New Delhi, January 11
There was a spurt in political activity in the Capital today following yesterday’s High Court stricture on illegal constructions owned by ‘influential persons’ with Chief Minister Ms Sheila Dikshit holding meetings with the politicians concerned as well as the Municipal Commissioner.

Urban Development Minister, Dr A K Walia and Congress legislator and Delhi Jal Board vice-chairperson, Ms Anjali Rai
who were among the politicians named in the court order for allegedly owning illegal constructions, met the Chief Minister at her residence.

The Municipal Commissioner, Mr Ashok Kumar Nigam, also met Ms Dikshit to discuss the next course of action in the wake of the High Court notice to both the government and the MCD, seeking an action taken report on January 31 on steps being taken to raze illegal structures belonging to MLAs, Corporators and other such persons.

The order came yesterday in response to a series of reports in a section of the media alleging that illegal and unauthorised constructions belonging to politicians in Delhi were being spared by the MCD’s ongoing demolition drive.

Among the ‘influential persons’ on whose properties the court had sought
a report are Delhi
Assembly Speaker Chaudhary Prem Singh, DPCC chief Mr Ram Babu Sharma, Congress legislator Mr Mukesh Sharma and BJP MLA Mr Jai Bhagwan Aggarwal.

Meanwhile, the civic body seemed to have adopted a wait and watch approach on the High Court strictures.

“We are yet to receive the Court orders in this regard and the next course of action would be decided only after going through the direction,” an MCD spokesman said.

The civic body did not conduct its controversial High Court-ordered demolition drive today on account of Eid holiday, sources said.

New Delhi, January 11
Even as the Academic Council has given its nod to the new formula for converting grades into percentage in Jawaharlal Nehru University, a section of students have expressed concern over the model.

Their protests are, however, being dismissed by the authorities who on their part claim that students’ representatives had been consulted before the model was put forth. The formula, which has been given a nod by the Academic Council, will convert grades into percentage for the benefit of students applying in other universities.

“The new formula does not follow a uniform pattern and is highly illogical. This new proposal is against the interest of the students and hence needs to be opposed at every platform,” the NSUI said in a statement here today.

JNU does not follow the percentage system like other universities and follows a nine-point grading scale. Following the demand of students, the university has agreed to a conversion system wherein grades will be converted into percentage.

“As JNU did not have a grade conversion system of its own the students had to face severe problems while applying for jobs and higher studies. Unable to convert grades into percentages, the results of the students applying for jobs were quite often withheld or not considered after scrutiny by various Collegiate Education Boards and State Public Service Commissions,” said Matthew, a member of the NSUI.

But the model adopted by the university has not gone down well with the students. “According to the new proposed formula, the grade conversion will not benefit the students. For example, if a student gets six out of nine, his percentage as per the new formula will be below 60 whereas technically it should be 60,” he explained.

As per this formula, while the conversion of a nine CGPA (cumulative grade point average) amounts to 100 per cent that of a six CGPA will only be 57.5 percent.

According to simple logic, a grade point of 9 equals 100, when converted to percentage, a grade point of 6 should necessarily be 66 percent instead of 57.5 percent, it was pointed out.

“The model has been accepted by the university after it was ratified by the AC. There was a special committee that was appointed to work out the details and the students were also part of the extensive debate that preceded the adoption of the model,” Prof B. B. Bhattacharya, Vice-Chancellor, JNU, said. 

New Delhi, January 11
The MCD is launching a special sanitation cum cleanliness drive in the city from tomorrow.

The step is being taken to ensure that the city looks clean for the Republic Day celebrations.

Delhi Mayor, Mr Satbir Singh, said that the MCD has requested municipal councillors and chairpersons of the ward committees to lead the municipal staff engaged in various works to be carried out as part of the drive.

The Mayor has also directed the officers of
the Department of Environment Management
Services to ensure that
all the arrears/accumulation of ‘malba’ and refuse should be collected from market areas, residential areas and commercial complexes and disposed at landfill sites.

A special squad has been deployed in all the 12 zones, equipped with manpower and machinery to attend to complaints regarding the removal of garbage.

In addition to this, repair work on roads will also be carried out wherever necessary, the Mayor informed. Education Department has also been instructed to keep the school premises clean and the efforts to impound stray cattle will be maintained.

