Faridabad, May 7
The police remains clueless on the identities of the killers of Ajay Sharma, nephew of Congress stalwart, Chiranji Lal Sharma and his business manager, even on the third day of the incident that occurred in broad daylight.

The Director General of Police, Haryana, Ranjeev Singh Dalal, who was here yesterday evening, stated that the incident relating to the murder of Ajay Sharma and his business manager and subsequent taking away about Rs 18 lakh from them was similar to an incident that occurred in Nehru Ground, about 10 days ago, in which two persons snatched away a purse of about Rs 22 lakh from two employees of a private firm.

Hence, his surmise was that there was a new gang coming up in Faridabad which could be involved in both the cases. His broad thrust was that as it might be a new gang the police was sorting it out.

The tone of the DGP was clear. It was loaded in favour of a case merely revolving around looting of the money in both the cases.

In effect, the theory emanating from the police side ruled out a pre-mediated murder in Ajay Sharma’s case.

The family members of the deceased, however, are firm that the killers’ prime motive was not taking away the money. Had it been the case, they would not have pumped three bullets and two bullets in the bodies of Ajay Sharma and his manager, respectively.

The general opinion also veers around with that of the family members which suggests of the intention of murder as the primary motive behind the attack on Ajay Sharma. The family members feel that the criminals fired from point blank range and took the money only after they were sure that the two had died in the car.

No criminal takes such a risk and lose time to pump in five bullets and ensure death of the victims in a busy place such as Sector 3 where the incident occurred.

The friends of the bereaved family are angry by the statement of the DGP especially when the criminals are still at large and the police itself is clueless on the identity or the motive of the criminals.

In such a situation, any categorical statement by the police, that too coming from the seniormost officer, lacked credibility. They are of the view that the police has mired itself in a controversy.

New Delhi, May 7
In the jam-packed NSIC ground, audience screamed as Khali appeared on the stage in the Capital on Wednesday.

The 7 feet 3 inch tall giant made his first public appearance in the city ever since he joined World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE).

Khali was on a two-city trip to India. The number of fans that reached to take a real life look at the ‘king of the ring’ is a direct indication of his popularity on his home ground.

The Great Khali, as his fans call him, made a dramatic entry to his background score flashing his muscles along with his familiar bellows following long wait and anxiety in the audience.

Fans got a lifetime opportunity to ask questions from Khali and get to know him better as a person.

“Performing in India is very close to my heart and it is a very humbling to see that so many people have so much love to offer me,” said Khali. “The warmth that my country has shown me cannot be matched.”

Small kids imitated his moves, when they were competing to get on the stage and be close with their favourite WWE star.

Better known as Khali, Dalip Singh Rana has been a one-time world heavy weight champion, who was working in the Punjab state police before going to act in a Hollywood film, The Longest Yard. However, the star received his status after putting his foot on the professional wrestling.

Even while being entrusted with the role of providing reprieve to women facing matrimonial disputes, the functionaries have been earnestly grappling with the performance of this unique role.

Principally trained in investigative techniques, they have recognized the need for specialized training to deal with intimate issues of human relationships. This one week training has been especially designed keeping this in mind.

New Delhi, May 7
After having identified the glitches which had caused chaos during the trial run of the Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) corridor between Ambedkar Nagar and Moolchand last month, the Delhi government is now all set to start work on the second phase between Moolchand and Delhi Gate.

This decision was taken at a high-level meeting last evening in which all the stake holders participated and analysed the reasons for the fiasco on the experimental stretch which had forced the Delhi government to put all the other BRT projects on hold.

Officials said that after regular monitoring of the situation by experts and senior officials of the transport department of the Delhi government on the orders of Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit, it was concluded that the biggest impediment in the smooth running of the corridor was the location of the bus lanes right in the centre of the road.

This obviously caused considerable problems because passengers were forced to cross the other lanes to reach the bus stops, causing traffic snarls.

It was decided that in the second phase, the bus lane would be kept to the extreme left making it easier for the passengers to access the stops.

Also the bus lane would not be segregated by a concrete wall as was done in the case of the Ambedkar Nagar – Moolchand stretch but would only be demarcated by a broad yellow line.

This, according to experts, would give some room to other vehicles to move in case of a pile up. BRT marshals and traffic policemen will ensure that the vehicles adhered to their respective lanes and not usurped on the bus lane.

The experts expressed their confidence that this would work and have already ordered the demolition of the concrete wall on the Ambedkar Nagar-Moolchand stretch. Gradually, the bus lane here too would be shifted to the extreme left, they said.

Sources said that the Delhi Chief Minister, who will be heading for China later this month ostensibly to see for herself the preparations for the Olympic Games, will in fact have a close look at the BRT corridors there.

Dikshit is taking personal interest to ensure the success of the system lest it snowballs into a major political issue during the coming assembly elections in the National Capital Territory of Delhi.

