Thunderstorm in Delhi: Power minister reviews plans to restore power supply

NEW DELHI: Power minister Piyush Goyal is reviewing measures to restore power supply in the capital on Saturday.

Vast areas of Delhi were still without power after supply was disrupted by Friday's dust storm lashed the capital and its surrounding areas.

The power minister has called senior ministers and Delhi officials as well as discom executives to take stock of the situation, even as the Met department forecast hints at the possibility of another dust storm in the next 24 hours.

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EDM performed at Club BW in Delhi

Glamorous night: Partygoers in the capital recently danced the night away at Club BW. While DJ Kid Massive, from Denmark, treated the house to EDM and house music, the guests consulted their future with astrologer Jai Madaan.

Amit Nigam, GM, Club BW, said, "Like the name suggests, Club BW evokes the black and white sides of our personality with it's music and ambience. Our aim is to give people a place to party every night, and our signature nights - Wednesdays and Fridays - are getting a warm response."

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Afghanistan boy seeks free treatment

NEW DELHI: Denied treatment by AIIMS for not being able to pay its cost, the Afghan refugee parents of a four-year-old boy, who requires a bone marrow transplant, on Friday moved the Delhi high court seeking a direction to the government to provide their child free-of-cost treatment.

Justice Manmohan has sought response of the Centre, Delhi government and also directed All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) to file its reply as to why the kid should not be given free treatment. The court has now fixed the matter for further hearing on July 24. The notice came on the plea filed by four-year-old Kulraj Singh, through his parents. In his plea, Singh said that he is suffering from aplastic anaemia and was denied treatment by AIIMS early this month on the ground that his parents were unable to pay the sum of Rs 10 lakh for the treatment.

While seeking direction to the government, his counsel Ashok Aggarwal informed the court that Kulraj, who was undergoing treatment since April 2013, is suffering from the life-threatening disorder and was in dire and immediate need of bone-marrow transplant. The counsel said that Delhi government also refused to bear the expenses of treatment.

The total cost of the treatment is estimated to be Rs 10 lakh while the average monthly income of the petitioner's family is Rs 8,000, the counsel said. He further said that the "hospital, Centre and the state government have a Constitutional obligation under Article 21 of the Constitution to bear the entire cost of the treatment of the patient, in order to save his life".

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Delhi could witness a dust storm again today, many areas without power

NEW DELHI: A day after the massive thunderstorm, the national capital experienced milder temperatures in the early hours of the morning. Many across the capital were, however, still without electricity.

According to the met department, the maximum temperature was 42.8 degrees Celsius, 2 notches above normal. The minimum temperature on Friday was 29.1, while the maximum was recorded at 43.7 degree Celsius.

There is a possibility of a dust storm with light rainfall in the next 24 hours, the weatherman predicted.

In the morning, the humidity levels were recorded at 61 per cent.

A massive thunderstorm coupled with high-speed dusty winds hit the national capital on Friday evening, throwing life out of gear as it crippled road traffic, metro services, flight operations and power supply network.

READ ALSO: Dust storm kills 12, snaps power across NCR
114 kmph Delhi storm batters planes, stalls Metro

At least 12 people were killed in the NCR region, including six in Delhi, in incidents of falling trees, collapse of walls and electrocution.

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Several areas without electricity after deadly dust storm

People in several areas of Delhi had a harrowing time as power supply was snapped for over 17 hours after a powerful dust storm damaged the electricity network on Friday evening.

There was no power in areas like Dwarka, Rohini, Jahangirpuri and some parts of east and outer Delhi. Power department officials said this morning that it will take another 3-4 hours to repair the power line to restore normal electricity supply in these areas.

The affected residents expressed anger over failure of concerned agencies to repair the power network which also affected water supply in these areas, adding to the residents' woes in the summer heat.

"There was no electricity in our area since 5:05pm yesterday. There was no water and we are having a harrowing time," said Vimla Khanna, a resident of Jahangirpuri area.

A powerful dust storm had struck the city at around 4:58pm on Friday throwing normal life out of gear, severely damaging the entire power transmission network in Delhi and neighbouring states. At least 12 people were killed in the NCR region, including six in Delhi, in incidents of falling trees, collapse of walls and electrocution.

Two major 220 KB transmission lines from Pamnouli to Papankallan and Bawana to Rohini grid were severely damaged in the storm because of which supply of power could not be restored in various areas of west Delhi, said a senior power department official.

He said atleast four power transmission towers were also damaged by the storm and hundreds of technical staff were working through the night and this morning to repair them.

Supply of power was restored in some areas by midnight. Destruction in power transmission network has affected operations at various water treatment plants of Delhi Jal Board, affecting supply of water in east, west, and south Delhi.

It had also disrupted operations of Delhi Metro for over one hour yesterday.

On Friday, all major power transmission lines of the Northern Grid through which Delhi receives power from other states tripped in the storm.

The lines which tripped included a number of 400 kilo vault lines including Dadari-Mandola line, Ballabhgarh -Bamnauli line and Jhatikara-Mundaka network, power department officials had said.

Power generation was affected at all plants in the city including Rajghat power house, Pragati Power Station and three units of Badarpur Thermal Power Station.

"A maximum load up to around 3000 MW was affected yesterday. The lines which tripped include lines of both northern grid as well as of Delhi Transco," said a senior power department official.

READ ALSO: 7 killed after storm creates havoc in Jharkhand

READ ALSO: One killed, 24 injured due to lightning in West Bengal

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Piyush Goyal reviews plans to restore Delhi power supply

NEW DELHI: Power minister Piyush Goyal is reviewing measures to restore power supply in the capital on Saturday. Vast areas of Delhi were still without power after supply was disrupted by Friday's dust storm lashed the capital and it's surrounding areas. The power minister has called senior ministry and Delhi officials as well as discom executives to take stock of the situation, even as the met department has forecast the possibility of another dust storm in the next 24 hours.

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Murdered man was harassed by cops, allege kin

NEW DELHI: Delhi Police transferred the case of alleged murder of a 30-year-old man by five policemen to the crime branch on Tuesday evening. They also arrested another constable, Rajesh, for being involved in the case. Cops have written to DDU hospital authorities for constituting a panel of three doctors to carry out the postmortem of the deceased , Manoj Kumar. The autopsy is likely to be conducted within three days. A judicial inquiry will also be initiated to ascertain what transpired among the policemen and what the conspiracy was.

On Tuesday, the SHO of Bindapur police station was sent to the district lines pending inquiry. The crime branch is also probing whether any other policeman was involved. Crime branch officers said they were going to question the arrested policemen to ascertain their role. The CDRs of the accused and the deceased are being analysed to ascertain if the cops had been harassing Manoj over the phone too.

Family members of the deceased alleged that from the past one week Manoj was being threatened that he would be shot down in an encounter. They added that he was being pressured to admit to possessing an illegal weapon and that he had reportedly fired during a wedding ceremony.

Manoj's mother Chameli Devi on Tuesday told Times of India that the rogue police team had also barged into their house on May 19. "They went to every room in the three-storied house looking for Manoj. When I asked what they were looking for, they said my son had committed a crime. They found him upstairs, dragged him out and kept questioning him about illegal arms and where he got them from," Chameli said.

"When my son told them that he did not posses any weapons they seemed satisfied and left. They threatened that they would come back if they got any other proof against him. They were also looking for another person named Aslam who they claimed was involved along with him," she said.

Other family members claimed that on Monday the five policemen asked Manoj to accompany them to the police station for questioning claiming they had found some proof in the firing incident. They took him away without explaining the charges. This time they did not mention anything about possession of illegal firearms.

On Monday afternoon, the accused left Manoj's body on a stretcher near the DDU hospital gate and fled. At the morgue , when his body was shown to his family for identification, they found a dozen blood clots on the limbs and blood oozing out of the nose.

"My uncle was never involved in illegal activities. He was concerned about his seven-month-old son's future. We don't know what he will grow up to be now," said Sonu, Manoj's nephew. Cops suspect that the accused policemen were trying to extort money from the deceased failing which they assaulted him leading to his death.

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Man jailed for carrying drugs

NEW DELHI: A Nepalese national has been sentenced to 12 years in jail by a Delhi court for possessing 10 kg of drugs.
Special NDPS Judge Shail Jain, while handing down the jail term to Deepak Shamsher Thapa , considered the fact that it was his first offence and has to take care of his elderly mother, wife and minor child. "Considering the family circumstances and the fact that the convict was found in possession of 10 kg of charas... he is sentenced to undergo rigorous imprisonment for 12 years," the judge said.

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HC: Cannot act on half-baked petitions

NEW DELHI: Dismissing a PIL seeking a direction to the Centre to define its policy on medical treatment given to poor children at a government hospital here, the Delhi high court has said it cannot act on "half- baked" petitions.
"Though undoubtedly the number of 10,081(who have died) does indeed appear to be high and our heart bleeds at such a large number of young lives being extinguished before they had a chance to bloom, but we can't set in motion the process of the court on such half or less baked petitions," a bench of Chief Justice G Rohini and Justice R S Endlaw said.
The court dismissed the PIL filed by NGO, Centre for Human Rights, which had sought a direction to the Centre to define its policy on medical treatment given to poor children at a hospital after an RTI reply showed over 10,000 children have died between the years 2008 to 2012 due to lack of facility.
The court had on May 21 reserved its verdict on the plea which had also sought a direction to the ministry of health and family welfare to file a status report on conditions prevailing at Kalawati Saran Children's Hospital.

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Protest against lawyers for assaulting Naga woman

NEW DELHI: Hundreds of students, activists and people from the Northeast protested on Tuesday against lawyers of the Tis Hazari court who allegedly assaulted youths from the region and a woman lawyer recently.
The youths were assaulted while accompanying the woman lawyer, also from the Northeast , who was allegedly molested by a lawyer near the Vishwavidyalaya Metro station last week. The lawyers probably attacked them because a fellow lawyer was accused in the molestation case, the youths said.
On Tuesday, when the protesters demanded that the licences of the accused lawyers be revoked , members of the Bar Council of India met them and assured action. They also accepted their memorandum and promised to inform the Bar Council of Delhi about the issue. They said they will ask the council in Delhi to investigate the matter and take action within a month.
Apart from students from the Northeast, women lawyers' collectives, women's rights groups, and members of Jawaharlal Nehru University Students Union (JNUSU), Students Federation of India (SFI), All India Students Association (AISA) among others joined the protest , holding placards and shouting slogans such as 'Tis Hazari lawyers shame shame' and 'racism down down'.
"It is so demoralizing to see lawyers, who play an important role in ensuring justice, assault people like this," said Asem Newnai, a research scholar from JNU. Anjan Chamuah, another JNU student from Assam said, "They treat us differently only because we have mongoloid features. This has to stop now" . The protesters—most of them wearing black clothes as a mark of protest— marched from Hindi Bhavan to the Bar Council of India building but were stopped midway. Following a negotiation with the cops, they managed to reach the building and interact with the members.

