New Delhi, December 31
A man has been arrested for killing a woman bartender, with whom he allegedly had an affair, at her rented accommodation in South Delhi, the police said today.

The accused, identified as Naveen, was held on Tuesday for gunning down the 25-year-old married woman at her Dakshin Puri home in Ambedkar Nagar area on November 27. A German-made pistol and eight cartridges were recovered from him.

Deputy commissioner of police (Southeast Delhi) Ajay Chaudhary said Naveen came in contact with the victim at a pub at the PVR Priya Complex in Vasant Vihar, where the woman worked as bartender. The police has not revealed the victim’s name.

“Naveen visited the woman’s home on November 27 and had physical relations with her. Later, a heated argument took place between them on some financial issue. When the argument escalated, she tried to shout and called her husband’s name after locking the room from inside,” Chaudhary said.

“Enraged by this, Naveen took out his pistol and fired at her head behind the right ear and fled in his car after locking the door from outside,” he added. The victim was later taken to AIIMS, where she was pronounced dead. — IANS

New Delhi, December 31
The South district police has nabbed a three-member gang of vehicle lifters operating in different states and has recovered ten luxury cars, including Tata Safari, Honda City ZX, Mahindra Bolero, Hyundai Verna and Tevera at their instance.

A motorcycle used in crimes and for racee of crime spots and equipments used for thefts have also been recovered from their possession.

The arrested accused have been identified as, Zakir Hussain (28), Mohd Rizwan (22) and Manjeet Singh (34).

According to HGS Dhaliwal, DCP (South), the trio was held from Rao Tula Ram Road after the police was tipped off by a secret informer. They were driving a Tavera Car which they had stolen few days ago from Gurgaon.

On sustained interrogation in the police custody, Zakir Hussain alias Rahul alias Kashmere disclosed that he along with his gang members had been involved in vehicle thefts and other criminal activities since last eight years. He had been arrested for robbery, snatching and extortion earlier also.

Hussain disclosed that he got in touch with Mohd. Rizwaan, a motor workshop owner, six months ago.

He started supplying stolen vehicles to Rizwaan, who disposed them off to his contacts in Haryana.

One stolen Balero has been recovered from Rizwaan’s workshop. Hussain is a proclaimed offender in four pending cases. Further records of different courts and police stations are being verified.

New Delhi, December 31
Deepak Kumar (45), a grocery store owner was shot dead in the Capital last night by two unidentified assailants as he tried to resist their robbery bid in West Delhi.

Kumar was at his grocery shop in the Hanuman Market of Uttam Nagar in West Delhi when the assailants tried to rob him.

According to the police, Kumar who was carrying a handsome amount of money, tried to resist the robbery bid when the assailants fired and fled with the money.

Kumar was rushed to the hospital by other shop owners but the doctors pronounced him dead on arrival.

The police believes that the assailants were well aware of the money and knew exactly where the deceased had kept it. The faces of the assailants could not be seen as they had covered their faces.

“The assailants were wearing monkey-caps to hide their identity. Robbery seems to be the motive behind the incident as they escaped with Rs 20,000,” deputy commissioner of police (west) Sharad Aggarwal said.

New Delhi, December 31
A constable posted with the crime branch of the Delhi police has been arrested for first selling his car and then lodging an FIR saying that the car has been stolen so that he could extract money from the insurance company.

According to available information, constable Ajay Rana had bought an Endeavour car on bank loan that he had taken on the basis of fake documents.

He presented himself as a property dealer before the bank and showed them fake property papers. After buying the car for Rs 20 lakh, he then sold it to Pradeep Sharma, a local BSP leader from Noida for Rs 15 lakh. But, before selling, he had got the car insured.

According to officials involved in the investigation, after pocketing Rs 15 lakh, Ajay wanted to squeeze money from the insurance company also and so he planned the theft story.

He lodged a complaint with Tughlaq Road police station that he was a property dealer and his car was stolen from India Gate while he was having ice cream nearby.

As the theft was reported from a VIP area, the officials took the matter seriously and formed two teams to trace the car.

The car could not be traced after months. All this time, Rana kept visiting the police station and pressurizing them to give in writing that his car could not be traced.

However, after six months, Pradeep Sharma was seen driving the car in Noida. But, after he disclosed that he had bought the car from Ajay Rana, the police finally figured out Rana’s plan.

