Ghaziabad, May 11
The CBI was today asked by a court here to further probe the kidnapping and murder of a 21-year-old woman following an application by the victim's father questioning the clean chit given by the probe agency to businessman Moninder Singh Pandher in the Nithari case.

The order was passed by Special CBI Judge Rama Jain on the application by Jaitun Sarkar, father of Pinki Sarkar, challenging the move of the CBI which has not implicated Pandher for murder. Pandher's domestic help, Surinder Koli, has been charged by the CBI for the killing.

Passing the order, Jain, who is the Additional District and Session Judge, CBI, questioned the investigation carried into the woman's death and asked the agency to conduct a further probe with regard to Pandher's role in the case. Pandher has been absolved of the charge of murder by the CBI in four charge sheets filed so far into the Nithari killings.

Khalid Khan, lawyer of the victim's father, had filed the application against the CBI on April 24 for giving a clean chit to Pandher in whose house in Noida the killings had taken place and had sought further investigation.

Initially, the matter had come up before Judicial Magistrate, CBI, Sapna Mishra, who referred it to Jain's court.

While directing the CBI to carry out further investigation, Jain declined to issue summons to Pandher. — PTI 

New Delhi, May 11
The Delhi High Court today issued notice to the city police on a petition filed by Sahil Zaroo, co-accused in the Rahul Mahajan drug abuse case, challenging a trial court's order framing charges against him under the NDPS Act and IPC.

Justice S Ravinder Bhat asked the police to file their reply by July 26 on Zaroo's petition that sought quashing of the ongoing proceedings in the trial court on the ground that he was falsely implicated in the case.

Zaroo, a friend of Rahul Mahajan, had yesterday approached the High Court against the trial court orders whereby charges under various sections of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act and Indian Penal Code (IPC) were framed against him.

On January 6, the trial court had framed charges against Zaroo for illegally buying drugs for Mahajan, son of late BJP leader Pramod Mahajan, from two Nigerians on the intervening night of June 1-2, last year.

Besides Zaroo, the court had framed charges against Mahajan, Nigerian nationals Abdul Lateef Ashola and Egbedokun James Taiwo, the alleged drug peddlers, Harish Sharma, a close aide of late Pramod Mahajan and servant Ganesh Sinha under the NDPS Act and IPC.

Mahajan was admitted to hospital on June one, last year after allegedly consuming drugs. Mahajan and his father's personal secretary Vivek Moitra, who died in hospital, had allegedly consumed morphine and cocaine on the night, the prosecution said. 

New Delhi, May 11
Four MPs, who were named by an accused in a human trafficking racket, have been sent notices once again asking them to cooperate in the investigation.

The Crime Branch of Delhi Police today issued notices for a second time to three Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) MPs from Uttar Pradesh - Mitrasen Yadav (Faizabad), Ashok Rawat (Misrikh) and Mohd Tahir Khan (Sultanpur) - and Ramswaroop Koli of the Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP), who represents Bayana in Rajasthan.

"We have again sent notices to them, asking them to join the investigation. They will be questioned about their alleged involvement in the human trafficking case," a senior police officer said.

"They have been asked to join the investigations at the earliest. We have not received any communication from them. Further action would be taken after their reply," he said.

The Delhi Police had sent notices to the four MPs on April 23 but they did not turn up for questioning and sent communications seeking more time.

"In their replies, they said they were busy campaigning in Uttar Pradesh assembly elections and would be able to join the investigations only after May 12. Now, the results of the assembly elections have been declared, we are expecting them to turn up," said the officer.

"Their presence was sought following the allegations made by a travel agent Sunder Lal Yadav. He had revealed in a city court last month that Khan and Koli were the central figures in the racket of smuggling people abroad on diplomatic passports of MPs family members or forged documents. 

Noida, May 11
The BSNL has taken a tough stand against defaulters. Notices have been issued to 12,000 defaulters. Recovery challans have been issued to another 1,773 consumers.

