New Delhi, May 13
The Delhi High Court has asked state-run Safdarjung Hospital to explain the shocking story of medical negligence that led to a one-year-old child having his foot amputated.

Taking suo motu cognisance of a newspaper report, a division bench of justice T.S Thakur and S.N Agrawal asked the hospital and the Union government to file their replies by August 3 on Jai, whose leg had been amputated because of alleged medical negligence.

The court also appointed Jubeda Begum, an advocate, to assist the court in the matter.

A newspaper here had reported that due to alleged negligence by the doctors at the orthopaedic department in the hospital, the right leg of Jai had to be amputated on March 5.

Jai broke his leg in January and his father Ram Babu, a tailor, took him to the hospital.

The doctors plastered the leg of the child below the waist. The leg was so tightly plastered that a sensitive nerve got pressed, leading to insufficient blood supply, alleged the preliminary report.

“On January 21, we noticed boils and immediately rushed to the hospital”, said Pushpa, Jai’s mother.

When the plaster was cut open, his leg was covered with boils. The skin on the leg turned red and started peeling off”, said Pushpa.

On February 21, the right foot of the child almost detached itself from just below the ankle. ‘’I was horrified. I cried and pleaded with the doctors to save my only son,” said Pushpa. Jai’s leg had to be amputated on March 5 below the ankle leaving him crippled for rest of his life.

“It happens. It is a common thing in orthooaedic cases. Every card issued to the patients bears a note saying that if they notice a boil or any sign of blood blockage, they should inform us,” said the doctors to the parents after their repeated pleadings.

The newspaper reported that Dr Shitij of the hospital reportedly said, “Jai suffered because his parents did not inform us in time.”

Refuting the allegations, Ram Babu told the newspaper that as soon as he saw a boil peeping out of the plaster, he rushed his son to the hospital on January 21, but the doctors did not take proper care of him.

“I went to all the senior doctors, but they refused to meet. I went to the medical superintendent’s office, but I was told he would not meet me,” narrated Ram Babu expressing his agonising experience.

The poor tailor, who earns Rs 2000 per month, has already spent more than Rs 40,000 on his son’s treatment. He has lodged a criminal complaint of medical negligence against the doctors, but the police has yet to initiate action. 

New Delhi, May 13
The Delhi Minority Commission has been reconstituted with All India Muslim Personnel Law Board member Kamal Farooqui as its chairman. Other nominated members of the commission were Pushpinder Singh and Arnold James.

The newly nominated members are expected to assume office tomorrow.

Farooqui told ‘The Tribune’ that he would moot the proposal of socio-economic survey of minorities in the Capital to ascertain their status and representation in various sectors.

This would be like the Sachar Committee report but would have an in-depth focus on the minority community in Delhi. As land and law and order do not come under the purview of the Delhi government, it is hoped that such a survey is unlikely to raise many eyebrows.

This, he said, would provide an idea in which direction the government should take steps. “Education amongst the Muslims would be a crucial area of focus. Our priority would be to seek for scientific education in madrasa,” he said.

Pushpinder Singh said implementation of second language status to Punjabi would be the priority area.

He said there are several problems facing the members of the community but the commission members would focus on issues concerning minority step by step.

The Capital is considered a representation of mini-India. If the members of the minority commission here are able to find a workable solution to the problem facing the community, then their social engineering process could be expanded across the country.

The commission is to examine the working of the various safeguards provided in the Constitution of India or laws enacted by Parliament and the laws passed by the Legislative Assembly of Delhi for the protection of the minority communities, and make recommendations to ensure their effective implementation.

New Delhi, May 13
On the occasion of ‘Mother’s Day’, a souvenir ‘Maa’ was released on premises of Mata Neelam Ji Trust, Mayur Vihar here today.

The chairman of Delhi Pradesh Congress Committee Ram Babu Sharma was the chief guest on the occasion.

Deputy Mayor of Delhi S S Bajwa and local councillor Anil Chaudhary were also present on the occasion.

Famous devotional singers Narender Chanchal and Harbans Lal Bansi presented some devotional numbers to mark the occasion.

According to coordinator of the event, Narendra Sharma, about 500 devotees across the country especially from Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, etc participated in the grand function.—OC

New Delhi, May 13
A delegation of elected representatives of the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) today met Jaipal Reddy, union urban development minister, and handed over a memorandum suggesting a solution to the problems of citizens of Delhi relating to sealing issue.

