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2 women charred in auto fire
President meets girls who said no to child marriage
President Pratibha Patil meets girls who said no to marriage at the Rashtrapati Bhavan in New Delhi on Thursday. Tribune
photo by Mukesh Aggarwal |
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No foul play in death of missing boy
Low-floor busgate: Lokayukta asks for all papers
MPs, MLAs can’t be poll agents: CEO
12 villagers shocked to see themselves dead in voter list
Purse snatcher caught
Ex-mayor blamed for NGOs’ fund crunch
Mgmnt quota in B.Ed goes
Games surroundings to be made attractive
Couple to be sworn in as HC judges
Sweeper falls in sewer; 2 jawans jump in to help;
all die
3 held with fake currency
Daultabad road closed on Sunday
De-silt drains, says Walia
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2 women charred in auto fire
The autodriver and the other woman companion of the victims fled. They, reportedly, did not try to save the two women.
New Delhi, May 14 Three women, Nisha (30), Khairu Nisha (33) and Kamla were travelling in the auto-rickshaw, which reportedly, caught fire due to compressed natural gas (CNG) leakage. “The autorickshaw caught fire due to CNG leakage. Two women — Nisha and Khairu Nisha — were charred while the autorickshaw driver, Harish, and Kamla managed to escape unhurt,” said a police official. The official added the driver had fled with Kamla and her son but they were detained later in the day. A bystander, reportedly, informed the fire department about the incident. Firemen reached the spot within few minutes. But Nisha and Khairu Nisha were charred to death by that time. “The fire department officials informed the police about the incident and a team was immediately sent to the spot,” said a police official. While the police claims it to be an accident and the fire broke out due to spark in the CNG kit, the situation at the scene points a foul play. There are some questions which highlight the lacunae in preliminary police investigation like — Why the deceased did not come out of the autorickshaw when it caught fire? And, why did the driver fled with Kamla and her kid, leaving the two women burning. “CNG and auto experts are probing the cause of fire. We are waiting for the postmortem reports of the women. Forensic reports and other reports will clear the picture,” added the police official. Though several questions popped up as to whether it was a murder or an accident, the police refrained from giving any comment. According to sources, the three women and Harish were into flesh trade and were under the influence of alcohol at the time of the incident. “Nisha used to work as part-time nurse at the Lady Hardinge Hospital and was pregnant,” said sources. Police officials have detained Harish and Kamla. Nisha was a resident of Pratap Nagar in Ghaziabad while Khairu Nisha was a resident of Sonia Vihar. Nisha’s husband Abul Kalam told the police his wife was returning from the Lady Hardinge Hospital and he did not know anything about the incident. However, Kamla’s mother Vilaso told reporters when her daughter reached home she told her some men set the autorickshaw, she was travelling in, on fire. But Vilaso later changed her statement. Even Kamla’s son, Raj, retracted his statement. Earlier he had told television journalists that his father had set the vehicle on fire, but later he said his father was dead.
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President meets girls who said no to child marriage
New Delhi, May 14 “My parents wanted me to get married, but I wanted to study. Along with my schoolteachers and friends, I convinced my parents not to fix my marriage at an early age. I want to study,” said Rekha. Rekha was part of a delegation from West Bengal that met President Pratibha Patil in the Capital today. Two other girls — Sunita Mahato and Afsana Khatun — were invited at Rashtrapati Bhawan for the courage that they showed in saying no to child marriage. All three girls belonged to the less developed area of West Bengal, Purulia, with the literacy rate of 37 per cent. These girls were enrolled in school as part of the National Child Labour Project (NCLP) implemented in the region by the West Bengal government. The girls are given Rs 100 per month as part of the project. Rekha, who is now in Class III of the local school, is from the Scheduled Caste community. She realised the importance of education and learned about child rights in the school. However, she is not an individual case. Thirteen-year-old Afsana Khatun from the same district live in a two-room mudhouse with eight other members of her family in the same district. Afsana’s marriage was also fixed at an early age. “I did not want to get married and instead work for my country. I resisted along with school administration and friends. My family is poor and I had to help them in work, but now I study in the local school and work whenever I get time,” she said. Afsana is an active participant of the Child Activist Initiative and has participated in various leadership building training programmes. Her family of nine people earns around Rs 1,200 in a month. Afsana’s mother Jamila Bibi said, “It is the custom in our community to get our children married when they are young. When we were getting Afsana married, some officials approached us and convinced us to let her study.” Similarly, 13-year-old Sunita Mahato revolted when her family arranged her marriage. Mahato was a child labour and used to help her family in beedi rolling before she got admitted in special school in 2007. Two elder sisters and one brother of Mahato were married before they were 18 years old. “My parents arranged my marriage when I was studying in the school. I convinced my parents after lot of efforts and now I would not get married before I turn 18,” said Mahato. Impressed by the courage of these girls the President presented them with Rs 10,000 each. “These are brave girls, who resisted the pressure coming from social customs that are harming the country. Schemes like NCLP are successful only when they reach these marginalised sections,” said Patil. Calling the girls “messengers of social change”, Patil said even a single child marriage harmed the country in many ways. “We talk about inclusive growth; where all sections of the country develop together. Stories like these set precedents and these are rays of hope for a social change,” she said.
