New Delhi, August 20
The Delhi traffic police is all set to start its trial run on the lanes earmarked for athletes and delegates during the Commonwealth Games (CWG) from Sunday, though after some delay.

After earmarking the portion of road that links various stadia and Games Village in the Capital, the Delhi police in the trial runs would generate awareness among residents to avoid encroachment on these lanes during the Games. Any violation would invite a fine of Rs 100 during the trial runs, while it would be Rs 2,000 during the Games.

Joint commissioner (traffic) Satyender Garg told The Tribune that trial runs across the city would be carried out in phases on different roads. The first run would be held on Lodhi Road in south Delhi on Sunday.

"We will have our first trial run on Lodhi Road between Aurobindo Marg and Lal Bahadur Shastri Road. The stretch is about 2.5 to 3 kms. Effort would be made to make people aware that these lanes are meant for the Games and, hence should not be encroached upon," said Garg, adding that the trial run on Sunday had been scheduled for three hours from 11 am to 2 pm.

He said the initial trial runs have been kept for the weekends (Saturday and Sunday) as traffic is less on roads, but gradually the "no encroachment on exclusive lane" trial would be conducted on week days and then during peak traffic hours on week days.

Talking about the penalty if the lanes are encroached upon, Garg said during trial runs a simple penalty of Rs 100 would be slapped under the lane violation rules, but during the Games a penalty of Rs 2,000 and impounding of vehicle would be imposed.

"As per the law, the state government or an authorised agency can prohibit or restrict movement of vehicles on a specified area or road. During the Games, we would levy a fine of Rs 2,000 on any encroachment in these lanes," said Garg.

The Delhi traffic police has already written to the state transport commissioner to invoke special provisions in this regard as it feels that the normal fine of Rs 100 would not be deterrent enough to the people known for lousy road sense and apathetic to traffic rules.

New Delhi, August 20
A 15-year-old schoolgirl was electrocuted inside her government school in the Dilshad Garden area of north-east Delhi today afternoon.

According to the police, the incident took place around 12 pm when the victim, Priya Chaudhry, a class VIII student of Sarvodaya Kanya Vidyalaya, came out of her class after the school got over and came in contact with an electric wire lying in a pool of water on the school premises.

According to information, the DSIIDC is carrying out some construction work in the school and an electric wire used in construction had fallen into the pool of water.

"Priya was coming out of her class when she stepped into the water and got electrocuted. She was rushed to GTB Hospital by the school authorities, but was pronounced brought dead. A case of causing death due to negligence has been registered against the contractor responsible for the construction work while further investigations in the matter are on," said a senior police official from the district.

However, the angry parents and relatives of Priya alleged negligence on the part of the school authorities and man-handled some of them.

According to the police, about 50 persons barged into the school and beat up some of the teachers present there.

"The school did not inform Priya's family about the incident. They came to know about it from Priya's classmates. Angry over the death and school keeping them in dark, some of the family members indulged in minor scuffle with the school staff and teachers," said the official.

Tthe state education ministry has suspended the school's vice-principal with immediate effect and has announced compensation of Rs 1 lakh for the victim's family. An internal enquiry committee has been set up to probe the incident.

New Delhi, August 20
After heavy rains lashed the Capital for three consecutive days, the weather today turned humid thus, giving residents a hard time.

The high humidity also led to rise in temperatures. Although light drizzle was witnessed in many parts, the rise in humidity level spoiled the mood today.

The maximum temperature today settled at 31.7 degrees Celsius, two notches below average, while the minimum settled at a normal 26 degrees Celsius. The humidity level oscillated between 98 and 79 per cent.

Till 5:30 pm today, the city had received 10.3-mm rainfall. While just yesterday the rainfall was recorded at 110-mm.

The Met department has forecast more rains for tomorrow. "There will be partly cloudy skies tomorrow with possibility of rains/ thundershowers in several parts of the Capital," said an official of the Indian Metrological Department.

While the maximum temperature is expected to be 33 degrees Celsius tomorrow, the minimum is expected to settle at 26 degrees Celsius.

Faridabad, August 20
Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda revealed here today that his government was aiming to extend Metro rail from YMCA in Faridabad to Ballabgarh in this district and would later push to connect Faridabad with Gurgaon.

Hooda unveiled a life statue of former premier late Rajiv Gandhi on his birth anniversary in Rose Garden here and addressed a public meeting in the nearby Dussehra Ground.

The Chief Minister said that in order to get the Metro link to Faridabad, his government was committed to pay a sum of more than Rs 1,558 crore, which is a major portion of the cost of the project. The total expected cost of the project is Rs 2,500 crore.

He stressed that his government would take all possible measures to once again bring Faridabad on the national map.

