New Delhi, March 27
Weighed down by the incumbency factor and seared by the apex court-ordered sealing drive of commercial establishments running in residential areas, the Delhi Pradesh Congress Committee (DPCC) is facing an uphill task in the coming elections to the Municipal Corporation of Delhi scheduled for April 5.

And to add to the woes were the open scenes of rebellion by party workers who indulged in hooliganism and violence after being denied tickets by the party recently. The divide in the DPCC is obvious and the Delhi Pradesh Bharatiya Janata Party is gloating over it. This despite the fact there is also considerable resentment among the BJP cadres over ticket distribution.

Not willing to take any chances, the Congress party high command, after prolonged deliberations with the local leaders, has now ordered the entire force to take to the roads to help convince the voters that the Congress was the best bet.

It has ordered all the Delhi ministers and MPs to undertake aggressive campaigning in a bid to counter the fall out of the sealing drive.

Not only that, but the DPCC has also invited ministers and MLAs from other Congress-ruled states to come and campaign for the party and help it retain its hold on the huge civic body that is responsible of providing civic amenities to the sprawling area of the National Capital Territory of Delhi.

The Delhi Pradesh Bharatiya Janata Party has also sought the services of some of the veterans like Prof V. K. Malhotra, who has been made in charge of the elections. Professor Malhotra is an old Delhi hand and knows the issues that are likely to affect the outcome of the civic polls.

While officially the leaders dismiss the presence of the former Delhi Chief Minister, Mr Madan Lal Khurana, unofficially, they admit that he along with the Lok Janshakti Party workers owing allegiance to Uma Bharati could have a detrimental effect on the party outcome. So could candidates put up by various Residents' Welfare Associations in different parts of the Capital who have expressed their unhappiness at the candidates of both the parties.

As a result, both the major parties are now concentrating on door to door campaigning and the decibel level is gradually increasing as the day draws nearer.

New Delhi, March 27
The Delhi Education Minister, Mr Arvinder Singh Lovely, today said a policy decision on bringing Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) run schools under the state administration, following a High Court ruling in this regard, was yet to be taken.

"The Delhi Government has no problem in taking up administration of the MCD schools. However, a policy decision in this regard is yet to be taken by the state government," Mr Lovely said at a joint press conference with the president of the Delhi Pradesh Congress Committee, Mr Rambabu Sharma here.

Addressing the press, Mr Lovely, listing the achievements of the Congress in the past five years in the field of education, said, "Our endeavour has been to bring about improvement of quality of education in Delhi. In fact, our aim is to ensure that all children in Delhi receive good school education."

He said 98 new schools were opened in the past eight years while 141 were upgraded. Further, the state government had taken several steps to encourage enrolment in government schools like providing free uniform and books.

"As a result of the steps taken by the government, the dropout rate of students reduced to 5.9 per cent, from 42.8 per cent during the BJP rule," he claimed.

Further, he said, there had been a marked improvement in pass percentage during the Congress rule. While the class X pass percentage rose from 32.8 during the BJP rule to 59.73 during the Congress rule, the pass percentage for class XII rose from 63.45 per cent to 78.05 per cent.

New Delhi, March 27
A person with a minimum educational qualification of class 12 will be eligible for grant of licence as a bus driver as it falls under the category of skilled job, the Delhi High Court held on Monday while hiking the fine for traffic violations in the Capital.

While enhancing the educational qualification by which a person was earlier granted licence as driver only by producing evidence that he has appeared in class tenth exams, the court also fixed a minimum qualification of class tenth for conductor's job.

Further, the bench which gave slew of directions on measures to check rising number of road-death cases, directed the Delhi Government to increase the fine by Rs 500 for violating traffic rules.

"He (driver) shall be liable to pay Rs 500 for each offence committed by him in addition to the complaint fee payable," it said.

Holding that existing amount of fine has become insignificant over the years, the court said that the value of the money has fallen rapidly and the fine for the violation of traffic rules is a fine which no offender would mind paying.

The court banned using of pressure or musical horns and black films on the window screens on the light and heavy motor vehicles.

In order to discipline bus drivers, the court put certain conditions on them like wearing a khaki uniform till the government comes out with a particular dress code and also banned the use of mobile phones and smoking while driving.

He bench also directed the civic authorities to make disabled-friendly bus stands.

