New Delhi, April 21
A pocket borough of the BJP, the South Delhi parliamentary constituency is witnessing a contest between distant relatives: Veteran Vijay Kumar Malhotra of the BJP and debutant RK Anand of the INC.

Anand, the high-profile Supreme Court lawyer and member of the Rajya Sabha who joined the INC three years ago, is slugging it out against an opponent who has spent the last 52 years in Delhi’s politics.

Home to the middle- and upper middle class, the South Delhi parliamentary constituency has 10 lakh-odd voters. If New Delhi is the elite constituency, South Delhi is considered the posh one.

There are 10 Assembly segments in the South Delhi parliamentary constituency. The INC won six Assembly constituencies in the 2003 election; the BJP won four seats.

However, the INC has lost ground here albeit marginally. The party had bagged seven seats in the 1998 Assembly election. (It lost the Delhi Cantonment Assembly seat in the December election.)

The INC had won the Okhla, Kalkaji, Malviya Nagar, RK Puram, Hauz Khas and Rajouri Garden seats. The BJP had won the Tilak Nagar, Hari Nagar, Janakpuri and Delhi Cantonment seats.

In spite of a decent performance in the Assembly elections, the INC has not managed to wrest this parliamentary constituency since 1985 when Arjun Singh won the by-election.

Arjun Singh contested, and won, the bypoll after sitting Member of Parliament Lalit Maken was killed. South Delhi has since come to be known as the INC’s Waterloo.

The reasons for this parliamentary constituency becoming a stronghold of the BJP are not far to seek. To begin with, history is not on the side of the INC.

The BJP has won the South Delhi seat in every election since 1989. The predominantly Punjabi population, mostly first- and second generation post-Partition refugees, has sided with the BJP ever since.

Malhotra, who landed in Delhi after Partition as a young boy just out of school, has kept up the party’s tradition. He trounced Manmohan Singh of the INC in the 1999 election.

The INC watchers also attribute the decline in the party’s electoral fortunes to the internecine infighting and wrangling among its legislators and councillors.

That, perhaps, explains Manmohan Singh’s words of caution soon after inaugurating Anand’s election office on April 9. He had said that the mistakes of the past should not be repeated.

The party’s legislators and councillors, Singh had added for good measure, should work hard for the success of Mr Anand. Ajay Maken, too, has contested and lost the election from this seat.

In 1996, the INC fielded lawyer Kapil Sibal from this constituency but BJP’s Sushma Swaraj defeated him by a margin of 1,14,006 votes. In 1998, Swaraj repeated the feat.

That year, she beat Ajay Maken by 1,16,713 votes. In the 1999 elections, Malhotra defeated Manmohan Singh by a comparatively modest margin of 29,999 votes.

Besides the ‘evergreen’ issues of water and electricity, the unit area method of assessing property tax is being hotly debated this time around and is steadily becoming a key issue.

Besides Malhotra, Anand has to also contend with talk about his role as a lawyer for certain persons accused in the 1984 anti-Sikh riots case and his being an outsider.

Anand calls himself a ‘pucca’ South Delhi man what with his office and farmhouse situated here. He dismisses insinuations by certain groups of Sikhs as a political stunt.

Malhotra exudes confidence about his prospects this time, saying that the INC has fielded against him a candidate who has nothing to lose if he is defeated in the election.

New Delhi, April 21
The Capital was jolted by yet another tremor, the eighth in the past one month, at 11 am today. The quake was of slight intensity like the previous ones and measured 1.5 on the Richter scale. Its epicentre lay 28.6 degrees north latitude and 77.3 degrees east longitude.

Taking cognisance of the increased frequency of tremors in Delhi over the past one month, the Seismology Department has intensified seismic monitoring and will install four more observatories in the Capital this month.

Delhi, which experienced one more quake this morning, the eighth over the past one month, lies very close to the Himalayan fault zone; so, intensive monitoring of seismic activity was a must, the Director, Seismology, of the India Meterological Department(IMD), Dr A. K. Shukla said.

New Delhi, April 21
Environmentalists have pointed out that incinerators being used in all government hospitals pose a serious threat to health as they release a host of pollutants, including carcinogens.

‘’It is shocking to note that the government hospitals continue to threaten the health of the city’s population by releasing pollutants through the burning of medical wastes which are way above the permissible limits,’’ said Mr Ravi Aggrawal of Toxic Link, an NGO.

Releasing a book, ‘Resources Up in Flames,’ here today, which was brought out by Global Alliance of Incinerator Alternatives, an alliance of 227 groups and individuals from 61 countries working to end all forms of incineration, Mr Aggarwal said incineration was a dying technology.