A complaint was lodged against him immediately and the matter was referred to the crime branch. Rana was arrested today and placed under departmental enquiry.

New Delhi, December 31
Leaving behind, at least for a day, the repression and tribulations associated with their lives, around 550 young underprivileged children today gathered at Sain Bhagat Park in Sultanpuri looking forward to a hopeful New Year with Ujala 2009, a New Year event organised by NGOs working for the rights of children.

The event, jointly arranged by the Rights Based Approach Society (RBA) and Nav Jyoti, NGOs working for social causes and child rights issues, served as a perfect entertaining ground for the fun-filled young children of Kirari, a slum.

The young ones, all aged between 5-16, actively participated in various fun games, dances, and singing and drawing competitions.

The event was quiet different from other New Year celebrations taking place in the Capital in the sense that it aimed at drawing the attention of the privileged society towards the most vulnerable, children, who continue to be on the frontlines of abuse and atrocities.

“The objective behind organising this event was to make the corporate and civil society more aware about the deplorable state of thousands of young children whose condition hasn’t bettered even after sixty years of coming into existence of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights,” said Akanksha Singh from RBA.

Many not so fortunate children are braving the cascading effects of hardships and indifference everyday, and in order to prevent them from this ever-engulfing trauma, there is a need of meaningful partnerships.

Chairperson of Navjyoti, Dr Vinod Kathuria said, “Platforms like this needs corporate help and support. It is the collective responsibility of the privileged society to fight the violation of rights of innocent children.”

Local MLA Jai Kishan distributed prizes and said, “My party would arrange funds for such purposes.”

Sanjana, who studies in fourth standard in Navjyoti Public School, was quite excited, as she had bagged the first prize for drawing.

“I’m elated as this is the first time I’m attending such an event, and I have won too,” said Sanjana with a smile lighting up her face.

Gurgaon, December 31
City residents can now heave a sigh of relief, as they will soon get rid of paying huge bills to cable operators.

Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd (BSNL) in association with Smart Digivision Pvt Ltd launched an Interactive Personalised Television and Video Services (IPTV) for BSNL customers here today.

BSNL chairman and managing director Kuldeep Goyal inaugurated the service. “IPTV reception is much better than the cable,” he claimed. The service is available in 11 cities across the country.

“Selected BSNL residential customers in NCR are experiencing the next generation of TV Entertainment Services. By using high-speed BSNL internet connection and Smart Digivision Set Top Box, customers are able to connect to a set of interactive lines that cost Rs 180 which is much lesser than the cable charges,” said Goyal.

He added that viewers could choose from more than 140 channels. “It will also offer viewers an extensive film library with Hollywood and Bollywood titles at no extra cost,” he clarified.

“While DTH and cable are limited to broadcast services, Smart Digivision will take entertainment to the  next level with an array of exciting features like video on demand, which will provide a catalogue of current and all time favourite films; programmes and special features,” Goyal explained. Facilities like music on demand, education on demand and games on demand will be available to consumers.”

He informed, “Music on demand will let customers build their own radio stations and playlist from the latest hits and most popular artists. Education on demand turns television into a learning tool with a selection of age and subject-based instructional programmes. Games on demand features interactive games programmes.”

“Parental control will be the most important thing as it will enable parents to block specific content, channels and ratings through pin-based system,” Goyal affirmed.

R.K. Aggarwal, director, Planning and New Services, told The Tribune, “SDPL is working on some more services like — pause live TV, digital instant and scheduled recording, personalised stock ticker, interactive viewing, email and chat, travel information and weather forecasts — which will be available to customers soon.”

Goyal said, “We have a plan for broadband expansion and in coming three years we plan to add three million broadband connections.”

Gurgaon, December 31
A case of deception has been registered against a software company situated in Udyog Vihar here today.

Suresh Yadav has filed a case against Eware Software company where his son Atul was working.

In his complaint, Yadav has claimed that the company provides training to the upcoming engineers for two years.

When his son joined the company he was asked to fill a bond of Rs 50,000 which was refundable at the time of leaving the job.

But his son and many others were dismissed from the job before the completion of the period specified.

Their agreement letter was also changed. And now, the company was not paying back the bond amount.

The case has been registered against company director Rajive Nagpal and manager Shalu Sharma under Sections 406 and 506 of the Indian Penal Code.

