SPECIAL COVERAGE
CHANDIGARH

LUDHIANA

DELHI



THE TRIBUNE SPECIALS
50 YEARS OF INDEPENDENCE

TERCENTENARY CELEBRATIONS
D E L H I   A N D   N E I G H B O U R H O O D

Police yet to net porn CD maker
Ghaziabad, October 3
A peon in an inter-college in a small town of Behsuma is reported to have prepared a blue CD of a girl student with the help of his companion.

Doctor’s rape
NHRC asks police for report

New Delhi, October 3
The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) has asked the Delhi Police Commissioner and Chief Secretary, Delhi government, to send within four weeks afactual report on the alleged rape of a doctor of a West Delhi hospital.

More boys in Ghaziabad
Ghaziabad, October 3
The state government’s effort to achieve a balance in sex ratio does not appear to have made any impact in Ghaziabad district. From 860 girls per 1,000 boys in 2001, the number of girls for 1,000 boys has come to 815 in 2007.

No early hearing for Ansals
New Delhi, October 3
The Supreme Court on Wednesday refused to accord an early hearing to a plea of the Ansal brothers, seeking a direction to a lower court to accept their written arguments related to their trial in the June 1997 Uphaar theatre fire tragedy case.


 

EARLIER STORIES




VENDORS AGITATE FOR RIGHTS

Hawkers burn an effigy of NDMC chairperson in front of the civic body building in the Capital on Wednesday
Hawkers burn an effigy of NDMC chairperson in front of the civic body building in the Capital on Wednesday.— Tribune photo

Delhi to host hospitality fair
New Delhi, October 3
Come October 8 and the International Hospitality Fair (IHF) 2007 will kick off in the Capital.Organised by the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), the fair will be a four-day affair, concluding October 11.

Reach of cinema
Bollywood shines in small towns
Priyanka Khanna
New Delhi, October 3 There is a new lingo in town. Replacing the American twang and the gangster slang in an increasing number of fables hitting multiplexes are dialects from small towns in India. If you have to strain yourself to follow what Shreyas Talpade says in a Delhi University-based film- ‘Dil, Dosti, etc’ or were in splits after watching the antics of Rajpal Yadav in ‘Dhol’, who hails from Uttar Pradesh then, thank the economic growth sweeping across tier 2 cities.

5 held for carrying drugs
New Delhi, October 3

Five alleged drug peddlers including, a woman were arrested on Monday in the Capital for possessing contraband valued at Rs 1.5 million in the international market, the police said. Khairun Nisha, 40, was arrested near Gurudwara Nanak Sahib bus-stand in Wazirabad in North West Delhi today morning, after she had come to deliver a drug consignment in the city.

India among top human trafficking destinations: UN
New Delhi, October 3
India is emerging as a leading destination for human trafficking in South Asia, with over 35,000 young girls and women from Bangladesh and Nepal being brought into the country every year, the United Nations said here on Wednesday.

Games to benefit construction workers
New Delhi, October 3
The upcoming Commonwealth Games provides an opportunity to not just sportspersons, the government, big business and builders but also to workers and their children. The Commonwealth Games initiative on workers, women and children (CWG-CWC) has got support from Lt-Governor Tejinder Khanna to spearhead the concerns of workers and children.

Govt counters sell onions
New Delhi, October 3
The Delhi government has installed 11special counters in the Capital to make onion available at a control rate of Rs 22 per kilogram. Delhi Food and Civil Supply Minister Haroon Yusus said that 11 such counters have been set up in in Ballimaran, Ghonda, Okhla, Qasabpura, Daryaganj, Seelampur, Jama Masjid, Khureji, Mustafabad, Shahadra, and the Delhi Secretariat

People buy onion from a government stall in front of Delhi Secretariat in the Capital on Wednesday.—Tribune photo by Mukesh Aggarwal

Oppn unhappy
Curb mandi mafia:BJP
New Delhi, October 3

BJP Delhi Pradesh president Harsh Vardhan alleged that the Delhi government was hand in glove with speculators and the mandi mafia, resulting in a constant price hike of vegetables including onions.

People buy onion from a government stall in front of Delhi Secretariat in the Capital on Wednesday.