The court directed the government to deploy sufficient number of police personnel to implement its directions within two weeks. The directions pertaining to fine would come in force from April 9, it added. —PTI

Faridabad, March 27
Haryana Pradesh Congress Committee (HPCC) today demanded a probe into all land deals made in Gurgaon and the NCR area during the regime of former Chief Minister Bhajan Lal.

The HPCC spokesperson, Mr Ved Prakash Vidrohi, claimed that following an unnecessary hue and cry being raised over the creation of the Special Economic Zone (SEZ) and the compensation given to the farmers, this was important to reveal as towhich government had been faithful to the people and which had exploited them. He added, "It is time for the government to issue a 'white paper' over the subject so that everything gets clear before the people."

In a statement issued here today, he said that the act of making 'false' claims and levelling allegations by some leaders and political activists, including a suspended Congress party MP, regarding the SEZ, was like a person living in a house of glass throwing stones at others.

He alleged that between 1980 and 1996 and later, between 1999 to 2005, agricultural land was purchased from farmers at throwaway prices and those sitting in power had colluded with property dealers and land mafia to resell this land to builders at much higher rates. The farmers were told that their land was being acquired under Section- 4 at very low rates, but this land was re-sold to big business or industrial houses at higher prices, Mr Vidrohi claimed.

Alleging "irregularities on large scale," he demanded that the government should appoint a commission or independent body to probe into the details of all major land deals made by the state government at that time.

Hailing the Bhupinder Singh Hooda government for paying highest rates to farmers for acquiring agricultural land not only in the NCR, but also in the country, the HPCC spokesperson claimed that the government had further hiked the land rates by another about 150 per cent all over Haryana. Following the hike, farmers in the NCR region, including Gurgaon, would now get between Rs 20 to 30 lakh per acre, in case of their land was acquired.

About two years back when the INLD government was in power, the land rates were around Rs 2 to 2.5 lakh in the region, while during the regime of Bhajan Lal government, the rate was in thousands, he claimed.

Mr Vidrohi demanded an enquiry about the beneficiaries of the discretionary allotment made by the Chief Minister or his government to the private parties in the region, especially the Gurgaon district. It is stated that the government has at least 10 per cent equity in the SEZ and the government is liable to procure only 25 per cent of the total land, while the remaining 75 per cent will have to be procured by the SEZ developer at market price. "A large number of farmers have become rich and they have also procured more land in other places or states at cheaper rates," Mr Vidrohi claimed. 

New Delhi, March 27
Lack of policy initiative by Intraprastha Gas Limited (IGL) to create more CNG dispensation centres in Delhi and other parts of NCR like Gurgaon, Faridabad, Noida and Ghaziabad has resulted in an increase in vehicular pollution in these cities, says an analysis report by Associated Chamber of Commerce and Industry of India (Assocham).

In an analysis on CNG's popularity in the last 6-7 years, only 146 CNG filing stations have been set up in Delhi so far against the initial target of setting up 80 of them each year, a majority of which are located in South Delhi. Ideally, as such, around 550 CNG filing stations should have been added to Delhi region only.

The 146 CNG dispensation centres currently cater to fuel requirements of less than 2 lakh vehicles of which approximately 90,000 are autos, 70,000 private vehicles, 15,000 buses and remaining are taxis and other modes of transportation, the report says.

On the other hand, the automobile sector is growing at a very high rate, leaving a lot of challenges for fuel suppliers, particularly those of CNG in view of its demand and environment-friendly nature. The growing challenge for providing green fuel could only be tackled by evolving a multi-pronged strategy, which could be evolved by policy makers in consultation with IGL, Assocham President Venugopal N Dhoot said while releasing the report.

Mr Dhoot said that ideal locations should be immediately identified for setting up of CNG dispensation centres in Faridabad, Gurgaon and Noida on priority basis to popularise the use of CNG in these satellite townships to help vehicle owners to convert their engines for CNG consumption as huge demand exists for this environment-friendly fuel.

The municipalities and local governments should be asked by the state administration to lease out suitable locations for CNG filing stations without any procedural hassles as supply side management of CNG is essential, particularly at a time when prices of diesel and petrol are skyrocketing and going beyond the affordability of common man, said Mr Dhoot.

