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Demolition drive: Mayor attacks Sheila
PM to take a ride on Metro’s new line today
Farmers agitated over inadequate power and water supply
Preparations for Commonwealth Games on schedule: DDA
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flashback 2005: jawaharlal nehru university
Noida homes to get piped gas for cooking
Commercial land price in Gurgaon shoots up
South Asian maritime history under scanner at JNU
Murder case solved, four held
New govt housing project entrusted to NBCC
Police claims new leads in Parliament bomb hoax case
Beauty clinic ordered to compensate youth
Police on alert after Bangalore terror attack
Delhi wins award for power reforms
Businessman shot at in broad daylight
Chain snatchers arrested after encounter
Trains cancelled due to fog in North India
De-addiction help line opens
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Demolition drive: Mayor attacks Sheila
New Delhi, December 29 He said that Chief Minister was responsible for the Delhi Government, and as such cannot issue directions to the Municipal Corporation’s officers. The Municipal Commissioner will take the Corporation’s leaders in confidence before taking any decision for development of the national Capital, the Mayor said. The Chief Minister has no intention to stop the demolition which goes against the ruling party. This will have negative affect in the forthcoming MCD elections next year. He said this after he, along with Chairman of Standing Committee Mukesh Goel and Leader of the House Jitender Kochar met the Chief Minister requesting her to stop the demolition drive. During the meeting, Chief Minister again suggested making the list of unauthorised constructions public. The Mayor today also had a meeting with the Engineer-in-Chief and Chief Land Officer of the MCD in connection with the demolition of unauthorised constructions. He also complained to the Coordination Committee of the Congress party about Ms Dikshit. Sources said that the Coordination Committee Chairman, Mr Ashok Gehlot today called a meeting of the DPCC which was attended by Ram Babu Sharma and other senior leaders. The Mayor alleged that the CM wanted to divert the citizens’ mind from the power and water crisis in the Capital through the drive. She wants to send a negative message in public against the Municipal Councillors as this will help her in trifurcating the MCD. She had raised the trifurcating issue earlier but it was suppressed by the Municipal Councillors who opposed the move, he alleged. Meanwhile, MCD bulldozers today demolished 16 properties. Six properties were demolished in Shahdra South, four in Karol Bagh, three in Sadar Paharganj and three in Shahdra North. An official of the Corporation said that today action was taken only against commercial properties. Of them, eight properties were demolished fully, five partly and three properties had been sealed. So far a total 413 properties have been demolished as part of the drive ordered by the Delhi High Court.
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PM to take a ride on Metro’s new line today
He will purchase a token from Rajiv Chowk station and travel to next station at Barakhamba Road before formally inaugurating the Barakhamba-Dwarka line. The inauguration ceremony will take place at Central Park over the Rajiv Chowk station at 9.45 am. Union Urban Development Minister Jaipal Reddy, Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit, state Transport Minister Haroon Yusuf, local MP Ajay Maken, DMRC Chairman Anil Baijal and DMRC Managing Director E Sreedharan will be present at the function. The Barakhamba Road to Dwarka line is the longest of the three Metro lines at present and is expected to be the busiest. It will pass through thickly-populated areas, busy markets and congested roads of West Delhi. The 22.8-km line will open for public from 6.00 am on December 31 and the ride from Connaught Place to Dwarka will take a cool 41 minutes. However, with the opening of the line, Metro rail fares will go up slightly with the minimum continuing to be Rs 6 and the maximum being Rs 22 for distances above 39 km. The new fares will come into effect from December 31. With the commissioning of the Line-3, more than six lakh people are expected to use the three lines daily. The DMRC has also increased the frequency of trains during peak hours to four minutes on Line 1 and Line 2. At present the train frequency on the two lines during peak hours — 8 a.m. to 12.30 p.m. and 4.30 p.m. and 8.30 p.m. on Line 1 and 8 a.m. to 12 noon and 4.30 p.m. and 8.30 p.m. on Line-2 — is five minutes. The frequency for Line-3 will be maintained at five minutes between 8 a.m. to 8.30 p.m.. Once the situation about the exact ridership on the section becomes clear, the timetable and the frequency will be fixed. The new line, costing about Rs 3,000 crore, has been completed in a record time of two-and-half years, after the work started in June 2003. It will be further extended in Dwarka towards the Indira Gandhi International Airport but end at a proposed ISBT site a little short of the airport for now. The Barakhamba-Dwarka line will have a cross-over facility with the Vishwavidyalaya-Central Secretariat line at Connaught Place. The completion of Line 3 would herald the end of DMRC’s Phase I in Delhi. After starting in October 1998, the first section, Shahdara to Tis Hazari, on Line-1 was inaugurated on December 24, 2002, and the entire line between Shahdara and Rithala opened on March 31, 2004. The first section of Line-2, Vishwavidyalaya to Kashmere Gate, was inaugurated on December 19, 2004 while the entire stretch between Vishwavidyalaya and Central Secretariat was opened on July 2 this year.
