elhi Electoral Office has launched a fresh drive for comprehensive revision of electoral rolls from today in all the 70 Assembly Constituencies in the national capital with January 1st, 2013 as qualifying date. The drive has been initiated following an Election Commission's directive.

The objective of this exercise is to update the electoral roll by including the names of the eligible citizens who will attain the age of 18 years or more on January 1st, next year and to delete the names of non-existent electors due to death, shifting and other reasons.

According to the Delhi Chief Electoral Ofiicer, Vijay Dev, during this exercise people will be able to file claims and objections till 14 th of next month and the revised electoral roll will be published on January 10, 2013.

The disposal of claims and objections will be completed by 15th of December this year while updating of database and printing of supplementary lists will take place between 15th to 28th December.

AIR correspondent reports that currently the number of voters in Delhi is around 1.18 crore.A helpline will be available for the general public in the election office for electoral roll related enquiry.

The Number is - 23918888. People can also have full information about the electoral roll at the website www.ceodelhi. nic.in .

 In a major environment-friendly initiative, the Delhi government today decided to impose a blanket ban on manufacture, sale, storage and use of plastic bags in the national capital.

The decision was taken at Cabinet meeting presided over by Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit.

Officials said the use of plastic cover/pouch to pack magazines, invitation cards, greeting cards will also be prohibited. Our correspondent reports, green groups have been demanding a blanket ban on plastic bags in the capital for long.

Following a Delhi High Court order, the government had in January, 2009 imposed a ban on the use of plastic bags in various markets, shopping malls, hotels and hospitals but it has not produced any desired result.

The government has now decided to impose the ban as per provision of the Environment (Protection) Act, 1986 under which the violators could face imprisonment up to five years and fine of upto 1 lakh rupees or both. The notified places included luxury hotels, hospitals,restaurants, all fruits and vegetable outlets of Mother Dairy, liquor vends, shopping malls, local shopping centers and all retail and wholesale outlets of branded chain of outlets selling different consumer products including fruits and vegetables.

The decision to enforce the blanket ban on plastic bags came a day after the government decided to ban gutka products in the city.

 The 18th Delhi Book Fair will begin tomorrow at Pragati Maidan in the national capital. Over 230 publishers from various countries ncluding Pakistan, China, United States, France and Germany are participating in the nine day fair. This year, the theme of book fair is "E-books" which will remain the center-stage during the event.

AIR Correspondent reports that screening of films based on novels of select Indian authors, will be a major crowd puller at the fair. Feature films based on novels written by Indian authors, will be screened at the Shakuntalam Convention Centre.

Among other facilities, there will also be free shuttle service for all and facility of wheel chair with attendant is also being provided for the physically challenged. Entry ticket for adults will be 20 rupees and 10 rupees for children

 Delhi government is planing to reserve lanes on city roads for ambulances, fire-tenders and emergency services vehicles to strengthen emergency response system. Informing this in New Delhi, Divisional Commissioner Vijay Dev said that as per the proposal, the restrictions on plying of other vehicles on the separate lanes will only be put into force in the time of disaster. He said that the proposal, put forth by the Delhi Disaster Management Authority, will be discussed with the police soon before a final decision is taken.

Mr. Dev said the government was also planning to put in place an emergency public warning system under which sirens will be installed across the city. He said in case of a disaster, sirens will be blown and immediately the dedicated lanes will have to be left for vehicles under the emergency response system.

 The water level of the river Yamuna in the national capital has touched the level of 204.68 meter and it is still flowing 15 centimeter below the danger mark. According to the Delhi Flood Department official, Haryana has released around 22 thousand cusecs of water into the Yamuna from the Hathinikund barrage this morning. The official said that the water level in the Yamuna rose primarily due to incessant rains and release of water from the barrage. Families living along the banks of the river have already been evacuated. Delhi Government has made arrangements to address any possible eventuality. Regular announcements are being made to caution people residing in the low lying areas. More than 20 life saving boats have been placed on standby along the banks and routine vigil is being carried out. All district control rooms are regularly monitoring the situation.

edify : शिक्षित करना

 The much-awaited AC double-decker train, between Delhi and Jaipur, chugged off from Sarai Rohilla station in Delhi, this evening. The train will cover the distance between the national capital and the pink city in four and half hours. A daily service, the train will leave Sarai Rohilla station at 5.35 pm and reach Jaipur at 10.05 pm. It will leave Jaipur station at 6 am the following day for the return journey and reach Delhi at 10.30 am.

Flagging off the train at the Sarai Rohilla station, Railway Minister Mukul Roy said, it is a noteworthy achievement and marks a new chapter in the continuous history of the Indian Raiways. Mr. Roy reiterated the committment of the Railways towards delivering greater convenience to passengers through travel at affordable rates.

Speaking on the ocassion, Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit said, it is a very useful service between the two cities and would also promote tourism. She said more such services should be introduced for the benefit of people.

AIR correspondent reports, the 8-coach train has a seating capacity of 120 passengers per coach. It is equipped with quickly openable 12 emergency windows for quick evacuation in case of emegencies and has fire extinguishers in each coach near its door. Each coach has a mini pantry including fridge and microwave. The train has a controlled discharge toilet system operating on attaining speed of 45 kilometeres per hour well outside stations limit.

