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Sheila faces brickbats from partymen, BJP
HC breather for industrial units in Gurgaon
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CGHS scam: CBI files preliminary report before HC
HC seeks details of cops on VIP duty
Punish rapists stringently: DCW
Barakhamba-Dwarka Metro line to open in December, for sure
Jamia Millia University students clamour for restoration of old hostel
DUTA polls see modest turnout
Entrepreneurs demand better infrastructure
Two youths fall in police net, confess to murder
Man who cheated Rs 30 cr from 80,000 people held
5 crore women are victims of domestic violence: CSR
Forcible takeover of property alleged
...And bouquets from other quarters
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Delhi Cabinet approves rollback of tariff hike
New Delhi, August 31 However, it was decided that the resulting burden will be shared equally by the state government and private electricity distribution companies in the Delhi Chief Minister Ms Sheila Dikshit today said that the Delhi Cabinet ratified the proposal to rollback the ten per cent hike in power tariff for domestic consumers and 20 per cent hike for agricultural consumers, financial burden of which would be shared 50-50 between the government and Discoms. She also said that the state government would provide subsidy worth Rs 90 crore to neutralise five per cent of the hike while the Discoms would give rebate for the remaining five per cent. “This would become effective from the next billing cycle and people who had already paid their bills in the present billing cycle would be reimbursed the extra ten per cent so paid with the next bills,” Ms Dikshit added. According to Ms Dikshit the decision comes after four days of hectic parleys with the Discom officials, following intense public as well as party and opposition pressure. The government was getting feedback from party MLAs, who conveyed the sentiments of the people of their constituencies, the press and Resident Welfare Associations, which prompted the rollback. The Cabinet also made certain recommendations empathising with the sentiments of the people of Delhi on matters like difficulties being faced by the public on account of unsatisfactory consumer grievance redressal mechanism and their perception of fast running electronic meters, she added. Discoms were told to take measures to immediately reduce power theft and bring down the AT&C losses. It also decided to consider enactment of anti-theft legislation as in Maharashtra and Andhra Pradesh. The Cabinet further said it will set up a high-powered redressal committee immediately comprising state Power Minister Mr Haroon Yusuf and MLAs Mr Narender Nath and Mr Subhash Chopra. Aggrieved people would be able to approach the committee in addition to the existing grievance redressal mechanism. In addition to the committee, the Discoms were also told to strengthen their consumer grievance redressal mechanism particularly with regard to billing disputes. Besides, consumer redressal committees would be activated at the district level, wide publicity would be given to already established consumer redressal forum (one for each Discom) under the Electricity Act. Those aggrieved with the decision of the forum would be able to approach the Ombudsman established under the Act. Regarding fast electronic meters and faulty biling, it was stated that the state government had already asked the Consumer Council of India to depute its representatives to check the meters alongwith members of Discoms/RWAs under the supervision of the area Sub Divisional Magistrate. The DERC had also been asked to conduct meter-testing drive through independent meter testing agencies. The Discoms had been told to provide convenient facility for testing independent agencies on request made by consumers. The government had also taken up the matter with the BIS about meters, which would increase surveillance on licensed manufacturers of meters.
