New Delhi, April 17
Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit today expressed shock over the death of an 11-year-old girl who was allegedly beaten up by her teacher.

“I am shocked. This is just not acceptable. I have spoken to the education secretary and the MCD commissioner. We will ensure that this is the last incident of its kind,” a television channel quoted Dikshit saying.

Dikshit’s reaction came shortly after the victim, Shanno Khan, a class two student of government-run MD Primary School died today afternoon as a result of corporal punishment given to her by a teacher on Wednesday.

She was admitted with severe seizure to the Lok Nayak Jai Prakash Hospital yesterday where her condition deteriorated and she slipped into coma.

The incident has shocked residents who have demanded banning corporal punishment in schools. They have demanded life term in jail for the accused teacher.

Sanjay Nath, a PR executive, expressed his disbelief when told about the incident. “It cannot be true. If it is so, the concerned teacher should not only be terminated but also be booked under provisions of murder (Section-302 of the IPC). She should not be allowed to get away,” said Nath.

While retired Air Force personnel Jaiveer Tyagi said corporal punishment should be banned in schools across the country.

“Corporal punishment is not only cruel but inhuman. It is banned in all developed countries. Why cannot it be banned here?” questioned Tyagi.

Meanwhile, the concerned teacher has been suspended. But residents do not consider it enough. “Suspension for killing does not make sense. The teacher should be immediately arrested,” said Ramesh Tripathi, a government employee.

Ghaziabad, April 17
A married woman, who had been making rounds of police stations in the search of her missing husband for quiet some time, swallowed some poisonous substance out of frustration due to police inaction in the office of deputy inspector general of police (DIG), Meerut.

Sarita has been admitted in the Sushila Jaswant Rai Hospital, Meerut, and is critical.

Sarita of Pastora village under Hastinapur police station had allegedly come to the DIG’s office with her four-year-old son, Pankaj. But she was not allowed to meet him.

She told the police that her husband Dharmpal had been missing for the past two months. She alleged that some people of her village might have kidnapped him. However, the policemen asked her to go and assured her that they would take quick action in the matter.

But Sarita kept sitting in the verandah near the DIG’s chamber.

At around 1 p.m. she gulped some poisonous substance and fell unconscious.

Meanwhile, the DIG has ordered police circle officer Swana to look into the case.

Ghaziabad, April 17
In a bizarre incident, disagreement over dowry during a marriage in Hapur resulted in a clash between the bride and the groom side, and even before the bride could leave her parents’ house, the furious husband divorced her by pronouncing “Talaque” three times.

Three persons were injured in the melee. The bride’s brother has lodged a report with the police against three persons for demanding dowry. The police has arrested two persons, including the bridegroom.

According to the Hapur police, on April 14, daughter of one Haji Islam, a resident of Mohalla Delhi Gate in Hapur, was married to one Mohammed Salman of Debband town near Saharanpur. The marriage had taken place as per the Sheria Law at a madarsa on Bulandshahr Road in Hapur.

On April 15, a dinner was hosted for the groom side at a banquet hall on Garh Road, after which, the marriage party was to leave for Saharanpur. But after the dinner, around 12.30 am, there was an altercation between the two sides over fresh demands for dowry.

According to bride’s father, the groom side, just before their departure, demanded a Honda Civic car and Rs 21 lakh. He said though he had already given a car and Rs 2 lakh, the groom side was not satisfied. Soon violent clashes ensued between the two parties.

Three persons— Chand, Shahzad and Aurangzeb— were injured in the clash. After this, the dowry-greedy groom uttered “Talaqu” three times and divorced his newly-wed bride.

Later, the police reached the spot. Bride’s brother Ashfaquo lodged a report against Salman, Sufiyan, Jabar, Qurban and Irfan for demanding dowry. The police arrested Salman and Jabar from the spot.

Ghaziabad, April 17
Somewhat similar to Congress president Sonia Gandhi, Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) national president Rajnath Singh too possesses assets of over Rs 1 crore, but no car, according to the affidavit filed by him today.

Singh, who filed his nomination papers for the Ghaziabad Lok Sabha seat, declared assets worth Rs 1.21 crore.

In his affidavit submitted before the returning officer, Singh said he had a house at Gomti Nagar in Lucknow, worth Rs 55 lakh. He has ancestral agricultural land at Chandauli in Uttar Pradesh, valued at Rs 45.22 lakh. His cash deposit in banks is Rs 21,24,876.

