Noida, March 9
A gang of criminals decamped with diamonds and jewellery worth Rs.1.50 crore from a diamond showroom in the prestigious sector-18 market late Monday night.

The criminals had first attacked the jeweller at his residence in Sector-41, from where they abducted his wife and brought her in the jeweller’s Lancer car to their showroom. They made the woman open the showroom’s shutters and later decamped with the booty in the jeweller’s car. The woman was tied and left behind in the shop. She was warned against raising an alarm: Otherwise, their two accomplices, who had stayed back at the jeweller’s residence, would finish off her husband and son.

Giving details of what transpired earlier at the residence, the police said the showroom owner, B.S. Shaha, and his wife offered some resistance, but they were intimidated with guns and tied up. Having secured the residence, the intruders took the owner’s wife in the family car (No.DL-4C M 7564) to their showroom, Diamonds Exclusives, in Sector-18. Two gang members stayed back with their guns trained at Shaha, his 18-year-old son Supreet and a domestic help. The criminals were constantly in touch on cell phones.

The showroom is 100 meters away from the Sector-18 police post. But the police did not get a wind of the loot. The armed guard at the showroom also did not get suspicious since Mrs Shaha was herself opening the shutters. Preety was later tied with her own dupatta in the basement. After this, the intruders helped themselves to over 60 boxes of diamonds and jewellery. The gang members looted the shop at leisure and spent an hour in the showroom. When they were loading the boxes into the car, a number of shops were still open in the market.

There was a complete confusion when the police learnt of the loot. They reached the site immediately, but could not gather any information about the fleeing criminals.

SP City Noida Anant Dev, however, tried to underplay the crime and the loss, saying that the looted jewellery was worth only about Rs 5 to 7 lakhs and not Rs 1.50 crore as claimed by the victims.

The police are dumbfounded at the biggest loot in Noida’s history. The desperados were in their 20s and each had a revolver. The police have no clue which vehicle the criminals had used to reach sector-41.

New Delhi, March 9
The Supreme Court has directed the Commissioner of Delhi Police to probe allegations that the diesel sold at the retail outlets of leading petroleum companies in the national capital territory was adulterated.

The order was passed by a Bench comprising Chief Justice V N Khare, Justice Y K Sabharwal and Justice Arijit Pasayat. Amicus curiae Harish Salve had brought to the court’s notice an article published in the magazine, ‘Down To Earth’, giving photographic evidence of diesel being pilfered from the oil tankers and then replenished with chlorine, kerosene or even dry cleaning agents.

The court had on November 24, 2003, treated the photographs and the report as an interim application, moved by the amicus and issued notices to both the oil companies, Hindustan Petroleum and Indian Oil Corporation, asking for their response. Both the companies had initially asserted that they were supplying fuel through tamper-proof tankers, but later said that they were investigating the matter.

New Delhi, March 9
On the lines of the Delhi Government, an anti-corruption department is going to be set up in New Delhi Municipal Council (NDMC) to check the cases of corruption and malpractices in the civic body, entrusted with the task of providing basic amenities to the VVIP areas in Lutyens’ Delhi.

The initial exercise in this direction has already been completed with the appointment of a senior level officer of the CBI as a director of this proposed department. Other officers are expected to be appointed soon. According to sources, the reason for setting up this department is the alleged failure of the existing vigilance department to check corruption.

It is likely that some of the officers working in the Vigilance Department may be inducted into the new anti-corruption department.

Highly placed sources said that the idea to set up such a department had been discussed for the last several months after a number of allegations were levelled against the employees, including senior

officers, of their complicity with the building mafia and others operating in the NDMC areas.

As the council is for the New Delhi areas only, the officers and employees have been in their posts for years together and have reportedly developed ‘very cordial’ relations with the contractors and sub-contractors.

Sources said that some officers who have risen from the ranks in the NDMC have become a law unto themselves because of their proximity to the senior officers. This has led to the erosion of discipline and work ethics in the council which has to often deal with the VIPs living in the NDMC areas—basically bureaucrats and politicians.

