New Delhi, December 13
Extensive use of public transport, or better still cycling or walking to work, is Delhi Chief Minister Ms Sheila Dikshit’s prescription for combating traffic congestion in the city.

Urging people to refrain from depending heavily on private vehicles that add to the city’s traffic woes, the CM tried to woo people to use safe and pollution-free public transport system that she said her government is committed to provide.

Addressing the valedictory session of a two-day workshop on Bus Rapid Transit System for Delhi at IIT Delhi, Ms Dikshit said the Capital had more than 45 lakh vehicles plying on its road and about 1 lakh vehicles from neighbouring states enter the Capital every day.

This heavy vehicular traffic, she said, puts immense pressure on the limited road space and finding a long-term solution by expanding roads or making over-bridges is not possible.

Ms Dikshit said this increasing vehicular traffic makes it all the more vital for having trained and experienced drivers on the city’s roads to bring down the accident rates. Fully trained and well versed with the traffic rules, such drivers, she pointed out, can prevent accidents, which result in thousands of deaths and injuries every year.

The Chief Minister also pointed out that the Capital has more than 90,000 vehicles running on CNG and this has earned Delhi the distinction of being the only city where the largest number of vehicles, including the entire fleet of public transport, are running on an environmentally safe fuel. 

Highlighting the importance of alternative transport system, Ms Dikshit said that a substantial portion of Delhi households depend on pedestrian and bicycle work trips. Besides, a large number of children either walk or cycle to schools. 

She called for encouraging walking and cycling, both non-motorized and natural modes of transportation. Ms Dikshit informed that for starting Electric Trolley Buses, two corridors have been identified. RITES has completed feasibility study for Hari Nagar-Central Secretariat Corridor. The government’s objectives are to reduce congestion, improve and maintain air-quality and ensure a much safer and easier system of access and mobility for the people at large, she added. 

Gurgaon, December 13
The Haryana Urban Development Authority (HUDA) has launched a special drive to take legal action against illegal commercial activities being carried out by residents of various residential sectors.

The Estate Officer, HUDA, Gurgaon, Ms Anju Chaudhry, informed that the department had already identified and sent notices to 177 occupants of various residential sectors for carrying on commercial activities in their houses and thereby violating the Haryana Urban Development Authority Act 1977.

The EO revealed that the notices were sent under Section 17 (3) of the said Act which stipulates that as per the report of the field staff of HUDA the said residential house is being used for commercial purpose.

The notices were sent to 40 houses in Sector 46, six houses in Sector 27, one in Sector 28, eight in Sector 14, five in Sector 17, seven in Sector 5, five in Sector 15, 32 houses in Sector 10-A, three in Sector 12-A, four in Sector 21, 17 in Sector 45, 14 in Sector 40, two in Sectors 9 and 9 A, 20 in Sector 4 and 13 houses in Sectors 31 and 32.

Out of these 177 houses, seven occupants had closed their commercial activities after getting the notice. The remaining 170 were sent notices afresh in the first week of December under Section 17 (4) of the Act which gives the opportunity to the owner of the house to appear in person or through a duly authorised representative in the EO office and give the reason for using the property for commercial purpose. If they failed to appear before her, the said property would be attached as per the provision of the HUDA Act, added Ms Chaudhry.

The officer further said that seven house owners in Sector 14 were directed today under Section 18 (1) of the said Act to show cause as to why “you should not be evicted from the said premises as you are in an unauthorised occupation of the premises”. These house owners had not filed their reply under Sections 17 (3) and (4) within the stipulated time, said the EO.

The remaining identified 163 houses had time to reply before the office of the Estate Officer, added Ms Chaudhry.

The seven houses in the posh Sector 14 were running nursing homes illegally, said an officer of the department. The nursing homes can be allowed in the residential premises in the sectors developed by HUDA which are functional before December 31, 1991. If the nursing homes were established after that, they are running illegally and the property of the said plot could be attached by the department, added Mr Chaudhry.

