New Delhi, August 28
Despite assurances given by the Delhi government, power crisis continues in the Capital even as Badarpur power station started functioning on Sunday.

The Badarpur Power Plant, shut for quite some time due to maintenance, is back in action. The station has started generating power since last Tuesday. The government has also announced that it would purchase power from Orissa, Himachal Pradesh, Maharashtra and a few south Indian states.

However, an official of the power department confessed that almost all the parts of Delhi were facing over three hours of power cut every day. Delhi is facing a shortage of over 400 MW of power daily.

Meanwhile, the Power Grid Corporation linked the energy starved northern grid with eastern and western grid of the country on Saturday to facilitate more power flow to the region. The development is expected to help Delhi.

“The development will help Delhi get the promised 500 MW power from gas-based Kawas power plant in Gujarat in near future,” said a spokesperson of Delhi Transco.

In the run-up to the Commonwealth Games 2010, the Delhi government has clinched a deal with the Haryana government for setting up a 1,500 MW coal-based power plant with equity participation of both state governments and the state-owned power major NTPC Ltd.

It had also signed an MoU with the Chattisgarh government to set up a power project of capacity 2000 MW power. But it was cancelled due to some political reasons.

In addition to the tie-up with Haryana, Delhi had also signed a power purchase agreement with the Damodar Valley Corporation for 2,500 MW power by 2012, with 100 MW power supply expected to commence from December 2006, followed by another 230 MW from November 2007 and 170 MW by December 2009.

However, residents are bearing the brunt of oppressive heat and long hours of blackouts day after day.

Meanwhile, the Delhi government will prepare a blueprint for making the city energy-efficient and is also considering a law to make it mandatory for buildings to take steps to conserve energy.

At a meeting chaired by Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit today, it was decided that a core committee will be formed to work out a blueprint to make Delhi an energy-efficient city, officials said.

The core committee will be chaired by the Chief Secretary and will have representatives from MCD, NDMC, PWD, TERI, Power and Environment Departments and Principal Secretary to the Chief Minister.

The Chief Minister said her government was even thinking of bringing in a law to make it compulsory for buildings to take energy conservation measures.

Mrs Dikshit said the concept of ‘green buildings’, which have minimal wastage of energy and practice recycling of water, has to be popularised.

The campaign to be launched to make Delhi energy-efficient will involve the 1,700 eco-clubs comprising schoolchildren and the RWAs.

The meeting was attended by Environment Minister Rajkumar Chauhan, Chief Secretary R Narayanaswami, Environment Secretary Naini Jayaseelan, Power Secretary Rakesh Mehta, Transco MD S R Sethi and senior officials of NDMC, MCD and PWD.

New Delhi, August 28
A delegation of Opposition members in the Municipal Corporation of Delhi today submitted a memorandum to the Union Urban Development Minister, Mr Jaipal Reddy, proposing various amendments in the Master Plan so that demolition of unauthorised construction and sealing of commercial activities in residential areas could be stopped.

The delegation was led by the Leader of Opposition, Mr Subhash Arya, who said that the Congress government failed to provide housing facilities to the citizens resulting in unauthorised constructions in regularised areas and mushrooming of unauthorised colonies.

The members demanded that unauthorised constructions made in regularised areas till December 2005 should not be demolished.

The delegation also demanded that the condition of sealing of commercial activities at ground floor under category A, B, C and D should also be withdrawn. The whole of Delhi should be governed by a uniform law. Besides, commercial activities on the ground floor should be allowed which are now being reduced to 50 per cent. It should be kept at hundred per cent, it said.

It is proposed in the Master Plan that 35 per cent construction can be carried out on the ground floor if the height of the building should be more than 15 metres. The delegation demanded 100 per cent coverage with four storeys with a maximum height of 15 metres.

Private land where unauthorised colonies were developed with 90 to 95 per cent constructions be regularised so that the poor could live in their houses peacefully, the delegation said.

Building bylaws should be simplified for the villages which have been urbanised and all the houses constructed so far should be regularised as they are, the delegation members said.

