New Delhi, November 13
The Delhi Cabinet has given its nod for the constitution of a separate “Health Services” under the Government of Delhi. It also discussed the Delhi Metro corridor between Central Secretariat and Badarpur via Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium which would be completed well before the ensuing Commonwealth Games 2010.

The Cabinet has also decided to tighten its grip over discoms in Delhi in view of the large number of complaints being received from the customers. The decisions were taken today at a Cabinet meeting presided over by Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit.

The Chief Minister disclosed her government had decided to constitute a new service, the Delhi Health Services, for effectively managing the health delivery system in Delhi. She added the Department of Health and Family Welfare had been authorised to take consequential steps, including holding consultations with the UPSC either for the purposes of framing of service regulations or seeking assessment of the suitability of the persons to be appointed under initial constitution.

She expressed confidence that the constitution of the new service would make the process of recruitment more smooth. The initial constitution of the service would provide for the appointment by transfer from the Central Health Service and by transfer among those who have been appointed by the Delhi Government on contract basis on or before April 10.

The Government of Delhi had 1,174 sanctioned posts of general duty medical officers (GDMOs), 410 non-teaching specialists, 349 teaching specialists and four public health specialists. Even after making contract appointments against ex-cadre posts, the department was short of 238 GDMOs and 53 non-teaching specialists.

The constitution of new services would also go a long way in protecting interests of the medical staff.

The Cabinet has also given its nod to an agreement between the Government of Delhi and the society managing Maulana Azad Institute of Dental Sciences here for the management of the institute as an autonomous body, regarding transfer of existing infrastructure, land, building, equipment etc. of Maulana Azad Dental College and Hospital on suitable terms.

Ms Dikshit further said her government was concerned about the number of complaints being received from customers regarding faulty billing system, frequent load-shedding despite sufficient power supply and alleged harassment by the enforcement staff.

The Cabinet has directed the Chief Secretary and Principal Secretary, Power, to summon heads of NDPL and BSES and convey the government’s annoyance to them. They have also been directed to apprise the government about their consultations with discoms.

She said, “It has been decided to tighten the grip of the government over discoms in public interest”.

New Delhi, November 13
The Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) today resumed its sealing of commercial units in residential areas of the NCT of Delhi after a two-day break.

The sealing of shops began today in areas falling under the Central Zone and South Zone of the MCD. A spokesperson for the MCD said sealing operations were on at Veer Savarkar Marg in South Delhi.

Today is the fourth day of the sealing operations since the drive began on November 8, after the Supreme court, ruling on the petitions of the Centre, the MCD and the Delhi Government to postpone the sealing drive, said the sealing of shops in Delhi would continue as per its directions on September 29.

The MCD has sealed about 350 shops, most of them in the posh South Delhi area, ever since the sealing drive began on November 8. The sealed units include several shopping arcades like the CTC Plaza located at Maharani Bagh.

Those affected by the sealing drive are more than 40,000 traders who had submitted affidavits in the Supreme Court to close down their units by October 31. Also falling under the purview of the drive are traders whose units fall under the negative list of items mentioned in the September 7 notification of the Urban Development Ministry.

Traders in the Capital observed a Delhi Bandh on Friday in protest against resumption of sealing of commercial establishments. Though the bandh passed off peacefully, demonstrations were held in different parts of the Capital. More than 300 persons were detained and 12 arrested as a preventive measure.

Meanwhile, on Friday the Group of Ministers discussed the issue of providing relief to traders affected by the Supreme Court order.

As the sealing of unauthorised commercial establishments in residential premises resumed, agitating traders today took out a protest march to the residence of Union Minister Ajay Maken, who is also an MP from Delhi.

The scores of shopkeepers, led by the BJP’s leader in the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD), Mr Subhash Arya, and trade leaders, marched towards Mr Maken’s residence in Raja Garden in West Delhi.

The march towards the residence of Mr Maken, Minister of State for Urban Development, began from the marble market in Raja Garden.

Carrying placards and raising slogans, the traders demanded an end to the drive and sought alternate accommodation in commercial areas to enable them to carry on their businesses.

