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| Thursday,
January 31, 2002, Chandigarh, India
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Delhi ties itself into knots on CNG issue New Delhi, January 30 Quoting the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) report, Environment Minister Deep Chand Bandhu on Wednesday said the ambient air quality had improved dramatically. What would however cause sleepless nights to his beleaguered Cabinet colleague and Transport Minister in the Government of NCT of Delhi, Mr Ajay Maken, is his attributing the downturn in pollution to the “strict enforcement of Pollution Control Act and Rules, improvement in fuel quality, shifting of vehicles on clean fuels etc.” The minister’s declaration could not have come at a more inopportune time for the Government of NCT of Delhi that is engaged in a carefully orchestrated move to get around the Supreme Court’s direction of converting the Capital’s fleet of buses to single fuel (CNG) mode. With barely a day to go before the January 31 deadline set by the apex court expires, both Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit and Transport Minister Ajay Maken have reiterated that diesel buses would continue to ply alongside their CNG counterparts and that there was no way the government could have met that deadline. Environment Minister Bandhu told a news conference that the levels of respiratory suspended particulate matter, carbon monoxide and sulphur dioxide gases had dropped by 15 per cent, 34 per cent and 11 per cent, respectively, in the year 2001. This, he attributed to the inception of CNG-driven public transport and the translocation of polluting industries on the outskirts of the National Capital Territory (NCT). Bandhu’s assertions are at odds with that of Transport Minister Maken who has taken the stand that CNG is not the best alternative and that the choice of fuel should be left to the end user. Basing his arguments on the Mashelkar Committee’s report on auto fuel policy that has recommended multiple clean fuels, Mr Maken had last month announced a revised phase out policy spread over 32 months, whereby 200 buses would be taken off the roads every month. The inadequate supply of CNG leading to long queues at filling stations were the other ‘staple’ reasons put forth against meeting the apex court’s deadline. The Indraprastha Gas Limited (IGL) – a joint venture among the Government of India, Gas Authority of India Limited and Government of NCT of Delhi that supplies CNG to the Capital – has nevertheless stated time and again there was no shortage of CNG and that it could make adequate supplies provided the government was willing to phase out diesel buses and replace them with CNG-driven vehicles. Accusing the government of being all rhetoric and no action, sources said there were few takers for the chassis lying with private manufacturers of CNG buses. Further, debunking the long-queues-at-filling-stations line so often cited in the past by the transport minister, they said the government was only trying to create an “artificial shortage” of CNG in the Capital and that not only was the supply of CNG commensurate with the number of CNG-driven buses that were plying in the city but the quota of CNG supplied to the Capital had been doubled. According to observers, the Government of NCT of Delhi seems to have tied itself in knots over the CNG issue by first promising to deliver and then retracting from its commitments. And in its endeavour to “strike the right balance” between honouring the court’s directions and keeping the stake holders – commuters and private bus operators – in good humour, they say, the government might end up with egg on its face. |
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Spat over cricket passes
spills into parking lot New Delhi, January 30 The traffic police claimed that the DDCA had printed the parking labels with the Traffic Police insignia without seeking the latter’s permission. The traffic police bigwigs have threatened to take the issue to its logical legal conclusion once the match is over. DCP (Traffic) P C Hota is learnt to have written to the DDCA questioning them about the use of the traffic police symbol on the parking labels without prior permission. If the DDCA has indeed printed ‘fake’ parking labels and distributed them recklessly to all and sundry for the limited parking space available outside the Ferozeshah Kotla ground, it will not only create serious traffic bottlenecks on Thursday, but will also be a security threat. But sources in the DDCA asserted that the association had not printed any ‘fake’ parking labels, and the controversy seems to be the outcome of the ‘unreasonable’ demand for passes and parking labels made on the DDCA by powerful people in Delhi. The DDCA has obviously not been able to oblige all the pass seekers, and some powerful people have not taken kindly to the rebuff. No wonder, some key officials of the DDCA had gone ‘underground’ on the eve of the match, to keep away from the nagging pass seekers from the three Ps – the police, the politicians and the Press. |
