New Delhi, January 27
The residents of the Capital, who have pitched themselves against the powerful traders’ lobby having their shops in residential areas, today moved an application in the Supreme Court challenging the fresh move of the Centre and the MCD to seek modification of various orders on sealing.

The Delhi Pradesh Citizens’ Council (DPCC) filed a counter-affidavit to the applications of the Centre and the Municipal Corporation of Delhi, challenging the grounds raised by them for review of the orders regarding the sealing of illegal shops on September 29 and October 10 last year.

The counter, moved by DPCC’s counsel Jasbir Malik, said that the orders were passed by the court only after the “consensus” of the Union Government and the MCD on the one hand and citizens’ associations on the other.

“The application based on the Master Plan, 2021, is not maintainable inasmuch as the same has not yet been finalised and notified. Thus, there is no basis or grounds for the applications filed by the Union Government seeking the modification of the orders passed by the court,” the DPCC said.

The residents have also questioned the intent of the proposals in the Master Plan, 2021, permitting illegal shops in residential areas, alleging that the Government had not taken care of their interests.

“The Master Plan cannot be considered to have taken note of the grievances of the residents and their interest have been ignored altogether,” it said.

The DPCC also claimed that the Master Plan, over which both Government and the MCD were making such a high pitch, would put more pressure on the existing civic amenities like water, sewage, electricity, roads and parking, which were not able to cope with the demands of the people.

If the Master Plan as proposed, is given effect to, the existing amenities are bound to crumble and the problems of residents will aggravate.

Besides, it will have adverse impact on the environment of the city, they said.

The Government and MCD in their fresh application had sought modification of the orders passed by the court after August for reasons that the proposed Master Plan, 2021 to be notified soon, had proposed to allow commercial activities in residential areas.

The court, which earlier this week, had refused to extend the January 31 deadline for filing of the affidavits by the traders as per its order on shifting of such commercial ventures out of residential areas which were not approved, specially the big shops, has put up the matter for further hearing on February 2.

New Delhi, January 27
Eminent urban planner Kuldip Singh, speaking on behalf of his fraternity, today termed the entire exercise of the making of the Draft Master Plan 2021 (MPD) a ‘disaster’.

“It is by far one of the most unimaginative plans ever produced, even though it was created at a time when the most creative design could have been developed,” said Mr Singh.

Listing out a number of anomalies within the MPD - 2021, the planner said that nobody in his senses should allow this plan to pass. “It is a recipe for disaster for the city,” Mr Singh added.

Sanjay Kaul, President, People’s Action, was scathing in his attack on the government terming the plan as the nervous design of a political draughtsman. “This entire document is a political plan created under the stress of an impending election. It has nothing to do with the needs of a city and its people,” he said.

RWAs in the meantime have also raised the pitch for an immediate review of the plan by a group of accredited urban planners under the directions of the Supreme Court. “The situation is serious and if we allow this document to pass muster, we will never ever be able to reclaim this city for future generations,” said Wing Commander Mr J.S. Chadda of the East of Kailash Federation of RWAs.

“Even the aspect of private partnership in housing has to be seen in the light of obvious suspicion: the hand of the real estate lobby is everywhere in this plan,” he added.

Civil society groups have described the Master Plan as “divisive and detrimental to a harmonious city”. “There is a distinct attempt to split the polity into portions for easier political management of interests. The calibration of colonies is arbitrary and unfair. To suggest that a lower middle class existence in this city should be synonymous with chaos and indiscrete commercialisation is not only unfair, but legally untenable,” said Ms Alpana Kishore, Coordinator of the New Delhi People’s Alliance (NDPA), a civil society collective.

The planners claim that the DDA and the MCD have suddenly acquired a financial stake in the regularisation of irregularities. “System of annual charges is tailor made to harass the public and extort money. The Master Plan’s formulation in respect of the population growth is out of context. If Delhi could not provide adequate infrastructure for a population of 13.2 million in the last 45 years, how is the required infrastructure to be augmented for an additional population of 100 million in the next 15 years,” they questioned.

They also alleged that it did not have adequate safeguards for the preservation of Delhi’s natural assets like the river and the ridge. The remarks on the river Yamuna are most disturbing, they added. “DDA plans to exploit the flood plain for urban development which has to be stopped. Migration has been assumed to increase in the coming decade. No measure to check migration has been mentioned in the Master Plan,” they said.

