 |
|
|
1,000 more buses before Games
CAIT Board to ensure MPD implementation
Doctor awarded compensation of Rs 36 lakh
Police chief ordered to check smuggling of illicit liquor
|
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Partly cloudy sky forecast
Rs 21 lakh compensation to wife of IAS officer
Master Plan awareness rally held
Charges to be framed against businessman in FERA case
Three charged with murder acquitted‘
Institute focused on ‘women empowerment’
CBI examines Pradhan’s bank accounts
Establishing peace through divine knowledge
Helplines helping students fight exam blues
A feast of art for connoisseurs
|
|
1,000 more buses before Games
New Delhi, February 18 Major purchases for the Games will include modern AC buses and minibuses for participants, managers and coaches, according to Delhi Transport Minister Haroon Yusuf. “As many as 800 deluxe buses will be purchased and Rs 160 crore will be invested for this. Apart from that, Rs 80 crore will go to buying 200 AC buses. These 200 buses will be exclusively for participants, managers, coaches and trainers,” he said. For the Games Village staff, managers and participants, 100 more AC minibuses will be bought, for which Rs 20 crore has been earmarked. “Rs 10 crore will be used for miscellaneous purposes like renovating and developing bus terminals, ISBTs and improving signage,” Mr Yusuf said. After the Commonwealth Games, these buses will be open for public use and will be improvised as inter-state buses. “All these buses will be in addition to the monorail, DTC bus service and Metro,” he said. Another 1,000 buses, including 500 AC buses and 500 low-floor deluxe buses, will be added by 2010, he said. By the end of this year, Delhi will have 50 low-floor buses. “Tenders have already been invited for this and bids will be opened shortly,” Mr Yusuf said. He, however, added that funds allocated by the Centre to the Transport Department for the Games fell short of the requirements. “Delhi Government had asked for Rs 1,314.40 crore for infrastructure development for the 2010 Commonwealth Games, but only Rs 770 crore has been allocated, of which Rs 270 crore is for the transport sector,” he said.
|
|
|
CAIT Board to ensure MPD implementation
New Delhi, February 18 CAIT secretary-general Praveen Khandelwal said that the advisory panel Trade leaders Murli Mani and Satish Garg will act as president and general secretary respectively of the Board. Mr Khandelwal said that the utter failure of earlier Master Plans had led to turmoil in Delhi last year and traders were made scapegoats even when they were not at fault. This resulted in displacement of families, and a blow to the social and economic life of even an ordinary. Taking a lesson from this, the traders decided to form a ‘Urban Watch Dog Force’ in the form of the Board to keep an eye on Master Plan 2021. CAIT secretary-general said that the Board will make all efforts to ensure implementation of provisions of MPD 2021 within stipulated time. It will also suggest plans to the Government from time to time. The board will also carry a survey and other research work in case the Government agencies fail to do so. The board will exert regular pressure on the Government to prepare 17 Zonal Plans and about 250 lay out plans, which are essential in order to give practical shape to the Master Plan. The board will also bring out publications to make the public understand the provisions of the Master Plan and in this context will also launch an educational drive across the city. The board also intends to organize workshops on important issues concerning Master Plan. Mr Khandelwal also said that along with Master Plan, the board will focus on other core issues concerning trade.
|
|
|
Doctor awarded compensation of Rs 36 lakh
New Delhi, February 18 “It is well established that Prasun Ghosh (the doctor) sustained injuries on account of negligent driving by the driver of the bus,” said Additional Sessions Judge Gurdeep Singh in a recent order. Ghosh, a surgeon, suffered multiple fractures in his right leg on November 19, 1997 after he was hit while riding his scooter by a bus which was coming on the wrong side of the road near Mota Singh Marg. In a petition filed through his counsel Yoginder Vasisht, Ghosh had contended before the Tribunal that he was forced to undergo various surgical operations regularly because of the accident. He further complained of loss of professional acumen as his occupation demanded him to stand for hours to perform surgeries, which had become difficult due to the partial disability in his right leg. Accepting the plea, the Tribunal said, “Surgery by its very nature requires one to carry the operation for a longer period and with this kind of injury, it would not be possible to do the surgery for hours.” Holding the driver, owner and the person in whose custody the bus was, jointly liable, the Tribunal asked them to pay the compensation within a month.
