The Tribune, Chandigarh, India - Delhi and neighbourhood

	Blueline kills woman Tribune News Service New Delhi, March 23 A 50-year-old woman was killed and ten were injured when a Blueline bus (DL-1PB 3866) plying between Kapashera to ISBT rammed a tree on Ashoka Road in the evening today. The accident took place around 3 pm when the driver lost his balance at the roundabout near the Election Commission building. The door opposite the driver’s side was completely damaged causing maximum injuries to the passengers sitting on the front-left side. These seats in Delhi buses are reserved for female passengers. The injured were rushed to the close-by Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital. Sheela, a 50-year-old woman from Kurukshetra, Haryana, who was badly injured, later succumbed to her injuries. According to passengers, it was the fault of the driver who was rushing without any apparent reason. A case of rash driving has been registered against the driver.
	Holi day Liquor worth Rs 10 cr consumed Parmindar Singh Noida, March 23 Liquor worth Rs 10.50 crore was consumed by Holi revellers on Thursday, Friday and Saturday. Many boozers had reportedly thronged liquor dens in Noida from Delhi. All the shops here had a roaring sale of Indian and foreign liquors and beer. Record liquor worth Rs 10.50 crore was reportedly sold and consumed during the festival days. On a normal day, the sale of liquor worth Rs 44 lakh is recorded in Noida. Long queues of boozers could be seen in front of liquor shops in the evening. The fact that shops in Delhi were closed on Friday had also contributed to the bumper liquor sale in Noida. On a normal day Noida boozers consume 9000 litres of beer, 10,000 litres of whisky and 13,000 litres of ‘desi’ liquor, sources said. Even the casual drinkers also make it a point to consume liquor on Holi days to celebrate the festival of colours. Many of the casual and even regulars buy their stock of liquor a day or two in advance. The liquor shops near Delhi border did a roaring business irrespective of the fact that the buyers had to wait for hours for their turn. But the maximum liquor was consumed on Saturday. Since liquor shops were closed on Saturday up to 2 pm, the drinkers had procured their stock on Thursday and Friday. According to sources, the demand for liquor increased 12 to 15 times a day before the festival of colours. The sale of liquor for these two days sometimes surpasses the sale of the whole month. Some 5.28 lakh litre liquor and beer was sold on Thursday and Friday in G.B. Nagar district. The state government was richer reportedly by Rs 7.82 crore of revenue on this sale.
	Sisters’ murder Youths allege frame-up Ravi S.Singh Tribune News Service Faridabad, March 23 The mysterious murder of two sisters of village Prithla enveloped into deeper mystery as thefour youths who were arrested, today alleged that they were being framed up in the case. The four youths include Satbir, Satpal and Chander Pal. They are natives of Prithla, falling in the present Palwal assembly segment of this district. The fourth who was arrested is a female college friend of the two deceased sisters, who were undergraduate students of PostgraduateAggarwal Degree College located in Balabagarh, near here. The two sisters did not return from the college on December 17, last year. Their bodies were found near a railway track in the vicinity of Prithla. The four youths were arrested and kept in police remand, followed by judicial custody. The case was first investigated by the local police, but on popular demand from the people of the region, the Haryana government handed over the case to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI). The four youths who are now out on bail, asserted before media persons that they had nothing to do with the murders and they were being implicated by some forces. When probed further, they alleged that there was a political angle in the conspiracy against them. The female friend also debunked the earlier reports that she had stated to the police that she had asked the two sisters to take lift from the three youths from Prithala on a car after college hours. The earlier reports suggested that the police during the first flush of the investigation had interrogated the female friend which led to her arrest on the same day the bodies were found. The youths from Prithla also denied that there was any bad blood between their families. The youths lamented that the investigation and the prosecution against them have not been able to yet establish any evidence of their involvement in the case.
