New Delhi, January 4
Officials at the office of the Registrar of Cooperative Societies (RCS), who allegedly connived with builders to fraudulently revive a cooperative group housing society, showed minors as office-bearers of the body, subsequent investigations revealed.

In a charge sheet filed recently in a designated court, the CBI alleged the then Registrar of Cooperative Societies, Mr R. K. Srivastava, an IAS officer of the 1984 batch of the union territory cadre, entered into a criminal conspiracy with Karamvir Singh and B. M. Sethi, RCS officials, and private contractors Sri Chand and O. P. Mittal and revived Sri Venketeshawara Housing Society.

Sri Chand and other accused officials allegedly submitted a note to the Registrar’s office in 1999 in the name of P. K. Gupta and Mukesh Malik, seeking revival of the society. Gupta and Malik were named as secretary and treasurer of the society.

During investigations, the CBI found Gupta was only 14 years’ old and Malik only 10 in 1999. Both of them, while deposing before CBI, said they had never been members of any housing society.

While others were chargesheeted by the CBI, sanction for acting against Srivastava, who is also a former chief electoral officer of the national Capital, was awaited from the authority concerned, the agency informed the court.

During its investigation, the CBI found Sri Venketeshawara Housing Society, formed in 1984, had been liquidated by the RCS in 1995 as there was no word from it and also because no elections or audit of the society were conducted.

The CBI also issued notices to all 120 members of the society, asking them to appear before it for questioning and verification of documents.

The agency said in its charge sheet a majority of them, however, denied ever having signed documents or even having applied for membership of the society. Investigations revealed the affidavits submitted by original members of the society at the time of registering it in 1984 were replaced by the accused officials, the CBI said in its charge sheet.

The addresses of the society shown by the accused officials and that of the so-called office-bearers were also wrong. The signatures of the oath commissioners on the affidavits were verified by the General Examiner of the Questioned Documents (GEQD). It was found they too had been forged, the CBI said in its charge sheet.

It informed the court that as and when sanction was received from the ministry concerned for prosecuting Srivastava, the CBI would file a supplementary charge sheet. 

New Delhi, January 4
Assuring the MLAs from different parties that their suggestions would be included in the new Master Plan, the Delhi Government today had a presentation of the Plan draft, which was likely to be implemented from this month end.

The Chief Minister of Delhi, Ms Sheila Dikshit, said that draft of the Master Plan would be discussed in the Assembly session to be held very soon. Suggestions given by the MLAs would be included for the over all development of the national Capital, she assured.

Discussing the recommendations of the Master Plan, Mr Anil Bhardwaj, Congress MLA, said that no provision to develop the Lal Dora area was mentioned in the plan. “If the Master plan draft is implemented without making amendment, the village residents will suffer. There would be major demolition in the villages where streets are narrow and no civic facilities is provided to the citizens,” he said.

Nationalist Congress Party MLA Ramvir Singh Bidhuri alleged that if the new Master Plan draft was implemented as it was, 80 per cent areas of the national Capital would be ruined as there was no provision to regularise the unauthorised areas. “80 per cent localities are unapproved and build by private persons who had purchased land from farmers and developed the colonies”, he added. There is recommendation in the Master Plan draft that slum dwellers should be given flats instead of plots. However, Mr Bidhuri opposed this provision. The BJP MLA Moti Lal Sodhi also supported the view of Mr Bidhuri.

Mr Kulwant Rana, another BJP MLA, said that the government had constituted a few committees to prepare reports to be included in the Master Plan. But the master plan draft had been prepared without including their recommendations and this should not have been done, he added.

“The Congress-ruled government in Delhi should take all the aspects of the national Capital seriously and committees’ reports should be included in the Master Plan,” he said.

The DDA had a meeting on Master plan but it was boycotted by the political representatives because there was nothing in favour of Delhi citizens in the draft master plan, he claimed.

Having seen the attitude of the political representatives, the DDA has postponed its meeting till January 20. 

News Delhi, January 4
The Delhi Sikh Gurdwara Management Committee is celebrating the birth anniversary of Guru Gobind Singh at Gurdwara Rakab Ganj Sahib here.

