New Delhi, May 26
Yet to find an eyewitness or even the motive behind planting a low-intensity crude bomb outside the Delhi High Court yesterday, city police commissioner B K Gupta today met home minister P. Chidambaram and submitted a report on the preliminary investigation of the case.

Speaking to mediapersons later, Gupta said it was too early to say anything about the motive behind the blast as there was no possibility that the bomb would have caused any fatality or major damage to anyone as it was kept under the car which was facing a wall. "We are still awaiting the CFSL report on the explosives used in the bomb. It was a low-intensity, less-quantity explosive for sure as otherwise it would have caused major damage. It was not a powerful device," Gupta said. He added that Delhi police's best investigators were involved in the case and a breakthrough was expected soon.

The special cell of the Delhi police is being assisted by the crime branch and other agencies, including the Maharashtra ATS (Anti- Terrorist Squad) in the investigation.

According to a senior Delhi police official, stress is being laid on finding an eyewitness or any local criminal who would have assisted the culprits to plant the bomb.

"The way the bomb was built, used and planted, it seems it was done by someone not well trained in the work. However, we do not have an eyewitness and are now investigating the movements of the local criminals of the area," said the official.

He added that though the crude bomb had the signature of the Indian Mujahideen (IM), it was a mere speculation at this time.

Meanwhile, it was learned that the bomb had around 2 kgs of ammonium nitrate, a detonator and motor cycle battery with 50 sharpnels.

"Ammonium nitrate was definitely used," said the official.

The explosion which broke an eight-month lull after the Jama Masjid shootout ahead of the Commonwealth Games has triggered a security scare in the national Capital, prompting the Delhi police to sound an alert across the city yesterday.

JMC invites admission forms

Following in the footsteps of St Stephen's will be Delhi University's Jesus and Mary College on South campus which has invited separate forms to be filled in for admissions this year.

JMC will start the process on May 30. It offers more than 20 courses and a total of 40 seats per course.

Sale and receipt of forms

May 30 to June 8 (including Saturday)

Timing: 9.00 a.m. - 1.00 p.m.

Cut-off and admission lists will be put up on the college notice board as per the college prospectus and DU schedule.

Sports Trials

Thursday, June 9

Friday, June 10 and

Saturday, June 11

ECA

List of students shortlisted on college notice board

Friday, June 10 at 4 pm

ECA Trials - Saturday, June 11 and Monday, June 13

New Delhi, May 26
With the arrest of four persons, identified as Rahul, Yash Kumar, Dev Kumar and Shanti, the south district police has claimed to have smashed an inter-state fake maid placement bureau that allegedly duped more than 50 people in Delhi and the NCR.

Seven mobile phones, 2 SIM cards, Rs 10,000 in cash, four debit/shopping cards, fake maid registration certificates, 10 diaries containing details of the victims, visiting cards and fake stamps have been seized from their possession.

According to Chhaya Sharma, DCP (south), Sahiba Iqbal Khan, a Devli resident, complained agianst the agency.

Khan had read an advertisement in a newspaper about the maid placement bureau, Yogna Placement Services, and contacted on the given mobile numbers. The call was answered by one Rahul who introduced himself as the owner of the agency. He promised to give Khan a fully-trained maid for an annual commission of Rs 12,000 and a monthly salary of Rs 2,500.

After Khan accepted the terms, Rahul showed her a maid took Rs 14,800 from her. Khan then took the girl home.

The maid behaved normally on the day and after completing the household work, went to sleep. However, the next morning, she went missing.

When Khan spoke to Rahul about the missing maid, he initially promised to send her back, but later switched off his mobile and neither returned Khan's money.

Rahul was the first to be arrested from Mandi bus stand yesterday which led to the arrest of his accomplices.

"The accused disclosed that in the past seven years, they had duped more than 50 people in Delhi and the NCR of more than Rs 7.5 lakh. One of the accused, Bindiya Tamang, is on the run.

Ghaziabad, May 26
Frequently dispatched on air ambulance duties, anaesthetist Rajesh Jain left his home here around 1 pm on Wednesday to ferry a patient from Patna, telling his family that he could not say when he would be back. Little did anyone of them know that he would never return.

"Rajesh could not tell us the exact time of his return from Patna. He left home at 1 pm yesterday (Wednesday) and just told us he had to rush to Patna to bring a patient to the hospital by the air ambulance service," his grief-stricken father N.C. Jain said.

An anaesthetist at New Delhi's Apollo hospital, Rajesh Jain was killed on Wednesday night when the single engine air ambulance aircraft crashed onto a house in Haryana's Faridabad town, adjoining Delhi. Apart from him, his colleague Syed Arshad Abbas, the patient Rahul, Rahul's cousin, a male nurse and the two pilots and three women in the house were killed in the accident.

