New Delhi, January 17
The Minister of State for Urban Development, Mr Ajay Maken, today assured the residents of Delhi that the proposed Master Plan 2021 would be implemented within the given time and all suggestions offered by the Delhi Assembly and the MCD would be incorporated to provide relief to the citizens.

Addressing the Congress workers at a convention organised by the Delhi Pradesh Congress Committee (DPCC), Mr Maken appealed to the party workers to be confident to win the Municipal elections to be held in April and claimed that citizens were satisfied with the performance of the party.

He claimed that the opposition parties thought that sealing and demolition drives would have negative effect on the prospects of Congress in the elections. But it was their misbelief. “The proposed Master Plan will provide complete relief to the traders as well as citizens in general,” he claimed.

Assuring that unauthorised colonies would be regularised in the Master Plan 2021, he said that instead of shifting jhuggis, the slum dwellers would be given flats at the very site they resided. “The jhuggis will be demolished and high rise building would be constructed for jhuggi dwellers,” he claimed. “Small time traders will be allotted shops near bus stops, railway stations, business centres, government offices and hospitals,” he added.

Mr Maken said residents would be allowed to construct additional flats in their buildings in residential areas, as according to the new Master Plan, height of building could be increased till 15 metre. Floor Area Ratio would also be increased. He claimed that these achievements of the party would favour the Congress in the elections.

The in-charge Delhi State, Mr Ashok Gehlot, appealed to the Congress activists to be united to win the municipal elections. “Shun all the differences to get thumping majority in the MCD. Earlier, only 134 candidates of the party used to fight the polls. But now 272 candidates will be in the fray. Along with old faces, youngsters will also be given chance to contest the elections,” he said.

Mr Gehlot claimed, “There is infighting in the BJP, the main opposition party in Delhi. Keeping this in mind, the Congress workers should now move in their areas convincing people that the party has done a lot for Delhiites and this is the only party that deserves to come to the power,” he asked.

He claimed that the Congress-led Delhi Government and the UPA government at the Centre made amendments in the Master Plan 2001 to provide relief to Delhi traders from sealing and demolition. “The Union Urban Minister took interest to prepare the Delhi Master Plan in time so that more development work takes place in the national Capital,” he added.

The convention was also addressed by other senior leaders of the DPCC like Mr Sajjan Kumar, Mr Jagdish Tytler, the Delhi Urban Development Minister Dr A. K. Walia, Education Minister Mr Arvinder Singh Lovely and Health Minister Dr Yoganand Shastri.

New Delhi, January 17
The Delhi High Court today directed the Delhi Government’s Chief Secretary to convene a meeting tomorrow with top officials of the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) and New Delhi Municipal Council (NDMC) to ensure that its directions for making public toilets disabled-friendly were complied with on time.

“We direct the chief secretary that directions of high court are complied with and the situation does not arise so that the court has to pass some coercive measures like issuing contempt notice,” a division bench headed by Justice Swatantara Kumar said.

The court took strong objection to what it perceived as the officials of MCD not following the court’s earlier directions issued on December 12 last year in this regard.

Greater Noida, January 17
UP Congress Pradesh president Salman Khurshid said since the law and order machinery has completely collapsed in UP, the Samajwadi Government has forfeited the Congress support in the Legislative Assembly.

He said the Congress which will discharge the responsibility of opposition in the Assembly during winter session will put the ruling party in the dock on the law and order issue.

Mr Khurshid said with this government in power, it would be impossible to have impartial and peaceful Assembly elections in the state.

The Congress president said the state government was fully answerable for Nithari killings as all the officers posted in Noida and Greater Noida are known to be close to the administration and were handpicked by the government.

In the circumstances how could the UP Government get away from its responsibility, he asked.

The UP Pradesh Congress Committee has therefore sent its recommendation to the Congress High Command for bringing UP under President’s Rule.

It is currently being considered by the Centre.

New Delhi, January 17
With the power demand in the NCR region zooming well beyond the national average and land prices touching the skies, the Haryana Government is planning to enforce more forcefully its policy of asking property developers, including its in-house real estate developer HUDA, to provide the land required for setting up power sub-stations in the state.

As a beginning, the colonisers will be asked to earmark and transfer the land required for setting up power substations in a time-bound manner.

