Gurgaon, October 31
There seems to be no end to the worries of the local municipal and administrative authorities here. First, they faced the wrath of the residents of city’s certain posh localities for not disposing off the garbage properly. Now that all clearances have been obtained for the setting up of a solid waste disposal plant, they are finding it hard to convince the people of nearby villages to allow the unit on their land.

A delegation comprising sarpanches and other representatives of people of 40 odd villages in the district today met the local municipal commissioner, Rajeev Sharma, and demanded that the proposed garbage dumping site and treatment plant at Bandhwari village be shifted elsewhere.

The move comes a day after the local officials concerned handed over the possession of a chunk of land earmarked for the purpose to the Faridabad authorities.

It may be pertinent to mention here that the authorities concerned of Gurgaon and Faridabad districts have joined hands to set up a common solid waste treatment plant.

In a memorandum submitted to the Haryana Governor through the local municipal commissioner, the villagers have asserted that the state land acquisition authorities had acquired almost 31 acres of land of Bandhwari village in Gurgaon district to dump the garbage of Gurgaon city.

They said, besides affecting the residents of Bandhwari village, the proposed garbage dumping site would pollute the surrounding areas comprising Baliawas, Maandi, Maangar, Gwal Pahari, Ghata, Dera, Tigra, Ullawas and Bairampur villages.

The villagers further maintained that the proposed garbage dumping site would also destroy the natural vegetation of the area and trigger outbreak of several water and air-borne diseases. 

They pointed out that the district administration had started this experiment of dumping garbage in Bandhwari village about a year ago, which had poisoned the area’s environment and had led to multifarious health and other problems. The villagers claimed that the panchayats of Bandwari and other surrounding villages had passed resolutions against the setting up of garbage dumping site at the proposed location.

On being contacted by The Tribune, Rajeev Sharma maintained that the clearance for the garbage plant had been obtained from the union environment ministry and other departments concerned by pursuing the matter for a long time.

“As such, it would not be possible for us to shift the plant from the proposed site,” he said, adding that efforts were being made to convince the villagers about the harmlessness of the plant.

Sharma asserted that the proposed plant would be set up in accordance with the latest scientific and environmental norms and insulated from the human habitation. “It would recycle about 85 per cent of the garbage, leaving just 15 per cent of it to be dumped,” he added.

However, seeing the stance adopted by the villagers, coupled with politicisation of the issue, going ahead with the project seems to be a tough task for the authorities concerned.

Gurgaon, October 31
Touted as the millennium city of India, Gurgaon has come up as a major investment hub during the past few years. The ever-increasing population pressure and collapsing infrastructure notwithstanding, the city has attracted huge investments during the past nearly three years.

According to official estimates, investments of Rs 4,107 crore have been made in Gurgaon alone during the tenure of the Bhupinder Singh Hooda-led Congress regime in the state till date.

Thanks to this sizeable investment, as many as 1,976 large, medium and small-scale units have been set up in the city.

Disclosing this here today, Gurgaon deputy commissioner Deepti Umashankar said, “Of the given number of industrial units, 1,924 were small-scale units set up with an investment of Rs 1,531 crore. The value of the production of these units was about Rs 2,602 crore and these units provided employment to 45,600 unemployed youth.”

Umashankar added that 52 large and medium-sized industrial units had been set up with an investment of Rs 2,576 crore where production amounting to Rs 4,728 crore was made and 12,455 youth were provided employment opportunities.

These figures projected by the industries department reflect the setting up of units during the period from April 1, 2005 to September 30, 2008.

The new units include information technology (IT) and IT-enabled services industrial units, apart from the automobile, garments manufacturing, electronics and automobile parts manufacturing units. The DC said that the total exports from the district in the information technology and IT-enabled services industry had touched the figure of Rs 18,000 crore at the end of last financial year 2007-08.

She said that in the year 2006-07, the software export from Gurgaon was Rs 15,000 crore, whereas it was Rs 10,700 crore in 2005-06.

