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CLP convened today to discuss power issue
Man shot dead after quarrel between kids
Brain fever claims three lives in Jahangirpur
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Case of missing girls: NCW summons SSP
MCD sounds dengue alarm
DCE scam: Two-day police remand for three
Lawyers to boycott courts today
Protest spills on to south Delhi streets
Let Assembly decide who’s lying on tariff issue: BJP
DC gets notice on land use
‘Confine DDA role to a regulatory authority’
‘West Bengal model on keeping real estate records worth emulating’
Guru Granth Sahib’s Prakash Utsav on Sept 1
Competitive exam books most sought after
Workshops held in schools on safe injection practices
Wanted criminal held
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CLP convened today to discuss power issue
New Delhi, August 29 The decision to this effect was taken at an emergency Cabinet meeting called by her on the power issue this morning. The meeting was also attended by Chief Secretary S Regunathan and Power Secretary Arun Goyal. “We will take the view of legislators at the CLP meeting tomorrow,” Dikshit told reporters. Immediately after the Cabinet meet, Finance Minister A K Walia and Power Minister Haroon Yusuf held a nearly four-hour long meeting with top officials of the two power discoms — Reliance BSES and Tata NDPL — telling them to pull up their socks and present to the government short-term and long-term plans on how they plan to improve their performance. The meeting was attended by Reliance Energy Director J P Chalasani, CEO of its discom BSES Rakesh Agarwal and Tata NDPL CEO Anil Sardana. Chalasani has been especially sent from Mumbai to try improve the working of BSES. After the meeting, sources said Agarwal had been removed from the post, being the first head to roll in the power crisis in the capital. Aggarwal has been sacked from the post, sources said, adding he has not been told about his new deputation so far. A decision has also been taken that the two wings of the power
discom BSES — Yamuna and Rajdhani — will now be headed by two separate CEOs, as has been demanded by Delhi Government, the sources added. BSES has been facing flak from the government as well as citizens’ groups for its poor performance in the Capital. Agarwal’s removal and calling of the CLP meeting came even as 70 Congress Corporators met Dikshit’s bete noire Delhi Pradesh Congress chief Ram Babu Sharma and asked him to put pressure on the government to ensure roll-back of power tariff hike. “The residents of Delhi are agitated over the increase in the power tariff. We asked the DPCC chief to intervene and seek a roll back in the hike in the electricity charges,” MCD Leader of the House Jitender Kochhar told reporters. The delegation also asked the DPCC president to take up the issue with the Congress president, Mrs Sonia Gandhi. Known detractors of Dikshit, Parvez Hashmi and Subhash Chopra earlier shot off letters to her demanding an urgent CLP meeting to discuss the power issue. Another Dikshit baiter Ajay Maken had said the recent 10 per cent hike in power charges was unjustified and attacked the Delhi Government for not directing the DERC against raising the rates in public interest. Meanwhile, finding itself being projected as the villain in the power tariff hike imbroglio, the DERC sought to defend itself saying the increase had been sought by the distribution companies. The commission also ruled out a roll-back of tariff unless it was cleared by an
appellate body. With NDPL, BSES and the Delhi Government claiming that they had not asked for an increase in power tariff, the DERC said: “If the distcoms are saying that they did not ask for tariff hike, this is totally misleading and just an attempt to play with words.” It claimed that the distcoms had stated their Aggregate Revenue Requirement (ARR) was Rs 1,404 crore. “After due diligence, the DERC arrived at a revenue gap of Rs 663 crore of which Rs 320 crore had to be bridged through tariff increase,” a senior DERC official said. The tariff hike of 10 per cent has set off a virtual civil
disobedience movement with Residents Welfare Associations (RWAs) refusing to pay up. While sections of the Delhi Congress is believed to be in favour of a roll-back, the DERC official said this was not easy even if the government issued a direction in this regard. “The government cannot order a roll-back once the hike has been effected even though Section 108 of the Central Electricity Act says it can issue direction to the Commission in public interest. A roll-back will be possible only if the revenue gap of Rs 320 crore is met through other means, and that too only if the
appellate body set up last year clears it,” he said. Meanwhile, Delhi’s Special Secretary (Power) Arun Goyal today met DERC officials to discuss the power situation but they declined to divulge details.
