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Sheila vows to continue with development work
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Denied entry, scribes protest in front of LG’s house
Malhotra is leader of oppn
Court moved to get dialysis facilities
Delhi blasts: First charge sheet filed
Now, get factory licences online
T-series lays off 230 employees
Parking space for 700 buses on nullahs
Quality students needed in maths, science: Pitroda
Universities to be upgraded
for C’wealth Games
Three-day school science expo opens
Crime rate dips, claims police
Man gets life term for killing nephew
ICICI bank robbed of over Rs 25 lakh
5 Nepalese held with fake currency
Man booked for tortureof wife
Ethics of climate change discussed
Temperature likely to rise
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Sheila vows to continue with development work
New Delhi, December 17 The swearing-in ceremony was held at Raj Niwas this afternoon. Along with Sheila Dikshit, six of her cabinet ministers, including a woman, took oath of office and secrecy. They were administered the oath by Delhi Lt-Governor Tejinder Khanna in the presence of a large number of politicians, including BJP legislature party leader V. K. Malhotra. Besides Sheila, her ministers in the previous cabinet: A. K. Walia, Mangat Ram Singhal, Haroon Yusuf, Rajkumar Chauhan and Arvinder Singh Lovely and the new face Kiran Walia also took oath. Kiran Walia, Haroon Yusuf and Rajkumar Chauhan took oath in Hindi while the rest of the ministers chose English. Kiran Walia replaced Yogananad Shastri who held the health portfolio. Walia said it was a new experience for her. It is a good opportunity to learn a lot of new things. Portfolios have not been allocated so far. “Whatever department I am given, I will work sincerely and honestly. It is greatness of Sheila Dikshit that she has inducted a woman in her cabinet. This step is very appreciable,” Walia said. When asked about the portfolios, the Chief Minister said they would be decided within a couple of days. Oath of office and secrecy for MLAs will be held in the House on December 19. Jagdish Mukhi, BJP MLA, will be pro tem Speaker. At the swearing-in function, Congress supporters shouted slogans hailing AICC chief Sonia Gandhi and Dikshit. When the election was held, the Congress did not disclose the name of its chief ministerial candidate. Her name was announced in a meeting of the Congress Legislative Party after the victory of the party. Born in March 31, 1938, she is the eldest of three daughters. She was exposed to politics after her marriage with Vinod Dikshit, an IAS officer and son of the then union minister Uma Shankar Dikshit. She completed her primary education from convent of Jesus and Mary School and graduated from Miranda House, Delhi University. She did MA in history.
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Denied entry, scribes protest in front of LG’s house
New Delhi, December 17 They chanted slogans against Lt-Governor Tejender Khanna and Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit. They tried to contact all the officials of the Directorate of Information and Publicity (DIP), including director Udai Sahay. Udai Sahay said, “It was not my house. Everything was managed by the Lt-Governor’s office.” Sahay said he was given only 75 passes which were not enough. |
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Malhotra is leader of oppn
New Delhi, December 17 Malhotra’s name was proposed by Jagdish Mukhi, outgoing leader of opposition. It was seconded by the BJP Delhi unit chief Harsh Vardhan at a meeting of the party MLAs held here today. Malhotra resigned as MP from South Delhi yesterday. Thawar Chand Gehlot, in-charge of Delhi affairs, was observer of the election. After being elected as a leader of the BJP legislative party, Malhotra said it was the second time that he had been elected as leader of opposition. It was in 1972 for the first time when there was the Municipal Executive Council in Delhi. At that time there were only five members in the opposition.Now there were 23 and would stop the government from doing anything wrong in a better way. |
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Court moved to get dialysis facilities
New Delhi, December 17 A division bench of Chief Justice Ajit Prakash Shah and Justice S. Muralidhar issued notices and directed the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) - some city hospitals are run by it - to file their replies within two weeks. The judges posted the matter to January 14. The court was hearing a petition filed by Salekh Chand Jain through his counsel Sugreev Dubey seeking direction to the authorities to ensure proper dialysis facilities in government-run hospitals. The petition said kidney patients in some areas of the city were not able to get treated due to lack of equipment for dialysis. The government had failed to take steps to provide adequate facilities. He contended that in some hospitals the dialysis machines were lying unused. There was no mechanism to improve their condition. Poor patients were forced to go to expensive private hospitals.
