While the US markets ended off lows on Monday, Asian markets including india shrugged off S&P’s move and recovered. But worries remain that the real risk may emerge in the medium term and fund flows may turn volatile if US bond yields rise.

Experts say a clear picture will take time to emerge. They say Asian economies will feel little impact from Standard & Poor’s downgrade but a failure by Congress to reach a budget deal could have more serious repercussions.

“The ratings agencies are not always the best guide. They have said there is a possibility of downgrade, so we will have to watch the situation. They may have been cautious at least for now,” said Vallabh Bhansali, co-founder and chairman of Enam Securities.

“It is crucial that the US Congress agrees on a roadmap and timetable for medium-term fiscal consolidation to reassure Asian governments about the stability of their existing investments in US government debt as well as to convince them to continue buying new holdings,” Rajiv Biswas, Asia-Pacific chief economist at IHS Global Insight said.

“Given the importance of the US as the world’s largest economy, this is also essential for underpinning the stability of the global financial system.”

Currencies and commodity markets are already seeing a minor churn. The dollar has gained against the Euro overnight since Euro debt concerns are more immediate than US debt concerns. This will mean that the Dollar’s strength could limit gains in emerging currencies.

Commodities like gold and silver however had a good day. They gained overnight being a safe haven investment play. But the dollar’s strength will cap their gains.

Some are even taking a contrarian call.

“The markets had a knee jerk reaction and then recovered as they expect the US govt to take corrective action post this downgrade. And reduce their deficit,” said Sunil Jain, vice-president, equity research, Nirmal Bang Securities.

The U.S. government is projected to run a record $1.5 trillion deficit this year, marking the third straight year that the deficit topped $1 trillion.

While market participants hope that commodities could decline in the medium term, if things don’t improve in the US, that will be positive for the Indian markets. But prolonged weakness in the US will result in outflows from emerging markets. So the markets are not breathing easy just yet.

Read more at: http://profit.ndtv.com/news/show/s-p-cuts-us-debt-outlook-what-is-means-for-markets-dollar-150677?cp

Commenting on the launch, HMIL managing director H S Lheem said, “Through the launch of the new Santro, we intend to thank all our customers who have chosen to drive this product and make Hyundai into what it is today. The new version of Santro is further aimed at delighting our customers with luxurious interiors, advance styling and enhanced comfort.”

Apart from being powered by the 1.1 eRLX Epsilon engine, the new Santro has many added features to raise the bar for cars in this segment. On the exterior it will be distinguished by a body coloured Radiator Grille and Full Wheel Cover and the rear gets decidedly more sporty with the addition of a Rear Spoiler which further highlights the new look Santro.

The 60-year-old Congress leader, who led the party to a remarkable victory in the recent Assembly and Lok Sabha polls, left Hyderabad for Chitoor at 0835 hours IST in a twin-engined Bell helicopter which lost contact an hour later. There was no trace of the helicopter, which got lost in bad weather.

“There is no good news yet. We are keeping our fingers crossed. Our prayers are with Rajasekhara Reddy and his family,” Chidambaram said more than ten hours after the helicopter lost contact with the ATC at 0935 hours IST.

“Tomorrow (Thursday) in the first light of the day, helicopters will continue the search,” Chidambaram said, who is supervising the search operation.

However, a sombre Home Minister said the search on foot by forest and revenue officials will continue through the night. Police and CRPF personnel are also conducting search operations on foot.

“I have advised the state government to continue the search even during the night with whatever light is available. Perhaps they would be able to do the search for couple of hours,” Chidambaram said.

The Union Home Ministry has rushed 5,000 CRPF personnel to the area from nearby Chattisgarh and Orissa to conduct search in the area.

Three Indian Air Force (IAF) helicopters from Bangalore and a private chopper from Nellore scoured the area where the helicopter is believed to have gone missing. Two helicopters from Air Command in Secunderabad returned because of incessant rains.

IAF will also press into service Su-30MKI fighter aircraft with synthetic aperture radar for high resolution ground mapping in and around Kurnool to locate the missing chopper.

Naxal past of the Nallamalla Forest

*3,000 square kilometer base of CPI (Maoists)

*2006: Maoist commander Ravi Kumar and comrades killed here

*2007: Maoist Commander Kiran killed; large Arms dump found in forest

*February 2009: Sr Commander Sambasivadu surrenders in forest; had planned attack on Chandrababu Naidu

Andhra Pradesh government is also trying to seek help of the United States Defence department to have real-time satellite imagery of the area where the Chief Minister’s helicopter went missing, the state Chief Secretary said.

The Chief Minister was accompanied by his Principal Secretary S Subramanyam and Chief Security Officer ASC Wesley when his helicopter lost contact with the Air Traffic Controller at the Begumpet Airport in Hyderabad while it was headed for Chittoor district, about 600 kilometres from Hyderabad.

Challenges before the rescue team:

• The Nallamalla forest, where the helicopter has reportedly gone missing, is Naxal infested.

• Hilly, rough terrain which is compounded with bad weather conditions.

• The area is poorly connected with no mobile network due to the dense forests.

• No confirmation on whether the chopper has crashed or not. Search operation spread over six districts.

Unanswered questions:

• Did the helicopter crashland in bad weather?

• Why was the Chief Minister flying with just one security officer, though the helicopter could have carried at least three more people?

• Why was the helicopter’s communication system not working?

• Why was the mandatory satellite phone not available in the CM’s helicopter?

• Why has no agency been able to locate the helicopter even 10 hours after it disappeared?

(With agency inputs)

Taking the lead in ensuring punctuality, Chidambaram arrived at 9 a.m. at the North Block and registered his attendance by placing his finger on the scanner.

Chidambaram had mooted the idea of installing biometric scanners a few months ago after he noticed growing instances of officials not reporting to work on time and leaving office early.

‘Under this system, all officials of the ministry will be registering their arrivals in the morning and departure for the day,’ said a senior ministry official.

A ministry official told IANS that any employee registering three late arrivals in a month will have his or her casual leave slashed by a day.

The home ministry has nearly 5,000 employees in its offices, while the North Block headquarters alone has a strength of about 2,500 apart from security personnel who are stationed on duty.

Employees are expected to reach office at 9 a.m. sharp, and put their index finger on the scanner, which will identify their fingerprint, flash their employee code and name and register their arrival. They will have to go through the same drill when leaving for the day at 5.30 p.m.

Eighteen players have received at least two nominations for their performances during this period, which includes the 2009 World Twenty20 in England, the 2009 Women’s World Cup in Australia, and the 2009 World Cup Qualifiers in South Africa, in addition to the various bilateral Test and ODI series.

Dilshan scored 848 runs in the eight Tests during that period at 70.66 and was also named Player of the Tournament during the World Twenty20 held in England. He was instrumental in Sri Lanka’s successful run to the final. His unbeaten 96 off 57 balls against West Indies in the second semi-final, and his quickfire 74 against the same opponents in the league phase are the two performances he has been nominated for in the Twenty20 International Performance of the Year category. He is also in line for the ICC Cricketer of the Year and Test Player of the Year awards.

Dhoni, who was the ODI Player of the Year in 2008, has been nominated for the Cricketer of the Year, Test Player of the Year and ODI Player of the Year. A hugely successful phase resulted in 544 runs from eight Tests at 54.40 and 967 runs in 24 ODIs at 60.43. Among the players nominated for two prizes is Bangladesh’s Shakib Al Hasan, who is in contention for the Cricketer of the Year and the Test Player of the Year awards.

This year’s awards include eight individual prizes, as well as the Spirit of Cricket award for a team. Apart from this, the Test and ODI teams of the year will also be announced.

The Emerging Player of the Year nominees include three Australians – Philip Hughes, Ben Hilfenhaus and Peter Siddle – along with the New Zealand duo of Martin Guptill and Jesse Ryder. Indian legspinner Amit Mishra, West Indian fast bowler Kemar Roach and England bowler Graham Onions are the other nominees in the category.

Ireland boasts the most number of nominees in the Associate and Affiliate Player of the Year award with seven names on the list, followed by Netherlands with three. Canada have two names while Kenya and Scotland have one player each.

“The LG ICC Awards are an opportunity for the ICC and FICA to acknowledge and celebrate the remarkable performances of the world’s top players,” said ICC chief executive Haroon Lorgat while announcing the list of nominations in Mumbai.

“It is also a chance for followers of our great sport to reflect on some of the great cricketing feats they have witnessed over the past year. This will be the sixth time the awards have been handed out and yet again there are so many great performances to recall. Selecting the winners will no doubt test our selectors and voting academy.”

The lists were compiled by a five-man ICC selection panel chaired by former West Indies captain and current chairman of the ICC cricket committee, Clive Lloyd. The panel also includes former players such as India’s Anil Kumble, Mudassar Nazar of Pakistan, Bob Taylor of England and New Zealand’s Stephen Fleming.

The ceremony will take place in Johannesburg on October 1, to coincide with the ICC Champions Trophy 2009. The previous editions were held in London (2004), Sydney (2005), Mumbai (2006), Johannesburg (2007) and Dubai (2008).

The list was announced at a function in Mumbai, on Wednesday, hosted by former Indian all-rounder Ravi Shastri and attended by current India opener Virender Sehwag – who himself is one of the players nominated for the ODI Player of the Year award – and ICC Chief Executive Haroon Lorgat.

This year’s ICC awards includes eight individual prizes and also features the selection of the Test and ODI Teams of the Year and the award to the side that has adhered most to the Spirit of Cricket.

Apart from MS Dhoni, Gautam Gambhir, Harbhajan Singh, Virender Sehwag and Yuvraj Singh were some of the other top players to make the list in different categories.

Gambhir and Harbhajan Singh were the other Indian nominees for the prestigious Cricketer of the Year award.

VVS Laxman joined the trio of Dhoni, Gambhir and Harbhajan to be in the line for the Test Player of the Year award while Yuvraj and Sehwag were also in the fray for the honour of ODI Player of the Year.

Zaheer Khan was nominated for Twenty20 Performer of the Year.

“The ICC awards are an opportunity for the ICC and FICA to acknowledge and celebrate the remarkable performances of the world’s top players,” said ICC Chief Executive Haroon Lorgat.

“It is also a chance for followers of our great sport to reflect on some of the great cricketing feats they have witnessed over the past year. This will be the sixth time the awards have been handed out and yet again there are so many great performances to recall. Selecting the winners will no doubt test our selectors and voting academy,” he said.

The long-lists of nominations were made by a five-man ICC selection panel chaired by former West Indies captain and current chairman of the ICC Cricket Committee Clive Lloyd.

The panel also includes former players such as India’s Anil Kumble, Pakistan’s Mudassar Nazar, England’s Bob Taylor and New Zealand’s Stephen Fleming.

The individual player awards will be selected by an academy of 25 highly credentialed cricket personalities from around the world. The academy includes a host of former players and respected members of the media, representatives of the Emirates Elite Panels of ICC Umpires and ICC Match Referees.

The Spirit of Cricket Award was voted on by all international captains as well as all members of the Emirates Elite Panel of ICC Umpires and Emirates Elite Panel of ICC Match Referees. The Umpire of the Year Award was voted on by the captains and the match referees based on the umpires’ performance statistics.

Tillakaratne Dilshan is yet to win an ICC award but he has a good chance this year as he is named among the nominees for the ICC Cricketer of the Year, Test Player of the Year and the Twenty20 International Performance of the Year.

MS Dhoni is a previous winner at the ICC awards having been named as the ODI Player of the Year in 2008. He was also named in the 2008 ODI Team of the Year. This year he has been nominated in the Cricketer of the Year, Test Player of the Year and ODI Player of the Year categories.

The Emerging Player of the Year nominees include Australia’s new finds Philip Hughes, Ben Hilfenhaus and Peter Siddle as well as the New Zealand duo of Martin Guptill and Jesse Ryder. India is represented in that category through leg-spinner Amit Mishra while there is also a place for Kemar Roach of the West Indies and England seamer Graham Onions.

To qualify for that award a player must be under the age of 26 and have played fewer than five Tests and/or 10 ODIs at the start of the voting period.

The Associate and Affiliate Player of the Year award serves to recognise and reward the efforts in all international matches of the outstanding cricketers from the teams outside the ICC Full Members. This year, Ireland boasts the most number of nominees with seven names on the list. This is followed by the Netherlands with three and Canada with two names while Kenya and Scotland claim one player each.

Based on the period between 13 August 2008 and 24 August 2009, the ICC Awards 2009 – presented in association FICA – will take into account performances by players and officials in a remarkable period for the game.

A Right To Information (RTI) application was filed to know the reasons behind the rejection of the recommendation by the minority affairs ministry, but it has refused to reply.

“We had filed an RTI application to know the reasons for rejecting the recommendation of the Sachar Committee, but the ministry refused to give an answer for not creating Wakf services saying that it does not come under the purview of the RTI Act,” Zafar Mahmood, president of the Zakat Foundation of India, told IANS. The NGO works for issues concerning the Muslim community.

A senior official in the ministry told IANS on condition of anonymity: “The government has rejected it as to create these services is a complicated process. Also, the Wakf Boards across the country are in a pathetic condition.”

According to the Wakf Act of 1995, only an Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer or an officer appointed by Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) can be appointed as CEO of the central and state wakf boards and the officer has to be a Muslim.

However, the Sachar Committee appointed by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to study and prepare a report on the social, economic and educational status of Indian Muslims found that there was an acute dearth of Muslim officers in the country.

The Sachar report said “where a CEO is not high ranking in the hierarchy of the state bureaucracy, the interests of the Wakf board often suffer”.

The committee recommended that in the civil services tests conducted by the UPSC, an examination for the cadre of Indian Wakf Services should also be included and those Muslims candidates who qualify in the examinations be made CEOs of Wakf boards.

Mahmood, who was once an officer on special duty in the Prime Minister’s Office, pointed out that “most of the CEOs of the 27 Wakf boards in the country are promoted officers and not of the appropriate seniority level, which is not in consonance with the Wakf Act”.

Under the concept of Wakf, Muslims adhering to the principles of ‘endowment’ embedded in Islam donate large and valuable amounts of property in the name of Allah. The proceeds from these properties – from their sale, rent or use for the welfare of the community – are dedicated to meeting the needs of the poor and the maintenance of the property.

There are 27 Wakf boards in the country functioning under different state governments. The states of Haryana and Punjab have a joint Wakf board. Apart from these Wakf boards there is a Central Wakf Council which gives direction to them.

India, with 150 million Muslims, has the second largest Muslim population in the world after Indonesia.

Islamabad also sought to revive the Kashmir issue that found no explicit mention in the Sharm el-Sheikh joint statement that came out of the July 16 meeting between Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and his Pakistani counterpart Yousuf Raza Gilani.

The resumption of the sub-continental dialogue would provide a good opportunity to address various issues, including Jammu and Kashmir, Pakistan’s High Commissioner to India Shahid Malik said while addressing senior defence and civilian officers at the National Defence College here.

This, he added, was the essence of lasting and durable peace in South Asia.

Malik averred that Pakistan was “taking resolute action to eliminate terrorism and militancy” and highlighted some of the steps taken by his country in the aftermath of the Nov 26-29, 2008 Mumbai attacks that claimed over 170 lives, including those of 26 foreigners.

“It (terrorism) is a regional issue requiring a regional solution,” he maintained.

Alluding to the Sharm el-Sheikh joint statement, the Pakistani envoy said both sides had acknowledged that “dialogue is the only way forward to discuss all the outstanding issues.”

India is, however, not convinced by Pakistan’s claims of action against the perpetrators of the Mumbai carnage. External Affairs Minister S.M. Krishna has made it clear many a time that a meaningful dialogue will not be possible without concrete action by Islamabad against the Mumbai attackers and the larger anti-India terror infrastructure.

In a message underscoring its increasing exasperation at the lack of credible anti-terror action by Pakistan, New Delhi has put on hold a planned meeting between the Indian and Pakistani foreign secretaries before the foreign ministers of the two countries meet in New York later this month.

Pakistan has invited Indian Foreign Secretary Nirupama Rao to Islamabad, but New Delhi has not responded.

The prime ministers of the two countries had agreed in Sharm el-Sheikh that the foreign secretaries would meet as frequently as possible before External Affairs Minister S.M. Krishna meets his Pakistani counterpart Shah Mehmood Qureshi on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly session in the last week of September.

