New Delhi, Jan 25 (UNI) Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit today urged the people of the Capital to take a pledge to help India reach the 'summit of glory', and saluted soldiers who sacrificed their lives to defend the country.
''Let's take a pledge that we will work for the development of the country and help it reach to the place where it will lead the whole world,'' Ms Dikshit said on the occasion of Republic Daycelebrations in the Capital.
Brass bands, police personnel, National Cadet Corps and students from various schools of the city participated in a parade to mark Republic Day celebrations in a ceremony at Ambedkar Stadium.
Ms Dikshit, on behalf of all Delhiites, gave a 'National Salute' to the Tricolour. The impressive contingents of Delhi Policein their impeccable attire gave a 'General Salute' to the Chief Minister.
On the occasion, students from various schools presentedcolourful cultural programmes with inspiring themes such asCommonwealth Games, Unity and Peace.
The Chief Minister also interacted with the children participatingin the cultural programmes.
During her speech, Ms Dikshit expressed her faith in the children in making Delhi a world class city.
Tuesday, January 26, 2010
Delhi govt in talks with NAFED to provide cheaper food
New Delhi, Jan 25 (UNI) Delhi government is in talks with NAFED to provide essential commodities to people at cheap prices, Delhi Chief Mininster Sheila Dikshit said here today.
''We are making efforts to provide food at cheaper rates than the market. We are also in talks with NAFED to provide such a service and the decision will be taken within few weeks,'' Ms Dikshit said at the State Republic Day 2010 function in Ambedkar stadium.
Speaking at the function, she played down her earlier remarks during an interview about people coming to Delhi from other states and asserted that Delhi is the capital of India and it belongs to all Indians.
''Anybody can come here. We welcome and are bound to make available all facilities for everyone coming from other states,'' she added.
The Delhi government had undertaken the task for organisingCommonwealth Games here and would fulfil its commitment with all Indians. ''I can say that work is going very swiftly. The Delhi, which we see today as a dug-out place, would be ofinternational standard soon,'' she observed.
The Chief Minister was confidence personified about the successful organisation of the CWG and said by October, Delhi would have 15-16 world-class sporting facilities ''which will also help oursportspersons in future to enhance their skills and perform at the highest level''.
In her address to Delhiites, Ms Dikshit said in 12 years of Congress rule in Delhi, several commendable works have been done by the government.
''The passing percentage of students in schools has risen to 90 per cent which was earlier between 40 and 50 per cent,''she added. ''Ladli scheme also fared good as it has helped in improving the education standards of girls in Delhi,'' she averred.
She further noted that there is a significant improvement in the girls-boys ratio in schools after Ladli. Last year, 1,004 girls over 1,000 boys applied for admission in schools in the capital.
Saying that around 5.5 lakh students were given scholarships last year, she said the government is planning to increase this number.
The government has specially focused on the educational infrastructure in Delhi as several schools, colleges and universities were opened in Delhi during the Congress regime, the Chief Minister stated.
Praising the health services available in Delhi, Ms Dikshit said, ''We have best health facilities in the country and around 35 per cent of the total patients in Delhi come from other states which shows the quality of service we provide.''
She also mentioned about her government's resolve to improve the basic amenities including water, electricity and transportation in Delhi as per the increasing needs of the people.
''As the water and electricity demands were increasing day-by-day, we have been continuously endeavouring to match the demands,'' she noted.
She added the green cover of the capital has registered a significant improvement despite the ongoing construction work all over and stands among world's best cities in terms of green cover.
''We are making efforts to provide food at cheaper rates than the market. We are also in talks with NAFED to provide such a service and the decision will be taken within few weeks,'' Ms Dikshit said at the State Republic Day 2010 function in Ambedkar stadium.
Speaking at the function, she played down her earlier remarks during an interview about people coming to Delhi from other states and asserted that Delhi is the capital of India and it belongs to all Indians.
''Anybody can come here. We welcome and are bound to make available all facilities for everyone coming from other states,'' she added.
The Delhi government had undertaken the task for organisingCommonwealth Games here and would fulfil its commitment with all Indians. ''I can say that work is going very swiftly. The Delhi, which we see today as a dug-out place, would be ofinternational standard soon,'' she observed.
The Chief Minister was confidence personified about the successful organisation of the CWG and said by October, Delhi would have 15-16 world-class sporting facilities ''which will also help oursportspersons in future to enhance their skills and perform at the highest level''.
In her address to Delhiites, Ms Dikshit said in 12 years of Congress rule in Delhi, several commendable works have been done by the government.
''The passing percentage of students in schools has risen to 90 per cent which was earlier between 40 and 50 per cent,''she added. ''Ladli scheme also fared good as it has helped in improving the education standards of girls in Delhi,'' she averred.