Two criminals arrested
New Delhi, October 3
The Crime Branch of Delhi Police has apprehended two notorious interstate criminals involved in three cases of riot, attempt to murder, hurt and arms Act. Three countrymade pistols, five countrymade kattas and one rifle were recovered from the duo, Veerbhan Singh and Mahesh.

Weeklong ban on Red FM
New Delhi, October 3

Terming the remarks of Red FM radio jockey against the Gurkha community as derogatory, the government has banned the radio channel for seven days.

Enable Husain to return home: artists
New Delhi, October 3
The Safdar Hashmi Memorial Trust (Sahmat ) organised an evening on Tuesday to celebrate artist MF Husain’s birthday. Husain turned 92 on September 17, this year. The event was aptly arranged at Rafi Marg, in front of Husain’s mural of Jawaharlal Nehru on the CSIR building.

Jamia to honour Husain, Hyder & Benegal
New Delhi, October 3
Jamia Millia University has decided to confer Honoris Causa degrees on eminent writer Late Qurratulain Hyder, painter Maqbool Fida Husain and Shyam Benegal at its annual convocation slated for October 30 here.

 

Amjad Ali Khan with Vice-President Hamid Ansari during the Iftar party of Sheila Dikshit in the Capital on Wednesday.—A Tribune photograph

Amjad Ali Khan with Vice-President Hamid Ansari during the Iftar party of Sheila Dikshit in the Capital on Wednesday.

Blueline injures six 
New Delhi, October 3
Six pilgrims, on their way to Kotdwar in Uttarakhand were injured, after their vehicle collided head on with a Blueline bus in Patparganj area in East Delhi. The collision took place at around 11.30 pm on Monday night, at a crossing near Panchmahal Apartments in Patparganj.

Wildlife sanctuary network set up
New Delhi, October 3
India has set up a network of 606 wildlife sanctuaries and national parks for efficient management of wildlife, minister of state for environment and forests S. Regupathy said on Wednesday.
Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit admires a khadi saree after inaugurating a sales campaign at the Khadi Gramodyog, Regal Building, in the Capital on Wednesday.
Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit admires a khadi saree after inaugurating a sales campaign at the Khadi Gramodyog, Regal Building, in the Capital on Wednesday.— Tribune photo by Manas Ranjan Bhui

Court rejects plea on anthem 
New Delhi, October 3
The Delhi High Court on Wednesday dismissed a public suit that sought a direction to the government that singing of the national anthem in all public offices in the morning be made compulsory to imbibe patriotism among government employees.

LG stresses importance of duty
New Delhi, October 3
Education does not merely mean knowledge of letters but, it means knowledge of duty. Lieutenant Governor Tejendra Khanna said this at the annual day function of Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) Public School, Rohini. DG, CRPF, S.I.S. Ahmed was also present.

 

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Police yet to net porn CD maker
Parmindar Singh

Ghaziabad, October 3
A peon in an inter-college in a small town of Behsuma is reported to have prepared a blue CD of a girl student with the help of his companion.

The peon in inter-college in Behsuma, Meerut, even raped the student along with his friend last week and then reportedly made a blue film on his mobile phone. The peon is reported to have done this after school hours. A girl companion of his friend was also reportedly present with them. A blue film of the friend’s companion was also prepared, it is learnt.

The ball of some boys who were playing outside in the ground fell near that room at that time. While collecting the ball, the boys saw through the window as to what was going on in the room and reportedly raised the alarm. As a result, the college management has suspended the peon. The peon friend’s had wanted a lonely place and the peon then opened a room in the inter-college after college hours. Friend’s companion reached the college along with the student of the same college. Peon is reported to have made a film of the girl during this meeting.

Soon all the four—two men and two girls— slipped away from the spot. The principal said he was enquiring into the matter. For the time being, the peon has been suspended.

SO police station said they could take action only if someone lodged a complaint.

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Doctor’s rape
NHRC asks police for report
Tribune News Service

New Delhi, October 3
The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) has asked the Delhi Police Commissioner and Chief Secretary, Delhi government, to send within four weeks afactual report on the alleged rape of a doctor of a West Delhi hospital.

Taking cognizance of a news report in a national daily about the alleged rape of a 24-year-old doctor of the Employees State Insurance Corporation (ESIC) hospital, Moti Nagar, the Commission has said that the incident is a serious issue of human rights violation of lady doctors on hospital premises.

