New Delhi, July 27
Education minister Arvinder Singh Lovely today assured that every child in the city would get admission in schools. The government has provided enough infrastructures to facilitate education for the children of the capital.

He said the directorate of education had been directed that there should be no complaint of admission in schools. Children should be admitted in the schools located near their houses.

Inaugurating a building of Sarvodaya School in Dakshinpuri Extension in south Delhi, the minister said to ensure admission for each and every child, proper instructions had been issued to all officers concerned. If the child was average, he or she should be admitted in the appropriate class.

Delhi is the first state in which the RTE Act has been fully implemented to facilitate more children of the city. As a result, more than 13,000 posts of schoolteacher have been created.

All basic infrastructure and essential items would be provided to each school for overall betterment in the performance of the schoolchildren. Delhi has improved the quality education which is evident from the increased percentage in the results of the government schools.

New Delhi, July 27
Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU) hosted a day-long brainstorming session to create awareness about information technology (IT) and its utility in all walks of life, a university statement said today.

Held yesterday, the session was organised in collaboration with the ministry of human resource development's human resource development division and the ministry of communication and information technology.

"The objective is to enhance the use of IT in the areas of a citizen's interest by adopting simple and commonly used practices and methods," a varsity official said.

According to IGNOU vice-chancellor VN Rajasekharan Pillai, the varsity has chalked out an action plan involving participants from all over the country for a brainstorming session on the IT mass literacy.

"By eliminating the digital divide, we are eliminating all sorts of divides. The programme would be available in e-learning mode and would aim to impart IT knowledge at different levels of IT literacy," he said.

For the 12th Five Year Plan (2012-13 to 2016-17), one of the identified strategies is to enhance skills and ensure employment generation, said C Muralikrishna Kumar, senior adviser of the planning commission.

IGNOU's 3,000 study centres and tele-centres, district and block-level centres of the ministry of human resource development, Sarva Shiksha Abhiyaan, and rural development programmes could be used for spreading the IT awareness, the varsity official said. - IANS

Greater Noida, July 27
A day after the court asked the Greater Noida Industrial Development Authority (GNIDA) to negotiate with the farmers on land acquisition, the Authority and builders today initiated the move to reach a settlement with the farmers.

Authority officers held talks with farmers who have moved the court and those whose lands have been acquired in Noida Extension, including the farmers' leaders.

The officers tried to know the rate of compensation acceptable to the farmers. The farmers agreed that the lands were now unfit for agriculture and so, a majority of them wanted to sell them, but at the market price.

The farmers were briefed about the new rehabilitation policy and its benefits. Under the new scheme, besides the land compensation, the farmers will get annuity of Rs 23,000 per acre for 33 years. Instead of annuity, they can also collect a one-time payment at the rate of Rs 2.76 lakh per acre.

"We do not want to create hindrances in the development of the city. We too want development. But our main concern is that we should get adequate compensation," said farmers.

"A majority of the farmers in villages other than Shaberi have accepted compensation. They have spent a major part of the money on marrying their children or buying luxury cars and houses. Now, they will prefer the option of settlement as they cannot refund the money," said Gagan, a farmer.

"The matter would be resolved if the Authority takes the farmers' concern in view and agrees to give them a share in the profit," said farmers' leaders.

Several builders also sent their agents to contact the farmers in an effort to struck individual deals.

"We have offered an additional amount of Rs 2,000 to Rs 3,000 per square metre. But, as only the Authority can solve the issue of abadi land, farmers want to negotiate through Authority officers," said an agent.

Meanwhile, at Noida, chairman Balwinder Kumar continued his drive to pacify the farmers.

Today, he visited Sadarpur and other villages and promised to give the farmers 5 per cent developed land and solve the issue of abadi land.

The farmers told him that they also wanted a hike in the land compensation.

"You should forward our demand to the state government. We will pressurise the government," a farmer told Kumar.

Kumar has promised the farmers that he will forward their demands to the government. 

Chandigarh, July 27
Motorists avoiding National Highway No.8 (NH-8) to evade toll tax on the Gurgaon-Jaipur route are in for some bad news. The toll on the alternative road to Alwar is also set to be raised.

