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Khurana told no slot vacant
Professionals cheated of crores on net
Lawyers’ stir off as officials promise action
CBI chargesheets DDA director
Villagers take on dacoits in Sultanpur
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Contract killer held in Noida
Govt apathy blamed for rising pollution level
Manuvadi Morcha flays Reddy
Tension prevails after installation of Shivling
Youth stabbed to death
Youths get 7-yr RI for stabbing
Workshops on gender sensitisation begin
Only one per cent disabled youth have access to education
Licences of Ayurvedic firms
cancelled
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Khurana told no slot vacant
New Delhi, September 14 The high command’s advice comes on the heels of the Punjabi lobby within the state BJP demanding his return for reviving the party’s sagging fortunes in the
Capital. Mr Khurana had forcefully taken up his ‘‘case for return to active politics’’ with senior BJP leader and former Deputy Prime Minister L K Advani and the RSS leadership during his visit to Delhi.
Mr Khurana is also understood to have told BJP president M Venkaiah Naidu that he would rather resign as Rajasthan Governor and return to party politics than wait for his unceremonial removal by the UPA Government, which had axed four Governors with Sangh leanings a couple of months back. However, the BJP central leadership has asked Mr Khurana to continue as the Governor and told him categorically that there is no vacant slot for him at the time being, sources
said. Mr Khurana had resigned from the Delhi Legislative Assembly this January to take up governorship, albeit reluctantly. One of the BJP Central office-bearers said it was not as if the party wanted to requisition his services in Delhi. Instead, it was Mr Khurana who wanted to stage a comeback. He has too good reasons for harbouring such notions. First, he will be in his elements in the Delhi assembly amidst his supporters; the gubernatorial post keeps him more or less out of public glare. Second, his daily durbars at Raj Niwas are not relished by Rajasthan Chief Minister Vasundhara
Raje, who is of the view that he is trying to exceed his brief. Mr Khurana had been among the front ranking leaders in Delhi politics for almost four decades since the days of Jan
Sangh. He had been Delhi’s Chief Minister in 1993-94 before he had to resign in face of hawala charges. As the Delhi unit chief he led the party in the last Assembly election. Since Mr Khurana’s exit, the responsibility of Delhi BJP is vested in Dr Harsh
Vardhan.
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Professionals cheated of crores on net
New Delhi, September 14 The suspects have been identified as Uma Shankar Bhardwaj, Hari Kishor Ray and Akhilesh Mani Tripathi. They had invited the victims to become the members of their site — – on payment of a registration fee of Rs 14, 580. In this way, the suspects had cheated over 5,000 computer professionals. Incidentally, all the victims, as well as the accused, were from Bihar, the police said. The gang had duped the net users by claiming to provide IT-enabled services like e-commerce and e-business and banking facilities. According to the police, Bhardwaj had floated M/S Bhasee Infotech Solutions and Bhasee Infotech Solutions Pvt Ltd and had started conducting their business from 707, Vishwa Sadan-9, District Centre, Janakpuri, in 2001. The police claimed that in February 2004 the suspects closed shop and the directors and other officials moved to unknown destinations, lakhs of rupees in arrears. Suddenly they were not even available on telephones, which had been disconnected. Thereafter, the victims lodged complaints with the local police station and the matter was handed over to the Economic Offences wing. During the investigation, the EOW sleuths learnt that the company, with an intention to cheat its customers, had enticed members to join its site from all over the country through well-trained agents. The police alleged that Akhilesh Mani Tripathi was designated as Silver I.D. and Mr Hari Kishore Ray as Master I.D. They would organise seminars and ask members to gather in five star hotels. Two such conferences were held in Hotel Centaur and two more in Hotel Park Royal. Comprehensive brochures were printed and distributed amongst the gullible victims. Impressive forms were made available for registration. The brochures listed various plans of payment schemes along with incentives depending upon the quantum of work completed and the new members enrolled. The list of candidates receiving payments, along with cheques drawn out in their names, were shown to impress the participants. The membership charge for the company was initially Rs 13, 500 but later it was increased to Rs 14,580, payable through bank draft or pay order. After receiving the amount, the company would provide the user ID to the victims for accessing its website. To establish its bona fides, the company had launched its own website, too. After logging on with the user ID the members would get access to different sites — i2nmatrimonials.com, i2ndoctors.com and i2nfashiondesign.com. The customers were then required to fill forms on the site. The idea was to develop a database for doctors, fashion designers, persons seeking matrimonial alliances etc. For this, the company paid the customer Rs 80 per day. The money was sent via cheque, bearing the signature of Uma Shankar Bhardwaj, the MD of the company.. Initially, to win confidence, the company would duly send cheques to its members and also give commission for enrolling new members. The police has alleged that after collecting crores of rupees from the computer professionals, the suspects closed the company and disappeared.
