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Minor gang raped by family, sold for Rs 5,000
Youth found shot in Maruti car
Khurana ‘recall’ move reflects disquiet in party
Robotic support for Ayurvedic practitioners
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Villagers frown at their ‘hero’
Admission time: Tiny-tots get set for obstacle course
Disillusioned with theatre, Karnad turns to children’s books
Land for technical bodies only through bidding
Demolitions continue in Defence Colony
NBW against SI for ignoring court directive
Shoemaker gets 3-yr RI for assaulting friend
Bawarya criminals nabbed
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Minor gang raped by family, sold for Rs 5,000
Noida, September 21 The arrow of suspicion pointed towards Mukesh, the son of their neighbour, Hari Singh, who was also found missing since the disappearance of the girl. Later, when the police arrested Hari Singh, Mukesh surrendered to the police on July 10. However, he denied his involvement in the abduction of the girl. In a dramatic development three months later, a woman brought the girl to her maternal grandfather and offered to sell her for Rs 5000. The woman informed her grandfather that she had “purchased” the girl for Rs 5000 and had brought her to him on the basis of the address provided to her by the girl. He asked the woman to wait so that he could get the money from her father. However, apprehending a police case, the woman fled from the spot, leaving the girl behind. Later, narrating her tale of woe, the girl said that she had been kept in confinement at six different places, including Jhandpura in Sahibabad, Tila Mode, Loni, Aligarh and Bisloni, during the past six months. She named Mukesh, his brother Om Veer, Gulab, the brother in-law of Mukesh, his uncle and their grandfather as having raped her repeatedly. They also used to beat her up whenever she resisted them. Later, they handed her over to a woman, who had brought her to the house of her maternal grandfather. Later, the Dadri police sent the victim to the district hospital, Noida, for a medical examination. The police have debriefed her so as to find out the exact sequence of events and the people involved in the crime. Even as the police have registered a case against Mukesh, the other suspects have not yet been arrested.
Four cops suspended
Four policemen, including a police post in-charge, have been suspended by the Senior Superintendent of Police, Mr Jai Narain Singh, for beating up an innocent person. The action was taken on the recommendation of the Circle Officer, Mr P. N. Sinha, who probed the matter and found the four policemen guilty. The suspended policemen were identified as Jatender Yadav, Anil Sharma, Rajeshwar Bhatti and Sohan. The victim was identified as Shiv Kumar of Ranjit Nagar, Khora Colony. The residents of Khora had strongly reacted to this barbaric act and had complained to the SSP and demanded the suspension of the guilty policemen. Subsequently, the SSP had entrusted the inquiry of the case to the Circle Officer, P.N Sinha, who found them guilty. Nobody from the Police Department will be allowed to beat up innocent citizens, said the SSP.
Train guard missing
Ghaziabad, September 21 The guard, identified as Khemchand, resident of Sewa Nagar, Ghaziabad, had left for duty on a goods train from Ghaziabad to Panipat. Even as the guard could not be located, his shirt, briefcase and his watch was found from the guard’s cabin. Khemchand was on duty on a goods train going to Sonepat. The driver could not establish contact with the guard after he had talked to him near Dya Basti station. The driver informed the railway officers about the missing guard at the next station. However, the guard has not yet been traced. Later, a report was lodged in Delhi. The railway employees criticised the Union Railway Minister, Mr Lalu Prasad Yadav, for failing to improve the security conditions in the trains. They alleged that criminal activities had increased in trains since he took over as the Railway Minister. Never before in the history of the railways had the crews felt so unsafe, they alleged.
HC stays GDA notice
Dadri, September 21
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Youth found shot in Maruti car
Noida, September 21 The police believe that the victim was a companion of the assailants. The body is yet to be identified. The blue coloured Zen car was going from Dadri to Dholana on Monday evening with four occupants, the police said. Some villagers even heard the gun shots emanating from the car. The suspects fired in the air while making good their escape in another car, which was following them. Later, the villagers informed the Dadri police about the case. It seems the youth had been shot dead by the occupants in the same car, said Santosh Yadav, SO, Dadri police station. The police are on the look out for the assailants. According to the police, the victim seemed to be a companion of the criminals, who had killed him after some altercation. A revolver was found below the driver’s seat in the Zen car. The body has been sent for a postmortem examination.
