New Delhi, July 26
The Delhi Government today said that it has finalised all the details to implement the Food Security Scheme in the national Capital with an aim to make the city "hunger-free".

The scheme will be rolled out on August 20, the birth anniversary of Rajiv Gandhi. The Chief Minister, Sheila Dikshit, said Delhi will be the first state to launch the scheme. Though the scheme will be launched on August 20, the beneficiaries will start getting entitled foodgrains from September 1.

The government will provide benefits under the scheme to 73.5 lakh people in the city out of the total population of 1.68 crore. In the first phase, all BPL families, Above Poverty Line card holders and Jhughi Ration Card holders and beneficiaries under Antodaya Anna Yojna will be included.

Under the scheme, three-fourth population of the country will have the right to get 5kg foodgrains every month at highly subsidised rates of Rs 1-3 per kg. The per kg price of rice will be Rs 3 while wheat and coarse cereals will be given at Rs 2 and Rs 1 per kg, respectively, under the programme.

"We are committed to implement the scheme in true spirit. Through the scheme, we will make Delhi hunger free," Dikshit said while addressing a press conference which was attended by her Cabinet colleagues.

Considering the potential of the populist measure in the assembly elections slated for November, Dikshit had earlier this month announced that Delhi will be the first state to launch the scheme, dubbed a "game changer" by the Congress for the Lok Sabha polls.

The government has also decided to include homeless, daily wage-earners, rag-pickers and people living in resettlement colonies and slum clusters in the first phase.

New Delhi, July 26
The electricity bills are all set to get dearer just before the assembly elections as the Delhi Electricity Regulatory Commission (DERC) today announced an across-the-board (5 per cent) hike in power tariff in the capital.

The tariff has been hiked by, 20 paise per unit (Rs 3.90) for consumption up to 200 units instead of earlier Rs 3.70 per unit, a 30 paise hike for consumption between 201 and 400 units, making it Rs 5.80 per unit from Rs 5.50. For consumption between 401 and 800 units, the new tariff will be Rs 6.80 per unit from Rs 6.50 and a steep Rs 7 per from Rs 6.80 for consumption of every unit above 800.

The new tariff will be effective from August 1. The power distribution companies (discoms) had been demanding hike in power tariff since a long time. The commission, however, waived off the additional 8 per cent surcharge levied on consumers for the current quarter ending September 30.

Vowing to oppose the tariff hike, political parties and Resident Welfare Associations (RWAs) have strongly criticized the decision, saying that the DERC has given more than what discoms have asked for. The RWAs termed the hike an arbitrary and illogical as it is based on fudged accounts of these power companies which have not been audited by public authority like CAG.

"It seems that all objections raised by the RWAs have been ignored by the regulatory authority. Various logics like inflation hike cited by the DERC for increasing steep tariff have no relevance as these companies are not selling onions or tomatoes, it is electricity. We demand immediate rollback of tariff or we will be forced to come on streets," said Anil Bajpai, president of the RWAs forum.

While, Delhi BJP said that the government is robbing the common man's hard-earned money through unjustified hikes in power tariff. 

New Delhi, July 26
Residents of the Batla House locality led by activists under Campus Front of India (CFI) today took to streets protesting against the Delhi High Court verdict in the Batla House encounter.

In this regard, Mehebub Sahana, Delhi unit secretary of CFI, criticised the political leaders for politicising the issue while announcing that the CFI would organise a month-long awareness campaign regarding this issue along with other student organisations starting on August 19.

The high court had yesterday ruled that the Batla House encounter was genuine while convicting the lone suspected Indian Mujahideen operative Shahzad Ahmad for murder and other offences in 2008.

Disappointed with the verdict in the MC Sharma murder case, they marched to the Jamia Nagar police station, raising slogans against "demonisation of Muslim youth and demanding justice for the Batla House 'fake' encounter." "We are saddened and shocked at this judgment. The judge has convicted one person who is claimed to have fled the L-18 flat in the Batla House area based upon witnesses who are all from the police departmen," said Sahana.