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DU finding it hard to fill OBC quota seats
Seeking Rs 1m for son’s death on potholed road, mother to move SC
Bikers rob Noida morning walkers
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Metro ensures smooth traffic at Dhaula Kuan
Power demand soars to record high in Delhi
Batra’s HJC (BL) open to alliances
Judge manhandled by lawyers
JNUSU to protest move on NET for Ph.Ds
Landlady killed by tenant’s kin
2 thefts, snatching in Gurgaon
3 robbers held after shootout
Drive against dengue launched
2 killed in LPG cylinder blast in west Delhi
Lawyers’ strike today
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DU finding it hard to fill OBC quota seats
New Delhi, July 8 DU had extended its OBC quota to 27 per cent this year along with the overall seat increase of 7,000 across colleges. Total 10,183 seats were reserved for OBC students this year. The admission experience of this year saw some of the most popular colleges on north campus unable to fulfill the OBC quota seats. Hansraj College had not fulfilled even half of its seats reserved for the OBC students by the second cut-off, which forced the college to take out a third OBC cut-off even in courses like B.Com. (Hons.). Hindu College offered 131 OBC seats out of which almost 110 seats were fulfilled and the rest remained vacant even after the third cut-off was released for OBC students in most courses. Famous girl’s colleges like Miranda House and Lady Shri Ram still had OBC admissions open in the third cut-off though admissions for the general category got over by the second cut-off itself. The university administration said it would only wait till August 14. “The university would wait till August 14 before putting these seats on offer after preparing a merit list,” said Gurpreet Tuteja, deputy dean, DU. Though DU had not formulated final strategy of taking admissions on the vacant seats yet, the seats would be converted into general category seats. As the issue has sparked fire amongst the pro-reservation student organisations, the DU administration is choosing its words carefully. “We are talking of fulfilling the remaining seats with eligible candidates and not general. A merit list would be formulated and separately taken out to take admissions on these seats,” said Tuteja. The student leaders said the university must find out a way to fulfill the reserved seats with OBC candidates only. “If the university cannot fulfill this quota within the existing system then it should try different ways of admitting the OBC candidates. Admission procedure should be changed and university administration should conduct OBC admissions like the SC-ST admissions if required,” said Robert Rehman, state president, Students’ Federation of India (SFI). The students said the admissions should not be closed till the time the seats were not fulfilled. They said the university should do away with the benchmark fixed for OBC cut-off. “Cut-off should come out till the time the seats are not fulfilled even if it went lower than 10 per cent of the general category cut-off,” said Robert. Students questioned the willingness of the university to implement the quota. “There was a section of students, who needed this extra pull in the form of reservation. The percentage of OBC reservation was also decided accordingly. It is unfortunate that the university has to now convert these seats into general,” said Naveen from Progressive Students’ Union (PSU). Last year, the university faced the same problem when it had around 2,000 OBC seats left vacant after the admissions and DU took general category admissions on them. Meanwhile, the OBC candidates can expect the admissions open in most places at lesser or stagnant percentage in the fourth cut-off that releases tomorrow. |
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Seeking Rs 1m for son’s death on potholed road, mother to move SC
New Delhi, July 8 The high court on Tuesday directed the Delhi government to pay Rs 628,000 within eight weeks to Madhu Kaur whose 24-year-old son Harpreet died after falling into a pit while riding a scooter in the city in 2006. “We welcome the court’s order but the compensation amount is quite less. I will soon approach the apex court for increasing the amount to Rs 1 million besides a government job for Harpreet’s younger brother and a house,” Kaur told IANS. According to Kaur, Harpreet was the sole breadearner of the family. His father is not keeping well since his death three years back. “No amount of money can bring my son back but we are going through a very bad phase because Harpreet was supporting the family. His brother has left the studies due to money crunch. I have fought the case for three years and will continue to battle for justice,” said Kaur. Criticising the authorities for not maintaining Delhi’s roads, the high court said: “Loss of life because of negligence of state instrumentalities results in violation of right to life and liberty under Section 21 of the Indian Constitution. “The authorities should be conscious and aware of their duty to maintain roads and ensure that the road surface does not have any pit so as to cause accidents, resulting in injuries and even loss of life,” it said. In the petition, Kaur had said that her son was riding a scooter with his brother on the pillion. The two-wheeler ran into a pit on the road near the Army Base Hospital at Naraina, resulting in fatal injuries. She blamed the Delhi government and the Municipal Corporation of Delhi and sought compensation. Manohar Singh Bakshi, Kaur’s lawyer, said: “We will get a copy of the judgment by Thursday and will approach the Supreme Court soon.” The Delhi government declined to comment saying they were yet to receive a copy of the judgment.
