New Delhi, November 15
Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit has declared assets whose value has more than doubled during the past five years. They are worth Rs 2.7 crore.

While Harsh Vardhan, chief ministerial candidate of BJP, has declared assets worth Rs 2.66 crore, including movable and immovable properties. Dikshit, who filed her nomination on Thursday from New Delhi Assembly constituency, has come out with movable assets worth Rs 1.8 crore, including cash, bank deposits and investments in mutual bonds and shares.

Dikshit's owns an apartment in Nizamuddin East worth Rs 98 lakh but does not own any vehicle. In her income tax returns for 2012-13, she has shown a total income of around Rs 13 lakh.

According to Dikshit's affidavit filed before 2008 assembly elections, Dikshit had Rs 1.3 crore in moveable and immoveable properties. She had mentioned Rs 67 lakh in cash and deposits and Rs 63 lakh worth of flat in Nizamuddin East.

The affidavit of Vardhan, a four-time MLA and the former Health Minister of Delhi who has filed his nomination from the Krishna Nagar constituency, indicated a decrease in his movable assets (cash, jewellery and deposits) from around Rs 35 lakh to Rs 28 lakh in the past five years.

He owns a Zen Estilo car worth Rs 2 lakh and a Toyota Etios Liva worth Rs 4.6 lakh, which he has added to his list of movable assets, apart from 357.51 gms of gold jewellery worth Rs 10 lakh, a diamond ring worth Rs 1 lakh and silver articles of 2.2 kg worth Rs 91,000.

He has declared his clinical assets worth Rs 10,000. He has liabilities worth Rs 19 lakh. In his wife's name, he has declared around Rs 8.8 lakh in cash and deposits and properties worth Rs 1.38 crore.

He has declared property worth Rs 1 crore which was valued at Rs 65 lakh in 2008. According to his affidavit, three criminal cases are pending against him. In one such case, charges have been framed while in another, the court has taken cognizance. The chargesheet is yet to be filed in the third case.

New Delhi, November 15
The South-West district of Delhi Election Officer (DEO) has designed and organized the training module at Integrated Institute of Technology (IIT, Sector-9 Dwarka), employing innovative ideas and techniques while imparting training to the personnel drafted for election duties at various stages.

District Nodal Officer Training Prince Dhawan said that the District Election Office has prepared pictorial guides for viewing of movies on TV sets installed in the training halls.

It is observed that the system of imparting training to the polling personnel has been found to be very useful and is appreciated by the trainees.

The training cell has prepared a pictorial guide with explicit depiction of various activities involving operation of electronic voting machine and other polling-related activities in a form of booklet.

A copy of the booklet is provided to the polling personnel. District Election Officer Nikhil Kumar said that the training cell has prepared bilingual CDs with exhaustive information on the conduct of poll. Each trainee is given a CD to watch and prepare oneself for the polling day.

The training has been imparted by using pre-recorded audio-visual training modules in conjunction with TV and sound system in the classrooms.

All the trainees, especially the presiding officers, were explained the statutory importance of mock polls.

New Delhi, November 15
A day after a 55-year-old woman was arrested for allegedly torturing her maid, a 16-year-old boy has also accused her of torturing him.

The juvenile's father had lodged a complaint with the Pandav Nagar police station. He informed the police that his son was tortured since he was hired in September. The boy's father also alleged that when he requested the accused, Aarti Jain, to treat his sone well, she threatened to implicate him and his family in false cases. The victim's mother told the police that she was not allowed to meet her son. Based on the complaint, the police registered a case.

Aarti had shifted to the United States from India a few months ago. She was granted bail in the first case of allegedly torturing her maid, but is likely to be arrested in the second case.

Aarti's maid Bhagwati (24) and her husband yesterday approached the police. Bhagwati alleged that she was assaulted, inflicted with burn injuries, bitten by dogs and confined.

New Delhi, November 15
Speaking on the procurement of firearms, K Vijay Kumar, senior security adviser, Ministry of Home Affairs, today said that the government is yet to take a decision on allowing possession of firearms to the private guards.

In the meantime, the use of non-lethal weapons by the private security personnel should be effectively deployed to tackle issues related to security, said Kumar during the FICCI's first edition of 'Private Security Industry Conclave (PSIC) 2013' conference on the theme 'Policy Change for Sustainable Future' here.

While calling for coordination between the private security industry and the government, he suggested that the two agencies should work in tandem and bridge the gaps to increase efficiency.

Though the private security agencies face financial constraints at times, Kumar said, they should never compromise when hiring a trainer for the agency. "Choose the trainers with extreme care," he added.

FICCI has taken an initiative to represent the private security industry and in this regard a committee would work towards removing functional and policy-related impediments that have hampered growth potential of the industry.

Deep Chand, former Special Commissioner, Delhi Police and Advisor FICCI-CASCADE, suggested that the private security industry should follow PSARA ACT 2005, train its manpower according to the prescribed standards mentioned in PSARA. Besides, conducive working environment must be provided to the personnel and the agency must look after the welfare of the personnel.

