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Bill to provide relief to traders: DPCC chief
Revenue staff help woman commit fraud
HSIDC plots in IMT, Manesar sold out
Govt urged to reject Knowledge Commission recommendations
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‘Visitors’ register of Shivani’s apartment not tampered with’
Traders on hunger strike to demand ordinance
Court expresses concern over violation of right to privacy
Private buses ply illegally from side lane near ITO
Court summons two bank managers
Consumer court rules against insurance company
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Bill to provide relief to traders: DPCC chief
New Delhi, April 6 He said that a majority of the traders had submitted affidavits to the civic body and given relief for three months. By the time the relief period is over, the Bill will be passed and they will be allowed to carry on trading from the residential areas, he said. Addressing a press conference, Mr Ram Babu Sharma said that this was not the question of sealing of premises, but of sealing the fate of lakhs of families depending on the trade. “Trade in Delhi already had been hit badly. This would have an adverse impact on the revenue and development of the city and the dream of making Delhi a world class city will get shattered. No city or country in the world has prospered by shunting out its poor and middle class and there was more of human angle to the whole situation than any other issue,” he said. He has urged the government to appeal to the court for providing relief to the citizens because this exercise will leave lakhs of citizens without any source of livelihood. He also appealed to the All India Congress President, Ms Sonia Gandhi, and the Prime Minister, Dr Manmohan Singh to intervene in the matter to put an end to this ‘largest ever displacement since independence’. He said that after approaching the Supreme Court, the government should plead that it was putting in place an action plan to ‘set things right’ during six months period. Emphasizing the citizens’ interest, Mr Sharma said that steps should be taken to finalise the Master Plan 2021 on war footing. “Till the time the Master Plan is finalised and notified and the high powered Tejinder Khanna Committee submits its report, the present process of sealing should be stopped immediately by approaching the court”, he said. He said that if no relief was forthcoming, the UPA government should take steps to bring in a legislation during the reconvened session of Parliament by amending the Act and also Master Plan of Delhi to save the people from being displaced. He also said that for regularisation of unauthorised colonies and extending Lal Dora in village as promised by the Congress, it should be kept in mind that no conditions should be laid down regarding the width of the road or lane and special zone for colonies and villages should be created at the same time. “The present chaos arose due to the failure of the authorities to implement the Master Plan of 2001cohesively. The DDA acquired land but did not pay compensation to the people. There is provision of 80 feet roads in the Master Plan but no such road exists in Delhi,” he said.
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Revenue staff help woman commit fraud
Greater Noida, April 6 District Magistrate Santosh Kumar Yadav is understood to have written to the DM, Banda, to suspend the then amin (court clerk) posted now at the Banda Collectorate. It is learnt two bighas of land was registered in the name of Ms Devika Chakravarti of Delhi’s Sangam Vihar in Sultanpur village in Noida which was acquired by the Noida Authority in 2004. But some revenue department employees and a bank manager had hatched a conspiracy. The compensation of Rs 17.34 lakh was paid to some other woman who masqueraded as the claimant, Devika Chakravarti. The fraud came to light when the genuine Devika Chakravarti came to claim her land compensation before the ADM. Hari Om Sharma of Ladpura, Chander Prakash, the then amin, Rakesh Kumar, had in a conspiracy, helped the fake claimant to take the compensation amount fraudulently. Revenue official Jagdish and the manager of Lord Krishna Bank, Faridabad, were also involved. During the inquiry, it became clear that Ms Rajvatti was actually the sister of Hari Om Sharma’s father who had along with Chander Prakash gone to take the compensation amount from the Collectorate. Amin Rakesh Kumar had identified Rajwatti as Devika Chakravarti. The manager of Lord Krishan Bank had opened a bank account for Rajvatti in the name of Devika Chakravarti without any verification and introduction. The accountant of Surajpur Collectorate, Kamal Singh, has filed a case of criminal conspiracy and cheating against amin Rakesh Kumar, lekhpal Jagdish, Rajvatti, Chander Prakash Sharma and Hari Om Sharma with the Surajpur police who are conducting raids to arrest all accused.