“Delhi had around 59 medical waste incinerators in 2000, but because of the complexities involved in meeting the emission standards most private hospitals decided to shut operations. However, the government hospitals turn a blind eye to the menace,’’ he said.

New Delhi, April 21
The Crime Branch inter-state cell and the anti-extortion cell have arrested four gangsters who were planning to offer musclemen services during the elections in two different operations in the Outer Delhi and Rohini areas. While the inter-state cell seized two countrymade weapons and six live cartridges besides recovering one stolen Maruti Zen car the anti-extortion cell seized one countrymade weapon and three live cartridges.

The inter-state cell received secret information that certain criminals from Haryana jails were in touch with their accomplices and operating in Delhi, Haryana and NCR regions through mobile phones.

Accordingly, a team was constituted and rushed to the Bawana road. The gangsters were spotted and overpowered by the sleuths.

They were identified as Ishwar, alias Ravi, alias Vikas (27), Narender, alias Secretary (28), and Jogender (39), all residents of Haryana. The accused persons had committed several crimes earlier and were involved in at least 20 criminal cases each. They told the sleuths that they were in touch with the criminals and were operating at their behest. They were planning to earn good money by offering musclemen services to the politicians.

New Delhi, April 21
It was a day out for the donkeys, the most neglected of the animal species. For once, the poor man’s asset, the donkeys received their share of care and attention as the NGO, Circle of Animals, organised Donkey Day today.

Claiming that being the poor workers’ animals the donkeys were neglected and devoid of even basic health care, the Circle of Animals drew attention to the need for providing a healing touch to them.

Donkey Day, which was organised here yesterday, began at Deoli Bund at 4 pm and witnessed donkeys with their masters arrive with not just anticipation but also happiness. It was a welcome change for the donkeys to receive caresses on their backs instead of the customary kicks.

Meerut, April 21
The Uttar Pradesh Chief Secretary, Mr V. K. Diwan, said that 30 parliamentary constituencies in the state have so far been identified as sensitive and hypersensitive. Besides, the administration has made elaborate arrangements to conduct free and fair election. The administration has arranged videography to identify these sensitive polling booths.

After reviewing the election preparation, Mr Diwan told mediapersons that three seats - Meerut, Baghpat and Bulandshahar of the Meerut division, have been included to sensitive and most sensitive category. Replying a query, he said communal or caste tension and VVIP contestants are the main causes to put these seats into sensitive category. Mr Diwan further added that security was beefed up in the areas where some VVIP are contesting and videography of the polling will also be done to put psychological pressure on the candidates and unsocial elements. The police and paramilitary forces would be dispatched to eighteen Lok Sabha seats for the first and second phase elections of central and eastern UP.

Rewari, April 21
With the election season on in full swing it has become a nightmare for the average resident here to travel on road. People find themselves caught for long hours in traffic snarls in the scorching sun when leaders of political parties take out processions.

The district administration has got flak from the residents for allegedly not ensuring smooth flow of traffic.

Rewari has been designated the seat of the returning officer for the Mahendragarh parliamentary constituency. The nominees of political parties file their nomination papers here. As it is election time, the nominees indulge in a show of strength to boost their election campaign and increase the margin of victory while filing their nomination papers. Rewari is considered to be the nerve centre of Ahirwal’s cultural and political activities.

Residents were subjected to one of the worst traffic related hardships on April 19, the day HVP nominee Anil Rao filed his nomination papers. He filed his papers after taking out a procession in the city. His procession had, according to a conservative estimate, about 600 cars, jeeps, tractors and other kinds of vehicles. Many residents say the number of vehicles in the procession on the occasion of mere filing of nomination papers was “unprecedented.” The procession, starting from the HVP’s Central Election Office near KLP college, took the route passing Dharuhera octroi post, Circular Road, Bus Stand, Brass Market, Circular Road to the Mini Secretariat. Although the distance from KLP College to the Mini Secretariat is about one kilometre the procession took more than two hours to cover the ground, causing miseries to the commuters.

The hardship was most severe to commuters travelling on the public transport system, especially who were on long-distance routes. A large number of buses of Haryana Roadways were seen waiting on Circular Road near the general bus stand. The worst part was that no security person was seen tackling the situation.

Though not of the same magnitude the residents were subjected to another spell of ordeal when the BJP nominee, Mrs Sudha Yadav, took out a procession in the city yesterday on the occasion of her filing the nomination papers. The procession chose interior parts of the city, including Railway Road, Gokal Road, Moti Chowk, Old Subzi Road, Bhadawas Road and Circular Road.

The procession taken out by the Samajwadi Party candidate, Mr Raghu Yadav, who filed his nomination papers today, was less troublesome. Many attribute it to its comparatively shorter tail. His party leaders said the procession was a simple affair as he was getting late for filing the papers.