To prove their point, sources cite the example of one particular officer who has been with the council for 32 years, drawing salary more than that of the director of the department he is posted in. This has led to an unsavoury situation within the department.

New Delhi, March 9
Thousands of Central Government Health Scheme beneficiaries are feeling under the weather as the CGHS dispensaries in Delhi and NCR region are not able to meet their requirement of medicines. The shortage of medicine is due to a strike by the CGHS Chemists Association.

The association has stopped all supplies from March 8 due to non-payment of their bills for the last 20 weeks.

The worst affected are pensioners and their dependents.

Talking to the ‘NCR Tribune’, an office-bearer of the association said, “The payment of our bills has been pending for more than 22 weeks. This is a recurring feature for the last five years.”

October onwards, the unpaid bills mount owing to the budget shortfall, the office-bearer said.

In its letter of March 3 to the Ministry of Health, the association pleaded for payment.

It said, “March being the financial closing of the year, our suppliers keep asking for their payments. It causes a lot of embarrassment to us. While tender Clause No 27 clearly specifies that payments are to be cleared in three or four weeks from the date of submission of bills, the latter have been pending now for 20-25 weeks,” the letter pointed out and announced that the supplies would be suspended from March 8.

However, the association assured that the supplies would be restored as soon as funds were made available.

In 2003, too, the CGHS Chemist Association had gone on strike in November; the stir lasted till January 15, 2004. The patients had to buy medicines on their own and for reimbursement, they had to wait for weeks.

Seventy-one-year-old Vinod Singh, a patient at the CGHS dispensary, Noida, said, “I am facing a crisis for the second time. During the five-week strike in 2002-2003, I and my wife had to face a lot of hardship. The strike made a big hole in our pockets. Besides, we had to do a lot of running around. Filling up forms, getting them passed and then waiting endlessly for payments,” he lamented.

The septuagenarian patient rued the fact that he had been coming to the dispensary for more than 10 years,

but the situation had gone from bad to worse. The number of beneficiaries had gone up, almost doubled, but the number of doctors and staff remained constant, the patient said.

New Delhi, March 9
The Delhi Police Commissioner, Dr K K Paul, has ordered the setting up of complaint boxes in women’s schools, colleges and residential areas.

Dr Paul has also sought a report every fortnight from the Joint Commissioners of Police about the number of complaints received along with a statement on the disposal of complaints. He has asked the officials to set up these boxes at visible places, preferably at the entrance of schools and colleges so that the students can post their complaints without hassles.

These boxes will have the telephone numbers and e-mail addresses of the district Deputy Commissioners of Police, telephones numbers of Assistant Commissioners of Police, SHOs and the Helpline as well.

The boxes will be opened twice a week by the Assistant Commissioner of Police concerned. The ACP will compile the list and then put up the complaints before the District DCP for the necessary action.

Whenever a serious complaint is received, the services of the district Crime Against Women (CAW) cell would be sought by the local police.

The ACPs will also be in touch with the principals and the presidents of the Resident Welfare Associations to inform them about the progress of the complaints. Besides, a meeting will also be held under the chairmanship of the District DCP or the Additional DCP to discuss about the complaints and their eventual disposal. The woman students and the Resident Welfare Associations are quite happy about the setting up of these boxes. They can register their complaints now without reaching a police station, thereby saving precious time. Meanwhile, people have responded favourably to the efforts of the Delhi Police Commissioner to improve traffic conditions and decongest the roads.

Senior traffic officers are now out on the roads, particularly during the peak hours to regulate traffic. Mr Raj Kishore, a resident of IP Extension who drives to work to his office in the ITO area said, “There has been a perceptible improvement over the last one week in the flow of traffic on the ITO bridge, Lakshmi Nagar crossing and the road till Mother Dairy.”

According to a report, the Superintendent of Police, Mr Kuldip Singh Sihag, has deputed ASI Ram Kumar to conduct a probe into the scam.

The SP has taken this action on the directive issued by Mr J. S. Jangra, Additional Sessions Judge, Sonepat.

