Sealing of shops in Delhi's residential areas
by Chandrika Jain

      New Delhi: The Municipal Corporation of Delhi today started the sealing of commercial establishments in residential areas in the capital, whose owners failed to file affidavit after the Supreme Court's (SC) orders to the effect. The action comes in the wake of the apex court direction to the civic body to close down illegal shops, whose owners have failed to furnish affidavits seeking time till June 30 to wind up operations. The SC earlier had given the deadline of March 28 for filing of affidavits by those had illegal commercial establishments in residential areas. The Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD), however, received only 1677 affidavits from the traders. Around 5 lakh commercial units now face sealing under the Supreme Court orders.

    The court last week extended the March 29 deadline for sealing of shops to June 30 and exempted sealing of such shops, the owners of which filed the affidavit. "The MCD has identified commercial establishments operating in residential areas in 189 roads across the capital and we will start sealing subject to availability of police force," a civic body spokesperson said. The civic body has, however, exempted certain commercial establishments like shops selling vegetables, fruits, flowers, grocery, stationery, pan, bidi, cigarettes and bakeries. Even the tailoring shops, barber shops, cyber cafes, STD booths, photocopier and spiral binding shops have been exempted from the ongoing sealing. Traders have gathered at Rohini Chowk in the capital to protest the sealing of shops. Sealing is yet to begin in this area. Member of Legislative Assembly (MLA), Rajpuri Gupta, present among the protestors, criticised Chief Minister Shiela Dixit for not taking any action against the sealing of shops. Gupta said that this drive would snatch away the livelihood of many shopkeepers. Another MLA Bhagwan Aggarwal also criticised the Government's move. He said, "The Government has failed to provide employment to the people. People have opened shops to earn their livelihood. If the government seals the shops, where will they go. Sealing of shops will cause immence loss to the shopkeepers." No untoward incident has,however, been reported as police forces have been deployed in strength in the area.

Hindus take dip in Ganges on solar eclipse (Go To Top)
by G Dubey/ Virendra Patak

      Varanasi/Allahabad: Scores of Hindus sought divine blessings while bathing in the holy River Ganges in the temple towns of Varanasi and Allahabad ahead of the partial solar eclipse. In Varanasi, devotees offered water to the Sun God, took a holy dip and prayed for their salvation. "The main thing to be achieved is the purification of the body in the solar eclipse. In Varanasi, one can attain this objective anywhere. But if you need to do this in the correct way, you should go to the "Maan Ganga Ghaat" (bathing area)," said Ganesh Giri. In Allahabad, where the three rivers -- Ganga, Yamuna and Saraswati - meet, devotees took a dip and prayed for their purification. "I have come to take a dip in the Ganga as there is a solar eclipse today and Amavasya (period of new moon) also," said Sudesh Kumar, a devotee. Long before the dawn of knowledge, eclipses especially solar eclipses were considered bad omen. The thought still prevails in Indian society despite awareness of the phenomenon. A solar eclipse occurs when the moon passes directly in front of the sun and its shadow is cast on earth. Wednesday's eclipse will be visible in Brazil, west and North Africa and central Asia.

Northern India has partial solar eclipse
by Ruchi Gupta

      New Delhi: Several places in northern and north-west India witnessed a partial solar eclipse on Wednesday. The amateur astronomers saw a projection view while many took a holy dip in accordance with Hindu tradition. Hundreds of enthusiasts flocked the Nehru Planetarium here to get a view of the rare celestial happening. The high point was at 5:19 pm local time when 17.5 per cent obscuration of the sun occurred. The eclipse here was visible between 4.33 pm and 6.02 pm (IST) as per officials at the city's Nehru Planetarium. Children were thrilled to see the moon covering the sun, though partially. "I just saw the moon cover the sun. It was very nice. And, after seeing it, I am very keen to know more about it," said Aastha, a student. Dr. Ratnashree, Director, Nehru Planetarium said, "We have made arrangements here for people to see the eclipse, projector image as well as locate it through filters. There are also arrangements for students to do measurements with projector images." Long before the dawn of knowledge, eclipses especially solar eclipses were considered bad omen. The thought still prevails in Indian society despite awareness of the phenomenon. A solar eclipse occurs when the moon passes directly in front of the sun and its shadow is cast on earth. Wednesday's eclipse was visible in Brazil, west and North Africa and central Asia. The longest view of the eclipse - four minutes and seven seconds - was visible at Libya's Wao Namus settlement near the Chadian border 2,000 km (1,250 miles) south of Tripoli.

