New Delhi, December 20
Showing a downward trend in the past few days with both the maximum and minimum temperatures dropping, the mercury today came three degrees below normal to 4.8 degree Celsius.

It was at 5 degree Celsius yesterday. It was another chilly morning with dense fog though it settled during the day.

The maximum temperature for the day was recorded at 20.4 degree Celsius which is also two notches below the normal, said the Met department.

The coldest day of the season so far was December 16 when the minimum dropped to 4.7 degree Celsius and the maximum 21.7 degrees.

However, the weather might bring a temporary relief from the chill tomorrow as the Met officials have predicted minimum temperature to hover around 7 degree Celsius whereas the maximum at 22 degree Celsius. Delhiites will experience shallow fog and mainly clear sky.

The weather conditions led to poor visibility in the morning, delaying over 55 trains coming to Delhi, including the prestigious Rajdhanis from Howrah, Patna and Jammu.

While a total of 12 trains from New Delhi have been rescheduled.

Even the sky was very clear this morning unlike yesterday when heavy fog descended on the Capital, reducing the visibility level on roads to near zero and delaying over 50 flights.

This is the second time in the last four days that the minimum temperature went below 5 degree Celsius.

Though the Met department had predicted dense fog and issued a warning, the airport largely remained free from fog with visibility above 2,000 meters on the main runway through the night.

But the visibility started dipping around 8.30 am.

According to the Met department, this is a temporary relief as Western Disturbance (WD) is passing through the region due to which the city experiences Easterly winds during the day and Westerly during the nights.

“The situation would become clear by December 23 or 24. We have been issuing warnings as fog has enveloped the whole of Bihar and Uttar Pradesh since December 6,” said the Met official.

Last year, the minimum came down to 5.2 degree Celsius on December 22. 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 maximum was 28.4 degree Celsius on December 15, 2003.

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

New Delhi, December 20
With the Delhi airport likely to be fogged out for the next two months, the airport authorities have made special provisions to look after passengers, including extra seating capacity and food and beverage counters, in case of flight delays or cancellations.

Sounding the fog warning, the Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) today said that the condition was expected to last from December 20 to February 20.

“The fog season has started from today and it will last up to February 20,” RK Jenamani, director, meteorological department, IGI airport, told IANS.

According to Jenamani, dense fog conditions will last for around 120 hours in the next two months. This would affect runway visibility.

Runway visibility up to 50 m can be tackled by category-III instrument landing system (ILS). But if it reduces further, flights will be affected.

Delhi International Airport Limited (DIAL), the company which operates the IGI airport, said it had initiated steps to help passengers, like opening additional help desks and food and beverages counters, besides increasing seating capacity at terminal-3 and terminal-1D.

“We have taken certain number of steps such as increasing seating capacity at T3 and T1D. We are constantly in touch with all the parties involved like airlines and the met department to monitor the situation,” Marcel Hungerbuehler, chief operating officer, DIAL, said.

The airport operator has increased seating capacity from 12,000 to 13,150 in T3 and from 2,200 to 2,700 in T1D.

Dense fog conditions prevented many flights from taking off in many places in north India yesterday, which led to cancellation of 11 flights at the IGI airport. However, no flights were cancelled due to foggy condition at the Indira Gandhi International airport.

“Eleven flights were cancelled yesterday, due to low visibility at other airports where the flights were to take off,” IP Rao, chief executive DIAL, said.

All three runways at the IGI airport can operate in CAT III B conditions which allows compliant aircraft with specific gear and pilots trained in using the ILS to land even when the runway visibility is down to 50 m. — IANS

New Delhi, December 20
With the arrest of six persons, including four chemists, the Crime Branch of Delhi police today claimed to have busted a racket of siphoning off medicines from Central Government Health Scheme (CGHS) and Sir Ganga Ram Hospital and then selling them in the open market.

The pharmacist-cum-store keeper of Sir Ganga Ram Hospital has also been arrested for misappropriation of hospital's medicines.

According to the police, the case ocame to light when the police arrested Vivek Singh, alias Vicky, of Bareily from Anand Vihar bus stand, who disclosed that he procured medicines from Hardeep Singh, alias Sherry, and supplied to three chemist shops at Bhagirath Place. When these shops were raided, a cache of medicines meant for CGHS was seized.

