New Delhi, October 24
The South District police today recovered three stolen motorcycles from three minors residing in Bapa Nagar, Lodhi Colony and Uttam Nagar.

According to HGS Dhaliwal, DCP (South), the minors were handed over to their parents after recovery of stolen motorcycles and a report about them was written in the Daily Diary at the police station. The police stations from where motorcycles had been stolen were informed.

Dhaliwal revealed that a juvenile was apprehended by the beat staff of Lodhi Colony police station in the morning while he was trying to open the petrol tank of a two-wheeler. “During the counselling of the minor, it was learnt that he along with his friends stole motorcycles for joyride. In order to ply the motorcycles, they used to pilfer petrol from the other vehicles parked in the area,” said Dhaliwal.

In an auto-theft case of Mandir Marg police station, one of the minors asked for a lift from a person. The person told him that he had to visit many places in Delhi and would be able to drop him at Karol Bagh after finishing his job, the boy then agreed. He remained with the targeted person for two hours looking for an opportunity. When the victim wanted to go inside a building at Connaught Place, he tried to park the motorcycle on roadside but when the shopkeeper objected he handed over the key to the minor, who had won over his confidence by that time. As soon as the person got inside the building, the minor decamped with the motorcycle.

In another incident, one of the minors while coming back from a school in Bapa Nagar observed a motorcycle parked near the school with the key in ignition. The boy stole the key and went back home and informed his accomplice regarding the key. When the motorcycle came next day at the school, the duo applied the original key and stole the motorcycle. All the motorcycles recovered were affixed with fake number plates.

Dhaliwal said that all the minors study in 10th class and come from lower middle class. Fathers of two minors run small shops in the areas of their residence while father of one of the minors is working as peon in Mausam Bhawan, Lodhi Road.

New Delhi, October 24
The Supreme Court on Friday imposed a conditional stay on the November 4 elections of the Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) Students Union after taking serious note of the violation of the Lyngdoh committee recommendations.

The apex court said the stay would not apply if the students complied with the recommendations of the panel on the mode of elections to be adopted for the election.

The students had violated the Lyngdoh committee recommendations by contesting for an office bearers’ post more than once, while the panel had recommended that a student shall get only one chance to contest the poll. —IANS

New Delhi, October 24
A 45-old-year property dealer lost his life last evening in the Kabir Nagar area of Seelampur as he accidentally pressed the trigger of his pistol he was playing with. He reportedly was in a drunken state.

Kul Bhushan Tyagi shot himself in the head at around 4 p.m. yesterday. He was taken to a hospital where he was declared brought dead. According to his family and doctors, Tyagi had been consuming alcohol when the incident took place.

According to the police, Tyagi deals in property and had come drunk on Wednesday night. On the fateful day, he woke up after 12 noon and asked his wife Sangeeta to bring his pistol. He wanted to pull out the magazine of the pistol as the bullets could get spoilt if left in chambers. Meanwhile, he poured liquor for himself.

His children Shivani, 16, and Hemant, 13, had just returned from school and saw their father drinking. They asked their father to take them out for dinner as penalty for consuming alcohol.

“According to the deceased’s wife’s statement, Tyagi was in a good mood and had agreed to take the children out for dinner. There was no sign of any depression or anger. He was in a playful mood,” said a police official from Welcome police station.

It was after pulling out the magazine that Tyagi aimed the pistol towards his children and scared them. Later, he put the pistol on his forehead and told them that nothing would happen as he had taken out the bullets not realising that one bullet was stuck in the chamber. As soon as he pressed the trigger the pistol went off lodging the bullet in his head. “The horrified family rushed Tyagi to a hospital but it was too late by then,” said a police official.

According to sources, Tyagi did not have the licence for the pistol that caused his death. Meanwhile, the investigation is on and the police has seized the pistol.

New Delhi, October 24
Thanks to the 24 by 7 culture that has left many young professionals go without prescribed hours of sleep making them vulnerable to many dreaded diseases including cancer.

According to medical experts, sleep deprivation is common and many professionals are suffering from ‘sleep debt’.

If a person does not get the required amount of sleep she/he is said to be suffering from sleep debt.

From recent researches it has been proved that sleep has a direct relation with cancer.

Dr Chitra Mehta, consultant critical care and sleep medicine at Umkal Healthcare in Gurgaon, said, “Continuous lack of sleep causes sleep debt, which may result in some serious ailments like drawn state, stress, anger and road rage. It can harm our physical and mental health. Sleep deprivation weakens the immune system, leaving us more susceptible to diseases and disorders like diabetes, obesity, hypertension, common cold and even cancer.”

Talking on the relation between sleeplessness and cancer, cancer expert Dr Amit Bhargava, consultant oncologist at Max Healthcare, said, “Melatonin hormone helps regulate sleep cycles. Lack of sleep can lead to too little melatonin. This may expose women to high levels of estrogen and may increase the risk of breast cancer. Lack of sleep hinders the production of this hormone that not only aids in sleep but also helps control the anti-oxidants that promote cancer-causing mutations in cells.”

“Lack of sleep saps your energy, makes you irritable and sucks joy from your life. Sleep is very necessary to rejuvenate your body parts especially brain. During sleep, we rest and repair our muscles, organise our thoughts and immune system. It gives our body a chance to recover from the stress and strain of everyday life. Hence sleep deprivation has a direct relation with depression,” said Bhargava.

“Some penalties that our body has to pay for prolonged sleep debt are confusion, memory loss, irritability and mood swings. It also increases the stress of daily living and the number of human errors,” stresses Dr Samir Parikh, HOD, mental health and behavioral sciences, Max Healthcare.

