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Recover phone, water dues from MPs: High Court
New Delhi, May 12 A Bench of Chief Justice BC Patel and Justice BD Ahmed said that the dues could be deducted as per the rules after the counsel for Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Limited (MTNL), New Delhi Municipal Council (NDMC) and other state agencies informed that they had provided details about the dues to the secretariats and further details would be given later. During the hearing, NDMC counsel Hima Kohli informed the court that till now a sum of Rs 1.53 crore has been recovered from the defaulting MPs. The counsel for MTNL said till April, Rs 1.10 crore has been recovered from them. A Public Interest Litigation (PIL) was filed by a non-government organisation (NGO), Krishak Bharat, in 1998 seeking direction to the state agencies to recover dues on telephone, water and electricity bills from the defaulting sitting and former parliamentarians. Earlier, the MTNL counsel had requested the court to direct the Rajya Sabha and Lok Sabha secretariats to deduct the arrears of phone bills from the defaulting former MPs’ pension as per rules. The counsel had submitted that the only way to recover about Rs 3-4 crore dues from over 200 former MPs was to deduct the money from their pension. The state had asked the MTNL to resort to disconnection to recover dues from over 650 sitting and former MPs. In December last, the NDMC had disconnected electricity supply to the residences of 13 MPs of various parties for their failure to clear their dues.
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Two more Central observers for ‘sensitive’ Sonepat
Sonepat, May 12 According to a report, both the observers, Mr Halmocha Singh and Mr Pabar Kumar have already arrived here and are camping at the PWD (B and R) rest house where three other Central observers were staying. The number of Central observers has now gone up to five. The Returning Officer of this constituency, Mr M R Anand, has set up six counting centres in each assembly segment of Sonepat district, two more in Jind district and one in Bahadurgarh of Jhajjar district. But the location of these centres has not been made known to the public. Even the mediapersons have not been informed about the location of these centres. The counting of votes would begin tomorrow at a time fixed by the Election Commission of India. Meanwhile, the postal department has made special arrangements for the delivery of votes received by post from the army personnel and other employees who were authorised to send their votes by post. A group of officials has been deputed to receive these votes from the office of the Railway Mail Service (RMS) direct and deliver them in the office of the Returning Officer. Repolling was in progress at a booth No. 81 and booth No. 126 today and the district and the police administrations have made elaborate arrangements to check bogus voting, booth capturing and looting of EVM. The repolling was ordered by the Election Commission after receiving complaints about the bogus voting and booth capturing at Rasoi and Baroda villages in the
district. The BJP candidate, Mr Kishan Singh Sangwan, had made a complaint of bogus voting at 35 places whereas the Congress candidate,
Mr Dharampal Singh Malik, at 15 places. |
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POLL TOLL
Ghaziabad, May 12 While the condition of the inspector and other policemen is stable, the condition of a woman injured in police firing is stated to be serious in SGTB Hospital. In view of tension in the village, PAC had been stationed in the area. The BSP and Lok Dal supporters had clashed in the Girls School while voting in booth No. 157 and 158. Village pradhan Sunil, his mother Mangla, sister-in-law Bala, Sarla, Dharmveer and Mahesh Chand, all BSP supporters were injured in the clash. Hundreds of BSP workers had gathered at the booth. The police were able to persuade the Lok Dal supporters to leave, but the confrontation between the BSP and police continued. Villagers on the rooftops had resorted to stoning in which SO police station Inspector Vishesh Kumar was seriously injured as a stone hit his head. Half a dozen other cops were also injured. Three official vehicles were torched by the mob. The livid policemen then reportedly fired in the air to disperse the crowd. SP City and ADM City reached with the police reinforcement and controlled the situation. During the confrontation, a pregnant woman was shot at in the stomach. She was rushed to SGTB Hospital in Shahadra, Delhi. Residents block road Jhajjar: Residents of Kheri Khummar village blocked the Jhajjar Dadri Road today in protest against the electricity wires hanging over their houses. According to information, these wires had caused fire yesterday. The people alleged that they had been demanding the tightening of the wires for a long time but the district administration did not do anything. Consequently, they put up a blockade, which suspended the vehicular traffic for about an hour. Later, the district and police officials reached the spot and lifted the blockade.