To set up a 220-kv power sub-station requires a large area, almost 12 acres, and to procure this large area at the prevailing market price in the NCR region is an uphill task, even for a state-run department.

To manage with space crunch, the state government is planning to construct gas-insulated substations in the state. A gas-insulated substation requires half the space, almost seven acres, in comparison to a conventional substation, though the installation cost goes up by 70 per cent.

Gurgaon will get the first such substation, for which land has already been identified. At a recently held meeting, 12 such substations have been sanctioned for the NCR region, while six more are being considered.

But to deal with rising land prices, the power department will reinforce its earlier decision of asking developers to play an important role in planning for power supply infrastructure. “Power demand increases whenever residential, commercial and industrial development takes place in any area,” says an official.

Conservative estimates show that the NCR region has been seeing a 20 per cent increase in the power demand annually against the national average of eight per cent. The power demand in the NCR towns of Gurgaon, Faridabad and Sonepat has shot up drastically in recent times.

On the one hand, there are plans to augment the power generation by setting up high capacity sub-stations in these cities. On the other, developers will be asked to play a more significant role in planning for power supply infrastructure. 

Faridabad, January 17
In order to conserve electricity during peak load hours and promote use of renewable energy sources, the Haryana government has offered a special rebate to the consumers who get solar water heaters installed on the residential and commercial premises. An amount ranging from Rs 100 to 300 would be waived off for three years from the date of installation of the system, depending upon the capacity of the water heater.

In the communication issued by the office of the Financial Commissioner and Principal Secretary of the Haryana Renewable Energy department, to the authorities of the Power Supply department, it has been stated that a rebate would be given on the power bills of those consumers who get a solar water heating system installed and inform the authorities concerned.

The concession of Rs 100, Rs 200 and Rs 300 would be applicable on a solar water heater of the capacity of 100, 200 and 300 litres respectively. While an approval has been given by the Haryana Electricity Regulatory Commission (HERC), the two power supply corporations have been asked to issue further instructions. According to the scheme, the rebate will be extended to the users of solar water heating systems approved by the Bureau of Indian Standard (BIS) or other competent authority and to avail such a benefit, the applicant was required to intimate the Additional Deputy Commissioner-cum-Chief Project Officer and the installed system would be inspected and approved before the final clearance. The rebate on the bill will start from the subsequent month of the installation and it would be given for three years. The SDO (Operation) of the power department would have to carry out random checking of such systems and the rebate could be suspended if it was found out of order, say the instructions.

It may be recalled that the state government in its notification issued on July 29, 2005, had made it mandatory for the industrial, commercial and certain categories of residential premises to install a solar water heating system, but it is reported that this order was still to be implemented properly and there had been a large number of defaulters in the district against whom no action was taken or no survey was done to find the number of such defaulters. The buildings where such systems were required to be installed include hospitals, nursing homes, hotels, motels, banquet halls, jail barracks, canteens, groups housing complexes, all residential buildings built on a plot measuring 500 or more sq. yards in the HUDA

sectors or within the Municipal areas, government buildings, residential schools, technical/ educational institutes, tourism complexes and all the public buildings. But it is learnt that the majority of the public buildings and offices, including the Mini-Secretariat building in Sector- 12 here have no such system.

It appears that such orders were passed on papers only and there was none who could ensure implementation of such schemes, commented a government employee here. 

Faridabad, January 17
The Power Supply department claimed to have checked power theft by taking out electricity meters of around one lakh consumers, and putting them outside in specially made steel boxes.

It is stated that this would check theft by individual consumers as meters would now be stationed in boxes outside the premises. Till now the meters had been installed inside the building premises.

The Dakshin Haryana Bijli Vitran Nigam has started installing the meters of new connections outside the house or building premises.

According to a Nigam spokesperson, the campaign to shift out the electricity meters is in progress. While it is stated that the meters of the industrial units have already been installed outside, the process of shifting the meters of domestic consumers is on.

He said the first phase of the drive was being done in posh colonies and sectors, while the second phase would cover the residential areas of urban and rural sectors.

He said the Nigam would not take a legal action against those consumers who applied for rectification of faults in meters or those who wanted to get unauthorized load regularized. But the Nigam would replace all the electro-mechanical meters with new electronic meters, he said.

