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Incentive-based health scheme approved
CM seeks suggestions from minority panel
Small traders get tax relief
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Traders demand Jan Adalat
Minibus service in Chandni Chowk soon
Training cell for drivers
Unusual courses at Jamia
CBSE Class XII results on May 25
DU not ready for OBC quota: VC
Calligraphic art show
Banana Rs 30 a dozen
Three cheats held
Proclaimed offender held
Seminar on alternative medicine
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Incentive-based health scheme approved
New Delhi, May 21 Under the scheme, 5,450 activists would be deployed to cover 109 lakh residents of slums, JJ cluster, resettlement colonies, un-authorised colonies and rural villages. Apart from this, the Cabinet also recommended prorogation of 10th session of the 3rd Assembly and sanctioned creation of 577 posts of different scales for district courts to ensure speedy justice. Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit described the new ASHA Scheme as a first major exercise in primary healthcare, which would go a long way in improving the healthcare delivery system. She added that ASHA was a totally incentive-based scheme wherein women who volunteered from the local community would be selected and trained to reinforce community action for universal immunisation, safe delivery, new-born care, prevention of water borne and communicable diseases, improved nutrition and promotion of household and community toilets. The activists will inform, interact, mobilise and facilitate improved access to preventive and promote healthcare and also provide basic curative care through the drug kit. The scheme would be a promoter of good health practices. Addressing the media, Dikshit said that initially 5,450 activists would be deployed to cater 109 lakh residents of vulnerable areas because the majority of Delhi population was living in these areas with vast pockets of urban slums having poor health indices. The linkage of the community with the healthcare delivery system has huge gaps and it is hoped that these activists would be able to remove these gaps. The activists will create awareness on health, carry out the survey of the households, create awareness about determinants of health, counsel women on birth preparedness, safe delivery and immunisation, work with the health and sanitation committee of her area, arrange escort pregnant women and children requiring treatment, provide primary medical care for minor ailments and inform about any unusual health problem or disease outbreaks in the community. One ASHA activist would be deployed on 2,000 population. Hence 5,450 activist would be required to take care of 109 lakh residents. A total of 2,725 would be deployed in the first year, whereas as many would be deployed in the next year. About Rs 40 crores have been earmarked for selection, training and incentive of 5,450 ASHA activists during the period of 11th Five Year Plan. Total fund requirement for ASHA Scheme activities
in 2007-08 is Rs 532.95 lakh, whereas during 2008-09, it would be Rs 974.90 lakh. |
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CM seeks suggestions from minority panel on funds
New Delhi, May 21 According to sources, the Chief Minister asked the chairman of the commission to prepare a proposal concerning the work meant for betterment of minorities. Besides, the work should be highlighted through media. Welcoming the move of the Chief Minister, the chairman is planning to make a network with the Imam (head priest) of mosques and madrasas in the national Capital. Difficulties faced by madrasas should also be highlighted in the proposal. Likewise, networking will be made in other minorities, sources said. The commission also plans to conduct door-to-door survey of Muslims, Sikhs, Christians, et al to get a record of their population in the national Capital. The survey is likely to be done on Kerala pattern where the government has details of every family of Muslim community. The community has been given reservation in government jobs on the basis of population. Sources said that the Chief Minister is doing all this keeping in view the Delhi assembly elections to be held in 2008. Having been defeated in the MCD elections, Sheila Dikshit is very serious and chalking out plan to ensure the Congress victory in the assembly elections. It is considered that the minorities will play an important role in the election result. During the last five years, the demographic situation of the Capital has changed a lot. The minorities, particularly Muslims, are in majority in some areas from where the Congress can win the elections. There are certain pockets like Kalakji, Govindpuri, Tughalakbad, Sangam Vihar which can be a deciding factor in the election results, the sources said. The Congress’s other focus is on Sikh community. In certain areas of the Capital, Sikhs can play a crucial role in the elections, the sources said. |
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Small traders get tax relief
