New Delhi, February 22
Under the shadow of the Panipat blasts, security agencies in the Capital have mounted the ‘most stringent cover’ for the Budget session of Parliament which begins tomorrow.

Sanitisation of Parliament and its periphery has been done “more than twice”. No chances are being taken in view of the February 19 twin blasts in Panipat, police officials said on the condition of anonymity.

On the ‘special steps’ taken, a senior police official said, “While the normal security drill is all the same every time, except for the frequency of checks and regularity in patrolling this time, we are trying to leave nothing to chance and doing our very best.”

However, the stress this time has been on “verification of security personnel on duty”, which was being done to prevent any breach in the security apparatus, he said.

“More importantly this would keep at bay any ‘sympathisers’ of terror elements wanting to sneak through the chinks in the ‘system’.”

A strict vigil is being kept on all personnel on duty, irrespective of rank and file, he added.

Another official, involved in Parliament security, said the key word this time in the wake of intelligence inputs of “threats in Delhi” was patrolling.

The duration between two successive patrolling has been enhanced threefold and the number of personnel on each patrol increased to nearly one-and-a-half times.

“This was being done to strengthen individual capacity of each patrol which could tackle exigencies independently and for long before enforcements could arrive,” said the official.

Even as the Parliament area itself commands maximum attention, additional force, as always, has been put on duty which would reduce “metre ratio deployment” of security personnel, he added.

Another senior police official said plainclothes security personnel are another feature of consequence during this session, as it comes hardly days after the Panipat blasts. “This has been done as intelligence reports have warned of ‘impending attacks’ in the Capital.”

For this, the entire periphery of Parliament and adjoining areas would be packed with security personnel in civilian dress. “However, they would be heavily armed but would be hardly discernible.”

Above all this, an internal alert, which is the normal practice at all VIP gatherings, has been sounded which makes the area ‘almost banned’ for those not on the list of “allowed guests”, he added. 

New Delhi, February 22
In an unprecedented step, the JNU administration has suspended virtually the entire leadership of both the JNUSU and the JNUSA. The situation spiralled out of control in the evening of February 19 when agitated students gheraoed the JNU registrar’s vehicle on the workers’ minimum wages issue. The very next day, JNU administration reacted by suspending the entire leadership of the JNUSU and top functionaries of the JNUSA.

The JNUSU also led a massive protest march on campus on Thursday night.

This confrontation has been on the build for the past three months as students have been actively working to promote workers’ rights on campus and a beleaguered administration finds the situation going out of hand. Students have been conducting a movement on campus to get workers minimum wages. What began as a small movement to promote construction workers has snowballed into something massive with workers from the gardeners on campus to mess karamcharis joining in to get minimum wages assured to them. Students on the other hand, have had a field day having found a cause right on campus.

Sandeep, general secretary with the JNUSU who is currently under suspension, informs that, “we are very concerned, workers have not been given their dues and workers from across JNU have joined our movement. The administration on the other hand has been polite but it has not treated our demands seriously or given them the attention they deserve.”

Students have demanded that the old ‘unfair’ contracts be scrapped and new ones be made out. The administration has made no response but instead threw out 15 workers of the electricity board and had construction work stopped on campus. As a result, students have been supporting workers through a community kitchen run on campus.

The situation deteriorated on the 19th of February when the administration tore up posters put up by the JNUSU supporting their movement, an incident which has probably happened for the first time in the university’s history. That very evening students gheraoed the Registrar and this became a major issue between students-workers front vs the administration. The administration reacted by suspending 10 students, top functionaries of the JNUSU and some from the JUNUSA. The situation at JNU is fast deteriorating. Jagdish Vidyarthy from the JNUSA informed that, “top functionaries of the JNUSA have been suspended. We have been sitting on a dharna for the past 30 days to get major demands of the staff cleared on the appointments issue, reservations, promotions and a relay hunger strike is going on.”

A very concerned Joint Platform of Democratically Elected Associations (JPDEA) of JNU held an emergency meeting today in the wake of the fast deteriorating situation on campus and expressed shock over the punitive action taken by the JNU Administration of suspending almost the whole leadership of JNUSA and JNUSU along with a few students and employees.

JPDEA has called this an attack on the democratic rights of associations to agitate for their legitimate demands. It has also appealed to the university authorities to withdraw punitive measures and start the process of negotiations with JNUSA and JNUSU to resolve the issues peacefully.

New Delhi, February 22
Resident Welfare Associations (RWAs) from four wards of Ashok Vihar, five wards of Dwarka, Naraina, Kotla Mubarakpur and Mayur Vihar-II have finalised and submitted their Resident Ward Committee lists to the Municipal Election Campaign Secretariat today. With this addition, Resident Ward Committees have now been formed in 32 wards of the city.

