News Analysis India

Tag: Noida

  • BJP plans to defame Bollywood and move it to Uttar Pradesh: Maharashtra minister Nawab Malik

    Express News Service

    MUMBAI: Maharashtra minister Nawab Malik alleged that the BJP has a larger conspiracy to defame Bollywood and Mumbai and later move the industry to Noida where Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath proposed to set up a film city.

    Attacking the BJP, the NCP leader said that the saffron party is using central agencies like Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) and its zonal director Sameer Wankhede to defame and destroy the industry by levelling flimsy charges against Bollywood personalities along with harassing and forcing them to move out of Mumbai.

    ALSO READ| Will expose nexus between Wankhede and some BJP leaders: Nawab Malik

    “Bollywood is mini India where in people  from all parts of the country and globe happily stay and work. Mumbai has given name and fame to many hardworking and smart people irrespective of their religion and caste. The film industry has spread Indian culture across the globe and generated jobs for locals and outsiders. The BJP could not digest the glory and success of Mumbai and hence, are constantly attacking the city and its people,” Malik said adding that the BJP will not succeed in its malafide game plan.

    Malik said that the person who was arrested on fraudulent charges by Wankhede got bail and the person who was seen dragging Aryan Khan is now in jail for the cheating case. “The man who was threatening people for putting them in jail is now running for bail. The situation has changed and we call it Karma. Many more things will come out in public limelight against Sameer Wankhede and NCB,” the NCP leader said.

    Nawab Malik also levelled serious charges against Wankhede that he did not allow other honest officers of the NCB to conduct raids and take action against Kashif Khan, head of Fashion TV (India) who runs a drug and sex racket.

    “Kashif Khan is very close to Sameer Wankhede and hence, the latter will never take actions against Mr Khan. However, situations are slowly changing and we will expose all those who are a part of Wankhede’s extortion gang,” Malik said.

    ALSO READ| ‘Absolutely a lie’: Sameer Wankhede on Nawab Malik’s allegation

    Wankhede denied all allegations and said that these are lies being spread against him while his wife Kranti Redkar said that they will not speak on this issue now and will fight in court.

    Thank you @nawabmalikncp for taking a stand against the engineered campaign of hate towards the Hindi film Industry. It makes us feel less orphaned. Bollywood & Bombay/Mumbai are Intrinsically linked.This is the city of dreams after all & has sustained millions over the years.  https://t.co/seMh3WFRJE
    — Pooja Bhatt (@PoojaB1972) October 29, 2021
    Meanwhile, reacting to the minister’s remarks, actor Pooja Bhatt tweeted “Thank you, Nawab Malik, for taking a stand against the engineered campaign of hate towards the Hindi film Industry. It makes us feel less orphaned. Bollywood & Bombay/Mumbai are intrinsically linked. This is the city of dreams after all and has sustained millions over the years.”

  • Man held for raping, assaulting fiancée: Noida Police

    By PTI

    NOIDA: A Delhi-based man was arrested on Wednesday for allegedly raping and assaulting his 21-year-old fiancée, the Noida police said.

    The accused, who lived in the Zakir Nagar area of Delhi, was absconding since an FIR was lodged against him on July 17.

    He was arrested from Kanpur, the police said.

    “The accused’s fiancée, who lives in Noida, got a police complaint lodged claiming rape and assault by the man in March. She had also claimed that the accused had threatened to harm her if she told anyone about the incident,” a police spokesperson said.

    On the basis of the complaint, an FIR was lodged under Indian Penal Code sections 376 (rape) 354B (assault on woman with intent to disrobe her), 504 (intentional insult with intent to provoke breach of the peace) and 506 (criminal intimidation) at the Sector 39 police station, the official said.

    The accused, aged around 30 years, was arrested from Pandunagar in Kanpur district of Uttar Pradesh.

    According to the complainant, she met the accused at a wedding in 2018 and a few days later, his family reached out to her parents with a marriage proposal.

    The two families were in talks for the marriage when the accused reached out to her personally over social media platform Instagram, she told the police.

