The Tribune, Chandigarh, India - Delhi and neighbourhood

Trader murdered, help missing
Tribune News Service and IANS

New Delhi, June 9
Anil Sharma, 58, a shopkeeper was murdered at his house in the Shalimar Park area last night. The police is looking for the missing domestic help and another accomplice, who are suspected to be behind the murder. The house was found in a ransacked state. The police verification of the servant was not conducted.

Anil Sharma was sleeping in his room on the first floor, when he was attacked by the accused.

Anil’s body was discovered by his mother Indira at around 1.30 a.m., who had gone there thinking that Anil’s family had returned from Allahabad. She had seen the domestic help Shankar Thapa carrying two buckets full of clothes along with one person.

According to the police, Thapa had smiled at Indira before leaving the house. Thapa is a resident of Nepal.

This is the third case in the recent time where a domestic help has attacked the employer.

The body of Anil Sharma was found with a bedsheet around his neck and hands and legs tied when his 74-year-old mother Indira went to check on him in his room of their first floor flat in the Farsh Bazaar area around 1.30 a.m.

Sharma ran a gas stoves repair shop on the ground floor of his house.

“I woke up to go to bathroom around 1.20 am and saw lights in the house switched on. I thought my widowed daughter-in-law and her children had returned from Allahabad after attending a religious ceremony,” Indira told the police.

“But on hearing some strange sounds I went inside the room and found a stranger sitting there. I was asking the stranger from where he had come, but in the meantime our domestic help Shankar Thapa came with two buckets full of clothes,” she added.

The police said the men laughed at her and left the home immediately. Finding the matter suspicious she went to Anil’s room and found him dead. The room was ransacked.

“The family had hired the servant last year and his background was not verified through police. We have launched search to nab him and his friend,” a police official said.

The family of an industrialist was found drugged at their Noida home Saturday and his wife later died. Their domestic help is the prime suspect, and he is missing.

On June 6, two domestic helps allegedly looted Rs.2 million from the Pitampura house of their employer, while the family was away shopping. Before fleeing, the helps tore away their photographs to avoid identification.

Seeing the rising incidence of crime against senior citizens in the capital, Delhi Police last year launched a service wherein the elderly can register with their local police station. In return, the police make house calls, inspect their homes, advise them on security arrangements and verify the background of their domestic help.

So far, about 5,000 senior citizens have signed up for this service, but the results are yet to be seen.

The Delhi Police undertook a two-week drive last month to verify the antecedents of domestic helps employed by senior citizens.

Verification soon of servants in Noida
Parmindar Singh

Noida, June 9
The murder of Sandhya Maini, 38, a house- wife who was killed by her servant in Sector 50, seems to have jolted the Noida Police out of its inertia. It has now decided to set-up a special cell under SP City for the verification of domestic helps. The cell, which will function in SP City’s office, will maintain computerised record of domestic helps in the district including their permanent addresses and fingerprints.

The details of the helps’ previous service record and his friends in the locality will also be maintained.

However, the biggest hurdle that the Noida Police will come across in the process, would be the verification of the permanent address of servants of Nepal and Bangladesh origin. For them, the police might have to seek help from Interpol. But the police could meanwhile collect addresses of the relatives of such servants working in NCR.

The police will also cross- check with their old employers.

For this the Noida police will take help from its counterparts in Ghaziabad, Delhi and Haryana.

SP city, Ashok Tripathi said that the special cell could start functioning from next week.

The computerised data of domestic servants will be of great help in comparing their fingerprints in case of a crime. Cops in the cell will be specially trained for this work.

Once on an earlier occasion also the Noida police had started the verification of domestic helps. But the campaign could not make much progress because it was police station based and the staff at police stations is already overburdened with its routine work.

I can’t leave them on road to die: AIIMS doc

New Delhi, June 9
In a city where accident victims are often left to bleed on the road by callous or scared passersby, Anil Sharma has picked up five victims in the last four months “because I just cannot leave them on the road to die”.

Sharma, an anesthesiologist working at the trauma centre of the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), never hesitates to stop, pick up accident victims, and take them to the nearest hospital.

