New Delhi, November 9
The Delhi police has registered 709 cases and arrested 94 people in the national Capital for erecting illegal hoardings, banners and posters related to political parties, an official said on Saturday.

According to Satbir Silas Bedi, chief electoral officer of Delhi, between October 15 and November 7, 709 cases were registered, 94 people were arrested and chargesheets have been filed in 13 cases.

Everyday scores of personnel are removing illegal hoardings, banners, posters and wall writings, which are a clear violation of the election code of conduct, Bedi said.

On Friday, authorities removed 811 illegal hoardings, 372 banners, 3,511 posters and 870 other election materials. But not a single person was arrested or chargesheeted.

“We are working in close coordination with the police and these matters are under its jurisdiction. As the chief electoral officer, I do keep a record of such developments on a day-to-day basis,” Bedi said.

When asked what kind of punishment these people are getting for violating the code of conduct and defacing public properties, Bedi said that only the police can answer that.

With 10.7 million voters, Delhi goes to polls on November 29 to elect a new 70-member legislature.— IANS

New Delhi, November 9
Delhi Chief Electoral Office (CEO) has allotted symbols to six national parties and 59 independent candidates.

The election symbols for the Congress is palm. While that of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is lotus. The Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) and Samajwadi Party will contest on elephant and lantern symbols respectively. The symbols for the Communist Party of India (CPI), Communist Party of India (Marxist) (CPM) and Nationalist Congress Party are ears of corn and sickle, hammer, sickle and star; and clock respectively.

The Shiromani Akali Dal (Badal) has not been allotted a symbol to contest on. Jitender Singh Shunty and Avtar Singh Hit of Akali Dal have already filed their nominations from Shahdara and Rajouri Garden respectively. They said that they would contest on Akali Dal symbol.

Delhi chief of Akali Dal Manjit Singh, who is contesting from Greater Kailash, said, “The party has fulfilled all formalities asked by the election commission to get a symbol.” National president of the party Sukhbir Singh Badal had met the election commissioner, who had assured him of allotting a symbol, he added.

Manjit Singh said that the election commissioner had said that if regional parties fielded candidates, they had to get themselves registered for a symbol. Their symbol would be changed if it resembled to the other party (ies).

The CEO had prepared 59 symbols keeping in mind the independent candidates.

The symbols are almirah, balloon, banana, basket, bat, batsman, battery torch, black board, bread, briefcase, brush, cake, ceiling fan, coat, coconut, comb, cot, cup and saucer, diesel pump, dolli, electric pole, fork, frock, frying pan, gas cylinder, gas stove, glass tubler, harmonium, hat, ice cream, iron, jug, kettle, kite, purse, letter box, shuttle, slate, spoon, stool, table, table lamp, television, tent, violin, railway engine, ring, stick, whistle, road roller, saw, scissors and sewing machine. 

New Delhi, November 9
At least six Chief Ministers are expected to campaign for their candidates in Delhi.

The UP Chief Minister and BSP supremo Mayawati, Gujarat Chief Minister and BJP leader Narendra Modi, Haryana Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda, Punjab Chief Minister Prakash Singh Badal, Himachal Chief Minister Prem Kumar Dhumal, Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Gulam Navi Azad and deputy chief minister of Bihar Sushil Kumar Modi will soon begin canvassing for their parties.

The three prominent parties have also planned to outsource leaders and workers from states like Bihar, UP and Haryana for intensive door-to-door campaigning.

Six ministers and more than 10 MLAs from UP are already campaigning in the city for BSP. UP minister Naseemuddin Siddiqui has asked them to put forth the names of UP ministers and MLAs wanted by them for campaigning.

Similarly, BJP is being supported by three ministers from Bihar along with actor-turned-politician Shatrughan Sinha.

“Ashwani Kumar Choubey and Nand Kishore Yadav are two other ministers from Bihar who will campaign,” said a BJP leader.

RJDchief and railway minister Lalu Prasad Yadav and Lok Janshakti Party chief Ram Vilas Paswan are expected to campaign in the run up to the elections.

