New Delhi, January 8
Delhiites are worried as almost all petrol pumps across the city are running dry due to the nationwide indefinite strike being observed by oil companies including, 14 public sector undertakings (PSU).

Many petrol pump dealers said no stock was supplied to them. Some have already started running dry. “People are worried as petrol is one of the basic amenities in the national Capital. We hope this strike is called off soon otherwise it is going to be tough,” claimed Shyam Sundar, a petrol pump dealer in Mayur Vihar phase- I.

Meanwhile, people are piling up at petrol pumps to fill their vehicle tanks.

“This should be taken seriously. I live in Noida Sector-15 and had to come to New Kondli for petrol as all petrol pumps there are out of stock,” said Ankit Maheshwari, a college student.

While Harshit Mukherjee, an engineer in HCL, who was waiting in a long queue at a petrol pump, said, “I have been looking for petrol from the past one hour and, now, when I reach this petrol pump it is taking too much time. I don’t know how is it going to be after today?”

Delhi Petrol Pump Dealers’ Association confirmed that around 145 petrol pumps in the city had gone out of stock. But if sources are to be believed more than 200 petrol pumps are running dry.

Whereas vehicles running on CNG can take a sigh of relief for few days as natural gas supply for automobiles is fluent.

“CNG mother stations keep enough gas to facilitate working for a minimum of four days. If the strike continues, public transport is still safe,” said S P Singh, coordinator of Indian Foundation of Transport Research and Training.

However, aviation services in Delhi have not been hit yet.

“No problem of re-fuelling has been noticed,” an IGI Airport official said. But he was quick to add, “Incoming flights could be delayed due to fuel problems.”

Meanwhile, according to sources, chairmen of ONGC, BHEL and IOC have appealed to the executives of Oil Sector Officers’ Association (OSOA) to withdraw the strike.

Looking at the condition, the transport department of Delhi has enforced the Essential Service Maintenance Act on transporters of the Capital. 

Gurgaon, January 8
The ongoing strike by the employees of certain major oil companies has hit the supplies to the local petrol stations, thereby causing great inconvenience to the vehicle owners.

Most petrol stations in the district and nearby areas exhausted their petrol as well as diesel stocks by this evening.

While most of the local outlets of Indian Oil and Bharat Petroleum ran dry by the end of the day, some outlets of the Hindustan Petroleum continued to cater to a large number of vehicles.

Earlier, large queues of vehicles were seen at most petrol stations as the residents got an air of the fast depleting oil stocks at the local outlets.

“An unprecedented high sale was registered till the afternoon....As of now, we have exhausted all our petrol as well as diesel stock and are forced to send the customers back,” said Sher Singh, the cashier at a busy petrol station in the heart of the city, while talking to The Tribune this evening.

Rakesh Jain, joint secretary of the local petroleum dealers association, said: “Most of the Indian Oil and Bharat Petroleum outlets have exhausted their stocks, but fuel is available at HP petrol stations as their employees are not on strike.”

It may be pertinent to mention here that most of the petrol stations here get their supply of petrol and diesel on a daily basis. Hence, the strike by oil companies’ employees, which began on Tuesday, has left these high and dry.

The vehicle owners are also a worried lot as the availability of fuel remains uncertain. 

New Delhi, January 8
Strike by the executives and employees of oil companies has affected the power generation of gas-based power plants in the national Capital resulting in load shedding in various areas of the capital. It is being expected that people may face difficulty in the morning as water supply can also be disrupted. Residents of South and South West Delhi, who are facing long power cuts, will receive water in short supply.

An official of the Delhi Transco Limited said that there has been zero electricity production in two gas-based power stations – Pragati Power and Gas Turbine. Due to strike in oil companies, gas meant for power production is not being supplied to Delhi. Power generation in power stations has been stopped, which has resulted in fall of power generation by 500 megawatts.

The total power production in Delhi is 1,300-1,400 megawatts per day and the total demand is 3,000 megawatt. After power generation stopped in gas-based power plants, the production has come down to 890 megawatts.

He said that Delhi is already purchasing power from the Northern Grid and other states like Himachal Pradesh, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh and North East states. With the reduction of 500 MW power there would be major problem in the capital.

He added that in such a situation water supply would also be disrupted.

However, Delhi Jal Board official were not available to inform if the board has made any alternate arrangements for water supply.