“Call it coincidence or god’s wish ... I happen to see them on my way and as a human being I just cannot leave them on the road to die. In the last four months or so, I have picked up five accident victims and brought them to hospital,” Sharma told IANS.

“Except in one case, where a journalism student was bleeding near Ashram Chowk in south Delhi, rest of them survived. It’s a pity that people leave their fellow men on the road even at a time when someone is fighting for survival,” the 35-year-old doctor said.

“The journalism student was bleeding for over 45 minutes before I saw him and brought him to hospital. But by the time we reached hospital, the golden hour (first one hour after accident) was over.”

That was nearly two months back. In the most recent incident, on Sunday Sharma took young accountant Praful Srivastava to the AIIMS trauma centre when he found Srivastava lying under an overturned auto-rickshaw and bleeding profusely on an east Delhi road. A crowd had gathered but had done nothing.

“It’s sad that a crowd was watching the bleeding man without rushing him to a hospital. He has a major injury on his forehead and near his right eye. He is at AIIMS and is in a better condition now,” said Sharma, who has been a doctor for the past 11 years.

Close to his place of work, Sharma rescued a young couple after the motorcycle they were riding was involved in an accident at the AIIMS flyover. He also brought to AIIMS an elderly accident victim he had seen when on his way to work from his Ghaziabad home. “Except the journalism student, everyone else survived. Thank God.”

“As a doctor I know the importance of time and never hesitate to bring a victim in my own car. People think that if they bring an accident victim to hospital, their car will get bloodstains and they will be entangled in a medico-legal case.

“If it happens with any of their family members will they think about it? In most cases, a young man is the lone bread earner of the family and if you save him, you are saving a family,” said Sharma.

AIIMS, India’s premier government hospital and medical research centre, treats nearly 8,000 patients every day. — IANS

Finance schools, a new career option
Ravi Bhatia
Tribune News Service

New Delhi, June 9
After the recent popularity of B schools, it is the turn of F schools now. With more and more salaried people going for investments and financial planning, there is now a greater demand for financial professionals who can guide and advise people about where to invest their hard-earned money.

A career as finance professional today is different from what it used to be years ago. Financial planning provides direction and meaning to a person’s financial decisions, which includes buying a home, saving for children’s education or planning for retirement.

The study of markets, financial products and other business-related sectors are the foundation of financial activities. Stockbroker, financial planner and investment advisors are some career options in finance that one can opt.

Industry experts say that today people are looking not just at products but also at integrated financial solutions that can offer stability of returns along with security.

Anish Wig an industry expert and CEO of International College of Financial Planning says, “We at ICFP provide world-class knowledge and training to students, working executives and professionals interested in making a career in financial services in India. ICFP’s courses are customised in accordance with industry requirements and, thus, assuring a secure future for students”.

Wig informed that ICFP offers postgraduate diploma in financial planning (PGDFP), a one year course designed to prepare students for financial services industry and a two-year postgraduate diploma in securities analysis and trading (PGDSAT) to create trained professionals.

He said that graduates and final year students are eligible for the postgraduate diploma course, but admission will be confirmed only after the candidate completes his/her graduation. The candidates will have to appear for a written test and then an interview.

Wig adds, “The financial sector is poised for a quantum leap and the challenges are so vast that they will fulfill the aspirations of the innovators, the advisors, the financial specialists as well as researchers from all streams of the society. Those who join the finance sector in the take off stage will dominate business and trade worldwide for years to come.”

Govt to abolish beggary by Games 2010
The government has constructed houses for beggars and will give vocational training to them
Tribune News Service

New Delhi, June 9
In view of the Commonwealth Games 2010, the Delhi government has decided to eradicate beggary from the national Capital, as it will earn bad name to the nation.

The government has constructed houses for beggars and will give vocational training to them.

Begging is a punishable offence. S.K Saxena, director, social welfare department has instructed the officers concerned to intensify action against beggars and eliminate organised begging. Raids have been conducted at various places.

As of now, eight drug-addict beggars have been caught and kept in drug de-addiction centre. While others have been sent to beggars home at Lampur village and Kingsway Camp.

