New Delhi, December 17
Even a month after suspension of bus services between Delhi and neighbouring Uttar Pradesh over the issue of UP operating its buses on the national Capital’s routes, the stalemate persists.

No headway has been made on the issue even after two rounds of commissioner-level talks between the two sides failed to resolve the deadlock. This despite the Delhi High Court, on December 8, directing the two governments to work out an agreement “in the interest of the public.”

In fact, the Delhi Government insists it will not allow Uttar Pradesh to operate its buses on city routes in the Capital like the DTC buses operating in UP. “‘We cannot allow buses of the Uttar Pradesh Transport Department to operate within the city limits. If today we allow buses from UP to operate on city routes we might be confronted with similar demands from other states like Haryana, Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh,” Delhi Transport Minister Haroon Yousuf said.

The minister said the deadlock persisted because of the continued insistence of UP to operate its buses on the 14 city routes on which the buses of the Delhi Transport Corporation had been operating before the suspension of bus services between the two states over a month ago.

The UP Government claims the operation of the CNG buses on city routes in Delhi, whose confiscation led to suspension of bus services between two states after the UP authorities also impounded DTC buses operating in Noida, is as per an agreement signed between the two state governments.

They claim according to the agreement UP can operate its CNG buses on all 14 routes on which DTC buses plying to Noida have been running.

Uttar Pradesh’s claim is, however, refuted by the Delhi Government, which alleges there was no formal agreement but only talks.

The crisis began after the Delhi Transport Department authorities, in the last week of October, confiscated 11 UP CNG buses operating as city services. This led to the UP Government also impounding more than 100 DTC buses operating in Noida. This led to the two governments suspending bus services.

Following commissioner-level talks between the two states in the first week of November, on the directive of the Delhi High Court, the UP Government released DTC buses impounded by it. However, the parleys between the two sides failed to result in any agreement.

As the stalemate persists, daily commuters between Delhi and Uttar Pradesh, including daily wagers and office goers coming to the capital city for their livelihood and Delhi residents going to their offices in UP, have been facing a lot of difficulties reaching their destinations.

New Delhi, December 17
Commercial complexes and huge shopping malls in the National Capital Territory of Delhi, which are dependent on ground water for their daily needs, will soon have to pay a hefty amount if the Delhi Government can see a Bill to this effect through the Assembly.

The draft ground water Bill, which is expected to be introduced in the Delhi Assembly in the Budget Session, envisages amending the Delhi Water Board Act to regulate the extraction of ground water.

According to officials, if the Bill is passed, it will give the Delhi Jal Board (DJB) authority to regulate ground water instead of the Central Ground Water Authority, under whose jurisdiction it falls now.

Unregulated use had already wreaked havoc on the ground water table and could eventually affect the domestic supply as a large number of residential colonies were dependent on ground water for their needs, officials said.

The Bill, which was supposed to have been introduced in the winter session of the Assembly, was referred to a select committee of the Assembly after politicians from both the ruling Congress and opposition benches opposed it as being “anti-people.”

Out of the nine districts in Delhi, the water table is known to have touched precarious depths in seven, where restrictions have been put on extraction of ground water. 

New Delhi, December 17
Taking out a huge ‘Sankalp Rally’, the Confederation of All India Traders (CAIT) today lashed out at the political system, saying that it had proved an “utter failure” in protecting traders and citizens from the sealing.

Thousands of traders from the Capital and neighbouring states took part in the rally.

Addressing the gathering, Mr Praveen Khandelwal, secretary general of CAIT, said that it was very surprising that on the one hand, all political parties and the Union and state governments had expressed opposition to the sealing drive, while on the other hand, subjects of the government were continuing with the operation.

“It amply reflects either failure of the administration in placing proper facts related to the issue before courts or the government’s intention to make traders a ‘scapegoat’ in order to cover its own shortcomings,” he said.

