New Delhi, September 8
Six persons, including a Delhi police assistant sub inspector (ASI), were killed and four others seriously injured when a speeding container truck ploughed through them on the Outer Ring Road near Wazirabad last night.

The injured, including a Delhi police constable Mithan Lal, have been admitted to the trauma centre where their condition was described as serious. The driver and the cleaner of the container truck ran away after the accident. Another Delhi police constable, Pradeep, was discharged after first-aid.

The policemen of the control room were investigating an accident between a three-wheeler and a two-wheeler when this accident occurred around 11.10 pm.

According to eyewitnesses, the truck ploughed through the policemen and the few curious onlookers and rammed the control room vehicle as well as four two-wheelers before coming to a screeching halt.

Three of the dead have been identified as ASI Balkar Singh, Virender Yadav and Altaf. Efforts were being made to identify the others.

The police said that a case of causing death by rash and negligent driving had been registered and efforts were being made to trace the absconding driver and cleaner. The container truck, HR-38-J8675 of Transage Services Limited, has been impounded.

According to the police, the Delhi police control room van had responded to an accident call near the CNG filling station on the Ring Road when the mishap occurred. While they were carrying out spot investigation, a small crowd of curious onlookers had also gathered there. Some of the persons among the crowd managed to scuttle to safety when they saw the container truck speeding towards them. Further investigations were on.

New Delhi, September 8
Yet another Monday morning, yet another ride of push and pull and overcrowded metro to board for work. As evident from the statistics, the Delhi Metro gets an overwhelming number of commuters in the beginning of the week, making some regular commuters coin a new name for the metro — an air-conditioned Blueline bus!

Sakshi Tanwar, for instance, takes the Metro each morning to work and then back home. Safe, hassle-free and fast — the Metro to Tanwar, like to most others, is the most preferred mode of transport.

But come Mondays and she simply dreads the ride.

“It is a completely different ball game on Monday mornings. Out goes the comfortable ride and in come hordes of passengers, all pushing to get in despite desperate attempts by the Metro staff to make them understand that there will be another train coming along after three minutes!” an exasperated Tanwar, who works as a media communications officer in Connaught Place, said.

Ravi Verma, another commuter said, “It is mind boggling. Where do so many people come from? It is not that they are regular commuters otherwise it would have been the same scene everyday. It is just on Monday mornings that we get the feeling that it is just another Blueline bus, albeit air-conditioned one, that we are travelling in!”

Tanwar and Verma could not be more correct. According to the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC), the average ridership on Mondays specifically, jumped by 165,000 from January to August this year.

“The maximum average ridership is seen on Mondays than the rest of the week and this trend has been seen since the Metro became operational in Delhi in 2002. But since January this year, this trend has become even more prominent,” said DMRC spokesperson Anuj Dayal.

“The growing average ridership on the Delhi Metro on Mondays, which was 675,000 in January this year, has increased to an average of 840,000 by August, showing an increase of 25% incremental Monday increase,” he added.

So where do all these extra commuters come from?

“The high ridership on Mondays is attributed to most offices being open and people from outside Delhi returning to the Capital to resume work,” Dayal said.

“These outstation passengers, after spending the weekend in the suburbs, enter the city at various points such as Shahdara, ISBT, Rithala, Dwarka and Delhi University, which are reasonably close to the borders and are connected by the Metro system, thus providing an alternative means of transportation,” he said.

And although steps are taken such as ensuring maximum token counters and trains are operational on this day by the Metro staff to handle the crowd, for most people this trend definitely adds to the Monday morning blues! — IANS 

New Delhi, September 8
To counter the BJP’s allegation that the announcement of provisional authorisation of unauthorised colonies is a misdeed with the Capital’s citizens, the Delhi Pradesh Congress Committee (DPCC) today announced the start of issuing certificates in a public meeting on September 17. The meeting will be held at the Ram Lila Ground.

The certificates would be given by AICC president Sonia Gandhi which would be a historic event, said DPCC president Jai Prakash Agarwal here today.

The public meeting will also be a launch of the campaign for the assembly elections.

Agarwal said this decision would benefit over 40 lakh people in Delhi, who have been so far living with fear about the fate of their unauthorised colonies.

Sources said the provisional certificates would be issued to 11 RWAs by Sonia Gandhi.

The meeting also chalked out the ways and means of election campaigning.

Participants said if the election campaign was done sincerely, the Congress could come to power for the third consecutive time in Delhi as people were satisfied with its performance. They gave this indication during the DUSU elections which went in favour of the Congress government in Delhi.

They said for first time so much development had been done in the capital.

Agarwal exhorted the people of the unauthorised colonies to attend the meeting in large numbers and accept their certificates. He alleged that the BJP had done nothing for the people of Delhi, and its sole aim was to dream of ruling Delhi by misguiding the people.