Places like — Jama Masjid in the walled city, Hanuman Mandir in Connaught Place and Hazrat Nizamuddin are some places where beggars sit. The department will also ensure that no beggar is seen around religious places.

Saxena has also appealed to the public to discourage beggary. The public has also been asked to be vigilant, as some beggars are thieves in disguise.

The social welfare department is committed to take all possible measures to curb organised begging and rehabilitate beggars in suitable form, said Saxena.

The government will strive hard to ensure that no beggar caught red-handed can avoid punishment. It has been decided to take fingerprints through biometric process and video recording on the spot so that prosecution becomes strong.

The government is concerned with the condition of beggars who have been forced to take up this as profession due to coercive measures adopted by the organised begging mafia in the city. The condition of beggars has become worse, as they have no clothes and they are being paid meager amount because the mafia collects the entire alms.

When a cop turns robber
Sandeep Yadav
Tribune News Service

New Delhi, June 9
Neeraj Mishra, 26, a civil services aspirant living in Munshi Ram Colony of North West Delhi has alleged that a sub-inspector posted in Mukherjee Nagar police station Mohan Singh Rawat has robbed him of Rs 12,000.

His efforts to get an FIR lodged against the errant police officer failed, as no senior officer took cognizance of the complaint. On the contrary, the station officers started harassing him to forget the issue.

“I had earlier heard that the police is corrupt. Now, I have learnt that most of them are actually goons in khakhi. I have no faith left in the Delhi Police,” says Neeraj.

Neeraj has named 11 police officers in a complaint filed at the Tis Hazari Court including Indira Sharma, SHO, Mukherjee Nagar, Mohan Singh Rawat and nine others of Mukherjee Nagar police station.

Neeraj’s horrific experience with the Delhi Police began in August 2007, when he went to Mukherjee Nagar police station to lodge a complaint against his girlfriend’s father who tried to poison him. Belonging to poor farmers’ family in Jaunpur district of UP, Neeraj had come to Delhi to take civil services coaching. He took admission in NIAS Coaching Centre at Mukherjee Nagar in May 2007. There he came in contact with Divya (name changed) and the two soon started seeing each other. But, Divya’s father did not approve of the relationship. On August 11, 2007, he tried to kill Neeraj by offering soft drink mixed with poison. However, Neeraj got suspicious and took the bottle to Mukherjee Nagar police station to be sent for a forensic examination. But the station officer refused to lodge his complaint.

“The then SHO of Mukherjee Nagar police station not only refused to lodge my complaint but also abused and humiliated me. The local ACP also did not adhere to my pleas as Mann, who knew the girl’s father very well, had briefed him before I could visit him,” rued Neeraj.

However, his ordeal had just begun. When he persisted on meeting senior officers including visits to the DCP’s office and the PHQ, the local police station officers started calling him to the station and threatened him of dire consequences. “I was often called to the police station and harassed unnecessarily. On October 15, sub inspector Mohan Singh Rawat called me to the station. I happened to have Rs 12,000 in my pocket, which I had received from home the same day. Rawat not only took away my money but also beat me up,” alleges Neeraj.

Neeraj had got his medical examination done and has certificates to back his claims. Neeraj then went to the vigilance department of the Delhi Police and narrated his tale.

However, even after months no action was taken against anybody. In the meantime, a case was lodged against Neeraj in Mukherjee Nagar police station.

“A false case was slapped on me stating that I had abused officials while standing at the gate of the police station. Which sane person would do so?” questions Neeraj and adds that someday when he will become an IPS officer he would do full justice to his profession.

Beleaguered Neeraj, as a last resort has now knocked the doors of the judiciary for justice. He approached the court in April this year and believes that justice shall prevail.

The new SHO of the station Indira Sharma also failed to take action against Rawat.

While Mohan Singh Rawat is currently on a long leave, Indira Sharma was not available for comment.

Workshop on ayush drugs begins today
Tribune News Service

New Delhi, June 9
The National Campaign on Quality Assurance of Ayurveda, Siddha, Unani and Homoeopathic Drugs (ASU and H) and the Department of Ayush is holding a workshop on ayush drug quality assurance on June 10 and 11 at the India Islamic Cultural Centre, here.

