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Delhi Poll Scene
Only 14 days to go, cops yet to identify sensitive booths
22 candidates skip DPCC function
Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit with DPCC president Jai Prakash Agarwal and party candidates during a press conference at the DPCC office in New Delhi on Saturday. Tribune photo: Mukesh Aggarwal |
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Drive against taboo on condom use
Sanskriti awards given
Sheila, Speaker differ on BRT stretch
Now, poll inquiries just a call away
Cows slaughtered in Swaroop Nagar
Youth blown to bits by train
Body thrown from moving car
Speaker lauds Haryana govt
MOIA joins hands with JNU for migration research
Custodial death: 6 cops sent to judicial custody
DU-Jehangirpuri Metro trial run
Police should be accountable to state govt: Kanth
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Cops on alert for bouncers
Sandeep Yadav Tribune News Service
New Delhi, November 15 Police units have been deployed on 24x7 basis to keep a check on the movement of any suspicious vehicle or person on the Capital’s entry points. Besides senior officials of Delhi police had a meeting with their counterparts in UP and Haryana last week to ensure foolproof security. Deputy commissioners of police (DCPs) in border areas of East, South East and Outer Delhi districts discussed security measures with the senior superintendents of police (SSPs) of Noida, Faridabad, Gurgaon and Ghaziabad. According to a Delhi police source, “The police is taking no chances and is involving police chiefs of neighboring districts to ensure that the elections take place smoothly. A couple of meetings had taken place recently between the DCPs and border districts police chiefs and they have assured their full cooperation.” According to the Delhi police, grapplers and bouncers in huge numbers enter the Capital from neighbouring states in the run-up to elections, whether they are civic body or assembly or Lok Sabha elections. “There have been instances where leaders import musclemen from neighbouring districts and make them part of their security and canvassing team. Such characters are on the lookout of fights and often are the cause of clashes between opposition parties. We need to avoid such volatile situation,” said Delhi police PRO ACP Rajan Bhagat. With campaigning to peek up in the days to come, the Delhi police has laid out strict instructions to their men to book anyone trying to cause a ruckus. The force is also concerned about unlicensed arms or countrymade ammunitions entering the Capital. The police is keeping an eye on known notorious grapplers, who have had a dubious past and are known trouble makers. The police has also been asked to prepare a list of criminals, including bad characters who are likely to indulge in bootlegging and other illegal activities during the elections. “Any trouble maker is bound to find himself behind the bars, be he local or an outsider. Each district has its list of bad characters and hooligans. The beat constable has been assigned to check such movements,” said a police official.
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Only 14 days to go, cops yet to identify sensitive booths
New Delhi, November 15 While it has started the process of identifying “troublesome” or “sensitive” polling stations for the November 29 assembly election, the senior officers at the Delhi police headquarters could not give a figure of such stations. “All the police districts are required to identify sensitive booths in their district. While some have sent their reports, we are awaiting the list from other districts. The work would be completed in a day or two,” assured a senior police official at the headquarters. The Delhi electoral office has asked the police to identify sensitive areas after change in the boundaries of the constituencies post delimitation. They will then be further divided into communally sensitive places or hypersensitive areas. The areas from where bogus voting has been reported in the past would fall into “not conducive” category. During the last assembly election in 2003, 29 polling booths were declared “hypersensitive” and 211 were identified as “sensitive”. The list is bound to increase this year with increase in voters and more polling booths. When enquired whether the delay in identifying the sensitive polling booths would hamper security arrangements at the last moment, ACP Rajan Bhagat, PRO, Delhi police assured that no such thing will happen. “There are two weeks to the polling day. We already have a blueprint of arrangements to be done at the sensitive and hyper sensitive booths. With list likely to be ready by Monday, we would put our men in action soon,” said Bhagat. With the increase in number of polling booths this year, the security forces too would be in high demand. More than 35,000 security personnel including central paramilitary forces are likely to be deployed across the Capital for elections while a reserve of 20,000 personnel are expected to be on standby to meet any eventuality.
