New Delhi, September 6
The Supreme Court today restrained the NDMC from converting the Super Bazaar building at Shanker Market near Connaught Place into a multiplex and suggested that the civic body could give its four floors out of the six to the successful bidder for reviving the defunct Super Bazaar market.

Reliance Industries had mooted a proposal for reviving Super Bazaar, once a popular marketplace for middle class customers for buying their daily need commodities.

Reliance had offered to spend over Rs 200 crore to revive Super Bazaar, which also had its outlet in the spacious INA Market.

Another company, Indian Potash Ltd, had also come in the field to bid for reviving and running the Super Bazaar market.

The NDMC had also welcomed the proposal to ensure that its buildings, which earlier used to house Super Bazaar, would get tenants to its properties. But the civic body had said that it would not like to lease out the Shankar Market building for the bidders as it planned to have a multiplex in its place.

An organisation of the defunct market, the Super Bazaar Karamchari Dalit Sangh, had moved the Supreme Court, seeking its intervention in the matter.

A Bench of Mr Justice B. P. Singh and Mr Justice Altamas Kabir told the NDMC counsel that it should consider the proposal for reviving Super Bazaar at Shankar Market building also in its first four floors and keep the two floors with itself, if it so desired.

The civic body was given three weeks to take instructions from the authorities concerned and report back to the court on September 27 about the proposal.

The court gave the direction keeping in view the interest of the employees who had not been paid salaries for the past several years after Super Bazaar become defunct.

With the private parties bidding for reviving it, the employees could hope to be adjusted in the new set-up.

New Delhi, September 6
Police today resorted to lathi charge to disperse the traders who resisted the sealing of their shops by the MCD officials in Shahadra in trans Yamuna area.

Hundreds of traders gathered in Seemapuri when sealing squad reached there. They raised slogans against the Sheila Dikshit government, saying that this was an unfair act of the government. “Trading is the only source of our income. If our shops are sealed we would have nothing to work”, they said.

The traders said that they would not allow the government to seal their establishments at any cost. The police had to resort to lathi charge to disperse the traders. A few of the traders sustained injuries during the lathi-charge.

The squad sealed 54 shops in Old Seemapuri, Mansarovar Park, Ram Nagar, Panchsheel Garden, Garhi Mendu and in Bhajanpura market. Fifteen properties were sealed for unauthorised construction in Jagatpuri.

In South Zone, some properties were sealed in Malviya Nagar and Khirki Extension.

Thirtyeight properties were sealed due to misuse in Rohini Zone. Besides, demolition was carried out in Sector 6, Sector 7 and Sainik Vicar.

Spokesman of the MCD said the sealing and demolition action would be carried out every day. 

New Delhi, September 6
The Union Urban Development Ministry is all set to notify changes in the existing Master Plan for Delhi tomorrow by carrying out amendments, most of which have been suggested by the Delhi Development Authority (DDA).

The DDA submitted its proposal for amendment in Master Plan today. The proposal included legalising mixed land use on roads with more than 70 per cent commercial activities. The mixed land use would not be allowed in A and B category colonies, the proposal suggested.

The proposal suggested that the institutions that were recognised should not be sealed and those, which did not have recognition from the appropriate authorities, should be given a year time to procure the recognition, sources said.

The Union Urban Ministry, which witnessed a lot of activities and internal consultations after receiving the draft amendments to the Master Plan forwarded by the DDA, was working on the final shape of the amendments and was expected to notify the same tomorrow, sources said.

An official of the ministry said that most of
the changes as suggested by the DDA had found place in the amended document.

The other changes likely to be incorporated are allowing schools, nursing homes, banks, guesthouses, rickshaw repair shops and building material retailers to function in residential areas.

Gurgaon, September 6
The Haryana Chief Secretary today directed district officials of Gurgaon, Mewat and Rewari to expedite the developmental work in their areas.

Chairing the divisional level review meeting here today, the Chief Secretary (CS) also assured that issues which needed to be taken up at higher levels with different authorities by his office would be considered on priority basis.

Talking to mediapersons, the CS later claimed that the state government had prepared a plan for increasing security in Gurgaon and Faridabad where a number of multi-national companies, call centres and leading corporate houses had set up their office.

Electronic gadgets like CCTV are to be installed at public places like bus stands, railway stations, congested crossings and markets to avert any untoward incident, he claimed.

The CS agreed to the demands of senior officials of Gurgaon that the district deserved decentralisation of power till a body like Gurgaon Development Authority was formed for better development of the city.

Some issues concerning the city like Bhadshahpur Drain, roads, sewerage, flyover to Hero Honda Chowk, solid waste management and master water supply were also discussed during the meeting.

Bhadshahpur Drain is being encroached upon by the villagers, which has resulted into its blockage. The land would be acquired using clauses under Section 4, 6 and 17 of Land Acquisition Act so that storm water flows freely from Ghata village to Najafgarh Nullah in Delhi.

The work of widening of Sohna Road and the roads of Old Gurgaon city is not being carried out due to objection by the Forest department. The CS assured that he would look into the matter.

