New Delhi, October 6
Officials of 26 nations participating in the Commonwealth Games have expressed satisfaction with the security arrangements made by the Delhi police for the mega-event.

They expressed this during a two-day conference organised by the Delhi police recently. The conference was titled ‘Security and Traffic Plans’ during Commonwealth Games. 

Delhi police commissioner Y.S. Dadwal shared the security arrangements made for the Commonwealth Games and the guest countries’ satisfaction with the media today.

“The delegates also visited the key venues. They expressed satisfaction with the plans that the Delhi police has drawn for the city’s security during the Games,” said Dadwal.

The delegates not only visited the Games Village but also studied the security arrangements made by the Delhi police at stadiums, from Games Village to training centers and other venues.

“The Delhi police is committed to provide safe and secure Games and elaborate security arrangements are being made in this regard,” claimed Dadwal adding that the establishment of 27 new police stations in the city was also a part of the security arrangements.

Dadwal said that additional resources would be required to ensure security of residents and visitors in the other parts of the Capital.

“We would need additional resources during the Commonwealth Games to ensure that day-to-day business remains unhindered,” said Dadwal.

According to sources, the Delhi police would spend around Rs 100 crore to install X-ray scanners, door frame metal detectors, hand held metal detectors and communication systems at Games venues.

Another Rs 100 crore would be spent on procuring the latest state-of-the-art electronic surveillance system to monitor vehicles entering and going out of Delhi and for the aerial visual imaging of the city.

“This will be done to prevent explosives entering the national Capital,” said a senior police official at the Delhi Police Headquarters.

He added that more than 2,000 CCTV cameras would be installed at various venues apart from 58 market places and 27 border checkposts. The Delhi police will also purchase 130 PCR vans and nearly 400 motorcycles to add to its existing fleet of 453 motorcycles as part of its Chase and Challan scheme.

As the Commonwealth Games is a year away, further rounds of security-related meetings will take place between the security officials of participating countries and the Delhi police in months to come.

New Delhi, October 6
Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit today met Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh and briefed him about the preparations being made for the Commonwealth Games.

This is her first visit to the Prime Minister after he asked the Delhi government to complete all projects in time.

According to sources, Sheila Dikshit has assured the Prime Minister that efforts are being taken to make the Commonwealth Games a great success and that all projects would be completed well ahead of the commencement of the mega-sports event.

The meeting was also attended by union sports minister M.S. Gill. It must be noted that Gill had met the concerned officials and engineers a few months ago.

According to sources, an official from the Prime Minister’s office had visited various Games sites last week to take a stock of the work.

The Chief Minister met the Prime Minister nearly a month after Commonwealth Games Federation president Michael Fennel sought Dr Manmohan Singh’s intervention as he had an impression that many Games-related projects would miss the October 2010 deadline. Fennel had visited the sites of some major projects.

Gurgaon, October 6
All the 16 candidates from Gurgaon assembly and eight of Sohna assembly have been issued notice by the returning officers as the candidates failed to give the details of their election expenditure within the stipulated time.

The returning officer of Sohna assembly-cum-SDM, Gurgaon south, K.K. Gupta issued notice to the erring candidates today while the returning officer of Gurgaon assembly-cum-SDM, Gurgaon north, Satender Duhan had issued notice to all the 16 candidates contesting from Gurgaon assembly on Monday.

Gupta had directed candidates to produce their election expenditure within two days otherwise action under Section 171 (1) of IPC would be initiated against them.

In Sohna assembly, seven candidates did not submit the expenditure details till October 5. They include Ramniwas of Lok Janshakti Party and six Independents—Usman, Dinesh Kumar, Nihal Singh, Bhoop Singh Raghav, Mahesh Singh Dayama and Sube Singh.

The Indian National Congress candidate Dharambir Singh had also been issued notice for non-submission of supporting document, though his representative had produced the register of election expenditure till September 30.

The Gurgaon returning officer had served notices to all the 16 contesting candidates from Gurgaon assembly yesterday. They have been asked to furnish details of expenditure on posters, banners, stickers and other printed material along with the name of the printing press. Action would be initiated against the erring candidates who fail to furnish the details under Representation of People Act 1951.

The notice issued by the returning officer stated that the candidates were given a register for maintaining election expenses on the day of nominations and they were to show the details of expenditure along with vouchers on October 3, 6, 9 and 12. The details were to be shown in the office of returning officer either by the candidate himself or by the election agent and a copy of it was to be deposited there. The notice stated that after examining the details of expenditure submitted by the candidates, it was found that the bills of posters, banners, stickers and other printed material were not of a printing press rather they were prepared either by a painter or some other source which was not proper as per election rules.

Gurgaon, October 6
A keen, multi-cornered contest is on the cards in the Sohna constituency of Gurgaon district, making it one of the hottest seats of the state Assembly.

