Ghaziabad, September 12
Three days after the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) admitted its failure to collect conclusive evidence in the murders of teenager Aarushi Talwar and her domestic help Hemraj, a court here today granted bail to Krishna and Raj Kumar, suspects in the case.

Krishna’s bail application was filed before the special CBI magistrate Sapna Mishra, who after hearing the arguments, granted him bail on two sureties of Rs 25,000.

CBI counsel Suresh Batra, opposing the bail plea, told the court that Krishna was a foreign national and he might flee to his native country, Nepal, if granted bail.

Defence counsel F.C. Sharma said that the CBI had no evidence against Krishna and had failed to recover the murder weapon from him in spite of detaining him for about four months.

The agency had declared on September 9 that it has no evidence against the three accused and had failed to recover the murder weapon from them.

Raj Kumar’s bail plea was filed by his lawyer Naresh Yadav before the CBI court of special judge Rama Jain. CBI counsel Suresh Batra, opposing the bail, said that Raj Kumar was also a Nepal national and could flee to his native country if granted bail.

However, the court was convinced with the defence’s arguments that the agency had no evidence against the accused and had not recovered any article from him.

It granted him bail on two personal bonds of Rs 25,000.

The third accused, Vijay Mandal, was granted bail earlier by the court of Rama Jain.

Aarushi, the daughter of dentist couple Rajesh and Nupur Talwar, was found murdered in her Noida house on May 16.

The Uttar Pradesh police in their primary investigation held the father guilty of the murder and arrested him.

On June 13, the case was transferred to the CBI. The agency zeroed in on the three men Krishna, the lab assistant of Rajesh Talwar; Raj Kumar, a domestic help and Vijay Mandal, a driver. But it failed to find either the murder weapon or the mobile phones of Aarushi and Hemraj.

The agency also failed to establish the three men as the murderers despite scientific tests conducted by the Central Forensic Laboratory (CFL). — IANS

New Delhi, September 12
Utsav Bhasin (19), who allegedly hit and ran after the BMW car he was driving injured two motorcyclists in South Delhi yesterday was arrested this morning from the inter-state bus terminus (ISBT), Kashmiri Gate.

The accident had left two men critically injured. They are undergoing treatment at AIIMS Trauma Centre.

Utsav, who was accompanied by a woman companion when the accident took place, had fled the spot leaving behind the car.

According to information, Utsav has been interrogated about his whereabouts after the accident and whether he was under the influence of alcohol at the time. The police has taken a sample of his blood and sent it for medical examination.

According to experts, even after a lapse of so many hours alcohol can be detected in the blood if one was heavily drunk. “We have taken his blood sample though he has denied taking alcohol,” said a police official.

Utsav told the police that he was returning from Greater Kailash II after dining at 24X7 restaurant.

The police has lodged a case against him under Sections 279 and 337 of the IPC for driving dangerously and in a negligent manner.

Since an accused can get bail from the police station itself under these Sections, Utsav was let off after his statement.

The accused is the son of industrialist Narendra Kumar Bhasin, who owns the BMW car and is currently in China for a business appointment.

Among the victims, while Mrigank Srivastav (25) is showing signs of recovery, Anuj Singh (21) is stated to be in a critical condition.

Utsav is a student of the Institute of Integrated Learning and Management (IILM), Lodhi Colony, from where he is pursuing his BBA.

He was due to fly to Singapore as part of his course on September 23.

He did his schooling from DPS, RK Puram, and was currently staying with his sister and grandfather at his family home in Punjabi Bagh. 

New Delhi, September 12
Motorcycle rider Anuj Aditya Singh, 25, who was critically injured after being hit by a speeding BMW car slipped into coma today while his friend Mrigank Srivastav who was riding the bike was recuperating in hospital.

Anuj Aditya Singh, whose cervical spine and brain stem were badly damaged, was placed on life support systems on Friday morning after his health deteriorated further.

Though doctors said that chances of his recovery were slim, his family was hopeful that he would definitely recover.

“Anuj tried to open his eyes and tears rolled down his cheek,” said Tejas Chauhan, the victim’s uncle. He added, “Although doctors here say he is stable and there is no improvement, we strongly believe that his effort to open eyes was not short of a miracle and he is improving.”

