New Delhi, June 9
Banwari Lal Joshi was sworn in as the 18th Lieutenant Governor of NCT of Delhi this morning. He was administered the oath of office and secrecy by Delhi High Court Chief Justice BC Patel at a simple ceremony at the Raj Niwas.

The 70-year-old Mr Joshi succeeds Mr Vijai Kapoor, who resigned soon after the Indian National Congress (INC)-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) came to power at the Centre with Mr Manmohan Singh as Prime Minister.

The function was attended by a number of dignitaries, including Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit, her Cabinet colleagues and Leader of Opposition in Delhi Legislative Assembly Jagdish Mukhi.

Union Minister of State for NRI Affairs (independent charge) Jagdish Tytler, INC Members of Parliament Sajjan Kumar and Krishna Tirath and Police Commissioner KK Paul were also present at the swearing-in ceremony.

Mr Joshi’s wife Santosh and son Chandrashekhar, a doctor working in the US, were also present. The 70-year-old Mr Joshi, who began his career in the Rajasthan Police Service, has worked with the Intelligence Bureau and Indian missions in Pakistan, the US and Britain.

Mr Joshi told media persons soon after he was sworn-in that it was his dream to make the Capital a beautiful city. It was also a commitment, he said, in response to queries. He also said the quality of life would have to improve if Delhi was to become a better city.

Mr Joshi felt that problems could be solved if the agencies concerned worked on the same wavelength. His role would come at the last, which could be described as that of a coordinator. He said he would study Delhi’s problems before spelling out his priorities.

Born on April 1, 1934, in Village Chotikhatu in Nagaur district of Rajasthan, Mr Joshi had his primary education in the state. He did his post-graduation from the Scottish Church College, Kolkata, and LLB from Calcutta University.

In 1956, he was selected for the Rajasthan Police Service. In 1962, he joined the Intelligence Bureau in Delhi. He was the chief security officer of Prime Minister Indira Gandhi in 1965. Five years later, in the year 1970, he was posted abroad.

That year, he was appointed First Secretary in the Indian High Commission in Islamabad, a post he held a year later in 1971 in the Indian embassy in Washington. After his stints abroad, Mr Joshi returned to India in 1974.

He then served as Superintendent of Police in Dungarpur and Sikar districts besides Railway Police (Ajmer) and CBI (Rajasthan area). He came to the Centre on deputation in 1982 and was posted in London as First Secretary in the Indian High Commission.

He also served as deputy inspector general (Intelligence), Crime Branch, and Railways. He took voluntary retirement in 1991 before joining the Rajasthan State Human Rights Commission as its member. He retired from that commission recently.

New Delhi, June 9
Congress President Sonia Gandhi, who met a delegation of women activists here today, assured them of “extra attention to the passage of the domestic violence prevention bill’.

Ms. Gandhi, who met the members of the Joint Action Front for women headed by Ms. Suman Krishankant and Dr. Ranjana Kumari, discussed issues related to women’s empowerment and expressed optimism over the formation of a monitoring committee that has been suggested by the group for looking into the effective implementation of various policies.

New Delhi, June 9
Hours before the commencement of the selection process for appointment of IPS officers to the post of SP on deputation in CBI, the Delhi High Court today lifted its stay, giving the go ahead to the government to put in place its personnel.

Justice R. C. Jain gave the nod after Centre’s counsel Jyoti Singh assured the court that CBI Rules on appointment would be strictly followed.

Earlier, the court had directed the Ministry of Home Affairs to maintain status quo on the issue, asking it to file an affidavit justifying that the officers recommended for selection fulfil the eligibility criteria.

A CBI official had alleged that the two IPS officers, whose names had been proposed for the selection process, were not eligible under the criteria posted with the investigating agency.

He had also challenged the appointment of several officers to the rank of Superintendent of Police and Additional Superintendent of Police on deputation to CBI in the last one year, alleging that they were illegal and against the recruitment rules of the CBI.

New Delhi, June 9
The Delhi Traffic Police has made elaborate traffic arrangements for the Olympic Torch Relay, which starts at 2 pm on Thursday from Qutab Minar and winds up at 7.30 pm at the National Stadium.

In order to prevent any snarls, the traffic police has advised the motorists not to cause any commotion on the routes.

The relay will begin at Qutab Minar and pass through Aurobindo Marg, Outer Ring Road, August Kranti Marg, in front of the Asian Games Village, cross the Ring Road, touch Bhisham Pitamah Marg, pass in front of Jawahar Lal Nehru Stadium, Lodhi Road, Humayun Tomb, Mathura Road, beneath Oberoi flyover, in front of Purana Quila, Bhairon Road, Ring Road, Shanti Van, New Darya Ganj Road, inside Red Fort, Lahori Gate, Moat Road, Subhash Marg, Delhi Gate, Jawahar Lal Nehru Marg, School lane flyover, Tolstoy Marg, Janpath, Rajender Prasad Road, Vijay Chowk, Rajpath, ‘C’ Hexagon, and reach National Stadium at 7.30 pm.

The torch caravan, consisting of 20 vehicles, shall move on one carriageway of the road from Qutab Minar to National Stadium. In order to facilitate uninterrupted passage, no parking of any vehicles or any other obstruction shall be allowed along the route.

The police has also made special arrangements for parking of vehicles at venues of functions like Qutab Minar, Humayun Tomb, Red Fort and National Stadium.

New Delhi, June 9
The BJP has urged President APJ Abdul Kalam to withdraw the textbooks recently introduced by the State Council of Educational Research and Training (SCERT) in the NCT of Delhi.

