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Wildlife smugglers held with skins worth Rs 5 cr
Health inspector held for drug racket
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Panchayat land worth crores in illegal occupation
Govt bans mobile phones in schools
SIM card cloning racket busted, 7 held
Students, teachers at loggerheads in DU colleges
Noida to have second largest market for flowers
Residents’ Party aims for Guinness Book
Stringent drive against vehicle pollution
Term of HC panel to streamline organ donation extended
Delhi minister campaigns for Palwal candidate
GDA gives green light to construction of 13 flyovers
Cheating case registered
Singing talent hunt on Feb 5
‘Glory 2005’ celebrated
Noted poet to head Punjabi Sahit Sammelan
Palika Suvidha Kendra opened
AIDS awareness programme
Hyderabad corporators meet Mayor
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Wildlife smugglers held with skins worth Rs 5 cr
New Delhi, February 1 The police also claimed to have seized 39 leopard skins, two tiger skins, 135 kilograms of porcupines thorn, 60 kilograms of paws of tiger and leopard, 10 pairs of jaws of tiger and leopard and 40 small bones of tiger. The gang members have been identified as Sudesh Kumar, resident of Paharganj, Ritu, Babu and Badal, all residents of Sadar Bazar. Acting on a tip-off, the police on January 31 arrested Sudesh Kumar from Kamla Market and seized one leopard skin from his possession. At his instance, the police arrested Ritu and recovered 10 leopard skins from her possession. Based on their information, the police arrested Babu and Badal and seized other wildlife items from their possession. During interrogation, the accused persons told the police that they were working for one Sansar Chand, who used to purchase these items from poachers of Himachal Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh and Nepal. The police have launched a massive hunt to trace the whereabouts of Sansar. Four inter-state dacoits held The Special Cell of the Delhi Police claimed to have nabbed four inter-state criminals involved in dacoities in Delhi and Uttar Pradesh. The sleuths also claimed to have recovered one country-made weapon, two live cartridges, two spring-actuated knives and an iron rod from their possession. The accused persons have been identified as Pappu, alias Chooha, Raj Kumar, alias Babloo, Chhatarpal, residents of Etah and Raju Verma, resident of Ghaziabad. However, two of their associates identified as Naresh and Risalu managed to escape from the sleuths. Acting on a tip-off that some inter-state dacoits would assemble near Rithala Metro station, the sleuths on the evening of January 31 intercepted six members of the gang. However, two of them managed to escape the police dragnet. During interrogation, the accused persons told the sleuths that they shifted their base to Delhi in November 2004 and were residing in Dabri area. They disclosed that they targeted houses in deserted areas and operate in late hours with deadly equipments and weapons.
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Health inspector held for drug racket
Meerut, February 1 A heavy consignment of costly drugs, including amoxeleve, tetracycline, sifroplaxine, novamox, liverfit and other antibiotics were also seized from the accused’s residence. According to the Senior Superintendent of Police, Meerut, Mrs Anju Gupta, the police got a tip-off that the medicines exclusively for the government hospitals are being sold in the open market for several months. A police team led by the Circle Officer Railway Road, raided the premises of Health Inspector Nagendra Jain in Brahampuri locality and seized a large consignment of drugs, which were marked, “State government supply, not for sale”. At least 30 types of drugs and ointments, liquid syrups and pains killers were also seized from the spot. In a police interrogation, the Health Inspector posted with the district garment hospital, revealed that he would set aside drugs and medicines meant for patients during the OPD distribution. He would tell them that the medicines were not available at the moment and then divert them to the open market. While talking to the mediapersons in the local Brahampuri Thana, Jain alleged that such rackets are quite common in the district health department and senior CMO officials also have a share in the racket. The Health Inspector even alleged that CMO, Dr A K Tyagi has knowledge of the malpractices. When ‘The Tribune’ tried to speak to the CMO in this regard, he refused to comment on the subject.
