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BJP protests water shortage
Minor gangraped in Gokulpuri
Relief from heat
FIITJEE talent exam on June 4
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10-month-old boy 2nd polio victim
HIV+ mother to get child’s
Anil Kumar DPYC president
Fire at telephone exchange
Working parents give just
30 minutes to kids: Study
BJP questions summer plan
Kidney racket
2 killed in Expressway accident
Woman claims husband
killed her father
A tribute to artistes sung and unsung
Blood donation camp
Cancer awareness camp held
Drama competition held
Artscape Man commits suicide
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BJP protests water shortage
New Delhi, May 4 The party demanded tubewells be constructed in Sangam Vihar, Deoli Road colonies and Tigri. “Water supply in government colony in Pushp Vihar should also be augmented,” said Jolly. “Sonia Vihar water treatment pipelines should be connected to Sangam Vihar. Jal Board water tankers in Mehrauli should be increased to 40 this summer under Jal Board’s summer action plan.” Jolly said, “There has been a deliberate attempt to deprive people in these areas of clean water despite provision of funds made by me nearly four months ago.” He alleged that the Delhi Jal Board (DJB) had miserably failed to resolve water-related problems under the Sheila Dikshit government. Jolly demanded that an independent inquiry be conducted on the functioning of the DJB. The corruption in the department should be exposed. “The only people who have benefited from the DJB are corrupt officials, inefficient contractors and those enjoying the patronage of the Chief Minister and the ruling Congress,” he alleged. The BJP has accused the state government of ignoring the ‘tanker mafia’ active in the DJB. “It has the political patronage of the ruling Congress. Mafia is selling contaminated water to the poor in slums and unauthorised colonies,” Jolly said. BJP general secretary Vijay Goel, MLA Ramesh Bidhuri, Delhi State BJP general secretary Pawan Sharma and Parvesh Singh also participated in the protest. |
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Minor gangraped in Gokulpuri
New Delhi, May 4 The girl, who went missing yesterday evening, was found in a traumatised condition in a park, barely ten metres from the police station of that area. She was bruised and her clothes were torn. She has been admitted to the Guru Tegh Bahadur Hospital. The victim had left her house yesterday evening to attend her sewing class. But when she did not return till late, her parents lodged a missing complaint in Gokulpuri police station. According to the police, the girl is too traumatised to give a statement. “She is in a semi-conscious state and told in bits that five persons had raped her,” said a police official. The medical report has confirmed rape and the police is awaiting the girl’s statement to start investigation. Parents of the girl have also failed to provide any lead. Meanwhile, residents of the area are in a state of shock. “Criminals have the guts to dump a girl in the park just across the police station. This shows the fear that they have from the police. The Capital is in a state of complete lawlessness and no woman is safe,” said a resident. |
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Relief from heat
New Delhi, May 4 Temperature fluctuated between 42° Celsius to 30° Celsius while humidity at 12 per cent calmed some heat. In some parts showers settled the dust, rest of the city faced dust storms with westerly-northwesterly winds blowing at 11 kilometer per hour. Meanwhile, the weatherman has not predicted any more pleasant surprises. Monday is expected to be mostly sunny. However, the night might be pleasantly warm.
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FIITJEE talent exam on June 4
New Delhi, May 4 Students, who have appeared for class XII boards this year and aspire for IIT-JEE in 2009, can participate in it. FTRE will be conducted at 48 centers across the country. The result will be declared on June 12 on the institute’s website www.fiitjee.com. Those who rank first, second and third will be awarded cash prizes of Rs 1,50,000, Rs 90,000 and Rs 60,000, respectively. Additional 497 prizes will be given to top 500 performers, which will include fee waivers for one-year extended FIITJEE classroom programme for IIT-JEE 2009 and hostel fee concession on merit-based selection criteria. |
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10-month-old boy 2nd polio victim
New Delhi, May 4 According to Delhi health ministry sources, the baby-boy from a slum in Okhla in South Delhi was found infected with the P3 polio virus. “The baby has been detected with the less virulent form of virus. This is Delhi’s second case of polio in 2008. We are worried,” a senior ministry official told IANS. He said the fresh victim, identified as Azad, is son of a rickshaw puller. “The kid has also received four doses of polio drops.” Authorities said that the case had again brought the spotlight on Delhi. Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit recently said the “city will be polio-free soon”. “We had carried out a special round of the polio immunisation programme in the recent past and hope to see some results. The worrying point is that the national Capital continues to report fresh polio cases,” the official added. Authorities said that they were investigating Azad’s case. They said that efforts would be made to find out whether the baby had contracted the infection elsewhere. The baby who was detected in March to be suffering from polio had migrated from Bihar. Till April 25, India has reported 203 cases of polio cases. Of these, Bihar reported 157 cases and Uttar Pradesh 40. Besides Delhi, Orissa, West Bengal and Haryana have reported polio cases during the last four months. — IANS |
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HIV+ mother to get child’s custody
