 |
|
|
|
|
|||
|
Woman driver foils abduction bid Faridabad, March 16 The miscreants, however, managed to escape. According to the complaint lodged with the police, the victim, identified as Babita, was on the way to her house in Sector-14 after meeting one of her friends at about 7.50 pm, when two youths stepped in front of her car near a turn. It is learnt that the youths overpowered the girl and one of them took over the driver’s seat and moved the car towards the main Mathura Road. But it is stated that the girl screamed and signalled at a police motorcycle moving on the other side. The criminals tried to speed away as the policemen gave a chase. Since there is heavy jam on Ajronda Chowk, the culprits were cornered. They then pushed the girl out on the road and tried to dodge the policemen by driving towards Neelam Chowk. However, the car soon got stuck in a muddy patch and they had to abandon it there before escaping in the dark. It is reported that the police are clueless about the criminals so far. A case has been booked in this connection. Several cases of similar crimes have been reported in the past few days in the town. Two youths snatched a motorcycle from a resident of Sector-46 here on Saturday night. They were nabbed later with the bike. In another incident, the police are still on the lookout for the robbers who had looted about Rs 80,000 from an old couple in Sector-21 on March 13 in broad daylight near the office of the Deputy Commissioner. The criminals again struck near Sector-9 here on March 14 when they snatched a Maruti car from its owner after beating him up. About 10 days ago, a young executive was not only robbed of his purse and mobile phone but was also thrashed by some persons, including the driver of a three-wheeler autorickshaw, near Sector-12 here. |
|
Mob stones flying squad, forcing it to flee Sonepat, March 16 According to a report, however, none was injured in the incident. The flying squad members had to flee from the scene. All the vehicles of the squad were damaged in stoning. Mr Dharam Dev Dahiya, a senior officer of the Board who led the squad, had recommended the cancellation of the paper and relieving of two supervisors responsible for mass-scale copying in this centre. Mr Dahiya also sent his report to the Deputy Commissioner and the Superintendent of Police besides the Chairman and Secretary of the Board in this connection. According to another report, the officials of the flying squad have also recommended the shifting of an examination centre from Krewari village to Tikka Ram Girls School in Sonepat. At least five examinees were caught red-handed by the squad in this village. The flying squad of the Deputy Commissioner also conducted a surprise checking at an examination centre of Barwasni village and detected three cases of the use of unfair means. At least 42 examinees were found engaged in copying during the English paper of the plus 2 examination in various centres of this district yesterday. However, the prohibitory orders enforced by the District Magistrate of Sonepat within the radius of 200 metres around the examination centres, seem to have come a cropper as the large crowds of relatives and friends of the examinees are seen everywhere in the urban and rural areas of the district. |
|
Unfazed Board denies stone-pelting Bhiwani, March 16 He said that it was also wrong to say that the Board Secretary had a narrow escape and the vehicle was damaged. He made it clear that neither Mr Gupta nor any member of the flying squad was injured in the incident. Besides, the vehicle was not damaged. The Board spokesman also made it clear that only three incidents were reported in which some students had taken away the answersheets. Therefore, it was not right to say that five students had taken away the answersheets and the case was registered at Badhra Police Station. He said that 490 candidates were caught while using unfair means and copying on the second day of the senior secondary annual examination being conducted by the Board in the state. He said that the Board Chairman had inspected eight examination centres in Panipat yesterday and detected 61 cases of copying during examination. The flying squad led by the Board Vice-Chairman inspected examination centres in Hisar district and detected 66 cases of copying and use of unfair means. Similarly, the flying squad led by the Board Secretary detected 58 cases of use of unfair means in Bhiwani district. |
|
