New Delhi, December 5
Pedestrians in the national Capital have to be careful as Delhi Traffic Police on Wednesday began its drive against jaywalkers to bring a sense of semblance to the city’s roads.

Traffic police officials along with local cops booked nearly 100 people till Wednesday afternoon and slapped them with a fine of Rs 100 each for crossing roads at wrong points, not sticking to footpaths, not using overbridges and subways, and standing on the road at bus stands.

The drive was collectively launched at six intersections: Sikandra Road-Tilak Marg, Barakhamba Circus-Connaught Place Outer Circle, Ashram Chowk-Moti Nagar crossing, Boulevard Road subway, and Delhi Gate.

Grisih Kumar, a Reliance Industry employee who was handed over a fine slip at the Tilak Marg stretch, said: “I was not aware that such rules actually exist. It is not fair that all of a sudden you start a drive and ask people to pay money. I came to the Capital last night from Punjab. How do they expect me to act according to the new rules?”

After she was charged for rules violation, Monika Tyagi, who works at a stock brokerage firm in Connaught Place, bluntly asked traffic officials if crossing roads in the city is a crime.

Tyagi pleaded ignorance while the cops briefed her about the new drive. Many others who were fined also expressed surprise and said they weren’t aware of the drive.

However, Delhi Police spokesman Rajan Bhagat said: “This is no new law and we have just decided to reinforce the existing law of prosecuting unruly pedestrians who by ignoring traffic rules pose threat to themselves and others.”

“For the past few days we have been running advertisements in all leading dailies informing everyone about road safety rules and initiation of the drive,” Bhagat added. — IANS

New Delhi, December 5
It’s a unique trip aimed at fostering friendship among youths from South-Asian countries, but many of the 105 university students who gathered here for the SAARC cultural festival are complaining of teething troubles.

Some are talking of improper accommodation, others are saying that they have not yet got a chance to interact with their counterparts from other countries and, yet, others say there is too little action.

They are among 15 university students and 10 school students each from Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, the Maldives, Afghanistan, Bhutan and Nepal, who have been invited to India as part of the festival that started on Sunday and will be on till December 9.

Tanzeel from the University of Balochistan, Pakistan, said that their team reached India on December 1 but until Tuesday, he and his friends had only seen the area around the hotel in Karol Bagh, where they are staying. Interactions with students from other countries had also not taken off in earnest.

“It’s been nearly four days since we have come here and today is the first day that we have got a chance to meet the other delegates, let alone interact. The itinerary seems to be changing every now and then,” Tanzeel told IANS.

“On Tuesday, we were to go to Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU), but that was cancelled at the last moment. Also, there is so much in Delhi that we want to see... We wish that we were taken on a tour of the city,” Tanzeel said at a lunch gathering organised by the Indian Council for Cultural Relations (ICCR).

While the school students, who have been put up with the families of students of four schools in Delhi - Sanskriti, Vasant Valley, Shri Ram and Sardar Patel Vidyalaya, have no complaints, the university students are not very happy with the arrangements.

“Since we have come, all that we have done is shift hotels,” said 21-year-old Manisha Joshi, a student of fashion designing from Nepal.

“We arrived on December 2 and the hotel that we were taken to was so bad that we had to request the authorities to shift us.”

Similarly, Nader Rahman of Bangladesh while complaining about the accommodation said that it was a case of poor management. “We were to see the SAARC rally exhibition on Monday evening, but the bus organised to ferry us from our hotel to the venue didn’t turn up,” he said. — IANS

New Delhi, December 5
Quietly, away from the limelight, Delhi police commissioner Y.S. Dadwal is proving to be a tough taskmaster.

In just five months he has held charge, Dadwal has made it clear that he will not tolerate the casual ‘chalta hai’ attitude that many of his colleagues display. And, he is leading by example.

Officers say that Dadwal, 56, who superseded Kiran Bedi to bag the top slot, frequently makes surprise visits to police stations and also expects his senior colleagues to do so.

Since no police station knows which one he will visit, everyone remains on high alert. The 60,000-strong Delhi Police is beginning to take the man seriously.

A 1974 batch IPS officer, Dadwal first ordered officers above the rank of assistant police commissioners (ACPs) not to attend any public function without their uniform — even after duty hours.

Dadwal’s decision left many senior officers baffled, forcing them to cut short their public appearances, which some had termed as mandatory social outreach.

“How can you go in uniform to a party? If we go, people always try to approach us asking for personal favours,” rued a senior official.

Within days, after taking charge, Dadwal called a meeting of the 128 station house officers (SHOs), district ACPs and deputy commissioners of police (DCPs) and handed them a 30-point list of dos and don’ts.

