Darpan Singh, Agra
A bunch of foreigners have planned a massive diamond heist onboard India’s famous luxury train — The Palace on Wheels (PoW). But no one is complaining. Surprised? Well, don’t be. For, it’s a sequence from the Michael Douglas and Catherine Zeta Jones-starrer ‘Racing the Monsoon.’ Michael will be shooting the train robbery sequences on the PoW that departs from New Delhi and, during its eight day journey, stops at Jaipur, Jaisalmer, Jodhpur, Sawai Madhopur, Chittaurgarh, Udaipur, Bharatpur, and Agra.
When contacted by HT on Wednesday, a senior official confirmed the proposed shooting. He however said, a final nod from the Railways and the Tourism Ministry is awaited.”
Michael Douglas and wife Catherine Zeta-Jones are currently in India to finalise locations for a sequel of the 1984 action adventure — ‘Romancing the Stone.’ Douglas, who is also going to act in the movie, a double role, is impressed by India. An aide currently in Rajasthan quoted the Basic Instinct star as saying, “India is making a large impact on the world US, be it culture, design, fashion or films.”
His wife Zeta-Jones, who won an Oscar for her performance in the musical ‘Chicago’, is equally upbeat. She has told a website, “We have been closely following and studying Indian culture and are fascinated by it.” Mumbai-based Percept Picture Company will be co-producing the movie. However, as announced earlier, Aishwarya Rai Bachchan’s will not be part of the project. She was to initially play the main lead. Catherine Zeta Zones has stepped in place of Aishwarya.
Douglas, who has starred in blockbusters like Basic Instinct, Wall Street and Disclosure, has been in India with the cast and crew and wanted a grand feel about the action adventure movie through the India’s famous luxury train known for a splendid and enchanting royal journey through the bygone era of the erstwhile Maharajas. Apart from Jaisalmer, the movie is also being shot in Mumbai and Kolkata, besides its possible train sequence passing through Agra.
Indian choreographer Shiamak Davar may also be part of the project as he has reportedly approached Douglas and Zeta-Jones to choreograph a sequence in the film. He has been quoted as having said, “I met Michael and Catherine in Davos. I would really like to do the film.” Bourne Identity star Matt Damon is also part of the film.
A crew member said, “The six-month shooting schedule is expected to begin by December this year or early 2009. Michael will remain in India along with his star wife Catherine for the entire shooting schedule of the film to be directed by Steve Carr.” Everything was decided after Douglas chose a few locations in Rajasthan during his recent visit to the state.
If the shooting actually gets underway, it’ll be the first Hollywood film, and third commercial one, to be shot on the PoW. Dev Anand’s Main Solah Baras Ki (1997) and Chiragdeep International’s Talaash (2003) are the two other ones. The train has been used for a number of documentary films too.
Wednesday, August 20, 2008
6 yrs on, taj corridor has become a graveyard
Darpan Singh, Agra
The place was once supposed to remind one of Mumbai’s Marine Drive. However, bones, skulls and filth today greet visitors. The Rs 175-crore Taj Corridor Project, that proposed to build a heritage corridor between the Taj Mahal and the Agra Fort some six years ago, has now become a huge heap of mud and garbage with the site being used as a graveyard to bury dead bodies and for depositing animal carcasses.
Nobody today in the Uttar Pradesh government is willing to come on record regarding the incomplete project even as the issue has been extensively used to settle personal scores and take political mileage. A Pollution Control Board official admitted, “The site has today become a source of pollution in the Yamuna which flows behind the Taj.” Surprisingly, he said it was the responsibility of the AMC to set things right. A recent visit to the site revealed that it is being used to dump solid wastes which, during rains, find way to the river that is already saturated with pollutants. Though experts say the dry riverbed is a serious threat to the heritage monument, the Government is yet to act.
Ever since its inception, the project drew flak from all quarters, as experts believed any construction on the riverbed might alter the course of the Yamuna and would lead to ecological problems, posing a threat to the Taj Mahal, a world heritage site. “Work on the project began but was immediately stopped in 2003 after judicial and administrative interventions,” recalled an official in the Tourism Department.
Even as the matter has been in court for long with Mayawati facing corruption charges, the site has turned into a graveyard. Surprisingly, despite a court order prohibiting construction around Taj trapezium (the area in the vicinity of the Taj Mahal that has many historical monuments) without proper approval, the project took off.
The project was to come up along the Yamuna, on a platform raised from scooped silt of the river. There was a plan to construct an amusement park, malls, commercial shops, and walkways through dense wilderness to allow tourists take a leisurely stroll in moonlit nights. The corridor was to begin right from Khan-e-Alam, close to the Taj Mahal, and end two kilometres towards the city behind the Agra Fort. It was to be extended later to allow tourists to reach Etmauddaula and Ram Bagh on the other side of the river.
Rs 17 crore was spent, as hundreds of tractors, earthmovers and machines worked round the clock for three months to dig out silt and deposit it on the riverbank to create a new platform, which was laid with Rajasthani stones. But after a hue and cry from conservationists that the corridor would endanger the monument and allegations of large-scale corruption in the project, the central government suspended it in 2003. The filling of the riverbed, experts felt, would narrow the Yamuna, which might put the Taj's foundation under threat. Environmentalists now demand the site be cleaned and greened.