Delhi Pradesh BJP President Harshvardhan, who led a delegation of his party colleagues, including Leader of Opposition in the Delhi Legislative Assembly Jagdish Mukhi, to call on the President at Rashtrapati Bhawan, told media persons that the newly-introduced textbooks were filled with factual and typographical errors.

Harshvardhan, who is also the national vice president of the BJP, alleged that the new textbooks were priced higher than the NCERT textbooks; they were also shoddily written. He claimed that the textbooks were prepared under the influence of the Left parties.

Ghaziabad, June 9
The Human Rights Commission is inquiring into the allegation that the Indira Puram police in Ghaziabad had tortured two youths after they were arrested on complaints filed by a person with affiliations with the Samajwadi Party.

Though the policemen were later reprimanded after the family members of the victim complained to the senior police officers, the youths were sent to jail for disturbing public peace.

Subsequently, the family members of the victims approached the Human Rights Commission (HRC). An HRC team has questioned the police officials in this connection and has recorded the statements of the relatives of the victims and the policemen. It is alleged that the two youths were tortured on the complaint made by a Samajwadi Party leader.

It is alleged that the policemen stationed at the Surya Nagar police post arrested the two youths, identified as Mohd. Alam and Brijendra, after they were involved in some altercation with one of the employees of the brother of the Samajwadi Party leader.

After the family members of the victims complained to the Circle Officer, the policemen were reprimanded. However, it is alleged that a case of disturbing public peace was filed against them.

Meerut, June 9
A big call girl racket running in a hotel for a long time was busted by the Meerut police. About 17 persons, including five call girls and eight customers, were arrested after a raid on the hotel premises.

According to Circle Officer Ruchitra Chaudhry, the arrested persons include a divisional secretary general of the Rashtriya Lok Dal of Ajit Singh and a woman leader of the same party from Hastinapur area.

The Circle Officer told The Tribune that there were reports that some hotels had been running call girl rackets in the city.

Additional Superintendent of Police (City) then constituted a team. The police posse led by woman Circle Officer Ruchita Chaudhary and some police women raided the Amber, a hotel, on Delhi Road.

Five women and eight persons were caught in a compromising position in a room. Besides, an RLD leader Ravi Bharat Chikara and a woman Omviri were arrested from the room.

Manager Faker Chand, two of his sons Mohit and Aashis were also arrested from the hotel.

All the 17, including the call girls were booked under the Prevention of Immoral trafficking Act (PITA) and sent for a medical examination.

A Maruti Zen car, a motorcycle and a scooter were also seized from the hotel.

New Delhi, June 9
Their world is by no means limited to rote learning, nor do they restrict themselves to extra curricular activities. Instead, they choose to focus on issues like politics, finance, culture and diplomacy.

Namrita Rai and Aman Aggarwal, class XII students at the Pathways World School, have reason to be on cloud nine. The duo is representing the country at the forthcoming Global Young Leaders Conference 2004, to be held in the US.

Being organised by the Congressional Youth Leadership Council (CYLC), the 12-day programme will offer students an opportunity to interact with each other and explore global issues.

This year’s theme, ‘Leaders of tomorrow preparing for the global challenges and responsibilities of the future’, is scheduled to begin on June 20 in Washington DC.

Namrita and Aman, along with their counterparts from other countries, will also attend the global summit, which follows GYLC, wherein students get a chance to put in practice what they have learnt through the conference. They will be encouraged to debate, negotiate and build coalitions dealing with issues, including foreign aid, global warming, terrorism and human rights.

Faridabad, June 9
The elected members of the Municipal Corporation Faridabad (MCF) have voiced their displeasure over the tardy progress of development works in the town due to paucity of funds.

At a meeting with the new Deputy Commissioner, Mr M. R. Anand, who is also holding he charge of the post of Commissioner, MCF, most corporators voiced their concern over the alleged failure of the civic body to carry on various development schemes and projects at the desired pace.

Some members of the MCF claimed that due to non-availability of funds the works and schemes were either pending or had been stopped. They said the commissioner must find a solution and ensure that the civic body was financially strong and independent. The members said that the local residents had been blaming them for the pathetic state of civic amenities like roads, sewers, streetlights and water supply. The deputy commissioner assured the mayor and the corporators that he would try his best to ensure the completion of various development works.

He said this was possible only when there was an atmosphere of co-operation, team spirit and involvement. He announced that priority would be given to repairing the roads and asked the corporators to oversee the quality of the work done in their wards. He said a lot of work remains to be done before the arrival of monsoon. Meanwhile, the MCF has decided to recover Rs six crore as house tax, as against a target of Rs. 25 crore during the current financial year. It has also collected Rs 1.70 crore as water and sewer charges against a target of Rs 9.50 crore during this period. The MCF officials have been directed by the new commissioner to work in a concerted manner to recover the pending dues.

Noida, June 9
The trade tax department sleuths have started collecting data from the markets on the huge tax evasion by the grain merchants.

All shops and grain-laden trucks have been made a target for special checking by the trade tax mobile teams.

The farmers have been advised to carry their ledgers and documents while transporting their produce to the markets.

The traders are reportedly buying the produce directly from the farmers rather than the grain merchants. The traders are taking trucks and tractor-trolleys loaded with grain to Delhi and other neighbouring states for disposal.

When checked, their stock reply is that they are farmers and taking their produce to the markets for sale.

To counter the traders’ duplicity, the trade authorities are collecting the data from the market on the total transaction done there.

The officials are in touch with the grain markets to collect a variety of other data also.