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Unique parliament takes up cudgels for women
Scholars stress importance of Hindustani
Publication firm director dies
in accident
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Govt circular
to streamline nursery admissions
‘21 male family members were killed within hours’
4 kids hurt in balcony collapse
16 fresh dengue cases in Delhi
Decision on water tariff hike this week
Gzb trader murdered
Rapist marries victim
4 lakh kids die of pneumonia
every year in India
Man intervenes in scuffle; killed
Woman’s body found
Students’ stir against AMU closure reaches Delhi
Gaiety marks Gurpurab
Woman, grandson die in building collapse
Mock drills at Games venues
Court for gender equality in mishap relief
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Unique parliament takes up cudgels for women
New Delhi, November 2 The four-day parliament has been formed to challenge the ‘male’ politics. It has been organized by National Alliance for Women (NAWO) and has two parties: the ruling Progressive Party and the opposition Democratic Party. The ruling party nominated Ruth Manorama from Bangalore as the prime minister and also set up a 28-member cabinet along with the council of ministers, which includes names like Meera Shiva as health minister and Dr Neelavalli from Tamil Nadu as the finance minister. The leader of opposition is Neelam Chaturvedi from UP. When asked what NAWO wanted to achieve by holding this parliament, NAWO president Ruth Manorama said, “The aim is to create women leaders and create an alternative political space where issues can be discussed from a gender perspective. Also to prepare a roster of women who are aware of local and national issues and can raise their voices on these issues.” The question hour reflected the levels of political maturity and preparedness to take part in the legislative process. It was a lively affair where important issues like violence against women, the state of land distribution in the hands of women, trafficking of women and the housing situation of the urban poor were discussed. Showing how serious NAWO is about the issues at hand, the first bill to be tabled was the Women Reservation (Amendment) Bill 2009. The other bills to be tabled during the first day were the Domestic Workers (Regulation of Employment, Conditions of Work, Social Security and Welfare) Bill 2009 and the Right to Recall Bill, 2009. One of the main highlights is the union budget to be presented on November 3. Members of parliament claim that this budget will reflect the difference in the thinking of women MPs as compared to their male counterparts. The process of electing representatives from the constituencies began a year back and women from all walks of life were encouraged to represent their regions resulting in lawyers, teachers, professors and social workers coming forward to take up this challenge. Explaining the process, Dr Pam Rajput, vice-president of NAWO and convenor of women’s parliament, said, “We prepared a manual, had a training of trainers, (TOT) and then the trainers trained all the women in each state for three days in parliamentary proceedings before this event. All the women are capable leaders in their own rights.” The parliament will end on November 5. NAWO will then reflect on the issues discussed and come to the conclusion which will be revealed to the media on the final day.
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Scholars stress importance of Hindustani
New Delhi, November 2 As part of the two-day national seminar organised by Centre of Indian Languages of Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU), teachers and researchers of Hindi, Urdu and Hindustani talked about the relevance of Indian languages in context of joining different sections. The seminar was inaugurated by vice-chancellor of Mahatma Gandhi International Hindi University Wardha, V.N.Rai, who spoke of the importance that Gandhi gave to the Hindustani language, to be written in both Devnagri and Persian script which he considered necessary for national integration. “Executive members of my university did not approve of my plans to start a department of Hindustani, though I am still hopeful of it,” said Rai. He said Mahatma Gandhi was perhaps the only national leader, who understood the importance of an inclusive common language for independent India. Chairperson of the centre, Chaman Lal regretted that just a few months after Gandhi’s assassination, his desired common language Hindustani was defeated in the constituent assembly. Later, Javri Mal Parikh from Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU) explained in detail about how Hindustani propounded by Gandhi was defeated by the present official language of India, Hindi, by 77 to 78 votes in constituent assembly. Prof. R. Kumar, rector of JNU, appreciated the papers and honoring of senior faculty of the centre. Mohd Hasan and Kedarnath Singh, both known Urdu and Hindi writers were honored on the occasion.
