New Delhi, November 26
Under the banner of the All-India Confederation of SC/ST Organisations, a good number of people belonging to the backward communities (Dalits and tribals) marched today from Ramlila Grounds to Jantar Mantar to press for reservation in promotions as well as in private sector.

Even as the Constitutional Amendments like 77th, 81st, 82nd and 85th stand in support of reservation in promotions and consequential benefits where SC/ST employees are promoted faster, the section concerned continues to be marginalised, said protestors, while urging for considering the matter during this Parliament session.

While demanding reservation in higher judiciary, several speakers, who addressed the rally, urged for restoration of the old system of appointing the judges as laid down in the Constitution or a national judicial commission should be constituted to appoint judges as the present system of appointment of the same is against reservation. "The current system of appointing the judges through collegium is unconstitutional and has promoted favouritism," the protestors said.

Unhappy with the judiciary, the chairperson of the National Justice Party and convenor of the movement, Udit Raj said, "There are 149 secretaries in the Government of India and none of them is from the SC category. Nowhere in any department has it been proved that efficiency of administration has suffered due to reservation. Legislatures, be it Parliament or assemblies, are considerate to make laws to give representation to a section in the government jobs but higher judiciary is bent on diluting it.

"Reservation in government services and politics is the only means for the development of the SC/ST people but they have come to a halt and increased workload is being outsourced. More jobs are being created in private sector but the SC/ST people are kept outside its purview," said Raj while urging the government to make legislation to bring reservation in the private sector.

Opposing caste-based discrimination in work, they said those engaged in night-soil carrying about 1.3 million people across India should be given their rights, minimum wages and the system of engaging in work as per birth should be abolished.

New Delhi, November 26
The Mayor of London, Boris Johnson, accompanied by British High Commissioner to India Sir James Bewan and eight-member delegation today called on Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit to participate in an interactive session with ministers and officers of the Delhi on various civic issues.

At the onset, Johnson commended the initiative taken by the Delhi government in improving the environment in the city and appreciated the switchover from diesel to CNG in respect of public transport

system and commercial vehicles, which resulted in better quality of air in the city. He also appreciated the expansion plan of the Delhi Metro and existing school education system.

Dikshit gave an overview of the capital city and apprised them of the existing administrative set-up in Delhi.

The issue of the Foreign Direct Investment in retail was also discussed. She referred to the issues related to the Yamuna and stated that the city government is working under a plan to install interceptor sewers.

The city is marching towards a well-developed medical tourism centre and the government is catering to a large number of patients coming from other states, Dikshit said.

The meeting was also attended by Urban Development Minister Arvinder Singh, Education Minister Kiran Walia, Chief P.K. Tripathi, Principal Secretary (Finance), Commissioner (Transport) and Secretary (Education).

Union Urban Development Minister Kamal Nath and a delegation of London that was led by its Mayor Boris Johnson discussed the transit-oriented development (TOD) in the urban areas, including Delhi.

India and the UK government had signed an agreement for developing the urban areas in the country.

A UK delegation will visit India in 2013 to have a discussion before the work finally begins.

New Delhi, November 26
Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU) today organized a one-day conference on 'Modern Colombia and Bilateral Relations with India' which brought together distinguished speakers, thinkers and academicians to strengthen research on Latin America.

Speaking at the conference organized by the School of Social Sciences (SOSS), Prof. Gopinath Pradhan, VC, IGNOU said, "We have entered different fields while our present focus is on skill development. With 2.56 million students on roll and 490 programmes in hand, the reach of the university is defined by its technological expansion. We have 5,000 hours of telecast time; we are the first to offer educational material on the Internet free of charge."

New Delhi, November 26
In a major leap in the field of power generation, India will soon start a project to generate electricity through geothermal energy.

The announcement was made by the Union Minister of New and Renewable Energy, Farooq Abdullah, at the inaugural session of a two-day Northern Regional Science Congress (NRSC) organised by the Delhi Chapter of the Indian Science Congress Association (ISCA) in association with the Department of Science and Technology here today.

"We are going to start a project to produce the electricity through the heat of the earth or geothermal energy. We are planning to produce 80 per cent energy from renewable energy through biomass, sun and ethanol," he said.

With respect to wind energy, he said the country is mooting to augment 300-MW electricity by air annually and for this the tie-up with Denmark is under way.

ISCA, a body of scientists, researchers and students that was set up by two British chemists, is observing the 100th year of its inception with the Prime Minister as general president of the ISCA for the year.

New Delhi, November 26
Thousands of workers under the banner of Centre of Indian Trade Unions (CITU) and engaged in various government programmes, today congregated in the national Capital to push for their demands for minimum wages and social security.

One Roshni Nandana, accompanied by 50-60 other midday meal workers, said, "We get a paltry amount of Rs 1,000 per month and there is no other assistance from the government. We should be regularised and our wages increased to Rs 15,000."

Addressing the rally, the Communist Party of India (Marxist) general secretary Prakash Karat said, "There are about one crore workers who are serving in various government schemes and they continue to be denied the minimum wages. They do not want incentives from the government, but their basic rights."

On the issue of FDI in retail, which has led to the disruption of the ongoing winter session of Parliament, he lashed the government and said, "For those who are into small and medium-scale business, life will be difficult as the FDI favours only corporate houses."

New Delhi, November 26
A 49-year-old head constable with the Delhi police was shot dead by unknown persons late last night while was doing picket duty in the Kanjhawla area of outer Delhi.

A police team comprising Head Constable Ram Kishan and Constable GK Siddaia were performing picket duty from 8 pm to 8 am at Jonty Kannoda toll tax last night.

"At about 2:25 am, a Honda City car came from the Jonty village side which was stopped by Ram Kishan. After checking the rear seat passengers, he asked the person sitting beside the driver to come down for checking, but instead of getting down he took out a pistol," said BS Jaiswal, Deputy Commissioner of Police, Outer district.

However, Ram Kishan snatched the pistol from him. The driver then started driving his car in reverse. In order to stop and apprehend them, Ram Kishan caught hold of the window, but the car occupants shot at him and managed to flee, the police said.

"He sustained gunshot injury. He was rushed to Brahma Shakti Hospital where he was declared brought dead. A case has been filed under Arms Act at Kanjhawala police station. Efforts are being made to nab the criminals," said Jaiswal.

Ram Kishan, a resident of Vijay Enclave, Nangloi, was promoted as Head Constable on February 1997. He was awarded with Asadharan Karya Puraskar (AKP) in 2003 for being hardworking and punctual. He is survived by wife and two sons.