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L’AFFAIRE BINDIS
Sonepat, May 12 According to a report, the order of the Election Commission was received by the Returning Officer-cum-Deputy Commissioner, Mr M R Anand, on May 9 and the election officials got panicky and tried to keep the order under wraps. On receipt of the order, Mr Anand issued the directive to the police to register the case under Section 171-E against Mrs Malik. The police, however, registered the complaint and sent a detailed report to the Election Commission, highlighting the lapses regarding the complaints against Mrs Malik. The police have also informed the Election Commission that an investigation in the case was in progress. One of the senior police officers said that the name of the place was not mentioned in the complaint where the ‘bindis’ and garments had been distributed by Mrs Krishna Malik. According to him, the luring of the electorate has been made a cognisable offence in this section of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) but the action of Mrs Malik has not come under this purview. It is alleged that the police are trying to hush up the case as they did not want to annoy the DGP Haryana who will again take charge after the retirement of Mr B R Lal, present officiating DGP Haryana. The action of the Election Commission followed the receipt of the complaints sent to it by various candidates. |
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Where fewer women cast their vote
Faridabad, May 12 While Faridabad segment has about 1,03,732 women voters, only 42,645 of them reached the polling stations to vote. In fact, the polling witnessed a sharp drop in the number of total voters. Against a total number of about 15.45 lakh voters, about 8.436 lakh voters cast their vote, which is about 12 per cent less than last time. The total electorate includes about 8,40,092 male and 7,02,046 female voters spread in nine segments. Only 42,645 women reached the polling stations to vote in Faridabad. The Mewla Maharajpur segment which has the highest number of female voters, about 60,499 out of the total of 1,36,443 women voters used the right to poll. The Nuh segment which recorded the highest percentage of polling in the entire constituency with the figure of 62.48 per cent, a little over 35,000 out of 61,855 voters took part in the polling. However, in Hathin segment which has the lowest number of voters segmentwise, the turnout of women was pegged at about 54.18 per cent in comparison to the overall percentage of 60.2 per cent. It has been observed that while the turnout had been above 50 per cent in the rural parts, especially in the Mewat region of the district, the percentage of the female voters in the urban areas like Faridabad had been quite poor at just 41.11 per cent. According to certain experts on social issues, there could be several factors for the decline of the interest of the voters especially the women, but some of the prominent causes could be the absence of any women candidate from here, lack of proper canvassing, weather conditions and the neglect of the women related issues by nearly all the candidates and their parties. “The women generally had less interest in politics and its related issues. Moreover, the family pressures keep many women at bay on such occasions,” says Ms Sharda Rathaur, president of the women cell of the District unit of the Congress. She claimed that more awareness and education could bridge the gap in between the male and female on such issues. |
459 staff for
counting votes
Faridabad, May 12 As many as eight senior officials of the rank of IAS and IRS have been made Observers at the nine counting centres set up here. A spokesman of the District Election Office said that all arrangements had been made regarding the counting process. He said while the counting of the votes of the Faridabad segment will be held at the Lakhani dharamshala in the NIT, the votes of the Mewla Maharajpur area will be counted at Daulat Ram Khan Charitable Trust building. Mr S Bhale Rao has been appointed as the Central Observer for the Faridabad, while Mr S.P. Nanda will look after the Mewla Maharajpur segment counting. The other Observers include Mr Shubhchintan for Taoru segment, Mr H.K Pandey for Palwal, Mr K.N. Gupta for Hathin, Mr Alok Goel for Hassanpur, Mr Bidhichand for Nuh and Mr Vijender Kumar for the Ferozpur Zirka segment. About 14 tables have been laid at each centre apart from one table for the Assistant Returning Officer and each table will have two Counting Assistants and one Counting Supervisor. A total staff of about 51 employees and officials will be available at each counting centre with extra staff to manage three tables at each centre. The counting of postal ballot papers will be held at the main election office in sector- 21.  |
34 Medium Regiment celebrates diamond jubilee
Meerut, May 12 The “Regiment of Artillery” was raised as the 8th Battalion of the Fifth Maratha Light Infantry at Belgaum on February 1, 1941. During World War II, the regiment participated in a number of battles as 4 Maratha Anti Tank Regiment. The hardest fought battle was the “Battle of Cassino”, where the possession of Cassino city changed hands a number of time. Situated near river Gari, Monte Cassino became the hub of German gustar line and was a nearly fortified. The one and the only bridge to reach Cassino was washed away by the current of the river. However, the brave Marathas crossed the river Gari with guns by ropeways in order to give timely support to the infantry brigade. The Germans lost 20,000 men in the defense of Cassino, while on the side of the allied forces, a large number of soldiers from the regiment made the supreme sacrifice. The regiment was conferred the honour title “Cassino II”, for its outstanding valour and integrity shown by warriors of the 34 Medium Regiment in the Battle of Cassino, said the Commanding Officer, Colonel Jaspreet Singh Gujral while talking to the NCR Tribune. The unit conducted a cycle rally from Belgaum to Meerut to mark the occasion. The rally was received by the GOC-in-C, Western Command, Lt-Gen J.J. Singh. Lt-Gen J.J. Singh appreciated the courage and spirit of the officers, JCO’s and jawans of the unit. Later in the day, a special ‘Sainik Sammelan’ was also held and was addressed by a number of senior officials. A ‘Barakhana’ was also organised where all officers, JCO’s and jawans had food together. A ‘Cassino Mela’ was also organised to mark the occasion. |
