New Delhi, August 15
Bhagat Singh’s family members claimed that his statue in the Parliament House does not look like him.

While thanking the Lok Sabha Speaker for taking an initiative to place Bhagat Singh’s statue in the House, they said that the face looked much older.

Bhagat Singh’s family was in the Capital today to attend the unveiling ceremony of the legend’s statue in the House.

“The statue does not look like Bhagat Singh. It was due to be placed in Parliament for so many years but even now they have done just a symbolic job,” said Abhay Sindhu, Bhagat Singh’s nephew.

Calling it far from reality, Abhay said that the statue’s face and body do not reflect the real Bhagat Singh.

Virendra Sindhu, daughter of Bhagat Singh’s younger brother Kultar Singh, was also present on the occasion.

“It was a short and nice ceremony. The statue has been placed there after a long debate but it was on an important day nevertheless. This makes it historic,” said Virendra Sindhu, who has also written extensively about Bhagat Singh.

Talking about Bhagat Singh’s popular image in the masses with a pistol in his hand, she said that he stood for a humanitarian cause. “Even if he dropped bombs in Parliament, he accepted it in the court. That was a necessary push to their revolutionary movement. They could not have kept it underground forever,” she said.

She said that Bhagat Singh took the revolutionary freedom movement to the masses. “When he was on a hunger strike for three months in the prison for the rights of the political prisoners, people started eating one meal a day to show solidarity,” said Virendra.

One of the most well read freedom fighters, Bhagat Singh read till the last day of his life. “He read a lot. His understanding of Marxism and Leninism was very good. He adopted socialism after reading the Marxist writers extensively,” she said.

Asked if she watched any of the films made on Bhagat Singh, she said that she had seen all of them. “Legend of Bhagat Singh was good. It also reflected on some of the internal debates of the freedom struggle. Largely they all are event-based films; they move from one incident to another. At times people use Bhagat Singh at wrong platforms. They saw Bhagat in themselves during the disturbed times in Punjab. They did not know the real man,” she said.

Recollecting her past, Virendra said she was always aware that she belonged to Bhagat Singh’s family. “Since the time I remember, I was around three years old and I would go to the prison to meet my father. In a small gathering, we would observe Bhagat Singh’s martyrdom day in the village. I was aware that we were not independent,” she said.

Reacting on the controversy surrounding the name of the Chandigarh airport, Abhay said that politicians were losing the real point. “It is not about one particular airport. It is the name that is most important,” he said.

New Delhi, August 15
After convening a nightlong general body meeting on campus, the Jawaharlal Nehru University Students’ Union (JNUSU) received a mandate to fight a united struggle against the alleged discrepancies in the university’s admission process.

JNUSU office-bearers from the All India Students’ Union (AISA) maintained that there was no seat cut in the university while the JNUSU representatives from Students’ Federation of India (SFI) alleged that there has been a visible seat cut.

AISA defeated SFI by almost hundred votes on SFI’s resolution that condemned the role of the JNUSU office-bearers.

“Student community has decided that seat cut is not the issue. The real issue is of non-fulfillment of seats for deprived sections and we are going to fight a unified struggle against it,” said Pallavi Deka, general secretary, JNUSU.

More than 200 students gave their names for speaking in the general body meeting. Despite heavy rains, almost 600 students kept sitting in front of the administrative building to cast their vote on the issue.

“JNUSU office-bearers won the mandate and we are ready to fight this unified agitation. However, they (AISA) still have not called the all-organisation meeting, where the course of struggle would be decided,” said Dhananjay from SFI.

The opposition managed 241 votes against 350, who stood with the JNUSU office-bearers. Apart from the SFI, smaller student organisations like Democratic Students’ Union (DSU), Progressive Students’ Union (PSU) and National Students’ Union of India (NSUI) voted against the JNUSU office-bearers.

Meanwhile, six students were on hunger strike today Councillor Anirban completed the eighth day of his strike. Two protestors had to be rushed for medical help this morning.