New Delhi, January 11
Exercising its powers of a civil court, Delhi Commission for Women (DCW) issued warrants of attachment of property against a man who failed to appear before it in contempt of the summons served on him regarding a matrimonial dispute case.

Elaborating on the powers vested with the Commission, DCW Chairperson Prof Kiran Walia, said, “Many a times, the erring parties tend to take the Commission for granted and do not turn up for hearings, despite repeated summons being served on them. This wastes a lot of time of the other party and also of the DCW Member & Legal Counselor handling the case and leads to
avoidable delays. Issuing warrants of attachment in this case would send a clear signal to all such people that the case hearings in the Commission can not be taken for granted.”

The Chapter III of the Delhi Commission for Women Act 1994, under clause 10 Sub-Clause (iii) states various matters in which “the Commission shall… have the powers of a Civil Court trying suit” including “summoning and enforcing the attendance of any person from any part of India and examine him on oath” among others.

The petitioner approached the Commission on August 3, 2005 complaining that her husband had deserted her and their 5-year-old daughter, and that the company he was working with had asked her to vacate the company-allotted flat in Sarita Vihar. Her husband, who used to work with a leading instrumentation company in Sarita Vihar, had left them for the past few months. He had also filed a divorce petition against her on August 1, 2005, which is still pending.

Says DCW Member, Ms. Reny Jacob, “Acting on her complaint, the Commission wrote to the husband’s company requesting them to allow her to stay in the company-allotted flat temporarily until alternate arrangements were made. The company accepted the Commission’s request. In the meantime, the Commission, together with the police, investigated and found that the husband also owned a flat in Jasola.

Since he and his family members were not coming for hearings at the Commission regularly, the DCW decided to issue warrants of attachment of property. His property in Jasola was sealed by the SDM (Kalkaji) on November 28.”

Later, in December, when he finally appeared before the Commission for hearing, the property was unsealed. The complainant being his lawful wife, and with no means of accommodation, has been allowed by the Commission to stay in the Jasola flat.

In his divorce petition filed in the district court, the husband has alleged that his wife at the behest of her mother and brother has been harassing him and his family. The wife, on her part, has filed cases against the husband with the DCW, the CAW cell, and in the court.

Fearing dispossession from the flat, she has also obtained a stay order from the court with regard to its title and possession. The Commission has also procured the husband’s salary slip and PF and gratuity details from his company to work out the maintenance.

New Delhi, January 11
The Delhi Police have arrested one Faizullah Sheikh (40), a resident of Nadia district in West Bengal. He is a scrap dealer by profession and was a Proclaimed Offender in cases of murder and under the Explosives Act.

The police arrested the accused from the Sangam Vihar area where he had been living for some time. The police also claimed to have seized a countrymade pistol from his possession.

The police said the accused had connections with Naxalites and dacoits, including Hipathullah, but had been arrested only once in 1997 in a murder case. He went absconding after getting bail.

A case has been registered under different sections of IPC in the Sangam Vihar police station and further investigations are on.

In another case, the police have arrested one Vishveshwar Ojha, a native of Bhojpur district in Bihar who is accused of involvement in more than a dozen cases including murder, attempt to murder, dacoity and attack on a police party. The police said the accused was carrying a cash reward of Rs 20,000 for his arrest that was declared by the Bihar Police.

The police said the accused committed his first crime in 1993 when a tussle arose between his village and the adjoining village over a piece of land measuring 100 acres. In this tussle, one Sriniwas Ojha was killed. To take revenge, he along with his other villagers allegedly killed Narender Mishra of another village. Since then he was into criminal activities.

The police said he was a desperate criminal and his involvement in some sensational kidnapping cases was being investigated. The police said that on May 23 last year the accused allegedly killed one Shivji Yadav, a CPI worker. The wife of the deceased was a member of the Zila Parishad from Bhojpur. 

New Delhi, January 11
As a “last ditch effort” to make thousands of property tax defaulters pay up their outstanding tax arrears, the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) today put up huge hoardings at several areas in the Capital publicly displaying their names.

Large hoardings have been placed by the
MCD’s Assessment and Collection department in nine major areas of Delhi – South Extension part II market, Nehru Place main crossing, the Malviya Nagar main market, the New Friend’s Colony, Defence Colony, Kalkaji, Greater Kailash Part II, Chittaranjan Park and Govind Puri – displaying names of all those who owe the Corporation more than Rs 1 lakh by way of property tax arrears.

