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UP minister waters down Capital’s exuberance
Old man shot at for trying to protect daughter
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Inter-state gang smashed, 15 cases worked out
NGO protests against poor educational opportunities in resettlement colonies
Faridabad wasteland development scheme lagging behind
Dip in number of foreign students opting for DU
DLF City residents sweat and fume amid war of words
Business & Economy magazine launched
Officials censured for slow probe into land shark’s scams
Man shot under bizarre circumstances
Missing child’s body found with eyes gouged out
NIOS declares new admission dates
Murder case solved, 5 held
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UP minister waters down Capital’s exuberance
New Delhi, June 17 According to reports, Uttar Pradesh Irrigation Minister Munna Singh Chauhan today said that UP itself faced a severe water crisis and was in no position to spare water for Delhi. When asked about media reports that the state government had agreed to release water for Delhi, Mr Chauhan replied that UP could consider sparing water for Delhi only after reviewing its own requirements. He also said that Uttar Pradesh had an agreement with the Delhi government according to which any water given to it would be on purely humanitarian grounds. Meanwhile, the Delhi Chief Secretary, Mr S Reghunathan, asserted that he had spoken to his counterpart in Uttar Pradesh in this regard and that there was no confusion over the release of water. He said that officials of the Delhi government have already reached Lucknow and formal orders are being awaited. The CEO of Delhi Jal Board, Rakesh Mohan, on his part, said that a meeting had been convened between officials of Delhi and Uttar Pradesh governments on June 22 to discuss how much water was to be released for Delhi.
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Old man shot at for trying to protect daughter
Noida, June 17 The incident happened in Debla village under Surajpur police station on the morning on June 14. Chhatter Pal’s daughter was reportedly taking a bath in the corner of her house compound when Sanjay and Raju, two young men residing in the village passed some lewd remarks on her. When Chhatter Pal reprimanded them, they reportedly attacked him with lathis and fired at him, hitting him on his foot. They were joined by two other friends, Vijay and Bheem, during the attack. The four left after warning their victim of dire consequences. Chhatter Pal was taken to the district hospital and the police registered a report. But Chhatter Pal’s real woes started when he reached home after discharge from the hospital, where his four attackers renewed their threats. Chhatter Pal’s family alleged that the police had initially nabbed one of them but let him off. He and his wife is now alleging that the SO and two other policemen of Surajpur police station are demanding Rs 20,000 for the arrest of the four men. The hapless couple are quite scared of them as well as the police. They do not even have the nerve to narrate their pain to the SSP. The Surajpur police, however, refuted the allegations and claimed that they were trying to track down the four scoundrels.
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Inter-state gang smashed, 15 cases worked out
New Delhi, June 17 With this arrest, the police claimed to have solved more than 15 cases of robberies, murders, extortion and highway robberies.
The DCP East district, Garima Bhatnagar said that at least seven cases of murder and extortion have been solved. The cases were registered in Hisar (Haryana), Jalandhar (Punjab), Uttaranchal, Bahadur Ganj (Bihar), Krishan Nagar (Delhi), Anand Vihar (Delhi) and Pandav Nagar (Delhi). She said that the police were further investigating their involvement in other criminal cases. The police also claimed to have recovered two country-made pistols with live cartridges, 10 button-actuated knives, gold and silver jewellery that was looted in Siri Nagar, Uttaranchal.
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NGO protests against poor educational opportunities in resettlement colonies
New Delhi, June 17 Even as the total number of primary schools in the country has gone up to 6.51 lakh, more than 20,000 children in the age group of four to 18 years here are in dire need of educational opportunities. “More than a year back, 12,000 jhuggies, consisting of more than 60,000 people, have been relocated to Bawana JJ Resettlement Colony from the Yamuna Pushta. Except for five porta cabins, the MCD primary schools, whose total capacity is not more than 2000 students, there are no means of education for these children,” claimed Mr Ashok Agarwal of NGO Social Jurists, who has sought the intervention of the Chief Minister, Mrs Sheila Dikshit. “There is no conducive atmosphere for educating children in these primary schools. These are devoid of basic physical and academic infrastructure. No boundary walls, drinking water and electricity… these primary schools suffer on account of shortage of teachers and are just not enough for the existing population,” pointed out Mr Agarwal. Seeking at least five more porta cabin primary schools, the Social Jurists have also urged the government and the MCD to replace the existing porta cabins with pucca structures. “The MCD seems to have forgotten to build pucca school buildings in the colony. Porta cabin schools are nothing more than temporary arrangements,” said Mr Agarwal. “The MCD, which should provide pre-primary education to these children, has done nothing till date. There is no secondary or senior secondary school so far in the colony. The absence of these has resulted in a very high dropout rate,” he added. Pointing out that this has also adversely affected the education of the girls, Mr Agarwal said that most of them are still waiting for the schools to open so that they can resume school. “There is an increase in the number of child labourers and it is the government, which is responsible for it,” he alleged. Seeking details of the money being spent under the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan, Mr Agarwal said he would file a PIL in the High Court if the government failed to provide schools in Bawana in the immediate future.
