New Delhi, November 21
As many as 91 candidates with pending criminal cases will be contesting the Delhi assembly polls this time, says a study conducted by Delhi Election Watch (DEW).

“There are 91 candidates, who have pending criminal cases against them, who are contesting assembly elections this time,” Anil Bairwal of DEW said at a press conference here.

DEW is part of a nationwide campaign called National Election Watch (NEW), which is a group of NGOs across the country.

“While the BJP and Congress each have 19 candidates with criminal records, the BSP has 15 such candidates.

“There are several candidates who have cases of serious criminal charges such as murder, attempt to murder and kidnapping against them,” Bairwal said.

Elections for the Delhi assembly poll are scheduled to take place on November 29.

DEW analysed affidavits of 645 candidates out of a total of 863 candidates in the fray. As many as 69 political parties are contesting the election this time. Of these, 41 are contesting three or less seats and 23 are contesting only one seat.

“New Delhi has the maximum number of contestants with 25, closely followed by 24 in Burari and 23 each in Kirari and Karawal Nagar. The least number of contestants are from Bijwasan, 5, and Ghonda, 3,” the study revealed.

There are 79 women candidates in the assembly elections. Of these, eight are of the Congress, three each of the BJP and the Samajwadi Party, two each of the BSP and the Lok Jan Shakti Party and 61 others.

Another interesting revelation of the study is that 153 candidates have declared assets of over Rs 10 million.

“Of them, 41 are of the Congress, 47 from the BJP and 32 from the BSP. But the irony is that in spite of being so rich, they have not given their PAN numbers,” Bairwal said.

“There are 21 candidates who have declared that they own no vehicle. Of those 21, there are six candidates who have declared their assets to be more than Rs 9 million,” added Bairwal, who wondered how these politicians travelled in their areas or otherwise.

As per the study, “Of these 12, one candidate has assets worth Rs 40 million and five have declared that they have zero total assets,” the study said.

During the study, DEW found that a total of 45 sitting legislators were re-contesting elections and most have shown a huge increase in their assets from 2003 to 2008.

The study reveals that of these sitting lawmakers, there are a few who have registered a growth of more than 1,000 per cent in their assets in last five years.

“We are non-partisan and an independent group. These sitting MLAs have registered a huge growth in their assets as per their affidavit. Where has this money come from?” Bairwal queried.

“There should be an enquiry into such disproportionate growth of assets. There has to be some authority that should check what is given in the affidavits,” he added.

“Of the total 645 candidates whose affidavits were analysed, 124 are graduates and 48 are post graduates, 50 have done professional courses, 120 are intermediate pass (Class 12), 29 are matric pass (Class 10), 29 are non-matriculate, 67 have studied upto class 8, 21 are illiterate and several others have not given their educational qualification,” Bairwal said.

Several candidates of the major parties have also not declared their PAN numbers even though the affidavits have an option for giving the PAN card number. — IANS

New Delhi, November 21
Former Delhi University Student Union (DUSU) president Nakul Bhardwaj and former student union president of Dyal Singh College Anil Chaudhary have pitched an election battle against each other in the Patparganj constituency of East Delhi.

Nakul Bhardwaj is contesting on Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) ticket while Anil Chaudhary, a sitting councillor from Mayur Vihar Phase-II, is a Congress candidate.

In his padyatras Nakul raised issues of inflation, sealing and demolition and local development. He said that leaving IP Extension, the entire constituency that comprises Mandoli, Vinod Nagar, Mayur Vihar Phase-II and Khichripur, is a slum.

No development work has taken place in the area. It lacks proper roads, drains and water supply.

Asserting that Rs 9.5 crore had lapsed, he claimed that the Congress had spent a token amount of just Rs 50 lakh on development works in the constituency in the past five years.

Addressing voters in Vinod Nagar, he said Congress MLA Meera Bhardwaj had represented the constituency for the last 15 years but it was unfortunately even basic amenities were lacking in the area.

He appealed to voters to give one chance to the BJP if they wanted development. He assured the residents of providing all civic amenities and other facilities, if voted to power.

Meanwhile, Anil Chaudhary, who also happens to be a resident of the area, is asking for votes on basis of the development works being carried out in the constituency.

He said that roads and drains were being constructed in the locality and soon the work would be completed. A community centre was under construction in Mayur Vihar, he informed.

Anil who has won the MCD election twice from Mayur Vihar said that the Congress government in Delhi had changed the face of the Trans Yamuna area with the development works.

Metro line is under construction. Villages in the constituency have been urbanised, he claimed.

