New Delhi, March 7
Taking a serious note of a full page advertisement on the Commonwealth Games 2010 that appeared in all the major dailies in the Capital yesterday, the Election Commission today directed the cabinet secretary and other officials concerned to recover its total cost from the personal accounts of the officers or persons responsible for its release.

Terming it as a clear violation of the model code of conduct, the EC has asked for an action taken report on Monday.

The Commission has asked them to provide details about the total expenditure incurred, the names of the officers and persons who authorized the release of the advertisements and the names and addresses of the organization that published the advertisements.

A communique was sent to cabinet secretary, secretary, ministry of youth affairs and sports and chief secretary of NCT Delhi in this regard.

The commission has further directed that the total cost of the advertisements should be recovered from the personal accounts of the officers or persons responsible for the release or publication of the advertisements.

The advertisement enumerates the achievements of the Centre and the Delhi government, regarding the development works carried out in the Capital, including 24 flyovers, 75 aerobridge airport, 1,285 km of better roads, 5000 low-floor buses, and did not mention the authority that had authorised its issue. 

New Delhi, March 7
The Delhi unit of the BJP has prepared a list of its candidates for seven parliamentary seats of Delhi and will submit it to its central election committee of the party very soon, sources said.

Though senior leaders of the party have refused to disclose the names of candidates given in the list, sources said that the leader of opposition in Delhi assembly could contest from New Delhi constituency, Vijay Goel from Chandni Chowk, Harsh Vardhan or B. L. Sharma from North-East, Kirti Azad from North, Parvesh Verma from West Delhi, Ramesh Bidhuri from South Delhi and Anita Arya or Meera Kanwaria from North-West.

The sources said that a few days back, a group of senior leaders of the BJP pressurised V. K. Malhotra to contest from New Delhi because after delimitation the equation of voters has changed in the constituency. Earlier, it was known as a constituency of government officials and employees. But with the addition of various areas of South Delhi like Greater Kailash, Kailash Colony, Garhi, Lajpat Nagar, Malviya Nagar, Safdarjung Enclave, R. K. Puram, etc it has become a Punjabi-dominated constituency. All the new areas added to the constituency were always known as RSS vote bank. They had always voted in favour of the BJP candidates in the past.

As far as Chandni Chowk is concerned, it was earlier known as Muslim-dominated constituency. But after the delimitation, Muslim voters are in minority. With inclusion of other areas, the BJP has bright chance to win the seat.

Vijay Goel is being pressurised to contest from Chandni Chowk as he has his base there. He can give a tough fight to the rival candidate, sources said.

South Delhi is a Gujjar-dominated constituency and after the demise of former union minister Sahib Singh Chauhan, the party does not have any towering Gujjar leader. Being a senior MLA in Delhi assembly, Ramesh Bidhuri’s name is mentioned in the political circle for the constituency.

The sources said that he might dent the Congress vote bank in the village-dominated constituency. Ramesh Bidhuri is BJP MLA from Tughlakabad assembly constituency.

Names of two women leaders—Anita Arya, a former MP and Meera Kanwaria—have been given for North-West which is a reserved constituency. The final decision will be taken by the party high command, the sources said.

New Delhi, March 7
The Congress party today denied that it was thinking of giving tickets to filmstars or celebrities in Delhi for the coming Lok Sabha elections.

“We are not planning to give tickets to anyone outside Delhi in the elections. We have strong backing and good number of leaders who are not only experienced but are also related to the Capital and have played an important role in its development,” said JP Aggrawal, president, Delhi Pradesh Congress Committee.

He said that the final decision on candidates will be done in the committee’s screening meeting which has specially been called for the purpose. The meeting will decide about the candidates for the seven Lok Sabha constituencies in Delhi. The meeting will be presided by J.P. Aggrawal, Sheila Dikshit and Mukul Chaturvedi.

However, on the other side, the BJP is likely to announce its candidates on Monday, said a senior BJP leader. The party will hold its parliamentary meeting on Monday. It will decide upon the list of candidates sent by senior leaders from Delhi, which also include the names of celebrities, he said.

