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Sushma Swaraj pulls out all stops at trader hub

Written By Unknown on Sabtu, 30 November 2013 | 22.10

NEW DELHI: Campaigning at seven locations in south and east Delhi, BJP leader Sushma Swaraj's first stop or, as she put it borrowing from the traders' lexicon, Bohni, was at Jungpura. On Friday, Swaraj met a crowd of supporters at a Central Road crossing, part of Bhogal market. The market is rich in kitchen appliances and, apparently, Congress voters — the party has won municipal, assembly and Lok Sabha seats from this constituency in all elections over the last two decades.

Swaraj repeated promises she's made over the previous two days — 25 essential medicines (BJP's chief ministerial candidate, Harsh Vardhan, has drawn up the list) to be provided free to every citizen "from birth till death"; number of subsidized LPG cylinders will be increased from nine to 12; unauthorized colonies will be regularized; youths will get smart cards for travel that won't be specific to any particular mode of public transport and steps for women safety. She also promised an increase in pension for the aged, widows and the disabled.

"Considering Delhi has two governments —state and Centre — the city should have been a beautiful one. But what's happening is quite the opposite. If central government increases the price of petrol, fuel, Delhi government increases prices of electricity and water," she said. She was campaigning for BJP candidate Pankaj Jain.

Projected reductions in cost of electricity are beginning to resemble price wars between low-cost airlines. Aam Aadmi Party promised a 50% drop; BJP's promised 30%; on Thursday, Jain had told his constituents, "It could also be 50%." Swaraj finished with a joke on Jain's substantial girth — he is, to be fair, portly — saying, "Jitna mota hai, utna mota iska kaam hai".


22.10 | 0 komentar | Read More

Delhi polls: Inflation-hit CM reaches out, crowd not impressed

NEW DELHI: Chief minister Sheila Dikshit on Friday tried to strike a chord of sympathy with the residents of outer Delhi by raking up the issue of onion prices and claimed that even she was affected when the prices soared to Rs 100 per kilogram last month. However, her speech did little to hold the attention of the crowd at her campaign rally.

Dikshit's speech at Nangloi, Munka and Kirari did not seem to impress the crowd and many were seen leaving the rally after just 10 minutes into her speech. Popular Punjabi pop singer Daler Mehndi proved to be a bigger crowd-puller than Dikshit and elicited loud cheers during his 30-second performance.
Suman, a Nangloi resident, said she had no interest in the political rally and had come to see Daler. Others also sat perched on their balconies to get a glimpse of the pop star. However, the rapt attention lasted only while Mehndi was on stage. Kulle, a resident of Mundka, said that Congress was losing its touch and very few people in the area were supporting it. Its performance in the coming election is difficult to predict because the party is not without its supporters.

At each of the jan sabhas, there was a crowd of 200-300 people though they were seen moving in and out of the venue throughout the half an hour that the CM spent at each place. Unlike bigger rallies, these meetings were low-key with the pomp and show completely missing.

In the rally, Dikshit also attacked Aam Aadmi Party convener Arvind Kejriwal saying he was an outsider who wanted to win Delhi. "I do not know if Kejriwal has come here. He has made claims about reducing the power rates while he himself stays in Ghaziabad. There electricity only comes for six to seven hours. How does he propose to come to Delhi and solve the issue," she said.

Promising "double-decker flyovers" and dharamshalas for migrant workers, Dikshit said that Congress would provide pukka houses to all slum dwellers without displacing them. "We will provide more houses to the slum dwellers. People come to Delhi because they find employment and earn a decent living. We will provide living arrangements to the migrant worker," the CM said.


22.10 | 0 komentar | Read More

Delhi polls: BJP booming but only Sheila shoots for Congress

New Delhi: At a time when the BJP national leadership is all set to raise the pitch in its campaign with prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi going on a rally blitzkrieg, a visibly jittery Congress -- still to recover from the low turnout at the Rahul Gandhi rally less than a fortnight ago -- is sticking to localized corner and public meetings for the last lap.

The Congress campaign has put to test 15 years of Sheila Dikshit in power - she is the party's lead campaigner for a fourth term. The constituencies being wooed by the CM in a last-ditch attempt are those where the Congress is caught in a tough battle with opponents - like in Gokulpuri in northeast and Kirari in northwest. The national leadership of the Congress has been largely missing from the rallies and public meetings though Election Commission has a list of at least 40 names, including that of the PM, Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi and many cabinet ministers who would have campaigned.

The news of the sudden cancellation of a much-anticipated rally scheduled for Saturday where Prime Minister Manmohan Singh was to set the pace confirms the nervousness within the Congress which is caught between anti-incumbency and aggressive campaigning by rivals BJP and new entrant AAP.
Unlike the BJP's aggressive stance with rallies and public meetings lined up every hour, most of the Congress campaign is localized with area MLAs and candidates claiming to be taking the traditional route of padyatras and corner meetings in residential clusters, parks and streets.

Chief minister Sheila Dikshit's schedule shows a bid to cover about four to five assembly constituencies daily. On Wednesday the CM went eastwards while it was northeast on Thursday and northwest on Friday. Apparently, she is choosing constituencies where the Congress sees the contest can go either way. "We are trying to choose areas where either we are ahead by a small margin or behind by a small margin according to our internal surveys," sources said. Sheila's campaign usually begins and ends with the world class city dream, ranging from Metro to flyovers and promise of more infrastructure, irrespective of the venue.


22.10 | 0 komentar | Read More

Delhi polls: Ravi Shankar woos Poorvanchalis with native wisdom

NEW DELHI: You have seen him debating legal issues and party affairs in Rajya Sabha and on TV channels. But Wednesday's public meeting at Kirbi Place in Delhi Cantonment assembly constituency saw another side of Ravi Shankar Prasad, deputy leader of the Opposition in Rajya Sabha.

Prasad, who is from Bihar, could be seen addressing the Poorvanchali voters living in the slum clusters in Bhojpuri. 'Aap sabko namaskaar. Aur jo Bihar ke log baithal ba, unka pranaam karale ,' he said, establishing an instant rapport with his audience. Hundreds of men and women, mostly daily wage labourers living in the area, had finished their work early to listen to the Bihari Babu and Bhojpuri singer Sharmila Pandey, who was present there too.

The BJP leader took potshots at Congress for the rising food prices and poor governance at the Centre and in the state. "I have been a minister in the NDA government led by Atal Bihari Vajpayee. The prices of essential commodities, food and vegetables were within the reach of the common man," Prasad said.
" Ye (Congress party) jinne jata, luta ta. Hamar Bihar ke bhai behan sun la, Sonia ji ke raj mein jamin, aasman aur patal maan bhi ghotala ba (This Congress party loots people wherever it goes. My fellow Biharis, listen, in Sonia's rule, there is scam on earth (CWG), below (coal scam) and even in the skies (2G)," he said. He then asked for a second-term for the sitting MLA from BJP, Karan Singh Tanwar. "If BJP comes to power, he will be a minister. And the problems of water, power and road will be addressed," Prasad added.

He also visited the house of a party worker in Tilak Nagar to find out about poll preparations and enthuse the cadre before attending another public meeting in the area. "When in field, I am just another grassroot worker of the party. I am proud of my Bihari origin and love to interact with fellowmen in Bhojpuri," he said.

BJP, which has been out of power in Delhi for 15 years, is sparing no efforts to win this time. Apart from its poster boy, Narendra Modi, several of its leaders with strong affiliation to a particular community, such as Poorvanchalis, are campaigning extensively. Prasad says that he, along with other heavyweights from Bihar, for example Rajiv Pratap Rudy, will be attending three to four public meetings daily.

Delhi has about 40 lakh Poorvanchali voters spread across the various assembly constituencies, majority of which fall in the trans-Yamuna areas. Sources said BJP leaders from Bihar, including Sushil Modi, C P Thakur, Giriraj Singh and the UP BJP's in-charge Amit Shah, are campaigning too.


22.10 | 0 komentar | Read More

Over 1,500 sex workers set to vote in Delhi polls

NEW DELHI: Nafeesa, who has been living in Delhi's infamous GB Road red-light area for 15 years, feels lucky to be included among the over 1,500 sex workers who would cast their votes in the Dec 4 Delhi assembly elections - thanks to an enrolment drive by the state election commission.

Nafeesa, name changed, was among 300 women from GB Road who were enrolled during a camp held in the area by the Delhi State Election Commission.

"This year we have provided 300 sex workers with voter ID cards. We have applications from around 1,000 more candidates from GB Road for voter ID cards but their verification is yet to be done," a senior government official of the area told IANS on condition of anonymity.

There has been a steady rise in the number of sex workers enrolling as voters, the official said . From 300 who got enrolled ahead of the 2003 elections, the number went up to 1,200 in the 2008 elections, he said.

"I was trafficked in Delhi in 1998 and sold at brothel number 64 at GB Road. Since the 2003 assembly elections, I have been trying to get a voter ID card but failed every time due to incomplete documentation. This year I have got my card and will cast my vote," Nafeesa told IANS.

Khairati Lal Bhola, president of NGO Bhartiya Patita Uddhar Sabha (BPUS), told IANS: "Around 5,000 sex workers, excluding woman pimps and touts, reside in the 116 brothels situated in 25 buildings on G.B. Road. But till the 2008 assembly elections only 1,200 of them had voter ID cards."

Bhola said the 2008 assembly election saw over 80 per cent sex workers cast their votes. "These sex workers should be given sympathy and provided rights like other citizens so that they can come forward to cast their vote," said Bhola.

An election commission official told IANS: "We have taken several special measures to enroll the sex workers as voters, including setting up camps in GB Road."

"We noticed in the past that sex workers generally avoid going to the general enrolment centres. They feel embarrassed to be among the other people. We have also seen them getting beaten by pimps who try to stop them from exercising their rights fearing they might flee. We then decided to reach out to them," added the official.

Earlier, only the brothel madams would go to cast their votes. But now all those who have got voter ID cards are raring to exercise their franchise.

Rukshana, a sex worker for over nine years, said: "Now our votes shall also matter."

Another sex worker, Sofia told IANS that she will not give her vote to those politicians who had "ignored" them .

"We all will vote but only for the person who will fulfill our long-pending demands," Munni Begum, president of GB Road Sex Workers Association, told IANS.

The sex workers are grateful to the administration for providing them with voter ID cards, Aadhar cards and Below Poverty Level (BPL) cards.

But, they reiterated their long-pending demand of legalizing prostitution.

"Give us licenses and mark the areas for us. If any one of us is ready to go out of this profession, she should be provided work to live in the society. If somebody wants to earn her livelihood by selling her body why should it not be allowed?," Nasreen Begum told IANS.

