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300 houses to be razed for link road
Parents held for killing lovesick daughter
Recruitment Office issue rears its head again
Sangh to protest against
anti-employee policies of govt
Technological breakthrough helps contain dengue
VAT gets Cabinet nod, proposal to be tabled in House
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in
parliament
Medical, dental colleges ‘needed’ in Noida
DU to have national consumer helpline
UN simulation at DPS
Computer literacy spreading in rural areas
CBSE entrance exam on May 8
Chakotra can help reduce weight
Briefs
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300 houses to be razed for link road
Ghaziabad, December 3 The efforts to link Greater Noida in Gautam Budh Nagar and Ghaziabad through an eight-lane road have been speeded up. It may be recalled that an 11-km long road in Gautam Budh Nagar area has already been completed. Another road in Tigri village is also ready. Only a one-and-a-half km long road is to be built now, for which the GDA has been given the responsibility. The Greater Noida authority will pay Rs 15 crore for the whole construction work plus the supervision cess. After the last week’s meeting, the survey work is being speeded up. The road from Gautam Budh Nagar side will join the medical college tri-junction on NH-24, via Akbarpur Behrampur. The land in Akbarpur, Behrampur Mawai and Mirzapur village will have to be acquired. About 300 houses have been identified for the razing. The road is expected to be ready within six months, Land Acquisition Chief S. P. S. Raghav said. Meanwhile, the residents of Bodridh Vihar colony are very much worried about the prospect of the Ghaziabad–Greater Noida road link. They have appealed to the District Magistrate, Ghaziabad, that this project be shelved as it will uproot some 50,000 people living for the past 20 years in Bodridh Vihar and Rahul Vihar, Inder Singh, president of Bodridh Vihar Sudhar Samiti said.
Encroached land freed in Sahibabad
The anti-encroachment squad had to face the wrath of Mukhya Gujjar here for securing the release of a UPSIDC plot, which was under the illegal occupation of sum dwellers at Jhundpur village in Sahibabad. The officers arrested the Mukhya Gujjar and his companions before the bulldozers could raze the illegal structure. The administration had given Mukhya time till November 30 to vacate the land. After the expiry of the deadline, with help from the police and the PAC, the anti-encroachment squad surrounded the entire area. Sanjeev Sharma, the Mukhya Gujjar, Pappu Pahelwan, Anand Gujjar, and others were taken into custody as soon as they reached the site to oppose the anti-encroachment action; later, they were all detained at Link Road police station. City Magistrate Sarvjeet Ram will make the plot owner pay a compensation of Rs 5,000 to each of the families living there. According to one official, the uprooted families would be settled in Dudaheda village. The administration has also arranged trucks for transporting the household effects of all the families from here. The land has been finally cleared of Mukhya Gujjar and his companions, the City Magistrate added. In the demolition exercise that continued from morning till evening, houses built by 190 persons on UPSIDC land were razed to ground. Only two shrines — Shiv Mandir and Balmiki Mandir — were spared by the authorities. A contempt of court case is on in the apex court: the Nagar Nigam authorities had again set up a primary school on the plot and teachers had been posted there. The Regional Manager, Jaswant Singh, UPSIDC, will have to present in the Supreme Court to give his submission on December 7.
