New Delhi Apr 19 PTI BJP MP from North West Delhi Hans Raj Hans in whose constituency violence took place during a Hanuman Jayanti procession recently on Tuesday said the clashes were an effort to spoil the image of the country and that of Prime Minister Narendra Modi before British premier Boris Johnson who is scheduled to visit India this weekHans along with Delhi BJP president Adesh Gupta and Leader of Opposition in the Assembly Ramvir Singh Bidhuri met Commissioner of Police Rakesh Asthana regarding the investigation into the communal clashes at Jahangirpuri in northwest DelhiThe prime minister of Britain is coming to India so some insiders as well as some outsiders tried to spoil the image of the country and that of the prime minister The prime minister is continuously trying to make India the number one country in the world He has become an international personality Hans said at a press briefingSuch people who want to spoil the image of the country pose a threat to peace and harmony he said adding that they will not be spared this timeAt the meeting with Asthana the BJP leaders lauded the role of the police in controlling the Jahangirpuri violence and demanded strict action against the culpritsGupta said they urged the police commissioner to probe whether the main accused in the case is an Aam Aadmi Party AAP activist as also to look into the illegal businesses and criminal antecedents of all the accusedClashes broke out between two communities during a Hanuman Jayanti procession at Jahangirpuri on Saturday leaving eight police personnel and a local resident injuredAccording to police there was stone-pelting and arson during the clashes and some vehicles were also torched PTI VIT RC

New Delhi Mar 23 PTI Delhi minister Gopal Rai on Wednesday stressed the need for formulating a national policy to tackle the issue of unemployment pointing to the high rate of joblessness among the countrys youngstersA large number of youngsters are struggling to find jobs while lakhs of government posts are lying vacant due to non-recruitment he saidAddressing a two-day national-level conference on employment Rai said The need of the hour is to formulate a national employment policy to solve the problem of unemployment Our country is facing a dreadful crisis of unemployment as young people are knocking on doors for work despite having advanced degrees The governments instead of generating employment opportunities are not filling up the vacant posts leading to resentment and anger among the youngsters he said citing incidents of lathicharge on people demanding that recruitment exams be held on timeRai said the absence of a national policy on employment for seven decades since the independence has led to a high rate of unemployment and exacerbated economic challenges for the country PTI VIT RC

New Delhi Jan 18 PTI The Dialogue and Development Commission DDC will soon launch a platform to engage young volunteers in addressing the environmental and civic issues plaguing the city vice chairman of the Delhi governments think-tank Jasmine Shah said on TuesdayChief Minister Arvind Kejriwal launched the Delhi2047 initiative in August 2020 with an aim that the citys per capita income will be equal to that of Singapore and it will have world-class infrastructure and public servicesThe Delhi2047 initiative hosted by the DDC is dedicated to fostering long-term partnerships with individuals and organisations to build a Delhi of our dreams by 2047 the 100th year of the countrys independence Shah said in his address at the Delhi Volunteering Summit organised by the Confederation of Indian IndustryIn the first phase of Delhi2047 the DDC has collaborated with the private sector and philanthropic organisations on key projects such as the City of Lakes and the School Health Clinics he saidIn the next phase of the initiative the DDC will soon launch a platform with well-designed roles for young volunteers to participate in environmental and local civic issues The government will facilitate and support the young volunteers across several departments he saidThe Delhi government has also launched the Desh Ke Mentor programme with an aim to create a movement of young volunteers Shah said there is a desire among the youngsters to volunteer which can be channelised if the government creates opportunities and designs tools to engage themKejriwal launched the Desh Ke Mentor programme in October 2021 in which young volunteers act as guides for the students of classes 10 to 12 in the Delhi government schoolsIn over two months 45000 young volunteers including hundreds from IITs and IIMs have registered under the programme mentoring approximately 175000 students Shah saidThe DDC is the policy think-tank of the Delhi government It regularly engages with corporations philanthropic organisations and civic bodies on several urban development issuesUnder its India75 initiative Shah noted the significant role young volunteers have played through NGOs and community engagement PTI VIT RC

