New Delhi, September 22
A Division Bench of Delhi High Court today asked the MCD to explain why children enrolled in schools run by it were forced to study in classrooms and corridors, which had been designated unsafe.

The Bench, comprising Mr Justice Vijender Jain, ACJ, and Mr Justice Kailash Gambhir, directing the MCD to file its reply on October 11, also sought an explanation about the alternative suitable arrangements made for children studying in dangerous schools.

The Tribune had recently published a report prepared by an NGO highlighting the MCD’s negligence in failing to provide safe buildings to students of a primary school in Mukundpura.

Arguing before the court, advocate Ashok Agarwal, who is also the convenor of the Right to Education Task Force, an NGO, said the MCD authorities were unconcerned about the educational and safety needs of the children studying in their schools.

The petitioner highlighted the facts that the schools run by the Delhi Government and the MCD lacked basic facilities, which were necessary for realisation of the right to education as guaranteed under the Constitution of India.

It was submitted that about 11 lakh students studied in 918 government schools and more than 10 lakh in 1800 MCD-run primary schools in Delhi.

Children in the Mukundpura school were forced to sit in classrooms that had been declared dangerous by the MCD’s engineering department. Certain students were forced to study outdoors owing to the absence of proper classrooms, the NGO had reported.

Meanwhile, the Delhi Education Minister, Mr Arvinder Singh Lovely, today announced that strict action would be taken against those schools which did not follow the guidelines laid for ferrying children to and back from their destination.

This comes in the wake of media reports highlighting the plight of several hearing and speech impaired children who were left stranded in a bus on the day traders here held a bandh on September 20.

Taking serious note of the incident, the Minister said strict action would be taken against the schools which did not take the responsibility of transporting children from home and back.

A school bus carrying speech and hearing impaired students from NDPC School, Mayur Vihar, Phase I, being run by the Social Welfare Department, was stuck in a traffic jam for several hours. No school teacher was accompanying the children.

The students, unable to give their address, were left waiting for their parents till news channels flashed their pictures.

The Minister has also called for an inquiry into the matter and specified that strict action be taken against the erring officials/authority who failed to provide a school teacher to accompany the students in the school bus.

The Minister has also written to the Secretary, Social Welfare Department, for this serious lapse on the part of the school management.

Mr Lovely said it was the responsibility of the school management to ferry students as per the guidelines. It must be ensured that in future at least one school teacher/staff of school accompanies the students in every school bus till all children reach their destination.

New Delhi, September 22
The temporary relief notwithstanding, shopkeepers in the national Capital continued their protest against the sealing drive here today, a day after the state government ordered a temporary suspension of it.

Traders and shopkeepers in Laxmi Nagar area of the Capital held a mock funeral to express their disgust over the sealing issue even as Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit assured that any future decision pertaining to the sealing drive would depend on the Supreme Court’s directives on Monday.

The sealing process has been put on hold till September 25 when the Supreme Court will hear the matter.

It was stopped following widespread violence in the city on Wednesday during the Delhi bandh called by the traders against the sealing of shops in residential areas.

New Delhi, September 22
The Delimitation Commission, in its report, has redrawn and renamed parliamentary constituencies in the national Capital.

Though the number of constituencies in the city continue to be seven, New Delhi, Chandni Chowk and South Delhi constituencies had been redrawn, official sources said today. Outer Delhi, Karol Bagh and Delhi Sadar had been dropped as names of parliamentary constituencies while North-East Delhi, North-West Delhi and West Delhi are the new entries.

The North-West Delhi constituency is now the reserved seat in place of Karol Bagh constituency.

Each parliamentary constituency would have 10 assembly constituencies. The total would continue to be 70. However, the number of reserved constituencies is down from 14 to 12.

Nineteen assembly constituencies have been given new names.

The report redrew the constituencies in such a way that each assembly constituency would have an average of 1,97,800 voters and each parliamentary constituency 19.78 lakh. This would end the present disorganised electoral system in which Outer Delhi constituency had more than 30 lakhs voters while Chandni Chowk had just 3.5 lakh.

It is not known when the new delimitation, which was done on the basis of the 2001 census, would take effect. 

New Delhi, September 22
With municipal polls scheduled early next year in the Capital, the Election Commission has started the process of electoral roll revision in all 70 assembly constituencies.

