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13 govt hospitals have kits on rape detection, HC told
Allow Hindi in courts, urge lawyers
Business in spiritual books booms as people look for peace
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Sandeep campaigns for Okhla candidate
Probe ordered into Gzb colony razing incident
Things went out of hand: DM
Delhi youth want minimum age for drinking to be lowered
Three killed in Greater Noida over land, money
New Jamia VC to focus on infrastructure, not Batla House
RTI has increased transparency
Bitta to donate organs after death
Phone, vehicle thief held
DUTA decries VC’s decision on awards
Amity student drugged by seniors
Burglary at President’s Estate
Bathroom fittings stolen from MP’s house
Chain of BSF officer’s wife snatched
CISF constable found hanging
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13 govt hospitals have kits on rape detection, HC told
New Delhi, September 6 Mukta Gupta, counsel for Delhi police, contended before a division bench comprising Chief Justice Ajit Prakash Shah and Justice Manmohan earlier this week that of the 20 hospitals of the Delhi government, 13 are equipped with Sexual Forensic Evidence Kits (SAFE) and seven more are in the process of doing the same. "The seven hospitals will soon have these SAFE kits," Gupta said. The court had in an earlier order directed the Delhi police and the Delhi Commission for Women (DCW) to start a 'crisis intervention centre' to help out victims of incest crimes. Submitting the status report before the bench, Aparna Bhatt, counsel for DCW, said that most of the guidelines issued by the court were being followed. "Apart from the guidelines, a home study should be conducted where the incest crime took place as this will help us in analysing the trend," Bhatt said. Gupta also submitted before the bench that approval has been granted by the Lt Governor for sensitising judges, public prosecutors and police officials on various aspects of incest crimes. She said that the training module and the brochure related to the matter would be translated and printed soon. To a query with regard to awarding suitable compensation to the incest crime victims, Gupta said that the matter is still under consideration. The bench also issued notice to the chairman of the Child Welfare Committee to appear in person on September 23 and explain the status of the implementation of the directions. The court had passed a set of guidelines for investigators of incest crimes to sensitise them to the emotional trauma of the victims. This followed complaints that investigators and prosecutors of such crimes, whose incidence has gone up sharply in recent times, often acted insensitively, particularly when dealing with children.
— IANS |
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Allow Hindi in courts, urge lawyers
New Delhi, September 6 “We have received a huge response from the lawyers and collected over 3,000 signatures so far to support our campaign,” said Ashok Aggarwal, president of the Delhi unit of lawyers’ association. The signature campaign began earlier this week in the five district courts and reached the high court on Friday. After collecting signatures from the lawyers’ fraternity, the group will urge the Chief Justice of the Delhi High Court to allow them to present their cases in Hindi as it is the national language. “Even in our Constitution, Article 19(A) says that everyone can express himself in any language and denying the use of Hindi in courts is a violation of this fundamental right,” Aggarwal said. “When lawyers argue in Hindi, judges do not pay attention to them and English has become a status symbol,” he added. Moreover, Article 348 of the Constitution provides for arguing court cases in English as well as regional languages, Aggarwal pointed out. A few moths ago, district and sessions judge Mamta Sehgal had issued a circular and made it clear to subordinate judges that they must gauge the court employees, proficiency in Hindi and the use of the language in their work. In fact, lower courts have an Hindi Implementation Centre, specially created for helping with the use of the language in courts. Hindi is being used in the high courts of Rajasthan, Allahabad and Madhya Pradesh, but not in the national Capital, according to the lawyers’ union.
