New Delhi, April 11
The central election committee of the Congress has discussed the names of two Muslim leaders for the North East Delhi parliamentary seat. The move follows Shahi Imam Syed Ahmed Bukhari’s Friday’s speech, in which he had alleged that political parties had discriminated against Muslim leaders while distributing tickets.

According to sources, Congress’s central election committee today called the chairman of the Delhi Minorities Commission Kamal Faruqui to discuss the issue, as he is one of the leaders in the race for ticket from the North East seat.

Apart from him, three other Muslim leaders– Seelampur MLA Mateen Ahmed, Mustafabad MLA Hasan Ahmed and chairman of the All India Minorities Department of the All India Congress Committee (AICC) Imran Kidwai—are in the race for ticket. In addition to these four Muslim leaders, two non-Muslim leaders– DPCC president Jaiprakash Agarwal and Narender Nath are also in the race.

According to sources, in all likelihood the party will choose a Muslim candidate as the constituency has a large number of Muslim voters.

Among the Muslim candidates, Mateen Ahmed has the strongest claim, as he is comparatively more popular in the constituency. He has a reputation of a secular leader as he participates in religious functions of all the communities, said sources.

New Delhi, April 11
Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) candidate from North East Delhi B.L. Sharma ‘Prem’ (79) today filed his nomination papers at 11:15 a.m. before returning officer T.C. Nakh at Nand Nagri here.

It was the first day of filing nominations for the forthcoming Lok Sabha elections.

Nearly 500 supporters accompanied Prem. They remained about 1 km away from the deputy commissioner’s office. Delhi BJP president O.P. Kohli, North East Delhi poll in-charge and Ghonda MLA Sahab Singh Chauhan, Babarpur MLA Naresh Gaur, Karawal Nagar MLA Mohan Singh Bisht and Burari MLA Srikrishna Tyagi accompanied Prem to the deputy commissioner’s office.

Prem declared in his affidavit that he has a 22-yard house and gets two pensions amounting to nearly Rs 17,000 per month. These include the one he draws as a retired government employee and the other as a former parliamentarian. Besides, he possesses a German revolver. But he does not have any vehicle.

The saffron party’s dummy candidate for the seat, Sahab Singh, said the party had decided his name as a substitute in case Prem’s candidature fails to pass the Election Commission’s scrutiny.

He said, “Following the model code of conduct, Prem reached the deputy commissioner’s office in an open gypsy with his wife Krishna Sharma.”

Prem bubbling with robust spirits said, “I started the day with the blessings of five scholars (pandits) and panch pyaras (Khalsas). I believe in ‘Karmanya badhikariste ma faleshu kadachana’. Therefore, I am not worried about the results. I can easily connect with people.”

Prem’s optimism stems from the fact that the former Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) leader has won the Lok Sabha elections twice. He had defeated Congress’ H.K.L Bhagat and Deep Chand Bandhu in 1991 and 1996, respectively. He, however, resigned from the Sangh parivaar in 1997.

In fact, it is Prem’s taintless image that the BJP hopes to cash upon. While on the other side, the Congress is yet to name a replacement for Jagdish Tytler for North East Delhi seat.

Apart from Prem, Rashtravadi Janata Party’s Leela Devi, Desh Bhakt Party’s Maharaj Kumar and Narendra Pal Kashyap who is contesting the poll as an independent, filed their nominations from Chandni Chowk, New Delhi and North West Delhi constituencies respectively.

While two BJP candidates Divya Jaiswal and his covering candidate Uma Gangwar filed nominations for by-elections for Rohtas Nagar assembly segment, which has been lying vacant after the mysterious death of former DPCC president Rambabu Sharma.

After the filing of nominations end on April 18, candidatures of all nominees would pass a scrutiny test on April 20. The candidates can withdraw their nominations till April 22.

Gurgaon, April 11
With electioneering in full swing, politicians have started to shift loyalties and speculation market is likely to get hot in the coming days.

INLD suffered a jolt when its southern Haryana in-charge and state general secretary joined Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP). Surjit Singh, ex-chairman, Cooperative Bank, Gurgaon and till recently state general secretary, INLD, and in-charge of southern Haryana, joined the BSP along with his wife Shiksha Yadav, former chairman of Zila Parishad (Gurgaon and Mewat), general secretary, Women’s Wing, INLD, Haryana yesterday.

