New Delhi, November 7
Agitated mobs of traders once again took to the streets today to protest against the resumption of the sealing drive, leading to clashes with the police at several places during the 24-hour bandh called by them.

The police resorted to lathi-charge and burst teargas shells at the busy Vikas Marg in East Delhi after protestors went on a rampage, pelting stones at security personnel, setting garbage bins on fire and generally creating a nuisance in the busy commercial area.

Besides damaging over half-a-dozen city buses, angry crowds broke the windowpanes of a police vehicle which was transporting some protestors detained at Mayur Vihar.

Reports of stray incidents of stone pelting and disruption of traffic were also reported from Mandawali, Patpar Ganj and Pandav Nagar areas of East Delhi. The police claimed that in all these cases the police personnel moved in promptly and brought the situation under control with minimum of force.

Violent incidents were also reported from Rohini, Paharganj and Green Park areas but the situation was brought under control by law enforcement personnel who dispersed the crowds.

The police said that over 1,000 people, including some known miscreants, were detained as a precautionary measure even as paramilitary forces patrolled sensitive areas in the Capital.

Traders from South Delhi markets led by a number of political leaders, including Jitender Kochar of Congress, BJP’s Vijay Goel and former Chief Minister Madanlal Khurana gheraoed the MCD office in Green Park and shouted slogans against MCD officials and Delhi Government. The protestors, including the leaders, were later detained by the police and the area was cleared.

Sources claimed that the entire force of 55,000-odd police personnel in the Capital and more than 2,000 armed paramilitary personnel were out on the streets in view of the bandh that was, ironically, backed by both the ruling Congress and the Opposition BJP.

All schools in the Capital were closed in view of the bandh.

A similar agitation on September 20 witnessed violence in Seelampur area of Northeast Delhi that resulted in the death of five persons. The last day of the three-day bandh called by traders from October 30 also saw large-scale violence.

While most of the markets in the Capital were closed today, shopping arcades in NDMC areas such as Connaught Place and Khan Market remained open. The drive to seal illegal commercial establishments in the Capital will resume from tomorrow, two days after the Supreme Court (SC) rapped the government for not restarting the operation. Refusing to grant any relief to the nearly 44,000 traders, the Supreme Court, in its stinging order yesterday, had chided the government, observing that “The government is not powerless to control the (law and order) situation. Nor can anyone be permitted to place a dagger on the neck of the authorities.” 

New Delhi, November 7
Delhi Assembly today witnessed high drama with the ruling Congress seeking expulsion of all the BJP members present in the House without any provocation.

As soon as the House proceedings began for the day, BJP members while shouting slogans against the government for its failure to stop the sealing sought resignation of the Chief Minister, Ms Sheila Dikshit, on the matter.

“The Chief Minister has no moral right to stay in the power as she has failed to save the city,” said the opposition as BJP MLA Vijay Jolly trooped into the well and tore the business agenda.

However, all the BJP MLAs were forced to leave from the House after the Education Minister Mr Arvinder Singh Lovely moved a resolution seeking their expulsion for “having failed to maintain the decorum in the assembly.”

This led to the commotion in the House with BJP legislators accusing the Congress of “throttling” democracy even as marshals virtually running after them to evict them from the House as ordered by Speaker Chaudhary Prem Singh.

Later outside the House, opposition leader Mr Jagdish Mukhi while expressing his shock at his party members’ expulsion accused the government of throttling the voice of the democracy. —PTI

New Delhi, November 7
Describing the situation in the Capital as ‘serious’ in the wake of the decision to resume the sealing drive from tomorrow, Delhi Chief Minister Ms Sheila Dikshit today demanded a rehabilitation plan for the traders ‘hit’ by the action.

“My message for the people of Delhi will be: Please be calm because the situation is serious. But if any kind of untoward incident takes place then it spoils the atmosphere further,” Ms Dikshit said when asked to react to the Supreme Court-appointed monitoring committee’s decision to resume the drive.

She said the Centre, Delhi Government as well as the MCD have “done the maximum” they could to provide relief to the affected traders.

The Chief Minister, during a discussion on the matter in the Assembly, demanded a rehabilitation package from DDA and MCD for the traders affected by the sealing.

In another development, MCD councillors today decided to meet Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to seek his intervention in the matter. This was decided in an all-party meeting called by the Mayor at Town Hall to discuss the sealing issue. He said they would submit a memorandum to the Prime Minister demanding a Constitutional amendment to provide relief to the traders from sealing.

