New Delhi, August 15
Hundreds of schoolchildren dressed in bright colours were the cynosure of all eyes at a wet Independence Day function at the Red Fort here today.

They were the brightest among an estimated 700 invitees who occupied the seated and open space facing the 17th century monument as Prime Minister Manmohan Singh addressed the nation.

But despite the intermittent drizzle, the children appeared to thoroughly enjoy the event. And they were at their vocal best when Manmohan Singh urged them to echo the “Jai Hind” slogan at the end of his address.

A section of the children were seated in a manner resembling India Gate — a World War I monument in the capital.

And for once, they had been taken well care of. None of them complained of hunger, heat or thirst.

“This year we had no problem at all. Though there is slight drizzle, the raincoats shielded us,” said Nishant Kumar, student of a government school.

The kids as well as National Cadet Corps (NCC) cadets worked hard for this big day and were at the venue long before any of the other guests.

Old favourites like “Mera rang de basanti chola” and “Sarforshi ki tamanna, ab hamare dil main hai” were among the various songs sung by the young ones.

The children beamed with pride as political leaders, diplomats and guests watched the national flag being hoisted by Manmohan Singh followed by a 21-gun salute.

Soon after, there was an overpowering silence in the audience.

“It is a nice feeling to be part of the Independence Day function at the Red Fort,” said Rakesh Sharma, an NCC cadet and Class VIII student of a government school.

The kids sang the national anthem as the function to mark the end of the function.

As the last bars of the anthem were being sung, hundreds of tricolour balloons tied with miniature national flags soared in the sky. — IANS

New Delhi, August 15
Delhiites today celebrated Independence Day by flying kites, boating and visiting various parks. Children and young people were seen flying kites at Bela Road, Shantivana and behind the Red Fort.

Residents of walled city are particularly fond of kite flying. Even today while it was drizzling, it could not deter them from having a ball.

They were seen atop their roofs having coloulful kites in their hands.

Jamaluddin, a young boy who resides in the bylanes of Matia Mahal, said it is an old tradition of residents of walled city and is still on. He was flying kite in Subhash Park in front of historical Jama Masjid.

He said that his father used to fly kites across the Yamuna at a place known as “Nao Wali”.

“My father along with his friends used to cross the river in a boat to fly kites. But now there is no such place. Time has also changed. Now we fly kites in parks,” he said.APeople along with their children were seen at Boat Club behind Purana Quila. Visitors were also seen at Kalindi Kunj Park. But having witnessed low traffic on Capital roads, it seemed that most people preferred to enjoy the national festival at home by watching TV. Blueline buses were not in full strength, so commuters took DTC buses to reach their destinations. 

New Delhi, August 15
Women are no longer the weaker sex and this Independence Day is one more occasion to celebrate the fact that they have come a long way from being just traditional homemakers, women designers in the Capital said as India enters its 63rd year of freedom.

“We (women) have come a long way. From being typical housewives to successful entrepreneurs - we are successful, confident and are able to strike a balance between our professional and personal life as well,” fashion designer Ritu Kumar said.

Kumar has been in the fashion industry for more than 30 years and specialises in couture. Her work mainly revolves around highlighting Indian craftsmanship.

Extolling women to be fearless, designer Leena Singh of designer duo Ashima-Leena said today’s women should talk openly about sexual harassment at the work place.

“Freedom from sexual harassment at workplace should be of utmost importance for any woman. They should never be shy of reporting any such case and should never allow their bosses to manipulate them,” Leena said.

She agreed with Kumar that women had gone places, but added a warning.

“No doubt that women are making a mark in every field, but they do have this tendency of getting carried away by glamorous lifestyles. They should free their mind from these materialistic things and should devote some time for the betterment of society,” said Leena, who apart from fashion designing also works for slum children.

According to fellow designer Reynu Taandon, every woman should celebrate Independence Day because they have suffered a lot of discrimination in the past.

“There were days when we were called the weaker sex. The word no more exists because we have proved our worth and what we are capable of doing. Earlier, all CEOs and top bosses were men but look at today’s scenario - women are everywhere and are giving tough competition to their male counterparts,” said Taandon who is known for her pret line.

Rina Dhaka echoed the sentiment. “We have definitely proved ourselves. But we should be able to strike a balance between our personal and professional life as well.