Faridabad, May 21 Speaking to mediapersons after the meeting, Sharma, former excise and taxation minister, claimed that the state government had been continuously making efforts to reduce the burden of direct taxes on small and medium type of entrepreneurs and self-employed persons to give a thrust to economic growth. He said while the small restaurants and ‘dhabas’ had already been exempted from Bhatti Tax, food served on small dhabas, paapad and packed ‘havan samagri’ were now free from 12 per cent VAT. This, he added, had led to a relief of Rs 34 crore to the concerned people. He said that there were dozens of products of daily use in the households or small manufacturers that had been exempted or where the VAT had been drastically reduced and the relief was worth over Rs 10 crore. This exemption was given after the recommendations in this regard were submitted by the committee following its first meeting on August 31, 2005. The relief provided by the government after the second meeting was worth about Rs five crore and the items which had been spared or reduced VAT included jaggery, crude tanned leather, paper buttons, honey bricks of fly ash and non-agricultural pump sets. The VAT was reduced after June, 2006, when the government announced sales tax relief worth about Rs 34 crore on wood, processed meat, fish, candles, desi ghee, invertors and other items. The officials say that the proposals prepared after the fourth meeting of the committee will be submitted soon to the government after being studied thoroughly. |
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Traders demand Jan Adalat
New Delhi, May 21 Handing over a memorandum, the delegation also urged Gupta to hold a ‘Jan Adalat’ on sealing matter particularly of traders whose business establishments have been sealed in the past.
The delegation led by CAIT secretary general Praveen Khandelwal consisted of senior trade leaders Murli Mani, Ramesh Khanna, Narender Madan, Satish Garg, Satender Jain, Vijay Pal, Neelam Saxena, SatenderWadhwa, Sanjay Jain and Rajesh Kumar. The delegation, while expressing grave concern over the current situation of Delhi trade, demanded extension of the last date May 31 for filing of building plans. The members also demanded that the periphery of special area as provided in the Master Plan 2021 be made public in order to bring an end to the atmosphere of ‘uncertainty and confusion’ prevailing in Delhi markets. The delegation also demanded a self-assessment scheme for conversion of building under which the occupier can himself assess and deposit conversion charges. The traders also demanded that about more than one lakh small shop-keepers, who had got registered themselves in the past, should be kept out of purview of filing building plans as at the time of registration no condition of building plan was laid down by the MCD. The delegation said that recently identified 307 roads by the MCD should be placed before the Supreme Court as per its orders and list of cluster survey should also be brought to the notice of the apex court and be notified. The delegation also advocated for protection of fundamental right to work and stressed the need of a relocation policy prior to displacing any person. A clear policy should also be laid down to allow 20 sq metre shop to those traders whose business establishments have been sealed but who have applied for conversion, the delegation demanded. The traders also demanded strict implementation of MCD Act, 1957, the provisions of which have been grossly flouted while carrying out the sealing drive.
Gupta assured the delegation that sealing issue had been viewed above any politics and the MCD would leave no stone unturned in extending co-operation to the Union and Delhi governments on this account. |
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Minibus service in Chandni Chowk soon
New Delhi, May 21 The service is likely to be started from the next month. Two years ago, the Standing Committee, MCD, passed a resolution to remove rickshaw from Chandni Chowk. Rickshaw is a major cause of slow movement of traffic in the area. Green in colour, these minibuses have a capacity of 13 to 22 seats. They have a low floor with a height of just nine inches from ground. Their entrance is at least one and a half times wider than that of usual buses. The space behind the driving seat has been left unused for the passengers to keep their luggage. Various features make the bus comfortable for a physically challenged person. “Since the seats are arranged not sideways but facing each other, the gangway is wider making it easy for a disabled person to move about in the bus,” said S. P. Singh, advisor to Chaudhary Transport. All the necessary infrastructure like parking space has been provided by the Delhi government. The MCD will ban all cycle rickshaws on these routes when the buses are ready to roll out. “All the rickshaws will be restricted to side roads till the plying hours of these buses,” sources in the MCD said. “It will not lead to unemployment for any rickshaw puller, contrary