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5 MCD officials
suspended for Sainik Farm irregularities
Zoo loses its
prized possession Pirated software
worth Rs 7 cr seized |
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Pesticide
contamination: An issue that refuses to die
DJB under fire
for sitting Tis Hazari
lawyers up in arms Sayeed, Dwivedi
file RS nominations Old Faridabad
land mired in controversy Singh Sabha
elections
Poisoned by
lovelorn daughter in-law IGP wants police
to pull up its socks Workers to hold
rally against govt inaction Tilak Nagar ward
inspected
Inter-state gangsters arrested by the Delhi Police in the Capital on Thursday.
— Photo by Rajeev Tyagi Wedding
extravaganza
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5 MCD officials suspended for Sainik Farm irregularities New Delhi, August 5 The Municipal Commissioner, Mr Rakesh Mehta, said that an executive engineer, two assistant engineers and two junior engineers were suspended for overlooking illegal construction in the area. The MCD has launched a week-long demolition drive in the posh locality following a vigilance inquiry and a survey which revealed that 18 houses have come up in the area despite the Delhi High Court’s order of 2001 banning any type of construction in the locality. “Three houses were razed to the ground on Tuesday while one farmhouse was demolished yesterday. The demolition drive is continuing,” an MCD official said. The demolition drive was launched as the inquiry revealed contempt of court by people in constructing houses despite the court banning “any type of building activity”. In fact, the entry of construction material had been banned in the area. However, illegal construction was going on in connivance with a few corrupt police and MCD personnel.
MCD fails to recover fee The Comptroller and Auditor General of India, in its report for the year 2003, has held the Municipal Corporation of Delhi and New Delhi Municipal Council guilty for their failure to recover outstanding licence fee of more than Rs 13 crore from contractors of parking lots. In the MCD area, 83 contractors of 42 parking lots, and in the NDMC area, contractors of 88 parking lots are yet to submit licence fee. The report said that the MCD suffered a loss of Rs 1.21 crore due to delay in completion of allotment process, ranging from one month to 14 months, and a further Rs 0.25 crore due to acceptance of monthly licence fee at reduced rates than previous rates in respect of nine cases. The MCD failed to enforce terms of contract and initiate quick action to take back the possession of parking lots from defaulting contractors, resulting in a loss of Rs 2.38 crore. The CAG report further pointed out that uncovered licence fee was Rs 50.90 lakh. It could not be recovered because the MCD failed to present its case in the court properly resulting in delay in taking action to cancel the contract. The MCD had also allotted parking lots without receiving even initial deposits. The report clarified that the MCD allotted two parking lots for two years without receiving initial amount of Rs 35.80 lakh, including deposit and advance fee for one month, which was a pre-requisite as per the terms of the contract. The corporation did not take any action against the defaulting contractor and a sum of Rs 1.37 crore remained outstanding. Tenders for the allotment of parking lots at Lajpat Nagar Central Market II were invited in February 1999 and an offer was given to the contractor who, in June 1999, expressed his inability to deposit the full initial amount. The MCD cancelled the allotment in September 2000. The corporation failed to take action for re-tendering the parking lots, which remained vacant for two years, resulting in a loss of Rs 50.40lakh. |
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Zoo loses its prized possession New Delhi, August 5 “It is extremely unfortunate for us that we lost Karan, a three-and-a-half-year old tiger this morning”, Zoo director D.S. Bonal told The Tribune. The zoo born, hand reared tiger, which was found dead this morning, had shown no signs of illness. “He seemed fit. We had no clue that he was battling an illness. The autopsy shows that Karan died because he had holes in his heart and lungs,” Bonal added. He rued the fact that the zoo authorities could not do their bit for Karan. “If we had known the nature of his illness, we could have done something, but to lose him so suddenly is shocking. We are all saddened by his sudden death.” The Royal Bengal tiger, which had charmed the zoo authorities with his “friendliness” and “affectionate behaviour,” was reared by the zoo authorities. “He was born in the zoo, but his mother rejected him. So, we had to take him to the hospital, where he was hand reared. It is quite possible that since his mother did not feed him, he did not have the desired immunity,’’ Bonal pointed out. The zoo authorities had last checked Karan when he, along with the other five tigers, were tested for DNA fingerprinting. “A blood sample was taken from him as well, but he seemed to be hale and hearty, giving no indication of his condition. Death is a part of nature, but we regret not having been able to take care of his illness”, Bonal said. |
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Pirated software worth
Rs 7 cr seized New Delhi, August 5 During the raids the sleuths arrested Sanjay Aggarwal, Sarvesh, Mukesh Kumar, Deepak Singh Choudhary, Ashok Kumar Yadav, Shish Pal Singh, Mintu Kumar and Ram Kumar.
