New Delhi, November 26
The Centre has approved the extension of the Delhi Metro from the national Capital to the satellite city of Gurgaon in Haryana. It is yet to give its final nod to the Metro’s extension to the other neighbouring city of Noida in Uttar Pradesh.

Whereas the central government had approved the proposal for extension of the Delhi Metro to Gurgaon subject to certain conditions, the Uttar Pradesh Government had been requested to discuss the proposal for the extension to Noida with the Delhi Government and the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation before the final approval was given, official sources said.

The 15-km elevated extension to Gurgaon would have eight stations. Under the proposed route worked out so far, the stations would be Chhattarpur, Ghitorni, Arjan Garh (last station in Delhi), Garden Estate, Sikandarpur, DT City Centre, IIFCO Chowk and Sushant Lok.

Work on the project, estimated around Rs 1,498 crore, had been taken up by the DMRC and was likely to be completed by July 2010.

Out of the total cost, the Haryana Government was expected to contribute Rs 570 crore and provide land. The DMRC was to supply rolling stock and the rest of the cost was to be borne by the Centre and the Delhi Government.

The about seven-km elevated extension to Noida would have six stations. Under the proposed route worked out so far, the stations beyond New Ashok Nagar in Delhi would be Noida Sector 15, Noida Sector 16, Noida Sector 18, Botanical Garden, Golf Course and Noida City Centre (Sector 32).

Only preliminary work for the route was being done by the DMRC. The project was planned for completion by September 2009, subject to necessary approvals by the competent authority. This extension was expected to cost Rs 688 crore.

There were, however, no formal proposals with the Centre on the extension of the Delhi Metro to the nearby cities of Ghaziabad (UP) and Faridabad (Haryana).

New Delhi, November 26
The Delhi Development Authority (DDA) has announced the auctioning of about 800 shops in prime business locations across the city next month.

The Authority invited tenders from prospective buyers yesterday and the auction will be held for three days beginning December 20, officials said today.

One could submit any tenders for more than one shop, they said.

The DDA said the space could be used for running ATMs, beauty parlours, bookshops, coffee shops, grocery shops, health centres and dental clinics among other things.

The shops for auction are located in Dilshad Garden, Pitampura, Rohini, Shahdara, Yamuna Vihar, Narela, Shalimar Bagh, Janakpuri, Dwarka and Defence Colony among other places.

The prospective buyers can purchase tender forms from November 28 to December 19 on payment of Rs 100 and these should be submitted on either December 18 or 19.

The DDA auction of ten prime hotel plots had failed to find any bidders for nine of them due to high reserve prices. Only one plot was sold during that auction.

The DDA, last week, announced another round of auction on December 19. This time only six hotel plots will be on sale and the Authority has lowered the reserve price by at least ten per cent.

New Delhi, November 26
A Delhi court has asked the investigating officer to appear before it in connection with a case alleging embezzlement of funds against AIIMS Director P. Venugopal and two others.

Metropolitan Magistrate Chander Shekhar, while calling for the case file, on Friday directed the officer to appear before it on January 8 next.

In his complaint, one Abdul Mabood, claiming to be a social activist, has accused Dr Venugopal and AIIMS officials Mayank Sharma and Arti Viz of committing criminal breach of trust by diverting the institute’s funds to “extra-institutional accounts” and making purchases of consumables without following set procedures.

The complainant has further alleged a large amount of money was lying deposited in illegal accounts maintained by the accused persons in violation of the AIIMS Act.

These funds were allegedly collected by “overcharging” the patients for various treatment procedures although AIIMS was not supposed to levy any service charge, the complainant claimed.

New Delhi, November 26
With only 1,400 traders applying for license for wheat and pulses under the Essential Commodities (EC) Act, which was invoked last month in the national Capital, the Delhi Government is planning to raise the existing limit of foodgrain the traders can legally store.

The Delhi Food and Consumers Affairs Minister, Mr Raj Kumar Chauhan, said a proposal to enhance the stock limit of foodgrain that the traders would be authorised to store was being sent to the Union Government for approval.

“We are yet to determine the new limit,” he said. At present, as per the EC Act, in case of wheat, wholesalers cannot keep a stock of more than 500 quintals while retailers and ‘atta chakkis’ can keep a maximum quantity of 100 quintals as stipulated under the Delhi Wheat (Licensing and Control) Order 1996.