ELECTION TIDINGS New Delhi, March 16 Rashtriya Kranti Dal state unit general secretary Surender Tyagi also joined the Congress along with his supporters and party office-bearers. Admitting them into the party fold, Delhi Pradesh Congress Committee chief Ch. Prem Singh said some prominent office-bearers of the BJP and other parties had also expressed their desire to join the Congress. Addressing the media after formally joining the Congress, Mr Bairava said the BSP had done nothing for the benefit of the Dalits and had been fooling its cadres and supporters with hollow promises. Expressing full confidence in the Congress leadership, he said that the future of the Dalits was secure only under the leadership of the Congress president Sonia Gandhi. The BSP has considerable presence in the Capital and is capable of influencing the results in at least three of the seven constituencies in the National Capital territory of Delhi, particularly in East and Outer Delhi. Mr Tyagi said the RKD was raised in Delhi with the sweat and toil of the party cadres, but its leader Kalyan Singh deserted and joined the ‘communal’ BJP. “I and my supporters could never imagine joining a communal, casteist and divisive party such as the BJP. It was, therefore, natural to join the Congress,” he said. Meanwhile, speculation continued over the names of the candidates for the seven Lok Sabha seats even as the BJP candidates stepped up their campaigning. There is considerable concern among the Delhi Congress workers over the delay in announcing the names of the candidates as they believe that this could affect their campaigning. Party sources said that there were a lot of differences over the names submitted by the various factions in the DPCC. It was precisely for this reason that the leadership was unable to decide on the final names. The leadership was also finding it difficult to identify persons who could take on the BJP stalwarts. The BJP had swept all the seven seats in the last elections while the Congress notched up a majority in the recent assembly elections. |
|
Water pangs to persist unless Tehri supplies New Delhi, March 16 According to the Delhi Jal Board (DJB), even as the ambitious project is likely to be completed by June this year, there may not be sufficient supply of water to make the 140 million gallons per day (mgd) plant operational. The chief executive officer of the Delhi Jal Board, Mr P. K. Tripathi, said that in the coming summer days, the problem would not be the pipeline or the water treatment plant, but the Tehri Dam. Without completion of the dam, water supplies would be difficult. If they do make the water available, it would be at the cost of their own people, he added. He, however, ruled out any political reasons for Uttaranchal not providing water for the Rs 188-crore project. Instead, he favoured a neutral and independent body examining the issue in totality and studying the reasons in the event of water supplies not being made available for the project. The DJP CEO said that the entire focus should now be on the water availability for the project and the matter should be taken up with the dam authorities. If construction of the treatment plant at Sonia Vihar is completed and the water is not provided to enable it to commence operations, DJB is liable to pay a penalty up to Rs 50,000 per day to Degremont, the French company constructing the plant, he said. He said as far as the pipeline from Muradnagar in Uttar Pradesh to Sonia Vihar in the Capital is concerned, the National Buildings Construction Corporation (NBCC) has been asked to complete it by June this year. The treatment plant at Sonia Vihar being constructed by Degremont would be complete even before the pipeline is laid, he added. The plant would be in a position to operate at full capacity from the day it commences operations. There is a provision to impose fines on Degremont if the water treated is even marginally lower than mandated in the contract, he said. Already the construction of the project is running behind schedule as it was supposed to commence operations in September last year. Its commissioning date was first extended to December 2003 and later to June this year. |
|
CBI nails ASI on bribe charge New Delhi, March 16 According to the CBI officials, the SI was abused his official position and demanded an illegal gratification of Rs 10,000 from a complainant for showing him some favour. The complainant reported the matter to the CBI and a trap was laid to nab the police official. The CBI caught the SI red-handed while taking the bribe. |
|
Man gets 7-yr RI for stealing Rs 470 New Delhi: A city court has sentenced a person to seven years’ rigorous imprisonment for robbing a man of Rs 470 at knife-point in Central Delhi last year. The court has also ordered him to pay a fine of Rs 3,000. According to the complainant Satish Kumar, on the intervening night of September 13/14, 2003 while he was returning home after offering prayers at Jhandewalan Mandir, he was stopped near Anand Parbat by an unidentified person, who threatened him with a knife. The man was later identified as Pawan Kumar. Pawan was drunk and robbed Satish of Rs 470, driving licence and a few visiting cards. As Satish resisted and raised the alarm, the police patrolling nearby, arrested the culprit. Prosecution examined nine witnesses in the case.