Meanwhile, at the receiving end from the Delhi High Court for sluggish action against illegal constructions, the MCD has decided to utilise the services of demolition contractors and firms.

The civic body will empanel a group of demolition contractors and firms to demolish constructions through manual labour as well as mechanical and chemical means, the MCD said in a release today.

“The decision has been taken to accelerate the demolition activities and carry these out in a time-bound manner,” it said.

While faced with flak from the High Court for not being able to carry out demolition work in a time-bound manner, the MCD has been complaining of not having adequate number of personnel for carrying out the action.

New Delhi, August 28
A Delhi-based trader was today sentenced to seven years’ rigorous imprisonment by a sessions court almost a decade after he seduced and raped a 14-year-old girl after promising her a “big role” in a Bollywood film.

Additional Sessions Judge N K Gupta also imposed a fine of Rs 5,000 on the convict, Rajkumar alias Raju.

His co-accused in the case, one Aslam Ali, charged with rape and wrongful confinement, is a ‘proclaimed offender’ in the case.

The victim, who had studied till class five, had run away from home in February,1996, at Rampur District in Uttar Pradesh due to ill-treatment by her step-mother.

She reached New Delhi Railway Station while on her way to Mumbai to try her chance in Bollywood.

There she was befriended by the convict, who convinced her that he had many contacts in the film world and took her along with him to a room on Jhansi Road, where he raped her. Later, the convict handed over the girl to Ali, who kept her in confinement for over two days and repeatedly assaulted her sexually.

Ali then brought her to a city hotel to work as a maid servant. However, the manager of the hotel insisted on a police verification.

The girl then told the police about her circumstances.

New Delhi, August 28
If students’ organisations are to be believed, the presence or rather the dominance of women candidates in this years’ Delhi University Students’ Union elections is a manifestation of women’s empowerment and it has nothing to do with their “glamour quotient”.

The students’ bodies would have you believe that “without reservation, women get a fair chance in Delhi University”.

And with the posters out, the organisations can do little to make these candidates turn into “eye candy”, which is perhaps why these candidates who will be fighting it out for the post of president are being described as “serious students with leadership qualities”.

Of the 12 candidates who have filed their nominations for the post of president, six are women. Five women have filed nominations for the post of vice-president, three for the post of secretary and four for joint secretaryship.

Incidentally, the NSUI, ABVP, AISA and the INSO who have all fielded women candidates for the top slot claim to have zeroed on these candidates owing to their “leadership qualities and past performance”.

“We have chosen to field Gargi Lakhanpal because she has worked her way up. She is a dedicated and committed party worker who is popular with the students and a known face. We do not believe in fielding women for their glamour quotient,” said Subhash, a member of the ABVP.

The NSUI too claims to have given Amrita Dhawan a chance to fight for the president’s post “in recognition of her work as a party worker and her leadership qualities”.

The claims notwithstanding, many students in the university term the selection of women candidates as “political gimmick”. A senior faculty member of the university said: “It is a pity that women allow parties to use them just to woo voters. Instead of their looks, they should be known for their intelligence and leadership.”

Another senior university official had this to say, “It is high time the students realised that the so-called glamour girls have failed miserably in the past and therefore should not be voted for. Women candidates who are serious about the job, on the other hand, are welcome.”

New Delhi, August 28
Some of the suggestions received by the DMRC after its week-long endeavour to seek the opinion of commuters to find out what kind of designs they would prefer for coaches for the Delhi Metro Phase-II are quite interesting. Some futuristic, some practical, some revenue-generating and some which advocate that things are just fine the way they are right now.

Incidentally, today was the last day when people could give their suggestions to the DMRC.

A suggestion by K.R. Subramaniam calls for existing handle-bars to be replaced with ones like there are in aero-trains in Kuala Lumpur where a rectangular space is provided just above the handle-bar for advertisements. This, he says, will not only serve the purpose of giving support to commuters who are standing but also help in generating revenue for the DMRC. Another suggestion, this time by Dilip Kumar, calls for extended handlebars on all entrance gates like in the Singapore MRTS, visible and audible indications when gates close, both from inside and outside and LCD panels on the platforms.

