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Mayor Arti favours trifurcation of MCD
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Teachers decry Foreign Educational Institutions Bill
Procuring wheat: Private players ahead of govt agencies
Woman killed by two daughters for land
Death by negligence: Woman let off
One killed over property dispute
Parking attendant convicted of taking joy ride
Dry taps: Jal Board plans relief
Shiksha Kendra in Noida
IGNOU to set up consortium of libraries
Students celebrate Earth Day
A day of heat and dust
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Mayor Arti favours trifurcation of MCD
New Delhi, April 23 She said, “This is our party’s stand also if there is no political motive in trifurcating the MCD.” However, the Mayor opposed the Delhi Government’s move to take the MCD under its command. All the councillors across the party line would not accept this decision of Sheila Dikshit-led Delhi Government, Ms Arti Mehra said. During the Budget Session, the Chief Minister tabled a proposal to bring the MCD under the NCT Government of Delhi. The proposal was passed and sent to the Lt-Governor for notification. Ms Arti Mehra and Surinder Singh Bajwa were elected Mayor and Deputy Mayor respectively unopposed today. This has happened for the first time in the history of the MCD. Their election was announced by the outgoing Mayor, Mr Farhad Suri who was acting as presiding officer. Both the Mayor and the Deputy Mayor were welcomed by all the councillors across the party line. Besides, the councillors took oath of office before the swearing-in ceremony of the Mayor. Addressing the House members, the Mayor said that the responsibility of the councillors was to make strong civic body as well as to do development work in Delhi like construction of sewer lines, water, better education in MCD schools, etc. All the elected members have to work as a bridge between citizens and the state and the central governments. “Our priorities are cleanliness, desilting of drains and parking arrangement. We should make an action plan and get the desilting work of drains done in our areas before the beginning of the monsoon,” she said. She also assured to improve the quality of mid-day meal and prevent water-borne diseases in the Capital. The Mayor said that property tax was the main source of revenue of the corporation. The newly elected MCD House members would formulate a policy to bring maximum properties in tax net so that MCD revenue could be increased. She also presided over the first meeting of the MCD House after being elected as Mayor. However, the meeting witnessed unruly scene after Ms Arti Mehra announced the names of Education Committee members. Claiming that the announcement of the Education Committee members was unconstitutional, the Congress members led by the Leader of Opposition, Mr Jai Kishan Sharma said that the Mayor should announce the name of private members of the committee before announcing the names of elected members. Congress Councillor from Dilshad Garden Chaudhary Ajeet Singh claimed that Section 39 (5) of the DMC Act said that the first names of private members would be announced before appointing elected members to the Education Committee. However, the Mayor stuck to her decision and notified the list of the education committee members consisting of its Chairman, Prithvi Raj Sahni and seven members. Six Standing Committee members were also elected. |
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We have done it in power sector, claims Sheila Dikshit
New Delhi, April 23 Giving description of planned enhanced generation in Delhi, she said that it had been decided to add about 8000 MW power by 2010 for which 2000 MW gas-based plant at Bawana and Bamnauli, 1250 MW upgraded plant of Aravali Power Project, 750 MW Dadri, 980 MW Badarpur were being set up and arrangement of 2500 MW from Damodar Valley Corporation and 600 MW from Tehri Pump Storage has been ensured. So far Delhi has been successful in arranging about 600 to 1000 MW power for the summer months. She added that Performance Standards Regulations, 2007 prepared by DERC have been notified in the official gazette. Addressing a conference, the Chief Minister said that her Government had chalked out an action plan to enhance the availability of potable water up to 940 MGD in near future to meet the requirement of water in 2011. She also gave a description of a number of new initiatives being taken by the Government in social and infrastructure sector, including two new Metro routes, new hospitals, hygienic atmosphere in slum clusters, a citizen-relationship system and establishment of two new universities in Delhi. While giving details relating to infrastructure sector, Ms Dikshit said that her Government had facilitated clearance of two new Metro routes, 18 km route from New Delhi Railway Station and IGI Airport and 20 km route from Central Secretariat to Badarpur. Work on the first corridor of Bus Rapid Transport System will be completed by 2008. Orders have been issued for the purchase of 625 modern low-floor CNG city buses. The escalators will be provided on footover bridges completed recently at ISBT Kashmere Gate, ITO and Maharani Bagh whereas work on another 20 new flyovers and footover bridges is in different stages. She further said that her Government would soon launch ‘Sajha Prayas’ under its Bhagidari Programme to provide hygienic atmosphere in 29 slum clusters of East and North-West Delhi and a citizen-relationship system Sahyogi would also be set up to provide information on various services offered by the Government. |
