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Gzb civic staff to declare assets
Mobile companies get one month to shift towers
Metro Snags |
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Cops’ Grouse
Hanging bridge near Purana Qila
to be ready by April-end
3 Nigerians held for Internet
lottery scam
Braveheart housewife
fights robbers
Blasts hearing deferred to Feb 23
City may see second cold wave
3 girls missing for 25 days
Delhi among laggards in launching education schemes
Rs 6-lakh loot at trader’s house in Delhi
File power complaints via SMS
JNUSU rift persists over polls
Woman, son die in accident
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Gzb civic staff to declare assets
Ghaziabad, February 9 “We have started a drive to bring transparency in the functioning of the Ghaziabad Municipal Corporation. We will first need to clean up the house,” he said. After the Delhi HC judges decided to declare their assets, our employees’ union and senior officers expressed the desire to do the same here, Pandey said. According to sources, a three-page form has been devised for the purpose. “The decision will affect nearly 600 of our employees, including 50 senior officers. We want all the employees and officers to submit the completed form by March 31. Since it is a voluntary declaration, we do not see any problem with the response,” municipal commissioner said. Sources said once the completed forms are received, the entire data would be uploaded on the GMC website www.gnn.in. The public will have access to its contents. Information to be made public would include details of bank deposits and investments in bonds, debentures and shares, ownership of vehicles, jewellery and details about the ownership of agricultural and non-agricultural land. The information would also include details about loans. All those reaching office late will be constrained to see their names on the public notice board in the corporation. “We hope this will now force corporators, state MLAs and staff of other state government offices to fall in line and declare their assets,” claimed a senior employee of GMC. The GMC also plans to introduce a Lokayukta for itself which will bring greater transparency. |
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Mobile companies get one month to shift towers
New Delhi, February 9 “We do not want to disrupt cell phone network in Delhi and create a panic-like situation. We will not immediately launch a sealing drive against illegal towers,” said Ram Kishan Singhal, chairman, MCD standing committee. According to the revised guidelines for cell phone towers, the amount payable by the service providers to the MCD for installing a tower has been increased from Rs 1 lakh to Rs 5 lakh, said Meera Aggarwal, who headed the sub-committee for formulation of the policy that submitted its report today. The MCD leaders said the priority for installation of phone towers would be given to sites like municipal buildings except schools, hospitals and dispensaries, government buildings, vacant land, non-residential buildings like industrial, commercial and institutional structures. However, the permission to erect phone tower over a residential building will be given only if the service provider certifies that there is no other alternative available along with a recommendation from the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) that the proposed tower is essentially required as no sharing with other company is possible. Also, in case of group housing residential buildings, the no objection certificates from all the occupants of the housing block or floor owners of the building and the housing society have been made mandatory. “There have been cases where the owner of the top floor decides to set up a tower on the top of the building and rest of the residents do not even know about it, whereas the harmful effects of the radiations are borne equally by all of them,” said Singhal. |
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Lack of maintenance a likely cause
Akhila Singh Tribune News Service
New Delhi, February 9 In a matter of one week, two cases of door jams on running trains have worried the DMRC officials regarding the technical fitness of trains and redressal mechanism. Even today the Metro services on Line 2, from Central Secretariat to Jehangirpuri, were affected around 9.11 am after a tree fell on the overhead electrification near Chattrasal Stadium. It took almost an hour for the services to be resumed at 10.20 am. “Single-line operation was introduced between Vishwavidyala and Jehangirpuri during this period and normalcy was restored at 10.21 am,” said Anuj Dayal, spokesperson, DMRC. Though the Metro officials claim that the breakdowns are happening due to the reasons outside the control of DMRC, the myth of a supposedly impeccable transport system has been shattered. “Two recent snags where the doors of the trains were jammed happened due to separate reasons. The investigations are still on,” said Metro sources. Speaking about yesterday’s incident in which Line 3 of the network was blocked due to a technical problem in the door of a train, a DMRC official said the train was being examined. He said the officials first tried to resume services on the affected lines. Even yesterday the concentration was on resuming traffic before looking for the problem. “Both the trains in which the doors jammed have been taken to depots and are being examined now,” he said adding that a final report on the reasons behind the jam should be out in two days. The officials said no special committees were set up for the examination. “The in-house operations staff are working to detect the defaults, but it seems there is no connection between the incidents.” The trains affected yesterday and on Friday have been taken to Shadipur and Yamuna Bank depots for check-up.
