New Delhi, March 30
The Delhi Pradesh Bharatiya Janata Party today released its manifesto for the forthcoming civic elections, promising to make the city the best capital in the world.

The manifesto was jointly released by the Chairman of the Election Campaign Committee, Prof Vijay Kumar Malhotra, the Chairman of the Election Manifesto Committee, Prof O. P. Kohli, and the BJP Delhi Pradesh president, Dr Harsh Vardhan.

Former MPs Sahib Singh Verma, Vijay Goel, Lal Behari Tiwari, Anita Arya, Leader of the Opposition in the Delhi Assembly Jagdish Mukhi, Leader of the Opposition in the MCD Subhash Arya and many senior leaders of the BJP were present.

All three leaders said the Congress had done injustice to the people of Delhi during its rule whereas the BJP has been continuously fighting for securing justice to the citizens of Delhi during the past five years and entire Delhi was witness to it.

Announcing the 23 important resolutions, Prof Malhotra said the citizens of Delhi should be issued multipurpose identity cards. The discretionary powers of the councillors and officers, which were being misused, would be abolished. The machinery to punish corrupt persons shall be made accountable. All unauthorised colonies shall be provided basic amenities without any charges. J.J. clusters, slums, SC colonies shall be given 50 per cent exemption in power and drinking water charges within a fixed limit. The persons living in jhuggies shall be provided a 25 yard plot or flat near their jhuggies. The villages and slums shall be provided civic amenities. Toilets and urinals shall be constructed in sufficient numbers. The categorisation of A, B, C, D colonies for house tax purposes will be done again. House tax will be decreased. Unnecessary taxes shall be abolished. One dispensary will be opened in every ward. Yamuna will be made sacred and worth worshipping again.

He said Delhi would be made a green state free from all garbage and filth. Efforts shall be made to regularise all houses and shops constructed up to January 2007 through an amnesty plan. The roads of Delhi shall be made world class. Aided schools, charitable hospitals, dharamshalas, old age homes, temples, mosque, gurdwaras shall be allotted land on reserve price. Delhi will be made a fully literate state. It will be ensured that every child attends school.

He said Vande Mataram would be sung in every school. Sports, yoga, moral education shall be made compulsory. A community centre, an old age home and a women’s hostel shall be constructed in each ward. Birth and death certificate shall be issued free of cost. Twenty gaushalas and gau sadans shall be opened. The banks of the Yamuna shall be beautified just like in the era of Lord Krishna.

Oppressive rules and bylaws of the MCD shall be abolished. Unnecessary taxes shall be decreased. The basic amenities in Delhi shall be made world class. Ultra modern and free-of-cost toilets shall be opened and not a single citizen of Delhi would be compelled to ease himself in the open. Arrangements shall be made for sufficient power, water, education, health, roads, lanes, multipurpose parks, community centres, night shelters etc. There is also mention of many welfare schemes for senior citizens, ex-servicemen, women, widows and handicapped persons.

Arrangements shall be made for sufficient and honourable pension to the old persons, helpless, widows, handicapped, orphan children and orphan women.

Prof Om Prakash Kohli said Dharam Sansad policy would be framed for all religious communities. All sites of last rites shall be modernised. New sites shall also be constructed. All banks and drains flowing in Delhi shall be beautified. The busiest roads shall be made underground. A dairy policy shall also be framed. The licensing policy would be such that no one would have to pay bribe. The complicated house tax policy would be simplified. The process of approval of map would be made simple and free from corruption.

Corporation courts shall be established for the disposal of small disputes arising between the public and the Corporation. All three leaders said the BJP Corporation Party would compel the Congress governments at the Centre and in Delhi to save the Capital from terrorism.

New Delhi, March 30
The Republican Party of India (A) and the All India Minorities Front have formed an alliance for the forthcoming elections to the Municipal Corporation of Delhi and the Uttar Pradesh Legislative Assembly.

In a joint announcement at a press conference, party presidents from both sides declared that they have jointly fielded 22 candidates for the MCD polls and will be fielding 150 candidates for the state of UP.

“We are confident that this combination of the forces of dalits and minorities along with grass-roots votes of our candidates will result in a sweep by our candidates and we are sure that all the candidates fielded by us will be returned,” they declared on the occasion.

New Delhi, March 30
Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit today asserted that the water and power situation in the Capital was not an issue in the coming polls to the Municipal Corporation of Delhi, scheduled to be held on April 5.

While admitting that there could be discontentment among some section of people on the issue of sealing, the Chief Minister denied that there was any grievance on the power and water situation in Delhi, which had witnessed a considerable improvement over the last few years.