Sonepat, April 21
The city today witnessed traffic snarls on different roads as a mammoth procession wound its way to the office of the Returning Officer-cum-Deputy Commissioner where the Congress nominee from this parliamentary constituency, Mr Dharam Pal Singh Malik, today filed his nomination papers. Thousands of party supporters and hundreds of vehicles formed part of the procession which worked its way over four hours to reach the DC’s office. The local police had a tough time managing the traffic.

The procession commenced from Mr Malik’s residence in Model Town just before noon.

It took more than four hours to reach the judicial complex. A large number of Congress leaders from different assembly segments of the constituency had reached Sonepat for the purpose.

Earlier, talking to mediapersons at his residence Mr Malik demanded the deployment of paramilitary forces, alleging that there was every possibility of booth-capturing by the criminals at the behest of the Chief Minister, Mr Om Prakash Chautala. He expressed fears about four constituencies, Sonepat, Bhiwani, Rohtak and Kurukshetra, and urged the Election Commission to consider these as hyper-sensitive as the INLD nominees at Bhiwani and Kurukshetra were the Chief Minister’s sons. A relative was contesting from Rohtak.

At Sonepat the wife of the Haryana DGP was the candidate. Mr Malik also demanded that like in the case of previous elections the Election Commission must ban the entry of the Chief Minister in the state on the polling day.

The most interesting development of the day for the Congress nominee was at the press conference when District Congress Committee president and MLA Jitender Malik and City Congress president Vijay Chaudhary shared the dais with him for the first time. They promised to support Mr D.P.S. Malik whole-heartedly during the election. Both of them are from the Bhupinder Singh Hooda group and so far have not enjoyed good relations with him.

Mr Jitender Malik, however, immediately left for Rohtak, pleading that he had to participate in the nomination filing programme of Mr Hooda today.

New Delhi, April 21
Recalling her role as Tulsi in the serial, Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi Smriti Irani of the BJP has said that she would make relentless effort to keep the people of Chandni Chowk united as a family just like the character she played in the serial. She is the BJP candidate in the Chandni Chowk parliamentary constituency.

Continuing her campaign today, Ms Irani canvassed on foot. Her walk originated at Tel Mandi Chowk and culminated in a public meeting at Dr Munje Chowk in Paharganj, after passing through the narrow lanes and bylanes of Gali Ram Nath Patwa, Dariba Pan, Kaseruwalan, Sangatrashan, Mantola and Ghee Mandi. On the way, she was greeted by women who applied the traditional tilak and showered rose petals on her. Members of the Sikh Samaj, who greeted her elsewhere, presented her with a Siropa. Also lending their support were the members of the Punjabi Biradari, Jatav Samaj, Prajapati Samaj and the Balmiki Samaj.

Meanwhile, the BJP candidate in the South Delhi parliamentary constituency, Mr Vijay Kumar Malhotra’s wife Krishna today campaigned in the Alakananda Apartments. Daughter-in-law Ruchi Malhotra and daughter Anupama canvassed in Okhla and Sukhdev Vihar DDA flats as did son Ajay in Janakpuri.

Malhotra himself took to the day’s campaigning early in the morning. He started the day’s campaign from Village Garhi and made his way through Okhla, Kalkaji and Shastri Market to Janakpuri. He addressed meetings in Greater Kailash I and II, Safdarjung Enclave, Gopi Nath Bazar, Hari Nagar, Vishnu Garden and Sudershan Park.

The INC candidate in the Moti Nagar Assembly constituency, which has been vacated by Governor of Rajasthan Madan Lal Khurana, today filed his nomination papers. He reached the venue in a procession that began from his election office.

New Delhi, April 21
The Sant Nirankari Mission will organise 58 blood donation camps in various parts of the country on April 24, 2004. The Sant Nirankari Mission plans to hold another 43 camps by September 2004. Last year, it had organized 129 camps all over the country.

The main camp will be held in the national Capital, which will be inaugurated by the spiritual head of the Mission, Baba Hardev Singh Ji.

There is a lot of enthusiasm among the devotees of the Mission, particularly the volunteers of the Sant Nirankari Sewa Dal to donate blood. The commencement of these camps coincides with the ‘Manav Ekta Diwas’, observed every year on April 24 to commemorate the supreme sacrifice of the Mission’s former Head, Baba Gurbachan Singh Ji.

The donation of blood is a matter of devotion for the followers of the Mission.

The camp in Delhi is being organized in close co-ordination with the Indian Red Cross Society and leading hospitals of the Capital. The same pattern is to be followed at other centres.