The Nielsen Upper Middle and Rich (UMAR) survey has ranked Delhi at the top of the chart of 10 most affluent cities based followed by Bengaluru at the second place, Greater Mumbai (3rd), Chennai (4th) and Hyderabad (5th).

The survey has initiated a new method of defining ‘affluence’, based on lifestyle and consumer durables’ ownership of a household rather than monthly income and education.

Three distinct segments of affluence emerged by such lifestyle and consumer durables mapping – upper middle, upper-upper middle and rich and are quite distinct in their consumption habits, the survey said.

The grouping was done based on the ownership of a car, a computer, an LCD, and a holiday abroad, the survey said.

“The primary reason for conducting Nielsen UMAR was to obtain first of all a realistic estimate of this segment, and secondly, to profile their media and consumption habits,” The Nielsen Company Managing Director (South Asia) Partha Rakshit said.

“We have deployed four helicopters for the rescue mission. They include two Chetaks, besides one Mi-8 and one ALH (advanced light helicopter),” an IAF spokesman here said.

Addressing a press conference in Hyderabad, Andhra Pradesh Chief Secretary Ramakant Reddy said the chief minister remains untraced after his helicopter went missing amid bad weather Wednesday morning.

He said the government had not been in touch with the chief minister since 9.45 a.m.

“So far we have not been able to get any confirmation (about the chief minister),” he said.

“It is possible that because of the strong winds and heavy rains, it may have landed in some unfamiliar area,” he said.

“If you land in an unfamiliar forest area, getting out will be very difficult,” he added.

YSR, as the chief minister is known, Wednesday morning took off in the helicopter from Hyderabad. It went off the radar amid inclement weather.

Both were in close touch with the Andhra chief minister’s office and promised all help from the centre.

Six Indian Air Force (IAF) helicopters were despatched in the search mission.

Said Pratibha Mehra, a resident of Vasant Kunj: “Auto drivers demanded anything between Rs 200 and Rs 500 from Nehru Place to my home. After waiting for nearly 40 minutes, I decided to approach the nearby taxi stand. But to my horror, the driver said only one taxi was free at the stand. He asked for Rs 800. I finally took a bus to IIT and got my brother to pick me up from there.”

Same was the case with Avantika Singh, who was first forced to share an auto from New Delhi Railway Station to Ashram with a stranger and then hired a taxi for Rs 500 to go to Faridabad. “I had to reach office and was totally unaware of the strike. I landed from Chandigarh and had no option but to give into their demands,” she said. Through the day, call centres of nearly all the prominent radio taxi operators were busy and people complained of very high waiting times for cabs.

Even though the strike came into effect from Monday morning, auto drivers had slipped into holiday mood from Sunday evening itself. Caught unawares, many passengers, who had to catch flights or trains, had to hire cabs. “My friend had to catch a train to Lucknow. I thought that I will fix an auto for him from a pre-paid booth but it was closed and no autos could be seen. Finally, I had to drop him off to the station,” said Lokesh Chandra, a financial analyst.

Despite its limited reach, Delhi Metro also serviced more commuters. By 8 pm, Delhi Metro had recorded a ridership of 8.04 lakh on the three operational lines, as against about 7.25 lakh commuters recorded last Monday. Regular Metro commuters had a rough time getting to their final destinations from Metro stations as autos were missing.

The passengers of 9W 271, who finally arrived at Delhi’s IGI Airport at 7.15pm, were a tired and irritable lot. “We spent so long sitting at the Zia Airport in Dhaka and it was only after many requests that the airline served us food,” said Ratan Chand, who came to Delhi for some work. “They kept telling us that another aircraft would be coming to take us to Delhi but nobody would say when,” he added.

Shafiq, who was returning home after seven months, said she was really shaken up by the incident. “We were taxiing normally and the pilot had to make a turn to get the aircraft onto the runway. He wasn’t able to make that turn and instead went on straight. The entire aircraft started shaking and stopped only when brakes were applied. Lots of passengers were very angry but no airline official was willing to explain the situation to us,” she said.

Passengers reportedly sat in the aircraft for almost half-an-hour before they were evacuated. Marcos Toviocasal, another passenger, said a ladder was brought to the aircraft to help them deboard. “We were then taken to the departure terminal and a while later some of us were taken to a lounge. The flight finally took off from Dhaka at 5.30pm and landed in Delhi around 7.15pm, delayed by about eight hours,” he said.

In Delhi, anxious relatives spent practically the entire day at the airport as there was no information forthcoming from the airline. Shafiq’s father, Mir Mohammed, a trader from Srinagar, said that initially the arrival time on the flight information display system (FIDS) was noon, which later changed to 12.20pm. “Then it changed to 3.15pm, then to 5.15pm and then 6.10pm. At 6.25pm, they changed it again to 7.10pm which, at 7.10pm, was again changed to 7.35pm,” he said.

Interestingly, when the flight landed around 7.15pm the FIDS made no mention of it at all. And at 7.25pm, it again showed an estimated arrival time of 7.35pm. No official of Jet Airways was around to provide information.

But, cops claim that they have a foolproof plan to rein them in. Recently, the Delhi Traffic Police approached the transport department asking it to issue biometric I-cards to all auto drivers at the time of re-issuing their permits. The I-cards, which are similar to the ones issued to cabs plying at IGI Airport, will record the past prosecution history of the driver, thereby ensuring more effective challaning.

Recently, a meeting was held in which officials from traffic police, transport department and a consultant appointed for the smart cards and biometric cards projects, were present. The officials briefed the consultant about the functions of the card. A software with similar specifications will be prepared and the cards will be issued accordingly. All traffic police officials will be given biometric card readers so that they can read the past history of the driver being prosecuted and also update his records in the future. This will permit the cops to penalise regular offenders with higher fines and even imprisonment.

In all, the traffic police have prosecuted 1,58,136 auto drivers for varied traffic offences upto July 31 this year as against 94,990 for the same time in 2008.

Meanwhile, the biometric cards will be issued after a police verification of the auto driver is done. Said an official: “We have come across auto drivers involves in criminal activities. The cards will make travelling in autos safer as all the drivers would be verified and registered with the police.”

The same experiment with biometric IDs is working well at the airport where only a registered set of cabs is allowed to ply in the area. The police has a record of personal details and also prosecution history of all the cab drivers.

However, unless the traffic police continues its crackdown, nothing will work. A case in point is the All India Institute of Medical Sciences where harassment of commuters by autos is rampant. A sole cop at the pre-paid booth is no match for the unruly drivers. He can barely get the autos to join the pre-paid queue and there is a cat-and-mouse game on everyday.

Public Works Department (PWD) officials admitted that motorists will have to bear the inconvenience till October end when the other two flyovers will be opened for traffic and that the opening of one flyover has only shifted the traffic jam from one spot to the other.

PWD principal chief engineer A K Sinha said that the other two flyovers on this stretch would be opened by October end. “The one covering Benito Juarez Marg and RTR Marg will be operational in the first week of October and the other covering Nelson Mandela Marg and Vivekanand Marg crossings will be completed by end of that month,” Sinha added.

Once completed this nearly 3-km of the 7-km stretch between IIT and the Delhi-Gurgaon expressway would be elevated. Work on all the three flyovers, including the recently opened 800-metre flyover, began in May 2007 and was scheduled for completion in February 2009.

Keeping in mind that opening the flyovers in piecemeal won’t serve the purpose, there was a single deadline for all the three elevated stretches, sources in the department said. Hence, contract for the three flyovers was awarded as one package, sources said.

Traffic police officers said that though the number of vehicles using this stretch has not increased, the congestion has only shifted from one point to another. “The opening of the flyover has eased traffic at Africa Avenue crossingm but those headed towards south Delhi have to stop at one point less now, the next two intersections are still the same for the others,” said Rupinder Kumar, DCP (traffic), southern range.

On Monday, commuters heading towards the airport got stuck in jams running into half an hour. “Driving on the new flyover was very smooth but as soon as I got down, I got stuck in a jam. It took me over 30 minutes just to reach the next crossing as traffic crawled at a snail’s pace,” said Sangeeta Anand, who was heading to the airport.

Non-functional traffic signals and waterlogging at crossings on the Munirka stretch have added to motorists’ woes. PWD officials claimed that work on the Munirka stretch was progressing satisfactorily, but frequent overflow of water from DJB sewer lines has affected the construction of the stormwater drain.

“DJB personnel have been working hard and we hope that they will fix the problem soon,” Sinha said.

Soon after the judgment, Harpreet’s relative Jaswant Singh expressed his displeasure over the outcome. “I cannot believe Harpreet can commit such a heinous crime. His entire life is ruined. He has old parents and now after being held guilty he has no scope of coming out,” he said.

Even as family members of Harpreet and Satyender hinted at moving to High Court against the order, families of the two acquited of rape charges were somewhat happy. Said Puran Singh, a relative of Manish: “He has two kids waiting for him at home and he has spent almost six years in jail during the course of the trial. We will request the judge to show some leniency towards him so that he gets minimum punishment.”

For 65-year-old Mool Singh, father of Kuldeep, the only thing that matters now is that his son gets his job back. “I knew my son could never commit such heinous crime. I did not want my son to be labelled as a rapist and now I am relieved that even the court acquitted him of the charge,” said Singh. “I sold my land and have taken loan to meet expenses during the trial. I am just waiting for a favourable judgment on August 22. Once the sentence is given, we will appeal to his department to take him back so that our life gets back to normal.” Kuldeep’s father had come all the way from Rajasthan for the verdict.

The verdict was pronounced in a packed courtroom with all the four accused standing quietly before the judge waiting for the order.

According to unofficial estimates, the actual number of autos in the city could very well be double the legal limit.

In areas like east Delhi, autos registered in Uttar Pradesh regularly enter the city on the pretext of getting CNG and ferry passengers. There are also instances of more than one auto plying on the same permit or even registration number. Sources claim that several auto owners approach the department with the request that their permit be transferred to a new auto from an old one that they were earlier running. Under the law, a new auto can be registered in the city only when an old one is surrendered. But what happens in actual practice is that both vehicles continue to ply with the connivance of transport department staff.

The chances of such an offence getting detected are almost nil, even in the event of the auto getting caught for some offence. The reason for this is that the permit documents will still be available for both vehicles, even though one of them is invalid. Officials say that autos have also been caught with fake numberplates in the recent past.

Another blatant violation is that the drivers of autos are not the real owners of the vehicles, which is not permitted by law. “The driver and owners of autos need to be the same,” said transport minister Arvinder Singh Lovely, even as estimates suggest that over 90 percent auto drivers in the city don’t own the vehicles and benami autos operate freely.

With the way the system works, an average driver takes home about Rs 500-600 per day after paying rentals (Rs 300-350 per day) and cost of fuel (Rs 70-80/day). Most drivers don’t even have driving licences, leave aside valid permits in their name. And over the years, the transport department records have become so outdated that the real owners can’t be traced.

Exploiting the loopholes in the system are the financiers, who reportedly give loans to auto drivers wanting to replace their vehicles, but even after the loans have been repaid, refuse to transfer the vehicle in the name of the owner. The owner, then becomes a driver of his own vehicle.

The transport department says they are updating their records to bring about more accountability and step up prosecution. “Every owner of an auto and permit holder now has to come to the authority and update records for their vehicles. Biometric details of these individuals are being taken so that their identity can’t be fudged. This is what has led to the protests,” said a senior transport department official.

In Buddha Jayanti park rape case, a valid statement was given by the victim without any contradictions. In the chargesheet filed on November 22, 2003, the police had recorded the statement of the rape victim and the medical reports mentioned in the chargesheet corroborated the offence of the accused.

Yet the case was dragged for six years before it saw its conclusion, largely because of a cumbersome judicial process and frequent adjournments in the case. In six years, the case faced lots of hurdles, some inevitable and some deliberate, which led to a protracted trial. Despite the victim’s statement, the completion of cross-examination of the girl by the defence took almost seven months.

In 2005, the documents related to the case mysteriously went missing from the court’s records, which delayed the matter for another six months as the prosecution had to reconstruct the missing evidence.

In February 2008, the case was delayed by another six months after additional sessions judge S P Garg, who was hearing the case, transferred to the Tis Hazari Court from the Patiala House district courts. Till August 2008, the case literally got stuck with dates. For six months the hearing did not move an inch in 14 hearings as the counsels for the four accused managed to get the proceedings adjourned by making them unavailable for the hearing. Even the court records had no valid reason of their absence.

The verdict, which was reserved for July 30, was finally delivered on Monday after being deferred for three times.

According to police, the incident took place around 10.45pm at the A-block house in Vivek Vihar in east Delhi, and a case of dacoity has been registered. However, no one has been arrested so far, police said.

Police said the guests were seated for dinner when five masked assailants barged into the house. “The robbers first told all members present in the house to assemble at one place, and threatened to shoot if anyone dared to disobey their orders. They then asked the women to hand over their jewellery and locked them inside the kitchen. The robbers hit two persons when they offered resistance. After taking the keys of the almirah from the owner, the robbers ransacked the house and walked away coolly with the booty,” said an investigating officer.

The victims managed to free themselves and called police. “We are investigating the case, and will record the victims’ statements. We are not ruling out professional rivalry as of now. Local criminal elements will be questioned and their movements monitored,” said a senior police officer.

Joint commissioner (New Delhi range) Dharmendra Kumar said police were expecting a breakthrough soon.

The case comes even as the city seems to be recovering from its swine flu panic. According to sources in RML, the man had come with symptoms of H1N1 like fever, sore throat and breathlessness. He was put on treatment immediately, with his test results coming positive. “The patient had been responding well to treatment when suddenly, his condition deteriorated on the morning of August 15. He developed complications and had to be put on the ventilator,” added Dr Chaturvedi. According to the MS, the patient has no known history of travelling to infected countries or contact with an H1N1 case.

For the city though, Monday proved to be a comparatively quiet day with only six new cases of H1N1 being reported in Delhi. All six positive cases are indigenous, added Dr Anjan Prakash, additional nodal officer of the state health department. “The two children are in home quarantine,” added Dr Prakash. The dwindling numbers were reported from other hospitals as well, with RML reporting a substantial drop in the number of people coming in for screening and testing. The total number of positive cases in Delhi is now 360.

The government had last week decided to allow H1N1 testing by private laboratories as well. The pressure had gone up on government testing labs, with hundreds of samples being sent for testing at the peak of the swine flu scare. Long queues at the government labs were causing test results to get delayed by hours, and at times even days. That the numbers were overwhelming is apparent from the fact that till last week, the number of samples coming from Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital alone had gone over a hundred every day.

Sources claimed that a tentative list of private laboratories had already been drawn up, with Dr Lal Pathlabs, Dr Dang labs, SRL and Quest labs featuring on the list. Said a senior government official, “These labs will be allowed to conduct tests as per WHO/CDC norms, which the government testing centres have also been following. It will enable those who want to get the test done without coming to government hospital for screening.” The move is also expected to take the pressure off the government labs.

Delhi government is also planning to take its directive to private hospitals to reserve 10 beds for H1N1 patients a step further, with a public notice expected to come out on Tuesday. The notice, said sources, will have a list of hospitals that would have H1N1 facilities. The health department will also have a trial run of its dedicated helpline for Delhi on Tuesday. The helpline, manned by interns from Maulana Azad Medical College, will be up and running from Wednesday, added government sources.

“Facilities, amenities and services meant for them whether they are living in rural or urban areas can be delivered smoothly only if there is an effective governance system that is less cumbersome but more transparent and accountable,” said Patil.

She added that with more awareness people are growing more conscious of their rights and efforts should be made that welfare schemes impact the lives of people.

She assured that government was taking adequate steps to control H1N1 virus and requested for citizen cooperation in regard to prevailing Swine Flu and the drought. Patil also stressed that flagship programmes were focused on a wide range from health, education to different social and economic aspects. She also hoped that the nation would work together to face the economic meltdown.

The President emphasized on the importance of including the ‘have not’s’ in the mainstream.

“There are the weaker and the vulnerable sections of society who are not full partners in the growth and development process and remain on the sidelines. These sections of society need to be drawn into the national mainstream. They need to be given access to education, health and skill-building – the tools of empowerment,” she said.

She added that the country should progress using its inherent unity and harmony to maintain equality, secularism and fight terrorism.

