New Delhi, March 22
Almost after 20-years, a Delhi court today sentenced a person to rigorous imprisonment of two years for forgery and fabricating false evidence involving the name of then Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi in 1985.

While pronouncing the verdict, the Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate, Manoj Jain, also imposed a fine of Rs 10,000 on the accused, Madhur Kishore Bhatnagar.

The judge said the convict had committed a great crime as he had tried to malign and slander the highest office of the country.

“Contents of the letter were awful and dreadful and could have even influenced the President to sack the Prime Minister had he believed in them,’’ he said.

The CBI, which investigated the case, said that some anonymous person had written a letter to the President of India enclosing a false and forged letter in the name of Mr Gandhi, showing that the then Prime Minister had demanded Rs 80 lakh from D. K. Jain, Inspector, State Bank of India, Vaishali, Bihar. The letters also tried to show that Mr Jain was working in complicity with Mr Gandhi in meeting his demand. Similar letters were also sent to the editor, Dainik Hindustan, New Delhi and the editor, Hind Samachar Group of papers at Jalandhar.

After investigations, it was found that the accused was an agent of Janta Deposit Scheme of the State Bank of India, Muradabad, U P and D. K. Jain, Inspector of main branch, had made a complaint against him regarding his misconduct in the deposit scheme, following which the agency was withdrawn from him.

New Delhi, March 22
Strongly protesting the privatisation of water in the Capital, about 1,50,000 Delhiites have signed on a 500 metres white cloth to oppose the move.

Criticising the recent floating of tenders for two zones in South Delhi, Dr Vandana Shiva of Research Foundation for Science, Technology and Ecology, said after a protest ‘’Water March’’ to Parliament today, ‘’The government claims it is reforming and not privatising but what else is floating of tenders for distribution networks, revenue collection and billing, metering and leakage detection. They have even set up a regulatory authority, Delhi Water Regulatory Commission (DWCC), a precursor to most privatisations.”

‘’We demand more transparency in all deals and contracts being signed with the MNCs about the Sonia Vihar plant and other matter so that the public knows the plans of the government.’’

According to Dr Shiva, ‘’We surely can manage our own water system and so where is the need to look outside. Why is the government going that direction if not because of World Bank dictates.’’

Mr S. A. Naqvi, who also addressed the Press, said, ‘’The Delhi Government plans to privatise two zones by October this year, then five zones by October 2006 and in this way seven of the total 21 zones in the Capital will be totally in the hands of MNCs like Suez Ondeo Degremont, Vivendi and Thames Water, which is unacceptable to us.’’

He said water is life and today being World Water Day, the Citizen Front for Water Democracy and Research Foundation for Science, Technology and Ecology and the Water Worker’s Alliance have come together to observe it as a ‘’Protest Day’’ against the fast track privatization move of the Delhi Government.

‘’The people of Delhi have given their mandate. Several hundreds came to the Jantar Mantar today and are worried as they feel the need to protect their fundamental right to water, which once privatised will be exploited by the MNCs,’’ he added.

He said the recent letter of the CEO, DJB, Mr Rakesh Mohan, to Dr Shiva saying they were not privatising was a mere ploy to mislead the people and disrupt the week-long ‘’Jan Swaraj Rath’’ or ‘Water Awareness Journey’, which was launched by the three organisations last week.

Dr Shiva said the recent increase in water tariffs by seven to 15 per cent is also from an international perspective meant to facilitate privatisation, which is a violation of every democratic norm and human rights principle.

Ghaziabad, March 22
The two former BJP chief ministers, Mr Kalyan Singh and Mr Raj Nath Singh, have taken the Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister, Mr Mulayam Singh Yadav, to task for his politics of communalism here. Both the senior leaders of the Bharatiya Janata Party were in the city recently to attend the meeting of the local development council of the party.

Even while criticising the Samajwadi Party for its various policies in the state, they held the Congress party responsible for the wrong policies of the Samajwadi Party led-UP Government.

“It is a very unusual scenario where the Congress party is supporting the Samajwadi Party-led government in UP and the Samajwadi Party has extended support to Congress at the Centre. On the other hand, both the parties are behaving like sworn enemies outside the Parliament and the state Assembly. If the Congress is sincere in ending the problems in UP, it should withdraw its support to the Samajwadi Party-led government in the state and simultaneously refuse to take the support of the Samajwadi Party at the Centre,” said Rajnath Singh.

