New Delhi, December 5
Reported hearing of gunshots in the wee hours of this morning created a scare at the Indira Gandhi International (IGI) Airport, resulting in the disruption of normal functioning for about 40 minutes.

A Quick Reaction Team (QRT) of the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF), armed with sophisticated weapons, swung into action along with Delhi police personnel after the reported incident.

“Sounds were heard by our people deployed at the city side (of the airport) which appeared to them as gun shots,” said Udhayan Banerjee, DIG, CISF, which provides airport security.

The firing of two gunshots was heard at around 1.15 am near gate no 4, but there was no eyewitness and no cartridge shells were found. The functioning of the airport was disrupted for about 40 minutes after which the normal operations resumed.

According to information, a white Qualis car, during the intensive checking drives, jumped the queue and sped away. A police Gypsy gave a chase to the Qualis with a Haryana number plate but lost it after some time.

However, the authorities failed to note down the number of the said Qualis car. The airport was already on high alert following intelligence warning that there could be a terror attack or a hijack around the anniversary of Babri Masjid demolition which is tomorrow.

The area outside departure terminal was completely cordoned off with CISF and Delhi police commandos, toting AK-47 and INSAS rifles, taking control of the entire premises. “We received a call that some passengers heard sounds similar to two gunshots, but there were no eyewitnesses. No evidence has come up to suggest that it was a (case of) firing and we cannot confirm there were gunshots,” Banerjee said.

Delhi Police Joint Commissioner (Operations) Amulya Patnaik assured that things were under control. “All arrangements are in place and there is nothing to panic about,” said Patnaik.

According to some unconfirmed reports, the incident could have been a part of the mock drill to check the security preparedness at the airport.

Faridabad, December 5
National Security Guard (NSG) commando subedar Trechand Singh, of Jasana village here, is still nursing his injuries that he sustained while battling terrorists in Mumbai’s Taj Hotel on morning of November 27.

He was hit by a bullet on his left ankle, when two terrorists were spraying bullets and lobbying grenades indiscriminately at the NSG commandos engaged in the operation against them.

He is undergoing treatment at the Army’s Base Hospital in the national Capital.

Talking to The Tribune on phone, he said his injuries were healing fast.

He further said he was moved to see the support of countrymen.

Recounting the incidents, he said that one of his colleagues was also injured as a bullet had hit him on his rib.

Commandos from Manesar in Gurgaon were flown in the wee hours on November 26, the night terrorists entered the Taj Hotel, The Oberoi Trident and Nariman House.

They launched their operations at 7 am in the Taj.

They landed by air on the roof of the hotel and started their movement downwards and to other openings in the hotel.

He said the terrorists found themselves in the vantage point as they used to flee from several openings and corridors of the hotel complex after firing on commandos. It seemed that they knew the hotel complex quiet well and were well trained.

Subedar Singh said he and his colleagues aimed at killing the terrorists or making them captives as soon as possible. “We had to get rid of this traumatic situation any how,” he said.

He said that he and his injured colleague were admitted to a Mumbai Hospital owned by the Tata Group. He was treated there till November 30, after which he was flown to the Army’s Base Hospital in Delhi.

The subjedar works with Para Special Force of the Defence Infantry Division. He is with the NSG for the past one and half years.

New Delhi, December 5
A delegation of Russian Parliament today met president of the DPCC J. P. Agarwal. It was headed by Konstantin Kosachev, chairman of the Parliamentary Committee on International Affairs, Sergey Baranov, second secretary, Embassy of Russian Federation.

The delegation was on a visit to India to express its grief at the terrorist strikes in Mumbai.

J. P. Agarwal said that Russia had always been a true fried of India and it always came forward to help India in difficult times.

Kosachev condemned the attacks in Mumbai and expressed Russia’s condolence to those died in the attacks. Terrorism was of grave concern globally and the whole world should get together to take pledge to root out this menace. 