“Environment issues and sustainability of the city’s infrastructure have no place in the MPD 2021,” the town planners alleged. 

Faridabad, January 27
The Haryana Government will set up an authority to focus on the rural development of the state, besides taking measures to bolster industrialisation and speedy development in various spheres.

The Chief Minister, Mr Bhupinder Singh Hooda, said this while addressing people after unfurling the national flag on the occasion of the 58th Republic Day at the sports complex here yesterday. Earlier, tributes were paid to martyrs at the war memorial in Sector 12 here. The Chief Minister took the salute at the march past by policemen, NCC cadets and schoolchildren. A cultural show was presented and tableaus of various departments were shown.

Stating that the government had decided to establish an authority to speed up development works in rural areas, he said selected villages in the state would be developed as model villages after the recommendations of the second Finance Commission of the state. While at least 1300 villages had benefited from the drinking water augmentation scheme, he said it was perhaps the first time a project for supplying piped water had started in the rural areas. Water connections to about 30 lakh families in rural areas would be provided in the next few years.

Claiming that there had been no discrimination with any part or region of the state, he said the construction of the 109-km- long Hansi-Butana branch canal from the Bhakra main line at a cost of Rs 259 crore had been a major achievement towards the equitable distribution of water. The project was nearing completion in October.

Mr Hooda added work on the Dadupur-Nalvi canal was also in progress. The state government was committed to getting Haryana’s share of water from the Sutlej-Yamuna Link Canal. Emphasising the need for tackling unemployment, Mr Hooda said efforts were being made to provide much needed relief. He said thousands of people would get employment opportunities as a result of the industrialization that had picked up pace in the past 23 months. A sum of Rs 10,000 crore had already been invested in the state, while another Rs 35,000 crore was to be invested.

The Chief Minister said his government had also opened avenues for government recruitment. There were as many as 16,000 posts of teacher and policeman. There was a possibility of another 5,000 posts in the police department.

He said the total value of investments made in the state in the past 40 years had been only Rs 40,000 crore. Regarding the policy on the Special Economic Zone in the state, the Chief Minister claimed it would fuel the fast track of development and employment opportunities for the local people and bring wealth in the area concerned. Mr Hooda revealed dozens of schemes for the backward, the rural poor and women had benefited thousands of families.

Stating that an amount of Rs 1,072 crore had been sanctioned for the development of infrastructure, including the flyovers in the NCR, he said several projects were in the pipeline. This included the Industrial Model Township, a light engineering manufacturing hub and the Metro network in Faridabad, besides a Rs 2,679 crore scheme for developing the civic infrastructure of this industrial city in the next five years. An amount of Rs 60 crore would be spent by the Haryana Urban Development Authority in Faridabad on development this year. Subdivisions, including Hodal, Palwal and Hassanpur, had been declared industrially backward by the state government to promote growth, he said. 

Gurgaon, January 27
The Speaker of the Haryana Assembly, Dr R. S. Kadian, said here the Congress government in the state had spent Rs 222 crore on various projects for development of the villages in the past about two years of its rule.

Dr Kadian said this at the 58th Republic Day function, which was celebrated at the local Police Lines ground.

He said the money had been spent on building stadiums, veterinary hospitals and school buildings, besides civic amenities etc.

He said the state was on the way to become the number one in the country in terms of development and modernisation.

He stressed the state was now witnessing an enviable environment of peace and tranquility which were conducive for investment.

He said the government had initiated a planned structural development of the state to prevent regional imbalance.

He underlined agriculture dominated the economic spectrum and the government was taking all measures to promote it.

The facilities which the present government had provided to strengthen the agriculture sector were more than what was received since the formation of Haryana about 25 years ago.

The government said job employment opportunities were being created for the benefit of the youth.

Ghaziabad, January 27
Some 5,600 applicants who had applied for a one-room tenement in Balmiki Ambedkar Scheme in Nand Gram will not be allotted any house.

Some 7,000 persons had applied for 1,400 houses in the scheme. GDA is finding it an uphill task to screen 7,000 applicants for 1,400 houses.

Under this Central Government scheme, all those who do not have a roof over their head were supposed to be allotted a one-room tenement in Balmiki Ambedkar Scheme.

