New Delhi, December 16
Ramjas College principal Dr Rajendra Prasad today said that the verification of students' documents is usually done only when there are suspicions of admission through forged mark-sheets.

He was asked as to how it had been possible that the six cases of admission through fake mark-sheets passed unnoticed during the last admission session.

These students, promoted to the second year in 2011, were recently expelled, after the functionaries learnt that they had used fake mark-sheets to secure admission.

"There were no suspicions last year. However, we did a thorough checking of documents submitted by all the students after detecting the first cases of admission by forged mark-sheets in July this year. The verification is done only when there are suspicions of illegal admission," Prasad said.

Moreover, it is mandatory for all the colleges to verify the mark-sheets at the initial stages of admission, according to the principal.

"Last year, there was an initial verification of the mark-sheets at the time of admission, followed by a routine check of the documents. But, the second-year students involved in the scam were not caught. The police is investigating the matter," he added.

The principal pointed out that Suresh Chand, a staffer who was arrested for his involvement in the scam, is part of the "non-teaching staff meant for assistance".

"Suresh Chand is not part of the admission committee," he said.

The vice-principal of Ramjas College, P N Dutta Gupta said that the administration should have detected the use of forged mark-sheets.

"The enquiry committee will give the reason why the expelled second-year students were not nabbed last year," he said.

Meanwhile, the vice-principal pointed out that 36 students were expelled this year following the expose. According to official documents given by the functionary, 30 first-year students and six second-year students were expelled. The first case came to light on July 7 this year.

It involved one, Anuj Sharma who claimed to be a student of Kirori Mal College. He was seeking admission on behalf of one, Sanyam Arora. Sharma and a kingpin of the scam, Sanjeet Dahiya, were nabbed. Another person, Rahul, was also arrested.

Following this case, two more first-year students, Shiv Kumar Mandal and Raghav Gupta were expelled on July 26.

A police official said that a case is yet to be registered against Gupta as the college authorities have not submitted relevant documents. An FIR has been lodged against Mandal who secured admission on forged documents, according to the official.

Recently, the college authorities had filed a complaint against Ujjwal Yadav, a first-year Economics (honours) student on December 8. The FIR was lodged on December 13.

The official said, "The university admission is not foolproof. It does not have control over the colleges. Such illegal admissions have been happening for a long time."

New Delhi, December 16
Not too optimistic about student elections at Jamia Millia Islamia in the near future, university vice-chancellor Najeeb Jung today clearly said that the volatile environment on campus is not suited for college level politics.

Speaking to The Tribune, Jung said that the appointed committee for reviewing the possibility of student polls has not yet made any recommendations. Jung said that he could not reveal the names of the committee members as they may get into trouble with the rowdy elements.

“The committee constantly reviews the situation as far as the polls are concerned. Just three to four months ago, we witnessed a violent incident when some students got into a clash and ended up in hospital. The situation will worsen if polls are announced,” Jung said.

Added SM Sajid, Registrar, Jamia Millia, “The functioning of the university has been pretty smooth even though we have not had elections for the last 5 years. The location of the college is extremely crucial, when violence on and around campus is talked about. There are vested interests of some of the political elements which may harm students if elections are allowed right now.”

When asked if the university was fine with no elections at all, he said, “Well, no one really misses the elections. We are not against them, but there is no task that has been affected due to the absence of elections. Students can always approach the university officials for any problem. We anyhow have a departmental election process in place wherein every department has representatives.”

Speaking of the “Meta University” model of Jamia, DU, JNU and IIT, Jung said that in the coming academic session, the Meta University will be functional on an experimental basis. The varsity will be a collaboration of all these four universities wherein students will be able to choose the courses at these universities.

“The Meta University is a concept not a physical structure. There will be no separate campus. It will basically function from our current campuses and enable students to transfer themselves and their credits to other university and course of their choice. The idea was initially conceptualized by the Prime Minister a couple of months ago,” he said.

Jung said that a meeting was held in this regard around two weeks ago. The next meeting is scheduled to be on January 7. Jamia is especially pushing for inclusion of social sciences in the programme list.

New Delhi, December 16
Jamia Millia Islamia today held a special convocation and conferred the degree of Doctor of Letters (Honoris Causa) on Prof Amartya Sen. Najeeb Jung, vice-chancellor of Jamia Millia Islamia, presided over the convocation.

“Prof Sen has been master of Trinity College, Cambridge, president of the American Economic Association, professor at Harvard without once ceasing to be an engaged Indian. This has to do with more than the colour of his passport. It is connected to his attachment to Bengal, his socialisation is Santiniketan, his immersion in the history of the sub-continent and above all, his conviction that cosmopolitanism and Indianness are functions of one’s values, not one’s location,” Jung said.

Prof Sen said he was proud to become associated with Jamia which was an admixture of south Asian Muslim history, national heritage and a global academic institution.

