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CM stumped, has
no clue to Delhi Master Plan
Delhi
in parliament Standing
Committee nod to charges for parking on govt land |
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In a major seizure in the recent times, the Sales Tax department seized Rs 40 lakh from a truck near Gurgaon in the wee hours on July 5. Prize
Catch: The Sales Tax department recovered money from this Gujarat-bound truck in the Capital on Wednesday.
— Tribune photo by Mukesh Aggarwal Two held for
siphoning off Rs 22 lakh
Pistol buff in
judicial custody A city court today said that the parcel containing a pistol and cartridge received by the Rashtrapati Bhavan was an “improvised country-made” one and could be used to fire after due finishing. Man dies in
custody, police station ransacked About a dozen people, including some women were injured in a clash between the police and the local residents of Sadar Police Station area. The mob was protesting against the death of a mechanic Rajiv Sharma (35), son of Vishnu Avtar Sharma, who died in police custody. 
In video (28k, 56k)Three accomplices
of Madan Bhaya shot dead Three associates of Madan Bhaya, Khekra MLA, were killed in a shootout in Naipura area of Loni in a dispute over land between two groups. One person was seriously injured in the bloody feud. Loni block’s vice-chairman Ajay Pal is among those killed. Ghaziabad, July 7 A criminal, released from jail on bail four days ago, has made an eight-year-old girl victim of his lust, enticing the child with Re 1 in a Loni village. The screams of the bleeding child had conveyed the telltale picture. He was caught by the villagers and given a thorough thrashing before being handed over to the police.
With the arrest of six persons, including four girls, the Crime Branch claims to have busted a call girl racket being run in a massage parlour in the Lajpat Nagar area of South district. Shamefaced: Some of the call girls and two pimps, involved in prostitution in a massage parlour in the Capital on Wednesday.
— Tribune photo
As a fall-out of an altercation on Holi, a young man was beheaded in Nithora village by three assailants who attacked him with swords and spears. Bus dacoity
foiled in Paschim Vihar With the arrest of five bus robbers, the Crime Branch claims to have foiled a bus dacoity in the Paschim Vihar area and recovered knives from their possession.
The National Commission for Women (NCW) has congratulated the Railway Minister, Mr Laloo Prasad Yadav, for safeguarding the interests of women in the Railway budget. DUCKU hopeful of
UGC agreeing to its demands Protesting members of the Delhi University and College Karamchari Union (DUCKU) were today ‘assured’ by the University Grant Commission (UGC) that their “demands would be sympathetically considered”. Monsoon keeps
Delhiites guessing Delhiites sweated through another rainless day after the Capital received its first monsoon showers on July 5. “The monsoon is fluctuating and the current is not much strong,” India Meterological Department (IMD) Deputy Director RD Singh said. The Capital had received 6.2 mm rain on July 5. There was no rain yesterday. 
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CM stumped, has no clue to Delhi Master Plan New Delhi, July 7 The vice-chairman of DDA, Mr Madhukar Gupta, stated as much during the course of a conference on ‘Delhi 2010: Vision for a Model State’ organised by the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII). That did not enthuse the Chief Minister, Ms Sheila Dikshit, much. The DDA, she said, was developing the Master Plan for a city where her party is in power but her government had no clue about it. She offered a clarification just as hastily as she made the remark. That she was not criticising the DDA and that she was only highlighting how multiplicity of authorities was becoming a handicap. “Often one does not know what the other is doing ... either this has to be done away with or a co-ordination mechanism be set up to ensure that all work in a coordinated way for faster growth”. She described multiplicity of authorities as a hurdle in the way of NCT of Delhi becoming a world-class city and called for a speedy development of the National Capital Region (NCR). The DDA (read land) comes under the Union Ministry of Urban Development. The Union Ministry of Home Affairs administers Delhi Police, which is responsible for law and order. It is the chief minister’s contention that her government has no legal sanction to interfere in their work. Matters come to a head when different parties are in power at the Centre and in NCT of Delhi. It is a great misfortune, she said, that by the time DDA allots land to the government, the plan itself becomes outdated. She also noted that laws are made by one authority and bylaws by another. Ms Dikshit said she has taken up the matter with the Union Ministry of Home Affairs as it was important to ensure development of infrastructure before Commonwealth Games in 2010. In a lighter vein, the CM said that NCT of Delhi should also be made a little less attractive for outsiders so that pressure on its civic infrastructure was reduced. Terming housing for low-income group a priority, she said absence of accommodation costing between Rs 1 lakh and Rs 2 lakh was responsible for mushrooming of unauthorised colonies. For the record, Mr Madhukar Gupta of DDA said that his organisation was working on a hybrid land pooling policy and has cleared multi-level parking facilities for New Delhi Municipal Council. With land rapidly shrinking, Mr Gupta said mixed use had become imperative. The DDA was also revising norms for use of land by schools, budget hotels and hospitals. The chairman of CII Delhi State Council and the managing director of real estate consulting firm CB Richard Ellis, Mr Anshuman Magazine, said statehood for Delhi was long overdue. |
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Delhi