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Man shot dead after quarrel between kids
Faridabad, August 29 According to a report, a youth, identified as Ramesh, was shot dead allegedly by certain persons while he had gone to attend the call of nature in the fields at his native village of Kashipur yesterday. It is stated that four persons, one of them armed with a revolver, intercepted the victim and demanded an apology for the quarrel with him a couple of days ago tantamount to a quarrel between their kids a day earlier. It is learnt that the accused, identified as Bijender, Shiv Ram, Gangadan and Gangaram asked Ramesh to accept them as ‘chaudhary’ (head of the community) and offer an apology for the incident. But it is reported that the victim did not relent to their demand and snubbed them. This enraged the main accused, who opened fire at Ramesh from pointblank range, which resulted in his death on the spot. While the accused are brothers from two families, three of them are serving employees of the Public Health and the Roadways Department. Meanwhile, the police are groping in the dark over clues related to the recovery of a headless body from Jeevan Nagar locality near Mujesar village here yesterday. The body had been lying in an abandoned room and was noticed by people living nearby. A murder
is suspected in this case. In still another case of crime, the police have arrested four persons in connection with the alleged abduction and murder of a five-year-old boy of Adarsh Colony of Ballabgarh town here. The victim, Anshu, son of one Suresh Kumar, had been missing from his locality since August 14. It is learnt that the boy had been kidnapped by the accused, including a
woman, for ransom, but had been killed and thrown in a canal a few days ago . Two of the accused are reported to be relatives of the victim’s parents. This is also the second such case that had been unearthed in the district in the past five days. Earlier, the police had been able to arrest six persons, including two women, in connection with the kidnapping and murder of a nine-year-old school student of Hodal town in the district. The victim, Anand, alias Golu, son of an Armyman, had been abducted about six and a half months ago for a ransom, but was killed and buried by the accused in a nearby village.
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Brain fever claims three lives in Jahangirpur
Noida, August 29 For want of a hospital in the area, all these patients have been rushed to Delhi hospitals. This is the first proof of brain fever having travelled to this area from eastern UP where it has already claimed more than 100 lives. There is apparent panic in Jahangirpur and the Javer belt on account of brain fever having made a presence here. At first, the patients had to go to quacks for want of even a primary health centre in the area. The condition of the patients afflicted with it is critical while an average villager is feeling bewildered and panicky. No medical team has visited the area. According to people, a primary health centre was inaugurated in Jahangirpur but no doctor ever came to take charge.
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Police harassment case: Warrants issued against four
New Delhi, August 29 Justice R S Sodhi ordered issuance of bailable warrants against Aman, Ajay and two other men named Pradeep as they neither appeared before the court nor did they file their affidavits as directed by the court on July 29. The court, which had taken suo motu cognizance of a news report of the police allegedly misbehaving with the victims, however, said in the event of their arrest, they be released on furnishing a bail bond of Rs 5,000 each. Meanwhile, Times of India reporter Megha Suri filed an affidavit reiterating her story on oath. The court asked the victims also to file their affidavits by October 26, the next date of hearing. According to the news report, the police misbehaved with the employees of Jindal Telecom Centre, Punjabi Bagh for dialling ‘100’ during wee hours on July 19 when they were reportedly being harassed by four men in another vehicle while returning home along with their women colleagues. After suffering at the hands of the police, the victims had to go to jail also. The court had earlier issued notices to DCP (south-west) R S Yadav, ACP Bhawan Singh, Kapashera SHO Ramesh Chander and ASI Durgesh Kumar in the matter and the police officials have already filed their affidavits. Delhi Police counsel Mukta Gupta had earlier termed the report as factually incorrect and misleading.
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Case of missing girls: NCW summons SSP
Noida, August 29 As such, the SSP has been asked to appear before the Commission in the national Capital on August 30 to explain the progress in the case so far. Meanwhile, it is learnt that a police team has been dispatched to Bihar to nab the kidnappers of the girls. Based on a preliminary inquiry by the NCW, the Commission summoned the police chief to explain the progress in this case. It is learnt that one of the victim’s family had accused a youth, identified as Pawan, resident of Bihar and working in Noida Sector-26, of having abducted the minor girls. Subsequently, a police team was dispatched to Pawan’s village, Sipon, Bihar. However, according to sources in the Police Department, the police are also looking at other possibilities in the case.
