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Ambedkar’s statue broken
City planners envision dual water pipelines
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‘Legislators’ suggestions not included in Draft Master Plan’
Setting up of watchdog for Master Plan demanded
News of ‘terrorist’ creates furore at railway station
Schoolkids set to learn disaster management online
DU to implement quota policy
RWAs stage ‘Gandhi march’
Two-day property expo in Noida
HC summons case records of trial court in cartoonist murder case
Action against 80 farmhouses for evading stamp duty
Victim’s dying declaration brings life term for assailant
Delhiites may get chance to enjoy
ice-skating
Two JEs suspended for dereliction of duty
2 acquitted in extortion case
Cops asked to reply in harassment case
‘Cloudy apple juice better than clear juice’
Artscape
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Ambedkar’s statue broken
Haily Mandi (Gurgaon), January 21 Hundreds of protesters first enforced road blockade here for more than three hours and later at Pataudi Chowk, about three kilometers from the scene, for about two hours. The agitators also pelted the vehicles with stones resulting in minor damages to about half a dozen of them. However, there were no reports of injury. Some of the main organisations involved in the
agitation were the Janhit Sewa Sangathan, headed by former minister of Haryana, Dr Kripa Ram Punia, and the Dr Ambedkar Sabha. The agitators relented only after Deputy Commissioner, Gurgaon, Mr Rakesh Gupta, met the agitators on the spot and assured them of getting the culprits booked within 24 hours. A statement from the Deputy Commissioner said that an FIR has been registered against unidentified persons in connection with the defiling of the statue under Sections 153A, 427 and 448 of the Indian Penal Code. It also cautioned that punitive action would be taken against the anti-social elements who indulged in the crime. Prominent among the protesters was the former minister from Haryana and chief of Janhit Sewa Sangathan organisation, Dr Kripa Ram Punia. According to many, the tense situation was brought under control by tactful handling of the development both by the district administration and the police. The head of the bust of Dr Ambedkar was broken and the portion was thrown in a nearby fenced area. Dr Punia lamented at the disrespect shown to the great leader and said that it was the handiwork of anti-social elements with a view to creating division and hatred in society. He did not rule out the possibility of a political angle. It was a tense moment when the public in large number, including women, held demonstrations and exhibited frayed tempers. As a precautionary measure, the administration took security measures as well as a good number of police personnel were posted near about the place of agitation. The administration also diverted the traffic route. A large number of vehicles were stranded during the time of road blockades. |
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City planners envision dual water pipelines
New Delhi, January 21 The Capital’s total water requirement is 80 gpd, out of which 50 gpd is needed for drinking purposes and the rest for washing, cooking etc, according to the new draft of the Delhi Master Plan 2021. It is precisely this demand for potable water that the dual supply system seeks to address. While the potable water requirement is to be made available from the river water allocation and Ranney wells in the Yamuna riverbed, the non-potable requirement can be met through alternative sources and exchange of wastewater from Delhi and Haryana, the plan proposes. The draft Master Plan recommends this new scheme for urban extensions and areas under redevelopment schemes with immediate effect. According to the document, the supply of potable water depends on the progress of the proposed dams in Uttar Pradesh, Uttaranchal and Himachal Pradesh and conveyance system with release of allocated water to the National Capital Territory of Delhi. However, to some extent, localised groundwater extraction and its supply after treatment to prescribed levels of quality may also be required to meet the demands. |
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‘Legislators’ suggestions not included in Draft Master Plan’
New Delhi, January 21 Advocate Virender Kasana, a non-official DDA member, said the DDA had sent its suggestions to the central government. The Centre could not make major changes in the Master Plan as the DDA was the final authority. According to Section 9 of the DDA Act, the DDA was the final authority for making the city and zonal plans. According to Section 11-A of the Act, the Centre could only make modifications in the Master Plan, he said. It was the bureaucracy which applied its mind in finalising the Master Plan. Politicians were involved with the common people and they knew the basic requirements and problems of the citizens, but their suggestions had not been incorporated. The non-official members should be given more powers to incorporate their ideas in the policies, he demanded. However, the DDA had accepted the suggestions to provide basic facilities like power and water supply to unauthorised colonies. Proper road sewer line construction had also been agreed on. DPCC president Ram Babu Sharma again assured unauthorised colonies would be regularised because the formalities required to approve the colonies were already complete. Crores of rupees would be spent in the development of these colonies. Now, the central government was working on a formula to take development charges from the residents. The government would come up with a policy in this connection soon, he said. |