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Sheila faces brickbats from partymen, BJP
New Delhi, August 31 The Delhi MPs also opposed the Delhi government’s decision to subsidise the Discoms while withdrawing the recent controversial power hike of 10 per cent. Mr Ajay Maken, a one-time confidant of the Chief Minister, raised the demand of Ms Dikshit’s resignation at a meeting of party MPs and leaders from the Capital held today to discuss yesterday’s CLP resolution calling for rollback in the hike in power tariff for domestic and agricultural consumers, party sources said. The Lok Sabha member from New Delhi constituency and former Delhi Power Minister accused her of “mishandling” the electricity crisis in the Capital, they said. Ms Dikshit was unable to attend the meeting as she was participating in the National Integration Council (NIC) meet. She was represented by Finance Minister Mr A K Walia and Power Minister, Mr Haroon Yusuf. Sources said that Mr Yusuf offered to resign in place of the Chief Minister. The meeting was attended by four of the six Delhi MPs. The absentees were Mr Kapil Sibal and the Chief Minister’s son Mr Sandeep Dikshit. Sources said that Maken expressed dissatisfaction over the manner in which the Chief Minister changed her stand on the issue in recent days. Maken, however, refused to comment on the issue to media persons. Besides MPs and Delhi Ministers, the meeting was attended by several MLAs, including DPCC chief Mr Rambabu Sharma, Mr Subhash Chopra and Ms Tajdar Babbar. Several participants were against the proposal of the government giving any money to the private power distribution companies and asked it to search for some other option. “It has been said that the government will pay five per cent as subsidy and the rest five per cent will be shared by Discoms. Why should the government even pay this five per cent? Let the power companies bear the entire burden,” said Mr Jagdish Tytler, former union minister and MP from Sadar Lok Sabha constituency. Significantly, the Congress high command, however, sought to look the other way over demands by partymen for Ms Shiela Dikshit’s resignation. “I have no knowledge about it. What is the source of your information?,” party spokesperson Ms Jayanti Natrajan wanted to know from reporters who asked her to react to reports that Mr Ajay Maken had demanded Ms Dikshit’s resignation at a meeting of party MPs and leaders from the Capital. She spoke in a similar vein when asked whether such demands constituted an act of party indiscipline. “I am not aware of any such remark,” she said. Meanwhile, demands for Ms Dikshit’s resignation came from the BJP as well, with Delhi BJP chief Harsh Vardhan accusing her of conniving with private power companies and asking the government to cancel the agreement with power companies and enter into a public welfare contract so that the companies could be held accountable. “The Chief Minister has been conniving with power companies by agreeing to give subsidy of Rs 180 crore,” he told reporters here. Welcoming the Delhi Cabinet decision to roll-back the hike in power charges, he said: “The Chief Minister remembered the public when she found that her post was in danger.” Leader of the Opposition in Delhi Assembly Jagdish Mukhi said the resolution of the Congress Legislature Party seeking a roll-back in the hike in power tariff was a “no confidence motion” against the Chief Minister, who now has lost the right to remain in the post. Claiming that Dikshit was involved in a multi-crore scam with the Discoms, Mukhi urged Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to hand over the DVB privatisation case to the CBI for investigation. Harsh Vardhan also accused the power distribution companies of not doing enough to prevent power theft. “They are deliberately not taking any steps to prevent power theft as the agreement with the government guarantees them a 16 per cent profit,” he said and demanded a heavy penalty be slapped on the companies for their failure to prevent theft. Senior BJP leader Vijay Goel also demanded Dikshit’s resignation.
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Efforts on to deal with disruptive tendencies: Chief Minister
New Delhi, August 31 "Communally sensitive districts and areas in the national capital have been carefully identified and care is taken to post officers with a proven track record of efficiency and impartiality," she told a meeting of the National Integration Council (NIC). Observing that there was an atmosphere prevalent for peaceful resolution of differences between India and Pakistan, Dikshit said there was still a noticeable trend towards terrorist-inspired violence. Noting that natural calamities posed serious challenges, the Chief Minister said suitable strategies need to be evolved quickly so as to ensure
that the tragedies do not deflect us from the larger goal of all round and visible improvement in our global standing.
