Articles by Snehil Sinha
Only 70 people fined in two years for smoking in public
Despite the ban being effective since 2008, authorities in Gurgaon have fined not more than 32 people in 2013 and 35 in 2014, collecting about Rs. 2,000 in these two years. Interestingly, the fine amount for smoking in public places had been fixed at Rs. 200. However, the authorities seem to be lenient with offenders, fining each person just Rs. 30-35 on an average.
Updated on Feb 26, 2015 11:15 AM IST
Hindustan Times | Snehil Sinha, Gurgaon
After sunset, illegal miners wreak havoc on Aravallis
Despite the Supreme Court and Ministry of Environment prohibiting mining in the Aravallis, the mining mafia continues to chip away the rocky hills around Gurgaon and Faridabad. On Saturday, HT found fresh evidence of mining near Behrampur village in sector 69, very close to the populated city areas.
Updated on Feb 24, 2015 10:15 AM IST
Hindustan Times | Snehil Sinha, Gurgaon
Haryana trying to downplay swine flu cases, say doctors
Doctors and the Haryana health department are at odds with each other when it comes to tackling swine flu. Private labs banned from sharing number of positive swine flu cases with public, say state’s move to prescribe Tamiflu without lab report is a ploy.
Updated on Feb 19, 2015 10:31 AM IST
Hindustan Times | Snehil Sinha, Gurgaon
Authorities turn focus on e-waste management
For an IT hub, which throws up unaccounted but considerable amount of e-waste, it is appalling that Gurgaon does not have any recycling centre or even basic e-waste management system. If one scours the city one can find five e-waste dismantling units in the Gurgaon-Manesar area.
Updated on Feb 16, 2015 02:55 PM IST
Hindustan Times | Snehil Sinha and Dhananjay Jha, Gurgaon
No breathing space for trees: NGO takes fight to green court
Trees that dot the streets of Gurgaon are few and far between, but even those few are quickly drying up. According to environmentalists, some space should be left around trees to allow air and water into the roots. However, the newly constructed footpaths in several parts of the city are not following this practice.
Updated on Feb 07, 2015 12:00 PM IST
Hindustan Times | Snehil Sinha, Gurgaon
Dhoni’s baby girl born just ahead of World Cup!
It seems the Indian Cricket team captain MS Dhoni’s daughter did not wish to wait for another four years to see her father in action at the World Cup.
Updated on Feb 07, 2015 08:14 AM IST
Hindustan Times | Snehil Sinha, Gurgaon/ranchi
New sudy puts population number at 57 lakh by 2031
By 2031 Gurgaon will be bursting at its seams with over 57 lakh population straining its infrastructure, says a study by CII (Haryana) and Price Waterhouse Coopers. As per Census 2011, Gurgaon’s population was 15.14 lakh, which has now swelled to 20 lakh.
Updated on Feb 06, 2015 10:55 AM IST
Hindustan Times | Sanjeev K Ahuja and Snehil Sinha, Gurgaon
What’s a forest, state asks planning board
Haryana’s definition of ‘forest’ is different from how the ministry of environment defines it. Months after the NCR Planning Board asked Haryana to identify forest areas before finalising its sub-regional plan, officials are still debating over the definition of ‘forest’.
Updated on Feb 03, 2015 01:47 PM IST
Hindustan Times | Snehil Sinha, Gurgaon
The ugly truth: NCR is sitting on an environmental disaster
The last virgin forest of the National Capital Region is under threat from the nexus of the state and big builders. With most of the forest land sold already, the region is sitting on an environmental disaster.
Updated on Jun 04, 2015 12:37 PM IST
Hindustan Times | Snehil Sinha
Is your gym clean and safe enough?
In the scramble for customers, fitness chains are compromising on hygiene, maintenance and quality of trainers, posing risks of injury, infection. Sports-related injuries are common at gyms these days, so are fungi, bacteria and viruses thriving at most of the centres.
