New Delhi, November 12
The Aam Aadmi Party today announced the 'Delhi Dialogue' campaign for assembly polls while sharing its plan for chalking out a 50-point agenda. AAP national convener Arvind Kejriwal promised to transform Delhi into a 'world-class' city.

For its 'Delhi Dialogue' exercise, the party has invited citizens and experts from all walks of life to deliberate on the issues concerning Delhi over the next 45 days and hopes to draw up an 'actionable' manifesto.

The first list of AAP candidates is likely to be out later this week and the party will start its campaign on November 15 at Jantar Mantar wherein the party will focus on the youth followed by similar events related to women, traders, slums and resettlement colonies, health and sanitation, etc.

Citing the work done by his party during the 49-day government, former Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal blamed the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Congress for the uncertainty over the polls and the delayed execution of projects.

"We are preparing AAP's 50-point blueprint for Delhi. We have delivered what we promised before the last assembly election. This time our 'Delhi Dialogue' team will interact with people and then work towards making a Delhi of their dreams," said Kejriwal while pointing out that the elections should have been declared right after his government resigned on February 14. This time his party would win 40-45 seats, he noted.

AAP chief spokesperson Yogendra Yadav said that 'Delhi Dialogue' will take forward the party's vision of 'Swaraj'. "AAP had offered people a vision of Swaraj and this is only a step forward. We will have specific things for sections in our manifesto and it will be open for people to debate and scrutinise unlike the general practice," he said.

The manifesto team comprises party leaders Meera Sanyal, Ashish Khetan, Adarsh Shastri and Preeti Sharma Menon along with the party's lead researcher Roshan Shankar who is coordinating the project.

"Our aim is to give a 50-point actionable manifesto to deliver on the plans for all sections identified in the last six-eight weeks. There would be deadlines. People will be engaged and it will be an ongoing process," said Shashtri.

New Delhi, November 12
Former Union Minister Balwant Singh Ramuwalia said that the Punjabi language was being neglected in Delhi though it had been accorded the status of second official language a few years ago. It is not being used in government offices, he said.

A delegation of Sikh community led by Ramuwalia today met Lieutenant Governor Najeeb Jung in this regard.

Ramuwalia who is in charge of Delhi affairs of the Akali Dal was accompanied by DSGMC president Manjit Singh (GK) and general secretary Manjinder Singh Sirsa.

He said that teaching of Punjabi in educational institutions is just on paper and no step has been taken to fill up the shortage of teachers in government schools. A follow-up is also required for graduate and postgraduate courses in colleges and universities.

The Delhi government has never held any seminar or discussion of Punjabi experts for promotion of the language, the former minister said.

Spelling of Punjabi written on the signboards is found wrong at many places. Steps should be taken to correct the mistakes, the delegation demanded.

It further said that a Punjabi Academy was set up many years ago, but the post of secretary has been lying vacant for a long time. The delegation requested the LG to appoint the secretary at the earliest.

Sikhs are one of the notified religious minorities by the government, but students of the community fail to get facilities and concessions due to complicated procedures. There is need to create a special cell to guide the students, demanded the delegation.

New Delhi, November 12
Not having a PUC (pollution under control) certificate will soon be a reason for petrol pump stations to refuse fuel.

The Delhi government is getting ready to implement its decision on mandatory pollution under control certificate for all vehicles in the city as a prerequisite for getting fuel.

A meeting was held today by Delhi Chief Secretary D.M.Spolia to take stock of the preparedness and issue of appropriate instructions to the departments of Transport, Environment and Food and Supply.

Sapolia asked the departments concerned and the traffic police to work in tandem in this regard. He underlined the need for launching an awareness campaign as the decision would be implemented in a fortnight.

"The vehicle owners and drivers are to be suitably conveyed about the non-possession of a valid PUC certificate in respect of their vehicles. The filling stations will be communicated in plain words that fuel must be denied to vehicles not in possession of valid PUC certificates," he said.

"The departments have been asked to go ahead in launching a campaign in the print and electronic media apart from putting notices at filling stations and other permissible places like zonal transport offices etc," he said.

The validity of PUC certificates for Euro 4 vehicles is one year whereas it is three months for all other vehicles in the city.

A large number of people are likely to pour in at PUC centres on December 1 and thereafter. There are over 60 lakh vehicles in Delhi. It was decided to increase the number of PUC centres and make them functional for longer hours.

New Delhi, November 12
The Delhi Metro Rail Corporation will start selling India International Trade Fair (IITF) entry tickets from Friday for Business Days (November 14 to 18). The tickets for general public will be sold from November 19.

The entry tickets for general public days will be available at all the stations except Airport Express Line, where tickets will be available at only one station, Dhaula Kuan.

IITF tickets for both business as well as general days can be purchased from Customer Care Centres of Metro stations from 08:30 am to 04:00 pm on all days.

The tickets will be sold from stations only for the same day as they are day-specific and no advance tickets will be available for sale. As the DMRC is expecting massive crowds at the Pragati Maidan station, more counters will be opened there. Additional DMRC officers, customer facilitation agents and security staff will also be deployed at all stations.

People are advised to avoid the last-minute rush in purchasing tickets at the Pragati Maidan station. They should purchase the tickets from the originating station. However, tickets for Business Days will be available at the specific 30 stations only.