Greater Noida, August 15
Though IG of Meerut Zone Gyan Singh and divisional commissioner (Meerut) Devender Chaudhary had told the media yesterday that no one was missing after the violence in Greater Noida on Wednesday, gram pradhan Om Prakash Balmiki said that 41 persons were still missing.

A panchayat meeting was held on Thursday morning.

With the body of another farmer having been recovered from Mathurapur village jungle, the number of those killed in police firing has risen to five. The latest victim was identified as Satta, son of Rajpal Singh. He had suffered a bullet wound besides other injuries.

Villagers allege that the authorities clandestinely cremated bodies of four persons killed in the clash on Wednesday night.

Om Prakash Balmiki said that the police took him from his house around 2 a.m. Dabra gram pradhan Ramesh Rawal, who was leading the movement and Jagdish Rawal were also taken away by the police in the midnight. The police had made them sign some papers after which the four bodies were cremated. The panchayat was told that among the 41 persons still missing, two were women.

The main grievance of the farmers of Greater Noida is that UP government is offering them Rs 850 per sq metre of land which is roughly Rs 15,000 to Rs 30,000 in the market. The circle rate of the land that attracts stamp duty is Rs 8,000 per sq mt.

The government refuses to recognise the market value of the land. If the farmers have the option to sell their land, as pleaded by former Prime Minister V.P. Singh, they will get at least 20 times higher price and would not have to face the government bullets, says social activist Rupesh Verma. The rates offered by the state government were Rs 320 in 2006. The government is out to grab our lands, alleges Radha Charam Bhatti of Naya Basti village. 

Greater Noida, August 15
The police has named 24 farmers in FIRs filed against 1000 unidentified farmers in connection with violence in Greater Noida area on Wednesday. The FIRs have been filed under various sections covering assault, violence, mob attack, rioting, stone-pelting, trespassing into government offices, damaging government property, torching vehicles and assaulting government officials on duty.

Late in the night police had arrested 19 injured farmers who were being treated in Kailash hospital and Sharda Hospital, Greater Noida, and sent them to jail. The farmers are very angry with the police which has allegedly cremated the four farmers killed in firing without the consent of their relatives. As a result, farmers have refused to accept the land compensation.

Among the injured farmers, eight are reportedly in a serious condition. Twelve farmers are reportedly missing in Ghgori Vachhera village alone and farmers allege they have been killed in police firing and their bodies disposed of by the authorities.

All schools, colleges and educational institutions in Greater Noida were closed on Thursday due to tension in the area. Dadri Bar Association boycotted courts. The families of those killed will be paid Rs 5 lakh compensation out of which Rs 3 lakh will be the share of Greater Noida Authority and Rs 2 lakh of District Administration.

Greater Noida, August 15
Two days after Ghori Bachhera village lost its four men in the police firing for the demonstration that turned violent, the village is still engulfed in a pall of gloom. No food has been cooked in several houses in the village for the past two days while agony and helplessness on the faces of people here say the story of their sordid nightmare.

The police is keeping a strong vigil on every movement in the village to foil any violent reaction by the villagers. The place has turned into a virtual police cantonment today with PAC picket built right at the main road leading to the village discouraging any visitor to the village.

The mourning villagers defy the claims of the police that only four persons were killed in the police firing and claim that more than 50 villagers are still missing.

While the official figures say that Yogesh Rawal (30), Gopal (48), Manoj Rawal (22) and Rajendra Sharma (40) died on Wednesday, villagers has a long list of people who have not been seen since then.

“There can be no bigger lie than the police saying that only four persons have been killed. I cannot say for sure how many but we know that many more have been shot by the police. However, as of now, there are more than 50 people from our village alone that have gone missing. We are praying that they are alive and will return home soon,” said Dharampal, a villager who had faced police batons in the demonstration.

Dharampal’s view is held by almost all the villagers, who insist that the police is still harassing the villagers. They allege that a youth of the village was picked up by the police from the hospital where he had gone to visit his critically injured father.