It has been decided that the National Highway Authority of India (NHAI) would build a fly-over on Hero Honda Chowk, with HUDA sharing the cost of the project. The work on the project should start on priority basis, Gurgaon officials suggested.

The projects concerning HUDA like solid waste management and master water supply might be expedited at higher levels, suggested the local HUDA administrator.

The Rewari Deputy Commissioner suggested that the work on the railway bridge on Rewari-Rohtak road should be expedited. He also said that the water flow from Bhiwadi (Rajasthan) to Dharuhera in Rewari caused flood in the areas, especially during rainy seasons. The culverts should be widened and the matter had to be taken up with Rajasthan for checking the disposal of polluted water from industrial units into Haryana, he said. 
Gurgaon Divisional Commissioner; Inspector General of Police; and Deputy Commission were amongst those who attended the meeting. 

Faridabad, September 6
Enforcement wing of the Haryana Urban Development Authority (HUDA) has been accused of taking no action on a complaint lodged against the installation of a telecom tower atop a residential building here a few months back.

The residents, who live on the ground floor of the building, fear for their safety as they find the building unsafe.

Deepak Gupta, a resident of B-Block of Green Fields Colony here, had taken up the matter of construction and operation of such a tower atop a building which has three joint owners, to the authorities concerned. He claimed that though the officials had admitted that the tower of a private telecom operator was installed illegally, so far no action had been taken against owner of the second floor of the building and the company that had installed it.

He claimed that installing such a tower on a building, which was not strong enough to carry its weight, was dangerous. Mr Gupta’s wife Nimisha Gupta, the owner of the flat on the ground floor, has written several letters, including to the Deputy Commissioner, Faridabad, District Town Planner (DTP), Enforcement of HUDA here, office of the SDM and even the telecom company.

According to Mr Gupta, he had recently met senior officials of the DTP (HUDA) here in this connection. He alleged that the officials had replied in a very casual manner and said that they were helpless beyond issuing notice to the defaulter.

In the letter written to various department officials, the complainants have claimed that no proper sanction was taken from the authorities concerned by the accused before installing the tower. The complaint was lodged in June last when the construction work to install the tower was started, but no action was taken till its completion.

New Delhi, September 6
Unaided, recognised public schools allotted land on concessional prices continue to flout the clause of granting 25 per cent freeship to students from the economically poorer sections. To wriggle out of this mandatory provision, some of these schools have begun admitting students in the afternoon session instead of allowing them to join regular school.

Pointing out that this practice of “segregating children” defeats the purpose of inclusive education, Mr Ashok Agarwal, Convenor of Social Jurist, has written to the Director of Education and the Vice-Chairman, Delhi Development Authority, asking them to take action against such schools.

“There are several schools including Alcon Public School, Phase I, Mayur Vihar, Alcon International Public School, Phase I, Mayur Vihar, and Ryan International Public School, also in Mayur Vihar, that are running afternoon shift exclusively for those children who are admitted under freeship quota,” Mr Agarwal has said in his complaint.

Asserting that these children admitted under the freeship quota are required to be in the main school and not in the afternoon school, Mr Agarwal said, “The entire objective of providing free education to children of weaker sections has been defeated by the manner being adopted by these schools”.

He said these schools had been allotted land by DDA/L&DO on throwaway prices on the condition that they would provide admission to the extent of 25 per cent to the children of the weaker sections and grant them freeship.

However, the Principal of one such institution in South Delhi that runs an afternoon shift school for these students said the government should extend permission to the schools to “choose how to accommodate these children”.

Seeking anonymity, she said, “We have the court’s direction to admit these students, which is being abided to. Why should there be objection to how we accommodate them? If schools are running a parallel shift for these kids, they should be encouraged, because we can then admit more than just 25 per cent of the total students. Besides, we can concentrate on them and focus on their weaknesses”.

It is an argument that Mr Agarwal thrashes. “These schools, by denying education to such children in the morning shift, are acting in the most arbitrary and discriminatory manner. These schools are violating the high court orders, terms and conditions of allotment of land and also the terms of the Delhi Government order dated April 2004. Besides, these afternoon schools are illegal and are run without the permission of the Director of Education”.

New Delhi, September 6
Though the National Institute of Communicable Diseases (NICD) has confirmed three cases of Chikungunya in the Capital, including one from Moolchand Hospital in south Delhi, health authorities say they are unaware of any such outbreak.

Claiming that they were fully prepared to deal with an outbreak of Chikungunya fever, a senior health official said the MCD had not received any confirmation about the disease being detected in Delhi.

He said because the symptoms of the disease were quite similar to that of dengue, necessary arrangements were in place to deal with the viral infection. He said more than a 1000 workers had been deployed to curb mosquito breeding in areas under MCD jurisdiction.

The MCD also pointed out that over 11,000 people had been fined and more than 22,000 legal notices had been issued so far to people for unclean home conditions resulting in the breeding of mosquitoes.

The Capital had recorded 70 cases of dengue till September 3. Of these, 38 patients were from Delhi and the rest were visitors.

Chikungunya virus is spread by the bite of female Aedes mosquitoes, primarily Aedes Aegypti and humans are considered to be the major reservoir of the virus.

