 |
|
|
Nursery forms refused to EWS aspirants
BSES strengthens system
Clean fuel, air : CSE endorses govt move
|
|
|
Cold, dank weather has Delhi shivering
Chill pierced deeper even during the day in the Capital on Thursday.
— Tribune photo by Manas Ranjan Bhui
Disabled employees entitled to reservation in promotion: HC
Motiabind Mukti Abhiyan launched
CRY for focus on children
Delhi reminds court of judicial overreach remark
Man defrauds mother for land
Golf fest concludes
Principal’s murder: Suspect held
Bus mows down minor, injures father
Church construction obstructed
File on land relief missing
Kidnapped girl rescued
Wali Ullaha case: Advocate refuses to plead
IMD to get high-end hardware
Woman raped
Girl ends life
|
|
Nursery forms refused to EWS aspirants
New Delhi, December 13 As per the government rules, schools that have received land from the Delhi Development Authority (DDA) or any other government agency will have to reserve 15 per cent of their seats for students belonging to the EWS category. Three hundred and ninety-seven schools in the Capital come under the rule. Out of the 15 per cent reserved seats, a school will have to give five per cent seats in pre-school to children of its members and 10 per cent to the EWS students. Many schools are denying registration forms to parents. Parents are being told that no more forms are available. Education minister Arvinder Singh Lovely said that deputy directors of all zones have been directed to address the grievances of parents on all working days from 9 am to 10 am at their zonal offices. Complaints related to the EWS cell could be filed at the freeship cell. Lovely said, “If any school denies admission in the reserved category for invalid reasons, we will take strict action against them.” Academic experts have advised parents from the EWS category to fill the maximum number of forms. If schools deny registration forms to parents, they can download it from the website of the education department or the respective school. The directorate has instructed schools to issue standardised registration forms for pre-school and pre-primary admissions.
|
|
|
BSES strengthens system
New Delhi, December 13 He said, “We are committed to supply twenty-four hours quality electricity to our honest consumers.” Load shedding would occur in high-theft prone areas (where theft is over 60 per cent) on a rotational basis, keeping in view our honest consumers. This would be done as part of the BSES’ Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) programme, so as to benefit the honest consumers. Sixty per cent power theft is reported from Najafgarh, Jaffarpur, Molarband Extn, Badarpur, Batla House, Okhla Vihar, Sarai Kale Khan, Hari Nagar, Ashram, Madangir, Tughlakabad Extn, Sainik Farms, Bijwasan, Bhatti Mines, Saidullajab, Khirki Extn, Chandan Holla, Mundka Village, Ranhola, Bagdola, Hiran Kunda, Kamruddin Nagar, Peeragarhi, Syed Nangloi and
Khyala. |
|
|
Clean fuel, air : CSE endorses govt move
New Delhi, December 13 In a press release issued today, the CSE said that the Delhi government had recently demanded cleaner fuels and vehicle standards for the NCR, or restraints on diesel car growth in the region. Analysis of the CSE’s new emissions data show that even Euro III diesel cars spew several times more toxic emissions. Investigations carried out by the CSE,
based on the actual emissions data available from the Pune-based Automotive Research Association of India, expose enormous differences in the actual
emission levels of Euro III (Bharat Stage III) diesel and petrol cars that are currently sold in Delhi and other major Indian cities. According to the CSE, Euro III diesel cars emit 7.5 times more toxic particulate matter (PM) than petrol cars. This means, one diesel car is equal to adding 7.5 petrol cars to the car fleet in terms of PM emissions and three petrol cars in terms of NOx emissions. Total air toxics from a diesel car that are very harmful and carcinogenic are seven times higher than petrol cars. Diesel-related emissions are already very high in Delhi’s air. It is a matter of concern that the monthly average levels of tiny particulates, smaller than 2.5-micron (PM2.5), that go deep inside lungs, have hit a dizzying height of 245 microgram per cubic metre in Delhi. The daily peaks can be at more than 600 microgram per cubic metre. The WHO has said that there is no safe level for PM. Studies in the US show that even at very low concentrations and with an increase of only 10 microgram per cubic metre, PM2.5 is associated with significant increases in health risks like —asthma, lung diseases, chronic bronchitis and heart damage. Long-term exposure can cause lung cancer. The levels of nitrogen dioxides (NO2) are also spiraling and daily levels have hit 300 microgram per cubic metre. Both these pollutants dominate diesel exhaust emissions, the CSE added. The CSE says that the new study and more clinching evidence prove immediate harmful effects of diesel emissions. The study ‘Respiratory Effects of Exposure to Diesel Traffic in Persons with Asthma’ (The New England Journal of Medicine, December 6, 2007) has specifically investigated the link between asthma and diesel exhaust. It says that diesel exhaust fumes on polluted streets have a measurable effect on people with asthma. The International Agency for Research of Cancer (IARC), the WHO and the United States Environmental Protection Agency have classified diesel emissions as carcinogenic. Even low carbon emissions and greater fuel efficiency advantages of diesel cars are shrouded in doubt. Diesel cars are popular for their greater fuel efficiency and lower heat-trapping carbon emissions. The ARAI data show that Euro III Indian diesel cars emit 1.2 times less carbon dioxide than their petrol counterparts. But even this benefit is at risk of