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Tribune Special
New Delhi, December 3 For the last few years more and more graduates and even postgraduates, some with added professional qualifications like degrees in law and education, are joining the police force at the lowest level, bringing along a subtle change in the constabulary’s attitude in tackling law and order situations. This, despite the fact, that there has been no change in the minimum qualification for these posts over the years. Given the trend, the dream of the Delhi Police Commissioner, Dr K.K. Paul, to make the Delhi Police the finest in the country and one with a humane face, may be realised sooner than expected. The attitudinal changes are already being felt as complaints of rude behaviour and human rights violations have shown a perceptible decline. Senior police officers and policy makers in North Block are watching with interest this transformation in the rank and file of the police force, which has consistently been criticised for its suppressive ways, said to be a legacy of the British Raj. These officials claim that the trend is not confined to the Delhi Police but is also evident in other states, as the level of education is rising in the country faster than the job availability. The recommendations of successive police commissions to raise the level of education of the constabulary to make them more aware of the rights of the average citizen could well be becoming a reality, though inadvertently. According to the figures available with the Delhi Police in 2001-2003, total 1612 candidates were recruited of which 1005 were graduates and 293 postgraduates. The candidates included law graduates, management graduates, B.Ed. and computer professionals. A similar trend has been seen in the last batch of the year 2003-04 where out of 1238 candidates, 650 were graduates and around 100 were postgraduates. This figure includes 10 law graduates and other professionals with computer knowledge etc. According to the Joint Commissioner of Police, Headquarters, Ms Kanwaljeet Deol, “This trend is encouraging and we also give them five additional marks for being a graduate or a postgraduate. This helps them in securing more marks in the competition.” In a few years, there will be very few constables with the minimum required qualification of 10 plus two. She said that the real policing was at the level of police stations where a common man has to interact with a constable or some other subordinate police official. So, it was necessary to improve the education level of constables and subordinate police officials, as they are the ones who come in contact first with victims of crimes. “The first encounter with the custodians of law makes all the difference and a friendly, humane approach goes a long way in tackling crime and giving succour to the victim,” she added.
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Parents held for killing lovesick daughter
Meerut, December 3 Some villagers of the same caste had allegedly helped the accused in the ghastly act. The parents were arrested yesterday. The police recovered the body from the river on the day of ‘Kartik Snan’. According to sources, caste tension has gripped the village and its surrounding areas. On November 26, the day of ‘Kartik Snan’, the Hastinapur police had recovered the body of the girl. According to autopsy reports, the girl was first crushed with heavy stones and then strangulated later. The slain girl was identified as Aruna, alias Ruby (19), daughter of Jayant Sharma, a Brahmin. According to the police and the father of Aruna, the girl was killed because she was in love with a Dalit boy, Yogendra, of the same locality. Aruna Sharma and Yogendra were student of intermediate in the same college. Despite strong objections from family members, Aruna was adamant about marrying Yogendra. Some of the villagers of her caste, too, objected against the relationship. Jayant and his wife Rita Sharma told The Tribune that they also had objected and asked their daughter to end the relationship. However, she was unmoved in her resolve to marry the Dalit. Subsequently, the frkinge elements decided to eliminate her. Jayant says that he killed his daughter while Rita Sharma held her legs. Later, the body was tied up, stuffed in a sandbag and thrown into the Ganga with the help of some neighbours. At least 20 villagers are facing action of some kind, the SHO said.
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Recruitment Office issue rears its head again
Gurgaon, December 3 A recruitment office established here had been shifted to Dadri in Bhiwani district in 1976 by the then Congress government in Haryana, much to the dismay of people of the Ahirwal belt. The present city police station at Kaman Sarai had been shifted to the building, which earlier housed the recruitment office. Since then, the people of the Ahirwal belt, which comprises Gurgaon, Rewari, Mahendergarh and part of Faridabad and Jhajhar district, have been clamouring for re-establishing the office in the region. Moreover, the issue comes into sharp focus at the time of elections and the politicians use it to trade charges against each other. It is alleged that the recruiting office could not become functional due to the apathy of the government in providing accommodation for the same. According to the members of the delegation, the norms entail provision of accommodation by the state government. The members of the delegation have alleged that the government is sitting over the issue for the past two years. The members further alleged that things were not moving even though the Commissioner, Gurgoan Divison, had written to the office of the Deputy Commissioner to look into the matter. However, the counter viewpoint is that the issue involves procedural and substantive issues resulting in the delay. The people of the Ahirwal belt are charged up on the issue as they believe that the location of the office here would facilitate greater participation of the youth in the recruitment process for securing employment in Defence Services. The Ahirwal belt has a large chunk of ex-servicemen. Traditionally, the people of the area have a fancy for Defence Services. Hence, the overwhelming opinion is loaded in favour of bringing back the office to the Ahirwal belt. Sources said that this would be an issue yet again in the coming Assembly elections in the state. According to the members of the delegation, the Deputy Commissioner has assured them that he would sort out the issue within 10 days.