“Publicly displaying the names of property tax defaulters on big hoardings is a part of our efforts to make the defaulters pay,” a senior Corporation officer said.

New Delhi, January 11
Eid-ul-Zuha was celebrated with the usual religious fervour and enthusiasm in the Capital today.

Special prayers were held at Jama Masjid, Fatehpuri Masjid and Idgah Masjid in the city this morning.

Thousands of people exchanged greetings after the prayers. Markets wore a festive look on the occasion, which is also known as Bakreid.

Elaborate traffic and security arrangements were made for the festival.

Delhi Lt-Governor B. L. Joshi and Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit conveyed their greetings and good wishes to citizens on the occasion.

Mr Joshi said the festival reinforces belief in God and the spirit of sacrifice and it should be celebrated together by people from all faiths.

Ms Dikshit expressed the hope that the festival of Eid-ul-Zuha, symbolising the spirit of sacrifice, would help bring peace and foster a sense of brotherhood among people.

New Delhi, January 11
Sunshine broke out after a brief spell of morning fog as temperatures remained below normal in the national Capital today.

The night temperature was recorded at 5.4 degree Celsius, two degrees below normal, the weather office said.

“There was a blanket of fog from 7.10 a m .to 8.45 a. m. over Delhi. But after that it was only a thin layer of smog,” an official said.

There were no weather-forced delays in flight departures or arrivals, airlines officials said here. But several trains bound for Delhi were running behind schedule, according to a Railway release. 

New Delhi, January 11
If the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation deserves a big round of applause for gifting the congested city of Delhi the friendly Metro train service, so do the Metro maintenance staff and security officials.

While hundreds of maintenance staff, customer care officials and security guards are currently working with the Delhi Metro to assure a high standard of safe and secure journey to its commuters, the responsibility on their shoulders has increased with the opening of the Barakhamba-Dwarka Metro line.

With more and more people finally taking up Metro trains as their daily means of conveyance, the role of the management staff becomes all the more important when most of these commuters happen to be first-timers.

Despite the fact that necessary instructions are put up on the walls of these stations, the technology oriented Metro service is still a mystery for many.

“I got so very carried away with the fascination of travelling by the Barakahamba Metro train that I forgot to read the instruction that we need to stand behind the yellow line when the train is approaching the platform for safety reasons. A Metro official then came and told me the same”, said Pawan Kumar living in Dwarka.

The problem, however, becomes all the more acute when most of the stations on this new line are still under construction. Except for the first five stations from Barakhamba to Karol Bagh, lifts and escalators at all stations are non-functional. Confusion level reaches its height when wires are seen hanging from the ceiling, there are buckets full of water in the middle of a platform and there are labourers carrying bags of cement and loose tiles on most of these unfinished stations.

“I was quite confused to see the way to platform no 1 blocked at the Rajouri Garden station as the escalator and the staircase were still under construction. But before I could get more confused a Metro official was there to direct me to the correct place”, said another commuter.

Apart from this, with the opening of Line 3, the six-month-old Connaught Place station has also become a hub of confusion for many as all the three Metro lines happen to intersect here.

“While people often encounter problems in choosing the correct out of the four exits here, most of them are also seen confused about the way to various platforms. So we have opened a separate inquiry counter to answer their queries”, said Shiv Kumar, a DMRC official.

In effect, if the Government of Delhi deserves to be appreciated for linking the distant corners of the vast city through the very comfortable Metro journey, then it would probably be unfair if the Metro employees are not mentioned. After all, it is their patience and hard work which indeed contributes in making the Metro journey a riders’ delight.

Greater Noida, January 11
With the arrest of the five members of the Bawariya gang, the Rabupura police claimed to have solved a dacoity case in Rineeja village that took place two months earlier. The police have recovered arms, cell phones, two Swaraj tractors, cash and jewellery from the arrested gangsters.

The arrested gangsters, identified as Ramesh (son of Mohanlal), Rakesh (son of Ramesh Bawariya), Satish alias Ajay, Raju alias Rajpal and Rajveer of Bharatpur, Rajasthan.

These criminals had been active in Haryana, Bulandshahr, Aligarh and Mathura. One member of the gang is still absconding.

