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Sealing drive: SC declines to
Illegal colony demolished in Gurgaon
Khurana-led mob ‘seals’ MCD Zonal Office
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Cricket fans lathi-charged, several injured
Irfan murder case: All five accused acquitted
Women’s Commission member accused of running flesh trade
‘Disconnect electricity, water supply to sealed units’
Metro’s Dwarka stretch formally inaugurated
Colleges demand streamlining of admission process
NCERT says school textbooks are ready
Magistrate files police case against two doctors
House, office of housing scam mastermind raided
Contractor feigns robbery to try usurp Rs 5 lakh
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Sealing drive: SC declines
New Delhi, March 31 A bench comprising Chief Justice Y K Sabharwal, Mr Justice C K Thakkar and Mr Justice R V Raveendran made the remarks when MCD Counsel Sanjeev Sen sought clarification from the court about whose orders MCD should follow - whether it should obey the Supreme Court’s order or the DDA notification. Mr Sen submitted that the notification has created confusion so far as the sealing process in the national Capital is concerned. Sealing of commercial establishment operating from residential areas in Delhi started on March 29 as per the Supreme Court order. The Urban Development Ministry brought a notification to permit shops and offices on 118 roads just a day prior to it. The court had earlier said that “Sealing will not stop without the permission of this court. Let them bring The court has also said that sealing process will go on notwithstanding any order passed by any court in Delhi. The court had however granted time till June 30 to those who gave an affidavit of undertaking to the MCD by March 28, assuring that they would stop the misuse by that date. Filing of false affidavit shall be treated as perjury and shall also render the person concerned liable for prosecution for the contempt of the apex court. An undertaking was also to be given to the effect that no
father extension would be sought on any ground. A sealing process in relation to those who have filed affidavit was to go on as per schedule. The monitoring committee overseeing the sealing process comprises Bhure Lal and former Election Commission Observer K J Rao. Meanwhile, in a significant development, MCD today passed a resolution to include 229 additional roads in the list of residential areas where commercial activities will be permitted. The roads were identified in a survey conducted in 2001. The resolution passed by the MCD Standing Committee seeks inclusion of the roads in the ‘mixed-land use’ category, a demand strongly raised by the trading community and opposed by Residents’ Welfare Associations. The roads were identified by the MCD last year after the Supreme Court had directed it to prepare a list of roads in residential areas which is above 60 feet wide and has more than 50 per cent of commercialisation. Significantly, the notification issued by the Union Urban Development Ministry earlier this week had allowed commercial activities in 41 out of the 229 roads identified by the civic body. “Since the Central notification empowers the MCD to notify roads, we have decided to notify 229 roads that were identified as per our 2005 survey where mixed land use would be permitted to give reprieve to residents of Delhi,” Leader of the House Jitender Kochar said moving the resolution. However, opposition BJP termed the exercise “politically motivated” and demanded resignation of Chief Minister Ms Sheila Dikshit, Union Minister of State for Urban Development Mr Ajay Maken and Mayor Mr Satbir Singh on charges of “irresponsible behaviour”. “The Supreme Court had given its order on February 16. Why wasn’t this time used to save the people of Delhi from such harassment and misery? Common man still doesn’t know what are the norms for mixed land use and provisions for which essential services are permitted in residential areas,” BJP Councillor Mr Vijender Gupta said. Criticising the Dikshit government and the MCD, he said there was no relevance of passing such a resolution as it was shorn of any legal sanctity. He also questioned the absence of MCD Commissioner Mr A K Nigam during the meeting and flayed the Standing Committee’s decision to cancel a special meeting of the MCD House scheduled for today.