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Farmers agitated over inadequate power and water supply
Faridabad, December 29 The meeting organised by the ‘Zila Kisan Club’ also interacted with the officials of the Dakshin Haryana Bijli Vitran Nigam (DHBVN), Irrigation Department and the Agricultural office here. The farmers complained that they were not receiving even one-third of the power and water supply promised by the district authorities. They said with the failure of the monsoon this year, the only source of irrigation was the tubewells, which were lying unutilised due to the inadequate and irregular supply of power in the rural areas. A farmer from the nearby Sagarpur village pointed out that the duration of power supply had been reduced to just two to three hours while the government had recently announced that at least five to six hours of continues supply would be ensured to the farmers. Even though the failure of the government to address the issue of power and water supply was mainly responsible for the change of government in the State, the farmers stated that the present Congress government in Haryana had failed to learn the lessons from the last elections. However, the officials said that there was no complacency on their part as they had been supplying what they had been receiving from the source. They admitted that there had been an acute shortage of water and power supply, and the delay in the winter spell of rainfall had been a cause of concern for the farmers. According to a senior official of the Agriculture Department, an unusual delay in water for the wheat crop could adversely affect the overall production and quality of the grain. It is learnt that the overall area of the wheat crop has decreased mainly due to the diversification of the crop pattern. The experts suggest that the farmers were being advised to go for pulses and other crops due to irrigation problems and the dry nature of the land in the region. According to one farmer, nearly 40,000 hectares of land in the district was dependent on canal water for irrigation.
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Preparations for Commonwealth Games on schedule: DDA
New Delhi, December 29 The DDA has identified nearly 30 plots, including over half a dozen near the Games Village, for auction and the process would be completed by March next year, Vice Chairman Dinesh Rai told reporters here today. While two of them would be five star hotels, the rest would be budget hotels, he said, exuding confidence that all construction work for the Games would be completed by the end of 2008. The authority is also expecting to acquire 16.5 hectres of land from Uttar Pradesh Government. “We have completed talks with UP officials and are hoping to acquire the land in the next 10-15 days,” he said. DDA has been entrusted with developing the Games Village and venues for competition and is planning to construct one stadium at Yamuna Sports Complex at a cost of Rs 95 crore and another at Siri Fort Sports Complex at a cost of Rs 100 crore. The total cost of constructing the Games Village was estimated at Rs 955 crore, out of which the Delhi Government would give Rs 293 crore and the rest would be raised through private participation and by the DDA, he said. He said various issues raised with reference to the location of the Games Village being near a railway line have been sorted out and the preparations are proceedings smoothly. The Commonwealth Games Village, spread over a 63.5 hectare area, would provide accommodation to about 7,500 competitors. “The problem of noise level has been resolved to the satisfaction of the Commonwealth Games Federation and they have agreed to our proposal to the site,” Rai said while enumerating the Authority’s performance this year. He said during the year DDA has acquired 2957.75 acres of land and carried out 317 demolition drives, removing 3735 unauthorised structures besides acclaiming 1597.47 acres of land. Through disposal of commercial land, a revenue of Rs 1493 crore has been realised by the DDA, which has also constructed 629 commercial centres, 40 commercial complexes, 135 local shopping centres and 444 commercial shopping centres. To keep a track of status of vacant DDA lands, the authority has also decided to videograph such plots, he said. It has also allotted 3,418 houses this year, 75 per cent of which went to lower and middle income groups, while 13,586 applications under three schemes were pending with the Authority, he said. He said around 1,400 acres of land, 1.62 per cent of the total 70,000 acres land owned by the DDA, have been encroached and efforts are on to clear this land. He admitted that ensuring housing to everyone in the national Capital was not possible as the influx from outside has increased. “We are now going for more public-private partnership for building more dwellings and have constituted a task force to oversee the process,” he added.