Lack of sleep in children can effect their school performance, make them emotionally weak and can also effect their psychological functioning. Thus, sleep deprivation disrupts all areas of life.

According to experts, there is no way to solve the problem of sleep debt. However, there are many ways by which sleep depreciation can be improved. By following a consistent bedtime, avoiding food or beverages prior to bedtime can help overcome the problem to some extent. One should neither go to bed hungry nor should have a big dinner before bedtime. Avoiding rigorous exercises within six hours of bedtime can help regain sleep. 

Noida, October 24
Many among 600 Noida Authority employees, who are due to retire, have not been given a single promotion since they joined.

Now their only wish is to get a promotion before they retire, something that they can cherish.

According to the Noida Employees Association, 150 employees have not got a single promotion in their career of almost three decades. Over 400 employees have not been granted their second time scale though they have earned it. And very few of them have got promotion. Some of these employees were recruited in 1976, but have not had even one promotion so far.

These disappointed employees got a ray of hope in June 2008 this year, when a decision in this regard was taken in the 151st board meeting of the Noida Authority. If the decision is implemented, the employees will finally get justice.

Though most of the hurdles have been crossed, the file is still awaiting the final seal of approval.

An employee, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said, “Some employees, who were appointed on temporary basis, have received two to five promotions and have become senior to their earlier bosses. No fixed criteria like merit or seniority is followed for promotions in Noida Authority, but it is managed on political contacts,” he said.

According to the central and state governments’ policies, a government employee is entitled to three promotions or at least three selection grades in his career.

Ashok Sharma, general secretary of the Noida employees association’s said that according to rules, one increment in 8 years, selection grade in 14 years, special increment on completion of 19 years of service and second special increment after 24 years of service are permissible. As per the rules, if the higher post is vacant then the employee can be promoted, otherwise special increment is permissible.

Kushal Pal, president of the association says, “90 per cent class IV and 70 per cent class III Noida employees have not got justice. A decision was taken in this regard in the 151st board meeting. But the file is still stuck in the finance department.

Pal added that as per the recommendations of the Sixth Pay Commission, Noida employees with 10, 20 and 30 years of service should also get benefits of three promotions or three time scales.

Ghaziabad, October 24
A woman consumed poison on Thursday following alleged exploitation and sexual harassment by an occult practitioner at whose office she worked as a receptionist. The occult practitioner has been arrested.

Sarika, 34, was brought to the hospital after she consumed poison following constant harassment and exploitation at the hands of occult practitioner Usman Khan, the police said.

The doctors attending to Sarika stated that her condition is critical.

Sarika stated in her complaint that she had been living separately from her husband Sonu Jain at Shyam Park in the Sahibabad area of Ghaziabad with her two children for the last one year.

Sarika complained that ever since she joined Khan’s office five months back as a receptionist, he did not pay her any salary.

She alleged that he also abused and harassed her sexually and tried to establish sexual relations when she asked him for money.

“He also threatened to kill me when I asked for my salary,” Sarika said.

Sarika consumed poison on Thursday morning after which she was admitted to the hospital.

The Sahibabad police has arrested Khan from his Arthala centre in Ghaziabad. A case is yet to be registered against him.

“We are looking into the complaints of the woman. Action will be taken against the culprit,” a senior official at Sahibabad police station said.— IANS

Noida, October 24
The Association of Noida Residential Plot Allottees Scheme, 2001 who are feeling frustrated at Noida Authority’s failure to give physical possession of plots to them in the last seven years, have decided to go to court.

The association of Sector-43 Noida Residential Plot allottees has written to the chairman of Noida Authority requesting early possession of plots. Some 182 allottees were to be allotted plots by Noida Authority in 2001. Having failed to provide them the allotted plots, the authority had offered them alternative plots in Sector-43.

“After a draw of residential plots on March 27, 2002, we were to be given plots in Sector-72, Noida for which we got our allotment letters. We also deposited the cost of the plot as per the demand letter. However, we were not given possession till June 2006,” said an office-bearer of the association.

“The authority, vide letter dated 21 June 2006, informed us that due to unforeseen circumstances they were not able to give possession of the said plots. We were given alternate allotment in Sector-43. All the 182 allottees also deposited the difference of cost,” he added.

It has been two years since the authority allotted the plots in Sector-43. “We have been waiting for two years now and have still to get possession of our plots. We have also paid full amount of the plot. The authority officials have become so indifferent that they threaten to refund our cheques,” said S.K. Suneja, father of one of the allottees.

Noida Authority deputy general manager L.K. Jha said, “The plots in Sector-43 were earlier allotted to a society. They were later given to these allottees. But due to a stay order from the High Court, we could not give them possession.”

“Right now we are busy in connection with the redrawing of the 2004 scheme as per court directions. We will take up the case of 182 allottees after that,” Jha added.

Noida, October 24
The Noida police claims to have arrested one more member of the gang that had allegedly hacked industrialist Pawan Kumar Agarwal’s Punjab National Bank current account. Mahesh Vidul Bhai Patel of Mumbai was arrested yesterday.

Mahesh runs a call centre in Mumbai. He along with his gang members had siphoned off Rs 16.6 million through about a dozen transactions from his account.

It may be recalled that the Noida police had nabbed five persons – Sevia Derochlobo, Mittal Trivedi, Bharat Bhai Patel, Uday Kapadia and Yogi on Wednesday in this connection.

According to sources, they are millionaires and are qualified management experts.

Though the police has not succeeded in nabbing or tracing the actual hackers.