"It will help in checking human trafficking as it will help the authorities to clearly define a sex worker," she said.

Some other sex workers demanded old age homes or hostels for those sex workers who are older in years and fail to get clients.


22.10 | 0 komentar | Read More

Circumstances that point to guilt

Written By Unknown on Rabu, 27 November 2013 | 22.10

From oral and documentary evidence given by prosecution, court said it reached the "irresistible and impeccable" conclusion that only the accused were responsible for committing the murders. It enlisted circumstances that point towards the hypothesis of guilt of accused.

On night of May 15/16, 2008, both accused last seen with both deceased in Flat No. L-32, Jalvayu Vihar, around 9.30pm by Umesh Sharma, driver of Dr Rajesh Talwar.

On morning of May 16, around 6am, Aarushi found murdered in her bedroom which was adjacent to bedroom of accused and there was only one partition wall between the two bedrooms.

Body of Hemraj found lying in pool of blood on terrace of flat on May 17 and door of terrace found locked from inside.

Close proximity between the time when both accused and deceased persons last seen together alive and when deceased murdered in the intervening night of May 15/16, 2008. The gap so small that possibility of any other person(s) other than the accused being behind crime impossible.

Door of Aarushi's bedroom fitted with automatic click-shut lock. Mahesh Kumar Mishra, then SP (City), Noida, said Dr Talwar told him on morning of May 16 that he had gone to sleep with the key at 11.30pm the previous night, after locking the door of Aarushi's bedroom from outside. Accused admitted door could be opened either with key from outside or without key from inside. How was door opened? No explanation by accused.

Internet active on night of murders, suggesting at least one accused awake.

Nothing to show that outsider(s) came to house that night after 9.30.pm.

No disruption of power supply that night.

No one seen loitering near the flat in suspicious circumstances that night.

No evidence of forcible entry by any outsider into the flat that night.

No evidence of any larcenous act in the flat On May 16 morning when maid (Bharti Mandal) came to flat for cleaning. Ruse by Nupur Talwar that door might have been locked from outside by Hemraj, though it was not locked or latched from outside.

Bharti nowhere claimed that when she came inside, both accused were weeping.

From Bharti's testimony, it's clear that when she reached the flat and spoke to Nupur, she didn't complain about the murder of her daughter and rather told her deliberately that Hemraj might have gone to fetch milk from Mother Dairy booth after locking the wooden door from outside.

Clothes of both accused not found soaked with blood.

Highly unnatural that parents of deceased Aarushi didn't cling to her body or hug it.

No outsider would have dared to take Hemraj to terrace in severely injured condition and thereafter search for a lock to be put on the door of terrace.

Not possible that outsider(s) after committing the murders will muster courage to take Scotch whisky knowing that the parents were in a nearby room.Top priority would be to run away.

No outsider will bother to take body of Hemraj to terrace. One person cannot take the body to terrace anyway.

Door of terrace was never locked earlier but found locked on May 16 morning. The accused didn't give key of lock to police despite being asked for it.

Accused said that about 8-10 days before murders, some painting work had started in complex and labourers used to take water from the tank on terrace. Hence, Hemraj started locking it and keeping the key with himself. If it was so, it won't be easy for an outsider to find key.

If an outsider(s) had indeed committed the crime and gone out of the flat, the outermost mesh door or middle mesh door must have been found latched from outside.

Motive of commission of crime established.

Not possible for an outsider to dress up crime scene after commission of crime.

Golf club no 5 thrown into the loft after commission of crime and the same produced after many months by Dr Talwar.

Pattern of head and neck injuries of both accused almost similar in nature and can be caused by golf club and scalpel, respectively

Dr Talwar was a member of Golf Club, Noida, and golf clubs were produced by him before CBI. Scalpel is used by dentists and both accused are dentists.


22.10 | 0 komentar | Read More

Aarushi verdict: Court lists circumstances that point to Talwars' guilt

From oral and documentary evidence given by prosecution, court said it reached the "irresistible and impeccable" conclusion that only the accused were responsible for committing the murders. It enlisted circumstances that point towards the hypothesis of guilt of accused.

On night of May 15/16, 2008, both accused last seen with both deceased in Flat No. L-32, Jalvayu Vihar, around 9.30pm by Umesh Sharma, driver of Dr Rajesh Talwar.

On morning of May 16, around 6am, Aarushi found murdered in her bedroom which was adjacent to bedroom of accused and there was only one partition wall between the two bedrooms.

Body of Hemraj found lying in pool of blood on terrace of flat on May 17 and door of terrace found locked from inside.

Close proximity between the time when both accused and deceased persons last seen together alive and when deceased murdered in the intervening night of May 15/16, 2008. The gap so small that possibility of any other person(s) other than the accused being behind crime impossible.

Door of Aarushi's bedroom fitted with automatic click-shut lock. Mahesh Kumar Mishra, then SP (City), Noida, said Dr Talwar told him on morning of May 16 that he had gone to sleep with the key at 11.30pm the previous night, after locking the door of Aarushi's bedroom from outside. Accused admitted door could be opened either with key from outside or without key from inside. How was door opened? No explanation by accused.

Internet active on night of murders, suggesting at least one accused awake.

Nothing to show that outsider(s) came to house that night after 9.30.pm.

No disruption of power supply that night.

No one seen loitering near the flat in suspicious circumstances that night.

No evidence of forcible entry by any outsider into the flat that night.

No evidence of any larcenous act in the flat On May 16 morning when maid (Bharti Mandal) came to flat for cleaning. Ruse by Nupur Talwar that door might have been locked from outside by Hemraj, though it was not locked or latched from outside.

Bharti nowhere claimed that when she came inside, both accused were weeping.

From Bharti's testimony, it's clear that when she reached the flat and spoke to Nupur, she didn't complain about the murder of her daughter and rather told her deliberately that Hemraj might have gone to fetch milk from Mother Dairy booth after locking the wooden door from outside.

Clothes of both accused not found soaked with blood.

Highly unnatural that parents of deceased Aarushi didn't cling to her body or hug it.

No outsider would have dared to take Hemraj to terrace in severely injured condition and thereafter search for a lock to be put on the door of terrace.

Not possible that outsider(s) after committing the murders will muster courage to take Scotch whisky knowing that the parents were in a nearby room.Top priority would be to run away.

No outsider will bother to take body of Hemraj to terrace. One person cannot take the body to terrace anyway.

Door of terrace was never locked earlier but found locked on May 16 morning. The accused didn't give key of lock to police despite being asked for it.

Accused said that about 8-10 days before murders, some painting work had started in complex and labourers used to take water from the tank on terrace. Hence, Hemraj started locking it and keeping the key with himself. If it was so, it won't be easy for an outsider to find key.

If an outsider(s) had indeed committed the crime and gone out of the flat, the outermost mesh door or middle mesh door must have been found latched from outside.

Motive of commission of crime established.

Not possible for an outsider to dress up crime scene after commission of crime.

Golf club no 5 thrown into the loft after commission of crime and the same produced after many months by Dr Talwar.

Pattern of head and neck injuries of both accused almost similar in nature and can be caused by golf club and scalpel, respectively

Dr Talwar was a member of Golf Club, Noida, and golf clubs were produced by him before CBI. Scalpel is used by dentists and both accused are dentists.


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Rape survivors attend art workshop at Jamia

NEW DELHI: Tara, 15, was helped captive over several days and raped by a former-lover a decade older than herself; another 15-year-old was waylaid by an acquaintance on her way to school and taken to a hotel; a third teen from Sonipat was similarly assaulted by her landlord. The three were part of a group — nearly all teenagers — that participated in a fine-arts workshop for rape survivors, 'Veerangana', conducted by KD Singh Foundation — Support Cell for Rape Victims, at Jamia Millia Islamia University on the "International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women."

The foundation is a "grassroot-level social welfare organization providing comprehensive three-tiered medical, legal and rehabilitation support to rape survivors," says a statement issued by them. The rape survivors worked with JMI students under the guidance of Prof. ZA Zargar, dean, Faculty of Fine Arts to design thematic posters and also exhibited their the works of art at an exhibition to mark the occasion.

"It is a special experience to share our knowledge with such courageous girls who have survived the trauma of rape and the associated stigma but continue to strive for a better future through the power of education. Fine Arts is known to help in healing the trauma of sexual violence. It helps rape victims express their feelings and overcome the fear and anxiety. Through this workshop we hope to help the survivors find their strengths and motivate them to look ahead in their lives," said Zargar, Dean, Faculty of Fine Arts, JMI.

The Support Cell for Rape Victims has supported 113 rape victims across Haryana and Delhi-NCR till date. The cases of several of the participants are still in court while those of others have already been resolved. The girls are undergoing counselling and in most are continuing with their education despite the trauma and, in some cases, threats from the perpetrators.


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Jamia to confer honorary degree on Najeeb Jung

NEW DELHI: Jamia Millia Islamia will hold its annual convocation on November 28, 2013 at 3.15 pm in the Lawns of Dr M A Ansari Auditorium. On this occasion, the university will confer the degree of 'Doctors of Letters' (Honoris Causa) on Najeeb Jung, Lieutenant Governor of Delhi. A citation will be presented to him. Jung, the chief guest of the event will deliver his convocation address.

Lt Gen (retd) M A Zaki, chancellor, Jamia will preside over the convocation. Professor S M Sajid, officiating vice-chancellor, will deliver the Vice Chancellor's report highlighting the achievements of the past year as also plans for the future.

In the annual convocation - 2013, a total of 4,569 degrees/diplomas shall be awarded to students who have successfully completed post-graduation, graduation and diploma courses from different faculties/departments/ centres of the university in the academic session 2011-12.

Jamia will also hand out 154 gold medals to the toppers of different courses as well as award 224 PhD degrees to research scholars.


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Korea’s Biuret, Bangladesh’s LRB and Pak’s Strings at SA Band Festival

NEW DELHI: The seventh edition of South Asian Bands Festival (SABF) is slated to be held at Purana Qila from November 29 to Dec 1.

This year's line-up include Barefaced Liar, Circus and Susmit Sen Chronicles (Delhi), LRB (Bangladesh), ZnG (Bhutan), Biuret (Korea), Stigmata (Sri Lanka), Eman's Conspiracy (Maldives), Papon And The East Indian Company and What's In The Name (Mumbai), Strings (Pakistan), Pardis (Afghanistan), Albatross (Nepal) and The Raghu Dixit Project (Bengaluru).

Presented by the ministry of external affairs, ICCR and Seher, the three-day festival will feature fourteen popular rock bands from across nine nations of the sub-continent.

