Delhi

Cooking gas distributors across the country have threatened to go on an indefinite strike from Tuesday to press for their multiple demands, which include withdrawal of the petroleum ministry’s recent marketing discipline guidelines.

The dealers are opposing the heavy financial penalties and distributorship termination clauses under the Marketing Discipline Guidelines (MDG), which, they say, makes the distributors unjustifiably responsible for all lapses in the system.

It was a pleasant morning here Monday with the minimum temperature recorded a notch below average at 10.0 degrees Celsius. The Met Office has forecast a cloudy day ahead.

“The day will become cloudy towards the afternoon and shallow fog was also witnessed early morning,” said India Meteorological Department official.

The early morning fog delayed 14 trains.

Humidity at 8.30 a.m. was 97 percent.

Monday’s maximum temperature is likely to hover around 23 degrees Celsius.

The Delhi High Court Friday issued notice to the Lt Governor on a PIL challenging fresh nursery admission guidelines which club the economically weaker section (EWS) category with that of children with disabilities.

Justice Ravindra Bhat and Justice R.V. Easwar also issued notice to ministry of human resource development and Delhi government’s education department on a plea also seeking three percent seats for children with disabilities in the aided and unaided private schools in Delhi.

The government has taken various measures to ensure the safety and security of people from the northeastern states, settled in New Delhi and other parts of the country. Munirka village in South Delhi is home to a large number of people from the northeastern states, a majority of them students.

Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader Manish Sisodia on Saturday said that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Congress had caused price rise in Delhi on purpose and added that the party has called for a CAG enquiry in the matter.

The Supreme Court has agreed to hear on Monday the Aam Aadmi Party’s plea seeking a direction to the Lieutenant Governor to dissolve the Delhi Assembly and hold fresh polls along with the Lok Sabha elections.

The bench headed by Chief Justice P Sathasivam said it will hear the petition on February 24.

AAP leader and advocate Prashant Bhushan on Thursday said the party has filed a petition in the Supreme Court to direct the central government and the lieutenant governor to dissolve the Delhi Assembly, and order for fresh elections in the capital.

Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader and advocate Prashant Bhushan on Thursday said that the party has filed a petition in the Supreme Court to direct the Central government and lieutenant governor to dissolve the Delhi Assembly, and order for fresh elections in the capital.

“Today an important petition has been filed in the Supreme Court by the AAP, in which we have challenged the decision of the Central government and lieutenant governor to impose President’s rule in Delhi,” said Bhushan,

The Delhi administration Wednesday told the Delhi High Court that it does not favour battery-operated e-rickshaws on the roads without licences or number plates.

A division bench of Justice Pradeep Nandrajog and Justice Jayant Nath was informed by advocate Zubeda Begum, appearing for the government, that a notification was issued in 2011 that e-rickshaws should not ply unless they were registered and insured.

“We are not in favour of e-rickshaws. The MCD is in favour of them,” Begum said.

Reliance Group chairman Anil Ambani Wednesday met Delhi Lieutenant Governor Najeeb Jung for nearly an hour which officials described as a “courtesy call”.

Both sides declined to comment on the deliberations between Ambani and Jung.

The meeting comes against the backdrop of issues concerning two group companies – BSES Yamuna and BSES Rajdhani – which together supply power to over 66 percent of the capital’s population.

Indian wing of global corruption watchdog, Transparency International (TI), on Tuesday refuted former Delhi Chief Minister, Arvind Kejriwal, claims that corruption had come down in the city during his regime. Executive director of Transparency International (TI) India, Ashutosh Kumar Mishra, denied the existence of any such report or survey that Kejriwal quoted while addressing business leaders.

“Transparency International, India, has not conducted such a study as it was said. We don”t have any publish or unpublished report.

It was a chilly Sunday morning in the national capital with the minimum temperature recorded four notches below average at 7.2 degrees Celsius. The Met Office forecasts a warmer and clearer day ahead.

“The day will remain clear with the maximum temperature likely to hover around 19 degrees Celsius,” said an India Meteorological Department (IMD) official.

Humidity at 8.30 a.m. was 100 percent.

The Aam Aadmi Party’s (AAP) Political Affairs Committee (PAC), which met earlier today to discuss the future course of action of the party, on Saturday, congratulated Arvind Kejriwal for taking a bold decision to resign from the post of chief minister and to dissolve his government.

Addressing the media after the PAC meeting, AAP leader Yogendra Yadav said, “The PAC has congratulated the Delhi Government under the leadership of Arvind Kejriwal. It has set a precedent of a government, which is willing to give up power in this country where power means everything.”

Senior lawyer and Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader Prashant Bhushan on Saturday said that after rejection of the Jan Lokpal Bill in the Assembly, the party was left with no option but to quit as it was their first promise in the manifesto.

“Our biggest responsibility was to form a corruption-free government and run it. It was our first promise in the manifesto. But if the BJP and the Congress are not letting us pass the bill, then what is the point of us staying in power,” Bhushan said.

