SPECIAL COVERAGE
CHANDIGARH

LUDHIANA

DELHI


THE TRIBUNE SPECIALS
50 YEARS OF INDEPENDENCE

TERCENTENARY CELEBRATIONS
D E L H I   A N D   N E I G H B O U R H O O D

HC notice to government on ICDS funds case
New Delhi, December 25
Alleging misappropriation of funds, a NGO has dragged the city government to the High Court for not holding an inquiry into the large-scale bungling of Integrated Child Development Scheme funds.

Court notice to power company for
inflated bills

New Delhi, December 25
The Delhi High Court has issued a notice to the BSES Rajdhani Power Ltd on a petition alleging that the private power distributor is adopting unfair means to compute bills generated from erroneous meters.

Delhi Metro: Revolution beyond traffic management
Pollution level cut by 30 per cent
New Delhi, December 25
The opening of Delhi Metro Rail Corporation’s third line on December 30 will mark the end of Phase I of the Metro Rail project in the national Capital, and it will have done much more than just provide fast, efficient, comfortable and clean means of transport.


EARLIER STORIES

 
Thick fog throws normal life
out of gear

New Delhi, December 25
Thick fog engulfed the Capital this morning, throwing normal life out of gear and sending air, rail and road traffic haywire for the third consecutive day today. Dense fog enveloped Palam area, where the airport is located, reducing runway visibility range to less than 50 metres since late last night, airport sources said.
No domestic flights could take off or land at the Indira Gandhi International Airport since 10:00 p.m. yesterday and operations resumed at 9:50 a.m. this morning after weather cleared up.


The dense fog reduced visibility considerably in the Capital on Sunday. — A Tribune photograph

The dense fog reduced visibility considerably in the Capital

Prayers for peace mark Christmas celebrations
New Delhi, December 25
Prayers for peace and communal harmony marked the Christmas celebrations in the Capital today. Calls for global peace and friendship between religions were given at Sunday masses in churches across the city on a sunny but chilly winter morning.


A girl praying at Sacred Heart Church on Christmas in the Capital on Sunday.
—  Tribune photo by Rajeev Tyagi

A girl praying at Sacred Heart Church on Christmas in the Capital

Habitual offender convicted
New Delhi, December 25
A Delhi man has created a record of sorts by getting convicted for the ninth time in a span of 12 years. The latest conviction of Akash alias Raju was a sentence of five years as he was found guilty of committing robbery at the residence of one TA Vishwanathan in Mayur Vihar area of East Delhi early this year.

Maths conference at NCERT concludes
New Delhi, December 25
A key mathematics conference drew to a close at NCERT recently after intensive days of deliberations. It was attended by over 70 school teachers, scores of scholars from all over India and seven foreigners who comprise the Executive Committee of International Commission on Mathematics Instruction.

Students to be trained to handle emergency situations
New Delhi, December 25
The Delhi Government is all set to train school students to handle emergency situation, including bomb blasts. In the background of the pre-divali serial bomb blasts in the national Capital, the government aims to train over two lakh students to face such threats.

Artscape
Artist intrigued by disappearance
of choice

New Delhi, December 25
Sakshi Gallery is presenting ‘Street fuel blackout’, an exhibition of sculptures by Sumedh Rajendran from December 20 to 27 at Vadehra Art Gallery, Okhla Industrial Area, Phase I, here.


A painting of Sidharth on display at Visual Art Gallery.


Shovana Narayan leaves audience spellbound
New Delhi, December 25
Ansal Institute of Technology, Gurgaon, in association with the Society for Promotion of Indian Classical Music and Culture among Youth hosted performance of Sangeet Natak Akademi awardee Shovana Narayan.
A painting of Sidharth on display at Visual Art Gallery

Hi-tech light and sound play held at FICCI auditorium
New Delhi, December 25
The World Punjabi Organisation in association with the famous gazal maestro, Jagjit Singh, organised a hi-tech light and sound play, “Sirhind Di Dewar” at the FICCI auditorium in the Capital. The play held on December 22, was brought to Delhi for the first time to commemorate the 300 years of martyrdom of sahibzadas.