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THE ACHIEVERS New Delhi, January 30 After his miraculous recovery in two years, the first thought on his mind was how to help spastics and handicapped become self-reliant. He recalls: “The thought of helping these gifted children came to my mind in 1980.’’ His efforts are today spearheaded by the Interact Society for Spastics and Handicapped (Nirmal Ashrey), of which he is a director. The society, which was established eight years ago, takes care of about 80 children with varied disabilities, ranging from physical infirmities to mental retardation, and caters to Noida and its surrounding villages. Iqbal Deep Singh wistfully recalls the early days of his mission, when he started with 40 mentally and physically challenged children. “We went from village to village to trace these children. Convincing the parents was the most difficult job. Sceptics would poke fun at us, but we never looked back. Now, some children at my centre have recovered to an extent that they are leading normal lives,’’ he explains. The children were mostly from extremely poor backgrounds and their parents could not afford professional guidance and medical treatment. The organisation not only provides them treatment but also gives them vocational training, so that they become self-reliant. “About 40 children report at the school from 10 in the morning till 2 in the afternoon. The rest either get training at home or visit us as outdoor patients. Along with education we also provide physiotherapy and occupational therapy. Speech therapy is also often required. The children are not only picked up from their homes, but are also dropped back. All the expenses are borne by the society and I do not take a penny from the parents, even though about 20 children are from financially sound families,’’ says Deep Singh. The organisation has a multi-disciplinary team, which offers individualised programmes and consultation facilities to the children and their families. Some children know the three Rs and given the right vocational training can become semi-skilled workers; others may not be so fortunate, but they are able to look after themselves and perform simple household chores. “The children have shown remarkable progress within the formal educational and training framework of the school and in the informal environment of the family,’’ enthuses Deep Singh. “Our objective is to make the children productive and independent. To achieve our aim, we have extended our various programmes beyond school hours,” he adds. In the vocational training classes, the children are taught the arts, crafts, tailoring and weaving – job functions that provide economic sustenance to the individual. The organisation also assists in the sale of products made by children. Though the capacity of the school is 80, Deep Singh would like to expand it to 4000. ``It is my dream. I shall make it come true,’’ he says with conviction. Although the society gets a grant from the government, it is too meagre to make any difference. Deep Singh is now toying with the idea of setting up a hostel for the children on a plot released by the Noida Authority. Famous Punjabi Pop singer Hans Raj Hans is the patron of the centre. |
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Sonepat
trains: Hard to catch, harder to travel by Sonepat, January 30 According to a report, the train is held up daily at 7.06 a.m. to allow a goods train to pass. Result: Passengers are stranded at the platform for 15 minutes to about half-an-hour. Most of them reach their destinations behind schedule. To compound matters, the ASM on duty and the Station Superintendent of the railway station have turned a deaf ear to their complaints in this regard. There are even some reports of the railway staff misbehaving with them. The Daily Railway Passengers Welfare Association today lodged a protest against the inordinate delay and the inconvenience caused to the passengers. In a press release, it warned that if no step is taken to check the delay, the commuters would have no alternative but to picket the railway track and gherao the Station Superintendent and the ASM on duty. The Association also urged the Union Railway Minister, Mr Nitish Kumar, to order a high-level inquiry into the complaints of the passengers and ensure timely running of trains on the DUK section of the Northern Railway. Even otherwise, there is utter chaos at Sonepat railway stations in the morning when there is a scramble among the commuters to board the Delhi-bound trains. Between 20,000 and 30,000 commuters, including 7,000 women, commute daily between Sonepat and Delhi. The commuters include government servants, teachers, employees of private firms, milk vendors and businessmen. There are half a dozen trains linking Delhi to Sonepat and Panipat. Yet the trains are generally overcrowded. To make things worse, the authorities have cut down the number of coaches, forcing the passengers to huddle themselves in any available nook or corner on the train. Milk vendors, who also travel on monthly season tickets, occupy most of the space with their huge containers. Representations for increasing the number of second class coaches have been ignored. Provision of two separate coaches for women passengers and one for milk vendors would ease the situation. Almost all suburban trains originate from either Delhi or Panipat and some from Ambala and Kurukshetra. Yet these trains usually run behind schedule by 30 minutes or so. The Amritsar-bound Flying Mail (4647 UP) is the worst-hit. |