— IANS |
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Bikers rob Noida morning walkers
Noida, July 8 The first case was reported from Sector-21 near Noida Statium’s Gate No.2. The victims— Captain Om Prakash Gupta and his wife Neeru Gupta— had gone for morning walk around 5.30 am. They were stopped by two bike-borne miscreants. “One tried to snatch the gold chain from my wife’s neck while the other, with a gun, overpowered me,” said Prakash. The bikers sped away with the chain, a diamond-studded pendant and a mobile phone. Though the police reached the spot soon, it only worsened the situation with a jurisdiction-related row between officers of two police stations. Eventually, the Sector-20 police registered a report. The second incident took place around 6.35 am on the main road between Sector-33 and 34. A couple — Tapan Sinha and Manisha Sinha — was walking when four criminals on two bikes came. Two bikers overpowered Tapan at gunpoint, while the other two made Manisha part with her jewellery, including three rings, earings and four diamond- studded bangles. The third incident took place at 6.55 am near Gijodh crossing. Here also, four robbers on two bikes robbed two young women— Sunita and Jyotesna of Sector-12. The women were coming on their Scooty from Sai Mandir towards Gijodh. The bikers delibrately hit the Scooty with their bikes. They then snatched the gold chains and mobile phones of the two girls. The SP city admitted that there was a slip in the police patrolling at morning. |
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Metro ensures smooth traffic at Dhaula Kuan
New Delhi, July 8 The Metro viaduct was being built over eight roads at Dhaula Kuan, which carry heavy traffic as the Ring Road, National Highway-8, Ridge Road and Sardar Patel Marg intersect there. The viaduct would also cross a railway track and one of the pillars being built there would be DMRC’s tallest so far at 20 meters. Vehicles going towards the airport and Gurgaon pass through this intersection, so it was not possible to stop traffic movement even for a day or set up barricades. “DMRC has set up these temporary structures of steel which support the construction of the viaduct above them even as they allow traffic to move below. A total of 2,300 tonnes of steel are being used to set up these structures. This task is being done only during the night so that traffic movement is not affected during the day,” said Anuj Dayal, spokesperson, DMRC. Metro authorities had also dealt with another problem while constructing the duct. If pre-cast segments and launching girder were used here, as is done in other areas, this would have occupied a lot of road space and also required the movement of heavy trailers. To take care of this problem, the spans are being built at the site itself on top of the steel structures using a technology known as post-tensioned continuous casting. The 542-metre stretch of viaduct above Dhaula Kuan will have 15 pillars, which would support four special spans, the longest of which will be 168-metre. This will be the longest in India and the third longest in the world to be built using the post-tensioned continuous casting technique and will be supported on five pillars. “To ensure safety, nets have been put up around the viaduct and crash barriers for vehicles installed on the road. Minimum road space has been taken over during construction. Public-address systems to guide drivers and safe passage for pedestrians have also been arranged,” said Dayal. The work at Dhaula Kuan intersection was likely to be completed by October. The Airport Express Link connecting New Delhi Railway Station to Indira Gandhi International Airport will be 22.7-km-long with six stations. While five of them, New Delhi Railway Station, Shivaji Stadium Terminus, NH 8, IGI airport, Dwarka Sector 21, would be underground; the one at Dhaula Kuan would be elevated. Commuters would be able to reach IGI airport in 18 minutes. |
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Power demand soars to record high in Delhi
