New Delhi, July 21
A 20 member delegation of the Delhi BJP headed by Leader of Opposition Mr Jagdish Mukhi today met the Delhi Chief Minister Ms Sheila Dikshit and her cabinet colleagues regarding the power tariff hike issue. They threatened to intensity their agitation against it if the government did not withdraw the same.

During the meeting, Ms Dikshit, who had agreed to all the concerns placed by the BJP leaders, sought a time frame of 15 days to review the power hike. She also reportedly told the leaders that her government is not anti-people and has been finding ways to improve the power situation and to reduce the burden on the public in the Capital.

Ms Dikshit said that her government had started discussions with the Discoms and other agencies to bring about a suitable change in the matter. However, she told the BJP leaders that the power situation had gone bad only in the last few days and that the Discoms had played a vital role in improving the power situation ever since privatisation took place.

Speaking to reporters, Mr Mukhi said that Ms Dikshit has assured them that she would take necessary steps in this regard by discussing with her colleagues and also the private power distributing companies responsible for the power supply in the capital.

Delhi BJP President Dr Harsh Vardhan, who was also present at the meeting, urged Ms Dikshit to take an objective view in this matter as the public was resenting the hike.

Dr Vardhan also suggested that the state government launch a survey to find out how many people in Delhi were happy with the power hike and also get the public’s opinion regarding fast meters and load shedding problems.

The BJP leaders threatened to launch a ‘Signature Campaign’ in August if the government failed to review the power hike by then.

Meanwhile, the Delhi Electricity Regulatory Commission has asked Reliance Energy’s BSES Yamuna Power Ltd and BSES Rajdhani Power Ltd to separate their corporate offices and employees besides shifting the former’s consumer-related offices to the area under its jurisdiction in South Delhi.

“In the order, we have asked separation of their (BRPL and BYPL) corporate offices and employees who are common to these two discoms within the next two months and report compliance to the Commission,” said a DERC official.

According to the official, the Commission has also directed BYPL to shift all its consumer-related offices to its area of operation in the next two months.

They were also asked to “resort to other available means of finance” to ensure completion of Accelerated Power Development and Reform Programme (APDRP), if the funds under the scheme were not available.

The commission has also directed the power utility to maintain data regarding the number of consumers, total load sanctioned and energy consumption, he added.

The regulator said bills over Rs 4,000 would now be payable only through account payee cheques or demand drafts.

New Delhi, July 21
Calling for greater preparedness to face earthquakes as the Capital falls in the high risk seismic Zone-Four, the Delhi Lt Governor Mr. B L Joshi today said it was the responsibility of town planners, engineers and builders to make the city safe.

“The problem with natural disasters like quakes and floods is that they cannot be precisely predicted, but once we know a particular city like Delhi is susceptible, then accordingly land use must be decided,” Mr Joshi said while delivering the key note address at a workshop on ‘Role of Builders and Town Planners in Disaster Management’.

He said it was better to build safe structures with adequate thought given at the designing stage itself rather than do retrofitting of existing structures as is being done in five major buildings, including Delhi Secretariat, Guru Teg Bahadur Hospital and Ludlow castle in the Capital.

“A National Expert Committee has been constituted to look into all such aspects and right now, building by laws of Delhi are being drafted and so is the Master Plan-2021, so this is the right time to give a thrust in this direction,” Mr Joshi added.

Speaking on the occasion, National Seismic Advisor Prof A S Arya pointed out that several high rise buildings coming up in and around Delhi were openly flouting several basic structural principles which can spell disaster in case of an earthquake.

“East Delhi near the Yamuna has silt and the water table during the monsoons is alarmingly at just two metres below ground level at some places, making it very unsuitable for certain kind of buildings. This is what needs to be addressed by the town planners,” he said.

He said that the key thing to remember was that 40 per cent of the total cost of a building was incurred in the actual structure and design which could never be changed again.

