New Delhi, June 30
The Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) administration doesn't seem to be going back on its decision of rusticating eight students and keeping them out of bounds of the campus.

Activities from both the sides - administration and the students - have gained momentum after the vice-chancellor B. B. Bhattacharya resumed office.

In a meeting with the students' representatives, the vice-chancellor made it clear that there would not be any revocation of the punitive action taken against the students.

"The administration is again showing its high-headed attitude. The vice-chancellor refused to discuss the situation with us, rationally," said Jyotsana Singh, joint secretary, Jawaharlal Nehru University Students' Union (JNUSU).

"Apart from the rustication orders, the authorities are not at all ready to talk about the charter of demands of the JNUSU and are turning a back on their promises," she said.

Meanwhile, the administration is going on with its eviction drive. The hostel wardens have double locked the rooms of the students rusticated.

"The JNUSU has called for an indefinite hunger strike starting from tonight," he added.

The union has also organised a massive torch light procession in the university tonight.

Gurgaon, June 30
Chief information commissioner, Haryana, G. Madhavan, has ordered that public information officer-cum-land acquisition officer, Gurgaon, Sushil Sarwan would pay Rs 5000 from his salary as penalty for providing late information to a complainant under the Right to Information Act.

The order stated that the information "has been delayed and the reasons advanced by the PIO-cum-LAO, Gurgaon, have been found to be without substance".

As per the order, Dr Narendra Yadav, a resident of Pataudi had sought the information pertaining to the land acquisition in two different cases from the land acquisition officer.

Dr Yadav, in his application November 8, 2006, wanted to know the observations/remarks and noting given by the patwari and the land acquisition collector, Gurgaon, with regard to objections filed under Section-5(1) in both the cases and the grounds on which land was released in one case and was acquired in his case.

As Dr Yadav was not provided any information, he filed an appeal in the first appellate authority-cum-administrator, HUDA, who directed in his order on December 27 the LAO to supply the information.

In spite of these clear cut orders the information supplied on December 27 did not convey anything at all.

It only mentioned that the land of the complainant was acquired for residential/commercial purposes and the compensation had not been accepted by him so far.

The subsequent information on January 19, 2007 was also incomplete and only the reply of March 15, 2007 can be considered a proper reply to the application of November 8, remarks the Haryana CIC.

The order further stated that it was very clear that the entire process of furnishing the information on March 15 was attended to seriously only after the receipt of the notice of February 28 from the commissioner.

There is no justification for giving the information in such a piecemeal manner even after specific directions of the first appellate authority December 27, added the order.

The commission has concluded that the public information officer-cum-land acquisition officer, Gurgaon, Sushil Sarwan is liable to be penalized in this case under the provisions of the Act.

A sum of Rs 5000 shall be recovered from his salary in two monthly installments and deposited in government treasury.

It was learnt yesterday that the suspects would exchange defence documents at Metro station, Shastri Park.

A trap was laid around that area and Lance Nayak Mohd Naseem was arrested with secret documents.

The police claimed that the classified documents included the details of training of army personnel, details about weaponry of army, positioning of army units and hand written Urdu paper containing the details regarding rank structure of the Jammu Kashmir Light Infantry and movement of troops. A case under the Official Secrets Act has been registered.

New Delhi, June 30
Showers might be relieving for the residents of Delhi but they also aggravate waterlogging in the city.

Nyaya Bhoomi, an NGO working towards better governance and working, has taken up a campaign for cleaner Delhi.

Nyaya Bhoomi president B.B. Sharan says the drains of the colonies and roadsides are fully or partially clogged.

All drains pass through covered portions at one stage or the other and all those portions remain fully clogged, which do not allow the water to flow through.

The drains in the localities and on the sides of outer and inner ring roads and peripheral roads are less than four feet and are the responsibility of the sanitation department.

The department, however, maintains that its purview is limited to the open drains only.

Nyaya Bhoomi has repeatedly pointed it out to the standing committee of the MCD, including mayor Arti Mehra, but of no avail.

There are over 51,000safai karamcharis on the pay roll of the MCD.

New Delhi, June 30
Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit today launched another round of Pulse Polio campaign in the Capital by administering anti-polio drops to a number of children at her residence here.