HUDA administrator S. K. Gupta said the law would take its own course and the commercial use of residential areas would not be allowed at any cost.

Mr Gupta further said these 170 identified houses where commercial activities were being allegedly carried out by the occupants of the houses would not be spared. Either they had to stop the commercial use of the property, or HUDA would resume these properties, warned the HUDA administrator. 

He further said that the commercial use of the residential property not only disturbs the lives of the nearby houses, but the commercial sites of the sectors were also affected due to the illegal use of the residential areas. 

The whole planning of the sector gets affected as the illegal commercial use of residential areas needed extra power, water, roads and sewerage system.

New Delhi, December 13
The Delhi High court today asked the CBI to arrest all those involved in the Rs 4,000 crore Cooperative Group Housing Societies scam in the Capital.

A division bench of Justice Vijender Jain and Justice Rekha Sharma said the CBI must not spare anyone involved in the scam and asked the agency to expedite the probe.
Meanwhile, CBI counsel Harish Gulati informed the court that the agency arrested six persons in connection with the scam yesterday.

Those arrested are builders Srichand, Ashwini Sharma, Asutosh Pant, Gokul Aggarwal, Anna Wankhade and Registrar of Cooperative Societies official U S Bhatnagar. They have all been remanded to police custody till December 24 by a Delhi court.

The court also issued notice to CBI on an application moved by Gokul Aggarwal accusing the agency of sabotaging the investigation.

The court asked the CBI to file its reply to Aggarwal’s application and accompanying affidavit by December 15, the next date of hearing. In his affidavit, Aggarwal has named ten persons allegedly involved in the scam.

Those named are Ajit Singh, S P Saxena, Srichand, Vinod Varma, Mahesh Gupta, Arjun Singh, P N Sharma, M M Sharma, M L Sharma and Surender Solanki.

The court had earlier ordered CBI to constitute a special investigation team under a DIG to investigate the scam in which several builders and certain politicians belonging to Congress and BJP are allegedly involved. 

New Delhi, December 13
People’s Action has followed up on the start of its third phase of the campaign against high power bills and the issue of DVB’s privatisation with a call to review the privatisation model in Delhi.

It has also demanded the revision of the power tariff, which it says has a high component of “theft built into it”.

It is strange that while privatisation was supposed to deliver better quality power and lower tariffs we continue to suffer power cuts and are paying through our nose for such aberrant supply, said Col. D K Shandilya (retd), general secretary, People’s Action.

Roshan Seth, noted actor and member of People’s Action, said, “It has been almost six months that this issue has been hanging fire but the Delhi Government has been unable to offer any relief to consumers. We, hereby, state that we have no confidence in the Power Minister and his administrative set-up. They must admit that they have failed comprehensively.”

People’s Action has initiated a series of protest meets supported by URJA and the All Delhi RWA, beginning on Tuesday, with the first one due for kick-off at Preet Vihar.
Speaking on the occasion, president of Preet Vihar Commercial Complex Welfare Association, Mr P Garg, said even though every second house in the Capital is facing meter and over-billing problems, various representations made to the Delhi Government have gone unheard. 

The Convenor, URJA, Mr Chawla, said “Protests are being planned in all areas of Delhi beginning tomorrow.” “After Preet Vihar, Karol Bagh will be the next destination,” he added.

“The Delhi Government is adamant that power companies must not lose revenue at any cost. We are adamant that citizens must not be made to pay for no fault of theirs. There is no option but to take this issue to the streets once again,” said Sanjay Kaul, president, People’s Action.

The representatives of Preet Vihar, Sewasthya Vihar, Priya Enclave, Kiran Vihar, Anand Vihar, Krishna Nagar Market and Resident Welfare Associations of Mayur Vihar, Jagatpuri and Viswas Nagar, IPEX, Vinod Nagar and Laxmi Nagar were present on the occasion.

Earlier, People’s Action had sent a 63-point dossier to all elected representatives of Delhi to educate them on crucial issues regarding the power problem and the obstacles being faced by the people. 