According to Seema Dahiya, project manager SABF 2013, the festival that started in 2007, has become one of Delhi's most eagerly awaited cultural extravaganzas. "Year after year people of all ages look forward to the best bands from the South Asian region to be showcased at the festival," says Dahiya.

The highlight of this year's festival is the participation of Korea, which is the observer country to SAARC. The Korean Rock Band - Biuret is the winner at Sutasi, Asian American Idol programme, started in 2002. The band has since released two albums with the third slated for 2014. It has also performed at the Incheon Pentapot Rock Festival and Ssamzi Rock Festival in Korea. The band members are Hye-won Moon (vocals) and Gyo-won Lee (Guitar).

"The festival aims to popularise the best music from South Asian region," says Sanjeev Bhargava of Seher.

LRB from Bangladesh is another band to watch out for as their leader Ayub Bachchu, is one of the pioneers of rock music in Bangladesh. Their performance is slated for the opening day Nov 29.

While day two Nov 30, gears up for Strings from Pakistan, an added attraction is the students' band 'What's In The Name' who were the winners of the rock bands competition at IIT Mumbai. They are slated to perform on Dec 1 with the closing act by Raghu Dixit.


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Burglars vandalize Delhi's ATM

Written By Unknown on Selasa, 26 November 2013 | 22.10

NEW DELHI: Exposing the vulnerability of the city's ATM kiosks, crooks yet again tried to rob one in north Delhi in the early hours. The thieves managed to break the panel of the screen and keypad but could not get at the cash box as it got sealed when they tried to tamper with the locking mechanism, police said on Monday.

The crooks then spray-painted the door, probably leaving clues behind. The cops are now studying the 'artwork'. According to experts, all ATMs have a self-locking mechanism which can be activated with a password. Any attempt to break into the system will lock the safe and it can be opened only by trained professionals thereafter.

The Axis Bank ATM which is at a stone's throw away from Sarai Rohilla police station. Locals said that it was probably due to proximity to police that only this ATM in the area did not have any guard. The ATM booth is located inside a market on Vivekanand Puri Road. The door did not have a lock or card swipe mechanism to open it. The incident came to fore around 7.50am when the bank officials arrived to load cash in the ATM and found it vandalized. They dialed 100 and informed police. "We have asked the bank to provide CCTV footage," Sindhu Pillai, DCP (North), said.


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Photo slips for all voters this time

NEW DELHI: With barely a week left for polling, the Election Commission is working hard to weed out bogus voters. On Monday, the poll panel came out with a public notification on the distribution of photo voter slips, which are being issued for the first time in the capital.

"EC will distribute these photo voter slips to everyone on the electoral roll. Each booth-level officer has been allotted around 1,000-1,500 voters," said Vijay Dev, chief electoral officer, Delhi.

The receipt of the photo voter slip, which will be handed out in every household, will need to be acknowledged by the voter. This, says Dev, will help ensure that every genuine voter gets it. "This time, it's a 100% photo electoral roll. The photo voter slip will also allow us to update records as the voter will have to give contact number and email address during the receipt of the slip," added Dev.

During the 2008 assembly polls, only 84% of the electoral roll was photo-based. That's not all. The photo voter slip will also facilitate voters, say EC officials. Till now, the voter ID card or any other authorized documentation was mandatory during polling. Now, the photo voter slip is enough to get you entry into the polling booth. "Sometimes, the required ID is not available or people forget to get it. The photo voter slip will make the process easier," said Dev.

The distribution of these voter slips will also enable the poll panel to implement the 48-hour no-campaign rule. Till now, though the EC regulations mandated that no political party would carry out campaigns 48-hours before the polling day, this rule was circumvented. Political parties would distribute the polling booth details along with the voter ID information to voters.

"Since this exercise would be carried out during that 48-hour period, it became a way of violating the rule, as parties would still be reaching out to voters. Now that won't be possible," said Dev.


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AAP sues portal, channel for sting

NEW DELHI: Aam Aadmi Party on Monday filed a defamation case against web portal mediasarkar.com and a private television channel owned by a Congress MLA for a sting operation against some of its members. The party also claimed that it would be sending notices to some other media houses shortly, seeking an apology for running the "highly doctored" sting tape.

The complaint, which is likely to be heard by a Delhi court on November 27, alleged that the intention of the accused was "mala fide and calculated to defame the complainant (AAP) in the eyes of voters of Delhi".

The tape allegedly showed AAP "as corrupt political party whose candidates are ready to accept donation in cash without giving receipt, accept black money for campaigning, get all sorts of work like sitting on dharna for doing fake protest in lieu of money, recover property and cash stuck in dispute without going through the proper legal recourse".

Party officials will also be meeting Delhi's chief electoral officer on Tuesday to discuss the matter. The sting tape had been submitted to the Election Commission by mediasarkar.com's CEO Anuranjan Jha who claimed that the poll panel needed to determine whether action was needed against AAP for violating the model code of conduct.

EC officials said that a letter had been sent to AAP and one would be sent to Jha, saying that it was not within their purview to determine whether the footage was fake or real. "If we are to take action, the concerned parties should first approach police or the judiciary to determine the tape's authenticity," said sources.

AAP spokesperson Yogendra Yadav said that in the past few days, several incidents of people posing as AAP volunteers and threatening people and carrying out illegal activity had been reported.

"Some people donning AAP caps were caught distributing Rs 1,000 notes in Patparganj, some others were reportedly threatening people and one car with an AAP sticker was found to be carrying cash. We have nothing to do with such incidents," he said.

The party reported that eight AAP volunteers had been detained at Pragati Maidan when they tried to enter the trade fair wearing AAP caps. Police sources denied the charges, saying that the volunteers were only stopped from entering the venue since wearing caps was not permitted inside Pragati Maidan.


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Servant robs 82-year-old in Sundar Nagar

NEW DELHI: An 82-year-old woman was robbed of cash and jewellery worth around Rs 40 lakh after being held hostage inside her house by her servant and his accomplices on Monday.

The victim has been identified as Kavita Advani, a resident of Sundar Nagar. Her son, Nitin (53), lives on the ground floor of the house while she lived on the first floor.

Advani's servant, who introduced himself as Islam, began working for the family three months ago. However, he has been identified by police as one Habibul, who is believed to be from Bangladesh. The family had not had him verified.

On Monday morning, Habibul barged into the house with two accomplices after Nitin left for work. He tied up Kavita and her maid, Sushma, and decamped with the loot. They also told the women to hand over the jewellery they were wearing. When the women resisted, they were thrashed by the robbers.

Neighbours informed the police and the victim was taken to a nearby hospital. A case of robbery has been registered and the police are looking for the robbers. Six teams have been formed to investigate the matter.


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Judge invokes Bible, Quran on ‘sacred’ life

In his 204-page order, the judge leaned heavily on holy books and edicts to disapprove of the parents' actions. "They have extirpated their own daughter who had hardly seen 14 summers of her life and the servant... in the breach of the commandment 'thou shall not kill' and injunction of Holy Quran 'take not life which God has made sacred'," he observed.

"The parents are the best protectors of their own children. That is the order of human nature but they have been freaks in the history of mankind where the father and mother became the killer of their own progeny," the judge said.
The court noted that the parents did not just stop at killing their daughter but also participated in destroying evidence. "They are also found guilty.

of secreting and obliterating the evidence of the commission of the murders to screen themselves from punishment," the court said.

"Dharmo rakshati rakshitaha (If we protect dharma, dharma will protect us). If we protect the law, the law will protect us. Both the accused have flouted the penal law of the land and therefore are liable to be convicted for murder, destruction of evidence and having common intention to commit the crime," the judge added.

The hearing, which lasted for barely two minutes, was high on drama with mediapersons restrained from entering the courtroom and the Uttar Pradesh police placing the court complex under strong security cover. Three DSPs, three station house officers, 90 constables and a platoon of PAC were deployed in and around the court.

The judgment was scheduled to be pronounced in the morning but the judge, who is to lay down office this month end, arrived in the high-security courtroom at 3.25pm and summoned both the accused.

Court sources said the judge read out the operative portion from his order and said that both parents had been convicted for murder and other crimes.

As soon as the judge pronounced the verdict, the Talwars broke down, sources said. They were taken into custody and sent to Dasna jail by the court.

Interestingly, within minutes of the verdict being pronounced, an official statement in the name of dentist couple was circulated expressing their "disappointment" over the verdict.

Reacting to the conviction, defence lawyer Satyaketu Singh said the judgment was wrong in law and would be appealed against in the high court.


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Court drops rape charge, lets lover go

Written By Unknown on Senin, 25 November 2013 | 22.10

NEW DELHI: A youth accused of kidnapping and raping a minor girl had been acquitted by a Delhi court on the ground that everything between them was with the "consent" of the girl and the boy has not "committed any offence".

Additional sessions judge Virender Bhat directed release of the boy, a native of Bihar, from Tihar Jail saying the girl had "voluntarily eloped" with the boy as she was in "love with him and wanted to marry him". "The overall conduct of the prosecutrix (girl) as noted herein above, shows that she had voluntarily eloped with the accused as she was in love with him and wanted to marry him but her family members were against such marriage as accused did not belong to their caste.

"It also shows that the girl was consenting party to the sexual intercourse also between the two," the court said. The boy was arrested by the police in February 2012 after the girl's father had lodged a complaint alleging that the accused, who was their neighbour, had kidnapped his daughter. The prosecution had further said that the boy had asked the girl to marry him but on her refusal, he kidnapped her and took her to Nagpur, and there he had solemnized marriage with the girl and had committed rape on her on several occasions. However, the accused during the trial had denied all the allegation against him and said that he was being implicated.


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Man gets life term for murder bid

NEW DELHI: A man has been sentenced to life term by a Delhi court for attempting to murder his former employer's wife after he was sacked.

Additional sessions judge T S Kashyap held Wasim, a resident of Uttar Pradesh, guilty of attempt to murder under the IPC and the Arms Act and also imposed a fine of Rs 4,000 on him. The court said Wasim had shot at the victim due to which she her right hand had to be amputated.

"The convict was in possession of one country-made pistol and live cartridge and had also fired a shot at Shahnaj Begum causing grievous injury to her. He did not have a licence for possessing the pistol," the court said.

According to the prosecution, the incident took place on February 21, 2011, when Wasim went to the house of his former employer, Sabir Khan. Wasim had started working for Khan around four months before the incident and also lived at his house.

A case was registered at Bhajanpura police station and Wasim was later apprehended. Khan said he had fired Wasim since he was a drunkard and had also asked him to vacate the room. He added that Wasim was demanding money from him and had also threatened him.

During the trial, Wasim claimed he was in love with Shahnaj, which is why her husband shot at her and falsely implicated him.