“We have identified over 70 wards where there is sizeable presence of middle class voters and organised RWAs and it is logical that RWAs in these areas will want to participate actively in a process that is attempting to cleanse politics and improve the performance of councillors,” said Mr Sanjay Kaul, President, People’s Action.

In the meantime, ward committees that were constituted in the first lot have begun the process of inviting aspirants for candidature. The Rajendra Nagar ward committee was the first off the block on Wednesday in starting the process of inviting applications for candidature. Mr Arvind Mehta, coordinator of the committee, has asked for a week to finish the process of nomination and evaluation after which the nominations will be forwarded to a three-member expert panel constituted by People’s Action to review the applications.

Ward committees are being formed in various areas across the length and breadth of the city, buoyed by the empowerment that this process has brought for RWAs. “More ward committees are being formed in various wards of the city and going by the enthusiasm of residents and RWAs alike, we expect that there will be unprecedented participation of voters in these constituencies,” said Mr Atul Goyal, coordinator of United RWAs Joint Action (URJA), a network of over 500 RWAs across Delhi .

Interestingly, many ward committees are being approached by ticket aspirants who are expressing a willingness to come through the procedure outlined by People’s Action for RWAs. “We see this as a positive sign and an indication that our process is finding broad-based appeal for its impartial evaluation of the candidates’ support within the constituency,” said Mr Kaul on the development.

Group members also point to the systemic correction this process is bringing to the party system in as much that many ticket aspirants now see a ray of hope for themselves not having the wherewithal to ‘pay’ for tickets.

Meanwhile, the People’s Action, coordinating the RWAs participation in municipal elections, has welcomed the steps taken by the State Election Commission to cleanse the electioneering process.

New Delhi, February 22
BJP national president Rajnath Singh has said that the UPA Government has failed on every front, including price spiral and terrorism.

Addressing a big public meeting organised by the Delhi Pradesh BJP at Vikas Marg in East Delhi here today, Rajnath Singh said that during the tenure of this Government, not a single area of the country was safe.

Due to the policy of appeasement, the Congress Government has endangered the external security. All the policies of this Government are anti-people.

Reminding of the good governance during the NDA rule, he said that during those six years, the people had forgotten their ration cards. Price spiral was fully under control and the rate of national development had crossed eight per cent for the first time.

Cooking gas, oil, fuel and all the articles of daily use were available easily. The UPA government at the Centre and in Delhi does not want to curb rise in prices. If the Government desires, it can curb price spiral within a week, but it is not doing so due to vested interests.

The BJP president said that entire energy of this Government was being spent upon protecting its chair and kneeling down before the blackmailing of its supporting parties. During the NDA rule, the entire world had recognised the strength of India. The UPA Government has damaged it. Due to failure of the Government to hang Afzal, the incidents like Samjhauta Express are occurring.

The security forces are demoralised.

The BJP Delhi Pradesh president, Dr Harsh Vardhan, demanded that the Government should issue a white paper on price spiral.

He said that the Prime Minister, Finance Minister, Agriculture Minister, Commerce Minister were simply expressing their concern on price spiral. The claim of the Government that it has taken concrete steps to curb price spiral has proved to be hollow.

Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit has imposed many unnecessary taxes on the public. This Government has committed so many bungles that it is difficult to count them. He has called upon the people of Delhi to teach the Government a lesson.

First they should rout the Congress in the MCD elections and after that in the Delhi Legislative Assembly elections. Prof. Jagdish Mukhi, Anita Arya, Lal Behari Tiwari, Ram Bhaj, Abdul Rasheed, Neera Shastri, Pawan Sharma, Shyam Lal Garg and many office-bearers and senior leaders addressed the public meeting. The large number of people assembled in the meeting resolved to dislodge the Congress Government.

New Delhi, February 22
With vehicles zipping around them at the India Gate roundabout in the national Capital, 110 student volunteers today took an oath to help maintain traffic safety and order on Delhi’s roads.

The occasion was the induction of the Delhi University students into the Student Traffic Volunteers Scholarship Scheme, sponsored by Hyundai Motor India Ltd. The Student Traffic Volunteers Scholarship Scheme (STVS Scheme), which was conceptualised by the Institute of Road Traffic Education (IRTE) in 1993, evolved as a unique public-private partnership initiative when Hyundai stepped in to set up the Hyundai Traffic Squad in 2006.

During Police Week celebrations, the Commissioner of Police, Delhi, Dr K. K. Paul, presiding at the ceremony, inducted 110 students into the Hyundai Traffic Squad. Pointing out that about 90,000 people were killed on an average of four lakh reported serious accidents in India every year, Dr Paul emphasised that “awareness of road safety can mitigate the accident rate enormously.”

