Saturday, May 26, 2012

His Holiness the Dalai Lama in Milan

Honourable Mr.S K Verma, Consulate General of India,Milan & Gunjan Verma with His Holiness the Dalai Lama in Milan

Ms.Tara Gandhi in Milan


Honourable Mr.S K Verma, Consulate General of India, Milan with Guido Podestà , President of Milan Province welcoming Ms Tara Gandhi, Grand-daughter of Mahatma Gandhi. She interacted with students of the Milan Province and sensitized them on Gandhian way of life.

Friday, May 25, 2012

The District level Bhagidari meeting

The District level Bhagidari meeting  in District east under the chairmanship of DC ( East), will be held on 29th of May, 2012 at 3 pm in the Bhagidari hall of Dist East Office complex, L M Bandh, Shastri nagar, Delhi - 110031. Please attend.

CM bats for privatisation of water services


Moving towards partial privatisation, the Delhi Jal Board (DJB) on Wednesday concluded a two-day Jal Bhagidari workshop held to create awareness about the revamping of the water supply, transmission and distribution network under the Nangloi Water Treatment Plant.
The water utility has also come out with a booklet to sensitise all stakeholders on the functioning of the public-private partnership model, which will be implemented in four project areas on a pilot basis. The areas include Malviya Nagar, Vasant Vihar and Nangloi underground reservoirs and water treatment plant, and Mehrauli.
Making a case of her government hoping to provide better utility services at no extra cost, Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit, who addressed the concluding session of the workshop, said: “DJB has taken steps to provide 24x7 water supply in the project areas. Public-private participation in the project is not total privatisation as the DJB will continue to be the owner of all assets and the responsibility for providing water services will remain with DJB. The payment to the private operator will be independent of consumer tariff. Tariffs in the pilot project will continue to be same as that in the rest of Delhi.”

with thanks : Indian Express : LINK for detailed news

Power demand in Delhi reaches 4823 MW,outages in several areas


NEW DELHI: The blazing heat today pushed the power demand in the city to season's highest of 4,823 mega watt, resulting in massive load-shedding at several areas due to demand-supply gap and local faults in the transmission network. 

"The maximum power demand was recorded at 4,823 MW against yesterday's 4,688 MW," a power department official said. 

The previous highest power demand was recorded on May 22 when it had touched 4,717 MW. The power demand in the city had reached an all-time high of 5,028 MW last summer and it is projected to reach 5,500 MW this year. 

With mercury soaring 43.1 degree Celsius, the highest of the season, the outages ranging from one to four hours made life miserable for people across the city. Areas in East and West Delhi were most affected by the outages.  

with thanks : economic Times : LINK for detailed news.

Delhi: Year’s hottest day at 43°C, worse to come


NEW DELHI: The heat is on, and it's only going to get worse. Delhi sweltered under a maximum temperature of 43.1 degrees Celsius on Thursday, the highest for the season. Oppressively hot winds forced people indoors, leaving shopping centres wearing a deserted look. Not surprisingly, power demand shot up, peaking at 4,823 MW, the highest so far this year. 

Worse, the Met office has forecast a further rise over the next few days. "On Friday, the maximum temperature is likely to be 45 degrees Celsius," said a senior Met official. The hot spell is expected to continue till next Tuesday. 

with thanks : TOI : LINK for detailed news.

AMENDMENTS TO MCD GUIDELINES FOR INSTALLATION OF GATES FOR SECURITY PURPOSE IN COLONIES


Dear Sir,
 
The Priyadarshini Vihar RWA and several other RWAs have raised the issue of 'Empowerment of RWAs' several times in the past.  Nothing has happened so far.  A related issue is the faulty guidelines of the MCD for installation of gates for security purpose in the colonies.  These guidelines were laid down by the MCD in June 2007 (on the direction of the Hon'ble Delhi High Court), without consulting the RWAs or the housing societies which are directly affected by these guidelines, and should have been consulted in the first place.  
 
As victims of these faulty guidelines, we suggest following amendments and request the Joint Front to take up the matter with the Commissioner, EDMC on behalf of its members RWAs, who, I am sure will agree with us:
 
1.    Clause 3.d) -  There is a total ban on erecting gates on back lanes which do not open towards roads outside  the colony.  Most of the crimes including thefts and burglaries are perpetrated through these lanes only.         Hence, security gates would be allowed on back lanes also.
 
2.    Clause 3.m) -  RWAs have been given the responsibility of appointing watch and ward staff at their own cost.  In practice, such arrangements are made by residents of the individual lanes by collecting funds. RWAs have not been vested with any authority to force the residents to make contribution for watch and ward arrangements.  There are several families in our colony who do not pay.  So, this authority needs to be coupled with authority.  Timings of closing ad opening of gates should also be flexible in accordance with seasons and other factors.
 
3.    Clause 3. p), q) and r) -  Onerous mandatory responsibilities have been  put on RWAs which need to be  reconsidered.  They should dovetail with ground realities.
 
Above suggestions are only illustrative and not exhaustive.  As a matter of fact, it requires a lot of brain storming by RWAs and functionaries of EDMC to arrive at practicable guidelines meet both the security concerns of colonies and administrative concerns of EDMC. 
 
Other RWAs are welcome to make suggestions / comments.
 
Sincerely,
 
Ram Gupta
General Secretary
Priyadarshini Vihar RWA

District level Bhagidari meeting notice

The District level Bhagidari meeting  in District east under the chairmanship of DC ( East), will be held on 29th of May, 2012 at 3 pm in the Bhagidari hall of Dist East Office complex, L M Bandh, Shastri nagar, Delhi - 110031. Please attend.

Wednesday, May 16, 2012

New Delhi Municipal Council areas may pay more for power

NEW DELHI: Tariff paid by Delhiites living in NMDC areas may see a sharp rise in the coming power tariff order of financial year 2011-12. According to assurances given by Delhi Electricity Regulatory Commission (DERC) in last year's tariff order, the regulator has said they planned to bring NDMC tariff on a par with the rest of the city, thus ending the monopoly enjoyed by many VIPs. However, whether this actually happens or not will be seen only when the regulator announces revised tariff for the current financial year in another six to eight weeks.

According to sources, inspite of the 11% increase in NDMC tariff due to fuel surcharge applicable from May 14 for the next three months, the overall tariff of NMDC is still considerably lower than that of private discoms BSES Rajdhani, BSES Yamuna and Tata Delhi Power.

According to estimates, the tariff paid by consumers living in areas supplied power by the private discoms is still 17%-21% lower than that of NDMC consumers. "While NDMC has seen the largest fuel adjustment cost hike of 11% and the private discoms got a hike of 4%-7%, the overall impact does not differ much. While current rates under NDMC are from Rs 2 to Rs 4.35 per unit depending on the various slabs, each having an increase of 11% due to fuel surcharge to be levied till August 14," said a source.

with thanks : TOI : LINK for detailed news.