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Firing in Sadar Bazar, 1 dead
Elevated road: Delhi
govt to move court against ASI notice
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Ensure drinking water to the poor, says minister
DU teachers protest VC’s
blueprint on semester system
Sept 13 Blasts
Women unite against liquor menace
Prez celebrates birthday with
the disabled
Suspected militant acquitted
Man sent to 7-day police custody in cheating case
Women unite against liquor menace
Landlady killed, tenant found hanging
‘Salesmen’ loot jewellery worth
Rs 1.5 lakh
Man held for raping daughter
H1N1 update
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Firing in Sadar Bazar, 1 dead
New Delhi, December 19 The incident took place around 11:30 am on Bahadurgarh Road in the busy Sadar Bazar market when the four bike-borne miscreants had come to rob a businessman in the area. They started firing when people resisted their attempt. A 44-year-old businessman, Nilesh Jain, was killed while two others were hurt in the firing. However, the police said that the injured were rushed to a nearby hospital. Nilesh, a resident of Sarswati Vihar used to run a brass component business at Ahiran Gali in Sadar Bazar. This is the second incident of biker robbers targeting traders in the Capital in the past four days. Earlier, three days ago, Puran Chand (62), a businessman, was waiting outside his Ashok Vihar Phase-II residence with daughter-in-law for their car when four armed motorcyclists snatched Rs 1.55 crore from him. Delhi has reportedly witnessed over 800 similar cases this year, with snatching topping the list with 760 cases, though the police claims there is “no spurt” in crimes committed by motorcycle-borne men.
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Elevated road: Delhi
govt to move court against ASI notice
New Delhi, December 19 A senior officer of the PWD said that a committee of experts of the ASI served notice to the government that there should be no construction near Barapulla bridge as it was a heritage property. This notice affected the work of the elevated road being constructed to facilitate sportsmen and others during the Commonwealth Games to be held in October next year. The northern railway has constructed a bridge adjacent to Barapulla. The PWD will argue on this point. Railway is a profit-making body while the elevated road is being constructed for the Games and is not a profit-making project, he said. The elevated road is being constructed with an estimated cost of Rs 400 crore. The officer said that this is not the first objection that has been received by the PWD. Dozens of objections by different departments have been raised since the commissioning of the project. This is a four-km-long elevated road being constructed in marshy land of drain and it is to be completed by March next year. When the construction was started a few months back, National Highway Authority of India, Delhi Jal Board, the Railways and the ASI objected to the project as their properties were affected. The PWD got clearance from all the departments except the northern railway which had objected to the construction over railway track near Barapulla. During discussion, the officers concerned of the Railways demanded Rs 40 crore for the land used by the PWD for pillars of the road while the PWD estimated the cost at Rs 6 crore only. However, the issue was settled with the intervention of the union government, the officer said. |
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Ensure drinking water to the poor, says minister
New Delhi, December 19 Besides, poverty also contributes to the dismal health picture in India, he added while speaking on current health problems plaguing the country at the 20th National Convention of the International Goodwill Society of India (IGSI) held today in the national Capital. “Most people coming to the healthcare centres for treatment are patients of diarrhoea and malaria and 50 per cent of all diseases are linked to water either directly or indirectly. A number of children in rural India suffer from malnourishment,” remarked Trivedi. Currently, 46 per cent of children in India under five are malnourished and as per a recent study by the International Food Policy Research Institute, climate change and global warming would result in an additional five million malnourished children under the age of five by 2020. Underlining the intimate corelation between global warming and health issues, the president of IGSI, Yogendra Narain stated, “The acceleration of climate changes, as pointed out by the Planning Commission, would lead to a decrease in agricultural productivity, which in turn would lead to spiralling food prices. This together would hit the poverty alleviation programmes and health schemes initiated by the government. There should be a provision of health insurance for the poor.” Hailing for a revolutionary health paradigm, he said, “India should stop following the western models of functioning and focus on bettering the reach of health schemes and expand the expenditure on the health sector.” The former health secretary Naresh Dayal pointed out that before 2005, the public health sector was languishing as the funds allocated to the health domain were marginal. Consequently, the private health system grew considerably and as suggested by the Planning Commission, the public-private partnerships (PPP) are seen as a panacea to revive the public healthcare system. But, according to Dayal, the transition can better the health outcome only to an extent, in the sense that PPP would help in bringing an efficiency in the utilisation of funds under the aegis of National Rural Health Mission (NRHM). According to the report of the Comptroller Auditor General of India, which was released yesterday, only 24,151 crore was spent under the NRHM out of the total allocation of Rs 27,079 crore for 2005-08. And the major chunk of the budget went to the kitty of those states, like Kerala, Tamil Nadu etc, which had registered better observing capacity, pointed out Dayal.