BSNL consumers who owed the nigam Rs 34 crore seemed to have forgotten they had to pay for the telecom facility they were using, department officials said.

The challans have been forwarded to the district administration for recovery from consumers.

As many as 12,000 consumers have been issued final notices by the department. If they still fail to pay, challans will be issued against them. The department also proposes to take help from the police department also in this recovery work, it is learnt.

Noida, May 11
Veteran BJP MLA and former minister Nawab Singh Nagar suffered a defeat from Noida-Dadri even as the party won the Ghaziabad city seat.

The BSP's Satvir Gujjar won by 75,346 votes from Noida. He defeated Nawab Singh Nagar, who polled 50,923 votes. In Javer also, the BSP's Horam Singh, formerly of the BJP, won by 46,125 votes while Bansi Pahariya of the Congress was the runner-up with 40,491 votes.

In Ghaziabad, the BJP's Sunil Kumar won the Ghaziabad city seat defeating Suresh Bansal of the BSP.

In Hapur, the BSP's Dharam Pal romped home with 39,802 votes, defeating Gajraj Singh who polled 30,353. In Moradnagar, Raj Pal Tyagi, Independent, won. He defeated the BSP's Vahab Chaudhary.

In Garh Mukteshwar, Ashok Chauhan won by 45,602 votes, defeating Ram Naresh Rawat of the BJP by 38,284 votes. In Modi Nagar, Raj Pal of the BSP won by 32,409 while Dharmesh Tomar with 31,123 votes was number two.

New Delhi, May 11
The inherent desire of parents to see their children excel both in studies and extra-curricular activities is increasingly telling upon the delicate frame and mind of the little ones.

Parental pressure is spilling over kids’ playing fields and fast turning even their holidays into horror shows... It is time to stand up and do some thing about it.

Parental pressures are spilling over their playing fields also and fast turning even their holidays into horror shows. Lest the word holiday becomes a synonym for dread, it is time to stand up and do something about it.

Experts fear if the pressure of parents continues to mount on their psyche at the current pace, they will fall in the abyss rather than scale heights of achievements. Children also need some time for fun and frolic in gay abandon, away from the 'greed' of expectant parents.

Psychiatrists and counsellors in the schools have started noticing a disturbing trend of children being sick of extra-curricular activities. Activities other than study are meant to give them time to unwind, not to bog them further down in the quagmire of stress. To their chagrin, even their holidays are cluttered with suffocating schedule regimen. With talent hunt on in TV channels, parents cannot foil the temptation of pushing their children to the precipice. The result: a scramble for sending children to dance and music classes, sports club and other so-called personality enhancing institutes.

Samir Parikh, psychiatrist, chief of department of mental health and behavioral science at Max Healthcare, warns parental pressures can make a child stressed even during a holiday. He says there can be no doubt about the fact that extra-curricular activities go a long way to bring forth structured development of a child and an essential ingredient of balanced personality but the problem arises when parents go over the top by compelling their children to participate in such activities even on a fun holiday vacation.

Extra-curricular activities are assuming the sinister connotation of an instrument of burden because pressures of participation in them are now coming as a compulsion rather than a spontaneous desire for it. But, sometimes, his thoughts may be too high for a child to take. Every child has his own capabilities.

Moreover, each individual has his own set of interests.

Falling prey to unnecessary trends of sending your children to a particular sports club or a music institute during holidays may bring forth outrageous, negative results.

New Delhi, May 11
A complaint has been lodged with the police here seeking action against Delhi chief minister Sheila Dikshit for her controversial remarks that migrants from Uttar Pradesh and Bihar were a strain on the city's infrastructure.

Subodh Jain, who claims to be a social activist, filed the complaint at the Manasarovar Park police station in north-east Delhi on Wednesday night, but no case has been registered in this connection  so far.

Jain has sought registration of a case against Dikshit under Section 153-A of the IPC, which pertains to punishment for promoting enmity between different groups on grounds like religion, language, place of birth and doing acts prejudicial to maintenance of harmony.