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Capital looks forward to pleasant Monday

NEW DELHI: Though the capital experienced some shallow fog and mist in the morning, the sky cleared thereafter with minimum temperatures settling at 11.5 degrees Celsius.

The week ended on a sunny and comparatively warm note as the maximum temperature settled a notch above the season's average at 27.5 degrees Celsius. Similar weather is expected Monday. "The day would be sunny and pleasant and light mist will envelope the city early morning and in the evening," said an official of the India Meteorological Department (IMD).

The maximum and minimum temperatures are likely to hover around 27 and 12 degrees Celsius. Sunday morning was nippy and the minimum temperature settled at 11.5 degrees Celsius, average for this time of the season. Saturday's maximum and minimum temperature were recorded at 27.1 degrees and 10.8 degrees Celsius, respectively.


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Timeline of Aarushi-Hemraj murder case

May 16, 2008: Aarushi Talwar, the daughter of dentist couple Rajesh and Nupur Talwar, found dead with her throat slit in the bedroom of her Noida home. Nepalese domestic help Hemraj suspected of murder.

May 17: Body of Hemraj found on the terrace of the Talwar house.

May 18: Police say murders were conducted with surgical precision, insider job suspected.

May 23: Aarushi's father Rajesh Talwar arrested for double murder.

May 31: Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) takes over case.

June 13: Krishna, Rajesh Talwar's compounder, arrested by the CBI. Ten days later, Raj Kumar, the servant of a doctor friend of the Talwars, and Vijay Mandal, the domestic help of Talwars' neighbour, were also nabbed.

July 12: Rajesh given bail by a Ghaziabad court after CBI fails to present evidence against him.

Jan 5, 2010: CBI moves court to conduct narco test on Talwar couple.

Dec 29: The CBI files closure report, stating Rajesh is the main suspect, but there is not enough evidence against him.

Jan 25, 2011: Rajesh Talwar attacked in Ghaziabad court premises.

Feb 9: A special Ghaziabad court rejects CBI's closure report and orders that Rajesh and Nupur Talwar be tried for Aarushi's murder. The couple also face allegations of destruction of evidence. A CBI special court in Ghaziabad issues bailable warrants against the couple for not being present in court.

March 14, 2012: CBI argues in court for cancellation of Rajesh Talwar's bail.

April 30: Nupur Talwar arrested.

May 3: Sessions court rejects Nupur Talwar's bail plea.

May 25: Rajesh and Nupur Talwar charged by Ghaziabad court with murder, destruction of evidence and conspiracy.

September 25: Nupur Talwar released on bail on the Supreme Court's order.

April 2013: CBI officer tells court that Aarushi and Hemraj were killed by the Talwars. CBI also tells court that Aarushi and Hemraj were found in an objectionable, compromising position.

May 3: Defence counsel pleads before a special court to summon 14 people, including former CBI joint director Arun Kumar as witness. CBI opposes the plea.

May 6: Trial court dismisses Talwar's petition for summoning 14 witnesses. It orders recording of statements of Rajesh and Nupur Talwar.

October 18: CBI closes arguments, says Talwars "misled" investigators.

November 12: Court reserves verdict in the case for November 25.

November 25: Rajesh Talwar and Nupur Talwar found guilty of killing their daughter Aarushi and domestic help Hemraj | Quantum of sentence will be pronounced on November 26


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Who killed Aarushi Talwar and Hemraj? Verdict today

GHAZIABAD: Nearly five-and-a-half years after the sensational killings of teenager Aarushi Talwar and domestic help Hemraj, a special CBI court will on Monday pronounce its verdict whether her parents are guilty in the case, which has seen several twists and turns.

Special Judge S Lal, who is retiring soon, will give his decision after a 15-month-long trial of dentist couple Rajesh and Nupur Talwar, both out on bail at present, on charges of murder and destruction of evidence in the killing of their 14-year-old daughter and servant on the intervening night of May 15-16, 2008 at their Jalvayu Vihar residence in Noida.

The probe followed a sine curve with varied theories from the investigating agencies — Uttar Pradesh Police and CBI — starting with father Rajesh Talwar being a suspect to the domestic servants of their friends and back to the dentist and his wife.

The case has been under intense media glare throughout and in August 2009 the Supreme Court restrained the media from sensational or scandalous reporting of the matter even as the Talwars accused CBI of changing the course of investigation and purported leaks "damaging" their reputation.

Uttar Pradesh Police started its probe on the premise that Hemraj had killed Aarushi and escaped from the crime scene.

After discovery of Hemraj's body on the terrace of Talwars' flat next day i.e. on May 16, 2008, under dramatic circumstances, the needle of suspicion came on Rajesh who was taken into custody by the UP Police.

The sensational allegations made by UP Police that killer was none other than father of the teenager who acted in rage after finding Aarushi and Hemraj in "objectionable but not compromising" position accentuated media attention.

Amid growing media scrutiny, the then UP chief minister Mayawati handed over the case to CBI.

A CBI team under joint director Arun Kumar concluded that murders were allegedly committed by Krishna Thadarai- help at Talwar's clinic, his friend Rajkumar-- a domestic servant with Praful and Anita Durrani who were Talwars' friends, and Vijay Mandal, driver of Talwars' neighbour.

These findings were trashed by the then CBI director Ashwani Kumar who poked holes in the theory by underlining loopholes in the arguments given by Arun Kumar.

In September 2009, Kumar constituted a new team under joint director Javeed Ahmed and the then SP Neelabh Kishore to look into the case afresh with freedom to choose their team members for the case.

After nearly an year of intense probe, the new team cleared the servants and hinted at the role of Rajesh Talwar on the basis of circumstantial evidence.

The team filed a closure report in the case on December 29, 2010 citing "insufficient evidence" which was rejected by district magistrate Priti Singh who ordered that Talwars should stand trial in the case.

"In such a case where the incident has happened inside home, visible evidence cannot be ignored," the court said.

The Talwars had subsequently moved the Allahabad high court, which dismissed their pleas to quash the trial court summons and the proceedings initiated against them.

The couple then approached the apex court but were denied relief.

The trial in the sensational murders started on June 11, 2012. The case went on for nearly one and a half year during which prosecution led by CBI's deputy legal advisor R K Saini presented 39 witnesses to buttress their case while defence team presented seven witnesses.

On January 25, 2011, Rajesh was attacked by a youth with a meat cleaver on the Ghaziabad court premises.

The action in court at times had shades of a Bollywood drama when defence lawyer performed a demonstration of the attack of golf club on motorbike helmet and a dragging scene by putting a man in a bed sheet before the judge, claiming that dentist couple would have been unable to drag Hemraj's body to terrace.

The prosecution started its final arguments on October 10 summing up their case against Rajesh and Nupur running into nearly seven days while defence started its arguments on October 24 and completed it on November 12.

CBI pressed the theory that during the night of murders there was no evidence of any forced entry and out of four people--Aarushi, Hemraj, Rajesh and Nupur--only two were alive hence circumstantial evidence pointed towards the dentist couple's involvement.

Saini strongly put forward circumstantial evidence--no outsider entry, last scene theory, dressing of crime scene, destruction of evidence, tampering with Aarushi's body and cover up of Hemraj's body with cooler panel on the terrace--which, he claimed, go against Talwar couple.

"Sudden and grave provocation theory, as told by the defence, is not our theory," Saini said adding that Rajesh Talwar with golf club in his hand entered Aarushi's room in order to commit crime.

"Talwars tried to mislead this court by creating sudden and grave provocation theory at final stage of this case," Saini had told the court.

Quoting from Talwars' then maid Bharti's statement, he argued when the maid reached for work on May 16, 2008 morning the outermost door was locked from "inside" which shows outsider could not be involved in the crime and it was the handiwork of someone who had been present in the house.

Defence lawyer Tanveer Ahmed Mir countered it saying the latch of their iron gate was locked from "outside" and not from inside besides Hemraj's room was next to the main entrance of the flat, with one door opening into the flat which makes it clear that anyone can access the flat through his room.

During final arguments, Saini told the court that postmortem doctors of both victims in their statements had said that the injuries seen on Aarushi's forehead and Hemraj's head are possible with the golf club.

Refuting the claims, Mir said if CBI case is believed Hemraj's injuries by golf club would have resulted in a pool of blood which was not the case at the crime scene.

"...but in this case no blood, no DNA, no biological fluid and no finger prints which belonged to Hemraj were found in the Aarushi's room and it suggests that Hemraj was not murdered in Aarushi's room," Mir had told the court.

The defence also claimed injuries inflicted with a golf club would have resulted in a "depressed fracture" where as the Aarushi's post-mortem reports show a line fracture.

A major set-back for CBI was when one of its crucial witnesses Bharti, then maid for Talwars who was first to arrive at crime scene, told the court that she deposed in a way she was told.

The defence also alleged that CBI mishandled evidence of 12 golf clubs and golf clubs bag.

Mir claimed that these were handed over to CBI inspector Richpal Singh on October 30, 2009, but a set of these golf clubs was tied with cloth in such a way that golf clubs' heads and handles remained naked which indicates mishandling on the part of CBI.

The prosecution cited DNAs of Aarushi and Hemraj were found on Ballentine's scotch bottle seized by the Noida police on the morning of May 16, 2008.

"This indicates the involvement of the dentist couple in the murder. Suppose, if killers were outsiders, they would not have guts to consume whisky from the bottle after murdering Aarushi and Hemraj. As per CBI's theory, Rajesh Talwar had consumed whisky from his Ballentine's scotch bottle during murders with small gaps," Saini had argued.

Arguing against this piece of evidence, Mir said when Ballentine's scotch bottle was sent for forensic examination, forensic expert AD Shah found five finger prints from the bottle, but these did not match with the dentist couple.

"Besides, 24 chance prints were also taken from different places like TV remote, walls, Aarushi's bedsheet, but no blood or DNA belonging to Hemraj was found from Talwars' residence," he argued.

The agency also depended on the alleged dressing up of crime scene and tampering of Aarushi's body by cleaning her private parts by Talwars.

On the other hand, Talwars' lawyer said that probe agency tutored maid Bharti to testify against the Talwars and also tampered with evidence to implicate Talwars in Aarushi-Hemraj murder case.

Saini in his concluding arguments had said that charges of murder with common intention and destruction of evidence are proved against Rajesh and Nupur Talwar besides Section 203 of IPC is also proved on Rajesh Talwar for registering wrong FIR at Noida's Sector 20 police station.

On the other hand, Talwars' lawyer Mir had said that their arguments prove that Talwars have not committed crime.