Rajeni Singh and Subhash Madhu, however, say that the present seating arrangement in metro trains is quite good and no change is required for metro coaches.

Shikhar Ranjan feels that new coaches should have the facility to switch off the lights inside the coaches while it is moving on the elevated corridor to save electricity. Another suggestion is some light classical instrumental music to be played between announcements.

Interestingly, Meren Asung wants new metro coaches to be double-decker like the one used by the Australian Metro Corporation. Some other suggestions are for ladies compartments, better air-conditioning, advertisements on exterior surface of coaches, toilet inside the coaches and strict fine for spitting on metro premises.

While it’s a normal international practice to seek opinion from real end users before the design of coaches is finalised, this endeavour was conducted for the first time by the DMRC.

In India, this procedure could not be followed before the launch of the Phase-I of the Delhi Metro as at that time people really had no idea or a way to compare or present their opinion on something that was an absolutely brand-new experience for them.

Besides, between 2002 and now, technology has also grown by leaps and bounds in the international market, giving a tremendous scope for improvement in the designing of coaches. For Phase-II, the Delhi Metro will be ordering as many as 400 coaches for the 100 trains that will ply between Central Secretariat and Ambedkar Colony, Viswavidyalaya and Jahnagir Puri, IP to New Ashok Nagar to Noida , IP to Yamuna Bank to Anand Vihar and Inder Lok and Mundka. The Phase-I has 60 trains with four coaches each for its three routes.

New Delhi, August 28
At least 15 persons, including 10 policemen, were injured when a 5,000-strong irate mob went on a rampage in North-East Delhi in protest against assault on some locals allegedly by the BSES officials.

Violence broke out in Gokulpuri locality this afternoon after news spread that a BSES team monitoring power theft in the area beat up a couple of locals, injuring them seriously, police said.

Soon thousands of sloganeering locals collected near Mustafbagh locality and started throwing stones at he vehicles and policemen on duty, injuring 10 of them, including an Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP) Bhag Singh.

The multitude blocked traffic for several hours demanding action against the guilty BSES officials and an apology from the power distribution company.

Additional security personnel had to be called in to tackle the situation and the police burst nearly 20 teargas shells to disperse the crowd. The situation was brought under control after over two hours.

The policemen were taken to nearby Guru Teg Bahadur Hospital, while the others were discharged after administering the first-aid.

The police have registered a case of rioting, destruction of public property and obstructing government officials from discharging their duties against unknown persons, said the police.

Ten persons have been detained in connection. No case has been registered against the BSES officials so far.

Gurgaon, August 28
Even as the agreement with the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) for extending the Metro to Gurgaon is in its advance stage, the Haryana government has now planned to provide the services of the train for the residents of Faridabad and Sonipat.

The RITES was conducting a technical study in Faridabad and Sonipat for the purpose, state Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda said, while addressing mediapersons here recently.

The DMRC has handed over a draft agreement to Haryana government to be signed by the two parties for the implementation of the project.

The Chief Project Manager (IT), DMRC, Mr Daljeet Singh finalised the plan after a meeting with Mr S P Gupta, Administrator, Haryana Urban Development Authority.
Mr Gupta informed that the Gurgaon stretch of the Metro would have five stations: Garden Estate, Sikander Pur, DLF City Centre Mall, M.G. Road, IFFCO Chowk (behind Essel Towers) and Sushant Lok.

As per the agreement, the Haryana government would pay Rs 570 crore for the seven-kilometer stretch (precisely 7.05 kilometre) in Haryana from the Delhi-Gurgaon border to Sushant Lok, near IFFCO Chowk, informed Mr Gutpa. The state government would also bear one-third of the 50 per cent cost for the portion from Ambedkar Colony to the Delhi-Gurgaon border, which falls within Delhi. The Haryana’s share would be Rs. 111 crore for Delhi’ part, added the officer.