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Teachers decry Foreign Educational Institutions Bill
New Delhi, April 23 All India Federation of University and College Teachers’ Organisations (AIFUCTO) strongly asserted that the Bill would not serve the cause of promotion of standards in education through Foreign Educational Institutions (FEIs), instead it was bound to create problems including threat to sovereignty, democracy and secularism besides violating the Constitution of India. It would open floodgates of privatisation and commercialisation of education from primary to the university level. Drafted under immense pressure from WTO and its instrument called General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS), the Bill was unconstitutional and illegal as the entry of foreign institutions was prohibited as they could not make a trust and buy land for the purpose. The Bill would have deleterious impact on the sovereignty of India besides proliferating elitism, dualism, commercialisation, privatisation in the education sector. The AIFUCTO reminded the drafters of the Bill that the “Requests and Offers” received by India from countries like Australia, the USA, Canada and others clearly mentioned that their private educational institutions would come to India under GATS. Further that the maintenance of quality and prevention of commercialisation would be extremely difficult with respect to FEIs. The AIFUCTO demanded a public commitment from the Government of India with respect to its responsibility to stop the exodus of students to the foreign lands as well as exodus of nearly 4 billion dollar amount from India to other countries as claimed by the Commerce Ministry in its long note advocating the entry of FEIs. The AIFUCTO decried the collaborationist and comprador machinations of the corporate sector organisations like Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) which was advocating the cause of FEIs to be allowed into India to create skilled manpower. Regrettably, they tended to ignore the national institutes which had already set the record of being the third largest producers of skilled manpower in the world. In a letter to the Prime Minister, MPs and leaders of the political parties, the AIFUCTO demanded that the Bill must be withdrawn from Parliament because it was violative of the Constitution and because it would threaten the very Preamble to the Constitution. |
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Procuring wheat: Private players ahead of govt agencies
Faridabad, April 23 This year, government agencies, including the Food Corporation of India (FCI), have so far managed to buy only 10,268 metric tonnes of wheat from the region. This has been well short of the wheat procured last year and it is unlikely that the target of procurement in the district, which is 45 lakh tonnes, would be achieved this time. The total wheat procured by the agencies was over 2.81 lakh and 15094 metric tonnes in 2005 and 2006, respectively. The procurement season began formally from April this year. The authorities concerned claimed better arrangements had been made to buy wheat from about a dozen mandis across the district and the neighbouring areas of Mewat and Gurgaon. However, the volume and the speed at which the wheat stocks reach the mandis were poor as compared to the figures of past years. It appears that the farmers, who have been the victims of certain hardships and natural calamities, could not come up to the expectations of the procurement agencies, claimed an employee of the FCI here. He said the FCI had bought just 41 metric tonnes of wheat from the region so far, while the average arrival of the wheat would decrease in the coming days. The figure of the wheat procured by the FCI had been in thousands in the previous years. According to reports, the total arrival of wheat till April 22 was 18,705 metric tonnes in comparison to 49,786 tonnes last year and 2,81,461 metric tonnes in 2005. The purchase made by the government agencies was 10,268 tonnes, while the private traders have bought 8,437 tonnes so far from the mandis. Private traders managed to buy a whopping 34,692 tonnes last year till date, while the government agencies had procured only 15,094 tonnes. The procurement so far includes 5,416 tonnes by the Food and Supply Department, 42 tonnes by Hafed, 547 tonnes by Haryana Warehousing Corporation and 4,222 tonnes by Confed, a state government agency. The arrival and procurement in 2005 were a kind of record if compared to the figures this year, said an official of the Food and Supply department. Sources in the department also said that the state government had allowed the sale of wheat