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Aarushi-Hemraj murder: Honour killing theory: CBI ties itself up in knots

Written By Unknown on Minggu, 24 November 2013 | 22.10

NEW DELHI: The trial in the Aarushi case concluded post-Nirbhaya. So, there was apparently greater sensitivity than ever before to gender issues. Yet, the CBI persisted with its honour killing theory although it did not have a shred of evidence to suggest that Aarushi was having an affair with domestic help Hemraj. It stuck to its narrative that on the fateful night of May 15, 2008, Dr Rajesh Talwar had killed Aarushi "due to grave and sudden provocation on finding her in a compromising position with Hemraj," who had also been murdered around the same time.

Central to the honour killing theory was the presence of Dr Talwar, Aarushi and Hemraj in her bedroom at that late hour. The theory was buttressed by the "crime scene analysis based on photographs" done in October 2009 by a forensic scientist from Gandhinagar, MS Dahiya, who rejected the previous year's finding of an AIIMS committee that Hemraj had been assaulted and killed on the rooftop (where his body had been found).

Dahiya's note made an erroneous assertion: "The presence of the blood of Hemraj on the pillow in the bedroom of Aarushi, however, negates that plea conclusively." Since there was, in fact, no such forensic evidence of Hemraj's blood in Aarushi's room, the CBI did not place any reliance on Dahiya's expert opinion while filing its statutory "final report" in December 2010. On the contrary, while recommending closure of the case, the CBI conceded in its 2010 report there was "no evidence to prove that Hemraj was killed in the room of Aarushi".

Given this background, the biggest challenge before CBI during the trial was to show somehow that Aarushi and Hemraj had been found in her room by Rajesh "in a compromising position". The agency tried to prove that scenario by claiming for the first time, at that stage, that another pillow had been recovered from Aarushi's room: Exhibit 21 belonging to Hemraj. This claim was made by forensic scientist B K Mohapatra in the trial court when he was being examined by the prosecution. But then, when the defence counsel demanded that the seal of the exhibit be opened in the court, it turned the tables on the prosecution. For, a cloth tag inside the cover said: "Pillow and pillow cover, blood-stained (from servant's room)".

This meant that the pillow bearing Hemraj's blood had been seized from his room and not from Aarushi's, and therefore could not in any way have been passed off as evidence vindicating the honour killing theory.

The prosecution's attempts to prove the love affair on the basis of post-mortem reports of the two murdered persons were equally dubious. As there was no evidence of any semen in Aarushi's vagina, the prosecution made insinuations on the basis of the condition of the genitals of the two dead persons. This was despite the fact that, after doing an external examination of her genitals in the course of the post-mortem investigation, Sunil Dohre simply wrote 'NAD', which is an abbreviation for "nothing abnormal detected".

Sixteen months later, when the CBI recorded his second testimony, Dohre came up with revelations that had never been documented before: that Aarushi's hymen had been ruptured and that there was unusual dilation of her vaginal opening. When the defence counsel asked him in the trial court why he had not mentioned any of these findings in his post-mortem report, he just said that his assessment was "subjective" in nature.

The doctor who had conducted Hemraj's post-mortem, Naresh Raj, tried to substantiate the prosecution's case by pointing to the swollen condition of Hemraj's penis, when his body had been discovered two days after the double murder. According to Raj, the swollen penis indicated that at the time of his murder, Hemraj was either preparing for sex or was already in the act.

When the defence counsel confronted him with medical literature saying that a swollen penis was common to putrefied bodies, Raj said his opinion was not scientific but based on his personal experience as a "married man".


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Framed or guilty? All eyes on Talwars: CBI judge to deliver verdict on Monday

NEW DELHI: Five-and-a-half years after the country's most sensational Aarushi-Hemraj murders occurred, special CBI judge Shyam Lal is likely to pronounce his eagerly awaited verdict on November 25. The CBI has accused the parents-Dr Rajesh and Nupur Talwar - of being the killers, going by circumstantial evidence, testimony of witnesses and forensic reports. The Talwars have all along been claiming that "they have been framed" on the basis of conjectures and tutored witnesses. When the Noida police first came to know on May 16, 2008 that the14-year-old daughter of prominent dentist Dr Rajesh Talwar had been murdered at their residence in Jalvayu Vihar allegedly by their servant, Hemraj Banjade, it appeared as a regular murder case. But things changed dramatically the very next day when Hemraj's body was found on the terrace of the house. The Noida police and two CBI teams have investigated the case with many twists and turns.

From Dr Rajesh and Nupur Talwar going to jail and allegations of tampering of evidence to witnesses turning hostile, police officers getting shifted, closure report being filed, parents coming out on bail and then a trial - the case has kept both the media and people transfixed.

The latest trial got over on November 12 after almost 19 months during which CBI used testimony of close to 90 witnesses in order to prove that it was only the parents who could have committed the murders and there was no possibility of an outsider entering the house. The motive: Dr Talwar found his daughter in an objectionable state with Hemraj after which he killed them with a golf club and slit their throats using a surgical scalpel or knife. CBI's investigating officer A G L Kaul stated that he wanted to make Dr Rajesh Talwar's brother, Dinesh Talwar, a suspect as well.

During cross-examination and their final arguments, the counsel for Talwars - Satyaketu Singh and Tanveer Ahmed Mir - have, over a period of four months, slammed every aspect of CBI's investigations. They alleged that its important witnesses like Dr Sunil Dohre, Naresh Raj and M S Dahiya had improved their statements while many witnesses like maid Bharti and CDFD (Centre for DNA Fingerprinting and Diagnostics) experts had been tutored by the agency. Talwars' lawyers have alleged that CBI had tampered with, fabricated and changed the evidence to frame the parents and that its case against them was full of "alternate hypothesis" and had no merit.

The case had been first investigated by the Noida police and Dr Rajesh Talwar had been arrested. Then IG Gurdarshan Singh had addressed a press conference where he announced the honour killing theory leading to severe criticism and his eventual transfer. The police were blamed for not properly pre-serving the crime scene and going easy on the probe. The then chief minister, Mayawati, transferred the probe to CBI.

The first twist came when CBI, led by then joint director, Arun Kumar, arrested three servants - Krishna Krishna, Rajkumar and Vijay Mandal - and called a press conference to claim that they were the killers and that there was "scientific evidence" against them. Dr Talwar was given a clean chit. The agency had at that time conducted several tests, including lie-detection, psychoanalysis and narco analysis, on the servants. However, Kumar's team later did not file a chargesheet, saying "they did not have enough evidence against the servants" and they were released on bail.

In September 2009, after reports of Aarushi's vaginal swabs being changed and pathology reports going missing emerged, the then CBI director, Ashwini Kumar, changed the investigation team. The new team was headed by joint director Javed Ahmad (in Lucknow) and SSP Neelabh Kishore. Additional SP AGL Kaul, investigating officer of the case, re-investigated the matter by re-examining the scene of crime, going through the case dairies, checking hospital records and conducting narco tests on Talwars in February 2010. The trail led them back to Dr Talwar.
Though Kaul wanted to file a chargesheet against the parents, his seniors suggested a closure report. This report was filed on December 29, 2010, with evidence against Dr Rajesh Talwar and Nupur Talwar, along with statements of 84 witnesses, documents and forensic reports.

In a dramatic turn, however, the special CBI judge rejected the closure re-port and summoned both parents as accused for murder and destruction of evidence on the basis of statements and circumstantial evidence cited by CBI. After then for over a year, the Talwars filed many applications in lower courts, Allahabad high court and Supreme Court, seeking relief against the charges and rebutting the charges. However, Supreme Court asked them to join the trial as soon as possible.

The CBI, meanwhile, filed many applications in court seeking to send Nupur Talwar to judicial custody since she had been summoned as an accused. She was sent to Dasna Jail on April 30, 2012, until Supreme Court gave her bail on September 17 that year. During the past 19 months of trial, the dentist couple has maintained that they have not killed their daughter and servant and that the CBI's conclusions were based on "presumptions, conjectures and surmises" and "not substantiated or supported by true and actual facts". The Talwars have claimed that the CBI's charges against them show "deliberate lapses" in investigations besides "noticeable non-mentioning of material pieces of evidence". They have called the probe as "tainted and tailored".


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Aarushi-Hemraj murder: No outsider could have entered house, CBI said

NEW DELHI: Since February 9, 2011, when the court summoned Dr Rajesh and Nupur Talwar as accused for murder and destruction of evidence, the CBI has been made its charges against the dentist couple very clear. The prosecution was led by CBI prosecutor R K Saini for over two-and-ahalf years.

Initially, at the beginning of the trial in June 2012, CBI's case was built primarily on 141 documents, which included statements of some neighbours and friends of the Talwars, their maid, Bharti, their driver, Umesh, the case's first investigating officer from Noida Police, doctors and forensic experts. However, during the trial, Umesh turned hostile.

The agency had informed the court that it had relied upon 96 of the 141 documents and admitted that it did not have any material evidence against the couple. During the trial, a few witnesses gave contradictory statements but most of the "prime" and "star" witnesses reiterated their statements, backing the agency.

The prosecution has stated that only Dr Rajesh and Nupur Talwar could have killed their 14-year-old daughter, Aarushi Talwar, and servant Hemraj Banjade and that "it was impossible for an outsider to commit the murders". The CBI also produced witnesses and forensic evidence to allege that the parents had "dressed up the scene of crime".

To prove its claim that "only four persons were present in the house" and "no outsider entered the house" on May 15, 2008, the CBI produced Bharti, who stated that the door of the house was locked from inside, not outside, and was found opened later when she went to the balcony. The CBI also used the testimony of a security guard who said he did not see any suspicious person or suspicious movement.

RK Saini, during the trial, claimed that a golf club and a surgical scalpel were used by the Talwars in the murders. Its star witnesses, Dr Sunil Dohre and Dr Naresh Raj — who conducted the post-mortem — claimed that the injuries on the head were caused by a heavy/blunt object, which could be a golf club. The agency also claimed through the testimonies of doctors that the necks of both the deceased were slit using a sharp-edged weapon like a surgical scalpel, which is easily available with doctors, or a knife.

The CBI has also claimed during the trial that Dr Talwar had consumed whisky from a Ballantine scotch bottle after the murders due to which the DNA of both victims could be found on the bottle.

The CBI's case is that there was a massive clean-up exercise in the house. It has alleged that the Talwars destroyed evidence, going by the testimonies of Dataram Nanoria and Mahesh Kumar Mishra. Nanoria and Mishra told the court that there were some toys on Aarushi's bed without any bloodstains. A friend of Dr Talwar, Dr Rajiv Kochar, stated there were footprints near the terrace which, it seemed, someone had tried to wipe off. Another doctor friend, Rajiv Varshney, told the court that he saw faint bloodstains on the stairs.

The agency also used the internet router to claim that the Talwars were awake on the night of the murders, contrary to their claim that they were sleeping. The agency said the router was being used by the Talwars continuously the entire night.