The most curious and rather unprecedented aspect of the electoral battle here is that as many as three sitting MLAs, and a former one, are in the fray.

Sukhbir Singh Jaunapuria, sitting MLA from the Sohna constituency, is contesting as an Independent candidate once again. Sahida Khan, sitting MLA from the erstwhile Tawdu constituency, which has now been merged with the Sohna constituency, is in the fray as the INLD nominee.

“Transplanted” candidate Dharambir Singh and sitting Congress MLA from the Badhra constituency in Bhiwani district, who could not get the party ticket from there due to intense factionalism, has been fielded from Sohna.

Last, but not the least, Meo heavyweight and former MLA Zakir Husain, who also gave a tough fight to the sitting Congress MP Rao Inderjeet Singh during the recent parliamentary election, is the BSP candidate from the constituency.

Apart from these, the BJP has fielded Tejpal Tanwar, while the HJC has nominated Rohtas Khatana.

Though all candidates are making all-out efforts to woo the electorate, the main contest at the moment seems to be among Jaunapuria, Husain and Dharambir.

However, the predominance of Meo and Gujjar voters, apart from the presence of another Jat contestant Nihal Singh as an Independent candidate, may affect the poll prospects of Dharambir a wee bit in the seemingly close contest.

On the whole, there is a mixed trend in all four Assembly segments falling in the district.

While sitting Gurgaon MLA Dharambir Gauba (Congress) is pitted chiefly against INLD rebel Sukhbir Kataria (Independent) and Umesh Agarwal (BJP); Bhim Singh Rathee (BSP), Kanhaiya Lal Gop (HJC) and M.R.Sharma (INLD) are also in the poll fray. Then, R.S.Rathee, who was denied ticket by the Congress, is also contesting as an independent candidate.

Former Haryana minister Rao Dharmapal is the Congress nominee from the newly carved Badshahpur constituency. He is locked in a triangular contest with Begh Raj Yadav of the HJC and Gopi Chand Gehlot of the INLD. Otherwise, BSP’s Shiksha Yadav, BJP’s Mukesh Pehalwan, and independents Biru sarpanch and Rakesh Janghu are also in the fray.

From Pataudi, Bhupinder Chaudhary of the Congress is facing his uncle Ganga Ram of the INLD. Advocate Net Ram is contesting on the BSP ticket and former ADGP Resham Singh is the BJP candidate.

Veteran politician and former bureaucrat Kirpa Ram Punia is also there on behalf of the Rashtriya Janhit Congress, while former MLA Rambir Singh is contesting as an Independent.

Faridabad, October 6
Haryana Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda today visited assembly segments in Faridabad parliamentary constituency and tried to give a boost to the election campaign of his party nominees.

He appealed to the public to be cautious of the Congress’ opponents who indulge in ‘hollow slogans’ to woo them.

He asserted based on the performance of the Congress government in the past five years in Haryana, it could be conclusively said that his was the only party that the people could rely upon.

He addressed public meetings at Hodal, Hathin, Palwal, Prithla and Tigaon. He was to address public meetings in the remaining four assembly segments of Faridabad parliamentary constituency, which was expected to carry on till late in the evening.

The Chief Minister’s visit was much expected among the Congress circles. The reason for this was the expected boost the party’s electoral campaign would get.

Hooda began his date with the assembly segments from Hodal (reserved). All the public meetings were well attended. However, the crowd turnout at Hathin and Hodal stood out.

The salient feature of the meetings was the presence of good chunk of women in the audiences.

In all the public meetings, the Chief Minister projected the candidates in good light and said that the votes of the people would only strengthen the progress of development works in the state.

New Delhi, October 6
Unknown car-borne assailants allegedly attacked a computer teacher on her way home and gangraped her in Nangloi area of West Delhi last night.

According to information, the teacher was accompanied by her colleague who was assaulted and beaten before the assailants pulled the woman inside the car and raped her by turn.

The 22-year-old Sangeeta (name changed) lives in the Mundaka area and teaches in a computer institute in Budh Vihar area. Yesterday she left her institute around 7.30 pm and was on her way home when she met her friend Satayprakash. When the duo reached near Sultanpuri railway crossing, three persons appeared in a car.

“The car-borne assailants dragged Sangeeta inside the car and when Satayprakash came to her rescue they bashed him and drove away,” said a police officer from Nangloi police station where the case was lodged today morning.

In her complaint to the police, Sangeeta mentioned that she was raped by five men. “She revealed that while three people were initially in the car, two other persons joined them later,” said the police.

Sangeeta and Satya Prakash were taken to Sanjay Gandhi Memorial Hospital where they are both recuperating. The police said that victim’s medical examination confirmed that she was raped.

