New Delhi, February 2
Concerned over the growing incidents of violence and threats against witnesses in court premises, a Delhi court today directed the Police Commissioner (CP) to ensure foolproof security for all witnesses who come to depose in court and file a report on it by February 21.

Taking serious note of the January 31 incident outside her courtroom when two accused in a gang rape case injured the victim and her mother, Additional Sessions Judge Swaran Kanta directed the Police Commissioner to ensure that such incidents do not recur.

Pointing out that the personnel of Delhi Armed Police’s third battalion, responsible for escorting the two accused in the case were unable to prevent the assault, the court said the CP must ensure that there are adequate number of guards to stop such desperate criminals from assaulting witnesses.

“The incident clearly shows the inadequacy of security for witnesses and that such criminals could cause much more harm as rape case proceedings are held in camera where only the lady staff and the judge are present,” the court said.

“The accused can harm anyone present in the court including the judge, prosecution and defence counsel and court staff. Since the courtroom is closed to general public, it may get too late to seek help from outside. Therefore, the investigating officer must also be present in court,” it said.

New Delhi, February 2
The Municipal Commissioner, Mr Rakesh Mehta, today said that the Ghazipur abattoir incorporating the latest technologies would be completed by December 2005.

Once the abattoir is constructed, all animal wastes would be treated in effluent treatment plant (EPT). In this way, vultures would not be attracted to the abattoir.

The Indian Air Force has been apprehensive that the construction of an abattoir at Ghazipur would increase vulture flying in the area, which could lead to crash of aircrafts stationed at Hindon Base.

Explaining the functioning of the upcoming abattoir, the Municipal Commissioner said the abattoir would be spread in an area of 10 acre with all modern facilities. The corporation was directed by the Supreme Court to construct a temporary abattoir at Ghazipur before closing down the Idgah slaughterhouse, which is around 200 years old.

The corporation had consulted experts, who suggested the construction of a permanent establishment, for which the corporation will file an application before the court.

The Municipal Commissioner said that the slaughterhouse would consist of ETP, staff house, electric control plant, overhead water tank, animal housing area and slaughtering place.

The veterinary section will be open for 24 hours to check up the animals and to prepare their anti-mortem reports.

It is expected that nearly 5000 animals will be slaughtered everyday. The animals will be first stunned and then cut by the machine.

He said that livestock market will also be adjacent to the slaughterhouse that would be spread in 12 acres. The meat will not only be cheap but of better quality, he said.

The animal waste and carcass would be treated in EPT from which chicken food will be prepared, he added. The water used for treating the waste will be used in watering the garden to be developed near by.

New Delhi, February 2
With the arrest of three persons, the Crime Branch of the Delhi Police claimed to have busted a gang of car -jackers in the Rohini area after a shoot out.

The sleuths also seized one Toyota Corolla car, two country-made weapons and a dagger from their possession. The accused persons have been identified as Narender, alias Naresh Kumar, Satish Kumar and Shyam Sunder, all residents of Sonepat, Haryana.

Acting on a complaint that the gang had robbed a Toyota Corolla car at gunpoint on January 30 from Narela area, the sleuths laid a trap at Prehladpur, Rohini and spotted three persons in a brand new Corolla car.

When the car was stopped for questioning, one of the occupants Narender came out and started firing at the police personnel while his other associate Satish tried to escape with a country-made weapon. However, they were soon overpowered by the sleuths.

During interrogation, the accused persons confessed that they had robbed the Corolla car along with another Honda City car in Sonepat area.

In another case, the North district police claimed to have arrested one person in the Naya Bazar area and seized at least 7,976 pornographic books from his possession. Acting on a tip-off that Harvinder Pal Singh, resident of Hari Nagar, Ghata Ghar, would come to Delhi Transport Company, Naya Bazar, for booking of parcels containing pornographic books, the police nabbed him.

