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Mixed reaction to Rail Budget
Boy’s death in pit: NHRC issues notices to
govt, hospital
Industrialist kidnapped, Rs 1 crore sought
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Yamuna Bridge to have 8 lanes
Anti-Chauhan campaign on
Bail plea of 2G spectrum accused denied
Nigerian footballer held with cocaine
Minority status will not make Jamia madrassa: VC
DU gears up for polls
Child marriages, illiteracy big concerns: EU
Girl jumps to death in Yamuna canal
NSG man held with 26 kgs of contraband
Houses for govt employees at Dhirpur, soon
Doc held for car robbery
Girl held with fake US dollars
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Mixed reaction to Rail Budget
New Delhi, February 25 However, some argued that the minister needs to maintain basic amenities and increase the frequency of trains on some particular routes. "The focus should be on the upgradation of basic amenities, cleanliness in toilets, clean drinking water and better security measures rather than introducing trains. The ministers should also have increased the frequency of some of the existing popular trains," said Gaurav Khandelkar, a central government employee. Praveen Khandelwal, secretary-general of Trader Association said that freight carriers through road being a costly affair, the traders expected a complete revamping of railway freight mechanism. Presenting her third budget, the minister's announcement of providing 16,000 ex-servicemen jobs in railways came as a pleasant surprise, especially to those attached to the armed forces. "It is a good initiative by the minister to induct ex-servicemen in the railways. It is a recognition of their service to the nation," Damaneek Mann, a retired army officer. Utsav Bains, a physically challenged employee, who commutes daily in the train, said the concession is very appreciable. "With the concessions on the Rajdhani and Shatabdi Express, I can now afford to travel in comfort without burning a hole in my pocket," said Utsav. "The Railway Budget in a nutshell has much less to offer to the business sector as its focus is more on the welfare of the public and employees," said Dilip Modi, president, Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India (Assocham). "It is heartening to see that 85 PPP proposals have been received and the government is setting up a single-window system to take these forward," according to the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI).
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Boy’s death in pit: NHRC issues notices to
govt, hospital
New Delhi, February 25 Only a couple of weeks ago, the NHRC had pulled up the Delhi Jal Board for trying to wash its hands off the death of a labourer because of falling in a pit being dug by a private contractor for the DJB. The NHRC had asked the DJB to pay compensation to the victim's family besides the compensation that the contractor was to pay. The NHRC said today that Abhishek, a student of class IV, was playing with friends near the construction site of a private hospital in Haidarpur village on February 19. Around 6 pm, he slipped and fell into a 12-foot-deep pit which had no boundary wall or watchman to caution people. "A group of villagers reached the spot and tried to rescue Abhishek. They took him to a nearby hospital where he was declared brought dead," the commission said. It was also reported that a case under Section 304(A) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) had been registered at the Shalimar Bagh police station against the hospital, Max Healthcare Institute Ltd., for causing death due to negligence. The NHRC observed that if the reports were true, it raised serious issues of violation of human rights of the deceased due to the negligence of the hospital, Delhi government and Municipal Corporation
of Delhi for not ensuring safety precautions and construction guidelines. Accordingly, it has issued notices to the
chief secretary, Government of the NCT of Delhi; commissioner, Municipal Corporation
of Delhi, and the director of Max Healthcare Institute Limited, calling for
their reports in the matter within four weeks. |
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Industrialist kidnapped, Rs 1 crore sought
Noida, February 25 The kidnappers had used Jain's mobile phone to make the ransom call, which was tapped by the police. Jain's car was recovered from the Civil Lines area of Ghaziabad. The police is now working to track the kidnappers on the basis of surveillance of Jain's mobile phone. "We are working to solve the case within our limitations. The family is not supportive to the police team which makes it difficult for us," Noida superintendent of police Anant Dev said.
