Monday,
September 2, 2002, Chandigarh, India
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Bandhu pooh-poohs Khurana’s
claim New Delhi, September 1 Ridiculing Delhi Pradesh Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) president Madan Lal Khurana for wanting to taking the credit for the Union Ministry of Urban Development’s approval of conversion of industrial and commercial plots in Delhi from leasehold to freehold, in principle, Mr Bandhu says the matter has been pending before the Centre since 1999. Mr Khurana on Thursday had told newspersons that the note on changing leasehold to freehold would be placed before the Union Cabinet for its approval within a week. Also, the Delhi Development Authority (DDA) had been told to send the note on the change of land use within a fortnight so that the ministry might forward it for the Cabinet’s nod. “The Union Government had slept over it for four years. A reminder was sent in 2001. Nothing moved. It has suddenly woken up to Delhiites’ woes because elections are round the corner,” Mr Bandhu told mediapersons today. Throwing the ball back into the BJP’s court, he said the Centre should approve ‘in situ’ regularisation of industrial units being run in 24 non-conforming areas and regularise all unauthorised colonies in the NCT of Delhi. “If the Centre is sympathetic to the Capital’s woes and wishes well for Delhiites, it should do as much,” he said, and reminded Mr Khurana of the number of proposals of public importance moved by the Delhi Government that are pending with the Centre. “The Government of NCT of Delhi,” he said, “has sent a proposal for ‘in situ’ regularisation of industrial units. The DDA sent a supporting scheme of this proposal to the Centre on March 18, 1999.” Also sought was a change in the parameters of “domestic industry” to safeguard the interests of small and cottage industries running in residential spaces. “It is still in cold storage,” he recalled. Similarly, the proposal for regularising all unauthorised colonies had been pursued for the last four years but in vain. “A sword has been hanging over the heads of 30 lakh residents for the last nine years,” Mr Bandhu added. Mr Bandhu is the latest to join the verbal duel between the two political parties. It all began after Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit questioned the role of Lieutenant-Governor vis-à-vis a popular elected government. Then, it was over who should take the credit for Delhi Metro’s becoming operational by the year-end. |
Banda Bahadur: The unsung hero of Sikh
history New Delhi, September 1 The Minister of HRD, Science and Technology Development, Dr Murli Manohar Joshi, blamed the doctoring of history for the failure to highlight the relevance of people like Banda Singh Bahadur. He said, “When Indira Gandhi was in power, she had to hand over writing history to the Communist Party as a means to sustain her government. The leaders of the Communist Party are responsible for the inclusion of details about Guru Teg Bahadur that irked the sentiments of the Sikhs.” He went on to add that it was a pity that Indians had been fed an “opium of wrong history”. He pointed out that the Government’s priority is to undo the great damage. “The English had a purpose to keep the real history of India from us. All those who claim that the Aryans came from outside India cannot even substantiate their claims. I have often asked them to prove where the Aryans have come from, but no one has ever been able to provide the answer to the poser”. The National Commission of Minorities (NCM) vice-chairman, Mr Tarlochan Singh, reiterated the demands put forth by the Chairman of the Thakur Dwara Trust, Mr V S Jauhar, that a memorial should be constructed in the memory of the Late Baba Banda Singh Bahadur. He said that the Government had failed to do justice to the saint who fought for the downtrodden and against tyranny. Highlighting the contribution and the sacrifice of Baba Banda Singh, Mr Tarlochan Singh reproached the Government for having failed to provide the Sikhs the recognition they deserved. “It is a pity that Sikhs have not got the due recognition they deserve. In the last 1,000 years of Indian history, there have been only two sovereign kings, Shivaji Maharaj and Baba Banda Singh. None of the books even carries the mention of Baba Banda Singh. Even a great king like Maharaja Ranjeet Singh is attributed mere five lines in the history texts. Guru Gobind Singh also finds hardly any mention in the texts.” Among those who recalled the life and times of Baba Banda Singh were Mr Bhure Lal and Dr Surjit Kaur Jolly, Principal, SP Mukherjee College. |
FARIDABAD Faridabad, September 1 The road built at a cost of several crores of rupees 12 years ago and seen as the best approach road to decongest the main Mathura Road (National Highway) has been a victim of official apathy and neglect. Due to this, not only the ambitious plan to divert heavy traffic on Mathura Road failed, but the area also witnessed heavy encroachment and rise in criminal activities. The 11-km-long road was built mainly to serve as a bypass for heavy traffic moving towards Delhi. Although the police and traffic authorities had forced the trucks and goods vehicle to use this road in the beginning, the move petered out after a couple of months. While the heavy vehicles again began using the National Highway instead of the bypass, the road became secluded, giving way to several anti-social activities. The truckers and vehicle