New Delhi, September 10
Several social leaders and labour activists today staged dharna at Jantar Mantar here in protest against the wastage of precious time of Parliament by its members by disrupting its proceedings for the past one month.

They included Kuldip Nayyar, Swami Agnivesh, Rajendra Sachar, Medha Patkar, Goswami Sushil, Swami Aryavesh, Dominique Emmanual and Valson Thampu.

“Parliament,” the protestors said, “is the very temple of our democracy. Conducting the business of Parliament in an exemplary manner is, therefore, a solemn national duty. That being the case, we the citizens of India, view with extreme abhorrence the growing tendency to disrupt the proceedings of Parliament in a callous and cavalier manner.”

Convenor of the Jan Sansad Swami Agnivesh said it was a sad day for India when our members of Parliament trivialise their parliamentary responsibilities. “This sad state of affairs proves that party now comes before the country. We endorse fully the concern and extreme anguish expressed by the Speaker of the Lok Sabha and the Chairman of the Rajya Sabha in this regard,” he added.

“Given the fact that successive Parliaments have been showing aggravating symptoms of degeneration and disarray resulting in a televised display of dereliction of duty as well as gloating over it, we, the members of the civil society, are left with no option but to organise ourselves to save the sanctity and wholeness of our democracy by expressing our utter disapproval of the way the dignity and solemnity of Parliament is being eroded by those who should be its uncompromising custodians,” Swami Agnivesh said.

The protestors said that the parliamentary proceedings are stalled every day costing the national exchequer a whopping Rs 90 lakh at Rs 2,500 per minute.

“It is high time that those who indulge in this wilful squandering of the taxpayers’ money are made to pay for it. The principle ‘no work no pay’ should apply to the MPs also,” they added.

Our country is beset with serious problems that cry for urgent attention. Rather than stalling the proceedings of the House, people’s representatives should address the burning issues facing the people, the protestors pointed out.

“We do believe that a majority of members of the Parliament are keen to raise these issues and bring long overdue relief to the citizens. It is important that the ambience of Parliament is made conducive to the smooth discharge of duties by them,” said Kuldeep Nayyar, who as Rajya Sabha member had forgone his MP allowances due to disruption.

“Whatever happens in both Houses of Parliament are televised nationwide. People look up to MPs. The current parliamentary scenario is not a salutary influence on the nation. There is a distinct danger that broadcasting the parliamentary ‘hangama’ will devalue our democratic culture,” he added.

New Delhi, September 10
India will host from Wednesday, a three-day international conference on cyber crimes that are growing at an alarming rate, with the Internet becoming a potent tool in the hands of criminals and terrorists.

The meet, to be organised here by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), will be attended by about 100 representatives from more than 40 countries. Over 40 senior police officers and forensic scientists will be among the participants, stated a CBI press release.

The CBI is the nodal body in India, for training various law enforcement agencies in probing cyber crime.

Seeking to fine tune international co-operation in cyber crime, the conference would also have participation from various international organisations like- the United Nations Office for Drug Control and Crime Prevention (UNODC), the Council of Europe, the Europol, the United Nations Interregional Crime Research Institute (UNICRI) and other central organisations of India.

Several private and public sector companies like- the MIEL- eSecurity, eBay, Tata Consultancy Services, Microsoft, Symantec and India’s Centre for Development of Advanced Computing (C-DAC) would also participate.

Union home minister Shivraj Patil will inaugurate the meet in presence of minister of state for personnel and parliamentary affairs Suresh Pachouri, Interpol secretary general Ronald K. Noble and CBI director Vijay Sanker among others.

Dwelling upon the rationale and importance of the upcoming meet, the CBI said that cyber crime and cyber terrorism was often transnational in nature and required global response.

Combating cyber crime demands a minimum level of uniformity while, the issue of transnational co-operation gets compounded by the absence of uniform provisions of law, due to the difference in legal systems and lack of uniform perception of the problem, the agency said.

Cyber criminals exploit weaknesses in the law and enforcement procedures and practices of different nations, which expose nations to dangers that are beyond their unilateral capacity to respond, the CBI commented, adding that the meet aimed at harmonising global response to cyber crimes. — IANS

New Delhi, September 10
He came to The Tribune office in Delhi armed with a 54-year-old copy of the newspaper.