being negated, as diesel has more carbon content than petrol. If more diesel fuel is burnt, the heat trapping carbon emissions will increase. Moreover, even the carbon soot from diesel vehicles are now implicated for global warming.” Studies carried out in the UK have shown that between 1996 and 2005, the amount of fuel used for each 100 km driven by new cars decreased by 6 per cent due to improvements in efficiency. Yet, emissions of carbon from private cars rose by 4 per cent due to increased distances traveled by car, which rose by 10 per cent. At the same time, PM10 emissions that initially reduced by 29 per cent due to improvement in technology slowed down subsequently, as the improvements was offset by the increased use of diesel cars. Action plan
Introduce ‘clean’ diesel technology that runs on diesel with sulphur content less than 10 ppm and is fitted with advanced emissions control devices. Remove price incentive for diesel cars. Equalise fuel taxes and prices. Levy higher taxes on diesel to prevent the use of cheap and poorer quality of diesel in cars, and persuade people to consider cleaner alternatives. |
|
|
Cold, dank weather has Delhi shivering
New Delhi, December 13 Though everyone experienced the bite, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) had a different take on the weather. “The minimum temperature today was 9.7 degrees Celsius, which was two degrees above normal. The maximum was, however, four degrees above normal at 19.6 degrees Celsius,” an IMD official told IANS. The chill in the air, according to the official, was because of the northwesterly winds. “We are expecting the minimum temperature to dip to eight degrees Celsius on Friday,” the official said. For Sagar Sharma, a resident of South Delhi, the cold weather made him put on extra woollens. “When I woke up this morning I thought that the temperature must have dipped to at least four degrees Celsius. I had to wear two sweaters and a woollen cap to shield myself against the cold,” he said. On Sunday, Delhi experienced its lowest temperature of the season with the mercury touching 6.8 degrees Celsius. — IANS
|
|
|
Disabled employees entitled to reservation in promotion: HC
New Delhi, December 13 A division bench comprising Justice A K Sikri and Justice Vipin Sanghi held that it would be against the spirit of the Disability Act, if the disabled were deprived of the benefit of reservation in promotion. “We have to ensure that persons suffering from disability also grow in stature and, for this reason, reservation is provided in the employment limiting the same only at the induction level and not in the promotion would be totally unjust,” the bench observed. The court was hearing a matter related to Jagmohan Singh, with 55 per cent disability, employed in the Railways since 1972, but was denied promotion to the post of chief office superintendent despite repeated representations by him. The railway authority turned down his plea by saying that reservation cannot be granted in promotion and it was only provided at the initial stage of recruitment. It further said that in view of the special nature of job and safe carriage of goods and passengers, the disabled employee could not be promoted. Singh, then approached the central administrative tribunal, which pulled up the government for its discriminatory approach and directed it to consider his promotion. The Centre challenged the tribunal’s order in the High Court, which upheld it’s order. The Court, while dismissing Centre’s petition, termed the government decision as “arbitrary” and “irrational”. — PTI
|
|
|
Motiabind Mukti Abhiyan launched
New Delhi, December 13 Expressing the government’s commitment to make Delhi a cataract-free city, Dikshit said that 500 centres had been set up in various parts of the Capital to operate and treat over 4,000 and 40,000 patients respectively. The Chief Minister informed that over 24,000 cataract patients had been operated, free of cost, under the aegis of the programme, in the past decade. She informed that the government was also running ophthalmology centres in various rural areas of the Capital like Barwala and Narela. Health minister Yoganand Shastri said that patients who had got their names registered under the Abhiyan would be treated free of cost at any of the 40 designated hospitals that are managed by the central or state government, the MCD, the NDMC, the ESI or the NGOs. He added that The health department had been monitoring the functions of the participating agencies including activities like — identification of centres, providing necessary inputs to run screening centres, identification of nodal officers and helping in the distribution of the IEC material and information.