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No foul play in death of missing boy
Faridabad, May 14 The boy had gone missing from his colony here since April 4 and his body was found yesterday in the jungle surrounding Sarita Vihar near Apollo Hospital in Delhi. According to the district police chief, the deceased Sunil may have left the house in a huff and could have been attacked by some wild animal. He said that some portions of the neck, abdomen and face have been eaten and the body also has marks of teeth. This has been verified by the postmortem report, he added. The stand of the police has upset the public and the relatives of the deceased are demanding a CBI probe into the incident. The version of the police does not seem to convince the public. The question is even if the organs were eaten by an animal, what led to the death of the boy. The police chief says that the boy may have been killed by the same animal. After learning about the death and missing organs from the body, the relatives of the deceased and residents of the city blocked the Delhi-Mathura national highway for more than three hours last evening. The relatives and the public here allege that the police had not acted promptly after learning about the case. An elder brother of the deceased had similarly gone missing about three years back and was yet to be traced. When asked on the agitation by the public yesterday, the police chief said the police could not make the relatives understand the possibility of eating the organs by an animal. When asked to elaborate on his theory, he said that his version was based after studying the entire case and also interacting with the doctors at AIIMS who conducted the postmortem. In a related development, the parents of four children, who have allegedly gone missing in the past few months, today met the district police chief and urged him for further investigations. The missing children, whose parents met the police chief, are Abida from Sector 3; Govinda from A.C.Nagar; Vivek from Ram Nagar; and J.K from Ajrounda. All of them are said to be under 12 years. |
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Low-floor busgate: Lokayukta asks for all papers
New Delhi, May 14 The case will be heard on May 18, said Bipin Bihari Singh and Balendu Shekhar, counsels of the former BJP MLA, Vijay Jolly, who filed a complaint alleging that there were irregularities in the purchase of non-airconditioned low-floor buses. Jolly alleged in his complaint before the Lokayukta that a collective loss to the tune of Rs 153.36 crore had been caused to the public exchequer in the purchase of 625 low-floor buses by the Delhi government. He alleged that the government bought the buses at an inflated price of Rs 25 lakh for each bus, more than what is paid for similar buses by Metropolitan Transport Corporation, Chennai. Allegations of misappropriation, embezzlement and wrongful actions for personal gain etc. were made against the government. The Lokayukta in its earlier order on January 28, 2009, had directed the secretary, transport, to produce all the records relating to tender invitation for 625 low-floor buses and the decision-making process. The order stated, “If the official concerned fails to submit documents, action would be taken as per the provision given under section 175 IPC,” Jolly said. But the government had gone in an appeal before the single bench of Delhi High Court that had granted a stay on the Lokayukta’s earlier order.
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MPs, MLAs can’t be poll agents: CEO
New Delhi, May 14 The counting will take place on May 16 in eight counting centres located at different places in Delhi. Votes in East Delhi parliamentary constituency will be counted at two places whereas in all the remaining six constituencies, one counting centre for each
constituency has been set up. In all the counting
centres, a total number of 55 halls have been identified for counting and the total number of tables used will be
807. At each table of counting, there will be one counting supervisor, one counting assistant and one additional counting staff of union government. Therefore, for all the 807 tables, the minimum number of staff to be utilized will be 2421. In addition to these officials, class-IV employees will be used for bringing out the Electronic Voting Machines
(EVMs) from strong rooms to the tables of counting. There will be staff for tabulation of data, officials for attending to the media persons, officials to assist observers, returning
officers (ROs), assistant returning officers(AROs) etc. In all about 5,000 officials will be engaged in counting. All these officials have been imparted proper training on the process of counting, the CEO said. In order to ensure fairness of counting of votes and accuracy of compilation of results, the Election Commission of India has directed observers to choose two EVMs at random at the end of each round of counting for parallel verification. As far as security is concerned, three-tier cordoning system will be in place in all counting centres to prevent the entry of unauthorized persons. No counting agent without proper identity card will be allowed to cross the first cordon of the counting
centre.
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12 villagers shocked to see themselves dead in voter list
Greater Noida, May 14 Some senior citizens of the village were regretting that they could not cast votes this time due to none of their fault. Kalu Ram, 69, son of Ram Lal of Vaidpura village with serial No. E-686 in the voter list, was stopped from voting by polling booth officials, as he was “dead as per their records”. Ratho Devi, 94, wife of Horam Singh, was helped by family members up to the booth, but was turned back as she had already “died” in the voter list. The name of Moorti, 73, wife of Amar Singh of Vaidpura, which appeared at serial No. 220, was also in for the same shock. Hari Singh, 79, son of Jahariya at serial No. 589 in the list, was also among those who could not exercise their vote for any candidates. Another woman Hoshiyari, 58, was also deprived of her voting right. Additional district election officer Shiv Kant Diwadi, however, said that due to voters’ lack of awareness, such cases have lately increased.