	Contempt plea Director of Estates gets HC notice Tribune News Service New Delhi, March 23 The Delhi High Court has issued notice to the Director of Estates on a contempt petition filed by a visually impaired man, an employee with the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI), who alleged that the officer failed to allot him a suitable official accommodation near his workplace following the court’s previous order. Issuing notice to the Director of Estates, Justice Pradeep Nandrajog asked the officer to explain by May 1 the reason as to why he should not be held guilty of contempt of court. In October last year, the court had directed the ministry of urban development and its directorate of estate to allot a Type-II government accommodation to Shiv Ram, a monument attendant with Safdarjung Tomb in South Delhi, as per his preference in areas like Kidwai Nagar, Laxmibai Nagar or Netaji Nagar within two months. After the enactment of the Disabilities (Equal Opportunities, Protection of Rights and Full Participation) Act, the government is under a duty and obligation to ensure that persons with disabilities are reasonably accommodated so that they are not confronted with existing barriers, the court order said. Ram had filed a petition through his counsel Sarfaraz Khan seeking direction to the government for consideration of his plea for an official residence near his office on the ground that he is hundred per cent visually impaired. Earlier, the court had criticised the Centre for deducting money from Ram’s House Rent Allowance (HRA) since 2002 towards his present temporary accommodation in a Type-II quarter in Netaji Nagar.
	Four killed as tempo overturns Tribune News Service New Delhi, March 23 Four persons were killed and eight injured when a tempo they were travelling in turned turtle in West Delhi this morning. The tempo loaded with vegetables and fruit overturned on Moti Nagar flyover in Punjabi Bagh while negotiating a turn killing Mohammad Hussain, (27) the driver. Even as the injured were being taken to the hospital, two other occupants Babu, 25, and Ajay, 22, also succumbed to their injuries. The fourth person Ishaq, 25 died on reaching the hospital. The injured were taken to Sanjay Gandhi Hospital in Mangolpuri where the relatives and friends of the injured manhandled the doctors on duty for their delayed response. They claimed that Ishaq could have been saved had the hospital staff provided him prompt medical aid. The accident took place around 4.30 am when the tempo was on its way from Azadpur Sabzi Mandi after loading with the day’s vegetables and fruit. The occupants were mostly the residents of UP and Bihar and were vegetable sellers across the Capital. Although the police claims that the tempo was overloaded with vegetables resulting in the accident, the injured said that the amount of vegetables loaded were normal. According to Baijnath, an injured person at the hospital, “We normally carry the same amount of vegetables that were in the tempo today. I don’t think that would have been the cause of the accident. I think it is driver’s fault who tried to take a turn without slowing down the tempo.” It is also believed that the driver felt sleepy and lost control over the vehicle. The bodies have been sent to the hospital for the postmortem while the police has lodged a case and further investigations in the matter taken up.
	Walia to present budget today New Delhi, March 23 Finance and planning minister A.K. Walia on Monday will unveil his fifth consecutive annual budget of the Delhi government, which is unlikely to see any new taxes. He held a final budget meeting on Sunday noon with Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit and other cabinet colleagues at her residence here. The budget holds significance for the Congress government, which will seek re-election seven months later when current assembly’s term expires in November. Hence, the budget is unlikely to have any new taxes. Education, health, basic amenities in the unauthorised colonies, sports, financial relief to the old people and widows are likely to get more funds in the 2008-09 budget. The Planning Commission has granted Rs 100 billion ($2.5 billion) as the annual plan for Delhi in the coming fiscal. Sources said the Capital’s all-round rosy picture depicted in the latest Economic Survey of the state would be reflected in the new budgetary allocations as well.—IANS
	R.K. Sharma spends days praying, meditating Sahil Makkar New Delhi, March 23 Former Indian Police Service officer R.K. Sharma, convicted in the 1999 murder of journalist Shivani Bhatnagar, has gone into a depression, and spends most of his time praying and meditating, say prison sources. He has stopped playing badminton, which he is fond of, and has been eating little in his Tihar Jail cell ever since his conviction for murder on March 18. A city court is to announce the sentence on Sharma on Monday. The prosecution is lobbying for the death sentence on Sharma, who along with three associates was held guilty of the murder. “When the trial was nearing completion, Sharma probably had a hint of the outcome,” a Tihar Jail source told IANS. “Nearly two months ago he had asked a visiting sessions judge to provide telephone facilities to convicted inmates inside