The two were presented in front of a city magistrate. Rajiv has been sent to two-day police remand while Shallu was given bail.

Noida, December 31
An unprecedented rush was noticed at the registry offices in Noida and Greater Noida till 12 pm today as property owners had queued up to avail concessional stamp duty rate.

A few days ago, there was little activity in registry offices due to high circle and property rates.

But everyone was seen keen to take advantage of the stamp duty concession offered till today.

According to registry department officials, from 9 am till mid-night registry work was being carried.

Assistant director general and assistant commissioner S.N. Rai said most people came from far off places to get their properties registered.

After it was announced that stamp duty for registry would be steeply hiked after January 1, an unprecedented rush was noticed. People came from places as Mumbai, Mangalore, Kolkatta, and Chennai.

Senior advocate N.K. Sharma said there was such a slump in registry work that it was difficult to pay wages of the staff. But now there is a virtual deluge of clients.

In Greater Noida too work continues till 11 pm or 12 am. A great rush was seen at the GNIDA registration office for the last fortnight. According to officials, more workers had been deployed to control the rush.

The administration has announced registry duty would be hiked by 37 per cent and the GNIDA was also planning to hike the penalty thrice after December 31.

Noida, December 31
A man allegedly attacked a bus conductor and made off with the vehicle here early today. The hijacker was reported to have been a bus conductor earlier, but had lost his job recently.

Ajay Kumar, who was cleaner-cum-conductor of a private bus, wounded Maharaj Singh, the present bus conductor, with a knife and then drove the vehicle away at Sector-12 in Noida, on the outskirts of the Capital.

The number of the stolen bus is UP-16-K-9695, said city superintendent of police A.K. Tripathi.

Singh was sleeping in the bus, which was parked on the roadside near the Government Inter College (GIC) in Sector-12, at about 4 am when Ajay Kumar came and drove off the bus.

Singh later woke up and was attacked when he resisted Kumar’s attempts to steal the bus, the official said. The bus operator had sacked Kumar some time back.

He was angry over this and must have stolen the bus to take revenge, Tripathi said, adding that the police was investigating. — IANS

Noida, December 31
Crime incidences, particularly those involving women, in this satellite town adjoining the national Capital kept the police on toes throughout the year.

Over 452 incidents of crime were reported from the area, but only 260 cases have been registered. During the whole year it was mainly women who were targeted by criminals in the district.

Most of the crimes took place under Sector-20, 24, 39 and 58 Kotwali areas. On an average the bikers’ gang targeted five women daily.

Crimes against women drew the maximum attention after the murders of Aarushi and Sheeba Thomas.

Aarushi, a teenager was found dead in her Sector-25 house here in May 2008. While, Sheeba Thomas, an airhostess, was shot here.

Besides, the two bank loot cases spread terror among the residents. Eight criminals were shot in the district during encounters while, over 300 were jailed.

The Noida police has failed to make the city crime-free and a safe haven for residents. Snatching cases by biker gangs and incidents of road rage created fear among residents till December.

Though around seven dozen biker gangs have been arrested, the police failed to reduce incidence of crime. Around 36 incidences of car loot were reported in Noida.

Some string gangs have also been nabbed. These gangs have so far committed 60 crimes. They mostly operate in big markets like Sector-18 and 58, shopping complexes, malls and important and over-crowded crossings.

Ghaziabad, December 31
A man and his son were today robbed of their bag containing Rs 2.2 million (Rs 22 lakh) by three unidentified motorcycle-borne attackers here.

The robbery took place around 11 am at the Ikla locality of Ghaziabad, on the outskirts of Capital.

Inder and his son Subhash were going on a two-wheeler to Dadri to look into some property matters when they were intercepted by three men on a motorcycle, said circle officer (Masuri police station) Kalyan Singh.

“The criminals knocked down their motorcycle and one of the three men snatched the bag containing the cash and fled. We have registered the case and efforts are on to nab the assailants,” Singh said.

The incident comes a day after three persons riding a bike were looted of Rs 2,00,000 and one of them was shot in Greater Noida in a car. — IANS

New Delhi, December 31
Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit today directed officials to expedite recruitment of medical and paramedical personnel to overcome their shortage as she reviewed the functioning of the health and family welfare department.

The government is also likely to constitute a paramedical council to overcome shortage of staff in this category.

