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Delhi govt may hold reins of MCD
Metro derails; 2nd time in a month |
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Fighting corruption: 91-yr-old Gandhian plans fast unto death
Yamuna breaches danger mark
2 cases of polio detected in Noida
Discoms promise uninterrupted power during Games
Writer Ira Trivedi takes a look at Delhi’s high life
DTU signs MoU with French group
Haryana polls
Kashmiri Pandits in ‘exile’ to tonsure head
today
Respite for those hit by hefty power bills
Guard beaten to death
Rs 9.5 lakh stolen from car
in Ghaziabad
Minor raped by neighbour in Delhi
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Delhi govt may hold reins of MCD
New Delhi, September 13 According to sources, in view of recent waterlogging that clogged the Delhi roads, lack of civic amenities and a few other issues, the MHA has considered the recommendations of the Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit to hand over the MCD to the state government. A private bill of handing over the MCD to the Delhi government was also tabled before the last Assembly session. But it was defeated. “We have approved it. A note has been sent to the Delhi government,” a senior home ministry official said. Delhi chief secretary Rakesh Mehta said that he had not received so far any such letter from the union ministry. “A number of letters come every day. I will go through the mail pending in office then let you know the actual position,” he told The Tribune. He said that 13 reporters had asked him the same question since morning. Principal secretary of urban development, Delhi government, also denied receiving any such letter. An official of the Chief Minister office also denied having received any such letter from the home ministry. Ninety per cent area of the Capital is being covered by the MCD. Only a small area is being looked after by the New Delhi Municipal Council and Cantonment Board. Moreover, the MCD is being ruled by the Bharatiya Janata Party and the Delhi government by the Congress. Due to clash between the MCD and the Delhi government, development work suffers. The clash has also affected the preparation of the Commonwealth Games. Hardly a year is left for the mega-sports event, but the work is still left to be completed. The government has also claimed to make Delhi a world-class city and this is not possible with the existing speed of the development work, the sources said. The sources said that things would be formalised till next week after taking view of all the stake holders. Reacting to this development, Mayor Kanwar Sen said, “This is a politically motivated step. We protest it. Because the Congress has a government at the centre and in the state, they are trying to take undue advantage. It is also an infringement on the rights of the municipal corporation.” He said, “We will discuss with our senior leaders and take opinion of legal experts to outline our future course of action. We are ready to go to court, if needed, or come out on the streets to protest.” Sen added, “The allegations of inefficiency against the MCD are nothing but the Delhi government’s malicious campaign to cover up the inefficiencies of their own agencies.” The MCD came into existence on April 7, 1958, under an act of Parliament. It is one of three civic bodies in Delhi, the others are the New Delhi Municipal Council (NDMC), which looks after an area of about 42 square kilometre of central Delhi, and the Delhi Cantonment Board.
Former Leader of Opposition in Delhi Assembly Jagdish Mukhi said that the MCD is not under the MHA. There is MCD Act that was legislated by Parliament. An amendment to the Act is needed before making any change and so far there is no such proposal in Parliament, he said. |
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Metro derails; 2nd time in a month
New Delhi, September 13 Two wheels of the front coach of a metro train went off the tracks near the Yamuna Bank station at 6.02 am, causing some panic among the passengers. This was the first train service of the day on the Yamuna Bank-Indraprastha-Dwarka line, said an official of the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC). “Fourteen passengers were travelling in the train at that time and no one was injured. The number of commuters was low as this was the first train service on the route (Yamuna Bank-Indraprastha-Dwarka line),” the official said. A high-level committee has been constituted to probe the accident and the junior engineer in charge of track maintenance has been suspended, the DMRC spokesperson said. “Prima facie, the derailment seems to have occurred due to problems related to the track, so the junior engineer in charge of track maintenance has been suspended,” he said. “The high-level inquiry committee consists of three officers - general manager (maintenance), general manager (rolling stock) and general