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Every hour, 18 women face brutalities
Delhi can become knowledge hub: Sam Pitroda
Four of family killed in fire
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Murderer held
Tatkal power project launched
RTI session held
Blueline claims another life
Charges framed against 2005 blast accused
Education, politics get short shrift on TV news
Future cities show from tomorrow
BIMTECH summit held
Cabinet approves Project “Jeevan”
India makes it to Asia’s biggest rock show
Chill in air persists
Extortionists held
Himachali Milan held
Bunkers coming up in police stations
Car stolen
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Every hour, 18 women face brutalities
New Delhi, January 14 According to the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB), on an average every hour at least 18 women in the country were victimized in 2006 and more disturbingly, the numbers are swiftly increasing. Among 35 cities with a population of more than one million, the Indian capital topped with 4,134 cases, accounting for 18.9 per cent of the total crimes again women followed by Hyderabad at 1,755 cases. Delhi reported 31.2 percent of the rape cases, 34.7 percent of the kidnappings and abduction cases, 18.7 percent of the dowry deaths, 17.1 percent of cases of cruelty by husbands and relatives and 20.1 percent of the molestation cases. Among states, Andhra Pradesh topped the list of crimes against women with 21,484 cases, accounting for 13 per cent of the total incidents in 2006. Uttar Pradesh was a close second, with 9.9 percent of such crimes. The recent rape case of a British journalist in Rajasthan’s Udaipur city and the molestation of two NRI women in India’s financial capital Mumbai have once again highlighted the need for stronger measures to empower and protect women in the country. Crimes against women have been increasing with each passing day. NCRB reveals an increasing trend of rapes from 2003 to 2006. “Rape incidents reported a substantial increase of 15 per cent in 2004 over 2003, a marginal increase of 0.7 per cent in 2005 over 2004 and an increase of 5.4 per cent in 2006 over 2005,” the report said. A total of 19,348 rape cases were reported in the country in 2006, while the figure was 15,847 in 2005. The report said 8.2 per cent (around 1,593) of the total rape victims were girls below the age of 15 years, while 17.4 per cent (around 3,364) were teenaged girls. Nearly two-thirds (around 11,312) were in the age group 18-30 years. Madhya Pradesh reported the highest number of rape cases, at 2,900. The report suggested that women are unsafe in the company of friends, neighbours and relatives, as in 75.1 per cent cases (around 14,536), the offenders were known to the victims. Parents/close family members were involved in three per cent (431) of the cases, neighbours were involved in 36.8 per cent (5,351) and relatives were involved in 7.6 per cent (1,106). Molestation incidents in the country increased by 7.1 per cent. In 2006, a total of 36,617 cases were reported against 34,175 in 2005, the NCRB report said. And again, Madhya Pradesh topped the list. “Seventeen per cent of the total cases (6,243) were reported from Madhya Pradesh,” the report said. Kiran Bedi, India’s most decorated woman officer who retired in December last year, said at a conference that the loss of ethics and values was the root cause of escalating cases of violence against women. The “police say that crime statistics are dropping but we know that it is not true. Hiding data will not improve the situation, revealing it will. This way we will be able to know where we lag behind,” Bedi added. Another factor troubling Indian women was torture from husbands and relatives, punishable under Section 498-A of the Indian Penal Code (IPC). At least 63,128 such incidences surfaced in 2006 as compared to 58,319 in 2005. The figure was 58,121 in 2004. “Torture cases in the country have increased by 8.2 per cent over the previous year (58,319)— 14.5 percent of these were reported from Andhra Pradesh (9,164),” the report said. NCRB said a total of 7,618 incidents of dowry deaths were reported in 2006, an increase of 12.2 per cent over 2005. Uttar Pradesh with 1,798 cases witnessed the highest number of such deaths, followed by Bihar with 1,188 cases. Uttar Pradesh also topped the list of kidnappings of women, with 2,551 cases. A total of 17,414 cases related to women’s abduction were reported in 2006, an increase of 10.6 per cent as compared to 2005. |
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Delhi can become knowledge hub: Sam Pitroda
New Delhi, January 14 Before visiting the Capital, Pitroda had visited Orissa, Rajasthan and Andhra Pradesh, to convince state governments to implement the NKC recommendations. When asked, how the recommendations would be implemented under resistive attitude of bureaucracy, he said, “We are dedicated to implement the ideas. Country needs them!” Introducing Sam Pitroda, NKC advisor S. Raghunath and former vice-chancellor of Delhi university Prof Deepak Nayyar to the press, Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit said that Delhi was on its way to become the knowledge-Capital of South Asia. She said that all higher education institutes in the Capital would be interlinked. She added that her government would also facilitate regular exchange programmes relating to the curriculum and the faculty. Pitroda also presented a blue print for interlinking all higher education institutes in the Capital to the Chief Minister. Possible measures would be taken to implement the NKC’s recommendations. The initiatives envisaged in the blue print are, a bonanza for the Capital’s youth, Dikshit assured. The blue print includes initiatives related to school education, vocational education and training, higher education, professional education, libraries, development of translation as an industry, English language teaching, national network, e-governance, health information network, traditional health systems, eco system for entrepreneurship.