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Setting up of watchdog for Master Plan demanded
New Delhi, January 21 At a symposium, the participants said that in order to streamline the shortcomings made by the DDA and other government agencies, such amendments were the need of the hour. The symposium, in a unanimous resolution, urged the government to make provision of an ‘Urban Watch Dog Force’ in the MPD 2021 to monitor progress of development policies enshrined in the plan. It also demanded that keeping in view of the larger interest of Delhi and livelihood of more than 80 lakh people, the amendments in Master Plan should be carried out. Representatives of several social bodies including Chandni Chowk Club, Karol Bagh Club and other sections joined the symposium. Speaking on behalf of Delhi Traders, the leaders of the Confederation of All India Traders (CAIT) stressed on the need for formation of Zonal Layout Plans in a time bound manner. They also said that issues pertaining to more than 50,000 DDA flats, about 20,000 business establishments in ‘so called A and B category’, about 1700 computer centers and about 8,000 tuition centers and commercial establishments of other categories needed to be included in MPD 2021. They further demanded that the negative list should be redefined, whereas the scope of professional category should be enlarged so that the centuries old distributive character of Delhi trade should remain undisturbed. The traders also demanded need of an ‘Aerial Map of Delhi’, which should be updated after every six months. Parking problem is the real issue and the government is under an obligation to provide sufficient parking space in Delhi. “If the government agencies are unable to develop parking space, the parking plots should be given to trade bodies on BOT basis to enable them to develop multi-level parking lots,” they said. It was also suggested that ‘Efficient and Sufficient Taxi Service’ from one point to other point should also be encouraged. |
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Seven hurt in wall collapse
New Delhi, January 21 Around12.25 pm, as construction work was going on in the basement of the building, located adjacent to Mizoram Bhawan in Vasant Vihar, a temporary wall erected for construction work suddenly collapsed, burying at least 10 labourers under it, fire brigade sources said. Fire brigade personnel, who immediately rushed to the spot with seven vehicles, rescued the labourers and rushed them to a nearby hospital where their condition was described as stable.
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News of ‘terrorist’ creates furore at railway station
Ghaziabad, January 21 But the man roaming about with an automatic rifle and knack-sack was promptly overpowered. Besides the automatic rifle, 50 live cartridges were also recovered from him. After thorough interrogation, it became clear that the man mistaken for a terrorist was actually a cop of Madhya Pradesh police who had somehow got separated from his colleagues. S.C. Pandey, incharge GRP, said the news of a terrorist with automatic weapon, roaming in Ghaziabad railway station on Saturday night, had created a furore at the station. GRP, RPF and local police had promptly overpowered the man in a policeman’s uniform going about with automatic weapons and live cartridge at 11 p.m. After interrogating him, contact was established with his unit on phone. His identity cards and other documents had also helped the authorities. Next day his co leagues and family members from Narnaul had come to take him back, Mr Pandey said. |
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Schoolkids set to learn disaster management online
New Delhi, January 21 Out of the total 4,200 odd schools, including primary and secondary level schools as well as unrecognised ones, students in 3,200 schools had already been sensitised about this, a senior government official said. They had been provided with both theoretical and practical aspects of handling disasters, he said. However, being aware that merely sensitisation was not enough to tackle disasters as and when they occurred, the government had also formulated disaster management plans for individual schools, keeping in mind their unique requirements. “We have already cleared plans for 2,300 schools and it would be upgraded annually according to the changing needs of the schools, their vulnerability as well as techniques,” the official added. Pointing out that students of a school in East Delhi’s Kalyan Bagh had last August successfully brought under control a fire that broke out in the building’s storeroom, he said the disaster management plans came handy for those schools which were located in areas like the walled city and unauthorised colonies which were inaccessible to fire engines. In such areas, schools had to depend on their own resources before help from the fire department, he said. The government was also encouraging schools to interact with the local people so that the community could be more proactive with help in case of disasters, he said. The Directorate of Education had been asked to take action against the schools failing to implement the disaster management plans. |
