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Capital to get 25 new flyovers, over-bridges
Committee to work out amendments to
Entrepreneurs flay delay in finalisation of industrial plots
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Driving licenses to be delivered at your doorstep
Delhi vulnerable to AIDS epidemic: Report
India Habitat Center to host literary event
Main accused in Narela rape case held
African arrested for cheating
Double murder case cracked
Another bomb scare keeps police busy
‘Decorate Delhi so it reflects the country’s beauty’
Lawyers’ strike continues for second day
Lawyer held in extortion case, 2-day lawyers strike in protest
Rs 2.30 crore stamp duty evasion slapped on HCL
CM leaves for Dubai to take part in ‘Delhi Day’
Protests against molestation by teacher
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Capital to get 25 new flyovers, over-bridges
New Delhi, January 3 Of these, seven have been approved by the DDA Technical Committee, ten are under consideration and eight are at the conceptual stage. This information was given at a meeting chaired by Chief Minister Ms Sheila Dikshit to review construction of flyovers and bridges in Delhi, officials said. The flyovers which have been cleared by the DDA would be commissioned between June, 2008 and December, 2008. The new flyovers include three between IIT and NH-8, with an estimated cost of Rs 150 crore, Naraina flyover at a cost of Rs 75 crore, Link Road connecting NH-24 with Lodhi Road at a cost of Rs 175 crore and an elevated East-West Corridor connecting Connaught Place with East Delhi at an estimated cost of Rs 250 crore. Also among the proposed projects are underpass and cloverleaf at ITO-Chungi at an estimated cost of Rs 65 crore, underpass to Shastri Park on Eastern Approach Road at an estimated cost of Rs 40 crore, a flyover at GT Road at a cost of Rs 200 crore and a three-level flyover at Azadpur crossing at an estimated cost of Rs 125 crore. The Chief Minister asked the concerned agencies to commission all these flyovers well before the Commonwealth Games. These flyovers will be constructed by PWD, DTTDC and other agencies. She asked DDA to expedite clearance of projects relating to flyovers. Ms Dikshit gave instructions to the concerned agencies to give priority to proper maintenance of flyovers and bridges. She further asked for beautification of the space below the flyovers by making them clean and green, also giving directions for installing uniform signages of roads and flyovers. Urban Development Minister A K Walia instructed all Chief Engineers to expedite maintenance of all important roads. He said the maintenance of 81 km of Ring Road and Outer Ring Road had been outsourced, adding this had started giving good results. He also gave instructions for proper lighting on the flyovers. The meeting was also attended by the Chief Secretary, Principal Secretaries for Urban Development, PWD and Transport, CMD DTTDC, Director (Planning), DDA officials, and Engineers-in-Chief of PWD and MCD.
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Committee to work out amendments to bye-laws
Gurgaon, January 3 The committee headed by Senior Town Planner, Gurgaon, would conduct the comprehensive study and put up its report to the HUDA Administrator within two months. The HUDA Administrator, Mr S. P. Gupta, informed that the committee would recommend the adequate legal provisions for the construction of houses and commercial buildings, for flood and earthquake resistant buildings including high rise buildings, energy conservation in buildings, parking norms, fire safety measures, rainwater harvesting, facilities for physically handicapped, etc. Mr Gupta emphasised the need for a systemic and safe development of buildings irrespective of its locations. Presently different rules and regulations apply in different sectors and at different colonies, added Mr Gupta. We have taken the help of experts from different fields so that the new bye-laws should be practical and safe, said Mr Gupta. The members of the committee are Mr M N Joglekar, former Executive Director, (Design) HUDCO and Professor Vaastu Kala Academy, Mr Rajiv Malhotra, Chief Town Planner, NCR Planning Board, Mr Alwyb Noronha, Vice President, Project, ITC Limited (Solar Energy Power), Mr Deepak Mehta, architect, Mr T N Gupta, former Executive Director BMPTC and
Advisor CIDC, Mr N K Seghal and President, Ansals Limited. Other members of the committee include Mr Nadeem Akhtat, DTP, at the office of Chief Town Planner, HUDA, Panchkula, Fire Officer, Gurgaon, Executive Engineer, HUDA Division no 1, and DTP, Gurgaon. The committee would visit and study the building bye-laws adopted by MCD, NDMC, NCR, Greater Noida, etc., before finalising the new rules for the state. The committee would also recommend a system of numbering and names of the streets, roads and lanes in townships, said Mr Gupta.