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Four of family killed in fire
New Delhi, January 14 The fire that originally broke out on the second floor killed four persons of a family, sleeping on the third floor. According to the fire brigade officials, two fire tenders were rushed to the spot to extinguish the blaze. Power was cut in the house, due to the non-payment of bills and, the family had lit some candles that they had forgot to put off, while going to the bed. It might be one of the reasons for the fire. However, the actual cause is yet to be ascertained. |
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Murderer held
New Delhi, January 14 According to the police, Anup, who was hired as a driver by the Mittals, had been missing since Meera’s murder on January 12. The suspect confirmed to have committed the crime. He killed Meera, as she had scolded him several times in the recent past. On the fateful day, Anup went inside the house of the deceased to deposit the keys of the car. He demanded some money from the deceased. When Meera refused to give him the money, he stabbed her several times. Further, the suspect took all cash from Meera’s valet. He also stole the gold jewellery that she was wearing. The police has claimed to have recovered the stolen items along with Rs 13,920. |
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Tatkal power project launched
New Delhi, January 14 The project “Tatkal” offers new connection within 24 hours after submission of application forms by customers. Special camps would be held on the single -window concept. Dikshit said that all hassles in the way of new electricity connections and installation of meters have been removed. The application would be processed and all assistance in documentation including stamp paper and photographs would be provided free. The applicants are required to come only with their ID proof. The customers need not to go anywhere for the payment of demand note because the cashier would be available on-line during the camp. She further stated that pending energy dues on the premises will also not be a hindrance in applying for connection as facility for payment in installments was being offered. The customers from JJ clusters would be able to pay line charges of Rs.1200 in 12 monthly installments and from non-JJ cluster areas, Rs.3000 in 30 monthly installments along with deposit of Rs.350 and Rs.600 ,respectively. She added that this would create an atmosphere of trust and goodwill which would enable customers to apply for new connections in large number resulting in overcoming power theft. This would also accelerate pace of electrification. Dikshit exhorted Discoms to adopt “Power on, Delhi on” concept and strive hard to provide best possible services. She expressed hope that around 40,000 new connections would be released by March 2008. Delhi is all set to become a power surplus state and would add around 6000 MW to its present generation capacity within five years.
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RTI session held
New Delhi, January 14 Chief information commissioner, government of India Wajahit Habibullah, who has been heading the commission since its inception in 2005, delivered the keynote address. Chairperson of the centre, Amita Singh started the session by highlighting the importance of the RTI Act in the present scenario. V.G. Hegde from the centre for international legal studies, school of international studies, JNU chaired the session. He was instrumental in viewing the RTI Act by focusing on the definitional and legal issues concerning the Act. Habibullah clarified definitions of controversial terms included in the Act such as — what is information, public authority, right to information and, also, information not open to disclosure as per the Act. The session ended with the question round.
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Blueline claims another life
New Delhi, January 14 The bus plying on route number 817 knocked down one unidentified man near Nawada metro station. The victim was trying to cross the street when one of the killer buses rammed into him. The man was declared dead after he was rushed to the Deen Dayal Upadhyaya hospital. The driver of the bus has been arrested and a case of rash driving has been registered against him.
