The Tribune, Chandigarh, India - Delhi and neighbourhood

	SC directs minister to vacate houses Legal Correspondent New Delhi, July 31 In a serious indictment of Delhi Government for not vacating premises earmarked for setting up a family court in the heart of the city, the Supreme Court today ordered immediate eviction of the two houses presently being occupied by Delhi Industry Minister Mangat Ram Singhal. Taking strong exception to the Delhi Government simply ignoring orders for handing over the premises for the family courts, a Bench of Mr Justice A K Mathur and Mr Justice Markandey Katju allowed Singhal time till August 6 to make it available to the Delhi High Court for allotment to the family courts. The court made it clear that if the houses at 23 and 24 Rouse Avenue were not vacated by the deadline, the apex court Registrar General would take steps with the help of the police to take possession of these properties. The direction came on a petition by NGO, Chetna, taking up cases of women in distress. The NGO contended that the non-functioning of the family court in the area due to non-availability of building, had been hampering disposal of cases relating to women. As per the Delhi Government’s own proposal, it had decided to set up 15 family courts in the national Capital in 2002 and consequently the court had directed it to earmark at least five plots for this purpose. The premises of Rouse Avenue was among the five plots allocated by the Delhi Government to family courts but it had not bothered to evict it and continued to allot it to its ministers, the NGO said. It pointed out that the apex court had passed a clear order in February 2002 that the land of the two houses, approximately measured to be 3,000 sq meters, was found to be suitable for setting up of the family court by the Delhi High Court and it should be made available to it immediately. Even a statement of the then Attorney General of India was recorded by the court at that time regarding handing of the land by the Union Government to the High Court, the petitioner said.
	In Parliament ‘Power supply situation on the mend’ Tribune News Service New Delhi, July 31 The overall position of power supply in the national Capital has improved over the years and the energy and peak shortage reduced, this was stated by Minister of Power Sushil Kumar Shinde in Rajya Sabha today. The minister informed that the peak shortage has reduced from 1.9 per cent and 9.2 per cent respectively at the beginning of the X plan to 1.5 per cent and 3.3 per cent respectively in 2005-06. However, there have been instances of increased power shortage during certain periods in peak summer and winter when the demand for power increases significantly, the minister said. He added the Government of NCT of Delhi has said that the privatisation of distribution sector in the city has shown very encouraging results. Aggregate technical and commercial loss reduction in the first four years has been around 12 per cent and the distribution companies are committed to reducing the losses to around 17 per cent during the first five-year period. Mr Shide, in a reply to another question, said that there has been an overall power shortage in the country during the current summer season except in a few states. The energy and peak shortage in Delhi during the same period was 1.9 per cent and 2.8 per cent respectively. He said in the Capital, power requirement in summer has been considerably high due to extreme weather conditions and reduced availability of power due to more outages apart from reduced availability of hydro generation because of inadequate snow-melting.
	East Delhi water reservoirs in disrepair Nalini Ranjan New Delhi, July 31 At a time when various central and state agencies are busy in improving infrastructure in East Delhi area keeping in view the Common Wealth Games 2010, it is surprising that most underground water reservoirs in this district are either encroached upon or out of order. These reservoirs were constructed by the Delhi Fire Service (DFS) about a decade ago to get water at the time of fire. According to sources, there are two such water reservoirs in Laxmi Nagar Zone. One reservoir near Karkardooma village has been out of order for many years and the second one is partially operational. “In Mandawali Zone, one such reservoir at ITI, Khicharipur, has also been out of order for many years. It is strange that the reservoir is being used by the local people as a gobar gas plant. In Shahdara Zone, two such reservoirs have also been out of order for many years. Only two such reservoirs are operational in East Delhi, but the condition of both of them is not good. In absence of timely upkeep, they are on the verge of closure,” said a resident. He added that these reservoirs were victim of negligence by the agencies concerned. “Leave aside other major responsibilities, the DFS is not even ready to change the valves of these reservoirs. Precisely due to that reason, most reservoirs are facing the problem of water regulation, leakage and some other related problems. The role of these underground water reservoirs is significant specially at the time of a major fire or in emergency. In the like Gandhi Nagar, there is no other option than to use these underground reservoirs in case of an inferno,” he added. According to a senior office of the DFS, we cannot do anything without people’s support. “It is true that those reservoirs were constructed to support our firefighting measures, but due to the people’s non-cooperation, most of our reservoirs are encroached upon. They have even removed the boards labelled over those reservoirs. Due to this reason, it is very difficult to identify those reservoirs even by our firemen. All such reservoirs will be made free if encroachment with the help of local police and civic agencies,” he said.