Meanwhile, Satya Prakash alleged that when he informed the police personnel manning a PCR vehicle, a fight broke between the outer (Sultanpuri Police Station) and west district (Nangloi Police Station) police regarding the area of jurisdiction.

A case was finally lodged in morning at Nangloi. When questioned about the prevailing confusion between the Nangloi and Sultanpuri Police Stations, Delhi Police Commissioner, Y S Dadwal said that an inquiry will be initiated to confirm whether there was any dispute between the two in this regard.

New Delhi, October 6
To give voice to almost four crore single women in India whose issues have never been included in the mainstream agendas, hundreds of single women have decided to knock on the doors of the central government.

More than 160 representatives of single women’s organisations from 14 states have gathered in the Capital to launch the National Forum for Single Women’s Rights and discuss their course of action in a two-day seminar starting tomorrow.

Tracing their struggle, social activist from Rajasthan Ginny Shrivastava said it began in Rajasthan in 2000 as a modest initiative under the banner of Ekal Nari Shakti Sangathan and soon spread to Himachal Pradesh, Gujarat, Himachal Pradesh, Jharkhand and Bihar.

“We have seen that after participating in the struggle for equal rights, widows started wearing clothes of their choice and participating in household ceremonies, something that was not allowed before,” said Shrivastava.

Defining the range of “single women”, she said, “Anyone who does not live with a man as husband and wife and women who did not chose to get married even after they are 35 years old could become a part of our organisation.”

Recalling the horrors of their lives after husbands, some leaders of the organisation said their commitment towards improving the lives of single women came from personal experiences.

Hansa lost her husband in the Gujarat earthquake in 2001. She and her son did not know where to go after his family denied her claims in her husband’s property.

“His family could not care less about me and my son. I did not get any BPL card so that I could make claims in the government schemes,” said Hansa.

She added, “I live in my mother’s rented house with my son. But my association with the movement of single women’s rights has given me much strength to carry on. Now I wear what I want and people have started accepting me the way I am.”

Saraswati Singh from Jharkhand talks like any other policymaker after organising single women’s movement in her state.

“After their husbands are dead, people victimise single women by calling them witches in Jharkhand so that they cannot lay claim on the husband’s property,” said Saraswati.

Sudha Jha from Bihar said there were times after her husband’s death when she worked as a labourer for Rs 100 for her children. With tears, she said there should be some mechanism for providing some sort of monetary help to the widows.

“These four crore women contribute so much to the economy of the country. They all work and pay income tax even from their small salaries. However, they do not get anything in return for their contribution,” said Nirmal Chandel, Himachal Pradesh state coordinator of National Forum for Single Women’s Rights.

Over the next two days, the representatives of the organisations, which got together under the banner would discuss their demands ranging from special ration cards to catagorising abandoned single women in national census.

On the third day of their meeting, these women would submit their memorandum with 24,000 signatures to the Prime Minister.

Greater Noida, October 6
Thousands of farmers gheraoed the G.B. Nagar Collectorate in Greater Noida where, among others, president of Bharatiya Kisan Union, Chaudhary Mohinder Singh Tikait addressed them on Monday.

The farmers said they would not part with their land till a new law was enacted. Their demands included repeal of 1984-land acquisition act. Landless labourers should also be given 120 sq mt plots each.

Tikait exhorted them to be ready to march to Parliament House to raise their demands.

In spite of heavy and incessant rains, the farmers from dozens of villages of the area stayed put and heard their leaders.

Tikait said farmers’ land was being forcibly taken away under the draconian law. If this law was not repealed, the farmers would gherao Parliament House.

They handed over a 14-point memorandum, addressed to the President, the Prime Minister and the UP Chief Minister, to the collector G.B. Nagar, Deepak Agrawal.

The district administration had beefed up the security to face any eventuality.

Tikait said acquisition of fertile land should be stopped forthwith throughout the country as this was rendering farmers unemployed and could also cause food shortage in the country.

The organiser of the rally, Sarda Ram said the development authorities should put on hold land acquisition till the new bill was passed by Parliament.

New Delhi, October 6
“This book is both a people’s story and it also attempts to vividly portray social realities in contemporary India,” said Kota Neelima, author and journalist.

Neelima added, “As a journalist I told stories just the way they are. For me, writing this book was really an extension of my journalism.”

Neelima was speaking at the release of her second book ‘Death of a Money Lender’ in the Capital today.

“While writing this book, I was looking into the why and where there is a failure of the delivery system, especially in the rural context,” said Neelima.

The author mentioned, “My travels in researching this book took me to Andhra Pradesh and other parts of this country. I witnessed first hand the desperation of farmers and how they fall into the clutches of the money lenders. This book was an idea that developed because of my extensive travelling in the villages.”

The author added, “There are two aspects to this book: one is the rural aspect as it is set in a village and explores social realities in the village and the other is a very urban aspect as it shows the struggle of a young journalist.”

