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AIIMS refuses autopsy of Gujjar agitators
Police remand fails to nail Talwar
Teachers on sit-in for
15 years
Pulse polio campaign today
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DTC bus kills woman
Bollywood continues to back smoking on screen
Teen shoots self as boy refuses marriage
Pleasant weather returns
Hoax bomb call at Chawri Bazar metro station
Heliport to be set up in Javer
DPS boy tops DPMT
Prosecutors demand salary hike
‘Faridabad losing its industrial status’
The 1.45-km tunnel from Malviya Nagar to
Matrimonial camp for Christians held
Gangster arrested
IAS aspirant held for killing mother
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AIIMS refuses autopsy of Gujjar agitators
New Delhi, May 31 The agitating Gujjars had demanded that independent doctors from outside the state should conduct the postmortem of the bodies of the protesters who were killed in police firing last week. “We received a request from the Rajasthan government for conducting postmortem but we have expressed our inability to do so,” said Shailendra Yadav, deputy director, administration, AIIMS. “We have refused the request on the grounds of jurisdiction. We work only in the notified area of South Delhi and for any other work of such nature, a court order needs to be forwarded,” Yadav told IANS. Earlier in the day, a top Jaipur police official said that a team of AIIMS doctors was scheduled to arrive at the SMS hospital for conducting autopsy. However, the SMS Hospital administration has rubbished the police claim. “I have no knowledge of an AIIMS team coming here. We have not received any circular regarding Delhi doctors conducting post-mortem,” S.S Ranawat, deputy medical superintendent of the SMS Hospital told IANS over telephone from Jaipur. However, he added, “We have kept the bodies in deep freezer and they have not started decaying.” At least 39 people lost their lives in clashes between Gujjars and the police in Rajasthan. Gujjars, an ethnic tribe |have been demanding Scheduled Tribe status.
— IANS |
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Police remand fails to nail Talwar
Noida, May 31 The latest developments put a big question mark on police efficiency in conducting the probe at such a slow pace after the dental doctor was arrested. Echoing popular sentiments comes the remark of Dr Rajesh Talwar’s wife Dr Nupur that the real killer might be out there. After 18 days of the double murder, the police is now pinning its hope on the narco test. Meanwhile, it is learnt that the Central Bureau of Investigation will be entrusted with the investigation of the double murder next week. The Noida police continues to claim that it has lots of evidence against the dental doctor, but according to experts, nothing tangible to prove the case in the court. The police, under tremendous pressure from the child and women rights authorities, is desperately looking for the recovery of the proof or substantial clues. Dr Talwar has been sent to Dasna jail near Ghaziabad, according to senior prosecution officer P C Srivastava. The police also appears to be unsure of the chain of the events, else it could have proved its case on the basis of circumstantial and forensic evidence during court trials, according to legal experts. Another crucial aspect, the motive behind the murders is still to be established. The phone call records of Dr Talwar and Arushi, scanning of Talwar and Arushi’s computers and the interrogations have failed to take the police anywhere near nailing Dr Talwar. The police has told the court that Dr Talwar had not cooperated with them and it has now requested the court for permission to conduct a narco analysis test on him. Narco test could be used in the court as evidence only if it leads to the recovery of proofs against the accused, opine the experts. Even after 18 days, there are three theories about the double murders: that it had been an honour killing, Arushi was killed in a fit of rage or Hemraj called some outsiders to the flat, but the meeting went astray.
