New Delhi, April 30
The Delhi Cabinet today approved a policy regulating school cabs used to transport schoolchildren, which provided for new registration under the school cabs' category and strict norms for the safety of schoolchildren.

The Cabinet also reviewed 37 projects of new flyovers, road overbridges and road underbridges, which, once completed, would change the entire scenario of road traffic in Delhi before the commencement of Commonwealth Games 2010.

Apart from this, the Cabinet gave its nod to the construction of a grade separator at Vivekanand Marg, Nelson Mandela Marg, Poorvi Marg in respect of corridor improvement plan from Vivekanand Marg intersection to Paschim Marg at an estimated cost of Rs 104.30 crore.

It was also decided to open applications for issue of ration cards for jhuggi dwellers, which would entitle them to take benefit of the public distribution system only.

These ration cards would not serve any other purpose and would not at all be considered a proof of residence. The decisions were taken at a Cabinet meeting presided over by the Chief Minister.

Addressing newspersons after the Cabinet meeting, the Chief Minister disclosed that henceforth only registered school cabs would be entitled to transport more than a lakh schoolchildren in Delhi as the safety of schoolchildren was the prime concern of the city government. She added the new scheme was open to existing as well as new unregistered private motor vehicles plying only on clean fuel and installed with prescribed speed governors and complying with all other safety measures prescribed in the scheme.

Vehicles more than 15 years old would not be eligible for registration though the vehicles would be eligible for registration as a transport vehicle and grant of contract carriage permits subject to fitness, payment of prescribed fees and taxes.

The registered vehicles would not be eligible for interstate or all India tourist permits. The school cabs would have readily identifiable horizontal strip in the middle and would be registered under a new series. The carrying capacity of the school cab would be limited to one and a half times of the seating capacity stated in the registration certificate.

The vehicle must have a display board mentioning school cab inscribed with bold black letters on golden yellow background. It should have a carrier on the roof for storage of schoolbags and must carry a register of schoolchildren with full details, including telephone numbers.

The drivers under this scheme would be required to undergo driver training, including refresher driving training. The vehicle should ensure that it does not exceed the speed limit of 40 kilometre per hour. The vehicle must be equipped with a first aid box, a fire extinguisher and amber flashing lights affixed to the top four corners on the exterior of the school cab which would be activated when the cab was stopped. The vehicle must prominently display the transport helpline number inside and outside. The number of other measures relating to safety have been redefined.

Taxes, fees, circumstances warranting cancellation and suspension of permits and liabilities of the owner of the vehicle had also been prescribed. To begin with, the scheme would be administered centrally from the zonal office, Burari.

Ms Dikshit added the Cabinet had approved the construction of a grade separator which would have a 1182-metre-long flyover, three pedestrian subways at the Nelson Mandela Marg intersection, the Poorvi Marg intersection and the Paschimi Marg intersection, two foot overbridges at Paschimi Marg intersection and the Nelson Mandela Marg intersection, an underpass in front of Malai Mandir, two bus bays, a ground water recharge structure, proper electrification for lighting, adequate provision for road signage, horticulture, landscaping and transportation, provision of noise or dust barrier. It would cost Rs 104.30 crore and facilitate traffic from Indira Gandhi International Airport, the domestic airport and Inner Ring Road.

New Delhi, April 30
The current water scarcity in the national Capital is temporary and it is expected to have surplus water by 2021 despite the growth in demand to 1,380 MGD from the present 990 MGD.

Giving this information in a written reply to a question in the Lok Sabha today, Minister of State for Water Resources Jai Prakash Narayan Yadav said the Delhi Jal Board (DJB) was currently supplying 720 MGD of water for a population of 165 lakh. However, the Capital needed 990 MGD of water to meet the requirements of the 165 lakh residents.

The minister said as per the past trend the population was estimated to grow around 230 lakh by 2021 and the demand for potable water was expected to rise to 1,380 MGD.

He, however, said measures were being taken to ensure the supply of raw water to Delhi would cross 1,380 MGD.

