New Delhi, August 30
A Congress Legislature Party (CLP) meeting today on the issue of power tariff hike was dominated by the demand of Congress MLAs for a complete roll-back in the 10 per cent increase and “remedial steps” on the alleged fast-running of electricity meters.

Almost all the MLAs demanded a complete roll-back, legislators who attended the meeting chaired by Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit at the Assembly building told reporters here.

They included Delhi Pradesh Congress Committee chief Ram Babu Sharma, MLAs Tarvinder Singh Marwah, Mukesh Sharma, Subhash Chopra, Zile Singh Chauhan and Jai Kishan.

No proposal for partial roll-back, as proposed by the power distribution companies, was discussed, they said.

Marwah also sought remedial measures so that complaints about “fast-running meters” were addressed.

Forty-two MLAs attended the meeting, of whom 26 are said to be dissidents of the Chief Minister. Earlier, the MLAs had several meetings throughout the day to finalise their strategy for the CLP session. Meanwhile, Sharma has called a meeting tomorrow of Delhi MPs, CWC members and former DPCC chiefs on the power issue.

The meeting will be attended by Dikshit. A Delhi Cabinet meeting scheduled tomorrow is also likely to be dominated by the tariff issue. The resolution sought roll-back of tariff in the domestic and agricultural sectors. “The resolution will be approved at a Cabinet meeting tomorrow,” Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit told reporters after the nearly four-hour-long meeting.

Asked how the revenue gap would be met, she said the Government would provide subsidy for one year to the power distribution companies to bear their expenses.

The resolution was moved by DPCC chief Ram Babu Sharma. Meanwhile, in another significant development, the private distribution companies — NDPL of Tatas and BSES of Reliance Energy — are understood to have offered to roll back 50 per cent of tariff hike for domestic consumers.

The decision was taken after hectic discussion between Delhi government and the discoms over last two days and a formal announcement is likely to be made soon.

Today’s meeting was chaired by the Delhi Finance Minister Dr A K Walia and the discoms were represented by NDPL CEO Anil Sardana and new CEO of BSES J P Chalasani.

The discoms had hiked electricity tariffs by 10 per cent effective from July 15, which had led to widespread protests from Delhi residents.

They have now agreed to roll back the hike by 50 per cent and in turn the Delhi government has agreed to take anti-theft measures and set up special police courts to help reduce Aggregate Technical and Commercial (AT&C) losses of these companies.

If and when the hike is rolled back, the effective tariff hike for domestic consumers would only be five per cent. The discoms are likely to take a financial hit of about Rs 250 crore, of which the bulk would be borne by Reliance Energy’s BSES, sources said.

The 50 per cent reduction in tariff hike would, however, be applicable only to those consumers who pay their current bills (including arrears, if any) in time, they said.

The meeting was also attened by Narendra Nath, Delhi’s former power minister, Chief Secretary S Reghunathan and Power Secretary Arun Goyal.

Delhi government has also offered to work with the private discoms to reduce theft by requesting the Union Home Ministry to sanction special police stations with dedicated police force to accompany discom officials during raids on premises where theft is suspected. Similarly, the government has suggested various steps to check the meters being installed in both discoms’ areas are thoroughly tested by the teams comprising of SDMs, consumers bodies and Resident Welfare Associations concerned.

Reduction in AT&C losses and timely payment of bills would help the discoms cover the rebate through additional collection. In another important development today, the Parliamentary Standing Committee, whose report on power tariff hike had created a furore in the national capital, has convened a meeting here on September 13.

Parliament sources said the Standing Committee has called representatives from Delhi, Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir and Assam to present their views before it during the two-day meeting on the issue of privatisation of power.
The meeting assumes significance as the Delhi Chief Minister had sought to find faults in the Parliamentary Committee’s report and said that her government would reply to it “point-by-point”.
The meeting, to which representatives of the Union Ministry of Power and regulator DERC have also been invited, is to seek views of the states on the privatisation issue, its implementation so far and its fallout.

New Delhi, August 30
There is a growing concern in MCD over the rising number of patients suffering from dengue fever in the Capital. So far, three people, one of them from Delhi, have succumbed to the deadly fever.

Director of Health Services, MCD, Dr K. K. Tiwari said that the Capital’s hospitals had so far reported 48 cases out of which 33 cases were local, which represented a substantial increase compared to the last year.

He said that last year only 7 cases had been reported in the city till August 30, but this year the number had shot up to 33.

The Director said that he wasn’t saying that the situation was very grim, but it was certainly a cause of concern and required strict and urgent measures.

Dr Tiwari said that dengue could not be fully eliminated from Delhi as it was endemic to the region, but it could certainly be prevented by taking some measures.

