New Delhi, December 1
Unhappy with the sentence awarded to the key accused in the Uphaar cinema fire disaster of 10 years ago, relatives of the 59 victims met here Saturday and vowed to continue their fight for justice.

The 28 families gathered at the Smriti Upavan, a memorial erected opposite the now shut Uphaar cinema in south Delhi, and performed religious rituals in memory of the 59 who were killed in the inferno that broke out during a screening of a Bollywood blockbuster.

With tears in their eyes and folded hands, they paid tributes to their loved ones. “We have not fought for 10 long years to bargain for a mere two years’ imprisonment. We have resolved to fight until we all get justice,” said Neelam Krishnamoorthy, who lost both her children in the tragedy.

“It’s a travesty of justice. Killing Chinkara fetches you a five-year sentence but punishment for claiming 59 killing is just two years. It is very painful to see the Ansals (Gopal and Sushil) walking free,” Krishnamoorthy, who heads the Association of Victims of Uphaar Tragedy (AVUT), told IANS.

Last month, Additional Sessions Judge Mamta Sehgal sentenced real estate tycoons Sushil and Gopal Ansal, owners of the theatre, to two years in prison and a fine of Rs 5,000 each.

However, the duo were released on bail after furnishing a personal bond of Rs.25,000 each.

“We are not satisfied as the Ansal brothers are convicted only under Section 304-A (causing death due to negligent act) and will face the punishment of two years in jail,” said Nanak Chand, who lost his son in the fire.

“We want a stiffer punishment for them and pray to god that no such tragedy occurs in the future. We have lost the sole breadwinner of our family. Do you really think justice has been done?” Chand asked.

The AVUT said it would approach the Delhi High Court for a review of the lower court verdict.

“For 10 years we have worked hard and attended thousands of hearings. There is much frustration. We will go to the high court for stricter punishment to the Ansals,” said Shekhar Krishnamoorthy, general secretary of AVUT. — IANS

New Delhi, December 1
A Ghaziabad court today booked a key witness for perjury in the Nithari killings case for retracting his testimony against prime accused Moninder Singh Pandher.

Special Judge Rama Jain found prima facie perjury charges against Nandlal, whose 22-year-old daughter Payal was one of the 20-odd victims of the serial rape and killings in the village on the outskirts of the national Capital.

He has been asked to appear before chief judicial magistrate, Ghaziabad, on December 6.

Nandlal had earlier done a turn around, when he told a designated court that he had not seen Noida-based businessman Pandher helping police recover a murder weapon from the bushes near his house.

This went against his July 6 deposition in court, when he had said, “I was present when the police had first quizzed Pandher and he had taken the police to an area beside his house from where the big knife (aari) was recovered.”

He had also denied that he ever saw Pandher’s manager S.K Sharma bribing deputy superintendent of police Dinesh Yadav.

However, in his earlier statement he had asserted to have seen Sharma giving a wad of currency notes of Rs 500 denomination to Yadav.

On the basis of his earlier statements, the court had framed charges of rape and murder against Pandher and had also directed the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to register a corruption case against Yadav. — IANS

New Delhi, December 1
As the world observes the World AIDS Day today, India continues to be plagued by paradoxical and half-baked information on the 21st century’s gravest health hazard, making the disease deadlier, says a new study.

Paradoxical though it might appear, a new global study says, “While 79 per cent of Indians understand AIDS is always fatal, 59 per cent still wrongly believe that there is a cure available for it.”

The study was conducted by the MAC AIDS Fund, the philanthropic arm of Estée Lauder-owned pharmaceutical major MAC Cosmetics in September 2007 in nine countries, including the USA and Britain.

As per the study, although Indians generally recognise HIV/AIDS as the most serious health problem facing the country today, confusion and misperceptions about the disease reign here.

The study said that Indians generally complained about lack of access to information on various aspects of the disease, including how it is spread.

As per the study, 65 per cent of Indians attach a sense of shame and stigma with the disease, which contributes to the threat of it acquiring an epidemic proportion.

People in India are more uncomfortable in interacting intimately with HIV positive or AIDS victims, than people elsewhere in the world, the study said, adding that 44 per cent are hesitant to share a physician with someone who has HIV or AIDS.

Thirty eight per cent of the Indians surveyed confessed that they feel uncomfortable working with an HIV positive person, while some said that they did not want to live in the same house as someone who has the virus, the study added.

Presenting the findings of the study, MAC AIDS Fund chairperson John Demsey said, “The survey results illustrate the urgent need for public access in India to information on HIV and AIDS.”

