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Meter-testing drive finds only two faulty meters
Sheila welcomes emergence of eco-friendly building technology
A 413-room hostel but nurses can’t set
Arrested town planner’s wife |
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Boundary walls for all MCF-owned land in town
Magisterial inquiry ordered into Greater Noida golf course violence
JNU says no to child labour
CEE scam: One more arrested by the CBI
NRI gets bail in car theft case
Call centre employees harassed
Contract killer held
Criminals clad in underclothes wreak havoc
Chargesheet filed in Gurgaon NH robbery case
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Meter-testing drive finds only two faulty meters
New Delhi, September 17 However, a forum of RWAs in the capital has rejected the meter-testing drive, terming it an eyewash and declaring that it would approach the Delhi Electricity Regulatory Commission (DERC) against it. “The purpose of the meter-testing drive is to ensure that the public is not left in any doubt about the meters and also that the government too is convinced about the credibility of the meters,” the Power Minister said. He also said that the government has made it clear to the private power distributing companies that it any meter is found to be running fast, then the Discom would have to compensate the consumer for it. The Government also released the findings of a survey by BIS of market samples of electronic meters in the capital, including the ones of Chinese-make against whom a lot of complaints have been received, finding that all were within the specified limit of accuracy. “There is a perception that the meters are running fast, but we don’t want to leave any doubt in the minds of the people,” Yusuf said. Chief Secretary S Regunathan said internal wiring, old, outdated appliances and stabilisers left switched on could also be leading to meters running fast. Asked about some RWAs protesting the meter-testing and questioning its credibility, Yusuf said only a handful of “politically-motivated” people were against it. Meanwhile, the Delhi Citizens’ Front has rejected the meter-testing drive and said it would approach DERC against it. “It is an eyewash. It is difficult to believe that only one or two meters have been found faulty out of so many meters checked,” DCF chairman M K Mohanty said, and demanded that an independent agency should test the meters. DERC will conduct its meter-testing drive from October 1 to December 31. RWAs in the capital have been complaining against fast-running meters in the capital, forcing the government to go in for meter-testing.
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Sheila welcomes emergence of eco-friendly building technology
New Delhi, September 17 Mrs Dikshit said many builders, contractors and individuals still did not adopt new building technology that was eco-friendly because of a perceived threat that the local authorities may not approve it. She, therefore, called for creating awareness among these bodies. Most of the acts were archaic and therefore did not cover new building technologies such as using fly-ash bricks, the Chief Minister said. “This discourages the use of this by-product from power generation plants.” She said the government would create an atmosphere of innovation in order to facilitate the use of such technology. This would go a long way towards solving the current shortages of power and water, while providing employment to people in the construction sector. The national capital territory had several old buildings, said Mrs Dikshit. These needed to be upgraded by making them energy-efficient and installing water recycling systems. Simultaneously, new buildings coming up in this rapidly growing metropolis needed to be built green. In order to spread awareness on eco-friendly building technology, there was a need to take on board construction engineers, builders and architects. Most importantly, the local bodies had to be involved in the process, she said. CPWD (Works) Director-General B Majumdar said his organisation had adopted eco-friendly building practices in its new buildings. These included rainwater harvesting, water recycling, energy-efficient lighting and the use of fly-ash bricks. This would lead to better interdependence between the environment and buildings, he added. Chairman Indian Green Building Council (IGBC) Parasuraman R. said the CII-Sohrabji Godrej Green Business Centre could partner with the Government of Delhi to promote green buildings as it would witness a spurt of building activities in the run-up to the Commonwealth Games.