For pulses, the maximum limit for wholesalers is 200 quintals, while for retailers it is 50 quintals under the Delhi Pulse (Licensing of Dealer) Order 1974. However, the traders contend that it was too low keeping in view the increasing demand for goods due to the rise in population.

“The stock limits under the two Orders date back to 1974 and 1996 and do not meet the present days requirement when the population of Delhi has increased significantly. Its high time that this limit for stocking the foodgrain is increased in tandem with the present needs,” said Mr Om Prakash Jain, president of Delhi Grain Merchant Association which represents majority of wholesalers in the city.

Despite the government extending the deadline twice for registration of license, there has been dismal response from the retailers, wholesalers and manufacturers.

The Delhi Government invoked the Control Orders last month following several complaints that big operators and commission agents were hoarding essential commodities, leading to a steep rise in the prices in the city.

“Now we can raid or act suo-motu against the traders who do not have license and are found to be stocking foodgrain more than the defined limit,” said a senior official.

Those flouting the Act would be slapped with a fine and could face a prison term. 

Ghaziabad, November 26
In view of the deteriorating law and order scenario in the state, Chief Minister Mulayam Singh Yadav is understood to have given the UP police a fortnight for showing perceptible improvement in law and order situation in UP.

Mr Yadav has also ordered the officers of Provincial Police Service (PPS) to help weed out corruption in police stations, and do their bit to improve the image of the police force in the state. The officers in-charge of the police stations should also involve themselves in social welfare work, the Chief Minister said.

If police were to enlist people’s cooperation in nabbing the criminals, it can go a long way in improving the public image of the police force.

As a result, people will refrain from criticizing the police.

The Chief Minister has also announced 10 per cent increase in number of posts carrying a pay scale of Rs 16,000 to Rs 20,000 and an additional post of SSP in districts with more than 18 police stations. Six additional posts of ASP (Crime), five of ASP (Traffic) and sanctioning of a pay scale of Rs 18,400 to Rs 22,000 for promotion of IPS officers to higher posts (equivalent to IGS) have also been sanctioned by Mr Yadav.

Chief Minister Mulayam Singh Yadav said the state will send a proposal to centre for increasing the quota of PPS officers for promotion to IPS officers from present 30% to 50%.

These announcements were made during a meeting with PPS officers by the Chief Minister.

The Chief Minister said, “In 15 days a seachange should be discernible in law and order situation in the state. The police must try to improve its image among the public which is quite poor right now.”

He ordered the police brass not to post unpopular police officers as SOs.

Faridabad, November 26
The alleged irregularities in providing the completion certificate and approval of the site plan of a multi-storey commercial building in the NIT area is likely to put certain MCF officials in a tight spot after a complaint lodged by a resident to the Commissioner MCF and the Deputy Commissioner.

The complainant has alleged that the information sought by him regarding the papers of the said building under the Right to Information Act (RTI) had not been supplied and he was told that the file of the case had been missing.

A legal action against the officials concerned has been demanded by the applicant in the complaint.

The complainant in his letter dated November 20, and sent to the office of the Commissioner, MCF and the Deputy Commissioner, has expressed resentment over the action taken so far by the office of the Joint Commissioner, NIT of the MCF.

Alleging that there had been gross irregularities committed by the owner in the commercial building that was located on Neelam-Bata Road, he said the authorities concerned had not taken any action against the defaulter as there might be collusion between the owner and some officials.

He revealed that he had sought information under the RTI Act through an application dated October 6, but the office of the Joint Commissioner did not provide the record and other information sought on the plea that the file had been missing from the office and the information would be supplied when the file was traced.

He alleged that there had been certain irregularities in providing the building the completion certificate.

It is stated that the basement and one floor in the building had been built in an unauthorized manner and did not comply with the plan approved initially by the MCF.

It may be recalled that any office or department was liable to supply proper information to any applicant within 30 days of the submission of the application under the RTI Act.

New Delhi, November 26
After drawing flak over ‘derogatory’ references to Hindu gods and goddesses in its texts, the Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU) has set up a committee of experts to ensure that its teaching materials are free of any such “remarks” in future.