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Panchayat land worth crores in illegal occupation
Noida, February 1 Village panchayat or Greater Noida authority has not been able to take the possession of the land back from Moti Goel’s relatives. All this has surprised the people in the industrial belt. The land in question had been transferred to the name of Ghaziabad’s Moti Goel and his relations through fraudulent means. No action has been taken so far against the officials by the district administration who had connived with the cheats, as recommended by the Addl. District Magistrate in his inquiry report. The revenue official and pradhan of Kasna village had, in connivance with some senior officials, transferred 89 bigha land of village panchayat to the name of Moti Geol and his relatives. The Naib Tehsildar and Tehsildar had approved these transfers which were sanctioned by the Addl. District Magistrate. Some people had reported this fraud to the then District Magistrate Santosh Yadav. The DM had entrusted its inquiry to the SDM Sadar Tehsil. The SDM Sadar Tehsil had in his report submitted said that the Gram Pradhan and revenue official had, in connivance with some senior officers, transferred the panchayat land worth crores of rupees to Moti Goel of Ghaziabad and his relatives in an illegal manner. He had also recommended strong action against all the officials involved in the fraud. All the registries of this land, fraudulently transferred to Moti Goel and party, should be cancelled. However, no further action was taken by Santosh Yadav or by the present District Magistrate Ajay Kumar Singh. The Greater Noida authority has also failed to reoccupy the public land. In the circumstances, the perpetrators of colossal fraud continue to be in possession of the gram panchayat land worth hundreds of crores. District Magistrate Ajay Kumar Singh, however, said that the Greater Noida authority has been asked in writing to acquire the land in question.
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Govt bans mobile phones in schools
New Delhi, February 1 Asking the public schools to follow its lead, the Government reached the decision to impose the ban at a meeting of top government and school officials called by the Education Minister, Mr Arvinder Singh Lovely. The ban would apply to students and teachers of all Government-run or aided schools in the city and come into force with immediate effect, the officials said. The minister said the decision was taken in view of complaints by parents and social organisations and to maintain discipline in schools. The onus to ensure that the ban was enforced had been put on principals and a formal notification was likely to be issued in a day or two, the officials said. The government also decided to send advisory notes to the over 1,000 public schools in the city asking them to ban mobile phones, but the present order did not apply to them. The principals of the schools would be held responsible for a breech of the order and various schools were free to come out with their own rules to enforce the order, it was pointed out. For instance, if a child did bring a mobile phone to be used before or after school hours or in case of an emergency, the same could be deposited with the school authorities. The ban comes in the wake of the notorious MMS scandal, which involved two students from a noted public school.
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SIM card cloning racket busted, 7 held
New Delhi, February 1 The accused persons also cloned hundreds of CDMA numbers over the years and earned huge money through hawala transactions. The police have seized a large number of cloning equipments including one laptop computer along with two SIM readers, 15 CDs of CDMA software such as UNI cables, chargers, 21 mobile phones of Reliance, Tata Indicom, Garuda and SIM cards of Hutch, Airtel, Dolphin and other incriminating documents from their possession. The accused persons who were arrested have been identified as Vinod Choubey, alias Jacob, resident of Haryana, Mohammad Aslam, resident of Saudi Arabia, Prem Swaroop Pahuja, resident of Jangpura, Mohammad Yunus, resident of Gujarat, Paramjeet Singh, resident of Dwarka, Anand Aggarwal, alias Sonu, and Anoop, both residents of Uttam Nagar. Acting on a complaint from the GSM service provider of Hutch company that some gang has been resorting to cloning racket and cheated the company to the tune of Rs nine lakh, the police identified one Paramjit Singh of Dwarka, who was running one ‘Dusmesh Gas Cuts’ from his house. Paramjit Singh had applied for a bulk of SIM cards with international facility but could get only two cards as he had not provided enough supporting documents. The police also found the documents provided by Paramjit as fake and the employees working with him were also absconding. The company also told the police that within hours of activation of these SIM cards on December 31 in Saudi Arabia, huge bills started originating. When the Hutch company alerted the customer about the huge bills, Paramjit Singh issued a cheque for Rs 50,000, which, however, bounced. During interrogation, Paramjit told the police that he along with his associates Sonu and Anoop formed the fake agency called ‘Dashmesh Gascut’ and used it for all kinds of illegal work like taking loans, credit cards and other consumer items.