In Gurgaon, the industry is growing at the rate of about 40 per cent, which is much above the national average of about 28 per cent. In order to give boost to the IT industry, a regional IT industry promotion office has been set up in Gurgaon. 

Umashankar said, “Gurgaon is fast emerging as an IT hub and there are about 400 IT and IT enabled services (ITES) companies operating in the district. It has emerged as a preferred destination for IT industry after the announcement of IT policy by the state government.”

She pointed out that the IT policy framed by the Haryana government was likely to give a further fillip to this industry with the creation of more employment opportunities, adding that the major incentives given to these units include relaxation in floor area ratio, rebate on registration, transfer of properties charges and exemption under Haryana Shops and Commercial Establishment Act. As of now, the economic growth of Gurgaon district is estimated to reach 10 to 15 per cent during the next five years as compared to the national growth rate of 8 to 9 per cent.

The DC asserted that the construction of Qutub Minar-Gurgaon Metro Corridor at a cost of Rs 681 crore, which was in progress and likely to be completed by January 2010, would also give boost to IT and ITES companies in Gurgaon. Besides, the commissioning of the Metro rail project will also improve city’s connectivity with Delhi, she added.

Gurgaon, October 31
The death anniversary of the late former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi was observed as National Rededication Day here today.

A programme to mark the occasion was organised by the district administration at Government College, Mehrouli Road.

Addressing the gathering, the college principal, Ranjana Lal, said the late Indira Gandhi sacrificed her life for the unity and integrity of the country. “She contributed in nation building and it was because of her policies that India emerged as a forerunner amongst the developing countries,” she maintained.

Lal exhorted the students to follow the ideals of Indira Gandhi and contribute in nation building.

Sriyansh Dwivedi, a lecturer with the State Council for Educational Research and Training (SCERT), observed that throughout her life, Indira Gandhi worked as a “karmayogi” and made Indians proud of their nationality.

“She always thought about the welfare of the nation and because of her deeds, some thinkers rightly call her iron lady,” he maintained.

Krishan Lal, a lecturer at Government Model Sanskriti Senior Secondary School, Sushant Lok, pointed out that Indira Gandhi took over the reins of the country at a time when the nation was in turmoil.

“At that time, India was facing multifarious problems from Bangladesh, corruption was rampant and economy was shaken. Even in such difficult circumstances, Indira Gandhi discharged her responsibilities honestly and calmly and steered out the nation from all these problems.

Krishna Yadav, a lecturer at the local government college, appealed to the students to become useful citizens. She emphasised on building national character through good deeds.

Meanwhile, local Congress workers also remembered Indira Gandhi on her martyrdom day and paid tributes to their departed leader at the party office here.

New Delhi: Delhi Pradesh Congress Committee president, Jai Prakash Agarwal today paid homage to former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi on her 24th death anniversary.

He said that Indira Gandhi was a leader of the masses who was trusted to safeguard the interest of the, poor, weak, underprivileged and the common people. She took dynamic steps to eradicate poverty, unemployment and housing problems.

Gurgaon, October 31
As per the directions of the Central Election Commission, as many as 418 officials from Haryana will be deputed on election duty to ensure the conduct of free and fair elections to the Jammu and Kashmir Assembly.

Of these, 308 employees are from Gurgaon division. These officials were imparted training to conduct voting using electronic voting machines (EVMs) at Dronacharya Government College here today. The remaining 110 employees are being trained in Hisar.

The Haryana government employees who know Urdu language have been deputed for poll duty in Jammu and Kashmir.

The largest number of employees —299 — are from Nuh (Mewat) district alone. Besides, two are from Gurgaon district, six from Faridabad and one from Rewari district. Majority of these employees are from revenue, fisheries and education departments.

The SDM Gurgaon (I), J.S. Sangwan, while inaugurating the first training session, said the Election Commission had expressed faith in the employees of Haryana and expressed hope that they would ensure the conduct of free and fair poll in Jammu and Kashmir.