The cash deposit in his wife Savitri Singh’s name is Rs 8,71,564. The jewellery in their joint name is valued at Rs 18 lakh.However, Rajnath Singh and his wife do not have a car. — IANS

Faridabad, April 17
The Haryana minister for urban local bodies A.C. Chaudhary has come in for sharp criticism from senior leaders in the Congress and his own cabinet colleagues for tendering his resignation to party president Sonia Gandhi on the issue of party not giving tickets to any member from the Punjabi community. His move has been described as a “political stunt”.

However, Chaudhary justifies his position saying that he has taken the stand as his party ignored the strength of Punjabis while deciding the candidates for the 10 parliamentary constituencies in Haryana.

He said that it was shocking that not even a single Punjabi was given ticket, though the community accounted for 35 per cent of the population of the state. He further said that tickets for Gurgaon, Karnal and Faridabad seats should have been given to members from the Punjabi community.

Chaudhary was in the race for ticket from Faridabad parliamentary constituency, from where the party has re-nominated the sitting MP Avtar Singh Bhadana.

Chaudhary, however, scotched all speculations about the possibility of him quitting the party.

Talking to The Tribune on telephone, Lakhman Das Arora, a well-known Punjabi leader and a minister in the Haryana cabinet, expressed resentment on Chaudhary’s resignation and said it was not the right way to fight for justice. Without naming Chaudhary, he said that the resignation was a “political stunt” from “a person who had no credibility among the Punjabis”.

He asserted that Chaudhary was given a ticket by the Congress from Kurukshetra in the last parliamentary election, but refused to contest at the last moment, after which, Naveen Jindal was given the ticket. Jindal won from there, and is the sitting MP now, so his claim for re-nomination from the seat cannot be ignored, he added.

Arora further said nine out of the 10 candidates in Haryana were sitting MPs, and ignoring their claim was tough. Had Chaudhary fought and won from Kurukshetra last time, he would have been re-nominated this year.

Openly supporting the Congress, Arora said the party had done nothing that should hurt the sentiments of Punjabis.

Congress MLA from Gurgaon and another senior Punjabi leader Dharamvir Gauba said that there was indeed resentment among the Punjabis in Haryana against the Congress for not giving tickets to Punjabis, but he added that Chaudhary’s way was not proper.

Meanwhile, in a related development, former home minister of Haryana and the current state general secretary of the Haryana Janhit Congress (BL) challenged Chaudhary for a public debate on his role and contribution to the cause of the Punjabis in Haryana.

New Delhi, April 17
A delegation of FEDCUTA teachers met the officials of the union ministry of HRD today and demanded immediate announcement of pay fixation formula for university teachers in accordance with the recommendations of the Central Pay Commission (CPC).

Aditya Narayan Misra, president of FEDCUTA and DUTA said, “No deviation from the CPC recommendations about pay fixation would be acceptable to university community of the country.” Misra added, “It was on December 31, 2008, that the pay scales of university teachers were revised and the government notification clearly stated that pay fixation would be according to CPC. However, the actual pay fixation figures have not been issued till date.”

Earlier, ‘anomalies’ in the UGC notifications caused quite a stir among teachers. Staff bodies and councils of all the 70 colleges of DU sent their feedback on the pay review committee report. Subsequently, the issue was taken up at length at a DUTA extended executive meeting on February 5.

The Delhi University Teachers’ Association held a meeting on these ‘anomalies’ on January 4 when the matter was raised at an executive council meeting of the DUTA and this was followed by a meeting with the UGC on January 5 where the issue of ‘anomalies’ in the notifications were discussed.

“We have discussed the issue at several meetings after discovering these anomalies in the pay review commission report and come with some demands regarding these inherent flaws in the UGC’s notification,” said DUTA president.

New Delhi, April 17
A 25-year-old married woman allegedly committed suicide by setting herself on fire in the Rajouri Garden area of West district yesterday.

The victim, Manorma, was admitted to the Safdarjung Hospital with 90 per cent burns yesterday. She succumbed to her injuries today morning.

However, her parents have alleged that Manorama’s husband Anil killed her for dowry.

According to the police, Manorama’s neighbour informed the police about the incident yesterday evening.

“Manorama’s husband said he had an argument with her over some issue in the afternoon after which she poured kerosene over her body and set herself on fire,” said a police official.

The official added Manorma was taken to the Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Hospital. Later, she was shifted to the Safdarjung Hospital with 90 per cent burns where she succumbed to her injuries.

“Prima facie suggests that Manorama has committed suicide. However, we are investigating the matter,” said the official. She was married to Anil around seven years ago and she is survived by two children.