Sheila resents bid to clip wings
Tribune News Service

New Delhi, September 4
The ongoing spat between the Congress-administered Government of NCT of Delhi and the BJP-led NDA Government at the Centre took a new, perhaps decisive, turn on Wednesday when Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit along with her Council of Ministers registered their protest in no uncertain terms over the Centre’s move to circumvent, and dilute, the powers of a duly elected Government of NCT of Delhi.

The decision taken by the Centre stipulates that all decisions of the Government of NCT of Delhi will be vetted and approved by the Lieutenant-Governor. A combative chief minister said the decision that was conveyed by the Union Ministry of Home Affairs amends the Business Rules to give the Lieutenant Governor overriding powers to browse the government’s policy decisions and files.

The chief minister, flanked by her Cabinet colleagues, told a news conference the move was another of the Centre’s attempts to erode the powers of a duly elected, popular government and dubbed it as “retrograde.” This, she was categorical, was not acceptable and went against the established conventions of democratic governance and decision-making. The Centre, she added, had not even as much as sought her views before going ahead with the decision.

Making known her displeasure over the Centre’s “unilateral” decision, Ms Dikshit said the missive could not be seen in isolation. Assembly elections are due, she reasoned, and the BJP found it convenient to create roadblocks in the way of good governance. The chief minister said she had dispatched letters to Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee and Deputy Prime Minister LK Advani to convey her stand.

The chief minister dared the BJP to come out with its “final” view and declare its ‘vision’ of full statehood for the NCT of Delhi. Underlining the need for rising above partisan considerations, she said it was imperative that a suitable model of governance be evolved so that the demands of development and making available basic services to the people can be met.

Blasting the BJP for speaking with a forked tongue on matters of vital importance to Delhiites, the chief minister said its leadership was interfering with the mandate of a popular elected government. 

Outraged girl’s family cries for justice 
Bijendra Ahlawat
Tribune News Service

Faridabad, September 4
Nothing is more traumatic than justice denied to a woman whose modesty has been outraged.

One such incident happened in Ballabgarh town which seems to have shaken the confidence of the residents in the guardians of the law.

The parents of a 20-year-old unmarried girl, who was abducted, allegedly raped, and then photographed in an intimate position, are running from here and there to get the accused behind bars.

Mr Jawahar Singh and his wife Kamlesh Devi, parents of the victim, told mediapersons that they were living constantly in fear as they had blamed the police for not arresting the accused named in the FIR. They alleged that the police were trying to shield the culprits. At least five persons, including a woman, were involved in the incident and the police had arrested only one accused. Six days had passed since the incident took place, the parents of the victim said.

Giving details of the case, the parents, residents of Bheekam Colony in Ballabgarh town here, stated that their daughter, who taught in a private school, was abducted by three to four youths on August 28 on her way to school at about 7.30 am.

The youths sprayed some liquid on her face, rendering her unconscious. She was then taken to an undisclosed place, where one of the boys raped her while another took her photographs.

The parents said that the girl had heard one of the accused talking on his mobile phone when she started gaining consciousness.

The parents produced the victim at a press conference. They alleged that a girl identified as Preeti and some boys had been involved in the incident. The girl was threatened with dire consequences by the accused after the incident. She was told that she and her entire family would be eliminated if she mentioned the incident to anyone. Despite meeting senior officials of the police department, four of the five accused are still at large, the parents complained.

Demanding a probe into the delayed ‘medical examination’ of the girl, they said that the police got the test done after 36 hours of the incident. They said that they would move the National Commission for Women and the National Human Rights Commission, besides broaching the matter with the Chief Minister, the Union Home Minister and the Chief Justice of Punjab and Haryana High Court, if no action was taken.

Teachers want more than just token respect 
Tribune News Service

New Delhi, September 4
Come September and the teachers across the schools in the country get ready to receive preferential treatment, even though it lasts just a day, nay, a few days. Teachers’ Day celebrated on September 5 every year is the day students choose to express their love and gratitude to their gurus.

