New Delhi, January 14
An inspection team of the Delhi Jal Board (DJB) today identified the high concentration of industrial and domestic waste being discharged into the Yamuna in an untreated form as the major source of pollution in the river.

The team comprising officials from the treatment and quality control wing of the DJB was dispatched to Panipat for inspection. The team has reported a rise in ammonia level to 1.2 ppm against the limit of 0.2 ppm, forcing the DJB to curtail production at Wazirabad and Chandrawal Waste Treatment Plants by 50 per cent.

The officials said that the Chief Executive Officer of the DJB has initiated talks with the Principal Secretary, Haryana Irrigation, to take immediate steps to prevent the flow of pollutants into the Yamuna.

At present, due to curtailment of production at Wazirabad and Chandrawal Waste Treatment Plants, areas mainly in central, old, north, part of south Delhi and NDMC are receiving supply at low pressure. Normal production will be restored at both the plants as soon as the level of pollution recedes, said the officials.

"While taking up the matter with the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) and Haryana State Pollution Control Board and the Upper Yamuna River Board (UYRB), the DJB is constantly monitoring the raw water parameters and taking all necessary steps to ensure that water supply to the citizens is potable," said an official.

"The Delhi Government has been taking up this issue with Haryana and the Central governments," he added.

The issue of rise in pollution level due to release of untreated waste flows mainly from the industries through Panipat drain into the Yamuna has been regularly raised by the CPCB and the UYRB.

In a meeting which was held about two years ago at the level of the Chief Ministers of both the states where the Union Minister of Environment and Forest was also present, Haryana assured of taking long-term measures to check contamination from flowing into the Yamuna.

New Delhi, January 14
Delhi Congress and BJP today took a dig at Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal for defending Law Minister Somnath Bharti who is accused of tampering with the evidence in a case of corruption.

"The manner in which Kejriwal is trying to save the minister against whom the court has made adverse observation shows that there is a big difference in his word and deed as he was just play-acting to eradicate corruption," Delhi Congress chief Arvinder Singh Lovely said.

"Kejriwal's statement that we will not take cognizance of the court observation as it was wrong. This amounts to disrespect to the court. No responsible Chief Minister could give such an irresponsible statement," said former Congress MLA Mukesh Sharma

Condemning Kejriwal and Bharti for trying to save their skin, the Congress leader said that a self-assessment is required for the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), which talks of eradicating corruption. "When a sting operation is conducted against AAP leaders, there is always some tampering. But when a sting operation suits AAP, that is fine with them," he said.

The Delhi BJP, on the other hand, demanded Bharti's resignation. "This shameless defence of Bharti by Arvind Kejriwal is shocking. We want Bharti to be immediately removed. He is not fit to be the minister," said Delhi BJP president Vijay Goel.

Referring to the rollback of the decisions taken by Kejriwal, Goel said that the Chief Minister is an expert in making a U-turn.

"They have taken houses, vehicles with VIP numbers and said that they do not have proof of corruption against Congress. This clearly shows that it is the Congress which is ruling Delhi through backdoor," he said.

The party said that Bharti poses a danger to the rule of law in Delhi. "A man who has been indicted by the court in such a serious offence is unfit to honour the oath that he took as minister. Earlier, he tried to interfere in judiciary by seeking a meeting of the district judges. All this has been ignored by AAP," said Goel.

New Delhi, January 14
The Congress today said that it will take up the issue of rollback of FDI in multi-brand retailing for discussion in the state assembly session.

"I do not think there is legal backing for what the (Delhi) government has done. We will call for a discussion on the matter in the assembly," said Delhi Pradesh Congress Committee (DPCC) chief Arvinder Singh Lovely.

Lovely said the decision to allow FDI in multi-brand retail was taken by the then Cabinet and approved by the Delhi Assembly with majority. "If the government has to take some major decisions, there are certain procedures which need to be followed. We are surprised at this arbitrary decision. A minority government cannot write a letter one day and say that Delhi will not have the FDI," Lovely said.

He also held a meeting with Commerce and Industry Minister Anand Sharma on the matter. The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government wrote to the Centre to withdraw the approval given by the previous Sheila Dikshit government for the FDI in multi-brand retailing in Delhi, saying that the entry of global chains such as Walmart and Tesco in India would cause large-scale job losses.

The party did not want to withdraw support to the minority AAP government on the FDI issue. "It is not the question of withdrawing support. But one thing is sure that we will go and see the details and legality of the letter (written to the Commerce Ministry)," he said.

Several retail players are already present in Delhi and it would be wrong to think that they have impacted the employment generation, said the DPCC president .

New Delhi, January 14
During an early morning walk in Panchkula, they came across a light post with three lamp stands. It supported two round lamps, but the third one was missing. With a mobile phone, they clicked a photograph of the light post in an angle that showed the rising sun to be the third lamp. They named it the 'dependable sun'.

The photograph that 'would ring a bell in a man's heart' was clicked by Ashok Lavasa with the help of his wife, Novel a couple of years ago. After it was published in a leading English newspaper, it became their catalyst to start photo exhibitions, showcasing their best out of a collection of 35,000 photographs they had clicked over the years.

"Dependable sun became our iconic photograph and so beneath every photograph that we display, we show it as a symbol. It is called 'Stand and Stare'," said Ashok who is a Secretary in the Civil Aviation Ministry.

He and his wife started a photo exhibition on January 11 at the India Habitat Centre in Delhi, which will end on Wednesday.

The theme of the exhibition is 'Mates and Moments'. In Ashok's words it stands for, "dependence, companionship, affection for each other--elements that are essential for life".

New Delhi, January 14
A 33-year-old jeweller was allegedly robbed of cash and jewellery worth Rs 22 lakh when he was returning home with his elder brother in east Delhi yesterday.

According to the police, the victims have been identified as Mukesh Jain and his brother Hemant. The police said the incident took place when they were travelling in a Hyundai Santro car to Laxmi Nagar around 9.30 pm.

The car was intercepted and forced to stop at IP Extension. Five persons in another car robbed the cash and jewellery. Mukesh was carrying 700 grams of gold and Rs 21 lakh in cash.

The victims could not note the registration number of the car used in the crime.

"The assailants after robbing the victims fled in their car. We are checking the CCTV footage of the area to get clues," said a police officer.