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Sheila rules out rollback, defends privatisation of power in Capital
Even CM’s visit does nothing to improve roads
Committee slams DERC for power tariff raise
Govt acquires 470 acres land for allocation to industrial units
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Cops deployed to protect power stations
Civil servant on dharna at Jantar Mantar
Row over supply of VIP security vehicles continues
HC orders water-coolers for MCD schools
Sports made compulsory in UP schools, colleges
HC order on land draw scheme ruffles feathers
Restrictions on traffic movement on Janmashtami
Clashes, bogus voting mark 4th phase of polling
Workers dump garbage in corporation office
MCA students gherao V-C
Usha Group family petitions High Court over property dispute
Gang of burglars busted
Man gets 10 yrs’ RI for raping minor
Man throws acid on wife after tiff
Scam alleged in deployment of guards
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Sheila rules out rollback, defends privatisation of power in Capital
New Delhi, August 26 Addressing a press
conference today, Ms Dikshit said “various issues pertaining to the
power sector have resulted in some degree of confusion on issues such as
hike in power tariff, payment of bills and performance of Discoms, but I
would like to mention that the situation has considerably improved after
privatisation”. According to Ms Dikshit, after privatisation,
AT&C losses have come down from over 50 per cent three years ago to
about less than 40 per cent currently. Similarly, load shedding which
was to the tune of 3 per cent has come down to about .85 per cent, she
said. However, she added, the government was fully aware that there
have been some slippages on part of the Discoms and the grievances of
the consumers. “We have pulled up the concerned Discoms accordingly
and restrained them from time to time to avoid any complacency on their
part,” she said. She said that the Delhi Electricity Regulatory
Commission (DERC) has followed a due procedure in tariff hike and it was
not done overnight. This was done mainly to improve the power situation
in the future. Even the DERC scrutinized the demands of the Discoms and
paid them only whatever was needed for improving the infrastructure, Ms
Dikshit added. After privatisation, there was no tariff increase in the
year 2002-03, five per cent increase in 2003-04 and 10 per cent in
2004-05. Thus against assumed over all tariff increase of 40 per cent up
to 2005-06, the increase has been only about 23 per cent, she
said. Stopping short of criticising the report of the Parliamentary
Standing Committee on Energy, she said her government would give its
point by point rebuttal before the Monsoon Session ends on August 30.
The reply would also be sent to the Union Power Ministry, she added
addressing mediapersons here. “The Delhi Government was never called
and asked for any explanation by the committee,” she said. Unfazed by
mounting criticism against hike in tariff, she said the increase was in
the “long term” interest of the people and her government would not
indulge in a “short term” gain by seeking reduction in
tariff. “Sometimes one has to swallow a bitter pill for a better
future,” she said. Ms Dikshit also informed that over 99 per cent
consumers have paid in accordance with the current tariff structure as
reported by the Discoms. “I would like to appeal to the people of
Delhi to cooperate with the government in true spirit of Bhagidari and
pay their bills as required by law. Further delay would only result in
accumulation of losses and penalties,” she cautioned. According to Ms
Dikshit, the Government of India had promised to provide Rs 473.23 crore
under APDRP but has released only Rs 105.51 crore. “If the funds had
been released under APDRP, then there would have been much lesser impact
on consumer tariff,” she added. Regarding improvement in efficiency
gains, she said the reduction in AT&C losses the Discoms have
already achieved the target. The government had taken a conscious
decision not to give subsidy and so the increase in power tariff became
the only option to meet the Annual Revenue Requirement of Discoms.