It may be recalled that there has been a common complaint that the new electronic meters are fast and show more consumption in comparison to the old meters.

The Nigam officials claim that this drive will not only help check power theft, but will also result in convenience

to the consumers, as the meter reading will be easy. In case, the meters are found defective, consumers will not be held responsible.

However, there are many who do not buy the theory of the Nigam that the power theft is done mainly by the domestic consumers.

They claim that the majority of the power theft is resorted to in an organized manner and done by many consumers which include big showrooms, shopping malls, industrial units, petrol plums, government and official buildings and houses in posh sectors, besides the ‘kundi’ connections in various congested colonies and, of course, parts of the rural areas.

Noida, January 17
A property dealer living in Sector-22 Noida has been stabbed to death. Police are trying to find out the motive of the crime. The victim had married about 20 days ago.

Jayveer Tomar and his wife Namita were living on rent in E-25 Sector-22 house of Nand Kishore. They had recently married in Sai Baba temple by coming together through the Internet on December 26. They were thinking of consolidating the wedding through a court marriage.

Jayveer had his office in Sector-37 in the name of Vaishnu Property Dealer. While the couple were taking dinner, the doorbell rang. Jayveer who was drunk went to open the door. As soon as he saw the visitor, Jayveer started hurling abuses and told him to “come tomorrow”.

Jayveer returned after a while, bleeding profusely. He told his wife that a youth had stabbed him. She immediately informed Jayveer’s maternal uncle who lived in the neighbourhood. His uncle rushed him to Prakash Hospital where doctors pronounced him “brought dead”.

Soon the police from Sector-24 police station and CO-2 reached the spot. They said the accused was known to Jayveer. Police are trying to take out the printouts of Jayveer’s cell phone.

Jayveer was known to be a short-tempered man. Police are finding out if anybody is unhappy with their wedding.

New Delhi, January 17
A Delhi court today summoned Bharti Yadav’s elder sister Bhavana to depose before it tomorrow as a witness in the Nitish Katara murder case in which their brother Vikas Yadav is the main accused.

The order was issued by Additional Sessions Judge Ms Ravinder Kaur.

Bhavana’s counsel yesterday moved an application before the court seeking an early date for recording of her statement. The court had earlier fixed February 1 for recording Bhavana’s testimony.

Besides Bhavana, UP police Sub-Inspector Anil Samania and an HDFC bank official were summoned on January 12 to record their statements on February 1 in the case.

Bharti, a key witness in Nitish Katara murder case, had recorded her testimony on November 29 before the court after remaining elusive for two years.

Bharti’s brother Vikas and cousin Vishal are accused of kidnapping and murdering Nitish with whom she allegedly had an intimate relationship.

While Vikas and another accused Sukhdev Pehlwan are in jail, Vishal has been granted bail by the Delhi High Court.

Katara was murdered on the night of February 16-17, 2002 from Ghaziabad, Uttar Pradesh, where he had gone to attend a marriage party. 

New Delhi, January 17
The Central District Police today claimed to have arrested two Nigerian nationals, Martin and Obedo, for allegedly defrauding a resident of West Bengal of Rs 2.50 lakh.

According to the police, the duo had reportedly sent an e-mail to the victim, Raj Dutt, working as a lab assistant, asking him to deposit Rs 2.50 lakh in a bank account in Delhi so that he could win a cash prize of one crore US dollars. After depositing the money, Raj Dutt was called to Delhi where the duo gave him a package claiming that it contained US dollars. He was told that he should only open the package on reaching his home in West Bengal.

The unsuspecting lab assistant was in for a surprise when he found just black coloured paper sheets in the package. He called up the suspects who told him that he would have to buy the chemical which would turn the paper sheets into dollars and this would cost him Rs 20,000.

The victim then returned to the Capital and lodged a report with the Pahar Ganj police. The suspects were arrested when they came to take Rs 20,000.

The police said that the suspects were being further interrogated to ascertain if they had cheated any other persons earlier.

New Delhi, January 17
The Crime Branch of Delhi Police claimed to have arrested a notorious gangster of Haryana, Billu Ahlawat (28), wanted in several cases of kidnapping, attempt to murder, bank dacoity, rioting etc.

The accused person was declared proclaimed offender in about a dozen cases in Haryana.

