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| Friday,
January 24, 2003, Chandigarh, India |
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CRACKDOWN Panipat, January 23 With this, panic has gripped the residents of the HUDA sectors 11 and 12 and the Housing Board Colony. In a swift action, HUDA officials, under the leadership of the Samalkha SDM and HUDA Estate Officer, Ms Pankaj Chaudhary, have sealed a number of shops functioning in the residential areas, much to the chagrin of the shopkeepers. The HUDA action against the violators is seen as the result of an order from the state government, which has decided to get tough with the encroachers and violators. In fact, a Punjab and Haryana High Court order had also reportedly directed the authorities concerned to remove encroachments and check the misuse of residential premises. Throwing norms to the winds, hundreds of shops, schools, medical stores, beauty parlours and other commercial establishments have been functioning from the residential premises for years now. Though the HUDA had made several feeble efforts to get the violators fall in line, in the absence of any follow-up action, all of them had come unstuck. In a majority of cases, notices were issued to the violators, but the latter continued their businesses. Now the HUDA had reportedly set a deadline of March 17 for the closure of these commercial ventures. In fact, commercial activity in the residential areas was doubly harmful to the HUDA. With such establishments flourishing in the residential areas, there were hardly any takers for the commercial property of the authority worth crores of rupees in these areas. It may be mentioned here that the HUDA had made repeated efforts to auction this property but to no avail. The tightening of noose around the neck of offending shopkeepers is seen as an offshoot of the HUDA proposal to auction the commercial property again. Even as the HUDA goes about sealing the shops, the shopkeepers have started lobbying with the local leaders to come to their rescue. Though they are at the wrong side of the law, they are hopeful that the leaders would plead their cause and get them some reprieve. With elections to the newly-formed Municipal Corporation to be held later this year, the politicians are only too willing to champion the shopkeepers’ cause, howsoever unjustified they may be. However, the eviction of shopkeepers from the residential areas is going to be a tough task for the authorities. While the commercial activity in the HUDA sectors and developed colonies could be distinguished easily, identifying commercial establishments in the rest of the city could prove to be a Herculean task. In a major part of the city, thousands of residential buildings are being misused for commercial purposes by influential exporters and manufacturers of handloom products. Dealing with these “special violators” is the responsibility of the MC. Keeping its past track record of dealing with violators and encroachers in mind, it is anybody’s guess when the violators, if at all, will be punished. |
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Modernity
bypasses Pul Bangash New Delhi, January 23 It also underscores the dilemma of how to handle the ever-burgeoning vehicular traffic. The proposed 1.5 km four-lane flyover will begin from a point opposite Filmistan cinema on East Park Road to Boulevard Road opposite Tis Hazari courts. To keep the disruption of lives and livelihood to the minimum, planners have proposed to lease a portion of the Kishanganj steam locomotive parking lot (now in disuse) from the Northern Railway and knock down the tyre shops that line the left side of Rani Jhansi Road. En route, it will displace two schools housed in old-world Anglo-Arabic architecture replete with stoneware cupolas at the junction opposite the defunct Delhi Cloth Mills premises, thus writing finis to the concept of neighbourhood schools. It swerves leftwards to avoid the gurdwara opposite the schools and in doing so will scythe through the row of shops bordering Azad Market Chowk. This is because nothing can be done to the Pul Bangash, which traverses the arterial railway lines. It carries three-feet-diameter water pipelines on both shoulders making it impossible for any new structure to take its place. But that is not the only reason why the proposed flyover cannot take the Pul Bangash route. Less than 50 metres away, the Metro Rail’s elevated segment adorns the skyline between Tis Hazari and Bara Hindu Rao. The DMRC has stipulated that no new structure can come up within seven metres (about 25 feet) from its property. Because of this, the proposed flyover must take a right turn on Boulevard Road and it will thus cut through the ancient Christ Methodist Church compound, demolishing the quaint Christian colony and possibly the whole of the Bishop’s residence before descending in front of Tis Hazari. So far as relocating the tyre shops on Rani Jhansi Road is concerned, it is proposed to send them to the Sanjay Gandhi Transport Nagar; the logic being that tyres and buses need to be together. The planners have chosen this particular alignment because it is supposed to save more on rehabilitation of uprooted businesses and homes. |
