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Missing sisters: Punjab cops raid Gurgaon ‘ashram’
CS seeks traders’ advice on policy
RWAs seek toll-free DND flyway
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EPSI proposes PPP model
to boost education
S. Korean schoolgirl kidnapped, rescued
Sharda varsity youth festival celebrated
Short admission period may hit state boards’ students
Collection agency robbed of
Rs 8 lakh
‘Super chor’ of 600 burglaries held
Blind murder solved
Budget: Delhi govt seeks funds for Games
Karni Singh Shooting Range hits bull’s eye
No Metro on Holi morning
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Missing sisters: Punjab cops raid Gurgaon ‘ashram’
Gurgaon, February 25 In a complaint lodged with the police, Roopender Singh of Ludhiana had alleged that one Baba Jaspal Singh USA Waale had been misleading his two daughters, who recently went missing from their hostel. The father of the missing girls blamed the “guru” for their disappearance. DCP Gurgaon (West) Pat Ram said the policemen from Ludhiana had sought help for the operation. The local police authorities sent a team led by ACP Surender Singh with them. On reaching the “ashram”, the joint police party was first not allowed to enter the premises. Finally, after much persuasion and partly by use of force, the police personnel managed to get in. However, neither the missing girls, nor the “guru”, were found inside. The police team seized some clothes and other articles and questioned Gurwinder Kaur and Manpreet, who were manning the “ashram”. Sub-inspector Niranjan Singh from Ludhiana said the clothes and other belongings seized from the ashram were being shown to the girls’ family members, who would ascertain whether these belonged to the girls.
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CS seeks traders’ advice on policy
Gurgaon, February 25 This was stated by the Haryana chief secretary, Urvashi Gulati, here today. She was in Gurgaon to preside over the 30th Annual General Meeting of the Gurgaon Chamber of Commerce and Industry (GCCI). Lauding the role of industrialists in the progress of the state, the Chief Secretary said apart from contributing in the economic progress, they also generated employment avenues. She also released a telephone directory of the GCCI. Earlier, GCCI president Mohit Malik and founder president P.K.Jain briefed the meeting about the activities of the GCCI and pointed out that exports from Haryana had crossed Rs 30,000 crore during 2008-09. They demanded that the system of e-governance be effectively implemented in the state. Haryana financial commissioner-cum-principal secretary (power utilities) Madhusudan Prasad maintained that the power availability in the state would be doubled by 2012. The managing director of the Dakshin Haryana Bijli Vitran Nigam (DHBVN), Anurag Aggarwal, disclosed that the nigam had obtained a loan from the World Bank and was going to take up a massive renovation-cum-infrastructure augmentation drive. He asserted that online electricity billing would be launched by the end of next month. A call-centre for electricity-related enquiries would also be set up in Gurgaon, he added. The director of Town and Country Planning, T.C.Gupta, revealed that the time limit of three months for granting CLU for setting up industrial units was being reduced to two months and a proposal in this regard would come up in the Assembly session. Labour Commissioner Surina Rajan told the meeting that in future, no surprise inspections would be conducted in the industrial units and only organised inspections would be held. “A notice will be served before the inspection and inspection would not be conducted more than once a year,” she maintained. She said that the government plans to constitute a tripartite- including employer, workmen and government representative for solving the labour disputes. The labourers were interested but the employers have not come forward yet. The financial commissioner and principal secretary (industries) Y.S.Malik observed that the HSIIDC should not be allowed monopoly and the entrepreneurs should come forward for creating industrial infrastructure. He said the state government proposed to launch group housing for industrial workers and the industrialists should apply for plots for their workers. Later, at a programme organised in the meeting hall of the mini-secretariat, the chief secretary distributed registration certificates to 28 local property dealers and consultants who had registered themselves as per the new rule.
