The Tribune, Chandigarh, India - Delhi and neighbourhood

	March on National Street Theatre Day Akhila Singh Tribune News Service New Delhi, April 12 On the occasion of National Street Theatre day, Safdar Hashmi Memorial Trust (SAHMAT) organised a march in the capital on Saturday. The march that was attended by many cultural activists started from the Safdar Hashmi Marg near the Mandi house and culminated at Vithalbhai Patel House. “National Street Theatre day is celebrated to mark Safdar Hashmi’s birth anniversary on April 12,” said MK Raina, actor and cultural activist. “This is a special one as it comes during the 20th year of Safdar’s martyrdom.” Besides artists like Sohail Hashmi and MK Raina, political figure Sitaram Yechuri, Member of Parliament and historian DN Jha marked their presence at the march. Street theatre activist sang songs of Safdar and other writers while they walked till SAHMAT’s office at Rafi Marg. Safdar Hashmi, poet, playwright, actor and political activist was fatally attacked on January 1, 1989 on the outskirts of the national capital while performing his street play “Halla Bol”. Since then his birth anniversary has been observed by street theatre groups all over the country who perform plays and organise symposia and other activities. “This year a play was performed at the Mandi House by Jan Natya Manch (JANAM),” said Raina. “Two other plays would be performed at the Rafi Marg later in the evening.” A photo gallery would also be put together, where pictures clicked by the participants on the social issues would be showcased. Filmmaker Shashi Kumar’s documentary on Safdar will also be screened at the occasion.
	Quota bill: Women to send roses to Lalu Tribune News Service New Delhi, April 12 Women activists and representatives of various civil society organisations held a meeting in the Capital to mobilize support for the introduction of Women’s Reservation Bill in the coming session of Parliament. President of Women Power Connect (WPC) Ranjana Kumari said, “The time has come for all political parties to support the bill.” The activists have decided to practice Gandhigiri to earn support from politicians who are opposed to the Bill. They will send a bouquet of roses to Lalu Prasad Yadav everyday till the parliamentary session begins. The activists have demanded from the government to fulfill their long-pending demand of introducing the quota bill. “Though the government has promised to bring in the legislation a number of times, we feel , the issue is losing importance due to dishonest commitments,” added Kumari The participants included representatives from the All India Mahila Conference, YWCA, Women’s Political Watch, Centre for Social Research, Bahai House for Advancement of Women. According to the Global Gender Gap Report - 2007, India ranks 114th among 128 countries in women’s economic participation and opportunity, educational attainment, health and survival and political participation.
	Robbery in Adarsh Nagar, one held Tribune News Service New Delhi, April 12 Four armed persons barged into house number E-2A in street number 11 in the Aadarsh Nagar area in NorthWest Delhi around 12 p.m and injured mother and daughter and took away cash and jewellery. The house belongs to Rajesh Sharma, who has a mattress and pillows shop on Rajan Babu Road. Sharma, along with his son, was at his shop when the incident happened. His wife, Monika and daughter Urvashi were alone in the house. According to family members, the intruders locked the house from inside and threatened the mother and daughter to produce cash and jewellery. Dissatisfied with what was given, they beat up the two. They also fired a bullet, which missed Monika’s head. She was also hit by a sharp object on the shoulders. The robbers remained in the house for more than half an hour. Monika was taken to the Parnami Hospital in an unconscious state and was not in a position to speak to the police. The exact loss could not be ascertained. A case of robbery and attempt to murder has been filed in Aadarsh Nagar police station. One of the accused , Dharmender has been arrested while search for other three is on. Incidents of robbery, mobile and chain snatching are reported from Adarsh Nagar and its surrounding localties ,Jahangirpuri, Azadpur Mandi, Sanjay Nagar, Sarai Barolla. While some blame it on the floating population from Bengal, UP and Bihar, others point the finger unemployed youths who hang out in parks and streets. “Not a day passes without a crime in the slum areas around here”, said Rahul Pandit, resident, Adarsh Nagar. His friend Ashok added that “unless the Bengali Muslims of the area are asked to leave the crime graph would soar. mostly drug addicts,they do not shy away from stealing even the toys of our children for a shot of charas”. Ram Gopal Goel, a shop owner in the area said that Adarsh Nagar Park, which is meant for kids,is occupied by petty criminals all the time. “They sit here and play cards the whole day. In the evening they get drunk and indulge in vandalism. No decent person can go and sit in this park”, said Goel. Infact, some residents are planning to sell their property and shift from here. Even as residents live in fear, the police has no solution. “With limited staff that we have this is the best we can do. As far as these migrants are concerned we have no authority to send them away. Lot of politics is involved here. What can we do?” said a police official on the condition of anonymity.