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Sangh to protest against
anti-employee policies of govt
Faridabad, December 3 While the first such protest will be staged by the ‘Sarva Karamchari Sangh (SKS), Haryana, on December 6, the second march will be conducted by the ‘National Coordination Committee of Electricity Employees and Engineers’ (NCCOEEE), on December 10. Though the protest dates are different, but the motive behind the protests is same, said the spokesman of the SKS, Mr Subhash Lamba. He claimed that both the organisations were protesting against the ‘blind privatisation’ and contractual system of the government-owned departments, which he said, would lead to mass scale problems and inconvenience to the common man. Claiming that thousands of employees from Haryana, belonging to the SKS would be taking part in the protest outside Parliament on December 6, he said, it was perhaps the first time that state government employees were left with no option than to go for such a demonstration. Alleging that the anti-employee policies and programmes were being continued by the state government, as it was reflected in various decisions and moves made in the last few years. It is the high time that the staff should also reach out to the people to tell the truth and other side of the story, he added. Stating that the present policies of the state government had taken away the jobs of about 40,000 employees in the past decade. And if it is not checked, another 50,000 could lose their jobs in the next five years, as the government had already scrapping out the posts and various departments in the name of downsizing, he said. Although the government may be able to reduce its expenditures, but the corruption, inefficiency and the non-accountability would creep in and could cause a loss much bigger than the budget of the salaries of the retrenched staff. The other issues to be highlighted during the protest include re-instatement of the right to strike, end the contract system of employment and revising the interest rate to 12 per cent on small savings and the PF.
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Technological breakthrough helps contain dengue
New Delhi, December 3 Giving details of cases of the deadly fever, he said this year 590 cases of dengue with three deaths have been reported so far as compared to 2838 and 34 deaths reported last year. He said that the Health Department had carried out field trials in various zones where dengue is rampant. During these trials, an Insect Growth Regulator (IGR), invented by the Defence Research and Development Establishment (DRDE), Gwalior, was introduced to control the breeding of Aedes Aegypti, which proved to be successful. In future, too, such attractant and IGR will be used to help eliminate breeding of Aedes Aegypti, thereby reducing the incidence of dengue. The Director of the CRDE, Gwalior, Mr K. Shekhar, said that dengue has been a major public health issue causing national concern. A technological breakthrough was required for controlling the disease. Scientists have found a good answer for the Aedes Aegypti that spreads dengue fever in India; they are confident that the menace will be checked. Giving details of the programme, Mr Shekhar said that Aedes Aegypti female prefer to lay eggs in water containing larvae of the same species. Surprisingly, such larval conditioned water attracts females to lay eggs, which has the ovipositor attractant factor. Since larvae release only a tiny amount of such compound, which attracts female mosquitoes to lay eggs, no other group in the world could identify it.
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VAT gets Cabinet nod, proposal to be tabled in House
New Delhi, December 3 The Delhi VAT Act will now be placed in the Assembly. Once implemented, VAT will replace the present system of tax collection. More than 75 per cent of the revenue of the Delhi Government comes from sales tax receipts. After the introduction of VAT, Delhi Sales Tax Act, 1975, Delhi Works Contract Act, 1999, Delhi Right to Use Act, 2004 and Delhi Motor Vehicles Entry Tax would be repealed. In place of first point or last point taxation under the present system, the tax will be collected at every point of transaction with a provision for setting-off of taxes paid at earlier stages. The proposed VAT Act has been drafted to preserve the distributive character of Delhi and care would be taken to keep registration threshold at least at Rs 20 lakh to protect the interests of small and petty traders, an official release said. It will simplify the tax system and do away with the cumbersome procedures of issue of statutory forms or 100 per cent assessment. The provisions of the Delhi Vat Act provide for self-assessment by the dealers. In place of various forms issued by the Department, there will be self-certification by the dealer through tax invoices issued for business-to-business transactions. Appeal procedures will also get simplified under the Act. In place of appeal, the dealer will have the facility to raise objections having provisions of automatic stay, the release said. The Bill also provides for time limit for disposals, beyond which the matter will be automatically decided in favour of the dealers. It has been drafted after widespread consultations with different stakeholders, the release claimed.
