 |
|
|
SC blasts govt for failure to clean
HC summons DU Registrar, Education Secy
SP suspended for ‘shielding’ four murder accused
|
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Kharif crop parched for rain
Jilted Khurana may float his own party
CM launches ‘Zero Carbon City’ campaign
Chief Minister of Delhi Sheila Dikshit during the inauguration of 'North South East West (NSEW) Photo Exhibition’ at the British Council to kick off the ‘Zero Carbon City’ initiative on Wednesday.
SHO asked to file report on false cases
Cherie charms women scribes
First CNG crematorium commissioned
Now, get an MBA course in disaster management
Huge quantity of oxytocin injections seized
Lid off prostitution racket, two girls held
Industrialists default sales tax worth Rs 157 crore
|
|
SC blasts govt for failure to clean up the Yamuna
New Delhi, September 7 The court wondered whether the government was waiting for. A Mumbai-like disaster to happen to get out of its state of inertia. Moreover, rapid influx of migrants to the city and the open political invitation to settle in the Capital with an assurance that their settlements would be regularised had a debilitating effect on the city’s civic amenities including the sewer system, water and electricity supply, it remarked. Observing that cut-off date for regularisation of slums had been like a mirage as the first cut-off year of 1972 had kept moving forward all these years, the Bench said “there is a total observation of all the laws in breach”. These observations came when the Bench was taken through the 10-year-old bulky case by amicus curiae Ranjit Kumar pointing out deadline after deadline, assurances and promises none of which were honoured. “The civic amenities are under severe strain. That is what happened in Mumbai where the civic amenities collapsed under severe pressure from the increasing number of people. It is bound to happen here unless some urgent steps were taken,” the Bench said. The Supreme Court asked Delhi Government, Delhi Development Authority and Municipal Corporation of Delhi to file a definite action plan within four weeks dealing with the issue. Referring to the in situ regularisation suggested by the Government and attempts to modify the Master Plan of Delhi, the Bench said: “The Master Plan is on paper alone, everything is done contrary to it. Unfortunately, irrespective of the political party in power, there is absolutely no difference. Those who had taken a stand for observance of the rules, they have been shunted out irrespective of the political party in power.” Senior advocate Ranjit Kumar read out affidavit after affidavit filed by the government showing no substantial augmentation of the civic amenities like sewer system and making the river water potable. The Bench said “there is total failure on the part of the government in augmenting infrastructure and civic amenities in pace with the expanding population of the Capital city. “There is no link between the facilities and the pressure on it be it water, electricity or the roads. The number outgrows the infrastructure,” it said. Taking a swipe at the vote-bank politics on slums, the Bench said despite all these ill effects of unregulated influx of people into Delhi, “the message is you settle anywhere and ultimately your settlement will be regularised”. Speaking for himself, Justice Sabharwal said: “I am dealing with this issue for last ten years. The cut-off date for regularisation keeps on shifting right from 1972. If there is a political will things will be otherwise.” Meanwhile, the Central government submitted an affidavit before the Supreme Court suggesting setting up of sewage treatment plants on the banks of river Yamuna, on the lines of Thames river in London, to ensure discharge of clean water into the river. After perusing the affidavit by the Centre, a bench comprising Mr Justice Y K Sabharwal and Mr Justice B N Agrawal said, “We hope and expect that the Delhi government and Delhi Jal Board will go ahead with the implementation of the suggestion.” Pointing out that most of the sewage treatment plants were far away from the river’s banks, the Centre said that the main drains to Yamuna still continued to carry a significant portion of effluents in the flow and hence, it was advisable that water was treated at the mouth of the drain before being discharged into the river. Noting that the affidavit had pointed to slums and encroachments on the banks creating problems in this regard, the court asked the Delhi government, state authorities and municipal authorities in Delhi, in particular the MCD, to come out with a definite statement relating to encroachments and removal of slums in an affidavit within 4 weeks. The affidavit by the Centre was filed during the hearing of the case relating to unchecked discharge of effluents into the river Yamuna.