Commonwealth Games to improve infrastructure in
East Delhi: Sheila

New Delhi, December 25
From now on the residents of Vasundhara Enclave, Ashok Nagar and other colonies of East Delhi need not take the Noida route for reaching Mayur Vihar as the Delhi Chief Minister, Mrs Sheila Dikshit, today inaugurated two bridges, providing a direct link, for the convenience of Delhiites.

Seminar on ‘Shahidi Diwas’
at GHPS

New Delhi, December 25
Guru Harkrishan Public School, India Gate, organised a seminar on the occasion of the ‘Shahidi Diwas’ of Sri Guru Tegh Bahadur. The important events in the life of Guruji and his teachings were narrated by the students of GHPS.


A student being felicitated on the occasion of ‘Shahidi Diwas’ at Guru Harkrishan Public School in the Capital. — A Tribune photograph

A student being felicitated on the occasion of ‘Shahidi Diwas’ at Guru Harkrishan Public School in the Capital

Two-day extravaganza concludes at Khalsa College
New Delhi, December 25
A record number of colleges including some from neighbouring states of Haryana and Punjab participated in ‘Lishkara-2005’, the two-day inter-college festival of SGTB Khalsa College. The two-day extravaganza was successfully held from December 21 to 22.

Education needs to be blended with human values: V-C
New Delhi, December 25
Highlighting the need for holistic development, the Vice-Chancellor of Guru Govind Singh Indraprasth University, Prof K K Aggarwal, said that our education needs to be blended with human values and spirituality.

Former Union Minister B.C. Khandoori felicitating Shankracharya Swami Madhvasharm in the Capital
Former Union Minister B.C. Khandoori felicitating Shankracharya Swami Madhvasharm in the Capital. — A Tribune photograph

IGNOU to promote learning needs of researchers
New Delhi, December 25
The distance education pioneer IGNOU and the Indian Council of Agricultural Research today signed an agreement to promote cooperation between them in agricultural field.

Christmas celebrations in St. Sophia School
New Delhi, December 25
The Britannia Industries Limited today organised a “Tiger Healthy Baby Show” in St. Sophia Senior Secondary School on the occasion of Christmas in Paschim Vihar.

Traders to protest against demolition drive
New Delhi, December 25
To mark their protest against the ongoing demolition drive against illegal constructions in the Capital, traders here will down shutters on Tuesday. According to the Confederation of All India Traders, over 150 trade organisations have given the call for the ‘Delhi Trade Bandh’.

New headquarters for NSG inaugurated
New Delhi, December 25
The elite National Security Guards got a new headquarters today. Inaugurating the building, the Union Home Minister, Mr Shivraj Patil, described it as one of the most beautiful office buildings in the Capital.

Man attempts suicide at Metro station
New Delhi, December 25
A 25-year-old man allegedly attempted to commit suicide by jumping in front of a Metro train at Seelampur Metro station this morning. The incident took place at around 9.45 a.m. and he was immediately rushed to the Guru Teg Bahadur Hospital by the Metro staff and the police for first aid.
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HC notice to government on ICDS funds case
Tribune News Service

New Delhi, December 25
Alleging misappropriation of funds, a NGO has dragged the city government to the High Court for not holding an inquiry into the large-scale bungling of Integrated Child Development Scheme funds.

A Division Bench of Justice Vijender Jain and Justice Rekha Sharma has issued notices to Delhi Government’s Directorate of Vigilance, Department of Social Welfare and Sales Tax Department asking them to respond to the PIL by April 4, 2005.

