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PM to open Metro Line 3 on Dec 30
Parents’ body to take up exploitation by private schools
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MCD chief gets clean chit from Speaker
Govt handicapped in dealing with demolition drive: Sheila
Khurana demands implementation of Malhotra Report
Hoax caller at it in Connaught Place
14-day judicial custody for 7 accused in CGHS scam
Building collapse in Sarita Vihar
‘Educating masses, only way to check AIDS’
Learning with fun and frolic
Road renamed near domestic terminal
Book release function at Hindi Bhawan
Tiny-tots celebrate Christmas
Arena Multimedia holds Creative Hunt 2005
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PM to open Metro Line 3 on Dec 30
New Delhi, December 24 For starters, as per the original plan to cover 55 km, the train would have touched areas like Nangloi and Hdambi Kalan. The plan was later revised at the behest of the DMRC chief E. Sreedharan and extended to cover 56 km and extensions to Indraprastha (2.81km) and Dwarka sub-city (6.5 km) also added. The two extensions will become operational by March and June. The Line-3 is also expected to be the busiest one of the Metro and the ridership after the stretch becomes completely operational is expected to settle at more than six lakh. The ride from Connaught Place to Dwarka Mor will take a cool 40 minutes. The line will be extended to the Dwarka sub-city towards the Indira Gandhi International Airport and end at a proposed ISBT site little short of the airport for now. After the inaugural ceremony at the Metro’s Rajiv Chowk station on Friday, the line will be thrown open to the public the next day. Union Urban Development Minister Jaipal Reddy and Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit will be present at the function, DMRC spokesperson Anuj Dayal said here. Meanwhile, the Fare Fixation Committee has also revised Metro fares as per the rationale linked to the consumer price index by 4.17 per cent per annum. Last time the fares were fixed in April 2004. The fares have also gone up slightly with the minimum still being Rs 6 for the distance from zero to 2 km and the maximum being Rs 22 for distances beyond 39 km. Moreover, with the increase in distance, the fare increase comes down and at the most the increase has only been of Re 1 for different slabs of distance between 2 km and 21 km. Beyond 21 km, the fare will range from Rs 16 with the maximum being Rs 22 for a distance beyond 39 km. At present, the distance of 40.5 km between Rithala and Dwarka will be the longest. The new fares will come into effect when the line is thrown open to the public. The rates of the tourist cards have also been revised. The price of the one available currently for Rs 50 for a day will now be sold for Rs 70. The tourist card with a validity of three days, currently being sold for Rs 150, will be available for Rs 200. From Monday onwards, the train frequency during peak times will also increase to four minutes on Line 1 and Line 2. At present, the train frequency on the two lines during peak hours—8 am to 12.30 pm and 4.30 pm and 8.30 pm on Line 1 and 8 am to 12 noon and 4.30 pm and 8.30 pm on Line-2—is five minutes. The frequency for Line-3 will be maintained at five minutes between 8 am and 8.30 pm. Once the situation about the exact ridership on the section becomes clear, the timetable and the frequency will be fixed. In the beginning, 15 to 16 trains are expected to run on the section. The transport department has also given a go-ahead to the metro’s recommendations for feeder buses to the Line 3.
