The Tribune, Chandigarh, India - Delhi and neighbourhood

	Lid off tax evasion worth crore Sleuths find 28 fake Registration Certificates Abhay Jain Gurgaon, May 30 A special investigation team of Chandigarh has raided the District Transport Office (DTO) and seized a number of documents of tax evasions, which might go up to Rs 1crore. On the basis of various complaints received from the headquarters at Chandigarh after the formation of the Congress government in the state, a team led by Senior Superintendent of Police Shiv Shakti of Chief Minister’s squad raided the DTO on May 25. The team has seized more than 28 duplicate Registration Certificates (RCs) of different vehicles. Gurgaon Deputy Commissioner Sudhir Rajpal informed that the government has two objectives in its mind for raiding the DTO – one to check the tax evasion, and second to develop a transparent and simplified system for the general masses for dealing with transport-related papers such as Driving License, Certificate of Registration (RC), Road Tax and taxi permit and vehicle registration of commercial vehicles. The DC informed that the team checked the documents of 22 commercial buses, plying in the city yesterday to trace the tax evasion. It is learnt that some commercial buses and taxis are plying in the district without paying proper taxes. Even some vehicles have been caught having bogus and fabricated documents. However, another fraud has also been come into light. The commercial vehicle owners take the plea that the original papers of the vehicles have been lost in transit and they lodge the FIRs and get the duplicate papers issued with connivance of staff of District Transport Office, revealed the DC. But in reality, the original papers have either been kept safe by the owners of the vehicles or the papers have been seized for violating rules and regulations of the transport departments by the transport authority of some other parts of the country. The owners of these vehicles gave the false affidavits to the department, added the officer. Some commercial vehicles are said to be plying in the district without paying proper taxes. The owners of these vehicles have a tactical understanding with the staff of the DTO, which allow them to ply after a “fixed obligation”, added a source. Following the flood of call centers, the number of vehicle registered under taxi permit has increased manifold. Some taxis are plying without paying proper taxes, revealed an officer of investigating team. During its course of investigation, the team has also questioned, besides of staff of DTO, a number of private agents, who used to get your transport-related papers completed after getting a fee.
	AIDS patients to get free anti-retroviral drugs Tripti Nath Tribune News Service New Delhi, May 30 Beginning June 15, HIV/AIDS patients will be able to get anti-retroviral drugs free of charge from the new Anti-Retroviral Treatment centre at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS). Anti-retroviral treatment reduces the incidence of opportunistic infections and prolongs survival in persons infected with HIV. At present, HIV/AIDS patients depend on two NACO-funded ART centres at Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital and Jai Prakash Narian Hospital for their monthly supply of anti-retroviral drugs. It was in December 2003 that the government took a policy decision to make anti-retroviral drugs available free of charge in the public health system in six high-prevalent states and Delhi. Since April 1, 2004, HIV AIDS patients are getting ART drugs free in six high-prevalent states and Delhi. This facility has been extended now to 17 more states. By December, the government is hopeful of covering all the states. Sources in NACO said that the new centre in the Department of Medicine at AIIMS, the premier medical institute, would prevent shuttling of patients from one hospital to another. Different combinations of Starbudin, Lamivudin, Nevirapin, Effaviranz and Zidovudin would be available at the centre. WHO national consultant at NACO, Dr B.B. Rewari who claims to have examined 4000 HIV/AIDS patients since 1996 told ‘The Tribune’ that that doctors who work at ART centres take a five-day training on various aspects of HIV AIDS, ART, storage of drugs, maintenance of patents record and counselling. Institutes that impart this training are Christian Medical College (CMC), Vellore, Government Hospital for Thoracic Medicine (GHTM), Chennai, Regional Institute of Medical Sciences (RIMS), Imphal and JJ Hospital, Mumbai. NACO Director General, Dr S.Y. Quraishi told ‘The Tribune’ that the health ministry is keen on scaling up the ART fast. “In the last fiscal, 25 ART centres were set up across the country. The target for this year was 25, but it was scaled up to 100 on the instructions of the Union Minister of Health and Family Welfare, Dr Anbhumani Ramadoss. By 2007, the government wants to set up 188 ART centres.’’ The NACO DG said that the centres are identified in view of the prevalence rates. “We also have to ensure that the hospital has the requisite infrastructure as space, CD 4 machines and the necessary supply of reagents. Our MoU with the Clinton Foundation is for standardisation of ART centres.’’ Dr Quraishi said that the Department of Microbiology at AIIMS is encouraging research on a vaccine for AIDS and has also set up a Voluntary Counselling and Testing Centre (VCTC).