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Illegal colony demolished in Gurgaon
Gurgaon, March 31 The Deputy Commissioner, Mr R. P. Bhardwaj, informed that an illegal colony was being developed on 13 acres of land at the Daultabad-Jhahajgarg road around 10 km away from the city. The developers have carved out residential plots with concrete roads to woo the customers. Two property dealers’ offices were also constructed at the place. The demolition squad led by the District Town Planner (Enforcement), Mr B. B. L. Khaushik, demolished 23 boundary walls, two offices, roads and various DPCs at the illegal colony. The Gurgaon Tehsildar, Mr Kuldeep Singh Dhaka, was appointed the duty magistrate to maintain law and order, informed Mr Bhardwaj. Initially, there was some resentment and protest by certain persons but they soon disappeared after seeing the police force and witnessing the stern action by the administration, informed the officer. Mr Bhardwaj informed ‘The Tribune’ that no illegal colonies would be allowed to develop in the district. The administration had demolished more than 100 farmhouses at the Aravali Hills near Sohna during the past two months. These farmhouses belonged to leading businessmen and politicians of the country but the administration did not succumb to any political or monetary pressure, added the officer. He said the administration recently demolished road networks comprising 23 acres of land, five shops, more than 20 DPCs, four boundary walls, two houses in Garhi Harsaru village on Sadhrana Road. He informed that more than 20 illegal colonies, 250 boundary walls and DPCs, 70 shops and houses had been demolished and 60 acres of land cleared since he took charge here. Hundreds of illegal hoardings were also brought down in the city and from National Highway 8 passing through the city. The officers concerned would be held accountable if these colonies came up again after some time, informed the officer. The administration had launched a publicity campaign in the city to make the lay man aware of the illegal colonies, added Mr Bhardwaj.
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Khurana-led mob ‘seals’ MCD Zonal Office
New Delhi, March 31 Mr Khurana, who earlier courted arrest along with several supporters when they tried to seal the Rajouri Garden MCD Zonal Office, said Delhi was like a ‘temple’ and he could not see it being ruined in this manner. The drive against hapless shopkeepers and poor residents was reminiscent of the conditions prevailing in 1947 in Delhi at the time of partition, he said. Mr Khurana, spearheading a ‘Delhi Bachao’ campaign, asserted that he would go to any extent, and not hesitate to sacrifice his remaining life for Delhi and its people. He said he would begin a fortnight ‘Jan Jagran’ campaign against the MCD drive and if the Centre did not do anything to stop demolition and sealing of shops he would launch an indefinite fast at the Prime Minister’s residence. Mr Khurana said that if the Maharashtra government could issue a ordinance to stop demolitions in Ulhasnagar, why the Union Government could not do so for Delhi. In both the cases, the drives were launched at the behest of the court orders. Those who courted arrest alongwith Mr Khurana included Mr Harsharan Singh Balli, Mr Jagdish Mukhi, Mr Subhash Arya and Mr Subhash Sachdeva, MLA. All of them were however were let off by the police later. Mr Khurana claimed that about 1,500 shopkeepers and others had gheraoed the MCD office at Rajouri Garden to protest against the sealing of shops and other demolitions being carried out by the MCD on court orders. Mr Balli said he would lead a procession to the residences of the judges who had ordered sealings of the shops, and gherao them there. The Delhi Bachao Forum launched by him has also called a two-day bandh on Monday and Tuesday to protest against sealings of shops, he added. While the MCD on it part claimed that negotiations with traders are on, the traders continued their strike for the second day today, with traders’ bodies from over 70 markets having downed their shutters. Acting in response to a 48-hour strike call by scores of trade bodies, shopkeepers in Karol Bagh, Lajpat Nagar, South Extension, Rajouri Garden, Rohini, Pitampura, Paharganj, Jail Road and Patel Nagar closed their shops. The 48-hour strike call by traders expires this evening. Demonstrations and protests by traders against the sealing of shops continued throughout the city for the third day today even as a total of 274 commercial units were sealed. The day saw massive protests by traders in areas like Rajouri Garden, Rohini, Karol Bagh, Pahar Ganj, South Extension, Kashmiri Gate and Lajpat Nagar.
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Cricket fans lathi-charged, several injured
Faridabad, March 31 It is learnt that there were at least half a dozen persons, including a minor girl and an old woman, who were beaten up by the police, despite the fact that they had valid tickets with them. Allegations of black marketing of tickets and passes have been rampant amidst the reports of issuance of VIP and media passes to close kin and friends of the organisers and the officials concerned. Thousands of cricket fans, including those without valid tickets or passes assembled outside the gates of the stadium, making it difficult for the policemen to control the unruly crowd. It is alleged that while many without valid ticket managed to get inside the stadium, those with valid tickets were seen arguing with the police to be allowed inside. It may be pointed out that the authorities had deputed a large number of policemen to man the entry to the stadium. Even as private vehicles were denied access near the entry point, senior officials and persons with influence were allowed entry upto the main gate of the stadium.
