New Delhi, September 28
On the occasion of Durga Puja and Dussehra, Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) community would be gifted with all-night healthcare facilities from tomorrow.

A demand that has been at the centre of students’ agenda for more than a decade was finally met, although not in totality.

After the students’ went on an eight-day hunger strike at the university campus followed by a demonstration at the University Grant Commission (UGC), the administration gave in.

“After prolonged negotiations, in a written statement, the administration agreed on keeping the health centre open at night,” said Sandeep, president, JNU Students’ Union (JNUSU).

The administration said the health centre would open from 9 pm to 8 am from September 29.

In the agreement the administration stated, “Ambulance would be available round the clock and equipped to handle emergency services along with emergency medicine. Further, the university will arrange for a qualified doctor to handle healthcare and emergency services at night from 9 pm to 8 am, assisted by a nurse.”

Even though the students said it was their victory that the administration agreed to their demands, they added that the demands were only a step towards ensuring proper health facilities.

“Suggestions from the entire JNU community should be taken into consideration while deciding the kind of infrastructure which needed to be made available, in particular the suggestions of the faculty of the Centre for Social Medicine and Community Health,” said Sandeep.

Meanwhile, after speaking to the officials at the UGC, the students’ union office-bearers have also asked the JNU administration to make public a statement about its funds and allocations with regard to the 11th plan and also to state how the university had decided to prioritise its spending.

New Delhi, September 28
While the city is busy in celebrating Dussehra today, it is very sad that many had forgotten the national hero who sacrificed his life for the freedom of the country, but foreigners even the people of our neighboring country, Pakistan, are chatting about his heroic deeds on the Internet, says Chaman Lal, professor at the Centre of Indian Languages in New Delhi.

Considered to be one of the most influential revolutionaries of the Indian independence movement, this hero is Bhagat Singh who was hanged for shooting a police officer, J.P.Saunders. Bhagat Singh shot him to avenge the death of freedom fighter Lala Lajpat Rai. His legacy prompted the youth in India to begin fighting for independence.

Today on his 102nd birthday, not many people paid tribute to the great martyr, but on the Internet there were many Pakistani youngsters who were quite eager to collect information on Bhagat Singh and were talking about him throughout the day.

“Bhagat Singh is our real hero. He should be celebrated as a Pakistani hero here in Lahore,” said a Pakistani national Ashraf Khan, in a chat room.

“Mera rang de basanti chola, mai rang de” and “Inquilaab Zindabad” are some phrases that touch the heart of every Indian and create a sense of patriotism. The ‘rang de’ song has always been associated with the time when Shaheed Bhagat Singh was about to be hanged.

He was born into a Sandhu Jat family to Sardar Kishan Singh Sandhu and Vidyavati in the Khatkar Kalan village near Banga in the Lyallpur district of Punjab.

Both communism and western anarchism had influence on him. He read the teachings of Karl Marx, Friedrich Engels, Vladimir Lenin, Leon Trotsky and Mikhail Bakunin.

“Singh has deeply contributed to the world and in particular to the future of socialism in India and Pakistan,” commented Jiah Shah.

A Pakistani Punjabi said, “Salute to Bhagat Singh who laid down his life for us. He is the hero of Pakistan. Sadly, no memorial has been raised here in Lahore, but I would definitely pay tribute to the great man.”

Radhika Heena, a well-known Pakistani writer too has written in one of her articles, “Bhagat Singh is the greatest martyr of Pakistan.”

New Delhi, September 28
Instead of helping to speed up the construction work of Commonwealth Games projects, the monitoring committee constituted by the Delhi government under various officers is delaying the work, said a senior officer related to the Commonwealth Games projects.

The officer said that engineers, contractors and others needed concentration at work. When the committee members visit a site to check the progress, they delay the work.

Various projects of the Delhi government and the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) are lagging behind. Hardly a year is left for organising the mega event of the Commonwealth Games, but work of Barapulla flyover is still incomplete. Hardly 30 per cent work has been done so far.

The same is the case of Ring Road bypass and road construction around the stadiums.

The officer suggested that instead of disturbing the officers involved in the construction work, the committee members should visit the sites and if any negative thing is noticed, the project manager concerned should be informed about it.

New Delhi, September 28
Trying to shift the method of classroom education from chalk and talk teaching to technology-enabled teaching, Indira Gandhi National Open University’s (IGNOU) School of Education has started Post Graduate Diploma in Educational Technology (PGDET).