New Delhi, December 13
Banks beware! Now you could be sued for defamation if you hound customers for payment of dues and end up coughing up huge amount as damages.

In a landmark judgement, a civil court today ordered the Standard Chartered Bank to pay “exemplary” damages of Rs 2.5 lakh to a man constantly harassed and insulted for not paying his dues on a credit card, which he neither received nor utilised.

“The sword of Damocles hung over his head with fear of criminal action and a likely arrest. Sood’s colleagues have also stated they too suspected him of actually evading his liability. This resulted in his falling in the esteem of the people around him and tarnished his reputation,” Additional District Judge Ina Malhotra at the Tis Hazari courts said.

Trouble began when Vinay Kumar Sood, a resident of Sarita Vihar, received “out of the blue” a notice in 1999 stating that he had an outstanding amount of Rs 1.2 lakh on a credit card for which he had applied for in 1994, but never received.
His repeated requests were ignored and the bank did not even bother to explain the notice to him.

However, Sood’s troubles did not end there. On July 28, 2002, he received another notice from the bank, this time informing him that his credit amount on the card had increased to Rs 4.21 lakh.

Desperate, Sood sent a letter to the bank’s head office in Bangalore demanding an explanation.

Much to his chagrin, the bank chose to respond by persistently calling up Sood at his home and workplace for the credit amount and imputing that he had failed to pay his dues.

Matters came to such a head that even his relatives and close friends began to doubt his innocence. During the trial, Sood’s wife testified that the bank officials would call home and threaten to file a case of cheating against her husband and have him arrested. “We were shattered and the entire family was living in a state of fear”, she said.

Terming the bank’s conduct as “aggressive and belligerent”, the court said the bank’s claim “appears to be nothing short of an arm twisting tactic towards an innocent person”. Further, the court held that the bank had failed to produce any evidence despite repeated opportunities to show Sood had actually received the credit card and utilised it.

“Court is of the opinion that the persistent acts of the bank without any ground were defamatory in nature and harmed the reputation of the complainant,” the judge said.

Observing that Sood was entitled to “exemplary” damages, the Judge said “the complainant had taken up cudgels to fight for his rights which lesser mortals would not have done”.

Warning banks in general, the court said their “approach in casually resorting to such aggressive, belligerent and callous methods unmindful of a person’s reputation has to be prevented and nipped in the bud”.

The court asked the Standard Chartered Bank to pay Rs 2 lakh to Sood as damages for loss of reputation and Rs 50,000 towards the mental agony and harassment. 

Faridabad, December 13
Around two-third of the funds received for various development schemes in the district have already been spent in the current financial period and the progress so far has been satisfactory on various fronts. This has been stated in the report submitted by the District Rural Development Agency (DRDA) at the governing body meeting of the agency held here recently. 

According to the Additional Deputy Commissioner (ADC), who is the head of the agency, of the total amount of over Rs 4.15 crore received for the comprehensive rural employment scheme, a fund of over 2.67 crore had been spent already. He said while the majority of the contribution to this head had been from the Union Government with a share of around Rs 2.75 crore during the present financial period, the state government had given an amount of about Rs 67.44 lakh.

The DRDA had also used around 2,852 tonnes of foodgrains out of the total availability of 3,881 tonnes under the Food for Work programme currently under way. In this section, the department has claimed that as many as 412 works of the total target of 621 works had been completed with the achievement of the 3.16 lakh man days. 

Under the Swarnjayanti Gram Swarojgar Yojna, an amount of about Rs 35.46 lakh had been spent to benefit 337 beneficiaries, which included 254 women and 137 persons belonging to backward classes. The agency also claimed to have constructed about 373 houses for the poor in the current financial period against a target of providing about 510 houses under the Indira Awas Yojna launched by the central government several years ago. 