While the government has announced compensation for the dead and injured, the families of the deceased have refused to accept any cheque from the authorities. “Money is no compensation for the blood of our children. What do we do with the money when there is no one left to use that money?” said Rajpal, uncle of one of the deceased.

The cremation of the dead and not handing over of the bodies to the families has further added salt to their wounds. “This is absolute dictatorship. The mothers, fathers and wives have been denied the chance of even having a last look of their dear ones. The police cremated them on the pretext of unidentified bodies,” says Raghuvir Rawal, a property dealer.

Several villagers spoke on the condition of anonymity as they fear police retaliation. “We do not want ourselves to be identified. The police is treating us like their personal enemy,” alleged a villager even as he narrates the story of police high handedness on the day of demonstration.

However, the police has refuted all allegations terming them baseless. Although senior superintendent of police was not available for comment, the junior police staff said they are only doing their duty. “We only follow the instructions of our senior. We do not know what is wrong or right. However, things are under control here. There is no problem at all,” claimed a sub-inspector on duty in the village. 

New Delhi, August 15
Nursing remains a very important aspect of the health care system though a somewhat neglected area. In most hospitals, under-trained or lax nursing staff is the general norm whether in the metros, the government hospitals or states, forget the poor situation in district headquarters. Infrastructure available to train nurses has been limited in the past.

In the past two years, awareness has been growing within the health sector for a well-trained, professional nursing staff. As a result, universities are coming up with courses in nursing. Realizing this growing need, the government has decided to open two new nursing colleges in the state—College of Nursing at the Dr Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital and the College of Nursing at Safdarjung Hospital, both in affiliation with Guru Gobind Singh Indraprastha University, Delhi.

The two new colleges will offer an indepth, well-focused B.Sc. (Hons.) nursing programme of four-year duration. The nursing college at Safdarjung Hospital will admit 100 students, whereas the one at Dr. RML Hospital will have an intake of 50 students. Admission to both the colleges will be done on the basis of a Common Entrance Test (CET), which will be conducted by the university from September 20.

A special aspect of the programme is that it is open only to the unmarried female candidates who have qualified their 10+2 with minimum 50% marks in the aggregate of four subjects including English, physics, chemistry and biology.

The prospectus-cum-application form for the course can be obtained from either of the nursing colleges at Safdarjung Hospital or Dr. RML Hospital or from the Admission Helpline at GGSIPU, Kashmere Gate against a DD of Rs 200 in favour of ‘PAO, Dr RML Hospital, New Delhi’

The last date to obtain the application form by hand is August 27 and the deadline for submitting the filled-in applications is August 30.

Speaking on the new institutions, Prof. K. K. Aggarwal, vice-chancellor, GGSIPU said, “GGSIP University has always endeavoured to offer educational opportunities in those professional disciplines which are in demand by the society. Both Dr. RML and Safdarjung are well established hospitals and we are happy to be associated with their nursing colleges. This move will, moreover, increase our overall intake in the nursing programme by 225 seats.”

Besides these government colleges, GGSIPU has granted affiliation to another nursing college this year, which is St. Stephen’s College of Nursing with an intake of 25 students. Earlier, the university was offering B.Sc (Hons.) Nursing programme only through one institution, namely the Laxmi Bai Batra College of Nursing at Tughlakabad Institutional Area with 50 seats.

New Delhi, August 15
The country’s apex health care centres, Kalawati Saran Hospital (KSH) and Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital (RMLH), are still lagging in providing specialised services. This was evident in the case of a two and a half years old Alam, an accident victim, who after remaining on ventillator support in ICU for five days in Lok Nayak Jai Prakash Hospital (LNJPH) is reportedly recovering, and is presently on oxygen. However, the recovery process started after a long fight for life in these hospitals

Earlier, Alam who had met with a fatal accident, had to wait for as many as 14 hours to get an abdominal surgery done.

On August 7, Alam’s parents carried him to KSH in Delhi after a wall fell on him. KSH sent the wary parents to RMLH. Strangely, the case was again referred to the pediatric surgery of KSH.