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Students, teachers at loggerheads in DU colleges
New Delhi, February 1 The students at Shivaji College, led by DUSU Joint Secretary, Gaurav Khari, decided to continue their protest, marching to the Dean of Colleges Office in the University, where they allegedly damaged some flowerpots. In Sham Lal College (Evening), the students had been raising a demand for the removal of a staff from the position of the Convenor of Students Advisory Committee. However, the staff council meeting, which had been called to resolve the issue, not only turned down the demand but also sought disciplinary action against the leader of the students union, who is currently under suspension. “The leader of the students union had misbehaved with the teachers. The staff council has decided to place the case before a disciplinary committee and he has been given 48 hours to file his reply. The agitation in the college has been called off and classes were resumed today,” said Dr Aggarwal. The students had been disrupting classes for the past one week and had alleged that the convenor was withholding money from the students’ annual festival. “This is untrue, the money has already been sanctioned, and all that we tried to do was to make sure it is not misused,” said Dr Agarwal. Meanwhile, tempers continued to flare in Shivaji College where a student allegedly manhandled a staff. While the principal and the staff decided to shift the student to another college, the students continued to protest, claiming that that the student was being “victimised”. On Friday, the student is alleged to have roughed up a teacher, following which the staff members sought his expulsion. However, the students, who claim to be “witness” to the incident, point out that the teacher not only verbally abused the student but also beat him even after he apologised. “The students was getting some notes photocopied when the teacher asked the shopkeeper to photocopy his notes first. The student, unaware that he is a teacher, addressed him as uncle, after which the teacher began slapping him … he only pushed the teacher back in self-defense and even apologised when he found out that he is a teacher, but he was continuously abused by the teacher,” said a student who was present during the fracas. After several rounds of meetings and no concrete outcome, the students and staff, including the principal left for the Dean’s office. “We will court arrest and protest, but we will not agree to the decision of migrating the student,” the students told The Tribune.
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Noida to have second largest market for flowers
Noida, February 1 The foundation stone was laid by Sheesh Pal Singh Yadav, Minister, Public Works and Chairman Market Committee and Chairman Agriculture Exports, Marketing and Imports, UP. A flower auction house and wholesale market already exists in Bangalore. The wholesale flower market centre being set up by the UP Agriculture and Marketing Board will be of international standard. In the first phase, a flower market will be set on an area of 30 acre. The flower auction house and market complex will be developed at a cost of Rs 15 crore in which APD will contribute Rs 3.5 crore. Shops will be given on lease by Market Samiti. It will develop as an excellent example of public-private partnership. The proposed project is expected to be completed by March 2006, the minister said. According to Mr Sheesh Pal Singh Yadav, this auction house is expected to provide an excellent market to the flower growers of North Indian states. The flower trade is increasing at an annual rate Leading states in floriculture are Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, West Bengal, Maharashtra, U.P, Uttaranchal, Himachal, Delhi and Haryana where flowers are grown commercially. In two-thirds areas, traditional flowers are being grown, including roses, chrysanthemum, aster, tuberose. Organisations promote cut flowers and commercial floriculture is fast developing in South India. Next is West India while North India has only four big organisations so far. Roses, carnation, lily, gladiolus, freesia, calla, cymbidium, orchids, tulip and gerbera are the leading varieties. Flower trade in Delhi is over worth Rs 1 crore daily. Noida wholesale market will provide an excellent opportunity to the flower growers all over UP and other parts of the country and will benefit the growers in Delhi, the minister said. All important professional requirements will be provided in the Noida wholesale marketing and flower auction house like cold storage and category-wise segregation. The hall will have a capacity to hold 4 lakh stems for auction daily. An electronic auction watch will be used. There will be 60 wholesale and dealer shops, 16 cash and carry shops, two restaurants, one cold store and one value-added centre. All this will give a new direction to the flower trade in the country, the minister added.
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Residents’ Party aims for Guinness Book
Gurgaon, February 1 The NGO said that it would forward the results of voting percentage to the Guinness Book of World Records. Responding to the issue of voter participation, Sanjay Kaul, President, People’s Action, said he was sure that one of the booths in the newer colonies would set the record this time. He reminded that during the last parliamentary elections in May 2004, Sushant Lok, Palam Vihar and some areas of DLF recorded higher than average voting. “This is a result of a new awareness of citizen rights and the collective efforts of RWAs all over Gurgaon,” he said. Shashi Sharma, Convenor, People’s Action Gurgaon, has already sent a requisition to the Guinness Book of World Records to recognise this category since there is no existing data about any polling station having touched the 100 per cent mark. Admitting that 100 per cent polling is rare, Shashi Sharma said, “Even 95 per cent is a world record. In fact, there is no record even close to 90 per cent to the best of my knowledge. That is why we have asked the Guinness Book to recognise this category and create a new one if needed.” Members of RWAs are being motivated to achieve this target which would gain them a name in the Guinness Book of World records. Azad Kataria, President of New Palam Vihar RWA, has taken up the challenge and is excited at the prospect of the name of New Palam Vihar in the Guinness Book of World Records. “Since election data is automatically verified by the EC, there will be no problem in the recognition of this feat by the Guinness Book of World Records,” said Sanjay Kaul, another resident.
