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Procession turns traffic topsy-turvy
Special functions mark anniversary
Fire snuffs out child’s life, many jhuggis gutted
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Woman shot at, dacoits strike in Uttam Nagar houses
BSNL offer to waive rental charges
BSNL staff donate one-day salary for tsunami victims
Arya Orphanage ready to house 100 tsunami-hit kids
The five drug peddlers who were arrested by the Delhi Police.
— Tribune photo
Private bus operators allowed to resume routes
Fog ebbs, but cold conditions strengthen
Court refuses bail to murder accused
Dr Khoshoo conservation awards to be given today
Water supply to be hit
PF office to register all business enterprises
Louise Braille remembered
Naib tehsildar in police remand for abduction
NCERT meet on curriculum
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Procession turns traffic topsy-turvy
New Delhi, January 4 Thousands of people attended the procession, causing inconvenience to the people all around This is despite the fact that the Delhi Traffic Police had made elaborate arrangements to facilitate a smooth passage. Traffic was found moving at a snail’s pace prompting calls from the public and within the Sikh community to use stadia instead for such large-scale events. The procession, in fact, restricted the traffic this morning to a single lane at several key points in the NDMC zone, including near the RML Hospital, as floats, schoolchildren and devotees crisscrossed Central Delhi to mark the birth anniversary of the tenth Sikh Guru. ‘’I don’t know from where to enter the RML Hospital where I have to drop this woman and her wailing baby,’’ said an autorickshaw driver on Talkatora Road as he found Baba Kharak Singh Marg closed for inbound traffic. Traffic backed up as the procession set off from historic Gurdwara Rakab Ganj, using Parliament Street, Pant Marg and several other key Central Delhi roads during the peak hour. “I think it’s high time we thought of hiring some stadia for such big events so as to avoid public inconvenience,’’ remarked Mr Manjit Singh, senior member of the Delhi Sikh Gurdwara
Management Committee (DSGMC), the organiser of the procession. Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) member Harinder Pal Singh, himself attending the procession, also expressed the same views. ‘’A change is required and there is a serious consideration to hold Sikh events in stadia where the community members may be invited to watch Sikh martial skills and school functions. Such venues also offer a plenty of space for community food stalls,’’ Mr Harinder Pal Singh observed. According to some Sikh scholars, the practice of Sikh processions began at a time when the faithful had little opportunity to have ‘’darshan’’ of the Guru Granth Sahib, their primary scripture, because of its limited printing. The scene, however, changed dramatically in the second half of the last century with ‘’darshan’’ of the Guru Granth Sahib virtually becoming a non-issue because of the Holy Book’s easy availability. But Sikh processions gradually became a part of the faith’s traditions. Sikh leaders in several other countries, like the US and the UK, are also allowed to take out similar parades marking their holy days, but there are rarely any complaints about public inconvenience due to a strict traffic planning.
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Special functions mark anniversary
New Delhi, January 4 At the Gurdwara Rakab Ganj, the programme began with the recitation of the Sukhmani Sahib and Nitnem followed by Asa di Var and Shabad Kirtan. Bhai Surinder Singh, Head Granthi delivered the Shabad Vichar on the life, teachings and achievements of Sarbansdani Guru Gobind Singh. Nagar Kirtan began at 11 am led by
Nagara. It was followed by Panj Pyaras and a Palki Sahib carrying the Granth Sahib. Shabad Kirtan jathas of various localities attended the procession. President of the Delhi Sikh Gurudwara Committee, Paramajeet Singh Sarna along with the other office-bearers extended greetings to the community members on the occasion of the Guru’s birth anniversary.
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Fire snuffs out child’s life, many jhuggis gutted
New Delhi, January 4 Nobody remembered that he was inside the house. Only a few minutes later, they came to know that he was inside. They rushed to save him, but it was too late. He was found unconscious. He was taken to a hospital where he died. Short circuit was the cause of fire. The family members informed the Delhi Fire Service Control room immediately. By the time the firefighters reached there, the blaze had engulfed the entire house. They could not salvage their belongings either. However, it was controlled within half an hour, a spokesman of the Delhi Fire Service said. The second incident took place in a plastic factory in Sadar Bazar where plastic worth lakhs of rupees was destroyed. The cause of fire could not be known. The fire broke out about 6 am and engulfed the three- storeyed building. No loss of life was reported as the factory was locked. It is generally opened at 8 am. Neighbours noticed the fire inside the building and they informed the control room of the fire service. As plastic is combustible, it had caught the fire immediately. The fire broke out on the ground floor. By the time the firefighters reached there, it had engulfed the entire building. While the firemen were trying to douse the fire, a small portion of the building collapsed. However, no one was injured and the fire was brought under control. A number of jhuggies were destroyed in a fire that took place in a cluster located at Yamuna Pushta this evening. According to preliminary investigation, sparking in the electric wires could be the cause of fire as wires were dangling in the cluster. On a number of occasions, it has been pointed out to the authorities concerned, but of no avail. Most of the jhuggies are constructed with wood and tarpaulin.