IANS |
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Yamuna Bridge to have 8 lanes
Noida, February 25 Chairman Mohinder Singh, briefing the mediamen this evening, said, "The board has given approval to widen the existing Yamuna bridge to eight lanes. Another parallel bridge on Shahdara drain before the Yamuna bridge too would be constructed," said Singh. Land was allotted to the ministry of environment to set up Botanical Garden of Indian Republic (BGIR) in 1997. Till 2001, it could not be completed. As the ministry had not executed the lease deed, the Mulayam Singh government had cancelled the project. Now the board has given approval to set up the project jointly. The authority will do civil work while the ministry will develop the garden. For four hi-tech inter colleges, Noida and Greater Noida authorities granted Rs 10 crore. The board also gave approval for amnesty scheme on water dues. The scheme is open till March 31. The board also reviewed the Rs 380-crore security and surveillance and
e-governance project which was cleared last month by the state government. |
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Anti-Chauhan campaign on
New Delhi, February 25 Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit remains reluctant to remove her close aide and she had, sources said, put up his defence in front of senior leaders who have also been approached by Chauhan's rivals. She has met many senior party leaders in the AICC and sources said she has also met AICC chairperson Sonia Gandhi. When journalists today sought her comments about the fate of Chauhan, she refused to comment reiterating that she had not yet received order from Lokayukta. Chauhan took the Lokayukta recommendation lightly yesterday and attended office. He was busy today lobbying with other leaders to retain his chair. He came to the Secretariat for a short while, sources said. In the recent reshuffle, Dikshit took the urban development department from AK Walia and gave it to Chauhan that shows his closeness to the Chief Minister.
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Bail plea of 2G spectrum accused denied
New Delhi, February 25 Special CBI judge OP Saini dismissed the bail plea of the duo after the CBI special public prosecutor said that they could tamper with the evidences and influence witnesses if let out. "There is no doubt that Chandolia is a high ranking public servant and Balwa is also an influential businessman…they may tamper with evidences or witnesses may not come forward to give statements, more so when no one came forward to complain against their illegal acts," the court said. Chandolia, along with Raja, was arrested by the CBI on February 2 while Balwa was taken into custody on February 8. Balwa came under the scanner of the agency for his proximity to Raja and the DMK top brass. The CBI said Balwa's company Swan Telecom, which allegedly got favours in the spectrum allocation, had caused the national exchequer a loss of over Rs 22,000 crore. Raja is accused of allotting the unified access service licences in violation of rules and procedures that caused a huge loss estimated to be Rs 22,000 crore to the government. Earlier, the CBI had said Raja's actions particularly benefited two firms (Swan Telecom and Unitech), which subsequently sold the licences to other companies and made huge profits.
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Nigerian footballer held with cocaine
New Delhi, February 25 According to DCP (Special Cell) Arun Kampani, the arrest came following investigation into an input that some Nigerians were supplying cocaine to a select category of clients in the high-profile areas of Delhi, especially in hotels and discotheques. Okeke was held with 3 gram of cocaine. He said he had come to deliver the cocaine to a person on directions of his boss, also a Nigerian national and known as Prince. "Prince is very discreet about his communications regarding supply of cocaine and only communicates through SMS and other code language. He also does not entertain any unknown person and does business only after proper verification or reference from known person from the circle of drug users," he said. Okeke first came to India in 2008 and met Prince who lured him into cocaine supply. Okeke is a national-level football player and had played for a well-known football club SUBA of Lagos (Nigeria). Further investigation is on to arrest the kingpin and other related persons. Rs 15 lakh charas seized, one held
A 25-year-old labourer from Bihar has been arrested by outer district police with 9 kg of charas worth Rs 15 lakh. The accused, identified as Mohd Rizwan, was arrested from near Sanjay Gandhi Transport Nagar yesterday. According to DCP (outer) Chhaya Sharma, Rizwan works in a fruit market in Kolkatta and was asked by one Manzu Khan to collect the contraband from Sanjay Gandhi Transport Nagar to bring it to Kolkata. "Rizwan was arrested after he collected the contraband from a Kashimiri youth and was on way to Kolkata when he was arrested by the police," said Sharma. |
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Minority status will not make Jamia madrassa: VC
New Delhi, February 25 "The status will not change the secular nature of the university. It is not fair to think that the minority status given to the institution will make it a ghetto of any form," said Jung. "In fact, the status will be a boost to Muslim education in the country," he added. The university board is currently studying the judgement of the National Commission for National Educational Institutions (NCMEI), which on Tuesday granted minority institution status to Jamia. Jung said that the university was currently working out the modalities for implementing the NCMEI judgement. With the grant of minority institution status, Jamia can now reserve up to 50 per cent of its seats for Muslim students. Trying further to comfort the worried students, Jung said, "Students should not worry about the integrity and status of the institute. We will be consistent on the quality of education, and minority status will be an advantage for us in the days to come." "I haven't seen any communal or political disturbance happening on the campus in the past few days. I have told my students to embrace the judgement," Jung said. On Thursday, the university had held a meeting of the governing body to discuss the judgement. The order put an end to a five-year-long case on a petition filed by the Jamia Students Union, Jamia Old Boys Association and Jamia Teachers Association in 2006, contending that the university was a minority institution and did not need to implement SC, ST or OBC quotas. The university currently has reservation for SC, ST and OBC students.