The city, which was once counted among one of the major industrial centres in the country, has lost its sheen in the past few decades, he said.

Hooda emphasised that the people of Faridabad voted for the nominees of Congress in the last Assembly elections and returned a good number of them in the Vidhan Sabha elections.

The good number of MLAs went a long way in helping the Congress to form its government for the second consecutive term in the state, he added.

The Mayor of the Faridabad Municipal Corporation (MCF), Ashok Arora, was the main organiser of the meeting.

While speaking on the occasion, Arora urged upon the Chief Minister for providing a three-acre land to set up a Punjabi dharamshala in Faridabad. A salient feature of the meeting was that majority of the audience was from the urban pockets and the meet was largely attended by Punjabis.

New Delhi, August 20
In a brazen case of discrimination against HIV/AIDS victims, the management of a popular arts venue sought a declaration from an NGO, which had rented it for a two-day workshop, that it would not host any persons afflicted by HIV/AIDS, forcing it to cancel its booking.

The NGO, Naz Foundation Trust, which works for people having HIV/AIDS, has lodged a complaint with National AIDS Control Organisation against the gallery located on the Mehrauli-Gurgaon Road here.

A senior NACO official confirmed that they had received the complaint.

The venue's management allegedly sought a declaration from the NGO on August 10 that none of the participants in the consultation to be held on August 19 and 20 would be either HIV positive or have AIDS.

"We had booked the hall in the gallery on August 1 for the consultation. The management later asked us to submit a declaration on non-participation of AIDS patients and people living with HIV in the event and that too after we had made the advance payment for the booking. We had no choice but to cancel the event," Anuradha Mukherjee, programme manager of NAZ, told The Tribune.

The management of the gallery could not be reached despite several attempts.

"The mangement of the gallery refused to provide the request in writing citing several excuses and said that the booking would be cancelled without the decalaration. This is outright violation of the rights of people that the Constitution has guaranteed is strongly condemnable," pointed out Anuradha.

She added that the instance is not an isolated one, as the section continues to be denied the basic right to a dignified living on many fronts

The NGO has gone ahead seeking solidarity from other like-minded organisations, including Delhi Network of Positive People, Delhi Positive Women's Network and Indian Network of Positive People.

New Delhi, August 20
The national Capital may soon have a National Cartoon Gallery on the lines of National Art Gallery. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh assured this to a delegation of cartoonists that met him at his Parliament House office last night.

The delegation was led by cartoonist and painter Uday Shankar Ganguly, who presented the Prime Minister with his caricature.

Ganguly (42) has made over 5,500 cartoons of national and world leaders, including President Pratibha Patil. His collection includes 90 caricatures signed by the VIPs, including the Prime Minister. "I am waiting for the signed caricatures to reach 100. After that, I will organise an exhibition in the Capital," Ganguly told The Tribune. He prepares an exclusive cartoon every week on the most topical issue for the Press Club of India.

As the general secretary of the Indian Cartoonists' Association, Ganguly submitted a proposal to the Prime Minister which stated that the government should open a National Cartoon Gallery.

"The Prime Minister said it was a good idea and he assured us about the establishment of National Cartoon Gallery," Ganguly said. He added that the Prime Minister's Office had forwarded the proposal to the ministry of information and broadcasting.

New Delhi, August 20
The special cell of the Delhi police has arrested a 58-year-old sanitation worker of the Municipal Corporation of Delhi for allegedly posing as an Army personnel and procuring arms licence from Jammu and Kashmir using forged documents.

According to the police, Jai Prakash, a resident of Sultanpuri in Uttar Pradesh, was apprehended recently after a revolver, 17 live bullets, three spent rounds of a .32 caliber revolver and a bogus arms licence obtained from Jammu and Kashmir on the basis of forged documents were recovered from his possession.

According to Shibesh Singh, additional DCP (special cell), the verification report of the arms licence revealed that the licencee had impersonated as Sepoy No. 6923566-W of Unit - 5071 ASC Battalion on the basis of a recommendation letter purported to be issued by admin officer, 5071 ASC Battalion. When the recommendation letter was verified from the issuing office, it was learnt that the document was fake and that Prakash was not an employee of the said battalion," said Singh.

An investigation into the matter was taken up in June this year when the special cell received information that some persons in the Sultanpuri area were in possession of arms licenses issued by a district magistrate in J&K.

The information was developed and three persons were arrested.

During investigation, it was revealed that the license was issued by the DM concerned on the basis of a recommendation certificates issued by various Army units, including ordinance depot, Shakur Basti, Delhi, and 5071 ASC Bn (MT), Udhampur, J&K. All these certificates were later found to be fake.