— IANS |
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Business in spiritual books booms as people look for peace
New Delhi, September 6 The boom in religious books trade at the fair, according to publishers, reflects the larger trend in the market, which has seen a sharp rise in the demand for spiritual books over the last three years. “The demand for religious books is unbelievable. Everybody wants peace in life. There has been too much of crime and fiction. Over the last three years, we have seen a sharp rise in the demand for yoga, meditation, self-help and spiritual books. Even teenagers are buying spiritual books,” said Ajay Mago, publisher of Om Books, at the book fair. Consequently, books on Swami Vivekananda, Osho, Baba Ramdev, Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, J. Krishnamurthi and a host of new age gurus - some written by the spiritualists themselves - are disappearing from the shelves by the dozens, along with the new reprints of the Bhagavad Gita, Ramcharitmanas, Vishnu lore, Buddhist texts, translations of Vedas, mythology and new tomes on palmistry and yoga. The buyers are mostly high school and college students, young professionals and homemakers - in the age-group of 17 to 35. A week ago, Om Books launched ‘Journey Home’, a biographical account of Radhanath Swami, an American yogi who migrated to India from the US 40 years ago. “It is one of the biggest Om titles this season and a hit,” Mago said. The book is priced at Rs 395. The publisher is also betting high on ‘Sacred Secret’ by Ravi Kapoor, “about the seven wonders of the world and the spiritual secrets behind them”. Gorakhpur-based Gita Press, which started in 1923 and is one of the oldest publishers of religious books in India, substantiates the trend. “In 2008-2009, we sold Rs 32 crore worth of religious books - up from Rs 29.5 crore in 2007-2008 despite the downturn. We have had a print run of 80 million for Bhagavad Gita, 75 million for Ramcharitmanas and 76.5 million for Bhakt Charit over the decades. These are our three most popular titles till date - even at the fair,” said production manager of Gita Press Lalmani Tiwari on behalf of Gita Press trustee Baijnath Agarwal. Prices of books at Gita Press range from Re 1 (for the Hanuman Chalisa) to Rs 1,350 (for six volumes of the Mahabharata). Spurred by growing demand, the Ramakrishna Mission Society has published 50 new titles this year - all of which are on display at the R.K. Mission stall at the fair. “The most popular titles are ‘Vivekachudamani’ by Ranganathananda ji Maharaj, ‘Understanding Consciousness’, the fourth in ‘Our Consciousness’ series of books, ‘Meditation as Spiritual Culmination: Yoga Aphorisms of Patanjali’ by Swami Sarvagatananda and ‘Encyclopedia of Hinduism’ in three volumes,” said Swami Adi Purushananda, head of the Delhi publication division of R.K. Mission. The books are priced between Rs 600 and Rs 1,500. “Last year the Delhi R.K. Mission unit alone registered an increase of 30 per cent in business and we have 150 centres across the world,” the seer said. He cited two reasons for the growing demand in religious books. “The younger generation is finally accepting spiritualists like Swami Vivekananda to overcome psychological stress. He is a national hero. Moreover, the prices of spiritual books are more reasonable,” Adi Purushananda said. Harpreet Narang, a young Delhi-based professional and homemaker, feels that “a time would come when Indians would no longer require spiritual guides and astrologers going by the number of religious books being published every year”. Jagriti, a Delhi-based doctor, who bought books on palmistry and spiritual self-help from the fair, echoed the sentiment: “I usually look up the internet, but the books are a big help.” “As India is getting more materialistic, spiritual books are filling a huge void. Readers are starting young - and buying more spiritual books as they have a whole life to read,” said Akash A. Shah, publisher of Jaico Publishing House. The total turnover of the Indian publishing industry is nearly Rs 1,00,000 million.