The shop owners had tried to erase the stamping of 'Govt Supply - Not for Sale' from the medicines.

They were arrested and identified as Vijay Ahuja, Atul Jain and Sachin Kumar.

Subsequently, Hardeep Singh was arrested from his house. At his instance, medicines of Sir Ganga Ram Hospital were recovered. He disclosed that his outlet for selling these medicines was through a chemist at Bhagirath Place.

The premises of the chemist were raided and a huge quantity of medicines of Sir Ganga Ram Hospital was recovered from his shop. The shop owner was arrested. He was identified as Satish Kathuria.

Hardeep Singh disclosed that these medicines were being provided by Rajender Chouhan, a pharmacist-cum-storekeeper of Sir Ganga Ram Hospital.

The conduit responsible for supplying CGHS medicines to Hardeep Singh has also been identified. 

New Delhi, December 20
Rajesh Sharma, a 47-year-old income tax official, had a close encounter with death when he attempted to save a police constable, who was being assaulted at I-Avenue near Brig Hoshiar Singh Marg in Sarojini Nagar last night.

Rajesh was shot at in his cheek by one of the two assailants; the bullet had pierced through the scruff of his neck.

Before the incident, Rajesh was strolling with his friends at the main road near his residence at I-Avenue.

His wife Ritu Sharma said, "My husband usually goes for walk with his friends after dinner. Last night when my husband and his friends were out for the walk, they heard a loud noise and saw that two men were beating a police constable. Rajesh and his friends tried to disrupt the fight. One of the assailants brandished a gun and in the melee he shot my husband. The bullet pierced his cheek and came out of the scruff of his neck."

Ritu, anxious about the health of her husband, said that now he was out of danger.

Rajesh was rushed to the AIIMS Trauma Centre after he was shot at. He was then admitted to the ICU ward.

Chandravir, the constable, said that he was returning to his home after completing his duty around 10 pm.

He is a beat constable at Netaji Nagar.

"I was on my way home when a Santro car rammed into the rear of my motor-cycle. I fell down and was dragged with my motor-cycle a couple of feet on the road. The two men halted their car and came out. One of them was carrying a hammer and he started hitting me with it. Four to five locals who were present in the area saw me and came to my rescue. The other assailant was brandishing a pistol and fired a few rounds in the air to intimidate the people."

"I was hurt in my leg and was still on the ground, trying to grab the man carrying the hammer. When I was about to dial 100, the assailants ran away. I was taken to the hospital, where I learnt that a local was shot," said the constable.

A call was placed at the Police Control Room (PCR). When the police arrived they rushed Chandravir and Rajesh to the AIIMS Trauma Centre.

Chandravir's hands were fractured, according to a senior police official.

Chandravir pointed out that he did not know why he was being beaten by the assailants.

"I did not understand why they rammed their car into my motor-cycle and then angrily started beating me," he added.

New Delhi, December 20
With the directorate of education declaring the guidelines for nursery admissions last week, anxious parents are now busy making last minute decisions to figure out which will be the best choice for their children.

With a disparate choice of schools, parents are looking for a good academic record, excellent infrastructure, trained teachers as well as a good brand. Many parents have already started collecting details of schools best-suited to them.

Prithvi Wardhan, a parent from Greater Kailash said, "For the past two weeks, we had been preparing a list of schools with their parameters for admission last year. Parameters like alumni, sibling, gender and transfer case favour a particular set of children. We have also been in touch with other parents through our child's playschool."

"To reach the top is easy, but to stay there is very difficult. There is no blind following. Schools must deliver quality, value, worth," said MI Hussain, principal, DPS Mathura Road.

"Even if one has to pay a bit out of the pocket, they just want to make sure the school has the best reputation and the best faculty. Nursery admissions are no piece of cake. It is no less headache than a university admission. In fact the pressure is much more, as it is the beginning of your child's academic life. Our one wrong choice can make all the difference. Thorough research is very important for identifying the best school," said Kirti Mathur, a parent from Vasant Kunj.

"If you want the parents to put their child and their trust in your school, you must have a good brand," said Kiran Mehta, principal, Salwan Public School, Mayur Vihar Phase III.

