New Delhi, september 24
The announcement of Rahul Gandhi's induction as general secretary at the AICC evoked instantaneous welcome from the Youth Congress workers, who had been raising this demand for quite some time.

Led by the Indian Youth Congress chief Ashok Tanwar, the activists distributed sweets, burst crackers and made rounds of the AICC office carrying the party flag. Rahul Gandhi has been made in charge of the Youth Congress and the NSUI.

Tanwar said that Rahul Gandhi's induction as general secretary would not only energise the frontal organisations, but the entire party. The IYC activists, happy over the prospect of regular interactions with Rahul Gandhi, shouted slogans hailing him.

There were queues outside the 10 Janpath, residence of Congress president Sonia Gandhi, after the decision to give organisational responsibility to Rahul Gandhi was announced. While there was an air of anticipation at the Congress office about some big announcment since morning today, the celebrations began soon after the decision was made public. Leaders went inside 10 janpath to greet both Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi.

The Seva Dal and the Mahila Congress activists also greeted them.

Delhi Pradesh Congress Committee (DPCC) president Jai Prakash Agarwal today welcomed the appointment of Rahul Gandhi as the general secretary of the All India Congress Committee (AICC), and thanked Congress president Sonia Gandhi for taking this decision.

Thousands of Delhi Congress workers and leaders, under the leadership of Agarwal, rushed to the AICC office at 24 Akbar Road on learning about the appointment of Rahul Gandhi as the AICC general secretary. The elated workers, beating drums and bursting crackers, enthusiastically welcomed the key post in the party.

The DPCC leaders and workers, led by Agarwal, went

to 10 Janpath, where Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi met every leader and worker and accepted their felicitations.

On this occasion, DPCC president Jai Prakash Agarwal said with the appointment of Rahul Gandhi as the AICC general-secretary, Sonia Gandhi has fulfilled the aspirations of lakhs of Congress workers and leaders across the country, particularly in Delhi. Agarwal said the Congress had now got a young, dynamic leader in whom the common people had reposed their confidence.

He said women and the downtrodden were also elated at the elevation of Rahul Gandhi to the party post

as they felt that only a leader like Rahul Gandhi could understand their problems and fulfil their dreams.

New Delhi, September 24
Public transport system should be commuter friendly so that citizens opt for it, Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit said here today.

She said this inaugurating the Strategic Business Unit (SBU) Building at Hauz Khas bus terminal. It was a difficult task to double the fleet size by March 2009. The DTC has already placed an order for 525 low-floor CNG buses (of which 25 are air-conditioned). The current fleet of 3100 CNG buses with DTC is slated to be doubled to 6000 buses. The government has approved the proposal for procuring 4500 more buses by 2009-10.

She also inspected the new low floor buses, which would be fully operational next month. Minister of transport, Haroon Yusuf presided over the function. Local MLA Prof. Kiran Walia was also present.

She added that 200 more white buses would be purchased for the Commonwealth Games 2010.

The Chief Minister expressed hope that DTC would emerge as a modern commuter friendly, service provider in Delhi. DTC can be the role model not only for private operators in Delhi but also for the state transport undertakings in the other parts of the country. She also urged DTC employees, in particular drivers and conductors, to be sensitive to the needs of the commuters and take special care for the aged, disabled and schoolchildren.

The Chief Minister instructed DTC CMD to identify routes where the new buses would ply. She ruled out any apprehension regarding outsourcing the maintenance of DTC buses.

She urged the vehicle manufacturers to adhere to the time schedule so that the entire supply order was completed by July 2008.

The Chief Minister informed that with the new buses, modern street furniture and modern technology based system was going to change in the next five months. She urged citizens to obey traffic rules and keep the new buses and bus queue shelters clean and litter-free.

Minister of transport Haroon Yusuf said that the SBU would help and oversee the procurement of new buses for the DTC. 

New Delhi, September 24
The Delhi Cabinet today approved draft of the Delhi Co-operative Societies(Amendment) Bill, 2007, which would be introduced in the ensuing session of the legislative assembly. This would also provide relief to members awaiting allotment of flats after initiating of the CBI inquiries.

The Chief Minister said that the government has decided to provide relief to thousands of members of the Co-operative Group Housing Societies awaiting their flat allotments on account of ongoing CBI inquiries.

The Bill to be introduced in the legislative assembly will enable the government to exercise the powers of exemption. It will also amend the provision of Section 127 of the DCS Act, 2003benefitiing 15,000 members with the condoning of technical violations.

However, 8000 members would be immediately benefited as April 6, 2005 was decided as the cut off date for condoning of technical violations. While granting exemption A list of such societies will be notified while granting exemption to ensure that the ongoing investigation of other similar societies are not affected.

