New Delhi, January 6
The government can cancel the licence of private power distribution companies if they do not cooperate in getting their accounts audited. Addressing the Assembly House, Lieutenant Governor Najeeb Jung said that if the discoms avoid auditing of their accounts, the government could cancel their licences. The companies should not indulge in flagrant violation of financial norms.

Apart from the efforts to deliver electricity at reasonable rates, the meters will also be checked, he said.

Action plan for regularising the unauthorised colonies within a year is being drawn up. This would benefit the 30 per cent of Delhi population. The plan will be implemented rigorously in a time-bound manner.

Besides, the LG said that the government would also execute projects for providing clean and built-up houses for slum dwellers.

Reiterating the government's plan for abolishing contract system in jobs, the LG said that the government is committed to providing regular jobs to employees working on contract. At present, many employees are subjected to exploitation.

This needs to end, he emphasised.

Trade and commerce being the heart of economic activity sustains the economy of Delhi. The government assured the House of simplifying the Value Added Tax (VAT) regime. The VAT rates will also be reviewed, the LG said.

"Health education is the bedrock of any human and social development. My government stands committed to all-round improvement in these two vital sectors.

Policies will be evolved and implemented to improve the standard of education in government schools so as to make them better than private schools. More than 500 government schools will be set up in Delhi.

The government will also put an end to the system of donations in private schools. They will need to make the fee fixation system transparent," he said.

The LG said keeping in view women's safety, special security cells will be formed. New courts will be set up and judges will be appointed to speed up the cases of harassment in three months' time.

The government will deliver on all promises made to the citizens. The top priority is to bridge the gap between the citizens and the government, he said.

"We also intend to take steps to end corruption in government departments. Passing the version of the Lokpal Bill will be a priority for the government," the LG added.

New Delhi, January 6
Terming the address of the Lieutenant Governor to Assembly House disappointing, the Leader of the Opposition in the Delhi Legislative Assembly, Dr Harsh Vardhan, has said that the expectations of the people of Delhi from the Aam Aadmi Party have been shattered.

The LG has not fixed a time frame for the eradication of corruption in the government or what steps the government is going to take to check this malady. The AAP which was talking of sending the corrupt ministers and officials under the Sheila Dikshit government to jail, is now busy in protecting the tainted Congressmen, Vardhan said.

After going through the speech of Lt. Governor, it seems that he has touched only some points of the AAP manifesto. The points on which the party had promised to take action within a fixed time frame have been forgotten after the formation of the government, he said.

On the very first day, the ministers and legislators entered the House wearing their party caps. This is an insult to the House. The new government had promised that it would end the VIP culture in Delhi and the country, but it has not happened. Many ministers accepted cars with VIP numbers, Vardhan said.

People of Delhi are bearing the brunt of price rise, corruption, lack of security and unemployment. The Lt. Governor did not mention in his speech as to what steps would be taken to solve these issues, he said.

Urban Development Minister Manish Sisodia had promised to construct 100 night shelters for the poor, but they have not been constructed so far, Vardhan added. 

New Delhi, January 6
The founder president of Sampurna NGO, Dr Shobha, who is also a councillor, today submitted a complaint to Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal against the Aam Aadmi Party MLA from Rohini, Rajesh Garg, for allegedly using unparliamentary language against her.

The complaint said, "AAP MLA Rajesh Garg from Rohini has used

unparliamentary language against me and the NGO, Sampurna. He indulged in character assassination in full public view and in front of the national media. I was pushed, verbally abused and physically intimidated by Garg and his supporters."

The staff of Sampurna were threatened and forced to leave the community centre used as the NGO office. The crowd was provoked on microphone by Garg to throw Sampurna's movable property outside the premises of the centre, the letter said.

Police officers did not pay any heed to my complaint and refused to file an FIR against the mental and physical agony caused by the MLA and his supporters, Shobha said.

She requested the Chief Minister to take strict action against Rajesh Garg.

The MLA's mobile phone was found switched off, but the SHO of the Prashant Vihar police station said "We have accepted the complaint and an inspector-level officer is investigating the case."

New Delhi, January 6
The Delhi Government has decided to hold public hearings in government-run hospitals for better coordination among all levels of hospital staff, including doctors, and cater to patients' complaints.

All the hospitals have been directed to maintain a register in which the hospital staff, including doctors, can recommend their suggestions and even patients can report their complaints and suggestions, AAP member Nitin Dabas said, adding the register will be submitted to the Health Minister's office at the end of the month.