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HC breather for industrial units in Gurgaon
Gurgaon, August 31 According to the honorary general secretary of the Gurgaon Industrial Association (GIA) Mr K.C. Papreja, the government has formed a committee under the chairmanship of the Financial Commissioner and Principal Secretary, Government of Haryana’s Industries Department in compliance with the court’s directive. Other members of the committee include Managing Director, HSIDC, Director of Industries, Director of Town and Country Planning and Chief Town Planner, HSIDC. The Chief Town Planner, HSIDC, shall be member-secretary of the committee. As per the court’s directive, the industrialists whose units are likely to be affected by the proposed acquisition of land in the three villages are to submit their objections to the committee by September 9. The committee will review the cases in light of the submissions of the affected industrialists and the directive of the court. The government proposes to acquire the land on which the units are in the three villages, carve out an industrial zone, set up high-end infrastructure in it and sell industrial plots. The matter has been hanging fire for about three years now. Various industrial organisations have voiced their protest against the government’s move. With the preceding INLD government not showing any sign of leniency, a good number of owners of the units moved court. The grouse of the industrialists is that a sizeable number of them had set up their units more than three decades back by purchasing land from farmers. At that point of time, there was no concept of change of land use (CLU). Also, there was no industrial zone plan from the government side the way it has been conceptualised now. Their units are thriving. Many of the entrepreneurs have purchased land adjacent to their units as part of their expansion plan. While some of the units have obtained CLU, and are not under the scanner, a majority of them have not. The industrial organisations’ demand is that the units in the villages should be allowed to continue by charging CLU fees as they are not at fault. They further argue that the government’s development plan is post-facto, and that the units should not be penalised for no fault on their part. The affected industrialists say that they fail to understand the government’s policy of uprooting the established and functioning units to replace them with new ones.
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CGHS scam: CBI files preliminary report before HC
New Delhi, August 31 In a preliminary investigation report filed before a Division Bench of Justice Vijender Jain and Justice Rekha Sharma, CBI said that 7 of the societies were controlled by builders, contractors and sub-contractors and another 19 by a builder lobby. CBI counsel Harish Gulati told the Bench that 13 societies were held or owned by 13 separate families and their close relatives. According to preliminary investigation report of the Special Investigation Team headed by CBI DIG A K Malhotra, prime facie 25 societies were found to be genuine while the status of the rest 30 societies was yet to be verified. Gulati informed the court that apart from four FIRs, the CBI has registered 21 preliminary enquiries (PEs) against 131 societies. CBI told the court that there were 883 officials of the 133 societies and the agency has so far examined 630 of them, including some private individuals. The CBI counsel said that 70 of the 883 officials denied that they were either members of the societies or were holding any post in the society. According to the CBI’s preliminary investigation report, 25 of the 883 officials were found to be builders, contractors or sub-contractors. The Bench, which appreciated the “good work” done by the CBI SIT, asked the agency not to let down the tempo of the probe. The court asked the CBI Joint Director S C Sinha to remain present in the court on October 3, the next date of hearing after the agency said it would take 6 months to complete the investigation. “We don’t want the tempo to slow down. You have done a good work so far in a span of 30 days in a case involving voluminous record,” the Bench said. The court gave the agency 4 weeks to file a comprehensive report in the matter. Making it clear to the CBI that it did not want the genuine societies and their members to suffer, it asked the CBI to file a definitive report about the 25 societies prima-facie found to be genuine. It asked the Centre to frame a policy regarding allotment of government land to societies and housing scheme for poor in Delhi within 4 weeks. The court also asked the DDA to file an affidavit in the matter failing which the DDA Vice Chairman will have to appear before it on the next date of hearing.
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HC seeks details of cops on VIP duty
New Delhi, August 31 The direction came from a Division Bench of Justice Vijender Jain and Justice Rekha Sharma on a Public Interest Litigation on the law and order situation here after amicus curiae Rajiv Awasthi pointed out that about 50 per cent of the total strength of the police force was engaged in VIP security, adversely affecting policing in Delhi. Awasthi drew the court’s attention to an earlier affidavit filed by the police, according to which out of the total 56,000 personnel of Delhi Police, only 27,000 to 29,000 were available for law and order duty and the rest were deployed in VIP security. “In a democratic set up like ours, are policemen only meant for VIP security?” the Bench observed. The Bench also asked Paul to furnish details on the operation, management and control of Police Control Room (PCR) vans meant to reach any spot of incident within minutes. Justice Jain recalled an incident on Badarpur-Mehrauli Road at 11 p.m. a few days ago in which a scooterist was hit by a vehicle and there was no PCR van to take him to a hospital. DCP (Headquarters) Alok Kumar, who was present in the court, submitted that PCR vans were under a DCP and there were a chain of officers who control and monitor them and that the average time taken by these vans to reach an incident site was only five minutes.