Jain had earlier filed complaints against cricketer Sachin Tendulkar for allegedly dishonouring the Tricolour and Hollywood star Richard Gere and Shilpa Shetty over the controversial kissing incident. 

New Delhi, May 11
A large number of people led by leader of the house, MCD, Subhash Arya today staged a demonstration in front of the headquarters of the Delhi Jal Board (DJB) at Jhandewalan demanding the resignation of Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit for shortage of water supply in various parts of the national Capital.

They burnt an effigy of the Chief Minister during which Shyam Sharma, a BJP councillor, sustained injuries. He was admitted to DDU hospital. Later, he was discharged after first aid.

Besides Shyam Sharma, councillor from Janak Puri, two other BJP councillors Avtar Singh Hit from Hari Nagar and Shashi Talwar from Rajouri Garden came to Jal Board office along with their supporters.

Subhash Arya alleged that there was acute shortage of water in the national Capital. The Congress party was ruling in the neighbouring states but Sheila Dikshit could not manage water for Sonia Vihar water treatment plant from UP and for Haidarpur water treatment plant from Haryana, he alleged.

"The Congress is in power at the Centre also but it is doing nothing for betterment of the citizens of Delhi," he said.

New Delhi, May 11
An Independence-day workshop was organised by the Amity World Women Forum (AWWF) on 'Gender Sensitization: Future Scenario' on the Amity University Campus at Noida.

The seminar was inaugurated by Dr Kiran Bedi, IPS, Director General, Bureau of Police Research & Development, Government of India.

Bedi said that, "today there is a need to understand ground reality. A man is born with two silver spoons, first that nature has made man physically strong to take burden on his shoulders. On the other hand woman handles suffering, pains, whether it is stress at home, labour pains. The need of the hour is that women need to be financially independent, educated and use these two strengths to overcome all the weakness to help make society strong."

On the rising crime graph, she said that "the criminal justice reforms need to be strengthened and political voice needs to be changed so that a common voice raises against crime and is heard."

Also, Dr. Ashok K. Chauhan, founder president, Ritnand Balved Education (RBEF), said that, "women's empowerment will change the world. There is need to find out ways to begin changes at the grassroot level, specially villages. For a majority of Indian women, life itself has been a long hurdle race, both within and outside the family. Indeed, in these days of globalization, the global picture of women is most immoral and inequitable. Women constitute 50 per cent of the world's population. They account for 66 per cent for the work done and have a share of 10 per cent of world's income but they own only 1 per cent of the world's property. Thus the woman is the epitome of global injustice and inequality."

Chauhan felt that a day will come when the man will have to prove his abilities to the woman and therefore there is a greater need to sensitize today's man. About 50 animators, aanganwari workers from different blocks of Haryana who have been trained by Amity participated. In a special session, Dr. Chauhan tried to understand the problems, potential and the ambitions of the village women and how they can contribute to nation building.

Summing up the proceedings of workshop Prof. (Dr.) Vimala Veeraraghavan, Vice Chairman, Amity World Women Forum remarked, "Gender based inequities permeate almost every aspect of the growing girl's environment. For the average Indian child, the values and norms that define and often disparage the role of women significantly aggravate the privations of poverty. The high maternal mortality in the South East Asian countries is primarily due to the neglect of women by society. Women all over the world and in India are achieving greater heights in many fields and even in those fields which were until now considered for males. Therefore the question to be addressed today is 'Will Woman continue to be regarded as the weaker sex in the decades to come?'

Several issues came in for discussion such as the best practices in gender policies in organizations, providing of equal opportunity to men and women in all spheres of life, the importance of family-friendly work policies and flexible work arrangements.

Gurgaon, May 11
The district administration today remembered the heroes of the First War of Independence at a public function here today.

Wreaths were laid by senior officers of the district and eminent persons of the city at the war memorial. The police jawans saluted the martyrs by putting their weapons upside down.