The guidelines for nursery admissions this year are same as last year. The pre-admission forms for nursery will be available between January 2 and 16 at private unaided schools. The schools have to display the first list of selected candidates by February 1. The last date of admission will be March 31.

Parents seeking admission for their wards in the Economically Weaker Section (EWS) category will also have much help this year. All schools will have to strictly follow a schedule of separate admission for the EWS children, which will be a big relief for parents as now they would not have to run around separate schools.

A common admission form for admitting candidates from the EWS and disadvantaged groups has been devised this year. The schools will also have to ensure that the forms are available free of cost to applicants from the EWS or disadvantaged group.

New Delhi, December 20
Under a joint action of Public Welfare Department (PWD), Special Task Force (STF) and Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD), the adjoining market of Kailash Nagar and Gandhi Nagar today saw a major demolition drive with over 150 shops facing the heat.

The action was taken to remove encroachments done by the shopkeepers.

"There had been significant encroachments by the shopkeepers. They had encroached upon the roads from both the sides by constructing ramps and godowns. It was causing inconvenience to the commuters," said SD Tomar, executive engineer of Shahdara South zone.

He said that the two-day demolition drive was carried out on the orders passed by the chief secretary.

"The action was led by STF while PWD helped in the demarcation of the area. Yesterday, we had demolished shops in Kailash Nagar," he said.

The MCD also demolished illegal portions of 19 properties falling in the jurisdiction of Central, West and Najafgarh zones. The civic agency's building department carried out the action with the help of local police.

The civic agency demolished illegal portions of the properties in Vishwakarma Colony, Pul Pehladpur, Molarband Extension, Mahipalpur Extension, Mahipalpur, Shanti Nagar, Rani Bagh, Rohini, Pitampura and Chander Nagar.

Notices were sent before taking action, said officials.

New Delhi, December 20
Anurag Sharma, one of the key accused of the Ramjas College mark-sheets scam, surrendered himself at the Tis Hazari Courts today. The police is investigating his role in the scam.

"He is being interrogated. We are also probing his connection with Naresh Tau and the lab assistant, Suresh Chand," said a police officer.

Sharma worked independently but was well acquainted with Tau and Chand.

The police first arrested, Sanjeet Dahiya, who was involved in the use of forged mark-sheets to secure admission on July 7.

In this case, a second-year Kirori Mal College student, Anuj Sharma was impersonating one, Sanyam Arora, who was seeking admission in Economics (Hon).

Dahiya was given bail and then arrested again for his involvement in three cases of admission by forged mark-sheets.

The cases were unearthed between September and October this year.

The college authorities discovered that there were a total of 36 such cases of illegal admission.

The police later arrested Sahil, Mukul, Sanchit and Rahul on December 9 for their involvement in the scam.

Thereafter, four more were arrested: Naresh Tau, Rohit Lamba, Kuldeep and Sitta.

The police is further probing whether more insiders in the college are involved in this scam. 

New Delhi, December 20
The Delhi Electricity Regulatory Commission (DERC) today asked the Delhi government again to inform it within two days on how to tackle the situation of payment of dues to power generation companies.

The Reliance Infrastructure-backed discom BSES has to pay dues of Rs 3,000 crore to the NTPC and other power generation companies.

The NTPC had served notice to the BSES and the DERC to prevent supply of power to Delhi from December 7, if dues are not paid. But with the intervention of the Delhi Chief Minister, Sheila Dikshit, the NTPC agreed to continue the power supply till January 7, 2012.

In return, the DERC had slapped notices on the BSES on November 25 asking why its licences should not be suspended for failing to clear huge dues to the generation companies.

The notice also said that if the commission was not satisfied with replies by the discom, it might suspend the licence and appoint an administrator to discharge the functions of the licensees.

However, the Delhi government has already cleared its view saying that it was not going to pay the dues on behalf of the private power distribution companies.

The BSES, responding to a notice of the DERC last week, presented its financial position to the regulator and said it could raise a loan of Rs 5,000 crore from IDBI provided the Delhi government gave an assistance of Rs 500 crore.

Earlier, the city government agreed to sanction Rs 500 crore to the BSES, but it refused when the Opposition parties had taken objection, saying that the government favoured the private power distribution company.