The MCD is monitoring the situation. Additional staff has been recruited to help the regular staff in tackling the situation. Besides, the corporation has increased surveillance, launched an awareness drive and taken a number of steps to check breeding of mosquitoes, said Dr Tiwari.

Delhi had its largest outbreak of the disease in 1996. The outbreak started in the last week of August and continued until the end of November. A total of 8,900 cases were reported, with a death rate of 4.2 per cent.

Dengue fever is an infectious disease carried by mosquitoes and caused by any of four related dengue viruses. It arises mostly during and shortly after the rainy season in tropical and sub-tropical areas of Africa, South-east Asia and China, India, Middle East, Caribbean, Central and South America, Australia and the South and Central Pacific.

According to the World Health Organisation, 50 to 100 million cases of dengue infection occur each year.

People get dengue virus infection from the bite of an infected Aedes mosquito. 

New Delhi, August 30
Former Delhi Chief Minister Mr Madan Lal Khurana who is under a cloud over his alleged remarks against BJP President L K Advani today sought to revive Delhi Vikas Manch, which he floated some years ago.

A large number of MLAs including former Delhi Industry Minister Mr Harsharan Singh Balli who are supporting Mr Khurana indicated this today.

Mr Balli also came out openly to support Mr Khurana and said that Mr Khurana was right when he sought to buy time against a ten-day deadline to respond to a party show-cause notice. “I am certainly with Mr Khurana and so are several other MLAs,” Mr Balli said. However, Mr Balli did not name BJP leaders who were supporting Mr Khurana after his suspension from the party on August 22.

But party sources said Mr Khurana had been holding regular meetings with party MLAs Moti Lal Sodhi, Surender Pal Ratawal,

Subhash Sachdeva, Karan Singh Tanwar and Balli since his suspension after he advised BJP chief L K Advani to sack Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi.

“The discussions surround re-inventing something like the Delhi Vikas Manch which Mr Khurana floated some years ago as a platform for industrialists in the Capital opposing shifting of their units outside,” a source said.

Mr Khurana refused to comment about the possibility of his setting up a separate regional party. 

Faridabad, August 30
About 20,000 posts are vacant in the Power Department of Haryana. Despite a hefty increase in the number of connections and power supply infrastructure, the government has failed to recruit more staff to handle the workload properly, resulting in a rise in the number of accidents and resentment among the staff.

This is the claim of the All Haryana Power Corporation Workers Union, the largest body of employees of the department concerned. It has asked the state government to fill the posts immediately to strengthen the power supply infrastructure in the state.

Mr Subhash Lamba, spokesperson of the union, said here today the matter of staff shortage and increased workload had been a major issue. It had been taken up with the government at various levels in the past about two decades, but instead of taking measures to improve things in the department various governments started the experiment of privatisation under the garb of reforms.

They, thus, made the 
functioning of the department suffer. This led to resentment among consumers and the staff. He said if the rules governing the department since 1970 were given a look, one would come to know that there were about 20,000 posts lying vacant in this department while there had been no recruitment on a regular basis in the past about 20 years.

Giving an example, he said a majority of the field staff, who had been working as lineman, assistant lineman or foreman, had attained the age of 50 years or more and at least half the number would be retiring in the next few years.

He said because of the age factor many such employees either avoided climbing poles to do the repairs or faced a risk to their lives if they did their duty due to obvious reasons. He said this factor could sometimes lead to inconvenience and delay in service, leading to criticism of the department.

He disclosed that more than 7,000 employees had lost their lives and many of them had been rendered physically disabled in the past about 39 years due to accidents during the duty.

According to the union, the accident rate could be checked effectively and the quality of work could go up considerably if the government made regular recruitment, especially among the field staff so there was no extra burden on the present staff, especially those who were aged over 50 years.

The union, which had been a prominent organ of the Sarva Karamchari Sangh, Haryana (SKS), had been actively involved in campaigns aimed at seeking proper facilities and benefits for the power staff and had been opposing the move to privatise the services. The authorities had to terminate the contract of meter reading in some of the divisions of the Dakshin Haryana Bijli 
Vitran Nigam after the union brought to notice serious irregularities in the work, which had amounted to loss of several crore in the work this year.

The union had announced its support to the proposed nationwide strike on September 29. A call for this had been given by certain leading trade unions against the economic policies of the Union Government.

Ghaziabad, August 30
At least six armed persons barged into two houses in Navin Park in the Sahibabad area and decamped with Rs 2.70 lakh worth of valuables, besides cash, a motorbike and four cellphones.