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Punish rapists stringently: DCW
New Delhi, August 31 Commenting on the verdict, DCW Chairperson Prof Kiran Walia said: “The accused didn’t just compromise the dignity of the minor girl, but also mutilated her head so badly after murdering her that she had to be identified only by her clothes. The death sentence in this case clearly sends a signal that such barbarism is not tolerable in the society.” Prof Walia however stressed on the need to increase the conviction rate in rape cases and reiterated DCW’s demand to have Fast Track Courts for handling rape cases. At the same time, the DCW condemned the newly-emerging trend of letting off rape criminals with token or no imprisonment and only a monetary fine. The DCW expressed anger and shock at media reports of rape case verdicts given by two village panchayats in Saharanpur where rape accused
were let off with only a monetary fine. Condemning the trend, Prof Kiran Walia said: “How can we be so utterly insensitive and callous towards a rape victim? This lenient verdict sends a very wrong signal to the society that a crime as heinous as rape can also be bought by coughing out a fine. In a way, it indirectly encourages the tendency to get away with such crimes at the behest of money. The DCW is very concerned about the dangerous effect of such condemnable verdicts on the society at large. It is even more concerning to note that the village panchayats coerced and restrained the victim’s family from approaching the police.” The law of the land should be the same for all sections of the society, and should especially be stringent where rape cases are concerned, she said. In a similarly shocking verdict passed on August 12, a former additional sessions judge of Mumbai High Court had pronounced a one-day imprisonment with Rs 50,000 as fine in a rape case.
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Barakhamba-Dwarka Metro line to open in December, for sure
New Delhi, August 31 DMRC CPRO Anuj Dayal today assured that the section between Barakhamba and Dwarka will definitely open in December and its second part, which will further extend the Line-3 to the Dwarka sub-city by March, next year. This should certainly bring out a big sigh of relief in all those waiting for the Line-3, which will connect some of the most crowded areas of Delhi, to open, thereby bringing an end to their traffic miseries. Incidentally, there were some speculations, resulting in minor trepidation also, that the Line–3 might get delayed and spoil the DMRC’s immaculate track record of delivering not only on time but before time. Now that the Group of Ministers (GoM) has also given a go-ahead to all routes suggested by the DMRC for the Phase-II, the DMRC can start planning to award contracts. The DMRC had been awaiting the GoM approval, which took more time than necessary. Though the DMRC had been carrying on parallel work like planning etc, the delay meant it was not being able to award contracts. In the same meeting, the minutes of which are being awaited by the DMRC, the GoM did not okay the Noida and Gurgaon NCR links as funding patterns and alignment of lines were not clear. Getting back to the near future, the DMRC has planned some major improvements for the Line-3. First some statistics — the biggest station on Line-3 is Rajouri Garden, covering 11,481.14 sq m and the smallest is the one at Dwarka Mor, covering 6,892.395 sq m. In face of an increasing demand for toilets on stations, the much-important facility has been planned on all stations of Line-3, except Barakhamba and Mandi House. The DMRC is also coordinating with the NDMC for constructing toilets at Rajiv Chowk. Besides, commuters can make use of parking facility at Dwarka Mor, Nawada, Prem Nagar, Uttam Nagar, Janak Puri, Subhash Nagar, Tagore Garden, Rajouri Garden, Ramesh Nagar, Moti Nagar, Kirti Nagar, Shadipur, Patel Nagar and Rajendra Place. Parking arrangements will also be provided at Pragati Maidan and Indraprastha Metro stations. Biggest parking space of 12,828 sq m will be at Kirti Nagar. Two ramps are also being constructed at Panchkuian Road and Mandi House for coming out from elevated to underground section and vice-versa. The length of each of these ramps is 378 m. The ramp at Mandi House will start at Sikandara Road, just after the Mandi House metro station and end at W Point just before the Tilak Bridge. The other ramp starts at the outer circle of Connought Place and ends on Panchkuian Road. Subhash Nagar and
Dwarka are the two sub-stations for the Line-3, which will receive 66 KVA power supply from stations of Delhi Transco Ltd., located at Pappankalan-1 and Pappankalan-2, respectively. The sub-station at New Delhi will act as an emergency back-up for the power supply. The third sub-station for line-3 will be located at Indraprastha and will receive power supply from gas Turbine Power Station located there. For an emergency back-up for the station, each station has been equipped with generator sets and direct current power back-up. The capacity of each generator sets varies as per the requirement, 180KVA, 200 KVA or 250 KVA. And direct current will provide power back-up to the lighting fixture of the stations. The capacity of the sub station at Subhash Nagar and Dwarka is 8 MVA each. In Dwarka sub-city specifically, there are six stations. There is one station in each sector from Sector 9 to Sector14. Integrated parking for the DDA and the DMRC has been planned by the DDA at DDA community centres.
