Chidambaram inaugurates tallest building of Delhi

New Delhi, Apr 22 (UNI) Union Home Minister P Chidambaram today inaugurated the new headquarters of Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD), the tallest building in the capital.

The Rs 650-crore building, situated at the Minto Road-Jawaharlal Nehru Marg intersection, boasts of a completely moderninfrastructure, including two helipads, a 1000-seater auditorium, art gallery and restaurant.

Praising the newly-constructed Dr Shyama Prasad Mukherjee Civic Centre for its world class standard, Mr Chidambaram said, ''This civic centre has been long overdue and we are truly proud of this magnificent building that will be a landmark for many years to come.''

The work of the civic centre does not stop with the inauguration and every road, school, hospital, electricity connection, parks in Delhi should be touched by quality, he added.

''Residents of a country take pride in world class things so there should be no compromise in quality,'' Mr Chidambaram opined.

Former Deputy Prime Minister Lal Krishna Advani was the chiefguest on the occasion, while Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha Sushma Swaraj, Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit, Delhi UrbanDevelopment and Finance Minister A K Walia and Leader of Oppostion in Assembly V K Malhotra graced the dias.

Mr Advani expressed happiness that the Civic Centre had beennamed after an able leader and patriot Dr Shyama Prasad Mukherjee. The new 28-storey building will bring all the policy makers and offices of the corporation under one roof. The civic body looks after around 1400 sq km (96 per cent) of the Capital's area.

Many leaders in MCD hoped it would bring a change in the work culture of the corporation.

Sawhney emerges as a strong BJP candidate for mayor post

New Delhi, Apr 26 (UNI) Banking on the BJPs majority in the house, Pritivi Raj Sawhney who filed his nomination today, has emerged as a strong party candidate for the mayor post.

Amid air of discontent in the party, Mr Sawhney and Mr Rajesh Gehlot today filed nomination for the posts of Mayor and Deputy Mayor respectively as thenomination process came to an end this evening.

From the Congress, Tulsi Ram Sablania, councilor from Karol Bagh, and Saranjit Sharma, from Pandav Nagar, filed their nomination for Mayor and Deputy Mayor respectively.

Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) has made the contest triangular by fielding its candidates. Hari Chand Kardam and Sanjay Gupta presented their papers for the two posts of Mayor and Deputy Mayor respectively from the party.

Though it seems to be a one sided contest with the BJP occupying 172 out of the 272 seats in the House, the Congress is hoping against hope and calculating its chances on the reported discontent in the BJP.

''We are in continuous contact with several BJP councilors who are not happy with the decision of theirleadership. There will surely be cross voting during election. If our calculations go right, Mr Sablania will be the new Mayor,'' Leader of Oppostion in the MCD Jai Kishan Sharma said.

Three candidates also filed nomination for the posts of member of standing committee, lying vacant. Mr YogendraChandolia and Ms Sarita Choudhary of the BJP and Mr Jai Kishan Sharma of the Congress filed their papers.

These candidates have virtually won the contest as there are only three nominations for the three posts. Though two of its councilors are not eligible for voting, the BJP controls 175 votes including five MLAs in the MCD house. The Congress has 73 councilors plus eight MLAs and MPs each in the House while BSP has only 16 votes.

Yoga imparted to youngsters in J&K

New Delhi, Apr 11 (UNI) Yogic principles are being imparted to youngsters in trouble-torn Jammu and Kashmir.

Besides yoga's proven mental and health benefits, the Chairman of Criminologists Society of Jammu and Kashmir (CSJK) Rameshwar Singh Jamwal is a firm believer in its powers to

prevent crime by altering the thought process of people.

The organisation is working on the project 'Safe J&K, Safe India' which aims "to create a force of millions of youngsters who believe in the rule of law and are ready to work to bring about change in the current scenario of J&K."

At present, the CSJK is working in the main Jammu city and its periphery in collaboration with the J&K Police. The CSJK is also educating school children in around 20 schools in Jammu city and its periphery.

"We teach them about the legal implications of their wrong doing as well as the moral aspect of their actions," Mr Jamwal said.

The group consisting of 22 people, mostly advocates, has taught around 500 teachers about Yogic Crime Theory (YCT).

"During my research I realised that most people get involved in criminal activities because they do not know about the legal implications. The fear of legal action against them works as a

deterrent with common people," he added.

He also claims that it can be effective in tackling the Naxal menace severely affecting the country. "Basically it works as a counter theory. For instance, the Naxal leaders also use

some kind of theory to influence these innocent tribals and manipulate their thinking process.

