Government approves amendments on Lokpal and Lokayuktas Bill 2011

- The phrase ‘connected with political parties’ to be replaced with 'affiliated with political parties’. 

- Fifth member of the Selection Committee (i.e., eminent jurist) to be nominated by the President on recommendation of the other four members of the Selection Committee, viz. Prime Minister, Speaker (Lok Sabha), Leader of Opposition (Lok Sabha) and Chief Justice of India. 

- Government has decided to exempt only such bodies or authorities established, constituted or appointed by or under any Central or State or Provincial Act providing for administration of public religious or charitable trusts or endowments or societies for religious or charitable purposes registered under the Societies Registration Act. 

- Political parties exempt from the purview of the Lokpall Bill 2011, as they are already covered under the Representation of People’s Act. 

- Lokpal can order investigation against a public servant, in case a prima facie case exists, after calling for explanation from the public servant. 

- Opportunity to be given to public servant to be heard. 

- Lokpal to have power to grant sanction for prosecution of public servants. 

- Amendments for strengthening CBI accepted, except the one which seeks approval of Lokpal for transfer of officers of CBI investigating cases referred by Lokpal. 

Whistle Blowers Protection Bill 2011 to protect identity of whistleblowers and safeguard against their victimization, passed by Lok Sabha. 

Benami Transaction (Prohibition) Bill 2011 introduced in Parliament. The Bill elaborately covers definition of ‘benami’ property and transaction, and prohibits benami transactions. 

Stringent punishment for ‘benami’ transactions under the Benami Transaction (Prohibition) Bill.

Happy Republic Day 2013

Patparganj Marg caves in again, blame game on

  Jan 21, 2013

NEW DELHI: A portion of Patparganj Marg caved in on Saturday, for the second time in a month. Interestingly, the same road was re-laid three months ago after Delhi Jal Board had repaired a water pipeline in the area. The residents have temporarily filled the pit with bricks to avoid any accidents, but the public works department (PWD) officials are yet to wake up to the situation.

"This is the second time that a portion of the same road has caved in. This shows the poor quality of the raw material used for the construction. The contractors are never penalized for doing such a shoddy job. How come they always get away, while we commuters and pedestrians have to pay the price?" asks BS Vohra, president, east Delhi RWAs Joint front.

with thanks : Times of India : LINK

Heavy rush at Maharani Bagh - a small suggestion

Sir,

There is a severe bottle neck at Maharani bagh to smooth flow of traffic from ring road Lajpat nagar  & from Mathura road to Noida toll road etc. Due to heavy rush from both roads specially in evening,the traffic from both roads obstructs each other at Maharani bagh & traffic from both roads is able to cross Maharani bagh at a very slow speed of not more then 5 km /hr causing back pressure to all the roads  behind.Traffic moving at low speed consumes more fuel ,consumes more man hours ,creates more pollution .The slow traffic is due to more vehicles  in a narrow space obstructing each other.

This problem can be overcum by stopping the traffic from one road & allowing the traffic from other road one by one so that the traffic from one road at a time is able to attain a fast speed giving an average high speed of say 40 kms/hr  leading to clearance of much more number of vehicles per minute then if traffic from both roads moves at a low speed of 5kms/hr.Not only this the vehicles waiting will consume less fuel ,will cause less pollution & the drivers will be able to take rest for few minutes causing less accidents.

I shall feel obliged if acceptance or rejection of my suggestion is communicated to me

Dr VK Aggarwal

A-7 East of kailash new delhi 110065, 8800164455 

Sir, lakhs of public manhours are wasted due to bottleneck at maharani bagh.Traffic police has not taken any concreate measures to ease the traffic.With some efforts many manhours of public can be saved.It is kindly requested to persue the matter with concerned authorities

Dr vk aggarwal

Traffic Jam at Captain Gaur Marg

Sir ,

      

Since the closure of one road on Kalindi kunj bridge on river yamuna,there is massive traffic jam on captain gaur marg almost through out the day.It takes 45 minnutes to drive just half kilometers on this road.

The bottle neck is at Maharani bagh on ring road which gets traffic from all sides & just  momentary stopping of vehicles,or even slowing of vehicles causes massive stagnation of traffic.It is requested that the bus stop of maharani bagh is shifted to just ahead after the bifurcation  of this road  in to two ,one going to noida toll bridge & other to Nizamuddin.

Sir, this single measure may save many lakhs man hours / day & save fuel ,pollution etc

      

KINDLY do some thing urgently.

      

Thanking you

 

Dr VK Aggarwal

A-7 East of kailash new delhi 110065

8800164455 

5-storey building tilts in East Delhi : Times of India

NEW DELHI: In one month, seven complaints of buildings tilting dangerously have been received in east Delhi, reviving fears of a Lalita Park-like disaster. On Tuesday, a recently constructed house on a 40-square yard plot in Rani Garden - an unauthorized colony opposite Lalita Park - tilted by almost 2.5 inches. The five-storey structure didn't have a sanctioned building plan.

The owner of the property, Anant Jain, told TOI: "Small cracks keep developing in the buildings and we will use cement to fill them. When two buildings are constructed close to each other, it usually happens. There is nothing to worry about." Asked about the building plan, he said, "It's no secret that buildings are constructed in this area without the sanctioning of building plans. Nobody ever gets it done."

SDM of the area, Sandeep Gulati, and his team inspected the property. "We inspected the site on Wednesday and have written a letter to East Corporation to take action," said Gulati. But the municipal corporation puts the onus of keeping a check on unauthorized construction on the SDM. "These colonies come under the SDM, and they can take action individually as well. But so many times, the SDM doesn't forward us the complaints, which leads to such mishaps," said a senior corporation official.

