New Delhi, December 30
To ensure that there are no untoward incidents, the Delhi Traffic Police will be deployed in large numbers to prevent drunken driving and stunts on motorcycles.

The traffic police will deploy 70 teams to check drunken driving, according to Additional Commissioner of Police (Traffic) Anil Shukla.

For the offence, the police will charge a fine of Rs 2,000 and suspend one's driving licence. The offenders also face a jail term.

Until December 15, as many as 24,564 drivers were prosecuted for drunken driving. Out of them, 3,397 have been awarded a jail term. Driving licences of 631 motorists have been suspended.

The traffic police will also place pickets to prevent stunts performed on motorcycles, overspeeding and dangerous driving.

"These pickets will be placed in coordination with the police and the police control room at Mehrauli, Saket, Vasant Vihar, South Extension, Rajouri Garden, Pitampura Laxmi Nagar and Mayur Vihar," said Shukla.

The police will implement traffic restrictions at Connaught Place from 7 pm tomorrow till the conclusion of the New Year's Eve celebrations. "It will be applicable to all the private and public transport vehicles," said Shukla.

According to the restrictions, no vehicle shall be allowed to head towards Connaught Place beyond the roundabout of Mandi House, Bengali Market, Minto Road- Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Marg crossing, Chelmsford Road near Munje Chowk and R K Ashram Marg- Chitragupta Marg crossing.

"No vehicular traffic will be allowed in the inner, middle and outer circle of Connaught Place," explained Shukla.

The traffic police have suggested that motorists can use the stretches from Mathura Road to Ring Road.

New Delhi, December 30
BJP Legislative Party leader Dr Harsh Vardhan today demanded that the Chief Minister of Delhi, Arvind Kejriwal, should check any move to privatise water distribution in Delhi as foreign companies that have expertise in this field want their control over our natural resources which include water.

He said that privatisation of water distribution was another move of the former Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit to exploit the economy of Delhiites. She has given contract to private companies for distribution of water in Nangloi, Malviya Nagar, Vasant Kunj in an arbitrary manner.

In a letter written to the Chief Minister, Vardhan said he should stop the privatisation of water distribution forthwith and not let the foreign companies exploit the citizens economically. They want their control over all the resources of the country, including underground water. Water is sold in sealed bottles in European countries. If that happens in Delhi, 1.5 crore population of the city will just thirst for water, the letter said.

According to the BJP leader, the DJB is supplying water at the rate of Rs 3 per kilolitre, but in the areas where its distribution is privatised, the tariff is Rs 15 per kilolitre.

He also reminded the Chief Minister that privatisation of water distribution is against the Constitution of India.

New Delhi, December 30
Even as the new Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal kept his promise of providing free water, it might not be easy to ensure 50 per cent reduction in power tariff, his second main promise that won him the Delhi crown.

It may take at least three months for the Delhi Electricity Regularity Commission (DERC) to review the existing tariff as the regulator will have to undertake the set procedure which includes calling all the stakeholders for public hearing before deciding the rates.

DERC chairman P D Sudhakar said government has not yet contacted the regulator on the issue of power tariff. "The government has not contacted the DERC on the tariff issue. We are not reviewing the existing tariff structure," he said.

Power experts said the government will have to take the subsidy route to fulfil the promise of slashing tariff as that will be an executive decision. As per estimates, the government will have to incur an annual expenditure of around Rs 5,000 crore if it decides to halve the power rates for around 40 lakh domestic consumers.

According to DERC figures, the three private discoms operating in the city have a revenue gap of whopping Rs 19,500 crore. Power experts said any move to cut tariff will adversely impact the operation of the discoms in the city.

As per official figures, around 80-90 per cent of the total revenue of discoms goes into purchasing power from the central and state government-owned entities through long-term power purchase agreement.

The experts said discoms' cost of buying power from generating companies has increased by around 300 per cent in the last two years while the power tariff, in the corresponding period, has risen by around 70 per cent.

New Delhi, December 30
Delhi recorded the lowest minimum temperature in a decade for the month of December as mercury dipped to a chilling 2.4° C this morning. Today, the minimum temperature was five degrees below normal. The minimum temperature yesterday was recorded at 4.5° C.

A thick blanket of fog accompanied by icy winds left people in the city shivering in the early hours. The maximum temperature in the past 24 hours was recorded at 19.5° C, which is a degree below normal.

"Today, the minimum temperature 2.4° C is the lowest in a decade in the month of December," said an official at the Met office.

The weatherman has predicted similar weather conditions for tomorrow with morning fog giving way to a clear sky later in the day. 

New Delhi, December 30
The East Delhi Municipal Corporation (EDMC) today distanced itself from the demolition drive of the Railways in Mansarovar Park that has left over 900 people homeless in the national Capital, where the mercury dipped to a chilling 2.4° C this morning.

Reacting to the reports of the Railways having granted few crores of rupees to the then unified Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) in 2003 for resettlement of people, a senior official of the EDMC today said the slum area now falls under the Delhi Urban Shelter Improvement Board (DUSIB) of the Delhi Government and "the ball is not in our court any more".

The MCD was trifurcated into three separate municipal bodies in 2011- North Delhi Municipal Corporation (NDMC), South Delhi Municipal Corporation (SDMC) and East Delhi Municipal Corporation (EDMC).

