Noida, July 29
The bank officials’ one-day strike in opposition to privatization and outsourcing has affected trade and commercial operations worth Rs 50 crore. The worst-hit was clearing operations which would remain affected till Tuesday, according to sources.

In nearly 90 of a total of 100 banks, the work was at a standstill. SBI, IOB and Bank of Baroda were the only ones where some minor work was conducted. The one-day strike was observed at the behest of All India Bank Employees Association and All India Bank Officers Association.

According to officials, some banks did function as the Finance Ministry has extended facility for the income-tax payees to file the returns in the banks. These are banks connected with State Bank of India: State Bank of Patiala, State Bank of Jaipur, State Bank of Travancore, State Bank of Mysore, State Bank of Hyderabad, etc.

But PNB, Dena Bank, Canara Bank, Bank of Rajasthan, Union Bank, Bank of Maharashtra, etc have observed a total strike. Officials of Oriental Bank of Commerce in Sector-20 said although banks were closed for public dealing, a few employees did finish some pending work.

But the salary and wages operations, which are done in the last days, were badly affected. In view of the strike, most people used the ATM facility to withdraw cash. Long queues of people could be seen at the ATM booths of different banks.

New Delhi, July 29
Thousands of quarters for the lower income group constructed by the Delhi State Industrial and Infrastructure Development Corporation (DSIIDC) at Bawana, the newly developed industrial area in North West Delhi, have been occupied by industrialists in connivance with officials. The flats are specially for the industrial workers.

A total number of 3,000 flats have been constructed. Of them, 50 per cent have been occupied by industrialists. There are two types of flats. One kind of flat is built on an area of 37 square metres while the other kind covers an area of 40 square metres. The DSIIDC has allotted these flats at a price of Rs 1.67 lakh while the bigger one is at a price of Rs 2 lakh, sources said.

The sources said there was chance of resale of these flats to outsiders not working in the factory. The DSIIDC has decided to construct 14,000 other flats at Bawana for the industrial workers.

The Delhi Industry Minister, Mr Mangat Ram Singhal, said these flats were meant for industrial workers. Owners of industries can also purchase flats to accommodate their workers. A senior officer of the department said that industry owners could also use them as a store.

The minister said the Bawana industrial area was developed after the direction of Supreme Court to shift industries from non-conforming areas to conforming areas. Thousands of factories were to be shifted from different parts of residential areas of Delhi to industrial areas. As industrial areas were already packed to capacity, the government had decided to develop a new industrial area to accommodate small-scale industries.

Keeping this in view, the government had acquired 1900 acres of land with 143 km of roads, 140 km of sewer lines, 144 km of water pipelines and 269 km of stormwater drains. There was also provision for a wholesale market, a raw material shop, warehouses, godowns and advanced communication facilities, he said.

New Delhi, July 29
Student taking the class X board examinations in March 2007 will be evaluated on the basis of internal assessment along with the theory examination in mathematics.

The Central Board of Secondary Examinations has announced that the mathematics paper will comprise two components, a theory examination of 80 marks and internal assessment, based on activity work and project work, of 20 marks.

To ensure that schools do not fudge the marks obtained by students in the internal assessment, the board has decided to keep a close watch on the marks obtained by students in the theory examination.

It has notified that in case of serious discrepancies, the board may downscale the marks in internal assessment.

Students will have to complete the activities included in the syllabus during the academic year. The board has also brought out a document, ‘Guidelines for Mathematics Laboratory in Schools – Class X’, which simplifies the procedure for conduct of all these activities.

Schools on their part have been directed to provide the required physical facilities and provision for time for practical work in the school time-table. Every student will be asked to undertake one project in the subject during the year. This project may be in the form of extended learning in the subject and related to real-life situations. To destress students, the board has directed that the total out-of-school time required to complete the project should not exceed eight to 10 hours. In order to ensure the participation of students in these projects, it has been mentioned that the topics should be related to their immediate environment.

The activity work and project work done by the students during the academic session will be assessed during the course of a formal examination at the end of the year at the school level.

The board has also called for continuous assessment in the form of formative and summative tests carried out for students of class X.

Initiating steps to make mathematics less cumbersome for students, the board had earlier asked all affiliated schools to introduce mathematics laboratory and internal assessment at the secondary level.

