New Delhi, July 13
There was a reduction of 130 MW in the electricity supply to Delhi due to faults in the Salal hydel project and Rihand power plant today, but residents were spared loadshedding with the peak demand of 3300 MW fully met.

It was reported in a meeting chaired by Delhi Chief Secretary to review the power situation that Delhi has not been getting its share of 60 MW from the silt-affected Salal hydel power plant, an official spokesman said.

Apart from this, supply of 70 MW from the 500 MW Rihand power plant has also been suspended because of boiler tube leakage.

However, Delhi was able to fully meet its 3200-3300 MW peak power demand and there was no report of any loadshedding, the spokesman said.

Power generation at Salal plant was expected to be resumed by tonight while that at Rihand was likely to be resumed by tomorrow.

The meeting was attended by Direction (Operation) Transco and senior officers of NDMC, Discoms and Power Department.

Meanwhile, Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Raman Singh has said that Delhi Government will sign a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the state government for setting up a power plant of a capacity of 2,000 MW next month. The plant will be completed by 2010.

He said this plant would be a joint venture of both the states. The Delhi Government will be given 1400 MW of the total production of the plant to meet its requirement for the 2010 Commonwealth Games.

Further details on the issue would be made public after the signing of MoU.

New Delhi, July 13
The MCD again came under fire from the Supreme Court for not being able to complete the construction of modern abattoir at Ghazipur in East Delhi within the deadline of June 30 fixed by the apex court.

A bench comprising Justices Ashok Bhan, S B Sinha and A K Mathur this time also took the contractor to task for not being able to install the machinery in time despite monitoring by the apex court.

The court adjourned the hearing till August 8.

Cost of the project has already gone up from Rs 65 crore to Rs 185 crore. The apex court has told the MCD that the civic body was responsible for the huge loss.

The modernised abattoir is to replace an outdated slaughter house at Idgah which is polluting the environment in the congested area of the walled city.

The court today told the counsel for the contractor who had already received Rs 85 crore from the MCD, that the court was not interested in explanations for delay in the completion of the project.

Even the warning issued by the apex court that the project may be handed over to some other agency if MCD failed to deliver, has not worked.

There has been demand by opposition party in the MCD for a CBI inquiry into the alleged scandal.

Counsel for the MCD is often not properly briefed by MCD officials about the progress of the project and the fact has been pointed out by the court earlier also.

New Delhi, July 13
With the beginning of the new academic session from July 17, University of Delhi will have more security deployment and increased patrolling to ward off untoward incidents related to ragging.

The university officials along with Delhi Police have spruced up the security arrangements in and around the campus and individual colleges.

“We have had a meeting with the Delhi Police officials on July 11, and discussed the necessary security arrangements to ensure that there is no ragging. This year there will be more mobile patrols and personnel in plain clothes,” said the Proctor, Dr Gurmeet Singh.

He added, “Like in the previous years, we have already sent instructions to the Heads of Departments. Colleges have been advised to put up close circuit TVs to maintain a watch on the students and the activities in colleges.”

Dr Singh said most colleges have already installed CCTVs. “We have also asked the colleges to install suggestion boxes on their premises, so that if any student wishes to bring something to the notice of the college authorities or wants to complain, he or she can do so without fear.”

The Proctor also mentioned that the police personnel have announced that there will be more patrolling in the areas around the university where students stay in private hostels.

“They (police) have told us that there will be more patrolling in the areas where students live in hostels, run privately,” the Proctor said.

It was also mentioned that the police personnel in plain clothes will be deployed in buses and outside colleges, especially in vulnerable areas like women’s hostels and colleges.

Following the Supreme Court’s directive against ragging in all colleges and institutions, colleges affiliated to the university form mobile squads and disciplinary committees to check ragging and take action on any complaint received. Senior students along with the faculty members and even the non-teaching staff form anti-ragging squads in some colleges to ensure that newcomers are not harassed in the name of ragging.

New Delhi, July 13
Delhi Urban Development and PWD Minister A.K. Walia has asked the PWD to construct a Foot Over Bridge (FOB) at Dhaula Kuan for the convenience of pedestrians.

Dr Walia today visited this site to assess the difficulties being faced by the pedestrians while crossing the road. The pedestrians were crossing the road in groups by jumping over the road-dividers and through a narrow opening in the railings of the road-dividers.

Later, the minister visited Vasant Kunj and asked the PWD to widen the main road there.

Three and a half kilometers road connecting Nelson Mandela Road with JLN University Road was found to be in a bad shape. The DDA has been asked to carry out necessary repairs.

