New Delhi, August 11
The Supreme Court today refused to interfere with a Delhi High Court order putting a ban on interview of parents by private schools in the capital at the time of admission of tiny tots to pre-primary and primary level classes.

The High Court order of May 10 was challenged by SRF Foundation running some schools on the ground that such a direction was violated Rule 145(1) of Delhi School Education Rules, 1973 giving power to management of a private school to evolve its on mechanism and procedure for admitting students.

A Bench of Mr Justice K G Balakrishnan and Mr Justice D K Jain refused to interfere in the High Court order and told SRF Foundation’s counsel Mukul Rohtagi to raise the same points before the High Court, where the matter was still pending.

The apex court pointed out that the High Court direction was issued only in an interim order not in a final judgement, therefore, the Supreme Court’s intervention at this stage was not called for.

Following the refusal to entertain the plea of SRF Foundation, if preferred to withdraw it. In its interim order, the High Court had said that the schools would not call the parents for their interview before admission of small children without an express permission from it.

The High Court had issued the direction on a petition by Rakesh Goel contending that the schools were using such interviews as arbitrary method to take a decision as who should be given admission, which was completely devoid of transparency.

The High Court had also sought complete list of admission seekers from each school to know which of the private schools were using the interviews to adopt a “discretionary” methodology in the admission process, which was not permitted as per rules as it should be transparent.

The High Court had said that the practice of issuing admission card or interview cards to parents has to be completely stopped and had asked the association of private schools to evolve certain accepted parameters themselves to achieve the objective of clean admission process.

New Delhi, August 11
Tense and scared moments were witnessed at the Central Revenue Office, ITO here today when police received an anonymous phone call claiming that a bomb had been planted there.

According to Delhi Police sources, bomb disposal squads and sniffer dogs rushed to the high - rise building in the busy Central Delhi area and conducted a thorough search for an hour after evacuating the whole building complex about 11 am in the morning. Thousand of employees and visitors had no other option than to leave the complex just the start of the working day,” said a senior police officer posted with the PCR branch of the Delhi police and part of the search operation.

He said that the search, however, had proved futile as they could not find any explosive in the building after which the call was declared as a hoax call. The phone call has later been traced to a public call booth from the Prashant Vihar area in North – West Delhi. So far no body has been arrested in connection with the incident,” he asserted.

“The hoax scare comes at time when the national capital is on a high alert in view of Independence Day. An organized gang is believed to be behind such hoax calls just to divert our concentration security preparation for the D – day,” said the officer.

New Delhi, August 11
The interim order by the Supreme Court regarding sealing of shops yesterday has sent the trading community of Delhi into a tizzy. Traders’ bodies claim they are gearing up to take to the streets all over again.

A meeting of prominent trade leaders of Delhi was held today to take stock of the situation arising out of the order. It was deliberated upon that the implementation of the court order would render lakhs of people “homeless” and “jobless”.

It was pointed out that the trading community was already passing through a bad period. Trade in Delhi would be adversely affected following the implementation of the order. This would also lead to the Delhi Government facing a huge loss of VAT revenue.

The traders were likely to meet Union Minister for Urban Development Jaipal Reddy and Minister of State Ajay Maken apart from leaders of major political parties to mount pressure on the government to take legally protected steps for safeguarding the interests of traders and people in general, Mr Praveen Khandelwal, secretary-general of the Confederation of All India Traders (CAIT) said.

New Delhi, August 11 
The Central Board of Secondary Education has envisaged introducing new subjects at the school level to ensure that learning does not remain confined to subjects like mathematics and science.

These subjects, as diverse as translation and interpretation, thinking skills and film, television and media studies, will be introduced in the near future to provide learners a wider choice.

“There is a proposal to introduce new subjects at the school level but the CBSE is yet to decide whether they will be introduced in the next academic session or the one after that,” said Prof Krishna Kumar, Director, National Council for Education Research and Training (NCERT).

The board will seek assistance from the NCERT to frame the content of these new subjects. 