	Let CBI probe DVB privatisation: Mukhi Tribune News Service New Delhi, July 31 The Leader of Opposition in Delhi Assembly, Prof. Jagdish Mukhi, appealed to the Lt-Governor, Mr B. L. Joshi, to comply with the direction of the Assembly and send the case of privatisation of Delhi Vidyut Board (DVB) to the CBI. The Discoms have been allegedly given undue advantage by changing the terms and conditions of privatisation of power. He said that the conditions were changed even without the consent of the competent authority. The Comptroller Auditor General of India (Delhi Unit) had already commented in its report that undue advantage worth Rs 8,500 crore had been given to the Discoms. Addressing a conference, Prof. Jagdish Mukhi said taking these irregularities and favouritism into consideration, the PAC had taken up the CAG report for consideration. The PAC came up with its report, confirming the major scam committed in the DVB privatisation. He said that the PAC had recommended that the Government should approach the Central Vigilance Commission to order an enquiry into the conduct of all those top officers who managed the erstwhile DVB in all the last three years before privatisation. The committee also recommended that the role of the officers of the Core Committee should be investigated by the CBI who were involved in the screening of bids and played a pivotal role in final negotiations with the conditional bidder without the approval of the competent authority. “These very officers advised the cabinet that the bids should not be accepted in the present form. They recommended that the revised bids be accepted,” Prof. Mukhi said. The PAC had recommended that the privatisation of DVB be investigated by the CBI and action taken report should be submitted to the Legislative Assembly within three months.
	Power situation satisfactory despite rainless day Tribune News Service New Delhi, July 31 Despite the Capital having a rainless day today, the power situation here remained satisfactory with the discoms being able to meet the 3400 MW peak time power demand. However, half an hour of load shedding of around 55 MW was effected in a few localities to maintain the grid discipline. The overall power situation has remained satisfactory all through the last week following the Capital receiving the heaviest spell of rains. More than 150 mm of rainfall was recorded last week alone.
	NSUI activists go ballistic over Hansraj hostel rule Tribune News Service New Delhi, July 31 Activists of the National Students’ Union of India (NSUI) today barged into the Principal’s office in Hansraj College and vandalised the premises. These activists were protesting against the rule laid down by the Hostel Council that makes it mandatory for the students to score a minimum percentage to be able to retain their rooms in the hostel. According to official sources, the Hostel Council of the college had passed a rule two years ago stating, “All students who are occupants of the hostel will have to score a minimum percentage in their courses to retain their admission in the hostel.” As per the rule, which has been mentioned in the college prospectus, the students of Physics and Economics Honours will have to score at least 60 per cent, while the students of all other Science courses and Mathematics Hons. and B.Com will have to score at least 55 per cent. The students of Economics Honours will have to score a minimum of 50 per cent and the Arts’ students will have to score at least 45 per cent. There is a five per cent relaxation for the students of the reserved categories. “The Hostel Council had made it clear that students will have to fulfil the minimum eligibility criterion. Some students who failed to do so, fearing that they will have to evict the hostel, met the principal and sought reprieve,” official sources said. It was pointed out that these students were told that their cases will be put up before the Council on Monday and action will be taken following its decision. However, these students went and sought help from the Delhi University Students’ Union, which is controlled by the NSUI. The NSUI activists on being told that a decision can be taken by the Hostel Council only, broke the windowpanes and created a ruckus. Though the police were called in to control the agitating students, no complaint has been registered so far. Sources said the principal has called for a meeting of the Hostel Council here tomorrow to decide the cases of these students.
	IGNOU’s courses in electronic mode Tribune News Service New Delhi, July 31 The Open and Distance Learning courses of Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU) will now be available in an electronic mode, using the ‘Wiki’ software, which is developed by Auckland University, New Zealand. Inaugurating the three-day course development workshop on Bamboo and Rattan, Prof. S.C. Garg, Vice-Chancellor, IGNOU, said that IGNOU has a target of opening 40 FM radio stations all over India, since radio reaches the maximum number of people.
	Teachers’ body flays Haryana education policy Tribune News Service Faridabad, July 31 About 19 per cent of the children in Haryana do not ever go to school for education. While at least 25 per cent of the children enrolled for primary education leave school by the time they reach class V, another 14 per cent follow them by dropping out from school by the time they reach class VIII. Just eight per cent of the total number of students in the state get to the higher education level. These are certain statistics regarding the status of schooling and education in the state which have been revealed by the Haryana Rajkiya Adhyapak Sangh. The body has launched a campaign to create awareness and protest against the wrong policies made by the government in the field of education. A sangh spokesperson said all policies and programmes of the government to improve the lot of education in the state, especially in the rural areas, may fail if the authorities did not study and review the root cause, thus putting an end to the growing commercialisation and privatisation of education. He claimed that hundreds of crores had gone down the drain in the past about 40 years since Haryana came into being. He went on to say that the situation had not improved much despite the claims of the authorities about the number of students actually enrolled in schools who had completed their education over the past few decades. Asking the government to first look into the basic problems, the sangh said proper education could not be provided to all if these hurdles were not removed. He said there was an acute shortage of teachers and study material, including books, in a majority of the primary and middle schools in the state. A large number of students in the rural and semi-rural areas had been turning to private schools. Though the number of students in private schools was on the ascendant, it did not mean that private institutions were providing quality education. A majority of these schools had hired unqualified and undereducated teachers for poor remuneration. Mr Rajender Singh, president of the district unit of the sangh, said the result and performance of the government schools where the staff was adequate was much better. He said the adequate staff and proper facilities for the students were responsible for the good results of government schools at Chandigarh and Kendriya Vidyalayas (Central Schools) and Navodaya Vidyalayas were.