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Khurana ‘recall’ move reflects disquiet in party
New Delhi, September 21 Political observers here clearly discern a sense of frustration among the rank and file in the aftermath of the lacklustre performance of the Delhi BJP in the assembly as well as parliamentary elections. Many attribute the setbacks to the inability of the state party leadership to galvanise the workers and this obviously is now being increasingly seen as a criticism of the second rung of leadership which was given the reins of the party. Recently some party
MLAs, keen to lead an agitation of Delhi industrialists who are resisting relocation, sought the “guidance” of Mr
Khurana. This move is seen as yet another attempt of the old guard jockeying for position. This, despite the fact that Mr Khurana was eased out of active Delhi politics as the party had failed to come up with winning numbers in the assembly elections. The observers claim that this move was a clear indictment of the party’s state unit led by Dr Harsh Vardhan who succeeded Mr Khurana as the president of the state unit. Why did not the five MLAs approach the state unit? Why did not the state unit cash in on the industrialists’ agitation? These observers also feel that Khurana loyalists may have orchestrated the move, perhaps with the tacit blessings of the patriarch of Delhi politics himself, to exert pressure on the party high command. After all, Mr Khurana has repeatedly expressed his love for active politics at every given opportunity. But, the instant reaction of the party leadership that there was no room for Mr Khurana in the given scheme of things must have come as a dampener for his supporters. Independent political observers say that the frustration and disappointment among the cadre and leaders is evident form the fact that the state unit has remained dormant despite the fact that there have been ample opportunities to launch agitations and generally revive political activity. The relocation of industrial units, extended shop timings and the imposition of the Unit Area Method (UAM) of property tax are just a few issues which could have provided fodder for political manoeuvring. To be fair, it must be noted that the Delhi Pradesh BJP has not remained totally quiet on these issues. But the attempts have been at best half-hearted or confined to different factions within the party’s cadre.
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Robotic support for Ayurvedic practitioners
New Delhi, September 21 The laboratory prototype of the system is on display at the Arogya Health Fair in Pragati Maidan. The instrument has a robotic arm which automatically dispenses the required amount of fluid over the body. The demand for the industrial prototype is likely to be
enormous in India which has 15,000 government-run Ayurvedic dispensaries Kerala, which attracts a large number of tourists from all over the World, has about 200 Panchkarma centres. In
Shirodhara, herbal oil or milk is gently poured back and forth across the patient’s forehead while he is lying down with his eyes shut. The treatment relaxes the mind and the nervous system. The duration of the therapy is decided by the doctor and normally lasts between 30 and 45 minutes. In Sarvangana
Snehana, herbal oil is poured over the patient’s body. It is prescribed to relieve a person of stress, tension, aches, coldness and dryness. Dr D.T. Shahani, Professor, Instrument Design Development Centre, IIT, told TNS here today that the system regulates the temperature of the Ayurvedic fluid and controls the rate of flow. He explained that in the manual operation, it becomes difficult for the operator to pour the fluid at a uniform rate during the duration of the therapy as he gets tired and loses concentration. The manual operation also requires the services of three persons — one for pouring the herball oil, another for pouring the liquid and the third for heating the fluid. During heating, the variations in temperature are extensive. Also, it is difficult to maintain optimum temperature manually. The oil used for one patient cannot be reused due to lack of a proper filtering and cleansing system. The IIT Professor said that in the manual process the personal hygiene of the operators is very important. The industrial prototype will have comprehensive biological and chemical filtering properties. Dr Shahani is confident that his team will evolve the industrial prototype by January 2005. ``It will take us another two to three months then to identify the agency for transfer of technology to the industry through the National Research Development Corporation.’’ His team is also engaged in developing systems for standardised processing of Ayurvedic medicated fluid. Dr
D.K. Mishra, Director of Central Research Institute of Ayurveda, is of the view that the instrument will contribute to quality of treatment as it will standardise treatment. ``This will reduce dependence of manpower, eliminate chances of human error, ensure precision of treatment. Till now, there is no automation in Ayurvedic system. This will also help us convince the developed countries in adopting the Panchkarma system as they prefer automation.’’