She further noted that there is a significant improvement in the girls-boys ratio in schools after Ladli. Last year, 1,004 girls over 1,000 boys applied for admission in schools in the capital.
Saying that around 5.5 lakh students were given scholarships last year, she said the government is planning to increase this number.
The government has specially focused on the educational infrastructure in Delhi as several schools, colleges and universities were opened in Delhi during the Congress regime, the Chief Minister stated.
Praising the health services available in Delhi, Ms Dikshit said, ''We have best health facilities in the country and around 35 per cent of the total patients in Delhi come from other states which shows the quality of service we provide.''
She also mentioned about her government's resolve to improve the basic amenities including water, electricity and transportation in Delhi as per the increasing needs of the people.
''As the water and electricity demands were increasing day-by-day, we have been continuously endeavouring to match the demands,'' she noted.
She added the green cover of the capital has registered a significant improvement despite the ongoing construction work all over and stands among world's best cities in terms of green cover.
Saturday, January 16, 2010
Bt Brinjal approved under pressure of Agriculture Min: Shiva
New Delhi, Jan 12 (UNI) Quoting the Expert Committee-II chairman, founder of Navdanya, amovement for bio-diversity conservation and farmers' rights, Dr Vanadna Shiva alleged that the Bt Brinjal was approved for planting without proper testing under pressure from the Agriculture Ministry.
''Bt Brinjal was approved for commercial planting by EC-II under pressure from the Agriculture Ministry as acknowledged by Dr Arjula R Reddy of Genetic Approval Committee, who is also the Chair of the Committee,'' Dr Shiva said.
She said her main concerns were the false scientific assumptions underlying the bio-safety assessment of Bt Brinjal and its impacton organic farmers.
Dr Shiva pointed out, ''So called safety tests were not conducted for transgenic Bt, which includes genes for antibiotic resistance and genes for viral promoters. Instead, the tests were conducted on the safe microbial Bt, used as an organic pesticide for decades.''
They did not look into the risks that transgenic Bt created. This was a ''do not look, do not see, do not find'' policy to create ''deliberate ignorance'' of the risks involved in it, she added.
Refuting the claims made by the EC-II that without genetically engineered Bt crop technology pests could not be controlled, she asserted, ''It is totally false and our farmers produce toxic-free organic brinjal and other vegetables.''
Instead, a survey in Vidharbha showed that pesticide use had increased 13 times in the region since Bt cotton was introduced.
She also alleged that the datas were deliberately changed to favour some foreign organisations, conspiring to hijack the food industry in India.
Stating that the panel did not consider the real alternatives to chemical agriculture, she said, ''Organic farming is a better option than Bt crops to avoid pesticides. Bt cannot be an alternative because it follows the same process like chemical crops do.''
The genes of Bt crops were changed with the help of chemicals, which was equivalent to farming with pesticides, she added.
Many countries had declared such crops as unhealthy and subsequently banned them, while the Government here seemed desparate to adopt it, she exhorted.
The EC-II panel was not even able to make up whether this Brinjal was self-pollinated or cross pollinated. ''How can we put our food security in their hands,'' she questioned.
Dr Shiva called for a moratorium on commercial GM approvals as she said, ''Bt Brinjal should not be introduced in our farms and our kitchens without a proper reassessment.''
The Committee founder continuously asserted her support for the organic farming and when she was asked if it was not costly she said, ''Yes, it is, but the amount of subsidy and infrastructure provided to the pesticide firms is not available for organic farming. Provide it to the organic farming, it would also be economical. Besides, it would not be poisionous like Bt crops.''
Links:
http://topics.treehugger.com/article/08ssaCWbVTfoC
http://news.webindia123.com/news/articles/India/20100112/1423556.html
Malls to come under MCD Trade and Storage licencing policy
New Delhi, Jan 8 (UNI) Municipal Corporation of Delhi(MCD) has planned to bring new trades like shopping malls and gyms under the purview of its licencing policy and making the system of issuing and renewing of licence more easy, Delhi Mayor Kanwar Sain said today.
Asserting that since the enactment of the DMC Act in 1957 trade profile of Delhi has undergone vast transformation and several new trades and goods have come into existence, Dr Sain proposed to bring in new trades and goods under Trade and Storage policy.
These include trade and storage activities pertaining to computers and computers peripherals, branded shops in malls, branded eateries, home appliances, furnishings, mobiles, saloons and spa services, financial service offices and branded gyms.
''These new trades enjoy all the benefits and services which all other licence holders get and are also running a profit making business, so we have decided to bring them under the licence policy,'' the Mayor said.
Observing that the traders find the procedure for obtaining a licence cumbersome and time-consuming resulting in to hesitance to obtain one, he asserted that the new system will be ''simple, convenient, time saving and trader-friendly''.
