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Rakhi gift: Delhi-Palwal ladies train
Rakhi Rush: A view of traffic jam at Ashram in
New Delhi on Wednesday. Tribune photo
Prez, PM, Sonia celebrate with kids |
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Traffic snarls spoil festive mood
Meltdown Impact
Few takers for a free flat!
Gangster held after 1-hr shootout
Sandeep Chitania was arrested after a shootout at Rohini in New Delhi
on Wednesday. Tribune photo: Mukesh Aggarwal
Farmers detain tehsildar, staff
Eloped girl’s father abducts boy’s cousin
Parents to protest against fee hike tomorrow
IGNOU, IRT ink pact for rail courses
AISA decries education bill
Printing press destroyed in fire
8 more swine flu cases in Delhi
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Rakhi gift: Delhi-Palwal ladies train
New Delhi, August 5 Flagging off the train, the railway minister informed that two important rail projects in the national Capital— modernisation of New Delhi Railway Station and development of new rail terminal at Anand
Vihar— were progressing well and would be commissioned shortly. Three super fast trains would start from Tughlakabad station very soon, she announced. She said the railway ministry and Delhi government would work in close co-ordination to provide better services to the passengers. The railway minister assured that all railway projects related to the Commonwealth Games would be completed within the stipulated time. The new train, NP-5, will depart from Palwal at 8.25 am to reach New Delhi station at 9.50 am on all days except Sunday. While returning, the train, NP-10, will leave New Delhi station at 5.50 pm to reach Palwal at 7.25pm. The train will stop at Shivaji Bridge, Tilak Bridge, Hazrat
Nizamuddin, Okhla, Tughlakabad, Fardibad, Faridabad Town, Ballabhgarh and Asaoti stations. Appreciating the new train, Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit said Delhi would witness its first exclusive women train, which would have women railway protection force
(RPF) personnel and women ticketing checkers. Thus it was for the ladies, of the ladies and predominantly by the ladies, she said. The train was flagged off in the presence of union minister of state for railways, E. Ahmed, union minister of heavy industries and public enterprises Vilasrao Deshmukh and Sheila
Dikshit. |
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Prez, PM, Sonia celebrate with kids
New Delhi, August 5 A group of 85 students was welcomed at the President’s estate to tie rakhi on Patil’s wrist. “On the occasion of Raksha Bandhan, which symbolises love, affection and mutual trust between siblings, I extend my warm greetings and good wishes to all,” said Patil. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh also celebrated the festival with children from different schools and organisations. His wife Gursharan Kaur was present when students tied rakhis on his wrist. “The festival reinforces the sanctity of our traditional family ties. It provides an opportunity to bridge differences and strengthen the bonds of fraternity and brotherhood,” said Singh. Congress chief Sonia Gandhi tied rakhis on the wrists of a group of children, who went to visit her at her residence. A group of mentally challenged, deaf and dumb children from the Aastha Special School from Bhiwadi in Rajasthan celebrated the day with Lok Sabha Speaker Meira Kumar. Kumar gave gifts to the kids. Leader of opposition in Lok Sabha L.K.Advani also hosted school children at his residence. Meanwhile, reinstating faith in Delhi Metro during its turbulent times, unprecedented number of passengers boarded Metro trains around Raksha Bandhan. The Metro achieved a milestone, recording its highest ridership of 9.92 lakh passengers on a single day on Tuesday. Further, Metro earned maximum revenue on the consecutive days. Revenue earned on Tuesday was around Rs 1.24 crore. On Monday, the ridership was 9.26 lakh, while the revenue collected was Rs.1.25 crore, which is the highest revenue earned since the Metro became operational December 25, 2002. Yesterday, line 3— Yamuna Bank to Dwarka Sector 9— had maximum ridership at 3.96 lakh, followed by line 1— Dilshad Garden to Rithala— at 3.05 lakh and line 2— Jehangirpuri to Central Secretariat— at 2.89 lakh. The stations that witnessed the heaviest rush today were Yamuna Bank, Rajiv Chowk, Jehangirpuri, Shahdara, Seelampur, Dilshad Garden, Dwarka Mor and Uttam Nagar East. DMRC’s previous highest single-day ridership of 9.53 lakh was recorded on November 24, 2008 at the time of the India International Trade Fair. In July 2009, the average daily ridership of Metro stood at 8.37 lakh, which is the maximum ridership so far in any month. DTC buses also saw huge rush as sisters got free rides to meet their brothers across the city.