in parliament New Delhi, July 7 “As per the existing system of procurement, the Institute has an annual rate contract for supply of these items,” the Union Minister for Health and Family Welfare, Mr A. Ramadoss, told the Lok Sabha in reply to a question that referred to media reports about shortage of essential medicines at AIIMS. The supply orders were placed on the firms approved in the rate contract in accordance with the consumption pattern, he said. The AIIMS had not reported any problem in regard to payment to the suppliers. Replying to a related question, the Union Minister of State for Health and Family Welfare, Ms P. Lakshmi, said it was because of the high reputation of the hospital that on an average everyday 6000-7000 patients attended its OPD. On the accommodation arrangements for patients coming from different parts of the country, Ms Lakshmi said there were two Vishram Sadans with capacities of 112 and 190 beds and the construction of another with a 100-bed capacity was complete. Meanwhile, Dr Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital is being developed as a health-promoting hospital with WHO assistance in which there would be an assessment of the health of the personnel, Ms Lakshmi told the Lok Sabha. The Government of NCT of Delhi has formulated a proposal to set up an IT Park over an area of 100 acres, the Lok Sabha was informed today. A site for the project has been identified in Village Chawala, the Union Minister of State for Communications and Information Technology, Mr Shakeel Ahmed, told the House in reply to a query. |
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Standing Committee nod to charges for parking on govt land New Delhi, July 7 This charge is likely to be imposed from the month of September as it is to be passed by the Corporation itself, Lt Governor of Delhi and the Central Government. The Municipal Commissioner, Mr Rakesh Mehta, is confident that there will be no hurdle in getting positive response in regard with the preamble and this would be implemented from September this year. Giving clarification to Opposition members in the Standing Committee, Mr Mehta said that people generally park their vehicles on government land but do not pay parking charges. Trucks are parked on government land during nights. Personal vehicles are also parked in streets, which is government land. This charge will help the Corporation to construct modern parking places in MCD areas. At present the MCD has proposed to construct four modern multi-storied parking places including at South Extension, Greater Kailash and Karol Bagh. The Municipal Commissioner has estimated that the Corporation can generate Rs one crore by levying misuse charges yearly. |
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Rs 40 lakh in cash seized from truck
by ST dept New Delhi, July 7 The currency seized is of Rs 500 and Rs 100 denomination and was found packed in two cardboard boxes wrapped in gunny bags. However, the driver and the cleaner who were travelling in the truck at the time of the seizure have denied any involvement in the whole affair. Sales Tax Commissioner R K Verma told The Tribune that “this is the first time we have seized such a huge amount. Our officials had no specific information about the consignment. Our job is to conduct routine checks to keep a tab on the entry and exit of unauthorised goods in Delhi. During one such exercise we found out that this truck was carrying huge money without any valid declaration from the competent authorities.” Normally the officials try to ascertain whether the goods being transported in the truck match with the declaration carried by the driver. In this case, the currency box had a fake bill of Rs 3,500 from Bhagirath Palace pasted on it and that’s how the officials became suspicious that the value of the box could be more than that of the bill. The bill was found fake as the address was also given wrong. The officials counted the currency in the presence of the income tax officials of investigation division this evening and handed over the money in their possession for further action against the sender. Even the representative of the truck company was present while the officials valued the currency. The officials will now quiz the owner of the truck to ascertain the actual destination of the consignment besides finding out if there is any hawala transaction involved. |
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Two held for siphoning off Rs 22 lakh New Delhi, July 7 The sleuths received a complaint from one Devashish Chaudhary that the accused, Arun Jain (49) and Anil Kumar Bharel (48), had encouraged him to deposit money in their company, M/s Times Capital (P) Ltd, on the assurance that they would be paid five per cent interest on the principal amount every month. The complainant further stated that after investing Rs 22 lakh, when he demanded the principal amount along with the interest, Arun Jain refused to oblige. Arun also threatened Chaudhary on several occasions and alleged that he was patronising anti-social elements in Delhi and Ghaziabad. After failing to deliver the amount to Chaudhary, Jain and Bharel allegedly prepared a forged authorisation to deal in shares on Chaudhary’s behalf, so as to stop the latter from making complaints to the law enforcing agencies. The duo prepared hundreds of bogus contract notes with signatures of Anil Bharel to show the sale of shares of more than Rs 2.5 crore, on the basis of bogus authorisation. By misappropriating the amount of the complainant, the accused also raised deficit demand of crores of rupees against the complainant. Further, they managed to institute arbitration proceedings in NSE for the recovery of that money from Chaudhary. During investigation the sleuths found out the fraud committed by the accused and arrested them on July 5. During interrogation they confessed to their crime and told the sleuths that they had cheated several others by using a similar modus operandi.