New Delhi, May 4 “There is no law which can deprive a mother of her child because of AIDS,” justice Geeta Mittal said when the counsel appearing for in-laws contended that custody of the child cannot be given to their daughter-in-law as she was an AIDS patient. “You are only grandparents while she is the mother. She is already suffering, why do you want to make her suffer more by depriving custody of her child,” justice Mittal said. The court rejected the contentions of father-in-law Ram Gopal Verma, his wife Phoolwati and other members of his family and directed them to bring the child before it on Tuesday when the custody of the child would be handed over to the mother. The in-laws then pointed out that Sunita Verma, their daughter-in-law, was of bad character as she was suffering from the disease prior to marriage and it would have bad influence on the child. The court, however, took strong exception to the argument and said that the disease was not inflicted only through physical relation but it could be transmitted through blood transfusion also. It is unfortunate that after losing her husband she has been deprived of her child. She cannot be deprived custody of her child just like a convicted father cannot be deprived custody of his child, the court said. Earlier, 26-year-old Sunita Verma was allegedly thrown out of her in-laws’ home barely 13-days after her husband died due to AIDS. The woman, now living with her old and ailing parents at Sagarpur in south-west Delhi, alleged that her son, who is not infected with HIV, was forcibly taken away by her in-laws, the day when the rituals relating to the last rites of her husband were performed. She was married to Satish Verma, a resident of Panipat in Haryana on June 20, 2005. She gave birth to the boy on July 20, 2006. Her husband died at a private hospital in 2007.
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Anil Kumar DPYC president
New Delhi, May 4 He took charge of the office at the Delhi Pradesh Congress Committee headquarters on Deen Dyal Upadhaya Marg in a simple ceremony. Senior Delhi Congress leaders including, Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit, Ashok Gehlot and other MPs and MLAs attended the function. Kumar thanked the party leadership for his appointment and said that he will continue to strive to do his best for the party in the NCT of Delhi. Kumar’s appointment is being seen as the party’s efforts to strengthen frontal organisations in the run up to assembly elections scheduled in November this year. |
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Fire at telephone exchange
New Delhi, May 4 “We sent 16 fire tenders to bring the situation is under control,” a fire official said. It took more than two hours to bring the situation under control. The cause of the fire is yet to be ascertained. “There were few people in the exchange today as it was a holiday,” said an exchange employee. He added that wiring was not damaged and telephone services have not suffered due to the fire. |
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Working parents give just
30 minutes to kids: Study
New Delhi, May 4 This is the disturbing conclusion of the latest study undertaken by the ASSOCHAM Social Development Foundation (ASDF), headed by its chairman Venugopal N Dhoot, “Plight of Working Parents Towards Their Children”. The findings make a grim reading for working parents who already fret that they spend too much of their time at work and too little at home. “Parents who work full-time just spend 30 minutes every day nurturing their own children,” says the study, based on a random survey in which over 3000 working couples of various companies participated under aegis of the ASDF, sharing their concern over finding little time to look after their children. According to the survey, the typical 24 hours are mostly spent in working, travelling, household work, watching television and sleeping. A working woman spends nearly 10 hours in office, over 2.5 hours in travelling, 6-7 hours sleeping, three hours in cooking, shopping, etc and less than an hour on entertainment and barely 30 minutes with the kids. Contrary to this, a working male spends more than 11-12 hours in his office, over two hours in commuting, 1.5 hours watching television and remaining 8 hours are spent in sleeping. So, where is the time left out for him even to spend half an hour with children, questions the survey? The findings are mind-boggling as 90 per cent of working couples claimed that today’s working pressures had intensified so much that they have to stay back in their respective offices for more than two hours to finish off their daily and routine assignments as these can’t be deferred for the following day for fear of getting an adverse rating from superiors. Surprisingly, 75 per cent of working parents rued that even during the weekend, which in most cases is only a Sunday, they hardly find leisure time to adequately look after their children and their legitimate needs as most of this free time is spent on meeting other deadlines such as submission of bills, purchase of grocery and other household obligations. The survey asked parents to rate how good a job they are doing as parents, on a scale of 0 to 10. Regardless of their employment status, most mothers gave themselves relatively high marks on this scale. However, the women who are hardest on themselves are full-time working moms. Just 10 per cent of mothers working full-time give themselves the highest rating (2) as a parent; another 18 per cent part-time mothers place themselves at the next highest mark (8), home mothers rate themselves at the high 10. Compared to this only 26 per cent of dads gave themselves one of the two highest marks; six-in-ten put themselves at a seven or eight on this scale and the remaining 13 per cent at six or below. |
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BJP questions summer plan
New Delhi, May 4
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Kidney racket
Noida, May 4 A young man who had come to Delhi from Nainital in search of employment was tricked by the two accused who got him donate his kidney. The duo then sold it to a third person. After framing of the charges against the two, the way has been cleared for their trial in the case. According to court orders, charges have been framed against Aklesh Yadav and constable Sanjay and now case will be heard against the two under various provisions of the law. The prosecution will have to prove their guilty under various sections of the law. The two had tricked the youth Harish Chander in December 1997. His kidney was procured for transplantation in one S.N. Srivastava. When Harish Chander tried to lodge a complaint with the police, the two threatened him with dire consequences.
