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10,000 cops on I-day duty in Capital
Finally, a way out of the legal maze in lower
courts
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Vigyan Bhavan echoes with chants of Grammy award
winners
Principal’s son killed in shootout on school
premises
Make extra effort to execute warrants:
HC
Nainital Bank to open branch in
Faridabad
DTTDC’s first love is liquor, not
tourism
CAG raps govt for neglecting
disabled
Gang of snatchers busted, three
nabbed
Auto-lifter arrested
Uttar Pradesh tops in
child labour
Audience spellbound
at Arghya
Integrated postal courses for IIT-JEE,
PMT
A prehistoric life gallery at National Science
Centre
Inter-school competition
Traders told to pay
tax
Criminal shot dead in
encounter
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10,000 cops on I-day duty in Capital
New Delhi, August 8 The Delhi Police has already started sanitizing the city and deployed plainclothes policemen in crowded places like markets, ISBT, railway stations and other places to identify unwanted elements. The district police chiefs have already been told to check guesthouses and hotels, particularly in the old Delhi area, and obtain the list of new entrants. The district police has also made a request to the local residents asking them to verify the antecedents of their tenants, so that the list could be available with the police and enable it to handle any emergency situation. The staff at all entry and exit points has also been alerted to check the vehicles coming from across the border. The intelligence inputs suggest that some militants could sneak into the city to strike during the Independence Day celebrations. The VVIPs, who are on the hit list, have been provided additional security and the police is in the process of providing them round-the-clock surveillance. Special protection would be given to important personalities participating in the celebrations. Snipers, commandos and additional security personnel would be deployed to oversee the security arrangements. The traffic police has been told to decongest crowded places like the Walled City and its adjoining areas; only vehicles with valid parking labels would be allowed in the area on August 15 to avoid traffic snarls. The local police have also placed pickets at strategic points and vehicles are being subjected to intensive checking. The DTC, Blueline and the Inter-State buses are also being checked by the district police for any unclaimed material on the suspicion that it may conceal explosive material. The entire PCR fleet has been told to be on the look out for suspicious elements who are likely to create any confusion. Thousands of policemen would be deployed in the walled city area when Prime Minister Manmohan Singh makes his maiden address to the nation from the ramparts of the Red Fort. The list of employees working in buildings which fall on the route to the Red Fort has been obtained and some offices have been advised to remain closed due to the heightened threat perception. The public has been advised to cooperate with the police and ensure that the Independence Day celebrations pass off peacefully without any hassles. Eye check-up camp A free eye check-up camp will be conducted at the Badarpur border on August 10 by the Tarun Mitra Parishad. Mr Ashok Jain, president of the parishad, informed that the medical team of St Stephen’s Hospital will check eye patients and select patients of cataract for free operations at their hospital. |
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Finally, a way out of the legal maze in lower
courts
New Delhi, August 8 The trial courts across the country will no longer be an ordeal for a common man what with the judiciary taking a step towards acquiring a corruption free and people-friendly image. A pilot scheme to give this much-needed facelift is being implemented in Delhi by computerising about 250 courts and its success holds promise Setting the pace for reforms is the website of the Capital’s courts www.delhidistrictcourts.nic.in. Launched in November last by the then Chief Justice of India Justice V.N. Khare, the site offers access to the orders and other details of over 250 courts in the Capital. Available on the site, a day in advance, are case lists of these courts and the bail applications listed for hearing. If things go as planned, the website address may soon shrink to. In the next stage, facilitation centres would be set up in the courts. While the centres will have to be built in existing complexes, under construction courts will have it integrated in their design. It is claimed that the measures would help in checking corruption among court staff, as it would reduce the litigant’s need to depend on them. The later stage of the reform process envisages more hi-tech steps. One such measure would be transmission of bail orders with digital signatures of the judges to jails via internet, the very moment the court pronounces the order. This would help avoid delay in justice as an undertrial, who has been granted bail, will no more have to wait till the order reaches the jail for his release. Such delay invariably happens in bigger states where jail and court are miles apart and the are dispatched to jails via snail mail. To keep away the snooping hackers the software installed in the courts will have a built-in firewall, courtesy the National Informatics Centre. Also, keeping in mind the sensitive nature of cases involving rape or family matters and where trial is held in-camera, orders would not be made available on the website, the sources point out. Any reforms in the courts would be incomplete without the participation of the judicial officers who too have been trained to keep pace with the opening up of the system. The reforms are being monitored by a Project Committee, with judicial officers acting as nodal officers to coordinate the activities.
