New Delhi, April 22
The Delhi Government has come under sharp criticism in the annual Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG) report for funding private power distribution companies not in conformity with the Central guidelines.

The release of Accelerated Power Development and Reform Programme (APDRP) funds of Rs 105.51 crore to the discoms by the Government of Delhi was not in conformity with the guidelines of the Centre which envisaged release of assistance only to state electricity boards or utilities, the report said.

The Centre launched the ‘Accelerated Power Development Programme (APDP)’ in 2000-01 under which assistance was provided to state governments as additional Central plan assistance to upgrade the power distribution network.

This programme was re-christened as the Accelerated Power Development and Reform Programme (APDRP) in 2002-03. The main objectives of the APDRP were to reduce the aggregate technical and commercial losses and bring about commercial viability in the power sector.

In June 2001, the erstwhile Delhi Vidyut Board (DVB) submitted a proposal for assistance of Rs 548.57 crore under the APDP to the Power Finance Corporation/Central Electricity Authority for electrification of unauthorised colonies and upgradation of transmission and distribution networks.

No funds were released in 2000-03. Meanwhile, the process of privatisation of the distribution of power also began and the Government of Delhi requested the Centre to release the APDRP money to the private discoms to maintain the credibility of the reform process.

In March 2003, the Central Government released Rs 105.51 crore to the Government of the National Capital Territory of Delhi as APDRP assistance, which, according to the CAG, was in violation of the norms.

The audit scrutiny also revealed that while NDPL had remitted all its dues except for penal interest to the Delhi Government, BRPL and BYPL had remitted only one installment each as against three installments resulting in outstanding dues of Rs 1.74 crore, as of November 2006.

The government stated that the Government of India had refused further disbursement of

APDRP funds to the Delhi Government for discoms only in June 2005 and repayment of principal was commenced thereafter.

NDPL has prepaid the entire loan amount with interest while the BRPL/BYPL had been asked to prepay the entire loan along with penal interest.

The Government added that it would take appropriate action if BSES defaulted in making the repayment, the CAG report said.

New Delhi, April 22
The tussle to get 140 mgd of water for the Sonia Vihar water treatment plant before the summer sets in, has got a boost with the Centre sending a clear message to the Uttar Pradesh Government to release the full amount this season.

At a high-level meeting chaired by Union Power Secretary Anil Razdan and attended by Delhi Chief Secretary R Narayanswami, Uttar Pradesh’s Principal Secretary (Power) and Special Secretary (Water) and Delhi Jal Board CEO Arun Mathur, the Centre asked the neighbouring state to release the entire quantum of 140 mgd of water and sign an MoU with the Delhi Government to this effect.

Uttar Pradesh gets 30-35 cusecs of water from the Tehri as of now, about four times more than last year, and Delhi needs only eight cusecs, Razdan is understood to have told officials of that state.

Earlier, the Uttar Pradesh Government, which released 50 mgd of water for Sonia Vihar, had refused to release the entire 140 mgd due for Delhi, citing its own irrigation needs.

Though Delhi’s water needs have been met to some extent by the 50 mgd released for the Sonia Vihar plant, it needs full 140 mgd to meet its growing demands.

New Delhi, April 22
If the proposal of the NCERT is accepted, Class X students could soon be saved from examination blues.

The NCERT also plans to ask examination boards to do away with the pass and fail system of assessment for all tests till Class XII.

The focus group on examination reforms, constituted as part of the national curriculum framework 2005, has made these short-term and long-term recommendations to reduce stress in students.

“In the long run, we want to abolish the pass or fail system. Students will be awarded grades and there will be ample scope for them to improve subsequently, Avtar Singh, member secretary of the focus group told reporters.

One of the group’s key suggestions was making the Class X examination optional for those who want to continue higher studies. Only those who want to take up some job or discontinue studies can appear for the Class X exam. The final testing of students will be conducted in Class XII in a more flexible manner with a provision for them to clear the papers in parts.