This is a major blow to the INLD that has been struggling to find leaders from the Yadav community. INLD has only two other leaders from the Yadav community with respectable base, namely Rao Ajit Singh and Jagdish Yadav.

The move of the couple has caused tremors in the camp of all the three Yadav leaders contesting from the Gurgaon parliamentary constituency.

Congress has fielded MP from Mohendragarh constituency, Rao Inderjeet Singh whereas BJP had fielded Sudha Yadav, ex-MP and Haryana Janhit Congress has fielded Rao Narbir Singh from Gurgaon. BSP has adopted its formula of social engineering and given the ticket to Zakir Hussain. With the three Yadav candidates and BSP still managing to woo two top INLD Yadav leaders, the move has created a sense of uncertainty in the opposite party camps.

Based on the caste and community pattern, Hussain has an advantage over other opponents. He is a lone Meo-Muslim candidate and the voters of Meo-Muslim community are around one and a half times the Yadav voters. Ahir votes are likely to split between the three candidates and the crucial part would be how other communities vote.

The SC community also holds substantial portion of voters and is likely to vote for BSP. However, it is unclear where Jats, Gujjars and Rajputs would vote.

Jats have three options: to vote for Congress considering Bhupender Singh Hooda as Chief Minister, similarly they can vote for BJP as it is in alliance with INLD whose supremo is O.P.Chautala or it could be Zakir Hussain, as Jats and Yadavs are not on friendly terms in the state.

Gujjars are opposed to BJP because of their agitation in Rajasthan and again have the option of voting for three other candidates. Gujjar versus Ahir contest has been violent in the past, especially in Sohna assembly segment. However it remains to be seen as to what line they take. Rajputs are pro-BJP because of its national president Rajnath Singh, though they have the option of voting on the local issues too.

Result of the election will be known only on May 16, but the manoeuvres of smaller leaders have made the speculation market quite hot. 

New Delhi, April 11
Congress candidate from West Delhi parliamentary constituency Mahabal Mishra has launched his website that will also show the scores of the IPL T-20 matches to be played in South Africa from April 18.

The website, www.mahabalmishra.in, provides a comprehensive detail about Mishra, his vision and development works done by him.

Mishra, who launched his website and blog on Wednesday with an aim to reach out to the young voters, expressed that the web was emerging as a vital tool to connect with a large number of voters, especially youngsters.

“Judicious mix of new age media with conventional platforms will provide a cutting edge to my campaign,” said Mishra, adding that it would also help him get closer to the electorate who want to voice their concerns freely.

West Delhi constituency has been carved out of New Delhi and Outer Delhi areas and comprises many urban pockets which have high mobile and internet penetration. A preferred residential choice for large number of business persons, professionals and armymen, West Delhi houses the surging upper-middle and middle class.

“I have always looked ahead in time and planned accordingly. Technological advancement has made it easier to communicate my ideas and thoughts on a host of issues,” he said. 

New Delhi, April 11
Demanding a judicial probe into the Batla house shootout in which two terror suspects and a police inspector was killed, a group of people, including women staged protests outside the Delhi police headquarters on Saturday afternoon.

Nearly 50-60 protesters from the Jamia Teachers Solidarity Group raised slogans against Delhi police’s Special Cell that on September 19 last year killed two men suspected to be involved in the Delhi serial bombings six days earlier.

In the South Delhi shootout two suspected terrorists had escaped, while one was arrested. Delhi police inspector M.C. Sharma was also killed.

The protesters, carrying banners and placards, jostled with police shouting “Special Cell hai hai... Delhi Police Murdabad” (Down with Special Cell, down with Delhi Police). They also burnt an effigy.

“We are protesting against the Delhi police’s refusal to allow judicial probe in the shootout,” said Tanvir Fazal, a teacher with the Jamia Milia University in the Capital.

The protesters were outraged by an affidavit the police filed in the Delhi High Court, saying that a magisterial inquiry into this case would demoralise the police force. 
— IANS

New Delhi, April 11
The Delhi University Teachers Association (DUTA) rejected out of hand a recent proposal by the National Knowledge Commission (NKC) to create an undergraduate board to look into curriculum, exams, degrees, etc for colleges.

