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Power situation remains stable, for now
Faridabad mini-secretariat underutilised
Court rejects CBI closure report on graft case
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Hoax bomb threats a pointer to what can be
RWAs seek CBI probe
into power privatisation
Another year without BA books in DU
Councillor’s murder case: SI turns hostile
Court summons BSES official
Notices to L-G, police
chief on encroachment
Haryana launches family insurance scheme
MCD dismisses 9 Assistant Engineers
Official held for demanding bribe
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Power situation remains stable, for now
New Delhi, July 14 The resumption of power generation at the Salal Hydel Plant and the Rihand Power Plant had enabled increase in supply of 130 MW power for Delhi. In the last few days, Delhi has not been getting its share of 60 MW from the Salal-Hydal power plant because of the plant being affected with silt. Apart from this, supply of 70 MW from the 500 MW Rihand Power Plant has also been suspended because of boiler tube leakage. The last week has witnessed a normalisation of the power situation in Delhi, which had, during the previous week witnessed severe shortages in power supply due to the peak demand touching the 3900 MW mark. The situation was compounded by the shutdown of the 300 MW Badarpur power plant and the Nathpa Jhakri power plant. However, the monsoon rains somewhat eased the situation by bringing down the power demand by as much as 400 MW. Meanwhile, Delhi Power Minister Haroon Yusuf today announced that a site had been selected in Chhattisgarh for setting up a Rs 10,000-crore power plant to meet the energy requirements ahead of the Commonwealth Games to be held in the national Capital in 2010. “The MoU with the Chhattisgarh government will be signed next month as we want the power plant to be completed by 2009 or latest by early 2010 to meet the power requirements at the time of the Commonwealth Games to be held at Delhi,” Delhi Power Minister Haroon Yusuf told reporters in Raipur today. After visiting various places yesterday, Delhi Government officials zeroed in on Nawagarh area of Janjgir-Champa district to build the plant, Mr Yusuf told a press conference. “We need 2500 acres in that area to set up the 2,000 MW power plant with an investment of Rs 10,000 crore,” he said adding that 30 per cent of the investment will be borne by the Delhi Government and the rest raised through equity. It has been estimated that Delhi’s power demand will be around 5,000 MW by 2010, and the Nawagarh power plant will help meet this requirement, Mr Yusuf said. To a question, he said Delhi had decided to set up the plant in Chhattisgarh because of rich coal deposits, and it would be cheaper to transmit power from here to Delhi than to transport coal and set up a power plant in the national Capital. |
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Faridabad mini-secretariat underutilised
Faridabad, July 14 The government came up with the plan to construct mini-secretariats at every district headquarters and even certain subdivisional towns in Haryana just to ensure that important offices of the district administration were under one roof for the benefit of both the administration and the public. “This had not gone down well with many departments, which prefer to operate from independent offices, thus rendering the concept unclear and ineffective,” said an official, requesting anonymity. The mini-secretariat building here has two wings, each six story high, besides a huge basement. It currently houses the offices of the Deputy Commissioner, the Additional Deputy Commissioner, the Senior Superintendent of Police, the Social Welfare Department, the District Development and Panchayat Officer (DDPO), the District Revenue Officer, the SDM, the Tehsildar (Revenue and Elections), the District Public Relations Officer (DPRO) and the City Magistrate, besides some other offices. Many offices, including District Transport Office (DTO), Food and Supply, Red Cross, Irrigation, PWD, Public Health, HUDA, Excise and Taxation, Sales tax, Pollution Control, Education and the state Treasury, however continue to operate from their own premises. It is reported that a handsome amount was spent on developing special facilities for setting up the office of the Treasury here but the office has yet to be shifted for unknown reasons. “The offices scattered outside could also be adjusted at one place for the convenience of the people; I fail to understand why this has not been done,” said a visitor to the place who was obliged to commute between different offices of the state government for some related work. It is another thing that despite housing hundreds of employees and officials, the mini-secretariat here doesn’t even have a proper canteen. “A majority of the officers go home for lunch, which can stretch up to two hours,” said an employee. Moreover, the toilets meant for the staff on certain floors remain locked while the public ones are unusable due to absence of a cleaning staff, as reported earlier. Neither does the building have a generator. |
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Court rejects CBI closure report on graft case
New Delhi, July 14 Ordering the agency to conduct a fresh investigation of the case registered under the Prevention of Corruption Act, Special Judge Vinod Goel said the Investigating Officer had overlooked evidence pointing to the fact that accused had abused his position as a public servant by accepting the bribe. “The motive was apparent on the part of the accused to extract illegal gratification from the complainant, and he thus prima facie abused his position as a public servant by corrupt and illegal means by obtaining the bribe of Rs 100,” the court observed, dismissing the closure report. Surinder Kumar Joshi was allegedly caught red-handed by Anti-Corruption Branch of CBI on February 14, 1990 while taking a bribe of Rs 100 from complainant Rajeev Kapoor. Earlier, Kapoor, a customs clearing agent, had requested the accused, then a Cargo Superintendent at Indira Gandhi International Airport, for allotment of space for a consignment, prosecution said. Joshi, in turn, demanded Rs 500 as “payment” for the service, but later brought his price down to Rs 100 as, unknown to the complainant, Joshi heard from inside sources that a space had already been allotted for the consignment by one of his colleagues. “The accused prima facie took advantage of the situation by not communicating the fact of allotment to the complainant,” the court said. Further, the court dismissed the CBI version in the report. |