	Bomb hoax calls in Palika, near Shivaji Stadium Tribune News Service New Delhi, May 30 Panic gripped famous Palika Bazar, the underground shopping complex in the heart of the Capital, this evening after a call was received that a bomb had been planted there. Evacuation was immediately launched in the complex situated at Connaught Place after the call was received by police control room at around 6.30 pm, police sources said. Policemen, assisted by Bomb Detection and Disposal Squad as well as Sniffer Dog Squad descended on the market to detect the explosive, if any. The famous market is usually very busy in the evenings with thousands of people visiting it. Police received another call claiming that a bomb had been placed near Shivaji Stadium, less than a kilometre away from Palika Bazar, the sources said. Searches were carried out there, but no explosive was found and it was declared a hoax, they said.
	Brain fever under control, claims MCD chief Tribune News Service New Delhi, May 30 The Municipal Commissioner of Delhi today announced that the bacterial disease was under control now. It started on April 21 and peaked on May 11. It continued to hover around 30 cases per day for many days. Now it has declined one to six cases per day during the last nine days. The number of cases reported during the last 24 hours is two. However, he said, with the death of two patients in Safdarjung and LNJP Hospitals, the toll from the dreaded brain fever, rose to 41 today, the Municipal Commissioner said. The Director of Hospital Administration, MCD, Dr Banvalikar said the total number of patients admitted to city hospitals has now reached 58 with two new patients showing up at the Safdarjung Hospital today. As many as 289 of the 389 people, admitted to various hospitals since the disease was first reported a month ago, have been discharged after treatment, he added. He said that demographic profile of the cases indicated that most of the cases have occurred in the crowded and congested localities of the city like Paharganj Zone, City Zone, Shahadra (North and South) Zones. The higher occurrence of the disease in these areas has been pre-dominantly due to the density of population, which contribute to contagious character of the disease. The Health Department of the Corporation has been undertaking intensive education in these areas since the outbreak of meningitis, he claimed. After meningitis, cholera Tribune News Service New Delhi, May 30 While meningitis is on the way out, cholera is stalking the Capital, with as many as 197 cases reported in the last two months. According to statistics provided by the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD), 197 cases of cholera have been reported between April 4 and May 28 this year. While the total number of cholera cases this year so far stands at 211, no deaths have been reported due to the disease. However, the number of cholera cases this year is very low compared to the same time last year. As many as 640 cases of cholera were reported last year in April and May. The total number of cholera cases last year was 1784. In 2003, 1528 cases of cholera were reported. The MCD officials, meanwhile, said they have taken a number of steps to prevent cholera, which includes testing of water samples by the Health Department to check the amount of chlorine, distributing chlorine tablets in areas where Delhi Jal Board is not supplying water and distributing `jeevan rakshak ghol’ through its 1,873 depots.
	JNU peace in peril due to low flights, writes V-C Smriti Kak Ramachandran Tribune News Service New Delhi, May 30 The Vice-Chancellor of Jawaharlal Nehru University, Professor G. K. Chadha has written to the DDA and the Airports Authority of India (AAI), objecting to the Master Plan for Delhi-2021, which has not taken into account the issue of aircraft noise on the sensitive environment of the landing route. Following the JNUTA president, Dr Rupamanjari Ghosh’s report indicating the effects of noise pollution on human health as well as that of the wildlife on the campus, the V-C has drawn attention to the hazards of frequent low flights. In his letter, the Vice-Chancellor has pointed out that the frequent low flights are also a cause of security threat for the visiting dignitaries on campus. “Research studies have demonstrated that children in schools, bombarded by frequent noise, have difficulty in acquiring speech recognition skills. They are impaired in cognitive development and lag behind in reading skills. Chronic noise has also been related to other problems in humans, including hearing damage, chronic cardiovascular activation, feelings of increased irritation, and motivational difficulties such as learned helplessness,” the letter reads. It was also pointed out that parts of the JNU Ridge have been declared reserved forest under Section 38 of the Indian Forest Act of 1927. Besides, the effects of aircraft noise on wildlife are manifold. “They range from mild physiological responses, such as an increase in the heart rate to more damaging effects on metabolism and hormone balance. Long-term exposure to noise can cause chronic stress that is harmful to the health of wildlife species and their reproductive fitness,” the letter further cites. Urging the DDA and the AAI to take action, the Vice-Chancellor has noted that while the Master Plan for Delhi-2021 pays adequate attention to Natural Heritage, and intervention required to stop further deterioration of lung spaces like ridge, water bodies and to improve the quality of open spaces, it has failed to include the issue of aircraft noise on the sensitive environment of the landing route. Prof Chadha has further asked the DDA to institute environment-conscious planning to check noise pollution on the sensitive JNU campus. “A study needs to be undertaken urgently to address the problems of settlements around flight paths. We understand that the Airports Authority of India (AAI) is currently considering the development and expansion of the Delhi Airport. A proper restructuring of the air landing route towards the Delhi Airport in coordination with the AAI, with re-designated flight-free zones and flight corridors, is needed to effect the restoration of natural quiet for the heritage of JNU,” the letter further says.