manager (signalling and telecom) - from the operations and maintenance department of the DMRC,” he added. The accident disrupted metro services between Yamuna bank and Indraprastha. “The services on the route have been temporarily suspended as Metro maintenance teams are working for the restoration of the site. We are currently checking the tracks and if there is any damage, resumption of services may take longer,” the official said. The Indraprastha-Yamuna Bank metro line is the extension of the Dwarka-Indraprastha route. However, the Metro services between Indraprastha and Dwarka remained normal. This is the second instance of a Metro coach derailing within a span of one month. On August 12, a coach of a metro train went off the tracks on the Dwarka-Indraprastha route. There were 40 passengers on the train and no one was injured. — IANS
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Fighting corruption: 91-yr-old Gandhian plans fast unto death
New Delhi, September 13 “The cause of ensuring probity in India’s political leadership now requires citizens’ sacrifice and I, an unknown entity, shall do my duty,” said
Dutta, who is planning to begin his fast on January 30. “I believe that my death will persuade the government to take effective and concrete measures against corruption in India.” January 30 is observed as Martyr’s Day in India to mark the day in the year 1948 when Mahatma Gandhi was shot dead. “Of the various forms of corruption rampant in our country, political corruption is the greatest betrayal of the nation,” said
Dutta, clad in a khadi kameez-salwar. “The nation is more vulnerable to corruption than terrorism,” he
warned. Dutta, who took part in the 1942 Quit India Movement and went to jail as a freedom fighter, functions from a modest two-room office in south
Delhi. Dutta leads 18 Gandhians from across the country with a group called Gandhian Satyagraha Brigade, a non-party organisation that also raises its voice against socio-political vices. To make him break his resolve to fast unto death, he wants an assurance from the government for time-bound, concrete measures to check corruption. Last month, he wrote a letter to the Prime Minister on the issue. “We want that a Lok Pal (parliamentary ombudsman) be appointed to fight corruption. The Congress in its manifesto had promised to take up the issue,” he said. “Corruption accentuates poverty, aggravates economic disparity, thwarts development, undermines democracy and, what is worst, destroys the moral fibre of the nation,” he said. His worries are not misplaced. Corruption has spawned a virtual parallel economy in India. Even Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, a rare “Mr Clean” among politicians, has pledged to root it out. According to the Berlin-based watchdog Transparency International, India figures 85th among 180 countries in the corruption perception index – a shame for the world’s largest democracy. A Transparency International survey backed by the Centre for Media Studies (CMS) says people cough up a whopping Rs 8,830 million in bribes in rural India alone to avail of governmental services. “We need political will to fight corruption, not men or arms,” said
Dutta. “This is the war we have to win,” said a resolute Dutta. — IANS |
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Yamuna breaches danger mark
New Delhi, September 13 An official of the flood and irrigation department said that residents living in low-lying areas had been evacuated to safe places. They live in tents erected by the department concerned. “The water has reached 205.28 metres, which is well above the danger mark of 204.83 metres. It is likely to rise 205.60 metres till next morning as Hathnikund has released four lakh cusecs of water to Delhi. It takes 36-38 hours to reach Delhi.” The officials also said that the water level would not rise above the 205.60 metres as there is no chance of releasing more water by Haryana. “Civic agencies have been told to evacuate people from low-lying areas. Rescue operators are deployed in all the affected areas. Boatmen are seen helping the residents,” he said. A flood warning was sounded in the Capital on Friday after continuous rains pushed up the water level in the Yamuna. Haryana also released over 400,000 cusecs of water into the river upstream. Last year, the water level reached 206 metres, leading to the evacuation of people from slum clusters along the river bank. The Delhi government has said it is fully prepared to tackle any situation. A policeman who was on duty at Dhobi Ghat in Batla House said that it is people’s fault who had constructed houses on the river bed. Entering flood water in their houses is every year’s routine. Ramzani, who was in the camps in Batla House said, “We had been evacuated last night when water started entering in our houses. Government should construct a ‘bandh’ to protect the residents from flood,” he said.
