New Delhi, November 9
On the second day of the sealing drive, illegal shops and commercial establishments in South Delhi were targeted by the MCD.

An MCD team, aided by a heavy security cover, sealed Haldiram’s restaurant, Jagdish Store and some other shops near the busy Lajpat Nagar market on Ring Road this morning.

The civic body resumed its controversial sealing drive yesterday, a day after the Supreme Court-appointed monitoring committee decided to go ahead with the operations, despite protests from traders.

A huge posse of security personnel, including contingents of the Rapid Action force (RAF), the CRPF, the BSF and the Delhi Police, have been deployed to provide security to the sealing teams and prevent any untoward incident.

Resuming the drive, which was discontinued almost 50 days ago after violence erupted in an East Delhi locality claiming five lives, the MCD sealed 171 premises, including the office of the telecom regulator, TRAI, yesterday.

Meanwhile, the sealing drive has triggered traffic snarls on Ring Road from South Extension to the Ashram junction as curious onlookers crowded on the streets, disrupting the movement of vehicles. No untoward incident has been reported so far.

Meanwhile, Congress councillors continued to resign in protest over the sealing drive. The Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) today joined the ruling Congress councillors in tendering resignation to protest resumption of the controversial drive against unauthorised commercial establishments in Delhi.

Mr Onkar Singh Thapar, Deputy Leader of the Opposition in the Municipal Corporation of Delhi, a SAD councillor from Pratapnagar, and Mr Subhash Malhotra, Congress councillor from Jangpura, resigned from their posts.

Mr Malhotra, who held the post of Chairman of the Gardens Committee of the civic body, handed over his resignation to the Leader of the House, Mr Jitender Kochhar, while Mr Thapar sent his resignation to party chief Parkash Singh Badal.

Earlier, 19 Congress councillors, including members of the Standing Committee, had resigned from their posts as a mark of protest against the Supreme Court-ordered sealing of illegal commercial establishments operating in residential areas.

However the BJP, which has been critical of the Sheila Dikshit government for failing to protect the trading community, has termed the resignation of councillors a “political stunt” and questioned the rationale behind submitting such letters to party leaders.

“If the councillors are so concerned, they should give their resignations to the Mayor,” BJP leader Vijendra Gupta said.

While schools reopened today after a two-day closure, the traders have again called for a 24-hour bandh tomorrow to protest against the sealing drive.

New Delhi, November 9
A delegation of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Municipal Councillors under the leadership of Mr Subhash Arya, Leader of Opposition in the MCD, met Mr Ashok Kumar Nigam, the MCD Commissioner, and acquainted him with the confusion prevailing on the sealing action following the orders of the Supreme Court.

The delegation demanded that out of 45,000 shops of traders, those shops should not be sealed which have changed their trade or fall within the purview of notifications dated September 7 and 15. The delegation members also demanded that scope of professional activities, which can be regularised, should be expanded.

Mr Arya claimed that confusion was prevailing over the sealing of shops as per the orders of the Supreme Court. Those traders were ‘terrorised’ whose commercial activities were covered under notifications dated September 7 and 15, he added.

Mr Arya also told the Commissioner that those traders who had vacated their shops under these notifications and informed the MCD about closure of those shops, which are dealing with commercial activities allowed under 22 categories and their covered area is 20 sq mt should not be sealed.

Besides, all those shops, which were earlier sealed, though they were covered within the notifications, should be de-sealed, he added.

He further said that the MCD vide a public notice had invited applications which were allowed in the notifications along with Rs 1000.

However, such applications were not being received by the municipal officers, he added. Mr Arya demanded that necessary directions should be given to initiate action on such applications so as to save such shops from sealing.

Gurgaon, November 9
Close on the heels of a statement by the Chief Secretary over the sealing issue that had raised some hope among a section of traders running commercial ventures in residential areas, the Haryana Urban Development Authority (HUDA) today asserted that the drive would continue till the government took a decision on the issue.

The Chief Secretary had said recently that a high-powered committee constituted by the government had recommended expansion of the list of some commercial ventures in HUDA sectors, which would be spared from the drive.

With regard to the localities falling under licensed areas where only private builders have set up colonies, like DLF, Sushant Lok, etc, he had said that the government was also considering treating them at par with the areas of HUDA sectors.

As per the rule, some commercial ventures are allowed in HUDA sectors. The committee has recommended expansion of the list of commercial ventures.

HUDA today said that the sealing drive in Gurgaon was purely an administrative action and it had nothing to do with the court’s directive.

