New Delhi, July 22
Tension prevailed at Jamia Millia Islamia University for the fifth day as the students continued with the relay hunger strike for the third day today.

Despite the Jamia management announcing that the university will reopen in phases, the students are not relenting and demanding that the academic session resume in one go. The agitating students are also demanding the Vice-Chancellor’s resignation, police action against the Proctor, Rocket Ibrahim, and his son and admission to rejected students.

Another batch of six students today replaced the students who were on hunger strike yesterday.

“We want justice and we will fight for it. The management has decided to reopen the university to undertake administrative work, not academic. Academics must be given priority,” Jamia Students’ Union leader Satyaprakash Mishra said.

He alleged that the management was “indulging in petty politics” and students were made to suffer.

“What mistake have the students committed that classes are not being conducted,” he added.

The police force is still deployed in the university, which was closed sine die on July 19 after violence erupted in the campus a day earlier. Angry students held demonstrations on the campus today and raised anti-Vice-Chancellor and Proctor slogans.

The university is all set to be reopened in phases. The date was likely to be announced tomorrow, sources said.

“The university administration will very shortly review and finalise the dates for commencement of classes,” Jamia spokesperson Rakshanda Jaleel said.

On Monday, the pending admission process to all courses would also be completed.

“All heads of the departments and Directors of centres have been advised to prepare a revised schedule of admission by July 24 and submit the same to the Registrar and Director,” Ms Jaleel said.

The university has also asked the teaching staff to report on duty. The Acting Dean, Students’ Welfare, offered his services as a communicator to resolve the impasse and asked the students to approach him.

The students also urged Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to intervene and ensure classes resume in the university at the earliest.

A student delegation yesterday met Union Minority Rights Minister A. R. Antulay and apprised him of the prevailing situation in the university.

The boys’ hostel was vacated and sealed this morning. Several students’ unions are supporting Jamia students.

Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) students’ union president Mona Das said JNU students were with their peers at Jamia for their fight for justice.

Gurgaon, July 22
Keeping in view the recent bomb blasts and rumours in various parts of the country, the security of malls and multiplex has been increased manifold here.

Using the power vested in him by virtue of Section 144 of Code of Criminal Procedure, the District Magistrate, Mr R P Bhardwaj, has directed the mall owners to take all possible precautions as these establishments are easy targets for anti-social elements.

In his order, the District Magistrate has directed that proper frisking of all visitors must be done to check weapons, bombs or other explosives. Bigger bags and other articles must be deposited at entry gate and returned at the time of the visitor’s exit, stated the District Magistrate.

Entry of vehicles shall be allowed only after proper checking through view mirror and metal detector.

Close-circuit cameras will be installed both inside and outside at main entry and exit gate at each mall with the recording facility of at least last one month, added the order. Separate control room, separate telephone line with police control room, fire extinguishing system, proper training and record of private security guards, duty roster of all security personnel are other guidelines issued by the district administration.

The District Magistrate informed that the mall owners were not taking adequate security measures to avoid any occurrence of bomb blast. Thus, the administration had directed them to follow the nine point directions strictly, added the officer.

Gurgaon presently has seven malls: MGF Metropolitan Mall, MGF Plaza, Sahara Mall, DLF City Centre, DLF Mega Mall, DLF Grand Mall and JMD Regent. There are 15 screens in these malls. There is around 30000 to 60000 footfalls on weekends in each of these malls. 

New Delhi, July 22
At a time the government is laying so much emphasis on providing facilities to industries, especially the small scale industry (SSI), it is ironical an industrial area developed for the SSIs at Pataparganj in East Delhi has been deprived of even basic facilities like a post office, a bank, forex, a health centre, a police booth etc since then. This was set up about 15 years back by the Delhi State Industrial Development Corporation (DSIDC) through a directive of the Delhi Government

The president of the Pataparganj Entrepreneurs Association, Mr V. N. Sharma, said, “We have written so many times in this regard to the officials concerned of the Department of Industry, Government of Delhi, but nothing has improved as yet. Our delegation has even given a memorandum in this regard to the Central Industry Ministry but no positive response has come so far.” He added, “The DSIDC had allotted about 500 plots to us in this area about 15 years back to set up a unique industrial area for the SSI units of Delhi. At that time the agency had promised to construct a common facility centre (CFC) here comprising a bank, a post office, a health centre, a market, a police post etc. We are awaiting construction of that CFC.”

He further informed that about 45 units of the industrial area were engaged in export activities. “For their convenience, there should be at least one branch of foreign exchange here. We have brought this issue to the notice of the Department of Industry on many occasions but it seems no one is ready to listen to our genuine demand. As a result of non-availability of the branch of any bank in this area, we are facing a lot of problems. For bank related works, we have to go out to other localities. A lot of precious time and energy is thus wasted. Anyone can imagine how important a bank is for units like ours. A bank had opened its branch some time back near the local Sai Mandir but the bank complex was sealed in the MCD sealing drive. Then the bank decided to shift its branch to another place,” he informed.

