New Delhi, October 27
To seek succour for the traders whose establishments face sealing from November 1, the Delhi Government may appeal to the Supreme Court to postpone the impending sealing drive in the Capital to January 31, 2007.

A decision to this effect would be taken tomorrow at the meeting of the Group of Ministers (GoM) to be chaired by Union Home Minister Shivraj Patil.

Addressing mediapersons after the meeting with Mr Patil here today, Ms Dikshit said, “Everything is a possibility. We are not ruling out anything but any decision on approaching Supreme Court will be taken at the GoM tomorrow.”

The meeting with Mr Patil was called to review the law and order situation arising out of the sealing drive in the national Capital.

Though there was no official comment on whether a firm decision about providing relief to traders had been taken, sources privy to the meeting said that the legal opinion favoured seeking extension of amnesty for the 44,000 traders who had submitted affidavits earlier to the apex court.

Assuring the traders of the government’s concern over their welfare, Ms Dikhsit said, “We have appealed to monitoring committee for relief to these traders. There are others who have also approached the committee. We will do all that we can to help the traders.”

Today’s meeting with Mr Patil comes in the backdrop of the tension that has resurfaced in the Capital over the Municipal Corporation of Delhi’s (MCD) move to resume the sealing drive from November 1. Meanwhile, Ms Dikshit today also said that the issue of sealing of commercial units in Delhi would be comprehensively discussed in the coming session of the Delhi Legislative Assembly, to be held from October 30.

“There will be a detailed discussion on the issue in the session. We feel there is an urgent need to discuss the matter at length to allow the public representatives to air their views,” Ms Dikshit said.

The traders in Delhi on their part have demanded a constitutional amendment to legalise shops in residential areas to address the crisis.

The Confederation of All India Traders (CAIT) met Home Secretary V K Duggal and asked for an immediate solution to the vexed issue. The CAIT has already given a three-day bandh call from October 30.

Among other demands, the shopkeepers also asked the Central government to approach the Supreme Court-appointed monitoring committee to extend the relief date to January 31, 2007 from October 31, 2006 for all the categories of traders, including those who have already filed affidavits. They also sought implementation of the Master Plan of Delhi 2021 by January 31 next year.

The CM’s high-level meeting with Mr Patil was attended by Delhi Lt-Governor B L Joshi, City Police Commissioner K K Paul and MCD Commissioner A K Nigam.

“The issue has a human angle associated with it as it involves the livelihood of lakhs of employees and their families. We would like to know whether the government has thought anything for us. We hope they do something by October 31,” said Praveen Khandelwal, CAIT secretary general, after the meeting with Mr Duggal.

He also talked about loss of revenue by both the Centre and state due to sealing drive. “The Delhi government will lose Rs 3,000-3,500 crore annually whereas the Centre will also lose crores of rupees in excise and income tax,” he added.

New Delhi, October 27
The Government of the National Capital Territory of Delhi has decided to move a resolution in the coming session of the Legislative Assembly which proposes that the sealing drive in the national Capital be halted till the ‘Delhi Master Plan 2021’ is finalised.

Announcing this here today, Speaker Ch. Prem Singh said the main issue before the ninth session of the Delhi Assembly would be a full discussion on the sealing issue where the government’s resolution will be put forward.

Expressing confidence that the resolution would be effective in letter and spirit, he said, “The Secretariat has received a notice under Rule 90 of the Rules of Procedure and Conduct of Business of the Legislative Assembly of the GNCT of Delhi from Chief Minister, Ms Shiela Dikshit that sealing by the MCD be stopped till the Master Plan 2021 was given final shape.”

Besides, during the October 30-November 10 session, legislative business on Delhi Cooperative Societies (Amendment) Bill 2006 and a Bill on increase in pay and allowances of MLAs would also be brought in, the Speaker said.

“Short duration discussions on corruption in Municipal Corporation of Delhi, dengue situation, water and power problems, price rise and general law and order would be the other topics which would be taken up,” the Speaker added.

Private members’ resolution on unauthorised colonies, celebrating the 150th anniversary of the 1857 revolution and financial assistance to leprosy patients would also be taken up, he said.

Also, three resolutions have been marked for discussion on November 10 on the recommendation of Private Members Bills and Resolutions Committee on granting full statehood to Delhi, making Yamuna pollution-free and cleaning of drains and dividing MCD into five sections for effective functioning, the Speaker added.