Congress, is relying on its Haryana and Jammu and Kashmir chief ministers for campaigning.

New Delhi, November 9
Her faith in ‘mahurat’ took away her assembly election ticket. The Bharatiya Janata Party today cancelled the candidature of Kalpana Jain and gave her ticket to Kamal Jain.

Kalpna was given ticket from Gandhi Nagar constituency, but she delayed filing of nomination, as the ‘mahurat puja’ could not be performed because of unavailability of the priest.

According to sources, Kalpna’s ticket was cancelled following opposition from the workers.

Chief of the Delhi unit of the party, Harsh Vardhan said that a meeting was called today by the party high command attended by Arun Jaitley, Sushma Swaraj and Vijay Kumar Malhotra.

They decided to change the candidate in the constituency as there was huge opposition from the workers’ side.

“Kamal would be a stronger candidate and workers would have no objections working for him,” he said.

Meanwhile, chairperson of the United Residents Joint Action (URJA), Sanjay Kaul today joined the BJP.

Kaul said that he joined BJP because the Congress government failed to deal with national security and regional issues.

He hoped that the BJP would be able to tackle these issues in a better manner. 

Gurgaon, November 9
Tributes were paid to late Chaudhary Surender Singh by the Haryana Governor Dr A.R. Kidwai, Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda and several other parliamentarians and Haryana ministers and MLAs during the Surender Singh Memorial Cricket Match played at the Chaudhary Tau Devi Lal Stadium here late last evening.

The Governor said that Surender Singh was not only a good sportsman himself, but he also encouraged sports among the youths. “Surender Singh would remain a source of inspiration among the young sports talents and would always be remembered for maintaining sportsmanship in every field of life,” he added.

The CM recalled Surender Singh as a great sportsperson and said that he had qualities of a good sportsman, a good politician and a good human being.

Haryana finance minister, Birender Singh said, “Surender Singh was a complete sportsman and committed to sportsmanship since his college days.”

Power minister, Randeep Singh Surjewala said, “Surender Singh was an untiring personality and never lost his sportsmanship at any point in time.”

The minister of state for sports and youth affairs and forests, Kiran Chaudhary, wife of Surender Singh, retreated, “he was forever committed to sports and always advocated its promotion.”

Sharuti Choudhary, daughter of Ch. Surender Singh, remembered her father as a rare sportsman who always faced challenges with sportsman spirit. 

New Delhi, November 9
Hassled commuters here on Sunday were faced with the task of manoeuvring through the Capital’s roads blocked due to the half-marathon. Detours along the way and seemingly uninformed traffic officials manning them added to the drivers’ woes.

“I had a meeting in Chanakyapuri, close to the marathon route. There was no sane way of getting there. After taking a really long route that took nearly 40 minutes of maneuvering through lanes I didn’t know existed, I reached my destination. That is a 15 minutes’ drive from my place on normal days,” said Abhinay Goel, a media consultant

Other commuters too played the guessing game moving through the maze of lanes to get to their destinations.

Rambika Kameshwar, a danseuse, was here in Delhi as a speaker at a seminar on performing arts and disability. She said, “It was a marvel that I reached, although about an hour late. I reached, thanks to my driver, who knew the small lanes in the vicinity, and was able to avoid the confused traffic.”

Many other commuters turned back, feeling that their “Sunday plans were ruined” since the rerouting information wasn’t publicised well.

“At all the turns there was no sign saying which route to take. Some cops were helpful but they too seemed unsure. Finally we turned back,” said Ramesh, whose planned lunch with friends at Lodhi Road didn’t happen because the route for the marathon coincided with the route from his home in Moti Bagh.

The Airtel Delhi Half Marathon was held here in the morning. The categories for the event included Half Marathon (21.097 km), Dream Run (6 km), Senior Citizens’ Run (4.3 km), and Wheelchair Event (2.5 km).

Over 30,000 people took part in the event that traced its route through the India Gate, Safdurjung Tomb and Lodhi Garden.