Dated November 9, 1953, and published from Ambala, the Vol LXIII No. 305 of The Tribune has the photograph of his grandfather Tulsi Ram shaking hands with Pt Jawaharlal Nehru in Chandigarh.

For 83-year-old Baldev Chand, it is a precious document that he has preserved very carefully in a polythene bag through all these years.

"It establishes the fact that Pt Jawaharlal knew my grandfather Tulsi Ram," he says.

Tulsi Ram, who had carved the wooden model of famous Anand Bhawan in Allahabad was at that time working in Chandigarh under the supervision of Chief Engineer P.N. Verma.

Baldev Chand says his grandfather was around 85 years old when he was appointed as a modeller for Chandigarh by P.N. Verma.

"After my grandfather's photo was published in The Tribune, Verma sahib gave us this copy," says 83-year-old Baldev Chand, who also worked in Chandigarh during that period in the maintenance department.

But that was 54 years back. Today the family of the Anand Bhawan carpenter--Baldev Chand and his two sons Malkait and Manjit--are living in penury in the Capital and running from pillar to post to meet the members of the Gandhi family--Congress president Sonia Gandhi and her son Rahul.

Baldev Chand hopes to meet them to pay his respects to the family his grandfather was associated with.

"I have no other interest… I just want to meet them before I die. I understand that leaders are busy people but I believe the Gandhi family would be interested in meeting the family of the man who crafted their ancestral home," he says.

Originally hailing from Nakodar in Punjab, Baldev Chand says his grandfather prepared the model of the Nehru home at the behest of Pt Motilal Nehru and was later also rewarded by Pt Jawaharlal Nehru for his efforts.

" My grandfather worked for an English company Mackinnon and Corporation. It was at the recommendation of its owner Mckenzi, who was a friend of Motilal Nehru, that he got the job of preparing the wooden model of Anand Bhawan," he says.

In fact, Baldev Chand also carries a letter written by Pt Motilal Nehru, praising his work.

The letter goes on to say that Tulsi Ram's "piece of workmanship is of a high order and is very much admired. Tulsi is a carpenter much above his average and I can safely recommend him for any work requiring more than ordinary skill".

"Pt Motilal was so happy with the model that he gave him all the money--Rs 90--he had in his pocket," says Baldev Chand.

Baldev Chand, who now stays with his two sons and other family members at Tri Nagar in Delhi, has tried to meet Sonia Gandhi several times at her 10 Janpath residence but without any success.

He has also been visiting the party office at 24 Akbar Road regularly with the hope of meeting Rahul Gandhi.

"My father Shadi Ram died before he could meet the then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi despite that a meeting had been arranged," he reminiscences.

New Delhi, September 10
In order to provide comfortable service to Metro commuters, the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) has decided to get 15 more trains for its Phase-I network.

These trains will supplement the 10 trains that have already been added to the Metro fleet this year to meet the growing ridership.

As per official spokesperson Anuj Dayal, the DMRC presently has 70 trains and with the procurement of the new trains, the size of the fleet will go up to 85.

About 6.5 lakhs travel on the Metro system on each working day, which means that the actual occupancy is 9.3 lakh per day, as a recent survey showed that 43 per cent of commuters use two or three trains during each trip.

Each of the new trains, which will have four coaches each, can carry up to 1,500 commuters per trip and the order for the same is being placed with the consortium of Mitsubishi Corporation, ROTEM and Mitsubishi Electric Corporation (MRM), which had supplied the earlier trains for DMRC. The Bharat Earth Movers Limited (BEML), Bangalore, which has a technical tie-up with the MRM consortium, will make these trains.

The delivery of the trains is tentatively expected to start by the end of 2008. Of the 10 additional trains procured earlier this year, seven have already been inducted into service. It has been seen that the average ridership of the Metro has seen a steady rise ever since these trains were inducted.

The first was inducted in April and the average ridership increased to 5.01 lakh from 4.72 lakh in March.

Three more trains were inducted in May and the average ridership increased to 5.34 lakh.

In July, two trains were inducted and the average ridership jumped to 5.96 lakh. Another train was put into service in August and the average ridership increased to 6.15 lakh.