With sealing of unauthorised business establishments in the Capital set to resume from tomorrow, the traders of Delhi, who enforced a bandh today, said they will be out on the streets again to protest against the drive and asked the Centre to bring an ordinance to stop the action. “We have asked the traders to strongly resist sealing as the business establishments are the only source of earning for us,” said Mr Praveen Khandelwal, general secretary of the Confederation of All India Traders (CAIT).

He, however, claimed that the protests would be peaceful.

“Traders will assemble on the streets in thousands to resist the sealing drive. Let the people see how non-violent traders will be treated by the police,” he said.

Mr Khandelwal demanded that the government should immediately bring an Ordinance to stop the sealing drive.

Meanwhile, there were differences among the traders on whether the markets will be kept open or remain closed tomorrow. While Mr Khandelwal said all markets in Delhi would remain open, traders in South Delhi said they would keep the shutters down. “The markets in South Delhi, including Greater Kailash-I and II and Green Park, will remain closed. We will immediately break the seals if our shops are sealed by the MCD team,” said Mr Arun Gupta, member of GK-I traders’ association.

New Delhi, November 7
As institutions of higher learning are gearing up to meet the reservation requirements aimed at supporting students from the marginalised sections, the University Grants Commission wants them to go a step further and delve into issues of social exclusion and discrimination.

The Commission has approved the establishment of Centres in Universities and Deemed Universities for study of social exclusion and inclusive policy.

Pointing out that “social exclusion not only generates tension, violence and disruption but also perpetuates inequality and deprivation in society”, the Commission wants the “nature, extent and forms of exclusion” to be studied for theoretical and policy purposes.

Explaining the rationale behind the setting up of these centres, the Commission offers, “institutions of higher learning need to address this issue. The primary space where ‘exclusion’ can be studied, understood, and first transcended, are our universities, which can and must act as a beacon for society”.

The UGC will support research on the issue of social exclusion related to Dalits, tribals and religious minorities.

The centres will be aimed at “conceptualising discrimination, exclusion and inclusion based on caste or ethnicity and religion; developing understanding of the nature and dynamics of discrimination and exclusion; contextualising and problematising discrimination, exclusion and inclusion;” apart from “developing an understanding of discrimination at an empirical level, formulating policies for protecting the rights of these groups and eradicating the problem of exclusion and discrimination”.

These centres will be engaged teaching courses at the M.A. and M.Phil and in social exclusion studies, undertake M.Phil and Ph.D. supervision; collecting information on social exclusion and building up a data base; and carry out detailed analysis based on the socio-economic data generated by government agencies.

The centres will also regularly publish the research findings of the faculty and students; organise public lectures on the subject by eminent scholars and organise short-term orientation courses for political leaders, parliamentarians, government officials, trade unionists and media.

New Delhi, November 7
The Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) has incurred revenue losses of Rs 6 crore, as 17 parking contractors have failed to pay the contract money.

Legal action is being taken against the 17 parking contractors for blatant contractual violation till March 2006, while three of them have been blacklisted, it was revealed in the Delhi Assembly on Monday. There are 129 regular and legal parking lots in the municipal area, out of which 22 lots were being operated by the MCD staffs.

New Delhi, November 7
Yet another patient succumbed to dengue today at AIIMS, taking the death toll in the Capital to 59, even as the total number of dengue cases rose to 2,950 during the past 24 hours, officials said today.

Seven-year-old Ravi Kumar, a resident of Saidullah area, died yesterday at the institute. The officials said of the total number of cases reported during the past 24 hours, some 1,808 were from Delhi alone.

In AIIMS, two fresh cases were admitted and 15 patients were discharged in the past 24 hours. The total number of dengue patients undergoing treatment in the hospital now stands at 84, the Medical Superintendent of AIIMS said.

The Health Minister of Delhi, Mr Yoganand Shastri, during a meeting held to review the dengue situation in the Capital, instructed both the Municipal Corporation of Delhi and the NDMC to intensify fogging operations.

“Vehicles mounting fogging machines will now make extra rounds to cover maximum areas,” he said.

Dr Shastri also asked the health department and the two civic bodies to work in close co-ordination.

