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Sikh bodies decry blasts
Police nosing around
Pandits warned against abetting child marriages
Rs 1 lakh compensation announced
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A happy chapter for some, sad for others
Cash, valuables worth lakhs looted
‘Preserve rich biological
resources’
UPPC staff beaten up
JNU finds it hard to curb canine presence
Three more fall prey to meningitis
Ghogha dairymen on the warpath
Encroached land worth
Rs 15 crore freed
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Sikh bodies decry blasts
New Delhi, May 23 “Shiromani Gurdwara Prabhandak Committee (SGPC) had already sorted out the controversy with the movie’s producers, who had agreed to make some cuts and even change the title. The blasts in no way show the protest against the movie as is being portrayed in the electronic media,” said Kuldeep Singh Bhogal, member SGPC, Amritsar. “It rather appears to be the work of some Naxalites who want to malign the Sikh faith,” Mr Bhogal said. “We fully condemn the blasts,” he added. Delhi Sikh Gurdwara Management Committee chief Paramjit Singh Sarna said, “Our members had also seen the movie and they did not find anything controversial in it except the name, which was a religious slogan. We also did not receive a single complaint from any Sikh in the Capital relating to the movie. “These blasts in no way show the protests against the movie. The intelligence agencies should fully probe who was behind the attacks. From our side, we fully condemn the blast,” Mr Sarna said.
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Police nosing around
New Delhi, May 23 Delhi Police Commissioner Dr K K Paul has asked the local police to remain alert in areas like Azadpur Mandi, guesthouses in Karol Bagh, Paharganj, Hazrat Nizamuddin, Lajpat Nagar, Jangpura and Bhogal. Besides these places, hideouts of anti-social elements and their sympathisers are being raided to identity the suspects involved in the blasts. Since vehicles, both two-wheelers and others, are used to transport explosive materials and firearms by the militants, the district police and PCR have been instructed to maintain surprise checks. Also mangers of cinema halls, places of entertainment, auditoriums have been asked to sensitise their staff to look for suspicious-looking objects. Attendants of parking lots, underground parking lots, multi-storeyed buildings have been instructed to look for the strangers parking their vehicles. The SHOs were also asked to keep in touch with the security officers of vital installations in the Capital and public utility services like water-works, power houses to enforce access control. The police were also directed to maintain enhanced vigilance at ISBTs, railway stations, Metro rail stations
and airports. The Police Commissioner also appealed to the public to extend their fullest cooperation and advised them not to touch any suspicious and abandoned objects lying in public places.
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Pandits warned against abetting child marriages
Faridabad, May 23 They have been warned of a legal action under the provisions of the Child Marriage Restrain Act, which could award an imprisonment up to three years and a fine of Rs 1,000. The district authorities have also issued a notice to all the Sarpanches and Gram Panchayats to check and stop the child marriages in their respective villages. The notice says that the respective Panchayat would be held answerable if such a development takes place there. According to Ms Chanchal Bhatia, Programme Officer of the district-level Integrated Child Development Scheme (ICDS) Cell, Faridabad, the administration had been able to intervene in at least eight cases of child marriages in the district recently and stopped them, too. All the children to be married were aged between 10 to 16 years. She said while four minor girls were to be married in the Palwal subdivision, the rest of the cases were detected in the Ballabhgarh sub-division. Stating that the Deputy Commissioner has taken a special interest in such cases, she said the authorities concerned have issued notices to all the Gram Panchayats in the district to keep a check on such developments. She further added that the ICDS cell had also issued a notice to all the persons or priests to abstain from getting the marriages of minor children solemnised in the district. It is stated that if anyone was found guilty, the authorities would take a legal action against such persons under the provisions of the Act along with the parents of the children. The department has issued an appeal to the residents in the district to inform any such development in their areas and has released a phone number (2264207) in this connection. It is stated that the officials concerned did not take any further action in all the cases detected as they claimed that the parents of the children had agreed to stop the marriage on their intervention. But some of the families may reportedly have got the marriage solemnised after moving out of the district or the state. Such incidents had been reported last year in the district in two or three villages. It may be recalled that the overall development in several parts of the district has been poor, especially in the matter of education, where only 26 per cent of the women are literate. There are hardly any NGO or agency, which are working for the uplift of the rural women. Meanwhile, the Woman and Child Welfare Department of the state have invited applications from the NGOs or individuals for three awards to be given by the Union Government for excellent and commendable work in this field for this year. The national-level award carries a prize money of Rs 3 lakh for the NGO and Rs 1 lakh for the individuals respectively.
