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JNU dons clamour for hike in research funding
Candidate’s mother beaten up, dies
Rs 2 lakh looted from house in posh Noida colony
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Unprecedented security arrangements for cricket match
Kathakali veterans relive younger days on stage
‘Noida Run’ takes precedence over polio campaign
BJP to move court against hike in water tariff
Hooda stresses moral values in students
Ghaziabad to have six-lane expressway
Metro to Dwarka to be operational in December
First wife upsets man’s plan to remarry
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JNU dons clamour for hike in research funding
New Delhi, April 11 Worried over the future of applied as well as theoretic research, the faculty has also resolved to “strengthen research in the university itself”. “There is a need for the state to release more funds for research. The academic profession has become competitive and the costs of research have gone up and the situation is alarming for the state universities, who unlike the Central Universities have little access to foreign or even corporate funds,” said Prof. Kamal Mitra Chenoy, School of International Studies. Concerned over the issue, the JNU Teachers Association (JNUTA) recently formulated a report after a brainstorming session, ‘JNU Vision 2020’. The report that discusses the issue of research threadbare, notes, “the University should be strengthened for research and thrust areas of research cannot be dictated by market forces alone. If, for example, fundamental research with no immediate commercial or market value is abandoned today, it will irreversibly cause a collapse of all applied research in the long run. The university should be primarily a knowledge-generation centre, where students learn best by researching”. “The situation of research being driven by market forces emerges from lack of state funding. It is then that one has to look for foreign agencies, bodies like the ICHR, ICSSR and private sector,” Chenoy added. It was pointed out that JNU should look for a balance between research tied to contracts/projects, which are time-bound, short-term and long-term strategic developments. Intellectual creativity needs freedom and “leisure”, and the university must take the risks involved for such choices. Alleviating concerns that the emphasis on research could have a conflicting affect on the teaching quality, the report, which is the outcome of the views put forth, cites that teaching should get as much importance as research. It was pointed out, “the only way to officially ensure this is to give career incentives for good teaching, and not just for research publications; otherwise the system would inevitably cause a decline of teaching standards”. Participants pointed out that JNU being a “research university” and not a research institute, optimum performance of the university can be ensured, not from the view-point of “teaching versus research” duties, but rather “teaching and research” duties of the faculty.
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Candidate’s mother beaten up, dies
Faridabad, April 11 According to the police, the deceased, Mukhtiari Devi, mother of one Madanvir, who has filed nomination for contesting the election of the corporator from ward number 31 here, was at her house when a group of persons, including another candidate made their way into her house and allegedly beat her up after a quarrel. They accused reportedly wanted to pressurise her to make her son withdraw from the election, but it is learnt that the woman opposed and threatened to call the police. The accused had already asked Madanvir to withdraw from the field, but the latter said he would contest the elections at any cost, said a source. According to the complaint, the main accused, identified as Manoj, and some of his supporters went to the house of Madanvir in Chawla Colony in Ballabhgarh last night when Madanvir was not present there. They beat her up badly. The injured woman was admitted to a hospital and succumbed to injuries later. The filing of nominations for the 35 wards of the MCF and the Municipal Councils of Palwal and Hodal towns has begun. The polling will be held on April 30. Meanwhile, in another case, the police have registered a case against a private hospital in the NIT area here in connection with alleged Medical Termination of Pregnancy (MTP) in an illegal manner. The case has been booked under Section 2,3,4 of the MTP Act and 312 of the IPC.