the prison. He strongly advocated the demand, but it was turned down,” the source added. According to the jail manual, undertrial and convicted inmates are not allowed such facilities. Sharma, who has been put up in Jail No.1 since September 2003, has confined himself to the four walls of his cell since the past week. “He has stopped playing badminton, a game which he is fond of. Most of the time he remains in his cell and can be spotted sitting in front of Lord Shiva’s idol with folded hands. He doesn’t speak with his fellow inmates but prays quietly,” the source said. “Sharma is under tremendous mental depression and does mediation for at least half-an-hour twice a day. His appetite has also fallen sharply. He just eats two-three chapattis a day.” Sharma and his henchmen Pradeep Sharma, Satya Prakash and Sri Bhagwan were last Monday found guilty under Section 302 (murder) and 102 (hatching criminal conspiracy) of the Indian Penal Code for the murder of the Indian Express journalist at her east Delhi apartment on January 23, 1999. Shivani was living in the apartment with her infant son when she was killed. The murderers strangled her with an electric wire and stabbed her 10 times with a kitchen knife. Shivani’s neighbours later discovered her body. The former Inspector General of the Haryana Police was into an intimate relationship with the reporter. His defence S.P. Minocha has pleaded before Additional Sessions Judge R.K. Shastri for lesser punishment and putting the crime in the category of “normal crime”. Asked if Sharma is penning a book on his time in jail, the source said he did not know. Jail officials are now planning to shift Sharma to another jail. “We are waiting for the final sentence, then we will decide where Sharma will be kept. said a jail spokesman. —IANS
	Artscape Auction brings the best of modern art Ravi Bhatia Tribune News Service New Delhi, March 23 That the creations of Indian artists continue to be in great demand was reflected in the Osian’s ‘Indian Modern & Contemporary Art’ auction held here last week. The evening saw sales touch a total of Rs 30.28 crore (Hammer Price + 20 per cent Buyers Premium). While the average lot price registered was Rs 31.22 lakh, 77 per cent of the 126 lots were sold. The percentage of total sale against the Lower Estimate (L.E.) was 115 per cent while the percentage of total sale against the Higher Estimate (H.E.) was 92 per cent. The highlights of the evening included exceptional works by modern masters such as J Swaminathan’s ‘Mountain and Bird Series’ that crossed the Rs 2 crore mark and Tyeb Mehta’s ‘Untitled’ that fetched 1.98 crore. The auction brought together the best of Indian modern and contemporary art for the discerning collector featuring some of the best of national art treasures. Some of the other works by maestro’s that bidders fought hard to acquire were, ‘Ape Series’, a painting by Rameshwar Broota that went for Rs 1.68 crore, ‘Landscape in Red’ by FN Souza which fetched Rs 1.56 crore and an ‘Untitled’ painting by Ramkumar that was bought for Rs 1.05 crores. Subodh Guptat’s iconic taxi-baggage series sold for Rs 81.60 lakh becoming his most expensive painting with a square inch rate of Rs 6927. Osian’s Connoisseurs of Art has also signed an agreement to sell a strategic minority stake to Abraaj Capital, the investment firm specializing in private equity investment across the Middle East, North Africa and South Asia (MENASA) region. This is indicative of the gradual growth of art as big business. The transaction involving an investment of INR 80 crore (US$ 20 million) will give them approximately 9.4% stake in Osian’s. This means that Abraaj Capital has valued Osian’s at approximately INR 840 crore (US$ 210 million) post conversion by May 2008. Neville Tuli remains the single largest shareholder in Osian’s. Additionally, the vice-chairman and Group chief executive officer of Abraaj, Arif Masood Naqvi will join the Osian’s board. Celebrating genius of Tagore From March 27 to March 30, the India International Centre here is hosting “Utsav” celebrating the multi-faceted genius of Rabindranath Tagore. The festival will bring together scholars and artists from various countries and include performances, dance drama, theatre, seminar, talks, poetry readings, exhibitions and exquisite cuisine from the participating countries. Joint exhibition Sonia Mehra Chawla and Santosh Lal Palliate, two well-known contemporary artists are holding a joint exhibition of their creations at the Visual Art Gallery, India Habitat Centre here on March 27. The exhibition will subsequently move to the premises of Gallerie Nvya. Book launch today The Gallery Sanskriti here is launching a book “Journey into the world of artist Lalu Prasad Shaw”, at the Visual Arts Gallery, India Habitat Centre here on March 24. A retrospective show of the artist’s creations, “The Myriad Minded Artist” will also be held from March 22 to March 26 at the Visual Arts Gallery. ‘Sewa Mahotsav’ Sewa Bharat is now holding “Sewa Mahotsav”, national level celebration by women members. The three-day festival will be marked by colourful and lively performance put up by more than 1500 women Sewa members from across the country. The festival will open on March 25 and conclude on March 27 at the Ambedkar