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Delhi Poll Scene
Thousands turn up to hear Sonia
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Slum dwellers meet candidates tomorrow
Emphasis laid on 100%
sanitation
Abandoned baby fine and healthy: Doctors
IIT alumni bash govt for student, faculty reservations
Film explores food safety
Two purse snatchers held with car driver’s help
2 leaning out of bus die in mishap
Carjackers kill cabbie
Boy kills self as father refuses to buy him car after selling land
IGNOU relaxes MBA admissions
Traffic diversions for nagar kirtan
SAHMAT decries attack on secular artists
Global Meltdown
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Delhi Poll Scene
New Delhi, November 23 The folk singers, who are the hallmark of all rallies of the BSP, set the tone for the party’s dream to form a government at the Centre. They had penned all their songs on the BSP supremo becoming the Prime Minister with the overwhelming support of the sarva samaj (all castes) and replicating success of her administration in Uttar Pradesh across the country. However, it was the key ideologue of the BSP and its general secretary Satish Chandra Mishra, who left no one in doubt about the political trajectory that the BSP has embarked on, when he said: “The sarvajan movement has now taken deep roots and is spreading fast in other parts of the country. Stage is set for Mayawati to become the Prime Minister in 2009 and nobody will be able to stop her from occupying the top post.” With the party workers rooting for Mayawati for the big jump in her political career, she too chose the opportunity to expound her economic understanding of the country. “The Congress and BJP have ruled the country for the last 60 years after the Independence. These parties spend lots of money on elections, which they get from big industrialists and rich people. After coming to the power they make their policies to benefit these rich people only, while the poor remain always disadvantaged,” said Mayawati. Outlining the distinct identity of the BSP, she said: “We take money from you to fight elections and once we come to the power we will make policies which work for you and not the rich people.” The BSP supremo further expounded her formula of social engineering, as she said that her party had come to the forefront only after the Congress and BJP continued with their policies of socio-economic inequity in the country. The UP Chief Minister further launched a scathing attack on the Congress-led Central and Delhi government when she said that the law and order was non-existent in the capital city. “The crime situation of Delhi is the same as was in UP in 2005 when I came to power. Every day I read news of murder and crime in Delhi, which is shameful,” said
Mayawati. |
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Thousands turn up to hear Sonia
New Delhi, November 23 Wearing green sari with golden border and black cardigan Sonia Gandhi reached the venue at 3.30 pm. Seeing such a huge gathering, she waved her hands. She addressed the rally for 20 minutes appealing people to vote for the Congress the third time. The rally was first addressed by the Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit who said that in Delhi’s history never such a development work had been done. Elaborating the development works done by her government, she said that the Commonwealth Games Association had chosen Delhi for the event in 2010 as they liked the city where all facilities were available. When the rally was over, Sonia Gandhi came down from the ramparts to speak to the people nearby. Sheila Dikshit accompanied her. People came to the rally by buses, tempos and other vehicles parked along side the ground and made a beeline to enter the ground where tight security arrangement was made. Policemen frisked the citizens and then allowed them to enter the ground. A long line of people can be seen from Ramlila Ground to main road that leads to Moti Nagar. It being a Sunday, major traffic jam did not happen. There was relief on the road as the entire market was closed. The area had a deserted look due to weekly off day. While leaving the venue of the rally, some people were discussing to vote for the Congress as during 10 years of its rule, it has changed the face of the city. Metro rail service has given major relief to the residents of the area, they pointed out. |
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Slum dwellers meet candidates tomorrow
New Delhi, November 23 To be organised by the Alliance for People’s Rights (APR) on November 25, the interaction will take place near Jantar Mantar in the heart of the capital. It will be a culmination of awareness and mobilisation drives conducted by APR’s various community leaders and other volunteers. “The main aim of the drives and the subsequent interaction is to make people aware of their rights as voters and make the political parties and their candidates accountable to them. Voters have a right to know if the contestants and their parties actually know about their problems and how they are going to address those issues,” said Bharat Singh, convener of APR. Some of the key issues are that of a child-friendly Delhi, adequate housing, basic amenities in slums, livelihood and social security, security for women and identity and dignity for labourers, migrants and sewage
workers. — IANS |
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Emphasis laid on 100%
sanitation