He said that due to the negligence of the government their business was getting hampered. 

Ghaziabad, July 22
To clear the way for ‘kanwariyas’, Delhi-Dehra Dun and Delhi-Haridwar highways have been closed to traffic till July 26.

This is causing an estimated loss of Rs 200 crore a day. The closure of transport and traffic is having an adverse effect on the trade and commerce in the area en route the Delhi-Dehra Dun highway. Even factories in the area are starved of the supply of raw material while the readymade goods cannot be sent out to market in Delhi and elsewhere due to the closure of highway.

Traders and factory owners feel it is not a correct step to ban entire traffic on this busy highway. The authorities should have found such a wayout that nobody would have suffered losses or inconvenience.

The government has now decided to allow traffic between Delhi-Dehra Dun via Bagpat Shamli Road and between Delhi-Modinagar and Meerut on Delhi-Lucknow Road via Hapur. This will considerably ease the situation, official sources said.

In view of a large number of kanwariyas going to Haridwar, the district administration has blocked the traffic on the entire route.

Heavy vehicles were banned in Meerut up to July 24 with result trucks from other districts were banned from entering Meerut district.

Production in industrial units has come down to 50 per cent. 

New Delhi, July 22
Bharti Yadav, a key witness in the Nitish Katara murder case, today sent a fax message to a trial court here expressing her willingness to record her evidence in the case.

The fax was sent from an undisclosed location in the United Kingdom to a judge in the Patiala House Court dealing with the case. In the fax message, Bharti, the sister of main accused Vikas Yadav, said she was ready to record her evidence through video conferencing.

The prosecution told Additional Sessions Judge (ASJ) Ravinder Kaur that Bharti had sent the fax today to the judge in charge of the Patiala House Court from the UK.

However, Bharti had not disclosed her address in the fax message. The ASJ is hearing an application by the prosecution seeking issue of proclamation against Bharti for failing to appear before the court as witness despite three non-bailable warrants.

Anguished over the non-appearance of Bharti despite repeated trial court orders, the Supreme Court had yesterday warned her brother and cousin, Vikas and Vishal, facing trial in the murder case, not to take the judicial system for a ride. 

Faridabad, July 22
Infuriated mob torched a truck, damaged some other vehicles and clashed with the police near bypass road at Sector-3 here last night after a speeding tanker truck ran over two motorcycle-borne youths near Sihi village on Friday evening.

The victims who died on the spot were from this village. The villagers resorted to violence and even disrupted traffic on the road connecting the National Highway No 2 for almost three hours. Though a large number of policemen were posted last night on the spot, uneasy calm prevailed in the area today.

The victims had been on their way to a camp to serve the ‘kanwaryias’ on the outskirts of the village when this incident took place.

According to reports, the deceased identified as Ravi and Kamal Singh were riding a bike when it was hit by the tanker coming from the opposite direction. Both of them died on the spot. The villagers immediately assembled on the scene, caught hold of the truck driver and thrashed him. They also torched his vehicle.

The mob stopped other trucks as well and damaged them before the police could intervene.

It is learnt that a motorcycle of the police was also damaged in the stone-throwing incident, which made the authorities rush more cops to the spot, who used a mild lathicharge to disperse the crowd. This has been the first such incident related to the ‘kanwariyas’ this year in the district, which reportedly caused traffic snarls on the roads.

The traffic on Mathura Road (National Highway Number 2) was also blocked for sometime on Friday evening near Khatela village after some people threw a stone on the ‘kanwariyas’, said a report.

Meanwhile in another incident, one youth identified as Surender was allegedly stabbed to death by two youths at Jawwan village in the Ballabgarh subdivision on Thursday night.

The victim had also gone out of his house to attend a ‘kanwariya’ camp near the village. 

Faridabad, July 22
The problem of minor children working in the industrial and commercial organizations persists despite claims made by the government and its labour department on checking their employment in the industrial and commercial organizations.

There could be several thousand child labourers in the NCR, including Faridabad, if the contents of an ongoing survey were to be believed.

Though the final report of the survey being done by an NGO was still to be out, the details so far indicate towards a poor performance by the department concerned regarding the compliance of the Labour and Factory Act.

While more than 5,000 children have been found working in the industrial and commercial units so far, it is estimated that the number of such children could be between 15,000 and 20,000 in this district alone. Several children have been found working even in the ‘Hazardous’ units, where employment of children had been banned under the provisions of the Labour Welfare Act.

It is reported that with connivance of certain officials and employees of the department concerned, this law is being violated as it has been found that children aged between 10 and 17 years have been engaged as labour in many of the dyeing and chemical units.

Faridabad has three to four dozens of such units. The survey work was being done on the directions of the ‘National Child Labour Project Society’ (NCLPS), headed by the state government officials.

This society has been formed in Faridabad, Gurgaon and Panipat districts of the state, where the number of industrial and commercial units is maximum.

