Are you being stalked? Call Delhi Police's new helpline

New Delhi, May 15 (UNI) Delhi Police today launched an anti-stalking helpline for women to help them against the menace.

After the success of its anti-obscene calls cell, an initiative against obscene calls, the Delhi Police has taken this decision to help women in Delhi from such anti-social elements.

Various forms of media including newspaper and radio today carry the police advertisements regarding the helpline passing on the message ''Do not bear this silently!'' to the womenfolk.

The advertisements adds, ''Our anti-obscene calls cell has redressed 14301 complaints so far. We intend helping you against stalkers too.''

Delhi Police Commissioner Y S Dadwal announced it here yesterday and said, ''We intend to start an anti-stalking helpline from May 15, which we had set up last month. We hope that the helpline would go a long way in helping women against stalkers.''

Women can call the helpline by dialling 1096. They may also call the number 27894455, send their complaint through fax on 27292523 or send an SMS to 9911135446. They may also send an email regarding their complaint to acp-sit-dl@nic.in .

Petrol pumps strike in Delhi affects life

New Delhi, May 14 (UNI) Agitated over the government's inaction on the hike in VAT rates of diesel, petrol pump owners in the national capital today observed a complete shut down hitting normal life in Delhi.

Morning commuters bore the major brunt as the petrol pumps remained closed since last midnight.

However, 12 petrol pumps all over the city, belonging to Indian Oil and Bharat Petroleum are open but vehicle owners have to wait for hours in long queues.

The closure protest has been called by Federation of All India Petroleum Traders (FAIPT).

FAIPT General Secretary Ajay Bansal told UNI that the government has failed to pay heed to the plight of petrol traders, who witnessed a loss of a staggering 48 per cent in diesel sales during April, 2010, in comparison to the same month in 2009.
Loss of Rs 350 crore was incurred during the period.

The VAT on diesel was raised from 12.5 per cent to 20 per cent. As a result, the difference between the rate of diesel in Delhi and in Haryana stood at Rs 4. ''Our demand is that the Delhi government should bring the diesel rate on the level of that in Haryana,'' Mr Bansal said.

All petroleum facilities will remain shut whether they were selling petrol, diesel or CNG, he added.

Mayapuri scrap mkt still unsafe; 6 more 'hotspots' found

New Delhi, May 14 (UNI) Contrary to the claims made by the country's superior nuclear regulatory agencies that Mayapuri scrap market was radiation free now, six more harmful spots have been found in the area today.

In a survey conducted by the Greenpeace, a non-governmental environmental protection and conservation organisation, radiation experts have found six more ''hotspots'' which consist of particles of Cobalt-60, the harmful radioactive material, exposure to which took life of one and affected many others.

''A survey was conducted by our team today in the area around the shop where the radioactive source was first found. During the research done within the radius of 200 m, six spots have been found where the radiation level is much higher than an ambient dose rate,'' Karuna Raina, Greenpeace Nuclear campaigner, told
mediapersons here.

She said out of the six spots, two were most vulnerable where the radioactivity was almost 5000 times more than what a person can tolerate.

''According to regulations, a person can take in 0.1 micro Seivit per hour of radiation. However at these places it has been found up to 512 micro Seivit,'' Ms Raina explained.

She alleged that the stakeholders including Atomic Energy Regulatory Board (AERB), Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC), National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) and others had shown negligence in their working to decontaminate the area.

The ''hotspots'' have been marked by using either a tape or white cement by the research team. The initial reports have been submitted to the area SHO and AERB officials.

''We have requested them to decontaminate the area and take proper action at the earliest,'' Ms Raina said and added that the organisation would take up further task to survey more areas in the zone and the city only after receiving a positive response from the authorities concerned.

One of the radiation experts, Jan Vande Putte, who hails from Belgium, noted that the risk to be incurred at the spots will not be quick leading to any sudden diseases but ''it can lead to more harmful ones like Cancer in the long run.''

Moreover, if the spots will not be decontaminated now, then the affect of radiation will increase leading to more dangerous outcomes.

''It is a task of only few hours to clean and decontaminate these areas. It is basically the soil in these areas which consists of minute particles of harmful radioactive material,'' Mr Putte said.

He further explained that today's research was conducted using proper equipment namely Identifinder, Digital Gamma Spectrometer, RadAlert100 digital Geiger counter and Personal radiation Dosimeters.

''If the research team from the regulatory agencies would have used these instruments then they would have also found the spots,'' he said.

Meanwhile, the organisation also asserted that the amount of compensation promised to the affected people in the Mayapuri scrap incident was much less.

''The amount should have been much higher as far as the problem is concerned,'' they said.

Scholars debate on Commonwealth Games ''national pride''

New Delhi, May 13 (UNI) Delhi may be slowly approaching the goal of becoming a ''world class city'' ahead of the Commonwealth Games 2010, but has the process actually benefited the Indian society at large, argued scholars here today.

Questions have been raised on the various dimensions of the Games, especially the level of expenditure on a one-time sporting event and actual delivery of benefits to the masses.

