New Delhi, March 7
In their pursuit to stay ahead of men and create a niche for themselves in the competitive economy, most women work for over 60 hours a week, says the Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India (ASSOCHAM).

ASSOCHAM president Venugopal N. Dhoot released the findings. The findings were released on the eve of International Women’s Day.

It highlights that working women, even those who belong to conservative families are supported by their husbands and in-laws to stay late in offices so that they could accomplish their legitimate objectives.

Dhoot said that late stay of working women had become common even in government offices. Why talk of the corporate sector, which provides much higher perks and prerequisites including, higher salaries to efficient working women, he added.

Women working in sectors like – aviation, electronic & print media, hospitality, banking & finance, retail, IT and medicine embrace longer working hours, as these provide a better work culture and a cool working environment.

It is also found that educated women seldom pursue traditional careers such as — teaching, tailoring, weaving or nurturing crèches. They enjoy working in men-dominated areas such as — aviation, engineering and defence.

The reports suggest that men in these sectors would face stiffer challenges from their female counterparts and would have to work harder.

With the expansion of opportunities, competition between men and women is going to be stiffer in future.

Till 2005, most working women did not put in beyond 48 hours of work, as required by the statue. But, with the growing liberalisation and increasing organisational pressures, working women are following their male counterparts and are responding to the new requirements, says the Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India (ASSOCHAM)

New Delhi, March 7
The Delhi government today celebrated ‘Ladli Stree Parv 2008’ on the eve of International Women’s Day at India Gate lawns. The celebration was organised by the newly created department of Woman and Child Development and Delhi Commission for Women.

Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit formally launched the ‘Ladli’ scheme by presenting a deposit receipt of Rs 10,000 to parents of newly born girl child ‘Prachi’ in presence of a large number of women from rural and economically weaker sections of society. These womoen benefit from 45 gender resource centres established by the city-government for empowerment of women.

Dikshit today reaffirmed commitment of her government to ensure equal rights to girls and boys, hence overcoming all practices of discrimination.

Delhi health and social welfare minister Yoganand Shastri, chairperson of the Delhi Commission for Women Barkha Singh, chief secretary Rakesh Mehta, secretary, Department of Woman and Child Development, Jayashree Raghuraman, were also present on the occasion.

While launching the ambitious scheme, Dikshit described it as first of its kind in the country. The scheme is aimed at encouraging education of girl child and making available funds for her higher studies on attaining the age of 18 years. Girl child is no longer a burden on her parents. The ‘Ladli’ scheme would be able to overcome the menace of female foeticide, said the Chief Minister.

The scheme is being implemented in association with State Bank of India. The government would deposit Rs 10,000 in the name of girl child at the time of her birth and subsequently deposit an amount of Rs 5000 each at the time of her admission to 1st class, 6th class, 9th class, 10th class and 12th class.

About Rs 1 lakh would be available to girl child on attaining age of 18 years and at least passing out 10th standard. The amount could be utilised for her igher studies and marriage whatever the case may be. The eligibility conditions for girl child born on or after January 1, 2008, states that the applicant must be a bona fide resident of Delhi for at least three years preceding the date of application, the girl child must have been born in Delhi and the annual income of the parents of the girl child should not exceed Rs 1 lakh. 

New Delhi, March 7
As the world gets ready to celebrate International Women’s Day on Saturday, tens of thousands of Indian women are struggling just to be born. Experts say around one million female foetuses are being aborted in this country every year.

“Nearly one million female foetus are being aborted every year in India, which means around 2,500 girl children are dying every day even before seeing the daylight,” said Punit Bedi, a renowned doctor and activist for the cause of women.

“From abortion of female foetus to high maternal deaths, from anaemia to domestic abuse, the list of sufferings by Indian women is quite long. I think authorities, the civil society and even families are not bothered about women,” Bedi told IANS.

According to the Economic Survey 2007-08, India’s maternal mortality rate per 100,000 live births remains a high 450 as against 45 in China, 58 in Sri Lanka and 320 in Pakistan.

“I think we are competing with some African nations to do worse in all possible areas of women’s health and their survival,” said Sabu George, another renowned activist.

“Female foeticide is a thriving business of medical practitioners in India. In terms of revenue the market size is at least Rs 10 billion. We must say our doctors are involved in mass medical crime,” he argued.

George said the leading medical institute of the country, the All-India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), started sex determination and published a research report in 1975 about this medical miracle.

“The best medical college of India paved the way for the genocide of women. The situation is really sad and I am sure the dropping sex ratio will increase violence against women.

“Some areas of Punjab and Uttar Pradesh are bringing women from other parts of the country for their boys. Women are facing so much trouble with one husband, what will happen when they have more than one man to take care of,” warned the activist, who has been working for women for the last 22 years.

According to the 2001 census, India’s sex ratio is 927 women for 1,000 men. The situation is worse in states like Punjab, Haryana and Delhi.

“The sex ratio is dropping noticeably in Kerala, Jammu and Kashmir and Assam as well. We are heading for a tough time,” he said.