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DU gears up for polls
New Delhi, February 25 Not just the college unions, elections also take place for all the extra-curricular societies, along with the sports union. — Ex-union member Most of the college elections wind up within the first 15 days of March before the farewell functions and graduation dinners. "It's a trend that at least one of the four office bearers - president, vice-president, cultural secretary and the treasurer is a hosteller. The hostellers have a large following as they have a strong hold amongst the hostel students which makes up for a big fraction of the total voters. The voting choices of day scholars at times changes, but the hostellers are loyalists and stick with their candidates," said Krutika Chawla, one of the campaigners for Priti Dayal, contesting for the president at Lady Shri Ram College. "All the preparations begin at least a month in advance. From February onwards, we start preparing banners, pamphlets, speech material. We plan every move so that the candidates' visibility is maximum. After the 15-day campaigning ends, the candidates have a confrontation with the students in the auditorium and discuss their agenda for the coming session. Next day, the voting takes place. The process is monitored by the faculty members," explained Niman Jagat, former union member from Venkateshwara College. Extra-curricular societies need to start practicing for the next session's performance so the elections are taken care of before the exams and the farewell parties. The first performance is put on the orientation day or the first day of the new college session in July and the societies with their prefects are introduced to the students.
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Child marriages, illiteracy big concerns: EU
New Delhi, February 25 A delegation of six Members of the European Parliament (MEP) expressed concern over sexual and reproductive health of women and girls, especially in the remote areas, after their visits to Gujarat and Rajasthan this week. They pointed out wide gaps among the rural and urban population and in attitudes towards women. Today, they also met 18 Indian MPs from both the Houses to discuss the issues. The MPs said corruption and bureaucracy were the major roadblocks in way of the desired goals. "The parliamentarians seem to be positive and aware of the issues and said the whole problem lay in the implementation. Fight against poverty has to be one of the primary targets for India," said Britta Thomsen, MEP (Denmark). According to her, sex selection is a significant area of concern and India cannot be developing unless steps towards preventing early child marriage and mitigating the gap of under-five child mortality and maternal deaths are taken. "India has improved on several fronts, but girls married off at young and turning mothers in their teens are quite common. I met a woman who was married when she was seven years old," shared Britta. She feels that vis-à-vis other parts of the world, in India women do not have a control on their life even as the status of women has never been at par with their counterparts worldwide. Veronique Mathieu, MEP (France) feels that though women's status has improved much still needs to be done. This raises other issues of under-nutrition, anaemia, HIV/AIDS and associated ailments, more so as India accounts for an alarming 20 per cent of the global maternal deaths which is 68,000 deaths every year. "During their visits, they saw areas where things have moved towards a healthy way at a time where 50 per cent of the deliveries take place at home while 40 per cent of newborn and young children remain malnourished," said Indu Capoor, director of Ahemdabad-based NGO, at whose invitation the delegation came to India. Education is the key to empower women and consequently towards reducing maternal health and mortality. "Education would give some independence and self-esteem to women and girls. It would enable them to make choices and decide when it comes to their marriage. Thus, they can take charge of their life," said Nadja Hirsch, MEP (Germany). Stressing the need for imparting sex education, including safe sex and family planning, to women and young girls, she said, "They seemed to be interested in knowing about various aspects of sexual health and this would eventually empower them." They would prepare a report, said Norbert Neuser, MEP (Germany), and the matter would be taken up in the European Union and G-8 summit. However, one thing that the members found to be encouraging was the participation from the NGOs that has bettered over the years. Meanwhile, among the 18 Indian MPs, Rajya Sabha MP Dr MS Swaminathan, who drafted the 1994 population policy, stressed the point to have a woman-centric population policy with social mobilisation and education being two main components. With 30 per cent of India's population below 30 years, India has a great demographic dividend and that can happen only by this. Apart from this, Rajya Sabha MP and former editor-in-chief of The Tribune HK Dua said, in Punjab, social attitude towards women has led to a skewed sex ratio. Rebello, another MP, said that Kerala has been able to stabilise its population because of universal education, especially of the women.
