The Tribune, Chandigarh, India - Delhi and neighbourhood

Scandal in college

Students shout slogans against vice-principal of Ramjas College in the Capital on Thursday. The vice-principal was caught making advances to a male student of the college. —A Tribune photograph

MCD Tribunal takes up property cases
New Delhi, October 25
The Municipal Taxation Tribunal (MTT), which will operate from the MCD office at Boulevard Road, has started taking up property tax cases. Chairperson of the Standing Committee Vijender Gupta and leader of the house in the MCD Subhash Arya said this at a joint conference today.

Arogya Fair begins
New Delhi, October 25
Arogya, a comprehensive international health fair on Ayurveda, yoga, naturopathy, Unani, Siddha and homoeopathy, would be held from tomorrow to project the capabilities and requirements of these traditional systems in modern-day health care and current research trends in them. The four-day-long Arogya Fair this year is being organised by the Department of Ayush in collaboration with India Trade Promotion Organisation at Pragati Maidan here.

Delhi Lt-Governor Tejendra Khanna presides the first meeting of the recently formed Delhi Vision Group at Raj Niwas in the Capital on Thursday. —A Tribune photograph

Phool Walon ki Sair
L-G offers ‘chadar’
New Delhi, October 25
Lt-Governor Tejendra Khanna offered a floral ‘chadar’ at the Dargah of Khwaja Bakhtiyar Kaki at Mehrauli today as part of the annual historic festival “Phool Walon Ki Sair”, organised by “Anjuman-Sair-e-Gul-Faroshan”.

Make facelift of roads in DU: CM
New Delhi, October 25
Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit has directed the Public Works Department (PWD) and the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) to make a facelift of roads in Delhi University. She added that roads in other areas of the Capital should also be widened.

Jilted lover gets life term
New Delhi, October 25
The Karkardooma Court has given life imprisonment to Yashpal, who poured acid on a girl’s face on February 15 in 2006 .

A man feeds monkeys at Sardar Patel Marg and (below) a monkey in a cage after being caught by trappers at the Delhi Ridge forest in the Capital on Thursday. Monkeys attacked the Deputy Mayor of Delhi who fell from the balcony of his house and died on Sunday. —Tribune photo by Mukesh Aggarwal

Bomb scare at Red Fort
New Delhi, October 25
Several bomb disposal squads and dog squads were rushed to the Red Fort on Thursday evening after an unidentified caller called to say a bomb was planted outside the historic monument, Delhi Police said.

Move to start e-ticketing in buses
New Delhi, October 25
The Delhi government has decided to implement automatic vehicle ticketing system (AVTS) by installing computers in every bus plied on Capital’s roads.

Three murderers held
New Delhi, October 25
With the arrest of three persons, Shiv Lal, Ramesh and Basant, the NorthEast district police has claimed to have solved abduction cum murder cases of two persons.

Amity’s logo unveiled
New Delhi, October 25
The logo of Amity University was unveiled at the annual “Sangathan 2007- Inter-institutional sports meet”.

Delhi can’t be Paris: Oppn
New Delhi, October 25
Reacting to Union State Urban Development Minister Ajai Maken’s statement, Leader of opposition in Delhi legislative assembly Prof. Jagdish Mukhi said that it was only a daydream that Delhi would become Paris very shortly. He also flayed the present development policy of the government claiming that it will adversely affect the capital, rather than developing it.

New PhD course in Jamia
New Delhi, October 25
Jamia Millis Islamia university recently announced a new Ph.D. Programme from the next academic Session. The newly started Center for Interdiscplinary Studies in Basic Sciences will start its Phd Programme from July 2008.