Doordarshan show leaves a good taste in your mouth Faridabad, January 30 Telecast on Sunday noon on Metro channel, it is the only programme of its kind being aired by the DD at present. While ‘Swad Lajawaab’ had been facing competition from the cookery programmes, being telecast by other leading channels including Star Plus, Sony and Zee, the director of the programme, Mr Ashwini Sharma, claims that it does not interfere with other popular programmes on the rival channels. Hosted by Kanupriya, a TV personality, the preparation of dishes are done by Deepak Wahi, Chef of Hotel Hill View. According to Aditya Mitra, producer of the programme, care had been taken to provide a right mix of continental, Italian, Mexican Chinese and Indian dishes to the viewers of every taste. Some of the preparations include spicy Tacos, cheese delights, shalgam ke kabab, khumb aur bhutta bhaji, vegetable gold coin, paneer sofia, arbi ki tikki and adrak ka shorba. For shooting the show, a huge set was erected at the hotel recently where several episodes were shot. Mr Ashwini Sharma, living in Sector-17, is quite excited about the programme. He said that every care had been taken and given full attention to the minutest detail, right from the presentation to the enlistment of ingredient. He claimed that dishes were not only exclusive but quite simple to cook. Mr Sharma hoped that the programme would be able to garner substantial sponsorship despite the fact that similar programmes were also on air on other channels. Mr Sharma is also associated with some other programmes produced for Doordarshan. |
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NCR BRIEFS Sonepat, January 30 According to a report, the students boycotted their classes and assembled at a compound, where they shouted slogans against the warden. The management of the college assured the students that there would be no such incident in future and asked them to call off their agitation. But, the students decided to continue their stir. WORKERS’ DHARNA:
The members of the Haryana Government PWD Mechanical Workers Union (Public Health Branch), sat on a dharna in front of the office of the Superintending Engineer here yesterday in protest against the non-acceptance of their demands by the officer concerned. According to a report, the employees raised the slogans against the Superintending Engineer, when he declined to hear their grievances. The SE called the police for taking action against the employees. The sight of the police riled the employees and they decided to gherao the officer but the police immediately swung into action and took the SE to his residence. ROAD MISHAPS:
A car and a van collided with each other on the G T Road near Rai police station about 13 km from here yesterday. The persons travelling in both the vehicles escaped unhurt. According to another report, two brothers travelling on a scooter sustained injuries when a tractor hit the scooter on the Sonepat-Bahalgarh Road near Dewan farm about 5 km from here yesterday. Both the injured were immediately hospitalised. They are stated to be out of danger. WHODUNNIT SOLVED:
The Sadar police today claimed to have solved the alleged murder of a widow Mrs Bala Devi, a resident of Garhi Brahmanan village, whose body was found half-burnt in the fields of Kilohrad village in this district on Sunday last. According to a report, the police have arrested three youths, Raj Kumar of Indian Colony at Gohana town and his two friends, namely Rajesh and Jai Bhagwan of Majra village. It is alleged that the culprit, Raj Kumar had carried a dangerous liaison with the younger daughter of the victim. The victim was against the affair and this was the reason for her murder. FREE EYE CAMP:
The Sant Nirankari Mandal will hold its three-day free eye operation camp beginning from February 15 next in the city. According to a report, eminent eye surgeons will conduct the operation of the patients, suffering from various eye diseases. TEACHER ARRESTED:
Sajjan Kumar, a teacher of Government Senior Secondary School, Pipli village, has been arrested by the Kharkhauda police on the charge of liquor consumption and interfering in the work of photographers, deputed by the District Electoral Officer. STRIKE CONTINUES:
The strike by the lawyers in Sonepat and Gohana towns continues today. They are demanding the creation of a separate High Court for Haryana. According to a report, the strike will also continue tomorrow itself. Rewari MARTYR'S DAY: The Deputy Commissioner, Mr Vineet Garg, Additional Deputy Commissioner, Mrs Neerja Shekhar and other officials of the district, participated in a meeting, organised to mark Mahatma Gandhiji’s 53rd Martyrdom Day in the district secretariat complex here today. A two-minute silence was observed in the memory of the martyrs. Paying homage to Gandhiji and other martyrs of the freedom struggle, the Deputy Commissioner said that Gandhiji lived and died for the country. He exhorted the people to follow his ideals. DRDA’s
BUDGET ON EAS:
The District Rural Development Agency (DRDA) had fixed a target of Rs 82 .20 lakh, which was to be spent on the Employment Assurance Scheme during the current financial year. The Deputy Commissioner informed that the district received a sum of Rs 36.58 lakh from the government by way of first installment. He further said that of this, a sum of Rs 22.48 lakh had already been spent on the construction of retaining walls of ponds, boundary walls. |
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Villagers
