New Delhi, March 2
Where there was a red carpet and warm handshakes for the US President George W. Bush, there was a sea of red flags, caps, banners and angry chants against him in Parliament and elsewhere in the Capital today.

Even as the Indo-US talks got underway in the sanitised Hyderabad House, hundreds of slogan-shouting Left and Samajwadi Party workers rallied at the Ramlila Grounds to protest against the Bush visit.

A large number of MPs, including those from parties supporting the UPA government, came wearing red caps to Parliament. The Left, the Samajwadi Party and the TDP forced adjournment of both Houses of Parliament over the Bush visit. Proceedings in the Andhra Pradesh Assembly too were stalled because of protests there.

Truckloads of cheering Left and Samajwadi Party workers, students and others descended from nearby states at the Ramlila Ground, which turned into a sea of red flags, caps and banners.

“Mass Murderer, Bush, War Monger, Go Back, Go Back”, they shouted.

The parties have been accusing Mr Bush of war crimes and of meddling in the affairs of other countries. They have been opposing American policies in Iraq, Afghanistan, Iran and elsewhere in the world.

Protests by organisations, including the ‘Azadi Bachao Andolan’, the red and black flag waving crowds, security restrictions in force on Mr Bush’s routes, made life difficult for the man on the street. A large section of citizens took the underground Metro route to reach schools and offices. Metro stations were teeming with unusual crowds. Security personnel posted there grappled with the rush while long queues were seen at ticket windows.

Meanwhile, the Lok Sabha was adjourned till 2.00 p.m. and the Rajya Sabha till noon soon after the two Houses assembled, as the Left, the Samajwadi Party and the TDP disrupted proceedings. Shouting slogans, the members described Mr Bush’s visit as an “affront to the nation and to Parliament” which they said had already adopted a resolution condemning the American attack on Iraq and its continued occupation of that country.

A large number of Members of Parliament from the four Left parties, the SP, the DMK and the JD (S) also held an hour-long sit-in protest at the Parliament. They flayed Prime Minister Manmohan Singh for breaking protocol to receive the US President at the airport.

New Delhi, March 2
With the busy schedule of the US President and his wife Laura Bush leading to huge traffic jams in several areas of the Capital, the common man seems to be “in a tizzy”.

Several children missed their schools, those appearing for the class XII CBSE examinations reached their centres late while office goers had a tough time reaching their workplaces as the traffic in the Capital came to a standstill with major roads like those leading to the India Gate, Connaught Place, Ring Road and Rajghat either closed to the general traffic or having extremely slow movement.

It did not help that there were protest rallies by the Left parties and the Samajwadi party at the Ramlila ground as well as at Jantar Mantar.

With the traffic police having issued an advisory asking the general public to avoid the routes passing through India Gate, Connaught Place and the Ramlila grounds between 10 am and 4 pm today, several people did not send their children to schools in anticipation of traffic jams.

Consequently, buses ferrying children to schools, specially located in the Central Delhi areas as well as those in Noida ran empty.

Among the school students who did venture out, a majority were those appearing for the CBSE exams, most of whom had a tough time reaching their examination centres despite setting out earlier than usual.

In view of the expected traffic bottlenecks today, the CBSE had provided for allowing entry to those coming late for the exams.

According to Mahendra Kumar, a doctor by profession, “I left for office early from my house in Mayur Vihar Phase III. Usually it takes me just about 35 minutes to reach office but thanks to the several traffic jams on the route to Connaught Place, I reached office well after 11.30 a.m.”

Another commuter Rakesh Jha said, “I had to reach my office at Kasturba Gandhi Marg in Connaught Place via Lodhi Road as the entry to India Gate and Mandi House had been closed by the traffic police.”

The only people who were perhaps unaffected by all this “chaos” were those falling on the route of the Delhi Metro like those living in north Delhi and west Delhi areas. The Metro travellers too had their share of problems as in the absence of the any other means for commuting, most of the people on non-Metro routes took recourse to the Metro to avoid traffic jams, resulting in huge crowds thronging the Metro trains. Consequently, all Metro trains on the Dwarka-Barakhamba Road route as well as those on the Central Secretariat route ran overcrowded.

New Delhi, March 2
A little before the Air Force One landed and the ceremonial red carpet was laid out to welcome the US President George Bush on Wednesday, a group of students at JNU, protesting against the visit, set fire to the visiting President’s effigy.