Noida, November 13
The state Transport Minister today flagged off bus services of the UP Roadways from Noida and Greater Noida to Delhi and other important destinations in the state.

In the first phase, 225 CNG buses will be started from Noida, which was declared a new region by the UP Roadways today, with the commissioning of a fleet of 42 buses that included 21 CNG buses, and 21 air conditioned buses.

The services were jointly launched by the minister, Mr Naresh Agarwal, and the Chairman of UP Development Council, Mr Amar Singh from UP Roadways bus stand in Sector 35. Besides, other bus services will also be started from Noida to Greater Noida, Ghaziabad, Kasna, Kasna-Noida-Faridabad, Ghaziabad to Kasna from Serai Kale Khan to Noida, Bulandshahr and from Ghaziabad, Noida, Kasna, Bulandshahr, etc.

New Delhi, November 13
Considering the long-pending demand to link the central business district of Connaught Place with Badarpur, the Centre and the Delhi Government are studying the pros and cons of the detailed project report submitted by the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation, which was cleared by the DMRC Board of Directors recently.

The 20-km line, partly underground and partly elevated (15 km), will have 14 stations, Central Secretariat, Khan Market, Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium, Lajpat Nagar, Moolchand, Kailash Colony, Nehru Place, Kalkaji, Okhla, Jasola, Sarita Vihar, Mohan State, Tughlakabad and Badarpur.

This line, to be later extended to Faridabad, is proposed to be completed by July 2010 along with six lines being constructed under Delhi Metro’s Phase-II project before the Commonwealth Games.

New Delhi, November 13
The total number of dengue cases has risen to 3,106 in the national Capital during the past 24 hours, MCD officials said today. Of the total number of cases reported till 10 this morning, 1,883 were from Delhi, the officials said.

The death toll in Delhi so far was 61, they added. At AIIMS, nine more patients were admitted and eight were discharged during the past 24 hours. The AIIMS Medical Superintendent, Dr D. K. Sharma, said the total number of dengue patients undergoing treatment in the hospital now stood at 47, he added.—TNS

New Delhi, November 13
Even though the incidence of diabetes is rising among the people here, yet care and management of the disease is either lacking or is in very poor condition. As a result, diabetics are increasingly becoming prone to eye, kidney, foot and cardiovascular diseases, a new survey has claimed.

The Delhi Diabetes Community Survey, conducted by Dr Jitendra Nagpal and Dr Abhishek Bhartiya of the Sitaram Bhartia Institute of Science and Research, has revealed that a wide gap between effective diabetes management practices and their implementation, even among those from the higher income groups, exists.

This is significant in view of the increasing incidence of diabetes among people and the possibility of the country emerging as the diabetes capital of the world by 2020. Sedentary lifestyle and changing food habit and obesity have contributed to diabetes assuming epidemic proportion in the country, it is claimed.

A cross-sectional survey, conducted on 819 patients from 20,666 houses, showed that known diabetes patients from high-income groups in Delhi have poor glycemic, lipid and blood pressure control. Diabetes self-management education, nutrition counselling, exercise prescription and screening evaluations recommended for early detection of complications were infrequently advised and even less frequently followed.

Only 13 per cent of the tested patients have Glycosylated Haemoglobin tested even once a year which is mandatory. Only 16 per cent had gone for mandatory eye check-up in the last one year and just three per cent had foot check-up and a mere 32 per cent had a cholesterol and lipid profile examination in the past one year, the survey claimed.

As per the survey report, about 63 per cent of the patients had an abnormally high blood pressure of 140/90 mmHg, while lipid profile was uncontrolled in over 74.5 per cent patients. Over 42 per cent patients had Glycosylated Haemoglobin level of more than eight as against the normal of six.

Half of the patients had a routine urine examination in the past one year to check traces of protein to indicate kidney damage. One fifth were taking aspirin and 3.1 per cent were taking lipid-lowering drugs, the survey added.