from the neighbouring state of UP and Rajasthan in 2005, which could have caused the high procurement that year. He, however, claimed that various factors including the losses suffered in wheat production due to fake weedicide and hailstorm in March this year were responsible for low production of wheat in the district. But a dealer in the mandi said that the private companies or buyers were offering a rate just over the MSP of Rs 850 per quintal as announced by the government. He claimed that lifting of wheat from the fields of the farmer at a rate equivalent or higher than the government MSP, which spared him the cost of transportation and the inconvenience, was perhaps a major cause behind the slump in official procurement in the last two years. The total procurement from the district was around 4.5 lakh tonnes a couple of years ago. |
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Woman killed by two daughters for land
Ghaziabad, April 23 The police have arrested one of the deceased’s sons-in-law and his accomplice for the murder of the old woman for four Bigha land worth Rs 25 lakh, while her daughters and another son-in-law are absconding. Seventy-year-old Satpal Kaur, a resident of Malkpur village under Hapur Dehat police station and a widow of Ram Charan, was strangled to death two days ago. Satpal Kaur’s body was found on her cot in the morning. Mother of six married daughters, Satpal was living alone as she did not have a son. But her daughter Shimla Devi was living with her for the past two days. It was she who had informed the villagers about Satpal Kaur’s death. As villagers found some marks on the deceased’s neck, the police were informed. The police said that Satpal Kaur had four bigha land along the highway in her name which was at least worth Rs 25 lakh. She was allegedly murdered for this land only, the police claimed. Satpal wanted to bequeath the land to her youngest daughter, Kavita, which was stoutly resisted by her other two daughters, Shimla Devi and Vimlesh, both of whom wanted the land to be transferred to their name. Before the old lady could transfer the land to Kavita’s name, her daughters Shimla and Vimlesh and their husbands Jaypal and Nigam Singh and Jaypal’s friend Praveen allegedly conspired to kill Satpal Kaur by strangling her. They reached village at mid night where Shimla Devi was already there. The police, who had long back suspected the old lady’s daughters for her murder, had been keeping an eye on the movements of the daughters. The police have
arrested Jaypal and Praveen, but other three accused have absconded after Satpal Kaur’s murder. |
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Death by negligence: Woman let off
New Delhi, April 23 “In a case where the wall under construction has fallen down, it can safely be stated by an expert whether or not
the wall in question was weak and whether the wall was built up to such height in one go which should not have been so done,” Metropolitan Magistrate Deepak Garg said in a recent order. The court absolved Nilam Rishi, a resident of Vikaspuri here, of the charges under various provisions, including section 304-A (causing death by negligence) of the IPC. A case was registered with the Mongolpuri police station in North-West Delhi on July 14, 1997 by one Ramesh
who stated an under-construction wall of his neighbour had collapsed, causing the death of his five-year-old daughter and injuries to his four family members. The court observed in cases of under-construction building collapse the police should rope in some expert in the field of construction of buildings so that the person could give a definite opinion in the circumstances of the case. The samples of the bricks used should also be seized by the police to verify the contents of cement and other
material used in the construction, the judge said, adding that the police should also take photographs of the spot from all angles to prove its case. During investigations, the police did not involve any expert to examine the wall in question so that it could have been opined by the expert that the wall should not have been raised in the manner it was done by the accused, the court noted. Mere fact that the
complainant has stated the accused had constructed a wall of four inches breadth up
to lintel level, which should not have been done by the accused, was not sufficient, the court observed. The court also directed that the copy of its order be sent to Deputy Commissioner of Police (North-West) for taking necessary precautions during investigation in such cases. |
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One killed over property dispute
Greater Noida, April 23 A woman and another man who opposed the assailants were also beaten up and seriously wounded. The incident happened near Dankore railway station where dozen of people mutely watched the crime being happening. The young man succumbed to his injuries on way to hospital, while his mother and another man were admitted to Kailash hospital in Greater Noida. The police have registered a murder case against 5 persons on the complaint lodged by the maternal uncle of the deceased.