An amount of Rs 1.05 crore out of the total allocation of over Rs 1.10 crore had already been spent under this scheme. It is learnt that several residents belonging to the Dalit and poor category had moved their applications for getting houses under the Awas scheme in the offices of various SDMs in the district in the recent past, which seems to suggest that the target of providing houses or financial help to the poor for construction of houses had been much below the actual demand. 

Earlier, addressing the meeting, the Deputy Commissioner, Ms G. Anupama, asked the officials concerned to take their work seriously and ensure the completion of various schemes on time and in a proper manner. She emphasised upon the need to involve women in various programmes, especially in the self-employment schemes and formation of self-help groups to avail the benefit of various schemes. 

Greater Noida, December 13
Five beautiful damsels lured an industrialist, a regular golf player in Greater Noida, into a trap and made him lose Rs 50 lakh in the bargain. 

The girls had enticed him to produce a film.

The entrepreneur could see through the ruse only when the damsels had vanished after robbing him.

The man who had gone to lodge an FIR with the police was advised by a friendly police officer not to do so as it would bring a bad name to him.

According to the police, a leading industrialist of Delhi has well-furnished houses in all towns of NCR. He is a golf buff who frequents the Greater Noida golf course.
It is here the five beautiful girls had befriended him. They gave him the impression that they had close links with top Bollywood filmmakers and wanted to produce a film. However, they said, they were pressed for money and only waiting for a good financier for the project.

The industrialist was taken in by the charm of the con women. On his suggestion, they agreed to have a meeting. The industrialist then handed over the keys of his flat in Greater Noida and told them that all necessary arrangements had been made for their comfortable stay there.

The man reached the flat late Sunday evening for the rendezvous and told all his servants not to allow anybody inside. He had been indoors for about two hours. Here one of the girls reportedly made tea laced with an intoxicant. 

As the industrialist fell unconscious, the girls took Rs 50 lakh from his briefcase, his rings studded with costly stones, a gold chain and slipped out one after the other. No sound was heard from the flat till 12 midnight. The intoxicated man then came out and gave an earful to his servants for allowing them to leave the flat.

The industrialist is now reportedly ruing his decision to finance the “film”.

Ghaziabad, December 13
The Indirapuram police have nabbed two young men from Ambedkar Park in Vaishali and seized 250 gm brown sugar and a local revolver from them. The estimated value of brown sugar seized from the duo in the international market is stated be around Rs 25 lakh. 

Posing as a news reporter and a cameraman of a Delhi-based TV channel, the duo had been involved in drug peddling for quite some time, the police said. The identity cards recovered from the two were also found to be fake.

According to the in-charge of the police post near Vaishali, he and his team had stopped two persons on a motorbike. On frisking, 250 gm of brown sugar, a local revolver and two cartridges were seized from these persons.

For sometime, the police were taken aback when the duo identified themselves as Pawan Singh, son of Veer Singh Jatav, resident of Gopkulpuri, Delhi, and Ajit Pratap Singh, son of Bachan Singh of Varanasi. They said they were a news reporter and cameraman of a Delhi-based TV channel.

The SO, Indirapuram police station, Mr O. P. Yadav, said on investigation it became clear that the duo were trying to mislead the cops. Pawan Singh had even changed his name to Rehman Khan and the two were involved in drug peddling in the area for quite some time.

Noida, December 13
In response to many complaints lodged by the applicants of “Residential Scheme 2004” that they have not yet got their money back, Chief F&A Lorik Yadav of Noida Authority has written to all the 21 banks asking them to provide him with the detailed data.

The authority officials had declared a few days ago that all the applicants would be sent a cheque on the address given by them on their application forms within a week. But a large number of applicants have not received cheques even after a fortnight.

Ghaziabad, December 13
Three young men in Ram Park Extension in Loni shot dead another local youth after an argument during dancing at a marriage ceremony on Sunday. The killers fled after killing the youth on Monday morning.

The youth killed was a Delhi University BA student and son of an employee of RAW. A report, naming the three accused, has been lodged. Though the police have arrested the parents of the accused, the killers are said to have gone beyond the police’s reach.

