The Tribune, Chandigarh, India - Delhi and neighbourhood

Registration of polluting three wheelers banned
Faridabad, June 15
In an effort to check pollution in the city, the Transport Department has stopped the registration of new three wheeler auto-rickshaws run on petrol and diesel.

Govt making efforts to spend funds on unemployed
Faridabad, June 15
The government may have been lacking thrust and initiative in the matter of providing employment avenues to a majority of the rural unemployed, but it seems to be using the available funds at various levels.

MCD official suspended for misappropriating funds
New Delhi, June 15
MCD today suspended a Deputy Health Officer for allegedly misappropriating funds meant for purchase of medicines for its employees. The decision to suspend the health official Ved Kanoji was taken at a meeting of the civic body’s Standing Committee.

Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit and MP Sajjan Kumar at a training camp for Congress workers at Bawana in the Capital on Thursday.
— A Tribune photograph

Councillors, residents clash over civic amenities
Gurgaon, June 15
A joint meeting of the elected members of the local Municipal Council and representatives of Federation of Residents Welfare Associations was marred by pandemonium.

Weather may stay cool for a few days
New Delhi, June 15
A heavy duststorm today hit the Capital, uprooting trees at several areas and bringing a sudden coolness in the weather.

Ghaziabad sector rates hiked again
Ghaziabad, June 15
The UP Government has made up its mind to increase the sector rates once more in order to increase the revenue. After a series of meetings and surveys, the sector rates in Ghaziabad have been finally hiked.

Awareness drive against dengue
Gurgaon, June 15
Stung by the experience of dengue cases reported from the urbanised villages of Gurgaon district, the Health Department is all set to tackle the problem, including increasing awareness about the disease.

Transporter held liable for robbery during transit
New Delhi, June 15
A city consumer court has ordered a city-based freight company to pay a fine of Rs 98,708 to a consumer for loss of goods during transit. The court held that the condition of “goods booked at owner’s risk” cannot be an excuse for ‘errant’ transporters.

Export house supervisor murdered
Noida, June 15
A 28-year-old man was stabbed to death when he resisted an attempt to rob him in Noida Sector-6 yesterday. He was rushed to Kailash Hospital in a critical condition where he later declared dead.

Guru Arjan Dev’s martyrdom anniversary today
New Delhi, June 15
Delhi Government has declared a public holiday tomorrow on the occasion of 400th martyrdom anniversary of the fifth Sikh Guru Arjan Dev. All government offices, local and autonomous bodies and public sector undertakings under the state government would remain closed, a spokesman of the Delhi Government said.

IP University counselling dates
New Delhi, June 15
Guru Gobind Singh Indraprastha University has announced its first counselling dates for admissions to its comprehensive BEd, BCA, BPT/BSc (MLT), BOT, B.Pharma, MBA and LLB programmes.

