Archives for 2019

Ghulam Jeelani Qadri was arrested by the police outside his home at Balgarden area in uptown Srinagar on late Monday night in a case registered against him and seven others in 1990.

SRINAGAR: The editor-cum-owner of a local Urdu daily was arrested in a midnight raid in connection with a nearly three-decade-old case in Srinagar Ghulam Jeelani Qadri, the editor and owner of local Urdu daily Afaaq, was later released on bail.

The 62-year-old was arrested by the police outside his home at Balgarden area in uptown Srinagar on late Monday night in a case registered against him and seven others in 1990 under the stringent Terrorist and Disruptive Activities (Prevention) (TADA) Act. 

The police had registered an FIR against Jeelani and seven others journalists, three of whom are no more, for circulation of a militant statement by a news agency which had appeared in some newspapers.

On Tuesday, Jeelani’s family approached the court of chief judicial magistrate to secure a bail for his release.

The court ordered his release and asked him to deposit a bond of Rs 20,000.

Various media organisations including Kashmir Editors Guild, Kashmir Working Journalists Association, Kashmir Journalists Association,  Kashmir Union of Working Journalists and Kashmir National TV Journalists Association condemned the arrest of the senior journalist.

In fact, the video in which Khan offers to return to Bengaluru and reveal everything to the police, should make extradition easier, a retired IPS officer, who did not want to be named, said.

BENGALURU: While the Special Investigation Team (SIT), looking into the I Monetary Advisory (IMA) fraud, says its chances of bringing back founder Mohammed Mansoor Khan to India may not be that easy, experts say it is not impossible and might even be simpler due to Khan’s last video.

In fact, the video in which Khan offers to return to Bengaluru and reveal everything to the police should make extradition easier, a retired IPS officer, who did not want to be named, said.

The SIT on Monday said they knew Khan’s location and sources said that it was not possible to seek his extradition without charge-sheeting him. However, there are other options, experts say.

“Chargesheet is required for seeking extradition of an accused from a foreign country but there are some legal provisions under which the request for extradition can be made even before charge sheet has been filed,” he said.

“Since they know the location of the accused, the police can seek his extradition from the host country if they can adopt the ‘dual criminality’ approach, under which a fugitive can be extradited for an offence, only if it is a crime in both the countries. Mansoor has been charged with cheating (Section 420) and breach of trust (Section 406) of the IPC. There are over 30,000 complaints in this case.

The officer also said that the SIT could itself seek assistance from the host country. “The SIT can seek assistance under Section 166 A of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC).

The section is a letter of request issued from the designated criminal court in India to a competent authority for investigation in a country or place outside India, where the fugitive is located,” the officer added.

Seven directors of the Ponzi company IMA – Dada Peer, Nasir Hussain, Naveed Ahmed Nattamkar, Nizammudin Azeemuddin, Afshan Tabassum, Afsar Pasha and Arshad Khan –deposed before the Enforcement Directorate in Bengaluru on Monday.

Sources on condition of anonymity told TNIE that the timing and content of Mansoor’s video need to be examined.

“In the video Mansoor has alleged that there was 120 kg of jewellery and 600 kg bullion gold in the vault, when he left Bengaluru and he had received information that most of it have been moved from the vault by board directors Nizammuddin Azeemuddin, Mohammad Wasim (Mansoor’s cousin), Khalid Ahmad and his son Fahad Ahmad, along with staff. Mansoor is aware of the ED notice. Is he trying to dilute his criminality by offloading it on others? It is a matter to investigate,” the officer said.

As on Tuesday,  just around 12 tmc feet of water was available in all four reservoirs including KRS and Kabini.

BENGALURU/MYSURU: The Cauvery Water Management Authority’s direction to the state government to release water to Tamil Nadu if there is an increase in inflow into reservoirs in Cauvery basin in the state, comes as a relief for Karnataka. “Given the current situation in the state, the CWMA order is a big relief for the state,” said a senior officer from the Water Resources Department.

As on Tuesday,  just around 12 tmc feet of water was available in all four reservoirs including KRS and Kabini. Inflow at KRS was just around 253 cusecs, while it was 1,708 cusecs at Kabini, on Tuesday.
State Sugar Cane Growers Association president Kurbur Shantha Kumar welcomed the authority’s decision. He said the authority should have ordered for release of water to irrigation canals to save standing crops. KRRS leader Darshan Puttannaiah too welcomed the authority’s directions.

While some farmers felt there is no clarity on release of water to irrigation canals in the state, some were unhappy as the state failed to convince the authority to get water for standing crops in the state. “When they could release enough water during the Lok Sabha polls, why are they not giving water now?” ask farmers.  BJP Raitha Morcha leader Nanjunde Gowda said the state government failed to apprise the authority of the situation.

Hafeez Mohd Sahrukh Haldar, who received minor injuries in the incident, said he was beaten up by the mob which was chanting slogans and asked him to follow suit.

A madrasa teacher in West Bengal has claimed that he was thrashed and pushed off a moving train by a group for not chanting ‘Jai Shri Ram’ when he was travelling from Canning in South 24 Parganas district to Hooghly.