He is also alleged to have helped a dreaded criminal in escaping from the custody of Haryana police from Jhajjar district court premises.

Following a tip-off, Billu was arrested from Sagarpur area. 

New Delhi, January 17
The Campus Law Centre, Delhi University, Faculty of Law, is hosting the 3rd K K Luthra Memorial Annual All India Moot Court Competition, 2007 from January 19 to 21.

The competition is the only exclusive criminal law moot court held at the national level. Since 2005, the competition has been held annually at the Campus Law Centre premises in the memory of Late Mr K K Luthra, Senior

Advocate, a leading criminal lawyer whose legal career spanned from 1949, till his demise in 1997.

In 2005, over 16 top institutions from India attended the inaugural edition of the competition. In 2006, the competition saw participation from 28 institutions from across the country.

This year, participation includes a nation-wide representation from over 32 institutions, including the North Eastern Hill University, NLSIU, Bangalore, NUJS, Kolkata, NALSAR, Hyderabad, GLC, Mumbai, Symbiosis Society’s Law College and D S Pune.

This year’s moot problem focuses on the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967 and raises issues relating to the proscribing of organisation. Justice Ashok

Bhan of the Supreme Court will be the Chief Guest and Prof Deepak Pental, the Vice-Chancellor of the University of Delhi will be the Guest of Honour at the inauguration of the competition.

Mr Justice Tarun Chatterjee of the Supreme Court will be the Chief Guest and Mr Gopal Subramaniam, Senior Advocate and Additional Solicitor General of India will be the Guest of Honour at the Prize Distribution ceremony on the January 21.

Justice Madan B Lokur, Mr Justice Pradeep Nandraiog and Justice Reva Khetrapal of the Delhi High Court will judge the final round of the competition. Ms Nirmal Luthra is sponsoring the three-day event in memory of her late husband.

New Delhi, January 17
The scenario on walls on all important roads in Delhi would be different very soon as Delhi Government has decided to put in place 266 poster display sites within two months.

This would provide opportunity to people to paste their non-commercial posters on uniform display boards in Delhi to avoid ongoing defacement of public property. The decision was taken today in a meeting chaired by Delhi Urban Development Minister Dr A. K. Walia wherein senior officers of PWD, NDMC, MCD, Delhi Police and Urban Development Department were present.

The Delhi Traffic Police has given its nod for installation of 266 display boards in Delhi, 87 boards of standard size would be installed in PWD area, 149 in MCD area and another 30 in NDMC areas. The size of board would be 15 ft. by 5 ft. and the boards would be placed above two and half above ground level providing enough visibility to the common man.

Meanwhile, Dr Walia has issued strict instructions to all concerned departments to implement existing West Bengal Defacement Act in true spirit to book defaulters.

New Delhi, January 17
A large number of teachers and karamcharis of the Delhi University under the banner of the Delhi University Teachers’ Association (DUTA) today staged a dharna in front of the office of the Vice-chancellor demanding an impartial inquiry into the functioning of the principal of Shaheed Bhagat Singh College here.

According to DUTA, today’s dharna was part of the action programme chalked out against what they termed as “Corrupt, autocratic and dictatorial regime of the principal of the Shaheed Bhagat Singh College”.

It also demanded that the staff council of the college be immediately revived through the long established tradition of secret ballot under the supervision of an Election Officer.

New Delhi, January 17
A series of programmes on meditation, value education, stress management, holistic health management were organised in various branches of Prajapita Brahama Kumaris Iswariya Vishwa Vidyalaya here yesterday.

According to the media coordinator of the organisation, Mr B K Sushant, the programmes were observed as a part of its global observance of ‘World Peace and Meditation Week’. 

New Delhi, January 17
Cold wave conditions continued to grip the national Capital with the night temperature still hovering around 5 degree Celsius.

According to the Met office, the minimum temperature was recorded at 5.1 degree Celsius, a slight increase from yesterday’s minimum temperature of 4.5 degree Celsius.

The sky was almost clear, the train and air traffic were not affected. The runway visibility range at the IGI airport was about 3,000 meters and the flight operations were normal, airport sources said.

The Met Office has forecast that the winter chill will continue for some more days and the minimum temperature will remain around 6 degree Celsius. There may be some mist in the morning, it said.