Together with the Delhi Traffic Police and the IRTE, Hyundai Motor India Ltd has been playing a proactive role in inculcating safe road behaviour through the Hyundai Traffic Squad, educating and training young people in traffic rules and safety in order that they may create further awareness among others.

Hyundai Motor India Ltd General Manager D. S. Jang said, “The Hyundai Traffic Squad gives stipend to economically backward but deserving young people who are inducted after thorough training by experts. Students get an opportunity to serve society at a young age. Hyundai is proud to be associated with such an endeavour.”

Ghaziabad, February 22
A youth was killed in firing of gunshots by members of a marriage party in celebration of the bridegroom mounting the mare in Kavi Nagar, late yesterday evening.

According to Kavi Nagar SO, Pankaj Lavaniya, the party for the marriage of Vedo’s daughter had come from Vijay Nagar. While the bridegroom was mounting the mare for start of marriage procession in Bambhota, some members of the party fired gunshots in the air as part of jubilation. One of the gunshots hit a young man.

The wounded youth slumped on to the ground in a pool of blood and was rushed to Sarvodya Hospital, but doctors declared him brought dead, SO added. The young man was about 30 years old. Dr Amit of Sarvodya Hospital said the victim had gunshot wound in the neck. He has not been identified as yet.

It may be added that ban on carrying firearms in public during celebration like marriages issued by the Ghaziabad district administration has proved ineffective. During past two years, many people have lost their lives in gunshots fired during celebrations of weddings birthdays, etc. In spite of this, the administration has failed to enforce the ban on carrying firearms during celebrations.

It may added that the uncle of a bridegroom was killed a similar incident in Hapur. Anwar, 13, was shot dead in Mirzapur while Pinkaj Tyagi was seriously wounded in Star Farm House. A young girl was wounded in Arya Farm House, besides a couple of other people have also been wounded or shot dead due to scarce attention being paid to enforce the ban on firearms in celebration of happy events which are thus turned into big tragedies.

Invariably such accidents take place as participants are high on liquor at such functions in banquet halls and on the roads. 

Gurgaon, February 22
The district administration’s first concrete proposal with regard to Vision 2021 comes in the form of two multi-level parking complexes for decongesting the roads.

The announcement was made by the district administration last evening.

The district administration has set up a committee with the Additional Deputy Commissioner, Gurgaon, as the nodal officer to study and recommend projects which could be incorporated in the implementation of Vision 2021.

Also, as per the official version, a decision has been taken to repair and widen the roads and crossings falling in the jurisdiction of the PWD and HUDA. These include Atul Kataria Chowk, Mahavir Chowk, Agrasein Chowk, Sohna Chowk, Old Delhi Road and Mata Sheetal Temple Road.

The administration sets about the redemption task under a new incumbent with great zeal but gradually ends up in a whimper. The general public is apparently miffed as this kind of behavioural pattern has been continuing since the past 10 years. The public had high hopes from with the change of dispensation after the government changed about two years back. The general perception is that the government appears to be meaning well, but the nuts and bolts with regard to the civic amenities remain the same.

Noida, February 22
Chief of Army Staff, General J.J. Singh laid a wreath and saluted the martyrs at the war memorial—Noida Shahid Samark in Sector-29 Noida yesterday..

The programme was attended by a large number of ex-servicemen, proud at having given the best part of their life in the country’s defence.

Army Chief General J.J. Singh exhorted the youth to come forward and choose a career in the country’s armed forces. No other profession offered such opportunities and challenges in serving the motherland as the armed forces, General Singh said.

Vande Matram and other patriotic songs were sung by the students of Army School Noida.

The Army chief advised the students to put in their best efforts in their studies. Among dozen’s of relatives of the martyrs who attended function included Ms Savita Singh, Flt Lt J.P. Sharma, Ms Shashi Chhabra and Mrs Nargis. Names of 28 national heroes from Noida are inscribed in Shahid Samark. The leading citizens of Noida also saluted the armed forces’ martyrs.

New Delhi, February 22
Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit today called on Union Environment Minister A. Raja and requested him for grant of environmental clearance for the 1000 MW Pragati-III, Bawana, and 350 MW Pragati-II power plants.

After detailed discussions, it was decided that because of high levels of nitrous oxide at ITO the 350 MW Pragati Power Project would be shifted to Bawana and integrated with 1000 MW Pragati Power Plant, making it a 1350 MW power plant. Union Environment Minister A. Raja assured Delhi Chief Minister that environment clearance for 350 MW Pragati Power-II and 1000 MW Pragati Power-III would be issued within one week.