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Jamia Millia University students clamour for restoration of old hostel
New Delhi, August 31 The student community says that the new hostel lacks the facilities of the university’s “best” SRL hostel. What adds salt to their wounds is that the university is shifting its offices into what was the SRK hostel. Student unrest arises out of what they are describing as the “unsuitability” of the new hostel as compared to SRK. The new hostel has fewer than 115 seats compared to SRK which housed over 200 students. A student of the Public Administration department, Shams Pervez says, “Jamia has some 9000-12,000 students and we all come from the middle class families. The university now makes a new hostel that has only 112 seats and closes the old hostel which had over 200 seats. Where does this leave us, especially freshers.” Besides, the new hostel has poor electricity facilities compared to SRK’s which had solar lighting. A hosteller said, “SRK had solar lighting system. Electricity never went off there However, there is hardly any electricity supply in the new hostel. Further, there is a high-tension wire running over the new hostel that does not let computers function. Meanwhile, the university authorities are taking a different line. There are several factors, they say, which led to the shifting of students to the new hostel. These include proximity to the road, noise pollution, existing drainage facilities being inadequate for students to use, and lastly, the SRK hostel had reportedly gained notoriety for sheltering criminal and anti-social elements. This last factor has been described as a major reason for the shiftover. Further, the authorities assure that all students have been readmitted to the hostel. However, considerable anxiety prevails in the students on the issue. When contacted, almost every student described SRK as the “best” hostel and the new one highly unsatisfactory. Further, the sentiment doing the round among the students is that they have been “let down” by the university and there has been “a breach of trust”. In a key meeting between the students and the university administration, the students were given the assurance that the administration would put up the SRK hostel issue before the academic council within a month and a decision would be taken on it. Shams Pervez informs that it was on this assurance that the students ended their agitation. “However” says Pervez “with the administration shifting its offices into the SRK hostel, there has been a clear breach of trust and we could take action in a few days, if an agreement is not worked out. However, we will protest peacefully and will not resort to violence. We might even sit on a hunger strike over the next few days.”
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DUTA polls see modest turnout
New Delhi, August 31 With a modest turnout of 68.2 per cent at the election here today, the teaching community appeared less inclined towards campus politics. “The picture this year is not clear. There seems to be some confusion as most contenders appear neck to neck,” said the outgoing DUTA president Aditya N Misra. Pointing out that there is a dip of about two- per cent in the polling rate, returning officer SN Singh said, “Of the total 6,632 teachers, only 4,543 cast their votes. Last year the poll percentage was 72.” He added, “The results will be declared later tonight. The counting will begin late in the evening.” Queuing alongside the “seniors” were ad hoc teachers who incidentally are part of every party’s election agenda. “Ad hoc teachers and their service conditions have been adequately highlighted by each political party, even though one doesn’t really know the outcome, we are here to support the people who we think will take up the issue,” said an ad hoc teacher. “This year we have the maximum number of new recruitment against permanent posts. So, the presence of youngsters has increased. Besides being young, they have certain ideas about governance and representation, so they do not want to give polling a miss,” said a senior faculty member. More than 15 candidates are in the fray for the president’s post: Manoj Sinha of the BJP-supported National Democratic Teacher’s Front; S D Siddiqui of the Congress-backed Indian National Teachers’ Congress; and Amar Deo Sharma of the Left-backed Democratic Teachers Front. They are all front-runners. While the NDTF is trying to cash in on the “outgoing DUTA’s inability to put forth and protect the cause of teachers”, INTECH has promised to “continue the fight against the university administration initiated by the outgoing DUTA”. The DTF, which is being led by Amar Deo Sharma, a former DUTA president, tried to harness support on the basis of promising to “rejuvenate the prestige of the DUTA office”. Academics for Action and Development (AAD), whose candidate for the DUTA executive, Dr Prakash Narayan, is in the fray along with Alka Sharma and J Kunthia. They are fighting the elections in association with INTECH.
