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15 child labourers rescued
JNU teachers end fast
Land scam: 4 IAS officers chargesheeted
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Dwarka to get 100 buses
Panel approves Rs 350 crore
for nine projects
Leather fair opens amid protests
by animal rights group
Rs 25 lakh given to slain cop’s widow
Teacher stabbed inside classroom
2 killed in suspicious circumstances
Trader robbed after stabbing
Chhat celebrations on
Double murder case solved
Poll: JNU students decry SC move,hold vigil
Mild tremors felt in Delhi
2 suicides in Delhi
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New Delhi, October 23 The children, boys in the age group of seven to 14, were rescued from Kotla Mubarakpur in south Delhi, the police said. Trafficked from Sitamarhi and Begusarai districts of Bihar and Howrah district of West Bengal, the boys were brought to the city by middlemen almost a year back. In almost all cases it was a familiar story - the middleman, a relative at times, promises the parents of the children a better future in Delhi. But once in the city, the kids become bonded labourers. Qamil, a 10-year-old who was rescued, said: “An uncle came to my village and told my parents that he can take me to the city and send me to school so that I have a good future. My parents agreed and sent me with him.” “But once here, I was forced to work in the zari industry. There were many other boys like me. We all had to stay in a small, dingy room and work for 13-16 hours daily,” he said. If his work was not satisfactory, the factory owner beat him. Rakesh Senger, national secretary of BBA (Bachpan Bachao Andolan), the NGO that led the raid and rescue operation with the police said this was the first time when all stakeholders - the district task force on elimination of child labour comprising the sub-divisional magistrate, the child welfare committee, Delhi police, labour department and NGOs - had come together for the mission. Lallan Singh, the sub-divisional magistrate, added: “The children worked from early in the morning till late at night and never received any wages for their work. After rescuing them, we have given the children release certificates under the Bonded Labour Law.” “This entitles them to a rehabilitation package of Rs 20,000 and availing of government schemes like Indira Awas Yojana, housing schemes and enrolment in government schools.” On October 8, 35 bonded child labourers were rescued from zari workshops.— IANS
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JNU teachers end fast
New Delhi, October 23 The teachers have been on hunger strike since Wednesday protesting against University Grants Commission’s (UGC) draft resolution regarding the pay scales of assistant professors. “We were expecting someone from the ministry to come and listen to our demands. But no representative arrived till today,” said Vivek Kumar, general secretary, JNU teachers’ association (JNUTA). The call for a university-wide hunger strike was given at a general body meeting of the teachers where it was decided that only a hunger strike would be called so that the classes were not affected. More than 90 teachers participated in the relay hunger strike each day, while the whole teaching community wore black bands and took part in demonstrations. “Our main problem is with the revised regulations for the promotion of assistant professors. Three years have been added to the number of years of service required for their promotion to professorship,” said Kumar. Earlier the assistant professors were considered for professorship after eight years, but now they are eligible for promotion only after 12 years. “They have lost three years in promotion. Things have been made worse by the fact that their pay scale would be upgraded only after 15 years, which means another three years. This has no rationale,” said Kumar. The teachers had met the UGC chairperson on October 16 and submitted a memorandum regarding their demands. However, they said no substantial logic was given to them. Another issue that JNUTA was protesting against was the guidelines of academic progress report (APR) that has been formulated to keep record of the teachers’ performance. “Promotions would be given taking into account the points earned by a teacher under the APR. The guidelines provided in the record are baseless,” said Kumar. Teachers believe that publication of a professor’s article in “referral” journals was a ridiculous way of judging its importance. “Even Economic Political Weekly (EPW) was not referral till lately. Also, the fact that teachers with articles in foreign journals are to be given more points than Indian journals, only rests on the prejudice that foreign journals are better than Indian ones,” said Kumar. The future course of teachers’ protest would be decided tonight at a JNUTA meeting.
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Land scam: 4 IAS officers chargesheeted
Noida, October 23 The scam had occurred during the Mulayam Singh Yadav’s government. These officers have been accused of selling Noida land at cheaper rates that has resulted in a loss of Rs 4,500 crore to the exchequer. The officers include ex-Noida chairman, Rakesh Bahadur, ex-CEO Sanjeev Saran, ex-deputy CEO Ravinder Nair, and the then divisional commissioner, Meerut, Dev Dutt Sharma. These have been asked to file a reply within a fortnight. A senior officer said since Dev Dutt Sharma had retired, other three Rakesh Bahadur, Sanjeev Saran and Ravinder Nair were under suspension.