The programme aims to develop the understanding of the nature of educational technology and its impact on teaching and learning.

The teachers would be introduced to various educational technologies.

Introducing the course, the pro vice-chancellor KR Srivathsan said, “Teachers should be supported by online course content and collaborative facilities to engage their students and benefit from the web resources. To make this happen, they should be given access to the Internet on reasonable rates.”

According to the coordinator of the programme, Sutapa Bose, “The conventional methods of teaching are not enough to ensure quality of learning.”

She added, “Teachers who are supposed to teach the students must themselves be able to handle innovative ICTs for delivery of education.”

New Delhi, September 28
As the gigantic effigy of Ravan went up in flames, spectators went ecstatic waving and cheering for Lord Ram here on Monday evening.

Thousands of people congregated at the historic Ramlila Grounds to witness this remarkable ceremony on the day of Dussehra, the festival that symbolises the triumph of good over evil.

Wild cheers and applause rented the air as effigies of demon king Ravan, who had abducted Lord Ram’s wife Sita, his son Meghnad and brother Kumbhakaran exploded in a brilliant display of fireworks to mark the grand finale of the nine-day Navratri celebrations.

Before putting the effigies on fire, Ramlila artists enacted the final battle episode of Ramayan complete with their dazzling outfits, heavy jewellery, accessories and brightly painted faces.

Among the eminent leaders present at the occasion were Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, United Progressive Alliance chairperson Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi, Priyanka Gandhi and her husband Robert Vadra, who watched the ceremony from a raised platform.

A large number of people were seen standing outside the gates of the Grounds to watch the burning of the effigies and the fireworks that lit up the night sky. Scores of people climbed the rooftops of residential buildings in the locality to view the celebrations.

Similar scenes were seen in hundreds of other parks and open spaces across the Capital.

People decked in new clothes watched the annual spectacle as the police kept a close watch over the proceedings.

With the police keeping a hawk-eye vigil, the celebrations passed off peacefully with no reports of any untoward incident from anywhere.

The festival of Dussehra coincides with the last day of Durga Puja, a ritual where Goddess Durga gets a farewell from her devotees as she returns to her celestial abode. Hundreds of idols of Durga were immersed in the river Yamuna today.

New Delhi, September 28
As hundreds of idols of Goddess Durga hit the Yamuna river today as part of immersion rituals, green activists had reason to breathe easy. Unlike earlier, many idols were made of natural colours and environment friendly clay!

Several organisers of Durga Puja across Delhi and national capital region (NCR) ensured that the Durga idols were made of clay that dissolved immediately in water and vegetable dyes to keep the Yamuna river free of pollution.

Environmentalists have been campaigning to save the river, which is clogged with filth on the stretch along the industrial area around Noida and Okhla Barrage in the NCR where most idols are immersed on the final day of the five-day Durga Puja.

“I crafted at least 16 idols from river clay ferried all the way from Punjab and West Bengal and used natural dyes free of chemicals. Both are washed away by water,” said artisan Manik Pal, who crafted most idols in south Delhi and in the high-end residential complexes of the national capital region (NCR). He added, “I also used hardened pastes of flour, wheat, semolina (suji), cereals and vegetable extracts to make the ornaments and accessories of the goddess so that they dissolve and do not accumulate on the banks.”

The heavy textiles used for decorating theDurga idols and her four children were also removed prior to immersion so that they could be ‘recycled’ in the coming season, an assistant of Pal’s said.

“Every year, I am horrified to see the plight of the river. So, this year, I ensured that all the idols I crafted were eco-friendly,” Pal grinned.

“The work is harder. It would be easy if I had used thermocol, but it does not dissolve easily in water. Ninety per cent idols in the Capital this year were eco-friendly,” he claimed.

Many revellers who accompanied the idols in trucks for immersion at the river this time carried minimum ritual items. “In fact, we did not immerse the plantain leaves and shoots that were used for the Bijoya Dashami puja this morning,” a Bengali priest from Greater Noida said.

The 100-year-old Durga Puja at Kashmere Gate also made a green statement.

“Our focus was environment. We used chalk clay to craft the idol and vegetable colours. Both are natural ingredients, which dissolve easily in water,” said Dipayan Mazumdar, vice-president of the Kashmere Gate Puja Samiti.

Flowers accumulated over the last five days were donated to an NGO for making perfume, Mazumdar added.

The mission to protect the Yamuna from clogging found many takers over the last three years.