The project is now defunct, and plans are being made to remove the partial construction near the Taj Mahal site and replace it with a low tech forested greenbelt. Even as there is no official word regarding the fate of the project, ASI sources doubt if the Supreme Court would allow anyone to take up the matter of starting construction at the site again. Interestingly, there have been no serious objections to the corridor from the ASI, which oversees all ancient monuments in India. In an order, the SC, however, did not direct the authorities to dismantle the corridor project but called for greening it.
The project was not only a risk for the Taj Mahal and the Agra Fort but it had violated the rule prohibiting construction within 300 meters of monuments as it was found the construction work had almost touched the wall of the Agra Fort. Consequently, the heritage status of the Taj Mahal came under threat when the Unesco said it might put the Taj Mahal under 'World Heritage in Danger' list, if it found the new complex would affect the authenticity and integrity of the site and would have a negative visual impact.
The place was once supposed to remind one of Mumbai’s Marine Drive. However, bones, skulls and filth today greet visitors. The Rs 175-crore Taj Corridor Project, that proposed to build a heritage corridor between the Taj Mahal and the Agra Fort some six years ago, has now become a huge heap of mud and garbage with the site being used as a graveyard to bury dead bodies and for depositing animal carcasses.
Nobody today in the Uttar Pradesh government is willing to come on record regarding the incomplete project even as the issue has been extensively used to settle personal scores and take political mileage. A Pollution Control Board official admitted, “The site has today become a source of pollution in the Yamuna which flows behind the Taj.” Surprisingly, he said it was the responsibility of the AMC to set things right. A recent visit to the site revealed that it is being used to dump solid wastes which, during rains, find way to the river that is already saturated with pollutants. Though experts say the dry riverbed is a serious threat to the heritage monument, the Government is yet to act.
Ever since its inception, the project drew flak from all quarters, as experts believed any construction on the riverbed might alter the course of the Yamuna and would lead to ecological problems, posing a threat to the Taj Mahal, a world heritage site. “Work on the project began but was immediately stopped in 2003 after judicial and administrative interventions,” recalled an official in the Tourism Department.
Even as the matter has been in court for long with Mayawati facing corruption charges, the site has turned into a graveyard. Surprisingly, despite a court order prohibiting construction around Taj trapezium (the area in the vicinity of the Taj Mahal that has many historical monuments) without proper approval, the project took off.
The project was to come up along the Yamuna, on a platform raised from scooped silt of the river. There was a plan to construct an amusement park, malls, commercial shops, and walkways through dense wilderness to allow tourists take a leisurely stroll in moonlit nights. The corridor was to begin right from Khan-e-Alam, close to the Taj Mahal, and end two kilometres towards the city behind the Agra Fort. It was to be extended later to allow tourists to reach Etmauddaula and Ram Bagh on the other side of the river.
Rs 17 crore was spent, as hundreds of tractors, earthmovers and machines worked round the clock for three months to dig out silt and deposit it on the riverbank to create a new platform, which was laid with Rajasthani stones. But after a hue and cry from conservationists that the corridor would endanger the monument and allegations of large-scale corruption in the project, the central government suspended it in 2003. The filling of the riverbed, experts felt, would narrow the Yamuna, which might put the Taj's foundation under threat. Environmentalists now demand the site be cleaned and greened.
The project is now defunct, and plans are being made to remove the partial construction near the Taj Mahal site and replace it with a low tech forested greenbelt. Even as there is no official word regarding the fate of the project, ASI sources doubt if the Supreme Court would allow anyone to take up the matter of starting construction at the site again. Interestingly, there have been no serious objections to the corridor from the ASI, which oversees all ancient monuments in India. In an order, the SC, however, did not direct the authorities to dismantle the corridor project but called for greening it.
The project was not only a risk for the Taj Mahal and the Agra Fort but it had violated the rule prohibiting construction within 300 meters of monuments as it was found the construction work had almost touched the wall of the Agra Fort. Consequently, the heritage status of the Taj Mahal came under threat when the Unesco said it might put the Taj Mahal under 'World Heritage in Danger' list, if it found the new complex would affect the authenticity and integrity of the site and would have a negative visual impact.
Police needed to police Mathura police!
Darpan Singh, Agra
The Mathura police, it seems, have refused to learn any lesson from its mistakes. Already under fire for groping in dark and poor handling of the sensational Tripti Khandelwal murder case, here comes another blunder. This time, the Mathura police, while probing a murder case, ended up using third degree against the complainants, while hardly making any effort to nab the real culprit(s). The condition of one complainant, a minority youth, deteriorated allegedly due to excessive torture and he feinted. The SSP has suspended two cops, including the SHO of Mathura Kotwali, in this connection.
Police sources said one Rahis was strangulated to death on the night of June 22 last at a place under Kotwali police station. His body was recovered at Balmiki locality in front of Kishore Raman Inter College. Anis, the deceased’s brother, lodged a case against unidentified persons in this connection. However, police suspected the involvement of the deceased’s family members in his murder and summoned all of them for questioning. Police detained two brothers of the deceased — Anis and Bablu — and two relatives for four days. However, the family believed Rahis was killed over a monetary dispute.