The ‘NCR Tribune’ spoke to some of the teachers to find out what they felt about the day dedicated to them in the calendar.

“Teachers’ Day is special more for students as it has acquired a distinct place in their calendar. They can dress as teachers and take on the role of teachers for a day. As for respect goes why do they have to reserve it and pour it out on one particular day? If the students really want to greet the teachers on this day, they should resolve to treat them with respect throughout the year,” said Ms Shalini who teaches in a public school in the Capital. Ms Shalini’s views are echoed by the members of her fraternity. All the same, the majority of the teachers are of the view that it is better to light a candle than curse the darkness. Their expectation from the students remains the same. “It is in giving that you receive. The best reward that a teacher can get is to see his or her student doing well in life.”, “said Ms Madhu Chandra, Principal, Birla Vidya Niketan.

State-of-the-art police complex near Panipat 
Pradeep Sharma
Tribune News Service

Panipat, September 4
After dithering for years, the authorities concerned seem to have woken up to the need of having a state-of-the-art complex for police personnel in Siwah village near here.

To be constructed at a cost of about Rs 6.33 crore, the building will meet the long-standing demands of the city in general and the police personnel in particular. In fact, the work on the ambitious project, to be completed in about a year’s time, has begun and various projects of the complex are at different stages of completion.

Sources told the ‘NCR Tribune’ that the four-storeyed building had been designed with a view to meeting the growing needs of the police force and to provide basic amenities to the police personnel under one roof. Besides having an ultra-modern administrative block, the complex would have residential accommodation for different categories of police personnel. As many as 36 houses would be constructed at the police station at a cost of Rs 1.03 crore. Apart from this, 16 Type VII houses would be constructed at a cost of Rs 30.5 lakh.

The construction of 8 Type V houses (cost Rs 25.94 lakh) and 128 Type VI houses (cost Rs 3.14 crore) would be the other highlights of the complex, which is close to the office of the SP.

Currently, the city hardly has police lines worth the name. It has been functioning from the godowns of the National Fertilizers Limited (NFL) for several years now. This falls short of the requirements of the district police, whose engagements were increasing with a spurt in the crime graph. Several feeble attempts to construct the building have reportedly been made in the past but without any result. The current proposal is seen as a definite step to have the new police complex next year.

However, the distance of the new police lines from the bus stand, which was about 4 km, is a cause of worry to the residents. This would mean that the cops would have to trudge this distance for routine work. Since such a large chunk of land was unavailable with the city, the choice of the authorities seemed by and large right.

It may be recalled that during a regular inspection a few months back, the Haryana DGP, Mr M. S. Malik, found several irregularities in the functioning of the police lines. In fact, Mr Malik had reprimanded the DSP (City), Mr Baljit Rathi, in charge of the police lines, for the irregularities. At that time, Mr Baljit Rathi had taken the plea that irregularities were bound to be there since the police lines functioned from the ramshackle building. However, with the construction of the new complex, police officials hope, that all their problems will be a thing of the past. 

THE ACHIEVERS
Her endeavour is to carve out a niche for 
the disabled
Nalini Ranjan

New Delhi, September 4
For more than 20 years, she has been waging a lone battle for the independent identity of physically and mentally challenged children in Patna, Bihar. Her social service organisation, Sunder Arts and Crafts, is run entirely from the income garnered from her private school.

This lady, Lily Gupta, was recently in the Capital to hold a workshop for blind children at Bal Bhavan. In a conversation with NCR Tribune she said in this three-day-long workshop 40 completely blind children of her centre took part. They displayed their abilities in different arts and crafts. They made such marvellous and vivid paintings that one was surprised how blind children could make such amazing things. “Seeing the paintings of these children was like passing through a different kind of experience,” she said.

