New Delhi, March 19
A meeting organized by Delhi Pradesh Congress Committee (DPCC) to introduce MCD poll candidates to senior party leaders like Delhi AICC in-charge Mr Ashok Gehlot and Delhi Chief Minister Ms Sheila Dikshit was marred today by a demonstration by some sitting councillors agitated over denial of tickets to them.

They raised slogans against DPCC president Mr Ram Babu Sharma, criticising him for not giving tickets to 43 sitting councillors for one or the other reason.

One of them, Anuja Popli, came along with her supporters at the party office and raised slogans against Ram Babu Sharma alleging that tickets were instead given to relatives of senior leaders and not genuine party workers.

Khursheeda from Sangam Vihar, Nisha Bano from Naraina and Anupma Sharma from Chhatarpur thronged the office of Mr Sharma at Rajeev Bhawan when Mr Gehlot was addressing the media, demanding a meeting with Mr Sharma. Amidst the chaos, Mr Gehlot abruptly cut short his media address.

The women party workers gheraoed Mr Sharma questioning him why they had not been given tickets despite being involved in party politics for the last 10 to 20 years. Unable to convince them, the DPCC asked them to leave the office.

Khursheeda, who had applied for ticket from ward number 188, Sangam Vihar East, said that she had been active with the party for the last 20 years. She was assured by the leadership about getting the ticket but was ignored.

Nisha Bano said, “I sought ticket from Naraina ward number 152 where I reside and have been working for the party for the last 10 years. I have a four-year-old handicapped daughter. Sometimes I have to leave her to work for the party. But my commitment was not considered. The candidate who is contesting from Naraina is an outsider,” she said.

Anupam Sharma, who claims to have been working with the party for the last 17 years, wanted to contest from ward number 174 Chhattarpur.

The women workers said that they would meet the AICC president Ms Sonia Gandhi tomorrow. However, they said that they would continue to work for the party. Earlier, addressing the media, Mr Gehlot said that the selection of 272 candidates after scrutinising more than 12,000 bio-datas was not a small job. “Mistakes could have been committed but not willingly. It is very difficult to satisfy all the candidates,” he said.

Mr Sharma also denied reports of any discontent in party ranks over selection of candidates for the MCD polls. ‘Complete transparency’ had been observed in the candidate selection process, he claimed. “Candidates given party tickets are able, capable and amicable,” he said.

Asserting that the candidates were selected unanimously with complete transparency, the DPCC chief said, “Keeping intact the party ideology of not doing any caste-region politics, the Congress has maintained a balance and given adequate representation to all the castes, regions and religions.”

New Delhi, March 19
In the presence of all the 272 candidates and with the guidance and blessings of senior party leaders, the BJP today started the ‘victory campaign’ for the MCD elections in an aggressive way.

All the speakers claimed that the conditions were never so much favourable before this election. “The people of Delhi are 0ready to hand over the MCD in the hands of the BJP from the corrupt Congressmen. This time, the victory will be unprecedented,” they claimed.

The victory election campaign meeting was addressed by Prof. Vijay Kumar Malhotra, Dr Harsh Vardhan, Mr Kidar Nath Sahani, Mr Arun Jaitly, Mrs Sushma Swaraj, Mr Sahib Singh Verma, Mr Vijay Kapoor, Dr Anita Arya and Prof Jagdish Mukhi.

The Chairman of the Election Campaign Committee Prof Malhotra said that he had never seen such a “corrupt” MCD in his entire political life.

Dr Harsh Vardhan called upon all the workers that they should make themselves busy from today itself to make the official candidate victorious by record votes. They should knock at every door and apprise the voters about the “atrocities of the Congress corruption, loot, price spiral, appeasement policies” etc of the Congress, he said. “Every citizen of Delhi is aggrieved. The BJP has remedy for their sufferings,” he said assuring the people of Delhi that just after coming to power in the MCD, it would change all the decisions of the Congress which led to the ‘atrocities’. “The laws which resulted in the exploitation of the people will be abolished,” he said.

Mr Kidar Nath Sahani said that the workers should not be over-confident in view of conducive atmosphere because in such situation slackness might cost dearly.

He called upon all the workers and candidates that they must take the guidance and cooperation of the senior workers in the election campaign.