Last month, three buildings collapsed in the area but the civic agencies are unable to check the rampant illegal construction in colonies lining the Yamuna bank. In 2010, Lalita Park made headlines due to a building collapse that claimed 70 lives. As per National Crime Records Bureau's last released figures for unnatural accidents, out of 53 cities, Delhi has experienced maximum damage by collapse of structures. In 2011, 68 cases of structure collapse were reported in which 60 people died and 75 were injured. This raises the question whether Delhi is ready for vertical growth. "The buildings are so high that they don't allow sunlight to touch the ground. The area is deprived of civic amenities but the real estate business is thriving. The corporation needs to shape up. Last week, in Lalita Park, which is some metres away from Jheel area, a building tilted but the corporation took timely action and sealed the building," said BS Vohra of East Delhi RWAs Front.

After the building collapse in 2010, the Municipal Corporation of Delhi and the National Institute of Disaster Management ( NIDM) had carried out a large-scale survey in trans-Yamuna areas to identify structurally weak buildings. But apart from conducting surveys of dangerous buildings in the capital, the civic agencies have done little to ensure the safety of buildings in the area. After the collapse in 2010, the erstwhile MCD and the new East Corporation have taken action against 94 properties till date. Rampant illegal construction has not only added to congestion but also made old structures more vulnerable. The walls of many houses have developed deep cracks and their foundations have become weak. But the corporation officials say even they are helpless due to acute staff crunch at the supervisory level. 

with thanks : Times of India : LINK

List of Senior citizens living alone in your area, to be uploaded on www.RWABhagidari.com

May we request to all the viewers of our News Letter to mail us a list of SENIOR CITIZENS living alone in their areas alongwith address & contact numbers. 

We will upload the list on our Web Portal www.RWABhagidari.com so that it could be used by various Departments, NGOs, RWAs to regularly check the well being of those Senior Citizens. It will be a great help to those living alone in various localities. 

Plz mail us details at : rwabhagidari@yahoo.in

Thanks & Regards

B S Vohra

www.RWABhagidari.com

www.RWABhagidari.blogspot.in

Delhi consumers likely to pay more for power

Monday, 14 January 2013

Staff Reporter | New Delhi 

Delhi's power consumers may have to pay more surcharge over their electricity bill as the power companies have requested the Delhi Electricity Regulatory Commission (DERC) to increase surcharges up to 20 per cent which is currently eight per cent. The power companies have also requested DERC to allow them to revise the surcharge in commercial and industrial category as well.

Chairman of Delhi Electricity Regularity Commission (DERC) P D Sudhakar said that the power companies have planed to increase surcharges from eight percent to 20 per cent. The power companies are planning a bigger hike in commercial and industrial category as power tariff in Delhi is lower for these categories as compared to other States. 

The power companies are also planning to revise the slabs for both domestic and commercial\industrial consumers. According to them, domestic consumers who consume 400 to 800 units and consumers who consume more than 800 units should be in different slabs.


with thanks : The Pioneer : LINK

Justice Sachar alleges pvt water companies getting undue benefits

Continuing his attack on 'privatisation' of water supply in Delhi, Justice (retired) Rajinder Sachar has questioned the role of Delhi Jal Board (DJB) in such policy decisions. He has also alleged that private companies were being given undue benefit in the name of 24x7 water supply programmes under public private participation (PPP) model.

A patron of water privatisation and commercialisation resistance committee, Justice Sachar had first written to Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit in November, raising pertinent issues vis-à-vis privatisation attempts by the DJB. However, instead of Dikshit, he received a reply from Jal board's CEO Debashree Mukherjee. "Bureaucrats are not in the position to respond to constitutional and policy matters raised by me in the earlier letter," Sachar has pointed out to Dikshit in another letter sent this week.  

The DJB had in 2012 launched three pilot programmes for 24x7 water supply under the PPP model to improve the water distribution system in Malviya Nagar, Nangloi, Vasant Vihar and Mehrauli. 

Sachar has pointed out that the DJB has referred to reduction of the non-revenue water (NRW) but the contract agreement signed by the Nangloi project shows that the private operator will not be required to reduce NRW for the first four years. 

with thanks : Hindustan Times : LINK : for detailed news.

BSES to crack down against power thefts in Delhi

New Delhi, Jan 11 (IANS) Within a week of starting a drive against electricity theft, Delhi's power distribution company BSES has registered 450 cases of power theft. Private discoms are extending the drive against power theft, a BSES statement said Friday.

According to BSES Rajdhani Power Limited (BRPL), "over 2,000 KW (kilowatts) of power-theft load has been unearthed and 450 cases registered in the first week of the enforcement drive for illegally drawing power through unauthorised connections in south and west Delhi". 

The enforcement drive would continue till March 31 and private discoms have planned to conduct mass raids in the next two and half months.

"We are targetting over a hundred areas across south and west Delhi. Multiple raids at several places will take place. For increased effectiveness of the drive and to unearth power-theft, raids are being carried out even during late nights and early mornings," the statement said.

"Even in the unusually cold weather, there was an increase in energy theft. Power theft leads to severe over-loading of the distribution system (transformers/feeders), resulting in trippings and is also a potential safety hazard," said BRPL chief executive Gopal Saxena.

Since July 2002, BRPL has unearthed around 1.32 lakh cases of power thefts of a total load of over 7.65 lakh KW.

with thanks : IANS

Happy Lohri to all of you