The CM added that this would provide relief to those members of the Cooperative Group Housing Societies who had been awaiting allotment of flats.

The cabinet also gave its nod for setting up of Indian Institute of Public Health (IIPH) at Kanjhawala to augment the shortfall of public health professionals.

The government has decided to permit the Department of Health and Family Welfare to take 51.19 acres of Gram Sabha land at Kanjhawala village on lease for Rs.13.82 crore from rural development department. It has also been decided that department of health and family welfare would enter into an MoU with Public Health Foundation of India.

The objective is to build a large human resource base of public health professionals by establishing a network of world-class colleges or schools of public health.

The institute would conduct various academic courses on public health, impart training to in-service candidates, strengthen research and policy planning and also play an advisory role for the government of Delhi in the areas of public health. The institute will reserve 20 per cent of the seats for Delhi students and in-service candidates.

The Indian Institute of Public Health will be an autonomous society and the governing body of the institute will have representatives of Delhi government, Public Health Foundation of India and other stakeholders. 

New Delhi, September 24
She has always been skilfully balancing her talent as an actress as well as a social activist. Now, actress Shabana Azmi will lend her voice to attract the attention of the United Nation’s (UN) member states towards the undernourished people in India and other countries during a ‘hunger free’ campaign on Tuesday in New York.

“Food is the basic need of human beings. I want the UN officials to stop thinking about it in cold statistics and understand how they would have felt if it was their child, their spouse or their parent, who had to go hungry. This is not a new cause, neither an issue that you can look at in a vacuum,” Shabana, who will be representing India as a part of the campaign, told IANS.

The UN failed to fulfil the commitment it had made 11 years ago, at the World Food Summit- to halve ‘hunger’ by 2015, Shabana said.

At that time, there were over 800 million hungry people across the globe. Today, it has risen to over 854 million, which is 17 per cent of the world’s population.

“It came as a shock to me that globally, 25,000 people die from hunger everyday, meaning one person dies every three seconds. It is equally shocking that it is not a burning issue for world leaders. They have not even come near to meet their goal to halve world hunger by 2015. At the halfway point, hunger is getting worse, not better. This is totally unacceptable,” said Shabana.

The actress, who will also push the case of ‘Mushar’, one of India’s most disadvantaged groups in the caste hierarchy, the Dalits, will join campaigners from around the world, including Hollywood actor Tim Meadows and Nigerian actress Hilda Dokubo.

When asked, if she was aware of the Mushar community, she said, “I have been involved with the anti-poverty agency ‘ActionAid’, and have campaigned for years on human rights issues, so the issues are not new to me. I am aware of the discrimination, poverty and starvation that marginalised communities in India are facing.”

“Like many Indians, I am concerned at how our outstanding economic growth is by-passing millions of children, women and men of our country. We are seeing urban poor and farming communities displaced across India. Through this campaign, we hope to amplify their demands for justice,” added she.

Statistics point out that 221 million people live in hunger in India.

Commenting on the sorry state of affairs, Shabana said, “Indigenous (tribal) communities, who were previously self-reliant, are now stripped of their livelihood, and are displaced from their homes due to developmental activities.”

“Unfortunately, the government is failing in its duty to protect the lives, livelihoods and rights of some of India’s most vulnerable people in its quest for corporate profit. The question we need to ask is whose progress and at whose cost? It cannot be the progress of a few at the cost of many,” she noted.

Shabana said, “I have had glimpses of this reality, when I played the role of a domestic worker in Bihar, a traditional embroidery woman in Lucknow and a slum dweller in Mumbai.”

Saying that terrorism and poverty were co-related, Shabana said, “The roots of terrorism stem from the sense of deprivation and marginalisation, so the two are related. The hunger-free campaign is to make world leaders aware of the fact that they cannot ignore the fact that every three seconds a person dies of hunger.”

“We will raise our voice at the UN General Assembly in New York and share stories of people, who are at the frontline of this reality, to make hunger an international issue.”

‘Hunger Free’ is a five-year global campaign of ActionAid, in partnership with thousands of organisations and groups worldwide, to highlight the issue of hunger. The campaign will highlight the plight of the poor in Lanjigarh in Orissa, after the establishment of mining company Vedanta Resources.

The campaigners say that bauxite mining will endanger the indigenous tribes living in the area and make thousands of villages in the plains dependent on the mountains for water. — IANS

New Delhi, September 24
Pointing out that India can become a developed nation if the issues of education, health and security are dealt with, NRI business tycoon lord Swaraj Paul has emphasised on the need for reforms aimed at the poor.

Around 30 per cent of children in the country do not even receive primary education while there is a huge shortage of higher education.