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Rs 1 lakh compensation announced
New Delhi, May 23 One person was killed and 70 were injured in the blasts, government sources said. The injured have been admitted to Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital, Lok Nayak Jai Prakash Hospital, Bara Hindu Rao, Lady Hardinge Hospital and Chandini Nursing Home near Satyam cinema in Patel Nagar. A compensation of Rs 50,000 has been announced for a victim, 16-year-old Latif of Sitapur, who lost his foot in the explosion at Liberty cinema. He is undergoing treatment at the Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital. The government also announced Rs 20,000 as compensation for those seriously injured and Rs 10,000 for those with minor
injuries. — TNS
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Show will go on amid tight security: Cinema owners
New Delhi, May 23 At a press conference today, the Delhi-based National Association of Motion Picture Exhibitors
(NAMPE), said local police officers had been invited to all the 65 theatres in the city this morning to see the arrangements for themselves. Additional metal detectors had been acquired from the market or from the police and every viewer was being frisked before being permitted into the
theatre. NAMPE president Billu Sibbal said that the controversial film ‘Jo Bole So
Nihaal’ had been withdrawn from the 22 theatres where it was being screened, although police sources had confirmed that the incident of bomb blasts in the Liberty and Satyam Cinemas last night was not linked to the film. Mr Shasank
Raizada, proprietor of the Delite theatre where the film has been withdrawn this morning, said that ‘’no viewers are being allowed in with any bag. Even ladies’ purses and handbags are being checked. Those carrying mobile phones are being asked to operate the phones before being allowed in.’’ Mr Sandeep Marwah of the PHD Chamber’s Entertainment Wing said the exhibitors had in their meeting this morning drawn up certain norms with regard to the number of security personnel required in relation to the seating capacity. These norms have been sent for approval to the police authorities. Mr Rajesh Khanna of the Chanakya Theatre said that contrary to reports, very few theatres had cancelled the last show last night since this could have created even greater panic. Appealing to the people through the media to ensure that there was no panic, Mr Ajjay Bijli of the PVR theatres said that the security arrangements have been in place in almost all theatres since the ‘Uphaar’ tragedy of June 1997.
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1,178 students score over 90%;
New Delhi, May 23 While the city’ pass percentage has risen to 77.61 from 75.75 per cent, the pass percentage of government and government-aided schools has shown a dip. The pass percentage of government-run schools has dipped to 76.44 and that of aided schools it has come down to 75.25 per cent. However, the private schools have a reason to cheer, with a pass percentage of 89.46, which is incidentally lower than last year’s 89.59 per cent. Girls in the Capital have left the boys behind, registering a pass percentage of 82.99 against theirs 72.59, maintaining a lead of 10 per cent. Standing fourth in all six regions, Delhi also has the highest number of students placed under compartment. Of the total 48,888 cases, 17,299 are from Delhi. The number of unfair means cases too has risen from 20 to 37. CBSE Chairman Ashok Ganguly said 255 students will be given merit certificates in Mathematics, 277 in Chemistry, 101 in History, 152 in Political Science, 65 in Geography, 172 in Economics and 85 in Biology. Incidentally, Physics about which the students had complained that it was a lengthy paper, too has 222 students bagging the merit certificate.
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A happy chapter for some, sad for others
New Delhi, May 23 Joyous at their success, three students of the Andh
Mahavidyala, Panchkuian Road, are now looking forward to June 1, when the sale of admission forms in Delhi University will begin. “We are excited about going to college. We will together go and get the forms for admission,” said Yogendra Kumar who has scored a second division. While many are “totally surprised” by their commendable performance, others like Rochi “were expecting it”. “I have always been a consistent performer, so it didn’t surprise me at all,” said the DPS R K Puram student who has topped the Commerce stream in her school with a 92.6 per cent. And alongside peals of laughter, telephone helplines too have begun ringing. “We have already received about 400 phone calls,” said Director Snehi, Abdul
Mabood. He added, “Since morning, we have received phone calls from Jharkhand, Himachal Pradesh and even far-off places. A parent complained that her son has run away from home while another complained that her daughter has been crying hysterically. We are trying to help all of them by doing our bit.”