New Delhi, December 5
In a move that will provide a momentum to the construction of the 2010 Commonwealth Games project on the Yamuna riverbank here, the Supreme Court today stayed the Delhi High Court verdict that had imposed restrictions on the work.

A Bench comprising Chief Justice K.G. Balakrishnan and Justice P. Sathasivam passed the order after solicitor-general G.E. Vahanvati, appearing for the Delhi Development Authority (DDA), argued that the project was cleared after going into all environmental aspects.

India would suffer loss of face and acute embarrassment if the project was not completed in time for the October 2010 games as the government had given a firm commitment to the member nations of the Commonwealth for holding the event, Vahanvati said.

The Akshardham Temple, constructed upon the apex court clearance, was 1.7 km from the Yamuna riverbed, while the game site, adjacent to the temple, was 1.6 km away. Further, the government had approved change of land use for the site way back in 1999, but the public interest litigation (PIL), on which the HC had passed the verdict, was filed in 2007.

The HC should have rejected the PIL on account of the huge delay alone. At least, it should have taken into account that the project was under way in full swing and such a direction would “unsettle” the momentum.

The DDA alone had so far pumped in Rs 500 crore, while private enterprises had picked up even greater stake and if the project became uncertain, the government would find it difficult to mobilise funds at a time of global economic meltdown, the petition contended.

The HC ordered the setting up of a committee, headed by environmentalist Dr R.K. Pachauri, to study the project’s impact on ecology and the river, without considering the fact that a high level committee, appointed by the Prime Minister, was already overseeing its implementation.axThe apex court stay would be in force till December 15, the date for next hearing.

New Delhi, December 5
A minimum of 300 per cent rise is being noticed in sale of prospectuses by various public schools for giving admissions in nursery and KG classes from the year 2000 to 2008.

On an average, each parent is shelling out Rs 5,000 for buying prospectuses, hoping admissions for their tiny tots.

In around 2000, leading public schools in Delhi would normally sell prospectus for Rs 300. In 2008, one prospectus costs parents roughly Rs 1000, according to findings of the ASSOCHAM Social Development Foundation (ASDF).

It is assumed that parents purchase five forms for one child resulting in they spend a minimum sum of Rs 5,000 on their single child.

Obviously, for two children, the sum spent on buying prospectus doubles up, says D. S. Rawat, ASSOCHAM secretary-general.

According to an estimate made by the ASDF, in Delhi alone good public schools earn revenues by selling prospectuses to an extent of Rs 5,000 crore. This is absolutely a conservative estimates based on finding of ASSOCHAM, added Rawat pointing out that this is despite the Delhi government directives to school management to have a standardised prospectus at a uniform price.

However, the directive is being violated.

Nowadays, parents make a budget of Rs 4,000 to Rs 5,000 to apply for admission in schools so that at the end of the day, their child is enrolled in one of the schools of their choices.

Most of parents feel that shelling out Rs 5,000 on buying prospectus pinches them the most as there is no certainty that their child will eventually get through that school. “It’s like a wild shot. They have to unwillingly pay for the prospectus”.

These days prospectus are made fancy with lot of unwanted reading materials as the intention of the schools is to make prospectus voluminous to attract good pricing.

Increasingly rising school admission form in most of privately managed schools in large cities including metros have deterred even well-to-do young parents. The chamber has not only opposed escalation in cost of prospectus but it is equally against proposed fee hike move in public schools which is likely to be within the range of 40 per cent.

Rawat said that majority of school management boards have referred to the 6th Pay Commission hike as one of the reasons for tuition fee hike which is totally unjustified as majority of the workforce is engaged in unorganised sector and is not at all beneficiary to pay hike.

Parents, however, complain that education is now being run like a commercial business enterprise. The high tuition fees no more justify the services offered at schools and the erratic fee hike effected each year by management of schools, D. S. Rawat said.

New Delhi, December 5
Protesting against the alleged autocratic functioning of the governing body of the college, teachers of Vivekananda College of Delhi University declared a flash strike today.