Ms Sushma Swaraj claimed that today the pitch was in favour the BJP, the only need was to frame aggressive and foolproof strategy to get votes. “There are plenty of runs in the pockets of the people of Delhi for the BJP. If not a single house is left for contact, the BJP will record a historical victory,” he said.

The party’s national General Secretary Mr Arun Jaitly also said that the balance was in favour of the BJP. “We should change this favourable atmosphere into a wave by our strong election campaign,” he said.

Former Delhi Chief Minister, Dr Sahib Singh Verma claimed that for the first time the BJP had entered the Congress strong hold areas. “During the public contact campaign, every citizen of Delhi has complained that they had handed over power to the Congress with the hope that it would give happiness to the people, but the hand of the Congress had attacked the people of Delhi by sealing and demolition,” he alleged.

Taking the security issue, Dr Anita Arya said, “Every women was unsafe during the Congress rule. Every kitchen of our house is empty. This time the women are ready to drive out the Congressmen with their rollers.”

Prof. Jagdish Mukhi talked about the ‘failures and corruption’ of the Congress at the Centre, Delhi and MCD in detail and told that in view of its certain defeat, the Congress was adopting low grade tactics. "The code of conduct is in force, but it is making false announcements to mislead the voters,” he said.

New Delhi, March 19
The Chairman of the Youth Minority Cell, Delhi Pradesh Congress Committee, Mirza Javed Ali, has said that the minority community was satisfied with the number of candidates given tickets to contest the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) elections this year. The Minority Cell had demanded for 35 candidates but the DPCC had given tickets to 24 candidates. But the minority cell is satisfied with this decision, as last year, only 11 minority candidates had contested civic body elections. Mirza Javed Ali claimed that all minority candidates were strong and they would win the elections.

On the issue of complaints from party workers who were not given tickets, he said every one could not be satisfied. “They are protesting in their areas just to show their strength. Despite complaints with the party, they are supporting the Congress candidates in their respective areas. This shows their commitment with the party,” he said.

New Delhi, March 19
The scrutiny of nominations of the candidates for the Municipal Corporation of Delhi was on till late evening today, the last day.

A senior officer of the State Election Commission said that a total number of 3,510 candidates filed their nominations. “The scrutinising process is taking a lot of time. The papers will be finalised till late this evening,” he said.

New Delhi, March 19
The Supreme Court today rejected the plea of Vikas Yadav, convicted in the Jessica murder case, for a stay of his conviction to enable him to contest assembly election in Uttar Pradesh, saying that such a relief could not be given to him as he was facing trial in another murder case.

Vikas Yadav, a son of former Rajya Sabha MP D P Yadav, was convicted of destruction of evidence in the case by the Delhi High Court to help his friend Manu Sharma, the key accused who was awarded life sentence.

Vikas was awarded four years’ rigorous imprisonment along with another co-accused Amardeep Singh Gill for helping Manu in destroying the evidence.

Vikas had sought stay of the conviction, citing the case of BJP MP Navjot Singh Sidhu, who was granted similar relief by the apex court to enable him to contest the Lok Sabha byelection from Amritsar held along with Punjab election recently.

But a Bench of Chief Justice K G Balakrishnan, Justice P K Balasubramanyan and Justice R V Raveendran said that Vikas Yadav’s case could not be equated with that of Sidhu, who was convicted in a road rage death case.

Vikas’s counsel said his client had contested the UP Assembly election in 2002, which he lost only by around 400 votes, and intended to contest the same this time also.

Under the Representation of People Act provisions, a person awarded sentenced of more than two years was disqualified from contesting election even during the pendency of his appeal until the appellate court has stayed his conviction.

Vikas Yadav, facing trial in the business executive Nitish Katara’s murder case, is presently lodged in Tihar Jail.

His counsel said he was not pleading for the bail of his client as he wanted to contest the election from jail.

New Delhi, March 19
The Delhi High Court has issued show cause notice to Registrar of Co-operative Societies asking why he should not be punished for contempt of court for not providing land to a person for the last 13 months despite its order.

The Registrar Satya Gopal was directed to respond to the notice by April 17 by Justice S Murlidhar, who said he had failed to comply with Court’s order on allotment of plot to a 57-year-old woman, Jasjit Kaur.

