New Delhi, September 25
The Delhi High Court today declined the pleas by prime accused in the Nitish Katara murder case — Vikas and Vishal Yadav — and key witness Bharati Yadav, seeking her examination through a court commission or via video-conferencing.

Justice S. K. Agarwal turned down the petitions, finding no infirmity in the trial court’s order rejecting their applications on the same issue. However, the judge refused to say anything on the application filed in the trial court by the Uttar Pradesh Police, which among other things had stated that the court could consider examining Bharati through a commission.

Earlier, the court issued a notice to the UP Police through counsel Sandeep Singh to respond to Bharati’s plea that she was willing to be cross-examined in London by a Commission of the Court or via video-conferencing.

Her brother Vikas Yadav and his cousin Vishal had filed a petition offering to foot the expenses of such a commission or video-conferencing.

The High Court had earlier made Bharati’s examination a pre-condition for granting bail to Vikas after the trial court rejected a plea to examine Bharati via video-conferencing.

An appeal in the High Court against the trial court’s order disallowing her to be examined through video-conferencing was withdrawn after the court insisted that she come to India to depose as a witness in the case.

The High Court had also turned down bail to Vikas’ and co-accused Vishal Yadav on the ground that important material evidence (Bharati) was yet to be examined.

On July 27, the trial court had also given the last opportunity to Bharati to appear before it later this month. The operation of the non-bailable warrant issued by the court against her was suspended until then.

The prosecution had opposed Bharati’s plea to be examined through video-conferencing saying she was avoiding appearance as prosecution witness since July 2003 and had gone to the United Kingdom on the pretext of studying.

Besides, it would not be possible to confront Bharati with the hundreds of documentary evidence and the videotape record via video-conferencing, it said.

New Delhi, September 25
Fourteen years after the CBI registered a disproportionate assets case against the then General Manager of the Delhi Milk Scheme (DMS) and his wife, a city court today ordered the framing of charges against the couple.

Special Judge Dinesh Dayal ordered the framing of charges under Sections 120 B (criminal conspiracy), 467 (forgery) and 471 of IPC (using a forged document as genuine) against accused Ram Singh, an 1972 batch IAS officer from Madhya Pradesh cadre, and his wife Savitri Singh, Inspector in the Income Tax Survey Unit number one office at Jhandewalan of the Deputy Director, Investigation. The court fixed October 18 for framing of charges.

The CBI had laid a trap and caught the duo on April 13, 1992, while accepting Rs two lakh from a complainant to award a contract for milk supply. Later, the wife was also arrested, the agency said.

The court said the couple would be tried jointly as the probe had revealed that between January 1, 1985 and April 13, 1992 (the date of registration of the case), they had allegedly conspired and in pursuance to that conspiracy, amassed assets amounting to Rs 53,23,408, which were disproportionate to their known sources of income. Savitri had opened bank accounts in different names with forged documents, the CBI alleged.

New Delhi, September 25
When it comes to successfully bending rules and regulations to their advantage or even untying the usually elusive and restrictive red tape, no one is better at it than the Capital’s entrepreneurs.

More than two years ago when, after a protracted legal battle, the authorities finally managed to impose a ban on erection of huge roadside hoardings (other than those carrying public service messages from government agencies), there was a collective sigh of relief. Finally, the city would be rid of the monstrosity that not only scarred the skyline but also distracted motorists, often restricting their view, leading to serious accidents.

But the relief was short lived. The entrepreneurs and their legal luminaries huddled together and came out with a solution after prolonged brainstorming sessions. “If there is a ban on erecting hoardings on public land, let us have mobile hoardings”. It was an idea whose time had come.

Dozens of flat bedded half trucks were procured for the purpose and elaborate neon and plastic hoardings mounted on them, carrying the message of the advertiser. These mobile hoardings move along the Capital’s busy roads or stay legally parked in busy commercial areas. No rules are flouted or laws violated, yet the message is delivered as strongly as before the ban on hoardings.

Officials agree that there is little they can do about it. There is no violation. The only time they can take action is when the drivers break any of the traffic rules or infringe on the Motor Vehicles Act. Since these are commercial vehicles and are on the road after procuring proper permits, the authorities can do little about it.

These officials explained that the ban was on erecting hoardings on public land or on roadsides. The ban does not cover mobile hoardings or those loaded on top of trucks. They also agree that these mobile hoardings are also distracting motorists and are an aberration. But then to secure a ban on these would perhaps call for another expensive prolonged legal battle.

It suits all to let things go on as they are. After all business is business.

New Delhi, September 25
The Delhi High Court today directed the Delhi Government to explain the basis on which it took the decision to set out conditions for admission of National Open School students to Class XI in regular state government schools. Justice C. K. Mahajan asked the government to explain by October 12 why the eligibility criterion was fixed at 55 per cent aggregate marks and not lower or higher, and also why such a decision was taken subsequent to the announcement of Class X results and not before.