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Signature Bridge delayed, LG slams tourism agency

NEW DELHI: Work on the Signature Bridge at Wazirabad has been delayed further. As per current estimates, the project , which was initially to be completed before the 2010 Commonwealth Games, will be in place only by September 2015.
During a review on Tuesday, Delhi Tourism and Transport Development Corporation (DTTDC) faced the ire of lieutenant governor Najeeb Jung over shifting of deadlines. Sources present in the meeting said that the LG has asked for another review after a month and asked DTTDC to pull up the contractor for the project.
The project was announced by Delhi government in 2004, but work on it began only in 2008. The project is now expected to cost over Rs 1,200 crore.
"First the deadline was 2010 and then the date was shifted to September 2013. When questioned by the LG on what led to such a massive delay , DTTDC first said that the environment department had held up the project by not giving permission for tree felling. However, now that this issue has been resolved, DTTDC was forced to reveal that the agency concerned is facing financial problems. Work is almost at a standstill right now and if issues do not get resolved at the earliest, even the 2015 deadline would be impossible to meet," said sources.
The Signature Bridge to be built across the Yamuna will function as a major link between north and east Delhi. Some part of the work has been done and material for the remaining construction was supposed to come from China. Sources said that a joint venture of Gammon, C Cidade of Brazil and Tensacciai of Italy has been appointed to construct this landmark. Till 2013, around 80% of the foundation had been laid, but since then barely any progress has been made.
"The bridge will replace the existing bridge at Wazirabad . It will be a cable-stayed bridge and link NH-1 near the existing T-point on the western bank with the Marginal Bund Road at Khajuri Khas on the eastern bank of the Yamuna . The bridge will have a bowshaped steel pylon and be twice as high as Qutub Minar ," said sources.
The bridge will be 600m downstream from the existing Wazirabad barrage. The central pylon will be made of high-grade steel that will be manufactured in China.

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NDMC's sweet for Holi costs nearly Rs 1 crore

LUCKNOW: This year's Holi was unusually a sweeter for the employees of New Delhi municipal council, as the civic agency responsible for the upkeep and maintenance of Lutyen's Delhi shelled out nearly Rs 1 crore to keep its employees in good humour as well as good taste. Interestingly, the cost incurred each year in purchasing sweets has progressed arithmetically as well as geometrically.

Replying to an RTI application filed by Delhi-based RTI activist Subhash Chandra Agarwal, the health department of NDMC, says, "NDMC has been distributing sweets to safai karamcharis on the occasion of Diwali. This year, the competent authorities in consultation with senior officers decided to distribute sweets to all the employees on the occasion of Holi."

It further added that in March, 2014, sweets were procured at a total cost of Rs 91, 95,070 for distribution to all NDMC employees on the eve of Holi.

Prior to this, in 2010, sweets were procured from M/s Karachi Halwa House at a total cost of Rs 5, 52,860 for distribution to the sanitation staff of health department on the eve of Diwali. In 2011, sweets were procured from Ms Kaleva at a total cost of Rs 6, 70,163 for distribution to the sanitation staff of health department on the eve of the Diwali.

In 2012, sweets were procured from M/s Kaleva at a total cost of Rs 6, 70,163 for distribution to the sanitation staff of health department on the occasion of Diwai. In 2013, sweets were procured from M/s Nathu Sweets worth Rs 30, 20,242 for distribution to the sanitation staff of health department and all group D employees of NDMC including contractual one on the eve of the Diwali. In 2014, sweets were procured from M/s Nathu Sweets on a total cost of Rs 91,95,0701 for distribution to all NDMC employees on the eve of Holi.

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Full statehood for Delhi is first demand from new PM: Vardhan

NEW DELHI: Delhi BJP president Harsh Vardhan on Sunday said the first issue he will take up for the city with the new Prime Minister would be grant of full statehood to the national capital as it would help overcoming the problem of multiplicity of authorities.

Vardhan, who was BJP's chief ministerial nominee in the assembly polls, felt a lot of hurdles for ensuring overall development of the city will automatically get resolved if Delhi was given full statehood.

"The first issue we will take up with Narendra Modiji as Prime Minister will be to grant full-statehood for Delhi," Vardhan told PTI.

In the campaign for Lok Sabha polls, BJP had promised to declare Delhi a full state if the party came to power, noting that it will help ensure proper coordination between various agencies.

BJP had swept the Lok Sabha polls in Delhi winning all seven seats with huge margins ranging from over one lakh to 2. 6 lakh votes.

"The NDA government had brought a bill to grant statehood to Delhi and it was tabled in Parliament," he said.

The bill was referred to a Parliamentary Committee following reservations by Congress.

Vardhan said after the NDA was out of power, the Bill was never taken up by UPA government.

Exuding confidence that the Government under Modi will be able to address various issues faced by Delhiites, Vardhan said the Delhi BJP will apprise the new dispensation about key problems facing the city.

"We will also take up with Modiji various key issues concerning Delhi.We will be pressing for resolving issues relating to the Delhi Master Plan 2021.We will take up issues relating to the three municipal corporation," said Vardhan.

Identifying water scarcity in Delhi as a major issue, he said Delhi BJP will also seek appropriate solution to the problem.

"Water problem is a major issue for Delhi and we will definitely try to resolve it," Vardhane said.

The current average demand for potable water in Delhi is around 1,100 mgd (million gallons per day) and the Delhi Jal Board supplies around 800 mgd water across the city after treating raw water in its treatment plants.

The demand is projected to touch around 1,400 mgd by the end of the 12th Five-Year Plan in 2017.

Delhi relies heavily on neighbouring states such as Haryana and Uttar Pradesh for the supply of raw water.

Vardhan also favoured reform in Delhi Development Authority and said certain issues relating to day-to-day functioning of the three municipal corporations needed to be addressed.

The erstwhile Municipal Corporation was trifurcated by then Sheila Dikshit government in 2012 notwithstanding stiff opposition from BJP.

"There was a need to focus on issues relating to urban development as well.

"I am confident that the new government under Modiji's leadership will be able to fulfill aspirations of people of Delhi," Vardhan said.

Asked about political scenario in Delhi, Vardhan said the party was ready for assembly election and BJP's vote share in Lok Sabha polls in the city had jumped to 46.1 per cent from 33.07 per cent in the assembly polls.

Central rule was imposed in Delhi on February 17 and the Legislative Assembly was kept in suspended animation after AAP government had resigned.

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Fashion designers booked for stealing designs

NEW DELHI: A multi-national ethnic-wear maker has accused two of its former designers of stealing its designs, police said.

According to police, an FIR under Section 66B of the Information Act has been registered at Mehrauli police station against Shweta Tyagi and Shaily Goel, who had served as designers for Biba Apparels Pvt Ltd.

Jatin Gulati, the manager (legal) of Biba Apparels, has alleged in his complaint that both accused stole several designs during their employment with the company, which has its fashion stores across the globe.

Police said that after initial inquiries, it was found that during their employment with the company, both designers transfered several designs from their official emails to their private emails, which amounts to theft of data.

"We will soon arrest both designers and further inquiry is on in the matter," said a senior police officer.

Gulati has alleged that both accused joined hands with a rival company.

Further, the duo are alleged to have divulged confidential information related to the company's organisation, finances, technology, etc. and compromised software and databases covering its business activities, which they had access to during their employment with Biba.

Gulati said that Tyagi and Goel had resigned from the company in, respectively, June and July last year.

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Man gets 10 years in jail for raping Air Force staffer's wife

NEW DELHI: A 55-year-old man has been awarded 10 years' rigorous imprisonment by a Delhi court for raping and pouring hazardous "chemical" on the private parts of the wife of an Air Force staffer.

The convict, who was friendly with the 40-year-old victim's husband, committed the heinous offence at her residence.

Additional sessions judge MC Gupta handed the jail term to Narayan, an agriculturist by profession and a resident of Bhalswa Dairy here, for the offence of rape and causing hurt to the woman by means of poison or corrosive substance.

The court also imposed a fine of Rs 25,000 on Narayan. It also noted that the victim had made a "futile attempt" to conceal the fact of her rape by changing her statement before court.

"A conjoint reading of the said dependable part of the testimony of the prosecutrix (woman) so established on record, coupled with the DNA report ... clearly indicates that sexual intercourse activity has taken place in the case and it was none else but accused Narayan who has performed the act of sexual intercourse with the woman against her will.

"Prosecutrix has made a futile attempt to conceal the same," the judge said.

According to the prosecution, the incident took place in the afternoon of September 10, 2012, when Narayan went to the woman's house in the absence of her husband, who was posted in Mumbai, on the pretext of buying their motorcycle.

When the woman brought water for her, he caught hold of her and raped her and also poured some unknown chemical on her private parts due to which she felt pain and a burning sensation, it was alleged.

The woman, a mother of four children of whom two are in Army, narrated the incident to the doctors at a hospital following which police was notified and Narayan arrested.

The woman, however, changed her statement in court saying Narayan had come to her house and after some time left the premises. Later, she had felt giddy and went to sleep. When she awoke, she felt a burning sensation in her private parts and went to a nearby hospital, she said, adding that she does not know why the police was called.

During the trial, Narayan claimed that he was innocent and was falsely implicated in the case.

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Four held in Delhi with drugs worth Rs 100 crore

NEW DELHI: Four people were arrested for possessing drugs, including 21kg heroin worth Rs 100 crore on Sunday, police said.

Mohammed Sajid Zubair of Mumbai and Noushad Abdul Rahiman from Kerala were arrested from Sarai Kale Khan area in Delhi. A total of 16kg heroin and 9kg of crude methamphetamine, which they concealed beneath their clothing, were recovered from their possession.

Following the duo's arrest, Shahjahan Mohd. Yasin and Abdul Sattar of Mumbai were also nabbed from Punjabi Bagh area where 5kg more heroin was recovered by the police team.

Police told that Yasin and Sattar had come to collect the consignment which they had to deliver to other people in and outside the country.

Zubair and Rahiman worked as delivery agents in the nexus.

Deputy commissioner of police, Sanjeev Kumar Yadav said the contraband was worth approximately Rs 100 crore in the international market.

