HUDA-Pataudi Estate offers 1300 residential plots

HUDA (Haryana Urban Development Authority) had a look over 300 applications filed for the allotment of residential plots in the forthcoming Pataudi Estate in Gurgaon.

As per the report, the housing body had earlier accepted the applications in September, 2010.

Sources said, around 1,300 residential plots are available for allotment and are positioned in a new Sector One of HUDA, which has been planned as the future residential hub.

As per the senior official (HUDA) said, "During scrutiny of the applications, over 300 of them were found suspicious. The applicants were informed about the discrepancies and suitable action will be taken soon."

Government drivers to go on indefinite strike from today

Some top bureaucrats in the state had to hire private transport as the association of drivers of various government departments went on strike on Tuesday demanding better pay and raising of perks. While on Republic Day, a large number of these drivers reported on duty, they wore black bands to lodge protest.

The All Haryana Government and Semi-Government Drivers Association, which has 4,500 regular members and 1,500 contractual drivers as its members, claimed that all drivers will go on an indefinite strike from Thursday.

In addition to the payment of anomalies correction, we are demanding that our special pay (perks) be raised from Rs 300 to at least Rs 1,500 as it has not been raised since 1986, said a union leader.

The government has reacted sharply to this and said that any attempt to block the normal work flow would be dealt with strictly. If need be, we may impose the Essential Services Maintenance ACT ( ESMA), said a senior government official.

The Association members also held demonstrations at various places in the state including Gurgaon, Panchkula, Hisar and Karnal.

Our demands are justified. But instead of looking in to our problems, the government is threatening us. But we are not going to budge from our demand, said a union leader, who is also the driver of a senior bureaucrat.

In view of the strike call, all administrative secretaries, heads of departments and deputy commissioners in the state have been directed to send daily attendance reports of drivers to the government, government official said. They have also been asked to take disciplinary action against those who abstain from duty or indulge in unlawful activities.

Meanwhile, the official also said that the state is considering certain demands of the drivers.

Get court nod to use water for SEZs

Acting contrary to the recent Punjab and Haryana High Court order which prohibits extraction of groundwater, except for domestic purpose, senior bureaucrats have suggested that developers file a petition in court for permission to carry out development work in the SEZs here.

In a meeting between developers and the state departments on Wednesday, a suggestion was made for the government and developers to collectively approach the HC to allow installation and operation of tubewells and efficient use of water, till canal water reaches the region. The developers agreed to this approach, as reported by TOI.

Principal secretary in the Haryana government Y.S. Malik promised to organize a meeting with Haryana Urban Development Authority (HUDA), Haryana State Industrial Development Corporation (HSIDC), water supply department and other stake holders within 15 days to formulate an action plan on this issue.

The Haryana State Industrial and Infrastructure Development Corporation has contributed upfront for the Rs 800-crore Gurgaon water supply scheme. But the infrastructure for augmenting water supply has a gestation period, said the personal secretary.

Gurgaon falls in the grey zone which makes it important that available resources be utilized judiciously, explained Gurgaon deputy commissioner Rajender Kataria. The problem of water shortage in Gurgaon has become acute since the district administration came down heavily on illegal borewells and tubewells, banning fresh installations.

As per Haryanas New Industrial Policy, notified on January 1, the state will not be

responsible for ensuring water to developers.

As many as 30 SEZs are based in Gurgaon alone. HSIIDC has spent Rs 800 to take canal water to Gurgaon district but senior officials said it

will take time for water to reach the region.

At present, 200 litres is required by each person each day for domestic use. If we consider the present population to be at 15 lakh (as per official data), this requirement is 300 million litres daily (MLD).

At present, the water supplied by various bodies like HUDA and public health is close to 270 MLD while another 40 MLD is extracted from the ground via tubewells.

The water is sufficient for drinking purpose and after the HC order, commercial usage has been strictly prohibited, added Kataria.

The present capacity of sewerage treatment plants in the city is close to 273 MLD which can be treated and re-used for all purposes except for drinking. Developers can sign an agreement with HUDA and public health department to purchase this treated water, explained the DC. Also, the NCR water channel is almost 90 per cent complete and is expected to provide close to 350 cusecs (approx 900 MLD) of water from Yamuna, explained Kataria.

No new SEZ in Gurgaon due to water scarcity Read more: No new SEZ in Gurgaon due to water scarcity

Gurgaon district which has the largest number of SEZs, 30 to be precise, in the country will not have more of them as water scarcity is affecting the projects. Both Union and state governments say unless a promoter shows how he will get water and its usage plan, there will not be any fresh approval.

Out of 34 SEZs earmarked for Haryana, 30 are in Gurgaon district. Additional commerce and industry secretary in the Union government DK Mittal said during an open house session with 50 odd SEZ developers that the state government may not clear any project in Gurgaon unless the developer is able to demonstrate how it will get water and how the project will use it in an efficient way.