TNS |
BJP candidates for Haryana Lok Sabha seats to Sonepat, March 16 Disclosing this to mediapersons here last evening, Mr Yadav said the state election committee of the party in its meeting in Kaithal on March 4, had unanimously recommended to the central election committee that all the five sitting Member of Parliament be fielded again from their respective constituencies. It has also recommended that the state president, Prof Ganeshi Lal, be authorised to recommend the names of candidates for the other five constituencies-Rohtak, Sirsa, Bhiwani, Kurukshetra and Hissar. The five sitting MPs are I. D. Swamy from Karnal, Kishan Singh Sangwan from Sonepat, Ram Chander Bainda from Faridabad and Sudha Yadav from Mahendergarh. Mr Yadav claimed that the party had completed its preparations for electioneering. Mr Yadav also disclosed that the party would issue one-rupee coupons to the party workers, who
would campaign for one vote and one rupee donation to meet its election expenses. Later, Mr Yadav went to Gohana where number of party leaders and workers criticised the party nominee Kishan Singh Sangwan for his discriminatory attitude against a number of party activists. At Gohana, Mr Yadav held a meeting with the workers to pacify them. Dismissing speculations that some dissidents might desert the party, Mr Yadav said, “the party will give full regards to party workers and leaders and differences will be resolved within one or two days.” It is pointed out that number of party leaders and workers led by Dr Dharambir Nandal, who contested 1998 Lok Sabha election on the BJP ticket from Sonepat parliamentary constituency, held a meeting on Sunday and criticised Mr Sangwan for adopting “discriminatory attitude” towards the party workers and leaders. |
14,000 flat
allotees in Noida to be issued Noida, March 16 So far, notices to 10,000 allotees have been issued by the Noida Authority in connection with price increase of the flats. While the receipts of fresh notices have upset the allotees, the Joint Action Committee reiterated its resolve that not a single paisa hike would be tolerated. The committee has, however, decided to take this matter to the court as increase in flat price is not at all acceptable to the allotees. Whatever verdict the court pronounced would be honoured by the allottees, said Munna Kumar Sharma, president of the Joint Action Committee. Mr Sharma said the Noida Authority had announced its decision on 21 of the 45 schemes only. The Authority was maintaining a studied silence on the rest of the schemes, he said. “We shall not talk to the Noida Authority as we know their mindset. Whatever steps the Joint Action Committee decides to take we try to follow through the court only”, he added. He said the 15,000 allotees were united in their struggle against the Noida Authority’s high-handedness. The final touches were being given to the legal battle ahead now. Meanwhile, Noida Authority sources claimed that some of the allotees were depositing the increased prices of flats. Out of the 44 schemes, a hike in 23 schemes had been announced as per the basis already set. But in nine schemes it is 2 per cent of the cost, in three schemes it is 5per cent and in one scheme the hike is 6 per cent. In plots of two residential flats’ schemes the increase is 10 per cent of the cost price. There is lot of resentment among the allotees on receipt of fresh notices. Meanwhile, the sources said that Noida Authority would not now alter its decision. Those allotees who did not agree with the hike in price of flats could get back their money by making an application. Those who don’t deposit the price by March 31 would have to later deposit the money with stamp duty calculated at collector’s rate. But right now the dispute of price hike of flats seems to be getting more complicated. In any case till Chairman-cum-CEO Vinod Malhotra returns from his Japan visit on March 22 no new development can take place. |
|
MCD donates animal-friendly ambulances New Delhi, March 16 These ambulances are specially fabricated into dog-friendly animal ambulances. The MCD had actually bought eight vehicles. Out of these, six have been donated to the ‘Society for Stray Canine Birth Control’, which in turn has donated the vehicles to six NGOs working for animal welfare in the Capital. The NGOs were Sanjay Gandhi Animal Care Centre in Raja Garden, Friendicos-Seca in Defence Colony, Circle of Animal Lovers in Neb Sarai, Sonadi Charitable Trust in Najafgarh, Animal India Trust in Kotla Mubarakpur and Samrakshan Charitable Trust in Mayur Vihar, the Municipal Commissioner said. The ambulances will be used for controlling stray dogs population and immunizing them under and “Area Based Approach Programme” wherein two to three colonies will be selected by NGOs to conduct 100 per cent sterilization of stray dogs with the help and cooperation of the Resident Welfare Associations (RWA) of the areas. The RWA will help in identifying stray dogs, but ‘Animal Lovers Clubs’ will be started to ensure that humane approach towards all animals is promoted. Regarding stray dogs, the Club will be involved in keeping control of stray dogs, their immunization and sterilization record, feeding where required, preventing access of stray animals to open garbage, veterinary care etc. This will be done with cooperation of