New Delhi Nov 25 PTI Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Thursday said the workers affected by the ban on construction activities in the national capital will be provided a financial assistance of Rs 5000 each and his government will also compensate them for the loss of minimum wagesHe said the Delhi government will hold special camps at construction sites in the city to register the labourersEarlier in the day Delhi Environment Minister Gopal Rai said the government has decided to reimpose the ban on construction and demolition activities following the Supreme Court order in this regardThe apex court reimposed the ban on construction activities in Delhi-NCR on Wednesday until further ordersThe ban was lifted on Monday in view of an improvement in the air quality and the inconvenience caused to the workersWe have stopped construction activities and following all the orders and suggestions of the Supreme Court the Delhi government is taking several steps to reduce pollution Kejriwal saidHe said an order has been issued and Rs 5000 each is being deposited in the bank accounts of the construction workers in DelhiWe will also compensate their losses of minimum wages Many construction workers are not registered for which camps will be held at construction sites to register them the chief minister told reportersWorkers in Delhi need to be registered with the Delhi Building and Other Construction Workers Welfare Board for availing government benefits PTI VIT RC

New Delhi Nov 21 PTI Around 550 buses hired by the Delhi government from private operators will start plying on the city roads under Paryawaran Sewa from Monday in a bid to help people switch from using private vehicles to public transport in view of the alarming air quality in the national capital officials saidThe Delhi government recently decided to hire 1000 CNG buses from private operatorsSo far over 750 buses have been registered of which nearly 550 will be pressed into service under Paryawaran Sewa from Monday on different routes These buses will augment public transport by increasing the frequency on various routes with a high passenger load a transport department officer saidThe Delhi Transport Corporation DTC and the Cluster scheme of the DIMTS run around 7000 buses in the city although official estimates put the requirement in accordance with the current demand to over 11000 busesThe buses hired from the private operators will encourage people using their own vehicles to opt for public transport officials saidIn view of the alarming levels of air pollution in the city the Delhi Disaster Management Authority DDMA on Saturday allowed standing passengers in buses and metroBuses and metro services were allowed to run with a full seating capacity last month but standing passengers were not allowed to avoid overcrowding in view of the coronavirus outbreak PTI VIT RC

New Delhi Oct 31 PTI Adoption of electric vehicles is picking up pace in Delhi with the count of such vehicles surpassing the total number of registrations of CNG and hybrid-fuel vehicles in the city in the recent months officials said on SundayIn the period of July to September electric vehicles accounted for seven per cent of the total number of vehicles registered with the Delhi governments transport department while CNG vehicles accounted for six per cent official figures showedOver 15 lakh vehicles were registered in the said period including 7869 electric vehicles 6857 CNG vehicles 7257 vehicles driven on both CNG and petrol and 93091 vehicles driven on petrol or dieselWe are witnessing good results of our electric vehicle policy and the adoption of such vehicles is gaining pace We are committed to realising the dream of making Delhi the countrys electric vehicle capital according to the vision of Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal Transport Minister Kailash Gahlot saidThe registration of electric vehicles started in Delhi with the city government launching its electric vehicle policy in August 2020 The share of electric vehicles in the total number of vehicle registrations since then has increased from over one per cent to seven per cent nowElectric rickshaws and two-wheelers form the bulk of the battery-operated vehicles registered but the numbers of electric cars and buses are also steadily rising a senior officer of the transport department saidAccording to official figures nearly 23000 electric vehicles were registered in Delhi from August to October including 5246 two-wheelers and 10997 e-rickshawsFrom July to September 422 electric cars and four electric buses were registered The numbers grew to 1415 electric cars and 30 buses in the August-October periodIn addition to focussing on the adoption of electric vehicles in a big way the Aam Aadmi Party AAP government has also decided to promote e-autorickshaws and e-buses to replace polluting fuels to make Delhi a clean city Gahlot saidAccordingly it has been decided that the transport department will only procure electric buses nowA tender floated for 450 CNG buses by the department would be the last one for this type of buses he addedThe department is in the process of issuing permits for 4261 e-autorickshaws with a 33-per cent reservation for women applicants Nearly 12000 applications have so far been received for these permits the officials added PTI VIT RC