He said the alert people of Delhi and those living in the unauthorised colonies would inflict a crushing defeat on the BJP in the Delhi Assembly elections, and elect the Congress to power for the third time in a row.

He said that it was a historic decision by the Congress government to regularise 1539 unauthorised colonies. During 1976-77, Indira Gandhi had regularised around 600 unauthorised colonies which benefited lakhs of poor people. Now Sonia Gandhi is following in her footsteps by regularising the unauthorised colonies in Delhi.

Prominent among those who attended today’s meeting were Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit, Delhi cabinet ministers A. K. Walia, Haroon Yusuf, Raj Kumar Chauhan, Arvinder Singh Lovely and Mangat Ram Singhal. Apart from them, Sajjan Kumar, Krishna Tirath, Sandeep Dikshit, Tajdar Babbar, Subhash Chopra, Ram Babu Sharma, MLAs Balram Tanwar, Kunwar Karan Singh, Vinay Sharma, Vir Singh Dhingan, Charan Singh Khandera, Anil Bhardwaj, Ashok Ahuja, Narendra Nath, Ramakant Goswami and Rajesh Lilothia, Opposition leader in the MCD Jai Kishan Sharma, DPCC office-bearers and others.

New Delhi, September 8
With a view to checking the attack on doctors and other hospital staff members by attendants of patients, the Delhi cabinet has decided to introduce the Delhi Medicare Service Personnel and Medicare Service Institutions (Prevention of Violence and Damage Property) Bill, 2008 in the Legislative Assembly.

The increase in violent incidents has resulted in unrest among medicare personnel and disruption of medicare services and inconvenience to the general public, said Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit.

Recent incidents of violence at Sanjay Gandhi Memorial Hospital and Guru Gobind Singh Hospital have become a cause of concern. It was, therefore, felt to contain such incidents. The Bill provides for punishment for a term which may extend to three years or with fine up to Rs 50,000 or both, she said.

Besides, the cabinet gave its nod for procurement of 1875 non-AC and 1250 AC low-floor CNG propelled buses, Delhi Degradable Plastic Bag and Garbage Amendment Bill, 2008, Bill for setting up university for pharmaceutical sciences and research and Bill for establishment of Delhi higher education council.

Dikshit stated that 3125 new buses would be procured at the earliest. With addition of CNG-propelled buses in intra-city bus fleet of DTC, the service would substantially improve.

The quotation of Tata Motors Limited has been accepted, the Chief Minister said.

She added that the process of augmentation of bus fleet of DTC would continue and 6000 new buses in all would be added, which would facilitate phasing out of Blueline buses.

The amended Delhi Degradable Plastic Bag (Manufacture, Sales and Usage and Garbage (Control) (Amendment) Bill, 2008 provides that no person will manufacture, stock, distribute or sell plastic bags made of virgin or recycled, degradable or non-degradable plastic bags, which are less than 8X12” (20X30 cm) in size and with thickness less than 40 microns. It further provides that the plastic bag manufactured out of virgin plastic will be of natural or white colour.

As per the amended Bill, two new sections are being added whereas certain sections are being amended.

The city government has also decided to introduce the Delhi Pharmaceutical Sciences and Research University Bill and Delhi Higher Education Council Bill, 2008 in the Legislative Assembly.

The Bill provides for establishment of Delhi Higher Education Council, which would have the CM as its patron.

Noida, September 8
The relatives of the man who was killed by his wife and her alleged paramour jammed traffic in Dadri. The man was reportedly beaten to death.

The father of the deceased has filed a report demanding the arrest of his wife and her paramour. The relatives along with some local residents had blocked the main road in Dadri for over an hour.

According to police, Ajay Pal, S/o Sarda Ram, resident of Rau Bihar under Dadri Kotwali was living with his wife, Baby alias Neelam and three children — Krishen, 10, Seema, 15, and Soni, 8. Neelam was having an illicit relationship with Raju, S/o Salek living in the neighbourhood. Neelam used to quarrel with her husband almost daily.

On Sunday the argument between Neelam and Ajay Pal became so intense, she called her lover Raju and beat up her husband. They repeatedly hit Ajay Pal on his head and his private parts. Hearing the commotion, Sarda Ram rushed in. On seeing him both the assailants slipped away with the three children.

Ajay Pal succumbed to his injuries on the spot. The Dadri police was informed about the incident. But when the police did not reach the spot, angry people jammed the road in protest. When no senior officer came, people carried Ajay Pal’s body to Kotwali.

The police has sent the body for postmortem and has started the investigations. A case has been registered against Neelam and Raju. Both of them are absconding.

New Delhi, September 8
“An 18-year-old girl consulted me in the OPD a few days ago. She said she has a “pimple” down there. On examination I found she had multiple warts in the genital region: telltale sign of HPV infection. It took a couple of months of treatment for a complete cure. Now I am seeing two of her friends who have the same problem!” said Dr. Shivani Sachdev Gour, consultant gynaecologist at Fortis La Femme Hospital, here.

