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MCD passes resolutions for
Road-widening projects hang fire in Gurgaon
NCW calls for report on murder of
Woman convicted of aborting female foetus
Experts advise caution on using colours |
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56 bodies dumped in Noida in one year
No lowering of LPG prices in Capital
Court issues production warrant against Abu Salem
Two cops shot at in Noida
DMS incurred loss of Rs 1,395.84 lakh in 2005-06
Three charred as cylinders catch fire
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MCD passes resolutions for deferring demolitions
New Delhi, March 13 The House also passed a resolution urging the MCD Commissioner to approach the Supreme Court to seek additional time for removing hawkers in the city till a plan was worked out for the rehabilitation of these people. “Since work is going on for framing of the Master Plan 2021, we urge that demolition action by the MCD on unauthorised properties under section 343, 344 and 345 A of the MCD building bylaws be kept on hold till the recommendations of the Tejender Khanna Committee report are submitted and incorporated in the Master Plan. Till then, action should be taken only on the ongoing unauthorised constructions and encroachments on government land,” said a resolution by the House urging a halt to the ongoing demolition action. In the resolution pertaining to hawkers in Delhi, the House said, “A plan should be framed by the MCD Commissioner to ensure that all the vendors making a living for themselves through unauthorised shops on pavements are not uprooted without working out an alternate source of livelihood for these people,” the resolution said. Another resolution passed by the House urged deferring of action on sealing of commercial units in residential areas of the Capital, as per the order of the Supreme Court. The Supreme court had ordered closing down all commercial units operating in areas having 80 ft or wider roads. The resolution said that since many commercial units coming under the purview of the order were shops like that of barbers, confectioners, dry cleaners, general stores, chemist shops, educational institutes, nursing homes, coaching centres and bakeries that met the daily needs of common people, any action for sealing of these units should be put on hold till the Committee submits its report and till the implementation of the Master Plan 2021. The MCD House urged the Delhi Government to immediately pass the above resolutions in the ongoing session of the Assembly and forward it to the Centre so that the Centre and the Delhi Government could present the MCD’s case before the Supreme Court. The three resolutions, introduced by Leader of the House Mr Jitender Kochar, were on Thursday passed by the Standing Committee of the MCD. The passing of the resolutions by the House was marked by protests by Opposition BJP members Mr Subhash Arya, Mr Vijendra Gupta and Ms Aarti Mehra against Mayor Satbir Singh’s rejection of a resolution by Mr Gupta that the MCD Commissioner’s proposal for providing ad hoc licenses for trades in certain areas also include planned colonies and housing schemes developed after 1957 and unauthorised colonies and all areas falling within the jurisdiction of the MCD. The Opposition was also agitated over the inclusion in the list of areas in which sealing action against commercial units was proposed to be taken, those places where mixed land use was permitted under the Master Plan 2001. Later, addressing a press conference, Leader of the House Mr Jitender Kochar and Standing Committee Chairman Mr Mukesh Goel criticised the opposition for creating ruckus in the House when resolutions meant to provide relief for the common man and the small traders were on the agenda. “On the one hand, the BJP says it is working in the interest of the people of Delhi and on the other it obstructs the working of the House just when the three path-breaking resolutions meant to provide relief for common people were introduced in the House,” Mr Goyal said. Mr Kochar said the resolution for deferring demolition action on unauthorised properties as well as on sealing of commercial units were brought in the House after prior consultations with Chief Minister Ms Sheila Dikshit. “An 18-member delegation, which included Congress leaders like Rambabu Sharma and Sajjan Kumar, met the Chief Minister last week and conveyed to her the sense of urgency among the MCD to provide relief to the small traders and commoners by passing the two resolutions in the House at the earliest to enable their passage in the Assembly before the expiry of the deadline set by the courts,” Mr Kochar said. “In fact, the resolutions are being sent to the Delhi Government today itself so that the Assembly passes them at the earliest,” he said. On the Opposition protests over the rejection of their resolution, he said, “As the chairman of the House, it is the Mayor’s prerogative whether or not to accept the tabling of a resolution in the House”.