owners using this road were faced with several problems, including those related to the law and order. In the absence of streetlights and police patrolling, the area became a hunting ground of criminals. Reports of looting of vehicles and money scared away even those drivers who wanted to use the bypass. Several murders and stabbing incidents had taken place earlier, stated a resident of Sector 8 here. No one dared to go on the bypass road after 8 pm, he said. Due to neglect, a large number of jhuggis and kutcha-pucca houses have come up along the road. According to an estimate, the number of jhuggis along the bypass road could be in thousands. Several people living in this area have been running ‘dairies’ in the green belt of the Huda. Several others are working as household help in the nearby sectors. Residents of these jhuggis have allegedly been involved in the theft of water and power. It is also learnt that some residents had dug up the road at various points to bury the water pipes and electricity lines taken from across the road. Thus, the condition of the roads became worse every year since it was made. The road had no streetlights and police post till a couple of years ago. The situation improved a lot in the recent past when it was being increasingly used by the residents of the sectors that touch the road and nearby villages. The Huda authorities last year had announced that it would widen and re-lay the bypass road to decongest traffic on Mathura Road between Badarpur border and Ballabgarh town. The authorities seem to have woken up and now launched a drive to remove the encroachments along this road. Almost 400 jhuggis and kutcha-pucca houses have been razed in the past week. But whether the authorities will be able to put the road to the use for it was built, will be seen in the days to come. |
A cat may look at a king, but… New Delhi, September 1 The duo were held and fined Rs 1,000 each for the offence by a Lok Adalat. The brothers Chandrashekhar and Amit of Old Delhi’s Sadar Bazar area were nabbed in April by an alert security guard when he spotted them trying to sneak into the Rashtrapati Bhavan premises by climbing the boundary wall and crawling beneath the barbed wire. The brothers were chargesheeted under Indian Penal Code for criminal trespass and intention to enter the high-security Rashtrapati Bhavan. The accused were initially tried by the Criminal Court but on their counsel’s request, the court transferred the case to the Lok Adalat. Metropolitan Magistrate Sanjay Garg who presided over the Lok Adalat found the brothers guilty of the offence and sentenced them to a fine of Rs 1,000 each after a brief trial recently. The duo had tried to sneak into the premises from the ‘11 Murty’ side, north of Rashtrapati Bhavan. They were apprehended by the security personnel after a brief chase as they tried to flee. The chargesheet was filed after the accused were jointly interrogated by Intelligence Bureau (Special Cell) and the police. |
DELHI BOOK FAIR New Delhi, September 1 Almost every stall at the fair, in its repertoire, had included titles on spirituality and religious overtures for self-enhancement. The range of subjects included Pranic Healing, Reiki, Meditation, Yoga, Feng Shui, Vaastu and Acupuncture, which generated a substantial curiosity amongst visitors. The most prominent among the stalls was the Osho exhibit, which propagated the teachings of Rajneesh and the way of life that he subscribed to. Exhibitors went beyond the usual practice of bookshelf presentation by adopting interactive means to intrigue visitors. A special corner was dedicated to the eager visitors who wanted a first-hand experience of the virtues of yoga and meditation. A visitor to the Osho stall said, “My usual way of life inflicts a lot of stress, and I do not have the time to see a professional yoga practitioner. This is where these self-teaching books come in.” The popularity of these books at the Delhi Book Fair clearly depicts the growing need of people to look for alternative means to relieve the stress induced by the fast-paced lifestyle of the 21st century. Apart from the focus on books dealing with self-enhancement, the fair offered visitors with rare titles dealing with a wide range of subjects. All in all, the Delhi Book Fair simultaneously erased constraints faced by the reader of unavailability of titles or subjects and by the publisher of not being able to reach their audience. |
‘Dak Bangla’ shrouded in spooky
atmosphere Meerut, September 1 This ‘Dak Bangla’, built in the second half of the 19th century in a dense forest area near a canal, is still intact though in a tattered condition. After the forest, there are sugarcane fields. The Dahna villagers said that this guesthouse was built by the British irrigation officials during the construction of the middle Ganga canal. The British had been regular visitors to this guesthouse. A farmer, Promod, working in a field near the Dak Bangla, told some mediapersons that several bodies had been recovered from the Dak Bangla in the past. They were so decomposed that stray dogs just dragged them. Several villagers also said that if the well of the Dak Bangla and the orchard field were dug up, several human skeletons might be recovered. Villagers also said that during daytime, they visit the Dak Bangla area sometimes, but after dusk, they dare not pass through the area, let alone visiting it. A canal of water up to 16-17 ft passes by the Dak Bangla, presenting a spooky atmosphere. |