Bhawan, Jhandewalan, here. According to the organisers, this is a workers’ celebration where the women from different communities, regions and areas from across the country come together at a common place. This place provides them a larger platform where they share their experiences of work and home at the national level. Eclectic collection of paintings Kalagram is presenting ‘The First Step’, an eclectic collection of paintings by various artists from across India—Orissa, Calcutta and Haridwar. The exhibition is being showcased at the Experimental Art Gallery, India Habitat Centre from March 23 to April 4. The exhibition will comprise approximately 30 oeuvres d’art. The artists include Nihar Das, Sushant Nayak, Sushma Shah, Ashish Mondal, Jeevan Biswas, Chandramani and Aishwarya. A vibrant colour palette, inimitable techniques and interesting renditions on canvas – from spirituality to political satire – is what the exhibition offers. Kalagram is an organization that promotes Art, Craft & Sculpture. It has created a consortium of artists from different parts of India. Of God’s Own Country Art Alive Gallery here is presenting the inimitable palette of Paresh Maity. This time, the canvas is Kerala. Drawings, watercolours, oils and mixed-media form part of Paresh’s enchanting 50th solo show accompanied with a book– ‘An Enchanting Journey – Paresh Maity’s Kerala’. The book is a visual travelogue of Maity’s visit to Kerala where he was invited by the Kerala Tourism Department to do his own visual interpretation of God’s Own Country.
	Illicit liquor seized in raid Our Correspondent Greater Noida, March 23 The excise and police departments, in a joint raid, seized 200 litres of countrymade liquor from Mizapur Colony under Rabupura police station on the eve of Holi festival Three persons, including a woman, were arrested from the place. A large stock of country liquor was discovered in Mizapur under Rabupura police station. The joint team raided many houses in the village. Sulekha, Shyam Singh and Kallan were taken into custody. Besides, the police raided many more houses, but the bootleggers were reported to have removed the stocks of liquor to other places. The police seized equipment and gadgets for extracting the liquor from the spot in Sector-20. Noida police also seized liquor being brought from Haryana and Delhi for sale in jhuggis in Sector-8 Noida. A man named Chander was arrested from these jhuggis, police said.
	DTF decries move to revoke decisions Tribune News Service New Delhi, March 23 The Democratic Teachers’ Front (DTF) has expressed concern over the decision of the Supreme Council of St. Stephen’s College to revoke all decisions taken during the period when Dr. Valson Thampu was the OSD of the college. While the DTF firmly opposed the show cause notice served by Dr. Thampu on two teachers of the history department, it considers various steps initiated during his tenure as far-reaching progressive initiatives redefining the character of St. Stephen’s College. The campaign against him is also inspired by opposition to many of those steps. The DTF urges the governing council of the college not to regress on its admission policy duly approved by the governing council. Instead it should ensure that the policy is made known to all aspirants well in advance and is effectively implemented. The DTF further urges that the process of admission be made more transparent and that the admission committees be constituted through a transparent set of rules. Further, the DTF urges a review of the continuing policy of interviewing candidates for admission since it has been the cause of much suspicion about backdoor entry for the children of the powerful. The DTF also seeks to draw the attention of the college administration that the implementation of Ordinance XV D on sexual harassment should continue. The college should also accept the seniority principle, the rotational principle and democratic decision making in assigning and carrying out administrative and academic responsibilities. Some positive steps were taken in this regard during Dr. Thampu’s tenure and the college should be taking them forward rather than revoking them, the DTF spokesman said.
	Rallies in support of Tibetans today Tribune News Service New Delhi, March 23 In view of the recent protests across Tibet and the violent crackdown by the Chinese authorities, Tibetans and their supporters in India will be holding a National Day of Action for Tibet at the Jantar Mantar here on Monday. As part of the protest, Indians and Tibetans will hold mass demonstrations, vigils and sit-ins across India to show their solidarity with the Tibetan protesters both inside and outside Tibet. “We have seen students in Tibet taking immense personal risks to show their opposition to the Chinese occupation of their country,” said Shibayan Raha, Outreach Coordinator for students for a free Tibet India. “Tibetan students at Qinghai Nationality University, Chengdu Southwestern National University, and hundred of students in Beijing, have staged sit-in protests in the past week. They are educated people who are risking their future to stand up for something they believe so strongly. Here in India, we want to show these brave students and all protesters in Tibet that we stand with them,” he said.