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MCD drive: BJP to begin ‘Jail Bharo’ today
Cong MLAs join chorus against sealing drive
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Khurana to launch drive on April 8
Campaign against female foeticide launched
Teachers oppose changes in transfer policy
NGO says school has removed freeship quota students
Offices without fire safety measures to be sealed
Three new Metro routes in Phase-II mooted
HC concerned over dumping of liquor into Yamuna
Scorching weather ahead for a few days
Residents agitated over construction of boundary wall
NDPL fined Rs 2.5 lakh for faulty service
Haryana Housing Board employee murdered
Five killed in road accidents
Constable crushed to death
HC notice to govt on DVB privatisation process
DCE ties up with firm for information storage course
Plane makes emergency landing
Technical upgradation of railway tracks in the offing
Traffic plan for next 25 years
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MCD drive: BJP to begin ‘Jail Bharo’ today
New Delhi, April 5 In a joint press conference of Prof. Vijay Kumar Malhotra, in-charge of Delhi state and Deputy Leader of Opposition in Parliament, Dr Harsh Vardhan, president of Delhi unit of the BJP, Prof. Jagdish Mukhi, and Mr Subhash Arya Leaders of Opposition in Delhi Assembly and in MCD respectively, said that the city government and the Central Government had assumed an inhuman attitude towards Delhiites. Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha, Mr L. K. Advani, in a written letter to the Prime Minister, has demanded the government’s intervention immediately to give relief to the people affected from the sealing of shops. He also appealed to the Prime Minister to convene a meeting of representatives of all the parties concerned in this connection. To pressurize the government to stop sealing of shops, the BJP leaders appealed to the people and traders to come on streets all over Delhi to join its 16 days’ movement beginning from tomorrow. Prof. Vijay Kumar Malhotra said that by demanding an ordinance from the Central government, the five Congress MPs from Delhi were fooling the citizens of Delhi. “If they cannot pressurise the government to bring the ordinance to stop sealing, they should resign and keep their mouths shut,” he said. He said that the MCD and the Delhi Government passed resolutions against the sealing and demolition but they had been rejected by the Union Urban Development Minister, Mr Jaipal Reddy. He also demanded that the Chief Minister should resign, as she was unable to protect traders and other citizens of Delhi. Mr Malhotra said all the Congress leaders are just shedding crocodile tears over the demolition drive. If they are serious about solving the problems of the traders, they should bring out an amnesty scheme which is the only solution to provide relief to the citizens. Dr Harsh Vardhan said that it was a planned conspiracy of the Congress government to uproot the trade from Delhi. The drive is going to help the multinational companies which have their showrooms in malls. He demanded an amnesty scheme and implementation of the amended Master Plan and the Malhotra Committee report. Prof. Jagdish Mukhi that the government had no intention to stop the sealing. Had it been serious on the problem, it would have implemented the Master Plan of 2021 which was ready. They can implement it even tomorrow, he said. Mr Subhash Arya said the MCD had allowed the mixed land use on 181 roads, notified in its resolution passed in the House meeting. But when the resolution was submitted to the Lt-Governor, only 41 roads were mentioned, Mr Arya said.
