New Delhi, March 21
With three deaths last night, the toll due to hooch at Brahmpuri Colony in Sagarpur of South West Delhi has reached 12.

Acting tough, DCP (South West) K. Jagdishan today suspended seven policemen, including the SHO of Dabri police station. Besides the SHO, one sub-inspector, one assistant sub-inspector, one head constable and three constables have been suspended.

The suspension has come a week after Sagarpur residents alleged that spurious liquor was being sold in the area with the police’s connivance.

According to the residents, 12 persons have died after consuming spurious liquor since Monday night.

The victims who died yesterday have been identified as Lakshman, Deepak and Rajendra. The victims hailed from Bihar and worked in the city as labourers.

Sources said after consuming spurious liquor they complained of stomachache and started vomiting. They were taken to a hospital where they were declared brought dead.

The deaths have made the crime branch probe the matter. It has raided several liquor joints and picked samples.

Delhi finance minister A.K. Walia has also ordered an inquiry into the incident.

New Delhi, March 21
Four suicides were reported in the capital today. Those who killed themselves included an HIV positive man and a jilted lover, the police said.

Viresh, 24, committed suicide by jumping from the fourth floor of Lok Nayak Jaiprakash Narain Hospital. According to the police, Viresh was HIV positive and had been diagnosed with hepatitis-B a few days back. He was acutely depressed about his condition, a relative told the police.

A 27-year-old man, after being spurned by his girlfriend, committed suicide by shooting himself in Mayapuri area.

“Jasbir was living with his friend Mukesh. Today (Saturday), Jasbir shot himself in the head with Mukesh’s pistol. Hearing the gun shot Mukesh came out of the bathroom and found Jasbir lying dead,” a police official said.

“We have recovered a suicide note. In the note Jasbir has written that he had relations with a girl but she got married to another man a month ago. After her marriage Jasbir was under acute depression,” the official said.

In another case, a man and his lover set themselves on fire in Mukherjee Nagar area of north Delhi. The man succumbed to his burns while the woman is in Sunder Lal Jain Hospital fighting for her life.

“Amit, 24, had developed relations with Mamta, 23, who works as a teacher with a private school. Mamta came to his home and the duo set themselves on fire. The reason behind the incident is not clear as Mamta is not fit for recording a statement,” Deputy Commissioner of Police (North-West) N.S. Bundela said.

Meanwhile, in another incident a 45-year-old widow committed suicide by setting herself on fire in Palam area.

Sumitra, was living with her two sons and was mentally ill, the police said. — IANS

New Delhi, March 21
West Delhi, a newly constituted constituency, consists of 71.13 per cent area of the erstwhile Outer Delhi and 28.87 per cent of South Delhi. Thus, it has become difficult for each party to decide a candidate that holds a strong position in both urban and rural vote banks of this Lok Sabha seat.

West Delhi, the second seat carved out of Outer Delhi, apart from South Delhi and North-West Delhi, has around 16,38,840 voters. It has had Rajouri Garden, Hari Nagar, Tilak Nagar, Dwarka, Janak Puri, Uttam Nagar, Vikas Puri, Matiala, Najafgarh and Madipur assembly segments added to it.

West Delhi constituency comprises four assembly seats from the erstwhile South Delhi and six from Outer Delhi.

Whereas the Outer Delhi gives West Delhi a significant component of Jat and rural vote banks, there exists a strong base of Punjabi and Sikh voters in Rajouri Garden (1,33,476 voters), Hari Nagar (1,43,104 voters) and Janak Puri (1,44,614 voters)—taken largely from South Delhi.

According to the castewise break-up of the MLAs in the constituency, out of 10, three are represented by Jats in Najafgarh, Matiala and Vikaspuri, two Brahmin MLAs in Uttam Nagar and Dwarka, two Punjabi MLAs in Janak Puri and Tilak Nagar, a Sikh represents Hari Nagar, one Gujjar MLA from Rajouri Garden and a scheduled caste MLA represents Madipur.

The OBCs are dominant with 20.58 per cent, but their vote bank is not considered secured as it gets divided. The same is with scheduled caste with 12.62 per cent.

In such a scenario, Jat (8.57 per cent), Brahmin (9.46 per cent) Punjabi (13.30 per cent) and Sikh (9.23 per cent) are strong contenders.

Poll managers say that a major part of the constituency— the Outer Delhi area is considered to be Jat-dominated which could favour a Jat candidate.

On the other hand, Pandit votes also count. So it is quite tough for the parties to understand the political scenario and conquer the vote bank.

Four assembly seats of West Delhi–Janak Puri, Hari Nagar, Tilak Nagar and Rajouri Garden were part of the South Delhi seat prior to delimitation. Advocate R.K. Anand, who contested on the Congress ticket last time, is quite keen this time also for a ticket from the constituency.