The BJP list of candidates is expected to be inclusive of names like Hema Malini, Kirti Azad, Jagmohan and Dr J.K. Jain. Some BJP leaders have also expressed their willingness to contest from new constituencies rather than old ones. 

Greater Noida, March 6
The railway freight corridor project being set up with Japanese aid is all set for an early start, said Greater Noida Authority CEO Pankaj Aggarwal who has just returned from Japan.

The freight corridor from Dadri to Mumbai has also been approved in the railway budget.

The freight corridor will connect Dadri to Jawaharlal Nehru Post Trust in Mumbai via New Delhi and Gujarat.

Aggarwal along with a 15-member delegation had a detailed discussion with the Japanese authorities on the railway corridor from Dadri to Mumbai.

Apart from this, an eastern freight corridor to connect Ludhiana in Punjab to Kolkata is also being worked upon. The work on this started in Bihar on February 10 this year.

This railway freight corridor will pass through Ludhiana, Ambala, Saharanpur, Meerut, Hapur, Dadri, Khurja, Aligarh, Etawa, Kanpur, Allahabad, Mughalsarai (Bihar) and Jharkhand to Dankuni in West Bengal.

The eastern corridor and the western corridor will meet at Dadri. A junction will be built at Dadri. These trains are expected to run at 160-km/hour. 

Gurgaon, March 7
Call it a khaki blunder or simply a case of cops’ over-enthusiasm, but the wrongful blacklisting of a security agency has left the Gurgaon police authorities red-faced.

Officials of 24 Guarding Pvt Ltd, which operates under the brand name Secure 24, have asserted that their firm had been wrongly blacklisted by the police.

“Our agency was held responsible for failing to check the incidents of crime in Palam Vihar between March 1, 2008 and February 28, 2009, although we have been engaged for the job only a few days ago,” said Brig (retd) V.S.Sankhla, president, 24 Secure, and Major (retd) Sharmista Debnath, GM (HR and communications), Vision Group, while addressing a press conference here today.

Representatives and promoters of Secure 24 said they were not even consulted before taking the decision. They said after the firm was blacklisted, they met police commissioner Surjeet Singh Deswal and apprised him of the fact.

“We asked the police authorities how could we be held responsible for the crimes which took place before we were employed in Palam Vihar,” they maintained.

Meanwhile, the Gurgaon police authorities have admitted that a faux pas had been committed and apologised for it.

At a hurriedly convened press conference at the local police headquarters, DCP (Gurgaon-West) Rakesh Arya said the firm 24 Guarding Pvt Ltd had been blacklisted wrongly.

“The firm management gave a representation to the police commissioner, following which the matter was re-examined and the lapse detected,” Arya said.

The DCP said it was found that two other security agencies, Black Angels and Skylark, were engaged in Palam Vihar during the time period in which large number of crime incidents were reported from the area.

“In light of the facts, now Black Angels and Skylark security agencies have been blacklisted,” he maintained.

We were not consulted: RWA

Aggravating the embarrassment caused to the Gurgaon police in the matter, the Palam Vihar Residents Welfare Association has said even they were not consulted before taking the decision of blacklisting the security firm.

“The police authorities did not bother to take our opinion or even inform us before blacklisting the security agency,” said Rohtas Janghu the president of the association, while talking to The Tribune here today.

He revealed that the services of the security firms previously engaged, Black Angels and Skylark, had been discontinued by the Ansals Group on their recommendation.

This leaves the police authorities, who were claiming that the decision had been taken after consultation with the RWA, with hardly any plausible reply to save their face.

New Delhi, March 7
Delhi University is all set to have an incident-free Holi. The varsity has made elaborate arrangements to ensure that the campus has no instance of hooliganism at Holi and the week before it.

The university has already initiated steps to ensure elaborate internal and external security arrangements on campus and its affiliated colleges to combat any act of hooliganism, particularly targeted against women students.

In coordination with some voluntary organizations, the university's proctorial staff and security personnel, the varsity is determined to take disciplinary action against those indulging in any disturbance during Holi.