Dikshit said that it would be ensured that no virus of polio could enter territory of the national Capital.

"For making a strong nation, we must have strong children. This would only be possible with the success of pulse polio programme. Our state has shown better results in this field. Being pioneer in the pulse polio programme, Delhi is being regarded as a role model and it would continue to strive hard to completely eliminate polio," Dikshit said.

Delhi health minister Dr Yoganand Shastri also administered polio drops to a few children. He conveyed his gratitude towards the Rotary Club and other NGOs for making pulse polio campaign a grand success in Delhi.

He also informed that as many as 7,500 polio booths would be established tomorrow to administer polio vaccine to lakhs of children of 0-5 age group.

Around 30,000 workers and employees of the health department would be deployed to ensure maximum reach from 9.00 am to 4.00 pm.

The stalls would be put up at railway stations, ISBTs, public places, including Appu Ghar, temples, metro stations, Millennium Park, Zoo and outlets of McDonalds.

Apart from this, a door-to-door week-long survey would also be conducted. Around 17,000 workers in 8,600 teams would visit different colonies, including slums, to search for left out cases.

Noida, June 30
Land rates seem to be touching the skies. With the Noida Authority's decision to increase the sector rates of the residential, industrial, commercial and institutional plots, property has become costlier by 80 per cent in Noida and is now at par with Delhi.

Transfer charges have also been hiked considerably. The decision taken during the 145th Board meeting of the Noida Authority was implemented with effect from Thursday. The property rates were last revised in Noida in 2005.

The price of residential land in Noida now ranges between Rs 13,200 and Rs 38,900 per sq mt. from Rs 7,500 and Rs 22,100 previously. Minimum transfer charge has been fixed at Rs 800 and the maximum at Rs 1,940 per sq mt from Rs 450 and Rs 1,100 per sq mt earlier.

Besides, the price of group housing plots will range from Rs 27,000 to Rs 50,000 per sq mt, it has been announced.

According to property experts, with this sharp hike in the prices of property in Noida, the middle class buyers are hit badly. They have to shell out double the price for flats.

Greater Noida Authority has already announced a hike in the property.

In institutional sectors in Phase-II and III, it is proposed to encourage IT and ITES. A 25% rebate will be allowed as per the IT policy of UP in allotment of plots in these categories, it is learnt.

The transfer charges for the flats built on group housing plots will be charged on the basis of covered area and on a par with the transfer charges applicable to residential plots.

The rates for EWS flats/plots and Shram Kunj have not been changed.

The land value of other categories will be determined on the basis of the residential land price of the sectors concerned.

The latest hikes have taken property in Noida beyond the reach of the middle class buyers, especially the salaried class who had a dream to live in their own house in Noida.

For getting home loans, they will now have to show a salary of Rs 30,000 pm.

Ghaziabad, June 30
Fixing of signboards here indicates that Metro will reach here. The Metro authorities have put up signboards from Mehrajpur border up to Vaishali.

Metro will come up to Vaishali by 2009. Later, it will be extended up to Mehrauli in Hapur. In the third phase to be completed in 2010, Metro will run up to the New Bus Stand, Ghaziabad.

Giving this information vice-chairman of Ghaziabad Development Authority S.K. Diwedi said in the first phase, Metro would be extended by 2 kms from Anand Vihar to Vaishali with two stations en route at Kaushambi and Vaishali.

According to chief project manager, southern area, Metro Rail Corporation, S.K. Gupta, road traffic will move as usual during the Metro expansion.

These roads will have to be broadened. Gupta has asked the GDA authorities to give its consent for the project and lop off trees from Mehrajpur border up to Vaishali.

GDA is already understood to have completed the formality of asking the forest department to remove the trees from Mehrajpur to Vaishali.

GDA vice-chairman said Metro would be extended up to Indirapuram and further to other areas also.

The Metro rail track up to Ghaziabad is proposed to be laid at 20 to 30 ft above ground. Normally this height will be 20 ft but for crossing a road, the height will be increased to 30 ft.

About 100 pillars will be built in the 2-km route in the first phase and there will be three curves in the track en route. The DMRC officials have examined the route and are giving the final touches to the project.

