New Delhi, September 6
The diversions made in the trains to the satellite stations resulted in chaos and confusion to the commuters on the first day of upgradation and re-modelling of New Delhi Railway Station.

A visit to the station revealed that even after making so many announcements through the newspapers and news channels, the Northern Railway failed to communicate properly to the masses. There were several people waiting outside New Delhi railway station with their luggage, hanging at the enquiry corners or helplessly shouting at the railway staff, said a commuter standing at the station.

He said that hundreds of people are lining at the enquiry counter to know ‘what is wrong’, but nobody is there to reply to them.

Most of the passengers coming here are either outsiders or locals. “This is creating a lot of confusion. Many people are finding difficulty in getting to the satellite stations,” said a Railway Police Force (RPF) official.

“I have lost my train. Missed an important meeting and now I am so confused that I don’t know from which station I should make reservation,” said Anand Rao.

To lessen the problems of passengers, the Railway authorities claimed to have arranged for additional water booths, toilets, catering services and transportation facilities at all the satellite stations.

“We have coordinated with the transport department of the Delhi government, traffic police, Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) and New Delhi Municipal Council (NDMC) to ensure that passengers don’t have to face any problems while commuting to these stations,” said public relation officer (PRO), Geetanjali.

When asked about the parking arrangements, she could not reply. Most of the people felt irritated. Railway authorities are not cooperating with them, says Dakshita Khanna, a passenger.

Diverting trains to different railway stations are not a problem. The problem is that these stations do not have basic facilities, she said.

The daily commuters using local trains (EMUs) which are the lifeline for the people coming from satellite towns like Faridabad, Gaziabad are having a tough time.

“I need to reach the office by 11:30 am. Mostly the trains take 45 minutes. But today it stopped at an unknown place for a couple of hours and it’s already 2:15 pm. This is nothing but poor management,” said a DU student Radhika Agarwal.

Stations like Sarai Rohilla, Nizamuddin and Delhi Cantonment saw a larger number of footfalls today. People found lack of waiting facilities as the waiting rooms were overcrowded. “These are small stations. Due to these diversions, lots of people are coming here but to get them seated, no proper arrangements have been made,” says a senior citizen, Mohini Devi.

Even the railways helpline number 139 remained engaged all the time as hundreds of confused passengers were asking the details of their train.

“Everybody is having almost the same problem. People are totally confused about the station where their trains will arrive,” says customer care executive Ajay Gupta.

New Delhi, September 6
The Delhi University Students’ Union (DUSU) polls have netted a mixed team this year. Nupur Sharma of the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP), the student wing of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), was elected the president. While the posts of vice-president, secretary and joint secretary were bagged by the candidates of National Students’ Union of India (NSUI), the students wing of Congress.

NSUI’s Manohar Nagar was elected the vice-president. He defeated Vasu Rukhar of ABVP by a margin of 600 votes, Amit Chaudhary became the secretary after he beat ABVP’s Anupriya Yadav by 300 votes and Ashish Gehlot was elected the joint secretary after defeating Mukesh Shukla by a margin of 1,200 votes.

This year DUSU will have both the major parties sitting together trying to initiate steps for students.

An absolutely thrilled Nupur Sharma said, “I was so happy with the results that I was simultaneously crying and laughing. I take my duty seriously and will chart ahead with my agenda regardless. If I did not have the confidence I would not have got this far.”

When asked how will she deal with her NSUI colleagues, Nupur said, “I am ready to work with them and face the problems that arise. I believe our agendas are more or less the same and we should be able to work as a team. I feel compromises will be worked out.”

ABVP’s Nupur Sharma defeated Sonia Sapra of the NSUI by some 1,639 votes. Sharma got 10,345 votes.

NSUI spokesperson Quintal Krishna said, “The NSUI thanks Delhi University students for giving us a majority again and we plan to move ahead with our commitments. It points the secular nature of students that we have an ABVP president and we do not see any problem in working with the ABVP.”

This is after eight years that an ABVP candidate has become the DUSU president. NSUI candidates had been winning the presidential post for the last eight years.

About 65 officials were engaged in the counting of votes that began at 9 a.m. The polls were conducted on Friday at 36 booths in the north campus and affiliated colleges in which an estimated 40% voters turned up.

