New Delhi, June 15
On the last day of undergraduate admissions today, Delhi University (DU) saw a huge rush of students. The admission booths received application forms for three hours after the deadline.

The university sold 1,48,256 centralised Optical Magnetic Reader (OMR) forms across its 16 centres and received 1,13,471 forms.

Today 8,041 forms were sold and 4,434 were received. The admission procedure had started on June 1. Till Saturday 1,40,245 forms were sold which exceeded last year’s tally. Last year 1,35,448 forms were sold.

“The university has increased the number of seats this year. It can be one of the reasons that has attracted students towards DU. Since so many students have applied, we might see stiff competition,” said Gurpreet Tuteja, deputy dean, Students’ Welfare, DU.

He added, “The university administration would start compiling the results from tomorrow. The names of the applicants and their marks would be sent to respective colleges.”

Most DU aspirants have applied to St. Stephen’s. It received a total of 1,850 forms today, which has been the highest in a day. Besides, 305 prospectuses were sold in the college this morning.

“Each prospectus contains two forms. A total of 610 forms were sold today. Even though we had 10 people working at the admission counters, the queue extended outside the college premises. There was unprecedented rush. We kept the windows open till students were seen,” said Nandita Narain, spokesperson of St. Stephen’s College.

The college witnessed the maximum number of applicants this year. More than 20,000 forms, including 1,612 on-line forms have been received. St Stephen’s received 17,050 forms on its counter. Last year it had received 14,000 forms.

Authorities at St Stephen’s said there was an elimination of forms at the first stage of admissions itself. “We deduct two per cent from the last year’s cut off and keep it as a bench mark. The applicants, who have scored less than that are rejected on the primary stage itself,” said Narain.

The college has total 410 seats. It offers almost 100 residential seats. It is for the first time that St Stephen’s is offering 50 per cent of its total number of residential seats to girls.

The first cut-off list of St Stephen’s will be out by June 18 followed by interviews starting from June 20. “There are Supreme Court guidelines on inviting candidates for interviews. We follow those guidelines and the cut-off is set accordingly,” said Narain.

A total of 372 students got registered for the seats reserved for physically handicapped (PH). DU has registered 43 PH category candidates. There are 1,589 seats reserved under the category in undergraduate courses.

Besides, regular undergraduate courses the university saw a huge rush of students at its School of Open Learning and Non-Collegiate admission counters.

New Delhi, June 15
The Delhi government is dedicated to make the Capital a world-class city imbibing traditional culture of hospitality. It aims to strengthen transport system in the city during 2009-10.

Lieutenant Governor Tejendra Khanna said this while addressing the budget session of the Delhi assembly today.

Khanna said the plan outlay for financial year 2008-09 was Rs 1241.86 crore of which 99 per cent was utilised.

He added that this year the thrust would be on improving public transport system and developing infrastructure. The Metro line would be expanded. The Metro line would cover 185 kilometers before the Commonwealth Games. Besides, 3,800 buses will be purchased. The government has planned to ply 6,600 buses on Delhi roads. He informed the process of phasing out Blueline buses would be started soon.

The Lieutenant Governor further said the government was committed to expand and improve its health sector. During 2009-10 six allopathic, four ayurvedic, five homoeopathic and one unani dispensary will be opened.

He said to meet the city’s growing demand of power the government had taken up major projects on sharing basis with Jhajjar. Besides, Pragati-II Power Project at Bamnauli and Pragati-III Power Project at Bawana are at different stages of construction. These projects would add 2,250 MW.

Khanna also appreciated government schools for performing well in CBSE Class X and XII examinations.

He said the government would take steps to ensure that its projects were completed in time. The government is also committed to the uplift of people coming from backward classes, minorities and the poor.

New Delhi, June 15
A security guard of a petrol pump was shot by bike-borne assailants when he resisted their attempt to snatch money from him in the Bhajanpura area today morning. While the guard succumbed to his injuries, robbers decamped with Rs 8 lakh.

The police said the incident was reported around 10.15 am near DTC depot in the Yamuna Vihar area of Bhajanpura.

“Baldev was going to deposit Rs 8 lakh in a bank opposite the petrol pump at Noor Elahi when he was attacked by three persons. They tried to snatch the bag containing cash. When he resisted, they shot him in the chest and fled with the money,” said a police official.

According to information, the robbers fired at Baldev as he walked towards the Syndicate Bank just across the petrol pump. The assailants fired three bullets, of which Baldev ducked two. Even as people rushed to help Baldev, the robbers managed to flee.

The police stated one of robbers was on foot and was following Baldev from petrol pump, while the other two were on a bike. “One of the assailants was walking close to him and was tracking his movements as he left the petrol pump for the bank. He was passing on the information about Baldev’s movements to the other two assailants on motorbike,” said the police.

Baldev was rushed to GTB Hospital, where he was declared brought dead.

According to petrol pump staff, Baldev usually carried his rifle along whenever he went for depositing money, but today he had left the firearm at the pump.

