New Delhi, August 6
The Yamuna, Delhi’s lifeline, has been robbed of its natural abundance over the years, and ironically, Delhiites are responsible for it. To address this concern, the Delhi Jal Board (DJB) today went the “Bhagidari way” and flagged off the “Aao Jamuna Mein Jaan Daalein” campaign at Delhi Secretariat.

“It is important that we realise that nature has its own limitations, and we should put a stop to our insensible actions. It is only with the public’s support that a change can be brought at the ground level,” said Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit and chairperson of DJB.

Calling for an alliance between the consumers of Yamuna, chief executive officer Ramesh Negi said the management of Yamuna suffers due to fast-paced urbanisation and people’s attitude. “The agricultural practices in Haryana have to be eco-friendly and pollution in the Yamuna has to be dealt with collaboratively. Participation of youth is essential for the success of the campaign,” said Negi.

The public outreach drive, which was a much-needed component of Yamuna Action Plan II (2003), targets to reach out to people in Uttam Nagar, Palam Area, Nangloi Area, south and southwest Delhi, Najafgarh area, Bawana, Rohini, Burari and Trans-Yamuna area. Six NGOs—The Energy Resource Institute (TERI), Adhaar, Aradhana, Sarvati Devi Memorial Trust, GDS Society and Mahilayein Pragati Ki Ore—have been roped in for the task, which would sensitise masses through skit, documentaries etc. Children have a major role in the entire roadmap.

To intensify the public engagement, an MoU was signed between Delhi Jal Board and National Science Centre (NSC) on water and wastewater museum.

For the purpose, the NSC has arranged for around 25 live models and interactive kiosks to reach out to 15 lakh children in five years.

And that is because, “Children can play the role of ambassadors, who can best deliver the message to society. Whatever they see and learn, they can pass on to their families and neighbourhood,” said G.S. Rautella, director general of NSC.

The Chief Minister said children could drive the campaign, for it is during their tender age that they can inculcate conservation practice and ask others to do so as well. Given the water and power woes faced by Delhiites, Dikshit laid emphasis on conserving water along with judicious consumption of power and electricity.

New Delhi, August 6
The CBSE is all set to restrict the use of mobile phones in schools. Sources within CBSE inform that the board is averse to the growing use of mobile phones by students and teachers.

The board has arrived at a consensus declaring that all students, teachers, parents and heads of institutions should restrict the use of mobile phones in schools as this causes unwarranted distraction. The board has also issued a circular to heads of affiliated schools in this regard.

The circular reads, “Students don’t hesitate in sending sms during the class, which causes disturbance even though the mobile is kept on silent mode. Camera which is a common feature in most of the mobile phones is misused as well.”

The CBSE has recommended that students should be persuaded not to carry mobile phones. Landline phones should be used instead by teachers and students, if required.

A teacher at Modern School says, “Mobiles do cause a lot of distraction and students constantly sms each other which affects their concentration. We are soon going to take action on this front in our school.”

Sonali Sharma, a student at DPS, echoes almost the same opinion, “Students exchange sms and jokes. Their use should be strictly monitored. However, I think mobiles are a necessity. We should have a link with our parents in case we get sick or if we have problems while commuting. It is rather important in an emergency situation.”

Prabhat Kumar, a parent, says, “Mobiles create a lot of distraction, but given today’s traffic conditions in Delhi, I would like my son to carry the mobile. Also, children can get unwell in school and this is a vital contact with parents. I advise its restricted use. Students should be given punishment if they misuse their mobiles.”

New Delhi, August 6
A day after hundreds of people thronged a Pune hospital for swine flu test, a similar situation erupted at the Ram Manohar Lohia (RML) Hospital in the Capital today.

Wearing masks and hand gloves, hundreds of people rushed to the hospital, one of the key screening centres for swine flu in Delhi.

“There was a rush since morning. Many people who have seasonal flu are coming for testing as private hospitals are advising them not to take any chances,” a doctor at the hospital said.

“At least 150 people visited the centre by 3 pm. The number could be more. There were many voluntary patients who just want to get tested,” the doctor added.

However, there was no chaos like at the Pune hospital since the RML Hospital is well equipped to handle a large number of patients.

“We are prepared. There was not much problem,” said RML MS N.K. Chaturvedi.

The hospital has been chosen by the central government to be a tertiary care centre for management of suspected swine flu cases. The hospital has started separate screening and counselling centres for visitors. — IANS

New Delhi, August 6
The 44-year-old Sub Divisional Magistrate (SDM) Neera Kharbanda was found dead inside her car in mysterious circumstance at Rohini (Sector 15) this morning.

DCP Atul Katiyar said liquor smell was emanating from her mouth which suggests she was driving in an inebriated condition and might have met a fatal accident.

“Neera’s car was found near DTC depot in Sector 15 by a morning walker who made a call to PCR around 7 am. The bonnet of the car as well as the windscreen was mangled. Neera’a car might have rammed into a heavy vehicle, leading to injuries on her body. The steering had hit her chest and head. The incident occurred around 4 am and Neera died after two hours due to bleeding,” said Katiyar.

