New Delhi, February 3
Ten Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB) personnel were arrested on Saturday on charges of misbehaving with NCC girl cadets who were returning from the Republic Day celebrations. The incident occurred on the Delhi-Guwahati Sampark Kranti Express train, a spokesman of the SSB said.

The personnel may lose their jobs, the spokesman said.

Director General of the SSB, Arun Chaudhary took serious notice of the incident and ordered the immediate suspension of jawans on the basis of preliminary inquiry conducted by the SSB officers.

He also directed the officers concerned to complete the disciplinary proceedings within a fortnight and submit the report.

The jawans were recruits at Debendra Nagar Training Centre, Sonitpur in Assam, who went on mid-term leave. They were returning to their training centre.

Following the incident, the Director General also issued orders to the heads of training centres to lay emphasis on gender sensitization and proper behaviour during training of the SSB personnel so that there is no inconvenience caused to the public while the personnel take rail or road journey.

New Delhi, February 3
Two cases of murder were reported in the past 24 hours in the Capital.

In the first incident, a 24-year-old man was shot dead by unknown persons in the Karawal Nagar area of east Delhi.

The police official said that the deceased was identified as Jitender Chaudhary, a local resident. Family members of the victim said that Jitender received a call on his cell phone from someone at 6 am and he left home. He told his family members that he would return soon, but at 9 am they got a call about his murder.

"His body was found near a canal in the area. He was shot dead," said a police official. The police is going through the victim's call record to check who made last call to him. "The motive behind the murder is not clear so far, we are looking into the matter and hope to crack the case soon," said the official.

Meanwhile, in another incident a 40-year-old man was stabbed to death in the Sultanpuri area following an argument last night. The deceased was identified as Prem, a resident of C Block in the area.

"He used to work with a private firm in the area. Last night he had an argument with some persons who in a fit of rage stabbed him in his stomach and fled from the spot. He was taken to a nearby hospital where he was declared brought dead," said the official.

New Delhi, February 3
The brutal gangrape and murder incident of last December in Delhi has without doubt stirred the conscience of the people and both the Government and police are now proactive in seeking to make the country more secure.

While the Central Government preferred to bring in an ordinance amending laws to deal firmly with sexual assault, the Delhi police has bolstered its presence on the streets of the Capital with increased patrolling and adding more checkpoints during odd hours, but it will require prolonged measures to overturn the tag of Delhi being the most unsafe place for women.

This label was underscored by a new survey "Women's Safety: Reality Check and Recommendations," by the Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India (ASSOCHAM) Ladies League--released in the backdrop of recent public outcry over the concerns of women safety, lapses in policing system and long trials of rape cases.

The survey, which sampled nearly 2,500 women-working, housewives and college-going girls based in Delhi-NCR- revealed that while 80 per cent of women face sexual abuse either at workplace or at home, those who migrate to the city, comprising 53 per cent of the whole lot, are most vulnerable.

What's worse, women are largely unaware of the laws that guarantee them equality and employability even as there are constitutional provisions to safeguard their rights.

The proportion is glaringly high to be ignored with 88 per cent of the total surveyed women not being aware of the legislations for them, including the recently notified landmark law Prevention of Domestic Violence Act apart from the other laws, such as Equal Remuneration Act of 1976, Hindu Marriage Act of 1955, the Marriage (amendment) Act 2001, the Immoral Traffic (Prevention) Act 1956 and 1986, noted the survey.

Among the surveyed females while around 53 per cent have migrated from various states to Delhi in search of work, education of children, etc, half of them are being exploited by their employers, the report noted.

It was also found out that almost 38 per cent of them do not have any knowledge about elections as they are not educated, another 43 per cent of the sampled women do not vote despite knowing about elections and their importance.

In this context of discrimination and gender-based violence, the "Bill of Rights" proposed by the Justice Verma committee assumes significance.

Women activists and legal experts endorse the "Bill of Rights" as it spells out the fundamental rights of the women on the lines of non-discrimination that the Constitution of India guarantees. This will not only send a strong signal to those who hold sexist views, as many of the chosen MPs, but also grant an empowering status to the women, they said.

"The Bill of Rights should be brought out as it essentially reasserts protection to women that the Constitution of India guarantees to women. But while the government has come with an ordinance on sexual assault, the Prime Minister has not spoken a word about the bill," said lawyer activist Vrinda Grover.

New Delhi, February 3
President of the Kendriya Guru Singh Sabha Tarvinder Singh Marwah, who won the Delhi Sikh Gurdwara Management Committee election from Defence Colony ward No. two, appealed to all elected members of the DSGMC that co-opt members should be ‘Guru Sikh’ and should have expertise in journalism, administration, medical field, scientist, education or business.

He said that co-opt members should be journalists, retired IAS, IPS, doctors, scientists, educationists and industrialists. With the help of these people "we can help the Sikh community and fulfil the assurances given to the people during the election," he said.

Marwah, who is also a Congress MLA from the Jangpura Assembly constituency, further appealed to the members, "Instead of backbiting each other, we should together start developing the projects of the gurdwara committee that were stopped during the reign of the last committee. We should start working on the projects like Guru Harkishan Hospital on the premises of Gurdwara Bala Sahib near Sarai Kale Khan, bring back parking lot of Gurdwara Bangla Sahib from the NDMC under the control of the DSGMC, prevent misuse of ‘Guru Ki Golak’, increment in the salary of sewadars and other employees and improve the standard of education in Guru Harkishan Public Schools.”

He said, "We have been given chance by the community to serve it because the community was not satisfied with the performance of the last committee. We should take it as service not as rule if we want to be successful in our goal."

Marwah said that he had the same opinion when he had filed the nomination papers to contest the election and someone asked that how an MLA could contest the election of the gurdwara committee.

He said that the gurdwara committee was not an office of profit. It was a place to serve Guru as well as the community.

New Delhi, February 3
Delhiites enjoyed a warm weekend as today the maximum temperature settled five notches above average at 26.3° C and the minimum temperature settling a notch above average at 9.5° C. The morning was sunny and pleasant.

Forecasting thundershowers on Monday, officials at the IMD said that the chilly weather is set to return. "Parts of the city will be lashed by rains tomorrow and with that the chill will make a comeback," said an IMD official. — TNS