New Delhi, February 6
The North-East district police claimed to have shot dead a dreaded dacoit and nabbed his associate this morning in the Gautam Puri area while they had come to meet their associates and commit dacoity in the area.

The police also seized two country-made pistols, seven live cartridges and a stolen motorcycle, which they were riding, from their possession.

The killed dacoit was identified as Rashid, alias Motu, alias Babloo, alias Faizal, resident of Muzaffar Nagar. The nabbed accused has been identified as Javed, alias Chhotu, alias Noor, resident of Muzaffar Nagar.

Both the dacoits were involved in at least 20 cases of dacoity, robbery, snatching and motor vehicle theft in Delhi and Uttar Pradesh.

The Deputy Commissioner of Police (North-East), Mr Anurag Kumar, said that acting on a tip-off that the dreaded dacoits would come to Gautam Puri area to meet their associates in the MCD flats, a special team was constituted to track down their movements.

Accordingly at around 11. 30 am, the police team spotted two persons on a motorcycle waiting for their associates in the Gautam Puri area. When the police team started moving towards them, the accused persons tried to escape after ramming their motorcycle into the police vehicle.

However, when the two accused were cornered, they whipped out country-made weapons and started firing at the police party. Meanwhile, Javed was overpowered while he was trying to reload his country-made weapon.

Another accused Rashid, who kept firing at the police personnel, ran towards the MCD flats. When the police team fired back in self-defense, Rashid was injured. He was declared brought dead when he was rushed to a hospital.

During interrogation, Javed told the police that they belonged to the Ali Sher gang consisting of 10-12 members. He confessed that they had come to Gautam Puri area today to meet their associates and commit dacoity in the area.

New Delhi, February 6
Ascribing that textbooks are not the only means of imparting education, the National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) is contemplating the use of educational toys and children’s literature to aid in learning.

At the recently concluded Meeting of Committees on Textbook Policy and Non Textual Supplementary Materials held here, the Director, Prof. Krishna Kumar, said that NCERT’s production facility in Bhopal and Delhi could produce educational toys, which can be a part of a child’s education.

He was hopeful of the involvement of vast expertise, which will help to develop good quality books for children, evolving good policies to write and
renew strength and vision of the Council.

Prof. Krishna Kumar pointed out that textbooks have become the documents of official status in the school education and are considered to be the only central pool of learning.

He said whereas non-textual supplement material promotes culture and long-term pursuits throughout life, children’s literature also helps in self-learning.

Discussion during the meeting focussed on better quality books in the school education, selection of authors and reviewers
of the textbooks and non-textual material, inventory management and improvement of the distribution system.

The possibility of digitalising books was also addressed. Prof. Utpal Mallik, Head of DCETA, while explaining the difficulties and the enormity of the procedure said that the students could benefit by the option of downloading reading material.

Transparency and inclusion of the rural background in the books was also called for.

New Delhi, February 6
Students from Pakistan and Hong Kong are among the scores of others who will participate in the IEEE-IEE annual technical festival, ‘TROIKA’, organised by the Delhi College of Engineering.

TROIKA, which aims to bring about a global perspective to shape the booming ideas and promote all-round endeavours, begins from February 9, 2005.

The festival features a plethora of events to promote “Soft-skills” and programming skills of the students.

New Delhi, February 6
Only one in four physically challenged persons in Delhi is employed, according to the annual report on mentally and physically handicapped persons prepared by the Directorate of Economics and Statistics in Delhi. Significantly, only 12 per cent of the total number of physically challenged persons in the Capital received any government aid in the form of education, vocational training, appliances, corrective surgery or jobs.

Releasing the report, Finance Minister Ashok Kumar Walia (who also holds the planning portfolio) told media persons that 25 per cent of physically challenged persons are employed; four per cent are unemployed. The remainder are not part of the labour force because they are either attending educational institutions or are senior citizens.

The total number of physically challenged persons in Delhi stands at 1.02 odd lakh on October 1, 2002. This is about 0.71 per cent of the total population. An estimated 12.66 per cent of this population have a mental disability, 7.13 per cent have visual disability, 5.2 per cent have communication disability and the remaining 6.64 per cent have multiple disabilities.

The Minister observed that the number of physically challenged persons per lakh of population, which is known as prevalence rate of disability, has come down in Delhi from 1,093 in 1991 to 707 in 2002. The corresponding figure at the national level in 2002 is 1,755. 

