New Delhi, May 5
“The problem-oriented current state of Delhi forcing its citizens to remain in fight has become the order of the day. Under such scenario, if MCD is able to deliver better civic services at the doorstep of people, then only the BJP rule in the corporation will become effective,” asserted former Chief Minister of Delhi and senior BJP leader Sushma Swaraj here today.

BJP Delhi state president Dr Harsh Vardhan and general secretary Pawan Sharma, newly elected chairman of MCD Standing Committee Vijender Gupta and deputy chairman Yogender Chandolia, along with trade leaders, MCD councillors Shyam Sharma and Ravi Sharma were also present at the function.

While giving a word of caution, Swaraj admitted that BJP in the MCD had to face greater challenges that lie in issues like sealing, corruption and acute mismanagement of civic services and the BJP had been assigned the uphill task of meeting aspirations of Delhi people.

She expressed confidence that BJP in the MCD would surely bring a smile of relief on the faces of Delhiites.

She advised Vijender Gupta and Yogender Chandolia to take immediate decisions on the issues, which come under the domain of MCD. She added that on issues related to Delhi and Union governments, the MCD leaders should led traders’ delegation in order to get desired relief and in event of any failure on part of government, the Delhi BJP and MCD leaders should be prepared to come on streets along with traders and citizens.

Swaraj also advised MCD leaders to constitute a ‘core committee’ in MCD exclusively to deal with traders’ issues.

Addressing the trade leaders, Dr Harsh Vardhan assured them of full support of BJP and went to the extent of saying that the traders’ memorandum containing issues related to sealing was now a memorandum of 164 elected BJP councillors in MCD.

Speaking at the function, Vijender Gupta claimed that the BJP had made an in-depth study of the issues relating to sealing and had taken several steps to mitigate problems of the traders. 

Noida, May 5
The Noida Authority proposal for multi-storied parking in the commercial hub of Sector 18 also envisions a rooftop helipad as part of the project. The Indian Institute of Technology has given the green light to the design and proposal of the multi-tier parking, it is learnt. The IIT had undertaken a complete review of the proposal. Work on the project in Sector 18 will be taken in hand immediately after the election code comes to an end in UP, it is learnt.

According to additional CEO of Noida Authority Ravinder Nayak, the helipad will be a great help during calamities or emergencies. The four-storied parking lot is likely to have enough space for parking 400 to 500 cars.

To make the parking financially viable, it will be developed as a commercial centre so that people can go in for shopping also after parking their vehicles.

The Sector 18 traffic has always been a nightmare. The traffic plan recently enforced in Sector 18 has come in for a lot of criticism as a number of roads have been marked for one-way traffic. A common shopper finds this too confusing, irksome and unhelpful.

A similar multi-tier parking has been planned for Sector 25 which too will have a rooftop helipad to meet emergencies, the ACEO said.

Nayaksaid these two multi-tier parking lots on completion would practically rid Noida of car parking problems. These parking lots would be fitted with the latest techniques and gadgets, which would make carjacking a thing of the past. This would also end the high-handedness and hegemony of parking contractors, the ACEO added.

Gurgaon, May 5
The electricity department has claimed that urban areas account for the bulk of power theft.

In a recent exercise, the facts related to power consumption in Gurgaon and Faridabad were collated and analysed at the headquarters of Dakshin Haryana Bijli Vitran Nigam (DHBVN).

The exercise was in the context of alarming loss of power during transmission in the two zones.

There was, on an average, loss of 30 crore units of power per day in Gurgaon. Out of this, loss of 25 crore units was reported from urban pockets and only five per cent in the rural pockets.

Power units worth Rs 65 crore supplied to the consumers were not billed.

According to top officials in the DHBVN, technical losses account for only six per cent.

Another study conducted simultaneously reveals a similar trend in Faridabad and reported more or less the same amount of financial loss (Rs 66 crore) to the power utility.