On Saturday night, police took Anis to a hotel, while Bablu was taken to Bengali Ghat police outpost. Both were allegedly thrashed to confess to their involvement. Sources said Bablu was subjected to third degree torture and when his condition deteriorated, the cops, instead of taking him to hospital, allegedly dumped him in the Kotwali. When the family reached Kotwali on Sunday morning, it found Bablu lying in an unconscious state. The enraged family members created a ruckus to protest the torture. A top cop told ht on Monday, "Police have arranged for Bablu's treatment." The officer admitted that Anis’s body also bore injury marks.
Incidentally, the Mathura police, which received flak for faulty examination of the crime scene in the Tripti Khandelwal murder case, are yet to make any breakthrough. More than a week ago, Tripti Khandelwal (28), wife of trader Ravi Khandelwal, was found murdered inside her residence (C-12) in the posh Radhapuram locality under the Highway police station of Mathura. The body was recovered from a divan. Incidentally, when the recovery was made, cops were busy conducting raids outside on being informed that Tripti was missing with her house locked from outside. Earlier in the day, the cops sat on the same divan in which the body had been kept a good 5-6 hours ago
The Mathura police, it seems, have refused to learn any lesson from its mistakes. Already under fire for groping in dark and poor handling of the sensational Tripti Khandelwal murder case, here comes another blunder. This time, the Mathura police, while probing a murder case, ended up using third degree against the complainants, while hardly making any effort to nab the real culprit(s). The condition of one complainant, a minority youth, deteriorated allegedly due to excessive torture and he feinted. The SSP has suspended two cops, including the SHO of Mathura Kotwali, in this connection.
Police sources said one Rahis was strangulated to death on the night of June 22 last at a place under Kotwali police station. His body was recovered at Balmiki locality in front of Kishore Raman Inter College. Anis, the deceased’s brother, lodged a case against unidentified persons in this connection. However, police suspected the involvement of the deceased’s family members in his murder and summoned all of them for questioning. Police detained two brothers of the deceased — Anis and Bablu — and two relatives for four days. However, the family believed Rahis was killed over a monetary dispute.
On Saturday night, police took Anis to a hotel, while Bablu was taken to Bengali Ghat police outpost. Both were allegedly thrashed to confess to their involvement. Sources said Bablu was subjected to third degree torture and when his condition deteriorated, the cops, instead of taking him to hospital, allegedly dumped him in the Kotwali. When the family reached Kotwali on Sunday morning, it found Bablu lying in an unconscious state. The enraged family members created a ruckus to protest the torture. A top cop told ht on Monday, "Police have arranged for Bablu's treatment." The officer admitted that Anis’s body also bore injury marks.
Incidentally, the Mathura police, which received flak for faulty examination of the crime scene in the Tripti Khandelwal murder case, are yet to make any breakthrough. More than a week ago, Tripti Khandelwal (28), wife of trader Ravi Khandelwal, was found murdered inside her residence (C-12) in the posh Radhapuram locality under the Highway police station of Mathura. The body was recovered from a divan. Incidentally, when the recovery was made, cops were busy conducting raids outside on being informed that Tripti was missing with her house locked from outside. Earlier in the day, the cops sat on the same divan in which the body had been kept a good 5-6 hours ago
Scholar still fears for life
For Sheetal Birla, a research scholar, who has taken on the might of a heavyweight MLA belonging to the ruling party, the fight might have got over, but the battle has just begun. Even as Dibai legislator Shribhagwan Sharma alias Guddu Pandit has been arrested and his Z plus security cover withdrawn, the research scholar fears for her life like never before.
Talking to HT at her Kasganj residence on Sunday evening, Sheetal termed the security arrangements made for her family inadequate. Looking shaken from being on the run for the past 45 days, she said, “I still fear for my life. What will these three cops do? Guddu can do anything even from behind the bars. He has already threatened to eliminate my brother.” Though the police chiefs of Eta and Kanshiram Nagar districts have deputed a sub-inspector and two constables at her residence, the parents — Dinesh and Manorama Birla — too look terrified. They said, “Hamaare bachhe bahar bhi jaate hain, police kahan-kahan unhe security degi.”
Sheetal thanked Chief Minister Mayawati for taking prompt action and ordering arrest of the MLA. She, however, said, “Had Guddu not done what he did to me and agreed to desert his wife, I would have chosen to spend the rest of my life with him. I was madly in love with him.” In the same breath, she said her briefcase was with the MLA which had a lot of evidence to substantiate the charges and nail the latter. She expressed happiness over the suspension of the Ramghat (Bulandshahar) SHO for registering false cases but said, “Pathak has to be absolved of all charges. He is innocent.”
After the arrest, a whole lot of people are now coming out against the legislator. Former Principal of Agra College, Mukhtiyar Singh, has said some henchmen of the MLA, posing as policemen, had on June 17 last come looking for Sheetal at his residence and threatened him with dire consequences. The house of Pramod Pathak, who helped Sheetal when she went into hiding, was also attacked at the behest of the MLA. According to Singh, under whose guidance Sheetal is doing research, she has passed each examination with flying colours. He said, “After completing intermediate from Kasganj, she came to Agra College and was the university topper in post graduation.”