''In the process of making the Games a successful event, multiple violations of human rights, constitutional rights, especially of marginalised sections, should not have been done,'' former Delhi High Court Chief Justice A P Shah said.

Referring to homelessness and deportation as a result of building infrastructure for the 12-day international event, Justice Shah said, ''People have become insensitive towards demolitions. It is expected that the people who are residing in slums and JJ clusters will just vanish if their shelters are demolished.''

Rehabilitation and proper housing was important, he added.

Categorically speaking about begging in Delhi, Justice Shah said, ''To abolish begging, there are two goals -- nobody should beg and nobody should have to beg. It seems the city government has forgotten the second more significant aim.''

He quipped, ''The decision to deport beggars to their respective states is weird as Delhi is a city of migrants where almost 70 per cent of the population is from outside the city.''

Justice Shah was speaking while launching a report titled, ''The 2010 Commonwealth Games: Whose Wealth? Whose Commons?'' here.

The account, prepared by the Housing and Land Rights Network (HLRN), put forth many findings questioning the rationale for spending crores on the event, and outlined key general recommendations suggested to be done pre and post-event.

The launch was followed by a panel discussion chaired by former United Nations Special Rapporteur Miloon Kothari, Professor of Economics in Jawaharlal Nehru University Amitabh Kundu, Director of Hazards Centre Dunu Roy and members of HLRN.

Mr Kothari stressed that the entire process of the Games was in contravention of India's Constitutional obligations and the excessive costs involved are hard to justify in a country with high levels of poverty, hunger, inequality, homelessness and malnutrition.

2 held for carrying live bullets at Finance Ministry

New Delhi, May 13 (UNI) Police have arrested two people for allegedly carrying ammunition in the high-security North Block area.

The duo, identified as Mukesh Kumar and Moti Lal, were arrested by security officials in the North Block containing the Home and Finance Ministries with two live cartridges, police said.

A police official said the accused, hailing from Rajasthan, were trying to enter the office of Minister of State for Finance Namo Narain Meena to invite him for a wedding.

''They were caught at Gate number two of the North Block at around 1430 hrs carrying two nine mm bullets in bag held by Kumar,'' the official said.

On interrogation, both the men could not produce a licence. They told the police that they had visited Mr Meena earlier in the day also but could not meet him.
''They were unable to explain the reason for carrying bullets also,'' the official noted.

Further investigation in the matter was on.

Petrol dealers threaten to observe every Monday as off day

New Delhi, May 12 (UNI) Resorting to protest against hike in VAT on diesel, petrol dealers in the city have called for a one-day strike on May 14 and have decided to observe every Monday as an off-day to cut cost.

''We will be observing a protest closure on May 14 on all petrol pumps while every Monday, starting May 24, will be observed as off day. We are doing this as we have been pushed to a very tight corner and have no other option,'' Ajay Bansal, President, Delhi NCR Petrol Dealers Association, said today.

The association had decided to go on a similar strike on May 9 also but on the assurance given by Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit, it was postponed.

The dealers claimed that despite a massive drop in sales figures of April 2010, no positive response has come from the city government.

They said they have lost substantial business to Haryana and Uttar Pradesh ever since the Delhi government hiked the VAT rate on diesel. While diesel in Haryana is cheaper by Rs 3.50 per litre, it costs 70 paise less in UP.

''Due to this price differential, a huge revenue loss to the tune of Rs 350 crore per annum will be incurred,'' Mr Bansal claimed.

In April 2010, Delhi sold 64,363 kilolitres diesel and VAT collected on this sale amounted to Rs 40.17 crore. In April 2009, Delhi had sold 105,903 kilolitres diesel and VAT collected was Rs 35.6 crore.

Efforts on to strengthen India, Swaziland ties: LS Speaker

New Delhi, May 12 (UNI) As part of India's efforts to strengthen South-South Cooperation, Lok Sabha Speaker Meira Kumar has assured continued support to Swaziland government in its development efforts.

''Though we are located in different continents, memories of what India and Swaziland have gone through in terms of struggles and hardships of the people bring the two countries closer and create areas of understanding for each other,'' the Speaker said here recently in conversation with the South African nation's Prime
Minister Barnabas Sibusio Dlamini.

The Speaker has visited the country to attend the Executive Committee Meetings of the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association (CPA) called on the Prime Minister of Swaziland on May 10 in Mbabane.

This is her first visit to the landlocked country.

Expressing pleasure over the same, Dr Dlamini said at a time when Swaziland was trying to find an identity in the global scenario, India had extended unstinted support to the country.

He appreciated the fact that trade and commercial ties were being strengthened between the two countries. ''India has offered line of credit (LOC) of 10 million dollar to Swaziland towards establishing a Science and Technology Park in Swaziland. I hope that it would be finalised soon,'' Dr Dlamini said.

During her visit, the Speaker also met the Indian families in Swaziland, mostly from Daman and Diu, who were engaged in business or serving as professors at institutions of higher learning in Mbabane.