Lily said, “It is very difficult to run such a venture in a feudal state like Bihar. Imparting skills and making the disabled proficient in some vocations is important but what is most significant is their acceptance by normal children and other members of society. From time to time we hold camps in different parts of the state. Right now, we have 150 disabled children in our centre. All have tremendous potential and poise to be self-reliant. They are learning different kinds of arts and crafts with the help of Braille technique.” However, this good Samaritan says that even though she takes no money from the parents very few parents want to send their disabled children to the centre. “Actually, nobody is ready to support our initiative for reasons best known to them”, she said.

Panipat-Sanoli Road getting a facelift
Tribune News Service

Panipat, September 4
Bumpy rides on the 18-km Panipat-Sanoli Road are going to be a thing of the past with the Haryana PWD (B&R) taking up work of the widening and strengthening of the road.

According to official sources, the work on the Rs 4-crore project is likely to be completed soon. Till July, an amount of Rs 1.75 crore had been spent on the project, work on which commenced on January 15 this year.

While a stretch of 1.9 km had been widened, another stretch of 5.7 km had been strengthened. Another 8-km stretch had been paved with premix carpeting and to drain the water, a 1,020-metre drain had been constructed.

Meanwhile, the work to improve the Gannaur-Shahpur road, estimated to cost Rs 1.11 crore, is likely to be completed by March, 2003. It may be recalled that this road, connecting Panipat with neighbouring towns, was dotted with potholes and it was virtually an apology for a road.

Workers meet DC: Scores of workers of the SK Cotex, Babarpur Mandi, met the Deputy Commissioner against non-payment of their wages and “auctioning” of the factory by the management.

In a representation to the DC, the workers said the management had locked the factory premises on July 16 and did not pay wages for two months. At the time of the “auction” of the property on August 29, the management had promised to pay the wages on September 3, a promise the management had failed to keep, the representation added.

The DC has directed the District Labour Officer to look into the matter.

Nitra courses: The Nitra Powerloom Service Centre and Textile Testing Lab conduct various courses for the applicants.

While weaving, designing and computer designing courses will be of three months’ duration, operator (shuttle-less loom) will of 15 days’ duration and physical and chemical testing course of one month’s duration. Matriculate candidates can apply to the Nitra Centre, E-13, Industrial Area till September 17.

NHPC gets ISO certification for eco-management
Tribune News Service

Faridabad, September 4
The corporate office of the National Hydroelectric Power Corporation (NHPC) here has been granted ISO-14001 certificate for the environment management system. The certificate has been awarded by Bureau Veritas Quality International (BVQI), which had audited the environment management system in operation recently. It is valid for a period of three years. The company has claimed that various action plans has been prepared and being implemented for optimum utilisation of natural resources, besides complying with legal environmental requirements.

Spurious bulbs factory unearthed
Tribune News Service

New Delhi, September 4
The Economic Offences Wing of the Crime Branch today claimed to have unearthed a spurious bulbs manufacturing unit and also seized a large amount of pirated CDs worth Rs 10 lakh after raiding three different places in Delhi. Three persons were arrested.

Acting on a complaint by Prakash Lights that a spurious manufacturing unit had been using their name, a raid was conducted on Sudershan Park in Moti Nagar and Satya Prakash, who was running the factory, was arrested. The police also recovered 622 spurious bulbs, packing material and two machines used for manufacturing spurious bulbs.

In the second raid, the team nabbed one Abhishek Aggarwal from Sant Nagar and seized pirated CDs. As many as 1,910 pirated CDs of different English and Hindi movies, MP3 audio CDs along with one computer system and 11 CD writers were seized from his possession. In another raid, one vendor, Daulat Singh, was arrested on a complaint from Super Cassettes Industries and 473 pirated video CDs, MP3 and audio CDs were seized from his possession. The accused have been arrested and booked under the Copyright Act.

Woman murdered: An elderly lady, Neelam Talwar (55), was reportedly murdered in the Sri Niwas Puri area on Wednesday night. She used to live alone at her ground floor house in Nehru Nagar.

The body was discovered in the morning around 9.30 when her younger daughter Sonu along with her husband found Neelam lying injured. She was immediately rushed to a local hospital where she was declared brought dead. The car of the deceased was also found missing. It was later found near Millennium Park, Ring Road.