About 92 per cent patients were visiting physicians but only 21.7 per cent had heard of the word glycosyulated haemoglobin or any investigation estimating glycemic control over the past months.

Awareness of the need for regular testing of blood glucose, eye examination and electrocardiogram was reported by 89.1, 61.1 and 48.1 per cent, respectively.

Projection from the study indicated that of the current 600,000 diabetes patients in Delhi, there was a risk of 84,000 new cases of heart disease and nearly 34,000 cases of stroke as well as 60,000 deaths in the next ten years.

According to the survey, these could be prevented by a mere one per cent reduction in Glycosylated Haemoglobin, as it has been proved that one percent reduction in it could reduce the diabetic patient’s risk of heart attack by 16 per cent, a slight 10mmHG reduction in systolic blood pressure could reduce his chances of diabetes related death by 18 and stroke by 44 per cent. Improving the patient’s lipid profile could reduce the risk of heart diseases by 25 to 55 per cent.

New Delhi, November 13
Hip and knee replacements are one of the fastest growing surgical procedures at the All India Institute of Medical Science (AIIMS) and this may be a cause for concern. This was highlighted at the Indian Orthopaedic Association (IOACON) meet, organised to mark the end of the Golden Jubilee year of the Association.

According to Dr Surya Bhan, Professor and Head of Department of Orthopedics, AIIMS, the soaring number of joint replacements signals a rising trend in obesity and a growing aged population. He also said that advancement in the field of ortho surgeries was taking place at a very fast pace elsewhere, but India had been catching up the progress as a result of more interaction and exchange programmes.

With 2,500 bone operations conducted every year at AIIMS, orthopaedic surgery is getting more specialised than ever before. Such is the demand for Cutting Edge Technologies in the country that there is a significant ‘redifining’ occurring at large in the world and the leading institutes of the country like the AIIMS, Tata Memorial Hospital in Mumbai and Stanley Medical college in Chennai.

While AIIMS has been working since the last two years on new ways to develop techniques based on stem cell research for crucial replacements, the availability of newer designs of customised implants and materials available today that have longer life are performing functions better than ever before.

Sedentary lifestyle, no exercise and unhealthy food habits are the factors causing orthopaedic problems.

Corporate employees in the 25-35 age group suffer more from slip discs, neck and shoulder pain and sometimes pain in the ankle base of the heel and shin muscles.

However, in India, 70 percent of the orthopaedic cases are accident-related. Last year, AIIMS has alone undertaken 350 joint replacements, 250 spine deformities corrections and approximately 1,200 trauma surgery cases with maximum limb salvage procedural efforts. This is more than the combined cases that it treated in the latter half of the nineties, when orthopaedic treatment was still at its infancy.

“With elder population maintaining a more active lifestyle, knee replacement surgeries have become the most common,” Dr Bhan says.

“Joint replacements at AIIMS incorporate the latest technologies and minimally invasive techniques. These advancements result in less post-operative pain and shorter recovery times”, he said.

“However, challenges still remain in terms of full recovery of movements as before and extending the limited life of such artificial cement replacement caps, which is generally 10-12 years. That’s why most patients feel the need to undergo expensive implants and hence the need for maintaining a functional bone bank is absolutely essential,” Dr Bhan added. 

New Delhi, November 13
Even as the government has laid down plans to build nine new jails in the Capital, more than 13,000 prisoners are in Delhi’s existing prisons, much beyond its stated capacity.

Of the total 13,451 inhabitants in the 10 prisons of Delhi till November 1, the largest chunk (10,833) is of undertrials. Of the rest, while 2,599 are convicts, 19 others are ‘cell-bound’, sources said.

Of the nine new jails proposed, 68.5 acres of land has already been acquired at Mandoli where six jails will come up.

Three other jails had been planned for Narela, Ghitorni and Baaprola, sources added.

Besides this, in the past six years more than 1000 illegally residing Bangladeshi nationals had been found involved in criminal activities.