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Faridabad wasteland development
Faridabad, June 17 With less than a year left for the end of the project period, March 2006, the scheme has been able to achieve less than 50 per cent of the target till now. The IWDP scheme had been sanctioned in 2000-01, with a project period of five years from 2001-2006, with the target of developing a total of 8538 hectares of wasteland in the district. The fund sanctioned for this project is around Rs 512.28 lakh. The District Rural Development Authority (DRDA) received a total amount of Rs 221.79 lakh for the purpose which included Rs 73.33 lakh in the last year. But the utilisation of the funds has been on the lower side of the total availability of funds. Against the availability of a total amount of Rs 76.84 lakh in 2002-2003, the officials concerned were able to utilise only Rs 49.46 lakh. In 2003-04, the utilisation was Rs 107.22 lakh against a receipt of Rs 76.83 lakh. The utilisation again went down at Rs 60.59 lakh in 2004-05 against the target of about Rs 73.33 lakh. The total utilisation stands at Rs 221.79 lakh at the end of May this year, though Rs 230.21 lakh were available. But what is important is the ‘sluggish rate’ in terms of the physical achievement during the last 4 years. The total area of land covered under the project so far had been 4148 hectares, and it seems virtually impossible to achieve the target of 8538 hectares of land in the remaining period. According to available details, land measuring about 3544 hectares had been covered under the project up to March-end last year and another 604 hectares covered in the past one year (2004-05). Under the project, tasks like land-levelling, construction of percolation tanks, tree plantation, horticulture activities and plugging of ‘gali’ type of structures is taken up. and the rest were given to the Department of Forests. A sum of Rs 223.99 lakh was released for the two departments for various heads like Community Organisation, Works Administration and Training, the total utilisation had been around 97 per cent at Rs 217.27 lakh as per the official records. It is now expected that the concerned authorities will be seeking extension of the project-time period to try achieve the target.
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Dip in number of foreign students opting for DU
New Delhi, June 17 A case in point being Delhi University, which is witnessing a substantial dip in the number of foreign students seeking admission to its colleges. “Earlier we used to attract a very large number of students from Africa, but for the last few years there has been a marginal dip,” said Prof. A.S. Narag, Foreign Students’ Advisor at Delhi University. Though he is quick to add that the number of students from South East Asia is steadily going up, Prof. Narag said, “The university has always been popular in SAARC countries and we have an increasing number of applicants
from there.” Explaining the reasons for the decline in numbers from Africa and even Bangladesh, he said, “The economy in many African countries, like Nigeria, Zimbabwe and Tanzania is not doing well. Besides, there are other local and foreign universities that have opened in these countries. For instance, in Bangladesh there are a number of foreign universities that have opened. A university in Mauritius is also doing well,” Prof. Narag added. But better educational opportunities back home don’t seem to be the only reason for the trend. “We have not been able to market our courses. No efforts have been made on our part to promote and market the education programmes,”
he regretted. Prof. Narag said, “We have good programmes and we charge a very reasonable fee. In fact, for a year’s course, students pay a
mere $600, that too in Indian rupees.” Making a case for introducing changes in the fee structure, he said, “The university began charging $100 as a one-time registration fee and this money has been ploughed in
back for providing better facilities to these foreign nationals.” Quality of education and finances apart, DU has also been a favourite for students from China and Japan who go back with not just their degrees, but also a fluent tongue in English. “A lot of students opt for certificate courses in Hindi and other languages, but for students from these countries, it is a perfect time to brush up their English as they complete their courses,” he said. Claiming that there “is a tremendous amount of potential for Indian universities”, Prof. Narag stressed upon more “co-ordination between the universities and the Indian missions abroad for publicising Indian education”.
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DLF City residents sweat and fume
Gurgaon, June 17 Addressing mediapersons over the issue, the district Superintending Engineer (SE), Dakshin Haryana Bijli Vitran Nigam, Mr M L Goyal, said that the developer of the colony, DLF Group, has not installed 83 electricity transformers to augment the power supply in the area. Overloaded and fewer transformers are the main reasons for the low voltage and breakdowns in the city, he claimed. He said that DLF City required one 1000 KVA transformer, 34 500 KVA transformers, 10 each of 400 KVA and 300 KVA transformers, 2 250 KVA transformers, 23 200 KVA transformers and 3 100 KVA capacity transformers for a smooth supply in the area. “The private developer has been delaying the installation of the transformers on one pretext or the other for the last two years,” he alleged. On the other hand, Mr K K Bhattacharya, DLF Executive Director, claimed that there was no shortage of transformers in the city. He said that whenever a transformer is damaged or burnt, the DLF authority replaces it on priority although the work should be done by the government agency. “Sometimes the system breaks down due to overload as power consumption in the area is larger than the sanctioned load,” added Mr Bhattacharya. DLF Qutab Enclave Resident Welfare Association president R S Rathee said that DLF had installed 27 transformers in Phase 1; 21 in Phase 2; 17 in Phase 3; and 9 in Phase 4 and all the transformers are overloaded. “The DLF authority and the Haryana government electricity department blames each other for the poor supply in the area,” added Mr Rathee.