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Cash, valuables worth lakhs looted
Greater Noida, May 23 The thieves broke the padlocks of three houses and decamped with Rs 32,000 in cash and valuables worth lakhs. Incidents of houses breaking have repeatedly been reported in the area for the last four days, with police having been unable to solve even one robbery case. The owner of A-168 in Beta-I, who runs a construction business, had gone to Delta Sector to attend an engagement function at relative’s house at 1 pm. By 3.30 pm, when he returned, he found the padlock tampered with and whole house was ransacked. However, Rs 20,000 in cash and 10 tola gold were missing from steel almirahs. Later, he informed the police. The robbers also struck another house of one Surinder Singh’s in B-37, Beta-I. But here they could select little to carry along in a short time. According to Surinder Singh, thieves had also entered his house three days ago. The third incident took place in Ajit Singh Tomar’s house No B-29 in Sector Beta-I. At the time of incident, the wife of Ajit Singh had gone to market after locking the house. On return, the housewife found the main door ajar and the house ransacked. Two gold necklaces, five rings, three gold chains, two gold bangles and Rs 12,000 in cash were looted. According to Ajit Singh, the police have not registered a robbery report in spite of a written complaint.
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‘Preserve rich biological
resources’
Faridabad, May 23 The national-level programme, which started on May 16, will have at least four technical sessions including speeches and presentation of views by the experts on the subject. The programme will end on May 20. Inaugurating the five-day training programme, Mr V. N. Khare, the former Chief Justice of India, stressed on the need of more awareness not only among the forest officials, but also among the people on the overall. He said that it is important to preserve and maintain the rich and unique biological resources for the sake of development on all the related aspects. Stating that almost 90 per cent of the medicines in the country come from the plant species, he said that the sustainable management and protection of the bio-diversity and rich protected areas could be ensured through innovative policies and programmes. Although several legislative steps and policies have been introduced in the country since Independence, but continuous efforts through such programmes are quite important, he added. He said the forest officials should have ample and adequate knowledge of all the relevant areas concerning the forests as the genetic resources have been gaining more commercial value and proper training could help to put the potential to the optimum use. Mr A. K. Mukherjee, the former Director-General, Department of Forests, said that a large funds and efforts are required to preserve the forest resources, as India has been placed at 16th place in matter of forest and bio-diversity in the world. Though about 23 per cent of the land in the country is under the forest cover, the funds being provided for their management is enough just for the one per cent of the total cover. He said “the duty lied in defending our country’s biological wealth now”. Mr B. K. P Sinha, a retired IFS officer and Director, Amity School of Natural Resources and Sustainable Development, described the Intellectual Property Rights as a panacea. He said the foresters may be managing 99 per cent of the bio-diversity, but commented that bio-processing is nothing but ‘bio-piracy’, he said it is better to introduce the Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) to preserve our plants from being patented by the foreigners. Delivering the keynote address, Dr P. Pushapanadan, Director, National Botanical Research Institute, said that as the ‘monopolistic rights are alien to this country, IPR made this country strong enough. Claiming that genetic diversity is more important than species diversity, the empowerment of the knowledge gives value to the plant by introducing the IPR. India could not only protest its bio-diversity but also could earn huge money through its trade also, he added. Dr Ashok Chauhan, founder President of the Foundation, said that the property rights obligations have thrown open new challenges and opportunities, and the key issue is to secure the cooperation of the indigenous groups in maintaining and prospecting the bio-diversity.
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UPPC staff beaten up
Noida, May 23 As the Uttar Pradesh Power Corporation (UPPC) has announced a roaster, but it seldom sticks to it. As a result, Ghaziabad is living with six to nine hours power cuts. Noida is putting up with a daily power cut of three to six hours. The worst fears of people in Ghaziabad and Noida have started taking the shape of a nightmare. As the summer hots up, the power crisis in the areas seems to be becoming worst by the day. With Noida authority linking the cable of 33 KV sub-stations with lines of other sub-stations, the power supply position seems to have further deteriorated. The transformers, it is learnt, are just not able to take on the increased load. There is on an average additional requirement of 30 MW of power even after putting the full load on 200 KV sub-station in Sector-20. With no alternative in sight, everybody seems to be keeping his fingers crossed till 400 KW Palli power station is commissioned in middle of July. Till then, there seem to be no respite from power cuts in Noida and Greater Noida areas. There is likelihood of power scenario in Noida getting worse and worse in coming days. In Greater Noida, the situation is no better, because of regular power cuts. Already the power cuts have affected the supply of potable water in Noida as well as in Greater Noida. The UP Power Corporation’s Chairman Deepak Singhal and Noida Chairman Deo Datta had been at pains on May 2 to explain the future plans for next 10 years. A time frame up to May 31 was decided for putting an end to tapping, which is responsible for power theft to a considerable extent. According to sources, even if efforts are mounted on war footing for stopping tapping, it will take at least two months to achieve the results, a source said. The UPPC authorities seem to be working on roasting plans in Noida as well as in Greater Noida. The situation in 220 KV sub-station are said to be quite worrying.