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Traffic snarls spoil festive mood
New Delhi, August 5 Heavy traffic on roads led to jams in certain part of the city causing delays with the wait stretching till an hour in certain sections. “I had told my sister that I would be at her place in Noida by 10 am, but with jams near Moolchand flyover I was stuck there for almost an hour,” said Sanjeev Singh, who works at an event management company. He added the experience was same with one of his friends who got stuck in the Hari Nagar area of West Delhi. Experience was rather worse for those who were new in the national Capital and unaware of the roads condition on festivals. ‘’I had expected less traffic as it was a festival and a holiday today. However, roads were clogged all around the bus route. Don’t ask me the area for I don’t know,’’ said Ram Singh, who had come from Moradabad for the first Rakhi at his sister’s place who had got married the last year. The Raksha Bandhan rush was also added by many government and private office employees who were travelling as their office remained open today. |
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Top builders want to surrender projects to GNIDA
Our Correspondent
Greater Noida, August 5 GNIDA’s Dy CEO P.C. Gupta has confirmed that four builders, including Eldeco, Omaxe, Ansal EPI, have applied for surrendering their projects and demanded that plots be allotted to them in lieu of amounts deposited by them. Earlier, Greater Noida Authority had declared 18 builders defaulters. It may be recalled that in its 76th Board Meeting, Greater Noida had offered the builders a lot of facilities. The projects of defaulter builders were rescheduled and even they were allowed to surrender them. The authority had even kept the “schemes open for 6 months”. This scheme had expired on June 30. The stigma of being a defaulter was removed and facility of rescheduling was given. Defaulted instalments and interest were to be deposited under a new schedule. Interest rate was to be paid in the first 6 months and in the following 12 months, principal amount was to be paid. Besides, an option to surrender the project was also given. Ten per cent of the deposited amount of such builders was to be deducted and in lieu of 90% deposits, plots were to be allotted. Even after this, on instructions of the UP government, a variety of facilities were extended to the builders. But despite these concessions, recession seems to have broken the back of builders.
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Few takers for a free flat!
Greater Noida, August 5 Greater Noida Authority, however, plans to hand over the flats to the district administration on Independence Day, it is learnt . According to sources, it is not that there is dearth of those who want to apply for free flats, but the condition that only BPL card holders can apply for a free flat is hard to fulfil. Apart from BPL card holders, widows and physically challenged persons are eligible to get a flat. Besides, there is reservation of 23 per cent for SC-ST, 27 per cent for OBC and 50 per cent for the poor of the general category. The two-room residential unit has cost Rs 2 lakh each which will be allotted free to applicants. As is known that thousands of people from other states and districts are working as casual labourers in Greater Noida, but they do not possess ration cards. Most of them are nomadic labourers who live in huts at the site till the construction work lasts and then move on to another project site. Secondly, the income of regular residents in Noida and Greater Noida is higher than ECW people so they are not eligible to apply for these flats. In official records, both Noida and Greater Noida continue to be treated as villages. GNIDA Dy CEO, P.C. Gupta said it is for the district administration to receive the applications and allot the flats. A committee under DCEO is doing this work. The authority will hand over the flats to the district administration on August 15, he said. The Kanshi Ram housing project, built at Rs 13.20 crore, was started on December 12, 2008. Another 1,000 flats are under construction in Noida Sector-110. The project was started by the UP government with a view to sparing the foreign visitors, during Commonwealth Games, the sight of people living in slums and jhuggis.
