New Delhi, May 14
The Delhi Police was today trying to ascertain if there was any possible connection between the Jaipur serial blasts and the mysterious low-intensity blasts which have created panic in some of the South Delhi colonies in last two months.

According to the police sources, a team of senior police officials was analysing the reports of the forensic experts to find out if there was any similarity in the explosives used in the blasts in South Delhi and Jaipur.

A team of the special cell sleuths of the Delhi Police was dispatched to Jaipur last night for a first-hand information. Another set of officers was sent today morning following a meeting of senior Delhi Police officials at the police headquarters. The meeting was chaired by Delhi police commissioner Y.S. Dadwal. The teams have been directed to gather information for the Delhi Police and also assist the Rajasthan Police in the investigation.

Some senior police officials believe that the low-intensity blasts in the Capital could have been a tactic used by the militants to divert the attention of the security forces.

A series of low intensity bomb blasts have been taking place in the Lado Sarai and Masjid Moth area of South Delhi in the recent time. Although these blasts have not caused any fatal injury, but have injured some citizens and damaged vehicles. The South Delhi police has not been able find a lead so far.

Meanwhile, a red alert was declared in the Capital last night after the blasts in Jaipur. “An alert has been sounded in the wake of the series of blasts in Jaipur,’’ Delhi Police spokesman Rajan Bhagat said.

Security has been beefed up at all sensitive points in the national Capital, especially at the Metro stations and crowded market places. Additional police personnel along with bomb disposal squads were deployed at the Delhi Metro stations, railway stations and inter-state bus terminals. Barricades have been erected at various intersections and sniffer dogs were deployed at railway stations. Metal detectors were in place at entry points in busy markets and security agencies were keeping a close watch over all VIP areas. Extra police force has been deployed at all the entry points of the Capital to check vehicles coming from the neighbouring states.

‘’Extra security cover has been extended to all the religious places, including the Jama Masjid, Akshardham and Iskcon temples,’’ the spokesman said.

The Delhi Police has also appealed to the general public to be more vigilant about any suspicious person or article around them. 

New Delhi, May 14
The Delhi Traffic Police has issued a traffic advisory in the wake of the DLF Indian Premier League (DLF-IPL) Twenty-20 match between Delhi Daredevils and Deccan Chargers (Hyderabad) tomorrow evening at Feroz Shah Kotla Grounds here.

According to the traffic police arrangements, parking of labelled vehicles has been made at Feroz Shah Kotla Grounds and entry of these will be through Bahadur Shah Zafar Marg only.

The unlabelled vehicles shall not be allowed near Ferozshah Kotla Ground and will be parked at specific locations where “Park & Ride” scheme has been made available. Traffic police has provided for free bus ride from these parking lots to Feroz Shah Kotla Grounds and back from Feroz Shah Kotla Grounds to Mata Sundri College Complex, Ramlila Ground, MCD Parking at Asaf Ali Road and Velodrome Road near I.G. Stadium.

The general public is advised to avoid Raj Ghat to J.L.N Marg, J.L.N Marg from Kamla Market to Raj Ghat, Asif Ali Road from Turkman Gate and Bahadur Shah Zafar Marg from Ram Charan Aggawal Chowk to Delhi Gate between 6.30 pm and 11.30 pm. Buses will not ply on Bahadur Shah Zafar Marg from 6.30 pm to 9 p.m and 10 pm to 11.30 pm. The traffic police advises the general public to use Metro train to reach Kotla grounds. 

Greater Noida, May 14
Two young men of Raipur village in Dadri reportedly raped a young girl of the same village. The accused fled after committing the crime.

In another incident, three students, living as tenants, are reported to have molested a 13-year-old girl in Surajpur town. The police has arrested the students who had teased and molested the minor girl.

According to police, four women of a family were coming back from fields on Tuesday evening after collecting fodder when two young men of the same village accosted them and tried to molest them. Eventually they caught hold of a young girl among them and raped her in the fields.

On getting information, her family members rushed towards the spot, but by then the accused had fled from the scene.

The relatives of the accused had meanwhile threatened the victims that they would be wiped out if they lodged a complaint with the police. But family of the victim lodged a report with the police and that their father Narayan and Dharmvir had threatened to kill them. The police has arrested the accused and their father.

In the second incident, three MBA students have been arrested for molesting a class 5th girl student. The girl’s family had lodged a report against the MBA students in Surajpur police station.