100 injured in Faridabad poll violence
As many as hundred persons were injured in the second phase of the elections for the Panchayati Raj bodies in the district on April 9. About 70 persons have been booked for violence while some of them arrested. Over 50 persons had been injured in the first phase of the polls held on April 3. According to reports, as many as 75 persons were injured in the violence in Hodal sub-division on the polling day on Saturday. A case was registered after the presiding officer of a booth at Jamalpur village complained that about 50 persons forcibly entered the booth and tried to disrupt the counting of votes. They even threatened the officials. A gun and some live cartridges were recovered from the accused named in the FIR. Several persons were also injured in group clashes in some of the villages in the Hathin area on the same day. In Palwal subdivision, about 20 persons, including some women were also injured in similar incidents on the same day in Agwanpur and Ferojpur villages. Condition of some of the injured is stated to be serious. The authorities ordered a repoll at Ratipur village in this region after some persons had fled with the ballot boxes. There was a dispute over the margin in counting of votes. While the repoll was held today, the officials have got booked over a dozen persons under various sections of the IPC. The accused were still to be arrested. The polling held in the second phase was for gram panchayats, panchayat samitis and the zila parishad, besides for the post sarpanch. Meanwhile, the residents of the Palwal town in the district where the elections for the Muncipal Council will be held on April 16, have alleged that the names of several thousands eligible voters had been missing from the new list. According to Mr Trilok Chand Gupta, president of the Citizen Welfare Association, there was resentment among the residents of various wards in Palwal as their names had been missing from the list. Claiming that this issue had been raised at the time of revision of the list, he alleged that the authorities concerned, did not ensure that all the eligible voters were included in the list. He added that many such voters had been residents of the area for the past several decades. About 40,000 voters were expected to cast their votes to elect the representatives from about 31 wards of the Municipal Council on April
16. — TNS
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Rs 2 lakh looted from house in posh Noida colony
Noida, April 11 Vijay Gupta, an interior decorator, had informed the Sector-39 police, but they could not lift fingerprints or other clues. Subsequently, the police had allegedly been trying to cover up and had even misled the senior officers that a domestic servant was responsible for the theft. Gupta said only a part-time maid had been helping them for the last four years. The police station SO Varinder Pal Singh and IO Belyan Singh gave different versions of the crime. IO said it was the handiwork of some family member, so they were not interested in registering a case. Later, Circle Officer Udey Shanker reprimanded IO him for trying to hush up the case. The case was then registered on CO’s orders.
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Disabled can go places, just give them a chance!
New Delhi, April 11 Special Olympics International, a movement dedicated to empowering people with intellectual disability through sports training and competition, today launched the ‘Special Olympics Inspire Hope India’ campaign in the Capital. The campaign aims to reach out to people with intellectually disabilities and inspire them to train and compete through sports. The campaign was launched by Dr Timothy P. Shriver, Chairman and CEO of Special Olympics International, who is on a five-day visit to India. He is accompanied by Special Olympics International Board Directors Mr Raymond J. Lane, Vice-Chairman, Special Olympics International and Mr Bart Corner, Olympic Gold medalist and Board Director, Special Olympics International. The ‘Inspire Hope’ campaign aims to enrol 200,000 athletes by the end of 2005 for Special Olympics International. The initiative will also inspire 20,000 volunteers to help achieve this target. Speaking on the occasion, Dr Shriver said, “Our mission is to provide sports training and competition, and see that the results go well beyond the playing field. For 36 years, Special Olympics has been changing the way people think about individuals with mental retardation.” Elaborating on the campaign, Mr Tory Greisen, Managing Director, Special Olympics Asia Pacific, said, “The Inspire Hope campaign hopes to start 2,000 new local programmes in communities across India. These initiatives are expected to touch the lives of 20 million people in the country,” he added. Speaking on the occasion, the former captain of the Indian cricket team, Kapil Dev, said: “The idea of Special Olympics is a great movement, and it will definitely bring the joy of sports to almost 1.4 million athletes with intellectual disabilities around the world.” They have the same passion for all kinds of sports, he added. Kapil Dev was also officially appointed the honorary head coach of the Special Olympic in India. “I will not be playing any ceremonial role, rather will work hard, give the best training on cricket to the disabled,” Kapil Dev added. On the occasion, Bollywood actor Akshay Kumar said, “We should treat them equal and they should deserve the same respect, fame and adulation like any other normal athletes.” Besides, Akshay Kumar, 20 other Bollywood actors have given their consent to become the brand ambassadors of the Special Olympics.
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Satbir Singh elected Mayor
New Delhi, April 11 The Congress leader, who got 114 votes, defeated Meena Thakur of the BJP, who managed just 17 votes. The strength of the Congress in the MCD House is 108 whereas the BJP has 20
councillors, Janata Dal (U) has three members and there are three Independents. Mr Satbir Singh, Congress councillor from
the Mehrauli area, is the fourth Mayor since the Congress came to power in the Corporation. The outgoing Mayor, Mr A. R. Verma, congratulated him for being elected to the coveted seat of the
civic body. Razia Sultana, the Congress councillor from Jafrabad segment, was elected the Deputy Mayor. She bagged 112 votes defeating her rival BJP candidate Ram
Niwas, who received only 19 seats. Jaishree Panwar was the first Mayor, who was followed by Mr Ashok
Kumar Jain. With the election of Mr Satbir Singh as the Mayor, hectic lobbying is on for the post of the Leader of House.
