New Delhi, November 14
The Delhi High Court today refused to accept the city government’s guidelines in their present form for the private schools with regard to the nursery admission criteria and asked it to finetune them.

“We find it (guidelines) is vague to some extent and it needs to be finetuned, a division bench of Chief Justice M K Sharma and Justice Sanjeev Khanna observed and asked the government to make the guidelines more clear in wordings by Monday.

The bench said clause 6 of the guidelines spoke about no interview of the children but is silent about the interview of parents by the school management.

Asking the government counsel Sultan Singh to incorporate that the parents will not be interviewed, the court said, from your guidelines it appears that parents will be the candidates and the schools will interview them. Why didn’t you say that no interview of the parents but only the interaction.

The government had told the court last week that it had issued guidelines and asked private schools to start the nursery admission process from November 30 after devising their own admission criteria—an indication of the government’s rejection of the Ganguly Committee’s point-based admission system used last year.

Raising serious objections over the government’s attitude giving autonomy to the schools while framing the criteria for admission, the bench asked, do you mean complete freedom to schools?

To this query, the government counsel submitted that the criteria will be framed by the schools but it would be approved by the Directorate of Education, and a monitoring committee would be set up to look into the grievances with regard to admission process in schools.

We are asking you not to change the whole guidelines but to make it more clear in certain clauses, the bench told the government counsel. — PTI

New Delhi, November 14
Delhi Pavilion at India International Trade Fair will display all the changes the Capital has witnessed over the last few years, Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit said.

The pavilion has been projected as a happening place with major infrastructural projects like Metro, flyovers, and elevated ring roads, HCBS corridor,

low-floor modern buses, power, Jal Board particularly Sonia Vihar Water treatment plant etc. A low-floor bus is displayed at the entrance of the pavilion in the trade fair which was started from today.

Inaugurating the pavilion this evening, the Chief Minister said that Delhi had observed various infrastructure constraints over the last few years necessitating special emphasis on promotion of industries which could achieve optimum level of production without large demands on factory space, power, and also provide employment to skilled personnel.

The Chief Minister, who came 45 minutes after the given time to inaugurate the pavilion, said that the government’s thrust was on the establishment

of hi-tech, environment-friendly, IT and IT-related services in Delhi. Apart from this, traditional industries like handicrafts, handloom, leather goods and household industries are also being promoted. The growth of industries in Delhi will be in line with this approach.

Delhi industry minister Mangat Ram Singhal, who kept waiting for the Chief Minister for almost 30 minutes, said that Delhi was bound to emerge as one of the biggest centres of small-scale industries in the country. There is a great need to give right direction for the growth of small-scale industries. Delhi has large conglomerate nature to attract commerce, trade

and industry and as the Capital of the country, it has tremendous comparative advantages in terms of availability of infrastructure, communication facilities, technical and research and development institutions.

The network of facilities and linkages induces growth of industry, which by definition is dynamic, and market driven.

He assured that the Delhi government was committed to providing all facilitation for the growth of the small and medium industries.

The government is also providing institutional support to the industries. Delhi Financial Corporation is meeting the financial needs

of the industries. Delhi State Industrial and Infrastructure Development Corporation Limited is assisting and promoting the interests of small-scale industries in the National Capital Territory of Delhi, he said.

New Delhi, November 14
Softening its stand against a section of illegal shops in the walled city here, the Supreme Court today said it will examine the plea for relaxation in sealing of shops which were offered immunity against action under the provisions of Master Plan for Delhi 2021.

The shops whose cases are likely to be reviewed by the apex court fall under areas earmarked as special area by the government under its proposed 2021 MPD. These areas include colonies close to the historic Jama Masjid, Chandini Chowk, Sadar Bazar and Paharganj.

A three-judge bench of Justices Arijit Pasayat, C K Thakker and L S Panta said it would take up the matter for scrutiny on December 11 and asked the monitoring committee to file its response .

Several thousands of traders had sought exemption from sealing, payment of registration and conversion charges for running their commercial establishments in the residential zones which have now been earmarked as special area by the government under its proposed 2021 MPD.