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Lawyers’ stir off as officials promise action
New Delhi, September 14
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CBI chargesheets DDA director
New Delhi, September 14 While filing the chargesheet the CBI has alleged that Singhal had resorted to corrupt practices to amass wealth beyond his known sources of income between 1981 and 2000. Accused Singhal, who joined the Delhi Development Authority (DDA) in 1979, had acquired movable and immovable property worth Rs 25,41,468, it said. The CBI has alleged that during this period his total income was 18,71,029 and expenditure Rs 14,23,867. His disproportionate assets were calculated at Rs 21,94,304. The court has issued summons to the accused, asking him to appear in the court on October 12, 2004. Singhal had been booked under various sections of Prevention of Corruption Act.
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Villagers take on dacoits in Sultanpur
Noida, September 14 Taken aback and demoralised with the stiff resistance put up by the villagers, the dacoits reportedly jumped off from the roof of one of the house where they had been stationed and escaped towards Yamuna Khadder. Five days earlier, armed dacoits had decamped with cash and valuables from Raipur village after killing two persons and seriously wounding five. It is believed that the dacoits in Sultanpur village could not succeed because PAC and the Noida police have increased their night patrolling in the area. According to reports, the police are combing the entire belt from Bulandshahr to Ghaziabad in search of these bandits. However, the villagers were surprised that the armed dacoits had attacked the Sultanpur village near the Expressway inspite of intense police patrolling in the area. The dacoits had intruded into the house of Surinder Master, who lived on the periphery of the village. Finding the iron gates of the house locked, the dacoits climbed the roof from the rear. Hearing the commotion, neighbours and villagers came to the rescue of Surinder Master. The police arrived at the spot after they were informed of the incident by the villagers. When the villagers replied to the firing by the dacoits, they got panicky and jumped off the terrace and escaped towards the Yamuna Pushta. The villagers from the nearby Shahpur, Garhi and Asgarpur villages also joined in to take on the dacoits. The Superintendent of Police (City), Mr A. K. Jain, also rushed to the village after he was informed of the incident. A number of village elders, including Jeet Ram Tyagi, Deewanji and Ashe Tyagi said a tragedy like the one at Raipur could have taken place in Sultanpur if the villagers had not reacted promptly and effectively. It is widely believed that the criminals involved in the Raipur attack are still in and around Noida. Even as the police patrolling in the area has increased, it has failed to have a lasting impression on the law and order situation here.
DM for arming the youth
The District Magistrate, Santosh Kumar Yadav, has asked the Superintendent of Police (City) to identify community spirited youths in the villages of Khaddar, who could be given arms licenses for village protection in times of emergency. Meanwhile the District Magistrate recommended a compensation of Rs two lakh each to those killed by the dacoits in village Raipur Khadar on September, 10, Rs 1 lakh each to the two wounded who continue to be on life support system in Kailash Hospital and Rs 50,000 each to the two wounded who have since been discharged from the hospital. The district administration recommended these amounts after assessing the economic condition of the families of the deceased and wounded. The monetary help will be paid from the Chief Minister’s Fund after the approval by the state government. The Senior Superintendent of Police, Mr J. N, Singh, however, defended the role of the police in the dacoity, saying that the response time was minimum. The police had a choice of either chasing the dacoits or rushing the injured to the hospital. The Senior Superintendent of Police said the people of the village were appreciative of the role of the police. The use of the licensed revolver of one Surinder Sharma during the dacoity in the village had played a great role in demoralising the dacoits. Had he not kept firing from his revolver, a greater number of villagers could have been killed or injured by the dacoits, said the District Magistrate. The administration is also thinking of providing light poles in these
villages. — OC
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Contract killer held in Noida
Noida, September 14 A fake police ID was also seized from Brahmjit. The Superintendent of Police, (City), Mr A. K. Jain, said that Brahmjit was arrested after receiving a tip-off that he would be in area. The police organised a check at the Model town check post under Sector-58 police station. When a car (No.HR-01 K7671) was signaled to stop, its three incumbents tried to flee. However, the police intercepted the vehicle in which Brahmjit was travelling. He was arrested while his two associates managed to escape. During interrogation, Brahmjit confessed to the police that he had planed to kill a girl in Hapur for which he had received Rs. 50,000. He confessed his involvement in a number of crimes in Ghaziabad, Bulandshahr, Noida and Muradabad. The Maruti van, in which he was travelling, was stolen from Ambala.