Holding that Gopal was ‘prima facie’ guilty of contempt of the Court, Justice Murlidhar said that notice returnable on April 17 will be issued to him to show cause why he should not be punished for disobeying the Court order.

The judge said, “From the affidavit of Registrar, it appears that instead of complying with the direction to ‘forthwith’ recommend the case of the petitioner for allotment, that office entered into an unnecessary correspondence with DDA asking the latter to take necessary action.

Coming down heavily on the Registrar for passing the buck on DDA, the Court, in its recent order, said “it appears to be a case of one agency palming off its obligations to comply with the order of this court to another agency. As a result, despite nearly 13 months have elapsed, there is no compliance of the order of this court”.

The Court on February 16, last year had directed the Registrar to recommend the allotment of plot to Jasjit Kaur, a resident of Delhi, after it was brought to its notice that despite repeated requests she had not been allotted the land.

Jasjit Kaur’s father, Anoop Singh, was enrolled as a member of Hindustan Cooperative in November 1960 for the allotment of 125 sq yds land but later the father transferred his membership of Society to his daughter which was also approved by the Society in November 1973. The Society since then did not allot the plot on one pretext or another.

New Delhi, March 19
Delhi High Court has upheld the life sentence of a man found guilty by a trial court of killing a constable.

Dismissing the appeal filed by Pramod Kumar for acquittal, the court on Friday upheld the trial court’s judgement convicting him for shooting Maharaj Singh.

According to the prosecution, Kumar was declared as proclaimed offender (PO) in a criminal case registered with Hauz Khas police station. On a tip-off about Kumar’s stay in village Gittorni, the deceased, along with Head Constable Samar Singh, had gone to the house of one Chander Pal to trace Kumar.

The policemen and the accused had got into a scuffle following which Maharaj Singh was shot. He succumbed to his wounds on March 19, 1999.

New Delhi, March 19
The South District Police today claimed to have arrested three persons, a model, a property dealer and a civilian employee of the Indian Air Force, for allegedly robbing a Vasant Kunj resident of Rs three lakh and a Skoda car on March 3.

The suspects were identified as Ravinder Kumar Dahiya, who claimed that he had walked many a ramp in Mumbai, Vishal, a property dealer of Gurgaon and Satish, a civilian employee of the Indian Air Force. A sum of Rs 2.75 lakh, two country-made pistols and a knife were recovered from them.

According to the police, the suspects had lured the victim, Aman Virmani to a farm house in South Delhi on the pretext of getting him a good deal on a piece of land in DLF Gurgaon. However, on reaching the farm house, the suspects robbed him of his money and car.

The police said that a case had been registered and further investigations were continuing.

Moradabad, March 19
A crowd of people agitated over the death of a youth in custody at a police station here attacked the police and torched vehicles on Sunday.

The people of Ekta Colony threw stones on two police posts and the office of the Special Operation Group (SOG) of the police, which were later torched. Flames could be seen erupting from these places from a distance.

The crowd had jammed G.T. Road also. A police lathi-charge had dispersed the agitators for a while, but till late at night yesterday, the town continued to be tense.

Vijay, alias Shetty, 24, son of Lal Singh Saini of Ekta Colony, was a paint contractor in Saini Export. His elder brother Suresh Saini had received a call on his mobile phone at 10.30 pm on Saturday from Shetty, informing him that he had been detained at the police post across the railway line.

When Suresh reached the police post, he was told that an SI had taken Shetty to the police station. At the police station, he was told that Shetty had injured a cyclist, Shobhraj, with his bike who had been rushed to a hospital. Suresh was told to go home. Next morning he was told at the police station that Shetty had been rushed to the hospital.

At 9 am on Sunday, doctors at government hospital told the family that Shetty was very serious and they should take him to a specialist hospital. The family took him to Shri Sai Hospital where doctors in turn advised them to rush him to Delhi as he was critical having serious head injuries.

The family alleged that the police had used third degree on Shetty who was immediately taken to a Delhi hospital by his elder brother and some others.

When an SI and a cop reached Sai hospital, some women beat them up. They took the cops’ bike to the highway and torched it.