Managing director of DHBVN Vijayendra Kumar, who was here to inaugurate a World Bank-sponsored workshop-cum-seminar on ‘Energy Efficiency Capacity Building programme’ organised by the NCR Chamber of Commerce and Industry (NCCI) and a private firm, said that the rural consumers utilised power in limits. Hence, their need to indulge in power theft was also limited, he added.

“Those needing more power are indulging in power thefts. In the urban pocket, the mushrooming industrial units can be the greatest culprits, followed by average citizens, especially those prone to aping high life style,” he said.

Vijayendra asserted that the utility was making efforts to plug all the loopholes to prevent power theft. The electronic meters would be installed on the transformers in the cities by the end of this year, he said.

The DHBVN is understood to have been pushing for a scheme, which entails a separate tariff structure for usage of power by the consumers during the peak load period. It could be higher tariff. The details are, however, not yet clear. The final say on the scheme will be that of the Haryana Electricity Regulatory Commission.

The utility has also proposed to introduce a ‘pre-paid’ tariff system, which would begin with the government departments.

Proposing another scheme for consumers, the DHBVN said that captive power plants using power vide their generator sets due to inadequacy on the part of the utility, would be compensated for the proportionate financial losses. That means that if an industrial unit uses genset for an hour, which is more expensive than the normal supply, the utility would compensate for the balance.

In his inaugural address, Vijayendra stressed on conservation of energy vide use of energy efficient lights and equipment. According to him, in an incentive scheme, the utility will spend a sum of Rs 150 crore for promotion of efficient lights and equipment systems, especially to the farmers. The expenditure will pay back high dividends to the utility in terms of less consumption of energy, he added.

The president of NCR Chamber of Commerce and Industry H.P. Yadav, in his presidential address at the workshop, emphasised the need for having energy policies in industry. He appealed to the government to reward the industries, which were honestly implementing ‘Energy Conservation Method’.

Gurgaon, May 5
With the arrest of nine persons, the police today claimed to have busted four gangs of truck thieves having roots in the bordering district of Mewat and whose operations stretched to the bordering Bangladesh.

The Inspector General of Police, Gurgan Range Mohinder Lal said that the members of the gangs used to steal and snatch trucks from Haryana, largely from Gurgaon and Faridabad, and other parts of the country, including Delhi, Punjab, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh, and export it to Bangladesh under the rubric of ‘Reconditioned Trucks’ after forging documents and getting customs clearance. The vehicles were being exported from Calcutta in West Bengal.

According to the IGP, investigations so far revealed that in the last two years, the four gangs have exported 1,100 trucks to the neighbouring countries. In the past few years, the thieves are alleged to have stolen and snatched about 451 trucks from about all districts of Haryana, mostly from Gurgaon and Faridabad.

The leaders of the gangs belonged to Mewat. Jaffru, ring leader of one of the gangs, was a resident of Gurshakar village, Yaha Khan from Pall village, Naina, who was killed a couple of years back, was from the area and Katkarni was from Ali Meo.

The police have so far arrested nine members of two gangs, including one ring leader Yaha Khan. This includes three arrests today. The police have announced an award of Rs 50,000 on the head of Jaffru. According to Lal, the gangs were in operation for the past about five years.

The modus operandi of the gangs was the same right from the point of procurement to the export point in Calcutta. They used to snatch or steal a comparatively new looking truck. The first ring of associates of the gangs used to take the vehicles to Moradabad, Agra, Bulandshehar and Etawa in Western Uttar Pradesh. The second ring of the associates used to collect the vehicle and all their identifiable marks were tampered with and documents were forged. The second ring of the associates would drive the vehicles to Daankuni near Hoogly on the outskirts of Calcutta in West Bengal. Daankuni has a huge parking place where the vehicles used to be parked. The vehicles were handed over to the third tier of associates at Daankuni.

So far, the police claimed to have identified 44 export houses at Daankuni where documents were forged and all legal formalities completed for legally exporting the vehicles to Bangladesh after procuring customs clearance.

According to Lal, 20 teams of police have been dispatched to West Bengal under the leadership of the district police chief of Faridabad Alok Mittal. The IG office is monitoring the investigations. 