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Road-widening projects hang fire in Gurgaon
Gurgaon, March 13 The Chief Minister, Mr Bhupinder Singh Hooda, had inaugurated the project to widen many roads — from four lanes to eight lanes from Rajiv Chowk to Badshahpur drain, costing around Rs 7.5 crore — on February 23. However, the work had to be suspended midway as the forest department did not give permission to cut the trees on both sides of the road. The work of widening the roads from Pataudi Chowk to Sector 10/10A crossing, Bhuteshwar Mandir to Sector 9, Mahavir Chowk to Sohna Chowk, Sohna Chowk to Rajiv Chowk, Sector 4/7 Chowk to Railway Station and Sector 26/26A Road (Sikanderpur-Faridabad Road) has also been suspended. The deadlines for these projects were December 31, 2005 or January 31, 2006. All these roads are in a state of disrepair. Concrete stones are scattered across the roads, making it quite hard for the commuters to use them. As a result, the roads witness jams throughout the day. However, the Administrator, Haryana Urban Development Authority (HUDA), Mr S P Gupta, claimed that the widening process was being expedited. The local forest department had earmarked 588 trees from Mahavir Chowk to Badshahpur drain and fixed a compensation of Rs 2 crore for these trees. “We would soon complete the procedure as soon as the forest department gets the permission to uproot them,” Mr Gupta said. There are 77 trees on Railway Road, 42 trees on road from Bhuteshwar Mandir to Sector 9 and 79 trees on the road from Pataudi Chowk to Sector 10, added Mr Gupta. The department is ready to pay Rs 35 lakh, Rs 49 lakh and Rs 33 lakh as compensation to the forest department. “We would complete the project on priority basis as soon as we get the roads cleared of the trees,” claimed Mr Gupta. The Deputy Commissioner, Mr R P Bhardwaj, elaborated that the space left on both sides of the road was called “strip protected forest” and no one has the power to cut the trees planted on these areas as per the direction of the Supreme Court. Each tree has to be compensated by the department concerned and the permission has to be taken from the state and union forest departments before cutting any single tree, added the DC. For cutting down the 588 trees from Mahavir Chowk to Badshapur drainage (around 7-km stretch), the forest department has to plant saplings on 85-km stretch to maintain the ecological balance, explained Mr Bhardwaj. As far as the delay in widening of roads is concerned, the DC asserted that the administration would expedite the matter and fulfill all formalities to complete the project shortly.
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NCW calls for report on murder of women lawyers
New Delhi, March 13 “The Commission has taken serious note of the murder case and sought the report,” she said. She urged Delhi Police Commissioner K K Paul to take effective steps to check crime against women in the national Capital. Ms Vyas said the investigation of the case must be supervised by a senior officer to ensure that the guilty are punished. “Police must take extra measures and step up vigil with the help of local resident welfare associations for the security of women living alone who are vulnerable targets of antisocial elements,” she added. Nationwide campaigns must be launched to create awareness about safety of women in the big cities, the NCW chairperson said. She said at present there were only 3 per cent women officers in the police force and that must be raised. Seventy-year-old Swarna Mahajan and her 45-year-old daughter Anuradha were found murdered in their Siddharth Enclave apartment here yesterday morning. Police said preliminary investigations revealed that the attackers had gained friendly entry into the apartment. Meanwhile, voicing serious concern over the murders, Prof Vijay Kumar Malhotra (BJP) today demanded the creation of a special police wing to exclusively deal with the worsening law and order situation that had turned the city into a “crime capital.” Raising the issue during zero hour in the Lok Sabha, Professor Malhotra held the Centre directly responsible for the rising incidents of murder, rape and abduction, making the residents, particularly women and the aged, feel unsafe in the city. The Centre should immediately hold a meeting with the 10 MPs from the city — seven in the Lok Sabha and three in the Rajya Sabha — to draw up a strategy to check the spiralling graph in the city. The government should have no hesitation in doing this as nine of the MPs belonged to the Congress, he said. The situation was a “matter of shame” not only for the city but for the entire country as the Delhi Police was directly under the control of the Union Home Ministry, he said. When the government had a separate pool for VIP security, it should have an exclusive wing for maintaining law and order as well, the BJP leader contended. The Leader of the Opposition in the Delhi Assembly also demanded that security measures in the national Capital should be strenthegend as such incidents were increasing by the day. Investigation of the case was not enough; the culprits should be arrested and strict action should be taken against him, he said. In response, the Chief Minister Ms Sheila Dikshit said the police was under the Delhi Government. Investigations into the case were at the preliminary stage; once the probe was completed, the police would be pressed to book the culprits, she said.