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Gangster held after 1-hr shootout
New Delhi, August 5 Sandeep Kohad, alias Sandeep Chitania, (24), a resident of Chitani village in Sonepat (Haryana) was arrested this morning after he was cornered by a police team at a flat in pocket-9 of Sector 25, Rohini. Sandeep fired at the police team to which the police retaliated by firing six rounds. However, the police said no one was injured or killed in the incident. The police claimed it took precaution to ensure there was no panic in the residential area. Sandeep was wanted in five cases of murder, three cases of attempt to murder and several extortion bids in Delhi and Haryana. The Delhi police had even announced a reward of Rs 50,000 on his arrest. Joint commissioner of police (northern range) Karnal Singh said, “We broke open the door of the two-storeyed flat, but Sandeep locked himself in one of the rooms. We broke open the door again. He was hiding in the washroom.” A 9-mm pistol and 37 cartridges of different make were seized from Sandeep. Singh said apart from Sandeep no one else was present in the flat. Meanwhile, the police is on the lookout for the real estate agent who provided shelter to Sandeep in his flat. “The real estate agent will also be booked under appropriate charges,” Singh said. Sandeep is wanted by the Haryana and Delhi police for his involvement in the murder of Satyapal Singh in the Vasant Vihar area, double murder in Delhi’s Rama Vihar in November last year and a double murder in Hisar on June 25 this year. The Rama Vihar double murder took place while a party was going on. Sandeep got infuriated when some people asked the singer to sing a particular song. Sandeep opened fire, killing Shiv Narain (50) and Vinod (27) and injuring two other persons. Besides, he also shot at a man at Murthal in Haryana last month after the victim failed to cough up an extortion of Rs 5 lakh. According to the police, Sandeep next plan was to kill a Sonepat-based businessman. “The businessman has been provided with police security. Sandeep had, reportedly, planned to carry out the killing by dressing as a woman and using a motorbike,” Singh said. |
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Farmers detain tehsildar, staff
Greater Noida, August 5 On getting the information about the commotion, the Dy CEO expressed regret to farmers, but refused to start talks with them. The Bhartiya Kisan Union alleged that under an agreement with the district administration eight months ago, it was agreed that 7% of acquired land would be returned to farmers, but now GNIDA was offering them only 6% land. Even Abadi lands of farmers have been acquired by the GNIDA, they alleged. Eventually farmers threatened to start an agitation if their demands were not met by August 7. State president Mahinder Singh of the farmers’ union said Greater Noida authority had invited them for talks. But when farmers reached there on the given time, no officer was available. The angry farmers had created a ruckus on the spot. Though Dy CEO R.K. Singh reached the spot and expressed regret, it did not placate farmers who walked away in a huff. |
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Eloped girl’s father abducts boy’s cousin
New Delhi, August 5 Qadir Khan, a 38-year-old from Sitamarhi in Bihar, was arrested from Gorkhpur on Tuesday for kidnapping the boy in east Delhi on July 27. The boy has been rescued from Qadir Khan’s custody and the police said search was on to find Khan’s accomplices. Deputy commissioner of police (east Delhi) Anand Mohan said Khan kidnapped the boy following an antagonism between him and the boy’s family, as the boy’s cousin had eloped with his daughter in the first week of July. “Khan wanted to get his daughter back and to mount pressure on the boy’s family, he kidnapped the boy and also asked for a ransom of Rs 1,50,000 for his safe release,” Mohan said. “In our investigations we found that Devanand, father of the boy, has a nephew named Chandan. Chandan had a love affair with Khan’s daughter and the two eloped from their homes. Khan wanted Devanand to return his daughter. To put pressure on Devanand, he kidnapped the boy with the help of another person,” he added. Two days after the kidnapping, Khan made ransom calls to Devanand. The police said a team was rushed to Khan’s native place and a trap was laid near a forest where the abductors were to come to collect the ransom money. “But after seeing the policemen, the abductors left the child and fled in the forest. Khan was later arrested from Gorakhpur,” added Mohan.