''The licence will be readied and issued to the person concerned within 30 days of submission of the documents. Any anomaly, if found, in the documents, will be communicated to the applicant within 15 days of receipt of the application,'' Dr Sain said.
He said the applicant would also be issued a provisional certificate at the time of submission of applications which will allow him to carry on the business.
It has also planned to simplify the procedure of licence renewal by making it automatic. ''The licence will be automatically renewed unless there is violation of licencing terms and conditions,'' the Mayor said.
The MCD has also decided not to levy penalty on the arrears, which are to be calculated from the date of establishment of the premises.
There are around eight lakh traders out of which only 55 thousand are registered with the MCD causing a loss of revenue to the civic body to the tune of Rs 100 crore.
''With the introduction of the new system, the MCD is likely to generate additional revenue of up to Rs 100 crore per annum,'' Dr Sain informed.
The civic agency has also planned to grant a unique Customer Relationship Number (CRN) to all the registered traders and all future records will be kept against the same number.
New licences would be in the format of a Biocryptic Bar Coded Certificate and all the licencing units would have to mandatorily display the Certificate, he said.
Links:
Thursday, December 31, 2009
2009: Crime graph shows no sign of reduction in Delhi
New Delhi, Dec 31 (UNI) Despite having all kinds of latest and most advanced facilities, criminals still find it easy to dodge the police and take liberty to commit crime at will in the national capital.
In view of the upcoming Commonwealth Games in October next year, several new police stations, increased police personnel, latest weapons, vehicles and other security equipment were added in the paraphernalia of the Delhi Police.
However, it seems that the criminals are running ahead of the police as the crime rate has increased this year in comparison to last year.
The most problematic among all the criminals were auto-lifters as more than 27,000 cases of motor theft were recorded during the year, which, according to the police, was 25 per cent higher than 2008 and constitutes about 15 per cent of total crimes committed in Delhi.
A senior police official told UNI, ''Motor Vehicle theft is the biggest crime in the capital that the police have been dealing with. We have found a significant increase in such cases this year.''
The Delhi Police also took several steps to reduce the motor theft cases like sending out letters to vehicle owners requesting them to install security gadgets in their vehicles.
To help them further, the police would also provide them the contact numbers of dealers of such devices in their area.
''Police alone can not prevent vehicle thefts as there are a huge number of vehicles in the city. People have to invest some money in this,'' Delhi Police Commissioner Y S Dadwal had said in a press conference held earlier this year.
In addition to the motor vehicle thefts, crimes committed by biker gangs also remained a major concern for the Delhi Police.
Incidents related to such crimes were reported from all parts of the National Capital, mainly South Extension, Saket, Madangiri, Hazrat Nizamuddin, Sangam Vihar, Dwarka, Dabri, Punjabi Bagh, Rajouri Garden, Ashok Vihar, Maurya Enclave, Keshavpuram, Rani Bagh, New Delhi, Seelampur, Bhajanpura, Shakarpur and Mandawali.
These gangs were involved in snatching and robbery as, according to the police, around 14,000 calls received till November 30 were only about snatching by biker gangs.
Out of 14,000, around 800 cases were recorded, which was lower than last year that saw 870 cases.
On an average, the biker gangs struck twice every day and have killed four people so far this year.
The officials informed that a special training programme was introduced at Chawla training camp this year to train all the new recruits in handling the biker gangs.
Likewise, the Delhi Police also started a motorcycle verification campaign. Within five months of its initiation, around three lakh motorcycles were verified. The official noted that due to verification, many criminals were also identified resulting in solving of many cases.
Referring to the heinous and non-heinous crimes committed in the city this year, a senior police official said there was a significant rise in such cases. Total number of cases of heinous crime reported till November 30 was 1278, as compared to last year's 518, while non-heinous crime were 43,414 as against last year's 38,765.
As there were claims made by the police about the reduction in crime figures, many argue that police do not register FIRs to present a rosy picture.
Earlier this year, a sort of debate was started in media about the registration of FIRs and many people expressed their concerns over it.
Police have also devised other ways to show a downward trend in the crime graph as it has started treating the crime of loot under section 382 of IPC which deals with theft cases instead of heinous crimes.
In view of the upcoming Commonwealth Games in October next year, several new police stations, increased police personnel, latest weapons, vehicles and other security equipment were added in the paraphernalia of the Delhi Police.
However, it seems that the criminals are running ahead of the police as the crime rate has increased this year in comparison to last year.
The most problematic among all the criminals were auto-lifters as more than 27,000 cases of motor theft were recorded during the year, which, according to the police, was 25 per cent higher than 2008 and constitutes about 15 per cent of total crimes committed in Delhi.