The extension of the Metro up to Gurgaon will cost the Haryana government a total of Rs 681 crore. The Haryana government will pay this amount in four equal installments to the DMRC. The 20 per cent of the total expense would be borne by the Central government, informed the HUDA administrator.

As the Haryana government had agreed to bear one third cost of the 50 per cent total for the Ambedkar Colony to Delhi-Gurgaon border stretch, now the Delhi government had no objection for the extension, added the officer.

The RITES, in its study on the revenue expected to be generated after the extension of Metro to Gurgaon, has observed that there would be a maximum peak-hour passenger volume of 32,000 by 2021 on this route. In Delhi, above 90,000 commuters avail the facility on the routes where Metro is already operational.

The Haryana government would acquire the land for the expansion and hand it over to the DMRC free of cost. As per the draft agreement, Haryana would also give the DMRC five acres of land for constructing its staff quarters.

Mr Gupta claimed that the government had finalised all planning for the Metro and there would be no problems like land acquisition or shifting of other essential lines like water, electricity or telephone lines. The project would be completed as per the schedule, added the officer. 

New Delhi, August 28
The last date for the submission of application forms for Master’s Degree Programmes and Bachelor’s Degree Programmes at Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU) is August 31, with a late fee of Rs 200.

This includes Master of Science in Dietetics and Food Service Management (M.Sc.) (DFSM)), Master of Arts in English, Hindi, History, Political Science, M.Com., Public Administration, Sociology, Economics, Rural Development, Library and Information Science and Tourism Management.

Admission is also open to Bachelor’s Degree Programme in Arts, Commerce, Science, Computer Application, Tourism Studies, Library and Information Sciences and Bachelor of Social Work. Certificate programmes in Teaching of Primary School Mathematics and Health Care Waste Management.

Gurgaon, August 28
The Dakshin Haryana Bijli Vitran Nigam (DHBVN) here today asserted that it would go ahead with installing electronic meters at common places outside the premises of its consumers in the city, despite protests against the proposal from various quarters.

The Superintending Engineer, Gurgaon Circle (Operations), DHBVN, said the installation of the meters outside the premises of the consumers whould be completed in another six months. He said the department was installing the meters in phases. These include Sectors 5, 9 and 10 and New Colony, Lakhaman Vihar, Police Lines, Civil Lines and Hospital Colony and Housing Board Colony (Jharsa).

According to the department officials, the meters at common places would help in checking power thefts and tampering of the meters.

Meanwhile, the department, in an attempt to allay general apprehensions that the meters installed are faulty and would give inflated billings, held out an elaborate display of its laboratory here and of the methods of tests (both manual and electronic) adopted by it before mediapersons.

The Superintending Engineer, (Metering and Protection), DHBVN, today organised the display of the procedures adopted by the local meter testing laboratory.

The office of the Superintending Engineer (Metering and Protection) acts as headquarters of the four Divisions of Gurgaon, Faridabad, Hisar and Bhiwani falling under DHBVN. There are two other labs, located at Palla in Faridabad and Hisar.

The SE said that presently each of the labs, on an average, tested about 600 meters, daily. He added that the labs had the capacity to test up to 11,000 voltage of “Current” and “Potential” transformers.

He revealed that the DHBVN was trying to get the laboratories accredited with the National Accredition Board of Laboratories. He hoped that the labs would get the accredition by December-end. The proposed accredition would enable the labs to conduct tests and grant certificates to meters produced even by private firms. Presently, the labs conduct tests on only the meters of the department.

New Delhi, August 28
Another controversial novel on Khalistan and terrorism in Punjab has once again revived public interest in the subject. ‘The Midair Frown’ by Iqbal Ramoowalia focuses on the Canadian version of the Khalistani movement that raged in Punjab through the 80’s. The novel is built around one of the worst aviation tragedies that shook the world in the mid-80’s. The blowing up of Air-India Kanishka which resulted in the death of over 329 people.

The author recently released the book and answered questions at a press conference held in the city.