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A 413-room hostel but nurses can’t set foot inside it
New Delhi, September 17 According to sources, the hostel was built by the ministry about a year back at a cost of Rs 40 crore to cope with the residential problems of the nurses working at various government hospitals of Delhi like Safdarjang Hospital, Kalawati Saran Hospital, Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital, Sucheta Kriplani Hospital. “It is strange that without getting a proper water connection the hostel building was constructed. Precisely due to this reason, the hostel rooms have not been allotted as yet. Leave aside a water connection, there is no electricity connection for the building right now”, said a senior officer of the Central Health Ministry on condition of anonymity. “At the time of preparing a feasibility and other allied reports as to the construction of this hostel, the Delhi Jal Board (DJB) had refused to give a water connection for the proposed building. The reason was simple. According to a senior officer of the DJB, for proper water supply to this building underground water pumps with a capacity of at least 10.5 horsepower (HP) were needed while they had water pumps with the ordinary capacity of 4 HP. Instead of solving that grave problem, the ministry passed the buck to the Delhi Government. As anticipated, the government also failed on that front ”, said the officer. A nurse working with Safadarjang Hospital said on condition of anonymity that due to the government’s wrong planning they were suffering. “For more than one decade, we have been striving to get this hostel constructed. Now the hostel is ready. It is unfortunate that we are still waiting for the wrong reasons. We have met the authorities concerned numerous times in this regard but to no avail. We have even made the Central Health Secretary aware of our plight. He assured he would do something by September-end this year in this regard”, she said. When contacted, a senior officer of the Central Health Ministry said installing a water connection to the building was not a big problem. “ We are working out on some immediate solution to this problem”, he said.
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Arrested town planner’s wife demands ‘justice’
Faridabad, September 17 At a press conference here on Friday, she said the charges levelled against her husband were baseless and wrong as the final authority in the matter of providing change of land use (CLU) to any land or building was the office of the Commissioner and not him. She added when the CLU certificate to a plot of land in Sector 19 here was given several years ago to a builder, her husband was at the post of Deputy Town Planner and at least two officials, including the STP and the Commissioner, were senior to him and the file passed had their sanctions also. Claiming that her husband had been singled out and made a specific target, she said it was just because he failed to oblige certain persons and could not be a party to their vested interests which included illegal occupation and construction. She said the duty of identifying the title or ownership of any land that was to be given the CLU certificate was with the revenue officials, including the tehsildar and the patwari, and asked how her husband could be made a specific target in which a large number of officials were involved in any process. It may be recalled that the STP was arrested in connection with alleged illegal permission and the CLU certificate given to a builder in Sector 19 here, who constructed a several-storied residential complex, on parts of land that belonged to HUDA and the Wakf Board. According to the wife of the suspended STP, the CLU certificate was given many years ago by the office of the MCF Commissioner then. Her husband was not in charge of the Town and Planning Department and hence was not solely responsible for any illegality. She said the suspension and arrest of her husband had been the handiwork of certain politically influential persons, who were not obliged by her husband for any wrong action in the past. She demanded a high-level independent probe into the matter.
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Boundary walls for all MCF-owned land in town
Faridabad, September 17 The town is the biggest urban conglomeration of Haryana consisting of three old towns, 38 villages and 91 sectors with a population of over 10.5 lakh. Several acres of land worth crores was suspected to have been encroached. The civic body here got elevated to a corporation in 1994 in view of the gigantic size of the urban area maintained by it, but problems of various nature have been creating hurdles for the desired smooth functioning since it came into being. Though hundreds of acres of land of various villages came under its direct control, the problem of encroachment and illegal occupation by the land mafia and others had been a constant problem. While the MCF had carried out several drives in the past few years to get its land back from the encroachers, the land had been occupied time and again. The authorities concerned were not in a position to clearly tell how much of the land was under its control and how much was still under encroachment, said an official. He said the three committees would inspect every chunk of land belonging to the MCF and get the boundary pillars fixed around it. They had been asked to submit reports regarding the present status of every piece of land vis à vis site conditions and court litigation. A property register would be prepared at the zonal level and the final report would be ready within a month. It was claimed that this exercise would help in the creation of the MCF land bank for preparation of land utilisation schemes and implementation of other revenue generating projects. According to sources, land worth several crores was still to be freed from illegal occupation of the land mafia, though the exact estimate of such land could be known after the detailed report to be prepared by the MCF. It was reported several acres of land had been sold illegally by the mafia in various parts, especially the Aravalli belt, in the past few years despite the fact that the land was belonged to either the MCF or the Forest Department, resulting in haphazard construction activity. The MCF had demolished several illegal structures and constructions in the past few weeks in this region to reclaim several acres of land. Though notices have been given in certain more areas, it was alleged illegal constructions and occupation by influential persons close to the powers that be were being spared. A former MLA from the Mewla Mahrajpur assembly constituency here, Mr Krishan Pal Gurjar, had recently levelled similar allegations.
