announced the illumination of its offices and institutions and not gurdwaras. While the community was unabashed in praising Dr Singh for being the first Sikh to assume office of the Prime Minister, they also spared thought for the ‘achievements’ of Dr Singh as a “world-class economist” whose work and reputation as an honest man were “behind his selection for the top executive office”. “His rise as Prime Minister is because of his calibre and not for belonging to a particular community,” Mr Chandok said. “But as Sikhs, we feel proud of him.” President of the Shiromani Akali Dal, Delhi, Paramjit Singh Sarna, vice-president Gurcharan Singh Gatka Master and president of the youth wing Raja Harpreet Singh have greeted Dr Singh on becoming the first Sikh Prime Minister. Applauding Dr Singh for being ‘honest’, they put forth that Sonia Gandhi by choosing him for the premier post has indicated that the party relies on him. Meanwhile, the president of the Punjabi Cultural Federation too has joined in the celebrations. In its message, it has expressed hope that Dr Singh will “make India a global economic power and will work for the removal of chronic poverty”.  |
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DU teachers, students cheer for Manmohan New Delhi, May 20 “We are excited knowing that Dr Manmohan Singh has delivered his valuable lectures on economics in our college. We might not be one of his lucky students but are happy that our college has given the nation a Prime Minister who is a successful economist also,” said the students of the Delhi School of Economics. The teachers of the Delhi University have something similar to say. “He had been proved as the best economist and had also given good Budgets during the Congress regime. Now when he is going to be the Prime Minister of India we believe that the country’s economy would certainly change,” said Dr Aditya Narayan Misra, Delhi University Teachers’ Association (DUTA) president. |
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Split MCD into four corporations, suggests PHDCCI New Delhi, May 20 These should be in addition to the existing NDMC and the Delhi Cantonment Board, the PHDCCI said in a statement. The PHDCCI also called for setting up an apex authority to ensure co-ordinated and smooth functioning of the municipal affairs of the Capital. “A suitable mechanism has to be devised to bring about co-ordination in the functioning of various municipal bodies to ensure a smooth interface…. For this, the structure and functions of all municipal bodies should be regulated by a law of Parliament,” it said. The State Finance Commission should devise an appropriate formula for transfer of required resources to the municipal bodies, it said. The PHDCCI also strongly recommended measures to curtail administrative expenses of the new municipal bodies. The new set-up, it said, should call for greater accountability and transparency in the functioning, proper manpower planning, and reduction in wastage of resources. While each municipal body should have adequate degree of autonomy enabling it to attend to the needs effectively, an in-built mechanism is needed for overall supervision and control, it said. Creating new municipal bodies should facilitate greater participation of the common citizens in management towards improving the civic services. The new municipal set-up should emerge as a model for other cities, it added. According to the PHDCCI, the 74th Constitutional amendment had emphasised strengthening the third tier of governance (the local bodies). The main objective of setting up a number of municipal corporations for Delhi in place of a single corporation should therefore be for the purpose of securing better civic services for the people. |
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Girl shot by drunk reveller Noida, May 20 The police are hunting for the culprit who has absconded. According to Kakode police, Dharampal in village Saidpur in Kakode was blessed with a son. Some rituals were being performed in Dharampal’s house on Tuesday. During ‘Kuan Puja’, ladies were singing auspicious songs. Apart from Dharam Pal’s relatives, villagers were also participating in the festivities. Biloo, a member of the family, who had his fill of liquor, started singing and dancing. Soon he brought a local revolver, loaded it and fired a shot. The shot hit a girl, Lalitesh standing nearby. Lalitesh, alias Rinky, fell on the ground with thud. People thought Rinky had become unconscious due to heat. But soon when her body was soaked in blood, it became clear that she was hit by the bullet fired by Billoo. The festivities were turned into a grim scene. She was rushed to a local hospital, but could not be saved. Meanwhile, the culprit, Biloo slipped away. The police are trying to nab him. |
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crime
maze Sonepat, May 20 According to a report, the alleged kidnappers entered the house when the husband of the woman was away on duty in a factory at night. When he arrived this morning, he found his wife and a daughter missing from the house. Another daughter was found in the house and her mouth was closed with a cloth. Thereafter, Mr Tilak Bahadur an employee of the factory, started looking for his wife and daughter but failed to trace them. He reported the case to the Kharkhauda police. This case of alleged kidnapping has caused a panic among the residents of the village. |
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hellhole Noida, May 20 The main centre of Ganga Jal in Sector 65 has been starved of power supply for eight hours for the past two days. This has in turn stopped the supply of water to other centres and reservoirs of water supply and then to the houses in various sectors. The power supply was suddenly switched off at the main centre of Ganga Jal in Sector 65 at 9 am, thus stopping the water supply. It was started after an hour and by the time water could reach the Sector 31 water reservoir, the power supply was again stopped. At noon, the power supply and subsequently the water supply was cut off at least six times at an interval of 45 to 125 minutes or so. At 4 pm, the power was resumed but since its voltage was 320 KV, the motor could not be started to lift the water to the overhead tanks. In a way up to 5 pm, the Noida Ganga Jal Centre could not function on account of frequent power cuts or low voltage. The reservoir in Sector 31 could not be filled up with the result that the supply to individual sectors could not be started. The Noida Authority has not thought of providing an alternative generator to work the important water reservoirs. A powerful blast had occurred in the transformer outside the Sector 65 Ganga Jal centre within a few days of its commissioning on January 20, 2004. The transformer has not been replaced or repaired for the past four months. |
