New Delhi, March 19
With the emergence of social networking sites like Facebook and Twitter as an important tool for campaigning in polls, the Election Commission (EC) has come out with guidelines on political advertisements using such websites.

The guidelines also suggest political parties to obtain certification for contents before putting them in public domain.

The EC has also asked the social networking sites to maintain expenditure incurred by the parties and individual candidates on advertisements so that they can be produced to the commission whenever asked for.

Delhi Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) Vijay Dev said that the commission had received two complaints regarding the use of social media in the assembly polls in December.

In separate letters to major social networking sites, the EC directed them to ensure that contents displayed by them during the electoral process should not be "unlawful or malicious or violative of the Model Code of Conduct".

It said the guidelines to the social media have been issued as part of the commission's efforts to address the problem of paid news.

All the major political parties have been using the social networking sites as part of their campaign strategy, particularly to woo the young voters. In the recent Delhi Assembly polls, the Aam Aadmi Party had used Facebook and Twitter in a big way to draw support for itself.

Director in Election Commission Dhirender Ojha said the directive of the commission will be applicable to a range of Internet-based social media which include Twitter, YouTube, Facebook and Wikipedia.

"We have told the social networking sites to take pre-certification from the Media Certification and Monitoring Committees at district and state levels," he said while addressing a workshop on media's role in the electoral process.

He said the commission has already issued directions for providing details of social media accounts by the candidates while filing their nominations.

Dev said the EC would try its best to prevent candidates and political parties from "misusing" the social media but at the same time maintained that it was not attempting to "throttle" the social media.

He said that the provisions of Model Code of Conduct and related instructions of the commission will be applicable for contents being posted on the Internet, including social media websites, by candidates and political parties.

Though he admitted that monitoring contents in the social media was an uphill task, but asserted that every effort will be made to maintain decorum in the campaign and ensure a level playing field for all the candidates.

New Delhi, March 19
The Delhi High Court today pulled up the city government for not taking steps to ensure that three per cent seats be kept vacant in nursery classes for children with disabilities.

Taking serious note of non-implementation of its earlier orders, a bench of justices S Ravindra Bhat and R V Easwar asked the Delhi government, through its counsel Zubeda Begum, to implement them "forthwith".

The bench also directed the city government to file an affidavit indicating the steps taken by it to implement the orders of the court while giving a warning to it not to take the issue "lightly".

The court said if no circular, communicating its decision to the schools, is issued by the next date of hearing, the Principal Secretary concerned be present before it and posted the matter to March 28.

The bench had on February 26 and March 12 ordered three per cent seats be kept vacant for disabled kids which would be filled subject to the outcome of the petition.

The court was today informed about non-issuance of the circular to communicate its decision to the schools by the petitioner Pramod Arora's counsel Anshumaan Sahni.

Arora has challenged the Lt Governor's nursery admission guidelines to the extent it clubs disabled children with kids from economically weaker groups (EWS). — PTI

New Delhi, March 19
The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) has given further time to the Delhi government after it could not submit report into the allegations about the inadequacy of night shelters and lack of infrastructure therein for the homeless in the city.

The commission had directed the government to inform it of the steps taken to protect the homeless from cold in January. Since the government failed to meet the deadline to submit its report, the commission, through the Chief Secretary, has given it further time of one month.

The NHRC had taken suo motu cognisance of the related media reports and registered three cases. It had observed that the pathetic condition of the homeless was a matter of concern as they lived in the open even during extreme cold nights.

"The media had reported that over 1.5 lakh destitute persons were spending life on footpaths and under bridges in Delhi either due to shortage of shelter homes or lack of facilities in the existing ones. It had also reported deaths of the homeless in different parts of the national Capital," the statement said.

One of the reports alleged that two homeless persons were found dead at a distance of 30-40 ft from each other near a shelter home in the Yamuna Pushta area on January 1.

Reportedly, there were only 175 shelter homes in Delhi, which catered to around 7,000 homeless. These homes, too, were facing shortage of infrastructure and lack of sanitation. According to the plan of the Delhi Development Authority, which was yet to be implemented, there must be a night shelter in every area having one lakh population.

"Despite government's orders, the shelter homes were lying unattended even after the mercury reached four degrees below normal," the statement said.

The commission had issued notices to the Chief Secretary, Secretary, Department of Social Welfare and Chief Executive Officer, Delhi Urban Shelter Improvement Board and the Government of NCT of Delhi calling for reports.

New Delhi, March 19
The BJP candidate from West Delhi, Pravesh Verma, today visited Gurdwara Bangla Sahib before starting his campaigning. Pravesh said that all the Gurus have given a message of unity and integrity. Whenever there is crisis in the country, the Sikh community has come forward and sacrificed for sake of Indian society.

He was presented with a Siropa.

Pravesh was accompanied by general secretary of the Delhi Sikh Gurdwara Management Committee, Manjinder Singh Sirsa and senior leader of the Shiromani Akali Dal (Badal), Kuldeep Singh Bhogal.

In areas like Tilak Nagar, Hari Nagar, Rajouri Garden, Janakpuri and Madipur, Sikh voters are in good number. Twenty segments of gurdwara committee out of 46 exist in West Delhi. Verma who is an MLA from Mehrauli has a strong hold in the Jat-dominated areas of Najafgarh, Matiala, Dwarka and Palam. If Sikh voters also support him, he can give a good fight at the hustings.