Mittal's advice was immediately accepted by principal secretary in the Haryana government YS Malik who said unless a developer is able to show water availability and its use plan, the project will not be cleared.

The problem of water shortage in Gurgaon has become acute since the banning of installation of tubewells in Gurgaon district.

Malik said the state government has spent Rs 800 crore to take canal water to Gurgaon district but it will take time for water to reach the region.

On the suggestion of developers including convener of panel on SEZ developers Ajay Nijhawan of allocating water to different players, Malik said the government and developers collectively should approach the Punjab and Haryana High Court to allow installation and operation of tubewells and efficient use of water till canal water reaches the region, may be in a few years time. The developers agreed to this approach.

Rush hour: Metro on slow track

With Metro getting crowded by each passing day, Gurgaon residents are desperately waiting for the promised two extra coaches. While a relaxed journey has become a thing of past, during peak hours one ends up spending 10-15 minutes to get into a train.

The platform is so crowded during busy hours that I have to miss a couple of trains to get into one. It reminds me of Mumbai local, said Shreya Chawla, a regular Metro commuter. Everyday, hundreds of passengers have to jostle their way to get in to the overcrowded metro. With no one to manage the crowd, the situation becomes terrible especially during the peak hours.

Earlier, it used to be jam-packed only during the peak hours but now the rush is witnessed even during the lean hours. I am very surprised to see that even late night trains are running over capacity. This can get solved only if the number of coaches is increased and I hope that happens soon, said Kirti Sharma, a daily commuter.

In fact, there is a sizable crowd that uses the last Metro train that reaches the HUDA City Center station at 12:20 am. While the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) has already introduced two six coach trains on line-3 (Noida City Centre to Dwarka Sector 21), line 2 (Jehangirpuri HUDA City Center) will get the extra coaches only by the end of February.

The additional coaches would be able to carry about 600 more passengers in every trip. A four coach train has a carrying capacity ranging from 1200 to 1500 passengers. The six coach train will carry about 1800 to 2100 passengers per train trip. DMRC plans to introduce 14 six coach trains, expanding the existing fleet of 44 trains to 58 train sets. In future, out of 58 trains, 51 will be six coach and 7 will be four coach.

On other hand, technical glitches continued to affect services on Gurgaon-Jahangirpuri Line on Tuesday as well. Trains were running at a restricted speed between two stations. The problem is only likely to be resolved by Wednesday, a Delhi Metro official said. Another Metro official said the problem was due to a track circuit failure.

Services on the Jahangirpuri-Gurgaon line were affected with trains running at a restricted speed due to a track circuit failure. They will continue to run slightly slow till Wednesday, a metro official said. However, services in the opposite direction were operating normally.

Delhi Metro services hit on two busy lines

Technical glitches hit Delhi Metro services on two of its busiest lines Monday, with normalcy soon being restored on one line but the problem spilling over to Tuesday on the other, an official said.

Services on the Jahangir Puri-Gurgaon line were affected Monday with trains running at a restricted speed due to a track circuit failure. Services in the opposite direction were, however, operating normally. Services were also affected on the Anand Vihar-Dwarka line but normalcy was restored by noon, the official said.

According to a Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) official, the problem on the Jahangir Puri-Gurgaon line "has been identified, but it will be rectified later in the night as taking up repair work immediately will lead to delays in services".

"The trains are likely to resume their normal speed by Tuesday morning," the official added.

"The trains to HUDA City Centre (Gurgaon) from Jahangirpuri will move at a restricted speed of 20 km per hour between the INA and AIIMS Metro stations due to track circuit failure near the INA station," the official said.

This cut little ice with commuters.

"The trains are moving at a snail's speed, often stopping abruptly between the stations. It is really irritating. We cannot trust the Delhi Metro services," said irate Delhi University student Anupama Sharma.

Services on the Anand Vihar-Dwarka line were affected during the morning rush hour when a train developed a technical problem at the Kirti Nagar station.

Due to this, the trains that followed were delayed for over half-an-hour and hundreds of harried passengers kept waiting at various stations.

There was a near stampede-like situation at stations like Anand Vihar, Laxmi Nagar and Yamuna Bank as passengers pushed each other to board trains. These stations see the maximum footfall on the line.

Commuters had a horrifying experience while boarding and de-boarding the overcrowded trains. Huge queues could be seen at almost all stations on the line and once the trains started running, they were jam-packed.

Benitta Joseph,a public relation officer, who takes a Metro train from Anand Vihar to Rajiv Chowk, said there was almost a "stampede-like situation" at the Laxmi Nagar station due to the delays.

According to the DMRC official, normalcy on the line was restored by 12 p.m.

With 16 lakh commuters travelling by Metro everyday, it has become the lifeline of the city. However, its sleek image has been dented with frequent technical snags in the past few months.