The inmates, the families of a contractor and an income tax advocate, who offered some resistance initially, were beaten up, their hands and feet tied up and dumped into separate rooms by the intruders before the houses were ransacked.

The family of contractor Zeenat Ali, lives in house no 73 of A block of Navin Park, Sahibabad, who also runs the New Sofia Public School in Pasaunda village. Construction work is under way on the first floor of the house.

At 3 pm, six armed bandits barged in through the main gate with their faces covered.

Zeenat Ali, his son, his wife and a daughter and her husband were in the house.

The miscreants herded all of them at gunpoint into a bedroom, later binding their hands and feet. They took away Rs 80,000 in cash, some valuables and jewellery, a motorbike and four cellphones.

Hearing the commotion, their neighbour, an income tax advocate, S.K. Chaubey, and his wife Reeta came running from their (D-87) house.

But they were also made captive by the criminals.

Later, they barged into the advocate’s house and decamped with Rs 10,000 in cash and valuables, including jewellery worth Rs 1 lakh. 

Ghaziabad, August 30
Kaushambi colony in Sahibabad presents an interesting sight these days. Though the houses and flats may be dark due to power cuts, the slums dwellers across the road always have their jhuggis sparkling with electric power.

Interestingly, the residents of houses and flats regularly pay electricity charges, while the slum dwellers always managed to literally hook in power from the cables passing overhead or in front of their houses. Power Corporation employees, who habitually cook their food on electric heaters and in ovens, see to it that jhuggi dwellers get power. Large-scale power thefts have been considered an important factor not only in frittering away the available electricity in the state but also depriving the state of sizeable revenue.

Neelam Vihar, Seemant Vihar, Siddarth Enclave, Asha Puram Vihar and Lumbini Apartments in Kaushambi have been facing severe power cuts for last few weeks. Apart from six hours’ regular power cuts, the residents have to bear another eight-hours power cut usually.

The morning power cut affects the municipal water supply also. The service class and the students are adversely affected by it daily. This routine is repeated in the evenings also. The linesmen seldom come to repair the defective lines. But in the slum cluster, with 600 slums, opposite 41 Bn PAC complex, Kaushambi, there is power supply round the clock. Kaushambi residents allege connivance of Power Corporation linemen and other employees for ensuring free power supply at the grassroots level at the cost of Kaushambi dwellers who lawfully pay for their power consumption.

Ghaziabad, August 30
Two students of Krishna Devi Higher Secondary School, Jhandpur, Sahibabad, have gone missing while coming back to their home from school on Monday afternoon.

Although a report has been lodged with the Link Road police station, the police are still clueless about the matter. The father of the missing children, Suresh Singh Parihar, alleged that the police has failed to take the case seriously and are yet to start the investigation into the matter.

He said there have been many such cases in the recent past but the police has failed to solve any of these cases.

The father of the missing children, identified as Priyanka Singh (13) and Nikhil (12), is an employee in a soap factory in site-IV.

The Resident Welfare Associations of five housing societies accused the police of “indifference” towards the security of the residents.

New Delhi, August 30
An under-construction building collapsed in an east Delhi area today killing one woman and trapping a number of workers in the debris. The incident took place at 3.57 PM in New Ashok Nagar.

Police sources said that the construction was illegal and the local police was well-informed about this but no action was taken in this regard.

Immediately after the incident, the police and the fire department were informed after which the personnel from both the departments rushed to the spot to carry out rescue operations.

Police sources said that as many as seven persons were buried in the debris of the collapsed building of which five have been rescued by the fire department.

The injured were taken to the LBS hospital where their condition is said to be critical. Police officials are still to ascertain the exact number of persons buried under the debris. No arrest has been made so far in this connection. The police are looking for the contractor of the building. 

New Delhi, August 30
Temperature above normal and rain below average, the city has been reeling under inclement weather. Scorching heat and the truant monsoon have made it a hard month for Delhiites.

With the maximum temperature staying about three to four degrees above normal, the city is desperately looking for some rain which the weather office said was not in sight.

But the IMD is hopeful that a monsoon trough slowly moving southwards, has raised hope that the city might receive rain by the weekend.

The city received 13 cm rain in August as against the normal 22.5 cm. Though the monsoon has been deficient in the plains of the whole north-west region, Delhi is one of the worst hit.—TNS

New Delhi, August 30
A carpet dealer from Kashmir has been held here on charges of funnelling hawala money for subversive activities in the state and Rs 63 lakh have allegedly been recovered from him.

Aslam, who stays in Greater Kailash area in south Delhi, was apprehended following a tip-off, police sources said. He was found in possession of Rs 63 lakh allegedly received from a Middle East country and meant for a separatist leader for subversive activities in Jammu and Kashmir, the sources said, adding that the money was confiscated.