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2 killed in Expressway accident
Greater Noida, May 4 Resident of Karol Bagh in New Delhi, Angad Singh, 22, and 19-year-old Neha Nissar of Mayur Vihar II were on their way to Greater Noida from Noida. Angad was driving at a very high speed, according to police and could not notice the truck parked on the roadside near Pari Chowk, police said. Both Angad and Neha had appeared in XII exams from Modern School, Barakhamba Road, Delhi. Angad was an all-round champion athlete, shot putter and discuss thrower while Neha was a sprinter champion having won a number of prizes. Angad’s father is in a real estate business. Parents of both had been informed on the basis of the documents and cell phones found in the car, DSP Kuldip Singh said. |
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Woman claims husband
killed her father
New Delhi, May 4 Renu alleged that her husband Rajeev and brother-in-law Sanjeev had hit her father with sticks that caused his death. J.N. Malik, a retired principal, was admitted to the Max Hospital in Wazirpur before he died. Rajeev and Sanjeev have been detained. Reportedly, Sanjeev assaulted Renu, who lives on a floor above hers in the same house, over water dispute. Rajeev took his brother’s side and hit Renu. Renu then sought the PCR’s help. The three were taken to the police station. Renu called her father and brother there. They were allowed to go after a compromise. When Renu’s brother came to drop her at her house, Rajeev and Sanjeev assaulted him and broke his car. “While Renu alleges that her father was beaten by them and later admitted to the Max Hospital, the neighbours say that they did not see her father there,” said a police official. The police also revealed that J.N. Malik died due to hypertension and not any external injury, as per the hospital reports. This questions Renu’s claim of being beaten.
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A tribute to artistes sung and unsung
New Delhi, May 4 Merchant is based in Vancouver and the book is set in a middle class Tamil Brahmin setting with its primary focus on women and especially on musically gifted women and the struggle they face to give expression to their talents and realize their dreams. “It was as though a flood of memories awoke within me, something dormant came to life and I felt impelled to write this,” says Merchant. “For me it was as though I was thrust into the past which was very much a part of the present. It was almost like a re-baptism–the memories, sounds, smells, conversations and above all music.” The book is really about women and music, Merchant’s central concern in the book is with a musically gifted child prodigy, who faces a severe struggle to realize her dreams, she is not really allowed the freedom she requires to pursue her dreams and is a sort of ‘Silent Radha’. The book revolves around the lives of two sisters and the upheavals they face. “I think that every artist carries dreams of living our lives. Some are simply lucky and some hope and carry on, on hope,” says Merchant. “In some ways, the purpose of Indian classical music is not just to please the ear but move the soul. I have shown the struggle of this girl and of her finally awakening into her dreams but at all points there is strife in the book, a strife between aspirations and societal pressures which were and continue to be especially immense for women,” says Merchant. “This book is really a tribute to artistes sung and those unsung and in one sense it is about the musician becoming the music and the dancer becoming the dance,” informs Merchant. Merchant’s next book concerns itself with dance and at least one central character is a dancer. However, he stresses, “The two books are completely different in tone and in what they are exploring. It also looks at how a small incident in India’s colonial past can have major repercussions even today.”
