New Delhi, January 15
The tussle in Delhi Pradesh Congress Committee (DPCC) over the levy of Professional Tax forced the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) to withdraw the proposal. There was opposition from several quarters when the Municipal Commissioner, Mr Rakesh Mehta, tabled the proposal in the powerful Stranding Committee.

A number of councillors had also opposed the new tax as citizens of Delhi were already under pressure due to power and water tariff hike.

According to sources, the decision to withdraw the proposal was taken at the last moment because its imposition would have angered Delhiites. The withdrawal of the professional tax was announced by the Chairman of the Standing Committee, Mr Mukesh Goel, during his budget speech yesterday.

Delivering the budget speech, he told councillors that no new tax would be levied on Delhiites in the budget of 2004-2005. The MCD will now exploit other sources to generate additional revenue.

The Unit Area Method (UAM) was the other new scheme that was implemented last year for assessment of property tax. The corporation had set a target of Rs 1245 crore to be raised through property tax. Already, Rs 7 crore had been collected despite anti-UAM propaganda by the opposition. He was hopeful that the corporation would meet its target.

Announcing a number of new schemes, the chairman said that the corporators’ development fund would be increased from Rs 75 lakh to Rs 80 lakh in the new Budget. Besides, each councillor would be sanctioned a sum of Rs 3 lakh for street lights, Rs 2 lakh for gardening and Rs 1 lakh for development of children’s park. The corporation has also launched a scheme to provide mobile PCO booths to handicapped persons who are registered in the MCD. They will be allotted booths on first-come first-served basis. Earlier, the corporation used to give pension to 550 aged persons in each ward. The chairman wants that their number should be increased to 600 in each ward. Financial assistance given to widows for marriage of daughters would be increased from Rs 400 to Rs 5000.

He said that the corporation was concentrating on formulating a new policy on building construction in the national Capital. The experts were studying the scheme in Delhi, Ahmedabad and Kolkotta; the new scheme will be announced sometime this year.

New Delhi, January 15
The Delhi Government is taking many decisions such as review of the luxury tax imposed on the printed tariff of hotel industry, allocation of land for hotel chains and hospitals, in view of the forthcoming Commonwealth games, slated for 2010, the Chief Minister, Mrs. Sheila Dikshit has said.

She also announced that the domestic airport would be modernised to match world class aviation standards in the next two years to cope with the rush of visitors and athletes for the games. She has further also agreed to hand over the beautification programme of Safdarjung Tomb to Assocham after its president, Mr. Mahendra K. Sanghi, made the proposal and offered to adopt the historical site.

The Chief Minister said that industry associations had been demanding a review of the luxury tax, contending that this tax should be levied on actual tariff rather than the printed one. The Delhi Government has already decided to review the same and an announcement would be made at the appropriate time.

Similarly, the Central government had been exerting pressure on the NCT Government of Delhi for allocation of land for hotels and hospitals in and around Delhi in view of the forthcoming Commonwealth games. Despite little availability of land, the Delhi Government will make the arrangements for which a decision has been taken in principle and sites have been identified for the purpose, she said.

To further enhance the Bhagidari initiative, it has been decided to refurbish and renovate the historical sites with private sector participation, Mrs. Dikshit said, adding that all these measures were part of Delhi Government’s vision to make the Capital a top class tourist destination.

Disclosing the plan, she urged the Secretary, Ministry of Tourism, Ms Uma Pillai, to forward her tourism and civil aviation requirement to the Delhi Government, so that
action is taken well in time to make the Commonwealth games a great success from the point of view of infrastructure.

New Delhi, January 15
With the arrest of five persons, including an ex-constable of the CRPF, the West district police claims to have foiled a dacoity bid in the Paschim Vihar area. The police also claim to have recovered three country made weapons, six live cartridges, a button actuated knife, a dagger and a Ceilo car from their possession.

The accused persons have been identified as Surender alias Nitu (20), a resident of Jhajjar, Jitender alias Fauzi (30), a resident of Mohindergarh, Vinod (27), a resident of Jhajjar, Mannu (30), a resident of Rohtak, and Rajesh alias Kala, a resident of Bawana.