|
|
|
Police chief ordered to check smuggling of illicit liquor
New Delhi, February 18 “It is expected of the police that they should chalk out some strategy so as to check the infiltration of such liquor into the boundary of Delhi but also take serious steps by invoking statute like MACOCA for controlling the habitual defaulter in appropriate cases,” Metropolitan Magistrate Surinder S Rathi said in a recent order. The court gave the direction while sentencing one Rekha, a resident of Sultanpuri in North-West Delhi to rigorous imprisonment for two years with a fine of Rs 5000 after finding her guilty under various provisions of the Punjab Excise Act. Rejecting the leniency plea of the convict, a mother of five minor children, the court said she has been facing trial in various cases in which she was accused of transporting illicit liquor. Rekha was arrested on February 29, 2000 at Hind Vihar here with 100 pouches and 40 bottles of illicit liquor. The court, directing the Police Commissioner and other police officials to take necessary action, observed that the spreading tentacles of the illicit liquor trade were not only causing revenue loss to the Capital but also resulting in sociological change. “The pendency of such cases in the court shows that the local police is taking good care of the statistics but a lot is needed to be done to contain the menace of this crime,” the court remarked.
|
|
|
Partly cloudy sky forecast
New Delhi, February 18 Delhiites woke up to a dull Sunday morning as shallow fog enveloped the Capital and clouds kept the sun at bay. The weather office has forecast a partly cloudy sky in Delhi during the next 24 hours with possibility of thunderstorms or light rains in some areas. After maintaining the rising trend for three days, the mercury yesterday dipped to 9.1 degree Celsius, the lowest this month. The Capital has been experiencing sunny days interspersed with cloudy intervals.
|
|
|
Rs 21 lakh compensation to wife of IAS officer
New Delhi, February 18 Awarding the compensation to the wife of deceased Nirmal Wadhwani, Mugdha Sinha, who is also an IAS officer, MACT Presiding Officer V K Maheshwari held New India Assurance Company, the insurer of the offending vehicle, owner of the vehicle Ammonia Supply Co and driver Phool Singh jointly liable to pay the amount. The court ruled that a government servant’s salary increases every year due to annual increment and twice every year due to revision of Dearness Allowance. Besides, a government servant is entitled to at least two promotions in his career on account of the Assured Career Promotion Scheme. The court also took note of the submission of the petitioner that Wadhwani was a bright young officer with graduate and postgraduate degrees from IIT, who became an IAS officer at the age of 22 years in 1993 and could have been promoted to the rank of Cabinet Secretary. According to the claim filed by Sinha, Wadhwani was on his way to Jaipur from Ajmer on May 6, 2002 on official duty in an Ambassador car when the tanker, driven in a rash and negligent manner, came from the opposite direction at high speed and hit it. Wadhwani, his driver Bhanwar Lal and his armed guard Madan Singh died on the spot. At that time, he was posted as District Collector of Ajmer.
|
|
|
Master Plan awareness rally held
New Delhi, February 18 Praising this initiative taken by the UPA government, he said on the occasion that it would definitely turn the face of this city on the lines of other top cities of the world.
|
|
Charges to be framed against businessman in FERA case
New Delhi, February 18 Abhishek, son of Veena Verma and poet Srikant Verma, both former Congress MPs, was accused of importing worthless floppies to the tune of 12 lakh dollars making payment against it during 1995-96. The Enforcement Directorate had registered a case against him in 2002 alleging that later he exported goods worth two million dollars and did not show receiving the payment from foreign country.