The university authorities warn that anyone who causes harassment of any kind would be subject to strict disciplinary action under the provision of University Ordinances XV-B and XV-C. Law-enforcing agencies have been asked to maintain constant vigil and prevent any act of rowdyism. The DTC crew has been instructed to take the buses to the nearest police station in the event of any disturbance in a bus or drive the bus with lights on so that the nearest PCR van may intercept such a bus and take action.

Many additional measures have been taken by the university authorities like playing of Holi during the working hours would not be permitted in any educational institution; the entry to colleges would be through identity cards. Chowkidars will man the gates to check ID cards.

All university students are asked to celebrate Holi in a dignified manner. The Delhi police has assured the university of full cooperation in maintaining law and order. Police force is being deployed at various strategic positions around the colleges. Patrol squads are also being deployed.

Student volunteers will also assist the authorities in maintaining discipline in buses. A special check on the entry of guests in the hostels will be made to prevent any outsider from coming to hostels. A control room, jointly manned by the Delhi police, the DTC and the university authorities at 16 Chhatra Marg on the main campus, would function to deal with any untoward incident. Its telephone number is 27667221. Similarly, on the South Delhi campus, the office of the deputy dean, Students' Welfare, would function to check any untoward incident and its telephone number is 24119832.

New Delhi, March 7
Assuring safety to students and staff of its schools, the New Delhi Municipal Council (NDMC) is equipping its Navyug schools with latest fire-fighting technology.

The council is also intending to get its own Disaster Management Centre for the New Delhi area.

“NDMC schools are being upgraded with regard to their fire safety requirements. The work is likely to be completed by the end of this month,” said an NDMC fire official.

As a step towards standardisation, the ISI certified fire extinguishers of different type have been provided in all NDMC buildings. “We are providing latest fire fighting technology in high rise buildings of the area. Nineteen fire control rooms have also been established to give effective safety cover to the lives and property,” said fire official.

Nineteen control rooms have been established in municipal buildings, including Palika Bazar, Palika Kendra, Pragati Maidan, Mohan Singh Place, Yashwant Place, Chanakya Bhawan and Shivaji Stadium.

“The control rooms are manned round the clock by trained personnel to tackle any untoward incident,” said NDMC fire official.

One of the latest addition in the department is one portable high pressure fire pump fitted on Tata 407 vehicle which can be put in use in any emergency in NDMC area as well as to assist the Delhi fire service for other areas.

“We intend to establish a disaster management centre in the New Delhi area. The land and development ministry has already been requested for allotment of land. A disaster response vehicle equipped with latest fire-fighting technology and apparatus is being procured.”

The council has already received a no objection certificate from Delhi Fire Services for its fire prevention and safety measures, which were completed in the diagnostic centre, Kitchner road.

“We have started capacity building programmes that provide special training for staff in rescue, fire fighting and communication by National Civil Defence College. Commando training for firemen with assistance of Delhi police is also proposed to be undertaken,” said the NDMC official. 

Gurgaon, March 7
Most of the infrastructure projects for the Commonwealth Games 2010 will be completed by December this year. The under-construction flyover leading to the airport will also be finished by April.

This was announced by Rakesh Mehta, chief secretary, government of NCT of Delhi today. He said that 120 infrastructure projects are being constantly monitored by the government to ensure timely completion and an efficiency rate of 15 per cent per month has been maintained for the completion of Commonwealth Games related projects.

Mehta was speaking at a panel discussion on ‘Delhi & Haryana: Agenda for Partnerships Focus: Commonwealth Games 2010’, organised by the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) and Young Indians (Yi) today.

The discussion highlighted need for integrating the citizens with the preparations for the Games. It also tried to address lack of clarity amongst people at large on whether Delhi will be able to host the Games.

Echoing optimism, V .K. Verma, director general, Commonwealth Games Secretariat, said, “The Games will help in projecting the intrinsic worth of Delhi to a 71-country member platform.

Sarban Singh, financial commissioner & principal secretary (sports and youth affairs), government of Haryana mentioned, “Haryana extends full support to Delhi in offering efficient transportation, effective security measures, availability of water and power services. On accommodation front, Haryana is dedicated to provide 7,000 rooms during the Games.”