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40 units get notice for piling up chemical waste Ghaziabad: Some 40 industrial units in Ghaziabad and Noida have been issued show cause notices by the Pollution Control Board, Sahibabad. It is learnt that the Board is contemplating sealing a large number of units which have piled up dangerous waste around their premises. It has been warned in the notices that if they fail to meet the standards prescribed by the Board, they could be sealed. Over 250 industrial units in Ghaziabad and 150 in Noida are known to be generating dangerous waste. Electronics, textiles, chemicals, dying units are included in this list of industrial units, violating the Pollution Control Board’s yard sticks. The government had enacted the environmental safety and control act 1986 which was amended in 1989, and 2003, for safe storage and disposal of such industrial and chemical waste. Under this law, all industrial units generating dangerous industrial and chemical waste are bound to ensure the safe disposal of such waste. The units are also required to earmark sufficient place and develop a suitable design for the storage and disposal enclosures. The apex court, in its order, dated 14 October 2003, had instructed all industrial units to safeguard storage and disposal of dangerous industrial and chemical waste as per the norms fixed by the Pollution Control Board. A committee constituted under the Supreme Court order had reviewed the position on April 7 and 8, 2004. OC
Fodder burnt SONEPAT: Fodder stock worth several thousands of rupees was burnt in a devastating fire that broke out at Asawarpur village about 15 km from here late last evening. According to a report, the cause of the fire was not immediately known and the police are still investigating. The fire was brought under control by the municipal fire
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DPCC president expels three municipal councillors New Delhi, May 20 The DPCC has also issued show cause notice to councillor, Bansi Lal. The notice has also been issued to Leader of the House in the Corporation, Satbir Singh asking him to clear his stand on the MCD committee elections. Chaudhary Prem Singh said that party would not tolerate indiscipline in any manner in the MCD. Despite the direction of the Congress party, the councillors who had been expelled from the Congress defied the party fiat and filed their nomination papers for various committees. He said that the DPCC had requested, in writing, to these councillors to withdraw their nominations, but they defied the party whip to indulge in anti-party activities and therefore the DPCC has been forced to proceed against them. He said that the role played by Satbir Singh was also not in consonance with the party line, and therefore he too has been issued notices, seeking his clarification in the matter. |
DGP inaugurates police station
complex at Dharuhera Rewari, May 20 Addressing the gathering on the occasion, the DGP informed that the construction work of nine more police station complexes in the state would be completed by the end of this year. He also said that as many as 4,400 houses for police personnel had already been constructed in the state while construction work of 1,500 more houses would be accomplished by the year end. Emphasising the urgency of providing a people-friendly touch to the functioning of the police administration, Mr Lall also urged the police personnel to take every precaution to ensure justice to the innocent while bringing the guilty to book. The DGP had also a word of praise for the police personnel who he said had been doing fine job in the state. The Deputy Commissioner, Mrs Neerja Shekhar wanted the police to keep their working image at such level as could enable the common man to lodge his genuine complainant at the police station without any hitch or demur. She said that even today a host of people, particularly the women folk frequently avoided going to the police station in spite of some pressing necessity. She also urged the DGP to get new building complexes constructed expeditiously for the police stations of Kosli, Rewari Sadar and Rewari city in the district. According a warm welcome to the DGP, Mr B. R. Lall, on his arrival in the district, Mr Hanif Qureshi, SP, informed that the police personnel in the district had been doing their duty honestly and sincerely. Simultaneously, he also made it known that if there was any complaint regarding unnecessary harassment being given to any innocent person anywhere in the district by the police, it should be immediately brought to his notice for prompt redressal. Mr Swaranjit Singh, IGP, Gurgaon Range, and other senior police as well as civil officials of the district were also present on this occasion. |