|
|
HC summons DU Registrar, Education Secy
New Delhi, September 7 A division bench comprising Justice Vijender Jain and Justice Rekha Sharma also asked the respondents to state the reason for not appointing enough Hindi teachers for the students. A PIL filed by the People’s Union of Civil Liberties (PUCL) alleged that the university was not taking interest in imparting education in Hindi. Counsel Prashant Bhushan, appearing for the PUCL, submitted that the DU had created a Hindi department in 1978 to translate books in Hindi but that had failed to deliver the results. Mr Bhushan sought the direction of the court to make necessary and adequate arrangements for imparting instructions and lecture in
Hindi. The university should make available course materials in Hindi where curricula permitted opting for the medium, Mr Bhusan said. The Academic Council of the DU in its resolution on September 2, 1954 had accepted the recommendation for permitting students to study in Hindi medium for B A (Pass) courses and subsequently for MA
in History, Political Science, Economics in the Arts Faculty. In 2001, about 60 students, studying in various colleges of Delhi University, approached the PUCL and complained about the discriminatory behaviour of the university authorities. Before filing a writ, the PUCL had also lodged a complained with the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) on the issue. The petitioners had even approached the President of India, the visitor of Delhi University, for the redressal of their grievances.
|
|
SP suspended for ‘shielding’ four murder accused
Noida, September 7 Mr Singh has been accused of protecting four persons allegedly involved in the murder of Inspector
B.N. Singh, posted in Noida. He has also been accused of “tampering with the record” and destroying evidence in the murder case. The order for the suspension and arrest of Mr
M.P. Singh was passed by the UP Home Secretary, Mr Jagannath Singh, with the approval of the Governor, Mr T. V. Rajeshwar. Incidentally, Mr M. P. Singh is the brother-in-law of the UP Environment Minister, Mr Rajender Singh Rana. According to information, the case relates to the murder of a social worker, Mr Bhagwan Prasad, in Baghpat on December 24, 1995. An FIR (No 369-95) filed under IPC 302 in Baghpat police station by Arun Kumar Kaushik had named Rohtesh Kumar Gupta, Ram Kishore Sharma and Arun Singh in the murder case. This case was assigned to the
CBCID, Meerut, for investigation. However, a number of loopholes had been noted in the investigation by the
CBCID, Meerut. After sometime, the DG, Central Investigation Service (CIS), Lucknow, took charge of the case (no1609-96). According to information, the DG assigned the case to Mr M. P Singh on November 23, 1996, who was in-charge of
CBCID, Bareilly sector, for his evaluation. It is alleged that Mr M.P. Singh started investigating the case in a clandestine manner after obtaining clearance from the court, without letting even the DG know about it. Further, when Mr M. P. Singh was transferred to
CBCID, Meerut, he failed to deposit the case file in Bareilly and continued to investigate the case. Later, he tried to absolve the main accused, Rohtash Kumar Gupta in the case, it is alleged. A case was filed against Mr M. P. Singh in a Meerut police station under sections 193, 217, 218, it is learnt.
|
|
|
Kharif crop parched for rain
Faridabad, September 7 According to the Agricultural Department sources, crops, including jowar, bajra, paddy and sugarcane, were most affected by the dry spell and could get damaged heavily and be beyond any recovery. The farmers in the district had sown these crops on a total area of about 1.23 lakh hectares this season. This included jowar on 70,000 hectares, paddy on 29,000 hectares, bajra on 11,000 hectares, sugarcane on 7,000 hectares, pulses on 6,000 hectares, corn on 200 hectares and others on about 500 hectares. Though these had been sown about 45 to 60 days ago, majority of these frequent showers to get proper growth. But the statistics show the overall rain in the monsoon period this year had been quite low in comparison to the rain last years. It is reported that the total rainfall received last year had been around 539 mm in June, July and August. This year, the rain in these months had been just 304 mm, a deficiency of about 235 mm in comparison to last year. The rain this year had been 7 mm, 217 mm and just 80mm in June, July and August, respectively, while it was around 53mm, 20mm and 286mm in the corresponding months last year. As the total rainfall in July this year had been about 197mm, more than last year, the farmers had expected that the monsoon could be even stronger in August this year, but only a paltry amount of 80 mm led to demoralised faces of the crop growers, said an expert. It is learnt that about 40,000 hectares of land was being irrigated with help of the canal water brought here by the Agra and Gurgaon canals. Farmers on a majority of the land were, however, dependent on the rain and tubewell irrigation. The acute shortage of power supply in the past three months had only added to the woes of the farmers, claims Subhash Dagar, a resident of Sagarpur village in Ballabhgarh subdivision here. He said the area had been facing a drought due to very low rainfall this year and many farmers may not be able to save their crops as there was hardly any chance of rain in the next few days. Claiming that the overall production of crops likes paddy, jowar and bajra could be severely affected, he asked the government to prepare for a detailed survey of the situation faced by the farmers. The drought-like conditions have already started showing their impact as the rate of dry fodder had gone up by 40 to 60 per cent in the region, said a resident of Badoli village.