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Dwarka to get 100 buses
New Delhi, October 23 Sources said this would be known as shuttle bus service. The inauguration would be held in Sector 7, where a bus depot for the sub city has been constructed. The sub city will have a control room to monitor the Global Positioning System (GPS). The sources said it had not been decided yet that how many buses would be air-conditioned in the Dwarka shuttle bus service. A meeting will be held to take this decision. The buses will transport from the sub city to the IGI Airport. The decision was taken, because there was no public transport system in Dwarka. Even Metro was not sufficient for the residents for it goes to a selected distance only. There would be low-floored and GPS-enabled buses. There would be no private buses on the sub city roads, the sources added. Besides, the government has decided to start a ring road bus service for the trans Yamuna area. The trans Yamuna ring road bus service will start from Anand Vihar to Dilshad Garden, Sonia Vihar to Yamuna Pushta and Mayur Vihar.
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Panel approves Rs 350 crore
for nine projects
New Delhi, October 23 The decision was taken at a meeting of the EFC chaired by Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit. Talking to media after the meeting, Dikshit said four new Delhi Transport Corporation (DTC) bus depots would be constructed at Malikpur village, Daurala, Bakkarwala and Dichaunkala–II. The parking capacity of these depots will be 710 buses. The depots will be ready in nine months and their cost of construction would be Rs 114.40 crore. Dikshit further stated that a new campus of Indraprastha Institute of Information Technology (IIIT), the IT institute which has been given the status of state university by an act of the Delhi government, would be set up at Okhla, Phase-III. The college is presently functioning from its transit camp office at Dwarka. The new campus would be constructed within 18 months with an estimated cost of Rs 99.99 crore, the CM added. Dikshit said keeping in view the ensuing Commonwealth Games, the committee has sanctioned Rs 10.88 crore for improvement of roads under the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) and another Rs 61 crore for upgradation of streetlights on MCD roads. For this, the committee has selected 50 roads with the total length of 157 kilometers in different MCD zones. Further, Rs 64 crore has been sanctioned for five PWD projects. These include strengthening of the Nelsan Mandela Marg from Mehrauli T-point, Mahipalpur road and Mathura road from Bhogal overbridge to Neela Gumbad, upgradation of Mehrauli-Badarpur road, strengthening of Ring Road from Dhaula Kuan flyover. Upgradation of Mehrauli-Badarpur road would provide a smooth flow of traffic up to Karni Singh Shooting Range. These works will be completed within seven to eight months. |
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Leather fair opens amid protests
by animal rights group
New Delhi, October 23 “Anybody who purchases animal leather contributes to the misery that animals endure in slaughterhouses,” said a young activist of PETA. “Wearing animal skins in any form supports cruelty. Hence, try to discard such goods,” said Nikunj Sharma of PETA. He added that alternatives like synthetic leather and animal-friendly goods were available at almost all major shoe or clothing shops. So bags, belts and shoes made of animal skin should be shunned, not celebrated and promoted at a fair. According to the animal rights protection groups, the leather industry doesn’t even abide by the basic animal protection laws. Amidst all the protests outside, the governor applauded the recent growth of country’s leather industry. He pointed out that India was emerging as a major global player in the field of finished leather products with leading international brands sourcing leather and leather products from India. He asked the leather exporting community to be competitive and follow good business ethics, maintain global standards in quality and reliability so that the export earning from leather and leather products could touch US $ 7.03 billion mark by 2013-14. The three-day exposition has become a must on the itinerary of global buyers, who would get various choices at the fair. Over 100 leading companies from India, China, Italy, Taiwan and Thailand have displayed a wide range of products, including shoes, leather garments, fashion accessories, travel ware, belts, gloves, portfolios, machinery and equipment, chemicals and consultancy services. |
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Rs 25 lakh given to slain cop’s widow
New Delhi, October 23 The state government has already given an ex-gratia amount of Rs 11 lakh and appointed his wife Maya as a teacher in a government school, officials here said. “The Delhi government has highest regard for bravery and supreme sacrifice of late Mohan Chand Sharma,” said an official statement here. Sharma, 44, was hit by three bullets when he went to capture five suspected terrorists in south Delhi’s Batla House on September 19 last year. He later succumbed to the injuries in a hospital.Sharma had joined the Delhi police as sub-inspector in 1989. He was given an out-of-turn promotion and made inspector in 1995. He was awarded the President’s Medal seven times. Sharma was also posthumously conferred with Ashok Chakra for showing exemplary courage and devotion to duty. — IANS
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Teacher stabbed inside classroom