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Unprecedented security arrangements
New Delhi, April 11 Since the much-hyped cricket match would be witnessed by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf, the police have made unprecedented security arrangements in and around the venue to provide fool-proof security. The police have already installed the Door Frame Metal Detectors (DFMDs) in the stadium to frisk the visitors entering the stadium to detect explosive materials. Also the central agencies including the Intelligence Bureau and Special Protection Group would be on vigil to provide additional strength. Since the cricket match would be starting at 9 a.m., the police have asked the spectators to reach the stadium at around 7 a.m. so that they can be seated by 8.30 a.m. The spectators were also asked not to bring items like cell phone, handbag, camera, binocular and transistors. To facilitate their entry into the stadium, the police have also asked them to bring some proof of their identity to avoid any confusion at the venue. The Delhi Traffic Police have also made elaborate traffic arrangements at the IGI stadium, Ramlila Ground, Mata Sundari and Kotla roads and Bhairon Road, opposite Pragati Maidan. As per the arrangements, the spectators can reach the parking places and avail for ‘park and ride’ facilities or walk down to the stadium. After the match is over they can again avail the ferry services. The DDCA has made arrangements to ply buses for ‘park and ride,’ facility from these parking grounds to the stadium.
Govt pharmacist gets RI for
drugs scam
A pharmacist in a government dispensary here was today sentenced by a city court to rigorous imprisonment of two years and fined Rs 75,000 for misappropriating life-saving drugs worth lakhs of rupees between October 1991 and February 1992. It is proved beyond any doubt that the accused misappropriated the medicines he received through indents, Special Judge Dinesh Dayal said, finding Kamlesh Kumar, the then pharmacist-cum-storekeeper at the Sarojini Nagar ESI Dispensary here, guilty under Section 409 (criminal breach of trust by a public servant) of IPC as well as under the relevant sections of the Prevention of Corruption Act. Acting on a complaint by Director (Vigilance) ESIC on July 7, 1992, the CBI investigated and found that between October 31, 1991 and February 25, 1992, Kumar had received
medicines worth Rs 4.48 lakh against 39 indents but did not account for stock register at all and thus misappropriated
the medicines. The prosecution said this misappropriation of medicines by Kumar could have resulted in non-supply of life-saving drugs to the needy patients, and therefore, the gravity of
the offence should be judged from the harm it could have caused, besides the value of the property misappropriated. The court said as Kumar was the only person maintaining the stores at the dispensary, it can easily be presumed that he received all medicines against other indents also. But no entry of any medicines received through these indents
has been found in the dispensary register, it added. — TNS
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Kathakali veterans relive younger days on stage
New Delhi, April 11 It was on April 13, 1973, that Sadanam Balakrishnan and Narippatta Narayanan Namboodiri performed the famous ‘Kalyana Sougandhikam’ in a Delhi temple as Hanuman and Bhima respectively. Last night, they again portrayed the focal theme of deep brotherly love between the two Mahabharata characters with Balakrishnan cast in the role of the Pandava prince and Narippatta playing Hanuman. The three-and-a-half-hour programme, staged at Kerala House under the auspices of the ‘Thotayam’ Kathakali Club, thus evoked a sense of nostalgia for the two leading actors. Balakrishnan, now 61 and principal of the International Centre for Kathakali (ICK) in the Capital, has been a Delhiite since 1974, five years after completing his scholarship at the Peroor-based Sadanam near Ottappalam, where Narippatta currently is a senior guru. Both of them had their tutelage mainly under the renowned Keezhpadam Kumaran Nair. It was in 1973, during Balakrishnan’s stint as a junior instructor at Sadanam that the troupe came to Delhi for a string of performances. One of the story-plays then was ‘Kalyana Sougandhikam’, staged at the now-defunct Ayyappa temple at Munirka in south Delhi. That cultural trip to the Capital happened to change the profile of Balakrishan as he was given an offer to take charge of the ICK which was then lying closed for more than a year. Following an appointment letter that came later from a senior bureaucrat who headed the administrative wing of the organisation, Balakrishnan joined ICK in January 1974. The two artistes have been performing together, though this was the first time in more than three decades that they were cast in ‘Kalyana Sougandhikam’, penned by 17th-century playwright Kottayathu Thampuran.
