New Delhi, March 30
While anti-graft crusader Anna Hazare's meeting with his former lieutenant and now the face of Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) Arvind Kejriwal is expected to give a short in the arm, Kejriwal today rubbished the public advertisements by the three private power discoms that in Delhi the electricity tariffs are much less compared to those in other cities in the country. Kejriwal termed the advertisements 'false' and misleading.

Anna while on the way to Amritsar urged Kejriwal to call off his fast and said that their paths might be different but their goal is the same. Kejriwal is fighting for the poor people, Anna said.

Kejriwal has demanded an independent audit by the CAG into the accounts of the power discoms.

He questioned the revenue gap of Rs 19,000 crore that the Delhi Electricity Regulatory Commission has estimated, based on the data provided by discoms.

And to back his arguments, Kejriwal referred to the Central Electricity Regulatory Commission annual report 2010-2011.

He said even as the cost of power generation has increased marginally in last two years (5-8 per cent), the increase in electricity charges in the national Capital has been staggering-more than 65 per cent--which is totally unjustified and criminal.

According to him, cheap power is available in other states while in Delhi, it is corruption, inflated capital expenditure and manipulated losses.

"The very fact that power discoms have been opposing an independent audit by the CAG is a proof that their books have been cooked to cheat Delhiites," he remarked while urging the crowds gathered at Sunder Nagri to restore the power supply of all those whose power supply has been snapped by the discoms due to the non-payment of bills.

Kejriwal, whose health parameters are within the normal range, said that Anna Hazare's visit has lent strength to the movement. The AAP confirmed that more than five lakh people of Delhi have pledged not to pay their bills and it appears that the campaign is gaining momentum.

This is the first time Anna appeared in public on a common platform with Kejriwal since last September. 

New Delhi, March 30
Four days after the murder of BSP leader and businessman Deepak Bhardwaj (62), the Delhi police is conducting raids in different states to unravel the mystery, but it is still clueless about the motive of the crime.

A police officer close to the investigation said that the assailants have been identified, but the motive behind the conspiracy is not clear.

"We are waiting for the evidence to confront the accused," police officials said, adding that the killers received around Rs 1 crore.

No arrests have been made in the case though according to sources, some people are stated to be under detention. One of the detained has been identified as Rakesh, a property dealer at outer Delhi's Alipur. His questioning identified the shooters as Purushottam Rana, alias Monu, and Sunil of Khera Kalan village. Purushottam and Sunil purchased the Skoda car from Rakesh a day before the incident. The duo returned the car to Rakesh after shooting Bhardwaj, and fled in their Hyundai Santro.

Source said that they are conducting raids in Haryana, Uttarakhand and Dehradun. The police has interrogated more than 70 persons in connection with the case.

The police officer said that family members of Deepak have alleged that a female employee could be behind the incident. "We are looking into their allegations. Nothing is concrete right now," he said.

It is also claimed that a case of rape was lodged against Bhardwaj with the Mayapuri police station. Sources said that investigating officials would check if an FIR was registered against Bhardwaj. In that case, the police will take the complainant's statement, the sources added.

Bhardwaj's family members are not reportedly cooperating with the police in probe. The case is likely to be handed over to the crime branch or special cell.

New Delhi, March 30
In a bid to encourage preventive healthcare, Apollo Hospitals Group, today announced the launch of a nationwide vaccination drive on the occasion of World's Neighbourhood Day to create awareness and encourage people to take precautionary steps and avoid easily preventable diseases.

The idea is to prevent infection by inducing immunity through the use of vaccination.

To have a wider reach, the hospital has roped in neighbourhood volunteers, corporates, various school and college clubs, rotary and RWAs to drive awareness among general public.

Speaking about the social initiative, Dr. Prathap C. Reddy, chairman of the Apollo Hospitals Group, said, "India has witnessed substantial strides in creating basic awareness about the importance of vaccinations, yet a lot more needs to be done to ensure that its benefits reach the remotest parts of the country. At least 2.50 lakh precious lives can be saved through the structured drive on vaccination preventive diseases and help avoid both chronic and acute conditions like cervical cancer, pneumococcal, swine flu and cholera."

The campaign will focus on encouraging vaccinations for the adolescent and adult population and it will be driven across the integrated healthcare network of 50 hospitals, 1,500 pharmacies, 100 clinics, four cradle hospitals, day surgery centres, occupational health centres, telemedicine centres and patient information centres across the country.

"Vaccination in India has primarily been administered to new born babies with parents' taking ample precaution for their children with timely inoculation. However, a large share of adults and adolescent children are neglected leaving many susceptible to even life-threatening, yet easily preventable maladies. The initiative will help save lives, improve epidemiological surveillance and also offer a reasonably inexpensive and valuable protection against diseases," said Preetha Reddy, managing director, Apollo Hospitals Groups.

"Soon, dedicated vaccination bays will be set up across all Apollo hospitals and Apollo clinics and subsequently, vaccinations will become a part of regular health check-up programmes," she added.