Delhiites have been provided with online registration facility. They can apply for the inclusion of their names by submitting form no 6 on the website, www.ceodelhi.com.

The draft electoral rolls of Delhi and other information regarding summary revision of electoral rolls are also available on this website of the election department.

The Delhi Chief Electoral Officer told reporters that the citizens of Delhi had been requested to help the Election Office in producing clean and realistic electoral rolls by submitting form no 7 for the deletion of names of non-existent electors in their neighbourhood.

As having one’s name in the electoral rolls more than once is an offence, the Chief Electoral Office has requested those Delhiites who have recently shifted their residences to ensure that their names at previous addresses have been deleted. She said the preparatory work for this had already started from August 21 and interaction with the public would be conducted from October 6 to 26. 

Faridabad, September 22
The Haryana Urban Development Authority (HUDA) claims to have started implementing the orders of the Punjab and Haryana High Court regarding the closure of shops and other commercial establishments running from residential premises in its sectors and Housing Board Colonies here.

The power and water connections of at least three houses have been disconnected by the officials for violating the court orders.

The court has asked HUDA to issue notices to the owners of houses converted to commercial units like shops asking them to furnish affidavits regarding cessation of these activities.

Anyone who fails to submit the document or reopens the shop later would be liable for punishment like disconnection of water and power supply.

Though the officials claim that hundreds of shops have been closed in various sectors, including the Housing Board colonies in Sector 3, Sector 7, Sector 10, Sector 29 and Sectors 22 and 23 here, it is reported that there are still several shops functioning in various areas, including the Housing Board Colony of Sector 18 and 29.

There are also reports that the authorities have ignored other illegal activities like running of dairies in the residential sectors, operation of depots of waste products (kabadi dealers) storage depots (godowns) of fruits and vegetables and parking of private buses and trucks in the residential areas.

“Hundreds of jhuggis exist on the vacant plots with the active connivance of officials concerned, specially the police,” claimed a resident of Sector 10.

He pointed out that the sealing drive might not be a success as there had been no properly developed market in Sectors like 10 and 11.

Residents here had to depend on the shops of the illegal market of Sector 7-10 which is old and well established.

Gurgaon, September 22
In an effort to implement an order of the Punjab and Haryana High Court to disconnect water, electricity and sewerage connections to the premises doing commercial business in residential areas in the state, the authorities have set about identifying the errant premises.

The court in its order on September 15 said that the errant premises would have to close the commercial activities and submit affidavits to this effect within a week after the publication of the order. The order was published yesterday.

The court has appointed the estate officers of HUDA as nodal authority which will accept the affidavits. Significantly, the order holds good for all kinds of habitation in all jurisdictions.

Yesterday, the Administrator HUDA, Gurgaon Circles, Mr S.P.Gupta held a meeting with personnel of the departments concerned. A road map for implementation was discussed.

The district administration is also monitoring the situation and taking specific action for implementation of the order.

A senior officer of the district said it was a stringent order of the court.

In the meeting, the HUDA Administrator urged that there should be no harassment of public in implementation of the order. Also, a decision was taken to educate the public on the issue so that ugly incidents such as the recent ones in Seelampur in Delhi were not repeated in Gurgaon.

He directed that those private companies who had hired premises on rent for their employees as well as the premises in which not more than five students stayed in private lodges/premises should not be considered commercial activities. Also, the premises in which people were staying as paying guests should not be considered commercial activities.

When contacted, Mr Gupta said that the directive was necessary as earlier the personnel used to show such premises as hostels, etc and would harass people. Meanwhile, the order and the administrative action have created a scare among those running commercial activities in residential pockets.

Noida, September 22
Dengue fever appears to have afflicted a large number of people in Dadri villages where over a dozen persons have reportedly died of the disease. Besides, over two dozen dengue patients are currently admitted to hospitals in Dadri, Ghaziabad and Delhi.

Most of the patients are dying for want of proper facilities in rural areas. In spite of two deaths, one each in Dadri and Jarcha towns three days ago, health authorities have not taken any steps for its prevention. Over two dozen patients are afflicted with dengue and seven persons have died of dengue in rural areas alone.

In view of lack of medical facilities in villages, patients tend to rush to quacks. It is only when their condition becomes critical that they come to city hospitals. But by then it is often too late for most of the patients.