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Woman convicted of aborting female foetus
Gurgaon, March 13 The woman has been sentenced to two years’ rigorous imprisonment for committing the offence under Sections 315 and 317 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC). The court of Mr N.P. Dewett, Additional Sessions Judge, held the view that the foetus was aborted with the criminal intent of either preventing the birth of the child or cause it to die after the birth. The convicted medical practitioner was found to be practising in Allopathic medicines without a valid registration certificate. However, for want of evidence, the court absolved her from the charge of complicity in the abortion of the foetus. According to the prosecution, a medical team headed by the Chief Medical Officer of the local Government Civil Hospital, Dr D.V. Saharan, raided the clinic of the medical practitioner at New Colony More after an infant was found abandoned at a place where garbage was dumped. The team seized tools and equipment from the clinic on whose basis that she was linked up with the case of aborting the foetus. The child expired the same day during the course of police investigation in the case. The patient and the medico were facing trial in the court under Sections 15 (2), 15 (3) of the Indian Medical Council Act, 1956, Section 5 of Medical Pregnancy Termination (MPT) Act and Sections 315, 317 read with 120-B of the Indian Penal Code. The patient, along with an accomplice, had allegedly dumped the live child at an abandoned place immediately after the abortion which was spotted by the shopkeepers around the area and reported to the police. The woman and the child were brought to the Government Civil Hospital the same day, following which the clinic of the medical practitioner was raided, who allegedly could not produce the valid registration to practice in Allopathic medicines and was not registered under the Medical Pregnancy Termination Act. Consequently, a criminal case was registered against the two. Convicting the medico, the judge expressed the view that the offence could not be taken lightly as such cases on the increase in society. If leniency was shown while awarding the sentence, it might abet others also to commit the same crime.
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Experts advise caution on using colours on Holi
New Delhi, March 13 “Some people, despite the knowledge that chemical colours are harmful, still opt for them because they are readily available and cost less. What these people don’t realise is that their negligence can cost others dearly,” said Ms Anupa Sharma, who had to undergo extensive eye treatment following a ruptured vein. Cases like her are on the increase with each passing year, claim specialists. “The most commonly used colours like blue can cause dermatitis, a condition that often results in swollen, reddened and itchy skin,” said Dr Anil Kumar, Consultant Dermatologist at G. M. Modi Hospital. Pointing out that most Holi colours sold in the market are oxidised metals or industrial dyes mixed with engine oil, experts claim that these chemicals can cause serious harm, including infections that can in severe cases prove fatal. The green colour, which is by far the most used colour, say experts, is obtained from copper sulphate, which may cause allergies or even temporary blindness. Similarly, purple, obtained from chromium iodide, is known to cause bronchial asthma and other forms of allergy. Silver, obtained from aluminum bromide, a carcinogenic, and black, obtained from lead oxide, are known to cause renal failure or learning disability. Dr Kumar even advises against the use of ‘gulal’, which is often mistaken for being harmless. “’Gulal’ that has two components, a colouring agent and a base, is most likely heavy. Metals like lead, chromium, nickel and cadmium are all capable of disturbing human body functions and damaging the skin at large,” he said. Watercolours having an alkaline base are also capable of causing severe injuries. Dr Purima Sood, Ophthalmologist at G. M. Modi Hospital, recommends immediate medical attention if the colours get splashed into the eyes. Environmentalist also caution against the use of chemical colours. They claim that when washed, these colours, containing toxic chemicals, enter the soil and cause water pollution.
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56 bodies dumped in Noida in one year
Noida, March 13 The 56 persons had been done to death and their bodies dumped in isolated spots. The police just get the victim’s photographs and retain his clothes along with the file. On an average, four bodies are found every month under different police station areas with the Dadri police having recovered as many as 14 bodies during the past one year which could not be identified so far. Most of the bodies are recovered near the railway tracks or the canals. The bodies of youths are found hanging from trees also. According to SP City Soumitra Yadav, it is the criminals of other districts who dump the bodies here to hoodwink the cops. The details of such crimes are recorded in the district, state and national crime bureau so that efforts could be made for their identification. But more often than not, such cases remain confined to the record files only. After Dadri with 14 cases, the Sector-24 police station, Noida, had seized seven bodies; Sector-20, six bodies, followed by Sector-58, five; Javer and Surajpur, four each. These unidentified bodies included those of women and children, the SP City said.