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Cong MLAs join chorus against sealing drive
New Delhi, April 5 In the event of the government not coming up with an ordinance or Bill in the next two three days, the MLAs said they would announce their further course of action. Addressing a press conference here, Outer Delhi MLA Mr Mukesh Sharma said the demolition operation and sealing of shops in residential areas had affected mainly the poor and middle class sections of society which constituted nearly 90 per cent of the population of Delhi while benefiting only the 10 per cent subscribing to the ‘mall culture’. “People who shop in malls just constitute ten per cent of the population of Delhi while the rest of the people depend on neighbourhood shops for meeting their day-to-day needs. You can’t destroy Delhi just to satisfy just ten per cent of the population,” Mr Sharma said at the press meet where eight of the nine MLAs from Outer Delhi – Mr Mukesh Sharma, Mr Jai Kishan, Mr Surender Kumar, Mr Malaram Gangwal, Mr Anil Bhardwaj, Dr Bijender Singh, Mr Vijay Singh Lochav, and Mr Balram Tanwar — were present. The MLAs alleged that if the shops were sealed, not only the prices of essential goods would sky-rocket, but people would be forced to leave Delhi, unable to bear the high cost of living. They said if the neighbourhood shops were sealed, the Rs 7,000 crore generated from VAT in the last financial year would dry up, leading to the total collapse of the economy of the city. The MLAs said the sealing operation had not only affected traders but also rendered lakhs of people unemployed. “Where are the jobs to provide employment to these people? As it is, the number of government jobs have declined over the years. Blaming the previous BJP for the present plight of people of Delhi, the Congress MLAs said the BJP leaders had begun the ‘bulldozer raj’ during the rule of the BJP-led-NDA government at the Centre. They alleged that in the case of unauthorised colonies, the regularisation process was stopped due to a PIL filed by the late H D Shourie. They said the NDA government was also responsible for not framing a new Master Plan after the expiry of the 2001 Master Plan. Stating that according to the 2001 Master Plan, four per cent land should have been developed to conduct commercial activity between 1981 to 2001, they said the neighbourhood shops mushroomed because the administration had failed to create shopping facilities for the people in tune with the rising population and growing demand. The MLAs said all those roads in Delhi on which 50 per cent commercial activity took place, which has been accepted by the MCD, should be declared as commercial roads as done in the case of industrial areas. They also demanded that the government ensure in the future that proper shopping complexes were developed in all the residential areas. “If provision for shops is not made, shops will continue to emerge in residential areas,” they said.
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Khurana to launch drive on April 8
New Delhi, April 5 Ms Uma Bharti, former Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh, will join him in two days to make the movement successful, he said at a press conference today. Before beginning the ‘Yatra’, he along with Ms Uma Bharti, will go to Ayodhya to invoke the blessings of Lord Rama, ostensibly to make the national Capital safe from the hands of the Congress which is in majority in the MCD, the Delhi Government as well as in the Central Government. He will go to Ayodhya on April 7. Mr Khurana said the five Delhi Congress MPs and those of the BJP should force the authorities concerned to come forward and save Delhiites. “The Chief Minister of Delhi, Ms Sheila Dikshit, is just a spectator. The Congress is at the helm of affairs at the Centre. She should pressurise the Prime Minister and other senior leaders to bring the ordinance and provide relief to the citizens of the Capital,” Mr Khurana said. “When I was the Chief Minister in 1994-95, I had announced that I would resign if the Centre enacted the Delhi Rent Bill. Similarly, Ms Dikshit should also pledge that she would resign if she failed to stop the demolition and sealing drive in the Capital,” he said. He said he had forced the Centre not to enact the Delhi Rent Bill even after it was given the President’s assent in 1995. He welcomed the demand by five Congress MPs of Delhi for the ordinance and the BJP’s belated agitation against the demolition drive, saying he had been making this demand for the past three months. Mr Khurana regretted that the previous NDA government had failed to implement the recommendations of the Malhotra Committee with regard to unauthorised constructions and reallocation of industries. “Had these been implemented, the present situation would not have arisen. The NDA’s inaction was more painful as the Urban Development ministers during the Vajpayee regime belonged to the BJP,” he added.