A nagar kirtan started at 10.30 am today. Led by nagaras, it was followed by Panj Pyaras and Sri Guru Granth Sahib decorated in Palki Sahib. Schoolchildren from all branches of Guru Harkrishan Public School and other Khalsa-aided schools and bands, Gatka parties, Shabad Kirtan jathas from different localities of Delhi also participated in the nagar kirtan. 

Mr Paramajit Singh Sarna, president, Shiromani Akali Dal, Delhi, Mr Harvinder Singh Sarna, vice-president, Mr Joginder Singh Walia, Mr Manmohan Singh Kochar, Mr Rajinder Singh Techno, and Mr Surjit Singh Thekedar took part in it.

New Delhi, January 4
The Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) has decided to hike in tax on residential properties by 50 per cent. The new tax will be taken at the time of passing of the construction plan of residential plots in the form of construction tax. Without paying it, no construction plan will be sanctioned.

It was informed by a member of Opposition in the Standing Committee in the MCD, Mr Vijendra Gupta. He opposed this initiative by the ruling Congress during delivering his view on the Budget Estimate 2007-08 for the MCD. 

Faridabad, January 4
The All Haryana Power Corporation Workers’ Union has asked the state government to fill up all the 23,000 posts lying vacant in the power department. It has also appealed to the government to immediately implement the agreement reached between the union and the government regarding the pending demands, especially the employees of the Haryana Power Generation Corporation running several thermal-based power stations in the state.

According to Jagpal Singh Sangwan, an office-bearer of the union, the ‘delay’ on the part of the Haryana government to deliver the result of several meetings held between the union and the authorities concerned has caused resentment in the staff.

He claimed that at least five meetings had been held in the past one year and the Chief Minister had assured a proper action soon. Hard work on the part of the staff of the Haryana Power Generation Corporation (HPGC) resulted in saving of a minimum of Rs 271 crore for the department in all the eight thermal units based at Panipat.

The PLF (Power Load Factor) rate of the first four units at Panipat had been 92.5 per cent in the recent months while this had been around 62 per cent for the remaining units numbered as 5 to 8, he stated.

He said the rate of the later units had been lower because these had been very old.

Assailing the policy of ‘need-based recruitment’ done by the authorities in the recent past, he said
this had only led to more problems due to the fact that qualified staff could not be attracted in such a manner.

The government should act fast to fill up all the vacant posts, not on contractual basis. While around 23,000 posts have been vacant in the power department, at least 800 posts are vacant in the HPGC alone.

It is claimed that the shortage of staff and the lack of clear cut orders regarding the various incentives had cast its impact on the overall production and efficiency, which could be even more if all the aspects were taken care of. There has been no revision in the project allowance, which is one-third of the basic pay of an employee and the shift allowance for the past several years. This has been among other issues discussed in half a dozen meetings held in 2006.

The first meeting was held on January 17 last year, while the last meeting was held in October. The union also took up the matter with the Chief Minister in
another meeting held on October 11.

The employees have also protested over the alleged delay in the recruitment process for the newly set up 300 MW thermal power station at Yamunanagar scheduled to go into operation this year. 

New Delhi, January 4
Delhiites today woke up to a cold but clear morning. It was a mainly clear sky but the minimum temperature was recorded at 6.3 degree Celsius, which is one degree below the normal at this time of the year, the Met Department said.

The visibility in the Capital was recorded at 1500 metres and the maximum temperature recorded in the past 24 hours was 19.4 degree Celsius. At the airport, it was normal air traffic and relief for the passengers as there was no delay or cancellation of flights.

The runway visibility was recorded at 3000 metres and was sufficient for all kinds of operation. There was no delay or cancellation of flight unlike the past days, airport sources said. 

Gurgaon, January 4
With the district administration scheduling the proposed no-confidence motion against the president of the local Municipal Council, Mr Ravinder Kataria, for January 9, the battle lines are drawn for the event.

The development has assumed pungency as senior political leaders, including the Union Minister and local Congress MP and two MLAs, are also getting themselves involved.