Appealing voters to beware of the saffron party, he said that they should vote for the Congress if they wanted further development.

However, Sumit of Vinod Nagar said that the Congress did not do anything regarding sewerage problem in the area during the last five years.

No drain has been constructed. It has given a lollypop to the residents of unauhthorised colonies in the name of provision certificate for authorisation.

But still the police harass residents. Their building plan is not approved by the MCD.

Chaudhary Atma Ram of Khichripur village said the Congress had done nothing to urbanise villages.

New Delhi, November 21
Muslim votes in the walled city, where four assembly constituencies are located, are likely to get divided with the Lok Jan Shakti Party giving tough fight to Congress.

The Muslims of the area seem to be unhappy with the working of Congress in 10 years, the crucial reason being the forcible change of their old electricity meters to the electronic ones.

According to residents of the walled city, where more than 300 heritage buildings are located, no development work has taken place in the area since Independence.

“The party has listed a huge list of developments in its manifesto. But we are not concerned with it as nothing has been done here. We don’t see any improvement around us. Even the sewerage lines and the electric cables that can be seen from anywhere above the roads, have been like this for decades despite it being called a special zone in the Master Plan 2020,” said Faizuddin, the owner of an optical shop in the Chandni Chawk area.

The Muslim residents of the city have complained about the three-time sitting MLA of the area and food supply and transport minister for the last 10 years, Haroon Yusuf, about his inaccessibility and lack of interest in the area.

“The minister is never accessible even if an important work needs to be done. The officials always keep us in waiting. Water and electricity supply and proper roads are the core issues in this part of the city,” said Mohammed Jallaluddin, a resident of Ballimaran area.

Being the biggest commercial area of the Capital, the area contributes to the maximum revenue generation for the government.

The people say that the area has been neglected and the government has been biased with it in terms of development.

“We have the biggest wholesale markets in hosiery, paper, iron etc. More than five lakh passengers visit walled city daily for several purposes but you would not find even a single public convenience here. All that is there has been just because of the efforts of resident welfare association,” Mohammad Asif, a resident of Matiya Mahal.

“The roads are still not proper for us to walk. The problem of water and electricity has been persistent always. The politicians only visit during elections. We don’t want any more fake promises,” said Fakruddin, the inhabitant near the haweli of Mirza Ghalib in Ballimaran.

New Delhi, November 21
The South District police has busted a thriving sex racket and arrested four sex workers along with the kingpin Geeta, alias Sonu Punjaban, widow of Hemant, a dreaded gangster who was killed in a shootout in April, 2006.

The accused were arrested from near PVR Saket after the police received secret information. The police team led by ACP (Hauz Khas) Mehar Singh reached the spot in plain clothes, and sent SI Praveen Kumar as decoy customer along with Rs 1000 and ASI Virender as shadow witness.

On reaching the spot, they found two young sex workers along with three pimps trying to lure customers in the PVR parking lot while three pimps and two girls were trying to lure customers in front PVR. A woman along with four men were seen sitting in a suspicious condition in a Santro car.

The secret informer signalled that the woman in the car was their kingpin Sonu Punjaban. The police team, after a signal from the policemen acting as decoy customers, arrested four sex workers, the kingpin and 10 pimps.

Sonu Punjaban said she was married to notorious criminal Hemant who was killed
in a shootout. Since she was used to a lavish lifestyle, she entered the business
of flesh trade. Initially, she started alone and later she formed a group of aspiring
models and actresses.

She hired a large number of pimps for transportation and logistics. She used to source aspiring models and sex workers from different states. Even her clientele was from different states and mainly consisted of old and regular customers.

New Delhi, November 21
The Delhi police is gearing up to meet new challenges thrown before it by the spate of recent incidents, including the ‘Bunty bike gang’ in which criminals cross the city border after committing the crime in the capital.

In order to meet such eventualities in future, the Delhi police is all set to install closed-circuit television (CCTV) cameras at all its borders.

The task of carrying out a survey and specification details has already started in this regard and the Police Headquarters is likely to rope in a company to set up cameras very soon.

According to sources, the headquarters is in consultation with Electronics Corporation of India Limited (ECIL) to meet its requirements of installing the cameras. Rajan Bhagat, public relations officer of the Delhi police, confirmed about the plans but he denied any finalisation of a particular company to do the job.

“Senior officers are going into the specifications of installing CCTVs on border and the process is not likely to take more than three months. However, it is too early to say which company would do it,” said Bhagat.