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Stringent drive against vehicle pollution
New Delhi, February 1 The Transport Department has deployed three teams at ten entry points of the Capital to check entry of vehicles without ‘Pollution Under Control’ certificate or emitting visible smoke. Besides this, 70 teams were also on the prowl in the city to flag down any vehicle emitting smoke. Any such motor owner would be challaned Rs 1,000 on the first instance and Rs 2000 on the second. Polluting commercial vehicles would have their registration/permits cancelled. The move has made PUC certificate dearer as it would record emissions of three gasses in place of only one earlier. Two and three-wheeler would have to pay Rs 35 instead of Rs 25, cars and CNG-buses Rs 45 instead of Rs 25 and all diesel vehicles Rs 60 instead of Rs 40. All this was being done to complement the steps taken in the city to reduce pollution by converting the entire public transport system to run on CNG. Polluting private and commercial vehicles in the Capital and those from outside could not be allowed to undo these massive effort, the Delhi Transport Minister, Mr Haroon Yusuf, said while exhibiting the ISO 9001: 2000 certificate granted to the department. The Transport Department has been accorded the certificate by the AQSR International at the Michigan University, USA, for successfully implementing Quality Management System—making it automated, transparent and faster. It was also expected that the new system would eliminate any meddling by touts.
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Term of HC panel to streamline organ donation extended
New Delhi, February 1 The court that had on September 6, 2004 asked the committee headed by the Union Health Secretary to review the provisions of Transplantation of Human Organs Act, 1994 and submit a report to the Centre within four months, granted it time till May 5 after its member advocate Sanjay Jain told the court that the task would take more time. The committee met at the office of Additional Secretary (Health) on December 7, 2004 and the members were of the view that first relevant data from various parts of the country should be collected and analysed before deliberating upon possible solutions and making appropriate recommendations, Jain said. The committee has been asked to examine the available data on organ transplants and the working of the Authorisation Committees and “make its recommendations on the composition of Authorisation Committees and changes, if any, required to ensure timely permissions”. The panel would also examine if the jurisdiction of the Authorisation Committees should be enlarged by bringing within its ambit the process of certifying a “near relative” or the task is assigned to another designated authority.
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Delhi minister campaigns for Palwal candidate
Faridabad, February 1 However, the Health Minister of Delhi, Mr Yoganand Shastri, did reach the venue on the final day of the election campaign. He asked the people to vote for the Congress to have a clean government in the state. Mr Shastri claimed that there was a wave in favour of the party in Haryana. The Congress would storm into power this time, he said. Addressing his supporters and workers, who had gathered in a large number, Mr Dalal declared that his priorities would be to get canal water for irrigation besides launching various development works which, he said, had been stopped deliberately by the present government. He took potshots at the Chautala regime. “Not a single youth from Palwal had got a government job on merit in the past five years,” Mr Dalal said. The Congress MP from Faridabad, Mr Avtar Singh
Bhadana, said Karan Dalal had become an identity of the region, as he had always fought for the rights of the people and did not succumb to any pressure from the ruling party or
its leaders. He asked the people to vote for the Congress as, he said, the party would mitigate the sufferings of the people. Thousands of supporters of Dalal, gathered at Huda Park and took out a procession, which turned into a public meeting at Camp in Palwal on the last day of the campaigning. The Congress candidate, Mr AC Chaudhary, also toured several areas and addressed many public meetings. He also promised development at a fast pace. He said that the outgoing BJP MLA had failed to do any work in the past two tenures as the people were not having civic amenities which include even drinking water and proper roads. He said his priorities included shifting of the Air Base from Dabua Colony here so that thousands of houses of poor were
not demolished, as threatened by the authorities in the past. He claimed that the Congress would come to power as people wanted an end
to misrule.