The objective of this campaign is to strengthen the ASU and H drug quality control and ensure quality medicines to the people.

According to the organisers, ayush drugs have been in use since time immemorial. A treasure of knowledge in the form of shlokas and mantras as in the case of ayurveda and sidha and in the form of traditional system of healthcare based on unique biochemical preparations as in the case of unani and homoeopathy are now being considered as sustainable healthcare systems in the world.

Over the years, knowledge of traditional systems of medicine spread through individual practice and not much was published because of the fact that practitioners maintained the formulations as their proprietary information.

During the last century, the modern system of medicine has made tremendous progress both in terms of process technology as well as development of a desired product for a targeted disease. The system of quality, efficacy and safety has been put in place with scientific database generated through basic and applied research to take care of consumers’ interests besides ensuring regulatory compliance.

In order to ensure these aspects for ayush drugs, the quality of ayush products needs to be monitored in a stringent manner with creation of quality awareness amongst all the stakeholders. Further, it is because of the continuous updation of database about quality and safety, that the unsafe modern drugs are withdrawn from the market from time to time. All this is missing in the case of ayush drugs.

Reshuffle likely in Haryana cabinet: Hooda
Tribune News Service

Faridabad, June 9
Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda yesterday said that the reshuffle in the state cabinet would soon be done. He indicated that several new faces might be inducted in the cabinet. However, he did not specify as to who would be dropped from the cabinet.

Hooda was here for a slew of official programmes including the Maharana Pratap Jayanti celebrations organised at Ballabgarh. He also addressed the party workers at the District Congress (urban) Committee.

He said that new chairpersons to various bodies would be appointed after the cabinet reshuffle.

According to sources, Lakshman Das Arora and Karar Devi may be dropped on health grounds. While deputy Chief Minister Chandra Mohan, son of former Chief Minister Bhajan Lal, could only continue as a cabinet minister. There could be change in the portfolios too.

Addressing party workers, he said that the people of Haryana have shown confidence in the leadership of Sonia Gandhi and policies of his government by voting in favour of the Congress in the recently concluded by-election.

Referring to the development works, he said that all decks have been cleared for starting metro construction in Faridabad. It would be constructed from YMCA in Delhi. The project will be completed by 2010, he added.

The CM agreed to set up an ITI in village Mohana and 400 KW power sub-station in Faridabad and 66 KW station in Ballabgarh. He also laid stone of a railway over bridge in Malirnaw village.

He said that all roadblocks have been removed for starting the construction on Badarpur flyover. He asserted that the government was trying to restore the earlier glory of Faridabad that was lost in the developmental race to Gurgaon. He said that his government favoured balanced growth of the state. He further said that the government has planned to set up 4,056 houses for jhuggi dwellers.

At the Maharana Pratap Jayanti celebrations, he urged upon the people to follow the ideals of self-respect and values demonstrated by the great warrior-king Maharana Pratap.

The function was organised by local Congress MLA and parliamentary secretary of Haryana Assembly, Sharda Rathore. It was presided over by Congress MP from Uttar Pradesh Kunwar Manvinder Singh.

Indian artistes to perform in Morroco
Tribune News Service

New Delhi, June 9
Kabir, Nanak and Tulsi will reverberate for the first time at Batha Museum in Morocco. This has been possible with the collaboration of NGO Seher with Fes Festival of World Sacred Music.

Seher, which organises the famous Bhakti Utsav in Delhi, has collaborated with Fes Festival for the first time. It will present an evening of Bhakti Sangeet by Madhup Mudgal and his troupe on June 14 in the backdrop of Batha museum. Mudgal would be performing saguna and nirguna bhajans composed by Tulsidas, Surdas, Mirabai and Kabir.

Seher has an impressive list of sufi and other religious singers from South Asia participating in the Bhakti Utsav. It is now looking forward to expanding its borders to other countries also.

Sanjeev Bhargava, festival director, Seher, says, “It is a great opportunity for Indian artistes to be present among some of the best artistes coming from Africa and the Arab countries.”

