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Hanging wires cause of Old Delhi
Drivers protest, demand Nanda’s arrest
With hike in SOL entry marks, low scorers in limbo
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Delhi Diary
Misuse alleged
Court moved as plot on sewer line sold
1,000 farmers to get plots under GNIDA scheme
Simmering week predicted
Jobless youths held for car robbery
Two held for house burglary
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Hanging wires cause of Old Delhi fires
New Delhi, June 20 The dangerously hanging overhead wires and high-tension electric cables give constant worry to the residents of Old Delhi, as according to fire department records, at least three to four cases of fire are reported from the area every day. "On an average, three to four calls of fire are received every day from the area," said a fire department official with the Piawalan fire station in Old Delhi. The fire department officials say that 90 per cent of these fires are triggered by loose wires that come in contact with residential and commercial structures. The power to the area is supplied by BYPL. According to company officials, the residents of the area have power connections capable of transferring one KW or less than that , which is not sufficient for running even an airconditioner. "People in the area have been using the connections since historical era. Though they have now bought several gadgets , they have not bothered to enhance their power load. This poses a threat not only to the particular shop, but the entire area," said Ramesh Narayanan, CEO, BYPL. The company had sometime back proposed a Rs 250-crore project for shifting the overhead high-tension wires in the Walled City underground, but the plan is yet to seen the light of the day because the company reportedly has no finances for it. "There are some financial limitations that is delaying the project," said Narayanan. He said BYPL had taken up the work in Karol Bagh and the Paharganj area in wake of the Commonwealth Games, as the area nestles several budget hotels. He said that the work of digging cable trenches was being done by the MCD. "The MCD is digging cable trenches and 20 per cent of the work is over. Once they are handed over to us, we would lay the service and feeder pillars," he said. However, MCD officials say they are only assisting the work in the Commonwealth Games-related areas, which are Karol Bagh and Paharganj and not Chandni Chowk. "We are land owning agency and thus are not concerned with overhead wires. They will be removed by their owners," said Subhash Arya, Leader of House in MCD.
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Drivers protest, demand Nanda’s arrest
New Delhi, June 20 According to the police, the protesters gathered outside Nanda's New Friends Colony residence (12-C) today afternoon and staged an hour-long protest demanding Nanda's arrest and police protection for the family Sharma. According to a police official of the New Friends Colony police station, the protestors left after they were assured of justice by senior police officials. Janeshwar Sharma, 41, a former armyman, working as a driver with Anil Nanda, was admitted to the Safdarjung Hospital one June 9 with 80 per cent burns. He died on June 15. He had alleged that he was burnt by Nanda's men after he failed to comply with his wishes. Sharma has also alleged that Nanda has gay sexual habits. After keeping silent on the matter for three days, the police swung into action only on June 18 after a TV channel showed the dying driver accusing Nanda and his associates of setting him on fire allegedly for protesting sexual exploitation of young boys. Meanwhile, the investigation in the case is on and police is yet to make any arrest. According to a police official close to investigation, Nanda has been questioned twice in the matter and he has claimed to be away from his residence when the incident took place. "We are verifying Nanda's claim that he was not present in the house when Sharma was burnt. We are also questioned other employees at his residence. The truth would be revealed very soon," said the official.
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With hike in SOL entry marks, low scorers in limbo
New Delhi, June 20 The development will have a more adverse affect on those students who plan to apply for university's external cell. Earlier, the cell enrolled any student who passed class XII from the CBSE board in the Capital with a minimum of 33 per cent marks for BA Pass or B.Com Pass courses. But last year, the university merged the external cell with SOL. The hike in the eligibility criteria of SOL to 40 per cent will jeopardise the hopes of higher education of many students, feel the students and teachers. "Thousands of students are likely to be affected. At least 8,000 to 15,000 students fall in the 33 to 40 per cent bracket. They will not be able to take admission this year. These students normally come from poor socio-economic background. Before merger, on an average, nearly 40,000 to 45,000 students applied for the external cell, while SOL would enroll close to 60,000 students. Last year, after the merger, SOL admitted well above 1 lakh students," said SOL admission committee member, Janne Joy Khuntia. "The whole point of the merger was to facilitate the option of higher studies for students with lesser marks. But now, many students will lose out. What is really bothersome is that the proposal to hike the eligibility marks was neither discussed in the academic council nor the admission council of SOL," he added. Members of the admission council, SOL, opine that the external cell was passed as an ordinance by the government of Delhi in the DU Act of 1922 and the change in the eligibility percentage violates the DU Act. “We have approached the Chief Minister on the issue, and so far, the response has been positive. The increase in the eligibility percentage from 33 to 40 is completely arbitrary,” said another member of the academic council.