    The woman said they had a tiff due to his “objectionable demands” during their internet chats but eventually, things were back on track and they got engaged in January.

    “On March 13, I told him that my parents had gone to Delhi for some work. Soon he landed up outside my society and gave me a call, asking me to tell the security guard to allow me to enter. He told me that he got a surprise gift for me and would leave immediately,” she told the police.

    “However, soon after coming to my flat, he started asking me to get physically intimate with him. When I objected, he hurled abuses at me and tried to emotionally blackmail me. When I still resisted his advances, he assaulted me and then forced himself on me,” she alleged.

    The woman alleged that she did not talk about the incident to anyone as the accused had threatened to defame her and her family on social media platforms.

    “Eventually, my father noticed my changed behaviour and asked about it in June. I narrated my ordeal to him, after which I approached the police to get an FIR lodged,” she said.

  • Asked for car’s documents, Greater Noida man abducts traffic cop; arrested

    By PTI

    NOIDA: A 29-year-old man in Uttar Pradesh’s Greater Noida has been arrested for allegedly abducting an on-duty traffic policeman who had stopped him to check the documents of his car, officials said.

    The car was suspected to have been stolen and the accused asked the traffic policeman to get inside the vehicle to see the documents, but forcibly took him on over a 10-km-long drive before dumping him near a police post, they said.

    “Accused Sachin Rawal had stolen the Maruti Swift Dzire from a showroom in Gurgaon, Haryana two years ago on the pretext of taking the car out on a test drive,” a police spokesperson said.

    “Rawal, who lives in Ghodi Bacheda village in Greater Noida, had put on a forged number plate on his car, the number of which was same as that of a car belonging to a resident of his village,” he said.

    On Sunday morning, the traffic police had started a vehicle checking campaign in Surajpur where Rawal’s car was intercepted for inquiry following an input that he was travelling in a stolen vehicle, the official said.

    Traffic constable Virendra Singh had asked Rawal to show the documents related to the vehicle.

    Rawal asked him to get inside the car and that he would show soft copies of the documents which he claimed were in his mobile phone.

    “However, Rawal locked the car once the constable sat inside and took off. He later dumped the contable near Ajayabpur police chowki and sped away,” the police spokesperson said.

    An FIR was lodged at the Surajpur Police Station on Monday under IPC sections 364 (kidnapping), 353 (assault or criminal force to deter public servant from discharge of his duty) and 368 (wrongfully concealing or keeping in confinement, kidnapped or abducted person) and the accused was arrested later in the day, police said.

    The car used in the crime has also been impounded, they added.

  • 10-yr-old diesel, 15-yr-old petrol vehicles to be impounded: Noida’s winter plan to check pollution

    By PTI

    NOIDA: In a measure to prevent air pollution, the Gautam Buddh Nagar administration has asked the district police to impound diesel vehicles older than 10 years and petrol vehicles older than 15 years in compliance with a Supreme Court order.

    Police have also been asked to ensure that vehicles not destined for Noida or Greater Noida use bypasses or peripheral expressways, according to the ‘winter action plan’ issued by the Gautam Buddh Nagar district administration.

    It stated that police have been asked to keep a strict vigil and show no tolerance for visible emissions by stopping “visibly polluting vehicles” from plying by impounding or issuing fines to offenders.

    The administration on October 6 released the ‘winter action plan’ to check pollution to various government agencies and authorities ahead of winters, during which air pollution in the National Capital Region (NCR), including Noida and Greater Noida, spikes to severe levels affecting human health.

    The administration asked the police to list traffic hot-spots in the district and release it and an advisory accordingly.

    “Deploy additional man power and civil defence volunteers to ensure smooth traffic flow at identified traffic hot-spots and impound diesel vehicles older than 10 years and petrol vehicles older than 15 years in compliance of the Supreme Court’s order,” the plan stated.

    “Ensure that non-destined vehicles use bypasses or peripheral expressways, keep strict vigilance and no tolerance for visible emissions – stop plying of visibly polluting vehicles by impounding/fine,” it said.

