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Outsiders beat JNU students
No new tax in revised
MCD budget
Suicide bid by woman at Metro station
1 held for murder
State of heritage worries CM
Recession hits sale of Saraswati idols
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Chilly morning greets Delhi
Wanted criminal killed in encounter
1 killed in Noida accident
Villagers blow up land compensation money
Stone crusher units demand raw materials
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Outsiders beat JNU students
New Delhi, January 27 The violence happened after the JNU Urgent General Body Meeting (UGBM) got over in the early morning hours of Sunday. The JNUSU alleged that three men, including one employed with the Delhi police, came to Twenty-four Seven dhaba in their car in a highly drunken state and after placing their orders, started shouting and abusing the boy at the counter. “When the students asked them to stop such obnoxious behaviour, they started passing highly gender insensitive comments loudly,” said Sandeep, president, Jawaharlal Nehru University Students’ Union (JNUSU). The students said the accused started beating them up after the students went up to them to establish their identity. “Some students, including JNUSU councillor Sucheta, JNUSU vice-president Shephalika and MPhil student Ravi Prakash went up to the outsiders. At this point, one of the outsiders took out a baseball bat from his car started repeatedly hitting the students,” said Sandeep, who was present at the site of the incident. Eventually, many more JNU students turned up at the spot. Taking advantage of the crowd, two accused ran from the spot. One man, who claimed to be one from the Delhi police, was, however, caught. The accused was taken to Vasant Vihar police station. “Here, in a shocking show of negligence by the Delhi police, the accused managed to run away from the police station as well. He reached JNU campus to collect his car and was again caught by the Group 4 securitymen, when he was trying to gate crash in full speed,” said JNUSU office bearers. Further interrogations revealed that not just the arrested one, but his father was also employed in the Delhi police. Medical tests established that JNUSU councillor Sucheta had a hairline fracture in her head. Several other students were severely injured in the violence. “It is alarming that no less than Delhi police personnel have indulged in such public rowdyism and violence with impunity, under the confidence that nothing could be done to them,” said Shephalika, vice-president, JNUSU.
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No new tax in revised
MCD budget
New Delhi, January 27 Gupta assured that revenue of the civic body would be increased by accelerating and rationalising the existing financial resources as well as ensuring economy in office expenditure. He claimed that a huge amount had been earmarked for expenditure on development works. He also ensured increase in income. Income during 2009-10 is estimated to be Rs 5,836 crore. If the opening balance of Rs 946 is added and expenditure of civic services to the tune of Rs 6,709 crore is to be spent as proposed, Rs 73.66 crore will remain as closing balance. Giving details of expenditure on civic services, Gupta disclosed that during the current financial year, Rs 5,396 crore would be spent on civic services. The commissioner in his budget estimates proposed an expenditure of Rs 5,276 crore. Thus, the Standing Committee has increased the expenditure of development works by Rs 120 crore. Giving details of income for the next financial year 2009-10, Gupta disclosed that income was expected to increase to Rs 5,836 crore which would be an all-time record.
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Suicide bid by woman at Metro station
New Delhi, January 27 However, she escaped unhurt as the driver of the train that was coming on the track used emergency brakes. Priyanka (name changed), a resident of Katra Leshwan in Chandni Chowk, jumped on the Metro track at around 10:20 a.m. Priyanka is in her 40s. Priyanka’s husband informed the police that she has been suffering from depression for the last few months. Following the incident, Metro service was disrupted for about 30 minutes today morning on Vishwavidyalaya to Central Secretariat line. Delhi Metro Rail Corporation spokesperson Anuj Dayal confirmed, “Metro services between Chandni Chowk and Central Secretariat were stopped for nearly half an hour.” He added that the woman has been detained for further questioning.
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1 held for murder
New Delhi, January 27 The deceased identified as Sewa Ram Toor (32), son of Ram Chander was a resident of Issapur. A team under S.R. Yadav, ACP (Najafgarh), was formed. It was learnt that Toor worked as a driver, but recently he had left the job. He was last seen with Bittoo on the night of January 22. They had consumed liquor. Bittoo has confessed to the crime. He disclosed that the deceased used to harass and humiliate him in front of others. He also used to tease him by making obscene gestures. Fed up with his obscene comments and gestures, Bittoo decided to kill him. He disclosed that the two had headed towards the fields in Issapur village to smoke after consuming liquor on the fateful night. Toor again started teasing Bittoo who hit him with a knife till he died.