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Woman shot at, dacoits strike in Uttam Nagar houses
New Delhi, January 4 The suspects decamped with two suitcases in which a sum of Rs 50,000 was kept, police said. They also snatched a chain of Sunita, who worked as nurse. The second incident took place in the house of Thekchand Arora. When the dacoits entered his house,
Thekchand, his wife Bhagwani and their two sons Rakesh and Bhimsen were inside. The suspects attacked them with sticks and took Rs 12,000 and a trunk containing some valuables. The injured were admitted to DDU Hospital. A case of dacoity has been registered and is being investigated, the police said.
Fake US dollars seized
With the arrest of one person, the Narcotics Branch of the Delhi Police claimed to have recovered 39,700 counterfeit US dollars equivalent to Rs 17.86 lakh in Indian currency from the Turkman Gate area. The accused has been identified as Allauddin, alias Doodhwala (70), resident of Turkman Gate. Acting on a tip-off that one person was dealing in fake US dollar bills, the sleuths sent a decoy customer and overpowered him. During interrogation, the accused said that he had visited Pakistan 11 months ago and returned to Delhi along with his cousin identified as
Akhlaque, resident of Lahore. Allauddin said that his cousin used to supply fake dollars to him for selling them in Delhi. The accused had been arrested earlier for drug trafficking and imprisoned for a year for possessing opium. In another case, the Special Cell of the Delhi Police has arrested a Sadar Bazar-based businessman and recovered fake Indian currency worth Rs 40 lakh in the South Extension area. The currency seized was in Rs 1,000 denomination. The accused who has been identified as Naresh Jain (39), resident of Pitampura, was arrested by the sleuths after a secret information that he has been dealing in fake currency. During interrogation, he disclosed that he came into contact with one Harjesh Narain, resident of Punjab, who was arrested by the sleuths in 2000 for possessing fake currency worth Rs 8 lakh.
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BSNL offer to waive rental charges
Faridabad, January 4 Announcing this, General Manager of the BSNL R. C. Hooda said here today that the Nigam has decided to offer the limited period scheme for the disconnected connections during the month of January. The department will not take any charge towards the pending rent, which he said was Rs 500 for two months. And the scheme will be applicable for the connections that got disconnected since November 30 last, due to non-payment of the bill, he added. He also maintained that besides waiving off the rent of the past two months, the department would also facilitate clearance of the outstanding bills through instalments, if the consumers are unable to pay it in lumpsome. Claiming that the scheme had a huge response last year and the department recovered the pending bills of over Rs 80 lakh from about 2,500 consumers last year. The department owes about Rs 30 crore towards the defaulters, of which many cases are pending before the courts. There are over 1.30 lakh consumers of the basic phone service of the Nigam in the district. He said that the Nigam will also offer a free ISD/STD calling card to all those who book a landline phone during this month. The General Manager claimed that the department took only three to seven days to install a new connection, if it is to be installed in the ‘Demand’ area. In addition, a consumer will not have to pay an installation charge of Rs 500, if the connection is booked during this period, as a part of the special incentive offered by the Nigam. Free activation on the post-paid connections of the Nigam’s mobile service ‘Cellone’, under any plan, will also been done during this period. At present, there are over 5,000 cell connections at present. However, regarding the complaints of poor connectivity of the WLL mobile phones, the authorities of the Nigam claimed that efforts are on to do away the problems. According to the Nigam, about 350 consumers have started using the Internet scheme of ‘Netone’, offered in the district from December 1 last. The department provides Internet accesses on the current phone lines and the usage bill is charged through the regular bill only. There are about 2,150 consumers of the BSNL Internet connection that. But it is learnt that the majority of the users have been facing the problem of slow connectivity and poor rate of downloading, besides the complaints of frequent disconnection and disruptions in the functioning. The number of users of private Internet connections in the town are several times higher than that of the BSNL and many of the providers have been offering the service through cables, in which no phone connection is required. The BSNL has announced to launch the much-awaited Broadband service from March next.
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BSNL staff donate one-day salary for tsunami victims
Faridabad, January 4 According to the General Manager of the BSNL, Mr R. C. Hooda, a sum of about Rs 1 lakh have been collected from the office here and it will be sent to the higher authorities in Delhi. He claimed that this was a voluntary effort and no one was forced to contribute. The authorities of DAV Public School in Sector-14 have also announced to contribute one-day salary of its staff towards the relief for the tsunami-hit victims. An appeal has been made to the parents and the schoolchildren in nearly all the private schools to contribute generously towards the aid. Meanwhile, the members of the Sarva Karamchari Sangh, Haryana, a body of the state government employees, also launched a two-day drive to collect funds and articles towards the aid of the victims. According to Mr Subhash Lamba, the district president of the Sangh, about Rs 45,000 have been collected on the first day today.