For the first time in five-and-ahalf years, CBI officially claimed in April this year that the motive for the murders was that Dr Talwar saw his daughter and servant in an objectionable state. CBI's investigating officer AGL Kaul stated in court that "Dr Rajesh Talwar found Aarushi and Hemraj in an objectionable state on the bed", a claim which had been made earlier by Noida Police in 2008. "He attacked Hemraj on the head with the golf stick. On the second blow, Hemraj's head moved to one side and the golf stick hit Aarushi on the forehead," Kaul has stated.


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The Aarushi-Hemraj murder mystery

On intervening night of May 15-16, 2008, 14-year-old daughter of dentist couple Dr Rajesh and Nupur Talwar, Aarushi, found dead in their Jalvayu Vihar flat in Noida. A day later, body of servant Hemraj found on terrace of house

May 23 | Noida Police arrests Dr Talwar for double murder, claiming he saw his daughter in objectionable position with servant and killed both

May 31 |CBI handed over case, probes role of servants - Krishna Thadarai (compounder at Dr Talwar's clinic), Vijay Mandal (help of Talwar's neighbour Punish Rai Tandon) and Rajkumar (servant of Anita Durrani). Agency conducts narco-analysis, lie-detection and other tests on them in next few weeks

July 11 | CBI joint director Arun Kumar gives Dr Talwar clean chit at press conference. He claims three servants - Krishna, Rajkumar and Vijay Mandal - and deceased Hemraj wanted to sexually assault Aarushi after drinks but had a quarrel and Aarushi and Hemraj were killed by rest. Dr Talwar released from jail

September 9 | CBI fails to file chargesheet against the three servants, they get bail

September 9, 2009 | With mobile phone and murder weapon not recovered, CBI brass changes investigating team with AGL Kaul as new IO

October 29, 2010 | CBI files closure report in Ghaziabad court giving circumstantial evidence and witnesses' account against dentist couple but stating they don't have enough evidence against them

January 25, 2011 | Dr Talwar attacked by Utsav Sharma at Ghaziabad court. Utsav protesting against decision to close case. Injured Talwar admitted in private hospital. Talwar files 60-page 'protest petition' in court asking it to 'reject' closure report and 'further investigate the case'. Also asks for 'Touch DNA' test on collected exhibits, including bloody handprints found on terrace, Aarushi's school bag, whisky bottle, key of her room, cellphone and victim's clothes

February 9, 2011 | Special CBI judge Preeti Singh rejects closure report and makes Dr Rajesh and Nupur Talwar accused for murder and destruction of evidence. Grounds include dressing up of crime scene, cleaning of private parts of Aarushi, call made to Noida hospital doctor for not mentioning rape in postmortem report and no possibility of outsider entry

April 11, 2012 | CBI court issues NBWs against Dr Nupur Talwar as she fails to appear

April 30 | After a series of applications, Nupur Talwar surrenders in court, following SC directive, is sent to Dasna Jail

May 2, 2012 | CBI judge Shyam Lal denies bail to Nupur with strong remarks that legal history of the case "replete with instances of matricide, patricide and fratricide"

June 8 | Trial begins in murder case

September 17 | SC grants bail to Nupur

April 16, 2013 | CBI investigating officer AGL Kaul tells court couple killed daughter and servant. Kaul, in over a week-long testimony, claims CBI did not make Dr Talwar and Sushil Chaudhary witnesses in final report filed in December 2010 because they treated them as possible suspects

April 22 | During his cross-examination by defence, Kaul claims he wanted to file chargesheet against Dr Rajesh, Nupur Talwar, Dinesh Talwar and Sushil Chaudhary in December 2010 but his superiors, SP Neelabh Kishore and Jt Director Javed Ahmed, favoured closure report

April 23 | For the first time, Kaul formally tells court the so-called honour killing motive behind Aarushi-Hemraj murders

May 13 | SC asks Talwars to stop wasting time of court. Says can't give adjournment after adjournment October 10: CBI begins final arguments accusing Talwars of the murders

October 24 | Talwars begin their final arguments and claim CBI witnesses have improved statements and CBI theory based on conjectures

November 12 | Final arguments end, judge reserves order on judgement for November 25


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Young environmental crusaders take the audience on a journey of adventures

NEW DELHI: The Lorax, Swechha's mega theatrical production witnessed 60 kids from Jagdamba camp embark on an adventurous journey to save the planet.

Held at the American Centre, the performance was a part of the 4th Annual Creative Arts Festival of Pagdandi, Swechha's non-formal learning programme for marginalized children. 60 children of 7-17 years were a part of the theatrical production that was presented in three slots. While the show on November 22 was exclusively performed for the community (Jagdamba Camp), the shows on November 23 were open to all.

The theatrical extravaganza was directed by Pawan Singh Dewan (Dramabaaz Co) and had elements of dance, drama and puppetry. The performance is a Hindi theatrical adaptation of 'The Lorax,' a popular children's story by Dr Seuss. Seuss was an American writer, poet and cartoonist who captured the imagination of children worldwide with his books. This popular children's story chronicles the plight of trees facing constant threat due to human greed and aspiration. The festival was supported by KHD, a global leader in cement plant technology, equipment, and services and had an audience of more than 500 people. In July 2013, Swechha collaborated with Dramabaaz Co, a group with expertise in drama, puppetry and story-telling, to build the capacities of the kids in theatre and puppetry.

The set of the show was entirely made out of trash by Swechha volunteers. The volunteers used waste material such as old records, CDs, plastic bottles, scrap newspapers etc to design the set. It initiated Pagdandi in 2009 as an alternative non-formal learning space for the children of Jagdamba Camp, a huge slum community in South Delhi. Every year, Swechha organizes an annual festival with the children of Pagdandi to celebrate their learning through creative means.


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Man to hang for minor’s rape, murder

Written By Unknown on Sabtu, 23 November 2013 | 22.10

NEW DELHI: A trial court has awarded death penalty to a 23-year-old youth for raping and brutally murdering his minor neighbour saying the convict is a menace to the society and "does not deserve to be alive".

Additional sessions judge Virender Bhat ordered death penalty for Bharat Kumar and refused to award him lesser punishment, saying rape and murder cases in the country were on the rise and if he is spared the gallows, it would encourage other rapists to kill victims to escape being caught.

"It (this crime) is a combination of two distinct heinous offences calling for the capital punishment. Perpetrators of crimes like rape and murder forfeit their right to live. Life imprisonment is highly inadequate in these cases and there is no alternative but to impose death sentence. These criminals are a menace to the society and they don't deserve to be kept alive," the court said. It further said that the crime committed by Kumar falls in the category of rarest of rare cases which shake the conscience of society and calls for harshest punishment.


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Ministries push for new technology in road building

NEW DELHI: Two key ministries involved in road building are pushing for the use of unconventional technology and new materials since scarcity of raw material has hit the industry hard due to the ban on mining across the country. The road ministry and rural development ministry have issued circulars mandating a portion of every project must be built using new technology and materials that help improve road quality for longer period with little maintenance.

Sources in the road transport and highways ministry said that the circular issued recently says that at least 10% of any project cost should be spent of new technology and materials, which have already been approved by the Indian Roads Congress (IRC) such as Zydex nanotechnology. "We have also asked all states to take up construction of 300 meters of wayside amenities at 100 locations across the country. The ministry will bear the cost. The focus is to popularize the trend that will make us build greener roads," said a ministry official.

Similarly, rural development ministry, that is responsible for construction of rural roads, has mandated that one in every 10 km should be built using new technology.

Official figures show that bitumen consumption in India was 4.5 million tonnes costing Rs 18,000 crore in 2011-12 and industry estimates suggest that nearly 80% of this is used for resurfacing. "There is no estimate of how much hill we are destroying to get construction material. This is just going to grow posing a serious question on the future need of building more roads," said a ministry official.

Top engineers in infrastructure ministries said that now there are new technologies proven in other parts of the world those help can reduce quantity of material and even the already paved material can be reused.

"There are technology solutions like Zydex nanotechnology that can build moisture-resistant and pothole-free roads. Ideally, you don't need to maintain them for 10-15 years. So you save the annual maintenance cost and reduce use of more construction materials and bitumen," said Zydex Industries CEO Ajay Ranka, which has already built roads in the US, Europe and Africa.

He claimed that nanotechnology can improve durability of roads to reduce their lifecycle by 50% and will revolutionalize urban and rural roads.


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Polish film festival to screen movie on Lech Walesa

NEW DELHI: Not all the Indians are aware of tremendous similarities between the historical transformation of India and Poland - say functionaries of the Polish Institute in New Delhi who are now promoting Andrzej Wajda's Oscar-tipped movie, 'Walesa. Man of hope'.

According to them, the film may help to compare the stories of two distant countries. It is a depiction of the life of Lech Walesa, Poland's Solidarity movement founder and Nobel Peace Prize winner, whose courage and commitment led to peaceful revolution and fall of the totalitarian regime in 1989.

Anna Tryc-Bromley, director of the Polish Institute, told TOI that in many ways, Lech Walesa is similar to Mahatma Gandhi. They have both led their nations to liberty peacefully and both were nominated to Nobel Peace Prize. Walesa was eventually awarded in 1983.

Gandhi's non-violence movement and Walesa's peaceful overthrowing of the government represent the same idea. People of India were aware of it at the time," says Ms. Tryc-Bromley. I was told that in 1980s there were piquets organized in Delhi to express Indians' support to Solidarity's strikes," she adds.

Andrzej Wajda's new movie will be screened twice in PVR theatres during the Kinoteka Polish Film Festival; on November 28 at Mumbai's Dynamix Mall and on December 3 at Select City Walk mall in Delhi. The movie was also screened yesterday during 44th International Film Festival of India at Panaji in Goa.

During the ongoing film festival Indian audiences can also watch some other fine pieces of Polish cinematography which include a wide range of classics from the Polish Film School and contemporary movies. Krzysztof Zanussi's landmark film 'Illumination' (1972), modern documentary of Polish refugee children in India during the Second World War, anti-totalitarian satire 'Escape from Liberty Cinema' (1990) directed by Wojciech Marczewski, Andrzej Wajda's 'Promised Land' (1974) and contemporary 'My Father's Bike' (2012) directed by Piotr Trzaskalski are some of the movies of the screening schedule.

The Kinoteka Polish Film Festival, which has been organized in London for 11 years, has been brought to India for the first time this year. The inaugural edition of this feature is co-organized by the Polish Institute and India Habitat Centre Film Club. "Indians are becoming increasingly interested in European cinema. We are willing to show even more Polish contemporary movies soon," Anna Tryc-Bromley says. The festival will last till December 3.