Singh was returning home with his friend Srivastav after a movie show when a BMW, driven by Utsav Bhasin, 18, rammed from behind their Pulsar motorbike near Moolchand flyover early on Thursday.

A police control room (PCR) van rushed them to the trauma centre of the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS).

“If we let these rich people go without stern action, incidents of hit and run will never end,” he added. The family also lashed out at the police for shoddy investigation in the case. — IANS

Noida, September 12
A bank executive got a taste of police treatment the hard way when he approached the Sector 20 police station last night for getting an FIR registered. The man was robbed of his purse containing credit cards and money barely 2 or 3 km from the police station. However, it took the young executive more than 20 hours to get an FIR registered and, in the meantime, his stolen credit cards were used by the thieves to incur him losses of Rs 28,000.

Welcome to hi-tech policing in the high-tech satellite town of Noida.

Arpan Dhawan (30), an executive with ICICI Bank, Sector 18, was returning from Delhi last night when just before Great India Place (the popular mall), a teenage boy came in front of his moving car. That it was deliberate ploy, he realised when he found his wallet missing from the passenger seat in front.

“I had kept the window glasses down since the cool breeze was blowing last evening and as a matter of habit my wallet was on the passenger seat. This boy suddenly comes in front of my car and gets into an argument with me that I would have mowed him down. Then, very abruptly he moves away and as I drive away I realize my wallet is gone,” said Dhawan.

He approached the Sector 18 police post, where he was asked to write down his complaint on a piece of paper. But when he demanded a copy of the FIR so that he could get his credit cards blocked, R K Dixit, in charge, told him that he needed to enquire first and that an FIR could only be written at the police station. When Dhawan went to the Sector 18 police station, the junior staff, in the absence of SHO, shooed him away, asking him to come the next day.

In the meantime, the message on his mobile conveyed that he had shopped worth Rs 3000 from Big Bazaar. Obviously, the thieves were making merry.

Next morning when he approached the police station, the second officer SI D K Tyagi would not meet him as he was busy with some important work. But when he did give him a hearing after an hour or so he was told that an FIR could not be lodged till they checked with the shop owners where the thieves had shopped. However, Tyagi soon changed tracks when Dhawan’s colleague Prashant Kumar Singh called up senior police officials and complained about harassment of his colleague. It was then SI Tyagi heard his story and realised that the shop Big Bazaar, where the credit card was used does not lie under his jurisdiction and directed him to go to Sector 39 police station. Fortunately for Dhawan, the SHO at Sector 39 Anil Samaniya was more considerate and his FIR was lodged immediately. But by this time, he had lost about Rs 28,000 on account of shopping by the thieves by use of his credit card.

New Delhi, September 12
In view of the heavy rush that various railway stations in West Bengal generally face during Durga Puja, the Northern Railways would run four special trains next month between Howrah to Delhi, Howrah to Haridwar, Sealdah to Kathgodam and Malda to New Delhi.

The train running from Howrah to Delhi would run twice a week, while the other three trains are weekly. The service would be on from October 1 to 29.

The Howrah to Delhi train that will run every Wednesday and Saturday will start from Howrah at 1:15 p.m. and reach at Delhi the next day at 11:50 a.m. It would leave for Howrah on Thursday and Sunday at 7:10 p.m. and arrive there the next day at 5:05 p.m.

The Howrah to Haridwar super fast train would start from its home station at 12:50 p.m. every Thursday to reach Haridwar the following day at 3:45 p.m. It would leave Haridwar at 12 p.m. on Saturday and would reach Howrah the next day at 3 p.m.

The Sealdah to Kathgodam train will head off for its destination at 1:45 p.m. every Saturday to reach at Kathgodam at 3:10 p.m. the next day. Its down service would start on Sunday at 6:30 p.m. to reach Sealdah at 9:15 p.m. the next day.

The other weekly train would start from Malda at 1 p.m. every Friday and it would reach at New Delhi railway station at 1:05 p.m. the next day. The train would leave New Delhi railway station at 11:45 p.m. on Saturday and reach Malda station at 1 a.m. on the third day.

