New Delhi, May 24
The Delhi Electricity Regulatory Commission (DERC) is likely to announce the power tariff for 2010-11 this week. It will also submit the statutory advice on the tariff order to the Delhi government in a few days before going public with the new rates.

The DERC has already written a letter to the Delhi government stating that the new tariff order needed to be announced immediately.

According to sources, the new order might bring some respite to consumers as the DERC is said to have reduced the rates.

After the Delhi government came to know that the commission was preparing to slash rates by 20 per cent, it directed the DERC on May 4 to maintain the power tariff to the last year’s level.

The independent power regulator had sought the solicitor general of India’s opinion to clear the controversy triggered after the government directed the commission not to go public with its new tariff till the issues raised by the private power distribution companies were examined.

Though the solicitor general advocated in the DERC’s favour, the members of the commission have decided to make the announcements this week.

The discoms had opposed the move on the grounds that they were running into deficit as they were buying costly power from other states to meet the demands of the Capital. While on the other hand, the DERC had reportedly taken the stand that the discoms were having healthy profits and their cost of buying power would substantially come down once Delhi became power surplus before the Commonwealth Games.

Highest power demand in 50 yrs

Delhi today met its highest-ever power demand at 4581 MW in more than 50 years. The earlier record of peak demand was 4408 MW on July 8, 2009.

Parts of the Capital faced severe power cuts due to the shut down of some transmission lines. A 220 KV BTPS double circuit line in Okhla has been shut down for DMRC work. Besides, 220 KV IP Extension Sarita Vihar Line and 220 KV Maharani Bagh-Sarita Vihar Line are also shut down for construction of an elevated road over Barahpulla Nala for the Commonwealth Games.

The total demand in Delhi from May 22 to 23 was 78.8779 million units (MUs), of which 78.734 MUs was successfully met and 0.143 MUs was shed due to transmission and distribution constraints (of which 0.035 MUs was due to shutdown of 220 KV BTPS- Okhla Double Circuit Line for DMRC works).

No under frequency relay has been reported in the last 24 hours.

New Delhi, May 24
Your dream vehicle is set to get costlier, as the Delhi cabinet today gave its nod to a hike in road tax.

Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit said two-wheelers costing up to Rs 25,000 would continue to be charged at the rate of 2 per cent as earlier. 

However, two-wheelers costing between Rs 25,000 and Rs 40,000 will be charged at the rate of 4 per cent instead of the earlier 2 per cent. Two-wheelers costing more than Rs 40,000 will now invite tax at the rate of 6 per cent.

In the cars section, cars costing up to Rs 6 lakh will be charged at 4 per cent instead of the earlier 2 per cent, while those costing from Rs 6 lakh to Rs 10 lakh will invite road tax of 7 per cent. Cars costing more than Rs 10 lakh would be charged 10 per cent. 

All cars costing over Rs 6 lakh till now invited 4 per cent road tax.

When asked what led to this sudden hike, the Chief Minister said this would go a long way in restricting purchase of luxury cars and discourage use of private vehicles. 

The new rate will come into force after the issue of a notification, she said. 

The Capital has no scope of expansion and has limited road length. With the registration of around 1,000 new vehicles every day, the city is increasingly witnessing long traffic jams. There are around 60 lakh vehicles in Delhi, the Chief Minister said. 

She said rationalisation of road tax rates became necessary because the rates had not been changed for the past many decades. The rates prevalent in the neighbouring states were also considered before taking the decision, she added. 

The new rates will help to check the incidence of people getting their vehicles registered in the neighbouring states. 

The cabinet has decided to retain the prevalent rates for public utility vehicles, as any hike in the road tax of such vehicles would directly and indirectly affect the common man.

New Delhi, May 24
The Delhi police is the biggest culprit among all government organisations in the Capital facing allegations of human rights (HR) violations. Its record might have seen some improvement in more serious categories of HR violations like custodial death, fake encounters and false implications, but the common man continues to be at the receiving end of its high-handedness and insensitive attitude, a figure compiled by the National Human Rights Commission says.

The statistics of all Delhi-specific complaints the NHRC received in the past three years shows that the numbers stood at 6210, 5433 and 5228 in years 2007-08, 2008-09 and 2009-10, respectively, marking a constant decline. However, what did not decline is the Delhi police’s share in the complaints the NHRC got from the public and authorities too in certain cases.

In fact, the HR complaints against cops went up in 2009-10 to 1,820 from 1,796 in the previous year despite the number of overall complaints in the Capital going down to 5,228 from 5,433 during the same period.

The data compiled by NHRC has taken financial years (from April 1 of a year to March 31 of the next) into account instead of the calendar years (January 1 to December 31 of a year).

The single biggest grouse of the public against the police is that it does not take prompt action under the law.

As per the NHRC data accessed by The Tribune, as many as 903 of the total of 1,820 complaints registered against the Delhi police in 2009-10 fell under the ‘failure in taking lawful action’ category.

In the previous two years, the category made for 834 and 820 public grievances out of a total of 1,796 and 2,181 complaints the NHRC received against the Delhi police.

Cases of ‘abuse of power’ also went up to 471 in 2009-10 against 276 and 380 in the past two years. The number of complaints of ‘custodial torture’ stood at 18 against 17 and 16 in previous years, while the cops were accused of ‘victimisation’ in 54 cases.

In 10 cases, they were accused of ‘abduction’ compared to 19 and two similar cases in 2008-09 and 2007-08, respectively.

On the positive side, the NHRC did not receive even a single complaint of ‘custodial death’ in the last year. It had received six such cases in 2007-08 and none in 2008-09. Complaints of ‘atrocities on SC/ST’ were also very few with only three such cases. Under ‘false implications’ category, the numbers went down to 195 compared to previous figures of 277 and 372.