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Govt apathy blamed for rising pollution level
Faridabad, September 14 In a memorandum addressed to the Governor, the schoolchildren demanded adequate measures so as to enjoy the right to live in a safe and healthy environment. A number of social and political organisations also took part in the rally, which started from the Sihi Gate and culminated at the office of the Sub-Divisional Magistrate. The children carried placards and banners seeking ban on polluting vehicles, factories, illegal mining, banning the use of polythene and plastic bags. The children also highlighted the need to spread awareness and take measures against those responsible for causing acute air and water pollution in the town. It has been pointed out in the memorandum that one of the main causes of pollution in the city was plying of commercial and transport vehicles with outdated pollution- control technology. It highlighted the presence of more than 15,000 to 20,000 three wheeler auto-rickshaws in the town that did not conform to the emission norms. Majority of these vehicles had been shifted to the town after the Delhi Government banned them, as they were plying on diesel and petrol, the memorandum stated. Faridabad was identified as the ninth most polluted city in the country mainly due to the non-implementation of a proper strategy to check pollution, the memorandum added. Even while highlighting the air pollution, the memorandum expressed concern that the drinking water in the town was unfit for human consumption. Nearly all the water supply lines had become outdated and damaged leading to heavy contamination of the water meant for human consumption, which had led to a large number of people suffering from waterborne diseases like diarrhoea, jaundice, typhoid and cholera each year. Reportedly, hundreds of such patients have already visited the various hospitals and clinics during September. According to the memorandum, the authorities have been unable to implement the orders of the Supreme Court for banning vehicles plying for more than 15 years or more. It is stated that despite the ban imposed by the apex court the ‘Mafia’ engaged in the illegal mining in the Aravalli hills was still active. The organisers of this rally have also demanded a ban on the use of polythine and plastic items and improving the standard of civic amenities, besides the introduction of public transport using clean fuel on the pattern of the national Capital. It has appealed to the Governor to intervene on the issue and ensure safe and healthy environment for all the residents of the town. The rally was well attended and included a number of prominent citizens of the area.
Gymnastic championship
Faridabad, September 14 According to Mr C. S Dalal and Mr Ashok Saini, President and General-Secretary of the Association respectively, this is the first time that district level games in gymnastics will be
held. — TNS
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Manuvadi Morcha flays Reddy
New Delhi, September 14 Rajbhasha Award
The Delhi City Rajbhasha Implementation Committee has been conferred the Indira Gandhi Rajbhasha Award. Union Home Minister Shivraj Patil will present the award. The function was organised on the occasion of Hindi Diwas at Vigyan Bhawan.
MoU signed
Modi owned International Institute of Fine Arts (IIFA) and University of Arts, London, have signed a memorandum of understanding for teaching, developing and promoting fine arts in India and the United Kingdom.
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Tension prevails after installation of Shivling
Dadri, September 14 The Circle Officer, Mr Treveni Singh, said that the district administration will not allow the construction of a temple at the site. The police have been deployed in the village to keep the situation from deteriorating, he said. It may be recalled that some Lok Dal activists had reportedly installed a Shivling on the school premises in the village and some people had started building a temple on the occasion of the Krishna Janmashtami. According to some reports, a Nag (snake) had emerged from the site, strengthening the resolve of the villagers to build a temple at the site. Notwithstanding the opposition of the village chief, Mr Azad Singh, to the move of the police, the administration is determined to halt the construction of the temple at the site.
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Youth stabbed to death
Faridabad, September 14 The victim was rushed to the Civil Hospital where he succumbed to his injuries later. An old enmity is stated to be the cause behind
the murder. Even as the police have filed a case in this connection, the accused is reported to be absconding. In another case, aluminum products worth about Rs one lakh was stolen from a factory in sector-6 here yesterday. It is reported that some persons forcefully entered the factory and escaped with the goods after beating up the guard.
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Youths get 7-yr RI for stabbing
New Delhi, September 14 Additional Sessions Judge O. P. Saini also imposed a fine of Rs 500 each on convicts Kishan, alias Bablu, and Shiv Raj, alias Swaraj. Both are 25 years old. On October 27, 2000, complainant Ashutosh Jha was going to Wazirpur. Three young men waylaid him near the railway line at Lawrence Road, stabbed him and robbed his valuables. Later Kishan and Shiv Raj were arrested and the stolen articles were recovered. However, their accomplice, Raju, is absconding since then and has been declared a proclaimed offender. The case was registered at the Keshavpuram police station. The charges were framed on April 24, 2001. The prosecution examined 15 witnesses to prove its case. Six stab injuries on different parts of Jha’s body “showed the ferocity with which he was attacked,” the court noted, and observed that the prosecution had proved the charges of robbery with possessing a deadly weapon against Kishan and Shiv Raj beyond any doubt.