New Delhi, May 5
With the arrest of two call girls—Maya (18), Nilam (19) and two pimps—Vijay Kasyap and Ram Kumar, the South district police today claimed to have busted a high-profile prostitution racket. Two car drivers—Lalmani and Vinay Sharma were also arrested along with them.

The police got the information that two call girls with their pimps would be coming to South Extension II area in two separate cars, a trap was then laid around the area.

As per plan, one police officer of the team struck a deal with their pimps as a customer.

They were caught red-handed while accepting the money.

During interrogation, the pimps allegedly disclosed that they used to hire such girls on contract basis. The girls had been charging Rs 45,000 for 15 days. During the period, they would remain at the disposal of the pimps, said a police officer.

The East district police today claimed to have arrested five dacoits – Amit Kumar, Istkar, Ajay, Pappu and Karan, after a brief encounter on Hindon Canal Road near Vasundhara Enclave. They were allegedly planning to commit a dacoity in buses plying in the area.

When a Santo car was signalled to stop for routine checking at Vasundhara check post, the driver of the car tried to escape through Hindon Canal Road. When his car was intercepted after suspicion, the occupants of the car opened fire on police team but were apprehended after a brief exchange of fire, the police claimed.

One country-made pistol, two cartridges and two button-activated knives were recovered from their possession.

Later, the car was also found to be stolen from Noida, said a police officer.

Greater Noida, May 5
Two persons were killed on Thursday inside a country liquor shop in Navada village in Greater Noida under the Surajpur police station. The heads of the two were smashed with hammers. The assailants took away the cash in the liquor shop.

The police have detained a car driver for interrogations. They have reportedly recovered the cash looted from the country liquor shop.

Rajesh Veer Bhatti of Rampur village runs a country liquor shop in Navada village behind Heritage Club where Verinder of Hapur had been working as a salesman for the past two years. There is a canteen inside the liquor shop which is being run by Dani and his elder brother.

Dani had gone for lunch with Ram Kishore in sector Delta 1 at 10 pm on Wednesday. At 10.30 pm, Udeyveer, a driver of Krishna travel agency, came to the liquor shop and took along salesman Verinder in his car. Verinder had locked the liquor den, leaving Ram Kishore alone there. Ram Kishore also left after a while.

Around 11 pm, when Manoj, brother of the owner, reached there to take the day’s collection, the liquor shop was locked. Normally, the liquor shop is closed at 11 pm. Manoj also left after waiting for the salesman who did not return.

When people came to the liquor shop at 6 am the next day it was still locked. Even at 9 am when Manoj again came there the shop was locked. Getting suspicious, he called some neighbours and had the shop lock broken. The blood-soaked bodies of Dani and Verinder were lying on the wooden plank inside the shop. The heads and faces of both of them had been repeatedly hit and smashed with a hammer. Blood had splattered all around in the shop. |Manoj promptly informed the Surajpur police. An axe was lying inside the shop while the cash box was missing. The lock on the door to the canteen inside the shop had also been broken.

New Delhi, May 5
A 72-year-old man was charred in a blaze that broke out this morning in a godown in the Central Delhi’s wholesale market Sadar Bazar.

Fire department officials said Bhagwan Das, an employee at the godown storing disposable plates made of dried leaves, was found dead in the godown, located in Gali Barna near Bara Tuti of the market.

The blaze was reported at 10.40 am and was controlled within an hour by six fire tenders.

The officials said a candle used by Bhagwan Das while making a business deal with a customer, had started the fire.

Gurgaon, May 5
The state vigilance bureau (SVB) has caught a patwari and his private assistant red-handed while taking a bribe of Rs 15,000 from a farmer for sanctioning a mutation in the revenue record.

Rajbir Deswal, superintendent of police, Gurgaon range, SVB, informed that Surender, a resident of Kherki Daula village, complained to the department area patwari Vijay was demanding Rs 15,000 from him for a mutation. A team of officials led by SVB deputy superintendent of police Satyawati was formed while HCS official Anju Chaudhary was appointed duty magistrate for the raid.