The measures included efforts to increase the supply of raw water to Sonia Vihar Water Treatment Plant and construction of three upstream storage dams at Kishau, Lakwar Vyasi and Renuka. Out of these three dams, Renuka was in an advanced stage of clearance and was likely to be constructed in six years. 

New Delhi, April 30
Stating that India has a composite culture where people have been living in harmony for ages, Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit today asserted that it was high time they stopped connecting terrorism to one particular religion, especially Islam.

"We have a composite culture, we have lived together. We have had differences and fought because of political reasons. If we have to survive, we will have to change, we will have to rethink and stop connecting terrorism to a particular religion that is Islam," Dikshit said here at the launch of the official website of Jama Masjid United Forum (JMUF), www.Jmuf.Org., an NGO set to identify and ameliorate the root causes that spur terrorism.

Accusing Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi of spreading communalism in the country, she said, "Thousands like Gujarat Chief Minister can be fought against if we all come together."

Also present on the occasion was Haroon Yusuf, power minister in Delhi government, echoed the same thought and said, "The need of the hour is to change this stereotype opinion about Muslims. Why is it considered that all the underworld dons and terrorists are Muslims or that the community is propagating terrorism in the name of Islam."

"Muslims have been targeted by organisations like the RSS, VHP, BJP and Shiv Sena for their personal political benefits.

The anti-Muslim CD released by the BJP in the ongoing Uttar Pradesh assembly elections is a proof to that," the minister alleged.

JMUF president Syed Yahya Bukhari, who was also present at the launch ceremony, said, "We want to recapture the lost glory of Islam. We want to tell the world what Islam says on terrorism. Islam is all about respecting each other, embracing each other and that's what we want to tell everyone."

"Our fight is not against terrorism only but against poverty and illiteracy also. We want to lay focus on primary health as well and for that, we will be opening dispensaries where a free ECG and X-ray facilities will be provided," Mr Bukhari added.

The NGO would hold a seminar on May 26 in the national Capital to dispel myths about Islam, he said.

In line with the suggestions that would be made in the May 26 conference, JMUF would have an international congress in Delhi in October this year, the NGO's president added.

New Delhi, April 30
A Delhi court was not impressed by the show of respect by four robbers who robbed a 65-year-old woman but touched her feet before fleeing with the booty. All of them were sentenced to seven years' imprisonment.

The evidence revealed the offence committed by the convicts was grave and serious. They committed house trespass at night at the residence of the complainant and committed robbery at the point of deadly weapons, said Additional Sessions Judge S. P. Garg in a recent order.

Ignoring their act of touching the feet of victim Nirmal Kumari, the judge said instead he could well understand the trauma of the family when they suddenly found robbers in the house at odd hours of the night.

The court also slapped a fine of Rs 3,000 each on the four convicts - Saurabh, Abdul Monu, Montu and Sheikh Jakir - all residents of Yamuna Pushta here.

Rejecting the leniency plea, it said the offence committed by them was intentional and pre-planned. Instead of earning their livelihood by hard work and honest means, the convicts indulged in committing robbery to become rich at the cost of others.

The prosecution proved its case against the four accused with the help of 18 witnesses, including the complainant and other residents of the house at Freedom Fighters Colony in South Delhi, who were present there on the fateful night of January 13, 2004.

Sixtyfive-year-old Nirmal Kumari had lodged a first information report (FIR) with the Mehrauli police station alleging that the four intruders, who were armed with knives and pistols, entered her house and had robbed Rs 80,000 and a mobile phone. 

New Delhi, April 30
Delhi Minister of Industries and Labour Mangat Ram Singhal said that the government had Rs 70 crore in its exchequer for welfare of unskilled labourers.

"The money will be used for constructing houses at various places particularly in industrial areas where labourers can keep their children while working in the factories or on roads," he said.

The minister said the government had also launched ESI scheme for getting membership of the labourers to provide them medical facility. At present 1,400 labourers have taken membership.

Meanwhile, the Leader of Opposition in Delhi Assembly Jagdish Mukhi alleged that Sheila Dikshit led Delhi government did nothing for welfare of labourers.