According to the news report, the victim’s medical examination confirmed injury and strangulation marks on her body, suggesting it was a case of rape and attempted murder.

The report further said that the victim was in coma and not in a position to give a statement.

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More boys in Ghaziabad
Our Correspondent

Ghaziabad, October 3
The state government’s effort to achieve a balance in sex ratio does not appear to have made any impact in Ghaziabad district.

From 860 girls per 1,000 boys in 2001, the number of girls for 1,000 boys has come to 815 in 2007. This position has been highlighted in Ghaziabad in a recent household survey conducted by the education department. Even slogans like ‘boy and girl are equal’ do not seem to hold good in Ghaziabad nor periodic raids on clinics.

This is the position in all strata or castes of society, more or less. Be it SC, ST and BC or upper castes or minority, the number of girls for 1,000 boys is between 800 and 830 in the district.

According to the chief medical officer, Dr Subodh Kumar Jindal, the department organizes special camps in remote and far-off places to educate people on correct sex ratio. Awareness programmes are conducted even for schoolchildren despite the fact that the department does not have any special budget for the purpose. The registers of ultrasound clinics are checked periodically. About a dozen of such clinics were penalized also.

Even the educated people are not free from this curse. In Nagar Nigam area, the ratio of girls is reported to be 833 for a thousand boys.

The number of girls in the age group of 7 to 9 is 792 per 1,000 boys. The number of girls in age bracket of 11-14 was 869 about a decade ago.

The most glaring example of this malaise was found in Murad Nagar. The number of girls here is 751 per 1,000 boys while the backward area like Loni claims 853 girls for 1,000 boys. Here girls up to six years are reported to be 882 for 1,000 boys which is higher by 22 girls than during 2001 census operations.

In July 2007, the education department had conducted a survey for school-going kids by collecting house-to-house data for children between 6 and 14 years of age. The data of girls and boys from different castes, religions, etc was collected and classified into 11 parts of Ghaziabad which depicts that the sex ratio is going down for girls and special efforts will have to be made to restore the sex balance in population.

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No early hearing for Ansals

New Delhi, October 3
The Supreme Court on Wednesday refused to accord an early hearing to a plea of the Ansal brothers, seeking a direction to a lower court to accept their written arguments related to their trial in the June 1997 Uphaar theatre fire tragedy case.

The bench headed by Justice H.K. Sema said the plea would be taken up for hearing on the day already slated for the purpose by the court’s registry—October 12.

Appearing for the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), which probed the case, senior counsel Harish salve contended that it was a fresh ploy by the Ansal brothers to delay the trial.

He said Additional Sessions Judge Mamta Sehgal had already finished hearing arguments by various parties, including the state prosecutor CBI and the Ansal brothers, and was to deliver her verdict soon.

Sushil Ansal and Gopal Ansal face charges of murderous lapses, leading to a fire in Uphaar theatre in south Delhi on June 13, 1997, which claimed 59 lives and injured over 100 people.

On August 22, when the additional session judge was to announce her verdict, the two brothers wanted to file their written submissions.

Judge Sehgal had, however, refused their plea, saying that she had already reserved her order. Though she had earlier fixed August 22 for pronouncing the verdict, she was not able to do so that day and decided to fix the date on October 5 for delivering her judgement.

The Ansal brothers later approached the Delhi High Court against the additional sessions judge’s decision but it too had dismissed their plea.—IANS

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Delhi to host hospitality fair

New Delhi, October 3
Come October 8 and the International Hospitality Fair (IHF) 2007 will kick off in the Capital.Organised by the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), the fair will be a four-day affair, concluding October 11.

The fair is expected to provide a business platform to meet sourcing needs for the latest in food and beverage, bakery, food service, hospitality equipment, products, services and technology.

Among the events to be held at the fair will be a culinary challenge, which will have representatives from various hotel chains, pastry challenge, and wine tasting challenge, in which the exhibitors will be allowed to offer their wines for tasting at their booths.—IANS

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Reach of cinema
Bollywood shines in small towns

Priyanka Khanna
New Delhi, October 3
There is a new lingo in town. Replacing the American twang and the gangster slang in an increasing number of fables hitting multiplexes are dialects from small towns in India.