New Delhi, October 27
The BJP Legislature Party in the Delhi State Assembly will bring a no-confidence motion against the Delhi Government in the coming session of the House, to be held from October 30.

A decision in this regard was made at a meeting of the BJP Legislature Party held under the chairmanship of Leader of the Opposition in the state assembly Jagdish Mukhi. It was decided at the meeting that the state government had failed completely to bring a halt to the sealing and demolition drive in Delhi.

“The people of Delhi as well as the House have lost faith in the state government. Hence this government has no moral right to remain in the seat of power. Therefore, the BJP Legislature Party has decided to bring a no-confidence motion against the government in the coming session,” a statement issued by them said.

Commenting on the resolution being brought in the assembly by the Chief Minister to put a halt to the sealing operation till the Master Plan 2021 was implemented, Prof Mukhi said, “The resolution is a sham. Six months ago too, a similar resolution had been passed unanimously by the Delhi Legislative Assembly but till date no action had been taken to implement the same.”

Putting the sole blame of the sealing drive on the Chief Minister, he said, “The BJP would make every possible effort to pressurise the Delhi government to stop the proposed sealing drive from November 1.”

Prof. Mukhi said he had written a letter to Urban Development Minister Jaipal Reddy and Delhi Lt-Governor B L Joshi urging him to notify the Master Plan 2021.

New Delhi, October 27
A memorandum of understanding was today signed between Petronet LNG Limited and Pragati Power Corporation Limited for the supply of 7.3 Million Metric Standard Cubic Meter Per Day (MMSCMD) gas for gas-based power projects of Delhi to meet the demand of power in Delhi, especially during the Commonwealth Games 2010.

The Government of Delhi has plans to set up gas-based projects in Delhi as coal-based power stations cannot be set up in the Capital city for environmental reasons.

The MoU was signed in presence of the Chief Minister, Ms Sheila Dikshit, Union Petroleum and Natural Gas Minister Murli Deora.

Following the Delhi Government’s request, the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas has consented to give 10 MMSCMD gas to Delhi which can augment generation by about 2000MW.

The city government had plans to install gas-based power projects in Delhi but owing to uncertainty regarding the availability of gas, the proposals could not materialise. With the signing of today’s MoU, the project will now materialise 350 MW Pragati-II Power Project and 1000 Bawana Power Project are scheduled to be made operational before the Commonwealth Games.

The setting up of these gas-based plants will enable Delhi to enhance core generation from 700 MW to 2000 MW. This will ensure that Delhi is insulated from grid shocks on account of high level of dependence on the Northern Grid. 

New Delhi, October 27
Two more persons died of dengue in the Capital and 79 new cases were admitted to the city’s hospitals, as the authorities attributed the fresh infections of the mosquito-borne virus to the prevalent congenial daytime temperature.

The death toll in the Capital has now crossed 50, while the total number of patients in Delhi stands at 2,372.

Health officials said the fluctuation in the day temperature was congenial for the breeding of the Aedes Aegypti dengue virus-carrying mosquito, which was the reason for more cases being reported.

Experts said the drop in temperatures led to a gradual natural death for the dengue virus earlier. However, the daytime temperatures between 25-30 degrees Celsius has given mosquitoes an ideal range for breeding, said D.S. Negi, Delhi Health Secretary.

He said there was nothing unusual about the increase in dengue cases. “We have seen a spurt in dengue case in October when weather conditions are congenial for breeding of mosquitoes,” he said.

Director of National Vector Borne Disease Control Programme (NVBDCP) P L Joshi claimed there was decline in the density of dengue-causing mosquito Aedes aegypti.

“In the next few days, we will be able to say surely whether dengue is in a declining mode,” he said.

Of the 79 fresh cases in the Capital, 42 patients were admitted to AIIMS. Another 25 patients suspected to have contracted dengue have also been kept under observation at the hospital.

D.K. Sharma, Medical Superintendent, AIIMS, said that 178 patients were being treated in the hospital while 25 patients were under observation and 43 patients had been discharged. Seven new chikungunya cases, including two in Delhi, were reported on Wednesday, taking the total number of cases to 1,673 in the country.

