New Delhi, August 8
The Supreme Court today expressed displeasure over the stoppage of work for construction of Rs 180 crore modern slaughter house at Ghazipur in East Delhi and directed the MCD to release within a week Rs five crore to the private contractor so that the work could resume.

The order to this effect was passed by a Bench comprising Justice Ashok Bhan, Justice S B Sinha and Justice A K Mathur after the contractor, Food Process Equipments Company Pvt Ltd complained that there was difficulty in realising the bill from the MCD and it wanted to pull out of the project which could not be completed within the deadline of June 30.

The court was also unhappy with the parties over the dispute on the actual cost of installing the machinery at the slaughter house. While the contractor maintained that the estimated cost of the project of installing the machine imported from Germany and France was Rs 150 crore, the MCD put the cost to Rs 106 crore.

The contractor submitted that out of the total cost of the project, Rs 94 crore was incurred on machinery of which Rs 87 crore has been released by the MCD.

The court asked both Contractor and the MCD to file affidavit and posted the matter for further hearing to September five.

The court last month had pulled up the contractor for failing to meet the June 30 deadline threatening it to pay damages.

On the last hearing, the counsel for the contractor had submitted that the MCD had not placed the final orders and that the design had also not been finalised.

The project became controversial after the MCD and the private contractor made allegations and counter allegations on the issue of payment. 

New Delhi, August 8
A total of 53 Delhi Police personnel died while on duty during the last three years. Family members of 19 had got employment on compassionate grounds.

While 15 police officials died while on duty last year, 18 died in 2004 and 20 in 2003, the Lok Sabha was informed today. Thirty applications were received for appointment on compassionate grounds during this period from dependants of the deceased officials, including an Assistant Commissioner of Police, six sub-inspectors, two assistant sub-inspectors, seven constables and 14 constables, Minister of State for Home S. Reghupathy said in a written reply.

Out of these, 19 had been approved for appointment on compassionate grounds.

Seven applications of the dependants of deceased officials had been rejected by the screening committee in the light of instructions issued by the government, the judgement of the Supreme Court and other relevant factors such as size of families, age of deceased officials at the time of death and age of children, presence of earning members and assets and liabilities of the families. 

New Delhi, August 8
Anticipating a huge rush of commuters on the occasion of Raksha Bandhan tomorrow, the Delhi Metro will operate trains at peak frequency during most of the day.

It was decided at a meeting of Metro officials today that in view of the increased rush experienced on Rakhi day last year the trains would run at peak-hour frequency on all three lines between 8 am and 8.30 pm.

While the trains will operate at a frequency of four minutes on Lines 1 and 2 between Shahdara and Rithala and Delhi University and Central Secretariat between 8 am and 8.30 pm, the peak frequency on Line 3 (Barakhamba-Dwarka) will be of five minutes during this time.

While Metro timings are from 6 am to 10 pm, the trains will run at peak frequency between 8 am and 12 noon and between 4.30 pm and 8.30 pm.

Last year on Raksha Bandhan, there was an increase of 35-40 per cent in the number of passengers.

The number of passengers had increased from a daily average of 2.5 lakh to 3.6 lakh.

Besides this, extra counters would be set up at the stations.

New Delhi, August 8
The bus fare is likely to be increased as the Delhi Cabinet on Monday decided to set up a Fare Fixation Committee that will review the existing fare structure.

The committee, which will be headed by the Principal Secretary (Finance), has been given three months’ time to prepare its report on whether any changes are required in the fares of buses, autos and taxis.

“The committee will analyse the existing fares and study whether there is any need for changes in the present fare structure or how much should be the increase in the fares, if required,” Transport Minister Haroon Yusuf said.

There has been a long-pending demand from the Delhi Transport Corporation (DTC), which runs buses here and has been incurring heavy losses, for a revision of the bus fares.

Gurgaon, August 8
Gurgaon Citizens’ Council (GCC) has filed its objections to the draft proposal of Gurgaon-Manesar Urban Development Plan 2021 raising the issue that the existing population does not get proper power, water, roads, public transport and other basic facilities.

The urban area should be expanded only after the existing areas are provided with all essential infrastructures, suggested the GCC.

In its letter to the Director, Town and Country Planning, Government of Haryana, the Council suggested that the state government’s very next step should be to make up the shortages of basic amenities to satisfy the needs of the existing development. Else, the consequences would certainly be catastrophic leading to utter chaos, impossible to handle in the next couple of years.

Addressing mediapersons, Mr R S Rathee, GCC’s president, said that the immediate priority for the government should be to first ascertain the reasons for the gross shortfalls caused by both the private builders and the government agencies and not fulfilling the obligations.

The Council also advised the simultaneous uplift of the villages whose land has been acquired to build the large number of multiplexes and residential complexes. No concrete development activities have been done for the large number of urbanized villages. These villages badly need roads and sewerage facilities, the basic necessities.