If you have to strain yourself to follow what Shreyas Talpade says in a Delhi University-based film- ‘Dil, Dosti, etc’ or were in splits after watching the antics of Rajpal Yadav in ‘Dhol’, who hails from Uttar Pradesh then, thank the economic growth sweeping across tier 2 cities. Bollywood is keen to cash on them.

Campuses that look straight out of Archie Comics and characters, who sport nothing less than the DKNY labels are rapidly becoming a thing of past, even in films targeting multiplexes and overseas markets. The new face of mass entertainment is much more informed with earthy sensibilities.

The change occurred with the pan-India success of ‘Bunty aur Babli’. The film narrates the story of two small-town denizens with dreams. It became a norm after the success of ‘Rang De Basanti’ that is based in a metropolis but retains the charm of Old Delhi.

Films like- ‘Hazaaron Khwaishein Aisi’, ‘Omkara’ and ‘Eklavya’ established that to reach markets beyond metros, Hindi cinema will have to reflect the aspirations of small towns.

India’s multiplex bandwagon has gone beyond the metros to redefine entertainment in B and C class towns, states a report in a business weekly.

“The first phase (of the multiplex story) saw the emergence of multiplexes in metros and now, this growth has spread to tier 2 and 3 cities like Lucknow, Indore, Nasik, Aurangabad, Kanpur, Amritsar and so on,” said Ajay Bijli, managing director, PVR Cinemas.

Other top multiplex players like- Adlabs Films (in which, Anil Ambani holds 51 per cent share), Inox Leisures, Shringar Cinemas (Fame multiplexes), Fun Multiplex (of the Essel group) and Cinemax India too have ventured to small towns.

Projects are under way in towns like- Kochi, Bhatinda, Coimbatore, Kota, Madurai and Ambala. The rising prominence of small towns can be understood from the fact that film stars are touching down at these places to promote their films. Presently, as much as 65 per cent of the total box-office collections in the country come from non-metros and it is likely to change to 30:70 ratio for metro-non-metro in three-to-five years

To serve the changing tastes, Bollywood is dishing out films that are about the ebbs and tides of politics, the hopes of small towns’ folks and the dynamics of mofussil societies.

Mumbai had long ceased to be the city for Bollywood dream merchants to base their fables. The national Capital has recently become the hot favourite. But, the way things are going, that too will shift.

Directors like Prakash Jha, Sudhir Mishra, Vishal Bhardwaj, Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra, Shaad Ali, Anurag Kashyap and Tigmanshu Dhulia are contributing in a significant way to this shift. They are aided by people like- Prasoon Joshi (dialogues for ‘Rang De Basanti’), Lucknow’s Kamlesh Pandey (script of ‘Rang De Basanti’) and Indore’s Swanand Kirkire (dialogues for ‘Chameli’ and lyrics for ‘Parineeta’).

“Bombay boys have lost touch with reality,” says Sudhir Mishra, who grew up in Lucknow and spent his formative years on the campus of Sagar University. “The reference points that Mumbai-born filmmakers are severely limited,” says Prakash Jha.

Clearly, it is the ‘outsiders’, who are on a stronger wicket and the day is not far, when city-bred superstars like- Hrithik Roshan, Shah Rukh Khan, Aamir Khan and Salman Khan will be upstaged by Bollywood equivalents of Mahendra Singh Dhoni and Prashant Tawang.—IANS

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5 held for carrying drugs

New Delhi, October 3
Five alleged drug peddlers including, a woman were arrested on Monday in the Capital for possessing contraband valued at Rs 1.5 million in the international market, the police said.

Khairun Nisha, 40, was arrested near Gurudwara Nanak Sahib bus-stand in Wazirabad in North West Delhi today morning, after she had come to deliver a drug consignment in the city. Police seized 200 gms of heroin from her.

An information was received that Nisha, a resident of Ghaziabad, would come to the Capital to supply drugs to some unknown persons in Wazirabad.

“She was earlier arrested on the same charge with 750 gms of heroin. Nisha is illiterate and in order to feed her seven children, she entered into drug peddling,” said deputy commissioner of police (narcotics and crime prevention cell) A.S. Cheema.

In another such case, Mohammed Kadir, 36, was arrested near the Karkardooma Court complex in East Delhi on Sunday with 1.5 kgs of heroin worth Rs 3,00,000 in the international market. Cheema said that Kadir hailed from Uttar Pradesh and poverty forced him to sell drugs.