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Some things don’t change at BSNL Faridabad, January 23 Despite all the talk about corporatisation and privatisation, the style of functioning of the BSNL is yet to change. In one of the complaints presented at an ‘open durbar’ of the Deputy Commissioner on Wednesday, the sarpanch of Lohina village of Hodal subdivision stated that the gram panchayat had applied for a phone connection a few years ago after depositing the security fee. Since then the department (BSNL) has been sending regular phone bills of Rs 210 per month to the panchayat. The only hitch is that the BSNL hasn’t released the phone connection yet. The sarpanch has appealed to the department to stop sending the bills till it releases the connection. This is not an isolated case. The department receives hundreds of complaints about faults in connection and instrument sets, wrong billing and delay in getting the bills. There are several telephone exchanges working in the district, catering to about 1.30 lakh subscribers. However, at any given time, hundreds of phones are out of order in each of the exchanges. Also, the pace at which the faults are repaired is quite tardy, complain consumers. “Unless you have a direct access or a known official in the department, rectification of a fault may take several days,” said a resident of Sector 16-A here. Meanwhile, the BSNL authorities here claim to have improved its services to compete with the private phone services launched in January last year. The department has opened several customer care centres in the town to address subscriber complaints and public queries. The BSNL has also spent several lakhs of rupees to provide infrastructure for connecting these centres through a computer network. The department now also has an in-house bill preparing facility with the adoption of the `soft dot’ technology. The department has also announced that it will provide new telephone connections within 48 hours on requests made through phone in certain areas. But it is learnt that the scheme has not been launched in other parts of the town where the demand is high. The private service company that caters to Faridabad claims to have got about 12,000 connections so far. It is claimed that the progress made by this company is mainly due to the better services provided by it. |
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Son of MCD engineer feared kidnapped Noida, January 23 Mr B. D. Sharma had dropped his son at the school as examinations are on. After the exam, Mohit started on foot for his residence along with some friends who went to their houses on the way. Mohit was seen going towards his house at 2 pm. But when he did not reach there by evening, his father inquired from his classmates who could not provide any clue. Mr Sharma then lodged a report with the Sector 20 police station. The police investigation revealed that there is a family dispute over a piece of land. Many criminal cases have been lodged against Mr Sharma’s elder brother, Bal Mukund Sharma, who is embroiled in the dispute with the former, the SP City said. Mr Sharma, who hails from Bulandshahr, has been living with his family in Sadarpur Colony under the Sector 39 police station. Mohit Sharma is a student of Class 9 in Vishwa Bharati Public School in Sector 28, Noida. His mother, Sudha Rani, is a teacher in Chet Ram Inter College, Sadarpur. The police have registered a case under Section 364 of the IPC. The possibility of Mohit himself having disappeared, more so if he has not fared well in the mathematics examination, is also being probed. |
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DLF launches its multiplex Gurgaon, January 23 Spread over 48,000 square feet, the DT Cinemas’ City Centre Multiplex has three screens with a seating capacity of 1,014. It also boasts of a host of facilities like retail shopping, food and beverages and entertainment. Three movies can be screened simultaneously at the three auditoriums. Speaking at the launch of the multiplex, Ms Pia Singh, managing director, DT Cinemas and daughter of DLF chief K. P. Singh, said that the unit would turn into a prime destination for people living in Gurgaon and beyond, including Delhiites, who are looking for complete entertainment. She added that after the project of expanding the Delhi-Jaipur Highway and construction of Sikanderpur bypass was completed, Gurgaon’s connectivity with Delhi would improve immensely. The scope of Gurgaon’s growth would further increase, she said. According to the chief executive officer of DT Cinemas, Ms Kajal Aijaz, the firm will set new standards in security arrangements for multiplex industry. In today’s scenario, security had assumed prime importance, she added. |
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DDA to strictly
monitor additions New Delhi: The Delhi Development Authority today clarified that the regularisation of the changes was not absolute, but was subject to certain conditions. The DDA said it had drawn plans to strictly monitor additions being done in DDA flats and “proper action” would be taken against those flouting norms. “A perception is being created that additions and alterations in DDA flats to any extent are possible. This is not true,” the land-owning body of Delhi said in a statement here three days after announcing the move to allow changes in its flats. It said the additions and alterations in DDA flats were being studied by a committee of experts.