Updated on Dec 14, 2014 05:29 PM IST
Hindustan Times | Snehil Sinha and Rhythma Kaul, New Delhi
Hoardings to be cleared along roads, expressways
The Municipal Corporation of Gurgaon (MCG) has removed several hoardings and wall wraps from buildings near NH-8.
Updated on Dec 03, 2014 03:18 PM IST
Hindustan Times | Snehil Sinha, Gurgaon
A mini Northeast in heart of Gurgaon
A deep cultural divide is evident in Sikanderpur village of Gurgaon where two call centre workers from Nagaland were brutally beaten up on Thursday. Sikanderpur is a colony of Northeasterners surrounded by Haryanvi locals and the corporate crowd of Gurgaon.
Updated on Oct 17, 2014 12:42 AM IST
Hindustan Times | Snehil Sinha and Sneha Agrawal, Gurgaon
New voting system leaves a paper trail
For the first time, Gurgaon voters could see who they have voted for immediately after casting their votes, courtesy Election Commission of India’s (ECI) initiative to ensure transparency in the polling procedure.
Updated on Oct 16, 2014 11:37 AM IST
Hindustan Times | Snehil Sinha, Gurgaon
Bloopers dominate INLD rally
A day after Indian National Lok Dal (INLD) chief Om Prakash Chautala surrendered at Tihar jail, the party’s senior leaders addressed a rally attended by a thin crowd of 1,500 people in Gurgaon on Sunday.
Updated on Oct 13, 2014 02:11 PM IST
Hindustan Times | Snehil Sinha, Gurgaon
INLD's Bollywood style: Girding up their ‘loin’ for a filmi fight
After getting a few celebrity actors campaign for the party, Indian National Lok Dal (INLD) chief OP Chautala has fashioned a poster that reeks of Bollywood. However, ‘The loin of Haryana’ poster comes with a disclaimer: ‘Please ignore the spelling’ says a spokesperson.
Updated on Oct 09, 2014 01:15 PM IST
Hindustan Times | Snehil Sinha, Gurgaon
INLD changes platforms, debuts on social media
This assembly election is seeing a generational shift within the Indian National Lok Dal (INLD). The young guns within the party are moving towards social media platforms to project their message to the people of Gurgaon.
Updated on Sep 28, 2014 02:15 PM IST
Hindustan Times | Snehil Sinha, Gurgaon
DLF land row: Petitioners will move SC
Disappointed by the high court ruling to re-auction 350 acres of land in Wazirabad village, locals who had filed the petition may appeal in the Supreme Court soon. The locals have termed the ruling as a minor delay in starting the projects.
Updated on Sep 07, 2014 01:07 PM IST
Hindustan Times | Snehil Sinha, Gurgaon
‘Wazirabad land part of Aravalli, can’t be auctioned’
Haryana high court’s order to scrap the allotment of 350 acre land in Wazirabad to DLF has comes as an opportunity for environmentalists to save the forest area around Gurgaon. The land allotted to the private developer is located near the Aravalli forest belt.
Updated on Sep 05, 2014 11:04 AM IST
Hindustan Times | Snehil Sinha, Gurgaon
Ebola scare reaches Delhi, 3 under watch in Dwarka
Health officials are keeping a close watch on a Delhi resident who arrived from Ghana on a flight in which a passenger tested positive for the Ebola virus ravaging west Africa.
Updated on Aug 08, 2014 09:01 AM IST
Hindustan Times | Snehil Sinha, Gurgaon
Nota bene: Gurgaon voted for stable govt
With the constituency seeing its highest ever turnout during the Lok Sabha polls, very few people opted for the ‘None of the Above’ (Nota) option. About 13 lakh people voted during the LS polls.
Updated on May 19, 2014 12:06 PM IST
Hindustan Times | Snehil Sinha, Gurgaon
Quoting SC order, Haryana spells out definition of forest
The state government has also reiterated the description the forest areas as per the provisions of the Indian Forest Act, 1972, and the December 1996 Supreme Court orders, in its communiqué to the union ministry of environment and forests (MoEF).