Faridabad, July 13
The state government seems to be confused over the issue of upgradation and modernisation of its publicity machinery. This has been sending signals of concern among employees of the Public Relations Department over what lies in store for them.

There are reports of a professional PR agency being hired for an image makeover besides establishing a brand image of the state and empanelling private parties for publicity campaigns.

The move indicates growing privatisation of this department too.

Though there has been no marked protest or opposition as there is no union or association of any kind in this department, employees of this department have started discussing the issue and scoffing at the move of senior officials of the government.

Some of them, who do not want to be quoted, claim this is a part of the ongoing privatisation policy of the Haryana Government which wants to shed the burden of the staff.

Senior officials ostensibly want more authority in hiring private persons or giving the marching orders to others.

According to sources, the government has hired a known private PR agency based at Delhi at a monthly payment of about Rs 4.5 lakh.

Though the company has started its work from July 1, the officials of the Public Relations Department are unaware of the task and work assigned to the company.

It is reported that the idea of hiring private professionals for publicity of the government and its work was first mooted by the previous government of the INLD. Officials and sources in the government reveal that the move is based on the fact that the PR Department is ill-equipped and ill-trained to do this kind
of job.

A majority of district public relations officers (DPROs) are unable to even bring out a press release in good or acceptable English. They add there was no alternative but to seek the help of the private sector.

However, some experts feel that PR professionals sitting in high-rise buildings of big cities may not be able to do the work adequately as they hardly had any knowledge about the people of state, especially those in rural areas.

New Delhi, July 13
The BSES claims to have unearthed a rare case of power theft by a factory owner Yudhishtar Kumar, proprietor of a flourishing plastic factory in the industrial hub of Peeragarhi in West Delhi.

Yudhishtar Kumar has been arrested and sent in a 14-day judicial custody in Tihar Jail for wilfully using a stolen meter in his industrial unit. The meter was allegedly stolen from an MCD-maintained public park in Subhash Nagar near Rajouri Garden.

The issue came to light when a BSES meter reader noticed that the meter number and reading were at variance with his record.

Armed with this evidence, a police team accompanied by BSES officials raided the plastic factory and found the stolen meter.

The factory owner was arrested on the spot and subsequently produced before the Metropolitan Magistrate in Rohini.

After being remanded in police custody for two days, he has been sent in 14 days’ judicial custody.

Noida, July 13
In a significant development, the Noida Authority has withdrawn 200 hundred acres of land allotted to the Union Ministry of Forest and Environment for developing a botanical garden here.

The Noida Authority issued a notification on Tuesday to this effect.

The Additional CEO, Noida Authority, Mr Ravindran Nayak, elaborating on the reasons for the withdrawal of land, said the land was allotted for botanical gardens on the condition that the gardens would be fully developed within five years of allotment. He said that a few saplings and plants were all that had been planted here during the five years on the 200 acres of land allotted in 1997 free of cost. This had left the Noida Authority with no choice but to revoke the allotment, Mr Nayak said.

According to observers, one possible cause of the Noida Authority changing its mind on botanical gardens was the extension of the Metro rail link to Noida for which some land was required.

Another possible reason being cited by observers was that the price of the land in here had touched the sky. Apart from the Metro line, the remaining land could be palmed off by for hundreds of crores. Of late, the policy of the state government has been to sell each sq mt of land at optimum rates so that highest revenue can be obtained, feel observers.

Mr Nayak, however, emphasised the land would be developed as a green belt. 

New Delhi, July 13
Union Finance Minister Mr P. Chidambaram released a book, ‘Indian Revenue Service: What Lies Beneath’, written by Chief Commissioner of Income Tax (Rtd) Mr S.K. Goyal, on Wednesday.

The book, which gives an insider’s view on the Indian Revenue Service (IRS) and Income Tax Department, is a first of its kind written by an IRS officer after serving the department for 35 years.

Based on his long experience and actual happenings, the writer has touched upon all kind of issues of interest to aspiring and serving IRS officers, the tax payers and tax professionals.

The book begins with a chapter on the Indian Revenue Service itself: its history, perception in public, perks and facilities, service traditions, relations among colleagues, attitude of seniors/ juniors, career management etc.

The second chapter is an overview of Tax Administration, taking up issues like transfer policy, tax evasion, investigation, surveys & searches, computerization, tax friendly measures, records management, accountability, vigilance, professionalism, assessment & recovery of taxes, litigation, infrastructure etc.

It goes on to talk about the role of the CBDT, its powers, functions, working, attitude of Chairman and Members etc.

Other chapters deal with promotions and postings, corruption and vigilance, service associations.