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People dial 100 at the drop of a hat
Sandeep Yadav Tribune News Service
New Delhi, February 9 Such non-serious and non-actionable calls, at least from the police point of view, are made quite often. Logs with the PCR personnel, who are the first to reach almost every crime spot, say anywhere between 600 and 700 calls made to ‘100’ turn out to be either bogus calls or non-actionable, something lying outside the preview of the Criminal Procedure Code. Officials say everybody these days has a mobile connection and in addition there is no cost for dialling ‘100’ prompting many people to call up the police at the slightest of provocation or sometimes for flimsiest of reasons. Delhi police data reveals that last year out of 17, 99,250 PCR calls received, 2,48,666 were found to be bogus. According to Dr P S Bhushan, DCP (PCR), they receive anything from 4,500 to 5,000 calls in a day. “We can find out the exact reason of call on reaching the spot only. PCR’s job is to send cops from police station at the earliest without wasting time. We can’t play down any call or incident,” says Dr Bhushan. According to him, there are 650 PCR vans in the city and about 250 member staff at Central Police Control Room which can receive 60 distress calls at one given time. An official posted with a PCR van in central district said he and his colleagues have grown used to such calls. And in a city like Delhi where loneliness is a curse, especially for the elderly, such calls are only increasing. “When we reached an address in Daryaganj recently, the lonely old man told us that he was hungry and there was nobody else at home. However, when we checked the kitchen, the fridge had plenty to eat. It was basically his loneliness we realised,” said the official. Another ailing senior citizen called cops because he found nobody to deposit his telephone bills. PCR personnel everywhere have such stories to share. Somebody calls them in the middle of night to search for a missing dog while desperate mothers and wives at times call up cops crying as their husband or son had got late and not picking mobiles. Even routine matrimonial issues at times prompt people, especially wives, to call up police and later ask cops not to take action against their husbands once their anger melts.
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Hanging bridge near Purana Qila
to be ready by April-end
New Delhi, February 9 The bridge that is likely to be functional by the end of April, also boasts of special lifts for differently abled people. Installed by the Delhi Integrated Multi-Modal Transit System (DIMTS) Ltd, the bridge will be one of its kind at the Bhairon Marg and Mathura Road crossing. The FOB is a part of the infrastructure development for the Common Wealth Games 2010. It has been built to provide easy access to Major Dhyanchand Stadium. “The foot over bridge that costs around Rs 3.53 crore can accommodate a minimum of 5,000 people using the walkway in an hour,” said a senior DIMTS official. Interestingly, the installation of the pre-fabricated walkway girder was done with great precision with the help of two 150-tonne cranes without disruption in traffic. “An expert team of architects and engineers were hired to create a design meeting international standards. The bridge was conceived to look like an arch-type gateway, with its location actually making it a gateway to south Delhi. Special seamless steel pipes were imported from abroad and then bent to the precise curvature,” he added. Another feature that sets this FOB apart is the lift on either side of the bridge for the differently-abled. It is also the first FOB to have landscaping on both the approach towers as well as walkway. In fact, the walkway will boast of street furniture, benches and greenery giving the people a beautiful view of the Purana Qila.
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3 Nigerians held for Internet
lottery scam
New Delhi, February 9 The accused has been identified as Smart
Adoghe, Aduwaua, and Iyobasa. According to information, these Nigerians on arrival in India download the Nigerian passports through Internet and using photoshop software pasted their photographs on these fake passports. They then used these fake passports to get accommodation, SIM cards and open bank accounts. “Three laptops, eight mobile phones, fake documents and expired passports and items worth Rs 9-10 lakh were recovered from their possession,” said K. C.
Dwivedi, DCP (East). They allegedly used to gather information about Internet users through sites like naukri.com and
monster.com. The gang used to send mails with monograms of Yahoo Lottery Incorporation and Microsoft lottery board about prizes worth 7.5 lakh pounds. “They used to collect at least Rs 7-8 lakh from each of their victims. Once they got the money, the gang changed its mobile numbers to trap another victim,” Dwivedi said. The mode of transfer of the money to Nigeria was being investigated, Dwivedi said. During investigation it has come to notice that the gang has cheated Internet users all over India. Smart came to India on July 31, 2009 and his visa expired in November last year, while Iyobosa arrived India on August 28, 2009 and his visa expired in January this year. |
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Braveheart housewife
fights robbers
Ghaziabad, February 9 Around 11.30 am, the robbers knocked at her door and when she opened it, they put a dagger at her neck. However, instead of getting nervous, Sunita showed courage and retaliated. She pushed one of the two into a room and bolted the door from outside. Then she raised the alarm, after which the security guard and some neighbours came to her rescue. But by this time the second robber had managed to escape. Acknowledging her presence of mind and determination, SSP Raghuveer Lal has announced an award of Rs 2,500 for her. According to the police, at the time of the attack, Sunita was alone at home, as her husband Manoj Sharma and children had left for office and school, respectively. The robbers, who were holding files in their hands, told Sunita that they had come to whitewash the house. They then asked for water. As soon as Sunita turned around to get water, they put a dagger on her neck. But when they tried to take her towards an almirah, Sunita pushed one of them into a room and bolted the door from outside. The police said one of the robbers had been identified as Ravi Kumar and that he had confessed that he was a petty criminal and thief.