So far, the Central Zone with 315 dengue cases, Shahdara (North) with 280 cases and Shahdara (South) with 201 cases are the worst-affected areas in Delhi.

New Delhi, November 7
The Delhi assembly today unanimously passed a Bill for increasing the salary of MLAs, ministers and the Chief Minister.

The Bill was introduced by the Chief Minister, Ms Sheila Dikshit, and was approved by the ruling Congress MLAs in the House in the absence of the BJP members who have been suspended from the House for the next seven days after a resolution was passed against them by the Education Minister Mr Arvinder Singh Lovely.

Among other important Bills that were passed by the House included Delhi Tibbia College (Take over) Amendment Bill and Delhi Cooperative Societies (Amendment) Bill.

With the passage of the Ministers’ and MLAs salary and Allowances Bill, the Chief Minister will draw a salary of Rs 39,000 against Rs 27,000 earlier, the ministers will get Rs 37,000 per month against Rs 24,000 at present.

The MLAs will get Rs 34,000 per month, more than double their present pay of Rs 16,500.

Apart from the Question Hour during which MLAs sought answers from the ministers on various issues, under Rule 280 MLAs Baljor Singh, Veer Singh Dhingan, A Dayanand Chandila, Ramesh Lamba and Suresh Kumar raised the problems concerning to their constituencies. — PTI

New Delhi, November 7
Films highlighting various environmental issues were screened during a film festival at the India International Centre (IIC) that concluded on Sunday night in the Capital.

Several films and documentaries on various issues, including the declining population of migratory birds frequenting a sanctuary in Tamil Nadu, impact of global warming on the world’s largest mangrove forests, Sunderbans, organic farming in Thailand, the impact of genetically modified cotton in Andhra Pradesh etc, were showcased at the festival entitled ‘Quotes from the Earth: Making environment everybody’s concern’. —TNS

New Delhi, November 7
Police today claimed to have unearthed two factories in North-East Delhi manufacturing fake ceiling fans and tobacco products of popular brands and arrested two persons in this connection.

Following a tip-off, the police conducted search operations at a unit in New Seelampur locality yesterday and allegedly seized 13,500 wrappers, over 1,000 tins of tobacco brands like Rana Chhap Jafrani Patti Company. — OC

Gurgaon, November 7
The Chief Minister, Mr Bhupinder Singh Hooda, today said although entire Haryana falls in highly sensitive ‘Seismic Zone’, vulnerable to earthquakes, more than half of the districts are more sensitive in the state.

Mr Hooda, while inaugurating a state-level sensitization programme on “Earthquake Risk Management” organised by Haryana Institute of Public Administration (HIPA) in its complex here, identified Gurgaon, Rewari, Rohtak, Sonipat, Narnaul, Jhajhar, Panipat, Ambala, Yamunanagar, Panchkula, Kurukshetra and Karnal as being more sensitive.

The Chief Minister said that among all the natural disasters, earthquake is very dicey as its occurrence cannot be predicted. It occurs and leaves destruction and debris in its wake in just a few minutes. Although one cannot prevent its occurrence, follow-up measures like relief and rehabilitation and the overall response mechanism must be sharpened to face any exigencies, he added. To this effect, he said, mass awareness on the issue was of utmost importance.

He also stressed effective municipal bylaws to ensure earthquake-resistant buildings.

The one-day programme, presided over by the Speaker of the Haryana Vidhan Sabha, Dr Raghivir Singh Kadiyan, was attended by several MLAs and senior officers of various departments.

Speaking on the occasion, the Chief Secretary of Haryana, Mr Prem Prashant, said that the government was getting a Bill formulated by the Haryana Assembly for enacting Disaster Management Act. It would cover any kind of natural disaster in the state.

According to him, the Bill has penal provisions for those not complying with the rules as well as several provisions to make community and administrative response effective to a possible disaster.

He said that two battalions of Haryana Armoured Police (HAP) are being trained exclusively to deal with a possible calamity. The force would be under the rubric ‘Quick Reaction Force’. The Bill will have a proposal for setting up a Disaster Management Force. The government was contemplating setting up a centralised fire brigade services. Besides, the Ministry of Disaster Management in Haryana has received a proposal for providing two choppers as a stand-by arrangement.

According to him, there would be a Disaster Management Authority both at state and district level to coordinate rehabilitation and relief works at the time of possible crisis.