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GDA gives green light to construction of 13 flyovers
Ghaziabad, February 1 The flyovers will be completed by the end of 2008. The GDA board, however, decided to keep the proposal on hold regarding the construction of hi-tech city on 3000 acres. In the GDA Board meeting, approval for the construction of six flyovers, five grade-separators and two under-bridges at an estimated cost of Rs 40 crore was accorded. The flyovers to be constructed included one on Dasna railway crossing on Hapur Road, on railway crossing on the road linking Sanjay Nagar with Meerut Road, grade separators on Hapur tri-junction and on link road tri-junction. To relieve pressure of traffic on Delhi Road, the proposal to link N.H No. 58 with N.H No.24 through Vijay Nagar bypass has also been approved. The board also okayed the Metro Rail project. The integrated Rail-Bus transport system project, already cleared by the state government, was also approved by the GDA board. The proposal to develop Ram Manohar Lohia Environmental Park on 40 acres in Sector 57, Rajender Nagar, has been approved. However, the board rejected the proposal to add fourth floor to the three-storeyed flats in Rajinder Nagar and Shalimar Gardens. The proposal to allot 3600 sq mt land in lieu of 4000 sq mt land affected by the high-tension wire passing over Bright Public School, Govind Puram, was also rejected. Surprisingly, the proposal for a home for the physically challenged in Surya Nagar was also rejected. It was decided to first examine whether some development work was actually being done for the physically challenged. Other proposals which were rejected included the item pertaining to the change of land use under Mahayojna of Ghaziabad, the proposal for converting four plots from residential into commercial and change of FAR from 1.5 to 2.5 in 12000 sq mt plot
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Cheating case registered
New Delhi, February 1 A manager of the APL, Mr Pradeep Girdhar, has been arrested. The APM alleged that owing to ill intention and with a view to cheat people and institutions, a group of people floated a company in the name of APL in 2003. The persons were posing themselves as the sister concern of APM, a company press release stated. APL had also allegedly forged documents of the APM and was encashing the name of the company. They had even tried to secure tender and other business from reputed companies. The suspects were identified as Mr S. K. Goel and Mr R. P. Aggarwal, Directors, Pradeep Girdhar, Manager and Tarachand Agarwal. Their office and residential premises were searched and many incriminating documents as well as fake and forged seals and stamps were seized, the release said.
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Singing talent hunt on Feb 5
New Delhi, February 1 More than 10,000 singers from different parts of the country participated in the singing contest and 18 were selected for the final, says Mr VSK Sood, national president of Sangam Kala Group. These 18 singers will perform at Talkatora. In the first round, they will sing songs from films. The 2nd round will be of non-filmi songs. Successful participants will get a chance to sing in ‘Saregamapa’. Moreover, Sangam Kala Group will promote them for various music companies. According to Mr Sood, selection of the candidates will be based on three categories, namely sub-junior for five to 12 years old singers, junior for 12 to 18 years old singers and the third group for seniors between 18 to 25 years. These singers will perform in presence of Bollywood stars.
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‘Glory 2005’ celebrated
New Delhi, February 1 He also sang a song “Aie Hawa Kahti Hai Kya” on the occasion. Many cultural programmes were presented on the occasion by the students of the school. The main attraction of the cultural programme was a ballet, Save the Girl Child. The central theme of the ballet was the women empowerment. The additional Director of Education, Government of Delhi, Dr. M. P. Mathur, awarded the best performers.
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Noted poet to head Punjabi Sahit Sammelan
New Delhi, February 1 Leading Punjabi cultural activist, Mr Mohan Singh Berry, was unanimously chosen the body’s general secretary. The Punjabi Sahit Sammelan has lobbied hard with the Central and Delhi governments for the language’s second official status in the Capital. It also took up the issue of recruitment of Punjabi teachers in the Delhi Administration schools and the use of the language in official communication after its official status here.
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Palika Suvidha Kendra opened
New Delhi, February 1 The Kendra will receive the payments in respect of shops’ and offices’ license fee, electricity and water bills besides providing other services including registration of grievances, issuance of birth and death certificates and booking of barat
ghars. These services will be rendered between 9 am and 2 pm daily. Speaking on this occasion, Mrs Babar said that it is another step towards e-governance. This Kendra would provide an efficient, transparent, convenient and friendly interaction with citizen of New Delhi area.
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AIDS awareness programme
New Delhi, February 1 This is a six-month long programme that began today at the R.K. Ashram Metro Station, which is presently under construction near Punchkuian Road. The medium used to spread awareness include the use of banners, posters,
streetplays, songs, group discussions etc. — TNS
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Hyderabad corporators meet Mayor
New Delhi, February 1 They met the Mayor, Mr A. R. Verma, and were keen to know about the functioning of the MCD, especially the work done to check the menace of encroachments, illegal hawkers and resettlement of slum dwellers. The Mayor briefed them about the functioning of the MCD as well as its constitution. He briefed them that steps were being taken to make the functioning of the corporation more
citizen-friendly. — TNS
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