“Let us prove that we can be united as human beings and not divided. Let fight against violence and extremism and be an important part of promoting peace and harmony,” she said.

India celebrates its Independence day this year amid the growing scare of Swine Flu along with the worst drought it has seen in decades, apart from the financial crises and the growing security concerns. And the Prime Minister delivered his fifth Independence day speech focusing on these problems.

Promising the farmers government’s assistance to stay afloat during the drought, Dr Singh also assured that the government has stepped up efforts to control surging prices.

He said that the Indian economy will recover by the end of 2009, stating that Indian economy and growth rate was better when compared with other countries due to ‘our polices’.

He also assured the people that the country was well equipped to deal with the Swine flu and told the people not to panic.

The terror threats from various internal and external sources that may have cast a shadow on the Independence day celebrations but the Prime Minister told his people that India will not tolerate terror. He also said that the government is taking steps to step up intelligence in a bid to improve preparedness and to tackle terror.

Using the technology around local train commuters, can purchase ticket from touch screen ATVMs, which also accepts notes. Everyday more than three lakh passengers use local train services throughout the country.

Till now Mumbai has commuters have received seven lakh smart cards and 300 machines have been installed in the city. At present the Smart Cards purchased in a city is only valid for that particular place but soon the same card can be used in ATVMs throughout the country.

The project expected to begin in Sep 2009 would produce approximately 6.5 lakhs in a year.

The solution producing the ATVMs each worth Rs 1.5 lakh took 18 months to develop in a collaboration with the local ecosystem of Reader, KIOSK, Smart Card Suppliers and so on.

The Railway Ministry demonstrated the first solution in Aug 2007. In Oct 2007, the Railways issued five lakh Smart Cards for the Mumbai Suburban and Chennai Railway Networks.

“India is topping the charts in eradication of the P-1 virus among the four countries – India, Nigeria, Afghanistan and Pakistan – still infected with the deadly virus in the world. We expect that the P-1 strain in India will be eradicated by the end of 2009,” Hamid Jafari, head of WHO’s National Polio Surveillance Project, told IANS.

He was speaking after the launch of a week-long polio immunization programme here that also saw US Charge d’Affaires Peter Burleigh administer polio drops to a small child.

There are two strains of the polio virus – P-1 and the milder P-3. WHO says it is in the final stages of eradicating the P-1 strain, of which fewer cases are being reported every year.

“In 2006, there were 648 cases of P-1 which reduced to 83 in 2007, which was quite a drastic fall. In 2008, only 75 cases of P-1 were reported while as of now (in 2009) 16 cases of P-1 have been reported across India,” Jafari said.

Shamila Sharma, WHO’s public information and advocacy officer, explained this from a slightly different perspective.

“In the case of P-1, complete paralysis occurs in one out of every 200 cases. In the case of the P-3 virus, paralysis occurs in one in every 1,000 cases. Then, P-1 is far reaching, in that it can travel over long distances to different countries, whereas P-3 is not so far reaching as it is a localised virus.

“Hence, the focus is on eradicating the P-1 strain and alongside, suppressing the P-3 strain,” Sharma added.

Emphasising the need to focus on states still reporting polio cases, Jafari said: “In India polio has been eradicated from all states except Uttar Pradesh and Bihar. Western Uttar Pradesh remains the epicenter of new cases. We have also identified 72 high risk blocks in Central Bihar around the banks of the Kosi and are reaching out to them,” Jafari added.

For one-and-a-half years from 2007, no cases of the P-1 strain were reported in Uttar Pradesh. The virus resurfaced at the end of 2008 due to endemic migration from Bihar, Sharma pointed out.

Speaking about his involvement in the polio eradication initiative, Burleigh said: “The message that I have for Indian parents is that it is your responsibility to make the child’s future. So, every parent should make it a point that their kids are vaccinated against this disease.”

According to Altaf Lal, the health attache at the US embassy, India was well on its way to eradicating the P-1 polio strain.

“It requires team effort, patience and time. It’s just that we had to deal with a difficult terrain in central Bihar but we’ve overcome that and are reaching out to the people. That’s the reason we’ve reached the last stage of the project,” Lal added

The United States is one of the largest supporters of polio eradication efforts in India and has provided over $170 million dollars in the past 10 years through WHO.

In an interview on CNN-IBN’s “Devil’s Advocate” programme, Yechury said: “Of course, the results show that we lost touch (with the ground reality). It is a big debacle.”

When asked if party general secretary Prakash Karat would resign owning up the defeat, Yechury only said: “Resignation is an escape from responsibility. We will collectively assess (the reasons for the debacle).”

He agreed: “The top leadership will have to take up a leadership role.”

“A serious, honest, self-critical review of all the issues will be done,” he said, adding that the issue of alleged leadership failure “would also be discussed”.

“The process has already begun and by middle of June we will come to a conclusion,” he said.

“You cannot escape the reality that this is a big debacle for the party. This is the first time in the last two decades that a secular government is being formed without the role of the CPI-M,” he said.

The CPI-M’s Lok Sabha tally slipped to just 16 from 43 in 2004.

A bench of Justice D.K. Jain and Justice B.S. Reddy had May 4 issued notice to the Chhattisgarh government on Sen’s bail plea.

While seeking its reply, the bench had also ordered the state government to provide him the “best possible medical aid” for the heart ailment he has been suffering from.

A vacation bench of Justice Markandey Katju and Justice Deepak Verma Friday slated Sen’s bail plea for hearing Monday after former law minister Shanti Bhushan, appearing for Sen, reminded the bench that despite the notice being issued on the matter, the apex court was yet to slate his plea for hearing.

The senior counsel also pleaded to the court to accord an urgent hearing to Sen’s plea in view of his precarious health condition.

The state government has booked Sen, the vice president of People’s Union for Civil Liberties (PUCL) under the stringent anti-terror law, Unlawful Activities Prevention Act, for his alleged links with Maoists.

He was arrested May 14, 2007 and accused of acting as a courier for an alleged Maoist lodged in jail.

On May 4, former law minister Ram Jethmalani, appearing for Sen, had sought bail for him pleading that “the case against him has already been demolished in the trial court as all the material witnesses in the case have been examined,” and none of them have deposed against him.

Jethmalani had contended that despite the case against Sen having been demolished, the Chhattisgarh High Court was not entertaining his bail plea.

Apprising the bench of Sen’s medical condition, he had pleaded to the court to shift him to Christian Medical College in Vellore for treatment of his heart ailment, pending the apex court’s decision on his bail plea.

The court, however, had asked the state government to provide Sen the best possible treatment.

–Indo-Asian news Service

“This is pure speculation,” Ghulam Nabi Azad, union minister and Congress general secretary in charge of Tamil Nadu, told reporters in the national capital when asked about reported differences between Congress and the DMK.

“DMK is our pre-poll ally and it is definitely an important partner of the Congress in government formation,” he said, adding that the DMK was holding discussions with its party members. He was hopeful that they would join the government soon.

Azad didn’t speak on the offer made by the Congress party to mollify the DMK, which has 18 seats in the Lok Sabha.

Around noon Saturday, Karunanidhi issued a statement in Chennai, saying that the party’s high level committee would hold further discussions before responding to the offer made by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.

The statement did not mention any time frame by which the decision would be taken.

Karunanidhi said a few television channels deliberately conducted false propaganda against some DMK ministers in the previous government and thanked the prime minister for clearing the issue and refuting the allegations Friday.

It was reported that the prime minister had serious reservations on having Baalu and Raja back in his new cabinet apart from offering lower number of ministerial berths.

The DMK Thursday declared it would offer outside support to the UPA government as it was not making any headway in the negotiations with the Congress. A DMK MP told IANS that the issue was on number and not about people.

According to sources in the Congress, the DMK was seeking nine ministerial berths – five cabinet rank and four ministers of state (MoS). But the Congress, the sources said, was not ready to give more than three cabinet rank positions and four MoS posts.

Karunanidhi, his eldest son M.K. Azhagiri and other senior DMK leaders like T.R. Baalu and Arcot Veeraswami had Friday returned from New Delhi to Chennai after inconclusive talks over ministerial berths to their party.

Once the official function was over, Sonia Gandhi and Rahul walked together, his hand on her shoulder, as they approached the ante-room where refreshments were served. By that time President Pratibha Patil and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had already taken their seats.

Priyanka, accompanied by her husband Robert Vadra, who was just a few steps away, immediately caught up and looking purposefully in her mother’s eye gave her a hug and planted a kiss on her cheek. The three then smiled at each other – a recognition that this was their moment that they wanted to savour.

It was a relaxed Sonia Gandhi who laughed gregariously, greeted ministers and bureaucrats alike warmly and did not shy away from taking any questions from the media.

“Everything will be Ok,” she said smilingly when a scribe asked her on relations with the key ally, the DMK.

On one occasion she even poked fun at Rahul, when someone asked her whether there was a future roadmap for the Congress. “Ask him,” pointing to her 38-year-old son, “He should be knowing.” Pat came the reply. “Why are you passing questions to me? That’s not fair,” said Rahul Gandhi.

But even as they joked, assured in the knowledge that it was the Congress-led alliance that would be in power for the next five years, there was a festive air all around.

Rashtriya Janata Dal chief Lalu Prasad, who chose to be in the vicinity of the Gandhi family, was exchanging pleasantries and did not look forlorn. Even Lok Janshakti Party leader Ram Vilas Paswan looked at ease.

When Priyanka, dressed in a striking purple sari, passed by, Lalu Prasad broke away from a small gathering and told her: “Badhaiyan (congratulations), Priyankaji, badhaiyan.” And she responded by giving a toothy smile.

Rahul Gandhi, who was clearly the cynosure of all eyes, and whom everyone wanted to shake hands with or pass on their visiting cards to, considering the pivotal role he played in the party’s stupendous electoral performance, was enjoying the snacks.

He turned the other way around when anyone asked him whether he is taking over as minister.

But he was more forthcoming when asked what his role would be now that the Congress party had won and government formation was half-done.

“Elections come and go. My first job is to strengthen the Congress party,” he said.

As the 19 cabinet ministers trooped into Ashoka Hall, they gave bear hugs to their friends, milled around and some even guffawed.

S. Jaipal Reddy was at his convivial best while Anand Sharma, who is a strong contender for the information and broadcasting ministry portfolio, spent adequate time with the press corps.

However, the spectacle of former home minister Shivraj Patil standing alone in a corner of the huge hall in his trademark white bandhgala was not such a happy sight.

“They are our valued colleagues. They will come back,” Manmohan Singh told reporters confidently, ahead of an expansion of his cabinet next week.

Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M. Karunanidhi, his eldest son M.K. Azhagiri and other senior DMK leaders like T.R. Baalu and Arcot Veeraswami had returned from New Delhi to Chennai after inconclusive talks over ministerial berths to their party.

But they instructed party MPs to stay back in New Delhi and attend the swearing-in ceremony. Former minister A. Raja of the DMK was present at the Rashtrapati Bhawan Friday evening as Prime Minister Manmohan Singh along with 19 cabinet colleagues took oath of office.

Karunanidhi left for Chennai Friday morning, saying the DMK would give only outside support to the Congress-led government.

“We will give outside support to the central government as the formula given by the Congress has to be discussed at the party’s executive council meeting,” DMK chief Karunanidhi told reporters at Delhi airport before leaving.

However, the Congress continued to be a “friend”, said Baalu who left the national capital to reach Chennai early in the morning after talks between the two failed Thursday night.

“The Congress is a friend and the DMK MPs will attend the swearing-in ceremony of the Manmohan Singh government in Delhi Friday evening,” he said at Chennai airport.

The DMK, it was learnt, was seeking nine ministerial berths – five cabinet-rank and four ministers of state (MoS). But the Congress, sources said, was not ready to give more than three cabinet-rank positions and four MoS posts.

Asked if the DMK’s wishes would be granted, Congress spokesperson Janardhan Dwivedi told reporters in New Delhi: “There is a solution to every problem.”

He denied speculation that the Congress objected to accommodating former ministers Baalu and Raja in the ministry and said: “We have nothing to do with individuals. It is the party’s (DMK) prerogative to choose its representatives.”

The negotiations were still on, a Congress leader told IANS.

Congress sources said the party would send its general secretary Ghulam Nabi Azad to Chennai to mollify the DMK, which has contributed 18 seats to the United Progressive Alliance’s (UPA) kitty of 322 – including outside support from the Samajwadi Party (SP), Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) and the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD).

Congress spokesperson Nedurumalli Janardhana Reddy said in Chennai Thursday evening: “Whatever we proposed, they did not accept and wanted more. So they said they will support from outside, but it does not mean that dialogue with them is over. We are still discussing with them.”

Thursday night’s talks included senior Congress leaders like Pranab Mukherjee and Ghulam Nabi Azad. Karunanidhi led the DMK team, assisted by Baalu, Veeraswamy, Dayanidhi Maran and others.

There had been a similar deadlock in 2004, when within 48 hours of the UPA ministry being sworn in, the DMK threatened to pull out its nominees on the ground that the promised portfolios were not allotted to its members.

Krishna told a television news channel that “it was an unexpected call” for him as he was asked to be present for the swearing-in ceremony Friday evening at the Rashtrapati Bhavan.

Former Karnataka chief minister Krishna, however, denied the suggestion that he was being rewarded for his “loyalty” to the Gandhi family.

Referring to his successful electoral battles in his home state, Krishna said: “I have established my own identity and significance in Karnataka politics and this has been taken into account for my induction in the cabinet.”

Refusing to confirm or deny the speculation that he might be given the external affairs portfolio, Krishna said he would work with whichever ministry “the prime minister allocates” him.

The science student, who was expecting just 85 percent, can’t contain his happiness. He sought the blessings of his teachers in Delhi Public School (DPS) R.K. Puram in south Delhi after the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) Friday declared the Class 12 results for Delhi, Guwahati and Allahabad.

Disbelief was written on his father A.S. Bhati’s face when he saw the result.

“I am delighted. I never expected him to do so well. My wife and I were expecting an 80 percent but his score is beyond my imagination,” Bhati told IANS.

Dhruv’s mother was equally overjoyed. “She is dancing around the house,” he added.

While both Dhruv and his father had huge smiles on their faces, there were some who shed a few tears and wore a frown as they saw the school bulletin board to find out how they had fared.

A few anxious students roamed the corridor of the school – looking dejected.

Although, 17-year-old Pranshu Paul, a commerce student, was happy with his overall result, he believes there is some discrepancy in his English score.

“I am extremely happy with my aggregate but my English score was a bit disappointing. I expected over 80 percent but I scored 73 percent. Even my friends are disappointed with their English score. We will send it for re-evaluation,” said Paul.

The school principal Shyama Chona said the overall result has been overwhelming.

“In spite of two failures, we managed to surpass our previous records and I am extremely happy,” Chona told IANS.

She said Subhashish Bhadra, a science student, is the Delhi region topper with 98 percent.

“Out of 946 students who appeared for the exams, 35 percent of students have scored over 90 percent marks,” the principal said.

But if DPS was buzzing with excitement, there were many in other schools who expressed disappointment and disbelief at their results.

One of them was Nakul Vohra, who plans to seek re-evaluation.

A student of Banyan Tree, he was hoping to get above 90 percent, but did not.

“I am shocked that I have just scored 80 percent. I don’t know how I have got such low marks. Once I get the mark sheet, I am planning to send it for re-evaluation,” he said.

Sakshi Handa, a Bal Bharati School student, is also unhappy.

“I expected a minimum of 90 but I don’t know what happened. I am not at all happy with my score,” said Handa, who scored 85 percent.

But among those who plan to party after the tension is Roma Chavra, a Bal Bharti School student. She scored 89 percent in commerce and she said she would have a grand bash in the evening with her friends and family.

“I am going to celebrate and forget the tension about admissions to a good college,” Chavra said.

But for Anubhuti Sinha, it was the gift her parents had promised her that made her jump in joy.

“My mother didn’t expect me to do so well but I am glad I proved her wrong. My father had promised me a dog if I score over 90 percent. I have got 91 percent,” said the humanities student.

“I am so happy. I am going to get a dog and I did so well,” she added.

“We call the photo identity cards the EPIC (Electoral Photo Identity Card) cards.

The elections is of epic proportions.