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22 candidates skip DPCC function
New Delhi, November 15 CDs for the election campaign were distributed by the party to the candidates, said a senior leader. Prominent among the absent candidates was Delhi finance minister Dr A. K. Walia, health minister Yoganand Shastri and development minister Raj Kumar Chauhan. Besides, union urban minister Ajay Maken, Sadar Bazar MP Jagdish Tytler and Outer Delhi MP Sajjan Kumar were also not seen in the function. Sources said these leaders avoided attending the function in protest as their men were not given ticket for the assembly elections. Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit dominated the function. DPCC president Jai Prakash Agarwal sat aside. It was a one-man show, he said. East Delhi MP and son of Chief Minister Sandeep Dikshit advised candidates of trans-Yamuna to cash in on the development work of the government. During the 10-year rule of the Congress in Delhi, major development work has been done in the trans-Yamuna area. Commonwealth Games Village is also being developed there. Claiming that out of 21 seats, the Congress may win 14 seats of the assembly in East Delhi, Sandeep said he had been appointed one of the campaigners by the AICC. The BSP can affect in only the three constituencies of Gokulpuri, Kondli and Seemapuri, he said. Retired IPS officer Amod Kanth who is for the first time contesting an election, from the Sangam Vihar constituency, could be seen trying to mingle with the crowd. |
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Drive against taboo on condom use
New Delhi, November 15 This phase of the mass media campaign entails an advertisement, featuring a dog named ‘Condom’ and parrot, the mascot, went on air yesterday in five languages, namely Hindi, Tamil, Telugu, Marathi and Kannada. Earlier last year in December, BBCWST initiated the condom programme by a contest with a tagline ‘Jo Bola Wohi Sikander’ in four HIV prevalent states—Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu, and it recorded tremendous success. Then, NACO decided to partner the Trust; the product was the March’s phase II mass media campaign—a kabaddi game in the form of ad broadcast on TV and radio—which was directed towards bringing about attitudinal and behavioural change in the community at large. The third phase was a mobile ring tone ‘Condom a Capella’ broadcast in August and September this year that registered a sweeping success in India and abroad, with nearly five lakh requests received for download in India and 160,000 people especially from outside downloaded the ring tone from the www.condomcondom.org. Yvonne MacPherson, the director of BBCWST of India says, “It’s the first time a ring tone has been used to promote health campaign, and the campaign website received an exciting four million hits within three months.” Down the decades, the most dreaded AIDS has assumed endemic proportions, claiming 2.5 million Indian lives under its fold. After the first case of AIDS was reported in India in 1986, the Indian government initiated various programmes towards combating HIV and AIDS in India through NACO, which functions under the ministry of health and family welfare. The condom campaign is one such step designed to remove the taboo associated with the use of condoms and enhance its social acceptability among different communal at large. There are various hurdles in expanding the outreach of condoms like adequate marketing infrastructure, negative moral judgement etc. The director general of NACO, K. Sujata Rao says, “It’s necessary to take immediate steps towards marketing condom as a commodity as effectively as possible and expanding its penetration and extent. |
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Sanskriti awards given
New Delhi, November 15 Each awardee was conferred with citation besides cash prize of Rs 25,000. The honours were conferred by the renowned social activist and Magsaysay recipient Aruna Roy who was the chief guest for the evening. Ranjani Shettar, 31, who bagged the prize for the art category, is an artiste whok strikes a communion between the past and the present, traditional and modernity, art and craft via multidimensional medium that perfectly elevates the simple mundane things to a new plane. Inderjit Nandan, 34, was honoured for her inspirational Punjabi poetry that touches upon the humane aspects of lives. “Dishadiyon Ton Par” and “Chup De Rang” in 2002, and biography of eminent Punjabi theatre artiste Joginder Baharla in 2006 are amongst her significant collections. Chitrangada Choudhury, 27, received the honour for her instinctive reporting on public policies and how they impacted the lives of common men, and insightful presentation of the social issues in Maharashtra, Gujarat, Orissa and Chattisgarh. Rajni, 35, and Gayatri, 31, together received the awards for music. They are vocalists and also play the violin. They hold the prestige of bagging many awards like Kalki Krishnamurthy Memorial Award, Isai Peroli Award of the Shanmukhananda Sabha. The outstanding award under the social achievement section went to the Ability Unlimited India (AUI), which commands the credit of being the first professional dance theatre, which serves as a multi-platform to variously abled people by giving them resources and channels for career options. |
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Sheila, Speaker differ on BRT stretch
New Delhi, November 15 While Dikshit is determined to complete the project, Singh on Saturday said that he would ensure that the BRT was closed forever and Metro network was constructed in its place. Interestingly, residents of the Ambedkar Nagar area from where the speaker has been winning the assembly elections for the last 15 years by record margins suffered the most in traffic chaos due to the
BRT. “People of my area have been complaining the most against the