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MCD sounds dengue alarm
New Delhi, August 29 Under the Municipal Corporation (malaria and other vector borne disease) bye-laws, 1975, creating mosquitogenic conditions and failure to take specific preventive measures are punishable with fine which may extend to Rs 5,000. The Municipal Commissioner has appealed to the administrative heads of all departments, autonomous bodies, professional bodies, commercial concerns, market associations and residential welfare associations to participate and cooperate in implementing dengue preventive measures. Delhi faced an outbreak of the deadly fever in 2003 resulting in more than 2290 cases and 34 deaths. This year, 39 dengue positive cases have already been reported so far. Citizens ought to be particularly watchful during monsoon and post monsoon season since the climatic conditions these days are congenial for mosquito breeding. The MCD has also set up control rooms for anti-malaria operations which are functioning in the offices of all deputy health officers and deputy municipal health officers (malaria and other vector borne disease) in Connaught Place. Citizens can contact the officer concerned personally. He said to prevent mosquitogenic condition, citizens should clean coolers once in a week and mop them dry before re-use. In coolers that can not be so cleaned, one table spoon of kerosene oil or petrol should be dropped periodically. All water head tanks in offices and other places should be covered and all containers used to store water should be drained once in a week. Besides, collection of stagnant water should not be allowed inside or around office premises, and unused broken bottles, cups, pots and tyres that can hold water should not be left in open.
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DCE scam: Two-day police remand for three
New Delhi, August 29 Additional Sessions Judge P K Bhasin granted the custodial interrogation of Divya Sethi, Sandip Hooda and Surendra Singh Gehlot till August 31. Sethi, a student of IIT Roorkee, was accused of solving the question papers and Hooda, who hails from Rohtak in Haryana allegedly snatched the question paper from a student during the examination. Gehlot, a property dealer, surrendered before the agency was allegedly providing students to the king-pin Pankaj Dahiya of the exam scandal. Besides these three, the other accused are — Pankaj Dahiya, Lalit Hooda, Himanshu Sharma and Praveen Dahiya. Special Judge Pratibha Rani had earlier extended the bail period of accused Sharma, arrested on July 27 from Bangalore. Pankaj and Lalit were sent to judicial custody after the CBI had informed that it had completed their interrogation. However, the court fixed the anticipatory bail petition of Praveen Dahiya for hearing tomorrow against whom the non-bailable warrant was pending. CBI said the accused, booked under section 120 B (criminal conspiracy), 420 (cheating) of IPC and Prevention of Corruption Act, helped 21 students to indulge in malpractices during the Common Entrance Examinations for admission to the Delhi College of Engineering in May this year by sending them answers through SMS in lieu of Rs 4 lakh per candidate. CBI, on a complaint from the Registrar of Delhi University had conducted probe and had on July 19 registered cases against the 21 students and some unknown officials of the university in connection with the case.
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Lawyers to boycott courts today
New Delhi, August 29 “The strike will be total with no appearance by lawyers in any case including bail matters,” New Delhi Bar Association secretary Pradeep Gaur said. He said the lawyers were protesting the press statement issued by Sangita Dhingra Sehgal, secretary of Delhi Legal Services Authority that Permanent Lok Adalats will be set up in Delhi with effect from September one, 2005. “The Bar Associations have always strongly opposed the setting up of such courts as the litigants will be left at the mercy of retired government officials and judges, who will be at liberty to decide their cases finally without allowing the aggrieved party to contest the case in a regular court,” Gaur told reporters. “The litigants will also lose their right to file appeal against the arbitrary decisions of the Lok Adalats,” the secretary said condemning the said move of Delhi Legal Services Authority. Secretaries of the Delhi Bar Association and the Shahadara Bar Association, Sanjeev Nasiar and Swarn Singh have
also confirmed that advocates at Tis Hazari and Karkardooma courts will also abstain from appearing in the courts.
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Protest spills on to south Delhi streets
New Delhi, August 29 The ‘rasta-roko’ which began at about 9.30 a.m. continued for around an hour, causing major traffic snarls in the area. More than a hundred people, mostly from Adhchini village, first staged a protest march and then spilled on to the main road and blocked the traffic in protest against frequent breakdown of electricity and water supply. There were some tense moments when heated arguments erupted between the protestors and motorists who were in a hurry to make it to their respective offices. The protestors relented only after senior Delhi government officials reached the spot and assured them that they would look into their problems. Traffic on the main road leading to the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) had to be diverted as the traffic jam caused by the blockade lasted for nearly two hours. It took the traffic police and other agencies several hours to restore normalcy. Thousands of Delhiites, represented by numerous Resident Welfare Associations (RWAs), have been agitating for several weeks over the recent power tariff hike, demanding its roll-back and improved power supply to households.