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in parliament Tribune News Service
New Delhi, December 3 The main reason for the trauma centre not being operational is the changes in its scope of work to make it a state-of-the-art center and a role model in the country. The EPC has approved the revised proposal and the same is being submitted to a competent authority for approval, Minister of State for Health and Family Welfare Panabaka Lakshmi said in a written reply. Meanwhile, no appointment on ad hoc basis has been made in the Cardiothoracic Vascular Surgery Centre at AIIMS, the minister said. No ad hoc appointment in faculty post has been made since July last year. The 19 assistant professors working on ad hoc basis were taken before that, Mrs Lakshmi clarified. She said the post of Medical Superintendent had been advertised and selection will be made in due course. Steps were also being taken to fill the post of Deputy Direction (Administration), which was a deputation post under the central staffing pattern. As many as 2,817 patients died at AIIMS during 2003-2004 compared to 2,846 in 2002-2003 and 2,712 in the previous year, the Minister added. Three Delhi chemists were removed from the list of CGHS Authorised Local Chemists this year. The contracts of Chemist Corner, Shakti Nagar and Dinesh Medicos, RK Puram, were discontinued on the basis of a CBI report, while the contract of Gupta Medicos, Moti Bagh, was cancelled on the basis of the irregularities found by an Enquiry Committee, Ms Lakshmi said. Only one sample of drug manufactured by Cooper Pharma, Delhi, had been reported to be of substandard quality during 2002-2003. Metronidazole tablets I P batch No NB2-21 was declared of substandard quality as the sample did not confirm to the test for dissolution, and the licence of the firm in respect of manufacturing of Metronidazole tablets were cancelled, the minister said.
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Medical, dental colleges ‘needed’ in Noida
Noida, December 3 “The main task is to integrate rural areas through development work as villagers of Noida have made much contribution in turning it into a global industrial town. We have already achieved high standards in industrial development, residential and commercial growth, academic and educational institutes,” the chairman said. The Noida chairman called upon the medical fraternity to “give a good medical college and a dental college to Noida as we need more health services, he added Earlier, Dr Mahesh Sharma, Chairman of Kailash
Hospital, repeated his offer that even if “an accident victim is brought by anybody, we shall not deny him treatment, nor shall we ask the name of the good Samaritan who brings him to our door. Similarly, even if a poor heart patient is brought in we shall not deny him costly treatment at our heart institute, no matter what the cost of that procedure or treatment may be,” the Chairman said.
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DU to have national consumer helpline
New Delhi, December 3 “The toll-free helpline will be manned by full-time and part-time counselors, who will advise consumers on various problems. The core team will be equipped to respond to various queries and will be located in the commerce department from where the helpline would be run. The part-time counselors can be faculty members or even students, suitably qualified for the position who will be paid for the work”, explained HOD, Commerce Prof. SR Khanna, who has been appointed the In Charge of the initiative. The helpline, which is currently in the process of being set up, is expected to commence in January next year. “I cannot announce the final date. The university has been asked to provide more space for the helpline as the Department doesn’t have the required infrastructure, but we will get on with the work in the meantime”, Prof. Khanna said. Referring to the project, he said, “We had submitted a proposal to the Department of Consumer Affairs, which they have accepted. We hope to involve several teachers from various colleges with the consumer movement and use their domain knowledge to create a special body of knowledge about consumer affairs”. Delhi University is probably the first to offer consumer affairs as an optional paper in the Under Graduate level, he added. “The revised B.Com Hons. course has an optional paper in the final year on consumer affairs and there is an application course on the subject for those opting for the revised BA course”. The expenditure incurred on the project is likely to touch Rs. 31.2 million with the Department of Consumer Affairs providing funds from the Consumer Welfare Fund. The funds would be made available to the university over a period of three years. It was pointed out that the university would conduct market surveys and field visits to elicit public opinion on difficulties faced by consumers.