Sayeed, Dwivedi set to enter RS Union Power Minister PM Sayeed and All India Congress Committee (AICC) General Secretary Janardhan Dwivedi are all set
to get elected to the
Rajya Sabha. Their election as members of the Rajya Sabha is a foregone conclusion since the INC enjoys a two-third majority in the 70-member Delhi Legislative Assembly. The INC fielded Mr Sayeed and Mr Dwivedi after Ms Ambika Soni was elected to the Rajya Sabha from Punjab and Mr AR Kidwai was appointed Governor
of Haryana. The results of their election (unopposed, as the Opposition has not
fielded candidates) is expected tomorrow (Monday) afternoon. |
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Vigyan Bhavan echoes with chants of Grammy award
winners
New Delhi, August 8 Interestingly, when a disciple from New Zealand had recorded the CD, ‘Sacred Tibetan Chant: the Monks of Palpung Sherab Ling Monastery’, at the instance of the founder and supreme head of the monastery, Tai Situ Rinpoche, no one knew that it would reach the Grammy and win an award in the category of best traditional music album. Incidentally, this is the third time a musical effort from the region has won the prestigious Grammy award, the earlier two winners being Indian This year, Tenam Lama received the award on the behalf of the monastery from Sophie Hawkins in Los Angeles on February 8. The CD, which is divided into three segments, was released last year. It features senior chanting masters Kalzang Yeshe, Norbu Gyaltsen and Tinley Gyurme and 10 other monks. With their traditional instruments, Nga, Gyalang and Donkar, in a perfect monastic ambience created beautifully on the stage of Vigyan Bhavan, regaled the audience today with their spiritual chants, which concluded with a prayer for world peace. Some of the chants date to the seventh century: these originated in monasteries and were brought to India by devotees. The performance was preceded by an address by the chief guest for the evening, the deputy leader of Rajya Sabha, Dr Karan Singh. He called the occasion a golden opportunity of being part of sacred Buddhist chants and ended his speech with a prayer for peace from the Vedas. He, however, added that despite being a music buff he had never thought that a CD recorded by a group of Tibetan monks would win a Grammy. “Interestingly, they did not even record it to win an award,” he added. Tai Situ Rinpoche conceded this. “The Grammy was the last thing on the minds of the chanting masters when these recordings were made in the sanctum sanctorum of the monastery. These chants are performed routinely at the monastery every day.” Some, like the Invocation and Offering of Mahakala, are performed three times a month. Buddhist monks and nuns of the monastery have been offering these prayers for centuries. The day begins with the recitation of lineage prayers, in which they pay homage to the lineage of Karma Kagyu meditation masters. The prestigious award had put them on the world map in the service of humanity. Tai Situ Rinpoche has dedicated the award to world peace and harmony. |
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Principal’s son killed in shootout on school
premises
Noida, August 8 The deceased, Rajiv Tyagi, died on the spot while the father, Jaswant Singh Tyagi, has been admitted at Apollo Hospital. The gruesome incident is being blamed on a simmering decade-old dispute over the Gandhi Samarak School in Chaura Raghunathpur village. Jaswant Singh Tyagi had assumed charge of the school as principal on May 1. The shootout took place after a meeting between the principal and the management of the school. No arrest has been made so far. A hunt is on for the culprits. Significantly, no case had been filed till 7 p.m. Three persons - Khem Chand, Aman Singh and Islam — are under suspicion; they had allegedly fired half-a-dozen shots from at least two revolvers on the father-son duo.. Rajiv Tyagi, who was hit in the head, died on the spot. Jaswant Singh Tyagi took two bullets in the back of the head and one in the back of the left shoulder when he tried to duck. He is currently on life support system in Apollo hospital, where he was rushed in a critical condition. The Gandhi Samarak School, which was built on village land, has been an issue of dispute between the principal and the village community. Though it is a village school, the teachers are all government employees. Although most villagers were opposed to the principal, Jaswant Tyagi had been able to drive a wedge and one group was now rallying behind him. In view of the dispute, Rajiv Tyagi used to escort his father to the school. Three years ago, the principal had built some shops on the school premises, which had earned the wrath of the villagers, who had held many dharnas in protest. Result: The principal was suspended by the basic education officer, Noida in 2001, and reinstated in 2003 after the shops had been demolished. The school management is reportedly headed by Aman Singh, the husband of village council chief, Mrs Bimla Singh, who is one of the suspects in the shootout. No senior police officer was available in the city as they had reportedly gone to attend a meeting convened by the SSP in Ghaziabad. |