New Delhi, March 21
The people from Bihar and Eastern UP, known as Poorvanchalis, are angry with the BJP as none of them has been given ticket for the Lok Sabha seats.

The influential Poorvanchali party workers decisively sided with the Congress in the assembly polls and are again expected to play a crucial role in the outcome of the parliamentary elections in the Capital. The BJP has cleared its list of candidates for seven Delhi Lok Sabha seats without the party considering any name from among the Poorvanchali leaders, which has led to dissent in the party workers from the region.

“Not only Poorvanchalis, even the Garhwalis from Uttaranchal have sizeable population in Delhi but continue to be ignored by the BJP in giving representation to them in distribution of tickets. The people from the two regions have more than 35 lakh voters in the Capital and can decide the fortune of the winning candidates. We are raising the issue within the party forum,” said a senior state Poorvanchali BJP leader.

The Delhi unit of the BJP is facing disagreement among its workers for ignoring both Lal Bahadur Tiwari, a former East Delhi MP, and cricketer-turned-politician Kirti Azad from its list of probable candidates for Lok Sabha polls.

“The BJP has refused to come out of its old-fashioned mindset of banking upon Punjabi and Baniya support base. The demography of the capital city has much changed over the decades, but the party is far from giving representations to the leaders having support base in the changed population of the constituencies,” said the BJP leader.

The Poorvanchali BJP leaders were staking claims on the East Delhi and North-east Delhi Lok Sabha seats given their larger concentration in these areas. “The BJP had lost heavily in these areas in the last year’s assembly polls, with the voters siding with the Congress overwhelmingly due to the state Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit’s image of a Poorvanchali leader,” said the BJP leader.

New Delhi, March 21
Senior Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader L.K. Advani on Saturday met the poverty stricken seven-member family that on Wednesday attempted suicide in the national capital.

Due to financial problems, Satish Jain, who is a resident of Chander Nagar in the Keshav Puram area in Northwest Delhi, had attempted suicide along with his wife and five minor daughters. They were admitted to Bhagvan Mahavir Hospital.

While Satish is still in a critical condition, his wife Sarita and daughters are out of danger.

“We have heard about debt-ridden kisans (farmers) committing suicide in rural areas. But I am shocked to know that a debt-ridden family in the nation’s Capital attempted collective suicide. This is symptomatic of the effect of the current economic crisis on various sections of society,” Advani said after meeting the family at the hospital.

“A girl child is considered a burden in our male-dominated society. It is equally the responsibility of the government to share the burden of educating girls,” Advani observed.

“It is for this reason that I have recently announced, that a future NDA government, if elected, would implement the Ladli Laxmi Yojana all over the country,” he added.

On Tuesday, Advani had announced the Ladli Laxmi Yojana in every state to support the girl child if voted to power. Under this social security scheme, which is currently being run by the BJP government in Madhya Pradesh, the government buys savings certificates in the name of every new-born girl child.

The girl not only receives regular installments during the course of her school education, but also gets a lumpsum amount of Rs 1,18,000 after the completion of Class 12.

Advani, who is also the prime ministerial candidate of the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA), said, “While continuing with the existing reservations for the SCs, STs and OBCs, our government would also bring the benefits of reservations for the poor among other sections of society. The tragedy of Satish Jain’s family has underscored this point as well.” — IANS

New Delhi, March 21
Former Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee today underwent a regular health check-up at All India Institutes of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) here.

According to AIIMS medical superintendent DK Sharma, the BJP patriarch, 84, was admitted to the premier health institute last night. Sharma said Vajpayee might get discharged tomorrow.

Earlier, Vajpayee was admitted to AIIMS on February 3 after he complained of chest congestion and breathing trouble. He was discharged on March 1.

New Delhi, March 21
Students of Class XII of Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) today were not satisfied with the mathematics paper. Many found it easy but lengthy.

“The paper was easy but lengthy and I was not able to finish it. I left a five mark question as I could not get the time to solve it,” said Arpit Aggarwal, a Class XII student of Bal Bhawan, Laxmi Nagar, in East Delhi.

Another student, Rakshit Gupta, said, “The paper was easy and most of questions were from the textbook. However, questions were time-taking though I managed to finish it completely.”

This year over 1.45 million students are sitting for the board examinations in over 5,000 centres across the country and abroad. Of them, 8,24,438 students are Class X students and 6,37,578 students are of Class XII.

According to CBSE counsellors, this year most of the CBSE papers were lengthy. “This was a general trend this year as even physics and accountancy paper were lengthy. I spoke to a few students and they found it easy and lengthy,” said counsellor Geetanjali Kumar. — IANS

New Delhi, March 21
Intricate chikankari, zardozi, muqaish and tukdi - it is such traditional crafts and embroideries of the Awadh region that Lucknow-based designer Asma Hussain is reviving through her modern motifs and western silhouettes as well as by way of creating job opportunities for skilled artisans.