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Even CM’s visit does nothing to improve roads
Faridabad, August 26 The 18-km-long stretch between Ballabhgarh town and Mothuka village, where Mr Hooda laid the foundation stone of one of the largest power plants of the state yesterday, is in a bad shape. It took around one hour to travel on this stretch as a major part of the road which traverses through at least half a dozen villages had been potholed and was in a rough state though the authorities concerned had done some patchup work and sprayed water to contain the dust. While a large number of policemen had been posted along the road, the officials concerned had stopped the movement of heavy traffic for several hours to avoid a jam. Some patches of the road had been laid with sand and the work of cleaning went on till the last moment. Commenting upon the development, a resident of a village on this road said that instead of providing a cemented or tarcoal layer, which had been the demand for many years, the officials had put sand on the heavily damaged spots. It showed the level of preparation of the authorities with regard to welcoming Mr Hooda during his first visit to Ballabhagrh constituency. He claimed that the work of repairing the roads in the tenure of previous Chief Ministers had been far better. Shyam, a resident of Dayalpur, said the authorities had always ignored the demand of the villagers to widen the bridge over the Gurgaon canal which separates Ballabhgarh town with the villages. He said this bridge had been too narrow and accidents occurred here frequently as two vehicles from opposite directions could not cross it simultaneously. This resulted in traffic jams and chaos in view of the heavy traffic. He said they had expected that the authorities would re-lay the roads but even the visit of the CM could not do this. A journalist who went to cover the function at Mothuka said mismanagement and chaos at the function resulted in difficulty for the mediapersons as outsiders had taken over the seats meant for them. To make matters worse, the police did not let the media take their vehicles to the spot and they felt helpless as the police did not allow them even to leave the place before the CM and his cavalcade after the function had ended. Meanwhile, the condition of roads in various sectors remained the same even after several days of the announcement made by the CM that the roads would be repaired at a fast pace. The roads in Sectors 3, 7, 8, 9, 10, 16, 15-A, 17, 19, 28, 31, 37 and in parts of NIT and Ballabhgarh are in poor shape. It is impossible to travel on them as they have huge craters on them, claimed Mr Suresh Kaushik, a social activist based here. He said these roads turned into pools after a spell of rain. He said the authorities had been too slow in taking up repair work though there had been no rain in the past fortnight.
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Committee slams DERC for power tariff raise
New Delhi, August 26 “It is learnt DERC has sanctioned tariff hike to BSES and Tatas without Tatas (NDPL) asking for the same, as they were able to manage at the same rates. This is indeed surprising, as consumers under Tatas are sufferers for no reason — Government must intervene and restrain power of DERC and investigate the same in Delhi and SERCs elsewhere,” the panel headed by Gurudas Kamat said in its hard-hitting report. Taking a serious note of “fast-running” meters installed by private discoms in the city, besides failure to reduce transmission and distribution losses and the steep tariff hike, the panel said: “If similar trends continue in future and private discoms are not able to produce the desired results after using cheap APDRP funds, the government should seriously consider to exclude them from providing financial assistance under APDRP”. The committee said since funds under APDRP were given by the government, it was its duty to ensure that these were “properly” utilised and benefits reached the consumers. Coming down heavily on the issue of tariff hike, the Committee observed with serious concern that the recent hike in rates had “brought the public on the roads”. “The Committee is surprised to note that these private discoms have neither shown any tangible results even after using cheaper government funds under APDRP, nor these private players have passed on any benefit to consumers,” the Standing Committee on Energy said in the report tabled in Parliament. The Committee also took a grim view on the issue of replacement of meters in Delhi saying “discoms have replaced the earlier consumer meters with fast running meters and are regularly hiking the tariffs, thus increasing the woes of the consumers”. The position regarding availability, quality and reliability of power to consumers has also not shown any improvement, it said. “Still more alarming is the fact that the financial losses of utilities in Delhi have increased from Rs 733 crore in 2002-03 to Rs 1,774 crore in 2003-04,” the report added. BSES and NDPL have already used APDRP fund of Rs 105.51 crore to strengthen their power distribution system out of Rs 473.23 crore of APDRP cost. “But the results are not at all impressive,” the Committee noted.