New Delhi, October 27
To curb the rampant corruption in the lower grade staff in sub-ordinate courts, the Delhi High Court has directed all its district courts to take punitive action against those process servers who submit false report in connivance with litigants.

Process servers are those staff in lower judiciary who serve court notices and summons to the litigants.

Directing the Delhi District Judge to identify those process servers, who give false report stating that the address of the litigant is not found or a tenant is being there, the court said disciplinary action should be taken against such staff who were found guilty.

“All judicial officers be given instructions to promptly report incidents of false report or incompetency of process servers to the District Judge and prompt action should to be taken against such process servers,” the court remarked.

The court also directed the lower courts to submit compliance report with the Registrar General of the High Court at an earliest.

Dismissing a petition filed by a private company manager, he said “petitioner, Praveen Agarwal, who had challenged an ex-parte order of a labour court for the reinstatement of his sacked employee, had deliberately avoided the court appearance by bribing the process server after the labour court had issued summons ten times.” — PTI

New Delhi, October 27
With more parties jumping into the fray for elections, the search for suitable candidates for the post of counsellors in schools at the Jawaharlal Nehru University has become tougher.

As many as four major parties are readying to fight it out for the Students’ Union along with several new comers like the Youth for Equality and the Bahujan Students Front.

“Parties are finding it difficult to name their candidates for the counsellor’s post. Major schools have five posts for counsellors for which each party needs to field candidates. This year there are more than six parties in the fray and finding at least 30 suitable candidates is a difficult job,” said an NSUI activist.

“The parties have to woo the right candidates and also ensure that they are not poached by the opponents,” he said.

Meanwhile, with tomorrow being the last date for filing of nominations, there is hectic activity in each camp. “The pace of work right now is chaotic. There are last-minute changes, discussions and so on. The focus will shift to campaigning only once the final list of candidates is ready,” said a Ph.D. scholar.

New Delhi, October 27
All India Trade Union Congress has appealed to Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit to expedite notification enhancing the retirement age of teachers from 60 to 62 in the Capital.

A letter, written by AITUC general secretary J P Khare, to Ms Dikshit said her government had accepted this long-standing demand on Teachers’ Day that was also cleared by the state cabinet. However, nothing had come through after the proposal was sent to the Lt-Governor.

The deal was causing mental agony to teachers working in Delhi government, Municipal Corporation of Delhi, New Delhi Municipal Council and aided schools in the city who had retired September onwards or were on the verge of retirement, it said.

The retirement age of technical teachers in Delhi had already been enhanced to 62. Similarly, retirement age of teachers in neighbouring states of Uttar Pradesh and Uttaranchal had also been enhanced to 62, it added.

The AITUC sought a notification enhancing teachers’ retirement age by two years as early as possible and appropriate instructions to all departments concerned not to retire teachers at the age of 60 in the meantime.

New Delhi, October 27
After successfully launching many noteworthy facilities, including payment of its bills at over 1000 locations, as also through SMS, Internet, Project Nikat and customer care numbers, BRPL and BYPL are now taking its customer care initiatives to the next level.

Mr R Krishnamurthy, Member DERC, inaugurated the first ‘BSES Apke Dwar’, an open house consumer programme, aimed at setting new standards in customer care.

Complimenting BSES on its initiative to reach its consumers at their doorsteps, Mr Krishnamurthy said the new initiative should go a long way in addressing customer’s queries and for building a strong relationship of trust between the consumers and the company.

He expressed hope that initiative would help minimise, if not eliminate, issues consumers have with the distribution company.

BSES Apke Dwar is being touted as a successor to Consumer Day, the hugely popular and successful programme which saw thousands of customers’ queries getting resolved on the spot during 2004-05.

“The government is not the only stakeholder in BSES, a public utility; even the RWAs and residents are also stakeholders and equal partners in progress. Together we have to achieve new heights and this programme is a step in that direction,” said Mr Arun Kanchan, CEO BYPL.

Under BSES Apke Dwar, an empowered team of senior BYPL officials, led by Mr Kanchan, will hold an interactive session with the RWAs / residents of an area. The aim of the session to be held twice a month is fivefold, facilitating the senior management to get a first-hand feedback, encourage customers to give suggestions, on-the-spot resolution of queries and grievances, sharing of company’s initiatives and educating the customers on the menace of power theft.