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Let Assembly decide who’s lying on tariff issue: BJP
New Delhi, August 29 On this day all the papers relating to power privatisation agreement and three time increased in the power tariff could be put on the table of the House for the persual of the MLAs so that it could be determined who is lying in the matter of power privatisation agreement and increase in power tariff, he suggested. In a statement issued here today, Dr Harsh Vardhan said that government had made announcement for the third time
increase in power tariff in Delhi on July 7, 2005. These increased rates have also now been enforced from July 15. Now Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit. Delhi
Electric Regulatory Company (DERC) and all the three private power Discoms are claiming that they did not initiate for the increase in power tariff. This constitutes betrayal of the city’s power consumers, he says.
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DC gets notice on land use
Faridabad, August 29 The applicant, Mr K. L. Gera, in his notice served through his legal consultants, has stated that as per his information the various khasras of land on this road, where some educational institutions had been running, belonged to Mewla Maharajpur village and it was the panchayat land (shamlat), by the virtue of provisions of the Haryana Municipal Corporation Act, 1994, and the MCF was deemed to be the real owner of land measuring several acres and worth several crores. He has claimed that he had every right to have information regarding the CLU executed between the MCF and respective parties. He has also added that the land was also covered under the notification issued under Section 4/5 of the Punjab Land Preservation Act.
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‘Confine DDA role to a regulatory authority’
New Delhi, August 29 While on an average 10 unidentified bodies were found on Delhi’s streets, only about 2,600 people out of more than 1,50,000 homeless could be accommodated in ‘rain baseras’ (night shelters), he said, stressing the urgent need to have a housing policy for the urban poor. Contrary to belief, almost 90 per cent of the homeless were ‘working’ in the unorganised sector, so all the more reason they deserved a better deal, he added. Mr Maken, a former Minister of Transport, Tourism and Power with the Delhi government, also sought that the Delhi Development Authority be confined to being a regulator and divested of its powers as promoter, developer and planner because it had lost sight of its duty to provide a roof over the urban poor. The Delhi Government should get control over land in the Capital and construction of low cost housing should be taken up directly by it or facilitated through private investment or cooperatives, he said. Such housing should in form of in-situ multi-storeyed complexes, he added. Mr Maken also suggested construction of peripheral express highway for transit vehicles, especially goods carriers or heavy commercial vehicles, for decongesting Delhi and making the city’s roads safer on a priority basis.
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‘West Bengal model on keeping real estate records worth emulating’
Gurgaon, August 29 Making a special address at a seminar on “Legal reforms and governance issue in the real estate sector,” organised jointly by ASSOCHAM and the Gurgaon Chamber of Commerce and Industry (GCCI) here today, Ms Chopra said the model provided by the West Bengal Government, where all the ground level information on real estate and housing development was maintained by the municipal corporations through a computerised recording system, was worthy of emulation by urban local bodies across the country. Ms Chopra added real estate development was a hugely vast and complex sector and the government alone could obviously not resolve it. It could only be carried forward through a harmonious public-private initiative. The fact was that future schemes and visions of the government were based on this perception, she added. Speaking on behalf of ASSOCHAM and the GCCI, Mr P. K. Jain noted that the real estate sector had now emerged as an area offering maximum income and employment opportunity in the country. As such, it was extremely relevant to streamline and simplify the legal and administrative environment which affected its growth. He welcomed the Union Government’s initiative to encourage the state governments in this regard. Speaking on the occasion, the former president of the PHDCCI, Mr Vineet Virmani, called for a review of the functioning of the Registrar, Cooperative Societies, as well as the working of various Acts and rules. Lowering of stamp duty would be of much help, he added. Mr K. Swaroop of DLF Universal Ltd called for a considerate review of the Haryana Development Act, the Punjab Road Schedule Act, the Haryana Apartment Act and also the Land Acquisition Act. The time had come for a revision in view of the extremely high level of urbanisation that had set in the country. Mr Anil Sharma from HUDCO presented a model for the establishment of an exchange just as the stock exchange to cater to the transaction needs of the housing sector. Noted lawyer Roma Bhagat stressed on modernising the land record system and regularising the area’s estate agents in order to protect the interests of unwary buyers. On the other hand, there was also a need to make things smoother for the developers by providing them a facility for one-window clearances as well as a cohesive policy environment. It was essential that the project be planned and completed in a short timeframe. The vice-president of the National Real Estate Development Council, Col Prithivi Nath, urged the private sector in business not to depend too much on the government and take the initiative upon itself. A construction company executive observed that if the regulatory and development laws were harmonised to accommodate the interests of both the developers and the consumers India could well become another China in terms of the sheer scale of construction activities.