    The police have also been asked to keep strict vigilance and enforcement of pollution under control (PUC) norms besides ensuring stoppage of encroachment on footpaths.

    “Check and resolve issues such as congestion and unusual dust emission due to traffic or parking, and ensure compliance of action plans on the identified pollution hotspots in the city,” according to the plan.

    The police have also been asked to ensure implementation of orders of the Supreme Court regarding prohibition or restriction in the sale and use of fire crackers in NCR.

    “Ensure immediate redressal of complaints received on Sameer, Swachh Vayu, Twitter etc,” it added.

    Earlier the Uttar Pradesh Pollution Control Board identified eight key air pollution hot spots in Noida and Greater Noida, according to the Gautam Buddh Nagar district administration, which has directed local authorities to ensure implementation of the action plan to check pollution during winters.

    The hot spots identified are Sector 7X (a collective of group housing societies in sector 73 to 78 of Noida), Sector 150, the Yamuna Pusta area, the Noida-Greater Noida Expressway, the Dadri road, the underpass and building construction along Noida-Greater Noida Expressway, Greater Noida West and UPSIDC industrial areas, it said.

    The major air pollution sources have been identified as road dust, construction and demolition (C&D) waste, industrial dust emissions, unpaved roads and traffic congestion, the administration said in a communication on Wednesday to all three local industrial development authorities and other departments concerned. 

  • Bharat Bandh: Security up at UP-Delhi borders; police put up barricades, check vehicles

    By PTI

    GHAZIABAD/NOIDA: Security was beefed up along the borders of Ghaziabad and Noida with Delhi while traffic movement on some key routes was hit on Monday morning due to the Bharat Bandh called by a section of farmers against the Centre’s three agri laws.

    The Ghaziabad Police closed a national highway that connects Ghaziabad and Nizamuddin in Delhi.

    Heavy police force and the provincial armed constabulary (PAC) has been deployed in the district and routes have been diverted, Senior Superintendent of Police Pawan Kumar said, adding that the forces are on alert.

    Farmer leaders had declared that the ‘Raj Talkies’ intersection of Modi Nagar would be blocked, and therefore vehicles have been diverted from Partapur, Meerut, to the expressway.

    Vehicles arriving from Hapur and Ghaziabad have been diverted towards Noida as the peripheral expressway is closed, the police said.

    At the UP Gate, which is also the protest site of the Bharatiya Kisan Union (BKU) since November last year, police have put up barricades on the highway to check vehicles.

    “Nobody is allowed to travel from this route between Delhi and Ghaziabad due to the Bharat Bandh call,” Superintendent of Police (second) Gyanendra Singh told PTI.

    ALSO READ | Bharat Bandh: RJD, Congress, Left parties block highways, rail in Bihar 

    Apart from UP Gate at Ghazipur border, all three borders between Delhi and Ghaziabad — Ananad Vihar, Dilshad Garden-Apsara Cinema, and Tulsi Niketan — are open, the SP said.

    Meanwhile, the Noida traffic police cautioned commuters against taking the routes passing through Ghazipur in adjoining Ghaziabad for travelling to or from Delhi.

    The Samyukta Kisan Morcha (SKM), an umbrella body of over 40 farmers’ unions leading the 10-month-old agitation for withdrawal of three contentious farm laws, has called for the Bharat Bandh on Monday.

    “Routes between Noida and Delhi via Chilla and DND flyway are open. But there was an increased traffic on these routes during the peak office hours. The traffic movement had slowed down a bit because of the pressure,” a traffic police official told PTI.

    On the other side, the expressways, including the Yamuna Expressway, leading from Greater Noida into the interior districts of Uttar Pradesh like Mathura, Agra, Aligarh, Lucknow, among others were open without any hindrance in the morning, according to officials.

    In Greater Noida, hundreds of farmers, chiefly supporters of the Bharatiya Kisan Union (BKU), took out a procession which included scores of tractors and two-wheelers.

    ALSO READ | 25 trains affected due to Bharat Bandh: RailwaysSimilar processions and demonstrations were also witnessed in other western Uttar Pradesh districts like Meerut, Baghpat, Hapur and Bulandshahr among others.