Petitioner Kusth Asha Deep Federation, which manages several leprosy centres in the Capital, accused the state government of failing to take action against errant officials even after a special audit report submitted in 2002-03 (for the year 1997-98) by the Directorate of Audit clearly pointed to their involvement in misappropriation of ICDS funds.

The audit, which covered seven of the total 28 ICDS projects functional in Delhi - Shahdara, Govindpuri, Seemapuri Nand Nagri, Wazirpur, Sangam Vihar and Okhla - detected serious irregularities, misconduct and criminal liability on the part of Welfare officials in charge, the petitioner alleged.

Some of the irregularities found included fake purchases to the extent of Rs 1.3 crore, excess expenditure made over and above allotted funds, non-maintenance of stock registers, variations between chalans and stock registers, payment by cash instead of cheques in violation of rules, purchase of articles not mentioned in the ICDS manual, the NGO alleged.

It also accused the Delhi Government of not conducting special audits in respect of funds in the remaining 21 ICDS projects.

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Court notice to power company for inflated bills
Tribune News Service

New Delhi, December 25
The Delhi High Court has issued a notice to the BSES Rajdhani Power Ltd on a petition alleging that the private power distributor is adopting unfair means to compute bills generated from erroneous meters.

The petitioner has sought quashing of the bills generated by the power distributor for the period July 2004 onwards, which he alleged were issued on the basis of a defective meter.

Vinod Kumar Jain, a resident of Mehrauli, in a petition filed through his counsel Arvind Sah complained that for the past one year he was being harrased by the company who have raised highly inflationary bills on the basis of consumption recorded by a faulty meter.

According to Jain, after an inspection of the meter installed at his residence on November 9, 2005, BSES officials admitted that the instrument was faulty as it displayed an excess reading of 2.81 per cent.

However, while preparing the Inspection report the company stated that the meter was “Ok” as the reading was within the three per cent limit and insisted that he deposit the full amount.

The petitioner contended that as per the specifications of the Indian Standard Institute (ISI) the maximum permissible excess reading was plus one per cent.

It was argued that as per the rules, in case of such errors the company should collect the payment based on the previous six months prior to the billing cycle in which the dispute has arisen until the meter was replaced.

Justice Pradeep Nandrajog, who heard the matter, posted it for further hearing till January 17, 2006. 

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Delhi Metro: Revolution beyond traffic management
Pollution level cut by 30 per cent
Tribune News Service

New Delhi, December 25
The opening of Delhi Metro Rail Corporation’s third line on December 30 will mark the end of Phase I of the Metro Rail project in the national Capital, and it will have done much more than just provide fast, efficient, comfortable and clean means of transport.

The Delhi Metro network carrying about six lakh passengers everyday would be there for everyone to see, but what would probably go unnoticed was that it would have siphoned off the roads 2.2 million commuter trips per day.

This would mean more than 2650 less buses on the city streets and 5.17 lakh per year less trips by private vehicles. This would help in reducing road accidents by about 30 per cent — 927 less accidents and 4320 injuries prevented..

Pollution levels would be down by around 30 per cent. Average speed of traffic would jump from 10.5 km per hour to 14 kmph. This would in turn save fuel worth about US $ 150 million per year — 96.3 million litres of fuel would be saved due to less vehicles on the road. It would also end up saving upto 2 million man hours per day..

Monetary value of all savings would come out to approximately Rs 2000 crore per year at 2004 price level, according to DMRC calculations.

All this would allow Metro to have an economic rate of return of 23.8 per cent.

Meanwhile, after getting a nod from Group of Ministers at the Centre the process of awarding contracts for constructing six more lines under DMRC’s Phase II had also started. These Lines would be ready one by one from December 2008 to June 2010 but well before the Commonwealth Games slated for 2010 end.

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Thick fog throws normal life out of gear
Tribune News Service

New Delhi, December 25
Thick fog engulfed the Capital this morning, throwing normal life out of gear and sending air, rail and road traffic haywire for the third consecutive day today.