“The council may impart training in a number of paramedical subjects,” a Delhi government official said.

“The government is also considering commissioning of its own medical stores in hospitals on the lines of an approved central government scheme to ensure availability of genuine medicines at reasonable prices,” the official added.

“A number of far-flung hospitals are generally found under-utilised. The government is contemplating affiliation of such hospitals with larger hospitals,” the official said.

Dikshit told the department’s officials that child and mother health services, at least, should be made available at the doorstep and, therefore, the existing network of 195 dispensaries should be strengthened.

The official said the government was also considering creation of hospital welfare committees for better management of hospitals. — IANS

“The minimum temperature recorded this morning was 8.2° Celsius, which is a degree above normal. We are feeling more cold today because of the absence of the fog and the wind which could be there because of the snowfall in Jammu and Kashmir,” an Met official said. — IANS

New Delhi, December 31
The Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) has finally woken up to the problem of beggars in the Capital.

The civic body is planning to carry out an identification process for beggars in the city and conduct a rehabilitation programme for them.

The initiative will also involve the Delhi government, Delhi police, traffic police and New Delhi Municipal Corporation (NDMC).

“We will create a record of the beggars who are generally seen begging on the red lights all over the Capital. This will help us in chalking out rehabilitation plans for them,” said Vijender Gupta, chairman of the standing committee, in a meeting today.

The civic body admitted that the responsibility comes under its ambit and said that it can also propose to build houses for them.

“The job of rehabilitating beggars in Delhi is in accordance with the DMC Act and it is our responsibility to take care of their rehabilitation,” Gupta said.

He said that there are cities with much higher poverty level; still they are better in terms of the conditions of the beggars.

However, municipal Commissioner KS Mehra said that the job of rehabilitating beggars comes under the ambit of the Delhi government and that they were already working on these lines.

“Managing beggars on the roads comes under the social welfare department of the Delhi government. Their officers take beggars to the welfare centres from where they are taken to beggar homes,” said Mehra.

The leaders said they would request the L-G to ask other bodies to give their cooperation for the initiative.

New Delhi, December 31
As 2008 comes to an end, the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) seems to be is far behind on achievement fronts.

While the status of parking blues and stray cattle menace remains the same for the past many years, the civic body’s implementation of biometric system and the success of online collection of property tax are some of its achievements this year.

Stray cattle and simian menace: Despite the efforts to curb stray cattle and simian menace, the problem is something that the civic body has been unable to deal with.

The MCD has eight-member cattle catching teams in all its 12 zones and it claims to have rounded up 14,000 stray cattle till now and whereas there are an estimated 30,000 stray head of cattle in the city.

On the other hand, even after spending more than Rs 2.5 crore in dealing with the monkey menace, the simians are still biting, scratching and clawing people and raiding government buildings and even hospitals in the city.

Parking blues: The civic body had announced nearly 36 new multi-level and automated parking facilities in the Capital.

Even after one year of the announcement, the proposals have not gone beyond the process of tendering.

The MCD had recently proposed parking grounds to be built under the public parks and above the drains but the parking woes remain the same for the common man

Online property tax: One of the latest achievements in the MCD’s kitty is the success of online collection of property tax.

The civic body made it possible for lakhs to submit their property tax online and saved them from the harassment of visiting local municipal offices repeatedly.

Till now 5,20,742 property owners have made the payment of tax by using the website and an amount of Rs 213.39 crore has been collected from it.

Biometric system: The biometric system of attendance was introduced by the MCD on August 1 to get more transparency and punctuality in its offices.

Around 200 such machines were put up by the civic agency in their headquarters at Town Hall, Ambedkar Stadium, SP zone offices at Kashmere Gate and other areas.

Each machine costs Rs 30,000 and the civic agency has incurred an expense of Rs 60 lakh on the project.

Further, 2,000 more machines have been planned to be installed in the hospitals, zonal offices etc. at a cost of another Rs 25 crore.

Ghazipur abattoir: The Ghazipur abattoir, one of the ambitious projects of the civic body, is not yet working to its 100 per cent capacity.

The project was started in 2005 with an investment of Rs 65 crore. Even after spending Rs 123 crore in past three years, the abattoir is running under its capacity.

Despite floating the tender twice, the civic body has also been unable to find private takers for it as the cost of maintenance of the abattoir is far greater than the money collected from slaughtering of animals.