New Delhi, September 12
All RWAs who made representations to the Tejinder Khanna Committee for a role in assessment and consultation regarding commercialisation have been asked to withdraw them immediately.

A decision in this regard was made at an emergency meeting of key RWAs here to discuss the situation arising out of the notification of the Amended Master Plan 2001 by the Urban Development Ministry which provided for a greater role for RWAs in determining commercial areas in A, B, C and D residential colonies.

“It has been our considered opinion that RWAs that have petitioned for a greater role in such actions by the MCD have overstepped their mandate. It was a mistake and a serious error of judgement, even if well-intentioned. We have, therefore, concluded that the RWAs that had made representations for such a caveat must immediately withdraw their petitions and save the situation from turning seriously ugly,” Mr Sanjay Kaul, president, People’s Action, said.

“The actions of a few RWAs who were too focussed on their own situation in colonies have today opened a Pandora’s box of conflicting demands from citizen groups. It is very well to seek relief for yourself and push the others into the fire, but this sort of approach is not conducive to responsible citizenship,’’ said Mr Ashok Sethi of the GK Residents Association.

Mr D. M. Narang, who was targetted by a mob on the suspicion that he had inspired a spate of sealings in his colony by virtue of being in the RWA, said, “We have no interest in replicating the role of the government, whether local or central. This is a problem they have to solve, not us. We demand the right to live peacefully in a decent environment.”

The RWAs have been asked to make written withdrawals to the MoU so that it may be established that earlier representations for their involvement in MCD decisions be held null and void.

“We have unfortunately fallen prey to the designs of wily politicians who have used us against each other. Today, RWAs are fighting RWAs, residents are fighting each other instead of penalising this government that was sleeping for so long,” said Mr R. C. Kamboj of the Rohini Federation of RWAs.

The RWA meet also criticised the MCD Standing Committee recommendation on declaring areas for mixed land use.

Mr V. N. Bali of Ram Nagar in East Delhi said, “If our colony has been provided a commercial complex for its own needs, why is the MCD declaring more areas commercial.”

The RWAs feel that the MCD recommendations are an open invitation to residential colonies to convert to commercial merely by opening up more commercial establishments.

“This is not planning. This is a scam,” said Mr Pankaj Gupta, Group Coordinator for People’s Action.

The RWA members undertook to press the government to first free government land under illegal occupation or encroachment before attempting other things. 

New Delhi, September 12
The Chairman of the MCD Standing Committee, Mr Jai Kishan Sharma, today expressed concern over the non-inclusion of rural villages in the notification issued by the central government recently.

Speaking at a meeting of the Lal Dora Committee constituted by the Ministry of Urban Development, he said that urban areas were provided relief owing to commercialisation. But, the status of rural villages had not been mentioned in the notification. A few villages of the Capital had more than 70 per cent commercial activities.

He demanded that the development of rural villages should be given priority.

The meeting was attended by former Home Secretary P. P. Srivastava, Divisional Commissioner Narender Kumar and Chief Town Planner V. K. Bugga.

Mr Sharma demanded that shops and trades being carried out by residents of rural villages in their houses should be notified. Village land had been acquired by the government. Now, village residents were left with no source of income. Trading was the only means through which they could earn money. The government should allow them to run shops from their residences.

Meanwhile, Mr Sanjeev Bhandari, Court Commissioner of Shahdara (North) Zone, and Mr A. K. Singh, Deputy Commissioner, visited Welcome Colony. They directed the MCD and the police to proceed in 10 days against encroachers and trespassers on government land.

Subsequently, the MCD removed temporary structures like tin sheds and hoardings from approximately 550 shops in the area between Brahampuri Road and Ghonda Chowk.

Thirty shops were sealed in Vijay Park-Maujpur, Jyoti Colony and Balbir Nagar Extension for misuse. Four shops were sealed for ongoing unauthorised construction.