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Campaign against female foeticide launched
Faridabad, April 5 Claiming this, the convener of the body, Mr Pawan Bansal, said the spurt in the incidents of female foeticide and infanticide and the poor implementation of the
programmes regarding the need of proper awareness among the masses over the issue had generated the idea for starting Kanyakawach in Haryana, which had been in the grip of this problem over the past few years. He said while there had been a definite rise in the number of cases of illegal detection of sex of the unborn child and foeticide the government machinery had not been able to implement effectively the schemes and project aimed at checking this unholy and unjustified trend, especially in the rural areas, where there had been a shortage of girls for marriageable boys. As a result, many of the families had to take the help of traffickers, who bring girls from other states and sell them here as brides. He said reports suggest that there has been no serious effort to implement the PNDT Act, which bans sex detection tests by the doctors and clinics and has the provision to punish both the doctors and the parents who go for such a test deliberately, thus creating the need to launch multifaceted programmes involving social activists and various sections of society to educate and inform people about the disadvantages of the ongoing trend and the fallouts which could lead to a serious imbalance in society. Though about 24 cases had been registered in the state in the past about five years, there had been only a single conviction in the state so far. A doctor and his assistant were convicted by the court at Palwal recently and sentenced to two years’ imprisonment with a fine of Rs 5,000 each. This case had been booked in September 2001 after a raid was conducted by a team comprising the then CMO, Dr B. S. Dahiya, and the Assistant State Drug Controller, Mr G. L. Singhal. This team had carried out several raids and registered as many as four cases in Faridabad district but after their transfer, the campaign petered out. No case has been registered in the past four years, despite the rise in number of illegal sex detection tests and report of female foeticide in the region.
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Teachers oppose changes in transfer policy
Faridabad, April 5 A spokesperson of the Haryana School Lecturers Association said here today that the decision to shift teachers who had completed a tenure of two years or more under the longer duration policy was immature and unwanted. He said transferring teachers in just two years would not only create chaos but also affect the overall teaching of any government school as the teachers would remain busy in shifting and adjusting to their new place. There would be many who would be trying to get a posting of their own choice due to political and other kind of intervention. He claimed that this would further bring down the performance of the schools, which were already facing flak due to poor results in many schools. According to the association, the government ought to retain the policy of at least five years’ posting for any teacher in the larger interests of the staff and the students and there was no need to change it now. This issue had been discussed earlier with senior officials of the education department. The government had agreed to it, it claimed. The association has also asked the government to provide the option of choosing the place of posting for the teachers in the physically handicapped and blind category as the new policy fails to define clearly the benefit for them. It is added that the government should also provide one station in cases where both spouses are teachers and ignore the new provisions, which were quite contradictory, stating that the couple would be kept in nearby areas. While the new academic session was to begin and new admissions were being done, the transfer of teachers on such a large scale under the new policy would lead to the teaching system being derailed, creating problems for everyone, it said. Meanwhile, it is learnt that the government has engaged teachers, especially the JBT and language ones, to carry out the work of revising the voters’ list in their respective areas.
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NGO says school has removed freeship quota students
New Delhi, April 5 In a written complaint to the Chief Minister’s office, the RETF has alleged that Laxman Public School, Hauz Khas, in the academic year 2004-05 admitted as many as 80 students under the freeship quota in Nursery/KG and class one, but has now chosen to show them the door. Urging the Chief Minister to take action against the school, the RETF says almost all the children who were promoted to the next class, in this academic session, have been suddenly asked to leave. “The school, all of a sudden, removed all these children for this academic year 2006-07 with effect from April 1, 2006 by forcibly handing over Transfer Certificate to their parents,” RETF alleges. The school’s Principal, Ms Usha Ram, however, categorically denied the allegations and told The Tribune, “This is all absurd. We have not removed anyone from the rolls.” She went on to say, “For the last 10 years, we have been running a parallel school for the disadvantaged students and from the last session, we have been integrating 10 students each year from this parallel school with the mainstream.” Ms Ram said the parents of those students who are currently in the parallel school, which functions in the same building between 2.30 and 4.30 pm, wanted the school to absorb all of them. “I cannot absorb 60 students, I have absorbed 10 this year as last year and clearly told the parents that if their wards are getting admission elsewhere they can send them to that school. But we can only do so much,” she said. LPS has been allotted land by the DDA on concessional rates on condition that it shall provide admission to the children belonging to the weaker section to the extent of 25 per cent and also grant them freeship. The Delhi High Court in its order on January 20, 2004, directed the Government of Delhi and the land-owning agencies to take action against the schools who are violating the terms of land allotment in this regard.