DUTA president Aditya Kumar Misra says, “The character of DU is well laid down in the Delhi University Act as enacted by Parliament. The DUTA rejects the recommendation of the National Knowledge Commission (NKC) to disaffiliate colleges from universities and would not allow it to be imposed on Delhi University.”

Misra adds that DU possesses a “federal character” which has helped in its qualitative academic growth. “It is because of this federal character and role of the university that the DU colleges have sound academic health. All the DU colleges are attracting the best of students from all over the country and thus, maintaining the national character of Delhi University. These colleges then act as feeder to the university departments for higher studies and research activities. This has led to Delhi University emerging as the centre of excellence,” comments Misra.

He added, “The DUTA would not allow any dilution of the existing federal character of Delhi University. It has warned the authorities and the government that any move to tamper with the character of Delhi University would be strongly opposed and foiled by all the sections of the university community.”

New Delhi, April 11
Indira Gandhi National Open University recently launched via teleconferencing an ambitious certificate programme in water harvesting and management (CWHM). The university also made all its 60 regional centres the special programme centres (SPCs) for this programme. The learning package will be supported by audio-video CDS and cassettes made available at SPCs and regional centres.

IGNOU regional directors have been asked to identify experts in their regions who are working in areas of water harvesting, management and conservation.

Vice-chancellor V.N. Rajasekharan Pillai commented at the launch, “Do not look for university professors or academics for teaching and training this certificate programme. Identify a person in each RC as programme incharge who is working credibly in water harvesting and water management areas. They will do local case studies and train learners.”

Lauding the launch of CWHM courses for learners, particularly when monsoon is near, IGNOU chair for sustainable development and Father of Green Revolution M.S. Swaminathan said, “I am quite excited about the programme. It is a need-based demand for a Jal Swaraj Movement. Rainfall is different at different places of the country, somewhere like Ladakh and Leh it is 100 mm in average, whereas at some places like Cherrapunji it is 1200 mm. Doing quality water management and harvesting means ensuring food security.”         

Only 4% of world fresh water reserves are available in India for supporting 16% population of the world. Mismanagement of water resources results in recurring floods and droughts.

Elaborating the challenges India faces, Pillai said, “Considerable efforts were made since Independence to increase irrigation potential for food security from 22.6 million hectare in 1951 to 102.77 million hectare in 2007. Most of utilizable irrigation potential has been fully exploited. There is no further scope of its enhancement. In order to meet ever increasing demands for water in various sectors, rainwater harvesting is of utmost importance today.”

New Delhi, April 11
Coins and currency notes are the carriers of impressions of our bygone days that reveal fascinating insight into the economic, political and social issues of the time. History chronicles the Indian subcontinent’s heritage of coinage as the richest in the world, and this rarity of India’s character is well captured in this year’s Mudra exhibition, organised by the Delhi Tourism at Dilli Haat, Pitampura that opened here today.

The two-day exhibition showcases a wide and fascinating range of historical treasures of coins and currency not only from India but also from many parts of the world, courtesy the renowned numismatist Vivek Sardana, founder member of Delhi Coin Society.

Drawing from many eras, Mudra takes Delhiites on a unique historical date by a display of a series of Rs 2 ½ notes, wooden note from the USA dated as recent as 1936, the famous Sinkiang fabric note from China and one of the historical wonders was a coin issued by the British Virgin Islands in 2006 that weighs 5 kilos! The eye-catching highlights also include the animal commemorative coins from China, the world’s smallest gold coins of Vijayanagar, silver coins of East-India Company, gold ‘mohurs’, coins with inscriptions of empress Victoria, Edward, George V and George VI.

Vivek, narrating an interesting story behind circulation of Re 1 and Rs 2 ½ notes, says, “One and 2 ½ rupee notes were issued to meet the need of smaller denomination notes after the First World War. However, these were discontinued on January 1, 1926, considering the cost benefits,” outlines Vivek, who also has a passion for collecting stamps and has a kitty of 10,000 stamps.

