New Delhi, April 9
An eleven-year-old girl was raped and hanged and her four-year brother strangled by unknown assailants in Bawana area of North-West Delhi.

The siblings, identified as Seema and Vijayant, were found dead yesterday in an under-construction house in Barwala Jain Colony under Bawana police station, close to which their parents worked as labourers.

The police said that the bodies have been sent for a post-mortem but apparently death by strangulation seems to be the cause.

The assailants, however, spared their two-month-old brother lying on the cot. They locked the door from outside before leaving, said the police. Sources said both the girl and the boy were rushed to the Maharshi Valmiki Hospital, where they were declared ‘brought dead’.

The parents of the deceased, who were migrants from Rajasthan and worked as labourers in a colony nearby, had asked Seema at about 4. p.m. to go home along with her brother and the baby while they wind up the day’s job.

After reaching home at about 8 p.m. they looked for their children after finding the door locked from outside. The door was later broken open after the child was heard crying inside, sources added.

The police today said several people have been questioned in this regard and investigations are continuing.

Armed persons decamp with Rs 5.25 lakh from Canara Bank

Three persons armed with country-made weapons today entered the Canara Bank in Timarpur in North district and decamped with Rs 5.25 lakh after threatening the bank officials.

The police said that the incident took place this morning at around 9.30 a.m. when one of the suspects entered the bank exchange counter situated on the first floor and obtained the strong room keys after threatening the bank-incharge with a country-made weapon. In the meantime, two of their associates also entered the bank and the three entered the strong room and decamped with Rs 5.25 lakh.

The police said that they have obtained clues about the suspects from the bank officials, who witnessed the incident and have launched a massive hunt to trace their whereabouts.

New Delhi, April 9
With the arrest of a person wanted in several cases in Mumbai, the Central district police today claimed to have rescued a 27-year-old woman lab assistant, who was kidnapped from a railway station in Mumbai. The police also seized a country-made weapon and a live cartridge from his possession.

The accused has been identified as one Feroz Khan, resident of Kalyan, Mumbai. The police said that the accused had been wanted in several cases of kidnapping, extortion, dacoity, attempt to murder, robbery and rape. Recently, he has been wanted in three cases of robbery, extortion and kidnapping.

Feroz was also detained in 1998 by the Mumbai police for a year under Maharashtra Prevention of Dangerous Activities Act, 1981.

The accused had kidnapped the victim on April 2 from the Kalyan railway station when she was waiting for a train. Feroz along with his five associates forcibly took her in a Tata Sumo jeep and stayed in Ulhas Nagar in Kalyan initially. He then took her to his brother’s house in Karnataka. He later bought her some gold ornaments and mangalsutra and forced her to wear a burkha.

The police said that Feroz was a dreaded criminal and used to hide his identity by dressing up like a Sikh, pandit or moulvi.

In another case, with the arrest of two persons, including a LDC of the SDM office in Kanjhawala, the Crime Branch of the Delhi Police today claimed to have busted a gang selling SC/ST certificates in Delhi. The sleuths also recovered a large number of incriminating documents stamps and seals from their possession. The accused persons who were arrested have been identified as Arun Kumar Jain and Luxmi Chand, residents of Sonepat, Haryana.

Acting on a secret information that some persons were involved in the SDM office in Kanjhawala in selling SC/ST certificates illegally the sleuths sent a decoy customer and struck a deal for Rs 9,000. When one of the accused persons Arun Kumar Jain received Rs 2000 as an advance from the decoy customer, the police team arrested him.

During interrogation, Jain told the sleuths that he had been involved in this racket for the last five years in connivance with one Luxmi Chand, a LDC in SDM office in Kanjhawala. Jain also told the sleuths that he used to provide fake SC/ST certificates to candidates appearing for army recruitment.

New Delhi, April 9
While the anticipated stories emphasising the lack of amenities were abound, pleasant surprises were the stories of grit and determination even in the face of adversity on the first day of a three-day rural teachers meet that began at the NCERT here today.

Highlighting the contrasts in teaching and learning in the rural areas with that of the urban areas, more than 100 teachers from the rural areas across the country are meeting to put forth the aspirations of the children from rural India.