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Sun keeps up pretences, so far so good New Delhi: A bright sun on Thursday brought much cheer to the Capital, which is in the grip of a cold wave for the past few weeks. Delhi has just witnessed the longest spell of fog and the lowest temperatures in the last four decades. The marginal rise in mercury brought reprieve for air travellers as airlines reported flight operations as per schedule. However, the rail services continued to remain affected. Thirteen trains were cancelled and many other were running late, according to a Northern Railway spokesperson. The temperature touched 5.1 degrees Celsius during the night. However, intermittent power cuts continued to nag Delhiites even as the state Government made it clear that the situation will improve only by January end TNS
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RLD up in arms against ‘Chautala Shahi’ Rewari, January 23 As part of the centenary celebration of the late Prime Minister and farmers’ messiah Charan Singh, the state level Ch Charan Singh’s centenary celebrations’ committee is organising a massive ‘kisan rally’ at Rohtak on February 23. More than one lakh farmers of the state will take a pledge to root out ‘Chautala Shahi’ from Haryana. This was stated jointly by Swami Indervesh, state president and Mr Jagdish Rai Kaushik, state general secretary of the Rashtriya Lok Dal at a press conference here last evening. They asserted that there was no government worth the name in Haryana and the entire state administration was being arbitrarily run by the father-sons trio. They alleged that the dictatorial functioning of the trio had terrorised the state machinery and the public at large. Enumerating some glaring acts of omission and commission, they said that their one-point programme was to take huge collections from the rich people. This, they asserted, had affected the industries, about 30 per cent of which had already gone out of Haryana. Giving instances, they recounted that Atlas Industries had migrated from Sonepat to Sahibabad (UP), Escorts Industries from Faridabad to Ghaziabad (UP), Bharat Steel Tube from Ganaur to Karnataka and Parley Biscuits Ltd. from Bahadurgarh to Nimrana (Rajasthan). Making a specific mention of the huge collection of about Rs 2 crore purportedly made for helping Mr Mahendra Chaudhary, former Prime Minister of Fiji, they said that instead of handing over the money to the person, the amount had reportedly been deposited in a bank in the name of two INLD leaders-the state INLD chief, Mr Sher Singh Badsami, and Capt. Inder Singh, MP. Referring to the revelations made by a premier English daily of the country, they said that Mr Abhay Singh Chautala, younger son of the Chief Minister and vice-president of the Indian Olympic Association, had squandered a huge amount of Rs 4.75 crore in betting laid on a one-day cricket match recently played between India and England. Asserting that there was an urgency to end the ‘dictatorial misgovernance’ in the state, the Rashtriya Lok Dal leaders said that the Union Agriculture Minister and national president of the RLD, Mr Ajit Singh, would be the chief guest at the February 23 Rohtak Kisan Rally. |
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Drought
relief just an ‘eyewash’ Jhajjar, January 23 He narrated an incident in which a farmer had been given just Re 1 as compensation, and maintained that the compensation was ‘too little and too late’. He said that the government had been working against the interests of the farmers. It had been fully exposed, Mr Hooda said. Holding the Chautala government responsible for the miserable condition of the farmers, he levelled allegations of partiality in the distribution of relief fund. While the constituencies represented by the Congress MLAs were being left out, the assembly segments of the ruling party were getting the lion’s share, he alleged. The HPCC spokesman charged the Chief Minister with misleading the people on the funds collected for the deposed Prime Minister of FIJI, Mr Mahendra Chaudhary. Mr Hooda said that Mr Chautala gave a red-carpet welcome to the deposed Prime Minister in Rohtak two years ago and collected money to help him in his political battle. Terming it as an embezzlement of funds, he demanded the registration of a criminal case under appropriate sections of the IPC. He sought a clarification from the Chief Minister on how much money had been collected and wanted to know the bank in which the money deposited. |
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Dharna
for fair deal to drought-hit farmers Jhajjar, January 23 The Pradesh general secretary of the party, Mr Jagdish Rai Kaushik, and senior leader Swami Indervesh were among those who participated in the dharna. The RLD leaders also presented a memorandum to the Deputy Commissioner, warning the government of launching an agitation if it does not compensate the farmers adequately till February 6. It held that the facility of the canal water is in limited area in the district and most of the crops were affected by the recent drought. The administration had also declared 76 per cent crop failure but later altered its report to only 9 per cent. The party said that the government has announced now to distribute Rs 61 crore as compensation, but this district was left out. |
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Delhi tail-end villages getting canal water Sonepat, January 23 According to official sources, almost all the tail-end villages falling under the jurisdiction of this water service division have received the full supply of canal water during the rotation period. The farmers have now expressed satisfaction at the functioning of the Delhi Water Service Division and the efforts made by the officials in taking steps to ensure the supply of canal water in the tail-end villages. Meanwhile, the authorities of this water service division have taken a series of steps for checking the cases of canal water theft. The officials intensified patrolling round the clock on the embankment of the canals, distributaries and minors and caught about a dozen farmers while stealing the canal water. Representatives of various farmers organisations have lauded the efforts of the authorities to meet the long-standing demand of the farmers for the canal water. They also urged the state government to allocate more funds for the completion of on-going irrigation schemes in this division. According to a report, the authorities of this division have already completed the work of desilting and deweeding of canals in accordance with the instructions of the state government. |