Gang busted: The East district has busted a gang of bootleggers from the Mandawali area and seized 6,008 quarters of illicit liquor from their possession. The cache included 3,800 quarters of desi wine, 1,920 quarters of Bagpiper whisky and 288 quarters of Bonny Scot whisky.

Robbed of Rs 30,000: A person was robbed of Rs 30,000, he had withdrawn form a bank in Palwal town, by two youths today. A case has been booked.

According to the police, the victim, identified as Rampal, was going on a bicycle with the money in a bag, when two youths snatched the bag from him.

In another incident, an unidentified cyclist was crushed to death at the crossing of Sector 17 and Sector 18 by a three-wheeler. Meanwhile, four persons have been booked on charges of taking out LPG from cylinders meant for distribution in Ballabgarh town.

Held with weapons: The police have arrested four persons on charges of possessing illegal firearms in separate incidents.

The police arrested one Jitesh from Sector 3 and recovered a country-made revolver. In other incidents, Ajit of Gadpuri, Darshan Singh of Latipur Khader village and Nassru of Rajiv Colony were also arrested after recovery of firearms from their possession.

In another incident, a resident of Ballabgarh, Narender Singh, got injured after he was attacked with sharp-edged weapons. A case has been booked in this connection.

Tea bags worth Rs 1.7 lakh looted
Our Correspondent

Sonepat, September 4
Thieves reportedly entered a teashop of Assam Trading Company at Gohana town, 35 km from here, last night and took away 84 bags of tea worth Rs 1.75 lakh. The police are still investigating into the case.

According to another report, thieves took away six computers worth several thousands of rupees from a school at Mohana village, 19 km from here, last night. A report to this effect has been lodged with the police.

Hurt in mishap: A motorcyclist sustained grievous injuries after a tractor hit him on the G.T. Road near Kundli village, about 25 km from here, last evening. According to a report, the injured motorcyclist was identified at Dharminder Singh of Bahalgarh village. He was rushed to a hospital. His condition is stated to be out of danger. The police have registered the case for investigations.

3 hurt in clashes: Three persons, including two women, were injured in separate clashes that took place at Mohana and Memarpur villages of this district on Tuesday. According to a report, the police are still investigating into the cases and no arrest has been made so far.

DUSU candidate shot at

New Delhi: In the first incident of violence in the run-up to the DUSU polls, a vice-presidential candidate was shot at today by unidentified persons in Mahipalpur.

BUSINESS

Event management industry set to register 
100 per cent growth
Shveta Pathak
Tribune News Service

New Delhi, September 4
With event management companies becoming a ‘must-have’ for managing events right from conferences and seminars to marriages and fashion shows, the annual growth potential of this industry is being projected at more than 100 per cent in the country.

Realising the immense potential the industry holds, the FICCI has formed an Event Management Association of India (EMAI). The recently formed association, which aims at giving a common platform and voicing the concerns of the industry, will start functioning by the end of this year.

“This industry, no doubt, is becoming increasingly popular, but the scenario in India so far has not been very positive. The industry has to face lots of problems on issues like getting permissions from various authorities, permissions on arranging tours of foreign artists etc,” said Mr Vijay Singh, Director, Sercon India.

Professional management of events not only meant added convenience and better presentation, but also would help attracting international players to the country, thereby contributing to the foreign exchange earnings, he said. “Efforts in an organised manner would definitely give better results,” he added.

He said since the industry was working in a largely disorganised manner, it had not been able to register the growth, which it had registered in other countries.

According to Mr Rahul Beri, Executive Director of Mumbai-based Indigo Events and Exhibitions, “Event management is a major industry, a new and exciting source of income. That this industry is emerging as a major tool for promotional activity and media-mix is evident by the fact that the corporate sector, today, is allocating even as high as 64 per cent of their budget for product promotion compared to around eight per cent that was being allocated on an average a few years ago. However, the industry could actually flourish if it is more organised.”