Dense fog enveloped Palam area, where the airport is located, reducing runway visibility range to less than 50 metres since late last night, airport sources said.

No domestic flights could take off or land at the Indira Gandhi International Airport since 10:00 p.m. yesterday and operations resumed at 9:50 a.m. this morning after weather cleared up.

Several private airlines, including Jet Airways, Air Deccan and Air Sahara had already announced suspension of operations due to foggy conditions. Over 40 flights operating from Delhi have been affected while several international flights flying into the Capital have been diverted.

Tempers flew high at the airport, as passengers had to wait for long hours for their flights to take off.

Cold winds blowing from the north west parts of the country pushed the mercury further down in the Capital. While the minimum temperature was recorded at 6.2 degree Celsius, the maximum temperature stood at 18.9 degree Celsius, which was a good 4 degrees below normal.

Several trains, specially from the northern parts of the country, were running late. The Amrapali Express from Katihar, G T Express from Chennai and Uncahar Express from Allahabad were more than five hours late, northern railway sources said. 

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Prayers for peace mark Christmas celebrations
Tribune News Service

New Delhi, December 25
Prayers for peace and communal harmony marked the Christmas celebrations in the Capital today.

Calls for global peace and friendship between religions were given at Sunday masses in churches across the city on a sunny but chilly winter morning.

People exchanged ‘Merry Christmas’ greetings to celebrate the festival marking the birth of Jesus Christ. Midnight masses were held in the city last night and carols were sung in churches and colonies till early morning. The celebrations were not confined to the Christian community alone. A large number of members of other communities also joined in on the celebrations.

Leading the midnight mass at the Sacred Heart Church near Connaught Place, Delhi Archbishop Vincent Contessao gave a message for universal peace. “The central theme of Christmas is God’s own love manifested in Jesus Christ, who redeemed the human kind from the bond of sin and slavery,” said Archbishop Contessao speaking from the church’s pulpit.

More than 100,000 people visited the Sacred Heart Church from midnight till this afternoon, said Catholic Bishop’s Conference of India spokesperson D Babu Joseph. Masses were held in Hindi, English and Malayalam.

Youth organization, ‘Yuvodaya’ mounted an exhibition on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ at the church campus.

“There is a sizeable increase in the number of people visiting churches this year,” said Dr Joseph.

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Habitual offender convicted
Tribune News Service

New Delhi, December 25
A Delhi man has created a record of sorts by getting convicted for the ninth time in a span of 12 years.

The latest conviction of Akash alias Raju was a sentence of five years as he was found guilty of committing robbery at the residence of one T A Vishwanathan in Mayur Vihar area of East Delhi early this year.

Earlier, Akash underwent punishment in cases of dacoity, cheating, house trespass and certain other offences.

The court was in no mood to treat Akash’s case favourably as the accused had not made any effort to reform himself even after landing in jail eight times earlier.

Fingerprints record show that the accused has been punished in eight criminal cases and keeping in view the fact that he has not reformed himself no leniency can be shown towards him, said Metropolitan Magistrate Chandrasekhar.

The convict had on the night of February 17, 2005 broken into the house of Vishwanathan, who had gone to visit his native place in Kerala, in Mayur Vihar locality of east Delhi.

He then burgled jewellery and cash from the house. But, luck did not favour him as two elderly men - Dharamveer Kapoor and Sitaraman - spotted him fleeing after the robbery and raised an alarm.

The septuagenarian neighbours even managed to apprehend him after a long chase and handed him over to police. the police recovered a country-made pistol, a live cartridge, and the burgled articles from his possession.

The court also slapped a fine of Rs 3,000 on Akash under various sections of the IPC.

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Maths conference at NCERT concludes
Tribune News Service

New Delhi, December 25
A key mathematics conference drew to a close at NCERT recently after intensive days of deliberations. It was attended by over 70 school teachers, scores of scholars from all over India and seven foreigners who comprise the Executive Committee of International Commission on Mathematics Instruction (ICMI).