“As Bhakti Utsav attracts thousands from all walks of life each year, this collaboration attempts to reach out to much wider audience. The effort will extend to a long-term exchange programme of artistes and groups of these two unique music festivals of the world,” Bhargava added.

Fes Festival in Morocco and Bhakti Utsav in India, are perhaps the two most dedicated, thematic festivals that showcase devotional music in its myriad forms cutting across religious politics, caste and creed. With the consistent dedication and devotion, these two festivals have come to be highly popular amongst the music lovers, scholars, researchers and public in general.

While Fes Festival started with a focus on the music traditions of the East and the Arab world, Bhakti Utsav presents a truly bewildering variety, richness and intensity of music prevalent in many parts of contemporary India and South Asia.

Waste-to-power plants may release toxins: NGO
Tribune News Service

New Delhi, June 9
An NGO today claimed that a municipal waste to electricity generation plant being set up in Delhi may release harmful toxins in the environment, against the claims of the company.

It claimed that Timarpur-Okhla Waste Management Company Pvt Ltd had started constructions for dioxins emitting incinerator based municipal waste to electricity plants in residential areas of Delhi.

“These companies are claiming that there would be no heavy metal laden fly ash, no stack and no emissions that pose a risk to health and environment...These claims are manifestly incorrect and they pose a grave risk to human health due to toxic emissions from incineration and co-incineration processes,” claimed Toxics Watch.

The NGO claimed that these processes involved incineration/combustion as an essential component. All of these technologies emit dioxins and other harmful pollutants and are defined as incineration by the us environmental protection agency.

Dioxin is the common name for 75 toxic chemicals that are unwanted by-products of manufacturing and combustion processes when chlorine and carbon-containing materials are combined.

Even at very low exposure, at levels of parts per trillion, dioxins cause immune system damage, hormone disruption, and reproductive and development effects, it added.

Villagers demand arrest of MP’s security staff
Tribune News Service

Faridabad, June 9
A large number of villagers from Seekri and surrounding areas blocked NH – II (Delhi-Agra highway) last evening to protest against the Congress MP from Mathura (UP) Kunwar Manvender Singh’s security staff for allegedly thrashing a youth of the area. They demanded arrest of the MP’s security personnel.

The youth’s vehicle had allegedly collided with the MP’s car on the highway. As a result, the security staff accompanying him beat up the youth of Seekri village. After getting the news, the villagers staged dharna and blocked the highway.

Heavy traffic chaos was reported on the highway.

The MP was returning to Mathura after attending the Maharana Pratap Jayanti celebrations at Ballabgarh.

Haryana Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda was the chief guest on the occasion.

MCD office vandalised, FIR lodged
Tribune News Service

New Delhi, June 9
The Delhi Police has registered a complaint against a group of unidentified persons, who vandalised the MCD office in Lajpat Nagar last evening.

The office was closed at the time of the incident. The watchman was on duty. They entered the office forcibly and tried to unlock the offices. By the time police reached there, they ran away.

The senior officers of the corporation and leaders have taken the issue seriously. Mayor Arti Mehra and Leader of the House Subhash Arya have urged Lieutenant Governor Tejendra Khanna to direct the Delhi Police Commissioner to order a thorough investigation in the vandalism.

They expressed anguish at the way an important government office was vandalised by gun-trotting assailants. They broke the almirahs with rods and ransacked a number of rooms destroying vital records and documents.

When the security guard and a peon tried to stop them, they were beaten up and locked. This highlights the impunity with which the vandalism was carried out for nearly two hours, said Mehra. She urged that the culprits should be immediately brought to book so that such incidents were not repeated in future.

The Mayor today directed the commissioner, MCD to institute a vigilance inquiry into the incident and submit report within a week.

Subhash Arya said that it could be handwork of builder lobby as illegal construction had been banned totally. Only ground plus three floors are allowed but private builders are making five stories. Encroachment has also being removed from the area that had effected the builders and traders.