The three remaining trains are likely to be inducted by the end of this month.

New Delhi, September 10
The Jamiat-Ulama-i-Hind has demanded reservation in government jobs for Muslims in proportion to their population, introduction of special law to punish officers found involved in communal riots, provision for rehabilitation of riot victims.

Maulana Mehmood Madani, general secretary, Jamiat-Ulama-i-Hind, has listed these demands in a memorandum submitted to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh here today.

Giving reference of the Sachar Committee report, he said that at present economic condition of Muslims were the worst than the Dalits. To uplift the community it reservation in jobs was a must.

The data on social, economic and educational status substantiates the conclusion that the lot needs to be done for the community, Maulana Madani said.

The Sachar Committee report should be implemented to foster national unity, strengthen democracy and secularism.

The survival of secular democracy depends upon just and equitable treatment to all citizens. If the country is under developed today, it is largely because many of the communities, including Muslims, have not been treated well, he claimed.

He said that in this perspective the Jamiat-Ulama-i-Hind had been demanding legislative measures to protect minorities against communal riots and pograms and to provide them proportional share in employment, education and governance through reservation permissible under the Constitution.

As regards providing proportionate share to Muslims in employment, education and governance, the action taken report (ATR) on the Justice Sachar Committee report should have made a provision for reservation.

New Delhi, September 10
One boy was killed in Timarpur area. According to police sources, the deceased hailed from Nagaland.

He got involved in a quarrel with another boy from the same area. The scuffle started over some minor issue.

It ended up in the killing. The boys were noticed in a party last night near the university area.

New Delhi, September 10
In two separate incidents in the city, four auto lifters have been arrested. Kalkaji police claimed to have busted a gang of auto thieves by arresting Shashi Kant Prasad and Amarjeet. Police have recovered five stolen three-wheelers from them.

A trap was laid in Kalkaji Extension after information was received about a notorious gang of thieves. An autorickshaw was signalled to stop at the check post.

The driver, however, tried to speed away. Police started following the auto and when they were about to be caught, they stopped the auto and started running.

The thieves were chased and two of them were caught. One alleged accused is still absconding. Five stolen three-wheelers have been recovered from the alleged accused.

In yet another incident in the city, south district police have arrested Rashidul and Ravi for their alleged involvement in six cases of auto theft.

South district police had constructed traps in different parts of that area to nab auto lifters. In PVR Saket, one Maruti car with two occupants was checked and one countrymade pistol with two live cartridges was recovered from one of them.

New Delhi, September 10
Ad spends, proportionate to sales by real estate and telecommunication firms, have zoomed considerably in the past seven years, overtaking traditional spenders like fast moving consumer goods (FMCG) companies, a new study shows.

Real estate and telecom firms increased their advertising budgets by an annual 36 and 21 per cent respectively between 2000 and 2006, while FMCG spends increased by a mere two per cent, the Assocham Eco Pulse (AEP) study released on Sunday says.

The next big spenders are white goods manufacturers, especially of air conditioners and refrigerators, liquor manufacturers and companies making passenger and multi-utility vehicles.

The maximum rise of 20 per cent was by white goods producers, followed by 10 per cent by the liquor industry and 9.5 per cent by carmakers.

“With services becoming the driver of the Indian economy, advertising which spreads consumer awareness has made an important contribution to the growth in some of the dynamic sectors like real estates and telecommunications,” Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India (Assocham) president Venugopal Dhoot said of the survey.

While the Indian real estate market is growing at 30 per cent, the construction sector has grown at 16.6 per cent in the first quarter of the current fiscal as compared to 15.6 per cent in the same period of the previous year.

The average growth of the sector over the period 2000-01 to 2006-07 at 9.9 per cent has surpassed the manufacturing and services sectors’ growth of seven and 8.6 per cent respectively.

“Rising income levels, a bulging middle class, rapid urbanization, and emerging cities have led to sharp rise in demand for housing properties in India and thus boosted the advertising needs of the construction and real estate companies,” the study said.

“The growth in advertising spend of these companies has surpassed the marketing as well as total expenses that were averaging six and 12.8 per cent respectively. The advertising expenses of the construction sector have increased from 0.1 per cent of sales in 2000-01 to 0.2 per cent in 2006-07 - a 36 per cent rise,” the study added.