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Arya Orphanage ready to house 100 tsunami-hit kids
New Delhi, January 4 Arya Orphanage was founded by Swami Shradhanand, renowned national leader in 1918, when many children got orphaned in Delhi on account of cholera epidemic. Mr Chaudhry has repeated the offer in identical letters addressed to Union Home Minister and Social Welfare Minister, besides Governor and Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu and Lt-Governor of Andman and Nikobar Island. Arya Orphange and its sister institutions are presently providing free boarding and lodging and taking care of more than 1,400 orphan boys and girls in their four ‘Homes’ and two secondary schools in two big complexes in the Capital, one in Pataudi House, Darya Ganj, and the other in East of Kailash.
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Fake drugs worth
Rs 1 crore seized
New Delhi, January 4 The accused have been identified as Shiv Charan Dua (48), Zaheer (37), Anuj (34), Mukesh Kumar Singh (25) and Laxmi Prakash. Based on a secret information, the sleuths arrested two persons identified as Laxmi Prakash and Mukesh Kumar Singh from the walled city area while they were about to dispose of the drugs in Bhagirath Place. During interrogation, the duo revealed that one Anuj of M/s Abken Pharma Pvt Ltd of Alwar used to supply the spurious drugs. Teams were sent to Alwar and three persons, including the owner of M/s Abken Pharma were arrested. The seized drugs were Oxalgin-DP, Vertigon, Cetzine, Disprin Plus and Nitrazepam Hyphotec-10.
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Private bus operators allowed to resume routes
Ghaziabad, January 4 The Uttar Pradesh Transport Department has decided to resume all routes for the private bus operators of Ghaziabad and Noida again, which had been closed in November 2003, after a massive opposition by the Delhi Transport Department on the ground that the buses should be operated only on CNG kits. According to the Regional Transport Officer, Mr Vinay Kumar Singh, a meeting in this regard had recently been convened at Ghaziabad office, in which apart from the representatives of transport department, private bus operators had also been invited. Almost all operators are ready to install CNG kits in their buses. Even some operators have already installed CNG kits in their buses and they are waiting for the renewal of their permits. “We are soon going to invite applications for the renewal of permits of interested private bus operators. However, permits will be issued by the state transport department. After giving the permits, on the line of Delhi, there will be no need of counter signing of the transport authority of Delhi on the papers of these buses,” he said. He said that after the exercise, all old routes, like ACG Centre to Shivaji Stadium, Old Bus Depot to Bhajan Pura, Viveka Nand Nagar to Karmpura, Lal Quarter to Badar Pur Border, Vijay Nagar to Nangaloi, Govindpura to Mehrauli, Noida to Badar Pur Border.
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Fog ebbs, but cold conditions strengthen
New Delhi, January 4 All flights were on schedule. However, rail services remained partially affected due to foggy conditions in other parts of the country. The maximum temperature was 18.1 degrees Celsius, four below normal, and the minimum was normal at 7.3 degrees Celsius, the Met department said. The sky will remain clear and the minimum temperature will be around seven degrees Celsius today, it said. Mist or fog is likely to hit back tomorrow in Delhi and nearby areas, it added.
BJP march for power supply
Delhi Pradesh BJP president Harsh Vardhan and others marched through New Sanjay Amar Colony and the slums in eastern Delhi today to draw attention to the acute shortage of electricity there.
— TNS
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Court refuses bail to murder accused
New Delhi, January 4 Justice TN Chaturvedi rejected the interim bail application of accused Vishal, who along with his cousin Vikash had allegedly killed Nitish for his friendship with their sister Bharti Yadav. The statement of England-based Bharti was not recorded, and if released on bail, the accused might influence one of the main witnesses, observed the judge in his order. ‘’Bharti has to be examined and there is apprehension that she might be influenced,’’ said Justice Chaturvedi. Bharti, the daughter of former Rajya Sabha MP, fled the country after her friend Nitish was allegedly murdered by Vikash and Vishal on the intervening night of February 17-18, 2002. Passing serious observations, the judge said, ‘’Bharti appears to be evading appearance to make her statement before the sessions court in spite of being aware of the pendency of proceedings.’’ Vishal sought an interim bail as he had been ailing for some months. He claimed that he had no role in the murder. Opposing the application, the prosecution argued that the bail should not be granted to the accused as Bharti was yet to be examined.