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Entrepreneurs flay delay in finalisation
Faridabad, January 3 It may be recalled that the department had invited applications for industrial plots of various sizes in sector- 58 here, located near Jharsentli village on the Delhi-Mathura Road in July 2004. Hundreds of entrepreneurs had applied for these plots, which required them to deposit 10 per cent of the estimated cost of the plot. However, the allotment process was delayed due to the State Assembly elections early last year. When the new government took over, a new committee was formed to oversee the allotment process, which included senior officials of the HUDA, HSIDC and the District Industries Centre (DIC). Later, the applicants were even called for an interview at Chandigarh. However, the authorities have not declared the results of the allotment process, leading to severe resentment among the entrepreneurs, stated an applicant. He said the delay was leading to “frustration” among the entrepreneurs. He demanded that the authorities concerned should finalise the allotment as soon as possible in the interest of industrial development of the state. It is learnt that several units have already been functioning in this sector and the government had announced its decision to shift several polluting units to this sector. The government had also announced its decision to set up a Transport Nagar in this sector to provide parking and loading facilities to the transporters. When contacted a spokesperson of the Faridabad Small Industries Association said, “The functioning of thousands of industrial units in the non-conforming zone have been due the non-availability of plots in the industrial sectors”.
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Driving licenses to be delivered at your doorstep
Faridabad, January 3 Announcing this, the Deputy Commissioner, Mrs G. Anupama, said here today that this step had
been taken to avoid inconvenience to the applicants, who had to make several rounds of the office to get the licenses or the certificates. She said the applicants were required to submit their documents at the office and licences or the certificate would be delivered to them at their doorsteps. However, the authorities will charge an additional Rs 10 from the applicant who wants to avail of this service. The authorities have entered into a contract with a private courier company in this regard to streamline the process, she said. Though the authorities deny any nexus between agents and officials, it is well-known that rampant ‘corruption’ exists on this count. The administration had undertaken computerisation at the office a couple of years back, but it had made little difference to the widespread nexus between the agents and officials. The authorities said that the office will dispatch the license to the applicants within a time period of 10 to 12 days while the Registration Certificate (RC) would take not more than 15 days in the city limits. The dispatch of these documents would take an additional 3 to 4 days in the rural areas. Even while welcoming the steps taken by the authorities, residents here want them to fix the responsibility and accountability on the officials concerned for any delay so that action could be taken against the guilty officials.
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Delhi vulnerable to AIDS epidemic: Report
New Delhi, January 3 There were 45 reported cases in 1993, which had jumped to 945 by 2004 even as the disease went largely unreported, the society said in its report ‘HIV/AIDS in Delhi: Meeting the Challenge’ released today. Delhi’s rapid population growth, nearly half of which was due to migration, presented a unique challenge in the struggle against HIV infection, it said. Migrants often arrive in the city with little or no HIV knowledge. The slum population, 40 per cent of the total, posed a special problem, it added. “Sexual contact is the most common path by which HIV infection spreads in Delhi,” the report said. There were at least 35,000 sex workers, the large majority of whom were not brothel-based and were thereby difficult to contact. One of the tragedies of HIV was that clients of sex workers may unknowingly infect their spouses who may then pass HIV to their unborn children, it said. However, thus far, it appeared that HIV had not spread as widely into the general population of Delhi as had happened in some other states of the country, it added. “Only a sustained effort will prevent this from taking place,” said the report. Delhi was a major crossroad in India and had become an important hub for trucking and transportation, the report said. The migratory population often arrived in the city with little or no HIV knowledge. About 40 per cent of city’s population lived in slums. The slum population, characterised by low levels of literacy, poor health conditions, poverty, and low status of women, offered HIV many opportunities to spread, it said. Delhi also has a large suburban population, which moved in and out daily, but resided in Haryana and Uttar Pradesh. In Delhi, as in many parts of the country, sexual contact was the most common way by which HIV infection spread – beginning in ‘high-risk behaviour’ population and then spreading to low-risk behaviour population. “There are indications that this is now taking place in Delhi, threatening a generalised epidemic,” it warned.