New Delhi, February 6
A chilly winter evening, a cloudy sky and the lush green rain-washed tree lined avenues of Lutyen’s Delhi-a perfect setting for an evening walk. And when it is in the aid of tsunami victims and that too in the company of eminent personalities like Naveen Jindal, Sachin Pilot and film actor Jackie Shroff, the walk assumes an added significance.

A host of luminaries today got together under the banner of ‘Light for Life’ to take part in a 1.5 km walk organised by veteran cricketer Kapil Dev’s NGO, ‘Khushi’, from the famous Lodhi Gardens to Hotel Claridges here.

Apart from young parliamentarians Jindal, Pilot, Ajay Maken and Jyotiraditya Scindia, film stars including Javed Jaffrey and Nagma braved the winter chill to take part in the walk, the proceeds from which will go towards tsunami victims of Thirangambadi village of the worst-hit Nagapattinum district of Tamil Nadu.

“Whenever there is a tragedy of this magnitude, the Bollywood fraternity gets together, forgetting all internal disputes,” actor Jackie Shroff said.

Sachin Pilot, who concurred with the actor, said, “When I was informed about the walk, I thought it is an excellent way to reach out to those rendered homeless by the tsunami disaster.”

The Delhi Chief Minister, Mrs Sheila Dikshit, flagged off the walk, which also included MP and Indian Olympics Association President Suresh Kalmadi, UP Congress Committee Chairman Salman Khursheed, with actor Javed Jaffery as the compere.

New Delhi, February 6
The statistics on mental health issued by the World Health Organisation (WHO) assert that suicide is among the top three causes of death among the young adults. A conservative estimates show that over 20 million Indians are grappling with mental illness.

Alarmed by the statistics and the fact that budget allocation for mental healthcare is less than one per cent of the total health budget, Snehi, an organisation for psycho-social support and mental healthcare, has announced its plan to reach out to individuals through an integrated approach, based on prevention, intervention, rehabilitation, training and research.

Now in its 10th year, Snehi is striving to create awareness at the mass level to protect the right to positive mental health of every individual in society.

While the awareness campaign will be carried out through seminars, cultural programmes and contact programmes, the strategy in itself brings to focus serious issues, which highlight the inadequacy of the mental care sector.

Alleging that mental health is “not a priority”, Snehi pointed out that “the attitude of the government can be gauged from the fact that budget allocated for mental health is less than 0.1 per cent of the total health budget. The facilities available for mental healthcare are few and the availability of mental health professionals is about 0.4 per cent for every 10,000 mentally disturbed and ill people”.

The fact that Mental Health Act is also being misused was also highlighted. It was pointed out that for vested interests sane people are put in mental health asylums and the Act is also being grossly misused for seeking divorce.

Snehi, which claims to have reached out to more than 50,000 children in the last nine years and to be a pioneer in the field of tele counselling for distressed students, is seeking attitudinal change and demystification of mental health, distinction between mental disturbances and illness, besides strengthening family and social support for the mentally disturbed.

It has sought the opening of crisis intervention centre and a counselling centre for aiding people suffering from stress, depression and suicidal tendencies through counselling and therapy.

A clinic for mentally ill people, a trauma centre for victims of tragedies like natural calamities or violence, rape or domestic abuse, a center to develop prospective mental health professionals in the field of behavioural and psychological healthcare and a rehabilitation centre are also being proposed. 

New Delhi, February 6
The Shiromani Gurdwara Sewadar Committee has resolved unanimously that Gurdwara Prabandhak Samitis should be asked to close down flower shops at all gurdwaras across the country.

The executive committee of the Shiromani Gurdwara Sewadar Committee met today and decided that like Shiromani Gurdwara Prabandhak Committee, which has already passed a resolution to this effect, all gurdwaras in Delhi and elsewhere in the country should adopt the ban, keeping in mind the prestige of Harmandir Sahib.

The president of the Shiromani Gurdwara Sewadar Committee, Mr Tehal Singh, said that the looting of devotees by the flower shops outside gurdwaras should be stopped because they sell flowers at arbitrarily high prices and run other unlawful activities. —TNS

New Delhi, February 6
A study carried out recently has shown that a staggering 30 per cent of all HIV cases in Armed forces personnel are detected only after they have reached the advanced category of infection. The retrospective study included 612 newly diagnosed HIV-positive cases over five years between January 1997 and August 2002.

The study also indicates that by the time the infected Army person is actually diagnosed, he or she already has developed category C conditions. The study aimed to evaluate trends in mode of detection of HIV infection in the Armed Forces so as to formulate future strategies for early detection. The paper was presented here today at the 4th South Asian Regional Conference of Dermatology, Venereology and Leprology.