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Delhi Diary The ever-increasing number of cars and proportionately decreasing parking space in the city has thrown up an opportunity for the unemployed and not-so-educated lot to carve out parking space from open areas and make a quick buck. Few people know that many such parking lots are illegal, but police and municipal authorities turn a blind eye since officials keep getting their pound of flesh from the parking mafia. There is another bit of illegality involved in this. The young boys, many of them minors, who drive your cars around to make space for other vehicles, do not have any driving license. The owner of one such parking lot said many of them work for paltry salaries since they are excited by the fun of driving cars of all shapes and sizes. Many of them subsequently graduate to become drivers. It is not a bad idea for an unemployed to work at a parking lot, after all. NGOs benefiting at govt expense!
The government is diverting lots of work (and funds as well) to NGOs these days but not all such organisations enjoy a clean image. A cabinet minister in the Sheila Dikshit government was heard fuming at some NGOs, whose administrators, he said in acerbic tone, speak English and have connections with big politicians and bureaucrats. To journalists hearing him, his indignation appeared reasonable. He said while the government was being accused of having too many employees and doing too little work, the NGOs were flourishing with many government projects being diverted to some of the "favourites". The works include imparting computer education to 'madarasa' teachers and projects related with women and minority empowerment. Tis Hazari happy with langoors
Simian visitors have started appearing in the Tis Hazari court complex after 5 pm regularly when the court is winding up for the day and lawyers and litigants are leaving for their homes. And surprisingly, they are being welcomed by court employees who used to have a tough time earlier. The story goes that monkeys used to swarm the court complex not long ago and make a mess of things. They would enter courtrooms, play with files and documents and, if they wished so, swing at the fans, leaving the helpless employees in a state of shock. It is then that the idea of hiring langoors -- the bigger, darker, scarier but more placid version of monkeys -- was suggested to the administration. Court employees said the presence of these langoors, who are natural adversaries of monkeys, have kept the monkeys at bay and the court premises is quiet nowadays. Sexist Delhi police
It may be the era of woman empowerment but our cops are finding it hard to break barriers as far as accepting the equality of women cops among them is concerned. The number of women in the Delhi Police is far from respectable and most of them are assigned to non-investigation jobs as their bosses believe they are not up to it. This attitude came out in the open recently in Sarita Vihar police station when an official was asked by his senior about the status of a case. He replied that he had assigned it to a woman official. He said in his blunt Haryanvi, "Janab ye to telephone pai hi theek hai, baatain karvalo ji sara din. Baki kaam na hai bas ka. (Woman cops are good as telephone operators as they can talk endlessly, but don't ask them to work.) Such a sexist comment might have warranted disciplinary measures at some other place but not in the patriarchal world of the cops. It only invited smirk from his boss. Foreign study at desi cost
Foreign education does come cheaper than this. Ukraine, the biggest state of the former Soviet Union after Russia, is offering an array of courses in aviation with the tuition fees being as low as Rs 19000 and the cost of living rather reasonable at Rs 4400 per month. Ukrainian aviation universities include National Aviation University, Kiev; National Aerospace University, Kharkiv; and State Flight Academy of Ukraine, Kirovograd. These universities claim to prepare pilots and aviation and space engineers. Though it would be foolhardy to jump onto the first flight to Ukraine, experts say students could take the bait after doing a thorough enquiry. The country is recovering after many hiccups and such attractive packages may be an attempt to build its education industry. (Contributed by Himani Chandel, Syed Ali, Rashi Aggarwal Sandeep Yadav, and Charu Singh ) |
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Misuse alleged
New Delhi, June 20 The plots were allotted to the entrepreneurs to shift their industries which were earlier working in the non-conforming areas. A statement issued by DSIIDC said that showcause notices had also been issued to about nine other units for being allegedly misusing their industrial plots for trading and property dealing activities. "The idea behind allotting industrial plots is to improve the quality of life in industrial areas by removing industries from there. The government has been taking necessary steps for expeditious relocation of industrial units to the allotted plots," said the statement. In the first week of June, DSIIDC had organised a two-day camp for execution of pending lease deeds. The camp executed 169 lease deeds. Another one-week camp is being organized from June 21 to 25 for the benefit of the remaining 350 allottees who could not avail the first camp.