Sleuths of the narcotics cell arrested Raisuddin Khan, 28, from Khanpur in South Delhi on Saturday with 225 gms of heroin.

In a separate case, the police nabbed Mohammed Kashid Khan, 25, and his accomplice Sayyed Vahid, 20, on Saturday from West Delhi’s Tilak Nagar with 10 kgs of high-quality opium worth Rs 1 million in the international market.

“They belong to Farukhabad in Uttar Pradesh and had come to the city to sell drugs,” deputy commissioner of police (crime) Madhup Tiwari said.—IANS

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India among top human trafficking destinations: UN

New Delhi, October 3
India is emerging as a leading destination for human trafficking in South Asia, with over 35,000 young girls and women from Bangladesh and Nepal being brought into the country every year, the United Nations said here on Wednesday.

“Human trafficking is world’s third largest profit-making illicit industry and in south Asia India is among the favoured destinations. Here people are mostly trafficked from Bangladesh and Nepal,” said Gary Lewis, chief of UN office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) here.

“In India 20,000-25,000 women and children are trafficked from Bangladesh annually, while 5,000-15,000 are brought illegally from Nepal for the primary purpose of prostitution and slavery,” Lewis said ahead of the global conference UN.GIFT, to be held in the Capital October 10-11.

The conference is likely to be attended by several union ministers and Bollywood personalities including John Abraham, Amisha Patel, Kiron Kher and Onir.

Superstar Amitabh Bachchan will send a special message for the fight against human trafficking.

“The more devastating fact is that now Nepali girls below 10 years are being forced into the trade. In the 1980s (trafficked) girls were mostly in the age group of 14-16 and in 1994 the age further reduced to 10-14.

“But last year girls below 10 were found trapped into the human trafficking business. This not only puts their lives in peril but also exposes them to higher risk of HIV/AIDS,” Lewis told IANS.

The UN official said that 2-3 million people are trafficked annually in and out of India and, most disturbingly, a large number of people from states like West Bengal and Orissa and the northeastern region are trafficked to metropolitan cities like Delhi and Mumbai for various reasons.

According to the UN definition, trafficking in persons means the recruitment, transport, transfer, harbouring or receipt of persons by means of the threat or use of force or other forms of coercion abduction, of fraud, for the purpose of exploitation.

P.M. Nair, project coordinator with UNODC, said: “People from these states are trafficked to work in dance bars, pubs, restaurants, friendship clubs, massage parlours and for domestic chores.”

To combat this ever-escalating problem the state governments must set up anti-human trafficking cells and coordinate among themselves, he suggested.—IANS

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Games to benefit construction workers
Tribune News Service

New Delhi, October 3
The upcoming Commonwealth Games provides an opportunity to not just sportspersons, the government, big business and builders but also to workers and their children.

The Commonwealth Games initiative on workers, women and children (CWG-CWC) has got support from Lt-Governor Tejinder Khanna to spearhead the concerns of workers and children.

Devika Khanna, speaking on behalf of the CWG-CWC, said that the Lt-Governor showed his support by initiating a meeting between representatives of the group and labour commissioner Chandra Bhushan Kumar and joint labour commissioner J.C. Negi.

“At this meeting we stressed the need for a campaign to create awareness of the rights of construction workers and their families and inform them specifically about the benefits of registration. Besides, they should be made aware of such entitlements as maternity benefits, compensations for accidents and illness and scholarships for their children,” added Devika Khanna.

Speaking on behalf of the workers and their families, Ishwar Sharma from the Nirman Mazdoor Panchayat Sangram said, “Compared to the states such as Madhya Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Pondicherry and Kerela, Delhi is lagging behind in providing social security to construction workers. There are many workers whose income is a paltry Rs 1,500 per month and in the absence of any support from the board, their living conditions are extremely precarious.”

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Govt counters sell onions
Tribune News Service

New Delhi, October 3
The Delhi government has installed 11special counters in the Capital to make onion available at a control rate of Rs 22 per kilogram.

Delhi Food and Civil Supply Minister Haroon Yusus said that 11 such counters have been set up in in Ballimaran, Ghonda, Okhla, Qasabpura, Daryaganj, Seelampur, Jama Masjid, Khureji, Mustafabad, Shahadra, and the Delhi Secretariat.