to what some people are saying, as those with licences will be able to continue working in the rest of the city zone,” sources said. The cycle rickshaw will not be allowed on these routes from 9 am to 8 pm. Any other form of motorised vehicle will not be allowed either anywhere on the above-mentioned stretches. Bus stops have been created at specific points on both these routes. The ticket price has been fixed at Rs 5 per trip. Initially, permits have been provided to 10 buses for the Chandni Chowk and Fatehpuri route. Additional buses will be permitted on this route whenever required. The minibus services come in the wake of a Central Road Research Institute (CRRI) study which focused on decongesting the walled city. The dry run of the minibuses has already been done and the ‘Chandni Chowk Sewa’ was scheduled to hit the streets in the first half of May. “The registration of the buses was, however, stopped and the deadline further extended due to a High Court order making it mandatory for the driver and helper to be 12th and 10th pass respectively,” said Vijendra Chaudhary of the transport company. “We were not told of any such requirement earlier. We have the buses ready but now we do not have the drivers. Earlier, the drivers were required to be 8th pass,” said Mr Singh. “We have given the advertisements in all the newspapers but there are not many 12th pass drivers,” he said. The ‘sewa’ will be a much-needed relief for traders and those visiting the old city. |
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Training cell for drivers
Faridabad, May 21 Disclosing this, a press release issued by the department concerned claimed that an applicant who has been issued a learner’s licence by the SDM office of
Faridabad and Ballabgarh subdivisions, will have to pass the test to be conducted by the cell, before the issuance of licence. It is disclosed that while a booklet would be made available to the applicant, the department would ask 10 questions on the traffic regulations and signals. Correct answer of at least six questions would make one eligible for the permanent licence. Earlier, an official of the traffic department had to check personally the application and put a signature on the application form that the driver’s ability had been tested and found up to the mark. It is claimed that this type of practice—computerized training and driving test—has been doing well in Ambala and Yamunanagar districts. The applicant will have to possess a learnerer’s licence, medical fitness certificate, age and residence proof documents before being eligible for such a test, said an official. Though the authorities claim this method would help check accidents on roads and promote safe driving, some believe that this could breed corruption and make the licence process longer due to the functioning style of the police and other departments. According to K.L. Gera, a social activist, the system of getting driving licence prepared through agents could still be a major hurdle to making any process foolproof and there was no guarantee that there would be no harassment at the hands of the department concerned. He claimed that corruption had still been the issue and could negate the expected result. |
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Unusual courses at Jamia
New Delhi, May 21 Application forms for other courses are still available and the last dates of submission of application forms are: May 31 for LLB, June 5 for BSc and MSc in Biosciences, Biotechnology, Bioinformatics, Geography, Cartography and Industrial Maths, June 8
for MBA, June 11 for BA and MA History, English, Hindi, Hindi Mass Media, PG Diploma in Mass Media and Hindi Creative Writing and PG Diploma in Hindi TV Journalism, June 14 for BCom/BBS/Eco/Commerce/BA with Computer Applications/Pol Sc/Psychology/ Social Work/ Lib Sc, July 3 for BFA/ MFA and July 31 for Certificate & Diploma in Tourism and Travel Management. This time, Jamia is also providing an entire range of unusual course options. Some that are particularly attractive in terms of job placements in industries are Bioinformatics, TV Journalism, Social Work, Fine Arts, Cartography, Nanotechnology, B SC with Instrumentation (Vocational), PG Diploma in Computer Application, Adv Diploma in Computer Assisted Cartography, Adv Diploma in Remote Sensing and GIS Application, PG Diploma in Human Rights, PG Diploma in NGO Management and a PG Diploma in Child Rights. Some unorthodox but attractive courses are an MA programme in Social Exclusion and Inclusive Policy, a PG Diploma in Dalit and Minority Studies (last date July 10), an MA in Comparative Religions (July 20), an MA in Conflict Analysis & Peace Building (June 22); a Bachelors programme in Physiotherapy (June 15) among many more. For more details, the prospectus can be looked up on the Jamia website, jmi.nic.in Further, for a total of 222 courses currently on offer at Jamia, ranging from diploma, undergraduate, postgraduate, MPhil and PhD admission to all courses is through a written test (85 per cent) followed by an interview (15 per