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Business & Economy magazine launched
New Delhi, June 17 Unveiled ceremoniously at a city hotel by former diplomats and cabinet ministers, Arun Shourie and Yashwant Sinha, B and E heralds a new beginning in the publication industry in India. Also present were Prof Arindam Chaudhuri, (Editor-in-Chief, B and E), Mr A Sandeep (Managing Editor, B and E), Mr Prasoon Majumdar (Editor Economic Affairs, B and E) and Mr Abhimanyu Ghosh (Group Publisher Planman Publications), amongst other distinguished personalities from various walks of life. Speaking on the occasion, Prof Arindam Chaudhuri commented, “Business and Economy is a global magazine with an India-centric approach to ensure relevance to our target audience. It will dissect issues in an analytical framework for a select and highly influential audience of India’s business leaders and policy makers. The target audience and quality of content will rapidly propel this publication to the status of India’s most influential business magazine. There is no real competition for us as our magazine is a unique combination of business news, economic analysis, politics, national and international policy discussions and many more.” “The magazine would be available on stand from June 18 and would carry a price tag of Rs. 10,” revealed Mr Abhimanyu Ghosh, the Group Publisher, Planman Publications. “The first print run will be 50,000 copies which will be distributed through news stands, subscriptions and controlled circulation to India’s most influential. We have already received lots of queries related to commercial space sales and annual subscriptions. Our great editorial and relevant contents for the readers, with tremendous visibility everywhere, will automatically lead to the generation of high revenues for the magazine,” Mr Ghosh added. Applauding the initiative, Mr Arun Shourie said, “The magazine holds a lot of potential in India, thanks to a very organised and broad-end research team. Moreover, I am very sure that the magazine would stand out from the rest due to its deep-rooted foundation of two leading national institutions — Planman Consulting and IIPM. While one will provide all the juice required to make it a successful business magazine, the other would ensure the quality off economic deliberations.”
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Officials censured for slow probe
Greater Noida, June 17 The Revenue Board Member had spent over two hours at the Collectorate. Afterwards, he quietly slipped away from the rear gate of the Collectorate in Greater Noida to avoid media questioning.
Inquiry ordered
Noida:There seems to be no end to land scams involving large chunks of land in this area. In the latest scam that has come to light, some bighas of barren land in village Sorkha in Bisarakh block has been found to have been transferred fraudulently to the name of some land sharks. The Deputy District Magistrate has since ordered an inquiry into the matter and lodging of a police case. The case, no. 27, is currently being heard in the court of SDM Yoginder Yadav. While probing the matter, the local tehsildar had found that Jal Singh, son of Tarif Singh, resident of Nistauli, had got the land transferred to his name three years ago. Dharam Prakash, son of Jamel of Ghaziabad, Savitri Devi and Jal Singh Nistauli have been shown as the owners. The land in dispute is two bighas. Similarly, Khata No. 60 and Khasra No. 973 —covering nine bighas — is registered in the name of Ravi Kant, son of Dewan of Delhi.—OC
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Man shot under bizarre circumstances
Gurgaon, June 17 Rajbir Chauhan, a workshop employee, was shot thrice and died on the spot. The accused, Satish, apparently considered Rajbir’s presence in the house “unwanted”.
The two are said to have entered into an argument today before the shooting took place.
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Missing child’s body found with eyes gouged out
New Delhi, June 17 According to the police, Umer had been missing for the last two days. Police officials said that there might be a rivalry angle behind the brutal murder of the child. While the body has been sent for postmortem, the preliminary investigations revealed that Umar had his neck slit, stomach split open and eyes gouged out. Police said that the body was first noticed by Nagir, maternal uncle of the deceased, living in the same area, who informed the police. The police have registered a case of murder.
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NIOS declares new admission dates
New Delhi, June 17
Subject to availability of seats, admissions will be open for these levels till the 31st of August on payment of late fees. Registration for the first public examination scheduled for April-May 2006 will be between 16 December and 31 December without late fees and between January 1 and 14 with late fees. For second public examination scheduled for October-November, the registration will begin on June 16 and will end on 30th June without late fees. The examination fees with consolidated late fees of Rs 500 will be accepted upto July 14 for October-November examinations and up to 20th January for April-May examinations.
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Murder case solved, 5 held
New Delhi, June 17
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