“Also every woman should be able to follow her heart and should believe in herself and her capabilities,” she said.

Alpana of label Azara was of the view that the psyche of Indians had changed and women no longer like to suppress their desires and ambitions.

“Today women are more bold and independent about the choices they make. They are confident and follow their heart,” Alpana said. — IANS

New Delhi, August 15
A father and his daughter were found murdered with multiple stab injuries in their home in northeast Delhi on Saturday evening, police said.

“We received a call at around 5:45 p.m. today that two bodies were lying in a house in Maujpur area. When we reached the spot, the bodies of Ramchander Sharma, 55, and his daughter Seema, 25, were found lying on the floor,” said a senior police officer.

“The bodies were discovered by the landlady. Ramchander was living on the ground floor with his daughter in a rented accommodation. On initial investigations, it was found that Seema got married to Rajkumar, who worked as a driver with the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) on an ad hoc basis, five years ago,” the officer added.

“But after Rajkumar lost his job with MCD, he reportedly started harassing his wife and fighting with her. Five months ago, Seema returned to her father’s house and started living with him,” the police official said.

“Rajkumar regularly used to come to Ramchander’s house. He had reportedly come on Friday night but had returned after a fight. He was seen in the area in the afternoon also,” the police added.

The police suspects his involvement in the murder and is looking for him.

“Since the incident he is absconding, we are looking for him,” the police officer added.

“Ramchander was a carpenter by profession. His wife and sons died years ago. Seema had strangulation marks on her neck. At the time of the incident, Seema’s two-and-half-year-old daughter was with the landlady and four-year-old son was in the house. He is in a state of shock,” the police officer said. 
— IANS 

New Delhi, August 15
In the wake of rising casualties due to influenza A (H1N1), six private pathological labs were invited by the union health ministry for consultations, and later during an orientation programme were briefed about the diagnostic protocols.

However, no decision has been taken yet, and only after the National Institute of Communicable Diseases (NICD) gives its clearance, the labs would be shortlisted, said the principal secretary of Delhi, J P Singh.

The orientation session was conducted by the NICD in which two doctors each from Super Religare Laboratories (SRL), Dr Lal Path Labs, Auroprob Laboratories, Piramal Laboratories, Quest Laboratories and Era Health were apprised of the dos and don’ts of the H1N1 diagnosis.

Besides, they were told about the precautionary measures and guidelines to confirm the presence of H1N1 in the samples.

During a meeting on Thursday night that was attended by the senior officials of the health ministry and NICD and doctors from the six private labs, the labs were asked to state their position with respect to testing samples of H1N1.

At the meeting, SRL expressed its readiness for the task with all the requisite parameters for the testing task, including bio-safety levels plus two compliance and procurement of testing kits while other five labs would get the same in place by Monday, informed sources from NICD.

Advisor of SRL and microbiologist Dr Ashok Rattan said, “We have already offered our expertise and infrastructure from both our reference labs, Mumbai and Gurgaon. Government representatives in Maharashtra have already inspected the lab in Mumbai, but in Gurgaon we are still waiting.”

Sources from NICD said that all the six labs would be subjected to proficiency sample testing, which would entail a panel of samples with known result of positive and negative, to ascertain the competency of the labs called in for the testing task.

“The process has started and it would take a few days. It is only after the team of NICD inspects the labs for studying the compliance to testing guidelines issued by the WHO, and gives the go-ahead by the assessment report, the health department would consider the approval for the testing work,” said J P Singh.

Another factor that the government is trying to find a way out is the exorbitant expenditure incurred in testing of each sample of H1N1, i.e. Rs 5,000 for each negative case and Rs 10,000 for each confirmed case of H1N1 isolate. On this front, the SRL showing a capacity of having 1000 kits, which it has procured from the Lab India—the only worldwide supplier of H1N1 testing kits, has approached the government of testing a sample for Rs 4000.

Lab India from which the government also procures the H1N1 diagnostic kits has asked the government to waive 25 per cent customs duty on the testing kits of H1N1 so that the benefits could also be passed on to its customers, thereby reducing the diagnostic costs of H1N1 samples.