Explaining in detail, Mr Rathee reveals that the present capacity of the Sonepat-Basai Canal is 80 cusecs, whereas just after a couple of years, the requirement of Gurgaon would be 200 cusecs. The present storage capacity at Basai is 40 MGD, while the required capacity at present is 100 MGD.

The government agencies have not planned to meet the requirement, he lamented.

On the power front, the situation deserves immediate attention. The existing supply of electricity to Gurgaon is 366 MVA, whereas the present requirement is 1500 MVA. There is an urgent need to set up 220/66 KV sub-stations for efficient transmission of power in the city. There are at present only two 220 KV sub-stations in Gurgaon, whereas the requirement is for seven such sub-stations. There are at present only twelve 66 KV sub-stations in Gurgaon, whereas the requirement is for 19 such sub-stations, stated the Council.

Stated the example, the Council figures out that the present load in DLF City is 80 MVA, whereas the supply is only 44 MVA.

The Council further stated that several sector main roads have either not been built or are in very poor condition.

Mehrauli-Gurgaon Road is badly clogged mainly because the 9 metres service roads have not been completed. The areas reserved for service roads have been encroached upon by builders. Almost all important roads in the city remain jammed throughout the day.

Sewage lines in builder-licensed areas have not been connected to the HUDA main line with the result that sewage is being pumped out in open areas. Sewage of Palam Vihar, Udyog Vihar, Ambience Island and DLF City Phases II and III are flowing into open drains, mentioned the letter.

There are virtually no storm water drains in new Gurgaon resulting in water-logging, damage to roads and traffic problems, particularly in the raining season, said the president.

He added that there was hardly any system for rainwater harvesting, leading to severe depletion of ground water resources.

A public transport system in Gurgaon is virtually absent. No taxis or auto rickshaws ply in new Gurgaon and the bus service is skeletal. Citizens have to rely on personal transport, which is a very poor reflection on the state of affairs in the city, said Mr Rathee.

Solid waste management, grievance cells in various departments, community and public utility sites such as cultural centres, cremation ground, etc are the need of the hour in the present Gurgaon, added Mr Rathee. Gurgaon district presently has 12 lakh population which is expected to grow up to 37 lakh till 2020.

New Delhi, August 8
To the hundreds of children for whom a proper classroom is a luxury afforded to their privileged counterparts in private schools, the figures that the Municipal Corporation of Delhi quotes as grants earmarked for education mean nothing beyond complex calculations.

Despite high court rulings and widespread concern over the plight of students enrolled in MCD schools, the situation vis-à-vis infrastructure and amenities remains as appalling as ever.

In a recent report tabulated and presented to the commission, the Right to Education Task Force (RETF), an NGO, has brought to light the negligence of the commission in ensuring even the basic minimum facilities to children.

The convener of the NGO, which has in the recent past submitted similar reports based on their visits to MCD schools in the national Capital, Mr Ashok Agarwal, said, “Three MCD primary schools at Nithari village, Kirari village and Prem Nagar Part III in Nangloi bear testimonies to the lack of basic amenities and infrastructure in these schools”.

The report, put together by Mr Agarwal along with advocates Rahul Verma, Manish Bansal and Ranjana Dass, says, “In Nithari village, except students of classes V and nursery, all others sit in the open or in corridors. There is no provision for tubelights. Classes were being held in the open on the ground when the temperature was around 36-37 degree Celsius”.

Non-functional toilet blocks with no provision for water are a feature common to all schools, the report claims.

“In one classroom, one side of an iron gate was being used as blackboard and instead of the sanctioned strength of 65 teachers the school has just 40 teachers inclusive of one Principal,” the report mentions.

In Kirari village, where the school had 3,000 girls and boys on rolls in two separate shifts, the rate of absenteeism stood out. “At the time of the visit, 2,043 students were present in the school, about 900 were absent. Recently, several dilapidated classrooms were demolished and the rubbish is still being removed. Owing to shortage of classrooms, two sections share a single room,” the report cites.

“The Prem Nagar School is an example of sheer apathy of the corporation towards tiny tots. This school is situated just adjoining a cremation ground,” said Mr Agarwal.

With no provision for a toilet block, the RTEF team saw children relieving themselves in the open.

“The school appears to be a refugee camp rather than a school. Even refugee camp may have some basic amenities…unhygienic conditions, no educational activities, the prevailing conditions of the school are responsible for large-scale dropouts and growth of child labour,” Mr Agarwal pointed out.

Claiming that the conditions in all other 1800 municipal schools were more or less similar, the RETF has cautioned that if the quality of education in schools continued to remain the same dropout rates and growth in child labour would be an obvious fallout.