Police have claimed they have busted a trans-national drug syndicate involved in trafficking of high-value narcotics across Kuwait, Dubai, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Sri Lanka and India.

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Najeeb Jung awards BSF personnel

NEW DELHI: Lieutenant governor Najeeb Jung decorated 10 BSF men with police medals for gallantry, and 21 BSF officers and men with police medals for meritorious service on the occasion of 12th BSF investiture ceremony held at Vigyan Bhawan on Thursday.

Even five times Mount Everest climber, Love Raj Singh Dharmshaktu, assistant commandant of BSF, got special mention for receiving the Padma Shri award in 2014.

"The force has become people-friendly and their role during massive natural calamity in Uttarakhand is commendable," said Jung.

On the occasion, Director General Border Security Force, D K Pathak, also addressed the audience. He recalled Border Security Force journey since 1965.

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Traffic curbs for Modi's oath-taking

NEW DELHI: All roads leading to Rashtrapati Bhavan will be closed to the general public between 4pm and 8pm starting Saturday. The arrangement shall be in place till Monday. Traffic police have taken the decision in wake of beefed-up security ahead of the swearing-in ceremony for PM-elect Narendra Modi on Monday.

Police have requested all government offices in the south and north blocks including those of the Armed Forces to announce half-day for employees for the next few days. The offices will be shut on Monday.

The Special Protection Group (SPG), which handles the prime minister's security, has asked Delhi Police to conduct mock security drills on Saturday and Sunday so they are fighting fit in face of any situation. Heavy deployment of traffic personnel has been ensured at every intersection in central Delhi on Monday. As a part of the security measures, no vehicle will be allowed to ply on Vijay Chowk, South Avenue, North Avenue, Church Road and Dalhousie Road from 4pm. No parking will be allowed in these areas as well.

Traffic officials said these roads will be barricaded throughout the day on Monday and only vehicles bearing security stickers will be allowed to enter the high-security zone. "We will deploy additional forces in the area to ensure that no vehicle is allowed to enter the zone without security clearance," said a senior police officer.

"There will be restrictions on the movement of vehicles in NDMC zone since many foreign dignitaries are expected to arrive," Anil Shukla, joint commissioner, traffic, said.

He said that diversions will be in place at Rail Bhavan, Pandit Pant Marg at Talkatora roundabout, K Kamraj Marg near RP Bhawan, Motilal Nehru Marg near Udyog Bhawan, E-Block, Security Lines Road, Mother Teresa Crescent, Sardar Patel Marg, Vinay Marg, Shanker Road and near RML Hospital.

"Diversions will also be made near the city hotels as and when required to ensure safe passage of foreign dignitaries," said a police official. Police said traffic will remain heavy on Prithviraj Road, Man Singh Road, part of Sardar Patel Marg, Ashoka Road, Rajendra Prasad Road and Parliament Street for the next three days. Commuters from Gurgaon and southwest Delhi areas are expected to be affected. Police have requested people to avoid using these roads during rehearsals.

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Giant screens for PM show in Delhi

NEW DELHI: From decorating markets with lights and flowers to setting up huge LED screens, BJP is taking pains to make Narendra Modi's swearing-in on Monday an elaborate affair. Delhi BJP president Harsh Vardhan has called a special meeting on Saturday to discuss the preparations for the big day.

Chandni Chowk, where the local unit plans a grand celebration, is already abuzz. Councillor Surekha Gupta and Chandni Chowk Nagrik Manch are working on a live telecast of the 1.15-hour-long ceremony. "The main market will be adorned with lights and flowers. We have decided to decorate all the prominent buildings and places of worship," said Praveen Shankar Kapoor, secretary, Chandni Chowk Nagrik Manch and co-convenor of the Delhi BJP's media cell.

A huge stage, along with an LED screen, will be set up at Ghanta Ghar Chowk near Town Hall. "The area will be embellished with flowers. Fireworks will mark the end of the ceremony," said Kapoor.

Party units in other parts of the city are also busy with the preparations. "As everyone can't attend the ceremony, we are planning mass gatherings in different areas," said Vijender Gupta, former Delhi BJP president.

Some units have already ordered sweets to be distributed by local leaders after the ceremony. All the plans will be finalized at Saturday's meeting, which will be attended by all the district and mandal presidents, booth managers and Delhi BJP office-bearers. "We want to make it a special day for the people," added Vardhan.

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DDA uploads video to help applicants in property conversion

NEW DELHI: The Delhi Development Authority on Wednesday uploaded a video clip on their website to help people fill up their forms for property conversion.

DDA officials said the video, which has been uploaded on www.dda.org.in, contains detailed instructions to make the process easy for applicants. The video provides details of the form meant to be filled by direct allottees as well as the one for occupants of DDA flats who have acquired property on the basis of a power of attorney and an agreement to sell.

DDA spokesperson Neemo Dhar said the video had been composed to ensure there is proper awareness regarding the procedure for conversion of property. He said the move is also aimed at reducing the number of trips people usually have to make to Vikas Sadan to know the payment position of their property.

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Dust storms likely in Delhi

NEW DELHI: After light rain in the city last evening, Delhiities on Saturday woke up to a clear sky with minimum temperature settling at 25.5 degree celsius, a notch below normal.

According to Met department, the maximum temperature is expected to remain around 43 degree celsius.

However, Met department has predicted that the sky would become partly cloudy in the latter half of the day with possibility of dust storms in some areas.

There is also possibility of dust storms in the next two days.

Met department has recorded maximum rainfall of 1.5mm in the national capital in the last 24-hours.

Yesterday, the maximum temperature, which had jumped four notches above normal, had come down significantly in the evening following the light showers to settle at 39.8 degrees after 5.30pm.

Students of northeast stage a protest at Sector 25 Rally Ground Chandigarh on Saturday in support of Nido Taniam, an 18-year-old Student from Arunachal Pradesh died after being beaten up mercilessly by locals at a marketplace in the Lajpat Nagar area of Delhi.

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Nursery admission in Delhi: Supreme Court notice to govt on quota plea

NEW DELHI: Can the Supreme Court order granting relief to inter-state transfer quota children in nursery admissions be confined to those whose parents had challenged scrapping of the category?

A writ petition by Dinesh Kumar argued that it would not be proper to confine relief only to those students whose parents had challenged the Delhi LG's decision to scrap the inter-state transfer quota midway through the admissions.

He said many parents, who were eagerly awaiting the outcome of the petitions in the Supreme Court were left high and dry and their children faced the prospect of not getting into any school.

A bench of Justices B S Chauhan and A K Sikri issued notice to the Delhi government seeking its response to the petition after advocate Rohan Thawani pleaded that benefit of the apex court's May 7 order should be available to all children under the category.

On May 7, a bench of Justices H L Dattu, M Y Eqbal and S A Bobde had lifted stay on nursery admissions while not before setting aside the Delhi government's February 27 notification, which scrapped inter-state transfer quota. The notification was issued as authorities had discovered a large number of fake transfer certificates given by parents to get their children admitted to nursery classes.

Writing the judgment for the bench, Justice Eqbal said the government could not have changed the rules midway through the process of admission which amounted to disqualifying children on the basis of a criterion which was not there when the nursery admissions started.

However, the bench clarified that the relief would be available only to 24 children whose parents had approached the court challenging the February 27 notification. Kumar, who filed the petition through advocate Pooja Dhar, said limiting it to only 24 cases would affect the right to equal treatment of other similarly placed kids who were otherwise eligible for admission under the inter-state transfer category.

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Nursery admission in Delhi: Supreme Court notice to govt on quota plea

NEW DELHI: Can the Supreme Court order granting relief to inter-state transfer quota children in nursery admissions be confined to those whose parents had challenged scrapping of the category?

A writ petition by Dinesh Kumar argued that it would not be proper to confine relief only to those students whose parents had challenged the Delhi LG's decision to scrap the inter-state transfer quota midway through the admissions.

He said many parents, who were eagerly awaiting the outcome of the petitions in the Supreme Court were left high and dry and their children faced the prospect of not getting into any school.

A bench of Justices B S Chauhan and A K Sikri issued notice to the Delhi government seeking its response to the petition after advocate Rohan Thawani pleaded that benefit of the apex court's May 7 order should be available to all children under the category.

On May 7, a bench of Justices H L Dattu, M Y Eqbal and S A Bobde had lifted stay on nursery admissions while not before setting aside the Delhi government's February 27 notification, which scrapped inter-state transfer quota. The notification was issued as authorities had discovered a large number of fake transfer certificates given by parents to get their children admitted to nursery classes.

Writing the judgment for the bench, Justice Eqbal said the government could not have changed the rules midway through the process of admission which amounted to disqualifying children on the basis of a criterion which was not there when the nursery admissions started.

However, the bench clarified that the relief would be available only to 24 children whose parents had approached the court challenging the February 27 notification. Kumar, who filed the petition through advocate Pooja Dhar, said limiting it to only 24 cases would affect the right to equal treatment of other similarly placed kids who were otherwise eligible for admission under the inter-state transfer category.

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Rs 1.2 crore Rajghat robbery: Two juveniles among four held

NEW DELHI: Four men, including two juveniles, have been apprehended for their involvement in the Rs 1.2 crore robbery at Rajghat in which a gang had punctured the tyre of a jeweller's car and fled with a bag containing jewellery.

The incident was reported on May 16 when Subham, and his employee Vinod were on their way to Karol Bagh. When they stopped to change the tyre, two men on a motorcycle fled with the bag containing 4.1kg gold and silver jewellery.

A team comprising STF in charge Rajender Singh and special staff in charge Akhilesh Yadav from south district zeroed in on Micheal, a resident of Madangiri. "Micheal was arrested from Munirka when he came to dispose off the jewellery," said B S Jaiswal, DCP (south). Three others, including the two juveniles, were also nabbed from the spot. Micheal is also involved in six other such cases

Police said the gang used to follow their victims on motorcycles and puncture a tyre with an ice pick when the car would stop at a traffic signal. When the car would stop, the juveniles used to lift the bag while Deepak and Micheal used to engage the car's occupants in a conversation.

Police have recovered 1.8kg gold and a motorcycle.

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Rs 1.2 crore Rajghat robbery: Two juveniles among four held

NEW DELHI: Four men, including two juveniles, have been apprehended for their involvement in the Rs 1.2 crore robbery at Rajghat in which a gang had punctured the tyre of a jeweller's car and fled with a bag containing jewellery.