The 233 companies surveyed for the study witnessed an average 16 per cent jump in sales and total income during the seven years, it pointed out.

The telecom sector is also growing fast and adding mobile subscribers at a record rate of 46 per cent per month. — IANS

New Delhi, September 10
A businessman and his wife allegedly ended their lives in their Subzi Mandi house in North Delhi today morning. Neighbours broke the house door and found Kabir and Rajkumari unconscious.

Both were rushed to the Bara Hindu Rao Hospital, where they were declared brought dead. Medical reports revealed that the couple consumed poison late night yesterday.

The couple has two kids and the family was under heavy debt.

According to the police, Kabir had incurred a heavy loss in his polybag business.

New Delhi, September 10
A two-day workshop on HIV/AIDS awareness at DPS, R.K.Puram, concluded yesterday.

The workshop was conducted by a group of trained personnel from the Modicare Foundation and was a part of their ‘Ambassadors for Change’ programme.

The group members led by Naushina Azad, consisted of Gaurav Bhargava, Rabeea Kauser, Sarfaraz Ahmad, Anju Adhikari, Saloni Dahra and Rohini Joshi.

The team was assisted by Sujata Hoon and Anjoo Bhatia from DPS,Vasant Kunj and Jyoti Sharma from DPS, R.K.Puram.

The workshop was an initiative of the Council of Health and Media of the DPS Society.

Vice-principal of the host school, Deepa Raghavan welcomed all participants and stressed on the need to sensitize educators on the issue of HIV/AIDS. Around 15 schools of the DPS fraternity attended the workshop, each with a group of four students and two teachers.

At the very beginning, the participants were divided into three groups, of teachers and students - boys and girls separately with their respective instructors.

The objective of the programme was to tackle issues related to sex and sexuality and remove misconceptions about AIDS.

Its aim was to act as a platform where teacher facilitators could share common problems encountered in attempting to deal with these issues in a classroom situation.

Along with this, it would enhance their knowledge and skills as a facilitator.

New Delhi, September 10
Karan Tanwar Singh , the BJP MLA from Delhi Cantonment Board, will hold a demonstration at Jantar Mantar tomorrow to pressurise the government for holding elections for the cantonment board.

He said that elections in the cantonment board had been postponed for the last five years on one or the other pretext.

Only nominated members were there on the board, resulting in no development work in the area.

In the name of Commonwealth games development was going in every locality of the national capital but in the cantonment area, he said.

He said during the NDA tenure the cantonment boards in the country were dismissed and a proposal was tabled before Parliament to amend the Cantonment Board Act to provide more powers to elected representatives.

According the Act, the maximum powers were vested in the nominated members.

The Bill was passed after the UPA government came to power.The amendment gave more powers to the nominated members.

Even after the notification of the Act, the government was not holding the elections, he claimed.

He had also met Defence Minister A. K. Antony last year who assured the BJP MLA that the election in the cantonment board would be held within two three months. But he failed to keep his word.

New Delhi, September 10
Guru Gobind Singh Indraprastha University (GGSIPU) recently extended the last date to apply for the Doctoral and Post-Doctoral Research Fellowship 2007-08 till September 15, 2007.

University sources inform that, this has been done keeping in view the interest of a large number of prospective candidates who earlier missed the deadline for submitting applications.

GGSIPU is inviting applications from eligible scholars/candidates having a strong aptitude for promotions of Doctoral/Post Doctoral Research in the specialized areas of Biotechnology, Chemical Technology, Information Technology, Basic & Applied Sciences.

New Delhi, September 10
The Delhi government recently announced a series of measures to strengthen the education system of the state.

The government in association with the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) plans to open 50 vocational schools to help create better employment opportunity.

Education minister Arvinder Singh Lovely recently informed that, “the state government is planning 50 vocational schools and 11 handicapped-friendly schools in the Capital. Students would be imparted vocational education in these schools to equip them with skills, which would enable them to have better employment opportunities.”

Lovely honored 69 meritorious teachers for their contribution in school education. Officials of the Education Department, teachers and a large number of students attended the function.

The minister further informed that the government is planning to provide computer education in every school.

A sports school will also be opened to promote sporting activities in view of the 2010 Commonwealth Games.