	HC refuses to stay MACT award of Rs 14 cr Tribune News Service New Delhi, May 30 The Delhi High Court today refused to stay the compensation award of Rs 14.17 crore, one of the highest-ever by the Motor Accident Claims Tribunal, to the family of a rich businessman who died after his car collided with a punctured vehicle stranded in the middle of a highway. Justice O P Dwivedi issued notice to the family members of the victim Rajneesh Kumar Goel, a resident of West Delhi, on a petition filed by Oriental Insurance Company, seeking to set aside the MACT award and fixed the matter for July 11. Meanwhile, the court directed the insurance company to deposit 50 per cent of the amount within four weeks to the MACT, asking the tribunal to release 10 per cent of it to the victim’s family subject to security. The court said balance has to be deposited by way of FDR as per the tribunal’s order. MACT in a landmark ruling last month had directed the Oriental Insurance Company to pay the whopping amount, saying the compensation amount was arrived at calculating the income of the deceased “who was earning crores of rupees from investments, rent, business of paper and exports”. On the night of August 28, 2000, Goel was driving his family in a car from Delhi towards Karnal via a non-lit section of G T Karnal Road when it dashed against a Tata Sumo, parked on the central verge of the highway without its indicators on. Noting that 39-year-old Goel’s annual income was over Rs 2 crore, out of which he spent about Rs 1.41 crores on his family, tribunal judge Girish Kathpalia had justified the huge compensation and said “the compensation must neither be a pittance nor a bonanza”.
	‘Magistrate only should challan litterbugs’ Tribune News Service New Delhi, May 30 The issue of mobile magistrates today dominated the weekly meeting of the Standing Committee in the MCD in which councillors across the party line demanded to prevent the magistrates from challaning those who throw garbage on roads. The magistrates do not go to site to examine the kind of littering done by the person concerned, the councillors said. The challan is reportedly made by the inspectors of sanitation department. The magistrates generally keep sitting in the zonal offices. This is not proper. The mobile magistrates should move into the field and challan the persons who are found littering, the councillors said. They have been appointed to visit the spot. If they do not do so, there is hardly any difference between them and the sanitation inspectors. Noticing the stance of the magistrates, their further appointment should not be made, the councillors demanded. The Municipal Commissioner, Mr Rakesh Mehta, said that appointment of mobile magistrates had been made following the court’s directions. The corporation had vacancies of 35 magistrates, but it did not receive that many applications. A total number of 21 magistrates have been appointed. Inquiry will be made into the cases of hefty amount of challan and other allegations, the Municipal Commissioner assured.
	CBSE makes changes in Science paper Tribune News Service New Delhi, May 30 With the restructuring of Science Practical work at Secondary Stage announced by the CBSE, students of class IX and X will have less of rote learning and more practicals. What’s more the duration of theory examination for class IX as well as class X will be two and a half hours instead of three hours. The board has made changes in the Science and Technology paper with effect from the academic session 2005-06 for class IX and academic session 2006-07 for class X. These changes, claim teachers, will significantly reduce the burden on students and allow those who are weaker in theory to score more marks. For class IX, a total of 60 marks have been revamped, with the revised allocation of marks. While Matter-Nature and Behaviour will now have 16 marks; Motion, Force and Work will have 19; Organisation in the Living World, 13; Natural Resources, seven; and Our Environment, five. The sub-units/content-areas that have been deleted from the syllabus are, in Unit I, Maintenance of standards, Colloids, Atomic theory of matter (Dalton’s Postulates), a brief historical perspective of periodical classification of elements, ionization energy and electron affinity. In Unit 2 Free Fall, Transformation of scales (Celsius, Kelvin), thermometers–laboratory and clinical, coefficients of linear and volume expansion, graphical representation of simple harmonic waves, nature of sound and its propagation, range of hearing in humans, reflection of sound, echo, SONAR have been dropped. Animals in Natural Resources in Unit have been deleted and students will now be required to perform 15 experiments. These include the preparation of a true solution of common salt, sugar and alum, suspension of soil, chalk powder and fine sand in water among others. Students will also be required to identify parenchyma and sclerenchyma tissues in plants, striped muscle fibers and nerve cells in animals, from prepared slides. As for class X students, the revised weight of different content units is Chemical Reactions and some important Chemical Compounds.