“The Municipal Commissioner has never visited these schools. The municipal authorities are totally insensitive to the educational needs of the children and are not interested in their education. The Delhi High Court has repeatedly passed orders and directions to the government and the municipal authorities to ensure basic amenities in their schools but all in vain,” said Mr Agarwal.

New Delhi, August 8
Standing Committee Chairman Jai Kishan Sharma today directed Municipal Commissioner A. K. Nigam to table a report on the unauthorised constructions going on in Delhi within 15 days.

The Chairman said the court had banned unauthorised constructions. Despite that, they were going on in Delhi in connivance with the officers concerned and private builders. He directed that if any official of the corporation was found involved in unauthorised construction strict action should be taken against him.

Mr Sharma directed the Municipal Commissioner after councillors across the party line raised this issue at a weekly meeting of the Standing Committee held today. Mr Satbir Sharma, who represented the Karol Bagh segment of the corporation, said the councillors were blamed for the unauthorised constructions but in his area it was being done in connivance with the officers of the corporation and the private builders.

Mr Sanjay Puri, Mr Jitender Kochar and BJP councillor Vijender Gupta supported the statement of Mr Satbir Sharma.

New Delhi, August 8
The CBI is investigating the role of three ex-MCD officials, including an executive engineer, who allegedly approved numerous illegal constructions over a period of two years and “avoided” demolition of 15 unauthorised buildings in west Delhi.

The move comes after the Delhi High Court recently ordered an investigation to determine whether the large number of illegal constructions in the Municipal West Zone of MCD was on account of a nexus between the Engineering Department, builders and political bosses during the period between May 9, 2003, and May 31, 2005.

The CBI has now filed a first information report (FIR) in a special court accusing former Executive Engineer with MCD West Zone office Vijay Kadian and two former Assistant Engineers A. P. Sharma and V. K. Jain of allowing 15 builders, made co-accused in the case, to carry out large-scale unauthorised constructions in the area.

“The three accused (ex-MCD officials) abused their official position as public servants and caused pecuniary gains for themselves in respect of illegal constructions carried out by the owners (15 co-accused),” the CBI said in its FIR.

It further alleged that the trio had on August 2004 “dishonestly avoided” the demolition of 15 properties of the co-accused by retaining official files recommending immediate action from higher quarters of the public body.

The accused dishonestly and intentionally retained with them the files approving demolition instead of handing them over to the Officer-in-Charge (Buildings) for execution of demolition orders, the CBI said.

“In pursuance of a criminal conspiracy, they (three ex-MCD staffers) intentionally avoided taking action in respect of these 15 properties though they had specific knowledge,” it added.

All 18 accused, including the former MCD officials, have been variously accused of offences under Section 120-B (criminal conspiracy) and relevant provisions of the Prevention of Corruption Act. 

New Delhi, August 8
The Delhi Urban Development and PWD Minister today observed that pedestrians had difficulty crossing the road at Ashram Chowk and near Rajdoot Hotel. These places needed an overbridge or a subway.

He discussed this issue with the local MLA and directed the PWD to construct a road overbridge at Ashram Chowk and a subway near Rajdoot Hotel. These are key points on Mathura Road.

Besides, he instructed the MCD to develop a beautiful park on an unutilised plot near the fire station adjacent to the Ashram flyover. The park would prove to be beneficial for local residents. He also instructed the PWD to prepare an action plan for the construction of a community centre to cater to the social needs of the residents.

Dr Walia also directed the PWD to beautify the land of Delhi Government on the southern side of the Ashram flyover.

Faridabad, August 8
The 30 per cent hike in the prices of the raw material for the plastic industry has led to a sort of crisis for the units engaged in the manufacture of plastic items. The association of such units here has asked the government to intervene and regulate the price mechanism of the raw material and bail out the units from such hardships. There were over 200 such units in Faridabad.

According to a spokesperson of the Association of Plastic Manufacturers, there had been an increase of about Rs 19 per kg in the rate of raw material in the past about four months and this unusual hike had been coupled with an acute shortage of power supply.

He said a majority of the units here have suffered huge losses due to the problem in raw material procurement and the power cuts in the past about few months.

He said the uneven increase in the prices of material had led to cuts in production and the ancillaries were not able to meet the demand from their mother units.

The situation had turned worse and many units could be forced to shut down their operation if there was no improvement.

However, it is added that the state and union government could adopt some measures to provide an immediate relief to the affected units in the NCR and this could be done by having some control on the supply of raw material.

It is claimed that the ‘helplessness’ shown by the government authorities so far on the issue had been regularly feeding the overgrowing monopolistic tendencies of the raw material suppliers and manufacturers to increase the prices and their own will.

Quoting the hike, it disclosed that the price of the low density resin (LD) of the IPCL had gone up to Rs 84,600 per tonne on August 1 from Rs 65,650 per tonne on March 24.