— IANS |
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Delhi blasts: First charge sheet filed
New Delhi, December 17 Filing charge sheet in the court of Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Kaveri Baweja, the Delhi police special cell claimed the 22 accused were involved in the serial blasts and posted the next hearing to December 20. In its 76-page charge sheet in the Karol Bagh blast, the police charged the accused with various offences, including waging war against the state, murder and attempt to murder under various provisions of the Indian Penal Code, the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act and the Explosives Substance Act. The charge sheet named
Zia-ur-Rehman, Mohammed Shakeel, Zeeshan, Shaquib Nissar and Mohammed Saif as the main accused.
— IANS |
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Now, get factory licences online
New Delhi, December 17 The applications submitted online will be processed by the Factory Licensing Department of the MCD. “The required fee could be deposited by the factory owners by credit card through Axis Bank which also collects property tax on behalf of MCD. The print-out of licence could be taken out of computer by factory owner himself. In case, the factory owners do not have computer facilities, they can contact the Citizens Service Bureaus set up in every zone of MCD as well as headquarters at Town Hall and can file their applications for issuance and renewal of factory licence,” said Vijender Gupta, chairman, Standing Committee. The new online system will be fast, easy, rational and transparent.
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T-series lays off 230 employees
Noida, December 17 The retrenchment follows a weak performance of the firm’s cassettes segment, its mainstay. The firm has around 1,300 employees, out of which, 800 are permanent and 500 are on contract. Super Cassettes has four units in Noida. “The company has cheated us by not giving us the notice earlier,” union leader Gopal G. Singh said. “On Tuesday, when we went to work, we were told that we need not come again. It is an injustice to us. We tried to hold talks with the management but they did not listen to us at all,” he said. Singh said workers have been offered severance pay for 65 days. “We have demanded that either we are reinstated or paid a VRS equivalent for 105 days,” he said. Referring to the retrenched workers, a senior management staff, who did not wish to be named, said, “These people were not performing and were under observation. They were also warned earlier about their poor work performance but did not show any signs of improvement.” — IANS
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Parking space for 700 buses on nullahs
New Delhi, December 17 The parking would be built over the big drains around the stadium and will cover an area of 1,21,875 square meters. “During the forthcoming Commonwealth Games-2010, a number of sports activities in addition to the opening and closing ceremony of the games will be organised in the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium. It is expected that very heavy vehicular movement will take place in these areas and so, a lot of parking slots and roads will be required to ensure smooth flow of the traffic,” said Vijender Gupta, chairman of the Standing Committee. The project would be developed with a total cost of Rs 325.50 crore. The works on the projects will commence on 28 of this month and will be completed by May 2010. These projects will include covering of Sunehari Nallah from Lajpat Rai Marg (behind Lodhi Hotel) to Dayal Singh College along Lodhi Road and Kushak Nallah from Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium, South Gate to Bhisham Pitamah flyover for constructing an elevated road, which will have parking facilities. The projects will cost Rs 165.50 crore and Rs 160 crore, respectively. “Elevated roads will also be built over the two nallahs, which will act as roads in addition to parking space. After the Commonwealth Games, Kushak Nallah parking will be included in the proposed elevated corridor from Sarai Kale Khan to INA, while the remaining area will be used for parking purposes by nearby offices and residential colonies,” he said.