Later, the little boy was shifted to LNJPH where Dr. Shalini Sinha, pediatric surgeon, successfully operated on him. After staying on life support system for five days, Alam was shifted from ICU on August 12 to the general ward and his condition is improving, according to the doctors.

Dr. Shalini says, “When the boy was brought here, he was looking very weak because of poor nourishment perhaps, and his condition was very critical. He had a 4-cm perforation in the stomach and all the contents of the stomach were lying in the abdominal cavity. As the child was anemic, we had to give him two units of blood. But now, he is okay and may be discharged after a week.”

KSH has to work towards updating its operational machinery so that it does not have to turn away the needy people. Again, if RMLH department of pediatric surgery has started functioning after the HOD of the dept, Dr. Amita Sen returned to office after a two-year leave, then why this case was directed back to KSH. 

New Delhi, August 15
Residents of the National Capital Territory of Delhi woke up to a cool and comfortable morning on the Independence Day, thanks to the overnight rains and an overcast sky which promised more showers.

According to the Indian Meterological Department (IMD), the overnight rains brought the minimum temperature down to 25.2 degrees Celsius, one degree below normal for this time of the year.

An average of 45 mm of rainfall was recorded in the Capital.

The Met office has also predicted more showers for the Capital during the next 24 hours so that Delhiites can enjoy the long weekend.

New Delhi, August 15
Three Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) officers— SP S.Venkataraman, SP R.D. Kalia and SP R.S. Punia– have been awarded President’s police medal for distinguished services on the eve of the Independence Day.

Besides, 12 other officers – DIG Madan Mohan Oberoi, DIG Pankaj Kumar Srivastava, additional SP Ranjan Biswas, DSP Devendra Singh, DSP A.K. Singh, DSP Desh Deepak, inspector Suman Kumar, inspector Ram Chander Garvan, inspector A.B. Chaudhary, ASI Lakshman Tripathi, head constable Gaddam Satyanarayan and constable Munusamy Subramany were awarded police medal for meritorious services, a press release.

New Delhi, August 15
Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit on Wednesday released a book titled ‘Dastane Dilli’ written by senior journalist Aditya Awasthi.

She said, “The book will attract people towards Delhi and will unfold many unknown historical facts. A number of books on Delhi have been published but some lack concrete information.”

Union minister of state for home affairs Sriprakash Jaiswal presided over the function whereas Alok Mehta, group editor of Nai Dunia was the special guest.

New Delhi, August 15
Delhi Pradesh Congress Committee (DPCC) president Jai Prakash Agarwal today said that need of the hour was to carry forward the developmental works initiated by the Congress-led UPA government at the Centre and fight the anti-social forces.

He exhorted party cadres to be vigilant against negative forces who were out to scuttle the development projects in the country. He said that everyone should strive to create a peaceful environment so that the agenda of national development could be carried out without any hindrance.

He said this on the sidelines of the Independence Day celebrations in DPCC headquarters.

India gained independence because many leaders sacrificed their lives and turned into martyrs. Such hard-won freedom should not be frittered away in fruitless pursuits. The country, under the Congress-led UPA government was on the right track of development particularly in educational sector, poverty alleviation and employment generation. 

New Delhi, August 15
The Confederation of All India Traders (CAIT) has hailed the notification of various amendments in the Master Plan of Delhi (MPD) 2021.

The amendments are much needed in view of the ground realties and to maintain centuries old distributive character of Delhi trade, a CAIT spokesperson said.

Delhi CAIT chairman Murli Mani and general secretary Narender Madan said that it would relieve many traders from sealing. The government should declare a cut-off date and business establishments that exist as on the said date should be regularised. Besides, stringent laws should be made with special emphasis on the implementation of MPD provisions.

The trade leaders further demanded that the sealed shops that enjoyed the protection of MPD should be de-sealed immediately whereas, the wrongly sealed shops be de-sealed without any delay.