New Delhi, September 12
In a run-up to the introduction of the Intellectual Property Cell, Jawharlal Nehru University (JNU) has started initiating discussions and seminars on issues surrounding intellectual property.

First in the series was a seminar on ‘Awareness and Relevance of Intellectual Property in University Research’ organised by the JNU IP Management Cell in collaboration with the Global Institute of Intellectual Property (GIIP) today at the university campus.

“In today’s knowledge economy, there is a global upsurge in innovation and increasing demand for IP and patent protection. In order to meet the growing demands of the patent-related services, there is a rapid growing need in India for qualified patent professionals, agents and IP litigation attorneys. Hence, training in IP and patents is timely and necessary,” said JNU spokesperson.

While inaugurating the seminar, vice-chancellor of the university BB Bhattacharya stressed on the need for developing trained IP experts.

“Rich nations would always benefit from the intellectual property rights and poor nations are the ones who pay for them. So it is necessary for us to develop in this growing field to at least calculate the value of the ideas we are evolving,” he said.

Professor Bhattacharya said, “Students should try to develop ideas that are likely to be patent-wise commercially viable.”

Several IP experts also addressed the gathering. CEO of iViZ Techno Solutions Bikash Barai spoke about ‘Industrial Perspective of Intellectual Property Rights’.

“In today’s world, one has to keep running even to stay at one position. To get ahead, one has to run faster. Firms do not use IPR to earn money but primarily they do it to protect themselves from being sued,” said Bikash.

He said there was a dire need to groom IP lawyers in India.

The CEO of another IP firm, Prabeer, said, “There is a lot of scope in patents related to pharmaceuticals and life sciences right now. The IP patents have opened lot of economically viable avenues for smaller entrepreneurs and researchers.”

Other speakers to address the seminar included dean of GIIP Girija Varma and Atulya Nath, fellow, Stanford University.

JNU has sent proposals of introducing 13 new schools and centres of study to the Planning Commission. Some of the probable new additions include the Centre for Media Studies, School of Nano Science, School of Small and Medium Scale Enterprises and Intellectual Property Cell.

New Delhi, September 12
Forgotten histories and forbidden journeys is the subject of Alice Albinia’s rather adventurous narrative non-fiction work ‘Empires of the Indus’.

The author has undertaken several journeys into the unknown. She has charted territories from the North West Frontier Province bordering Pakistan and Afghanistan through a wild tribal belt to Xingiang in China and the heights of Tibet as she traces the course of the Indus to its source.

Albinia’s book, a treasure for people who wish to explore this region, was released on Friday at British Council in the Capital.

Albinia says, “I have travelled widely, from the tribal belt in Pakistan through Central Asia to Xingiang in China to Tibet searching for the source of the Indus. I was hunting for somebody who could take me to the source. Finally, I found this man and for three days we did not know where we were travelling till we eventually got to the source and then returned.”

A glowing Albinia further adds, “What I learnt is that strangely the Indus or Sindhu is both masculine and feminine unlike other rivers. It is the mother of all rivers and tribals worship the river whether Islamic or not.”

She said, “There is a lot of religion in the book. For instance, I found that Sindh is and has been a melting pot of Islam and Hinduism. One still finds the remnants of this culture and there is a saint associated with this river. Perhaps, what touched me the most was unraveling the forgotten histories.”

The book has been brought out by Hachette India and has been listed for the prestigious Guardian First Book Award.

Albinia is currently on an author tour to promote her book. The book has already been awarded the prestigious 2005 Royal Society of Literature Jerwood Award. 

New Delhi, September 12
Alarmed at the damage to cultural freedom and larger repercussions of ethnic and linguistic chauvinism, several cultural activists in the Capital condemned the alleged campaign of social ostracism launched by Raj Thackeray against actor Amitabh Bachchan.

In a press statement issued by Safdar Hashmi Memorial Trust (SAHMAT) today, artistes said, “The traditions of cultural creativity and freedom that Mumbai is rightly proud of, are gravely threatened in this cynical game of competitive extremism.”