A large number of women had jammed the highway also. When the ADM City, Ram Manohar Mishra, police CO, Sanjay Kumar and heavy police reinforcement reached the place, somebody gave the news that Shetty had succumbed to his injuries while on his way to a Delhi hospital.

The crowd with a large number of women then went berserk and torched two police posts and the office of SOG where a number of old parked vehicles were also burnt. The people raised slogans and indulged in heavy brickbat.

The police resorted to a lathicharge to disperse the crowd, but tension continued in the area.

Gurgaon, March 19
The emphasis in Haryana’s budget 2007-08 on power, education and healthcare — considered the pillars of every economy — will act as catalyst in harnessing the overall pace of growth of industry and economy of Haryana, mentioned Mr Jatender Mehta, chairman, CII Haryana State Council.

Mr Mehta appreciated the Haryana Finance Minister for coming up with a progressive budget. He further stated that the industry was pleased as substantial allocation of funds was made to key sectors such as Rs 844 crore for power sector, Rs 505 crore for roads and transport sector and Rs 1,963 crore for social sector programmes which would include Rs 730 crore for education, including industrial training and technical education, Rs 580 crore for social justice and empowerment, Rs 155 crore for women, and Rs 116 crore for health services.

Bulandshahr, March 19
A ‘baba’ in Norora police station area is reported to have crossed all limits of savagery when he allegedly consumed the ‘roasted flesh of a two-and-a-half-year-old girl’.

The baba who is living in the guise of a woman in an ashram, was arrested after somebody had informed the police when the smell of human flesh had spread in the area.

The baba, who had confessed that the girl child had been brought from Agra, was taken away from the Ashram as police feared that he could be lynched in violent public protest.

At 6 pm, Norara police station got the news that a person near Soham Ashram was feasting on the roasted flesh of a small girl. The police reached the spot and took the man into custody.

The police also recovered a charred body of a two-and-a-half-year-old girl and a khurpi (a dagger). The police have sent the body for an autopsy.

According to police, the man identified himself as Santosh of Dewali Bazar village under Bishanpura police station of Kushi Nagar district.

Locals said Santosh had been living there for the last two to three months while the girl had been seen with him for the last three days only. Though Santosh is a male, he was like a woman, complete with jewellery and makeup. The police have registered a case and are investigating.

Gurgaon, March 19
The Haryana Government has extended the benefits of a welfare scheme regarding child delivery to women falling Below Poverty Line (BPL), according to official sources.

As per the scheme called ‘Janani Suvidha Yogna’, a woman of BPL families gets Rs 700 for a delivery at hospitals and Rs 500 if the delivery happens at home.

The money was in the way of helping the women to meet their medical expenses.

According to official statistics, in the current financial year, 336 women of BPL families have been beneficiaries of the scheme.

According to sources in the Health department, in an exercise of public-private participation in the field of medicare, five private hospitals in the city have been chosen where a woman giving birth to child will get free medical facilities. These include Mamata Hospital, Naval Hospital, Jain Hospital, Swastik Maternity and Nursing Home and Umkal Hospital.

The Health Department version is that in far-flung hinterland of the district, efforts are made to establish as many ‘delivery huts’ as possible so that proper medical attention is provided to women giving birth to a child. So far 16 such huts have been established and 13 more are being constructed.

The present government’s avowed thrust is on women empowerment.

Faridabad, March 19
Lawyers practising in the district courts here and members of the local Bar Associations today submitted a representation to Mr Justice A.K.Goyal of the Punjab and Haryana High Court demanding provision of basic facilities, including construction of chambers in the court complex, to them.

According to the memorandum, the lawyers do not have a proper place to sit in the court complex which causes inconvenience to them and their clients. The lawyers operate from makeshift booths with tinned roofs.

“The lawyers often face the fury of inclement weather,” said a senior advocate here.

He said the matter had been raised at several forums many times and each time they had been assured of proper chambers, but there had been no move in this direction so far.

There are about 1,000 lawyers practising here, who cater to thousands of clients each month. The issue of stinking toilets and unavailability of drinking water to the lawyers and the clients has also been raised in the memorandum.

The lawyers’ association also demanded an enquiry and action into their complaints against certain judicial officers. The issue had been raised perhaps for the first time, claimed a leading advocate here.