One officer who attended the meeting told IANS, “The commissioner asked us to register cases without delay.” He also directed constable cooks working at houses of officers of the rank of DCPs and above to be back to police stations.

An officer close to Dadwal told IANS, “The commissioner wants his officers to be disciplined to the core and act as per the norms prescribed in the rule book. He wants them to act swiftly and efficiently.”

Another officer added, “According to Dadwal, self management is the mantra to success. Once he pulled up an additional commissioner for not wearing uniform. He has forced officials to drop the ‘chalta hai’ attitude. Now, you will find every police station in the Capital maintaining records, and on time.”

Policemen have begun fearing disciplinary action, after Dadwal began surprise visits to police stations, some coming at around 2.30 am.

He has also directed joint commissioners, DCPs and ACPs to pay similar surprise inspections to at least one police station daily and submit him a monthly report.

Dadwal has asked SHOs and ACPs to remove air-conditioners from their offices with a plain reason, “These officers are supposed to be dealing with public instead of enjoying luxuries.” Till now, he has suspended three officers for inefficiency.

Alarmed by the growing numbers of accidents on the city’s roads, Dadwal ordered the demolition of traffic inspectors’ makeshift offices on the roads, saying that they needed to regulate the vehicular flow.

Officials say that the idea of prosecuting pedestrians flouting basic road safety rules is his brainchild.

He has threatened strict action against officers, who turn hostile at trials, helping the accused to go free in the process.

Considering the popularity Kiran Bedi has enjoyed, Dadwal - some argue - has been forced to act, since he has to prove that he is a worthy successor to K.K. Paul, who quit in July.

Dadwal joined the Delhi Police in 1980 as an additional deputy commissioner. He has been awarded the President’s Police Medal for distinguished services, Police Medal for meritorious services and Kathin Sewa Medal on four occasions.

Launching a short-duration training programme for low-ranking officials involved in the investigations last month, Dadwal asked them to upgrade their knowledge of law for impartial and efficient law enforcement.

“The investigators should update their knowledge of law, otherwise cases in the court will not withstand cross-examination,” Dadwal said.

The Delhi Police officers have also been told to update themselves about a large number of new legislation, Supreme Court rulings and directions from national and state statutory bodies relating to human rights, women, children and Dalit and tribal communities. — IANS

New Delhi, December 5
A city court today released Chandrakant Jha, accused of killing several people and dumping their bodies in front of the Tihar Jail, after the police did not find any evidence against him.

Metropolitan magistrate Manish Gupta ordered the release of Jha in the case relating to the murder of one Umesh, four years ago, after the investigating officer submitted that there was no evidence against him.

An FIR was registered with the Hari Nagar police station on November 20, 2003, following the recovery of Umesh’s body in a bag outside gate no 1 of Tihar Jail.

Jha, arrested on May 20, was accused of several killings including the murder of Umesh, 26.

“In view of the circumstances and material on record and submissions of the prosecution and the investigating officer, I am of the considered opinion that there is no sufficient evidence against the accused. He may be released in the present case,” the judge said.

In the application seeking release of Jha, investigating officer Ombir Singh said that there was no cogent evidence against him except his alleged disclosure statement.

“The accused was taken on two days’ police remand, but no recovery could be effected from him,” Singh said.

The police have so far filed three chargesheets against Jha, who hails from Madhepura in Bihar, in as many murder cases invoking Sections 302 (murder) and 201 (destruction of evidence) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).

The police had alleged that Jha, 40, now in judicial custody for the other murder cases, killed his three associates Amit, Dilip and Upendra after taking offence to their “drinking, eating meat and womanising”.

At the time of Jha’s arrest, the police had claimed that Jha was a psychopath, as he “enjoyed” each of his killings. “He used to kill people, after he got annoyed with the victims, who had worked with him, over trifling issues,” said joint commissioner of police Rajesh Kumar. — IANS

New Delhi, December 5
If the sight and smell of the Yamuna makes you cringe, how about trying to clean the river with your hands?

Delhi-based NGO ‘Swecha’ is undertaking a unique campaign, ‘We for Yamuna’, on Friday, in which people from various sections of the society will come together and clean the river to spread awareness about its deplorable condition.

“Yamuna shramdaan (voluntary labour) is one of our biggest annual events, in which we will try and spread awareness that Yamuna needs to be saved from being further polluted,” says Supriya Singh from the NGO.

“This time, we are planning to give gloves and boots to the people who volunteer, most of who will be students, and ask them to clean the waste and muck on the banks of the Yamuna,” Singh told IANS.