Gang involved in cheating NGOs busted With the arrest of four persons, the Economic Offences Wing claims to have busted a gang involved in cheating various NGOs across the country to the tune of Rs 36 lakh. The accused were identified as Rajender Kumar Tripathi (45), Vidhu Shankar Tiwari (39), Krishan Saxena (66) and Ashok Sharma (54). The main accused, Tripathi, posing as the managing director of Life Insurance Corporation Policy Holders Welfare Organisation, contacted several NGOs in Tamil Nadu, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Orissa, Rajasthan, Haryana, Kerala, Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal and promised to arrange easy loans up to Rs 13 lakh. The accused also demanded Rs 250 for the prospectus and Rs 10,000 through a Demand Draft for a five-day orientation programme in Delhi. But to their dismay, the accused, after arranging accommodation for the delegates in Delhi failed to organise the programme. After a complaint was lodged in the Economic Offences Wing, the sleuths nabbed Tripathi and seized 350 files of different NGOs and other incriminating documents from his office.
Heroin worth Rs 1 crore seized The Narcotics Branch of the Delhi Police claims to have arrested two persons and seized 1.2 kilograms of heroin worth Rs 1.2 crore in the international market. Based on a tip off that two persons would be coming to the Anand Vihar bus terminal to supply heroin, the sleuths swung into action and nabbed two persons. The accused were identified as Mohammad Irshad alias Shivraj (21) and Lokender Pal (33), both residents of Mainpuri. During their personal search the sleuths also seized 1.2 kilograms of heroin from their possession.
Four held for cheating The Economic Offences Wing claims to have arrested four persons, including a cheat, who passed himself for a direct selling agent of the ICICI bank. The accused met one Ashwani Modi, a resident of Palam, and promised him a loan of Rs 3.25 lakh and accepted Rs 3,996 as processing fee. Later, they also charged Rs 23,000 as loan charges. The accused were identified as Vinay Kumar, Arun Kumar, Khalid and Mohammad Javed Khan. |
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Pesticide contamination: An issue that refuses to die New Delhi, August 5 However, the JPC report in February not only upheld the CSE findings but also came up with a host of recommendations on issues related to food safety standards, covering soft drinks, fruit juices and other beverages. In July, the Union Ministry of Health had issued a notification specifying that the quality of water to be used for the manufacture of soft drinks should meet bottled water standards. “It took the CSE a year to find out whether the government will act or not. Now, the idea is to keep the issue alive,” said Chandra Bhushan, Associate Director, Industry and Environment (CSE), while talking to The Tribune on the sidelines of the two-day South Asian media workshop on food safety and pesticide contamination, organised by the CSE here today Besides taking an overview of the JPC report, curbs on pesticides and implications for health and international trade and legislation for safe and clean drinking water were also discussed. “We did not want it to become a CSE issue. Which is why we invited government representatives and others to present their views, contradictory or otherwise,” he added. Elaborating, he said some tangible benefits had accrued in the past one year. “One, that the water used in soft drinks should be bottled and pesticides cannot be registered without setting safety standards. Besides, there have been discussions to include water as a part of the Prevention of Food and Adulteration Act. For the first time the government is trying to set up standards for soft drinks.” Clean drinking water is the right of every citizen. But in this country there is no clear definition of specifications for clean drinking water, which even countries like Pakistan and Bangladesh have. “There is no quantitative norm saying what is clean. The presence of pesticide residues in water is completely unacceptable, but in food items this can be explained. However, pesticides can only be tolerated and different countries regulate their use. The food basket is also the pesticide basket. One ingests a certain amount of pesticides for daily nutrition. But it should not exceed the quota. Believe it or not, in our country 183 pesticides are being used for the simple reason that old pesticides are still in the circulation. Other countries have a list of 100 pesticides. Even if they have more, they set safety standards and then allow a pesticide to be used. Here, we allow their use and then set standards. Moreover, in other countries if a less toxic pesticide is found, the older one is replaced. Safety is about ensuring that pesticides ingested through food do not exceed the acceptable daily intake. Standards need to be set to distinguish between nutritive and non-nutritive and essential and non-essential foods.” During the workshop, CSE Director Sunita Narian presented an overview of the JPC report. Others who participated included government officials and experts, including doctors and environmentalists. |