Five national-level bodies sent delegates to the conference. They are the National Board for Higher Mathematics (NBHM), the Homi Bhabha Centre for Science Education (HBCSE), IGNOU, NCTE and NCERT.

Discussions ranged on subjects like the review of technology in mathematics education, transition from middle to secondary school, issues relating to the training of teachers and mathematics laboratory. In addition, there were two enrichment lectures on the right angle triangle in the development of number theory and the foundation aspects of area and volume by distinguished mathematicians Prof R. Sridharan and Prof R.B. Bapat.

Prof. Hyman Bass, Chairman of the ICMI, declared in the opening session that mathematics plays a key role in all sciences and it is imperative for any society that wishes to advance to commit itself to improve its maths education. Prof Rajendra Bhatia, a distinguished mathematician further stressed that between 1995-97, whereas 23 per cent students entered the science stream in India, the figure for maths was a mere 1.7 per cent.

Perhaps one of the most interesting sessions was a presentation by Prof Hyman Bass and Deborah Ball on ‘Reasoning and Proving in school Mathematics.’ They showed a film in which 13-year-old students are shown debating on whether zero is an odd number or an even number and through this process they gradually realise the role of definitions, axioms, reasoning and proof.

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Students to be trained to handle emergency situations
Tribune News Service

New Delhi, December 25
The Delhi Government is all set to train school students to handle emergency situation, including bomb blasts. In the background of the pre-divali serial bomb blasts in the national Capital, the government aims to train over two lakh students to face such threats.

As part of the YUVA School Adolescence Programme, about 900 government school students will be trained in ways to detect bombs and how to take immediate steps thereafter.

The government has also prepared two handbooks for imparting adolescence education, covering preparedness to handling bomb threats. The second volume, among other things has a chapter, “If there is a bomb threat.” The government has formed a technical group comprising experts from different fields, which has started a training programme for the teachers this week on these subjects. The trained teachers will impart their skills to students in their respective schools.

“The course aims at equipping students to handle any problem they come across in their day to day life. They should know about preparedness to face a bomb incident, as terrorist activities seem to be on rise,” said Patanjali Dev Nayar, the Chairperson of the group.

The chapter has cited the October 29 bomb incidents in Delhi and highlighted how to handle such situations without panicking. The students will also learn ways of smooth evacuation from the school, Nayar said.

The chapter throws light on sensitive and vulnerable places that could be used by terrorists. The chapter advises teachers on how to conduct a mock drill on bomb threats.

“The students constitute a major segment. They can do a lot in averting any untoward incident. The students will learn this topic under the adolecence education programme, which will be incorporated into their textbooks later,” said a senior official of the Education Department.

The programme also increases awareness on HIV/AIDS prevention, steps for relief from stress. About 4000 teachers from the government schools will be trained during three - four months. 

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Artscape
Artist intrigued by disappearance of choice
Ravi Bhatia
Tribune News Service

New Delhi, December 25
Sakshi Gallery is presenting ‘Street fuel blackout’, an exhibition of sculptures by Sumedh Rajendran from December 20 to 27 at Vadehra Art Gallery, Okhla Industrial Area, Phase I, here.

According to critics, Sumedh Rajendran’s ‘just finished’ collection of works is a declaration of assets. The disappearance of choice intrigues him. He begins with the skin—the living periphery, which can represent almost every emotional aspect of modern life. From love to loss, from anguish to beatitude, from tenacity to change: The change of skin, the shedding of skin, the crawling of the skin and the shiver of the skin. The assets that he is dispossessed of are the source of his inspiration: images that he comes across outside his home.

He tries to establish an association of these lost images with mores, dogmas and diktats imposed upon an individual by the modern society: religious, political, bureaucratic and administrative.