Hafeez Mohd Sahrukh Haldar, who received minor injuries in the incident, said he was beaten up by the mob which was chanting slogans and asked him to follow suit. The 26-year-old said nobody came to his rescue on the train and it was only after he was pushed off at the Park Circus Station that some locals helped him. The Indian Express reported.

Talking about the incident, a railway police official said Haldar was probably assaulted due to boarding and de-boarding issues and a probe into the incident was on. He added that no one had been arrested yet.

Kolkata Police said they were verifying the incident and strict action would be taken against miscreants.

The incident comes amid outrage over the death of a youth in Jharkhand, who was assaulted on suspicion of theft and later succumbed to his injuries. The incident came to light after several videos of the assault went viral on social media. In one of the clips, Ansari is seen being thrashed with a wooden stick. At the end of another video, he is shown being forced to chant ‘Jai Shri Ram’ and ‘Jai Hanuman’.

Gurmeet Singh, who is currently lodged at Sunaria jail after being convicted in two rape cases and the murder of a journalist, had sought parole over a month ago claiming that he has to tend to his fields in Haryana’s Sirsa.

Dera Sacha Sauda head Gurmeet Singh’s parole application may be canceled as land records submitted by the Revenue Department showed that he does not own land.

Gurmeet Singh, who is currently lodged at Sunaria jail after being convicted in two rape cases and the murder of a journalist, had sought parole over a month ago claiming that he has to tend to his fields in Haryana’s Sirsa.

Following his application for the parole for 42 days, the district administration has been asked to submit a report to Commissioner, Rohtak Division.

According to the subsequent report that was submitted by the Revenue Department to the Sirsa district administration, Gurmeet Singh does not own any land of his own in Sirsa.

The report that was submitted by the department, states that the Dera sect owns 250 acres of land. However, there is no mention of the Dera leader’s name.

The report also states that the entire land is owned by the Dera Sacha Sauda Trust

This thus negates the Haryana Good Conduct Prisoners (temporary release) Act on the basis of which the parole has been sought.

According to the Act, a prisoner may be temporarily released if the state government is satisfied that his release is necessary for ploughing, sowing or harvesting or carrying on any other agricultural operation of his land or his father’s undivided land in the possession of the prisoner.

Gurmeet Singh’s parole thus stands to be canceled as a result despite the jail superintendent vouching for his good conduct.

Meanwhile, the police fear violence, akin to riots that were seen at the time of his arrest, if he is released.

At least 200 lakes and ponds in the national capital have been encroached and lost. They have been turned into cremation grounds, temples, government schools and even a bus terminal of the Delhi Transport Authority.

The Satpula lake was constructed around the 1300s.

New Delhi: In Delhi, the discourse on water is measured by a certain scale of nostalgia. The city’s plush area Hauz Khas was named after an ancient water reservoir by the same name. Centuries later the name remains, but the water bodies associated with it have disappeared; so has water.

Latha, 39, a resident of Khirki area in south Delhi, recalled the story of the now dry Satpula lake in a completely different memory. “My mother-in-law would tell us about a big lake behind the house where we now live. She told us about the farmers in the area who used it for irrigation. She showed us how children jumped into the lake for a bath,” she said.

“But where is the lake now? There is a sewer behind the house,” she said.

The Satpula is a manmade lake reportedly constructed around the 1300s. History has recorded its use as a dam at one point. But the lake’s original catchment area today has been reduced to include a children’s park, public gymnasium, benches and ample shade for romance.

Not far from where Latha lives, Natthu, a 35-year-old gardener, started residing in the 40-acre lake compound with his family seven months ago.

Natthu said he has never seen the lake filled with water. “I water the garden every day with the help of the installed borewell pump and a network of pipes. The borewell is what feeds both my family and the grass. I have only heard stories of water here,” he said.

Amid severe water crisis in the capital, the Satpula lake appears as a patch of land attempting to spring into a garden. The only thing missing is the lake itself. Since the city first played host to civilisation in the 6th century, it has witnessed the formation of 1011 water bodies to attend to consumption needs. Of the total, only 611 remain today.

Delhi has 274 dried up lakes, of which 190 have been lost forever.

For 54-year-old Rajesh and his friends, all residents of Khirki, mention of Satpula lake brings back old memories. “The lake had a depth of more than 20 metres 30 years ago. It was spread across a huge area. We used to swim across its length,” Rajesh says, fondly remembering his childhood.

The 54-year-old explained that the lake had a systemic way of collecting rain water from nearby areas through seven channels. “Earlier, the gradient of the lake kept it full because water would enter from everywhere. Now water flows through numerous plants and pumping stations,” he said.

In addition to lower ground water level in the city, the lake dried up sooner than expected after it became a dumping ground for excavated soil. Rajesh says, “When Delhi Metro began in this area, all excavated material was dumped here. This blocked the channels that brought in water and changed the orientation of the area.”

“It is a park now. And here we play cards under the trees,” he added.