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Dr Khoshoo conservation awards to be given today
New Delhi, January 4 The awards will be presented tomorrow. On the occasion, entrepreneur and chairman of WorldTel, Dr Sam Pitroda, will deliver the TN Khoshoo Memorial Lecture. Ms Nafisa Barot has been championing the cause of local communities to achieve self-reliance in natural resources in the Bhal region of Gujarat. She is the founder trustee of Utthan, an organisation dedicated to the uplift and empowerment of the impoverished local communities, especially women. Dr Anil P Joshi works to promote sustainable livelihood in the Himalayas. He started his career as a college teacher in botany. He is credited with developing a variety of ingenious schemes related to water supply, cheap lighting and earthquake-resistant housing. Dr Joshi and his colleagues founded the Himalayan Environmental Studies and Conservation Organisation. The awards are given to honour one or more relatively young individuals in the field of conservation and sustainable development. They carry a cash prize between Rs 50,000 and Rs 1 lakh. The Khoshoo Memorial Endowment Fund was set up by the Ashoka Trust for Research in Ecology and the Environment in memory of Dr TN Khoshoo, who served as the secretary in the Union Ministry of Environment and Forests.
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Water supply to be hit
New Delhi, January 4 According to a press release, the main area affected would be Bharti Nagar, Golf Links, Ravinder Nagar, Khan Market, Humayun Road, Bapa Nagar, Kaka Nagar, Delhi High Court, Pandara Road, Shahajahan Road, Jor Bagh, Lodi Colony, B. K. Dutt Colony, Aligang and other adjoining areas. Meanwhile, the chairperson of the NDMC, Ms Shindhu Shre Khullar, along with the vice-chairman of the NDMC Mrs Tajdar Babar and the MLA and member Mr Ashok Ahuja handed over a cheque of Rs 1 crore to Mrs Sonia Gandhi, chairman, National Advisory Council as its contribution for the tsunami victims at her residence here.
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PF office to register all business enterprises
Noida, January 4 Since last month, Field Officers have been deployed on a war footing to complete the task of registering all business enterprises prior to the end of this financial year, the District Provident Fund Commissioner, Ms Udita Choudhary said. Ms Choudhary said the PF office has about 2,500 firms at present in their list but the actual units working in the area should be more than double this figure. “The target is to enroll more than one thousand or so in the provident fund depositors’ list. Since the township is an industrial one, it is very important to bring all the units under the Provident Fund Scheme and to ensure the responsibility of the Government to get every worker the benefit of the provident fund scheme as well as the pension benefits,” she added.
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Louise Braille remembered
New Delhi, January 4 The Union Minister for Programme Implementation, Mr Oscar Fernandez, was the chief guest. Speaking on the occasion, Mr Fernandez said that there is a need for sensitising the elected representatives of the people about the problems facing the blind. He assured the audience that the government would take all the necessary steps to fill up the backlog of the vacancies for the blind under the reserves’ quota for the disabled. Mounting of several Braille-literacy initiatives among blind children and undertaking measures for strengthening their education, were the major highlights of the function. The programme assumed added significance for AICB, since the year marks the silver jubilee of its activities. The AICB organised an All-India Braille Reading Competition coinciding with the occasion in which 74 competitors from 44 schools for the blind participated. Prizes were presented to the winners at the function. The confederation with assistance from SKN, a Holland-based agency, launched a special project on the occasion to provide at nominal prices 100 general reading books in Braille each year. The Minister released 50 such books at the function. The Minister also released a handbook for teachers of blind children prepared in Hindi print and Braille by AICB with contributions from various leading professionals in the field. This is the first publication of its kind in the country. Another book titled ‘Visual Handicaps and Personality Dynamics’ by Dr N K Rai was also released on the occasion. Mr S. K. Rungta, general secretary, National Federation of the Blind (NFB), was the guest of honour at the function. In his address, he announced that NFB and AICB are setting up a National Braille Literacy Committee for India.
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Naib tehsildar in police remand for abduction
Faridabad, January 4 The accused was arrested by the police yesterday after the father of the girl, who is a driver of the SDM posted at Ballabhgarh. The victim’s father lodged a complaint with the police that the accused, identified as Bansi Lal, had abducted his 15-year-old daughter recently, when she had gone to attend an extra class at the school. The girl, who is yet to be recovered, is a student of eighth standard of Government Girls Senior Secondary School at Palwal and a resident of Teherik village. According to the DSP of Palwal, Mr Om Prakash, sleuths have been sent to several places to recover the girl. The residents of the village of the victim had met the SDM Palwal yesterday to seek an immediate action to arrest the accused and safe recovery of the girl. A classmate of the victim had also narrated the incident, which led to the alleged abduction of the girl on January 1. It is reported that the victim was taken in a car on some pretext by the accused. A case under Section 363 and 366 of the IPC has been registered against the accused. The tehsildar was produced in the court and was remanded ten-day police custody.
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NCERT meet on curriculum
New Delhi, January 4
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