With the use of objects from the urbanscape, he almost seems to suggest that man’s method for any corporeal action, the use of his limbs, has also been taken over by a “faithful self-doctrination”. As if they are bloodless and reduced to being mere prosthetics- puppets playing God.

The exhibition is bound to evoke considerable interest among those who appreciate innovations in art.

Relations between art and literature under scanner

Eminent sculptor, Ram Sutar will speak on ‘Inter-relations between Art and Literature’ at the Sahitya Akademi’s auditorium, Rabindra Bhawan, here on December 26. The lecture by the eminent sculptor is part of Antaral, organised by the Sahitya Akademi.

A painting by A.K. Raina
A painting by A.K. Raina.

‘The Song of the Season’

Apparao Galleries is also holding an exhibition of paintings of artist Sidharth at the Visual Art Gallery, Habitat Centre, here from December 24 to 31. Entitled, ‘The Song of the Season’, the exhibition has on display the recent works on paper of the artist.

Reflecting the natural surroundings

The Dhoomimal Gallery here is holding an exhibition of the recent paintings of the renowned artist, A. K. Raina from December 23 to 31. Born and brought up in the beautiful Kashmir valley, Raina’s paintings reflect the natural surroundings of the stunning mountain state. There is an element of poignancy in his paintings as they also in a subtle way point out how the artist misses his homeland, which he was forced to abandon because of the strife there. It will be a nostalgic experience for all the Kashmiri Pandits and others who have been forced to leave the valley and settle elsewhere.

Composition and colour in a balance

The Plaza Steps at the India Habitat Centre here were the venue of a unique exhibition of paintings by the famous painter, Theo Koster, on December 22 - 23. For the benefit of those who may have missed the opportunity, the organisers are holding the same exhibition at the same venue again from December 27 to 29.

Theo Koster, who lives and works in the Netherlands, has been lauded for his paintings by critics all over, who are unanimous that his paintings are “like the world itself- new developments unfold and stories are told of things and events gone by”. His paintings possess the characteristics of a landscape. Over the years, Koster has developed a “highly individual language of imagery”.

The paintings also reflect the conscious effort of the artist in maintaining a balance between composition and colour.

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Shovana Narayan leaves audience spellbound
Tribune News Service

New Delhi, December 25
Ansal Institute of Technology (AIT), Gurgaon, in association with the Society for Promotion of Indian Classical Music and Culture among Youth (SPIC MACAY) hosted performance of Sangeet Natak Akademi awardee Shovana Narayan. She left the spectators spellbound with her exquisite Kathak dance held at AIT Campus. The Kathak performance was so good that it had the audience applauding and tapping along. She put on an enchanting performance making complicated dance dramas look effortless.

The Ansal Institute of Technology provides stimulation to its students by organising a range of cultural activities because it is a proper platform where the students can mix up with other students. Our focus is to bring all students together so that they can rejuvenate through a variety of events.

The audience was completely mesmerised by her elegant style, which is marked by sophistication and vivacity that represents a crystallization of combined techniques and an embodiment of the great artistic and social traditions of India. The event was an enriching experience for the audience, which comprised students, staff, faculty and their families. “It is always nice to know that art, in any form, still holds the power to bring goodness to life,” said Shovana Narayan.

Praising Shovana Narayan the Director of AIT, Prof M P Singh, said, “It’s a privilege to see Shovana Narayan perform on stage. She is a living legend and a symbol of refinement of Indian culture.”

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Hi-tech light and sound play held at FICCI auditorium
Tribune News Service

New Delhi, December 25
The World Punjabi Organisation (WPO) in association with the famous gazal maestro, Jagjit Singh, organised a hi-tech light and sound play, “Sirhind Di Dewar” at the FICCI auditorium in the Capital. The play held on December 22, was brought to Delhi for the first time to commemorate the 300 years of martyrdom of sahibzadas. The play is based on the story of the two younger sons of Guru Gobind Singh ji, Zorawar

Singh and Fateh Singh, who were viciously bricked alive by Wazir Khan, subedar of Sirhind. The former Deputy Prime Minister, Mr L K Advani and Mrs Advani, were the chief guests on the occasion.