Demolitions were carried out at five properties for ongoing unauthorised construction in New Zafrabad, Dilshad Garden, Bhajanpura, Maujpur, Seelampur and Shaheed Bhagat Singh Colony, an MCD spokesman said. 

Faridabad, September 12
The Punjab and Haryana High Court has issued notices to the DC, Faridabad Municipal Corporation (MCF) and office-bearer of the District Cricket Association (DCA) on a petition alleging misuse of Nahar Singh Cricket Stadium here, the only venue for holding international one-day matches in Haryana.

It is alleged that private functions, including wedding ceremonies commonly take place in the complex.

The petition, filed by a local resident, has demanded cancellation of the lease given to the club and action against those responsible for alleged irregularities.

The next date of hearing has been fixed for October 19.

It is claimed that while the lease was meant for promotion of sports and sportsmen in the complex, the place was being used for gambling, drinking and other anti-social activities.

The DCA club had been formed on April 29, 1998 at the stadium, with the land allotted by the Municipal Corporation. The Deputy Commissioner of the district was made the ex officio president of the club and it was duly registered.

As per available details , the said building of the DCA club now known as Kapil Pavilion was leased out by the president, District Sports Council, Faridabad, to the DCA on August 26, 1998 for 99 years.

According to the petitioner, the leaseholder had further ‘sublet’ a portion of the ground floor and the lawn to a tent house owner on December 15, 2003.

It says that the club got a swimming pool constructed in the complex, but sublet another firm on a nominal lease rent or money.

It is claimed that while subletting and renting out by the leaseholder are totally illegal, the holding of private functions has further brought down the image of the stadium complex.

The petitioner has sought an action against the defaulters and cancellation of the lease immediately. 

Gurgaon, September 12
Residents of the posh Sun City here are on tenterhooks on account of about dozen cases of thefts and burglaries in the past one month, including the one at the residence of an income tax commissioner in the colony, last evening.

The president of the Sun City Residents Welfare Association (RWA), Mr Abhey Poonia, said that the residents are terrified at the growing incidents of the crime even though the floater and builder of the colony, the Sun City Management, refuse to take the remedial measures.

However, the Senior Estate Officer of the Sun City Management said that the residents are to be blamed for the rising cases of thefts as they allow the service providers to enter the colony so easily.

The residents, however, have a different take as they entirely blame the management for the thefts.

Summing up the mood of the residents, Mr Poonia said that the RWA has taken up the issue with the management on several occasions, asking it to change the security agency, Watch Wall, but of no avail.

The residents are not satisfied with the services of the agency. They allege that the agency is being retained as its proprietors are close to the management.

Mr Poonia said that the income tax commissioner and his wife had gone out in the morning. When they returned in the evening, the doors were broken and the things stolen. Although the police have registered a case, the details of the thefts could not be ascertained.

Mr Poonia alleged that as per the rule, the management has to earmark a four per cent of the total area of the colony for setting up shops. Presently, there are about 1,000 families staying in the colony, and much of the area is still unoccupied. The management, however, has set up a multi-storeyed Orchid Plaza at the site earmarked for shops. A call centre is run by the management at Orchid Plaza. Plaza is a security threat as the entry to the visitors and employees are from the same gate of the colony used by the residents.

The residents further alleged that the management also winks at the poor conditions of roads in the colony.

Faridabad, September 12
Haryana Government is considering a proposal to constructively utilise common purpose land in villages and towns to prevent encroachments. A number of cases of land dispute have cropped up due to this very reason over the recent years.

While the authorities are yet to come out with the exact figure of such measurement of land that can be acquired by the government, it is reported that several thousand acres are available in this district alone where commercial value has gone up several times lately due to a boom in land prices.

It is reported that a proposal has been almost finalized by the authorities at Chandigarh regarding the process to make proper use of such land without causing revenue loss to the local bodies, including Gram Panchayats and civic bodies.

According to the proposal, the government could utilise such land and generate income and prevent the ‘land mafia’ from encroaching on it at the same time.