— IANS |
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Sandeep campaigns for Okhla candidate
New Delhi, September 6 Dikshit said the Congress was trying to fulfill all promises made by it during the Assembly and Lok Sabha elections. Construction work in unauthorised colonies, which was totally banned earlier, had been restarted, he pointed out. Addressing a large gathering, he said Farhad Suri was the only candidate devoted to work for the residents of the area and that other candidates had no base in the area. All other candidates had always being changing parties, he added. Dikshit assured that once the by-elections were over, other pending works in the area would also be done. To take care of the transport problem of the area, some low-floor buses were being plied in the constituency, he said. He also assured that power situation in the area had been improved and as far as the water supply was concerned, plans to lay down pipelines in the areas were being discussed. Dikshit said Farhad Suri would pursue various developmental projects planned for the area with full vigour. Dikshit urged the people in the Okhla Assembly to come out in large numbers to vote for the Congress on the basis of its past performance and future policies. The meet was attended by local Congress leaders, party workers and large number of residents. After the meeting, Suri expressed that he was facing difficulty in campaigning because of Ramzan. According to him, he starts his day early by meeting morning walkers in parks and requesting them to vote for him. In the evening, he starts his campaigning after the Iftar. His supporters organise Iftar and dinner party at different places everyday. He addresses people 20 minutes before the Iftar. Later, he moves to the dinner party where he again addresses people. His day ends around midnight. |
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Probe ordered into Gzb colony razing incident
Ghaziabad, September 6 The divisional commissioner of Meerut, while addressing a meeting of senior officials here, said circumstances under which illegal constructions had come up are being examined. The inspector general of police, who also attended the meeting, said the police had to be more alert and criminal intelligence had to be sensitised to stop the crime before its occurrence. “The government is examining how such huge colonisation came up on public land. Apparently, only land grabbers cannot be held solely responsible for illegal colonisation. Officials of the departments on whose land the colonisation came up seem to be involved,” Meerut divisional commissioner Shrawan Kumar Sharma said. About two dozen people, including three policemen, were injured and many vehicles set ablaze and damaged here on Saturday when people protesting the government’s move to evict them from an unauthorised colony turned violent. The police used tear gas and fired in the air to disperse the mob after a large number of people gathered and blocked the Ghaziabad-Greater Noida Expressway on National Highway (NH) 24, officials said. Earlier, on the instructions of the cabinet secretary, the Noida, Greater Noida and Ghaziabad administration launched a drive to raze illegal constructions along the Hindon river. According to officials, no construction is allowed within 400-metre of the main stream of the river but land grabbers had sold plots to people who had built houses without any approval from the authorities. These illegal structures had created hindrances in the construction of the expressway, so the joint team of irrigation department and district administration had launched the demolition drive, officials said.
— IANS |
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Things went out of hand: DM
Ghaziabad, September 6 He said a number of land mafia were active in areas around NH-24 and the district administration was planning to take steps against them. The land mafia had spread rumours that villages would be razed, he said.The DM has clarified that houses constructed near the main stream of Hindon river would not be demolished without prior notice. However, he has advised people not to build houses within 400-metre radius of the main current on either bank of the river because during floods their life and property could be at risk. He said the irrigation department officials had been asked to complete the markings on both sides of the river so that people could know about the risks. |
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Delhi youth want minimum age for drinking to be lowered
New Delhi, September 6 The survey, carried out by the voluntary organisation Campaign Against Drunken Driven (CADD), spoke to 1,000 people in the city, including 761 from the age group of 16-24. “Nearly 16 per cent between 16 to 18 years consume alcohol on a weekly basis and around 12 per cent of the under-age drinkers spend Rs 1,000 on alcohol on a weekly basis,” the study revealed. CADD head Prince Singhal said here on
Saturday. “The survey found that there is a demand for bringing down the current drinking age from 25 years to 21 years. I believe that it should not be lowered below 21 as teenage drinking is too dangerous.” He added, “While suggesting the age of 21, we should not forget that teenage drinking is one of the major causes of drunken driving accidents. Nearly 38 per cent of those who die of drunken driving in India (total 90,000 deaths) are below the age of 18.” The study says that only one per cent of the respondents in the age group of 22 to 24 years felt that the current age limit is a deterrent to their drinking pattern but nearly 69 per cent in the age group of 20 to 22 felt the limit was unreasonable. Singhal said over 35 per cent teenagers in the age group of 16 to 18 years get their alcohol from government-owned liquor shops. According to the study, over 75 per cent in the the age group of 22 to 24 years felt that 21 is ideal and realistic age for drinking. Singhal said that besides lowering the age limit, the survey also recommends bringing a new underage drinking law and replacing the current Punjab Excise Act with a New Delhi Excise Act. “Many respondents argued that if we are old enough to vote and marry at 18 then why should the minimum age for drinking be 25 years? But I believe that it is a proven fact that teenage alcoholism is rising and it should not be promoted further,” he said. Singhal said in Delhi the legal age of 25 years is openly flouted with most bars and clubs serving even to school children.