New Delhi, March 9
The Delhi High Court today issued a notice to Delhi Transport and Energy Minister Haroon Yusuf on another petition challenging his election from the Ballimaran assembly constituency in Delhi. Mr Justice R. C. Chopra issued a notice on a petition filed by Mr Naved Yar Khan, who was a candidate of the Indian National League from the same constituency, to the Election Commission, the Delhi Wakf Board and all other candidates who contested from the constituency. The petitioner challenged Mr Yusuf’s election on the grounds that he was holding an office of profit (with the Delhi Wakf Board) at the time of his election.

New Delhi, March 9
The Delhi Metro project that is coming up as one of the latest and unique projects is, according to an Austrian transport policy expert, a sheer waste of public money. The expert said that it was not a viable option for the national Capital.

“The Rs 10,571 crore Metro project (for phase-1) is what the country could ill-afford. It has a long gestation period and does not take care of the city’s current transport needs. Moreover, the public money is moving into private hands,” said Prof. Hermann Knoflacher, head of the Institute for Transport Planning and Traffic Engineering, Vienna.

Instead, he recommended strengthening of the road public transport system.

Prof. Knoflacher said if good quality buses could be introduced and their number increased, people would prefer to use them rather than rely on their cars.

“This not only provides an instantaneous solution for public transport problem, but also discourages people from taking out their own cars,” Prof Knoflacher said. He was speaking at a presentation on ‘Understanding the effects of transport infrastructures’ at the Indian Social Institute here.

Meanwhile, the Metro officials said that the Metro system is of inescapable necessity if the present transportation problems and pollution levels are to be eased.

Metro is not only a fuel-saving and environment-friendly system but it also reduces accident rates, said the officials. “If the bus system at its best carries 10,000 persons every hour per direction, Metro Rail can cater to eight times the number of people during the same period. It can, in fact, carry nine lanes of buses and 33 lanes of private cars either way,” said Anuj Dayal, spokesperson of the Delhi Metro.

He said that Metro Rail also reduces journey time by 50 to 75 per cent, depending on the road conditions.

The expected ridership in 2005 is 21.82 lakh passenger trips per day. The system is capable of running trains at two-minute interval, he added.

Sonepat, March 9
Taking advantage of the forthcoming Lok Sabha elections, private schools have stepped up their opposition to the implementation of the new school education rules-2003 from the current academic session.

Talking to the NCR Tribune here today, the president of the ‘Haryana Private School Owners Association,’ Mr Bhagat Singh Balhara, said the management private schools have been protesting against the new rules by organising marches and handing over memorandums listing their demands to the Chief Minister. He disclosed that a state-level conference of private schools would be held at Bhiwani in which large numbers of parents and guardians would also participate.

He remarked that the new rules were discriminatory and unjustified and most of the schools would be forced to close down for their failure to fulfil the mandatory conditions contained in the new school rules.

“While the government was adamant to close down private schools, it has failed to provided sufficient school buildings and teachers,” he said.

In effect, it would result in depriving jobs to thousands of teachers and education to lakhs of students, he warned. Meanwhile, a delegation of the Sonepat branch of the ‘Haryana

Sanyukt Vidyalya Sangh’ led by the state spokesman, Mr Manohar Lal Chawla, met the senior Congress leader, Mr Virender Singh, and apprised him about the new discriminatory rules.

Rewari, March 9
A national seminar on ‘Dadu and his relevance in modern times’ would be organised by the Indira Gandhi National Centre for Arts, South Asia Institute of the University of Heidelberg (Germany) and the All India Shri Dadu Sewak Samaj (AISDSS) at IGNCA, New Delhi, on March 13 and 14.

Providing details in this regard, the president of AISDSS, Mr Ashok Buwaniwala, said that Dadu Dayalji Maharaj was a great saint, who considered communalism as the enemy of the society and had preached brotherhood of Hindus and Muslims during the second half of the sixteenth century (1544-1603).

The Mughal Emperor Akbar had received sermons from him continuously for 40 days at Fatehpur Sikri following which the he had promulgated a ‘Shahi Firman’ (Royal Order) banning cow slaughter in his empire.

But more than sermonising kings and rulers, Daduji Maharaj had brought cheers to the lives of millions of impoverished and downtrodden masses by imparting the divine truth to them through his simple and spontaneous poetic sermons.