It is learnt from sources that government is thinking on the positive lines, and would be relaxing the customs duty to deal with the exigency situation.

As the primary diagnostic centres of H1N1—NICD, National Institute of Virology and AIIMS are being swarmed with samples every day and are going to the extent of overstretching themselves, working round-the-clock, the government has to strengthen its combative mechanism and strategy for combating the H1N1 battle.

Meanwhile, with the surfacing of 15 positive indigenous cases of the H1N1 flu, which includes five children, the government has to speed up the task of finalising the list of private testing centres for augmentation of diagnostic infrastructure. 

New Delhi, August 15
Swine flu doesn’t scare them. For the Capital’s slum dwellers who perennially fight flu, the new contagious virus is just another disease.

“What swine flu? We face greater problems of health and livelihood!” says Anisha, 35, a resident of south Delhi’s Rangpuri slum.

“Every third day someone in our neighbourhood is down with high fever. Stomach ailments and diarrhoea are common and so many of us women are anaemic - a flu is the last on our list of worries,” said Anisha.

Her friend Majida, 28, who works as a domestic help in three households at the nearby middle-class Vasant Kunj neighbourhood, says health is the least of her worries.

“I have been running high temperature for a week now. I keep having stomach problems. Still I go for work. I can’t afford to lose even a day’s income. We have bigger problems,” said the mother of three.

Most slum dwellers here are “uneducated”, said Anisha, a daily wager who works at construction sites.

“We don’t even know what is happening to us. We go to the mobile health vans run by NGOs and local clinics for diagnosis. They prescribe medicine which often has no effect and then we find it tough to follow up — travelling to hospitals takes up a lot of time and money.”

A walk into the cluster of slums, where the small courtyards are plastered with cow dung, considered traditional sanitisers, and drains spew stench just a few metres from the open kitchens, reveal the poor state of hygiene.

Residents in the slums often use water drawn from bore wells for drinking and washing.

Doctors say the problem is that in a bid to save fuel they don’t boil water before consumption. This, doctors say, is another reason for their recurring health problems.

“For them water-borne diseases and stomach infections are more common. With change in weather during monsoon, common cold and fever cases become rampant. We carry out preliminary tests and give them medicines. In severe cases, we refer them to the nearby government-run clinics or hospitals,” said Pradeep Bohra, a doctor with the Smile on Wheels mobile hospital van that camps in the slum once every fortnight.

Another doctor, David Singh, said: “For a swine flu test all we can do is to refer them to a testing centre. But we can’t ensure that they go there. So sometimes we give incentives - like a pain killer for a headache and when they see it works they’ll listen to us.”

At another slum, while some are a little aware about the spread of the virus, they don’t know how to tackle the situation.

“We saw TV news that some flu is spreading. We can’t tell the difference from the common flu - what should we do?” said Chhaya, 35, a resident from Nehru Camp in south Delhi’s Govindpuri area.

The Municipal Corporation of Delhi estimates that more than 3 million people reside in about 1,000 unauthorised slum clusters in Delhi. Officially, 14.82 per cent of Delhi’s 16 million-plus population is estimated to be below the poverty line. — IANS

Faridabad, August 15
Haryana minister for power Randip Singh Surjewala said Haryana was marching on path to progress and development.

He said the state had attained the first position in the country in several areas like per capita income, industrialisation, social welfare, women empowerment and production of wheat. He expressed confidence that Haryana would soon overtake other states in more areas.

Surjewala was addressing a gathering after unfurling the Tricolour at Sector-12 Sports Stadium here today.

He, earlier, visited the War Memorial in Town Park and paid tributes to soldiers who sacrificed their lives for the country.

Surjewala added the Congress government that came to power at the centre nearly five years ago also led to Haryana’s progress.

New Delhi, August 15
Over the years, the transition in eating habits, witnessed due to adoption of modern life patterns, has resulted in a worrying health scenario, and a clear instance of this is the childhood obesity.

In Delhi alone, among the adolescent schoolchildren in private and government schools, nearly 29 and 11 per cent are either overweight or obese respectively, indicates a recent survey carried out by the Diabetes Foundation of India and Heal India.

According to doctors and nutritionists, who call for concerted interventions from the policymakers, parents and teachers, the onus of degrading health among adolescents primarily lies on the parents, besides the fast picking up Quick Service Restaurants (QSR).