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India Habitat Center to host literary event
New Delhi, January 3 The festival is being held at the India Habitat Center. This festival’s unique selling point is that unlike many literary/academic festivals, it focuses on city stories from across Asia and the people who make things happen in these cities. The festival features more then 200 events spread across 50 venues. Over 25 Asian and international literary figures are going to be present for this event. Some big names include Xu Xi, ranked as one of Honk-Kong’s foremost contemporary English language novelists, Navid Kermani, a leading Iranian writer of fiction and Charles Landry, one of the greatest international authorities on city futures and cultures. From closer home, leading luminaries at the festival include the celebrated Tamil writer, UR Ananthamurthy, Pavan Verma, well-known novelist and career diplomat, Santosh Desai, advertising guru and creative head of Mccann Erikson, Ashis Nandy, eminent political psychologist and sociologist and Navjot Singh Siddhu, former cricketer and member of parliament. Shyam Banagal, eminent film-maker, Javed Akhtar, legendary writer and lyricist, Sudhir Tailang, India’s foremost political satirist and Abhishek Singhavi, an eminent legal expert are also expected to attend the event. The Utsav is packed with a host of events including round-tables, writers colloquiums, work-shops for professionals, master-classes, City Katha Asia film festival, a dance performance, national teachers conference, a Katha Asia book fair and an Asia carnival for children and students. Over a 100 academicians, social activists and teachers as well as over 300 college students are also going to attend the festival.
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Main accused in Narela rape case held
New Delhi, January 3 Vikram, allegedly the driver of the car and a distant relative of the victim, was produced this afternoon before Metropolitan Magistrate Raj Rani Mitra, who remanded him to police custody till January 5. Police claimed before the court that it was Vikram who had “induced the woman into the car which resulted in her rape”. They sought time for questioning of the accused for the recovery of the car used in the crime and whereabouts of the fourth accused, Phool Kumar, whose name came up during Vikram’s interrogation. Till now it was believed that only three persons were involved in the crime. Earlier, while being taken to the court, Vikram told reporters that he had “only accompanied Phool Kumar and his two friends to the woman in order to retrieve some money she had borrowed from Kumar”. He further said that he was only driving the car and had no hand in the crime. According to the police, Vikram and two others – Sushil and Naresh – offered a lift to the woman who was going to the market near DDA flats in Narela to buy vegetables Saturday morning and raped her in the moving car. Naresh and Sushil are already in police custody.
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African arrested for cheating
New Delhi, January 3 Agali Samko, a 32-year-old resident of the Republic of Guinea, was allegedly caught red-handed in a popular restaurant on Janpath in central Delhi yesterday on a complaint registered by one Azhar
Hussain. Samko was today produced before a Delhi court where the duty Magistrate sent him to police custody for a day, till January 4. On September 16, 2005, Hussain received a response to his profile registered on a matrimonial website, via e-mail and later via phone, by a woman who claimed to be a refugee in Africa, unable to come to India till 9.7 million dollars was released from her deceased father’s bank account. Hussain was told to contact the woman’s lawyer Dismon
Diallo, with an address and phone numbers in Dakar, Senegal. On demands from the woman and her lawyer, Hussain agreed to transfer Euro 650 to a Royal Scotland Bank account in Dakar. The complainant was then asked for Fund Origin Documents, being told these were required by law, and that he had to pay up another USD 8,500 towards this end. On refusing to pay the amount, the lawyer allegedly de-activated Hussain’s email ID. Later, Hussain was contacted by accused
Samko, allegedly “representing” the lawyer in India, and the two met on January 2, after which the complaint was registered. On his arrest by the Crime Branch today, it was found that the visa in his Guinean passport had also expired on September 7 last year, police said.