|
||||
|
Three charged with murder acquitted‘
New Delhi, February 18 “There are a number of contradictions and improvements in the statement of witnesses Jagdev Singh and Praveen and the same does not inspire confidence,” Additional Sessions Judge Bharat Parashar said. The court had acquitted the three accused– Sanjay Kumar, Mintoo Kumar and Vijender—of the charges under Section 302 (murder) of IPC, saying the prosecution had ‘miserably failed’ in proving its case against them. “When the uncorroborated testimony of Jagdev Singh himself does not inspire confidence, then the testimony of Praveen cannot be relied upon at all as he admittedly was not an eyewitness of the incident but was rather told about it by Singh when he was chasing the accused,” the court said. According to the prosecution, Singh, an eyewitness, and Praveen, who met him on the way, had chased the accused after they shot dead his nephew Sandeep at Narela on October 4, 2001. The accused managed to escape by boarding a running train. After the chase, “both of them chose to go to village Katlupur here to convey information about the incident to father of deceased Sandeep and did not care to look after the deceased who was none else but his nephew”, the court said. “Their statements that after reaching the village, Singh fell ill and thus they returned to police station Narela only in the evening to record their version, seem to be a concocted story,” the judge said. Sanjay Kumar and Mintoo Kumar were arrested 10 days later on October 14 while Vijender was apprehended on October 19. All the three accused were in judicial custody.
|
||||
|
Institute focused on ‘women empowerment’
Faridabad, February 18 The ‘Savitri Polytechnic for Women’ here is one of such bodies in the field which appears to be focused on the growth of women. This has been the claim of Mr S.N.Duggal, the person behind this concept, and who started this institute about 15 years ago. Stating that though women had been liberated, a large section of this category, especially from the middle and lower class, is still underprivileged. He said while empowerment of women was still a pressing need in the semi-urban and rural parts, the Savitri Polytechnic and its branches have been welcoming the girls from such a background to make them qualified in vocations that could really make them independent. Claiming that the institute had trained more than 9000 women and girls in the past many years, he said the fee was not the main thing for the institute, but it was the dedication and interest of the candidate. He said the institute had been offering free education through scholarships provided by some NRIs and this had been perhaps the reason that there had been a demand of starting such a facility at the smaller towns and in rural parts also. According to him, the main reason was to enable the women break the shackles of ignorance in the world where the competition had been getting fierce by the day.
|
||||
|
CBI examines Pradhan’s bank accounts
Bulandshahr, February 18 After the cross examination of the state’s former Irrigation Minister, Merajjuddin, it was being felt that some other accused could also be interrogated. The CBI tam had taken the photostat copies of a number of documents examined by it in the bank. The bank accounts of some of the close relatives of Ravinder Pradhan were also reportedly examined by the CBI team. Besides, some other banks in the town have been asked to furnish necessary details of the bank accounts of the Ravinder Pradhan, it is learnt.
|
||||
|
Establishing peace through divine knowledge
Noida, February 18 “You don’t know me. My real form is Jyoti, source of light –‘Prakash’. I give light to the sun even. Knowledge is not theoretical knowledge, it is when we go beyond he realms knowledge that we can understand the beyond. All religions say this: I live in every body’s heart and mind.” This was the crux of the spiritual discourse of Swami Vishal Anand of the Divya Jyoti Jagriti Sansthan which organised a one-day seminar at Jal Vayu Vihar in sector 25 Noida yesterday. An engineer by training who was attracted to the Sansathan, Swami Vishal Anand said real freedom for man is in the spiritual sense as in spite of education and political freedom, we continue to be mentally bound and suffer from limitations and narrow mindsets. He said according to Swami Ashitosh Maharaj, the founder of the Sansthan, when Arjuna was enlightened, he saw beyond himself and his surroundings. Dhyan is to see—it is a mind to mind process, what you concentrate on. We lack Sadhna to focus our mind. Reforms can come through inner light— the awakening, he said. Self-control is the real freedom, unless we are spiritually free, we cannot be called truly free. He said, “Our philosophy is based on all religious scriptures. We have to see our divine light form. We are not mere physical entity–we are a spiritual being, we ourselves are beams of light, divine lights beyond the realm of knowledge which can become part of a Brahm Gyani,” Swami Vishal Anand said. The Divya Jyoti Jagran Jagran Sansthan, is a global organization with centres in the USA, the UK, Germany, France, Dubai Australia, etc, and in different states and cities within India.