The health advisors caution parents whose children binge on yummy burgers, pizzas or French fries.

“Due to frequent snacking and preference of saturated and trans-fat rich foods nowadays, the prevalence of cases of children suffering with type 2 diabetes, which was earlier considered to be an adult disease, has gone up. And this in turn makes the children prone to host of other health problems like cardiac, kidney and respiratory ailments etc, right from their 20s and 30s,” outlined Dr Anoop Misra, director of diabetes and metabolic disease in Fortis Hospital.

While explaining the link between childhood obesity and overweight, he added, “The obesity epidemic is ticking at a fast pace, primarily due to faulty dietary regimen. Seventy per cent of obese/overweight adolescents go on to become obese/overweight adults.”

New Delhi, August 15
A large wooden frame with beams looking like iron rods welcomes you to the art exhibition by inmates of the Tihar jail in the Capital. As you peep into the frame, the mirror reflects your face and two words “born innocent” stare back.

Most of the art works in the exhibition called Expressions tell a thousand words with a mere stroke of a brush or a seemingly simple installation.

Whether it’s a painting of a small nude boy, with the words ‘mera baap chor hai’ (my father is a thief) inscribed on his arm, or that of a woman lost in her own thoughts, be it a black and white photograph of a young man holding the iron rods of a gate with the words “I want to go out” or a collage with the words “set me free” - the exhibition offers a peep into the minds of the inmates and their thirst for freedom.

Minister for human resource development Kapil Sibal, who had come for the inauguration of the exhibition, said: “The inmates are also human beings and are not different from the rest of us. They are where they are because of the circumstances. It could happen to anyone.”

“This exhibition is an effort to give the inmates a chance to express themselves and to look at them from a different point of view. I found three art works especially touching - one was that of a woman whose pain was visible in her eyes, one of a little clock with no hands to say that time has stood still for the inmates and another of a child of an inmate,” Sibal said.

Initiated by the Ramchander Nath Foundation (RNF) and Ojas Art, who started working among the Tihar inmates aged 18-27 in 2007, the exhibition is on at the Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts (IGNCA) till September 2.

According to one of the curators of the exhibition, the medium of art can successfully rehabilitate the inmates.

“A released inmate is now working as a part time studio assistant with an artist,” Anubhav Nath, one of the curators said.

To further encourage the inmates, the organisers held a tour for a small group of contemporary artists inside the jail to interact with the inmates and train them so that they can hone their skills.

Besides the art works, a documentary on the entire art programme inside the jail is also being screened at the exhibition.

Filmed by Arjun Pandey, this documentary will be submitted in different film festivals across the world.

“Such initiatives should be replicated by other prisons too,” Sibal added. — IANS

Noida, August 15
Driving from Delhi as one passes through the welcome arch of Gautam Budh Nagar, there is a green stretch on the right. This park extends up to Sector 15 here.

At the far end of this park, UP Chief Minister and BSP leader Mayawati is putting up statues. Just near this historic project is a mazaar of an unknown holy man where believers make offerings on Thursdays.

It is here that Gyan Shakti Vidyalaya students highlighted the spirit of independence in songs, dance and acting. So moving was the presentation that chief guest science educator and a resident of Sector 15 here, Prof Yashpal joined the students dancing in the rain which continued till the end of function.

Noida, August 15
A prisoner gave the slip to the police while being escorted to jail after a court appearance, but his handcuffs gave him away.

He was caught by some villagers due to his handcuffs and was again handed over to the police.

But the policeman and the home guard escorting him will now have to face the music. Not only the cop and home guard will be dismissed from service, but a case will also be registered against them by Noida police, it is learnt.

Jamshed, an Assamese living in Baraula village, had been caught with a dagger and was booked under Section 25/ 4 of Arms Act.

He was presented in court the same day.

He was being taken to Dansa jail in the evening. Jamshed was being escorted by Manchand of Sector-49 police station and home guard Diwan Singh

He was being taken to Ghaziabad in a private vehicle.

Near Hakoda village, Jamshed was able to escape with his handscuffs on. In the village, however, villagers saw him in handcuffs and understood that he was an escapee from police custody.

Jamshed was handed over to the police.