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Offices without fire safety measures to be sealed
Noida, April 5 Fire Officer R. P Gupta said buildings in D-3 and D-4 in Sector-10 did not follow the necessary fire safety norms and did not have an NOC issued by the department. The buildings could be sealed after the inspection of offices, Mr Gupta said. He has already sent a report in this connection to the SSP. The Noida Authority has also started a drive to inspect commercial buildings, which did not have necessary fire safety measures.
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Three new Metro routes in Phase-II mooted
New Delhi, April 5 The three links, to be included in Phase-II with a total length of 31 km, were proposed by the DMRC at a meeting with Chief Minister Ms Sheila Dikshit. The meeting was convened to discuss extension of the rail network to different parts of the city. The Adarsh Nagar to Rajouri Garden stretch will be around 10 km, Central Secretariat to Badarpur about 18 km and Jhangirpuri Extension till Badli, 2.5 km. The DMRC urged the Chief Minister to give an approval in principle to the proposed routes so that preliminary work could begin. The Delhi Metro, after receiving the green light from the Delhi Government, will carry out a survey and prepare DPRs on the proposed routes. The entire exercise is expected to cost around Rs 3 crore. Two kilometres on the route from Adarsh Nagar to Rajouri Garden and 5.2 km on the Badarpur-Patel Chowk stretch would be underground. At the meeting, Outer Delhi MP Mr Sajjan Kumar suggested that the Metro connection could be provided between Dwarka and Najafgarh and the link up to Jahangirpuri could be extended to Sanjay Gandhi Transport Nagar in Phase II of the Metro construction. DMRC chief E Sreedharan said the extensions asked for by Mr Kumar would be considered but it would only be possible during Phase III. Referring to the proposed Metro link up to Andheria More in South Delhi, Mr Sreedharan said an alternative route via Malviya Nagar and Saket had been suggested due to objections raised to the original proposal by the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) which was apprehending damage to the Qutub Minar, which would cost Rs 436 crore more. The entire issue would be sorted out after submission of a survey report, Mr Sreedharan told the meeting. The meeting was also attended by MLA Mr Balram Tanwar and Chief Secretary Mr S. Regunathan.
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HC concerned over dumping of liquor into Yamuna
New Delhi, April 5 A Division Bench headed by Mr Justice Vijender Jain asked the Delhi Government to file a detailed reply with an additional affidavit and posted the matter for further hearing to May 17. “If you are discharging liquor into the river, how are you going to provide water to the people,” the Bench quipped after being dissatisfied with the affidavit filed by the Delhi Government on the matter. The matter came up before the court in the form of a PIL filed by an advocate Jyotika Kalra who complained that massive quantity of illicit and expired liquor seized by the Excise Department and police was being destroyed by releasing them into the river through sewer lines. According to Kalra, she first noticed the practice last year at the Tiz Hazari court premises when some workmen were engaged in discharging huge quantity of seized liquor into the river. On enquiry, an officer with the office of the Sub Divisional Magistrate (SDM) informed her that it was the usual practice of the government to destroy seized and expired liquor. According to the practice, all such seized and expired liquors stored in the store houses of police and excise stations are destroyed by the SDM office by releasing them into the Yamuna through the sewer lines. Kalra complained to the court that though she brought the matter to the notice of the Chief Minister’s office and other government departments concerned, no action had been taken so far to end the “pernicious” practice. Following the petition, the court had issued notices to the Delhi Government, Delhi Pollution Control Board and the SDM Headquarters. In its affidavit, the Delhi Government, while admitting that it was discharging the waste liquor into the Yamuna, contended that it posed no environment hazards or threat to marine life. Quoting some experts’ suggestions, the government claimed that the liquor, after being released through the sewer lines into the river, gets totally diluted with water bringing the alcoholic content to a nought. As such, it claimed, the discharged liquor posed no threat to the environment. However, the bench, on finding that the government counsel Zubeda Begum was not present in the court to clarify its queries, asked the latter to file an additional affidavit.