Acting on secret information that the criminals of Haryana would assemble in a park in Paschim Vihar, the police spotted the suspects and overpowered them.

During interrogation, the accused persons disclosed that they had assembled to rob a businessman who was to come in a Santro car and was carrying cash. After the robbery they also planned to murder a couple who had got recently married and were residing in the Najafgarh area.

Jitender, who is the girl’s cousin, told the police that since she had married a boy from a different community against the wishes of his family, he and his associates planned to eliminate them.

The police said that all the accused persons had previous history and were involved in heinous offences.

New Delhi, January 15
A Delhi court today sentenced two persons to rigorous imprisonment of ten years for robbing a man of Rs 10.5 lakh at gunpoint after waylaying his car in the busy Chandni Chowk area.

The Additional Sessions Judge, Mr. Rajiv Mehra, also imposed a fine of Rs 25,000 each on Rajesh Rathi and Ramesh Bhardwaj who had robbed Atul Garg on August 27, 2001. After the two were convicted on January 6, Bhardwaj tried to escape from custody while he was being taken back to the court lock-up. He was, however, apprehended after a brief chase.

The police said that the accused had barged into Garg’s car after breaking the windowpane and hijacking the vehicle to another location before fleeing with the money. The incident occurred after Garg and his employee Kapil Bhatia got into their car after encashing a cheque at the Tamil Nadu Bank at Chandni Chowk.

New Delhi, January 15
Around 160 children from more than 80 schools across the city today participated in the finals of the Classmate Young Author’s Contest 2004 at DPS International School. The contest is being held in three stages culminating in a National Final round in Mumbai. The three elaborate stages will afford the participants an opportunity to not just display their writing skills, but also to meet noted writers in the country.

The finals saw participants give shape to their thoughts in two hours on one of the four chosen topics. Celebrated author Ruskin Bond, who is on the panel of the jury, said: “It is to be hoped that this is only the first of many similar searches for young talent, bringing to light the creativity, imagination, inventiveness and skill with words that is only waiting to be discovered and recognised throughout the country”.

The winner of the contest will be awarded a seven-day trip to England for a literary tour covering London, Oxford, Stratford-upon-Avon and Edinburg. Prizes for the other finalists include home PCs and Pocket PCs. The stories of the 12 finalists will be published as a book by Rupa and Co.

New Delhi, January 15
The National Focus Groups, set up by the NCERT for the purpose of reviewing the National Curriculum Framework, have been holding brainstorming sessions to comprehend the present status of many subjects like Arts, for instance.

With the introduction of new subjects like Art Education and Heritage Crafts, evaluation is going to be a challenge, noted the National Focus Group on Examination Reforms during its meeting at the NCERT.

The group, during the course of the review of the national curriculum, will devise innovative ideas on evaluation. It was pointed out that since “achievement certificates based on board examinations are a lifelong companion and reflect one’s worth in the competitive world, examination reforms is an important area and plays a crucial role in providing feedback to the system to identify weak areas and take remedial steps”.

The group will critically assess the present examination system and include brainstorming sessions on different issues and deliberate upon ground realities, existing practices, strengths and weaknesses, keeping in view the rural as well as urban mind.

Dr Cyrus Vakil, Chairperson of the NFG on Examination Reforms, said that the challenge was to make the examination process student friendly and focus on developing skills that facilitate better analytical essay writing and other higher order skills. During the second meeting of the National Focus Group, a wide range of concerns at different levels of school education were covered.

Making all options of education like open school, regular schools, special schools, non-formal and alternative education system available to all children, including children with disabilities; developing strategies for meeting educational needs of learners with disabilities in large classrooms; developing national support systems; and understanding the significance of early interventions were also focussed upon.

The Focus Group is keen to utilize the research studies and empirical data available within the country on the above mentioned issues.

The first meeting of National Focus Group on Teaching of Social Sciences was also held. The group will focus on the issue of how to make Social Sciences Teaching more illuminating and interesting after evaluating the content and the methods of teaching social sciences: history, geography, civics and economics. Reorientation of social sciences is being sought to create among children a creative vision of future.