“The trimmings like flooring, fitting and walls can always be done again, but once a building is built structurally weak it will remain so. Yes, retrofitting can be done, but it will never be a totally safe structure, which is why cost saving should never be done at the designing and building stage.”

Prof Arya said past experiences like the Bhuj quake should be lessons that are never forgotten. “Indian standards are considered above average in the world; however, there should be no cutting corners. Builders have to be sensitised to make Delhi a safe city despite its location on a quake prone zone,” he said.

Several papers on Disaster Management will be presented at the workshop which is being attended by all major government civic bodies and architects, town planners and academics from the field.

New Delhi, July 21
Drug and substance abuse amongst school children has always been a cause of concern. With studies and research indicating an increasing trend of drug abuse by them, the Central Board of Secondary Education has stepped up efforts to generate awareness on the issue. The Board has written to affiliate schools to further their endeavours to check the nuisance by empowering students with self-esteem and the power of discrimination so that they do not succumb to peer pressure.

“We have had discussions at various levels on issues like drug abuse and HIV/AIDS. This decision is the outcome of these discussions where it was felt that in urban areas where consumerism is a prevalent, children need to be exposed to the harm caused by drugs,” explained Director, Academics, Mr G Balasubramanian.

Urging schools to take up the challenge of making students say no to drugs, the Board has offered a few suggestions. “Schools should make concerted efforts to integrate both curricular as well as co-curricular approaches to attain this objective. The curricular components that are already incorporated in different subjects can be highlighted for raising the awareness of students about drugs, the harmful effects of their abuse and the ways of preventing drug abuse,” the directive sent to schools states.

And lest the programme becomes limited to yet another tedious lesson, schools have also been asked to rely on co-curricular activities to drive home the message. “We want the schools to undertake various activities to generate awareness. They can do it in whatever way, through debates, drama or curriculum, the idea is to prevent students from consuming drugs because it is fashionable to do so or because there is pressure from the peer group,” said Mr Balasubramaian.
While schools can carry out programmes depending on their local needs and availability of resources, the Board has asked schools to sensitise students through formal and informal discussions, interactive sessions with experts in the field and strengthening the counselling component by sensitising school counsellors to handle issues connected with drug abuse.

“Educating children by involving local nodal agencies working in the field of Narcotics Control, Social Justice, Law Empowerment and empowering children by organising specifically designed co-curricular activities such as role play, value clarification, group discussion are also tenable,” said Mr Balasubramanian.

He went on to add that timely and sustained effort is necessary to educate and empower the children so that they do not fall victims to the obnoxious habit of substance abuse. “One of the specific objectives of the General Framework of Adolescence Education is to make the learners aware of the causes and consequences of drug abuse and ways of preventing it and to develop in them a rational attitude as well as the skills to say ‘no’ to drugs.”

New Delhi, July 21
Delhi Police has stepped up surveillance on tenants in the city in view of the recent bombings in two cinema halls in the Capital and the Ayodhya incident.

Delhi Police Commissioner K K Paul has directed all Station House Officers (SHO) to ensure that they had the particulars of the people who rented a house in their areas in the last one year, failing which strict action could be taken against them.

The city police had been successful in curbing terrorist activities in Delhi because of the cooperation of the public in implementation of preventive measures publicised by the police, a statement said here.

Many serious incidents had been prevented by taking proactive action and major part of the credit for preventing such incidents goes to the public, which gave useful information or tipped off the police, it said.

However, to further strengthen security, Delhi Police has promulgated prohibitory orders that bind landlords, tenants and property dealers to provide information about the new tenants.

Mr. Paul has also issued directions that failure to do so would attract legal and punitive action against such persons, it added. 

New Delhi, July 21
With the arrest of a person, Delhi Police have worked out a murder case in which one Mohammed Alam was found murdered near Nigam Bodh Ghat on July 7. The arrested person has been identified as Manoj Kumar (23), a resident of Usmanpur.

The police had recovered the body of the deceased as an unidentified one. They pasted his photographs at several places and finally, the body was identified by his relatives.

