New Delhi, October 2
The crime branch of the Delhi police has arrested a notorious drug peddler Sabir Ali (35). Ali hails from Muzaffarnagar in UP and was living in Lahore, Pakistan, for the past two years. The customs department had issued a red corner notice against him in January this year.

According to Sanjay Tyagi, additional DCP (crime), Ali was arrested yesterday evening from near Welcome Metro station on the basis of a tip off.

According to the police, on January 26 this year, the custom officials posted at Attari border near Punjab had apprehended two passengers of the Samjhauta Express— Sadeeqan and Akhtar— and recovered 8.32 kgs and 6.3 kgs of heroin, respectively, from their possession.

During investigation, one Zahir Shahn, a citizen of Kabul in Afghanistan, presently residing at Madanpur Khadar at Sarita Vihar and having a shop in Meena Bazar, was arrested. It was then that the police learnt that Ali was the supplier of heroin and that he was staying in Lahore on tourist visa.

Despite best efforts by the customs department, Ali could not be arrested and finally a red corner notice was issued against him.  

During his interrogation, Ali revealed that he visited Pakistan for the first time when he was 15 years old, as one of his sisters was married there. He also told the police that his father Noor Mohammed was also involved in smuggling of goods between India and Pakistan.

During his stay at Dharam Pura in Lahore, Ali came in contact with one Aslam Katora, who is suspected to be an ISI agent and on his directions he started smuggling heroin from Pakistan through the passengers of Samjhauta Express.

“In October 2008, Ali got a 90-day Pakistan visa for Lahore from the Pakistan high commission with the help of Aslam and he started sending heroin to India,” said Tyagi.

“This time, Ali had entered India via Nepal and was trying to strengthen his network in Delhi and other parts of the country,” Tyagi added.

Further investigation is being done to know about his network and links with the ISI.

New Delhi, October 2
On the 140th birth anniversary of Rashtrapita Mahatma Gandhi, his granddaughter Tara Gandhi Bhattacharjee remembered Gandhi’s wife Kasturba Gandhi and other women who gave full support to the Bapu in his struggle for national independence.

“I am remembering Kasturba because Gandhi would not have been without her support,” said Bhattacharjee.

She was speaking at the launch of a ‘National Campaign on Prevention of Violence against Women’ at the India Gate today. The launch was marked by a collective pledge of peace and non-violence by hundreds of aanganwadi bal sevikas.

Bhattacharjee said it was the responsibility of women themselves to sensitise their sons at home about non-violence and respect for women. “We must give our sons also lessons in compassion and inculcate the values of gender equality in them,” she said.

Talking about Gandhi’s ideas on gender, Bhattacharjee said there were many lesser known facts about Mahatma. He had given a call for the South Indian women to wear salwar kameez instead of sari so that they could easily move. “He ensured women’s participation in the freedom struggle and said if strength was estimated mentally and morally and not just physically then women were the stronger gender,” she said.

The programme was organised by the minister of state of women and child development Krishna Tirath.

While addressing the anganwadi workers, Tirath said it was the women only who could construct a violence-free world. “Women must change the culture of violence in their houses first of all,” she said.

Tirath said the anganwadi workers, who had gathered from across the country, would act as the carriers of the message of peace and a violence free world for women back to their respective places.

“The country that we are proud of would only be called great if women were respected here,” she said.

The minister also read out the pledge at the end of the ceremony that called all the women to work towards making the country healthy and peaceful place for girls, boys and women.

Earlier in the day, Tirath organsied a Sahobhoj, a community lunch with Dalit women and launched another campaign for the prevention of violence against the Dalit women in different parts of the Capital.

A human chain was also made at the end of the ceremony as a mark of solidarity. 

New Delhi, October 2
Delhi will have a public health university and an Indian Institute of Public Health (IIPH) to provide a trained health workforce, chief minister Sheila Dikshit said after donating 51 acres of land for the two institutes on Friday.

The institutes will be built by the Public Health Foundation of India (PHFI), a public-private partnership between the central government, the Delhi government and private players - which is the brainchild of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.

The university, to come up in southwest Delhi, will be a constituent unit of the network of institutes being established by the PHFI. This campus will be named ‘Swasthya Niketan’.

Emphasising its importance, Dikshit said: “India has an urgent need for a trained public health workforce that can supplement ongoing efforts to provide health services and ensure their reach to those most needy.”

Delhi Health Minister Kiran Walia said: “This effort is also aimed at strengthening the overall health system in the country by creating a country-wide network of institutions committed to public health education, training, research, advocacy and policy initiatives.” — IANS

Greater Noida, October 2
Chaos was created when a lizard was found in the mid-day meal of a primary school here yesterday. The meal was to be served to 207 schoolchildren. As a result, all kids had to go without lunch.

The incident took place at Basic School in Jaitpur-Vaishpur village on Thursday. An NGO supplies mid-day meal to the school. The NGO vehicle had reached the school premises at 7:30 am while the school opens at 10 am. The suppliers had reportedly placed the meal in the school and had left.