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Dissolve MCD, demands Gupta
New Delhi, May 12 The Lt. Governor, Mr. Vijai Kapoor, who is the administrator of the MCD, has been requested to ascertain why action has not been taken for timely action regarding the filling of vacancies caused by the retirement of six members from April 31. Gupta who is also the Secretary BJP, Delhi Pradesh, has also demanded that the Central Government should dissolve the MCD, under the provisions of Section 490 of the DMC Act, citing reasons that the Corporation has defaulted in performance of the duties imposed upon it under sub section (5) of Section 45 of the Act. He also alleged that the election notice posted on 11 March for filling up of one member each by the concerned wards against the vacancies has no legal sanctity, it has been issued by the Municipal Secretary, MCD, and is against the provisions of DMC Act. Gupta has quoted from the above-mentioned notice that wards were asked to fill vacancies in a meeting held immediately before the retirement of the members. It was pointed out that the Act does not have any provision permitting any deviation from the procedure laid down under Section 45 of the Act. The MCD, therefore, said Gupta, has no authority whatsoever, to fill up the six vacancies in the Standing Committee. The six wards where the vacancies have arisen are wards committee in city, south, west, Civil Lines, Najafgarh and Rohini. It was stated that on being elected to the Mayor’s office, A.R. Verma has tendered his resignation from the membership of the Standing Committee. He was representing the committee from Shahdara South. |
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Row over possession of land in Gurgaon
Gurgaon, May 12 Interestingly, while the municipality officials claim that the land was bought from the panchayat of village Gaitpur Bas, the sarpanch of this village refutes the same. According to sources, the local municipality bought 20 acres of land on lease from the panchayat of village Gairatpur Bas, about 20 kms from here, to set up a dumping ground for disposal of waste. Although the deal was clinched in 2001, the disposal work at the site started only about a month back. What’ s more, the municipal authorities are dumping the garbage not on the site, which it bought on lease from the village panchayat, but at the nearby land owned by some other private party. The reason, it is learnt, is that a private coloniser, the Ansals group, is in unauthorised possession of major portion of the land which the municipality bought from the panchayat. According to information, the Ansals have disposed of the land to several private parties by carving out farmhouses. Meanwhile the municipality, instead of taking up the matter against the coloniser, has started dumping the garbage on a land belonging to a private party, who bought it around 15 years ago. Earlier the municipality used to dump the city garbage near Basai village. But with Transport Market coming up in the area, the authorities decided to shift the dumping site to Gairatpur Bas. Questions are being raised as to why the municipality is not using the available portion of its purchased land which has not been tampered with by the Ansals. Talking to NCR Tribune, the executive officer of the municipality, Mr Y Gupta, said that the site where the garbage was being dumped has been bought by the municipality from the panchayat. However, the sarpanch of the village, Mr Mahender Singh rebuts it and asserts that the site bought by the municipality is in possession of the
Ansals. |
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Climate change affecting the poor
New Delhi, May 12 It has become common knowledge that the capacity to respond to climate change is the lowest in developing countries. To discuss the climatic change issue, environment experts from India and Germany took part in a day-long workshop on ‘Climate change adaptation in India’ being organised today here to discuss climate change and its effects on natural and human systems. The workshop organised by the Indo-German bilateral project on `Watershed Management’ under the German Technical Agency to generate awareness of adaptation among Indian farmers affected by climate change. The use of adaptation offers a practical response strategy to the key problems of the global environment and the needs and problems faced by the poorest. Dr Hoff from Potsdam Institute of Climate Impact Research Telegrafenberg, Germany, and Dr Kalipada Chatterjee, Development Alternatives, New Delhi, were the keynote speakers at the workshop. Mr A. K. Srivastva, Commissioner, Ministry of Agriculture, GTZ, presided over the workshop. In India almost three fourths of the population relies directly or indirectly on agriculture for livelihood. Climate change has been taking its toll every year in terms of human lives and livelihood and have profound effects on agriculture, including crops, livestock, water resources, forestry and fisheries. In addition, climate change reduces soil fertility by affecting its moisture content, and lower agricultural yields. It could worsen the shortage of fresh drinking water, due to increased evaporation from water reservoirs, and changing rainfall patterns. Climate change also causes dramatic changes in biological diversity, as those species that cannot survive the rise in temperatures, could easily die. The combined affect of these changes on the ecology of the Northeast will most affect the poor people of the region, those who are heavily dependent on their environment for their food, fuel and housing needs. Taking several precautionary measures and adaptation to climate change, which frequently includes enhanced natural resources management that plays key role in the toolkit for adaptation strategies based on a range of benefits like reduction in vulnerability, bio-diversity conservation and enhanced livelihood security among the poorest and the most vulnerable. |
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Dowry death case registered against husband
Sonepat, May 12 According to a report, this followed the lodging of the FIR against them by the father of the victim. Investigations by the police were in progress. However, no arrest has been made in this connection. It is stated that she was found dead in her in-laws house.