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Irfan murder case: All five accused acquitted
New Delhi, March 31 In his 40-page judgement, Additional Sessions Judge Talwant Singh held the prosecution responsible for not being able to establish both the offence of kidnapping and subsequent murder and link the recovery of Maruti car and some personal belongings of the victim with the accused who were alleged members of an auto-snatcher gang. “In a case of circumstantial evidence, each and every circumstance should be proved independently and the chain of circumstances should be complete and the compound effect of the chain should be framed in such a manner that it is only the accused persons who had committed the offence and none else,” said the judge. The court, giving the benefit of doubt, absolved Mustafa Ansari, Sanjay, Heera Singh, Mohammed Jasim, hailing from the national Capital, and Mohammed Shahid, a resident of Bihar, of the charges of kidnapping and murder of Irfan Hussain who was working with the weekly news magazine. As per the prosecution, the five accused, along with a minor who is facing trial in the Juvenile Justice Board, were the members of a gang which was involved in snatching of cars on the national highway in east Delhi. Irfan’s decomposed body was found in a bush near Mayur Vihar alongside the national highway. On the night of March 8, 1999, Hussain, while returning to his Sahibabad residence, was kidnapped and later killed by the accused near the Gazipur traffic light here, the prosecution had alleged. The court held that the case of the prosecution entirely depended on the “circumstantial evidence” and the recoveries of the personal objects of the victim including his car.
According to the prosecution, the police, after arresting the accused in the instant case who were already in judicial custody in connection with another auto-snatching case, allegedly recovered Hussain’s bag, containing a mobile charger, pen and a diary, from the house of one of the accused Sanjay in the presence of a public witness Banwarilal. But in the court, Banwarilal took a complete U-turn by deposing that he did not witness any such recovery and the police obtained his signature on a plain paper. The recovery of another bag of the victim from the possession of two young children Sonu and Monu of the Miraz Pur village of Sonepat, Haryana could not help the prosecution as well, as they had found that bag in a field and did not see any of the accused. The white colour Maruti car of the victim was allegedly recovered on December 8, 1999 from a place which was 50 to 60 yards from a check post, near Ananatnag town in Jammu and Kashmir when the driver, on being asked to stop for the security check, fled after abandoning the vehicle. “This was a highly improbable circumstance that the driver has already passed the check post and drove up to 50-60 yards beyond it and that instead of escaping in the vehicle itself he abandoned it and ran on foot,” observed ASJ Singh rejecting the claim of the prosecution. “The recovery of the car in the case looks like another story directly lifted either from a story book or from screen play of a movie,” said the court. However, the court agreed that there was no doubt regarding the identity of the deceased. While acquitting the accused, the court was of the view that in such cases, where there was neither any eye-witness nor any direct evidence linking the accused with the crime, all separate incidents should be sustainable and complete but that was missing here.
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Women’s Commission member
New Delhi, March 31 Justice R C Jain issued notice to Jain after 14-year old Rukhsar, an orphan who worked as a domestic servant with Yasmin Brar, alleged that she feared a threat to her life from the Women’s Commission Member and the latter’s manager as she refused to enter flesh trade allegedly run by Brar. Yasmin in her petition filed through counsel Jasbir Singh also urged the court to transfer the kidnapping case registered by Chanakyapuri police against another domestic servant Sunita at the alleged instance of Brar to the CBI or the Special Cell of the Delhi Police. Chanakyapuri police had registered a case of kidnapping on March 13 against Sunita, a domestic servant, on a complaint from Jain on behalf of Brar that Rukhsar was kidnapped by the former. However, Ruksar surfaced at the High Court on Friday and filed a petition in the court saying she managed to escape from the “clutches” of Brar who was forcing her into enter the flesh trade. According to Rukhsar, it was Sunita who helped her escape from Brar’s apartment at South Avenue and as such the kidnapping case registered against her was false and motivated. Ruksar alleged in the petition that she was confined to a room at Brar’s place and denied water and food for two-three days at a stretch after she refused to join the flesh trade. However, with the help of Sunita she managed to escape from the place but was now being chased by Brar and the manager to toe their line.
