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Child labour won’t be allowed in Delhi: CM
Jessica case: HC allows doctor to examine papers
‘India’s picture painted inaccurately by media abroad’
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Officials face scarcity of houses in Faridabad
Work on Taj Expressway to resume soon
Twelve held at airport for forged visas
CM stresses on streamlining of criminal justice system
Ghaziabad trader attacked with acid
Court frees five accused in transistor blasts case
Villagers block road over erratic power supply
Guard shot dead for rebuking eve-teaser
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Child labour won’t be allowed in Delhi: CM
New Delhi, June 12 The Government will initiate steps to rehabilitate children who are compelled to work due to their economic misfortune. Education will be the core aspect of this rehabilitation programme. Inaugurating the first Transitional Education Centre for Child Labour, the Chief Minister called upon the employers, trade unionists, NGOs and other members of the civil society to come forward in the task of rehabilitation of child labour because Delhi has a large number of children who migrated from other parts of the country in search of work. The Delhi Shops and Establishment Act, 1954, prohibits the employment of children who have not completed 12 years of age. The Factories Act, 1948, prohibits employment of children who are not 14 years of age. In pursuance of this policy, the Ministry of Labour and Employment has been implementing the National Child Labour Project (NCLP) scheme, which is a project-based action programme. The scheme provides for setting up of project societies at the district level under the chairpersonship of the Collector or District Magistrate for overseeing the implementation of the project in Delhi. The Labour Commissioner is the Chairman of the Society. The project aims at rehabilitation of children working in identified hazardous occupations and processes through special schools and finally mainstreaming them into the formal education system. Each special school provides for enrolment of 50 children. There is a provision of two educational instructors and one vocational instructor for every special school. A stipend of Rs 100 per month would be paid to each child. The money would be credited in the savings account of the child. The accumulated amount would be paid to the child at the time of his mainstreaming. Besides, mid-day meal, vocational training and health check-ups are essential components of the scheme. The inaugural function was presided over by Minister of Labour Mangat Ram Singhal. On the occasion, Ms Dikshit also released a song, prepared by the ILO, exhorting people not to employ children. |
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Jessica case: HC allows doctor to examine papers
New Delhi, June 12 However, at the insistence of the Delhi police counsel Mukta Gupta, Vacation Judge A K Sikri ruled that Bedi and his counsel would inspect the documents only in the presence of the investigating officials. The orders were passed on a petition filed by Bedi seeking permission to inspect the “fake medical certificates” allegedly issued by him to Vikas Gill, one of the accused who fled to the US in October 2004. The Special Investigation Team of the Delhi Police constituted in the aftermath of the botched up murder investigation of the model-turned bartender had recently registered an FIR against Bedi for allegedly issuing false medical certificates to Gill for enabling the accused seek exemption from attending the trial proceedings of the murder. Police alleged that Bedi granted nearly four medical certificates between 2004 and 2006 to certify that Gill was suffering from spinal problems, even though the accused was not in the country during the said period. Eventually, all the accused in the Jessica murder were acquitted by the trial court on February 21 this year. However, Bedi has taken the plea that he had never issued any such certificates and the alleged material said to be in possession of the investigating officials were apparently medical prescriptions issued by him. He also took the plea that as a medical practitioner, he cannot be held accountable if someone came visiting his hospital impersonating Gill. The doctor had earlier moved an anticipatory bail apprehending his arrest in the alleged crime. |
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‘India’s picture painted inaccurately by media abroad’
New Delhi, June 12 “There is a need to change the perceptions about India,” said Aditi, a US citizen whose earlier visits to the country have been to meet her grandmother in Kolkata. Part of the group of 25 diaspora youths who participated in the Know India Programme (KIP) organised by the Ministry of Overseas Indian Affairs (MOIA), Aditi’s experience in the country makes her want to change the image that her friends have of India. Like her there are others who are returning home with a completely new impression of India, a country they trace their roots to. For Guganeswaran Kamala from Malaysia, his maiden trip to the country has been an eye-opener too. “I did read up about India, read the books written by President Kalam, but the picture of India, as is painted in the media abroad, is not accurate,” he said. Proud of the Indian culture and traditions, he said, “In Malaysia, being an Indian means you are in control, owing to your traditions and cultural heritage, which instill discipline in you.” These youngsters who were part of the KIP, organised in coordination with the Nehru Yuva Kendra Sangathan (NYKS), were taken across New Delhi and Himachal Pradesh during the programme from May 15 to June 12. Raised in cities and unfamiliar with the rural way of living, most of these youngsters