New Delhi, May 14
The early morning thunderstorm that visited the National Capital Territory of Delhi today brought the much sought-after relief for Delhiites from the scorching summer.

According to the meteorological office, the temperatures fell by several degrees because of the rains and hailstorms in some parts.

The high-intensity winds, however, took a toll on the trees of the Capital. Cases of trees being uprooted were reported from several parts of the city. However, no case of property damage has been reported.

The rains also brought the perennial problem of traffic snarls in the city, which boasts of the highest number of vehicles in the country. Traffic jams were reported from almost all parts of the city. But the worst affected roads included the National Highway-24, Vikas Marg connecting the East Delhi areas to New Delhi, Mathura Road and the roads around Connaught Place. It took a couple of hours for the traffic policemen to restore normal traffic.

Meanwhile, the Met office has predicted more showers in the next 24 hours because of the western disturbances over Rajasthan. According to the Met office, such thunderstorms were normal in this time of the year.

New Delhi, May 14
In the high summer sun, patients at the Lok Nayak Jai Prakash (LNJP) hospital run from one end to another searching for clean drinking water. The hospital is facing an acute water crisis that has distressed the hospital staff as well.

“It is not just the patients; we do not get drinking water ourselves. Even though it is the responsibility of the administration, it is the staff that has to face the anger of the patients,” said one doctor on the condition of anonymity.

The Resident Doctors’ Association (RDA) at LNJP went on a one-day strike demanding some of the basic facilities to be provided in the hospital. However, a week later not a single assurance has been fulfilled.

An agitation that was sparked off by the incident of a doctor being beaten up by the aggrieved relatives of a patient had much more in the background. “We face such victimisation at least two-three times a week but we feel that it is an outlet of the frustration of the patients and their families,” said a representative of the RDA.

The staff at LNJP do not feel that the violence is a security hitch. “They have promised us another hundred security guards. We feel that the relationship between the doctors and the patients would improve if there is an improvement in the infrastructure of the hospital,” he said.

Even though the building of the hospital has been extended several times, authorities still could not understand the relevance of a waiting room on the premises. Attendants keep lounging around the hospital galleries anxiously. “We do not want to leave our patients alone inside as there is nobody to attend on him there,” said Chandramati. “But if we want to be near the bed, we get screamed at.”

RDA asked the hospital authorities to fix a public address system in the hospital so that the doctors could call the respective attendants when they are required. “If they decide to put the system, they would also have to construct a waiting room here,” he said.

Patients have to wait for hours before their relatives get their hands on a trolley. “In the OPD, it might take you one full day to arrange for a trolley for your patient,” said Jai Bhagwan, who accompanied his sister-in-law to the hospital.

The crisis of basic infrastructure does not end at the external arrangements. The emergency ward does not have a direct oxygen pipeline in the hospital. “Our job gets stuck in the middle without the cylinders,” said another doctor. “Even the wards of the emergency bloc have been divided in a way that operation theatre and intensive care unit are still in the old building.”

The doctors’ association has echoed its voice to the authorities with the hospital witnessing almost five strikes in the last two years. “Though they gave us assurances with fix deadlines, nothing worth mentioning has been introduced so far,” said RDA representative. “Instead of taking our complaints positively, administration starts victimising individuals.”

Meanwhile, the authorities at LNJP consider the problems a reflection of the staff crunch the hospital is facing. “We are recruiting fresh staff in the hospital. The process should finish next week and things would improve,” said Anjan Prakash, spokesperson of the hospital. 

New Delhi, May 14
Eight-year-old Shami Alam, native of Jafarpur village, Sitamari, Bihar, today helped rescue 14 other child labourers working in bondage in zari factories located in Najafgarh’s Sitapur and Dabri village areas of Delhi. 

Alam, who accompanied the raiding team consisting of the Labour Department officials, Bachpan Bachao Andolan (BBA) activists, SDM Najafgarh Garima Gupta and Delhi Police, had managed to run away from the location on May 6.

A Dabri resident helped him contact the BBA volunteers, who in turn, took him to the SDM Najafgarh, Garima Gupta, where he lodged a complaint against his previous employer and also informed the SDM of the five other children who were working in the same factory.

Shami Alam narrated his ordeal of past nine months in this hell hole where he was brought from Sitamari along with five other children and was forced to work from 6 in the morning to up to 2 am the next day, as a trainee embroiderer and also cooked meals for 15 others including children and adults. Slightest delay or mistake in the work would earn him severe verbal and physical abuse, which is all he ever earned in this place for toiling each day for the past nine months. 