It is stated that the government could launch schemes of community and social development and provide facilities like housing and training centres to the unemployed. Thousands of acres of such land known as ‘Deh-Shamlat’ land are available in almost all the villages of the district and the state. ‘Deh-Shamlat’ land causes disputes among the villagers over ownership, an official of the district administration said.

According to sources in the government, the spurt in the land prices in the state especially in the districts falling in the National Capital Region (NCR) has seen huge hike in land prices.

It may be pointed out that over 5000 acres may be falling under the jurisdiction of the Municipal Corporation Faridabad (MCF) itself.

According to reports, hundreds of acres have been sold illegally or are mired in dispute.

In the Surajkund region here, which is considered a prime area, land is sold illegally and the building activity has not stopped even after a ban.

It is learnt that several hundred hectares in the region have been encroached upon for construction despite the fact that it belongs to the Forest Department. There are dozens of fraud cases in land deals in the district over the last couple of years.

New Delhi, September 12
The Expenditure Finance Committee (EFC) of the Delhi Government has given its nod to five projects, four relating to the Public Works Department (PWD) and one related to the Directorate of Higher Education.

Finance Minister A. K. Walia said that the EFC had sanctioned Rs 233.14 crore for the execution of four different projects of the PWD. The projects have been cleared to provide the required infrastructure for the Commonwealth Games 2010.

The execution of work relating to these projects would ensure smooth flow of traffic in different parts of Delhi and bring a considerable change in the scenario. A grade separator at Raja Ram Kohli Marg intersection on Marginal Bandh Road, Geeta Colony, would be constructed at an estimated cost of Rs 96.51 crore.

The EFC has also cleared an amount of Rs 73.70 crore for the construction of an underpass with four clover leaves, a cycle track and two slip roads at the ITO.

Another project relates to the construction of a road underbridge connecting the road passing below the Delhi-Ghaziabad railway line near Jhilmil Colony at an estimated cost of Rs 31.69 crore.

Another grade separator at the Mangolpuri crossing on Outer Ring Road would be constructed at an estimated cost of Rs 31.24 crore.

Dr Walia said that a new campus for Indira Gandhi Institute of Physical Education and Sports Sciences would be constructed at Sector 3, Rohini, at a cost of Rs 11.56 crore. The campus would provide suitable infrastructure which would go a long way in imparting quality physical education. 

New Delhi, September 12
Delhi University teachers today began a four-day strike to protest against the government’s inaction over their long-pending demands, which include setting up of a UGC pay review committee and raising their superannuation age to 65 years.

Hundreds of teachers affiliated to the Delhi University Teachers’ Association (DUTA) staged a demonstration outside the Ministry of Human Resource Development and asked the government to consider their long-standing demands.

The teachers have been demanding a raise in the retirement age from 62 to 65, implementation of career advancement scheme (CAS) from 1996 and bringing librarians on par with teachers.

“A delegation of DUTA office-bearers and the FEDCUTA secretary met Mr Arjun Singh today and he assured us that the Ministry had taken into account their demands and was working on them,” said Mr Prakash Narayan, a DUTA office-bearer.

He added, “Mr Arjun Singh told us that his Ministry had agreed to the demand seeking parity of librarians with teachers and that the third promotion would be given in autonomous colleges initially”.

It was further pointed out that the HRD Minister had assured the delegation that CAS would be implemented and teachers would be given the due benefits with effect from 1996.

“Mr Singh also told us that his Ministry had sought the views of various other ministries on the proposal to increase the age of retirement from 62 to 65. A note on the same would shortly
be forwarded to the Cabinet for approval,” Mr Narayan added.

The teachers pointed out that though the minister had given them “positive assurance” they would continue to remain on strike for the next three days. “We will carry out our protest as scheduled, since these are verbal assurances and nothing has been given to us in writing,” said a member of DUTA. 

New Delhi, September 12
The elections to the Resident Doctors’ Association (RDA) at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) was a referendum on the issue of extending quotas to OBC students in institutes of higher education.