Mr Ramoowalia said, “I’ve written this book to bring up issues that I strongly feel the public should be informed on. The Khalistani movement is dead in India but it is being kept alive in Canada because it brings in money. That is why I call it a fake.”

In the novel, Mr Ramoowalia explores and comments on what he describes as the “chaotic, directionless and myopic character of the Khalistan movement which flouted all ethical, religious, humanistic and democratic values by ruthlessly persecuting and eliminating those who dared oppose it.”

The author comes down heavily on “navigators and operators” and “armchair academic advocates of this movement” whom he describes as “short-sighted, thickly conceited, snobbish and irrational as they blindly refused to foresee and acknowledge the reality that militant persecution of a particular community in Punjab was bound to ignite immeasurable backlash and spawn hardships for millions of Sikhs.”

The novel also brings to light the mafia-like modus operandi of this movement’s Canada-based activists whose main objective was to come into power and affluence by inflaming the religious sentiments of Sikh devotees through fiery propaganda.

This is Mr Ramoowalia’s second novel in English. “I switched to English sometime back as the language enjoys a wider readership. The Punjabi version of this book will be out in 6 months and before this for the past 6 years I have written a lot of poetry,” he said.

This work exposes cruelty being perpetrated by the so-called saintly people on those helpless.

New Delhi, August 28
With the arrest of Rizwan (23), Mohamad Azad (25), Farookh (28), Sharafat (28), Rizyazuddin (25), Akram (23) and Shabbudin (40), the North-East District Police today claimed to have busted a gang of notorious dacoits and worked out eight sensational cases of house robberies, dacoities in North-East Delhi, East Delhi, Bulandshahr district and some other adjoining areas.

Four country-made pistols, one .32 mm US made pistol with 90 live cartridges of .32 mm and 11 live cartridges of .315 and two knives have been recovered from their possession after a brief encounter.

According to the police, “On the evening of August 27, a tip-off was received by the special team that Farookh and Furkan along with their two accomplices would come from Seemapuri side and go to Nand Nagari to commit some crime. Accordingly, a checkpost was put near Seemapuri to check vehicles. At 8 pm, four persons riding motorcycles were asked to stop. But instead of stopping, they allegedly fired upon the police party. The police managed to overpower two members of the gang after a brief encounter. However, their two accomplices, Furkan and Farukh, escaped by taking advantage of darkness.”

“The arrested persons allegedly revealed that they were going to join their gang members, who were assembling in Nand Nagari area to commit a dacoity in Yamuna Vihar. Subsequently, five of their accomplices were nabbed by the team in Harsh Vihar area, the police claimed.

Ghaziabad, August 28
Enraged over the killing of a man in a road mishap in Pilkhua, the villagers jammed the national highway for over four hours and damaged several vehicles, including two roadways buses. The police had to resort to lathi charge to disperse the mob.

Satish Aborya (25) from Reghunathpur village, a horse cart driver, was on his way to Pilkhua from his village when a dumper hurtling down at fast speed hit his cart near telephone exchange in Pilkhua on the national highway. Tejpal and Gaffer of the same village were also on the cart. Satish succumbed to his injuries on way to hospital while Tejpal and Gaffar were seriously injured.

After the accident, a large number of villagers, including relatives of Satish, Tejpal and Gaffar, blocked the GT road opposite telephone exchange. The protesters were demanding suitable compensation to the victims and the arrest of the dumper driver who had fled away. The villagers started damaging the vehicles with lathis.

When CO Pilkhua and SO Pilkhua police station failed to persuade the villagers to disperse, the police resorted to lathi-charge. While the youth fled away, the village women squatting in the middle of the road did not move. They were removed by the women police. Later SDM Sanjay Chauhan persuaded the villagers to disperse by giving assurance that all necessary help would be provided to the affected families.

Noida, August 28
Some persons attempted to commit a dacoity in Noble Co-Operative Bank located just opposite a police post on the main road in P-Block of Sector-11 Noida last night.

The intruders could not succeed in the dacoity because of lack of knowledge about the exact location of bank strong room.