“The decision has been taken today following the sky rocketing of vegetable prices in the capital, The government has also given instructions to all 300 mother dairy booths to sell onions at the same rate,” he added.

The minister said that this kind of situation was faced every year due to uneven rains in certain parts of the country and export of vegetables. The Delhi government has appealed to the central government to impose a temporary ban on export of onions so that its price can be normalised.

He said that 60 per cent of the total produce of onion is exported to various countries and 40 per cent is consumed in the country. Direction has also been given to Maharashtra government to impose a ban on export of onion, since the state is a major exporter of onions.

He said that total consumption of onion in and around the Capital was 7000 to 10, 000 tonnes per day. The total consignment of onions that arrived today in markets here was 11000 tonnes.

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Oppn unhappy
Curb mandi mafia:BJP 
Tribune News Service

New Delhi, October 3
BJP Delhi Pradesh president Harsh Vardhan alleged that the Delhi government was hand in glove with speculators and the mandi mafia, resulting in a constant price hike of vegetables including onions.

He claimed that these mafias were related to high-profile political leaders and no effort was being done by the Sheila Dikshit government to control them.

He said that the CM had announced that the government would make arrangements for the sale of onions at a moderate rate. He alleged that the government had no intention to control the onion mafia. Vardhan said that it was festival time and people needed vegetables.

He claimed that there was no scarcity of onions, potatoes, tomatoes and other vegetables in the country. He alleged that the mandi mafias had created an artificial scarcity of onions in the Capital due to their connivance with the government.

The public is suffering due to this and is compelled to purchase onions at prices ranging from Rs 24 to Rs 32 per kg in place of Rs 10 per kg.

Vardhan said that there was a severe scarcity of onions sometime back. Those days the government had exported onions to Pakistan. Panicked by the soaring prices, the Delhi government had staged a drama of selling onions at Rs 10 per kg in four mandis. The government is staging the same drama again. 

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Two criminals arrested
Tribune News Service

New Delhi, October 3
The Crime Branch of Delhi Police has apprehended two notorious interstate criminals involved in three cases of riot, attempt to murder, hurt and arms Act. Three countrymade pistols, five countrymade kattas and one rifle were recovered from the duo, Veerbhan Singh and Mahesh.

On September 29, the anti-robbery cell received information that Veerbhan Singh would arrive near Sarai Kale Khan for delivery of arms and ammunitions. A team was constituted and sent to develop the information. Trap was laid near Inderprastha Park and the alleged criminals were identified.

The accused started firing at the police when they saw that they had been surrounded. However, after a minor scuffle, both the criminals were overpowered.

According to the police, the alleged accused used to get arms from one person in MP and sold them in the Capital on demand.

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Weeklong ban on Red FM

New Delhi, October 3
Terming the remarks of Red FM radio jockey against the Gurkha community as derogatory, the government has banned the radio channel for seven days.

The remarks hurt the sentiments of the Gurkha (Nepali) community and the steps taken by them did not help, as violence continued even after that. Therefore, we decided to impose a ban of seven days on the channel, a senior official of the information and broadcasting ministry said. He added that the order would be subject to the outcome of telecom disputes settlement and appellate tribunal’s hearing.

The ban would be subject to the outcome of the channel’s appeal against the showcause notice by the ministry in the TDSAT, which would take up the matter today.

The alleged derogatory remarks made by a radio jockey of the channel on the winner of Indian Idol, Prashant Tamang, had triggered violence in Siliguri last week.

Allowing the government to go ahead with its proceedings, the broadcast tribunal on Monday held that the order of the government would not be implemented till the next date of hearing.

Following the showcause notice, the channel in its reply explained that it had apologised to the Gurkha community. But we found the remarks derogatory and the remedial steps were not adequate, the official said.

He said that the channel did not suggest in its reply the remedial measures it intended to take to quell the situation. —PTI

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Enable Husain to return home: artists
Tribune News Service

New Delhi, October 3
The Safdar Hashmi Memorial Trust (Sahmat ) organised an evening on Tuesday to celebrate artist MF Husain’s birthday. Husain turned 92 on September 17, this year. The event was aptly arranged at Rafi Marg, in front of Husain’s mural of Jawaharlal Nehru on the CSIR building.