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‘Noida Run’ takes precedence over polio campaign
Noida, April 11 Besides, a doctor was accused by volunteers of having usurped cash. In their written complaint to the District Magistrate, they have demanded action against the doctor. The Chief Development Officer (CDO), R. S. Gwarvar, has asked Circle Medical Officer (CMO), Dr Vinode Kumar, to initiate suitable departmental action against the accused doctor. The CDO had to wait for considerable time to start the pulse polio campaign at government hospital in Sector-30 Noida on the first day of the campaign as things were not put in place. And when he came to know about the allegations against doctor, he immediately told the CMO to take action against the accused doctor. Volunteers said Dr Lokesh retained the cash with him and if anyone pointed this out, he just shouted at them The CDO later came to know that when the volunteers reached their designated spots, they found polio booths had not been put up at all in Sector-8, Dawalgiri and at many other places, while number of kids from Muslim community present at these places, had to return without getting the polio dose. Besides, the government departments, a number of private and voluntary organisations, which had been given the responsibility to put up polio booths and to be present there, had not taken this responsibility seriously. As a result, large number of parents had to return without getting the polio dose to their kids. Both government and private organisations had shown more interest in ‘Noida Run’ than in putting up polio booths and giving the polio dose to the kids.
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BJP to move court against hike in water tariff
New Delhi, April 11 At a press conference here, the former Delhi Chief Minister, Mr Madan Lal Khurana and the Delhi BJP chief, Mr Harshvardhan accused the Chief Minister, Mrs Sheila Dikshit, of secretly executing plans to privatise the water utility. In support of their claims, they also cited rise in power tariffs following private takeover of energy distribution in Delhi. Electronic meters replacing the magnetic, rotating disk type, run much faster, hitting the consumers badly, Dr Vardhan said, as he expressed apprehensions that any privatisation of the DJB would also burden the customers the same way with soaring bills. “As expected, the CBI took no action on our complaint against the Delhi Government over its plans to privatise the DJB.” Dr Vardhan said.
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Hooda stresses moral values in students
New Delhi, April 11 This was stated by the Haryana Chief Minister, Mr Bhupinder Singh Hooda, while addressing the students of Jubilee Hall Hostel of Delhi University here last night. Mr Hooda also recalled his association with the Jubilee Hall Students Union. On the occasion, Mr Hooda gave away prizes to the winners of the sports meet. The Haryana Chief Minister also presented a cheque of Rs 51, 000 for the tsunami relief fund.
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Ghaziabad to have six-lane expressway
Ghaziabad, April 11 The GDA has invited bids from private sector players interested in the design, engineering, construction, operations and maintenance of the expressway, which is being developed on a build-own-transfer (BOT) basis, officials said. The scope of work includes construction of a six-lane road about three to six kms long, with an under bridge, one grade separator on NH-24 and a clover leaf structure on NH-58. However, the GDA has prepared the creation of a special purpose vehicle (SPV), which would be formed through an agreement between the
GDA and the selected bidder. The SPV would collect the revenue from the tolling of the project,
officials said. The ‘Request for Qualification’ is required to be submitted by bidders to the GDA before May 6.
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Metro to Dwarka to be operational in December
New Delhi, April 11 Earlier, the Barakhamba and Kirti Nagar phase of the line was to be opened in June, Kirti Nagar to Dwarka in September and the extension to Dwarka in December. The rescheduling has been done as part of an internal adjustments in the DMRC, as opening a part of the line 3 in June would have created unnecessary pressure, said Anuj Dayal, the Chief Public Relations Officer of DMRC. “In any case, the project will still be running much ahead of the schedule,” he said. The commercial
run on the line 3 will begin in December and trials are expected to begin
in June.
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First wife upsets man’s plan to remarry
Noida, April 11 Sonia, who is having a six-month-old baby from Ankit, informed the police that Ankit, who is planning to marry a Mumbai call girl in a Sector 18 hotel in Noida, has been running a sex racket in the city with foreign girls to cater to the high-class clientele. Ankit and Ritika were both arrested from the hotel. And the police have recovered Rs 21 lakh from Ankit’s Noida residence, including Rs 2.5 lakh in foreign currencies.
— OC
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