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Villagers frown at their ‘hero’
Meerut, September 21 The villagers are not too happy that Mohd. Arif has snatched a mother from an unborn child. In this piquant situation, only the unborn child would be the real loser. Mohd. Arif is embroiled in this row ever since he agreed to accept his wife Guriya, who had remarried her cousin Mohd Taufik during Arif’s incarceration in Pakistan. Arif, it will be recalled, had been declared a deserter by the Indian Army after he went missing during the Kargil hostilities. On September 18, a meeting of the Panchayat was convened at the residence of a close relative of Guriya. Taufik, his father and Guriya’s parents were also present at the panchayat. The Tribune has learnt from reliable sources who were present in the Panchayat that initially Guriya refused to return to Arif as his family was not ready to accept the unborn child. Eventually, Guriya was assured in the panchayat that she could keep the child with her. Guriya herself has disclosed this to the Tribune. However, Arif and other family members are adamant that the child will remain with her only for 10 days. Guriya was forcibly stopped by Arif and his family from dwelling on the issue to this correspondent. According to most of the villagers, Arif should divorce Guriya for the sake of the unborn child. Only then, they would hail him as a real hero.
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Admission time: Tiny-tots get set for obstacle course
New Delhi, September 21 To make it to a public school of repute, children are sometimes put through a rigorous schedule, which is almost punishing, claim psychiatrists, warning of consequences that can last a lifetime. “A child of three years takes tuition for school entrance exams and, if unable to interact with peers, the school feels that the social behaviour is lacking, forgetting that it is only after four that co-operative peer play begins,” says psychiatrist Dr Sameer Parikh. He adds, “The preparatory schools prepare these children for an entrance exam and the plays schools also try and undertake a similar exercise to ensure that their wards can go to the so-called ‘good school’. The multiple exams for entrance exerts pressures, which are beyond them and the psychological impacts can last a lifetime”. Slamming the preparatory schools for conducting “mock tests” for these young children, Dr Parikh adds, “The whole idea was to identify children with special needs who will need alternate teaching tools, but the business of the admission tests has lead to traumatised children.” Sharing his perspective, Ms Kusam Warikoo, Principal, Sardar Patel Vidyalaya, put forth, “Where is the need to test a child, what do you get from it”. Describing the process followed in her school, she says, “All we are looking for is a child with normal abilities. We interact with the parents instead of grilling the children.” While the schools agree that the process is “unfair” their only alibi is “too many applicants, therefore, a stricter elimination process”. The headmistress of a “reputed school,” on the condition of anonymity, said, “We get plenty of applications, so we look for a healthy child, who is mentally alert and with sound psychology.” When quizzed how a four-year-old can be checked for sound psychology, she says, “We observe their group habits, their concepts and their confidence levels”. She went on to add, “We have to choose the best from what we are offered and for that we have to take into consideration a whole lot of things, including the status of the parents. And, most importantly, the philosophy of the parents should be in sync with ours”. Not agreeing with choosing only the best, Ms Warikoo advocates, “Let there be a directive, whereby children from the nearby areas become eligible for admission”. Dr Parikh adds, “Schools have a fair idea of their demography and they can gauge the family background of a child. And once that has been done, elimination should be done through lottery.” Offering advice to parents to refrain from pushing their child to perform at the interview, Dr Parikh says, “An ideal school is still a fiction. I tell parents not to send their children to a school that has an extensive interview, beyond a normal child’s capacity. Secondly, try to use the domicile approach and choose a school that is near to your house. A school, which is active and extra-curricular friendly and gives more or at least equal importance to overall development of a child over academic excellence, is where you go.”