Money extracted on
false promise The Delhi Police Special Cell claims to have arrested one person for allegedly duping several persons on the false promise of allotting them petrol pumps from the discretionary quota of Ministry of Petroleum. The accused, Ashok Seth (57), a resident of Safdarjung Enclave, came into contact with one Harbans Singh and promised him a petrol pump out of the Petroleum Ministry’s discretionary quota. For this, Ashok took Rs 3 lakh from Harbans and also gave him a receipt and a fake letter of intent, purportedly issued by the Indian Oil Corporation stating that he would be allotted a plot in
Sriniwaspuri. Overwhelmed by the response, Harbans also contacted his friend
Azizuddin, resident of Ballabgarh, and asked him to apply for a petrol pump. Accordingly, Azizuddin also gave Rs 3 lakh to Ashok Seth and received a receipt against the payment. Seth managed to secure another letter of intent from IOC stating that a land had been allotted to him in Ballabgarh. The fraud came to light when both Harbans and Azizuddin were not allotted petrol pumps as promised by Ashok Seth. When the duo demanded their money, Ashok dodged them on several occasions. The accused was arrested after the complainants reached the Special Cell. The sleuths recovered several incriminating documents, blank stamp papers, documents regarding investments and cheque books from his possession. |
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Pistol buff in judicial custody New Delhi, July 7 The court remanded Patna-based Mahesh Sav, who had sent the parcel containing the pistol and a cartridge to the President, Dr. A. P. J. Abdul Kalam, to judicial custody till July 21. The expert’s report also said “test firing could not be done as parts like chamber, hammer, main spring, extractor etc were absent.” The trigger space was filled with some material, giving rise to suspicion that it could be some explosive. Sav was brought here and produced in court on June 29. But the metropolitan magistrate declined to remand him to judicial custody. The court then sent the pistol and cartridge for forensic tests and also asked East Delhi-based Institute of Human Behaviour and Allied Sciences to check his mental condition. The institute, however, has not submitted its report so far. The court has now directed the Superintendent of Tihar Jail to take Sav to the institute. |
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Man dies in custody, police station ransacked Meerut, July 7 The crowd went on the rampage and ransacked the Sadar Police Station. The mobsters torched some police vehicles also. They were demanding the immediate arrest of the guilty policemen. Addressing the mediapersons later, the SSP said that seven police officials were suspended after a preliminary enquiry. According to some eyewitnesses, the whole drama unfolded in the morning at 10 am on Tuesday when a police party led by Sub-Inspector Alka Agarwal took Rajiv in custody from his house. He was held for his alleged involvement in a theft of 120 gms of gold ornament last month. Rajiv was given the third-degree treatment inside the police station. He was made to drink excess of water and brutally beaten up. Later, Rajiv succumbed to his injuries in the evening. A considerable panic prevailed in the police department. The police gave the incident a suicidal colour and sent his body to the District government hospital. The police officials wanted the deceased to be admitted there, but the doctor on duty refused. According to police, Rajiv’s body was found hanging from a ventilation window inside the toilet of the police lock-up room. As the news of his death spread, the residents started surrounding the police station. The crowd went berserk and pelted the police station with stones. Meanwhile, District Magistrate R K Singh and SSP Prabhat Kumar rushed to the spot. They were also manhandled. The mob was making a 10-point demand, including a compensation of Rs 5 lakh. In the wee hours of Wednesday, the mob was still going ballistic. It blocked Delhi Road, putting the body of the deceased there and also threw stones at the police. The mob also beat up a local journalist covering the event. People alleged that the administrative and the police officials were trying to save the guilty policemen. |