When Surender approached Vijay for giving him the money as demanded by him, Vijay told him to pay the amount to his assistant Ram Singh. As Surender paid the amount to Ram Singh, the SVB team raided the premises and caught both Ram Singh and patwari Vijay red-handed. They were booked under Sections 7, 8 and 13 of the Prevention of Corruption Act, informed Deswal.

New Delhi, May 5
The Special Cell of the Delhi Police today claimed to have arrested a notorious gangster, Rajbir, alias Raju. He was wanted in about one dozen heinous cases of murder, attempt to murder, extortion and Arms Act registered both in Delhi and Haryana. A reward of Rs 10,000 had been declared by the Haryana Police for his apprehension.

A countrymade pistol and two live cartridges have been recovered from him. Following a tip-off, he was arrested near a bus stop in the Najafgarh area. He was waiting for his accomplices.

During interrogation, it was revealed he was a national champion in wrestling in 1983 and 1984. He joined the BSF in 1985 but left the organisation in 1997 due to a major incident in his native village in which he was allegedly involved in the killing of his opponents. Then he formed a gang of his own, said a police officer.

In another incident, the Crime Branch claimed to have busted an inter-state gang of auto thieves with the arrest of two desperate members of this gang, Mahboob Alam (26) and Mahboob Hassan (28), from the Rohini area. Six stolen vehicles, including one Tata truck, three cars and two motor cycles, have been recovered at their instance.

The police had got the information an auto thief was living in Patel Nagar area in the guise of a painter. A trap was laid around the area. Tracking his movement, the police finally apprehended him with his one accomplice near Japanese Park, Rohini.

Ghaziabad, May 5
A 20-year-old man today drowned in the Hindon river while fishing, police said.

The body of the deceased, Azad, could not be recovered so far, superintendent of police (city) Ajay Mohan Sharma said. It might have flown ahead due to the heavy flow of river water, he said.

Divers have been called in to trace the body, he said.

Ghaziabad, May 5
A CBI court here today asked the agency to file objections, if any, regarding an application moved by a lawyer seeking a copy of the charge sheet filed against the accused in the Nithari children killing case.

CBI special court magistrate Sapna Mishra gave the order while hearing a petition filed by lawyer Khalid Khan who had appealed the court to direct the CBI to make available the copies of the charge sheet to the victims’ families. Charge sheets have been filed against accused Moninder Singh Pandher, Surinder kohli and Simranjeet Kaur.

The CBI may file its objections on May 9 when the Nithari accused would appear in the court, sources said. 

Greater Noida, May 5
Four Greater Noida Authority employees have been dismissed from service for submitting fake scheduled caste certificates for getting the jobs, four years ago.

All the four had got the employment under the quota for OBC, ST while actually they belonged to castes which are not covered under the scheduled caste list, a spokesperson said.

Meanwhile, Greater Noida Employees Association has threatened to launch a movement against the GNIDA for sacking the four staffers.

According to sources, Greater Noida Authority had appointed over two dozen employees under OBC and ST category during the year 2002-03. Some persons had procured jobs by submitting fake OBC and ST certificates in this recruitment. The administration had ordered a probe three years ago. The inquiry conducted by former IPS officer Vijay Shanker Mathur had found that steno Malini Urmal, computer assistant Sonia, PA Vandana and PA Sanjeev Bharta had submitted bogus caste certificates. All the four, hailing from Punjab belonged to Pallan, Ramdasya and Ranggar castes which are covered under scheduled castes list in Punjab, but in UP they do not figure in ST quota.

Six months ago, the four were issued with show cause notices but their replies were found unsatisfactory. After receiving instructions from the administration, the four employees were sacked on Friday. Their dismissal has evoked strong protests from GNIDA employees association.

New Delhi, May 5
Amity World Youth Forum (AWYF) organised a one-day consultative workshop on ‘Youth Power: Unleashing the Positive Potential of Youth’ on the Amity University Campus, Noida here.