Of the total of 1,080 Bangladeshis convicted so far since 2001, 273 were arrested in 2005, 230 in 2004 and another 185 in 2003, said sources.—TNS

New Delhi, November 13
The Pragati Power Corporation (PPC) Ltd has earned profit of Rs 47.94 crore on a turnover of Rs 478 crore during the financial year 2005-2006. The profit amount was calculated after deducting the tax amount, which had been paid to the department concerned.

The company has maintained the dividend to be paid to the Government of NCT of Delhi at the same level as in the last financial year. A cheque of Rs 14 crore was today handed over to Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit by Delhi Power Minister Haroon Yusuf and CMD Rakesh Mehta.

PPC Ltd, a wholly owned undertaking of the Government of Delhi, is operating 330 MW combined cycle power plant. The plant was fully commissioned in 2003. The plant is meeting the power requirement of Delhi. During 2005-2006, the gross generation was 2299 MW with a PLF of 7.53 per cent.

The company has been consistently earning profit. Last year, an amount of Rs 31.50 crore were paid to the GNCTD towards dividend for the financial years 2003-2004 and 2004-2005. Further, PPC Ltd intends to install Pragati II plant of 350 MW, which the Delhi Government Cabinet has already approved.

New Delhi, November 13
Children from different parts of the world will gather here for a six-day international assembly and integration camp to give free play to their creative talents and imbibe values through cultural exchange.

The event will be inaugurated by Union Minister for Human Resource Development Arjun Singh on the occasion of the birth anniversary of late Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru, which is celebrated as Children’s Day.

The assembly will end on the Universal Day of the Child. This year’s event holds special importance as it is also the golden jubilee year of the National Bal Bhavan.

The assembly, an annual feature of the National Bal Bhavan, is organised with a different theme every year. Children from Bal Bhavans across the country and other friendly countries take part in the event, which is aimed at promoting integration through exchange of culture and tradition.

The theme of this year’s assembly is “Values in Nation Building”. The programme provides ample opportunity for participating children and an atmosphere where they are given maximum freedom to express their talents without any feeling of competition.

During the children’s assembly, a special creativity fair will be organised. Children will enjoy a puppet show, magic shows, story telling and children’s films based on moral values.

Various other activities to be organised during the week include rangoli making, a visit to the Bio-Diversity Park, astronomy, yoga, visit to a rural Bal Bhavan at Mandi, a conference on the theme, a programme for special children, children’s poet meet and canvas painting activity with Iranian children on the theme of universal peace.

Mr Arjun Singh will also release Bal Bhavan publications, “Akkar Bakkar” magazine and a poster. This will be followed by a colourful cultural programme.

New Delhi, November 13
Following an overwhelming response to the first BSES Apke Dwar, which was organised in October for the residents of Mayur Vihar I and II, the BYPL organised its second BSES Apke Dwar for the residents of Patel Nagar and Shankar Road on November 11.

The programme was organised at Kalindi College.

It was pointed out the first BSES Apke Dwar saw an overwhelming response. More than 200 residents and RWA representatives from Mayur Vihar I and II had attended the function. Most of the grievances were resolved on the spot and assurances given for early redressal of problems left unresolved.

For the benefit and easy resolution of complaints for the residents present at the venue, the BSES had organised separate counters, each addressing and catering to a different category. There were stalls for billing issues, streetlights, new connections, load enhancement etc and each manned by an empowered team of officials.

Under BSES Apke Dwar, an empowered team of senior BYPL officials, led by the CEO, Mr Arun Kanchan, hold interactive sessions with the RWAs/ residents of an area. The year-long programme, which is to be held twice in a month at a designated spot, also has a provision for the online registration of complaints/requests.

“Through BSES Apke Dwar interactive sessions, we at BYPL intend to resolve grievances on the spot for residents approaching us through this forum. It also gives us an opportunity to closely interact and jointly work with the RWAs to offer solutions to the neighbourhood power related issues,” said Mr Kanchan. 

New Delhi, November 13
Differences in the Delhi Pradesh Congress Committee have been visible with the resignation drama of councillors in the Municipal Corporation of Delhi. The drama had been going on for the past one week.