With the uncertainty prevailing over the fate of the president, development work in the wards has taken a beating.

As the present scene stands, the president will apparently have to work hard to pass the no-confidence motion against him.

The rebel group of councillors in the municipality is alleged to be having the support of the local Congress MLA, Mr Dharamvir Gauba. Mr Gauba has been claiming that the next president will be the one whose candidature will get the approval of the Chief Minister, Mr Bhupinder Singh Hooda.

The municipality consists of 31 elected members. Three others co-opted members are the concerned MLAs and the area MP. As parts of Sohna area fall within the jurisdiction of the municipality, the MLA concerned, Mr Sukvir Jauapuria, is one of the co-opted member.

Mr Jaunapuria says that he will go by the suggestion from the Chief Minister.

Dissidents claim that their move is supported by the Chief Minister. However, Mr Kataria says that he also has the support of the Chief Minister.

About a dozen councillors had petitioned to the Deputy Commissioner, Gurgaon, requisitioning for a full house meeting put no-confidence motion on trial. They allege of autocratic style of functioning on the part of the president.

According to many, the tussle for power in the municipality has nothing to do with the development related issues. Both sides are nursing bruised egos and were indulging in petty politicking at the cost of genuine issues concerning the welfare of the people.

The group loyal to Mr Gauba has not been able to digest the fact that Mr Kataria won election to the post by defeating his protege.

It is an open secret that Mr Gauba is backing Mr Shashi Dua for the post. In the election to the post, Mr Gauba’s candidate did not have the support of the other MLA, Mr Sukhvir Jaunapuria and Rao Inderjit Singh.

The municipality relates to the welfare of the areas falling in the old Gurgaon city. As it is these areas on account of lack of infrastructure stand starkly behind the new areas of the city on several indices. Already there have been allegations of gross neglect of the areas by those in power for several years.

The general feeling is that the virtual stand still in terms of development works in the area on account of the political shenanigans of the councillors and their political mentors militated against the collective welfare of the city.

New Delhi, January 4
The world’s largest Mickey Mouse sculpture, some 12 feet and 4 inches tall and weighing some 250 kg, in cotton has been successfully put together in Gurgaon and has set a new record in the Limca Book of records.

The brain behind this initiative are Major Doctor Brahamjit, who is a doctor with Indian Army and his wife, Puja, a teacher with the St Anthony Sr Secondary School. This massive sculpture was produced by the Major and his wife over an intense period of 11 months.

The catalyst behind this initiative was provided by the Major’s daughter, Barkha, who came crying to parents one day saying that the neighbour’s daughter has a big and lovely Mickey Mouse but does not let her play with it. She asked her parents to get her a big Mickey, the major on the other hand decided to go ahead and build the largest cotton sculpture of Mickey Mouse to date.

The Major informs enthusiastically that, “As per our calculations, we needed lots and lots of cotton and therefore, we went to many dealers dealing with cotton and its products, but initially we were not satisfied.” Finally, the Major’s mother suggested that they use rolls of cotton though that was likely to be more expensive. After great effort they finally found a dealer who sold them the required amount and a small truck had to be organised to carry 300 rolls of 500 gms of cotton to their house.

“Perhaps the biggest problem in building the Mickey Mouse was to make the cotton so hard that it stand on its own and retain the shape that we give it,” said the Major. After a lot of trial and error they finally managed a workable combination from an industrial adhesive and hardener. The Major says that, “Working with cotton gave us nightmares! This was the first time that we were working with such a soft medium. Once we would open the roll of cotton, it would become nearly impossible to handle as the compressed cotton could swell the moment we touched it.” Finally, after much wrestling with the rolls they managed and saw success.

“After 11 months of back-breaking effort, we were finally able to put it all together. We invited the Limca Book of Records team who verified the dimensions of our record,” said the Major.

This is not the only record held by this amazing family, the Major, his brother and parents (Sindhu family) in 1991 created the world’s tallest eggshell statue, in 1992, they held the record for the world’s longest drinking straw (54 ft), in ’93 the world’s tallest ice-cream stick model (8 ft 3 inch), in ’94 worlds longest and largest greeting card (6.5 km long) for the President of India, in ’96 world’s longest wrapper chain using 26,000 toffee wrappers, in 2004 the worlds tallest match stick model (8ft 3 inch) and now the world’s largest Mickey Mouse (12 ft 4 inch). 