New Delhi, July 29
After reverting to the earlier system of allotment of middle income group and high income group by draw of lots, the Delhi Development Authority (DDA) will conduct the next draw of MIG and HIG flats in January next year.

The next draw for the low income group was expected in September this year, official sources said.

About 1,400 HIG, 1,700 MIG and more than 630 LIG flats, most of them situated in Rohini, Narela, Dwarka, Shalimar Bagh and Kalyan Vihar, were available for allotment.

The cost of the flats was fixed by the authority on the basis of the plinth area, locality and category. The cost was charged as applicable on the date of issue of demand-cum-allotment letter.

New Delhi, July 29
The England address purportedly given by Bharti Yadav, prime witness in the Nitish Katara murder case, has been confirmed by the External Affairs Ministry, the prosecution told a Delhi court today.

Appearing before the court of Additional Sessions Judge Ravinder Kaur, Public Prosecutor B. S. Joon, however, told the court that the signatures on a faxed letter purportedly sent by her did not match with the specimen signature.

He also said the basis for establishment of her address was not mentioned in the report of the External Affairs Ministry. The court also finished the hearing on the application moved by the prosecution for issue of proclamation against Bharti. The order was expected later in the day.

The trial court had on July 22 received a faxed message purportedly sent by Bharti from London, expressing willingness to depose before the court through video-conferencing.

Noida, July 29
An engineering student who was on his way to college was crushed under the wheels of a Tata-407 mini-tuck which apparently went out of control of the driver. It had hit the student’s bike. As a result, he died on the spot.

The accident took place near Fortis Hospital. The students jammed the traffic in protest, but were later persuaded by the police to call off their dharna.

Sanjay Sachdeva was a resident of Rajender Nagar, Ghaziabad, and student of B.Tech second year at JP Institute in Sector-62 Noida. The driver was overpowered by the wayfarers and thrashed. He was later handed over to the police. Sanjay was declared brought dead at Fortis Hospital.

The driver has been identified as Narinder of Bulandshahr. The body has been sent for postmortem. It was transpired later that Sanjay’s father had also been a victim of road accident nine months ago. Within a year, both father and son died in accidents.

Ghaziabad, July 29
Three policemen of Ghaziabad were arrested at RTO by anti-corruption team while taking bribe from truckers last night.

A case has been registered against the three cops who belong to Mussori police station. They are likely to be dismissed from service, said SSP Piyush Maria.

It may be recalled that nine cops caught in a similar way were dismissed on July 20. Seven of them have been sent to jail while two are absconding. These raids are being conducted by the anti-corruption teams to curb extortion by the traffic police. Fear of dismissal is important to curb corruption among cops, Mr Maria added. — CO

New Delhi, July 29
The Delhi Police have found mutilated bodies of two minor girls with their faces burnt on an abandoned piece of land in West district. Both the victims were residents of Vikrant Chowk in West district and belonged to very poor families.

The police have sent the bodies for autopsy and are awaiting the report. Preliminary investigations revealed sexual assault was committed on the girls, said the police sources. “We are waiting for the postmortem report. Only then we will be able to say something,” stated a senior police official, adding, “Both the girls were burnt to obliterate identification of the accused.”

The police said there were injury marks on the body of the two girls.

New Delhi, July 29
A 35-year-old man set himself ablaze at the busy Jantar Mantar here today. He suffered serious burn injuries. A police official, who rushed to rescue him, was also injured during the incident which happened in full public view at 2.30 pm.

The victim has been identified as Rajnish, a native of Etah, Uttar Pradesh. He has been admitted to Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital with 30 per cent burn injuries, said a police official.

Rajnish, a father of four children, was sitting on dharna for the past two months demanding safe release of his children from the clutches of his wife who had allegedly kidnapped them.

Kamal Singh, an ASI, posted at Parliament Street sustained 20 per cent burn injuries while dousing the fire.

New Delhi, July 29
The CBI today conducted searches at 41 places in various parts of the National Capital Region in connection with alleged bungling and land grabbing by certain officials of the MCD.

The searches were conducted after the agency registered five cases against MCD officials in the designated court, sources said.—TNS