The incident was reported on May 16 when Subham, and his employee Vinod were on their way to Karol Bagh. When they stopped to change the tyre, two men on a motorcycle fled with the bag containing 4.1kg gold and silver jewellery.

A team comprising STF in charge Rajender Singh and special staff in charge Akhilesh Yadav from south district zeroed in on Micheal, a resident of Madangiri. "Micheal was arrested from Munirka when he came to dispose off the jewellery," said B S Jaiswal, DCP (south). Three others, including the two juveniles, were also nabbed from the spot. Micheal is also involved in six other such cases

Police said the gang used to follow their victims on motorcycles and puncture a tyre with an ice pick when the car would stop at a traffic signal. When the car would stop, the juveniles used to lift the bag while Deepak and Micheal used to engage the car's occupants in a conversation.

Police have recovered 1.8kg gold and a motorcycle.

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AAP MLA arrested for thrashing Delhi Jal Board's junior engineer

NEW DELHI: The AAP legislator, who had allegedly thrashed a junior engineer of Delhi Jal Board after he refused to follow his instructions, was arrested today.

"We have arrested Prakash Jarwal, an MLA from Deoli, for assaulting a DJB engineer. The MLA has been booked under Section 186 (Obstructing public servant in discharge of public functions), 332 (Voluntarily causing hurt to deter public servant from his duty) and 353 (Assault or criminal force to deter public servant from discharge of his duty) of the Indian Penal Code," DCP (southeast district) P Karunakaran told PTI.

Yesterday, DJB had registered an FIR against accused MLA for allegedly assaulting its junior engineer at Sangam Vihar area where he was supervising work of drilling of a tube-well.

The DJB official had claimed that he was asked by one of the associates of the MLA over phone to stop the work as it had to be inaugurated by Jarwal.

However, the official carried on with the work as stopping it would have "indefinitely delayed" the boring of the tubewell.

The official had also explained the matter to the MLA when he reached the spot but was allegedly assaulted by him.

The AAP MLA has, however, refuted the allegations and claimed that the DJB official had halted the work and also abused him when he questioned about it.

Jarwal had alleged that the official concerned was asking for a bribe and had stopped the work.

"The DJB officials started the drilling work at 6am, but stopped it at 8.30am and demanded money to complete the work.

"When I contacted the assistant engineer, he assured me that the work will start again, but he again refused to work and told people that I would be coming to inaugurate it," Jarwal said yesterday after a case was registered against him by the DJB.

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Government to install electronic toll lane at each public plaza

NEW DELHI: The road transport and highways ministry on Wednesday set the target to dedicate at least one electronic tolling lane at all government funded plazas during this fiscal.

With indications that the Narendra Modi government won't be against toll roads, provided commuters have a comfortable ride and don't get held up at toll plazas, the ministry asked state governments to become partners to implement it even in toll roads in states.

There are 302 toll plazas on national highways now, of which about 95 are under the public-funded national highways. "We have already placed orders to install electronic toll plazas at 20 public funded roads. These will be installed soon in the remaining 75," road transport secretary Vijay Chhibber said on the sidelines of a conference.

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Restrictions imposed outside Delhi's Tihar jail

NEW DELHI: Restrictions were imposed outside Tihar jail here after AAP supporters staged a protest outside the prison in the wake of party leader Arvind Kejriwal being taken to jail on Wednesday following a court's order sending him to judicial custody, police said on Thursday.

The restrictions under Section 144 of the IPC prohibit mass gathering, a police officer said.

READ ALSO: Section 144 imposed outside Tihar

More than two companies of the Delhi Police have been stationed in and outside the jail premises. Water cannons, barricades and other security measures have been put in place.

"Additional police force has been stationed outside the premises of Tihar Jail because we apprehend that AAP workers will again protest here today (Thursday)," deputy commissioner of police Ranvir Singh told IANS.

A number of AAP workers, including senior party leader Yogendra Yadav and Manish Sisodia, were detained by the police following the protests.

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Kejriwal meets wife, AAP leaders in Tihar jail

NEW DELHI: Former Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal on Thursday went for a walk in the morning within Tihar jail premises, where he is lodged in a defamation case, and met his wife and some AAP leaders who had come to visit him.

Kejriwal slept well through the night and woke up early, went for a morning walk and returned to his cell where he was served breakfast, consisting the staple tea and bread, sources at the Tihar jail said, adding he also read around three to four newspapers in his cell.

At around 10am, the AAP chief met his party colleagues Sanjay Singh and Ashutosh for about 30 minutes and also met his wife Sunita, who had brought clothes and medicines for him. "He also interacted with some guards and other jail staff. He told them that he was fighting against corrupt for the common man like them and that is why he was in jail," a prison official said.

READ ALSO: Arvind Kejriwal apologizes for quitting, says polls only option

Kejriwal was arrested yesterday and sent to Tihar jail till May 23 by a local court after he refused to furnish bail bond of Rs 10,000 in a criminal defamation complaint filed against him by BJP leader Nitin Gadkari.

Last night, the AAP leader was served prison food consisting chapati of 400 gm grain, 250 gm vegetable and 90 gm dal.

Kejriwal is kept in the meditation ward of jail number four, the same cell where his one time mentor Anna Hazare was kept after his arrest during the Lokpal movement in 2011.

He has been kept alone in order to ensure that he does not come into contact with other inmates due to security reasons.

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Man sets himself afire outside Delhi court

NEW DELHI: A 28-year-old man on Thursday set himself on fire outside a court in New Delhi, police said.

The man, identified as Sandeep, received 90% burn injuries. The incident occurred outside gate no.1 of Tis Hazari Court.

The reason behind the extreme step was yet to be ascertained.

The man, who was admitted to Lok Nayak Jai Prakash Narayan Hospital, was not in a condition to speak, police said adding that they were waiting for the man's family, which lives in the city's Babarpur area.

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Man jailed for 10 years for repeatedly raping stepdaughter

NEW DELHI: A man, convicted for repeatedly raping his 14-year-old stepdaughter for four months, has been sentenced to jail for 10 years by a Delhi court which observed that his "deplorable and unthinkable" acts do not deserve any leniency.

The court handed down the jail term to the 35-year-old man, a Delhi resident, for offences punishable under provision of Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act (POCSO) and section 506 (criminal intimidation) of the IPC.

"Though, the victim is not the real daughter of the convict.... it was expected that the convict would bring her up as his real daughter and would show same respect for her dignity, well-being and chastity as he would have done for his real daughters.

"To the contrary, the convict sexually abused his stepdaughter, repeatedly, and also criminally intimidated her. The deplorable and unthinkable acts of convict do not call for any leniency and I hereby sentence him....," additional sessions judge Illa Rawat said.

The court also said although the man was the step father of the minor victim, he was required to discharge his responsibility towards her and her siblings and "he ought to have lived upto the faith and trust reposed in him by his children including the victim".

It also imposed a fine of Rs 7,000 on the man, who was working with an orchestra party here.

According to the prosecution, the accused had repeatedly raped his 14-year-old stepdaughter from August to December 2012.

It said that accused had "criminally intimidated" her not to disclose about the incident to anyone by threatening to kill her and the matter was disclosed to the police when the victim told her mother about it in January 2013.

Her mother then took her to the police station where an FIR was lodged on the basis of the girl's complaint, it said.

During the trial, the accused claimed he had been falsely implicated in this case by the victim as he had objected her friendly relations with two boys.

The court sentenced the man and asked the Delhi government to grant compensation of Rs 1,00,000 to the victim.

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My aim will be to ensure that Dalits get equal opportunities: Udit Raj

From a champion of Dalit rights to the Dalit face of BJP—the party poised to lead India for the next five years—Udit Raj has come a long way. Raj was an IRS officer before he left government service to do social work and later joined politics. Durgesh Nandan Jha speaks to the newly-elected MP from North West Delhi about his plans to continue working for Dalit empowerment from within the government.

Protests and rallies have been the main instruments in your fight for Dalit rights over the past 10 years. Now, as an MP, how do you plan to further the social agenda?

As a small party or activist, one can raise issues and fight for them. But the real policy changes can only happen with the efforts of the ruling party. I am fortunate to be a part of it and my aim will be to ensure that Dalits get equal opportunities and their rights are not held up.

What are the key issues you are going to focus on?

For Dalit rights, strict implementation of the reservation policy, affirmative action to ensure equal opportunity in jobs, housing scheme and starting small-scale businesses is important. As far as my constituency is concerned, I will work towards ensuring availability of drinking water in villages, extension of the lal dora scheme and completion of projects started by former Delhi CM Sahib Singh Verma. For example, building educational institutions and health centres. Then, there are issues concerning the industrial areas of Narela and Bawana which I will need to look at.

Has the party approached you for any ministerial berth, or have you taken up the issue?

I have not approached the party for any ministerial berth. That's for the party to decide, but if they offer me any responsibility, I would accept it. As a former IRS officer, I have the administrative experience too.

BJP was always considered a party of the rich and the upper castes. Do you think the issues of Dalits and minorities will be addressed effectively by the new government?

The perception has already changed. Dalits know this and that's why they have voted for the BJP in large numbers this time. BJP's decision to project Narendra Modi, who comes from a poor family and backward caste, as its prime ministerial candidate is proof of the change in its attitude.

Lok Sabha election results show Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) has been able to corner a significant vote share in constituencies dominated by Dalits in Delhi, including the North West Lok Sabha seat which you represent. In UP, BSP claims its Dalit vote bank is intact. How will you change this?

AAP managed good numbers in certain pockets because parties like Congress, BSP and AAP came together to defeat BJP. In my constituency, Congress and BSP candidates threw their weight behind AAP's Rakhi Birla due to which my victory margin was low. We will work towards improving on the tally in future elections.

What about reservation in the private sector and promotions? This has been a long-standing demand for which you have held several protests in the past. Will you push for legislation to this effect?

I am not the head of Indian Justice Party anymore where I could decide on the issues to be taken up. The issue of reservation will have to be discussed by the leadership for necessary action.

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Sensors fail, fire destroys many files at police HQ

NEW DELHI: A major mishap was averted after a fire broke out at a special commissioner's office on the 10th floor of the Delhi Police headquarters early Sunday morning. Shockingly, not only were the fire alarms and smoke detectors found to be not working, even the in-house fire fighting mechanism was of no use.

No casualties were reported although some documents and furniture were gutted in the fire that started around 2.30am, a source said. He added that the police brass would set up an inquiry into the alleged lapses that exposed how the high-security building was sitting on a ticking bomb.