Mr Khandelwal said that the impact of sealing on millions of people had been totally overlooked and ignored by one and all.

“Misdeeds and misrule in the past more than four decades are the root cause of the mess presently prevailing in Delhi,” he alleged.

Traders belonging to nearly 500 small and large trade bodies of different parts of Delhi attended the rally and resolve to fight sealing and other core problems concerning domestic trade.

In a bid to corner political parties on supporting traders’ issues, trade leaders from different states, led by Mr Khandelwal, in a joint and firm voice declared that henceforth traders should not be taken as granted, as the trading community across the country had decided to convert itself into a strong ‘vote bank’ and would play a major role of ‘ deciding factor’ in Indian polity.

The forthcoming assembly elections of UP, Uttaranchal, Punjab and MCD elections in Delhi would prove to be a ‘test case’, said trade leaders.

Apart from stoppage of sealing drive, the protesting traders at the rally demanded heavy reduction in conversion charges proposed by the DDA, stoppage of sealing in DDA flats, regularisation of about 1500 unauthorised colonies already identified by the DDA, rehabilitation package for traders dealing in items listed in negative category and scrapping of locality categorisation which attempts to differentiate traders.

Slogans like ‘Vyapari Hit Ki Jo Baat Karega – Wahi Desh Par Raj Karega’, ‘ Garv Se Kaho Hum Vyapari Hain’, ‘Hame Sealing Se Nahin, Goli Se Maro’ amply depicted strong feelings of traders who are battling for their livelihood and employment since last one year.

Saying ‘Abhi to Ye Angdai Hai - Baki Aur Ladai Hai’, the agitating traders resolve to fight tooth and nail every attempt to dislodge traders and their employees.

Leading upcountry trade leaders, including Mr B. C. Bhartia, President, Nag-Vidarbha Chamber of Commerce, Nagpur, Neki Ram Garg, President, Paschimi Uttar Pradesh Udyog Vyapar Mandal, Suresh Patodia, President, Rajasthan Vyapar Parishad, Rajesh Bansal, Convenor, Haryana Sarv Vyapar Mandal and Gursharan Singh, President, Punjab Traders’ Federation, attended the rally and declared their support to traders of Delhi and other states in their fight against sealing which has crossed Delhi borders and has now entered in several other states.

New Delhi, December 17
Observing that non-disclosure of a criminal case which the police register subsequent to a person applying for a government job cannot be considered as “wilful suppression” or “concealment” of facts, the Delhi High Court has directed the Delhi Police to take a dismissed constable back into service.

Setting aside the order of Delhi Police as also that of the Central Administrative Tribunal which dismissed the plea of Constable Nirbhai Singh for his reinstatement into the service, a Division Bench of Mr Justices Manmohan Sarin and Vipin Sanghi said a provision seeking the declaration of quitting the job following a criminal case registered in future was absent in the application form for the post.

“The willful suppression and concealment is required to be established otherwise, without the aid of the deeming provision,” observed the Bench, directing the police to reconsider the termination of Singh within three months.

The Bench also asked the victim to appear before the authority concerned of the Delhi Police on December 27.

In October 1997, during a special recruitment drive by the Delhi Police, Singh was selected as a constable and he joined the service in March 1998. Singh, in the same month, was arrested and remained in judicial custody for two months following an FIR charging him and his family with abetting the suicide by his brother’s wife over alleged dowry harassment.

In December 1997, Singh was served with a notice issued by the Delhi Police accusing him of concealing the fact from the department and an inquiry was also conducted. However, subsequently in September 1998, the trial court had acquitted him from all charges. 

New Delhi, December 17
Reacting strongly to the illegal detention of an accused in Tihar Jail for 13 days, a Delhi court has ordered an inquiry against the erring sub-inspector after he failed to get the detainee’s remand extended.

“It is apparent from the record that neither the investigating officer appeared to get the remand of the accused extended nor the jail authorities sent any information with regard to the non-extension of the remand,” said Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Kamini Lau.

