New Delhi, August 3
Delhi University’s Kirori Mal College has expelled two students in third year for ragging a first year student in the hostel.

The action was taken against Mohd. Honey Ansari of third year physical science and Akshay Chaudhary of third year computer science today after a meeting of the college authorities.

The college principal Bhim Singh said, “After the meeting we concluded that strict action should be taken against the two students and have decided to expel them.”

He added, “I am going to immediately issue the letters of expulsion.”

The principal also said the college authorities were going to get an FIR registered against the two students at the Maurice Nagar police station. “I would personally get it registered by the evening today,” said Bhim Singh.

The Kirori Mal administration had hinted at the involvement of a third senior student.

The incident happened yesterday around 6.30 pm when the two seniors allegedly called a first year student of physical science to their room, number 69, in the college hostel. They ragged the victim for about half an hour.

Students reported that the victim immediately complained to the warden, who in turn reported the incident to the principal.

Though the victim has not revealed the exact form of ragging, it is reported that he was mentally harassed.

A hostel resident said the victim was asked not to smile during his interaction with the seniors. He did not take it lightly. “Every student has their own way of looking at things. For some students it has to be a one sentence only and beyond that they cannot tolerate,” said the resident.

The college administration has also locked up the room in which the incident took place.

The students in the college said they have seen worse cases. “The hostellers have their own ways of ragging in the name of interaction. These include locking up juniors in toilet and making them sing obscene songs about the college and girl students,” said a student on the condition of anonymity.

The students said they had not witnessed much ragging since the administration had fixed CCTV cameras on the college premises.

Meanwhile, the incident like this has once again raised questions regarding the impact of measures that DU has taken to ensure “zero tolerance against ragging”.

There have been reports from several colleges indicating that ragging in some form or the other is still prevalent. The first year girl students at Jesus and Mary College were asked to dress up in weird combinations with oily braids during their first few days to the college.

New Delhi, August 3
The Delhi Metro would make 60 extra trips on Raksha Bandhan to accommodate more passengers and would deploy additional personnel to meet the rush.

Trains would run from 8 am to 8:30 pm. Nineteen trains that are normally withdrawn during off peak hours i.e. from 12:30 to 4:30 pm would make 60 extra trips — making a total of 1,380 trips that day.

“The Metro will also deploy more customer facilitation agents to help and guide commuters on Wednesday. Sixty more shifts of four hours each have been arranged for the day,” said Delhi Metro spokesperson Anuj Dayal.

Extra staff would be deployed at Dilshad Garden, Shahdara, Welcome, Seelampur, Shastri Park, Tilak Nagar, Pitampura, Rohini East, Rohini West, Rithala, Jahangir Puri, Adarsh Nagar, GTB Nagar, Yamuna Bank, Uttam Nagar East and Nawada.

Additional personnel would be deployed to handle the increased pressure on ticketing system. Ticketing staff on 40 stations would do additional shifts of 444 hours.

The Metro normally witnesses greater rush on Raksha Bandhan, as about one lakh extra people travel by Metro on that day every year. Last year on Rakhi 7.75 lakh passengers traveled by Metro.

New Delhi, August 3
The generation capacity of Bawana power project, which would play a crucial role in reducing Delhi’s dependency on other states for power, has been downgraded to 1250 MW in place of 1500 MW.

The reduction in capacity has been attributed to the delay in the project.

According to Delhi government officials, Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit on Friday pulled up the BHEL officials for delay in supplying critical equipment for the project.

BHEL, which has to supply machinery for the project, told Dikshit that the equipment were being imported from the US and would arrive in another two months.

A senior government official said that Dikshit was not satisfied with the pace of work of the project. He said she would meet the union heavy industries minister Vilasrao Deshmukh to apprise him of delay in supply of equipment by BHEL, which had created a major roadblock for the project.

Pulling up BHEL officials, the Chief Minister reportedly told them that the project held great expectations due to its role in the successful hosting of the Commonwealth Games. She asked them to timely complete the project at any cost.

“The Chief Minister will ask the union heavy industry minister for joint inspection of the Bawana power project. As the delay in the project is due to BHEL, Dikshit will ask the minister for jointly monitoring the progress of the project,” said a senior official.

Dikshit told the officials of BHEL, Pragati Power Corporation and NTPC that the Bawana project’s completion before April next year was critical to solve the power crisis in the Capital during the next summer.

She also told them that the much needed coordination among the various stakeholders in the project was missing, which must immediately be restored,” added the official.

The meeting was attended by Delhi chief secretary Rakesh Mehta, power secretary P.K. Tripathi and officials of the Delhi Jal Board, NTPC, BHEL and PPCL.

The Bawana power project is to source natural gas from Qutar, for which the city government has signed an agreement with the Gas Authority of India Limited (GAIL).

New Delhi, August 3
The Delhi cabinet has approved the implementation of ‘earn while you learn’ scheme for the maintenance of its buildings. Students of Industrial Training Institute (ITI) would maintain the buildings. Besides, the cabinet has extended the contract of Kashmiri migrant teachers who were employed in government schools on contractual basis.