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Govt acquires 470 acres land for allocation
New Delhi, August 26 A new policy is being formulated wherein entrepreneurs who have been operating units since 1990 but have not been allotted land due to scarcity would be provided land at the earliest. Mr Singhal said that parameters are being defined so that those applicants who had applied for land in 1996 and made initial payment of 10 per cent of the cost be allotted land on priority. A notification in this regard is being issued from Land and Building Department, Mr Singhal said. After clearance of pending application of allotment of land, the government is considering setting up a special export zone with facilities provided to exporting units and support both from central and state governments. The minister said that 17 Industrial Estates in non-conforming areas shall be regularized soon. As the Master Plan 2021 provides for acquisition of more land for industrial usage, the government would soon initiate the exercise for acquisition and effective allotment of land. Responding to the conditions of industrial estates in Delhi, Mr Singhal said that many industrial areas match international standards and do not have any problem of water, power etc. He cited the example of Bawana Industrial Estate in this regard. For the remaining, he said that the industrial units should help in maintaining the industrial estates. The minister announced that the central government had allocated Rs 50 crore for SSI cluster development in industrial estates herein 75 per cent of the money would be given by the central government, 10 per cent by Delhi Government and the remaining 15 per cent would be contributed by units in the cluster. In response to the concern raised by Mr K N Memani, President, PHDCCI regarding shifting of industry out of Delhi, Mr Singhal said, “We don’t want industry to shift from Delhi. In fact, we want more and more SSIs to come to Delhi. However, pollution norms must be adhered to by all these units,” Mr Singhal said. For household industries, he said that Delhi Government has directed MCD to give license to units using a maximum of 5 KV of power and employing not more than 5 workers and are pollution free. Regarding the compensation from central government post VAT implementation, the minister said “We have already mopped up Rs 1500 crores as VAT in first 5 months and I am confident that we will be able to garner Rs 8-10,000 crore of revenue by the year end”. Regarding the issue of recent power hike and resistance shown by all sections of the society, he said that since the private power distribution companies have started showing profits, the power tariff would be reduced from next year. Mr S C Poddar, Secretary-cum-Commissioner of Industries, NCT of Delhi, in his remarks said that the conditions of industrial estates were far from satisfactory. He called for developing a sustainable system for maintenance of these estates. In this regard, he called for a partnership model between the government and industry. He further said that steps shall be taken to minimize the interference of inspectors running the industry particularly the small scale sector. Earlier, Mr Ashok Kapoor, Chairman, SME Committee, PHDCCI in his welcome remarks said that plethora of regulatory approvals and long-drawn procedures prohibit the prospective and existing small-scale entrepreneurs for availing the facilities and concessions offered by the government. Even the single window concept has not been able to deliver the desired results. The absence of entrepreneur-friendly environment/attitude surely dampens the enthusiasm of prospective entrepreneurs. Mr Sudarshan Sareen, Chairman, SIB Helpline, PHDCCI said that the visits of inspectors to industrial units is a cause for harassment. It is beyond imagination as to how the future of SSI is expected to deliver goods with hassles of 57 types of inspectors and 158 forms of diverse types in order to register with various authorities.
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Cops deployed to protect power stations
Ghaziabad, August 26 With
Unpara–Obra’s 400 KV units snapping in the afternoon, these power houses, generating 1400 MW power, suddenly ground to a halt, precipitating a crisis in the state. The five power plants in the state are generating 2100 MW power and with power generation in both the Obra and Unpara power houses coming to a halt, all other lines also got affected. As a result, the state was rendered powerless. In Ghaziabad, people in Nati
Jatan, Vijay Nagar, Shalimar Garden, Surya Nagar, Partap Vihar, Loni and Murad Nagar had gheraoed power substations. But before the situation could get out of control, policemen were rushed to protect the powerhouses from damage. A 300-strong mob had surrounded the powerhouse, which had previously also been damaged, in the afternoon in Partap Vihar, H-Block, Sector 11, 12, Charan Singh Colony, Mata Colony,
Kailashpuri. In Partap Vihar, the police contingent reached just in time when a livid mob was thinking of torching the power station. Police had been deployed at power stations till late at night. In
trans-Hindon areas, where power supply is already very poor, people were worked up with the lack of power in the hot and sultry weather. Residents of Brij Vihar and Rampuri had surrounded the Surya Nagar substation and blocked traffic at Brij Vihar over the bridge. In front of the Shalimar Garden powerhouse, people staged a demonstration. Since the power situation in the area has become worse, UPPC officials are trying to save their skin from livid people.