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State of heritage worries CM
New Delhi, January, 27 She pointed out at the deteriorating condition of historical structures like Humayun Tomb, Blue Mosque, Tuglaq Fort. She said, “The Indian Railways has been asked to curtail its expansion plans, but of no avail. It’s marching ahead with its expansion work of Nizamuddin Station around Tuglaq Fort, and thus spoiling the aura of the fort. The appalling state of our ancient heritage is primarily due to the fast pace of Delhi’s development.” Sheila said, “Delhi has the largest treasure of historical heritage and monuments. But, as a matter of fact, we have been neglecting it and in the course of the ever-increasing march of development, we are consistently damaging our dear city and have become immune to it.” Another concern is the depleting green cover in the Capital, which is heading towards becoming a metropolis. “As Delhi is a growing megacity, infrastructural development is happening at a random pace, and the brunt is being faced by the city’s nature, which is part of our heritage,” Sheila said. Without missing her government’s achievements, Sheila enumerated, “Earlier, Delhi had 300 water bodies and the Delhi government has managed to conserve 90-100 of them to meet the shortage of water. Again, we have created 19 city forests, each with a minimum of 1,500 trees.” Sheila pointed at the languishing state of the heritage education centres in the Capital and said the government is ready to support the training. She regretted that though Delhi is considered to be a window to India, the heritage conservation bodies have failed to put placards at monuments, which are part of ancient glory and heritage. |
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Recession hits sale of Saraswati idols
New Delhi, January 27 “I made 80 statues of goddess Saraswati the previous year and all of them were sold easily. This year looking at the scenario, I decided to make 40 and only five of them have been sold till date. The condition is getting worse,” said Shoga Ram, a sculptor near Patparganj. Saraswati Puja is round the corner but many roadside sculptors like Shoga Ram are worried about their sales, as people are losing interest in buying statues of the goddess of knowledge. While sculptors claim that buying the goddess’ statue is part of the puja, people are going for images and pictures through net or calendars rather than buying statues as it is comparatively more expensive. Kalyani Verma of Laxmi nagar said, “A five foot statue costs around Rs 1,500 while a shorter one is for Rs 700. We cannot worship the same idol every year, it has to be changed so we decided to get a print downloaded from the internet or simply buy a poster rather than making it costlier.” Bija Ram and Kappan, who sit near Noida Mor, are in the business for the last 10 years. They said, “This is the worst fall we have noticed till date. All our statues used to get booked 10 days before Saraswati Puja but as of now we have just booked five. We are not finding customers. We also tried reducing the prices of statues but it hardly worked.” While Rawat, a sculptor who sits near Patparganj Flyover, confirms there has been a visible rise in the cost of the raw material used for making these statues. “A plaster of Paris sack that was around Rs 60 has now risen up to Rs 85. Moreover, the cost of skilled labourers who work under sculptors has shot to Rs 300 a day from Rs 150. We have noticed a hike of over 40 per cent, which I think is a major reason for downfall in the market,” Rawat added. Tappan from West Bengal who makes clay statues said, “There are so many things we need to arrange for the Puja like colours, decorative jewelleries and special clay — all from Kolkata. I have invested Rs 35,000 till now and could just make 40 statues, while the last year it had just cost me Rs 25,000 for 80 statues. I earned a profit of around Rs 15,000. This year I am afraid of the losses.” Sitting on roads and making idols bearing the scorching sunlight or the chilly winter, there are only a few festivals when these artisans can earn a bit but that too are hit due to recession.