According to a BSES spokesperson, the yearlong programme to be held twice a month at a designated spot will also have a provision for online registration of complaints / requests. For the purpose, a separate counter with Internet-enabled computers with required software modules will be set up to register complaints. Efforts of the empowered team will be to provide an on-the-spot resolution. 

New Delhi, October 27
The 22nd India International Hot Air Balloon Mela will be inaugurated tomorrow at 3 pm from Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium Football Ground, opposition to MTNL office.

Briefing the media, Mr Vishwa Bandhu Gupta, honorary secretary of the Ballooning Club of India, the organizer of this Balloon Mela, said this adventure sport of hot air ballooning has evoked great enthusiasm among all age groups. This is unique because of high visibility, when the balloons float gently up in the sky. A majestic view of colourful balloons draws people from their homes and work places.

A children’s “on the spot” painting competition will

also be held at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium at the time of the inauguration of the Balloon Mela. Children in the age group of 5 to 17 years of age will participate in this painting competition. Only drawing sheets will be provided by the Ballooning Club of India and the children will have to bring their own painting materials.

New Delhi, October 27
A blood donation camp was jointly organized by the Ansal Institute of Technology, Gurgaon and Lions Club, Sukriti, Gurgaon at the AIT Campus. The programme was a huge success with a large number of students coming forward to donate blood. About 300 students, faculty members and staff took part in the camp.

Prof M P Singh, Director, AIT, inaugurating the camp said that the overwhelming response to the initiative was reflected in the long queue of blood donors waiting even by the end of the day to do their bit towards the welfare of society. — TNS

New Delhi, October 27
A court has granted bail to five persons arrested by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in the Rs 4,000 crore Co-operative Group Housing Society (CGHS) scam here.

Those enlarged on bail are Yogesh Sachdeva, Kishen Gopal Rastogi, Satish Bansal, Shyam Sunder Goel and Laksmi Narain Garg.

While Sachdeva was granted bail on October 20, the day of arrest, others were released today on the order of the Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate on a personal bond of Rs 50,000 each with a surety in the like amount.

The CBI has alleged that the accused were involved in a criminal conspiracy of reviving a new co-operative group housing society ‘Railway Line Staff CGHS Ltd’, registered in April 1972, on the basis of forged documents in connivance with a few government officials.

They are charged with cheating the Delhi Development Authority (DDA) by dishonestly procuring a plot of land at Dwarka for the society.

They inserted false records and fabricated various records of the society to be further used in the Registrar of Co-operative Societies (RCS) office, the CBI alleged.

The accused have been booked under Sections 120B (criminal conspiracy), 420 (cheating), 468 (forgery for purpose of cheating), 471 (using forged documents as genuine) and 511 (attempt to commit offences) of the IPC. — PTI

New Delhi, October 27
Delhi Police’s Economic Offence Wing (EOW) today claimed to have nabbed a notorious cheat Anil Pathak from Rohini area for duping a large number of innocent people in garb of providing them business deals on behalf of Microsoft, Cisco like software companies.

About one dozen people had lodged complaints against Pathak. He had collected several lakh rupees from these persons by fraudulent representations. In one case, he grabbed Rs 2 lakh from a person for getting illegal encroachment removed from his area. In another case, he grabbed Rs 4 lakh from a person to get admission of his ward to an engineering college.

In one such fraud, he had grabbed Rs 18 lakh from one Vijay Sharma, a resident of Rajouri Garden area for making him a partner of software companies.

He was arrested from his residence. During search of his house, a lot of incriminating documents like bogus visiting cards and I–cards of Microsoft and Cisco software companies, blank letterheads of many political leaders were found. He was later produced at Rohini Courts and was remanded in seven-day police custody, said the Add. DCP, EOW.

New Delhi, October 27
The police today filed two supplementary charge sheets against gangster Fazl-ur-Rahman, arrested by the Special Cell on August 6 from Sonouli border in Nepal, in connection with the alleged abduction and demand of ransom from a Delhi-based businessman.

Filing the chargesheet in the court of the Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate, the Special Cell of Delhi Police alleged that Rahman in a conspiracy with another co-accused Babloo Srivastava, then lodged in Lucknow jail, entered into an agreement to abduct businessman S P Singh and to extract Rs 25 lakh from him.