According to a survey, two lakh labourers are there in Delhi. "So far, only 1400 have taken membership of the ESI scheme for getting medical facilities. Unskilled labourers are the most exploited lot in the national Capital," Mukhi alleged.

"The maximum wage for them fixed by the government is Rs 3,470 per month.

But they are not getting this amount. They are given maximum Rs 3000 per month," Mukhi claimed.

"The government claimed to have constructed flats in Bawana industrial area to be given to labourers on cheap rate. But these flats have been allotted to industrialists who have either resold the flats or using these as godowns," he alleged. 

New Delhi, April 30
The South-West district police today claimed to have busted an inter-state gang of auto lifters with the arrest of three members of the gang - Taslim, Nazar and Akbar from Sarojini Nagar area.

Forged RCs, duplicate keys, equipment used for opening locks and for changing engine numbers and chasis numbers of stolen vehicles have allegedly been recovered from their possession and more than a dozen motorcycles were recovered at their instance. The police claimed to have worked out about two dozens cases of auto lifting of Delhi and NCR area with these arrests.

Following a tip-off that two auto lifters would come to Sarojini Nagar market on a stolen motorcycle, a trap was laid around the area. After intercepting them, when documents of their motorcycle were verified, the motorcycle was found to be stolen from Sarojini Nagar area, the police claimed. At their instance, the kingpin of the gang Taslim was also arrested.

During interrogation, they allegedly confessed to having stolen motorcycles from different parts of Delhi and NCR area. The accused thereafter, with the help of their associate Pawan Gupta, a resident of Girdih in Jharkhand, used to prepare forged documents for the stolen vehicles.

New Delhi, April 30
Reeling under intense heat wave conditions since the last few days, Delhiites are likely to get some relief with the Met Office predicting a duststorm or a squall in the next 24 hours.

The minimum temperature was recorded at 28.5 degree Celsius, six degrees above normal. The weatherman said the maximum temperature in the capital was expected to be around 42 degrees Celsius, four degrees above normal.

Delhiites had a marginal respite yesterday as mercury dipped by two degrees to settle at 40 degrees. On Saturday, the capital had experienced the hottest April day in with the maximum temperature being 42.4 degrees.

New Delhi, April 30
The Pearl School of Business will be the first institution to offer a Doctorate Degree in Business Administration in India. The Asian Institute of Technology (AIT), Thailand, and the Pearl School of Business (PSB) today signed an agreement to offer AIT's DBA programme in India from the academic session starting July 2007.

AIT is an international postgraduate technological institute founded in 1959 in Bangkok. It is Asia's pioneer institution offering advanced courses in engineering, science and technology and management to help this region meet the growing need for talent in these areas.

Mr Deepak Seth, Chairman, Pearl School of Business, after signing the agreement, said, "The three-year course designed specially for managers from corporates and entrepreneurs fulfils a critical and growing need gap.

With AIT as our partner the degree is recognised worldwide."

Prof Said Irandoust, President, AIT, said, "India is fast emerging as a global talent pool, but unless we look forward and enlarge and strengthen this, it will be inadequate to meet the requirements of tomorrow.

The Pearl School of Business fits in extremely well with our philosophy to promote entrepreneurial talent in Asia and creating globally competitive enterprises."

Noida, April 30
Sheer inefficiency on the part of the UP Power Corporation (UPPC) is responsible for the deepening power crisis in Noida.

A 300-metre piece of land near Mamura village has been holding up the extension of the 220-KV cable from Pali, Surajpur to Noida. The farmer owning this land had obtained a stay order from court, pleading that the cable should not pass through his field.

UPPC officials said one circuit of 220 KV line would become operational in the second week of May. Had the corporation taken this decision earlier, the hue and cry about power cuts in extreme hot weather could have been avoided. During winter, even 270 MVA power is sufficient for Noida. But, now, 400 MVA power is needed during summers while the UPPC can make only 310 MVA of power available.

The shortage of 90 MVA is being met by resorting to power cuts. The 220 KV line from Pali, Surajpur and Sector 20 could have been commissioned in mid-March and power cuts avoided.