New Delhi, July 8 With the peak hour demand soaring to a record high, the power distribution companies announced an unprecedented increase by 5.4 per cent in Delhi’s power consumption in the last two weeks. “Peak load met during the last 24 hours was 4408 MW highest ever till date. However, there was no loadshedding at the time of peak hour,” said a Transco official. Even after importing 11.930 MUs of power, the residents in East Delhi had go without power for hours during the day. The availability of power from generating stations within Delhi was 1298 MW, 1250 MW from generating stations and 2953 MW from central sector stations. BSES, one of the power distribution companies in the city, said that it supplied a record 2940 MW to its consumers, the highest ever so far. The company had to source 530 MW of additional power from outside Delhi. The situation of water supply is no better either in the water-starved Capital. The delay in monsoon has lowered the Yamuna level, affecting the water supply in parts of Delhi. However, the Delhi Jal Board officials have denied plan to cut water supply during the coming days. “There is no crisis as of now and even if the water level goes down in the Yamuna, there will be no problem in availability of drinking water as we have arrangements with neighbouring states,” said DJB official. |
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Batra’s HJC (BL) open to alliances
Palwal, July 8 Batra was here to galvanise support for the July 12-Jind workers’ meeting. He further revealed that at the workers’ meeting announcement of the names of state office-bearers of the party as well as presidents of some of the district units would also be made. The parliamentary board of the party would also be constituted and the names of its members would be announced on the occasion. He further said names of at least 10 contestants for the coming assembly elections would also be announced. Names of rest of the contestants would be announced by August 15, he added. He said that although his party wanted to put up its nominees in all the 90 assembly constituencies in Haryana, it was open to join hands with like- minded political organisations and forces in the state. In response to a question about his friendly relationship with Chief Minister of Haryana Bhupinder Singh Hooda, he asserted that Hooda was a “decent” person and that his friendship with Hooda was not new. “In fact, I had once stood with Bhajan Lal in spite of his relationship with Hooda. Why didn’t Bhajan Lal and Bishnoi raise the issue then,” he asked. When pointed out that Kuldip Bishnoi took action against him because of his closeness to Hooda, Batra shot back saying Bishnoi and former chief minister Bhajan Lal were maintaining double standards. They themselves were secretly in touch with some Congress leaders, but were having heart burns on his relationship with Hooda, who was working for all sections of the society, he said. He further said if Bhajan Lal could write a letter secretly to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh pledging support to the Congress-led UPA government in the interest of the country, there was nothing wrong in his openly appreciating the “good woks” done by the Chief Minister. When asked about the Congress leaders in Haryana who were in touch with Bhajan Lal and Bishnoi, he said that he would spill the beans at the right time. When probed further, he said that Bhupinder Singh Hooda and the Congress would be on the top of the priority list when it came to his HJC(BL) forging an alliance. He alleged that Bhajan Lal had given majority of the government jobs to Bishnois of Rajasthan. He charged that during the reign of Bhajan Lal, jobs and privileges were given to Bishnois, who formed only half-a-per cent of the state’s population. |
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Judge manhandled by lawyers
New Delhi, July 8 The lawyers reportedly got agitated when the additional sessions judge of court room no. 314, Pankaj Gupta, passed some adverse remarks during the hearing. The lawyers were agitated over a bailable warrant issued against a litigant by the judge. Following the remarks, fuming lawyers, breaking the decorum of the court, advanced towards the seat of the judge and assaulted him. A call was made to the police control room and the judge was sent for medical examination. According to sources the judge was taken to the nearby Ambedkar Hospital. Officials from the Prashant Vihar police station confirmed that an FIR was lodged in this regard. Later, a meeting between the lawyers and the judges of the court under the chairmanship of the district judge was held to resolve the matter. However, general secretary of the New Rohini Bar Association Jatan Singh said that there was no manhandling and that the lawyers just had a heated exchange of words with the judge. ‘’There is no truth to the reports. It was just a verbal argument between the judge and lawyers,’’ he said. |
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JNUSU to protest move on NET for Ph.Ds