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Hoax bomb threats a pointer to what can be
New Delhi, July 14 Extensive searches were carried out at PVR Plaza theatre in the busy Connaught Place market and Akshardham Temple complex in East Delhi after police received anonymous phone calls about bombs being planted at these places. Bomb disposal squads and sniffer dogs were rushed to both the places after receiving the calls in the wee hours, but no explosive substance was found. Police also conducted random searches at various places, including bus stations and markets, amid a high alert in the Capital following the serial bomb blasts in trains in Mumbai on Tuesday. Security was tightened at vital installations, places of worship, monuments, markets, railway, bus and Metro stations across the Capital in the wake of the terror attacks. Senior police officials yesterday held a special meeting to review the overall security situation in the Capital and to fine tune the system put in place to avert a Mumbai-like terror attack here. There are, however, still many chinks in the armour. Despite an increase in police presence in public places like railway stations, Metro stations and markets, a cross-section of citizens feel that security agencies are no match for professionally-trained terrorists determined to carry out attacks. According to a visitor to the North Block, security is lax even right at the doorstep of the Ministry of Home Affairs. “I went to visit someone in the Finance Ministry on Wednesday, the day after the Mumbai blasts, and parked my vehicle in the parking lot after a perfunctory check. On returning, I discovered that someone had deflated a tyre. There were a number of armed guards around but none of them had a clue. If this is the situation in such a place, the Capital is a sitting duck for terrorists,” he said, requesting anonymity. Meanwhile, security around the German embassy here has been tightened after it reportedly received a threat from Al-Qaida to carry out attacks, informed sources said. The Embassy officials informed the police that it had received an e-mail from its mission in Dhaka about the threat. |
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RWAs seek CBI probe
into power privatisation
New Delhi, July 14 At the annual all-Delhi RWA Convention, association representatives claimed that although there was enough electricity to meet the demands of the city, there were malpractices on the supply side. Most of the representatives expressed anguish at the privatisation of power supply introduced in the Capital since 2002. This, they said, had put a heavy financial burden on the people owing to faulty meters, inflated bills and tariff hike. “The privatisation of power is a criminal breach of trust Delhiites have put in the government. There is no transparency in the functioning of discoms. There should be a CBI inquiry into the reforms process,” said Capt. A K Mahindra, president, Vasant Kunj RWA, a sentiment echoed by several other participants. Addressing the convention, Leader of Opposition in Delhi Assembly Jagdish Mukhi supported the RWAs’ demand for a review of the working of the discoms. RSP MP Abani Roy said the power reforms had led to a private monopoly in power supply. “People are being exploited. Privatisation has not benefited anyone but the private companies themselves. The new meters that have been installed fulfill their demands and not yours,” Mr Mukhi said. Congress MLA S C Vats, who headed a Public Accounts Committee review of the power reforms, said privatisation of electricity supply in Delhi had not been done in the right manner. |
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Another year without BA books in DU
New Delhi, July 14 Most teachers in the university have been left to their own devises to teach the new BA programme. And in the absence of relevant teaching material for the last two years, the process, they claim, is cumbersome. “There are topics like popular culture, which is so open-ended, how do you define it and who will teach it. These are just some of the problems that the teachers have been facing,” complained T N Ojha who teaches in Maharaja Agrasen College. In the absence of textbooks and relevant reading material, students and their teachers have to rely on the available literature, which is inadequate, claim teachers. “Prior to framing the syllabus, there should have been widespread consultations with teachers; there should have been an assessment on how equipped the libraries are and whether the teachers are ready to teach topics like Indian Art and Social Inquiry,” said Mr Ojha. “Students of the Hindi medium are worst hit and despite the Delhi High Court’s recent order to have the books ready, there seems little possibility that books will reach the stores during this session,” said a senior professor in the Hindi Department. The course content of the new programme has also become a bone of contention. “The syllabus is not relevant, it was prepared in haste. There is no clarity when you look at the foundation as well as the application courses,” said Aditya N Mishra, a former DUTA president who also teaches political science. Faculty members are peeved that of the 25 application courses, not even one has relevant textbooks. “The whole process of writing and publication has been a tardy one. Even if the material is ready for some subjects, the publication work is yet to begin,” a faculty member commented. Some faculty members also pointed out that with the new courses like globalisation and social inquiry not well defined, there is often a clash over who will teach the subject. “Globalisation, for example, cannot be taught by one person. It requires inputs from history, political science and sociology. There are four classes and one tutorial marked for the subject in a week, how will the teachers then schedule their lectures so that each one gets enough time to cover their portions,” questioned some faculty members. |