The Haryana government today announced an increase of one and a half times in the toll tax on the Gurgaon-Sohna-Nuh-Alwar road "to discourage the vehicles on NH-8 taking diversion to this road".

The matter was approved by the Haryana cabinet which met here under the chairmanship of Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda.

The new rates of the toll tax, which would have been made applicable with effect from April 1, 2012, now become effective immediately.

"The decision to revise the rates of toll tax on Gurgaon-Sohna-Nuh-Alwar road has been necessitated to discourage the vehicles on NH-8 taking diversion to this road and for better revenue," a state government spokesman said here after the meeting.

"The commuters are using Gurgaon-Sohha-Nuh-Alwar Road as an alternative route to save heavy toll being charged by National Highway Authority of India on NH-8," he added.

"As the Gurgaon-Sohna-Nuh-Alwar Road (up to Rajasthan border) has recently been improved at a cost of Rs 347.87 crore, there would be further tendency of toll-able vehicles to use this road as an alternative route," he added.

As per the revised rates, trucks laden with goods, multi-axle vehicles and earth movers would be charged at a rate of Rs 300 per trip. Buses or mini-buses would be charged Rs 300 per trip, including return journey, and Rs 450 for a daily pass and Rs 9,000 for a monthly pass.

Maxi-cabs would pay Rs 20 per trip and light commercial goods vehicle would pay Rs 50 per trip. Vehicles having more than 10 tyres would pay Rs 450 per trip.

The vehicles which have been exempted from payment of toll tax include defence vehicles, non-commercial vehicles of the state and central governments and essential services like police, ambulances, fire services and funeral vans. -- IANS

New Delhi, July 27
The Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) today said that it was only a few steps away from scaling new heights in the implementation of e-governance.

The municipal commissioner, KS Mehra, at a meeting of the standing committee, said 95 per cent work of the civic agency was accessible online. "Only 5 per cent of the work has been left, after which the MCD will be hundred per cent e-governed," the commissioner said.

"From the RTI to birth and death registrations, the services provided by us are just a click away. More will be achieved in the coming days," said Mehra.

Some of the ongoing e-governance efforts of the MCD include the uploading of details of all its project files online. This will allow the progress of any municipal project to be accessed by people on its website.

"After the scheme is implemented, officials, who hold up files for too long, will be held accountable," he said. The online system will enable to monitor the progress and ascertain in which department a particular file or document is lying and how much time it will take to clear. It will also help in cutting down financial losses," Mehra added.

Through e-governance, the MCD also plans to overhaul its education system. Attendance of teachers and details of mid-day meals will be recorded online. In a bid to go hi-tech regarding the municipal admissions, the agency is trying to make possible the option of online admissions, thus cutting down long queues at its 1,729 schools. This will enable people to log on to the MCD website, fill in the forms and submit them.

On the parking side, the MCD will put the details online so that people can spot parking lots at the places they are visiting. It also plans to make 71 services of its 40 departments online by month-end.

The civic agency has already started receiving online applications under the RTI and has been responding to these online too. To ensure that all the replies are provided within the stipulated period of 30 days, the MCD has also created a help desk wherein all the public information officers are reminded by the staff to provide the information on time.

Apart from this, the building plans will also be soon sanctioned online. In a move to make the procedure hassle-free, the MCD is soon going to make the process online, but in a phased manner.

New Delhi, July 27
Heavy showers lashed Delhi on the second day today, adding to the traffic woes of the commuters. Yesterday, the region witnessed its wettest day of this season so far.

The minimum temperature today dropped to one degree below the average at 25.6 degrees Celsius and the maximum settled at 32.8 degrees Celsius, also one degree below the average.

From 5.30 pm yesterday till 8.30 am today, the city received 58 mm rainfall. The rain gauges at India Meteorological Department (IMD) recorded an average rainfall of 0.9 mm from 8.30 am to 5.30 pm today.

However, the officials said the downpour was quite uneven. "Some parts of the city saw brief, but heavy spells. The south Delhi region mainly saw drizzling, but had overcast sky throughout the day," said an official.