She and her cabinet colleagues are still smarting under the harsh criticism the system had evoked from all sections which virtually threw the entire South Delhi traffic out of gear.

The couple Meenal and Feroz, residents of Khanpur, had come to visit an ailing relative at the hospital.

The couple was carrying one entry pass and stopped by the security guards outside the emergency ward.

“They were well within their rights to stop us but not in the way that they did. One of the guards put his hand on my pregnant wife’s belly and pushed her,” told Feroz.

When Feroz protested against the act, the guards who were allegedly drunk called their other five colleagues and manhandled the couple.

Feroz’s cousin Gaurav, who came to their rescue was also thrashed by the staff. The family has also alleged that the guards were accompanied by two policemen. The couple’s ordeal was not to end here.

When they tried to get a case registered against the erring guards the duo were kept waiting for more than an hour.

The case was registered only when Feroz, who works as a vice-president in an MNC, threatened to report the matter to senior police officials of the district.

New Delhi, May 7
The Delhi Police yesterday arrested three persons — Manoj, Yogender Malik and Roop Chand alias Pappu, who were planning to kidnap and loot a businessman having a couple of petrol pumps in North West Delhi.

The three were arrested from Sanjay Gandhi Transport Nagar here. Efforts are being made to nab their accomplices – Sachin and Mannu. Manoj worked as manager in one of the petrol pumps owned by the businessman.

Yogender Malik and Roop Chand work in a transport business. Manoj along with his associates had planned the crime because of their poverty.

Ghaziabad, May 7
A 23-year-old management student committed suicide by hanging herself from a ceiling fan of her house here after asking her mother to fetch food from the market, police said on Wednesday.

According to the family, Poonam Singh was pursuing her master’s in business administration from the Institute of Management Education (IME). A resident of Patel Nagar, she was a second year student.

On Tuesday night, she sent her mother to the market. When the mother returned at about 10.00 p.m., the daughter did not open the door. When the police were finally called, they found her hanging in the bedroom. — IANS

New Delhi, May 7
“Pancham, you remember those monsoon days, when in the valley below the mountains, rail tracks made their way emerging out of the mist…”

Poet, lyricist and filmmaker Gulzar’s ode to musician RD Burman, popularly called Pancham, in his new collection of poems whips up myriad emotions with its vivid imagery and simple word play.

Gulzar’s latest offering “Selected Poems”, translated into English by Pavan K. Varma, is tinged with nostalgia, grief, loneliness and longing for the years gone by.

The book was released by Penguin-Viking in the Capital recently at a function graced by the poet and the translator.

The poems selected and translated by Varma touch upon a gamut of “little everyday things and small moments in life” that, according to Gulzar, make for the most powerful of verses.

“My inspiration is a Spanish poet of Romanian origin Marin Sorescu,” Gulzar said. “Read his poetry to know him,” he laughed, when asked what Sorescu’s poetry was all about.

Sorescu, a playwright, poet and novelist, was born in Romania and wrote in Spanish during the sixties, seventies and eighties. He was deeply influenced by the natural rhythm of life and human emotions.

“Selected Poems” has 44 Urdu poems, mostly sonnets, along with their
English translations.

The poems are a reflection of the author’s life, offering snapshots of his journey as a progressive writer since the fifties.

The themes are diverse — taking off from the rural fields of Punjab, where Gulzar was born, to the din and the underbelly of his adopted home, Mumbai, ennui of big city life and his ties with nature, mankind and god.

Bollywood creeps in unbidden in poems like “For Naseeruddin Shah” and “For Pancham”.

“I spent so many years with Pancham, so many days when we would drum our fingers on the walls, on the dashboards of our cars and on the balustrades on the terrace to get the rhythm and the score for my lyrics right. They were mostly outside the music studio. He was such a restless soul. I miss him,” Gulzar says.

His voice breaks as he recites the last few lines from his ode to the master composer: “…The train arrived but it was not yet time for it to leave. But you simply walked a few steps, into the mist, and melted away. I remain here alone in that mist, Pancham.”

“My lyrics are influenced by my verses,” says the lyricist-poet, who prefers free-flowing verses to meter and rhyme.

“I don’t think I can define my themes. But all my poems are about life and the way it affects and appeals to me,” Gulzar said.

He, however, refused to talk about films. “Let us just talk about the book,” he insisted.

A poet first and a filmmaker later, Gulzar vows that he will continue to write poetry as long as he lives.

“But it all depends how long I live,” he laughed. Poetry, feels the film-maker, will continue to exist as long as life exists in this world. “It is an expression of life. I am happy that Penguin has taken up my work.”

Gulzar credits the translator with the choice of poems. “One day, he told me that he wanted to translate my poems. I said, go ahead. Read them. After reading my verses, Pavan was confused and wanted to know the ones, which he could translate. I told him, do ‘inky, pinky, ponky’ and pick out the verses at random,” the poet recalled amid laughter.