	Demolished structures can’t be rebuilt: MCD Tribune News Service New Delhi, June 15 Clearing the air over unauthorised structures demolished before the coming into force of the Delhi Laws (Special Provisions) Act, 2006, the Municipal Corporation of Delhi today stated that all these structures cannot be re-built. The clarification came in a statement by MCD Commissioner Mr A.K. Nigam in a meeting of the MCD Standing Committee in response to queries by several members on the issue. “Though the Delhi Laws (Special Provisions) Act, 2006 provides for maintaining a status quo vis-a-vis unauthorised structures in Delhi as on January 1, 2006, that does not mean the unauthorised properties that were demolished in course of the demolition drive, prior to the coming into force of the law, can be re-built,” Mr Nigam said. He added that while the new law clearly states that there is no bar on carrying out renovation, painting and other miscellaneous work on a house, action on ongoing demolitions will go on. Earlier, members at the meeting raised the issue of ‘court commissioners’ and MCD officials forbidding people from carrying out renovation work at their houses. Some members alleged that people were not being allowed to carry out work related to cleaning, painting and replacing old walls with new ones. The Municipal Commissioner said that citizens would be informed through various notifications that reconstruction of demolished properties is not allowed. They can only repair the buildings. If any MCD official or engineer demands bribe for repairing, owner of the building must inform the Municipal Commissioner. Strict action will be taken against the guilty official, he assured. The members urged the commissioner to clear the confusion over the issue. Keeping in view sentiments of the members, Standing Committee Chairman Mr Jai Kishen Sharma asked the commissioner to clear the confusion by issuing advertisements in media. Delhi Laws (Special Provisions) Act, 2006 provides for a one-year moratorium on the process of demolition of unauthorised constructions that came up in Delhi prior to January 1, 2006. However, even after the law came into force last month, an element of uncertainty had prevailed over whether the MCD would allow building of demolished structures.
	First phase of DU admission process ends Tribune News Service New Delhi, June 15 With the first phase of the admission process to the Delhi University (DU) coming to an end today, students are now bracing for the second and more difficult part: Waiting for the cut-off lists. More than 1.32 lakh forms have been sold since June 1 for admission to the various undergraduate programmes in the university’s colleges. The first list of cut-off percentage of marks will be out by June 27, while the second list is expected by July 1 followed by the third list on July 5. University officials said more than 91,000 applications for the 43,000 seats available had been received till today. The university claims to have sold more than four thousand applications forms on the last day itself. The centralised pre-admission forms are being accepted in most colleges except St Stephen’s and Jesus and Mary College. The application forms this year had been simplified and students could apply for as many colleges as they desired, unlike last year, when they could only opt for ten colleges and eight courses at a time. This year the university had introduced pre-admission forms in the Optical Magnetic Readers format in which students would have to indicate their choices by darkening circles. After screening the forms they would be sent to respective colleges. Meanwhile, the university has asked all the affiliated colleges to take precautions, including the installation of spy cameras on campuses, to prevent any attempt to rag newcomers. Most colleges have anti-ragging squads to maintain a check, while some like Kirori Mal and Sri Venkateswara have already installed hidden cameras to deter students from ragging freshers. Senior university officials said that though colleges in association with students and faculty members have devised their own mechanism to prevent ragging, stray cases of harassment are reported each year. “There is a Supreme Court directive on ragging being banned on campuses. Colleges have been briefed on what procedure to follow to prevent ragging and also to punish those involved,” said an official. Taking a stern view of the situation, the university and college authorities have asked students to desist from even “the informal interaction”. “Sometimes it is these plain interactions that lead to verbal or physical abuse, which is why we urge senior students to show caution,” the official said.