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RWAs seek toll-free DND flyway
Noida, February 25 “The maintenance and operation of DND flyway should be taken over by the Noida Authority. DND toll bridge agency has already earned far more than the capital expenditure incurred by them in development and running of the expressway from the toll charges and hoardings etc, stated Suresh Tiwari, general secretary, FONRWA. The Noida Toll Bridge Company Ltd (NTBCL) was promoted by Infrastructure Leasing and Financial Services Ltd (IL & FS) and New Okhla Industrial Development Authority (NOIDA), as a special purpose vehicle (SPV) to develop, construct and maintain the DND flyway on a build, own, operate, transfer (BOOT) basis on 30-year lease. The project was commissioned on February 7, 2001. The contract does not give the authority a role in assessing the reasonableness of capital and operational costs reported by the concessionaire. It also provides for guaranteed annual returns of 20 per cent on the total project costs, and not on equity alone. Since the contract provides for the term of the concession to be extended until the concessionaire recovers the total cost of the project and returns thereon, the concessionaire had in 2006 noted that it was now entitled to hold the concession for a period of 70 years as against the 30 years initially contemplated in the agreement. Till date the cost has further increased causing extension of concession period by a few more decades.
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EPSI proposes PPP model
to boost education
New Delhi, February 25 The EPSI, a nodal agency responsible for the promotion of quality education in India, held a series of round-tables across the country to increase awareness on the crucial role played by private unaided institutions in promoting higher education. Following these roundtables, the final strategy formulation by EPSI at the national level was declared on Thursday. Dr G. Viswanathan, president, EPSI, said, “Given the constraints of infrastructure, capital and trained teachers in the education sector, the EPSI considers the public-private partnership (PPP) model best for the country. Deemed universities and other private unaided institutions have been rendering yeoman service in imparting higher education to Indian students, despite various constraints. This is especially noteworthy, given the inadequate infrastructure and shortage of trained teachers faced by educational institutions.” He added that shortcomings in education can be rectified by consulting all stakeholders and the recommendations derived from there could help the government in arriving at policy decisions. Ad hoc decisions without consulting all stakeholders could jeopardise the future of lakhs of students and are best avoided. Vis a vis the educational reforms, EPSI has urged for transparency in action and consideration of views and concerns of all stakeholders before arriving at policy decisions. The EPSI came up with a list of recommendations that stressed on the importance of having a constitutional authority in the form of a National Knowledge Commission on Higher Education and Research. It asked for regulating councils to be formed under the National Knowledge Commission on Higher Education and Research responsible for the execution of the reforms, the EPSI stressed on the importance of quality in education which should be supervised and controlled by agencies like NAAC, NBA etc. These are some of the recommendations of the EPSI. Manohar Chellani, secretary-general of EPSI, said, “The EPSI represents the larger perspective of higher education institutions and the common plea is for transparency in the overall process. We urge state governments to facilitate the creation of more private state universities and autonomous institutions to boost quality in education.”
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S. Korean schoolgirl kidnapped, rescued
Gurgaon, February 25 Gurgaon police commissioner S.S. Deswal said the student, studying in Pathways School, was kidnapped by three people at 4.15 p.m. when she was on her way to school in a taxi. “We have rescued the girl which was our priority. The accused will be arrested soon,” he said. The girl was rescued from Kola village near Faridabad. The girl was a Class 11 student and lives here with her
guardian.—IANS
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Sharda varsity youth festival celebrated
Gt Noida, February 25 Other events at the festival included a radio jockey competition and fusion dance competition. Almost 3,000 students of Sharda University, Delhi University colleges and other NCR colleges participated in various events during the festival. Students witnessed a rocking performance by Simon Webb, a member of rock band Blue from the UK and rock band Jal from Pakistan.
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Short admission period may hit state boards’ students
New Delhi, February 25 The admission process generally begins in May and different colleges admit students until September. However, due to semester system this process could wind up as early as by July-end and DU authorities say it would likely to result in reducing the time period given to prospective students to submit all required documents. “We have to divide the year into two semesters so it is expected that the admission time would shorten,” said S.K.Vij, dean of students’ welfare, DU. He said the university would keep in mind the schedules of different state and central boards while deciding the admission dates, but struck a note of caution for them as well. “We would not like to put any student at disadvantage, but even otherwise we cannot keep the admissions open for some of the state boards which take out their results exceptionally late,” said Vij. Many students from the Haryana and Uttar Pradesh boards do not make it to the DU admissions every year due to the delay in their results. Last year, the university had managed to convince some of the state boards to send them early results of students through CDs. But some boards fail to do even this as it might affect their students badly this year. “Even if we try we cannot set our admissions schedule according to all the state boards in the country. It is impossible,” he said adding that the university administration had to make sure that syllabi of all courses were covered on time for the semester examinations which meant starting the semester earlier than usual. The university administration is almost ready with the implementation of semester system, though the final dates are yet to be decided. “There is an admission committee of the university and the committee in-charge of implementation of semester system is coordinating with them,” said sources in the administration. DU teachers have been opposing semester system despite the administration’s refusal to budge from its stand.
