New Delhi, April 7
While the Public Works Department (PWD) has saved money running into crores of rupees with the completion of its two major stadiums, the cost of construction and renovation of five stadiums, including Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium, has increased by almost 250 per cent of the original. The Central Public Works Department (CPWD) is working on these five stadiums.

The budget allocation for the upgradation of stadiums to be used during the 2010 Commonwealth Games (CWG) has been increased by approximately Rs 1,500 crore. The stadiums, estimated to be completed within Rs 1,000 crore, will now be upgraded at a whooping cost of Rs 2,460 crore.

The fact was revealed in a reply under Right to Information Act (RTI). The application filed under the RTI Act by activist Subhash Chandra Agrawal had sought details of the initial and revised budget for the CWG-related projects taken up by the government.

According to the reply, the initial planned amount was Rs 1,000 crore, but later it was revised to Rs 2,460 crore.

However, the Ludlow Castle training venue for wrestling has been completed at a cost of Rs 13 crore, whereas the budget allocation for the project was Rs 20 crore. Chattrasal Stadium was finished with the total cost of Rs 70 crore in place of total budget of Rs 98 crore. Both the stadiums have been built by PWD.

The work of construction and renovation of the stadiums, Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium, Indira Gandhi Stadium, Dr Shyama Prasad Mukherjee Swimming Pool Complex, Major Dhyanchand National Stadium and Dr Karni Singh Shooting Range, is being done by the CPWD.

"There has been an addition of various services to make the stadiums world class and meet the international standards. Best quality features have been provided which were absent in the previous stadiums. It is almost like building a new stadium from the very beginning. All these factors have escalated the cost," said a senior CPWD engineer.

The original cost for construction and renovation of Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium, which is to host the opening and closing ceremonies, was Rs 455 crore. It was revised to Rs 961 crore. Similarly, for the Karni Singh Shooting Range, the budget was increased to Rs 149 crore from the original Rs 16 crore. 

New Delhi, April 7
The BJP today said that the Delhi government has compromised the national security by approving the use of Tetra handset for communication by security agencies during the Commonwealth Games as Pakistan is using the same technology.

Former BJP state president Harshvardhan said terrorist groups in Pakistan would find it easier to crack the Tetra and the country’s security would then be at stake, he claimed in a press conference today.

He said the Tetra communication system is not based on the latest technology and the system had jammed many times during the Beijing Olympic Games.

“Continuous rehearsal is essential before using new technology that has not happened in India. China had established Tetra voice system three years before the Beijing Olympics. Even then, it had to face problems during the event. If without testing and rehearsing, this system is handed over to new hands, any undesirable incident may happen during the Commonwealth Games,” he said.

He demanded a CBI inquiry for awarding tender to Motorola for Tetra handsets.

The BJP leader said foreign intelligence agencies are eying the Commonwealth Games of India and the security system. Some of the terrorist organisations have got the latest electronic surveillance system and are conversant with the Tetra mechanism.

Harshvardhan alleged that the government was involved in financial bungles. “It has awarded tender worth Rs 99 crore to Motorolla disregarding security rules of defence, telecommunication and home department,” he said.

Giving reason for allegation of bungles, Harshvardhan said that only six months were left for the Commonwealth Games. The Motorola Company has been given orders to supply 10,000 Tetra handsets and for making other arrangements through the process of tender. It will take at least six months for the commissioning, installing, constructing main antenna tower, constructing sub-towers and establishing police command.

Faridabad, April 7
The Punjabi leaders in the Haryana Congress have expressed satisfaction over the fact that their government in the state is taking certain steps to endear itself to the community.

The Punjabi leaders in the Congress feel that the government’s “pro-Punjabi” policies will send a positive signal to the community in the entire country and politically help the party in identifying itself with the Punjabis on a wide scale.

The former home minister of Haryana and senior Congress leader, Subhash Batra, said here today that the Congress government had set an example in its sincerity towards the welfare of the Punjabis.

The government’s recent announcement of according the second official language status to Punjabi in the state appears to have perked up a large section of Punjabi leaders

within the Congress. Batra and other Congress leaders feel that the government showed ‘sincerity’ by allowing the subject of Punjabi in schools and colleges as well as

permitting debates during the “Question Hour” in the Haryana Vidhan Sabha.