New Delhi, November 9
Senior BJP leader and Saket MLA Vijay Jolly today termed the sealing and salary hike for the Chief Minister, Ministers and MLAs as “ludicrous and preposterous”.

Condemning the sealing drive and the Delhi Government’s stand on the issue, he said, “This (sealing) is a classic case of Ms Sheila Dikshit’s insensitivity at its peak. The move to introduce and pass the Members of Legislative Assembly of the National Capital Territory of Delhi (Salaries, Allowances, Pension, etc) (Amendment) Bill, 2006, in the current Delhi Assembly Session is ill-conceived and a mistimed missile. It is against public opinion and is an unpopular government decision”.

He said while “Delhi is burning the precedence of salary hikes of the Chief Minister, Ministers and MLAs over sealing is inhuman. People are agitating against high water and power bills”.

“The failure to provide relief to 44,000 shopkeepers, the inordinate delay in finalising the Master Plan of Delhi - 2021, the ill-advised enactment of the Delhi Laws (Special Provisions) Act, 2006, set aside by the Supreme Court of India, the failure to amend the Constitution by placing the Delhi Laws (SP) Act under the Ninth Schedule of the Constitution for it to be beyond the purview of judicial scrutiny are serious administrative lapses of the Congress-led Delhi Government, the MCD and the Union Urban Affairs Ministry”, the BJP leader said.

He said the salary hike would lead to an additional burden of Rs 1.65 crore on the exchequer.

New Delhi, November 9
The realisation of the government’s ambitious plan to provide universal elementary education (UEE) to all children between 6 and 14 by 2010 seems an unattainable task considering that numerous surveys have pointed out the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan has recorded slow progress.

“The performance audit revealed slow progress of implementation of the programme and poor utilisation of funds as well as a certain lack of seriousness as reflected in the composition of the structures set up to implement the scheme (SSA) which was not commensurate with its national importance and overall objectives,” says the Comptroller and Auditor General’s report on the performance of the SSA in Delhi.

Under the SSA objectives, all children should be in school, education guarantee centre, alternative school and ‘back to school’ camp by 2003. The mission estimated that there were around 1.88 lakh out-of-school children, the report says.

It is mentioned that only 1.33 lakh out-of-school children were brought into the non-formal system of education through learning centres as of March 31, 2005.

The CAG’s report claims the UEE mission has failed to provide any special intervention for the education of SC/ST children during the year 2003-04 and 2004-05 despite the decline in their enrolment at the primary level.

“…Further, it (enrolment) was nine per thousand in respect of ST children, 27 in respect of BC/OBC children and 19 in respect of general category children in Delhi,” the report notes.

The report indicates that there are about 734 kutcha classrooms while 818 were in tents. Over 1.6 lakh children were studying in schools without electricity while over a lakh did not have even drinking water facilities in their schools. In addition, over 1.75 lakh children were in schools which lacked toilets, and despite these shortcomings, the department has not taken any steps to provide these basic facilities in the annual plans and budgets, the CAG says.

Censuring the government for failing to take proactive steps to bring disabled children to mainstream education, the report says, “The Government of Delhi has identified around 30,186 children with special needs and 5400 urban deprived children, however no strategies were devised to extend educational facilities to them during 2003-04 and 2004-05.”

New Delhi, November 9
Rumours of squabbling and scuffles notwithstanding, the Jawaharlal Nehru University Students’ Union elections went off peacefully here today.

The day was marked by sloganeering and last-minute wooing as 45 candidates contested for four seats in the main panel. More than 5,000 students cast their votes to elect their representatives for the post of president, vice-president, secretary and joint secretary.

American student Tyler Walker Williams, who is contesting for the post of vice-president, is the first ever foreign student to contest elections to the main panel.

A frontrunner for the post of VP, Tyler, who is from the incumbent All India Students’ Association (AISA), is an MPhil student in Hindi and was elected a councillor in last year’s election.

The election conducted by the election committee, picked and run by the students themselves, started at 9 am in 10 polling booths within the campus and concluded at 5.30 pm. The counting of votes is scheduled to begin later at night and the results will be declared on Friday.

This year, the fight was not bipolar. Slugging it out alongside the Left (SFI-AISF and AISA) and the ABVP were the new entrants, the Youth for Equality. Also in the fray were the Congress-backed NSUI, the Chhatra Lok Janashakti and the Bahujan Students’ Front, who claimed to represent students from the marginalised sections.

New Delhi, November 9
In a major development on the academic front, Stanford University is all set to partner with the Indian Institute of Planning and Management (IIPM) to conduct strategy workshops in India.