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2 cases of polio detected in Noida
Noida, September 13 These cases have taken the number of polio cases in Noida to four this year. After investigations, about two years old Devinder, living in jhuggis in Sector-71, has been diagnosed as suffering from P-1 virus of polio. Soni, eight-month-old girl from Kalaunda village, is afflicted with P-3 virus. The samples of these kids were sent for lab tests a month and a half ago. CMO Dr P.K. Singh and district incharge of WHO, Dr Dinesh Kumar said that two new cases of polio have been confirmed. Under polio campaign, children of nomadic labourers and jhuggi dwellers are given drops on priority basis. The effectiveness of the polio campaign is assessed regularly. In Bisarakh block, patients of P-1 virus cases were confirmed in 2002, 2006 and 2009 while in Dankore block, new P-1 virus cases were diagnosed during 2002 and 2006. In Noida, one P-1 case has been confirmed in 2009. In Dadri, P-1 virus patients were confirmed during 2002, 2003, 2007 and 2009. In Uttar Pradesh, 239 polio cases have come to light which include 17 P-1 cases and 223 cases of P-3 virus. Out of 111 stool tests in Noida, 86 were declared negative, while four kids were found suffering from polio from P-1 and two from P-3. As many as 312 polio P-1 virus cases have come to light throughout the country, including 44 cases of P-1 virus and 267 of P-3, Dr Dinesh Kumar and Dr Singh added. |
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Discoms promise uninterrupted power during Games
New Delhi, September 13 The total demand during Games is expected to b147e more than 6,000 MW, while the Delhi government has shown confidence of arranging more 9,000 MW from all the current and forthcoming sources. According to government officials, the power available will be so much by that time that Delhi would be able to supply it to other states as well. “With the new plants at Bawana, Bamnauli, Dadri and Jhajjar set to come up soon, the government is hopeful that Delhi will be able to meet the demand. The 1,500-MW Bawana project would be commissioned in 2010. Around 750 MW would be allocated from Jhajjar, around 500 MW dedicated supply would be received from the Dadri NTPC plant and the 750-MW Bamnauli project would also be completed as per schedule,” said a senior Delhi government official. BSES, who is setting up a 40 crore sub-station near Akshardham temple to meet the increased electricity demand, has said that it would complete the project much ahead of the schedule in December 2009. Besides, the 66/11 kV grid sub-station will be deployed with softer elements like aesthetics and landscaping. “Since this grid is within the Games complex, utmost care is being taken to ensure that the landscaping and aesthetics of the grid get well with the architecture of the surrounding complex,” said a BSES official. “The company is augmenting its infrastructure by deploying technologies like Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA) and Geographical Information Systems (GIS). These technologies are helping BSES streamlining its distribution network and aiding in faster identification, isolation and restoration of faults,” he said. SCADA keeps a tab on its distribution network, power supply and flagging abnormalities in the system. While the first phase of SCADA covers all the 66/33 kV grid stations, the second phase, will cover the 11 kV distribution network comprising 11kV transformers, feeders, lines, etc. The forthcoming grid too will be SCADA-compatible and remotely-operated from the central control room at Balaji Estate, Kalkaji, thereby leading to faster resolution of breakdowns and complaints. |
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Writer Ira Trivedi takes a look at Delhi’s high life
New Delhi, September 13 Writer Ira Trivedi says “The Great Indian Love Story” is based on what she has seen in today’s India. “The experiences of the cast in my book - Serena, her mother, father, stepfather and boyfriends - were those I had seen happening to my friends and their friends,” said Trivedi in an interview. She is the author of the best-selling book “What Would You Do To Save the World: Confessions of a Could-Have-Been Beauty Queen”. A graduate of Wellesley College in Massachusettsand with an MBA degree from Columbia Business School, she was working on another book, “Intern”, when she was suddenly bored and wanted to write from home in India, she said. “I left ‘Intern’ halfway after I returned because Delhi had changed. I hadn’t really spent a lot of time in India, but I saw a side of the city that gripped me and wanted to write about it.” Her latest work, “The Great Indian Love Story”, has just been published and is yet to be launched. Trivedi feels that changes in lifestyle in the Capital have taken place because “the economy has opened up, there is more money to spend.” In our childhood, we just had the Doordarshan. But now MTV and BBC have changed the way youngsters look at life. There is a whole lot of pop culture in the country,” she said. “My brother is 10 and he is growing up differently. I think there is a huge gap between my parents and my generation, and between my grandparents’ generation and my parents’ generation. “That’s why as writers we respond to the divides between generations. It is also interesting to see how immigrants’ children grow up outside the country and adjust to changes when they return,” Trivedi