One of the 28 state government colleges affiliated by Delhi University, Vivekananda College runs on 95 per cent grant from the Delhi government. A governing body formulated by the state government looks into the overall functioning of the college.

The staff of the college recently objected to the interference of the Governing Body in the day to day affairs of the college creating an atmosphere of unrest.

“This matter has been repeatedly deliberated in Staff Association meetings and the members have now stopped trusting any decisions of the governing body,” said a member of Staff Association of the college.

The Staff Association has passed a no-confidence motion against the alleged interference of the governing body in the day-to-day affairs of the college.

The Karamchari Union of the college has also been dissatisfied with the chairman of the governing body Purushottam Goel. The Karamchari Union has been on a strike since the past 15 days.

“The chairman has his own vested interests. He is going to retire on December 27 and therefore he is desperate. He is harassing individuals, who do not confirm to his decisions,” said one of the non-teaching staff.

The staff also complained that the chairman had intentions of appointing his people on the vacancies in computer sciences and history departments.

“He sent letters to the applicants for appearing in the interview today. This went against the university guidelines according to which an applicant must be given a call for interview a week in advance,” said the Staff Association.

Meanwhile, principal of the college Anjana Dev joined work last afternoon.

“The interviews have been postponed. I have resumed work and I am going to ensure that the rules and regulations of the university are not violated,” said Anajana Dev, principal.

New Delhi, December 5
The development of infrastructure ahead of the Commonwealth Games, improvement of sanitation and healthcare services and rehabilitation of slum dwellers are the priority areas in the Rs 6115 crore budget of the Municipal Corporation of Delhi for the next fiscal, with no proposal of any new taxes.

The proposed budget expenditure for 2009-10 will be all-time record, with education department getting the lion’s share of Rs 1170 crore, followed by general administration (967 crore), sanitation (889 crore), engineering (861 core) and public health (742 crore).

Presenting the revised budget estimates for 2008-09 and proposed budget estimates for 2009-10 at a meeting of the MCD standing committee today, Municipal Commissioner K. S. Mehra said the income of MCD in the year 2007-08 was Rs 3285.92 crore, which has increased to Rs 4450.08 crore in the current financial year.

The civic body has not proposed any new tax and the existing tax structure will remain the same during the current financial year.

Mehra said, adding a 45 per cent cut on office expenses and 12 per cent cut on telephone expenses have been proposed as cost-cutting measures.

The Commissioner said the MCD expects to garner Rs 1400 crore as property tax this year and the target for 2009-10 is Rs 1600 crore.

The MCD also expects to earn Rs 300 crore from schemes on advertisement, including allowing display of ads in LED screens in market areas and in auto-rickshaws, taxis and other commercial vehicles.

The Commissioner said various projects costing about Rs 2576 crore will be implemented keeping in view the 2010 Commonwealth Games. “Of these, Rs 400 crore will be spent on Games venues and Rs 2176 crore on roads and other related development works.” he said.

For improvement of sanitation, the MCD is inviting tenders for door-to-door garbage collection in Civil Lines, Rohini, Vasant Kunj and Dwarka.

Dustbins of 1000 litre capacity are proposed to be put up in marketplaces. The MCD men and machinery will be used for de-silting of all drains throughout the year instead of using contractors for the job.

The civic body will also purchase mechanised sweepers next fiscal for cleaning of roads.

“One mobile dispensary each will be run in all the 12 zones of the MCD in the next financial year. Five dispensaries will be upgraded to poly-clinics and five new ayurvedic dispensaries will be opened,” Mehra said.

The MCD will set up three new cremation grounds in the next fiscal, two in Shahdara South and one in Swada in Nazafgarh zone, the commissioner said.

The setting up of 15 community halls and two disaster management centres in Okhla and Khayala are among the other budget proposals. The civic body proposes to rehabilitate dwellers of 35 slum clusters keeping the 2010 Games in view.

For the year 2009-10, expenditure for slum wing will be Rs 697.57 crore and it will be Rs 47.37 crore for JJ (Jhuggi-Jhopri) wing.

