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CM, L-G differ on Municipal Act
DTC trains bus staff to be
well-behaved
Student death
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BJP irked over Haryana’s refusal to share Yamuna water
Man posing as minister befools
Noida cops
Drive to nab wayward students
Haryana shop registration goes online
Compelling story of a victimised woman
DU non-teaching staff call strike
‘India needs 2nd green revolution’
Games Scotland Yard officers meet Delhi cops
Cricketers roped in for clean Delhi drive
Eco-friendly roads soon
Realtor stabbed
Employer burns maid’s hand
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CM, L-G differ on Municipal Act
New Delhi, February 11 While Dikshit has initiated the process to repeal the Delhi Municipal Act, 1957, and has decided to come up with a new law to govern the civic body, Khanna is reportedly working on amending the existing Municipal Act. Last week, the Delhi Cabinet had constituted a three-member committee headed by chief secretary Rakesh Mehta to draft a new Municipal Act. The decision came after the Delhi government witnessed a tug of war with the union home ministry on the issue of total control over the MCD. The committee has been briefed to formulate a new municipal law that would hand over the MCD to the Delhi government completely, sources said. However, sources said that Khanna was carrying out an exercise to amend the DMC Act, 1957 to bring it in line with the changed scenario of the Capital. “The DMC Act was passed by Parliament at a time when the MCD had jurisdiction just over the civic zone of the Capital and the city’s population was around 20 lakh. Today Delhi has not only expanded, even the population is touching two crore, thus bringing new challenges for the civic body. Therefore, to fulfil larger responsibilities, the DMC Act requires amendment,” stated a senior official. According to sources, the amendment in DMC Act would be in line with powers that the union home ministry had delegated to the Delhi government a couple of months ago. While the city government would have supervisory power over the civic body, the Lieutenant-Governor would continue to enjoy the rest of the powers, like appointment of the municipal commissioner and framing bylaws. This is something the Delhi government does not like. Earlier, the Centre had agreed to delegate powers under 17 of the 23 Sections of the DMC Act to the city government. But it has turned down the state’s repeated attempts to take charge of the remaining six Sections as well |
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DTC trains bus staff to be
well-behaved
New Delhi, February 11 This has been done keeping in view the upcoming Commonwealth Games when thousands of foreigners would visit Delhi, sources said. Many complain that conductors and drivers of DTC buses are not well-behaved. The DTC is training bus drivers and conductors to be soft-spoken and abide by the rules of the corporation. They have been asked to stop the bus on each prescribed stoppage so that passengers can board and de-board comfortably. There are complaints from various quarters that DTC drivers do not stop buses at prescribed stoppages. This has tarnished its image and is one of the causes of the corporation losing revenue, sources said. According to sources, the DTC has invited advertising agencies to come up with ads and documentary films that can help it in building its image. They have reportedly been asked to produce documentary films showing its 60 years’ history and the schemes launched for students, women and senior citizens. The agencies have been asked to carry out radio spots, outdoor publicity, hoardings giving a positive picture of the DTC. DTC spokesperson M.S. Sherawat said that the corporation had launched buses like — women special, Outer Mudrika, Inner Mudrika and Trans-Yamuna Mudrika. It has also increased the frequency of its buses so that commuters do not depend on private buses. When questioned about the earlier failure of women special buses, Sherawat said that earlier DTC did not have global positioning system (GPS). Now GPS has been installed in all low-floor buses of DTC. If a woman faces any problem, she can get police help within few minutes by using the system. |
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Violence, indifference not new for blind DU students
Tribune News Service
New Delhi, February 11 DU admits around 100 blind students each year. All are provided with hostel accommodation on priority basis. But the verbal duels and occasional fights at the hostels, normally dismissed as an unavoidable part of hostel life, often have different and more serious dimensions for the blind students. “When I was staying at the college hostel three years ago, I and my roommate got into some argument with our neighbours which eventually turned into a fight,” said Vikas Mishra, a former M.A. Sanskrit student of Hindu College. He said he felt extremely vulnerable being blind and occasional barbs from other students would rile him. He added that it took him months to get over the issue. Some blind students The Tribune spoke to said they were mobbed a few times, though such cases were rare. “Students seem to believe that because we cannot see, we do not know what is happening around us. On the contrary, we are more sensitive and reactive to such things,” said Vivek Mishra, another blind student who was once attacked. The fact that not many residents of the Hansraj College hostel knew who the deceased student was, is a reflection on this indifferent attitude of normal students towards their visually-challenged counterparts. However, some feel that blind students are part of the larger community and incidents of violence happen with the normal students as well. In 2003, thousands of blind students of DUcame out to press for the basic demands of the community.
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The police is stuck in its probe into the death of a 22-year-old visually impaired student of Hansraj College who was found hanging in his hostel room on Tuesday night as it still awaits the post-mortem report. “The post-mortem was conducted today by the medical board, but we are yet to get the report. It is important for us to ascertain the time of death,” said Sagarpreet Hooda, DCP (North). However, the police has lodged a case of murder as Kumar’s hands were tied behind while his body was hanging. The police suspects an insider to be involved in the incident and has questioned Kumar’s classmates, including a female friend, and the hostel’s security guard.