Presenting the paper, Col. M. P. S. Sawhney, Senior Advisor at Base Hospital, Delhi Cantt., said, “Almost one third of the patients had already developed Category C conditions, a massive 96.7 per cent of them due to myco-bacterial cases.”

Out of these, the major manifestation was pulmonary tuberculosis, followed in order by recurrent bacterial pneumonia, PCP and oesophageal candidiasis.

The most common mode of detection of HIV was tuberculosis (28.76 per cent), followed by blood donors (16.01 per cent), and Herpes Zoster (14.05 per cent), among others.

Surprisingly, the investigation of STDs figured quite low in the list at 9.15 per cent of total cases.

Amongst the STDs, majority (26.79 per cent) were detected while on STD surveillance, which is again only possible in the Armed Forces having a very good surveillance system on STD patients. The most disturbing aspect was that among those scanned for STDs, a mere 3.27 per cent cases tested positive when their spouses were detected to be HIV-positive. The others were detected while screening for surgery, or during investigation of various related or unrelated conditions (such as high-risk exposure), the study found.

The study emphasised that there was an urgent need to encourage voluntary reporting and identify more number of cases during acute retroviral syndrome and PGL stage.

Explaining the two stages, Dr R. V. Koranne, Chairperson, ‘DERMACON 2005’, and also former Head of Dermatology at Lady Hardinge Medical College, said, “Acute retroviral syndrome is the first stage of diagnosing HIV infection characterised by common illness symptoms like fever. PGL, or Persistent Generalized Lymphadenopathy syndrome, is characterized by multiple enlarged lymph nodes.”

Dr Vijay Garg, Organizing Secretary General, ‘DERMACON 2005’, said, “It is a cause of concern that such a high percentage of HIV infection cases in Armed personnel are being detected only after they have developed Category C conditions. It is high time when we probably need to rethink our strategy to facilitate early detection in Armed Forces.” The Armed Forces provide immunity to the entire country–any compromising infection with their immunity needs to be diagnosed, detected and treated imminently, said Dr Garg.

The 4-day scientific conference, being held in the Capital after 10 years, concludes today. Showcasing more than 800 scientific papers, guest lectures, orations and free communication papers, from as many as 15 countries, this conference has successfully opened new vistas in the emerging fields and contributed immensely to a shared resource pool in the field.

New Delhi, February 6
After a few days of sunshine, the national Capital was back to shivering. It rained at some places bringing the mercury down. More than seven mm of rain was recorded till 8.30 am today, the weather office said.

The minimum temperature was 8.4 degree Celsius that was one degree less than normal though up from yesterday’s 7.3 degree Celsius.

The cloudy condition had helped raise the minimum temperature but rain could bring down the maximum temperature from yesterday’s 23.8 degree Celsius.

Light rains in many parts of the city put people in high spirits. People were seen enjoying the light showers. It also brought in its wake traffic jams in some places.

Generally cloudy sky with light rain/thundershowers
in some areas and mist/shallow fog in the morning were predicted for the next
24 hours.

New Delhi, February 6
India and Iran will make efforts to preserve and protect common heritage projects, Iran’s Cultural Counsellor S H Shakib said on Saturday.

The Iranian diplomat said under this understanding, a number of monuments, libraries and cultural heritages were being maintained and preserved by the experts of two countries.

Mr Shakib also said Iran was keen to promote and consolidate its cultural ties with India and in pursuance of this, Tehran had proposed setting up cultural centres in Bangalore and Hyderabad. Iran Cultural House is already working in Mumbai in this regard. A film festival will be organised in Kolkata later this month in which leading artists from Iran and India will take part in the festival.

A multi-volume dictionary is also being prepared by the Cultural House. The dictionary, which will be in English, Persian, Urdu and Hindi, is being prepared by eight Indian scholars and three Iranians.

Ghaziabad, February 6
The Kavi Nagar police, Ghaziabad, have arrested the son of a PAC constable for allegedly killing his wife, while the policeman named in the FIR and other accused are absconding.

Jagpal is the son of Head Constable Pronantan Veerpal Singh, currently posted in 47th PAC battalion.

Jagpal’s wife, Manisha had died of burns in suspicious circumstances on Wednesday. Manisha was daughter of an Air Force employee Mehar Chand of Rabupura in Gautam Budh Nagar district. Manisha’s six-month-old daughter Lovely had also died along with her mother.