Similarly, the YCT manipulates the thinking process of these people for the betterment of

the society," Mr Jamwal explained.

Mr Jamwal is also Deputy Advocate General of J&K and has been working on curing the criminal behaviour of the people who have been involved in some kind of unlawful activity at some point in the past. He termed it as Yogic Crime Theory (YCT) and claimed to have cured 93 per cent of the people he had used the theory on.

He holds an invitation from United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) for its 12th Congress on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice to be held in Salvador, Brazil from

April 12 to 19. However, he regretted his inability to attend the Congress, being held after a gap of five years, due to visa related problems.

"I have not received my visa yet. It is supposed to reach me by Monday (April 12) only, which will increase the cost of the return ticket to Brazil by two times."

"I cannot afford such high expense. If I had got my visa by today I could have managed but I have not got it," he added.

Mr Jamwal said earlier attended the 11th Congress in April 2005 held in Bangkok, Thailand.

As he was participating in the UNODC Congress as an individual expert, he had to bear the expenses. A total of 88 top criminologists was expected to attend the Congress and

Mr Jamwal was the sole Indian representative to be invited.

Now, as his visit is ruled out, he has requested UNODC to accept his reasearch papers for publiction in its journal which happily for him UNODC has agreed to do.

Huge corruption in security system purchases: Harshvardhan

New Delhi, Apr 7 (UNI) Former Delhi BJP president Harshvardhan today alleged that the Sheila Dikshit government was ''bungling hundreds of crores'' in awarding tender for communication system to a private company ''disregarding'' security advice from various departments.

The Delhi government, he said, was compromising on the security of the people.

The government recently awarded the tender to telecommunication major Motorola for establishing a communication system between various security agencies and deliver 10,000 Tetra handsets for the Commonwealth Games, he told mediapersons at a press conference here.

Criticising the government for choosing an obsolete technology, Dr Harshvardhan asserted, ''Nobody is using this technology now. There are much better technologies available in the market to choose. This decision can be dangerous for the security of our country, sports and sportspersons.''

The senior leader also alleged that three conditions in the tender were relaxed to benefit the company. Even the Scientific Analysis Group (SAG), whose approval was necessary for any foreign purchase of security system, was also overlooked and no tests were conducted on the technology.

''China also used the same system during Beijing Olympics but it was tested for three years before the games, but nothing has been done here.''

Expressing apprehension about the vulnerability of the system, he pointed out that in the wake of threat from terrorists, naxalites, Maoists and other ''anti-India'' forces, the security of the country could not be given in the hands of private companies.

Dr Harshvardhan said the tender was given to the private company for Rs 99 crore, however, looking at the several discrepancies in awarding the tender and information, gathered through RTI applications and his sources, it was around Rs 230-300 crore.

He also demanded that a CBI inquiry be ordered into the whole issue of purchase of the security systems.

The former BJP President also demanded that an Expert Committee, comprising both government and non-government scientists, be formed immediately to scrutinise the system.

RTI on Batla House encounter:15 mths, 2 appeals, no reply

By Amit Chaudhary

New Delhi, Mar 29 (UNI) Even after 15 months of running from pillar to post, two appeals and one hearing, an RTI activist still awaits a ''satisfactory'' reply from Delhi police.

Afroz Aalam Sahil filed an application containing six questions on September 25, 2008, with Central Public Information Officer (CPIO) of the Delhi police seeking information together with the related documents regarding the Batla House encounter.

The Delhi police, however, is yet to provide the information sought under Right to Information Act, 2005, for which the maximum stipulated period is only 45 days.

Though the CPIO had already forwarded the application to the concerned departments -- CPIO/DCP of Crime Branch and CPIO/DCP Special Cell -- on October 10, 2008, for necessary action, it did not bear any fruit for the appellant.

''On October 31, 2008, the CPIO of Crime Branch responded to only one of the three questions concerned to its department, in which I had asked about the number of people killed in the encounter,'' Mr Sahil told UNI.

On the other queries, he was denied information by both the department, the Crime Branch and Special Cell, citing provisions of Section 8 (1)(h) of the RTI Act and Section 154 of Criminal

Procedure Code.

It was only after the second appeal by the appellant, the Central Information Commission (CIC) held a hearing on February 9, 2010, around 14 months after filing the application.

During the hearing, the Special Cell agreed to provide the information regarding the details about the people arrested and detained in connection with the serial bomb blasts in Delhi and the places from where they were arrested, which they had earlier denied saying that it would affect the investigation in the case.