	Saleswoman attacks elderly man with knife Gurgaon, April 12 A 64-year-old man was stabbed by a saleswoman after he intervened in a scuffle she had with three youngsters at her CD shop in the DLF area here, the police said on Saturday. The incident occurred at the Suvidha DVD shop of Sonisha, 28, in the Sushant Lok Shopping Complex around 9.30 p.m. Friday. The police said two men and a woman, who live in nearby Windsor Place, went to Sonisha’s shop to purchase some DVDs but soon a scuffle broke out between her and them over a petty issue. Seeing his sons fighting, Radhe Mohan Mehender and his neighbour Vijay Sood entered the shop to end the row. But the matter took a sinister turn when Sonisha drew a kitchen knife and allegedly stabbed Sood in the stomach. Profusely bleeding, Sood was rushed to the Max Hospital, where he was stated to be out of danger. The police has arrested Sonisha and charged her with attempted murder. “Sonisha claims that she was forced to attack them in self-defence when five of them viciously attacked her and also tried to tear her clothes off,” said a senior police official. — IANS
	DDA cancels flat, dealers chase applicant Syed Ali Ahmed Tribune News Service New Delhi, April 12 Sapna Jain, a resident of Mandawli Fazalpur in East Delhi, has received calls from a few property dealers for disposing of her DDA flat in Motia Khan . DDA had cancelled the allotment as she had failed to pay its price of Rs 55 lakh. Earlier ,dealers offered her Rs 5 lakh premium and later the offer fell to Rs 3 lakh on giving all originals papers. They said that even after the cancellation letter they get the ownership changed. Sapna’s request for it was turned down by DDA officials. She had applied for the flat under a self finance scheme in 2006 and it was allotted to her in January 2007 ,She had to deposit the entire cost till July 18, 2007. Since she could not arrange the amount ,she sought three months time. She approached the area MP Sandeep Dikshit, Minister of State for Labour and Employment Oscar Fernandes. These leaders wrote to DDA vice chairman and chairman Lt Governor of Delhi for grant of some time for arranging the amount. But her plea was not accepted. As Sapna waited for a loan to be sanctioned,she received a letter of cancellation from the DDA on March 18, 2008.