The court, on Friday, asked the Deputy Commissioner of Police, IGI Airport, to institute an inquiry against SI Arvind Kumar, saying, “The accused has remained in illegal detention from December 2 to 14 due to the lapse on his part.”

The matter came to its notice after Kumar sought a production warrant against the accused two days back and the court realised he was neither produced on the last date nor any application for extension of remand was pending with it.

The court had then asked Tihar Jail authorities to inform it regarding the non-production of accused Siya Ram, expressing its displeasure over their failure in intimating it on non-extension of his remand.

The Deputy Superintendent of Tihar Jail had replied the accused was sent back to prison on the last date as the investigating officer in the case had not turned up.

Siya Ram, a resident of Varanasi district in Uttar Pradesh, was arrested on November 11 from IGI Airport in a cheating case and sent in judicial custody for 14 days. 

New Delhi, December 17
Maharaja Agrasen Hospital today celebrated it 26th Foundation Day with much fanfare.

Speaking on the occasion, Congress MP from Rohtak, Mr Deepender Singh Hooda, congratulated the trustees of the hospital for their efforts in providing best health care facilities to the patients. He assured that Haryana Government would extend full cooperation in creating the necessary infrastructure for the proposed Maharaja Agrasen Medical College in the National Capital Region of Delhi.

Outer Delhi Congress MP, Mr Sajjan Kumar, said the trustees of the hospital, whose number rose to 1,100, had played a crucial role in providing funds for the hospital.

New Delhi, December 17
In a show of strength ahead of the Assembly poll in four states, the Gujjar community, led by Congress MP from Faridabad, Mr Avtar Singh Bhadana, today organised an impressive rally in the Capital to highlight demands of the community.

Prominent speakers at the rally included Haryana Chief Minister, Mr Bhupinder Singh Hooda, and veteran Gujjar leader, Mr Ram Chander Vikal. Maharaj Bhudev Ji and Member Parliament Mr Yash Pal Singh were also present at the ‘Gujjar Mahakumbh’ rally in which thousands of people belonging to the Gujjar community across eight states, including Punjab, Haryana, Delhi and Uttar Pradesh, participated. The rally congregated at Akshardham temple, Patparganj ground.

According to Mr Bhadana, the rally was aimed at highlighting a five-point agenda of the community. The agenda includes the demand for representation at the Centre, commissioning of Gujjar regiment, inclusion of Gujjar community in the most backward classes in Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Jammu and Kashmir and pursuing policies for the welfare and development of the community with a special focus on education.

The Gujjar leader said that his community, though numerically significant, had not been successful in ensuring a strong growth for itself. “There are at least 10 crore people in the community, who have the capability of holding the sway in at least 45 districts… But being socially backward the community is facing several hurdles in its growth. To empower this community, we need to unite and stand up for our rights,” he said.

Speaking on the occasion, he appealed to the members of his community to remain united and wipe out the stain of backwardness on the society. “The time has come to transform the dreams of our forefathers into a reality,” he said, while paying tributes to the martyrs of the community, who sacrificed their lives during the first freedom struggle in 1857.

Addressing the gathering, Mr Hooda stressed the need for a leadership for the Gujjar community that could guide them properly and lead them to prosperity.

Mr Hooda described Gujjars as hard working people. “Today, there were only two sections in the society. While one section was of the workers, who earned their living by the dint of their hard work, the other section belonged to the looters who were looting the hard earned income of the workers,” he said.

He, however, lamented that while among farmers, the members belonging to Jat community had made tremendous progress, Gujjars had lacked behind. “It was high time for Gujjars to have such a leadership that would lead them to prosperity,” he said.

New Delhi, December 17
Delhi Assembly Speaker Chaudhary Prem Singh, attending a function where the first issue of Hindi weekly magazine ‘Apni Dilli’ was released today, said that he found more authentic news in small newspapers than those appeared in leading national dailies.