Rich haul of
illicit liquor
The East district police have arrested two persons for allegedly carrying illicit liquor in their possession. The arrested persons have been identified as Dharamvir and Harish Kumar. Fifty-three cartoons of illegal liquor were recovered from them. The duo were arrested from Kasturba Nagar area last night, the police
said. — TNS
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Workshops on gender sensitisation begin
New Delhi, September 14 The Gender Training Institute, set up by the
Centre for Social Research, is training employees nominated by the departments of labour, education and family welfare
besides the Delhi Transport Corporation. The departments have deputed personnel to attend the workshops that are held over three days. Currently, 30 employees, both male and female, are participating in the workshop. “Earlier, the ladies were not forthcoming in terms of expressing their problems. Now I feel they are more comfortable communicating about such things,” says Ms Swatantra Kumari Dua, Chairperson of DTC’s Sexual Harassment Committee, when asked about the benefits of participating in the workshop. Ms P.M. Singh, Member-Secretary of Delhi Commission for Women, says: “There is a need to improve upon the routine manner of handling complaints related to sexual harassment. Workshops like these can go a long way to achieve that goal.” The director of Centre for Social Research, Dr Ranjana Kumari, says the Gender Training Institute was set up in 1997. It has conducted more than 250 workshops
countrywide and trained nearly eight thousand individuals.
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Only one per cent disabled youth have access to education
New Delhi, September 14 “Of the total population of disabled youth, 98.8 per cent have no access to education and decision makers seem to have forgotten about them,” rued disabled right’s activist Javed Abidi. Terming the special schools set up for the disabled children as “islands of isolation,” Abidi, Executive Director of the National Centre for Promotion of Employment for Disabled People (NCPEDP), blamed the policy makers for not integrating the disabled with the normal children in schools, which would have served both the able and the differently able. Putting forth the results of a research carried out across the country, Abidi presented a despairing picture, depicting the access that the disabled have to education, this despite a three per cent reservation in all educational institutions. Of the 713167 students enrolled in 119 universities, only 649 are disabled; of the 119 respondent universities, 24 are offering no reservation, only 11 universities provide wheelchairs and 18 provide appropriate desks and chairs. While admission has been granted to 1,203 orthopaedically challenged students, 311 students are visually challenged and only 38 with hearing impairment have made it to colleges. Blaming the authorities for not providing amenities to the hearing and the visually impaired, Abidi said: “Braille is outdated and no efforts have been made to facilitate learning for those who cannot hear. Even in Asian countries like Sri Lanka technology that helps the students listen to textbooks is being used.” Having begun a campaign for allowing the disabled into mainstream education, Abidi said, “The education for the disabled comes under the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment but the Ministry has no expertise on education, especially of the disabled. The Ministry hands out paltry sums for the education and remuneration of the teachers.” Of the 679 disabled students enrolled in colleges, 22 percent are women, indicating neglect at the hands of the higher education system. Schools also had a sorry tale to tell. Of the 89 respondent schools, 34 did not have a single disabled child.
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Licences of Ayurvedic firms
cancelled
Ghaziabad, September 14 Youths held in admission racket
Two youth were arrested for their involvement in cheating a businessman by promising admission in a medical college in Ghaziabad. The two youth, identified as Satbir (son of Karam Singh of Haroli) and Surinder (son of Harbeer of Meerut), are reported to have demanded Rs.19 lakh from a trader of Eta for arranging his son’s admission to the MBBS course in Santosh Medical College, Ghaziabad. Satbir and Surinder, who were students of MCA and LLB respectively, were nabbed by the police after the businessman informed the police about their involvement in the crime. The businessman, identified as Nanak Chand Yadav, had learned from one Subash that the youths could arrange admission to the MBBS course in Ghaziabad’s Santosh Medical College. Nanak Chand, who owns two petrol pumps in Eta, was keen that his son Manoj should pursue MBBS course. Subsequently, he had contacted the two youths, who promised to get the work done on payment of Rs 19 lakh. Meanwhile, pressure was being continuously put on Nanak Chand to pay the amount soon otherwise the admission would not be possible, said the in charge of Vijay Nagar police station, Mr Satpal Singh. Nanak Chand grew suspicious while the youths took him around the Santosh Medical College. Accordingly, he informed the police. Later, both the cheats were arrested from the college premises. They told the police that Subash of Eta was their class fellow in Meerut. Satbir was a LLB student in Lucknow while Surinder was an MCA student in Pune, the police
said. — OC
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Veteran BJP leader Madan Lal Khurana’s desire to quit as Rajasthan Governor and lobby his way into Delhi politics, using the good offices of the Rashtriya Swyamsevak
Sangh, has apparently come a cropper with the party high command in no mood to accommodate him.
With the arrest of three persons, the Economic Offences Wing of the Delhi Police today claimed to have busted a gang involved in duping computer professionals through an internet site. They had cheated the professionals of Rs six crore.
