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IGNOU asks Yahoo to clarify server crash
Bus fare hike from today
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Warrants against Amar Singh
HJC leadership’s ‘shifting’ stance piques workers
Ban on weekly marts hits vendors, customers
Builder accused of selling garbage site
Industrialist caught stealing cellphone at airport
Deadline of property tax amnesty scheme extended
Meat traders refuse to budge
XLRI fest from November 13
Mock drills conducted in Delhi
Mediation centres to be set up for speedy justice
19 fresh cases of dengue
3 killed in accidents
5 laptop thieves held in Delhi
Cheats held
Man held
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IGNOU asks Yahoo to clarify server crash
New Delhi, November 3 “We have asked Yahoo to submit a report on what exactly went wrong with the server,” confirmed Shiv Kumar Vyas, examination coordinator, IGNOU. IGNOU feels a third party trespassed into the university’s space to the extent of hacking the server. Though IGNOU does not suspect anyone in particular, the authorities said they could not rule out “sabotage.” “We have asked Yahoo to give us the log server so that our technical team finds out if someone unauthorised intruded into the space and sabotaged the entrance examination,” added Vyas. However, according to sources, the university has not yet approached the police, but would consider going to the police if there was prima facie evidence. “It could be the inefficiency of Yahoo. But if our team finds out that someone had messed with the log, we will go to the police,” said Vyas. The university’s online entrance test for diploma courses in engineering, IGNEAT, fell through on Saturday after the server flashed merely two questions. Around 9,500 students were taken aback after the university’s system crashed. The test was to be held on October 31 and November 1 in five phases. IGNOU, one of the world’s biggest universities that offers distance education to more than 18 lakh students, had decided to hire Yahoo instead of using its own server to conduct the exam. There were reports that the examination would be rescheduled within 10 days, while the authorities said no decision had been taken yet. |
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Bus fare hike from today
New Delhi, November 3 A spokesman of the transport department said from tomorrow Delhiites would have to pay Rs 5 for a ride up to 3 km; Rs 10 for up to 10 km and Rs 15 for more than 10 km. Earlier, there were four slabs of fares— Rs 3, Rs 5, Rs 7 and Rs 10. Similarly, the fare of air-conditioned DTC buses has been raised from Rs 10 to Rs 25. The costs of passes—both students’ pass and general pass—have been hiked to Rs 100 and Rs 500, respectively. A senior official of the transport department said there was no scope of reduction in bus fares now, as the Delhi Transport Corporation was running in losses. BJP holds protest march The Delhi unit of the BJP today marched from Shahid Bhagat Singh Park at Delhi Gate to Delhi Secretariat demanding the government to reduce the increased bus fares, find out a mechanism to check inflated electricity bills and curb rising prices of essential commodities. The protesters wore aprons that had anti-government slogans written on them and carried placards and banners. The march began from Bhagat Singh Park. When the protesters reached Link House, the police erected barricades to stop them. Some of them were also detained by the police. The leader submitted a memorandum to the Chief Minister against the recent hike in DTC bus fares, inflated electricity bills, sky-rise prices of essential commodities and non-availability of ration to the poor at fixed price shops of the Delhi government. The march was led by the leader of opposition in Delhi Assembly V. K. Malhotra. Others who participated the march were BJP MLAs Jagdish Mukhi, Harsh Vardhan, H.S. Balli, Jai Bhagwan Aggarwal, Karan Singh Tanwar, Sahab Singh Chouhan, Ramesh Bidhuri, Mohan Singh Bisht, Shyam Lal Garg, Naresh Gaur, Sat Prakash Rana, S.P. Ratawal,, Kulwant Rana, Sunil Vaidya, Anil Jha, Pradyman Rajput, O. P. Babbar, Subhash Sachdeva, Srikishan Tyagi and R. N.
Bansal. |
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Warrants against Amar Singh
New Delhi, November 3
Chief metropolitan magistrate (CMM) Kaveri Baweja issued the warrant against him with a bail amount of Rs 10,000 for December 22.