A student will have the flexibility to appear for papers in parts over two years.

There will be more flexibility in conducting examinations as the board will hold the tests three or four times a year. This is something the Kerala Board introduced last year.

New Delhi, April 22
More than 20 per cent of the people are afflicted with a common medical disorder—allergic rhinitis mainly because of the growing environmental pollution and mental stress caused by hectic lifestyle and this needs to be addressed properly, experts at the update on allergic rhinitis said today.

The update was organised by the All India Rhinology Society and the Indraprastha Apollo Hospitals here.

Rhinitis is an allergic disease which is mostly neglected and a major risk factor for asthma. Epidemiologically, more than 80 per cent of the people who suffer from asthma have allergic rhinitis and more than 60 per cent people suffering from allergic rhinitis have asthma.

Recent studies also suggest that allergic rhinitis is a risk factor for developing asthma in people who do not yet have asthma, according to Dr Arvind Soni, organising chairman and senior ENT consultant at the Indraprastha Apollo Hospitals here.

“Management of allergic rhinitis comprises patient education, allergen avoidance, pharmacotherapy and validated allergen-specific immunotherapy,” says Dr Soni

Dr S. S. Shindu, another ENT specialist, said that allergic rhinitis can make asthma harder to control as many people do not recognize the symptoms of rhinitis.

A large number of ENT specialists from all over the country participated in the update.

New Delhi, April 22
The Delhi Government has formed a committee to reassess the public health system in the Capital. With a large number of patients flooding hospitals, there is a need to overhaul the entire public health system we have adopted so far, according to the Principal Health Secretary, Mr D S Negi, who heads the committee.

Currently, recruitment is done and infrastructure is estimated on the basis of the number of beds in hospitals. However, it should be done on the basis of the number of patients that the hospitals are catering to, Mr Negi has suggested.

New Delhi, April 22
About 100 orthopaedic surgeons have been given a rare opportunity to perform delicate ankle and hip operations on cadavers in order to brush up their skills for the first time in India.

The anatomy department of Lady Hardinge Medical College here looked like a large operation theatre where 50 doctors, working on six tables at one go, concentrated while seniors guided them through the intricate keyhole surgery.

This was the first workshop of its kind in the country where keyhole surgery was demonstrated by eminent arthroscopic surgeons from Australia and Britain on cadavers, according to Dr Sudhir Kapoor, head of the Department of Orthopaedics at the college and organising secretary of the workshop.

For surgeons, who
usually learn by watching videos or live surgeries or work on models, it was a chance to understand the challenges they could face when they operate, Dr Kapoor said.

Greater Noida, April 22
A local court today sentenced two persons to 10 years rigorous imprisonment and a fine of Rs 10,000 each holding them guilty of gangraping a woman.

The Additional Session and District Judge- I, Mr Bharat Bhushan mainly relied on the statements of the victim and her nephew. According to the district public prosecutor, Jai Prakash, four persons had intruded into the house of Rajo (pseudonym) in a village under Rabupura police station on the night of 26-27 July, 2004. Rajo’s husband and other male members of the family had gone to the tube-well to irrigate the field at that time.

Two masked men pushed all the family members including an eight-year-old nephew of the woman at gun-point to a corner of the house. Putting a gun at Rajo’s ear-pit, the intruders, including Babli and Subash of the same village, gangraped Rajo.

The victim had given a written complaint to the Rabupura police, but cops refused to register the case. The victim then went to Noida and met the then SP city. On SP city’s instructions, Sector-49 police station had registered the complaint and sent the victim and her garments for a medical examination. The investigation was also transferred to Sector-49 police station by SP city.

When the matter came up in the court, the victim, along with her 8-year-old nephew, an eye-witness in the case, identified Babli and Subash in the court. Their crime was also proved by the scratches on the victim’s body and her torn and blood stained clothes.