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Purse snatcher caught
Noida, May 14 Eyewitness said as Neelam Sinha of Sector-39 was walking in Sector-18 market after parking her car, a criminal snatched her purse. When Sinha raised the alarm, some people nabbed the criminal. Later, he was handed over to police. But the police could not recover woman's purse as the snatcher had thrown it towards his accomplice who had fled. SP City Ashok Tripathi said SHO Sector-20, Kotwali, has been ordered to register a report in this connection. In Dadri, a criminal from a biker's gang looted cash and a mobile phone at gunpoint from a person at Railway Road on Wednesday evening. The victim Amar Deep is an employee of a Phase-II company. As he was going to Noida bus stop, two bikers snatched his purse containing Rs 2,000 and a cell phone at gunpoint. When he tried to resist, Amardeep was beaten up by the bikers.
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Ex-mayor blamed for NGOs’ fund crunch
New Delhi, May 14 The plight is unbearable for many like Hardayal Municipal Library, which was to get a grant-in-aid of Rs 150 lakh, but due to the denial, the employees have not been paid their wages. Similarly, 10 other public libraries in the Capital have been limping due to the non-delivery of grant-in-aid amounting to Rs 20 lakh. He alleged, “She refused because an NGO run by a senior BJP leader was also to be given grant-in-aid of Rs 18 lakh, and the mayor on some personal ground didn’t want to release funds to her NGO. So, she did not release funds to any NGO.”
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Mgmnt quota in B.Ed goes
Noida, May 14 A notification is expected to be issued next week. The decision is likely to benefit 80,000 students in the UP state. To fill 100 per cent seats in B.Ed. colleges, counselling will be completed in two parts this year, the sources said. The students will be allotted their preferred institutes on the basis of their rank in the merit list. Colleges have been bound not to admit any student who has not cleared the counselling sessions. If admitted, the admission of such students will be treated as void. While this decision of administration has pleased the students, the college managements are reported to be in a fix. Mool Chand Chaudhari, general secretary of association of self-financed B.Ed. colleges, said the government should issue a waiting list of 20,000 students to fill the seats left unfilled after admission of students who had completed counselling.
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Games surroundings to be made attractive
New Delhi, May 14 The Chief Minister expressed these views in a presentation made by the Public Works Department. The presentation was related to the projects around Commonwealth Games sites and some important sections on the Ring Road. The roads would be upgraded as per the International Road Congress
(IRC) guidelines and other standards pertaining to road and traffic management. It was reported that a detailed survey of roads and traffic management has already been completed. The concept includes upgradation of facilities around Thyagraj Stadium, Nehru Stadium, Siri Fort Sports Complex, RK Khanna Lawn Tennis Stadium, Dr Karni Singh Stadium, Yamuna Sports Complex, Commonwealth Games and important sections of the Ring Road. She stressed the need of uniform signage and green cover. |
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Couple to be sworn in as HC judges
New Delhi, May 14 Indermeet Kaur Kochhar and her husband A.K. Pathak were issued their letters of appointment by President Pratibha Patil earlier this week. Kochhar was the district and sessions judge of Delhi, while Pathak was the district judge of Karkardooma court. Kochhar is an expert of company law and had joined Delhi Higher Judicial Service on March 7, 1995, while Pathak joined the service two days later. Both had earlier practiced as Delhi High Court lawyers. They got married after joining the judicial service. Besides them, two more judges will also be sworn in as Delhi High Court judges — Ajit Bharihoke, who is presently registrar general of the Delhi High Court and V.K. Jain, secretary general of the Supreme Court. With the appointment of four judges, the total number of judges in the Delhi High Court will rise to 44, four short of the sanctioned limit. The increase in the number of judges should help in clearing the enormous backlog of cases.
— IANS |
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Sweeper falls in sewer; 2 jawans jump in to help;
all die
New Delhi, May 14 According to police, the tragedy struck yesterday in the Border Security Force (BSF) camp in Chhawala area of southwest Delhi. The victims have been identified as Darshan Singh, head constable Mahender Singh (55) and constable Narender Pratap (29). “Darshan was cleaning the sewer when he accidentally fell inside. The jawans from the near by BSF camp rushed in to help him. However, they too fell in and were later pulled out dead,” said the police. |
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3 held with fake currency
Gurgaon, May 14 Addressing a press conference here today, ACP (City) Surender Singh said acting on a tip-off, SHO Hemant Kumar of Sector 10 police station nabbed three persons near the local vegetable market. “As many as 204 fake currency notes of Rs 1000 denomination have been seized from the accused,” the ACP said, adding that further investigations were on to ascertain the origin and supply chain of the notes. |
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Daultabad road closed on Sunday
Gurgaon, May 14 The police has been requested to deploy traffic police personnel on the site. |
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De-silt drains, says Walia
New Delhi, May 14 The MCD has told the Delhi government that there are 1,540 drains in the city of which 995 have been de-silted and 1,18,408 metric tonne silt has been taken out. Fourteen drains have been handed over to the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation and the PWD in connection to their projects. The MCD has assured that the work would be completed by June 20. |
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New Delhi, May 14
Eleven-year-
old Rekha Kalindi used to roll beedi with her family in West Bengal when her parents decided for her to get married.