|
||||
|
Helplines helping students fight exam blues
New Delhi, February 18 With board examinations approaching, the helplines set up to deal with exam blues are getting an increasing number of desperate calls. “The boy’s feeling was that he would be thrown out of his house if he fails in the CBSE exams. It took me almost 45 minutes to convince him against suicide,” said Roy, one of the 41 CBSE counsellors. With the deadline for the Class X and Class XII examinations nearing, students are dialling the help lines for anything and everything, from planning their preparations to coping with parental pressure. Some are feeling guilty that they did not use their time during the academic year, while others are just drained out due to hectic preparations and need to relax. “The pattern of calls has changed. Anxiety is creeping up and both parents and students are stressed as the exams are nearing,” said Gitanjali Kumar, another counsellor. Kumar said many callers have complained about losing sleep for nights at a stretch. “Some are complaining that they are feeling blank,” she said. In the past two to three days, calls from students are increasingly indicating that they have entered into a decisive phase of preparations, said B Singh, another counsellor. Many calls are about last-minute preparations, he said. “There are students who are seeking memory tips. Dealing with anxiety and parental pressure is also among the issues,” Roy said. Counsellors said they were able to follow up certain cases as students keep in touch with them constantly. “Some students are in constant touch with us and we are able to gauge their progress,” Kumar said.
|
||||
|
Artscape Ravi Bhatia Tribune News Service
New Delhi, February 18 The Gallery is also presenting an exhibition of art works of another contemporary artist, Naeem Rana during the same period. As if this was not enough for art lovers, the Gallery is also exhibiting the works of Aditya Basak from February 16 to March 3. Festival of Letters
The Sahitya Akademi here is holding its annual Festival of Letters from February 19 to February 25. The festival will be formally inaugurated on February 19 with the unveiling of the Akademi 2006 exhibition at Rabindra
Bhawan. Awards will be presented on February 20 at the Kamani Auditorium. A writers’ meet is scheduled on February 21 followed by a lecture by Prof. U. R. Anantha Murthy on “Five Decades of My Writing”. A national seminar on “The Rising 1857: Colonization, Literature and March to Freedom” will be held at the India International
Centre from February 22 to February 25. Play to commemorate anniversary of Pushkin
The Russian Centre of Science and Culture in collaboration with the National Institute of Performing Arts presented “The Golden Fish”, a play based on the poem of the famous Russian poet, Alexander Pushkin. The play was specially staged to commemorate the 170th death anniversary of the poet at the Concert Hall of the Russian Centre for Science and Culture. The play was directed by V. K. and E Zavadsky. Exhibition of bronze sculptures
An exhibition of bronze sculptures, drawings and paintings by some of the well-known contemporary artists is being held at the Lalit Kala Galleries, Rabindra Bhawan here from February 17 to February 23. Some of the artists participating in the exhibition are Mukul Panwar, Jeram Patel, Amrut Patel, Vidya Sagar Upadhaya and Brahmprakash. Paintings by 25 contemporary artists
The Art Konsult here is holding “Does Size Matter”, a group exhibition of paintings by 25 contemporary artists. The exhibition, which is on from February 20 to March 8, seeks to break the myth that big alone is beautiful in arts. All the paintings in the exhibition are of small format, some of them apparently inspired by the Indian and European miniatures.
‘Swirling’, a solo show of paintings
The Kumar Gallery here is presenting “Swirling”, a solo show of paintings by the well-known artist, Sangeeta Gupta from February 22 to February 28. According to critics, Sangeeta wields the brush with finesse, suggesting the viscosity of ink and the glossiness of lacquer. The paintings on view reveal panoramic motifs, prints in the sand, fossils bearing testimony to the narrative of time and recollection of fingerprints. |
||||
| HOME PAGE | |
Punjab | Haryana | Jammu & Kashmir |
Himachal Pradesh | Regional Briefs |
Nation | Opinions | | Business | Sports | World | Mailbag | Chandigarh | Ludhiana | Delhi | | Calendar | Weather | Archive | Subscribe | Suggestion | E-mail | |