” Talking about the complexities involved in conducting the exercise, Chawla said the “mammoth exercise” contained mind-boggling statistics. Complementing the Commission for smooth conduct of elections both Lok Sabha and assembly, Menon said there was no other institution like Election Commission which has played such an important role in nation building.

An unidentified man was knocked down by an unknown vehicle at Shalimar Bagh early on Monday. The police have registered a case and are trying to establish the identity of the victim.

In another accident, Rahul (22) was killed when a truck hit his motorcycle at Najafgarh here around 10:15 a.m. on Monday. He was on his way home in Dwarka after attending tuition classes when the accident took place. A hunt has been launched for the truck driver, who is absconding.

On Sunday afternoon, Manish (22) was killed and his uncle and aunt injured when their car hit a tree in Bawana.

“He (Azam Khan) is like my elder brother. But he is sullying my image by involving in cheap campaigning against me. His action is an insult to women,” the actress-turned politician told CNN-IBN channel.

Jaya Prada alleged, “they (Khan and supporters) have released my CDs and posters just to scandalise my image“. “I am yet to see the content of the CDs but the posters released by them are very bad in taste, damaging my reputation. I am approaching the EC to check this sort of campaigning,” she said. “This is not good. They want to demoralise woman’s pride”, she added. PTI

The meeting, convened at the Delhi Secretariat, was attended among others by Indian Olympic Association chairperson Suresh Kalmadi and Delhi’s Chief Secretary Rakesh Mehta.

The progress on the works related to roads, Delhi airport, residential areas, entertainment facilities, transport, infrastructure, parking, information centre, security and health facilities was discussed.The officials said the scale of the Games would be much larger than the Asiad-1951 and 1982. It was also mentioned that the Delhi Government should speed up work on hospitality and development of tourism areas.

The meeting was informed that Thyagaraj Stadium and National Stadium would be complete by September 30 this year, Talkatora Stadium by October 31, and all the other stadiums by December 31.

EFG media coordinator Ratan Lal and the national convener of its “Respect Your Vote” campaign, Uttam Prakash, said the voting percentage this year reached a new high as far as parliamentary elections are concerned.

“Given the fact that this time the number of voters was 110.95 lakh compared with 87.63 lakh in the 2004 elections, there is a significant jump in the numbers of citizens opting to make a difference,” Mr. Lal said.

“We feel that our model of people-to-people contact has worked satisfactorily,” said Mr. Prakash, noting that they would expand and deepen the footprint of the “Respect Your Vote” campaign in future. EFG ran a month-long campaign along with RWAs in various parks urging people to come out and vote.

The police had lodged the case on a complaint by Rajo, sister of the deceased. She claimed in her complaint that she was on the spot where her sister was killed. Both sisters were married to real brothers, Jai Praksh and Balbir.

However, Rajo was about one week late in lodging the complaint, claiming that “she was not keeping well”. She had left her matrimonial home for her parental house on the day of the tragedy.

Justice Pradeep Nandrajog acquitted the four accused on the ground of contradictions in Rajo’s evidence and the failure of the investigating agency to probe the case rigorously.

“A complaint has been filed that the uniforms were purchased during Vijender Gupta’s tenure,” Mr. Sharma said.

According to Mr. Sharma, instead of paying Rs.54 per metre for the cloth, which is the approved price, the civic body paid Rs.79.

“Accordingly the civic body has made a payment of Rs.5 crore to the Khadi Gram Udyog and Rs.15 crore to the National Textile Corporation,” he added.

He further claimed that National Textile Corporation did not make the uniform itself but outsourced it in violation of the contract terms.

Reacting to the uproar from Congress councillors who disrupted the meeting for an hour by shouting slogans against the BJP councillors, Municipal Commissioner K.S. Mehra said the facts of the matter would be investigated and placed before the next standing committee meeting.

While trying to pacify the Congress councillors, Mr. Singhal said: “We are not shying away from a debate on the matter as we are also against public money being squandered away, but we will decide the future course of action only after the facts are examined and presented by the Municipal Commissioner at the next meeting.”

According to the proposal which was tabled at the MCD Standing Committee meeting on Monday, the civic body would be zeroing in on a concessionaire that would be 1,389 square yards land to design, construct, maintain and operate the commercial centre on a lease basis for 30 years before transferring it back to the civic body.

An MCD official said: “As the model code of conduct is in place, we have not been able to clear the proposal yet but it will be given the green signal soon. We have a number of vacant plots which can be used commercially yet we haven’t been able to do so. However, Novelty Cinema is a step in that direction.”

It was earlier decided to convert the cinema, which has been lying vacant for nine years now, into a multiplex but the MCD has now come up with the idea of converting it into a mall selling spices. “The area where the cinema is located has a number of markets that sell various kinds of spices. The concept of having a mall dedicated to selling spices is new and it might be a lucrative business. We are still working on the concept,” added the official.

The civic body has kept the minimum reserve price of the land at Rs.5 crore. The company, which takes it over, would be able to earn revenue through advertising and carrying out commercial activities within the complex.

Comparing itself with cities like London and Singapore, where the rate of accidents per million man hours is 0.32 and 1.1 respectively, DMRC said its rate of 0.4 for Phase II should dispel notions of negligence by the company.

The defence comes in the wake of Sunday’s mishap where a family had a miraculous escape after their car was damaged by a crane being used for metro work.

Reacting to criticism that it had been following a flawed process of selecting contractors, DMRC spokesperson Anuj Dayal said: “The DMRC follows a stringent selection procedure. We have a pre-qualifying selection whereby we call for bids only from those contractors who are technically qualified as per the stringent standards laid down for the type of construction required for the metro.”

“Financial bids are also called from only these technically qualified parties. Safety and quality are also part of the technical requirements of DMRC on the basis of which parties are initially short-listed,” he added.

Our safety manual, he said, was being used by several departments. “These documents were prepared with the help of international experts and reflect the best available practices anywhere in the world. The DMRC’s safety assurance system is very robust and comparable to any international contract.” Referring to the latest accident, he said a report would soon be presented listing details of what caused it.

The re-poll will take place on May 13

Involved officials recommended for suspension

NEW DELHI: The Election Commission has ordered re-polling at two polling stations, 12 and 13, in the Kasturba Nagar Assembly segment of the New Delhi Lok Sabha constituency. The re-poll will take place on May 13.

The re-poll was ordered after an enquiry revealed that 91 voters of polling station 12 and 141 voters of polling station 13 had cast their votes while their names had been deleted from the electoral rolls. There are 715 electors at these two polling stations.

A release issued by the Office of the Chief Electoral Officer of Delhi said the re-poll was ordered after the report of the Returning Officer of the New Delhi parliamentary constituency indicated serious irregularities in the register of voters (Form 17A). Apart from this, a senior level officer in the CEO’s office is looking into the matter, it said. Delhi’s Chief Electoral Officer Satbir Silas Bedi said all the officials who were involved in the episode would be dealt with seriously.

The officials involved have been recommended for suspension and the people involved in bogus voting might be arrested.

Earlier, Delhi Government’s lower division clerk Bhupesh Chaudhary, a lower division clerk and posted at the Sadar Bazar Assembly segment, was suspended under Sub-Rule (1) Rule 10 of the Central Civil Services (Classification, Control and Appeal) Rules, 1965, for supporting a political party while on election duty.

The counting of votes for the seven Lok Sabha seats from the Capital will take place this Saturday, May 16, from 8 a.m.

Stating that purchasing flats for the Games was the only viable option left before it, the DDA in a statement said it would buy up 333 flats for about Rs.700 crore at a price of Rs.11,000 per square foot, which is much below the rate being charged now by Emaar MGF from open market buyers.

The money for the purchase of these flats will be released in instalments and has been linked to various stages of completion of the flats.

With recession resulting in non-sale of flats, Emaar MGF had approached the DDA for a loan of Rs.1,000 crore. The issue was examined in detail at various levels. Considering all aspects, especially timely completion of the flats, it was felt that purchase was the best option, said DDA spokesperson Neemo Dhar.

For the purpose of arriving at the cost at which the Authority should purchase the flats, a committee comprising experts from various agencies involved in construction like the Central Public Works Department, the Housing and Urban Development Corporation, the National Buildings Construction Corporation and the DDA was formed. The recommendations of the committee were considered and finally the decision to purchase 333 flats at Rs.11,000 per sq ft was taken, the spokesperson added.

The DDA said that at no point of time had it decided to give a loan to Emaar MGF. However, in the interest of speedy completion of the project, making one ad hoc payment of Rs.100 crore, to be adjusted against the price of the flats till the price is fixed by the expert committee, was considered by it.

“The DDA is committed to completing the project on time and therefore this facility has been extended as a special case after considering all aspects, time constraints and the national importance of the project,” said Ms. Dhar.

Welcoming the DDA’s decision to invest in the Games Village, Emaar MGF spokesperson described it as a very positive development, signifying the national importance of the project. “This move, effectively, is a firm step in ensuring completion of the prestigious Games Village, a crucial component of the 2010 Commonwealth Games. We are committed to timely delivery of the Games Village, meeting all the stipulated quality and technical specifications,” the spokesperson added.

The awareness programme conducted by Road Safety Cell Assistant Commissioner of Police Rajinder Singh and Assistant Commissioner of Police (Traffic, East District) Jagtar Singh drew attention to the growing number of accidents on the Capital’s roads.

The workshop was attended by 200 drivers recruited by the DTC for driving the fleet’s new low-floor buses.

Dispelling myths that speeding helps drivers save time, the trainers drove home the need for adhering to safety measures, emergency precautions and the necessity of cautious driving. Videos about road safety precautions were shown by the Traffic Department team while a team from Tata Motors focused on emergency safety precautions through their audio-video tapes.

Briefing drivers about the impact of careless driving, the trainers said nearly 2,000 people are killed in Delhi every year in road accidents. The menace of careless driving is compounded by the fact that Delhi has about 60 lakh vehicles.

Pointing out that 95 per cent of the accidents are caused by careless driving habits, the Traffic Department said one person dies every six minutes in a road accident in this country.

Smriti Kak Ramachandran

Burning calories for a cause

Bollywood hunk John Abraham was in the Capital over the weekend urging Delhiites to work out with him in order to burn calories for a noble cause.

Taking time off his busy acting schedule, John talked, smiled, jumped, flexed his bulging biceps and even screamed his lungs out. He had the crowd literally jumping on its feet as the young, middle-aged and even elderly folks cavorted and the calories they burnt were highlighted on a gigantic screen. The actor urged reluctant participants to head for their local gyms.

“I have been coming to Delhi since my modelling days. By the grace of God I am before you again. Now you have to be sporting enough to burn calories with me. Those who haven’t jumped should go to the gym,” said John with his characteristic smile.

“Delhi,” John added, “is a special place. It is known for its beautiful girls and tough boys.” Those words acted like magic for the youngsters who started jumping with unbridled joy.

In the end, the grand total of calories burnt by John and the crowd boiled down to more than 200,000! The soft drink company that organised the event announced that it would hand over a cheque for an amount commensurate to the calories burnt to a non-government organisation.

Madhur Tankha

JNU through the lens

“Life in JNU”, a photo exhibition focusing on students’ engagement with Jawaharlal Nehru University through photographs, concluded over the weekend. The JNU Photography Club in association with the Foreign Students’ Association had organised the event.

The three-day exhibition started on May Day showcasing photographs taken by the students, depicting life inside the JNU campus. A total of 180 photographs taken by 19 photographers were put up for exhibition as well as for sale.

“The response was overwhelming,” said Sreedeep, a photo enthusiast and part of the organising team. “We didn’t expect such a large number of people to turn up because of the summer vacation, but students as well as professors showed a lot of interest. We plan to organise it annually from this year,” he added.

There seemed no constraints on creativity or artistic expression with photographic content portraying a range of subjects including dhabas, Holi celebrations, protests, construction sites, the morning and evening JNU landscape or even a solitary paper cup.

Staff Reporter

A bench of Chief Justice K.G. Balakrishnan is to hear a bunch of lawsuits on the issue, including the latest one filed by Varun Gandhi Wednesday.

In his latest petition, Varun Gandhi, the BJP candidate from the Pilibhit constituency, demanded a compensation of Rs.1 million for his detention for over a fortnight after he was arrested and the NSA charges were applied March 28.

Appearing for the young leader before the bench, former additional solicitor general Mukul Rohtagi also sought the court’s direction to the state government to abide by the state advisory board’s direction to scrap the invocation of the security law against his client.

Citing an apex court ruling, Rohtagi told the bench, which also included Justice P. Sathasivam and Justice Deepak Verma, that the advisory board’s finding on the legality of invocation of NSA against an individual is final and the state government must abide by it.

Rohtagi pleaded to the apex court to dismiss the state government’s lawsuit challenging the advisory board’s order.

He told the court that he would file another lawsuit on behalf of Varun Gandhi by the evening and pleaded to the court to hear it along with other lawsuits on the issue.

The bench allowed him to file the lawsuit and assured him that it would be heard Thursday.

Varun Gandhi’s parole granted by the apex court expires Thursday and his original lawsuit challenging his detention under the NSA and invocation of the security law against him was slated for hearing Thursday.

Varun Gandhi, grandson of late prime minister Indira Gandhi, faced controversy after his reported remarks against the Muslim community during election rallies.

The election campaign was the bitterest ever, with senior politicians abusing each other and old allies parting ways. But now as major parties take stock of the political situation they realise that their options for winning power are limited.

CONGRESS PLAN TO POWER

“The UPA (United Progressive Alliance) government will be formed. I have no doubt about it,” said Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Monday. But he also said: “At worst the Congress will emerge as the single largest party.”

In a situation where the Congress emerges as the single largest party but falls short of the magic figure of 271 seats in Parliament, the party will have to woo new allies and mollify old partners who refused to support it in elections.

The Congress may have to bring back Samajwadi Party leader Mulayam Singh Yadav, Rashtriya Janata Dal leader Lalu Prasad and Lok Janashakti Party leader Ram Vilas Paswan.

Lalu and Paswan, who refused to share seats with the Congress in Bihar, on Monday said they were “solidly” behind UPA.

But the Hindi heartland leaders will not be enough for the Congress and the party may have to seek support of AIADMK chief J Jayalalithaa in Tamil Nadu. That would be a tough decision to make, as the Congress would have to dump the DMK to get Jayalalithaa’s support. Congress president Sonia Gandhi on Sunday called DMK chief M Karunanidhi UPA’s people of strength.

The Congress’ biggest challenge would be to court the Left Front for support again, almost a year after the Communist parties withdrew support to the Manmohan Singh government.

The Left parties had ruled out supporting the Congress again but now seemed to have softened their stand. The Congress is not an “untouchable” party, says West Bengal Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee, a senior leader of the Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M).

THE BJP’s OPTIONS

The Bharatiya Janata Party-led National Democratic Alliance, too, is searching for alliance. Sources tell CNN-IBN party leaders L K Advani and Narendra Modi are in touch with Jayalalithaa.

Efforts are also being made to get the support of UP Chief Minister Mayawati, the Bahujan Samajwadi Party leader who is expected to do well in the Lok Sabha elections in the state. Sources tell CNN-IBN BJP general secretary Arun Jaitley is in touch with Mayawati’s top aides.

Trinamool Congress leader Mamata Banarjee left the NDA and has allied with the Congress in West Bengal. The BJP is trying to convince her that the Congress will prefer the Left to her and bring her back.

In Andhra Pradesh, BJP leader Venkaiah Naidu is wooing Telugu Desam Party chief Chandrababu Naidu.

THE LEFT’s STRATEGY

The four-party Left Front, the “kingmakers” of these elections, would first try to put together a non-BJP and non-Congress government. If their effort to form a Third Front government doesn’t work they might negotiate with the Congress. Sources tell CNN-IBN they would put a stiff condition before the Congress though: Manmohan Singh cannot be PM again.

If a Third Front government not possible, the Communists could sit in Opposition but won’t bring down a minority UPA government.

Anything is possible after May 16, for as all leaders keep saying politics is the art of the possible.

BJP Delhi Pradesh president Om Prakash Kohli said: “As members of the Delhi Abhibhawak Mahasangh an organisation of parents along with Gupta reached Parliament, the police barricaded them and stopped them from proceeding further. When they started crossing the barrier, the police used force and water cannons on these agitators. Some parents and Vijender Gupta sustained injuries.”