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Publication firm director dies
in accident
Greater Noida, November 2 The director was pulled out after breaking open the door of the car, who died on the spot.According to the police, he was identified as Travor Brady director of L.B. Associates Publication Company at Sector 63, Noida. The deceased was living at Sector Beta II in Greater Noida.” The director’s demise was an hour of grief for the entire company.
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Govt circular
to streamline nursery admissions
New Delhi, November 2 The sale of admission forms begins on December 15 and forms have to be submitted by January 15, 2010. If the school has a modification in the schedule, it has to intimate the DOE by November 15. The circular insisted that the schools have to strictly abide by the proposed dates of commencement and submission of forms. A senior DOE official said, “Our attempt is to organize and standardize nursery admissions in the Capital. It is paramount that all schools have the same schedule for admissions as this will benefit parents and schools alike and remove any confusion. It is important that all the schools stick to the schedule. We will not tolerate any digression.” Parents appear to be relieved at the intervention of the DOE. Vineeta Bhagat who is trying to get her son admitted, says, “At least now we know the dates, otherwise the nursery admissions appear to be so confusing. This should make the process easier. I can now apply at the school of my choice. I have at least two months to plan this admission season.” Another parent Rakesh Mehta says, “Nursery admissions appear to be very confusing. The process began as early as September this year for some schools and others were announcing dates in October, but now this announcement by the DOE changes everything. This is definitely a positive move.” A teacher of Springdales School, Pusa Road, says, “We at Springdales welcome the DOE’s announcement of the schedule for admissions. Unlike many other schools, our school did not announce admissions but chose to wait for the schedule to come out. Many parents feel relieved with the announcement as this will definitely streamline admission process.” Many new schools who rushed into announcing admissions prematurely are seeing the DOE’s announcement as a “nuisance” and an infringement on their rights. Many of them have completed their admission process in October and the DOE’s circular is bound to throw their plans awry. |
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‘21 male family members were killed within hours’
New Delhi, November 2 Total 21 lives, all from the same family, snuffed out within hours. “Now, my whole life is like this - there is no single moment when the thought of my husband goes away,” says Kaur, now 45. She speaks about the massacre after a lot of persuasion. But no pictures, she says. “It was the morning of November 1. Indira Gandhi had been killed a day earlier. News of the riots had spread. All women and children were hiding in our house. The men were hiding in other places,” Kaur tells IANS. She used to live with her husband and others, including her father-in-law, mother-in-law, three brothers-in-law and sister-in-law, in Sagarpur area of west Delhi. The other members of the extended family lived next door. “Our houses were in a row. When we were hiding, we could hear people raising slogans against Sikhs and talking about killing us,” she adds. Her eyes well up from time to time, her hands tremble and she finds it difficult to summon the words. She remembers the night clearly. “There was a tubewell near our house and adjoining it was a small room. In this room, 13 men were hiding. The rioters somehow got information about them and they burnt the room where they were hiding. As the men came out because of the fire, they killed them mercilessly,” says Kaur. “The mob put burning tyres around the necks of our men and thrashed them with rods. Among the 13 were two of my brothers-in-law, father-in-law Gurnam Singh, his four brothers and their sons,” she recalls, her hands trembling. They were among around 3,000 Sikhs who were butchered, mostly in north India, in the mob frenzy that followed Indira Gandhi’s assassination. She had been married to Narendra Singh for two years. Kaur’s eyes start to water as she recalls his death. “From the roof, I saw my husband’s body lying on the road in front of our house. He was killed by rods and was lying in a pool of blood. We shouted for doctors and others to help, but there was no one to listen. “His death was the end of my world. He was everything for me. The women with me took me inside fearing I could attract the attention of rioters,” she says. “One of my brothers-in-law had cut his hair and was with the mob so that none could identify him,” she says. The women then took shelter in an empty house built just behind her residence. “We were sure that they would come inside our house soon. So we shifted to an empty house - just behind ours. No one was living there. All women and children went there as we felt no one would suspect us there,” Kaur says. “The rioters tried to draw us out by shouting that the mob would have to run as the ‘sardars had come to kill’ them. But we knew that wasn’t the case, so we kept hiding quietly. “They had some chemical that they threw on