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Scorching weather ahead for a few days
New Delhi, April 5 With the maximum temperature too rising to 37.4, two degrees above normal, the people in Delhi were left perspiring. The extremely hot weather, that has been witnessed in the Capital for the last week, made most people confined to their homes or offices. This is the second day in succession that the Capital has witnessed a rising trend in mercury. Yesterday too, the maximum temperature in the Capital rose to 36.2 C, from 36.1 C on Monday while the minimum temperature increased to 18.2 C. The coming days are not expected to bring relief with the weathermen forecasting the maximum temperature to remain at around 37 C even while predicting a partly cloudy sky for the next 24 hours.
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Residents agitated over construction of boundary wall
Noida, April 5 The residents of Ashok Nagar have demanded an assurance by the Noida Authority that the construction of the wall will not be initiated under any circumstances, as a large number of residents from Ashok Nagar go for work to Noida and Greater Noida. The boundary wall will be a major hindrance to their movement into Noida and Greater Noida. “We will not accept anything less than a written assurance from the Noida officials,” said an agitated
resident. — OC
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NDPL fined Rs 2.5 lakh for faulty service
New Delhi, April 5 District Consumer Disputes Redressal Forum (North), comprising President K K Chopra and Members Neeru Mittal and R K Prabhakar, noted that a consumer pays hefty electricity dues to NDPL, expecting stable and regular electric supply and not unstable, fluctuating electricity. Any damage caused by fluctuation in electricity supply amounts to deficiency in service and NDPL is liable, it added. The Forum proceeded to issue strict guidelines in the installation of suitable transformers and, if necessary, stabilisers to regulate the flow of electricity as it was the “bounden duty” of the company to provide “stable electricity” to the consumers. Complainant Vipin Talwar of Rishi Apartments in Civil Lines here on November 11, 2003, was shocked to find a streak of fire shoot out of his television set and quickly spread to other parts of his house, destroying his entire belongings. Talwar and his son, who were both trapped in the fire, were rescued by the Fire Brigade and rushed to the hospital in a serious condition. The court dismissed NDPL’s contention that the complainant had to first approach its Central Complaint Cell before moving the court after evidence pointed out that the company had failed to act despite Talwar lodging a complaint. The court on perusal of evidence noted that the large-scale damage to Talwar’s house left no doubt that the fire was a result of a sudden increase in voltage.
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Haryana Housing Board employee murdered
Gurgaon, April 5 The Sohna police received a message about a body being found in Bhogpur Mandi of Nimot village. There were 11 stabs wounds on the body. The police have registered an FIR against two employees of the Haryana Housing Board, including a manager.
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Five killed in road accidents
Greater Noida, April 5 Meanwhile, a lady advocate and three others were killed and a number of others injured in Dadri in different accidents. A policeman, Santosh, was hit by an unidentified vehicle near Dadri railway crossing under Surajpur police station while he was riding his motorcycle. He was rushed to Kailash hospital. One person, a resident of Bighpur, was coming on his motor bike to Bulandshahr from Dadri when he hit a tree and was seriously injured. He later died in the hospital. In another accident on GT Road near Badalpur village, an unidentified vehicle hit a youth on motorbike and crushed him to death. In the third accident, a lady advocate travelling in a tempo heading on GT Road towards Dadri was killed when another vehicle hit the tempo from the rear.
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Constable crushed to death
New Delhi, April 5 Police said Rajesh was on the way back home at about 2.30 am. As he reached near Pankha Road in Janak Puri area, one speeding RTV crushed him to death. He was killed on the spot. A case of negligent driving has been registered in the local police station, but no arrest has been made so far, said the police sources.
