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Pro-Cong sentiment runs in Jamia Nagar
Delhi Poll Scene
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1.5 lakh Modi Nagar villagers not to cast vote
Scrutiny over, 4 candidates out
Cops record statements of Shanno’s classmates
Firing at wedding leaves 2 injured
Fire in govt building
Australian found dead in hotel
No need to inform families about marriage: Court
Stay alert to avoid fire, power nigam tells farmers
Unplanned outages hit Delhiites
Bishop gives away theology degrees
Magistrate assaulted, neighbour held
Papers of 56 candidates rejected
May 7 is holiday
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Pro-Cong sentiment runs in Jamia Nagar
New Delhi, April 20 The community held various meetings, rallies, dharnas and public hearings on the encounter to highlight the discrepancies in the police theory and press the government for enquiry. Several Muslim clerics and local leaders here felt that the UPA government had betrayed the sentiments of the community by awarding Ashok Chakara to inspector M.C. Sharma. They vowed to teach the Congress a lesson as it failed to order enquiry into the encounter. However, seven months down the lane, the scars remain but the anger against the Congress (UPA government) has vanished. S. Quayam, scholar of religious studies and author of The Sufism: The Heart of Islam says that the Muslims living here are an educated lot and cannot let emotions decide their vote. “We are definitely pained by the Congress government not ordering an enquiry into the matter but we cannot forget that it has also done a lot for the Muslims of the country and the Capital in particular,” says Quayam. Mohammad Sabir, owner of a popular HMS Bakery across Jaswant Apartments, expresses similar sentiments and says that there is going to be en masse voting for the Congress on May 7. “I was angry with the Congress and still am. But tell me what is the option before me? I cannot vote for the BJP and do not want to indirectly strengthen it by voting for candidate other than Congress,” says Sabir. The pro-Congress sentiments run deep here irrespective of the candidates or constituency. Mohd.Yameen, a tailor across Khalilulaaha Mosque in Batla House, could not answer when asked the name of the Congress candidate from the area. “I am not interested in candidates. They might pick up anybody. All I know is that I have to vote for panja (palm) for the good of my community,” says Yameen. Nevertheless he believes that the Batla House encounter was fake and the Congress should have ordered an independent enquiry. Resident of L-19, Zaheer Ahmed, who was witness to the entire encounter next door in L-18, is disappointed with Congress. He speaks about politics rather reluctantly. But prod him for his vote and the answer is still Congress. “Chetan Chauhan comes out to be a nice person and appears genuine. But nobody here is going to vote for him because of the party he belongs to. Congress might have hurt the community’s sentiment here but we remain Congressmen until there is a viable option like strong BSP and SP in UP,” opines Zaheer. He advises Chetan not to waste his time and resources in canvassing around Batla House, Joga Bai, Abu Fazal, Noor Nagar. The areas have about 1.5 lakh Muslim votes. |
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Delhi Poll Scene
New Delhi, April 20 Gupta is also the president of Delhi Abhibhawak Mahasangh. The angry parents alleged that the school management was looting them. They alleged it did not accept fee through cheque. It took payment only through cash. They said that they were being fooled in the name of development charges. The parents alleged the school management had not conducted the parents teachers association’s election this time. Addressing parents, Gupta said the schools were exploiting them and alleged that the schools had a nexus with the Delhi government. He said that the schools management were blackmailing parents and were trying to collect fee arbitrarily. W. Delhi sees tough fight
In West Delhi constituency, there is a tough fight among all the three major contenders—BJP’s Jagdish Mukhi, BSP candidate Deepak Bharadwaj and Congress candidate Mahabal Mishra. The trio are trying hard to win over voters. A senior politician of the BJP, Mukhi has felt the pulse of people and claimed to have worked a lot for the development of the area. Moreover, being a Punjabi is going to favour him as West Delhi is a Punjabi-dominated constituency. “Mukhi has always been a familiar face. We know him well and we have seen him working for the area. I think he stands a good chance of winning. As far as voting on the basis of caste, it is difficult to predict, for this is a newly formed constituency,” says Kamal, a professor in the area. Congress candidate Mahabal Mishra talks of development. In one of his recent meetings, he said, “I want to approach the youth in my campaigning. I believe that the youth are a very important part of our country and they can think about issues like development.” “The Congress candidate has raised powerful issues, but he is not communicating well in the area. Moreover, being a Poorvanchali Brahmin, it could be difficult for him to make a dent in the votes of other candidates,” says a store owner in the area. BSP candidate Deepak Bharadwaj, who recently filed his nomination declaring assets worth Rs 650 crore, has also drawn the attention of the voters in the area. “He is very rich, so there is possibility that he will work instead of making money,” says a resident. Neena, a homemaker, says, “We want development in the area. People are sick of parking and drainage problems, electricity and water problems in the area. I will see who is the best and vote for him rather than vote on the basis of caste.” Sajjan’s brother rakes up
