New Delhi, November 8
Three persons were charred to death, while two motorcyclists were injured in an accident that took place in the Kapashera area of South West Delhi last night. The accident took place around 1:30 am when a car collided with a mini truck and a motorcycle on Bijwasan Road near Oberoi Farm House.

According to the police, the deceased were riding a WagonR car running on CNG fuel that caught fire when collided head on with a mini truck.

The gas cylinder had exploded. The bodies of the deceased were so badly burnt that it was difficult to ascertain whether they were men or women, said a police official.

However, later the police was able to identify one body as Pawan Kumar from Mahendragarh district of Haryana.

According to the police, the car caught fire so fast that those inside the vehicle could not even open the doors. The truck driver fled from the spot.

The police believes that the person who was unconscious and was bleeding profusely could be saved if the driver had called for help or had pulled the injured out instead of fleeing.

It was somebody from a roadside dhaba (eatery) who informed the police about the accident.

A police team reached the spot with a fire brigade vehicle but it was too late to save anyone. The occupants of the car had died and the smell of burnt flesh gave the police and fire officials a tough time to complete the formalities.

Two persons were found burnt on the front seat of the car while the third one was found at the back seat.

The bodies have been sent to Deen Dayal Upadhyay Hospital for post mortem. While the two motorcyclists injured in the accident were discharged after first aid.

The WagonR car bore the registration number of Gurgaon. While the mini truck involved in the mishap too was from Haryana.

The police assumes that the occupants of the car were from some nearby area and were probably returning home when they met an accident.

A case of death due to negligence has been lodged against the truck driver. Efforts are being made to nab him.

“Let us get the driver first. Only then we will be able to point out the reasons behind the accident,” said a police official. 

New Delhi, November 8
Our pre as well as post-Independence era’s erudite thinkers, freedom fighters and law makers had left a rich national legacy for their heirs, but ironically, the modern India has failed to live and preserve the richness and grandeur that characterises our national history.

This dismay and death of our unparalleled legacy has been the subject of portrayal by many artistic minds on many occasions and here is an artist, Suchender P, whose creations truly deserve the status of factual testimonies of the later part of the post-Independence period. ‘Satyameva Jayate’— a collection of 32 watercolour paintings and two sculptural installations by the artist, presently at display at Anant Art Gallery in the Capital depicts hypocrisy, dubiousness, red-tapism and corruption that is damaging the Indian social construct, thereby emptying people of their finer sentiments that they use to hold.

Suchender draws inspiration for his canvas from everyday experiences. All the creations are the result of the artist’s encounter with the rude realities of the present day world.

The artist says that all these pieces of art are the true reflection and narration of his very own experiences. “When I tried to register a piece of land in my name, expectedly, I was asked to “pay a price”, but I refused. This led to a series of cooked-up objections and concocted hostility. I faced a lot of troubles for more than a month, before getting the job done,” said a candid Sucherder.

The artist, hailing from Mysore, had a face to face confrontation with elements of a corrupt system that governs our life. During this time, Suchender’s frequent visits to government offices enabled him to comprehend the real meaning of our age-old systems that were full of virtuous symbols like photographs of the Father of the Nation hanging on the walls, stamps and seals which bore the façade of Ashoka charkas, and more. These contradictions were conspicuous, and gave him powerful insights about the failure of our political and social systems.

These appalling experiences about the failing system were projected by him in the form of visual metaphors. The artist states, “I began looking at the Ashoka Chakra — particularly the wheel and the animals— with a new meaning.”

According to Suchender, these works of art actually portray the widespread crevices that have become a trait of our post-Independence political system. But nonetheless, the artist’s mind and heart is governed by optimism, and he attests his creations to be pictures of awareness, introspection and education. Thus, amidst all sorts of turbulence in the social as well as political life he can still see a ray of hope and illumination at the end of the seemingly invincible dark tunnel. 

New Delhi, November 8
Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) chief ministerial candidate Vijay Kumar Malhotra filed his nomination papers from the Greater Kailash constituency today. His family members and party men had accompanied him to the election returning office at Jam Nagar House on Shahjahan Road.

Malhotra claimed that the BJP would fetch more than two-third majority in the assembly elections. Voters would fully support the BJP on the November 29 poll, as they had supported the party in the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) and Cantonment Board elections.

If voted to power, he assured that Delhi would be distinguished as the best administered and the most prosperous state of the world. Many problems arose during the Congress misrule.

A large number of factories had to close due to the lack of necessary facilities like — water and electricity, he alleged.

Similarly, unauthorised colonies have been taken for a ride. The Sheila government has fooled the residents by handing them provisional regularisation certificates. This has not only upset the recipients but has also exposed the real face of the Congress, whose premier leader distributed those certificates to the residents welfare associations for the sake of gaining their electoral support, he said.