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DJB under fire for sitting on works New Delhi, August 5 In its report for year ended March 2003, tabled in the Delhi Legislative Assembly, CAG says the Board incurred extra expenditure of Rs 17.46 crore due to delay in processing of proposals and award of works. An avoidable expenditure of Rs 10 crore was incurred due to execution of work at higher rates and undue benefit to contractors. In addition, poor utilisation of available departmental resources resulted in avoidable expenditure of Rs 1.58 crore on execution of de-silting and cleaning works through contractors, CAG observes. It has also held the Board responsible for the deterioration in quality of Yamuna water. CAG says the Board, which had a sewage treatment capacity of 512.60 MGD, could treat only 296.24 MGD of sewage during 2002-03 against sewage generation of 652 MGD. Thus, 45 per cent of the sewage was flowing into the Yamuna. The Board has also been rapped for non-utilisation of funds. Out of the loans and grants of Rs 326,40 crore released during 1998-99 to 2002-03 by the Government of NCT of Delhi, CAG says the Board could utilise only Rs 185.94 crore. The savings were due to delay in implementation or non-execution of various works and administrative efficiency. The DJB also failed to implement the planned works, though the CAG says funds were not a constraint. The failure of the Board to execute works is attributable to deficient planning with the result physical achievements fell short by 57 per cent. |
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Tis Hazari lawyers up in arms New Delhi, August 5 Addressing a press conference, DBA Secretary Sanjeev Nasiar said no lawyer, litigant, judges or judicial staff would be allowed to enter the 27-acre campus. He said a General Body Meeting (GBM) had been convened on August 9 to chalk out the strategy for the programme, which would be peaceful. On the necessity of taking the extreme step, he said the decision was taken after four day-long strikes were ignored by Delhi High Court Chief Justice B. C. Patel. DBA President Rajiv Khosla said the Chief Justice had ignored the July 16 order of the Supreme Court, directing the centre to explore a negotiated settlement of the bifurcation issue. He said now they had no option but to lock the courts as ‘’the system had failed.’’ This is the second time such a step is being taken by the lawyers at Tis Hazari. Earlier, the complex was locked for a few hours when some courts were shifted to Karkardooma in East Delhi in 1992. Opposing the present move, Mr Khosla said the transfer was being done even before providing all amenities for lawyers and litigants. He said there are neither chambers nor any space for parking vehicles. It was also pointed out that there was a proposal to make 60 courtrooms in the six-acre complex. Talking of the ongoing preparations by the High Court to shift the courts, Mr Khosla reminded the Chief Justice that he had brushed aside their protest on April 13 as ‘’premature.’’ Stating that in an hour-long meeting with the lawyers on April 13, the Chief Justice had assured them of shifting the courts only after the matter was settled by the apex court, he charged Chief Justice B. C. Patel with going back on his promises. |
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Sayeed, Dwivedi file
RS nominations New Delhi, August 5 The names of Mr Sayeed and Mr Dwivedi were proposed by Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit and others. Each of them filed four sets of papers with seven proposers each, the under secretary of Delhi Legislative Assembly, Mr VN Murgal, said. The AICC general secretary, Ms Ambika Soni, and Dr AR Kidwai had resigned after Ms Soni was elected to the Rajya Sabha from Punjab and Dr Kidwai was appointed the Governor of Haryana. Mr Sayeed, who lost the 2004 Lok Sabha election from Lakshadweep, has to become member of either House of Parliament following his induction as Minister in the Manmohan Singh Cabinet. The election of INC candidates is certain as the party enjoys a two-third majority in the Delhi Legislative Assembly. In the 70-member House, the INC has 47 MLAs. The party also won six of the seven parliamentary constituencies in the 2004 Lok Sabha election. The scrutiny of nominations will take place on August 7 and the last date for withdrawal is August 9. Counting will be held on August 16. The election is subject to the result of the writ petitions before the Supreme Court on the domicile status of candidates contesting the Rajya Sabha poll. |