Speaking at his house in Gautam Nagar here, Jain's father, a retired engineer from the Uttar Pradesh public works department, said his son completed his MBBS from the Lala Lajpat Rai Memorial Medical College, Meerut, in 1994 and later took a specialised postgraduate degree as an anaesthetist.

Rajesh's wife Amita Jain, a software engineer working with an MNC in Greater Noida, was stunned when she learned about her husband's death.

Hugging again and again their one-year-old son Shantanu, Amita recalled that Rajesh used to drop her in Noida while on his way to hospital.

"We were leading a very happy life. He loved his son very much," she said. Tears rolling down her cheeks, a numb Amita said she did not know how to live the rest of her life.

Rajesh's elder brother Rakesh Jain said he had received a phone call around midnight from a family friend Praveen Garg, informing him that a plane carrying a patient to Apollo hospital had crashed in Faridabad and asking him to check with the hospital whether Rajesh was safe.

"We called the hospital, but we did not receive any satisfactory reply. A doctor asked us to come to the hospital. They also had come to know that the plane had crashed somewhere in Faridabad," he said.

The family members reached the hospital where the hospital management confirmed that Rajesh was among those killed in the crash.

Rajesh's body was cremated at Hindon crematorium today, his brother added.

"Youngest among the four brothers, Rajesh was brilliant right from the beginning. He was a successful anaesthetist. He had developed skills in bringing critical patients to the hospital," Rajesh's father said.

"The hospital used to send him on special occasions when VIP patients were to be brought or sent back. He had visited Nigeria to drop a patient by a chartered plane. Once he went to Mumbai to bring veteran actor Dilip Kumar. He used to visit states like Arunachal Pradesh, Assam and other places on his assignments," he added. -- IANS

New Delhi, May 26
Leader of opposition in the Delhi Assembly Vijay Kumar Malhotra today registered his strong objections to "the manner in which the Delhi cabinet rejected the Shunglu Committee report" and said it posed serious questions over the authority of the Prime Minister at whose behest the probe was carried out. The committee had investigated the alleged financial bunglings in the CWG projects.

Malhotra said the committee had found the Delhi government guilty and an indicted person could not give himself a clean chit.

"The courts should decide whether an accused is guilty or not," Malhotra added.

Besides, the CVC and the CAG had also indicted the government for corruption on various counts. But the allegations have been swept under the carpet, he said.

New Delhi, May 26
Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit today met UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi to take her into confidence over splitting the Municipal Corporation of Delhi into three or five zones.

She explained to Sonia the rationale behind the proposal to divide the civic body ahead of the next year's municipal polls.

According to sources, the motive of the meeting was to suppress a faction of the DPCC that is opposed to Dikshit's proposal. If Sonia approves the proposal, there will be no opposition in the party, say the sources.

Dikshit spent half an hour with Sonia, explaining her everything about the civic body. She conveyed to Sonia that division of the MCD would enhance its performance. She also sought to reserve 50 per cent of the seats for women, instead of the current 33 per cent.

A proposal regarding the division of the civic body was tabled in the Assembly and Congress MLAs had supported the proposal. It was then sent to the Union ministry of home affairs for the final decision.

However, it was opposed by DPCC president Jai Prakash Agarwal and Congress councillors. They had several meetings over the issue and even met Sonia Gandhi.

Sources say that earlier this week, Agarwal sent a letter to Gandhi, seeking status quo till next year's municipal elections. He has also opposed an increase in the quota for women from 33 to 50 per cent.

The idea of splitting the municipal body was openly opposed by many party councillors at a recent meeting held at the DPCC headquarters. The meeting was attended by AICC general secretary and in-charge of the party in Delhi, Birender Singh.

Last week, Dikshit, Gandhi's political secretary Ahmed Patel, Birender Singh and Aggarwal held a high-level meeting over the issue. However, they failed to arrive on consensus on the issue and left it to the party chief to take the final decision. 

New Delhi, May 26
"I was born and brought up in Midnapore in West Bengal. I have come here to earn a living. I am not a Bangladeshi," pleaded 30-year-old Zakir. However, the identity documents he produced were found to be fake by the Delhi police which wasted no time in deporting him.

Zakir is one of the 140 illegal Bangladeshi immigrants who have been deported from the Capital, particularly northeast Delhi, in the past five months following a special drive by the police.

The drive was launched after a spate of robberies and other crimes showed the involvement of illegal Bangladeshi immigrants, the police says.

Not only that, the police found out that some travel agents were bringing them here and helping them get Indian identity documents.

The agents also provide them a safe passage home after they commit a crime, and bring them back again after a cool-off period -- of course, for a hefty sum, says the police.