    In Baghpat, members and supporters of the Rashtriya Lok Dal joined the demonstrations along with farmers unions.

    The Delhi Police also increased security checks at its border points which led to the slowing down of traffic.

    The dual carriageway at the Ghazipur border was closed for traffic by the Delhi Police, which informed commuters about road closures and traffic snarls on Twitter.

    “Due to blocking of National Highway 24 and 9 by protesters, commuters coming from Sarai Kale Khan can take alternate route for Ghaziabad i.e.Vikas Marg for Ghaziabad and for Noida via DND,” the traffic police said on Twitter.

    “The Ghazipur border is closed for traffic from both sides due to farmers’ protests. Commuters wishing to commute to and fro between UP and Delhi may use DND flyway, Vikas Marg, Signature bridge, and Wazirabad road. Traffic on NH 24 and 9 is being diverted towards Maharajpur, Apsara and Bhopura borders,” it said in a tweet.

    ALSO READ | Ready to agitate for 10 years, but won’t allow farm laws to be implemented: Rakesh Tikait ahead of ‘Bharat Bandh’

    In Muzaffarnagar, BKU activists blocked the Delhi-Dehradun national highway at Rampur Tiraha, Chapar and Nawla Kothi, a spokesperson of the union said.

    He said BKU activists have also blocked the Meerut-Karnal highway at the Vaiwala checkpost in Budhana block.

    The Khatima-Panipat highway was blockaded at Lalukheri under the Baghra block.

    In addition, roads were blocked in Morna, Jansath, Miranpur and Shahpur as well.

  • Nine involved in stealing construction material arrested in Greater Noida after gunfight

    By PTI

    NOIDA: Nine members of a gang allegedly involved in stealing construction material from various sites were arrested following a gunfight with police in Greater Noida, officials said on Tuesday.

    Two of them suffered bullet injuries during the gunfight that broke out near the Hindon Pusta under the Knowledge Park police station limits late Monday night, Additional Deputy Commissioner of Police (Greater Noida), Vishal Pandey, said.

    Three other members of the gang are absconding and searches are underway to trace them, he said.

    The officer said the Knowledge Park police team had set up a picket as part of routine check on Monday night when they saw a truck coming in and gestured it to stop.

    “However, the driver of the truck sped towards Hindon Pusta. They were chased down and soon a gunfight broke out between the truck occupants and the police in which two men suffered bullet injuries in a counter-exchange while some others managed to flee the spot,” Pandey said.

    “A combing operation was launched immediately that led to the arrest of seven men who had fled during the gunfight. Three more of their partners are absconding but searches are underway to trace them,” he said.

    Illegal firearms and ammunition were seized from their possession, Pandey said, adding the gang was involved in theft of valuable items from under-construction sites in Greater Noida and Noida.

    They had recently lifted material from a railway construction site in Greater Noida and efforts are on to dig up their criminal history, he said, adding an FIR was being lodged in the case and further proceedings were underway.

  • Suffering huge losses due to order capping interest rate on dues of builders: Noida tells Supreme Court

    By PTI

    NEW DELHI: The NOIDA authority on Monday told the Supreme Court that it is suffering huge losses and its functioning have virtually come to a standstill due to the top court’s last year orders directing it to cap the rate of interest at eight per cent on the dues for land given on lease to different real estate companies.

    It alleged that different builders have suppressed the facts from the court leading to the passing of June 10 order favouring the real estate companies in Noida and Greater Noida areas.

    A bench of Justices UU Lalit and Ajay Rastogi was told by advocate Ravindra Kumar, appearing for Noida authority, that the court by its order dated June 10, 2020 has curtailed the interest charged by the authority from the year 2010 onwards, under contracts entered into by it with builders and under which large tracts of lands belonging to the state have been made available for private exploitation by builders.

    Kumar said that it is being said that Noida authority had argued the matter before passing of the order but the fact of the matter is that a builder (Ace Group) on whose plea the order was passed, had colluded with lower rank officials and no notice was served upon the authority as a result no proper response was filed to the petition.