|
|
Jilted Khurana may float his own party
New Delhi, September 7 DPCC President Ram Babu Sharma said: “The Congress will welcome Mr Madan Lal Khurana with open arms if he wishes to join the party. Since Mr Khurana has set out on a campaign to fight communal forces, his entry to the Congress will be welcomed.” Sources said that Mr Khurana was in touch with MLAs from BJP and others including Congress, Samajwadi Party and BSP to organise a “show of strength” outside his Kirti Nagar residence tomorrow. “We are with Mr Khurana and will show our strength by gathering outside his home in a ‘solidarity assembly’ tomorrow. Since Mr Khurana is all set to form a third front in the Capital, his party is likely to gain from other parities,” said a supporter. A five-member committee chaired by former petroleum minister Ram Naik, had yesterday recommended Khurana’s expulsion on charges of gross indiscipline after he failed to respond to a show-cause notice served on him a fortnight back. Khurana was suspended from party on August 20 after he repeatedly expressed his inability to work under Advani’s leadership and demanded Gujarat Chief minister Narendra Modi’s removal and an apology from him for the post-Godhra riots. He was served a show-cause notice on August 22 with 10-days time to reply, but the former Union minister sent a letter on August 29 seeking further time to respond.
|
|
CM launches ‘Zero Carbon City’ campaign
New Delhi, September 7 “Water and electricity are precious and we should make judicious use of them,” Ms Dikshit said, exhorting children to take the lead in conserving and cleaning the environment. “We have a tendency to take electricity for granted, but it is high time we started conserving it,” said the Chief Minister. Mrs Dikshit inaugurated the North South East West (NSEW) photo exhibition as part of the campaign. The exhibition comprises images from 10 countries as an illustration of the impact of climatic changes and the solutions for reduction of carbon emissions in the communities all over the world. These images have been captured by 10 of the world’s top photographers. The photos touched upon the broad themes of physical environment, development, technology, food, health, urban life, economy and leadership with a focus on specific countries. A model competition for schoolchildren on the theme of Zero Carbon City was also organised on the occasion. After New Delhi, the exhibition will travel to eight cities in India-Bhopal, Mumbai, Ahmedabad, Bhubaneswar, Kolkata, Bangalore and Chennai. The Zero Carbon City campaign has been launched to create public awareness about climate changes and energy challenges to the cities of the world. As major energy consumers, cities assume an important position in the climate change debate. The programme will travel to 60 countries of the world.
|
|
SHO asked to file report on false cases
New Delhi, September 7 Three FIRs have been registered at the Subzi Mandi police station against main accused V. K. Diwan and 13 others in the past six months and more such complaints are pouring. However, no arrests have been made in this connection. Metropolitan Magistrate Ajay Goel asked the Subzi Mandi SHO to appear before the court on September 13 and file a progress report on investigations after one Gurdeep Singh filed a complaint earlier this month. Considering the “nature and gravity of the offence alleged”, the Magistrate had earlier directed the Assistant Commissioner of Police, North Delhi, to conduct an inquiry into the group’s “unscrupulous activities” in courts across the Capital, mainly in Tis Hazari, and submit a report. Diwan and his accomplices, Ravinder Kumar, Surender Kumar, R. P. Ravi, Lala Ram, Om Prakash, Tulsi Ram, Laxman Dass, Amar Nath, V. K. Chopra, R. Prakash, P. S. Sharma, Inder Grover and R. S. Rawal, have been booked under Sections 468 (forgery for cheating), 472 (using a forged document as genuine one) and 120 B (criminal conspiracy). In separate complaints filed in the court, Sandeep Dewan, Rajesh Kumar and Gurdeep Singh alleged the accused forged documents and seals of the notary and filed civil and criminal cases against them, threatening that if money was not paid the cases would be taken up.
