New Delhi, August 1
Losses amounting to several crores of rupees were pointed out by the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) today in its audit report of the Delhi government for the year 2012-13.

Attributing the losses to lack of financial transparency in Delhi government departments, the CAG said that the test check of the records of 96 units of departments of Trade and Taxes, State Excise, Transport, Entertainment, Luxury and Betting and Revenue, conducted during the year 2012-13, found a loss of revenue aggregating to Rs 2,041.32 crore in 2,238 cases.

"The departments concerned accepted under-assessment and other deficiencies of Rs 50.46 crore in 627 cases during 2012-13 and earlier years. The departments recovered Rs 5.61 lakh in six cases during the year 2012-13," the report said.

It also out questioned the action by Indraprastha Power Generation Company Limited, which 'benefited' discoms, Urban Development department, Delhi Transport Corporation and 'wasteful expenditure' of the two super speciality hospitals.

The Delhi Urban Shelter Improvement Board didn't form the Urban Shelter Consultative Committee and Basti Vikas Samitis and didn't initiate any new housing scheme for relocation of residents of jhuggi jhopri bastis, it said.

"The Board did not have a complete and reliable record of its properties. A sum of Rs 232.10 crore was outstanding to be recovered from the allottees of its properties," the report said.

Slamming PWD, the CAG report said that the figures of budget allotment and actual expenditure of E-in-C office were not reconciled with those of Pay and Accounts office.

"The Urban Development Department of the government has also failed to provide basic services like sewer lines, water lines, roads and drainage to all the 895 unauthorised colonies despite incurring an expenditure of Rs 3029.21 crore up to March 2013," the report said.

It said that the Delhi Transport Corporation suffered an avoidable loss of Rs 53.59 crore on account of unauthorised occupation of staff quarters at two staff colonies.

The CAG lashed out at Indraprastha Power Generation Company for acting in a way that led to giving undue benefit to discoms. "Indraprastha Power Generation Company Limited by delaying recovery of advance income tax paid, blocked their funds and suffered an interest loss of Rs 6.42 crore leading to undue financial benefit to discoms," the report added.

Besides, the CAG pointed out that the Irrigation and Flood Control Department did not propose any new work till May 2011, even after the Yamuna breached danger levels in 2008, 2009 and 2010. Desilting of drains and dumping of removed silts in authorised locations were not ensured.

The report said that the loss of Rs 1.44 crore was reported in the Delhi Legislative Assembly canteen as there was no formal agreement to run the eatery. "Delay in selection and appointment of Advisor for selection of an operator resulted in blockage of funds to the tune of Rs 5.67 crore," it said.

New Delhi August 1
Several Resident Welfare Associations (RWAs) in the Capital have welcomed the Delhi High Court order banning e-rickshaws till a proper law is framed to regulate them keeping in mind human safety on roads.

The High Court had directed the city government yesterday to stop e-rickshaws from plying on the roads of the national Capital "as of now".

The RWAs demanded the full regulation of e-rickshaws under Motor Vehicle Act while calling the announcement of the Union Minister of Road and Transport and Highways (MoRTH) about e-rickshaws "an act of vote-bank politics".

"Presently e-rickshaws are operating on Delhi roads without any accountability, without licence, token or registration. Move by the Union Minister of Road and Transport and Highways (MoRTH) and several politicians just for votes is fully ignoring the concerns of citizens affected by illegal vehicles," said Rajiv Kakria of GK -I RWA.

According to convener of Delhi Residents' Forum V.K.Arora, move by the ministry to exclude e-rickshaw from the ambit of Central Motor Vehicle Act, 1988 and project it as non-motorised vehicle just to help a few businessmen and suppliers of these vehicles which include some politicians both in the ruling party and the previous government.

Govt should come clean on amending Act: AAP

Holding the Bharatiya Janata Party responsible for the ban on e-rickshaws, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) hit out at the BJP's Central government saying that its "refusal" to make clear its stand regarding amending the Motor Vehicles Act during the ongoing Parliament session for regularising the e-rickshaws indicates that it is "fooling the poor on the issue".

