New Delhi, November 7
With the arrest of four persons today, a team from Sultanpuri police station of North West district has succeeded in solving a dowry death case that took place almost a year ago.

Simran Singh, 27, was burnt to death on December 14, 2007 by her husband and in-laws at their Tilak Nagar house as she failed to meet their dowry demands.

Her husband Vikram Singh, 30, mother-in-law Surender Kaur, 58, sister-in-law Seema Malhotra, 32 and relative Nirmal Singh, 50 were arrested from Sultanpuri today, where they had been living under false identity.

The four accused will face murder charges along with the Dowry Prohibition Act.

The victim hailed from Bahadurgarh in Haryana and had two children.

Her father-in-law Mukhtar Singh and brother-in-law Gulshan Kumar were arrested then. But the rest of her family members, including her husband had managed to evade arrest by changing their address and identity.

Since then the police had been on a lookout for the accused persons, said a senior officer of North West district police. “The police has been investigating the whereabouts of the accused since their escape. Many teams had been sent out in the past to arrest them but they failed. We, finally, managed to get them this time,” he added.

“They had been demanding a huge dowry from the victim. They torched her when she failed to meet their demands. We have arrested them on charges of murder and dowry,” said a police official. He added that the Delhi police had announced a reward of Rs 5,000 on each of the accused.

New Delhi, November 7
With the distribution of the party symbol by both the major parties — the Congress and the BJP — candidates have started opening election offices and begun campaigning.

While the Delhi Pradesh Congress Committee has parked a van decked with banners and various slogans in front of its state party office, the BJP has installed a number of huge posters to attract the attention of passersby.

The Congress has written songs highlighting its achievements. The songs are being sung on various roundabouts.

Former Chief Minister of Delhi and senior BJP leader Madan Lal Khurana took out a padyatra in the Moti Nagar constituency, appealing the electorate to exercise their franchise in favour of the BJP candidate.

On the other hand, Congress stalwarts Dr A. K. Walia, Raj Kumar Chauhan, Haroon Yusuf, Mangat Ram Singhal, Arvinder Singh Lovely, Naseeb Singh and others are busy making teams of workers and assigning them jobs for campaigning. Workers have been asked to collect coins to weigh against candidates.

To speed up campaigning, DPCC president Jai Prakash Agarwal today allotted party symbols to its 48 candidates whose names were declared by the party high command a few days back and advised them to start filing nomination forms and start campaigning.

He also called a meeting of the district and block presidents to brief them about the election strategies.

Sources said he warned them against any factionalism and directed them to work for their respective candidates.

District presidents of the constituencies where candidates have not been declared have been directed to go to the electorates and convince them to support the party candidates.

Explain them about the achievements of the government led by Sheila Dikshit, the sources said. Candidates are likely to be declared within a couple of days and November 11 is the last date for filing nominations.

According to the sources, the names for these constituencies have been decided but they are not being declared to avoid conflict.

Of them, the important seats are Jangpura and Sadar Bazar.

Gurgaon, November 7
A 58-year-old man was found murdered at Jharsa village near here this morning.

Banwari Lal was found lying in a poll of blood in his shop. A shovel and a knife were found near him.

The victim had been running a provision store in the village for the past two years and used to sleep in the shop itself. His family stays in Khori Kalan village of Mewat district. He is survived by a wife, two sons and a daughter.

Deputy commissioner of police, Jagdish Nagar said that deep knife and shovel injury marks were found on the victim’s body.

A case of murder against unidentified persons has been registered.

Greater Noida, November 7
Who cleaned the bloodstains after two sisters were murdered by their cousin brother in Surajpur here? Who shifted their bodies? What about the murder weapon, the bloodstains on the clothes of some family members and their varying statements have made the police suspect the involvement of other members of the family that painted their own nephew the murderer.

Sonu, who shot his two teenaged cousin sisters in Surajpur yesterday for having eloped with their lovers to Aligarh, was arrested on a complaint lodged by his paternal uncle Om Prakash.

Sonu killed his cousin sisters – Pinky and Sonum, as he was humiliated and hurt with their deed. He would have shot himself if he had not killed them, said his neighbours.

On Thursday, Sonu had sent away his cousin brother Pravesh for some work and had pleaded Pinky and Sonum to tell the names of their lovers. When they did not disclose their lovers’ names, Sonu shot them.

The murder has revived the incident of Ver village where two teenaged lovers were killed one and a half month ago. The girl’s relatives had killed her along with her lover Sonu on September 18. The assailants had even tried to burn their bodies after killing them.

Bandhwari (Gurgaon), November 7
Tension prevails at Bandhwari village where the district authorities wish to set up a solid waste treatment plant. The local municipal and administrative authorities have obtained the necessary clearances and permission and have completed other formalities for establishing the plant near the village.

The land acquired for the purpose has been handed over to Faridabad district authorities by their Gurgaon counterparts, as this is supposed to be a joint project.

