New Delhi, March 13
A class VII student of a government school allegedly committed suicide by hanging himself in his South West Delhi home today, a day after another student ended his life in the same area apparently after failing in the exams.

Ankit, 15, was found hanging from the ceiling fan in his Sector - 2 R.K. Puram home. He was a student of Sarvodaya Bal Vidyalaya.

He was rushed to a nearby hospital where doctors declared him dead. The police said that no suicide note was recovered.

“The victim’s parents told us that Ankit was depressed and was not interacting much with anyone for the past few days. We don’t think exam pressure could be the reason of his extreme step,” assistant commissioner of police (Vasant Vihar) told IANS.

A class VI student on Wednesday had committed suicide by hanging himself in his Vasant Vihar house apparently after failing in his school examinations.

This was the fourth case of a student committing suicide, reportedly due to examination stress, in the Capital in the past two weeks.

An 18-year-old class XI student on Monday allegedly hanged herself in her North Delhi home, while on Sunday a 17-year-old girl committed suicide by hanging herself in her North East Delhi home. She was a class XII student of a government school in the area. — IANS

New Delhi, March 13
If you are blessed with the gift of the gab and a pleasant voice, then add a dash of humour, sensibility and sensitivity and you might be the next best thing on radio.

Radio jockeying has assumed a dynamic and competitive nature since the introduction of nine private FM channels in the Indian Capital. And young enthusiasts are up to it.

“We receive at least two CVs every alternate day. The number of people aspiring to be a radio jockey (RJ) is mind-boggling and increasing each day,” Punit Mathur, station director, Big 92.7 FM, told IANS.

Apurva Purohit, CEO, Radio City 91.1 FM, seconds that. “The business of Indian radio is booming and with time it will only get better. From just playing plain vanilla music with standard radio jockey talk since pre-private FM days, the profession is taking centrestage,” she said.

According to Mathur, it is mostly fresh graduates in the age bracket of 19 to 20 years who desperately seek to join the profession.

Ritika Singh, 20, is attracted by the fame, recognition and sharing of views and ideas associated with the profession.

She said, “I want to become an RJ as it makes a person popular. Besides, I love to talk and share views and ideas. Also, by being an RJ, I can solve people’s problems and counsel them, it will be a bonus for me.” This is what most people seeking a job as a radio jockey say.

But the job entails a lot of hard work along with an alert, liberal and a humorous bent of mind.

“Our profession requires awareness about the surroundings. One has to be abreast of the latest in the city so that a conversation can be struck with the caller immediately,” Archanaa who is an RJ in Mumbai said on phone. She co-hosts ‘Whatte Fun Mornings’ at Mumbai’s Radio City 91.1 FM.

Purohit explained, “Creativity in radio is all about flexibility and fun. On a very broad spectrum other than very profile-specific competencies, we seek people with a passion for music, radio and scriptwriting to be a part of our team.

“A creative bent of mind is a prerequisite. To be successful, one should also have an out-of-the-box approach regarding every issue.”

For this, several media institutes as well as stand-alone training institutes offer training in radio jockeying. To help students nurture their aptitude of becoming radio jockeys, a number of institutes across the country have initiated the concept of community — IANS

New Delhi, March 13
Five Bangladeshis have been arrested here for allegedly drugging and robbing two South Delhi families, which had employed them as domestic servants.

Zasim Ali, 32; Salim Hussain, 32; Mohammed Rafique, alias Raju Dass, 22; Maqsood alias Raju Dass, 19 and a 13-year-old boy were arrested yesterday from their rented accommodation in Kotla Mubarakpur and Begampur areas of the Capital.

They were arrested for robbing retired army Major KC Anand, resident of Greater Kailash - I, last month and three senior citizens and a boy in Sarvodaya Enclave of Malaviya Nagar on March 8.

The police said that investigations revealed that a domestic help named Raju Dass was involved in both cases of drugging and robbing the employing families.

The families had hired the accused without verifying their antecedents and the accused escaped with cash and jewellery within two days of their engagement.

Deputy commissioner of police (South Delhi) HGS Dhaliwal said Zasim Ali, who worked with a registered medical practitioner’s assistant in Bangladesh, was the kingpin of the gang.