regularisation issue
Congress candidate from South Delhi parliamentary seat Ramesh Kumar, brother of Sajjan Kumar, visited the assembly segments of Palam, Bijwasan and Devli for first time today, after filing his nominations. He appealed to voters to exercise their franchise in the Congress’ favour as the party had helped in the temporary approval of unauthorised colonies. Addressing a gathering at Devli village, he claimed in the history of independent India 1,400 unauthorised colonies had been approved for the first time and it had been done by the Congress government. Sajjan Kumar is managing the poll campaign of brother Ramesh. The Congress had withdrawn Sajjan’s candidature due to his alleged involvement in the 1984 anti-Sikh riots. Kawariya does yagna
Monday was a busy day for BJP candidate from North-West Delhi constituency Meera Kawariya. She inaugurated two election offices in Sultanpuri and Kirari village and then proceeded to sit at a full-fledged yagna. She along with party workers performed a yagna to garner blessings for the forthcoming election. Addressing gathering of BJP activists and supporters, Kawariya said, “The BJP is known for its development agenda. People are suffering from Congress’ anti-development policies and Dikshit-led government responsible for poor basic infrastructure and amenities in the areas under the constituency so now time has come for the change.” She visited the slum areas near Kirari village and lashed out at the Congress for neglecting this area. Kawariya also met agitator parents at Sachdeva Public School in Sector 13. They were protesting against fee hike. Maken: Manmohan most qualified to be PM
Giving an account of the achievements of the UPA government under the leadership of Manmohan Singh, Congress candidate from New Delhi Lok Sabha constituency Ajay Maken said all other leaders aspiring to become Prime Minister were incompetent. Maken stated the credentials of Singh as the most learned, honest and qualified in contrast to leaders not only in India, but also in the international political community. “The BJP and other small regional party heads are clamouring for the post of Prime Minister irrespective of their incompetent political positioning in the society to form and provide a stable government,” said Maken. Stars favour me: Premji
Premji said that on the development front, which the Congress government keeps on harping before every election, the NED parliamentary segment has always been on the backseat, and this underlines the failure of the Congress government. Political pundits and people at large feel that Premji who had resigned from the Lok Sabha seat in 1997 might find the going tough due to his strong urge towards the spiritual sphere that he lives with now, but he said the step of taking a break from the political scene was a “call of the inner soul”, that hasn’t stopped me from connecting to people. “They couldn’t even arrange for a metro rail link, which Premji would set up from Nand Nagri to ISBT. Besides, he would set up a good college across the Yamuna Vihar area that the Congress tenure couldn’t establish,” said a supporter of Premji. He said he would also make all efforts towards converting Delhi University into a world-class university which would attract the foreign students. |
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1.5 lakh Modi Nagar villagers not to cast vote
Ghaziabad, April 20 In a meeting of the village heads held in Niwari on Sunday afternoon, it was decided that the villagers would exercise the option to mark their protest. “We will tell the world by way of this unique protest the harrowing time we have had for the last five years,” said Raj Kumar Verma, president of Sadak Sangharsh Samiti. In Modi Nagar, the slogan “No Road No Vote” (Sadak nahin to vote nahin) has become quite popular. About 40 villages have decided not to vote for any candidates. According to Raj Kumar Verma, president of Sadak Sangarsh Samiti, lack of connectivity is adversely affecting our business, education, life and even relations. Nobody wants to come here, he said. From rape to murder–there is no heinous crime that the stretch that connects 40-odd villages to Modinagar town has not witnessed, thanks to this dilapidated road. Convinced by the Youth For Quality, many natives like Munisha Bala (65) are campaigning from door to door asking people to exercise the rule 49(0) in the coming elections. “We call it the killer road. So many women of our village lost their husbands in accidents due to the bad condition of this road,” said Bala. “Sadak nahin to vote nahin” (no road, no vote) and “49 (0) Zindabad” are the popular slogans doing rounds in their village. The road has a court case pending against its contractor at the Allahabad High Court. It has also led to several protests, including a hunger strike in the past. But nothing seemed to have worked. Niwari resident, Ritesh Kumar, 27, a mediaperson who works at Lajpat Nagar in Delhi, said it takes him an hour extra to reach office just because of the five-km-long stretch of the road. “Driving a mobike on that stretch is very risky. One has to bring the speed down to 5 to 10 km/hr,” he said. The stretch is in such a bad condition that private buses or vans refrain from driving on it, leaving villagers with few commuting options. “Last year a young girl of Mawi village who worked in Delhi was raped on her way back by a fellow villager from whom she had taken a lift,” added Kumar. Robberies are also rampant on the stretch that has no streetlight. |