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Charges framed against 2005 blast accused
New Delhi, January 14 Alleged accused, Tariq Ahmed Dar, has been booked under Section 121 of the IPC for an attempt to wage war against the state, 121A for conspiracy to commit offences for waging war, 122 for collecting arms for waging war, 120B for criminal conspiracy, 302 for murder, 307 for attempt to murder, Section 4 of the Explosives Act and Section 17-18 of the Unlawful Activities Act. The Delhi police has filed a supplementary charge sheet in the court claiming they had more evidence against the alleged accused. The charge sheet was filed against Tariq after monitoring his calls while he was in conversation with alleged Lashkar-e-Taiba operatives. |
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Education, politics get short shrift on TV news
New Delhi, January14 Political reporting which once dominated news coverage yielded airwaves to sports, entertainment, crime and human interest stories and trivia and comic relief, according to a study by the Centre for Media Studies released last evening. The centre study tracked newscasts on half a dozen channels—DD News, Aaj Tak, NDTV India, Sahara Samay, Star News and Zee News— using September 1-15, 2007 as a point of reference. Among them, it said, the six channels devoted 13,277 minutes to news— 2,528 items, including 69 development stories— compared to 8,323 minutes of commercial breaks. India’s spending on education, planners say, has been on the rise, an indication that the nation may be trying to come to grips with its importance in development. The spending on education by the Centre and states grew from 7 per cent of the total public spending during the Tenth Five Year Plan to over 20 per cent during the 11th plan, an official said. The coverage of education and related matters on the six channels in 2005, 2006 and 2007 fell from an already low 1.6 per cent to 0.9 per cent and 0.71 per cent ,respectively, the centre study showed. A centre analysis said the channels’ handling of news underwent ‘’a radical transformation’’— not only in terms of ‘’definition and content, but also in the manner in which it is presented.’’ A rise in comedy and so-called ‘reality shows,’ the emergence of trivia in news and, most significantly, the end of political news dominance, ‘’is the face of the news channels today.’’ It said TV news today is no longer political but more augmented with sports, entertainment, and crime stories. The time spent on political news in the year 2007 was down by more than 50 per cent, as compared to 2005— from 23.1 per cent in 2005 to 10.09 per cent in 2007. Coverage of sports, entertainment, crime and human-interest news ‘’more than doubled— from 27.9 per cent in 2005 to 53.1 per cent in 2007,’’ the centre said. It said the coverage of agriculture, education, health and environment remained insignificant. ‘’the relevance of content in news has obviously seen a decline, with stories of ghost hunting, celebrity tracking on the rise.’’ The centre said the portrayal of trivia in news ‘’has made’’ such market followers as India TV and Star News market leaders now and the repeated use of ‘breaking news’ and ‘exclusive’ rendered such terms meaningless. “The focus of the news and its interpretation is lacking,’’ the centre analysts noted. Sensationalising the most trivial issues and sidelining serious national and international issues was helping make news shows entertaining rather than enlightening or informative, the centre indicated. Instead of the field, shows were relying more often on studio discussions interspersed with video clips, graphics, features or dramatisation, which make for an ‘’easy’’ and ‘’cost effective’’ bulletin. Imitations are on the rise, with each channel having virtually the same thing to say or show— leaving viewers little choice of content. Competition, instead of improving, appeared to have a deteriorating effect, as evidenced in a fabricated “sting’’. The centre cited the missing rural India and only slightly better-covered small towns— with Delhi and Mumbai still accounting for more than 50 per cent of the news. — UNI
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Future cities show from tomorrow
New Delhi, January 14 The project designs on display will be focusing on the future redevelopment of the international zone within the Commonwealth Games 2010 site in Delhi. The annual forward-looking ‘Future Cities India 2020’ design competition, which was launched by the Ministry of Science and Technology and Bentley in 2006, is a partnership among the government of India, universities, and the business community that encourages high school students to use their design skills and Bentley’s software for the world’s infrastructure, to help prepare India’s cities for the year 2020. That is when it is estimated that more than 50 per cent of India’s citizens will live in the country’s largest cities. “This year’s wonderful exhibition of Future Cities India 2020 project designs not only highlights the talent of our student participants, but also shows the effort put forth by their dedicated teachers and technical mentors,” said Mr Kapil Sibal, the minister for Science and Technology and Earth Sciences ,in an interaction with the media. “We continue to expand the programme to encompass an ever-wider range of students, who are the future of India and will potentially be served by the very ideas they create for this competition,” said Sibal. Bhupinder Singh, the senior vice president, Bentley Software, said, “Hosting the Commonwealth Games is an added boon to India’s rapidly growing economy. But how the infrastructure is repurposed when the games are over is a critically important question faced by virtually every city that has ever held an international event of this scope. This year’s Future Cities India 2020 programme is special because it puts that question’s answer in the hands of India’s creative young minds and involves the community at large. The exhibition featuring their