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Only six postmen for Ganaur region! Sonepat, May 20 With this arrangement, not only the postmen are overburdened with the work, the people of the area are also made to suffer in many ways. One of the postmen informed the NCR Tribune that there are only six postmen for the entire region, and out them, four postmen distribute the mail in the villages and two in Ganaur town. Both the postmen of the town are so much burdened with the work that many a times, they have to work for the whole day and do not get time for their lunch. Even they have to work on holidays for distribution of telephone bills and other important mails. Similar is the situation with the postmen deployed for mail distribution in the villages. Every postman have to cover at least more than a dozen villages every day after sorting out the mail from their respective sub-post offices. There are problems for the general public as well. As the department has taken the responsibility of receiving the payments of the telephone bills without increasing the staff strength. In these circumstances, the bill depositors are made to stand in queue for hours together. And if there is any resentment by them, the work on the postal service is suspended for receiving the bills, which results in delaying the distribution work of the postmen. Number of persons who had come for depositing the amount of their telephone bills demanded a separate counter for receiving the telephone bills so
that the people who are coming to the post office for withdrawals and deposits of money and other works did not face any problem. However, the postal authorities pleaded that the mail distribution work has been reduced by more than 70 per cent following installation of phones in every village; but acknowledged that distribution of telephone bills has increased the workload on the postmen. “The higher authorities are being informed regularly about the workload and steps are being taken to overcome every problem,” the authorities at Sonepat added. |
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HVP to conduct public contact programme Bhiwani, May 20 According to party sources, the first general secretary of the party, Mr Surender Singh, would hold meetings with party workers in all the 90 Assembly seats from May 25 to 30, and would address at least 16 worker meetings. His first meeting is scheduled at Yamunanagar on May 25, and last at Sonepat on May 30. Mr. Singh had directed all the district and area executives to start intensive publicity programme in their respective areas as the preparation of Assembly elections. The sources said that the party ideologue had started contemplating detailed election tour programme irrespective of its rout in the recent parliamentary elections. It further said that the party had been successful to oust the INLD candidates from Parliament and it had to loose its all five seats. The party workers had been asked to apprise the policies of the party to the people during their public contact programme, sources said.
Lok Adalat on May 29 In order to provide cheap and timely justice to the common men, a Lok Adalat will be held on local judicial complex in mini secretariat on May 29. Disclosing this here today, the district and sessions judge, R. C. Bansal, said that cases pertaining to civil, criminal, motor accidental claims, bank loan, revenue and marriage disputes would be settled in this Lok Adalat. All the judicial officers had been urged to put maximum cases in this Adalat and ensure its settlement, he added.
House burgled Cash and jewellery worth lakhs of rupees is reported to have been stolen from a house of New Bharat Nagar located at Rohtak road last night. The owner and neighbourers attempted to nab the thieves but they managed to escape. According to reports, the assailants scaled the wall of the house of Deepak and his tenant Daya Kishan last night and tried to slip away with valuables. During disturbing voices, Daya Kishan awakened from his sleep and noticed two-three persons standing behind the window. He sounded the alarm and thieves fled away. In another incident, a motorcycle was stolen near Gaushala market yesterday. Vinod, the owner of the motorcycle, informed the police. The police booked Jagdish of Jhinjhar village on account of rash driving. |
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Faridabad microbiologist honoured Faridabad, May 20 The name of Dr Kaul, who is Director of ‘Vibles Specialised Microbiology Laboratory’ (VSML), an organistion dealing with detection and eradication of infectious diseases, was honoured for his contribution in the field of medicine and healthcare. His biography will appear in the fifth edition (2004-05) of ‘marquis who’s who’ in medicine and healthcare, a premier source on biographical information on the world’s outstanding individuals in this field. Such biographies have been the convenient reference points at even the famous institutions like the Harvard University, American Medical Association, New York Public Library and other such organisations. Dr Kaul, a former Microbiologist at Sir Gangaram Hospital, has several research papers to his credit and had been participated at various national and international seminars. He has done several studies on incidence of water borne infections from ground water sources, tubewells hand pumps, wells, the main source of drinking water in and around Faridabad. The works include visiting the slum colonies, educating the residents about the purity of water and process to purify the water for drinking. Dr Kaul has also developed easy to do water analysis kits for detection of water-borne infection from any water sources. The kit could as it works on the principle of colour change, which indicates about the bacteria presence. Several kits have been distributed free of cost in the areas where water infections have been the most. Dr Kaul has also been the member of the ‘New York Academy of Sciences and the American Society of Microbiology’. |
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Water shortage in Jhajjar Jhajjar, May 20 The Congress spokesperson said she had visited about a dozen villages, including Dadri Toe, Nornagpur, Jahadpur, Utlodha, Patsani, Chhabili, Dadanpur, Khakhana, Silana and Silani, where people were languishing on account of water scarcity. Ms Kaushik maintained that all ponds had dried up in these villages and even the bovine population was striving to survive in the absence of water. Ms Kaushik held that ground water was saline in this part of the district and the resident were vulnerable to water-borne diseases as they were forced to use groundwater. She said this water was not fit for drinking and the Health department had also recommended avoiding this heavy water. She said unscheduled and prolonged power cuts had been multiplying the miserable conditions of the villagers.