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Teachers on sit-in for
15 years
New Delhi, May 31 Under the banner of Koyala Khadan Shikshak Morcha (KKSM), three teachers, BK Singh, Rudradev Prasad and Bhagwat Prasad, had started a sit-in at Jantar Mantar on December 20, 1993, demanding a revision of their pay scales. Thousands of coal mine schoolteachers across 500 schools in Jharkhand, Bengal, Orissa, Maharashtra and Chattisgarh have been suffering from acute deprivation as the pay scales do not even conform to the minimum wages paid to the labourers. “All of us get Rs 3000 per month irrespective of our qualifications and positions at the schools,” said BK Singh, general secretary, KKSM. Apart from sending memorandums and petitions, teachers had organised demonstrations in the national Capital. “Thousands of teachers from different parts of the country have protested against the injustice that is being done,” he said. “However, we do not want the students to suffer, so we only organise the protests on national holidays.” Prior to the nationalisation of coal industry, some private coal companies were running their own schools. When private companies were nationalised, the central private sector units absorbed all the staff of the private companies, including the teachers. Since then there is an ambiguity about the status and wages of these teachers. “While the companies were undertaken by the government, we were still left to survive on several grants that finally go into the pockets of the administration. Coal mines have some of the most corrupt administrative staff in the country,” said BK Singh. On March 20, 2007, a Lok Sabha Committee on Petitions submitted its report on the issue, under the chairmanship of Prabhunath Singh. The committee had recommended that as an interim measure, every teacher had to be paid at the rate of minimum wages for a skilled person along with special teaching remuneration of over Rs 2,000 depending upon the classes he was taking with additional Rs 500 per month for trained teachers. The committee also assured that every teacher had to be paid a minimum salary of Rs 4,000 a month. Through its report, the committee recommended the ministry to formulate a new education policy with egalitarian objectives to provide basic education for the children of the employees. “It has been one whole year since the committee published its report and gave strict recommendations,” said Singh. “However, no positive change has been introduced as yet.” Meanwhile, the teachers have pledged to carry forward their struggle. “I have wasted 15 years of my life and I am going to fight this battle till the end,” he said. |
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Pulse polio campaign today
New Delhi, May 31 The heath department has organised more than 7,500 booths for this purpose. Children till five years of age will be administered anti-polio drops. Shastri added that over 30,000 workers and employees of the health department would be deployed from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. to ensure the maximum reach of the vaccine. Stalls would be stationed at railway stations, ISBTs, public places including Appu Ghar, major temples, metro stations, Millennium Park and Zoo. Besides, a door-to-door weeklong survey would also be conducted under the search and immunisation pulse polio campaign. Around 17,000 workers in 8,600 teams would visit different colonies including slum and J.J clusters to administer the drops to children who were left. He reiterated the government’s commitment to make Delhi a polio-free city. Delhi initiated the pulse polio immunisation programme in 1994 and launched house-to-house search and immunise component in 1999. Delhi is also a pioneer in generating awareness about the disease through banners, posters, electronic and print media.
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DTC bus kills woman
New Delhi, May 31 She was taken to a nearby hospital with multiple injuries where doctors declared her brought dead. The bus has been impounded and its driver Shamsher Singh and conductor Raj Kumar have been arrested. Shakuntla’s husband is a class IV employee at Nirman Bhavan. 3 die as car falls in drain
Three persons including, a man and his son died when a car fell into a drain near Nirankari Sarovar in the Mukherjee Nagar area of North Delhi last night. According to eyewitnesses, the accident took place as the driver lost control of the Maruti Zen. He was drunk. The deceased identified as Kishori Lal, 56, his son Ajay, 19, and Sonu were returning from a marriage party. Kishori Lal was a resident of Baljit Nagar. 1 arrested for loot
The Sadar Bazaar police has arrested Sunny, 20, of Motia Khan while he was fleeing after looting Rs 1,000 from a person in the area. According to DCP (North), complainant Gulam Nabi was having tea at a roadside stall when Sunny looted him. Gulam Nabi raised an alarm. Constable Jagdish who was nearby came and apprehended Sunny after a brief chase. The money has been recovered. 1 held for snatching
The Subzi Mandi police has arrested Kamal Kishore, 19, of Mukim Pur Subzi Mandi and has recovered a snatched chain. According to DCP (North), Kamal Kishore along with his associate had snatched the chain of one Poonam near MCD Park last month. |
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Bollywood continues to back smoking on screen
New Delhi, May 31 Many feel that such a ban will curb their creativity and that the government must seek other measures to dissuade people even though, according to some estimates, around 14% of students in India consume
tobacco.