The survey work in this district has been divided into East and West Zones and the NGO asked to submit its report in a month.

The survey completed so far in the East zone has revealed high incidence of child labour in various establishments. The violations have reportedly been found in almost 90 per cent of the industrial units and the establishments headed by political and influential persons.

It is perhaps the first time that a survey of this kind is being carried out.

Gurgaon, July 22
Little did Mrs Savitri Chikkara, mother of Pramod Kumar Chikkara, Sqd. Leader who passed away in MIG-21 twin-seater trainer crash on March 21, realise that her world would be completely broken one day.

The tragedy of the family of the brave pilot who lost his life has been apparently deepened due to the ‘apathy’ of the Ministry of Defence and the Air Force establishment.

Even after nearly four months of the tragedy that struck Mrs Savitri Chikkara, the establishment has allegedly did not care to attend to even the most legitimate needs of the pilot’s widow, Sudha Chikkara.

Sudha Chikkara is in the family way and has not been provided with even a government accommodation in Delhi after she shifted house from Nalia in Gujarat following the death of her husband.

She stays with her mother-in-law, her only support and sometimes also at relatives’ house. After her husband’s demise, she enrolled herself for a management course in Management Development Institute (MDI) here. As she was reluctant to stay at any relative’s house, she stayed in the institute hostel.

Mrs Savitri Chikkara herself is quite old to face the hassles of taking her daughter-in-law to the army’s Referral Hospital near Dhaula Kuan in Delhi. Let alone providing an accommodation near the Referral Hospital, the establishment appears to have completely forgotten its distinguished personnel.

Pramod Chikkara was married to Ms Sudha on March 2, 2001.

Mr Pramod Chikkara was adorned with several medals and awards in his brief, but distinguished career. He died while preventing the ill-fated MIG-21 from crashing at a school in Vayuut village in Barmer district, Rajasthan.

Gurgaon, July 22
The district police claimed to have arrested five miscreants while they were conspiring to loot a petrol pump here.

The Senior Superintendent of Police, Mr Hanif Qureshi, informed that the police had received secret information from an informer that five culprits namely, Alok Singh, Sandeep, Anil, Ranjeet and Deepak were making a plan to loot a petrol pump in Sector 23 of the city.

Alok, Sandeep and Anil hailed from Uttar Pradesh while the other two belonged to Madhya Pradesh. The police rounded up the culprits near the powerhouse in Sector 23 and nabbed them on time.

The SSP said that a countrymade .315-bore pistol, one live cartridge and an iron rod were recovered from their possession. All the accused had been booked under Sections 399 and 402 of Indian Penal Code and Sections 25, 54 and 59 of the Arms Act. Further investigation of the case was going on, added the officer.

New Delhi, July 22
Citizens of Saket, Pushp Vihar, Press Enclave, Sainik Farm, Khirki Village and neighbouring colonies led by Saket MLA Vijay Jolly today demonstrated at the under construction site of the Saket District Centre behind the Marriott Hotel, Saket.

Local residents, including a large number of women, children and senior citizens led by Mr Jolly today assembled outside the hotel. The protesters held aloft banners and placards with slogans: “Saket Needs Water - not Mega Malls!” “Saket Residents Demand - Scrap Saket Mega Malls!”

Mr Jolly while addressing the assembled demonstrators alleged that the developers of Saket Mega Malls had not obtained environmental clearance as per notification no S O 801 (E) dated July 7, 2004, whereby all projects specified in Schedule-I appended to the notification shall not be undertaken unless it has been accorded environmental clearance by the Ministry of Environment and Forests, Government of India.

Mr Jolly alleged that developers were also violating Delhi High Court orders by digging deep underground water tubewells in the area. Daily, millions of litres of water was being misused for construction and commercial purposes in the area.

The illegally bored tubewells were without the formal sanction of Delhi Jal Board and Central Ground Water Authority. As a result of the apathetic attitude of the DDA, the Delhi Government and private developers, the authorities had chosen to overlook the gross environmental and ecological violations, Mr Jolly alleged.

New Delhi, July 22
A city court on Friday remanded two youths, Dilip Kumar and Shashank, in 14 days’ judicial custody on the charge of allegedly tampering with a power meter in the Farsh Bazar area. They operated in East Delhi and used to approach customers to tamper their meters for a fee.

In another case, the city court released a mother and son who were arrested on charges of power theft in 2005 from the DDA flat in Kondli. — TNS

New Delhi, July 22
Volunteers and office-bearers of the Rotary Blood Bank here have sought the help of the public to help replenish the depleting stock of the precious fluid by donating blood liberally.

The healthcare system in Delhi struggles against the deficit of blood of over two lakh units each year between supply and demand, according to figures.

Delhi requires approximately five lakh units of blood every year whereas the collection is slightly under three lakh units. Of this, only 26 per cent is through voluntary blood donations, a meagre 77,000 units every year. There is never enough safe blood for patients and people have to struggle to find friends and relatives to donate blood to save the lives of their dear ones in emergencies.