The probe agency also alleged that Rahman compelled the businessman to participate in a meeting with one Prakash Srivastava and Nitin Shah.

More than 30 criminal cases, including murder, extortion, kidnapping and attempt to murder, are pending against Rahman.

Most of the cases are registered in Delhi.

Rahman continued to threaten Singh with dire consequences “in order to commit extortion” of Rs 25 lakh from March 11 to April 29, 2003 via phone calls and SMSes to his residence in the Capital, the police said in the chargesheet.

Rahman has been chargesheeted under Sections 387 (putting person in fear of death), 364-A (kidnapping for ransom) and 120-B (criminal conspiracy) of the Indian Penal Code.

The Special Cell earlier has filed a chargesheet against Rahman along with Babloo and two others. — PTI

New Delhi, October 27
The CBI today filed a chargesheet against a Delhi Police Sub-Inspector accused of demanding bribe of Rs 2.5 lakh for release of a suspect in a drug case.

In the chargesheet, filed before the court of Special

Judge I K Kochhar, the CBI has alleged that accused Ajay Kaushik had demanded illegal gratification from the complainant Arindam Jeet Singh.

Kaushik was posted at the Indira Gandhi International Airport here on July 6, 2005, when he had arrested one Kanwar Singh, a relative of Arindam. Kanwar was coming from Canada and possessed drugs.

Kaushik was arrested on July 11 after Arindam

complained that he was demanding Rs 2.5 lakh for ensuring the release of Kanwar in the case registered under the Narcotics Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act, it said. 

Noida, October 27
Three armed criminals, who boarded a UP Roadways bus, which was proceeding towards Agra, shot at the conductor near Khurja. They left after robbing the conductor and passengers of thousands of rupees. The wounded conductor has been admitted to a Khurja nursing home. The passengers were shifted to another bus. The police are reportedly trying to hush up the incident.

The bus (UP 14M 6612) started from the Hapur depot yesterday for Agra. It reached the Khurja bus stand at 7.30 pm. The wounded conductor, Chander Singh, told the police three youths boarded the bus from Khurja along with some other passengers. There were 39 passengers in the bus.

A little after the Tehsil police post, a youth put a revolver against the driver’s head, asking him to halt the bus. Another criminal had the conductor at gunpoint. The bus was stopped on the roadside near Dashehra village by driver Devinder Singh.

New Delhi, October 27
A 14-year-old girl, who had gone missing from a North-East Delhi locality, was rescued by the police who also nabbed the alleged abductor.

The girl, a resident of Harijan Basti in Gokulpuri, had been missing since October 13 and her father had filed a complaint alleging that she had been kidnapped by one Satish, a resident of Azamgarh who lived as a tenant near their house, police said.

The girl was rescued from a house in Sultanpuri locality in North-West Delhi yesterday, police said. 

Gurgaon, October 27
A schoolgirl was injured when an unidentified youth allegedly threw acid on her early this morning. The girl, who was admitted to a private hospital here, had suffered severe burn injuries on her face and arms but was out of danger, doctors attending on her said.

Jyoti, a Class X student of M D Senior Secondary School at Jharsa village, was on her way to school when the youth allegedly attacked her, the police said. — PTI

Ghaziabad, October 27
A man has allegedly stabbed his sister-in-law to death, apparently irked by her repeated objections to his spendthrift ways.

Twenty seven-year-old Kamal, who allegedly attacked Afsana, 25, with a sharp-edged weapon in their Sahibabad house last evening, was absconding, the police said today.

The police have registered a case. Afsana’s husband Afroz claimed before the police that their five-year-old son was an eyewitness to the crime.

The body has been sent for postmortem. — PTI

New Delhi, October 27
The North-West district police today claimed to have busted a cricket betting racket in Rohini area with the arrest of three persons Sanjay Gera (29), Sanjay Kumar (29) and Sanjay Singh (31). A colour TV set with remote, two mobile phones and one notebook for running this network were recovered from his rented house.

Acting on a tip-off, they were caught red-handed. An amount of Rs 5 lakh was at stake on the ongoing cricket match. Earlier, they used to bet on cricket matches as clients but sensing the easy money coming out from this illicit trade, they allegedly started their own betting network for last one month, said a police officer. — OC