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Robbers target Gurgaon industries
Chargesheets in CEE case filed,
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DHBVN launches VDS for unauthorised power loads
Police directed to ensure verification of call centre drivers
Accountant absconding with Rs 4.50 lakh
Botox shot gives 6-month break from migraine!
NDPL starts easy modes of bill payment
Woman killed, 3 hurt in building collapse
Murder case solved, four kidnappers held
Chief Justice refuses to meet striking lawyers
Stop monkey menace or your business, MCD told
Tele film on myths related to epilepsy screened
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Robbers target Gurgaon industries
Gurgaon, January 17 Mr Jayant Davar, Chairman, Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), Haryana, whose factory at Sector 18, Udyog Vihar, was attacked last night by unknown assailants, said the brave security personnel at his unit successfully foiled the robbery attempt. Four unidentified miscreants with their faces covered and equipped with knives and pistols jumped from the boundary wall inside the factory premises with the intention of robbery while another 10-12 accomplices were waiting outside the company. Mr Davar added that after entering the premises they forcibly tied up one of the security personnel to a chair and threatened him with their weapons. Another security personnel, Deepak, got stabbed in his stomach and also had other multiple injuries while attempting to catch hold of one of the miscreants. Listening to his cries, when the security supervisor, Mr Rawat, rushed to the spot, the miscreants overcame him with their weapons and forcibly locked him in the drivers’ room near the gate. When he resisted, he was badly hit with the butt of a pistol on his head, added the CII Haryana chapter Chairman. Meanwhile, hearing the chaos, construction workers in the adjacent plot of the same company ran towards the security personnel to help them and thus were able to make the robbers run away empty-handed. Deepak has been referred to Safdarjung Hospital, New Delhi, due to his critical injuries. Mr Rajesh Jindal, Director of Pallavi Copper, informed that two days ago at least 15 robbers armed with revolvers and knives entered the factory and beat up three persons, including one guard, black and blue and tied them with ropes. Afterwards, the assailants loaded more than four tonnes of copper into the Tempo which they had brought with them and ran away with the booty, informed Mr Jindal. The copper cost the factory more than Rs 15 lakh, said the Director. Mr Jindal was surprised to note that when they called the police station about the incident the police officer showed his helplessness in visiting the factory as the police did not have a vehicle for transportation. “We sent our vehicle to fetch the police officers”, revealed Mr Jindal. Akshay Pipe, an RCC pipe factory located at Kherki Daula, was robbed three times in a year. The owner of the factory, Mr Akshay Soni, informed that eight robbers entered the factory with a TATA 407 on the night of January 14 and loaded 20 big pipes into the vehicle after terrorising the workers present at the factory. “When we approached the police station, the police officer did not lodge the FIR and informed that the Station House Officer (SHO) was busy on VIP duty. The police officer directed us to come after two/three days for lodging the FIR”, revealed Mr Akshay Soni. Mr Soni further alleged that in a robbery at his unit in September 2005 they had handed over the guard of a private agency to the police, but the police did nothing to investigate the robbery. Col Raj Singla, general secretary of the Chamber of Industries of Udyog Vihar, said the robbers even murdered a guard sometime back at a factory in Udyog Vihar when he resisted the move of the assailants. “The sudden rise in the ‘Tempo robbery’ where the robbers came in heavy four-wheelers is very shocking and alarming”, added Colonel Singla.
The police must act on priority basis to check such incidents otherwise the feeling of insecurity among the business community would hit hard the entire outlook of the business scenario in the state, suggested Mr Singla. Mr V. P. Bajaj, president of the Gurgaon Industries Association (GIA), lamented that the police should act fast and provide a safe and secure atmosphere in the district for the better development of the industries in the state. In the meantime, A delegation led by Mr Davar met the Haryana Chief Minister, Mr Bhupinder Singh Hooda, in the morning to apprise him of the situation. Mr Hooda assured the team prompt measures would be taken to handle the spate of robberies. He said five more police stations would come up in Gurgaon and additional jeeps and sophisticated communications system for policemen had already got the nod.