"A large number of Bangladeshi immigrants have illegally sneaked in and are staying in northeast Delhi. We have created special teams to identify and deport them," said deputy commissioner of police Sanjay Kumar Jain.

"In the past five months, our teams have arrested around 140 illegal immigrants and handed them over to the FRRO (Foreigner Regional Registration Offices), which then deported them," said Jain.

The police claims that the drive has also led to a dip in the crime rate.

"We are now looking for the agents who bring Bangladeshi immigrants to the city," he added.

Areas like Seelampur, New Usmanpur, Jafrabad, Khajoori Khas and Seemapuri in the city have many Bangladeshi ghettos, which provide a safe hideout to the criminal elements within the community.

During the course of investigation, the police found that the immigrants enter India illegally by crossing the border near Rajshahi, a Bangladesh border town, and Boghkalam in West Bengal's Murshidabad district.

Jain said some of the immigrants even obtain ration cards, voter identity cards and Permanent Account Number (PAN) cards.

"They get all these documents by furnishing false documents. They also open accounts in various banks by furnishing these documents," he added.

"Some of them have been staying in Delhi for several years. They have a wide network across the city. They work as non-skilled workers in small units and many are labourers and domestic helps," said Jain.

He said the illegal immigrants frequently changed their residences and move to different slum areas to avoid detection.

"Whenever the beat constables get suspicious, they change their houses," said Jain.

As the immigrants speak Bengali fluently, the police finds it hard to distinguish them from people from West Bengal.

"An immigrant once convinced us that he is from West Bengal and had all the necessary documents to prove that," said Jain.

When this IANS correspondent spoke to Zakir, he said he had all the documents to prove he was an Indian. But not only were his papers fake, he was also found to be involved in a fraud case, the police said.

The police also detained some illegal immigrants during a servant verification process.

"We are keeping an eye on them on a regular basis and have also intensified house-to-house verification as a preventive measure," added Jain. -- IANS

New Delhi, May 26
The fifth draw of lots for allotment of dairy plots at Ghogha Dairy Colony was held today by the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD).A total of 145 plots of 60 square meters were allotted to 125 applicants out of which 105 were allotted one plot each and two plots each to 20 applicants.

Besides, 263 plots of 96 square meters were allotted to 177 applicants of which 108 applicants were allotted single plots, 56 allotted double, nine applicants were allotted three plots each and four applicants allotted four plots.

"The members of the allotment committee and observers from the Delhi government were also present during the process of allotment of plots. All the eligible dairy owners were invited by the MCD to witness the draw," said a senior MCD official.

The draw of lots was conducted manually to maintain the transparency in the draw. "We have done the videography of the entire draw. The allotment letters to the successful allottees will be issued by MCD within 15 days," said the officer.

Out of the total of 2,082 plots developed in Ghogha dairy till today, as many as 1,327 plots have been allotted.

New Delhi, May 26
The celiac disease or gluten intolerance is a silent disease: difficult to diagnose, difficult to live with and difficult to treat. Ishi Khosla's latest book on gluten intolerance, Is Wheat Killing You?, throws interesting light on the phenomenon of gluten allergy and celiac disease, a condition caused by wheat intolerance.

The author says the celiac disease is not uncommon, but has silently spread its tentacles. In almost 97% cases, the disease remains undiagnosed and patients continue to suffer.

Ishi Khosla says candidly, "Writing this book is like giving birth to a baby and for me this book was the culmination of a journey which began with my son getting diagnosed for gluten intolerance. Despite medical assistance, my son's condition remained undiagnosed for 10 years. It was only sheer persistence on my part that led to his disease getting diagnosed." Khosla added, "The nature of the celiac disease has changed today from a mere childhood disease to something with much more serious consequences."

She pointed out, "In most cases, the celiac disease escapes diagnosis and patients continue to suffer. This is not a disease restricted to childhood, symptoms can manifest later in life. For instance, just today I had a patient who was over 58 years. Celiac disease has varied symptoms. They can vary from the physical to the neurological. It is not necessary that a patient will be thin, some patients can be heavy in size. The celiac disease is clearly a diagnostic challenge and presents itself in strange circumstances."

"We formed the first Celiac Society in 2006 and that's when the thought of writing a book really came to me," said Khosla. "Over the years while observing patients suffering from gluten sensitivity, I noticed that this disease can be very devastating for the parents, especially the mothers who find it hard to deal with the fact that their children cannot eat an array of food. That's when I decided that the book has to have a collection of gluten-free recipes for the harassed mothers," said Khosla.

Her book includes a guide to gluten-free products. This book also contains case studies and probes into new research and the fall-out of gluten sensitivity. It contains 200 easy-to-follow gluten-free recipes which include selections from continental, oriental and Indian cuisine. Khosla is a practising clinical nutritionist. She works at the Centre for Dietary Counselling.