The preceding governments only gave assurances, opine the party leaders.

The announcement of the Chief Minister at a recent “Punjabi mahasammelan” in the state to allow land for setting up a memorial in honour of those members of the community who lost their lives during the Partition appears to have gone down well with the Punjabis.

Batra said that the community in Haryana will organise a meeting in which the Chief Minister will be invited as the chief guest. Leaders and intellectuals of the community cutting across party lines and ideologies will also be invited to the gathering.

Many leaders feel that the community was not getting its due share in government jobs and in political representation according to its numerical strength. A strong case will also be made out before the Chief Minister as well as other political parties to give tickets as per the strength of the community.

Ghaziabad, April 7
Panchayats of Karnal, Haryana and Meerut appear to have much in common as far as their verdicts and edicts to lovers are concerned.

Six days after the Supreme Court sentenced five persons to death in an honour killing case, a panchayat at Khekra town in Baghpat district has allegedly pronounced death sentence for lovers and directed villagers to “socially boycott them.”

Zameel, a married man having four children, fell in love with a girl in his neighbourhood. Zameel is a resident of Nalapar Colony in Khekra town, 40-kms from Delhi.

Over 20 days ago, Zameel had reportedly eloped with the girl. As a result, the girl’s enraged father lodged a kidnapping case against Zameel and his three other relatives at the Khekra police station.

While the police was still looking for the couple, Zameel and the other accused got a stay order from the high court against their arrest.

Piqued and upset by the fact that the girl had eloped with a man, her family quit the village and went into hiding.

On March 23, Zameel returned with the girl to the village and announced that they had got married in Delhi. The couple also presented a ‘nikahnama’ as a proof. This raised eyebrows and an ‘all caste’ panchayat met to discuss the matter. The couple was asked to remain in an adjacent room while the panchayat debated their fate.

According to residents of the area, the panchayat decided to “socially boycott” the couple and asked them to leave the village. The panchayat also warned them that if they returned to the village, they would be killed.

However, the police denied that the panchayat had passed any death order for the couple. “They (the panchayat) handed out a decision of social boycott not a death sentence,” said Mahendra Pal Singh, additional superintendent of police (ASP), Baghpat.

New Delhi, April 7
Union health minister Ghulam Nabi Azad said today urbanisation might bring tremendous growth prospects in terms of employment, education and social services, but it has also brought along a host of problems.

Speaking on “Urbanisation and Health: Challenges and Solutions” on the occasion of World Health Day at AIIMS, Azad said cities are expanding and so are slums. More than four crore people reside in slums, he said, quoting 2001 census.

They live in just one square mile and these areas lack power connections, road connectivity, sanitation and clean drinking water, he added.

His deputy and state minister for health Gandhi Selvan was rather blunt and said the world has failed to handle the growth trajectory, with people, irrespective of the income group, facing a severe health challenge in the urban settings.

“To make matter worse, there is no definite health care pattern in urban areas, besides the multiplicity of implementing organisations,” he said.

Azad also released two publications—Health Workers: Module on Tobacco Control and Case study of Delhi Slum–brought by the Centre of Community Medicine.

New Delhi, April 7
With many more colleges registering for Delhi University’s (DU) Common Aptitude Test for English (CATE) for the next academic year starting this July, the forms for the test will now be available at all admission counters. Last year, the forms were sold only on one counter at the English department.

The common test, introduced last year by DU’s English department, was successful and many more colleges have registered for the test for the upcoming session.

Taking the list of 12 colleges that registered for CATE last year to 19, this year reputed colleges like Miranda House and Lady Sri Ram would also admit students to B.A. English (hons.) through this test.

“The fact that new colleges have opted for the test is a reflection on its success,” said Sumanyu Sathpathy, head of department, English, DU, adding that the review of the performance of CATE suggested that the colleges were satisfied with the students who were admitted through the test.

It is expected that by April 15, the last date for colleges to sign up for the test, many more colleges would join in.

For the new session, the English department would issue the admission forms for CATE on OMR sheets.

“There would be more students applying for the test this year, so the forms would be sold on all DU counters, and interested candidates would be registered on computer through OMR sheets instead of the manual application,” said Sathpathy.