Gazal maestro Jagjit Singh, Mr L M Singhvi, Mr Vijay Goel, Mr Sukhdev Singh Dhindsa, Mr Ponty Chaddha and film actress Shiva Bhakri were also present on this occasion.

Mr Vikramjit Singh Sahney, International President, WPO, said, “The objectives of the World Punjabi Organization has always been to promote brotherhood and goodwill among Punjabis living in more than hundred countries around the world irrespective of caste, creed and religion.

To unite the Punjabis with the national mainstream “WPO promotes rich cultural programmes, language and literature to inculcate high social values”. It also fosters social, economic and cultural links among Punjabis, and promotes the heritage of Pujabiyat.

Among its other aims are: To helps uplift the economically weaker Punjabis; To impart high level modern management techniques in education and other fields to deserving, outstanding and economically weak Punjabi students.

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Commonwealth Games to improve infrastructure in East Delhi: Sheila
Tribune News Service

New Delhi, December 25
From now on the residents of Vasundhara Enclave, Ashok Nagar and other colonies of East Delhi need not take the Noida route for reaching Mayur Vihar as the Delhi Chief Minister, Mrs Sheila Dikshit, today inaugurated two bridges, providing a direct link, for the convenience of Delhiites.

Constructed at a total cost of Rs 3.5 crore on Ghazipur drain and Hindon cut canal, the two bridges were expected to give a major relief to the public.

Mrs Dikshit said a major infrastructural development project has been completed, which would provide much relief. This has also opened a direct link between these colonies and Mayur Vihar phase-I and other parts of Delhi. A new road has also been constructed near these two bridges to provide better facility.

The Commonwealth Games 2010 is also expected to change the picture of east Delhi and other parts of Delhi, as a lot of infrastructural development is in the pipeline for east Delhi, said Mrs Dikshit.

The Member of Parliament from the area, Mr Sandeep Dikshit, said that the construction of these two bridges was his top most priority and added that a DDA commercial complex is also coming up in the locality.

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Seminar on ‘Shahidi Diwas’ at GHPS
Tribune News Service

New Delhi, December 25
Guru Harkrishan Public School, India Gate, organised a seminar on the occasion of the ‘Shahidi Diwas’ of Sri Guru Tegh Bahadur. The important events in the life of Guruji and his teachings were narrated by the students of GHPS.

An eminent Sikh scholar, Gyani Harnam Singhji Khalsa, presided over the function.

He complemented the efforts of the children and ‘Divinity Department’ in presenting a commendable programme.

The occasion was also graced by the school chairman, Tarjit Singh Nagi and the school manager, Gurdeep Singh.

The school chairman inspired the students to emulate and follow the teachings of the Guru.

A vote of thanks was proposed by the principal, Mr I S Narang.

Guru Harkrishan Public School also celebrated its annual sports day for the primary segment on December 13-14. The tiny-tots in colourful dresses won the hearts of everyone with their performance and zeal.

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Two-day extravaganza concludes at Khalsa College

New Delhi, December 25
A record number of colleges including some from neighbouring states of Haryana and Punjab participated in ‘Lishkara-2005’, the two-day inter-college festival of SGTB Khalsa College. The two-day extravaganza was successfully held from December 21 to 22.

Inter-college competitions were held in 10 different events. For the first time ever a Gurbani Kirtan competition was held to promote Punjabi culture. Other events held included folk dance, quiz competition, debate, rangoli, sketching, poetry recitation, folk songs competition and performance by the music society. There was lucrative prize money for the winners.

The Delhi Education Minister and former student of the college, Arvinder Singh Lovely, was present at the prize distribution function.