Zasim first would select his potential targets — senior citizens and affluent families in need of domestic helps. The gang would befriend their domestic helps by meeting them at tea stalls, milk shops and grocery shops.

“After winning their confidence, Zasim would ask these domestic servants to help one of his associates to get jobs. The kingpin even gave a new name, ‘Raju Dass’, to his accomplices,” Dhaliwal said.

“Within days of their employment, the conmen struck the families by mixing food and drinks with sedatives and drugs,” he added.

According to the police, Zasim brought such drugs from Bangladesh through illegal channels.

The police said the gang was successful in sending some stolen stuff to their acquaintances in West Bengal, but jewellery worth Rs 500,000, two cellular phones, Rs 5,000 in cash, two wrist-watches, one digital camera and some sedative pills were seized from them.

Dhaliwal said that the accused had confirmed their involvement in both the cases. The gang drugged Anand and his two servants at his Greater Kailash - I home on February 17 and had escaped with cash and jewellery worth Rs 2.5 million.

Anand said Raju Dass’s antecedents were not verified with the police and he was hired on the recommendation of his other servant.

The police launched the investigation on March 8 to trace a domestic help, called Raju Dass, for drugging his employer Shankar Lal Goel, 80, his wife Kusum Goel, 75, his sister-in-law Anila Garg, 70, and his grandson Akshay, 17, at their Sarvodaya Enclave home.

The police said that in this case too the family had hired the servant without checking his antecedents.

Parveen Kumar Bajaj reported that he had engaged a domestic help, Raju Dass, in his Sarvapriya Vihar home, early March without police verification. Within two days the servant stole cash and jewellery and escaped. 
— IANS

Ghaziabad, March 13
One man died and a 17-year-old girl sustained serious injuries as a Scorpio jeep collided with a train at a railway -level crossing at Chiranjiv Vihar here on Thursday morning.

According to the police, the Scorpio carrying Nikky and her driver Sonu was going to Sashtri Nagar from Mahrauli.

While they were crossing the railway passage, which is not authorised by the government, the Ala-Hazrat Superfast Express, going to New Delhi from Moradabad, hit their vehicle, Gaziabad police superintendent Vijay Bhushan told IANS.

The passage across the railway tracks has been made by the local residents with mud and concrete for an easy route to Sashrti Nagar.

Sonu died on the spot, while Nikky sustained multiple fractures, including a major hip fracture, said the police.

She was rushed to the Sarvodaya Hospital. The police said she was in a critical condition. — IANS

New Delhi, March 13
The ‘killer’ Blueline buses have claimed yet another life in the Capital, the police said on Thursday.

Suraj, 20, was run over Wednesday night by a Blueline bus in the R.K. Puram area of South West Delhi while he was riding a motor cycle. The bus was on route number 724 plying between Uttam Nagar and Nehru Place.

“Suraj and his cousin were coming on a bike when a Blueline bus hit them near the Moti Bagh gurdwara. Suraj who was driving fell down and came under the rear wheel of the bus,” a police official said.

Both were rushed to the Safdarjung Hospital where Suraj was declared
brought dead.

“Suraj’s cousin is still in the hospital but he is stable,” the official added.

The driver of the bus was yet to be identified as he, like other drivers, fled the spot after the accident.

Suraj was the only breadwinner of the family and worked with an export firm.

Suraj is the 18th victim of the Blueline commuter buses this year. Last year, the recklessly-driven buses had claimed 120 lives on the discipline-defying roads of Delhi. — IANS

The boy was missing since late Wednesday from outside his Kapashera house.
— IANS

New Delhi, March 13
Two nurses of a government hospital were arrested on Thursday for medical negligence that resulted in the death of a six-day-old girl inside an incubator.

“We have arrested Renu Sherwat and Kanta Rani, both nursing staff of the Bhagwan Mahavir Hospital under Section 304-A (culpable homicide not amounting to murder),” deputy commissioner of police (Outer district) Sagarpreet Hooda told IANS.

“Doctors would be arrested only after their negligence is established,” Hooda added.