BRT, as they have suffered a lot because of this. They do not want BRT at all. This project is total failure,” said Singh. The speaker added that he had promised the residents of the area that he would get an elevated Metro network constructed if elected again. Confident of breaking the victory record margin again, Singh said that people of his area trusted that he would get the corridor closed. Claiming to have recently written to Lieutenant Governor (L-G) Tejendra Khanna about the menace, he demanded the closure of BRT stretch. Besides, the speaker has demanded from the L-G to allow cars on the bus lane of BRT stretch during peak hours as long as it is not closed. “The corridor is not at all suitable for Delhi. This foreign concept has failed here. Hence, it cannot be implemented here at any cost,” he said. “Certain shortcomings that have been noticed on the corridor are being worked upon soon. As the project is very new to the city so it might have caused some problems, but that does not mean that it should be stopped forever,” said East Delhi MP and CM’s son Sandeep Dikshit. |
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Now, poll inquiries just a call away
New Delhi, November 15 The call centre will provide information about voter list, provisions for addition and deletion of names from voter list, assembly constituencies, details of polling stations and election schedule. The election department has hired a professional private agency for this service. Citizens can obtain information from the call center on Airtel number- 47617500. The telephone charges will have to be borne by the caller, the CEO said. Bedi appealed to the electors to cast their vote on November 29 at the assigned polling stations, adding that high-class people generally do not take interest in casting their vote. The Delhi election office has appointed observers for management of postal ballot papers. The observers are:
X.K. Mahto for North West district, Manoj Parida for South, Debashree Mukherjee for North, Archana Arora for West, Ramesh Negi for North East, M. Spolia for Central Delhi, Naresh Kumar for East, R.Verma for New Delhi and Rakesh Mohan for South West. |
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Cows slaughtered in Swaroop Nagar
New Delhi, November 15 According to information, cows were reportedly stolen from the area during the last couple of days. It happened yesterday also. As a result, the owners were looking for their animals. Today morning, people witnessed carcasses of about 30 cows and their skin stored in four bags near Bhalaswa Dairy, just across the Swaroop Nagar-Burari GT Road. As the news spread, hundreds of residents including local leaders gathered on the spot and demanded explanation from the police. “We came to know about the slaughter of cows around 7.30 am and reached there at once. People from the whole locality assembled and shouted slogans against the police and demanded arrest of the culprits,” said Roshan Kansal of Gopal Gau Sadan. Senior officers of the district including DCP N S Bundela pacified the angry residents. Only after assurance of prompt action by the police, people left the venue. According to police, the weapons used in skinning the cows have been seized. The dead cows have been sent for medical tests.
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Advani opens Malhotra’s website
New Delhi, November 15 Addressing the gathering, Advani said Malhotra’s 50 long years of experience in public life and legislature, including parliamentary experience, unblemished personality, administrative acumen, understanding of problems of Delhi made him the ideal choice for chief ministership. Delhi is in fact mini India. All languages, regional cultures, customs and religions have to be respected and preserved. The internet is an important electronic medium for keeping in touch with the all segments of society, he said. The website would prove to be an important instrument for furthering this interaction. The Bharatiya Janata Party is always ready to employ modern technology to spread its message and receive suggestions from people for further improvement. It was the first national party to open its own website in 1997. |
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Youth blown to bits by train
Noida, November 15 Kailash Chand, a resident of Dary Machha studied at MMH College in Ghaziabad. Kailash, along with his friend Jagpal, was returning to his home in Ghaziabad from Noida. When they reached Dadri railway station they found the railway crossing closed. Jagmal dismounted from the bike when Kailash Chand tried to cross the closed gate. Reportedly, some passers-by had tried to dissuade him from crossing the railway track with the gate closed. A train was imminent to pass, they had cautioned him. But Kailash Chand did not listen to them and tried crossing the track when the Rajdhani Express came hurtling down over him. The train hit his bike with such a force that it was thrown nearly 100 meters away. Kailash was blown into bits. A large crowd had collected at the spot after the accident. The police has sent the victim’s body for postmortem. |
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Body thrown from moving car
New Delhi, November 15 According to the police, the incident happened last night around 12.30 am on Outer Ring Road near Chandgi Ram Akhara and Majnu ka Tilla police post. The police post is about 400 metres from the place where the body was thrown. Based on the papers found from the body, the deceased has been identified as Rai Deepak (43), a resident of Darjeeling from West Bengal. The police has recovered voter I-Card, a railway ticket and Rs 31 from the pockets of the deceased. As per the railway ticket, the deceased had come to the Capital on November 9. According to police sources, the condition of the body hints towards an accident or a brutal murder. The left leg of the body is broken and there are marks on head and face. The body has been sent for post mortem and the family of the deceased has been informed. Meanwhile, based on the information provided by the passerby who saw the incident, the police has launched an investigation.