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Three accomplices of Madan Bhaya shot dead Ghaziabad, July 7 The shootout followed a clash with clubs, knives and spears in the area. It has caused panic in Loni, especially Naipura area. All three killed were said to be close associates of Khekra MLA Madan Bhaya. The dispute was reportedly pertaining to the sale of a disputed plot. The police have confiscated a number of licensed weapons and local revolvers used in the feud. Deshraj, alias Pradhan, of Nithori village had set up an office on the disputed land under the name of Sharma Property in Arya Nagar. Deshraj and Ajay Pal of Siroli village and Ajju of Sarswathi Vihar were partners in the sale and purchase of land. But there was a dispute pertaining to the sale of a plot, the full amount of which Deshraj had kept to himself, the police said. Besides, Deshraj wanted to occupy another plot himself only. This annoyed Ajay Pal and Ajju. On Monday, Ajay Pal had phoned Deshraj and called him to his office in Arya Nagar to sort out the matter. Deshraj, his nephew Yogesh Kumar, Ajay Pal and Ajju discussed the issue at length, but the dispute got more complicated. All of them called their supporters then who came equipped with clubs, cricket bats, stumps and firearms. It led to a free-for-all. Ajju fired a shot from his gun on Deshraj, blowing his head. Seeing him dead, Deshraj’s supporters went ballistic and shot Ajju in the head. He died immediately. Deshraj’s supporters gunned down Ajay Pal also. In the bloody warfare, Ajay Pal’s cousin Yoginder Pahalwan was also shot at. He has been rushed to Delhi’s SGTB hospital. He is serious. Deshraj,’s nephew had surrendered his licensed revolver at Loni police station after the shootout. Senior police officers, including DIG, Meerut visited the spot. The police have seized two rifles, one revolver, blood-soaked bats, two cricket stumps, a Santro car and a Hero Honda bike. According to SP City Umesh Srivastava, all three killed were dreaded history-sheeters with murder and kidnapping cases pending against them. It was a case of friendship gone sour over the division of money and pieces of land illegally occupied. The police are trying to nab all others involved in the bloody feud, the SP City added. |
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Minor raped in Loni village Ghaziabad, July 7 In village Mandola, Rajbir’s daughter was carrying food for her sick mother. Shyam Sunder, 32, offered her Re 1 and took her to a lonely spot and raped her. Her screams attracted the attention of some people working in a nearby field. They beat up him thoroughly and handed him over to the police. According to villagers, Shyam Sunder had already raped three minor girls in the village. The first victim of his lust had been his own 5-year-old daughter six years ago.
Servants held With the arrest of two domestic servants, the North district police claims to have recovered stolen property, including diamond and gold jewellery worth Rs 17 lakh, from their possession. |
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Prostitution
racket busted New Delhi, July 7 Based on a tip-off that a prostitution racket was being run from a massage parlour, “Beauty ‘N’ Style,” in Lajpat Nagar-II, a decoy customer was sent to strike a deal. As soon as the parlour owner, identified as Arun Kumar Sharma of Kalkaji, struck a deal with the decoy customer, the police team swung into action and nabbed the accused persons. The police also nabbed another pimp, who has been identified as Ajay of Dakshinpuri. During interrogation, Mr Sharma claimed that the girls were beauticians and he had recruited them after placing advertisements in the newspapers. He confessed that he had enticed them into prostitution on the promise of making easy money.