“This will make everyone realise how polluted the lifeline of the Capital is and, hopefully, prevent them from further polluting the river.”

The event also includes artists, who will make a collage from the waste that would be collected from the river.

“This will show that waste can be creatively re-used and recycled,” she said.

“The main aim of the shramdaan, besides mobilising people to work for this cause, is to attract the attention of all stakeholders, civil society, media and the government. We have invited many schools for the programme because it is in the youth that the future beholds.”

The river supports the water needs of nearly 60 million people. Delhi alone depends on it for 70 per cent of its drinking water. But, with an estimated 3.5 billion litres of waste going into the river every day, time is clearly running out for the Yamuna.

“This event will mark the symbolic clean up of the Yamuna. We are not going 
o let the government simply talk about the issue and not do anything,” Singh
said. — IANS

New Delhi, December 5
The Delhi High Court Wednesday served a show-cause notice to a lawyer, a police official and civic officials for not obeying its previous order on removing encroachments in Ghazipur.

A division bench comprising Chief Justice M.K. Sharma and Justice Sanjeev Khanna pulled up advocate Manmohan Gupta, the station house officer of the Kalyanpuri police station, Delhi Development Authority (DDA) officials and the violators - Premvati and her two sons - for not complying with the order.

“It appears that not only the respondents but also the advocates and police are working hand in gloves,” said the bench while issuing show -cause notices to all of them, asking why contempt of court proceedings cannot be initiated against them in three weeks.

The bench in its earlier order of January 31 had asked the DDA to clean up the rubble and remove the encroachers from the place so that the obstruction from the road can be removed.

“Instead of protecting the interest of a common man the agency has favoured the people who have not abided by the law of the land,” the bench ruled.

Stating that there was a dereliction of the duties by the advocate who represents the encroachers and the DDA officials, the bench said strict action would be taken against those found guilty.

“We haven’t issued any stay order on our previous order, so how dare the advocate write to the police commissioner that no police force is required for removing the rubble from the said place?” the bench asked.

The court has also sought an action taken report from DDA by Jan 19, asking it to take action against the erring officials for not performing their duties. — IANS

Strong action will be taken against the cops, if found guilty in the probe. After their dismissal, both Vinode Pande and Deepak Chaturvedi were jointly running a high tech security agency.

The security guards of this agency are deployed in Shoprix Mall and many other institutions, SP city said.

New Delhi, December 5
He was formally recognized and enthroned at the age of 18 months by the 16th Gyalwang Karmapa, as the twelfth in line of the successive incarnations of the Tai Situpas that span over 600 years and whose history is integral to the religious and scholastic development in Eastern Tibet.

But at the age of 54, Pema Donyo Nyinje is presenting for the first time in India a solo exhibition of more than 40 of his paintings in acrylic on canvas, watercolours and red pearl ink on silk, archaic paper and rice paper, works in mixed media including gold, leaves, petals, stems, seeds of lotus and lotus central.

Titled “Shadow of Inner Light”, the show has been put by Kumar Gallery at 22, Western Avenue, Sainik Farms. The XIIth Kuanding Tai Situpa is a renowned Buddhist teacher and scholar, a poet, calligrapher, artist and has authored several books on Buddhism and exhibited his arts and paintings in several countries.

Born to the ‘Liu’ family in Dherge, Eastern Tibet, Pema Donyo Nyinje was formally recognized and enthroned at the age of 18 months.

According to the tradition, the Tai Situpa is an emanation of the Bodhisattva Maitreya, the next Buddha, and of Guru Padmasambhava, and has incarnated as numerous Mahasiddhas of Indian and Tibetan origin who have appeared since the time of the historical Buddha.

Tai Situpa as a kid, painted on the floor with charcoal. However, he broke the norm of being a recluse and approached a gallery in Italy 15 years ago to exhibit his work. His union with the official world of art has continued since then. Shadow of Inner Light is Tai’s first-ever show in India.

Says the artist: “I need to feel nice about my paintings, otherwise it holds no value. I feel no hesitation to destroy a painting and start afresh till I am totally satisfied with it. Through my work, I try to share my own inner experience for others. I am sure that it will not only remove all confusion but also give focus in life.”

Says Sunit Kumar Jain, director, Kumar Gallery: “Tai’s paintings will take you back to a time where artists were reclusive creatures, cut off from all worldly trappings and oblivious of any profit-making practices. We wouldn’t have got this rare opportunity to see his work if it wasn’t for his disciples.”

For the XIIth Tai Situpa, wisdom is conveyed not only through Dharma teachings
but also through the visual-medium and, therefore, he chooses to paint and enlighten all.