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BJP irked over Haryana’s refusal to share Yamuna water
New Delhi, February 11 Haryana refused to share river water with Delhi at the recently held second meeting of the Yamuna River Board. “With the refusal, Rs 500 crore spent for building Munak Canal and another Rs 500 crore spent for building water treatment plants at Dwarka and Okhla have gone waste,” Malhotra said. He alleged that over the years Haryana had been reducing the flow of water to Delhi on one or the other pretext and now it had bluntly refused to share water. This is an issue of serious concern in view of the impending Commonwealth Games in October. “Half of Delhi’s population is suffering from shortage of drinking water and do deal with this water is drawn from underground sources. This has led to alarming levels of depletion,” said Malhotra. He demanded Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to intervene in the matter. |
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Man posing as minister befools
Noida cops
Gt Noida, February 11 official of the status of a minister of state with the UP government. The man, who managed to fool even the cops and moved around in full police protection, was formally welcomed by the workers of the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) whom he also addressed. However, his journey continued only till the district magistrate (DM) of Gautam Budha Nagar Deepak Agarwal got suspicious and invited him to his office for a cup of tea, after which he was caught and handed over to the police. The man has been identified as Rajveer Singh, a resident of Surajpur. He works as a construction contractor with the Greater Noida Authority. On Wednesday, he announced that the UP government had appointed him the vice-chairman of the UP public works and cooperative development corporation, a post which carries the status of a minister of state. He even showed an official letter in this regard. The letter printed on the letterhead of the cooperative, was dated February 7, 2010. Rajveer came from Lucknow to Greater Noida in a white Ford car bearing a red light on the top. He was provided police escorts by the Dankore, Greater Noida, Kasna, Surajpur and Phase II police stations and was accorded a formal welcome by the people at Pari Chowk, Surajpur, Bilaspur and Bhengal. The policemen kept saluting him all the day. However, in the evening, a BSP worker informed the district magistrate that the man was a fraud. When the DM checked with Lucknow, he was told that nobody in the area had been conferred the status of a minister of state. He then invited the 'minister' to his office for a cup of tea and checked his appointment letter, after which he was handed over to the police. |
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Drive to nab wayward students
Ghaziabad, February 11 The police hopes to tighten the noose around Romeos with the help of managements of educational institutes. Reports from hostel wardens have been sought for this. Intelligence outfits have also been asked to provide information about students living beyond their means. Even parents of such students are also proposed to be quizzed. The police said that students’ of engineering and technical institutions were recently nabbed in this connection. But they do not have crime history. These students present gold chains or buy costly gifts to please their girlfriends. The pocket money they get from their parents is just pea-nuts for them, the police said. Most students are from other districts or states. SP City Avadesh Kumar Vijeta said that a meeting of officials from engineering and management institutes and other education hubs had been called. Officials have been asked to furnish details of such students who do not come from rich families but maintain a lavish lifestyle. This will help the police to nab students who indulge in crimes under the pretext of studies.
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Haryana shop registration goes online
Gurgaon, February 11 The minister launched the facility with the click of a computer mouse and got printed a registration certificate of an online applicant. He gave away registration certificates to other applicants at the function organised by the Labour Department. The minister said it would enable the shopkeepers and owners of commercial establishments to get their establishments registered from their homes. “The form and other details are available on the website www.hrlabour.org and one can deposit the requisite fee online through credit or debit card,” he said, adding that the facility would save the time of the shopkeepers and help in curbing corruption. No extra fee is levied for this online facility, the minister maintained and revealed that the registration was done for a period of three years and after that it needed to be renewed by depositing the same amount deposited at the time of registration. He said that the fees can also be paid through the HDFC bank branches in Haryana, Delhi, Chandigarh and Mohali. The minister said that some cyber cafés had been identified in Gurgaon for those shopkeepers not having the Internet facility and rate had been fixed at Rs 35 so that excess amount is not charged from them.
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Compelling story of a victimised woman
New Delhi, February 11 Kishwar elaborated, “I was surprised by my own sense of anger. I have this great sense of injustice and anger about the way women are treated, especially in Punjab. I wanted to pen down this open discrimination against women and violation of women and it was this anger that I harboured which fuelled my writing and I wrote this book in one month flat.” Kishwar further added, “I do hope that some of the anger I felt while writing comes through and others experience this in my treatment of the central protagonists of the book.” In an interaction with the audience, she said, “The story of a woman who committed a horrific act remained with me. It was almost like she was compelling me to write her story, a story of a woman who commits 13 murders on a single night and is yet amazingly the victim and not merely the perpetrator of the crime.” Kishwar explains that this is a girls’ story taken out of Bengal and implanted in Punjab. The book is written in two rather dominant voices — that of the young girl Durga and the social worker, Simran. Kishwar also read out select extracts from her book. ‘Witness the Night,’ is a powerful story of prejudice and violence against women set in Punjab and Southall in England. The character of Durga is carefully drawn out as a traumatised 14-year-old girl now imprisoned as a chief suspect in a sensational murder case. Every single member of her family has been poisoned and some have been viciously stabbed. Some 13 people are killed by Durga’s hands and yet the author shows Durga as the victim. A straight-talking emancipated British Sikh woman, Simran Singh is fascinated with the case and she travels to Punjab and uncovers more than she wants to. The setting for the book is Jalandhar. The author also discusses issues like female foeticide in her book. Kishwar’s book was longlisted for the Man Asian Literary prize. She has a 30-year-old career in journalism. She is also a TV anchor and producer. Kishwar previously authored a non-fiction book, ‘Darlingji: A True Love Story of Nargis and Sunil Dutt.’