Investigations revealed that Aslam had ferried Rs 2.25 crore of hawala money to Kashmir from here in three phases, they said. He is being subjected to further interrogation, the sources said. Police sources further disclosed that they were trying to know more of his associates who may have indulged into such illegal activities. —TNS

New Delhi, August 30
The National Steering Committee, set up by NCERT to discuss the revised draft of the National Curriculum Framework–2005, has proposed that the draft framework should now be placed in the meetings of Central Advisory Board of Education (CABE) and General Body, scheduled for September 6-7.

Commenting on the draft, Mr Ashok Ganguly, Chairman, CBSE, said that if 50 per cent recommendations of NCF are implemented, the system of school education would get revolutionised.

It was pointed out that the suggestions from chairpersons, member secretaries of National Focus Groups and members of National Steering Committee which were made in the last joint meeting on July 18 to 20, 2005, have been incorporated in the draft.

As per the decision of CABE, as many as 13 state governments organised formal discussions and sent their suggestions on the draft.

On the basis of suggestions received, revisions were effected in the sections on Languages, Social Sciences, Science, Mathematics, Early Childhood Education,
Examination Reforms, Vocational Education & Training, Work and Education, and Habitat and Learning among others.

Prof Mrinal Miri appreciated the revised draft and said that the NCF should be discussed at greater length while Ms Mina Swaminathan endorsed the changes made in the area of Early Childhood Care and Education, and said that
National System of Education should become a reality. She also articulated the need for the treatment of a common school system in details.

New Delhi, August 30
The year: 1970. A bus full of university students is headed to Shimla for an all-expense paid trip. Three days later, the bus is back in town and this time headed straight to the polling booth set up for the elections to the Delhi University Students’ Union.

The year: 2005. Replace the trip to Shimla with fine dining in a city restaurant or tickets to a movie in a plush cinema. Throw in booze 
and money to woo the elusive voter.

The University of Delhi has always commanded an important position in terms of politics for the national parties for whom winning the DUSU elections have become a reflection on their prestige.

Which is why political parties have become the patrons of this no-holds-barred wooing process, claim former students who are now part of the university faculty.

“Money and political parties have always been a part of the DUSU polls. It is not a novel phenomenon. The only difference is that earlier it was done behind the scenes and now political parties make no efforts to downplay their involvement,” pointed out Raj K Bhatia, a former ABVP national president and now a faculty member in a university college.

There may be more colourful posters and even more cars in the entourage, but old-timers point out that these elections being a fertile ground for political parties to cultivate on, political interference is inevitable.

“In out times, despite the political backing (read money), candidates could not paste colour posters,” pointed out a senior faculty member.

He added, “As for political interference…even during the late 80s, we saw the MPs and MLAs guiding the DUSU contenders.”

Elucidating further, Mr Bhatia said, “It is a legitimate ground to strengthen the vote bank. With 18-year-olds being allowed to cast vote, it is not undesirable for political parties to show their interest and win over the youth.”

Commenting on the involvement of money and management, another senior faculty member said, “The Congress, for instance, has never been shy of organising support for the NSUI. They have always campaigned for these student leaders or helped them chalk out strategy. This happened when we were in college and this happens till date.”

While most old-timers concur that electioneering is marginally different from “their time”, they say their concern is about “the increasing flouting of norms”.

“Money is free flowing and the retinue of followers with the candidates has more outsiders than students,” was the general refrain.

Meerut, August 30
Conceiving an interactive way of educating the troops’ families and 
children, the Army Wives Welfare Association (AWWA) organised a health education and awareness week which culminated into a health mela on August 28. Mrs Neelam Sawant, President AWWA, Golden Ram Division, inaugurated the health mela in the presence of hundreds of service wives and officers.

Aimed at increasing awareness about communicable diseases and their prevention, troops and their families were given valuable tips by the Ram medicos.

Addressing the Golden Ram Health Mela gathering, Ms Sawant said non-communicable diseases like cancer, heart diseases, hypertension etc could be prevented by adopting necessary changes in lifestyle like avoiding smoking and adopting regular exercise and an appropriate diet. Ms Sawant also stressed on using our traditional way of curing herbal medicines. These aspects were also aptly reinforced through posters, banners and pamphlets. A big turnout in thousands, including officers, JCOs, NCOs, their families and ex-servicemen of surrounding areas were benefited through this mega event.

There was a live demonstration about how wounded soldiers in forward areas are evacuated and looked after. A film, Akhiri Dastak, prepared by the Ram experts, was also screened on the occasion to make the soldiers aware about the AIDS threat.