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Verdict in Aarushi-Hemraj double murder on Monday

NEW DELHI: One of India's most sensational criminal trials -- which has raised issues of police incompetence, sex with servants and media ethics -- comes to a close on Monday when a dentist couple will learn if they are to be convicted of killing their daughter.
Rajesh and Nupur Talwar from Noida are accused of murdering their only child, 14-year-old Aarushi, and their 45-year-old domestic worker Hemraj by slitting their throats "with clinical precision".

The murder case from 2008 has created a nation of armchair detectives debating every twist in the investigation and trial, turned the Talwars into household names, and polarised public opinion.

CBI says Aarushi was killed in a fit of rage when her parents found her with the servant in a "objectionable" situation while the couple insist they are victims of a botched police probe and vigilante justice.

"I never believed such a thing could happen to us. I believed in the Indian justice system," Rajesh told AFP in a recent interview outside the decrepit courtroom where the witness stand is held together by rope.

The prosecution concedes there is no forensic or material evidence against the pair, basing its case on the "last-seen theory" -- which holds that the victims were last seen with the accused.

"All the circumstantial evidence" is against the Talwars and they "misled the investigators and destroyed evidence", prosecutor R.K. Saini told the court in his summing-up earlier this month.

Botched investigation
The saga began on a May morning five years ago when Aarushi was found dead on her bed at home, covered with a white blanket.

Police initially called it an "open and shut case", blaming the missing Nepalese servant for the murder -- only to discover his badly decomposed body on the roof a day later.

His throat was also cut and he had suffered a head wound.

The police then arrested Rajesh Talwar's Nepalese dental assistant along with two local servants -- Hemraj's friends. They accused them of the murders after lie-detector tests suggested they sought to attack Aarushi only to meet resistance from Hemraj.

There was no hard proof so they were freed.

The shambolic probe -- investigators failed to seal the scene of the crime allowing journalists to enter the house, or find the second body for 24 hours -- prompted police to shut the case in 2010 citing no substantial evidence.

The Talwars then insisted they wanted the killers found and petitioned the court to reopen the case but they were then to find themselves charged with the murder.

Media frenzy
A TV interview with Aarushi's mother days after the murder in which many viewed her as unnaturally calm helped turn public opinion against the couple, leading to headlines such as "Only Parents Could Have Killed Aarushi".

Lurid newspaper reports, often based on quotes from unnamed police officers, appeared about the couple's lives, demonising them as decadent and unrepentant, even part of a wife-swapping club.

Their defence team, led by one of India's most pre-eminent lawyers who is working for free, believe the frenzied media coverage and police incompetence prejudiced their chances of getting justice.

"The big mathematical equation for the prosecution is two people died so the other two people in the house must have done it," defence lawyer Rebecca John told AFP. "They refuse to admit the possibility of an outsider."

John believes that "in any other country, such third-rate evidence would not have seen the light of day."

"If you allow to trials like this to happen, you and I could be the next target -- if you allow police such power, no one is safe."

Questions have been raised about how the parents could have slept through the commotion of a double-murder, but the defence says the air-conditioner in their room muffled all sound.

The police also insist the slicing of the throats of Aarushi and Hemraj was done by a medical professional using a surgical instrument, pointing the finger at the Talwars. They say a golf club at the house was used to beat the victims.

Defence medical experts said the throats could have been cut by a khukri, a Nepalese knife, and a golf club would have caused a "depressed fracture" not the "hairline fracture" found on the two.


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AAP volunteer commits suicide

NEW DELHI: An Aam Aadmi Party volunteer committed suicide here Saturday morning, police said.

Arvind Malik, in his late 20s, shot himself with a pistol of one of his family members at his house in east Delhi's Jaffrabad area.

"He was rushed to the Guru Teg Bahadur Hospital where he was declared dead," said a police officer.

"No suicide note was recovered from the victim's possession. However, initial probe revealed he took the extreme step due to some family problem," said the officer.


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Starved of development, trade hub weighs options

Written By Unknown on Kamis, 21 November 2013 | 22.10

NEW DELHI: A BJP stronghold until 1998, the Sadar Bazar assembly constituency has switched sides and undergone a demographic transformation over the years. Traders—a BJP vote bank—have been moving out, and the increasing numbers of Muslims and migrant workers have enabled Congress to win thrice from here.

"The old inhabitants, mostly traders, have been moving out as a lack of planning , and rampant unauthorized construction have turned the area into a veritable slum,'' said Prakash Chauhan , a trader in Sadar Bazar.

Besides migration, the delimitation done before the 2008 assembly polls has also changed the voter profile to the advantage of Congress' three-time MLA, Rajesh Jain. Although the area lacks basics like roads, sewerage and water supply, Jain has won with huge margins. In Sadar Bazar, waterlogging is a serious problem and rainwater takes 3-4 days to recede.

No infrastructure has been created to end the area's daylong traffic jam. The erstwhile MCD had planned the Rani Jhansi Flyover, but it is incomplete after seven years. Jain blames the BJP-led corporation for the delay. "That flyover has become a cause of traffic jams. People in Azad Market had to be relocated but nothing has been done till now,'' said Jain.

The MLA, who is seeking a fourth term, claims he has got schools, dispensaries, roads and community centres built. For him, areas like Inderlok , Shahzada Bagh and Bara Hindu Rao that have large Muslim populations are important. "These areas are extremely congested with little scope for development. The main concerns of the residents are roads and sewers ,'' said Mohd Ismail, a resident of Bara Hindu Rao.

Pyarelal Rajput, a resident of Pratap Nagar, said, "This time, people will vote for development" . Many others said they are not satisfied with the conditions in the constituency and are considering voting for AAP or BSP. The latter, which has fielded a Muslim candidate, Mirza Ali, hopes to draw away Muslims and SC/ST voters from Congress. AAP has also made its mark in slums and resettlement colonies.

BJP is also hopeful of winning Sadar Bazar this time. The party has fielded Jai Prakash , who claims to have done a lot of work in the area, for the second time. "Last time, people didn't know me, but I have done a lot of work in the area,'' he said.


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Delhi cops write to RBI for safety steps

NEW DELHI: Delhi Police on Wednesday wrote to the chief security manager of Reserve Bank of India to take steps for making ATMs safer, a source told TOI. The step follows an attack on a woman inside a Bangalore ATM booth on Tuesday morning, and was taken after a meeting of senior police officers on Wednesday.

The officers discussed various measures to make ATMs safer. One of the suggestions was to install a self-locking mechanism on the rolling shutters of ATM booths so that only the authorized personnel can lower them. In the Bangalore attack, the woman couldn't seek help as the assailant had pulled down the shutter. Police also want at least one person made accountable at every bank for compliance with the safety norms.

While most ATM booths have a camera facing the user, police want multiple cameras installed so that the faces of all visitors are also seen in profile, for easy identification, and a voice recording feature for more leads into cases. In most ATM booth crimes, the available CCTV footage provides a narrow angle of view, and criminals who are aware of the camera's position can easily keep out of it.

"Most of the ATM cameras have poor quality VGA recording (0.3 megapixels), making it difficult to identify the culprits. They should use modern high resolution cameras," said an officer. Police also want ATMs to have panic buttons or some other mechanism to raise an alarm.

After many incidents of duping inside ATM booths, a nationalized bank has installed software to prevent such cases, a bank source said. "We have installed a device to stop the cash telling software if someone tries to tamper with the ATM keypad," said a bank official, but the device can't send an alert to the bank's nearest branch.

Nitin Bhatnagar, a security analyst, stressed on increasing customer awareness and regular monitoring of CCTV footage by banks.

"Last but not the least, the surveillance audit of banks has to be conducted by third parties to make sure the banks' ATMs are meeting the compliance requirements," he said.


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Nigerian held with Rs 1cr drugs

NEW DELHI: A Nigerian man was arrested near Kashmere Gate for carrying 400gm of MDMA, a party drug, in a golf kit for transporting it to Malaysia. Police said the seized drug was worth around Rs 1cr.

Samuel Okeke had come to handover the consignment to Prince, also a Nigerian national. Okeke said he met Prince during a party and was lured into the drug racket. Okeke was arrested on Tuesday evening near the Kashmere Gate ISBT flyover. "We are interrogating Okeke, to find out other details about the trade," said Ravindra Yadav, additional CP, crime.

MDMA is used for treating trauma and stress disorders, but is popular among addicts and used in rave parties. It acts as stimulant and comes in a crystalline or powder form.


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2 hurt in crash on Bahadur Shah Zafar Marg

NEW DELHI: Two people on a motorcycle were seriously injured after coming under the wheels of a car they were trying to overtake in the Bahadur Shah Zafar Marg area on Wednesday evening.

"The bike was being driven at a high speed and slipped while trying to turn near the subway. The riders were not wearing helmets. The driver of the Polo swerved and hit the divider," said Vimal, an eyewitness. The men on the bike were taken to a hospital and are said to be critical.


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Upstart AAP manages to scare Cong, BJP

NEW DELHI: It may have seemed a David versus Goliath act, but it has given Delhi's big two - Congress and BJP - quite a headache.

Fledgling Aam Aadmi Party's in-your-face campaign and personalized accusations have forced the mainline parties to drop their disdain for activist Arvind Kejriwal's outfit and acknowledge it as a rival who must be checked.

AAP's calculated decision to breach an unwritten code of mainline parties not to level direct allegations in poll advertisements has paid off as the new outfit has managed to get under the skin of both Congress and BJP leaders.

Determined not to accept any "compact" between Congress and BJP, AAP has been intent on disrupting the status quo, ensuring it cannot be treated as a "joker'' in the pack with a no holds barred confrontational style.

Sample this: AAP posters on auto-rickshaws call CM Sheila Dikshit 'baimaan (dishonest)', urging people to ring in an 'imaandaar' government to power. Earlier, radio spots saw Kejriwal hit the nail on the head by asking people if they would trust BJP leader Vijay Goel instead of Dikshit.

The campaign claims that AAP is now all set to form a government and will sweep out corruption seems a bit arrogant, but the party's strategy lies in making a dream seem completely probable.

The single campaign message of being the "incorruptible'' has been driven home whether it is through Gandhi topi or the brave assertion that AAP will hark back to the ideal of Lal Bahadur Shastri, known for his simplicity and honesty.

AAP has sought to trip its slow moving rivals by nimble attacks, clubbing BJP as no different from Congress. It has taken a while for BJP to realize that an audacious rival could end up stealing the election, forcing it to target AAP specifically.

AAP has depended heavily on social media and door-to-door campaigning instead of using billboards and print advertisements that are more expensive. And the end result is not too bad. Less than 13 days before polling, the party has garnered 4.74 lakh likes on Facebook, boasts of 18.27 lakh followers on Twitter and has 1.12 lakh campaign calls made by volunteers.