colony residents showing interest in animal welfare activities. The society is working as nodal agency of the Ministry of Environment and Forest, Union Government for implementing its scheme of Birth Control and Immunization of Stray Dogs. The Municipal Commissioner said that 983 dogs were handed over to NGOs by the MCD during 2001-2002, while this figure rose to 4,250 during the year 2002-2003. More than 11, 400 stray dogs have already been sterilized and immunized by the corporation, NDMC and NGOs by self pick up method during 2003-2004. He expressed confidence that MCD would achieve the target of 12,000 sterilization by March 31. An amount of Rs 445 is paid by the Society to the NGOs for conducting sterilization and immunization of stray dogs and releasing them in the areas of their original habitat. |
|
Payment date extended under Disclosure Scheme New Delhi, March 16 This rebate was also available on depositing property tax on self-assessment basis. All those property tax payers who had not yet deposited their property tax of the current financial year or of previous years were being advised to deposit it and avail 20 per cent rebate, an official of the Property Tax Department said. To facilitate property tax payers, citizen bureau collection counters would remain open on all Sundays up to March 31. The failure to deposit outstanding dues of property tax up to March 31 would entail several punishment, which included 30 per cent penalty on property tax dues, 12 per cent interest, attachment of personal belongings, rent and book accounts etc., the official said. |
|
Gulawatti road blocked over double murder Bulandshahr, March 16 Two farmers were stabbed to death in Gulawatti in a mango garden near the railway track. Livid local people did not allow the police to remove the bodies and pelted stones on the police which had come to investigate the double murder. The SO of the Gulawatti police station was also injured in the stone throwing. The
Gulawatti– Samkola road was blocked for five hours. In another incident,
Muslima, wife of Faizzul, in Ainchana village was killed while in Khurja Shyodan Singh was strangled to death. In the Bibi Nagar police station area in Nisurkha village, a young man and a woman were murdered with sharp-edged weapons in the fields of Rakesh Kumar Sharma. Near Dharneda bus stop in the Kotwali Dehat area, 30-year-old Ashfaque was killed by some criminals who dumped his body in the jungle of Dospur village in
Khurja. At least six armed criminals murdered Dhani Ram and his wife
Kamlesh, residents of Naya Gaon in Secunderabad. The relatives came to know of the Gulawatti murders last morning when some dairy men ferrying milk noticed the bodies lying in the garden. When the police took two hours
to reach there, the enraged villagers did not allow the police to remove
the bodies. Some young men pelted stones on the cops while the elders among the mourners said that under the Samajwadi Party government lawlessness and jungle raj had returned |
|
|
‘Rajput Adhikar Yatra’ to mobilise community Rewari, March 16 They also warned of backlash by the Rajput community if they were ignored in the forthcoming Lok Sabha elections. |
|
Plea to create nutritional gardens in rural areas New Delhi, March 16 Addressing a gathering of self-help groups of women from the NCR region and Jhabua in Madhya Pradesh, social activist Swami Agnivesh said that empowerment of women was the most effective instrument for changing society and social change could be augmented through promotion of self-employment in this section. He was participating in a national seminar on ‘Promotion of horticulture, establishment of nutritional gardens in rural areas and creation of self-employment opportunities among farm women,” which was organised by Bisnouli Sarvodaya Gramodyog Sewa Sanstha in collaboration with the National Horticulture Board. |
|
|
All set for Navratras at Jhandewalan New Delhi, March 16 According to Surendra Pandey, an official of the famous Badri Bhagat Jhandewalan Temple Society, “The decoration work and the security arrangements have already been completed. It was on for the past two months.” He said the temple had made special arrangements for the devotees visiting the temple during March 21 to 30. He said the temple would be open for public from 4 am to 12 midnight. “We have provided shades and carpets for the people in queue. He further said, “We have made adequate arrangements for drinking water for the visitors. Besides, special arrangements have been made for keeping the temple and surroundings clean. For this purpose, we have sought the help of the MCD and the local police. |
|
|
DELHI DIGEST New Delhi, March 16 He said that the Shiela Dikshit government had deliberately stopped the water supply in Outer Delhi. “The Shiela Dikshit government has deliberately stopped the water treatment plant at Nangloi which was started during my tenure as Chief Minister.” He was addressing a gathering of farmers in the Outer Delhi, Najafgarh. Mr Verma is contesting from there for the third time for the Lok Sabha seat. He added that during his tenure as the Chief Minister from 1996 to 19 98 he got installed 2,000 water tankers for remote areas and started work for the high capacity water treatment plant in Nangloi which would had totally solved the water crises in this area.