It is reported that separate representations were submitted by the members of two main associations here, each claiming to be representing the majority of the lawyers.

It may be recalled that the district administration had taken over the work of allotment of contract for providing various services, including the photostat kiosks and canteen on the premises after there was a dispute between the members of two associations which resulted in violence. It led to the booking of criminal cases which are still pending in the court.

Noida, March 19
The UP Power Corporation has snapped connections of over 300 consumers even though it has not been able to sufficient power in the city here. The UPPC has stiffened its attitude towards these consumers who have persistently defaulted in payment of power bills.

Now most of the defaulters are running from pillar to post for depositing bills. The department has recovered arrears of Rs 1 crore from the defaulters. Among the 300 connections which have been snapped, over 62 were disconnected in one day.

According to official sources, the department had been regularly sending reminders to all defaulters but they had little effect. When the officials made a personal visit, many of the defaulters would mislead them by saying that nobody was at home.

Chief of the UPPC in Noida, K.G. Puri said all the cash counters were kept open at Sector 19 and other places. The defaulters were now queuing up for paying their bills promptly. The present campaign has thus shown good recovery, he added.

New Delhi, March 19
The Indian Medical Association on Sunday hosted an interactive talk on ‘Meditation for Healthier Living’ by Sant Rajinder Singh Ji, head of Sawan Kirpal Ruhani Mission. It was attended by over 500 medical practitioners based in Delhi and neighbouring states including Dr Ajay Kumar, National President, IMA, Dr S N Misra, Secretary General, IMA, Dr Vinay Aggarwal, Senior Vice-president, IMA, Dr Harsh Vardhan, former Health Minister of Delhi, Dr O P Yadava, noted cardiac surgeon and Dr K K Aggarwal, cardiologist.

Speaking on the occasion, Dr Ajay Kumar said: “In today’s world, every individual experiences stress and anxiety on daily basis, which in turn lead to many physical and mental illnesses.”

Dr S N Misra, Secretary General of IMA, said that doctors who were responsible for treating patients had to work under a lot of stress and needed effective stress management. Sant Rajinder Singh ji, a ‘scientist-cum-saint’, said that meditation was scientifically proven to reduce stress since it not only helps in avoiding diseases but also in treatment of chronic ailments of heart, lungs, diabetes, etc. He emphasized that during meditation, brain waves function at lower frequencies of 5 to 8 Hz, giving a sensation of peace and relaxation.

“Meditation on the inner light of our soul is a sure to way to healthier living for the health of the mind and body depends on the health of the soul,” he said while teaching meditation to the attendees and answering their queries on spirituality and meditation.

Dr Harish Gupta, Organising Secretary and President, IMA East Delhi branch, said, “The purpose of organising today’s programme is to make people aware of the fact that the solution for treating stress and strain lies not in the ‘pill’ but inside the body, just by being ‘still’, which is what meditation is all about.” 

New Delhi, March 19
The Delhi Lt. Governor, Mr B. L. Joshi, today resumed office after a prolonged leave on health grounds. A spokesman of the Raj Niwas here said that Mr Joshi, a former IPS officer, was fine and ready to take on the gubernatorial responsibilities.

The Governor of Haryana, Mr A. R. Kidwai, was looking after the responsibilities of the National Capital Territory of Delhi in Mr Joshi’s absence.

New Delhi, March 19
Six members of a family, including four children, were seriously injured in a blaze that broke out after a gas leak in their north-west Delhi house early today.

According to the Delhi Fire Service officials, the fire was reported at about 3.50 am in the house in Vijay Vihar area of Rohini’s Sector 4. All the members of the family were asleep when the fire broke out.

Four fire tenders were rushed to the spot and the fire brought under control. The injured were admitted to a hospital where the condition of at least three was described as serious. — TNS

New Delhi, March 19
Ms Rekha Srivastava, a photo-journalist with a local business daily, died in a road accident in Delhi Cantt this morning.

Ms Srivastava, a widow, was on her way to an assignment when her two wheeler was knocked down by a private truck carting Army horses near Dhaula Kuan. She is survived by her six-year-old son.

The body will be cremated at the Lodi Road crematorium on Tuesday.

The police said that a case of causing death by rash and negligent driving had been registered against the truck driver. — TNS