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Civil servant on dharna at Jantar Mantar
New Delhi, August 26 Hemalata Pant, a 1975 batch civil services officer, has been sitting on a dharna for the past one week at Jantar Mantar with bag and baggage, demanding salary arrears from 1989 and a Voluntary Retirement Scheme (VRS). Ms. Pant says she was serving as Director in the Accounts section of the Department of Telecommunications in 1989 when she, on the “verge of a promotion” to senior administrative grade, was asked to provide a fitness certificate for mental health or face discontinuation from service. She pointed out that the department got her examined at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) and the report stated she was mentally unfit. Not subscribing to the report, Ms Pant then had a detailed examination conducted in London. The examination conducted at the Bowden House Clinic in UK in February 1991 put forth that there was no evidence to prove that she was suffering from a formal psychiatric illness. The department, however, did not accept this report, she alleged, adding that even though she opted for VRS in 1998, the department gave her Rs 1,275 plus Dearness Allowance per month and refused her the VRS and pension benefits. Subsequently, the department has evicted her from the government accommodation provided to her and now forced her to live on the streets, she alleged.
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Row over supply of VIP security vehicles continues
New Delhi, August 26 On August 10, it was agreed before the court by Jay Pee and Company, its rival Aman Services and Delhi Police that both the taxi operators would supply vehicles in the category for which their respective bids were the lowest. According to the court’s suggestions agreed to by the Delhi Police and the two rival bidders, Aman Services was to get the contract for supply of Gypsy vehicles and Jay Pee and Company to supply Ambassador cars. The Bench had asked petitioner Aman Services and its rival Jay Pee and Company to file a joint application in this regard within 10 days. However, senior counsel P N Lekhi submitted on behalf of Jay Pee and Company that it was not ready to be a party to a joint application and wanted Aman Services’ petition to be decided on merit. The Bench asked Jay Pee and Company to file its reply to the petition filed by Aman Services within a week and the matter will now be taken up for hearing on September 21. Earlier, it had taken strong exception to the offer letter issued to Jay Pee and Company on August 4 for hiring of vehicles and summoned Joint Commissioner of Police (Security) for allegedly committing contempt of the court. Petitioner’s counsel R M Bagai had claimed that Jay Pee and Company did not fulfill the criteria for the contract as it had not furnished a bank guarantee. However, the court was placated after the Joint Commissioner admitted there was an “error” on the department’s part.
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HC orders water-coolers for MCD schools
New Delhi, August 26 In a judgement, the High Court bench comprising Justice Vijender Jain and Justice Rekha Sharma has asked the MCD to utilise the money for installing water-coolers in the MCD schools. “We had filed a petition for seeking compensation for the victims of the 1999 Lal Kuan fire that resulted in the death of 57 people and injury to 27 others. Following the court’s order, the chemical traders and transporters who were directed to vacate the place collected over Rs 2 crore. It took two years to collect and disburse this amount. But 11 persons did not claim their compensation,” said advocate Ashok Agarwal of the Social Jurists, who filed the petition. Bringing to the court’s notice that an amount of Rs 6,31,602.18 has been lying unclaimed for the last two years, Social Jurists sought the court’s permission to use the money. “There was a division bench ruling in 1998, which directed the MCD to install water-coolers in all schools, which is yet to be complied with. So, we sought the court’s intervention in using this money for fulfilling that need and the court readily accepted out proposal,” said Mr Agarwal. Issuing the order, the court has also directed that a compliance report in this regard should be filed by the MCD within three months. “We just wanted to make sure that the money does not lie unused and also prove to the MCD that the court has done what they have failed to do for years,” said Mr Agarwal.