    “The applicant respectfully submits that the orders of this court were made in circumstances where the applicant was unable to place its defence in the court to the far-reaching financial impact that would result from the orders passed by this court. The applicant very respectfully submits that it is in the interest of justice that the orders be recalled and the matter heard a fresh,” Kumar said.

    He also pointed out that it was not a case that many builders were involved in the matter as at the time of order only Ace Group was before the court and Panchsheel builders and Supertech Group came before the court at a later stage.

    The authority further submitted that the Ace Group suppressed the facts on land interest rates, default in paying lease premiums while the company itself charged 18 per cent compound interest from buyers and the fact they had already delivered a couple of projects even before the Amrapali case was filed in 2017.

    Kumar said that the builders charge 18 per cent interest while authority used to charge 11 per cent compounded annually payable in easy instalments but they were penalised.

    He said that the authority’s working is at standstill and bearing huge losses in view of the order as now several commercial, individual, institutions are approaching the authority seeking re-settlement of dues in view of the eight per cent cap imposed by the top court.

    Kumar said that on June 9, 2020, considering the problems in cash flow created by the pandemic and its aftermath, the state government had directed a reduction of the interest being charged by the authority but this reduction in interest rates was only to apply prospectively and there was no question of refunding any interest already recovered, or reducing past demands of interest.

    The top court posted the matter for further hearing on October 1.

    At the outset, the court appointed forensic auditor Pawan Kumar Aggarwal in the Amrapali matter, said that as per last directions of the court he has filed a report in sealed cover.

    The bench asked Aggarwal to share the copy of his report with the Enforcement Directorate (ED) which has attached properties worth Rs 4.79 crore of Prem Mishra, a former director of Amrapali Group accused of diverting home buyers money through shell companies.

    Aggarwal has raised objection to the ED’s finding and said that Mishra had diverted more than Rs 10 crore of home buyers’ money from the Amrapali Group.

    The top court had then directed Aggarwal and ED to sit together and sort out the ambiguities if any in calculation of the amount.

    The bench said that it will take up the matter on October 5 and would like to have responses of ED, home buyers and Mishra on the findings of Aggarwal.

    On September 13, the ED had said that it has attached properties worth Rs 4.79 crore of a former director of Amrapali Group and is probing his transactions of diversion of home buyers’ money made through shell companies.

    It had said that the attached properties were proceeds of crime of Mishra, who being a director has raised the amount by diverting home buyers money from Amrapali Group with the help of fake invoices, bills and sham transactions.

    On September 3, the top court had warned the flat buyers of Amrapali Group who are not clearing their dues as per the payment plan to not be in any kind of delusion as their units can be cancelled and will be considered as unsold inventory.

    The NBCC had earlier told the top court that at present, 10 projects in Noida and 12 projects in Greater Noida are under execution involving 45,957 units with sanctioned project cost of Rs 8025.78 Crores.

    On August 14, the top court had initiated a process to cancel bookings of over 9,538 Amrapali project flats, which are unclaimed or booked in the name of fictitious people or are benami property, to fund stalled projects.

    The apex court in its July 23, 2019 verdict had cracked the whip on errant builders for breaching the trust reposed by home buyers and ordered the cancellation of the registration of the Amrapali Group under real estate law RERA, and ousted it from prime properties in the NCR by nixing the land leases.

    Amrapali Group directors Anil Kumar Sharma, Shiv Priya and Ajay Kumar are behind bars on the top court’s order.

  • UP man consumes poison, gives to mentally-challenged twin sons; 2 dead, one battling for life

    By PTI

    NOIDA: A 52-year-old man and one of his mentally-challenged twin sons died allegedly after consuming poison in Greater Noida on Wednesday, police said.

    According to police, the man had himself served the poison to his twin sons, aged 22, and then consumed it himself in a bid to end their lives.

    The incident took place during the day at Accheja village under Badalpur police station area, they said.

    “The man apparently did this over domestic dispute. He gave poison to his twin sons and then consumed it himself.