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Parents’ body to take up exploitation by private schools
Faridabad, December 24 The meeting, ‘Abhibhawak Mahapanchayat’, will be the second such conference of the parents’ organisation in the state so far. One such meeting was held last year when the members decided to constitute district-level units of the Abhibhawak Ekta Manch. The meeting will be organised by the Faridabad Abhibhawak Ekta Manch. The Manch had held a meeting with the district authorities to discuss the issues raised by the Manch from time to time, said Mr
O.P. Sharma, president of the Manch. He said the Additional Deputy Commissioner (ADC), Mr Sanjay Joon, who represented the district administration at the meeting, assured all help in implementing the rules, which, he said, had been violated by various schools, functioning from the plots allotted by the government on highly subsidised rates. It may be recalled that the Manch whose petition had already been pending in the High Court regarding the ‘violations’ and the alleged failure of the state government to implement these, had met the Deputy Commissioner, Mrs G. Anupama, here recently. It is stated that the authorities have announced to take an action against the schools not heeding to the warnings and notices issued to them by the Haryana Urban Development Authority office. The officials who attended the meeting included the City Magistrate, Mr Bir Singh Kaliraman, Joint Commissioner of the NIT (MCF), the District Education Officer and the District Development and Panchayat Officer. Though Huda was represented by one of its officials, the senior officials, including the Administrator and the Estate Officer were absent. The Manch had been claiming that violations of the rules by various leading private and public schools affiliated to the CBSE and the Haryana Education Board had been a serious matter and the government and its officials posted here had been ignoring them for their vested interests. A Manch spokesperson claimed that these violations had been related to the rampant exploitation of both students and parents, as many schools had been denying admission to poor students though 20 per cent seats had been reserved for the poor sections in the rules. He said the Manch had been opposed to the practice of the district officials becoming chief guests during the functions of the schools, which had been issued with notices and facing various charges of violations. He claimed that social bodies and individuals will have to come out in open against the ‘injustice’ and fight for their rights in the field of education facing the menace of commercialisation.
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MCD chief gets clean chit from Speaker
New Delhi, December 24 “I had asked the MCD Commissioner for an explanation. After studying the reply from the Commissioner, I have decided there is no need to refer the matter to the privileges committee,” he said. He, however, refused to divulge what was the explanation given by the MCD
Commissioner. Nigam had been asked for an explanation after Congress MLA Mukesh Sharma moved a breach of privilege motion against him in the House for failing to stop the demolition drive despite the Assembly passing a resolution to the effect. Admitting the motion, the Speaker had asked the Municipal Commissioner to submit his reply, giving him a day’s time to do so. Nigam had submitted his explanation to the Speaker yesterday in which he is understood to have cited his compulsions in view of the High Court order for demolition of 18,000 illegal structures in the Capital within four
weeks. To a question on whether the MLAs ought to have raised the matter in the House when the MCD functioned under an Act of Parliament, Singh said, “The MLAs are elected representatives of the people. It is their responsibility to express concern in any matter that concerns the people. “Both parties were of the view that the issue should be discussed in the House. A resolution was passed by the House unanimously. There is nothing wrong in that,” he said.
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Govt handicapped in dealing with demolition
New Delhi, December 24 Referring to the ‘builder-MCD official nexus’, she also renewed her demand for trifurcation of the MCD saying one Municipal Commissioner could not be expected to look after 97 per cent of the Capital. In an informal interaction with reporters, Mrs Dikshit said, “Statehood might be of help in matters such as this. It will definitely help in administrating the city more effectively. The response (of the government) has to be quick. Above all, Delhi is a growing metropolis.” Ms Dikshit also said the fact that subjects such as land and law and order were not with the Delhi Government, was creating handicaps for her administration. “Blockages and speed breakers are encountered because we don’t have full statehood and the progress in certain plans is not satisfactory,” she said. She, however, admitted that Delhi could not be a full-fledged state as it had special law and order concerns and also because the Government of India was situated here. “Personally, I feel that Delhi has to be a special category state,” she said. Ms Dikshit also said trifurcation of MCD was required “more than ever before”. “One MCD Commissioner cannot be expected to look after 97 per cent of Delhi. It is just not feasible. We have already spoken to the Centre about this and they are in full know of things,” she said. Holding the ‘builder-official’ nexus responsible for unauthorised constructions coming up in Delhi, Ms Dikshit said the MCD had been directed to identify the corrupt officials and fix accountability. To a question on whether the Delhi Assembly had not set up a confrontation with the High Court by passing a resolution calling for immediately stopping the ongoing demolition drive, Ms Dikshit replied in the negative, saying the House had done nothing illegal. “As a House, you have the right to represent the people’s will. You have the right to discuss the situation,” she said.