According to information, the Delhi police in the first phase would have high-tech cameras mounted at 27 border points. Some of these border points include Kapashera, Samalkha, Mahipalpur, Sindhu, Tikri, Ghaziabad and Palla village connecting Dahisera.

The cameras to be installed would have the facility of rotating at any angle with high zoom power so that they would not only identify vehicles trying to move out but also be able to pinpoint their occupants. During night, these cameras would be using infrared technology.

According to Delhi police officials, the entire project is expected to cost around around Rs 5 crore to the department.

With the installation of CCTVs, the checkpoints at the border areas would also be modernised and upgraded with a control room at Delhi Police Headquarters.

It is believed that with all the modernisation in place, it would be easier for the police to know and nab the criminals making escape from the city.

New Delhi, November 21
An increasingly upset FEDCUTA (Federation of Central University Teachers Association) and teacher community in general have protested in a letter to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, expressing concern against the increasing delay in pay revision of university teachers.

Aditya Narayan Misra, president FEDCUTA and DUTA, says, “We have sent this letter to the Prime Minister stating our case before him and expressing our anguish on the delay in the pay revision for university teachers. If we get no answers then we are determined to intensify our agitation. We will take serious action to get what is due to us. It is not fair that while major sections of government employees have already got revised pay, nothing has been done to improve the lot of university teachers.”

Misra adds that “the delay in decision on pay revision is causing anger and anguish in the teaching community. This anger may take the form of intense agitation in case of further delay in the matter.”

While demanding immediate decision of pay revision of university teachers, FEDCUTA has demanded continuance of the existing 4 pay scales structure, i.e., lecturer, lecturer (senior scale), reader/associate professor and professor instead of 7 or 8 pay scales structure sought to be introduced by the Chadha Committee report.

Strangely, the Central Pay Commission has reduced number of pay scales from 35 to 20, while in case of teachers number of scales is proposed to be increased.

Teachers are also demanding a Pay Band 4 for all readers/associate professors/teachers in reader’s grade as recommended by the UGC.

Further, there is also a demand for timely professor promotion in colleges, parity to librarians and other academic staff with teachers in terms of pay scales, promotions, retirement age and study leave.

Greater Noida, November 21
A student fearing parents’ displeasure for not coming up to their expectations in his studies and worried over Rs 7,000 loan, committed suicide in his house.

The deceased was second year student of BBA in Harlal Institute of Management and Technology, Greater Noida.

The police has recovered a 3-page suicide note from the scene of suicide in which the deceased has mentioned Rs 7,000 loan and being weak in studies as causes of his taking the extreme step.

Ganga Dhar Chohan, a resident of Maharajganj in UP, was the son of an advocate in Gorakhpur. He was presently living in a rented room near Surajpur power-house.

Ganga Dhar who had skipped college classes on Thursday hanged himself with a muffler from the ceiling fan.

His friend Rakesh, who livid in the same house, knocked at his door. As Ganga Dhar did not open, Rakesh peeped through the window and was aghast to find Ganga Dhar hanging from the ceiling fan.

He immediately informed Bisarakh police. The police broke open the door and brought the body down.

A 3-page suicide note recovered by the police, said, “Had I not killed myself, life would have been like a gamble. I will again return to the womb of my mother after one year and six months.”

Ganga Dhar said he was committing suicide for Rs 7,000 only. He had not fared well in his first year exams.

But he had lied to his father that he had passed with 53% marks. He had also brought Rs 53,000 from home though college fee was only Rs 37,000.

New Delhi, November 21
What will happen if you lose the ability to hear? If music and irritating horns don’t affect you or, perhaps, have no difference for you?

When you crave to hear the voices of your loved ones but cannot and when people ignore you because they think you are ‘irritating’. To live like a ‘deaf and dumb’ even for a day is no less than a nightmare.

Pankaj, 16, from a village near Meerut was born deaf. Belonging to a poor
family, his parents thought that their child could never be able to hear and
would always remain indifferent to his surroundings. But today Pankaj responded
to a sound. He heard.

Starkey Hearing Foundation in collaboration with PepsiCo arranged a hearing mission programme for poor children suffering from auditory disorder in the Capital today.

Not all suffering from auditory disorder are deaf. This was proven when around 813 schoolchildren from deaf and dumb school from Meerut, Sonepat and Hisar were provided with hearing aids, which made them feel what sound was like for the first time in their life.

“Families of these children are too poor to buy them such costly machines but these people have done a great job by arranging such a programme for these special children,” said vice-principal of deaf and dumb school Amita Krishnan.

Every year around 1.8 million children are born with auditory disorder in India. Among them one out of every 12 are affected with acute hearing impairment.

