New Delhi, January 15
With thousands of people thronging outside the building of Delhi Secretariat almost every day to raise their demands and meet the Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, the place has become a second Jantar Mantar for the protesters.

In three protests held today by different groups, hundreds of people sat on the road outside the Secretariat and pitched in for their demands. They blocked the traffic and refused to move before getting assurance from the Chief Minister. Security forces had to be deployed to control the mob.

Teachers employed on a contractual basis or as guest faculty in government schools clamoured for a permanent status. Around 300 guest teachers working in the Delhi Government schools raised slogans outside the Secretariat, 'Finish contractual employment in Delhi', 'Make us permanent'.

"Nearly 10,000 teachers are working the Delhi Government schools on contractual basis. They have been teaching in schools for more than 10 years, but are not being made permanent," said Anoop Chaudhary, member of Guest Teachers' Association.

"Despite teaching for several years, we don't know when we could lose our jobs," he said.

Contractual employees are posing a major challenge to the Chief Minister as he had promised them a permanent status in his election manifesto. Since the formation of the Aam Aadmi Party government, contractual employees hired by different departments have been gathering outside Secretariat demanding permanent employment.

Though Kejriwal met the protesters and sought ten days' time to put in place a system to address grievances and resolve problems, the agitated employees refused to move seeking a written assurance.

The contractual staff of National Health Rural Mission (NHRM) and Reproductive Child Health (RCH) also staged a dharna demanding an increase in incentive and pay scales at par with the employees of Delhi Health Scheme.

"We have raised this issue several times and every time the government just promised to fulfil our demand. However, this time we hope that our demands will be met," said Priyanka Balayan, an employee of NHRM.

Earlier, hundreds of farmers from across the city had gathered outside the Secretariat, demanding an increase in 'lal dora', the land which comes under village habitation but is used for non-agricultural purpose.

New Delhi, January 15
The three Municipal Corporations of Delhi would soon simplify the trade licence procedure, said a statement from the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) office.

The party, which rules the three municipal corporations in the national Capital, said traders would get a licence by simply submitting an affidavit.

"We will ensure that traders do not have to submit any no-objection certificates and can get a trade licence by simply submitting an affidavit," said Vijay Goel, Delhi BJP president, after a meeting with the MCD leaders.

Emphasising the need to provide services at the people's doorsteps, Goel said the "inspector and licence raj" will be done away with, and the MCD will find ways to ensure quick, effective and transparent action on all issues.

He promised streamlining of the system so that the "over 3.5 lakh street vendors who are an integral part of the socio-economic fabric of the city" are not harassed.

New Delhi, January 15
Differences among Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leaders came out in the open again today after party MLA Vinod Kumar Binny accused the Delhi Government of deviating from its principles and poll promises and called Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal a "liar".

While, he denied any rift with the party leaders and clarified that he was not upset with the party decision to not make him a minister, he said that the party has distracted from the purpose of doing public welfare.

"The AAP has deviated from its path and was not able to fulfil its promises to the public," said Binny.

On the other side, Kejriwal said that Binny should have discussed his grievances with senior party members before speaking to the media. "Binny had come to meet me at my residence and demanded either a berth in the Delhi Cabinet or a ticket to contest the Lok Sabha polls," Kejriwal said.

"He was told that as per the party policy, tickets cannot be given to the sitting MLAs," he said.

Kejriwal said that Binny was even asked if he had any grievances at a party meeting yesterday but he refused to say anything.

New Delhi, January 15
In a memorandum submitted to the Chief Minister of Delhi, Arvind Kejriwal, the BJP demanded the dismissal of Law Minister Somnath Bharti for having been indicted by a CBI special court.

National secretary of the BJP Arti Mehra said in the memorandum that Bharti while representing the accused Pawan Kumar as a lawyer in prevention of a corruption case was indicted for allegedly tampering with evidence by a Special Judge CBI at Patiala House Court.

While indicting Bharti, the Special Judge observed, "The conduct of A-2, Pawan Kumar, and his advocate (Somnath Bharti) is not only highly objectionable, unethical but also amounts to tampering with evidence," the memorandum said.

The memorandum said that the order was challenged by the accused in the Delhi High Court, but it was rejected by Justice Sunita Gupta confirming the order passed by the Special CBI Judge. It was also challenged in the Supreme Court, but was withdrawn on October 18, 2013.

Addressing the memorandum to the Chief Minister, it said, "Since your party has come with an agenda to fight corruption, you will also agree with me that a person indicted by a court for interfering with evidence cannot be Law Minister of the state."

New Delhi, January 15
The Delhi University Teachers' Association (DUTA) today expressed shock over the notification dated January 13, 2014, issued by the varsity registrar Prof Alka Sharma, announcing that the Delhi University Ordinance XV(D) has been superseded by the Parliament law on Sexual Harassment at Workplace.

Condemning the move, the DUTA demanded the withdrawal of the notification by the registrar and the matter be placed before the Executive Council for its consideration.

According to DUTA, under the Delhi University Act, it is the Executive Council that has the sole authority to make, repeal and amend ordinances. Any changes envisaged in ordinances in line with the new parliamentary law must be first discussed in the Executive Council, which would have to apply its mind to examine which are the changes necessary in the light of the new law, and thereby frame appropriate amendments. The registrar has absolutely no authority in making unilateral announcements in this regard, said DUTA president Nandita Narain.

Asserting that the new notified law must be reported in a meeting of the Executive Council, which should then set up a committee including some legal experts specializing in gender issues, to examine the implications for Ordinance XV(D), the teachers' body said this committee should propose amendments to the ordinance to fulfil the requirements of the new law.

They pointed that there is no provision in the new law that requires the dissolution of committees and provisions that are not in contradiction to the stipulations in the new law, for example, the requirement that complaints committees are standing committees with representation from all sections of employees is fulfilled by the provisions in Ordinance XV(D).

Also, according to DUTA the provision of election to the committees is not in contravention to the provisions of the new law, since this method has been devised by the Executive Council itself.

"In our experience in Delhi University, it is the violation of this important aspect of Ordinance XV(D) that has led to denial of justice with tragic consequences as in the case of Pavitra Bhardwaj," she said.

DUTA secretary Harish Khanna said the haste in superseding Ordinance XV(D), which had been carefully worked out over six years following the Vishaka judgment, will open the floodgates for sexual harassment, and will put a question mark on the university's commitment to providing an environment free of gender violence.

The gender neutrality of Ordinance XV(D) expands and enhances the new law, but in no way violates it. In fact, in the Ramjas College case, this aspect was objected to by the accused, but the Supreme Court upheld its constitutionality, he argued.

New Delhi, January 15
Sirajuddin Qureshi got elected as the president of the Indian Islamic Cultural Centre (IICC) for the third time in a row defeating his nearest rival Shakeel-uz-Zaman Ansari, who is member of the National Commission for Backward Classes.

Safdar H. Khan who is chairman of the Delhi Minorities Commission has been elected vice-president of the IICC.

S. M. Khan, Director General Doordarshan (News), has been elected to the Board of Trustees in the keenly contested elections of the managing body of the IICC.

The IICC is a pillar of unity cutting across religious lines and has members that include people from various walks of life.