During interrogation, Prakash told the police that he was employed as a sanitation worker with the MCD and also ran a piggery in Sultanpuri. In order to pressurise his business rivals, he needed a gun and for this, he contacted Ranjit Singh, a man who was previously arrested in this case.

Singh worked as a sweeper in the ordinance depot in Shakur Basti and is involved in providing arms licences to civilians by fabricating fake recommendation letters on behalf of Army units. Prakash had paid him Rs 18,000 for the recommendation letter.

New Delhi, August 20
The Delhi government has started mobile schools and dispensaries for children of labourers working at the Games sites and elsewhere.

Minister of social welfareMangat Ram Singhal today said in the Assembly that the government was taking care of the children of daily wage workers. Arrangements have been made for their education by deploying 28 mobile schools, he said. As far as their health is concerned, 13 mobile vans visit the sites for their treatment, he added.

Children of construction workers get free of cost education in Delhi government schools and the government also gives scholarships to them. Students of class X get Rs 200 per month, senior secondary get Rs 500, graduation Rs 1,500 and students of technical and higher education get Rs 5,000 per month, he said.

If a worker dies on duty, his family gets Rs 4 lakh compensation. Besides, Rs 30,000 are deposited as life insurance for workers, the minister informed the Assembly. So far the government has spent Rs 460 crore for the welfare of workers, he claimed.

When asked what actions were being taken to prevent child labour, he said children less than 14 years of age were not allowed to work.

However, he failed to give details of employers who have faced action for making children work.

When Leader of Opposition V.K Malhotra asked about the Delhi High Court's notice to the government for providing all facilities to workers, he said the notice was issued to the city as well as Union government. A committee was also constituted by the court for this.

New Delhi, August 20
Members of trade unions, youth organisations, women's groups and several DU students today braved the rains to come together and take out a peaceful rally to protest against the Delhi government's alleged inaction on rising rents in the city.

The rally was supposed to begin from Rajghat and proceed towards the Delhi Secretariat in ITO. However, the Delhi police refused to cooperate, and so, the protesters decided to demonstrate at Rajghat itself while a delegation went to the Chief Minister's office.

The delegation, led by a former president of St. Stephen's College Maya John, carried a memorandum addressed to Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit. The memorandum included more than 5,000 signatures of people living in rented accommodations.

The various demands included in the memorandum are:

i) Effective rent regulation to be pursued by the Government of Delhi (using provisions of the Delhi Rent Regulating Act, 1958), ii) Institution of a rent enquiry commission, iii) Provision of more subsidised housing schemes for workers, and iv) Release of funds for construction of more hostels for students and single working persons.

After handing over the memorandum to CM's secretary at the secretariat, the delegation has decided to meet the CM tomorrow and apprise her on the issue. The delegation has decided to submit a copy of the signatures to the CM also.

This movement for rent regulation stems from earlier initiatives of the participating trade union organisations which have constantly demanded subsidised housing for all, and, in particular, for working-class families. The movement is also part of initiatives taken up by youth organisations like the Krantikari Yuva Sangathan (KYS), and women's organisations like the Centre for Struggling Women (CSW) which have been fighting for the provision of more hostels for students in Delhi University.

Noida, August 20
The Commonwealth Games (CWG) team has suggested the widening of cycling track U-turn at Greater Noida Expressway.

"The CWG Team led by competition manager William Patrick Clinch who had visited the cycling venue on Wednesday suggested the widening of U-turn stretch in the Greater Noida area. He felt that for participating cyclists the turn was comfortable, but it required widening for other vehicles that followed the cycles. It will be widened by 4 metres," said Subodh Nath Jha, in charge of CWG Noida cycling venue.

"The time trial cycling event to be held on Noida Expressway on October 13 is for 40-km track," said Jha.

New Delhi, August 20
With the arrest of three juveniles, the Bhalswa Dairy police in north-west district has busted the gang of robbers who had allegedly robbed a TATA-407 driver of Rs 4,000 and mobile phone at knife-point near Ghains Godown, Shradhanad Colony, on Wednesday.

Rs 400 and the mobile phone have been seized.

According to the police, the arrest came after the complainant gave the description of the gang members.

All three juveniles are school dropouts and belong to the lower strata of society. They allegedly used to commit such robberies to meet their daily needs.

They disclosed that Salim, alias Jadu, was the gang leader. He was absconding. They further disclosed that Salim had allegedly attacked the complainant with a knife and robbed him of Rs 4,000 and mobile phone. They said one of the juveniles had got the mobile phone and the other two had got Rs 500 each as their share from the robbed money.

Noida, August 20
Two incidents of robbery were reported from Noida last night. In the first incident that took place in Sadarpur Colony, a resident of the colony, Mukesh Mishra, was robbed of his mobile phone and purse in the Sector 37 area. He has lodged an FIR at the Sector 39 police station.