One such non-profit group was the Society for Child Development, a Delhi-based non-governmental organisation engaging retarded children, which collects flowers from at least 15 temples along the Yamuna to make natural colours and perfumes as part of their Temple Flower project.

“We reaped a rich harvest during this Durga Puja with our daily collections,” Madhumita Puri of the Society for Child Development said.

Several independent campaigners also ensured that the banks of the polluted river remained clean during the Durga Puja festivities.

In August 2009, the Delhi Jal Board (DJB) had initiated a plan to resuscitate the Yamuna’s 22-kilometre stretch in the national Capital by constructing interceptor sewers at a cost of nearly Rs 1,800 crore. — IANS

Gurgaon, September 28
Dussehra, signifying the victory of good over evil, was celebrated with great enthusiasm at Gau Shala Ground here on Monday.

Member of parliament Rao Inderjeet was the chief-guest at the occasion.

The effigies of Ravan, his son Meghanath and brother Kumbhakaran were burnt in the presence of a large number of people.

The bursting of crackers was a big attraction at the venue. Children were seen purchasing bows and arrows from the hawkers.

Effigies of Ravan were also burnt near Prem Temple on old railway road, South City, DLF, Palam Vihar and many other colonies.

Taking into account the huge rush at the venues and the markets, tight security arrangements were made in the city.

New Delhi, September 28
There are 900 parent-hopefuls in the queue, but no children to take home. Adoption agencies in the Capital are facing an acute shortage of babies, and one major reason they say is that unwed mothers are no longer willing to abandon their child.

“We are facing an acute shortage of children. This has been happening for the past four years. There is a sharp decline (in getting children for adoption),” said Leila Baig, honorary secretary of the coordinating voluntary adoption resource agency (CVARA), a voluntary association of 10 adoption agencies in Delhi.

“There are no reasons or a study to show why there is a decline in the number of children. But we believe it is due to four main reasons - unwed mothers keeping their children, continued and sustained AIDS awareness drive resulting in youngsters using protection, private adoption and despite the ban on sex determination test they are happening,” said Baig in an interview.

She said unwed women, who due to socio-economic situations or fear of society would earlier leave their infants at adoption centers are now keeping them.

“The situation has changed now. Earlier, such mothers couldn’t cope or handle it. Now, no one frowns upon such a situation. In fact, many single women are nowadays adopting children,” she said.

Baig, who has been associated with CVARA since its inception, said that HIV and AIDS awareness campaigns highlighting safe sex and use of condoms was another reason.

“These days we see the advertisement for I-pill. Youngsters are more aware and ready for such situations now. They are careful and taking precautions to avoid unwanted pregnancies,” she added.

She said private adoptions have also become quite common.

“Parents, mostly poor, are giving away their child (they don’t want) to hospitals or nursing homes. These centres then act as placement agencies. These commercial transactions have become quite common and as a result people who have registered with licensed agencies face problems,” she added.

She said these institutes give the child away for adoption without providing counselling to the new parents or following proper steps. “Adoption should be ethical and proper,” she added.

“I think despite sex determination tests being banned, they are still going on. Why, otherwise, would we see a fall in the number of children coming to us?” she asked.

Till June this year, the agency has been able to provide 73 children to Indian parents, 21 to non-resident Indians and 81 to foreigners. “The waiting list for this year is over 900,” Baig said.

This has been the story since 2005, she added.

In 2005, they provided 413 children to adoptive parents, while the waiting list was 1,029.

But after 2005, a decline was noticed in the number of children adopted.

In 2006, 262 children were placed as compared to a waiting list of 1,010. In 2007, 1,316 people were in the queue for adoption, but the agencies could provide only 384 children.

In 2008, about 962 parents wanted to adopt, but only 268 were lucky.

“As we are not able to provide the children, we suggest to adoptive parents to go to other centres in Maharashtra or Orissa. We have no choice. We have to guide them,” Baig added.

One disappointed parent hopeful is Ashima Singh.

“I have called up all the adoption agencies in Delhi and was told that registrations are not open. I have been waiting for the past three months. I have registered with CVARA and I am hoping to hear favourable news soon,” said Singh.

Singh was told she could either go to Jalandhar in Punjab or Almora in Uttarakhand.

“I don’t know whether to be sad or rejoice (at the shortage). I am happy that children are not being abandoned and people are being careful,” said Baig. “But I feel bad when I see people eager to adopt a child have to wait for months for happy news. And sometimes, the wait is really long,” Baig added.