Surprisingly, the district health authorities do not appear to have an up-to-date information about dengue deaths.

Even the Additional District Magistrate did not have the latest information about the victims. No fogging has been done nor any camp organized to facilitate villagers’ treatment so far, leading to fear of an epidemic in the near future.

New Delhi, September 22
Apparently concerned by the negative fallout of the controversial sealing and demolition drive in the Capital, the Delhi Government has decided to extend power subsidy for both domestic and agricultural consumers till March 31, 2007.

This decision was taken at a late night Cabinet meeting chaired by the Chief Minister, Ms Sheila Dikshit, in view of the new power tariff plan to be issued by the Delhi Electricity Regulatory Commission (DERC) today.

Sources said the subsidy would result in a revenue loss of Rs 7.5 crore per month to the government while power firms would be asked to continue their five per cent rebate on power bills.

“Keeping in view the public sentiments because of the ongoing sealing and demolition issue, which has pushed the government into a corner, there was no option but to offer subsidy to check the power hike,” said a source.

Last year, too, the government and discoms had to share five per cent burden of the hike because of protests by residents against 10 per cent tariff hike recommended by the DERC.

However, sources said while domestic and agricultural consumers were spared from paying higher taxes this fiscal, the commercial and industrial consumers may be slapped with higher tariff rates as per the decision taken by the government last year.

New Delhi, September 22
The Supreme Court today dismissed a petition filed by Bharti Yadav, seeking her deposition through video conferencing in the Nitish Katara murder case.

A Bench comprising Mr Justice K. G. Balakrishnan and Mr Justice D. K. Jain allowed Bharti to withdraw her petition who is staying in England.

Bharti contended that she could not come to India for at least six months as she was studying in London. — PTI

New Delhi, September 22
The Lt-Governor of Delhi, Mr B. L. Joshi, received a dividend cheque of Rs 1.75 crore for the financial year 2005-06 on behalf of the Government of Delhi from Indraprastha Gas Ltd (IGL) at Raj Nivas here today. The Managing Director of the company, Mr A. K. De, presented the dividend cheque to the Lt-Governor.

Complimenting the company on the occasion, Mr Joshi congratulated the IGL team for its efforts and initiatives in providing environmental-friendly and comparatively economic fuels to the residents of the NCR. He also assured the company that the government was committed to using ‘green’ fuels for vehicles to improve the pollution level in the Capital.

IGL is the sole supplier of compressed natural gas (CNG) and piped natural gas (PNG) in the Capital.

New Delhi, September 22
Scattered, but heavy rain, and strong winds today brought some relief from the humid conditions prevailing in the Capital for the last few days, promising a pleasant weekend for Delhiites.

The maximum temperature came down by a couple of degrees, from 35 degrees C to 33 degrees C, after it rained in the morning and late afternoon. The afternoon rain, accompanied by strong winds, brought down some trees in the New Delhi area, though no one was reported injured. The rain was the result of some western disturbances, according to the Met Office.

The Met Office has predicted more scattered showers in the next 24 hours.

New Delhi, September 22
The president of the Shiromani Akali Dal and former president of the DSGMC, Mr Paramjit Singh Sarna, said today that the birth anniversary of Guru Ram Das, the fourth Sikh Guru, would be celebrated at his birthplace in Lahore on October 9 for the first time after Partition of the country in 1947.

The DSGMC will send a jatha of 200 pilgrims on October 6. The function would be held at Lahore from October 7 to 9, he added.

Addressing a congregation at Gurdwara Nanak Piao Sahib here today, he disclosed that he had returned early this morning after a four-day visit to Pakistan. The gurdwara at the birthplace of the Guru at Lahore had been renovated.

He disclosed that the four-lane road from Lahore to Nankana Sahib, whose foundation stone was laid jointly by the Chief Ministers of Indian and Pakistani Punjab had also been completed, while the construction work on two bridges was in progress.

Stating that only four to eight passengers travelled in the Amritsar-Nankana Sahib bus introduced in March, he said the DSGMC would open its sub-offices at Amritsar and Ludhiana and would manage visas for pilgrims.

He expressed the hope that the devotees would be able to visit Gurdwara Darbar Sahib at Kartarpur Sahib in Pakistan from Dera Baba Nanak without a passport in the near future. 