Samir Mathur, financial commissioner & principal secretary – transport and civil aviation, government of Haryana, retreated, “Legal framework for a seamless connectivity between Delhi and NCR has been successfully formulated. Besides road and rail connectivity, we understand that aviation will be a key transportation mode during the Games,” and added that to this regard the Government of Haryana has proposed setting up two heliports for efficient visitor travel management during the Games and afterwards.

Vishva Mohan, joint commissioner (transport), Delhi government, highlighted that 11,000 busses will be accommodated in the Capital to deal with the issue of transportation during the course of time. He stated that parking lots are also underway at micro and macro level. 

Gurgaon, March 7
The millennium city will get a helipad of its own before the Commonwealth Games. This was stated by principal secretary, Transport and Civil Aviation, Haryana, Samir Mathur. He was here to attend the panel discussion on ‘Delhi and Haryana: Agenda for Partnerships Focus, today.

Mathur said it was the ministry of civil aviation which had surveyed as to how they would check the traffic problem during the Commonwealth Games. To avoid chaos on road, they had decided to use helicopter and thus recommended it to the Haryana government.

“The ministry required the facility somewhere near Delhi, so they decided to set up the structure in Gurgaon,” Mathur retreated.

While talking to The Tribune, he said, “The facility will be provided by Pawan Hans Helicopters Limited. They have even offered two sites–one in Sohna and the other near NH8,” he said and added that it would be decided later as to how many ports were required.

The route will be connected to Hisar, Pinjore, Karnal, Narnol and Bhiwani as they already have airfields and the infrastructure there will also be enhanced.

Mathur affirmed, “There will be no traffic chaos in the sky as helicopters don’t take much space.”

New Delhi, March 7
The Delhi police has prepared a sketch of the youth who had threatened defence minister A.K. Antony’s younger son Ajit Paul yesterday in a washroom of St Stephen’s College here.

Paul, a student of BA II year at St Stephen’s College, has stated in his complaint that the person had even threatened to blow the college.

Meanwhile, security has been tightened in the college. Officials at Maurice Nagar police station said four youths have been rounded up and their antecedents are being checked.

A police Gypsy was stationed at the college entrance gate today and students were allowed in only after producing their ID cards. Policemen in plain clothes were also deployed around the college.

Sources at the Delhi police headquarters informed that Paul’s security was being reviewed. He is likely to get more security.

It may be recalled that a case was registered under Section-341 (wrongful restraint) and 506 (criminal intimidation) at Maurice Nagar police station in North Delhi. 

New Delhi, March 7
The PCR vehicles had carried over 17,560 accident victims to the city hospitals last year. Thus, saving the lives and the pains of many.

Keeping this in mind, the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) doctors are training the PCR staff in basic skills of life-saving. The vans will be equipped with all medical facilities.

This training programme by NGO Savelife Foundation will run for eight weeks. It aims to train at least 2,000 PCR staff.

Founder of Savelife Foundation Piyush Tewari informed the PCR staff is being trained by AIIMS trauma specialists. If policemen learn a bit of doctors’ skills, chances of victims’ survival will increase greatly.

“PCR vans are the first to reach at the scene of road accidents. They render the largest ambulance service in the city. More accidents victims are brought in by PCR vans than by any other means. Therefore, a well-trained PCR staff can enhance the chances of a victim’s survival significantly,” affirmed Tewari.

Over 1,981 people died in accidents in the national capital last year.

According to doctors at AIIMS, the training will focus on how to safely transport a critically injured person to a hospital. If the staff handling a victim is aware of how to lift the patient, stop external bleeding and make airways possible in case of head injury, many more lives can be saved.

Meanwhile, the Delhi police wants all its men to be trained in these skills before the Commonwealth Games start the next year. “It is a good move and we should be thankful to the AIIMS for it. Besides helping the people on road, these skills can help our families too,” said a PCR official. 

New Delhi, March 7
Two youths were shot at and critically injured by two assailants after a heated exchange of words at a restaurant at Najafgarh in Southwest Delhi last midnight.