Ninety-four Congress corporators out of 106, who are considered close to the DPCC president, Mr Ram Babu Sharma, resigned in protest against the sealing drive re-launched by the MCD. Other councillors considered close to the Chief Minister have refrained from resigning.

Sources in the DPCC said the resignation of corporators was basically a drama as they submitted the resignation to the Leader of the House, Mr Jitender Kochhar, which was not correct.

According to Section 33 (2) of the DMC Act, councillors must address their resignation letter to the Mayor and submit it in person to the Municipal Commissioner. But the corporators did not follow the actual rule because they were not actually interested in resigning. They wanted to show the traders in their segments they were sympathetic towards the business community. They also had not taken permission from the party before beginning the resignation drama.

However, today they withdrew their resignation after an appeal was made by the DPCC chief.

Mr Sharma said he respected the sentiments of all councillors who had shown sympathy for the traders. But in this critical hour, they should control their sentiments and continue working for the welfare and development of the public. He reminded the councillors till now only 2,183 roads had been identified and notified where the traders could continue their business. More roads had to be identified for business activities. To do this, it was essential for them to continue to be a part of the MCD.

When asked whether the resignation drama was a planned move with an eye on the ensuing MCD elections, he said the Congress was always ready for the election. The election is due to be held in March next year.

He made it clear the central government and the MCD were approaching the Supreme Court to get relief from the ongoing sealing drive.

Faridabad, November 13
The Municipal Corporation Faridabad (MCF) seems to have become a hotbed of politics thanks to the interference of political leaders in its affairs and the political aspirations of low-rung leaders who attempt to make the civic body a tool for their vested interest.

The recent rising among a section of the elected members who wanted to dislodge the Senior Deputy Mayor from his post was checked after the intervention of the office of the Chief Minister.

The MCF has been in the news in the past one and a half years for spending over Rs 100 crore on various developmental projects and its attempt to refurbish the civic infrastructure.

“There has been tremendous development in the city in the recent past and the MCF needs to be congratulated on this, but the problem is that despite the release of funds by the government, there are certain elected members who use their posts to further their political aspirations and find various sources of income, said a retired employee of the corporation.

Claiming that a majority of the members are affiliated to political leaders, including the MLAs and the MPs, they sing their praises on various occasions.

There have been hardly any mayor or senior deputy mayor, since the MCF came into being in 1994, who have not faced resentment of the elected members due to various reasons. One of the incumbents had to lose even his mayorship a few years ago.

The recent incident to get the senior deputy mayor removed from his post appeared to be a part of such a campaign, he claimed.

“Some of the elected members are not happy with the development works going in the ward of the senior deputy mayor and started levelling various charges and this group had the blessings of certain political leaders, said a political expert here.

He said a majority of the members had started lobbying to get the post of mayor before the post was declared reserved for women.

He said the election to this post was never smooth and it affected political aspirations of many in the past.

It may be recalled that the rising against the Senior Deputy Mayor, Mr Shiv Charan Lal Sharma, had started about a month ago. Several members had signed a resolution to get him removed. Though the dissidents approached the Chief Minister with help of their political bosses, they were told in clear terms that the move had been unjustified.

This made one of the members file a petition in the High Court, but meetings of the elected members with the senior MCF officials and the Senior Deputy Mayor here in the past couple of days resulted in truce and about 30 of the 35 members gave in writing that they had withdrawn from the move.

New Delhi, November 13
With the arrest of four persons – Satbir Singh Nagar, Sandhya, Ramesh Kumar and Pritam, the police today claimed to have busted a gang of human traffickers. Two kidnapped girls were also rescued from their clutches.

One Mohammad Samir, a resident of Ballabhgarh, lodged a complaint with the police that his daughter-in-law Abida Khatoon had gone missing from the New Delhi Railway Station in mysterious circumstances. They had come from Howrah to Delhi by Kalka Mail. They, along with a couple, had deboarded the train at the New Delhi Railway Station at night.

The couple got separated from the two. As they were searching for the couple, a 25-year-old person offered them to help. He took them at an announcement counter of the station. While the announcement was being made, Salim went to a nearby urinal.