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Councillor’s murder case: SI turns hostile
New Delhi, July 14 “I do not remember whether I stated in my statement that Sharda Jain came to the spot along with Atma Ram and one driver,” Sub-Inspector Sukaram Pal told a Fast Track court of Additional Sessions Judge Bharat Parashar. The witness also denied his earlier statements, including the one that Jain’s brother Raj Kumar was present on the spot where the victim was killed. “I do not remember whether I had stated that Raj Kumar, brother of Sharda Jain, was also present at the spot where Atma Ram was killed,” Pal said in the court. On being confronted by defence counsel Ashutosh Bharadwaj, the witness denied his statement made on September 6, 2002 that a gold ring was found on the body of the deceased. He also denied that he had previously stated that accused Roshan Singh had visited Jain in her house and hatched the conspiracy to murder Atma Ram and later demanded money from her. As per the prosecution, the prime accused Sharda Jain, then a Congress councillor, came in contact with Gupta following her induction into politics by him. But as the Congress gained control of the MCD, Trinagar councillor Atma Ram Gupta allegedly developed closeness with another councillor Memwati Barwala, which was not liked by Jain, they said. |
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Court summons BSES official
New Delhi, July 14 “Office of the CEO, BSES has not taken direction of this court sincerely which resulted into non service of the summons and hence, the Legal Manager of the company and the Station House Officer (SHO) of the New Ashok Nagar police station are directed to appear before this court to explain the things,” said the Special Metropolitan Magistrate Sanjay Sharma. Assistant Engineer Mohan Singh and Junior Engineer Parag Gupta, employees of erstwhile Delhi Vidyut Board who are now working with the BSES, failed to appear as prosecution witnesses before the court second time in a row despite receiving summons. The court ordered that the copy of the order be served to the Secretary of the Power Ministry, Commissioner of Police and all the directors of the Reliance Energy Limited for proper compliance of its directions in future. As per the case, the officials of the DVB, on July 18, 2002, had raided the premises of one Sri Pal Singh alias Gopal Chaudhary in New Ashok Nagar area of east Delhi and found that an illegal electrical connection was existing. A case alleging theft was lodged against the accused. However, the matter is stuck up at the recording of evidence stage for nearly four years. |
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Notices to L-G, police
chief on encroachment
New Delhi, July 14 A division bench headed by acting Chief Justice Vijender Jain and Justice Kailash Gambhir asked the respondents to file their replies by October 31. The PIL filed by Bhrastachar Virodhi Sangathan alleged that Rao, who was provided with accommodation above the sub-station in Golf Links areas, had encroached on the public park and was using it as private property. It is alleged that Rao was renting out the public park to the people to hold functions, marriages and parties for a payment. “As a result of this, the music is on till late night with DJs,” said the petition filed by Counsel Manjit Singh Ahluwalia. The notices are also issued to Rao, Chief Fire Officer and Director, Horticulture of NDMC. |
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Haryana launches family insurance scheme
Faridabad, July 14 According to details made available by the officials concerned, the scheme will be implemented by the Social Welfare Department, with the SDM being the nodal officer for it. It is stated that in case of death or total disability of a person in an accident, the government will pay an amount of Rs 1 lakh to the kin of the deceased or the victim. The loss of two limbs or both eyes or one limb and one eye make the victim eligible for a compensation of Rs 50,000. An amount of Rs 25,000 will be paid to the beneficiary in case the physical loss is limited to one limb or one eye in the mishap. The compensation will be released within 72 hours of the recommendation made by the SDM in case of the death of the victim. The beneficiary should be a resident of the state with a ration card and name in the voters’ list. |
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MCD dismisses 9 Assistant Engineers
New Delhi, July 14 The dismissal follows detailed inquiries conducted into various cases of unauthorised constructions, it said. The Commissioner “was of the considered view that the concerned officials had committed gross misconduct on account of their failure to stop the unauthorised construction in the properties in question,” it said. The MCD said the failure of the officials to stop the illegal constructions from coming up clearly indicated their connivance with subordinate officials and owners or builders. It added that the dismissal of service will be a disqualification for future employment. |
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Official held for demanding bribe
New Delhi, July 14 According to the Anti Corruption Branch of the Delhi Police, Rajender had demanded the money from Jagdish as illegal gratification by threatening to cancel his depot license. |
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