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Old Faridabad land mired
in controversy Faridabad, August 5 The Lalguru Maharishi Balmiki Samadhi Temple Trust, which claims to be the owner of the plot of land measuring about one Bigha and four Biswas since 1940, has opposed the decision of the local revenue officials to go in for the demarcation of the land in question. In a letter to the Deputy Commissioner here, the Temple Trust has stated that the High Court had already dismissed an appeal in connection with the case and there was no relevant revenue matter attached with the khasra (No. 1985, 1985-B and 1986), which belongs to it. It alleged that some persons, who wanted to occupy the piece of land by any means, has been misrepresenting the land as khasra (No 1217), which it claims was not existing at all. Mr Daya Ram, a Dalit and founder of the Trust, has claimed that the matter had already been decided by 15 courts, including the civil and the High Court and had given a final verdict about the ownership of the land. Being an applicant, he had sought a ‘contempt decree’ by the Court of Justice N.K Sodhi. Vide his order dated 31.07.1998, against the then Deputy Commissioner of Faridabad, Chief Administrator and the then Joint Commissioner of the Municipal Corporation, Faridabad (Old), the applicants claiming the ownership of the land, to the effect that in case there was a violation of the contempt order of the High Court, the petitioner can proceed against the
condemners. He has attached a copy of the order of the court in the letter. Mr Daya Ram, an employee in the civic body here, told that first the case had been taken in 1979, and decided by the court of Mr L. N. Mittal, the then Sub-Judge here. He claimed that the case had been filed on different grounds and decided in his favour by the local court. |
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Singh Sabha elections New Delhi, August 5 In the annual election held recently, Mr Kashmere Singh was elected president, Mr Manjit Singh, vice president and treasurer and Manmohan Singh secretary, a press note said here today.
Minor fire at FICCI A minor fire erupted in the FICCI house today. The fire broke out in the electrical panel box of the FICCI auditorium and was controlled within five ALT to set up new centre in Delhi The Bangalore-based institute ‘Apparel and Leather Technics India (ALT) is going to open its apparel and knitting training center in Delhi soon. Announcing this, the Managing Director of the institute, Mr Madhu Kapoor, said, the main aim of opening the training center in Capital is to provide latest manufacturing and designing facilities to the students. “The training course will be of three months to one year duration. It will include basic sewing machine operation to the degree and diploma in the varied fields of apparel production engineering, fashion administration, apparel production, fashion designing and computer aided designing.” |
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Poisoned by lovelorn daughter in-law Ghaziabad, August 5 Sher Singh, who has been living in Bukna colony for the last 15 years, had married Mithlesh of Sikandarpur, Aligarh, 21 years ago. Mithlesh has an 18-year-old daughter and two sons, aged 18 and 12 years. Sher Singh had become a victim of brain fever four months ago and since then he has been confined to his house. As her husband was not able to go out, Mithlesh used to go to vegetable market for buying vegetables for her trolley. During her trips to the vegetable market, she came in contact with one 20-year-old Sabir, originally from Bihar. The casual meetings between Mithlesh and Sabir blossomed into an illicit relationship. On May 8, Mithlesh eloped with Sabir and took with her all jewellery and valuables. But Sher Singh and his family were able to trace Mithlesh and brought her back from Sabir’s house in Maliwada 20 days ago. Since then, Mithlesh had been longing to return to Sabir, but was forcibly kept in the house by her in-laws. On Tuesday, Mithlesh mixed some poisonous substance in the food and served it to her husband, father in-law Maharaj, mother in-law Santosh, 55, and brother in-law Jhonny. She also gave the poisonous dal to a neighbour Vijay Pal who had