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Double murder case cracked
Greater Noida, January 3 The police have also identified the bodies dumped in different places after the victims had been murdered. The victims were identified as Titu and Ravinder alias Bhura of village Mambau in Bulandshahr. Both the victims are said to be dreaded criminals themselves. The other three accused are yet to be nabbed. The arrested criminal, Sanjay of Bhagpat, disclosed during interrogation that both the victims were members of his gang, who were murdered over money dispute. The Superintendent of Police (Rural), Mr Sudhir Kumar Singh, said the bodies of the victims were recovered from the jungle of Khanpur village in Kasna area on December 7 and on December 14 from Rajpur Kalan village under Dankaur police station area. Both of the victims had been shot dead. During intensive interrogation Sanjay confessed to killing Ravinder and Titu. According to the S.P, the accused had clashed with another criminal Manoj over some money matter. When Sanjay came to know that Manoj wanted to get him killed by two criminals, Bhura and Titu, he planed to kill both of them instead. Sanjay invited Bhura and Titu to Ronneeja and killed them after getting them drunk. The police are now on the lookout for the other three accused, Rabbe, Pradeep and Birju, the police said.
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Another bomb scare keeps police busy
New Delhi, January 3 Immediately after the recovery of the briefcase, the market was partially evacuated and passersby warned not to approach the briefcase. Subsequently, the bomb disposal squad arrived on the scene along with sniffer dogs. When the briefcase was checked, however, no explosives was found in the briefcase which just contained some papers. The police are trying to ascertain the identity of its owner.
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Capital receives more rain
New Delhi, January 3 Visibility in the morning was reduced to 500 m. However, the fog dissipated as the day progressed. Light rains lashed the Capital for the second consecutive day with 1.4 mm of rainfall recorded till 8.30 a.m. The Met office predicted a generally cloudy sky for the next 24 hours with the possibility of a few thundershowers.
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‘Decorate Delhi so it reflects the country’s beauty’
New Delhi, January 3 These were some of the views expressed by the Chief Minister, Ms Sheila Dikshit, after inaugurating a workshop at India Habitat Centre organised by the NDMC. The Chief Minister said that management of door-to-door garbage was the responsibility of every citizen who generates it. The department concerned should launch a drive against littering of garbage. But this drive will not be a success without participation of the residents of the city. She said public lavatories should be built near hospitals and in market places to make theses places clean. She further said that the concerned department should construct small stalls to accommodate petty businessmen who sold goods on ‘rehri’. She said instead of displacing them, the department should accommodate them beautifully. She expressed happiness over the increasing green area in the national Capital. She said people should gift saplings to their friends instead of flowers.
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Lawyers’ strike continues for second day
New Delhi, January 3 A large number of litigants were left in the lurch as lawyers boycotted the courts. They also organised a large demonstration outside the complex. A young lawyer who represented his client was pulled out of the court by DBA members, who threatened to cancel his membership if he did not participate in the strike. The protests had continued despite an appeal from the Delhi High Court Chief Justice Markandeya Katju to the lawyers to resume work in the benefit of litigants. Lawyers are protesting the setting up of the Mediation Cell with the help of American trainers of US-based Ford Foundation for out-of-court case settlements saying it was “a glaring example of back-door entry of foreign legal machinery in India”. Further, the DBA is opposing the move to shift some courts to Rohini saying the new court complex lacks basic infrastructure for a regular court like chambers for lawyers and parking space. The association also announced that it would hold a demonstration outside the Supreme Court tomorrow on these issues.
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Lawyer held in extortion case,
Gurgaon, January 3 The court has sent the accused lawyer, Mr Sanjeev Chowdhary, to 14 days judicial custody. According to the police, the lawyer was arrested when he had gone to collect the extortion money from the complainant, Mr Yashpal, a businessman. The complainant alleged that he was asked by a dreaded gangster of the area, Sandeep – presently an undertrial in Bhondsi Jail here – to hand over Rs five lakh to the lawyer. The lawyer has been booked under section 384, 387 and 120 B of the Indian Penal Code (IPC). The arrest was made late yesterday evening. A delegation of the lawyers under the president of the District Bar Association, Mr Sumer Sharma, met the district police chief, Mr Hanif Qureshi, in this regard. The delegation told the police chief that the lawyer was the counsel of the undertrial, who is alleged to have asked Mr Yashpal to hand over the “extortion money”. The amount the lawyer collected was with regard to the professional fees for services offered to the undertrial in proceedings in the Punjab and Haryana High Court, they added. According to the police, however, there was sufficient evidence suggesting criminal involvement of the lawyer in the extortion case. The Inspector General of Police (IGP), Gurgaon Range, Mr Mohinder Lal, said that the matter was still under investigation. In a related development, Mr Mohinder Lal said that the arrest was the first breakthrough in busting the menace of extortion in the region.