The vehicle’s driver got off and had removed the car and left the spot without informing the police. A team of forensic experts also scrutinized the spot.

Neera used to live in A-1 block in Paschim Vihar area and had been promoted to the post of SDM four months back. Neera got divorced from her husband Vinod Talwar who is a businessman and deals in steel, around four year ago and since then she had been living in Paschim Vihar area along with her seven-year-old daughter.

“Yesterday night she said to her family members that she is going on a long drive. After that around 1 am she had made a call to her family friend Lokesh and talked with her sister. After some time she again gave a missed call to Lokesh. She did not make any call after that and around 7 am she was found dead,” stated a senior police officer.

The police has recovered a liquor bottle a packet of cigarettes from the car. A case of rash and negligent driving also has been lodged against her as she was driving after drinking.

New Delhi, August 6
A senior leader of the Delhi BJP, Vijender Gupta, demanded that the Delhi government should issue a white paper on the purchase of low-floor buses in the Capital.

The Congress in its assembly election manifesto promised to replace Blueline buses with low-floor buses if it was voted to power. But commuters still depend on Blueline buses. There is no change in transport system in Delhi, he said.

Seven hundred low-floor, including 25 air-conditioned buses, were purchased before the Delhi assembly elections in 2008.

Gupta said that these buses should have been approved by the Automobile Research Association of India (ARAI), a statutory body under the union government. The ARAI examines technicality of the vehicles. This is a legal norm that has not been followed in connection with low-floor buses. It is a criminal offence.

A few months back, a low-floor bus had caught fire. The cause of the fire is not known yet and no action has been taken against the manufacturer of the bus. It may be due to faulty design of the prototype, Gupta said.

The government has a plan to provide 10,000 low-floor buses by 2010.

He said that the temperature inside the low-floor buses is higher. Public transport system is deteriorating day by day.

New Delhi, August 6
For the Indian capital, where two million car owners use 60 per cent of road space but meet only 20 per cent of commuting demand, here comes a smart decongestion plan — a mega carpool that harnesses the latest in technology. The Delhi government plans to launch the Pan City Mega Carpool Scheme before the Commonwealth Games 2010.

The ride sharing scheme designed in collaboration with IIT Delhi aims to provide a way to encourage car owners to share their vehicles with others, thereby resulting in fewer cars on city roads.

“A scheme has been developed to decongest the city roads before the Games. The proposal has been accepted by Lieutenant Governor Tejendra Khanna and some nodal agencies,” said A.K. Srivastava, assistant director, Delhi transport department.

The government has proposed to enrol thousands of car owners, subject to verification of credentials, into a single mega carpool and issue the members secure, smart identity cards as well.

“Cars of all members will be fitted with a special hardware device comprising a card reader, global positioning system (GPS) and General Packet Radio Service (GPRS). The device can read the smart card based photo identity card of a member, sense the location of the car and transmit this data to a central agency,” he said.

The rider is only required to tap the smart ID card at the beginning as well as the end of the ride and all information regarding the driver and the rider would be sent to the central server.

“A member of the carpool scheme may give ride to any of the enrolled members who have a common or along-the-way destination. With this, the member will earn mileage points which can be redeemed as cash or family members can avail them by using the car pools,” said Srivastava.

The scheme plans to reduce traffic congestion and vehicular pollution by 50 per cent. Besides, it supplements the public transport system and provides significant diversification benefit against any disruption in public transport due to a terrorist attack or labour unrest.

The Delhi transport department had conducted an online survey in May and June inviting motorists to give their suggestions on the issue.

“Nearly 500 motorists have given their opinions regarding the scheme and RITES, a consultancy organisation working in the field of transport and infrastructure, has compiled the reports. We are studying the details before they are implemented,” said Srivastava.

The scheme also ensures safety of passengers.

“A web programme and call centre will also be made available to help members find suitable travel matches on a day-to-day basis. A central agency registers and matches members’ travel plans and sets up various members with one another through phone, SMS and internet,” Srivastava said.

A Delhi and NCR resident commuting in his car usually drives about 60-100 km per day and can reasonably save at least 50 per cent of his driving by the scheme.

“Private cars cause traffic congestion by inefficiently using the limited road space —the cars are typically carrying only one to two commuters against a capacity of five or more. The present scheme, however, treats the available spare capacity in cars as an opportunity to provide a transport solution, whereby three to four motorists, instead of travelling in separate cars, accommodate themselves in one car, especially during peak hours,” Srivastava said. — IANS

Greater Noida, August 6
A woman who was not permitted to go to her parents’ place on Raksha Bandhan day by her husband tried to commit suicide and kill her two children. She not only poisoned herself but also made her two kids gulp it.

The children and the woman were admitted to the Kailash Hospital in Greater Noida in a serious condition.

The woman Rosy from Bihar was living with her husband Anjesh Jha and kids in Kulesra village under the Surajpur Kotwali area. Rosy wanted to go to her brother’s house in Bihar to celebrate Raksha Bandhan. Her husband did not allow Rosy visit her brother.