New Delhi, September 6
The Delhi Pradesh Congress Committee (DPCC) has welcomed the Delhi University Students’ Union (DUSU) election results and has said it to be an indication of people’s support to the Congress party. People will vote for the Congress in the coming assembly elections.

The National Students’ Union of India (NSUI) won three out of four seats. While Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad’s (ABVP) Nupur Sharma bagged the president’s post.

The DUSU results have reflected that inflation, sealing, demolition and other issues raised by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) have no affect, said DPCC president Jai Parkash Aggarwal.

Local Congress workers including Delhi Pradesh Youth Congress members visited AICC chairperson Sonia Gandhi’s residence to congratulate her. They celebrated it as the party’s victory.

The results show that the previous team of the NSUI worked for the benefit of Delhi University students.

Former NSUI president Amrita Bahri and others fought the university administration for the welfare of students.

At some places students faced difficulty in casting votes, but the NSUI activists helped them in exercising their franchise.

Aggarwal said that the Congress would definitely come to power in Delhi for the third time.

A senior party leader said that the Congress had taken the students’ union election as a prestige issue, as the BJP had already announced that results would have an impact on the state elections. 

New Delhi, September 6
Today when India is battling endless issues related to children and women, malnutrition and anaemia are two primary areas that invite the concern of all health bodies and government. About one-third of India’s population is unaware of the basic nutritional needs required for the healthy functioning of our body. To apprise about this, the food and nutrition board (FNB) of women and child development ministry yesterday organised an exhibition on food and nutrition.

The theme of this year’s exhibition is ‘Invest in child nutrition’.

“Children are the future of our society. Nutrition is important both for the present as well as the future generation. Investment in child nutrition will give manifold returns in future,” said Anil Kumar, secretary of women and child development ministry.

Marking the nutrition week, a mother-child card was inaugurated by Lok Sabha speaker Somnath Chatterjee.

With this mothers will have better access to immunisation and other health needs. “Nutritious diet is the most essential for a child’s overall well-being. Malnutrition among children needs to be addressed urgently,” he said.

The purpose of this exhibition is to create awareness about healthy eating habits and giving a holistic approach to nutrition-related problems.

The ministry has also launched an audio-visual campaign for the dissemination nutrition-related knowledge.

Renuka Chowdhury, minister of child and women development said, “Anaemia and malnutrition that is widespread among women and children need to be addressed urgently. Adult women suffer from anaemia and also osteoporosis. The level of anaemia in lactating mothers and adolescent girls has become a concern for all. But what we need are not medicines but awareness and a community-based approach to address the problem of malnutrition.”

The three-day expo would entail demonstrations of low-cost nutritious recipes and nutrition games.

Nutrition quizzes would also be organised.

Ghaziabad, September 6
A police sub-inspector who had refused to pay rent for the residential accommodation to his landlord, will have to cool his heels in a prison for three months. A Ghaziabad court has sent him to prison and slapped a fine of Rs 2,000 on him.

The SI had issued a cheque for rent amount to the landlord. The court also ordered the SI to pay Rs 10,000 as compensation to the landlord.

According to information available, Dr Anand Kumar Tyagi, CMO in orthopedic department of Safdarjung Hospital, New Delhi, had an HIG flat in Lajpat Nagar area under Sahibabad police station.

In 2001, Dr Tyagi had given his flat on rent to sub-inspector D.K. Tyagi for Rs 3,500 per month. After a few months, D.K. Tyagi stopped paying the rent to Dr Tyagi.

As Dr Anand Tyagi reminded him many times, SI D.K. Tyagi issued a cheque for Rs 58,000 to the landlord on January 21, 2006, which bounced “for want of sufficient funds”.

Dr. Tyagi filed a case in the court of Judicial Magistrate, Ghaziabad. The court issued summons and warrants against SI D.K. Tyagi. But sub-inspector Tyagi did not bother to appear in the court.

The court then ordered SSP Ghaziabad to stop SI Tyagi’s salary and also issued a non-bailable warrant against the accused. After this, SI D.K. Tyagi, who is currently posted in Hafizpur police station, appeared in the court. The landlord has been paid full amount of his rent arrears from SI’s salary by September 2007, his advocate said.

However, the court held SI D.K. Tyagi guilty under 138 of N 1 Act for bouncing of the cheque issued by him. The guilty SI was sentenced to three months’ simple imprisonment, and payment of a penalty of Rs 2,000. A compensation of Rs 10,000 was also ordered by the court to be paid to Dr Tyagi by the SI Tyagi.