Said Gupta: “The police resorted to lathicharge to stop us and also used water cannons on us. At least 10 others have sustained fractures. I myself have been hurt on my stomach and head and might have to remain in the hospital for a day. ”

However, police said that the protesters around 125 of them including Gupta were detained at the police station and were later released. “The protest lasted for half-an-hour and we used water cannons to disperse the mob but no lathicharge was ordered,’’said a senior police officer.

The victim’s husband Yashpal Thareja, who was out of the country at the time of the incident, told police that five mobile phones meant for recharging were missing following the incident. Call details of the phones revealed that some calls had been made from these mobiles to various places after the incident, leading the police to Saroj. “Saroj told interrogators that he used to make frequent visits to Anita’s STD booth to make calls. His sister’s marriage was fixed for June 6 and he was in need of money and asked for a loan of Rs 1,500 which she refused,” said DCP (central) Jaspal Singh. In a fit of rage, Saroj allegedly slit her throat. Then he allegedly picked up five mobile phones, Rs 2,000 and some recharge coupons, which have been seized.

Police said the professor had been harassing the woman for several months. On Tuesday, he allegedly tried to force himself on her, but she managed to get way and report the matter to the Vijaynagar police.

According to Ghaziabad police chief Akhil Kumar, Dr Ajit Tyagi had been targeting the married woman student of Santosh Medical College where he teaches. She had reportedly been coping with Tyagi’s advances for months.

When asked to comment, a senior Santosh Medical College official said the doctor in question was no longer working at the institute.

Intach’s Delhi convenor AGK Menon says “there is some issue over who will notify the heritage list compiled by MCD and NDMC. Many of these unprotected monuments have been encroached upon and are fast disappearing.” At least 12 monuments on this list have been since then demolished, according to conservationists.

Times City takes a look at nine that have been rated `poor’ in terms of preservation and need immediate attention.

Telion Ka Phatak

The gateway, built in the early Mughal period, was known as Haveli Nawab Hauz Muzaffar Khan Ka Darwaza. In 1970, it came to be known as Telion Ka Phatak as the gateway leads to the houses of telis or oil merchants.

The lower storey is used for residential and commercial purposes, says the MCD report, while the top portion of the gate has been encroached upon. Sarvari, the occupant of this section, claims to be living there for over 60 years. She said: “My in-laws used to live here from before. We have built rooms to stay in and even pay rent.” The structure is in a deplorable condition. It seems to be falling apart.

Graves of Nawab Iradatmand Khan & Nawab Musa Yar Khan

Nawab Iradatmand Khan was a nobleman and general of emperor Muhammad Shah. The graves belong to the later Mughal period 1774. Both the graves, in marble, are well-ornamented and elegantly engraved.

MCD’s survey report makes no remarks on the state of the graves and their enclosure except for saying that the state of preservation is poor. The cemented enclosure is used as a dumping ground and garbage is strewn all around. The gate to the graves is also locked. Ismail, a resident of Rodgran, Lal Kuan, where the monument is located, said: “We look after the structure ourselves and have not allowed MCD to interfere. But if it were to improve the state of the surroundings, we would allow them to do so.”

MCD office, Kacha Bagh

Built in the late 19th century, the building has a high central hall flanked by rooms on the sides. There is a semi-octagonal turret in the north-west corner. Mezzanines have altered the original character of the building and there are encroachments all around.

The building’s condition has been described as very dangerous. However, officials point out, it is still being used. “The office within the structure is still functional. There is a provident fund office in front of it and other departments functioning inside,” pointed out one of them.

Hauzwali Masjid

Popularly known as Majid-I-Khari Baoli, the mosque is of rare architectural quality and is among the few surviving Suri-period (1540-1550 AD) buildings in Shahjahanabad. The one-bay-deep prayer chambers are divided into three large-domed chambers. There is a large court with a hauz (tank).

This mosque comes under the Waqf Board and people have built rooms around it. The structure is encroached upon from all sides and the courtyard is in a shambles. Jamal, one of the occupants of the mosque, claimed: “Our family has been looking after the structure for years now.”

MCD Primary School, Hamilton Road

Dating back to 1930s, this is a courtyard-type residential unit with colonial features. The double-storeyed building is constructed around a courtyard and has a two-sided opening to the street.

The MCD survey states the structure is in a poor condition and could even prove to be dangerous. Some workers who now live inside the building claim to be carrying out repair work. According to them, no school functions out of the building anymore. Rubble is lying all around the structure and it seems it will collapse any moment.

Hakim Mihr Ali Shah’s Mosque

The mosque was built near a grave dated AD 1821. The grave is probably of a spiritual guide of Mihr Ali. A steep staircase leads to the first floor where there is a large courtyard. At the western end of this is the two-bay-deep mosque. The roof of the inner bay has partially collapsed.

The MCD report says some cracks were found on the wall. You will find shops as soon as you enter the arched gateway. Shopkeepers say they’ve been functioning from here for over 60 years and this was never the orignal gateway to the mosque.

Gateway Farashkhana

The single-bay gateway has a single arch. The gateway has a shop on each side and is built in lakhori brick.

The gateway is hidden by wires and boards and is hardly visible. The locals don’t have any idea of its heritage value. Rana, who sells vegetables here, said: “Construction is taking place next to it and in a matter of time the gateway will be wiped out. Who is there to save it?”

Lal Kuan

This well of the pre-Mughal period was built of red sandstone and has given the area its name. The well is now covered. While the MCD claims a tinshed has been put over the well, this reporter found a priest has made a hutment over it.

An idol has been installed near the structure and the well is completely hidden now. Only a board put up by Intach indicates its existence. Said a resident of the area: “The priest has been residing here for years. People use the area for worshipping.”

ANZ Grindlays building

Constructed in 1910, the three-storeyed building has much decorative work on the facade. The first floor terrace is supported by iron columns and marked by circular plasters.

The building is privately owned and has shops on the ground floor. The first floor also houses a commercial establishment. According to Chandni Chowk residents, the building is slowly losing its heritage look because of the commercial use.

Appearing for Delhi Jal Board, senior advocate Harish Salve told a bench comprising Chief Justice K G Balakrishnan and Justices P Sathasivam and Deepak Verma that Haryana government bureaucrats had ‘‘re-written’’ the court order and never implemented it.

He said though Delhi was paying the Bhakra Beas Management Board (BBMB), which has been releasing 125 cusecs of water for the capital, the Haryana government was misappropriating more than half of it and releasing just 60 cusecs. ‘‘We need the water urgently as the summer months are here,’’ he said.

DJB’s contempt plea filed through counsel Suresh Tripathy said: ‘‘Subterfuge adopted by the Haryana government unmistakably establishes that it has committed a serious fraud on the court itself, thereby obstructing the course of justice and bringing (the) judicial institution into disrepute.’’

Appearing for the Haryana government, senior advocate Vinod Bobde said Haryana had never received its full quota of water from BBMB.

Paswan was watching television with his wife in a room at 12 Janpath when he was informed of the fire that broke out in the adjacent drawing room around noon.

‘Me and my wife were watching television in the adjacent room, when they informed us about the fire. We came rushing out of the house. If this is the maintenance of the house of a minister then you can guess what will be the common man’s plight,’ Paswan said.

He said Congress President Sonia Gandhi called to inquire about the incident and asked about their well being.

The Delhi Fire Services officials said the fire broke out from an air conditioner installed in the drawing room of the house, that is close to Sonia Gandhi’s house.

The fire spread in the room and gutted two cupboards, a sofa set, chairs and many statues kept in the room.

Two fire tenders were pressed into action which doused the flames in half-an-hour. No one was reported injured in the incident.

‘The fire may have been caused due to short-circuit in the air conditioner because of overheating in the compressor. It then spread and gutted the drawing room,’ said a fire service official.

The course-correction was apparent with Congress slamming Bihar CM Nitish Kumar just days after sacking the chief of its media cell Veerappa Moily for being critical of the leader. On Monday, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh set the tone saying he doubted Kumar’s “secular” credentials after seeing him holding hands with Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi.

The JD(U) leader’s high-profile presence at a mega NDA rally in Ludhiana on Sunday and his unequivocal denial of having been in touch with either the Left or Congress had come as a clear snub to those hoping to poach him. Similarly, on TDP chief N Chandrababu Naidu, Congress general secretary Rahul Gandhi — who had words of praise for him only last week — said in Amritsar that the leader was more concerned about call centres than agriculturists.

Dropping its tone-neutral stance while commenting on regional parties like JD(U), in the hope of keeping options open after results are declared, Congress on Monday when asked about Nitish Kumar, said, “Any party or leader who is in support of communal forces is not secular.”

The turnaround seemed complete as Congress hunkered down to doing business with parties that had been part of UPA like Lalu Prasad’s RJD and Ramvilas Paswan’s LJP. Even with SP, whom it fought with bitterly over seat-sharing, Congress is quite willing to see it as its first choice in UP. Congress feels that compared to BSP, SP is a more reliable partner to work with.

Though Congress’s plans to reach out to parties in Opposition camp was based on its assessment that both Lalu and Paswan were on a downturn, it seems to have realised that the prospects of doing business with leaders like Nitish appear remote, at least for now.

Preparing for the results, Congress has rushed to mend fences with DMK chief M Karunanidhi who could have taken offence to references to AIADMK leader J Jayalalitha as “like-minded” leader.

A certain knee-jerk or haphazard approach might be driven by a sense of confusion over the nature of the mandate that elections 2009 may deliver. With Congress not sure over how it has done in major states like Andhra Pradesh and Maharashtra and facing turbulent weather in Tamil Nadu, it has had trouble framing a gameplan. Now, it seems to be looking to consolidate its current allies while bringing back those who it had broken with at the start of the poll campaign.

To this end, Congress would have been pleased with Paswan suddenly giving a go-by to a “fourth front” meeting organised at Rampur on Monday and cracks in the fourth front can indicate a re-unification of sorts.

Though leaders like Lalu are quite bitter with Congress — he had pointed to rival Nitish’s presence at the NDA rally as a “lesson” for Congress and Rahul Gandhi who had given the Bihar chief minister a “secular certificate” — their reduced poll fortunes may leave them with few choices.

Even as the fluid political situation has resulted in all fronts looking far from permanent, voices from the Left bloc also added to the medley with West Bengal chief minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee saying while the comrades would do their best to form a third front government, he did not rule out support to Congress in as many words. “At the moment we are fighting both Congress and BJP. Prakash Karat has explained the pre-poll position of our party. At the moment we are in contact with all parties. We are trying to formulate the policies of the government,” he said.

In the meanwhile, TRS leaders who sought to explain the presence of their leader K Chandrashekhar Rao at the NDA rally said they were very much part of the “mahakootami” led by TDP. But they also reiterated that their support to a government both at the Centre and state was linked to a clear promise for the speedy creation of Telangana.

Airlines officials allegedly told the shocked owner, Rajendra Tandon, senior vice-president with a textile firm who was flying in the same flight, that the dogs died because of “lack of oxygen”. Tandon immediately demanded verification by a veterinary doctor and was taken to a vet in Shanti Niketan.

“There, the doctor confirmed that lack of oxygen could have caused the death. I was crestfallen. I never imagined that my dogs could die in the airplane. I am going to sue the airlines as they have killed my children. I gave them two healthy and happy pugs and they returned me two dead ones,” said an inconsolable Tandon, who was shifting from Mumbai to Delhi and has taken up residence at south Delhi’s Gulmohar Enclave.

Jet Airways, meanwhile, denied that negligence could have caused the deaths. Said an airline spokesperson, “The cargo compartment which carries live animals always has suitable conditions for the animals, including air conditioning. We have been carrying livestock for several years and nothing like this has ever happened before. In this particular case, we cannot say what caused the deaths but we deeply regret the incident.”

However, Tandon was not convinced. “This was not the first time my pugs have travelled in a flight. When I bought Jimmy four months back in Bangkok, he was just two months old. It is a case of sheer negligence and I will take the faulty airline to court so that such incidents don’t recur,” said Tandon, 53.

While veterinary doctors said lack of proper air pressurization could have caused the deaths, international advisories for shipping dogs clearly say that pug-nosed breeds like bulldogs, boxers and pugs should not travel by air as they have a breathing problems even on the ground and breathing becomes a little more difficult in flights. Some airlines have in the past banned carrying these dogs after similar incidents.

For Tandon’s wife, Sunita, the dogs were her constant companions after the couple’s two children went to Chennai and Aurangabad for further studies. “We had bought Jimmy from Bangkok four years back for Rs 25,000 and an year later acquired Batnu from Mumbai. It is difficult to comprehend that they have been snatched away from us in this cruel way. I wish I could have kept the pugs in my lap and ensured their safety during the flight,” said a teary Sunita Tandon. Around the world, airlines carry pets either in the passenger cabin as excess baggage or as cargo. In this case, they they were being carried as excess baggage but were in the cargo hold.

Despite the problem, political parties and candidates have chosen to ignore the burning issue. When Times City went around finding an answer from candidates in the fray, most were caught off-guard. They asserted that it was a subject close to their heart but few could come out with a concrete plan.

West Delhi Congress candidate Mahabal Mishra, who as former DDA non-officio member had played a key role in the drafting of Master Plan 2021, seems to have lost his aggression on the issue in his election campaign. He confessed to Times City that the shortage was a result of DDA’s failure to deliver and it has resulted in mushrooming of unauthorised colonies and JJ clusters. However, he pointed out that housing was not a big issue in his area as Dwarka had many societies and there’s scope for development.

In posh New Delhi, Congress candidate Ajay Maken is riding high on the notification of Master Plan 2021 that seeks to answer housing woes and relief given under its provisions. He is even highlighting a housing plan for government servants post-retirement. Maken points out that this is the first time that a politician is giving importance to the issue during elections.

His rival from BJP, Vijay Goel, was quick to label DDA as “nothing but a property dealer”. He claimed that he is raising the housing issue with the people of New Delhi.

BJP candidate from Chandni Chowk Vijender Gupta said that politicians often don’t address real issues that affect people directly. “The problem is that the real issues at times get buried in the rush of emotions during a speech and the candidates end up indulging in rhetoric,” Gupta said. He was, however, quick to defend himself, saying that he has been raising issues related to shelter in his speeches.

Congress candidate from North-East JP Aggarwal too was candid. “Housing touches a chord with specific groups. Hence it is not raised in the general campaigns which largely touch upon civic issues. It’s raised in slums and areas where schemes are being planned,” Aggarwal explained.

Of the 160 candidates, 41 are from Chandni Chowk, and 40 from New Delhi. While East Delhi has 17 candidates, North-East and North-West have 16 each and West Delhi and South have 15 each.

In two constituencies Chandni Chowk and New Delhi that have 41 and 40 candidates respectively, the office of the CEO will for the first time put up three Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs). Since New Delhi and Chandni Chowk have over 32 candidates, three EVMs will be installed at their polling stations. East Delhi will require two and the rest of the constituencies will be able to manage with one.

CEO Satbir Silas Bedi also launched the next phase of the Pappu campaign to step-up awareness building to get voters to come out and vote.

According to sources, nearly an hour after having their mid-day meal, some students started vomiting and others complained of stomach ache. “We examined all the students and none of them were found to be seriously ill. After giving basic medication, we discharged them at around 4pm,” said a senior doctor in Safdarjung Hospital’s emergency.

The Delhi government’s directorate of education has issued notice to the mid-day meal supplier and the school principal in this regard. “We have issued a notice to the supplier, who also supplies food to nearly 30 other government and government-aided schools in Delhi. We have also sent the food sample for testing and once the report is out appropriate action will be taken against him. We have also issued a notice to the principal, as the food has to be tested by school authorities before being served to the students,” said Chandra Bhushan Kumar, director, DoE.

“We have registered a case of negligence under section 336 of IPC,” said Shalini Singh, DCP (southeast), Delhi Police.

Last Wednesday, Ashish Khurana, a fashion design student, managed to catch his Jet Airways flight by a matter of seconds as he reached the airport 15 minutes before his flight was scheduled to take-off all because he got stuck in the Mahipalpur traffic jam. “I decided to take the Mahipalpur road since the RTR crossing is usually jammed. However, my decision almost made me miss my flight as the jam on this road was worse. I reached the Mahipalpur Road about 9.30am. From there, it took me an hour-and-fifteen-minutes before I got to the domestic airport,” he said.