said. The novel also brings out the menace of drug addiction in the Capital and paints a gruesome picture. “Three days before Diwali, Amar Khanna and Serena Sharma were found dead in a penthouse apartment in Gurgaon. They were doing cocaine which was laced with other chemicals...,” Trivedi says, quoting from her book. “Drug addiction has been growing steadily in the Capital. Ten years ago, may be only 100 kids that I knew were doing it, then 500 kids and now, probably more than 1,000. “Unfortunately, children here find it a very cool thing to do. When we grew up in the US, we were not encouraged to do drugs because we were told that it was not for young people. Such awareness is missing here,” Trivedi said. The writer felt that alcoholism and smoking were also major concerns among youth in the capital. “One out of three accidents in the Capital is caused by drunken driving,” Trivedi said. “The Great Indian Love Story” is a kind of mirror to contemporary Indian society, feels Trivedi. “Serena messes up her life by falling for a married man. Earlier, such a thing was taboo in the country. But families are changing. They are nuclear. Women are getting more voice. Friends of mine have divorced and have remarried. But there is more instability. “Serena, my heroine, for example, was too young and a lot of things happened to her very fast. Women need more empowerment in this country to make marriages of choice and more awareness,” Trivedi said. The writer’s vision of the India of the future is one “which will provide equal opportunities for women, promote secularism, preserve spirituality and traditional culture and make education available to all to help children blend the best of West with the east.” Trivedi has resumed work on her unfinished book “Intern”. — IANS
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DTU signs MoU with French group
New Delhi, September 13 The MoU was signed recently between Prof. P. B. Sharma, vice-chancellor, DTU and Prof. Jacques Schwartzentruber, head of International Relations, GEM on the DTU campus. Under the MoU, academic representatives from other institution will be invited to participate in symposia, conferences, short courses and meetings. Faculty and staff of the partner institution will also be invited to participate in a variety of teaching and research activities as well as professional development programmes. The two institutions have also agreed to exchange information pertaining to developments in teaching and cooperate in joint research programmes in areas of mutual interest. Students exchange will be an important component of this MoU, which will allow students of both the institutions to undertake one or two semesters of their academic programme at partner institution. The exchange programme may also include an internship either in a local company or in a research laboratory of the host institution. According to Prof. Sharma, “International cooperation and collaboration has become a necessity to foster globally accredited higher education and research. The partnership with GEM shall be an added advantage as the focus here is on industry relevance for education and research.” GEM institutions offer academic and research programmes in almost all engineering disciplines and function in close coordination with the industry. Speaking about the partnership with DTU, Prof. Schwartzentruber said, “We were keen to partner with the leading engineering institution in India and are happy to be associated with DTU, which shares the same philosophy of engineering as we do.” The MoU was signed in the presence of Michel Pavageau, associate professor, department of energetics and environmental engineering, Ecole Des Mines De Nantes and Prof. R. K. Sinha, dean, Industrial Relations and Research Development, DTU.
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Fissures in Cong: Independent MLAs
vie for tickets
Sonika Bhatia Tribune News Service
Gurgaon, September 13 As these MLAs defeated the Congress candidates in the last Assembly election held in February 2005, the Congress candidates are an agitated lot. They fear that these independent MLAs would be given Congress tickets for the forthcoming election. Those inducted into the party are Harsh Kumar (Hathin), Habib-Ur-Rehman (Nuh), Sukhbir Singh Jaunpuria (Sohna), Bachan Singh Arya (Safidon), Dinesh Kaushik (Pundri), Tejendra Pal Singh Mann (Pai), Radhey Shyam Sharma (Narnaul), Shakuntla Bhagwaria (Bawal), Sukhbir Singh (Rohat) and Naresh Kumar (Badli). Over a period of time, four independent MLAs: Sukhbir Singh Jaunpuria, Naresh Kumar, Radhey Shyam Sharma, Shakuntla Bhagwaria have developed a rapport with Hooda. Before joining the party, all these MLAs, particularly the above four MLAs were assured of the ticket. As these independent MLAs are strong contenders for the ticket, the Congress workers at these constituencies are annoyed. They assert that these independent MLAs must not be given the tickets as they have been opposing the Congress during the last four years. As the Congress prospects in the Assembly election are high, these MLAs are hopeful that they can win the election easily and this is the only reason that they joined the Congress just before the election, said a Congress loyalist who is also a prospective candidate. However, Sohna’s independent MLA Sukhbir Jaunpuria has been shown the door. Somehow, his ousting has assured the Congress workers that their interests would be looked after.