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Khurana demands implementation of Malhotra Report
New Delhi, December 24 The BJP activists started gathering from early morning and by the time the MCD bulldozers reached the spot there was a huge crowd in Subhash Nagar. As soon as the bulldozers started their work, the BJP activists led by Mr Khurana started protesting against the demolition. Subsequently, when the crowd threatened to get out of control, the police arrested them. Later they were released. Addressing the gathering, Mr Khurana demanded full statehood for Delhi, implementation of Malhotra Committee Report, change of mixed land use and action against the ‘builder lobby’, which was responsible for majority of the unauthorised constructions and buildings. He said that the BJP was not in favour of unauthorised constructions, but they should be stopped at the very stage when the construction is started. This was done in connivance with the local police, MCD and DDA officials, he alleged. The Malhotra Committee report is the only solution to the problems. It may be pointed out that the merit of the report has also been appreciated by the Congress party. The government should implement it without delay, Khurana appealed. Meanwhile, twenty buildings including 17 commercial properties were demolished today. According to the court direction, the MCD was ordered to take action against 18,000 illegal constructions in the Capital. The MCD has to submit a status report within four weeks regarding the action taken against the illegal constructions. According to MCD sources, with the present speed it would be difficult for the civic body’s demolition squad to demolish all the illegal constructions and buildings.
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Hoax caller at it in Connaught Place
New Delhi, December 24 The call was received at 6 pm at the Police Control Room. After an hour of the search at the Hotel Intercontinental on Barakhamba Road, nothing was found. The call was declared hoax, police said.
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14-day judicial custody for 7 accused in CGHS scam
New Delhi, December 24 Special Judge Aruna Suresh sent builders Ashutosh Pant, Ashwini Sharma, Sri Chand, Gokul Chand Aggarwal, Vinod Kumar Verma, suspended DDA employee Anna Wankhede and U. S. Bhatnagar (Inspector, Registrar of Cooperative Societies) to Tihar Jail till January 7. Aggarwal, Bhatnagar and Verma have moved bail applications before this court, which will come up for hearing on January 3. While Verma was arrested on December 21, the remaining six were arrested by the probe agency on December 12 and had been in CBI custody since then. The arrests were made in connection with cases registered by CBI’s Economic Offences Wing earlier this year, which found allegedly forged documents used to ‘revive’ defunct societies between 2001-2004 by N Diwakar (then Registrar of Co-operative Societies) in conspiracy with others. By purchasing the defunct society from its managing committee, the accused would revive the society, and arrange for the subsidised allotment of DDA-land, the CBI alleged. They also changed its name and made the original file “disappear” from the RCS office, the agency alleged, making non-existent persons members of the society.
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Building collapse in Sarita Vihar
New Delhi, December 24 Several labourers are trapped at a construction site at Jasola village under Sarita Vihar police station, fire officials said. Six fire tenders and a team of rescue workers have been rushed to the site near the Apollo Hospital here, the Fire Department said. ACP Sanjay Tiwari said the incident happened around 6 p.m. near the Apollo Hospital where the building was being constructed in the DDA community centre area. Efforts were on to extricate the trapped people. So far, there were no reports of any casualties, he said. The Fire Brigade said it had rushed its team to the spot.
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‘Educating masses, only way to check AIDS’
Gurgaon, December 24 Dr N K Sharma, Project Director, Haryana State AIDS Control Society, said that educating the masses was the only solution to prevent the rapid increase of HIV/AIDS cases. Emphasising the role of CII, he informed that this year, our focus would be to create awareness and support of the industry towards the issue. This is important as the majority of infections are from the productive 15-49 years age group. He added that the industrial sector stands most vulnerable as the HIV virus targets a workforce, which is in its economic prime. Dr Vandana Gupta, Deputy Director (STD), Haryana State AIDS Control Society, said that Haryana alone has 40,000 positive cases. She added that the latest estimate of HIV-infected population is 5.13 million in the country that includes 9 % adults and it is the working population that the country is losing. She added that the need today is not only to ensure awareness on HIV/AIDS, but also to fight prejudice. She added that VCTC is a one-stop shop where counselling, testing and treatment for infections are being provided with. Earlier, Mr Jayant Davar, Chairman, Haryana State Council, spoke of various measures initiated by the state to address the problem which is no longer a mere health issue, but had socio-economic ramifications as well. He said that this issue is threatening to become the biggest developmental challenge of all times. He urged everybody to join hands to stem the tide of HIV/AIDS. Speaking on the occasion, Mrs Chanda Singh, Chairperson, Social Development Sub-Committee, CII Northern Region, highlighted the need to focus on the HIV/AIDS menace to prevent its spread. She also informed that CII has framed an HIV/AIDS policy for the Indian industry, which has been accepted and is being signed by the CII membership. She also mentioned about CII’s workplace intervention programme wherein the entire work force, including workers, middle and senior management and CEOs are being sensitized on the issue. In addition, CII has set up counselling helplines to reach out to a larger populace. To make the programme effective, all the stakeholders, including the government, corporates and NGOs are engaged in the programme. A powerful and moving performance on stigma and discrimination was staged by a city-based theatre group, Jaagran. The use of puppets and humour appealed to the audiences. Mr J K Mehta, vice-chairman, CII Haryana State Council, thanked the speakers and the participants for making it an informative and interesting session.