S.P. City Soumitra Yadav has ruled out the possibility of bank staff’s involvement in the loot bid. Some people who saw the bank gate ajar informed the Bank CEO A. Srivastava who subsequently informed the police. The criminals had entered the bank after scaling the boundary wall of the building. — OC

Noida, August 28
The UP Minority Welfare minister, Haji Mohd Qureshi, has said the proposed Appu Ghar would not be allowed to come up in Sector 38-A Noida and the officials who had palmed off grave yard land would be punished.

Addressing a congregation near Jama Masjid in Sector-8 Noida, he said, “In no part of the world can anything be built on a mosque or a grave yard. Appu Ghar will not be allowed to be built on the land or grave yard in Sector-38A Noida”.

“The officials who had any involvement in selling the grave yard land will not be spared in any case and punished,” he added. Mr Qureshi said the people of this country were secular, irrespective of their individual religion. “Thus, the government officials should perform their duties sincerely,” he added.

Greater Noida, August 28
Residents of Delta sector in Greater Noida are opposing the setting up of a cremation ground in their area. They allege the administration has ignored their wishes while making available this facility for the nearby villages.

A cremation ground had been at the site for many years for Sakipur and other villages. And on the same ground, the Greater Noida Authority had allotted residential plots. When the villagers opposed it, the GNIDA decided not to shift the cremation ground from there. The residents of Delta sector are now up in arms against the decision.

“If the cremation ground was to be located here, then the sector should not have been carved in the same area. How can people live in peace if dead bodies are cremated in the neighbourhood daily,” one of the residents argued.

The residents have decided to launch an agitation and demanded that the authority should allot plots to residents at an alternate location away from the cremation ground if the same is not shifted.

New Delhi, August 28
FIITJEE, a premier institute for IIT-JEE preparation in the country, has announced that it will extend help to deserving aspirants to realise their dream of making it to the prestigious IITs.

The institute will offer cash awards and discount of up to 100 per cent of the course fee, hostel fee concession, etc to the top 300 meritorious students on the basis of their performance in FIITJEE Talent Support Exam (FTSE) which is being conducted in 88 cities across the country.

FIITJEE, in a statement released here, said that this examinations will not only help an aspirant know his possible rank in IIT-JEE, 2007 but also help him plug loopholes in his preparations and get a good rank as well.

New Delhi, August 28
The Delhi Police have arrested three persons, including a former engineer of the BSES who had cheating many banks, including the State Bank of India (SBI) out of lakhs of rupees by using fake credit cards.

The DCP (South - West), Mr Ravinder Kumar Yadav, said that the police had nabbed Manoj Kumar Shastri, Mukesh Kumar and Ajay Tomar for allegedly cheating SBI, NDMC, DDA and BSES. —OC

New Delhi, August 28
Nine students of a government school suffered minor injuries when the mini bus (RTV) in which they were travelling overturned near Burari in North Delhi here today. The accident occurred at around 7.15 in the morning near Burari Chowk when a tyre of the RTV burst resulting in overturning of the vehicle, police said.

A passer-by woman was also injured in the accident. They were rushed to a nearby hospital and discharged after first aid. The students belonged to the Government Girls School, Burari. —OC

New Delhi, August 28
As a tribute to the Indian classical dance and as a spiritual expression of the devotion to the higher being, Amity Arts Foundation (AAF) together with Amity Tamil Nadu Synergy Forum hosted mesmerising dance performances on ‘Meera ke Prabhu’ by Padmashri Saroja Vaidyanathan (Bharatnatyam), Padmashri Ranjana Gauhar (Odissi) and Pandita Uma Dogra (Kathak) on Saturday at Kamani Auditorium.

Amity Arts Foundation (AAF) is a cultural organisation engaged in the promotion and propagation of classical Indian and folk performing art forms in general. AAF has been regularly organising cultural programmes for the appreciation of the art connoisseurs and dance lovers.

The dance performances began with the traditional lightning of the lamp by the chief guest.— TNS