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Guru Granth Sahib’s Prakash Utsav on Sept 1
New Delhi, August 29 The programme will start early morning with the recitation of Sukhmani Sahib and Nitnem. Thereafter, Asa Di Vaar with Shabad Kirtan will be performed by Bhai Gurvinder Singh ji Paras–Hazoori Ragi. Shabad Vichaar will be performed by Bhai Rajinder Singh Ji. There will be a special Amrit Sanchar programme in the morning.
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Competitive exam books most sought after
New Delhi, August 29 Children visit the fair along with their parents and stalls have simply been packed to capacity for the last two days. They purchase story and picture books. Books are being sold at heavy discount. Rajesh, a salesman, said that there had been big rush during the weekend–Saturday and Sunday. Today being a working day, the response was not so good, he added. Manager of Sudha Publications O. P. Sharma said that youngsters seeking government jobs and preparing for examinations have come in a large number to buy books of different authors. They purchase books to study for Civil Services, Indian Economic Services and statistics exams. Books meant for banking exams are also sought after. He said on an average 40 to 50 per cent discount is given in the fair. There is more rush of visitors on weekends. On the weekdays, people avoid coming to the fair. Manager of the Iran Cultural House books stall Ali Zaheer said that visitors preferred to purchase literature books. Fewer book lovers read Urdu and Persian books now. Arun Nayyar, who came to the book fair along with his child, said that people could easily pick and choose as they see different kinds of books lying in the open.
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Workshops held in schools on safe injection practices
New Delhi, August 29 The objective of the exercise is to make children aware of what to expect and to be careful when receiving an injection and curb the spread of injection/blood-borne viruses like HIV/AIDS, Hepatitis etc due to unsafe injection practices and syringe reuse. Based on studies conducted across the globe, the World Health Organisation estimates that more than 16 billion injections are administered each year, of which India accounts for 4 billion. A recent study conducted by World Bank quotes that two out of three injections given are unsafe. This poses hazards to the recipients, health workers and the whole community at large. Commenting on the need of such workshops at school level, Mr Mare
Koska, the inventor of Auto Disable (AD) Syringes and convenor of Safe Point said: “If the campaign for safe injection is Geneva generated and addresses only professionals, it leaves out the bottom of the ladder. Information and awareness play important role in preventive healthcare. So it is important to create awareness of the right to safe injection from the childhood. It is good to begin from the very beginning. When, the child knows what is right, she advises parents and the effect can be seen in road safety programmes. Often it is the child who will remind you to wear your seat belt or prevent you from littering public places.” “We ask children to ensure that the doctor takes out the injection from a sealed pack before them, that the injection stays in their sight after it has been unpacked to ensure the doctor does not make a switch, and that the doctor breaks it and dispose it after the use to avoid its re-use,” Mr Koska added.
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Wanted criminal held
Ghaziabad, August 29 During investigation, he confessed to have been involved in four incidents of loot along with his associates. However, he is wanted in seven cases in Loni and two in Delhi, the police said. Based on information provided by him, the police recovered six jewellery items. Based on a tip-off that a person was seen moving around in a suspicious manner in Nusbandi colony, the police formed a team. When the police party interrogated him, they recovered a revolver and few live cartridges from him, said SO Loni police, Dharminder Chauhan. He had looted Bindu Khan’s house in Nusbandi Colony on October 8, 2004. The police team was able to recover some of the goods and valuables looted him.
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Member of notorious gang held
New Delhi, August 29 During his interrogation, Birendra told the police that he met two persons identified as Arvind Prakash and Gulshan alias Neta who then introduced him to one Mohd Aslam Ansari, dealing in fake
currency.
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Two held for murder
New Delhi, August 29 Rajender Singh (38) had gone missing from his house in Vasant Kunj area of south-west Delhi yesterday and his brother told police that he had been last seen with his truck’s driver Ramesh Kumar (28) and helper Rukkumuddin (24). Ramesh and Rukkumuddin were soon traced and confessed to having beaten Rajender to death with a piece of wood.
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Businessman robbed of Rs 10 lakh
New Delhi, August 29 The incident took place when the businessman came out of his shop carrying the cash. The robbers then sped away on the motorcycle.
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New Delhi, August 29
