New Delhi, April 4
A 56-year-old doctor has been arrested for allegedly beating up a woman and her relatives when they vandalised his hospital for its refusing to hand over the body of a boy without autopsy, the police said on Friday.

According to the police, a group of 15-20 people ransacked the privately-run Shakuntalam Hospital and manhandled its director Janakraj Dhami on Wednesday for refusing to hand over the body of a five-year-old boy, Suraj who was killed in an accident, without a post-mortem examination.

Suraj was admitted to the Shakuntalam Hospital, in Dabri area of southwest Delhi on Tuesday after a speeding motorbike knocked him down in Janakpuri area. The boy died on Wednesday. His parents asked the doctors for his body to conduct the last rites. But the doctors refused to do so without a post-mortem examination, which is a legal requirement in cases of accidents.

A heated argument ensued between the parents and the hospital authorities, which took an ugly turn.—IANS

New Delhi, April 4
The Supreme Court has upheld the death penalty awarded to a youth who killed three teenaged siblings of his friend a decade ago despite living with them for four years like a family member. A bench of justice PP Naolekar and justice Lokeshwar Singh Panta ruled that enormous crimes like multiple murders must entail death sentence.

Ratifying the death sentence for Prajeet Kumar Singh of Bettiah town in West Champaran district of Bihar, the bench said, “The murder was committed for a motive which evinces total depravity and meanness.” It fell in the category of “the rarest of the rare” cases, fit for death penalty, it added.

In April 1998, Prajeet went berserk at the dead of the night at the place of his friend Prakash, slaughtering his younger brother Deepak, 16, sister Kiran, 15 and cousin Pooja, 8.—IANS

New Delhi, April 4
Summing up 19 days’ budget session of the Delhi Legislative Assembly, Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit today said that it was a matter of great importance for the national Capital that the Indraprastha Institute of Information Technology (IIIT), Delhi Bill 2007, was unanimously adopted.

An institute to be named IIIT Delhi would admit its first batch of 125 undergraduate students in the academic year 2008-09 .

The institute would be a state university.

The Delhi Prevention of Defacement of Property Bill, 2007 was also adopted unanimously by the Legislative Assembly and the Delhi Gurudwara’s

(Amendment Bill, 2008).

As far as the energy sector is concerned, an outlay of Rs 1015.65 crore has been earmarked for the year 2008-2009.

The government has decided to give a subsidy to all the domestic and agricultural consumers for one year to neutralise the tariff hike by the new multi-year retail order of the DERC by keeping the tariff at the level of 2004-2005.

Sheila Dikshit said that water supply in Delhi has increased from 570 million gallon daily (MGD) in 1997 to 815 MGD at present. This includes commissioning of Sonia Vihar Water Treatment Plant in August 2006 which resulted in the augmentation of the city’s supply by 120 MGD.

In appreciation of the good plan performance of government of Delhi by utilising 84 per cent of its plan budget by February 2008, the Planning Commission has enhanced the annual plan size of Delhi by Rs 1000 crore.

The Planning Commission felt that the air ambience fund constituted by the state government was worthy of emulation by other major cities.

Delhi Budget 2008-2009 has been commended by one and all as no new tax has been imposed.

The government has reduced the value added tax on a number of items.

The government has also earmarked Rs 1189 crore for Commonwealth Games projects in the year 2008-2009 as compared to the expenditure of Rs 461 crore approximately in 2007-2008. 

New Delhi, April 4
A 12-year-old girl was allegedly raped by three men in a stationary car in West Delhi as police on Thursday arrested a neighbour of her and detained two other people.

The victim’s neighbour Raju Porwal, 23, and two others - identified as Rakesh and Manmohan - lured her into their car late on Wednesday offering a ride and took her to a secluded place near their houses in Tilak Nagar.

According to the victim’s mother, the trio took turns and raped her in the car and dumped her in a park. They threatened her with dire consequences if she spoke to anyone.

The girl, a class 7 student, managed to reach her home and narrated the incident to her mother, who later complained to police. Police said the girl was immediately rushed to the Deen Dayal Upadhyay Hospital, where doctors confirmed a sexual assault on her.

Her condition was stated to be critical on Thursday evening.

“We have arrested Porwal on the charge of raping the minor and detained his two friends. Initial investigations suggest that Porwal raped the girl but we are also not ruling out sexual attempts by the other two,” deputy commissioner of police (West Delhi) Sharad Aggarwal told IANS.

“Porwal has confessed to raping the girl. His two acquaintances would be arrested once their role is ascertained,” he added. — IANS

Noida, April 4
In a freak incident, a mechanic came under the wheels of a Blueline bus today while he was working under it, as authorities here tried to move the vehicle, thinking that it had been abandoned.

The bus, operating on route number 33 between Noida and Bhajanpura in Delhi, developed an engine snag and the driver parked it in Sector-37, while mechanic Akram crawled underneath to repair it.

An enforcement team of Noida authority, meanwhile, reached the spot and found the bus parked. The driver of a tow-away vehicle of the Noida authority moved the bus forward, not knowing that Akram was underneath. The 19-year-old mechanic was crushed to death.

The authority driver, on realising that Akram had come under the wheels of the bus, fled the scene.

An angry mob then took to the streets, protesting the youth’s death. Traffic was halted and the crowd pelted stones at the enforcement team. The police had to be called in to bring the situation under control.

Noida authority spokesperson claimed that it was not their driver who caused Akram’s death but the driver of the Blueline itself. But witnesses clarified that it was indeed the authority’s employee who was at fault. — IANS

Gurgaon, April 4
Facing criticism for shoddy investigations in the killing of senior Delhi Police official Rajbir Singh, the Gurgaon police plan a narco-analysis test of accused Vijay Bhardwaj to verify his confession.