Regarding details of evidence against the persons arrested or detained, the Information Commissioner (IC) Sushma Singh said, ''The matter is related to the concerned court. Hence, the appellant may approach the concerned court for this information.'' The IC also ordered the Crime Branch to provide a copy of the FIR filed by the police in Batla House encounter case minus the name of the informant.

Ms Singh has called another hearing about post-mortem reports on March 30. ''Surprisingly, for the copy of the post-mortem report I had asked in my application, the IC has called another hearing on March 30 saying the CPIO has not been provided an opportunity of hearing,'' the RTI activist noted.

''Interestingly, the post-mortem report has already been released to the National Human Rights Commission 12 days ago. If it has already been made public then why are they delaying the matter and not providing me a copy of it,'' Mr Sahil asked.

Mr Sahil also questioned the role of the CIC in ensuring the 'fundamental Right to Information' of the people. He pointed out, ''As per the rules, the copy of the orders is issued to all the

parties on the next day of the hearing.''

''But, the orders of the February 9 hearing were issued on March 12, more than a month later, which reached me only on March 27,'' Mr Sahil lamented.

However, CPIO/Crime Branch Sanjay Tyagi denied any such application lying pending with the Delhi Police or about any hearing with the CIC tomorrow.

Delhi budget rocked MCD standing committee meeting

New Delhi, Mar 25 (UNI) In an apparent role reversal, the BJP today stalled the proceedings of the Municipal Corporation of Delhi's (MCD) standing committee meeting bringing a condemn motion against the Delhi government for its ''anti-people'' budget.

Councillors of both the parties were shouting slogans against each other.

While, the Congress was demanding roll back of hikes in community centre booking charges, tax on generator sets, house tax, parking and others, the BJP was critical of the budget presented by the Shiela government particularly increase in VAT rates and diesel prices.

Standing Committee chairman Ram Kishan Singhal said, ''Nothing has been spared out of tax ambit not even scrap. VAT was increased by one per cent few months ago now again it has been increased by 7.5 per cent, which is astronomical for the common people reeling under high inflation rate.''

Standing Committee member Vijender Gupta stated that due to high inflation rate cost of living in Delhi has gone up, however, the facilities available of the residents of the Capital have not seen much upgradation.

On the other hand, Leader of the Opposition in MCD Jai Kishan Sharma counter attacked the BJP and stated that they have no moral right to criticise the Delhi government as they themselves have increased the tax rates of many things.

''They have their government in nine states and the tax rates in all those states are higher than Delhi,'' Mr Sharma claimed.

Between this hullabaloo, meeting ended just after 20 minutes without any business.

Oppn concerned over IPL, demands ticket window at Town Hall

New Delhi, Mar 25 (UNI) Raising serious questions over IPL matches in Delhi, Opposition leaders in MCD today expressed concern over the security of the cricket enthusiasts as ''MCD has no control over IPL operations.''

Indicating several discrepencies in organising IPL matches, Leader of Opposition in MCD Jai Kishan Sharma asserted that people were not properly intimated about the distribution counters of IPL tickets forcing cricket lovers to buy them on exhorbitant prices from black market.

Mr Sharma asked the chairman of the Standing Committee to intervene into the matter.

He also asked the IPL organisers to bring ''transparency'' in their operations and set up more windows for the tickets including one at the Town Hall.

''MCD is the authority which provides No Objection Certificates (NOC) before any major event including IPL and the land also belongs to MCD, so it is wrong to say that it has no control over IPL operations,'' he exhorted.

Saying that if any untoward incident happens, the MCD is held responsible for that, the Opposition leader noted that the corporation has no record about how many tickets are being published for every match.

''There is a block in the stadium with the capacity of 2500 people which is reserved for the DDCA members. Around 600 more free passess have been distributed for the block. So it is dangerous to accomodate 3100 people in the block with the capacity of 2500 people,'' Mr Sharma said.

'' Who will be responsible for any untoward incident?,'' he asked expressing concern over the security of the people.

One window clearance for tower operators on April 15, 16

New Delhi, Mar 25 (UNI) Providing relief to all the cellular tower operators, the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) today decided to stop its sealing drive till April 16 and give one window service to regularise the towers.

''Tower operators were coming to us requesting to give some more time as they were finding it difficult to get their towers regularise. So, we have decided to stop the sealing drive till April

16,'' Chairman of the MCD Standing Committee Ram Kishan Singhal told UNI.