Hold impartial survey, Chautala tells
patwaris Sonepat, September 1 This was stated by Mr Om Prakash Chautala, Chief Minister, while hearing complaints at the canal rest house in Gohana town, 35 km from here, last night. Expressing grave concern over the complaints regarding the survey of drought-hit crops, Mr Chautala directed the officials to take immediate and concrete steps towards redressing the grievances of farmers and curbing irregularities so that the farmers could get compensation for their damaged crops from the government. He admitted that lack of monsoon had affected the standing kharif crop in the state and this had forced the state government to undertake the survey of these crops for giving compensation to the farmers. He declared that the farmers would get the compensation positively after the completion of an impartial survey conducted by the officials of the Revenue department. Referring to the complaints about the erratic supply of canal water for irrigation purposes, Mr Chautala directed the officials of the Irrigation Department to take immediate steps for regular supply of canal water to the farmers. He also told them that farmers at the tail-end villages should get canal water as promised by the government. The Chief Minister also directed the officials to fill the village ponds with canal water at the earliest so that the cattle could get water for drinking purposes. He disclosed that the state government had sanctioned Rs 12 lakh for the repair of the village chaupals in the state. Later, the shopkeepers of Ambedkar Chowk called on the Chief Minister, urging him to give them some time before the demolition of unauthorised structures and removal of encroachments on municipal and public land. Mr Chautala acceded their request and asked them to remove the encroachments on their own within 10 days. |
ROHTAK Rohtak, September 1 Mr Mollah said six issues were discussed at the meeting on which the party would focus during its mass campaign from September 20 to 30. Commenting on the issues, he said severe drought situation, corruption, situation in Gujarat and Jammu and Kashmir, US policy against Iraq and the serious situation in Tripura arising out of terrorism and insurgency, were mainly discussed at the meeting. He said the party would mobilise the people and hold protest demonstrations all over the state on September 20 demanding immediate relief to the drought affected people. The CPM leader criticised the Chautala government for winding up various government departments and rendering thousands of employee’s jobless. He also expressed concern over senior IPS officers of Haryana found guilty of criminal acts one after the other in quick succession. Chautala criticised The Haryana unit of the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) has sought the immediate dismissal of the Chautala government. Mr Narendra Kumar Kashyap, incharge of party affairs in Haryana and Chandigarh, said a delegation of the party had recently submitted a memorandum in this regard to the Governor, Babu Parmanand. He was addressing a press conference here this afternoon. Mr Kashyap said the Chautala government had miserably failed on various fronts and it had no right to remain in power. He claimed that the party would form the next government in Haryana like that in Uttar Pradesh, adding that a large number of Backward Class and around 20 per cent of the Scheduled Caste people had been associated with the party in the state. Moreover, he said a majority of Jat voters, who had been supporting the ruling Indian National Lok Dal (INLD), had become anti-government due to the ‘anti-farmer’ policies of the Chautala government. The BSP leader said that the people in the state had been fed up with the ‘faulty’ policies of all the three ‘Lals’ and they wanted a change, which would be offered by his party. He said the structure of the party would be re-organised in Haryana. He announced that the party would contest election on all the 90 Assembly seats on its own and form the next government. Mr Ashok Sherwal, state president of the party, appealed to the Maharshi Dayanand University authorities to implement the reservation policy for the Scheduled Caste candidates at all levels and also fill up the backlog. Mr Bishan Singh Saini, MLA, said the party would raise the issues of completion of SYL canal, preparation of cards of those living below poverty line, violation of the reservation policy in different departments and adjustment of the retrenched employees to other departments, in the Assembly session to be started from September 2. Prisoner
escapes An under trial prisoner escaped from Pt B.D.Sharma PGIMS here on Friday. According to police sources, the under trial prisoner, Rajendra of Baralpur village in Narwana, was admitted to the PGIMS for treatment. He managed to dodge the policemen accompanying him and escaped from the PGIMS. The police have registered a case against him under Section 223 and 224 of the IPC in this connection. Chain snatcher held The police arrested a youth who allegedly tried to snatch a gold chain from a woman in Model Town area here on Saturday evening. Mr Naresh Hooda, a resident of Model Town, stated in his complaint that his wife along with a woman had gone to a temple on Saturday evening. He alleged that a youth tried to snatch a chain from his wife who was overpowered by him. The suspect was identified as Ajmer of Bhiwani district and a case under Sections 356 and 511 of the IPC was registered against him. |