Husain lives in self exile in London after coming under attack from the Hindu moral brigade. In a press statement issued on the occasion, photographer Ram Rehman said, “There is a bitter irony in the fact that Husain’s first exhibition in Bombay was in 1947, and we have effectively exiled him as we celebrate the 60th year of our democracy.”

“His exile has been taken very lightly. For an artist, the best place to be creative is in his own homeland and a gem like Husain, who is grounded to the soil should be enabled to return home,” said Shabana Azmi.

The Hindutva forces targeting him and his works have nothing to do with his iconography or the so-called protection of Hinduism. Ram Rehman also gave the event a broader perspective by mentioning, “He may be enmeshed in the cynical games of politicians. We the artists know that his work and his name will live long after those petty politicians have vanished into the dust of history.”

Sahmat has also urged all the galleries and museums in India and abroad to celebrate a month in honour of Husain.

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Blueline injures six 

New Delhi, October 3
Six pilgrims, on their way to Kotdwar in Uttarakhand were injured, after their vehicle collided head on with a Blueline bus in Patparganj area in East Delhi. The collision took place at around 11.30 pm on Monday night, at a crossing near Panchmahal Apartments in Patparganj.

The driver of the bus, Rakesh Kumar, has been arrested. Five of the six injured were released after first aid, the police said.

While one of them was admitted to Lal Bahadur Shastri Hospital, after he complained of giddiness.

According to the medical reports four of the six pilgrims were drunk.—UNI

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Wildlife sanctuary network set up

New Delhi, October 3
India has set up a network of 606 wildlife sanctuaries and national parks for efficient management of wildlife, minister of state for environment and forests S. Regupathy said on Wednesday.

Addressing a function to celebrate Wildlife Week, Regupathy said: “For better management and protection of wildlife, a large network of 606 protected areas comprising 96 national parks and 510 wildlife sanctuaries has been created.”

“This covers an area of 15.59 million hectare,” he said.

The minister said that Project Tiger has been restructured and transformed into National Tiger Conservation Authority with wider mandate and powers.

He said his ministry was emphasising on expeditious settlement of rights of forest dwellers, improved habitat management—IANS

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Jamia to honour Husain, Hyder & Benegal 

New Delhi, October 3
Jamia Millia University has decided to confer Honoris Causa degrees on eminent writer Late Qurratulain Hyder, painter Maqbool Fida Husain and Shyam Benegal at its annual convocation slated for October 30 here.

Sarod maestro Amjad Ali Khan will also be honoured at the function.

‘’Like the rest of the world, the university holds all four of them in high esteem as makers of modern india, and in the case of MF Husain we wish to express our solidarity with the beleaguered artist,’’ a university spokesperson said.

The day marks the beginning of a weeklong educational festival called Talimi Mela.

Vice-president Hamid Ansari will be the chief guest while human resource development minister Arjun Singh will be the guest of honour—UNI 

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Court rejects plea on anthem 

New Delhi, October 3
The Delhi High Court on Wednesday dismissed a public suit that sought a direction to the government that singing of the national anthem in all public offices in the morning be made compulsory to imbibe patriotism among government employees.

A bench headed by Justice T.S. Thakur rejected the plea of D.K. Singh, an advocate, and said the court did not have the authority to give such a direction to the government.

The petition said that in order to imbibe communal harmony, the government should make it compulsory for its employees to sing the national anthem at the beginning of the office hours every day.—IANS

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LG stresses importance of duty
Tribune News Service

New Delhi, October 3
Education does not merely mean knowledge of letters but, it means knowledge of duty. Lieutenant Governor Tejendra Khanna said this at the annual day function of Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) Public School, Rohini. DG, CRPF, S.I.S. Ahmed was also present.

He awarded the meritorious students. Besides, he inaugurated an exhibition put up by students on hundred years of Gandhian Satyagraha 

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Virat stars in Delhi win

Srinagar, October 3
Delhi defeated Jammu and Kashmir by six wickets in the North Zone Vinoo Mankad under-19 cricket tournament, played at the Shar-e-Kashmir cricket stadium here today.

Delhi won the toss and invited the host team to bat first. J&K scored 198 all out in 47.3 overs. Man of the match Virat Kohli took four wickets for Delhi.

In reply the Delhi team chased the target in 32.1 overs for the loss of four wickets. Virat Kohli scored 101 runs in 67 balls — UNI

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