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HSIDC plots in IMT, Manesar sold out
Gurgaon, April 6 The Gurgaon Deputy Commissioner, Mr R. P. Bhardwaj, informed that a technology park on 140 acres of land was being developed in Industrial Model Township (IMT), Manesar, around 20 km away from the city on National Highway 8. Twelve plots of 10 acres each had been allotted to leading companies which would be allowed to construct not only institutional buildings but also commercial, residential and recreational facilities on the same campus, informed the officer. Mr Bhardwaj further informed that there would be an investment of more than Rs 3,600 crore in the technology park and 50,000 persons would get employment directly or indirectly in these companies. The 12 companies which have been allotted the plots are Agilent Technologies, Giallilio, T-3 Infra Track, HCL, Sofer, Prime Rose Bharti, Vigneshwara, Anantraj, AM Buildwell, Rishi Raj Realtors, Shapoorji Palanji and Arora Udyog. The Deputy General Manager (DGM), IMT, Haryana State Industrial Development Corporation Limited (HSIDC), Mr Rajesh Sharma, explained that the companies related to informational technology, biotechnology, robotic technology and neo technology
had been allotted land costing Rs 17 crore each in the technology park, Sector 8, IMT. Mr Sharma said that out of the 10 acre plot, the company was allowed to construct 10 per cent for housing flats, four per cent for commercial use, two per cent for recreational use and 84 per cent for technology centre. Around 100 flats could be constructed on each campus, estimated the officer. The HSIDC would develop public facilities on 20 acre land in the technology park. This would be the first such IT park in northern India, claimed Mr Sharma. The officer further added that the IMT, the biggest and most modern industrial estate in Haryana, presently occupied 3,177 acres of land. Around 1,000 acres more was being acquired for further expansion of the IMT. Maruti Udyog Limited was developing its second plant on 600 acres of land for the expansion of its existing project and a new diesel engine unit at IMT. At present, the IMT has four phases; 1,750 acres in phase 1,177 acre in phase 2,600 acres in phase 3 and 650 acres in phase 4. The HSIDC has earmarked 250 acres of land for the residential plots. Mr Rajesh Sharma further informed that all industrial and residential plots had been sold out by the HSIDC.
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Govt urged to reject Knowledge Commission recommendations
New Delhi, April 6 In a statement releases here, the AAD said, “it is learnt that the Knowledge Commission has virtually recommended a hand over of the higher education system, specifically the university system to the private sector. To allow free play to the private sector for commercial exploitation of the university system, the Knowledge Commission has recommended the retrograde dual salary structure for the same level posts and contractual appointments of teachers.” The AAD has claimed that the report of the Knowledge Commission is more “devastating than the UGC’s proposed controversial ‘Model Act, which was opposed by socially active groups and the university community”. The ‘Model Act’ was rejected by the Union HRD Ministry after the Congress-led UPA government came to power. The AAD further said, “as a matter of fact, the report of the Knowledge Commission seems to be a replica of Ambani-Birla Report (on education), which was prepared by Mr Mukesh Ambani and Kumarmangalam Birla in their capacity as Members of the Advisory Council of the then Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee”. The Ambani-Birla report, which drew wide resistance, had suggested handing over of higher education system to the private sector, that should not be forced to provide pittance to disciplines of Arts and Social Sciences. Pointing out that commercialisation of education by private institutions has already assumed alarming shape, chairman of the AAD, Dr S. S. Rathi, has demanded that the report of the Knowledge Commission pertaining to higher education should be circulated and thrown open for public debate. “If implemented in the present form, the recommendations of the Knowledge Commission may play havoc with higher education. These recommendations, which run counter to the election manifesto of the Congress party, also negate the Common Minimum Programme of the UPA government,” Dr Rathi said.
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‘Visitors’ register of Shivani’s apartment not tampered with’
New Delhi, April 6 Deposing as 194th witness, Inspector Sukhwinder Singh, who was earlier entrusted with the investigation of the case, stated that only one entry register of the Nav Kunj apartment, containing the names of visitors, was sent to the handwriting expert and the same was not fabricated. During his cross-examination before a Fast Track Court presided by Additional Sessions Judge Rajendra Kumar, Singh denied the defence allegations that he deliberately chose not to interrogate one Rajiv Bhatnagar, who allegedly had visited the victim on the day of incident. The defense alleged that the police did not question Rajiv, as it did not suit the prosecution. But, as per the prosecution, it was Pradeep, one of the accused in the case, who used Rajiv’s name to mask his entry into scribe’s apartment for killing her. Singh informed the ASJ that an one feet-long electric wire, allegedly used to strangulate Shivani was recovered from the place of offence was matched up with 19 similar samples collected from different shops of Mandawali area in east Delhi. According to defense counsel D.B. Goswami, “On the day of the incident in January 1999, three persons entered the house of Shivani Bhatnagar, as the entry register suggests. The three entries were in name of Rajiv Bhatnagar, Vasluddin and Abhijit Kumar. But the prosecution failed to take the handwriting specimen from the register.” Secondly, Rajiv Bhatnagar gave the address of Chandigarh but the police did not verify his address till the arrest of the accused Pradeep Sharma in August 2002. After his arrest the police took the statement of six persons namely Aloke Prasad Yadav, Dilip Kumar, Indu Sharma, Gurmeet Singh, Raj Kumar Chopra and Anil Tada, said Goswami. The police have so far arrested six accused in the case namely— Pradeep Sharma, Satya Prakash, Ved Prakash Sharma, Ved alias Kalu, Sri Bhagwan and suspended Haryana cadre IPS R K Sharma. It may be recalled that Shivani was found murdered at her east Delhi apartment on January 23, 1999.