The Minister of Revenue and Disaster Management, Capt. Ajay Yadav, said that already there is a Cabinet Sub Committee headed by the Chief Minister.

A member of National Disaster Management Authority, Lt. General (retd) said on the occasion that his organisation also has in reserve two trained battalions, stationed at Chandigarh and Noida.

The National Disaster Management Authority would provide the services of the force to Haryana, if needed. He also made out a strong case for mass education on disaster management so that suitable collective response came out at the time of a tragedy.

Noida, November 7
The Kranti Kari Mannuvadi Morcha has lashed out at the reported statement of various leaders like the Congress Chief Minister of Jammu and Kashmir, Ghulam Nabi Azad, Mufti Mohammed Syed, Mahbooba Syed, Prof Gilani and former Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Farouk Abdullah on Mohd Afzal Guru. The leaders have reportedly advocated leniency to Afzal Guru who has been sentenced to death by the Supreme Court.

“Now the acquittal of terrorists who had attacked Raghunath Mandir in Jammu in which a number of devotees had been killed is also full of dangerous portents for the country’s unity, law and order and morale of our people,” said Mr R.K. Bhardwaj of the Kranti Kari Mannuvadi Morcha.

Featuring of Prof. Gilani by a prominent TV channel as an expert on Kashmir issues is like rubbing salt on our wounds. All that such people deserve is a hangman’s noose, Mr Bhardwaj said.

The Kranti Kari Morcha has called for the dismissal of Gulam Nabi Azad. “But Congress president Sonia Gandhi is perhaps also having a soft corner for all such people and is protecting people like Mr Azad, he said.

Noida, November 7
Noida Development Authority in its 138 Board meeting today has decided to offer 25 acres of land each to nine leading bidders for setting up Special Economic Zones in IT sector in Sectors 143 and 144, Noida.

The nine companies shortlisted out of 20 total bidders are: Tata Consultancy Services Ltd, Hindustan Dorr-Oliver Ltd, IVRCL Infrastructures & Project Ltd, Unitech Hi-Tech Project Pvt. Ltd, Logix Techno Park, DLF Commercial Developers Ltd, Prakash Industries Ltd, Aachman Vanijya Pvt. Ltd, Century Avenues Pvt. Ltd

The Dy CEO of Noida Authority said each bidder should have a net worth of Rs 100 crore and should have handled project of Rs 5 crore in the past.

He said though Ansal Group had also qualified, they could not be allotted 25 acres due to paucity of land. Rates approved for IT sectors will be applicable in this case also.

Other specifications as approved by the Government of India for IT sectors will apply here.

In another decision, the Board decided that 20% extra land could be allowed to corner plots where some extra land has to be adjusted. If the extra land is more than 20 per cent, it will be developed as a green belt.

A proposal for allotting land in Sectors 15, 16, 17 and 18 for a group housing society to the members of Parliament was not approved by the Board. This proposal is being sent to the state government for its approval. Allotment of five-acre land to Metro Rail Ltd for a staff colony has also been put on hold by the Board, said the Dy CEO, Noida Authority.

Gurgaon, November 7
There appears to be some respite for those who are running commercial activities in residential areas in the state, including those areas falling in the National Capital Region (NCR).

The Chief Secretary of Haryana said a high-powered committee set up by the Haryana government, in the wake of Punjab and Haryana High Court’s directive for stopping all commercial activities in residential areas, has submitted a report recommending exemption of some services like consultancy in the field of medical health, law, etc.

The committee has listed about 16 such services. In effect, the acceptance of the recommendations would mean that the premises from where such activities were carried out would not be sealed.

He was, however, quick to add that the recommendations are yet to be considered by the government.

When probed further, he hinted that there was nothing wrong in accepting the recommendations with regard to those services and activities which do not act as nuisance for persons living in the neighbourhood.

As regards policing, he said that the Haryana government has already sent a proposal of Rs 177 crore to the Centre for modernising the police force in the state. Regarding the shortage of police manpower in Gurgaon, he said that efforts towards corrective measures were on.

He also said that the Chief Minister had also taken up the issue with the Centre for a better coordination between Gurgaon and Delhi police. The reason being that in a good number of cases, criminals commit crime in Delhi and cross over to Gurgaon or vice versa. With regard to haphazard growth of Gurgaon and encroachments, he simply said that the government was aware of the problems.

