New Delhi, March 14
The fare hike in the Railway Budget for 2012-13 has not only increased the financial burden of a common man in the city but also disappointed thousands of others residing outside the city, including those from Uttar Pradesh and Bihar.

"This is an 'anti-common man budget'. The one way fare to my home town will be hiked by over Rs 100, which is too much for a man like me," said Jitender, an autorickshaw driver.

Besides, some people feel that since the government could not have introduced any hike in the next year's budget as the following year is scheduled to hold the Lok Sabha elections, it tried to bring the maximum hike this year.

"People are packed in trains like animals during peak hours. The minister should concentrate more on upgrading the basic amenities like increasing frequency of some of the popular trains, cleanliness on platforms, toilets, drinking water and better security measures," said Subhash Chugh, a retired executive engineer.

As per the new budget, increase for the mail express second class will be by 3 paise per km, for sleeper class by 5 paise per km, 10 paise per km for AC Chair Car, AC 3 tier and First Class, AC 2 Tier by 15 paise per km.

Though in lieu of the hike, Railways Minister Dinesh Trivedi has promised an increased focus on safety, hygiene in trains and better amenities. The railways are set to spend more than Rs 1,000 crore on better amenities for passengers, according to the budget.

"I am happy that the ministry is trying to improve the sanitation and hygiene. Better facilities and housekeeping in trains and stations sound good, but the question is how much of this will actually be implemented," said Anjum, a schoolteacher.

Condemning the budget, Delhi BJP said, "Only 9 out of 236 Adarsh stations were modernized last year and another 85 have been announced in this budget--unlikely to see the light of day.

Against 160 multifunctional complexes which were to be set up, not even one has been established," said Vijender Gupta, Delhi BJP president.

New Delhi, March 14
To avoid the maddening rush at party offices where people struggle for hours to submit their applications for contesting the municipal elections , the candidates now prefer the online route. The ticket seekers are putting forward their applications through the online medium.

"We have been accepting a great deal of online applications daily as it saves time and is more convenient," said Rajesh Bhatia, BJP incharge from Karol Bagh district. "The party has received more than 2,000 applications in the district which has 16 municipal seats. And the receipt of application is open till 18 March," he said. The process of nomination for the elections begins from March 19.

However, other party leaders said even if the candidates apply online, they take rounds of the office to make sure their application has been accepted. They said that maximum applications are being received from women. "With 50 per cent reservation for women from this year, even housewives are in the fray to become the agents of change," said a senior Congress leader.

The Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) election, touted as a show of strength for mainline political parties before the state assembly election, has assumed significance with the participation of RWAs and women.

Though nothing has been decided as to who will finally be awarded the ticket, the parties are following strict guidelines while scrutinizing the applications. The Congress has decided not to repeat candidates who have lost the last municipal elections by more than 1,000 votes. Besides, it will not grant tickets to the turncoats. The party has also decided not to give tickets to those candidates who have lost the election twice in the past.

While the opposition BJP is conducting a survey through an agency to get feedback in all the 272 wards that include performance of its sitting councillors. Besides, the party high command has circulated a performa to its party workers to get feedback about the wards and performance of sitting councillors.

Neelam Aggarwal, 40, a housewife who has applied from Paschim Vihar, said, "Politicians are not doing any work for the people and I am sure people want a change."

New Delhi, March 14
With the arrest of Nishant, 27, and Shanbhu Piyakkar, 19, the west district police has solved a case of abduction and rescued the victim.

Ajay, 54, had been abducted from the Tilak Nagar area and taken to Hisar, Haryana. He was confined to a building there.

On March 11, a PCR call was received regarding the abduction of a person from his residence in Tilak Nagar.

Ajay's mother Indira said that while she and her son were sleeping, Nishant, along with two others, entered their house and started beating Ajay mercilessly. They then forcibly took him away.

Indira and Ajay used to live in Hisar earlier. Ajay got a car financed from Nishant in Hisar. Recently they shifted to Delhi due to financial crisis.

Ajay was not able to repay the loan. In order to get his money recovered, Nishant came to Ajay's house and demanded his money back.

On expressing his inability to pay the money, Nishant became went ballistic and assaulted Ajay and his mother. Nishant said that he would release Ajay only if the money was paid back to him.

After the case was registered, the police launched a hunt for the abductors.

The technical analysis of Nishant's cellular phone was done and they were chased till Hansi near Hisar. However, the police soon lost their track as there was heavy disturbance in Hisar due to the reservation movement of Jats on March 12.

The police combed the suspected areas throughout the day. Yesterday morning, the police was able to trace Nishant.

Nishant was interrogated and arrested in this case.

He said that the victim had been confined to an office space in a building under Shambhu's guard, an employee of Nishant. Immediately, the police raided the said office premises and rescued the victim.

Their third accomplice Vikram is still absconding. Vikram runs a saloon, "Refresher", in Hisar. He had supplied the information about Ajay to Nishant.

New Delhi, March 14
Twenty children, trafficked from the villages of Bihar and Uttar Pradesh, were rescued from the garment and shoe-making factories in Indira Enclave today. Most of them falling within the age bracket of 8-14 years were enticed by middlemen who paid an advance to their parents.

Four employers have been arrested. One unit has been sealed from where 10 children have been rescued in the raid led by SDM Kuldeep Singh of Kanjhawala in association with assistant labour commissioner Dayal Singh, the officials of labour department, police and activists of Bachpan Bachao Andolan.

These children had to work for more than 12 hours a day and used to get a meagre amount of Rs 50 a week.

"I have been working here for more than two and a half years. I have not visited my home since the day I came here. Our employer used to beat us with any object lying around and did not give us sufficient food," said a 10-year-old child.

This story is shared by scores of children engaged in the unorganised sector in the city.

New Delhi, March 14
Engineers of the Municipal Corporations of Delhi (MCD) and the Delhi Development (DDA) will conduct a survey to identify unsafe buildings in the city under the guidance and methodology of the National Disaster Management Association (NDMA).

The exercise aims at providing the expertise to the MCD engineers on the status of buildings, especially when they have to be declared dangerous.

Around 300 engineers from both the bodies will take up the task in June to assess if the city buildings can withstand earthquakes and submit their reports recommending necessary action.

A special method has been prepared on rapid visual screening (RVS), comprising 10 days of training to the engineers by the NDMA.

This is also expected to fill the dearth of structural engineers in the MCD.

The engineers will evaluate important buildings, including public structures like school buildings, offices and private complexes.

The RVS method is designed to evaluate risks to buildings without performing any structural calculations.

A scoring system requires the evaluator to identify primary structural lateral faults and identify building attributes which can modify the seismic performance.

"Schools, government offices, police stations and other important buildings should be analysed and evaluated first. Evacuation plans for these buildings have to be laid out ," said Prof Harsh K Gupta, a member of the NDMA.