The woman’s father accused Head Constable Veerpal Singh and his son of having murdered his daughter. Manisha’s tongue was protruding and her neck had also been stretched when they saw her body. She had been killed and efforts were made later to make it look like a suicide, Mehar Chand had alleged.

Gurgaon, February 6
With the election over, two senior leaders of the party, Mr Khazan Singh and Mr Pradeep Zaildar have levelled serious allegations against each other for supporting the nominees of rival parties.

Mr Khazan Singh, secretary of the Haryana Pradesh Congress Committee (HPCC) fired the first salvo, stating that Mr Pradeep Zaildar, the national secretary of the Indian Youth Congress(IYC) and his family members voted for the INLD nominee and sitting MLA, Mr Gopi Chand Gehlot.

He said that Mr Zaildar and his family members openly canvassed for Mr Gehlot on the polling day.

Mr Zaildar reacted saying that Mr Khazan Singh and his supporters worked for the BJP nominee, Mrs Sudha Yadav.

He alleged that just because Mr Singh was exposed, he was trying to confuse the public and the party.

He said that Mr Singh would use defamatory language against Mrs Sonia Gandhi as a leader of the erstwhile HVP under the leadership of former Chief Minister, Mr Bansi
Lal. “Mr Singh has no standing in the Congress compared to me as he joined the Congress about three years ago,” he added.

Visibly worked up, Zaildar said that Mr Singh was indulging in personalised politics and just got paranoid.

Incidentally, while Mr Zaildar is considered to be close to both Mr Bhajan Lal and the family of Mr Shamsher Singh

Surjewala, Mr Singh is considered to be close to Mr Birender Singh in Haryana’s politics. Both were aspirants for the party ticket from the Gurgaon Assembly constituency. Both are from the same Jharsa village.

The INLD nominee, Mr Gehlot, who is also the Deputy Speaker of the present Haryana Assembly, hails from village Jharsa.

Giving a bigger twist to the wordy duel, Mr Singh said that the INLD nominee indulged in unfair means at the polling booths with the connivance of the district authorities. He apprehended threat to his life and the life of his family members from INLD quarters.

Meanwhile, with electioneering fever over, both the Congress and the INLD have started making a detailed analysis of the voting pattern and the election result in this constituency.

While the Congress circles are hopeful that it has been able to pip the INLD nominee to the post, the INLD circles feel that the party nominee has been able to make a dent in the Congress vote bank and would be a winner. The INLD camp feels that the camp area of the city consisting of places like Arjun Nagar, Bhim Nagar, Ramnagar, Madanpuri, Shivpuri, Nai Colony, 4-8

Marla-the traditional base of the Congress, registered a low turnout comparatively. The camp area has about 30,000 votes, but the number of votes polled was only 13,741. Besides, about 50,000 votes spread over in the outer areas of the city, including places like Rajiv Nagar, Patel Nagar, Sanjay Gram, Gandhi Nagar, Amar Colony, Feroze Gandhi Colony, Rajindera Park, Lakhman Vihar, Suratnagar and Om Nagar have shown greater preference for the INLD nominee as far as the voting pattern goes.

According to the party, these areas were also the tradition vote banks of the Congress.

The total votes in this constituency are about 2,51,400 and the votes polled are 1,39,759 which add up to about 48 per cent.

New Delhi, February 6
Delhi Malayalee Association (DMA) has felicitated Malayalam actor Kalidas on his winning this year’s National Film Award for the best child artiste.

His artiste-parents, Jayaram and Parvathi, and playback singer Jyotsana were also present at a congratulatory function organised by the DMA here last night. Journalist-writer V K Madhavan Kutty, Mr George Varghese (UNI), Mr Joseph Edamaruku, Mr M K G Pillai, Mr A V Bhaskaran, Mr C L Antony, Mr V K N Nambiar, Mr M P Suresh, and Mr P J Varghese felicitated the award-winner. DMA patron Lilly George presided. DMA president A V Bhaskaran handed over a cheque for Rs 1.27 lakh to Kerala Resident Commissioner Michael Vedashiromani as members’ contribution to the Kerala Chief Minister’s Distress Relief Fund.

The DMA had earlier given Rs 1 lakh to the Prime Minister’s National Relief Fund, also for the victims of the December 26 tsunami.

New Delhi, February 6
In its endeavour to bring something new and of value to the art lovers and support its cause of “Art for Environment”, PBC Art Gallery is presenting a group exhibition by eminent artists titled “Young Masters - 2005”.