On March 8, the world celebrates International Women’s Day (IWD). In just three years, 2011, the world will see IWD’s Centenary - 100 years of women’s united action for global equality and change.

Expressing concern over the sad state of women in India, women and child development minister Renuka Chowdhury earlier this week has asked men to show courage and save their better halves.

She and a group of other women took an oath that men and women should go around the sacred fire one more time during weddings. The bride and the groom usually go round the fire seven times as part of the wedding rituals.

“Take an eighth round and promise that you will not abet female foeticide,” she said in a programme in the Capital.

Health minister Anbumani Ramadoss had earlier said that he faced a daunting challenge to tackle female foeticide and child mortality on one hand and obesity and lifestyle diseases on the other.

“Maternal mortality, infant mortality and female foeticide are some of the major issues the government and civil society need to tackle with urgency,” Ramadoss had told IANS on the sideline of a function recently. —IANS

New Delhi, March 7
Despite a major power crisis in the Capital today, the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) managed its services efficiently because of proper planning. DMRC spokesperson Anuj Dayal said this today.

He said that the Delhi Metro draws power through sub-stations of Delhi Transco Ltd. They supply power to the DMRC at six locations i.e., on Line-I at Kashmere Gate and Rithala, Line-II at New Delhi and Indraprastha and Line-III at Dwarka and Subhash Nagar.

“The Metro has purposely planned its electricity distribution and management. All six locations are inter-linked. Power supply can be switched from one line to another in emergency,” said Dayal.

The New Delhi and Indraprastha sub-stations get power supply from the Gas Turbine Plant at Indraprastha. Today, when there was a problem in the entire northern grid, the Metro managed to maintain its power supply through the Gas Turbine distribution of Line-2

Faridabad, March 7
The commuters from various points in this district had a bad day today on account of disruption in services of trains which was caused by the failure in north India power grid system.

The power failure took place past 3 am and continued till over 10 am. The problem was on account of EMUs having power-driven engines.

The scene at the railway stations in Faridabad district was one of utter chaos as there are a large number of commuters using EMUs. Many did not know the nature of the power problem. Some kept waiting at the railway station for hours in the hope of resumption of train services.

According to one estimate, more than 20,000 persons use EMUs in the morning.

A special train, run on diesel, was started from Palwal to Delhi. There was virtual stampede in the train at Faridabad as the coaches were packed to capacity. Women suffered most in the maddening crowd. Private buses and three-wheelers had a field day.

New Delhi, March 7
Delhi health minister Yoganand Shastri today instructed health officials to remain vigilant during the coming months in view of meningitis and other respiratory ailments.

According to Shastri, a total number of 74 cases of meningitis were reported in Delhi up to March 2008 while 13 deaths have taken place during this year. Out of the total of 13, six cases were from capital and seven from the neighboring states. He said that all hospitals have been supplied vaccines and advertisements are being given in media for public awareness.

The minister said that the government is taking all preventive steps to keep a check on the spread of meningitis.

All government hospitals have been asked to take all preventive measures and report the cases, he added.

He has also asked the health officials to take all necessary actions to check dengue and distribute chlorine tablets and restrict the sale of open fruits and sugarcane juice.

Greater Noida, March 7
The Greater Noida police have arrested four, including a sharpshooter, in Kasna triple murder case. Three of the arrested are accused of plotting the murders.

A revolver has been recovered from the shooter. All the four have been sent to jail.

According SP Rural, A.K. Vyjeta, the police got a tip-off that four absconding accused of triple murder—Neterpal, Bhupender, alias Bhupi, Brahm Singh and Naresh were likely to visit Emalya village. All of them were arrested in the wee hours of Thursday from Neterpal’s cottage in the jungle of Emalya village.

Naresh is a resident of Lakhnwas, Faridabad, and is the brother-in-law of Manoj who has been arrested in Kasna murder case. He was the shooter in triple murder case. Two cartridges and a revolver have been recovered from him. A murder case is already pending against him in Kasna police station. He is also named in assault on drivers of the deceased. Neterpal, Brahm Singh and Bhupender had planned the murders.

They had planned the transporters’ murders a day in advance. To ward off any suspicion of their involvement in the crime, the three had managed to be sent to jail on the charge of keeping an illegal revolver with the help of an SI of Kasna police. But their name had figured among the accused in police investigations, SP rural said.

Noida, March 7
A man abducted the seven-year-old son of his sister for ransom. After collecting a part of the ransom, the abductor killed the nephew in cold blood and dumped his body in a drain in Dadri.

The police have arrested the accused and charged him with having murdered the boy on Friday. After his arrest, the police were able to recover the boy’s body from the drain.

Atul, the only son of Sehdev in Purani Kheda village under Poorva police station in Unnav district, was kidnapped on February 22. A missing report was lodged in Poorva police station by the family. After three days, a ransom call for Rs 3 lakh was received by the family.

The family left Rs 25,000 at a specific place in Lucknow as told by the abductor. But the criminal insisted on receiving the balance amount. On getting his name and address, an FIR was registered against the kidnapper.

