New Delhi, April 24
Three family members, including a nine-year-old boy, were killed when the car they were travelling in rammed into a stationary truck laden with bricks at Swaroop Nagar in northwest Delhi early this morning.

The mangled remains of Hyundai Verna car which rammed into a truck at Swaroop Nagar in northwest Delhi on Wednesday. Tribune photo

The deceased are named Ruchi (45), her nine-year-old son, Vedanta, and her mother, Pushpa (65). Ruchi's husband, Roshan, who was driving the white Hyundai Verna car is injured. He is being treated at the Fortis Hospital in Shalimar Bagh.

Roshan's sister-in-law, Reena (20) and his brother-in-law's son, Aaryan (6), escaped unhurt.

The six persons are residents of sector-16 in Faridabad. They had gone to Chandigarh to attend a relative's wedding. They were returning to Faridabad when the accident took place.

A police officer said the accident occurred in front of Mohan Villas banquet hall on the National Highway-1. The truck was parked on the highway after a puncture in one of its tyres.

"The car was being driven at a very high speed. It rammed into the rear of the truck. The left side of the car was mangled due to the accident. The driver must have either doze off or was probably trying to overtake a vehicle," said the officer.

The incident took place at 5 am. A few minutes later, a passerby informed the police about the accident.

The police reached the site and rushed the victims to the hospital. "Ruchi and Pushpa were found dead in the car. They had sustained severe head injuries. There were injuries on their heads. Ruchi was sitting on the front while her mother was seated behind her," said the officer.

The other victims were rushed to the Babu Jagjivan Ram Hospital in Jahangirpuri. Doctors declared Roshan's son, Vedanta, dead. Roshan is in a critical condition and his relatives shifted him to the Fortis Hospital.

Investigators have registered a case under Indian Penal Code sections 279 (Rash driving or riding on a public way) and 304 A (Causing death by negligence). They are waiting for Roshan to recover before taking his statement.

"We have not arrested anyone. We are probing the truck driver's role in the accident," said another officer, close to the investigation of the case.

New Delhi, April 24
A six-year-old girl was allegedly raped by a 14-year-old boy in Seemapuri this morning. The boy has been apprehended. The police said the victim's parents and the accused are masons and have been working together at an under-construction building in Seemapuri. They have set up temporary accommodation there.

The girl was sleeping with her parents on the second floor of the building. This morning, the labourers woke up upon hearing the victim's screams. Her parents saw that she was missing. They went to the first floor from where the screams were coming.

The accused managed to flee. The victim was found bleeding and in pain.

The police rushed to the site of the incident and took the girl to the Guru Teg Bahadur Hospital, where she is undergoing treatment. Doctors said the victim is out of danger and likely to be discharged on hursday.

On the victim's statement and medical report, a case of rape under the IPC section 376 and Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act, 2012 was registered at the Seemapuri police station.

New Delhi, April 24
Even as the resentment against the four-year undergraduate degree course is intensifying with each day, the administration is furthering the Vice-Chancellor's reform agenda in a hurried pace.

Information regarding the latest such move came from the university's Hindi department where teachers today showed their resentment at the manner in which the syllabus for the proposed baccalaureate (four-year course) was said to be passed by the department's Committee of Courses.

"The committee apparently decided in a close-door meeting yesterday in which teachers did not have a say. The syllabus was finalised without taking the views of teachers at colleges. The committee has not been constituted as per the regulations 16, 16 B (1) and 16 B (2) of the Committee of Courses of the department that necessitates the presence of at least four college teachers. We will take up the irregularities with the Dean Arts faculty," said Sanjeev Kumar who is an associate professor of Hindi at the DU's Deshbandu College.

Unwilling to accept what they call 'whimsical' pattern in which the administration is imposing the four-year degree course, teachers of the Hindi department have got a petition signed from several teachers and are trying to submit it to the head and Dean of the university's Arts Faculty.

A meeting chaired by the Dean of Arts Faculty is scheduled for tomorrow and the new syllabus of Hindi is expected to be discussed and if it gets the go-ahead the next would be the Academic Council where the chances of modification would dim.

New Delhi, April 24
There will be better mobile connectivity in the underground trains as the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) will soon work to ensure better signals.

DMRC will allow installation of cellular towers on various stations. It will provide bare spaces on licence basis for placement and operation of telecommunication equipment for enhancement of signals at various sites in Metro corridor stations as per the latest guidelines of the Directorate of Telecommunications.

In order to raise standards in telecommunications, the DMRC floated tenders inviting companies for allotment of space to install cellular towers on various stations. The tenure of the licensing of space will be six years.

The average ridership of Delhi Metro daily is 20 lakh and the trains are installed with the state-of-the-art communication system at all the stations as well as trains.

New Delhi, April 24
Delhi Health Minister AK Walia today stressed the need to adopt an integrated approach for holistic health, while inaugurating a two-day national seminar on holistic health at Maulana Azad Medical College.

With a total participation of 625 delegates from various institutes all across the states, the seminar aimed at sensitizing and orienting participants regarding the concept of holistic health which includes all aspects of health like physical, mental and spiritual.

The seminar-cum-workshop was organized by the Department of Health and Family Welfare and Chaudhary Brahm Prakash Ayurveda Charak Sansthan, Najafgarh.

The workshop brought various disciplines like allopathy, Ayurveda, yoga, naturopathy, home remedies, mental health, unani, homeopathy and allied therapies (like physiotherapy, laughter therapy, etc.) of healthcare on a single platform where the participants got acquainted with various techniques useful for the promotion of healthcare.

Walia highlighted the need to integrate all forms of medical sciences for obtaining holistic health and appreciated the effort of health department for bringing various systems on a single platform.

Almost 30 renowned experts were felicitated in the seminar and workshop that was conducted in eight sessions.

The second day of the workshop was dedicated to mental and emotional health with the demonstrations of some useful practices like emotional freedom techniques and mindfulness.

Also, 30 renowned experts from all systems of medicines delivered lectures on various aspects of holistic health and expressed the need to give more importance to preventing the diseases.

"Various issues pertaining to the integration of different systems of medicines, its methodology, regulatory aspect, etc., were discussed and the seminar concluded with the resolution of making efforts for integrating the best of every system of medicine for the general benefit in all the aspects of health," said a senior government official.