New Delhi, July 16
The Delhi Cabinet today decided to grant freehold rights to the residents of 45 resettlement colonies. The colonies were developed by the Delhi Development Authority after 1950s to accommodate families dislocated due to the demolition of jhuggis.

The families had been allotted plots varying from 25 to 80 square yards on a licence basis. Considering the fact that the families had been living in the resettlement colonies for more than five decades, the government has decided to grant them freehold rights.

Talking to the media after the Cabinet meeting, Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit said that this was a historic decision as it was the first time that freehold ownership rights would be given to the licence holders.

Dikshit said the decision would affect around 7 lakh families in 45 resettlement colonies. The colonies are in different parts of the city, including Sriniwaspuri, Wazirpur, Satya Niketan, Janakpuri Pankha Road, Madangir.

Dikshit said the Cabinet had been quite sympathetic towards the residents while finalising the terms and conditions for granting the freehold rights.

It has been decided that original allottees and their legal heirs will have to pay 5 per cent of the existing circle rates for converting the properties to freehold while the occupants who purchased properties and residing prior to March 31, 2007 will have to pay 30 per cent of the circle rate for the same.

All other occupants other than tenants and residing in the colonies prior to December 31, 2011 will be charged 100 per cent of the circle rate for getting freehold rights of their properties.

New Delhi, July 16
Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit said that the government has been making all efforts to enhance the quantum and coverage of its various welfare schemes with an aim to reach the maximum number of the needy and vulnerable section of the society.

The Cabinet had earlier taken a decision to enhance monthly pension from Rs 1,000 to 1,500 to the SC, ST, minority communities beneficiaries under the scheme of old age pension and pension to women in distress.

It also decided to enhance financial assistance from Rs 25,000 to 30,000 to the widows of SC, ST, minority communities for the marriage of their daughters. It was felt that the benefit granted to women in distress and widows of SC, ST, minority communities be extended to all such women irrespective of caste and religion, since the suffering of women in distress and widows are more or less similar.

The Cabinet today decided to extend the benefit of enhanced pension of Rs 1,500 per month to all categories of women in distress - widows, divorced, abandoned, separated. The benefit of enhanced amount of Rs 30,000 will also be extended to all categories of applicants under the scheme, Financial Assistance for the Marriage of Daughters of Poor Widows and Orphan Girls.

The government will spend around Rs 56 crore more over and above existing Rs 116 crore to meet the hike in monthly pension and one-time financial assistance for the marriage of daughters of windows.

The Department of Women and Child Development has been providing pension to women in distress to around 89,000 beneficiaries. The number of beneficiaries is likely to cross the figure of one lakh. Under the scheme of financial assistance for the marriage of daughters of poor widows and orphan girls around 2,500 applicants are covered.

New Delhi, July 16
Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit said that the Cabinet today decided to implement Information and Communication Technology Scheme in schools under the city government as computer education programme has been included in the curriculum of CBSE.

The implementation of the scheme of the Union Ministry of Human resources Development (MHRD) will go a long way in making the students more and more computer literate and IT trained, the Chief Minister said.

The Cabinet has decided to implement the project in Delhi from VI to XII Class. Computer education programme started initially in August 2000 in 115 schools and over the period of time extended to cover 727 government schools and 161 government-aided schools. In pursuance to the request of the MHRD, the Directorate of Education submitted proposal to the Union government for coverage of all 1,094 government and government-aided secondary and senior secondary schools under the scheme as per the revised guidelines.

The city government will set up computer labs for all government and aided schools. The latest computers, projectors and printers will be installed in the schools along with internet and quality software. The government has already developed child friendly software for all subjects under the project CALTOONZ.

New Delhi, July 16
The tall claims of the municipal corporations have gone down the drain with several roads experiencing severe waterlogging after heavy rains that lashed the city this evening.

The East Delhi Municipal Corporation (EDMC) has declared 22 roads in its area to be vulnerable which experienced worst waterlogging due to rains. This includes 14 roads in Shahdara (north) zone and eight roads in Shahdara (south) zone.

The issue of waterlogging and desilting of drains in east Delhi remained the focus of the standing meeting held at the EDMC today.

The councillors of the opposition Congress said that desilting work was either not done properly or not taken up at all in some areas leading to waterlogged roads.

"No councillor had submitted the no-objection certificate which they had been asked to after the clearing the drains. Not even single councillor has ensured that the drains have been desilted completely," said leader of the opposition in EDMC Varyam Kaur.

The corporations had set June 30 for the completion of desilting of all drains in the city. However, officials said that they had desilted the drains much beyond the set target. "We had completed the work before the target. However, the work is a continuous process," said SS Yadav, commissioner of the EDMC.

While the BJP trying to defend the blame of waterlogging by relating it to the shortage of staff, the Opposition said since almost 75 per cent of the drains had gone to the Public Works Department (PWD), the work should be less as compared to the last year.