“There has been a significant improvement in the power and water situation in Delhi over the last few years. Today, thanks to the commissioning of the Sonia Vihar Water Treatment Plant, the shortage of water in the Capital has been resolved. On the power front too, though there may be some complaints due to faulty billings by power distribution firms, the overall situation is normal,” Ms Dikshit said at a press meet jointly held with president of the Delhi Pradesh Congress Committee Rambabu Sharma to announce the congress manifesto for the MCD polls.

On the issue of the division of the MCD, as promised in the Congress manifesto for the 2003 Assembly polls in Delhi, the Chief Minister said a bigger achievement of the Congress had been an increase in the number of wards in the MCD house.

“An increase in the number of wards in the MCD House means that now there is one ward for every 50,000 people in Delhi. What this ensures is that it brings the councillors close to the people which in turns aids the process of governance in the ward. It will also strengthen the process of grassroots democracy in Delhi by increasing accountability for the councillors,” Ms Dikshit said.—UNI

New Delhi, March 30
Flowers in the national Capital have seen a sudden surge in demand ahead of the MCD elections with the demand for rose, marigold and jasmine going through the roof.

According to Sunder Mehta of Mehrauli flower wholesale market, the demand for blossoms too has gone up manifold.

To meet the rising needs, flowers were being brought in from places in neighbouring towns like Sonepat, Hapur and Meerut, he added.

Earlier, one kg marigold cost somewhere between Rs 12 and Rs 15 which has gone up to Rs 30 per kg. Similarly, the rate of flowers like rose, which was earlier Rs 35-40 has touched Rs 50 a kg. The rates of zafari and rajnigandha have seen an increase of Rs 20 kg each.

Flowers vanish from the market as soon as they go on sale as early as 0800 hrs with political party workers picking up even the last available petal. Around 500 garlands get sold off every morning and at times the demands are even higher, said another florist.

Prior to the election canvassing, around 15 truckload of flowers from trans-Yamuna would have sufficed but of late, the number has exceeded 25. Besides three main places, flowers are also being arranged from satellite cities like Gurgaon, Noida and Faridabad.

However, the florists in Hanuman Mandir in Connaught Place, the market which springs up from nowhere in the wee hours and gets over by 0800 hrs, feel otherwise. According to them the increase in demand has been marginal. The prices do rise in summers, owing to shorter shelf life of flowers, but elections as such do not play a major role in it, they said.

Arti Mehra, the BJP candidate from Safdarjung Enclave, said, “We are definitely feeling the dearth of flowers this time with our party workers running from pillar to post arranging for the same. Blossoms play a very important role in a politician’s life. Can you imagine a politician without garlands?”—UNI

New Delhi, March 30
The Delhi High court today dismissed a petition seeking registration of a first information report (FIR) against city Police Commissioner, Dr K. K Paul, for abetment of suicide of a suspended inspector in October last year.

Mr Justice Shiv Narayan Dhingra observed in his order the petitioner has failed to show his complaint or the suicide note prima facie disclosed commission of offence under Section 306 (abetment to commit suicide) of the IPC requiring registration of FIR or investigations into the allegations.

Tribune News Service
New Delhi, March 30‘Trees for Delhi’ is organising a candlelight vigil to save the trees of Delhi that are marked for felling for the construction of the first phase of the High Capacity Bus Service (HCBS) in South-Central Delhi. The vigil is a peaceful effort to inform the people of Delhi about the ongoing massacre of trees.

More than 35,000 trees have already been cut for Metro Phase-I, National Highway Project, High Capacity Bus Service Corridor, flyovers, underpasses, subways and general road widening,

“We believe that these trees have a right to life for the sake of the citizens of Delhi, the very character, well-being and beauty of the city. We also believe that a transport-friendly city does not have to be in conflict with its green heritage. We need people to have a say in this matter through a democratic platform and a public debate”, a spokesman said.

“Trees guard us against pollution, hot summers and a lack of water. Cutting tress would make Delhi roads dust bowls and all surrounding residential colonies would be without any buffers against high levels of polluted air and noise” the spokesman added.

‘Trees for Delhi’ is a coalition of a group of concerned citizens and environment NGOs, who have come forward to launch a campaign against extensive tree cutting taking place in the city. The group’s topmost current concern is to put a stop to the rampant felling of thousands of trees to construct road space for the HCBS.

Faridabad, March 30
Even as in a survey, Rabi crops on an area of about 57,253 acres have been found damaged in the recent hailstorms, the revenue and agriculture departments have estimated that the state government will have to release at least Rs 22 crore as compensation to the farmers.

The state government had announced to provide a compensation amount up to Rs 5,000 per acre, depending upon the damage extent within a month of the announcement. The government had earlier released an amount of Rs seven crore for the farmers who suffered in February 11 hailstorm. As per the details of the survey report prepared by the two government departments, the damaged Rabi crops included wheat cultivated on an area of 36,561 acre, mustard on 1,266 acre, barley on 634 acre, vegetables on 536 acre, 78 acres of horticulture and flowers on 10 acres.