The Stanford Centre for Professional Development is currently collaborating with the IIPM to conduct three-day workshops on ‘Dynamic Corporate Strategy’ in New Delhi from November 17.

To bring about this joint effort, Professor Edison Tse, director of the Asia Center of Management Science and Engineering, and Professor A. Sandeep from IIPM will work together and synergise extensive case studies to help executives develop and implement dynamic corporate strategies in different professional situations. Today’s corporate world requires companies to develop a new core competence which will help leverage their strategic assets to exploit new opportunities and to help convert potential risks into opportunities. 

Faridabad, November 9
A Factory Improvement Programme (FIP) has been launched in the district for the first time with the cooperation of the International Labour Organization (ILO) and the government of Switzerland. India is the third country in the world after Sri Lanka and Vietnam where the Swiss government has launched such a scheme. The Faridabad Small Industries Association (FSIA) will be supervising this programme which will cover at least 30 industrial units in the first phase.

Launching the scheme, the Director of the South Asia Regional Sub-office, Ms Layla Tagmoreddi, said that the main objective of the ILO functioning was to facilitate social justice, employment opportunities and equal rights in the matter of work to all men and women.

She said while the thrust of any such drive was to maintain proper environment, the Factory Improvement Programme had also been a part of such work.

Mr Hans Peter Egler, the Head of the Trade and Clean Technology wing of the Ministry of Economic Affairs of Switzerland, said that the FIP could be instrumental in providing a supply chain of world-class products while focusing on improving environment.

Describing it as future investment for industry and manufacturers, he said it would involve proper changes in labour management, quality, technology and work culture.

The Chairman and Managing Director of the National Small Industries Corporation (NSIC), Mr H.P.Kumar, said that the start of the FIP had been a landmark development in the history of this industrial township.

He said such a drive should cover maximum number of industrial units, especially those which had been facing problems like shortage of demand for their products.

A spokesperson of the FSIA said that the expenditure on the programme would be borne by the Swiss government and it would help in providing support to the units facing a tough time due to growing international competition.

The 30 units selected for the programme here include 15 electroplating and 15 units in sheet component category. 

New Delhi, November 9
The Capital reported 28 fresh dengue cases during the past 24 hours, taking the total number of cases to 3,002, officials said. However, the death toll continued to stand at 60, as no deaths were reported in the same time period.

The officials said of the total number reported during the past 24 hours till 10 am this morning, 1,831 were from Delhi alone.

The Medical Superintendent of AIIMS said while two fresh dengue patients were admitted to the institute in the past 24 hours, 16 were discharged. The total number of dengue patients undergoing treatment in the hospital now stood at 59, he added.—TNS

New Delhi, November 9
The Delhi District Consumer Forum has held Safdarjung Hospital liable for causing death by not attending and treating a patient suffering from severe brain haemorrhage.

The Delhi district consumer forum at Sheikh Sarai ordered the hospital to pay a compensation of Rs 2 lakh to the complainant.

According to lawyer R Krishnan, the patient, Ms Kusum Lata, lost consciousness on November 4 and was immediately rushed to the Safdarjung Hospital. The doctors did not perform either CT scan or any other diagnostic procedures, he alleged. She kept lying for five-and-a-half hours unattended. Then, she was shifted to the Apollo Hospital, where she breathed her last.—TNS

New Delhi, November 9
A 60-year-old trader set himself ablaze in a South-West Delhi locality and was hospitalised with serious burn injuries.

Wasir Chand, a resident of Tilak Nagar in West Delhi, was admitted to Safdarjung Hospital after he poured kerosene on himself and lighted a match near the bus
stand in the Jaffar Pur Kalan area.

He owns a photo studio in Uttam Nagar in West Delhi and had rented out another shop.

Though his family claimed Chand was upset over the MCD sealing drive, he told the police he was depressed over some domestic problems. The police are investigating the matter.

New Delhi, November 9
The BJP Delhi president, Dr Harsh Vardhan, today blamed Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit of failing to take action against power bungling and smart card bungling as was reported by the Public Accounts Committee. He said the Chief Minister had committed “contempt of the House by failing to inquire into both cases of bungling within a fixed time frame”.

Raising the issue in the Delhi Legislative Assembly today, he said as per the rules the House should have been apprised of the action taken report within three months of submission of the report of the Public Accounts Committee by the government. The committee report had confirmed bungling of finances in the privatisation of power and had recommended an inquiry by the CBI or the CVC, the BJP leader said.—TNS

Gurgaon, November 9
Joint Action Forum of Residents’ Association (JAFRA) has said that the murders committed by the gang on the pretext of providing them lift in their maxicab could have been avoided if there was a safe and efficient public transport network in this city.