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UN simulation at DPS
New Delhi, December 3 The Chairman, DPS Society, Mr Narendra Kumar, presided over the inaugural function here today. The President, DPS Society, Mr Salman Khurshid, was the chief guest at the inauguration. The Director, UN Information Centre, Ms Shalini Dewan, will be the chief guest at the prize distribution ceremony on December 5. The school has won the prestigious ‘Model United Nations Global Leadership Opportunities (MUNGLO) Award, 2003-04’. The DPSMUN conference in association with UNA-USA aims at simulating the structure and operation of the UN and providing a conducive atmosphere for the delegates to experience the complexities of international relations and diplomacy. Fifty schools, including American Embassy School and British School, Chanakyapuri, are among the participants and the students will represent over 60 countries. Five UN organs, agencies and committees will be simulated, including the General Assembly, Security Council, Economic and Social Council, and World Health Organization during the three-day conference.
Hepatitis Day
In an effort to create awareness on the importance of liver health, Indraprastha Apollo Hospitals today organised a special event on the eve of ‘Hepatitis Day’. The Delhi Government recognises December 4 as ‘Hepatitis Day’ so as to promote good liver health and also to mobilise public opinion on issues, which have a direct impact on the human liver. The event was organised by the Apollo Hospitals in partnership with Unity Power.
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Computer literacy spreading in rural areas
Noida, December 3 The local Member of Parliament, Mr Ashok Pradhan, and Mr Nawab Singh Nagar, MLA, addressed the volunteers on the occasion. According to the President of E Biz, Mr Pawan Malhan, computer education has assumed an important role today, be it in education, research, information or
industry. — OC
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CBSE entrance exam on May 8
New Delhi, December 3 The bulletin forms will be available for sale from December 15, 2004 upto January 31, 2005. Details are also available on wwwaieee.nic.in
Doctor honoured
The Executive Director, Escorts Hospital and Research Centre, Dr Narendra Kumar Pandey, has been elected the president of the International College of Surgeons. (Indian section) He was also selected for honorary fellowship of the Royal College of Surgeons and Physicians by Glasgow University, Scotland, in recognition of his contributions in the field of medicine and surgery recently.
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Chakotra can help reduce weight
New Delhi, December 3 Dr Aggarwal said that grapefruit can reduce the levels of insulin in the blood and also decrease insulin resistance, known to occur in patients who eat bad carbohydrates like maida, white rice and white sugar. Dr Aggarwal said that lifestyle obesity, which is bad carbohydrate dependent, is the most recent epidemic of the world which occurs when the levels of insulin rise in the blood and there occurs insulin resistance. Grape fruit juice and peels of grape fruit extract will not have the same effect as grape fruit taken as wholesome fruit. Other fruit items which are known to reduce insulin resistance are karela, bel and methi.
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Briefs
New Delhi, December 3 Som Pal is a Constable in the Dabri police station area. He is allegedly involved in nine cases, including murder. During interrogation, he confessed that he had formed a gang after his release from jail, which was involved in a number of criminal activities in the area. Meanwhile, the North district police have arrested a person, who was allegedly involved in selling stolen vehicles after making fake documents. The police have seized six vehicles, including four Santro cars and two Scorpio jeeps from his possession. The vehicles were stolen mainly from Vasant Kunj, Prashant Vihar, Malviya Nagar and Paschim Vihar area, the police said.
Robber nabbed
The Delhi Police have arrested a man, identified as Tejveer Singh, alias Teji, who has been accused of robberies. He was arrested outside a park in the Rohini area in the national Capital. A reward of Rs 10,000 had been declared for his arrest just two days back, the police said. The police have also arrested one of his associates, identified as Asgar Ali, who was present with him at the time of his arrest. The police said that they had seized two country-made pistols and live cartridges from their possession. The two accused were found moving around in a Palio car that was reportedly stolen from the Sarojini Nagar area.
Volunteers’ Day: To mark the ‘International Volunteers Day’ celebrations, the Gandhi Smriti and Darshan Samiti, in partnership with the ‘UN Volunteers’, is organising a ‘Volunteers Carnival’ on December
4. — TNS
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