New Delhi, January 8
The transport strike has not yet hit Delhi’s fruit and vegetable wholesale prices in mandis including, Asia’s biggest Azadpur Mandi, but the retail prices have shot.

Raj Kumar Bhatia, secretary of Azadpur Fruit Market, said, “The wholesale prices of fruits and vegetables are the same. Transporters are not supplying basic items only for very long distances as in southern and western states.”

However, he said a slight fall was noticed in apple and kinnoo as they were being transported to southern states.

Meanwhile, the market prices of basic vegetables like onion, brinjal and capsicum have gone up. “Prices of essential vegetables shot from the time the transporters’ called a nationwide stir. Onion that was around Rs 18 per kg is now costing Rs 24 per kg,” said Amrita Chaudhary of South Extension.

While Asma of Zakir Nagar said, “Retailers are selling vegetable and fruits on higher rates. Apple that was available for Rs 50 per kg in Bharat Nagar is now being sold Rs 100 per kg while cabbage is being sold at Rs 25 per kg. Earlier cabbage was priced at Rs 20 per kg.” 

Noida, January 8
The people of Noida contributed Rs 5010 crore as taxes to central and state governments last year. The citizens of the satellite town paid Rs 1,740 crore by way income tax, Rs 1,900 as trade tax, Rs 1,000 in the form of registration duty while Rs 370 crore were paid as educational infrastructure development cess.

But, sadly very little of this amount is being spent on the development of public services here. The central and state governments do not grant a single rupee to Noida for development. As there is no municipal committee or municipal corporation in Noida, the city does not get any budgetary benefit from central or state finance commissions.

The city is dependent on the Noida Authority alone for its development.

The Noida Authority has planned projects worth a mere Rs 1,320 crore for the development of infrastructure and public utilities this year. Out of this, Rs 1320, Rs 600 crore have been kept for for public works, Rs 450 crore for construction of roads, flyovers, and underpasses.

The remaining Rs 270 crore have been provided for maintenance and repairs.

However, according to knowledgeable circles, hardly 80 per cent of even this budget would be utilized this year.

Gurgaon, January 8
With a view to making Gurgaon a safer and disaster-resilient city, the Haryana government has mooted a pilot project on disaster preparedness and resilience initiative for this millennium city.

The ambitious disaster management plan proposes to develop a holistic, proactive, multi-disaster oriented and technology-driven strategy through a culture of prevention, mitigation, preparedness and response.

This was revealed by Major-General R.K.Kaushal (retd), senior specialist (policies and plans), National Disaster Management Authority, Government of India, at a meeting organised here today.

The district revenue and disaster management officer, Amir Singh, presided over the meeting. 

He informed the meeting that a District Disaster Management Authority (DDMA) had been constituted in Gurgaon under the chairmanship of the deputy commissioner.

The local zila parishad chairman has been made the co-chairman of the DDMA, while the ADC is its CEO.

The local civil surgeon, DCP (HQ), DRO and superintending engineer of PWD (B&R) are other members of the authority.

General Kaushal pointed out that Gurgaon had a strategic and geographic importance and it had become a premier industrial hub in the NCR.

“At the same time, the city is vulnerable to earthquakes, sewage flooding due to faulty drainage system, fire, road, rail and air accidents, terrorism, health-related hazards, besides chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear emergencies.

Prof Abhay Srivastava from the Haryana Institute of Public Administration (HIPA) said as per the records of the Indian Meteorological Department, Gurgaon falls in the fourth seismic zone, and hence, it is highly prone to earthquakes.

He further stated that the natural drainage system in the district has been rendered ineffective due to filling of debris and waste construction material, due to which the threat of urban flooding loomed large on the city. 

General Kaushal said to overcome the risks and minimise the vulnerability to natural and manmade disasters in Gurgaon, the state government had proposed to undertake some projects to help make Gurgaon a disaster resilient district.

He said the disaster management plan needed to be upgraded so that it could cater to the present requirements of the city.

General Kaushal disclosed that the projects would mainly address the functional aspects of disaster management with a focus on upgradation of infrastructure, technology and capacity-building areas.

Emphasising the need of public-private-partnership in the field, General Kaushal said this would be their keynote theme in the developing projects.

“The projects will be taken up by dedicated task forces to be constituted for various activities,” he said, adding that training of first responders like civil defence, police, fire service personnel, masons, carpenters and structural audit of life-line buildings would be conducted under the project.