This year, the test has been divided into two sections. The first test would have multiple choice questions and the second test would ask the candidates subjective questions.

The English department is also trying to clear the anomalies in the admission process that occurred last year.

Sathpathy said some colleges took out separate cut-off lists even after registering for the common test, leading to confusion among the applicants. “The colleges have apologised for last year’s mistake and this time we are going to make sure that it doesn’t happen,” he said.

Reacting to the reports that the test might be conducted online this year, the English department said it would not want to take such a risk at a time when massive construction work, including underground cabling of internet wires, was going on the DU campus for the upcoming Commonwealth Games.

The test that might be scheduled for the first week of June would have a weightage of 70 per cent in the final cut-off, including 30 per cent of the candidate’s Class XII marks.

New Delhi, April 7
Students at Delhi Technological University (DTU) on Wednesday once again suspended their agitation and started returning to classrooms.

DTU spokesperson, Rashmi Sablania, said, “Wednesday saw students trickling back to their classes, and we expect even greater number of students to come to classes on Thursday. The atmosphere at the university is normalising and we expect that the agitation is likely to be suspended, though we are awaiting a formal intimation.”

The students, meanwhile, said, “We are suspending the agitation, but this is a temporary move and we intend to talk to the Central government to get our demands fulfilled. The step has been taken as a large number of students feel that the agitation is having a negative impact on their study and careers.”

The students, however, today met the principal secretary, technical education, Anand Prakash.

Accordig to Ravi Sekhri, president, DTU students’ union, the third year students have been holding discussions with the registrar U.K. Wohra and the principal secretary. The registrar has been cooperative and some of our demands about improving university infrastructure, including hostels and classrooms, and updating curriculum have been accepted. We are reaching a re-conciliation.”

However, according to the students, they have not received any positive response about their major demands of re-conversion of DTU to Delhi College of Engineering (DCE) and removal of the vice-chancellor, P.B. Sharma.

The students of DTU have been agitating for over a month now. They have held numerous dharnas and protests. They have also talked with the university administration, state government functionaries and Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit.

The students are basically protesting against the conversion of DCE, a central university college, to DTU, a state university. Students feel that the college has lost its status because of the conversion.

Recently, the parents joined the students in their agitation

New Delhi, April 7
The managing director of Delhi Metro Rail Corporation, E Sreedharan, had a cardic arrest this morning and was taken to Apollo Hospital.

The hospital officials said he has been kept in the ICU and is stable.

Sreedharan, 77, fondly called Metro Man as he is credited with executing the world-class transport project in the national Capital, complained of uneasiness and chest pain in the morning and was admitted to the hospital around 8.30 am. He was to board a flight to Kolkata when the complications arose.

Doctors said he had suffered cardiac arrest and a battery of doctors is monitoring his progress.

Sreedharan was named as one of the Asian heroes by the Time magazine in 2003 for his work at Metro. He was chosen by the government to head the project in 1997. 

New Delhi, April 7
Three incidents of fire were reported from various parts of the city today.

In the first incident, two persons were charred to death while another suffered injuries when fire broke out in a slum cluster of Bawana in the wee hours today.

According to fire officials, the blaze was reported from Shabda JJ Colony C-block in Bawana. Seven fire trucks were sent to the spot. 

“Two persons were burnt to death while another was injured in the incident. The injured person has been admitted to a nearby hospital. The deceased persons have been identified as Akash (8) and Shyam (50). Shyam worked as labourer,” said a police official adding that the cause of fire is yet to be ascertained.

In another incident, a shoe factory in Mangolpuri Industrial Area of west Delhi caught fire late last night.

A fire official said that the incident was reported around 11:30 pm and 20 fire trucks were rushed to the spot. 

While in another incident, a minor fire broke out on the seventh floor of Nirman Bhavan which houses several central government ministries this evening.

According to fire officials, the blaze was reported from a room on the seventh floor of the building around 6:20 pm.

“The fire broke out in a cable. Four fire trucks were rushed to the spot. The situation was brought under control in 20 minutes,” said a fire official adding that short-circuit could have caused fire.

Six persons, including four children, have died in ten cases of fire in the Capital in a fortnight.