Meanwhile, contrary to his earlier statements, the Dibai MLA confessed for the first time that he had known Sheetal for the past seven years. Talking to reporters at Kasganj Kotwali, where he was brought on Sunday night, he said, “She owes me a lot of money. Not able to return the amount, she is trying to frame me.” He, however, categorically denied reports of his marriage with Sheetal.
Once known as a close aide of former UP Minister Amar Mani Tripathy, Guddu had deposed in court as a CBI witness in the Madhumita Shukla murder case. Guddu, believed to own assets worth crores of rupees, once worked as a driver for Tripathy. In the last Assembly polls, he got elected from Dibai as a BSP candidate, defeating the son of former UP CM Kalyan Singh. Police sources said Guddu was a leading property dealer in Noida and was wanted in more than a dozen criminal cases.
As a key Brahmin leader from Bulandshahar in western Uttar Pradesh, he is said to be crucial to Mayawati’s social engineering concept. And the issue of his arrest has begun assuming political hues. While the BSP is taking credit for nailing its own MLAs and showing zero tolerance for crime, the Samajwadi Party (SP) is trying to cash in on the recent arrest of BSP MLAs for serious crime. Party State Secretary Ramsakal Gurjar said in a statement that the BSP was a party of criminals. He said that Pramod Pathak was an SP worker and though the Ramghat SHO had been placed under suspension, Pathak had to be absolved of all false charges.
Talking to HT at her Kasganj residence on Sunday evening, Sheetal termed the security arrangements made for her family inadequate. Looking shaken from being on the run for the past 45 days, she said, “I still fear for my life. What will these three cops do? Guddu can do anything even from behind the bars. He has already threatened to eliminate my brother.” Though the police chiefs of Eta and Kanshiram Nagar districts have deputed a sub-inspector and two constables at her residence, the parents — Dinesh and Manorama Birla — too look terrified. They said, “Hamaare bachhe bahar bhi jaate hain, police kahan-kahan unhe security degi.”
Sheetal thanked Chief Minister Mayawati for taking prompt action and ordering arrest of the MLA. She, however, said, “Had Guddu not done what he did to me and agreed to desert his wife, I would have chosen to spend the rest of my life with him. I was madly in love with him.” In the same breath, she said her briefcase was with the MLA which had a lot of evidence to substantiate the charges and nail the latter. She expressed happiness over the suspension of the Ramghat (Bulandshahar) SHO for registering false cases but said, “Pathak has to be absolved of all charges. He is innocent.”
After the arrest, a whole lot of people are now coming out against the legislator. Former Principal of Agra College, Mukhtiyar Singh, has said some henchmen of the MLA, posing as policemen, had on June 17 last come looking for Sheetal at his residence and threatened him with dire consequences. The house of Pramod Pathak, who helped Sheetal when she went into hiding, was also attacked at the behest of the MLA. According to Singh, under whose guidance Sheetal is doing research, she has passed each examination with flying colours. He said, “After completing intermediate from Kasganj, she came to Agra College and was the university topper in post graduation.”
Meanwhile, contrary to his earlier statements, the Dibai MLA confessed for the first time that he had known Sheetal for the past seven years. Talking to reporters at Kasganj Kotwali, where he was brought on Sunday night, he said, “She owes me a lot of money. Not able to return the amount, she is trying to frame me.” He, however, categorically denied reports of his marriage with Sheetal.
Once known as a close aide of former UP Minister Amar Mani Tripathy, Guddu had deposed in court as a CBI witness in the Madhumita Shukla murder case. Guddu, believed to own assets worth crores of rupees, once worked as a driver for Tripathy. In the last Assembly polls, he got elected from Dibai as a BSP candidate, defeating the son of former UP CM Kalyan Singh. Police sources said Guddu was a leading property dealer in Noida and was wanted in more than a dozen criminal cases.
As a key Brahmin leader from Bulandshahar in western Uttar Pradesh, he is said to be crucial to Mayawati’s social engineering concept. And the issue of his arrest has begun assuming political hues. While the BSP is taking credit for nailing its own MLAs and showing zero tolerance for crime, the Samajwadi Party (SP) is trying to cash in on the recent arrest of BSP MLAs for serious crime. Party State Secretary Ramsakal Gurjar said in a statement that the BSP was a party of criminals. He said that Pramod Pathak was an SP worker and though the Ramghat SHO had been placed under suspension, Pathak had to be absolved of all false charges.
BSP MLA in sex scandal?
Darpan Singh, Agra
Sheetal Birla, 28, a woman college teacher and researcher, who had disappeared from Agra under mysterious circumstances and finally surfaced on Saturday, has accused BSP MLA from Dubai (Bulandshahar) Shri Bhagwan Sharma alias Guddu Pandit of trying to kill her. Contrary to earlier reports suggesting she might have been kidnapped, she said she was constantly on the run to save her life. Her father had lodged a complaint on June 17 alleging she was kidnapped by a ‘powerful person’ on May 17. The MLA has categorically denied the charges, terming them a ploy by political rivals to malign his image. When contacted on Sunday, Agra DIG NK Srivastava refused to say anything.