This line is very important because additional power load of 270 MVA can be obtained from it. Besides, the 132 KV Pali powerhouse can supply the Sector 66 power substation with 40 MVA power.

Another 40 MVA capacity transmission has to be set up there. Thus, Noida will start getting over 310 MVA power supply soon while now Noida is getting less than 270 MVA supply from 220 KV line from Muradnagar, Sahibabad.

Whenever Noida avails more than 270 MVA power, orders for immediate power cuts are received from Murad Nagar. The Pali line will not have this problem because Noida and Greater Noida alone are to be linked to this line. But Ghaziabad, Sahibabad, Pilkhuwa and many other towns are linked to the Muradnagar-Sahibabad line. The 220 KV line coming from Pali feeds Sakipur, Surajpur, Khodna Khurd, Patwadi, trans Hindon, Sector 123, Parthala Khanjarpur, Sectors 70 and 67 and Mamura.

The UP Power Corporation has now started work on one circuit line out of two circuits from the 220 KV line from Pali.

According to sources, one circuit is within the range of stay while the other is out of the ambit of the stay order. The department is fully concentrating on this work. For the second circuit line, Noida needs to first set up two new 220 KV sub-stations.

Gurgaon, April 30
A panchayat of representatives of 24 villages of the area organised in Mohammadpur Jharsa village yesterday urged the government to enhance the compensation amount to the farmers of five villages surrounding Gadholi on which SEZ has been proposed to develop.

The panchayat further decided to organise a big assembly of farmers in Manesar on May 13 to press for the demand. A committee was formed with regard to organising the assembly.

The general view in the gathering was that the land of the five villages which has already acquired by the Haryana State Industrial Development Corporation (HSIDC) cannot be set right. Hence, the only reasonable course of action was that the government must pay additional compensation money to the affected farmers.

Also, the unanimous view was that any move on the part of the government to acquire land of farmers for any residential or commercial purpose would be opposed.

Of significance is the point that 1,400 acres of land involving the five villages was acquired for industrial purpose during the time of the preceding INLD government. The compensation money to the farmers whose land was acquired was also fixed by that government.

There are many who wonder why the question of higher compensation money was being raised now.

The view doing the round these days is that some vested interests were trying to fish in troubled waters, and were further confusing the farmers.

Gurgaon, April 30
President, Islamabad Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Mohammad Nasir Khan, expressed the view that India and Pakistan should open up the land routes between the two countries to enhance the mobility of goods.

Khan is part of a high-powered delegation that is currently on a visit to India. He was here with the other delegates to attend a dinner hosted in their honour by the PHD Chamber of Commerce and Industry (PHDCCI) and the Gurgaon Chamber of Commerce and Industry (GCCI).

The incumbent and the past presidents of PHDCCI, respectively, Sanjay Bhatia and P.K.Jain accompanied the delegation here. Khan said by opening the Lahore-Amritsar route would reduce the cost of transportation of goods.

Describing the delegation's visit to India as fruitful and eye-opener, he said that there was enough scope for expanding the bilateral trade between the two countries. For example he said that the two countries could import and export goods in which they were doing business with other countries. Sanjay Bhatia endorsed his views. On Pakistan not extending the "Most Favoured Nation" status to India, he said that things were likely to improve. He and Bhatia were of the view that the general perception on both the sides of the border was the business initiatives could compel both the establishments to transcend the traditional mindset of distrust.

P.K.Jain, the founder president of the GCCI and a first generation industrialist in Gurgaon ,played the master of ceremony.

The delegates were accompanied by their family members who enjoyed cultural programmes. Rahul Kakkar has been elected president of the GCCI, it announced on the occasion.

Gusbethi (Mewat), April 30
This sleepy hamlet of Taoru revenue bloc of Mewat district, considered as one of the socially and educationally backward area of Haryana, today got a reason to be gung-ho.

Continuing with its programmes to scale up the human index parameters in the social sector over the years in Mewat, a 120-bed girls' hostel was inaugurated today.