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BJP’s ‘Jail Bharo Movement’ begins, leaders court arrest
New Delhi, April 6 All the arrested BJP activists have been sent to judicial custody. While going to jail, Dr Harshvardhan said that the movement would continue till the ‘oppression’ of traders was not stopped. He called upon the people of Delhi to come out openly in the streets and dislodge the ‘cruel, inhuman, anti-trade and anti-people’ government in Delhi. “When the government can make ‘black’ money ‘white’ by giving exemption under an amnesty scheme three times to the people, then why can’t a similar scheme be used to protect the interest of lakhs of traders who have been running their trade for many years. This is a planned conspiracy of the Central and Delhi governments to close shops in residential areas and on prominent roads,” he said. “It seems that the Congress party has hatched this conspiracy with the world bank and International Monetary Fund (IMF) so that the trade in Delhi may be ruined and the people are compelled to purchase goods from malls which were coming up in various areas of Delhi,” he said. The government made tight security arrangement in Bhajanpura from where the BJP started its movement. The activists started gathering at the crossing of Bhajanpura from early morning. Seeing the tense situation, the authorities deployed Rapid Action Force beside a large number of policemen. The police took Dr Harshvatrdhan in custody when he tried to address the audience. The other activists also offered their arrest. Tomorrow, the party’s activists will gather at Palam Colony to court arrest.
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Traders on hunger strike to demand ordinance
New Delhi, April 6 “The sealing of shops in residential areas of the city has disturbed the peaceful and well-settled life of lakhs of traders and their employees and their families and put at stake their sources of livelihood,” a Confederation of All India Traders (CAIT) release said today. CAIT said at a press conference that certain relevant provisions of law and facts were neither placed before the court nor were considered. According to CAIT, these include a circular dated March 2, 1968 issued by the Co-ordination Cell of MCD vide which ten categories of users were exempted, guidelines issued in 1990 providing for ad-hoc registration of commercial registration of commercial units in non-conforming areas and Civic Guide of MCD published in 1995-96. Meanwhile, the MCD received 5030 affidavits from traders today. The break up is as follows: City Zone 35, Civil Lines 474, Central 250, Karol Bagh 279, Najafgarh 746, Rohini 599, Sadar Paharganj 722, Shahadra North 699, Shahadra South 380, South Delhi 125 and West Delhi 721. The MCD had yesterday announced that the offices of the Deputy Commissioners, where the affidavits are to be filed as per order of the Supreme Court, would remain open today despite it being a gazetted holiday on account of Ramnavami. The Apex court had, on Monday, extended the last date for filing of affidavits by the traders till April 7. The order for extension
of time came on a bunch of applications filed by the traders whose premises had been sealed due
to non-filing of affidavits earlier. The court directed in case the traders filed an affidavit of undertaking saying that they will stop the misuse on or before June 30, the Monitoring Committee may consider re-opening of the seal and water and electricity supply will be restored forthwith. A total of 11403 traders have filed their affidavits in the last three days.