JAFRA, an umbrella body of around 150 RWAs, regretted that most of those killed were the poor and middle-class people and the young students. They were forced to ask for lifts as they were not in a position to buy a personal vehicle or use public transport.

General secretary of JAFRA, Mr Bhawani Shankar Tripathy said that Gurgaon has developed as a residential city and an industrial town, attracting a large workforce, which commutes every day from the periphery towns of Delhi, Faridabad and Rewari.

An efficient 24-hour pubic transport system is the backbone of a growing economy, but it is either missing or remains inadequate to fulfill the requirements of people in Gurgaon, lamented JAFRA.

These highway robbery-cum-murders could have been avoided if the Gurgaon administration and the NCR planners had planned well in advance. How can a government ask people to live in a city that has no transport, wondered the general secretary.

Gurgaon industry owners and industrial associations should have also put pressure on the government to create adequate public transport infrastructure for their workforce. It will only make the employees happier and more productive, suggested JAFRA.

The Metro is good news for Gurgaon, but it will benefit most when it diverts from Nathupur/DLF Phase III towards NH8 and moves along Udyog Vihar till it reaches IFFCO Chowk and goes towards Sushant Lok. Those working in Udyog Vihar need the Metro service most, opined Mr Tripathy.

Along with the Metro, the government should start a network of bus service and metered auto rickshaws to ply in the city. Taxis, autos and DTC buses from Delhi should be allowed into different areas of Gurgaon without toll taxes to help people commute safely between the two cities, advised the association.

JAFRA has appealed to the Chief Minister with copies to the Deputy Commissioner, HUDA Administrator, the GM Transport, Chief District Town Planner, to focus on developing safe and efficient transport infrastructure in Gurgaon.

Senior Superintendent of Police Hanif Qureshi informed that two more bodies have been found and identified. The total number of murders committed by them has come to 29 till date.

Two absconding gang members have been arrested, informed the SSP. The whole gang of 10 youths, including a 13-year-old child has been arrested. The child was later let off as he was not involved in any crime, claimed the SSP.

Ghaziabad, November 9
Several train passengers were injured when a group of protestors attacked the Moradabad railway station and damaged coaches of a train last night. The group was protesting against the recovery of ballot papers in the office of market committee earlier.

The mob attacked Kisan Express and damaged all the coaches of the train.

A large number of passengers jumped out of the train in panic when the mob pelted the train compartments with stones.

Dozens of passengers and both the engine drivers sustained injuries in stone-pelting. The drivers had to be admitted to the railway hospital.

Later, police resorted to lathicharge and firing in the air to disperse the crowd. But, this was reportedly retaliated by firing by agitators, causing a further commotion and panic at the Moradabad railway station. BJP leader Mr Vinode Agarwal, who was one of the protestors, was arrested later.—OC

New Delhi, November 9
The police claimed to have arrested a notorious gangster, Rakesh (25), wanted in more than half a dozen cases, including robbery, snatching, assault, extortion, auto theft and burglary, from Pitampura today. Two stolen cars and one countrymade pistol were allegedly recovered from his possession.

The police, on the complaint of one Manoj Arora, a resident of Rohini, nabbed Vishnu Pahari and one of his accomplices near Saraswati Vihar in Pitampura. According to the police, Pahari had befriended Rakesh nearly one and a half years ago in Ghaziabad jail. Pahari is allegedly involved in 11 criminal cases. The police reportedly seized stolen goods worth Rs 80,000 at his instance.

Arora alleged that his brother-in-law Praveen Manchanda was beaten by four men as he refused to sell off his property to Vishnu Pahari. Manchanda had bought the property from Pahari nearly six years ago. 

New Delhi, November 9
The People Institute for Development and Training (PIDT), in collaboration with Gandhi Smriti and Darshan Samiti, will organise the 19th International Association for Volunteer Efforts (IAVE) conference in the Capital from November 10.

This five-day conference will be inaugurated by Mr Oscar Fernandes, the Union Minister for Labour and Employment.

For the first time, this conference is being held in any Asian country.

The theme of the conference is ‘Volunteering for Peace in Multicultural Societies’. The other proposed topics that would be discussed during the conference are human rights, disaster management, environment, information communication technologies and civil society intervention, said Ms Indrani Das Gupta, convener of the conference.

“Peace is what everyone needs, but still it is a rare commodity these days. War scourge disrupts happy lives of many
societies. With this conference, we will try to find a suitable coping mechanism in order to resolve the unending conflicts of globalisation,” said Dr Liz Burns, IAVE President.