BJP to hold
political sammelan for women The Delhi BJP Mahila Morcha has decided to hold a political sammelan of women workers in every assembly segment of South Delhi parliamentary seat on March 28. Addressing women workers of the party, Mr Vijay Kumar Malhotra expressed confidence that the self-respecting Indian women would never allow a foreigner to rule over the country. He emphasised that in addition to 10 youths managing every polling booth a least two women workers of the party would remain at the polling station on the day of polling to help women voters of the constituency. In his address, Mr Malhotra called upon those present at the meeting to make the political sammelan a grand success. Underlining the importance of traditional methods of election campaigning, he suggested the approach of door-to-door campaign by women workers. He also suggested that a group of at least 12 women workers should be organised in every MCD ward to establish a direct dialogue with the women voters of the ward. MCD engineers suspended Two Assistant Engineers of the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD), P. D. Malhotra and D. P. Gupta, have been placed under suspension on charges of indiscipline and dereliction of duties.
|
|
NCR BRIEFS Sonepat, March 16 According to a report, the students have been identified as Naushad, son of Mr Sayeed Ahmad, a resident of Muslim Mohalla Badli, and Shahrukh, son of Mr Irshad Ahmad of Idgah Colony, Sonepat. Both the students were allegedly kidnapped by some unidentified youths when they were on their way to their houses on February 9 last. The parents of these students launched a massive search but failed to trace them. At last, they lodged an FIR with the police on March 11 and the police started investigations into the case.
Three booked on
doctor’s complaint The Kharkhauda police have registered a case of kidnapping against three persons, including Narinder and Sunil of Farmana village, on the complaint of Dr Dharminder Sharma, owner of Sharma Hospital in the village. He has alleged that his three-year-old son was kidnapped by them while he was playing in a street outside the hospital on the evening of March 14. The police are still investigating into the case. However, no arrests has been made in this connection.
Class X student ends life The body of a Class X student, Rakesh (17), was found hanging from an electric fan in his house at Malviya Nagar here on Monday evening. The police believe it to be a case of suicide and have sent the body for a postmortem examination. It is stated that the victim had taken this extreme step following his failure to solve the Hindi question paper thoroughly. He had earlier failed in the matriculation examination.
Rs 50,000 snatched Noida: Two criminals riding a motor cycle snatched Rs 50,000 which one Sheesh Pal, an employee of a factory in Sector 10, had withdrawn from the Punjab National Bank branch in Sector 27 here at about 1.30 pm on Tuesday. The factory worker had come on cycle to take the money from the bank.
Woman’s skull found A skull of a woman was found in a nullah in Bahadurgarh town here on Tuesday. Police sources informed the skull might be related to some limbs which were recovered two days ago in the Modern Industrial Area here. The identification of the skull and the limbs could not be confirmed. The police have started investigations in this connection. |
8.5 kg heroin worth Rs 8.5 cr seized, four arrested New Delhi, March 16 The sleuths received a secret information that a notorious gang of Madhya Pradesh was active in Delhi. Accordingly, a trap was laid by the sleuths near Khajuri Chowk on Wazirabad Road, in which two persons were nabbed, who were on their way to deliver a consignment. They were identified as Ramesh Chand (32) and Manohar Lal (42), residents of Mandsaur. During the search, the sleuths seized 7.5 kilograms of heroin from them. The Deputy Commissioner of Police (Narcotics), Mr D. L. Kashyap, said that the accused , Ramesh, disclosed that his father-in-law, Bheru Lal Jain, is a notorious drug peddler, who used to receive the drugs for selling in the national Capital. He also said that Manohar Lal is an associate who was a carrier of drugs. In another case, the sleuths arrested one Mohammad Tuglak Khan (42), resident of Rampur from ISBT, Anand Vihar. The accused was arrested based on a secret information received by the police. During personal search, the accused was found to be carrying a polythene bag containing one kilogram of heroin. The accused also disclosed that he was working for Bheru Lal, the father-in-law of Ramesh. In the third case, the sleuths laid a trap after receiving a secret information that a person would be delivering acetic anhydride near the Zakir Hussain College. The sleuths spotted a Tata 407 (No UP-81-D-3201) and apprehended a person from it. He was identified as Kanhiya Lal Yadav (36), resident of Ghaziabad. The police seized two plastic containers containing 100 kgs of acetic anhydride from his possession. The seized acetic anhydride was sufficient to prepare 220 kilograms of heroin. The accused confessed that he used to sell the chemicals to the heroin manufactures. |