were overwhelmed by the “warmth, hospitality and the care” that was bestowed upon them by their hosts. “It was touching to see that our hosts in Himachal took a day off work to spend the day with us,” said Dipti Manglani from the UAE. She was also surprised by the level of intelligence amongst the parliamentarians whom she met during her visit, “They are far more educated than they appear on TV,” she said. The participants also met President A.P.J. Abdul Kalam and Prime Minister Mr Manmohan Singh. And while most of them will have tales of India’s hospitality to share, Racheli Haligoa from Israel, whose “grandmother speaks Malayalam at home” will be candid about the dirt and filth that she saw in some places. Haligoa rued the fact that Indians are indifferent to the natural beauty of their country, which is probably the reasons why “some beautiful rivers are smelly”, she said. |
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Officials face scarcity of houses in Faridabad
Faridabad, June 12 There are some officials who have still not been allotted proper government accommodation despite several months having elapsed since they joined here. Some of the houses in the officers’ colonies here have been retained by those who have been posted out or those close to the powers that be. “Though this is not the first time that a controversy has arisen in the matter of accommodation allotment, it perhaps leads to demoralisation or a feeling of discrimination among officials who join here and have to wait for an extraordinary period before they are able to get a house here,” says Mr Ved Prakash Vidrohi, a social activist and a political leader. Stating that there had been complaints of some irregularities in nearly all district headquarters in the state, he appealed to the Chief Minister to look into the matter and implement a justified policy. It is learnt that there are at least two officers’ colonies here to house officials of various ranks but class I officials are preferred. “While the colony located in Sector 15-A is preferred by most of the senior officials, the other one in Sector 7-A is rather ignored. About two dozen houses in Sector 7-A are occupied by second-rung officials from various departments,” claimed a source in the district administration. While certain houses in these colonies are occupied by teachers of government colleges or certain officials already posted out, the number of houses available for the newly posted officials comes to nought. It is also reported that some of those posted out from here try to keep the accommodation with them in the name of their spouse or due to connections with higher-ups as they may want to keep their family here for the sake of schooling of their children. A district administration official, who had joined here in February this year, is still waiting for a house in the colony. He has been forced to take private accommodation on rent in a sector located several kilometers away from the mini-secretariat. |
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Work on Taj Expressway to resume soon
Greater Noida, June 12 The State Government has realised that many benefits will accrue to the State with the completion of the Taj Expressway. Moreover, the completion of the project will give a fillip to tourism in the State. It was also realised that further delay in the project will increase the budget of the project. It may be pointed out that the JP Group had been awarded the tender of the project three years back, including the right to collect toll tax on the highway for 38 years. The completion of the project, it was claimed, could enable motorists to reach Agra from Noida in just one hour, giving a boost to trade, commerce and tourism. Soon, however, the project was mired in controversy. The Samajwadi Party-led government had first asked senior bureaucrat Brijesh Kumar to probe the matter. He had submitted his report to the State Government. Later, a retired IPS officer, Vijay Shankar Mathur, was also asked to probe into the matter. He, too, had sent his report a year ago. However, both these reports had not been made public. Later, the JP Group, which had taken the matter to court, had withdrawn its plea. Now, retired Judge Satinder Kumar is conducting an inquiry into this case. The State Government has reportedly appointed Greater Noida Chairman Rakesh Bahadur as its CEO and Santosh Kumar as the Additional CEO of the project. According to analysts, the Samajwadi Party has realised that the ruling party may reap the benefit of project in the UP Assembly elections due next year. |
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Twelve held at airport for forged visas
New Delhi, June 12 The youths, who were about to board a Qatar Airways flight, were arrested after immigration officials found out irregularities in their visas and handed them over to the airport police. Most of them hailed from Punjab and Haryana. They were part of a 47-member team of job-seekers who had secured their visas after paying nearly Rs three lakh to a Ropar-based travel agent, a senior police official said. Police has charged them with IPC 420 (cheating), 468 (forgery for purpose of cheating), 471 (using of forged documents as genuine) and 120 (conspiracy). They are questioning all the 47 members of the team, the majority of whom are in their mid-20s. |
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CM stresses on streamlining of criminal justice system