New Delhi, November 23 “Water and sanitation are the two key developmental issues for the well-being of our people, and are closely inter-linked. However, our society isn’t aware about the gravity of the problem as such large-scale casualty among children largely go unnoticed in different parts of the world including in our own region,” said Lok Sabha speaker Somnath Chatterjee, while speaking at the Third South-Asian Conference on Sanitation (SACOSAN) in the Capital. “Not only is good sanitation vital for healthy living it also contributes to social development and is also a good economic investment besides helping to clean the environment,” added Somnath. Realisation of this goal calls for sustained efforts towards generating and enhancing awareness and much more commitment as also investments in providing infrastructure and even more in educating the people about changing the mindset. In this context, the speaker hailing the contributions made by the Panchayati Raj institutions and NGOs said, “These institutions have played a very proactive role in bringing about both awareness and infrastructure. The Nirmal Gram Pursakar (Award for clean village) programme initiated in 2003, is a laudable initiative with tremendous potential to change the quality of life in our villages for the better.” The conference was attended by union minister of rural development Dr Raghuvansh Prasad Singh, ministers and eminent delegates from international agencies. All the guests, emphasising upon 100 per cent sanitation, called for information, education and commitment along with a better policy framework to address the issue of sanitation, based on country-specific and region-specific model. |
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Abandoned baby fine and healthy: Doctors
New Delhi, November 23 “She is as normal as any child in the confines of its home. No ailment or infection of any kind has been found on her,” said an official of the Udayan. The infant was flung out of a moving car wrapped in a rexin bag. Soon after the hungry dogs in the vicinity were trying to put their claws inside the contents of the bag. Mona, a pavement dweller who was passing by saw the incident and informed the police who found a girl child inside the bag. The infant was later transferred to Kalawati Hospital for medical check-up and on Saturday evening transferred to Udayan. “The woman who saw the throwing of the bag could not tell us the registration number of the car but she did tell us the make. We are investigating the matter,” said a police official adding that it was white Maruti van. A case under Section 317 has been registered against unknown people at the Mandir Marg police station. It is the fourth instance of a baby girl being abandoned in Delhi this month. On November 1, a six-month-old girl child was found in the toilet of a train at Daya Basti station in northwest while on November 5, a woman disappeared after leaving her 4-day-old baby girl in the hospital at Mangolpuri in outer Delhi. Later on November 19, a seven-month-old girl child was found in a garbage dump in the same area. |
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IIT alumni bash govt for student, faculty reservations
New Delhi, November 23 At a special alumni meeting on ‘Sustaining IIT Brand’ held late Saturday evening at IIT Delhi, the former students said that minimum government interference in the institute affairs, no quota in faculty selection and a certain “benchmark” in selecting students is a must for IITs. “There is a loss of freedom in whom we (IITs) will teach and now the fear is a probable loss of freedom in who will teach,” said P.V. Indiresan, a renowned educationist and former director of IIT-Chennai. “The politicians started taking interest rather interfering when they realised that IITs are not ITIs (Industrial Training Institutes). This is where we need to stand up and speak against government policies. “We have started six new IITs but don’t bother about the quality. The teacher student ratio has worsened. We have problem here. There are too many students and too little infrastructure,” Indiresan added. Pradeep Gupta, chairman of Cyber Media group and an IIT Delhi alumni, said he is not against expansion but the increasing the number IITs without a proper planning is not good. “It’s a fact that IITs have not expanded much in last 50 years but expanding without proper planning is not great. If IIT is a tripod then expansion, inclusion and excellence are its three legs. Can the tripod be stable on two legs without the third leg called excellence,” Gupta queried. He said when a new college starts, it does not get All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) approval without a proper infrastructure then how come six new IITs have started without even a single campus. Yatindra Pal Suri, an entrepreneur and alumni of IIT-Kharagpur, said he has no problem in the number of IITs being increased. “It’s absolutely fine. I am not against it. But all must try to promote the IIT brand both in India and abroad,” Suri said. India has introduced 27.5 per cent quota for OBC students in all government aided higher educational institutes and was on the verge of thrusting a new policy of faculty quota in IIT ranks. Earlier, India had seven IITs and in the beginning of the ongoing academic year, government opened six new IITs under the supervision of old IITs. S. Mehta, another alumni, said that IITs must improve their industry interface and invest in research work. “We must develop IITs that are a global brand and the quality of education must be of global standard in the line of Cambridge University and Massachusetts Institute of Technology,” he added.