Joint commissioner (Traffic) S.M. Srivastava, however, said adequate measures were taken and the commuter’s choice to take the blocked roads despite notice “could not be helped”.

Srivastava said, “There was absolutely no problem, as all the arrangements were planned in advance to conduct the marathon. We had issued traffic advisory about routes in advance and about the alternative routes people can take to avoid being stuck. “ — IANS

New Delhi, November 9
Hundreds of city residents gathered at the Rajpath today to get an up close view of Formula 1 cars that were brought to the city for a road show.

For the first time ever on Indian roads, the Renault Road Show was organised to mark 700 days to the Commonwealth Games. The show also featured air stunts by the Indian Army.

Excited crowds stood around the rally roads for hours before they saw the F1 stars speeding away right in front of them. The crowds went pindrop silent when they felt the first car zooming at around 300 km per hour coming out from the backdrop of India Gate. Heads turned at almost the same speed in an effort to get the glimpse of the car.

Many Hollywood stunt men were also flown down to the Capital to perform some stunts on the city road. “My favourite was the Black Men Show where these French drivers eventually came out of their moving cars and started strolling around them,” said Siddharth, a student of Delhi University.

“This is the first time I am witnessing anything like this and that too in Delhi. I had only seen F1 on television. It is a wonderful experience,” said Anirudh.

Along with the two F1 cars, Renault had flown its Megane Trophy winning car to run in the Road Show. Driver Julian P. won loud applause when he came out of the window of the car and folded his hands to wish the city residents while doing the doughnut circles.

Three “car”toon cars painted in animal prints were also featured in the show. “I liked the cartoon cars the best, especially the one in Zebra print,” said nine-year-old Nikhil.

The showstoppers, however, appeared by the end of the show. The crowd not only loved the F1 cars, but also went crazy when the Renault F1 team, including popular racers Lucas Di Grassi and Nelson Piquet, went to the audience and met them personally.

The stars said they were very happy to be in the country and were looking forward to more F1 events in India.

While some people complained of the blocked roads and traffic jams, the F1 cars did not fail to leave strong marks on the Rajpath and on the car lovers.

New Delhi, November 9
FIITJEE, a coaching institute that prepares students aspiring for IITs or other competitive engineering exams, today declared to conduct FIITJEE Talent Reward Exam – 2008 for students from class VI to XI on December 14. The exam will be conducted at its 56 centres across India.

A FIITJEE spokesperson said that the institute helped students realise their dreams and work in that direction. This all India-level assessment exam will help them know their chances in the IITs through Rank Potential Index and Success Potential Index .

The institute will award top performers with medals, cash prizes, fee waivers for FIITJEE programmes and hostel fee concessions. The first prize winner will be awarded Rs 100,000 to 250,000 with 100% fee waiver. While the second prize winner will get Rs 60,000 to Rs 200,000 with 90% fee waiver. Rs 40,000 to Rs 150,000 will be given to the third prize winner with 75% fee waiver. Besides additional prizes, including tution fee waivers and hostel waivers will be given to top 500 performers. The schools of toppers and their teachers will also be awarded.

The exam will be conducted at FIITJEE centers in Delhi, Gurgaon, Noida, Faridabad, Amritsar, Bangalore, Bhilai, Bhopal, Bokaro, Chandigarh, Chennai, Hyderabad, Indore, Jaipur, Kolkata, Lucknow, Mumbai, Patna, Ranchi, Shaktinagar , Vizag, Asansol, Bhagalpur, Bhatinda, Bhubneshwar, Dhanbad, Durgapur, Gorakhpur, Hisar, Kakinada, Kanpur, Karimnagar, Ludhiana, Muzzafarpur, Nagpur, Nellore, Neyveli, Patiala, Pune, Raipur, and Thiruvanthapuram 

New Delhi, November 9
Sakshi Baxi, a student of class XI at Delhi Public School, R.K. Puram today performed a bharatnatyam recital at Chinmaya Mission, Lodhi Road. She is a disciple of Guru Shantnu Chakarbarty.