The members of the delegation include Arti Mehra, mayor of Delhi, S S Bajwa, deputy mayor, Subhash Arya, leader of house, Vijender Gupta, chairman, Standing Committee, Yogender Gupta, deputy chairman, Standing Committee, and other municipal councillors.

In the memorandum, the delegation said that after reviewing the orders of the Supreme Court in the matter, it appeared that the Solicitor General of India could not effectively plead the case and place the complete and rational facts based on affidavit of union urban development ministry, Master Plan – 2021 and other supporting documents. As such, actual facts could not be presented before the apex court.

“It is, therefore, imperative that the true facts and actual situation should be submitted before the Supreme Court for review,” the memorandum said.

New Delhi, May 13
The Confederation of All India Traders (CAIT), the apex body of the trading community, in a communication today to the Delhi Lt. Governor Tejendra Khanna has urged him to convene a meeting of all concerned sections in order to find a permanent solution to the sealing issue.

CAIT secretary general Praveen Khandelwal, in his memorandum, has drawn attention of the Lt. Governor towards unanimous recommendations of the committee headed by him last year on issues relating to sealing and demolitions. “The committee while making an in-depth study of the problem had made logical recommendations. Therefore, the issue of sealing should be resolved while considering the said recommendations as a base so that an atmosphere of terror, confusion and uncertainty prevailing in Delhi may come to an end,” he said.

The CAIT also said that the seriousness of the issue involving livelihood of lakhs of people and the larger interest of Delhi people had necessitated the intervention of Lt. Governor, who is the constitutional head of Delhi. “Convening a meeting of all sections to arrive at a consensus to resolve the sealing issue is the need of the hour,” it said.

The CAIT, in its memorandum, has said that the continuing sealing drive since the past one year has generated great amount of tension among Delhi people, whereas on the other hand, centuries old distributive character of Delhi trade has been threatened to a great extent which ultimately is resulting into loss of business in Delhi. “Traders, their employees and their families are facing social and economic disorder,” it said.

Urging the L-G to intervene in the matter, the CAIT pointed out that the traders were running their businesses since decades having obtained licenses from the prescribed authority under the statute provided therein.

New Delhi, May 13
Two-day career fair ‘Job Fair 2007’ concluded at Pragati Maidan here today. According to a spokesperson of the fair, about two lakh job seekers and students visited the fair in search of good opportunities and avenues.

The main attraction of the fair was a Noida-based participant ‘Empathy Solutions’. Apart from participating in the fair, the organisation had taken the task of handling all possible medical emergencies during the fair.

D K Chopra, director of the organisation, said, “The concept of standby medical services is new in our country but it is gaining momentum now with the rising awareness among people regarding this emerging field of medical emergency. There is no denying the fact that it will generate a lot of job opportunities in coming days.”

“During big events, the gathering or audience sometimes creates panic resulting in happening of some untoward incident. These situations can be handled only by an experienced medical team,” said Chopra.

Greater Noida, May 13
A young man enraged at his father’s refusal to divide his property among his sons, slit the throat of his sleeping father last night in Kherli Bhav village in Greater Noida. To make it look like an accident, the accused threw the body on the ground from the cot and set the cot and the bedding on fire. The accused has absconded after murdering his father. The police have registered a murder case against him.

Aleemuddin of Kherli Bhav village had three sons, one of whom, Imtiaz, a thrice-married man was a junk dealer in Faridabad. He was said to be a habitual boozer. Whenever he visited his father, he would pick a quarrel with Alleemuddin saying that the latter should bequeath his property and eight bigha land.

On Friday again, Imtiaz had come home and had an argument with his father before both of them went to bed on the raised platform in front of their house. At midnight, Imtiaz is reported to have assaulted his father and slit his throat with a sharp-edged weapon. Soaked in blood, Alleemuddin breathed his last after a short while.

In a well-planned scheme, Imtiaz threw his father’s body on the ground and put a match to it in an effort to make the murder look like a death in the fire accident. When blaze had become quiet strong, Imtiaz raised the alarm, saying that his father had died in an accident. Soon other members of the family, including Alleemuddin’s second son, Sartar came out and all of them tried to defuse the fire. But by the time Sartar rescued his father, Alleemuddin had already been dead. 