The tehsildar (election), Rajendra Dahiya, told the employees about the method of conducting polling through EVMs. The second rehearsal of these employees would be held on November 3 at the same venue.

Ajay Yadav from election office, Gurgaon, Daya Chand, election kanungo from Mewat, Ram Niwas, election kanungo from Faridabad, and Ajit Singh, district education officer, Mewat, were also present.

New Delhi, October 31
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) failed to release the list of candidates for the forthcoming assembly elections today.

According to sources, the party high command was busy finalising the names of candidates for the Madhya Pradesh assembly elections today.

Reportedly, the Delhi unit of the BJP has submitted a list of 30 candidates to the party high command well in advance. But the finalisation of candidates has been postponed for tomorrow, as there are differences between the centre and the state leaderships in selection of the names. The state BJP has been asked to check the names given in the list.

Commotion was seen at the Delhi BJP office this morning as a number ticket seekers along with their supporters gathered and protested against the party head. They took this step after media reports suggested that some leaders had already got tickets.

They stopped their protest after senior party leaders, including Harsh Vardhan threatened to reject their names.

Vardhan said that he could only recommend their names. The central election committee of the party would take the final decision.

As far as Shiromani Akali Dal (Badal) is concerned, Vardhan said that it would be given four seats. But he refused to name the constituencies from where the Akalis would contest the elections.

According to Akali sources, a meeting between Akali Dal’s president Sukhbir Singh Badal and BJP president Rajnath Singh will be held to decide the party symbol.

The Akali Dal is insisting to contest on balance (tarazu), its party symbol while BJP is insisting on lotus. 

Noida, October 31
Ccriminals have tarnished the image of Noida with a total of 3772 crimes, including eve-teasing, assaults, thefts, loots, road rage, murders, vehicle thefts, kidnapping, etc, having been committed during the first eight months of the year.

Even the police finds itself against a big crime wave and is unable to stem the tide. In spite of its efforts, the police has not been able to contain the criminals.

Data dished out from the office of the state director-general of police shows that the police has failed to control the incidents of eve-teasing, assaults, thefts, murders, vehicle thefts, dowry deaths, etc.

There have been 1440 thefts this year up to 31 August 2008 as against 1290 during 2007 while the number of vehicles thefts was 878 as against 781 last years. There were 25 dowry deaths against 15 in 2006. The number of murders reported in the district was 84 as against in 2007. The number of rapes was 22 against 24 last year. Other crimes registered were 1031 against 436 last year.

VIPs, senior army officers or commoners, everybody’s house is vulnerable here. Increasing thefts and house-breaks have spoiled image of the town, raising its crime graph fast. Crimes like dacoity, road hold-ups, kidnappings for ransom, all have registered a moderate growth. But thefts, cyber crimes, eve-teasing and molesting have become a headache for the police also.

Greater Noida, October 31
People who had gone out of town to celebrate Diwali at their native place were in for a shock when they came back. On diwali, holi, dussehra, raksha bandhan, etc, people go home to celebrate the festivals, but the incidents of house-breaks and thefts have increased by dozens.

The locks of as many as six houses had been broken and the houses ransacked by criminals.

The intruders are reported to have taken away goods and valuable worth several lakhs.

In Ashiana Apartments, three houses were broken into. In the Kasna Kotwali area, Deepak Sharma’s house, Chander Sain Taneja’s house in H-210 Sector-1 Alpha, house No. D-902, were allegedly broken into and robbers had decamped with jewellery, cash, valuables worth several lakhs.

In Ashiana Apartment No. –C-904, Ashish Khosla, an engineer in Moser Bear company lives while some students reside in C-908. These houses were also allegedly targeted by the intruders.

In D-51, Alpha I lives TV channel reporter Mithali Chandra who had to go out of town in connection with duty on Diwali night. A sum of Rs 50,000 kept in her steel almirah and some jewellery is missing from her house, which too was reportedly broken into.

Many more theft cases in Greater Noida houses have come to light.