At least 1,400 resident doctors, interns and students of AIIMS cast their vote to select eight representatives, including president, vice-president, secretary, and joint secretary to represent the RDA.

Sixteen candidates contested the elections that began at 7 am and concluded at 7 pm. At the time of filing this story, the anti-reservation group was leading for most of the seats.

While the anti-reservation group on the campus banked on the strong anti-quota sentiment prevalent on the campus, the pro-reservationists alleged that they were being harassed on the basis of caste.

A complaint was registered with the Director’s office by the pro-reservationists alleging harassment. The Union Health Ministry has set up a three-member committee to probe the allegations of atrocities against students from the reserved categories.

The Ministry has received a memorandum submitted by the students to the Prime Minister’s Office.

However, members of the anti-reservation groups, denying such allegations, said the election would help them continue their struggle against quota based on caste.

One candidate contesting the elections said some pro-reservation doctors tried to suspend the electoral process for three years for which they had even sent a letter to the Director urging for a three-year ban on elections.

The administration claims the elections were conducted under strict security and police personnel had been deputed at the venue of the election to ensure a free and fair poll.

Earlier this year, AIIMS became the cradle for anti-quota protest that gained momentum with hundreds of students and resident doctors going off work for nearly 20 days.

New Delhi, September 12
Six persons lost their lives to dengue in the Capital in the early part of this month. The Delhi Government today decided to take strict action, which includes lodging police cases, against people found responsible for the breeding of mosquitoes.

In all, 66 cases of dengue were reported here in the week ending September 10, out of which six proved fatal, a spokesperson of the Delhi Health Ministry said.

While 43 dengue cases were from the Capital, 23 were from neighbouring states, she said.

Of the six fatalities, two were from Delhi while four were from other places.

Health Minister Yoganand Shastri, at a weekly review meeting on water and vector-borne diseases, issued instructions for taking strict action against persons whose premises were found to be breeding grounds for mosquitoes.

Police cases will be registered against persons found responsible for mosquito breeding and challans will be issued to them, he said.

Mr Shastri directed the MCD and the NDMC to depute more staff to survey houses, high-rise buildings, public places and schools to check mosquito breeding, the spokesperson said. He also directed the civic agencies to launch a special campaign to control the breeding of Aedes mosquito, which is responsible for the disease.

In the period under review, the MCD surveyed more than 4.5 lakh houses, of which 4,556 were found positive for breeding. Legal notices were issued to 2,525 people and 1,672 of them were prosecuted.

New Delhi, September 12
At a time when there has been an increase in the number of reported violent acts directed at children, the world today is witnessing an alarming increase in the amount and severity of violent acts observed by children through the media, including television, movies, computer games, and videotapes.

An increase in the manufacture and distribution of weapon-like toys and other products directly linked to violent programming have all the more increased the depiction of violence in the media which at large has progressively jeopardised the healthy development of significant numbers of our nation’s children who now live a feigned life which they mistake to be in the realm of reality, says Dr Samir Parikh, Chief of Department of Mental Health and Behavioural Sciences, Max Healthcare.

Believe it or not, but your latest movie could get a kid enacting a violent scene as jumping off the building in a feigned state of mind whilst reflecting the influence of the media on our so called ‘Generation X kids’. “The media today has entangled our kids in their thick-knit-web of virtual reality. Not just instances like the one mentioned above but a kid beating up his friends as his favourite comic hero, or jumping off a cliff like Superman and still more of those violent acts are but some of the instances which should ring alarm bells among the sensitive lot,” says Dr Parikh.

He adds the effect of the media upon the children is enormous. Children in general are good observers of things and most of the things that they learn are through imitating the acts that they duly observe. Toy guns and mock fights are some of the instances of reflecting such acts. But such activities, if undermined, may prove to be disastrous with regard to the overall development of a child who is healthy in body as well as in mind.