	Armed men flee with businessman’s car Noida, April 12 Three unidentified men fled with the Santro car of a businessman as well as his belongings after forcing the driver off the car at gun point, the police said here on Saturday. The men requested the driver of businessman Kamal Mehta, a resident of Gamma I sector of Greater Noida, for a lift late Friday night as he was returning to his own home after dropping Mehta. According the Assistant Superintendent of Police, Greater Noida, Avdhesh Kumar Vijaita, the driver, Ram Dev, accepted the request of the men for a lift and asked them to sit in the back seat. After travelling about 3km, the three men threw out the driver from the moving car at gunpoint and fled with the car and Mehta’s belongings that were in the car near Surajpur police station. The driver offered the lift in order to earn a few extra rupees. After the incident, the driver informed the police. The Inspector General of Uttar Pradesh police V.K. Gupta, who was in the town, has inspected the site and directed policemen to nab the criminals. — IANS
	Lachhi shot Sheeba: Police Our Correspondent Noida, April12 An infuriated Laxman Yadav ,alias Lachhi Yadav had shot Sheeba Thomas, on Tuesday night after having been slapped tightly by the ex-Virgin Atlantic airhostess. Before this, Lachhi and his friends had also shot at lt gen TJS Gill in Sector-44 on his offering resistance to their attempt to rob him of his Accent car, the Police said Lachhi Yadav has divulged several facts during his remand since Friday. He has disclosed about the revolvers used in the attacks. The three accomplices of Lachhi — Ashok, Annu and Mukesh, all residents of Sarrafabad, who are presently absconding, have a criminal record, said the police. Police teams have been fanned to Delhi and many places in UP and other states in search of them. Lachhi told the police that four of them had tried to rob Sheeba Thomas, but when she kicked one of them and slapped him, he shot at her. The bullet had hit her in the chest and she died on the spot. The four of them had fled from the scene. Before shooting Sheeba Thomas, the gang of four had tried to rob retired lt gen TJS Gill of his Accent car. When Gen Gill resisted them, they had fired at him also. Earlier, the gang of four had looted five persons in three vehicles near Sector-61. The police said that all of them are wanted in over a dozen cases in various police stations. Lachhi alone is wanted in many cases in sector-24, 58, 49 and 39 police stations.
	300 doctors to be appointed on contract in two months: CM Tribune News Service New Delhi, April 12 The Delhi government will recruit 300 doctors on contract in the next two months, Sheila Dikshit said this during a review meeting of the health and family welfare department here on Thursday. The government would also provide help in the upgradation of 32 maternity centres of the MCD. Besides, the Institute of Liver and Biliary Sciences at Vasant Kunj, a super speciality hospital of the Government of NCT of Delhi, would be commissioned in August, this year. The work at the 155-bed institute was in the final stages. Its four normal operation theatres were ready and another two operation theatres for liver transplant were near completion. It was reported that another seven hospital projects were in advanced stage of completion while another four hospital projects had been sanctioned. A total of 14 projects were at the planning stage and the government had already completed 15 hospital projects during the last five years. Addressing the meeting, Dikshit exhorted officers concerned to start execution of sanctioned projects which include the 750-bed Bharat Ratna Indira Gandhi super-specialty hospital, Dwarka, the 200-bed hospital at Kokiwala Bagh and the nursing school building in the GTB hospital in Shahdara. The meeting was informed that the base isolation technology was being applied in the construction of 500-bed new ward block at the GTB Hospital, 450-bed orthopaedic block at the LNJP and Dwarka hospitals. The new ward at the GTB Hospital was scheduled to be commissioned in May 2009 whereas the orthopaedic block at the LNJP was expected to be commissioned in August 2009. The hospitals at Hastsal, Keshavpuram, Sarita Vihar, Molarband, Burari, Baprola were still in the planning stage. Stressing the need for proper maintenance in government hospitals, Dikshit said the government was considering to deploy full time dedicated staff for maintenance work who would directly report to the respective medical superintendents. The government may appoint staff on contract to ensure proper maintenance in the hospitals. The Chief Minister further directed the officers to concentrate on the opening of new dispensaries in those unauthorised colonies, which were likely to be regularised soon. This would help extend healthcare in the city. A total of 187 dispensaries are providing OPD services in the city. There was a proposal to add another 10 dispensaries in year 2008-09. The department has been asked to revamp its dispensary network. Labour minister Mangat Ram Singhal and secretary (labour) were also present at the meeting. It was reported that 92,000 Antyodaya families would initially be issued smart cards by May 31. In all, 3,67,000 Below the Poverty Line (BPL) families were entitled to avail the scheme by contributing a premium of Rs 30 per year for the family of five. Ninety-one private nursing homes and hospitals had been selected which would provide free treatment of 725 specified diseases up to the expenditure of Rs 30,000 per year.