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Entrepreneurs demand better infrastructure
Noida, August 31 The meeting also considered the setting up of a city centre and a display centre, measuring over 5000 sq metre, where entrepreneurs could exhibit their products. A separate wing for women entrepreneurs was also considered in the meeting. A number of officials from the Noida Authority were pulled up for their failures and apathy. Promising to live up to the expectations of the industrialists, the CEO highlighted the efforts made by the Noida Authority to sort out some of the basic problems of the entrepreneurs. The CEO promised that he would try to solve some of their problems, including those of unscheduled power cuts, sanitation and sewerage problems in the industrial sectors. Regarding the display centre, Mr Awasthi called for a detailed proposal from the entrepreneurs. Mr Awasthi said that a plan is being drawn up for desilting of drains. He said the question of allotment of industrial plots to women entrepreneurs will have to be considered afresh. He also said that the Noida Authority will issue the list of defaulters related to industrial plots by September 20, 2005.
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A suspense soap from Sahara
New Delhi, August 31 Centuries down the line, of all famous diamonds in the world, the Kohinoor has been probably the sought after. From Aryan kings to the Turks, from the Mughals to the British, all those who have touched India have tried to possess the diamond. Well, Sahara One promises its Kohinoor to be as intriguing as the diamond and as the soap opera will unfold viewers will be taken through a journey of mystery. In the recent past, some of Sahara One’s ambitious serials like Kamini Damini and Malini Iyer, starring big names like Hema Malini and Sridevi, did not go down well with the audience. In the new soap, producers of the serial Cinevistaas have tried to generate an element of curiosity with a teaser—whether the Kohinoor diamond is still in India and whether the one with the British is fake. The weeks which follow will tell whether this element of suspense will make the serial, the cast of which includes Kuljeet Randhawa, Ankur Nayyar, Amit R. Sadh, Ajinkya Deo and Manish Wadhwa, a success. As of now, the suspense soap will go on the air from September 5, Monday to Thursday, 10 pm.
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Two youths fall in police net, confess to murder
Noida, August 31 The two confessed to having murdered a man, Om Prakash, from Khora Colony on August 29. A revolver and a dagger were seized from them. According to the SP, City, Soumitra Yadav, the two had stolen Rs 7,000 from the bag of the victim which was hanging from his cycle. The accused said they did not want to murder the man but he had started hitting them so they fired from a revolver. In the second incident, the SP City said two youth were nabbed who confessed to stealing cash, jewellery and a revolver from Col. P.K. Ticku of G-37, Sector 41 here on August 18. An amount of Rs 27,000 out of Rs 27,000 stolen by the miscreants, the colonel’s licensed pistol and most of the other stolen items and jewellery have been recovered from the thieves. The accused have been identified as Rajender, alias Raju, son of Panna Lal, and Kalu, alias Kalicharan, son of Ram Piyare. The former had somehow won the confidence of the colonel and his wife who told him to stay in their house while they were going for a movie. He had often stayed in the house of the couple. He told his friend Kalu about it and both of them hatched a plan to loot the house. The accused got enough time to ransack the house. The SSP had rewarded the team with Rs 2,500, the SP City said.