"The MCD was given a fund for the area in 2003. At that time the slums were under the MCD. Now it falls under the DUSIB of the Delhi Government. And the funds are shifted along with the responsibility. So, the ball is not in our court anymore, but that of the DUSIB," the EDMC official said.

About 150 families were rendered homeless after their makeshift hutments were demolished a day after Christmas by the Railways alleging the colony was illegal.

And as the authorities indulged in blame game, people continue to suffer in the biting cold with some women reportedly delivering babies in the open.

They have also been left to fend for themselves without proper shelter, food or clothing.

Reports also said that Lieutenant Governor Najeeb Jung has asked the DUSIB for immediate rehabilitation of slum dwellers displaced in the drive. Newly elected Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal too has assured of assistance to the displaced.

Manish Sisodia, who won from the Parpatganj Assembly Constituency in East Delhi under which the area falls, is the PWD Minister under the new AAP government.

New Delhi, December 30
The Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) today started the trial runs on the first section of Phase III between Central Secretariat and Mandi House.

The first train for the trial runs on this section was flagged off from Central Secretariat Metro station by Dr Sudhir Krishna, Secretary, Ministry of Urban Development and Chairman, DMRC and Mangu Singh, Managing Director, DMRC, in the presence of other senior officials.

The trial runs on this section are expected to continue for a couple of months. The construction work for this three-km underground section which is part of the Central Secretariat-Kashmere Gate Metro Line is almost complete and expected to be opened for commuters by the end of March 2014.

The opening of this stretch has been advanced by about six months as it will help in decongesting the busy Rajiv Chowk Metro station as the commuters of the Badarpur-Central Secretariat Line bound for Noida and Vaishali will be able to change trains at Mandi House without changing trains twice at Rajiv Chowk and Central Secretariat. This section will provide interchange facility at two stations-Central Secretariat and Mandi House.

"During the trial runs, the interaction of the Metro train with physical infringements (civil structure) will be checked to ensure that there is no blockage during the movement of the train on the track. The entire signalling system will also undergo rigorous testing," said a senior DMRC official.

In addition, the response of the train at different speeds, braking of the train and the interconnection with the Operations Control Centre (OCC) will be monitored during the trials. The behaviour of the track system and the Over Head Electrification (OHE) will be checked repeatedly during the trials.

To keep up the pace of construction of the Phase III corridors, another Tunnel Boring Machine (TBM) started its initial drive at the Azadpur Metro station on the under-construction Mukundpur-Shiv Vihar corridor today.

The TBM will construct a 1.4-km-long tunnel and emerge at Shalimar Bagh by June 2014. Another TBM will also start its initial drive on this stretch in January. Presently, a total of ten TBMs are operational in Phase 3. Another 12 TBMs are expected to start work in the next 10 to 12 months.

New Delhi, December 30
An eight-member delegation of the Disabled Rights Group (DRG) and the National Platform for the Rights of the Disabled (NPRD) today called on the Vice-President, Hamid Ansari, this morning in their continuing effort to garner support for the introduction and passage of the Disability Rights Bill when Parliament is convened to pass the Vote on Account.

The delegation tried to impress upon the Vice-President that there has been an inordinate delay in introducing and passing the bill which spells out the rights of persons with disabilities, though the process of drafting the new law started over four years back and has gone through various stages. The delegation sought the Vice-President's support in ensuring that this important piece of legislation is taken up by the government for introduction and enactment.

Ansari gave the delegation a patient hearing. He said that he empathises with the cause and is all for the speedy enactment of this legislation.

The Vice-President said that since India has signed and ratified the United Nations Convention on Rights of Persons (UNCRPD), it is incumbent that India harmonises its laws also in consonance with the UNCRPD. The DRG and the NPRD thank the Vice-President for the patient hearing and empathising with the cause of the differently abled.

New Delhi, December 30
Jagdish Mukhi, BJP Member of Legislative Assembly from Janakpuri, has been appointed pro tem Speaker to perform the duties of the office of the Speaker from January 1.

"He is the seniormost MLA and will perform the duties of the pro tem Speaker from the commencement of the first meeting and until the new Speaker is elected," said Secretary, Delhi Assembly.

All newly elected MLAs will take oath before Dr. Jagdish Mukhi, pro tem Speaker. The LG will administer the oath to Mukhi tomorrow.

The post of the Speaker will fall vacant immediately before the commencement of the first meeting of the fifth Legislative Assembly of National Capital Territory of Delhi and the office of the Deputy Speaker has already fallen vacant with effect from December 8.

New Delhi, December 30
A five-year-old girl was allegedly raped by a security guard in north Delhi's Model Town area on Sunday. The security guard, Rakesh Kumar, has been arrested. According to the police, the victim lives with her family in Model Town.

On Sunday evening, she was playing outside her house when the accused took her to an isolated place on the promise of giving her eatables.

"He raped her and warned her against telling the incident to anyone. When the victim reached home, her parents saw her blood-stained clothes. She told them about what had happened to her," said a police officer.

Her parents took her to the police station and reported the matter.

She was taken to a government hospital where her medical examination reportedly confirmed that she had been raped.

The police registered a case against the security guard under the Indian Penal Code section 376 (sexual assault) and the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act.