Employers punished 8-year-old with dog bites

At eight, his reality has been harsher than most adults have ever encountered.

Someone who wishes to remain anonymous secretly filmed his world: A woman wearing heavy sneakers kicks him. More than once. So hard that the cooking pan he is trying to clean flies from his hand onto the floor.

He is covered with bruises, the marks of the family that employed him as their domestic help for two months in Gurgaon. The black and blue stretches of skin were not the worst they inflicted on him. Often, their dog was provoked to bite him, he says.

The employer - a man named Ishawar Chandar Gupta who is a garment trader - says the child was never hit, but cannot explain the injuries.

Finally, an NGO heard about the victim yesterday and showed up at the bungalow to rescue him.

His family lives five kilometres away from the place. The victim does not have a father; he stays with his mother who says she needed the money, so she agreed to let her son work there. She used to work at the same house earlier.

The victim is currently at home with his family.

The Gurgaon police have so far not registered a case against the child's employers.                    

RBI starts probe into Citi fraud

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has initiated a probe into the Rs 300-crore fraud at Citibank’s Gurgaon branch and will issue a detailed statement on this later.

RBI Executive Director G Gopalakrishna told reporters today that the central bank is looking into how the fraud was perpetrated and its implications. Gopalakrishna was in Chandigarh to attend a financial inclusion programme.

The RBI investigators will determine whether there were any systemic deficiencies that had been exploited. They will also track where the money came from and where it went.

Citibank has already said RBI was being kept apprised of its internal investigations since the fraud came to light. Shivraj Puri, who was Citibank’s relationship manager at its Gurgaon branch, has been arrested in connection with the fraud. Meanwhile, The Hero Group today said it has initiated a dialogue with authorities and Citibank to recover Rs 28.75 crore that it had invested via entities with Puri.

“These investments were made as part of routine treasury operation in what seemed like perfectly legal investment options. Hero Group is disappointed to learn that it has become a victim of the fraud under question. The group is taking appropriate action and has also initiated a dialogue with relevant authorities and Citibank to recover its dues,” the company said in a statement.

It further clarified that Hero Honda Motors, part of the group, was not involvement in any of these investments. Neither Hero Honda Motors Chairman Brijmohan Lal Munjal nor son Pawan Munjal has anything to do with this matter, the company stated.

According to police, Rs 200 crore belonged to corporates, including the Hero Group, and Rs 100 crore to individuals.

Puri allegedly sold investment products to high net-worth individuals (HNIs), claiming they would generate very high returns. It is also alleged that Puri showed a forged notification from market regulator Securities & Exchange Board of India to obtain funds from customers.

He also allegedly routed the funds garnered from HNI customers into the stock market through brokerage firms like Religare Securities.

He also claimed that these products were authorised by the bank’s investment product committee.

Police have sealed 81 accounts in several banks, where they believe the money siphoned off by Puri had been deposited.

They include State Bank of India, Punjab National Bank, HDFC Bank, Standard Chartered, Axis Bank and RBS.

Reports suggest Puri had opened over 80 accounts in his name, those of his grandparents and mother Diksha Puri. It is not yet clear in which banks these accounts had been opened.

The fraud at Citibank is one of the biggest in Indian banking history.

According to RBI’s annual report for 2009-10, the number of frauds in the domestic banking sector rose to 24,797 in 2009-10 from 23,914 in 2008-09.

Cold calls the shots in Gurgaon

The government school students in Gurgaon are having a tough time this winter. Unlike private schools, the government institutions are yet to declare their winter vacations this year. This means that despite the bone-chilling weather, students are being forced to attend school every morning. To make matters worse, the revised, delayed school timings are not helping students much.

Keeping in mind the cold weather, many of these schools had decided to delay their timings by an hour or so and most of the schools are now operating in the 9 am-3 pm shift.

However students as well as the teachers complain that the changed timings have become a headache instead of being a help, as traffic remains at its peak at those hours.

Balkishan Yadav, president of Haryana School Lecturer Association said, There is too much of traffic during those hours. Not only the students, even the teachers get late. It is especially difficult for those travelling from Delhi.

Echoing similar sentiments, Suraj, a resident of Palam Vihar, said, There is too much of traffic and I am often punished for reaching school late. The cold weather makes things worse. Some like Gulam Rasul says that since their timings are delayed, it has become difficult to manage their tution classes along with their homeworks.

Apart from these, poor infrastructure makes life even more difficult for students of government schools. The weather is dark and gloomy and manyatimes the lights are not working in the classrooms. We cant even have classes outside because it has been raining for the past two days. Due to all this, we cant teach students properly, said a teacher of a government school in Gurgaon.

Another student, Ravi, said that their school was conducting classes outdoors despite the rains and that they were made to sit on the wet grounds under the tree.

District Education Officer, Jyoti Choudhary, said that they are looking in to the requests of the teachers and students and schools may function between 8:30am and 2:30pm.