Desensitisation is yet another effect. Instances like repeated viewing lead to the desensitisation of kids towards the stimulus. This changes their social and moral perception and brings about contrasting personality development. The child may no sooner tend to get desensitised to violence and take violence as a part of Reality. Children not only get desensitised to what they view, but such acts give them a lift to express violence on a large scale.

However, the fault not only lies in the media as they at times do take a lead to broadcast educative info, altruistic and positive behaviour as well. It’s just that some specific viewing like violence, substance abuse or other forms of harmful behaviour, when viewed by children, thuds down a negative impact. Nevertheless, such an impact can be prevented provided the media and society at large, inclusive of parents and schools, opt for precautionary measures and concentrate on purging the society of all its evils before the virtual streams drive our kids down the robot way.

Parents should use channel locks if required. As much as possible, parents should impart extra guidance and clear up the perceptions by giving children a reality oriented explanation whenever required. Further, parents, adults around children, should deglamourise what children see so that reality orientation is maintained.

In schools too, group interaction, education, counselling, need to be enhanced to clear up the curious mind conflicts and enhance an overall positive development of the child.

Factual explanation should supplement every supernatural act so that perceptions are cleared up and reality and virtual life separated, says Dr Parikh.

New Delhi, September 12
Jamia Millia Islamia’s tryst with Central and West Asian scholars, philosophers, poets and artistes continues.

The Kazakhistan Ambassador, Dr Kairat Umarov, handed over a portrait of Al Farabi, a famous philosopher, musicologist and scientist at a function held today at the Academy of Third World Studies on the university campus.

Mr Umarov pointed out, “The cities in which Al Farabi lived were all linked by the Silk Route and were witness to a dynamic exchange of ideas and goods all along the route.” He also informed that the Kazakh Government was currently involved in a project to create a mausoleum for Al Farabi in Damascus, the city where he died. Al Farabi is remembered as the ‘second master’ after Aristotle.

Prof Kalpana Sahni, a well-known Russian and Central Asian scholar, addressed the gathering, saying, “The role of European thinkers, philosophers and scientists is well-documented in the build-up to the European Renaissance. The contribution from Asia was equally substantial and this is not so well-researched.” She stressed that Asia’s role and contribution to the European Renaissance was huge and had often gone unacknowledged.

She further elaborated: “The regions we know as West and Central Asia today along with North Africa have been home to some of the oldest civilisations. Many thinkers have developed innovative ideas on optics, music and philosophy which, in turn, influenced Western thought, music and art during the Renaissance.”

She also said that Al Farabi travelled through many cities of Central Asia and left his indelible impact on thought and music in that period.

The university Vice-Chancellor, Mr Mushirul Hasan, said, “African and West Asian regions have produced Islamic thinkers of great repute. They contributed a lot towards the development of Western civilization. Al Farabi, who studied both Plato and Aristotle, helped bring together Islamic theology and Western thought.” He further said, “It is rather unfortunate that everything is being viewed today as ‘the clash of civilisations’ and that the very lands which philosophers like Al Farabi had travelled and worked in were now under the neo-imperialist threat.”

New Delhi, September 12‘
Encomium,’ an annual technical festival, is to be held at Jamia Millia Islamia on September 16 and 17. This is the 6th time that the fair, which is organised annually by the Faculty of Engineering and Technology of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE), is being held.

This year, the festival will have an international flavour with students from Pakistan, Bangladesh, Singapore and China participating along with students from technical colleges all over India. Around 1,000 students are expected to take part in the fair. 

New Delhi, September 12
A court today remanded six persons arrested in connection with Rs 4000 crore Co-operative Group Housing Society (CGHS) scam to a day’s CBI custody.

The six accused — M N Sharma, M C Joshi, Gopal Singh Bisht, Rajender Kumar Khurana, Surender Singh and Naveen Kaushik arrested yesterday — were today presented before the court of a Special Judge who sent them to CBI remand till tomorrow.

The six are accused of fraudulent revival of Residents’ Provident Fund (RPF) Co-operative Group Housing Society in Dwarka in south-west Delhi, allegedly on the basis of forged and fabricated documents in 2001.