— IANS |
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Parents to protest against fee hike tomorrow
Faridabad, August 5 The decision to resort to the agitational path was taken at a meeting of the Haryana Abhibhavak Ekta Manch here. Giving details of the meeting, the general secretary of the Manch, Kailash Sharma said here today that the parents have decided to hold demonstrations in all the districts on August 7 and submit a memorandum to Haryana Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda via the deputy commissioners. Thereafter, they would hold a state-level rally in Rohtak on August 30 and take out a procession in the city. The procession will culminate at the residence of the Chief Minister where the parents will submit a memorandum to him under the aegis of the Haryana Abhibhavak Ekta Manch. Sharma said that a decision was also taken in the meeting to oppose the ruling party in the coming assembly election in Haryana in case the government did not get its directive implemented. The parents from 10 districts of the state, namely Faridabad, Rohtak, Gurgaon, Karnal, Bhiwani, Hissar, Panipat, Palwal, Mewat and Panchkula, took part in the meeting. According to Kailash Sharma, the Manch convened the emergency meeting of the parents following the apathy on the part of the deputy commissioners and education departments in the districts to implement the directive issued to the private schools. The parents allege that the schools raised the fees without adhering to the norms laid down by the government. According to the Manch, the directive of the office of the commissioner and director general, Haryana School Education, is that the schools in Haryana will have to meet the extra expenditure of the increased salaries from their "Reserve Funds."
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IGNOU, IRT ink pact for rail courses
New Delhi, August 5 IGNOU vice-chancellor VN Rajasekharan Pillai and chairman of the railway board SS Khurana were present on the occasion as US
Tolia, registrar of IGNOU and AP Ramanan, executive director of IRT signed the
MoU. “The IRT centres would be a sound step to develop rail transport-related vocational education training and skill development of the youths, which will ensure their employability. It could become a model for many other areas,” said
Pillai. Khurana said, “The IRT will benefit from the IGNOU’s expertise and make education more real and broadly
recognised.” Appropriate mechanisms would be evolved for effective generation of skilled officials in the management of the complicated world of rail transport. University spokesperson S.Mahalanobis said, “A slew of academic programmes — short-term trainings to certificate, diploma, bachelor’s, master’s and research programmes — would be offered at all IRT study centres spread across the country with a view to democratising job-oriented
education.” IGNOU would define the criteria of admission, finalise the registration processes with the
IRT, design courses, delivery of training and education, review mechanism, redesign IRT’s existing courses suitable for certification and develop effective students support network using the IRT facilities across the Indian railways. The IRT would bear the cost of the project. |
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AISA decries education bill
New Delhi, August 5 The AISA is organising a public hearing on the Right to Education Bill and on UPA’s proposals to privatise education on August 7. AISA general secretary Ravi Rai said, “More than a decade of anti-privatisation struggle by students has forced governments to change their vocabulary: to ‘dress -up’ their privatisation-commercialisation agenda in a grand cloak of ‘reform’. One of the most trumpeted proposals by the Congress government is to pass the Right to Education Bill.” Rai adds, “Kapil Sibal and the UPA are predictably busy patting themselves on their back that this ‘historic’ bill is well on its way to becoming a legally mandated Act. However, what is most shocking is the manner in which the bill was passed.” |
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Printing press destroyed in fire
New Delhi, August 5 “It took us four hours to douse the flames,” fire officials said, adding that the fire completely gutted the factory. No casualty has been reported and the cause of the fire could not be ascertained. In another similar incident, a fire broke out at a shop in the Nirman Vihar area in east Delhi around 1.47 am. According to fire officials, the blaze, which broke out in a garment shop, was brought under control within an hour. Nobody was injured, but the blaze completely gutted the 200 sq meter shop and damaged the nearby shops also. About seven fire trucks were pressed into service. The cause of the fire is yet to be ascertained. However, fire officials suspect that some spark might have led to the incident. |
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Union railway minister Mamta Banerjee today flagged off a ladies special train from Delhi to Palwal and Palwal to Delhi, which she described as a Raksha Bandhan gift to women.
Banerjee said ladies special trains would be provided for other suburban areas like
Sonepat, Aligarh and Ghaziabad also.
A dreaded gangster involved in numerous murder and robbery cases was arrested a after an hour-long gunbattle in the Rohini area of north west Delhi today.
Sandeep Kohad, alias Sandeep Chitania, (24), a resident of Chitani village in Sonepat (Haryana) was arrested this morning after he was cornered by a police team at a flat in pocket-9 of Sector 25,
Rohini.