cent). Instead of cut-off percentages, Jamia prefers evaluating an individual student’s merit through a written test prepared by Jamia’s own faculty each year. Such a system of evaluation followed by an interview enables the university to allow a level playing field and, in a way, also gives another chance to those students who may not have done too well in the board exams and who may then not even stand a chance in colleges which follow the “cut-off” procedure. To qualify for the written tests, students are required to have qualifying marks which vary from course to course and have deliberately been kept low, usually 50-55 per cent aggregate. From this year, the university is offering a combined prospectus for all courses. This provides all possible necessary information on fee structures, eligibility criteria, reservation policy, mode of admission, number of seats, last date of submission, etc. However, there are two sets of charges: Rs 500 for Engg, MBA, MCRC courses and Law; and Rs 200 for all others such as Social Sciences, Humanities, Natural Sciences. This is a lump-sum payment that includes the cost of prospectus and entrance test fee. Also, the payment is made at the time of purchase of the prospectus. Unlike previous years, there is no need to queue up at the bank for demand drafts and cash receipts. |
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CBSE Class XII results on May 25
New Delhi, May 21 The CBSE is hosting this year’s results through the technical support of the National Informatics Center or NIC. Schools can get the entire school’s results by giving their school code and e-mail ID. Students can get their results by e-mail via registering themselves on or or . Individual results can also be found on the following websites: or . The board is also disseminating results through IVRS. The telephone numbers of NIC and other organisations through which results can be learnt are: 24357270 for local subscribers in Delhi, 95-11-24357270 for subscribers of NCR and 011-24357270 for subscribers from other parts of the nation. |
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DU not ready for OBC quota: VC
New Delhi, May 21 The V-C insisted that before implementation of 27% OBC quota, the university would need to upgrade its infrastructure. Prof Pental announced that, “we are not prepared to implement the 27 per cent OBC reservation if the court vacates the stay. Much infrastructure has to be created and that will take time and money.” However, he also added that the university was bound by the parliamentary legislation and will abide by the government directive on the issue. He explained that, “at the moment we are in the process of collecting data from various colleges to implement the quota. It is a huge task. If we have to implement it in the next session, we must get money to start the work today”. Meanwhile, the admission process to various undergraduate courses in the university for about 35,000 seats will commence from June 1. The sale of pre-admission forms will start on June 1 and continue till June 15. These forms will contain a column for students belonging to OBC
category. — TNS |
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Calligraphic art show
New Delhi, May 21 Calligraphic paintings are inspired from calligraphy, an art of decorative writing of a script, usually cursive, although sometimes angular, produced chiefly by brush. The paintings reflect Dr Ahuja’s style of blending a unique oriental sensibility with highly stylized western training as she learnt and worked at various western art schools. The artist has chosen forms of animals and birds to reveal an amazing combination of ‘art and verse’ in her exotic calligraphies. The forms of these animals and birds display intimate human emotions which are bound to grab the attention of the viewer. The artist has prominently used the poetry of the great masters of Urdu, such as Ghalib and Iqbal, the Sufi masters Attar and Rumi, and the great Persian poets like Hafiz and Sheikh Saadi. The couplets and verses of her favourite poets were converted into universal forms through colourful and sometimes characteristic strokes of black and white. Her childhood learning of using reed pens of varied thickness still accompanies her as she uses special pens in her paintings. She uses varied elements such as Indian ink, Suni ink, handmade papers from India, rice paper from Japan, and papers from Sanganer to make her calligraphic paintings effective. The artist has donated 33 paintings, all black and white calligraphies of ink on paper to Jamia Millia Islamia. The exhibition, a tribute to her late sister, Sameena Ahmed, is on till May 23. Dr Ahuja has taught Russian at Jawaharlal Nehru University here and lectured on poetry at Columbia University, United States. She has worked as an artist at Harvard. |
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Banana Rs 30 a dozen