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Quality students needed in maths, science: Pitroda
New Delhi, December 17 He added, “The present quality of scholars produced in the country is not up to the mark. Countries with smaller population produce more PhDs than India.” Pitroda was speaking on ‘The Work of National Knowledge Commission’ at the 103rd annual session of the PHD Chamber of Commerce and Industry here today. Talking about the idea behind formulating the National Knowledge Commission three years ago, Pitroda said, the man power that India would need in the future was totally different from the man power of today and the Knowledge Commission’s work was to create that man power of the 21st century. “Three preconditions that the Knowledge Commission works around are the disparity, development and demography in India. There is a huge gap of accessibility between the rich and poor, urban and the rural in India,” said Pitroda. He said, the Knowledge Commission is a new initiative and its work would be visible on the ground in almost 25 years. Mentioning that India had maximum number of young people living in one country, Pitroda said, “To cater to this population, India needs to create almost 20 million new jobs year by year,” he said On the issue of creating infrastructure to support the knowledge requirements of modern India, he said, the commission believed that the country required almost 1,500 universities. “We need more universities. The whole reservation debate dies not make sense if the demand of education is matched with the supply. Small set up for the universities could be created by converting the affiliated colleges in small universities,” he said. He added, the vocational education should also be extended in the country to provide experts to the existing industries. Pitroda focused on the need to interconnect 54,000 already existing libraries across the country. He said, the commission recommended a National Library Commission that he believed would give a boost to knowledge economy of the country. “Our commission reports to the Prime Minister. We submit a three page letter to him, which includes ten things that we believe should be done,” he said. Talking about the Right to Education Bill that is to be placed in the Parliament in the coming days, Pitroda said, “We wrote a letter to the Prime Minister saying that the bill should be supported with the funds that it requires.” Other areas that the Knowledge Commission is working on include translation of regional literature, expansion of higher education and formulation of a National Science and Social Science Commission to fund research in the country.
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Universities to be upgraded
for C’wealth Games
New Delhi, December 17 The venues, which include Delhi University, Jamia Millia Islamia and Delhi Public School, R.K. Puram, will be upgraded and developed for various competitions and training of sports persons during the event. Sources in the sports ministry inform that Delhi University has been selected as the venue for the aquatics and rugby 7’s events. The university is planning to set up an advanced aquatics complex and a coaching centre to help groom budding talents, keeping in mind the CWG standards. The university is getting set for the construction of four swimming pools. This includes an Olympic size (50 metres) swimming pool, a synchronised swimming pool, warm-up pool and diving pool, each outfitted with a filtration plant and heating system. On the other hand, Jamia Millia Islamia has been selected as the training venue for lawn bowls, rugby 7’s and table tennis for the mega event. To prepare itself for the Games, the city is planning a major overhaul of its urban infrastructure as well as its sporting facilities. The commonwealth Games will commence from October 3 2010, and an array of sporting events will continue up to October 14. The minister of state for youth affairs and sports, Dr M.S. Gill, recently said that a total of Rs 339 crore will be required for the upgradation and development of the venues of Commonwealth Games (CWG) 2010. Universities across Delhi along with Indira Gandhi Indoor Stadium, Siri Fort Sports Complex and Major Dhyan Chand National Stadium are on the verge of undergoing massive facility upgradation and renovation. For further enhancing the playing capabilities and medal prospects of Indian sportspersons in the context of the Commonwealth Games 2010, an amount of Rs 678 crores has been approved by the government towards training; domestic/international competitions in India; foreign exposure; equipments and scientific back-ups for the sportspersons. The aim is to provide state-of-the-art training to about 1,280 players of 18 sports, in which competition would take place during CWG 2010. The idea is also to give opportunity to young talents from universities. |
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Three-day school science expo opens
Gurgaon, December 17 The exhibition is being organized by SCERT in collaboration of NCERT in which about 226 students and 148 science teachers from 20 districts of the state are participating, 187 stalls have been made on various subjects like agriculture and food security, harnessing energy, disaster management, conservation of natural resources and mathematical ability. Nagal had a round of the exhibition and interacted with the young scientists. He said, “Every creation is necessarily preceded by an idea. In the first stage, information is gathered which results in knowledge and on further improvisation, it becomes one’s wisdom.” Nangal also advised students not to stop at this level of forming a concept, rather keep on asking questions to their teachers and let this process continue. Then they should aggregate this commitment to direct it for use of society. He was of the view that after attaining knowledge, one should pay back to society by doing social deeds. Referring to global warming, Nagal said, “This is the real threat standing at our doorstep and there was no time to wait instead, we have to act now.” Nangal also warned against the misuse of fresh water and said that fresh water constitutes only three per cent of the total water available on the earth. Some thinkers have even said that next war might be fought for water alone. He exhorted the students to launch an awareness drive for conservation of water and form it a part of their lives. Nirmal Lather, director of
SCERT, told The Tribune, “The teams of students which bagged the first and the second positions in their respective districts were participating in this state level exhibition.” She added that the first three outstanding teams would be given prizes of
Rs. 1000, 750 and 500, respectively. |
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Crime rate dips, claims police
New Delhi, December 17 As per the available data, till November 30, there has been a drop of 6,450 criminal cases this year, as compared to the number of cases for the same period last year. According to the statistics provided by the crime bureau of the Delhi police, while there were 50,981 criminal cases registered till November last year, the police stations across the Capital this year registered only 44,419 cases during the said duration. A total of 56,065 cases were registered in 2007 and it is unlikely that 2008 will cross this figure in the month to go by. “The crime rate has recorded a 12.78 per cent decline this year if you compare it with the figures of 2008,” a senior police official said. He attributes the downfall to better policing creating a fear in the minds of criminals. However, even as the total crime graph indicates a dip, sadly the cases of murder and motor vehicle theft in the city have moved upwards. “While crimes like rape and molestation showed a drop in figures, cases of murder, motor vehicle theft, snatching and causing hurt are still on the rise,” said a police official. Delhi continues to retain the distinction of being the capital of motor vehicle thefts, registering 9,560 such cases till November 30 this year. These are 1,817 cases more than those recorded in the corresponding period last year. Similarly, cases of murder have been comparatively more than the last year. According to the statistics, 2008 witnessed 505 cases of murder till November-end as against 453 cases in the corresponding period last year. A total of 495 murder cases were registered in 2007.