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Sports made compulsory in UP schools, colleges
Noida, August 26 Soon, suitable teachers would be positioned to impart physical and sports education to boys and girls in the educational institutions of the state. Special incentives for meritorious sportspersons had also been initiated Mr Garg said the Queen’s baton for the Millennium Commonwealth games, arriving in Delhi on September 13, would pass through Noida on September 15 on way to Agra. Giving details about the journey of the Queen’s baton, he said the baton would be received at the Delhi-Noida-Delhi toll bridge at 7 am on September 15 by the UP Olympic Association and would be carried by UP sportsmen through Noida. It would be brought to Noida Stadium where a 40-minute special programme would be organised. CEO, Noida, Avnish Awasthi said Noida town would be specially spruced up for this important sporting event. Banners, festoons and flags would be displayed across the town while schoolchildren would run alongside the relay runners and cheer them from the sidelines too. The Queen’s baton was being carried across 71 countries over 180,000 km. The baton was 900 m high, 80 m wide and weighed 1500 g. It was considered a great privilege by sportspersons to be included in relay teams carrying the batons of Olympic, Commonwealth Games etc. The minister said the pension of state-level sportsmen had been increased from Rs 2,000 to Rs 3,000. Those winning gold, silver and bronze medals at the national level would be paid Rs 3 lakh, Rs 2 lakh and Rs 1 lakh, respectively.
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HC order on land draw scheme ruffles feathers
Noida, August 26 The court, which is hearing a PIL filed by the Manav Sewa Samiti and others on the subject, fixed September 19 as the next date. These orders of the high court have created a commotion among the applicants who had submitted applications on behalf of minor members in the family and some of whom were declared successful in the draw. There are about 20 such cases in which both husband and wife had applied and some of them had been included in the list of successful applicants. Mr Justice B. S. Chauhan and Mr Justice Dilip Gupta ordered that a list of all eligible and non-eligible applicants should also be prepared. The court had sought from the Noida Authority and UP DESCO whether the applications received had been scrutinised carefully. When the Noida Authority and DESCO could not give a positive reply, the court ordered the Noida Authority to scrutinise the applications carefully and allowed it three weeks’ time. Mr Amit Khemka is the advocate of Manav Sewa Samiti while Mr Sudhir Garg is representing the Noida Authority and the UP Government.
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Restrictions on traffic movement on Janmashtami
New Delhi, August 26 According to a release, no traffic will be allowed towards Mandir Marg between Shankar Road and Peshwa Road. Motorists wanting to go to Park Street are advised to take Peshwa Road, R K Ashram Marg, Bhai Veer Singh Marg, Kali Bari Marg, B K S Marg and vice-versa. Besides, no vehicular traffic will be allowed on Mandir Marg from Udyan Marg via Kali Bari Marg and Scindia Road. The traffic police said that the DTC buses coming from R/A RML side to reach Central Delhi will take Baba Kharak Singh Marg, GPO, Bhai Veer Singh Marg, R K Ashram Marg. Buses coming from Shanker Road will not be allowed to take a left turn on Mandir Marg and will proceed to Park Street, R/A RML for further journey. Vehicles heading for Bhai Veer Singh Marg will move as usual from R/A GPO to Kali Bari Marg for onward journey to Gole Market. If situation worsens in the evening, buses will not be allowed towards Gole Market, and from GPO, these buses will take Baba Kharak Singh Marg towards Outer Circus Connaught Place for onward journey. Buses terminating at Shivaji terminal on Bhagat Singh Marg will not be allowed to proceed on Bhagat Singh Marg towards Gole Market in the evening and will exit on Baba Kharak Singh Marg from the terminal and proceed towards Connnaught Circus. Devotees are advised to reach Udyan Marg for parking their vehicles to avoid any confusion, advised the traffic police.
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Clashes, bogus voting mark 4th phase of polling
Noida, August 26 Two cars were also damaged in the stone pelting. As many as 24 persons from two warring groups were arrested. Habibpura village witnessed frequent stone pelting and clashes as a result of which 12 persons were injured. The clashes between the two groups were triggered by allegations of bogus voting. The 12 injured in stone pelting included a few cops on duty also. The police had to resort to a lathicharge quite frequently. Allegations of tampering with voters’ list were made, which resulted in supporters of one group taking on their adversaries. While there were quite a few stone pelting incidents in Habibpur and Sorakha villages, frequent clashes were witnessed in Dehlolepur, Garhi Chokhandi, Lakhanawali and Haldoni. Only in Sarfabad and Gijhode, which were considered more sensitive, the polling went on without any major problem.