people,” she says. At night, these 30 women and children gathered courage and went out. “We decided that sitting in the house wouldn’t help either. During the night, we slipped out and went to our relative’s house in Hari Nagar. I will never forget the scenes I saw at that time,” she said. Later, she got monetary compensation and a house in the Tilak Vihar area, where she lives with her mother now. Her only source of income is sewing clothes. Her father died a few years ago - a broken man. “That one day changed my life forever. It’s just me and my mother now. Since then, I have never gone to Sagarpur, not even close to that place. “I am living with the memories of my husband,” says Kaur, who chose not to remarry. She didn’t have any children from the marriage. “I was promised a job but never got one. I have again filled a form and hope to get a job,” she added. Asked if she expects justice, she says: “I don’t have faith that anyone will ever get punished. Twenty-five years have passed since the riots and nothing has happened.” — IANS
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4 kids hurt in balcony collapse
Noida, November 2 The children, who sustained minor injuries, were admitted to the district hospital. The deputy superintendent of police Ambesh Tyagi said, “A balcony of a house at Chaura Raghunathpur collapsed. The house belonged to one Kalu Singh Rana. At the time of the collapse, the injured, who are the family members of two of Rana’s tenants— Munna Kumar and Bhure Lal—, were filling water at the hand pump just under the balcony. “The injured children have been identified as Priti Kumari (15), Laxmi Kumari (11), Nirdesh Kumari (18) and Ram Mohan (8). Their condition is said to be stable,” said
Tyagi.“The building was very old and was not properly maintained. Legal action against the landlord has been initiated,” added Tyagi. |
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16 fresh dengue cases in Delhi
New Delhi, November 2 “There were 16 new, confirmed cases of dengue today (Monday). The numbers are rising. However, there is no need to panic since last year the numbers had been higher than this,” said N.K. Yadav, chief medical officer of the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD). On Sunday, the total number of cases reported stood at 366. In the past few months, there have been two deaths recorded due to dengue — a 15-year-old boy and a nine-year-old boy. Yadav said temperatures were warmer this year due to less-than-normal rains during the monsoon and, therefore, there was not much breeding of mosquitoes. Last year till November 1, a total of 1,070 cases of dengue had been reported. Besides the door-to-door checks, the MCD is also fumigating several places in the Capital to curb mosquito breeding. “We are well-prepared to handle dengue, and our domestic breeding checkers have been taking rounds of their respective areas since May,” Yadav said. — IANS
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Decision on water tariff hike this week
New Delhi, November 2 Sources said the board meeting of the DJB will meet later this week to take a final decision on the issue. Last week, the DJB in principle agreed that there was no other way, but to hike the water charges to meet the increasing revenue shortfall. However, a final decision has been postponed to the next meeting. Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit, who is chairperson of the DJB, said she had asked officials to “rationalise the proposed slabs” and incorporate suggestions given by members of the board. The meeting discussed three-four slabs for hiking the tariff. The new rates could come into effect from January.—
PTI |
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Gzb trader murdered
Ghaziabad, November 2 According to information, the body was recovered from the Mussourie’s Kallu Garhi area. The body was lying in a pool of blood. The deceased was identified as Pankaj Jain, son of Kulwant Jain, a resident of Hardev Sahai Mohalla. He was running a shop in the Govindpuri area. His servant told the police that when Pankaj left home on Sunday, he carried Rs 90,000 along. He had boarded a tempo but did not reach home till late night. His body was found near the railway crossing today, he added. |
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Rapist marries victim
New Delhi, November 2 Additional sessions judge S.K. Sarvaria said: “The fact that the prosecutor got married and she and the convict are living a peaceful married life for over a year, in my view, is both adequate and special reason to award him lesser imprisonment than the prescribed minimum punishment of seven years in jail.” The court has imposed a fine of Rs 1,800 on convict Shakil, alias Tikla. He was charged under the Section 376 (rape), 363 (abduction) and 506 (criminal intimidation) of the Indian Penal Code. An FIR was lodged on March 10, 2005, by the girl’s mother alleging that their neighbour Shakil had taken her daughter away after threatening her brother. The penal provision that a rape convict cannot be awarded term of less than seven years can be altered by the court, which will have to give special reasons for the lenient approach. Earlier, the court dismissed a joint plea, filed by the victim and the accused, seeking dropping the case on the ground that they were married and are living a peaceful life.