“This is a wake-up call that not only do we need to improve the basic education about the realities of the disease including, how it is contracted and how it is treated. We also need to do some serious ground work to alleviate the sense of shame and stigma that surrounds the disease and prevents people from being safe and seeking treatment,” he added. — IANS

New Delhi, December 1
Pulling up government hospitals in the national Capital for not providing adequate treatment to HIV positive patients, the Delhi High Court has directed them to take immediate steps in this regard.

Why there is delay in providing treatment? asked Justice T S Thakur and Justice Veena Birbal while hearing a petition filed by three HIV positive patients seeking a direction from the court to the hospitals for providing proper treatment.

The patients approached the court after they were denied treatment by Lok Nayak and Ram Manohar Lohia hospitals in the city.

Contending that the hospitals lacked infrastructure in treating HIV positive patients, the petitioners alleged that they were suffering from negligence.

They further said that the ARV drug, which is vital for the treatment of such patients, was not available in the hospitals.

The medical superintendent should ensure that the necessary is done to provide adequate treatment and to ensure that they (the patients) are treated without delay and discrimination, the court said after hearing the petition.

It also asked the medical superintendent to take immediate steps to ensure the implementation of its order and place before it a compliance report within eight weeks.

While refusing to frame any guidelines for the treatment of HIV patients, the bench, however, agreed to give a hearing if the patients approached it with their grievances in case the hospitals continued the negligent attitude.

If there is any individual patient, then point out and bring it to our notice. We would then pass further order for their proper treatment, the court said. — PTI

New Delhi, December 1
Holding placards and banners on AIDS awareness, around 700 school and college students held a three-km march near Delhi University on the World AIDS Day today.

Shakti Nagar legislator Shadi Ram flagged off the rally organised by the Delhi State AIDS Control Society. India is home to an estimated 2.5 million HIV-positive people, including 70,000 children.

Students shouted slogans like — “Har chehere par ho muskan, AIDS ka na ho namo nishan” and “Chalo condom ke sath.” They spoke to vendors, owners of roadside shops and rickshaw pullers about AIDS.

“We are educating people about the deadly disease and how they can secure their and others’ lives through prevention,” said Kajal Sharma, a class IX student.

Vishu Malhotra, a first year B.Com student of Hansraj College, said, “Today, I spoke to at least 25 persons about the use of condoms. I will continue this practice.” “I have promised myself that from now on I will at least educate the bus conductors and drivers about AIDS and the myths associated with it during my daily travel to college,” he told IANS.

Added Hemlata, a final year student of Miranda House, “People are unaware of the problem, and it’s everyone’s duty to spread awareness about AIDS to those with whom they chat every day. People should take pride in informing others.”

The students also organised a street play at the university sports ground, which was attended by Kathak dancer duo Nalini and Kamalini, tarot card reader Poonam Sethi and painter Vijender Sharma. Students also signed a 250-metre cloth banner with their messages. — IANS

New Delhi, December 1
Slamming the city government for “ignoring” a Supreme Court order seven years ago to bring 11,000 buses to tide over traffic problems, the Delhi High Court Friday told it to comply with the directive immediately or warned of enforcing it.

A bench comprising Justices Mukul Mudgal and Reva Khetrapal, pulling up the state government, said: “The administration is unable to fulfil the required numbers of buses. You have been ignoring this for seven years. If you don’t do it now then we will enforce,” the bench said.

In its contention, state’s counsel Mukta Gupta said the Delhi Metro, feeder buses and other increased number of transport systems should be taken into consideration.

The court gave the government two weeks to provide projected figures for buses while taking other modes of transport into consideration and the increased number of travellers in future.

The bench also slammed the New Delhi Municipal Corporation for spending Rs 80 million on a survey to find out the feasibility of subways and footover bridges at India Gate. “Were you doing a survey on the moon? You have spent eight crores only on a survey?”

The court directed the civic body to meet other authorities on the matter and submit its reply.

Meanwhile, Kailsh Vasudev, amicus curiae appointed by the court, responded to the government status report on the phasing out of ‘killer’ Blueline buses. He suggested that the ministry of surface transport and central and city governments should reconsider the approach of restructuring the public transport.

Citing the example of Delhi Metro’s feeder buses, Vasudev proposed that by revamping the state-run Delhi Transport Corporation more buses should be placed on the Capital’s roads as has been done in cities like Mumbai and Indore and in Delhi by the Metro.

“On the inability of the government to provide additional buses after phasing out Blueline buses, the kilometre scheme should be introduced,” he said.