— IANS |
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Film explores food safety
New Delhi, November 23 National award winning film “Mere Desh Ki Dharti” (MDKD) of Sumit Khanna, which was screened last evening in the Capital, very evocatively attempts to explore the various dimensions of food safety, while delving at the endemic proportions of health hazards post-Green Revolution in India. Green movement is supposed to be the answer to India’s quest for food after the devastating famine broke out in Bengal in 1943. India imported 18,000 tonnes of seeds from Mexico in 1967 and the farmers then were supplied huge amounts of pesticides that opened the inroads to bumper crop harvest. However, environmentalists believe that green revolution has collapsed in India as it has left the farmers in the lurch. Devinder Sharma of Forum for Biotechnology and Food Security, Delhi, says, “The government initiated the green movement to enhance the crop production; then the white/ cotton revolution to better the economic condition of farmers, but consequently, the poor farmers were left to die in starvation and poverty. In reality, today the farmers are getting the same amount that they use to get 20 years back.” Another environment expert says, “None of the pesticides are actually safe, and now even the agricultural scientists have realised that resorting to pesticides was actually not the way out to meet the food crisis, especially after farmers of Vietnam, Bangladesh and some European nations producing high yields of rice sans pesticides.” A farmer from Punjab says, “We have to spend Rs 3,500 on one acre of land, and if we don’t receive any help from the government then we are left nowhere. Every year, in Punjab, 20-30 farmers commit suicide.” The film compelling the government as well as researchers to rethink the feasibility of the green revolution, quite eloquently states that the government’s step to meet the food requirements of the country has been a complete failure because it also added on to environmental and water pollution, besides resulting in grave health disorders. S.C. Chabra of Indian Institute of Research Management, Jaipur, says, “The indiscriminate use of pesticides during crop growing has led to the occurrence of multiple diseases like cancer, brainlessness. Again, because of long hours of exposure to pesticides, which contain arsenic metals, and contamination of water, the farmers and their children have arrested development.” |
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Two purse snatchers held with car driver’s help
Noida, November 23 Both the criminals, seriously injured in the accident, were admitted to district government hospital. Later, they were taken to the district court, which remanded them in judicial custody. Both Sonu and Praveen were nabbed with driver, Mool Chand’s boldness. Surprisingly, Sonu is a veterinary doctor in Vijay Nagar, Ghaziabad, while Praveen is employed in a private company. Both of them would snatch purses, gold chains, etc from women and flee on their bike. On Friday also, they snatched the purse of a housewife Dipti Agarwal in Sector-61 Noida. Dipti who had gone to Mall for shopping was returning home on foot. Though Dipti raised the alarm, Sonu, an expert bike driver, turned towards Mammura and was going towards Sector-67 at high speed. Indica car driver Mool Chand had seen the bikers flee and gave them a chase. He hit their bike from the side. Both fell down. By this time Dipti had informed the Sector-60 police post. The police team recovered Dipti’s purse from the bikers which contained Rs 4,000, a mobile phone and some important documents. Police said a number of cases of loot and snatching are lodged with Ghaziabad police against the two robbers. |
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2 leaning out of bus die in mishap
New Delhi, November 23 According to the eyewitnesses, the men identified as Bappan Swarankar and Prakash Saha were leaning out of a Blueline bus when the bus hit a stationary delivery van near Laxmi Palace Hotel in Karol Bagh and they fell down bleeding and were crushed. According to the police, the bus was plying on route number 721 and the two were standing on the rear stairs of the bus. While Swarankar hailed from Malda district of West Bengal, Saha was from Katihar in Bihar. Both were in their early 20s, the police added. While the driver of the bus fled the accident site, the police has lodged a complaint of negligent driving against him. “The investigation in the case has been started and the driver will be soon arrested,” said a police official. |
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Carjackers kill cabbie
Noida, November 23 The driver suffered injuries in the head and chest and was dumped by the assailants on the wayside. There has been no breakthrough in the case so far. According to police, the victim Kailash Singh Mehta, 35, who resided in Faridabad, was employed as driver for an IT firm at New Friends Colony in southeast Delhi. “On Thursday around 11.30 pm, the victim had gone to drop an executive of the firm at Shipra Sun City in Ghaziabad. While returning to office at around 1 pm, the armed assailants might have requested him for a lift to drop them somewhere. “They then shot him dead and fled in his car. The body of the victim was found lying near the Sector 37 crossing and sent for postmortem,” said police. This is the second such incident since July 25, 2007 when a Tata Sumo was hijacked and taxi driver Suraj Narain, 30, was killed by the assailants. The body of Narain was later found dumped near Sector-58 police station area in