Sheetal was located from a house at Shikohabad in Firozabad and brought to Agra by police. She alleged that the MLA had married her at Haridwar after their first meeting that took place three years ago at a trader’s house. She said, “When I came to know that he was already married, I tried to get out of his life. But he was not willing to let go of me and wanted me to be his mistress which was not acceptable to me.” She said, “He has been after my life ever since I began trying to get rid of him. I stopped being in touch with my family as he succeeded in tracing my locations as I made phone calls.” Strangely enough, she did not level any charge in writing, saying she had lost faith in police.
She said her friend Pramod was trying to save her from the MLA and his life was also in danger. Pramod has been arrested in connection with a case lodged earlier. Sheetal has also been booked in a case of fraud. She, however, said, “Cases against both of us are concocted, lodged by the same person at Guddu’s behest.” She said she was repeatedly threatened, misbehaved and told to keep mum and the accused is a sitting MLA of the ruling party there is hardly any hope for her in this case.
The MLA, on the other hand, refuted the charges, saying, “The Chief Minister can herself look into the allegations. I do not know any woman by the name of Sheetal Birla. If charges leveled against me are found true, I will quit politics and go to jail. The girl herself is a fraud who has already been booked by the police.” Contradicting this statement, police quoted the MLA as saying, “Sheetal’s brother was a friend. I used to go to their place.” When contacted, senior police refused to say much as the matter involves a ruling party MLA. A top cop said, “The matter is being investigated. Appropriate action would be taken.”
The MLA has dared cops to find any evidence against him, saying he is ready to be booked if the police can prove anything. But Sheetal has said she has ample evidence to substantiate the charges and nail the MLA. She said, “I have a cell phone for which the SIM had been provided to me by the MLA. The SIM has been issued in the name of one of his servants. Call details will show she has spent hours talking to me.” Meanwhile, when Sheetal’s statements were being recorded by the police here on Saturday, uproarious scenes were created and she even accused an Inspector of misbehaving with her.
Incidentally, Sheetal prior to her disappearance wrote to police that a BSP MLA was threatening to kill her. Shital’s father Dinesh Chandra Birla, a businessman based in Etah, received threat calls, police sources said. Shital, who was doing her PhD in chemistry and taught at Agra College, met the politician in 2006 when he was not an MLA. In December 2006, Shital lodged a police complaint saying the politician misbehaved with her for rejecting to his advances. She, however, withdrew the complaint after the politician apologised. The BSP leader re-established contact after becoming an MLA in May 2007. On May 10 this year, Shital again approached Agra DIG NK Srivastava, alleging the politician was harassing her. “He has evil designs and I fear for my life,” she reportedly wrote.
The MLA was once associated with former BSP minister Amar Mani Tripathi, in jail for the murder of poetess Madhumita Shukla. Shukla is said to have had an affair with Tripathi and had allegedly threatened to expose him after she got pregnant. However, this is not the only scandal involving Uttar Pradesh politicians. In October 2006, Meerut college professor Kavita Chaudhary was murdered allegedly by some Rashtriya Lok Dal ministers who are said to have sexually exploited her. On June 14 this year, former BSP minister Anandsen Yadav was arrested on the charge of kidnapping and murdering Faizabad college girl Shashi, 24, apparently after an affair.
Sheetal Birla, 28, a woman college teacher and researcher, who had disappeared from Agra under mysterious circumstances and finally surfaced on Saturday, has accused BSP MLA from Dubai (Bulandshahar) Shri Bhagwan Sharma alias Guddu Pandit of trying to kill her. Contrary to earlier reports suggesting she might have been kidnapped, she said she was constantly on the run to save her life. Her father had lodged a complaint on June 17 alleging she was kidnapped by a ‘powerful person’ on May 17. The MLA has categorically denied the charges, terming them a ploy by political rivals to malign his image. When contacted on Sunday, Agra DIG NK Srivastava refused to say anything.
Sheetal was located from a house at Shikohabad in Firozabad and brought to Agra by police. She alleged that the MLA had married her at Haridwar after their first meeting that took place three years ago at a trader’s house. She said, “When I came to know that he was already married, I tried to get out of his life. But he was not willing to let go of me and wanted me to be his mistress which was not acceptable to me.” She said, “He has been after my life ever since I began trying to get rid of him. I stopped being in touch with my family as he succeeded in tracing my locations as I made phone calls.” Strangely enough, she did not level any charge in writing, saying she had lost faith in police.
She said her friend Pramod was trying to save her from the MLA and his life was also in danger. Pramod has been arrested in connection with a case lodged earlier. Sheetal has also been booked in a case of fraud. She, however, said, “Cases against both of us are concocted, lodged by the same person at Guddu’s behest.” She said she was repeatedly threatened, misbehaved and told to keep mum and the accused is a sitting MLA of the ruling party there is hardly any hope for her in this case.