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Scrutiny over, 4 candidates out
Gurgaon, April 20 During the scrutiny, the candidature of three covering candidates of national political parties and an independent were rejected. The candidature of Manita Devi, covering candidate and wife of Congress nominee Rao Inderjeet Singh, was rejected. Similarly, the nomination of Begum Naseema, wife of BSP candidate Zakir Hussain, was rejected. The nomination paper of BJP covering candidate Kamal Yadav was also rejected. Besides, the candidature of independent candidate Seema Rathore was rejected on the grounds that her nomination, which was filed on the last day, was incomplete and she had filled the performa meant for party candidates. Now, after the rejection of nomination papers of four candidates, 24 have remained in the fray. The candidates can withdraw their nomination by April 22. As of now, Congress candidate Rao Inderjeet Singh, BJP candidate Sudha Yadav, BSP candidate Zakir Hussain and HJC candidate Rao Narbir Singh, besides 20 others, remain in the fray for the Gurgaon Lok Sabha seat. |
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Cops record statements of Shanno’s classmates
New Delhi, April 20 However, the police started the process of recording the statements of Shanno’s classmates after the school reopened today. The school had been closed since her death. “The school had been closed since Shanno’s death on Friday. So we could not record the statements of her classmates,” said DCP (Outer Delhi) Atul Katiyar. A police team visited the MCD Girls Primary School in the Bawana area of Outer Delhi and recorded the names and statements of students who studied with the victim. Denying reports that the accused teacher was missing, Katiyar said the police was waiting for Shanno’s post-mortem report to move further in the case. According to police sources, Shanno’s pathology reports are awaited. No external injury was found on her body. Shanno had slipped into coma on Wednesday after Manju had allegedly made her stand under the sun for more than an hour after beating her for not learning the English alphabet. |
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Firing at wedding leaves 2 injured
New Delhi, April 20 Celebrations turned into gloom when Imran fired in the air as part of the celebrations while dancing at the DJ, injuring Saddam and Sukhain in the Chouhan Bangar area of Gali number 18 of the area while the two were dancing. The two were admitted to GTB Hospital, where the condition of one of them was serious. According to the police, the incident took place past midnight. Saddam was hit by a bullet in the stomach and is grievously injured. The accused Imran used a countrymade pistol to fire the shots. He managed to escape even as some people tried to catch him. The people from both the groom or bride’s side deny having invited Imran to the marriage. “We have received information that Imran worked as a Kabari in the area not far from the place where incident took place. We would be able to arrest him very soon and teams are working on his whereabouts,” revealed the police. |
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Fire in govt building
New Delhi, April 20 According to fire officials, the fire was reported to them at 6.40 pm on the sixth floor of the government building and it was controlled by 8.20 pm. No casualty was reported and the cause of fire is yet to be ascertained, said a fire official. |
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Australian found dead in hotel
New Delhi, April 20 According to information, Julian Stanford was found unconscious with froth coming out of his mouth at Hotel Express in Paharganj late last night and was rushed to a nearby hospital where doctors declared him brought dead. Stanford, who hails from Sydney, arrived in the country on April 4 and had been staying in the hotel since Friday. He left the hotel room early on Sunday morning to see off his girlfriend who had a flight to Australia but returned a few hours later, police said quoting hotel staff. According to hotel officials the incident came to light when hotel staff opened his room after he did not reply to their knocking at the door. Stanford had complained about stomachache on Saturday and had asked hotel staff about the availability of a doctor. The police is verifying if he was unwell and whether he called a doctor. “Initial investigation have not indicated towards any foul play in the incident and neither any injury marks on the victim’s body were found,” said the police. |
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No need to inform families about marriage: Court
New Delhi, April 20 The court gave relief to a couple who wanted to marry without the consent of their families and did not want the marriage notice to be sent to their families. Justice Ravinder Bhatt ruled that the marriage registrar need not send the notice and can instead put it up in his office. Vishal and Anita (name changed) approached the court seeking direction to the registrar that he should not send the notice of marriage to their homes because their families would then not allow them to marry. Chandrashekhar Parashara, counsel for the couple, pleaded that sending a notice is not necessary as the couple was marrying under special provisions of the Hindu Marriage Act. The couple pleaded that they were majors and had the right to lead their lives as they wished. The court accepted their plea and directed the officer not to send notice to their homes.