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‘Disconnect electricity, water supply
New Delhi, March 31 The monitoring committee, comprising former advisor to Election Commission K J Rao, chairman of the Environmental Control Authority Bhure Lal and Major General S P Jhingan (Rtd), firmly conveyed that any violation of sealing action, particularly in terms of the breaking of seal, must not be tolerated and stern action should be taken as per the February 16 Supreme Court order. Those who attended yesterday’s meeting of the monitoring committee included the Municipal Commissioner, Additional Commissioners, Deputy Commissioners, Engineer-in-Chief, Town Planner, Chief Law Officer, other senior MCD officials and chief operating officers of NDPL and BSES and Director (Revenue), Delhi Jal Board. The committee impressed upon the officers that the Supreme Court orders must be implemented in terms of the letter and spirit of the court’s direction and there must be well co-ordinated and focussed action. The watchword must be “enforcement” which should not be neglected at any cost. The committee this morning also had a meeting with the Delhi Police Commissioner Dr K K Paul and MCD officials in its office wherein it impressed upon the Commissioner and MCD officials the need to ensure proper co-ordination within the departments to ensure speedy, effective and peaceful sealing action as per the scheduled programme.
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Metro’s Dwarka stretch formally inaugurated
New Delhi, March 31 The Metro services in the Dwarka sub-city were inaugurated by Outer Delhi MP Sajjan Kumar by flagging off the inaugural train on the 6.5 extension. Trains on the Barakhamba Road-Dwarka line, which only ran till the outskirts of Dwarka to date, would now also pass through sectors 14, 13, 12, 11, 10 and 9 in the sub-city, fulfilling the long-cherished dream of the people of a faster mode of transport to reach the centre of the city. Present on the occasion of the inaugural run of the Metro on the stretch were managing director of the DMRC Mr E Shreedharan, Mr Mahabal Misra, MLA and Member DDA, DDA Vice Chairman Dinesh Rai and other senior officers of the DDA and the DMRC. The opening of the 6.5 km stretch will give the inhabitants of one of Delhi’s biggest residential colonies an access to a proper and fast mode of transport to the heart of the Capital. With the starting of the extension, the total length of the Delhi Metro will go upto 62 kms. Speaking on the occasion, Mr Sajjan Kumar, thanking the Union Urban Development Minister Mr Jaipal Reddy, Delhi Government and the DMRC for bringing the Metro to Dwarka, said the operationalisation of the Metro extension to Sector 9 would benefit lakhs of residents of the area who earlier had to travel the long distance to Connaught Place on their own vehicles, negotiating huge traffic jams on the way. A ride from Dwarka Sector 9 to Barakhamba Road is now likely to take just over 50 minutes, much less than the commuting time by a bus, DMRC spokesperson Anuj Dayal said. With the extension of the line, DMRC’s ridership is expected to increase by about 20,000-25,000 a day. A unique feature of the Metro stations in the Dwarka sub-city is that the stations are just 6.7 m high, compared to the 12-12.5 m height on other elevated sections. Initially, the frequency of Metro trains to the sub-city will be every ten minutes. However, as the ridership level rises, the frequency would be increased, the spokesperson said. Mr Sajjan Kumar said the total cost of the section was Rs 479 crore of which the Delhi Development Authority has provided about Rs 320 crore for the construction of the Metro stations — cost of infrastructure, civil, electrical and signalling and telecommunication work — while the cost of the rolling stock, such as trains is being borne by the Delhi Metro Railway Corporation on its own. Mr Kumar said that it was for the first time that the DDA had granted such a huge amount to facilitate smooth travelling by the residents of the area. He said that work was also set to begin on further extension of the Metro beyond Sector 9, to Dwarka Sector 22, towards the international airport. “The DDA is providing Rs 275 crore to the DMRC for the purpose,” he said.