After declaring these areas as special area, the government had granted immunity from punitive action for three years against the owners of the unauthorised constructions on the condition that they would register themselves with the authorities.

However, the Supreme Court-appointed monitoring committee had opposed any such relaxation for the violators upon which the traders have moved the apex court seeking relief against punitive action.

The apex court also granted three weeks’ time to the Delhi Jal Board to file its action plan on augmentation of water supply in the Capital to match the requirements projected under the MPD 2021.

New Delhi, November 14
There is need to raise awareness and sensitize various constituencies to the roles and impacts of forest fires, both detrimental and beneficial. This is one of the recommendations made today on the concluding day of two-day National Workshop on Forest Fires.

Experts participating in the workshop also recommended a Forest Fire Week to be observed every year.

Detrimental fires are the ones that are unplanned and uncontrolled burns while beneficial are as in the case of burns managed to facilitate the collection of certain forest products or prescribed burns as a tool for wildlife habitat management.

The experts suggested preparing vulnerability mappings, public panchayat partnership and capacity building at the state level. They said in the present scenario of changing climate to reduce carbon secretion in atmosphere, a national as well as state level data base on forest fires should be freely accessible based on information generated from both field level fire monitoring and reporting and satellite-based fire monitoring.

The workshop further recommended a need for pilot initiative to link ongoing field monitoring and fire reporting to a national-level data base. The experts agreed on involvement of local communities and civil society in fire prevention, detection and management in accordance with existing policies and guidelines.

Existing methods of fire prevention, as practised by the Forest Department that include cutting and maintenance of fire lines as well as controlled burning, should be strengthened.

The experts said that there is also need for in-depth research on the ecological consequences of fire in different bio-geographic zones.

New Delhi, November 14
On the occasion of the first United Nations mandated World Diabetes Day, Novo Nordisk, a world leader in diabetes care today organized a ‘Diabetes Walk’ on Parliament Street here.

The event highlighted the rising prevalence of diabetes in India and emphasized the importance of early diagnosis to reduce the many complications associated with the disease and thereby save lives.

Hundreds of people from different walks of life,

including children, joined the ‘Diabetes Walk’ in

solidarity, pledging to fight the disease through awareness campaigns at various levels. In keeping with the United Nations mandate to ‘Unite for Diabetes’ on November 14,

Novo Nordisk (India) Private Limited, has partnered with the Apollo Hospital Group, to walk that extra mile in ensuring that the education of patients is heightened. This

partnership is directed at maximizing efforts in diabetes awareness through various screening camps, patient education programmes and medical advocacy.

The event was flagged off by the Vidhan Sabha Speaker Choudhary Prem Singh.

Speaking on the occasion, Choudhary Prem Singh said, “India is considered to be the diabetes capital of world with its diabetic population of 41 million people as estimated in 2007 and is expected to rise to 80 million

within just one generation. With one person dying every 10 seconds from diabetes complications, this World Diabetes

Day walk organized by Novo Nordisk is a step to raise the bar in the fight against diabetes. It is vital that people come together to take note of the ills associated with diabetes.”

New Delhi, November 14
They have, in advertising gurus’ words, “the pestering power” —the ability to escalate the sales of a particular product. No wonder more and more advertisements, be it of mobile phones, electronics or apparel, now have kids playing the lead role.

Look at the scores of billboards on the roads or advertisements on TV—Airtel, Samsung and Amul to name a few—and one finds that the advertising world seems to have almost been taken over by children.

According to the experts in the field of advertising, children do much more than simply adding the ‘coochie-coo’ factor. Unlike yesteryears when kids were seen in a handful of ads, mostly endorsing a chocolate brand, ice-cream, Maggi noodles and the like, today you have the tiny-tots endorsing electronic gadgets, washing powder, house paints and other products mainly used by adults.