hold key to progress: Defence Secy Noida, January 30 Dr Narayan, the first CEO-cum-chairman of Greater Noida, was speaking as the chief guest at the week-long carnival of Greater Noida on Monday. He said that Greater Noida had shaped up in a unique way. “We must remember that the villagers in this country play a very important part in the development of areas and even cities. They must be made an integral part of any developmental process.” When we started here, we wanted to develop it as an ideal city. We had a dream, a vision about a model city. What we see here is the sum total of the dedicated effort of all the CEOs posted here as well as the valuable contribution of their colleagues at all levels, Dr Narayan said. There are vast green stretches, wide roads, fountains, industrial units, hospitals, schools, educational, management and engineering institutes, power, water and of course, residential complexes, flats, houses and community facilities, the Defence Secretary said. The development of villages and the rural areas has also been ensured and a thought spared for generating employment opportunities for the youth. All this is very encouraging, he said. Dr Narayan said, “Creating an infrastructure and setting up a modern township is difficult, but more difficult is maintaining them at a level of excellence in all aspects. I am sure this carnival, which has been organised to mark the 12th year of the setting up of Greater Noida, will be made an annual feature and Greater Noida will continue to set new parameters.” In India, very few good new cities have been set up and I got the opportunity to develop Greater Noida in the initial years. I am sure it ranks amongst the best new cities in the country, Dr Yoginder Narayan added. |
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Bhikaji
Cama District Centre to be given a face-lift New Delhi, January 30 Similarly, it would also remove all unauthorised signages. Only specified places will be allowed to have them. The MCD would also construct public utilities on the BOT (Built, Operate and Transfer) basis. These decisions were taken by the Lieutenant-Governor, Mr Vijai Kapoor, after discussing with the senior officers of the DDA, the MCD, Traffic Police, the DJB, the DVB, building owners and the developers including GAIL (Gas Authority of India Ltd), Engineers India Ltd, Jindla Strips Ltd, Ansal Properties and Industries etc. He also visited various blocks of the centre. The Lt-Governor pointed out that the District Centre should be treated as ‘zero tolerance’ area and the problems like drainage, streetlight, traffic bottlenecks, parking of vehicles should be set right on priority basis. With a view to coordinating among the developers/occupiers of various building and civic agencies, a senior engineer of the DDA has been designated as novel officer. The Lt-Governor further suggested that the centre should be transferred from the MCD to the DDA for maintenance. The roads of the centre, henceforth, would be repaired and maintained by the DDA. One-window system should be operationalised for expeditious redressal of the problems. The Lt-Governor asked the DDA officials that the vacant plots should be quickly disposed of as it has vast potential for development. Mr Kapoor asked the DDA to work out the modalities of disposing of the specified sites for constructing multi-tier parking of vehicles with 30 per cent reservation for commercial use by the investors. |
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MCD to refurbish ‘necessary offices’ New Delhi, January 30 Since the NGO has not been successful in maintaining the toilets, the corporation has decided to cancel the agreement signed between the NGO and the corporation. In the agreement, the NGO was asked to maintain the toilets in the slums for 30 years. Rajpuri Gupta, BJP councillor from Mangolpuri, said that due to poor maintenance of the toilets, several diseases had spread in the area. “The toilet is in such a bad condition that people have stopped using it. They have started going to the open area as they do not have enough room in their jhuggis to construct toilets,” he claimed Ramesh, the BJP councillor from Jahangirpuri in North district, said that Sulabh International did not make any arrangement for the discharge of the waste. This was stagnating in the compound of the toilets and could lead to an epidemic in the area. Jahangirpuri was a congested area. If no action had been taken by the agency concerned, it could be a major problem for the MCD, he alleged. Ram Babu Sharma, Leader of the Opposition in the corporation, said that at least 60 public toilets were maintained by Sulabh International and it was given Rs 1,000 for one seat but its condition was not good. |
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We’ll make UP farmer well-off:
Rajnath Noida, January 30 The Chief Minister said that if people reposed their faith in the BJP, I would ensure that the farmers in the state became as prosperous as their counterparts in Punjab and Haryana in three years. Mr Singh said that he was the first-ever Chief Minister to have invited the farmers at his official residence in Lucknow to discuss their problems. The state government had given to farmers a fair price for the paddy and wheat crops, despite some financial loss to the state exchequer, claimed Mr Singh. “My government has finalised schemes so that the farmer will not be dependent on his farming around the year. Within five years, one youth in each farming family will get a job at least,” the Chief Minister said. He alleged that due to a conspiracy between the SP and the BSP, his move for providing 40,000 jobs to youth had been stayed. Mr Singh said that the main reason for lack of development in the state during the past 55 years, was all-pervading corruption for which the political leaders must take the blame. On his part, he had been able to check corrupt ministers like Naresh Aggarwal. In another six months, the public would see the result of the state government’s anti-corruption measures, he asserted. Mr Singh said that some vested interests were “spreading a canard that incumbency factor will work against us. They should forget about forming the next government as I am going to form definitely”. “We might have made mistakes, but we have also learnt our lessons. We are not going to repeat the past mistakes,” the Chief Minister said. |