Fund for divorced Muslim women in Bihar (Go To Top)

     Patna: Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar has announced the creation of a Rs 25 lakh fund for divorced Muslim women. The announcement comes in the wake of the state government receiving several complaints of domestic violence and of women being forced to do odd jobs to earn a livelihood and provide for their children. "My husband used to come home drunk everyday. He used to beat the children. One day , in an inebriated condition, he said talak, talak, talak. Now, I stay at my father's house. I expect that the government will provide us with something. I have five children and I hope that I get money for their education," said Ladli Khatun, a divorced Muslim woman. Some local NGOs which are working for the welfare of divorced Muslim women have welcomed the initiative taken by the state government. "The Nitish government has announced many programs. But this special welfare program for the divorced Muslim women is a historic event. This is the first in the world and is welcomed," said Ghulam Srvar, Pesident, Poor Muslim Front. Meanwhile, the state government says the provision will help the women to make their lives better. "The 2006-2007 budget makes a provision of rupees 25 lakh for divorced Muslim women. It is meant for those women who do not get any help from the society. It is only to provide financial assistance to make their lives better," said Manzar Alam, State Minister, Minority Welfare. There are many such women who are victims and they look forward to a new life.

Rahul on a three-day visit to Amethi (Go To Top)

     Amethi: A day after Congress President Sonia Gandhi's visit to Rae Bareli, now it is the turn of her son and Member of Parliament (MP) Rahul Gandhi, to visit his parliamentary constituency, Amethi, from today. Rahul, who left New Delhi this morning, would arrive at the Amausi airport in Lucknow and drive straight to Amethi . During his three-day visit, he will review the ongoing development works in the constituency. He will also meet the people there, sources said. Congress President Sonia Gandhi visited Rae Bareli yesterday. She arrived in her constituency for the first time after her resignation from the Lok Sabha over the "office of profit" issue.

Charles inaugurates water conference (Go To Top)

     Jodhpur: Britain's Prince Charles, who is on a six- day private tour to India along with his wife Camilla Parker Bowles, inaugurated a two-day conference on water conservation here on Wednesday. The Asia Pacific water conference, organised by Jag Bhagirathi foundation, a non-government organisation along with United Nations Development programme (UNDP), would focus on sharing countrywide experiences on water management. Maharaja Gaj Singh and his wife Maharani Hemlata Raje are hosting the Royal couple, who arrived here last evening on a three-day tour to the State, which is famous for its royals, forts, palaces and breathtaking desert beauty. The royal couple is staying at Jodhpur's majestic Umaid Bhavan Palace, which is partly the residence of the city's royals and partly a five-star hotel. The couple is also scheduled to attend a cultural festival in the pink city, Jaipur, before leaving the State on March 31. Before arriving here, Charles and Camilla visited the National Institute of Pharmaceutical Education and Research Institute at Mohali and Qila Mubarak, a 18th century ancient fort of Patiala's erstwhile rulers in Punjab on Tuesday.

    They also visited Anandpur Sahib, one of the holiest shrines of Sikhs in Punjab where the royal couple walked barefoot and sought blessings of the Guru. Anandpur Sahib is the birthplace of Guru Gobind Singh, the Sikh's 10th and the last Guru. This is the third visit of Prince Charles to India since 1992 to what was once the jewel in the crown of the British Empire. The royal couple will be skipping the Taj Mahal, a 17th century- wonder in pure white marble. During the 1992 visit of Charles with his former wife Diana, he was photographed alone in front of the monument of love, in what became a defining image of their impending split. India is the last leg of the royal couple's month-long foreign tour, which included Egypt and Saudi Arabia.

CBI raids 40 places in AIIMS exam scam (Go To Top)

      New Delhi: The Central Bureau of Investigation conducted raids in nearly 40 places in Tamil Nadu and Pondicherry today and has claimed to have got a breakthrough in the alleged malpractices adopted by students appearing in the All-India Post- Graduate Examination conducted by All-India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS). The CBI has detained a few people for questioning after conducting the raids and some of them are likely to be arrested, CBI sources said. The CBI has also claimed to have recovered documents during the raids in which key number to all the answer papers was written. The merit list of the examination conducted in January saw 37 candidates from Tamil Nadu and Pondicherry having topped. It was observed that there could be major bungling during the exam and the Health Ministry was complained about the same. The CBI had registered a case in the designated court of Chennai against some students and doctors on March 27 after the Ministry took the matter to CBI in a notification. Following the complaints of malpractices, the Health Ministry also decided to keep the results of the All India Post Graduate Exam on a hold. The students have been advised not to undertake any journey for the purpose of counselling. Fresh dates for counselling would be announced later. The Ministry had said that the government had been receiving complaints of malpractices and during the preliminary investigations, it was revealed that a large number of students from Chennai centres, who had performed badly in their under- graduate examinations, unusually got high ranks.

Manmohan Singh meets President Kalam (Go To Top)

      New Delhi: The Prime Minister, Dr. Manmohan Singh, met President APJ Abdul Kalam, at Rashtrapati Bhavan on Wednesday. Although no official word was available about the matters that figured in their talks, the two leaders are understood to have discussed issues of national importance. The Prime Minister went to meet Kalam after the latter presented awards at a glittering Civil Investiture Ceremony at Rashtrapati Bhavan.

Back to Headlines                  Go To Top