New Delhi, June 25
A large number of workers, students, women activists and trade union activists today protested outside Rail Bhawan against the government's decision to hike the rail fare and freight by 14.2 and 6 per cent respectively, as well as the proposed hike in diesel, LPG, and other fuel prices.

Activists of the Congress also protested at Baljit Nagar near Patel Nagar.

The protesters had gathered under the banner of Krantikari Yuva Sangathan (KYS) and represented various organizations such as Workers Unity Centre (WUCI), Blind Workers Union (BWU), Centre for Struggling Women (CSW), etc.

The police took the protesters from Rail Bhawan into a truck and transported them to Jantar Mantar. Unwilling to let the police action dampen their spirits, a protest meeting continued at Jantar Mantar amidst loud sloganeering against the anti-poor policies of the newly elected NDA government.

Speakers who addressed the gathering pointed to the fact that there was actually no white paper on the exact financial condition of the Railways, and the only reason why the Indian Railways was allegedly running at a loss was because successive governments have refused to collect pending dues of private companies using the Railways for transportation of their goods.

A memorandum was duly submitted to the Railway Minister and the protest meeting concluded with the resolution to pursue the issue of Railway fare hikes and further withdrawal of government subsidy from essential items like LPG gas and diesel. 

New Delhi, June 25
The Delhi Jal Board approved projects of over Rs 285 crore for laying water pipelines, construction of waste water treatment plants, relocation of water mains, upgradation of infrastructure for water pipelines and preparation of Master Plan, 2031, for sewerage system.

The board approved the proposal for the laying of internal water distribution pipelines in Swaroop Nagar unauthorised colony at a total cost of Rs 4.80 crore.

The project is expected to be completed within one year, said a DJB spokesperson.

It also approved the proposal of providing and laying peripheral water mains of Karala underground reservoir with a cost of Rs 25.68 crore.

The scheme is expected to finish within one and a half years, the spokesperson said.

The spokesperson said that for bringing about an overall improvement of the sewerage system and in order to reduce pollution load in the Yamuna, the board has accorded approval to sign an MoU for taking over of Delhi Cantonment land free of cost, for construction of an eight waste water treatment plant, including sewage pumping station. The key feature of this project is that it would provide treated effluent for non-potable use.

To augment ground water resources in the flood plains of the Palla region (Alipur Block), the board has approved the rehabilitation and augmentation of the existing tube-wells and rainy wells at a total cost of Rs 16.99 crore.

The Board also accorded approval to the replacement of the water pipelines at a cost of Rs 40.49 crore.

The existing rising water mains are more than three decades old and need to be replaced to optimize the efficiency of the carrier system. This will help to water losses.

Besides, the board approved the projects of laying sewer lines in the areas of Mustafabad, Gokulpur and Yamuna Vihar at a cost of Rs 77.41 crore, inter sewer lines at Gokulpur at Rs 58.35 crore, sewer lines at Samaipur Badli at a cost of Rs 84.98 crore, sewer lines in the Narela catchment area with a cost of Rs 35.25 crore, the DJB spokesperson said.

New Delhi, June 25
The Delhi government has started selling onions and potatoes at subsidized prices through 32 mobile vans in different parts of the city, said Development Commissioner Puneet Goel.

Prices of vegetables are stable in the open market. There is no shortfall either in arrival of onions and potatoes in Delhi and current arrivals are more than the requirements of the city, he said.

Goel said that depending upon the quality of onions and potatoes, they are being sold at subsidized rates of Rs 13 to Rs 15 per kg and Rs 16 to Rs 20, respectively. The Delhi Agricultural Marketing Board has disbursed onions at Rs 18 per kg through mobile vans covering parts of Delhi like Dilshad Garden, Ram Nagar, Kanti Nagar, Kalyanpuri, Nand Nagri, Kondli, Shakarpur, Seemapuri, Shahdara, Mandavali, Kardampuri and Jawala Nagar.

The Development Commissioner further said that 10 mobile vans for western parts of Delhi covering areas like Dwarka, Paschim Vihar, Kirti Nagar, Fateh Nagar, Rajouri Garden, Hari Nagar, Mangolpuri, Mohan Garden, Punjabi Bagh, etc. are selling onions and potatoes at Rs 15 per kg and Rs 20 per kg.

New Delhi, June 25
Issuing an appeal to Delhi University and the University Grants Commission (UGC) to end the logjam and begin undergraduate admissions, a 20-member group of eminent academicians, comprising vice-chancellors of several universities, principals and professors of DU colleges today proposed a formula to resolve the stalemate between the varsity and the UGC.

The proposal-suggesting honours degree be given in three years and the fourth year be made optional for research purposes, cutting down on the Foundation Courses (FCs) and increasing the main honours courses to a total of 17-was examined by the varsity during a meeting at the DU Vice-Chancellor Prof Dinesh Singh's residence in the evening. Tomorrow the standing committee is expected to discuss the admissions process further.

"For the first time, admissions in DU have been delayed and we appeal to both DU and UGC to make resolve and start admissions. We have submitted our proposal and hope that the deadlock breaks. We have suggested a three-year honours programme that is easily devised by reverting to several features of the old semester format and by drastically reducing the existing courses that are not of the honours stream and that exist in the current format," said Prof Vijay Choudhary of department of Microbiology of DU.

He asserted that DU must be flexible and should cooperate with UGC and call meeting of the Academic Council and Executive Council which is the first requisite step towards affecting any transition to three-year structure.

The varsity welcomed the initiative, stating, "The university is examining in detail the document and is working with the expectation that the admission process shall be able to commence soon."