Among others present on the occasion included the President of Delhi Sikh Gurdwara Management Committee and the Chairman of the college, Dr Harmohinder Singh. — TNS

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Education needs to be blended with human values: V-C

New Delhi, December 25
Highlighting the need for holistic development, the Vice-Chancellor of Guru Govind Singh Indraprasth University, Prof K K Aggarwal, said that our education needs to be blended with human values and spirituality.

He was addressing a conference on “Education in Values and Spirituality” organised by Brahma Kumaris Iswariya Vishwa Vidyalaya at its Om Shanti Retreat Centre near Delhi today. Addressing over two thousand teachers from all over India and Nepal, Prof Aggarwal said since concerted efforts among like-minded individuals and institutions were required to bring about commonly desired changes in any direction, all universities in the world needed to interact with this ‘Spiritual University’ of Brahma Kumari’s so as to enlighten and elevate mankind to higher level of values and lifestyle. — TNS

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IGNOU to promote learning needs of researchers

New Delhi, December 25
The distance education pioneer IGNOU and the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) today signed an agreement to promote cooperation between them in agricultural field.

IGNOU Vice Chancellor Prof H P Dikshit and ICAR Director General Mangla Rai signed the memorandum of understanding, which aims to establish education relations between the scientific and technical divisions of the two organisations. — TNS

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Christmas celebrations in St. Sophia School
Tribune News Service

New Delhi, December 25
The Britannia Industries Limited today organised a “Tiger Healthy Baby Show” in St. Sophia Senior Secondary School on the occasion of Christmas in Paschim Vihar.

The Additional Commissioner of Police (Traffic), M. S. Upadhyay, was the chief guest. Other guests of honour were Mrs Daljeet Kaur, Deputy Director Education, Nand Kishore Garg, Chairman of Maharaja Aggarsen Engineering College and Counsellor Surjan Lal Pawar.

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Traders to protest against demolition drive
Tribune News Service

New Delhi, December 25
To mark their protest against the ongoing demolition drive against illegal constructions in the Capital, traders here will down shutters on Tuesday.

According to the Confederation of All India Traders (CAIT), over 150 trade organisations have given the call for the ‘Delhi Trade Bandh’.

The major organisations participating in the bandh are the Delhi Vyapar Mahasangh, Delhi Traders Sangharsh Morcha, Delhi Rajya Vyapar Sangathan and the Federation of Delhi Trade Associations.

The secretary-general of CAIT, Mr Praveen Khandelwal, said, “All business establishments will remain closed on December 27. There will be no trading activities in commercial markets.”

Traders say the state government has failed to bring out the “true facts” of unauthorised construction in the city. The demolition of residential properties is making people homeless, he said.

The government should make serious attempts to resolve the issue instead of turning traders into “scapegoats”, Mr Khandelwal added.

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New headquarters for NSG inaugurated
Tribune News Service

New Delhi, December 25
The elite National Security Guards (NSG) got a new headquarters today. Inaugurating the building, the Union Home Minister, Mr Shivraj Patil, described it as one of the most beautiful office buildings in the Capital.

Patil, however, reminded that maintenance of such a building poses challenges.

“Even maintenance of Parliament and Rashtrapati Bhavan has become a big problem. We have to pay attention to the drill to maintain such buildings,” he said.

NSG Director General A K Mitra said the building was designed keeping in mind the symbolic representation of the forces that create and preserve life in Indian philosophy and its parallels drawn from physics principles.

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Man attempts suicide at Metro station
Tribune News Service

New Delhi, December 25
A 25-year-old man allegedly attempted to commit suicide by jumping in front of a Metro train at Seelampur Metro station this morning.

The incident took place at around 9.45 a.m. and he was immediately rushed to the Guru Teg Bahadur Hospital by the Metro staff and the police for first aid.

Metro officials said that the train services were affected for about 25 minutes due to the suicide attempt and the trains started operating from 10.10 am. This is the first such incident, according to the Metro officials.

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