The Additional District and Session Judge-I pronounced the rapists guilty and sentenced them to 10 years rigorous imprisonment and a fine of Rs 10,000 each. They were sentenced to another two years rigorous imprisonment for threatening to kill the victim.

Both the sentences will, however, run concurrently.

Ghaziabad, April 22
The police in west UP have once again grabbed limelight for wrong reason. Probes have found the police versions and claims hallow in connection with two encounters—in Loni and other in Meerut in which two innocent persons were killed in fake encounters..

In all, 19 cops are reportedly involved who are going to get the stick.

A Meerut court has ordered that a case of abduction and murder be filed against the cops involved in two encounters. The two men, whom police are accused of having abducted and killed, belonged to Muzzafarnagar.

About seven years ago, three Bulandshahr cops had abducted Rajab Ali from Meerut at gunpoint. He was killed in cold blood the next day while police claimed that Rajab Ali was killed in an encounter.

In the second case about two years ago, SDM Sadar had termed a fake encounter in which Delhi and Loni police had jointly shot dead a youth, Tahir, claiming that he was a criminal.

In his report, SDM said Loni police had arrested Tahir on a non-bailable warrant. But instead of presenting him in a court, Loni police and Delhi Police had colluded and shot him dead.

The court had ordered registering of a case against the guilty cops and taking further action against those involved in fake encounter and murders.

SI Brijender Singh Rawat, cop Madansom, Ashok Kumar, Ishwer Singh, Subash Tyagi of Loni police and SI Balkishen Badola, cop Jagmohan and Rajinder Singh from Delhi Police had jointly killed Tahir, alias Sultana, of Muzzafarnagar near Tila Shahbazpur, Loni on the night of July 23, 24, 2005.

Tahir’s father Ahmed Hussan had lodged a complaint with the National Human Rights Commission. SDM had found police version totally fake and baseless.

In his report, SDM said Tahir was living in Loni near Bakam School.

As he had not appeared in a court case under Section-307 in Muzzafarnagar, Tahir was arrested under an NBW for which a notice had been issued to his maternal uncle, Abdul Karim also. 

New Delhi, April 22
After a long struggle spanning over 36 years, a widow whose husband had migrated from Pakistan in 1947, finally got a plot under the Displaced Persons Act through the Delhi High Court’s intervention.

In a recent judgement, the High Court directed the Delhi Development Authority to allot a plot to Darshna Devi within four weeks and also slapped it with a cost of Rs 15,000 for the delay in allotment.

In the circumstances of the present case, this court finds that the failure by the DDA to allot the petitioner a category ‘A’ plot under the ‘Gadgil Assurance Scheme’ is unreasonable and unsustainable in law, Justice S Murlidhar observed.

The court cannot but express its displeasure at the stand of DDA for not taking note of categorical findings of the facts arrived at by the Permanent Lok Adalat (PLA) and the fact that the DDA Vice-Chairman had himself approved the allotment of plot to her.

Noida, April 22
The charges of Delhi Noida direct flyway (DND) have been hiked by 10 per cent. Toll charges have been increased to Rs 20 for cars and Rs 10 for two wheelers from Rs 18 and Rs 9, respectively.

The increase in toll fee has been affected for two-wheelers and light four-wheel vehicles only. For other vehicles, there is no hike in the toll charges, a spokesman of the DND flyway company said. The DND flyway plays an important role in connecting Noida and Greater Noida with South Delhi areas.

An estimated over 50,000 vehicles use the flyway daily. People feel that already the DND toll charges were quite high.

Faridabad, April 22
Residents of several colonies located near Sector 37 and in the vicinity of the border of national Capital here have demanded that the state government reduce various electricity charges and open more customer care centres to attend to complaints and to provide better services to the consumers.

The demand was raised at a seminar organised jointly by the Residents’ Welfare Association (RWA) of the area and the All Haryana Power Corporations Workers Union (AHPCWU) at Sehatpur village today.