	Novel way to manage Palika parking Tribune News Service New Delhi, July 31 Forget haggling with an attendant to park your car, come tomorrow and an electronic board will guide where to place your vehicle at Palika Kendra. As the commuters head towards the parking lot which has the capacity of 1,200 vehicles, they will get information on the availability of parking space through strategically installed electronic boards. The novel parking management system, the first of its kind in the country, is being installed by the Central Road Research Institute (CRRI) and will be launched from tomorrow. “The new system is being launched as part of our low cost initiative to improve the services,” an official of the NDMC said. The boards will also display information about which floor of the multi-level parking the commuter should head to and what were the rates.
	Several positions lying vacant for years Syed Ali Ahmed Tribune News Service New Delhi, July 31 Several crucial posts of senior officers are lying vacant in different departments of the Delhi Government, upsetting their day-to-day functioning. According to the sources, four posts of Deputy Commissioners have been vacant in the transport department for the last two years. While officially it is being said that the government has not been able to find suitable candidates for these posts, sources say that the delay is the result of differences between the ministry concerned and the department head. Both apparently want their own candidates to man these posts. Two posts – one of a language officer to manage the documents written in Punjabi and the other of an Urdu translator — have been vacant for the last 15 years. Both languages were declared second languages in 2000 by the Delhi Government. However, no appointments have been made to fill up the posts, sources said. Curiously, instead of filling up the posts, the authorities concerned have transferred an Urdu translator to the Urdu Academy in the post of a secretary. He has been working there for the last four years. He is given an extension after every two years. Besides, posts of Deputy Director in Delhi Employment Exchange and Administrative Officer in Delhi Fire Service are also lying vacant. Senior officials of the department said that the procedure for appointing an officer was lengthy and all the decisions were taken by the “higher authorities”. Deputy Speaker in Delhi Assembly Shoaib Iqbal and Deputy Leader of Opposition in MCD Onkar Singh Thapar said that it was an administrative lapse of the government. All the posts of translators, language officers and teachers in government should have been filled just after Punjabi and Urdu were given the status of second language. A number of posts of Urdu teachers were also lying vacant in government schools, they said.
	CMO sends report on doctor Our Correspondent Noida, July 31 The Chief Medical Officer has sent his report on allegations made against Dr Ajay Agarwal of Government Hospital to the government. The doctor was caught in a sting operation by Channel 7. He allegedly amputated the hands and legs of children and the youth to make them beggars in return for money. The District Magistrate has also been apprised of this heinous and shocking revelation. Now, the government’s orders are awaited for filing a criminal case against Dr Agarwal. The Principal Secretary, Health, and the Director, Health Services, had called for this report on Sunday. Meanwhile, the Indian Medical Association here has set up an inquiry committee comprising six doctors to probe the matter. Since Dr Agarwal is the brother of a very senior IAS officer, attempts are allegedly being made for a cover-up.
	Need for policy to check migrant hordes in Faridabad Bijendra Ahlawat Tribune News Service Faridabad, July 31 Keeping track of the floating population in this industrial city is a big challenge for the local authorities here, feel local residents. This has not only resulted in increased risk but also led to the burgeoning of jhuggi clusters and slum areas. Social activists and senior police officials have dwelt on this umpteen times but a solution still eludes them. Police officials recently admitted that the problem they were facing regarding the movement of suspicious characters, including anti-national elements and criminals, was in large measure due to the hordes of migrants. Residents here were shocked after it came to light that a Pakistani militant had his hideout at Ballabhgarh town. The militant was gunned down by the Delhi Police in an encounter. Though the police department and the local authorities claimed to have stepped up the vigil in this regard, the administration had perhaps no record of the migrants, especially those from Bangladesh. These people were often found involved in carrying out anti-national activities. Mr Rajender Singh Bisla, a former MLA and social activist here, has written to the Chief Minister, Mr Bhupinder Singh Hooda, asking him to put in place a long-term policy geared towards keeping a check on the settlement of outsiders, especially Bangladeshis. He said ineffective policies and political patronage had led to a large number of slum colonies and jhuggi clusters dotting the city. This had translated into encroachments on government land. He stressed the government should have a plan in place to limit the number of cycle-rickshaws, rehris and footpath vendors. He alleged they were responsible for many civic and law and order problems. He said the authorities should not issue ration cards or give voting rights to such a population. They should ensure the issuance of identity cards for migrants to the state. Mr K. L. Gera, a social activist, said a large number of illegal migrants had settled in Palla, Surya Nagar, Sectors 10 and 11, adjacent to Agra Canal, Aitmadpur, Sehatpur and in the open space near B. K. Civil Hospital here. He alleged the administration was turning a blind eye to jhuggis as certain officials were involved in illegal water and power connections being given to the slum dwellers.