New Delhi, October 15
Clearing the cloud of high power tariff, the Delhi cabinet today slashed electricity rates by one rupee for domestic consumers using power up to 150 units per month.

This decision would directly provide substantial relief to around 47 per cent households belonging to the poor and economically weaker sections in the Capital.

Besides, a scheme of Interceptor Sewerage System which would provide fillip to clean the Yamuna was also approved. The scheme would be executed by Engineers India Limited (EIL). The cabinet has also approved a draft MoU between the Government of Delhi and the Government of Uttar Pradesh for supply of 200 cusec water which would go a long way in making available drinking water to Delhiites especially in those colonies which are regularized.

Briefing the newsmen after the meeting, Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit said that a new slab of 0-150 units for targeting subsidy in an effective manner would be created by the Delhi Electricity Regulatory Corporation (DERC).

The government is asking the DERC to implement the policy as approved by the cabinet to support economically weaker sections and poor people of domestic category consuming maximum 150 units of electricity per month per household.

The government would have to bear an amount of Rs 110 crore per annum to facilitate cheaper electricity in Delhi.

She stated that her government has taken a positive step by laying Interceptor Sewerage System along major drains falling into the river. The first phase to be initially executed would cost Rs 1,150 crore and cover major drains like Najafgarh, supplementary and Shahdara which are becoming cause of substantial pollution in the river.

The next phase would cover augmentation of the existing capacity of Sewage Treatment Plants at the mouth of Delhi Gate drain and Dr Sen Nursing Home Drain. Besides, additional Sewage Treatment Plants would be constructed after utilization of the full capacity of the existing plants. The cost of both the phases comes to Rs 1954 crore.

She added that an expert committee constituted in pursuance of the Supreme Court’s direction, has opined that the interceptor sewer concept of the Delhi Jal Board is a technically and environmentally desirable solution. 

New Delhi, October 15
Guru Gobind Singh Indraprastha University (GGSIPU) recently announced the schedule of its Common Entrance Tests (CETs) for the year 2008.

The university will be holding 23 CETs for admission to its 38 academic programmes under three different categories–professional programmes, engineering programmes and MBBS programme.

Some 12,778 students will be admitted to various undergraduate and postgraduate courses via the CETs. The first entrance test will be for a Master of Business Administration (MBA) on May 25, 2008 and the last CET will be of B.Tech/ M. Tech. (Dual Degree) Biotechnology on June 3, 3008. Hence, all entrances will be conducted in a span of mere 10 days, except the second stage of MBBS entrance, which will be held on June 28, 2008. The CETs will be held in two time slots i.e. 10.30 am to 1 pm and 2.00 pm to 4.30 pm.

For the first time, GGSIPU will be conducting CETs for four of its most sought-after courses MBA, MBBS, Bachelor of Technology (B.Tech) and Master of Computer Applications (MCA), in 12 cities across India, including Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore, Chandigarh, Jaipur, Kolkata, Lucknow, Bhopal, Noida, Jalandhar, Nagpur and Ahmedabad, in comparison to eight cities last year.

The new city centres added this year are in Noida, Jalandhar, Nagpur and Ahmedabad. For the rest of the courses, the entrance exams will be held only in Delhi.

In addition, the CET for MBBS programme will also be conducted by the university in two stages for the first time in 2008. Stage-I will be held on June 1, 2008 (Sunday) at the above-mentioned 12 cities and Stage-II of the MBBS entrance, for the short-listed candidates, will be held on June 28, 2008 (Saturday) in Delhi.

The new programmes included by the university in CET-2008 are: Master of Mass Media, MA English & Communication Studies and B.Tech Civil Engineering. There will also be a separate entrance for B.Sc. graduates seeking lateral entry into the 2nd year/ 3rd semester of B. Tech programmes. The detailed CET schedule for 2008 can be accessed on the university website. The admission procedure for these programmes will commence in January, 2008. 

New Delhi, October 15
Residents of the Capital had a tough ride to their workplaces today. Nearly, 1,000 Blueline buses were off roads, as drivers called for an indefinite strike, protesting against the strict action taken by the government and the police to check the large number of fatal accidents caused by them. The crisis could easily be felt inside the over-crowded metros.

To control the situation, the transport department withdrew 650 buses that used to run in the NCR and deployed them on the Capital’s roads today. A total of 3,650 DTC buses were operating in the Capital today.

The government has warned private bus owners of impounding the private vehicle and putting government drivers on them, if the situation does not improve. 49 buses were impounded today, as they did not have speed governors while 98 were challaned for other reasons. 7,200 persons have been deputed on bus check from the enforcement section of the traffic department.

Transport minister Haroon Yusuf has warned private bus drivers of serious consequences, if they did not call off the strike. He said that the government could evoke the Essential Services Maintenance Act (ESMA) against the protesting drivers. Under the Motor Vehicle Act, the permit of a private bus can be cancelled and the bus can be seized.

The bus drivers have clarified that they would not withdraw the strike unless the government eases the conditions. They alleged that the traffic police had been targeting them for trivial issues. They said that it was not possible for them to drive under such stringent laws and traffic rules. “We are facing a lot of harassment at the hands of the Delhi traffic police. Being pressurised by the government, they victimise us,” said Sunil, a Blueline bus driver.

Since January, the Bluelines have claimed 96 lives and have injured over 150. The Capital has over 4,000 Blueline buses, which form an important part of the city’s public transport system. The Delhi police had launched a drive against the errant Blueline bus drivers, after seven people were killed last week when a speeding Blueline mowed them down in South Delhi.Following the accident, police impounded over 500 buses that were found flouting the rules and regultions.The Delhi High Court too came down heavily on the matter and directed the Delhi government to furnish a phase-out plan for the ‘killer’ fleet.

Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit had announced on Saturday that 8,000 new buses would hit the city roads in three years. 

New Delhi, October 15
Taking into account the sufferings of a large number of people due to hemophilia, the Delhi High Court has directed the NCT government to make Anti-Hemophilic Factor (AHF), a life saving drug for them through special facility centres.

The government was directed to set the special facility centres at various hospitals and health institutions, including Lok Nayak Jai Prakash Narain Hospital, Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Hospital and Guru Teg Bahadur Hospital, where a large number of hemophilia patients, mainly from below the poverty line (BPL) families were turning up for treatment.

Hemophilia is a lifelong genetic bleeding disorder in which blood does not clot due to deficiency or absence of blood clotting factors.

Patients of such a disorder tend to bleed internally or externally even with a minor injury.

Even though the disease is genetic in nature, almost 30 per cent cases are fresh mutations and the disease could occur in all social groups.

The direction was issued by a Bench of Chief Justice M K Sharma and Justice Sanjiv Khanna on a PIL by Hemophilia Federation of India, which had said that due to non-availability of the drug and its very high cost, many patients were succumbing to the disease every year.

Under the scheme devised by the court after seeking reports form the Ministry of Health and Delhi Government, the AHF drug would be supplied to the patients from BPL families free of cost and other patients on “graded payment”.

Under the graded payment, the patients whose family’s annual income is up to Rs 2 lakh, 80 per cent cost of the drug would be waived off by the government and in exceptional cases, even free medicines could be supplied to them.

The patients with annual income between Rs 2 and Rs 5 lakh will have to pay 50 per cent of the cost of the drug. But those with more than Rs 5 lakh annual income will have to bear the full cost, the order said.

A patient who has three years uninterrupted stay in Delhi, would be entitled to the government subsidy on the drug and guidelines for hemophilia management will be displayed in all health centres of the government and private hospitals also.

The court took cognizance of the HFI’s petition as it said that there was no public institutional framework in the country working for the management of the hemophilia and the problem of the patients was complicated further due to low economic condition of patients, lack of awareness about the disease even among government authorities concerned and physicians, not to talk of patients and their relatives, a spokespersons of the federation said.

The court said if any shortcoming was found by the NCT government, it should bring them to the notice of the Union Health Ministry to take necessary further steps to redress them.

According to HFI’s estimate, India has nearly 10 lakh hemophilia patients and Delhi accounts for a large number of them as people from various parts of the country bring them for treatment here. Non-availability of AHF to a chronically ill patient, could prove fatal, the HFI spokesperson said

New Delhi, October 15
To strengthen the fleet of Delhi Transport Corporation (DTC) buses, the state government today decided to bring in 4,500 CNG-propelled buses in due course of time. A total of 6,000 such vehicles will be procured by March 2009.

This decision has been taken to provide the best public transport facility to the citizens before the commencement of Commonwealth Games in the Capital.

At present, 3,000 DTC buses are being plied on the Capital’s roads. Besides, 4,200 Blueline buses are there, but they are to be phased out. Once new buses reach the Capital, Blueline buses will be driven for roadways services, government sources said.

A circular has already been issued by the transport department directing not to issue permit to new Blueline buses in Delhi.

The Delhi cabinet has also cleared a proposal to procure buses. The Delhi Integrated Multimodel Transport System (DIMTS) has been nominated as bid process manager for procurement of 4,500 fully built CNG-propelled city buses.

Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit said that the government was fully aware of the need of buses and would continue to accelerate the process of procurement. Around 1,000 standard CNG buses, another 1,000 low floor CNG buses, 1,500 low floor non-AC CNG buses and 1,000 low floor AC CNG buses would be procured at an estimated cost of Rs 1,796 crore.

Apart from this, the cabinet has sanctioned about Rs 278 crore for procurement of land for 21 additional bus depots, construction of more 29 depot buildings, plant and machinery for standard floor height buses and additional expenditure in case of additional AC low floor buses are procured. 

New Delhi, October 15
With the arrest of Mauzam Ansari and Surender Nayyar, the police has claimed to have solved 12 recent cases of burglaries in the VVIP areas of the Capital. One of these was a burglary at the house of a retired Supreme Court judge.

Eight laptops, imported handycams, digital cameras, DVD players, mobile phones and expensive music systems were recovered from their possession.

A trend of thefts being committed in high security VIP areas was recently noticed. An information was received yesterday that the suspects would come to Sangam Cinema, RK Puram to sell the stolen electric goods.

The suspects are to be produced in a city court. The police stations of Chanakya Puri, Connaught Place, Mandir Marg, RK Puram, Lodhi Colony, Defense Colony and Hauz Khas have been informed for further action. 

Four held for vehicle theft

With the arrest of four persons, Vinod Kumar, Arjun Singh, Jagdish Kumar and Ritesh Kumar, the south district police has claimed to solve 20 cases of vehicle theft. Nine stolen vehicles with 370 gms of charas were found.

It was learnt that Vinod Kumar used to sell stolen vehicles. The anti-auto theft branch constructed barricades around south Delhi and started checking the suspected vehicles.

Two persons traveling in a car were held at a check post in RD Marg. Some charas was found from them. It was found that the vehicle was stolen from Sangam Vihar. One of the arrested was identified as Vinod Kumar, who had stolen 30 cars so far.

Land scam unearthed

With the arrest of one Yatender Singh Rana, the economic offence wing of the crime branch has unearthed a land scam of more than Rs 50 crore.

PSG Developers advertised in 2005-06 about the development of housing colony in Manesar, Faridabad and Greater Noida. They promised to develop township of over 750 acres, where they had very little land in their name. They did not have the requisite government permission. Various acts of the state government prohibit the announcement of such schemes.