Hussain, who made her debut at the ongoing autumn-winter edition of India’s premier fashion event - the Wills Lifestyle India Fashion Week (WIFW) - by putting up a stall, has been engaged in Awadh’s craft revival for nearly two decades.

“Over the years, the authenticity of the traditional crafts of Awadh and Lucknow has been diminishing. I have been trying to revive it all by giving it an international look while retaining the essence and elegance of the art form,” said Hussain.

What impresses most about the Lucknavi embroideries is their simplicity.

“The beauty of the Lucknavi art comes from the fact that it is so fine and rich, very subtle and sophisticated and not at all shiny. No matter how much work and embroidery a piece of cloth has, it never takes over the garment. It’s very elegant,” she averred.

People are used to buying Indian salwar-kameezs, saris and kurtis with chikan work or zardozi, but Hussain has used the embroideries on short shift dresses to suit modern and international sensibilities.

“We know that we have certain fixed clients here since sari is the staple clothing of India, but we wanted to cater to the international market as well. So we have experimented with dresses with flowing silhouettes in varied colours to match the Bohemian-Russian style.

“For this, we have used chikan embroidery on the belt to give the Lucknavi feel. We have also done up scarves to go with the dresses to give them an English feel - so that makes the outfits trendy as well,” Hussain said.

Though Hussain never got a chance to spend her childhood in Lucknow due to her father’s transferable job, she was always enchanted by the crafts of the city, thanks to the antique heirloom and jewellery she inherited from her grandmother.

“My grandmother was the direct descendant of Bahu Begum, who was the wife of Shuja-ud-Daula (who in 1757 lost the battle of Plassey to Robert Clive of the British East India Company). So, my grandmother knew a lot about those days of royal heritage and since I had a passion for art, I thought I should carry forward the craftsmanship of her times that was fast diminishing,” Hussain explained.

The designer’s sheer love for the art form is evident from the way she has preserved her ancestor’s 80-year-old wedding dress that she has put up at her stall at WIFW. It is a traditional silk brocade gharara (wide pants that look like a lehenga) with tukdi work on the border below teamed with a short blouse and a transparent longer top with zardozi brocade work. — IANS

New Delhi, March 21
The capital will be treated to a fusion of traditional Japanese music, pop-inflected Western idioms and electronic wizardry as Grammy and Golden Globe winner Kitaro brings his Love and Peace World Tour 2009 to India.

One of the world’s leading new-age musicians and composers, Kitaro plays 17 instruments, including the sitar, tambura, sarangi and tabla. He won a Golden Globe for his music in Oliver Stone’s 1993 film ‘Heaven on Earth’ and bagged a Grammy for his new-age music album ‘Thinking of You’ in 2000.

The US-based musician of Japanese origin last visited Delhi nearly 17 years ago. He came here from Bhutan, performed at two live concerts and then toured other places in the country.

The 56-year-old musician will perform at the Ashok Hotel here on Sunday and Monday. The concert will open with a 30-minute solo gig by sitar-funk artist Niladri Kumar, who plays the sitar with guitar strings, followed by an hour of performance by the maestro himself. — IANS

New Delhi, March 21
An assistant sub-inspector (ASI) of the Delhi police was today suspended and arrested for allegedly trying to rape a woman in Sector 4 of Rohini in Northwest Delhi last night.

The ASI, Vedpal, posted with Vijay Nagar police station, allegedly tried to rape the victim when he went to her house to take her statement in connection with a case.

According to information, the officer had gone to the woman’s residence after he was informed that she and her brother had clashed with some of their neighbours last night. The matter was sorted out after the police reached there.

However, according to reports and statement given by the woman, ASI Vedpal again went to her house around 12 in the night. On seeing her alone in the house, he tried to bolt the door and rape her. But she shouted for help and hearing her cries, neighbours reached there and caught the ASI.

A formal complaint in this regard was lodged by the woman following which Vedpal has been arrested. The ASI was arrested under Section 354(attempt to rape) of the IPC and has been suspended on the orders of the area DCP.

New Delhi, March 21
The South Delhi police today arrested a person allegedly involved in human trafficking. He took Rs 10 lakh from the complainant on the promise of sending him to England.

Ravi Kalra (40) was arrested by the Chanakyapuri police station sleuths on the complaint of one Nassir Hussain.

According to information, Ravi had assured Nassir of arranging him a visa for England on the payment of Rs 10 lakh.

When Nassir paid him the money in December last year, Ravi got a visa stamped for Namibia (Africa) and assured him that his man there would send him to Europe. However, Ravi’s man could not arrange a visa for England and Nassir was arrested in Namibia after his visa expired. After months of trial, Nassir returned to India few days ago and demanded his money back. On refusal, he filed a complaint in this regard with the Chanakyapuri police station.