CVARA was set up in 1984 on the recommendations of the Supreme Court for rehabilitation of destitute and abandoned children through adoption into a loving family. — IANS

Ghaziabad, September 28
A contractor was shot dead and a municipal employee critically injured in Ghaziabad late on Sunday night after three men, one of whom is an army soldier, opened fire at them following a dispute over parking of vehicles, the police said on Monday.

The contractor, Prashant Chaudhary, was supervising the cleaning of Ambedkar road for Dussehra festival and the work was being undertaken by municipal sweepers.

Chaudhry’s motorcycle was standing in a parking slot in front of a local hotel and the three persons asked him to remove it from there. However, he refused and an argument ensued, which also drew some of the sweepers to the spot. Angered over Chaudhry’s refusal, one of three persons who was allegedly drunk took out a pistol and opened fire at the contractor.

After the shooting, the three fled the spot, but one of them dropped his mobile phone, which was recovered by the police, who used it to identify him.

Meanwhile, the sweepers informed the police who took the contractor and the injured municipal employee, identified as Deepak Chaudhary, to hospital where doctors declared the contractor dead. The municipal employee’s condition was critical, doctors said.

Circle officer Rajesh Bharti said a case has been registered against the three assailants, two of whom have been identified as Sunil Yadav and Umesh Yadav, both residents of the Bamheta area, on basis of the mobile phone. However, they are yet to be arrested.

According to Bharti, one of the assailants is a serving Army soldier, here on annual leave. If the soldier does not surrender to the police, they will inform his superiors, he added. — IANS

Ghaziabad, September 28
Additional director general of police (law & order) Arvind Kumar Jain has admitted that crime in Ghaziabad, Gautam Budh Nagar (Noida) and Muzzafarnagar seems to have gone beyond control. He said this while reviewing the crime situation in western Uttar Pradesh on Sunday.

He added that unprecedented rise in women-related crime had become a matter of concern. Special drives have been planned to combat the situation.

Jain said that a review of crime scene in seven districts of Meerut and Saharanpur range had shown that incidents of harassment, molestation, dowry death and snatching had risen phenomenally.

He informed that orders had been issued to SSPs, SPs COs and SHOs to curb such cases and book all criminals under the NSA and Gangster Act.

Jain who had conducted the meeting with senior officials in Meerut police line on Sunday admitted that cases of crime had shot in Ghaziabad, Muzzafarnagar and Noida. The three districts were reviewed in a separate meeting so that special strategy could be planned and efforts could be mounted to contain crime.

“We are trying to analyse why crime has increased in these districts. The SSPs of these districts have assured that results of special drives can be seen by next month,” Jain said.

We are trying to contain incidents of dacoity, murder, loot and crimes against women. He added that officials have been directed to take cases of crime against women seriously. Stress would also be laid on vehicle checks. Triple riding on two-wheelers would be curbed. Special campaigns would be taken against communal clashes, extortion and dealing with dreaded criminals and history sheeters, Jain added.

New Delhi, September 28
The All India Heart Foundation (AIHF) will launch an awareness drive for heart diseases among women, which they consider the most neglected and least prioritised group in the society.

A brainchild of AIHF president S. Padmavati, the campaign, which would be implemented by “The Red Brigade of Women”, aims at addressing the susceptibility of women to heart diseases.

The 10-member “brigade” would not only comprise women doctors and a nursing superintendent but would also include housewives and young women professionals.

“Heart diseases can occur at any age irrespective of whether it is men or women, children or adults. It’s a question of leading a healthy lifestyle and wellness,” said Padmavati here on the sidelines of an event organised to observe World Heart Day.

World Heart Day is observed to make people around the globe aware that heart disease and strokes are the world’s leading causes of death, claiming 17.2 million lives each year.

The 90-year-old AIHF president hoped to trigger off the awareness drive by training the Red Brigade about symptoms to watch out for and things to avoid to ward off heart disease. These women will then spread the message in the areas in a similar fashion.

“This is a very commendable idea since women are very susceptible group to heart diseases. Even though they are not addressed in the most national campaigns, they need to be the first targeted as they are the ones who end up guiding the entire family,” said Chacko George, the AIHF secretary and member, National Heart Institute.

Sunday’s event included an interaction between doctors and people from all walks of life, where doctors shared tips for good health and cleared myths prevalent among people about heart diseases.

As per the National Cardiology Update Conference 2009, in the past five decades, the rate of coronary diseases among urban populations in India has risen from four per cent to 11 per cent.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) estimates that by 2010, 60 per cent of the world’s cardiac patients would be Indians. — IANS