Airport sources said such instances were on the rise, specially since construction started on the RTR road. The flights worst affected are those that depart between 10am and noon and then in the evening between 7 and 9. With MG Road also clogged due to the Metro construction, most people heading towards Gurgaon have started using the Mahipalpur Road as easy access to the Gurgaon expressway. The road is narrow, dotted with potholes and is used by a motley of vehicles and pedestrians. Abhinav Khanna, a regular commuter, complained that traffic on the road crawled because there were rickshaws, carts and bicycles all moving along with the regular four-wheel traffic. “It is impossible to manoeuvre your way on the road because you tend to get stuck behind slow moving traffic and the road condition makes it worse,” he said.

The spokesperson of an international airlines said that even though check-in for international flights was three hours before departure, several passengers were reaching the airport with only about a couple of hours to spare. “We know, through experience, now to permit boarding of these passengers because even our crew tends to get stuck on this road. The problem is that there are no better alternatives for people coming from that side,” she said.

PWD, under whom this road comes, says there is no solution to the problem till a few more months. A senior official said: “The Outer Ring Road will be ready by July this year and a lot of the traffic will move to that. Till the tunnel road project doesn’t start, there are no plans to reduce congestion on this road. The road needs to be widened and buildings moved from there, but that decision is not in our hands.”

“We have parked three cars at Ganesh Nagar and all of us went to meet people of the area leaving behind the three drivers,” said a party worker M R Arora.

“Within a few minutes, we received a call from the driver of Chauhan’s car that a briefcase had been stolen,” added Arora.

“The driver of the cars also tried to give the culprit a chase but he managed to flee. We informed the police but it took them more than half-an-hour to reach the spot. A complaint has been lodged at Pandav Nagar police station,” said Arora.

No one has been arrested so far.

Police said the couple consumed sulphas tablets near a cinema hall in Nangloi on Tuesday afternoon.

Kumar was working as a security guard in Gurgaon while the 19-year-old woman was pursuing a chartered accountancy course from Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI) at ITO. Police received a call that a couple was lying unconscious at a park near Lokesh Cinema in Nangloi.

The two were rushed to nearby Sonia Hospital where Kumar was declared brought dead and the woman was said to be in a critical condition, said Sharad Agarwal, DCP (west). The woman who gained consciousness told the police that they decided to end their lives as their parents did not agree for marriage. “We have recorded the statements of the woman,” said the officer. No suicide note was found.

Police said the Sinha was a resident of Ghewra village in Nangloi and Kumar is from Hissar in Haryana. The couple met three years ago. The police said that they would register a case of suicide attempt against the woman.

“We have also sent the samples collected from the stomach-wash of the victims for examination to ascertain the nature of drugs used. It seems that the man took more doses of the poison while the woman had consumed lesser amount. They had bought the poison from a medical shop in Haryana,” said a senior police officer.

Contesting fifth election in his 13 years of political career, Mishra is not only capitalizing on the “good work” done by Sheila government but also banking heavily on the “clean and efficient record” of prime minister Manmohan Singh. Not surprisingly, in one breath, he talks about flyovers in Dwarka and the growing diplomatic ties between India and the US. “I am seeking a mandate for the Manmohan Singh government,” he thunders at election meetings in his constituency. His supporters too have started singing the same tune. In past few weeks, his campaign managers have learnt what to talk nuclear deal to Obama’s praise for the PM.

But the Poorvanchali politician, who has never lost an election, still can not do without the Sheila magic. At a meeting in Punjabi Bagh Club on Tuesday, Mishra waited restlessly even as there was good turnout from Punjabi Bagh, Raghuvir Nagar, Vishnu Garden and Rajouri Garden. He flashed a smile when chief minister Sheila Dikshit turned up with education minister Arvinder Singh Lovely.

He stood close to her even as a special chair was brought for her. Mishra was perturbed for a moment when the CM stepped down from the stage for attending a call. All he wanted was an endorsement from the all-powerful CM. So, as the CM described this Delhi Congress veteran as a “Jana pehchana chehra” (a known face) among voters and wishing him a victory by a huge margin, Mishra stood up at regular intervals with his hands folded, a gesture showing his gratitude to the leader.

Mishra, on his part, appealed for vote in the name of two-term Sheila government’s performance and the need to vote Congress back to power at Centre. “You all know what Congress has done in the past 10 years and what the vision of Dr Manmohan Singh is for our country,” said Mishra, popularly known as Lalu Yadav in Delhi politics for his “boli” (dialect) and his appearance besides his origin to Bihar.

Amidst chants of “Jo Bole So Nihal” by Sikhs and party leaders already declaring him the MP from the constituency, Mishra did not miss any opportunity to stand up with folded hands to acknowledge their support, for he knows how to connect with his voters. After all he is known as one among the “aam aadmi” in the constituency. “He resembles us and does not behave as a VIP and is accessible to all. This will get him votes in resettlement colonies and also in posh areas,” said Rakesh Chaubey, a resident of Vishnu Garden.

“There is no difference in the party so far his candidature is concerned. Everyone is enthused and we all are putting maximum effort since Congress high command has rewarded a genuine party worker,” said Krishan Singh, a resident of Tilak Nagar.

“This court is unable to understand why the police hasn’t been able to conduct a responsible enquiry into the matter in the face of specific allegations made. Therefore, this court requires the commissioner of police to examine the matter concerning the conduct of the police officials and lawyer in the episode,” Justice S Muralidhar noted in his order on Wednesday, asking the top cop to probe deeper and submit a proper enquiry report.

HC was hearing the case of a couple that had approached it seeking relief after the police registered an FIR against them for allegedly kissing each other near Dwarka Metro station. HC had then quashed the FIR and wondered how it could be construed as indecency. When it was further alleged by the couple that they were duped by a lawyer, on Shilpi Saini, who promised to get their marriage registered, HC asked the DCP of the area to investigate her role as also that of the concerned officers of Dwarka police station.

However, the HC was clearly unimpressed by the enquiry conducted, noting the inconsistencies in the statements of the lawyer and that alleged by the victims.

According to crime branch officials, it took almost five months to investigate the role of the accused, R K Nanda, and his advocate, Sharad Aggarwal. “Our investigations have revealed that Nanda has been involved in numerous cheating cases and has been arrested for the same. The sheer number of complaints against him has made our case stronger, but time consuming. We arrested the duo on Tuesday morning after a non-bailable warrant from the court and produced them at the Patiala court the same day. The court rejected their bail,” said a senior crime branch official.

Earlier, the Delhi High Court had brought in the crime branch to investigate if Durga Builders Pvt Ltd fielded a fake petitioner in court in November 2008. Its directors allegedly did this in a bid to convince the HC that the company ought to be wound up as it was bankrupt, and so unable to honour payments taken from applicants. The high court was alerted about what was going on by advocates Vijay Aggarwal and Rakesh Makhija, who were fighting the case for the duped customers.

Sensing there was more to the matter than meets the eye, HC also asked the crime branch to trace the original petitioner, one Manjit Kaur, on whose behalf the petition was filed in court against the builder group.

“Material facts and documents have been deliberately concealed by the management. Valuable time of the court has been wasted, while compliance of judgments of several courts has been unfairly delayed,” Justice Mittal observed in her order, while slapping a fine of Rs 50,000 on R K Nanda and Promila Nanda, directors of Durga Builders earlier.

Manjit Kaur had initially approached HC through a lawyer claiming Durga Builders owed her an outstanding amount of nearly 10 lakhs for enjoying security services provided by her company. When despite several notices the company failed to pay, Kaur claimed she was seeking winding up of this firm.

“Our investigations have revealed that neither the woman nor the woman existed in the address provided to us. In fact, the names were picked up randomly from the previous clients who had sought the advocate’s help,” said a crime branch officer.

On its part, both directors readily admitted they suffered a financial crunch and even showed how Rs 25,000 had already been paid to Kaur. Subsequently, when no payment could be made, HC appointed an official liquidator to oversee winding up process.

It was at this stage that several creditors moved HC, informing it that the firm had been paid money towards booking of plots owned by it and that it was now trying to seek winding up to escape liability of returning this money. They also drew HC’s attention to an earlier order by another HC judge to the crime branch to trace one Vishesh Jain, who filed a similar winding up petition against this company.

According to police, Deepak Mehta (28), owner of Sai Jewellers was in his shop on Friday evening when a young woman walked in along with her two male accomplices. “The three accused said they wanted to buy jewellery for a wedding in the family. They checked jewellery for some time after which the woman deliberately dropped one of the gold rings on the floor. She bent down to search for it. When Mehta too stooped to help, her accomplices pressed chloroform on his nose. As Mehta lay unconscious, the accused fled with jewellery worth several lakhs,” said a senior police officer.

The police officer added that the robbery was discovered by the victim’s father Ratan Mehta who came to the shop a few minutes later. A case in this regard has been lodged at the Geeta Colony police station. Deepak was admitted at the Hedgawar Hospital. Though stable, he is still being monitored by the doctors. “We are getting the sketches of the accused drawn. We are checking the movements of local criminals on that night too,” added the officer.

Meanwhile, residents of trans-Yamuna claim that such incidents have become common in the area. Police, however, deny this, saying crime rate has come down. “Compared to the past three years, this year has been far better. Crime is under control here. In almost all major cases, we have made significant arrests,” said Anand Mohan, DCP (East).

Anshu Jain, a lecturer in Dayal Singh College, returned home this evening, police said, refusing to divulge details.

Jain had gone missing since Monday afternoon when she was returning home in East Delhi’s Mayur Vihar from her college in an auto-rickshaw.

She had left the college at 1.30 pm after doing her examination duty but did not reach home, an FIR lodged in this regard said.

Her mobile was switched off since the time she went missing. Her husband is working with software firm Wipro.

Her father V P Jain, a Commerce lecturer in the same college, had informed police control room on the same day when Anshu went missing, her family claimed.

“It seems the said school doesn’t have adequate medical facilities to tackle such type of cases. This is a gross negligence on the part of the authorities and amounts to violation of child rights,” Sarita Sarangi, DCPCR said.

She said the school principle has been asked to reply into the reasons for the death of Aakriti Bhatia within seven days.

The Commission has also issued notice to the Delhi education secretary and director in the matter.

Aakriti Bhatia, a class-XII student of Modern School in Vasant Vihar had died on Tuesday after she suffered an asthma attack.

Soon after the death of Aakriti, school principal Goldy Malhotra had said, “She was suffering from asthma. She probably suffered a heavy attack yesterday. She was immediately taken to the Holy Angle Hospital where she died.”

However, the victim’s father Bipin Bhatia has alleged that the mishap occurred due to the “negligence” on part of the school authorities.

The 17-year-old girl was in the school when she suddenly became unwell and informed her mother about it.

Shouting slogans and holding placards, many of the protesters, including students from other well known Delhi schools, gathered outside Modern School in south Delhi, demanding the resignation of principal Goldy Malhotra for alleged negligence.

“I was horrified to know what had happened in school. A girl who was gasping for breath was not offered a vehicle by the school to take her to hospital,” said a former member of the school’s Parent Teacher Association.

“There are hundreds of cars parked in the school and the principal also possesses a car. Why were they waiting for ambulance? Goldy Malhotra is the most unethical principal I have ever seen and she should resign.”

Aakriti’s parents, who have registered a police complaint against the school authorities, were among the protesters and came face to face with the principal.

A heated exchange of words followed between the protesters and the school authorities.

Aakriti, a Class 12 student, had suffered an asthma attack in school on Monday and died on the way to hospital. The principal however has refused to accept that she died due to the school’s alleged negligence.

“We demand an apology from the school principal and want her to resign. We will continue our protest till the principal tenders her resignation,” a friend of Aakriti’s said.

Said a parent: “The principal should resign. Just imagine how would it feel if your or my family member passes away like this?”

Aakriti had reportedly complained of breathlessness to her teacher and had later called up and informed her mother as well. She was shifted to the school’s sports room and put on oxygen. As her condition deteriorated, she was rushed to Holy Angels hospital, where doctors declared her dead.

“Any staff member could have offered his or her car to take Aakriti to hospital but they kept waiting for Aakriti’s car. The hospital is only one km away from the school and they waited around 45 minutes, doing nothing. As a result we lost her. The principal should accept her fault and apologise,” said an angry parent.

Students of Don Bosco, Delhi Public School, Dwarka, Birla Vidya Niketan, G.D. Goenka and Summerfield were among those who collected outside Modern School, Vasant Vihar, to protest the alleged negligence that led to the death.

“We will question the school authorities and record their statement regarding any negligence, most probably on Thursday. We have also asked for a medical report of Aakriti,” said a senior officer of Vasant Vihar police station where the complaint was lodged. The cops will also look into the medical history of the victim. So far, no case has been registered and the case is at preliminary verification stage.

Meanwhile, over 300 students and parents on Wednesday staged a candlelight march outside the school.

Demanding better medical preparedness and care, students were seen putting up posters with messages like ‘we love you Aakriti’, ‘justice for Aakriti’ and ‘we want a safe and secure school’, among others. The marchers were not allowed inside the school.

A group of students from classes IX, X and XII said around 100 of them had approached the principal, Goldy Malhotra, at her office on Wednesday morning seeking to get a clear picture on Aakriti’s death. They also inquired about the evening march.

“However, the principal asked us to gather at the auditorium where she asked us not to speak on the issue and said that students interacting with the media will be rusticated,” said a student of Class XII.

Despite repeated attempts, the principal could not be reached and the school security denied entry to the media. The school had barred its teachers and administrative staff from participating in the march, but parents and students from neighbouring schools joined in. A classmate of Aakriti said: “The principal has asked teachers not to be present and directed guards to close the gates to prevent anyone from entering the campus.”

Taking suo moto cognizance of the incident, Delhi Commission for Protection of Child Rights (DCPCR) on Wednesday issued notices to the school, education secretary and education director on the matter. DCPCR chairman Amod K Kanth said: “We have sent a notice to the school on its medical preparedness and have asked the principal to reply within seven days. We have also sent notices to the secretary education and director education of Delhi government asking for an inquiry on the matter. We have also asked the local police to investigate into the allegations.”

The Directorate of Education (DoE), too, has constituted an internal inquiry. Chandra Bhusan Kumar, director, DoE, said: “We have asked for an internal report from the school within three days.”

Dikshit, obviously, has the advantage of having Sheila Dikshit as his mother. BJP’s Chetan Chauhan, on the other hand, is fighting the outsider tag and a not-too-impressive track record in Amroha, his previous constituency.

As TOI talked to a cross-section of the voters, local issues seemed to be vying for priority with national issues. While the upper middle class seemed to be focused on development, at the lower rungs, price rise is taking precedence.

Traders, meanwhile, are grumbling about the sealing fiasco though most seem to have accepted the quick-fix Master Plan solution of the Congress. As Vinod Sharma, a businessman in Preet Vihar, said: “People have a short memory. Most of us would prefer to move on though the conversion rates are crippling for the smaller traders.”

For almost all, mandir-masjid is a non-issue. “What’s the point? Did BJP do anything about the mandir when it did come to power,” asks Singh. Education, employment and development is what people want politicians to talk about. Development in fact is the unifying factor as far as East Delhi is concerned. From the resettlement colonies of Trilokpuri and Kondli to the middle-class hubs of Mayur Vihar and Patparganj, voters are looking for their MP to use his funds. Says Sharma, “I will vote for whoever works for the constituency.”

Satya Narayan is a butcher in Trilokpuri. Living and working in this resettlement colony since 1976, he says there’s been no development in the area, at least not in the past five years. Ask him if Dikshit has ever come to his colony and he says, “Haan, pichle election.” As a mark of his visit, there’s a foundation stone at the DDA ground in Block 9, where a mini-stadium was to come up five years ago. Narayan is very clear about what he and his brethren need a rationalised fee structure in schools and more community structures in Trilokpuri.

Unemployment is another issue that keeps cropping up. Daily wager Rashid, who lives in Shahdara, says he’ll vote for whoever promises employment. “I came from Bihar seven years ago but now finding employment is getting tougher because of more migrants.”

For new entrants to the constituency Jungpura and Okhla trans-Yamuna is no longer a dirty word. The East Delhi development story is the talking point here as the perception of all major Commonwealth Games projects taking off in trans-Yamuna gathers momentum. Says Monu Chaddha, a resident of Jangpura, “We have a lot of expectations from the MP there. Like East Delhi, we also want development on a large scale.” And while price rise is not a talking point, security and the crumbling sewarage system get residents agitated.