DMRL and GDA authorities are sure that by the time Commonwealth Games are staged in Delhi, Metro trains will be plying between Delhi and Ghaziabad.

New Delhi, June 30
Terming the untimely death of the Bharatiya Janata Party national vice-president and former Chief Minister of Delhi, Sahib Singh Verma, in a road accident today, Delhi unit BJP president Harsh Vardhan said that it was an irreparable loss for the country.

Sahib Singh Verma died in an accident at Shahjahanpur in Rajasthan.

The mishap occurred at 2.30 pm when the car in which he was travelling collided with a truck on the Delhi-Jaipur highway.

The BJP leader, who was 63-year-old, was on his way back to Delhi from Jaipur.

Sahib Singh Verma was born on March 15, 1943. He gained popularity within a short time by virtue of his commitment to the common man.

His oratory, good public contact and capacity to take along all made him a popular leader whose smiling face cannot be forgotten.

Lok Sabha Speaker Somnath Chatterjee expressed grief at his sudden death.

He conveyed his condolence to the family of Sahib Singh Verma. Secretary-general of the Confederation of All India Traders (CAIT) Parveen Khandelwal said, "Sahib Singh Verma was a true visionary who took our problems of sealing and demolition to the highest forum of the country.”

“Delhi traders deeply mourn the untimely and tragic death of senior BJP leader who initiated the process of urbanisation of Delhi villages and had a dream of empowering the downtrodden of society,” he added.

Food collection centres will be set up at the Hanuman Mandir in Connaught Place, Hanuman Mandir at Yamuna Bazar and S. P. Marg, where persons or institutions interested in feeding monkeys can deposit the food.

Gurgaon, June 30
The Gurgaon administration has made it mandatory for all hospital authorities in the district to install solar water heating system.

Officials say the move is a part of the government's efforts to promote the generation and usage of energy from non-conventional sources.

The health department's utility and functional units like hospitals are one of the main sectors, which consume energy.

In a meeting of the District Health and Family Welfare Samiti, presided over by the deputy commissioner, Gurgaon, R. K. Gupta, another directive was issued to maintain 24-hour power supply to the 29 functional 'Delivery Huts' in the district.

Elaborating on this, the order further said that it was necessary to ensure that the delivery patients and the medical staff in the huts were not put to inconvenience.

Faridabad, June 30
The Haryana Agricultural and Marketing Federation (Hafed), a state government agency, has announced to put up the C-306 quality of wheat for sale to the consumers in the district.

This wheat has been produced by the farmers of Karnal district without any use of chemical fertilizers and pesticides. This brand of wheat is being sold at a rate Rs 1,752 per quintal. Available in the packing of smaller quantity, a 25 kg bag has been priced at Rs 438.

Hafed district manager Mange Ram said here today that this brand was being sold through the agency office at Ballabgarh. He said that quality of this wheat had been even better than the variety being brought from Madhya Pradesh as that it had been grown by using the natural ingredients, including compost and manures based on cowdung, to ensure that it retained all its natural qualities.

Hafed, an ISO 9001-2000 certified agency, is also selling soyabeen refined oil (cooking) and certain variety of Basmati rice grown in various parts of the state.

The agency has also announced to sell urea, DAP and NPK fertilizer to the farmers of the district for which about 2100 tonnes of urea and 1120 tonnes of DAP have already been stored to be released in the present kharif season ending up to September 30.

New Delhi, June 30
The concluding ceremony of the B.Ed programme 2006-07 of Amity Institute of Education (AIE) was held on Amity University campus in Noida. Thirtyfive students were awarded B.Ed. degree provisional certificates and awards.

Sharing his thoughts on the role of teacher, Dr Ashok K. Chauhan, founder president, Ritnand Balved Education Foundation, said, "One should introspect before taking up this noble profession and always be a part of the solution and not problem besides being compassionate towards slow learners".

P. Kaul, Director, Amity Institute of Education (AIE), remarked, "Amity provides educational opportunities ranging from the requirement of school goers to that of budding professionals in diverse fields.

Jamia students opt for nanotechnology A singular course attracting the attention of students at Jamia Millia Islamia is MTech in Nanotechnology. Based out of the dept of physics, nanotechnology has some 15 seats and is among the handful of self-financing courses being offered at Jamia.