There are a total of 264 drains falling in the jurisdiction of the EDMC. Out of these, 148 come under Shahdara (north) and 116 in Shahdara (south).

New Delhi, July 16
Commenting on the ongoing blame game between the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) and the Reliance Infrastructure over suspension of the Airport Metro Express line, Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit today said that safety parameters should be the top-most priority in operating trains on the 23-km high-speed corridor.

The Chief Minister said she has taken up the issue with DMRC chief Mangu Singh and asked him to look into the safety issues carefully. "I have issued instructions to the DMRC. There is passing of buck currently. That is why it was decided to go for an investigation by a third party. We are waiting for the report," said Dikshit.

She said the Metro line linking New Delhi Railway station with the IGI airport is a pride of the city. "Safety and smooth train running are the most important issues. There should not be any compromise on safety parameters," she said.

Dikshit said the committee which was carrying out the third party inspection would soon submit its report to the Urban Development Ministry based on which appropriate action would be taken.

Mangu Singh had also dashed off a letter to Urban Development Minister Kamal Nath earlier this week apparently blaming Reliance Infrastructure for the current situation. In the letter written on July 11, Singh is believed to have blamed Reliance Infra for not detecting the defects in the bearings which are the interface between the pillar and girder.

A committee comprising officials from the Indian Railways, Delhi Metro and Reliance Infrastructure was set up for going into the nature of defects. Services on the Airport Metro were suspended from July 8 after some faults on the civil structure was detected on the corridor. While the Delhi Metro has built the civil structure on the line, Reliance Infra is responsible for operations and maintenance.

New Delhi, July 16
The body of a 15-year-old boy, who got swept into the deep waters of Agra Canal near Madanpur Khadar Village on Sunday, was found this evening.

The boy has been identified as Deepak of Madanpur Khadar Village. Yesterday evening, he along with two friends, Badal and Premi, and cousin Pankaj went to bath in the canal. While swimming, they got swept away by strong water currents. Hearing their cries for help, a 14-year-old boy named Sagar Kashyap who was passing by jumped into the canal, but could save only Badal, Premi and Pankaj, not Deepak.

A contingent comprising men from the police, fire brigade and the disaster management rushed to the village.

"We conducted search operations the entire last night and after taking a two-hour break, restarted again at 6 am today," said a police official.

The search operations were conducted until late afternoon across the area of the canal.

"Around 4.30 pm, we found Deepak's body near the village. Some locals spotted it and we brought it out from the water," said the official.

The 14-year-old braveheart, Sagar Kashyap, who saved the three boys, is an ace swimmer.

"I know the canal very well and so I jumped into it. I managed to take three of them out, but couldn't save the fourth one as he was swept away into deep waters," said Sagar, son of a fisherman who learnt swimming at the age of five.

Sagar's father Bhola Nath Kashyap is also a well-known swimmer and often helps police in emergency situations. "I have saved at least 50 lives so far. During Chath and Durga Puja, the police asks me to be present near the shores," said Bhola.

Bhola lives with his family near the canal. He taught his children-two sons and a daughter-swimming at an early age of five.

"I feared that they will fall in the canal, so I taught them swimming," he said.

The police has decided to reward Sagar for his bravery.

New Delhi, July 16
A four-year-old boy from UP reportedly went missing this morning from the premises of the Ram Manohar Lohia hospital, where his brother is undergoing treatment.

The police has registered a case of kidnapping under Section 363 of the IPC at the Mandir Marg police station.

CCTV cameras were reportedly not installed at the place in the hospital from where Faizan (4), went missing.

On July 13, Faizan with his family came to Delhi for the treatment of his brother Shahid (6), who was admitted at ward number 12 of the hospital.

The police said that on Sunday night, Faizan's father Muhammad Sadiq was sleeping with Shahid. Faizan was sleeping outside the Cardiac Care Unit of the hospital with his mother Zarina Khatoon and younger brother Salim (2).

At about 4 am, Zarina went to the bathroom, when she returned she noticed Faizan was missing. She informed her husband and they both started looking for the child.

Faizan is suffering from a skin allergy. He was wearing a yellow t-shirt and blue pants when he went missing.

The family searched for Faizan for three hours. At 7.15 am they called the police.

The police is examining the CCTV footage of the area outside the hospital. It is also scrutinising a list of criminals who may be involved in the kidnapping of the boy.

New Delhi, July 16
A five-year-old girl was allegedly sodomised by her 21-year-old neighbour in Narela on Sunday night. The neighbour, Deepak, has been arrested. The victim was alone at her home when Deepak barged in and allegedly sodomised her.

The police got the girl medically examined. The test confirmed that she was sodomised.

In another case, a sweeper was held today for allegedly sodomising a 10-year-old boy in Uttam Nagar on Saturday.

The boy had gone to a medical store near his house when the incidence happened. The sweeper, Vinod, is a resident of Raghubir Nagar. He took the boy to an isolated area and allegedlysodomised him. TNS