New Delhi, November 7
A Delhi court today sentenced two men working in the Regional Transport Office (RTO), Loni, Ghaziabad to six months’ rigorous imprisonment for demanding and receiving Rs 100 bribe each for providing a learner’s driving licence, 11 years ago.

Special Judge Sunil Gaur held Om Prakash, 43, and Ajab Singh, 40, guilty of receiving a bribe of Rs 100 each to give learner’s driving licence to one Ramkishan, the complainant in this case.

The court further slapped a fine of Rs 1,000 each on the convicted persons.

Also, the court ordered legal proceedings against Ramkishan for trying to help Ajab Singh by saying he was not involved in taking the bribe amount even though the CFSL report confirmed the money was handed over to the convicted persons.

“The convicts do not deserve any leniency even if the bribe amount is very low. There is rampant corruption going on in society and to curb this evil, deterrent punishment should be given,” the judge said in his order. —PTI

Faridabad, November 7
Metro Heart Institute, Faridabad, has started free heart and asthma OPD at civil hospital at Palwal town in the district.

The facility was formally inaugurated by the OSD to the Chief Minister, Haryana, Dr K.V.Singh recently.

According to Dr S.S Bansal, Director, Metro Heart Institute, the OPD had been started after an understanding with the government under the Public-Private Partnership scheme.

He said Dr Neeraj Jain, cardiologist, would be available for check-up and consultation at civil hospital, Palwal, on every Wednesday from 11 am to 2 pm, while respiratory physician Dr Sushil Upadhyay would provide his services to asthma patients on Friday at the same time. Besides the expert opinion, the important investigations like the ECG and Echo-2D colour Doppler test would be done at no cost these days.

It may be recalled that the state government had already approved this institute for treatment of the state government employees, pensioners and their dependents. It is claimed that the new facility would be beneficial to the people living below the poverty line or who could not afford high charges available at private hospitals.

The institute has declared that subsidised rates would be charged from the patients of lower socio-economic strata. —TNS

Greater Noida, November 7
A young man has appealed to the Addl District Magistrate GB Nagar to save him from his wife who, he alleged, had not only deprived him of his land and jewellery worth Rs 12 lakh but also got a false case registered against him under the Dowry Act. Consequently, he was sent to jail for four months.

The woman is reported to have already sent her two former husbands to jail in false dowry cases.

Krishan Dutt Sharma of Larpara, recently released from jail after four months, has filed a plea before Addl DM Rajesh Kumar Yadav that his wife had not only got his land transferred to her name but had taken away jewellery worth Rs 2.25 lakh.

She had hardly stayed in his house after the marriage. After six days of marriage, she had gone back to her parents’ house on some pretext.

Now this case is listed for November 15 in the ADM’s courts, it is learnt.

Krishan Dutt Sharma was married to Kavita (assumed name) of Alpha Sector in Greater Noida on May 11, 2006. Kavita is reported to have extracted Rs 1 lakh from her husband before even the marriage. Within five days, she got his land and property transferred to her name. Six days after the registry of all this property, she went back to her parents’ house.

When Krishan Dutt went to bring her back after 10 days, she said her mother was ill and persuaded him also to stay there.

It has been alleged in the application that Kavita used to dine in hotels along with her friends and relatives and her husband was made to pay the bill. This way a big chunk of Rs 12 lakh of land compensation was reportedly squandered in about a fortnight.

Fed up with this lavish expenditure, Krishan Dutt told his wife that they should go back to their village but she refused. There was an argument between the two in which Kavita had threatened to divorce him. Later, she lodged a complaint in Kasna police station against her husband under the Dowry Act.

The police had arrested Krishen Kumar Sharma and sent him to jail for 4 months. The case was scheduled at the ADM’s courts yesterday but the hearing could not take place. Now it is listed for November 15.

New Delhi, November 7
With the arrest of eight people – Kabir Sheih (25), Raju Shivani (25), Kamal (23), Rakesh Kashyap (22), Maqsood (21), Naveen (22), Shabbir (38) and Nurul (32), the North district police today claimed to have busted a gang of robbers.

Stolen goods worth Rs 21 lakh were allegedly recovered at their instance.

Following a tip-off, they were apprehended from Company Bagh in Chandni Chowk. Two country-made pistols, two live cartridges, two knives, two stolen vehicles were allegedly recovered from their possession, the police said. — OC