On detailed questioning, they admitted that it was a lifestyle thing for them, they were all BPO employees: long and often odd working hours, plenty of disposable income at a young age, western lifestyle imbibed from their foreign clients: – all these have contributed to sex becoming free and with it resultant diseases. Little do they realise that what she called a pimple could several years later bring her face to face with something more deadly - cervical cancer, said Dr Gour. According to her, genital warts are due to a viral infection called as HPV (human papilloma virus).

“It is well known that 99.5% of cases of cervical cancer are caused by a virus called as HPV. This virus is transmitted sexually. Barrier contraception in the form of condom or vaginal diaphragm can prevent its transmission”.

What is amazing that not even a single case of “squamous cell carcinoma of cervix” has been reported among nuns who lead a life of abstinence”, claims the doctor.

Cancer of the cervix has emerged as the number one cancer in women in India. As per government studies, 1 to 1.3 lakh women are diagnosed with cancer cervix annually in India and it accounts for 20% of the world’s cases of cervical cancer. The incidence has reduced sharply in developed countries, in England – approximately 2,700 new cases were diagnosed annually. This is because there is a long latent period of five to 10 years before abnormal cells progress to cancerous changes. So routine PAP smear test can pick up cells at the abnormal stage and women can get treated before it progresses to cancer.

“Today’s men and women, due to the glamourisation of media and impact of peer groups are indulging in multiple partners without understanding the long term emotional and psychological implications of such relationships” says Dr Samir Parikh, chief of department of mental health and behavioral science, Max Healthcare.

“Lack of sex education has led to lack of awareness and this has contributed to a rise in the number of such cases. These cases are especially common in places that are BPO hubs like Noida. I have not seen a single such case in New Delhi, a predominantly residential area where I practise but have seen several such cases in the last few months of my practise in Noida”, says Dr Parikh.

While diseases from the West have been adopted by us, actual healthcare systems are found to be severely lacking. While in UK where all women get letters sent at home if they do not have regular PAP smear tests, there is no such system in India, claim these doctors. Young women have no clue that once they are sexually active, they are at risk of deadly diseases and that a simple PAP smear can detect any cancerous growth and timely treatment, they averred.

According to experts, HPV virus causes abnormalities in the cells lining the cervix/ neck of the womb – this sits on top of a woman’s vagina. These abnormalities can be picked up by a PAP smear test in most cases. If left untreated, there is a latent period of several years during which these abnormal cells continue to divide and when this cell division goes out of control, it leads to cervical cancer. Young age initiation of sex – especially under the age of 18 years, multiple sexual partners, smoking, use of contraceptive pill, immuno-suppression, poor diet – all these are factors which increase the chance of a woman contacting cancer of the cervix.

Treatment options include: excision of the cancerous area, laparoscopic removal of the cervix or major surgeries like complete removal of the uterus and surrounding lymph nodes. If picked up in the early stages: laser or Cryo (cold coagulation) or LLETZ (large loop excision of the transformation zone) are the treatment options. These are minor procedures done under a local anaesthetic, the patient is awake during these procedures and can go home within 30 minutes of the procedure.

All women who are sexually active should have a PAP smear test every three years from 18 till the age of 50 years, doctors advise.

New Delhi, September 8
The BSES was awarded with two information technology (IT) awards at a function organised by the International Data Group (IDG) in Jaipur’s Jaigargh Fort last week.

The power company won the CIO 100 award for automatic meter reading (AMR) project and the AMD Athlon SMART Infrastructure award for BUN (BSES’s Unified Network) project.

A BSES spokesperson said that with the two awards the power company had received three internationally recognised awards in a month.

In August this year, Reliance Energy Ltd/BSES had won the Environmental Systems Research Institute’s (ESRI) Special Achievement in GIS award in San Diego, USA.

The BSES has been conferred with the CIO 100 award for the second consecutive year. Last year, it had won the award for its leadership role and the implementation of SCADA and its integration with SAP, GIS and OMS.

“The BSES was given the CIO 100 2008 Award for successfully implementing the AMR project. In the first phase of the project, the BSES had deployed CDMA/GSM-based AMR meters on the premises of thousands of its customers having a load of 45 KW and above and its 118 grid sub-stations. In due course, the AMR project will be expanded to include other customers,” said Karan Singh, vice-president & head of BSES’s IT department.

The state-of-art AMR technology eliminates all manual interference thus, removing the possibility of incorrect meter reading. The readings are transmitted to the central BSES server in time. Any aberration and breach of the pre-set parameters is flagged at the BSES. This also helps in preventing theft, the official said.

Project BUN, for which the power company was awarded, was conceptualised and implemented to automate and seamlessly connect hundreds of BSES offices covering over 950 sq kms. The challenge was to meet the business operation needs and integrating multiple platforms and vendors.