The exhibition was inaugurated by Mr K Vikram Singh, renowned filmmaker earlier this week. It will be showcased at PBC Art Gallery till February 20.

“Young Masters - 2005” is an exhibition of 35 paintings and graphics by eminent artists like Ajay Kumar ‘Samir’, Sanjib K Gogoi, Bhuneshwar Bhaskar, Shiv Lal Bodh, Dipto Narayan Chattarjee and Naval Kishore Rastogi.

The paintings are executed in a diversified medium that reflects new ideas. The deep involvement of these artists has left an indelible mark on the Indian and international art scene. The creativity in each painting reflects the beauty of nature and leaves a lasting impression on the soul of the viewers.

Speaking on the occasion, Mr Kamal Meattle, CEO of PBC Art Gallery said, “We are glad to have a colourful collection of paintings and graphics on display at PBC Art Gallery. Each of these works could be a good investment for all the art lovers and I am sure that there would be something of interest for everyone.

He added, “Our share of proceeds from this show will go to support environmental initiatives undertaken by us, furthering Principle 8 of UN Global Compact.”

Ajay Kumar ‘Samir’ was born in Delhi in 1970 and completed his graduation in arts from the College of Arts, New Delhi. He has a dozen of solo exhibitions on his record and participated in many group exhibitions all over the country. He is a famous watercolourist and received many awards for his outstanding works. Now he lives and works in Delhi. He is famous for his Banaras and inner-space series.

Sanjib K. Gogoi was born in Assam in 1968 and did his MFA from Rabindra Bharti University, Kolkata. He has done three solo and seven group shows and participated in several art camps organised by state academies. He is experimenting with old traditions in the context of today’s contemporary society and expressing his views through the canvas. Known for his MYTH series, he lives and paints in Kolkata.

Bhuneshwar Bhaskar was born in 1969 in Bihar and graduated from the Government College of Art and Craft, Patna. He has participated in many group exhibitions all over the country and is recipient of State award. His collections are with Lalit Kala Academy and other private collectors. He lives and works in Bihar. He is famous for his fantasies with the folk and traditional forms.

Shiv Lal Bodh was born in Delhi and graduated from the Delhi College of Art. He has held four solo exhibitions and participated in many group exhibitions in Delhi and Bombay. He won the Delhi State Academy’s award for best young artist 1990. He was also awarded by the All India Fine Arts and Craft Society, New Delhi. He works and lives in Delhi.

Dipto Narayan Chatterjee was born in 1973 in Kolkata and completed his education in fine arts from Rabindra Bharti University in 1998. Awarded with state academy scholarship, he participated in many group shows and art camps. He also has many solo exhibitions in Delhi, Mumbai and Kolkata to his credit. Known well for his three-dimensional works, he lives and works in Kolkata.

Nawal Kishore Rastogi was born in 1977 in Rampur, Uttar Pradesh. He completed his education from College of Arts, Lucknow in 2003. He has also done an Art Appreciation course from the State Museum, Lucknow in 1999. He has participated in many shows and his works can be seen in places like State Museum of Lucknow, Information and Broadcasting Department, Lucknow, to name a few. He has received numerous awards for his work and has been awarded “Garhi Research Grant” from Lalit Kala Academy.

Noida, February 6
An international symposium on Human Papilloma Virus and Cervical Cancer is being held in India for the first time along with the 24th Annual Convocation of Indian Association of Cancer Research at Institute of Cytology and Prevention of Oncology (ICPO), Noida from February 9-to-12.

An estimated 4,66,000 new cases of cervical cancer occur among women across the globe every year and 80 per cent of the 231,000 who die annually of the disease are from the developing countries–with India having one of the highest incidents of cervical cancer and human Papillomavirus said, Dr N.K. Ganguly, Director-General, Indian Council of Medical Research, while highlighting the importance of the international symposium. The symposium on Human Papilloma Virus (HPV) and cervical cancer is being hosted by ICPO Noida, It will focus on early detection of cervical cancer and HPV vaccine and is being held in India for the first time.

This meeting has a special significance as it is being organised at a critical juncture when the Indian Government has agreed to start trial of the HPV vaccine against cervical cancer in India and ICPO which has made a major contribution in the field has been recognised as a national coordinating centre for this vaccine programme, in order to prevent the deaths of a large number of cervical cancer patients.

New Delhi, February 6
The Delhi Sikh Gurudwara Committee will organise a quiz competition for schoolchildren on February 10 and 11 at Gurudwara Rakab Ganj.