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Rs 2.30 crore stamp duty evasion slapped on HCL
Noida, January 3 The HCL is understood to have executed a rate deed on two plots, A1 and A2 in Sector-125, Noida. The company is learnt to have got this rate deed executed with stamp papers worth Rs 100 each. The Assistant Inspector General, Stamps, Mr O.P. Awasthi, said a task force formed in this connection has detected 400 cases of stamp duty evasion in rate deed execution in various sectors of Noida. The total revenue loss in the stamp duty evasion comes to Rs 5 crore out of which Rs 3 crore has already been recovered and efforts are afoot to recover the balance Rs 2 crore. Mr Awasthi said in case the party does not deposit the required stamp duty within the time limit, it will have to deposit interest and penalty along with amount of stamp duty evaded. The Assistant Inspector General said December was the best month for recovery of stamp duty revenue. As against a monthly target of Rs 27.26 crore, the department had recovered Rs 36.66 crore revenue on account of stamp duty evasion. The department will carry on the collection drive during January also, Mr Awasthi said. The department is right now scrutinizing documents pertaining to factory registration, income tax, shopping complexes, etc. After achieving the targets fixed by administration, the departments is trying to further increase the revenue collection, he said.
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CM leaves for Dubai to take part in ‘Delhi Day’
New Delhi, January 3 She is accompanied by Tourism Minister Arvinder Singh Lovely and CMD, DTTDC, Mr Sanat Kaul. She will return to Delhi on the night of January 6. The CM will call on Dy. Ruler of Dubai and UAE Minister of Finance and Industry Sheikh Hamdan bin Rashid Al Makhtoum and President, Department of Civil Aviation, Govt. of Dubai and Chairman of Emirates Airlines Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al Makhtoum. Apart from this, she will have interaction with members of the Indian Business and Professional Council,
Dubai. — TNS
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Guru Gobind Singh’s birth anniversary
New Delhi, January 3 At Gurdwara Rakab Ganj, the programme will start with recitation from the Sukhmani Sahib and Nitnem. Asa Di Vaar and Shabad Kirtan will be performed by Bhai Zorawar Singh of Ludhiana and Giani Harnam Singh Khalsa will deliver Shabad Vichar and recite the teaching of the Guru. Nagar Kirtan will start at 10 a.m. and will terminate at Gurdwara Bangla Sahib in the evening.
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Protests against molestation by teacher
Gurgaon, January 3 The protestors pelted stones near the Government Girls College on Mehrauli road and shouted slogans demanding the transfer of male staff members. However, the college authorities deny that any of their students took part in the demonstrations. It may be recalled that a few days back the father of a woman student of Government College, Sector 9, lodged an FIR that his daughter had been molested by a teacher when she had gone to take tuition in his house. The accused had been arrested and is now on bail. The accused said that he was being framed through a conspiracy by some teachers. In a related development, the accused informed the police that he was receiving telephone calls demanding ransom to stop the ongoing demonstrations against him.
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BSES starts new customer helpline
New Delhi, January 3 The timing of these helplines have been extended from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. for all days. The numbers for power supply, billing and metering and anti-corruption for BYPL are 42895555, 39999808, 39999888 respectively and for BRPL these numbers are 42895556, 39999707 and 39999777.
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HC refuses to stay demolition drive
New Delhi, January 3 A division bench of Justice Vijendar Jain and Justice Rekha Sharma dismissed a petition and
said the MCD was removing the illegal structures and nobody should object to it. In an order in December last year, the court had directed the MCD to remove all illegal structures in the Capital within six weeks.
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Girl’s legs crushed by train
New Delhi, January 3 The incident took place after a high tension electricity wire fell down near the railway track in which Harish got trapped and eventually electrocuted. To try help him, many people started running towards him, leading to a stampede. In the process, the girl fell down on the tracks and had her legs crushed under a passing train. She was taken to a nearby hospital where her condition is said to be critical.
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Passerby crushed under collapsed wall
New Delhi, January 3 In another incident, a wall collapsed at T-50/1, Railway colony, Sabzi Mandi area in North district killing a passerby on the spot. The deceased has been identified as Raja Ram (30). The incident took place at 12
noon. — TNS
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