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Kashmiri Pandits in ‘exile’ to tonsure head
today
New Delhi, September 13 “On September 14, 1989, militants killed a Kashmiri Pandit in the heart of Srinagar. This sowed the seeds of our eviction from our homeland,” Kamal Hak, a Kashmiri Pandit “living in exile” in Delhi, told IANS. “ We are protesting the completion of this tragedy by tonsuring our head,” he added. “Nearly two dozen people will tonsure their heads and hundreds will gather near river Yamuna to mark our protest,” said Hak, who along with his wife had left their home in the Kashmir Valley way back in 1990. He said around 80,000 Kashmir Pandits are “living in exile in Delhi and its suburbs and all of them have expressed solidarity with the initiative.” Pikalal Taploo, a lawyer, was the first Kashmiri Pandit victim to terrorism. “He was killed by terrorists right outside his house. After his death, hundreds of Pandits were killed by terrorists within the next four years. Post-1993, the number of killings has fallen as the majority of us have left the valley for other cities,” Hak added.
— IANS |
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Respite for those hit by hefty power bills
New Delhi, September 13 The direction was issued at a meeting between the resident welfare associations and the Delhi Electricity Regulatory Commission (DERC). Chairman of DERC, Berjinder Singh, assured the Chief Minister that the regulatory body would constitute a committee to look into the problems related to inflated bills and would sort them out within a month. He also promised that the customers would be accordingly informed. The Chief Minister warned the discoms, especially BSES, to perform up to the expectations of the consumers, failing which, the government would not hesitate to take action against them. Performance of the discoms was not up to the mark and the consumers were not satisfied with BSES, said Dikshit. Dikshit instructed the DERC to find out a feasible solution of the problem and directed BSES to handle the situation in a humane manner. Meanwhile, the chairman of the public grievances commission (PGC) informed that complaints of inflated bills were increasing day by day. Redressal of grievances should take place in the shortest possible time. The discoms, especially BSES, should establish its efficiency in a transparent manner, as it had started losing consumers’ faith, the chairman said. “We have to work to devise a mechanism to handle the problem of distrust as far as the issue of high power bills was concerned, he added. |
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Guard beaten to death
Gt Noida, September 13 The guard’s nephew who had come to meet his uncle was also injured by the assailants who fled after looting the cash. The injured nephew raised the alarm which attracted people to the godown, who then informed the police. The police has sent the guard’s body for autopsy. Sixty-year-old Ranji Lal of Bhaya village in Aligarh had been working as a security guard at HP gas godown in Bisawda for the last four years. Ranji Lal’s nephew Gajinder had brought medicines for his uncle on Friday. In the evening, two bandits came to the godown. They asked for bidis and then snatched Rs 300 from Gajinder. As Ranji Lal resisted, they beat him up with lathis. He was seriously injured. The assailants beat up Gajinder also. Ranji Lal succumbed to his injuries in hospital.
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Rs 9.5 lakh stolen from car
in Ghaziabad
Ghaziabad, September 13 The incident occurred on Saturday afternoon in Loha Mandi under Kavi Nagar police station of Ghaziabad. Bhagwan Gupta, a steel trader from Aligarh, drove to Ghaziabad on Saturday afternoon to make some payments to other traders with whom he was doing business. He was carrying Rs 10 lakh in a bag which was kept in the car, the police said. “When Gupta got down to make a payment of Rs 50,000 to a trader, a boy came to his driver and told him that oil was leaking from the car’s engine. The driver got down from the car to check the leakage and when Gupta called for the money, they found the bag containing the cash was missing,” a police officer said. “Gupta is the son of Gopal Bhaiya Ji who is a former BSP legislator. We have registered the case and investigation is on,” the police officer added.
— IANS |
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Minor raped by neighbour in Delhi
New Delhi, September 13 Rajesh, alias Raja, a BA student, was arrested after the medical examination of the victim. The victim studies in Class VIII in a government school. The police said the girl had gone out to answer nature’s call when the accused raped her.
— IANS
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Flu vaccine
New Delhi, September 13 |
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Low-lying areas of south Delhi’s Batla House, east Delhi Chilla village, Garimandu Usmanpur, Khajoori and jhuggi clusters located at the bank of the river are marooned as water has crossed the danger mark in the Yamuna this afternoon. The water has also reached Metkalf House.