Talking to the media, Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit said ITI students were being involved to ensure effective, timely and qualitative maintenance of government buildings.

The scheme would function under the Delhi Knowledge Development Foundation and the Delhi Skills Mission. The scheme conceived by the department of training and technical education would provide a unique opportunity to ITI students to earn while learning. It would also ensure quick maintenance as sometimes it takes much time to contact the public works department (PWD) for the upkeep of some buildings. The execution takes more time.

The scheme aims to ensure cost-effective and timely maintenance of selected government buildings with focus on quality, provide opportunity to students to get on-the-job training and earn while learning.

Students from ITI Dheerpur, ITI Arab Ki Sarai, ITI Mayur Vihar, ITI Jail Road and ITI Pusa would be involved under the scheme. Other ITIs would function as subsidiary ITIs under the main centre of maintenance.

The project which is being executed on pilot basis would provide an opportunity to students to undertake civil works such as carpentry, plumbing, painting, welding and steel fabrication and electrical works.

Dikshit further informed her government had decided to extend the contractual appointment of Kashmiri migrant teachers by another three years till March 31, 2012. Presently, 177 Kashmiri migrants are working as contractual TGTs and 48 as contractual PGTs on consolidated monthly emoluments. The teachers have been working in Delhi schools from 1994.

New Delhi, August 3
The Delhi Bar Association today criticized the attempt of judiciary for insisting upon the government to keep their assets outside the purview of RTI in the proposed bill. The bar members issued a notice and demanded that the assets of judiciary should be within the purview of RTI (Right To Information).

President of DBA, Rajiv Khosla says, “In order to ensure the faith of general public in the judiciary system, the government must ensure more transparency in judicial system than in public functionaries.”

He added that people are losing faith in judiciary due to rise in corruption. To regain their faith, the assets of judges should be brought on the regular website and their assets should also include those of their kith and kin who earn a huge amount in the legal profession by merely using their connections.

Another bar member said, “Under the law of contempt, the judge misconducting himself during the proceedings can also be held liable to criminal contempt. However, the complaint made by the bar against the misconduct and corruption of the judge is sent to the same judge for remarks and is then thrown into the dustbin, giving hardly any opportunity to the bar to substantiate its version.”

While talking about such cases where judges take advantage of their position, power and contacts, the bar member said, “In the Delhi High Court during the last 20 years hardly any major punitive action against the corrupt judges has been taken. Moreover, there has not been a single case of dismissal of an erring judge. The fact is that the High Court has always allowed the corrupt judicial officers to continue in their job.”

New Delhi, August 3
Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit released the first prospectus and admission form of Delhi Technological University (DTU) today.

DTU came into existence after the upgradation of Delhi College of Engineering.

Dikshit expressed her happiness over the fact that DTU would add 240 undergraduate, 120 postgraduate seats and 25 scholarships for Ph.D from this year itself. “It will benefit students of Delhi with quality education in a premier institution,” she said. Under B. Tech courses, 85 per cent seats would be reserved for students of Delhi and the remaining 15 per cent would be for students from other states.

The prospectus and application form are on sale at DTU reception counter at Bawana. One can also apply online at www.dce.edu. The last date for the sale and submission of forms is August 13. Counseling will be held on August 18 and 19 and the registration will take place on August 21.

New Delhi, August 3
Three persons were killed in separate accidents in the city in last twenty-four hours.

In the first case, two persons riding a bike lost their lives when a speeding dumper truck hit them in the Vikaspuri area of west Delhi. The accident took place at around 10 am. The victims Vikarm (23) and Sunil (24) were going to their office in Janakpuri. They used to work for a BSES contractor. Sunil died on the spot while Vikram died on his way to hospital.

Meanwhile, their bodies have been sent for a postmortem at the Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Hospital. The police has impounded the dumper truck and is looking for the absconding truck driver.

In the second incident, a biker was killed and the pillion rider was injured when an unidentified heavy weight vehicle hit the bike from behind at Khera Khurd village in the Samaypur Badli area of outer district this afternoon.

“Rakesh (20) was driving the motorcycle towards his house in the area and Sumit a student of class IX was sitting pillion. An unidentified heavy vehicle, probably a truck, hit the motorcycle from behind, killing Rakesh and injuring Sumit,” said a police official.

Meanwhile, a case has been registered. The police is trying to identify the vehicle and arrest its erring driver.

In yet another case, a 24-year-old youth lost his life when an unidentified car hit his motorcycle near a red light in the Swaroop Nagar area. Local police said that deceased Rajesh Goyal was driving the bike when a car hit him at Transport Nagar under Swroop Nagar police station.

He was immediately rushed to a nearby hospital but was declared brought dead.

The erring driver and the car involved in the case have not been traced yet.

Ghaziabad, August 3
The Ghaziabad police has claimed to have solved the mystery behind the murder of a taxi driver Mahavir on July 29 by arresting his wife, her paramour and an accomplice.

The police has also recovered the weapons used to kill Mahavir.