Awareness and sensitisation programmes for students, NCC cadets, NSS volunteers and Bharat Scouts and Guides would be taken up to apprise them about their roles in the event of any mishap, he added.

New Delhi, January 8
The first man to cross the Sahara desert on a motorcycle, J&K National Panthers Party chief Bhim Singh’s travelogue ‘Peace Mission, Around the World on Motorcycle’ was released by HRD minister Arjun Singh in the Capital today.

Publisher of the book Narender Kumar announced that the Hindi version would be published soon.

Arjun Singh said, “Youngsters should take inspiration from Bhim Singh. I hope they read the book and get an insight into what world is all about.”

The book narrates the incredible journeys of the author across the snow-covered roads of Iran and Afghanistan, sands of the Western Sahara and Siberian terrain of the USSR.

Bhim Singh travelled across the world except Pakistan and China by 1973. “I could not complete my journey by 1973, as I could not get visas for Pakistan and China. I visited the two countries later,” he said.

Stating that Saddam Hussain and Yaser Arafat were some of his close friends, the author said, “All that I had before I had started my journey was just Rs 1,000. People following Christianity and Islam helped me several times. Humanity comes before regional and religious differences.”

Amitabh Mattoo, member of National Knowledge Commission and Bhim Singh’s friend said the author had done consolidated work in Jammu and Kashmir.

“Bhim Singh has always been a rebel. Keeping social welfare at the top, he never thought about achieving power for personal good. He took on the BJP in one of the most difficult constituencies in J&K this time,” said Mattoo.

Talking about the book Mattoo said, “I am not just amazed by the terrain of his journey, but also by the experiences that he has narrated in the book.”

The author’s friend and former Delhi University Students’ Union (DUSU) president Subhash Goel said Bhim Singh had decided to take a world trip on scooter in the times of widespread student unrest in international universities.

“He picked up a scooter and left for a peace mission. Bhim Singh’s contribution to Indian politics be ignored,” he said.

National Commission for Minorities member Harcharan Singh Josh also acknowledged the author’s contribution to international peace movements.

The publisher of the book Narender Kumar announced that the Hindi translation of the book would be published soon. 

New Delhi, January 8
The newly appointed president of Delhi BJP Om Prakash Kohli has asked party workers to start preparing for the forthcoming parliamentary elections.

Kohli, who has been associated with the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) since childhood, said that the coming parliamentary election was his priority. He said the Delhi BJP would work on district level to win the election. Though the party has lost the assembly election, there is not much difference between the percentage of votes secured by the BJP and the Congress. The BJP workers here should start preparing to win all seven seats in the Lok Sabha elections, he stressed.

Kohli, also a former ABVP president, said some changes would be made in the present party set-up so that it is conducive for the Lok Sabha elections.

He said the complete failure of the UPA government at the centre would be highlighted.

He added the Delhi BJP workers would have to take initiative to solve the problems of citizens. The party would try to bring back the smiles that had been lost during the Congress rule.

Partymen from across Delhi thronged the state party headquarters to congratulate Kohli who assured to restore the lost image of the party.

Outgoing president Harsh Vardhan welcomed the Kohli. BJP MLA Vijay Kumar Malhotra, Mayor Arti Mehra, former Delhi Chief Minister Madan Lal Khurana were also present.

Kohli, who was elected to the Rajya Sabha in 1994, said he had been in politics since college days. He taught Hindi in Hansraj and Deshbandhu colleges of Delhi University for 34 years.

New Delhi, January 8
A female journalist and a photographer of Hindi daily Aaj Samaj were allegedly assaulted and robbed by a labour contractor in the Punjabi Bagh area of West Delhi today afternoon.

According to information, the labour contractor N.C. Gupta, not only snatched the mobile phones of the two, but also broke their camera and snatched Rs 41,000. But the police is yet to lodge an FIR against the contractor.

According to Samina Akhtar, a reporter with Aaj Samaj, she, along with photographer Jainiwas, had gone to the cement sliding area in Punjabi Bagh to cover the strike announced by about 10,000 labourers working there. However, their presence did not go down well with contractor N.C. Gupta, who is loosing quite a substantial amount of money due to the strike. Even as the two were leaving the premises on a motorcycle, Gupta stopped them and snatched their mobiles, camera and Rs 41, 000, the circulation money of the newspaper which they were to deposit in the office. “Gupta started abusing and assaulting us without any provocation. He robbed us of Rs 41,000 and took away our mobiles and camera”, said Samina.