3 robbers held The East district police claims to have arrested three notorious robbers who were planning to commit a dacoity in the Gandhi Nagar area. One country-made weapon, a few cartridges and two knives were recovered from their possession. Based on information that the suspects would be assembling near Yamuna Pushta area to commit the dacoity in the Gandhi Nagar area, the police nabbed Salim, alias Roti, alias Dilshad, a resident of Meerut, Sanjay Thakur, alias Rajender, alias Raju Langda, a resident of Kanpur, and Sunil, alias Dhir Singh, alias Dheeru, a resident of Gokulpuri. The accused were involved
in several heinous crimes in UP. |
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Youth beheaded Ghaziabad, July 7 The family members were so terrified that they remained silent spectators while the man was being attacked. Shankar, son of Mahavir of Katha village in Bagpat, was involved in an argument with Raju, Babloo and Gajender of the same village on the day of Holi. Somehow, the warring parties were pacified at that time. Sometime later, Shankar left that village and settled in Geetanjali Vihar, Loni with his in-laws. He started farming on
a leased farm in which his father-in-law Mahinder, wife Sompali and brother Ved Prakash helped him. Yesterday evening, when four of them were returning home from their fields, three assailants attacked Shankar with swords and spears as they approached Nithora village near the railway culvert. When his wife, brother and father-in-law tried to stop them, they were ordered to remain quite, or else they too would be eliminated. In this attack, Shankar was beheaded with a blow of sword. He died on the spot. The assailants fled from the scene after Shankar’s murder. Shankar’s brother, Ved Prakash had lodged a murder report with the Loni police naming the three killers. None of the assailants has been arrested yet. |
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Bus dacoity foiled in Paschim Vihar New Delhi, July 7 Acting on a tip-off the sleuths nabbed Dhramender, alias Mahender (23), a resident of Sikar, Rajasthan, Ajay Kumar, alias Jay (23), a resident of Kaithal, Suleman, alias Jamil, alias Chonch (24), a resident of Bulandshahar, Tejpal, alias Teju (35), a resident of Sikendrabad, and Banwari (50), a resident of Hardwa Ganj. Under interrogation, the accused revealed that they were planning to commit the dacoity in night service buses plying on the route. They were involved in several cases of robbery, snatching and attempt to murder.
ST Dept staff held The Anti-Corruption Branch arrested one Anil Kumar Chawla, Statistical Assistant in the Sales Tax Department, Delhi, and a resident of Noida, for accepting illegal gratification of Rs 800 from Praveen Kumar for issuance of a Sales Tax Registration Certificate. |
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NCW hails Rail Budget New Delhi, July 7 In a letter addressed to Mr Yadav, a day after the presentation of the UPA government’s first Railway budget, the Chairperson of NCW, Dr Poornima Advani, has expressed satisfaction over inclusion of the Commission’s recommendations. These include deployment of ladies ticket checking squads on some sections of zonal railways to ensure safety of women passengers, display of stickers carrying security helpline numbers at prominent points in the compartments and disallowing unauthorised vendors from entering the ladies compartments. Dr Advani has suggested that the helpline numbers be made simple and toll-free to enable women access them easily. The NCW Chairperson said that the safety and security of passengers was of utmost importance. |
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DUCKU hopeful of UGC agreeing to its demands New Delhi, July 7 The DUCKU, which staged a demonstration outside the UGC premises here today, met the secretary and joint secretary of the UGC and put forth their charter of demands. They also pointed out that the Vice-Chancellor has failed to take action on their demands. “We are, however, satisfied that the UGC has acknowledged our demands and agreed to them,” said the president of DUCKU, Mr Ram Singh Rana. He said the executive committee of the union would meet on July 9 to chalk out the details of settling the demands of the karamcharis by the end of this month. A meeting of the working committee will also be organised to discuss the course of action if their demands are not met with. Among the demands is the implementation of the decisions of the Executive Council (EC) taken on November 30, 1999 and February 9, 2000. |
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Monsoon keeps Delhiites guessing New Delhi, July 7 Other cities in the northwest like Patiala, Ambala and Chandigarh received monsoon rain today but Delhi was left out at the moment, he said, adding, however, that rain clouds were very near the Capital and they might precipitate any time in the next 24 hours. Mr Singh said the monsoon trough had, after shifting a bit southwards, again shifted northwards giving good rains in the Himalayan foothills. Meanwhile, the maximum temperature in the Capital today rose up to 38 degree Celsius, a rise of three degrees over yesterday’s temperature. The maximum humidity was recorded at 77 per cent. |
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