While there may be some difference in the calculations of the loss suffered by the farmers in some areas, the officials who conducted the survey and the ‘Girdawari’ thereof, claim that the damage was of various nature and the farmers ought to receive around Rs 22 crore on account of the aid extended by the government. It is stated that the damage to crops was between 76 to 100 per cent in majority of the areas.

It has been revealed that the damage to wheat crop, which is the main crop in the region, suffered a loss of over 76 per cent on an average and the compensation that was due to such farmers was Rs 5,000 per acre. It is reported that crops on an area of 2,773 acre was in the bracket of 51 to 75 per cent loss, for which the compensation amount has been fixed as Rs 4,000 per acre, while the area of about 5,704 and 5,684 acres accounted for loss between 26 to 50 per cent and up to 25 per cent respectively, for which the compensation amount have been ranging from Rs 2,000 to 3,000 per acre. The government had decided to release the payment of compensation to the farmers through cheque if the amount was over Rs 500 and it would be paid at their doorstep, claimed an official.

Meanwhile, it is also learnt that a team of officials of the Union Agriculture department also visited some of the villages in the district, including Dhatir, Gugera, Yadupur and Allika villages to assess the damage. The district has a total of over 20,000 hectares of land under cultivation at present.

The Haryana Chief Minister Mr Bhupinder Singh Hooda had announced during a visit here recently that all the farmers would get the compensation by April 15, for the loss caused by the hailstorm.

However, a senior officer of the Gurgaon district, who accompanied a two-member team of the Union Ministry of Agriculture to assess the damage, said that out of a total of 1,91,425 acres of land under cultivation, damage to standing crops took place on 25,679 acres. The officer told a gathering of farmers in Hazipur village. The team members said that soon a report would be submitted so that the Centre could give proper amount of money to the state.

New Delhi, March 30
Monkey bites have become a nasty threat for the villagers of Bhatti Mines area near the Asola Wildlife Sanctuary.

The Forest Department has washed its hands off the issue, saying that the monkeys were released in Asola in compliance with orders passed by the Delhi High Court and to help resolve the problem of monkey menace faced by residents of Delhi.

Further, monkeys have been released in the heart of the forest area, far from human habitation, with the nearest human contact is 2 kms away, it claims.

The site of release has abundant clean water, tree-cover characterized by the native species of the Aravalli eco-system and a natural food base is also available. In addition, the government is providing feed to the monkeys.

However, monkeys do tend to range out of their territory. Also, the government has undertaken a plantation of more then 15,000 fruit bearing trees in the sanctuary.

After getting complaints of monkey bites, an initiative has begun for raising a boundary fence around the wild-life sanctuary to 15 feet so that monkeys do not scale it and return to human settlements. The department has sent out an appeal to citizens that they should be cautious and not feed monkeys in their vicinity as this will encourage them to visit the village.

Further children should be prevented from feeding monkeys, people should not rely on rumours of monkey bites and get a confirmation on the basis of facts and lastly, they should render assistance and cooperation to the government.

Gurgaon, March 30
Going by the version of the police authorities, better law and order system lies in store for residents of Gurgaon who continue to be miffed at the present situation.

The Inspector General of Police, Gurgaon Range, Mr Mohinder Lal, said that the government had decided in principle to put in place Police Commissionerate system. It would be in place soon, he added.

In response to a number of questions by mediapersons on law and order situation here, he said that the proposed Commissionerate system would take care of the problems.

He expressed satisfaction saying that Gurgaon police had come far off in terms of logistics and infrastructure as the government had accepted most of its demands. He cited the latest in the series of a rupees three crore-automative sensors device, which would bolster traffic management. The project entails high-powered sensitive cameras, which would detect the vehicles violating road rules. They would be installed along the highway as well as the main roads and intersections.

With regard to incidents of vehicle thefts, he claimed major gangs indulging in car lifting had been busted. Three major gangs which accounted for thefts of about 300 cases had been neutralised, he added.

He did concur that thefts of two wheelers were on rise and the police had once again continued with its drive against the criminals.

In response to another question, he confirmed that Independent MLA from Ateli, Mr Naresh Yadav, had been named in an FIR with regard to a murder case. The case related to 21 acres of prime land in Mansesar which belongs to a family whose all the four members are deaf and dumb. He, however, said that the investigations so far revealed that the MLA was in Haryana Vidhan Sabha when the murder took place. However, the investigation was still on, he added.

He said that today incharge of Pataudi Chowki, and SHOs of Gurgaon City and Farukhnagar had been placed under suspension for their alleged dilatory tactics in registering FIRs.

Gurgaon, March 30
Two labourers died when they entered a main sewerage hole to lay new pipelines in Sukhrali village near Sector 17 C.