	Registration of polluting three wheelers banned Bijendra Ahlawat Tribune News Service Faridabad, June 15 In an effort to check pollution in the city, the Transport Department has stopped the registration of new three wheeler auto-rickshaws run on petrol and diesel. The ban, which has come into effect from June 10, is aimed at checking pollution and paving the way for introducing clean fuel- based transport system in the district. It may be pointed out that the city has around 13,770 three wheeler auto rickshaws running on diesel or petrol. The administration has impounded over 400 three wheelers in the past two months in an effort to remove vehicles registered earlier than 15 years. Moreover, at least six CNG pumps have been sanctioned and are likely to start functioning by December end. The District Transport Officer (DTO), Mr Narhari Bangar, told ‘The Tribune’ here today that the department had decided not to register new three wheeler auto rickshaws or such commercial vehicles as these vehicles were one of worst polluters on the city road. However, he said, vehicles running on clean fuel like CNG would be registered. The authorities had launched an active campaign to contain the problems of air pollution and the traffic management in the city, he said. Disclosing that as many as 650 vehicles had been issued challans as part of the drive, he asked the residents to report the movement of vehicles which were registered more than 15 years back. The department also announced that no school bus, which was registered earlier than seven years, could ply on the road. Though several campaigns were being launched from time to time, there was no system in place to check such violations on regular basis as the city lacked proper traffic police network. Meanwhile, even as the authorities issued challans against 350 trucks for overloading in the recent past, a large number of heavy and commercial vehicles had been avoiding the dragnet, as the owners of these vehicles were influential people. It may be pointed out that hundreds of trucks filled with building material pass through National Highway 2 (Mathura road) each morning allegedly without any check or penalty for overloading.
	Govt making efforts to spend funds on unemployed Tribune News Service Faridabad, June 15 The government may have been lacking thrust and initiative in the matter of providing employment avenues to a majority of the rural unemployed, but it seems to be using the available funds at various levels. An amount of about Rs 6.90 crore was spent on work and daily wages for the unemployed during the past financial year. While several hundred persons benefited, the scheme known as Swaran Jayanti Rozgar Yojna (SGRY) was able to generate over seven lakh man (work) days in the district. According to the details provided by the authorities concerned, the government had sanctioned a budget of about Rs 5.69 crore for the current financial year under this head. It had received a little over Rs 2.56 crore so far under the head. While about 75 per cent of the funds were released by the Union Government, of which about 50 per cent of the budget was spent by the gram panchayats, the scheme seems to be mainly meant for those who are uneducated and who can render manual labour. The authorities claim that there were other schemes aimed to help the educated unemployed also but there was no guarantee of any work or employment in the projects meant for the educated. They added there could be a provision for financial subsidy on some projects. While it has been claimed that this rural employment scheme, launched in 2001-02 was unique, the number of beneficiaries may be much below the requirement as the figures available suggest. While the total number of beneficiaries under the SGRY scheme was unknown, the officials claim that it was meant for families living below the poverty line (BPL). It is added that under this scheme the government provides remuneration both in cash and kind as the worker could get a cash amount of Rs 35 and foodgrain worth Rs 55 for daily work, which totals Rs 90 daily. According to provisions, about 50 per cent of the foodgrain and the cash amount were released through the gram panchayat, while the rest 30 and 20 per cent were to be used or spent through the panchayat samiti and the zila parishad, respectively. The authorities were also able to help more than 700 youths for setting up self-employment work in the rural areas during the period. The beneficiaries under this scheme also belong to the BPL category. Reportedly, there has been a growing demand for providing employment schemes to the educated youths who belong to the middle income class or the farmers having a land less than five acres.
	MCD official suspended for misappropriating funds Tribune News Service New Delhi, June 15 MCD today suspended a Deputy Health Officer for allegedly misappropriating funds meant for purchase of medicines for its employees. The decision to suspend the health official Ved Kanoji was taken at a meeting of the civic body’s Standing Committee. “All the irregularities are being investigated by the vigilance department. However, we took the action on the basis of some evidence which shows Kanoji’s involvement in this,” Standing Committee Chairman Mr Jai Kishan Sharma told reporters after the meeting. MCD has a provision of free supply of Ayurvedic medicines to its employees. Kanoji, who was posted at MCD’s Ayurvedic health centre at the Town Hall, was charged with misappropriating funds meant for the purchase of medicines. Kanoji was allegedly submitting false vouchers in the names of employees and getting the money reimbursed, Mr Sharma said. “Kanoji was doing this for last few years. But it came to light after allegations were levelled against him,” he said, adding that there may be few more officials involved in this irregularity. “An inquiry is on. If the inquiry report turns out to be unsatisfactory, we will refer the matter to CBI,” he said. MCD earmarks about Rs 2 crore for the purchase of medicines for its health centres every year. The standing committee members also raised questions over the functioning of maternity health centres run by the MCD. However, Director, Health Administration, Madhu Jain said the centres were functioning well.