Accusing Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal of speaking untruths, BJP leader Harsh Vardhan Friday said his party was fully in support of the Jan Lokpal bill.

Addressing the press after the Delhi assembly was adjourned sine die, the Delhi Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) chief said: “Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal should stop making false and baseless claims.”

He said the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) should practice transparent governance.

BJP leader Harsh Vardhan Friday said his party was committed to the Jan Lokpal bill.

“I want to tell (Chief Minister) Arvind Kejriwal that we want the Jan Lokpal bill more than you do. AAP has been saying all ‘netas’ are against the bill,” said Vardhan, leader of the opposition in the house.

“The media knows more about the bill than we do. Don’t paint the BJP as a party against Lokpal. We are committed to it,” he said.

The Bharatiya Janata Party leader said Delhi’s first Lokayukta bill was tabled 20 years ago.

Reacting to Lieutenant Governor Najeeb Jung’s letter to Delhi Assembly Speaker M.S. Dhir, Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) spokesman Ashutosh on Friday said Jung should consider the views of former attorney general Soli Sorabjee, who described the Home Ministry 2002 order as an attempt to departmentalize the Delhi Government.

“I think the LG should consider the views of former attorney general Soli Sorabjee that the 2002 diktat of the Home Ministry is unconstitutional. He described this order as an attempt to make the Delhi Government a department of the Central Government,” said Ashutosh.

After witnessing disruptions on the first day of the special assembly session, the Arvind Kejriwal led-Delhi Government on Friday will table the Jan Lokpal Bill in the Delhi Assembly.

Late on Thursday, reacting to the disruption in the Delhi Assembly, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Thursday had said that the incident exposed nexus between Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) who have been brought together by Reliance Industries Chairman Mukesh Ambani.

A rainy day lies ahead of Delhi on Friday with the maximum temperature expected to be around 18 degrees Celsius, the weather office said.

A total of 23.2 mm of rain was recorded in the national capital from midnight till 8.30 am, said an official of the India Meteorological Department.

The night-long rain caused waterlogging at some places of the city.

Long traffic jams were witnessed on the roads, giving office-goers a difficult time.

The minimum temperature early Friday was recorded a notch above the average at 11 degrees Celsius.

The Arvind Kejriwal government has declared that it will table the Jan Lokpal Bill in the Delhi assembly today, ignoring Union Law Ministry’s view that the Centre’s prior approval is required.

The Union Law Ministry has held that the rules governing Delhi government’s legislative business were constitutional where Centre’s consent was required before its passage.

The Law Ministry has held that the Transaction of Business Rules (TBR) make it mandatory that the Lt Governor refer to the Centre every legislative proposal which may necessitate additional financial assistance.

A 33-year-old man was injured Tuesday when a car from Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal’s convoy hit his motorbike, police said.

The incident took place around 2 p.m. near Gate No.2 of the Delhi Secretariat in central Delhi area.

Computer mechanic Kashif Zaidi was hit by a car belonging to Kejriwal’s convoy, police said.

Zaidi, who stays in Yamuna Vihar area of east Delhi, received minor injuries on his leg, shoulder and teeth.

He was rushed to Lok Nayak Jai Prakash Hospital from where he was discharged after first aid.

Police is yet to register any case.

Two youths from Manipur were beaten up here late Sunday, police said Monday, just a few days after an alleged racial attack led to the death of a student from Arunachal Pradesh.

The youths were attacked by a group of motorbike riders in Ambedkar Nagar area of south Delhi around 8.30 p.m. Sunday.

One of the victims, reported to be in a serious condition, was admitted to the All India Institute of Medical Sciences, police said.

The AAP government is planning to give scholarships to 10,000 students with what it says is Rs.21 crore lying unutilized for years by the previous Sheila Dikshit government.

Improving the standard of education in the national capital has been declared as one of the top priorities of the over one-month old Aam Aadmi Party government, led by Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal.

Former Additional Solicitor General K N Bhatt today said he was not consulted on the Jan Lokpal Bill but only on the validity of some rules.

Bhatt was reacting to Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal’s statement yesterday that the government had taken opinion of four lawyers including Bhatt and all of them were of the view that the Home Ministry order was “unconstitutional”.

The Home Ministry order says that Delhi government has to take permission from the Centre before enacting any law.

The Delhi Pollution Control Committee (DPCC) has informed the National Green Tribunal that 33 restaurants in the capital’s upmarket Hauz Khas village area have been given consent to operate.

The DPCC, in an affidavit placed before a bench of NGT judicial members justices P Jyothimani and M S Nambiar, has said the eateries had applied for consent to establish and operate by providing all relevant documents and hence they were given the requisite approval.

German President Joachim Guack met Delhi’s Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, and both leaders are said to have discussed the role of civil society movements in politics in both countries.

During the 25-minute-long meeting, both leaders discussed the ombudsman bill, Kejriwal”s government policies and his party’s plan to contest the coming parliament elections.

Guack had talks with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and inked of two pacts under which Germany will provide loans worth 900 million Euros to India.