New Delhi, June 10
Keeping in view the Delhi Assembly elections, that is due in one and half years, the Chief Minister, Sheila Dikshit, is taking all steps to woo the voters whether it is development work in the unauthorised colonies or proposed fund to madarssas, said a senior Congress leader.

He said that defeat of the Congress in the municipal election had given indication that the party could not come to power in Delhi, if the government failed to do development works in the unauthorised colonies that was considered major vote bank of the Congress and attractive soap to the minorities particularly Muslims.

The announcement of the Union Urban Development Ministry to take the unauthorised colonies till 2007 on map to regularise is one of the results of the Chief Minister. Following this announcement the wave somehow has started coming in favour of the government, he said.

Following the announcement, Sheila accompanied by Minister of State for urban Development Dr AK Walia and some MLAs called on Union Urban Development Minister Kamal Nath at the CM residence yesterday to convey thanks on behalf of the citizens of Delhi for amending regulations for regularisation of unauthorised colonies. It was taken as a relief-oriented action which would go a long way in removing the unwanted tag of unauthorised with un-planned colonies, the leader said.

Sources said that the Chief Minister also sought fund to commission development work in these colonies.

To attract Muslim voters, the CM asked the Delhi Minorities Commission to conduct a survey of madarssas so that they could be sanctioned fund to provide modern education to the students enrolled with the madarssas, the sources said.

New Delhi, June 10
The Leader of the Opposition in Delhi Legislative Assembly, Vijay Kumar Malhotra, alleged that the Chief Minister, Sheila Dikshit, interfered in the functioning of the three Municipal Corporations of Delhi (East, North and South) through the directorate of Municipal bodies. The directorate is being controlled by the Delhi government.

He said that on the alleged direction given by the Chief Minister the directorate was appointing officials in the MCD on deputation without the consent of the MCD concerned.

It seems that the Chief Minister has prepared her mind not to allow smooth functioning of the corporations that is why she has sent officials living in east Delhi to south or Narela resulting into hampering the functioning of the civic bodies, he added.

For the past 11 months pension has not been disbursed to widows and senior citizens. No payment has been made to contractors. Consequently, the contractors, hired for door-to-door collection of garbage, have also threatened not to collect garbage because they have not been paid for the past five months. If they stop their work, the government would be responsible for the mess.

The government has taken over slum department, industrial areas, unuathorised colonies and roads having width more than 60 ft from the MCD but no development work has been taken place so far. De-silting in drains along with roads which have taken over form the MCD, has not been started yet, hence, in the monsoon the city is going to be inundated, he said.

Here is a group of newly emerged activists under the "Aam Aadmi" banner who call for attention to the irregularities in the social sector.

According to them, much focus on the corruption in political class and the bureaucracy has been there of late, but the malpractices of the NGO sector have largely gone unnoticed.

This fledgling group wants to draw people's attention to such NGOs who themselves are indulging in corrupt practices and violating labour rights, said Mahesh Rathi, a key participator in a candle vigil held recently in the Capital.

Noida, June 10
Residents of Noida are reeling under 10-hour- long power cuts for the past several days, though the morning joggers find all the streetlights burning from 6 am till 8 am in the city.

Power supply was disrupted in sectors 19, 27, 26, 20, 21 and 25 for the past three days, while some other sectors have been facing as much as 10-hour-long power outages.

Local faults and up-gradation work on transformers disrupted power supply in various sectors on Friday, Saturday and Sunday.

A snag in 33 KVA sub-station in Sector 19 has plunged over 1,000 houses into darkness.

Another 24 sectors, including sectors 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 12, 15, 16, 19, 20, 21, 25, 26, 27, 31, 32, 33, 34, 36, and 39 and Nayaa Bans, Nithari and Harola faced long power outages.

Even inverters were of no help as due to prolonged power cuts the batteries fail to recharge, said Gp Capt (Retd) Ravinder Singh, a resident of Sector 21.

Another resident, Naveen Anand said he had some guests at home and felt very embarrassed that even fans were not working. Besides, Noida was declared a no power cut zone from the day one, he said.

New Delhi, June 10
The number of the applicants, who want to opt for vocational subject, at Delhi University (DU) has doubled this year.

Now, students applying for BA can opt for vocational courses. The College of Vocational Studies is the only DU college that offers a dedicated BA vocational course in seven streams.

Prof Indrajeet, principal of the College of Vocational Studies, today said that from a time almost six to seven when the college would just sufficiently fill the seats for its seven vocational streams, now the mad race for the courses had pushed the cutoffs much higher.

The college has a total of 539 seats under vocational studies. For pursuing BA vocational studies, the college calculates the percentage of best four subjects, including two vocational and two academic subjects (which include one language).

"Courses like BA (hons) in human resource management, office administration and secretarial practice, small and medium enterprises, management and marketing of insurance, marketing management and retail business, material management and tourism are the most sought after courses at our college now," said Dr Indrajeet.

These courses give the students an edge in the professional world. Students can delay their higher studies and start working right away. Having prepared the candidates under the right vocational course, chances of companies hiring them increase exponentially.

"Not just students who had opted for vocational subjects in Class XII, but even students from proper commerce and science backgrounds also apply for the course. Looking at this year's CBSE result and the rush, there is a high chance of cutoffs only increasing further," Dr Indrajeet added.

"During the placement season, most companies now prefer the candidates from vocational backgrounds. These courses equip students with hands on field knowledge and introduce them to the work culture that exists in the specific sector they are studying," he said.