Service wives along with the AWWA president also visited the Asha school for mentally-challenged children and distributed sweets and gifts to them. The General Officer Commanding (GOC), Golden Ram Division, said the Indian Army was fully aware of its responsibility towards soldiers and their families.

He said maintaining the health of soldiers was being taken up as a challenge.

Ghaziabad, August 30
Police today filed a case against about two dozen people in connection with the torching of the Sub-divisional Magistrate’s vehicle in Modinagar on August 24.

The family of a woman strangled to death and other people of the area who were protesting against “police inaction” turned violent and set ablaze the jeep of Sub-divisional Magistrate Smita Singh on the evening of August 24.

A case has been registered against around two dozen people and they would be arrested after there was enough evidence to frame charges, police said. 

Noida, August 30
The BJP MLA, Mr Nawab Singh Nagar, has accused the Samajwadi Party-led UP Government of having accorded step-motherly treatment to the people of Gautam Budh Nagar in the last two years. He alleged that the state government has tried to sweep all corruption cases and scams under the carpet.

He said Samajwadi Party-led government disbanded GB Nagar district as soon as it took over power in the state. Even today, the issue of Gautam Budh Nagar and other districts has not been fully finalised by the state government. The failure to appoint a separate District Magistrate for GB Nagar is indicative of the mindset of the administration.

He alleged that the work on the construction of the Gautam Budh Nagar University has also been halted on the basis of “irrelevant excuses”. Similarly, the work on three flyovers has unnecessarily been suspended “due to probes”. —OC

Gurgaon, August 30
The police have nabbed a dreaded criminal falling in the category of “most wanted”, Kushal Pal, who is alleged to be involved in about 16 criminal cases in Haryana, Uttar Pradesh and Rajashthan.

The police was on the lookout for him since long. He was nabbed in the Badshahpur area yesterday. The district police chief, Mr Hanif Qureshi, said this evening that the gangster laid down his arms as soon as the police laid a cordon around him.

A pistol and a countrymade gun were found on him at the time of arrest. Although he was wanted in several cases by the Gurgaon police too, this time he has been booked under the Arms Act.

The gangster is a proclaimed offender and has jumped bail in several cases. Some of the cases for which he is wanted include attempt to murder, dacoity and taking away an undertrial from police custody.

The gangster is a native of Begumput Khatola village in this district.

According to the police, during the course of interrogation he revealed his links with several criminals, including Dharamveer Uliyavaas, who heads another dreaded gang. Dharamveer is from this district.

Kushal Pal was last arrested by the Gurgaon police more than a year back.

Noida, August 30
Even as the ruling Samajwadi Party introduced the new system of reservation for the panchayat elections, it was the Bahujan Samaj Party, which has been the single largest beneficiary of it. Based on these victories, the BSP is busy formulating an effective strategy to enlarge its followings in the rural areas.

According to observers, Samajwadi Party has failed to perform up to expectations in the panchayat elections.

The BSP-supported Gajraj Singh Nagar defeated his rival by 1017 votes in Mayawati’s village, Badarpur.

The Samajwadi Party had made the election in village Sarfabad a prestige issue, where the party was humbled by the BSP candidate.

In 42 of the 70 villages in Bisarakh block, including Kasna, Habibpur, Badalpur, Selarpur, Barola Surajpur, Ladpura, Choganapur, Bisarakh, Havelpur, Khanpur, Chitera, and Suraspur, BSP supporters were on the winning side. Similarly, in Dadri, Javer and Dankore blocks, the BSP’s performance has been exceptional.

New Delhi, August 30
The monsoon session of Delhi Assembly will commence from September 22, Speaker Prem Singh has announced.

The five-day session will have three phases to conduct official business, he said last night, before leaving for Fiji to attend the 51st Commonwealth Parliamentary Association Conference.

New Delhi, August 30
Work was partially affected at Patiala House and Tis Hazari district courts today as the lawyers abstained from judicial work protesting the setting up of permanent Lok Adalats in the Capital from September 1.

However, lawyers at the Karkardooma courts in East Delhi did not participate in the strike. The impact of strike call was felt at Patiala house and Tees Hazari as lawyers abstained from court works including bail matters. —TNS

New Delhi, August 30
The CBI today chargesheeted middleman Dharambir Kattar and six Delhi Development Authority officials for allegedly using a temple premises in South Delhi as a hotel. The CBI charged that Khattar, who was the President of Bhairon Mandir Samiti, conspired with others in cheating DDA and causing it loss in revenue by using the temple as a hotel. 600 sq m of prime land had been given on lease on concessional rates for the temple near Kalindi College. —TNS