He said the government is only emphasizing on planting trees on the roads. — IANS

Noida, December 1
A bus being driven at a fast speed crushed a worker Paltu Ram in Sector-63 Noida. The private bus going from Noida to Ghaziabad knocked down the factory worker who was going on cycle.

Angry workers took to the road and damaged windowpanes of half a dozen vehicles. Some mediapersons and cops were also injured in stone-pelting by workers, some of whom even tried to torch vehicles. To bring the situation under control, police resorted to lathi-charge.

As Paltu Ram reached Wajidpur crossing, a private bus No.DL-1PA-1735 coming at fast speed from Fortis hospital side knocked him down. Paltu Ram died on the spot and bus driver fled abandoning the vehicle.

Incensed workers at the death of their colleague targeted the bus and started pelting stones on all vehicles passing from there. One tourist bus and two trucks were damaged in stone-pelting and traffic was blocked for two hours. SP City with cops from three police stations reached the spot and brought the situation under control.

New Delhi, December 1
High illiteracy rate will only be reduced if governments accord priority to literacy and recognize it as a right, said participants at the end of the two-day global literacy meet here Friday.

Organised by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (Unesco) and Indian ministry of human resource development (HRD), the literacy meet brought together education and finance ministers of 14 countries, including from Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Iran, Kazakhstan, the Kyrgyz Republic, the Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan.

According to the global monitoring report released by Unesco, titled ‘Education for all by 2015. Will we make it?’ India, Nigeria and Pakistan account for world’s 27 percent of out-of-school children.

Less than 60 percent of the total adult population of South and West Asia can read and write.

Commenting at the dismal report card, especially of the South and South-West Asia, Koichiro Matsuura, director general of Unesco, said: “Illiteracy is receiving minimal political attention and it remains a global disgrace.”

“Literacy is undeniably a right and must be recognized as such. The countries of South and South-West Asia have certainly made great strides towards building literate societies over the past two decades.

“Yet even today about 40 percent of the total adult population cannot read or write and the great majority of these people are women,” Matsuura said.

According to Unesco’s statistics, some 380 million adults throughout South and South-West Asia do not have basic literacy skills. The world total is 774 million, although the Global Monitoring Report suggests that the figure may be much higher.

In Central Asia, although overall literacy levels are high, there remains an important gender gap.

The participants at the conference stressed that literacy must be recognized as a right, and fully integrated into education sector planning with sufficient funding. Pointing out that over two-thirds of illiterate adults are women, they underscored the need for literacy policies to address gender disparities.

Programmes, they recommended, should be strongly linked to life-skills development, including entrepreneurial and income-generating activities.

The conference also recommended that although governments must take primary responsibility for providing literacy learning opportunities, partnerships with civil society organizations, community-based associations and the private sector also be encouraged. — IANS

New Delhi, December 1
A day after 19 lawyers were sentenced to six months’ rigorous imprisonment by a city court for flouting a high court directive, the Delhi Bar Association on Saturday said that it would boycott the court of the judge who pronounced the judgement.

The Delhi Bar Association has asked the lawyers fraternity to boycott the court of metropolitan magistrate Sandeep Yadav at Tis Hazari.

“We have decided to protest on Monday by wearing red badges, but we will work so that ordinary people don’t suffer,” said R.N. Vats, secretary, Delhi Bar Association.

He said that they would make a representation before a Delhi High Court committee to sort out the matter.

On Friday, Yadav held the lawyers guilty of flouting a High Court order in 2005 not to go on strike and sentenced them to a maximum punishment of six months. However, all got bail soon after the verdict.

On February 11, 2005, the lawyers had walked down from the court to the Civil Lines to protest shifting of some lawyers and courts from the Tis Hazari court complex to the new Rohini complex.

The Delhi High Court had booked the lawyers under Section 144 of the Indian Penal Code (joining unlawful assembly). The 19 lawyers were in police custody for six days before being released on bail. — IANS

New Delhi, December 1
A man, accused of killing the 21-year-old son of a city-based builder in a freak firing incident in Vasant Kunj here, today surrendered in a court here which sent him to police custody for four days.

Metropolitan magistrate Praveen Singh allowed the Delhi Police plea seeking custodial interrogation of accused Moti, 25, for questioning him over the death of Varun, 21, and ordered that he be produced in court on December 4.

Moti had allegedly gone into hiding after the firing incident on the night of November 28 when his gun allegedly went off accidentally killing Varun, an engineering student and son of builder Surekh Malika, at a market in Vasant Kunj here.