New Delhi, February 2
A website on female foeticide has won the Ministry of Information Technology’s e-governance award. The website has an online database of competent authorities as well as ultrasound machines in the country, which can help anyone wishing to lodge a complaint against sex determination tests.

The website is a model of e governance that allows individuals to lodge complaints against families using coercion to abort female foetuses or against prenatal tests to determine the sex of a foetus.

It works to sensitise families and communities about the declining sex ratio and the impact of large-scale missing girls, increases awareness about the Pre-Natal Diagnostic Act and sensitises the medical community about the ethics of the medical profession and the role they should play to help improve the sex ratio.

New Delhi, February 2
The Vidya Bhavan Mahavidyalaya, Lodi Estate, has come forward to help the victims of the tsunami disaster. It has decided on a number of steps to help the victims, including making cash donations for the affected victims.

Recently, a cheque of Rs 10,000 was presented by Pushpa Devi, the founder of the school, on behalf of the pensioners of the Vidya Bhavan Co-operative Educational Multipurpose Society, for the tsunami victims.

Meanwhile, the school celebrated the Republic Day in a big way. A number of cultural programmes were organised on the campus. A dance drama depicting the history of Independence was also staged.

The Deputy Director, Education, Ms Rita Sharma, was the chief guest and hoisted the national flag.

New Delhi, February 2
Taking a serious view of a case filed by a city-based NGO, the Delhi High Court today sought explanation from the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) for its failure to submit documents of the probe report relating to alleged corruption and misuse of public funds in executing civil works in two resettlement colonies of East Delhi.

“MCD has to explain as to why they have not submitted documents relating to the probe,” a Bench comprising Chief

Justice, Mr B. C. Patel and Justice Mr. S. K. Kaul said. It directed the municipal authority to file the reply within four weeks and fixed the matter for further hearing on April 27.

The PIL filed by Parivartan, an NGO, had alleged misappropriation of funds by the MCD officials in executing the works in resettlement colonies of Sundernagari and New Seemapuri areas of East Delhi.

Acting on the PIL, the court had earlier directed the Delhi Police to register an FIR on the report prepared by the NGO on the basis of its investigation and outcome of the public hearing presided over by a panel chaired by Justice P. B.

Sawant, a retired judge of the Supreme Court.

Advocate Prashant Bhushan, appearing for Parivartan, submitted that both the MCD and the Delhi Police were shirking from their responsibility in the matter.

He said the affidavit filed by the Corporation simply states that the work was done while the one by the police states that it has not done anything as the MCD probe has dismissed the allegations as bogus.

Claiming that only half of the work was done, the counsel said pumps for water were not installed and the road construction was below standard.

New Delhi, February 2
An agreement between private electricity companies and the government on providing connections is expected to bring relief to families living in unauthorised colonies.

The private distribution companies will adjust the development charges paid by the residents of unauthorised colonies under the single-point distribution system when they are provided with connections, according to the Outer Delhi MP, Mr Sajjan Kumar.

According to the agreement, the consumers having a living area below 40 sq yards will be required to pay Rs 4,000 as development charges and Rs 1,250 as services charges in 16 easy instalments.

For houses above 40 sq yards, it will be Rs 4,000 as development charges and Rs 2,000 as service charges. For houses above 100 sq yards, the development charges will be Rs 11,500 and Rs 23,000 for above 200 sq yards.

The residents of unauthorised colonies are getting power supply under the single-point distribution system after paying Rs 3,200 with private contractors. This amount will be adjusted against development charges while getting fresh connection.

The agreement was reached in a meeting attended by the Chief Minister, Mrs Sheila Dikshit, Mr Sajjan Kumar, the East Delhi MP, Mr Sandeep Dikshit and the Chief Secretary, Mr S. Raghunathan.

Faridabad, February 2
With just a few hours to go for the polling on Thursday, all the candidates and their supporters were busy in ‘silent’ campaigning. They kept doing their share of pressing the flesh, making personal contacts with the community leaders and voters today.