In a 2014 report, the Delhi Park and Gardens Society stated that at least 200 lakes and ponds have been encroached and lost. They have been turned into cremation grounds, temples, government schools and even a bus terminal of the Delhi Transport Authority.

On June 23, the Delhi Jal Board (DJB) formally got the green signal to commence the revival initiative for the Satpula lake. Termed a challenging project, the lake is expected to be filled with more than 1,000 kilolitres of treated water from an adjacent running drain.

However, the DJB estimates that only 15 per cent of this will percolate into the ground.

Neglect Caused by Urban Planning

With the population rising and the country moving towards its urban epicentres, the discourses of water management and urban water bodies have emerged as a necessary project of modern innovation. In retrospect, the story of Satpula lake is a possible foreword on the many ignored aspects of water in urban planning.

News18 spoke to Kanchi Kohli, senior researcher at the Centre for Policy Research to understand the space lakes have in modern urban ecosystems.

“Our current state is a result of gross misuse and neglect. Lakes in urban development have been completely ignored. The ecology of lakes has been sidelined as part of urban design,” she said.

According to Kohli, an assessment of the water worries of today must put to test rapid commercialization and increase in population density – two factors that have disintegrated water bodies from modern living.

“Widespread use of borewell extraction or tapped water for personal consumption has disconnected residents from natural public spaces like lakes and ponds which have a variety of common uses. Hence, the push for reviving these spaces,” she said.

“We need to move out of the worldview of the current residents and see these spaces from the perspective of those who have lived in-effect of these spaces,” added Kohli.

While 32 per cent of Indian households boast of having safe tap water supply, 18 per cent or 6,25,000 households of Delhi suffer without it. Amid this figure and depleting ground water levels, 21 Indian cities, including Delhi, are feared will run out of water by 2020 without sufficient water bodies.

Manu Bhatnagar, principal director of the Natural Heritage division of Indian National Trust for Arts and Culture (INTACH) told News18 that adopting the practice of viewing lakes as valuable common spaces within our urban ecosystem must include an understanding of new catchment characteristics.

“First, roads and boundary walls built over the catchment area prevent water from entering these spaces. Second, water on the surface percolates fasters into the ground because of a low ground water level. Hence, we get to see the dry surface of a water body. Third, urban water bodies have been robbed off of their perennial nature by being cut off from the river,” he said.

For instance, Sanjay lake and Bhalswa lake got disconnected from Yamuna due to the creation of intervening embankments. On the other hand, lakes like Hauz Khas went dry because of decreased groundwater levels.

Irrespective of how a lake is revived or rejuvenated in the urban ecosystems, experts have argued, the reason and the method for doing so must be well-defined to benefit urban planning.

Revive, Rejuvenate, Rejoice

Hauz-i-Shamsi, popularly known as Shamsi lake, was once spread over 1,000 acres in Delhi’s Mehrauli area. It is a still-water body put to no use. Built in 1230, the lake has seen a reduction in its catchment area following construction activity. Besides, the lake is also filled with sewage.

Ali, 60, a resident of Mehrauli, recalled one incident where the lake water got severely contaminated. “A few months ago, the drain running adjacent to the lake witnessed flooding and all the sewer water entered the lake. The water level of the lake had risen. After using influence, a local leader was successful in convincing the authorities to clean it. Manual scavengers were sent in the drain to clean them,” he said.

Earlier, only fresh water was used to fill up till the top of the embankment, but now the expansion of real estate and population have destroyed everything, added Ali.

The lake assumes special importance in that area given its location next to the Jahaz Mahal which hosts the annual ‘Phool Walon ki Sair’ festival.

The course of Shamsi lake, experts have said, may meet the same fate as the Satpula lake if attention to good urban planning is not given.

Ankit Srivastava, advisor to the DJB, noted that prior to rejuvenation, it is important to identify the three different types of contaminated bodies: dry lakes, sewage contaminated lakes (severe) and wet lakes filled with rain water (mild).

Once identified, each lake has its own definite steps of rejuvenation or revitalisation which can be put to different uses apart from drinking.

Srivastava said, “Historically, Delhi has always had a multitude of water bodies that have been put to difference uses as per the rainfall pattern in the area. Lakes in Delhi have acted as a source of harvested rain water, a buffer against rain water flooding and a medium for groundwater recharging. These bodies have naturally been designed to be self-sustainable”.

According the DJB advisor, having more water bodies in the city is a way to reduce the burden of providing drinking water from the government. “Lakes and ponds can provide clean water for use to everyone by raising groundwater table. Quality of water in water bodies is an important aspect. The government can share its responsibility with these social spaces,” he added.

The DJB has planned to construct six mega lakes in Delhi in Rohini, Timarpur, Nilothi, Rajghat, Dwarka and Najafghar. In addition, the DJB also plans to revive existing 250 water bodies.

Across all its projects, the water body’s primary aim is to improve the quality of water, and at the same, improve access and availability. Revival of lakes like the Shamsi or the Satpula must also mean reviving areas like Mehrauli or Khirki, Srivastava said.