Police said that on the said night, the accused and Alam were near ISBT flyover to steal iron rods. But Manoj had some argument with the deceased and so he hit him with an iron rod on his head and threw his body into the Yamuna. —TNS

Noida, July 21
Some 107 women who have entered the fray in the coming panchayat elections in the district are likely to be elected as village pradhans.

Besides, the state election commission is understood to have taken a decision to this effect that 24 posts of panchayat presidents have been reserved for the women belonging to scheduled castes.

Some 168 panchayats out of 243 have been placed in the reserved category.

In this year’s elections, the seats which were reserved for the SC woman candidates in 2,000 elections will be reserved for SC men. Similarly, the post of pradhan reserved for men from the backward classes in last elections will be reserved for women from the backward classes this time.

In the village panchayats where the number of backward classes is more than 50 per cent, a man or woman of backward classes will be elected as pradhan. The posts of pradhan in all such village panchayats will be reserved for the members of backward classes.

Among the 70-member Bisarakh block panchayat, four posts are reserved for scheduled castes, 14 are for women from the backward classes. Another 16 posts are for women from any category, 12 posts are reserved for SCs, while five posts are reserved for men of the backward classes. Among 56 in Dadri, four are reserved for SC women, six for SC men. Ten gram panchayats have been reserved exclusively for women.

Out of 68 posts in Dankaur block, 13 posts are reserved for SC and 18 for backward classes. In elections to nine gram panchayats, women from any category can contest. There are 50 posts in Javer block. Out of these, 13 are earmarked for SC and 11 for backward classes.

Gurgaon, July 21
Concerned over the damage caused to the roads in Gurgaon city and other parts of the district due to the rains, the administration has decided to carry out a damage-control exercise. However, it is in a dilemma whether to launch the repair work now or undertake it after the monsoons.

According to sources, the office of the Deputy Commissioner, Gurgaon, has put the departments concerned on notice directing them to take necessary steps to check further damage to the roads.

The establishment is facing a piquant situation as a good number of roads and streets, particularly in the city, have developed potholes. On newly laid roads, for example the one connecting from Maharana Pratap Chowk leading to Sheetal Temple, bitumen has started coming off on several stretches.

The administration has submitted a proposal to the government for widening and repairing various roads. A sanction of about Rs 2,560 lakh has been sought from the government for the project.

According to the official version, the proposal includes work on a 5-km stretch from Badshapur to Hasanpur Durbari in Sohan Assembly segment, another 5-km stretch from J.A. Road to Kadirpur, 7-km stretch from Palwal-Sohna-Rewari to Jaurasi.

Some of the other roads singled out for the repair are the stretch from Tikli to Gairatput Baas in Sohna Assembly, Old Manesar Road and J.J.Road to Naharpur Rupa, More Chowk to Jail Chowk in the city, Gurgaon-Alwar Road, Gurgaon-Faridabad Road to Delhi border. Regarding the work on the key roads touching villages and connecting the city, the administration has decided to spend Rs 70 lakh.

Noida, July 21
With extensive waterlogging after the incessant rains, Dadri and Javer face the danger of malaria in the area.

The health authorities on the other hand claim that they have contained the scourge even without taking any measure like spraying insecticides. The increasing number of mosquitoes has made life unbearable in towns as well as in rural areas.

Lack of medical staff in primary health centres and hospitals is affecting the supply of medicines, allege the villagers.

The officials of district hospital in Sector-30, Noida, said they had written letters to the state authorities for the supply of 23 metric tonnes of insecticides and pesticides for spray in the rural areas.

The medicines, which should have reached the District hospital by 15 May, had not been received here till now. With the result that fogging operations could not be started, the officials said.

Scarcity of lab technicians has hampered the work of preparing malaria slides, thus affecting the treatment of patients suffering from malaria. Even in 2004, fogging operation was carried out on orders of the CMO after some cases of malaria had been detected in Dadri.

During 2000, over a dozen persons had died of malaria in Dadri. In 2003 also, malaria had enacted a death dance in the district. Over two dozen people had lost their lives then. The health department just refused to accept that deaths had taken place due to malaria.