Patil to award 50 kids today
Tribune News Service

New Delhi, June 9
Fifty children in four different streams have been selected from across the country for this year’s prestigious Bal Shree awards. The awards will be presented by President Pratiba Devisingh Patil at Rashtrapati Bhawan tomorrow.

Amita Shaw, director, National Bal Bhavan said that three children among the awardees are from special category. She said that the Bal Shree Scheme sought to identify creative children within the age group of 9 to 16 years in four areas of creativity. They are — creative performance, creative art, creative scientific innovations and creative writing. She said that children are the backbone of our society and we have to develop their creative skills for their personality development.

Shaw added that HRD minister Arjun Singh has assured to open 100 Bal Bhavans in the country. Chief secretaries of states have been asked to open Bal Bhavans in states where there are no Bal Bahavans.

Oil co. focuses on optimum energy use
Tribune News Service

New Delhi, June 9
Indian Oil, the nation’s premier energy company has adopted several state-of-the-art cleaner technologies to reduce Carbon dioxide emissions by reducing energy consumption, minimising waste and increasing reuse in their refinery operations.

B.N Bankapur, director (refineries) informed this while flagging-off the World Environment Day celebrations here on June 5.

Bankapur said that the Indian Oil had taken up projects under clean development mechanism (CDM) in a big way. A number of schemes have already been identified and are under various stages of approvals.

All seven refineries of IOC have taken up number of projects each under clean development mechanism.

Six schemes have already been approved by ministry of environment and forests.

The first CDM project is expected to be registered by the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), the world executive body in next two months time.

Two held for murder of ragpicker
Tribune News Service

New Delhi, June 9
With the arrest of two persons — Nand Kishore and Devender, the South West district police claimed to have solved the murder of Ramu, a rag picker.

Ramu’s dead body was recovered from the Indra Market area with his face crushed.

According to the police, on June 3 Ramu had a tiff with Nand Kishore and Devender over some trivial issue. The two decided to get even with Ramu and asked him to join them for a drinking session. After Ramu lost his senses, they crushed his head with heavy stones and disposed off his body in a canal.

Nand Kishore is also facing a trial in another case in the Sultanpuri area.

Woman commits suicide
Tribune News Service

New Delhi, June 9
A woman committed suicide at her house in the Rohini area of Outer Delhi.

The body of Vanshika, 22, was found last night by her father. Her father rushed to the house when Vanshika did not answer to his repeated phone calls.

Vanshika and her husband Bhupendra had a love marriage last year. According to the police, it was Bhupendra’s second marriage and he had children with the first wife.

The deceased and her husband were working with separate travel agencies.

Bhupendra was not at home when the body was recovered.

1 dies, 18 injured in accident
Our Correspondent

Ghaziabad, June 9
A woman devotee was killed on the spot while 18 other devotees were seriously injured when a bus carrying them collided with a speeding crane near Wazirpur village on Delhi-Aligarh road last night.

The condition of three passengers is stated to be in critical. The injured pilgrims were admitted to hospitals in Khurja and Bulandshahr.

The devotees were returning to Hapur after a pilgrimage to Mathura-Vrindavan.

After the accident, the crane driver fled.

The Sushila Rani, 50, a resident of Jawahar Ganj was killed on the spot, while Ashok Singhal, Chitra, Dinesh Kumar, Mangal Sharma, Subash Chander, Ajay Kumar Gopal, Ashok, etc were injured.

UP Roadways to start 424 a/c buses
Our Correspondent

Noida, June 9
UP Roadways will start air-conditioned bus service in the state in two stages. Each stage will include 424 buses. Besides, it also plans to induct 2,000 new buses in the existing fleet.

UP transport minister Ram Achal Rajbir announced this on Thursday while flagging off Swaran Shatabdi bus service from Noida inter-state bus stand in Sector 33. The air-conditioned Shatabadi bus will run on the Noida-Agra-Noida route.

NDPL site to display outages

New Delhi, June 9
A section has been created on the NDPL website to display the daily scheduled outages.

The section will have information about areas in NDPL distribution network where power supply may be affected because of maintenance and augmentation work. The consumers can log onto www.ndpl.com and know about the maintenance work scheduled in their area, an NDPL spokesperson said. — TNS