Faridabad, May 4
The ruling Congress Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda today made a last effort to give boost to the election campaign of party nominee from Faridabad parliamentary constituency, Avtar Singh Bhadana.

The Chief Minister, who held fort for Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, at a public meeting here to canvass support for Bhadana, stressed on the development works done by the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government at the centre and his government in the state.

Singh, who was scheduled to address the meeting, could not reach Faridabad, as his chopper was stated to be unable to take off from Delhi because of unfavourable weather condition.

Hooda, while making a fervent appeal to the public to vote for the Congress nominee, said the UPA government’s decision to waive dues of farmers to the tune of about Rs 70,000 crore was historic. He also rubbed in the point with regard to Faridabad, saying that the centre had granted a sum of about Rs 2,800 crore under the Jawaharlal Urban Renewal Mission for the development of Faridabad city.

With regard to his own government, Hooda said that he had also waived loans of the farmers and amended rules to prevent farmer’s land being auctioned in case he failed to return bank loans. He added that he had also ensured that the defaulter farmers would not be arrested.

Earlier, the general secretary of the All India Congress Committee (AICC) and in-charge of Haryana affairs, Prithiviraj Chavan, praised the development works done by the Congress government in Haryana. Chavan, who is also minister of state in the Prime Minister Office, eulogised the UPA government saying that its policies under the guidance of Manmohan Singh withstood the adverse effects of economic recession plaguing the world.

Avtar Singh Bhadana urged for action against Congress MLA and minister indulging in anti-party acitivities. Although he did not take names, it was clear that he was referring to Haryana urban local bodies minister A.C.Chaudhary; Karan Dalal and Mahender Pratap.

He and his supporters in the audience demanded expulsion of the three from the party.

New Delhi, May 4
Today being the second last day of campaigning for the May 7 election in Delhi, contestants of major political parties had a very tight schedule. The parties were seen hosting lunch and dinner for their supporters. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) threw a lunch party in the afternoon, while the Congress hosted a party in the evening.

Most of the candidates started campaigning at 6 in the morning and stretched it till around 10 pm. In some of the group housing societies, workers of candidates were seen beating drums to make people come out to meet their leaders. At places where they were not allowed to enter the society, they left pamphlets or copies of the party manifestoes.

Some candidates arranged road shows with film and TV personalities to attract.

Congress candidate from East Delhi Sandeep Dikshit began campaigning by urging morning walkers to vote for him, which was followed by a padyatra at 7 am in Gandhi Nagar and six meetings in different colonies.

After taking rest for one hour in the afternoon, he again started meeting people and conducted a total of 16 meetings. He ended campaigning at 12 in the night.

His rival, BJP candidate Chetan Chauhan, is also not lagging behind. He undertook padyatras, road shows and conducted 20 public meetings.

Similarly, South Delhi Congress candidate Ramesh Kumar carried out a road show of five kilometers with film star Shakti Kapoor at 8 am in Govindpuri and Kalkaji resettlement colonies. He continued campaigning till 10 pm.

BJP candidate from West Delhi Jagdish Mukhi had a road show with TV actor Parveen Kumar (who had played Bhim in the popular serial Mahabharta). He was also accompanied by former Delhi chief minister Madan Lal Khurana. They toured areas of West Delhi for two hours.

New Delhi, May 4
The 90 million senior citizens feel all governments and political parties have been insensitive to their demands. Ironically, this potential group of old populace forms 12.5 per cent of the total eligible voters.

Raj Kumar Malik, a retired telecom officer and resident of Greater Kailash, stated, “The tragedy is that though the senior citizens constitute the largest number of actual voters besides the largest number of elected leadership of the country, the old people are ignored by all governments and political parties.”

Incidentally, in the present central government more than 52 per cent are above 60 years, including the prime ministerial nominees, pitched by the two mainstream political parties. According to Agewell Foundation, a consortium of 1,500 NGOs working for the welfare of the old people, while there are a number of schemes for other disadvantaged groups, the plight of the senior citizenry remains unaddressed.

The chairman of Agewell Foundation, Himanshu Rath, cited, “The government’s apathy is quite clear from the absence of pro-old people policies, and the biggest instance of this is the non-implementation of the “One-Rank-One-Pension” (OROP) demand of the retired defence service personnel.”

Retd. Vice-Admiral Subhas Chopra said that the senior citizens get sidelined the moment they retire. “Retirement puts us on our own and we are asked to hang our boots when we have still much to give,” he outlined.

Lt-General Raj Kadyan, the propeller behind OROP, said that the senior citizens form the largest lot who cast their mandate during elections, so they should be allowed to contribute to the development of the country as well. However, as per a countrywide survey done by Agewell Foundation, our old fraternity believes politics is an exclusive world, where the seniors are consigned to the dustbin of history.

“The senior citizens have much to give to the country, and we would not let anybody put us in the dustbin. The young brigade has taken charge in almost all spheres, but the experience of senior citizens in one way or the other is essential that everybody has to consider. So now the senior citizens have to exert themselves,” said former vice-chief of Navy staff.