“If mob fury can be unleashed symbolically against a celebrity couple just because one among them insists on speaking in the language of the state she represents in politics, one wonders what fate Raj Thackeray and his followers have reserved for the millions of migrants from the Hindi speaking area, who contribute richly to the daily life of India’s greatest metropolis,” said Sohail Hashmi from SAHMAT.

Artistes appreciated that Raj Thackeray had toned down his rhetoric and scaled back his campaign. But they said it had less to do with doing what was right and reasonable, than with doing what was opportune.

Talking about Shiv Sena founder Bal Thackeray, SAHMAT said, “Asserting that anybody who comes to Mumbai for a career should leave behind all other loyalties, the elder Thackeray recently castigated Hindi film star Shahrukh Khan for referring to his antecedents in Delhi.”

SAHMAT also deplored the reaction of several members of Mumbai’s film fraternity to the statement by Shabana Azmi that Muslims suffer from a degree of institutional discrimination in India.

“We call upon the authorities and, in particular the civil society in Mumbai, to put an immediate halt to this cynical game. Stoking imagined grievances may be a convenient way for politicians and celebrities, but the climate of intolerance this creates will have severe consequences for the larger residents,” said Sohail. 

New Delhi, September 12
Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit today said people in Delhi who had shifted their residences would be issued voter identity cards after giving proof of residence.

She said this replying to a question of MLA Surender Kumar who said jhuggi dwellers who had been shifted from various parts of the capital to Bawana were not being issued photo identity cards.

The Chief Minister clarified that whether the jhuggi dwellers were allotted plots or not they would be issued voters identity cards on the basis of their earlier documents.

Reply to the questions of other MLAs, Delhi industries minister Mangat Ram Singhal, who is in charge of election affairs, said some mistakes about voters’ list came to the notice of the department. The mistakes were being rectified. Eighty per cent electorates have been issued election identity cards. The remaining would be issued the cards before the assembly elections, he said.

Leader of the Opposition Jagdish Mukhi said a large number of voters still did not have identity cards but the department was not taking the issue seriously. He appealed to the government to issue voter identity cards to all the electorates. 

Noida, September 12
A school student, who had failed in the Class XII chemistry examination and secured 63 marks after re-evaluation of the compartment exam paper, allegedly hung himself from a park swing here, the police said.

Abhishek, 20, was a student of Amity International School, Saket in Delhi. He used to stay with his maternal grandfather and committed suicide early this morning in a park located in Sector 26.

He had taken the Class XII examination but could not pass the chemistry examination. He took the compartment examination and secured 13 marks. During re-evaluation, he got 63 marks. But he was not satisfied, the police said.

Early Friday morning, he quietly came out of his home in Sector 26 and went to the park where he allegedly hung himself from the rod of a swing.

Two suicide notes were found from his pocket in which he said that no one was responsible for his death and he was committing suicide of his own will.

The police have sent the body for the post-mortem examination.

Abhishek’s parents are expected to reach Noida from Patna on Saturday, said inspector Anil Samania of the Sector 20 police station. — IANS

Gurgaon, September 12
M.L. Tayal, principal secretary to Haryana Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda, today directed the Gurgaon administration to constitute a committee comprising officials of the municipal corporation, HUDA and PWD (B&R) for demarcating roads  to be maintained by various departments. He directed this to remove any scope of ambiguity in the maintenance of roads.

He said that slip roads for left turn from main roads should be made a bit ahead of the crossings. This would solve the problem of traffic jams at crossings to a large extent.

On being told about the pathetic condition of the road in front of the bus stand, he asked the PWD officers to make the road and the new railway road motorable immediately and start reconstruction work later. A plan has been made for the four-laning of the road with provisions of proper drainage along it. The work is expected to be completed in seven months.

PWD financial commissioner K.K. Jalan apprised the principal secretary about the progress of the ongoing strengthening of the Hodal-Nuh-Patouda-Patoudi road which is to be completed at the cost of Rs 350 crore by March 31, 2010. The roads in Gurgaon, if repaired with present norms, cannot sustain for more than three months because of heavy traffic plying on them, said Jalan. He added that many heavy vehicles were illegally running on roads due to the ongoing road constructions in Gurgaon.