On Wednesday,the infant was burnt to death inside an incubator before her mother, sleeping in the next ward, could reach her.

According to Ashok Dang, the medical superintendent of the Bhagwan Mahavir Hospital in Pitampura, Northwest Delhi, the baby was born prematurely on March 7.

“The baby had jaundice and was kept inside the warmer. We have suspended both the doctor and the attending nurse and have ordered an internal investigation,” Dang said.

Om Prakash, the father of the infant, had alleged that the hospital staff did not respond to his alarm that the incubator had caught fire due to a probable short-circuit.

Om Prakash, an industrial labour and his wife Kamlesh, are residents of West Delhi. Health Minister Yoganand Shastri announced a compensation of Rs 200,000 to the family of the child. — IANS

New Delhi, March 13
About 100 people on Thursday blocked traffic movement in Southwest Delhi, protesting the alleged custodial death of a young man ,though Delhi Police denied the charge.

Vicky, 22, was allegedly picked up for chain snatching on Wednesday by the Special Staff of Southwest Delhi Police from the Delhi Golf Club, where he worked.

“The police had picked up Vicky from Dhaula Kuan yesterday (Wednesday). They had beaten him up brutally, resulting in his death,” Vicky’s inconsolable mother Babli said.

Vicky was the sole breadwinner for the family. “They had taken him to the Safdarjung Hospital where people said there were bruises on his body,” his sister Suman said.

However, Delhi Police refuted the allegation. “The deceased was found unconscious at Dhaula Kuan from where the police took him to the hospital. He had complained of stomach ache and died at the hospital,” assistant commissioner of police (Delhi Cantonment) Hansraj told IANS.

“An autopsy has been conducted and a magisterial probe has been ordered into the matter,” Hansraj added. — IANS

New Delhi, March 13
A city court on Thursday directed Ashok Jain, an accused in a multi-million-rupee land scam in Northwest Delhi, to surrender before it Friday.

Special Judge Vinod Goel rejected Jain’s application after he cited ill health for extending the interim bail that expires Friday.

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) arrested Jain, a close associate of prime accused Ashok Malhotra, in September.

Jain, who owns a readymade garments showroom in Karol Bagh, is said to enjoy close proximity with senior civic officials.

Malhotra is accused of conspiring with five Delhi Development Authority (DDA) officials and fraudulently acquiring plots in the Dhirpur area that were meant for resettlement of slum dwellers during 2000-02.

The Molarband resettlement scheme included more than 700 plots. Most of them were allotted this year.

The plots were allotted illegally and then sold at high prices, according to
the CBI.

Preliminary investigations have revealed that Jain introduced Malhotra to
Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) officials and struck deals with them on his behalf. — IANS

Faridabad, March 13
The police today arrested nine persons and registered FIRs against more than 200 people in connection with the violence that took place yesterday between slum dwellers and the MCF staff.

The latter had gone to clear encroachments on government land in Khori village here. The MCF demolished over 250 jhuggis.

The operation continued till late in the evening. The JCBs were also called in to clear up the encroachments.

The MCF staff were accompanied by some police personnel. They had to temporarily backtrack when slum dwellers pelted stones on them.

However, more police force was called and the MCF continued the demolition drive amidst violence.

The police resorted to cane-charge and lobbed tear gas shells to disperse the mob. One JCB driver sustained head injuries in the incident.

The slums dwellers allege that the police assaulted them including women. It fired three gunshots in air.

But the police rebuts the charge and maintains that they had to be stopped from resorting to violence and obstructing government work.

The MCF personnel say that the slum owners knew about the illegality of their possessions and had already been asked to vacate the government land.

The MCF has over 170 acres in the village. The land mafia has already sold over 15 acres. Over 400 ‘jhuggies’ lie on the government land.

New Delhi, March 13
Padam Bhushan Ebrahim Alkazi has been presented with the Delhi government Life Time Achievement Award for his distinguished contribution in the field of theatre
and arts.

A citation, shawl and a cheque of Rs.11 lakh were presented to Alkazi by the Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit.

The Delhi government instituted the award in 2004 to be conferred on eminent personalities for their outstanding contribution to the field of music, dance, theatre, visual art and literature.