Due to illiteracy, ignorance of parents and poverty most of those suffering from auditory disorder remain deaf all their life.

People, hardly, know that in most cases the percentage of hearing capacity is less which can be increased to a level and can make anybody hear.

“Our foundation has been working with children all over the world. Very rarely you get a case which has no hearing capacity. Only those cases cannot be solved otherwise all are curable to an extent.” said Rohit Mishra, managing director (Delhi), Starkey Hearing Foundation.

On their hearing mission in India, Starkey will proceed to Agra, Kolkata and
Guwahati and expects to fit more than 7,000 hearing instruments for children
and adults in need.

New Delhi, November 21
A special cell team led by inspectors Govind Sharma and Subhash Vats apprehended a sharpshooter of Naeem and Sabir gang yesterday evening.

Sharpshooter Yogesh alias Satvir was caught with a countrymade pistol and two
live cartridges.

Yogesh revealed that he had started his criminal career in 1999, when he along with his associates Appu, Sunil and Rajesh killed a betel vendor in the Mandavli area of Delhi. He was arrested and was lodged in Tihar Jail.

There he came in contact with Shamim Bhagat, a member of the Naeem gang. He got out on bail in 2000.

In 2001, he along with his brother snatched a motorcycle but was apprehended during a picket checking.

They were sent to jail for two years. After his release he lay low for some time and later joined Naeem and Sabir gang through Shamim Bhagat.

Anwar Thakur gang and Salim Pahelwan gang operate in the Trans Yamuna area. About half a dozen gangsters have been killed due to intense rivalry between the gangs. Besides, several cases of attempt to murder have been registered against the gangs.

After Salim Pahelwan was murdered, the leadership of gang was passed on to Naeem and Sabir. Both of them are involved in the killings of the associates of the Anwar Thakur gang.

Noida, November 21
Over 10 lakh Indians die every year from chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD)–a disease that makes breathing difficult.

Smoking has been recognised as the main cause of COPD. There are over 9.5 crore smokers in the country. COPD patients must take special precautions during winters.

These points were stressed by a panel of doctors at Fortis Hospital, Noida, which observed World COPD on Wednesday to spread awareness among patients suffering from pulmonary diseases.

COPD is a progressive disease. It can cause coughing that produces large amounts of mucus, wheezing, shortness of breath, chest tightness, and other symptoms. In later stages of the disease, the patients get fatigued and suffer weight loss.

COPD patients are at risk of their symptoms becoming suddenly worse, which is known as exacerbation.

Mild exacerbations may be treatable by patients themselves, but one-fifth are severe enough which need to be treated after admission to hospital.

Commonly caused by smoking, COPD is characterised by airway obstruction
that is usually progressive, non-reversible and does not change markedly over
several months.

Currently there are estimated 94 million smokers while approximately 14 million Indians are currently suffering form COPD. Nearly 10 lakh Indians die each year due to diseases caused or initiated due to smoking.

According to certain predictions, smoking could become the third leading cause of death by 2020, said Fortis doctors.

COPD admissions are higher in winter, when patients are at risk of exacerbation, and especially high during Christmas and New Year.

In winter, cold air may cause patients’ airways to become narrower, making it more difficult to breathe.

There is a general increase in the number of chest infections, often associated with respiratory virus and patients are particularly at risk from chest infections.

In COPD patients, these symptoms are particularly high in winters with a high incidence of flu.

Dr Mrinal Sircar, senior consultant & head, dept. of pulmonology & critical care, Fortis hospital, Noida, said, “Most COPD patients are ex/current smokers who experience morning cough and sputum, the intensity of which gradually increases over the years and the patient develops breathlessness. Annual vaccinations against common infections of lungs are strongly recommended by the medical experts. Hukka accounts for 80-90% of COPD cases reported. Besides, there are other risk factors also viz. prolonged exposure to harmful particles and gases from second-hand smoke, chullah smoke, industrial smoke, chemical gases, fumes and dusts from grains, minerals and related materials. History of childhood respiratory infections, genetic make up and increasing age may also lead to COPD at some stage of life. Seasonal changes also have an affect on COPD patients”.

Dr Rajesh Gupta, consultant, Fortis Hospital, explained, “COPD patients should take specific precautions during winters as main danger is from cold and infections. They must also avoid crowd or people with infections. In winter, they should keep their houses warm and ensure that their homes are damp-proof, keep physically active, wrap up to keep warm outside and avoid infections. In summer, COPD patients should stay out of the heat and keep cool.”