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Girl jumps to death in Yamuna canal
New Delhi, February 25 According to information, Gayatri left her house this morning, saying that she is going to college but she jumped into the canal. "Some people saw her jumping and called for help. A diver pulled her out and rushed to Maharshi Valmiki Hospital where she died during treatment," a police officer said, adding that the body has been sent for postmortem at Ambedkhar Hospital. No suicide note has been recovered. According to the police, the family members are not aware of the reason behind Gayatri's step and are in a state of shock. "The family has no idea why she committed suicide. The police is questioning her friends and yet to reach any conclusion," said the official. In another case of suicide, a 21-year-old girl ended her life by hanging herself in her room this afternoon, the police said. Shalini was a final year student and a resident of Jasola Vihar at Sarita Vihar. The reasons of her suicide remain unclear, the police said, and no suicide note was found. She was rushed to Holy Family Hospital where she was declared brought dead.
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NSG man held with 26 kgs of contraband
New Delhi, February 25 The police arrested them on a tip-off that two men, including an NSG commando, would come there to deliver the contraband near Saket. The police seized a plastic bag from Kuldeep's possession that contained white colour powder, which was later known as methaqualone. "The police has seized 940 gram of methaqualone and 25 kg of the drug from Delhi and Gurgaon, at their instance. The commando confessed to the crime and said he took the way to crime as he dreamt of being a rich man. Kuldeep was in a strike team which was assigned to tackle the 26/11 Mumbai terror attack in 2008. The banned contraband was processed in Pakistan and was meant to be delivered to a city-based high-profile drug dealer. Meanwhile, a case under Sections 22, 25 and 29 of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act. |
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Houses for govt employees at Dhirpur, soon
New Delhi, February 25 The Chief Minister, Sheila Dikshit, asked the PWD to select a modern and the best design for the proposed residential colony, which must have provision of all amenities. All provisions for greenery, clean air, proper lighting, rainwater harvesting, solar energy and recycling of water should be ensured in the colony. It will have a mini market, schools, parks, playgrounds and provision for community services. A total number of 1,152 flats will be constructed under the first phase which will include 312 type-II, 384 type-III and 456 type-IV quarters. Twelve-floor complex will have a number of lifts and two-level underground parking. There will be a parking space for 1,932 vehicles. It is estimated that Rs 400 crore will be incurred under first phase. The construction under the phase-I will be completed within three years. The PWD will construct 1,102 quarters under second phase and provide parking space for 1,942 vehicles. The colony will have facility of public transport system nearby. The Azadpur Metro station is just 1.3 km away from the proposed site. The government will also try that the construction is completed before prescribed time. The decision was taken at a meeting presided over by the Chief Minister. The meeting was attended by PWD minister Raj Kumar Chauhan, chief secretary Rakesh Mehta, principal secretary to CM PK Tripathi, principal secretary (PWD) and chief engineer (PWD) Rakesh
Mishra.
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Doc held for car robbery
New Delhi, February 25 According to the police, the doctor identified as Manoj Kumar Singh along with his accomplice forcefully got into victim Satish Kumar's Santro car and injected him with some sedative. As Satish became unconscious, the doctor fled with his car. A case was registered in this regard at Begumpur police station. According to Chhaya Sharma, DCP (outer), the accused was arrested after a tip-off from Begumpar last night. "Manoj was driving a robbed Santro car and failed to show the papers when stopped by the police who soon realized that the car had been robbed in the Begumpur area," said Sharma, adding that the accused confessed to the crime after sustained interrogation. He further confessed to have committed theft of a Vikram tempo in the area of Shahbad Dairy on January 6. Dr Manoj is resident of Khera Khurd and his parents are also doctors. "Manoj is married and has a daughter. The accused has done MD (Physician) from Russian State Medical Academy. He is presently working as administrator in the clinic of Dr G N Badhan in the Rani Khera area," said Sharma.
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Girl held with fake US dollars
New Delhi, February 25 She was arrested on February 21from Sarojini Nagar Market in south Delhi where she had gone to exchange fake US currency of face value
$200. Munda, a science graduate from Ranchi University, and resided in
Saket. She worked as a sales girl at an electronic shop. On interrogation, she told the police that she had procured the currency from Prakash (78), who lives in
Jaipur. Munda told the police that she had gone to Jaipur in February to seek monetary help from Prakash for her sister's marriage. Prakash gave her US currency, saying that he had only US dollars as his sons lived in America, said officials. According to
Munda, Prakash earlier lived at Greater Kailash in Delhi, but shifted to Jaipur one year ago.
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