New Delhi, June 2
The admissions rush was massive at Delhi University this Monday as students rushed to collect and submit forms from centres set up by the varsity.

Freshers dressed up for the big day and girls could be seen turned out colourfully on campus. Both nervousness and jubilation were writ large on students’ faces as they collected forms.

As many as 15 centres have been set up on campus by DU for admission of undergraduates and the sale of forms was brisk on Monday.

After visiting the centre, many freshers set out to take a look at the colleges they had selected.

The university has advised freshers to fill out their forms only after giving priority to their choice of courses rather than the established practice of going in for colleges.

Forms have to be submitted latest by June 16 and university officials expect a sale of more than 1.5 lakh admission forms for 63 colleges.

The earliest cut-off lists will be announced by June 26 completing the first phase of the admission process. Along with the common pre-admission form, an information bulletin is also being distributed listing out not only the courses available in different colleges but also last year’s cut-off marks for each subject in each college with maps providing locations of all the colleges.

The bulletin also specifies the courses for which the common pre-admission form will not be applicable.

The university is offering 35,000 seats to undergraduates this time round and with the new OBC ruling, seats increase this year by 18%. Meanwhile, the Delhi University Students’ Union (DUSU) has organised buses ferrying people to and from the nearby Delhi Metro station to the admission centre in north Delhi, free of charge and are providing all relevant information.

Sarita Sinha, a young fresher just out of school looked excited as she collected her form, “I would like to apply for History Hons at LSR or English Hons, my first preference is LSR though I have others. I am extremely nervous whether I make the grade or not. The teachers at the centre have provided me with good information and I have the bulletin right and I am going to study this carefully before I fill out the form.”

Ratna Sood on the other hand is more confident, “I have 92% marks from the UP board. I am hopeful I get Economics Hons and am still looking at colleges and courses. We are an entire group of friends from my home town Lucknow and we do hope to get both the courses and the college we want.”

Raghav Jain from Delhi feels, “I want to do commerce from Sri Ram College or Economics Hons. My marks are adequate but let’s see what one gets. I have already filled out the form and submitted it and am leaving for a round of some of the colleges I would like to check out.”

Students outside Hindu College to buy admission forms; and students queue up to get admission forms at Kirorimal College on Monday. — Tribune photos by Manas Ranjan Bhui

New Delhi, June 2
Calligraphy, puppetry, glass painting, theatre, clay modelling... Let that restless mind and those nimble fingers of your child discover her hidden talents at one of the many workshops in the Capital this summer.

The summer workshops, which are timed carefully during school vacations at this time, are a joy for kids who are not always able to get their creative juices flowing amid the routine of classes and homework.

And, they are certainly a relief for harried parents who don’t want their children to while away their time during holidays.

Kapila Vats, a lawyer and mother of two boys, said each year she eagerly waits for the India Habitat Centre (IHC), a cultural hub in South Delhi, to announce children’s programme.

“Summer vacations are as much a headache for me as it is fun for the kids. After I return from work in the evenings, I find a broken vase or bleary-eyed children who have been watching TV non-stop or playing video games.

The summer workshops in that sense are such a relief. Not only do they give the kids something constructive to do but also bring them the joy of discovering a hidden talent,” Vats said.

Calligraphy, cartoon making, charcoal painting, glass painting, cookery, bookmaking, puppetry, pottery, photography... you name it and they have it at the IHC.

With sessions ranging from two days to two weeks and monitored by experts, the on IHC’s activities began on May 10 and will be on till June 29.

Of course, different sessions are designed for different age groups. So if the pottery workshop is for children between six to ten years, the photography workshop is for the 16-plus.

Katha publishing house is also organising a theatre workshop and an illustration workshop for children in May and June.

Amrita Talwar of Katha said that Arvind Gaur, head of Delhi-based theatre group ‘Asmita’ will conduct a theatre workshop based on two stories.

“The workshop which will be for 10 days from June 4 to 14, will culminate with the staging of a play at the India Habitat Centre. This will give children the confidence and the high of a public performance,” Talwar said.

Talking about the illustration workshop, Talwar added, “Three professional illustrators will help children perfect their drawings, giving them a breather from film-based technologies.”

What’s more, the best illustrations will find a place in the next book published by Katha. Then there are a number of neighbourhood art and music schools, inviting applications for short-term courses during summer vacations.

Sharmishtha Kumar, 12, says that she plans to enroll in a glass-painting workshop. “Last year I learnt how to make charcoal paintings at the IHC workshop. This year, I will learn glass painting and, then, decorate my room with my creations!” she said excitedly.