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Blood donation camp
New Delhi, May 4 The Indian Red Cross Society had also deputed a team of doctors and para-medical staff under the supervision of Dr Mehar and Dr Neera Bawa. President of Sant Nirankari Mandal Rev JRD Satyarathi inaugurated the camp. He said that blood donors bestow life by donating blood. Sant Nirankari Mission has decided to conduct a series of 221 blood donation camps across the country till January 2009, and this was the 76th in the series. |
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Cancer awareness camp held
New Delhi, May 4 The daylong camp included self-examination seminars, physical examination and consultation with physicians. On the spot mammograms were also conducted and reports were given then and there. The camp included India’s first fully equipped mobile breast cancer detection unit of MKC Trust, a London-based NGO. MKC Trust chairman APS Chawla initiated Roko Cancer in December 2005. Roko Cancer’s mobile vans, which are the state-of-art mobile medical units for cancer detection and free mammograms, have already been to Uttar Pradesh, Punjab and Delhi. The vans will shortly enter Madhya Pradesh, West Bengal, Gujarat and Maharashtra. Present at the camp were Yoganand Shastri, minister of health and social welfare; Kiran Walia, MLA and ex-chairperson of Delhi commission for women and Abha Chowdhary, chairperson, Delhi commission for women. The camp was also attended by Jeremy Hughes, CEO, Breakthrough Breast Cancer Research, UK’s largest cancer research institute, which is the research support partner of ‘Roko Cancer’.
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Drama competition held
New Delhi, May 4 DPS RK Puram was adjudged the winner. But it refused to accept the award, as it was the host. The awards went to DPS Dwarka and DPS Rohini. The panel of judges included Kathak dancer Vaswati Mishra, Utpat Jha, ex-student of NSD and Rakesh Gupta, IAS officer associated with the theatre group ‘Dramatech’. Rakesh Gupta was the chief guest. Vice-principal RG Verma delivered the welcome address. Emphasising the importance of such endeavours, principal of DPS RK Puram Shyama Chona said, “Such events help students to navigate their talent in the right direction, as they inherit the qualities of actors. It also gives the audience a thought provoking social message.” The school then presented a glimpse of Premchand’s life and works through a power-point presentation. Dramas by participating schools followed this. The dramas touched the wide range of aspects of Premchand’s stories including sensitivity, humour, satire and sarcasm against the social-ills prevalent in the society. Rakesh Gupta categorised Premchand’s plays as “timeless classics” and called the presentation “a sincere portrayal of Premchand’s ideas.” |
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Artscape
New Delhi, May 4 It is to celebrate this spirit that the Polka Art Gallery here is presenting “Baisakh ‘08”, a group exhibition of new works of art by some of the prominent contemporary artists hailing from the land of five rivers from May 6 to May 16. The participating artists are Arpana Caur, Bandeep Singh, Deepak Tandon, Gagan Vij, Gurcharan Singh, Hemi Bawa, Kanchan Chander, Krishen Khanna, Paramjit Singh, Satish Gujral, Seema Kohli and Siddharth. Unique exhibition
The Society For Child Development, a voluntary organization set up to look after the needs of the mentally challenged and Art for Prabhat are presenting an exhibition of paintings by eminent contemporary artists on acid-free paper hand made by mentally -challenged youth from May 6 to May 11 at the Travancore House here. ‘Perfect Lines’
‘Perfect Lines’ art exhibition is being showcased at the Easel Art Gallery here. On display are the works of some renowned artists and the exhibition shall remain open for viewing till May 25. Images of God
Studio Vasant and Art N Gold are presenting “Divine Blessings” Images of God, visuals on 24 karat gold-plated foil from Japan from May 2 to May 30. The Indian Council For Cultural Relations (ICCR) and the Italian Cultural Institute, Embassy of Italy, are jointly presenting an exhibition, “Springs in White” (Primavere Del Bianco) at the Lalit Kala Akademi here from May 2 to May 15. Tagore’s anniversary
To mark the 147 birth anniversary of poet and Nobel laureate Rabindranath Tagore, Rahul Mitra will sing devotional songs and eminent actor and elocutionist Soumitra Chatterjee will recite Tagore’s prose and verses on May 10 at Sri Ram Centre, Near Mandi House, here Rahul, one of the well-known talents in the field of Rabindrasangeet, is an alumnus of Dakshini Music School. Trained under veteran artist Ritu Guha and Rono Guhathakurta, he is also trained in Hindustani classical by Gouri Roy Chowdhury of Kirana Gharana. This is his first solo performance in Delhi. Peace message
Nabarabi Foundation and Voluntary Organisation is holding an exhibition, “Halcyon” to spread the message of peace through art at the Visual Arts Gallery, India Habitat Centre here from May 4 to May 6. This exhibition brings together artists from different parts of the country on a single platform where “values and faith, reason and dogma and bliss and consciousness complement to conceive harmony and peace”. Painting expo
Gallery Arts Element is hosting an exhibition of paintings, sculptures and drawings of artists from Bengal at its premises from May 2 to May 18. Landi’s oeuvre
The American Center here is holding an exhibition “Photographing the Digital Realm” consisting of the recent work of American artist, Denis Landi from May 1 to May 31. Landi’s work is inspired by “fractal geometry and a quest to understand deep structures”. |
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New Delhi, May 4