“Over 30 per cent people live below the poverty line, surviving on less than one US dollar a day”,he said at the launch of a magazine, NRI Achiever - Doing India Proud, here last night.— PTI

Noida, September 24
The Mayawati government has decided to increase the compensation for farmers’ land which is acquired by the government for development works. Decision on farmers’ demand for higher compensation had been pending with the state government for past two years.

Chief Minister Mayawati has announced it in a review meeting with senior Noida and GNIDA bureaucrats in New Delhi, Lalit Srivastava, chairman of Noida and Greater Noida authorities disclosed yesterday in Sector-6 Noida in a press briefing. Noida CEO Balvinder Kumar was also present on the occasion.

The compensation for farmers’ land will be paid at a higher rate in Noida, Greater Noida and Greater Noida Phase-II (Dadri).

A land prices review committee for the purpose will be set up and on its recommendation new higher rates of compensation for land acquisition will be determined soon. These higher rates of compensation will be announced in next two months, Srivastava said.

The higher land compensation rate may not directly affect the Taj Expressway, but indirect effect cannot be ruled out.

The committee will comprise divisional level, district level and Noida and GNIDA officers. This decision to review and revise upwards the rate of land compensation will benefit the farmers and fulfill their longstanding demand.

The rates of compensation in Noida between year 1997-98 and 2007-08 have ranged from Rs 258.75 per yd for ancestral land and Rs 225 for non-ancestral land to Rs 440 and Rs 383 for non-ancestral land. While in Greater Noida, the current rate is Rs 339 and Rs 281 per sq yd, respectively.

New Delhi, September 24
In a special gesture, the Delhi High Court on Monday asked the city government to direct public schools built on subsidised government land to begin the process of admission of 15 per cent poor students and also advertise the facility widely in the media.

A division bench headed by the Chief Justice M.K. Sarma directed the authorities to submit a list of schools that had been built on land taken at concessional rates. The public schools should give wide publicity through the media to the 15 per cent freeship programme available for poor students in their schools as well as the total number of seats available, the court said.

The school authorities and the education department should also mention in the advertisement that those who had the Below Poverty Level cards or income below Rs 1,00,000 per annum would be eligible for the freeship, the court said asking the Delhi government to file a compliance report by November 19.

Advocate Ashok Agrawal appearing for Social Jurist, a group of lawyers, told the court that its order of May 29 had not been implemented by the state government. The High Court had then directed public schools built on subsidised government land to reserve at least 15 per cent seats for providing free education to students from the weaker sections of society.

The court said about 250 schools that had challenged the October 2006 notification of the Delhi government on the issue would abide by the order from the next academic session.

Some public schools had approached the court on January 31 challenging the Delhi government notification asking them to reserve 20 per cent seats as recommended by a court-appointed committee. It was scaled down to 15 per cent by the court.

“The Director of Education (DoE) will initiate action against the defaulting schools permissible under the Delhi Education Act,” said the bench. Disobedience of the order would also invite contempt of court proceedings against the governing body of the school, said the order.

The court had said, “Let it be introduced on experimental basis from next year at the entry level.” The students residing within a 3-km range of the school would be given preference and the DoE is the final authority in deciding the admission, the order said.

“The private unaided schools should provide free education to at least 15 per cent poor students. From next year, the schools would have to reserve 15 per cent, apart from the admission given to the wards of school employees,” said the bench.

A court-appointed committee had recommended at least 20 per cent reservation of seats for poor students in all 361 public schools built on subsidised public land after the Delhi government notified its order.

New Delhi, September 24
The Delhi High Court today asked a subordinate court to monitor the criminal complaints filed by some Delhi University girl students alleging molestation by people who had come to take an entrance exam with the Delhi Police.

Disposing of a public suit, a bench headed by justice T.S. Thakur said, “The trial court will monitor the cases filed in relation to the molestation of students by the Delhi Police job aspirants.”

Delhi Police counsel Mukta Gupta said that the complainants were not coming forward to testify. The court directed the police to investigate the case on the basis of the complaints lodged by the students.

Anjana Jain, a DU student, in a public suit alleged that the police did not take action against the culprits despite filing a complaint. Counsel Sugriv Dubey, who appeared for the student ,told the court that the police was reluctant to take action against the candidates, who were appearing for the exam.

The university students are angry with the police following sexual harassment by candidates of the police entrance examination. They alleged that the police had been extremely unhelpful in dealing with their grievances. A student (name withheld) was travelling with her mother in a rickshaw in Civil Lines near the campus, when some of the candidates pulled her down and tore her clothes. Reportedly, the victim’s mother lodged a complaint with the police, but got no help.