New Delhi, May 21 Bananas are being sold for around Rs 30 a dozen in retail markets across the National Capital Region, while a rising trend is prevailing in other parts of the country as well. Interestingly, India is the world’s largest banana producer with a 23 per cent global market share. Retail prices were hovering at around Rs 10-12 a dozen in Delhi and adjoining areas in the beginning of this year. Surprisingly, the sharp rise comes despite good production and a decline in wholesale prices across various wholesale markets, including Azadpur
Mandi. While retail prices had risen by at least Rs 10 a dozen in the past month alone, wholesale prices fell to Rs 850-900 per quintal from Rs 1,100 a quintal in the last fortnight, Delhi’s leading banana wholesale trader Sudesh Sachdeva told. The prices are unlikely to come down in the next two months before supply trends return to normal, traders said. |
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Two cops arrested taking bribe
Gurgaon, May 21 Rajbir Deswal, superintendent of police, Gurgaon Range, SVB, informed that the assistant sub-inspector (ASI) Dinesh Kumar, posted at Ballabgarh police station, Faridabad was allegedly arrested when he took a bribe of Rs 3,000 from one Sunil Kumar for removing the name of his brother Manoj Kumar from a case. Deputy superintendent of police (DSP), SVB, Ramesh Pal and duty magistrate Bijender Singh Rana (tehsildar) led the team, which reached the station to arrest the ASI. At Sohna police station, Gurgaon, a head constable, Paramveer, was allegedly demanding Rs 1,000 from Jorruddin, a resident of Mewat, for removing his name from a case. Jorruddin alleged that he had already paid Rs 2,000 to Paramveer and was granted bail by the Punjab and Haryana High Court, informed Deswal. Perturbed over the insistence of head constable, Jorruddin complained to the SVB. Inspector (SVB) Ramphal and duty magistrate Balraj Singh Dangi (naib tehsildar) raided the police station when Paramveer took the bribed money from Jorruddin. Both police personnel were arrested on the spot and booked under Prevention of Corruption Act, added the SVB SP. |
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Three cheats held
New Delhi, May 21 Two laptops with extra hard disc, forged visa, six mobile phones, 50 packets of black dollars have allegedly been recovered from them. Acting on a tip-off that an international gang of cheats was active in South Delhi area, a trap was laid at various possible locations. The police received an information that the gang members would be coming near Palam Airport and two persons would also be coming from Trivendrum to collect their prize money. Obinna and Okey were apprehended while taking money from Natrajan and Vinod Kumar of Trivendrum. At their instance, their third accomplice Ubagu was also arrested from Neb Sarai area. He was later identified as the kingpin of the gang. The gang had allegedly cheated many persons to the tune of several crores of rupees in the garb of running an international online lottery. During interrogation, it was revealed that the gang members used to operate several bank accounts in different banks in the names of their Indian associates. After coming on tourist visa here, they had lodged a false missing report of their passports in a police station and managed to obtain certificates from the embassy that they were citizens of Nigeria, said a police
officer. — OC |
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Proclaimed offender held
New Delhi, May 21 According to the police, when a Pulsar motorcycle was signaled to stop for routine checking, the pillion rider managed to escape from the spot. On suspicion, when the cops searched the motorcycle rider’s pockets, a country-made pistol along with two live cartridges was recovered. His motorcycle was also found to be stolen from Panipat district in Haryana, the police claimed. When his rented accommodation in Palam Vihar area was searched, two live cartridges were recovered. Later, it was also established that he had been a proclaimed offender of Haryana, said a police officer. |
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Seminar on alternative medicine
New Delhi, May 21 The camp was inaugurated by the head of chiropractic sciences of the hospital, Dr N. K. Sharma. He said on the occasion that people suffering from problems related to spine, head, nerves and joints could get relief with the help of this magical therapy. Without any surgical intervention and hospitalisation, patients could get instant results. The therapy involved no risk and chances of complication. It was also cost-effective in comparison to surgical expenses, he claimed. The therapy was the last resort for spondylitis, slip disc disorder, cervical and other complicated ailments, he added. Traditional chiropractic therapy relied on spinal manipulation to correct subluxations, or misaligned vertebrae, which may be responsible for problems anywhere along the spine. Misalignment of the vertebrae in the spine could cause the joints to press on the spinal nerves, leading to direct pain in the back and possibly referred pain in the other parts of the body. |
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