When he came back, he could not found the unknown person and his daughter-in-law.

Following an information that the description of the unknown person matched with one Ramesh, a resident of Usmanpur Pustha, the police conducted a search at his residence, but he was not found there. After investigation, it was revealed that he had gone to Roorkie along with a girl by bus.

At the bus stop, Ramesh was apprehended along with the girl. Ramesh was allegedly planning to sell the girl to a local lady Sandhya for Rs 20,000. When the police conducted a search operation at the house of Sandhya, a minor girl was allegedly rescued. The girl had been kidnapped by a friend of Sandhya, Satbir.

The gang allegedly confessed to having sold six girls, the police claimed. 

Noida, November 13
In a sensational incident which has shocked Noida, three-year-old Anant Kumar, son of Naresh Kumar Gupta, managing director of a software multinational company, was kidnapped from posh Sector 15 A of Noida at about 9 am today. While maid Asha was taking the child to board the bus of Lotus Valley School, a few steps from House No. 200, Sector 15 A, two young men with their faces covered snatched the child from Asha and sped away on a black Pulsar motorcycle with its number plate also covered.

The family had immediately alerted the police control room. The police had flashed the message and a vehicle check was organized immediately on main roads leading out of Noida, but the police could not recover the child, presumed to have been abducted for ransom.

According to SSP R.K.S. Rathore, who was at the site of kidnapping along with his team, within minutes three police teams have been set up.

“Police have also got some clues and we hope to apprehend the kidnappers soon,” he said.

SSP said the maidservant had been with the family for last five years. Kavita, elder sister of Anant, also studies in the same school in IIIrd standard. She leaves a little earlier. “It appears to be the work of a person known to the family,” say the police.

Mr Naresh Kumar, managing director of Adobe India, is away in the USA on an official tour. He had told his wife Nidhi that he would be returning in a day or two.

A spokesman of the RWA of Sector 15 A said there are seven security guards at the two gates to the Sector during the day while nine guards are present at the sole gate which is kept open from 10 pm to 6 am. The other gate is closed at night.

A number of senior bureaucrats, businessmen, top industrialists, professionals and former diplomats live in Sector 15 A and every house is guarded by a couple of security guards.

With Mr Naresh Kumar away to the USA, Mrs Nidhi, Kavita, and Naresh’s father-in-law K.K.Varshney were the only persons present in the house.

The police have grilled the maid for quite some time after which she has been taken into custody.

The whole media with almost all the channels reached the House No. 200 Sector 15 A within a few minutes of getting the sensational news, but the inmates of the house were too shocked to talk to anybody.

Ghaziabad, November 13
Police today arrested the manager of a girls’ school here following protests in the wake of a student’s complaint that she had allegedly been molested.

The incident took place in the noon when a std XII student of Sri Krishna Inter College, situated on the NH-24, came out crying from Incha Ram Yadav’s (manager) room after being called by him, according to sources.

Soon after she told her classmates about the ‘misbehaviour’ of the manager, they informed her parents who along with scores of supporters protested on the school premises.

The situation turned worse after Yadav was not found on the school premises and the mob went on the rampage, destroying school property and damaging manager’s car.

However, the situation came under control after the police informed the mob that the manager had been arrested.—UNI

Gurgaon, November 13
Around 1,500 residents of the city held a silent march in protest against the murders committed by maxicab gang in the main Sadar Bazar yesterday and submitted a memorandum addressed to the Haryana Chief Minister to the Deputy Commissioner (DC).

Wearing black badges, the demonstrators started the procession from Jain Mandir, passed through various markets and ended at the residence of the DC.

Besides women and children, industrialists, resident welfare associations, NGOs, senior politicians of the city, except from the ruling Congress party, businessmen, doctors, chartered accountants and advocates participated in the peaceful procession.

All the protestors, including family members of the victims and the missing persons, signed the memorandum before submitting it to the DC.

In the memorandum, the residents have urged the Chief Minister to take necessary measures to prevent the occurrence of such incidents in future.—OC