On September 21, the Delhi Government’s Education Department had defended in the High Court its decision to impose certain conditions for admission of National Open School students to Class XI in regular state government schools. In a reply to a petition challenging an official circular in this regard before the judge, the Education Department through counsel Zubeda Begum stated that it was a policy decision under its right to prescribe the criteria in question. On September 3, the High Court had issued a notice on a plea by a Class X student of National Institute of Open Schooling, who had been denied admission to regular schools. 

New Delhi, September 25
More than 60 students from various Delhi colleges were today inducted as road safety volunteers under the Student Traffic Volunteer Scholarship (STVS) scheme.

The STVS scheme is a Delhi Traffic Police and IRTE initiative and is sponsored by Castrol India Limited.

The scheme is part of the Castrol Drive for Safety programme, which is being launched in Delhi early next month. The Castrol Drive for Safety programme aims at propagating safe driving habits among car owners/drivers. Last year, this programme was run in Mumbai. The programme includes a number of activities— on ground and in mass media and the STVS is one of the activities that Castrol India has adopted for Delhi..

The STVs scheme offers the college students an opportunity to earn whilst they learn and at the same time enables them to make a positive contribution to society. Under the scheme, the students will support the Delhi traffic police in managing traffic during peak hours and at peak traffic intersections. The students have undergone a rigorous 18-day training programme and further training will continue throughout the duration of this programme i.e. until March 2005.

Speaking on the occasion of the launch, Dr Ashok Jhawar, Country Head for BP in India said, “BP is a strong believer in both road safety and in working for the betterment of the communities in which we operate. The safety of our employees, contractors and the public at large, is an absolute priority. That is why we have an uncompromising goal—no accidents, no harm to people and no damage to the environment.”

Mr Ravi Kirpalani, vice-president, Sales, Castrol India Limited, outlined the various activities, which Castrol was planning to undertake in Delhi as part of the Castrol Drive for Safety programme.

Besides the STVS scheme, Castrol would also support a School Conclave programme aimed at training schoolteachers to include road safety as part of the school curriculum. There would also be a contact programme on ground as well as through media.

During his presentation, Mr Kirpalani said, “Castrol is committed to doing something in the area of road safety for the citizens of Delhi. It is now up to the citizens to do their bit towards making Delhi roads safer to drive on.”

Insisting on the need to inculcate road safety as a culture, Dr K K Paul, Commissioner of Police, Delhi said, “Student volunteers will be of great help to Delhi Police, especially in the wake of the festive season and trade fair approaching. This is the time when Delhi roads witness maximum traffic jams and people using roads to meet their near and dear ones. We want them to be completely safe. These students will be helpful in meeting out manpower needs during this festive season.”

Speaking at the occasion, Mr Qmar Ahmed, Joint Commissioner, Delhi Traffic Police said, “Road safety has been the prime focus for Delhi Traffic Police and we are delighted to partner in this programme. These students are the future of tomorrow and they could be of immense help to society in propagating the message of road safety. We at Delhi Traffic Police have the sole aim of ensuring smooth flow of traffic.”

Ghaziabad, September 25
Panic has gripped the city as 200 students of Ajay Garg Engineering College on Dasna Road were taken ill after having breakfast and lunch in the college canteen yesterday.

The sick students have been admitted to Yashoda and three other hospitals of Ghaziabad. All the students have been declared out of danger, though about 20 students are still serious. Unhygienic food from the college mess is being considered the cause of food poisoning to such a large number of students which include dozens of girl students also.

District Magistrate Santosh Kumar Yadav has ordered a magisterial inquiry into the incident. The probe will be conducted by the City Magistrate Sarv Jeet Ram who has been asked to submit his report in a day. Samples of all the food items like, bread, eggs, dry rations, cooked food etc have been sent for testing. The students had reported sick by the evening and this continued throughout night.

According to Dr Dinesh Arora in Yashoda Hospital alone, some 100 students had been admitted. In tests, unhygienic food has been identified as the main cause of food poisoning, Dr Arora said.

After taking bread omelette in breakfast, the students had started vomiting and developed fever. In lunch, They had taken cheese, dal, rice and gulabjaman and kheer as dessert.

College vice-chairman Dharampal Garg said some students had vomited, loose motions and fever. After the receipt of test reports of food samples and dry rations, necessary action will be taken against the guilty persons, the DM said.

Gurgaon, September 25
The en masse indefinite strike by the students of the Maharshi Dayanand University (MDU), National Law College, for their demands entered sixth day here today.

The MDU Registrar, Mr Shyam Prasad Mishra, who took charge recently, told TNS that the immediate demand of the shortage of teachers will be met soon but other problems of the institute will be sorted out gradually.

However, the students’ grouse is that no one from the university has talked to them since they went on strike. They have urged the Vice-Chancellor of Maharashi Dayanad University to solve the problems they have been facing since the inception of the institute in 2000.

The issues on which the students have gone on strike this time are more or less the same on which they had staged a stir about two years back. However, the issues involved in the present stir include appointment of a director for at least five years. They allege that since the beginning of the institute, nine directors have been appointed. This deprives the organisation with continuity in planning and administrative vision, much to the detriment of the students.