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Man who cheated Rs 30 cr from 80,000 people held
New Delhi, August 31 Pramod Khullar, who ran a company M/s Life Care here, promised his ‘investors’ 40 per cent discount in hospitals, hotels, restaurants, medical shops, computer institutes, tours and travels and a personal accident insurance worth
Rs 1 lakh if they purchased a ‘privilege card’ for Rs 4,700. Besides, they were promised consumer durables and even cars if they were able to convince other people to join the scheme. Khullar had opened offices in Delhi, Bhubaneshwar, Jaipur, Ranchi,
Hisar, Rohtak, Kangra in Himachal Pradesh and Rudrapur in Uttaranchal and had enlisted over 80,000 ‘investors’ over the last three years. However, they never got the benefits promised to them. Most of those cheated were
housewives, unemployed youths, fresh graduates and salaried persons who wanted to make huge returns on small investments, police said. Khullar, a matriculate hailing from Jagadhari, Haryana, was arrested by the Economic Offences Wing which seized a luxury car, several computers and incriminating documents from him. Police had also frozen half-a-dozen bank accounts of Khullar and his company.
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5 crore women are victims of domestic violence: CSR
New Delhi, August 31 During a one-year study of such cases, it was found that in five cases filed under Section 498 IPC (harassment by husband and in-laws), the parties settled the matter after agreeing on maintenance and divorce. In a majority of cases, women kept suffering physical and mental torture for minimum three years before filing a complaint. The CSR Director said, “With the growing number of dowry killing in the country, we felt the need for assessing the current situation. We are confident that the findings of the study will help our policy makers in preparing better laws to curb the cases of violence against women.” The study area included the states of Delhi, Rajasthan, West Bengal and Karnataka.
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Forcible takeover of property alleged
Faridabad, August 31 A former minister and BJP leader, Mr Krishan Pal Gurjar, has alleged that a mining land owned by his kin, Bahadur Singh, has been snatched by people close to the new Congress government in the state. In a statement here today, Mr Gurjar alleged that the practice of land grabbing and forcible take over of mining property has been revived in the region. A mining pit of about 300 sq. mt in the Sirohi village belt was recently forcefully taken over by some persons with the help of the police, he alleged. He said that he would discuss the matter with the Chief Minister. He announced that dharnas would be held at various places to oppose such “forceful take over of business property”. However, according to analysts, the sale and purchase of land in the Aravalli hills and mining activities in the region has been controversial. Political influence has always played a prominent role in the allotment of mining pits. It may be recalled that the Forest Department had issued notices to many property owners and builders for violation of existing norms. A PIL has been pending in the Apex Court over the massive construction activity in the region. Environment experts believe that such unregulated and unlawful mining would be a grave danger to the ecology of the area.
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...And bouquets from other quarters
New Delhi, August 31 He hailed the move to give six months to Discoms to effectively address the public grievances like fast running of electronic meters and other dereliction in services, opining that they would help bring in transparency and accountability in their operations. On the Delhi Government’s decision last night to roll back a 10 per cent hike in power tariff, PHDCCI suggested consideration of integrated and long-term view of the scenario. “While the reform process be continued, the element of subsidy should be reduced. It would be desirable that issues like power theft and transmission and distribution losses are dealt with sternly,” Mr Meattle said in a release. Whereas subsidies may be extended to the power Discoms to cushion the downward revision of the power tariff, the Delhi Government must take some time-bound assurance from them to reduce T&D losses that currently stood at unacceptable levels of 40 per cent of the total power distributed, he added.
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Man wins seat reserved for woman
Noida, August 31 The disputed seat is in village Nangli Wajidpur. Vimlesh, who lost to Ram Singh by four votes, claims that this seat was reserved for women from the Scheduled Caste. She alleged that her rival was declared winner with the connivance of the election officers. Vimlesh’s husband, Hoshiar, has lodged a complaint with the election officers, but nobody seems to pay any heed to it. Now Vimlesh has written to the Subdivisional Magistrate wanting to know how a man could be declared elected on a seat reserved for women.
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Two prostitutes arrested
New Delhi, August 31 The women, aged 25 and 21, were arrested near a hotel in Lajpat Nagar last night after they struck a deal with a decoy customer to provide sexual favours. They were involved in prostitution for the last two years and operated through mobile phones.
Further investigations were on into the case, police said.
— TNS
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