Ghaziabad, September 6
An MCA student, devastated at his failure in the first year examination, has allegedly committed suicide by swallowing poison in Vasundhra, Ghaziabad.

Some poisonous tablets were also recovered from his pocket. He was rushed to Narinder Mohan Hospital, Mohan Nagar, Ghaziabad. A stranger had reportedly taken him to the hospital late on Friday night.

The student had handed over his suicide note to the stranger. He breathed his last on Friday morning.

Ankit Yadav, first year student of MCA in ITS College Ghaziabad and son of Dilawar Yadav of 57, Shivaji Nagar Sikandrabad, Bulandshahr, was vomiting on the roadside when the stranger, Deepak Singh, took him to hospital. Ankit had waved to Deepak Singh who stopped his car.

Ankit implored Deepak Singh to rush him to some hospital. Seeing Ankit‘s serious condition, Deepak put him in his car and got him admitted to hospital.

Ankit had written on his suicide note that “I am committing suicide as I have failed in my exam. My parents have nothing to do with my death.”

The college authorities said Ankit had deposited the final year fee also which shows he was hopeful that he would clear the examination.

New Delhi, September 6
Theatre serves many purposes, one of the primary ones being motivation. A recent theatre workshop showed the medium is fast becoming a potent motivation tool in Indian metros, where inspiration levels are subject to frequent changes, courtesy the hire-and-fire corporate culture.

The 15-day theatre workshop that concluded in the capital recently proved to be an effective motivation ground for 40-odd participants ranging from a 14-year-old school student to a 53-year-old professional.

The participants were taught the rudiments of Constantin Sergeyevich Stanislavski’s acting method in which an actor has to rigorously practise his craft and hone his skill.

“Theatre helps foster team spirit and better coordination when working in a group. It is also a great motivational tool, bolstering self-confidence and self-esteem,” said Sunit Sinha of The Actor Factor Theatre Company, who attended the Chameleon Actor - Advanced Acting Skills Training Workshop.

The workshop, Sinha told IANS, had several motivation and group exercises like standing blindfolded in the centre of a group and learning to trust those around him and ice-breaking drills in which two people would lie on top of each other and feel the heartbeats - look into each other’s eyes and relate to one another.

According to Tanushree Podder, author of the “Book, Belts and Berets”, theatre is a medium that conveys a very strong social message to a wide cross-section of people who would otherwise ignore a topic altogether. In the process, it ends up motivating and mobilising opinions - which are interconnected.

“Theatre motivates an individual though in an indirect manner. If a person trains in stage theatre, he is able to hold sway in a group, relate better to people and can strike a better rapport in the emotional context,” Podder explained.

Theatre, says the Applied Research and Autism Network (Artran), is a safe place for individuals to try new things and make mistakes. It is inherently fun and motivating and yet it is highly structured.

An actor has prescribed lines that help him develop control over reflexes. Theatre strategies, says Artran, are usually inexpensive and it allows an actor to repeatedly practise a set of specific skills to perfection.

Dr Ric Charlesworth, former captain of the Olympic gold-winning Australian hockey team and author of the book “Shakespeare the Coach”, best brings out the the role of theatre as an exercise in motivation.

The former coach said over a period of time he found that “a bunch of stuff William Shakespeare had said was relevant to sports”. The author, who admires the playwright’s insights into human nature and motivation, used a quote from Shakespeare’s play “As You Like It” in his book.

“Sweet are the uses of adversity.” Explaining the implications of the quote, Charlesworth said it meant pushing people sometimes harder than they wanted to be pushed. “The message is you need to do that if you are going to develop and grow and improve and be better and be able to handle conditions when they come along.”

Veteran actor-director Vineet Kumar, a National School of Drama (NSD) alumnus, feels that theatre enriches the soul. “If you ferret out the soul, a person comes alive and if you make an actor practise method acting, a soul is born,” he told IANS.

Kumar believes that theatre is the best inspiration and motivation guide because it fosters synergy between the four sutras (tenets) of natya shastra (the art of theatre as enshrined in ancient Indian scriptures) - Aangika, Achika, Aharya and Attvik - which include body language, make-up and emotional and facial expression. — IANS