New Delhi, July 21
The Delhi Government has agreed that a disability expert on access would be involved at every stage of the planning, design and implementation of the Master Plan of 2021.

This response came after recommendations of disability friendly Master plan was made by the National Centre for Promotion of Employment for Disabled People (NCPEDP).

The Chief Minister, Mrs Sheila Dikshit promised to forward its recommendations to the Urban Development Minister, Mr Ghulam Nabi Azad for his perusal and action.

Keeping in view the perspective for Delhi 2021 and new dimensions for urban development, the NCPEDP in its recommendations sent on July 7 had stressed that the Master Plan should address disability in a more specific and technical way in all aspects of the plan and that a disability expert on access must be involved at every stage of planning, design and implementation of the Master Plan.

It further stated that street furniture and signage would be made disabled friendly as provided in the National Building Code and barrier free environment under transportation should be mentioned in the Master Plan.

Faridabad, July 21
A sarpanch of Palwal sub-division has been booked for raping a woman of his village here. The police registered a case only after the intervention of the Additional Deputy Commissioner.

According to reports, the victim was sleeping in the courtyard of her house in Mandkol village when the accused entered the premises and allegedly raped her. He fled away as the victim raised the alarm.

It is stated that the woman and her relatives went to a nearby police station to get the case registered, but the police tried to play down the incident.

The family members of the woman then approached the Additional Deputy Commissioner, Mr Sanjay Joon, and told him about the incident.

On the directions of Mr Joon, the police got the medical examination of the victim done and registered the case. The accused is, however, yet to be arrested.

New Delhi, July 21
The government is understood to be keen on putting in place foolproof security arrangements in the Delhi metro ahead of the Independence Day celebrations.

Officials of the Union Home Ministry are busy vetting the “blue print” prepared by the task force headed by the Central Industrial Security Force. It listed various measures to prevent terrorist attacks, including fidayeen attacks, sources said.

The task force constituted by the Union Home Ministry, comprising ministry, Delhi Police and CISF officials, made a detailed presentation before the officials concerned a few days back.

It recommended spotters in plainclothes, besides explosive detectors on all stations and scanners for baggage and is now working on a relief and rescue plan in case of a terrorist attack on any metro installation.

For ensuring foolproof security, it recommended posting at least 2,500 CISF personnel since around 500 Delhi policemen presently deployed were not sufficient to guard the Delhi metro. But a CISF deployment of this scale requires an annual expenditure of at least Rs 32 crore for which the Home Ministry will have to take up the matter with the Finance Ministry.

When contacted, the CISF Director-General said the presentation had been made on the security requirements.

In a related development, Delhi Police Commissioner K.K. Paul, who was summoned by Home Minister Shivraj Patil in connection with the Mayapuri gang rape case, is also understood to have discussed the security arrangements for Delhi metro. 

Faridabad, July 21
The local police have arrested a person identified as Afsar, a resident of Meerut district of UP, in connection with double murder a couple of years ago.

It is stated that the accused had been a leader of a gang involved in hiring taxis and then killing the driver after looting him. As many as eight persons have already been arrested in this connection. The latest victims of this gang had been one Balbir and Dalip. They had been murdered.

It is believed that about a dozen persons have been killed in this manner during the past five years in the district.

New Delhi, July 21
Delhi Police have today arrested a person wanted by UP police for his alleged involvement in heinous crimes including murder and attempt to murder.

The accused has been identified as Hasrat Ali (26), a resident of Bulandshahar. The UP police had declared a reward of Rs 5000 on his head. According to police sources, the accused was presently residing in Jaitpur colony in Badarpur area of South district.

Yesterday, the crime branch of Delhi Police received a tip-off that the accused was coming to the Chandgi Ram Akhara. A trap was laid and the accused was arrested from there. Police said that during interrogation, he revealed that he was allegedly involved in three murder cases, one dacoity, eight robberies and other cases of possession of illegal arms etc.