Taking into account the fact that earlier also, Singh had failed to appear before it on October 3 and July 13 for various reasons, the court took a strong view of his non-appearance. Saying that Singh was a complainant in the case and had repeatedly failed to appear for recording his statement, additional public prosecutor Naveen Kumar submitted, “Amar Singh has made a mockery of criminal justice system by not appearing in the court due to one or the other reasons. Coercive action must be taken against him.” Singh’s counsel submitted before the court that the 53-year-old politician could not appear before it as he was busy campaigning for his party candidate from Firozabad parliamentary constituency in Uttar Pradesh. Filing a fresh application, he also pleaded for exemption from personal appearance and deposited Rs 5,000 which was imposed on him on February 20 for his non-appearance. The court had earlier granted him exemptions from personal appearance due to his poor health. Amar Singh had filed this case on June 4, 2007, against Barun Kumar Verma alleging that he tried to extort money from him. According to the complaint, Verma posing as a law officer, tried to extort Rs 5 crore from Amar Singh in a disproportionate assets case against Samajwadi Party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav. The accused today filed an application in the court through his counsel Anoop Kumar Sharma requesting the magistrate to dismiss the criminal case on the ground that the complainant had failed to appear before it despite several opportunities. |
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HJC leadership’s ‘shifting’ stance piques workers
Faridabad, November 3 The HJC workers say that ever since Kuldip Bishnoi broke ranks with the Congress, a large number of them also quit the organisation with him without caring for their political future. Rather, they took part in the agitation launched by Bishnoi against the Congress government and also criticised the party leadership along with him in public. However, there are also many in the HJC who feel that the leadership must stretch itself to share power with the Congress in Haryana. They are the workers and leaders who feel that they have been out of power for a long time and the opportunity must be grabbed at all costs. While many workers in the HJC feel that it was on account of their loyalty to Bhajan Lal and Bishnoi that many of them put their political future at stake and quit the Congress. As some joined the HJC, a good number of them joined other political parties. Now Bishnoi was reportedly making moves to share power with the Congress government. The workers feel the HJC must not think of hogging the power seats with only six MLAs. The party must work at the grassroot and expand its base. They feel the HJC leadership has been vacillating leaving the party rank and file in the lurch. First, it tried to hobnob with the BJP during the run-up to the Lok Sabha election. The talk broke off. Later, it forged alliance with the BSP for the Assembly election. The relationship was snapped. |
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Ban on weekly marts hits vendors, customers
Noida, November 3 A decade ago, the district panchayat used to charge tehbazari from the weekly market vendors. The Authority decided to issue identity cards and fixed places for holding markets and collected charges from the vendors. A decade later on September 29, the Authority officers banned the markets claiming that they cause traffic jams and garbage in the city. However, other unauthorized markets and roadside vendors continue to do their business. President of Weekly Market Vendors Association, R.N.Sarkar, said, “The Authority and police officials take huge bribe from unauthorised vends. From weekly market vends, they cannot demand bribe as they pay the fee to authority. These officials recommended the ban on weekly markets and senior officers signed the ban order without thinking.” Mohammad Islam, a vendor, said, “I have seven children and wife to feed. Now we have reached a starvation point. My children will be forced to steal food. Another vendor Usha Devi said, “The encroachment removal department instead of removing roadside encroachments recommended ban on weekly markets which took our livelihood.” Customers also feel that these markets provide services to the common man. “The price at these shops is comparatively less. It also provides a weekly supply of fresh vegetables and fruit. It appears that the Authority under pressure from malls and other shopping complexes banned weekly markets,” said Rashmi Mehta, a resident of Sector 34. “Since the ban on weekly markets, we are facing difficulty in procuring fresh vegetables. Instead of Rs 200, now I have to shell out Rs 300 to buy weekly vegetables at permanent shops,” said Neelam Singh, a resident of Sector 20. A study of street vendors conducted by V.V.Giri National Labour Institute, Noida, last year concluded that street vending is an important economic activity for the urban poor in the industrial city of Noida. The clientele for street vendors comprise both the poor as well as the better-off in the city. It had recommended that laws on street vending sho\uld be enacted and existing laws should be reviewed in the light of constitutional rights to earn one’s livelihood. As per the study, traffic police was of the opinion that vending in Noida should be regulated by Noida Authority or it should be restricted to weekly markets. It should be totally banned on the roadside and at traffic lights. |
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Builder accused of selling garbage site
Ghaziabad, November 3 Councillor Rajinder Tyagi at a press conference said that the 14-acre land in Dundahera village was selected for the construction of a solid waste plant. It was to be used as a dumping site. In 2004, the Hindon Airforce base had given a no objection certificate for the project and the central government had allotted Rs 12.87 crore for the same. In a letter sent to UP Chief Minsiter Mayawati, the councillor has demanded action against the builder and the GDA staff involved in the scam. “In 1994, three villages— Dundahera, Akbarpur-Brahampur and Mavai—were transferred to Greater Noida under the UP Industrial Development Area Act 1976. In 1999, Greater Noida de-notified these three villages. But till today, the state government had not issued any notification to bring it under the GDA,” Tyagi said. |