SONEPAT Sonepat, September 1 According to a report, the memorandum pointed out that around 30,000 passengers commute daily in trains from this station but they have been denied the facility of stoppage of several long distance trains. They have to go either to Delhi or Panipat for boarding these trains. These trains include the Shane-e-Punjab, Suchkhand Express, Sarvodya Express, Swaraj Express, and Delhi-Jammu Tawi superfast express. School buses The District Transport Department has decided to launch a month-long campaign to challan the school buses plying in this city and other parts of the district which do not keep the first aid boxes. According to a report, the authorities have also warned that the licences of drivers of these buses would be cancelled if they failed to keep first-aid boxes in the buses. If they were challaned for the second time, they would have to pay a heavy penalty. The authorities also warned that the vehicles would be impounded in the wake of the third challan and the department would take stern action against their owners. |
NCR BRIEFS Faridabad, September 1 They broke open the almirahs and boxes where cash and valuables were kept. It is reported that they had also threatened the family members with dire consequences if they reported the matter to the police. Meanwhile, the incident has caused panic among the residents of the colony. The police have booked a case. Canal opened Wife raped by husband, friend The rape victim stated in the FIR that she was married to Jagbir at Kultana village. She alleged her husband along with Umed Singh of the same village reached her house and her husband directed her to ‘entertain’ them. She alleged she was raped by the duo when she refused to comply with their immoral demands. A case under Section 376,506 and 34 of the IPC has been registered against the duo. Martyrs’ kin honoured Mr Satpal Maharaj, national secretary of the Congress and a former Union Minister, gave away the cheques amounting to Rs 11,000 each to the members of the martyrs’ families on this occasion. These include Ms Ganga Devi, wife of Mr Nanak Chand, of this district. |
‘Dharam Yudh needed to safeguard border’ Rewari, September 1 Addressing the 30th Sarva Jatiya Mahapanchayat of Ahirwal on the occasion of Janmashtami here on Saturday, he said that if the then Union Government had heeded the sagacious advice tendered by General K. M. Cariappa as well as Lt-Gen K. S. Thimayya and had persisted with the fight against the tribal invaders in Kashmir in 1948 instead of taking the matter to the UN on the advice of the then Governor-General, Lord Louis Mountbatten and the British Army commanders, India would have been spared of the “festering cancer” of Kashmir. If it had been so, the country also would not have gone through the trials and tribulations inflicted on it by the Indo-Pak wars of 1965, 1971 and 1999 (Kargil). He said that it was most agonising that more and more coffins of our gallant jawans continued to come from the border areas to their native villages everyday. Emphasising the urgency of abandoning the policy of appeasement being persistently pursued by the successive union governments, Mr Yadav asserted that emancipation from all these deadly ills lied in waging a Dharam Yudh as in Mahabharata against the enemy as per the age-old golden dictates of Lord Krishna. The mahapanchayat adopted several resolutions demanding reconstruction of the 15 km-long Rewari-Khor stretch of the old Rewari-Delhi road, equitable district-wise distribution of available canal water in Haryana, upgrading of the postgraduate regional centre of Rewari and employment to local youths on a priority basis in the factories here. Besides Mr Raghu Yadav, the mahapanchayat was also addressed among others, by Mr Ran Singh, Mr Shri Chand Arya, Rao Kehar Singh (retired SP), Mr Ashok Purohit, an advocate, and Mr Sajjan Singh. |
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100 jhuggis razed Faridabad It is learnt that these jhuggis had come up on the land belonging to the Huda. The officials had also removed about 100 hutments near Sector 8 here a few days ago. TNS |
Rs 3 lakh snatched from mill cashier Ghaziabad Praveen had given Vishambar Rs 3.05 lakh to deposit in the Punjab National Bank, Ambedkar Road branch. Vishambar reportedly put the cash wrapped in a cloth bag in the tool cabin of the scooter. When he reached near Tele Tube Co in the industrial area, two youths, coming on another scooter, banged against Vishambar's scooter. Before he could get up, the criminals thrashed him and put a revolver on his head. One of them took the scooter key and took the moneybag from the tool cabin. Though Vishambar tried to resist, he was threatened with dire consequences. The criminals then fled the scene. Vishambar informed Praveen on phone immediately. Police force from Kavi Nagar station led by SP (City) Umesh Srivastava reached the spot soon and cordoned off the whole area but could not trace the culprits.
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Auto thieves held, cars seized New Delhi, September 1 He mainly targeted cars with the help of old keys. He had been involved in the theft of 22 cars from areas of Nangloi, Vikas Puri, Paschim Vihar, Mangol Puri, and Lajpat Nagar and Hauz Khas in South district. However, to conceal his identity, he used to sell spare parts of stolen vehicles. Driver
murdered Car collision |
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