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flashback 2005: jawaharlal nehru university as usual Smriti Kak Ramachandran Tribune News Service
New Delhi, December 29 As Dr Manmohan Singh got ready to address the University, having just inaugurated a statue of Jawaharlal Nehru, it became an unusual homecoming. The honorary professor of Economics at the University for the last 30 years, Dr Singh was greeted with black flags and slogans asking him to go back. The administration watched red-faced. And the PM was not alone. Earlier, the president of the JNUSU and a member of the All India Students’ Association, Ms Mona Das, refused to present a bouquet to the President, Dr A. P. J. Abdul Kalam, when he visited the campus because he “has contributed immensely to the country’s nuclear programme”. In sharp contrast was the welcome extended to the President of Venezuela, Mr Hugo Chavez Frias. A rousing ‘Lal Salaam’ (red salute) by the Left brigade was reciprocated by the visiting dignitary with a song celebrating the power of the youth. The red flag continues to fly high in the campus. And with ‘ideological’ talk being the fodder for the soul, it was pack up time for MNCs. Lucrative and prestigious, the Ford Foundation was shown the door, as was Nestle. It doesn’t matter if JNUites make a beeline for corporate jobs once outside the campus, but in the precincts of this University a coffee kiosk run by a MNC can cause a storm. Another issue that set adrenaline pumping was the amendments made to the Gender Sensitisation Committee Against Sexual Harassment (GSCASH). Rejected by the faculty and the students, there was protest against provisions that called for reporting any “sexually deviant” behaviour on the campus. JNU also set an example of involving the University community in giving inputs on qualities the Vice Chancellor should personify. The Search Committee met faculty members to discuss the issue and the University found its perfect VC in Prof. B. B. Bhattacharya. The University, where egalitarianism is more than mere words, is gearing to walk the talk. It has initiated a campaign for seeking shelter for the construction workers on the campus and has also appealed to refrain from engaging children as labourers and domestic help. However, everything is not well when a demand is raised for “a punitive body against caste atrocities” on the JNU campus, which has come to be seen as the bedrock of the country’s think tank. On the academic front, JNU is working out the possibilities of allowing academic exchanges between India and Pakistan, a long-standing demand of intellectuals on both sides of the border. And within the idyllic setting amid the Aravallis, JNU is also attempting to save itself from the onslaught of noise and development at the cost of disturbing the ecology. The DDA and the Airports Authority of India (AAI) have been asked to work out alternate landing route for planes flying over the campus. The consequences of noise pollution on human health as well as that of the wildlife on the campus has become a cause for concern, as have indiscriminate constructions works. Horrified that the green expanse will turn into a yet another concrete jungle, JNU is gearing to protect a landmark, where grey is limited to the colour of matter.
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Noida homes to get piped gas for cooking
Noida, December 29 Of the total investment, the Noida Authority has decided to hold five per cent share, a Noida official said. The authority is expected to provide 16,000 connections in the township in its first stage while in the second phase, it will increase the number by 40,000 and the connections would be more than 90,000 in the third phase, the official said. In the fourth phase, gas connections would cover more than 2 lakhs houses and in the fifth phase the number would be more than 4 lakhs, the official added. While the responsibility of implementing the project has been entrusted to Gujarat based Adani Energy, the appointed company is already providing LPG supply to Ahmedabad and Borada. A supply centre will be built at the green belt area in Sector 16A along with the pipe line provided by the Gas Authority of India Limited (GAIL). “From the main supply centre five lines will be provided to various parts of the city to augment gas supply to houses,” the official said.
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Commercial land price in Gurgaon shoots up
Gurgaon, December 29 The Administrator, Haryana Urban Development Authority, Mr S. P. Gupta informed that though HUDA had reserved a price of Rs 21.7 lakh for a plot measuring 78.7 metre of double storey shop site with basement in Sector 46, it was sold at a price of Rs 1.7 crore. It was an increase of 783 per cent against the reserve price. Likewise, another commercial plot measuring 75.6 metre was sold at Rs 1.47 crore against the reserve price of Rs 18.9 lakh in the same sector, a 777 per cent increase, added Mr Gupta. Mr Gupta said one of the reasons for the unprecedented increase in the price of the commercial land might be due to the result of the ongoing demolition of unauthorized commercial establishments in the national Capital. As a result, the business community may think in terms of doing business activities only in approved areas, added Mr Gupta. A leading property dealer, Mr Manish Verma, said that commercial and residential properties in Gurgaon
is bound to become expensive with increasing interest shown by the MNCs, particularly from the IT sector.