Rosy got infuriated when Anjesh was getting ready to go to his sister’s place in Jallandhar for Rakhi. She made her four-month old son and a-year-old son gulp poison. She later swallowed it too.

Her husband Anjesh with the help of some neighbours rushed Rosy and the children to the hospital.

In another such incident, a newly-wed woman hanged herself in Hajipur village of Noida.

Some of the victim’s neighbours said that she wanted to go to her parents’ house on Raksha Bandhan. As her in-laws did not allow her to go, she took the extreme step.

However, her in-laws deny the allegations. They say the victim Monica’s three sisters are married in their family.

They said Monica was depressed for quiet some time as her child was sick and she was herself not keeping well. She might have committed suicide due to this, they claimed.

Monica, 23, the youngest among her sisters was married to Pradeep Bhatti of Hajipur village about two years ago.

Monica had hanged herself from a ceiling fan with a dupatta on Wednesday. She was rushed to a hospital in serious condition where she had died after some time.

New Delhi, August 6
With the arrest of a 20-year-old aspiring actor, the Delhi police claims to have solved the murder of a woman executive who was found dead at her rented accommodation in Kalkaji on July 30.

Himanshu Jetly, alias Honey, was arrested yesterday from Alaknanda.

Veerpal Kaur Gill, alias Nikki’s, decomposed body was found with injury marks on her head. A wire was tied across her neck.

Honey hails from Ludhiana in Punjab. The aspiring actor had undergone training at a modeling institute in Kalkaji and needed a job. He was in dire need of money.

Honey too lives at a rented flat in Kalkaji. After Gill’s murder, he was missing from his flat. The police learnt that he had come to Gill’s flat to return the SIM card that he had borrowed from her on July 26. Gill did not attend her office after July 26. She did not even respond to the phone calls.

A police team was sent to Ludhiana but Honey and his family members were not found. The police later found that Honey had met one of his friends in Ludhiana on July 30 and had given him a Sony laptop on the pretext of getting it repaired and an I-Pod with some documents. The police realised that it was Gill’s laptop.

“Initially, Honey denied his involvement and used his acting skills to mislead the police. But on sustained interrogation, he broke down and disclosed that he was jobless and was in dire need of money to support a luxurious lifestyle and get a portfolio made. He asked Gill for some money. There was a heated argument between them when Gill refused to give money. Honey picked an iron pipe and attacked her,” said a senior police official. 

Honey threatened to kill Gill if she did not give him her ATM card with PIN number. Fearing she would inform the police, he killed her. After her death, he decamped with the ATM card, laptop and I-Pod. He locked the doors of the room and the entrance to the fourth floor.

He has withdrawn huge cash from the deceased’s account using her ATM Card.

New Delhi, August 6
A Delhi police constable was shot at with his own service revolver last evening after a brawl between two groups in the Dallupura area of east Delhi.

Officials from New Ashok Nagar police station said constable Jai Karan Singh was shot at by one of the miscreants while he was trying to pacify the warring groups.

“He was hit on the neck and is recuperating in a hospital. A case of attempt to murder has been registered and a manhunt has been launched to arrest the culprit,” said a police official.

Sattan and Shakti, residents of Dallupura village, have been at loggerheads for many years and the village is divided between their loyalists.

Yesterday evening, some people of a group teased a man from the other group, which took an ugly shape. The two groups began pelting stones at each other. Constable Jai Karan Singh reached the spot and tried to cool tempers when a person pulled his revolver and shot at him.

Meanwhile, seven persons have been arrested so far.

Ghaziabad, August 6
A doctor who had gone to meet his wife in Meerut has gone missing in mysterious circumstances.

According to sources, Dr K.M. Singh has been kidnapped and the kidnappers have demanded Rs 1 crore from his family for his safe release.

Dr Singh runs a private clinic in Patel Nagar-II. He also serves as a consultant doctor in Yashoda and Shivam hospitals in Ghaziabad.

He had gone to Meerut to meet his wife and is reported to have gone missing from there. Dr Singh’s wife is the deputy chief medical officer in Meerut civil hospital.

Meanwhile, the police is trying to trace the kidnappers with the help of elctronic surveillance.

Noida, August 6
Traffic remained suspended for over an hour yesterday on Delhi-Howra railway line at Maycha railway crossing near Dadri as a JCB machine got hit by an express train. The JCB machine stopped on the track and its driver managed to jump and save himself.

The JCB machine belonged to Kartar Singh of Dabra village. It was going to Greater Noida.

Sources said the machine suddenly stalled on the track while crossing the track. Shortly, Mahananda Express hit the machine. The JCB driver jumped to safety. The front portion of JCB machine was badly manged.

The cabin man informed Ajaibpur railway station about the incident.

The police reached the spot and the JCB machine was removed from the railway track. As a result, many Delhi-Howrah trains were stopped at Dadri and Maripet railway stations for over an hour.