Minorities panel member to be honoured
New Delhi, October 25
Member of Delhi Minorities Commission Pushpinder Singh is to be honoured by World Sikh University, London. He is being honored by the university’s vice-chancellor, Dr Sukhbir Singh Kapoor for the services rendered to the Sikh community.—TNS

Cong sounds poll bugle
New Delhi, October 25
The DPCC president, Jai Prakash Agarwal, exhorted the party municipal councillors to prepare for the assembly elections scheduled to be held next year.—TNS

	CP shootout case Victim’s wife wanted death for ACP Rathi Parmindar Singh Noida, October 25 Pradeep Goel’s wife, Neema Goel and other members of the family said they had expected death sentence to at least two of the guilty in the Connaught Place shootout case of March 31, 1997 in which they had lost Pradeep Goel. But now that the court had pronounced its verdict, they were satisfied with the life imprisonment awarded to the killers on Wednesday evening. After all, the victory in 10-year-long legal battle brought some solace to the family. But the grief of losing a family member was also writ large on the faces of Pradeep Goel’s wife Neema Goel and brother Deepak Goel in their house in Sector-17, Noida. Though they were grateful to the court for having brought the perpetrators of dastardly act to book and awarded them punishment, somewhere a hope was lingering in their mind that at least two of the guilty would be awarded a death sentence, former ACP S.S. Rathi and another policeman. Both Neema and her brother-in-law Deepak Goel did not rule out the possibility of taking the battle to the apex court. At times the long court battle did depress them, but at last the court has punished the guilty and given justice to the victims, Neema said. She said the cops had killed her husband in a fake encounter. The authorities and higher police officers should lay down strict rules so that such encounters do not kill innocent people in future. There should be a stringent law to teach a lesson to such trigger-happy cops so that they think a number of times before embarking on similar encounters. “What we have lost, we shall never get back, but had the guilty people not been punished, we would have felt doubly hurt,” Neema Goel said. Deepak said they had expected death sentence for two of the guilty, nevertheless they welcome the verdict. Both Neema and Deepak said, “If need be, we shall go even up to the Supreme Court to get justice.”
	Hurried surgery Locket left in boy’s chest Tribune News Service New Delhi, October 25 In yet another case of medical negligence in the national Capital, doctors at the Delhi government-run LNJP Hospital here have allegedly left a locket inside a nine-month-old boy’s chest after lung surgery. Uday was operated upon over the weekend and the locket, which he was wearing at the time of the surgery, was detected after an X-ray two days later. Surender Kumar Jha, the child’s father, first admitted the child to Kasturba Gandhi Hospital on October 19 with complaints of cold, chest congestion and fever. ‘’He was referred to LNJP and was diagnosed with pleural effusion. The doctors said the boy needed an operation to drain out water and puss that had collected in his lungs,’’ he said. Jha alleged that the hospital was trying to cover up the incident to save its doctors. The Indian Medical Association has sent a team to the hospital and is looking into the incident. Delhi health and family welfare minister Yoganand Shastri has ordered an inquiry. ‘’In case negligence is proved, strict action will be taken against the erring doctors,’’ he warned.
	Lok Dal to demand for Harit Pradesh Our Correspondent Ghaziabad, October 25 The Youth Rashtriya Lok Dal leader Jayant Chaudhari, son of Chaudhari Ajit Singh, has declared that in case the Harit Pradesh proposal is not passed in UP Assembly, Youth Lok Dal will take to streets to launch an agitation for the creation of the new state of western UP—Harit Pradesh. He was addressing the Meerut Division of Youth Lok Dal on Wednesday at Agrasen Bhawan here. He said only a separate state could address the problems of western UP’s development. Jayant Chaudhari said smaller states like Haryana and Uttaranchal have already set up landmarks in rapid progress. “We shall restore the conditions of Chaudhari Charan Singh’s times back to the party”. He blamed the state government for its failure to give a remunerative sugar price to farmers, and for the late start of crushing season in the sugar mills. He gave a call for strengthening Lok Dal Party by setting up village-level units. There should be a separate financial package for rapid development in western UP, Jayant said. Former minister Nawab Kokab said the time for further division of Uttar Pradesh has come now. Madan Bhaya, MLA, said: “On Chaudhari Ajit Singh’s signal, we can jam roads to Delhi for creation of a separate state of Harit Pradesh.”
