Big plans to mark Hardayal Library’s 100th year

NEW DELHI: Delhi’s oldest library, Hardayal Municipal Public Library, near Chandni Chowk will celebrate 100 years of its existence. On the occasion, the management committee of the institution has planned five-day celebration, “Delhi Literary Heritage Fest” starting from December 9. All events will take place at Shanti Desai Sports Complex on Shayma Prasad Mukherjee Marg.

There will be a panel discussion with authors Vartika Nanda and Ashok Chakrdhar. Smriti Irani, Union minister of textile will also attend the event. Rock bank Indian Ocean will also perform.

Shobha Vijender, member secretary of the library, said, “The task was enormous, since years of neglect had affected the library’s literary heritage. But despite the administrative oversight, the library was central to the lives of students, researchers, academicians and historians.”

“Yes, it is difficult for her supporters to accept it. But there was no impulse for them to commit suicide, as was the case before.”

Even die-hard supporters were reconciled to the inescapable fate — this is a natural death, an act of god.

“Word went out to the party’s rank and file to maintain strict discipline as it was the greatest homage that they could pay to Amma … not to bring discredit to the party,” said C Ponnaian, an AIADMK spokesperson.

Pickets and preemptive action checked the outbreak of violence, while meticulous preparation helped manage a sea of crowd and VVIPs who turned up during Jayalalithaa’s burial on Tuesday.

Across Tamil Nadu, about 100,000 police personnel were deployed, their leaves cancelled. In Chennai, 10,000 rookie constables and 1,000 trainee sub-inspectors were on duty, supplementing the regular security set-up.

A police officer said the closure of state-run Tasmac liquor shops for three days helped too because there were fewer drunken brawls that could have escalated into mass violence. “Who is running the House? Neither the speaker nor the parliamentary affairs minister is running the House… This is disgraceful,” he said.

When parliamentary affairs minister Ananth Kumar rushed to pacify Advani, who sits in the front row of the treasury benches, the BJP veteran said, “I will say it publicly.”

The 89-year-old then left Parliament and did not return when the Lok Sabha reconvened at 2pm, only to be adjourned minutes later for the day. “He was blaming the Opposition,” Kumar later said.

The change in the Congress’s stance stemmed from the view that the party made its point through disruptions and it was time to corner the government during a debate, sources said.

The government could accept the Opposition’s demand, as it only had reservations about voting, sources said. If there were to be voting in the lower House, a similar demand could have been made in the Upper House, where the ruling coalition is in a minority.

On the demand for Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s presence during the debate, the government said the PM would “intervene” but didn’t promise his presence all through the debate.

“Things are moving in the right direction,” Sudip Bandopadhaya told HT. The Congress and other opposition parties are likely to take a call on Thursday after hearing from the government.

The Opposition will observe Thursday as “black day” to mark one month of demonetisation. Opposition MPs will wear black bands and hold a sitin in the Parliament complex.

Modi was in the Lok Sabha when proceedings began in the morning. But as soon as the question hour began, Congress, Trinamool Congress and Left members trooped into the well, demanding a discussion with voting.

As protests grew louder, Modi left, having spent five minutes in the House.

A source close to Advani said he was upset with Kumar and the speaker for not taking action against the five-six “unruly MPs who have held the House to ransom”.

“Somewhere he felt that the treasury benches were lacking in their duty to ensure smooth functioning of Parliament. Hence, he said in the House that both the sides are party to it (disruption),” the source said.

In the Rajya Sabha, finance minister Arun Jaitley lashed out at the Opposition, accusing it of running away from the demonetisation debate.

Revised guidelines do away with the time bar and also allow authorities to consider the explanation of each applicant and decide accordingly.

“If the PIA is satisfied with the claim and with the document(s) submitted by the applicant in support of the claim, the PIA shall accept all such requests made by the applicant to issue the passport with a revised date of birth,” says one of the guidelines released recently.

Officials have also been told to accept digitally signed marriage and birth certificates, which would reduce the chances of documents being rejected by passport authorities.

According to the ministry of external affairs, around 10 million passports were issued in 2015, 24.3% more than the 8.5 million a year before.

The bodies were either naked or dressed only in undergarments.

The visible clues led to suspicion that a serial killer could be on the prowl.

But that was unfounded as police claimed to have unraveled the mystery behind two of the most gruesome murders.

Apart from the Munirka murders, the corpse of a man with his legs chopped off was found under a tree in Mangal Bazar area of Sangam Vihar on December 2. A day later, the body of a woman with her lower torso missing was fished out of a drain near the Delhi Jal Board office at Amar Colony.

On December 5, a vagabond was caught in a compromising position with the body of a woman whose face was battered and disfigured by a stone in the Sunlight Colony area. Police said the vagabond was not the killer, but suffered a mental condition called necrophilia.