The mood at the Jawaharlal Nehru University’s Ganga dhaba was fiery as students affiliated to the Left-backed organisations sang songs of dissent and burnt the effigy of the US President to demonstrate their disapproval of his policies.

Hundreds of students have been a part of the “anti-Bush programme” that got underway in the university last week. From public meetings to colourful but inciting posters, from concerts to night vigils, students have been actively campaigning against Bush who they see as “the face of imperialism”.

“India and Israel are acting as stooges of the United States. All round the world, Bush and his anti-people policies are being slammed,” said a student from the School of International Studies.

Apart from the students and the faculty, the campus is playing host to a number of anti-Bush activists, including Booker Prize winner Arundhati Roy.

The internationally acclaimed author was part of the ‘night vigil’ organised by the students here last evening. “We will continue with our protest and it is heartening to see so many students joining us. We are expecting about 300- 400 students to join the protest that begins at Ramlila Maidan tomorrow,” said the President of the JNUSU and a member of the CPI (ML)-backed AISA’s Mona Das. 

New Delhi, March 2
A Delhi court today sent Narayan Diwakar, former Registrar of Co-operative Societies (RCS), who is an accused in the Rs 4,000 Co-operative Group Housing Societies (CGHS) scam, to five-day CBI-custody.

Special Judge S K Kaushik also sent co-accused RCS officials Ram Nath and Faiz Mohammed to CBI custody till March 7 in the Sri Shiv Puri CGHS revival case.

The court said that the investigative agency would be at liberty to obtain the specimen signatures of the accused during custody.

The three were produced from judicial custody today in response to production warrants issued by the court on February 28.

It is alleged that the accused fraudulently revived the CGHS in question after it had received winding up orders in 1989 in connivance with Gokul Chand Aggarwal, Sri Chand and the then Assistant RCS Man Singh. 

New Delhi, March 2
M/s Pioneer Publicity Corporation and Ms Pallavi Advertising continue to flout orders of the Railway authorities as the two have refused to remove the electronic display hoardings at seven points in the Capital which pose serious threat to traffic.

Two letters dated November 14, and 25 2005, signed by Senior Divisional Commercial Manager of Northern Railway, directed the companies to “remove these displays immediately”.

Sources said that these two agencies were given permission to put up hoardings at those very sites from where the Supreme Court had directed the civic and Railway authorities to remove the hoardings in 1997.

In direct violation of the Supreme Court directives, Railway officials found an ingenious way to circumvent the highest court by sanctioning putting up of hoardings at sensitive traffic junctions.

This time, Railways gave permission to M/s Pioneer and M/s Pallavi without even inviting tenders and the two were told to put electronic displays on ‘unipoles’ at Defence Colony, Sewa Nagar, Pragati Maidan, Pandav Nagar and Okhla, sources pointed out.

In reality, the electronic display are nothing else but normal hoardings and the term ‘unipole’ was being used to prepare a defence in case the courts take notice of it, experts pointed out.

Sources said that letters for removal of these displays were sent as the pressure from Traffic Police and MCD was mounting up on the Railways and the intent of the letters was not to get the hoardings removed.

“How come that these displays have not been removed till date despite several notices,” an official said on condition of anonymity, and added that “Railways has its own police force for getting its orders implemented”.

Hazard to traffic or to the public seems not to cause concern to Railway officials as a case of derailment of EMU train on January 4 this year at New Delhi railway station reveals. Nobody has been held responsible for the derailment which is said to have occurred as a coach had got entangled in a heavy parcel of rubber.

The Railway’s Chief Security Officer, who carried out a probe into the incident, requested the Divisional Railway Manager to “place the parcel clerk, parcel porters and shift in-charge under suspension and transfer overall in-charge of Parcel Office of New Delhi station out of Delhi Area”.

This has yet to happen so far since the personnel in question are said to enjoy support of their superior officials. 

Gurgaon, March 2
After a long wait, the district administration has finally cracked the whip against those who have illegally constructed basements in their shops and other unauthorised structures within the city’s municipal limits.

On the directive of the Deputy Commissioner, Mr R. P. Bhardwaj, the Municipal Council has issued about 100 notices to those who have set up unauthorised basements and illegal structures in its jurisdictional limits.

Although such structures are all over the municipal limits, they are more conspicuous in some of the old city areas, including the main market, Sadar Bazar. According to one estimate there are about 50 shops having basements which dot the old city area.