Presently, a teacher of English is officiating as Director. Many in the academic circles wonder if this is not violation of the norms of the Bar Council of India (BCI) which gives recognition to a law institute.

According to them, only a person of law background can be principal or director of a law institute. A few months ago, the post was officiated by a teacher of economics in the Department of Economics, MDU. The BCI’s guidelines for appointment of the head of a law institute is in keeping with the professional nature of the course.

The lacklustre approach of the university on the issue can be fathomed by the shoddy treatment meted out to the immediate past director of the institute. A retired professor of Law, MDU, he was given a full-time job of director for a year on a contractual basis. The promise of the salary as made in his appointment letter ran into controversy. Finally, his contract was not renewed.

Although he quit about three months ago, the controversy related to his salary continues.

New Delhi, September 25
Reiterating their demand for a “more honourable survival”, a delegation of the Kashmiri Samiti, Delhi, met the Lt.- Governor, Mr B. L. Joshi, here. Led by Mr Sunil Shakdher, the President of KSD, a representative body of the displaced Kashmiri community, the delegation submitted a memorandum to the L-G.

“We apprised the L-G of our pitiable state. We cannot even register ourselves at the employment exchange bureau in the Capital and there is hardly any proof of our property and citizenship records remaining in Srinagar”, said Shakdher speaking to The Tribune on Friday.

He added, “If someone were to ask us for proof that we are residents of Srinagar, how will be produce it?”

Shakdher was piqued at the delay by the government in sorting out the registration formalities of 30,000 migrants, who could not be registered during the early 1990’s, when the mass exodus had occurred.

“The government talks of an honourable existence, but is it possible when a family of four, that gets a dole of Rs 3,200 per month, has to bear various kinds of expenditures, including education and medication,” questioned Shakdher.

Listing his demands, he said, “The amount should be raised to Rs 1,600 per person and those teachers who have been appointed in the Delhi Government and MCD schools should be regularised.”

New Delhi, September 25
With the arrest of two persons, including a woman, the Delhi Police claims to have solved a murder case that took place on September 23. The accused have been identified as Guddo, alias Sonia (26), wife of the deceased, and her paramour Satpal (20).

According to the police, a call was received at around 9 am that a person had been killed in a house in Uttam Nagar area. The police, on reaching the spot, found that the person was already dead. The police found that the victim bore deep injuries on his head was bleeding profusely.

The deceased, Manoj Kumar Sharma, had married Guddo in 1998. They had a daughter also. The police said that Manoj was working in a factory where the father of Guddo was co-partner. They fell in a love and got married in 1998 in the Tis Hazari Court. Thereafter, they shifted to Uttam Nagar house. There, Guddo reportedly developed illicit relations with another person, Satpal, who was her neighbour.

Ghaziabad, September 25
The Link Road police have arrested a narcotic carrier with opium worth Rs 20 lakh which he used to supply to the students, the Ghaziabad police said. One more smuggler has been nabbed in Mussori police station area.

The police had pounced upon a young narcotic smuggler near Dabbor tri-junction and recovered 4 kg opium valued at Rs 20 lakh. The man identified himself as Azam.

Azam told the police that after coming in contact with one Laal Babu, a resident of slums behind Red Fort, Delhi, he had been engaged in this illegal trade. Laal Babu was the leader of the racket, he said.

From the ‘pan’ seller in Vijay Nagar area to the medical college students, many were his clients Laal Babu is absconding.

The Mussori police had recovered 35 packets of smack from one Sunil Kumar, alias Fauji, near Railway Bridge.

Fauji who has been arrested is a resident of village Nurpur under Mussori police station.

A case of sexual assault and murder is registered against him in Pilkhua Kotwali. Fauji is also wanted in a number of cases by Muradnagar police.

New Delhi, September 25
The Delhi Police have arrested 15 persons, including nine girls, for running a prostitution racket in different places in South district.

In the first incident, the police have unearthed a sex racket being run
in Malviya Nagar. The police have arrested six call girls and four pimps in this connection.

The police had received a tip-off that a prostitution racket was being run in a beauty parlour; the local police raided the outfit and arrested the girls and the pimps. The pimps were charging each customer Rs 2,000 for each girl.

In another case, the police have arrested an owner of a beauty parlour in Malviya Nagar for allegedly running a prostitution racket. The persons arrested include three girls and two pimps.

New Delhi, September 25
Four sisters, all teenagers, have gone missing in New Usmanpur Area of Northeast Delhi. While the case is still under investigation, the police did not rule out the possibility of abduction of the four sisters.

According to police, the girls left their home at around 11:00 hrs on September 20, saying that they were going to a nearby chemist shop. However, they did not return home.

The girls belonged to a very poor family. Their two brothers were married and reportedly used to misbehave with the girls. The police have registered a case of abduction in the local police station. According to the DCP of Northeast district, Mr Anurag Kumar, “We are working on some clues and expecting to crack the case shortly. The sisters were not studying in any of the schools as their financial position was not sound.” He further said that the girls were in the age group 15 to 19 years.