The hostel has been constructed by Deepalaya, an NGO, to provide girls with education facilities so that they are reared up and helped to integrate with the mainstream society.

The organisation has similar 120-bed hostel for boys here.

The hostels are for run away children, for those whose parents are HIV positive and for poor and marginalised sections of society. The Japan government through its embassy and the Foundation India Run contributed donations for the construction of the girls' hostel.

According to the secretary and chief executive of the organisation, T.K. Mathew, the hostels are under the rubric of 'Institutional' care programme and the facility will help cater to more number of girl children.

"These deprived children will now be able to live in a safe environment where they will pick up adequate educational skills. The children are rehabilitated emotionally, socially and vocationally and are able to join the mainstream society. Ultimately, they will become economically self-reliant and as responsible members of society," the office-bearers of the organisation claimed.

Deepalaya, which has been active in the Mewat area for more than a decade, has purchased 22 acres of land and was providing holistic package of programme to poor children.

Although Gusbethi is one of the five hamlets of Sahsola village, the 22 acres of land has been christened 'Deepalaya Gram' - emitting an aura and sense of human services by a private organisation. The campus, besides having two hostels, has vocational training centre which provides seven utility courses, a formal middle level school (from nursery to Class VIII).

There is also a plan to open, among others, a caring centre for old aged persons.

Those present on the occasion included the MLA from Sohna Sukhvir Jaunapuria, president of the Congress of Mewat district Zakir Hussain and senior members of the district administration.

Set up more than 27 years ago, Deepalaya Society, which started its initiative with a single step in its odyssey, had only five children to impart education in the verandah of member-Samaritan's house.

The members of Deepalaya say that the NGO's education programme over the years has reached out to over 50,000 children from the slums of Delhi and other poor of Haryana and Uttarakhand. Besides education, the other intervention programmes are Gender Equity and Women Empowerment, Integrated Community Medicine, Institutional and Non-Institutional Care, Advocacy and Networking, Capacity building and promoting self-reliance of inclusion of differently abled. The motto of the organisation is 'enabling self-reliance'.

A member of Deepalaya said that recently in a study conducted by a German organisation in collaboration with the Ministry of Labour on the best practices of Vocational Training Institutes being run in the informal sector, out of 300 NGOs identified by the study group, only two were short-listed which were following the best practices. One of the two NGOs was Deepalaya, he claimed.

Greater Noida, April 30
After the legendary land shark Moti Goel's exploits, frauds by other land mafia have come to light.

In Bhommathal village, land sharks have allegedly got four bigha of public land transferred to their own name in connivance with government officials. The same land, it is learnt, has now been sold off to a third party by the land mafia.

Former Revenue Board member, T George Joseph, had got this land scam investigated following which a case of fraud was filed against government officials and an ex-bar council president.

According to Kasna police, the revenue officer Rakesh Jain of Sadar Tehsil had filed a report in which land bearing Ghatta numbers 17, 18 and 128 registered as fallow land had allegedly been transferred to their own names fraudulently in 1989. Later, the same land was again sold to some one else.

These facts came to light when Revenue Board member T. George Joseph got this land scam investigated. The administration has now ordered that a case be filed against the accused persons. Lakhapal, revenue official of Sadar Tehsil, has filed a case against Bar Council's former president Jaipal Bhatti, Chanderpal and an official of land consolidation department in Kasna police station.

New Delhi, April 30
The continued sealing drive in Delhi has destroyed the centuries old distributive character of Delhi trade. The unstable atmosphere coupled with uncertainty has forced upcountry traders to divert their business from Delhi to other states.

Big companies and traders of producing states like Maharashtra and Gujarat etc. are refraining from credit dealings with Delhi traders as they feel that ongoing sealing at one point may result into non-recovery of their money. At the same time, lower rate of tax in neighbouring states on several commodities has also led to diversion of Delhi trade.

Deeply concerned with such a 'depressing' scenario, the Confederation of All India Traders (CAIT) today shot off a communication to Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh urging him to take immediate effective steps to resolve the sealing issue.