Varma, who recited a duet of six poems with Gulzar (the poet recited in Urdu while Varma read out their English translations), feels that the rich imagery and the literary dexterity set Gulzar apart from his peers.

“The range of his works and theme is huge and yet so simple,” said the translator, who has recently transcribed a volume of Kaifi Azmi’s poetry in English for Penguin.

“Translation is an important medium of literature in India because that is the only way vernacular writings can be taken to the masses. But we are still so inadequate,” Varma told IANS.

Born Sampooran Singh Kalra in Jhelum district, now in Pakistan, in 1934, Gulzar worked as a “mechanic” before joining the film industry in Bollywood with which he has been associated for nearly five decades.

He was known for collaborations with music maestros like RD Burman, father Sachin Dev Burman, Salil Chowdhury and Madan Mohan.

Known for his Left leanings, his films “Aandhi”, “Angoor” and “Mausam” were a rage in the 1970s. — IANS

New Delhi, May 7
After an elderly woman’s murder in the Capital by a domestic help yesterday, a domestic help today drugged his employees and decamped with the valuables of the house in the Anand Niketan area of South West Delhi.

Charanjeet Singh, 36, and his son Raunaq, 7, were found unconscious in their house today morning with their mouths frothing.

The two were admitted to a hospital where their condition is stable. Their domestic help, Deepak, who was hired just eight days ago, is missing.

According to the police, the family had employed Deepak without getting his antecedents verified. A senior police official has appealed people to verify the antecedents of the servant before keeping him in the house.

Charanjeet Singh, a property dealer said that Deepak belongs to Pokhra town in Nepal.

Charanjeet Singh’s wife was hospitalised three days ago as she is expecting their second child.

“The evidences in the case point the needle of suspicion towards Deepak and the police has started manhunt to nab him,” said a senior police official. He added that the amount of loss suffered by the family is yet to be ascertained.

The police is trying to nab the domestic help of an elderly woman Nirmala Madan who was found dead in her Amar Colony house yesterday. She had employed a boy named Badal from Nepal just five days before she was murdered.

New Delhi, May 7
The Delhi unit of Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) has threatened to take to streets if power tariff in the Capital was increased.

Delhi unit BJP president Harsh Vardhan said that power companies were getting subsidy from the government to maintain the current power tariff rates.

He said that private power companies here had appealed to the power appellate tribunal to increase the tariff, as they had suffered heavy losses.

The tribunal has fixed July 9 for the judgement. Vardhan’s comment follows the demands by private power companies to increase power tariff by 20%.

Power companies have claimed to have sustained a loss of Rs 2,000 crore. Besides, they have claimed to have spent Rs 900 crore on infrastructure and Rs 500 crore on equipment.

Vardhan alleged that the claims have been made on the basis of manipulated data. He has demanded an inquiry by the CAG into the annual revenue accounts of the companies.

The Delhi Electricity Regulatory Commission (DERC) had allowed companies to increase power tariff by 5 paise per unit on February 23 this year.

New Delhi, May 7
The Confederation of All India Traders (CAIT) will hold a ‘Vyapari Panchayat Dharna’ on May 10 to protest against the inhuman aspect of the sealing drive at the MCD headquarters in Chandni Chowk here.

An aged couple was allegedly locked on the premises of a commercial establishment that was sealed two days ago.

The decision was taken at a meeting held today at Hindi Bhawan Auditorium here. More than 100 trading bodies of the Capital attended it.

A delegation of traders will also meet Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) national president Rajnath Singh and Delhi unit president Harsh Vardhan and apprise them with the issue.

They also expressed concern over the ousting of tenant traders. Nearly 2.5 lakh traders are under the said threat.

They have demanded the Union government and the Delhi government to intervene in the matter.

They said that they respect the apex court’s orders, but the courts never granted authorities to violate humanitarian and legal aspects.

They alleged that the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) had violated both law and humanitarian aspects.

As per the Master plan 2021, obnoxious and hazardous trades are to be shifted from the walled city area.

The DDA is duty bound to provide alternate sites with necessary infrastructure. But the DDA is yet to prepare a shifting policy.

New Delhi, May 7
Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit today said that five hundred dispensaries would be developed in the Capital.

The dispensaries, equipped with modern technology, would provide health services at the doorsteps. The Chief Minister said this at the inauguration of a medical center at Chandni Chowk.

Dikshit claimed that the Delhi government is taking all necessary steps to provide better health facilities.

She said that the government has already constructed 36 hospitals in various parts of the Capital.

Work for seven more hospitals at Koki Wala Bagh, Burari, Hastsal, Sarita Vihar, Baprola, Keshav Puram and Molar Bund is in progress.

Health minister Yoganand Shastri said that the state government is providing top priority to health services for the poor and needy persons.

“An action plan for upgradation of existing dispensaries has been chalked out,”
he added.

The facility will be available through 21 authorised collection centers across Delhi. The number of authorised collection centers will be increased to 37 by June 30.