Citing the Supreme Court’s ruling, he said that vehicles carrying loads till 11 tonnes were allowed to ply on normal roads.

The principal secretary has assured to talk to local police authorities for controlling the movement of such vehicles.

Jalan also informed that out of the five foot over bridges approved on expressway, work on two would start with in 10 days while the rest would be constructed after the district administration provided land for them. 

New Delhi, September 12
With the arrest of six Bangladeshi nationals yesterday, the South district police claimed to have busted a gang of robbers while they were planning to loot jewellery shops at Metro Mall and Select City Walk in South Delhi.

The six were arrested yesterday evening from Satphula Khandhar near Khirki village.

They have been identified as – Yashin, 28, Miraz, 24, Alamgir, 26, Saddam, 24, Mohd Alamgir, 27 and Miraz Tunda, 25.

Jewellery worth Rs 1.25 lakh, Rs 18,000, a countrymade pistol and knives have been recovered from them.

Yasin, the head of the gang, disclosed that Miraz Tunda, an agent helped Bangladeshi criminals cross the border and stay in Delhi.

After committing dacoities, he smuggles the looted articles i.e. cash and jewellery to Bangladesh.

He further disclosed that they targeted houses from the rear side near secluded places such as park, railway line or jungles.

The arrested persons confessed to have committed three dacoities on the intervening night of August 27-28 at Faridabad.

One of them was committed in the house of Mahender Pratap Singh, an MLA from Mevla Maharajpur in Faridabad.

Faridabad, September 12
The Haryana Janhit Congress (BL) and Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) today spearheaded an agitation in Faridabad city and the adjoining Ballabgarh in protest against the alleged anomalies in drawing of the Below Povery Line (BPL) list.

The agitation led by the HJC pertained to Faridabad city and the protesters were mainly resident of slums.

They staged a protest march from Ajranda Chowk to the mini-secretariat where they submitted a memorandum to the Governor of Haryana vide the office of the city magistrate.

The memorandum alleged large-scale bungling in the preparation of the BPL list. It alleged that while the deserving poor were not included in the list, MPs and MLAs of the ruling Congress used their influence to get the names of their supporters and relatives included in it.

They alleged that the survery for drawing up the list was manipulated and urged the Governor to intervene so that the situation could be rectified.

They cautioned that they would stage agitation in front of Parliament House if the situation was not remedied.

The BSP also organised an agitation on the BPL list issue and held the government machinery and leaders of the Congress of interfering in the survery process. The agitation was led by the state secretary of the party, Nayan Pal Rawat.

Rawat alleged bungling in the BPL list not only in Faridabad district but the entire state. His group submitted a memorandum to the President, Pratibha Patil, vide the local administration and urged for necessary direction so that justice could be done to those whose names had been excluded from the list.

Noida, September 12
Over 11 lakh saplings will be planted in Noida to make the town green in the next six months.

The Noida Authority which has launched a campaign for “Green Noida” in intends to rope in the general public, NGOs and environment lovers to make Noida a lush green town.

The ‘Green Noida” campaign was formally launched in green belt of Sector-100 Noida by Lalit Srivastava, chairman of Noida and Greater Noida Development Authorities.

Srivastava said the main agenda was to make Noida full of greenery. Over 11 lakh samplings will be planted in green belt of various sectors as well as on roadsides and on the central verge. The saplings being planted would fruit trees, ornamental shrubs and flowering plants which will make Noida aesthetically beautiful and attractive.

Right from the malis (gardeners) to the director of the horticulture department, all will be responsible for the upkeep, watering, fertilising and tending the plants, said CEO Mohinder Singh. A weekly inspection will be carried out to monitor the health and growth of the plants, he added.

In Sector 100, the green belt will be extended over 8 to 10 acres of land where 5100 tree of bougainvillea and Jaman will be planted.

The Noida Authority has plans to improve the parks in various sectors and public gardens in the town where large lawns, shady trees will particularly be tended and groomed.

On the Chief Minister’s instructions, who is keen to make Noida beautiful, over 11 lakh saplings will be planted in various Noida sectors by March 2009, CEO Mohinder Singh added.