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DU teachers protest VC’s
blueprint on semester system
New Delhi, December 19 The teachers have called the framework circulated by the vice-chancellor objectionable as it lowers the academic quality of the courses along with narrowing down the scope for inter-disciplinary studies. The blueprint was presented in the executive committee (EC) meeting of DU last night. “The framework dilutes the contents of honours programmes and reduces choices available to students at present,” said Shaswati Majumdar, former president of DU Teachers’ Association (DUTA). The vice-chancellor Deepak Pental has been arguing that the semester system is better as it offers more choices. The teachers alleged that the vice-chancellor refused to debate on the argument that the semester system was good only for smaller institutes and it would not be possible to implement it in as big a university as DU. “The vice-chancellor is insensitive to academic concerns. He wants the semester system at all costs,” said Majumdar. Under the new framework, six papers that the honours students were to do from other disciplines are allegedly of lower standard than expected. “He (vice-chancellor) has proposed a major regressive change. The system of tutorials that has been a cornerstone of the DU academic programmes allowing for small group interaction has been removed without any discussion,” said Rajeev Kumar Kunwar, secretary, Democratic Teachers’ Front (DTF). The administration has proposed a minimum of 10 students in honours tutorial groups without fixing an upper limit. At present, the size of the tutorial groups for honours is of eight students. “Each tutorial group is to meet only once a fortnight instead of every week and in case the scheduled day is a holiday, it works out to be once a month; this is a serious blow to the quality of education,” said Kunwar. |
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Cops told to give copy of seized material to accused
Tribune News Service
New Delhi, December 19 Additional sessions judge Santosh Snehi Mann ruled that a copy of the CD be given to the counsel of all the 12 accused by December 24, but with the condition that they would not distribute it further. The court said since the CD pertained to the material on which the prosecution was relying, it should provide it to the accused. The Delhi police had opposed the plea saying the CD contained communally-sensitive material. The cases came to the sessions court only on November 26. Before that, they were being heard by chief metropolitan magistrate Kaveri Baweja. They were transferred to the sessions court on the ground that the accused had allegedly committed serious offences like murder and attempt to murder which could be heard only by a sessions court. However, before transferring the case, the chief metropolitan magistrate Kaveri Baweja had already rejected the Delhi police’s contention and had asked it to furnish a copy of the CD to the accused party. But after the transfer, the matter came up for discussion again in the sessions court. Meanwhile, the court fixed January 27, 28 and 29 for hearing arguments related to the framing of charges. The court is conducting the proceedings through video conferencing from Sabarmati Jail in Ahmedabad where the 11 accused—Mohd. Saif, Zeeshan Ahmed, Mohd. Shakeel, Zia-ur Rehman, Saquib Nissar, Quamuddin Kapadia, Mohd. Sadiq Sheikh, Mansoor Asghar Peerbhoy, Mobin Kader Sheikh, Akbar Ismail Chaudhary and Asif Basir Sheikh— are presently lodged. However one accused, Mohd. Hakim, who is lodged in Tihar Jail here, was produced in the court. All the accused have been chargesheeted under various provisions of the IPC, the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act and the Explosive Substance Act.
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Women unite against liquor menace
Greater Noida, December 19 The initiative of some educated women in the villages has become a topic for animated discussion in rural areas. The campaign started from the largest village of G.B. Nagar district, Maiycha, where villagers are squandering agricultural compensation money on liquor. The families, which had received crores for their land acquired by the government, have become paupers. Children’s education has been adversely affected. The housewives lodged complaints with the police. Panchayats were summoned, but the men did not mend their ways. Now women have organised themselves for a long-drawn battle against liquor and called panchayat meetings. They have requested the district magistrate and the SSP to set up a police post in the village so that those who beat up their wives and kids and do not stop squandering money could be sent behind bars. According the village pradhan, Suresh Devi, “No villager here ever drank liquor before his land was acquired. But the huge money received as land compensation has spoiled them and changed their lifestyle.”
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Prez celebrates birthday with
the disabled
New Delhi, December 19 Those who greeted the President on the occasion were people from different walks of life, including students, teachers, children from orphanages, members of women
organisations, academicians, social welfare workers, freedom fighters and doctors. The event was organised by Tamana Association, a body that works for the welfare of disabled children, to mark its silver jubilee. While watching a cultural programme presented by the disabled children, Patil said she always tried to spend her birthdays with people working for social welfare. She said she was overwhelmed by the love and affection of the children, who had prepared a special cake and card for her. The President announced a donation of Rs 75,000 to Tamana Association to support its efforts. She also sent blankets to various orphanages in Delhi. During the day, Vice-President Hamid
Ansari, his wife Salma Ansari, Lok Sabha Speaker Meira Kumar, Governor of Sikkim
B.P. Singh and three service chiefs called on her. |
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Fire in Faridabad IT wing
Faridabad, December 19 The furniture, computers and other logistics in the affected room, have been destroyed in the incident. Although no official was ready to make any comment, it is learnt that the employees were on the premises till late night on account of heavy workload as this time round was considered to be closing of the accounts for the current financial year. The office premises are located in NH-4 CGO complex. According to the guard, he did not know when and how the fire broke out. The incident came to light this morning when the officials came to office.