On the basis of his phone calls, police stay put with his relatives in Dadri and Greater Noida. The accused was apprehended on Thursday morning near Dadri railway crossing. When Unnav and Greater Noida police interrogated him, he confessed to his crime. He had been hiding in the jungles of Rupwas village all along, police said.

He confessed to having strangled the child after beating him up. He had kept the child with his companions in a closed factory in Greater Noida. When the abductor realized that he would not get the ransom amount, he strangled the boy with a muffler and dumped his body in a drain. The police have recovered the body. 

Ghaziabad, March 7
About a dozen armed criminals looted a Ghaziabad factory of aluminium lead worth over Rs 4 million at gunpoint on Friday, the police said.

The incident occurred around 1.30 am on Friday in Patel Enterprises, situated on the south side of GT Road Industrial Area, under Kotwali police station of Ghaziabad.

According to the police, unidentified criminals armed with pistols and iron rods barged into the factory and looted it by holding the factory workers and its owner Rajendra Patel at gunpoint.

They took out all stocks of aluminium lead from the factory and loaded it onto a truck, which they brought with them, and fled after locking the workers in a factory room, said the police.

Alleging deterioration in the law and order situation, the entrepreneurs of the area held up the traffic on GT Road. The traffic was restored after the police officers assured the entrepreneurs that the criminals would be arrested at the earliest.

A week earlier, criminals robbed another factory in the same area and killed a security guard. — IANS

New Delhi, March 7
With the arrest of five persons — Yaseen, Har Prasad, Daljeet, Nazir and Satbir, the South District Police has busted a gang of dacoits.

They were arrested while they were planning to loot a gas agency godown at IIT crossing. The five, in their early twenties, were arrested from the IIT flyover under the Arms Act.

Two button-actuated knives, one khukhri, an iron rod, one torch and a bag have been recovered.

According to Anil Shukla, DCP, South Delhi, the Ambedkar Nagar police had received an information that a gang of robbers would assemble near IIT crossing to loot a gas agency godown.

A team led by inspector SP Kukreti, SHO/Hauz Khas was formed. A trap was laid and the five were apprehended at about 7:00 pm.

It was found that Har Prasad worked at the gas agency. He was aware of the fact that the cashier of the godown carried big amount during the evening. He shared this information with Yaseen and formed a gang. Yaseen and Har Prasad visited the site one day ago for recce.

It was found that the arrested were involved in petty crimes.

Noida, March 7
The district courts of Gautam Budh Nagar are likely to become technology-savvy soon. The courts are bracing themselves to hear cases through video- conferencing.

This decision seems to have been prompted by increasing incidents of criminals escaping from police custody when escorted to courts for hearing of cases. The administration is apparently upset by the increasing cases of criminals giving the slip to the cops in court complexes or on way to courts or way back to jails. A decision has been taken to install video equipment in all the courts of the district, it is gathered.

The state administration has taken a decision to equip all the district courts in the state with the facility to hear cases through video-conferences. The High Court administration has been asked to give the proposal and details of expenditure to be incurred in this connection.

District judge S.N.H. Zaidi of GB Nagar has disclosed this. To give practical shape to this proposal, a room is being identified in the court complex for the purpose where equipment like TV and web cameras, etc, will be installed. This cell will be directly linked with a special room in Dasna jail in Ghaziabad where GB Nagar convicts and accused criminals are also lodged. This will obviate the hassle and risk of physically bringing the hardened criminals, lodged in the district jail, to court premises.

Instead the judges concerned will go to this special room and hear the accused in district jail through video- conferencing. As per the High Court administration instructions, the map and plans of video-conferencing room has been sent to administration. On receiving the budgetary grant from the government, this plan will be given a practical shape, the sources said.

New Delhi, March 7
Union minister of state for environment and forests Namo Narain Meena today inaugurated a two-day international workshop on ‘Developing methodology for assessing the enhancement of forest carbon stocks’.

Acknowledging the impact of deforestation on environment, he said that forest and tree cover in India had stablised since 1980s and had shown a steady improvement.

Meena said that India understood the threat of deforestation and had been trying to reduce deforestation at the global level.

“Conservation-oriented forest policies and aforestation programmes help in reducing carbon emissions, stabilisation and improvement of carbon stocks in forests,” he said.

The Joint Forest Management (JFM) helps in increasing the productivity and stock of forests thereby, increasing carbon stocks. There are more than 22 million members in over 100,000 JFM committees. They cover over 22 million hectares of the forest area. Referring to green house gas (GHG) emissions, Meena said that internationally deforestation took place at the rate of 13 million hectares per year. The emission cannot be checked, unless we recognise the policy approaches of conservation, increase in forest cover and reduce deforestation rates.

Meena appealed for a global partnership to make earth a healthier, safer and more productive planet.  Jagdish Kishwan, director general, Indian Council of Forest Research and Education presented an account of the technologies and methodologies used for assessing the enhancement of forest carbon stocks.  Participants from various countries, state forest departments and officials from the ministry of environment and forests attended the workshop. The workshop will conclude tomorrow at noon.