For those in love with history, the summer workshop organised by the National Museum would be the perfect choice.

“Like every year, this year too, in June we will have a summer workshop for schoolchildren,” R.R.S Chauhan, director of exhibitions and public relations at the museum, told IANS.

“The children will be taken on tours of museum and then asked to paint and make clay models of whatever they want. They will then be evaluated,” he added.

A plus point of the workshop at the National Museum is that it is free of cost unlike most others in which the registration fee can vary from Rs 300 to Rs 5,000, depending on the length of the session. “It will, however, be on a first-come-first-served basis,” Chauhan said. — IANS

New Delhi, June 2
The Confederation of All-India Traders (CAIT) today threatened to burn copies of the ICRIER Report here on June 10 if the alleged derogatory remarks made against traders were not withdrawn.

In a communication to commerce minister Kamal Nath, the traders said these remarks had angered the traders across the country.

Challenging the conclusions made in the report, the traders said they were ready for an open debate on the merits of the ICRIER Report.

The traders said that in paragraph 5.2.6, the report says, “Unorganized retailers normally do not pay taxes and most of them are not even registered for sales tax, VAT, or income tax”.

This, the traders claim, was most irresponsible and an insult to the trading community who have contributed lavishly to the country’s economy.

B. C. Bhartia, national president, and Praveen Khandelwal, secretary-general of CAIT, while condemning the ICRIER for making such derogatory remarks said about 5 crore traders were engaged in retail trade both in urban and remote rural areas.

The ICRIER report was based on a survey conducted in 10 cities of 2020 unorganised retailers, 1318 consumers, 100 intermediaries and only 197 farmers. It was strange that on the basis of such a small number, the ICRIER had made these derogatory remarks about the whole trading community.

They urged the minister to order the removal of such unwarranted remarks against the trading community from the report.

New Delhi, June 2
An elderly woman was found murdered at her residence in the South Delhi locality of Greater Kailash last night.

Hanslata Maheshwari (78) was murdered between 8 pm and 10 pm, when her family members deceased were out at a club watching the IPL match.

The police team from the Chitranjan Park police station said some clues had been found at the murder site on basis of which, two servants and one driver were being questioned.

So far, robbery looks like the main motive behind the murder, as many items were found scattered in the house and cupboards open.

Two rooms on the ground floor and one room on the first floor were ransacked. The family was working on the estimate of the lost items.

Hanslata’s daughter-in-law discovered the body lying in a pool of blood in the bathroom. It was tied with ropes. The doors of the house were also broken.

The police is investigating the background of their driver Kailash, who was employed by the family four months ago. Kailash left the house around 3pm yesterday. His movements are being verified.

This is the third murder of a senior citizen in a fortnight. On May 26, an elderly couple was found murdered at their Niti Bagh residence in the capital.

New Delhi, June 2
With no aerobridges planned at Delhi airport’s domestic terminal in the immediate future, there is no guarantee against accidents like the one Sunday when a Ukrainian national was crushed by a bus as he was unloading his luggage.

The Delhi International Airport Limited (DIAL), the company developing the Indira Gandhi International (IGI) Airport, says the infrastructure at the domestic terminal does not support the facility for aerobridges.

“The height of the domestic terminal doesn’t support aerobridges,” DIAL spokesperson Arun Arora said. “These cannot be installed here immediately.”

Aerobridges are chutes linking an aircraft to the departure or arrival terminal. Air travellers walk through these to board or get off a plane, and this ensures their on-ground safety.

Arora said 84 aerobridges would be installed at the international terminal (T3) by 2010, but regular air passengers are concerned over the domestic terminal being given the go-by.

“The movement at the domestic terminal is much more than at the international terminal,” said a frequent air traveller.

“There is a severe lack of planning. You have aerobridges even at greenfield airports in at Bangalore and Hyderabad,” he added.

Early on Sunday, a Ukrainian national was killed and three people were injured when a bus hit them, making it the latest in a raft of accidents at the IGI Airport.

The Sunday before, a Jet Airways employee died after being hit by a DIAL ambulance, while on March 27 a 30-year-old worker was crushed to death
under a bulldozer.

Last October, 27-year-old Sanskriti Sinha, an Air Deccan engineer, was found dead between the airport’s taxiway and the ramp in October last year.

DIAL claims it has taken several initiatives for the airside safety, including restricting the movement of buses ferrying passengers, flight crews and airport employees at the departure and arrival terminals. Drivers are being trained and speed governors being installed.

Additionally, railings have been installed at the drop-off area to ensure people seeing off or receiving passengers do not unnecessarily crowd the terminals.

