New Delhi, December 18
Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit has written to the Chief Justice of the Delhi High Court to make the five special fast track courts functional to provide a speedy trial and conviction of the guilty in the cases of sexual assault.

Addressing a letter to Justice Darmar Murugesan, the Chief Minister has requested him to make the fast track courts functional as approved by the city government.

She added that in order to provide security to the women in Delhi, and deal with the cases of sexual assault, the city government had approved the setting up of such courts.

The Chief Minister urged him to ensure the early setting up of such courts.

While referring to the recent heinous crime against a girl travelling in a bus, Dikshit suggested that in respect of such crimes against women, non-grant of bail may also be considered. This would act as a strong deterrent, she said.

“In view of the rising number of such crimes and providing immediate deterrent punishment to the guilty, these suggestions should be considered seriously and urgently. We have also communicated that our government would be willing to extend any help in making the courts functional at the earliest,” she said.

Dikshit also sought an appointment with the Union Home Minister to seek his intervention in the matter in order to check such horrible crimes.

“It is expected that the chairman and members of the Delhi Women Commission would also accompany us for the meeting with the Union Home Minister,” she added.

Meanwhile, the Chairperson of the Delhi Commission for Women, Barkha Shukla Singh, who visited Safdarjung Hospital today to enquire about the victim, asked for harsh and stringent law to punish the perpetrators of rape.

She also sought provision of guards, CCTVs in all the private and government buses plying on Delhi roads.

New Delhi, December 18
Dilli Annshree Yojana integrated with UID-Aadhar to ensure direct cash transfer in the no-frills accounts of the beneficiaries, is the first-ever food security scheme in the country which aims at reaching a large number of vulnerable families who have not been contacted by any government agency so far, said Food and Supply Minister Haroon Yusuf. 

“The amount of support at the rate of Rs 600 per month is meant to supplement food and other essential commodities of the family. The woman head of the family would have an option to spend the money as per the needs of the family. There is no scope of misuse or pilferage of the amount as it would be transferred in the bank account of the beneficiary. Moreover, the beneficiaries would be able to withdraw the money at ‘kirana’ shops and kiosks through Micro ATMs with their UID-Aadhar number,” said the minister.

Clarifying the scheme, Yusuf said that with launch of Dilli Annshree Yojana, the beneficiaries would not be deprived of the benefits being provided under other social sector schemes.

He said that around 15,000 identified families were released an amount of Rs 4,800 at the rate of Rs 600 per month for the last eight months on the day of the launch of the scheme. The city government has decided to benefit two lakh families in the on-going financial year. The government intends to enlarge the ambit of this scheme by bringing more families under the Yojana, he said.  

“This scheme transfers cash benefits straight to the bank accounts of beneficiaries using an Aadhar-enabled payment gateway. The Annshree scheme benefits those vulnerable households living in resettlement colonies and JJ clusters of Delhi, which are not covered under the Public Distribution System (PDS). This scheme, therefore, takes into the ambit of food security of those vulnerable families which are left out of the PDS system because of the numerical cap on the number of BPL families,” added Yusuf. 

New Delhi, December 18
Stressing the need for a strong law to look into the cases of violence against women, activist-turned-politician Arvind Kejriwal on Tuesday blamed the Delhi police for the rise in crime against women in the national Capital.

Kejriwal also said that a rape case should be cracked within a month, saying, “In 2005, the German woman rape case in Jodhpur was cracked in 16 days. All the culprits were sent behind bars. If the Jodhpur case can be solved in 16 days, why can’t the Delhi administration do so within a month?” asked Kejriwal.

Accusing the administration of protecting the culprits, Kejriwal said that in 2012, as many as 635 rape cases have been registered, but none of them could be cracked by the police. “The crime graph in Delhi is going up due to the laxity of Delhi police,” he said.

The 23-year-old para-medic was raped and brutally assaulted by four men on a moving bus on Sunday night. They also attacked her male companion and threw both of them out of the bus near Mahipalpur.

The incident took place on Sunday night at around 9:45 pm when the girl and her friend boarded a private bus at Munirka to go to Dwarka after watching a movie.

The victim, who was in Delhi for her internship, is battling for life at the Safdarjung Hospital while her friend was discharged on Monday. 

New Delhi, December 18
It was a clear and sunny Tuesday in the Capital with the maximum temperature three notches above average at 24.9 degree Celsius. Wednesday is likely to be similar.

“There will be light mist in the morning and the day would be clear and sunny,” said an official of the India Meteorological Department. The maximum and minimum temperatures are expected to hover around 23 and 11 degree Celsius, added the official.

Tuesday’s minimum temperature was 10.5 degree Celsius, two notches above average for this time of the year.

The maximum and minimum humidity levels wavered between a high of 77 and a low of 31 per cent. Monday’s maximum temperature was normal for this time of the season at 22.8 degree Celsius, while the minimum temperature was three notches above average at 11.2 degree Celsius.—IANS

New Delhi, December 18
He grew up in an environment surrounded by khakis seeing first-hand the miseries faced by policemen and today Bollywood Superstar Salman Khan dreamt of a

society liberated from crime where everyone live in peace and free from sufferings. Shedding light on his childhood, Khan, who plays a heroic police officer in his blockbuster “Dabangg 2”, said he was from a police family as his grandfather was Inspector General of Police in Indore in Madhya Pradesh. “I hope crime rates come down in the Capital. They should not go up. Education should bring down this rate

and I hope every one lives happily as ever,” he told the gathering. “I just hope whatever is being done today is going to help the families even in a smaller way,” Khan said. The mood was sombre and atmosphere was tragic as Khan, who has donned the role of man

in khaki in several movies, came face-to-face with families of nine personnel of Delhi police whose lives were snuffed out by criminals. The “Dabangg” star, dressed in a casual suit, spoke very little at the gathering but took great care and time to spend a few minutes with