“Since the beginning we are maintaining that it was Vijay Bhardwaj who killed Rajbir Singh and our investigations also substantiate it. But we have decided to go for a narco test of the accused to verify his confessional statement,” said Gurgaon joint commissioner of police (crime) Manjeet Singh Ahlawat on Thursday.

“We would request the court to grant permission for the test and my department is carrying out the related formalities,” Ahlawat added.

Bhardwaj, lodged in the Bhondsi Jail, was arrested last month for allegedly murdering assistant commissioner of police Singh, dubbed as “encounter specialist”, in his Sector-14 real estate office over a monetary row.

Soon after the murder on the night of March 24, Bhardwaj informed the police and admitted he had pumped two bullets with a .32 bore revolver gun into Singh’s head, when he threatened to kill his family.

Bhardwaj claimed that he used the same gun that Singh had provided him three days before the killing. Later the Gurgaon police in their investigations found that the weapon belonged to a Haryana Police official, who had lost it in a shootout.

Singh’s family has raised doubts about the confession and the investigations, and demanded a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) probe.

According to Singh’s wife Narmada, Bhardwaj alone could not have killed her husband, who had been credited with successful investigation of the 2001 parliament attack and the 2000 Red Fort assault cases and was an intrepid police sharpshooter who had no hesitation in gunning down suspected criminals on the run. — IANS

Noida, April 4
Lali, a one-month-old girl with four eyes, two mouths and two noses on her two faces, has been proclaimed a goddess in Saini village in Gautam Buddh Nagar district of Uttar Pradesh here.

Everyday, people queue outside Vinod Singh’s house to see his unique daughter who was born on March 11.

“When I saw my daughter for the first time I was afraid of her, but when the doctor said that aside from her two faces she was a normal child, I accepted her,” Lali’s mother Sushma told IANS.

Lali undergoes a medical check-up every alternate day. “We do not see any abnormality in her routine,” Sushma said.

The child’s grandmother Maya said that she was satisfied with Lali’s growth. “She has been born as god wishes,” Maya said.

Lali is born in a Dalit family. Her grandfather Brahm Singh works for the railways on daily wages.

The child’s father Vinod Singh was initially scared of talking to the media without taking permission from the village head.

He added that the village head had asked them not to allow anybody to take photographs of the child. — IANS

New Delhi, April 4
The Indian Spinal Injuries Centre (ISIC), one of the most advanced super specialty hospitals for treating spine disorders in South Asia, today launched a post-graduate course — DNB in rheumatology.

Rheumatology is a sub-specialty in internal medicine and pediatrics, devoted to the diagnosis and therapy of rheumatic diseases. Rheumatologists deal with problems involving joints, soft tissues, allied conditions of connective tissues, arthritis, certain auto-immune diseases, musculoskeletal pain disorders and osteoporosis.

The course aims at imparting super specialisation in rheumatology to doctors who hold MD in Medicine. The three-year programme will encompass both clinical and academic aspects of rheumatology. Two candidates would be enrolled every year. After the completion of the course, the candidates will be awarded diploma of National Board of Examination (DNBE) in rheumatology under the ministry of health & family welfare. The ISIC is the only institute in North India that has the facility to start DNB in rheumatology.

“In developing countries, musculoskeletal and arthritic problems are the commonest cause of disability in adults. We, at ISIC, realise that a wide gap exists between the number of trained doctors and such patients in the country. Therefore, it is essential to have more rheumatologists,” says Dr AN Malaviya, HoD, Rheumatology, ISIC.

“We will focus on developing more graduate and post-graduate courses in disability management and rehabilitation. Development of textbooks and impact studies will be our hallmark in the next three years,” adds Major HPS Ahluwalia, chairman, ISIC.

New Delhi, April 4
If you are fond of spicy food, chances are that you are susceptible to stomach cancer. Medical experts have concluded that spices contribute largely to the spread of this deadly disease.

Dr Amit Bhargava, senior oncologist at Max Healthcare, says, “Stomach cancer has very ordinary symptoms such as hyper acidity, feeling of bloatedness, dark coloured stool or abdominal ache, which is why people indulge in self-medication and do not get diagnosed.”

According to the official records of the doctor, 60 per cent of stomach cancers are diagnosed at stage III or stage IV, making it all the more difficult to cure. While, ironically, the cause of this cancer is ignored often. “Staying empty stomach for long hours and eating spicy food in large quantities such as pickles or roasted dishes triggers stomach cancer,” says Dr Bhargava. 

As a word of precaution, Dr Bhargava advises not to remain empty stomach and cut down spice content in the food. Also minor symptoms prolonged over three days should not be ignored and should be examined by a gastroenterologist.

A 58-year-old Delhi resident had given up the hope of his survival two years back after being diagnosed of stomach cancer with a large metastatic lesion in the liver. What was most intriguing was the fact that he had no family history of the disease.

Prominent cancer hospitals in the city had declared that the chances of his survival were bleak and gave him a maximum of three to four months of life. However, doctors at the Max Healthcare here gave him chemotherapy and immunotherapy (targeted therapy), to which he responded well but the liver metastasis did not heal very well. 

New Delhi, April 4
The East district police has arrested a dreaded criminal Sonu, alias Baba, 22, of Riwazpur village, Faridabad, Haryana and solved three cases of extortion and attempt to murder.

According to Ajay Chaudhry, DCP, East district, the gangster was arrested from the bus stand at Lalita Park near Laxmi Nagar on the basis of a secret information. One loaded katta .315 bore with live cartridge was recovered from his possession.

The accused disclosed that in 2007, he came in contact with Rajesh alias Fauzi, a member of Sube gang who used to extort money from the owners of crasher zone near Manesar and joined the gang. The same year he along with Harbir fired at Virender Singh, a crasher owner of Manesar to extort money.