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Chilly morning greets Delhi
New Delhi, January 27 “Northwesterly winds blowing over northern India has brought chill to the Capital. The minimum temperature is likely to come down further. The chill is going to stay for two to three days,” an official at the Safdarjung meteorological office said. The minimum temperature was 9.9° Celsius and the maximum temperature was 25.4° Celsius today. The minimum temperature stood at 13.2° Celsius on Monday. International and domestic flights at Indira Gandhi International Airport were running on time, thanks to the clear visibility on all runways, an airport official said. — IANS |
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Wanted criminal killed in encounter
Ghaziabad, January 27 It was learnt that some criminals were fleeing after robbing Asmohammad of Rs 55,000 and motorcycle. Special operation group in charge D.P. Tiwari and SHO (Vijay Nagar) Umesh Roraiya were checking vehicles near Ganga Project on bypass. Two youths riding motorcycles happened to pass through the area. When signaled to stop, they fired at the police. The police retaliated. One criminal was killed in the firing, while the other managed to escape. The dead criminal was identified as Shamshad (30) son of Asgar. Shamshad had created terror in Meerut, Muzaffarnagar, Lucknow, Ghaziabad and other districts. IG Meerut range had announced a reward of Rs 10,000 on Shamshad. A .32-bore pistol, two empty cartridges and four live cartridges were recovered from them. SP (city) Vijay Bhushan said that Shamshad was wanted in over two dozen cases or loot, murder and kidnapping in various police stations of U.P.
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1 killed in Noida accident
Noida, January 27 At Model Town under Sector 58 police area, an unknown vehicle hit the motorcyclist. Both the man driving the motorcycle and pillion rider were seriously injured. They were rushed to private hospital. One of the the injured, Umesh Kumar, died at hospital in the afternoon today. Another injured Bhure Singh was still serious. He was in I.C.U. till late Tuesday evening. At Greater Noida in village Chapargarh, unidentified assailants shot at Kesh Ram and injured him seriously. He was rushed to Noida hospital. His condition was stated to be serious till late evening. Dankore SHO, B.S.Motela, said, “Old enmity appeared to be the cause of shootout. However, till late evening there were no clues to assailants.” Noida Phase II arrested an auto thief and recovered a stolen Indica car and a motorcycle. “The thief was identified as Pramod, son of Hari Singh. Six months ago he was arrested in Ghaziabad for auto thefts. After coming out of jail on bail, he again started stealing the vehicles,” said A.K.Tripathi, S.P.(City)
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Villagers blow up land compensation money
Noida, January 27 As per the district excise record, in nine months from April to December 2008, Noida and Greater Noida residents have consumed liquor worth Rs 111.40 crore (Rs 1,114 million). Indian-made foreign liquor has registered a rise of 37 per cent, while the sale of country liquor remained almost static. The consumption of Indian-made foreign liquor reached 25.26 lakh bottles. While, the total consumption of country liquor was 39.54 lakh litre. Beer consumption was 39.65 lakh bottles. Liquor sales not only rose in city areas, but rural areas also registered a steep hike. As villagers have got crores in form of land compensation, demand of costlier brands rose in and around villages. The villagers asked for the costliest liquor at bars too and even slapped bouncers who tried to stop their entry going by their appearance. District excise inspector M.P. Singh said, “Noida has no liquor distillery but still the revenue is increasing at a fast pace.”
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Stone crusher units demand raw materials
Faridabad, January 27 A delegation of the owners under the aegis of Pali Mohabatabad Stone Crusher Owners Association expressed concern that the government’s lease for mining of Sirohi-Khori hills in the Araval range, near here, was coming to its term-end on February 5. Their concern stemmed from the fact that the government had so far not taken any decision with regard to fresh lease or auction of the hills which act as source of raw materials for the stone crusher units in Pali-Mohabatabad zone. Mining in Sirohi-Khori hills was allowed in the face of blanket ban on mining by the Supreme court in the five kilometers radius of Delhi. The case for allowing mining on a larger tract of hills in the Aravalis was still pending in the Supreme Court. The president of Pali Mohabatabad Stone Crusher Association, Dharamveer Bhadana, said that even if the Haryana government was to allow fresh lease or auction of the hills in Sirohi-Khori for mining, it would take at least more than a year to put everything in operation. The reason being that the Haryana government will have to procure E.M.P clearance from the union ministry of environment. As per the law, during every fresh auction or lease of hills, the E.M.P will have to be procured. The owners of the stone crusher units said that the supply of stone as raw materials to their units will be disrupted. They prefer the Sirohi-Khori hills as they are very near to the stone crusher zone in Pali-Mohabatabad. They feel that the price of ‘rorees’ and other construction material produced from the units will go up manifold as the raw materials will have to be procured from Rajasthan or Bhiwani, which were far off and would raise the transportation cost of raw materials.
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