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Man gets life term for killing nephew
Noida, December 17 The judgement was pronounced by additional district Judge Saroj Yadav after nine long years of hearing. According to the documents presented in the court, Subhash Kumar, a resident of Salempur Jat falling under the Kakode police station area, was living in his maternal grandfather’s house and was to inherit his property. But, Subhash was having disputes with other members of the grandfather’s family over the inheritance issue. On June 4, 1999, a man called Dayanand came to Subash’s house at around 8 am and took him along on the pretext of some work. On the way, Subhash met his mother’s cousin Ominder, who along with another person Satydev took him to one Vikram’s house outside the village. They then tied him with a tree and shot him. Subhash’s wife Santosh had lodged a report naming the four accused. Later, Santosh and her 10-year-old daughter Pritee had accused the police of omitting the names of Ominder and Satydev from the case and implicating one Mohkam Shugam and Sudesh. The court has also set free Mohkam Shugam and Sudesh. |
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ICICI bank robbed of over Rs 25 lakh
Ghaziabad, December 17 The police said that the exact amount looted is yet to be confirmed but was above Rs 25 lakh. According to reports, the robbers took away the mobile phones of the customers and bank employees and shut them in a room. Within minutes, they collected the currency notes in the bag they had brought and vanished. A customer who entered the bank after the robbers fled, opened the door of the room in which the people were shut. The police team that rushed to the spot is investigating the matter. “We have just reached the spot and investigating. As far as the money is concerned, it is yet to be confirmed, but the employees tell me it is something between Rs 25 to Rs 30 lakh,” said a police official from the Shabibad police station. Prashant Singh, regional sales manager of the ICICI said that robbers seemed to be well aware about the cash location in the bank. “Obviously they just did not enter the bank on whim and robbed it. They must have done the recce in advance about security and the amount of cash in the bank during this particular time,” said Singh. He added that no employee or customer present in the bank during the incident was hurt.