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Blasts hearing deferred to Feb 23
New Delhi, February 9 Additional sessions judge Santosh Snehi Mann allowed the plea of public prosecutor Rajiv Mohan to give them more time to complete investigations against
Shahzad, a suspected Indian Mujahideen terrorist. Mohan said that Shhzad was arrested on February 1 and the Delhi police’s special cell was still interrogating him. Meanwhile, taking a serious view of the absence of the investigating officer of the case, Mann issued a specific order, saying, “He should be here at least 10 minutes before the court proceedings start, for he is required to assist the additional public prosecutor.” The court made these remarks when Mohan sought time to make a call to the investigating officer to verify that in how many cases
non-bailable warrants were issued against Shahzad. Today’s proceedings were conducted in the court through video-conferencing, as eleven accused are lodged at the Sabarmati Jail in
Ahmedabad. The accused are 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. The twelfth accused, Mohd
Hakim, was produced from Tihar Jail. He was allowed by the judge to meet his father present in the court room for 10 minutes. |
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City may see second cold wave
New Delhi, February 9 “The rain in Delhi since Monday has been because of western disturbances over the higher parts in north India. As soon as these disturbances subside, the Capital might witness a second cold wave as the temperatures are expected to dip by at least four to five degrees,” said BP Yadav, director, Met department. While the maximum temperature tomorrow is expected to hover around 24 degree Celsius, the minimum is expected to slump to 10 degree Celsius. The skies are likely to remain clear tomorrow as the western disturbances are likely to pass by. Over the past ten days, the city had been comparatively warmer with the day and night temperatures, 4 to 6 degrees above normal. The rains in the last couple of days had added a spin to the weather conditions making it ideal for outings. “While it may have brought along a chill in the air, the rain has not really pulled down the mercury level today, with the minimum temperature at 15 degree Celsius, that is six notches above average for this time of the year. From Monday till Tuesday morning, the total rainfall recorded here was 14.8 mm,” said another IMD official. |
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3 girls missing for 25 days
Noida, February 9 However, the police has registered a missing report. But it has not taken any action in the matter. It has not even questioned the two youths against whom the parents had lodged a complaint alleging that they had threatened to throw acid on their daughters’ faces. The police said the threat had become an old story. Three girls aged 13, 15 and 16 years, students of Government Inter College in Sector-12 Noida, had left for their school on a rickshaw on January 15. Since then there is no news about them. The families live in Sohramau village of GB Nagar. The parents are being shooed away by the police. The girls used to get coaching from a tutor, Sheetal. The parents say if the police cannot assure them of their daughters’ return, they should not at least behave in a rude and insulting way. Three years ago, the callousness of the police had led to the Nithari tragedy which is getting complicated by each passing day.
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Delhi among laggards in launching education schemes
New Delhi, February 9 The project aims to achieve at least 75 per cent attendance of students in Classes IX and X and improve the quality of education in government schools. The Union government had launched the project in March 2009 and till now 17 states have submitted their reports and demanded budget for implementing of the scheme. According to sources, the Union government sanctions Rs 10 lakh for each district. A workshop in this connection was organised by Centre in January, but no representative of the Delhi government was present at the event. At the workshop, state project directors briefed the ministry and the consultants dealing with the project and submitted their demand of budget. The consultants then studied the projects of the states and made their recommends to the ministry. The second workshop will be held in July this year. |
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Rs 6-lakh loot at trader’s house in Delhi
New Delhi, February 9 The incident took place yesterday at the Jyoti Nagar residence of Sanjay Jain, a trader. Jain runs a shop of petroleum products in Karol Bagh. Jain and his two brothers Anil and Naveen live in the same building with their wives and mother. But none of the brothers were present at the time of the incident.The security guard Ajay Mishra said that a man knocked at the door around 7 pm and requested to meet Jain. “When Mishra replied that Jain was not at home, the man entered the house on the pretext of collecting his mobile number. He hit Mishra’s head with a revolver. Mishra fell unconscious after that,” said a police official quoting Ajay. The official added that after hitting Mishra, five more men barged into the residence and took the family members and two servants hostage. |
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File power complaints via SMS
New Delhi, February 9 “Initially, the services were being launched for consumers having single phase meters. Nearly 80 per cent of the company’s 11 lakh consumers have such meters. Soon the service will be launched for BRPL customers in south and west Delhi,” said a spokesperson. With this service, a consumer will not be required to call BRPL/ BYPL for registering his/ her complaint. “Under this service, a consumer’s SMS will first reach the central server, which will generate a return acknowledgement and simultaneously route the SMS to the concerned division and the official,” added Narayanan. |
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JNUSU rift persists over polls
New Delhi, February 9 The office-bearers of the JNUSU from AISA said they wanted to fight the legal battle first and then go for the elections. Others, including the main opposition SFI, are of the opinion that the process of holding the elections should start right now so that they could be finally held in November while fighting the legal battle at the same time. |
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Woman, son die in accident
New Delhi, February 9 The incident took place in Sunlight Colony today. A hunt is on to nab the errant driver who fled after the incident. A case of rash and negligent driving has been registered against him.
— TNS |
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