	B.Com students seek re-examination Tribune News Service New Delhi, April 12 A ruckus was created in Delhi University’s Department of Commerce, as faculty members, students and parents demanded re-examination of a paper for B.Com Pass final year students. Earlier this week, the faculty had sent representations to DU vice-chancellor and dean of examinations. Some 23 examiners have demanded re-examination. However, the VC has not responded to the representations yet. Shiba C. Panda, a reader with the department said, “We are upset with the paper. At least 20% of the questions were out of syllabus. Three questions were set from just one chapter, which is unfair. The worst part is that the person who had set the paper mentioned his name in the paper violating norms of varsity secrecy.” Panda added, “PC Tulsiyan, who set the paper, never taught B.Com Pass final year students. He is very junior. We are afraid at the mention of his name in the paper. This is a ruse to sell his book.” Students too are extremely upset with the paper. They have faxed representations citing the paper as ‘unfair’ and have demanded re-examination. They feel the paper will effect their careers, especially of those who are aspiring for an MBA degree.
	DU offers M.Tech in nuke science Tribune News Service New Delhi, April 12 Delhi University recently introduced a 3-year M.Tech programme nuclear science and technology. Department of Physics and Astrophysics will offer the course. The applicant must be a graduate with Physics and Mathematics for at least four and two semesters respectively. Applicants belonging to the general category must have scored a minimum of 60% marks in graduation while, those belonging to the reserved quota should have scored at least 55% marks. They will have to appear for a joint admission test conducted by the Indian Institute of Technology. The admission details are available on www.iitk.ac.in/jam/. The varsity will provide global exposure to students and inculcate better research abilities in them. A scholarship of over Rs 3,000 will also be offered to students.
	Lady Hardinge to use cadavers for training New Delhi, April 12 The Lady Hardinge Medical College here will use cadavers to train over 200 orthopaedic surgeons from across India in handling complicated fractures in paediatric and geriatric age groups. “This is the first such cadaver (dead body) based programme to learn about paediatric and geriatric orthopaedics,” said Sudhir K. Kapoor, head of the department of orthopaedics at Lady Hardinge. “Many medical colleges in India do not have enough cadavers (dead bodies) and this programme will teach them how to do critical orthopaedic surgeries. We will do live cadaver surgery during the programme to help these doctors,” Kapoor told IANS. Kapoor, who is also the secretary of Delhi Orthopaedic Association, said this training is important as paediatric and geriatric orthopaedics are emerging as new super specialisations. “New vistas of diagnosis and treatment have started peaking up in the field of musculo skeletal trauma, or spinal trauma in children. This effort will help increasing understanding of emerging areas,” he added. Anil Mehtani, head of the department of orthopaedic surgery at Lady Hardinge, said that learning on wood and plastic models was not enough. “There is not much difference between operating on live patients and cadavers,” Mehtani added. The 92-year-old Lady Hardinge Medical College is a leading medical education provider in the country. — IANS
	Rejection of tenders fuels 2 murders Our Correspondent Ghaziabad, April 12 Deputy general manager of Kinowny Sugar Mill, Sidharth Upadhya and a former village Pradhan, Sahib Singh ,were shot in the Meerut area on Friday. Rivalry for influence in the area and contracts from the sugar mill have been cited as the reasons for these murders. The Police is suspecting Udham Singh, a criminal of Karnewal carrying an reward of Rs 20,000on his head, for the murders. Udham Singh, whose two tenders for getting a contract in the Kinowny sugar mill had been rejected, had threatened Sidharth Upadhya of dire consequences. Sidharth had informed the police about the threats. About half a dozen criminals reached Kinowny sugar mills in a grey Scorpio. They told the security staff at the mill gate that they had come to meet Sidharth Upadhya. Upadhya told them on cell phone that he was coming to the mill gate to meet them. As he reached the main gate, four criminals started firing on him indiscriminately. They then fled away. Sidharth was rushed to Rohta road clinic where he was declared dead by doctors. After a short while the same Scorpio car reached Kaleena and the criminals rained bullets on ex-gram pradhan Sahib Singh who was in a sugarcane field. After being hit by one bullet, Sahib Singh tried to flee, but the criminals chased him and shot him dead from close quarters. As the killers saw some villagers closing on them, they fired a few shots in the air and escaped.