New Delhi, December 5
Conservation of heritage and culture is very crucial to the existence of developing societies in Asia. A need for regional networking and forging partnerships was addressed at the three-day Asian Regional Cooperation Conference (ARCC) that ended today in the Capital.

The Indian National Trust for Art & Cultural Heritage (INTACH) had organised the conference.

“This initiative would help in strengthening historical, cultural and economic links between Asian countries,” said Ambika Soni, union minister of culture and tourism.

Talking about India’s ‘Look East Policy’, Soni called upon for an integrated approach and appropriate policy for catalysing the movement of heritage protection and promotion, thereby contributing to environment conservation, employment generation and poverty alleviation.

At a time when the world is inexorably heading towards an ecological deluge; the sagas of exotic creativity, chiselled beauty and artistic excellence have to be protected from decay. And, this is possible only through public participation.

Emphasising on education and awareness generation, the minister called for building associations between civil societies and local communities.

“Heritage conservation and education are inter-related. Huge money is required to preserve heritage. And it is not possible for the government to protect it alone,” said Montek Singh Ahluwalia, deputy chairperson of the National Planning Commission.

Ambika further elaborated the government’s upcoming projects and community awareness programmes.

She informed, “The ministry would soon launch a Cultural Heritage Young Leadership Programme which would reach out to the younger public in schools and colleges and make them aware about the national culture and heritage.”

Both Montek and Ambika stressed on the need to develop a public-private partnership.

They informed that the government had set up a National Culture Fund where corporate/private bodies could make their contributions.

Soni informed that the government would soon come up with a National Commission for Heritage Sites, which would retain the endangered sites and structures in the country.

“The culture ministry has also launched a National Mission on Monuments and Antiquities worth Rs 90 crore. Soon this will be revised to Rs 400-500 crore,” added Ambika.

Meanwhile, to meet the shortage of professional expertise, the ministry has proposed to set up a Centre for Management of Cultural Resources as mentioned in the XI Five Year Plan.

Four panel sessions were also held during the three-day conference. They entailed discussions on art conservation, heritage education, management of world heritage sites and heritage tourism. 

Noida, December 5
The rising robbery graph in this satellite town adjoining the national Capital indicates that robbers have ruined the rest of Noidaites and hardly fear the law. This time they targetted a retired deputy director of Vayu Sena Bhawan, New Delhi, who was living here alone.

The robbers barged into his house, made him captive and decamped with Rs 27,000.

However, no arrests have been made yet. The police suspects the involvement of a carpenter, who had worked in the house two days ago.

Two bikers rang the call bell of D.K. Mishra’s (66) house at P-47 Sector-11 here at 9:30 pm last night. When Mishra opened the door, the two pushed their way in, pretending to inquire about somebody’s address. The intruders soon made Mishra captive at gunpoint.

They asked him to hand over the cash in the house and fled away after taking Rs 27,000. After the bikers had left, D.K. Mishra informed his relatives and later reported to the police kotwali at Sector-24.

Mishra’s son-in-law C. Anthony has lodged an FIR. SHO Sector-24 said they have got some clues and the carpenter who had come to work in the house two days ago was being suspected of being involved in the loot 

Greater Noida, December 5
Bala Devi has been elected as the president of Gautam Budh Nagar district panchayat. She is the first woman to make it to the top post of a district panchayat.

She is the 13th district panchayat chief of Gautam Budh Nagar district.

She was administered the oath of office today at the collectorate. She reached the collectorate at 3 pm yesterday. Deputy district election officer Shiv Kant Divedi declared her elected unopposed.

All local leaders were present when Bala Devi took the oath of secrecy.

Nobody had filed his/her nomination paper against Bala Devi who contested on Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) ticket.

It may be recalled that Lok Singh Khatik had defeated Bala Devi by mere one vote in the election held on January 13, 2006. Khatik had contested on a Samajwadi party ticket.