Just after Malhotra filed his nomination, Punjab Chief Minister Prakash Singh Badal who was present at the returning office urged Sikhs to vote for BJP-Akali candidates. A true Sikh would never support Congress, he said. He expressed confidence that the BJP-Akali coalition would form the next government.

Former Haryana Chief Minister and president of the Indian Lok Dal Om Prakash Chautala also appealed to people to support BJP candidates. Arun Jaitley, Sushma Swaraj, Vijay Goel, Harsh Vardhan and SAD president Sukhbir Singh Bada l were also present. 

New Delhi, November 8
The Chief Electoral Office has employed innovative ways to encourage youngsters to vote. Songs encouraging people to exercise their franchise will be broadcast on FM and TV channels. Hoarding will also be installed to spread the message among electors.

Chief Electoral Officer (CEC) Satbir Silas Bedi said electors in the age group of 18 to 29 generally avoid casting their votes. They enjoy the polling day as holiday. During the recent MCD elections only 43% voters exercised their franchise. If one looks at the record, polling goes on a diminishing turn.

She said that the campaign aimed at creating voter awareness among youngsters and motivate them to vote. It has been observed that young voters have different priorities in life. Voting is not among their priorities.

The campaign aims at making the young adults aware of their responsibilities.

As per the age analysis of the last intensive revision carried out in Delhi, 39 lakh electors were registered between 18 to 29 years.

Thus, youngsters form 36% of the total electorate in Delhi, creating need for such special awareness programme. It is expected that such electors will be able to relate themselves with the polling process.

She said that a huge amount was spent on the revision of electoral rolls.

Meanwhile, students of Fortune Institute of International Business will participate in the Airtel Delhi Half Marathon tomorrow with a theme ‘run for democracy’. They will carry placards reading ‘Take Pride, Do Vote – Make A Difference’.

Ghaziabad, November 8
A US-based NRI businesman was allegedly attacked by a call girl and her gang members before they ran away with a taxi he had hired from this satellite town of Delhi, the police said on Friday.

Rajesh Singhal, 45, who runs a department store in Texas, US, was on Thursday found lying injured on the roadside, district police chief L. Ravi said.

The police officer said Singhal had fixed up with the girl through a pimp in Ghaziabad.

Singhal, originally from the Modi Nagar area of Ghaziabad, had come to his hometown on October 23 for Diwali celebrations.

On Thursday, the police said Singhal took the woman and her accomplice towards the NH-24 area in the taxi driven by Mahendra from the Sihani Gate area.

They then got dinner packed from a hotel near the Dasna area and drove towards Pilakhuwa to some unknown destination.

They had moved some distance towards Pilakhuwa, when two other people, said to be the accomplices of the woman, stopped them, according to the driver’s statement to the police.

They dragged Singhal and the driver from the car and beat them up, the police said.

The injured driver later called up the police. He said the attackers sped towards Atrauli.

The NRI was admitted to Raghguvir Hospital in Dasna, where the doctors said he had sustained major pelvic and foot fractures and abdominal injuries.

The police has arrested the alleged pimp S.P. Singh from Modi Nagar area.

His son Nishant Singh said: “All I knew about Rajesh is that he had come to India to purchase a property for running a college. I just cannot believe such a thing can happen.”

Meanwhile, the police has registered a case at the Masoori police station, the police officer said.

The woman and her accomplices are yet untraced. — IANS

Noida, November 8
The draw for the Noida Residential Scheme 2004 was concluded at Noida stadium this afternoon successfully.

Out of about 60,900 applicants, 267 lucky winners were picked up by the members of the public and from those among the applicants in the presence of media.

That people from south, east, and western parts of the country had applied showed that Noida is an important city in India, chairman of the high-level committee J.B. Patnaik and member Himanshu Kumar appointed by the high court said.

“This has been a very satisfying draw and steps were taken to ensure that no unsavoury issues or problems were raised,” he said.

Patnaik said today was the biggest draw when 667 general and 538 reserved category plots were allotted while 87 plots in reserved category which could not be allotted due to paucity of applicants in this category will revert to the Noida Authority which can take a decision on these, like including them in a future draw, etc.

“Now all slips will be deposited in G.B. Nagar treasury so that they can be verified by High Court or any other organization if needed,” Patnaik added.

New Delhi, November 8
More than 40 well-known academicians and Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) faculty members expressed concern at the Supreme Court’s judgement staying the elections of the JNU Students Union, today.

The faculty members said, “We appreciate the concerns of the court and are in full sympathy with the basic spirit of Lyngdoh committee recommendations. However, we would like to point out that the JNUSU has a long and remarkable record of avoiding both money and muscle politics, and in a manner that inculcated a great sense of democratic participation and responsibility among the student community.”