Contacts on phone and persuading the voters through their relatives and friends continued during the day and were likely to go on throughout night before the D-day tomorrow.

Ms Sharda Rathaur, the Congress candidate from Ballabhgarh constituency, said that she visited a large number of houses in the constituency today and claimed that the response was very favourable.

She said several groups of her supporters and workers had been carrying on this ‘silent’ campaigning for almost three to four weeks.

As the final day for formal campaign was over yesterday evening, this was the only option left to contact and ask for the support, Ms Rathaur said.

Claiming to have covered all the villages and colonies in the constituencies in the past about 15 days, she said the issue of the overall development, including the power and water supply, roads, employment and the law and order, had been the crucial factors in this election. The voters wanted a sure promise from the candidate to solve their day-to-day problems, she pointed out.

Stating that the voters had been fed up of the false promises and the double standards of the politicians, she claimed that the electorate was in a mood of change the rule and it was the Congress which could give a stable government to ensure fast development.

Ms Rathaur, a first-timer, said that her fight was with the INLD candidate, who
is also contesting for the first time.

There are 2.06 lakh voters in the constituency. The Mewla Maharajpur constituency in the district has a special significance. With over 3.36 lakh voters, it is not only the number one constituency in the state in terms of voters, but also one of the biggest in the Northern India.

The outgoing BJP candidate, Mr Krishan Pal Gurjar, who had been elected for the last two consecutive terms, is locked in an interesting battle with the Congress leader, Mr Mahender

Partap Singh. The Congress leader was a former minister and MLA from here for three terms.

While the BJP candidate is sure to make a hattrick, his rival Mr Mahender Partap claims that the people will vote for the Congress, as there had been no development in the area for the past nine years.

At Faridabad (NIT) constituency, the scenario was also nearly the same as a direct fight was visible between the Congress candidate, Mr A.C. Chaudhary, a former minister and the outgoing BJP MLA, Mr Chander Bhatia, who had been representing this seat since 1996. According to Mr Chaudhary, the main poll plank was also the development here.

Claiming that the Congress had an edge over its rivals throughout the state, he said the people wanted to get rid of those sitting in power as none of the promise was fulfilled. There seems to be a direct fight between the Congress and the INLD over the Palwal seat, where the sitting MLA, Mr Karan Dalal, of Congress is facing Mr Subhash Katyal of the INLD.

The contest at Hathin and Hassanpur, however, seems to be triangular involving the Congress, the INLD, the BJP and the Independents.

Greater Noida, February 2
A woman was killed with sword by her own sons who were fighting over the ancestral land.

According to reports, five brothers were attacking one another with lathis and swords to grab bigger chunks of property when their mother tried to stop them from spilling one another’s blood.

Three brothers were also badly wounded in the clash. Others are absconding.

According to SP (rural) M.P. Singh, Rajaram, a resident of Pali, was living with two sons, Sunder and Satveer in Palwal, Haryana. The younger sons lived with their mother Barfi Devi in the village. Each son had been given his share in property and their mother also had two and a half bigha land of her own.

All the five brothers, the SP said, had been eyeing their mother’s land.

On Monday, Rajaram told his wife to give her land to Sunder and Satveer through a power of attorney. Kamal and other two younger brothers opposed it. Soon all five started attacking one another using lathis and swords.

As their mother Barfi Devi stepped in to stop bloodshed among brothers, Sunder and Satveer attacked her with swords. All the three younger brothers were also seriously wounded in the struggle.

The police were informed. Meanwhile, all the wounded were rushed to a private hospital by villagers who had brokered a peace among the brothers.

Barfi Devi succumbed to her injuries in the hospital while the youngest brother, Sunil, is said to be in a serious condition.

Faridabad, February 2
The district election authorities claim to have made foolproof arrangements for peaceful polling in the various Assembly constituencies of the district tomorrow.

According to a statement issued here today, as many 1,215 polling parties had been despatched to different stations, where the polling would begin tomorrow morning. While there were a total of 1,091 booths, about 124 parties had been kept as reserve, as per the statement.