|
|
Cherie charms women scribes
New Delhi, September 7 In an interaction with women journalists at the Indian Women’s Press Corps here, Ms Booth, a leading Silk specialising in public law, human rights and European Community law, said she had been the wife of an MP for 22 years and “has seen it all from close quarters.’’ She spoke on a wide range of issues as Mr Blair’s stand on Iraq, the concept of democracy, Islam, and the contribution of British Asians. In a lighter vein, she remarked that chicken masala tikka had become the national dish of the UK. She said time management enabled her to juggle her profession with her family life. Ms Booth, 51, described by a British biographer as having been the “emotional constant’’ in all the way in her husband’s life said that she would be a remarkable wife if she never had any differences with her husband. “He would have to be a saint and I would have to be subservient which I’m not. He is a big man and he can look after himself,’’ she remarked. On being complimented about her four charming children, Ms Booth asked in jest, “Who says they are charming? Children are always charming outside the house?” Ms Booth said she liked the sari but could not tie it without help. She also said that she loved to watch cross-culture Indo-British films and liked Meera Nair’s Monsoon Wedding and Gurinder Chadha’s Bend it like Beckham.
|
|
First CNG crematorium commissioned
New Delhi, September 7 The Municipal Commissioner, Mr Rakesh Mehta, said that the corporation had embarked upon CNG-based cremation system as it is not only eco-friendly and cost effective, but also more feasible, viable and sustainable in comparison to the conventional wood-based crematorium as well as electric crematorium. The CNG will be supplied by the Indraprastha Gas Limited. Besides, the MCD is installing 14 CNG crematoriums in the first phase, but it wants to make Bela Road Ghat crematorium ground as a model. In the second phase, 14 more CNG crematoriums will be installed. There will be two units each converted from electric system at Sarai Kale Khan, Green Park and Lodhi Road. The last will also have two new units. The cremation grounds at Rohini, Sector 5, Geeta Colony and Beriwala Bagh will have two new units each. The Municipal Commissioner claimed that in Delhi, about 600 cremations take place in a day by conventional cremation using fuel wood. Approximately, more than 2,000 bodies are cremated every year, exclusively in electric crematorium. For the cremation of a body, nearly 300 kg to 350 kg of wood is required. CNG-based cremation is cheap, easy and eco-friendly.
|
|
|
Now, get an MBA course in disaster management over the weekend
New Delhi, September 7 Experts claim that where disaster is concerned, “we are undoubtedly exceedingly prone and till date have fumbled through most of them with thousands of casualties and dirges in the press”. Finally, a Disaster Management course emerges. The question remains: Is it the much needed light at the end of the tunnel? Well, it is at least some semblance of a beginning. The credit for the brainwave goes to Guru Gobind Singh Indraprastha University which has gone ahead and started a two-year MBA programme on Disaster Management which runs over the weekends. Further, the programme caters mostly to professionals, government servants and persons working in the multilateral sector who have taken admission to upgrade their skills. The university’s attempt via this programme has been to transform current response-oriented efforts at disaster management to one of prevention, mitigation and preparedness. Further, in an effort to create synergy on this subject the university has gone in for a thorough and multidisciplinary training to help manage disaster. In addition to the newly create Centre For Disaster Management Studies (CDMS), the university has also involved other schools like the University School of Environment Management, the School of Management Studies, School of Information Technology and the School of Law and Legal Studies. Moreover, the university has placed at the disposal of students participating in this course state-of-the-art facilities like remote sensing and GIS labs, IT labs and communication labs. Vice-Chancellor K. K. Aggarwal informs, “The Disaster Management course that we have started very recently is the first course of its kind to have been started in India. Disaster Management is a very inter-disciplinary programme and we felt that this is a subject by itself. We felt that many diverse aspects have to be covered under this like law’s, communication in the face of disaster, medicine etc.” Mr Aggarwal further adds that “we feel that we are an ideal university for this as we have so many schools on the same campus. We have also integrated our resources from other schools for this course. Also, I would like to say that right now we have only working people enrolled for this course and it runs on the weekends.” Faculty involved with the course inform that the primary focus of the course is on laboratory work, field visits, demonstrations, case studies, practical assignments and special guest lectures. Mukul Bhandula, an executive engineer with the Delhi Jal Board, is currently a student at this course. He feels, “This is a fabulous course. It should be very useful for us and will provide insight on how essential services can be maintained when disaster strikes. It seems to be evolving well. Let us see how it develops ahead.” Mr R.K. Bhargava from the MCD, yet another student at this course, says: “Disasters are happening every other day and it is very essential to create disaster managers. Let’s hope this course achieves this. So far, I am satisfied with the programme. It is exhaustive and the university has provided us considerable data and
facilities.”