A statement signed by international academicians, including Bipan Chandra, CP Chandrasekhar, Jayati Ghosh, Nivedita Menon, Prabhat Patnaik and Romila Thapar, was released in here today.

“JNUSU elections are perhaps unique in the country where students themselves organise their elections without any interference from the administration. This tradition has remained unbroken for more than three decades,” said Vikas Rawal from the economics department.

He added that the ability of keeping their elections democratic had been a great sense of pride for them and, therefore, they have themselves ensured that the elections remained non-violent, non-commercial and highly participatory.

The faculty members and former students said, “Since JNUSU elections have been and should remain an important inspiration for democratic functioning in the wider society and polity, we believe that it is important that they be allowed to continue in the same manner and spirit as before.” 

New Delhi, November 8
The second India probiotics symposium organised by the National Institute of Cholera and Enteric Diseases, Kolkata, (ICMR) began here today.

Leading scientists and practitioners from India and overseas are attending the symposium where a world class panel of experts will present data on the utility of probiotics in both health and disease.

This years’ theme ‘Evidence-based health benefits of probiotics’ was decided by the ICMR as clinical research is accumulating to support the anecdotal evidence of the benefits of probiotic therapy. As investigations continue, the potential functions of probiotics may extend far beyond what was originally conceptualised.

The subject of probiotics has aroused curiosity of scientists all over the world and a number of studies involving probiotic supplementation in both hospitals based as well as community settings have been carried out in different populations in different regions in India. The results of some of the completed trials point to the fact that significant benefits could accrue to patients if they take recourse to probiotics.

Some of the randomised controlled trials that have been carried out to elucidate the potential benefits of probiotics include a hospital-based study carried out at North Bengal Medical College and Hospital where a total of 235 subjects who were suffering from persistent diarrhoea were randomised to receive a probiotic along with ORS or ORS alone. The results clearly showed that in contrast to the control group, the probiotic group decreased the mean duration of diarrhoea.

Yet another study using probiotics was the outcome of collaboration between the Bloomberg School of Public Health, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, USA and the Centre for Micronutrient Research, Annamalai University, India. The study was carried out on a semi-urban population in Sangam Vihar in New Delhi on 634 children aged 1-3 years. It was a randomised double blind placebo-controlled preventive efficacy study. The primary outcome of the study showed a reduction in the incidence of dysentery.

Since the preventive and therapeutic roles of probiotics for diarrhoeal diseases have been suggested from the results of various studies using different probiotics, the role of supplementation of Lactobacillus casei strain Shirota in the form of a fermented milk drink —Yakult — in protecting children from infectious diarrhoea in Kolkata was studied. The trial was a double blinded randomised controlled field trial involving 4,000 children aged between 1 and 5 years in an urban slum in Kolkata. The primary objective of the study was to asses the impact of probiotics in the prevention of acute diarrhoeal diseases in children and to asses its impact on the nutrition and growth of children.

Among a galaxy of eminent personalities attending the symposium are some top experts in the field from Japan and France. They include Prof Toshifumi Hibi (professor and chairman, division of gastroenterology and hepatology, department of internal medicine, Keio University School of Medicine) and Prof Olivier Goulet (professor of pediatrics, paediatric gastroenterology and nutrition, necker- Enfants Malades Hospital, University of Paris, France).

The Indian experts include Dr Sujit Kumar Bhattacharya (additional director-general, Indian Council of Medical Research, New Delhi), Dr G. Balakrishnan Nair (director, National Institute of Cholera and Enteric diseases, Kolkata) and Prof N.K. Ganguly (adviser to health minister) and Dr B S Ramakrish from Christian Medical College, Vellore.

New Delhi, November 8
Some unidentified assailants shot at a businessman from Allahabad and escaped with his money bag this morning in the Chandni Chowk area of capital.

According to the police, Ashok Kumar (39) who had come here this morning from Allahabad for shopping was shot at in the stomach in the Nai Sarak area. A rickshaw puller was also injured in the firing.

Ashok Kumar is a resident of the Mohsinganj area of Allahabad. He has been admitted to the intensive care unit of Lok Narayan Jai Prakash Hospital for treatment. According to doctors, his condition is critical and he is not in the position to give statement.

Eyewitnesses told the police that the assailants had come on two motorcycles and their faces were covered with masks. The assailants asked for the money bag which Ashok was carrying. However, when he refused, they shot at him on the right side of the stomach.

A case has been lodged in Chandni Chowk police station and the police has launched a hunt for the assailants.

The amount of money taken by them is also not confirmed as Ashok has not yet given any statement to the police owing to his critical condition.

Meanwhile, Ashok’s family in Allahabad has been informed about the incident and they are on their way to the capital.