The district administration announced an ex-gratia amount of Rs 1.25 lakh to next of the kin of each of the deceased.

The sewerage was being maintained by the Public Health department, which has given the job of laying new pipelines in the area to a contractor.

One of the deceased, Om Prakash, died as he entered the hole after lifting the lid. The second one, Sanju, who followed him became unconscious and died in Kalyani Hospital.

The police have initiated an action against the contractor for allegedly not following safety measures before allowing the two to enter the hole.

According to an official from the Public Health department, holes at various joints are deliberately plugged to prevent public from tampering the sewerage lines.

After lifting the lid of the main hole, the two workers should have waited for some time to allow the accumulated toxic gas to pass off, the official said. 

New Delhi, March 30
As quality education becomes costlier in private and public schools, making it accessible only to the affluent few, a Delhi-based group has devised a plan to extend financial help to talented students from villages to prepare them for competitive exams in various fields.

Working with an avowed objective —“Fund the students, not school buildings” — the group’s Gyan Sewa Trust has already launched a “Rural Talent Trust” in association with the Delhi Sikh Gurdwara Management Committee (DSGMC) to provide accommodation and coaching from reputed institutes at nominal charges to those appearing in interviews for IAS, IPS and other central civil services examinations. The deserving students from poor background will be given scholarships too.

These facilities will be provided to the candidates from villages in Punjab where only four per cent students have access to higher education. However, the Sikh candidates from all over the country can also avail of these facilities.

Efforts were being made to establish a hostel and a coaching centre for the Sikh candidates and also for economically weaker candidates from rural areas of Punjab. The hostel was expected to be ready by the middle of 2007, said Mr H. S. Phoolka, senior advocate, Supreme Court and Chairman of the trust, here today.

He said an initiative was taken by them in view of the dwindling access of students from the rural area of Punjab to university education in the last few years. He said in Punjab’s four universities as many as 22,360 students got admission in various university level courses, including engineering and medical classes in 2005-06. Of them, only 911 (only 4.07 per cent) were from villages of the states where students faced severe lack of educational resources available to them.

The candidates who wish to avail this facility may log on to www.gyansewa.com or contact the trust at phone number 9818157332 or at room number 1, Guest House, at Gurdwara Rakab Ganj Sahib here.

Gyan Sewa Trust is already running coaching centres in villages in Punjab since the past one year for preparation of the students for entrance examinations. The trust has engaged topmost faculty from Delhi, who go to the villages in Punjab over weekends to coach the students for such entrance examinations. In addition to the one-year and two-year programmes, the trust is also running a crash course this year in April at Khadoor Sahib in Tarn Taran district.

The trust is also running a centre at Nawanshahr, where students from all government schools of the district, who could be enrolled for professional courses, assemble every Saturday and Sunday for coaching. The trust proposed to start such centres in each district of Punjab shortly, Mr Phoolka said, adding that their aim was to provide students from villages an “equal access to educational resources” on a par with their counterparts in the metropolitan cities.

Former diplomat and eminent writer Patwant Singh and former Union Minister S. S. Dhindsa are among the prominent personalities associated with the trust. 

Noida, March 30
A minor girl was allegedly kidnapped by two young boys from a school in Nithari. The police team after making preliminary enquiries from the school staff have registered a case against two boys for having enticed the girl and later abducted her.

The 5-year-old Arti, daughter of Ajay Pal, a tenant in one Mam Chand’s house in Nithari village, was a student of Durga Public School.

When Ajay Pal went to fetch his daughter from school on Thursday at about 12 noon, he was told by the school peon that at 11 am two young boys had taken the young girl away along with them. Ajay reported the matter in Sector-20 police station. The police team promptly reached the school.

The SO said some police teams had been sent in search of the girl. They have already conducted raids at some suspected places.

Ghaziabad, March 30
The judicial remand of the accused of Nithari killings, Moninder Singh Pandher, Surinder Koli and dismissed SI Simranjit Kaur was extended by the court of Special Judicial Magistrate Ms Sapna Mishra yesterday by another 14 days.

Moninder, Surinder and Simranjit Kaur were presented before the court under heavy security at 10 am. It may be recalled that the CBI had filed the chargesheet against the three accused on March 22 in the CBI court. The court had taken a decision about Simranjit Kaur the same day and after issuing warrants under Section 309 of the IPC, the SI was sent to judicial custody. The next date of hearing has been fixed for April 13 by the court.

The Special CBI Judge Ms Rama Jain had posted Simranjit Kaur’s bail application for April 2, the dismissed SI’s advocate Nahar Singh Yadav, president of Ghaziabad Bar Association, said.

Meanwhile, the bail applications of Ravinder Pradhan and Ashok in Kavita Chaudhri case had also been listed for April 2 by Special Judicial Magistrate Ms Sapna Mishra, their advocate Ram Avtar Sharma informed.