Ghaziabad Development Authority officials are at their wits’ end as to how to wriggle out of this situation.

GDA had built some 2,500 one-room tenements out of which possession of 1,000 houses has already been handed over after their allotment.

There is a 50 per cent rebate in the price of the one-room tenement which is being provided by the Central Government.

According to GDA, Chief Engineer SPS Raghav, applications were received by GDA through District Nagreeye Vikas Council. GDA has sought the help of the District Administration so that there is no controversy in the allotment.

Allotments are made through a committee constituted by the District Administration. GDA has not yet fixed the doors in the tenements.

They will be fixed after the allotment of houses.

New Delhi, January 27
Jamia Millia Islamia University has come out vindicated in a month-long row that erupted on campus between the student community and the university administration. The university’s stand has been upheld by the Delhi High Court that dismissed writ-petitions filed by applicants, students whose admission had been rejected by the university and who alleged that the rejection was ‘grossly unfair’ and had challenged the university’s decision.

Unrest prevailed in Jamia through most of July last year and students had been sitting on indefinite hunger strike for consecutive weeks. Students’ unrest at Jamia has resulted due to allegations of major injustice meted out to students by the university administration.

Main demands of the students were re-admission for the rejected students, immediate commencement of the entire academic session in one round, Vice- Chancellor Mushirul Hassan’s resignation, police action against the then Proctor Rocket Ibrahim and his son Ejas.

The writ petitions filed by the students were heard by Justice Sanjay Kishen Kaul and arguments were subsequently advanced by both sides.

The University authorities had inter alia relied on the mandate of the Academic Council which had then ratified the Vice-Chancellor’s decision to deny admissions to those involved in violence, indiscipline and indecorous actions. 

Gurgaon, January 27
The Jain community and the masses in general are agitated over the theft of 10 priceless idols from Shree 1008 Parvasnath Digambar Jain Mandir. The theft reportedly took place in the early morning today.

The gang ran away with 10 idols, all made of eight ‘aast’ metals and did not touch gold and silver idols and other sacred goods of the community.

They entered the temple and broke the lock of main gate, locked the guard room from outside and then broke two gates to enter the temple, informed Devender Jain, general secretary of the Digambar Jain Mandir Samiti.

Afterwards, they took an empty bag of jute of rice from one room of the temple and possibly kept the idols of about 500 years old in it and ran away, added Mr Jain.

As usual in the early morning today, Satpal Jain, one of the devotees reached the temple at around 4:15 am and found the gates broken while the guard, Ramesh was still sleeping in his room. The room was locked from outside.

Ramesh informed this correspondent that he went to bed at around 11:30 last night and did not hear any sound of footsteps of persons or of breaking locks, gates, etc.

Mr Kanwar Sain Jain, president of Digambar Jain Mandir, lamented that this incident exposed the hollowness of the security system as the temple is located in the heart of the city.

The international gang which might be behind the incident should be traced and arrested immediately, demanded the president.

He said that the Jain community would take out a procession which would pass in the main market of the city.

It would also stage a demonstration at Fountain Crossing tomorrow to lodge their protest.

Some members of the community would also start a relay hunger strike from tomorrow to press for their demand for the recovery of idols.

Inspector General of Police, Gurgaon Range, Mr Mohinder Lal and Senior Superintendent of Police Hanif Qureshi reached the temple in the early morning and assured the Jain community that the police would leave no stone unturned to recover the idols.

Mr Qureshi said that various high-level teams have already been sent to Palwal, Mewat, Delhi, Hansi and Jhajjar and other places where such incidents had been reported in the past.

The Delhi Police have also been asked to beef up the security system at bus stands, railway stations and airports to check the smuggling of the idols, claimed the SSP. 

New Delhi, January 27
The Chief Minister of Delhi, Ms Sheila Dikshit, today inaugurated a newly-developed cricket ground at Government Senior Secondary School Bharat Nagar, near Ashok Vihar.

The ground, developed by the Directorate of Education, Department of Sports, is equipped with floodlights for day and night matches. A match was held between CM’s XI led by the Education Minister, Arvinder Singh Lovely, and Chief Secretary’s XI led by the Chief Secretary, Ramesh Narayanswami. 