Senior superintendent of police R.K. Chaturvedi said such incidents are common in new localities and town. Policemen will be posted on sector gates in future and a record of all those who enter will be maintained during festive days, he added.

Noida, October 31
Attacks on North Indians in Maharashtra, especially Mumbai, are worrying over 800 Marathi families in Noida and Greater Noida. These Marathi families have asked the centre to rein in Raj Thackeray’s men.

On Wednesday, a meeting was held in Noida’s Sector-31 to condemn the attacks on people from UP and Bihar in Mumbai perpetuated by Raj Thackeray and his Maharashtra Nav Nirman men. The meeting criticised and condemned the activities of Raj Thackeray and expressed resentment against the Maharashtra government, central government and Shiv Sen supremo Bala Sahib Thackeray also.

The meeting, held under the aegis of Rashtrya Jan Tantarik Party, was attended by 60 people. The meet was presided over by the chief of the women cell of the party, Usha Thakur.

In the meeting, it was decided to gherao all MPs from Maharashtra in New Delhi and organise a protest meeting at Maharashtra Bhawan. It was also decided to enlighten people about the dangers of the attack unleashed by Raj Thackeray’s Nav Nirman Party’s against people from North India. 

New Delhi, October 31
Two officials of the Delhi government and one from Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) were held on Friday for alleged corruption in purchases made in various government-run centres in the city.

The arrests came after the anti-corruption branch (ACB) investigated complaints from Raj Mangal Prashad of PRATINIDHI and Braham Dutt of Kushth Ashadeep Federation.

The officials who have been arrested are — Sanjay Gihar, MCD deputy commissioner (south) Shahdara, M.J.N. Tudu, superintendent of beggars home (Lampur) and P. Anand Rao, superintendent of Asha Kiran Complex.

The fraud was allegedly committed in the purchases for various centres run by the Delhi government like the Children’s Home at Narela, Home for Mentally Retarded (HMRP) at Avantika, Safety Home at Majnu Ka Tilla, and Beggars Home at Lampur.

“The complainants had alleged that huge purchases of clothing, bedding and eating items were made in centres by forging the documents of reputed agencies like Kendriya Bhandhar, Delhi Khadi Village Board and Delhi Consumer Cooperative Store,” a senior police officer said.

“By using the fake quotations of these agencies, purchases were made through NAFED at very high rates,” he said.

All the accused were presented before the court on Friday. The court has sent Gihar to a day’s police custody while the others have been remanded to 14-day judicial custody.

Earlier in June, Ravi Goyal, a contractor, and three others were arrested in the same case.

“During investigations, a number of incriminating documents were seized from Ravi Goyal. These included original challan book of Sudhar Sabha Consumer Co-operative Store Limited, quotation papers, formatting, comparative statements and sanction orders generated on his computer,” the police officer said.

“During further investigation, links between Ravi Goyal and other officials of the department were probed and evidences were collected,” he said. — IANS

New Delhi, October 31
An argument between two friends took an ugly turn yesterday night, when one of them was shot in the Sabzi Mandi area of North Delhi.

According to the police, Ravi allegedly shot Rajesh, 22, over some money dispute. Ravi has been arrested. The two hail from T-Block in Kabir Basti.

“The two had been gambling since the past few days and there was some money dispute between them. They had met yesterday night to sort out the matter. People living nearby had heard them shouting before Rajesh was shot. He later succumbed to his injuries,” said a police official.

The incident took place in Kabir Basti around 10 pm yesterday. Rajesh who works as a property dealer was shot in the hip. His family members rushed him the Hindu Rao Hospital where he was declared brought dead.

Ravi works as a cable operator in the area. According to sources, Ravi, who stays in house number 1209 of T-Block, had had a fight with Rajesh a few years ago. But the matter was settled by the elder members of their families. And, eventually, relations between the two had become normal.

On Thursday night, Rajesh had called Ravi to his house to settle some money dispute. However, the dispute took an ugly turn when Ravi pulled out a countrymade pistol and fired at Rajesh. Ravi said that Rajesh had first attacked him with a knife. He fired at Rajesh in self-defence.