The data clearly suggests that masses are more likely to be exploited or troubled by the cops than given prompt justice.

A large number of the complainants are the poor people who have no influence over the cops, informed sources said.

The high number of HR complaints against the Delhi police is an indication that the cops in the Capital still have a long way to go in satisfying the people. 

New Delhi, May 24
Delhi University’s (DU) Department of Germanic and Romanic Studies would take admissions to its four undergraduate foreign language courses through counselling this year.

The department today decided not to take out cut-offs this year and instead give admission to students during three days when students could come and take admissions on the basis of merit.

The final merit list for admission to B.A. (Hons.) in French, German, Hispanic Studies and Italian Studies would comprise a candidate’s performance in entrance test and merit of best four in senior secondary examination.

“We have limited seats in our department, so the process of taking out cut-offs becomes cumbersome as the department could not take the risk of admitting extra students,” said Vijaya Venkataraman, senior faculty from Department of Germanic and Romanic Studies.

The department has 39 seats per course and offers some of the most popular undergraduate courses in the university. Earlier, the department used to take out lists of students who qualified for the first cut-off and give them two days to deposit fees. The vacant seats would again be offered to students who made it to second cut-off.

Now, the department would put up a merit list of set number of students who made it to the courses and take admissions on June 23, 24 and 25.

The department also decided to stick to the over all admission schedule of the DU and start selling its prospectuses from the department on May 28. The last date for submission and sale of the forms is June 11 while the entrance examination for the same would be conducted on June 17 from 11am to 12 noon.

The foreign language courses of DU are considered a sure-shot ticket into the job world as there are not many foreign language professionals available in the country. The DU is the only university in the country that offers degree courses, both undergraduate and post-graduate in Italian. The courses are also the best way to make it to DU for students who could not perform well in senior secondary examinations, but have an aptitude for learning a new language.

“Our students get placed immediately after the courses and for those who opt for post-graduate courses there are unlimited options as the country lacks many professional foreign language trainers especially in Italian,” said Venkataraman.

The teachers of the department would be available at the Arts Faculty building of DU North Campus to answer queries of students who want to know more about the courses and entrance examination.

New Delhi, May 24
A city court has awarded a compensation of over Rs 5 lakh to a 35-year-old woman who suffered permanent disability in a road accident in 2006.

Holding the driver of the offending vehicle guilty under various provisions of the Motor Vehicle act, Motor Accident Claim Tribunal judge Gurvinder Pal Singh awarded a compensation of Rs 5,10,800 to Gunjan Pathak.

The court added that the amount would be paid along with 7.5 per cent interest per annum from the date of filing of the petition till its realisation.

Pathak came under the wheels of the bus on August 9, 2006, when she was alighting from a bus at Nangloi bus stand, Rohtak Road. 

The judge held the bus driver guilty of rash and negligent driving and said, “A driver behind wheels of a mechanically propelled vehicle is duty-bound to observe necessary care and caution especially when passengers are getting down from the vehicle. Having failed to observe such duty…the driver seems to be negligent.”

Pathak was 31-year-old when the accident took place. In her petition, she had demanded Rs 5 lakh compensation stating that she had encountered various problems as she suffered 42 per cent permanent disability in her right lower limb and was a housewife.

The court sympathised with her loss and said, “The post-graduate petitioner was providing household services to her family, requiring movement. The permanent disability that she has suffered makes her face difficulty.”

The court also referred to a Supreme Court judgment which stated, “Perfect compensation is hardly possible and money cannot renew a physique frame. Object of providing compensation is to place the claimant as far as possible in the same position financially as he was before accident.”

New Delhi, May 25
Awareness is the key to solving public health issues, specially when it comes to celiac disease. It is an auto-immune disorder that is fast becoming a hidden epidemic, even as 97 % of all cases remain undiagnosed. It is a condition in which gluten in grains like wheat damages the intestines and causes serious ill-health

With an endeavour to raise awareness about the disease, the Celiac Society for Delhi organised a special screening of the film ‘Kites’ over the weekend here. Over 900 persons, including doctors, nutritionists and professionals, attended the event.

What is extraordinary about celiac disease is that it can creep up silently on just about anyone – across age, gender, class and race — and turn fatal if undiagnosed.

A short film, Cure is in the Cause, highlighted this and how celiac patients can lead a healthy life.

Although exact data is not available so far for the Indian population, many new cases have been reported—averaging almost one every day—since the society came together and with increased awareness amongst medical practitioners.

Clearly, the only way to stop this hidden epidemic is to build a large-scale awareness drive amongst doctors and the public.

New Delhi, May 24
Two young men allegedly involved in 23 incidents of robberies across the Capital have been arrested by the south Delhi police.

The accused have been identified as Asif Ali (26) and Vikram (24). They were arrested on Saturday by the Lodhi Colony police.

According to H.G.S. Dhaliwal, DCP (south), the duo along with other gang members are involved in at least 23 incidents of robbery and burglaries and several cases under the Gangster Act and Arms Act in Delhi and Ghaziabad.

One motorcycle, shop-breaking equipment and some stolen car stereos have been recovered from them.

“The gang usually worked in two parties. One party moved on a motorcycle along with school bags for keeping stolen stereos. The other party followed the first party to make sure that the route was clear of any police check. They also carried weapons in case anyone resisted their theft attempt,” said Dhaliwal.

According to him, the gang usually and stole five to 10 car stereos in one night. “They usually worked from midnight to 4 am. Immediately after theft, they would call up the receiver, who used to take away the stolen goods around 6 am,” said the officer.