According to Ramesh Shri Vats, executive vice-president of Rediffusion advertising agency, young children have a greater say in the household these days. In other words, they have greater influence on their parents in deciding which item should be bought.”Children as young as eight and nine have started becoming increasingly aware of various products and are very well informed. They have the pestering power by which they can influence the household decisions when it comes to buying something.

“That’s why you see more and more children in electronic products’ ads, be it of TV sets, computers or fridge,” Vats told IANS.

In the new Samsung ad, for instance, a bunch of kids led by a tiny girl decide that the best time to approach Preity Zinta is when she is in a good mood. In other words, after switching on the AC, drinking chilled water, making popcorn in the microwave and switching on some music— in her Samsung-enabled apartment.

“Now she is happy,” says the girl as she leads her gang to collect some hefty donation, indicating that Samsung products can take the load off your shoulders, rejuvenate and make you happy enough to do anything.

Sumit Seth, creative consultant with Sahara, said children are part of the most easily influenced category. Thus, advertisements featuring children first convince the child sitting in front of the TV screen, who in turn convinces her parents to buy a particular product.

“Take the example of a soap brand or a toothpaste. Earlier, it was the woman who used to decide which product to choose. But now it’s the kid who decides which brand to go for and parents gladly oblige,” Seth said.

With higher disposable incomes and greater splurging power, young parents don’t mind submitting to their children’s demands.

“Akhila is only 13 but when it comes to buying make up, she has far more knowledge than me. Which facemask is good for which skin type, which lipstick colour would suit me the best...she knows it all. That’s why she accompanies me on all my shopping sprees and I listen to her while making my purchases,” said Delhi-based homemaker Rajashree Singha.

Shruti Pal, a public relations executive and mother of an 11-year-old son, said she trusts her son completely when it comes to electronic gadgets.

“Ayushman is a gizmo freak. He is abreast of the latest technology and has a sound knowledge about gadgets. It’s amazing how well informed kids are these days. Therefore, when he tells me that I should go for a particular mobile handset, I trust him completely,” Pal said.

Sumit Kishore, group account director of Euro RSCG, said another important reason why children have begun dominating advertisements is because of their innocence.

“When you are flipping channels, the chances that you will stop on one is more when you see a cute little child saying something or a baby gurgling than at the sight of an older person enacting the same.

“One tends to listen to a child babble something because it seems innocent and true. Featuring a child in an ad, thus, plays up the emotional factor in the audience and wins over them.”

Although advertising gurus say young adults and the older lot are still very much in their focus, children, who are now maturing faster and are heavily influenced by the media, are their latest target.

“Also, the fact that more and more kids’ products are now entering the market has led to children being used in the ads. The age group of the kid in the ad, however, changes with the type of the product.

“If it’s a chocolate ad, he could be seven or below. If it’s an electronic item he could be between 10 and 12. Basically between eight and 12, a child can convince you to buy anything!” Seth said. — IANS

New Delhi, November 14
The first Dr K. R. Narayanan Memorial Lecture was delivered by the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of India, Justice K. G. Balakrishanan at Jamia Millia Islamia university on Wednesday.

The lecture was organized by the Dr K. R. Narayanan Centre for Dalit and Minorities Studies, on a rather socially relevant subject, ‘Problems of Social Inequalities and Possibilities of Judicial Intervention’ and was attended by legal luminaries, scholars, academicians and the two daughters of late President Dr K. R. Narayanan, among others.

Justice Balakrishanan nostalgically recalled the life of the late President and focused somewhat on the struggles during the initial stages of his career. Focusing on the theme, he commented that, “equality was the goal uppermost in the minds of the Constitution makers and this goal is also reflected in the constitutional provisions enshrined in Fundamental Rights, as well as, the Directive Principles of State Policy.”

Elaborating on the significant role of the judiciary in ensuring the objective of equality, Justice Balakrishnan cited various judgements related to the socially excluded strata of the Indian society. Quoting Dr B. R. Ambedkar, he emphasized that, “political equality cannot survive in the midst of continual socio-economic inequalities. So such inequalities must be addressed if the democratic structure has to fully realize its egalitarian agenda.”