|
|
Huge quantity of oxytocin injections seized
Faridabad, September 7 The first truck was confiscated by the Sales Tax Department when the driver was carrying some items without any documents on September one at a check post on the Mathura Road, Faridabad Superintendent of Police Shiv Shakti Rao said. He said even as the truck driver tried to arrange the penalty of Rs 90,000 imposed by the Sales Tax officials, the police got information that the vehicle was carrying some banned drugs. Rao said on a search of the truck with the health department officials the police found over 3.50 lakh injections of a banned drug oxytocin which can be used for boosting milk production in animals and increasing the size of vegetables. The indiscriminate use of the banned oxytocin injection to enhance the yield of cattle milk has grown to an alarming level, posing a serious health risk to the consumers. The recovery of a huge cache of such injections by the Excise and Taxation officials here from a truck, points to the gravity of the problem. It was perhaps the first time that the Excise department seized a huge quantity of oxytocin injections, which had been used by the cattle owners to increase the milk yield despite a ban on their sale for the past several years. According to the Deputy Commissioner, Mrs G. Anupama, at least 39 cartons having these injections were being taken in a truck, when the officials stopped it for routine checking on the National Highway. She informed that the truck which was carrying the household commodities had come from Delhi. It was on its way to Ballabhgarh and did not have proper documents. The officials found that the transporter was found guilty of not paying the tax amounting to Rs 1 lakh. Moreover, the oxytocin injections named as ‘Super Vaishali Dugdh Dhara’ had the manufacturing date of March 2006. According to the Chief Medical Officer of the district, the consumption of ‘oxytocinised’ milk could not only lead to several health disorders, but it was also dangerous to the health of the cattle. He has appealed to social bodies and individuals to create an awareness both among the consumers as well the cattle owners to avoid the negative fallout. On the other hand, it is learnt that the neither the Health department nor any agency of the state government seems to be serious over the rampant use of such injections in both rural and urban areas. It is reported that these injections are sold openly by the shopkeepers and there is hardly any checking of its sale.
|
|
Lid off prostitution racket, two girls held
New Delhi, September 7 The accused were running the racket under the name of “Tender touch-Shamrock”. They used to give advertisement in the leading newspapers for the ‘tender touch’, the police said and also disclosed the mobile number on which one Ritu used to pick and offer young girls for prostitution. The Crime Branch of Delhi Police got the information and a team was then made which sent a decoy customer to the place. Ritu asked Rs 5,000 for one night. The deal was then struck and she asked them to reach Lal Sai Market, Lajpat Nagar. At 12.40 am, the pimp came with two girls in a Maruti Zen car bearing registration number DL-6CE-8794. Jitender introduced himself as the partner of Ritu and demanded Rs 5,000 for any of the two girls. The pimp also asked for Rs 2,000 as advance and the rest of the payment to the girl. The waiting sleuths immediately apprehended the accused.
|
|
Industrialists default sales tax worth Rs 157 crore
Ghaziabad, September 7 He said the department would soon publish names of the defaulting companies and its directors through display boards to be set up specially for the purpose. The commissioner said most of the defaulting units had been closed down. In some cases even the recovery notices could not be served at the address of company directors, who reside in Delhi and Mumbai. For taking action against these defaulters, the Uttar Pradesh
government had decided to co-ordinate with Delhi and Maharashtra governments. “We expect to book the tax evaders very soon and recover the dues from them,” the commissioner said.
|
|
|
Two drug traffickers held
New Delhi, September 7 The police had been trying to nail them for the past six years. They also claimed to have recovered 660 grams of fine quality heroin from their possession. The accused have been identified as Beena (30) and Rajender (43). The ACP, Narcotics, Mehar Singh got the information that Beena would come to Wazirpur ‘ganda nalah’ to supply heroin. A trap was laid and the accused was arrested from the spot. She was carrying 300 grams of fine quality heroin in a polythene bag. In another case, the police arrested one Rajender from ISBT, Anand Vihar. He was carrying 330 grams of heroin in a polythene bag.
|
|
Satta racket cracked, four held
New Delhi, September 7 The vigilance office of south-west district got the information about the racket being run in the area. A decoy customer was sent to the spot and subsequently, the sleuths raided the spot and arrested the four accused.
— TNS
|
|
DCE scam: CBI raids 44 places
New Delhi, September 7
|
| HOME PAGE | |
Punjab | Haryana | Jammu & Kashmir |
Himachal Pradesh | Regional Briefs |
Nation | Opinions | | Business | Sports | World | Mailbag | Chandigarh | Ludhiana | Delhi | | Calendar | Weather | Archive | Subscribe | Suggestion | E-mail | |
New Delhi, September 7