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DU to implement quota policy
New Delhi, January 21 According to the DU Registrar’s office, the university administration has already forwarded the final estimate regarding the extra infrastructure and faculty requirement for each year to the University Grants Commission (UGC). A high level meeting convened by the Vice-Chancellor had communicated to the government that the Delhi University would attain the 27 per cent reservation in three years, an official said. According to the calculations, DU will have to increase the number of seats by 54 per cent in order to implement the 27 per cent
reservation.— TNS |
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RWAs stage ‘Gandhi march’
Gurgaon, January 21 In fact, the organisers of the agitation said that today’s event signalled the residents’ movement to “set Gurgaon on the right track”. The ‘peaceful’ march was held under the banner of Federation of Residents Welfare Associations and Gurgaon Citizens Council. About 500 residents took part in the march which began from Bristol Hotel Chowk to DT Cinema. The residents then went to the office of Deputy Commissioner, Gurgaon, and submitted a memorandum to the Chief Minister, Haryana, Mr Bhupinder Singh Hooda. At the terminal point of the march, an assembly of the protesters was convened. Several office-bearers of the RWAs addressed the assembly. Speaking on the occasion, the president of Gurgaon Citizens Council, Mr R.S.Rathee alleged that the government favoured the builders and colonisers to the detriment of the residents. The builders and colonisers were fleecing the public, not fulfilling their commitments to the residents who purchased plots and flats from them, and were also openly flouting the norms. But the government machinery was giving them a long rope for far too long now, regretted Mr Rathee. The president of Sun City Residents Welfare Association, Mr Abhey Singh Poonia lamented that the authorities did not give the residents proper audience regarding their complaints against builders and colonisers. Even if they gave audiences, no remedial action was taken. A notable feature of the protest march was that the agitators donned the traditional Gandhi cap. In the memorandum to the Chief Minister, the residents
demanded a CBI probe into the utilisation of Internal and External Development Charges by private builders and the Haryana Urban Development Authority (HUDA).
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Two-day property expo in Noida
Noida, January 21 Booking for flats and shops in the upcoming malls was also being made in the expo. Certain builders were offering special rebate to those who made their booking at the expo. Inaugurating the Expo 007, Dr Yoginder Narayan, Secretary-General, Rajya Sabha, said the Expo 07 served as an excellent platform for the growth and development of real estate in the area. Common man can get in touch with the realtors and builders at such expos while builders can explain the merits of their projects to prospective buyers here. Mr Dev Dutt Sharma, Commissioner, Meerut Division, who also went around the exhibition, stressed the importance of holding such meets frequently. The organizer, Trilok Sharma said, “Our aim was to bring the buyers of residential and commercial property face to face with the realtors and builders under one roof.” Besides leading builders and realtors, some commercial banks had also put up shop there. |
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HC summons case records of trial court in cartoonist murder case
New Delhi, January 21 Justice Reva Khetrapal summoned the trial court records to be produced on May 24, this year for further hearing of the matter on a petition filed by the father of the deceased seeking re-investigation of the case by an independent investigating agency. The petitioner Mansoor Bhai, father of Irfan, also sought the court’s direction to the police to initiate a departmental enquiry against those erring police officers, who were responsible for faulty investigation in this case. Appearing for the petitioner, counsel Anup J Bhambani submitted before the court that the prosecution had failed to produce the photographs showing stab wounds received by Irfan at the time of incident. He also argued that the deceased had received 28 stab wounds all over his body, but not a single photograph was produced by the police showing the wounds. The prosecution in this case had failed to prepare a site plan which was an important piece of evidence in the entire investigation to prove that the body was found near
Ghazipur, the counsel added. Observing that the police version in this case seemed to have been lifted from a detective novel or a Bollywood film, a city court on March 31, last year had acquitted five accused-Mustafa Ansari, Sanjay Kumar, Heera Singh, Mohammed Jasin and Mohammed Shahid on the ground that the prosecution could not produce sufficient evidence as the investigation in the case was not done properly. A few days after the trial court verdict, the chief public prosecutor decided not to file an appeal in the case. According to prosecution, the case dates back to March 8, 1999 in which Irfan, a cartoonist with the Outlook magazine, was abducted and later killed after he was robbed of his car. His decomposed body was found in a bush on the National Highway 8 near
Ghazipur.