New Delhi Sep 26 PTI Prime Minister Narendra Modi was given a warm welcome by BJP leaders including party chief JP Nadda after his arrival from the US at the Palam airport here on SundayModi who walked for nearly two kilometres meeting party workers and the people lined up along the road outside the airport thanked them for welcoming himLavishing praise on the prime minister upon his arrival in the country from the United States Nadda hailed him as a global leader who has made India a global playerCiting Modis meetings with US President Joe Biden and Vice-President Kamala Harris besides his participation in the Quad meet and address at the UNGA the BJP president said the prime minister put across strongly and frankly global issues and also Indias views over threats like terrorism and expansionismFolk artistes from different states in their traditional costumes greeted the prime minister playing different kinds of drums and musical instruments Delhi BJP vice-president Virendra Sachdeva saidSeveral senior BJP leaders including party national general secretaries Arun Singh and Tarun Chugh former Union health minister Harsh Vardhan Delhi unit president Adesh Gupta MP Ramesh Bidhuri were among those who welcomed Modi at the airportThe BJP workers gathered at the airports technical area hours before the prime ministers arrival A stage was also prepared for Modi to greet the people outside the airport PTI VIT RC

New Delhi Sep 20 PTI With new retail licences coming into force from mid-November no liquor vends will open in 105 of the 272 municipal wards of Delhi from October 1 officials said on MondayUnder the new excise policy of the city government retail liquor sale licences have already been allocated to the highest bidders in 32 zones each having around 10 wards and 27 liquor vendsThe bidding process for the 32 zones concluded by the excise department in two phases in August and September earned a revenue of over Rs 8900 crore to the governmentThe Aam Aadmi Party AAP government in the national capital has decided to close down around 260 private liquor vends after September 30 There are a total of 849 liquor vends in the city a majority of which are run by three agencies of the Delhi governmentThe excise department in an order issued earlier this month allowed the Delhi government-run liquor vends to continue with the retail sale of liquor till November 16 after furnishing the requisite licence feeThe firms that have been given licences in the 32 zones under the new excise policy through bidding will start retail sale from November 17 the order saidThe officials said there are around 80 wards in the city without any liquor vend In 26 wards there are presently only privately-owned liquor vends that will close down from October 1 they addedPractically the 105 wards in the three municipal corporations in the city will have no functional liquor vend after September 30 an officer saidThe closure of privately-owned vends from October 1 may lead to a temporary shortage of liquor as only the government-run liquor stores will open for a month and a half prior to November 17 the officials saidThe new excise policy seeks an equitable distribution of liquor stores in the city by segmenting it into 32 zones Currently the spatial distribution of liquor vends is skewed with some wards having as many as 10 liquor vends and others having none the officials added PTI VIT RC

New Delhi Aug 25 PTI The Delhi government will soon come out with the most progressive film policy in the country that will provide a massive boost to the entertainment industry Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal said on WednesdayThe policy is in advanced stages and it will get the cabinet clearance very soon the chief minister told reporters on the sidelines of an event hereAfter studying the film policies of various states I believe it will be the most progressive film policy that will give a massive boost to the entire entertainment industry he saidThe entertainment industry passed through a very bad phase during the COVID-19 pandemic Kejriwal said adding that it was severely hit triggering livelihood issuesHe hoped that things will change for good and the entertainment industry as well as other sectors will come back on the track PTI VIT RC