innovative ideas to this very real challenge is something everyone in Delhi and the surrounding region will find fascinating. The designs are not only imaginative, but also reveal an amazingly in-depth understanding of the complexities that typically must be addressed in these types of infrastructure projects.” The 2007-2008 design competition, includes teams of 11th grade high school students from Delhi and the National Capital Region. Guided by teachers and industry mentors, the teams were asked to conceptualize a plan to redevelop the international zone of the Commonwealth Games 2010, which will consist of temporary structures that will be dismantled at the conclusion of the Games. Using Bentley software, provided through Bentley’s BE Careers Network program, each team had to consider the impact on the neighboring residential community and environmental concerns in their design. Winners will be awarded scholarships and trophies, and the teachers and technical professionals who served as counselors and mentors will also receive awards and recognition. |
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Minor dies in slum fire
Gurgaon, January 14 The fire broke out in an illegal colony on the HUDA land on Delhi Road near Prem nagar, on Sunday midnight. The fire reportedly started from the back of the slum area and spread rapidly to the other jhuggis. Around 250 clusters were completely gutted. The wind and combustible material used in jhuggis helped the fire spread. The fire was followed by a stampede, as residents ran for safety. By the time the chief fire officer’s team reached the spot 100 clusters were gutted. The leaping flames were doused after a two-hour exercise by a fleet of 20 fire tenders. Gurgaon police commissioner Mohinder Lal along with the DCP east and DCP west Satinder Kumar Gupta and Rakesh Arya respectively reached the site of incident to monitor the controlling of fire to spread to other areas. The residents of the colony blamed Uma Shanker ,a resident of Prem Nagar ,forcausing the fire. After the fire was controlled ,residents pelted stones at the residence of Uma Shanker. Another fire also broke out at midnight at Chakarpur village behind Sahara Mall in Ambedkar Colony, in which around 100 clusters were gutted. Fire officials heard several blasts of LPG cylinders which intensified the fire .As a result it took firemen more than three hours to control the fire .Most of the colony was razed. Deputy commissioner Rakesh Gupta said that except one death no major injury was reported in both the incidents. The cause of fire was being investigated.
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BIMTECH summit held
New Delhi, January 14 The summit provided a platform to students and faculty of BIMTECH to interact with guest speakers. H. Chaturvedi, director, BIMTECH, said, “We are holding the third HR summit. We believe that a confluence of the best minds from the industry and the academia is essential to bring the future HR challenges in focus. Human Resource Management is very challenging. Therefore, we need to provide such platforms on a continuous basis, as it would help in managing the complexities that govern human behavior in an organisation.” Santrupt B Misra, director, Aditya Birla Management Corporation Ltd, said, “Today, organisations need innovators. The winning formula is that we have to create more professional and intellectual freedom,” he added. Two plenary sessions and a panel discussion on topics like — Future of HR: Emerging Trends, Integrating Human Capital for Organisational Excellence and Making Differences Work: Managing Workforce Diversity took place in the summit. The guest of honour, Padma Shree Pritam Singh, professor of eminence, MDI said, “HR is the ingredient, without which an organisation is incomplete. HR is not primarily restricted to the four walls of the HR department, but is spread across all departments in an organisation.” Ashok Grover, chief human resource officer, JBM Group, said, “Re-designing, re-engineering, re-constructing and now re-imagining is playing a vital role in handling organisations.” Rajesh Sehgal, AVP-HR, Infotech Enterprises and Monica Mudgal, VP - HR, Max New York Life Insurance Co were the other speakers in the session. R. J. Masilamani, former MD of TIMEX India chaired the session. Talking about the importance of integrating human capital for organisational excellence, Shalini Sarin, head, HR, Cairn Energy, said, “Development of HR network depends on focussed campus placement and streamlined summer internships, followed by a robust and rigorous selection process.” Narendra Nath Akhouri, senior VP - HR, Hero Honda Motors gave insights on the issue. He also shared his views on the existing trend in human capital management. “You can shop for plants and machinery across the globe, but may find extremely difficult to find a talent that will fit in your organisation”, he added. Biju Sebastian heading the Corporate HR of Salora International added value to the discussion. Sumit Chaudhuri said, “Companies face a lot of conflict while hiring talent. And, to reduce these conflicts, companies need to hire people with different skills.”
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Cabinet approves Project “Jeevan”
New Delhi, January 14 Sheila Dikshit said that her government was committed to provide hassle-free services through “Jeevan” kiosks which would offer single -window facilities. Twenty three departments and 104 services have been identified to be brought under the “Jeevan” project.To start with 45 priority services would be made available through “Jeevan” computerised citizen service centres with on-line payment gateway facility. This would create integrated citizen service centres that can be used as a shared delivery infrastructure by all government agencies and some businesses. It’s aimed to enhance the speed, convenience, transparency and responsiveness by facilitating citizens’ interaction with government and creating a unified interface for all government services.