There are around 1543 towers in the Capital which do not have requisite certificates from the appropriate authorities. In its drive, the Civic Agency sealed around 266 such towers in different zones.

The Civic Agency has also decided to provide one window service to all the tower operators on April 15 and 16 to get clearance.

''We have also decided to open one window service for the operators on April 15 and 16 at MCD Commissioner's office. It is an opportunity for all the operators to get the requisite clearance

from the corporation,'' Mr Singhal said.

Except dispensaries and schools all other buildings are permissible for installing towers provided they fulfil all the norms, he added.

AIIMS doctor provoked student to commit suicide: Family alleged

New Delhi, Mar 22 (UNI) The family of the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) MBBS student, who had allegedly committed suicide earlier this month, today alleged a senior

AIIMS Doctor of provoking him to take such a extreme step and demanded CBI enquiry into the matter.

Father of the deceased, Gulab Chand Ahirwar alleged, ''My son became the victim of caste discrimination. He was mentally tortured for five years and finally he broke down and committed sucide.''

Talking to mediapersons here, he said his son, Bal Mukund Bharti, had told his family about discriminating behaviour of one of his professors Dr Krishan Anand.

Bharti did not perform well in his final year examinations and failed in a paper on Community Medicine, an optional subject, along with four other students. He also could not get minimum passing marks in the compartment examination.

However, his family alleged that he was ''deliberately failed by Dr Anand'' because he belonged to ''schedule caste.''

''We have asked the AIIMS administration to provide us the answer sheets of all the five students, including Bharti, who appeared for the compartment examination,'' Mr Ahirwar said.

''Despite three formal requests, we have been denied access to the answer sheets,'' he added mournfully.

According to his family, Bharti had also attempted to change his name twice just to get rid of this caste discrimination.

All India Confederation of SC/ST Organisations Chairman Udit Raj said, ''Earlier, we did not want to make this an issue but after seeing laxity on the part of the police and this caste based discrimination against the deceased, we have to enter the scene and fight for the justice for this poor family.''

Calling AIIMS a ''centre of discrimination'', Mr Raj asserted that they would meet Health Minister Gulam Nabi Azad and ask for his intervention not just for this case but for making AIIMS discrimination free.

Saying that there are several flaws in the police inquiry, Mr Raj and the family of the deceased demanded, ''An FIR should be registered and enquiry should be made by CBI in the case.''

The deceased had also attemepted suicide on February 18 by consuming excessive quantity of pills and been treated for depression for 15 days in AIIMS.

Bharti, hailing from Madhya Pradesh, got admission in AIIMS for MBBS in 2004 under Schedule Caste quota.

BJP protests milk price hike, leaders court arrest

New Delhi, Mar 20 (UNI) Police today used water cannon and mild force to stop hundreds of BJP activists from marching towards Parliament House against the hike in milk and CNG prices in Delhi and courted arrest in huge numbers.

While reiterating their demand to curb the price rise and give some respite to the poor and middle class people, Delhi BJP senior leaders asserted that the government was ''directly responsible'' for the skyrocketing inflation in the Capital.

''Despite getting Rs 28,000 crore package from the Central Government, there is no relief for the common man,'' leader of the Opposition in Delhi Assembly Vijay Malhotra remarked.

Delhi BJP secretary Veerender Sachdeva stated the Chairman of Mother Dairy was appointed by the Delhi government and it also provided the land at throw away prices. So, the government should ensure that people get its products at lower than market prices.

''It is an attempt to revive the middlemen, who were eliminated with the introduction of such corporations,'' MLA Ramesh Bidhuri alleged.

Addressing the protestors, BJP All India General Secretary Vijay Goel asked the activists to take the issue to each and every street of the Capital and discuss it at every corner to spread awareness among people about their exploitation.

The agitators were led by Delhi BJP President O P Kohli. Former Chief Minister Madan Lal Khurana was also present.

They asked the activists to be prepared for a huge rally on April 21.

Women Reservation Bill imminent, nobody can stop it: Javed Akhtar

New Delhi, Mar 20 (UNI) Asserting his support for the Women's Reservation Bill, noted lyricist Javed Akhtar today said it is imminent and nobody can stop it.

Addressing the agitators at Jantar Mantar here, Mr Akhtar noted, ''Whatever has to happen, has to happen and nobody can stop it, but it is mournful that this is happening so late.''

People from various social organisations gathered to support the 33 per cent reservation for women in Parliament and to condemn the ''disgraceful statements'' by some religious leaders.