“The idea is to provide students a wider range of choices as right now the range is narrow. The new courses are inter-disciplinary ones and oriented towards knowledge,” said Professor Kumar.

The course on translation aims at identifying and discussing basic concepts and problems in the area of translation studies and provides an opportunity for an in-depth and hands-on study of many areas of applied linguistics in the context of interlingual and intercultural transfer of meaning. 

The course on thinking skills involves the learning of a set of skills independent of specific subject content. This would enable students to improve their ability to understand, analyse and resolve problems. The thinking syllabus has two aspects, problem solving and critical thinking.

Film, television and new media having been recognised as primary sources of information and entertainment are being perceived as important channels for education and cultural exchange. 

The critical literacy skills, used within the techniques and processes of moving image production and use, enables students to think, question, create and communicate by designing, producing and critiquing film, television and new media products. 
Another course being proposed is development studies that deals with the changes in the nature of society which promote or impede the greater realisation of human potential. 

It has been designed to promote a greater awareness of the local, regional, national and international issues which affect development so that individual students take a more informed and positive role in shaping the societies in which they live. Through the course on visual art and graphic design students will be aided in developing and demonstrating their understanding and skilful use of the elements and principles of art beyond the proficient level and compare it to that of others.

A course on gender studies encompasses a wide range of questions. These are related to the underlying concepts of gender as evolved in various academic disciplines, epistemological approaches and institutional setting of modern educational systems on all levels. 

Creative writing and critical thinking along with a course on art appreciation are also in the list of the proposed new subjects.

New Delhi, August 11
The Amity Centre for Educational Research and Training yesterday launched the Montessori Teacher Training Programme at Amity International School Campus, Pushp Vihar, here. The programme will also run in the Centre's Noida and Gurgaon branches. 

The idea behind the initiative is to train international caliber teachers who can be instrumental in changing the scenario of education in the country. Over 200 students are in the first batch of this course. 

While interacting with the students, Dr Ashok K. Chauhan, Founder President, Ritnand Balved Education Foundation (RBEF), said, "It has been proved by psychologists and brain research scientists that children in the age group of three to ten years between pre-nursery and fifth class have the highest learning capacity. The learning of such children depends on the art and skills of the teachers who develop them.” 

Dr (Mrs.) Amita Chauhan, Chairperson, RBEF, also addressed the students and encouraged them to inculcate good values and the spirit of patriotism in children. She added that the most successful teachers were the ones who were willing to update their knowledge and constantly improve themselves. “Teachers shape lives and happy teachers make happy children.” 

Welcoming the participants of this programme, Ms Sapna Chauhan, an alumnus of Wharton Business School and Vice-Chairperson of the Centre, said the entire world had awakened to the importance of early foundation of the personality of a child. “The importance and role of a teacher in shaping today's youth and society cannot be expressed enough. Their dedication, motivation and ability determine the success or failure of any educational system”, she said. Amity offers a one year post graduate diploma programme in Montessori Method of Education. The course curriculum covers topics related to knowledge of childcare and education, use of the Montessori apparatus.

New Delhi, August 11
The Delhi High Court today dismissed the bail application of Vikas Yadav, son of former Rajya Sabha Member D P Yadav and prime accused in the Nitish Katara murder case.

Dismissing Vikas’ plea after three days of arguments witnessed between the prosecution and the defence, Justice A K Sikri said he would give a detailed reasoning for the order after the court reopens on August 17 after a short recess.

The rejection of the bail followed three days of arguments during which the Delhi police counsel Mukta Gupta opposed the bail on the ground that Vikas if released on bail had the propensity to destroy vital piece of evidence besides preventing the return of his sister and key witness Bharti from U K. Senior counsel D C Mathur appearing for the accused submitted that Vikas was under incarceration for the last four years and hence should be released on bail until the trial adjudicated the murder case.

He claimed that the prosecution had so far failed to provide any concrete evidence to prove Vikas’s involvement in the murder or substantiate the charge that the accused would destroy evidence or intimidate witnessess if released on bail.