The Chamber's analysis also suggests that for Delhi and other parts of NCR, oil marketing companies should be called upon to at least create a space for putting up additional CNG dispensation centres in their existing petrol pumps and allow IGL to share their infrastructure for wider distribution of CNG wherever possible.

Oil marketing companies like Indian Oil, Bharat Petroleum, Hindustan Petroleum and the like have huge chains of petrol pumps in which CNG dispensation centres could also be added; the only issue is that they should be persuaded to share their infrastructure facilities with other government-owned companies like IGL within whose mandate falls the CNG supplies.

New Delhi, March 27
After a gap of about two months, the MCD will, in pursuance of Supreme Court orders, resume sealing of unauthorised commercial establishments in the Capital from Wednesday.

The MCD will restart the sealing drive from March 28, an MCD spokesman said.

Initially, the civic body will target shops operating out of the upper floors of buildings in roads notified for mixed- land use under the new Master Plan for Delhi.

The Supreme Court had last week ordered the MCD to resume the drive on March 28, also strongly criticising the civic body for having sought sanction from the state election commission to restart the action. This development assumes significance as it comes ahead of the April 5 MCD elections, with the ruling Congress wary of resuming the drive fearing that it may harm its poll prospects.

However, putting up a brave front, the Congress had yesterday sought to reassure the traders that only a negligible number of properties may face action when the drive was renewed. Apparently under pressure from ruling Congress in Delhi, the MCD had written to the state election commissioner seeking his permission to resume the court-ordered drive. —PTI

New Delhi, March 27
A mutual agreement between two families that both the accused and the victim girl would be married, once they attained the stipulated legal age, has paved the way for the release of a youth by a Delhi court in a kidnapping case.

Mandeep Singh, 20, who had been in custody since December 1, after being accused of rape and kidnapping of a minor girl, was sentenced by the court to the period already served by him in custody during the pendency of the trial.

"I may state that as parents of both children have agreed to get the convict and girl married once they attain the age of marriage, imposition of a harsh sentence might lead to some bickering between the families," Additional Sessions Judge Bharat Parashar said in a recent order.

It might also mar their future which has been settled by their respective parents in their larger interest, the judge added.

The court, holding Singh guilty under Section 363 (kidnapping) and 366 (kidnapping for the purpose of marriage) of the IPC, sentenced him to the period he had already undergone and also imposed a fine Rs 25,000.

This is established on record that the girl, less than 18 years of age, was enticed by the accused from the lawful guardianship of her parents on November 26, last year, the court said.

It, however, acquitted him of the charges under Section 376 (rape) of the IPC after noting that the girl, who was over 16 years of age, had testified that she had physical relations with the accused of her own will.

The accused, a resident of East of Kailash here, along with the girl was arrested in Mussorie in Uttarakhand on December 1, 2006, following a complaint by girl's mother Harbhajan Kaur here. 

Gurgaon, March 27
A head constable deployed on duty with the Additional Superintendent of Police, Gurgaon, allegedly physically assaulted a journalist of a national vernacular daily inside the crowded Sheetla Mata temple complex today.

The policeman, Ashok, is also alleged to have snatched the journalist's cell phone after manhandling him when the latter tried to get in touch with the district police chief, Mr Hanif Qureshi, and the Inspector General of Police, Gurgaon Range, Mr Mohinder Lal. Later, the head constable returned the phone after intervention from other police personnel and devotees, who were standing in a queue to enter the sanctum sanctorum of the temple.

A delegation of journalists based here met the IG on the issue. The IG has marked the case to the district police chief for inquiry.

The scribe, Mukund Mishra, has also lodged a complaint to the Sector 5 Police Station.

Recalling the incident, Mishra said that he had gone to the temple for a story on arrangement made by the administration and police in view of large number of devotees visiting the place on the last day of Nav Ratna.

He alleged that he had spotted police personnel 'manhandling' an elderly female, who along with her daughter was later bundled in a Gypsy, while there was no lady constable.

The two women were said to be standing in queue of devotees.

Mr Mishra alleged that when he was trying to inquire about the incident from the devotees, the accused turned up enraged and slapped him in full view of the public. The personnel allegedly did not pay heed even when he revealed his professional identification.

It further enraged him. When the journalist tried to bring the incident to the notice of the district police chief and the IG, the head constable allegedly snatched away his cell phone.