“Ravi has received a knife injury. He was admitted to the Lok Nayak Jai Prakash Hospital. He was arrested after he was discharged today morning,” informed a police official.

Meanwhile, a case has been registered, said SPS Hooda, DCP (North).

New Delhi, October 31
Mandip Singh Soin, a fellow of the Royal Geographical Society, UK, and an intrepid traveller, has made an entry into the Limca Book of Records as ‘India’s Most Versatile Adventurer’.

The announcement was made at a press conference here last evening which was attended by Leena Nandan, joint. secretary, ministry of tourism; Rupert Holborow, New Zealand high commissioner; Capt. M. S. Kohli, leader of the first successful Indian Everest expedition and Chandan Mitra, member of parliament, amongst other eminent personalities.

Soin was once before nominated as the ‘Person of the Year’ by the Limca Book of Records in 1992 and is the only person to be nominated in this category of adventure in the history of the Limca Book of Records. He is also the first and only Indian to be conferred the ‘Ness Award’ by the Royal Geographical Society, UK for mountaineering, polar expeditions and encouragement of youth exploration.

Speaking on the occasion, Mandip Soin said, “It is truly an honour and I would like to thank Limca Book of Records for this award. I accept this with the hope to promote ecologically responsible tourism in the country and aspire to embark on several more exhilarating journeys with the vision to promote adventure and nature-based tourism and preservation of environmental integrity through care and knowledge.”

Soin began his pursuit of adventure at the age of 14 while studying at The Air Force School, Delhi, where he received the Gold award of Duke of Edinburgh’s award scheme. A masters in history from St Stephens College of Delhi University, he has embarked on several exhilarating and unique journeys in the past including the trans-Himalayan trekking expedition, an Arctic environmental expedition, a camel expedition crossing the Indian Thar desert; making first ascents in the Indian Himalayas and many more.

Taking the road less travelled, in 1979, Mandip combined his abiding passion for adventure with business and co- founded Ibex Expeditions Private Limited. Under his leadership, Ibex organises adventure journeys, eco tours, luxury and safari travel in India.

Ibex Expeditions is India’s only tourism company to receive four International awards such as the PATA Gold and Green Globe and a National award. 

New Delhi, October 31
The Fifth Annual Inter-College Sports Meet 2008-09 of Guru Gobind Singh Indraprastha University (GGSIPU) commenced today at its Kashmere Gate campus. The annual sports meet will run from October 31 to November 3.

The four-day event was inaugurated by K.K. Aggarwal, the vice- chancellor of the university in the presence of V.K. Jain, the registrar. Some of the personalities present on the occasion included Sushil Kumar, the Olympic bronze medal winning wrestler and boxer Akhil Kumar who also participated in the 2008 Olympics.

The meet began with the felicitation of Sushil Kumar and Akhil Kumar by the vice-chancellor. This was followed by unfurling of the university flag by the dignitaries and a march-past by the representatives of the participating teams.

Speaking on the importance of sports, Aggarwal said, “Sports is something that removes barriers and differences between nations and brings everyone on a common platform.”

He wished that just the way the university has carved a niche for itself in the field of professional education in a short-span of ten years; it manages to create a name for itself in the field of sports as well.

The inauguration ceremony included a Lavni (Maharashtrian folk dance) performance by students and a beautiful display of fireworks.

Over 3,000 students from more than 90 institutions, including the University School of Studies, Amity Law School, Technia Institute, Northern India Engineering College, Maharaja Agrasen Institute of Technology, Trinity Institute, Kalka Institute for Research and Advanced Studies, Ansal Institute of Technology, Delhi Institute of Advance Studies, Institute of Information Technology and Management, Banarsidas Chandiwala, and Delhi College of Advanced Studies, among many others, are competing in various sporting events like football, volleyball, badminton, basketball, table tennis, chess and arms wrestling.