It may be recalled that over half a dozen armed criminals had attacked Raj Kumar’s house in village Rineeja in November 2005. After looting the inmates, the dacoits had decamped with two tractors, cash, jewellery, mobile phones, etc. Later, the criminals had murdered Bhanwar Singh of village Rustampur while fleeing.

The villagers had picketed at the Rabupura police station for many days demanding action against the criminals.

According to Senior Superintendent of Police, Mr Piyush Mordia, two police teams were constituted under CO DK Ken and SOG incharge Jaspal Singh.

Based on a tip-off, the Rabupura Police was engaged in an encounter with these criminals in the jungles of Phalauda village, said the police chief. The Senior Superintendent of Police has rewarded the police team involved in arresting the criminals.

Faridabad, January 11
Almost 70 per cent of the people in the age group of 40 years or above have been found to be calcium deficiency. Doctors at a special camp organised by the Lions Club in sector- 7 here recently found that people in the age group of 50 and above were vulnerable to weak bones.

As many as 115 patients were checked for calcium deficiency through computerized scanning at the ‘Free bone density check- up camp’, organised at Savitri x-ray lab.

According to Mr S.K Gupta and Mr Praveen Mediratta, patients were diagnosed by well- known doctors.

It is claimed that the bones start loosing calcium in the middle age and if unchecked and ignored these could lead to osteoporosis and fractures and other related problems. 

Gurgaon, January 11
In an effort to provide better and cost-effective services to its existing and prospective subscribers, the Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) has reduced its monthly rent and call charges.

The General Manager, BSNL, Gurgaon circle, Mr D N Tripathi, informed mediapersons that the monthly rent in Gurgaon has been reduced to Rs 180 per month from Rs 250 in urban areas and Rs 150 from Rs. 210 per month in the rural areas. The free calls per month would remain the same (50 calls in urban areas and 75 calls in rural areas), added the officer.

It may be pointed out that the BSNL has more than one lakh subscribers in the circle.

Despite various lucrative schemes and attractive gifts, the private operators have failed to make a dent in BSNL’s base. Bharti Tele-venture Limited, a strong private operator in the region, is still charging Rs 250 per month rent from its landline customers, added Mr Tripathi.

Mr Tripathi further informed that the department has introduced a new package for heavy users. The cost of call rates would be Rs 0.66 per call for three minutes. If the subscriber makes a commitment of paying Rs 2450 per month, he becomes entitled for making 3500 calls per month. This scheme would be very effective for the heavy users of telephone lines, said Mr Tripathi.

In another BSNL economy package, the customer can pay Rs 300 per month, including rent and can make 200 calls per month. The General Manager further informed that the BSNL’s centrex facility was being used by various Residential Welfare Associations (RWA) and commercial organisations in the circle.

The centrex facility provides benefits to group-subscribers to speak to each other internally without paying any charges to the BSNL.

Mr Tripathi informed that Haryana Urban Development Authority (HUDA) and Dakshin Haryana Bijli Vitran Nigam Limited (DHBVN) had decided to make use of this scheme. We are also going to approach the district administration to avail of this facility so that officers can speak to each other without paying any extra charges, added Mr Tripathi. He said that most of the chemist shops in the city have already been clubbed under the scheme.

The centrex facility is free of cost and there is no activation charge and no monthly charge, if the group is more than 50 subscribers, added the officer.

However, if two subscribers wish to take the facility, both have to pay Rs 50 per month, three subscribers have to pay Rs 75 per subscriber per month and if there is a group of four, these four subscribers have to pay Rs 100 per subscriber per month for availing the facility of centrex. 

Faridabad, January 11
Even as the ongoing cold wave claimed perhaps its first victim near the New Town Railway Station in the NIT area here last night, the issue of night shelter for the homeless has come to the fore in the district. The victim, identified as Baba (65), was living in a makeshift jhuggi near the railway station. It is learnt that his body was recovered in the morning today from the platform.

Unfortunately, even as the region is reeling under a severe cold wave, the administration is yet to start any common shelter for the homeless in the city, which has the largest urban population in the State.

It may be recalled that the night temperature in the city and the district has been hovering between one and four degree Celsius for the past week.

“Railway stations and bus stands are perhaps the only place where the homeless can take refuge in the chilling cold conditions,” said a social activist.