|
|
|
New Delhi, December 13 Exactly 15 years after India signed the United Nations Child Rights Convention (UNCRC), Ila D. Hukku, director, development support and youth and volunteer action of CRY, said that child rights is increasingly being pushed into isolation. Although the nation prides itself over a high economic growth, every year, when it comes to children, we fall short on every front, be it education, health or protection, he said at a press conference on Tuesday. “Why is that children are never in the purview of the policy makers? Do plans on urban planning or housing not affect children? It’s time that that the state starts concentrating on children and keep their needs in mind during policy making,” Hukku told IANS. The CRY has a list of demands for the government. “We demand that there should be an increase in government expenditure on education for children. Expenditure on education should be increased to 10 per cent and health to five per cent of the GDP. “All children between the age group of six to 18 years should, without discrimination, be in formal, full-time schools that provide quality education,” Hukku said. Besides this, the CRY also demands that there should be redrafting of the free and compulsory education bill to remove sanctions on parents. Concerned governments should be penalised for the failure to provide free and compulsory education to all. “Also, there should be formulation and implementation of a comprehensive rights based policy on food security for all with legal safeguards, so that no child goes to bed hungry and no child is born underweight and undernourished,” Hukku added. — IANS
|
|
|
Delhi reminds court of judicial overreach remark
New Delhi, December 13 Additional Solicitor General (ASG) Amarender Kumar Sharan pointed out the technical viability of building an elevated corridor for the Metro rail in south Delhi and told the bench: “This is a policy decision and the court should not intervene into it.” A bench comprising Justices T.S. Thakur and Veena Birbal sought an explanation from the central government for building an elevated Metro corridor instead of tunnelling it underground. “Ideally it should be underground, so that it does not (intrude) the privacy of people. What is the actual reason for it? Is it because of time constraint or financial crunch?” the bench asked. “We can understand if the project was passing through an undeveloped area. But we are dealing with a case where the elevated corridor will pass through well-established colonies,” it said. In reply, the ASG explained the benefits of this project. “Delhi Metro is going ahead with this project for the welfare of the people and not for its own personal interest,” he said. However, he assured the bench that the objections raised by south Delhi residents will be taken care of. The bench was hearing a public interest litigation (PIL), filed by residents of the south Delhi colonies that fall on the route of the Metro’s proposed elevated corridor. The petitioners have sought the court’s direction to stop the construction on the ground that it would create noise pollution and interfere in their private lives. The elevated corridor of 4.5 kilometres is being constructed between the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium and Kalkaji colony and would pass through Jangpura, Kailash Colony, Defence Colony, Lajpat Nagar and Greater Kailash.
— IANS |
|
|
Man defrauds mother for land
Greater Noida, December 13 The man is reported to have sold the land to a Hi-Tech city developer. When old woman went to Dadri Kotwali to lodge a complaint about it, she was allegedly threatened and shooed away by the policemen. Now on the orders of a court , the Kotwali police has registered a case against her son and two others for having defrauded her. Brahm Singh, a resident of Dujana village had been pressurizing his family members for selling the family land to the developer. The land was in the name of his mother Sammer Pyari who was not in favour of selling the family land. So son Brahm Singh came up with a clever plan in connivance with village realtors, Prem Singh and Brijesh. All of them took Sammer Pyari to Dadri Tehsil in March 2006 on the pretext of getting her a loan sanctioned on the basis of her land. |
|
|
Golf fest concludes
New Delhi, December 13 The second Golf Festival like the one held in February rejuvenated golf lovers. The tournament was kick-started by the four ball comprising SC Tripathi (former petroleum secretary), Vijay Shankar (CBI chief), Manoranjan (former secretary, steel) and VK Misra (former secretary, defence & finance). Oil India CMD with his team represented the Oil India Ltd.Many eminent bureaucrats, CEOs and diplomats attended the festival. Prominent among them were Sanjiv Misra (secretary, expenditure), Vijay Shankar (DCBI), P V Bhide (secretary, revenue), A Razdan (secretary, power), S R Mehra (secretary, security), Ravi Dhingra (chief secretary, HP) and Ashok K Nigam (commissioner, MCD).
|
|
|
Principal’s murder: Suspect held
New Delhi, December 13 The police learnt that one boy involved in the murder of Chandar Prakash Gupta has been hiding in the Nizamuddin area. It was found the suspect was going to meet some friends in the Rajdoot Hotel. On interrogation he confessed to his involvement in the murder. The conspiracy was hatched by two professors, one clerk, some senior students and pass -outs from the college. On November 22, the victim was out for his morning walk, when the suspects and stabbed him to death. The murder was committed to avenge the rustication of some senior students from the college. The Uttar Pradesh police has been informed about the arrest.