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Magisterial inquiry ordered into Greater Noida golf course violence
Greater Noida, September 17 Meanwhile, about 400 persons have been named in the various reports lodged with the police by both the sides. The police have already arrested 16 workers and 5 security guards for the disturbance and clash at the JP Greens Golf Course. Under attack for laxity, the police seems to have gone into overdrive and picked up even injured workers named in the FIR from the hospitals. The union leader, Mr Yoginder Sharma, has lodged an FIR in Kasna police station against personnel manager B. B. Singh, security officer Kartar Singh Nagar and 150 other officials and security guards. The employees of the golf course have been booked under sections 147, 352, 323 and 504. On the other hand, the Deputy GM of golf course, Mr Abhay Singh, has filed cases against 250 workers under sections 302, 307, 452, 336, 427, 506, 147, 148 and 149. Among those arrested included Syam (son of Bhula Ram), Sahib Ram (son of Horam), Anil (son of Horam), Naresh (son of Jaggi), Ram Kumar (son of Mukur), Inderpal (son of Rambal), Kesh Ram (son of Ram Rikh), Ramvir (son of Pritam), Raj Veer (son of Dewan), Sanjay (son of Sharma Gujjar), Narender (son of Om Prakash), Babu Ram (son of Om Prakash), Ganga Ram (son of Rampal), Jayinder (son of Jay Ram) and Rish Pal of Tigaonni in Haryana. Among the security guards arrested include Kartar Singh Nagar, PV Sharma, Sant Ram, Prem Pal and Raj Kumar. Meanwhile, the police force has been deployed around the golf course to prevent any further trouble. A contingent of the Bulandshahr police has also been pressed into service in the area. It is learnt that the administration wants to avert any confrontation like in Gurgaon between workers and Honda management, which has the potential to vitiate the industrial atmosphere for a long time.
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JNU says no to child labour
New Delhi, September 17 The JNU Teachers Association (JNUTA) has put out an appeal against hiring minors as domestic help or contract labour. “The idea is not only to say no to child labour in homes. We also want to take up the issue of children of contract labour on the campus. It is heart-wrenching to see these children lying unattended in the sun and rain while their parents toil away,” said the JNUTA President, Dr Rupamanjari Ghosh. Urging people on the campus to refrain from hiring minors, an appeal issued by JNUTA reads, “It is distressing to know that children below eight or 10 years of age are employed in the residence of faculty, research scholars and administrative staff, as housemaid and babysitters on the JNU campus. While there is a fight against child labour in the industry and a campaign within our campus against employing children below 15 years of age in the canteens, it is
difficult to digest the fact that this is happening in the living quarters of some of the faculty/staff/research scholars”. Taking note of the fact that minors are engaged as full-time servants involved in all household tasks and in taking care of younger children by whom they are often beaten up, the JNUTA is quick to point out that engaging children as labour also amounts to a legal offence. While this campaign against child labour is still in its nascent stages, an action plan to come up with rehabilitation for these children is being mooted. “The first step is to generate awareness and dissuade people from hiring minors. Once that has been achieved, we also need to work out the details of how and where to rehabilitate them,” pointed out a faculty member of the Social of School Sciences. She said, “Even if these children are no longer hired as domestic help they cannot be allowed to just go away. We have to think of a safe place to keep them otherwise they become vulnerable to abuse”. Dr Ghosh added, “We want to work out some rehabilitation plans for the contract workers who are engaged in various construction works going on the campus as well. They have no facilities for sanitation and have to live in open tents. It is an attempt to give them a dignified life.”
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CEE scam: One more arrested by the CBI
New Delhi, September 17 According to the agency, Tahal had allegedly secured the question paper by appearing as a dummy candidate at an examination centre in Karkadooma which was solved by an IITian Divey Sethi. The answers were then sent through SMS by Pankaj Dahiya and five other accused to 21 students during the exams in May this year for admissions to the Delhi College of Engineering. Each student was allegedly charged Rs 4 lakh for the answers. CBI said Tahal’s name came up during the interrogation of Dahiya who is presently in judicial
custody. Tahal was later produced before a Special Judge who remanded him to two days’ CBI custody after the agency sought time for his “intensive interrogation”.