The MLA, on the other hand, refuted the charges, saying, “The Chief Minister can herself look into the allegations. I do not know any woman by the name of Sheetal Birla. If charges leveled against me are found true, I will quit politics and go to jail. The girl herself is a fraud who has already been booked by the police.” Contradicting this statement, police quoted the MLA as saying, “Sheetal’s brother was a friend. I used to go to their place.” When contacted, senior police refused to say much as the matter involves a ruling party MLA. A top cop said, “The matter is being investigated. Appropriate action would be taken.”
The MLA has dared cops to find any evidence against him, saying he is ready to be booked if the police can prove anything. But Sheetal has said she has ample evidence to substantiate the charges and nail the MLA. She said, “I have a cell phone for which the SIM had been provided to me by the MLA. The SIM has been issued in the name of one of his servants. Call details will show she has spent hours talking to me.” Meanwhile, when Sheetal’s statements were being recorded by the police here on Saturday, uproarious scenes were created and she even accused an Inspector of misbehaving with her.
Incidentally, Sheetal prior to her disappearance wrote to police that a BSP MLA was threatening to kill her. Shital’s father Dinesh Chandra Birla, a businessman based in Etah, received threat calls, police sources said. Shital, who was doing her PhD in chemistry and taught at Agra College, met the politician in 2006 when he was not an MLA. In December 2006, Shital lodged a police complaint saying the politician misbehaved with her for rejecting to his advances. She, however, withdrew the complaint after the politician apologised. The BSP leader re-established contact after becoming an MLA in May 2007. On May 10 this year, Shital again approached Agra DIG NK Srivastava, alleging the politician was harassing her. “He has evil designs and I fear for my life,” she reportedly wrote.
The MLA was once associated with former BSP minister Amar Mani Tripathi, in jail for the murder of poetess Madhumita Shukla. Shukla is said to have had an affair with Tripathi and had allegedly threatened to expose him after she got pregnant. However, this is not the only scandal involving Uttar Pradesh politicians. In October 2006, Meerut college professor Kavita Chaudhary was murdered allegedly by some Rashtriya Lok Dal ministers who are said to have sexually exploited her. On June 14 this year, former BSP minister Anandsen Yadav was arrested on the charge of kidnapping and murdering Faizabad college girl Shashi, 24, apparently after an affair.
Agra not ready for mega tourism boom?
Darpan Singh, Agra
The Commonwealth Games are barely three years’ away. And with the number of tourists likely to go up in an unprecedented way during the event, Agra hopes to reap rich dividends. Though the State boasts of steps being initiated in this regard, saying it cannot afford to make a mess of the opportunity, plans can go awry as the preparations to cash in on the tourists’ inflow or the existing infrastructural facilities are anything but up to the mark.
Though a whole lot of development projects aimed at upgrading the civic infrastructure have been announced and initiated in the Agra-Mathura region, highly placed sources told HT that most of them are not likely to be completed before the forthcoming Commonwealth Games in 2010. Experts in the tourism industry are expecting the number of tourists visiting Agra to go up by several lakhs during the event. However, the hotel industry is not looking well prepared for the boom and is awfully short of adequate accommodations to deal with the ‘historic’ numbers expected in the city of Taj three years down the line.
In all likelihood, thousands of new hotel rooms will be required to meet the demand, construction of which may take a lot of time, going by the UP Government standards. State Tourism Director General Sushil Kumar recently issued instructions to prepare a plan regarding construction of hotel rooms. Hoteliers have also been asked to come up with suggestions in this regard but anything concrete is yet to be finalised. Moreover, when tourists start flooding the city in 2010, more emporiums, restaurants and conference halls will also be needed.
When contacted by HT, Joint Director, Tourism, Avinash Mishra refused to say anything, saying he was on leave. If the impact of the Gujjar agitation on the industry is not taken into account, the number of tourists visiting Agra had been on the rise in recent times. But poor infrastructure is definitely a big hurdle. The shortage of hotel rooms was felt during the recent ‘holyday boom.’ Regarding apprehensions that if construction was carried out on a large scale, most accommodations would be left redundant once the Games are over, hoteliers say along with fresh constructions, makeshift arrangements have be made as well.
Said a source in the Tourism Department, “After all, Agra seeks a change in its fortune. Even otherwise, we are found wanting when it comes to accommodation for tourists.” As of now, the city can boast of only 5,420 rooms from its five 5-star, one 4-star, one 3-star and 300 budget hotels. Making matters worse, the government plan to provide subsidy on construction of hotel rooms has been put in the cold storage. Even the number of benches in the city does not suffice. Though tourists get to encounter the railway stations in Agra before they see anything else, marred by congestion and lack of sanitation, their condition can upset anyone.
Despite Chief Minister Mayawati announcing several schemes on April 15 last year, tourists continue to be a harried lot because of erratic power supply, drinking water crisis and poor health, sanitation and communication facilities. The lone tourism police station in the city is also in a shambles sending a wrong message to the outside world. Its upgradation plan is moving on at a snail’s pace and it is hard to comprehend as to how it will deal with a barrage of complaints during the boom. Experts feel a complete turnaround is needed in all these areas not only to rake in moolah but also to build a good image of the State and show hospitality to the touring guests.