The book also provides legal and other information useful for tax payees and tax professionals like tax evasion, investigation, role of CAs, searches and surveys, functioning of CIB, confessional statements, code of conduct, fear psychosis among taxpayers etc.

One of the significant recommendations in the book is the need for serious introspection about the role of the IRS in today’s environment to maintain its working as a professional and premier service of the country.

The writer bemoans the reluctance of the govt to allow IRS officers to investigate financial scams involving politicians and civil servants, pointing out that the IT dept needs to be given more freedom in its functioning to be able to take on the growing menace of parallel economy.

Mr S.K. Goyal joined the IRS in 1965 and went on to serve in various positions in several states of the country before achieving superannuation as Chief Commissioner, Kanpur in 2001. He is presently a tax consultant and Advocate, Delhi High Court.

The book has been published by Delhi-based Konark Publishers.

Gurgaon, July 13
In continuation of its anti-encroachment drive in the city, the Municipal Council today wielded the long handle on New Railway Road.

Accompanied by at least 20 police personnel in uniform, the Municipal Council’s squad swooped on a number of shops which had made encroachments as well as the vendors who had set up shop in the area in the forenoon session.

The 2-km stretch starting from Dak Khana Chowk to Jai Cinema was under the municipality’s focus.

The anti-encroachment squad targeted about 40 shops which had set up permanent structures in the prohibited zone. However, the municipality authorities have come in for criticism for not being uniform in their drive. The squad allegedly left out a good number of shops which had blatantly encroached on the road. New Railway Road is one of the busiest centres in Old Gurgaon city. Either side of the road is dotted with shops. So pathetic is the scene of encroachments that it has become a nightmare for both the pedestrians as well those driving on it. The situation on Old Railway Road which runs parallel to New Railway Road is worse.

However, the authorities of the municipality say that the anti-encroachment drive on the road is not over. Those who do not fall in line will have to face the music shortly.

The municipality’s drive, however, does not enthuse the common man here as it evokes a sense of deja vu. The general opinion is that each time the encroachment drive has had a tame end.

A few days after such a drive, the encroachments are back in place. 

Ghaziabad, July 13
A Kolkata-based company has bought Nehru Vikas Minar, Ghaziabad Development Authority’s white elephant, for a record Rs 100 crore. A sum of Rs 25 crore was earned by the GDA as auction amount.

Nehru Vikas Tower was originally built to house the GDA offices but never occupied by it. The building was getting damaged for want of use and proper maintenance.

The GDA had been trying to sell the building for some time. On Wednesday, two companies had come up to bid for the 45, 936 sq mt towers with 32,202 sq mt covered area. The reserved price had been fixed at Rs 96.35 crore.

This is the first building which has been auctioned for Rs 100 crore by the GDA, the highest amount so far.

Ghaziabad, July 13
A constable today claimed his son, an alleged abductor, was killed in a “fake” encounter by the police. Constable Ghulab Singh filed a complaint with the Human Rights Commission and demanded a CBI probe, saying that his son, Vineet, a Class XI student, was not involved in the kidnapping but was a passerby who was gunned down by the police in the fake encounter in Mahender Enclave here on July 11.

The local SSP said the arrest of Varun revealed the sons of two constables were involved in the kidnapping. While Vineet died, Naveen, son of Constable Vinod Chaudhury, escaped during the encounter.

Vineet and Naveen along with Varun and Vipin, who was also killed, were demanding a ransom of Rs 50 lakh to release Shreya (9) and Shubham (8) whom they had kidnapped from Rajnagar on Monday. 

New Delhi, July 13
After a trial which spanned for nine years, a Special Court today sentenced a Company Commander of the Delhi Home Guards to a year behind bars for accepting Rs 200 as bribe from a subordinate to stop his official transfer.

Special Judge Sunil Gaur found Ramesh Kumar Jain, a Company Commander of Delhi Home Guards, guilty of various offences under the Prevention of Corruption Act and also slapped a fine of Rs 5,000 on him.

Jain was caught red-handed by the Anti-Corruption Branch on September 22, 1997 while taking the bribe from constable Yoginder Singh in order not to sanction the latter’s transfer from his current posting at Mansarovar Garden.

New Delhi, July 13
Fortis Healthcare Limited, a Ranbaxy promoter group company, has announced the launch of their hospital, Fortis Flt. Lt. Rajan Dhall Hospital in Vasant Kunj here.

Fortis Flt. Lt. Rajan Dhall Hospital will offer high-end tertiary care in five disciplines: cardiac, renal, diabetes and metabolic diseases, joints replacement, pulmonology and thoracic surgery. —TNS