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NRI gets bail in car theft case
New Delhi, September 17 Granting bail to Nirmal Jeet Singh Hoon, Metropolitan Magistrate Brijesh Garg observed that “the Investigating Officer has not been able to provide the details or status of the 44 cases of car thefts said to be pending against the accused and he is no longer required for the purpose of investigation”. 82-year-old Hoon, accused of involvement in car-thefts, was on September 15 sent to 14 days judicial custody while hearing on his bail application was adjourned for today by a Delhi court. Hoon was arrested on the night of September 13 in connection with a car theft. The prosecution had told the court that there were as many as 44 FIRs pending against him some of which date back to 1971 and 1987. According to the prosecution, the anticipatory bail petitions of Hoon have been rejected by several courts, including the Delhi High Court.
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Call centre employees harassed
Noida, September 17 A woman employee of a call centre in Sector 58, Ms Deepti Prakash, was recently grilled. She was accused of having leaked customer-related information to outsiders. This is but one instance of mental torture of employees at call centres. Two months ago, a woman staffer at a call centre in Sector 2 was accused of leaking professional information and was forced to resign. This woman gave a written compliant to the Noida police in Sector 20 who had assured they would broker an agreement between her and the company. Later, when she failed to get her dues from the company she approached a news channel, exposing the connivance between the company and the police.
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Contract killer held
New Delhi, September 17 Gajraj Singh had also allegedly committed several other murders, including of two men inside the Tihar Jail, and carried a reward of Rs 10,000 on his head. Acting on a specific information, a team of the Special Cell intercepted him in Sonia Vihar in east Delhi yesterday. However, he tried to escape after firing several shots at the policemen which hit a head constable in the chest, but he survived as he was wearing a bullet-proof jacket. The policemen later overpowered Gajraj and seized a country-made pistol from him. Gajraj, along with some associates, had allegedly carried out the contract killing of hotelier and real estate agent Daleep Surtani in 2003 in Green Park in south Delhi. He had been paid Rs 10 lakh for the ‘hit’ by a Gurgaon-based property dealer. He had been arrested in 1999 in connection with bank robberies. While in Tihar Jail, Gajraj and his associates had allegedly murdered two youths Abodh and Anurag.
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Criminals clad in underclothes wreak havoc
Noida, September 17 There is panic and tension in the area. Ram Avtar, sleeping outside his house in Om Vatika, was woken up at midnight with the butt of a gun. Then, at least 20 criminals in underclothes with rifles and revolvers in hand had descended on the scene and threatened everyone. They asked the women to hand over their gold jewellery. They repeated the same act in the houses of Umesh, Ashok and Brahmpal and decamped with cash, jewellery and valuables after beating those inside and tying them all. No report has been registered
yet. — OC
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Chargesheet filed in Gurgaon NH robbery case
New Delhi, September 17 The chargesheet was filed in the court of Special Magistrate in Ambala against Gurcharan Sharma, Kapil Dev, Vijay Kumar and Mahender Singh of Gurgaon for abduction of Naresh Kumar and Azad Singh, a CBI spokesperson said here. The fifth accused Udai Veer Singh of Mainpuri UP is absconding. They have been accused of offences under section 120-B (criminal conspiracy), 364 (kidnapping) 397 (robbery) and 34 (common intention). They have not been charged for murder as the bodies of the deceased have not been recovered. According to CBI, two accused opened a dhaba on the Pataudi Road Gurgaon in furtherance of their conspiracy to loot the trucks plying on the route. On September 11, 2002, the truck stopped at the dhaba where the accused served the two victims food laced with sleeping pills. Three of the accused then asked for a lift upto Gurgaon while the fourth accused Gurcharan Sharma followed the truck on his motorcycle. The fifth accused Udai Veer Singh remained in the dhaba. On the way they stabbed and looted the electronic items and dumped their bodies which have not been recovered.
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One killed, nine injured in house collapse
Meerut, September 17 The deceased was owner of the house Mahipal. Out of nine injured four were stated to be serious and admitted in local hospital and other five injured were out of danger, the sources said. The house was in a dilapidated condition and it collapsed due to heavy rain, they
added. — TNS
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Scrutiny of applications for residential plots completed
Noida, September 17 The Noida authority has been directed to submit the list to the High Court by September 19, 2005, when next hearing of the case has been fixed, he added.
— OC
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