Lack of proper guidance for tourists is another major problem with signposts damaged and a number of them becoming misleading, hardly serving any purpose. Said a tour operator, “Once in town, tourists are mostly left to fend for themselves. Even inside the Taj Mahal complex, such facilities are conspicuous by their absence, forcing visitors to struggle in getting to know which route to take to reach a certain destination.” He said Information on all important destinations must be provided so that tourists did not remain confined to the Taj and added tourist cells should also be opened at all important places in the city to guide visitors and show them around.
Though no government representative was willing to come on record over the issue, they refused to admit that the city was not prepared. When contacted, a senior official said, “Concrete shape is being given to many a project and even deadlines for their completion and inauguration have been fixed.” According to him, a bridge on the Yamuna close to the existing Jawahar Bridge should be ready by 2010 and work on at least three new flyovers in the city will begin soon. He said, “Work on the new Inter State Bus Terminus on the Delhi highway is continuing at a brisk pace. The condition of Paliwal Park and Shah Jahan garden will also be improved.”
The Commonwealth Games are barely three years’ away. And with the number of tourists likely to go up in an unprecedented way during the event, Agra hopes to reap rich dividends. Though the State boasts of steps being initiated in this regard, saying it cannot afford to make a mess of the opportunity, plans can go awry as the preparations to cash in on the tourists’ inflow or the existing infrastructural facilities are anything but up to the mark.
Though a whole lot of development projects aimed at upgrading the civic infrastructure have been announced and initiated in the Agra-Mathura region, highly placed sources told HT that most of them are not likely to be completed before the forthcoming Commonwealth Games in 2010. Experts in the tourism industry are expecting the number of tourists visiting Agra to go up by several lakhs during the event. However, the hotel industry is not looking well prepared for the boom and is awfully short of adequate accommodations to deal with the ‘historic’ numbers expected in the city of Taj three years down the line.
In all likelihood, thousands of new hotel rooms will be required to meet the demand, construction of which may take a lot of time, going by the UP Government standards. State Tourism Director General Sushil Kumar recently issued instructions to prepare a plan regarding construction of hotel rooms. Hoteliers have also been asked to come up with suggestions in this regard but anything concrete is yet to be finalised. Moreover, when tourists start flooding the city in 2010, more emporiums, restaurants and conference halls will also be needed.
When contacted by HT, Joint Director, Tourism, Avinash Mishra refused to say anything, saying he was on leave. If the impact of the Gujjar agitation on the industry is not taken into account, the number of tourists visiting Agra had been on the rise in recent times. But poor infrastructure is definitely a big hurdle. The shortage of hotel rooms was felt during the recent ‘holyday boom.’ Regarding apprehensions that if construction was carried out on a large scale, most accommodations would be left redundant once the Games are over, hoteliers say along with fresh constructions, makeshift arrangements have be made as well.
Said a source in the Tourism Department, “After all, Agra seeks a change in its fortune. Even otherwise, we are found wanting when it comes to accommodation for tourists.” As of now, the city can boast of only 5,420 rooms from its five 5-star, one 4-star, one 3-star and 300 budget hotels. Making matters worse, the government plan to provide subsidy on construction of hotel rooms has been put in the cold storage. Even the number of benches in the city does not suffice. Though tourists get to encounter the railway stations in Agra before they see anything else, marred by congestion and lack of sanitation, their condition can upset anyone.
Despite Chief Minister Mayawati announcing several schemes on April 15 last year, tourists continue to be a harried lot because of erratic power supply, drinking water crisis and poor health, sanitation and communication facilities. The lone tourism police station in the city is also in a shambles sending a wrong message to the outside world. Its upgradation plan is moving on at a snail’s pace and it is hard to comprehend as to how it will deal with a barrage of complaints during the boom. Experts feel a complete turnaround is needed in all these areas not only to rake in moolah but also to build a good image of the State and show hospitality to the touring guests.
Lack of proper guidance for tourists is another major problem with signposts damaged and a number of them becoming misleading, hardly serving any purpose. Said a tour operator, “Once in town, tourists are mostly left to fend for themselves. Even inside the Taj Mahal complex, such facilities are conspicuous by their absence, forcing visitors to struggle in getting to know which route to take to reach a certain destination.” He said Information on all important destinations must be provided so that tourists did not remain confined to the Taj and added tourist cells should also be opened at all important places in the city to guide visitors and show them around.
Though no government representative was willing to come on record over the issue, they refused to admit that the city was not prepared. When contacted, a senior official said, “Concrete shape is being given to many a project and even deadlines for their completion and inauguration have been fixed.” According to him, a bridge on the Yamuna close to the existing Jawahar Bridge should be ready by 2010 and work on at least three new flyovers in the city will begin soon. He said, “Work on the new Inter State Bus Terminus on the Delhi highway is continuing at a brisk pace. The condition of Paliwal Park and Shah Jahan garden will also be improved.”