|
CBI arrests ‘tainted’ chemist in Faridabad Faridabad, March 16 According to information, the arrest was made by a CBI team recently when the officials caught a youth who used to supply spurious drugs of well-known drug brands in Delhi. The arrested youth who also belongs to this town was caught when he had several drugs in his possession but had no proper papers. He is understood to have told the authorities that he used to supply such drugs to a chemist in Dabua Colony. It was later discovered that the accused was the same whose shop had been raided by the Drug Control authorities on charges of selling fake drugs. Several samples of ‘Torrent pharmaceuticals’ had been lifted after the officials of the drug company told the officials that the drugs were not supplied by the company and had been ‘fake’. While a case had been registered by the local police against the accused, but had not been arrested so far. This was the second such raid in the town in the past about 40 days. |
|
Man kills former beloved’s beau, ends life Jhajjar, March 16 According to police sources, Katar Singh, (28), a medical practitioner, reportedly called his neighbour Narender (23) to his house at about 8 pm. After some argument, Katar reportedly stabbed Narender to death and dumped his body in the store of the house. He then reportedly went to the house of his neighbour Rameshwar where he also attacked his wife Kamla and fled when her son tried to overpower him. However, Katar came back to his house and swallowed sulphas pills. He was rushed to the PGIMS at Rohtak but died on the way. In the morning, when Narender did not return to his house, his father Dhoop Singh started a hunt for him and found his body lying in a store of Katar’s house. The sources told that a love affair of both the deceased with a girl residing in their neighbour could be the reason behind the incident. The sources added that Katar was having an affair with a teenaged girl for some times. However, when he got married about six months ago the girl reportedly fell in love with another youth, Narender. But Katar could not tolerate this and asked her new beau to keep away. This reportedly led to the murder and subsequent attack on Kamla and suicide by him. |
|
Two chain snatchers apprehended after encounter New Delhi, March 16 When the police tried to stop them they tried to overspeed and started firing at the police personnel. But the police returned the fire and soon they were overpowered. The accused told the police that they used to snatch purses and chains from women and were active in the Mandawali, Anand Vihar, Preet Vihar, New Ashok Nagar, Mayur Vihar, Dilshad Garden and other areas and had so far committed at least 50 snatchings.
DDA officials held The Economic Offences Wing has arrested five DDA officials who were involved in at least nine cases of DDA housing scam. The officials were identified as J. P. Gupta (59), H. R. Sharma (54), Dinesh Kumar Minocha (42), Accounts Officers, S. C. Chug (59), Assistant Director, and Mahender Kumar (52), Accountant.
10 kg ganja seized The Crime Branch has claimed to have arrested a notorious criminal, Mohammad Shahid (24)l, resident of Moradabad, and seized 10 kg ganja from his possession. Shahid had been involved in cases under the NDPS Act, the Arms Act besides robbery and luggage lifting cases.
Dacoity averted With the arrest of five persons the North-East district police on Tuesday claimed to averted a dacoity in the Welcome area. The police also recovered one countrymade pistol, one live cartridge and four knives from their possession. The accused were identified as Akbar (28), resident of Chauhan Banger, Sanovar (19), resident of Chauhan Banger, Alam (27), resident of Muradabad, Mehboob alias Shanno (25), resident of Brahmapuri, and Arifin (33), resident of Welcome.
|
| HOME PAGE | |
Punjab | Haryana | Jammu & Kashmir |
Himachal Pradesh | Regional Briefs |
Nation | Opinions | | Business | Sports | World | Mailbag | Chandigarh | Ludhiana | National Capital | | Calendar | Weather | Archive | Subscribe | Suggestion | E-mail | |