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Court expresses concern over violation of right to privacy
New Delhi, April 6 “It is a matter of serious concern that the right to privacy which is a fundamental right guaranteed to an individual under Article 21 of the Constitution of India is being violated by private persons without any express or implied authority of law,” Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate (ACMM) Kamini Lau said. She made these observations in an order enlarging on bail two private detectives accused of posing as CBI officials to tail a woman, said to be a freelance journalist, who was accused by ONGC Chairman-cum-Managing Director Subir Raha of “blackmailing” her. “No private person can be allowed to keep a vigil in the nature of surveillance against any other person unless authorised by law or by procedure recognised by law. If he does, it would be a clear infraction of Article 21 (right to life and liberty) of the Constitution of India,” she said. “The material question which is agitating the mind of this court is whether any private person purportedly acting under the garb of running a private detective or information agency can be permitted to violate the fundamental right of an individual,” asked the ACMM. The court granted bail to S K Arora and Sanjeev Kumar — both employees of R N Kaul and Associates, accused of posing as CBI officials to access information about one Sujaya Naha, freelance journalist who had lodged an FIR here against Raha on charges of illegal confinement and torture in 2004. Raha had accused her of blackmailing him. The court asked the accused to furnish a personal bond of Rs 20,000 and a local surety of like amount each. The CBI case was that they had allegedly attempted to access the woman’s personal details. “The entire exercise in the present case has been initiated at the instance of one Subir Raha, Chairman-cum-Managing Director, ONGC”. The CBI alleged that on May 19 last year, posing as CBI officials, the two accused had contacted a Deputy General Manager of SAIL to get information about his tenant, Sujaya Naha, as she was “blackmailing the chairman of a company”. The probe by the detectives was allegedly initiated after a “formal conversation” between its proprietor Kaul and Raha. In that conversation, Raha had allegedly informed Kaul of a ‘false’ complaint lodged by Naha at the Connaught Place police station against him, which was pending investigation with the Delhi Crime Branch. Despite the Crime Branch probe in that case, the court noted that “parallel inquiries and investigations were being conducted by the accused therein namely Subir Raha against the complainant in that case, namely Ms Sujaya Naha of his own”. “In the present case, Subir Raha has neither been made an accused nor a witness and R N Kaul, the owner of the agency has only been cited as a witness,” it said.
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Private buses ply illegally from side lane near ITO
New Delhi, April 6 According to police sources, these buses come via the DDU Marg and use the side lane adjacent to the UGC office and thereafter enter Bahadurshah Zafar Marg. Thereafter, they pick up passengers from ITO and move onto their separate routes in North-East district. These buses are parked here in the evening from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. “These heavy vehicles have broken the sewage cover over the drain on the side lane, as they are parked there for passengers. These buses even block the movement of people and traffic to the CAG and the UGC offices,” said an official from the CAG office. Two years back, the then Comptroller and Auditor General of India had complained to the then Commissioner of Police, R.S. Gupta, about the “nuisance”. Acting promptly, the police had stopped the movement of these illegal buses. “After sometime, however, it was routine as usual, with buses plying illegally here. It continues that way now”, said another officer working in the UGC office. The shocking part is that senior police officials are unaware about these buses operating illegally from the side lane. When the DCP, Traffic, Mr H. P. S. Virk, was contacted, he said that he was totally unaware about these buses and would take necessary action against the bus operators if found guilty and plying their buses without necessary permit. “We would look into the matter and would take necessary action against persons found guilty,” Mr Virk said.
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Court summons two bank managers
Ghaziabad, April 6 In another case, the Ghaziabad Development Authority presented a cheque of Rs 12 crore in the court which the latter refused to accept. The court was hearing arguments in a case filed by advocate Jawahar Singh on behalf of farmers. Viewing the case with grimness, the court summoned managers in-charge of Vijaya Bank and Vaish Bank here on April 10 when the case will be taken up again. The GDA had tried to deposit the cheque after 4 pm in the court but by that time, the hearing had been completed. The court ordered that the cheques must be presented in the court in the presence of the GDA secretary. The court observed that now the GDA would be required to deposit 100 per cent amount. The advocates explained that the GDA had to deposit 50 per cent in the court by March 3. In keeping with the apex court’s decision in January, the GDA would have to deposit 100 per cent tax. This was because earlier the GDA had chosen not to implement the court decision.
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Consumer court rules against insurance company
New Delhi, April 6 “The insurance company by refusing this claim has put the complainant to a lot of mental agony and harassment,” observed Consumer Disputes Redressal Forum (North) comprising President K K Chopra and Members Neeru Mittal and R K Prabhakar, while directing the insurance major to pay the complainant Rs 12,800 - the price of his mobile set. The complainant, Hari Om Sachdeva, had on May 4, 2004, kept his phone on the dashboard of his car while in the process of parking the vehicle at Subziwala Chowk on Library Road here. Suddenly, an unidentified person reached out for his mobile phone, snatched it and fled.
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Illegal crop on panchayat land auctioned
Noida, April 6 According to sources, Sant Ram of Phulpur village along with his brothers had illegally sown and raised wheat crop on 10 bigha panchayat land (Khasra No.251, 298, 299 and 301). Similarly, villagers of Jarcha had sown wheat crop on 80 bigha panchayat land. Gram and arhar was also sown on this land. — OC
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Tempo rams into PCR van, six injured
New Delhi, April 6 According to the police, the driver of the tempo, who has been identified as Davender, was also
injured. — TNS
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