The youth factor is also an issue here. While neither of the three major candidates Dikshit, Chauhan or BSP’s Haji Yunus are in the first flush of youth, the lack of young icons in the BJP and BSP could cost them dear. Says Nitish Agarwal, a second-time voter from Gandhi Nagar, “Rahul Gandhi is at least someone voters like me can identify with.” LK Advani’s Iron Man image doesn’t seem to cut ice though the voters from Patparganj seem more amenable. Says Renu Kachroo, a housewife, “We need a more strict handling of neighbours like Pakistan. The BJP at least won’t be as soft as Congress when dealing with them.”

The accused Amrik Singh (37), Sandeep Kumar (26) and Preeti Kalra (28) were arrested from Mussourie on Wednesday. The police said the main accused, Amrik Singh, who has nine criminal cases against him, had a grudge against his niece, Vibha Singh, who had married the wrestler, Praveen Kumar, against her family’s wish in February this year.

Singh was allegedly also eyeing the property of Vibha’s father. “On April 9, he invited Vibha, along with Praveen and her two-year-old sister Vaishali, for a family function at their house in Mongolpuri. When the three did not return home for two days, Praveen’s family lodged a complaint on April 11,” said DCP (outer) Atul Katiyar. The incident was first reported by TOI on April 21.

The police said Singh had been facing unpleasant remarks by the villagers about his niece marrying out of the caste and against the wishes of the clan, so he hatched a conspiracy to kill her. “Though we have not found the bodies yet, we fear the family might have been killed as we have recovered arms from the hideout of the accused in Mussourie,” said the officer.

Singh also roped in one of his accomplices, Sandeep Kumar, who lives in the same village, and promised him a plot of land for the job. Preeti Kalra, who is a class XII student and had met Singh a year ago, was also promised a plot of land, said a police officer.

The police added that the accused reportedly drugged the family and took them to Mussourie. Praveen had first made headlines in 2001 for his ability to take in milk through his nose and squirt it out of his eyes. He also holds a record for two other extraordinary acts.

Addressing party workers minutes before inauguration of Ramesh’s central election office in Said-ul-Ajaib, the leader “gifted” his younger brother to the people, claiming he would continue “serving” them. “Ramesh Kumar ko bitha ke Sajjan ko vote dijiye (cast vote for Sajjan in the name of Ramesh),” he said.

Instructing his brother on how he should conduct himself from posing for photographers to garlanding Prem Singh Sajjan made it evident that he would remain the real MP and ensure his brother’s entry to Lok Sabha. “Bas aise hi khada ho ja,” he said to his brother as he stood posing for photographs.

Lashing out at BJP-Akali combine for “raking” up the 1984 anti-Sikh riots case ahead of every election, Sajjan said, “Why only BJP comes out to oppose my ticket? I can understand a similar demand if my voters oppose my candidature for not working for them while in power. Paanch saal mein BJP ke pet mein hi kyun dard hota hai?”

He said his withdrwal from the elections had made BJP leaders smile and they were feeling upbeat. `Mithaiyaan bhi baanti hein (they distributed sweets). But since my younger brother’s name was cleared, they have been weeping,” he said.

But the canny politician also seemed worried about damage from within. There have been reports of local MLAs resenting the party rewarding Sajjan’s brother ignoring them. To neutralise the brewing resentment and to silence his critics, Sajjan managed to get not just the five party MLAs and ex-MLAs but also dissidents on one platform on Wednesday afternoon.

Party veteran Prem Singh Chaudhary and chief ticket contenders against ramesh, Mehrauli MLA Yoganand Shastri and Chhattarpur MLA Balram Tanwar, got special attention of the Jat leader, who is known for his managerial skills.

Sajjan also went all out to praise the sitting MLAs and Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit for her development works to win their “unconditional” support.

Although a section of the leaders from Mehrauli shouted slogans against inclusion of Satbir Singh, a Congress dissident who had fought against Shastri from Mehrauli in the last assembly elections, it died down in the crowd of Sajjan supporters.

In his brief address, Ramesh tried to project himself as a leader in the know of local politics. He took names of several people present on the dais and in the audience. “Hum saath milkar din dugni aur raat chaugni karenge (we will progress by leaps and bounds),” he said as Sajjan told his supporters that post-election he would sit in his South Delhi office six days a week and one day in West Delhi.

Significantly, even Congress leaders addressing the meeting earlier announced that with Ramesh’s victory they would get two MPs working for them Ramesh inside Parliament and Sajjan outside.

The `book a taxi’ service will soon be rolled out in about 25 cities across the country, including the capital. “Not only will this service be offered to passengers round-the-clock, we will also ensure they pay the actual charge incurred,” he added. Northern Railway is already charging a hefty fee for taxis parked in front of the station. “The TTEs are overseeing the entire parking process at the New Delhi station. We do not see any problem in implementing the system,” said the officer.

Northern Railway has welcomed the IRCTC move. “We are trying to provide quality services to passengers before the Commonwealth Games. This will certainly boost the image of railway passengers vis-a-vis the air passengers.

The round-the-clock enquiry service 139 is a call centre number, run by IRCTC, on which passengers can seek information about PNR status, arrival/departure of trains, seat availability, fare and accommodation. In the near future, one will be able to book even a hotel by dialling 139. Passengers would also have an option to pick the cab of his choice, added the officer. The service will be directly monitored by IRCTC so that passengers get taxis on time and do not end up paying more.

The official further said all taxis will be fitted with radio meters that will be connected to the call centre.

Atul Katiyar, DCP, Outer, said the police has completed recording the statements of the students. Sources claimed that a police team will question the teacher after studying the statements of the students.

“We have not got one particular version so far from the children. However, there are certain things which match in the accounts. We are trying to understand the sequence of events through a graphical analysis. We are waiting for the postmortem report,” said a senior officer of the Bawana area.

Meanwhile, sources at MAMC said it is taking time to analyse the brain slides of the deceased. “We are also in the process of analysing her blood samples,” he said. He added that it was taking time to complete the entire report as doctors don’t want to jump to conclusions. Police now say they are expecting the report latest by Thursday late evening.

Meanwhile, police sources said that the MCD inquiry team, too, has finished talking to a majority of students. The MCD vigilance team was accompanied by the police, education department officials and the parents of these students. “The statements of the children clearly show that Shanno was not forced to stand out in the sun. There is also no direct clue that suggests she was handed out corporal punishment,” said a MCD source.

The 1.78 km long tunnel will connect the Udyog Bhawan and Khan Market stations of the new line from Central Secretariat to Badarpur. The tunnel was constructed using two tunnel boring machines (TBMs). “The construction of the tunnel was completed in just 152 days and 37.5 metres of tunnelling was completed in a day with the installation of 25 rings, which is an Asian record,” said a Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) spokesperson. Till now, two 1.45-km long tunnels between Malviya Nagar and Hauz Khas were the longest.

This tunnel, made with 1,227 rings and spanning across 2.53 kilometres is the longest distance between any two Delhi Metro stations. A ventilation shaft is being constructed at Motilal Nehru Marg to provide fresh air and fire escape facilities in the tunnel. The tunnelling work for this stretch was started on November 21, 2008. Another tunnel on the parallel line is expected to breakthrough in another month’s time.

Another 1.4 kilometre long tunnel is set to breakthrough at Shivaji Stadium early next month on the Airport Express line.

Holding the accused, Mohammad Iftakhar Alam (31), guilty under the Explosive Substances Act, ASJ Pratibha Rani also imposed a fine of Rs 2,000 on him. Following a specific input from Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), Alam was arrested on January 25, 2007 with the explosive material and two detonators by a team of policemen led by Inspector MC Sharma, who was killed last year in Batla House encounter.

“The act of the convict is such that it requires severe punishment as the explosive substances were intended to be used for causing damage to life and property of innocent persons,” ASJ said, refusing to show any leniency to the convict Alam alias Abdullah, a science graduate.

Noting that the accused came to Seelampur metro station in east Delhi to deliver explosive materials to another LeT militant, the court said, “The very fact that accused was waiting for someone to turn up to secure the consignment is sufficient to prove that it was meant to endanger human life or cause serious injuries.”

Alam alleged he was implicated by the Delhi Police but could not back the charge with any evidence. The court said there was also no evidence regarding the policemen having any animosity with the accused for which he could be implicated. It also referred to the forensic report which concluded that the materials (lump of brown coloured putty) seized from the accused was highly explosive.

The prosecution produced 11 witnesses, including two from public, to prove their charges in the case.

Appearing before the division bench of chief justice A P Shah and justice Neeraj Kishan Kaul, the Chairman of DCPCR Amod Kanth told the bench that the commission has already taken suo motu cognizance over the alarming issue soon after media reports.

The commissioner of police has sought more time to complete the preliminary inquiry and register the cases of kidnapping, abduction or trafficking under IPC, Kanth said. The commission has also sought reports from the Ministry of Women and Child Development and state and national level agencies taking care of the children, he added.

To the chairman’s submissions, the bench said the commission should be a “social investigator” and go into the reasons why children run away from home.

“This is a social problem. Why do kids run away? The reasons can vary from poverty to search for a job to separation of parents,” HC remarked, asking the commission should look into all these angles.

In early March, HC had taken a suo motu cognizance and sought the police report after the police failed to check the growing number of missing children from the capital.

According to media reports, 2,210 children went missing in the national capital between June 1, 2008 and January 12, 2009. On its part, however, the Delhi Police maintained before HC that a majority of minors had either eloped or left their parents to live with friends and relatives.

The victim, who had come from Nagaland, was first raped and later killed in the Mahipalpur area of south Delhi on Friday. The police said this was not the first time Thapa had been involved in a rape case. In 2004, when the accused was 16-year-old, he had allegedly raped an 11-year-old-girl in RK Puram area of south Delhi. He has two more criminal cases registered against him, said the police. He was arrested from the Sardar Patel railway station in Chanakyapuri area when he was trying to flee.

The police said the accused had allegedly raped the child when she had gone to the terrace of her house in Mahipalpur to dry clothes as her grandmother was not well. After allegedly raping her, Thapa killed her and threw her body in an empty water tank on the terrace of a nearby building.

The police added that the victim came to Delhi two months ago to spend the summer vacation with her mother. The postmortem report had confirmed sexual assault and a case of murder and rape was registered at Vasant Kunj police station.

Thapa, who lived with his family in the adjacent building, had earlier tried to lure the victim as well. Thapa reportedly recently came out of jail after he was imprisoned for three years on charges of raping a 11-year-old girl in 2004 in RK Puram area of south Delhi.

Further questioning revealed that Thapa was involved in an attempt to murder case in 2003, when he allegedly slashed the neck of a boy after a fight. He was arrested and sent to juvenile home in 2003. The same year he was also arrested for a house theft in RK Puram.

The final plan and layout for connecting the Noida to Greater Noida to Jewar by the Metro have already been approved by the Noida Industrial Development Authority (NOIDA) and the Greater Noida Industrial Development Authority (GNIDA). The Noida-Greater Noida stretch, around 22.5km-long, is likely to have eight stops. The cost of the project to take the Metro rail from Noida to Jewar is estimated to be around Rs 4,500 crore.

Speaking to Times City about the plan, NOIDA and GNIDA chairman, Lalit Srivastava, said, “The only thing that needs to be settled now is the rate at which electricity will be provided to the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) for running the entire system. This, of course, also applies to the Metro rail already under construction in Noida. The trial-run on this route is scheduled to be held in June, with the regular service to begin soon after.”

Srivastava said that both Delhi and Mumbai have signed contracts to supply power to the DMRC at special rates. He said the UP government has already sent a request to the state power regulator for power to be provided for the Metro rail at special rates. The response to this request is awaited.

On the schedule for the start and completion of the work on the new phases of the Metro rail, Srivastava said the schedule is yet to be worked out. “We are not starting any new work right now since elections are being held and the model code of conduct is in place,” he said.

The tunnel, with a length of 1.775 kilometres, is part of the under construction corridor between Central Secretariat and Badarpur and is the longest ever constructed by single tunnel boring machine (TBM) in Delhi Metro, DMRC spokesman Anuj Dayal said.

Till now, two 1.45 kilometre long tunnels constructed between Malviya Nagar and Hauz Khas were the longest tunnels.

Another major achievement is that the construction was completed in just 152 days.

Dayal said of the 1.775 kms, 37.5 metres of tunneling was completed in a day with the installation of 25 rings which is an Asian record.

The tunneling work for this stretch was started on November 21st, 2008. The Central Secretariat — Khan Market stretch of 2.53 kilometres is actually the longest distance between any two Metro stations under Delhi Metro.

The incident took place in Baba Nebraj School in south Delhi’s Jal Vihar area of Lajpat Nagar (Phase I).

Some of the students started vomitting while others told their teachers that they were feeling uncomfortable after which they were taken to Safdarjung hospital, police said.

A total of 31 students fell ill and it seems to be a case of food poisoning, they said.

All of them were discharged from hospital after medication, they said.

The food items have been sent for testing to ascertain the cause of students falling ill, Chandra Bhushan, Director (Higher Education of Delhi government) said.

“Action will be taken depending on the result of the tests. We have already issued notice to the service provider,” he added.

Police said the two used to call people on their mobile phone and offer pre-approved loans. According to the police, the duo contacted one Lalita last week posing as officials of Yes Bank and offered a pre-approved loan of Rs 10 lakh at a very low rate of interest. She accepted their offer.

“She was asked to fill up the application form for the loan. They also asked for seven blank cheques signed by her on the front of the cheques for EMIs. They assured her that a loan amount of Rs 10 lakh will be deposited in her account,” said a senior police officer.

On April 17, however, the victim, a manufacturer and supplier of gift items, came to know that Rs 35,000 had been withdrawn from her account by some person called Satya Singh. She immediately asked the bank to stop the payment on six cheques and lodged a police complaint.

Sandeep was arrested while he was trying to withdraw money using another cheque. A raid was conducted on his instance and co-accused Somendra was also arrested. The police have seized fake rubber stamps, driving licences, computers, printers and remaining cheques by the victim.

On Tuesday, Times City zipped across the Chandni Chowk constituency to find that the battle here is an out and out Congress vs BJP tussle with the individual profiles of the candidates mattering very little. Local issues dominate but the one all-pervading issue is price rise. And, interestingly, the lingering shadow of terrorism seemed completely absent here.

Chiraguddin runs a general store in the Pataudi House area. He claims he has never seen Sibal in the area but is unwilling to let that make him biased. “Price rise is a big problem which is giving people a tough time and will thus be a factor at the time of voting. As far as local issues go, sanitation is a major problem. It is ironical how political parties like BJP rake up the Babri Masjid demolition issue only during elections and then forget about it,” he said.

The perception of Sibal having been “invisible” during his tenure is widespread. Kamal Ahuja, a trader right outside Jama Masjid, said, “Woh to nazar hi nahin aaye paanch saal (He was never seen for five years).” On BJP candidate Vijender Gupta, his take was, “We don’t know him but I have heard he is good at raking up issues.” As far as development goes, Ahuja was categorical that nothing has really changed. “I don’t see any significant change in the Walled City area. Congestion continues to be a problem.”

Rameshwar Goel, president, Chandni Chowk Sarv Vyapaar Mandal, points out that parking remains a serious problem. “Redevelopment of Chandni Chowk has not happened despite many promises,” he said. The Mandal’s general secretary, Sanjay Bhargava, added: “A special purpose vehicle, night bazaars and a lot more was assured. But little has translated into work on the ground.”

Asserting that both Congress and BJP were only looking at political gains, Munnawar Ali who lives near Jama Masjid pointed at the road outside his house which was dug up before the assembly elections and is yet to be repaired.

Move out of the Walled City into areas which are new additions like Adarsh Nagar, Shalimar Bagh and Pitampura and one finds the candidates acquire even less significance. In these middle and lower middle class colonies, larger national issues like recession dominate mindspace of voters. Local issues still rankle though.

Pitampura S P Block President Jai Bhagwan Garg pointed out that people would vote for the party who they believe would bring about development, not for any individual. “It is a neglected area for over two decades. The park in front of my house is lying in a dilapidated state for over two decades. The roads are bad and there is no special facility for senior citizens here,” he said asserting that there were so many MCD issues pending in the area that people were in no mood to trust the standing committee chairman.