While most teachers complained of an inappropriate student-teacher ratio, some complained that policies made at the Centre are in most cases ineffective at the rural level, indicating a need to involve the stakeholders at the grassroots.

Usha Goswami from Lalitpur in Uttar Pradesh, who teaches in a “model school” that meets all infrastructural requirements, has to teach a class of an unbelievable “222 students”.

The sheer number being a challenge in itself, Usha has to take help from class monitors and has to rely on microphones to be able to reach her students.

Deep Chand from Azamgarh has just 40 students in his class and even books for all, but his problem is retaining the children in the school. “It is tough to get children to come to school and stay. Their parents would rather have them work in the fields than learn the alphabet,” he says.

The mid-day meal scheme, he says, is an effective bait to bring children to school. “If they are provided a meal continuously for some days the attendance goes up and when there is a break, they again go back to the fields”.

Others complained of being made to teach too much in limited time. “Once we are through with the mid-tern exams in December, 70 per cent of the class XII students opt to stay at home and study on their own. We get barely five months to teach the entire syllabus, which is difficult,” said M. Lal, from Rajasthan.

But a few had some inspiring stories to share. N. Madhavan from Tamil Nadu’s Kancheepuram has joined a network of teachers, together who share success stories amongst each other. “There are 300 teachers in the network and we organise festivals and even bring out a magazine where we write about the achievements of both the students and the teachers”.

He went on to add, “recently we had a social science festival where we did not just want to tell students about dates of historic battles, but put emphasis on issue like national integration and peace.”

New Delhi, April 9
In pursuance of the Delhi High Court order, the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) has launched a special drive for rounding up of stray cattle.

Since the drive was launched in September 2003, the corporation has so far rounded up a total number of 30,385 stray cattle, including 551 bulls, a spokesman of the corporation said.

The stray cattle rounded up have been deported to various Gosadans in the national Capital. Besides, the MCD is developing a new dairy colony at Ghogha near Narela. This is a self-financing scheme.

This special drive is being undertaken following the order of the High Court as the illegal dairies are one of the major causes of blockage of sewerage system and health hazards, the spokesman said.

The dairy owners, who got their plots booked, have been asked to deposit 50 per cent of the amount as advance payment and rest 50 per cent will be collected at the time of the allotment.

The dairy colony will be developed in two phases and the allotment process will be started in the last week of May. The dairy owners who have not applied for plots or have not made advance payment, their dairies are being removed and the seized cattle are being auctioned.

In the first phase, the MCD is launching a special drive in the South and Central Delhi for rounding up of stray cattle and removal of illegal dairies. As many as 20 colonies have been selected to be targeted during the drive.

Ghaziabad, April 9
A sensation was created in Arya Nagar railway colony, Ghaziabad, when a woman who had come to meet her children in the colony under Kotwali police here, was killed in broad daylight.

The police have registered a case against the woman’s husband Rajinder, sister-in-law Shashi, her husband Satya Prakash and their son Ravinder.

The sister-in-law of the deceased has been arrested.

The police were informed at 6.30 p.m. yesterday that the body of a woman was lying behind Radha Krishan Mandir, in Arya Nagar Railway Colony, Ghaziabad.

Neighbours told the police that the deceased was Sheetal, wife of Rajinder of Tigre village in Jyotiba Phode Nagar who had been living separately from her husband and two sons Kartic, 6, and Viney, 4, for the last three years.

Rajinder had kept his sons at his brother-in-law Satya Prakash’s house in Arya Nagar, Ghaziabad.

SO Kotwali, C.P. Singh said both Satya Prakash and his young son were absconding from their home after the crime.

He said Sheetal had visited Satya Prakash’s house to meet her children.

During an argument, Satya Prakash and his son attacked Sheetal with lathis and sharp-edged weapon and killed her on the spot.

Satya Prakash’s wife Shashi had refused to identify the body when the police approached her first, but when quizzed thoroughly, she admitted that the dead woman was her brother’s wife.

New Delhi, April 9
The alternative route to the congested Mathura Road connecting Delhi with Faridabad has run into roadblocks with land required for constructing the road not being available for one reason or the other.

More than 500 bigha land was required for the highway, which was to be made available by the Delhi Development Authority (DDA), National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC) and the Uttar Pradesh Government but very little has been turned over and only about 12 per cent work has been completed in phase-I (Kilokari to Okhla), official sources said.