However, residents of Bandhwari and other surrounding villages are opposing the move, as setting up of the waste-treatment plant would pollute the environs of the area.

Residents of several villages had recently met Gurgaon municipal commissioner Rajeev Sharma and apprised him of their concern. Sharma had assured the villagers that the plant would be built in a scientific and eco-friendly way. There would be no stink or any other adverse effect on the surroundings.

The villagers, apparently not convinced with the explanation, submitted a memorandum to Haryana Governor, urging him not to allow the construction of garbage plant at the proposed site.

A survey of the area conducted by The Tribune team revealed that the villagers had deployed a watchman to guard the site and are holding meetings to stall the execution of the project. “Government officials will not be allowed to undertake any activity for setting up the garbage plant at the proposed site,” said Jaipal, a villager.

On being asked about their future course of action, the villagers maintain that they would move the Supreme Court to obtain a stay on the project. “Talks are going on with a lawyer and we are on the final stage of preparing for the case,” a villager disclosed.

Meanwhile, the situation seems volatile with villagers and the authorities concerned heading for a showdown on the issue.

New Delhi, November 7
To mark the golden jubilee of its inception, the department of food and nutrition of Lady Irwin College today organised ‘Nutrition for Health Care Mela’ in the Capital. The day-long event included lectures on health, nutrition and wellness, while free health check-ups and dietary counselling was a bonus.

In a step to promote nutrition and enhance community outreach, the food and nutrition department, which is the oldest post-graduate department of the college, had arranged various lectures by experienced names of the health care industry.

The speakers, including, Dr S.C. Manchanda, consultant, Sir Gangaram Hospital; Dr Piyush Jain, cardiologist, apprised the gathering about the causes of cardiovascular diseases and suggested proper ways to prevent them.

The mela was a special opportunity for the Delhi University’s employees and their families, and more than 200 other people, to get themselves registered for free health checkups, by medical and paramedical professionals from reputed hospitals like Indraprastha Apollo Hospital (diabetes), Centre For Sight (eyes), Escorts Heart Research Centre (heart) and the Indian Society for Bone Mineral Research (bone density).

Free counseling for balanced diet was provided by students of the college and by doctors working in some of the city’s major hospitals.

New Delhi, November 7
The Delhi High Court today issued notices to the centre and the Delhi police on the alleged leak of key information to media on the suspects of September 13 serial blasts in Delhi and has asked them to file their replies by December 15, the next date of hearing.

One of the leading magazines had published the confession statements of the three suspected terrorists arrested on September 20.

A bench comprising Chief Justice Ajit Prakash Shah and Justice S. Muralidhar said that as the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) is looking into the matter, the court’s interference may amount to carrying out a parallel inquiry.

The bench passed the order on a petition filed by a voluntary organisation, Act Now for Harmony and Democracy, seeking a judicial inquiry into the September 19 shootout at Jamia Nagar.

“There are facts and circumstances which cast doubts on the version of police officials. Even the NHRC guidelines say that a judicial inquiry be conducted in cases of encounter (shootout),” said advocate Prashant Bhushan who appeared for the NGO. — IANS

New Delhi, November 7
The Shiromani Akali Dal (Badal) and Bharatiya Janata Party, at a meeting held here today, decided that workers of both the parties would work together during the elections. The workers have been told that there no difference between BJP and Akali candidates.

In alliance with the BJP, the Akali Dal has been given four constituencies – Shahadra, Jangpura, Adarsh Nagar and Rajouri Garden.

“Akali Dal will contest Shahadra and Rajouri Garden seats on its party symbol – Takri (taraazu), while Jangpura and Adarsh Nagar on BJP’s symbol— lotus,” said Manjit Singh, Delhi unit chief of the Akali Dal.

Preferring anonymity, an activist of the Akali Dal said that the party had tried its best to convince BJP that it had support in the Capital. The national president of the Akali Dal, Sukhbir Singh Badal had organised a rally a few months back to prove the support for the party. The party workers had worked hard to gather thousands of Sikhs and Punjabis in the rally. But, it has all gone into vain, he added.

Akali Dal demanded 15 seats, but it was given only four. The party then demanded to contest elections on its party symbol, but this was also denied by the BJP. Now, only two seats will be contested on party’s own symbol, he said.

New Delhi, November 7
Sitting Congress MLA from Trilokpuri, Brahm Pal today sat on hunger strike in front of the All India Congress Committee office demanding ticket from Trilokpuri. He was accompanied by his supporters.

Pal said that he had won assembly elections from Trilokpuri thrice – 1993, 1998 and 2003, but this time the ticket for this seat, which is reserved for scheduled caste, has been given to Anjana Parcha, councillor from the same area. “This is injustice to me,” he said.

Brahm Pal said that before deciding to sit on hunger strike, he had met Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit, but she ignored his plea saying that some change would be made later. But now he has lost hope as the party has given the authority letter and symbol to the 48 selected candidates.