To further strengthen the working system, phone numbers of those on duty in various departments during a particular shift will be pasted on the walls along with maintaining a duty chart to implement proper division of labour.

According to AAP volunteers, action could be initiated against those missing during the working hours.

Bhagwan Mahavir Hospital in Pitampura has been selected to implement this pilot project on a trial basis.

The public hearing would be called as 'Labharthi sabha', a functioning system mentioned in Arvind Kejriwal's book, 'Swaraj' and will be held once a month.

The Labharthi sabha was today organised at the hospital in which large number of people, including hospital staff, participated.

Meanwhile, Health Minister Satyendra Jain conducted surprise inspections at various hospitals including Hedgewar, Guru Tegh Bahadur and Hindu Rao.

He also held a meeting with the medical superintendents of the hospital and his department officials to discuss various issues. — PTI

New Delhi, January 6
The national Capital woke up to a foggy morning today with the minimum temperature settling down at 6.4° C, one degree below normal. The thick blanket of fog had descended last evening leading to disruptions in flight operations and delay in train movement. The fog, however, cleared as the day progressed.

The minimum temperature was 1.4 degrees lower than yesterday's 7.8° C.

The maximum temperature was registered at 17.6° C which was three notches below normal and slightly down from the previous day's 19.3° C.

The humidity levels oscillated between 100 per cent and 65 per cent.

The MeT department has predicted mainly a clear sky with moderate or dense fog in the morning tomorrow with the maximum and minimum 
temperatures remaining at 18° and 7° C, respectively. — PTI

New Delhi, January 6
More than 2,000 cadets, including girls, are participating in the National Cadet Corps Republic Day Camp that aims to provide them with an exposure to the 'culture and traditions' of India.

A day before the inauguration of the Republic Day Camp, the Director General of the NCC, Lt Gen Aniruddha Chakravarty, today said that 7,377 educational institutes are on the waiting list for opening NCC units.

The DG shared the development at a press conference held here today. The NCC Republic Day Camp began at Garrison Parade Grounds in Delhi Cantt on January 1. It will be inaugurated tomorrow.

Cadets drawn from 17 NCC Directorates, covering all the states and union territories of India are participating in the camp. The participants include 102 cadets from Jammu and Kashmir and 156 cadets from the North Eastern Region.

The cadets participate in activities such as cultural, national integration awareness programme and institutional training competitions.

The DG said that the aim of the Republic Day Camp is to provide the cadets an exposure to the culture and traditions of India. The camp portrays a reflection of "Mini India", he said.

Lt Gen Chakravarty also mentioned that the training philosophy of the cadets is focussed to facilitate soft skills and personality development.

He said that the NCC has a youth exchange programme with ten countries wherein activities such as Desert Safari, Yachting Regatta and Shivaji Trail Trek were conducted in 2013.

New Delhi, January 6
Two men have been arrested for allegedly trafficking in pseudoephedrine, a controlled substance that is illegally used to manufacture party drugs. The arrested men have been identified as Shiv Singh Chauhan (39) and Ram Ugrah (57), both are residents of Delhi.

According to the police, the seized pseudoephedrine is worth Rs 40 lakh in the international market.

On January 3, the Crime Branch was tipped off that Chauhan and Ugrah would be coming to Subhash Maidan near Jama Masjid to allegedly supply the pseudoephedrine to a contact. The accused were caught from there.

"While searching them, we recovered 10 kg of pseudoephedrine from Chauhan. Ugrah was accompanying him. The drug was to be supplied further but was caught midway," said Additional Commissioner of Police (Crime) Ravindra Yadav.

New Delhi, January 6
A man has been arrested for allegedly stabbing to death a friend following a drunken brawl at Munirka in South Delhi. The incident was reported on December 29 at around 6 am when a PCR call was received that a person had sustained injuries by knife. On reaching the spot, it was reported that the injured had already been taken to Safdarjung Hospital where he was declared brought dead.

An FIR was registered and a case registered. Further investigation showed that on the day of incident, 4-5 persons namely Regan Pradhan, Arun Thapa, Vishal and Sanju were present at house number 95 in Munirka village and they were consuming liquor, said Deputy Commissioner of Police (South) B S Jaiswal.

"During the party, Regan Pradhan used filthy language about an ex-friend of Arun Thapa. When Thapa took objection to it, Pradhan took out a knife and attacked him", he said adding Pradhan was arrested and a knife and a mobile phone allegedly used in committing the crime recovered at his instance.

Blood-stained clothes were also found recovered from the accused, he said. — PTI