The body of Mahavir, a resident of R.K. Puram Colony in Govindpuram, Ghaziabad, was found a few metres from his residence on July 30.

According to SP (city) Rahul Yadvendra, Mahavir was killed by his wife Premwati (35) and her lover and neighbour Pankaj Sharma (24).

On July 29, Premwati called Pankaj and his relative Anuj to her house at night and the three then killed Mahavir.

“It was shocking to know that a woman, married for 15 years and mother of her husband’s children, killed him because she was madly in love with a younger man,” he said.

Yadvendra said during investigation, the police learnt that Premwati was having an affair with Pankaj, after which she was interrogated. She changed her statements frequently, but ultimately spilled the beans, confessing to her role in the crime.

She told the police that on the night of July 29, around 10:30 pm, Mahavir and her kids had gone to sleep.

She then called Pankaj and his relative Anuj, alias Vicky, to her house. She first hit Mahavir with a baseball bat. Later, Pankaj and Anuj stabbed him to death with daggers. They then put his body in a car that they had brought along with them, and fled.

The two removed all clothes from the body and dumped it a little distance away from the house.

They had thrown Mahavir’s clothes, the baseball bat and daggers in bushes near Kampuri Puram’s vacant Parade Ground.

The SP City said the police was trying to recover the car used in the crime.

Greater Noida, August 3
Keeping personal weapons like revolvers, pistols and rifles for self-defence also serves as a status symbol for some men. But this concept is likely to change in today’s crime-infested society.

With rising incidents of snatching, loots and harassment of women, coupled with the failure of police to rein in the bikers, a large number of women in G.B. Nagar district have decided to fend for their own security.

Over 60 applications from women have been received in the Collectorate of Gautam Buddh Nagar district for issuance of arms licences.

The district magistrate has set up a three-member committee for the purpose. About 50 applications for arm licences have been made for revolvers and pistols alone by women in the last fortnight.

The large number of applications are out of a sense of insecurity among women, it is learnt.

The way incidents of cell phones, chain and purse snatching are taking place, the women mortally fear stepping out of their homes. They have thus decided to be equipped with firearms so that they can use them in self-defence when accosted by criminals.

As many as 8,500 arms licences have been issued so far in the G.B. Nagar district out of which 45 are in the name of women.

According to sources, no arms licence was issued during the past three months due to enforcement of election code. But 103 persons applied for fresh licences as soon as the election code expired. Out of these 103 applications, 60 are from women.

G.B. Nagar district panchayat chief Bala Devi was one of the four women issued with an arms licence before the enforcement of election code.

According to Bala Devi, women too have to remain out of their homes for long these days.

They also need to protect themselves and be equipped with a revolver or pistol.

New Delhi, August 3
A case was registered against a Delhi police constable in connection with an accident that took place last night in the Geeta Colony area.

According to sources, constable Rajesh Kumar assaulted a couple when they objected to his hitting their scooter by his Bullet motorcycle.

“Rajesh (30) and his wife Shiela (28), were on their way home on scooter when Kumar hit them from behind. Shiela is pregnant and when Rajesh objected to his rash driving, Kumar assaulted him. We have registered a case against him,” said a police official from Geeta Colony police station.

However, Rajesh has alleged the police was defending the constable and the case was just a formality.

“No medical check-up was done of the constable to establish that he was drunk. He was not arrested either. In fact, he was roaming in uniform in the station. The matter should be investigated by senior police officials,” said Rajesh.

He said after the accident, rather than feeling sorry, Kumar abused them and did not even call the emergency services to take his wife to the hospital. “The constable was drunk and throwing his weight around. He assaulted me when I objected. I had to call the PCR and only after the arrival of other policemen, Shiela was taken to hospital,” alleged Rajesh. His wife is recuperating at the hospital.

Initially, Rajesh’s complaint was not entertained at the police station and only after his friends and relatives demonstrated outside the station that a case was registered against the constable this morning.

New Delhi, August 3
Four armed men barged into a house in the Vivek Vihar area of east Delhi this evening and decamped with cash and jewellery worth Rs 4 lakh.

According to the police, the incident took place in the house of a jewellery shop owner at around 4:15 pm.

The victim Sudha Jain (56), who was alone in the house at the time of the incident, has claimed to have been robbed of Rs 1.95 lakh and jewellery worth Rs 2 lakh.

“Her total loss is estimated to be around Rs 4 lakh. Sudha said she had lost four gold rings and four gold bangles besides a gold chain. However, she is not sure of the total loss as her daughter-in-law, who is away at her parents place is yet to come and check her belongings,” said a police official close to the investigation.

The police said one of Sudha’s neigbours made a call to the police around 4.30 pm. Sudha told the police that four men armed with guns came in the house and asked her about the valuables at gunpoint.

“While one of the robbers held Sudha the other three ransacked the bedrooms. They fled with valuables and cash within 15 minutes,” said the official.

Sudha Jain was locked in one of the rooms. She screamed for help as soon as the robbers left. She was alone in the house as her husband and son had gone to the jewellery shop owned by family in the Nirman Vihar area.

A case of robbery has been lodged and investigations are on.