The forum was working through its sister organisation, AmityCare, which has more than over 25,000 members undertaking various activities and programmes for youth. The forum is an initiative which will inspire the youth of the country to take pride in their heritage and culture and work towards fulfillment of their dreams.

Inaugurating the workshop, Dr Ashok K Chauhan, founder president, Ritnand Balved Education Foundation (RBEF), said, “The age group of 13 to 35 years fall in the category of youth. In keeping with the National Youth Policy 2003, we propose to subdivide the youth into two broad sub-groups viz 13-19 years and 20-35 years. The youth belonging to the age group 13-19, which is a major part of the adolescent age group, will be regarded as a separate constituency.”

“It has been estimated that in India alone, we have approximately 450 million people in the age group of 13-35 years. One can therefore imagine the vast potential of the youth that can be tapped in the growth of our country. If nothing is done then this large force could be exploited by the anti-social elements to spread violence and hatred,” Dr Chauhan said.

Lt. General Bopanna, P.V.S.M, A.V.S.M, V.S.M (Retd), Director General, Amity Indian Military College, while sharing his views remarked, “The objectives of the workshop are to promote awareness amongst the youth, in the field of history of the country, heritage, arts and culture; apprise decision-makers of the needs and aspirations of young people regardless of their background; sustain and reinforce the spirit of volunteerism amongst the youth in order to build individual character and generate a sense of commitment to the goals of developmental programmes; create an international perspective in the youth and to involve them in promoting peace and understanding and the establishment of a just global economic order through opportunities for international exchange and networking.”

Poonam Singh Jamwal, Director, AmityCare, speaking about Youth Activities, remarked, “Youth activities comprise of character building, effective decision-making, health and community care, disaster preparedness, promotion of humanitarian values, personality development, theme forums, community and social responsibilities, human rights and dignity, volunteering and social work, inter-faith and inter-religion understanding, governance, philanthropy and contribution, education through travel and tourism, leadership development and networks.”

Faridabad, May 5
Riding on the growth wave in the real estate sector, Zion promoters and developers today launched two new projects here with an outlay of Rs 200 crore.

“The projects will be completed by July 2010, well in time for the Commonwealth Games, the company’s director Anil Kumar Munjal told reporters here.

The real estate prices were the cheapest in Faridabad and soon the place would catch the eye of the investor because of high consumer demands in the NCR, he said.

The flats are priced around Rs 1,850 per square foot.

New Delhi, May 5
The Crime Branch of the Delhi Police have sought the custody of travel agent Rasheed, accused of smuggling an Indian abroad in a scam that allegedly involved several MPs and Andhra Pradesh politicians.

A police team has also been rushed to Hyderabad to speed up the investigation process. Rasheed, whose real name is Mohamed Mazharuddin Ali, surrendered to the Hyderabad Police on Thursday after evading arrest for several days.

“We have rushed a team to Hyderabad to get his custody after he was named the kingpin of the racket”, said a police officer.

Sunder Lal Yadav and Rajender Kumar Gampa had earlier disclosed in a city court they introduced Rasheed and another travel agent to four MPs, including Katara.

The police, however, have so far failed to establish Rasheed was in contact with Katara.

Rasheed has implicated several Andhra Pradesh MPs from both the Telangana Rastra Samiti (TRS) and Telugu Desam Party (TDP). He also named a Hyderabad-based cricket bookie, Rajupitti, as the kingpin of the flourishing scam.

New Delhi, May 5
Saturday for most Delhiites has been relatively pleasant with temperatures remaining below normal for the third consecutive day.

The India Meteorological Department informs that the Capital recorded a maximum of 36.8 degrees Celsius, which is two degree below normal. As compared to Friday, the minimum temperature recorded in the morning witnessed a four degree slide.

In the morning, the minimum temperature was 23.1 degree Celsius, one degree below normal as against 27 degrees on Friday. Further, parts of Delhi may experience thunder and duststorms before Sunday forenoon but the skies are likely to remain clear.—TNS