"There is sufficient time for the Central government to move an amendment in the existing law during the current Parliament session itself and resolve the problem, provided it is interested in doing so. When Union Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari had promised to make necessary changes in existing laws to allow e-rickshaws to legally ply in the national Capital more than six weeks back, why the BJP is now looking the other way," the party questioned.

Cong memo demands relief for drivers

Delhi Congress leaders today submitted a memorandum to the Lt. Governor, Najeeb Singh, demanding an ordinance to ensure the future of e-rickshaw drivers.

Delhi Pradesh Congress Committee (DPCC) president Arvinder Singh said while the memorandum has sought the safety and security of the people, the government should also provide relief to the e-rickshaw drivers.

"We had a detailed discussion with the LG for about half an hour on the e-rickshaw issue. We requested him that the safety and security of the people should be taken into consideration when the government issues an ordinance to regularize e-rickshaws," Singh said. 

New Delhi, August 1
Days after allegations of ragging rocked one of the colleges of Delhi University (DU), over 60,000 students of the university have pledged against drug abuse and ragging here during a two-day-long campaign organised by an NGO in partnership with the Delhi Police.

The Anti-Drugs, Anti Ragging Campaign (ADAR) by Leaders for Tomorrow (LFT), an organisation working towards harnessing leadership skills, calls on students to pledge themselves against ragging and drug abuse.

The campaign, which will be conducted in three phases to cover 150 colleges across the capital region, is supposed to cover in its first phase and in the next two phases Indraprastha University and Jamia Millia Islamia will be covered.

"LFT is a youth leadership movement which basically aims at raising awareness among college-goers regarding drug and substance abuse and also against ragging," said LFT South Campus campaign head Siddharth Jain.

Apart from raising awareness, the ADAR initiative focuses on freshers and involves them in various activities to awaken social consciousness among them, said LFT South Campus campaign manager Utkarsh Srivastava.

Noting that it is seen that most of the students in DU are from outstations and smaller towns, he said, "The new-found freedom and peer-pressure often leads them drug abuse. Through our volunteers and supporters we provide informed choice to such students."

Over 8,000 students have joined the campaign as members of LFT while over 4,000 of its volunteers worked across 61 colleges of the university to raise awareness on the issues.

Further, to expand its outreach LFT has recently launched its mobile app to encourage youngsters to join the group. The app, also called Leaders for Tomorrow, is available for blackberry and android phones for free.

New Delhi, August 1
New Delhi Municipal Council (NDMC) Chairman Jalaj Shrivastava today launched a 'Fight the Bite' programme in the presence of school students and teachers.

The programme has been organized to create awareness among students and teachers of NDMC schools about the menace of dengue, chikunguniya and malaria.

Shrivastava said that children are considered ambassadors. "We expect that they will create awareness about this menace among their parents, friends and neighbours," he said.

Shrivastava said that the NDMC has issued a 'Dengue homework card' to students and they are supposed to fill it up with the details of work done by them to prevent dengue and create awareness about this deadly menace. The schools have been asked to give five grace marks to these students for this work.

Many experts from the Municipal Corporation of Delhi, Safdarjung Hospital, National Institute of Malaria Research, etc. shared their views with the students.

This is the seventh awareness programme for the principal and nodal officers of the schools and colleges conducted by the NDMC since 2007.

New Delhi, August 1
On the lines of the close quarter combat training given to the special forces of about 30 countries, including those of the US and of India's armed forces, the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) organised such a training course for 25 of its women personnel as a step towards improving the security of women passengers at the Delhi Metro stations.

The valedictory session, marking the end of the 50-day-long training of these 25 women was held today. They were trained in a close quarter combat form called "Pekiti-Tirsia Kali" or in short form simply known as "Kali".