This is the third minor fire in an important government office in the capital in the past three weeks. Earlier this month, a UPS caught fire at Shastri Bhawan and some documents were gutted. On April 29, a fire broke in a joint secretary's room at the Prime Minister's Office in South Block.

Sunday's fire started in the staff room of the office which belongs to the joint commissioner of crime branch. But it is currently occupied by former joint CP S B K Singh, who has recently been promoted as special commissioner and is awaiting a posting in that rank.

The fire, sources in the PHQ, said went undetected in the initial 15 minutes as none of the sirens fitted with smoke and fire detectors went off. Smoke began to fill up on the 10th floor after which a home guard who was asleep in a room outside the office woke up to the chaos.

He raised an alarm and alerted security personnel who then made a call to the fire control room. Fire officials said eight fire tenders were sent to the spot. As the fire was at the 10th floor, hydraulic cranes had to be used for firemen to reach the room. Policemen also carried a search and evacuation drill to see if anyone was hurt or trapped in the fire.

The room where the fire had broken out was where the special commissioner's documents were kept. When the fire officials reached up, they found the fan and chairs in flames. The fire was controlled by 3.30am and cooling operations initiated.

The local police are also probing the sabotage angle and are awaiting a report by the fire and forensic officials, a source said. The exact cause of the fire is yet to be established by police said it probably started due by a short circuit in the fan.

The administration is also inquiring if all safety protocols are being followed inside the PHQ building. Senior officers on Monday could be heard talking about the absence of mock drills and safety exercises at the PHQ.

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Governer to think on Delhi polls only after government formation at Centre

NEW DELHI: The possibility of early polls may be a talking point but lieutenant governor Najeeb Jung wants to wait and watch. He will review the status quo and form a view on Delhi's readiness for fresh polls only after government formation at the Centre. He might also submit a report to the home ministry.

The LG had earlier indicated that he would review the political situation in Delhi—under the President's rule since Arvind Kejriwal resigned as chief minister in February—after the Lok Sabha results.

While Jung went about his business on Monday, top sources in the LG office explained the road ahead. After the central government takes charge, the LG can use his discretion to call upon BJP, the largest party in the assembly with 31 MLAs, to prove its majority and form the government. BJP has the support of one Akali Dal MLA. Once the LG is satisfied that a government cannot be formed, he will send a report to the Centre, which will then take a call. When the LG would meets the new Prime Minister Narendra Modi, he is expected to update him on Delhi's situation.

The Supreme Court had clarified on April 17 that the LG was free to revoke the decision to keep the assembly in suspended animation, though the proclamation said the President's rule would stay for a year.

On the first working day after the Lok Sabha results were declared on May 16, BJP reiterated that it was open to fresh polls. Congress, meanwhile, denied reports that it had offered Aam Aadmi Party outside support in Delhi. "I saying it clearly that Congress is ready for polls if they are announced," said DPCC chief Arvinder Singh.

AAP, however, is keen on early elections. It has lost all the seven Lok Sabha seats and its base among the middle class has been dented. The party, however, continues to enjoy the support of the poor and has attracted a good share of Muslim votes. It hopes the tide to once again turn in the favour of Kejriwal, who will be chief ministerial candidate.

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Cool weather in north to finally come to an end

NEW DELHI: Country's private weather forecaster Skymet on Tuesday said that the weather in India would be rainy in South and dry in North throughout the week.

It also forecast that the cool weather in North India will finally come to an end in the absence of any weather system this week.

"Forecasts suggest no rain activity in Delhi, Haryana and Punjab. A number of circulations which had been bringing unusual showers to Rajasthan in the last few weeks, will also elude the state", said the Skymet Meteorological Division in its latest statement.

It said the maximum temperatures which had consistently been settling in the higher thirties, will be inching towards the normals (40⁰C and above).

"Up in the hills, a Western Disturbance travelling in the upper latitudes will spare Uttarakhand and could bring light rain only to Jammu and Kashmir", said its forecast.

For east and northeast parts of the country, the Skymet said the temperatures in states like Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand and West Bengal, will be on the rise this week, with dry and hot northwesterly winds sweeping across the entire region.

"While maximums will settle in the early forties in Uttar Pradesh and Bihar, they will settle five to six degrees above the normal average in West Bengal, leading to heat wave conditions," it said.

According to the forecast till May 25, weather in Northeast India, unlike in East, will be pleasant. Scattered thundershowers will continue throughout the week. Rain activity could be more in Arunachal Pradesh and lesser in other states.

"During the last two days of the week, pre-monsoon rain will be pick up in Assam, Sub Himalayan West Bengal, Sikkim as well as along the foothills of Bihar," it said.

Weather in Central India will be the hottest and the driest in India this week. Days in Odisha and Maharashtra will be unbearable as the maximum could surge to 44⁰C and above. Day temperatures in Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh could just a shade better. Rise in the mercury levels so high could trigger some isolated pre-monsoon rain in Vidarbha and Odisha, though this may not bring any respite from the scorching heat.

"Southwest Monsoon has set in over most parts of Andaman Sea and will further advance into Bay of Bengal this week. Rain in Kerala and south interior Karnataka will continue but will ease out a little by midweek, post Wednesday. Rain shadow state of Tamil Nadu may witness little or no rain this week. Telanagana could continue to be the hottest state in peninsular India with mainly clear skies and maximums touching 40⁰C. Maximums will settle between 33⁰C to 36⁰C in most other places," said its meteorological division.

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AAP legislator booked in Delhi for cheating

NEW DELHI: An AAP legislator was booked for allegedly cheating a 45-year-old man from his own assembly constituency, police said on Tuesday.

A first information report (FIR) was registered on Monday at Ashok Nagar police station against MLA Manoj Kumar from Kondli assembly constituency in east Delhi.

"Manoj was booked under a forgery case. He allegedly took Rs 6 lakh from Vijay Kumar in November 2012 to sell him a plot by showing false documents of the property," said a police officer.

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Tarun Tejpal moves SC for release to attend mother's cremation

NEW DELHI: Senior journalist Tarun Tejpal, who is behind the bars in a rape case, on Monday sought from the Supreme Court his release to enable him to attend the cremation of his mother who died in Goa on Sunday.

Appearing before a bench of justices BS Chauhan and AK Sikri, advocate Sandeep Kapur mentioned the matter seeking its direction to release him to attend the cremation of his mother.

The bench said the file of the case was not before it and it would consider the matter after going through the file.

50-year-old Tejpal has been chargesheeted for allegedly raping, sexually harassing and outraging the modesty of a junior colleague during an event held at a hotel in Goa in November last year. Tejpal was arrested on November 30, 2013.

He has been accused of sexually assaulting the victim on November 7 and repeating the offence the next day.

He is currently in judicial custody and lodged at Sada sub-jail in Goa's Vasco town.

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AAP's hope of getting office in Delhi dashed

NEW DELHI: Aam Aadmi Party's (AAP) hope of getting a built up office in Delhi has been halted at least for the next five years as the political outfit failed to get the status of a national party. However, it can get a plot to build its own office since the party has been recognized as a state party in the capital.

According to urban development ministry sources, once a political party is recognized as national party by the Election Commission, the Centre is bound to allot a built up office in the national capital. "When their representatives had approached the ministry for allotment of office space we had provided them the detailed norms. They were interested to find whether they could get a space so they could shift immediately," said an official.

He added that AAP being a regional party, it can get a plot. It's learnt that the ministry is considering the option of allotting a plot on Deen Dayal Upadhyay Marg.

A political party is recognized as a national party if it secures at least 6% of votes polled in any four or more states to the Lok Sabha or the assembly and in addition, it wins at least four seats in the Lok Sabha.

A party can also get national party status if it wins at least 2% seats in the Lok Sabha (i.e. 11 seats in the House having 543 members), and these members are elected from at least three different states.

AAP won four seats, but ended up getting 6% vote only in Delhi and Punjab. Since the party could not get 11 seats, there is no question of weighing the second option.

Though AAP had contested 443 seats it drew blank in all states except Punjab.

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Poor show on home turf of bigwigs worries party

NEW DELHI: If a complete wipe out in Delhi Lok Sabha election is a bigger worry for Aam Aadmi Party, the worst headache has been party's poor show in all assembly segments represented by its most popular faces. Going by the poll trends, former chief minister Arvind Kejriwal and his all six former cabinet colleagues failed to save their assembly seats.

In New Delhi constituency, which gave Kejriwal the "giant killer" tag after defeating Sheila Dikshit in the assembly election, AAP managed to get about 25,500 votes in the Lok Sabha election. But BJP improved its performance to bag around 32,000 votes.

The trends suggest that the government employees, who had rallied behind Kejriwal in the last assembly poll, deserted him within months. "In Gole Market area, BJP got approximately 11,000 votes against AAP's 4,500. We could reverse the assembly poll trend by carrying out aggressive campaigning, reaching out to every household at least twice. Obviously, Narendra Modi wave was the major factor," said Rajiv Singh, poll in-charge of the constituency.

BJP got lead in 152 out of the total 182 booths in the New Delhi assembly seat.

Former minister Rakhi Birla, who also contested as party's MP candidate from North-West Delhi, was the closest second in her own assembly seat Mangolpuri while her colleagues failed to even put a tough fight. In Mangolpuri, the difference between BJP and AAP was approximately 1,500.

BJP bagged almost double of AAP votes in Shakur Basti and Greater Kailash which are represented by former health and industry minister Satyendra Jain and ex-transport minister Saurabh Bharadwaj. Even Malviya Nagar MLA and former law and tourism minister Somnath Bharti could not help his party. While BJP got little over 43,000 votes AAP bagged only 26,000. In the last assembly election, the broom had got about 32,000 votes.

Kejriwal's right hand man Manish Sisodia's Patparganj constituency also did not save AAP's day. BJP improved its performance by getting 68,000 votes.

The story was similar in Madipur represented by Girish Soni, the former employment minister. BJP had margin of over 17,000 votes.

"This time it was like a tornado to vote for Modi and there was no reason. So, suggesting former AAP ministers' failure won't be right," said one of the party's Lok Sabha candidates.

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Man gets 14 years jail term for raping, sodomizing daughter

NEW DELHI: A man has been sentenced to 14 years imprisonment for raping and sodomizing his 20-year-old daughter, by a Delhi court which noted that he violated all limits of humanity and showed no repentance over his offence.

Additional sessions judge Pawan Kumar Jain, while taking a stern view, handed down the jail term to the man for raping his daughter and criminally intimidating her and also imposed a fine of Rs 50,000 on him.