New Delhi, December 17
Delhiites woke up to another bright and sunny morning today with temperatures remaining above normal.

A thin fog covered Indira Gandhi International Airport (IGIA) for a few hours in the morning but flights operated smoothly as the runway visibility range (RVR) was around 1000 metres. The minimum temperature was 10.5 degree Celsius, which was three degrees above normal. The maximum temperature yesterday was 24.5 degree Celsius, two degrees above normal. The Met Office has forecast a clear sky and said the minimum temperature would be around 10 degree Celsius. — TNS

Curated by Dr Alka Pande, the exhibition entitled “Short Stories” is the result of vivid and enriching exchange of ideas between the artist and the curator. The artist, Villani, has been living and working in Paris for the past two decades and this is the first time that his work is being exhibited in India.

Tales on canvas

Art Alive Gallery here is presenting “Twisted Tales,” an exhibition of the recent works of artist Mimi Radhakrishnan at Shridharani Gallery, Triveni Kala Sangam here, from December 16 to 22.

African fest

The Indian Council for Cultural Relations (ICCR) is organising a cultural festival of African countries at Kamani Auditorium here from December 19 to 21. While the National Dance Company of Ghana will perform on the opening day, Mauritius will present songs and dances, “Boum Boum,” on December 20. On the final day, the famous Lipika Dance Troupe of Nigeria will perform.

Arty melange

Gallery Pioneer here is holding an exhibition of creations of some of the well-known contemporary artists entitled “Creative Observations” from December 14 to 27. The group show has been conceptualised jointly by Praveen Upadhye and Sangeeta Berera.

Flavours of art

“Mark, Etch and Print” is a unique exhibition created by Bhavna Kakar and will be on view at Art Konsult in Hauz Khas village from December 20 to January 10 next year. As the title suggests, it is a conglomeration of works by various eminent artists who have left an indelible mark on the art canvas of the country.

Stimulating dance

The Ansal Institute of Technology, Gurgaon, in association with the Society for Promotion of Indian Classical Music and Culture Among Youth (SPIC- MACAY) presented a Khatak dance evening by Padma Bhushan, Padma Shri and Sangeet Natak Akademi awardee Uma Sharma on the campus earlier this week. As expected, the performance by the living legend left the audience spellbound and hungering for more.

The Anasal Institute of Technology provides regular stimulation to its students by organising cultural activities.

Ghaziabad, December 17
A woman and her eight-month-old daughter were tied with a cot and burnt alive in a gory dowry case in Bagadpur village in Garh.

Mithun Chaudhri, brother of the victim, has lodged a report in Garh police station. The woman had been married for three years only.

According to Mithun Chaudhri, his sister Shalu was married to Ballkaran, alias Mintu, only three years ago. Her in-laws had been demanding Rs 2 lakh as additional dowry and she had been regularly tortured for it, the report in police station stated.

It is alleged that Shalu’s husband, his parents, brother, two sisters and another person of the village had tied Shalu and her baby daughter with a cot, and torched them. While the baby girl had died on the spot, Shalu was admitted to a nursing home where she succumbed to her injuries. All the accused are reported to have absconded after the gory incident.

A neighbour reportedly informed Shalu’s parents in village Shahkulpur in Meerut district. Her brother Mithun Chaudhri had rushed to the house of his sister’s in-laws with a dozen persons from his own village. After talking to villagers and ascertaining the facts, Mithun filed a dowry death report in Garh police station. Police are trying to nab the accused.

Noida, December 17
Noida police today claimed to have solved the murder case of an MCA student, Amitesh Srivastava, of JP Institute in Sector 62 Noida. The half-burnt body of Amitesh, who had gone missing on December 6, was recovered from a ditch covered by bushes on December 14 by the side of NH 24 near the college.