New Delhi, January 27
Dense fog enveloped the skyline in the Capital today plummeting visibility levels and causing traffic jams in many areas, even as warmth in the Delhi air continued with the mercury rising to 9.4 degree Celsius.

After a clear sky in Delhi over the last two weeks, visibility levels dropped to as low as 200 meter at 7 am today due to the dense fog.

The fog, which persisted till about 9 am, caused traffic jams in several areas. Flight schedules at the international airport, however, remained unaffected though low visibility procedures had to be put in force.

“Low visibility procedures were put in force as the runway visibility range fell to 725 meter at 7 am.

The LVP was, however, discontinued after the RVR rose to 1150 m. No flights were, however, cancelled, diverted or rescheduled,” a spokesperson for the Airports Authority of India said.

Meanwhile, the mercury, continuing with its upward movement since Wednesday, today rose to 9.4 degree Celcius, one degree above normal. 

New Delhi, January 27
Thirty one schoolchildren had a providential escape here today when the bus in which they were travelling suddenly went up in flames in a busy South Delhi locality.

The CNG-run bus, which was taking the children back from the school, caught fire near the Chirag Dilli flyover in Hauz Khaz area at around 2:30 pm due to suspected leak in the gas cylinder, police said.

All the children, of the Delhi Kannada School in Lodhi Estate, were rescued before the fire spread.

Ghaziabad, January 27
The CBI is reportedly probing Commissioner, Meerut Division, Dev Dutt Sharma’s involvement in a Kasna land scam. The notorious land shark, Moti Goel and his syndicate had got titles of 400 bigha land in Kasna village revoked. In this case, administrative negligence had been detected.

The CBI had reportedly held the then District Magistrate, Bulandshahr, Dev Dutt responsible for the slipshod manner in which this case had been handled.

The CBI is understood to have written to the UP Chief Secretary to initiate action against Dev Dutt who is currently Commissioner Meerut Division. A chargesheet against Moti Goel and his syndicate has also been filed in the CBI court.

When the cases of land grab by Moti Goel were taken to the Allahabad High Court, the court had ordered one of the cases to be further investigated by the CBI.

The CBI had registered the land grab of 400 bigha government land on July 18, 2005.

According to CBI sources, 400 bighas of public land at Kasna in Greater Noida had been registered in the name of 89 persons who were not even residents of Kasna. On a complaint being lodged, the then SDM had probed the matter and land titles were cancelled. All these titles were in the name of Moti Goel and his syndicate.

When Dev Dutt joined as District Magistrate, Bulandshahr, he allegedly cancelled the orders of the SDM who had probed the matter and cancelled the registries.

All those who had fraudulently procured the land thus stood to benefit. The CBI had termed the action of the then DM Bulandshahr and current Divisional Commissioner, Meerut, Dev Dutt as “negligent and irresponsible”.

The CBI has written to the UP Chief Secretary for initiating action against Mr Dev Dutt. A chargesheet against Moti Goel, Charan Singh, Devinder Singh, Rohtash Sharma, Jatinder Maheshwari, Rajni Goel Vandhana, revenue official Shukar Pal and Dy D.M. Ram Lakhan Singh has been filed in the CBI court.

New Delhi, January 27
Relying on the dying declaration of a woman, a Delhi court has sentenced a man to life imprisonment for robbing and fatally stabbing her 11 years ago.

Additional Sessions Judge, Mr S P Garg, sentenced Syed Kasif Ali to life imprisonment for murdering Mehmooda, while committing a robbery in her house.

The court also sentenced his accomplice Mohammed Akil to three years rigorous imprisonment after finding him guilty of receiving stolen property.

The victim had given two dying declarations in the hospital before her death, one to her brother and the other to the investigating officer.

However, the third accused Sandeep Gupta, from whom robbery proceeds of Rs 2,500 were allegedly recovered, was acquitted for want of sufficient evidence. The case was registered on the complaint of one Soni who worked as a maid servant in the house of the victim Mehmooda in Sukhdev Vihar in South Delhi. On January 9, 1996, she was cleaning utensils in the kitchen when at 11.50 am, two men aged 20-25 years carrying knives entered the house and gagged her. She was stabbed when she raised an alarm. Hearing the noise, her landlady Mehmooda came rushing to the kitchen and was also stabbed.