The municipality had conducted a survey of such illegal construction about three months back. What rankles the public is the delay in taking action against them. The officials of the civic body, however, attribute the delay to the time consumed in completing the spadework before initiating action.

Recently, the district administration had come to the conclusion that besides these structures coming up in blatant violation of law, they were an eyesore in its drive to beautify the city. Also, they act as a hindrance to the smooth flow of traffic.

There is another angle to the authorities plunging into action now. For the past few months, the administration has come down hard on illegal constructions in Lal Dora areas of the villages, most of which have virtually become part of the urban estate of Gurgaon city.

There was heartburn in some quarters that the authorities were going soft on the illegal structures in the main city area.

Although the municipality has initiated action on the goading of the administration, the move does not inspire confidence among the general public. The reason is the bitter experience in the past.

The general impression is that these illegal structures have come up over the years in collusion with the officials and elected members of the municipality. With the value of land appreciating in leaps and bounds in Gurgaon, the rush of such illegal structures have only intensified with the passage of time.

The municipality has initiated preliminary action against illegal structures umpteen number of times, but on no occasion has its final action been comprehensive. 

Noida, March 2
The masterminds of group housing fraud, U. D. Kesarwani, and his accomplice Rajesh Jain, have been nabbed by the Noida police. The two are accused of misappropriation of crores of rupees from the allottees of flats in Kesar Gardens in Sector 48 and Gulmohar Apartments in Sector 44 here.

SSP Piyush Mordia said Uma Dhar Kesarwani, resident of B-481, Sarita Vihar, New Delhi, and Rajesh Jain, resident of Janak Park, New Delhi, had built Kesar Garden Apartments in Sector 44 and Gulmohar Apartments in Sector 48 in Noida by getting plots allotted from the Noida Authority in the name of a group housing society, Mandeshri Sehkari Avas Samiti.

The two cheats had recovered the full price of the plots from allottees of the flats but never deposited it with the Noida Authority. In January this year, the Noida Authority had sent a notice to the flat owners to deposit the balance cost of plots – almost Rs 10 crore. The shocked plot owners then contacted U. D. Kesarwani, Rajesh Jain, SK Mishra, AK Singh etc.

On January 29, a case for cheating and misappropriation was registered against Kesarwani, Rajesh Jain, SK Mishra and AK Singh at the Sector 49 police station. Satish Kumar Pandya, a victim of the fraud and a resident of Gulmohar Apartments, filed a case at the Sector 39 police station on February 2 this year.

Meanwhile, the accused had obtained a stay from the Delhi High Court against arrest by the Sector 49 police. They further tried for a stay against arrest by the Sector 39 police, but the court did not give them any relief.

The police arrested Kesarwani and Rajesh Jain from Sarita Vihar. At the Sector 39 police station, hundreds of angry apartment allottees from Gulmohar Apartments and Kesar Garden gheraoed the two accused. The police had to put them in the lockup for safety. Chief Judicial Magistrate Sarvash Cand Pandya remanded the accused in judicial custody.

Noida, March 2
Stone crushing has once again resumed in the Yamuna bed after payment of service tax, despite the fact that a case for damage to public property has been filed in the matter.

According to sources, those involved in stone crushing have paid hush money to concerned officers to resume their illegal activity. Stone crushing in the Yamuna bed has always meant a big financial benefit for the officials concerned.

In practical terms, it has meant sizeable hush money for the officials. The irrigation department had filed an FIR against 18 stone crushing firms, but the situation has not changed even a little bit.

The irrigation department’s executive engineer Rajiv Yadav said in spite of a number of FIRs having been filed by different departments, the police have not taken any action against the stone crushers.

While SSP Piyush Mordia said he was not aware of the illegal stone crushing having been resumed, District Magistrate Santosh Yadav said action would be taken afresh against those indulging in it. He said officials would also be punished if their guilt was proved in a probe.

New Delhi, March 2
The South Africans are here. Sorry, it’s got nothing to do with cricket. They are here for business. Their aim is to make us pick up our bags and fly to a plethora of exotic destinations in their country. South African Tourism held the second leg of its multi-city road show in New Delhi yesterday after an immensely successful inaugural session in Mumbai.

The multi-city road show, consisting of trade workshops, got kicked off in Mumbai on February 27. From New Delhi, the road show will now travel to Bangalore on March 3.