About 250 bigha was to be received from the DDA but much of it was mired in court cases, official sources said. About 150 bigha was to be come from NTPC but the organisation wanted road alignment change and now the Central Road Research Institute had been asked to sort out the problem, and about 100 bighas was to come from the UP Government, which was also dragging its feet over the issue, they said.

Phase-II would have the road running from Okhla to Badarpur and in phase-III from Badarpur to Faridabad. PWD were undertaking the construction work in Delhi while the Haryana Government will do the rest.

The new highway will pass through Kalindi Colony, Maharani Bagh, Khijra Bagh, Jogabai, Okhla and Jasola. It has not yet been decided whether it would be a toll road.

Noida, April 9
‘Noida Run for a Cause’ will be flagged off at 7 a.m. on April 10. The celebrations of Noida Foundation Day will be continued till April 17.

Apart from the Noida run in which 2,005 runners will be seen in action, the week-long celebrations would witness a ‘Yog chiktsa’ camp starting from 5.30 pm from April 10 to 17. It will be held daily between 5 am and 7 am and 5.30 pm to 7 pm in Noida stadium.

There would be a special cleanliness drive in Noida villages, an industrial exhibition at Noida stadium starting from April 10, a friendly cricket match on April 11, a seminar on solid waste management, a meeting of Udain Committee on April 13, a Gramin Smellan on 14th, a businessmen’s Smellan on 15th, a free health check-up on April 16 and a RWAs meeting on April 17, Noida Chairman Deo Dutta said.

In the evenings cultural programmes, including dance by Birju Maharaj (Kathak) on April 10 at 7 pm, Oddissi dance on 12 evening by Dipti Srivastava, programme of Gramin Rajini (Folk Lore) on 14th, a Mushaira (poetic symposium) on 16 April, a drawing competition for kids of different age groups on 17, and a cultural programme present by Prof Kurian of Asian Academy of Film and TV, Noida.

For the first time in India, mentally challenged kids will be running in a long distance race. More than 300 mentally challenged and physically handicapped kids from Noida and Delhi, representing Special Olympic, Delhi will be the attraction of the race.

Many prominent personalities will also be seen running, which includes Joybroto Roy of Sahara India Pariwar, Rono Dattta, president of Air Sahara, Noida Chairman Deo Datta, Sri Ram (runner) and Air Marshal Keelor Retd, Chairman, Special Olympic Committee.

Fund raised through “Celebrity Run” will be donated to the cause of children who are mentally and physically challenged. There are 20-odd foreign runners to support these special kids.

Race timings for April 10 will be: men and women marathon including veterans-7 am, mini run (boys under-14 years girls under-14 years. Boys under-18 years and girls under 18 years-7.20 am, mentally challenged and handicapped kids-7.40 am, senior citizen run (men and women)- 7.55 am and celebrity run – 8.20 am.

Faridabad, April 9
The elections of the Panchayati Raj institutions and the civic bodies seem to have unleashed a full flow of liquor, being used openly to win over the voters. The value of the liquor used in these elections is stated to be over Rs 1 crore in this district alone.

The second and final phase of the Panchayat elections will be over today. However, the polling for the civic bodies will be held on April 30. According to reports, the authorities were not able to check the use of liquor in the elections being held after five years. Though liquor sale from the authorised vends was not banned in the elections, the officials seemed to be helpless in checking the flow of illicit liquor, especially in the rural areas.

The illicit liquor, known as ‘katchi sarab’, had come mainly from the neighbouring states of UP and Rajasthan.

It is learnt that liquor worth Rs 50,000 had been used in the election for the post of a sarpanch on an average.

The voters had been asked to elect panches, members of the Panchayat Samitis and the members of the Zila Parishad, besides the sarpanch. There had been a total of 410 panchayats in the district.

According to residents of some of the villages, nearly every candidate had a stock of liquor in the village and it was distributed among the workers and supporters several days before the polls.

Subhash, a resident of Sagarpur village, said that no one could think of contesting the election of sarapanch, without the supply of liquor to the voters. He said some of the candidates had even offered English and countrymade liquor to their supporters.