Soon after Moti surrendered in court, the judge called the police who in turn sought his custody for investigations.

The victim, a student of Gurgaon Dhronacharya Engineering College here, was hit by a bullet when he and three of his friends were inspecting a gun, the police said.

The deceased had gone to the nearby market along with his two friends—Sachin and Nitin—to meet their common friend Noti, they added.

During questioning, Sachin and Nitin had told the police that the mishap occurred when they were inspecting the gun which Moti was carrying.

A gun went off accidentally and Varun was hit by a bullet in the chest, the official said, adding he was rushed to a hospital by Sachin and Nitin, where he succumbed to his injuries. — PTI

Top nautch! That’s Madhuri Dixit in her comeback! Chiselled, charming, chirpy and enchanting, Madhuri dances her way into the tailor made plot and takes to the screen like she has never been away.

Writer Jaideep Sahni has given the gorgeous Dixit a role she can sink her teeth into. The character is rebellious and yet ravishing. A dancer returns from the US to a small conservative town, years after she eloped with an American.

What happened to her cross-cultural marriage is quickly swept under the carpet in one voice-over statement. She brings with her a cynical little daughter, who keeps wondering when she can go home. Frankly, after a while, so do we.

Cinematographer turned director Anil Mehta furnishes the story of a culture clash and the prodigal daughter’s return to her roots with a minty melt-in-the-mouth sensation. You have it. And, you move on.

In a film that addresses itself to the critical question of cultural erosion, there’s a lamentable lack of lucidity in the narration. You are given the characters that govern the theme, but you aren’t given a chance to look at their lives and the socio-cultural conflicts in any depth or detail.

Too many people inhabit Mehta’s quaint, appealing, but, finally, unsubstantiated world of half-lived dreams and forgotten values.

The screenplay resorts to the oldest trick in the book of inspirational art. A bunch of chronic losers are provided encouragement and final triumph with the help of a disgraced coach.

‘Aaja Nachle’ takes the ‘Lagaan’ and ‘Chak De India’ scenario and trans-locates it to the fine arts. The results are fitfully humorous and enticing but never exploratory in any serious or durable way.

Madhuri’s character is spunky, fiery, and acerbic, and is liable to give the sardonic businessman (Akshay Khanna in a surprisingly warm cameo) a tongue-lashing with the same ferocity that she invests into sweet-talking the local politician (Akhilendra Mishra) into political patronage.

But, somewhere the romantic sub-plot featuring Kunal Kapoor and Konkona Sen Sharma as the local goon and female buffoon, respectively, gets the better of the narration.

In the second half, Anil Mehta’s storytelling begins to sag. Thankfully, Madhuri’s acting does not. Stunningly statuesque and expressive, she carries the weight of the over-populated plot on her frail shoulders with endearing enthusiasm.

But, even Madhuri is unequal to the task, when the absurdities begin to pile up in a plot that culminates in the naïve idealism of the lengthy Laila-Majnu skit.

Though there’s much talk of sanskriti (culture), kala (art) and sabhyata (civilisation) in the dialogues, none of this gets a roomy or deep representation in any of the sequences. Too busy cutting the scenes into trendy snippets, the editor somewhere loses the essence and spirit of the cultural theme.

The multitudinous characters of the dusty town, brilliantly captured on camera by Mohanan, prepare for a dance ballet on Laila-Majnu, with as much seriousness as a bunch of kindergarten students putting together a birthday skit for their favourite teacher.

Besides the majestic Madhuri, the rest of talented cast also gets seriously supportive in this pale tale of losers and hooters.

Standing out in the vast cast are Ranbir Shorey as Madhuri’s still besotted jilted husband-to-be and Vinay Pathak as her stuffy landlord, who learns to loosen up.

The actors rise and shine even when they are given ridiculous lines to mouth. For example, Irrfan Khan as the stereotypical real-estate shark sinks his teeth into a role that requires an out-and-out filmy villainy.

The choreography, sets and costumes convey no sense of continuity. In the climax, gym-built beefcakes emerge from nowhere in the backward town to line up as dancers.

The venue for dance performances looks like a plaster of Paris representation of Roman ruins. While the plot talks of fine arts and culture, Madhuri’s dances look like carryovers from her dhak-dhak days.

Having said all this, let’s make it explicitly clear that ‘Aaja Nachle’ rises notches above the routine. Its heart is in the right place, even if the rationale of staging a musical play to redeem a sagging town falls apart somewhere down the line. — IANS