New Delhi, May 2
A nursing home owner and his woman accomplice were apprehended yesterday when they allegedly sold a two-month-old girl to a decoy customer of the police in East Jyoti Nagar locality, north-east Delhi.

The accused are identified as Sumit Sharma (28), a resident of GTB Enclave and his accomplice Niharika (26), who stays in Chhatarpur. Sharma runs Jeevan Jyoti Nursing Home in the Shanti Nagar area of Loni, Ghaziabad.

The police were informed about a gang indulging in human trafficking.

"On Wednesday, we were tipped off that this gang is trying to sell the baby girl to a prospective buyer. We were also informed that at 3 pm, a person would be coming near Vinayak Restaurant in East Jyoti Nagar to strike a deal," said Additional Commissioner of Police (Crime Branch) Ravindra Yadav.

The police with a member of Shakti Vahini, an anti-human trafficking NGO, waited near the restaurant. "A decoy customer was sent to the accused, who settled the deal and paid Rs 3 lakh. When the accused handed over the custody of the baby girl to the decoy customer, a signal was flashed and the police nabbed Sharma and Niharika," said Yadav.

"Investigations have revealed that the infant was procured from Shastri Park. We are making efforts to trace her biological parents," said the official.

During interrogation, Sharma said that while running the nursing home he became acquainted with Dina Nath, who was allegedly indulging in human trafficking, according to Yadav.

Nath offered Sharma a handsome sum of money for becoming his partner in human trafficking activities.

"Few days ago, Nath and Sharma managed to get one baby girl from their sources," added Yadav. The police are probing the involvement of other criminals in this racket.

Sharma allegedly lured Niharika into selling the girl on the promise of obtaining easy money. She had become acquainted with him in 2006.

On the orders of the Child Welfare Committee, the infant has been admitted to "Udyan", an NGO at Gole Market.

New Delhi, May 2
Leader of the Opposition in the Delhi Assembly and senior BJP leader Prof Vijay Kumar Malhotra today condemned the death of the Indian prisoner in a Pakistani jail, Sarabjeet Singh.

Condemning the death of Sarabjeet, Prof Malhotra said that it was a pre-planned conspiracy of the Pakistan government. He reiterated that along with Pakistan, the Indian government is also responsible and accountable for the murder of Sarabjeet, as both the governments did not take any step to prevent it despite all the notices and warnings they had received earlier.

At the time of the creation of Bangladesh, around 93,000 Pakistani soldiers were captured by the Indian Army during the Indo-Pak war. And the Indian government has set an example the way it treated the Pakistani prisoners. "India ultimately released all these war prisoners, but, did not negotiate the release of about 200-300 Indian soldiers of the same war, kept in Pakistani prisons. 

New Delhi, May 2
As courses for Delhi University's (DU) new four-year undergraduate programme are being readied in a fast-track mode, the university's new format is said to have received a thumbs up from its prospective takers this year.

This emerges following an interactive session between nearly 3,000 students who have taken XII board exams from various schools across Delhi and the Vive-Chancellor Prof Dinesh Singh and his team. These students were today invited for an orientation session and following the two-hour discussion, 90 per cent among them gave a written feedback in favour of the new programme, said the VC while briefing the media in the evening.

"Among the representative sample comprising students of private and government schools, 90 per cent expressed a liking to get themselves enrolled in the new programme. This is another affirmation that the four-year programme is a positive step and people are able to understand the purpose," he said.

The session assumes significance given the concerns raised by the skeptics' and consequent controversy surrounding the new programme even as open house sessions attended by students, parents and faculty are a usual feature during the year.

A support statement for the new progarmme signed by principals of 43 DU colleges was also circulated in which they have stated that the colleges are geared up for implementing the new programme. They have also submitted their resentment towards what they refer as "who are superficially acquainted with the processes and activities of the university and only reflect a certain elitism far away from ground realities."

According to them, it is "misleading" on the part of a few who are driven by an ideological bias to hinder what they call as a "well-thought out and widely consulted" reform process.

Anticipating the difficult road ahead for the four-year programme, the university this year is offering some sops to the students, including the SC/ST, OBCs and the differently abled. "The DU is making special efforts to reach out to category of SC/ST students. They will be allowed to fill the form in the manner others do and they can seek admission in any college of their choice depending on their merit," Prof Singh said.

For this, the university is on process of constituting a special committee to ensure that every student is guided well for admission and after admission it would be ensured that all learning material will be made available without any impediment.

"There would be special orientation programme for SC/ST and OBC candidates. So that periodically we are able to orient them by knowing about their difficulties they encounter," stated the VC. Further, this is not all, the dean of students welfare, Prof J.P. Khurana said, the admission process will be decentralised for the physically challenged, allowing them to opt for college of their choice.

Importantly, for this year's course they don't have to get their disability certificates verified unlike previous years and take admission directly, said Prof Khurana. Even for the OBC student applicants the criteria for admission have been relaxed targeting a maximum filing of sweats.