Ghaziabad, September 22
An engineering student, Vikrant, committed suicide by hanging himself from a noose. A suicide note found in his room revealed that he had ended his life as he had been failing in his examinations for the past two years.

Vikrant, son of a bank manager Vinode Tomar, was a student of B-Tech in a local engineering college. His room in their Kavi Nagar house was found bolted from inside by the family members yesterday morning.

When the door on his room was broken open, Tomar’s body was found hanging from a ceiling fan. The police later recovered a suicide note from Vikrant’s room in which he had apologised to the family for taking such a drastic step and said he alone was responsible for his death.

He said he had been failing in the annual examination for last two years. On previous night, he had studied up to 1 am along with his younger sisters and brothers. Kavi Nagar police said he must have hanged himself at 5 am.

New Delhi, September 22
With the arrest of six persons, namely Ganesh (52), Menakshi (26), Karan (19), Rajni (25), Babloo (22) and Sarju (18), all residents of Anna Nagar, the South district police today claimed to have busted a notorious gang of bag lifters active in the NCR and neighbouring Uttar Pradesh.

The police also rescued six-year-old Subham Gupta from their clutches. He was supposedly being used by the gang in lifting bags after he was kidnapped from Faridabad a year ago.

With their arrest, 27 cases of bag lifting reported from Kanpur, Mathura, Pilibhit, Faridabad and various parts of the Capital have been solved. Stolen jewellery worth more than Rs 2 lakh was also recovered.

Seeing the rising incidents of bag lifting, a Special Staff team was set up to bust the gangs involved. The team got information that women and children were being used by these gangs. The team got inputs from cluster colonies and major railway stations where such gangs had their hideouts.

Surveillance revealed these gangs were using children. Sometimes, they even kidnapped children and used them for crime after imparting training to them.

The six accused were arrested when they were planning a robbery in Lajpat Nagar.

Inquiries revealed Subham Gupta was kidnapped by the gang last year from NIT, Faridabad. A missing person report was registered first. Later, a case of kidnapping was registered. The parents of the child had gone back to their native place in Bihar after selling their property in Faridabad when they failed to get their child traced.

“The gang is called ‘Thak-Thak’ gang. The children used by them would make a thak-thak sound with the help of a marble on the driver’s side of the vehicle to divert his attention. His partners-in-crime would pick up bags or other valuables kept inside the car. The gang would preferably target the vehicles driven by women,” said a senior police officer.

Noida, September 22
Two men shot dead their companion, Joginder, alias Jugnu, in jungles of Badshahpur village under Kakode police station, after a drinking session.

The police arrested the accused on a complaint by the victim’s brother who had filed a report with the police naming the killers. Jugnu’s neighbours, Kishore and Satyaveer had called him out on Wednesday night and took him to a tubewell on the outskirts of the village. All the three then had a booze session there.

After a while the two men fired a shot. On hearing the sound of a gunshot, the villagers rushed to the spot and found Joginder lying in a pool of blood. The victim had died on the spot.

Police have sent the body for autopsy. The cause of murder is not known.

New Delhi, September 22
The Special Cell of the Delhi Police claimed to have shot dead a dreaded criminal, Deewan Chand, alias Lala (30), last night in a brief encounter. He was involved in more than three dozen cases of attempt to murder, robbery, snatching, theft, burglary, rape and those under the NDPS Act and the Arms Act in the NCR area. A 9 mm pistol along with one live cartridge were seized from him.

Two of his accomplices, Prit Pal Singh, alias Goldy(21), and Vikas Malik (26), have also been arrested. A stolen motor cycle and a 12-bore pistol along with four live cartridges were seized from them. 

New Delhi, September 22
A Delhi court has acquitted a man of the charge of killing his three-year-old stepson and asked the police to lodge an FIR against a sub-inspector who allegedly did not investigate the case properly.

“The SHO of New Ashok Nagar is hereby commanded to register a case against Sub-Inspector B. D. Sharma and the investigation of which should be undertaken by an officer not below the rank of an ACP,” said Mr R. K. Yadav, Additional Sessions Judge, while acquitting Jag Mohan who had allegedly killed his stepson Gulab nearly two years ago.

Finding prima facie evidence against Sub-Inspector Sharma, who, despite the medical opinion that the victim was murdered, did not conduct the probe properly and chose to close the case, the court asked the police to lodge an FIR against him .