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Industrialist caught stealing cellphone at airport
New Delhi, November 3 The arrest came after N.K. Puri, a passenger reported about the theft of his expensive mobile phone. The CCTV cameras installed at the airport caught Somani steal the phone from the luggage scanner belt. Airport officials confirmed that Somani was arrested after he returned from Chennai. The incident took place on Monday morning when Somani and Puri kept their luggage for scanning. After the X-Ray scanner when Puri checked his luggage, he found his mobile phone missing. Puri was going from Delhi to Mumbai, while Somani had to catch a Delhi to Chennai-bound flight. Both had to board the flights around 6:30 am. When Puri complained, the airport authorities checked the CCTV footage and found that Somani had picked the phone. It was later found that Somani had boarded a Delhi to Chennai flight. “After Somani’s identity was ascertained, we found that he would be boarding an evening flight from Chennai to Delhi. The security officials at Chennai were alerted. When a security official asked him if he was Sanjay Somani, he got suspicious and hid the mobile in the toilets,” said an airport official. When Sanjay’s flight landed in Delhi, he was caught. But he did not have the mobile phone. “We took him for interrogation and threatened immediate arrest. Then he revealed he had hidden the mobile under the toilet seat. The phone has been recovered,” said the official adding that Somani had been booked under Sections 380 (theft) and 411 (retaining or receiving stolen property) of the IPC. |
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Deadline of property tax amnesty scheme extended
New Delhi, November 3 According to municipal officials, 27,000 defaulting property taxpayers have availed the benefits of the scheme so far and the MCD has collected Rs 70 crore. “The MCD had received several representations from the resident welfare associations (RWAs) saying that many citizens could not avail the scheme due to the festival rush. So we decided to extend the deadline,” said the chairman of the standing committee Ramkishan Singhal. Under the scheme, the defaulters can pay pending property tax and save themselves from penalties, one per cent per month interest and other penal actions. The officer said the MCD had already launched a survey to detect the properties which had not paid the property tax so far. The MCD is also going to start a penal drive against the defaulting property taxpayers. Till October 31, the MCD had collected property tax to the tune of Rs 480 crore. The collection during the corresponding period last year was Rs 388 crore. “We have collected a total of Rs 92 crore more property tax this year as compared to the last year. This growth has been recorded despite recession,” said a senior MCD officer. He also said that there was also an increase in number of taxpayers this year. “As many as 8,02,223 taxpayers have paid property tax till October 31 as compared to 7,48,621 taxpayers during the corresponding period last year,” he added. |
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Meat traders refuse to budge
New Delhi, November 3 The meat traders have closed their shops to protest the Municipal Corporation of Delhi’s (MCD) decision to shut the 200-year-old idgah slaughterhouse after the Supreme Court issued orders to shift all slaughter-related operations to a new facility in Ghazipur. The meat traders say the new abattoir in Ghazipur lacks adequate facilities and has less than required capacity. “Nearly 95 per cent of the traders are observing strike,” said Mohammad Qureshi, president, Delhi Meat Merchant Association. The meat workers say shifting operations to the new slaughterhouse in east Delhi would mean uprooting their livelihoods, as there are currently 15,000 workers employed in the old abattoir, while the new facility requires only 150 workers. “We will go ahead with the strike even if the government cancels our licenses,” he said. He said his association was urging chicken and fish traders to join the protest. Some traders have been managing by getting meat at higher prices from neighboring states like Haryana and Uttar Pradesh. Some 20,000 meat traders and exporters have threatened to take the strike nationwide if the authorities refused to roll back their decision and reopen the old slaughter house by Wednesday. “Only 10 per cent of meat shops are open in Delhi. All slaughter activities have been suspended in the Capital,” says Mohammad Jameel, owner of Zia Meat Shop in north Delhi. The traders’ strike has elevated the prices of chicken and fish by almost 40 per cent due to the unavailability of mutton in the capital. Meanwhile, the pinch of the rise in the prices of meat is being felt by the common man. “After rise in the prices of vegetables, now it is meat that has become unaffordable,” says 28-year-old Kamleshwari. |
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XLRI fest from November 13
New Delhi, November 3 The three-day event has a slew of exciting events planned out for the students. Several big names from the corporate world are expected to take part in the show. “In keeping with the changes in the world of management where the need for accountable and ethical managers is being felt more than the need for over-ambitious and aggressive managers, the theme for Ensemble is ‘Integrity and Initiative’. “The theme resonates with the principles of the XLRI as the institution celebrates its 60th anniversary this year”, said Meesam, general secretary, students’ council. The fest will be organised by the numerous students committees of the college. The events will cover all fields of the business world like finance, marketing, operations, information systems and human resources. Apart from management events, there will be events for adventure-lovers, quiz enthusiasts and even aspiring actors. The preliminary rounds of these events will start soon. One of the prominent attractions of the show would be ‘Idea Summit’. For the summit, experts from different walks of life would be invited to share their experiences with students. Prominent personalities from the world of academics, business, media, sports and politics will be coming for a series of sessions based on the theme of the show. Some of the speakers expected to attend the summit are: N. Sivaraman, executive vice-president (financial services), L&T; Tapan Mitra, chief (HR), Apollo Tyres; Micheal Ferreira, four-time winner of World Billiards Championship and U.P. Agarwal, president, ICAI. The highest prize at the summit, being held in partnership with the SBI, is Rs 2