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Workers dump garbage in corporation office
Ghaziabad, August 26
After a notice from the corporation, the union went on strike and stopped cleaning the city. Today, they shouted slogans against the Commissioner and Mayor and dumped the city’s garbage on the stairs of the corporation office campus. Corporation officials said the appointments of the dismissed sanitation workers could not be regularised as the Municipal Corporation Board did not approve of it. Meanwhile the cleaning work in the city has been suspended owing to the workers’ strike.
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MCA students gherao V-C
Greater Noida, August 26 The students gheraoed Vice-Chancellor Durg Singh Chauhan of UP Tech university and raised slogans against him yesterday when he visited Greater Noida to attend some programme in a college. They said their protest would continue unless their demand was met. From August 28, all the colleges in Greater Noida will be closed and the students will boycott their classes. If they are not allowed to sit for re-examination, they will not allow the authorities to conduct B-Tech examinations, the students threatened. The results of Master of Computers Applications were declared by the university on Tuesday. Almost 80 students had failed in the exams. When they learnt that Vice-Chancellor D.S. Chauhan was in Greater Noida, they gheraoed him. However, the V-C did not agree to their demand for re-examination. He said they had simply not prepared for the exams.
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Usha Group family petitions High Court over property dispute
New Delhi, August 26 Ms Bimla and her younger daughter-in-law Malavika have filed the suit against her elder son Vinay and his wife Sadhana for the partition of the house which they had been occupying since 1972. According to a settlement on March 19, 2000, the property should be divided into three equal parts among Kulwant Rai and his wife Bimla, Vinay and his wife Sadhna and Anil and his wife Malavika, the petition said. Justice OP Dwibedi heard the preliminary arguments and adjourned the matter till August 29.
—TNS
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Gang of burglars busted
New Delhi, August 26 The police also claimed to have recovered an Indica car, five laptops, one LCD screen and two Samsung CPUs from their possession. The accused persons who were arrested have been identified as Hans Raj, Amir Khan, Devinder alias Lambu and receivers Azhar and Dilip. Acting on a tip-off that Hans Raj along with his gang members would come to Yashwant Place in Chanakyapuri for disposing off stolen goods, the police laid a trap and nabbed Hans Raj along with his associates Amir Khan, Devinder and Azhar while they were travelling in an Indica car. Based on their information, a raid was conducted in Turkman Gate area and five laptops were recovered from Azhar’s house. During interrogation, the accused persons confessed they had committed several burglaries in electronic showrooms, offices and readymade garment showrooms in Delhi, Gurgaon and Faridabad.
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Man gets 10 yrs’ RI for raping minor
New Delhi, August 26 The court also imposed a fine of Rs 15,000 on the
convict who was punished under section 376 (rape), 363 (kidnapping)
and 323 (causing hurt) of the IPC. The girl had gone to her
grandmother’s place some distance away from her house in the evening
of August 24, 1999. As she did not return by night, her mother and
neighbours began a search in the area. Around midnight, she was found lying unconscious in a park with injuries on her body. Medical examination proved that she had been raped. A
woman in the locality had seen the girl with the convict that evening.
He was arrested on the basis of the identity given by her. —TNS
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Man throws acid on wife after tiff
Noida, August 26 Driver Sheeshpal had a clash with his wife Ran
Veeri, 45. In anger, he threw acid on his wife’s face. Ram Veeri received serious burns on her face and chest. While her neighbours came to her rescue, Sheeshpal fled. Ramveeri’s son, Vivek, took her to the district hospital.
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Scam alleged in deployment of guards
New Delhi, August 26 The complaint states that the attendance register marked bogus attendance of the labour engaged by the private contractor. The strength of the security guards and the resident caretakers has never been assessed at the departmental level, Mr Gupta alleged.
— TNS
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New Delhi, August 26
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