‘Heyy Babyy’ director Sajid Khan said, “I strongly oppose any ban that restricts freedom — do you really think that people smoke because filmstars smoke on screen and that people drink because we are shown drinking in films? Does terrorism happen because of films? I don’t think so. Films are meant to entertain, nobody takes them so seriously.” Ditto for director Ravi Chopra who said, “A ban definitely affects creativity. I think it is so stupid. The ministry should first ban smoking in real life and then ask the film industry to do so. After all, our characters are inspired by real life where some people smoke and some don’t. I think people smoke only because they feel like it and not because any filmstar does so.” On how a ban affects the creativity of a filmmaker, director Prabhakar Shukla said they often use smoking to depict a character with grey shades. “When we have to show a dark character, we also need to infuse certain real characteristics, which include smoking and drinking. One does not get the real flavour of the character if such characteristics are not shown,” he said. Vivek Agnihotri director of ‘Dhan Dhana Dhan Goal’ said, “Why should the health ministry be interested in the film industry? More people die in road accidents, bomb blasts and by consuming spurious alcohol and drugs. How come no minister talks about that? I think ministers glorify corruption more than an actor’s smoking.” Rohit Jugraj, who directed ‘Superstar’ and studied medicine before pursuing filmmaking, vehemently denounced the health ministry’s stand. “How does curbing the freedom of an art form help? We are not a communist state and if they are actually worried, why don’t they impose a ban on cigarette and tobacco manufacturers? They will never do so because it is one of the strongest lobbies in India and abroad.” “Cinema imitates life so why don’t they just ban life? They should recognise that Bollywood is getting international recognition like other Indian industries,” he adds. “The health ministry should focus on revamping and plugging the holes in our primary and secondary healthcare infrastructure, instead of trying to get some cheap brownie points in parliament.” There are some filmmakers who understand the ministry’s aim of banning cigarette smoking in films, but the imposition would be in vain. Veteran director Lekh Tandon said cigarettes were often used in films as a medium to express depression and even if filmmakers refrained from using them, it would not make much of a difference. “People know smoking is injurious to health but if they want to smoke, let them smoke and let them die. There is no point in banning smoking scenes in films as it would neither reduce nor encourage tobacco intake,” Tandon said. Anurag Basu, who is known for films like ‘Gangster - A Love Story’ and ‘Life... In A Metro’, seconds his opinion. He narrated how while shooting for ‘Life... In a Metro’, he had problems in showing a scene where the actress Kangana Ranaut’s character was to smoke. He finally did away with the scene and it did not affect the flow of the film. “I completely support a ban but banning smoking in films will hardly make any difference to tobacco consumption in real life. One has to take bigger steps like banning smoking in all public areas, like European countries,” Basu suggested. — IANS
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Teen shoots self as boy refuses marriage
New Delhi, May 31 The victim, a student of a private school in Noida, shot herself in the Skoda car of her father Virender
Morya, an affluent property dealer, in Mayur Vihar phase — III today afternoon. The family rushed her to the Metro Superspeciality Hospital in Noida, a satellite town adjoining the national Capital. Her condition was stated to be critical till late Saturday. According to the police, the girl and her parents had arranged a meeting with Hitesh
Laharia, with whom she was said to be in love and his family in a city park near Mayur Vihar phase — III in the morning. The police said that the victim’s parents were trying to convince her that her marriage with Hitesh, a class X dropout from the same school and now a motor mechanic, was not advisable due to the difference in the economic status of the two families. Reportedly, the girl’s family was also pressurising the boy to reject her marriage proposal. When Hitesh turned down her marriage proposal in the afternoon, she broke down and went sobbing to the car stationed outside the park. “She drew out a revolver kept in the dash board of the car and shot herself in the head. After hearing the gunshot, both the families rushed and found her bleeding profusely. They rushed her to the hospital,” said a police official. The hospital authorities informed the police. Hitesh and his mother have been detained. The police is also interrogating the victim’s parents. “We met in the morning. Virender Morya had asked my son to reject any marriage proposal from the girl. Both families were trying to make the children understand the situation. But she stood up, went and shot herself,” Hitesh’s mother told reporters. The police said that the two knew each other for more than two years and they stayed friends after Hitesh dropped out of school. The girl’s family lives in Sector - 56 of Noida, while the boy stays with his parents in
Khoda. DCP, East Delhi, Ajay Chaudhry said that no case had been registered yet and they were recording the statements of the two families. “A case would be registered only after initial investigations,” he said. Asked about the action taken against the victim’s father for keeping a loaded arm in his car, Chaudhry said, “No action has been taken yet”.
— IANS |
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Pleasant weather returns
New Delhi, May 31 According to Met department, the storms and clouds in the Capital are the result of western disturbances over west Rajasthan. Thundershowers are expected in the next 24 hours. The month has constantly seen low temperature and rainfall making it the wettest May in the last 10 years. The cool breezes blowing in the city made the general public come out of the houses today and the picnic spots like India Gate were crowded in the evenings. Mild showers were also reported in some pockets of the Capital and NCR. |
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Hoax bomb call at Chawri Bazar metro station
New Delhi, May 31 Bomb disposal teams and dog squads rushed to the metro station and conducted searches. “We have conducted the searches and are trying to identify the caller,” said a senior police official. The service was halted for about eight minutes. Passengers said that the speed of the trains was very slow and there were long queues at the metro station. This is the third time in a week that the station has received bomb threat calls. Earlier, hoax bomb calls were made on May 25 and 26. On May 15, the Delhi Police had received a call that threatened to blow up the Sai Baba Temple at Lodhi Road in South Delhi. It also turned out to be a hoax call.