Noida. |
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Boy kills self as father refuses to buy him car after selling land
Greater Noida, November 23 The son was irked why he was not having a car when some others in the family had brought new cars. Police has sent the body for postmortem. Pankaj, 19, son of Khadak Singh of Dairy Muchh village, was employed in a Noida company. Khadak Singh is a well-known classical singer of Dadri area. Pankaj and Khadak Singh were having strained relations for many days as Khadak Singh was not in favour of squandering money in buying a car for which his son Pankaj was insisting. Khadak Singh had rushed Pankaj to Ghaziabad’s Yashoda hospital, where he died during treatment on Saturday. Police is investigating the case. Pankaj was married. |
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IGNOU relaxes MBA admissions
New Delhi, November 23 The spokesperson of the university said, fresh graduates with 50 per cent marks for general category and 45 per cent marks for reserved category would be eligible to appear for OPENMAT entrance test of IGNOU. “The essential clause of three years’ experience in the supervisory and management category for graduates has been removed. Even those graduates, who have successfully cleared the entrance test for admission into the management programmes conducted by recognised institutions like CAT, MAT and state-level tests conducted by the state government need not sit for the OPENMAT,” said Ravi Mohan, spokesperson, IGNOU. The university has already opened admission to seven management courses for which there is no age bar. Students would be admitted through an entrance test OPENMAT to held on February 1, 2009. |
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Traffic diversions for nagar kirtan
New Delhi, November 23 According to Delhi Traffic Police, the eastbound buses coming from west Delhi will be diverted from R/A Shankar Road towards Simon Boliver Marg on Ridge Road while buses approaching from west Delhi and central Delhi bound for New Delhi railway station, Shivaji Stadium, Ajmeri Gate and Kamla Market will terminate at R/A Jhandewalan. Buses approaching from central Delhi and west Delhi bound for Central Secretariat, south Delhi etc. should take Faiz Road–Link Road roundabout Upper Ridge Road. The buses coming from New Delhi and trans-Yamuna area via ITO bridge bound for New Delhi station will be curtailed at Jawaharlal Nehru Marg – Ranjit Singh Marg. Buses coming from south and bound for north will be diverted from PHQ Crossing towards I.P. Marg, Ring Road Boulevard Road and vice versa. Motorists are advised to avoid Pahar Ganj, Connaught Place and Karol Bagh areas after 3 pm. Those desiring to go to New Delhi station use Ajmeri Gate side. Avoid Desh Bandhu Gupta Road between Jhandewalan roundabout and Ajmeri Gate, Panchukuian Road, R/A Jawaharlal Nehru Marg-Minto Road after 11am. They should take C-hexagon, Akbar Road, Teen Murti Marg, Shanti Path, Ridge Road for going from east to west. Use Ring Road to go from South to north. |
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SAHMAT decries attack on secular artists
New Delhi, November 23 In a press statement issued here, SAHMAT alleged that Ram Prasad Singh, who is being investigated in connection with the Malegaon blasts, was the same man who filed cases against renowned painter MF Husain in Delhi courts. “According to the reports in the media, Ram Prasad has been mentioned attending meetings with one BL Sharma Prem, who was also responsible for the attack on Academy of Fine Arts in Delhi in 1998,” said photographer Ram Rehman from SAHMAT. Ram said, “We are trying to alert the general public to the fact that the campaign against Husain is being run at a very high level in the Hindutva groups.” |
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Global Meltdown
New Delhi, November 23 The report by the tourism committee of Assocham said the tourism sector would grow only 5 per cent in 2008-09, down from the estimated 15 per cent. The number of inbound tourists from the US has already taken a hit and the situation would be worse next year as the global economic outlook remains grim. As the inbound tourism from the US would fall by 10-15 per cent, the number of tourists from Europe would go down by 5 per cent, the report said. “The outbound tourism from India would also fall to an extent of 5 to 7 per cent as meltdown is being experienced in all segments of Indian economy and particularly so in tourism,” Assocham secretary general D.S. Rawat said in the report.
— IANS |
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Supporters of Congress listen to a speech by party president and chairperson of the United Progressive Alliance
(UPA) government, Sonia Gandhi during a public meeting in favour of Congress candidates for Delhi assembly election at Mangolpuri in New Delhi on Sunday. Tribune photo: Manas Ranjan Bhui