In Shakur Basti too residents are concerned about price rise and local issues of bijli-sadak-paani. “Price rise is a big issue and will affect the voting pattern,” Raj Rani a resident of Raja Park in Shakur Basti pointed out. Most residents said they would vote for the party that has done some development work and can be trusted to continue it.

The crowded markets of Sadar Bazaar threw up a general view that very little had happened in terms of development in the last five years. “No one looks at the interest of the poor. So, I don’t vote,” said a resident, Shaista. Many shopkeepers agreed, saying, “Work has happened only superficially. So not much has changed.”

The HC made its displeasure quite clear when it almost chided the state for providing security to big industrialists and mining sharks even as the ordinary man was crying for safety. The court wanted to know what the threat perception of these moneybags was it said they could easily afford private security and what was the method of assessing the threat perception.

Dumbfounded by the caustic observations, the state counsel had no replies and the matter had to be adjourned for Wednesday.

The scathing remarks by the court came in the wake of a plea by a Panchkula-based father-son duo, Sandeep Singla and Montey Singla, that they apprehended elimination by former Punjab DGP NPS Aulakh’s brother and land mafia and were hence seeking police protection.

The HC had already issued notices to various respondents, including Harinderpal Singh Aulakh (real brother of DGP NPS Aulakh) and Mohali SSP and also directed Haryana cops to provide security cover to the petitioners. Interestingly, even as the duo got protection, the Panchkula police came up with a bill of Rs 40,000 as a fee for providing cover.

The police demand irked the court no end and it wondered how cops could claim money for security provided on the orders of the court. The petitioners had moved HC on the ground that they were facing a threat from the land mafia that included Harinderpal Singh Aulakh and various anti-social elements.

The petitioners submitted that the mafia did not want them to execute a sale deed related to a land measuring 8 kanal and 16 marla located at Bhabat Village within the municipal limits of Zirakpur.

The Delhi Chief Electoral Office (CEO) has deployed nearly 400 mobile teams which will catch on tape supporters of the candidates while defacing buildings.

These teams, comprising video and still photographers, representatives from the Chief Electoral Office, MCD, NDMC and police officials, will keep an eye on the violators.

“We have formed teams to capture offences in camera. It is working in coordination with civic agencies. Delhi Police are also providing all help to them. After identifying the place and videography of the property, we ask police to take action. Delhi Police have removed more than 2,400 hoardings, banners, posters and graffiti and registered 320 FIRs in this regard.

All cases were filed under the Delhi Prevention of Defacement of Property Act 2007 (Delhi Act (1) of 2009), which came into effect in March.

Campaign veterans say the EC’s directive has cut down options drastically, especially the refusal to allow flags in any place other than the election or campaign office of the candidate. Said a source, “Flags are an excellent form of publicising as they enthuse the supporter tremendously and are a source of pride during election time.”

Now though parties are looking at other ways to catch the eye while keeping morale high. While masks and caps are the favourite parties across the spectrum have opted for this fail-safe cheap option other knick-knacks include badges, key-chains, pens as well as wrist and arm-bands. “These are the basic level of publicity. Ads on radio, television and kiosks are the next level,” said a member of the campaign team of a Congress candidate.

Some of course have decided to personalise the publicity merchandise further. For instance, BJP has an answer to any physical hurt you may feel it’s handing out band-aids with the symbol of the party tattooed across it as a quick-fix. BJP sources say the idea has been a great hit, especially when the candidate traverses through the colony alleyways during his padyatra or corner meetings. And while supporters may wear T-shirts and badges along with the arm-bands, what’s bound to connect with voters is the hand fan, feels North-East candidate J P Agarwal’s campaign team. Said a source, “The hand fan is a good handout, especially when in Delhi electricity is still an issue. People immediately identify with it and are likely to keep it whereas they may throw away a pamphlet or a handbill.”

Pens and pocket diaries are also a hit while calendars somewhat late in the year are also making an impact. Ajay Maken’s campaign team has beem handing out calendars with Vaastu symbols while Goel has decided to hand out an entire book to prospective voters. The book, which has Goel’s face as pride of place with a vote for BJP slogan across it, lists his achievements as an MP in the past few terms. For most though, pens and diaries are easier to distribute with the aam janta being more interested in these merchandise, say campaign workers.

Sources say as the election fever heats up, more merchandise will be hitting the streets. For instance, BJP’s Chetan Chauhan has got a CD with songs set to Bollywood tunes cut for the elections. It will be heard on his campaign trail soon, say sources. Others are also looking for innovative ways to capture the people’s imagination. Say sources, “While banners were the best option earlier, now these are the ways to connect with the voters.”

The selection process was rigorous and transparent 223 resumes were received which involved interviews, group discussions, rating each other and debates before a screening panel of distinguished people. Five hundred people also got to grill them. A major concern was the candidate should have no political and criminal background and met the minimum education qualification criteria of being a graduate. The age-group was 25-40.

Significantly, the funding for the campaign is being done through donations by students and civil society. Cars, cycles, office space, computers, phones, printers etc needed for the campaigning have been given by people supporting the movement for a couple of months.

Said Dr Kaushal Kant Mishra, president of YFE: “We chose New Delhi constituency as it is a prominent seat where a large percentage of the people are educated. Our major target is 60% of the citizens who do not vote because they never liked any of the candidates fielded by parties. We are urging people who still do not want to vote to opt for Rule 49 (O) of the election code which ensures that your vote is registered even if you do not vote for anybody.”

YFE has not come up with a manifesto and instead asked people to think honestly, keeping the nation’s interest above everything else.

Meanwhile, Tomar has been campaigning very hard, braving the searing afternoon heat. She says she has to put in that extra effort to compete with seasoned politicians like Vijay Goel and Ajay Maken.

Tomar, who has an army background, says: “My army training is helping me cope with the long hours of campaigning. I decided to be the people’s candidate as I felt that a change was needed and I was being provided with the right opportunity by having like-minded people support me. I am basically relying on door-to-door campaigning right now.” Tomar’s husband, Aseem Nath, is also from the army and they have two daughters.

Students, residents and activists supporting this movement have been campaigning in their localities about the `Lok Ummeedwar’ concept besides going to parks, malls and colleges.

To ensure accountability, the right to recall could be exercised and the candidate will sign an oath to this effect in advance. A group of eminent citizens will be formed and if at any point they feel that the `People’s Candidate’ is not performing well, they can ask the YFE’s core body to recall the candidate using the oath.

In its fresh affidavit submitted before the Delhi High Court, the special cell claimed that accused Mohammed Moarif Qamar and Irshad Ali were in touch with Baig, a Kashmiri militant in PoK, who heads the Jammu and Kashmir Islamic Front.

The cell claimed that links were unearthed by late Inspector MC Sharma who had found Ali being in touch with Baig and other terrorists on January 23, 2006. However, Ali had said he was abducted by the police on December 12, 2005.

The new theory to name Baig in the affidavit and linking the two persons with him has come after more than three years of their arrest.

Sharma’s name had not figured anywhere since the case came to light in 2006 and assistant commissioner of police (special cell) Sanjeev Yadav had listed his team before the high court and the CBI as well, but no role of deceased was mentioned.

Sharma was gunned down by militants of Indian Mujahideen at Batla House last year and now there is no way that the claim of the Delhi Police’s Special Cell could be corroborated, CBI officials commented.

The CBI had sought permission from the court for taking action against three Delhi Police officers posted with the elite Special Cell, dealing in terror cases.

The three Vinay Tyagi, Ravinder Tyagi and Subash Vats all posted with the special cell, were questioned by the CBI, which had gone into the case following a direction by the Delhi High Court, a report of the probe agency submitted before the court said.

The links of Qamar and Ali with Baig were not mentioned in the charge sheet filed by the Special Cell in a lower court on May six 2006, and this theory came only after the CBI filed a closure report in the case with a conclusion that the two were innocent.

CBI had recommended registering of a case against three Delhi Police officials for implicating the two by planting arms and explosives on them.

The lawyer, appearing for two accused, Sufian Siddiqui was now preparing a point-by-point reply to the Delhi Police’s claims.

“This should have been brought to light earlier by the Delhi Police when they were submitted a charge sheet in the case. Now they have no locus standi in the case as CBI was the prosecuting agency,” Siddiqqui said.

He said the writing on the wall was clear that the Delhi Police officials were guilty of implicating innocents and “that is why the new theory was being floated by them.”

The CBI has said it has found nothing against the two suspected members of Kashmiri militant outfit Al-Badar arrested by Special Cell in 2006.

Giving relief to the two — Qamar and Ali — arrested by the Delhi Police with the help of an Intelligence Bureau official, the CBI has filed a closure report in a court saying nothing adverse has been found against them.The CBI, in its closure report filed on November 11 last year, demanded that the three officers of the anti-terror cell, who were allegedly behind the “operation”, be booked for lying under oath and creating “false” evidence.

It also sought permission to carry on with the probe to ascertain the source of the arms and ammunition, claimed by the police to have been recovered from Qamar and Ali. The duo have been languishing in a jail since February 2006.

The CBI also said an Intelligence Bureau official had made 56 calls from his official landline number on Ali’s mobile phone before the arrest.

Later, Qamar and Ali, arrested by Special Cell from Mubarak Chowk on G T Karnal Road in North Delhi on February 2006, were declared innocent by the CBI.

The CBI alleged that the duo, who had been working as police informers, were framed by the Special Cell officials, who were “desperate” to show results after the Delhi blasts in October 2005.

Quick to detect the immense emotional connect the issue has with large numbers o voters, BJP candidates like Vijender Gupta, Meera Kawaria and Chetan Chauhan have been fanning the angst of parents and leading anti-fee hike demonstrations turning what till now was essentially an issue affecting just some sections of the city into a major poll issue.

Emboldened parents are openly confronting the school authorities without the fear of any classroom consequences on their children. After a string of protests in Vikaspuri, Rajendra Nagar, Paschim Vihar, parents again put across their resentment on Wednesday by protesting outside the Summer Fields School in Kailash Colony, Sachdeva Public School in Rohini and Mahavir Senior Model School at GT Road. The candidates not just participated but even spearheaded some of these protests.

The BJP candidates specially seem to believe in the adage `what goes around, comes around.’ This probably explains the reason for their unwavering support to the jittery parents in the matter of fee hike allowed by the Delhi government. Vijendra Gupta, who is also the president of the Delhi Abhibhavak Mahasangh, said, “The parents’ problem is genuine. Many of them cannot afford the exhorbitant school fees now. We have not taken up the issue because of elections but to help the parents. These parents are innocent anddo not belong to any political party.”

Gupta had joined the parents in a massive protest at Jantar Mantar on April 10. He had been visiting parents in Anand Parbat and Vikaspuri and also staged a dharna on the GT Karnal Road on Tuesday with other parents.

Chauhan, who is contesting for the Lok Sabha seat from east Delhi, also lent an ear to the parents complaining of unreasonable hike in the school fees. He said, “The complaints of the parents are completely justified. The school administrations have become uncontrolled because of the failure of the government.” Chauhan had met the parents and schoolchildren on Tuesday during his padyatra through Jhilmil Colony, Vishwakarma Nagar and Vivek Vihar.

Congress candidates, however, maintain that the fee hike was imminent and it was unfair to link the issue with elections. The Sixth Pay Commission had increased the salaries of teachers, which caused the fee to hike. Ajay Maken, Congress candidate from New Delhi said, “I know that the fee hike has pinched the pockets of many parents. But any political party in power would have done what we did. When BJP was in power after the Fifth Pay Commission, it had approved 40% hike in the tuition fee. We have only allowed an increase of just 20-25%.”

Maken added that most people in his constituency were central government employees and their education allowance per child had increased from Rs 50 to Rs 1000 per child per month. “So they won’t have a problem as their needs had been taken care of,” Maken added. Mahabal Mishra, Congress candidate from West Delhi too said, “The fee hike is not an issue according to me. I would not like to comment on it.”

Only after the report from Maulana Azad Medical College (MAMC) is given to the police can any action be taken against the teacher accused of punishing Shanno by making her stand in the sun for a prolonged period. “We are still awaiting the postmortem report. Till then we cannot take any action against the teacher. Evidence is being collected and examined,” said DCP (outer) Atul Katiyar.

When contacted, MAMC dean, A K Agarwal, refused to comment on the status of the postmortem report and declined to divulge any details. The police team on Tuesday also spoke to some of Shanno’s classmates and recorded their statements. “More witnesses need to be examined and we are relying on circumstantial evidence in the absence of any medical report,” added the officer.

The police are trying to find out what action her parents took and what treatment was given to Shanno by the doctors who first attended her on April 15. “We are also examining Shanno’s neighbours to understand and establish the exact sequence of events,” said an officer.

Shanno had allegedly slipped into coma on Wednesday after Manju, her class II teacher at the MCD school in outer Delhi, made her stand under the sun for over an hour after beating her for not learning the English alphabets.

The girl, who was shifted to the Lok Nayak Hospital on Thursday evening after her condition deteriorated, died on Friday afternoon. The police added that Shanno used to get seizures and might have died due to shock.

In a press statement on Tuesday, the vigilance department of MCD, which is also probing the matter, denied media reports of giving a clean chit to Manju. The department will submit the report as soon as the required formalities are completed and the commissioner will take appropriate action on receiving the report, the MCD said. As per the statement, since the vigilance department has so far not submitted the report, there is no question of giving a clean chit to the teacher or reaching any conclusion.

Meanwhile, over 100 protesters, comprising mainly women, staged a demonstration against corporal punishment on Tuesday outside the Delhi Police headquarters and demanded Manju’s arrest. Also, a parents’ association demanded that Delhi government should take over all MCD schools. A delegation of All India Parents Association met the Delhi education minister, Arvinder Singh Lovely, and requested him to take over all the MCD-run schools.

Allowing the Club’s petition, Justice Geeta Mittal said “Consumption of any refreshment or beverage by a member or a guest at a club would not bring him within the definition of the consumer” and quashed the proceedings before the consumer court and its notice against the club in 2006.

By extension, HC clarified that the Standard of Weight and Measures(SWM) Act do not apply to the Club as it is neither a ‘hotel’ nor a restaurant.

In its petition the club challenged the Consumer Dispute Redressal Forum’s notice on a complaint filed by one of the club members Harish Tripathy alleging the club was charging more than MRP for a bottle of water or cold drink even though the members paid a monthly sum as fee.

“The service rendered by the club in making available to its members/guests food items and beverages, packaged or in any other form for their convenience and consumption in a comfortable atmosphere provided at the premises of the club cannot be treated as a `sale’,” the court concluded agreeing with the club that a customer was not just consuming a drink but also availing the facilities like air conditioning, interior decoration etc. The club argued that it needed to levy extra charges to hire a staff and train them, pointing out that the sale of commodity is just incidental to the real service rendered.

The problem started after the fire, caused by an electrical short-circuit in the airconditioning system in one of the rooms of the stations, damaged a signalling cable around 6 pm. Due to this, all the trains running between Kanhaiya Nagar and Rohini East stations had to be operated on manual mode. “In the manual mode, the speed
of trains was reduced to about 20 kmph, which in turn affected the frequency. The problem will be rectified only at night after train operations stop for the day,” said a Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) spokesperson.

Meanwhile, passengers using the system complained of major delays. “I boarded a train at Rithala for the Tis Hazari station at 6.15 pm and was stuck in it for the next two hours. There was no information on what is wrong and no metro officials was present in the train to explain either,” said M S Jadhav, an advocate.

According to the police, the victim, Bahadur, was deboarding the bus, plying on route number 212 between Nand Nagri and Shakti Nagar, when the incident occurred. “He boarded the bus from Nand Nagri and was getting down from it at Subzi Mandi bus stand when suddenly his leg slipped. He fell down and came under the rear wheel of the bus,” said a senior police officer.

The bus driver, Naim Singh (40), tried to flee but passengers caught him and handed him over to the police. A case of death due to rash and negligent driving has been registered against him at the Subzi Mandi police station. Police said that they are trying to trace the family of Bahadur.

In another incident, an unidentified man, aged about 40, died after being hit by an unknown vehicle in Madipur area of west Delhi on Tuesday morning. Police said that the victim was crossing the road when he was hit by a speeding vehicle.