	Councillors, residents clash over civic amenities Ravi S. Singh Tribune New Service Gurgaon, June 15 A joint meeting of the elected members of the local Municipal Council and representatives of Federation of Residents Welfare Associations (FORWA) was marred by pandemonium. The meeting was convened today by the Deputy Commissioner to take stock of the problems in various areas of the city. The FORWA members flayed HUDA for its “apathy” towards the civic needs of the residents and its functioning in the residential sectors. The councillors were also critical of the role of HUDA in the sectors under its jurisdiction. At the same time, the municipal councillors accused FORWA members of having ‘vested interests’ in airing grievances before the district administration. Among the councillors present on the occasion included the chairman and vice-chairman of the Municipal Council. The elected members accused HUDA of keeping them in the dark about the steps taken to solve the problems of the residents. It may be pointed out that while the Municipal Council is responsible only for areas comprising of old Gurgaon city, HUDA has jurisdiction over most of the city area. The councillors alleged that most of the problems fell under the jurisdiction of HUDA, on which they have no direct control. The administration asked the participants to form committees in order to solve the problems of their areas.
	Weather may stay cool for a few days New Delhi, June 15 A heavy duststorm today hit the Capital, uprooting trees at several areas and bringing a sudden coolness in the weather. The duststorm, blowing at a speed of nearly 50 km per hour, brought down the mercury by nearly four degrees. The ferocity of the storm towards the evening resulted in several traffic snags. In some areas, windowpanes of houses and motor vehicles were also reported to be damaged. A cloud of dust and haze has enveloped the Delhi skyline for the last few days, bringing about a fall in maximum temperature. Weathermen have also forecast a partly cloudy sky and further duststorms and thunderstorms during the next 24 hours. Some showers have also been forecast for later this evening and tomorrow. — TNS
	Ghaziabad sector rates hiked again Ghaziabad, June 15 The UP Government has made up its mind to increase the sector rates once more in order to increase the revenue. After a series of meetings and surveys, the sector rates in Ghaziabad have been finally hiked. The sector rates of villages of integrated hi-tech city and Sahibabad areas have hiked between 20 to 75 per cent. The exercise for this was underway for the past four months. According to Assistant Commissioner, Stamps, Vijay Dev Sharma, the sector rates have been hiked this time on the basis of increase in market rates of property. According to analysts, there has been a constant hike in property rates in Ghaziabad and Gautam Budh Nagar as a result of Delhiites investing here. — OC
	Awareness drive against dengue Tribune News Service Gurgaon, June 15 Stung by the experience of dengue cases reported from the urbanised villages of Gurgaon district, the Health Department is all set to tackle the problem, including increasing awareness about the disease. Also, the authorities have chosen all kinds of water-borne diseases for the awareness campaign. The dangerous jaundice (Hepatitis) is also in focus following the reported death cases from the disease last year in Ambala. The department has organised workshop of the members of the Panchayat so that the awareness campaign could be effectively undertaken in the rural areas. According to the Chief Medical Officer(CMO) in Gurgaon, Mr D.V.Saharan, the department has already organized the workshop of elected members of Gurgaon revenue block. Similar workshops will be organised at all block headquarters, the last in the series being slated for June 30. It may be pointed out that there were a total of 105 dengue cases reported in this district. According to Dr Saharan, it is a matter of worry that a number of cases were reported from the urbanised villages. According to Dr Saharan, two teams in separate vehicles, roll out every morning to spread awareness about the killer disease in the district He highlighted the importance of the awareness drive to prevent the breeding of the mosquitoes and reporting such cases at the earliest for medical attention.
	Transporter held liable for robbery during transit Tribune News Service New Delhi, June 15 A city consumer court has ordered a city-based freight company to pay a fine of Rs 98,708 to a consumer for loss of goods during transit. The court held that the condition of “goods booked at owner’s risk” cannot be an excuse for ‘errant’ transporters. The State Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission rejected the contention of the Delhi-based transporter, Shri Giri Raj Freight Carriers Private Ltd (SGRFCPL), that it had no liability towards the consignor as the goods, booked at owner’s risk, were robbed during the transit. Moreover, this event was beyond its control. “The transporter, who receives consignment, is supposed to and expected to be aware of the apprehension of robbery or theft on the way particularly in the area where the law and order situation is bad,” said the Commission Bench presided over by Justice J.D.Kapoor and Member Rumnita Mittal. “...in no way it can escape from the liability of compensating consumer as to the loss or injury suffered by him due to its negligence,” said the Bench, rejecting the transporter’s appeal, filed against the order of a District Consumer Forum, which had asked it to indemnify the loss. The Commission said that damages occurring due to natural reasons would have saved them from indemnifying the consignors, not events like theft and robbery. As per the complaint of Shyam Lal Banke Behari, a trading company, it had booked a consignment worth Rs 1.78 lakh with the transporting company.
	Export house supervisor murdered Our Correspondent Noida, June 15 A 28-year-old man was stabbed to death when he resisted an attempt to rob him in Noida Sector-6 yesterday. He was rushed to Kailash Hospital in a critical condition where he later declared dead. According to information, the victim Manoj was working as a supervisor in Sahu Exports in D-56 Sector-7, Noida. He was accosted by two persons, identified as Gaurav and Rohit near Sector-6, while he was returning home at 10. pm in Barula. When Manoj resisted an attempt to rob him, he was stabbed. One of the assailants, Rohit, who was nabbed by the people, was beaten up and later handed over to Sector-20 police. Based on the tip-off provided by him, the police have arrested Gaurav from his home in Trilok Puri, New Delhi.