New Delhi, June 12 This programme was organised for the first time by the Directorate of Training, Delhi Government. The Chief Minister underlined the important role of the Public Prosecutor and their function in the Criminal Justice System. She emphasized that the system must remain healthy, responsive and swift in delivery. She advised the Assistant Public Prosecutors to assist the court to the best of their ability and with the highest standards of probity and ethics. She advised the APPs to gain the confidence of people they represented. She noted that the fast changing world required that the APPs must keep abreast of the latest developments in their field and the government on its part would provide them with the required support so that greater efficiency can be achieved. Justice Manmohan Sarin in his address emphasized that the training should be interactive and the APPs must not hesitate to clear all doubts which they may have. He also suggested that the training programme must include a system on judicial ethics and on the conduct of APPs inside and outside the court. He suggested that one of the reforms which can be considered is that an independent authority of the police can do the scrutiny of challans before their being filed. This is a function being performed by the public prosecutors at present. A checklist should be prepared to ensure that filing of chargesheet is done properly. If the scrutiny of challans is separated, it would severe the nexus between the investigating officer and the public prosecutors, which often results in unethical and undesirable practices. He further suggested that the service conditions of the public prosecutors should be improved so that they have a career path with incentives where merit is rewarded. The training programme is spread over nine days and would focus on subjects like medical jurisprudence, problems of hostile witnesses, acquittal reports, speedy trial, IPR and cyber crime, challan checking, NDPS Act, economic offences, forensic science, Juvenile Justice Act, use of IT and Internet in criminal justice system, and practical aspects of the Code of Criminal Procedure, Evidence Act and the Indian Penal Code. At the end of the training module, the APPs will be taken for visit to Tihar Jail, police stations and National Institute of Criminology and Forensic Science. |
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Slight relief from scorching heat
New Delhi, June 12 Today was somewhat pleasant outdoors, in sharp contrast to the scorching conditions all through the last week which kept most of the residents indoors. The relief from the heat wave is likely to prevail in the coming days with the weather office predicting more dust-raising winds and thunderstorms accompanied with squall in the next 24 hours. The Met office has forecast a drop in maximum temperature to 40 degrees Celsius on Friday. They have even predicted light showers on that day. The mercury in the Capital has been witnessing a rising trend since last Monday. |
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Ghaziabad trader attacked with acid
Ghaziabad, June 12 The family of the victim said the assailants robbed the trader of thousands of rupees which he was carrying on his person. The police rushed the seriously burnt trader to SGTB Hospital where he is still in a critical condition. Vinod allegedly had a tiff with his wife a few days back. Her relatives are alleged to have thrown acid on him. |
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Court frees five accused in transistor blasts case
New Delhi, June 12 The 1985 serial blasts, often dubbed as Delhi’s bloodiest brush with terror, were carried out by Khalistan sympathisers who used transistor-like contraptions with an explosive mixture of picric acid and ammonium nitrate in addition to dry batteries. Delhi Police had registered nine cases in connection with the two-decade-old serial blasts and all the cases were being heard by additional sessions judge Vinod Kumar who has now discharged five accused — Jagir Singh, Sukhjinder Singh, Paramjit Singh, Shahid Singh and Surjit Kaur. The court discharged them on the grounds that “the material on the judicial file was not sufficient to frame a charge against these accused persons under any offence”. The court shot down most of the charges against the discharged as they were mainly based on disclosure statements of other accused in the case. According to the police, the names of four of the five discharged — Jagir, Sukhjinder, Paramjit and Shahid — were allegedly written on slips of paper recovered by investigators from other accused. |
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Villagers block road over erratic power supply
Gurgaon, June 12 The villagers alleged that due to erratic power supply for the past fortnight, the supply of water had also been disrupted. A resident of village Bhondsi, Mr Veer Singh, alleged that though the villagers had informed the authorities about their grievances, no remedial measures had been taken. Moreover, the disruption in power supply was also due to faulty infrastructure, the villagers alleged. The villagers called off their agitation only after the local MLA, Sukhvir Jaunapuria, assured them of better power supply in future. The agitation of the villagers caused traffic chaos on the road. When the agitation was called off, vehicles stood in serpentine queues on about three kilometers on either side of the road. |
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Guard shot dead for rebuking eve-teaser
Ghaziabad, June 12 The relatives of the youth are alleged to have shot him dead. The father of the deceased has lodged a report naming four persons of the village. Sunder Yadav, 40, was a security guard in a plant in Bamhota village, according to the SO, Kavi Nagar police. On Sunday, he was shot sometime between 1 am and 2 am. The Kavi Nagar police learnt of the murder in the morning. People who had seen the security guard’s body informed the police. Sunder’s father Vansha Yadav has filed a report naming four persons. The police are investigating.—OC |
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