Youth injured in road accident A youth of Bagru village in Jind district, identified as Pawan, was seriously injured in a road accident near the Sonepat Cooperative Sugar Mills here last evening. According to a report, the injured youth was admitted to the local civil hospital for treatment. He is stated to be out of danger. The police are still investigating into the case.
Cotton stock gutted Cotton worth several thousands of rupees was burnt in a devastating fire, which broke out in a cotton factory on the Gohana-Baroda road, 40 km from here last evening. According to a report, the municipal fire-brigade rushed to the site and brought the fire under control on the receipt of information. A short-circuit is stated to be the main cause of the fire.
Woman killed while sprinkling pesticide A woman reportedly became unconscious when she was engaged in sprinkling pesticide in the field at Kanwali village, about 15 km from here last evening. According to a report, she was rushed to the hospital where she was declared brought dead. The police are still investigating into the case.
Resentment among mediapersons Resentment prevails among mediapersons here against the failure of the District Public Relations Officer to provide transportation facilities for observing the polling process in the Sonepat Parliamentary constituency. According to a report, complaints have been sent to the Chief Minister, Mr Om Parkash Chautala, in this regard. They have also demanded action against the DPRO for his uncooperative attitude. Meanwhile, mediapersons alleged that they were not issued authorised letters for entry into the polling stations and counting centres. |
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NCR BRIEFS
Noida, May 12 The wife, mother and daughter of the driver were also seriously injured. A passenger, identified as Dinesh, was also injured in the accident. The truck driver left his vehicle on the spot and managed to escape. The injured were rushed to the government
hospital. The driver was identified as Chottey Lal, who was on his way to Delhi from Ferozabad in his car. (DL 2C 9347) The truck (UP-14 H-3755) was travelling at high speed and was coming from Ghaziabad. The police have seized the truck. In another accident, one woman was run over by a train. Meanwhile, a scooter driver was injured in an accident with a Maruti car in Dadri. Distinction in matriculation examination Jhajjar: Robin Deswal, a student of Vijay Senior Secondary School at Bahadurgarh stood first in the district in the matriculation examination conducted by the Haryana Board of School Education. He was ranked ninth in Haryana. Son of Mr Naresh Deswal, Robin, scored 567 marks out of 600 in the examination. He is a resident of Sector 6 and is from Jasaur Kheri village here. Youth assaulted Sonepat : A youth, Ashok, was injured when he was attacked with iron rods by his brothers along with their wives at Jagdishpur village, about 6 km from here last evening. According to a report, the injured youth was immediately hospitalised and stated to be out of danger. A land dispute was the main cause of the assault. Load shedding announced New Delhi: North Delhi Power Limited (NDPL) has announced power shutdown in certain areas of the Capital on May 13 due to maintenance work at sub stations. Among the affected areas are DJB, Rainy Well number three, four and five in Narela. The power supply will be affected between 10 AM and 4 PM. In Pitampura’s Raja Enclave and Telephone Exchange areas, there will be no supply between 9 AM and 6 PM. Power supply will be affected between 10.30 AM and 4 PM in SDN Colony in Shakti Nagar and between 10.30 AM and 6.30 PM in Oberoi Apartments in Civil Lines.