Admitting that one of the major reasons behind the hike could be the rise in the prices of oil in the international market, but according to the association, the prices of raw material should not be increased on day-to-day basis.

It is suggested that
the hike ought to based on the quarter basis of a year and this will help the manufacturer inform the buyer of its products well in advance.

It is stated that the manufacturing units were not being able to approach the customers for new orders due to high volatility in the raw material prices. It is claimed that only a well-prepared policy could save the plastic industry from the crisis.

The Faridabad Small Industries Association (FSIA) has also supported the demand and appealed to the government to provide the much-needed support to the industry for its survival.

Ghaziabad, August 8
The lover put ‘sindoor’ in the forehead of his beloved as a mark of having accepted her as his wife. Then he shot dead his beloved and later shot himself with the same weapon to join her in the ‘other world’.

This is the saga of two lovers in Vivekananda Colony, Ghaziabad, who had embraced death as “society would not have allowed them to marry and live in peace because they belonged to different castes”.

The police recovered a four-page note in which their castes had been given as the main reason due to which they could not marry and instead they chose death. The police had recovered a bottle of foreign liquor, a local revolver and six cartridges too.

Chander Shekhar had shop Nos 33 and 34, on top of which he had built a living quarter. He had rented out these shops to three young men, Gopal, Chander Bhan Singh Yadav and Harish originally from Kanpur Dehat. All of them were employed in a factory in Bulandshahr industrial area. On Monday at about 5 pm, two gunshots created a commotion in the area.

New Delhi, August 8
The CBI today claimed to have arrested Assistant Sales Tax Officer C. P. Kataria and Value Added Tax Inspector Mohar Singh for allegedly demanding and accepting bribe of Rs 5,000 from a businessman. They were posted in ward number 95 of the Sales Tax Department here.

The businessman lodged a complaint with the CBI against the suspects, alleging that they demanded bribe for enabling him to obtain trader identification number. The VAT inspector was arrested while demanding and accepting the bribe of Rs 5,000 from office of the complainant. Later, another suspect was also arrested. They were produced before a designated court and remanded in 14 days’ judicial custody, a CBI spokesman said.

Faridabad, August 8
The small-time criminals engaged in snatching and loot seem to have become quite active in the city during the past few days. This has forced the police to rethink its strategy to tackle such crimes. Over Rs 1.43 lakh was looted from two incidents in the city during the past 24 hours.

In the incidents, which had been rather unusual, two youths riding a bike fooled a woman sitting in a car near a mall here this morning and snatched a bag containing about Rs 1.43 lakh.

It is reported that a couple had gone to a shopping mall located on the main Mathura Road with two youths following them, who perhaps had some inkling of the cash.

It is learnt that as the man parked the car on the side of the road to get something enquired, the youths as a part of their strategy threw some currency notes near the car and informed the lady that some cash had been lying near the car. The woman, who thought that the money belonged to them started picking them up. As she was doing this, the youths picked up the bag from the car and sped away before anyone could take a note of their motorcycle.

The police have booked a case on a complaint lodged by one Devender Kumar.

In another case, two bike-borne youths snatched Rs 1,000 from the attendant of a petrol pump in Ballabhgarh town this morning.

The accused reportedly fired in air to scare the pump staff and fled away.

In yet another incident, two youths on a mobike snatched a gold chain from a woman identified as Neelam at Tikona Park in the NIT area here this morning.

New Delhi, August 8
Patients with a partial or total loss of limb or those with neuromuscular and musculoskeletal disorders can lead a more active and independent lifestyle, if given proper aids. However, getting such advanced aids today and using them has become a highly skilled activity. It means consulting a professional who has a thorough knowledge and understanding about them. In order to have such professionals in the country, the Indian Spinal Injuries Centre will launch Masters in Prosthetics and Orthotics (MPO) in affiliation with Indraprastha University in September 2006.

The course, the first of its kind in the country, will aim to impart knowledge and skills on technical advancements and promote research in prosthetics and orthotics (the field of rehabilitation which deals with such aids). It is a full-time, two-year regular course for a total of 16 seats.

The teaching faculty will comprise national and international highly experienced and qualified professionals in the field of prosthetics and orthotics.

Orthotics and prosthetics is a specialised healthcare profession, which combines a unique blend of clinical and technical skills. Orthotists and prosthetists evaluate patients and custom design, fabricate and fit orthoses and prostheses. As part of this course, a student exchange programme is also being planned with San Raffaele Hospital, Milan, Italy to expose students to technological developments outside the country.

“Although there are several diploma and bachelor level courses in the country, our aim for starting a higher-level degree course is to create highly skilled professionals in the area. It is high time that India as a country starts producing its own skilled professionals as the devices and appliances that a specialist develops are need-based and depend on the profile of the patient and the physical terrain where he/she moves around.