New Delhi, September 21
A massive drive against encroachers on the government land over the past one month has helped retrieve land having a market value of more than Rs100 crore, said Niharika Rai, District Magistrate (South District).

"In the drive undertaken with full support of the police, 70 bighas of gramsabha land encroached upon by the unscrupulous elements was freed at Ayanagar, Asola, Jonapur villages," she said.

The retrieved land will be utilized for setting up community facilities by various government departments who often face difficulties in finding suitable piece of land for setting up such facilities.

This demolition was carried out on the basis of the directions of the Delhi High Court.

"It was carried out on the basis of both the complaints received in the office as well as the directions of the court," said Rai.

A large police force of 600 personnel was roped in to maintain law and order during the operation.

With increase in price of land in Delhi, pressure of encroachment on the government land has increased. The construction of the boundary walls along the boundary of the retrieved plots of land is underway to thwart any attempt of re-encroachment of these valuable parcels of the land, said the DM.

She urged the public to thoroughly inquire about the ownership status of the land before buying any property. Unscrupulous property dealers often induce people in investing their hard earned money in government land and end up losing crores of rupees. The DM said encroachment of the government lands will not be allowed under any circumstances and the encroachers will be thrown out from every inch of the government land.

The department has offered the retrieved pieces of land to all the other government departments for making community assets like aanganwadi centres, schools, dispensaries, hospitals, playgrounds, parks, etc., for the benefit of the people of these villages as well as public at large.

The government departments often face constraint of land in constructing these facilities. The land can be allotted to the government departments, she added.

New Delhi, September 21
In order to encourage fish culture in the water bodies and village ponds of Delhi, the Delhi Fisheries Unit of the Delhi government has decided to auction 24 water bodies in Northwest district for fishing activities, said a senior official of the development department.

"The Fisheries Unit has decided to auction these water bodies. This will also overcome the problem of encroachment of such water bodies situated on gramsabha land," said the official.

The unit has produced 18.25 lakhs fish seeds and 680 MT fish this year. The unit has 15 nursery ponds covering about two acres, wherein the unit produces fish seed, rear them to fry and fingerling size and stock in public and private waters.

The unit issues fishing license on daily and annual basis for rod and line and nets. The unit also leases out specific water portions for fishing every year under rules and regulations laid down in the Indian Fisheries Act, 1897, and the Fisheries Act, 1914.

Under the provision of the Delhi Land Reforms Act, 1954, gram panchayat has to develop activities such as poultry farming and fishery.

New Delhi, September 21
Delhi Chief Secretary DM Spolia today said the government has planned to construct two jails in Baprola and Narela, which will be in addition to the under-construction Mandoli Jail.

For opening a new jail in Baprola, land will be acquired. The jail will be without bars for housing the prisoners.

"The objective of an open jail will be to mould the thinking of the prisoners towards positive activities by reposing trust in them to enable their re-socialization in the society after their release. The treatment of open prisoner is extended only to convict the prisoners with good prison conduct and who are physically and mentally fit, willing to do hard work, as prescribed for them," said Sapolia.

For construction of a jail in Narela, the land has been acquired at Tikri Khurd village and the payment of the same has been made. The construction work will be started soon after completing the necessary formalities.

To decongest the Central Jail of Tihar from the increasing numbers of prisoners, the construction works of new jails will soon be completed and will start functioning immediately, Spolia said while inspecting Mandoli Jail.

Mandoli Jail is being constructed in 68 acre and the building of jail will be state-of-the-art structure as finalized and approved by the competent authorities. It will have provision of six jails in its sprawling complex, apart from the facility for keeping the high security prisoners. The existing Tihar Jail has nine jails in its complex while Rohini Jail has three jails.

The Chief Secretary directed the Secretary (PWD) to speed up the construction work and ensure early completion in all respects. He advised him to take up the issues relating to various departments and agencies of the government. He said the Mandoli Jail should be commissioned as early as possible viewing the position of the Central Jail, Tihar, as it is overcrowded with about 12,000 prisoners as against its capacity of housing 6,000 prisoners, which is a cause of concern.