New Delhi, August 15
Development activities being undertaken by the certain government agencies like -- DDA, Delhi Metro and PWD are causing loadshedding in various areas of the national Capital, said a BSES official.

He said that the power company had enough power, but the other agencies cut the wire when they carry out development work. This results in loadshedding. For the last one week, East Delhi residents of Preet Vihar, Laxmi Nagar and Mayur Vihar have had to face difficulties on account of unscheduled and long power cuts.

People were under the impression that these unscheduled power cuts were due to the BSES. But when they contacted the officer concerned he said that there was no dearth of power from the BSES’s side.

New Delhi, August 15
Omaxe Foundation, the philanthropic arm of Omaxe Ltd, organised health camps at their construction sites in Noida and Bahadurgarh on Wednesday. These camps were organized under “Project Sambhawna”, a Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) project.

During the camp, a proper check-up and the scheduled doses of immunization were administered to all the children at the site and children from the surrounding areas. A through and complete check-up of the pregnant women was also carried out by doctors for the betterment of the women working at the site and the surrounding areas, iron tablets were also distributed.

Speaking on the initiative, Rohtas Goel, CMD, Omaxe Ltd, said, “Organizing these kinds of health camps indicates that Omaxe Foundation is aware and compassionate about the paucity of health facilities of the unprivileged, who deserved good health but unable to do so because of their economic condition and the lack of awareness.”

With aim to provide health care to pregnant woman and newborn babies and as part of its corporate social responsibility, Omaxe Foundation had organized these camps to cater to the economically deprived class. Omaxe Foundation along with the health camp also organized a session for educating the women about the importance of family planning.

New Delhi, August 15
There is a great degree of confusion and concern amongst conceiving women when it comes to colouring their hair during pregnancy. Recent medical research has established that such fears are mere myth—colouring your hair is safe during pregnancy.

Research suggests that there is no reason why women can’t dye their hair during pregnancy but there are certain precautions that should be taken. The problems with dyes stem from the ammonia fumes that are released from them and when absorbed in the body pass on to the developing fetus. This has been linked to certain types of brain tumors in the developing child. However, with manufacturers now avoiding the use of ammonia, the risk is almost non-existent.

Dr Shivani Sachdev Gour, fertility expert and gynecologist, Phoenix Hospital said “Many pregnant women come to me with this query. This is a common question in their mind and they will be relieved to know that they don’t have to sacrifice their beautiful appearance. Hair colouring doesn’t cause any harm to the developing baby.”

“Hair colouring doesn’t affect pregnancy and there are no scientifically proven records of any harmful affect on the fetus,” asserts Dr Gour.

The other concern was with the risk of dye getting absorbed into the body through the scalp and then passing on to the fetus. However, animal model exposed to a concentration that is 100 times higher than normal, failed to demonstrate a serious effect on the developing fetus. A large American study of pregnant women was conducted: amount of hair dye and type and duration of exposure analysed in great detail—it failed to demonstrate any effect on the incidence of congenital malformations.

Doctors and fertility experts claim that the BHS (British Health Service) has endorsed this view that hair colour appears to be safe in pregnancy.

However, to be on the safer side, the doctors suggest some precautions such as using vegetable hair dyes like henna, highlighting the hair strands rather than colouring as this reduces the exposure of the scalp to chemicals and conducting the exercise in a well-ventilated room. As an added precaution, the doctors suggest avoiding hair colouring in the first three months of pregnancy.

New Delhi, August 15
Four unidentified persons robbed a businessman of Rs 2 crore at his office in the Madhu Vihar area near Mandavali.

Deepak Kansal was robbed around 3 p.m. in his office. Kansal is into the business of private security, shares and developers of real estate.

According to the police, the businessman was unable to identify the persons who had barged into his office and had taken away the cash on gunpoint.

Though a case against unidentified persons has been registered, the police is yet to find a clue in the case. “We will be able to nab the culprits soon,” said a police official from Mandavali police station.

However, the police believes that it can be the handiwork of someone who was known to the businessman and was aware of the cash lying in the office at that time.