The promising response to the workshop held last year in Goa has prompted South African Tourism once again to exhibit the region’s immense potential as an upmarket tourist destination across India.

The delegation from South Africa comprises more than 40 senior representatives of the South African travel and hotel industry. The South African delegation is participating in the road show to further explore opportunities of increasing tourist traffic from India to the region. South African Tourism plans to interact with more than 1,200 representatives from the travel and tour industry during the three-city road show.

Commenting on the potential for tourism between the two countries, Mr Lance Littlefield, Country Head-India, South African Tourism, said, “India today exhibits exponential growth for visitor traffic into South Africa. From surveys conducted, the target segments most likely to holiday in South Africa are experienced family explorers, young urban Indians, and corporates travelling for meetings, conventions and incentives. South Africa can cater to the vacation needs of urban Indians by offering a world class, multi-faceted destination experience with exotic desert safaris, a swinging nightlife and state-of-art infrastructure”.

Mr Littlefield added, “The three-city road show is aimed at providing an impetus to the existing operators promoting South Africa and encouraging potential entities to tap the opportunities, thereby expanding the operators’ base”.

The programme included presentations by Mr Littlefield, followed by direct interface sessions with leaders of the local travel community aimed at furthering and developing new ties and alliances. In addition, several consumer promotions and marketing initiatives have been spearheaded in key urban centres across the country to support this endeavour.

In 2004, the total outbound traffic from India was 36,172. “The road show is part of an overall strategy aimed at increasing visibility and enhanced understanding of the many different facets of South Africa,” said Mr Littlefield.

South African Tourism markets South Africa’s scenic beauty, diverse wildlife, kaleidoscope of cultures and heritages, the great outdoors, sport and adventure opportunities, eco-tourism and conference facilities.

India and South Africa share a close bond that lends itself well to the first-hand, personal experience. Given the already strong ties between the two countries, and the steady rise in the number of visitors, South African Tourism sees India as a potential growth market.

Greater Noida, March 2
Thieves decamped with cash, jewellery and a car from the house of a Samajwadi Party leader in Alfa sector of Greater Noida yesterday after breaking the locks.

Robbers are reported to have taken away Rs 53,000 in cash, jewellery and a Maruti car during the daytime theft.

The family of Yogesh Nagar, district secretary of the Samajwadi Party, had gone to a temple. When they returned after two hours, the padlock on the gate was broken and the house had been ransacked. Even the Maruti car parked outside the house had also been taken away.

After Yogesh Nagar informed the Kasna police station, the police inspected the site and started investigations.

In another incident, a house in Nai Abadi, Dadri, was broken in to and robbers decamped with cash and jewellery. The thieves are reported to have stolen goods worth lakhs from this house.

Allauddin Anshu is a teacher in Public Inter-College and lives in Nai Abadi, Dadri. He had gone to Rewari after locking his house on Tuesday. On his return yesterday, he found the house ransacked and Rs 35,000 in cash, jewellery and valuables worth lakhs missing. Over 500 gm silver, a TV set, silver and copper utensils were also found missing. The Dadri police are investigating the matter.

New Delhi, March 2
It is shocking indeed that a person comes to a party in a reputed restaurant, fires at a girl, and escapes unchallenged even though there are more than 200 people are present there at the time. What is even more shocking is that the police fail to get a conviction against the accused in court.

One of the reasons being cited for that is the failure of the prosecution to produce credible eyewitnesses to the murder. Instead of calling upon a senior police official allegedly attending the party, the prosecution produced low-profile eyewitnesses like an electrician, Shiv Dass, who claimed that he was not even present at the spot and was harassed by the police to become an eyewitness.

There were around 90 eyewitnesses, including chauffeurs, bar tenders, watchmen etc. who turned hostile. Moreover, empty shells of bullets were produced in the CFSL laboratory without producing the weapon of offence.

“The Delhi Police investigating team goofed up the case. How can a person join a party of 200 persons, fire at the bar tender and no one notices him doing that act,” says D.B. Goswami, a senior advocate of the Supreme Court.

This is surely not the only case where corruption has prevailed upon justice, but the public outrage due to media coverage may yet lead to a retrial.

According to senior advocates there is, however, no provision of retrial in the CrPC. Retrial took place for the first time in the Best Bakery case. If retrial takes place, the eyewitnesses would be the same.