— IANS |
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Three killed in Greater Noida over land, money
Greater Noida, September 6 The first incident took place in Omega Sector. Vishal Singh (30), who used to run a foreign language coaching centre in Amritpur here was allegedly strangled to death by a local Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) leader’s son Mohit Sharma four days ago. His body was found yesterday. Mohit had borrowed Rs 30,000 from Vishal. He got infuriated when Vishal demanded his money back and killed Vishal. Mohit had called up Vishal four days ago. Vishal had come on a bike with his employee. Mohit and his four friends took Vishal in a car where they had killed him. There were some injury marks on Vishal’s neck. His body was thrown in jungle near Surajpur police station. Vishal’s brother Kalu has filed a murder case against the four, including Mohit. The villagers jammed the road in protest against Vishal’s murder. Meanwhile, BSP leader’s son has been arrested. In another incident, a middle-aged man of Sursadpur village was shot dead over a land dispute. The victim Vaidpal Shastri had an old land dispute with Krishanpal. According to the police, 18 bigha land was in Vaidpal’s name in land revenue records, which Krishanpal had usurped. The case is in court. Vaidpal along with his two brothers was going to Noida in a Maruti car. His car was hit by a Scorpio car near L-G crossing. Two persons came out of the Scorpio and shot Vaidpal (48). Meanwhile, Vaidpal’s brother Yoginder has filed a report against Rishi Pal’s son Jai Vardhan and an unknown assailant. While an elderly man of Khodna village was found with severed sex organ. The body of Angad (70) was found in jungle of Tusyana village. According to the police, Angad had sold his land for Rs 36 lakh. He had not given any money out of it to his son but had squandered a large chunk of it. His son was unhappy with him. The police suspects a family member’s hand in Angad’s murder. Besides, none of his family members have lodged a written complaint. |
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New Jamia VC to focus on infrastructure, not Batla House
New Delhi, September 6 “I do not want to divert my mind to incidents like Batla House. I want to ensure that students are emotionally, socially and educationally comfortable,” Jung told reporters at his first press conference here. Jung, a former Indian Administrative Services (IAS) officer, took over as vice chancellor from Mushirul Hasan, who was also on the panel of those shortlisted for the post. The new vice chancellor stated that his focus would be on instilling confidence among students coming from distant places and small towns “who are not as confident as their counterparts who study at the north campus (Delhi University) and have been brought up in south Delhi”. Jung also ruled out the possibility of reviving students’ elections in the university unless there was an extraneous situation. Asked whether an academician was better for the job of a vice chancellor, he said: “Jawaharlal Nehru University’s (JNU) first vice chancellor was not an academician but he was very successful” and called such statements as “fallacious arguments”. Jung, who has served as a joint secretary in the petroleum and natural gas ministry, said he would explore the possibility of starting a course in petroleum and medicine during his term. He said that he wanted to ensure safety of all students and that he had already held a meeting with the senior Delhi police officials of the area. “I want to ensure they do not take to the streets. Acts of violence committed on the spur of the moment can harm their careers,” he added. Jung, a 1973 batch Madhya Pradesh cadre IAS officer, studied at St. Stephen’s College here and at the London School of Economics. He left the civil services after serving as joint secretary in the petroleum and natural gas ministry. Jung had also played a major role in the privatisation of ONGC’s Panna Mukta oilfield that went to a consortium of Reliance-ONGC and British Gas. He worked with the Manila-based Asian Development Bank before joining the Observer Research Foundation as director of energy research. Jung was chosen over outgoing vice chancellor Hasan and Bihar’s principal secretary (home) Afzal Amanullah.