He said that he had been sitting there since morning and had not eaten anything.

When asked whether he belonged to the Chief Minister’s group, he said, “Of course. But I do not know why my name has been deleted.”

One of his supporters claimed that the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) was offering him a ticket, but he was adamant to be with Congress. “If the Congress denies him a ticket, he might contest on a BSP ticket,” he added.

New Delhi, November 7
The Crime Branch of the Delhi police has arrested a clerk of the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) for taking Rs.70, 000 from a Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) constable in lieu of getting job for his son.

According to information, a police team led by ACP Jasbir Singh arrested Bharat Shah who works as data entry operator at UPSC office on Shahjehan road in New Delhi area. He was arrested on the complaint of CISF constable Ram Avtar.

He alleged that Bharat had taken Rs 70, 000 from him on the assurance that he would arrange a job for his son in the Customs Department. However, Bharat could neither arrange the job nor did he return the money.

Ram Avtar had lodged a complaint against Bharat after waiting for few months for him to return the money.

Interestingly, Bharat returned the money to Ram Avtar after he filed a complaint against him. When questioned by the Crime Branch, Bharat maintained that he had borrowed money from Ram Avtar during his daughter’s marriage and there was no such deal of getting a job for his son.

Ram Avtar was posted on duty at UPSC building which had brought him in contact with the accused.

Ghaziabad, November 7
The next of kin of 700 roadway employees who died in accidents while on duty are likely to be given jobs by roadways. UP Roadways administration is likely to take action on government orders received a few months ago in this connection, it is learnt.

The roadways will thus lay off 700 temporary employees so that the next of kin of the accident victims could be given these jobs. It is feared the axe will fall on conductors and drivers employed on contract basis.

Roadway employees union and government had signed an agreement to give jobs to the next of the kin of deceased employees. There are a total of 40,000 regular employees on the strength of roadway. The employees killed on duty number about 700, comprising over 500 conductors and over 150 drivers. Orders to employ one member from each of the families of the deceased staff are soon to be complied with. But the roadway management will have to render 700 posts vacant for this purpose.

The senior UP Roadway officers have prepared a plan to terminate 700 contractual employees.

The leaders of the roadway workers union are also helpless in this matter as they had themselves pleaded with the management to give jobs to the next of kin of the deceased roadway employees.

Noida, November 7
Over 374 persons were lucky to get plots under the Noida Residential Scheme today at Noida Stadium.

Of the 55,000 applicants, 228 persons were allotted plots measuring 112.5 sq metre. Of these 157 were from the general category while 121 belonged to the reserved class.

Chits for plots measuring 160 and 200 sq metre were also taken out today. A total of 146 plots are available under this category, while the number of bidders is 16,962.

Most of the chits of successful bidders were picked up by the applicants who had come to participate in the draw.

The allottees were given plot numbers and the sectors in which the plots were allotted. The plots are located in Sectors 47, 48, 51, 99, 105, 108 and 122.

A total of 35,212.5 sq metre land is being allotted under the Noida Residential Scheme.

The draw was conducted under chairman of draw committees J.B. Patnaik and member Himanshu Kumar. Deputy CEO of Noida Authority N.P. Singh was also present.

Chits of over 125 applicants were tallied before the draw started. The draw started after the applicants said they were satisfied with the procedure. An LCD with a large screen has been put to display the bidder’s registration number along with his or her father’s name.

Kamweshwar Dayal, one of the applicants, was asked to take out 20 chits from the box. Thus, he was instrumental in gifting 20 applicants a plot each but he himself was not so lucky as to get a plot.

New Delhi, November 7
Napoleon, once pointing to China on the world map, had remarked, “This is a sleeping giant and let it sleep otherwise it will shake the entire world.” Napolean’s prophecy has come true after 200 years.

The entire world is now stunned by China’s growth. To discuss this impressive and rapid growth, the United Service Institution of India (USI) had yesterday organised a panel discussion at Amity University in Noida.

Eminent speakers included Mohan Guruswamy, chairman, Centre for Policy Alternatives; Brig. Anil Sharma (retd.) and Raghunath, former foreign secretary.

Mohan Guruswamy said that the economic asymmetries between the two countries are growing and the widening gap is expected to close around 2035-40. Presenting a bright future for Asian countries, he said that by 2025 almost 60 per cent of world’s GDP will come from Asia. Citing World Development Indicators Report 2005 and China Statistical Year Book- 2005, he brought out the stark difference between the sectoral growth rates of India and China from 1990- 2004 to 2005.

Speaking about the strategic postures of China and their implications for India, Raghunath said that China should neither be regarded as a dragon nor as a cuddly panda but as something in between. “We should take an empirical, clinical and objective view of Chinese behaviour” so that we can develop the appropriate responses to the challenges that it poses for our country.