New Delhi, May 13
The Delhi High Court has directed the Delhi government to take action against those private schools which pay less salaries to teachers than what is prescribed under the Delhi School Education Act (DSEA).

A division bench of Chief Justice M K Sharma and justice Sanjeev Khanna asked the director of education and the additional director, Act Branch, to file an action taken report on the issue within six weeks.

The Directorate of Education, Delhi, is directed to take action against schools if they violate the DSEA, the bench observed while hearing a PIL filed by Common Cause, an NGO.

The PIL is seeking direction to the state government to act upon several complaints filed by the teachers against schools for allegedly paying less salary than the prescribed scale under the education act.

Directing the department to act quickly on complaints by teachers, the bench, in a verdict order, also asked it to keep the identity of the complainants secret.

Terming the practice adopted by schools as exploitation, the NGO claimed that some teachers were getting less salary but schools made them sign documents stating they received their full pay.

Seeking direction to the government for introduction of a monitoring system to regulate the service conditions of teachers, the petitioner alleged that public schools preferred appointing teachers on contract in order to pay them less and also sack them any time. 

New Delhi, May 13
Concerned over the continuing losses because of power thefts, discoms in the Capital is introducing a new insulated transmission network which would make stealing electricity next to impossible.

Calling it as the Mass Network Modernisation Programme (mnmp), the distribution companies are using insulating overhead bunch cables to supply power.

Discom sources said the new technology which makes stealing electricity very difficult will be introduced initially in theft-prone areas and slowly installed across the city.

These are specially effective in areas where the streets are very narrow and people are hooking on to power cables, resulting in huge losses, a discom source said.

Apart from reducing power thefts, the new technology will also streamline supply and cut transmission losses, he said.

Under the scheme, electricity is supplied through 100 per cent insulated cables and a locked distribution box will make it next to impossible for power thieves to hook and steal power, the sources said.

Mnmp is a part of a Rs 100-crore system improvement exercise. A total of 382 mnmp schemes have been planned, an official said.

Vasudha Thozhur’s painting

According to the organisers, there is already a great interest and respect for India in Brazil, through Indian philosophy, yoga, bhangra, fashion and music. Considering the above commonalities and convergences, the partnership between the two countries is natural and inevitable.

Spiritual art

The Vadhera Art Gallery here is holding an exhibition of paintings of Vasudha Thozhur from May 14 to 28. The exhibition is being organised in collaboration with the Sakshi Gallery, Mumbai.

Orissa’s tribal myths

Dhara, a Bhubaneswar-based civil society institute, in collaboration with India International Centre here is holding an exhibition of paintings on Tribal myths of Orissa relating to livelihood and ecology entitled ‘Beginning of the Genesis’ at the Art Gallery from May 23 to 29.

Odissi festival

Jayantika Association’s Mayadhar Raut School of Odissi Dance held its Third Guru Shishya Parampara Festival at the India International Centre here from May 11 to 13.

The festival began with a seminar on ‘Understanding the Tradition for a better Tomorrow’ and concluded with the famous Geetagovinda Ashtaspadi by Guru Mayadhar Raut.

Art For Concern

ABN AMRO held an opening preview of an exhibition of contemporary Indian Art entitled “Art For Concern” at the Taj Palace hotel last week. Socialites and art enthusiasts were present in strength at the preview. The exhibition has on display works of some of the well-known contemporary artists.

Real 2007

Event India’s first art e-zine (magazine on the internet) attersofart.com presents its annual art show ‘Real 2007’: a group show of over 65 works including paintings, paper works and installation by forty young Indian contemporary artists. The show will be held at Rabindra Bhavan, Gallery I-IV, Lalit Kala Akademi here from May 17 to 23.

Jungle Ki Pukar

The India International Centre here is holding a slew of cultural events in the coming month.

On May 16, well-known wildlife photographers, the Bedi brothers, will be holding an illustrated presentation called appropriately, ‘Jungle Ki Pukar’. The brothers will speak about their experiences, some of them hair raising ones, while shooting in the wild.

On May 17, the Centre will host a piano recital by the internationally acclaimed pianist, Joseph Banowetz.

This will be followed by a Mozart concert of Piano and Leider on May 25 by the multi-talented Justine McCarthy with vocals by the young Sara Chatterjee.