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Chargesheets in CEE case filed, court informed
New Delhi, January 17 Appearing for the CBI, counsel Neelam Grover informed the court that chargesheets were individually filed against all 52 students before the designated CBI court yesterday after the probe agency completed its investigations. Following the submissions, Justice Vikramjit Sen directed the probe agency to furnish copies of chargesheets and the documents relied upon to the Delhi University authorities and the accused students. The court asked the university to file its reply before the court within a week. Justice Sen, however, took exception to the delay in filing of the chargesheets by the CBI, which had earlier assured the court that it would do so by the end of October, and subsequently sought more time till December-end. The court granted permission to three other students, Naman Rastogi, Prashant Vats and Pranjal Vashisht, to provisionally attend classes at the university till the next date of hearing on February 1, 2006. With this, 11 students have been granted permission by the court to provisionally attend classes. Admissions of 52 chargesheeted students were cancelled by the university in May 2005 following allegations that they had resorted to unfair practices by way of using cellular phones to write their examination.
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DHBVN launches VDS for unauthorised power loads
Faridabad, January 17 According to the authorities, the power department (better known as DHBVN) here will be regularising the ‘unauthorized loads’ by both domestic and non-domestic consumers without any fines. According to the officials, the voluntary disclosure of unauthorised power load of up to five Kw will not invite the mandatory condition of getting a test report of the load if the fitting had been done by an authorised contractor of the Nigam. However, the unauthorised power load of over five Kw will require a test report by the DHBVN to get it regularised. In regard to consumers in the rural area, they just need to submit an application to the concerned office within this time period. Moreover, the consumers would have to submit an affidavit accepting the terms and conditions of the DHBVN in this regard. According to official sources, unauthorised loads and power thefts were the two main reasons behind the frequent power cuts in the region. The department has also announced to continue with its scheme of rewarding those who provide information about power thefts in their locality (01662-221527 or the toll free number of 16001801011). According to sources, the names of the informers would be kept secret. It may be recalled that the vigilance cell of the DHBVN had recently unearthed one of the biggest power thefts in State here, in which a hotel was found involved in a power theft of about Rs 1.13 crore. Subsequently, a penalty of Rs 1.11 crore was imposed on the hotel. The authorities have also registered a police case in this connection.
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Police directed to ensure verification of call centre drivers
New Delhi, January 17 Briefing mediapersons after a meeting with office-bearers, members of the Call Centre Association of India (CCAI), police, lawyers and women activists at the NCW office here on Tuesday, NCW Chairperson Girija Vyas said that they would send by next week a set of guidelines to call centres on safety of women. The recent rape and murder of a Bangalore-based call centre employee by the driver of the company commissioned taxi prompted the NCW to hold this consultation to evolve a set of guidelines. The Commission is of the view that the heinous crime calls for a serious debate on the transport arrangements for women employed in call centres. Women constitute forty per cent of the 3,50,000 call centre employees in India. According to the Call Centre Association of India, about 2 lakh persons are working in call centres in the National Capital Region alone. Vyas told mediapersons that they have asked the call centres to ensure third party representation in committees set up to deal with cases of sexual harassment. She drew attention to the Supreme Court guidelines in the Vishakha case. Acting on complaints of some women employees of call centres about unkept promises related to salaries and other benefits, the NCW plans to bring this to the notice of the Labour Ministry. The NCW Chairperson said that the amendment to the Factories Act, which allows women to work between 10 pm and 6 am in IT among other sectors, clearly puts the onus of ensuring safety of women employees on the employer. Senior Superintendent of Police, Noida, Piyush Mordia suggested creation of a separate pool of drivers by vendors, who provide transport to the call centres to pick up and drop employees. He said that drivers of call centre taxis should wear a uniform and carry identity cards. Senior Superintendent of Police, Gurgaon, Hanief Qureshi also attended the meeting. Responding to suggestions made by call centres for speedy police verification of drivers and night patrolling at highways, Mordia said police verification takes time and it is not feasible for the police to verify the antecedents of a driver living in a distant village. He said that although the police is aware of its responsibilities, its force cannot be dedicated to track down call centre vehicles, as it has to provide protection to other citizens also. Deepak Arora, Board member and Chairman of the Public Relations Committee of CCAI suggested installation of a black box in vehicles used to ferry call centre employees. Hailing the NCW initiative, Arora said that the active participation of the Commission will help give them teeth, as the Commission has an independent voice and has the ears of the policy makers. Some of the call centres who were represented at the meeting were IBM Daksh, WNS Global Services (P) Ltd, HCL Technologies, EXL Service North Star and Swift Group.