According to the police, a marriage party had come to Laxman Singh Negi’s house for the wedding of his daughter on Sunday evening. Chandan Singh Negi, an employee of RAW, lived in the next house and during the marriage party his son, Manoj Negi, 19, had an argument with one Umesh. According to witnesses, both were drunk, but some people intervened and the dispute was resolved. 

But next day when Manoj was going to the cricket ground in the colony with some friends to play cricket, Umesh along with his friends Ashok and Perminder beat him up. As Manoj tried to escape, Umesh took out a revolver and shot him dead.

New Delhi, December 13
A Metropolitan Magistrate in Karkardooma courts today sentenced a person charged with power theft to imprisonment for one year. The convict, Ramesh Kumar, was also ordered to pay Rs 3,41,943 to NDPL within a month failing which the accused would have to undergo simple imprisonment for another 6 months. 

The accused had been charged for “dishonest abstracting and using electricity to the extent of 61 KW for industrial purposes”. The accused was found to be using the electricity in an unauthorised manner by inserting a wire by creating a cavity in the glass of the CT meter, thereby stopping the disc.—TNS

Noida, December 13
After successful implementation of NOIDA and Greater NOIDA in the National Capital Region (NCR), Uttar Pradesh government has now taken up another ambitious project of developing Dadri Industrial Development Authority (DIDA).

Chief Minister Mulayam Singh Yadav chaired a meeting of the UP Industrial Investment Board in Lucknow yesterday to clear the project. DIDA will be provided with special facilities for foodgrains based industries.

Mr Yadav said DIDA would be developed as per international standards and within stipulated time frame so that it could be placed in the same bracket as NOIDA and Greater NOIDA.

In the meeting, Mr Mulayam Singh Yadav directed the officials to prepare a state-level work plan for foodgrain based industry within the next fortnight. Taking a decision to offer plots to hotel industry at the industrial rates to encourage tourism, Mr Yadav said it should be ensured that land mafia and criminals do not enter the field. —TNS

Meerut, December 13 
Three armed men robbed a house in the heart of town of over Rs 4 lakh in cash and jewellery after gagging an 83-year-old woman who was alone at the time, a police official said today.

Some unidentified men entered the house in Sadar Bazar area around 7:30 p.m. last night and tied up Krishna Alhense at gunpoint, Superintendent of Police (city) Umesh Shrivastava said.

A cloth was stuffed into her mouth to prevent her from raising an alarm after which they rifled through the house, breaking the locks of almirahs and searching the entire place, he said.

They decamped with Rs 50,000 in cash, Rs 4 lakh in jewellery and a licensed revolver.

A police team had dusted the house for fingerprints and were investigating the case, the SP added. 

Ghaziabad, December 13 
The Ghaziabad Development Authority rehabilitated at least 400 slum dwellers from Vasundhara area to another locality especially set up for them. The GDA evacuated the slum dwellers from a prime land in Vasundhara and resettled them in Nand Nagari area where they were allotted rooms on payment of Rs 5,000 each yesterday, GDA Secretary Devi Saran Sharma told reporters. —TNS

New Delhi, December 13
A sessions court today rejected the anticipatory bail plea of an absconding Sub-Inspector of Delhi Police who allegedly took a bribe of Rs 70,000 from a man by threatening him that he will be implicated in a fake murder case.

Additional Sessions Judge J M Malik dismissed the bail petition of Ajay Bali, a Sub-Inspector posted at Bhajanpura police station in north-east Delhi who is now evading arrest, by observing, “I find no merits in the application, hence the same is dismissed”.

As per the CBI, the accused Bali on October 22 had asked for the illegal gratification of Rs 1 lakh from complainant Rajesh Arora, a shop owner.

Bali allegedly threatened Arora by saying that in case he failed to pay up the bribe amount, he will be implicated as an accused in a false murder case.

Five days later, the accused demanded a sofa from the complainant and said that he may deduct the amount from the bribe money which was to be paid by him.