Agra, also a city of world records
Darpan Singh, Agra
When fourteen-year-old Akash Gupta on Tuesday last set a new world record by playing the guitar for 45 hours at the 162-year-old St. Peter's College in Agra to get into the Guinness Book of World Records, he also took forward the city’s legacy in sating records in different walks of life. People of the Taj city earlier too brought laurels by getting enlisted themselves in the Limca and the Guinness book of records.
In 1998, Dr Parth Sarthi Sharma made the record of treating the highest number of patients in a year. The Central Government also acknowledged the feat. Graduated from Vasundhura Raje Homoeopathic Medical College, Gwalior, the young doctor worked as medical officer in-charge at a local clinic and took immense interest in homoeopathy, developing special interest in treating patients.
In 2000, Dinesh Shandilya set the record of making and playing five-feet-long flute. He is now aiming to play ten-feet-long flute. Shandilya has his name enlisted in the Limca Book of Records and the Guinness Book of World Records for making and playing the world's longest and smallest flutes. In 1996, he made a flute five feet long and 3.5 inches in diameter. It was made of Poly Venyl Chloride because Dinesh could not find a bamboo of 3.5 diameters. The smallest flute he made and played is 4.5 inches long.
More recently, Ashish Sharma of Mathura created a new world record by viewing movies non-stop for almost five days, breaking an earlier record of 117 hours, four minutes set by a German woman. Sharma watched movies for 120 hours at the KD Dental College auditorium in Mathura. For almost five days, he kept watching films. He began on June 11 and watched 48 movies. Despite breaking the German record, he continued to watch movies for another four hours.
Akash, who broke American Brian Engelhart's 2005 record of 44 hours at and continued playing with the aim of breaking his own record of 52 hours and 48 minutes that earned him a place in the Limca Book of Records last year, now wants to study in London and become an aeronautical engineer. He however said, “But the process of learning has to be ‘musical’ or else I will lose interest. “ Though there is a lot of pain in his swollen fingers because of the non-stop playing of the guitar, he has not let the rigour dampen his spirit. He said, “I will never quit playing guitar; it’s my life.” To a question as to what inspired him to take on the challenge, he quipped in a lighter vein, “I thought, I would get a laptop if I made it.”
Guinness World Records judge Ralph Hana, who was in the city of Taj to witness the process and hand over the certificate, admitted to the trend and said an increasing number of people were queuing up to set records, which earlier attracted mostly Europeans and Americans. “Such activities get the people of the town together as they encourage and cheer their hero to scale new heights. As you can see in Agra, people are very involved,” he said. “The spirit of adventure is crucial for human progress. Ever higher, better than before - these thoughts fuelled man's urge to compete and set new records,” Hanna said.
When fourteen-year-old Akash Gupta on Tuesday last set a new world record by playing the guitar for 45 hours at the 162-year-old St. Peter's College in Agra to get into the Guinness Book of World Records, he also took forward the city’s legacy in sating records in different walks of life. People of the Taj city earlier too brought laurels by getting enlisted themselves in the Limca and the Guinness book of records.
In 1998, Dr Parth Sarthi Sharma made the record of treating the highest number of patients in a year. The Central Government also acknowledged the feat. Graduated from Vasundhura Raje Homoeopathic Medical College, Gwalior, the young doctor worked as medical officer in-charge at a local clinic and took immense interest in homoeopathy, developing special interest in treating patients.
In 2000, Dinesh Shandilya set the record of making and playing five-feet-long flute. He is now aiming to play ten-feet-long flute. Shandilya has his name enlisted in the Limca Book of Records and the Guinness Book of World Records for making and playing the world's longest and smallest flutes. In 1996, he made a flute five feet long and 3.5 inches in diameter. It was made of Poly Venyl Chloride because Dinesh could not find a bamboo of 3.5 diameters. The smallest flute he made and played is 4.5 inches long.
More recently, Ashish Sharma of Mathura created a new world record by viewing movies non-stop for almost five days, breaking an earlier record of 117 hours, four minutes set by a German woman. Sharma watched movies for 120 hours at the KD Dental College auditorium in Mathura. For almost five days, he kept watching films. He began on June 11 and watched 48 movies. Despite breaking the German record, he continued to watch movies for another four hours.
Akash, who broke American Brian Engelhart's 2005 record of 44 hours at and continued playing with the aim of breaking his own record of 52 hours and 48 minutes that earned him a place in the Limca Book of Records last year, now wants to study in London and become an aeronautical engineer. He however said, “But the process of learning has to be ‘musical’ or else I will lose interest. “ Though there is a lot of pain in his swollen fingers because of the non-stop playing of the guitar, he has not let the rigour dampen his spirit. He said, “I will never quit playing guitar; it’s my life.” To a question as to what inspired him to take on the challenge, he quipped in a lighter vein, “I thought, I would get a laptop if I made it.”
Guinness World Records judge Ralph Hana, who was in the city of Taj to witness the process and hand over the certificate, admitted to the trend and said an increasing number of people were queuing up to set records, which earlier attracted mostly Europeans and Americans. “Such activities get the people of the town together as they encourage and cheer their hero to scale new heights. As you can see in Agra, people are very involved,” he said. “The spirit of adventure is crucial for human progress. Ever higher, better than before - these thoughts fuelled man's urge to compete and set new records,” Hanna said.
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