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Action against 80 farmhouses for evading stamp duty
Noida, January 21 After builders and societies, the stamp department has mounted the largest campaign against the farmhouse owners. Senior officers of the stamp department had visited some farmhouses, posing as prospective buyers, and observed large-scale irregularities and evasion of stamp duty. Initially three farmhouse owners were hauled up by the stamp department. All the three were issued with show cause notices. On scrutiny a number of startling cases had come to notice. APS Greens and AJS Farm are among 80 farmhouses against whom action is being taken. Authorities are trying to determine as to how much stamp duty they have had added to their value and how much duty had been evaded. After investigations, action for the recovery of stamp duty will be initiated. The sources said there are from 300 to 400 farmhouses in Noida and Greater Noida and though most of them had adopted agriculture, yet a large number of the farmhouse owners are suspected to have fleeced the state of crores of revenue by evading the stamp duty. |
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Victim’s dying declaration brings life term for assailant
New Delhi, January 21 The dying declaration in the case is a substantive evidence in itself and does not require any corroboration. The same, coupled with the recovery of knife from the accused, were sufficient evidence against Shakeel, alias Bhura, Additional Sessions Judge O. P. Gupta said in a recent order. Awarding life imprisonment to Shakeel for the murder of Gurudev Singh, the court also imposed a fine of Rs 3,000. The court rejected the defence counsel’s contention that the declaration was not admissible because it was not in a written form. It said even though the oral declaration was not written down by the constable nor a signature or thumb mark of the deceased taken that alone was not sufficient to discard it. The court noted the conduct of the accused in recovering the knife shortly after the offence was committed lent credence to the prosecution case. Delhi Police Constable Gajender Singh, who was on patrol duty at Jahangirpuri in North-West Delhi, happened to see on October 18, 2002, 22-year-old Gurudev writhing in pain and heard him saying that he was stabbed by Shakeel for refusing him money for buying liquor. Gurudev died after a few hours and Shakeel was arrested. Even though the deceased’s wife had turned hostile in the case and denied telling the police the name of the assailant, the court said it did not affect the prosecution’s case. |
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Delhiites may get chance to enjoy
ice-skating
New Delhi, January 21 Delhiites now can look forward to skate on ice that too in the peak of summer this year, with plans underway to install a temporary ice-skating rink at the Indira Gandhi Indoor Stadium here. The authorities, however, have yet to decide on the dates of the proposed 20-day event. |
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Two JEs suspended for dereliction of duty
Gurgaon, January 21 Mr S. P. Gupta, Administrator, HUDA, said a leakage occurred in a water pipeline and Junior Engineer failed to restore it for a long time. Thousands of residents of different parts of the city were affected as no proper piped water was supplied to them due to his negligence, revealed Mr Gupta. He further added disciplinary action had also been taken against Sub-Divisional Engineer (SDE) R. D. Singh for lapses on his part. The SE, Mr S. K. Sachdeva, had been directed to ensure this did not recur in future, informed the Administrator. In another case of carelessness when the officials concerned failed to remove the illegal hoardings and signboards despite repeated written and verbal directions, Junior Engineer Mahipal Singh was suspended today. The Administrator informed the enforcement wing of the department had recently removed all illegal hoardings, signboards and other publicity materials on the famous MG Road here. The officials had been directed to ensure illegal publicity material should not be allowed to come up again. But, the officials of the department visited the area and found illegal publicity materials had again come up on the road, flouting all prescribed rules and regulations. Mr Mahipal Singh had been suspended and the explanations of other senior officials, including the concerned SE, had been sought by the department, added the officer. |
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2 acquitted in extortion case
New Delhi, January 21 “When the two main accused Anil Kumar alias Bhagat and Satinder alias Kala have already expired having been killed in a police encounter, no fruitful purpose will be served by continuing with the present trial any longer,” the Additional Sessions Judge, Mr Bharat Parashar, said, closing the recording of statement of witnesses. The accused Jitender alias Amar and Surjit alias Bittoo were neither apprehended from the spot nor anything recovered from them and, thus, the testimony of various prosecution witnesses was useless in connecting them with the offence, the court said recently while absolving them of the offence under Section 120b (criminal conspiracy) of the IPC. Anil and Satinder were charged with criminally intimidating Sanjeev Batra in west Delhi and extorting Rs five lakh from him on March 19, 1998, while the accused Jitender and Surjit were accused of entering into a criminal conspiracy for the same purpose. Though, the complainant in the present matter has been examined, a perusal of the record shows that the only evidence against the present accused is the alleged disclosure statements of the two co-accused who have since expired, the court said.