The administration announced that the 150th anniversary of the freedom struggle would be celebrated in a befitting way in Gurgaon district .Programmes would be organised in villages and towns from where the heroes of the first freedom struggle hailed. It was made known that emphasis will be laid on improving standard of education,health and sanitation in these villages of the martyrs. 

New Delhi, May 11
Delhiites today woke up to tightened security arrangements and traffic diversions in view of the celebrations here to mark the 150th anniversary of the 1857 uprising.

Several layers of barricades were seen on roads leading to the historic Red Fort, where President A P J Abdul Kalam, Vice President Bhairon Singh Shekhawat and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh attended the main function this morning.

Hundreds of armed Delhi police and paramilitary personnel were deployed at and around the venue while elite commandos and snipers maintained vigil on the rooftops in the vicinity.

All those entering the venue were frisked and their belongings checked even as several close-circuit television cameras installed at all vantage points kept a watch on the activities of the visitors.

The police had intensified its vigil as it believes that some Lashker-e-Toiba terrorists could be here to carry out a strike.

New Delhi, May 11
The East district police today claimed to have arrested a notorious criminal Mukesh (19) from St Marry School, Mayur Vihar phase 3 area. A country-made pistol along with a few live cartridges have allegedly been recovered from him.

Acting on a tip-off that a suspect involved in many robberies committed in Khoda Colony would come in the area, the police laid a trap. When the suspect was signaled to stop, he tried to flee but was apprehended after a brief chase, the police claimed.

During interrogation, he allegedly confessed to his involvement in many cases including a dacoity-cum-murder case committed in Panchkula six years ago. He also confessed to killing one Hukum Singh in his native Muradabad village suspecting him to have murdered his father, said a police officer.—OC

Greater Noida, May 11
The Greater Noida police claimed to have busted an interstate gang by arresting its eight members. The criminals had stolen a Qualis vehicle and were allegedly planning to rob a trader of Rs 56 lakh.

A stolen car and a motorbike have been recovered. Armed weapons have been seized from the robbers.

The SP (Rural) said the police got a tip-off that certain criminals who had looted a Wagon R car from Kailash Hospital some time back were getting together in a closed factory on the Dankore-Salarpur road. The police party nabbed eight criminals in a sudden raid.

The arrested persons identified themselves as Sonu Sharma, Rajiv Anand, Sanjay Singh, Tulsi, Yoginder Sharma, Kunal, Deepak Sharma and Navin Goel. One criminal succeeded in escaping.

Sonu Sharma was identified as the leader of the gang, which is active in Bulandshahr, Faridabad and Ghaziabad.

Navin Goel of Dankore had told the police criminals were planning to rob a Noida trader who was likely to go to Dankore with Rs 56 lakh in cash.

Navin was responsible for giving false tip-offs. He would borrow money from businessmen. Later, he would tell them he was coming to return their money but plead subsequently he had been waylaid by robbers.

Gurgaon, May 11
The police today found an unidentified body of a youth here. The body was found along the road dividing Sectors 55 and 56 this morning. The body had several knife-inflicted injuries. Significantly, the private parts were severed from the body, suggesting a revenge killing by the culprits.

The incident has sent ripples in the city. Prior to this, the body of a girl was found last evening along the national highway. The police has so far registered cases of murder for the two bodies found. So far, the police is clueless about the culprits. The police is also not sure whether there is any connection between the recovery of the two bodies.

New Delhi, May 11
With the arrest of two persons, the Special Cell of Delhi Police today claimed to have worked out a murder case committed in Nangloi area.

The accused - Narender Kumar (25) and Abhishek (21) - were apprehended near Peera Garhi bus stand.

The police have impounded their Maruti Alto car. During interrogation, Narender allegedly confessed to his involvement in the murder of his step-brother Om Prakash. The deceased had a land dispute with his father. The deceased used to quarrel with his father over the issue, which led to his murder, said a police officer.