A senior police official told UNI, ''Motor Vehicle theft is the biggest crime in the capital that the police have been dealing with. We have found a significant increase in such cases this year.''
The Delhi Police also took several steps to reduce the motor theft cases like sending out letters to vehicle owners requesting them to install security gadgets in their vehicles.
To help them further, the police would also provide them the contact numbers of dealers of such devices in their area.
''Police alone can not prevent vehicle thefts as there are a huge number of vehicles in the city. People have to invest some money in this,'' Delhi Police Commissioner Y S Dadwal had said in a press conference held earlier this year.
In addition to the motor vehicle thefts, crimes committed by biker gangs also remained a major concern for the Delhi Police.
Incidents related to such crimes were reported from all parts of the National Capital, mainly South Extension, Saket, Madangiri, Hazrat Nizamuddin, Sangam Vihar, Dwarka, Dabri, Punjabi Bagh, Rajouri Garden, Ashok Vihar, Maurya Enclave, Keshavpuram, Rani Bagh, New Delhi, Seelampur, Bhajanpura, Shakarpur and Mandawali.
These gangs were involved in snatching and robbery as, according to the police, around 14,000 calls received till November 30 were only about snatching by biker gangs.
Out of 14,000, around 800 cases were recorded, which was lower than last year that saw 870 cases.
On an average, the biker gangs struck twice every day and have killed four people so far this year.
The officials informed that a special training programme was introduced at Chawla training camp this year to train all the new recruits in handling the biker gangs.
Likewise, the Delhi Police also started a motorcycle verification campaign. Within five months of its initiation, around three lakh motorcycles were verified. The official noted that due to verification, many criminals were also identified resulting in solving of many cases.
Referring to the heinous and non-heinous crimes committed in the city this year, a senior police official said there was a significant rise in such cases. Total number of cases of heinous crime reported till November 30 was 1278, as compared to last year's 518, while non-heinous crime were 43,414 as against last year's 38,765.
As there were claims made by the police about the reduction in crime figures, many argue that police do not register FIRs to present a rosy picture.
Earlier this year, a sort of debate was started in media about the registration of FIRs and many people expressed their concerns over it.
Police have also devised other ways to show a downward trend in the crime graph as it has started treating the crime of loot under section 382 of IPC which deals with theft cases instead of heinous crimes.
Monday, December 28, 2009
Sunday, December 27, 2009
Don't help Soren becoming CM, appeals Shashi Nath Jha's family
New Delhi, Dec 26: Family and friends of Shashi Nath Jha, slain PA of Shibu Soren, here today appealed to political parties not to help him reaching the helm.
Expressing concern about their security, the family of Shashi Nath Jha told mediapersons, at a conference, that his position in power would hamper the path of justice and it was not good for the society, state and country.
''If he becomes Chief Minister then the Governor would be asked for the permission to arrest him which, we fear, will never come our way,'' Jha's friend Mukesh Baba said.
Jha's family and Mr Baba had filed a petition in the Supreme Court which the latter accepted. As Mr Soren has failed to submit his reply within stipulated time the court has fixed the date for hearing on March 8, 2010.
On Mr Soren being given a clean chit by the Jharkhand High Court on August 22, 2007, Jha's brother Vijay Nath Jha said, ''It took several years for the High Court to come to the decision. Ignoring all the witnesses and proofs, the Judge set him free without even providing any reason or basis for the judgement.''
On the issue of political parties supporting Mr Soren after the recent elections in Jharkhand, Mr Baba said, ''He is a murder accused and had been absconding from law earlier. If he becomes the CM, what image would it create? There is a question mark on the stability of the government also as there is a hearing in the case after three months only.''
He also expressed wonder on how the BJP leadership was behaving after the elections. ''Many senior leaders in the BJP were earlier openly calling Mr Soren a murderer but now they are defining him as clean,'' Mr Baba asserted.
He appealed to the Election Commission to stop such criminals and tainted people from contesting elections. ''If it will not be stopped a crop of such politicians will grow and affect the democracy,'' he stated. When quizzed about the threat to their lives, Mr Jha said, ''We have written to all the authorities about providing security to us but to no avail. We got no reply.''
''The Supreme Court is our last hope for justice,'' he said with tears in his eyes.
Shashi Nath Jha's daughter, Preeti Jha, also requested the Prime Minister to give justice to her father.
''I have no other demand. Just give us justice,'' she said.
''If the government can not give us justice at least hand over the remains of Shashi Nath Jha so that his last rites could be performed.'' Mr Baba requested.
Links:
http://www.newkerala.com/news/fullnews-19224.html
http://news.webindia123.com/news/articles/India/20091226/1413029.html
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