	Delhi to bear 40% cost of Metro study New Delhi, May 30 The Delhi Government will bear 40 per cent of the Rs 5 crore spent on the feasibility study conducted for Phase II of the Metro Rail. The report is awaiting approval from the Centre which will reimburse 60 per cent of the entire cost. The Delhi Cabinet today at its meeting chaired by Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit finalised the financial modalities of the study, undertaken by Rail India Technical and Economic Services (RITES). Transport Minister Haroon Yusuf said, “The total cost of the study is approximately Rs 5 crore. While the Delhi Government will bear 40 per cent of the cost of the study, the rest 60 per cent will be reimbursed by the Centre.” The Delhi Government has already approved the feasibility study report for Phase II of Metro, that proposes to extend the Metro rail network by 53 km. While Phase I of Delhi Metro is scheduled to be finished by December this year, Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) wants to complete Phase II by 2009 in time for the Commonwealth Games to be held here in 2010. — TNS
	Railway underbridge in Old Faridabad still a far cry Bijendra Ahlawat Tribune News Service Faridabad, May 30 While red-tapism and corruption have been the common hurdles in the developmental works, it’s the lack of seriousness and will that takes toll on many projects. This is what happened to the ambitious plan of constructing a railway underbridge at Old Faridabad crossing here. The project, which had been conceived in 1999, is still to be taken up with no major reason is cited for the unusual delay, which in turn have caused enormous problems including several serious accidents as thousands cross the tracks here daily. The Administrator, Haryana Urban Development Authority (HUDA) here, Mr Anil Kumar, who has also been holding the charge of the office of the Commissioner, Municipal Corporation Faridabad (MCF), announced here recently that the pending project of the underbridge has been taken up with the Railway department after the decision regarding the meeting of the expenditure of about 5.62 crore by the district administration. He admitted that the project had been pending just because there was a confusion about which department would bear the cost of the project. He said while both the HUDA and the MCF were expecting each other to bear it, there was no mutual agreement or understanding between these. However, he said that as the charge of both these departments has been given to him for the past few months, he said the dispute had been worked out and it had been decided that the cost would be shared by both on fifty-fifty basis. He hoped that the Railways would soon clear the project and start the work according to the specifications. It may be recalled that due to no underbridge or flyover at the spot, a large number of commuters who cross this point daily face difficulty. A resident of the NH-5 locality here who works in Delhi and commutes by his personal vehicle said that he had to take an extra distance daily as there was no option to cross the tracks at the Old Faridabad crossing as the gates of the crossing remain closed for most of the time any day. He claimed that the demand of constructing a flyover or a bridge had been made about ten years ago, but he said that it seems that the authorities have no such plan of thinking to reduce the problems. He claimed that lakhs of people residing in the NIT area, which is also known as western part. And it has only two overbridges at their disposal for coming to the main Mathura Road or the eastern parts of the city, which was intersected by the railway tracks throughout the district. The flyover at Bata crossing was a toll bridge and majority of the commuters avoid it. Mr H. S. Rathi, a social activist and an elected member of the MCF, said that there is an urgent need of more flyovers in the city as there are a huge congestion and traffic jams daily at various points. The population of the town has already reached around 15 lakhs. He said that this has also led to problem of acute air pollution at all main intersections.
	Mayor election put off Tribune News Service Faridabad, May 30 The Mayor of the Municipal Corporation Faridabad (MCF) could not be elected today due to lack of quorum in the house. Only two out of the total 35 elected members were present at the meeting of the body. The meeting was convened today to elect the Mayor. The Commissioner, Gurgaon Division, who had come to oversee the election, postponed the election till the next date, which will be announced soon. This was the first meeting of the MCF after the newly-elected members were administered oath by the authorities concerned recently. Today’s development indicate towards the murky side of the picture as majority of the members seem to be divided in three or more different groups as far as election of the chair is concerned. The situation became quite complicated after the decision that the new Mayor would be a woman. The decision to make a woman Mayor was taken in the last meeting. Though one-third of the members have been women, but it is learnt that most of the aspirants were freshers and have no experience of this type of work. Although it has been anticipated that a woman candidate who is a BJP worker, may get the post of Mayor, but her chance has reportedly been squeezing as majority of the members of the MCF are belong to Congress. The two members, who reported at the meeting today included Mr K. G. Goswami and Mrs Seema Trikha. At least two MLAs and a MP are reported to be interested in getting their supporter as the Mayor, resulting in the members being divided in separate groups. Though the aspirants for the posts have scaled down after the post being reserved for a woman, but there has been no unanimity among the Corporators about whom should be elected to this coveted post. The absent members were reported to be huddled in different groups today and decided to skip the meeting. According to the norms, presence of at least 12 members is required to run the proceedings of the house. The total number of wards in the civic body have gone up to 35 this time. The house will elect a Senior Deputy Mayor and a Deputy Mayor, besides the post of the Mayor.