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Make extra effort to execute warrants:
HC
New Delhi, August 8 “These are criminal proceedings....and the persons named are the accused who have allegedly committed an offence. It is, therefore, the duty of the police authorities to trace out such persons even though they have shifted from their last known addresses”, Justice A.K. Sikri said in an order. Lamenting that normally no such steps were taken by the cops, the court directed that “in such cases where bailable or non-bailable warrants are issued, police authorities should endeavour to find out the persons against whom such warrants are issued, and execute the same. “Where the accused persons are residing outside Delhi the police authorities should co-ordinate with the police stations of such area for executing the warrants”, it further said. Noting that police officials were generally “unmindful of their duties in this behalf”, the court advised the police not to act as merely a “process serving agency because their duty did not end at reporting that the accused was not available at the given address.” The court directed that a copy of the order be sent to the Commissioner of Police “who shall bring the same to the notice of all police stations, so that police authorities carry out their duties in this behalf in a proper manner.” |
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Nainital Bank to open branch in
Faridabad
Faridabad, August 8 The Nainital Bank Limited is the latest such entrant in the field in this industrial city. It has announced its decision to open its first branch here on August 10. According to a press release, the Nainital Bank is perhaps not well known here, though it is stated that the bank has 63 branches and three extension counters in different parts of the country. Now, the bank has decided to expand its services in Haryana and it will begin its operations in Faridabad, HUDA sector- 29, from August 10. The General Secretary of the Faridabad Small Industries Association, Mr Rajiv Chawla, will be the chief guest on the occasion. The General Manager of the bank, Mr Mahender Singh, and the AGM, Mr K. K Arora, will also be present. The bank has its branches in Uttranchal, Delhi, Uttar Pradesh and Haryana, said the Chairman of the bank, Dr V.K Verma. He said the bank had opened four branches and one extension counter last year, including those in Noida and Panipat. He said 82 per cent of the business of the bank had been computerised. The bank had earned a net profit of Rs 12.24 crore in the past financial year, stated the press release. The bank has also entered the insurance sector and will be providing various insurance schemes to its customers. Most well-known banks have a presence in the town. As a result of the increasing competition, they have tried to provide the best available services to the customers. The banks and the financial companies have come out with new incentives, including loans for various needs at an easy rate of interest. However, the number of defaulters has been on the increase in the recent years and several cases of fraud have been detected. |
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DTTDC’s first love is liquor, not
tourism
New Delhi, August 8 Established in 1975 with the primary objective of promoting tourism activities in the Capital, DTTDC was given the responsibility of selling Indian-made foreign liquor (IMFL) in 1979 and country liquor a decade later. Today, most of the company’s profits come from the sale of liquor, the CAG report tabled in Delhi Legislative Assembly last week noted. While the contribution from activities other than liquor trade in DTTDC’s net profit from 1998-99 to 2002-03 ranged between negative to 25.57 per cent, percentage of profit from liquor to total net profit ranged from 74.43 per cent to 209.73 per cent. “It was apparent that the contribution of the tourism sector to (DTTDC’s) finances was negligible. The focus of the company had shifted from its primary objective, i.e., promotion of tourism in Delhi, to liquor trade,” the CAG report said. Due to a steady decline in the number of tours conducted, the tourism division of the DTTDC suffered a loss of Rs 1.29 crore in the five years ending 2002-03 despite receiving grant of Rs 1.16 crore from the Government of NCT of Delhi, the CAG audit found. |
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CAG raps govt for neglecting
disabled