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Disillusioned with theatre, Karnad turns to children’s books
New Delhi, September 21 Karnad, who calls himself an avid supporter of education for underprivileged children and has also promised to write for the Pratham Books, was here in the city today to support the NGO in its nationwide Read India Books initiative to improve reading skills of children. The NGO, in its effort to create high quality, low-cost books for children, today launched the first series of 50 books in four languages for the age group of four to 14. Disillusioned with the state of theatre in India, which he no longer finds a pleasure, Karnad says the art is now flawed with several dark patches, unavailability of good writing talent and lack of money being the two most outstanding problems. Theatre, he said, was in a bad shape in the country. Speaking to The Tribune on the sidelines of the launch, he said theatre had lost its touch and was no longer a pleasure, neither for the audience nor those involved in it. “Except perhaps for Maharshtra and to some extend Chandigarh, the quality of theatre has gone down everywhere else. Why should I do theatre if people do not come to watch it? And why should people come to watch theatre if they get more exciting stuff on the TV. It is a vicious circle. You need good money and audience to do quality theatre. If I rehearse for one month it should be worthwhile. Doing it for idealism and enthusiasm is not enough. Which is why very good playwrights are into TV, and at present, lot of writing talent is involved in mega-serials. I myself shifted to films so how can I blame others.” But hasn’t he, as a brilliant actor who had made a mark for himself in films and quality serials like Malgudi Days, been away from his passion too long. “Offers for kinds of roles I would like to do are not there anymore. Playing the heroin’s father is not exciting enough and I would rather work for NGOs like Pratham and Belaku, the NGO my wife, Dr Saraswati Ganapati, is running. I am not a part of the Pratham Books, but I am here because I think it is an exciting proposition, for which each one of us has to join hands. It is very essential to spread the habit of reading in children, especially in a country like ours where half the population still cannot read.”
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Land for technical bodies only through bidding
New Delhi, September 21 Urban Development Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad cleared the proposal in the wake of allegations that several educational institutions were charging exorbitant amounts from students while obtaining land from the DDA at a very nominal rate, official sources said. The sources said while opening a tender for land allotment to set up a technical or higher educational institution, preference would be given to any request from the Delhi Government or bodies like NDMC or MCD. This would enable the DDA to earn more money from the institutions and the same would be utilised for urban development, they said. With the present move, the debate vis-a-vis land allotment for setting up luxury private hospitals has started generating heat and a decision is expected soon, the sources said.
BJP blamed for shift in focus
Blaming the BJP government for saffronising and encouraging privatisation of education, the All India Save Education Committee today slammed the policy of replacing traditional streams like Humanities with “market- oriented courses”. “Subjects like History and Geography are being replaced by subjects which are market oriented and stress is being laid on computer courses even in universities,” the AISEC members pointed out here today. The AISEC is organising a daylong Save Education Convention on the 25th of this month in the Capital’s Gandhi Memorial Hall. The convention, to be attended by hundreds of representatives from across the country, would be addressed by former justices Kuldeep Singh and Rajinder Sachar among others. Claiming to have evolved an alternative education policy, which covers all aspects of education from primary to university, the AISEC blamed the successive governments for privatisation of education and fee hikes that make it difficult for the poor to have access to education. Citing the instance of Karnataka, where suicides by students in professional colleges are on the rise, AISEC blamed the management quota policy and the exorbitant fee structures. “Legislation should be passed that makes it mandatory to have all seats filled through merit and all quotas should be disallowed,” said an AISEC member.