Faridabad, January 4
The police have lodged an FIR under Section 120-B of the IPC against Congress MLA from Mewla Maharajpur constituency here, Mahender Pratap and his son in a complaint lodged by a resident in connection with a firing incident that took place in Sector 31 here yesterday. Six other people have also been charged with attempt to murder in the same incident.

According to the complainant, Ajay Baisla some persons allegedly fired upon him yesterday morning, while he was moving in a vehicle. He alleged that the deed was carried out on the directions of the MLA and his son Vijay Pratap, after a dispute over a land in the area. However, the MLA and his son have denied their involvement in the incident. They claimed it to be a case of political rivalry and demanded it to be probed.

New Delhi, January 4
With the arrest of three persons – Naveen Chawala (23), Tarun Kumar (20) and Bharat Sharma (20), the North district police today claimed to have busted a gang of cheats who on the pretext of helping ignorant ATM card holders in withdrawing money used to take away the remaining balance from their accounts.

One Vipin Kumar Dixit had lodged a report in this regard. When one day he visited ATM centre of SBI, Chandani Chowk to withdraw the money, the members of the gang allegedly entered in the ATM cabin and offered to help him in withdrawing Rs 3,500.

After withdrawing money from the ATM, when the complainant moved to leave the place, the members of above said gang persuaded him that his transaction process was still continued and ATM machine would not accept second call till the previous transaction would conclude.

He convinced him to use the ATM machine second time. During the process, the gang members read over the balance statement. Immediately after the departure of the complainant, the gang members started feeding instructions to the ATM machine and succeeded in withdrawing balance amount of Rs 3,700, the complainant alleged.

The over friendly gesture of he gang members put the complainant in suspicion so he immediately rushed to that ATM machine and started checking his balance amount. He was shocked to see Rs 88 as a balance in lieu of Rs 3,788 and immediately approached to the area beat constable.

Following a tip-off, they were apprehended. During interrogation, they allegedly accepted that they used to remain present nearby ATM centres and wait for soft targets.

Interestingly, all three accused persons are well educated and currently employed with reputed private companies, the police said. 

New Delhi, January 4
The Crime Branch of Delhi Police today claimed to have busted a cricket betting racket and arrested three persons – Raju Manchanda, Jasbir Singh and Rakesh in this connection from Rajouri Garden area.

Eight mobile phones, a laptop, a colour TV and three calculators used in the racket were allegedly recovered from the rented house in the area where the racket was being operated.

Following an information that betting on cricket match between South Africa and India in Subhash Nagar, Rajouri Garden area was being run, the trio was arrested.

A total of Rs 10 lakh was on the bet at the time of the search operation. During interrogation, the accused allegedly confessed to having been involved in the illegal profession for the last one year, the police said. 

New Delhi, January 4
Adding a new dimension to the retail boom and consumer buying experience of diverse products and services, Indepay Networks today launched the first of its kind retail distribution and payment network that promises to redefine the traditional retailer-consumer interface.

Outlining the uniqueness, president of this network, Mr Rajib Saha said that neighbourhood retailers in times to come could facilitate customer’s goods and services like utility bill payments, railways and airlines tickets, gifts, cashless bank transactions, etc through this network. “This will happen by enabling the retail merchants at the street level to offer online service delivery, without the need for any physical inventory,” he informed.

New Delhi, January 4
Shri Ram Sanskritik Shodh Sansthan Trust is going to organise a photo exhibition on the life of Bhagwan Ram at Balmiki Mandir, Panchkuian Road, on January 7.

The exhibition will be inaugurated by a well-known scholar saint Krishna Vidhyarthi.

According to the coordinator of this exhibition, Mr Krishna Lal Dhilor, the exhibition is based on about 25-year research on the life of Bhagwan Ram by a noted scholar of Ram Charit Manas Dr Ram Avtar.