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India makes it to Asia’s biggest rock show
New Delhi, January 14 The band to win the debut ticket to Taiwan is Silver from Pune, a four-member ensemble, which plays a mixed genre of ‘experimental’ British new wave rock, jazz, funk, heavy metal and classic rock. The Asian Beat, sponsored by the Yupangco Music Corporation and Yamaha Corporation, both of Japan, is an annual event that showcases the best of modern rock from Singapore, Japan, China, Hong Kong, Malaysia, Indonesia, Taiwan and Philippines. The winner carries home a booty of $50,000. This event will be held March 9 in Taiwan. Last year, the event was held on March 17 in Kuala Lumpur. “Asian Beat promotes new sounds from across the continent, which has a lot to do with experimentation,” said a senior Yamaha Corporation representative. Silver beat seven bands from across the country in the final round of the Yamaha Roxx at Pragati Maidan here on Saturday, where at least 3,000 people braved the January chill to hear them play. The grand finale of Yamaha Roxx featured seven bands from Kolkata, Chennai, Hyderabad, Pune, Mumbai, Bangalore and Delhi, after several preliminary regional screenings. The Yamaha Roxx, launched in 2006 by the company, is a “rocktainment platform” for contemporary bands from India to express their “creativity” on a pan-Asian stage. Yahama Corporation is one of the world’s largest manufacturers of music kits, apart from motorbikes. “Rock music goes well with our brand image. And, I think India has great potential in rock music and we are promoting new groups from the country,” Sanjay Tripathy of Yamaha Motors told IANS. The four-month-old Silver, a quartet of four young but experienced rockers from Pune, is represented by Rishi (on the bass guitars), Sebastian (lead and rhythm), Mahesh (vocals) and Amit (on the drums). “It feels a bit overwhelming to win Yamaha Roxx 2008 and to represent the country for the first time in the Asian Beat. But we are confident of making India proud,” said Rishi, a software professional and a native of Mirik in Darjeeling, northern West Bengal. Rishi, the oldest and the most experienced of the group, has played with several bands like the Kolkata-based Cyanide Angels and Carnage. He is the creative force behind Silver - the man who put the band together. Recalling the birth of Silver, Rishi told IANS, “After coming to Pune nearly a year ago, I wanted to put together a band. I chanced upon Mahesh, my brother’s friend, because he was looking for a band and I was looking for a vocalist.” Mahesh, an Ozzie Osborne fan, had posted his “ad” online. “We teamed up,” said the young student. Guitarist Sebastian and drummer Amit, both from Pune and who jammed together on the guitar and drums as kids, got in touch with the rest. And Silver was born. — IANS
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Chill in air persists
New Delhi, January 14 The next couple of days could witness some abatement in the chill, with weathermen forecasting a rise in the minimum temperature. |
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Extortionists held
New Delhi, January 14 Complainant Chattarbhuj Garg has been receiving threat calls since January 7 from Saurabh Sharama and Bunty. The two had demanded Rs 5 lakh from him and had warned him of dire consequences, if he failed to deliver the money. The suspects had asked the complainant to come with the required sum on Sunday near Udhan Park in Dwarka. A trap was laid and the two were nabbed. The suspects have admitted their guilt. |
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Himachali Milan held
New Delhi, January 14 A large number of Himachalis living in the national Capital attended the function. Folk songs and dance of Himachal Pradesh marked the ceremony. |
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Bunkers coming up in police stations
Ghaziabad, January 14 SP City, Vijay Bhushan said sand bags have been placed near the bunkers near the main gate and building of police stations to reinforce the bunkers. SOs of police stations have been instructed that these bunkers should be properly guarded. Security personnel on duty have been ordered to guard the buildings. According to SSP Deepak Rattan, orders have been issued to construct these bunkers in rural police stations as well as at other sensitive spots in the area. All necessary steps will be taken to ensure the security and safety of police personnel, police stations, sensitive places and the general public, the SSP added. |
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Car stolen
Noida, January 14 Alman, a senior executive of a multi-national company ,had come to the hotel for a lunch with his family and friends. The car (No DL 3 CE -1294 ) was parked near the hotel. Driver Ram Lakhan was sitting in the car. Three men accosted him and ordered him to do their bidding at revolver point. |
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New Delhi, January 14
New Delhi, January 14