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South Asian maritime history under scanner at JNU
New Delhi, December 29 Interestingly, the project aims at looking at South Asian maritime history in a novel way exploring hitherto neglected social-cultural-economic linkages that evolved over centuries due to European influence in South Asia. The project-director, Professor Madhavan, explains rather enthusiastically: “This project is simply not about history alone, it entails so much more. I would say its more about how maritime links evolved between Asia and Europe over centuries and the impact they made on people’s lives.” Professor Madhavan further explained that “its not just people who got affected, the geography of a place changed due to this influence. For instance, take the case of Mauritius, European influence resulted in sugarcane plantations, which not only flattened the low-lying hills of Mauritius but brought in an entirely new flavour and way of life in the islands, whose imprint can be felt strongly even today.” A major component of the project, ‘The Europe-South Asia Maritime History Project: Teaching Methodologies, Distance Learning and Multimedia Course Materials Development,’ is to create a comprehensive website that will offer research tools and detailed online content that can serve as a distance learning platform. The website shall be devoted to the history and cultural consequences of maritime links between Europe and South Asia. It will include detailed multimedia pictorial time-lines with expert comments and analyses, detailed bibliographical references, abstracts of articles and books, detailed phtoto-archives and audio interviews with scholars and experts. The project also entails developing a series of multi-media coursework materials, including short video films, extensive audio interviews and photo archives that document the cultural consequences of maritime exchanges between South Asia and Europe. The research and shooting of the documentaries, which will rely on inputs of scholars, is expected to take place in South Asia, Indian Ocean region and Europe, while post production will take place in India. “This is really a mammoth task that we are undertaking,” says Prof Madhavan. “It could entail looking into submarine archaeology or documenting the impact of ancient Greek contacts with coastal India or looking into neglected and forgotten French writings in Goa. The scope is massive and you can imagine the employment this project will entail and the research it will produce,” he said. A key meeting and workshop with partner universities to whip the project into shape is expected to be held in March 2006. By early 2007, a full-fledged multi-workshop conference will be held and its proceedings will be published and distributed in concerned departments across Europe and Asia. Participating universities include the University of Leden, Netherlands, University of Dhaka, Bangladesh, University of Leicester, U.K, University of Lisbon in Portugal and the
University of Bretagne Sud in France.
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Murder case solved, four held
New Delhi, December 29 Police said that Puneet, Sunnu and Naveen were gambling and drinking in the area on the said night. Later, they called their friend Sandeep for a joyride in his Maruti car. Thereafter, the four accused started drinking in the car. While driving they noticed a eunuch standing by the road side and decided to hire his services for unnatural sex for Rs 200. Later, the accused gave him Rs 100 and asked him to leave. At this, the eunuch threatened to complain against them to the police. This infuriated the four who picked up a knife from a dhaba in Subhash Nagar and repeatedly stabbed the eunuch. Due to stab wounds, he started bleeding profusely and eventually succumbed to his injuries. The accused also snatched his gold chain and sold it to one Darshan Lal, a jeweller in the Subhash Nagar area. Thereafter, the four accused allegedly dumped the body at a secluded place and changed their clothes. Puneet was given the responsibility of burning the clothes but while he was doing so, his father entered the house and he had douse the flame and hide them. The police claimed to have recovered the half burnt clothes and the knife from their possession.
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New govt housing project entrusted to NBCC
New Delhi, December 29 Giving the details, Finance Minister P Chidambaram said the Union Cabinet has given its approval for re-development of Netaji Nagar and Moti Bagh (East) by providing 49.9 hectres of land to NBCC. As many as 492 houses – 376 Type-VI, 102 Type VII and 14 Type VIII – bungalows will be constructed over the next 31 months at a cost of Rs 265 crore, he said, adding that “no funds will be needed from the government”. The allotment of the land in the project area to NBCC would be free of cost on freehold basis for commercial exploitation to enable them to generate resources to take up the construction of general pool residential accommodation and related facilities. Meanwhile, sources in the Urban Development Ministry said that the proposal was the brainchild of former Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad, who had wanted to end the problems of accommodation of government employees by initiating this massive construction project. The project is also unique in another way, as the NBCC would be generating its own funds from the commercial exploitation of nearly 10 to 15 hectares of the land given by the government for construction of the houses.
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Police claims new leads in Parliament bomb hoax case
New Delhi, December 29 A team of Delhi Police personnel had been sent to Tirunelveli district of Tamil Nadu after an e-mail threatening to blow up the Parliament, the American Embassy in Delhi and its Consulate in Chennai was found to have originated from a cyber cafe there. Several persons, including the proprietors of two Internet cafes in Palayamkottai have been questioned in this connection. The e-mail threat had led to the sudden adjournment of the two houses of Parliament at around 1150 on December 16 and evacuation of the building.