Alkazi is the third recipient of the award. The earlier recipients were M. S. Subulakshmi in the field of carnatic music in 2004 and Ustad Rahim Fahimuddin Dagar for Dhrupad music in 2007.

Dikshit said, “It was a matter of great pleasure and satisfaction that the Lifetime Achievement Award this year is being given to an outstanding personality in the field of theatre and art Padam Bhushan Ebhrahim Alkazi for his distinguished services in the field of theatre, fine arts and culture on national and international level over a period of five decades. Spirit of dedication, idealism and social responsibility have been Alkazi’s hallmark”.

Alkazi started his career as theatre director in 1950 to 1962 in Mumbai. In 1962 he became the director of National School of Drama. He founded NSD’s Repertory Company and thus developed a taste and sense of responsibility in theatre.

He established many milestones in classical drama, traditional languages and western drama from the Greeks to the present day. Alkazi thanked the Chief Minister for giving recognition to his work and the award.

New Delhi, March 13
Deepalaya, a non-governmental organization working for the underprivileged children, was today awarded the NGO of the year 2007 award in the North India category at a function here.

The award was conferred by the Resource Alliance and the Nand and Jeet Khemka Foundation for promoting accountability and transparency through its various programmes on education, health and community development initiatives.

AJ Philip, president, Deepalaya, received the award from chief guest P Chidambaram, minister of finance and guest of honour NR Narayana Murthy, chairman and chief mentor, Infosys Technologies. Deepalaya was honoured as the regional winner in the medium category.

“It is a delight to see such selfless, devoted people who don’t look at monetary awards but serve humanity and create a better place for people. These awards have encouraged the non profit sector to work towards excellence and other CSOs to enhance their working practices in accordance with national policies.” said Chidambaram.

“This award is in recognition of our working culture and ethics. We will keep up the good work for the development of the society irrespective of any awards. I take this opportunity to thank all our friends and co-workers, who have supported us in this endeavour over these years,” said TK Mathew, secretary and chief executive, Deepalaya.

National awards were conferred to three NGOs, Goonj, the Banyan, Childline Foundation of India and Child Rights and You.

The India NGO Awards were instituted in 2006 as a joint initiative of the Resource Alliance and the Nand and Jeet Khemka Foundation, with an aim to encourage the country’s non-profit sector by promoting financial and organisational sustainability, and strengthening community support of civil society.

New Delhi, March 13
A comprehensive national interactive portal—“Punarbhava.in” that promises to become a window for taking care of the education, communication and rehabilitation needs of persons with disabilities was launched by the Media Lab Asia and Rehabilitation Council of India here yesterday.

Minister of state for communications and information technology, Dr Shakeel Ahmad, launched the web portal.

The portal is categorized mainly into three segments. The first segment will be a National Disability Register that will give statistical information on the disabled population in the country.

The second segment of the portal covers the resources which include available online courses, catalogued knowledge repository of audio video and Braille files in Indian languages, books related to disability and news magazines.

The third segment is proposed to have Grievance Redressal Mechanism through Web Court. In future, this will redress the complaints related to chief commissioner for persons with disabilities, National Trust, Rehabilitation Council of India.

The fourth segment proposes to provide transaction assistance which includes employment opportunity, availability of funds, purchase of Aids & appliances/assistive devices .

Meira Kumar, union minister for social justice and empowerment, who was the chief guest, released the Handbook on Social Welfare statistics - 2007.

The handbook contains schemes and programmes implemented by the ministry of social justice and empowerment as well as other union ministries working for the socially disadvantaged sections during the Tenth Plan period.

Dr. Shakeel Ahmed also released a software—SAFA (Screen Access for All) for the education and computer literacy of visually impaired.

SAFA enables a visually challenged person to operate a computer using text to speech output for Windows environment in English, Hindi, and almost all Indian languages thereby overcoming the barrier of illiteracy.

New Delhi, March 13
The Delhi High Court today directed the Election Commission and the government to strike off from the Capital’s voter lists the names of those whom the home ministry and the police have identified as illegal Bangladeshi migrants.