Mysterious sound The mysterious sound being heard by the residents of this town and the villagers for the past two days has become a topic of curiosity among the people here. The sound is being heard in the morning at about 8 am. The sound generated in the sky vanishes in space gradually within seconds. The impact is so powerful that it rattles the widows and doors. |
Seven criminals held after encounter Ghaziabad, May 20 The seven were going to attack a doctor’s house for a dacoity. The police said some 20 cases of murder, looting and road hold-ups had been registered against this gang in UP, Delhi and Haryana police stations. A number of pistols, revolvers, local revolvers, cartridges and knives had been seized from these criminals. The Loni police and the SOG had received a tip-off that some dreaded criminals would be going to Delhi last night via Pushta road and DLF road. The police lay in wait for the criminals who appeared on the road at 11 pm. When the police tried to encircle them before the Pushta road tri-junction the miscreants started firing at the police team. In the return fire, the police were able to pounce upon and overpower seven criminals. They identified themselves as Yusaf Ali, Nasreen and Jamil, residents of Gajrola, Mehtab, resident of Kabir Nagar, Delhi, Sandeep of Kaisthbara, Sachin, resident of Teesra Pushta, Brahmpuri Shahdara, Delhi and Yasin. All of them were living in Loni and some in Delhi’s small colonies. According to the Loni police station in-charge, they had planned to rob a doctor in Khanna colony. Yusaf had been arrested by the Loni police from Delhi in the Moti Nagar police station area on August 26 last. The criminals had recently been released on bail from jail. Most of the crimes recently committed under the Loni police station area were the handiwork of this gang, the police said. The police are interrogating the arrested criminals. |
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Five injured in clash between rival groups Sonepat, May 20 Man attacked by grandson Parkash, an aged person, sustained serious injuries when he was allegedly attacked by his grandson Ravinder at Garhi Asadpur village, about 20 km from here, on Thursday evening. Parkash was immediately hospitalised and stated to be out of danger. Land dispute is stated to be the main cause of the assault. The police have registered a case and investigations are in progress.
Truck driver, labourer hurt A driver and a labourer were injured seriously when a mini truck loaded with sand rammed into a stationary truck on the Sonepat-Rohtak road near Kharkhauda Powerhouse, about 19 km from here, in the wee hours of Thursday. According to a report, both the injured persons were rushed to a hospital for treatment wherefrom they were referred to the PGIMS at Rohtak for further treatment. Two mini trucks loaded with sand were on their way from Sonepat to Hisar. When they reached near Kharkhauda town one of the drivers rammed into a stationary truck This resulted in the accident. The police are still investigating into the case. |
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Unit making spurious drinks busted New Delhi, May 20 Based on secret information the police raided the premises in the Gandhi Nagar area and arrested five persons who were identified as Irfan (30), resident of Bijnour, Chouta, Khursheed, Rashid and Nanhe, residents of Muradabad. The police also claimed to have seized the manufacturing equipment and chemicals used to prepare duplicate soft drinks.
Cop held for graft The Anti-Corruption Branch has arrested Constable Tilak Raj Dogra for demanding illegal gratification of Rs 2,000 from one Baldev Kumar for not arresting his wife. The accused had already received Rs 1,000 and was caught while he was found accepting the second installment of Rs 1,000. |
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