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Saint Dadu Maharaj’s incarnation anniversary Rewari, January 30 The President of the All-India Dadu Sewak Samaj, Mr Ashok Buwaniwala, said that several programmes comprising satsang and recitation of Dadu-Vani would be organised during the 10-day celebrations. Thousands of devotees and followers of the Dadu Panth, saints of the Dadu-Panth as well as prominent saints of various religious sects and ministers are expected to participate in the celebrations. Swami Gopal Das, the Presiding Saint of the Dadu Dham Naraina, will prominently conduct the programmes. |
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Briefly.... Admissions cancelled Rohtak In separate letters written to different colleges affiliated to the university, the administration directed the authorities to cancel these admissions. Interestingly, candidates securing 31 to 49 marks in the entrance examination to the B. Ed. course were admitted on `first-come first-serve’ basis while those getting 74 marks kept waiting for their call.
Medical exam result New Delhi |
Man stabbed to death over a trivial issue New Delhi, January 30 The police said that both Praveen (21), who runs a milk dairy and his neighbour, Ashraf (21), had gone to a dhaba and had dinner. After the dinner the duo started arguing over a issue that who will pay the dinner bill. Finally, their friends interfered and pacified them. But after coming out from the dhaba the duo again started
quarrelling again and an enraged Praveen whipped out a knife and stabbed him to death, who fled the spot after the incident. Leader dies in road mishap Senior leader of the Akhil Bharat Hindu Mahasabha, Mr Vishwanath Khanna (79), died in a road accident, yesterday. Mr Khanna is the National spokesperson of the Hindu Mahasabha. Murderer nabbed With the arrest of one person the North-West district police today claimed to have solved a brutal murder of Sanjeet (28), resident of Pooth Kalan on January 24. The body was found lying in the road with head injury and a stone with bloodstains was found near the body. The police have arrested Navin (25), resident of the same area, who was also an intimate friend of the deceased. During interrogation it was revealed that the deceased was a habitual drinker and on the fateful night, Sanjeet went to a nearby dhaba and packed meals for two persons. But he was later found missing without having the food. Preliminary investigations revealed that the deceased was last found with Navin in Vaishnav Dhaba. And after that night Navin was also found missing, he was later nabbed from his sister’s house at Rohini. During the interrogation the accused confessed to the murder and said that the deceased used to threaten him on the pretext of various things. Under the influence of alcohol he even slapped Navin, after that an enraged Navin with the help of a stone hit him which turned fatal. Old man murdered Some unidentified persons smothered a 70-year-old man, Pooran Chand Gupta, in his residence at Krishan Colony in the Model Town area of North Delhi and robbed him of Rs 15,000. Pooran Chand lived alone on the ground floor of the building. He had two sons, who lived on the first and second floors. He was seen well in the morning. His body was recovered at about 1.40 pm, when his granddaughter came from the school. She opened the bedroom of Pooran Chand and found him dead. There was no ransacking in the house. Only a sum of Rs 15,000, kept in a brief case, was missing. A case of robbery and murder has been registered, police said. |
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X-rated cassettes seized Jhajjar, January 30 PISTOL RECOVERED:
The Bahadurgarh police recovered a pistol made in the USA and six cartridges from Rajesh alias Raju of Kulasi village today. He was arrested under Arms Act. STOLEN
CARS: The Chief Judicial Magistrate sent the prime accused in the fake vehicle registration case, Anadem alias Anar, alias Ali in five days’ police remand today. He appeared before the CJM after the Crime Branch of the district police arrested him. During interrogation, the accused revealed that he had stolen 14 Maruti cars from Delhi and Gaziabad and sold four cars to Makhan Singh of Hisar, seven to Rakesh Faugi and four to Raju. He further said that these men prepared fake registration numbers and other documents of the cars in league with registration clerks and then sold them. The district police have recovered 32 vehicles and arrested 17 persons in this connection. |
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Pehalwan’s front man nabbed New Delhi, January 30 |
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