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JNU finds it hard to curb canine presence
New Delhi, May 23 The JNU Teachers’ Association (JNUTA), which has taken up the issue, wants the JNU administration to include the student volunteers in the Animal Birth Control (ABC) and Anti-Rabies Vaccination (ARV) programmes used to manage the stray dog population on campus. “The process to curb the numbers followed by the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) was inhuman. On the complaints, often unsubstantiated, Following JNUTA’s intervention, the Sanjay Gandhi Animal Hospital has been appointed by the university to carry out the sterilisation of dogs. However, Dr Ghosh is upset that the JNU authorities have not involved the campus volunteers to monitor the programme. “Monitoring is essential to ensure that the dogs already sterilised by the individual efforts of some of the concerned residents, including me are not picked up, and after sterilisation and vaccination they are returned to their original habitat,” she said. Pointing out that while there was an urgent need to control the population of stray dogs on the JNU campus, it is just as necessary to undertake the process in “effective yet humane way”. “ These dogs often cause nuisance by excessive barking, chasing cycles and vehicles, even attacking visually impaired students who walk with a stick and there is always a fear of rabies and other diseases, but it goes without saying that dogs are in general very friendly animals,” Dr Ghosh added. Noting that there are several benefits of having the community dogs on campus as they can work as guard dogs and help in preventing burglaries and theft she made a case for the ABC and AVR, pointing out that driving the stray dogs away from the campus will be a short-lived solution because new dogs will take up the empty territory in no time. “In fact neutering dogs also helps in curbing their aggression and once they have been treated they need to be relocated in their own habitats. Pushing them out of the campus is no solution,” Dr Ghosh added.
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Three more fall prey to meningitis
New Delhi, May 23 He said that yesterday 80 patients were admitted to different hospitals. Of them, four persons have been discharged and three died. At present, 73 patients are being treated. Only three fresh cases have been reported during the last 24
hours. — TNS
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Ghogha dairymen on the warpath
New Delhi, May 23 The dairy owners chanted slogans against the Municipal Commissioner and senior leaders of the corporation, saying that shifting dairies at Ghogha from all over the national Capital was not practical. Delhi is not a city. It has become a state. Distances are too much so it will be difficult to come to Ghogha from Badarpur, Shahdara and other areas. The MCD should develop such dairy farms in all zonal areas of the corporation. The issue was earlier raised in the Standing Committee and assurance was given that it would be reconsidered. But the Municipal Commissioner and the leadership are adamant in implementing their decision, said Ram Vilas Aggarwal, a dairy owner from Krishana Nagar. Another dairy owner, running his business in Pitampura, said that 60-metre area provided to one dairy is not enough. The plots should be bigger. The area is not properly developed as there was no water supply, electrification and road. The ground water is not fit for drinking. The animals will be ill after consuming ground water. The government is not serious about the wellbeing of dairy owners.
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Encroached land worth
Rs 15 crore freed
Ghaziabad, May 23 Besides, encroachers from green belt along National Highway 24 was also got freed. The three hectares land was got vacated under the latest District Administration’s strive launched against the encroachments of public land. A GDA team had landed with a huge police force in Kaushambi at 2 pm on Sunday, opposite Ghazipur vegetable market. The squad had removed illegal occupation in group housing plot no 1. A small market of Badarpur and roadside dhabhas (restaurants) have come up in shanties. A liquor shop was also having flourishing business there. A number of concrete shops built there were also razed to ground during the operation. GDA Secretary Devi Shankar Sharma said about 6,000 sq mt of land had been freed from illegal occupation, which was worth Rs 12 to 15 crore in the market.
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Show of budding lensmen
New Delhi, May 23 Raghu Rai appreciated the works of the
students. — TNS
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Books
donated
Faridabad, May 23 The books were donated at a function held on the Centre’s premises recently by the Director of the Centre, Mr B. M. Bansal. The Centre also donated four desktop computers with printers and UPS to the Government Polytechnic for
Women. — TNS
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