    Later, the trio was rushed to the community health centre in Badalpur where the man and one of his sons died during treatment,” a police spokesperson said.

    “The condition of the other son is critical. He has been referred to the district hospital, where he is currently under treatment,” the spokesperson said.

    Bodies have been sent for post mortem and further legal proceedings in the case are being carried out, the police added.

    (If you are having suicidal thoughts, or are worried about a friend or need emotional support, someone is always there to listen. Call Sneha Foundation – 04424640050 (available 24×7) or iCall, the Tata Institute of Social Sciences’ helpline – 9152987821, which is available Monday to Saturday from 8 am to 10 pm)

  • Noida: Domestic worker spikes senior citizen couple’s milk, tea, decamps with cash, valuables

    By PTI

    NOIDA: A domestic worker allegedly spiked her senior citizen employers’ milk and tea in Noida, leaving them unconscious, and decamped with cash and valuables from their house, police said on Monday.

    The domestic worker had joined the household 12 days ago and the elderly couple had not got her identity verified and did not even have a picture of her, the police said.

    Additional Deputy Commissioner of Police (Noida) Ranvijay Singh said the incident took Sunday evening at a residence in Sector 27, under Sector 20 police station limits.

    “The elderly man, around 70 years, had asked a boy who washes cars in the neighbourhood to help find a domestic help. The boy had brought in this girl, Laxmi, to the household where started working 12 days ago,” Singh said.

    “Last night, she spiked milk and tea of the couple and another girl who worked in the home.

    After consuming the beverages, all three fell unconscious and the maid escaped with some cash and other valuables,” he said.

    “The man who washes cars in the neighbourhood is also missing and it appears that the two have escaped together after planning the robbery,” he added.

    The officer said that after hiring the girl, the elderly couple had not got her identity verified and do not even have any picture of her.

    However, the police have launched a probe into the matter and are looking for the domestic worker and her suspected accomplice, he added.

    Legal proceedings are also underway to ascertain the amount of cash and valuables decamped from the house, the police said.

  • UP’s medical device park worth Rs 5,250 crore to come up in Noida, to generate 20,000 jobs

    Express News Service

    LUCKNOW: With 2022 UP Assembly polls inching close, the Yogi Adityanath government is speeding up various schemes and development works to make them see the light of the day as soon as possible.

    With Yamuna Expressway Industrial Development Authority (YEIDA) ready with the plan for the proposed Film City in Gautam Buddh Nagar and its chairman expected to present it to the Chief Minister soon, another project on the government’s list is UP’s first medical device park for which 350-acre land has been identified also by the YEIDA.

    The park is likely to draw an investment of Rs 5,250 crore and is expected to go a long way in fulfilling the Yogi government’s job promise as it will provide employment to over 20,000 people after getting functional. The park is touted to be UP’s first and north India’s biggest such entity.

    According to a state government spokesman, the medical device park, which will have an incubation centre on a five-acre land, will prove to be a boon for startups.

    He claimed that YEIDA is roping in IIT-Kanpur for setting up the incubation centre of the park and an MoU has already been signed.

    ALSO READ | Shah praises Yogi Adityanath for ‘revamped law and order in UP’, says BJP govts work for the poorest

    Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath had written a letter to the Centre to request such a park be sanctioned either in Noida or Lucknow. In the letter, the CM had reportedly said that a medical park in Noida or Lucknow would be feasible in every way.

    However, he had pitched for Noida, saying that the upcoming Jewar International Airport would give direct connectivity to the medical device park.

    The CM requested the Centre to either sanction bulk drugs or medical device parks to UP. However, the reply from the central government was still awaited, sources said.

    “YEIDA has allocated 350-acre land in Sector 28, Gautam Budh Nagar (Noida). The medical device park will come up in two phases,” an official said.

    Meanwhile, according to MSME minister Sidharth Nath Singh denied that the proposed park was an election stunt. He claimed that out of the MoUs worth Rs 4.25 lakh crore already signed during the Investor Summit in February 2018, projects worth around Rs 2 lakh crore were already on the ground.