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SPECIAL FOCUS ON ROHTAK Rohtak, January 23 In 1987, he was awarded the gold medal for the best paper in the field of corrosion control by the Electrochemical Society of India. Dr Chaudhary believes that the research work in the field of corrosion and its control is extremely important keeping in view the applications of metals and alloys in industries. It is difficult to think of any industry not using metals or alloys, which invariably suffer from corrosion phenomenon. Corrosion may cause serious accidents and catastrophic failures, which may result in the loss of human lives, manpower, energy, efficiency and products. Corrosion in water pipes, gas containers, food containers and reactors may lead to environmental pollution and contamination of products. A number of airline and industrial accidents are caused by corrosion problems in metallic parts. It is believed that approximately four per cent of the GNP of a country is lost due to corrosion. Dr Chaudhary has completed eight research projects sponsored by various funding agencies and is currently working on a project sponsored by the University Grants Commission on ‘anti-scalants and corrosion inhibitors for industrial cooling water system’. Dr Chaudhary has established a Corrosion Research Laboratory in the Department of Chemistry. He was presented the ‘Award of Excellence’ by the Maharshi Dayanand University in the year 1999. He is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Chemistry, UK and the Institute of Materials, UK. He has been associated with a number of internationally acclaimed institutes and research organisations including the National Association of Corrosion Engineers (NACE), USA, America Chemical Society, American Institute of Chemical Engineers and International Society of Electrochemistry. He worked at the world famous ‘Max-Planck Institute fur Eisenferschung’, Dusseldort, Germany with renowned scientists such as Prof H.J.Engell, Prof K. Bohnenkamp and Dr E.Riecke in its Corrosion Division from 1978 to 1979. Prof Chaudhary was awarded Max-Planck Society Fellowship and worked on the problem of permeation of nascent hydrogen through steel. In 1980, he also worked with Prof W.A.Schultze in the Corrosion Research Laboratory of Delft University of Technology, Delft, Netherlands. He was again invited by Prof Schultze to work in his laboratory in 1983. In 1991, he delivered a series of lectures related to his research work on corrosion and its control in Singapore, Taiwan and Hong Kong. |
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People
salute Netaji Rohtak, January 23 A yajna was also performed by the Subhash Chandra Bose Welfare Society. Highlighting his contribution in the freedom struggle, Mr Yadav called upon the people to follow the principles of Netaji. The Leader of Opposition in Haryana Assembly, Mr Bhupinder Singh Hooda, also paid tributes to the great freedom fighter in the court complex at Jhajjar. Addressing the gathering, he remembered Netaji’s sacrifice during the days of freedom movement and exhorted the people to adopt the ideology defined by Netaji. The activists of the District Congress Committee (Urban) organised a function at Congress Bhawan on the occasion. Mr Shadi Lal Batra, local MLA and president, DCC (Urban) along with other Congressmen, remembered Netaji and urged the people to strive for the unity and integrity of the nation. Netaji Subhash Memorial Committee also organised a meeting under the presidentship of Mr Banwari Lal Sanghi, a veteran freedom fighter and a soldier of Azad Hind Fauj. |
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Sun smiles on Sonepat Sonepat, January 23 Similarly, long distance and suburban trains ran behind schedule every day during this period. However, there has been no respite from the cold wave which had claimed three lives so far in this district. New Std codes:
According to official sources, the new STD codes of Sonepat would be 0130 and Panipat 0180 instead of 01264 and 01742 respectively. The telephone numbers would be in seven figures instead of six figures now and the figure of 2 would be used before the telephone numbers in existence. However, no reason has been given in the changing of the STD codes. Biradari’s
annual meet:
According to a report, the Biradari is rendering a yeoman’s service to society by opening two dispensaries and two sewing centres for the welfare of the poor and deserving persons. Prisoner attempts escape:
According to a report, the police chased and overpowered him in a few minutes. Another case has now been registered against him. The prisoner had been involved in a number of criminal cases and was lodged in Ambala Jail at present. He was rushed to the local civil hospital from where he was referred to the PGIMS, Rohtak. |
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CPM condemns police action Rohtak: The Communist Party (Marxist), Haryana has condemned the lathi-charge on the students of Kurukshetra University. Describing it as shameful, the party has stated that it deserved strongest public condemnation. The party has held the university administration, besides the police, responsible for the lathi-charge. The party accused the university administration of increasingly resorting to the use of the police force to suppress the genuine protests of the student community, particularly those against the commercialisation of education. The party has demanded strict action against the police officers responsible for the atrocities on the students, unqualified apology from the university administration and an assurance against police entry in the university campus. It has also demanded that the university authorities refrain from frequent and arbitrary increase in fees. OC
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City Bank defrauded of Rs 5 lakh Noida, January 23 2 Bangladeshis arrested during drive against illegal migrants As part of a campaign against illegal migrants, two Bangladeshi nationals were arrested. The police found two people moving around in suspicious manner in Sector-24 and when the cops challenged them they started running. While one was caught easily, the other hid himself in a drain nearby. The duo-identified themselves as Sapan and Zakir and confessed that they had crossed over to India from Bangladesh illegally.
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