The collection of currency notes are presented under distinct sections, namely the British India period, Republic of India, foreign and of course another category, which is always a hit with visitors—the Mint errors. This section, comprising more than 1,500 notes and 3,000 coins, brings forth the slips in printing and making of currency like no water marks, two security wires etc. Again, another error is the result of artist’s creation that entails classic cuttings and faulty shapes and sizes, which might be the future designs.

“Here, in this compilation you would come across Indian currency notes issued till date in denominations from Re 1 to Rs 1,000, with about 70 per cent of them belonging to the British India period. In addition to this, an outstanding showcase of currencies from many countries like the USA, China, Bahrain, Zimbawe, Germany, Yugoslavia, Australia, Argentina etc. is also there. I wish to leave behind a legacy for the future generation to cherish and get inspired. Ultimately, our aim is to have a museum for presenting the heritage of coins,” said Vivek.

The stage of Mudra exhibition is also enriched by the rare collections of A K Bahl, an engineer, and Rajesh Jain, who are displaying their collection of coinage in gold, silver, copper, steel, nickel, cupro-nickel and aluminum drawing from the princely states and Mughal era respectively.

According to Arvind Chandra, president of Delhi Coin Society, the Islamic coins are the most authentic symbols of historical heritage. “Islamic coins are sacrosanct and in comparison to Hindu coins, they provide better evidence of history. Before Independence, British encouraged the formation of states, which added to the evolution of coinage,” said Arvind. 

Noida, April 11
A Noida fast-track court has handed down 10-year imprisonment term to a man who had killed his live-in partner in October 2007. He had fallen out with his partner over a monetary dispute and had strangled her.

The killing was witnessed by three kids of the woman and it was on the basis of their testimonies that the fast-track court sentenced Dharminder, alias Baba, to 10-year imprisonment. The court also slapped a fine of Rs 5,000 on Dharmender, and added that if he failed to deposit the fine amount, his imprisonment term would be increased by six months.

According to the prosecution, the victim Shabana, a resident of Surajpur, had to go to jail in connection with the murder of her husband Tarikh Khan in 2002. At that time, Dharminder, who was her neighbour, had arranged her bail. After coming out of jail, Shabana along with her daughters—Heena (14), Roshi (12), Shelly (10) — and son Talib (8), had started living with Dharminder in Kulesra. However, the two did not marry.

But later their relationship soured. On October 9, 2007, Dharminder, in a drunken state had demanded money from Shabana, and when she refused he strangled her to death.

On elder daughter Heena’s complaint, the police had registered a case and had arrested Dharminder.

Gurgaon, April 11
Two young boys died on the spot and one got seriously injured when their car hit a truck on the national highway in the wee hours here today.

Naman Sharma and Gagan Galli died on the accident site, while Gurmeet is in a critical condition.

The three boys were MBA students at Noida Amithi International School. They had come to Gurgaon for a party and were on their way back in a Skoda car. The tragedy happened around 3 am when they reached near Shankar Chowk. Naman, who was driving, lost his control over the steering, and the car hit a truck that was running ahead of them.

SHO of the Uyog Vihar police station Uday Singh said that the collision was so powerful that even the air bags couldn’t save them. He added that bottles of alcohol and packets of snacks were found from the car and that the three were heavily drunk.

According to Singh, the condition of the car was so bad that they had to cut it to rescue the boys.

Singh said that the police had informed the families of the boys in Jharkhand and was waiting for them to reach here after which the postmortems will be done.

The police has seized the truck involved in the accident, but the driver is absconding.

Gurgaon, April 11
The police yesterday busted a sex racket running from MLA Apartments in Sector 28 here today. The flat was given on rent to the accused by an ex-MLA.

The police, on the basis of a tip-off, yesterday night raided the building and arrested a girl and seven other people from flat Number-103. Out of the arrested persons, one is a pimp, three are waiters and two customers.

Joint police commissioner Manjit Singh Ahlawat said a man called Prithvi had rented in the flat through one Chintu, who supplies girls for the trade.

The arrested customers have been identified as Kamal Deep and Ramesh. They belong to Mandi Gobindgarh and were in Delhi for some business trip. The three waiters have been identified as Dinesh, Lakshman and Rajesh. The girl is said to be from Bihar. The police has registered a case against them and has started searching for Prithvi and the ex-MLA who had rented out the flat. It is to be mentioned that almost all the flats in the building had been rented out, as no minister stays there.