New Delhi, July 8 The JNUSU mentioned in a tersely worded statement that, “to pave the way for fast-track commercialization and entry of private capital in higher education, the UPA government is going all-out to effect hasty, arbitrary and illogical changes in the structure and management of the university system. The sudden announcement to withdraw the existing NET/SLET exemption to M.Phil./Ph.D. degree holders as a minimum qualification to appearing for lecturership is one such step.” The JNUSU has joined research scholars across the country in opposing what they describe to be “this arbitrary and illogical move which has suddenly disqualified thousands of research scholars from appearing for lecturers’ jobs in government colleges and universities”. |
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Landlady killed by tenant’s kin
Ghaziabad, July 8 According to Ghaziabad SSP, Akhil Kumar, while Dr M.S. Malik was at his clinic in Shahdara, Delhi, his wife Shulesh Malik, 52, and son Divya Malik, 25, were alone at home. At about 12.30 pm, Dr Malik’s neighbours, hearing shrieks rushed to their house. At the main gate neighbours saw some young men coming out of the house. Inside they found Dr Malik’s wife sprawling on floor with blood oozing from her head while their son Divya was lying in a pool of blood inside a room. Things in the room were scattered all over. The neighbours immediately rushed the mother and son to a nearby private hospital where doctors declared the mother dead. Divya told the SSP that in a portion of their house, Jatinder Singh, an advocate lived as a tenant with his family. At 11.30 am, Jatinder’s brother-in-law Himanshu came in along with his three companions. Divya and Himanshu had reportedly exchanged some hot words after which the intruders assaulted him. As Mrs Sulesh came to her son’s rescue, she was also attacked. The intruders fled after attacking them. The investigations are on. |
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2 thefts, snatching in Gurgaon
Gurgaon, July 8 In the last 24 hours, burglars managed to successfully strike at three different places and are still absconding. Till the writing of the report, the district police has not been able to trace a single person, though cases have been registered and the investigation has begun. According to information, one Puspa Verma has filed a complained with the police that while she was in market, someone broke the locks of her house and took away jewellery worth Rs 20,000. In another incident Jitender, a resident of Arjun Nagar, has alleged that a resident of village Dhanwapur, who was a regular visitor to his house, has decamped with jewellery from his house. Similarly, Arun Mathur, a Sector 5 resident, has alleged that two motorcyclists snatched his gold chain in the market. |
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3 robbers held after shootout
Noida, July 8 A revolver and a number of knives were recevored from the attackers. The incident took place around 11.30 pm in Sector-63, where officers of the Sector-58 police station were on patrolling duty. The policmen noticed three suspicious looking persons on a lonely stretch. The three, on seeing the police, started running. When the cops told them to stop, they reportedly fired on the police patrol party and tried to escape. The police reinforcement was called and eventually the three were nabbed. The arrested criminals were identified as Mithun, alias Ravi, Shah Alam and Ryasat, all are residents of Ghaziabad. The police said all the three were wanted in a number of cases of robberies. |
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Drive against dengue launched
New Delhi, July 8 “We have written a letter early this month to the civic authority, transport, health and education department besides all government offices to take preventive measures to check breeding of mosquitoes,” said MCD chief medical officer N.K Yadav. The MCD has appointed 3,200 workers who will make people aware about the steps to prevent mosquitoe breeding. They have begun house-to-house campaign across Delhi. The health department has also collected water samples from various offices and residential areas to check mosquito breeding. “At some places in the Capital, we have found mosquito breeding and have sprayed medicine to prevent it,” Yadav said. In 2008, about 300 dengue cases were reported in the national capital.
— IANS |
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2 killed in LPG cylinder blast in west Delhi
New Delhi, July 8 Gauri Shankar, 33, and Kallu, 30, were killed when the cylinder exploded in their Aman Vihar residence in west Delhi on Tuesday night. “The duo suffered severe burns and were rushed to the Sanjay Gandhi Hospital, where doctors declared them dead,” an official said The cause of the blast is not known, the official added.
— IANS |
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Lawyers’ strike today
New Delhi, July 8 |
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