New Delhi, November 9
The Delhi Police have arrested four associates of Kishan Pahalwan gang, who were allegedly involved in murder, dacoity and extortion cases.

Those arrested were identified as Rajesh Kumar, native of Hisar, Bijendra Singh of Sonepat, Deepak Kumar of Jhajjar and Bijendra, alias Kalu, of Rohtak. According to the police, the four accused were arrested after the police received a tip-off that they would be coming to the Mangolpuri Industrial area to extort money from an industrialist. The police claimed to have seized pistols, rifles and hand grenade from their possession.

Rajesh was involved in the murder of one gangster Anoop in police custody, the police said. Later, the court had declared him a proclaimed offender.

New Delhi, November 9
Water, scarce in several parts of the Capital, is going to be dearer, most likely from December 1 with the Delhi Government today giving in principle approval to a proposal for revision of rates.

“The comprehensive tariff structure comprising of detailed rates was most likely to be applicable from December 1,” the government said here. The proposal for upward revision of water tariff was approved at a meeting of the Delhi Jal Board presided over by its chairperson Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit.

She said any upward scaling of the water tariff will not adversely affect the common consumer who uses water judiciously. The hike will affect only those who waste water, she said, adding that revised rates aim at not only curbing wasteful expenditure but also at checking reckless exploitation of ground water through tubewells.

It was pointed out in the meeting that while the Jal Board spends Rs 6.97 in providing one kiloliter of water, the consumer pays about 35 paise for the same. The increase was inevitable if the Jal Board is to function properly and expand its facilities, the meeting was told.

The chief minister instructed the Jal Board to streamline its functioning and work on the pattern of the DMRC. She issued strict instructions to bring about systemic changes in tendering, repair and maintenance work and delivery mechanism of tankers.

New Delhi, November 9
Reiterating the need for a smokeless and noiseless Divali, the Indian Medical Association (IMA) has cautioned against gastric disorders amongst threats to hearing and sight owing to the indiscriminate bursting of crackers.

Pointing out the tendency to gorge on sweets during the festive season, the medical practitioners have advised people to go easy on sweets, considering the use of synthetic colouring by some vendors. Dr Vinay Aggarwal, Secretary, IMA, listing precautions said, “people who insists on bursting crackers should go for green-coded crackers and observe the time limit prescribed for fireworks.”

He said instead of individuals bursting crackers and thereby contributing to the increasing levels of noise and air pollution, people should form gatherings in neighbourhoods to display fireworks.

Projectile crackers like rockets, said the IMA, should be avoided and adequate supply of water should be stored near the venue of bursting crackers. In case of a mishap, the burnt area should be kept under running water for at least 20 minutes, silver sulpha cream should be applied locally and in severe cases medical help should be sought without delay. ENT specialist, Dr Nidhi Dhawan, said “while permissible limit is of 75-80 decibels, up to 120 decibels from a distance of four metres can be tolerated with intermittent breaks. But if continuous noise persists, danger of permanent hearing damage could be an option.

Dr Manoj Bansal of the Shanti Mukund Hospital, who specialises in burn cases, said in case of any burn, people must not use ink, oil or toothpaste as is normally done.

New Delhi, November 9
In a glittering ceremony, some of India’s child geniuses were presented medals and prizes for their outstanding performance in the National Science Olympiad (NSO) and National Cyber Olympiad (NCO).

The Minister of Finance, Planning, Public Works and Urban Development, Dr Ashok Walia, felicitated the award winners. The top three rank holders from each class for all the four Olympiad were awarded prizes.

The ceremony, held at the Chinmaya Centre of World Understanding Auditorium, was organised by the Science Olympiad and National Cyber Olympiad. Dr Narindra Virmani, Chairman, Science Olympiad Foundation, said, “We hope more students will participate in the NSO this year, to be held on December 2. We look forward to the continuous support of students, parents and principals in our effort to popularise science and computer education among school students in India.”

New Delhi, November 9
The Lt-Governor, Mr B. L. Joshi, in his address at the inauguration of the Winter Carnival at DPS, R K Puram said, “education is not just about making people more literate and more aware, but it is about building character and understanding.”

Also present on the occasion, Mr Salman Khushid, highlighted the importance of inspiring people to contribute to the cause of social development as against dictating them to contribute.

The winter carnival began with the lighting of the lamp to inaugurate the event and Jemima Khan a class II student led the audience in her ‘pledge to make the world a better place to live in’.

The awardees of the events of the cultural fiesta ‘Voices’, organised by the school in October, were also felicitated on the occasion. The school also played host to a delegation from Russia and presented them with diyas and candles as tokens of affection. The students of Anubhav Shiksha Kendra put to a dance number on the occasion.

Noida, November 9
A campaign against fake products was launched in Noida by the Department of Weights and Measures, Legal Meteorology which conducted raids on at least 10 outlets in Noida, marketing duplicate products using Gillette brand. These outlets were issued challans for violation of package commodity Rule 1971.

The raids have been conducted on certain unscrupulous traders in Noida who were selling various Gillette products of dubious origin without making requisite packaging declarations, which are legally important for the consumers. Selling of products without such declarations is prejudicial and detrimental to the consumers and cause considerable loss to government revenue also.

The Gillette products being sold by these traders include the Gillette Series range of products like Gillette Series Gel, Gillette Series body spray Gillette Series Splash as well as Gillette’s razors and cartridges like Sensor Excel, Mach3, and several other products.