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Demolitions continue in Defence Colony
New Delhi, September 21 There was no opposition from the residents of the colony. The MCD had sealed properties in A and B Block against which it intended to take action. Of these properties, two have been demolished and one is still left. The MCD had issued notices to a total of 62 properties, but others had obtained stay orders from the court, an official of the MCD said. A few property owners have rented their properties for commercial use. They have constructed basement to run commercial activities, which are not allowed under the MCD bylaws. The MCD had sealed three buildings in A-Block and one in B-Block. A residential building in A Block have encroached on 120 square feet of government land, apart from exceeding the maximum floor area ratio. The Municipal Commissioner, Mr Rakesh Mehta, said that Defence Colony was not the only area where people have encroached upon government land and converted residential buildings into commercial establishments. Earlier, the action was taken against garage owners and motor mechanics who have encroached on government land, resulting in traffic jams in the main market and on main roads.
Illicit liquor,
one held
New Delhi, September 21
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NBW against SI for ignoring court directive
New Delhi, September 21 The Additional Sessions Judge, Mr. N. K. Sharma, has issued the NBW against Sub-Inspector Dinesh Chander through DCP (North-West) Sanjay Singh. The warrant is to be executed by October 13. “SI Dinesh Chander is not present despite service of bailable warrants ... Issue NBW to be serviced through DCP (North-West),” the court said in a brief order after the cop did not honour the bailable warrant yesterday. The Additional Session Judge noted that he had not only failed to appear but also did not make any request for exemption. The court had summoned Dinesh for recording his statement in a robbery case against three persons. Prashant Vihar police had charged Mahesh Kumar, Vishnu and Rakesh with robbing Rs 1,000 from two persons on knifepoint near the District Park in Rohini on February 22, 2000.
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Shoemaker gets 3-yr RI for assaulting friend
New Delhi, September 21 Holding Tara Chand guilty of attempting to kill Ramesh, Additional Sessions Judge O P Saini also imposed a fine of Rs 2000 on the accused, who inflicted five injuries on Ramesh in a local park in Mangol Puri area on July 20, 2003. The police said Ramesh was admitted to Sanjay Gandhi Memorial Hospital and his statement could not be recorded immediately as he was not in the right frame of mind. Showing the scars on his body, Ramesh told the court that Tara Chand, who was drunk, called him inside the park at around nine pm and asked for money for buying some more alcohol. The accused got infuriated after Ramesh refused to give any money and attacked him, he added.
Pimp, four girls arrested
The Crime Branch of the Delhi Police has arrested four girls and a pimp for running a prostitution racket in the city. The pimp has been identified as Karan Thakur, a resident of Vasant Vihar. According to the police, secret information had been received that the girls were being supplied to farmhouses in the Southwest area. The informer further disclosed that the girls would first reach the Satyam Tower parking area in Paschim Vihar and from there they would be sent to the farm houses. A team of crime branch police raided the spot and arrested all the girls and the pimp from there.
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Bawarya criminals nabbed
Noida, September 21 According to the police, the arrested criminals have confessed their involvement in the Raipur village dacoity on September 9-10. The leader of the gang was identified as Jagdish, alias Pappu Bawarya, having his base in Kharkhoda in Meerut and Rasoolpur in Gautam Budh Nagar. The Superintendent of Police, (City), Mr A. K. Jain, said the photograph of Jagdish, alias Pappu Bawarya, had been recognised by the local villagers. The Bulandshahr police was also on the lookout for this gang following a dacoity in Bulandshahr a month earlier. Even as three members of the gang were nabbed, the other associates managed to escape during the encounter. The arrested criminals were identified as Rajinder (son of Jagdish), Verinder (son of Karan Singh) and Brijinder (son of Fareed) of Bharatpur, Rajasthan. Two revolvers and knives were seized from them. They have confessed their involvement in both the Bulandshahr and Raipur dacoities. The Deputy Superintendent of Police, Mr Uday Shankar and S.O Sector-39 were sent to Khurja to personally look into the case, said the police chief. The Bawarya gang was lead by Jagdish himself when it had attacked Raipur village, Mr Jain added.
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New Delhi, September 21