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Suspected militant acquitted
New Delhi, December 19 Additional sessions judge Madhu Jain absolved 42-year-old Khan of various charges under the Explosive Substances Act. Khan, a resident of Jammu and Kashmir, was apprehended by the Delhi police’s special cell on June 4, 2005 from Daryaganj on a tip-off. The police allegedly recovered 490 grams of RDX from his possession. However, the court in its judgement allowed a contention of defence counsel M.S. Khan that the police had failed to take mandatory sanction for prosecution of the accused from the competent authority (district magistrate/divisional commissioner) under the Act. According to the defence counsel, the sanction was mandatory for the trial, but in this case the prosecution took the sanction from commissioner of police, which was invalid. The prosecution, which later obtained sanction from the divisional commissioner, could not impress the court which acquitted Khan. |
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Man sent to 7-day police custody in cheating case
New Delhi, December 19 Allowing the plea of the Delhi police, metropolitan magistrate Jitender Mishra remanded Rupesh Verma to police custody till December 25 when he was produced before him after the expiry of his two-day custodial interrogation period. The Delhi police pleaded that the probe into the fraud was “inconclusive” and that Verma was required to be quizzed for a longer period. The police also informed the court that during the course of investigation it had recovered Rs 2.15 crore at Verma’s instance. However, the court asked the police to ascertain all movable and immovable assets of the accused which could be used in paying back the dues of the investors. Verma, the managing director of Delhi-based M/s Shri Om Sai Nath Car On Rent Ltd, was arrested from the Press Club of India while he was addressing the media. Senior advocate Ramesh Gupta, Verma counsel, said, “No purpose would be served by sending Verma behind the bars, as the company was paying back the dues of its investors.” Two FIRs were lodged against Verma and his firm for cheating and misappropriation of funds. The prosecutor said the company used to lure people into investing in a car rental scheme floated by the firm. The company had promised that the investors would get almost three times the money invested by them in installments over the next 60 months, the prosecutor said. The investors panicked after the cheques given by the company bounced, forcing two of them to lodge a police complaint against Verma and the firm
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Women unite against liquor menace
Greater Noida, December 19 The initiative of some educated women in the villages has become a topic for animated discussion in rural areas. The campaign started from the largest village of G.B. Nagar district, Maiycha, where villagers are squandering agricultural compensation money on liquor. The families, which had received crores for their land acquired by the government, have become paupers. Children’s education has been adversely affected. The housewives lodged complaints with the police. Panchayats were summoned, but the men did not mend their ways. Now women have organised themselves for a long-drawn battle against liquor and called panchayat meetings. They have requested the district magistrate and the SSP to set up a police post in the village so that those who beat up their wives and kids and do not stop squandering money could be sent behind bars. According the village pradhan, Suresh Devi, “No villager here ever drank liquor before his land was acquired. But the huge money received as land compensation has spoiled them and changed their lifestyle.”
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Landlady killed, tenant found hanging
New Delhi, December 19 The incident was reported from Begampur Extension village when Pramod found his wife Sarojni dead, with injuries due to stabbing and being hit with an iron rod on her body and head. Their tenant, Pappu, who lived in their home for the last one-and-a-half years, was hanging from the fan in the drawing room. Pramod had gone to purchase vegetables in Wazirabad on Pappu’s suggestion, the police said. “Pappu wanted Pramod to go and buy vegetables from Wazirabad which suggests that he wanted Pramod to go out of the house. We are also probing if the deceased had an illicit relationship. It could be that they were secret lovers and after Pramod left the house, they got into a fight and Pappu killed Sarojini before committing suicide,” a police officer said. — IANS
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‘Salesmen’ loot jewellery worth
Rs 1.5 lakh
Greater Noida, December 19 The police has started the investigation. Gavaneet Chaudhary of C-275 in Swaran Nagari works as an engineer in a Communication Company. His wife and two sisters were at home when the incident took place. He was in office. The men came on a bike around 12 pm and entered their house introducing themselves as salesmen. Once inside, they overpowered the women at gunpoint and looted jewellery worth Rs 1.5 lakh. Locking the door from outside they fled. The women later informed Gavaneet and the police. |
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Man held for raping daughter
New Delhi, December 19 The victim, who now works as an accountant, alleged that she was raped while in an unconscious state by her 51-year-old father Naresh Kumar Sharma when she was 15. Registering a case against Sharma, the police arrested him on Friday. He works in a multinational company in Gurgaon. The police said the 22-year-old victim complained about harassment by her family. She also alleged that her father forcibly took her entire salary. |
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H1N1 update
New Delhi, December 19 Meanwhile, the city registered 117 fresh cases of H1N1 and 60 of which are children. With this, the total number of infected people has gone up to 8,264. |
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On her 75th birthday today, President Pratibha Devisingh Patil celebrated the day with the disabled at the Rashtrapati
Bhawan. Those who greeted the President on the occasion were people from different walks of life, including students, teachers, children from orphanages, members of women
organisations, academicians, social welfare workers, freedom fighters and doctors.