The DG (Prisons) said the matter has been taken up with the chairman of the Delhi Subordinate Service Selection Board for early recruitment of 747 posts of different categories requisitioned for the jail administration.

"The jail will have the capacity of 3,750 prisoners. It will be commissioned by end of December," said Alok Verma, DIG Jail. Officers were also asked to speed up the work.

New Delhi, September 21
Student politics in two internationally-known universities - DU and JNU - have surprised many this time round. While the right-wing ABVP expanded its hold in JNU, a campus dominated by left politics, the radical leftist AISA increased its vote share in DU, giving close competition to traditional organisations.

Started in 1990, the All India Students' Association (AISA), affiliated to the Communist Party of India-Marxist-Leninist, is going strong in Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU), but its vote share has been steadily going down.

But it is in Delhi University (DU), where the students body elections are bitterly fought between traditional rivals, the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP), a student body of the Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh (RSS), and National Students' Union of India (NSUI), the Congress students outfit, that the AISA has put up a good show, stunning many.

For the ABVP, DU continues to be its home turf as it bagged four seats in the students union (DUSU), although after 18 years. But in JNU, where its presence was inconspicuous, it has gained ground.

While its vice presidential and general secretary candidates secured second position in the Jawaharlal Nehru Student's Union (JNUSU), its president and joint secretary candidates came third - a fact that has never happened in the university's history.

Also, its councillors' share has increased to 12 out of the 31 in different departments as against last year's six of 26.

Established in the early 1970s, JNU has always been a left stronghold and has given many Left leaders to the nation but now the influence seems to be waning.

"I think now the students are fed up with policies of the left organisations. The left groups do not talk about students issues while ABVP has always struggled for their rights. Like in the larger political front, the Left is losing their hold in West Bengal and Kerala, so the same thing is happening in JNU too," said ABVP national secretary Rohit Chahal.

The oldest Students' Federation of India (SFI) maintains that ABVP has gained in JNU this year because a supportive government is in power.

Interestingly, DU is seeing the rise of AISA whose vote share has grown from 3,000 earlier to over 10,000 this year.

The group, which still does not have a presence in all 50 colleges affiliated to the varsity, was successful in giving tough competition to once-powerful NSUI.

"A few years ago, AISA was a distant group which was not capable of influencing students' mindset dominated by caste politics. But our polemical association with Anna Hazare's anti-corruption movement in 2011 was the first breakthrough and got us the spotlight," said AISA's DU president Sunny Kumar.

So in tandem with the movement, the student group started two other campaigns "Student Youth against Corruption" and "Student Youth Rights Movement" to give students "a platform to engage with national politics". — IANS

New Delhi, September 21
A 45-year-old nurse who was working with the Lok Nayak Hospital in central Delhi was allegedly drowned at a washroom of the staff quarters where she was staying.

The victim has been identified as Nirmala Devi. She was staying alone at quarter number 108 after separation from her husband.

Nirmala's body was discovered by her brother, Anand Kumar, who had reached the hospital from Baruna village in Haryana. He reported the matter to the police, who are trying to solve this "blind murder case".

"Every Saturday at about 4.30 pm, she would come to her maternal home (in Baruna) to spend the weekend with the family. She didn't arrive this Saturday. We kept dialling her mobile phone number, but didn't receive a response. We waited until 7 pm on Saturday, I then decided to go to her house," said Anand.

He reached Nirmala's staff quarters at the hospital at about 9.30 pm on Saturday. He claimed that the main door of her house was latched from the outside.

"I called out her name. When I didn't receive a response, I entered her bedroom and found the washroom door open. I saw her feet. I pushed the door open and saw her head immersed into a tub, which she would use to wash clothes. A bucket filled with water was placed over her head to ensure that it remains underwater," said Anand. He added that Nirmala was wearing a night gown when he found her body.

Anand placed a call to the police, who arrived within a few minutes of being informed. She was taken to hospital where she was declared dead. Her body was handed to her family this afternoon after its postmortem at the Lok Nayak Jai Prakash (LNJP) hospital.

"Our investigations suggest that the woman died due to suffocation. We are suspecting that a person acquainted with the victim is involved in the incident, because the door of the apartment did not show signs of a break-in," a police officer said.