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HC notice to govt on DVB privatisation process
New Delhi, April 5 A Division Bench headed by Justice Vijender Jain asked the respondents to file their replies within three weeks and posted the matter for further hearing to May 2. The petition filed by an NGO Jan Sehyog Manch alleged that the allotment of the contracts to the private agencies-BSES Rajdhani Power Limited, BSES Yamuna Power Limited and North Delhi Power Limited caused a huge loss of Rs 1,500 crore to the public exchequer as the authorities violated several rules and norms to favour the private parties. Counsels for the petitioner organisation, B B Gupta and Lalit Kumar, contended that the authorities deliberately got the assets of the DVB undervalued from Rs 3,841 crore to Rs 3,160 crore to favour the private companies causing a loss of Rs 781 crore. Similarly, the government, it was alleged, enhanced the loan subsdty from the initially agreed Rs 2,600 crore to Rs 3,450 crore. The petition alleged that though a number of statutory agencies like the Accountant General of Delhi, CAG, Public Accounts Committee of Delhi Legislative Assembly sought reports from the Government for scrutinising the privatisation process, the latter was unwilling to divulge any details and hence sought the court’s intervention.
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DCE ties up with firm for information storage course
New Delhi, April 5 An educational agreement was signed today in this regard in the presence of Chief Minister Ms Sheila Dikshit by Principal, DCE, Mr P B Sharma and Director of EMC Mr Paul T Dacier. DCE is the first nodal institute in the EMC Academy Programme in India, targeted at building a resource pool of information storage and management professionals in the country. Speaking on the occasion, Ms Dikshit described the signing of the agreement as an important step in the development of information technology in Delhi. As an EMC nodal academy, DCE will act as the regional hub for the programme in North India. DCE will support EMC in identifying and appointing other educational institutions and training the faculty of the other institutes in the region.
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Plane makes emergency landing
New Delhi, April 5 The airport officials said that the incident took place following “major engine trouble”. The officials said that the aircraft was coming from Doha to Delhi and made an emergency landing at 10.50 am. “All the passengers on board are safe,” officials added. The pilot of the Airbus A-330 aircraft informed the Air Traffic Control of the ‘engine shutdown’ and the plane was taken to a remote bay, the sources said. Full emergency was declared at the airport and all incoming and outgoing traffic was closed for about 45 minutes to enable the aircraft to land safely, they said. The passengers were offloaded from the aircraft at the remote bay immediately after the
landing. — TNS
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Technical upgradation of railway tracks in the offing
Ghaziabad, April 5 This was stated by the General Manager, Veenu Narayan Mathur, of Northern Railway in Ghaziabad, where he had come to attend a programme organised in connection with the award of 9001 certification to Railway Signals Factory here. In view of the frequent accidents in Ghaziabad Railway Station, the layout of the accident spots on rail track in the area are being examined and technical improvements will be carried out, where necessary. The causes of the accidents will also be studied and faults in techniques removed, the GM said. The work process of technical improvement of the track will be completed within the current financial year, Mr Mathur said. He said the Engineering Department is examining the layout of the accident spots. Normally, the buffer alignment of track is not correct where derailment of train compartments is often caused. According to the General Manager, Northern Railway, the efficiency in signals factory has improved after the award of 9001 certification to it and the quality of signaling equipment and parts like relay machine, lifting barriers and bolts etc., has gone up, which should give better turnover to railways. Mr Mathur said it was a matter of pride that Indian Railways system has been found up to international standards and certified as such. It will further improve the acceptability of our equipment abroad. Northern railway will take in hand the doubling of track on various sections during the current financial year, including Hapur and Amroha section. In Lucknow Division, Sultanpur-Jafarabad sections and Rohtak to Jind section in Haryana will also be doubled during the year. Chandigarh to Morena, a new track over 45 km, and metre gauge section from Delhi to Rewari will be converted into a broad gauge line. Mr Mathur said new rail line will become operational between Jammu and Katra by 2007. The Northern Railway are also laying 60 to 70 km railway line in Kashmir Valley, Mr Mathur added.
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Traffic plan for next 25 years
New Delhi, April 5 She said that the government was committed to facing the challenges arising due to hosting of Commonwealth Games 2010 in Delhi. She expressed confidence that the PWD would complete construction of all planned flyovers prior to the commencement of the games. She called upon the PWD to adopt advanced techniques for construction and maintenance of the flyovers and other important
projects. — TNS
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