On Alam’s complaint, the SDM Najafgarh conducted raids along with the BBA’s Raid and Rescue Team, Labour Department’s and the

Delhi Police officials, and managed to rescue 14 bonded child laborers, including the five mentioned by Alam.

All of the rescued 14 children belonged to Bihar’s Sitamari, Darbhanga and Muzafarpur Districts. 

Leading the rescue operation team, was Labour Department’s  assistant labor commissioner S.C. Yadav, who stated that the employers of the rescued children would be booked under the Child Labour (Prohibition and Regulation) Act 1986  and the proceedings would also be conducted against the owners of the houses in which these factories were operating illegally.  

SDM Najafgarh, Garima Gupta stated that all the freed children would be awarded the Release Certificates under the Bonded Labour System (Abolition) Act 1976 to enable their economic and social Rehabilitation in their native villages.

Notably the release certificates under the Act, entitles each of the child rescued in  the raid, to a Rs 20,000 compensation –from State and Central government combined, priority to the

family in the entitlement of any government scheme, as well as enrolment in the National Child Labour Program Schools. 

The Rescue Team included the BBA’s Raid and Rescue Team along with BBA’s national secretary Rakesh Senger, Sukhdev Dixit, Rakesh Sharma, Umesh Gupta, Ramsharan, Arshad Mehendi,  as well as many officials from the Labour Department. 

Noida, May 14
Jewellery and valuables worth several lakhs have been stolen from the residence of a hosiery businessman in Sector-30 Noida. The family is suspecting two women friends of his wife who came visiting them from Rohini, New Delhi.

The police has registered a complaint against the women after inspecting the site.

Neeraj Prakash, owner of a hosiery factory, lives in B-7 Sector-30 with his family. Their acquaintance Madhu Chouhan and her daughter Pooja had come to meet them from Rohini, Sector-7 New Delhi. After some time Neeraj Prakash’s daughter Megha went out for her tuition and Pooja said she was going for a while to the first floor family temple.

When Prakash came down, the mother and daughter said they must be excused as they were ready to leave. But as Prakash entered her bedroom, she was in for a big shock as the cupboards had been thrown open and all the things were scattered around. Five gold chains, one diamond set, tops and rings were missing

She immediately informed her husband and police. Police registered a case against both the visitors after inspecting the room, on the basis of suspicion. Police said both the families were living as neighbour in Delhi and had known each other.

New Delhi, May 14
Delhi health minister Yoganand Shastri today directed the officers of public works department (PWD) and central public works department (CPWD) to ensure that overhead tanks installed in the government buildings are fully covered. Unused concrete overhead tanks should be removed immediately so that breeding of mosquitoes can be stopped.

He directed the officers to carry out intensive fogging in the residential area.

The minister has also directed the construction bodies to apprise the civic agencies especially the public health department of MCD regarding ongoing construction activities and ensure proper safeguards against malaria, dengue and diarrhea. 

New Delhi, May 14
Little drops make an ocean and a small effort can help create a beautiful world. This is the message artist Sanjeev Verma conveys in his solo exhibition aptly titled “Little Does Matter”. A collection of more than 30 new works in acrylics on canvas, the exhibition is presently on at Visual Arts Gallery, India Habitat Centre.

Says Sanjeev Verma, “We give great importance to big things, not realizing that art is meant to portray life at its ubiquitous best, in its most ordinary form. Real art is a mirror that shows you your own self. I get inspired by watching street kids with running nose engrossed in their candy floss. Stray dogs longing for affection, sudden droplets of the first rain and the early morn chirping of birds – all this has moved me immensely. Little things in life - good and bad - compel me to talk about them and, therefore, I speak in a language best known to me – the language of art.”

Sanjeev’s close association over the years with renowned wildlife filmmaker and conservationist Mike Pandey, perhaps, is what inspires works like Regress in Progress and Abandoned.

Says Mike Pandey in a personal note written for the artist’s catalogue on the show: “Little things acts like a catalyst in the universe. For example, a tiny cell on the earth is the unit of all life. It is, however, unfortunate that despite immense progress we have become the most selfish and self-consumed species on earth. Sanjeev’s works makes one realize that by ignoring smaller issues of life, we are destroying the very womb that spawned us.”