The duo had done stories in the past about exploitation of workers by Gupta, and according to Samina, he considered them to be responsible for the strike. “We had done a full page story on the inhuman condition of labourers at the cement sliding area and how the contractor was exploiting them by paying low wages last week only. And so, Gupta did not like us and he seemed to be looking for an opportunity to get to us,” said Samina.

However, when Samina and Jainiwas reached Punjabi Bagh police station to lodge a complaint, they were in for a big surprise. Not only the policemen refrained from lodging a case, but the two were also asked to get eyewitnesses of the incident.

According to Samina and Jainiwas, sub-inspectors Hawa Singh and Kartar Singh tried to discourage them from filing a complaint and warned her of consequences of lodging a case against the contractor.

“Even as I sat writing complaint against Gupta, Hawa Singh told me that it would not be a wise decision and that even Gupta can file false cases against me and put me in trouble. When I insisted to go ahead, they asked me to get witnesses of the incident, which I had none, as the contractor had chosen a deserted area to stop us,” said Samina. The duo was asked to leave without lodging an FIR.

However, Gurmeet Singh, SHO, Punjabi Bagh police station, termed the whole incident a ‘lie’. “Why would Gupta, a crorepati snatch their money and mobile?” said Singh when asked why an FIR had not been lodged in the matter.

New Delhi, January 8
The narcotics and crime prevention cell of the Delhi police seized around 3-kg heroin from two persons in the Capital today. The two were arrested from the Geeta Colony area and old bridge in Sashtri Park.

Gurgaon, January 8
Two persons were killed while three others injured in two separate accidents that took place here today.

In the first incident, a Manipuri girl died on the spot and other got seriously injured when an Innova car, which was coming at high speed, hit the two on the Express Highway near 32 miles stone here today.

The injured girl has been admitted to Paras Hospital and is said to be in a serious condition.

The police said that the victims were siblings and worked at a call centre. The accident took place when they had come out to have lunch.

According to eyewitnesses, the car was running at a very high speed. However, a passerby had managed to stop the car, but the driver fled leaving behind the car. The car is currently in police custody and they are trying to trace the owner.

In another incident, a boy was killed and two others were injured when a truck hit the Opel Corsa car they were traveling in at Jharsa flyover on Wednesday night.

The police said that the victims— Kartike, Naman and Vivek Rathi, were studying MBA in Noida and had come here to attend a friend’s birthday party. They were residents of Ghaziabad.

According to the police, Kartike was declared bought dead in the hospital while the other two were admitted in a serious condition. A case has been registered against the truck, which is yet to be identified.

New Delhi, January 8
IIM Lucknow’s Noida campus recently organised the valediction function of its very first six-month long course— General Management Programme for the Defence Officers.

The programme has been especially designed for the officers of army, navy, and air force so that they can work in the field of management after serving the forces.

The programme started on July 21, 2008 and concluded on January 2, 2009 after running for 24 weeks. The batch had 60 officers including 8 lady officers.

The valediction function was inaugurated by Rajiv Karsolia, principal director (employment), ministry of defence, by lighting the lamp along with Captain Venkataramanan and the officials from IIM Lucknow.

Programme directors, professor N.K. Gupta and professor S.C Bansal welcomed the guests and participants and shared the details of the programme.

Karsolia congratulated the officers for successfully completing the programme and wished them a bright and rewarding career. “The demand for armed forces personnel in the corporate world has increased phenomenally, which is a good sign for those aspiring to make a new career after serving the country on borders,” said Karsolia.

Colonel Shekhawat, who was a part of the placement committee of the course, briefed the gathering on the placement situation. “Many good companies like Larsen and Toubro, Tech Mahindra, Arcil and IBM have recruited the participants with many like Vodafone, Wipro yet to announce their selections,” said Col. Shekhawat.

“Though we had thought that due to the ongoing recession, placements would be a bit tough, but thankfully, the batch has received good reception from the corporate world.

The course offers specialisations in marketing, human resources, operations management and strategy.

IIM Lucknow’s Noida campus will be starting the second batch of the programme in July 2009.