Through his paintings, he breaks the shackles of religion and culture and gives a universal appeal to humanity and integrity. In fact, the Tai Situpa shares his own insight for the betterment of humankind through his serene and spiritual work.

His art works are the result of a deep meditation which holds unlimited qualities and potential. Every individual can relate to his canvases which reflect harmony. With text inscriptions in the Tibetan language on his canvas, paintings like Nine Level Dharma Pagoda, Root of All Goodness and Antidote of All Faults, Dancing Light, Knot of Harmony, One Tiger with Two Birds and Life is Part of Nature are few such examples which have become a source of inspiration for many.

The serene portrayal of natural entities like the sun and the moon in their myriad shades, pristine Himalayan landscapes, majestic pagodas and the tranquil flora and fauna all depict a deep sense of humanism and spirituality with which the artist coveys a message of harmony and brotherhood.

Noida, December 5
Over 2000 residential telephone lines are down in Noida due to theft of telephone cables. The BSNL authorities have lodged a report in Sector-20 police station .

About six cases of theft of telephone cable have come to light in recent weeks. Two days ago telephone cable was cut near Sector-20 which the BSNL technicians are trying to restore.

The first complaint of residential telephone lines being dead came to the notice of BSNL authorities on Monday morning.

Investigations revealed that the cable had once again been stolen at night which had affected residential phones in Sector-20 and adjoining sectors.

Telephone authorities said complaint of theft of telephone cable has been lodged with police.

“But due to lukewarm attitude of cops, action on not a single complaint has been taken which seems to have emboldened the cable thieves. But we have to face the subscribers’ protests,” say BSNL officials.

More than six instances of telephone cable thefts have come to the notice in as many past months. But, not a single cable thief has been arrested so far.

New Delhi, December 5
Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit laid the foundation stone of integrated multi-level parking at Baba Kharak Singh (BKS) Marg in the presence of chairman NDMC Parimal Rai and MLA and vice-chairperson Tajdar Babar this morning.

After laying the stone, Dikshit appreciated the venture of NDMC for taking the initiative of constructing such multi-level parkings at three different locations in its area. It would definitely solve the parking problem before and during the Commonwealth Games.

Three multi-level parkings will be developed in the NDMC area to facilitate the vehicle owners. The other two would be constructed at Kasturba Gandhi Marg and Sarojini Nagar.

The lots at BKS Marg and Sarojini Nagar would be constructed by M/s DLF Ltd. and one at Kasturba Gandhi Marg by M/s D. S. Constructions. The project for which foundation is being laid would be the first of its kind in Delhi and would facilitate citizens travelling by Metro as it is in the vicinity of Metro station.

The site is next to police station and adjacent to prominent religious places—Hanuman Temple, Shiva Temple, Bangla Sahib Gurudwara and Church and commercial establishments—Mohan Singh Place Market and State Emporiums. The project based on automatic car parking technology will help in maximum utilization and better workability.

Automated car parking technology is free of human interference and allows parking of more cars within a given area compared to manual parking system. It will be completed in 30 months by M/s DLF Limited on built, operate and transfer (BOT) basis. It would have 10 floors including three for commercial use.

The parking site at K.G. Marg would have capacity of 1582 cars whereas at Sarojini Nagar, it would have capacity of 824 cars. These three sites would be commissioned before Commonwealth Games.

New Delhi, December 5
In a recent meeting of the ‘Federation of Central Universities Teachers’ Associations’ (FEDCUTA) held on DU campus, the FEDCUTA decided to vigorously pursue the issue of attracting and retaining talent in the teaching profession and bring this matter before the UGC pay commission in a forceful manner.

The FEDCUTA meeting expressed concern over the teaching profession coming down the ladder in the preference list of professions, despite the fact that the whole economic and technological progress as well as management of affairs in the nation directly depends on the quality of products of higher education.

It is largely because of the contribution of the products of higher education who have gone abroad that the forex reserves in the country are booming. Moreover, knowledge industry is emerging as the fastest growing economic activity.

Members of the FEDCUTA felt that to attract and retain talent in higher education system so that the system can deliver better, it is essential to create and provide conditions for academic pursuit.

It is a proven fact from study of developed countries that major contributions to research and innovations emerge from university system.

Therefore, there is need to ensure that the working and service conditions of teachers are such which not only attract talent but also help them in pursuing and achieving heights in their academic career.

Office-bearers of the teachers’ associations from Delhi University, JNU, Jamia Millia Islamia, IGNOU, NCERT, Aligarh Muslim University, Jamia Hamdard and Assam University participated in the FEDCUTA meeting.

Meanwhile, Delhi police has asked the citizens to be careful about such unreliable agents, who provide cheap air tickets.