He is a world renowned economist who was awarded the 1998 Nobel Prize in economic sciences for his contributions to “welfare economics” and “social choice theory” and for bringing into focus the problems of the poorest members of society.

He was awarded the Bharat Ratna in 1999. Prof Sen is working as a professor at Thomas W Lamont University and at Harvard University.

New Delhi, December 16
With around 900 cars adding to the vehicular population of Delhi every day, the city is almost paralysed when it come to the parking facilities for such a huge number of vehicles.

Though the civic authority keeps on inaugurating projects to provide parking spaces, the plans hardly translate into reality. Of the 41 multi-level parking projects conceived by the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) in the past five years, only one has been made operational so far while 24 are under construction.

Except the Kamla Nagar multi-level automated parking, which too has missed two deadlines in five years and won't be ready till the end of 2012, the other projects which were announced in Karol Bagh, GK-I, Defence Colony, South Extension I and II, and Lajpat Nagar are yet to take off.

These parking lots at 41 places across Delhi would have created space for 17,000 vehicles, but all that the MCD has added in these five years is space for 90 cars, at the stack parking behind Sheila Cinema.

In Delhi, parking of vehicles in front of houses, offices and markets is a major problem. Even commercial vehicles like trucks and buses are parked on roads as there are no parking spaces for them.

All that MCD officials have to say about the delayed parking projects is that different agencies like the Delhi Jal Board (DJB) and Archeological Survey of India (ASI) cause the delay, as they do not give clearances for the projects easily.

"We face a lot of problems in the shifting of DJB pipelines, getting clearances from the forest department, ASI and other agencies and in the tendering process," said a senior MCD official.

However, some officials are of the opinion that the only way to clear the parking mess is to change the commuting culture of the city.

"There is a need to promote the use of public transport, discourage the use of private vehicles and levy heftier parking charges. Increasing the parking space alone will not help," said another senior official.

While the public transport in the city has improved steadily in the past 10 years, its full potential has not been realised due to poor last-mile connectivity. 

New Delhi, December 16
Union urban development minister Kamal Nath today indicated that the Delhi Development Authority (DDA) could be restructured and steps would be taken to remove the bottlenecks in the development of the city.

He underlined the need to grant more powers to the government, including powers over the DDA.

The Delhi government must play a crucial role in matters of the DDA and the role of the city government in the formulation of the Master Plan must be recognised properly, Nath said.

Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit today said that the Delhi Special Provision Act, passed by Parliament a few days ago, would give a major relief to the citizens of the Capital.

The Chief Minister said this when she along with her Cabinet colleagues met the union urban development minister to convey her gratitude on the behalf of the government.

While talking to the Chief Minister, Nath said that the problems of Delhi must be looked into with a new perspective.

Nath said that his ministry was keen to make Delhi a slum-free and waste-free city.

He said that he had directed the DDA to construct one lakh flats for the economically weaker section (EWS) so that the slum dwellers could be relocated suitably.

He also indicated that the money which was lying idle with the DDA might be utilised for the developmental projects of Delhi.

New Delhi, December 16
Though the Delhi government had claimed that all night shelters would be ready by Friday night, thousands of homeless people are still sleeping under the open sky.

Last year, the court had given direction to the government that all night shelters should be completed by December 5. The government had tried to meet the deadline and most of the shelters were ready by the date.

However, this year, not only temporary shelters, but even permanent ones are yet to open, according to Ashok Pandey, an activist of the Shahri Adhikar Manch - Begharon Ke Saath.

Pandey said according to a survey done in 2008, there were about 63,000 homeless people in 40 per cent of the city area. Had all the areas of the national capital been covered, the number of homeless people would have been double the figure.

He said the court had ordered the Delhi government to open 184 temporary and 84 permanent shelters. But at present, the government had opened only 64 permanent shelters, he said.

"Twenty shelters were removed during the Commonwealth Games. If the government claims that there are 1 lakh homeless people in Delhi, how will it accommodate these people in such few shelters? A permanent shelter can accommodate 200 to 250 persons," Pandey said.

The government had constituted the Delhi Urban Shelters Improvement Board (DUSIB) for the construction of night shelters, but so far, it had not done its job, Pandey said.

Chairman-cum-managing director of the Delhi Industrial and Infrastructure Corporation (DSIIDC), Chetan Sanghi, who looks after the DUSIB, was not available for comments.

New Delhi, December 16
Delhiites today experienced the coldest day of this winter as mercury slipped below 5 degree Celsius. The chill is expected to persist during the next couple of days.

The minimum temperature was recorded at 4.7 degree Celsius, four notches below the normal and down from yesterday's 5.9 degrees. The maximum temperature was 21.7 degrees, normal for this time of the year and down from yesterday's 22.2 degrees.

The mercury has shown a downward trend in the past couple of days, with both the maximum and minimum temperatures dropping steadly.