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Beauty clinic ordered to compensate youth
New Delhi, December 29 “The respondent (clinic) is definitely deficient in service and liable for adopting unfair trade practices and causing great agony and harassment to the complainant,” Consumer Disputes Redressal Forum (North-West) President K S Khurana and members S C Jain and Prem Lata observed. The court ordered a full refund of the treatment fee of Rs 15,000 and Rs 20,000 as compensation for the agony and harassment caused to the complainant. Vipul Kumar Verma had dropped in at the clinic, ‘Health Sanctuary’, in Gujrawala Town on December 4 last year to enquire about their hair-removal laser treatment. Seizing the opportunity, the clinic’s manager persuaded the gullible youth to go for the laser treatment and offered him a heavy discount and gift package of Rs 5,000. Verma made a down payment of Rs 20,000 on the spot and agreed to come for the treatment. On the day fixed for the laser session, Verma was surprised to know that the clinic had not even a single qualified person to handle such cases. When brought to the notice of the manager, she referred him to the Safdarjung branch of the clinic on the excuse that the machine was available there now. At the Safdarjung centre, he was sent back repeatedly. Finally, on his third appointment, Verma was taken to a dark and dingy room inside the clinic by a staffer who proceeded to shave his chest, arms and legs with a razor, which left his body covered in cuts and rashes. Moments after his agonising experience, Vipul was told that the laser machine had broken down and his session would have to be postponed. “At this point, complainant had no other alternative but to return with rashes and bleeding from the razor,” the court said. The harassed complainant went straight to the owner of the clinic and demanded a refund which was refused.
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Police on alert after Bangalore terror attack
New Delhi, December 29 According to sources, a brief was faxed by the Ministry of Home Affairs to Delhi Police Commissioner regarding the intelligence input about the possible attack on vital installations and scientific institutions in the city. Acting on the information, the Commissioner, Dr K.K. Paul called a high-level meeting of Joint Commissioners, DCPs and Special CPs to discuss the security scenario in the Capital. Sources said that all DCPs have been directed to be extra alert over the next few days and undertake night patrols. Besides, PCR vans have been deployed at possible targets like Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi. Meanwhile, the authorities at IIT, Delhi claimed that they have also tightened their internal security arrangements and are ready to co-operate with the police to enforce security arrangements.
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Delhi wins award for power reforms
New Delhi, December 29 Delhi’s case study on power sector, entitled “Restructuring of Power Sector and Privatisation of Distribution Business – The Delhi Experience”, was presented by Mr Arun Goyal before a special jury headed by former chief justice of India Mr A M Ahmadi in November 2005. This is the third time that the initiatives of the Delhi Government have been recognized. Earlier in 2002 and 2004, Delhi had won the first prize for implementation of reforms in the power sector. Delhi Power Minister Mr Haroon Yusuf along with Mr Goyal also presented a cheque worth Rs 4.89 lakh to Ms Dikshit for onward transmission to PM’s relief fund. The employees of Delhi Transco Limited have contributed one-day salary as their humble contribution in providing relief to quake victims of J&K.
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Businessman shot at in broad daylight
Gurgaon, December 29 According to reports, the two criminals arrived at the shop on a motorcycle. While one of them entered the shop and shot at Mr Vishnu Gupta, the other was waiting outside on the motorcycle. Both the criminals escaped after the incident. The victim was admitted to Pushpanjali Hospital here in critical condition. Later, the shopkeepers of the area went on strike in protest against the shooting and demanded action against the culprits. Although the police are still verifying the motive behind the attack, the shop owners of the area believe that it is related to extortion. The development is a stark manifestation of the effectiveness of the law enforcing machinery. According to sources, the shop owners have identified some suspects from village Palda. However, no arrest has been made so far. Teams have been constituted and hunt is on to nab the culprits, the police said.
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Chain snatchers arrested after encounter
New Delhi, December 29 Police apprehended the two accused from Sultanpuri area in Northwest district following a tip-off that they would visit the area to commit snatching. Subsequently, a team laid a trap at the said place and spotted two persons on a scooter. The police signaled the duo to stop but the accused allegedly opened fire at the police party. The police managed to overpower them. A countrymade pistol was recovered from their possession. Police said that Jarnail Singh belongs to a family in which most of the family members have criminal background. The other accused Rahul also has more than 18 criminal cases against him.
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Trains cancelled due to fog in North India
New Delhi, December 29 The cold north-westerly winds brought down the minimum temperature to 5.3 degrees Celsius, which was two degrees below normal, Meteorological Department officials said. Delhiites woke up to a misty day with some parts of the city engulfed by shallow fog. However, the weather cleared up as the sun rose. The Runway Visibility Range at Indira Gandhi International Airport was between 700 and 800 meters in the morning and flights operated as per schedule, airport sources said.
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De-addiction help line opens
New Delhi, December 29
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New Delhi, December 29