According to CBI, they even forged signatures of dead persons and enlisted new members in the society against fake registration letters.

Meanwhile, the court also granted bail to three accused Gokul Chand Aggarwal, Anil Kumar and Vinod Kumar in similar cases pertaining to four different housing societies.

The modus operandi allegedly followed by the accused was to fraudulently revive societies, which had been declared “defunct” by their founder-members, primarily to get land allotted by the DDA at concessional rates. — PTI 

Noida, September 12
With two more persons succumbing to burn injuries in the gas cylinder explosion in Rasoolpur village of Dadri, the toll has gone up to eight. Many among the injured are still in a serious condition.

Six persons had died while 30 were injured in the gas explosion in Mam Chand’s house on Sunday evening. Apart from illegal refilling of gas cylinder, Mam Chand used to deal in diesel and petrol also.

Those killed include Satish, son of Mamchand, 26; Dhiraj, son of Dhan Singh, 9; Neelam, daughter of Ram Niwas, 5; Jugnu, 5, son of Ram Niwas; Shaweta, daughter of Ram Niwas, 8; Arun, son of Ram Niwas, 11; Anju and Renu. Besides, there are three to four persons from the same families in the list of seriously injured also.

The District Administration is considering Rs 1 lakh in case of death while the injured will be given Rs 5,000 each. A sum of Rs 20,000 has been given to the family of Mam Chand.

Noida, September 12
Four workers were critically injured when a boiler of a factory exploded here this evening, the police said.

The explosion took place at the factory located in sector 3 at around 6 pm, they said.

The injured were admitted to a private hospital where their condition was stated to be critical. They were identified as Narendra, Raj Kapoor, Ramu and Hukum Chand.— PTIMan gets 

New Delhi, September 12
A court today sentenced a man to seven years’ rigorous imprisonment for committing an armed robbery in broad daylight at a residence here 15 years ago.

“This was armed robbery. The accused committed robbery at knifepoint in broad daylight,” Additional Sessions Judge said. He also imposed a fine of Rs 2,500 on the convict.

The court found the convict guilty of offences under Sections 392 (robbery), 397 (robbery or dacoity with attempt to cause death or grievous hurt) of the IPC.

The convict Mohammed Wakil, allegedly along with three others, had on June 18, 1991, forcibly entered a second floor flat in Daryaganj here.

Wakil had then held the occupants at knifepoint and robbed the household of Rs 1,500 and other valuable jewellery.

The convict was arrested in August, 1991.

The prosecution had examined 19 witnesses in the case.—TNS

Ghaziabad, September 12
The police have failed to make any progress in the murder case of a father and son duo who were shot dead by three assailants in Hindon Vihar Colony on Sunday night. The double murder was suspected to be linked with the murder of a woman, Sonika, two years ago who was murdered four days after her marriage to the youth shot on Sunday.

Vikas, youngest son of Hindon Vihar resident, Jagdish, was married on June 28, 2004 with Sonika, daughter of Mahender Verma. Four days later on July 3, Sonika’s body was found near the house.

Her family had filed a police report accusing Jagdish, Vikas, his mother and brother Sarvesh for the murder.

According to the police, the hearings in the Sonika murder case were currently on.

Jagdish’s sons had told the police that Sonika’s relatives had assaulted them in the court compound four days back as they wanted to avenge Sonika’s death.

Gurgaon, September 12
A junior engineer (JE) and an electrician of Haryana Urban Development Authority (HUDA) were suspended for dereliction of duty today.

According to the HUDA administrator, Roshan Lal Garg, JE, looked after the HUDA colony consisting of 67 staff quarters of the department at Sector 46.

He had inspected the quarters on September 2 and found that their maintenance was very poor.

It was also found that many unauthorised occupants were residing in the colony.

The JE was asked to prepare an estimate for maintenance of the colony and submit the list of all its occupants. But even after nine days, he failed to comply.

