New Delhi, February 14
The second day of the Delhi Assembly session today witnessed controversial opinions over the procedure to pass the anti-corruption Jan Lokpal Bill leading to two adjournments with the BJP and Congress calling it unconstitutional as it was presented without the consent of the Central government through the Lieutenant-Governor.

However, the Delhi government ministers maintained that nowhere it is mentioned in the Constitution that the Centre's approval is necessary in such cases and cited the examples of several other Bills having been passed through the same process.

After the House started proceedings today, the members of BJP and Congress asked the Speaker to read out the message from the LG first, before taking up the matters on the agenda, to which the Speaker refused.

However, a short while later when the message was read, which clearly stated 'not to consider' the Bill, the BJP and Congress members said that tabling Jan Lokpal Bill will be a violation of constitutional procedures.

In a message to the Members of the Legislative Assembly (MLAs) under Section 9 (2) of Government of NCT of Delhi Act, 1991, the LG said that the Delhi government is required to make a prior reference to the LG.

"The said Bill was not placed before me by the Delhi government. It is being introduced without following the procedure. I hereby send message to the legislators not to consider the Bill unless it is introduced with the recommendations of the LG," said the Lieutenant Governor.

Demanding the letter to be tabled in the Assembly, Harsh Vardhan, Leader of the Opposition said, "It will be illegal to table the Bill like this. The LG's message is an order for the House and it should be followed. Disobeying his order is contempt of the Assembly."

"When the LG has advised us not to consider the Bill, we cannot accept it as he is the highest authority and is appointed by the President," said Delhi Congress chief Arvinder Singh Lovely.

"The party backs Jan Lokpal Bill, but the way the AAP government is trying to table it, is unconstitutional and we don't support such a move. The Congress will continue to support the AAP. The Kejriwal government has broken all the records of telling lies," said Lovely.

After a ruckus in the Assembly, Delhi Speaker MS Dhir called for an all-party meet to clarify on the LG's letter addressed to him. The Congress party which supports the government from outside also opposed introduction of the Bill saying it was against the laid-down procedures.

"These days there is a trend going on which is showcasing that all the politicians irrespective of political parties are corrupt and against the Jan Lokpal Bill. We are thousand times more committed to the passage of the Bill. Nobody should spread lies that BJP is against the anti-corruption Bill," said Vardhan.

New Delhi, February 14
Teachers and students of Delhi University boycotted the university's annual Antardhvani cultural event under the banner of the Delhi University Teachers' Association (DUTA) and played a cricket match at the Arts Faculty gate in protest against the event held at the indoor stadium.

According to the DUTA, the university administration is using this festival to showcase Four-Year Undergraduate Programme (FYUP).

"By making it mandatory to participate in the Antardhvani, the administration has tried to browbeat students and teachers to give positive feedback in favour of the FYUP. While the last year's Antardhvani was used to launch the FYUP, this year's Antardhvani is being used to showcase the FYUP and the foundation courses," said DUTA president Nandita Narain.

Slamming the denial of sports facilities in the two university stadiums that were renovated during the CWG 2010, protestors said, "Since its renovation, the main stadium in the university campus has been locked up and is only used to run the cluster innovation centre and other activities totally unrelated to sports."

The university's sportspersons have previously protested against this injustice but the university administration has turned a deaf ear to such protests. DU is possibly the only university in the world wherein its students and faculty are denied access to the university sports stadium, the protestors said.

"Crores from the public exchequer is thus being wasted," they added. 

New Delhi, February 14
Scores of people came together at Central Park in Delhi to observe the second annual One Billion Rising Campaign against all forms of violence against women and girls with street plays, music, dance and marches.

As part of the campaign, groups of women and girls under the banner of Apne Aap Women Worldwide staged street plays and dance performances in and around the red-light districts of Sonagachi and Munshiganj in Kolkata and Prem Nagar and Dharampura in New Delhi.

The South Asia coordinator of the One Billion Rising, Kamla Bhasin, said "One Billion Rising South Asia is working to challenge the patriarchal mindset and behaviour by launching a new freedom movement for the women and girls of South Asia. All the cultural and religious practices which go against our Constitution need to go out."

Representing differently abled section who participated in the celebrations, Javed Abidi, director of the National Centre for Promotion of Employment for Disabled People, stressed the need for both the disability movement and the women's movement to come together and work towards achieving a violence-free life for the women of our country.

"The status of women in India remains a matter of concern - with a steady decline of gender ratio, increasing female feticide and infanticide. In this situation, women with disabilities who constitute 42 per cent of the total disabled population belong to one of the most marginalised sections of our society and continue to face harsh forms of multiple discriminations," he pointed out.

Monica Kumar, Manas Foundation for Auto Drivers Rising, said, "Several auto drivers have expressed immense enthusiasm and support to the campaign against social injustice and violence against women by volunteering to become 'saajhedaars' and socially sensitize men."