The incident has exposed the hollowness of the repeated claims of the police authorities about measures taken to instill discipline among the constabulary.

The journalists here demanded a probe into incident. 

New Delhi, March 27
Trans-Yamuna will soon witness a drastic change in its look as it is being developed as centrestage for 2010 Common Wealth Games, said Ram Babu Sharma, president, Delhi Pradesh Congress Committee here today.

He visited several wards of constituency and suggested people to ignore misleading statements made by BJP leaders. Sajjan Kumar, MP from Outer Delhi, held meetings in several places and said after getting unauthorized colonies regularized in Delhi, he is making efforts to provide basic civic amenities in those colonies. Arwinder Singh Lovely, Delhi Education Minister, said that they are now in a position to take lead over the so-called public schools. Sikh candidate from Preet Vihar area Gurucharan Singh Raju criticised the BJP, saying their only aim is to grab power by any means, but citizens of Delhi are well aware of BJP's political tactics. Jagdish Tytler also visited many wards of his constituency.

New Delhi, March 27
Delhi University is likely to seek more time for the implementation of the OBC quota as it is finding it difficult to carry out reservations at present because of lack of infrastructure.

The university is now making a detailed assessment about its requirement of additional teachers and other staff as well as facilities for implementing 27 per cent reservation for OBCs. Letters have been sent to all varsity departments and colleges to submit details of their requirement for the effective implementation of the quota.

Colleges which are receiving funds directly from the government have been asked to prepare detailed plans which they will send to the UGC and the government. — TNS

New Delhi, March 27
The cool weather conditions, prevailing over Delhi since last week, abated today with the decrease in intensity of northwesterly winds, which have been providing relief to the people from the scorching sun. The decrease in intensity of northwesterly winds led to a rise in mercury in the Capital for the second consecutive day.

The maximum temperature rose to 33.3 degree Celsius, from 31.6 degree Celsius yesterday.

The minimum temperature also rose to 16.8 degree C, from 16.6 degree C.

With the weathermen forecasting a further decrease in intensity of northwesterly winds in the next few days, the mercury in the Capital is likely to rise further in the next three to four days though the surface wind would prevail.

"With the decrease in the strength of northwesterly winds, both day and night temperatures are likely to show an increasing trend over North India during the next 3-4 days," the weather office said.

The Met office has forecast a mainly clear sky in Delhi during the next 24 hours with strong surface winds. They have also forecast a rise in minimum temperature to 18 degree C tomorrow. — UNI 

Noida, March 27
Police claimed to have seized 14 cartons of illegal liquor and arrested a person in this connection in Dadri on Sunday.

On a tip-off that illegal liquor was being stored in Escort colony on Railway Road, the Dadri police allegedly conducted a search operation and recovered a total of 44 bottles, 164 halves and 288 quarters. One Praveen Pratap was arrested from the spot. Praveen's other accomplice Pappu, however, managed to escape.

According to the police, heavy quantity of liquor is being smuggled into Western UP districts from Delhi and Haryana for use by the political parties to woo voters during polling.

On March 19, 10 boxes of liquor were seized at Greater Noida check post, while five persons were nabbed in Noida Phase-II for adulteration of liquor.

According to the SSP, criminal gangs allegedly involved in smuggling of liquor into G.B. Nagar are being identified. He claimed that barriers would be placed seven days prior to polling date for checking the smuggling of liquor into the district.

On March 19, 10 cartons of Macdowell No. 1 whisky were seized near Pari Chowk, Greater Noida. The liquor, the police claimed, was smuggled into the district to please the voters. One Bharat Pal Ahuja was arrested by the police on the spot for allegedly bringing the liquor from Haryana. On March 13, the Phase-II police had nabbed five bootleggers who were allegedly adulterating the liquor.

According to the police, the bootleggers and smugglers are trying to store a large quantity of liquor for distribution among voters a day or two prior to the polling day. Since liquor is cheaper in Haryana than in western UP, most candidates try to store sizeable quantity of liquor from them to 'please their voters' before polling day, say the police officials.

In view of the restrictions imposed by the election commission on liquor, candidates themselves seldom come into picture but use the network of professional mafias, smugglers and bootleggers for the purpose.

But somehow the orders of state government and district magistrate have not been taken seriously by the staff of the excise department who are still said to be in a state of hibernation.