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Sonepat: An unidentified youth was crushed to death by a Shatabadi train near Ganaur railway station, about 16 km from here last evening.
According to a report, the victim was crossing the railway track when the accident occurred. The body remains unidentified and the Government Railway Police |
Allahabad Bank duped of Rs 2.70 cr; company director, secretary held
New Delhi, May 12 The suspect along with the director of the company raised fake invoices and get them discounted from the bank. The director of the company, Arun Garodia, was arrested by the sleuths on October 29, 2003. Ram Kishore Kothari (55), who was absconding, was arrested on May 11 from the Badarpur border. Constable held for
accepting bribe The Anti-Corruption branch claimed to have arrested a Delhi Police constable for accepting bribe from one Narender Kumar for releasing four youths of Sangam Vihar. The accused, identified as Constable Sansarpal, resident of Sangam Vihar, was caught red-handed while accepting a bribe of Rs 6,000 from Narender Kumar for releasing the youths held on murder charge. Two
Constables remanded in judicial custody A city court today remanded two Delhi Police personnel arrested on charges of corruption in 14-day judicial custody. Special Judge P K Bhasin remanded to judicial custody till May 27 the two accused- Head Constable Samay Singh and Constable Nav Rang-who were apprehended by the Anti-Corruption Branch of Delhi Police yesterday for allegedly demanding and accepting Rs 1,000 from one Mahinder Kumar for not challaning and impounding his vehicle which was bringing cattle to the Capital. |
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RPF personnel under probe over rickshaw-puller’s death
New Delhi, May 12 The police confirmed that there were three RPF personnel involved in the incident and one Balkishan has been identified as the main accused. He would be arrested soon with the cooperation of the RPF, the police said. The deceased was identified as Nandu (35), a rickshaw-puller at the Old Delhi Railway station whose body was found last evening with head and spinal injuries. The police said that the incident occurred in the morning when the deceased had gone to the platform to relieve himself without a platform ticket. Subsequently, an argument ensued between Nandu and the RPF personnel. Later, the police received a call that a body has been found on the platform. According to reports a case of murder has been registered at the old Delhi Railway Police Station and the statement of witnesses has been recorded. His family in Faizabad district’s Jalalpur area (Uttar Pradesh) has been informed of his death. The body would be sent for the postmortem examination after the arrival of the family members of the victim. |
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Crime unabated in Greater Noida
Noida, May 12 It also effected the police presence in the area, which in turn encouraged criminal activities. It may be recalled that BSP District President Naresh Bhatti was gunned down in a hail of bullets recently. While Naresh Bhatti had been killed in this attack, Sushil Bhatti, Sube Ram Bhatti, Vikram, Vedpal, Rajinder and Praveen were injured. Naresh Bhatti’s uncle Dharamveer had lodged an FIR naming Sunder Bhatti, Tirath, Sehadev, Nawab, Sheru, Sandeep Nagar, Lalla Fauji, and Javesh Badna. But the police have failed to arrest even one of these accused so far. After this, the BSP leader and businessman Farman was murdered by five criminals in Tilpata village. The police killed one of them in an encounter, but the other four are still absconding. Earlier, criminals had barged into two houses in Gama sector and walked away with a laptop and Rs 1.50 lakh. The police have not been able to even identify the culprits in this case. Four days ago, three motorcycle-borne criminals had shot at a GNIT college student, Abinav Dixit, in an effort to snatch a cell phone from him and his cousin Vivek Dixit near the college hostel. Abinav was seriously wounded in the attack. The upsurge in crime in Greater Noida has affected the investors and real estate prices as well. |
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Two women among seven injured in road accident
Sonepat, May 12 According to a report, the injured persons were identified as Pawan Kumar of Rathdhanna village, Naresh Kumar of Kailash Colony, Sarvesh Yadav of Janata Colony, Chunni Lal of Janata colony. All the injured persons were immediately hospitalised and stated to be out of danger. The police are still investigating into the case. All the injured persons were employed in a factory at Bahalgarh. According to another report, a person identified as Anil Tyagi of Rai village was seriously injured when he was hit by an unknown vehicle near Rai village, about 13 km from here last evening. The injured persons, who was on his way to Biswan Meel, was immediately hospitalised and stated to be out of danger. Meanwhile, a youth, identified as Monu, was also injured in a road accident near Kalupur octroi post here last evening. He was hospitalised. |
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