Highlighting the law and order problem, Mr Kalyan Singh said, “Ever since Mr Mulayam Singh Yadav assumed power in UP, the rule of law has been replaced by ‘Jungle Raj’.”

“The state administration and the bureaucracy was feeling demoralised. Everything here is in an eternal state of suspense,” alleged Mr Raj Nath Singh.

The people of UP and elsewhere in the country were evaluating the functioning of the BJP and the non-BJP governments, and the BJP is bound to benefit in the next elections due to the unsatisfactory performance of the non-BJP governments, Mr Raj Nath Singh added.

Mr Kalyan Singh strongly denounced the setting up of the Johar Urdu University in Rampur and the construction of a Haj House in Ghaziabad. It was sheer vote bank politics in its ugliest form, he added. He said the Samajwadi government is trying to inject the poison of communalism in the state by setting up the Johar University and a Haj House.

He said both the Bahujan Samaj Party and the Samajwadi Party are responsible for the increasing criminalisation of politics and politicisation of crime.

He appealed to the Election Commission that the parties, which are violating election code, should be derecognised. Mr Kalyan Singh said that the Ram Mandir issue was connected with nationalism and national prestige of India and all those opposing it are spreading communalism in the country.

New Delhi, March 22
The Delhi Development Authority (DDA) has reported to the Lok Sabha today about the removal of 51 jhuggi clusters and relocation of 18,751 slum dwellers during the last three years for which an expenditure of approximately Rs 82.50 crore was incurred.

In a written reply to a question, Minister for Parliamentary Affairs and Urban Development Ghulam Nabi Azad said the draft - Master Plan of Delhi (MPD) 2021, prepared by the DDA, envisaged amelioration of existing slum and jhuggi clusters through a judicious mix of relocation.

As the MPD-2021 is at draft stage, no estimate of expenditure or land allotment has been prepared so far, he said.

In reply to another query, Azad said the HUDCO has earmarked Rs 2,000 crore for lending related to construction and rehabilitation works in the Tsunami-affected areas. HUDCO already contributed Rs 1 crore to the Prime Minister’s Relief Fund and has also earmarked additional Rs 1 crore for construction of relief shelters with disaster resistant technologies, he informed the House.

In reply to another question, the Minister said the government would review and revise the National Housing and Habitat Policy 1998 to accelerate supply of serviced land and housing to all categories, particularly for poor people and that a task force has also been constituted for the purpose.

New Delhi, March 22
It was indeed a splendid experience to witness little Salwanians mesmerise the guests with their proficiency on the Annual Sports Day of Salwan Montessori School, Rajinder Nagar.

Mr Justice Mukul Mudgasl, Judge, High Court, along with the Principal, Mrs P. Joglekar, and the Chairman, Mr Sushil Dutt Salwan, graced the occasion and encouraged the students. Addressing the gathering, Mrs Joglekar said, “It has been Salwan Montessori’s constant endeavor to focus on the over all development of the child and we lay equal emphasis on extra-curricular activities and academics. It gives me great pleasure to see my little budding students, enthused with excitement and talent put together a splendid performance on our Annual Sports Day.”

The children displayed their spirited and inspiring talents across a series of acts like aerobics, gymnastics, skating, fan drill and river crossing.

Culmination of folk dances of India and synchronisation of colour, music and movement brought out by the students spread energy across the school ground.

Their courage was evident when a 5-year-old gymnast jumped fearlessly through the fire ring. In another act, the little tornadoes stormed into the skating rink, balancing and moving in unison. The fan drill performance by the children emitted hues of radiance. Perfection in choreography of the traditional dances enthralled the audience. 

New Delhi, March 22
A delegation of traders, led by the former Union Minister and BJP leader, Mr Vijay Goel, today met the Chief Minister, Mrs Sheila Dikshit, and appealed to her to defer the implementation of VAT in Delhi in view of neighbouring states like Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan deciding not to implement the new tax regime from April 1.

The delegation of the Confederation of All India Traders (CAIT) submitted a memorandum to Mrs Dikshit, claiming that if VAT is implemented in Delhi the traders would be put at a disadvantage as adjoining states were not implementing it. Mr Khandelwal said the traders have planned a massive agitation tomorrow to protest against the government’s move.