The polling party consisted of one presiding officer and four polling officers where the number of voters is 1,200 or more. The party has three polling officers where the voters are fewer than 1,200. As many as 33 duty magistrates and 72 supervisors will be overseeing the process to ensure a peaceful polling.

It is stated that 71 police parties will be patrolling the booths for the six Assembly constituencies. Besides, another 30 patrol parties will be deployed in the 158 ‘highly sensitive’ polling stations and 198 ‘sensitive’ booths in the district. Five companies of the Karnataka Armed Police, one company of the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) and a large number of Home Guard jawans have been deployed near the booths to maintain the law and order.

Barriers and checkpoints have been set up at about 44 different places in the district as part of the arrangements. Buses and trucks of the schools and private companies have been requisitioned to transport the polling staff and the policemen to different places.

Noida, February 2
A team of joint replacement surgeons led by Dr S.K.S Marya has successfully performed a host of operations with a new technique at the Max Health Care hospital in Noida.

Traditionally, hip replacement has the drawback of not permitting squatting or sitting cross-legged to patients after the surgery. But, with the new technique, Articular Surface Replacement (ASR), these activities are no longer difficult to perform, Dr Marya claimed.

The hip is essentially a ball and socket joint, where the ball, on the top of the hip bone, moves in the socket of the pelvic bone. Due to certain diseases like rheumatoid arthritis, ankylosing spondylitis or injury to the joint, this ball and socket mechanism becomes rough and the movements painful.

ASR includes a large metallic socket that articulates with a big highly polished metallic head. This permits the patients a free movement, hence providing the edge over the conventional method of surgery for hip replacement.

Further ASR is extremely useful in young patients. It has an in-body survival rate of 98%, while the implants which are all imported, have a life span of 25 years.

The first successful hip surgery operation was performed on May 23, 2004 and so far, 11 patients have been cured of their hip problem through surgery by Dr SKS Marya’s team.

Sunil Monga, a 44-year-old patient from Delhi, on whom the ASR procedure was performed, said, “I am now totally pain-free and enjoy free movement. Even though the procedure is expensive, it has given me a new hope as well
as independence.”

New Delhi, February 2
GHPS, India Gate, organised its annual sports day and prize distribution ceremony at the Major Dhyanchand National Stadium.

General secretary, SAD, Delhi, Harvinder Singh Sarna was the chief guest on the occasion and Ravinder Singh Khuarana, general secretary, DSGMC was the guest of honour. A cheque of Rs 2 lakh was presented by the school as contribution to the Prime Minister’s Relief Fund for the rehabilitation of the tsunami victims.

The students put a splendid performance in various events, like bhangra, archery, gymnastics and karate.

The sports meet was declared open by Manmeet Singh Goindi, Administrator, Major Dhyanchand National Stadium.

Noida, February 2
A group of Noida industrialists led by Ashok Pradhan, MP, presented a cheque of Rs 54,01,000 to the Prime Minister, Dr Manmohan Singh, in the Capital. It was Noida’s and Greater Noida’s contributions to the Prime Minister’s National Relief Fund for tsunami victims. The Noida delegation requested the Prime Minister to have the international airport project for Greater Noida approved.

Dr Manmohan Singh assured the Noida industrialists that he would speak to the Civil Aviation Minister on the subject soon. In view of the possibilities of industrial growth, the Noida airport should become a reality by the time the Commonwealth games are held in Delhi and Noida, it was pleaded. — OC

New Delhi, February 2
Digambar Jain Aatmarthi Trust is going to celebrate Panch Kalyan Mahotsava from February 7 to 13 at Rohatak Road-based Aatma Sadhana Kendra. According to the president of the trust, Mr Vimal Kumar Jain, it will be first of its kind celebration in which about 50,000 Jain devotees are expected to come in the week-long conclave.

He said that the main objective behind holding that celebration was to spread the message and teachings of Jain thrithankars.