Updated on May 14, 2014 12:35 AM IST
Hindustan Times | Hitender Rao and Snehil Sinha, Chandigarh
Haryana at loggerheads with MoEF over new parameters
Expressing serious reservations over a "unilateral fiat" from the union ministry of environment and forests (MoEF), the Haryana government had told the ministry that it was not willing to re-do the geo-reference mapping of the forest areas in the state on the basis of a new set of parameters unless they are approved by the Supreme Court and mandated for the entire country.
Updated on May 14, 2014 12:20 AM IST
Hindustan Times | Hitender Rao and Snehil Sinha Hitender Rao and Snehil Sinha, Chandigarh
Haryana in rush to seal land deals before poll results?
The Aravallis have been a prized land mark in Gurgaon: It is the lungs for the world’s most polluted city and a cool landscape running through the sultry plains of Rajasthan, Haryana and Delhi. Anyone stuck in the city would want a piece of the hills as his own, build a farmhouse, live with nature.
Updated on May 12, 2014 10:19 AM IST
Hindustan Times | Snehil Sinha, Gurgaon
NCR green plan: Officials aware of missing forest land
National Capital Region Planning Board (NCRPB) that prepared the regional plan 2021 was apparently aware of the discrepancy in area under forest cover in the NCR. This was revealed in a letter from the chief regional planner to the NRSC in April last year, a copy of which is available with HT.
Updated on Apr 14, 2014 12:19 PM IST
Hindustan Times | Snehil Sinha, Gurgaon
Where’s my booth, ask Gurgaon voters
The delimitation process to divide the geographical area of Gurgaon into different constituencies for Lok Sabha and Vidhan Sabha elections has left residents confused regarding polling procedures, candidates and voting booths. The difference in electoral and district boundaries has also affected administrative functions such as deployment of staff and police force.
Updated on Apr 10, 2014 11:43 AM IST
Hindustan Times | Snehil Sinha, Gurgaon
‘Where’s my booth?’ voters ask
The delimitation process to divide the geographical area of Gurgaon into different constituencies for Lok Sabha and Vidhan Sabha elections has left residents confused regarding polling procedures, candidates and voting booths.
Updated on Apr 09, 2014 04:13 PM IST
Hindustan Times | Snehil Sinha, Gurgaon
Bukhari’s call fails to sway Meos
A day after Syed Ahmed Bukhari, the shahi imam of Delhi’s Jama Masjid, urged Muslims to support the Congress in the upcoming elections, Meo Muslims of Mewat, who hold the key to the Gurgaon parliamentary elections, seem to be an unaffected lot.
Updated on Apr 07, 2014 11:30 AM IST
Hindustan Times | Snehil Sinha, Gurgaon
In fray, Rani wants to make a point
A housewife from Gurgaon has decided to make a difference to the political scene. Despite being aware of her almost-impossible chances to post a victory in the general elections, Usha Rani is contesting as an Independent to make a point. The only female candidate out of 22 in the Gurgaon Lok Sabha seat, Rani wants to at least be heard as she raises women-specific demands in a realm of male domination.
Updated on Apr 04, 2014 12:36 PM IST
Hindustan Times | Snehil Sinha, Gurgaon
All is not well at Nawab’s home
For voters in Pataudi, the choice is between the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Indian National Lok Dal (INLD) in the coming Lok Sabha polls, as they are unhappy with the current government.
Updated on Apr 01, 2014 11:56 AM IST
Hindustan Times | Snehil Sinha, Gurgaon
Afghan prez's daughter born in Gurgaon
Afghan president Hamid Karzai's wife delivered a baby girl at Fortis Memorial Research Institute in Gurgaon early on Tuesday morning. Karzai visited the hospital on Wednesday morning and the mother and child have been healthy since the surgery.
Updated on Mar 06, 2014 05:41 PM IST
Hindustan Times | Snehil Sinha, Gurgaon