New Delhi, September 8
Amrita Bahri of the National Students' Union of India (NSUI) was elected president of the Delhi University Students' Union (DUSU). The NSUI swept the poll by defeating its arch rival the Akhil Bhartiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP), on all the four posts.

With the voter turnout as low as 26 per cent, the ABVP's presidential candidate, Abhishek bagged a total of 6,255 votes. Devraj Tehlan was elected vice-president, defeating ABVP's Suman Lata by 4,417 votes. While, Manish Choudhry became the general secretary and defeated ABVP's Renu by 3,731 votes. On the joint secretary's post, it was the NSUI's Khushboo Sharma who defeated the ABVP's Manvendra Singh by 2,159 votes. "Students know that we work and will stand for them always. They have again accepted us and have shown faith in our representatives," said Poonam Yadav, the NSUI's general secretary.

DPCC president J.P.Aggarwal along with former DPCC president Ram Babu Sharma at Congress president Sonia Gandhi's residence in the Capital on Saturday. — Tribune photo byManas Ranjan Bhui

However, the ABVP is not giving it easily to the NSUI. "It was all over, the way the Congress used the government machinery to get victory for its students' wing," alleged the ABVP spokesperson Nakul Bhardwaj. "It is a shameful violation of the Lyngdoh's recommendations and the election should be cancelled," he added. The Indian National Students' Organisation (INSO) scored much less than their expectations. With their presidential candidate scoring a total of 893 votes, the party could not impress students as an alternative to the ABVP and the NSUI.0

New Delhi, September 8
In the absence of Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit, reshuffle in portfolios of ministers in Delhi cabinet was announced today, which suggested that everything was pre-planned. This change was made just after second day of change of guard in the Delhi Pradesh Congress Committee, where J. P. Aggarwal, Rajya Sabha MP , replaced Ram Babu Sharma, who was known as strong opponent of the Chief Minister. The Chief Minister is at present in Belarus.

Political circles were rife with speculations that ministers in the Sheila Dikshit government would be changed. Instead of changing ministers, the Congress Party changed their portfolios.

In the reshuffle the Chief Minister has taken one new portfolio, training and technical education, in the list of her departments. Her remaining portfolios are : administrative reforms, general administration department, home department, law and justice and legislative affairs, public relations,services department, vigilance department, water, higher education, training & technical education, art and culture, environment, forest & wild life.

Chief Minister's second in command Dr A. K. Walia, who has finance department and planning department has lost two departments PWD and urban development The power department is now under his command.

There is no change in the portfolio of Dr Yoganand Shastri, who is known as non -controversial in the Sheila Dikshit government. He is still health and family welfare minister with an additional portfolio of the social welfare department. Mangat Ram Singhal has neither got new portfolio, nor his portfolios have gone to other ministers. He is still known as minister of industries with labour department, employment department, election department and land and building department.

Raj Kumar Chauhan, considered close to the Chief Minister, after the Ashok Malhotra land scam case, has lost the social welfare department and gained two new departments- urban development and PWD- which were earlier with Dr. A. K. Walia. His departments include, development, revenue, irrigation and flood control, welfare of scheduled caste and scheduled tribe, PWD and urban development.

Haroon Yusuf, who was in spot light, when Ashok Malhotra was caught with a large number of vehicles with VIP registration numbers ,has lost the power department. Now ,he has transport department and food and civil supplies department.

Arvinder Singh Lovely has education ,without higher education and training and technical education. His other departments are, tourism, languages, gurdwara elections and gurdwara administration.

Senior DPCC leaders are finding it hard to explain the urgency in effecting the changein the portfolios. The leaders said that she wanted to change a few ministers but she could not as the party high command didn't clear it.

Change in ministers is expected after the monsoon session, which is going to be held from September 12 as the change in portfolios does not serve the purpose of the chief minister. Change in the Delhi Pradesh Congress Committee office bearers and its other committees is  also expected after the  session. 

New Delhi, September 8
BJP Delhi Pradesh president Harsh Vardhan has said that the Central Finance Ministry is misleading people by presenting wrong data about price spiral. The truth is that the prices of essential commodities have increased by 30 per cent during the tenure of the UPA government.

If the prices of petrol and diesel are increased, it will lead to 10 per cent further increase in the prices.

Harsh Vardhan said that state finance minister Pawan Kumar Bansal had informed the Parliament about fall in the prices of vegetables. The reality was that the prices of onion, potato, tomato, parwal, kathal and other vegetables have increased. At some places, onion was being sold at Rs 30 per kg. Potato was being sold from Rs 20 to Rs 24 per kg ,tomato at Rs 25 per kg., parwal Rs 24 per kg and kathal Rs 40 per kg.

He said that the wheat flour was being sold at Rs 20 per kg, coarse rice at Rs 25 per kg and pulses between Rs 44 and Rs 65 per kg. The prices of oil and ghee had also shot up. The government has already increased the price of milk three times. Due to this, private milk producers have also increased the price of milk products.

Full cream milk was being sold at Rs 23 per litre in Delhi. The prices of fruits were also very high. Imported fruits were beyond the reach of common man. The gas agencies were supplying LPG cylinders late. In the black market,a domestic LPG cylinder was going between Rs 450 and Rs 480 per  cylinder.

He further said that the petroleum and natural gas ministry had forwarded a cabinet note for increasing the price of petrol by Rs 2 per litre and diesel by Re 1 per litre. The ministry also wants to increase the prices of cooking gas and kerosene.