According to Sandeep Khanna, former additional secretary of ministry of social justice, the tragedy is that there is a total lack of awareness of the plight of senior citizens, and the media should be upfront in sensitising the policymakers, parliamentarians and bureaucrats about the malady.

Owing to the increasing incidents of crime against senior people, the group, including the retired defence personnel, has declared its support for the BJP and NDA establishment as the BJP has given in writing that it would implement the OROP policy and take stringent measures for the safety of senior citizens.

New Delhi, May 4
Trying to touch a sympathetic chord with government employees, who constitute major chunk of votes in New Delhi constituency, BJP candidate Vijay Goel today said the Sixth Pay Commission had failed to live up to their expectations.

“On the face of it, the rise in salary was great. The Congress got a lot of mileage out of the Sixth Pay Commission recommendations, but the employees realised to their dismay that their arrears and part of the salary went in income tax,” said Goel.

He was addressing a meeting outside Shastri Bhawan.

Talking about Congress’ Ajay Maken, he said, “In the last five years, MP Ajay Makan has bluffed government staff. Salary hike was not compatible with the index of living and to cap it.”

He said private schools were forcing parents to pay increased fee with retrospective effect because of which employees with two or more children had no recourse than to withdraw their children from the schools.

Goel said employees living in the New Delhi area ought to be allotted residential units with assured water, power, sewerage.

He added, “Government employees pay a hefty amount as house rent and yet the day they retire, most of them have no home to call their own. I will make efforts to ensure that retiring government employees get subsidised residential units.”

Greater Noida, May 4
Bahujan Samaj Party president and UP Chief Minister Mayawati said the development of the state in the past two years by her government had surpassed the work done by governments of other parties in decades.

Addressing a big public rally at Meher Bhoj College, Dadri this afternoon, the Chief Minister accused BJP, Samajwadi Party and Congress of hatching a conspiracy to deprive her from becoming the Prime Minister of the country.

Mayawati accused the Congress of being “anti-Dalit” and using unfair means to stop Dr B.R. Ambedkar from getting elected to the first Lok Sabha in 1952. The Congress, she said, had always exploited Dalits since the days of Jawaharlal Nehru.

She said the centre had not treated her properly. Her repeated requests for funds for state’s development were ignored.

Addressing a crowd of over 15,000 people, Mayawati announced that she had sanctioned Rs 20,000 crore for the development of Gautam Budh Nagar district which she wanted to see as the best developed district of the country.

The BSP, if voted to power at centre, will ensure all-round development of all sections of the people through its philosophy of social engineering, she assured her audience.

The BSP, she said, was committed to the fast development of the country and ensuring reservations for all the Dalits and economically weaker sections.

Rubbishing claims that her party was anti-upper class, she said the BSP believed in “Sarwajan Samaj” and giving tickets and important party assignments to upper class candidates.

New Delhi, May 4
The Election Commission on Monday let off the officials of the Commonwealth Games Organising Committee, responsible for releasing advertisements which violated the model code of conduct.

Appearing before the poll panel, the director general of the organising committee said the release of the advertisements was not intended to violate the poll code and “it was totally a bona fide exercise”, Election Commission officials told reporters here.

The director general said all the officials involved in releasing the advertisement were ready to “profusely apologise” in writing to the Election Commission, the poll panel officials said.

The advertisements, that appeared in several newspapers on March 6, listed the achievements of the central and Delhi governments on the development work carried out for the Games in the Capital, including the building of 24 flyovers, improving 1,285 km of city roads and inducting 5,000 low-floor buses.

The Election Commission said the issue whether the Games organising committee is a public body or a private body, is with the Delhi High Court, and it could not take a decision on a matter being heard in a court.

“However, the Election Commission has taken the view that there was a violation of poll code,” deputy election commissioner R. Balakrishnan said, adding it had advised the officials not to repeat such a mistake in future.

Earlier, the poll panel had asked the three top officials in the Games organising committee why a sum of over Rs 26 lakh should not be recovered from them for releasing the advertisements.

The three officials had appeared before the commission on April 27 and the Election Commission summoned the director general to hear his view.

The Commonwealth Games advertisement case was the first intervention by the poll panel after the model code of conduct came into effect. — IANS

New Delhi, May 4
Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit talked about the Congress government’s achievements on the development front as she addressed a public meeting at Bakhtawarpur, Narela, in North West Delhi constituency.

She was accompanied by Congress candidate from North West Delhi Krishna Tirath and party’s general secretary Sushil Kumar Shinde.

Dikshit addressed a gathering of over 6,000 people at the Ramlila grounds today. She said, “We have been focusing on ‘Ladli’, a scheme for the empowerment of girl children. Under this scheme the government gives each needy family Rs 1 lakh which it can use either for the girl’s marriage or education.”

She added, “We have regularised nearly 1,400 illegal colonies and are trying to provide basic amenities to the residents. This is a major achievement of the Congress government. Besides, we have extended the Metro service. Our achievement as far as the Metro is concerned is there for people to see. We have fulfilled our promises.”

Besides, Dikshit and Shinde accompanied Tirath to another public meeting at Jahagirpuri where over 5,000 people had gathered to hear them.