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Accountant absconding with Rs 4.50 lakh
Noida, January 17 To make matters worse, the officials of the company had to run from pillar to post to lodge an FIR in this regard. The policemen in the two police stations nearby have been ‘passing the buck’ asking the company officials to lodge the case in the other police stations as it falls within its jurisdiction. According to information, the accountant working in a hosiery factory (B-48), had failed to return for duty after he was asked to withdraw Rs 4.50 lakh from the company’s bank account in Sector-18, Noida, on 12 January. The company has confirmed from the bank that Rs 4.50 lakh was withdrawn by the accountant. A senior accountant of the company, Pankaj Varma, had gone to lodge a report in Sector-20 police station, Noida, but was turned back by cops and told to go and report the matter in Phase-II police station. However, the Phase-II police also refused to register the complaint. Finally, Pankaj Varma went to Senior Superintendent of Police, Piyush Mordia, who directed the Phase-II police to register the case.
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Botox shot gives 6-month break from migraine!
New Delhi, January 17 At a four-hour-long Headache Management meet here on Monday, five patients from Delhi, Kaithal and Meerut got a chance of getting their long histories of headache evaluated by none other than the Director of Houston Headache Clinic in Texas, Dr Ninan T. Mathew. He heard each patient and raised questions about duration and kind of headache and accompanying problems as nausea, vomiting and pain in the limbs. All these patients have been visiting the headache clinic at AIIMS. After evaluating each case in the presence of neurologists from Bangalore, Delhi, Hyderabad, Kolkata and Mumbai, Dr Mathew administered the injection to three patients. The Botulinum Toxin injection manufactured by Allergan, is priced at Rs 13,600. It is required to be administered every four to six months. The frequency is determined according to the severity of the problem and the response of the patient. In some cases, patients can be treated with half a vial of Botulinim Toxin. The first patient who got the injection is a 40-year-old Income Tax Officer with a 20-year-old history of migraine. The second patient was a 32-year-old patient with a 10-year-old history of migraine. The third patient who got the injection during the session was the first to be administered the injection in the clinic with 75 per cent success rate. He is a 24-year-old law student from Meerut with a two-year-old history of migraine. The other two patients who were evaluated were from Kaithal and Delhi. They were advised dose rationalisation and relaxation exercises. The prevalence of migraine can be gauged by the fact that 56 per cent of the patients who have come to the headache clinic set up in AIIMS since 2002 have got migraine. A person suffering from migraine has very severe, usually unilateral throbbing headache which lasts four to 72 hours and worsens with activity. It is associated with photophobia (intolerance to light) and phonophobia (intolerance to sound). The headache clinic at AIIMS introduced Botox injection for management of migraine in mid-2004. So far, 14 patients have been carefully selected for Botox injection for management of migraine. Dr Madhuri Behari, Head of the Department of Neurology at AIIMS, explained that Botulinum Toxin blocks the chemicals that are released during pain and acts on the nerves. She said that patients who have more than four to five severe attacks of migraine in a month and do not respond to conventional treatment can be given this injection. Dr Sumit Singh, Associate Professor of Neurology at AIIMS, said that AIIMS is the only hospital in Delhi that runs a headache clinic once a week on Thursday. He drew attention to a study conducted by Dr Gowrie Devi, Director of National Institute of Mental Health and Neuro-Sciences, Bangalore which found that headache is the most common neurological problem. Dr Singh said that the efficacy of injection improves with each dose. He said that Botox was first used for migraine management five years ago in the US and AIIMS was the first to use it in India. Dr Mathew who set up the Houston Headache Clinic in 1976 said that he found similarities in the patients in India and the US. “They have exactly the same problems—chronic headache, anxiety and depression. They take more than one pain medicine at a time. That makes the headache worse what is known as Medication Induced Headache or Medication Overuse Headache. Migraine is genetically determined. Once a person has migraine, he can learn how to cope with it better by avoiding stress, ready-to-eat food and caffeine. The person should instead exercise and relax, and eat meals regularly.”
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NDPL starts easy modes of bill payment
New Delhi, January 17 The Mobile Bill Payment Centre is an air-conditioned office-on-wheels which will accept payment through cash and cheque. It is equipped with facilities for bar code scanning, receipt printing and also has a Cheque Drop Box. The company has introduced an online bill payment facility through credit card (Master/Diners/Visa/Citibank) after successful completion of the Pilot project which garnered an encouraging response. The Pilot project which started on December 15, 2005 saw more than 150 consumers opting to pay online through the NDPL website, www.ndplonline.com. Said Mr Anil Kr Sardana, MD, NDPL, “These additional modes of bill payment are aimed at taking consumer comfort and convenience to the next level. This year, our consumers can look forward to many more IT-led initiatives which will further add to their delight.” The NDPL Mobile Bill Payment Centre was flagged off today by Mr Haroon Yusuf, Minister of Power and Transport, GoNCD and Mr Jile Singh Chauhan, MLA, Bhalswa Jahangirpuri from the newly opened NDPL Burari Consumer Care and Bill Payment Centre. The Pilot project for online bill payment saw mostly domestic consumers getting hooked to pay onlne followed by the commercial and industrial segment. An interesting feature of online payment is that consumers can also make part payment using their credit card and pay the balance through Net banking and/or cash. Consumers using the online option cannot only print a receipt for the payment made but will also get a communication through SMS to confirm the acceptance of payment. In case, a consumer loses the receipt, he can print a duplicate receipt from the website. Said Mr Arup Ghoash, COO, NDPL, “The online payment option would enable our consumers to pay at the click of a button from home or wherever they are. This is a major step towards enhancing consumer convenience as consumers cannot only view bills, print duplicate bills, see past billing and consumption data now but also pay from the NDPL website.”