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Learning with fun and frolic
New Delhi, December 24 At the finals, the gung-ho team of Spring Dales contested five other teams from St. Columbas School, DPS Dwarka, DPS Noida, Army Public School and DPS RK Puram. It took two rounds of tiebreakers to identify the winners as Spring Dales, Dhaula Kuan and DPS R K Puram ended with the same score after the usual question answer and rapid-fire rounds. Conducted by ace quiz master Aditya Mubai, the finals inspired some fierce competition, brilliant computation and thrilling moments for the participants as well as the audience comprising students and teachers from all these schools. Apart from the participants, the little brains sitting in the audience also made their mark on the show by giving such quick replies to the brain-teasing questions in the ‘audience participation’ round. The fun-filled experience of the day was enhanced by the presence of Athens Olympic silver medallist and winner of the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award 2005, Lt. Col. Rajyavardhan Rathod, who also felicitated the participants. Admiring Coca-Cola for organising events like these, he said, “It is indeed laudable that Coca-Cola is moving from commercial focus towards human resource development by organising events like these which is so very important for the development of our nation.” While he admired the enthusiasm of the students, he also shared his experience being one of the few faces of the year 2005 selected by the Limca Book of Records. While the winning team comprising M.V. Harish, B. Anurag and Anupam Arunanchalam received a gift voucher worth Rs 10,000, the first runner-up team got a voucher worth Rs 6,000. Vikas Gupta, vice-president Marketing, Coca-Cola India and Ms Chona, Principal DPS R K Puram, were also present on the occasion.
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Road renamed near domestic terminal
New Delhi, December 24 The naming of the road after the more than two centuries-old Mongolian capital comes in the 50th year of diplomatic ties between India and Mongolia. Ulaanbaatar has a road named after Mahatma Gandhi. “Mongolians have a special place for India in their hearts,” said Mr Tsend. The Indian Ambassador to Mongolia, was among those present on the
occasion. — TNS
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Book release function at Hindi Bhawan
New Delhi, December 24 The Vice Chancellor of Lal Bahadur Sanskrit Vidyapeeth, Dr Vachaspati Upadhayay, was the chief guest on the occasion.
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Tiny-tots celebrate Christmas
New Delhi, December 24 A Christmas Tree was planted in the school campus and teachers in the guise of Santa Claus were seen interacting with the children. The children also presented a ballet to mark the occasion. The chairman of the Federation of Public Schools, Dr R. P. Malik, was the chief guest on the occasion.
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Arena Multimedia holds Creative Hunt 2005
New Delhi, December 24 Creative Hunt 2005 saw students displaying their creations and competing in various categories such as advertisements with a social message, commercial advertisements, documentaries using multimedia elements, 2D & 3D animation clips and gaming software.
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With the flagging of the train at 9.45 am on Friday from the Rajiv Chowk Central Park station of this 22.8-km line between Barakhamba Road and Dwarka Mor, the Prime Minister will also dedicate the Phase-I of the Delhi Metro to the nation, which started on October 1, 1998.
Almost nearing its end, the Phase-I is very different from what it had earlier been planned.