The judge held the man guilty under various sections of the Indian Penal Code including rape, unnatural sex, criminal intimidation, assault and voluntarily causing hurt to the victim.

"It is proved beyond all reasonable doubts that accused had not only committed rape upon the victim but he also committed unnatural sex with her..." the court said.

While sentencing the man, the court noted that he was a perpetual offender as he had been jailed several times before for other crimes and rejected his prayer for leniency.

It held that the man does not deserve minimum punishment as "he chose his own daughter to satisfy his lust."

"Being the father of victim, it was his duty to protect her from any such assault but he himself violated all limits of humanity and committed rape upon her," the court said.

While noting that the man had accused his wife and daughter of being involved in prostitution, the court said that "this further indicates that convict has no repentance over his act."

According to the prosecution, the victim lodged a complaint with the police that she was raped by her father on the night of July 6, 2012 and he also committed unnatural sex with her. The police said that on the next day, the victim informed her maternal aunt, with whom her father got married after her biological mother deserted them. The girl was living with her father, second mother and three brothers.

She had told the police that her father had raped her several times before also.

The police said her father had tried to molest her a week before the incident and injured her with a hot knife in the absence of other family members.

The victim also told the court that her father was jailed many times before for other crimes and he also used to beat his second wife.

The court, however, did not accept the victim's statement regarding the earlier sexual assault incidents due to lack of evidence but it accepted the testimony of her second mother who had injury marks on her body.

The man, in his defence, claimed that it was his ex-wife who had falsely implicated him in the case because he refused to accept her back in his life. He added that when he was in jail, his second wife (victim's aunt) visited him in jail and said that his ex-wife wanted half of his property to take the case back.

During the trial, he also claimed before the court that his ex-wife, daughter and second wife were engaged in prostitution and when he tried to stop them, they levelled false allegations on him.

The man, through his counsel, had prayed for a minimum punishment on the ground that he was the sole bread earner of the family with his three sons dependant on him.

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ITBP official run over by truck in Delhi

NEW DELHI: An Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) official was run over by a truck here on Monday morning.

The body of Kuldeep Chand Sharma, 55, was recovered from near gate number 3 of the Kashmere Gate Metro station in north Delhi at about 6am.

"Kuldeep was deputed as a Subedar Major in the force and worked as a Hindi translator," an ITBP official said.

Sharma, who hailed from Mandi in Himachal Pradesh, was posted in Delhi and was coming from his home town to join duty today (Monday), said the official.

Sharma, inducted in the force in 1983, is survived by his wife, a daughter and a son.

Truck driver Naresh, 40, has been arrested.

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‘Dad, I got my girlfriend pregnant’: Delhi student’s prank gone wrong goes viral

NEW DELHI: A Delhi student's sense of humour took a real beating when he fooled his father into thinking that he had got his girlfriend pregnant.

The only respite is that Prateek Verma's prank made him very popular. He secretly made a video of the episode, which has been viewed more than 700,000 times since it was uploaded on YouTube three weeks ago.

In the video, Prateek first announces that he is going to play a prank on his father, saying, "Lets see what happens."

He then hesitantly tells his father not beat him up after the news he gives him, even asking him to shut the door so his mother cannot hear what he has to say.

When he spills the beans, a livid Sunder Verma begins to kick and punch as his son unsuccessfully pleads for mercy.

Finally, Verma picks up a bottle and threatens to hit him in the head, when his son finally blurts out that it is a prank.

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Ready for assembly election in Delhi: Harsh Vardhan

NEW DELHI: Upbeat over party's spectacular victory in the Lok Sabha polls, Delhi BJP chief Harsh Vardhan on Sunday said the party was ready for assembly election in the city "anytime soon" and exuded confidence of getting a clear majority

59-year-old Vardhan made it amply clear that BJP will not try to form a government in Delhi by resorting to any sort of "manipulation" and would wait for election to get a "clear mandate" to rule the city.

"We are ready for fresh election for the legislative assembly. I think election should be held at the earliest. I am confident that people of Delhi will give us a clear majority when polls are held," he told PTI in an interview.

BJP recorded a landslide victory in Lok Sabha election in the city emerging victorious in all seven seats with huge margins ranging from over one lakh to 2.6 lakh votes.

BJP's vote share in Lok Sabha polls in the city had also jumped to 46.1 per cent from 33.07 per cent in the assembly polls.

Vardhan himself won from prestigious Chandni Chowk Parliamentary seat by a margin of over 1.35 lakh votes.

Favouring early assembly election, Vardhan said polls will have to be held within next eight months as President's Rule cannot continue beyond one year.

Central rule was imposed in Delhi on February 17 and the Legislative Assembly was kept in suspended animation after AAP government had resigned.

A number of party's Delhi leaders indicated that the Narendra Modi-led government may opt for early assembly election in Delhi.

Any decision on dissolving the assembly will have to be taken by Union Cabinet.

Vardhan said his earlier stand of not forming the government due to lack of majority has not changed.

"We will not try to form government through unfair means. Our earlier stand on not forming the government has not changed. We do not have the numbers and will not resort to any manipulation," he said.

BJP, along with its ally Akali Dal's one seat, had support of 32 MLAs in the 70-member House. However, BJP's strength will come down to 28 as three sitting MLAs, Vardhan, Pervesh Verma and Ramesh Bidhuri have been elected as MPs.

AAP won 28 seats followed by Congress with eight. JD(U) had won one seat while one seat had gone to an Independent.

Vardhan's remarks case as AAP MLAs mooted a proposal for the party to once again form the government in Delhi, with outside support.

At a meeting of its top leaders, including Arvind Kejriwal, some AAP legislators, who claimed to be around 20 in number, are said to have conveyed to the leadership that the party should make a fresh attempt at forming the government.

Sources said party MLA Rajesh Garg mooted the idea while describing Kejriwal's decision to resign in February after 49 days in power as one of the major reasons behind AAP's poor showing in the city in Lok Sabha polls.

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NaMo speech sparks hope for rivers but Sabarmati no model, Guajarat rivers also polluted

NEW DELHI: PM-elect, Narendra Modi has raised hopes among environmentalists in Delhi with his promises to revive Ganga. They now hope the same energy is directed towards Yamuna's revival once he takes charge. But the "Sabarmati model" on which Modi wants to base the Ganga project is hardly a model they claim. In fact Sabarmati is equally polluted downstream of Ahmedabad near Vasna say ecologists who have studied rivers in Gujarat. For Yamuna and Ganga, they say Modi needs to be proactive about ensuring that no sewage or industrial effluents pollute them further.

The immediate measures that a National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government can take are to ensure that the all sewage and effluent treatment plants that discharge in to Yamuna are fully functional. It would need to upgrade the STP infrastructure greatly in the capital as the current number of STPs, even if they are functional will not be able to treat the amount of toxic effluents that are discharged in to the river currently. Yamuna in its flow through Delhi also doesn't have the minimum environmental flow which has made it a "dead" river.
Pumping about Rs 6,500 crores in Yamuna Action Plan (YAP) I and II over 19 years, a part of which was also during NDA rule didn't manage to bring back Yamuna from the brink. Now Modi's plans to declare Ganga as a national project and his emotive speech in Varanasi that he had answered the call of Mother Ganga, may mean a more serious approach toward rivers.

Encroachments on the floodplains such as the Akshardham temple which was cleared during the NDA rule earlier should not be allowed any more ecologists said. "We need a river protection zone notified immediately for Yamuna so that there are no more encroachments on the floodplains. Yamuna and all its tributaries in the central zone—from Yamuna Nagar to Etawah have no flow and completely dried. To revive them, we need to ensure a minimum flow all year round," said Manoj Misra of Yamuna Jiye Abhiyan.

Many environmentalists said that they were concerned NDA will only pay a lip service to rivers like Ganga or Yamuna because of their relevance to right wing "Hindutva" ideology but not do much on ground.

Himangshu Thakkar of South Asia Network on Dams, Rivers and People (SANDRP) for instance quotes the example of Sabarmati. "The water that's flowing through Ahmedabad is actually water from Narmada that has been channelized in to Sabarmati. Downstream of Narmada when it flows through Ankleshwar and Bharuch, it's extremely polluted because of discharge of untreated effluents. So that clearly can't be a model for any river. No river is clean in Gujarat," said Thakkar.

In fact, Vapi an industrial town in Gujarat which has river Daman Ganga flowing through it had topped the list of critically polluted areas prepared by the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) in 2011. Daman Ganga which used to be lifeline for fishermen is highly polluted now. Ankleshwar had topped the same CPCB list in 2009. Amlakhadi river at Ankleshwar and Khari river at Lali village in Ahmedabad are also highly polluted due to industrial effluents according to CPCB reports.

"BJP government in Gujarat or the NDA in centre has hardly done anything for rivers. We still respect their intentions this time and hope that they will take up the issue. One of the urgent issues that Modi government can resolve is to re-negotiate the 1994 MOU which allots just 0.724 billion cubic meters (BCM) of water in Delhi of the 11.983 BCM of annual utilizable flow." added Misra.

Professor Vikram Soni of Jamia Millia University also strongly advocates ensuring a minimum flow in Yamuna first. His recent scientific study has established the need to maintain at least 50% to 60% of the total monsoon flow throughout the year for transporting river sediment, biodiversity balance and preventing algal choking.

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Won't support AAP again in Delhi, ready for election: Congress

NEW DELHI: Delhi Congress said on Sunday it will prefer fresh election in the city to supporting the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) again to form a government as favoured by a section of AAP MLAs following the drubbing in the Lok Sabha polls.

Chief spokesperson of Delhi Congress Mukesh Sharma said AAP has no moral right to talk about formation of a government in Delhi again after it went to the Supreme Court seeking dissolution of the assembly and demanding fresh election.

"There is no question of extending support to AAP to form a government again. Arvind Kejriwal had deserted people of Delhi by resorting to theatrics. He had gone to the Supreme Court seeking dissolution of the House. We will not support the party again," Sharma said.

After its spectacular performance in the assembly polls, the AAP drew a blank in the Lok Sabha polls though its candidate came second in all the seven constituencies relegating all the sitting Congress MPs including Kapil Sibal, Ajay Maken and Krishna Tirath to the third position.

"Congress never withdrew support to AAP government. Kejriwal quit the government and left the people of Delhi in a lurch to gain political mileage in the Lok Sabha polls. As they did not succeed in the Lok Sabha polls, they are talking about forming government again," said Sharma.

In the Lok Sabha polls, BJP not only won all the seven seats but also came first in 60 assembly segments out of 70 while AAP occupied top position only in 10 assembly segments.