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DU non-teaching staff call strike
New Delhi, February 11 The members of the DU and College Karamchari Union said with the implementation of OBC reservation there had been an increase in the number of students and so their strength should also be increased.“While the universities are implementing 27 per cent OBC quota, they are also supposed to increase the strength of the non-teaching staff by 54 per cent. However, DU has not advertised for any seat for non-teaching staff,” said S. C. Joshi, general secretary of the union. |
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‘India needs 2nd green revolution’
New Delhi, February 11 Pental, a noted plant molecular biologist, was speaking at Lal Bahadur Shastri Memorial lecture on ‘Achieving Elusive Second Green Revolution- Can Research Development Help?’ at Indian Agricultural Research Institute. He said India needed to leverage technologies available with it to usher in another green revolution. “The green revolution could be best termed as an evolution rather than a revolution. In 1962-1965, the precarious food situation had led India to introduce the dwarf varieties of crop which made the country food surplus. But, over the years our import dependence has increased in edible oils and pulses and we needed another revolution,” he said. Pointing out at the big difference between China and India in the productivity of many crops , he underlined the need for analysis of the reasons behind the difference. “After China introduced the double-line hybrid rice cultivation in 1964, it has never looked back and reaped similar benefits in the production of various other crops. In fact, area under wheat cultivation in China has climbed up vis-à-vis India.” |
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Games Scotland Yard officers meet Delhi cops
New Delhi, February 11 According to information, the Scotland Yard officials are on a two-day visit in Delhiand would visit the stadiums and games villages regarding the security arrangements. “The Scotland Yard officials today evening held a meeting with Neeraj Kumar, Special Commissioner at Police Headquarters in connection with CWG security issues. They are in city for two days and tomorrow would visit the other venues associated with the games,” said Rajan Bhagat, PRO, Delhi Police. |
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Cricketers roped in for clean Delhi drive
New Delhi, February 11 The campaign stresses the need to keep Delhi clean as it prepares to host the mega-sports event. “We have approached Sharma, Sehwag and Gambhir for spreading the message of clean and green Delhi. Sharma has already agreed to the proposal. Talks are on with the other two cricketers,” said Subhash Arya, Leader of the House. The MCD, in its earlier sanitation drive, had introduced characters like Thu-Thu Kumar, Kuda Kumar and Poly Aunty signifying people littering on roads. Arya said that this time the MCD would carry out a multi-media campaign to keep the Capital clean. “Other than publishing advertisements in newspapers, we will also put up hoardings and run an audio-visual campaign. We will launch it before the Games,” Arya said. |
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Eco-friendly roads soon
New Delhi, February 11 He said this while inspecting roads being constructed with recycled plastic and micro-surfacing technology in south Delhi today. Chauhan said the total length of all roads being re-built in the Capital was 424-km. Rs 200 crore is being spent on the roads. The new technology being used is eco-friendly and economical. The longevity of the roads may span from 5 to 7 years. — TNS |
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Realtor stabbed
New Delhi, February 11 The incident took place in the Mali Ka Bara area of Subzi Mandi police station. The police said the victim Ajay and the accused knew each other and an argument between the two led to the stabbing. “Ajay and accused Chand lived in the same area. They knew each other and the two last night had an argument. Initially, blows were exchanged, but later Chand came with his friends and bashed up Ajay, who died at a hospital,” said the police. Chand is a body builder and has been arrested. |
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Employer burns maid’s hand
New Delhi, February 11 The incident took place in the Ramesh Park area of Lakshmi Nagar. The victim Shivangi (name changed) was working as a maid at house number 43 in Ramesh Park. She was allegedly burnt by her employer. She is admitted to the Lal Bahadur Hospital. She was hired by Prashant Mishra a few months ago through a placement agency. It was his neighbour informed the police. “I heard her cries. When I went to check, I found a burn mark on her hand, after which I called the police. Prashant’s wife, Chanda, tortured her regularly,” said the police, quoting the neighbour. The Shakarpur police has arrested Mishra and registered a case against him. “Prashant told the police said that he didn’t want to hurt her and that she got burnt accidentally,” said the police, adding that the placement agency which provided the maid was being traced. |
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