Nirmala's neighbour, Pawan Kumar, said that she hardly received visitors. "She was a friendly person and kept to herself. Except for her family, we have not seen anyone else visiting her. On the day of the incident, I didn't see any suspicious persons nor did I hear any noises coming from her apartment," said Pawan.

Until Sunday evening, the police did not gain any clues to the identity of the murderer and the motive behind the incident.

"It is too early to tell the reason. We are questioning Nirmala's family, in-laws and other acquaintances," said the officer.

Nirmala was married to one Mehru Lal in 1999. She completed 20 years at the LNJP hospital this year.

Her seven sisters are married and living in different parts of Haryana. Two of Nirmala's sisters are married to the younger siblings of her husband.

Her family revealed that she had separated from her husband in 2004 after he with his brother and sister-in-law allegedly beat her when she refused to pay them money as dowry.

"Her husband is from Pughthala village. The couple had a child a year after their marriage. She moved to Narela in Delhi and bought a flat. Her in-laws followed her and took her son away. She was also beaten up in 2005 after which her husband and the sister-in-law were sent to jail for a month. The child remained with the father and my sister wanted his custody," said 38-year-old Nanhi Devi, Nirmala's younger sister.

New Delhi, September 21
A Delhi Police Sub-Inspector posted at the Lieutenant Governor's residence in North Delhi allegedly shot at himself with his own service revolver this morning while on duty.

The Sub-Inspector, Ajit Singh (55) was taken to a nearby hospital. He is out of danger. His family alleges that it was a suicide attempt and the police have been pressuring them to register it as an accident case.

At about 8.20 am today, Ajit had arrived at the rear gate of the Lieutenant Governor's residence to start his duty, when he reportedly shot at himself while placing his service revolver in his holster. The bullet hit him near his waist and he was rushed to the hospital. He had to undergo surgery and by this afternoon, he was out of danger.

Ajit's family however alleged that for the past five months, he had been pressurised by a senior officer to take either a transfer or resign.

"He had come for a family function at Meerut and there on Friday, he told his son that he was being pressurised into taking a transfer or resign," said a relative.

The police informed Ajit's family over the phone this morning that he had sustained a bullet injury and was being rushed to a hospital.

"But we are sure that this wasn't an accident and he had taken this extreme step under immense pressure," said the relative. He further alleged that the family was being pressured to accept that it was an accident.

The police denied these allegations. "The officer (Ajit) has been booked under section 336 (act endangering life and personal safety of others) of the Indian Penal Code," said a police officer.

New Delhi, September 21
As many as 787 persons have been killed and 2,678 others were injured in accidents involving Delhi Transport Corporation (DTC) buses in the past 10 years.

According to data available with the DTC, 63 persons were mowed down and 184 people injured by its buses from March 2013 to April 2014. During this period, the DTC buses were involved in 225 accidental cases, of which 33 took place due to rash and negligent driving.

"During 2012-2013, 251 accidental cases were caused by the DTC buses, killing 68 people and injuring 229. Of these cases, 39 accidents occurred due to rash and negligent driving," the data revealed.

"Apart from that, the DTC buses killed 77 persons and injured 274, causing 264 accidents in 2011-2012 and of which, 80 accidental cases took place due to rash and negligent driving," according to the data.

The data suggests that in 2007-08, the corporation buses killed 64 persons and injured 214 people in 207 accidents.

"Similarly, 244 people were injured while 89 were killed in 256 accidents during 2006-07. Besides, 135 persons were mowed down and 417 were injured by the DTC buses in 381 cases in 2005-06 while in 2004-05, the DTC buses killed 105 persons and injured 593 people, occurring 410 accidents," an official source said, quoting the data.

In January this year, 600 DTC drivers, who allegedly had got job on fake medical fitness certificate, were alleged to be colour blind by the Information Commissioner, M Sridhar Acharyulu.

In an open letter to then Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, the Information Commissioner had said, "It is alleged that at least 600 drivers have colour blindness and many others suffer from other problems. I apprehend (and every one will agree) that if this is even partly true, the right to life of commuters in the city will be under serious and constant threat until it is ensured that every driver is fit enough to drive the buses," Acharyulu wrote.