The rate of the katchi sarab was half or even less than half of the rates of the liquor available in the authorised vends. Besides, the ‘high’ factor was more in this type of liquor, said a resident of Fajjupur in Ballabhgarh sub-division.

It is reported that many persons fell ill and at least four persons were reported to have died due to consumption of illicit liquor in Sunped and Dayalpur villages recently. However, the police were still to confirm it. The first phase of the Panchayat elections had been held on April 3, while polling for the rest three sub-divisions (blocks) which included Palwal, Hassanpur and Hathin were held today.

The police had registered several cases of violence during the polls and arrested some of them. While a strong nexus between the ‘liquor mafia’ and the officials concerned had been stated to be responsible for the mass flow of illicit liquor, the authorities may find it hard to check this factor again in the MCF elections.

New Delhi, April 9
For the first time in the trans-Yamuna area, a grand fashion show ‘sparsh 2005’ is being organised on April 16 at Maharaja Banquet Hall, Laxmi Nagar by local Madhu Vihar-based fashion training institute Academy of Fashion and Design (AFD).

According to the director of this institute, Mr Suresh Rathi, the students will walk down the ramp and display haute dresses designed by well-known fashion designers like Neelam Saxena and others. —OC

New Delhi, April 9
The radio listeners living around the Jamia Millia Islamia University campus will soon hear a new announcement on their radio sets–“You are listening to Radio Jamia FM 90. 4”. The Mass Communication and Research Centre of this university has recently installed an FM community radio station on its campus. It is first of its kind radio station in North India and second in the country. First such radio station has been functional for sometime at Annamalai University, Chennai.

According to a senior professor of this centre and the brain behind this dream project, Dr G.R. Saiyed, the trial run of this station has already been started. “Right now under the trial run, we are airing about two hours of broadcasting at different time daily. It will be fully functional by the last week of this month. The programmes aired by this station will be heard at 8 km range around this university. The programmes will be aired in two different shifts—in morning from 7.30 am to 10.30 am and in the afternoon 3.30 pm to 5.30 pm.”

He clarified that it would be totally different from popular commercial FM radio stations. “We are focusing on socio-cultural aspects and our programmes will be obviously based on folk music and song, classical music and songs. Ghazals and qawalis will also be inserted in the programmes, provided it will be recorded for non-commercial or charitable purposes. There is no room for film songs. Apart from it, talks, discussion, feature, documentary, drama, interviews will also be aired.” He said that most of their programmes would be made in-house.

New Delhi, April 9
Experts from various fields have called upon the policy makers, law-enforcing agencies and citizens to come together and support the fight against corruption.

Participating in the national convention on ‘Transparency and Accountability in Public Governance’, former Chief Justice of the Supreme Court J. S. Verma said that people have the right to expect their judges to be morally stronger than those in other branches so as to qualify sitting on judgement over others.

He added that there is a greater need for self-restraint and self-discipline among the judges of the High Court and the Supreme Court.

A Book titled ‘In Search of Ethical Leadership’ by Mr Russi Lala was also launched on the occasion. Recommending the book, Mr Fali Nariman, Member of Parliament said that it aptly conveys the need of ethical practices in today’s corrupt atmosphere.

The book is said to quote excellent examples of leaders who have held values and self-discipline in high spirits.

Amongst others who participated in the convention were Mr P. Shankar, Central Vigilance Commissioner; Justice J. S. Verma, former Chief Justice of India; Mr Arvind Kejriwal, Founder, Parivartah; Mr Soli Sorabji, former Attorney General of India; Justice S. C. Verma, Lok Ayuk Uttar Pradesh; Mr Chandan Mitra Member of Parliament and Editor-in-Chief, The Pioneer; and Justice Sardana, Karnataka High Court.

New Delhi, April 9
Lauding the role of anaesthetists in the healthcare delivery system of the country, the Lieutenant-Governor, Mr B. L. Joshi, today said they should continuously upgrade themselves with the changing scenario.

“Anaesthetists today have a definitive role in the intensive care unit, trauma care, pain clinics and labour pain relief, disasters and mass casualties,” Mr Joshi said while inaugurating the 39th annual conference of the Delhi Chapter of Indian Society of Anaesthetists. — TNS