Traffic jams were reported at ITO, New Friends Colony, Mehrauli, Dhaula Kuan, Azadpur and Outer Ring Road. According to the weather office, more rains are in store over the next 24 hours.

"The sky is expected to remain largely overcast tomorrow. One or two spells of rain are expected. However, some parts of the city may see uneven showers like today. The temperatures tomorrow are expected to hover between 32 and 27 degrees Celsius," the official added.

New Delhi, July 27
After holding small demonstrations and rallies to create a momentum to launch a nationwide campaign against corruption, the student political wing of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) - the Akhil Bharatiya Vidhyarthi Parishad (ABVP) - today held a protest which included more than 500 district zones and witnessed the participation of tens of thousands students.

At Delhi University alone, the movement saw a huge participation from thousands of students.

Students from across DU colleges turned up at the Faculty of Arts, North Campus. Students raised slogans, demanding more stringent reaction from the government on corruption issues.

Sunil Bansal, joint organisation secretary of the ABVP and convener of the campaign, "Youth against Corruption", said, "This maha rally is against the current sham policies and to encourage the youth to raise concerns and act against corruption at the administrative level."

The ABVP will again hold the protest on August 9.

The rally also witnessed the participation of Delhi University Students' Union (DUSU) president Jitender Chaudhary, vice-president Priya Dabas, secretary Neetu Dabas among others.

Chaudhary said, "This is the right time of holding the rally as the students have started coming to colleges. We aimed at maximum impact and visibility and we were successful. Students at DU should know about their rights and how passionately they can follow the cause they feel for."

New Delhi, July 27
The crime branch of the Delhi police has arrested Sanjay (30), an accused of masterminding the killing of Rakesh, sarpanch of Hayatpur village, Gurgaon.

During the interrogation, Sanjay said he and his brother Rakesh, had a long-standing dispute with the sarpanch. They had a fight last month. The sarpanch instituted criminal proceedings against both the brothers which made them angry.

Thereafter, Sanjay and his brother decided to kill the sarpanch. They hired Praveen, a resident of Uttar Pradesh, to kill the sarpanch. They promised him to pay Rs 1 lakh for this.

On July 23, Praveen with his associate reached Hayatpur village on a motor cycle and shot the sarpanch, who die on the spot.

But the villagers caught the killers and beat Praveen to death. However, his associate escaped.

The Haryana police had announced a reward of Rs 50,000 on Sanjay and Rakesh.

A case of murder was registered at Sector-10 police station in Gurgaon.

Yesterday, the police received information that a person involved in the murder would be coming to Rohini. The police laid a trap and arrested Sanjay.

"Sanjay has a criminal record. Five criminal cases are registered against him in Haryana. He has been declared a proclaimed offender in three of these cases. The Haryana police has been informed about Sanjay's arrest. However, his brother Rakesh is still at large," said Ashok Chand, commissioner of police, crime branch.

Ghaziabad, July 27
Two girls, hailing from different parts of the district, were allegedly kidnapped and gangraped for several days. One of them was left in an unconscious state in front of the National Commission for Women's office in Delhi, the police said today.

An 18-year-old girl was allegedly kidnapped on July 19 from the Vijay Nagar area by a group of youths when she had gone to purchase books, the police said.

According to the complaint lodged by the mother of the girl yesterday, the victim was kept on some sedatives for over a week and was allegedly gangraped repeatedly by the youths in different parts of Haridwar and Delhi, the police said.

On July 25, she was left in front of her house in Ghaziabad in an inebriated condition, the police said. Medical examination has confirmed rape and a case has been registered and investigation is on, the police said.

In a similar case, a 16-year-old girl was allegedly kidnapped from Hapur city last week and was kept in Delhi by a group of men, who allegedly raped her repeatedly before leaving her in an unconscious state in front of the office of National Commission for Women on July 23.

The girl was sent back to Hapur by the Delhi police and a case was registered yesterday after she narrated her ordeal and a medical examination confirmed rape.

One person was arrested in this connection and further investigations are on, Raghubir Lal, senior superintendent of police said.

"Medical examinations of both the girls have confirmed rape and cases under relevant sections of the IPC have been registered," he said.

"Strict action will be taken against the accused in both the cases," Lal added. -- PTI