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Court moved as plot on sewer line sold
Noida, June 20 In 2008, the Noida Authority allotted a 1542-sq mt commercial plot (C-232-A in Sector 48) to a Delhi company for Rs 14 crore. After the allotment, while the foundation of the proposed building was being dug up, a 150-metre sewerage line was found to be passing under the allotted plot. When their pleas for removing the sewer line were not addressed by the Noida Authority, the company approached the high court. The high court ordered the Noida Authority to remove the sewer line. But, instead of removing the sewer line, the Noida Authority laid a new sewer line. At this, the company lodged a contempt of court plea with the high court, saying that the court's orders had not been followed by the Noida Authority. The court called for an explanation from the Noida Authority, which maintained that the sewer line was still passing from under the plot. The high court then ordered the district magistrate and the SSP of Gautam Budh Nagar to probe the matter and submit a report about the actual position of the sewer line on July 7, the next date of hearing. |
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1,000 farmers to get plots under GNIDA scheme
Greater Noda, June 20 Under the scheme, GNIDA allots 6 per cent developed land of the total land given by the farmers to the authority. A development cess of Rs 450 per sq mt is charged from the farmers. After paying the cess, the farmers can carry out professional activities on 50 per cent of the plot. The allottees will not be allowed to sell these plots for the next three years. In case a farmer sells the plot before the completion of the three-year period, he will not get other facilities being extended to the allotees by the GNIDA. Farmers had recently complained to the chief executive officer, Manoj Kumar, that for a long time no plot had been allotted by the GNIDA under the 6 per cent scheme. On CEO's orders, 1,000 farmers of seven villages will be allotted a plot next week, sources with GNIDA said. According to the sources, hopefully on Tuesday, farmers from Sultanpur, Emnabad, Jaitpur, Ghodi Bichhera, Chahoorpur and Surajpur villages will be given the allotment letters.
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Simmering week predicted
New Delhi, June 20 “The mercury levels will see a rise and no rains are expected for the coming days,” an official of the India Meteorological Department (IMD) said. On Monday, the city can expect a maximum temperature of 45 degree Celsuis and a minimum of 30 degrees, the official said. The minimum temperature on Sunday was 29.8 degree Celsius, one notch above average. On Saturday, the maximum temperature recorded was 43 degree Celsius. On May 13, Delhi saw a maximum temperature of 44.4 degrees Celsius, breaking a four-year record for that month. The official added that the humidity level on Saturday was normal and this would continue for the next week.
— IANS |
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Jobless youths held for car robbery
New Delhi, June 20 The accused are residents of Mainpuri (UP) and the police has recovered a robbed Indica car and one Indica car stolen from Kotla Mubarakpur . According to Surender Singh, the complainant, two unknown persons booked his taxi and called him to Tihar Village on May 1. When Singh reached there, two persons boarded the taxi at 7 pm for Singhana, Rajasthan. But, as soon as they crossed Narnaul, the passengers asked Singh to take right turn and after traveling for about one and a half km, they asked him to stop the vehicle. Then the person sitting on the rear seat of the car put a noose of wire around Singh's neck and tried to strangulate him. The other passenger kept hitting him. Later, they tied his hands and legs and dumped him on the roadside. After some time, Singh regained consciousness and got a case registered at the Narnaul police station. Along with the car, the robbers also took away Rs 2,600 and Singh's cell phone. Both the accused are drivers by profession and were out of job due to which they decided to indulge in crime. |
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Two held for house burglary
New Delhi, June 20 Two days ago, the police received a complaint regarding theft at house No. A-242/1, Inder Enclave, Phase-II, Aman Vihar. The house is owned by one Dinesh Singh. He stated that while he along with his family members was sleeping on the rooftop of his house, some men gained access to his house and stole some gold ornaments and Rs 35,000 from the almirah. According to Chhaya Sharma, DCP (Outer), the arrest came after the police was tipped-off about some suspicious persons seen in the area on two red-coloured motor cycles on the night of theft. Accordingly, two police pickets were set up to keep check on red-coloured motor cycles moving in the area. The accused were caught by one of these pickets. |
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The ever-increasing number of cars and proportionately decreasing parking space in the city has thrown up an opportunity for the unemployed and not-so-educated lot to carve out parking space from open areas and make a quick buck.