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Mock drills conducted in Delhi
New Delhi, November 3 “Around 2:30 pm we conducted the mock drill at Taj Man Singh Hotel in Tughlak Road. A police official made a call that terrorists were inside the hotel, after which all security agencies swung into action. Bomb disposal squad, NSG commandos, CRPF and other Delhi police personnel evacuated the area. All persons who were inside were asked to leave the hotel. Around 3 pm, we declared it was a hoax call,” said a senior police official. In another exercise, the police conducted a mock drill in Ansal Plaza around 3 pm. It claimed a bomb was planted there. “The agencies were trying to find the bomb. Ansal Plaza, including its nearby area, was searched and when nothing was found, the official declared it hoax around 3:30 pm,” the official added. |
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Mediation centres to be set up for speedy justice
New Delhi, November 3 This decision was taken in a cabinet meeting held today. Initially, four mediation centres one each in Rohini, Industrial Area Patparganj, flatted factory Jhandewalan and in the District Consumer Courts will be made functional. In all 11 consumer affairs mediation centres, four cheques dishonour mediation centres and four community mediation centre will come up. The services of retired judges will be utilised for the purpose. The centres would help resolve disputes, economically and quickly, clear backlog of cases from courts, save cost of litigation and cost of courts and the state and increase social harmony in society. |
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19 fresh cases of dengue
New Delhi, November 3 According to Dr Yadav, compared to last year, the response to the disease has bettered, starting from surveillance to people’s quick access to the services at various government hospitals. “Last year till this time, people had to stand in long queues for treatment, but the turnout has been low this year,” he said. However, many private labs and hospitals maintain that the cases of dengue are underreported. Meanwhile, the cases that have come up today are both from the government and private health centres like Fortis Hospital, Sir Ganga Ram, Batra Hospital. Besides, cases are also being recorded by the National Institute of Communicable Diseases/National Centre for Disease Control, Dr Yadav said. Father of a student residing in Adarsh Nagar, said, “My son had high fever a day before, following which we took him to a local physician who advised to go for a blood test. His reports this morning showed him to be suffering from dengue.” Meanwhile, the civic body has prosecuted 4,900 people till now for breaching the set hygiene norms. |
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3 killed in accidents
Noida, November 3 The first incident was reported from GT Road in
Dadri. A speeding car rammed into a stationary truck, killing the its driver. He was identified as Umesh Kumar. He was going from Jarcha to Dankore when the accident took place. The second incident took place in Sector-96. A man’s body was found on a road. He was identified as Shambu
Nath. It appeared some unknown vehicle had hit him, killing him on the spot. His brother has lodged an FIR against the unknown driver. He suspects that Shambu might have been killed. “We are investigating into the matter,”said a police official. Third incident took place in the Nangala area under Surajpur
Kotwali. An unknown vehicle killed a man who was crossing the road. The deceased was identified as Munde Singh. |
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5 laptop thieves held in Delhi
New Delhi, November 3 The accused have been identified as Vinayak, Ajay, Sarvan, Mukesh and Murli – all from Chittur district in Andhra Pradesh. Five stolen laptops have been seized from them. The police said incidents involving theft of laptops after breaking windowpanes of cars were on the rise. To stop them, a special team was constituted. The team learnt the gang members would come to opposite Hotel Crown Plaza in New Friends Colony to deliver stolen laptops. Ajay and Sarvan were apprehended last night with two stolen laptops. They disclosed they lived near Old Faridabad Railway Station and the gang operated from there. At their instance, three others were held with three stolen laptops. “For evading arrest they frequently changed their location. Sanju and Johni are the gang leaders. They are absconding and efforts are being made to nab them,” said a police official. |
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Cheats held
New Delhi, November 3 “The gang used fake identities to open bank accounts and then used the accounts for taking loans from banks,” said the police. The police arrested Jaswant Kaur and Vikas Kumar Mehta, alias Kalu, residents of Tilak Nagar, for duping one Harbans Kalra of Rs 1.5 lakh. Investigation revealed that the gang had opened fake accounts in ICICI and Indian banks and were planning of take huge loans from banks. |
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Man held
New Delhi, November 3 “Kumar was going to UAE by Air India’s flight. He works as a driver in UAE. He was caught when his flight arrived in Delhi to take some more passengers,” said a police officer. |
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