Justice Gita Mittal, giving the direction to the Election Commission, also asked it to file a status report within three weeks. The Court was hearing a writ petition filed in 2003 on what it said was a large-scale influx of foreign nationals illegally migrating into India from countries like Bangladesh, Afghanistan and Myanmar.

The government informed the Court that it has deported 32,000 illegal migrants to their native countries since 1991, but it failed to explain why their names have not been removed from the voter lists.

The government said that this year it has deported 407 migrants. The petitioner has contended that there were about 500,000 bogus voters in the Capital and the figure has not changed despite the government’s claim to deport so many illegal migrants since 1991. — IANS

New Delhi, March 13
Leader of Opposition in Delhi Assembly Jagdish Mukhi today inaugurated Sanshlation 2008, the 4th annual technical festival of University School of Chemical Technology (USCT), Guru Gobind Singh Indraprastha University (GGSIPU).

REACT and the students’ body of USCT have organised the three-day festival. Events like — technical paper presentation, stock market and poster presentation was held. Sports like cricket and football matches were also held.

A group discussion on ‘Engineers as Managers’ was held. It provided a platform for students to discuss why a large number of engineering students opted for managerial qualifications and jobs.

However, students looked more enthusiastic about the jam session. Some DU students also participated in the events at Sanshlation.

Activities like — biotech quiz, CAT simulation, synopsis presentation, Harry Potter quiz and a quiz based on Harry Potter series would be held during the next two days.

New Delhi, March 13
The DERC seems to have made two mistakes in its last week’s tariff order. One, it has hiked tariff of the lowest-end consumers and has penalised consumers of NDPL and BRPL for the inefficiency of BYPL. It has also imposed a fixed charge on NDMC area consumers.

The stated policy of the union government as regards consumption and billing is that the higher-end consumer will pay more.

That is why the consumption pattern is billed in categories. Higher rates are charged from high consumption consumers.

The lowest slab of Rs 2.40 per unit is for below 200 units, higher slab of Rs 3.90 per unit for 200 to 400 units and the highest slab of Rs 4.60 per unit for above 400 units.

But by ordering an increase of five paise per unit across all three categories, the DERC has ended up charging the lower-end consumer the maximum in percentage terms, while costing the highest-end consumer the least.

Consequently, the new tariff order puts a burden of 2.08 per cent on the consumer consuming less than 200 units, 1.28 per cent on those consuming 200-400 units and only 1.08 per cent on those consuming more than 400 units.

Meanwhile, the DERC has confirmed that NDPL and BRPL would be revenue surplus for 2008 and 2009 financial years. It is the shortfall of Rs 20 crores by the BYPL that has necessitated the tariff increase across the board because it takes the support of uniform tariff policy.

Now the government has without a rationale imposed a surcharge for consumers in NDMC areas. “All it required to rationalise the NDMC issue was a billing head change. There was no need to hike tariff,” said Laliet Kumar, an advocate who has worked extensively on the power issue.

“Clearly, the DERC has lost control,” said Sanjay Kaul, president, People’s Action. “Its decisions are seeming more and more incoherent and its actions erratic and the effect of all this is that the consumer who it was supposed to protect is being fleeced worse than before,” he added.

New Delhi, March 13
The Shiromani Akali Dal Panthak (SADP) today criticised the Delhi government for extending the term of Paramjit Sarna.

The term of Delhi Sikh Gurdwara Management Committee (DSGMC) president Sarna had been extended to two years.

Terming it as a ‘fraud’ on Sikhs, SADP president Manjit Singh warned the government against any interference in their religious affairs.

New Delhi, March 13
The DMRC started tunnel advertising between Kashmere Gate Metro Station and Chandni Chowk Metro Station yesterday.

Initially, the system model is on revenue sharing basis between DMRC and C2E for a period of six months on this section.

According to DMRC spokesperson Anuj Dayal, “This is the DMRC’s latest initiative to earn revenue to pay the Government of Japan loan.”

However, for other underground sections, the DMRC would call for bids from national or international agencies.

“In Phase I, the DMRC already has underground tunnel of 12 Kms which could be used for in-tunnel advertising and another 30 kms of underground tunnel would be added in Phase II,” Dayal adds.