New Delhi, August 8 No steps were initiated to conduct surveys, investigations and research to identify the causes for the occurrence of various types of disabilities with a view to preventing them as envisaged under the Act. The INC Government has also come in for criticism for not framing schemes for providing non-formal education and insufficient facilities in schools. No special schools have been opened to provide non-formal education in respect of persons with disabilities. Only six schools were run by the government for 5,269 disabled children in the past five years out of which only two had lodging and boarding facilities, one school provided free books and only two schools provided vocational training, CAG says. It also notes that the government failed to create a mechanism to ensure employment to disabled persons. Two special employment exchanges were run by the government for physically handicapped persons. However, no mechanism existed to enforce and monitor employment of disabled through these employment exchanges. Only 493 establishments reported their vacancies to these exchanges against which only 4,306 persons were sponsored for employment in various establishments during the past five years, CAG says. The government, it says, also failed to utilise two-thirds of the Budget provisions for assistance for purchase of aids between 1998-99 and 2003. Assistance for the purchase of aids and appliances was given to only 20 beneficiaries, while there were 12,341 identity card holding disabled in NCT of Delhi during the period. The CAG also points to the non-participation of the government in the National Programme for Rehabilitation of Persons with Disabilities. |
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Gang of snatchers busted, three
nabbed
New Delhi, August 8 Based on a tip-off that the suspects would strike in the Kamla market area, the police nabbed the three persons who were later identified as Santokh Singh alias Jugni, resident of Rohini, Sonu Chauhan alias Sonu, resident of Uttam Nagar, and Man Singh alias Kale, resident of Rohini. During interrogation the accused confessed to have committed snatchings in different parts of Delhi.
4 bag-lifters held The North district police claims to have busted a gang of four bag lifters and recovered button actuated knives from their possession. The accused were identified as Nawab Mian (21), Shabbir (19), Tofiq alias Salim alias Tosif (25) and Dilshad (23), all residents of Ghaziabad. The police have launched a massive hunt to trace their associates. |
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Auto-lifter arrested
New Delhi, August 8 Meri Delhi awards distributed Eminent industrialist and MP Navin Jindal along with 12 others received Meri Delhi awards for the year 2004. The awards were distributed by Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit. Union Minister for Rural Development Raghuvansh Prasad Singh and Minister of State for Home Affairs Manik Rao Gavit were the special guests.
Bangladeshi criminals Delhi unit of the Shiv Sena today pledged to get arrested all Bangladeshi criminals living in the Trans Yamuna area as they were found involved in most of the crime cases in the North East district, said Abhimanyu Gulati, a senior Shiv Sena leader. |
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Uttar Pradesh tops in
child labour
Noida, August 8 This was disclosed by Dr Mahavir Jain, senior research fellow at V. V. Giri National Labour Institute, Noida. He said while it should have been the top priority of Noidaites that every child in the town should have been sent to school, there would hardly be any restaurant, hotel or commercial establishment or small scale industrial unit, which did not employ child labour. Even in residential sectors, children are found working in big numbers. Dr Jain also underlined the need for a policy for beggars. “The path to child labour is via schools. Therefore, there is a need to strengthen schools. More than funds, will power is required to end this unhealthy and illegal practice,” he said. Former chief secretary A. P. Verma said dedicated workers are needed in the field of child labour. The distressing fact that child labour has not been stopped in the country even over five decades of independence. Noida Chairman Dev Dutt said poverty and hunger were the main two causes of exploitation of children. And he blamed society is also equally responsible for this. Noida Authority will do every thing possible to eradicate child labour and help those who want to play a role in this direction, Noida Chairman added. |
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Audience spellbound
at Arghya
Noida, August 8 The eminent sitar exponent, Pandit Debu Chaudhary, was the chief guest on the occasion. Students of 10 schools from Noida and Delhi held the audience spellbound with their performances. A distinct culture and philosophy could be seen in the way the folk dances were performed with spontaneity and charm by the talented students. The rolling trophy instituted by Pt. Debu Chaudhary, dedicated to the memory of his guru Ustad Mushtaq Ali Khan, was bagged by the Vishwa Bharati Public School, which performed the traditional Rajastani folk dance. The first runners-up was DAV, Noida, which performed the ‘The Carnival of Goa’. Bal Bharti Public School, Noida, which presented a gripping show of thematic footwork in ‘Lavni’, was the second runners-up. The judges included Mr Yog Sunder Desai, the distinguished choreographer and the founder-director of the Indian Revival Group, Ms Tapati Mukerjee, who runs a cultural group ‘Ujan’ at Noida, Ms Jyoti Srivastava, an exponent of Odissi dance and Secretary, Jawaharlal Nehru National Youth Centre, Noida and Mrs. Juthika Dey, Bharatnatyam and Kathak dancer, teaching school students in Delhi and Ghaziabad. Pt. Debu Chaudhary and Prof. S.S. Ambardar gave away the prizes.