The CISF is responsible for the security of about 135 Delhi Metro stations. And these 25 women are part of the about 800-strong women contingent of the CISF. The Metro receives more than 26 lakh passengers every day and a substantial number of them are women. The CISF believes that their women personnel need to respond effectively in close quarters, usually in a crowded area of the Metro or during the late hours of the night for the protection of women passengers and themselves. The CISF with the commitment of the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation, therefore, arranged the training course on Kali, to provide better security to women passengers. And within the coming seven weeks, the CISF plans to train more of its women personnel engaged in Metro and airport security in this combat form.

Kanishka Sharma, MD, Pekiti Tirsia Kali, India, the organisation which trained the 25 CISF women personnel explained that Kali originated in Philippines. "It has been tested in war, when the Filipinos used it against the Spanish. This has become the basic combat form for the Indian Army's Special Forces, the National Security Guard, the Indian Air Force's Guard Commando Force and a Chhattisgarh Special Task Force. This is also being used by the US Special Forces and about 30 other countries," he said.

At the valedictory session, the 25 women personnel showed their skills in Kali. They showed how to handle not only a person, but a large group as well, with their bare hands. With a basic thing such as a pen, they showed how it can be used as a weapon. And they also displayed their skill in disarming a person.

Pooja, one of the constables, who was trained in Kali, said that she and the other trainees were taught this combat form with an aim to seize a person and interrogate him. "This is the first time that we have been given this kind of training. The session was held for three hours a day for three days a week. We feel more confident that we can better secure the Metro stations.

New Delhi, August 1
The Delhi Police has set up a cyber Lab at its Police Training College in west Delhi's Jharoda Kalan to train its personnel on dealing with cyber crime cases.

According to the Delhi Police, about 131 cases of cyber crime were registered by them in 2013. These are only 10 per cent of the cases that happened last year, but 90 per cent of them are unreported.

To deal with the increasing number of cyber crime cases, the cyber lab has been set up. It was inaugurated at the Police Training College by the Delhi Police Commissioner, B S Bassi, today.

New Delhi, August 1
Foreign medical graduates of India today expressed dissatisfaction over the current standards and the pattern of the Medical Council of India's screening exam for practising in India.

Accusing the apex regulatory body of high-handedness, they have called for clarity about the curriculum and "transparency" in screening test.

According to them, the screening test which was introduced in 2002 as a qualifying exam (Foreign Medical Graduates Exam) conducted by National Board of Examination (NBE) for Indian students obtaining their MBBS degrees from abroad has become tough over the years and the questions are of the level of postgraduation entrance.

This has led to a decline in the pass percentage of students taking the examination over the years with the worst in 2013, when the percentage couldn't touch the double-figure mark, they said while protesting at Jantar Mantar under the banner of International Forum of Medical Graduates (IFMG).

"The exam was supposed to be a basic screening examination to test whether the student is equivalent to the level of an Indian MBBS graduate. But it has been made an entrance exam and this has resulted in a drastic reduction in the number of students reaching the required 50 per cent qualifying score. The passing per cent has been as high as 36 per cent in March 2010 and it used to be between 20-25 per cent on an average. But in the last two years, it has come down to seven-eight per cent. There has been no standardisation in the screening exam with eight sets of different question papers of 300 questions being given to candidates," said PG aspirant Dr Peeyush Padmesh of Gautam Nagar.

Protestors said there are many foreign medical graduates, who are either jobless or are forced to changes their profession as they fail to clear the screening exam.

New Delhi, August 1
A nine-year-old girl was allegedly raped by her neighbour's relative in central Delhi's Chandni Mahal locality on Thursday evening. The accused, a 17-year-old youth, was caught by the locals and handed over to police.

The girl who belongs to Bihar was staying with her aunt at Chandni Mahal. Her parents had sent her to Delhi about four years ago to study. She was studying at a government school near her aunt's house.

The accused had also come to his relative's home during a visit and had been staying there for the past few days. The girl was playing alone outside her aunt's house in Chatta Lal Mian area of Chandni Mahal when the accused noticed her.

"The accused lured the girl to his home on the pretext of providing something to eat and to show something unique. He locked the room from inside and raped the girl," said a police officer.