	MCD Tribunal takes up property cases Tribune News Service New Delhi, October 25 The Municipal Taxation Tribunal (MTT), which will operate from the MCD office at Boulevard Road, has started taking up property tax cases. Chairperson of the Standing Committee Vijender Gupta and leader of the house in the MCD Subhash Arya said this at a joint conference today. Property tax more than Rs 400 crores is outstanding owing to pendency of 2,681 court cases. Gupta and Arya were confident that the Tribunal would provide an opportunity to those property tax payers, whose cases were pending in different courts. They said that it was mandatory to settle the cases in the MTT, under the Unit Area Method (UAM), as district courts could not take-up such cases. Since the implementation of the UAM, property tax payers are paying property tax on the basis of self-assessment of their property. H.P. Sharma, former additional district and session judge will be the chairperson of the MTT. The MCD has started scrutinising the returns and discrepancies are being noticed. Those who had submitted wrong statements would face penal action as per the DMC Act. The MCD can impose fine up to 30 per cent in cases of under-assessed properties, wrong information and concealment of facts. A taxpayer can approach the Tribunal instead of appealing to the Supreme Court or the High Court in case of a dispute with the MCD. Property taxpayers, whose cases are pending in courts, can approach the MTT for the speedy disposal of their cases. Section 169 of the MCD Act, 1957 lays that appeals against the levy of assessment or revision of assessment orders of the property tax department should be filed in the court of the additional district judge. Currently, there are 1,500 properties that can be attached and auctioned. The MCD attaches the property of property tax defaulters, but finds difficult to auction it, as it cannot get the property vacated.
	Arogya Fair begins New Delhi, October 25 Arogya, a comprehensive international health fair on Ayurveda, yoga, naturopathy, Unani, Siddha and homoeopathy, would be held from tomorrow to project the capabilities and requirements of these traditional systems in modern-day health care and current research trends in them. The four-day-long Arogya Fair this year is being organised by the Department of Ayush in collaboration with India Trade Promotion Organisation at Pragati Maidan here. This year for the first time, 32 international delegates from 16 countries will be participating in the Arogya Fair. These comprise regulators, distributors, consultants and academicians related to traditional medicine (TM) and natural products. An international meet of TM regulators and industry is being organised by Pharmexcil and ministry of commerce. The fair showcases participation by drug manufacturing industry, drug equipment manufacturing industry, publishers and booksellers of Ayush, manufacturers of natural foods, research institutes, practitioners of Ayush systems, medicinal plant nurseries and other stakeholders. The fair would also host the international meet of traditional medicinal regulators and industry from October 26 to 28 and the first international buyer seller meet conference on herbal and medicinal plants on October 28. Live yoga demonstration by experts with personal counselling for treatment of various diseases through yoga and naturopathy would be done. Free health check-up, lectures and counselling by specialists in Ayurveda, Unani, homoeopathy, Siddha and yoga naturopathy, prakriti pariksha and nadi pariksha would also be held during the fair. Demonstration of home remedies for common ailments, sale of traditional drugs, medicinal plants and natural foods would also be done at the fair. — UNI
	Phool Walon ki Sair L-G offers ‘chadar’ Tribune News Service New Delhi, October 25 Lt-Governor Tejendra Khanna offered a floral ‘chadar’ at the Dargah of Khwaja Bakhtiyar Kaki at Mehrauli today as part of the annual historic festival “Phool Walon Ki Sair”, organised by “Anjuman-Sair-e-Gul-Faroshan”. In his address, the Lt-Governor said, “We should follow the Sufi teachings of peaceful co-existence and communal harmony.” He said Delhi has a long tradition of peaceful co-existence and harmony. On this festival, members of different communities carried chadar in a procession to the dargah amidst religious qawwalis. The eight-day-long festival of communal harmony and national integration was started during the reign of the Mughal Emperor Akbar Shah-II (1808-1837)The traditional Pankha depicts religious and communal harmony. Floral offerings are made at the nearby temple of Yogmayaji on the following day cutting across the religious barrier.