In another incident, 15 to 20 men surrounded a student from IP College and molested her. The students claimed that there were more incidents of sexual assault on university students.

The students said that many incidents were not reported, as the victims did not file any complaints due to psychological trauma. The university girls insisted that the police had refused to file complaints.

The students demanded that the police entrance examination be declared null and void and that the culprits be given severe punishment. They also demanded that no police examination should be conducted near Delhi University colleges in future.—IANS

New Delhi, September 24
A conference on information technology for the benefit of school principals was recently held at DPS R.K. Puram. The topic discussed was ‘Schools in 2020: Redefining Education through Information Technology’. Participants from 65 schools across the country attended the event.

Chairman of the DPS Society Ashok Chandra, Salman Khurshid, former president of the DPS Society Abhinav Dhar, director of South Campus, Delhi University Prof Dinesh Singh, senior editor of The Times of India Vinita Nangia and senior editor of Hindustan Times Nandita Sengupta were present.

The idea behind the conference was to bring together school principals, educators and technology experts and provide them a platform for discussing issues related to the integration of information technology in schools. It aimed at enriching school education by using innovative teaching methods.

Welcoming the conference, principal of DPS R.K. Puram Shyama Chona said, “Technology has the power to transform the traditional lecture-based classroom to a dynamic learning environment, where the student is actively involved in the learning process.”

Kartik, a visually impaired student of DPS R.K. Puram shared his experience on how technology had helped him work independently. He said that smart classes added flavour to the lessons that were being taught but technology could never replace teachers or schools.

Prof Dinesh Singh expressed his views on the evolution of technology and its diverse usage. He highlighted the need to “make the maximum use of technological advancements. 

New Delhi, September 24
Former Prime Minister I K Gujral donated Widex digital hearing aids to three real-life heroes, who also form the inspiration of the film, “Iqbal”. They have shown considerable improvement in speech understanding and

interpretation ever since they started using these hearing aids.

Fahimuddin, the inspiration behind the film “Iqbal” and two more real-life “Iqbals”, Rohit Saini and Hemant Kumar welcomed a pair of Widex digital hearing aids from the former Prime Minister at a function organized by Widex India at Maulana Azad Medical College here. Fahimuddin says, “I have never let my hearing impairment hamper my growth, but now with these hearing aids, I have got back the life that I lost years ago.” His parents nod in agreement. It has been a sudden and much-appreciated transformation for Fahimuddin to the world of sounds.

Padamshree Syed Kirmani, who developed a hearing loss, speaks highly of Widex. 

New Delhi, September 24
Challenging the state government’s proposed construction of low-cost houses in a south-west area here, villagers today moved the Delhi High court demanding cancellation of lease allotment to the Delhi State Industrial and Infrastructure Development Corporation (DSIIDC) Ltd.

On the petition filed by the Gaon Sabha, Samaspur Khalsa village of Najafgarh, justice Gita Mittal issued notices to the Lieutenant Governor and the DSIIDC and asked them to file their replies by March 14, 2008.

The petitioners’ counsel, Namita Roy submitted before the court that the Gaon Sabha land was reserved as a common pasture since 1908 and was allotted to the members of the Gaon Sabha in 1974 as a common grazing ground for their animals.

She alleged that the government had transferred the land to the DSIIDC for construction of low-cost houses, without consulting the Gaon Sabha. This resulted in destruction of the Gaon Sabha land.

Seeking quashing of a letter issued by the Delhi government in May this year, the counsel demanded cancellation of lease given to the corporation for a period of 25 years.

New Delhi, September 24
A newspaper collage contest was organised for thestudents of school of management of Ansal Institute of Technology (AIT), Gurgaon on its campus. The theme for the competition was “Retail Revolution” for the students of postgraduate diploma in retail management and “Enhancement of Literacy Rate” for the MBA students. More than 100 students participated in the competition.

Twenty eight collages were displayed by the students. The event was part of the management activities and was organized by Dr Sunita Tanwar.

The theme was chosen to inculcate a sense of responsibility towards the society in students and also to assess the future opportunities in the emerging areas.

Anurag and his group from PGDRM and Priyanka’s group from MBA were declared winners. 

New Delhi, September 24
With the arrest of Rajeev Singh, Arpana Singh and Akhil Saxena, the police claimed to have solved a large number of bank frauds across the Capital.

Five persons had procured loans of Rs 3 lakh each from the State Bank of India. After depositing few installments, the suspects defaulted payment. It was detected that none of them were working in the office they had mentioned in the bank papers. It was found that the suspects had availed the loans using false identities

Raids were conducted and Akhil Saxena was nabbed. On his instance, the rest were apprehended.