Pump staff resist robbery bid, hurt

A manager of a petrol pump was shot at while his employee was stabbed when they resisted the attackers attempt to snatch money from them at South Extension in south Delhi today. The police said Baldev Singh, a manager at a petrol pump situated on Ring Road in South Extension-I and his colleague S.K. Bajaj, had gone to deposit cash in SBI Bank when the incident took place around 11 am.

“The two attackers tried to snatch the bag containing money from Baldev, but he and Bajaj resisted. In the scuffle, one of them shot at Baldev, while the other attacked Bajaj with a knife. Hearing the commotion, people gathered near the spot, at which the attackers panicked and fled away on a bike driven by their third accomplice,” said the police. The police further stated that Baldev and Bajaj were rushed to a nearby hospital, where Baldev, who suffered bullet injury on his back, is recuperating, while Bajaj was discharged after primary medication.

The police suspects some insider could be involved in the incident.

New Delhi, June 15
A city court today warned that employing domestic helps below the age of 18 may invite penal action for employers, placement agency and even the parents of minors.

Additional district and sessions judge Kamini Lau made the observations while hearing an anticipatory bail plea of K.D. Singh and his wife Harshit Bedi, both retired government employees, accused of engaging a minor as domestic help and ill-treating her.

The court upheld the bail plea of the couple after their counsel Amit Kumar said they had hired the girl through a placement agency which claimed her age was 18 years.

Taking a view of the records indicating the girl’s age as 15 years, the court questioned the investigating officer whether she has taken action against S.K. Placement Agency.

The officer assured the court that the departments concerned would be informed so that appropriate action, including cancellation of licence, could be taken against the agency.

The couple were granted bail on a personal bond of Rs 20,000 each with the condition that they appear before the investigating officer on June 17. — IANS

New Delhi, June 15
A 17-year-old girl committed suicide by hanging herself from a ceiling fan in the Timarpur area of northeast Delhi last evening.

The girl, Mamta, was originally from Muzaffarnagar in Uttar Pradesh and was depressed over her family’s rejection of the boy of her choice.

Mamta was found dead around 7.30 pm last night and the post-mortem was conducted at DDU Hospital. Although, no suicide note was recovered from the room, Mamta had written about her step on the wall of the room.

“There was a note written on the wall that stated that her family should be held responsible for her death, as they did not want her to marry the boy of her choice. We are investigating the matter,” said the police.

New Delhi, June 15
Six unidentified persons allegedly held a man hostage and robbed him of cash and jewellery worth Rs 3.5 lakh in the Mansarovar Park area of North East district in the wee hours today.

The police said it received a phone call at around 4:30 a.m. that a man was robbed at Durgapuri in the Mansarovar Park area.

“Rohit Sharma (45), a custom cleaner agent, was reportedly robbed by six masked men. They tied his feet and hands and gagged him before fleeing with cash, jewellery and other valuables. He managed to untie his feet after which he went to his neighbour and called up the police,” said a police official.

The official added that Rohit was alone at his home when the crime took place. His family members had gone to their native place in Himachal Pradesh.

A case has been registered in this regard. However, no arrests have been made so far.

Greater Noida, June 15
A man who had broken into a house in Tusyana village under the Kasna police station area on Saturday night was allegedly lynched by villagers after being caught.

The injured man was admitted to a hospital where he succumbed to his injuries.

However, the suspected thief has not been identified. His body has been sent for postmortem.

The suspected thief intruded into the house of Chattarpal at around 1 a.m. Hearing noise, Chattarpal woke up and tried to catch the intruder. The latter attacked him by throwing a fan lying in the corner of the room. Chattarpal was injured. Hearing Chattarpal shout some villagers came to his rescue and overpowered the thief. They then beat him up.

Meanwhile, the police reached the site and rushed the injured thief to a government hospital in Noida where he succumbed to his injuries.

Noida, June 15
Criminals on motorcycles appear to have got better of the Noida police and have become a terror for Noida residents, especially women.

On Saturday, while the entire police force of the district was deployed at Noida’s Sector 62 for Governor T. V. Rajeshwar’s visit to UP Technical Univesity (UPTU), two criminals on a motorbike robbed a woman going on a cycle-rikshaw just about 300 metres from the UPTU campus.

Adding to the woes of the women, the Secor 58 police took 12 hours to register report about the incident.

The woman, wife of a doctor and a resident of Indirapuram in Ghaziabad, was going to collect her 5-year-old son from his playschool in Sector 62 about 11 am. As she reached near the playschool, two bike-borne criminals came close to her rikshaw and showing a gun, snatched her purse, cell phone, jewellery and some important documents.

After taking her belongings, the criminals sped away, threatening the victim of dire consequences if she raised an alarm.

Though the vicim was apparently panicked, she noted down the registeration number of the bike used by the criminals. She then went to the Sector 58 police station to lodge a report. But, to her surprise, the police told her to come the next day, as their “busy because of the Governor’s visit”.