However, Mukta Gupta told the court that Vikas who was earlier arrested in the Jessica Murder case obtained bail during which he allegedly murdered businessman Nitish Katara, since the latter had an affair with Bharti.

She also submitted to the court that Bharti was under constant pressure and influence from Vikas and her family not to depose before the trial court in the case.

The trial court had early this month issued an ultimatum to Bharti to appear before it within a month failing which she would be declared a proclaimed offender.

MCD chief asked to visit, improve schools

A Division Bench of the Delhi High Court today issued a notice to the MCD Commissioner after taking note of an NGO’s report highlighting the dismal state of MCD schools in the Capital.

A Division Bench comprising Acting Chief Justice Mr Vijendra Jain and Mr Justice Kailash Gambhir has issued a notice to the Municipal Commissioner to immediately proceed to municipal schools at Nithari, Kirari and Prem Nagar in Nangloi area of Delhi and take suitable steps to redress the problems being faced by the children enrolled in these schools. The court has directed the Municipal Commissioner to visit these schools and submit his report by the next date of hearing on August 28. The report, highlighting the failure of the authorities to provide essential infrastructure and amenities to students studying in the MCD schools, was submitted in the court by NGO Social Jurist.

Apollo Hospital told to cooperate with probe panel

The Delhi High Court today directed the Indrapastha Apollo Hospital to furnish to the five-member court appointed committee to complete details of “daily treatment schedule” of patients at the hospital.

A Division Bench of Justice M K Sharma and Justice Hima Kohli also directed the hospital to provide the committee all required information pertaining to the “infection control” measures undertaken by the management.

The directions were passed on the complaint of the five-member committee and petitioner’s counsel Rekha Palli, wherein it was alleged that the hospital authorities refused to provide any information to the panel despite specific directions issued by the court earlier. The petitioner Uma Kumar had earlier filed a PIL in the court alleging that the hospital was being run in an unprofessional and inhuman manner.

New Delhi, August 11
A Delhi court has acquitted two men of the charges of kidnapping and rape as it did not find prosecution evidence to be of “impeccable credibility”.

“There is absolutely no evidence against accused Pramod. As regards accused Saleem, I do not find the evidence of prosecution to be of impeccable credibility,” Additional Sessions Judge Narottam Kaushal observed.

Since the age of the prosecutrix (the girl) had been opined between 16 and 18 years, she could be taken to be above 18 years, giving the benefit of doubt to the accused, the court observed. Further, the medico-legal case (MLC) did not indicate any forcible intercourse, the court noted, adding that the doctor did not find any sign of injury.

The girl deposed in the court that on August 30, 2001, the accused Saleem and his friend Pramod had forcibly taken her to Ballabhgarh, Faridabad, on a bicycle. They allegedly raped her, keeping her in a room there till September 27. On cross-examination, she, however, denied Pramod forced her to sit on the bicycle.

“It is not possible to imagine a situation where a person is made to sit out on a bicycle under a threat and taken to Ballabhgarh where she remains as many as 28 days without attracting any attention,” the court observed.

New Delhi, August 11
With the arrest of a notorious inter-state robber and snatcher, Rajeev Rathi (20), a resident of Bahadurgarh in Haryana, the South-West district police claimed to have solved six cases of robbery and snatching.

According to the DCP of this district, Mr Ravindra Yadav, “In view of the forthcoming Independence Day celebrations, our staff was on a surprise check. A team led by SI R. P. Meena was conducting the check near Najafgarh. At about 9 am, three suspicious looking boys on a motorcycle bearing registration number DL 4S 5048 were spotted and asked to stop. They tried to escape the police check but the barricades forced them to stop. 

Noida, August 11
Three persons travelling in a Qualis were killed when a truck coming from opposite direction collide with it head-on near Machha village on GT Road in the early hours yesterday. 
Mukesh was on his way to Dadri from Dairy Skaner in his Qualis (No DL 3C-Y2127) along with three others when the accident took place.
As Mukesh’s Qualis reached Dairy Machha village, a truck coming rashly from the opposite direction collided with other vehicle. — OC