New Delhi, September 8
Uma Khurana, the mathematics teacher who was framed in a fake television sting operation purporting to prove her complicity in a student prostitution racket, is likely to be set free Monday as the police is not going to oppose her bail plea.

Asked whether the police would now request the court to dismiss the false charges against Khurana, a senior police official who spoke on condition of anonymity said she would most likely be out on bail.

"She is most likely to get bail possibly because of no evidence against her, and also she can't influence the other witnesses as the reporter and freelance journalist have already been arrested," the official added.

The police has decided not to oppose the bail plea. They could not cancel the charges against Khurana by themselves, the official added, because the matter was now in court, and the decision would have to be taken by the judiciary.

Khurana, who had been remanded in judicial custody before it was found that the TV sting was fake, was arrested due to pressure from the public and education officials after the channel Live India showed what they claimed was an investigative report into a school prostitution ring in which she was the alleged kingpin, senior police officials admit.

The teacher in the government-run Sarvodaya Kanya Vidyalaya at Asaf Ali Road in central Delhi was arrested "under direct pressure of the public and indirect pressure from some state officials", the senior official said.

"We had no option except to arrest her. People blindly believe what television channels show and take action accordingly. There could have been trouble again if she had not been arrested," the official clarified.

The airing of the report triggered large-scale violence with hundreds of angry people gathering outside the school and smashing windowpanes of the building demanding her immediate arrest. Khurana was assaulted in public and her clothes torn off.

The Delhi government, acting quickly on the purported sting report, sacked Khurana without a proper inquiry.

Delhi Police officials later accepted that they had not found any evidence against her.

"Investigations reveal that she was framed by television reporter Prakash Singh on behalf of a businessman, Virender Arora, who had a personal enmity with Khurana," said another police official.

"Prakash also involved Rashmi Singh, an aspiring journalist who acted as a schoolgirl in the sting," said the official investigating the matter. "Except for the prima facie evidence (now found to be doctored) received on the tapes supplied by the news channel in which Uma is found accepting money for arranging a prostitute for the sting operator, journalist Prakash Singh, we have no other direct or indirect evidence on record against her," the official added.

The police arrested Prakash and Rashmi on charges of cheating, fabrication of evidence and criminal conspiracy for their role in the fake investigative story. Prakash was arrested Friday, while Rashmi was arrested Thursday. —IANS

New Delhi, September 8
The Indian media's reporting on religious controversies has miles to go, as it is still ruled by ignorance and prejudices, remarked veteran journalists here today.

Participating in a symposium on 'Reporting Religious Controversies', a group of senior journalists said that the Indian media had to adopt a careful approach while reporting on religious controversies.

"Dignity of the individual cannot be ignored," said B.G. Verghese, columnist and author. Pointing out the fact that religion took over secular rights in religious controversies, he said, "Our religious rights should march along with other rights guaranteed in the Constitution."

Obeid Siddiqui, a senior journalist and a lecturer at Jamia Milia Islamia said that the main impediments in fair reporting of religious controversies were ignorance and prejudices. "Many media personnel, who report about 'fatwa', do not know that everybody cannot issue it. It is not a ruling, but just an opinion, and not binding on everyone," he commented.

"In print media, one has time to go for a multi-layer reporting, by going into different aspects of an incident. But, in the electronic media, the time is always limited, which is a major handicap for comprehensive reporting," Siddiqui remarked.

Speaking on the 'Challenges for reporting religious controversies in India', R. Prasannan, bureau chief of 'The Week' (magazine), pointed out that media should be careful enough not to whip up religious passions in its reporting. "But we also have to report the truth. The genocide in Gujarat was known to the world because of the media," he said, referring to the 2001 communal killings in the state.

Prasannan added, "The fundamentalism of the majority" was more dangerous than that of the minority, as it would "undermine and damage" the system.

Adolf Washington, president of the Indian Catholic Press Association, stressed on the fact that while reporting religious controversies, journalists should focus on its impact on an individual.

The symposium, organised by the Catholic Bishops' Conference of India (CBCI) commission for social communications and the Oxford Centre for Religion and Public Life, London, was inaugurated by minister for tribal affairs P.R. Kyndiah.—IANS 

New Delhi, September 8
Television news reporter Prakash Singh, who was arrested for allegedly carrying out a fake sting operation, showing a woman teacher forcing schoolgirls into prostitution, could be charged with instigating riots, the police said today.

"We are investigating his role in instigating riots," a senior police official told IANS.

Prakash Singh was arrested yesterday, on charges of cheating, fabrication of evidence and criminal conspiracy, after he allegedly tried to frame Uma Khurana, a teacher of Sarvodaya Kanya Vidyalaya at Asaf Ali Road in central Delhi, in a false case of Immoral Trafficking Prevention Act.

The telecast of the fake sting last week triggered a large-scale violence, as angry people gathered outside the school and smashed windowpanes of the building demanding Khurana's immediate arrest. She was assaulted too. Meanwhile, a city court sent Prakash Singh, a reporter with the Live India channel, to judicial custody till September 15.

"Prakash was produced in the court of Ajay Pandey in the Tis Hazari court complex, this afternoon.

The judge has remanded him in seven days judicial custody," said a police official. Prakash Singh had conducted a fake sting operation taking the assistance of an aspiring journalist Rashmi Singh, who acted as a schoolgirl.—IANS