The group will deliberate on various issues of teaching social sciences to make it more relevant and interesting. The group will also discuss ways to make it participative instead of a monotonous subject where information is gathered.

Gurgaon, January 15
The preparedness of the Haryana Government in dealing with disasters was exposed today in Gurgaon, following the outbreak of a fire in the DLF corporate building. Eventually, fire brigades had to be requisitioned from Delhi to control the blaze in the high-rise building in the DLF area of the city.

The fire broke out in the 11-storeyed corporate building, Cyber Green, in DLF. Three floors of the building were gutted; however, there was no loss of life as the building was unoccupied at the time of the fire.

The authorities had to grapple for more than two hours to control the fire that broke out in the ninth storey and spread to the 11th floor.

According to reports, the logistics available with the district authorities render it capable of dealing with a fire disaster only in a five-storey building.

The lack of preparedness on the part of the local authorities has exposed the government’s claim that it wants to make Gurgaon a ‘millenium city’. This is a sad commentary in view of the fact that a large number of high-rise buildings are coming up in Gurgaon with the city emerging as an industrial hub.

According to observers, the government does not care two hoots for the quality of life in the city. The only aim appears to be to give a free hand to private builders without making provision for the concomitant logistics.

Already, provision of adequate water and electricity to the swelling population is proving to be a formidable challenge for the authorities. Although Gurgaon is touted as an industrialised and upcoming city in the country, it lacks basic infrastructure. For example, the city lacks even an adequate public transport system.

Financial loss to the exchequer is a convenient excuse for depriving citizens of basic infrastructure, feel observers.

According to local residents, if the government was sincere it would have spent some of the expenditure incurred on advertisements towards providing basic services in the city.

Also, it could have factored in an element of social responsibility by roping in private builders to meet the challenge of basic amenities in the metropolis. 

New Delhi, January 15
Conceptualised as a joint initiative by the Jaipur Virasat Foundation and Hutch, Jaipur Citizen’s Heritage and Festival Committee will present the Jaipur Heritage International Festival.

Organised at 50 venues in Jaipur (including Amber), the festival will conclude on January 23.

The 10-day long festival will have 60 programmes, inviting over 300 craftsmen and 250 Rajasthani folk artists.

Envisioned as a contemporary, city-based, international festival to stimulate and showcases cultural tourism, the JHIF, in its second year now, has grown exponentially in terms of participation and popularity, a release said.

Mrs Faith Singh, Trustee, Jaipur Virasat Foundation and Director of Jaipur Heritage International Festival, said, “We at JVF aim to improve the conditions of both the urban and the rural poor by enabling them to earn a viable and secure livelihood by combining traditional skills with modern needs. It is heartening to see organisations like Hutch and various departments of the government come forward and support us in our cause. We wish to make JHIF a regular feature in the cultural calendar of India.”

Citizens of Jaipur and the large sections of international and national tourists, who are expected to flock the Pink City, especially for the festival, can look forward to this unique event. A glance through the ten-day festival showcases a range of events, from popular to classical, from folk to contemporary theatre, international puppetry, design and shopping, crafts and lots more.

Noida, January 15
The police have arrested a property dealer, Karam Veer, for plotting the murder of DDA engineer Rajinder Naggar in November 2004.

Upset at the growing clout of Naggar in the real estate business, the property dealer had got him killed with the help of contract killers. The police are on the lookout for the three contract killers.

It may be recalled the Naggar was shot dead in broad day light on November 30, 2004 in Naya Gaon. From the outset the police had suspected property dispute as the possible cause of the murder.

According to Circle Officer, Mr Uday Shankar, Naggar had started property business on the advice of Karam Veer alias Komi, a resident of Salarpur village. However, Komi had because jealous of Naggar once the latter made inroads into his business.

New Delhi, January 15
With no immediate dates being announced for polls to elect the office bearers of the Governing Body in Delhi University’s Zakir Hussain College, there seems to be no end in sight to the travails of the ad hoc teachers awaiting regularisation and students looking forward to introduction of new courses.