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No lowering of LPG prices in Capital
New Delhi, March 13 “There will be no change in prices at the consumer end,” Petroleum Minister Murli Deora told reporters here. The public sector oil firms, he said, were losing Rs 170 on the sale of every LPG cylinder and the gain of about Rs 15 per cylinder on account of lower VAT would be used to partly cover the losses. The reduction was not being passed on to the consumers, he said. Petroleum Ministry officials said the Delhi Government’s announcement was of no consequence after the Union Budget extended the ‘Declared Goods’ status for LPG supplied for domestic use, thereby attracting a uniform Central Sales Tax of 4 per cent across the country as against current rates, which vary between 4 to 14 per cent. “Even if the Delhi Government had not announced the move, LPG in Delhi would have attracted a lower CST rate,” an official said, agreeing to the proposition that the state government was trying to claim credit which was not due. Fuel retailers — IOC, BPCL, HPCL and IBP — who lost Rs 9,680 crore this fiscal on account of selling LPG below cost price, would not pass on the tax relief to consumers. Retailers stand to gain about Rs 1,400 crore from the move, which they propose to use for offsetting part of the losses, officials said. After providing for government subsidy, oil firms lost Rs 148 on sale of every cylinder of LPG and Rs 12 on sale of every litre of kerosene.
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Court issues production warrant against Abu Salem
New Delhi, March 13 Special Cell of the Delhi Police had sought his custody in the case in which his associates allegedly demanded Rs 1 crore from the owner of South Delhi-based Allied Communication in 2002 and threatened him with dire consequences if the amount was not paid. The owner of the firm was asked to get in touch with Salem on satellite phone (no 00871761888132). On July 20, 2002 the victim again got a call from one Bhai Thakur asking him why he had not called Salem. He was again threatened with dire consequences and told to contact the don on his cell phone (nos 00971507741932 and 00971505307204). The extortion amount was also increased to Rs 2 crore. On September 26, 2002, Sadik Ali and Chandra Praksh Rai were arrested near the private firm’s office, as the two had allegedly come to kill the owner. Later, two others Ishtiaq and Papu Yadav were also arrested from Uttar Pradesh in connection with the case. Salem is also wanted in many other such cases in the national Capital. The Police Commissioner had earlier stated that the city police would seek his custody.
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Two cops shot at in Noida
Noida, March 13 Constable Vijay Tiwari, carrying out routine vehicle checking last night, was shot at in Noida’s Sector 39 by two motorcyclists who then fled, Senior Superintendent of Police J N Singh said today. On being informed by Tiwari’s beat partner constable Prakash Pandey about the shooting, Special Operations Group Sub-Inspector Rajvardhan Gaud was sent to the area, he said. Gaud was waylaid by four assailants near Silver City on Noida-Ghaziabad border and shot in the head, he said.
Police reinforcements were rushed to the area and four persons arrested and three hand-made firearms seized from them. A Pulsar motorcycle bearing a fake number plate was found abandoned in the area, the SSP said.
City SP R C Yadav said both Tiwari and Gaud were rushed to hospital and stated to be in critical condition. Gaud was likely to be referred to Delhi for specialised treatment. The four suspects were being interrogated and police were investigating whether the two incidents could be linked.
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DMS incurred loss of Rs 1,395.84 lakh in 2005-06
New Delhi, March 13 The loss incurred by the DMS in 2002-03 was Rs 1,111.12 lakh, which more than doubled to Rs 2,816.24 lakh in 2003-04. On the reasons behind the losses, Mr Bhuria said that DMS had been running into losses on account of continuous increase in the cost of raw materials and other inputs, lower capacity utilisation and higher operational losses due to old and labour-intensive technology. The Minister said DMS has taken steps to boost its operations and reduce losses, that include outsourcing of transportation and engagement of distributors to further increase sale of milk, reduction in consumption of electricity and water per unit of milk produced, custom packing of Mother Dairy milk to utilise the surplus capacity, modernisation of plant and reduction in staff strength by not filling up vacant posts.
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Three charred as cylinders catch fire
Ghaziabad, March 13 According to police, the incident took place on Saturday night when the three youths were asleep. The victims have been identified as Madan, Rakesh and Sanjay. They are said to be labourers. The police said a spark from a mosquito repellent gadget had caused the fire.—OC
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