Sakshi, who had represented her school in Korea during the International Dance Competition, had won the first prize for her school.

Her style is simple, stark and honest. Her dedication exceptional.

Sakshi said, “Dance defines me. The energy, grace, freedom and expression connect me to the divinity and nourishes my soul.”

She would soon perform ‘Arangetram’, which means ascending the stage. It is a full-length recital that a student presents after many years of training to demonstrate her perfection and proficiency.

Her performance would include Puspanjali Ragam, Allaripu, Tisram, Jastiswaram Ragam, Kalyani Talam, Roopakam, Swami Ravidas Bhajan Ragam, Thiruch Chirtambalam Ragam, Bho Shambho (Shiv Tandav) Ragam, Tillana Ragam, Hindolam, Mangalam Ragam.

Bharatnatyam is one of the most ancient, sophisticated and graceful art forms of classical dance.

The South Indian classical dance is an artistic yoga with many expressions and complex body movements.

It is the dance of mind and soul. The dance is known for its grace, purity and tenderness. 

New Delhi, November 9
A countrywide diabetes education program is being launched from November 10 to 14 by Abbott Diabetes Care (ADC), where the medical fraternity including doctors, hospitals and chemists across cities in India will come together to create and increase diabetes awareness.

India Diabetes Week is a unique initiative that will coincide with the World Diabetes Day, on November 14. Each participant will get an opportunity to interact and learn more about diabetes. During this program ADC will use its ‘safe testing’ technique by using disposable single-use lancets. Free sessions covering topics related to diet, exercise and blood glucose monitoring as well as free diabetes detection camps would be conducted.

Poor and needy diabetes patients named by the hospitals and doctors will be given free blood glucose meter and strips. Similarly, people can avail of a special Abbott Diabetes Care offer on purchase of meters during this period from selected medical stores.

According to experts, India is experiencing an unprecedented rise in diabetes in the last few years. Today it has the highest diabetes population of more than 40 million, thanks to genetic predisposition, unsuitable dietary habits, sedentary life style and increased stress levels.

Nearly 30 per cent of urban diabetic cases are undiagnosed, while in rural areas more than 70 per cent are undetected.

With such high number of people not knowing that they have diabetes, it is an alarming situation. Consuming prescribed medicines and following regimented diet alone cannot address diabetes.

Understanding of diabetes and taking corrective measures is the need of the hour. Diabetes awareness is very low hence delivering education to all the people with diabetes is the biggest challenge.

India Diabetes Week is the beginning of a serious effort to propagate diabetes education in the country by Abbott Diabetes Care, which will be further expanded over a larger time span.

New Delhi, November 9
Fortysix couples tied the nuptial knot at a mass wedding ceremony organised by the Social Welfare Department of the Sant Nirankari Mission here yesterday.

While the head of the mission, Baba Hardev Singh Ji Maharaj, blessed the couples, thousands of devotees of the mission attended the ceremony.

Organised as part of peripheral activities of the 61st annual nirankari samagam to be held here from November 15 to 17, the mass wedding was marked by one inter-country and 20 inter-state marriages.

Among the bridegrooms, 18 belonged to Delhi, 10 came from Uttar Pradesh, eight from Haryana, three from Rajasthan, two each from Madhya Pradesh and Himachal Pradesh and one each from Punjab, Orissa and Maharashtara. The brides also came from several states.

The simple ceremony was marked by the traditional exchange of jayamalas followed a by a common garland from each couple – a special feature of the Norankari wedding.

New Delhi, November 9
India International Centre (IIC) here is presenting “A Mixed Palette”, an exhibition of paintings by artist Sipra Dattagupta from Kolkata, at the Art Gallery from November 12 to 16.

This is her second solo exhibition in which she has attempted to explore the realms of nostalgia romance and prayer through the mediums of oils and water colours.

An honours graduate in English literature from Presidency College, Kolkata, Sipra studied art privately under the tutelage of the late Kamala Roychowdhury.
                                                         Sudha Mukhopadhaya