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Heliport to be set up in Javer
Greater Noida, May 31 There is already a plan to set up the second airport in NCR. The Greater Noida authority has identified 2500 acres near Javer for this project where 50 helicopters will be able to land and take off at the same time. After Mumbai and Delhi, this will be the third heliport in the country which is expected to relieve considerable traffic at Delhi heliport. M/s Becuda Aviations, Ashok Vihar, Greater Noida has already got the approval for setting up a commercial heliport along with the airport in Greater Noida. According to the Dy CEO of Greater Noida authority, P C Gupta, a heliport is already functioning at Palam airport Delhi, but the union civil aviation ministry was keen to reduce the traffic load there and was on the look out for a suitable site for developing the heliport in the NCR. Gupta said that an area 1,500 acres had been identified for the airport in Javer, but now an area of 2,500 acres had also been identified for heliport. |
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Tributes to Sant Darshan Singh
New Delhi, May 31 In his message from abroad, the present head of the Sawan Kirpal Ruhani Mission, Sant Rajinder Singh said that Sant Darshan Singh was not only a saint but also great mystic poet. Through his divine poetry, he spread the message of God’s love in every nook and corner of the world. Sant Darshan Singh introduced spirituality as “Positive Mysticism while fulfilling the responsibilities towards our family, community, country and at cosmic level we can achieve the very purpose of our life—self-knowledge and God-realization. Among the numerous welfare activities carried out on this occasion by the mission, medicines, fruits and eatables were distributed to cancer patients at the Shanti Avedana Sadan, Raj Nagar, New Delhi. In memory of Sant Darshan Singh, ‘chabils’ were also organized at 45 prominent different locations in the city and also other states of India. Sant Darshan Singh, the beloved mystic poet saint, carried forward the work of Param Sant Kirpal Singh after he left for his heavenly abode in 1974. He initiated hundreds of thousands of people all over the globe to the love of God and into the art of meditation. |
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DPS boy tops DPMT
New Delhi, May 31 A brilliant student, Tejas has been studying at the school from nursery. Tejas has won several quizzes at the state and national level such as — the Colombian Open Quiz, Jigyasa Science Quiz, CBSE Heritage India Quiz and others. He was one of the presidents of the quizzing club at his school. He is a JSTS scholar and has achieved good ranks in several science olympiads. Tejas had scored 100 in mathematics in Class X. In AISSCE, he has scored 95.4% with 100 in biology. He has qualified Manipal and AFMC medical entrance examinations and has secured the first rank in Delhi University medical entrance test. |
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Prosecutors demand salary hike
New Delhi, May 31 According to Santosh Kumar
Raghuvanshi, secretary, DPWA, the Association has submitted a memorandum to
the Union finance minister P. Chidambaram demanding an increment in the salary for entry grade, assistant public prosecutors, additional public prosecutors, chief prosecutors and director of the prosecution department. Raghuvanshi said that the Sixth Pay Commission had totally ignored the prosecutors and no increment in salaries or other allowances have been given to them. He also demanded computerisation of the directorate of prosecution. At present, there are 160 prosecutors in Delhi but only 25 computers have been installed in the directorate. |
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‘Faridabad losing its industrial status’
Faridabad, May 31 Nanda, who was the chief guest on the occasion of 55th Annual General Meeting of Faridabad Industry Association (FIA), urged upon the captains of industry here to take it up with the right quarters in the government for revising the Master Plan of Faridabad to incorporate land for expansion of industry. He said that Faridabad was once the leading industrial town in the country. Now it is emerging as a commercial city. On the occasion, a decision was taken by the FIA to form a core group consisting of captains of industry to take up all issues relating to industry with the government. The president of the FIA, Sunil Gulati said that the government should take measures to further improve the infrastructure in Faridabad. |
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L-G inspects Metro tunnel
New Delhi, May 31 The digging started in December 2007. The initial drive was completed in 18 days while the main drive started on February 1 this year. DMRC chairman and secretary, DMRC managing director E. Sreedharan, member (engineering) railway board S.K Vij and DMRC directors and other senior officials were present. |
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Matrimonial camp for Christians held
New Delhi, May 31 Delhi Minorities Commission member Arnold James said that this was the first such camp organised by the Society. Christians are finding it difficult to find good match in North India. So, the Society will organise such camps every year in Delhi as well as other cities, he added. |
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Gangster arrested
New Delhi, May 31 Deepak was wanted in more than half a dozen cases of murder, dacoity, assault and possession of illegal arms. He was also wanted in the sensational Hauz Qazi murder. Deepak had been on the run since the Hauz Qazi murder, which was widely reported by the media. He kept hiding in places like – Dehra Dun and Rishikesh for sometime. Later, he returned to Delhi and rented a room in Dakshinpuri. Deepak had recently shifted in a rented room in Ram Park, Loni, Ghaziabad. |
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IAS aspirant held for killing mother
New Delhi, May 31 Vipul, 23, an IAS aspirant, first mixed sleeping pills in mother’s — Kailash Devi, food and then tied her legs and hands with a rope at their home in Rohini Sector — 15. He then allegedly strangled her to death on Friday evening. His father Ravi Karan was not at home when the incident took place. Vipul later slashed his wrist and told the police that three men entered their house and said that they were relatives of his mother and wanted to meet her, the police said. However, on intensive interrogation, he confessed to the crime.
— IANS |
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CBI to start Arushi probe this week
The duststorm and clouds hit the Capital in the evening today bringing down the evening temperature after a sweltering afternoon heat. After weeks of rain and low temperature, the last few days have seen the temperature soaring up befitting the month of May generally in the Capital.