Taking advantage of Gillette being a globally renowned brand and its image, certain individuals and entities have adopted illegal routes/channels to sell grey products in India which are smuggled through illegal channels without paying requisite duties and taxes.

This grey market results in revenue loss running to several crores to the Union and State Governments on account of Customs duties and sales tax /VAT /octroi etc.

Explaining the rationale behind Gillette India taking on this campaign, Mr Anshuman Sharma, Vice-President, Legal & Corporate Affairs, Gillette India Limited, said: “The illicit trade of grey and counterfeit products causes an annual loss of over Rs 2,500 crore to the FMCG industry in India and a corresponding loss of over Rs 900 crore to the Government, in taxes and other levies.”

Mr Sharma added, “The Government currently earns more than Rs 30 crore from Gillette alone on account of duties and taxes. This amount could substantially increase by checking the sale of these grey products.”

Earlier, similar raids were reportedly organised in Chennai, Mumbai and Chandigarh, Mr Sharma said.

In addition to conducting routine police raids, the company is also proactively involved in spreading awareness about this menace, through relevant industrial forums and had initiated workshops to address the concerns and legal implications of trading in such products.

With headquarters in Boston, USA, Gillette Company is the world leader in male grooming, a category that includes blades, razors and shaving preparations.

Gillette also holds the number one position worldwide in selected female grooming products, such as wet-shaving products.

Bulandshahr, November 9
A woman was raped for three years by a truck driver who held her captive in his house. The woman’s husband had failed to return Rs 5,000 given to him by the truck driver. “Return my money or let your wife remain with me,” the trucker used to threaten the man.

The woman also gave birth to a daughter during her captivity. The torture of the woman did not end here. The truck driver did not allow her to visit her parents and had even tried to char the woman and the daughter to death. The woman has pleaded before the SSP Bulandshahr to take action against the trucker.

Usha was married to Vijay Kumar of New Colony under police station Belupura, Benaras, 10 years ago. Soon after her marriage, she shifted to Patpatganj in New Delhi with her husband. Here Satyapal, her husband’s friend and a truck driver used to frequent their home.

Satyapal’s wife died after a while. Satyapal then gave Vijay Rs 5,000 to get him married a second time with a woman from Benaras. Vijay being a drunkard, just squandered the money.

Satyapal then took his wife Usha along and said she would stay with him till her husband, Vijay returned his Rs 5,000.

Satyapal virtually kept the woman like his wife. Meanwhile, Vijay died. On October 28, Satyapal is alleged to have sprinkled kerosene on Usha and her daughter and tried to burn them. But as Usha raised the alarm, she was saved by the timely action of some neighbours. Since then Usha has been terror-stricken. She took refuge in a neighbour’s house.

She somehow met the SSP on Monday and pleaded her case to him. The SSP immediately ordered that the woman’s statement should be recorded in the presence of a magistrate and ordered the Kotwali Dehat in charge to register a case against Satyapal.

Usha told the SSP that her father was working as a teacher in Hindu University while her mother was a teacher in an inter-college. The matter is being investigated by the police, the SSP said.

New Delhi, November 9
Interventional cardiology is fast emerging as a viable option against cardiac surgery with the drug-eluting stents saving a large number of patients and even cardiologists.

More and more cardiologists are not only taking up stenting as an accepted form of opening up the blocked arteries to the heart but the method is also giving relief to the patients, who don’t have to undergo long surgical treatment and the complications that accompany cardiac surgery. Already more than 50 per cent of the cases are being treated through drug eluting stents and the number is expected to rise with more innovations and improvements in the procedure.

Dr Purshotam Lal, Chairman of the Metro Group of Hospitals and Director of Interventional Cardiology, points out that not only is interventional cardiology proving to be a better option for both—the patients and the doctors, but it has also greatly reduced thee number of casualties that used to occur during cardiac surgery. Besides, the stents have also greatly brought down the number of cases where blocks in the arteries reoccur, which was normal as far as cardiac surgery goes.

According to him, the introduction of drug eluting stents in the early part of 2002 has totally revolutionised the treatment of coronary artery blocks. The use of these stents has virtually replaced bypass surgery in majority of cases, including the diabetics.

After the first coronary angioplasty way back in 1977, there had been tremendous advancement in dealing with the artery blocks, but all these advancements could still not prove to be effective as there was no significant reduction in reoccurring of the blocks, which was also proving to be a major limitation.

But the advent of stents has changed everything and as a result more and more cases of blocked arteries are now being treated through interventional cardiology or with the help of the stents.

However, Dr Lal, who is a pioneer in interventional cardiology in India having a large number of ‘firsts’ to his credit, points out that although more than 50 per cent of the cases are being treated through stents, but a number of considerations go into it which become the deciding factor.

This most importantly includes the socio-economic factor as the drug eluting stents come at a cost. When they were initially introduced, they were costing more than Rs 1.25 lakh, but now the cost has come down and a very good quality stent costs anywhere near Rs 1 lakh, although there are some which are also priced lower.

Incidentally, there are more than 75 million people in India who suffer from coronary heart disease and more than 2.5 million die every year as a result of it.

Greater Noida, November 9
Two persons have been killed while two seriously injured in road accidents in the city.

According to Kasna police, Anuj Pandey had come to attend a party at the house of his relative, Om Prakash in Greater Noida, along with his friend Sumeet Gupta. Om Prakash had come to receive them at Collectorate bus stand. As they were going on a bike, they were hit by a tanker as they turned towards Beta Sector near I.C. College. As a result, Sumeet died. — OC