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Speaker lauds Haryana govt
Faridabad, November 15 Kadian, who was here as chief guest at a zonal youth festival, said that the present government was working in a manner to minimise regional imbalance in the state. All the districts in the state have made rapid progress during the present Congress rule, he added. Drawing a comparison between the present government and the preceding ones, he said that during the earlier regimes, the state coffers were claimed to be empty. But the coffer is full now and the state government was pumping investments for all-round progress of the state. According to him, status and power of Faridabad parliamentary constituency has increased following the implementation of the Delimitation Commission. Earlier, there were only six assembly seats in this Lok Sabha constituency. Now the number has increased to nine. He urged upon people not to be carried away by caste feelings. |
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MOIA joins hands with JNU for migration research
New Delhi, November 15 A reputed scholar in international migration, Binod Khadria, professor of economics at Zakir Husain Centre for Educational Studies (ZHCES) will head the research project. The partnership is being seen as a step towards the formulation of India’s national policy on migration. “It is expected that this research initiative would provide the ministry with a scholarly think-tank to bring intellectual rigour in policy-making, said Poonam, spokesperson, JNU. The landmark initiative focuses primarily on the links between social, economic, political, cultural and educational aspects of migration. “Apart from MOIA, the project would seek international collaboration with globally renowned organisations in the field of international migration,” said Poonam. |
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Custodial death: 6 cops sent to judicial custody
Noida, November 15 The six cops include three sub-inspectors—Vinode Pandey, Mahesh Mishra and Hind Veer— and three constables Pradeep, Harpal and Pushpinder. Out of the three, two SIs are posted in Bulandshahr while the third is with Noida ATS. The constables are with Sector-39 and Sector-20 police stations of Noida. The case relates to the death of Sonu, a resident of Hazratpur village in the Khurja area of Bulandshahr, who died in Sector-20 police station on August 1, 2006. According to sources, the cops were taken to Dasna jail, late yesterday. |
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DU-Jehangirpuri Metro trial run
New Delhi, November 15 This section is part of Phase-II of Delhi Metro, which aims at adding 125 km more to its existing 65 km network, said Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) spokesman Anuj Dayal. The trial run began at 10 am and continued successfully till 5 pm “The trial runs will continue for about five weeks and the section is expected to open to public in December 2008 or January 2009,” Dayal added.
— IANS
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Police should be accountable to state govt: Kanth
New Delhi, November 15 He listed sanitation and security as the primary matter of concern along with roads, electricity and sewage system. “Sangam Vihar has the largest slum population in the Capital. Therefore, it needs special attention in education,” said
Kanth. He said the Rangnath Misra Commission on 1984 riots had appreciated him for the least casualty in the central Delhi areas which were under his charge at that time. |
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candidates at a function organised by the Delhi Pradesh Congress Committee
today indicated that they could not spare time for the function as they are too busy facing the tough competition in their constituencies.
The residents of Swaroop Nagar in north-west Delhi woke up in the morning today to the news of scores of cows being found slaughtered in their vicinity.
According to information, cows were reportedly stolen from the area during the last couple of days. It happened yesterday also. As a result, the owners were looking for their animals.