|
|
|
Bus mows down minor, injures father
New Delhi, December 13 The accident occurred near Tihar Jail when Yogender, driver of the DTC bus, plying on route no.721, between Kashmiri Gate and Manglapuri, while trying to overtake a Blueline bus, rammed into the motorcycle which the father and son were riding, the police said. Vicky Thappa was injured while his son, Tilak Thappa, 11, came under the wheels of the bus and was killed. The accident took place around 2.30 p.m. The father and son were taken to the Deen Dayal Upadhyay Hospital, where Tilak was declared brought dead. The police have arrested the driver and have impounded the bus. “We have registered a case of negligence and rash driving against the driver,” said an official of the Mayapuri police station. Nearly 3,000 DTC buses ply on the Capital’s roads everyday. These buses have been involved in over 30 fatal accidents this year. — IANS
|
|
Church construction obstructed
New Delhi, December 13 The miscreants broke the machines, generator set and scattered the building material. They ruffed up the foreman and threatened of thrashing the labourers, if they were seen again on the site. The DMC member representing the Christian community, Arnold James, condemned the incident saying that India is a secular country, where every person has right to worship according to his religion. Every community has the right to construct its religious place. Demolishing or stopping the construction of the religious building is an offence. He demanded that security personnel should be deployed to protect labourers.
|
||
|
File on land relief missing
Greater Noida, December 13 About two months ago, Chief Minister Mayawati had announced in public that her government would increase the rate of compensation for farmers’ land acquired in Greater Noida and adjoining areas. For this purpose a team, under divisional commissioner Meerut was to be set up within 15 days. This committee would recommend a remunerative land compensation rate, keeping all factors in view. The rate recommended would be approved by the government and thus become official rate of land compensation for farmers’ land. The file which was sent to Lucknow by GNIDA had to pass through various departments in Lucknow before the final decision. Two days back GNIDA learnt that the file was missing. The farmers had refused to part with their land on the present rate of compensation given by the Greater Noida Authority. |
||
|
Kidnapped girl rescued
New Delhi, December 13 Sonu was seen with the child the last
time. He was nabbed at the Anand Vihar bus terminal along with the child. Sonu was working as a bus conductor met the child’s mother. They both exchanged addresses and kept in touch. Subsequently, the two developed a relationship. He started pressing her for marriage and leave her husband. He is said to have kidnapped the girl to force her to give in to his demand. |
||
|
Wali Ullaha case: Advocate refuses to plead
Ghaziabad,December13 Advocate Kanwar Ayub Ali refused to plead the case. To enable the accused Wali Ullaha to arrange his advocate, the court has fixed the next date for the case January 10,2008. Even the statements of three witnesses could not be recorded on Wednesday. According to DGP S.C. Tyagi ,a bomb was found at Dashash Manch Ghat at the time of bomb explosion in the Sankatmochan temple in Banaras in March 2006. |
||
|
IMD to get high-end hardware
New Delhi, December 13 The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs today set aside Rs 9.2 billion for a two-year period to help the IMD establish an end-to-end forecasting system. In the first phase of the modernisation plan, the IMD will disseminate forecast products at the district level, particularly for use by the farming community and better planning for disaster management and agro advisories. More tailor-made products for different sectors like — civil aviation, tourism, agriculture, power generation and hydrological purposes are also being planned. The new systems will help in more accurate monitoring and warnings for severe weather events like — thunderstorms, dust storms, gale, winds, and heat and cold waves. |
||
|
Woman raped
New Delhi, December 13 According to the complainant, she had checked in a room in Bangalore with the help of a taxi driver. Later, two men barged inside her room and allegedly drugged her. Victim has claimed that she was raped subsequently and was photographed as well. Meanwhile, the police has registered her complaint and verified the facts. The victim has been sent for a medical examination. |
||
|
Girl ends life
New Delhi, December 13 The deceased was rushed to the Deen Dayal Hospital after she started vomiting in the night. She disclosed that she had consumed poison and succumbed after a while. The body of the deceased has been sent for post -mortem and the cause of suicide is yet to be ascertained.
|
||
|
4 hurt in blast
New Delhi, December 13 |
||
|
| HOME PAGE | |
Punjab | Haryana | Jammu & Kashmir |
Himachal Pradesh | Regional Briefs |
Nation | Opinions | | Business | Sports | World | Mailbag | Chandigarh | Ludhiana | Delhi | | Calendar | Weather | Archive | Subscribe | Suggestion | E-mail | |
New Delhi, December 13
The second Oil India Golf Festival was held at the Qutab Golf Course in Lado Sarai here last week.
The second Golf Festival like the one held in February rejuvenated golf lovers.
The tournament was kick-started by the four ball comprising SC Tripathi (former
petroleum secretary), Vijay Shankar (CBI chief), Manoranjan (former secretary,
steel) and VK Misra (former secretary, defence & finance).