The CBI, after receiving a complaint, laid the trap and arrested Arun Sharma, a conduit of Bali, red handed while he was receiving Rs 70,000 from the complainant.
An FIR under various sections of the Prevention of Corruption Act was lodged against the accused.

Opposing the bail plea of Bali, the CBI produced the details of the tape recorded telephonic conversation of Bali and tout Sharma wherein the latter had confirmed the receipt of bribe. The ASJ, lending credence to the evidence, refused to grant bail to the accused.

New Delhi, December 13
The city today slept its way through a temblor. While most missed the earth’s shaking, some of those living in high-rise buildings had an unusual wake up call. 
“I felt the bed shaking and I instantly knew it’s a quake. After the scare we had on October 8, we have become more alert,” said Anuj Prakash, who lives in a multistorey building in Gurgaon.

The earthquake, of 6.8 magnitude with its epicentre in the Hindukush region, occurred at 3.17 am. News of the earthquake came as a surprise to many. “The TV channels were airing the news of the quake and we were surprised since we never felt it,” said Mahesh Kumar, a resident of Mayur Vihar. 

New Delhi, December 13
Students in the Jawaharlal Nehru University have stepped up pressure on the authorities to avoid a lengthy probe and take action against those guilty in the violence that was reported in Jhelum hostel on Friday evening.

“There is a general consensus amongst the students that those guilty should be punished and that the inquiry ordered by the Vice Chancellor should not take unduly long,” said a student.

“The representatives pointed out that if the authorities fail to take action within the next 48 hours, they will then decide to protest in whichever way they deem fit,” he added.

Even as the inquiry committee headed by the Chief Proctor, Prof. V K Jain, claims to be on the job, he told The Tribune, “An inquiry of this nature cannot be dictated by a time frame. The incident is being looked into and we will go into the details.” 

New Delhi, December 13
As part of its ongoing customer awareness programme, BSES initiative to train neighbourhood electricians, has received an overwhelming response. 

Titled ‘Training on Essentials of Internal Wiring and Meters”, the programme has witnessed the successful training of over 400 electricians during the past three weeks.

BSES began the programme first by training its employees and then by extending it to electricians employed by certified and licensed contractors in its licensed area.
To make the programme more participative, the BSES last fortnight sent letters to all the RWA’s requesting them to nominate neighbourhood electricians for attending the free training sessions.

“We are delighted. A large number of RWAs have got in touch with us by positively responding to this pioneering initiative. Many of them have even invited us and offered space so that our experts could go there to conduct the training,” said Mr Lalit Jalan, Director and Member Executive Committee, BSES.

New Delhi, December 13
The government has no proposal to shift the venue of India International Trade Fair (IITF) from Pragati Maidan in Central Delhi to any other place in the Capital.
Replying to a question, Minister for Commerce and Industry EVKS Elangovan told Parliament that it was, however, considering a proposal to modernise Pragati Maidan.

The feasibility of upgrading and increasing infrastructure facilities including additional space, convention centre and parking was being examined, he said.

Last fiscal, Rs 508.19 lakh had been spend on organising various exhibitions while Rs 2,640.07 lakh was earned. This year, Rs 725.5 lakh was expected to be spent while an income of Rs 2,737 lakh was expected in return, he added.

About 30 lakh people visited the IITF this year, in which 7,243 Indian companies and 257 companies from 33 countries participated, Mr Elangovan said. 

New Delhi, December 13
Two people were killed when a fire swept through a perfume factory in South Delhi this morning. 

The fire, which broke out at around 10.20 a.m. in the factory located in Madanpur Khader area, blazed for nearly an hour before it was brought under control, said police officials.

The factory is situated just next to the City Bell School, from which schoolchildren were immediately evacuated for their safety. 

Police said that the fire took place in a drum full of chemical and spread over the entire floor of the building. 

The entire factory was gutted in the fire. Four fire tenders battled for nearly an hour to put out the fire.