Some children allegedly spotted a lizard in the curry. They fished out the lizard and threw it in the bushes. When the teachers reached the school they were told about the incident. They allegedly warned the students to keep quiet on the issue.

School head master Sri Chand who reached the school much later rubbished the matter and claimed that no lizard was found in the meal. He said the children were mistaken.

District basic education officer Dharam Veer said that he too had no knowledge about the lizard.

However, he has assured that the matter would be probed and the guilty be punished.

New Delhi, October 2
In artist Rachna Chhachhi’s eyes, the earth is a “despairing woman” weighed down by natural woes.

“I have been trying to raise awareness about ecological degradation through my art and spread the message of conserving fresh water species,” said Chhachhi at the opening of her exhibition at the India Habitat Centre here on Wednesday evening.

Called “The Ugly Earth”, the exhibition by the former journalist and now corporate social responsibility consultant has 13 paintings in acrylic colours.

Earth comes across as a woman stripped naked. She wilts at the shores of mountainous lakes, in strange forests, degraded land and on steps of fire.

The proceeds from the show will go to the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) .

The exhibition will closes on Oct 6. — IANS

Faridabad, October 2
Large number of parents of children studying in private schools today held a demonstration against the Haryana government and private school managements, as the government has failed to make the schools abide by its directive of not to hike fee.

The parents agitating under the aegis of Haryana School Abhivavak Ekta Manch blocked Neelam Chowk and roads connecting it for over 10 minutes.

They demanded from the government to make private schools follow its directive and roll back their decision to increase fees. They threatened that they would take out a ‘rath yatra’ during election campaigns and advertise against the nominees of political parties, especially the Congress. They said they would highlight the the Haryana government’s “collusion” with private schools.

Subash Lamba, spokesperson of Haryana Sarva Karamchari Sangh which is supporting parents, said parents would continue their agitation until the government’s directive was obeyed and private schools restrained from hiking fees.

A directive issued by education commisioner-cum-director general of Haryana school education on July 6, 2008, had asked private schools to meet the expenditure of increased salaries of their teachers from their individual reserve funds.

In case any school was financially tight, it could raise its tuition fee from 2009 academic session by 20 per cent. The directive was issued after the Sixth Pay Commission recommendations.

Schools that had submitted the annual income and expenditure statement to the government could raise fees.

General secretary of Haryana School Abhibhavak Ekta Manch Kailsah Sharma alleged some schools had increased their fees by about 45 per cent. He further alleged the schools had been toruturing students and their parents who were requesting them to abide by the directive.

He also cited the incident where two girls of Faridabad Model School were stripped by their teachers in classrooms, as their parents had failed to deposit the increased fees.

He alleged although one of the teachers was arrested, the police did not book the principal Shashi Mallick and her husband H.S. Mallick who is the director of the school. The two were not booked even after the victim’s mother alleged in the FIR that the teacher had stripped her daughter on the principal’s behest.

The parents alleged all their democratic ways of protesting were exhausted and they were now ready for a showdown. They further alleged that no leader from any political party had paid heed to their woes. Therefore, they have threatened to campaign against all parties in the upcoming Assembly elections.

The parents had recently burnt effigies of the Haryana ministers, school managements and the “mafia” related to private schools.

Gurgaon, October 2
He wants to beat seasoned politicians with huge margin and his main agenda is to provide better basic amenities to the residents of Gurgaon.

Meet R.S. Rathee (44), a civil engineer by profession, who is contesting the Assembly elections as an Independent candidate, and has come out with a manifesto that highlights burning issues of the city along with their possible solutions.

Rathee has the support of about 200 of resident welfare associations (RWAs) and is leaving no stone unturned as, according to him, he is fighting for the welfare of the general people. Rathee feels that instead of becoming a millennium city, Gurgaon has actually become a problem city due to the crumbling infrastructure.

In his manifesto, he talks about erratic power and water supply, waterlogging during rains, traffic problems and many other public issues.

When asked why he was contesting the election, Rathee said, “MLAs in the past have not performed up to the expectations of the residents who want better roads, clean surroundings and regular power and water supply. If elected, I will ensure a better living environment for the residents.”

Rathee has good experience in the development and maintenance of civic amenities and community facilities.

He has devoted more then 10 years of his life in public services as the president of the DLF Qutub Enclave RWA and Gurgaon Citizens Council (GCC).

Rathee is a known face in the city, but will have to work hard as he is locked in a direct fight with Dharam Bir Gaba of Congress, Maniram Sharma of INLD, Umesh Aggarwal of BJP, Bhim Singh Rathi BSP and many other parties.

Dharma Sagar, member of GCG said the present government has failed to look into the problems of the general people so they decided to choose a person who would raise people’s voice in the parliament.

“By giving ticket to an old and non-functional candidate, the Congress party has played a joke with the residents of Gurgaon. This shows that the party is not serious about solving the problems of the city,” he claimed.

Currently the Gurgaon seat is held by Congress’s Dharam Bir Gauba.