“A seven-member review committee has been set up to prepare history textbooks for the MA course. Each member will review and edit one book and there will be no such remarks in the new textbooks,” Pro-Vice-Chancellor of IGNOU, Professor S C Garg said.

The new textbooks were under preparation and would be available before the beginning of next January session, he said.

The university has set up the committee comprising experts from across the country to review and prepare the new history books following the controversy created due to some “derogatory” remarks about Hindu gods and goddesses in the old textbooks.

“In fact, there were certain remarks which should not have found place in the book. Immediately after the controversy, we had withdrawn such remarks,” he said.

The book “Religious Thoughts and Beliefs in India” had some remarks, which led to the controversy and the issue was also raised in Parliament.

Greater Noida, November 26
Senior bureaucrat and the Greater Noida Authority Chairman, Rakesh Bahadur has also joined the chorus of residents and the industrialists that UP Power Corporation should restore 10 Mega Watt additional power supply to Greater Noida immediately. However, for the fifth day in a row Greater Noida went without power supply from 15 to 20 hours a day.

In a written missive, Rakesh said despite orders of Power Judicial Commission, it is most unfortunate that Greater Noida continues to be deprived of power supply. The production in industrial units was being adversely affected, the Chairman said.

He said under these circumstances there was no justification for keeping a tariff of Rs 8.50 per unit of electricity. The common people are suffering due to highhandedness of the UPPCL, he said. The power tariff should be fixed which is reasonable and acceptable.

He said on Power Judicial Commission’s orders, Noida Power Company Ltd had made the payment of Rs 5 crore to UPPCL on November 23. Though the commission had ordered that the power supply should be restored immediately, UPPCL had not so far restored the supply.

It may be mentioned that NPCL and UPPCL are at daggers drawn on the issue of power tariff for the past many days. UPPCL insists on charging the rates from NPCL on which UPPCL is purchasing the power itself, but NPCL does not agree.

NPCL says when it cannot recover a rate from consumer, how it could make payment to UPPCL as per that rate.

“Until we get orders from Lucknow, we can’t supply the power,” says Krishen Gopal Puri, the Superintending Engineer of UPPCL’s Paschimanchal Power Supply Corporation.

New Delhi, November 26
Mediapersons and locals today thronged the Ghaziabad-based residence of Uttar Pradesh politician D P Yadav hoping to get some information about his daughter, Bharti, a key witness in the Nitish Katara murder case.

Journalists, photographers and TV crews frantically tried to catch a glimpse of a woman who alighted from a white Esteem car at the Raj Nagar house of the former Rajya Sabha MP.

They believed it was Bharti Yadav who had alighted from the car.

Policemen and security guards prevented mediapersons from entering the house or taking photographs of the woman. However, security guards, who did not wish to be identified, said that Delhi Police had not given permission to Bharti Yadav to leave the national Capital.

Sources here said that both D P Yadav and her daughter met at their advocate’s office in New Delhi last evening.

Mystery shrouded the return of Bharti from London with her family and police maintaining a complete silence about her whereabouts.

Speculation is rife that she is putting up in a farmhouse in Chattarpur locality in South Delhi, but the Delhi Police have refused to confirm or deny.

Nitish Katara was killed allegedly by Bharti’s brother Vikas Yadav and his cousin Vishal Yadav, the main accused in the case, who were said to have been against her intimacy with him, on February 17, 2002.

New Delhi, November 26
The authorities are expected to launch a major drive to clean up the effluent-ridden Yamuna and overhaul the city’s doddering drainage system in a bid to spruce up the Capital ahead of the 2010 Commonwealth Games.

Officials claimed the discharge of untreated effluents into the river was the main cause of water pollution and as such a plan was being drawn which to ensure that no untreated effluent was discharged into the water body.

One of the focus areas of this programme is the installation of systems to intercept sewage on the three major drains of Delhi, the Najafgarh, Shahdara and Supplementary drains.

Apart from this, plans are afoot to augment the capacity of sewage treatment plants attached to the two main drains emptying into the Yamuna at ITO.

Thirteen drains in the city are supported by only two sewage treatment plants. Both of them need de-silting.

According to official figures, more than 249 million litres of industrial waste is emptied into the Yamuna in Delhi every day.