New Delhi, December 20
A PIL was today filed in the Delhi High Court seeking a direction to Jamia Milia Islamia to conduct students' union election which has not been for held for the past five years.

A bench of Acting Chief Justice AK Sikri and Justice Rajiv Sahai Endlaw is likely to hear tomorrow the PIL filed by three persons, including two former students of the university.

The petition alleged Jamia was not conducting the students' union election in "illegal and arbitrary" manner since 2006 despite several representation made in this regard before the administration.

"Jamia was not conducting and allowing the students' union election since 2006 onwards till date despite several representations and request made by students to various authorities, including the vice-chancellor," the petition, filed by Ikrar Khan, Afroz Alam Sahil and Naseem Ahmed, said.

The request for conducting the election was made time and again but no action has been taken, the PIL, filed through lawyer Sitab Ali Chaudhary, said.

Jamia has been charging Rs 50 annually from each student as union fee since 2006 but the authorities have "no intention to hold the election". The plea also said that the university authorities had dissolved the elected union in 2006 without giving any reason.

"The administration of Jamia is less concerned about the election for the students' union as the administration can take any decision without any opposition in the absence of a students' union," the petition said. - PTI

New Delhi, December 20
Poonam Garg, 41, had a masters' degree in history and a passion for teaching but the housewife was unable to pursue it until now.

Garg, a west Delhi resident, is one of the five homemakers among the 64 volunteers chosen by the Tihar prisons to impart basic education to the prisoners under a campaign to attain 100 per cent literacy.

The project called "Padho ya Padhao" (study or teach) has been launched with the help of the National Literacy Mission of the ministry of human resource development.

"I always wanted to be in the teaching profession but unfortunately it never materialised as my children needed my time and attention," said Garg, who also has bachelors of education degrees in Hindi and social sciences.

"The children have grown up and I have ample time for myself. So, when I saw the advertisement in the newspaper I decided to take the plunge as it would be a noble work and my long lost dream to teach would be fulfiled," she said.

The Tihar prisons had invited applications from volunteers last month.

Spokesperson for Tihar Sunil Gupta said, "We received over 100 mails and we selected 64 people who came from different walks of life. Of those selected five are homemakers and 10 students.

"There was a student from IIT-Roorkee who had volunteered, but then he opted out to allow his mother join the noble cause. She is around 48 years of age and highly educated. She has been selected as one of the teachers for our inmates," another jail official said.

"It is a great opportunity. I loved teaching so was in the profession. Those lodged in the jail are victims of situations. They are not criminals by birth," Satish Bhatia (68), a retired teacher, said.

Bhatia admitted that having Tihar inmates as students will be a "bigger challenge" to her as a teacher.

"They are the real underprivileged lot and we must contribute to their welfare for a better society," she said.

Gupta said more teachers were being roped in for the education campaign in the prison that houses over 11,000 inmates as it had impacted the life of many prisoners.

"In our first campus placement conducted here in three phases this year, over 100 inmates were selected. Majority of those selected had enrolled in the "Padho ya Padhao" project. Inmates who were selected in the placement drive were offered salaries that ranged between Rs 84,000 and Rs 6 lakh per annum," he said. — PTI

New Delhi, December 20
A youth from Bihar, facing trial here for abduction and rape charges after he eloped and married a 19-year-old girl, has been let off with the court discarding her testimony that she had acted under duress.

Additional Sessions Judge Bimla Kumari let off Samastipur-native Hasan Khan from the charges of abducting and raping the girl from Darbhanga, pointing out that she had repeatedly appeared before various authorities, including courts in Delhi and Patna, but never complained to them of being under pressure from the youth.

The court also acquitted boy’s sister Joya Khan and his landlord Waqar Ahmed of Madangir here in south Delhi of the charges of abetment and conspiracy.

“She has been appearing in various courts in Delhi and Patna and has been giving her statements to judges and magistrates.

She had ample opportunities to disclose the facts to them and therefore, the statements given by the girl to the judges and magistrates cannot be disbelieved only on her bald allegation that she did not disclose facts to these authorities under the threat by Hasan,” the court said.

“I am of considered view that offence of rape by Hasan upon the girl was not proved beyond reasonable doubt and it is concluded that she was a consenting party,” the judge said. — PTI