	Newborn found Tribune News Service Faridabad, May 30 A newborn baby has been found abandoned from a spot near Seekri village in the Ballabhgarh sub-division today. The one-day-old boy was found wrapped in a cloth lying near the National Highway-2, about 10 kms from here. The boy is reported to be safe and sound and was handed over to the Civil Hospital authorities at Ballabhgarh town by one Sadhu Ram, an employee of a toll tax company. It is stated that the baby was noticed by Sadhu Ram early this morning when he was on his duty. He took the baby to the hospital later. A case has been booked by the police in this connection.
	Five autolifters arrested Tribune News Service New Delhi, May 30 The Delhi Police have arrested five persons who were allegedly involved in a number of autolifting cases in different parts of the city. The police claimed to have recovered six vehicles, including four motorcycles, one scooter and one Maruti car from their possession. In the first incident, the Central district police have arrested three persons Ravinder, alias Ravi, Sanjay Kumar and Pradeep. The police claimed to have recovered five vehicles from their possession. The three accused are in the age group of 19-22 years. Pradeep has a previous case history of motor vehicle theft and was arrested once with stolen vehicles. In another incident, the northwest district police have arrested two persons Arun (20) and Vinod (20) with stolen motorcycles. The police claimed to have solved three auto theft cases after their arrest, all registered in Rohini police station. Self-defence summer camp for women The Crime Against Women Cell (CAW cell) has organised a summer camp to teach women the art of self-defence. The camp would be organised from May 30. As many as 2,800 women and girls of different age group and from all walks of life have enrolled themselves for this training. It is a free of cost training programme in which the police train the girls on the art of self-defence. Pirated CD racket busted The Delhi Police have arrested one person for his alleged involvement in manufacturing pirated video CDs and blue films. The accused has been identified as Naiemuddin, alias Naiem, a resident of Jama Masjid area. The police have recovered 3,000 blue films and pirated Hindi and English movies. Besides, the police have also recovered 800 master CDs, 20 CD writers, 12,000 inlay cards, 465 blank VCDs stickers, and other accessories. — TNS
	Lok Adalat settles long-pending cases Tribune News Service New Delhi, May 30 The New Delhi Municipal Council under the aegis of Delhi Legal Services Authority organised a Lok Adalat at Palika Kendra to dispose of cases pending in various courts relating to different civic services. Additional District Judge, Tis Hazari Courts, Sunil Gaur settled all the 10 cases across the table. Cases pending before the Lok Adalat were pertaining to five of commercial, 3 of Estate and two of Enforcement departments. These cases had been pending in various courts for more than 10-12 years.
	Destination Gurgaon for golf Ravi S.Singh Tribune News Service Gurgaon, May 30 The president of Haryana Club Association, Mr Ranjeet Goyal, said that Gurgaon will soon emerge as the best golf destination in the region. Mr Goel, who is also the Chairman and Managing Director of Best Western Resort Country Club, located about 20 kms from here, said that with four well-known golf courses of international standard here along with no shortage of residential facilities and the international airport in Delhi nearby, foreigners from South East Asian countries are showing penchant for Gurgaon for playing golf on international standard courses. He said this during a fashion show and beauty contest, organised by his Best Western Resort Country Club yesterday evening. People from Delhi in large number showed up for the event, which was entry free. He said that his institute would give more thrust to organising such events in future. His institute provides a platform to budding young talents of the country to showcase their wares in cultural activities, Mr Goel said. The event was organised under the banner of “Resort Country Club May Queen”. Referring to Gurgaon, which is emerging as a golf destination, he said that the Best Western Resort Country Club has plans to upgrade its 9-hole course to 18-hole. Also, 30 more new room will be added to the existing 70 rooms in the Resort in future. The idea is that his institute, situated at a strategic location, will facilitate the international golfers with residential accommodation when they arrive here for their games, Mr Goel added.