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Collection agency robbed of
Rs 8 lakh
New Delhi, February 25 According to information, robbers carrying knives and a revolver barged into the first floor office of Revenue Plus Solutions and held the employees hostage. “They were four in number and one of them snatched the cash from
Manoj, the cashier, and fled the spot. Three of them were wearing helmets while one had not covered his face. There were eight employees inside the office tallying the collection made during the day when the incident took place,” said the police. The police suspects that the robbers had prior information that huge cash was collected at the office every evening. The involvement of an insider is not ruled out, a senior police official said. A case of robbery has been registered at the Kirti Nagar police station. |
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‘Super chor’ of 600 burglaries held
New Delhi, February 25 According to police, Subhash was arrested on February 19 after a tip-off on his movement near the Press Enclave area. Police has seized gold and silver jewellery worth Rs 5 lakh from him. “Subhash is known as ‘super chor’. He dresses up smartly, leads a lavish lifestyle and has many girlfriends. He consumes high-end Blue Label Scotch whisky and moves in cars or high-speed bikes,” said HGS Dhaliwal, DCP (south). Subhash mostly targets multi-storeyed flats on the second or third floors. He targets only those flats which are found locked from outside, Dhaliwal said. After his release from jail last month, the officer said, he settled at Mathura in UP and hired a huge apartment in a posh colony there. He also arranged two hideouts in Delhi and again started committing thefts in Delhi and surrounding towns to meet his expenses. Subhash projected himself as a property dealer in Mathura and started visiting local politicians. He also aspired to contest for the post of panchayat pradhan from Khoda village. He spent Rs 5 to 6 lakh in social work there besides spending money on the marriages of village girls.
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Blind murder solved
New Delhi, February 25 There were ligature marks around the neck and the throat was slit. The police came to know that one Raj Kumar was involved in this murder case. “He confessed that he along with his accomplices hatched the conspiracy to rob and murder Sanjay, a distributor of mobile recharge coupons. Pradeep, known to Sanjay, told them that he carried a large amount of cash daily,” K C Dwivedi, DCP (east), said.
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Budget: Delhi govt seeks funds for Games
New Delhi, February 25 The sources said that Delhi finance minister A. K. Walia demanded an additional amount of Rs 2,000 crore for the Commonwealth Games
(CWG). If this amount is not allocated in the estimated budget proposal of the Union government, it would be difficult for the Delhi government to complete the construction of the various Games projects. Many CWG projects are still not complete. These projects have to be completed before June. The MCD has also demanded finance from the city government for completion of its projects, according to sources. |
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Karni Singh Shooting Range hits bull’s eye
New Delhi, February 25 With Adilabad and Tughlaqabad Fort providing best scenic backdrop, the stadium has been upgraded at a cost Rs 150 crore with installation of state-of-the-art technology. The process of upgradation at the shooting range started in 2008. The stadium has automatic electronic scoring target system recognized by International Sport Shooting Federation along with lighting facilities for high definition television coverage. “The success of the ongoing championship is an indication of our preparedness for the final event. The championship has seen Dr Karni Singh Shooting Ranges pass in flying colours. It a matter of pride for us that all national and international shooters have praised about the facilities and have been unanimous in declaring the range as world class,” said a senior official of Commonwealth Games Organising Committee. The players said that ranges are of best standard and expressed their satisfaction at the facilities and infrastructure at the renovated Dr Karni Singh Shooting Range. “The championship was a good preparation for the forthcoming Commonwealth Games. The ranges are on a par with any other international ranges,” said Samresh Jung, Indian air pistol ace. He was judged as the Best Athlete at the 18th Commonwealth Games in Melbourne. “International shooters who are participating in the championship are equally impressed with the world class facilities here,” he said. The international contingent of various nations present at the range expressed confidence in the security measures taken to secure the range. Martin Mace, Northern Ireland’s team manager, said security can sometimes be used as an excuse by governments of participating countries to not compete. “In fact I am completely satisfied with the security arrangements in place,” he said.
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Gurgaon, February 25