Tirath lambasted the saffron party saying, “The BJP divides people in the name of religion. The Babri Masjid demolition and the violence that followed it are perfect examples of this. The BJP and some other parties divide people on religion and caste grounds, but the Congress has always united people.”

Tirath’s main rival is BJP’s Meera Kawariya.

The North West Delhi constituency is a newly created constituency and is dominated by Yadavs.

As the Congress leaders spoke, people sat listening to them, sipping tea or chatting.

Naresh Gupta, a shopkeeper, said, “I think the Congress has a decent chance here. I respect Sheila Dikshit and the Congress government in Delhi has performed. However, this is a different election, as people will not simply vote for change. The electorate has matured.”

Ramesh, who runs a tea stall in the area, said, “Elections are good time for us. We make good money. Politicians come, talk and go, then we don’t see them till the next election. But we respect Sheila ji. She means what she says.”

New Delhi, May 4
Indian Institute of Management Calcutta (IIM-C) today announced a yearlong executive course in international business in Delhi.

The course is specifically designed to help students acquire knowledge and skill to work in international companies.

“The executive programme in international business is a course which helps keep pace with today’s requirement where globalisation, Internet and hyper competition have dramatically re-shaped the markets and have changed the way business is being done. Today, one has to keep pace with the customers’ requirement and has to bring in services and products as per global standards,” an IIM-C official said.

Unlike the grilling tests which one has to go through to get admission into an IIM, the eligibility criterion for this programme is 50 per cent marks in graduation and three-years work experience.

“The programme will see maximum use of technology. It will consist of a judicious blend of lectures by two senior faculty members of IIM-C, Anjan Raichaudhary and Prafulla Agnihotri, real life access to case studies, live corporate examples, general discussions and assignments. There will also be regular evaluation processesx and at the end of the 12-month course, the students will get a certificate from IIM-C,” the official added.

The last date for application to this course is May 15 and the course fee is Rs 2,06,000. — IANS

New Delhi, May 4
Major Leena Grover will have to quit the Army in August. She does not have a choice. As a woman, she is entitled to just 14 years in service. But over 20 serving and retired women Army officers are fighting a battle in the Delhi High Court to change this.

“A man can be re-employed as an officer after completing his service but a woman officer is not given this weightage; so her options are limited,” said Rekha Palli, counsel for Leena Grover and the other women fighting the case.

Since women officers retire after 14 years of service, they are not eligible for pension and other retirement benefits. In contrast, men normally serve till the age of 54. However, if they are promoted to the rank of Brigadier they serve till 56, which is extended to 58 if promoted to Major General.

When the case was last heard, the court had criticised the government for not being serious about ensuring gender equality among the armed forces and had sought an explanation why women were not being granted permanent commission.

“On one hand the government talks about women’s empowerment and reservation, and on the other hand it expresses reservation in giving equal opportunity in the armed forces. The government’s response does not gel with its policy,” Justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul said while asking the additional solicitor general to appear before it on May 18.

Women were first allowed in the Army in 1992. In 2005, the Army explained its policy of limiting the service for women to 14 years. In September last year, the government did revise the rules and decided to give women the same tenure as men. But this applies only to new recruits and not those already in service.

The matter next comes up for hearing on May 18, but by then an entire batch of women officers would have retired — not by choice. But these women say they will continue to fight this battle. For them, it is not about personal gains, it is about equality and fairness. — IANS

New Delhi, May 4
The Delhi police today claimed to have arrested three Naxalites from the Badarpur area in South East Delhi.

The accused have been identified as Yogender Bhagota (26), Satish (20) and Sheetal Kumar (20). The three were arrested after a tip-off from the Jharkhand police about their possible presence in Delhi. Several mobile phones and SIM cards have been seized from Yogender Bhagota, alias Ganju.

The police said the three had come to Delhi a year ago for Yogender’s treatment.

They had been active in Jharkhand for the past 10 years and were alleged to have been involved in more than 16 criminal cases involving gun battles with the police. While Yogender and Satish are from Jharkhand, Sheetal Kumar hails from Bihar.

According to Alok Kumar, DCP (special cell), Yogender is the zonal commander of the Jharkhand Naxal (Maoist) wing and had joined the organization in 1999. “He became an area commander soon after with control over about 40 to 50 districts and later promoted to zonal commander who commands over four area commanders,” said Kumar.

The trio were arrested on the basis of electronic surveillance mounted by a special cell police team led by inspector Lalit Mohan Negi.

New Delhi, May 4
Sunita (17), a class X student who caught fire last night succumbed to her injuries during treatment at the Guru Tegh Bahadur (GTB) Hospital in the wee hours today.

The incident took place at around 9:30 p.m.

A police official said, “Sunita was alone at her home in the Mansarovar Park area. She was cooking food in the kitchen when the fire broke out. Her neighbours rushed her to the hospital.”

However, the police is yet to make out whether Sunita had committed suicide or she got brunt while cooking.

“Last night her mother and her brother were out when the incident took place. No suicide note was found. We are not sure whether she has committed suicide or it was accident,” said a police official.

Sunita, reportedly, had failed in the examination last year and did not perform well this year too.