visited their house on the fateful day. When her in-laws and neighbour Vijay Pal, his wife Hemlata and his father Hari Singh, who had also consumed the poisonous dal, became unconscious, Mithlesh reportedly fled from the house to her lover. Her brother in-law, Subash, who is recuperating at a hospital in Ghaziabad, said all the victims of the poisonous food had been hospitalised. He said Milthesh had tried to introduce her own daughter to the same world of vice and crime. A case has been filed in Sihani Gate police station by Sher Singh against his wife Mithelsh and her lover. |
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IGP wants police to
pull up its socks Noida, August 5 He was particularly upset with police lethargy and lack of enough vehicles for night patrolling. Mr Ahmed wants the police in Noida to have an exemplary style of functioning with a professional outlook, particularly since it is in close proximity to the national Capital. Improvement in the law and order in Noida will send out positive signals to the residents, particularly entrepreneurs and traders, who have been affected the most due to the deteriorating law and order in the area. A feeling of insecurity runs deep among the trading community in the light of increasing incidents of kidnapping of businessmen. It is widely believed that the downward trend was accelerated with the de-notification of the Gautam Budh Nagar district, when the Senior Superintendent of Police and the District Magistrate were transferred out of Noida. Mr Ahmed told The Tribune that the problem is engaging the attention of the department and steps will be taken soon to streamline and strengthen the police set up in Noida. |
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Workers to hold rally against govt inaction Faridabad, August 5 According to a spokesperson of the Sangh, the employees were ‘fed up’ with the non-cooperative attitude and the “false promises” made by the government regarding issues concerning their welfare. It was stated that the employees had made up their mind to launch a statewide agitation in order to put pressure on the authorities to fulfill their genuine demands. It was announced that the agitation would continue till all the retrenched employees and those ‘sacked’ on flimsy grounds were reinstated. The spokesman claimed that though the government had accepted several of their demands in 2003, they were still awaiting its implementation. It was alleged that instead of taking measures to provide facilities and service conditions on par with the Union Government, the state government was bent upon “harassing” the staff on “fictitious” ground. It was alleged that in the name of privatisation, the government was promoting “corruption”. It was pointed out that by an office-bearer of the ‘All Haryana Power Corporations Workers Union’, that privatisation had led to the harassment of the consumers, with large-scale mistakes being noticed in metre reading and bills. It was alleged that the contracts were given on political considerations. Moreover, the spokesman said while the workload in the various departments had gone up in the past two decades, the government had failed to fill up new posts. Hundreds of employees had not been regularised despite have completed over 15 years of service. The other demands of the employees include the allotment of plot quota in the residential sectors, removal of anomalies in the pay scale and employment for the dependents of those killed in service. |
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Tilak Nagar ward inspected New Delhi, August 5 |
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Two inter-state gangsters nabbed New Delhi, August 5 The sleuths also recovered one pistol, one revolver and seven live cartridges from their possession. The gangsters were identified as Vijaypal (30), resident of Sonepat, and Rajiv Kumar alias Diwanji (24), resident of Khajuri Khas. While the police had announced a reward of Rs 50,000 for the arrest of Vijaypal, Diwanji carried a reward of Rs 20,000. The sleuths received information on July 29 that Vijaypal and his associates would assemble near GTB Enclave, Shahdara, and accordingly the sleuths laid a trap to nab them. But both Vijaypal and Rajiv managed to escape while their associate, Ram Kumar was nabbed. |
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New Delhi: The annual wedding extravaganza, Bride and Groom Exhibition, 2004, will open on August 27. The three-day event will offer complete wedding solutions ranging from trousseau, accessories, wedding gifts, make-up artists, wedding planners, décor experts, photographers and honeymoon packagers, all under one roof. The exhibition, scheduled to be hosted at Hotel Taj Palace, will display the works of designers from India and
Pakistan. — TNS |
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It wasn’t a very happy beginning to the
day at the Delhi Zoo. One of the most “affectionate and pampered” tigers was
found dead in his cage.
New Delhi, August 5