He, however, argued that judicial intervention is restrained by the law of the land. Nevertheless, such interventions, whenever made, can always lead to the sensitization of the legislature and the popular opinion.

Meanwhile, Prof. Mushirul Hasan, vice-chancellor, JMI focused on the sordid state of affairs prevalent among the Indian Muslims and emphasized that social inequality marked not only the caste groups, but is equally relevant to the Indian Muslims.

He said that the ideas of Dr B. R. Ambedkar pertaining to Dalits are equally applicable to the Muslim community in contemporary India.

New Delhi, November 14
Under a community services initiative launched by State Bank of India, Delhi Circle, its branches will adopt girl children who are physically challenged, orphan or poor,from the weaker sections of society. They will be given financial assistance for their school-level education. .

Gautam Kanjilal, chief general manager launched the scheme in Delhi Circle today on the occasion of Children’s Day.

Twenty-three girl children were adopted at the function held at bank’s Dr Ambedkar Nagar Branch, Sector-V, Dakshin Puri, Delhi. Adopted girl children were handed over a kit containing winter school uniform, shoes etc. at the function.

New Delhi, November 14
The Tata Group recently announced the second edition of the ‘Tata Building India’ Essay competition starting from November 14, 2007. The National Essay Competition will be held amongst schools in 12 cities across the country– Mumbai, Delhi, Kolkata, Chennai, Bangalore, Jamshedpur, Darjeeling, Chandigarh, Indore, Hyderabad, Pune and Ahmedabad. This essay competition provides an inspiring platform to encourage young leaders of tomorrow to showcase their expressions on nation building initiatives.

In its first edition, the ‘Tata Building India,’ essay competition has attracted over 1 lakh entries from 244 schools across six cities. The competition this year will reach out to around 450 schools in 12 cities across the nation. The competition will be a two-day activity in each of these schools with the screening of the inspirational film, ‘Keepers of the Flame’, followed by an essay writing on nation-building.

In addition, to the individual schools, the competition will also be held at a centrally located venue to provide the opportunity of participation to students of other schools as well in each city.

Speaking on the initiative, Romit Chaterji, sr. vice-president, Corporate Affairs Department, Tata Services Ltd, commented that, “after the overwhelming response received from schools last year, we decided to extend the competition to 12 cities this year from 6 cities earlier. We would like to reach out to larger number of students to give them an opportunity to showcase and bring forth their vision for India. We believe that the youth of today are the future leaders of India and through such initiatives, we would like to encourage them to visualize and build India as they would like to see it. With the right opportunity such as this, we are sure that the students will be motivated to make that much-needed difference towards the development of the nation.”

The judgment process of the competition involves screening at three levels: entries at school level will be first shortlisted by the schools at the school level, and school winners selected through independent judging, then the winning essays will be collected from across all the schools in each city and evaluated by an independent panel of judges for a city-level recognition and the best essays from each city will finally be judged by an elite panel comprising eminent people, for the best essay at the national level

The winners at each city level and national winners will be awarded mega prizes ranging from digital cameras, handy cams, desktop computers, laptop computers, special Tata merchandise items, etc along with a trophy and certificate each. The winners at the national level will be given awards at a gala function. Last year the winners got the opportunity to meet the visionary former President of India, Dr APJ Abdul Kalam.

Schoolchildren are required to write the essay only once, which will then be judged at all the three levels: Junior level (Std. 6-8), Middle level (Std. 9-10) and Senior level (Std. 11-12). Entries should come in accordingly.

Ghaziabad, November 14
A drunken driver of an ambulance had crushed three persons at Hapur tri-junction here yesterday. One of them died on the spot while others were rushed to hospital The driver has been arrested by Kotwali police, Ghaziabad. In other two road accidents, two persons were killed and six injured in the district.

New Delhi, November 14
A girl was stabbed several times by unknown men who tried to molest her while she was waiting for a bus at Peeragarhi on Tuesday evening.

The 21-year-old call centre employee resisted a molestation attempt by some men at a bus stop.