New Delhi, November 15
Hitting out at the Delhi Government for failing to check price rise, BJP's chief ministerial candidate Harsh Vardhan today said if it continues then poor people will be forced to leave the city.

He said government data shows that Delhi witnessed the highest rate of retail inflation (12 per cent) in past eight months and the rate of wholesale inflation has reached 8 per cent in this period.

"As a result the common man was spending a major portion of his earning in purchasing food items. This has resulted in the shortage of demand of other commodities adversely affecting the industries," he said.

The BJP leader said that prices of vegetables have increased to 150 per cent, of fruits by 200 per cent and foodgrain by 15 per cent as compared to last year.

Vardhan alleged that it was due to the failure of the government machinery that prices have risen uncontrolled.

"If price rise continues further then poor people shall leave Delhi in large numbers. This will adversely affect the economic system and social fabric of Delhi," he said, adding according to an estimate, about 10,000 small and cottage industries were on the verge of closure.

Vardhan said on November 7, the world rating agency Standard & Poor had warned India that if government's financial condition remains to be in bad shape then India may be put in the list of dumped countries.

"If it happens then lakhs of Indian companies may not be granted loan from foreign countries. It will directly affect the economic system of the country," he said.

Vardhan said that RBI Governor Raghuram Rajan had also warned that if the price rise continues, then development would be stalled for long time and the credit of India in foreign countries would be adversely affected. — PTI

New Delhi, November 15
The Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) has taken a host of measures to facilitate commuters visiting the India International Trade Fair from next week, including additional token counters and trains to meet the rush.

To review the special arrangements, DMRC Managing Director Mangu Singh today inspected the Pragati Maidan Metro station.

He examined the crowd management mechanism put in place at the station, token and smart card counters, signage in place, announcement system among other things.

Singh also emphasised on the need for adequate cleanliness at the station during the fair as thousands of visitors will be using the station.

He also examined the special token or smart card counters set up by the DMRC inside the Pragati Maidan near gate number 10. "Singh was satisfied with the overall preparedness of the staff in handling the fair rush at the station. He was accompanied by Director (Operations) Sharat Sharma and Director (Project) D.K. Saini," said Anuj Dayal, DMRC Executive Director.

Among a host of measures, the trains will be running at the peak hour frequency of 2 min 40 sec from Dwarka to Yamuna Bank (Line 3) throughout the day, from 8 am to 8 pm.

Two trains on each line will also be kept as standby during the fair to facilitate better passenger handling, whenever required.

A total of 24 token counters with separate counters for specific token denominations and destinations will be put up at the Pragati Maidan Metro station on all working days. During weekends and holidays, the number of these counters will be increased to 32.

Tokens or smart cards will be available from 1 pm to 9 pm on all general days, from November 19 to November 27 at gate number 10. Additional customer facilitation agents will be deployed at stations like Central Secretariat, Rajiv Chowk, Kashmere Gate, for guiding and managing the crowd in the ticketing area.

Extra security guards will be present at the platforms, automatic fare collection gates, escalators, lifts, and token counters at Pragati Maidan.

At the Pragati Maidan station, queue-managers have been put for the physical segregation of the entry and exit points of the commuters. This will help in avoiding cross movements and crowding near automatic fare collection gates.

New Delhi, November 15
Given the rate of increase in leprosy cases among children in India, The Leprosy Mission Trust India (TLMTI) is taking its "Educate to HEAL" initiative to 40 schools in Delhi, reaching out to over 40,000 children, their teachers and parents.

According to the World Health Organisation, an alarming 10 per cent new leprosy cases in India are detected in children.

"There is an urgent need to reach out to schools and children and inform them about the cause, symptoms and cure of leprosy. People affected by leprosy have faced a lot of stigma and discrimination because of the myths and misinformation about the disease that has been passed down through generations. This is our opportunity to put the facts in order and children spread this message in a better way," stressed Dr Sunil Anand, TLMTI director.

The school programme uses three superhero characters and games to simplify the cause, cure and myths on leprosy. A youth group has also been roped in to perform a skit on leprosy. As part of the programme, TLMTI is also announcing an inter-school multimedia competition.

Dr DPN Prasad, former principal of Bombay Scottish School and educationist, said, "Talking to children about leprosy can be daunting. TLMTI's Educate to HEAL initiative uses creative ways to inform children that leprosy can be easily detected and cured. Children will take this simple message to their parents, families, friends and communities, creating far greater impact."

The Leprosy Mission Trust India launched its nationwide campaign HEAL India earlier this month with the Ministry of Health & Family Welfare, the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment and the National Human Rights Commission.

The HEAL India campaign is reaching out to over a million people by bringing together corporates, governments, entrepreneurs, children, schools, celebrities, NGOs and those affected by leprosy. The campaign challenges the misconceptions surrounding leprosy that have rendered those affected by it unemployed, stigmatized and unaccepted by society.