— IANS |
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Stay alert to avoid fire, power nigam tells farmers
Gurgaon, April 20 A spokesman for the DHBVN said here today that by following precautionary measures, the accidents can be avoided up to a large extent without incurring any extra expenditure. The farmers have been advised to put the harvested agricultural produce at a distance of at least 50 feet from power lines so that there is no possibility of crops catching fire due to sparking. Similarly, the crops should also be kept away from the distribution transformers. Besides, the farmers should also avoid contacting lines, especially when using machinery like combines, loading the crop in tractor trailers, transporting the reaped crop to the place of threshing and so on. The higher the voltage of power line, the greater the safety clearance required. Un-insulated conductors require greater safety clearances than fully insulated ones. However, every covered conductor should not be treated as fully insulated, for safety’s sake, the farmers should treat all cables as un-insulated and treat all conductor as always live. The farmers should use the correct cords, cables and plugs, and keep them in good condition. Installation and repairs should be got carried from only licensed electrical contractors. Drawl of electricity in an unauthorized manner through “kundi’ connections may also lead to accidents, the spokesman said, adding that it was recommended to have a proper connection for threshing of wheat. He said that the threshing is required to be carried out by giving regular intervals. Smoking while threshing or throwing live match stick or beedies/cigarettes also causes accidents. |
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Unplanned outages hit Delhiites
New Delhi, April 20 Spokesman of the BSES said that outages happened largely due to massive over-drawal of electricity from the northern grid by the neighbouring states, leading to ‘low’ frequency-related tripping. Outages are also being caused by reduced generation of electricity, breakdown of units in some power plants supplying electricity to the northern grid, reduced generation at the BTPS and Singrauli power plants and Damodar Valley Corporation (DVC) not supplying the agreed quantum of power to Delhi. BSES has no control over these factors, the spokesman said. He added, “BSES hopes that the ‘affected’ power plants supplying electricity to Delhi will start generating electricity to their full capacity in the days ahead. BSES has also sought the state government’s help to impress upon Damodar Valley Corporation (DVC) to provide 400 MW of power to Delhi.” Delhi’s peak load demand this summer is expected to be around 4500 MW and BSES’ around 3000 MW. In order to take care of any contingency, BSES has also signed short-term and forward banking arrangements with Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh and Karnataka. These states will cumulatively bank 150 MW of their surplus power with BSES during summer. |
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Bishop gives away theology degrees
Gurgaon, April 20 He was speaking on the occasion of the fifth annual commencement of Dharma Jyoti Vidya Peeth at Fazipur Khader, Chandpur, near Faridabad, on Sunday evening. Six students of the seminary received the degree of Bachelor of Theology (B.Th) from the Bishop, who is also the chairman of Dharma Jyoti Vidya Peeth. He said Christianity was as indigenous a religion as any other and it was by adapting itself to the plurality of India that it could win the hearts of the people of this country. |
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Magistrate assaulted, neighbour held
Ghaziabad, April 20 However, the accused persons were arrested soon after the complaint was registered. The police said the magistrate and tent house contractor Arun Kumar Khullar live in Kaushambi as neighbours. They were having a dispute regarding the dumping of waste. The magistrate came to the police station on Sunday with his wife to lodge a complaint. No sooner had they reached, Khullar came there with some of his accomplices. Khullar allegedly assaulted the magistrate in which the latter sustained some injuries. |
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Papers of 56 candidates rejected
New Delhi, April 20 She said the work of scrutiny would be completed tomorrow and the total number of candidates would be announced. |
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May 7 is holiday
New Delhi April 20 No liquor will be sold on the polling day as it has been declared a 'dry day'.
— TNS |
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The BJP bet from the North-East Delhi (NED) parliamentary constituency, B L Sharma, alias Premji, seems to be riding high with winning poll prospects. Addressing a gathering at the BJP state office, he said “I have been gifted by a strong destiny and my stars proclaim my win. The presence of Jupiter in my cards has already pronounced the fate of the opposition candidate, as I have always been the winner like a lion.”