The weatherman has predicted similar conditions for the next couple of days. Mercury is likely to be between 5 and 22 degree Celsius in the next two days with fog in the morning.

In December last year, the minimum had come down to 5.2 degree Celsius on the 22nd of the month.

In the past decade, the lowest minimum for the month was recorded on December 12, 2005 when the mercury recorded 3.3 degree Celsius while the highest maximum was 28.4 degree on December 15, 2003.

The record for the lowest minimum for the month of December is 1.1 degree Celsius recorded on the 26th of the month in 1945 and the highest maximum was 29.3 degrees on the third of the month in 1987. — PTI

Noida, December 16
The family members of a woman created a ruckus at district hospital today, alleging that the woman’s baby boy was exchanged with a girl.

Rajni Devi, resident of Chhalera, was admitted to district hospital Dr Bhimrao Multispeciality Hospital on Wednesday at 11 am. She gave birth to a baby at 3.15 pm the same day.

Nurses gave the baby to her after completing the formalities of fingerprinting. The baby was taken to the ward by woman’s relatives.

Last night, the woman started crying which attracted the attention of other women in the ward. The woman said her baby had been exchanged with a girl.

“When the baby cried, I woke up to change the nappy. Then I noticed that my baby had been exchanged with a baby girl,” said Rajni. Thereafter, her relatives assembled at hospital and created a ruckus.

“Someone has exchanged our boy,” said Brij Mohan, her husband.

CMS Meena Mishra said, “As per our records, a girl was born and handed over to the parents after taking its footprints. I have formed a committee which is matching the footprints of the girl with the records.”

Mohan said, “Without the DNA test, we will not take the baby.”

New Delhi, December 16
A doctor at a Delhi government hospital has been sent to jail for three years by a city court for demanding and accepting a bribe to fudge the autopsy report of a road mishap victim to show that the deceased was not under the influence of liquor.

Special judge Padam Kant Saxena also imposed a fine of Rs 40,000 on Dr Manoj Nagpal of Deen Dayal Upadhyay Hospital while sentencing him for demanding bribe from the kin of the deceased to certify in the autopsy report prepared by him that the victim was not under the influence of liquor.

“The evidence amply goes to show that there was a demand of Rs 10,000 by the accused from the complainant for not mentioning the presence of liquor in the postmortem report of his dead cousin Kuldeep Singh...,” the court said.

According to the prosecution, on April 28, 2003, complainant Vijay Kumar’s brother Kuldeep Singh was riding pillion on a motorcycle driven by his acquaintance Ajay Kumar. They met with an accident with a car. Kumar sustained injuries while Singh died at DDU Hospital.

His postmortem was conducted by Dr Nagpal and Kumar was informed that the doctor had opined that his brother Singh had consumed alcohol.

Kumar told the court that as Singh did not use to take liquor, he went to talk about it to Dr Nagpal on May 7, 2003. He said his compounder gave him a slip with Nagpal’s telephone number and instructed him to phone him.

When contacted, Dr Nagpal asked Kumar to meet him outside a restaurant at Prashant Vihar here same evening. During the meeting, he asked Kumar to pay up Rs 10,000 if he wanted him to opine that Singh had not consumed alcohol.

Kumar lodged a complaint with the CBI against the doctor, following which a trap was laid and Nagpal was caught red-handed. He was convicted for taking bribe and criminal misconduct by a public servant. — PTI

New Delhi, December 16
An MCD junior engineer has been jailed for four years for possessing disproportionate assets. The court has also convicting his wife for abetting the crime and ordered confiscation of their ill-gotten property.

Special judge Pradeep Chaddah jailed MCD junior engineer (west) Sheel Chand Goel for four years and his wife Sadhna for two years lamenting that “the menace of corruption has touched all time high.” “Convict Goel, who was employed with the MCD, misused his position, amassed wealth and committed criminal misconduct,” the court said, imposing a fine of Rs 1 lakh on him.

“Because of people like him the entire city has been defaced. Not a brick can be laid without active blessings of the MCD, “the court added.

Goel was caught accepting bribe in 2006. A subsequent search of his residence revealed he had amassed wealth worth Rs 18.73 lakh between 1984 and 2003, grossly disproportionate to his known sources of income.

The CBI, in its chargesheet, said Goel’s financial status changed after he joined the MCD and he acquired property in the name of his wife Sadhna, who despite being a housewife with no source of income, began filing wealth tax and income tax returns in her name and in the names of her children from 1988 to 1995 only to legitimise her husband’s ill-gotten wealth.

On CBI prosecutor Praneet Sharma’s prayer that the property acquired by them illegally be confiscated, the court directed the agency to confiscate their property in north-west Delhi as “otherwise convict would be at liberty to enjoy fruits of his illegal activities after carrying out his sentence.” — PTI