New Delhi, January 18
Condemning the media reports alleging the Delhi government of practising racism, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal today called it an attempt to cover-up the "inability" of the Delhi police in maintaining law and order in the city.

"The government terms these reports as misleading and mischievous, which appear to be a part of the concerted attempts to divert the public attention from the inability and unwillingness of the police to maintain law and order in the capital," he said.

Kejriwal's statement came as a reaction to reports published in a section of the media stating that local residents and activists of a political party resorted to a highly objectionable behaviour with some foreign nationals in presence of a Delhi government minister at Khirki Extension on Wednesday night.

He said that the government condemns the "motivated" attempts being made to twist a law and order problem into an unfounded issue based on colour and race. "People from different parts of the country and even the world reside in this city with pride, and this is its unique feature, which should be maintained and encouraged at all costs," Kejriwal said.

He said that the entire sequence of events has throughout been in public domain as TV cameras of news channels were present during the night at Khirki Extension and police personnel from the Malviya Nagar police station were also there.

"Despite repeated requests by Law Minister Somnath Bharti to the police officers present on the spot to call a squad or at least some women personnel, no attempt was made by the police to do so," he said.

Putting the blame on the Delhi police, he said that the SHO of the Malviya Nagar police station was allegedly involved in the beating of Dalit women in May 2013 and the complaint of this incident by the residents of the area is pending with the Union Home Ministry for the past eight months.

"The Home Ministry which exercises complete control over the Delhi police should squarely take the blame for the compromises being made by the Delhi police with the safety and security of the people of the city," he said.

Kejriwal has demanded the Union Minister to place three SHOs and two ACPs under suspension till Monday or else he, along with his cabinet colleagues, will hold a dharna on January 20 outside the Union Home Minister's office at North Block.

New Delhi, January 18
The Delhi government today ordered a probe into the death of 11 persons in a single day allegedly due to cold weather in the national Capital.

According to the Delhi Police, 11 succumbed to death in the past 24 hours due to extreme cold conditions.

Early this month, Delhi Cabinet ministers Rakhi Bidlan and Manish Sisodia undertook an inspection of night shelters at night to assess the plight of the city's shivering poor. The newly elected AAP government had promised a sufficient number of night shelters, but the ground situation seems to have remained the same.

The Delhi High Court on January 9 had expressed displeasure over the government's incompetence in preventing the death of homeless in the city as bitter winter cold set in.

Since Friday, Delhiiites have been shivering under overcast condition as the maximum temperature took a big tumble with a cold breeze adding to the chill.

The National Capital Region witnessed rainfall last night. The capital received 4.2 mm rainfall since yesterday. It was a chilly and rainy Saturday morning in the national Capital with the minimum temperature recorded at 11.4° C, four notches above average for this time of the season. The maximum temperature was registered at 15.7° C which was five degrees below normal. The Met Office has forecast a clear day ahead with 17° and 9° C as the maximum and minimum temperatures, respectively.

On Friday, the lowest maximum temperature of the season was recorded at 12.9° C, which was seven notches below average, with the entire day remaining cloudy and with rainfall in some parts. The minimum temperature was recorded a notch above average at 8° C.

New Delhi, January 18
Calling the Aam Aadmi Party's (AAP) governance an "anarchic rule", Delhi BJP president Vijay Goel today attacked the Delhi government in his address at the party's national council at Ramlila Maidan.

"There were three pillars of the AAP's poll campaign, anti-corruption, anti-VIP culture and resolution of people's problems. It has failed on all three fronts miserably," said Goel. He said that AAP ministers are taking bungalows and using government SUVs with VIP numbers. They have done away with initiatives like 'Janata Darbar' and are not able to resolve the problems of people.

Indicating an alliance between the Congress and the AAP, Goel said, "No corruption cases are lodged against Congress leaders who looted Delhi during their 15 years rule."

"It is clear that the AAP is 'B' team of the Congress as it has not lodged any complaint against former Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit and others against whom there is clear evidence of corruption in the Commonwealth Games as well as several other projects and schemes." Goel added.

Admitting its mistakes for the debacle in the Delhi Assembly elections and pitching in for its prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi, Goel said that he is leader with qualities like committed, honest and dedicated.

New Delhi, January 18
The Delhi Jal Board (DJB) today conducted a workshop to create awareness on the measures taken in the Revenue Department and to sensitize officials to bring about more efficiency in the functioning of the department.

A modernized revenue management System has been introduced in the DJB and consequently, the department has been going through a reform period since 2012. Taking a step further in this direction, the workshop and an interactive session was held to update the employees of various measures undertaken and the measures to be taken," said a senior DJB official.

During the interactive session, queries were sought with the view to finding solutions to any problems being faced in the performance of their duties.

Vijay Kumar, Chief Executive Officer, DJB, and other senior officials addressed and interacted with over 700 employees from the department. All the officials, including Joint Directors, Zonal Revenue Officials, attended the workshop.

Kumar said, "The department, particularly the meter readers, are the cutting edge in the DJB's interaction with the consumer, therefore, to many people they represent the DJB, which they must bear in mind."

He directed all the employees to be fully updated so that they can disseminate any information to the consumers during their interaction with them.

New Delhi, January 18
Thirteen persons, including nine women and five minor boys, have been rescued from an alleged human trafficking gang in Punjabi Bagh, a police officer said today.

Two men have been arrested for allegedly treating the victims as bonded labourers with placement agencies. The accused have been identified as Somprakash Naik (31) and Ashok Kumar (26). The victims belong to Jharkhand and Bihar.

They were brought to the capital by the placement agencies six months ago and were being paid Rs 3,000 to Rs 4,000, the official said.

The police rescued the victims after they were tipped off that some people were employed as bonded labourers in Punjabi Bagh and raids were conducted at Madipur.

Somprakash and Ashok were also held during the raids. Somparkash was held from Nikita Placement Agency, while Ashok runs S B United Manpower Resources.

They were produced in a court and remanded in judicial custody.

They were booked under the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, Bonded Labour System (Abolition) Act and Child Labour (Prohibition and Regulation) Act, IPC.

They allegedly provided domestic help in the residential areas of Punjabi Bagh, Paschim Vihar and other areas of the capital.

On thorough interrogation, the accused said that the victims belong to poor families which made it easy for them to be brought to the capital for doing labour work. The victims have been sent to Don Bosco Ashalayam in south-west Delhi and Nirmal Chhaya Complex in west Delhi.