New Delhi, October 23 “Around 11 am when she was in Class II, a youth broke into the classroom. He asked her the way to Class IV. When Bhan was explaining him the way, the youth said that the teaching standard in the school was not good and suddenly stabbed her on the thigh” said the police officer. The police said that the students got scared and started crying. Hearing the cries, other teacher gathered at the spot and found that Bhan was bleeding profusely. They then made a call to the police control room , after which, Bhan was rushed to hospital. The police suspects that personal enmity could be the reason behind the attack. |
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2 killed in suspicious circumstances
Noida, October 23 The police has not yet been able to identify the deceased persons. Both the bodies have been sent for post-mortem. The deaths are being investigated by the Phase-II and Sector-39 police. In the first case, the victim was found unconscious near Sadarpur village on Wednesday. The Sector-39 police had rushed him to the government hospital. He died on Thursday. In the second case, the body was found dumped on the road between Sectors 82 and 110. When people saw the body, they informed the police. The body bore serious injuries marks. The victim was wearing a T-shirt and a chappal. His shirt bears a tag of a tailor in Lucknow. |
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Trader robbed after stabbing
Noida, October 23 The victim was found by the police on the Expressway near Bakhtayarpur village.While being taken to the hospital, he had told the police that he had come to Bhajanpura village to collect money. There he had a clash with some persons at an eatery. The persons beat him up and took him towards Noida. In Sector-3, he was stabbed in the stomach and dumped near Bhakhtayarpur village. |
Chhat celebrations on
New Delhi, October 23 The government has made arrangements at the 29 ghats in Delhi. Security personnel and divers are also deployed at the ghats to face any untoward situation. Mostly married women take bath in the waters to practice rituals during the festival. Deputy Commissioners, east and north-east districts said the government had made the arrangements for the puja. Mithlesh Sharma, who hails from Bokaro and has been residing in Delhi for many years, said Chhat is an important festival in Jharkhand and Bihar. “We prefer to go to our villages before the festival. But, this time I could not manage so I will do the puja her,” he added. Delhi Pradesh Congress Committee president (DPCC), Jai Prakash Agarwal, extended greetings to the people of Poorvanchal. Leader of Opposition in Delhi Assembly Vijay Kumar Malhotra also wished the Delhiites.
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Double murder case solved
New Delhi, October 23 The police said deceased Anita was earlier Pawan Chautala’s sister-in-law (bhabhi) and was married to his elder brother Bhagwan. However, Pawan developed intimate relations with Anita and later married her. Pradeep told the police that he suspected Pawan Chautala of being involved in shooting his younger brother who barely survived. Similarly, other accomplices, namely Ashok Kala, Pradeep, Praveen and Sonu, all residents of Rohtak, sais they had some problem with him and wanted to settle once for all. Thus, they planned to eliminate Pawan and Anita and chose Karva Chauth to commit the crime. They all fired multiple times at them to ensure that both were dead.
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Poll: JNU students decry SC move,hold vigil
New Delhi, October 23 Hundreds of students gathered at the Godavari Dhaba at the university for an evening of poetry, songs and documentary films. “Reflecting JNU’s cultural diversity, students presented revolutionary poetry in Persian, Kashmiri, French, Nepali, Hindi, Urdu, English and Tamil. Various cultural groups presented songs and plays,” said Shephalika Shekhar, vice-president, JNUSU. The students said since the Supreme Court had stayed their JNUSU elections, they had learnt how necessary it was to keep alive the democratic culture of the university. “The forces that stand against us have come out in open, be it the university administration or forces that have tried to divide the campus on communal lines. It is the strength of the university’s culture that these have been defeated time and again by the campus community,” Shephalika added. She said: “In all campuses where the Lyngdoh report has been applied, campuses neither hold election nor there is a culture of democracy. This can be seen on the nearby campuses of DU where even Lyngdoh has not helped instill democratic tendencies against the use of money and muscle power.”
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Mild tremors felt in Delhi
New Delhi, October 23 “Delhi and NCR felt mild tremors due to seismic activity in the Hindu Kush region. We can also expect minor aftershocks in the area,” said JL
Gautam, IMD director (seismology). —IANS |
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2 suicides in Delhi
New Delhi, October 23 In another incident, a 30-year-old woman allegedly committed suicide by drinking pesticide at Jharoda Kalan village of Najafgarh area in west Delhi. Her husband Rajesh was not in the house. Robbery
Six armed man allegedly barged into an Iron Factory and decamped with Rs 6 lakh in the Rohala area of west Delhi last night.According to the factory owner, Rajesh Mahajan, he had kept the money for
payment to a client.
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Barely two weeks after a similar rescue mission, 15 child labourers from Bihar and West Bengal were rescued from zari sweatshops in the Capital on Friday by the police and an NGO.
New Delhi, October 23