Sociologist Shiv Visvanathan said, "AAP is a local party that has grabbed national interest... I would still call it an experiment which people find exciting and are responding to it.''

He said what worked for AAP was the fact that they were critical without mincing words. "Kejriwal appears the least aggressive of the three leaders that are in the running. Even when Anna Hazare criticizes him, Arvind says he is my guru. He does not shun continuity but also acknowledges that he is going his own way,'' Visvanathan said.


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Family rallies behind Mahabal Mishra's son

Written By Unknown on Rabu, 20 November 2013 | 22.10

NEW DELHI: A family reunion seemed to be underway at the Vijay Enclave house of West Delhi MP Mahabal Mishra on Tuesday. Mishra's extended family had turned up in a show of strength for his son, Vinay Mishra, now a Congress candidate from the Palam assembly constituency.

Although Vinay did not get a ticket from the Dwarka constituency, which has father represented five times, he is banking on the area's Poorvanchali voters and his father's image to win. The locals say Vinay may have an edge in Palam as his father is popular there while the sitting BJP MLA will face an anti-incumbency wave.

Until 2008, Dwarka had a predominantly Poorvanchali electorate that propelled Mahabal Mishra's career, from a councillor to an MP today. But when Palam was carved out of the Dwarka constituency, the Poorvanchali voters also got divided. However, Vinay, 30, sounds confident at public meetings and padyatras with his father by his side.

"I am definitely banking on my father's reputation and his work," he said. The support showed at his public meetings and padyatras in Vijay Enclave and Sadh Nagar on Tuesday afternoon. Garlanding his son in front of the cheering crowd, Mahabal said: "Main kasam nahin khilaya hun, maine jeet ka mala pehnaya aap ke bete ko, (I am not asking you to promise votes for Vinay, your son; I am placing the garland of victory on him)".

After the meeting, Vinay led the supporters on a door-to-door campaign through Vijay Enclave. "My father worked for the development of this area for 20 years. I was born in Vijay Enclave; I am seeking votes on developmental issues and my priority will be water, as there is an acute shortage of water in this area," he said.

Vinay says, by not getting the Dwarka seat he has got an opportunity to improve Palam. Mahabal added, "Dwarka is our karmbhoomi (field of action) and Palam is our janmbhoomi (birthplace)."

The locals see Vinay as a representative of his father, a man they have known for years. "Although it won't be an easy win, Vinay does have the edge. His father's popularity can translate into votes," said Rakesh Sharma of Vijay Enclave.

The president of Association of Suffering Members of Cooperative Group Housing Societies, Ashok Kumar, said none of the candidates will have it easy this time and there will be a straight contest between Congress and BJP in Palam, Dwarka, Matiala and Bijwasan.


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Grass-roots movements key to ending world’s toilet problem: UNICEF

NEW DELHI: Toilets are still out of reach for more than one-third of the global population, with devastating consequences to the health and development of children, UNICEF said on World Toilet Day. However, the key to bridging the gap lies within communities themselves, the organisation emphasised. Since 1990 almost 1.9 billion people gained access to improved sanitation, but in 2011 the total without access was still 36% of the global population, or approximately 2.5 billion people.

"Access to toilets remains the unmentionable, shameful secret for even some very prosperous countries," said Sanjay Wijesekera, the global head of UNICEF's Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) programmes. "But its invisibility doesn't make it harmless; in fact it is quite the reverse. Lack of access to toilets is quite literally killing children, making adults sick, and slowing progress - day after day after day."

According to figures released by UNICEF earlier this year, lack to access to safe water, sanitation and hygiene is a leading cause of deaths from diarrhoea in children under five, amounting to approximately 1,400 children dying each day. UNICEF's has spearheaded a social change movement that that has led more than 25 million people to end the practice of open defecation and now use toilets. The Community Approaches to Total Sanitation (CATS) programme, encourages communities to take the lead and identify their own measures to end open defecation, and has been achieving results at scale.

At the last count, over 50 countries have implemented CATS and many governments have mainstreamed a similar approach into their national policy. But despite this success, Wijesekera said more still needs to be done, and urgently, by countries, communities and individuals, principally to bring the taboo subject of toilets and open defecation from the shadows, discuss it frankly, and agree on tackling the problem.The CATS approach works precisely because it depends on people taking their own decisions, and coming up with their own solutions. As more governments and communities apply the method to eliminate open defecation and scale up access to toilets, many more people stand to benefit, especially from a reduction in WASH related diseases.As well as its on-going global "No access" campaign at www.unicef.org/toilets4all, UNICEF is promoting major pushes around the world on World Toilet Day, to bring awareness to the dangers of open defecation and the problem of lack of access to improved sanitation.

In India, where in 2011 approximately 65% of the population did not have access to improved sanitation, and over 620 million people defecated in the open, UNICEF India is rolling out Poo2loo, an on-line campaign addressing the issue of open defecation in the country.

In Mali, on World Toilet Day, UNICEF is launching a Sanitation Marketing Project in partnership with PSI-Mali and the National Directorate of Sanitation.In Eritrea, there will be celebrations of certifications of Open Defecation Free communities throughout the country.

"Every action which spurs people to change their way of dealing with defecation brings us closer towards the goal of sanitation for all," said Wijesekera. "It is not easy, but it is certainly doable, and moreover, it is absolutely indispensable if we are expecting to live healthy lives in the 21st century."


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Common vision urged to turn policy into action on malnutrition

NEW DELHI: Experts and country representatives meeting at Food and Agriculture Organisation headquarters said both international political momentum and practical solutions tailored to specific countries were needed to tackle the nutrition-related problems that plague more than half of the world's population.

"A common vision is important to ensure and enhance international cooperation and solidarity around nutrition issues, and to ensure that attention given to nutrition on the international development agenda and beyond is elevated significantly. But a common vision doesn't mean a one-size-fits-all vision," said FAO assistant director-general Jomo Sundaram, as he wrapped up the final day of discussions at the November 11-15 meeting. Jomo's comment echoed earlier calls to listen more carefully to information coming from communities around the world about what is needed and what would work in the formulation of policies.

Around 300 people took part in the preparatory technical meeting, which was jointly organised by FAO and the World Health Organization (WHO) in advance of a major international conference on nutrition in 2014. The second International Conference on Nutrition (ICN2), scheduled to take place from November 19 to 21, 2014, will aim to address the persistently high levels of malnutrition by translating political momentum into policies and programs that improve nutrition, especially in developing countries.

"I think we all agreed that this meeting has provided very valuable input, but there is more knowledge out there, there are more experiences that need to be recognized, and to be part of that technical basis for ICN2," said Dr Hans Troedsson, executive director of WHO's director-general's office, who said that consultations would continue with countries.

Over the course of the three-day meeting, experts reviewed agricultural food and nutrition policies since the first International Conference on Nutrition in 1992. They also shared stories from successful nutrition-improvement policies and programmes in various countries. Country cases highlighted, among other things, the importance of getting policies right by making social inclusion, equity, women and children explicit considerations, and by making sure that nutrition is mainstreamed in policies across sectors. They also underscored the importance of partnerships, communication and government support.

Experts also exchanged information on trends in malnutrition, from child stunting to obesity; trends in the supply, quality and safety of food; and the influence of issues like sustainability, food waste, trade and social protection measures on nutrition.

Jomo pointed out that while the most extreme and chronic forms of hunger have declined globally, an estimated 842 million people go to bed hungry and over two billion people are estimated to be affected by micronutrient deficiencies. Around 45% of the nearly 7 million children who die before their fifth birthday every year do so because of nutritional problems, and 162 million children under five are stunted, while at the same time, over half a billion million people are obese.

Speakers discussed the need to give greater priority to nutrition as a goal in various sectors, not only in food production, marketing and consumption. Some called for providing more carefully-targeted social protection services and infrastructure to be sure they reached the most vulnerable populations, including women - whose high workloads could have a negative impact on family nutrition. Many agreed public information and community education are needed to help families and smallholder agricultural producers better understand the role that diversified crop production and diets play in improving nutrition. Other points that emerged included the need to build institutional capacity and coordination among sectors; the need for better data for better policy-making; the importance of policies that enabled workable solutions, rather than hindering them; and, the value of experimenting with different solutions at the local and national levels.


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AAP promises more power to people, cheaper electricity, Lokpal Bill

NEW DELHI: Cheaper electricity, decentralization of power and a Delhi Lokpal Bill are among the promises the Aam Admi Party (AAP) has made in its manifesto for the December 4 assembly elections released on Wednesday.

Announcing the manifesto, AAP leader Yogendra Yadav said the party will undertake a "radical experiment" of decentralizing power by organizing "mohalla sabhas" (colony assemblies).

"Mohalla sabhas will be given some funds every year, and the people will decide what they want for their areas. Decisions will not be taken by MLAs or officials," Yadav told reporters.

"Rates of electricity will be slashed to half, we will change the entire system of electricity distribution which is at present being manipulated by power discoms," he said.

He added that control of the police will be brought under the Delhi government. At present, Delhi Police comes under the jurisdiction of the Union government.


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Arvind Kejriwal gets EC notice for poll code violation

NEW DELHI: The Election Commission on Wednesday slapped a notice on Aam Aadmi Party leader Arvind Kejriwal for distributing a pamphlet here, containing an appeal for votes on religious grounds.

The notice was issued after Rajouri Garden resident Harish Khurana complained to EC about a pamphlet distributed by AAP, in which Kejriwal presents the party as a "secular" alternative for Delhi's Muslim voters. "The BJP is a communal party ... until now, the Muslims (of Delhi) did not have an alternative. But now they have got an honest and secular alternative. I appeal to all Muslims to join AAP in its efforts to create a cleaner polity," the pamphlet quoted the AAP national convenor as saying.

Holding that Kejriwal's distribution of the said pamphlet had prima facie violated the model code of conduct, the EC allowed him time until 11am on November 25 to explain why action should not be taken against him for violating sub para(3) of Para I of the model code of conduct.

According to this provision of the poll code for guidance of political parties and candidates, "there shall be no appeal to caste or communal feelings, for securing votes...mosques, churches, temples or other places of worship shall not be used as forum for election propaganda."

The EC notice said that if no reply was received within the prescribed time-limit, it would presume that Kerjiwal had nothing to say and the Commission would proceed to take appropriate action without any further reference to him". The pamphlet had Kejriwal seeking Muslim votes on behalf of AAP.

"I am not seeking votes for political power or money. We want to build a corruption-free India, where people belonging to all religions can co-exist with peace and harmony," it said, while proposing AAP as an honest and secular alternative (to the Congress).


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