Veereshwar alias Pintu, 22, was a property dealer who had lost his father Meghraj when he was only one-and-a-half-year-old. Pintu was living with his paternal uncles, Ved, Ghanni
Harveer, Hari and Kuldeep. But his mother Bala and Pintu were thrown out from the family house by his uncles. Police circle officer, Mani Ram Yadav said his uncles wanted to usurp Pintu’s property, that is why they had tried to kill Pintu in the past
also. Pintu was constructing a shop on his land, when his paternal uncles Ved,
Harveer, Ghani, Kuldeep and Hari attacked him with lathis. On his raising an alarm, his mother, her brother Salek and another relative, Devinder, who tried to save him, were also attacked. Railway passengers said when Pintu tried to escape from his uncles, they rained bullets on him. Hit on head, stomach and chest, Pintu collapsed in a pool of blood. His mother Bala and relative Devinder also collapsed in a pool of blood. After committing a broad day-light crime at a busy place like a railway station, the assailants all walked away waving their weapons in the air. Cops from the police check post did not immediately rush to the spot. On a complaint by
Salek, the police have registered a murder case against Kuldeep, Ghani, Ved, Hariveer and Hari. |
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Parking attendant convicted of taking joy ride
New Delhi April 23 Lalit Kumar, 25, who had taken away the parked vehicle for his own use without informing the owner, was, however, released on probation for one year after the court accepted his leniency plea in view of his age and clean antecedents. The parking attendant was duty-bound to look after the car and not to allow anyone to carry it away but he failed to fulfil his obligation, Metropolitan Magistrate Ajay Goel said in a recent order. The magistrate also noted by not keeping the car safe Kumar had dishonestly violated the model in which such trust was to be discharged and had failed to return the vehicle to complainant K.K. Arora. The court relied on the testimonies of eight prosecution witnesses, including Arora, who had produced the parking slip and identified the accused as the attendant to whom he had entrusted his Maruti car on November 6, 2000. Dismissing the defence plea that Kumar was falsely implicated in the case, the court termed the complainant’s deposition as trustworthy and unequivocal. The offence was more of negligence rather than intention and the ends of justice would be met if Kumar was given the benefit of probation, the court said while releasing him and asked him to furnish a bond of Rs 5,000. According to the prosecution, Arora had parked his car in the MCD parking area at Shradhanand Market here. |
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Dry taps: Jal Board plans relief
New Delhi, April 23 The upgraded water treatment plants are Hyderpur, Bhagirathi, Chandrawali and Wazirabad. The raw water will be processed in these plants. This way the city can save up to 48 per cent of raw water from going waste, a senior official of the DJB said. By upgrading these plants, the DJB can get more water for Delhi.An additional 45 mgd of water only from the Hyderpur plant. Workunder this scheme in Hyderpur plant would be over by May end ,but would continue in other plants up to next year. Apart from this, the DJB is taking a host of other measures to improve water supply. Drivers and staff of DJB tankers are being sensitised, maintenance of water works and overhead tanks is being improved. The board would encourage the use of SMS for registering complaints and focus more on the chronic water -deficient areas. There would also be planned deployment of tankers and a regular interaction with and the consumers. The number of water related complaints has reduced by over 40 per cent. The number of complaints of ‘no water or contaminated water’ during April 2006 to March 2007 was 2,31,059. While the number of complaints for the corresponding period last year was 3,88,818. |
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Shiksha Kendra in Noida
Noida, April 23 The centre has been opened to educate the marginalised section of the society. Earlier, Principals and staff of various branches of the school in Delhi and NCR regions and members of the Management of Vishwa Bharati Education Foundation conducted a ‘Havan’ in the school premises to invoke the blessings of the Almighty. Swami Anand Bhaskar Ji Maharaj from Guru Gangeshwar Dham, Karol Bagh, blessed the young children and distributed books and bags to them. Mr V.N. Sehgal, Chairman RAC (NCR) spoke on the objective of launching the Shiksha Kendra, while Principal Ms Veena Bhasin stressed that the Kendra would impart education to the poor and create social and environment sensitivity. |
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IGNOU to set up consortium of libraries
New Delhi, April 23 The IGNOU Vice-Chancellor, Prof V. N. Rajasekharan Pillai, said the new system would be established as the national open and distance learner’s library and information network (Nodlinet). “The IGNOU Board of Management has approved the formation of the system,” he added. Nodlinet will involve all participating institutions, including state open universities, distance education institutes, national institutes of open schooling and IGNOU. Professor Pillai said the formation of the network would be unique without duplication of library networks already available. Apart form e-resources access and digitisation, Nodlinet shall also provide accredited standards and guidelines for the establishment of distance learning library facilities, he added. Millions of open learners, including students, faculty, counselors and researchers, across the country, particularly in remote areas, would
get access to equivalent information by the new system. |
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Students celebrate Earth Day
New Delhi, April 23 Earth Day has been celebrated internationally on this day since 1970. In all, 1200 children, gathered at Children’s Park for a picnic. Dressed in costumes of animals and plants, they pledged to keep the planet clean and protect it from various dangers it was facing. |
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A day of heat and dust
New Delhi, April 23 The minimum temperature this morning was recorded at 25.4 degree Celsius, two degrees warmer than yesterday, the Weather Office said. The weatherman has forecast a hazy day and the possibility of a dust storm in the evening or late in the night. The maximum temperature is expected to be around 41 degree
Celsius. — TNS |
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