The Chief Minister stressed on the need for early clearance of these two power projects to meet the growing power requirements of Delhi keeping in view the ensuing Commonwealth Games, increasing population and fast urbanisation.

She was accompanied by Principal Secretary(Power) Rakesh Mehta and Environment Secretary J.K. Dadoo. Union Environment Secretary Prodipto Ghosh was also present at the meeting.—TNS

New Delhi, February 22
National Consumer Helpline (NCH) has proposed TRAI for the empowerment of consumers to ensure a level-playing field between the consumers and the service provider.

In response to consultation paper issued by TRAI on mechanism for redressal of consumer grievances and consumer protection in telecommunication, the NCH said that the empowerment of consumers and consumer advocacy groups with legal, financial and technical support is essential for the protection of consumer interests.

“An individual consumer would find it very difficult to successfully resolve his dispute or get his grievance redressed unless he is resourceful in getting financial and legal support.

If the institutional mechanism is user-friendly, the efforts of individual subscriber become
simple,” said Prof Sri Ram Khanna, director, NCH in a seminar on mechanism for redressal of consumer grievances in telecom sector here.

Faridabad, February 22
The Haryana Chief Minister, Mr Bhupinder Singh Hooda, today visited the house of Babar Singh Sandhu, a nephew of Shaheed-e-Azam Bhagat Singh, who died yesterday after a brief illness. He was 52. Survived by his wife, a son and daughter, Babar Singh, an eminent educationist, was admitted to Apollo Hospital in New Delhi on February 13 with complications following the malfunctioning of liver. He breathed his last at about 8.40. am.

Wreaths were laid by Mr Hooda and a representative of the Punjab Government before the body was cremated with full state honours. Hundreds of people, including a large number of political and social activists, attended the funeral.

Mr Hooda described Babar Singh Sandhu as a great social activist and a good human being. He said Sandhu represented a family that had a formidable role in the freedom struggle. He lived a simple and socially oriented life. He said the family was a living example of the ideals and principles of late Bhagat Singh. He declared the hospital expenses would be borne by the state government. Ms Asha Hooda, wife of the Chief Minister, visited his family in the NIT area here yesterday to condole the death.

Babar Singh Sandhu had been the Director of the Shaheed Bhagat Singh Institute of Management here.

Born on August 10, 1954, in New Delhi, he was eldest son of Sardar Kulbir Singh, younger brother of the Shaheed-e-Azam and had settled here several years ago. Declining offers to join political parties or launch a political career, he started an institute in the name of his uncle and even offered subsidised education to poor students.

Forrmer President Zail Singh had a special bond with the family and had visited it on many occasions. Sandhu had been a founding member of the All India Freedom Fighters’ Successors Association and was quite close to the Chief Minister, who is the chief of the body at present.

He was busy in writing at least five books, four of them on the life of Bhagat Singh, which were under publication. These include the original diary of the Shaheed-e-Azam, which he wrote in jail in the late 1920s, a biography of Bhagat Singh and a book on the life of Sardar Ajit Singh, an uncle of the great martyr.

Several local politicians and social activists have expressed grief over the death of the educationist. Tributes were paid by a large number of political and social bodies and individuals. The ‘Chautha’ and ‘Uthala Rasam Pagri’ would be held on March 2.

Gurgaon, February 22
Taking an initiative for social responsibility, Maruti Udyog Limited has hired 85 personnel to help the local police in better management of traffic here.

Maruti’s spokesman has informed that 65 security guards trained by a private agency are manning a 20 kilometre congested stretch on National Highway 8 between the Rajokri crossing in Delhi and the Industrial Model Township crossing here where Maruti has set up its second plant. Besides this, 20 guards have been stationed to manage old Delhi road falling in Gurgaon district. These private guards manage the traffic in two shifts: from 7 am to 10 am and 4 pm to 9 pm.

Refusing to divulge the amount being spent on these 85 private guards by the MUL, the spokesman claimed the company had taken the step to help the local police in better management of the roads.

New Delhi, February 22
The Minister of Foreign Affairs, Media and Tourism, Government of Belgium, Mr Geert Bourgeois, along with a seven-member delegation today called on Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit at her residence.

The visiting minister was apprised of the federal structure of India and the status of the city-state of Delhi.

Mr Bourgeois was keen to know about the preparedness for Commonwealth Games 2010.

The Chief Minister, while describing various development activities of Delhi, also informed the ensuing Commonwealth Games would go a long way in changing the face of the Capital.

She also made a reference to JNNURM and the city development plan prepared by the Government of Delhi.

Mr Bourgeois was keen to have a cultural exchange programme with Delhi for which the Belgian Government would be sending a formal request.

The visiting minister said he was aware of the 5000-year-old history of Delhi.