Following the party's dismal performance, some MLAs of the AAP yesterday had mooted a proposal for the party to once again form government in Delhi, with support from either the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) or the Congress.

A section in the party feels that it should not opt for going to polls immediately and should explore forming the government again.

Sources in AAP said majority of sitting MLAs in the party did not want to fresh election immediately thinking the "Modi wave" may flatten them all if polls are held anytime soon.

Accusing Kejriwal of "helping" BJP by ensuring "division of secular votes" in Delhi and elsewhere, Sharma also did not rule out the possibility of some AAP MLAs defecting to the saffron party.

"Kejriwal has been helping BJP. He ensured BJP's sweep in Delhi through division of secular votes. There is a possibility of some AAP MLAs defecting to BJP. If that happens, then Kejriwal will be responsible," said Sharma.

He said notwithstanding Congress' poor show, the party was ready for fresh election.

"We are ready for elections," Sharma said. The BJP has already said that it would prefer fresh election than forming a government through "manipulation".

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DMRC changes rules for Metro travel cards

NEW DELHI: Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) is introducing some changes in its smart cards, including increasing the minimum add value to Rs 100 from May 21.

"As most of the Delhi Metro's smart card users are regular travelers and with the opening of Rapid Metro and more corridors of Phase III, the maximum fare required for travel will increase as the commuters would cover more distance. Therefore, increasing the minimum add value of the cards will help the commuters as they won't have to stand in queue to recharge their cards time and again," ED corporate communications Anuj Dayal said.

The initial minimum add value of the smart cards has been increased from existing Rs 50 to Rs 100, out of which refundable security of Rs 50 is kept unchanged.

Subsequently, from the next transaction the minimum add value will be of Rs 200 and further add values can be in multiples of Rs 100.

In case of web top-up, minimum add value amount will be Rs 100 and multiple of Rs 50 (i.e. Rs 100, 150, 200, 250 up to 1000).

About 12,000 smart cards are refunded every day, of which 9 per cent of smart cards are purchased and refunded on the same day.

Similarly, around 30 per cent smart cards are purchased and refunded within the same month.

This has resulted in a pile up of nine lakh smart cards to be refurbished at a cost to DMRC, Dayal said.

Therefore, the administration charges for the refund of smart cards will be revised from Rs 5 to Rs 20. This measure has been taken to offset increase in cost of transaction and discourage the frequent or daily refund of smart cards.

The new measures will help in streamlining the refund system, he added.

About 70 per cent of Delhi Metro travelers are smart card users, who are able to avail a discount of 10 per cent on all their journeys by the Metro whenever they use smart cards.

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Election results 2014: AAP plays cameo role, feels need to shed ‘activist’ character

NEW DELHI: When Arvind Kejriwal declared he would take on Narendra Modi in Varanasi, cries of 'bhagoda' rented the air of the holy city even before he had landed. BJP had its gameplan drawn up: use Kejriwal's dramatic resignation after an eventful 49-day stint as Delhi chief minister to portray the man and his party as a non-serious, disruptionist force fit only for a cameo role in politics.

But as AAP volunteers started thronging the city, BJP and others realised Kejriwal's campaign was not following textbook politics. It was being conducted by ordinary citizens, many of whom did not even know the city. It had the feel of a people's movement that just kept getting bigger with each passing day. Even traditional Left parties like the CPI and CPI (ML) joined the AAP bandwagon.

With nearly 4% vote garnered nationally, a rare achievement by any political party in its first outing, it is apparent AAP has the potential to play more than just cameos, perhaps the kind of role that the Left played for decades in Indian politics.

From its inception, AAP has attracted comparisons with the Left, with some even calling it India's 'new Left' sans any ideological baggage. Party ideologue and leader Yogendra Yadav scoffs at such comparisons. "New Left is an old phrase from Europe of the 1960s. Our reality should be explained through our phrase. AAP is definitely pro-people and wedded to the philosophy of the Indian Constitution. But to say it is New Left will be wrong. The Left-Right spectrum is not the appropriate way of mapping Indian politics," he explains.

Political scientist Nivedita Menon, who has followed AAP's growth closely, also does not think it can be called the New Left. "AAP is not part of that trajectory. It does not speak that vocabulary, does not subscribe to that ideology. It is a new kind of political formation with huge potential in it."

She agrees, however, that it is left of centre in broad terms. Menon says AAP attacks capitalists and its core is a belief in direct democracy rather than representational democracy. "It is the only party that takes democracy seriously. For AAP, democracy is not that which is locked in EVMs once in five years. Their belief is in a continuous democracy. It was in ample display in Varanasi where Kejriwal could take the debate away from communalism/secularism to development. Again, it was not Modi's model of development," she argues, adding that AAP does raise issues you would expect the Left to raise.

Instead of getting caught in the ideological cauldron, Yadav says there are certain non-negotiables for his party. He lists them as a pro-people orientation, commitment to decentralised and participatory democracy, respect for diversity and commitment to social justice and sustainable development that protects ecology. "These are not drawn from the West," he asserts.

However, Yadav argues that AAP needs to build an organisation and come out of the movement phase. "Without losing our movement character, we need to build a character. When was the last that a first time party got so much votes," he says, leaving the task of political labelling to political scientists and chroniclers.

What is undeniable is that in some crucial respects, AAP's image - pro-poor, personally austere and untainted by corruption, ability to mobilise crowds without having to 'hire' them - matches that of the Left in its heyday. Indeed, it could well be argued that the decline of the mainstream Left has helped create the space for a phenomenon like AAP, very alike it in some ways while being very different in others, most importantly the lack of a clearly spelt out ideology or detailed programme of action.

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Election results 2014: Dramatic debut by Meenakshi Lekhi

Meenakshi Lekhi made a grand debut, defeating Congress heavyweight and former minister Ajay Maken by 1,62,708 votes. Maken, who also happens to be an AICC general secretary, trailed at the third place with 1,82,893 which was just about 18% of the total votes polled. Aam Aadmi Party's journalist-turned-politician Ashish Khetan took the second spot with 2,90,642. The AAP vote share stood at 30%. The middle class, including a large contingent of government officials , seemed to have been swept by the "Modi wave" and went all out to oust Maken despite his campaign pitch about his clean image and development work.

A large share of middle class and lower middle class support went to former investigative journalist Ashish Khetan, who campaigned aggressively in Delhi's urban villages and slums. This parliamentary seat had sprung a surprise in December when Congress lost in all 10 assembly seats and AAP supremo Arvind Kejriwal sent Sheila Dikshit into exile in Kerala.

Birla can't fight Modi

Branded an outsider by rivals, Dalit leader Udit Raj defeated his nearest rival, Rakhi Birla of AAP, by over one lakh votes. Birla, however, managed to give Udit Raj a tough fight , trailing by about 1.6 lakh votes which is about 8 percentage points less than the BJP candidate. Right at the beginning, Congress' Krishna Tirath had virtually faded into the background. Both Birla and Udit Raj played the caste card. Birla made an emotional appeal while Udit Raj used the Modi factor. Birla, an MLA from Mongolpuri, fought under the shadow of Arvind Kejriwal's 49-day chaotic government and her promise of honest governance and development failed to do the trick. Udit Raj managed to get 46.4% of the votes while Birla got 38.6%. The Modi wave, a trend in the constituency's Jat-dominated villages, made all the difference. Tirath, a two-time MP, managed only a dismal 11.6% of the votes (1,57,468). She lost her deposit.

AAP's Sikh card fails

BJP's Parvesh Verma, son of former Delhi CM Sahib Singh Verma, won West Delhi by a record margin of 2.68 lakh, the highest victory margin in the city. Verma got 48.3% of the total vote share while AAP's Jarnail Singh was second with 28.4%. En bloc voting in Jat-dominated villages played a critical role in his victory. Congress' Mahabal Mishra, who was the MP, suffered a humiliating defeat, losing his deposit! Mishra, who is his party's Poorvanchali face, got just 1.9 lakh votes—14 .3% of the total votes polled. In 2009, Mishra had got 54.32% - 4.79 lakh votes - vote share whereas BJP's Jagdish Mukhi had got 39.72%.

The Poorvanchali vote bank, it seems, didn't side with him this time. He didn't even turn up at the community centre. And AAP failed to wean away Sikhs from BJP with a candidate from the community, Jarnail Singh. It, however, retained its support base in JJ clusters and unauthorized colonies. Though the result was clear after the fourth round, Verma sat at the centre till the end.

Gujjars see Bidhuri through

At 10.55am on Friday, during the fifth round of counting for South Delhi seat, BJP candidate Ramesh Bidhuri turned down requests for interview with 'abhi nahin' . Nervousness was apparent on the face of the three-time MLA from Tughlaqabad and the Gujjar face of BJP who was just 33,144 votes ahead of AAP candidate Devinder Sehrawat. He eventually defeated Sehrawat by a margin of 1,07,000. Bidhuri's victory was propelled largely by the Modi wave in urban pockets and his core supporters, the Gujjars, who have a significant presence here. He also benefitted from the splitting of Jat votes between the Congress and the AAP candidates who were from the community. Together, they polled over 5 lakh votes. AAP polled 3,90,980 (35.5%) votes while Congress's Ramesh Kumar, the sitting MP, was pushed to the third spot with 1, 25, 213 (11.4%). AAP held on to its vote bank in slums and resettlement colonies which have maximum migrant voters.

Muslim split helped Vardhan

A split in Muslim votes, coupled with a Modi wave, made Chandni Chowk an easy win for Dr Harsh Vardhan, chief ministerial candidate of BJP in the December assembly polls. He defeated AAP's Ashutosh by a margin of over 1.3 lakh votes, claiming 44.6% of the total votes and relegating the two-time MP from the constituency, Kapil Sibal of Congress, to third position. AAP got 30.7% while Congress got 17.9% of the vote share. In 2009, Sibal had 4.65 lakh votes in his kitty, 29,245 more than what Harshvardhan got this year. Facing Smriti Irani in 2004 to Vijender Gupta in 2009, Sibal had won with a margin of more than 2 lakh. This time he didn't even touch that mark, getting 1,75,619 votes. The constituency has a total Muslim population of around 2.9 lakh but the common perception that the minorities vote en bloc was belied. BJP was not entirely sure about Chandni Chowk and fielding Harsh Vardhan there was a gamble since he is the party's chief ministerial face.