A small seed grows into a blooming tree which is the source of human life. Little do we realize the importance of an atom, which can destroy the entire world. Engrossed in our daily lives we forget to pay attention to the little things, which are indeed powerful. Through this exhibition, Sanjeev Verma subtly raises various social issues of religion, pollution and urbanization. His paintings makes one realize that it is the smallest of things which is root of all problems and also the solutions we seek.

For instance, To-Let, one of the most interesting works in the collection shows the house of a common man. A brightly painted yellow wall amidst an otherwise monotonous ambience catches attention here. The work is a satirical comment on landlords who paint that part of their house which they want to rent out. In other words, we selectively choose and show only that aspect of life, which yields profit to us. Similarly, in Regress in Progress, trees are being cut to build a road.

Sanjeev explains: “If making a road is one step forward towards development, cutting of trees is perhaps two steps backwards from nature.” In a similar vein of thought, he paints the dull colourless Rehabilitation, which focuses on the life of refugees. Hot asbestos sheet used for temporary settlements are ironically never removed from the area. The polluted black sky and blood-clotted red earth show how these settlements are usually built over destroyed human emotions. 

New Delhi, May 14
French transport minister Dominique Bussecreau, who is currently visiting Delhi, today called on the Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit at her office at Delhi Secretariat here.

Dominique said that France was keen to have technical co-operation and collaborations in various fields with the government of the National Capital Territory of Delhi.

The French minister offered financial assistance for conducting a study on the commissioning of tramways in the National Capital Territory of Delhi. According to him, tramways would go a long way in making public transport system more reliable. He added that tramways have been successful in French cities.

Dominique took a keen interest in the infrastructure development projects related to the Commonwealth Games 2010. He appreciated the role of the Delhi government in extending the green cover. He also lauded the government for successful commission of the CNG mode of public transport and the Metro rail.

The French minister informed the Chief Minister about the initiatives being taken by France to curb pollution. The initiatives include free cycle service and electrical and hybrid cars.

Dikshit told the minister that her government was committed to improving the public transport system, which will encourage people to stop the use of private vehicles. Presently, roads cover one-fifth of the Delhi area.

The Chief Minister also informed that the Metro would cover a length of 270 km during next two years. She added that her government was considering the concept of Mono-rail and light rail. The Chief Minister stressed the need of integrating the different modes of public transport.

Dikshit also briefed the visiting minister about the administrative structure of Delhi and the Union government. 

New Delhi, May 14
The traditional straight contest between the two major political parties, the Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in the political arena of the National Capital Territory of Delhi could become a thing of the past with the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) jumping into the electoral fray in a big way this time.

Obviously buoyed by its success in the neighbouring Uttar Pradesh by its experiment of social engineering, the Delhi unit of the BSP has been given the go-ahead by the party supremo and UP Chief Minister, Ms Mayawati to contest all the 70 assembly seats in the forthcoming elections.

What has caused considerable concern in both the Congress and the BJP camps here is the fact that the BSP has already announced the names of 60 candidates even though the elections are scheduled to be held some time in November this year. This, according to political pundits here, would give the BSP an edge as these candidates would immediately start nursing their respective assembly segments.

Strategists of both the Congress and the BJP were now factoring this new development into their election plans and searching for ways to counter this.

Like in Uttar Pradesh, the BSP here is planning to play the upper caste/ Dalit card to the hilt. Out of the 60 candidates whose names have been announced so far, 22 belong to upper castes (including nine Brahmins and four Kshatriyas). A total of 13 candidates are Dalits, who have made it to the two lists, while 20 others are from the backward classes. Five of the candidates are Muslims while three are women. The names of the other ten candidates were likely to be finalized in the next couple of weeks.

The Delhi Pradesh Bharatiya Janata Party, which is desperately trying to wrest power in the national Capital which was once their stronghold, claims that the presence of BSP will be more detrimental to the fortunes of the Congress party which is looking for a third term as it would gnaw into their traditional vote bank of minorities and backward castes. While the Delhi BJP has been trying to woo the minorities, it is basically depending on its committed cadre.

The Delhi Pradesh Congress is putting on a brave face by claiming that no party can erode their minority and Dalit vote banks because of the immense work the party has done for their welfare. And in support of their claims, they cite half a dozen schemes launched by the Delhi government in the last few months for the benefit of these communities.

At the same time, the Delhi Congress has already directed all its MLAs and ministers to get active and play the development card. It has asked them to attend as many public functions as possible and stress the fact that the Congress government had virtually changed the face of the National Capital Territory of Delhi during its last two tenures.

“Our work is apparent and it is there for all to see,” said a senior Delhi Congress leader.