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Colleges demand streamlining of admission process
New Delhi, March 31 Last year the admissions through ECA and sport quota were done through the centralised ICR (Intelligent Character Reader) form. While the University is yet to take a decision in this regard, it has in trying to streamline the admission process, announced that the centralised admission forms have been redesigned to ensure that students face no difficulties in filling the forms. “Earlier they had to fill the numerical codes to indicate their choice of subjects and colleges, but now we have opted for the Optical Mark Reader (OMR) sheet, where they will have to fill in the circle of their choice,” said the Dean, Students’ Welfare, Prof S. K. Vig. Declining to comment on whether the application forms for students applying through quotas will be separate from the centralised form, he said, “we are still in the process of deciding the finer details. The colleges have expressed their concerns and our job is to strike a balance between what the students want and what the colleges’ requirements are”. Referring to the changes in the centralised form, Prof. Vig said, “earlier students did face problems while filling the forms and because each one has a different style of writing, the computer sometimes failed to read the choice correctly. But with the OMR reading, we hope to overcome these glitches”. The form will also allow students more choices vis-à-vis colleges and courses. Unlike the previous years where students could only opt for 10 courses in eight colleges, the new form allows them to opt for any number of colleges and courses. While the changes may certainly make the process of filling out the forms easier, it will, however, not come cheap. Owing to the exhaustive list of colleges and courses in the information booklet, a small hike in the price of the booklet is not ruled out.
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NCERT says school textbooks are ready
New Delhi, March 31 In a statement issued here today, the council said in the first phase new textbooks would be introduced in CBSE affiliated schools in classes I, III, VI, IX and XI. These textbooks would be formally released by Mr Arjun Singh, Minister of Human Resource Development, on April 5. Textbooks which were currently being used in classes II, IV, V, VII, VIII, X and XII would continue to be used. Referring to the new books, the council pointed out the new class III EVS textbook was titled “Looking Around”, signifying the importance of encouraging children to explore and make sense of their natural and social surroundings. “The new language textbooks incorporate workbook material and provide opportunities to relate to India’s multilingual environment. Sensitivity towards the disabled is reflected in different subject areas. Textbooks in the social sciences attempt to provide a dynamic exposure to India’s democratic society and constitutional values with the help of examples drawn from real-life stories, especially from rural areas,” the statement says. It further says, “Following the recommendations of the National Curriculum Framework, a serious attempt has been made in the new textbook series to provide interdisciplinary linkages, with the goal of giving children a chance to understand different topics and issues.”
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Magistrate files police case against two doctors
Noida, March 31 Mr Shamsher Khan, ACJM –I in Gautam Budh Nagar district courts, had complained of a little pain in his chest and gone to a heart hospital in Lajpat Nagar, Delhi. Doctors there diagnosed a heart condition and advised him to go in for a pacemaker. When the pacemaker did not improve things, Mr Khan got himself checked up in a Noida hospital. The doctors here told him he had a very minor problem and did not need a pacemaker at
all. — OC
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House, office of housing scam mastermind raided
Noida, March 31 It may be recalled that UD Keswarwani and his colleague Rajesh Jain were arrested by the Noida police on March 1 and have been behind bars since then. The police claimed to have seized vital documents during the raid. The police have registered two cases in Sector-49 and Sector-39 police stations against Kesarwani. The office and residence of Kesarwani have been sealed. A number of persons involved in the housing scams are understood have gone underground.
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Contractor feigns robbery to try usurp Rs 5 lakh
Noida, March 31 During intense police interrogation, the subcontractor confessed to hatching the scheme. He has been arrested by the Sector 58 police and Rs 5 lakh recovered from
him. Arvind Singhal of Kavi Nagar, Ghaziabad, has a contract for laying Airtel cables in Noida and
Ghaziabad. Pankaj Goel of A-24, Sector 12, Noida, was given a subcontract for this purpose. Arvind had issued a cheque for Rs 5 lakh and given it to Pankaj who, after encashing the cheque from Citizen Bank,
Noida, started for Ghaziabad on his scooter. He informed Arvind that certain people were chasing him. Arvind informed his friends in Noida about it. After some time, as Pankaj’s mobile phone was off, Arvind informed the Kavi Nagar police who flashed a message to the Noida police. The latter reached Pankaj’s house in Sector 12 where Pankaj was present. He told the police that certain criminals atop a motorbike had looted the money from him in Sector 63. He had informed the Sector 58 police about this. During interrogation, however, Pankaj confessed that the plan to usurp the money was thrown up by his friend Joginder Kumar Garg whom he had given Rs 1 lakh. An amount of Rs 4 lakh was deposited by Pankaj in his bank account. The police have arrested both Pankaj and Garg and recovered the money from them.
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