Criticising the statement of Shia cleric Maulana Syed Kalbe Jawwad that women should become mothers of good leaders rather than try to be leaders themselves, the lyricist said this ''Talibani

mentality'' was unacceptable to the Muslims and 99 per cent of the community supported the Bill.

He said until it was not getting clearance in the Rajya Sabha, all such people were friends of women but as soon as the Bill was passed there, their enmity came to the fore.

''The demand of sub-quota for Muslim and backward class women is a conspiracy to stall the Bill and they are playing this game for the last 14 years,'' he opined.

Calling such people ''hypocrite'' and ''opportunist'' Mr Akhtar said if they cannot accept the progress of women, they better leave this country.

''I want to say to these people that whatever they feel about this Bill, the provision for representation of women will happen,'' he said firmly.

On being nominated in the Rajya Sabha, he expressed his gratitude towards the people who commissioned his name for the post.

Besides, he felt that it was a very responsible job. ''I will not sit idle and will try to contribute for the society I belong to,'' he promised.

Women Reservation Bill imminent, nobody can stop it: Javed Akhtar

New Delhi, Mar 20 (UNI) Asserting his support for the Women's

Reservation Bill, noted lyricist Javed Akhtar today said it is

imminent and nobody can stop it.

Addressing the agitators at Jantar Mantar here, Mr Akhtar noted,

''Whatever has to happen, has to happen and nobody can stop it, but

it is mournful that this is happening so late.''

People from various social organisations gathered to support the

33 per cent reservation for women in Parliament and to condemn the

''disgraceful statements'' by some religious leaders.

Criticising the statement of Shia cleric Maulana Syed Kalbe

Jawwad that women should become mothers of good leaders rather than

try to be leaders themselves, the lyricist said this ''Talibani

mentality'' was unacceptable to the Muslims and 99 per cent of the

community supported the Bill.

He said until it was not getting clearance in the Rajya Sabha,

all such people were friends of women but as soon as the Bill was

passed there, their enmity came to the fore.

''The demand of sub-quota for Muslim and backward class women is

a conspiracy to stall the Bill and they are playing this game for

the last 14 years,'' he opined.

Calling such people ''hypocrite'' and ''opportunist'' Mr Akhtar

said if they cannot accept the progress of women, they better leave

this country.

''I want to say to these people that whatever they feel about

this Bill, the provision for representation of women will happen,''

he said firmly.

On being nominated in the Rajya Sabha, he expressed his gratitude

towards the people who commissioned his name for the post.

Besides, he felt that it was a very responsible job. ''I will not

sit idle and will try to contribute for the society I belong to,''

he promised.

Americans also divided over women reservation

New Delhi, Mar 10 (UNI) Only Indians are not divided in their opinion about

the Women Reservation Bill, a bunch of students from University of Texas

made it felt that such issues also stir the bases in America while some

finds it “demeaning” and “disservice” to woman, others contradict.

A delegation of 30 MBA students from University of Texas in Austin is in

India on a study tour during a interaction with mediapersons expressed their

varied views on the women reservation.

When the students were asked how they look at the Women Reservation Bill,

the question brought out a ‘warfare of ideas’ among the students itself..

“For me it would be a tremendous success to actually have more

representation of women in the government. The reason behind this is that

the woman brings lot of different perspective which man may not be able to

bring on the table,” a Texas University student from Columbia Monica said.

Ms Monica was immediately confronted by a second year student at Texas

University, Catherine, asserted that women of her generation in always

believe that they do not deserve any special treatment just because they are

women.

“For me to stipulate a certain number of parliament members have to be women

is actually, in some ways, a disservice to women,” she said.

“I find it demeaning because I don need help. I can do it on my own

regardless of what my genetic make up is,” she added.

“Hilary Clinton, who ran for the presidency, is a realy interesting

demonstration of that because she belongs to that part of generation which

realy did not have a fare share,” Ms Catherine explained.

However, another student, Danialle, contradicted her and said, “I have to

respectfully regret what you have just said because you are a woman but you

are a western women and the history behind the role the Indian women played

over the year is very different.’’

“Though I feel it will help India in next 20-25 years but certainly I think

it’s a step in right direction,” she added.

Danialle also joined the corus which demanding more than one-third

reservation and said, ‘’It will not be enough.”

“There are so many young girls in this country who needs representation and

role model at a very high political level and this is where it get to start

and it is a great idea,’’ she said.