In the absence of these office bearers, the ad hoc teachers can neither expect regularisation of services nor can the college introduce Mass Communication and MBA, two new self-financing courses.

The college, one of the oldest in the city, has been waiting for the elections to the post of president, vice president and treasurer for the last 28 months.

While the Acting Principal of the morning shift, Prof. K K Sharma, claims that the meeting will be scheduled “soon”, sources in the college point out that Sharma, who is also the Member Secretary of the Governing Body, “has not been persuasive enough to get the 20 member committee to meet”.

The meeting, scheduled for December 2004, was cancelled and the college is now waiting for the announcement of new dates. Citing the reasons for the meeting being deferred, Sharma said, “We have three Cabinet Ministers and some very senior officials in the body; they informed me that they would not be able to make it to the December 28 meeting, so we had to defer it”.

He added, “Some of them were kept busy by the tsunami tragedy and there was no way we could go ahead with the meeting. But very soon we will have a meeting, but I would like to add that the regular work of the college is running smoothly and besides appointments there are is no pressing urgency”.

The college, at present, has more than 30 ad hoc teachers waiting to be regularised, besides the appointment of Principals for both the morning as well as evening shift.

The proposal for introducing Mass Communication and a three-year part-time MBA self financing courses that has been passed by the staff council of the college, also needs the approval of the three-member committee to be elected by the Governing Body.

The college, which is run by the Zakir Hussain Trust of which the Prime Minister is the Chairperson, has 20 trust nominees and eight nominees from the college and the university. Sources in the college said that of the 20 trust nominees at least four have already withdrawn their names.

Faridabad, January 15
At least five youths have reportedly been arrested in connection with the
murder of a student in Ballabgarh town here last evening.

The victim, identified as Himanshu (18), a student of Class XI, had come to attend a coaching class at a private institute near Kalpana Chawla Park in Ballabgarh, at about 6.30 pm when he was attacked by a group of about six youths.

It is reported that the accused stabbed the victim several times before fleeing. The student, who
was the son of a shopkeeper, succumbed to his injuries later.

According to reports, a case has been booked and the five youths have been rounded up.

Faridabad, January 15
About half a dozen nominations were filed today in the district for the six Assembly seats. With that, the total number of nominations has gone up to 15.

The Congress candidate from Ballabgarh Assembly constituency, Ms Sharda Rathaur, were among those who filed their papers this morning. She led an impressive procession, consisting of a large number of supporters and activists of the party, including hundreds of women. They accompanied her to the office of the returning officer, where she submitted her papers.

Ms Rathaur, who is the district president of the women cell of the party, has been one of the women candidates, who have been fielded by the Congress party in these state Assembly polls. The district president of the party (DCC), Mr B. R. Ojha, and Ms Sharda Rani, a former Haryana Minister, accompanied Ms Rathaur.

Other prominent candidates who filed their nomination included Mr Azmat Khan of the INLD from Hathin constituency, Mr Chander Bhatia (BJP) from NIT (Faridabad), Mr Udhay Bhan and Mr A. C. Chaudhary (both from Congress); the latter have filed their papers from Hassanpur and NIT (Faridabad) constituencies, respectively. Mr Karan Dalal of the Congress had filed his nomination paper yesterday.

A total of about 15 candidates have filed their papers so far; January 17 is the last date for the nominations. Polling will be held on February 3.

Gurgaon, January 15
The students who passed out of the Ansal Institute of Technology’s (AIT) prestigious ‘Twinning Degree Programmes’ with the US universities were honoured at a glittering function organised on its campus here.

Some of them are pursuing the Bachelors degree programme in Computer Science, Business Administration and Engineering while others are studying in Masters Programme at ranking universities in the USA. The Alumni of AIT shared their experiences in the US on this occasion. Abhishek Agarwal, a graduate in Computer Science from Coastal Carolina University under AIT’s Twinning Programme, is now doing Masters degree in Bio-Sciences at the Keck Graduate Institute in California. —TNS