The youths— Dinesh and Suresh— were having dinner at Sangam restaurant in Dinpur at around 11.30 pm when two other youths came there. According to the proprietor of the restaurant, a heated exchange ensued between the two sides, following which the assailants pulled out a gun and shot at Dinesh and Suresh. After the firing, the assailants fled from the spot in a car. The staff of the restaurant failed to note down the number of the car.

The injured duo, reportedly drunk, was admitted to Deen Dayal Upadhyay Hospital, where their condition was stated to be serious. “There condition is serious and are not in a position to give statement. Only when they recover would we know the cause of conflict,” said a police official.

Meanwhile, the police has recorded the statement of the staff at Sangam restaurant. According to police officials, they could not throw much light on the cause of shooting. “Nobody paid attention to their talks as the staff assumed they were friends and were under the influence of alcohol. The staff got to know about the fight only when the assailants fired,” said an official close to investigation.

It is being suspected that the two sides had an old enmity or the crime took place due to some land dispute. 

Faridabad, March 7
Three persons seated in a Maruti car opened fired on an employee of a private firm in an attempt to snatch a bag of money from him, but failed.

The victim, an employee of a company located in Palli Crusher Zone, had come to Sector 15 here to collect Rs 50,000 from a client of his firm. He was on a motorcycle.

As soon as he collected the money and left the place, he was attacked by three persons in car.

The victim tried to flee but was pursued by the criminals. When he resisted their attempt, the criminals fired about three rounds at him.

Listening to the sound of gunshots and commotion, residents of the area came out of their houses. Sensing alarm, the criminals fled from the scene.

The employee, who was bleeding profusely, was rushed to Escorts Fortis Hospital by the residents of the area. He is said to be out of danger now.

Such attacks by criminals on persons carrying money has become a recurring feature in this city.

The police has registered a case in the matter and several teams have been formed to follow it up and nab the criminals.

New Delhi, March 7
A middle-aged man committed suicide by jumping in front of a Delhi Metro train at Chawri Bazaar Metro Station this morning leading to disruption of services on the route for about 40 minutes.

According to information, the man jumped in front of the Metro train as it was chugging slowly on to the platform around 8.16 a.m. Although the driver applied emergency brakes, the man was too close to the train.

According to Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) spokesperson Anuj Dayal, the identity of the man could not be known till late evening. As a result of the death and police formalities involving such cases, the Metro services on the route remain disrupted for about an hour causing inconvenience to thousands of office goers.“It took us some time to remove the body from the tracks so services were disrupted on the Central Secretariat-Jehangirpuri route for some time,” Dayal said.

According to police, they have not recovered anything that could reveal the identity of the deceased. Police has recovered Rs 51 in cash and Metro train token of Rs 6 from the pocket of the deceased.

The police has not been approached by anybody regarding the death of the man. “He must be in the age group of 50 to 55 and was wearing brown pants and check shirt with a sweater. By his clothes and looks, he seems to be from a lower middle class family,” said a policeman from Kashmiri Gate Metro police station investigating the case.

He revealed that although the hands and other parts of the body were cut, the face of the deceased was not disfigured. The police has sent the body to Maulana Azad Medical College for sewing the body parts and postmortem .

Noida, March 7
Two men were killed and another was seriously injured when an out-of-control dumper crushed a car coming from opposite direction near Mamura crossing in Noida’s Sector 62.

The two men, who were in the car, were crushed under the wheels of the dumper as it rolled over the car.

The driver of the car was rushed to nearby Fortis Hospital, where he was stated to be in a critical condition. The police is trying to trace the absconding dumper driver.

The tragic incident took place at 9.30 pm on Friday. Rajpal (42), Ghabra (25) and Rajinder (27), all residents of Sorkha village, were going home from Model Town in Santro car. A speeding dumper coming from the opposite direction collided with the car.

The collision was so severe that the dumper’s wheel had got lodged over the car crushing Ghabra and Jatinder inside the car. They died on the spot, while Rajpal was rushed to the hospital.

The car was torn to shreds and the police had to struggle to take the bodies out.