According to the SP city, three criminals were nabbed by the police at around 12.10 pm today during a police checking in Sector 62. The accused Abhishekh, alias Rana, Gulfam, alias Mustkeen, and Rahul, alias Radhey, have confessed to their crime. Amitesh’s steel bangle and cell phone have been recovered from the arrested criminals, M Saumitra Yadav said.

Their modus operandi was to hire a three-wheeler and ply it on a secluded route. Two of them would pose as passengers and the third would act a driver. They would take a passenger or two and try to rob them on a secluded spot. They had stopped the three- wheeler on a lonely place and tried to rob Srivastava on December 6. When he resisted, they pushed him to the side of the road near a ditch and bushes. One of them had hit him on the head with a brick, but when he still continued to grapple with the robbers, Radhey stabbed him repeatedly in chest, stomach and head and dumped him in the ditch which was surrounded by bushes. He had remained there unnoticed and bled to death, SP said.

Even postmortem report has confirmed the stabbing.

Electronic surveillance and victim’s cell phone which had been recovered from the robbers had helped the police to nab the killers, Mr Yadav said.

New Delhi, December 17
A city court has sentenced a youth to nine years rigorous imprisonment for sodomising a minor boy two years ago.

The Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate also convicted Dev Charan alias Bunty for putting the 10-year-old boy under the fear of death and imposed a fine of Rs 10,000 on him. The court observed, “Cases of sexual abuse of children should not be taken lightly, the offence has been duly proved by medical evidence on record.”

The offence took place on April 24, 2004 in the evening when the victim had gone for tuition. The tutor was not at his home and the boy started playing with other children.

The convict, a 23-year-old man, came and drove away the other boys. He then took the victim to a deserted area near Nizamuddin Railway Station, committed the unnatural act and threatened to kill the boy if he told anybody. — OC

Ghaziabad, December 17
A tribal girl, Reena Minj, 18, employed as a domestic hand, was strangled for breaking a cup and plate. Hailing from Jharkhand, she was working in the house of a doctor couple in Ghaziabad.

The postmortem report has confirmed that Reena had been strangled. The Sihani Gate police have registered a case of murder against the doctor couple, employers of Reena.

Jaten, son of Seema Minj of village Latha, in district Ranchi, said his sister Reena had come to Delhi in search of employment. On July 5, Ranjit, who ran a placement agency, had got her a job in the house of Dr Manish Garg and Mrs Dr Mrs Sarita Garg who owned a nursing home in Nehru Nagar-II, Ghaziabad.

On December 10, Ranjit informed Reena’s family on phone that she had died. When Jaten reached Ghaziabad, he found that his sister had been strangled by the doctor couple and her body kept in the mortuary of Narinder Mohan Hospital in Mohan Nagar.

On Jaten’s complaint, Sihani Gate police had booked doctor couple under Section 302 and 201.

CO- I Atul Srivastava said it had been confirmed in the postmortem report that Reena had not died of a head injury but had been strangled.

He said the doctor couple’s statement that Reena had died after a fall on stairs was also wrong.

SO Rajinder Yadav said the matter was already looking suspicious. The couple had concealed the death from the police for four days and kept the body in the mortuary of another hospital.

He said the accused would not be spared.

Incidentally, about three months earlier, Meena, another tribal girl from Jharkhand, had also died in similar suspicious circumstances in Ghaziabad.

Gurgaon, December 17
The police may claim to be taking action, but there is uncertainty in the minds of the public on its role to check petty crimes like burglary and chain snatching.

The police today claimed to have arrested three persons of a gang which indulged in chain snatchings and thefts. It recovered three motorcycles from them and a gold chain.

Just about a year ago, chain snatching had assumed menacing proportions in the city. A little before that, car and motorcycle lifting had also reached alarming proportions. The drift was arrested by the law enforcing agencies as members of the gangs involved in the crime were arrested. The criminals, however, seem to have become active again leading to rise in the cases of chain snatching.