The book is a well-crafted murder mystery and is set in a village. It explores the plight of Indian farmers as seen through the eyes of a young journalist who is also on a journey of self-discovery.

Neelima mentioned, “Every time I was sent on an assignment to a village I came back with two stories: one was the journalistic story and the other the story put together from the faces, emotions and struggle that people faced in the village.”

She added, “The village in the book can be anywhere in India and my effort through this book was to reduce the characteristics of the village to a pan-Indian village that any Indian reader could easily identify with.”

Neelima said that she researched the book extensively from 2005 onwards when she retired from active journalism. She travelled a lot for this book.

She plans to write another book soon on the drought that has afflicted India after July this year.

Kota Neelima has been a journalist for 15 years and she writes on politics, rural economy and agriculture. She has written a novel, ‘Riverstones’. She is also an impressionist abstract painter.

New Delhi, October 6
A local court has upheld the conviction and two-year imprisonment of the alleged henchman of the underworld don Dawood Ibrahim, Romesh Sharma, in an income tax evasion case of Rs 8.5 crore.

The court refused to substitute the sentence with fine or grant probation to Sharma, saying that a substantive sentence is required to be imposed upon the accused so as to set an example for others.

Additional sessions judge Nivedita Anil Sharma said, “Keeping in view that Romesh wilfully evaded to pay the tax and he has committed the offence under Income tax Act, I am not inclined to take lenient view against him.”

Earlier, Sharma filed an appeal against the judgement taken by the additional chief metropolitan magistrate (ACMM) on March 31, 2008 who had held him guilty for the offence under Income Tax Act.

He was sentenced to two years of rigorous imprisonment and Rs 1 lakh fine by the magistrate then.

The court noted that Sharma had moved an application before the income tax authorities for compounding of offence but subsequently failed to make any payment, which shows that he had no intention to pay tax.

He was arrested in 1998 from New Delhi.

New Delhi, October 6
A medical store owner was allegedly shot at by unknown assailants in the Nangloi area of west Delhi last night.

The victim, Gopal Sharma (32) received two bullet injuries. He was admitted to a nearby hospital. His condition is said to be stable.

The incident took place around 8:30 pm at Abhinav Medical Store in Amar Colony under Nangloi police station. Personal enmity is said to be the reason behind the attack as the assailants did not take any money or mobile of Gopal.

“Gopal’s condition is stable, but he is not in a position to give statement. It seems personal rivalry was the reason behind the attack,” said a police official.

Gopal was alone in the store when he was attacked. His wife and father could not throw any light on the reasons case, said the official.

New Delhi, October 6
A man was allegedly robbed of Rs 2 lakh by two unknown assailants on gupoint at a traffic signal in the Rajendra Nagar area of Central Delhi this afternoon.

The victim Dr Nikhil Raheja was in his car when two bikers stopped beside him on a red light near Karol Bagh Metro station in Old Rajendra Nagar and demanded the money bag kept in the car.

The police received a call at 1:40 pm. “The two bikers pulled out a gun and demanded money from Raheja who passed on the bag fearing for his life. The robbers then fled towards Panchkuian Road. There was about Rs 2 lakh in the bag,” said a police official from Rajendra Nagar police station where a case of robbery has been lodged.

Raheja had withdrawn the amount from HDFC Bank in Old Rajendra Nagar a few minutes ago. The robbers might have followed him from the bank itself.

The police got into action as soon as complaint was lodged. Barricades were erected in various parts of central and New Delhi areas. Intensive checking was conducted in parts of Connaught Place too, causing jams . But the police failed to nab the culprits.

Meanwhile, the police is working on the sketches of the robbers based on the information provided by Raheja.

Noida, October 6
A fast track court sentenced five persons, including the victim’s husband, parents-in-law and two others to seven years’ imprisonment in a dowry death case.

Additional district and sessions judge Pankaj Kumar Upadhyaya also slapped a fine of Rs 6,000 on each convicted in the case.

According to the prosecution, on October 13, 2003, a newly-wed woman Mayawati was allegedly poisoned to death at Kallupura village of Rabupura in Greater Noida. The postmortem report also confirmed it.

Mayawati had been married to Sushil Kumar about two and a half years prior to her murder. After some time, her in-laws started pressurising her to bring more dowry. So her parents took her back to their home. But her in-laws brought her back by assuring that she would not be harassed and tortured. Within a few days, Mayawati was allegedly poisoned to death by her in-laws .

The fast track court pronounced Mayawati’s husband Sushil Kumar, his father Prakash, mother Kirpa Devi, brothers Raj Kumar and Vimal guilty and sentenced them to seven years imprisonment under Section 304, 498-A of the IPC and Section ¾ of the Dowry Harassment Act.