He said several proposals and suggestions have been made that a city like Faridabad, which has a population of over 14 lakh, needed night shelters for the homeless poor people. However, neither the civic body nor any agency had made any move in this direction so far, he lamented.

Even the State government has not taken any initiative in this regard, though Faridabad has one of the largest slums in the country. It is home to thousands of migrant labourers without any shelter at night, said a member of ‘Punarjagran Sanstha’, an NGO here. 

Noida, January 11
The Kisan Sena has decided to launch a forceful agitation to safeguard the interests of the farmers, including its protest against the State government’s decision to set up a Dadri Development Authority.

The protest to be launched under the banner of ‘Jan Jagran Abhyan’ will highlight the fact that the setting up of a Dadri Development Authority was a method to acquire land at throwaway price and hand it over to industrialists at cheap rate for setting up mega projects in the area.

The movement would also include the farmers of Gautam Budh Nagar, Noida and Greater Noida. The farmers in the area are meeting today at Sadarpur in Greater Noida to chalk out the programme. Later, a meeting will be held at Sadarpur on January 22
in Noida.

Chaudhary Behari Singh, a veteran leader of the farmers, said, “We shall send farmers on horse backs to various villages to inform them about the meeting.”

Jatinder Kumar Chauhan, formerly of the ‘Dehat Morcha’, said the government had acquired land at Rs 2.33 per sq. mt. from farmers in Noida Sector 18 and sold the same to industrialist at Rs 800 per sq. mt. He demanded that the “injustice being meted out to the farmers must stop”.

“It is time the farmers are made partners in development and profit-making schemes,” Bihari Singh stressed. A massive rally in the national Capital is planned after the meeting in Sadarpur on January 22,
he said.

Greater Noida, January 11
The extreme cold weather sweeping the region has played havoc with crops of the farmers. Crops and vegetables including tomatoes, cauliflower and potato sown by the farmers in Greater Noida and the surrounding areas have been adversely affected by the cold wave sweeping the region. The farmers have asked the government to make adequate compensation for the loss suffered by them due to the prevailing cold wave.

According to Tara Chand, a farmer of Sakipur village, he had planned to repay his loan with the income from these crops and also marry off his daughter, which now may be affected,” he said.

The cold wave sweeping the region has fully destroyed his crop, he said. Thousands of fellow farmers are also ruing their fate. It may be recalled that the temperature on Sunday was the lowest in 70 years in the NCR. It may be pointed out that the crops such as potato, cauliflower, tomatoes and chillies have been extensively damaged due to frost in the night.—OC

New Delhi, January 11
Rejecting the resolution passed by the High court against their continuing strike as an “attempt to suppress them”, the Delhi Bar Association, consisting of lawyers of Tis Hazari courts, today vowed to intensify their agitation against the setting up of a district court complex at Rohini.

“It is really strange that the High Court instead of solving the dispute is rather aggravating the situation by trying to act as an administrator of the judicial system,” DBA President Rajiv Khosla said in a release here.

Taking a strong view of the lawyers’ strike, a Full Court of the High Court had yesterday directed the judges of the subordinate courts to proceed with the cases. It had also asked the District Judges to report any acts of disruption by lawyers.

The DBA alleged that by such resolution, the High Court was putting pressure on the litigant public with “vindictive mind”.

“The litigants will be put to loss and deprived of getting justice from the courts. The High Court has forgotten that it is the constitutional right of every citizen to get legal aid,” Khosla said.

Asserting that the DBA has no plans to call of the strike, he said “it would in fact be intensified as we have decided to ask our colleagues in Patiala House and Karkadooma courts and the nearby states to join us”.

Accusing the High Court of trying to portray DBA “in poor light” by distorting facts, he denied that they had ever indulged in violence during their agitation as mentioned in yesterday’s resolution.

New Delhi, January 11
Alarmed by the increasing number of young children being diagnosed with disorders commonly associated with adults, Delhi Chief Minister, Ms Sheila Dikshit, today urged nutritionists to come together and create a diet chart that can be in turn circulated among schoolchildren.

Speaking at the inauguration of a campaign, ‘Promoting Active Lifestyle among Schoolchildren’, organised by Swashrit, an NGO that works in the field of education, Ms Dikshit said a team of doctors, nutritionists, psychologists and lifestyle experts will come together to chart out a roadmap that will promote a healthy and active lifestyle in children. The campaign will begin with public schools in the first phase.