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5 Nepalese held with fake currency
Greater Noida, December 17 Nepalese are believed to be part of an international gang. Two among them are women. Wads of fake Indian currency notes worth Rs 1.65 lakh and Rs 35,000 in real Indian currency have been seized by the police from the arrested persons. The gang has allegedly circulated fake notes worth Rs 1.35 lakh in the NCR markets so far. Bisarakh police suspects the gang to be linked with the Pak secret agency ISI. SP Rural, Surinder Kumar Verma said Balister and his wife Manju were arrested while trying to push the currency at Satish’s general merchant shop in
Habibpur. Balister and Manju hail from Parsa in Nepal. On frisking fake currency notes worth Rs 45,000 were recovered from them. Later, three of their accomplices–Dhan Jai, his wife Pramila and Ajay—were also taken into custody. They were living in a rented house owned by Harsharan at Nathu Colony in
Barola. Ajay and Dhan Jai used to visit India after collecting consignments of fake Indian currency from Juman and his brother Shaurabh, they told the police. Those pushing fake currency notes into the market would earn a commission of Rs 5,000 on Rs 1 lakh in fake currency. All these agents were shown to be the employees of a stitching unit in Tughlaqabad, Delhi, being run by Jatinder Naraya and Shafique. Bisarakh police team raided their Delhi hideout but they had fled from there. |
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Man booked for tortureof wife
Faridabad, December 17 The criminal case was registered on a complaint of Mangal Singh, resident of Bapu Nagar here, alleging that his daughter was being constantly harassed by her husband and in-laws for dowry. As per his allegation, the in-laws in the latest series of demands have been pressing for a motorcycle and Rs 20,000 in cash. His daughter had been married to one Satbir Singh at Alwar in Rajasthan about four years back. Immediately after the marriage, the in-laws started pressing for dowry and threatened her with dire consequences if she failed to bring it. The police has named about a dozen persons, including her husband. The police here says that it would soon send a team to arrest the accused in the case. |
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Ethics of climate change discussed
New Delhi, December 17 The lecture was held in the commemoration of the 66th death anniversary of late Justice Sunanda Bhandari. Essentially, rapid industrialisation is the primary causative agent of climate change that is having a toll on the delicate balance of nature. “Industrialisation started about 150 years ago. The discovery of steam engine brought into our consciousness our dependency on fuel. But by burning hydrocarbon, 280 parts per 80 million parts of earth’s atmosphere has been contaminated. In other words, we have increased the proportion of CO2 by 40 per cent,” said Dr R. K.
Pachauri, the recipient of Nobel Peace Prize (2007) and chairman of Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change
(IPCC), while deliberating upon “Ethics and the Challenge of Climate Change”. Consequently, the atmosphere is coated by a blanket, which bounces back the heat generated to the earth. This leads to rise in temperatures and creates an imbalance in the entire ecological system. Depletion of natural cover and resources has led to higher intensity of droughts, floods and higher precipitation of water. Himalayan glaciers, which are widening, would impact five million people in and around India. Pachauri pointed out that about 110 years ago, scientists had sounded warning bells about this danger, but we ignored and continued. Swedish scientist Araneus researched on this in 1890 to understand the kind of perturbations that would result in the process, and till 1980’s, this issue of denial continued. “But, we are so drunk with the desire to produce and consume more that we lose track of intergenerational equity,” said Pachauri emphasising the ethical dimensions of the concern. “As a matter of fact, the creators of the danger would be scot-free, and it is the developing countries which have to pay the price, for they do not have early warning systems and effective disaster management set-ups, outlined
Pachauri. In this context, he referred to the Maldives, cyclone Nargis in Myanmar and hurricane Rita in Texas, which had ended up with heart-shattering devastation. “Warming of climate is a huge danger and we have to urgently deal with it. If we have to adapt ourselves to impact of climate change, we have to upgrade our infrastructure. We need ethics at the national, international as well as individual level, and if we don’t do so we would be criminal in our intent, and the blood of our future generations would be on our hands,” remarked the Nobel recipient. Further, laying examples of Obama’s creation of green jobs, he said that a major change, paving the way for energy-efficient ways, is imperative in every sector, while bringing a total shift in mindset of the people as a whole. Justice Arijit Pasayat of Supreme Court, said, “We have to take care of nature at least for our future generations.” In this context, he quoted the lines of
Coleridge, a romanticist of the 19th century—Water, water everywhere, nor any drop to drink. Presiding over the function, Ajit Prakash Shah, chief justice of the Delhi High Court said, “The whole world is one global village, and the entire world has to deal with it collectively. Vasudeva
kutumbakam. We are committing a crime against creation, and now we have to take the onus of waging a war against climate change. All the governments have to stand together to the issue and direct combined efforts.” |
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Temperature likely to rise
New Delhi, December 17 “The sky over the capital will remain cloudy for another day, and the night temperature is likely to increase,” a meteorological department official said. Visibility at the Indira Gandhi International Airport (IGIA) was normal and flights were reported to be running on time. The minimum temperature of 10.3 degrees Celsius on Wednesday.
— IANS |
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Scores of journalists sat on dharna in front of Lt-Governor’s house. They were not allowed entry to Raj Niwas to cover the swearing-in ceremony.
The three-day Haryana state school science exhibition began here at State Council for Educational Research and Training today. It was inaugurated by divisional commissioner DPS
Nagal. The theme of the exhibition is Science and Technology for Global Sustainability. 