Noida, January 27
Obtaining information under the RTI Act from the Noida Authority is quite an uphill task. Two activists found this out the hard way. The two were sent to jail after being thrashed for trying to seek information under the RTI Act. A case of assaulting a head constable and another policeman of the Noida Authority has been filed against the two.

The Noida police are alleged to have manhandled the two activists. Noida Authority police inspector Harsh Vardhan Badhorya is also alleged to have dragged a TV channel reporter from his shirt collar and tried to snatch the tape from the cameraman. Well-known RTI activist Arvind Kajeriwal was also manhandled by Noida Authority cops who reportedly abused some journalists also.

The police have slapped a case of interference in the discharge of official duties against RTI activists Vibhav Kumar and Rajiv Kumar, who are associated with Parivartan. They were detained in the Sector 20 police station after the registration of an FIR.

Certain workers had gone to the Noida Authority in connection with an appeal under the RTI Act. At 4 pm, the matter was placed before a senior official who reportedly insulted them. When they tried to protest, they were abused and pushed out.

The Noida Authority has, however, denied the matter was RTI related. However, activists insisted it was connected with an RTI inquiry. A Noida Authority spokesman, however, said the two activists had not made it clear that they had come in connection with RTI. They had pushed the peon and entered the chamber of the senior officer forcibly.

“When I called the peon and asked them to go out, they stayed put in the room. After some argument, the security staff had to push them out,” the senior officer said.

New Delhi, January 27
With the arrest of four persons, Salim, Parvesh, Ikram and Firoz, the North-East district today claimed to have solved the kidnapping and murder case of a trader. A knife, two countrymade pistols, three live cartridges, one fired cartridge, Rs 20,000 and one stolen Maruti car were recovered from their possession.

Mehboob, a resident of Mustafabad, had reported that he along with his elder brother, Mehmood, used to run a wholesale shop of general articles at Chaman Vihar. Some unknown persons abducted Mehmood in a Maruti car near Titiksha Public School. Two of them also took away his scooter. 

Bulandshahr, January 27
Two young men astride a bike on Jhandupura crossing fired on the driver of a Tata Sumo coming from Anup Shahar because he was not letting them overtake.

Sumo driver had slumped on the ground. He was later rushed to district hospital in a serious condition by cops. The driver Viresh of Ralibhan village had been shot in the head. The police were able to overpower one of the youths in Jahngirabad.

New Delhi, January 27
A Delhi court today acquitted a man of the charges of raping a girl after kidnapping her from her West Delhi residence last year.

It is not a case in which the girl has turned hostile. In fact, she has not supported the prosecution from the very beginning, the court said.

It also noted that the girl had not levelled any allegation against the accused Tavraj Alam in her statement recorded before a Metropolitan Magistrate.

The court absolved Alam, a resident of Malda, West Bengal, of the charges under Sections 366 (kidnapping for the purpose of marriage) and 376 (rape) of the IPC.

New Delhi, January 27
The Delhi Government today notified the hike in salary of MLAs in the gazette.

“After receiving the presidential assent on Thursday, we notified the hike in the gazette”, Delhi Finance Minister A. K. Walia said.

The legislation in this regard was passed in the winter session of the assembly, he said.

After the notification, the salary of the Chief Minister and ministers would increase to Rs 39,000 per month against Rs 26,000 per month at present.

The MLAs would now get Rs 34,000 per month.— OC

New Delhi, January 27
The National Geographic Channel is all set to telecast a series of 14 animated films for children. The films have 2-d animation and very meaningful storylines with a message for children. This series premiered on Nat-Geo Junior at 4 pm on Saturday, 27th January and will be telecast once a week at the same time on subsequent Saturdays.

This series is based on widely acclaimed stories written by Dr Daisaku Ikeda, the president of the Soka Gakkai International, a lay Buddhist organisation.

The films talk of friendship, bonding, true spirit of sport, sharing of inspiration, camaraderie, value of culture, environment etc.

The stories are inter-woven with beautiful animation and stunning detailing.

These films and the little fables they carry within them touch the spirit and heart, becoming a reminder of the beauty of existence and of our relation with the environment, people and animals alike.

Significantly, the National Geographic channel is making a pioneering effort in these series, removed from its standard programming convention.