Outsider actor makes inroads

Former DPCC head JP Agarwal made a quick exit from the counting centre early in the morning as the overwhelming lead of BJP candidate Manoj Tiwari, Bhojpuri actor and rank outsider, became evident. With a vote share of 5.9 lakh—a lead of 1.4 lakh over nearest rival, AAP's Anand Kumar—Tiwari was riding the Modi wave. This diluted the advantage that North East Delhi had held out for AAP with a 25-27 % Muslim population. The community turned out in strength, and many admitted voting for AAP, but middle class voters, along with the youth, blunted their impact. A turnout of 67.12%—second highest in Delhi—was the clinching factor. While Tiwari's vote share was 45.3%, AAP netted 34.3% with Congress trailing behind with only 16.3%. BJP's votes were almost as much as AAP and Congress combined. Agarwal had won by almost 2 lakh in 2009. He lost his deposit. AAP's Anand Kumar admitted the Modi wave was too strong to counter.

On a wing and a prayer

Because of its large Muslim and resettlement colony population, East Delhi was considered an AAP stronghold. However, riding high on the Modi wave, BJP first-timer Maheish Girri defeated AAP's Rajmohan Gandhi by 1.9 lakh votes. Congress' Sandeep Dikshit, a two-time MP, came third. The middle and upper middle class surge towards BJP is evident in the vote shares. While Girri polled 47.8% votes, Gandhi polled 31.9% and Dikshit was way behind at 17%. Despite having won five assembly seats in this seat last year, AAP lost with the second highest margin among the seven Delhi seats. Evidently, the slum votes and the split Muslim vote were insufficient to counter the middle class disillusionment with it. At a little over 2 lakh, Dikshit polled the second highest among the Congress candidates which is in sharp contrast to the last Lok Sabha poll when he had polled 5,18,001 votes and won against BJP's Chetan Chauhan by 2.4 lakh votes.

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Election results 2014: Rural belt swings it for BJP in Delhi

BJP's Mahesh Sharma won the seat, defeating his nearest rival Narendra Bhati of SP. BSP's Satish Awana and AAP's K P Singh came third and fourth respectively. Sharma rode an aggressive campaign in urban areas. Unlike in previous elections, the rural population in Dadri, Jewar, Sikanderabad and Khurja constituencies voted primarily for BJP this time.

R C Tomar's last minute defection to BJP from Congress made a huge difference—Muslim and Thakur votes in his name went to Sharma. BJP also managed to get votes from the Yadavs and Dalits—both fed up with the state's ruling party. AAP's Singh attributed his defeat to the party's inexperience, while BSP said that this time voters had prioritized development over caste.

Rao Inderjit holds his ground

Backed by a strong caste and urban vote bank, BJP's Rao Inderjit Singh won the seat, leaving his rivals—Congress's Rao Dharampal Singh and AAP's Yogendra Yadav—far behind. It was a hat-trick for Inderjit in Gurgaon. Barring the three assembly segments in Mewat—Nuh , Punahana and Ferozepur Jhirka—where Hussain got a good lead, Inderjit swept all other areas in Gurgaon and Rewari. Badshapur and Gurgaon assembly constituencies alone gave Inderjit a strong thrust, pushing him far ahead of Hussain. With the Haryana Janhit Congress losing its family bastion of Hisar, Inderjit is likely to eye the post of CM. AAP was hit the hardest with the defeat of its national face, Yadav. It is likely to shatter AAP's prospects in the impending assembly election.

Gujjars give BJP winning edge

BJP won back the Faridabad seat after a gap of 10 years with Krishan Pal Gurjar defeating the two-time sitting Congress MP, Avtar Singh Bhadana, by a landslide. Even in the Hathin assembly constituency, which has a sizeable Muslim presence, the BJP leader managed to get about 45,000 votes. In all constituencies, he outnumbered Bhadana, and the trend indicated how the Gujjar community rallied behind him. BJP's victories in Faridabad, Gurgaon and Mahendragarh-Bhiwani might threaten CM Bhupinder Singh Hooda, as these have been Congress bastions so far. Gurjar has a low-key style of working and has had a non-controversial stint as state BJP chiefqualities that might make him BJP's CM candidate for Haryana in the next polls.

Gen inflicts crushing defeat

Riding the Modi wave, General (retd) V K Singh had the last laugh in Ghaziabad with a victory margin as impressive as Modi's 5.7 lakh in Vadodara. His clean image suited the anti-corruption plank on which the elections were fought. Political leaders in Ghaziabad also believe there was a consolidation of Rajput votes in favour of Singh, while the Muslim vote got split among Congress, SP and AAP, handing Singh the advantage. With the battle won, the general must look at the ground realities. Politically, he must fit into the shoes of BJP chief Rajnath Singh, whom he replaced in Ghaziabad; administratively, he will have to work towards developing the civic infrastructure of Ghaziabad, his biggest poll promise.

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Election results 2014: Clean sweep for BJP in Delhi

NEW DELHI: The saffron sweep didn't leave Delhi untouched. True to form, the Capital reflected the national mood, with all seven seats going to BJP while AAP finished second and Congress trailed at third.

BJP's campaign sought votes on a one-point Modi-for-PM agenda and its mix of newcomers and sitting MLAs rode on a massive pro-change wave that saw the party emerge victorious in a three-cornered contest.

For AAP, the results are sobering. The "quitter" tag stuck and failure to win a single seat in its "home base" is a significant setback and AAP's cohesiveness will be tested in the wake of its poor showing.

AAP can draw some satisfaction at replacing Congress as the alternative to BJP. It remains capable of surprising Congress and BJP if either slip up and is a threat to both.

Arvind Kejriwal's leadership will be tested when assembly elections are held as AAP can ill afford another setback after a Lok Sabha washout. Depending upon support in slums and among Muslims is a risky gambit.

The road back is harder for Congress, as its fortunes are linked to the national results. There is a serious danger of the party being edged out of Delhi's political equations.

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Conflict of interest in setting norms for pharmaceuticals in WHO

NEW DELHI: The World Health Organisation's (WHO) work of setting up norms and standards for production of medicines seems to be flawed by a fundamental conflict of interest. At the heart of its standard setting work is an entity the International Conference on Harmonization (ICH) in which majority of the WHO member countries have no voting rights and which is dominated by pharmaceutical industry groups. This glaring conflict of interest seems to fly in the face of WHO's policy on engagement with private entities which states that the development of norms, standards, policies and strategies which lies at the heart of WHO's work would be protected from influence by any form of vested interest.
To begin with, the International Federation of Pharmaceutical Manufacturers and Associations (IFPMA), closely involved with ICH since its inception, hosts the ICH secretariat in Geneva. So, the two share the same address --15, chemin Louis-Dunant, PO Box 195, 1211 Geneva-20. IFPMA participates in the steering committee of the ICH as a non-voting member.
The six sponsors of ICH are the European Commission and the European Federation of Pharmaceutical Industries' Associations (EFPIA); the Japanese Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare (JMHLW) and the Japan Pharmaceutical Manufacturers Association (JPMA); and the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA). These six are the voting members of the ICH Steering Committee. Thus, ICH represents big multinational drug companies and 17 countries comprising 15% of the world's population and accounting for more than three quarter of the global pharmaceutical sales. The WHO, Health Canada and the European Free Trade Association (EFTA) are just observers in ICH. When WHO gets influenced by ICH guidelines, these guidelines made by a small section becomes applicable to the bulk of the world's population without any of these populations having a say in their framing.
In the name of global cooperation, the ICH also invites representatives of many countries including India, China, Brazil and so on. But none of these countries have any participation in the decision-making process or any voting rights in the ICH. The ICH also does not have any representation of generic manufacturers from outside the ICH regions (EU, US and Japan) or members of the civil society, professional groups, patient or consumer advocacy groups.
ICH is primarily an attempt to harmonise drug approval requirements to enable industry to bring drugs into the market faster and start earning maximum revenue during the period the drug is under patent. Harmonisation helps prevent loss of patent period time and money on regulatory hurdles. However, most of the rhetoric on harmonization is about how ICH serves public interest by bringing new breakthrough or innovative drugs faster to patients. However, there has been wide-spread criticism that the drug industry, through the ICH, influences not only regulatory approvals mechanism for drugs introduction but also guidelines for pharmacovigilance in the form of post marketing surveillance and reporting of adverse drug reactions and guidelines for clinical trials, trying to relax the safety standards for trials. According to critics it would be naive to see the ICH process as involving purely technical matters as it also affects patients and consumers. Hence, there has been a push for greater public debate, scrutiny and accountability in the harmonization process.
A WHO publication of 2002 titled The Impact of ICH Guidelines in Non-ICH Countries stated: "In many countries, essential drugs required for the prevention and treatment of locally endemic conditions are not supplied by the major multinationals, but by local industry or by generic manufacturers. If these suppliers are unable to meet what may be unsubstantiated quality standards, the adverse impact of the withdrawal of these drugs on the health of the population might well be far more dramatic than that of any hypothetical risk posed by failing to achieve the ICH standards." Critics have also warned that harmonisation of regulatory standards is being used by the drug industry to create new entry barriers for drugs from the developing world to prevent competition.
The WHO document stated that although ICH countries import large quantities of pharmaceuticals from non-ICH countries with weak regulatory systems, many countries are led to think that adoption of the guidelines is a necessary move to gain access to the pharmaceutical markets of ICH countries." This "spontaneous" dissemination of ICH products is not necessarily consistent with national priorities and represents a pressure that may lead to diverting limited national resources to unnecessary expenses entailed by the adoption of more costly regulatory requirements," said the document.
The document further noted that "appropriate strategies for consultation and communication with Member States need to be developed to ensure that WHO is not seen as de facto automatically endorsing ICH products, but as providing advice on the potential impact of those products on non-ICH Member States". It added that ICH process has involved only 17 industrialized countries in the decision-making process, and that the views, priorities, and needs of the majority of WHO Member States have only sporadically been taken into consideration.Despite being aware of this conflict, the ICH has not been democratized or made more transparent in its working and it continues to influence WHO guidelines.
Yet, many of the ICH guidelines have become part of the WHO guidelines on pharmaceutical manufacture and registration process despite questions being raised about the guidelines of the WHO being influenced or even being decided by an organization which is primarily driven by business interests of association whose primary purpose is to protect their own commercial interests. WHO is yet to respond in any effective manner to these concerns. And in the upcoming World Health Assembly the WHO is pushing a resolution that urges member nations to implement relevant guidance and science-based outputs of international regulatory harmonization and convergence efforts and to use where applicable, the Conference on Harmonisation of Technical Requirements for Registration of Pharmaceuticals for Human Use.

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