New Delhi, April 21
The Municipal Commissioner, Mr Rakesh Mehta, said that ‘Hardship and Anomaly Committee’, which had been constituted to look after any hardship or anomaly in respect of the property tax assessment under the Unit Area Method had started functioning under the chairmanship of K. Dharmarajan from today. The committee will function from it’s office at Core A, 3rd floor, India Habitat Centre, Lodhi Road.

The Municipal Commissioner has issued directions to the ‘Assessment and Collection Department’ to ensure that there is no inconvenience to the tax payers at the counters and the self-assessment forms are accepted alongside the payments without any queries being raised during the filing of returns.

He has also directed that all the Citizen Service Bureau (CSB) and office of the Assessment and Collection Department should have ample supply of self-assessment forms, which should be provided free of cost to the general public and should have prominent display boards giving guidelines on how to fill up the form. The name and telephone numbers of the officer concerned to be contacted in case of difficulty must be given on display boards.

He said that the committee would conduct periodic hearings and make recommendations to the corporation on cases of hardship or anomalies from time to time. It would also provide guidelines and technical support to the Assessment and Collection Department to ensure smooth implementation of the system to minimize any hardship and ensure that anomalies do not arise in the new system. The committee is also considering various alternatives to simplify the measurement of covered area and is specifically looking for adoption of a simple formula for calculation of the covered area in the DDA flats where allotments have been made according to carpet area. The committee will also consider petitions from groups of affected persons.

Sonepat, April 21
The three central observers, appointed by the Election Commission to oversee the poll process in the Sonepat Parliamentary constituency, have been put up at the PWD (B and R) rest house here.

According to a report, Mr Padamvir Singh, an IAS officer of the 1977 batch from Bhopal (Madhya Pradesh) and Mr V. K.

Suburaj, an IAS officer of the 1980 batch, will work as general observers. Those wishing to get in touch with them may contact them on telephone numbers

2201711 and 2246672 respectively. The third observer is Mr Satyanarain Murt, an IAS officer of the 1991 batch, who will look after the poll expenditure. Those wishing to get in touch with him may contact him on telephone number 2247488.

It may be recalled that the Election Commission has fixed Rs 25 lakh as the upper limit for the poll expenses of a candidate.

Meanwhile, the district election authorities have also set up a “helpline” for the benefit of the voters during the polls. Anybody who wish to know about their polling booth and other relevant information regarding the polls could contact the helpline telephone number 2222180 between 9 AM and 9 PM daily.

New Delhi, April 21
The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) today arrested a Sub-Inspector of the Delhi Police for allegedly demanding and accepting a bribe of Rs 10,000 for accepting a bail bond from a person.

The person arrested has been identified as Baldhar Singh, who was posted at Nizamuddin Police Station. The CBI sleuths laid a trap and arrested the accused from the police station, said the CBI spokesman.

The accused had allegedly been demanding a bribe of Rs 10,000 for the acceptance of the bail bond that the complainant had secured from a court for a case registered against him on April 1, he added.

Sonepat, April 21
A 23-year-old housewife was reported to have committed suicide by hanging herself in her house at Gumar village, about 15 km from here last evening.

According to a report, a family quarrel was stated to be the cause for her suicide.

Faridabad, April 21
The Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL), the largest landline phone service provider in the district, has announced new incentives for the consumers including providing ‘answering machine’ facility, upgradation of the telephone exchanges and lines.

Announcing these, the General Manager of the BSNL, Mr R.C Hooda, said today that the Nigam had taken several steps to improve its services and become more consumer-friendly.

Admitting that the entry of the private phone and Internet service providers had pushed BSNL into adopting new measures and strategy, he said, the consumers in Faridabad could now use the ‘Answering Machine Service (AMS) launched for the first time.

He said this free service could be activated through a simple process. He said the AMS was beneficial to the consumers when their phone was busy or when nobody was there to attend the phone.

He said it would record the messages and the consumer could retrieve them whenever required. However, the retrieval of the recorded message was chargeable at the rate of local call, he added.

It is stated that the AMS could also be de-activated by the consumer whenever required.

All the 14 C-DOT exchanges of the district had been upgraded with the state-of-the-art technology to improve its functioning.

He claimed that the department had provided more than 5000 new connections in the financial period 2003-04.

He said ‘Centrax’, which facilitates free talk among the members of a group, have been provided to about 10,000 customers in the town, including business associations, Residents Welfare Associations and commercial users.

He said about 2,489 disconnected phones were restored in the last financial year and an amount of about Rs 60 lakh was recovered from them.

He said while telephone connections were available on demand in Faridabad and Palwal cities, the waiting list in the rural areas was sought to be cleared through the use of the state-of-the-art technology.

The department had installed three touch screen kiosks for issuing duplicate bills at SGM Nagar, Sector-3 and Sector- 21, he said.