The operation of a double decker train is not new for the Railways. In 2010, former Railway Minister, Ms. Mamta Banerjee had flagged off an airconditioned double decker service between Dhanbad and Howrah.chug  the dull explosive noise made by an engine

 Delhi government has decided to phase wise introduce smart classes in its schools. In the first phase, smart classes will be started in all 17 Pratibha Vikas Vidyalayas in the national capital. With this, the blackboards will give way to digital screens, pens will be replaced with keyboards and notebooks with memory cards in classrooms. The decision in this regard was taken at a meeting chaired by Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit in New Delhi.

Talking to reporters after the meeting, Mrs. Dikshit said, with the introduction of smart classes, the experience of learning will become more simple and grasping. She said, the smart classes will facilitate existing learning methodology and enable students to educate themselves effectively, not restricting to text books but exploring internet to find answers. The Chief Minister said that it will provide every child an equal opportunity to learn, standardize education quality and in the implementation of innovative teaching methodology.

Delhi Government will launch Kerosene-free Delhi scheme tomorrow in the national capital. Under this scheme over 3.50 lakh households will get LPG cylinder and a gas stove free of cost in the coming days. 

The Chief Minister Sheela Dikshit while launching the scheme will distribute the cylinders and stove to 200 beneficiaries. 

Ms. Dikshit had announced the scheme in her budget speech after the Government came to a conclusion that subsidised kersone does not reach intended beneficiaries and often ends up in the black market.

All the families covered under Below Poverty Line and Antyodaya Anna Yojna will come under the scheme besides those residing in Jhuggi Jhopri relocation colonies in the city. AIR correspondent reports that with this scheme Delhi will soon become the first kerosene-free city in the country

 Delhi police has launched a scheme called Yuva to stop youngsters especially from economically weaker sections of society from entering the crime world. Under the scheme police officials will reach out to Capital's youths to provide them vocational training and guide them on competitive exam preparations. 

The police will also conduct other activities including sports and painting workshops to keep street children and young adults gainfully engaged and acquire life skills to become good citizens. The scheme ‘Yuva' will also help them get jobs.

AIR correspondent reports that the Delhi Development Authority has provided 11 playgrounds to the police in different areas in the city close to slums for this scheme.

Delhi government will install CCTV cameras over liquor shops in the national capital to prevent people from drinking in and around such vends(बेचना) and check rowdiness(असभ्य व्यवहार). Over 530 liquor shops in the city will come under CCTV camera surveillance by the end of this year. The government Officials said in the first phase, the cameras will be installed in 225 shops and the work is likely to be completed by next month. 

The cameras will have to cover at least 50-meter area on all sides of the liquor shop and the cameras inside the vends will have to capture daily activities. Our correspondent reports that the CCTV surveillance is being put into place to ensure a better environment in and around liquor shops in the city.

Delhites can travel now in metro and its feeder bus services cashless with a Common Mobility Card. The scheme was launched by Chairman of the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation Sudhir Krishna today. Krishna said, in the first phase, the card will be applicable to only in metro services network and its parking areas. 

In the second phase,the facility will be extended to the Delhi Transport Corporation buses and cluster beses as well. Talks are on for providing this facility. He said customers can recharge their common mobility card through their bank accounts , credit card or debit card.

Delhi Chief Minister Mrs Sheila Dikshit today called on the visiting Prime Minister of Singapore Mr. Lee Hsien Loong at New Delhi. During the meeting, both the leaders had discussions on bilateral issues. They also exchanged views on the issues concerning management of civic services.

Mrs Dikshit apprised Mr Loong about Delhi’s unique administrative set up, increasing population and pressure on civic services. She also expressed gratitude to visiting Singapore Prime Minister for rendering constructive cooperation in setting up a Greenfield Skill Development Institute at Jaunapur in South Delhi.

The Institute is being set up on the lines of a world class Institute at Singapore. Singapore is also helping Delhi in setting up of a modern water recycling plant having capacity 40 MGD per day. Mrs Dikshit added that her Government would be eager to set up such more plants after assessment of the results of the first plant. 

During the meeting, Mr. Loong appreciated the green cover of Delhi and assured of cooperation on behalf of his Government for possible cooperation in different fields.

The elctricity will cost more to the consumers in the national capital as the Delhi Electricity Regulatory Commission- DERC has announced to increase the existing power tariff charges for the year 2012-13. The new rates will come into effect from 1st of next month. Briefing reporters , The DERC Chairman P.D Sudhakar said that the domestic tariff of electricity has been raised by 24.15 percent while the commercial tariff by 19.49 per cent and the industrial tariff will go up by nearly 20 percent in the city.

He said, however the average increase in all categories will be 20.87 per cent. DERC has also imposed a surcharge of 8 per cent on the approved tariff for the three power disribution companies namely BSES Rajdhani Power Limited , BSES Yamuna Power Limited and Tata Power Delhi Distribution Limited.

Areas across the city have been grappling with acute shortage of water for more than a week now as production of water at treatment plants has come down sharply due to shortage of raw water.

According to the Delhi Jal Board, the water level at the Wazirabad pond has come down sharply due to cut in supply by Haryana. Water treatment plants at Haiderpur, Wazirabad and Chandrawal rely on raw water supply from Wazirabad pond. 

The current average demand of portable water in the city is around 1,100 million gallons per day, and the Jal Board is supplying around 750 million gallons.