— IANS |
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RTI has increased transparency
New Delhi, September 6 He was delivering his keynote address at a workshop organized by Delhi Jal Board (DJB) on Right to Information at Delhi Secretariat. About 180 officials with a crucial role in Information Delivery System participated in the workshop. “Transparency and accountability are possible only when the public have access to information relating to the functioning of agencies and organizations like Delhi Jal Board. Standard management practices may ensure the functional transparency and working accountability,” added Gandhi. |
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Bitta to donate organs after death
New Delhi, September 6 Bitta pledged to donate his body thinking that it might become life for victims of terrorism and other tragedies and war heroes. |
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Phone, vehicle thief held
New Delhi, September 6 The accused Chetan, alias Golu, was arrested from Shastri Nagar near Inderlok. A loaded countrymade pistol and a stolen mobile phone were seized from him. Chetan is an expert in stealing motorcycles and mobile phones. He used to snatch mobile phones from two-wheeler drivers who used to talk on phone while driving. During interrogation, he disclosed that it was easy for him to snatch mobile phones. He also stole motorcycles from Gulabi Bagh and Sarai Rohilla He used to dispose of stolen vehicles at throwaway rates. |
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DUTA decries VC’s decision on awards
New Delhi, September 6 Misra claimed that Pental had neither sought approval of the academic council or executive council nor any other university for this. A delegation of teachers led by Misra met the VC in this regard last evening. Responding to teachers request, the VC said he would not repeat such an act next year, Msra said. |
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Amity student drugged by seniors
Noida, September 6 The victim Prateek Yadav is undergoing treatment ay Prakash Hospital. Medical superintendent of the hospital Dr S. Siddiqui said, “Prateek was poisoned. His stomach was washed. His condition is stable,” Prateek, a first-year student of hotel management, said, “When I was returning home some seniors took me to the other side of the road and forced me to eat a puri. Then they dropped me at the hostel.” His father R.P.S. Yadav said, “It is a case of ragging. I will report the matter to the college.” Meanwhile, DSP R.N. Mishra said, “A case under IPC Section-328 (administering stupefying drug with intent to cause injury) has been registered against four unknown students. We are probing the matter.” |
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Burglary at President’s Estate
New Delhi, September 6 According to the police, a computer and three pairs of dumb bells were stolen on Wednesday night. “We received a complaint on Thursday about the incident. The health centre’s caretaker Tasmim Ahmed told us that due to heavy rains on Wednesday night, there was waterlogging inside the centre and to clear that the Central Public Works Department sent a person named Chandrashekhar,” said a police official. The caretaker said that Chandrashekhar took the keys to the centre and then returned them when his work was over. When the caretaker came to the centre on Thursday morning, he discovered that the place had been burgled, th official said. “Ahmed discovered that the lights of medical officer Wing Commander Vikram Dutta’s office were on and his computer was missing,” the officer said.
— IANS |
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Bathroom fittings stolen from MP’s house
New Delhi, September 6 “The incident came to light Thursday afternoon when Shahbuddin Haidar, an aide to Janata Dal United JD(U) Rajya Sabha MP Ejaz Ali, noticed that bathroom fittings, including three taps and a shower, were missing from the MP’s 16-D Ferozshah Road residence,” a police official said. Haidar then complained to the police. “I had gone for some work around 1:30 pm on Thursday and returned around 2:30 pm. When I went to bathroom, I found three taps and shower were missing,” said Haidar. The MP was in Bihar when the theft took place.
— IANS |
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Chain of BSF officer’s wife snatched
Noida, September 6 Taking a grim view of the incident, SSP A.K. Singh suspended the in charge of the police post. The incident took place around 10 pm when Sector-53 resident Narinder Chauhan was returning home with his wife Neera Chauhan on a cycle rickshaw. As their rickshaw was crossing the police post, two bikers snatched Neera’s gold chain. Narinder informed the police post about the incident, but no immediate action was taken. Narinder then informed SSP A.K. Singh. The SSP immediately ordered his men to trace the criminals and placed in charge of the police post sub- inspector Kaushalendra Singh under suspension for his negligence. Singh said immediate action would be taken against the police officers who fail to control crime. |
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CISF constable found hanging
New Delhi, September 6 Om Prakash was found hanging from the ceiling at his house in Narela of north west Delhi by his father. He was unmarried. “No suicide note was found from the spot.” His father said he was depressed. |
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