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Cops asked to reply in harassment case
New Delhi, January 21 Issuing show-cause notice to sub-inspector Jai Prakash, head constable Labh Singh and assistant sub-inspector Jai Bhagawan along with two constables Satpal and Virender, presently posted at Rohini sector 16 police station, Justice B N
Chaturvedi asked them to file their replies by May 16 this year. Justice Chaturvedi was recently hearing a petition filed by deaf and dumb electrician Anuj who alleged that the police had illegally detained him for three days from January 19 to 21, 2005 as he refused to repair their personal electrical gadgets in his shop. The policemen had subjected him to third degree torture and also threatened to falsely implicate him in a criminal case, Anuj said in his petition.
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‘Cloudy apple juice better than clear juice’
New Delhi, January 21 “Now, it has been shown that cloudy and more natural apple juice has more health advantages than clear apple juice as it contains more disease-fighting antioxidants,” said Dr K K Aggarwal, President, Heart Care Foundation of India and Chairman, IMA Academy of Medical Specialities (IMA AMS), during a CME for doctors organised by IMA AMS here today. Apples are better than apple juice and cloudy apple juices are better than clear apple juices. Apples themselves contain a wide variety of polyphenols but when processed into apple juice some of these may be lost. The manufacturing process used to make clear apple juice, which include using an enzyme to break down the pectin in apple cell walls ad spinning to remove pulp, considerably decreases the levels of polyphenols in the end product. Cloudy juices contains more pulp, fiber, polyphenois and pectin all health friendly products. Commenting on a new International study published in the Journal of the Science of Food and Agriculture, Dr Aggarwal said that cloudy unclarified apple juice contained up to four times the polyphenois than clear apple juices. Dr Aggarwal said that it only proved the law of nature. “Any thing which is natural is health friendly that they are purer,” he said. |
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Artscape
New Delhi, January 21 Prasanjit Sengupta, one of the younger artists of the 80s, has carefully skirted around the highly clever and screaming avant-garde practice of many of his contemporaries, all seemingly bent on setting the pace in the 21st century. He has veered neither to abstraction nor to a figurative idiom marked by a free, loose unconnected assemblage of figures and forms on the pictorial space of uncertain setting. Taste ‘strange fruit’ at NSD
For two consecutive days last week, Delhiites had the taste of the “Strange Fruit” on the lawns of the National School of Drama here. Strange Fruit is a Melbourne, Australia-based performing arts company that produces and performs a remarkable style of performance that fuses theatre, dance and circus using a unique elevated medium. The two-day event was organised by the Australian High Commission here. Perched atop four metre high flexible poles of original design, the troupe “delivers a sublime performance, bending and swaying in the air, captivating and engaging the audience in absolute fascination”. What is unique is that the entire performance is dialogue-free and it is through actions that the artistes communicate with the audience. The Young FICCI Ladies Organisation (YFLO) is presenting the much-acclaimed play, “Pati Gaye Ree Kathiawar” on January 22 at the Mantra, Park Hotel on the occasion of Annual YFLO Fellowship. Bharatanatyam arangetram at IIC
Ayushree Moorthy, a young and vibrant classical dancer will present her Bharatanatyam arangetram at the India International Centre here on January 28. Ayushree is the disciple of the well-known artistes, Marie and G. Elangovan. She has been learning the classical dance from the age of five. Music Today launches Sar Masti
Music Today launched an album, Sar Masti by Zila Khan at a function in the Capital last week. Sri Sri Ravi Shanker and Pir Mohammed Gilani were the chief guests. A large number of the Capital’s glitterati attended the launch. Exhibition of prominent artists
The Kumar Gallery here is holding an exhibition of the works of 25 of the prominent Indian artists from January 26 onwards. The works of some of the big names in the art world like M F Husain, F N Souza , Jatin Das, Shobha Baroota and Arpana Caur will be among the exhibits. |
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The Visual Art Gallery here is holding an exhibition of works of the young and upcoming artist, Prasanjit Sengupta from January 27 to February 1.