The symptoms of the disease include high fever, severe joint pain and swelling in joints. Health experts say the fever is not fatal and patients can take up to seven to 10 days to recover. 

New Delhi, September 6
With number of rape cases being reported on the rise, a group of doctors today voiced their support to the need for providing required assistance to the rape victims by being consistent with their medical examination reports.

In a conference organised by NGO Pratinidhi, over 40 doctors from the city hospitals discussed the ways and means to sensitise the medical fraternity towards helping rape victims and bringing the culprits to book.

Noting that in most of the rape cases, the accused goes scot-free because of some loopholes in both the legal and medical system, Alok Verma, Joint Police Commissioner, Delhi Range, said, “We should identify these issues and find out a solution to it for the conviction of the culprit.

“Since police and medical experts play a key role in dealing with the victim’s trauma, they must take prompt action and act in coordination for swift delivery of justice,” he said.

Addressing the forum, Dr Sudha Salhan, HOD, Department of Gynaecology, Safdarjung Hospital, stressed that doctors should provide counselling to the victims in sexual assault cases.

On a query that what should be written in the opinion column of the Medico Legal Cases (MLC) report, Dr Salhan said the term “rape” should be replaced by “sexual assault”.

“As the term ‘rape’ is a legal one, which can only be decided by the honourable court of law, doctors should avoid its use in the medical examination report,” she added. 

New Delhi, September 6
An assistant sub-inspector (ASI) of the Delhi Police and a polytechnic student today committed suicide in separate incidents in East and North Delhi.

Mahendra Singh (50), posted at the Kashmere Gate police station, was found hanging from the ceiling fan of his bedroom in Prashant Vihar, the police said.

Singh, who was on leave since August 25, was apparently suffering from depression. He has left a suicide note saying that no one else is responsible for his death. He, however, did not mention the reason for resorting to the extreme step. He is survived by his wife, a son and a daughter. In another incident, a 21-year-old polytechnic student was found in similar circumstances in Civil Lines, East Delhi. Vishwas was staying with his grandfather as his parents were no more. He was a second year student. The suicide note left by him said that he did not want to be a burden on anybody.— OC

New Delhi, September 6
With the arrest of Gurbax Singh (19), the Special Staff of the South-West district police today claimed to have tracked and nabbed the main accused of the Connaught Place robbery case.

The police said Mahesh Aiyer along with his wife Laxmi was on his way home in his Indica car after eating out on July 9 in the afternoon. Suddenly, a Maruti car intercepted his car at the Outer Circle and certain youths riding on bikes broke the rear glass of his car. They took away his wife’s purse containing Rs 3,000 in cash, a passport, credit and debit cards, mobile phone, driving licence, keys and other papers.

The incident had caused widespread panic.

New Delhi, September 6
With the arrest of three persons, Sanjay (32), Baldev (40) and Chandrapal (26), the Anti-Kidnapping Section of the Crime Branch, Prashant Vihar, today claimed to have busted a gang of robbers and solved a sensational robbery committed in Rajouri Garden in February this year.

According to the police, “On February 25, Kulbhushan Sharma was on his way home from his shop at Lajpat Rai Market in his Maruti car when two youths intercepted him and robbed him of more than Rs 11 lakh and drafts worth more than Rs 3 lakh at pistol-point.”

A team was deployed near the Mangolpuri police station and the accused were arrested. The autorickshaw used in the crime had also been recovered, said a senior officer.

The modus operandi of the gang involved two teams. One team monitored the scene of the crime, watching out for passersby and providing shelter in case of any imminent danger. The other team, protected by the first one, used to commit the robbery, said the officer. 

New Delhi, September 6
The Crime Branch of Delhi Police today claimed to have arrested a notorious drug peddler, Abdul Aziz (40). He was allegedly active in the NCR area and one kg heroin worth Rs 1 crore was seized from him.

Police sources said they had got information that a notorious drug peddler would be delivering drugs in the Anand Vihar area. A team was set up.

The team took up position in and around the bus terminal acting on the tip-off that a person would be getting down from a bus at the Anand Vihar terminal in the evening and would be carrying heroin.

The man was arrested and the drugs seized from him.

New Delhi, September 6
The Interstate Crime Branch Cell, Chanakyapuri, today claimed to have busted a gang of truck thieves who used to target 10-wheeler trucks after abducting the driver. Fakruddin (32) has been arrested and three accomplices have been identified. A truck has also been recovered.

The police say they had information that Fakruddin would be coming to Seemapuri in the evening to dispose of a truck which was probably stolen from somewhere.

On sustained interrogation, Fakruddin broke down and admitted that he had stolen the truck aided by three accomplices from the Azadpur area. They had abducted the driver and dumped him in the Moti Nagar area after beating him up.

He disclosed that the gang had stolen another truck from Samaipur Badli a month ago. They had abducted the driver and dumped him in a similar fashion on the GT-Karnal Road.

“Fakruddin has been found involved in criminal cases, including murder, robbery and possession of illegal firearms, in Uttar Pradesh and Delhi in the past,” said a police officer.