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Woman killed, 3 hurt in building collapse
New Service, January 17 The deceased has been identified as Kamlesh (60). The injured include Vikas (23), son of Kamlesh, her younger son Lalit (12) and a passer-by Om Prakash (38). According to the police, the collapsed house was more than 40 years old and developed cracks on the walls. As she was sleeping in the morning today on the second floor of her house along with her two children, the house suddenly collapsed. Both Vikas and Lalit survived while Kamlesh died under the debris. The local police and the fire department took almost two hours to rescue and then admitted the injured to the Lal Bahadur Shastri Hospital where the condition of the three was said to be serious.
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Murder case solved, four kidnappers held
New Delhi, January 17 The accused have been identified as Raj Kumar (19), Rakesh (22), Nitu (21) and Mohan (24). On December 10, the kidnappers sent victim’s jacket to his family and demanded Rs 10 lakh. The case was subsequently registered in the Kalyan Puri police station. On December 12, one of the accused Rakesh was apprehended. During interrogation, the accused revealed that all of them were jobless and to earn quick money, they hatched a plot to kidnap the victim. On his disclosure, the police arrested the other three accused from their hideout. The police said that they all allegedly killed the victim on the same day of the kidnapping and threw his body in the Ghazipur drain in east district.
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Chief Justice refuses to meet striking lawyers
New Delhi, January 17 “I am not going to meet you (DBA lawyers) if you are on strike,” the CJI said while delivering the annual Dr K N Katju Memorial Lecture on “Role of the Bar in a Democracy” here last evening. Maintaining that a ‘silent majority’ of lawyers were against any kind of strike, he asked them to raise their voice against it as it earned a bad name to the profession. Justice Sabharwal made it clear that courts could not be closed for the interest of the lawyers who were agitating against the move to shift certain subordinate courts to the new complex at Rohini in West Delhi. “Who has bothered about the number of cases that are adjourned or cases which could not be decided due to absence of lawyers or about how many litigants have been forced to bear the increasing costs of pending cases?” he asked. “We have to ask consumers of justice as to what they expect of us. What we have given them in return,” the CJI asked, reminding lawyers that they were in a service-oriented profession. Recalling how lawyers had opposed the shifting of the Delhi High Court from Rajpur Road in Old Delhi to the present building in New Delhi, Justice Sabharwal said, “It is human tendency. We don’t like change.” Former CJI J S Verma, who presided over the function, exhorted the civil society to speak up against lawyers’ strike and warned that if they (lawyers) continued like this, their services could be brought under the Consumer Protection Act. Justice Sabharwal also released a book on eminent lawyer and former Union Minister in Pt. Nehru’s Cabinet Dr K N Katju—-‘Experiments in Advocacy—The Life and Times of Dr Kailash Nath Katjuu’.
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Stop monkey menace or your business, MCD told
New Delhi January 17 A Division Bench of Justice Vijender Jain and Justice Rekha Sharma gave the MCD four weeks to rid the complex of monkeys, in response to a PIL filed by a practising advocate, Nirmal Chopra. The petitioner had complained that the monkeys attacked lawyers, their clients and court staff. He complained that though representations were made both to the MCD and the Delhi Government, no action was taken to put an end to the menace. However, in response to queries from the Bench, counsel for MCD asserted that catching monkeys was no longer the task of the Corporation. He added mirth to the proceedings when he pointed out that one of the monkey-catchers employed by the MCD was badly mauled by the ferocious creatures. The victim needed as many as 72 stitches. It was at this stage that Justice Jain remarked that if the Corporation could not catch monkeys, the institution had better close down.
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Tele film on myths related to epilepsy screened
New Delhi, January 17 The film deals about various facets of relationships.
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