The DSGMC president, Manjit Singh (GK), said, "We have an alliance with the BJP We will try to get all its candidates win the elections and make Narendra Modi Prime Minister." 

New Delhi, March 19
The party which successfully manages the booth wins the elections. On the day of polling, the objective of every worker and the candidates should be to take the voters to the polling booth and help them cast their votes, said Dr Harsh Vardhan at a booth management workshop.

He said, "These elections are historical. The Delhi BJP has to create a new history of victory. On the one hand, there is BJP and on the other all those powers which want to split society."

Vardhan was describing the plan on winning election to the workers. He told them to maintain constant public contact, hold meetings in blocks, take part in celebration and sorrows of every section of society.

While addressing the workshop, he said if a person is not honest, he is exposed soon.

New Delhi, March 19
Six candidates filed their nomination papers today for the April 10 Lok Sabha elections in Delhi. Delhi Election Commission said it received six applications out of which three were filed by Independents, while the rest were received from other registered parties.

"So far 15 nominations have been received from five constituencies out of seven. Two nominations each have been received from the East Delhi and New Delhi constituencies and one each from North East and South Delhi constituencies," said an election official.

Independent candidates Padam Chand and Mohammed Naeem have filed their nominations from the East Delhi constituency.

Another Independent candidate Vishal Khosla and Naveen Chandra of the Naya Daur Party have filed their nominations from New Delhi.

Dan Bahadur Yadav of the Bhartiya Janta Dal (Integrated) has filed his nomination from North East Delhi, while Shri Chand Tanwar of the Communist Party of India has filed nomination from South Delhi.

The filing of nominations will continue till March 22. After scrutiny on March 24, candidates can withdraw their nominations till March 26.

Out of the seven constituencies in Delhi, six are general seats and one is reserved for scheduled caste.

The parliamentary constituencies are Chandni Chowk, North East Delhi, East Delhi, New Delhi, West Delhi, South Delhi and North West Delhi.

New Delhi, March 19
In a major relief to street vendors in Delhi, government today directed the police and civic bodies that till the implementation of Street Vendors Act, the existing hawkers should not be evicted or "harassed".

The decision was taken at a meeting convened by Home Ministry and attended by the representatives of police and all municipal corporations.

Till implementation of the Street Vendors (Protection of Livelihood and Regulation of Street Vending) Act, municipal bodies will not harass and evict existing street vendors, a statement issued by National Association of Street Vendors of India (NASVI) said.

They have also been directed to issue guidelines to its officials identifying the different categories of existing vendors not be touched, the statement said.

The Delhi Police Commissioner office will issue direction to the DCPs to put in place Street Vendors' Grievance Redressal Cell at their respective levels and a review meeting will take place after a month at the Ministry of Home Affairs.

The meeting also decided that the municipal bodies would expedite the process of implementation of the Act.

The action came after a delegation of NASVI met Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde yesterday.— PTI

New Delhi, March 19
A 14-year-old girl was allegedly molested by a Ministry of Defence (MOD) official, while three foreigners were also allegedly molested by a group of eight men during Holi on Monday.

In the first incident, a 14-year-old girl has alleged that a Joint Director of the MOD allegedly molested her at Rohini in outer Delhi.

The girl is a class nine student at a private school at Rohini. She has told the police that the accused allegedly molested her when she was playing Holi with her friends at a residential complex at Rohini on Monday.

"The victim claims that the accused came out of his house and stood near her. A few minutes later, he allegedly grabbed her hand and tried to pull her inside his apartment," a police officer said.

The girl freed herself from the accused and ran away. She returned to her residence and informed her parents about the incident. They then reported the matter to the police.

The victim's statement was recorded before a magistrate under Section 164 (recording of confessions and statements) of the Code of Criminal Procedure. A case under Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act has been registered over a complaint at the Samaypur Badli police station. The accused is yet to be arrested. The police said that they have sent a notice to the accused, directing him to join the investigation into the case.

In the second incident, three foreigners were allegedly molested by eight men in south Delhi's Saket area on Monday.

The police said that the victims belong to Germany, South Africa and Colombia. On Monday, they were going in an autorickshaw towards Anupam Cineplex after visiting Select Citywalk mall.

The accused, identified by the police as Surjeet, Krishanjeet, Prince, Gurdeep, Jaspal, Vijay Singh, Sunny and Deepu, were travelling in a Toyota Fortuner car. They allegedly blocked the path of the autorickshaw.

"The accused were in an inebriated condition and they started playing Holi with the victims. When the victims tried to stop them, the accused started molesting them," said another police officer.

Locals rushed to help the victims when they shouted for help. The accused then fled in the car. The victims informed the police and their statements were recorded.

The victims had noted down the registration number of the Fortuner car. With the help of the transport authority, the police managed to trace the address of the vehicle owner and arrested the eight men. They live in Malviya Nagar and deal in property in south Delhi.

New Delhi, March 19
A 40-year-old man allegedly committed suicide by jumping in front of a moving train at the Shahdara Metro station in East Delhi today.

The police said that they have not recovered any document establishing his identity, but they saw the word "Kailash" tattooed on his right hand.

The incident took place about 3 pm when the man jumped before a train that was entering a platform at the Shahdara station. The train was bound for Rithala.

The police are examining the CCTV camera footage of the station, which shows the man waiting for about 10 minutes before jumping on the Metro track. Following the incident, operations on the Shahdara-Rithala line remained affected for about 20 minutes.