DIAL has also appointed over 40 airside monitoring inspectors to ensure people adhere to rules and regulations. — IANS

New Delhi, June 2
Commuters heaved a sigh of relief after the Delhi and UP governments signed an inter-state agreement on free movement of buses today.

UP transport commissioner Desh Deepak Verma and his Delhi counterpart R.K Verma signed the agreement in presence of UP and Delhi transport ministers.

With this, the Delhi Transport Corporation (DTC) can run buses in Noida and other areas of the National Capital Region (NCR) in UP.

Similarly, the UP State Road Transport Corporation (UPSRTC) can run buses in the national Capital.

According to the agreement, the DTC will operate up to 604 trips daily in UP for which the state government will countersign 369 permits of the DTC.

The UPSRTC will operate 2,678 trips daily into Delhi and the Delhi government will countersign 1,845 permits.

The agreement also stated that places like Delhi Airport via Nehru Place and Vasant Vihar, Delhi Airport via Badarpur and Mehrauli, Central Secretariat via Ashram and CGO Complex, New Delhi Railway Station via Pragati Maidan and Shivaji Stadium, ISBT, Kashmere Gate via Shahadra and Shakarpur and ISBT Kashmere Gate via Anand Vihar and Bhajanpura, Noida to Safdarjung Terminus via Sarai Kale Khan, Ashram and AIIMS would be connected through inter-state stage carriage services.

The last inter-state transport agreement was signed on December 31, 1985 and revoked by the UP government in 2000.

But, last year the Mulayam Singh Yadav government totally banned the movement of DTC buses to take political vendetta from the Congress at the Centre.

He had also stopped the supply of Ganga water to Sonia Vihar Water Treatment Plant in East Delhi.

This had created problem for daily commuters, particularly school students. Thousands of Delhi children are enrolled with public schools in Noida and Ghaziabad.

When Mayawati-led Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) came to power in UP last year, the two governments softened their stands on the issue.

New Delhi, June 2
Keeping in view the need of uninterrupted power during the forthcoming Commonwealth Games, the Delhi Cabinet has given its nod to the financial pattern of Pragati Phase-III Bawana Power Project.

This is to be commissioned with an estimated cost of Rs 5195.81 crore. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had laid the foundation stone of the 1500-MW gas-based power station on March 24 this year.

The project would meet the growing demand of power in the Capital and cater to the requirements for Commonwealth Games 2010, said Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit.

Bawana power station is environment friendly, and would help curb the problem of pollution in Delhi. This is a 1500-MW combined gas turbine power project.

The Chief Minister expressed confidence that commissioning of this project would go a long way in ensuring round-the-clock uninterrupted power supply in the city.

The Government of Delhi would release funds for equity of Rs 1558.74 crore. The rest of the amount would be met with a debt amounting to Rs 3637.07 crore by loan from financial institutions.

She stated that the prime objective of this mega power project is to improve the overall power supply position in Delhi, especially to enhance the present generation capacity within the territory of Delhi.

Gas sale agreement with the GAIL (India) Limited, IOC Limited and Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited for supply of total 6 MMSCMD for a period of 15 year has already been signed. The DTL would evacuate the power through its existing 400-kv grid station at Bawana.

New Delhi, June 2
Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit today opened the fourth centre of Aap Ki Rasoi at Hanuman Mandir near Yamuna Bazar to ensure at least one full meal to the homeless and the destitute.

Food will be provided daily between 12 pm to 3 pm. Aap Ki Rasoi is an initiative under the Bhagidari scheme of the Delhi government.

The Delhi government and Reliance Fresh have jointly opened the fourth centre of Aap Ki Rasoi.

Dikshit said that Reliance Fresh would provide fresh cooked nutritious food through Bengaluru-based NGO Akshay Patra.

The government would also permit night shelters to distribute cooked food to the poor. Dikshit added the Hunger-Free Delhi Campaign would go a long way in eliminating hunger from the city. It is frequently noticed that children try to find out eatables from of garbage heap.

The Chief Minister said that the government would continue to facilitate NGOs and business houses in the distribution of cooked food.

She exhorted business houses, well-to-do individuals and NGOs to adopt a site for providing meal to the destitute.

The other three centres of Aap Ki Rasoi are at — Nizamuddin Basti, Jhandewalan and Chandni Chowk.

Delhi heath and social welfare minister Yoganand Shastri, local MLA Prahlad Singh Sawhney, councillor Uma Sharma, chief secretary Rakesh Mehta, CEO Reliance Fresh (Delhi and NCR) Navneet Saluja were also present.