The DJB has already filed affidavits with the Supreme Court on its plans. The apex court had given directions to clean up the river.

Out of the total of 249 million litres of industrial waste generated every day, facilities have been created for treating 156 million litres a day, leaving a gap of 93 million litres a day.

There are 29 planned industrial estates in Delhi covering small and medium-scale industries for which 11 treatment plants have been set up to treat waste water.

New Delhi, November 26
After eluding Delhi for nearly a month in the post-Divali period, winter seems to have finally arrived here with the mercury in the Capital today dropping to 8.3 degree Celsius, the lowest of this season.

It was a chilly morning that welcomed Delhiites with the minimum temperature of 8.3 degree C being two degrees below the normal temperature at this time of the year.

The maximum temperature in the city was 24.1 degree, three degrees below normal.

In fact, it was the lowest temperature of this season, the previous lowest being 8.5 degree C recorded yesterday.

Today being the second consecutive day that the mercury has fallen below nine degree C indicates that winter has well and truly arrived in the Capital.

However, Mr S C Bhan, Director of the Indian Meteorological Department said that there was nothing unusual in the weather condition and every year temperatures fall during this time due to snowfall and rain.

The chill in the air is likely to continue in the coming days with the weathermen forecasting that cold wave conditions are likely to continue for another 24 hours.

The minimum temperature is expected to drop to seven degree C tomorrow although the sky will remain largely clear.

New Delhi, November 26
Students of the senior wing of Amity International School, Noida, presented a scintillating dance drama based on the philosophy of Chanakya, key adviser to the then King Chandragupta Maurya, as the main item in Amity Umang 2006, the Annual Day function yesterday.

The Algerian Ambassador, Mr Noureddine Bardad Daidj, was the chief guest at the function. Dr Ashok Chauhan, founder president of the Ritnand Balved Education Foundation, and Ms Amita Chauhan, chairperson of the foundation, were also present. — TNS

New Delhi, November 26
In line with a Cabinet decision taken by the Delhi Government, the Delhi State Industrial and Infrastructure Development Corporation (DSIIDC) will play a key role in setting up an IT corporation here.

The corporation will act as an implementing agency in the formation of the IT corporation, DSIIDC Managing Director Jalaj Shrivastava said.

New Delhi, November 26
Tarun Mitra Parishad, an NGO, organised a free eye camp at Tagore Public School.

Former Union Minister, Dr Sahib Singh Verma, was the chief guest who inaugurated the camp. Praising the achievement of the NGO, he said that it was doing very appreciable work by providing eye-sight to the senior citizens of the country and even rendering the service at their door steps.

The function was presided over by Mr Manoj Jain, the NGO’s president.

New Delhi, November 26
A 13-year-old girl was gangraped after she was forcefully taken from her home in North-West Delhi locality.

The victim was at home in Nathupura area with her younger brother when three men barged in.

The trio took her to a nearby desolate place, raped her and dumped her there. The teenager has identified her attackers as Vijay, Sumit and Sanjay as she heard them address each other. She was admitted to Babu Jagjivan Ram Hospital here. A case has been registered at Samaipur Badli police station and the hunt was on for the accused. — OC

Noida, November 26
Another accused in the kidnapping of Anant Gupta, the son of top software firm executive was arrested today from Hardoi and brought here, police said.

Pawan would be produced before the CJM court and police remand would be sought, police said.

Pawan told police that he had left the three-year-old boy at Kakore village, sensing a police network was behind him.

He said the question regarding how the child reached home in an autorickshaw was not known to him, police said. — PTI

Gurgaon, November 26
The police today nabbed a member of a notorious gang from Bandhwari village bus stand.

According to official version, a 9mm pistol and about 50 live cartridges were alleged to have been found on his body at the time of arrest.

The member had been convicted in a murder case and was serving a five-year sentence. However, he was out on parole. He was on foot and is understood to have been waiting for a vehicle at the time of the arrest.

Passion Possession

New Delhi, November 26
The ongoing sealing drive against commercial establishments operating out of residential areas has botched up the art canvas in the Capital. A large number of art galleries which had sprouted up in some of the posh colonies of the Capital because of the recent corporate patronage of art and artists are now being forced to move out to more legally correct premises. While some have managed to find alternate accommodation, others have been forced to shut their portals.