	Make facelift of roads in DU: CM Tribune News Service New Delhi, October 25 Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit has directed the Public Works Department (PWD) and the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) to make a facelift of roads in Delhi University. She added that roads in other areas of the Capital should also be widened. She said this at a meeting held to assess the requirements for ensuing Commonwealth Games in Delhi University. She asked the Delhi Traffic Police to prepare an action plan for the implementation of one-way traffic system in the University, before the 2010 Games. Seven foot-over bridges (FOBs) and walking underpasses would also be constructed in the university’s campus. She stressed the need for developing the University campus as a peaceful and secure place for the systematic practice of sports. One indoor gymnasium, stadium and athletic practice track would also be developed at the campus. The athletic practice track would be developed inside the polo ground near the university, which would also be utilised for imparting post-graduate degree in physical education. The University has appointed Engineers India Ltd as consultant for carrying out the necessary work in view of the Commonwealth Games. It is also developing ‘Dhaka’ as one of its campuses, which would be linked with the city bus service. Apart from housing complex and hostels, additional academic centres would also come up at Dhaka.
	Jilted lover gets life term Akhila Singh Tribune News Service New Delhi, October 25 The Karkardooma Court has given life imprisonment to Yashpal, who poured acid on a girl’s face on February 15 in 2006 . Yashpal, a resident of the Mansarovar park area, was attracted towards his house owner’s daughter Renu. However things turned ugly when Renu refused to reciprocate his feelings and he was asked to leave the house. Infuriated with these developments Yashpal got hold of Renu and threw acid on her face the day after the Valentine’s Day in 2006. Renu sustained major burn injuries on her face. The court took serious note of the crime and declared life imprisonment with a fine of Rs 25,000. Though this is the maximum punishment that could be declared in the crime, Renu wanted the court to award him death punishment. “My life is ruined. I wanted capital punishment for him,” said Renu.
	Bomb scare at Red Fort New Delhi, October 25 Several bomb disposal squads and dog squads were rushed to the Red Fort on Thursday evening after an unidentified caller called to say a bomb was planted outside the historic monument, Delhi Police said. “An unidentified person called the Fire Control Room at around 5.45 pm, claiming the presence of a bomb. “We are taking all due precautions and are verifying the identity of the caller,” said police spokesperson.—IANS
	Move to start e-ticketing in buses Syed Ali Ahmed Tribune News Service New Delhi, October 25 The Delhi government has decided to implement automatic vehicle ticketing system (AVTS) by installing computers in every bus plied on Capital’s roads. Private companies that have expertise in computer technology will be invited to enter the system on built, operate and transfer (BOT) basis. A tender will be invited next month by the transport department, sources said. The government need not invest money to implement the automatic vehicle ticketing system. Everything will be done by the private companies. In the beginning, computers will be installed in 1,000 buses. The computers will be operated by the conductors to issue tickets. The tickets will have the details of time, date and distance travelled by the passengers. There will be advertisement on the back of the ticket and money earned through the ads will be given to the companies installing the computer, sources said. Meanwhile, Blueline bus operators met Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit and transport minister Haroon Yusuf and submitted a number of suggestions to be taken to discipline the bus drivers and curb accidents. The bus operators association said that there should be a helpline to register the grievances of the passengers. At present, the operators association has opened a helpline on its own. The helpline number is 23860549.
	Three murderers held Tribune News Service New Delhi, October 25 With the arrest of three persons, Shiv Lal, Ramesh and Basant, the NorthEast district police has claimed to have solved abduction cum murder cases of two persons. On August 30, one Satish Kumar had registered a complaint that his father, Hukum Singh and brother-in-law, Vinod Kumar were missing. According to the complaint both of them had gone to UP for buying buffaloes and were carrying Rs 1, 30,000 in cash with them. Suspecting it to be a case of abduction, police team started their probe with the complainants neighbour Raju as the main suspect. After receiving input, the team went to his native place Pilibheet in Uttar Pradesh and arrested him. Two of his relatives who acted as Raju’s accomplices in the crime were also apprehended. According to the police the main accused Raju disclosed that he accompanied Hukum Singh and Vinod Kumar on the pretext of purchasing buffaloes as they were carrying huge cash. He took them to the house of his brother-in-law at Pilibheet. Further, he gave both them sedatives and strangulated them todeath. The bodies were later disposed off in sugarcane fields. The accused trio then distributed the cash of Rs 1,30,000 in three parts amongst themselves. The skeletal remains of the victims were recovered from the fields.