He had sought to convey his message through words as well as exemplary living.

The message of Dadu has become all the more relevant in the violence-prone current scenario for India as well as for the entire humanity, he added.

New Delhi, March 9
The Leader of the Opposition in the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD), Mr Subhash Arya, in a letter to the Lt-Governor has sought his intervention in the matter of passing of resolution of the Unit Area System of assessment of property tax by the Congress-led corporation without any deliberations.

The MCD has passed the resolution on the basis of their majority in the House without any discussion, keeping at stake the welfare of citizens. This was “murder of democracy, Mr Arya said.

He said that the BJP had pointed out repeatedly many anomalies in this report and protested against the unscientific method used for categorisation of colonies in the Dharamrajan Committee report of the Unit Area Method of tax collection. But the Congress party in the corporation constituted another committee under the Chairmanship of Mr O. P. Kelkar to remove anomalies. The Kelkar Committee submitted its report in haste to the MCD. The Congress administration placed the report before the Standing Committee on March 3, 2004, which was given approval in anticipation. Thereafter, this report was tabled before the House yesterday and was passed without any discussion, the letter said.

Meerut, March 9
The members of the Akhil Bharatiya Vaishya Mahasabha sat on a dharna and relay fast at the Collectorate Office in protest against the increasing crime in Western Uttar Pradesh. The office-bearers along with hundreds of traders also remained on a symbolic hunger strike.

Addressing the meeting on this occasion, state vice-president of the Akhil Bharatiya Vaishya Mahasabha (ABVM), Mr Vinet Agarwal Sharda. warned the civil and police officials that a petition would be filed in the apex court if the police failed to trace the three kidnapped traders from Meerut, Muzaffarnagar and Khatauli.

Five armed men kidnapped potato exporter and prominent trader of Western UP, potato king Sushil Kumar Garg, some 16 days ago while he was on his way to his farmhouse near Mawana town, 20 km away from the district headquarters.

Two other prominent traders, Satendra Jain and Sachin Jain from Khatauli, Muzaffarnagar, were also kidnapped at gunpoint in broad daylight. Two weeks have elapsed but the police are still groping in the dark. Speaking at the dharna site, Mr Sharda said Vaishya traders of UP contributed 90 per cent of the total tax to the state exchequer. Vaishyas had been attacked by criminals and incidents of robbery, dacoity, kidnapping for ransom had increased in the last couple of months . He also alleged that state government was doing nothing towards protecting the Vaishya community.

New Delhi, March 9
The Delhi High Court has upheld the decision of the authorities to amend the Capital’s Master Plan for modernising the Idgah abattoir instead of dismantling it.

Mr Justice Vikramajit Sen dismissed a petition filed by one V. R. Soni challenging the amendment changing the land use from residentialcommercialisation of the area on which the slaughterhouse, situated in the heart of the city, was built to enable the Municipal Corporation of Delhi to install the machinery and equipment needed for modernising the abattoir.

The proposed modernisation would bring about clean, humane and efficient slaughtering process as well as also fulfilling a long-standing demand to increase production.

In September 2002, the MCD had told the Supreme Court, dealing with the issue of dislocating the slaughterhouse to the outskirts of the national Capital, that it would not be possible to shift the abattoir to another place for various reasons and instead proposed modernising it.

Saying all authorities concerned, including the Delhi Development Authority and the Union Government, should be taken into confidence to do the needful, the apex court gave a year’s time for the work.

Noida, March 9
A youth was thrown from a terrace by Holi revelers who had had a few drinks here while another lost his life in a road accident as he had consumed excessive liquor in Khora Colony.

The second incident occurred in Asgarpur village under the Sector 39 police station.

Sonepat, March 9
A 22-year-old housewife sustained serious burn injuries when her clothes caught fire in her house at Kanwali village, about 15 km from here, on Monday night.

According to a report, the injured woman was taken to a private hospital at Kharkhauda town. She was shifted to the PGIMS at Rohtak for further treatment. It is stated that she was lighting the kerosene lamp in the absence of electricity when it fell on her.