It was claimed at the gathering that the problem of power theft and line loss had erupted due to faulty policies and functioning of the power department and not due to the reasons cited by the senior officials of the department.

According to an office-bearer of the RWA of the SuryaVihar Colony of the area, there were around 87 colonies in the region, who do not have a regular power connection.

The residents claimed that the increased charges, including the development charge and security deposits, coupled with non-availability of service centre or office where such formalities could be fulfilled, posed as a deterrent in getting regular connection from the department.

“This has resulted in large number of illegal connections (kundi connections) in these colonies where the population could be around 1.5 lakh at present,” the RWA office-bearer said.

He added that the facility of getting a connection or lodging complaint with the SDO office in the region was withdrawn following the opening of a combined Customer Care Centre (CCC) in sector 23, which he said was more than 15 kms away.

He said that since the service centre was very far away from here, a majority of the residents who either work in factories or in companies in Delhi did not get time to visit the CCC and had to depend on the agents of the department, who charged certain amount to get the work done or collect monthly payments for providing unauthorized supply to their houses.

According to another resident of Shiv Colony in the region, the shifting of customer centre to sector- 23 had come as a shock to the residents, as it was not only time consuming but a costly affair to visit the CCC for every problem concerned with the power supply.

He said this had made the residents to depend on ‘agents’ or corrupt practice.

Last year, the department had hiked the security deposit from Rs 52 to Rs 500 per KW for new connection, besides charging an amount of Rs 20 per sq. yard for the house on 100 sq. yards plot. The development charge is Rs 30 per sq. yard for a house on plot size of above 100 sq. yards.

A spokesperson of the AHPCWU at the function admitted that corruption had been a major issue, but claimed that clubbing all customer services at one place would aggravate the problem, while causing a gross inconvenience to the consumers at large.

Revealing that there were just eight employees of the department posted in the area to cater to about 1.5 lakh population, he said a customer centre was required in every 2 kms radius of the city, and centralizing it at one place could not be justified. Seeking withdrawal of outsourcing and contractual system in the department, he claimed that crores of rupees had gone waste without any relief to the consumer. 

Noida, April 22
Around 1,000 telephone lines in Noida have gone dead after a Noida Authority contractor cut the telecom cables of BSNL.

Interestingly, the FIRs have already been lodged twice against the contractor for cutting the cables.

Surprisingly, neither Noida police nor Noida Authority is known to have taken any action against this contractor.

According to Dy Divisional Engineer of the BSNL, this contractor had allegedly slashed the telecom cable at four points on the night of April 19-20.

The 200 pair cables from D-19 Sector-2, 100 pairs near temple, 100 pairs near D-22 and 20 pairs near D-19 in Sector 2 were cut. This has affected telecom board band 1000 telephone connections. The BSNL has suffered a loss of Rs 5 lakh.

Traders strike bargains worth crores of rupees on these lines daily, the officials said. A third FIR has been lodged against Manoj Chaudhary, the Noida Authority contractor. According to the BSNL officials, the contractor has been booked under non-bailable Telegraph Act this time.

However, the Noida Authority officials, who had in the past assured that BSNL cables would not be slashed in future, have not taken any action against the contractor nor has he been black-listed.

New Delhi, April 22
Owners of private hotels and farm, house and golf courses from Faridabad and Gurgaon have joined hands with the Haryana Tourism to project Haryana at SATTE, the Travel and Tourism Exchange concluded today at Pragati Maidan in the Capital.

This is the first time the Haryana Tourism is participating in SATTE. According to the Minister of Tourism, Haryana, Ms Kiran Choudhry, it was a maiden effort by the Haryana Tourism to collaborate with private sector for aggressive marketing of the state.

She said the objective was to market tourist destinations like Surajkund, Kurukshetra, Pinjore, Morni Hills. She hoped that this effort would
be successful in promoting the public private partnership and go a long way in placing Haryana on the tourist map of the world.