"Before it is too late, the Government must consider decision-oriented steps to hold Delhi trade alive," the CAIT said.

The CAIT has urged the Prime Minister to convene an all-party meeting on the issue and also request strong pleadings for traders in the Supreme Court, which is scheduled to hear the Master Plan case on forthcoming May 7.

In the letter, the CAIT has urged the Prime Minister for declaration of a 'relocation package' for traders affected from sealing and this may also be strongly advocated in Supreme Court as well and till such time, the traders be allowed to carry business activities from their current locations.

In its communication, the CAIT regretted that thousands of Delhi shops are closed since months due to sealing and so far the government has not taken any cognizance of such shopkeepers and their employees.

The CAIT has demanded a 'compensation package' for such traders and their employees and till the time they are suitably relocated, they should also be allowed to carry business activities. Such traders cannot be denied the right to live and earning and if need be, the government must not hesitate to go even to the Supreme Court.

In support of its contention, the CAIT has quoted examples of Sardar Sarover project, Ghalib Haveli and several other cases, where the Supreme Court has also ordered for relocation package to the affected persons.

The Delhi traders engaged in business since decades should be given benefit of such package.

The copies of the communication sent to the Prime Minister have also been forwarded to the Leader of Opposition L. K. Advani, UPA Chairperson Sonia Gandhi, Union Urban Development Minister Jaipal Reddy, Minister of State for Urban Development, Ajay Maken, Delhi Chief Minister Shiela Dikshit and Delhi Mayor Aarti Mehra.

New Delhi, April 30
The National Homeopathic Medical Research Association today celebrated 252nd birth anniversary of Dr C F S Hahnemann here yesterday.

The chief guest on the occasion was Dr K K Juneja, chairman, Board of Homeopathic System of Medicines, Delhi Government.

It was celebrated by the World Cancer Care Foundation at New Friends Colony Auditorium. The eminent homeopath Dr Deepika informed that cancer was the leading cause of death worldwide. It accounted for 7.8 million, or 13 per cent of a total of 58 million deaths worldwide. Even the WHO projected that figure rising to 9 mn in 2015 and 11.4 mn in 2030, she said.

New Delhi, April 30
The Jawaharlal Nehru University Teachers (JNUTA) recently organised an interaction with the JNU Chancellor and eminent scientist Prof Yashpal on 'The challenges facing Indian Academia'.

On this occasion, Professor Yashpal commented that it was a strange coincidence that on the one hand, science was getting popular, but on the other, the number of astrologers was also increasing alarmingly. He said that science needed to be used for the betterment of human conditions. "Though almost everyone knew that there were no weapons of mass destruction in Iraq, yet on this excuse, a whole nation was destroyed," he pointed out.

"India is a nation of diversity and this diversity should be celebrated," Yashpal said, adding that "Education should not concentrate just on creating experts; rather the holistic human personality should be the aim of true education."

In his welcome address, JNUTA President Prof Chaman Lal, described Prof Yashpal as a 'people's scientist', who made common people understand science in their own language by demystifying science as something of an obscure system and bringing its gist down to ordinary people. He also expressed his concern over desensitisation of the society towards its academia, intelligentsia, writers and creative artists and people running after material comforts and money at the cost of human values of sharing and compassion. 

New Delhi, April 30
The board of directors of the YMCA has re-elected Stephen Da Costa president of the association for the term 2007-2008.

He is an eminent educationist, principal of Frank Anthony Public School, Delhi, and president of the Anglo Indian Association, Delhi chapter.

The other office-bearers elected for the term 2007-2008 are :Major J. K. Michael, Vijay Russell, Vernon D' Souza-vice-presidents and Dr George Varghese - honourary treasurer.

New Delhi, April 30
The police claimed to have seized 2.4 kg ganja from one Sonu in Nand Nagari area of North-East district.

Following a tip-off, the accused was arrested near Gagan Cinema, the police said, adding he was charged under Narcotics Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act.

The police claimed that Sonu was involved in at least seven other criminal cases.

In another incident in the district, two mobile phone snatchers - Safique and Dilshad - were apprehended in Seemapuri area.