An electrician, Jai Narayan, who was posted in the main HUDA office complex was suspended for poor maintenance of electric equipment resulting in the disruption of power supply in the main building itself. 

New Delhi, September 12
A Fast Track Court has acquitted three men who were charged in a case of looting a truck carrying rice bags after the murder of its driver and helper seven years ago in West Delhi.

Additional Sessions Judge exonerated Rajender and Sarwan — both hailing from Panipat in Haryana — of the charges under Sections 302 (murder), 397 (dacoity with attempt to cause death) and 392 (robbery), while local businessman V K Goel was acquitted of the charges under Section 411 (dishonestly receiving stolen property) of the IPC.

“Except the testimony of the two public witnesses, there is nothing on record either by way of any scientific evidence or otherwise to show that impugned act of killings and robbery was done by the accused,” the court held.— PTI 

New Delhi, September 12
A court today awarded ten years’ rigorous imprisonment to a 65-year-old for raping his daughter-in-law and ordered the registration of an FIR against two errant police officials who allegedly tried to save the culprit.

“A murderer destroys physical body of his victim, while a rapist degrades the very soul of the helpless female... these facts coupled with relations of the convict with victim, make the offence more alarming,” said Additional Sessions Judge convicting Allah Noor for ravishing his son’s wife.

The court, which also imposed a fine of Rs 50,000 on Noor, asked the Collector, Delhi to sell the properties of the convict and pay the amount, if realised, to the victim as compensation.

Meanwhile, the court, taking strong exception to the alleged fabrication of records and delay in lodging the FIR by Inspector Gurmeet Singh and SI Om Pal Singh, asked the SHO of the Gokal Puri police station to lodge a case against them under Section 217 and 218 of the IPC.

“It is evident that these two police officials had not obeyed command of the law with an intention to save the offender from the punishment,” the ASJ said asking DCP of north-east Delhi to personally take up the probe against the duo and conclude the same expeditiously.

As per the prosecution, the victim was married to Noor’s son who is deaf and dumb. On the evening of May 22, 2005, the convict, after finding his daughter-in-law alone, entered into her bedroom and raped her.—PTI

New Delhi, September 12
A middle-aged official of a soft drink company today fell to his death from the fourth floor of a newly opened shopping mall in West Delhi.

The victim was identified as B. K. Aggarwal, Deputy Manager with Pearl Drinks Ltd.

He slipped while inspecting a prospective site for opening an outlet at West Gate mall, which is partly under construction, in Rajouri Garden, the police said.

He was on the fourth floor of the building, where a food court is coming up, when the mishap occurred. He was rushed to Deen Dayal Upadhyay Hospital, where he was declared brought dead, the police said. 

New Delhi, September 12
Tihar Jail will hold training programmes for prison staff from jails across the country.

The decision to hold the training at Asia’s largest jail was taken during a recent discussion between Director General, Bureau of Police Research and Development (BPRD), Ms Kiran Bedi, and the Director General of Tihar Jail, Mr B. K. Gupta, jail officials said.

Ms Bedi was earlier posted as DG, Tihar, and is credited with introducing several programmes for the benefit of prisoners.

Tihar will organise the first training workshop in October, which will be attended by jail officials from northern states. The jail will train the prison staff in practices such as holding vocational courses, yoga, meditation and education programmes for prisoners.

Besides, the jail staff will be imparted training on reforming prisoners.

“The training will be a monthly affair during which the staff, coming from different parts of the country, will also get practical experience on the reform measures,” an official said.

New Delhi, September 12
The All India Kashmiri Samaj (AIKS) has announced that September 14, observed as Martyrs’ Day, will also be designated as National Awakening Day in memory of the people who have lost their lives in terror attacks in the country.

Kashmiri Pandits from across the national Capital will converge near Jantar Mantar and hold a demonstration and a candlelight march on Thursday evening.

AIKS office-bearers said their aim was to create national awareness about the threat that terrorism posed to India. —TNS