Body found in goods train A body was found in a train transporting coal from Jharkhand to the NTPC plant in Dadri. The face of the deceased was charred making it difficult to identify him. According to the police, an attempt was made to burn the body so that it could not be identified. The body has been sent for the postmortem examination. The police have initiated a probe into the matter. The body was discovered when the coal was being unloaded from the train wagon on Friday. The victim is around 18 years and his face has been burnt. According to the police, the youth had probably been murdered elsewhere and his body was dumped in the coal wagon later. |
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Integrated postal courses for IIT-JEE,
PMT
New Delhi, August 8 The integrated correspondence courses are designed for All-India PMTs conducted by the CBSE, state boards and major colleges and institutes, such as AIIMS, AFMC, MAHE (Manipal) and BHU. Courses are prepared and upgraded continuously, and reviewed and revised periodically. The two-year integrated correspondence course-2006 for class XI students and one-year integrated correspondence course-2005 for class XII students was launched recently. With this initiative, students can now appear for their tests at their nearest city centre. The course material is dispatched to them by post. For PMT aspirants, Narayana Institute offers topic-wise details, fundamentals, drills, graded exercises and daily assignments on the subjects. The institute prepares study material for them after thorough research, taking into account special integrated classes, grand test series and exhaustive question bank. While launching these courses, Dr K. Gopal, the institute’s director for North India operations, said: “These courses are aimed at those students who are interested to join Narayana’s regular courses but cannot do so because of financial problems or the distance factor. |
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A prehistoric life gallery at National Science
Centre
New Delhi, August 8 ‘’I have never been a social activist and never a student of science, and today I have benefited a lot by going through this gallery. It is really fascinating. I am a more scientifically informed person now and want that more science museums should be set up in the country to spread scientific knowledge,’’ said Dr. Reddy. He assured his department’s help in this task. Setting up the gallery was part of several activities undertaken by the National Council of Science Museums for celebrating 2004 as the year of Scientific Awareness. The models of 35 species of life forms — Trilobites, Giant Scorpions, early birds, gigantic dinosaurs and other living creatures up to Neanderthal Man — — have been displayed in the gallery in their artificially created habitat. Most of the models are electro-pneumatically animated, which adds a new dimension to the gallery. The panels accompanying the models provide ample information about Earth, formation of landforms, geological changes that occurred on the Earth through the ages, evolution of atmosphere etc. The exhibition tries to answer several mind-boggling questions that we all ask at times as to how the life originated on our planet, where it evolved, who are our ancestors, whether there is any life on other planets and whether man would survive, NSC officials said. |
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Inter-school competition
Faridabad: A ‘National Integration Week’ will be observed in Modern School, Sector-17, from August 9-16 here. Announcing this, the school principal said that various inter-school competitions would be organised at the district level.
He said a number of schools had agreed to participate in the patriotic song competition. He said other competitions, including painting, fancy dress, declamation and one-act play will be held in the school auditorium. It was stated that while all the participants will be awarded certificates, the top prize winners in the events will be honoured on the Independence Day function.—TNS |
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Traders told to pay
tax
Noida, August 8 Calling for simplification of procedure, Ravi Kumar, FCA, said traders are scared of tax forms. Even MNC, which function here, get unnerved with a plethora of forms. Senior Trade Tax advocate of Noida and Ghaziabad, P.N. Sharma was honoured on the occasion. |
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Criminal shot dead in
encounter
Ghaziabad, August 8 Acting on a tip-off, the police started combing operation and tried to stop the two motorcyclists near Hindon Barrage, but the desperados started firing on the police. In return fire, police shot dead one of the criminals, while the other escaped in the darkness. One local pistol, a motorcycle and Rs 4,000 were recovered by the police from the slain criminal. According to circle officer, Dr Dharmveer Kamal Singh Jatav of village Maharajpur had been returning from Delhi at 11.30 p.m. last night, opposite St. Thomas School in Shipra Reviera near Vasundhra bridge, two criminals snatched Rs 4,000 from him. |
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