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4 lakh kids die of pneumonia
every year in India
New Delhi, November 2 Realising the urgency, 20 countries across the world observed the first-ever World Pneumonia Day today, and lending voice to the global campaign, health experts gathered at PWD House in the Capital. The fight, for which the experts called for a multi-thronged intervention, is critical for the country, as every fifth child succumbing to pneumonia is an Indian. Enumerating the significant obstacles in bringing down the increasing number of childhood deaths due to pneumonia, the president of Indian Academy of Paediatrics, Dr Panna Choudhury, suggested a three-pronged approach focusing on removing the risk factors that contribute to the child health crisis. “Pneumonia deaths are not realised by stakeholders. It is significant to address the hurdles in bettering the health of children. The main contributors of pneumonia are under-nutrition, indoor pollution and clogged living conditions,” outlined Dr Choudhury. The incidence of pneumonia in rural settings is more vis-a-vis urban regions given the inherent factors. “In 90 per cent of houses in rural India, families still have open-pit fires. Many families do not have access to better infrastructure (smokeless alternatives) due to the lack of awareness, while many insist on using it,” said Dr Marta Levitt-Dayal of Maternal and Child Health–STAR initiative of USAID (India). The executive director of India Clinical Epidemiology Network, Dr Narendra Arora sharing certain glimpses of a study on care-seeking practices conducted in eight states, said, 40-50 per cent of children die at home without any medical attention. “Mothers’ understanding about the illness and her child’s health is crucial, and so in the rural areas, especially mothers ought to be apprised of the symptoms of the disease,” stressed Dr Arora. Officer in-charge with the family and community health at WHO (India), Dr Rajesh Mehta, said the three catchwords are “prevent, protect and treat”. “Health system in India is currently overstressed. Despite having several national health programmes, the outcome is not encouraging. The immunisation coverage is poor due to the mothers’ failure in recognising the symptoms early,” said Dr Mehta. Pneumonia may be bacterial, viral or fungal in nature, but the most severe are caused due to two bacteria—stretococcus pneumoniae (pneumococcus) and haemophilus influenza type b (Hib), which together account for 50 per cent of pneumonia fatalities. |
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Man intervenes in scuffle; killed
New Delhi, November 2 The incident was reported from Taimur Nagar in the New Friends Colony police station area late last night and the victim has been identified as Govardhan, who works in a dairy there. Govardhan intervened in a fight between four men, who were under the influence of alcohol, outside a dairy owned by Zile Singh where he was working for the past 15 years. “He intervened and asked them to leave the area. A verbal altercation followed and one of them stabbed Govardhan on his chest,” a police official said. The four youngsters then fled the spot, he said, adding that the workers at the dairy admitted him to a nearby hospital where doctors declared him brought dead. The police has detained a few suspects. A case of murder has been registered at the New Friends Colony police station. — PTI |
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Woman’s body found
Gurgaon, November 2 The police has registered a case against the unknown persons in connection with the killing. The deceased identified as Zarina, native of Bihar, had been putting up near Vatika building over here. The police said that they received the information early in the morning by some people who were passing from there and found her body. The police has taken her body under custody and sent it for postmortem. According to the information, she came here along with her husband two years back and was putting up on rent near Vatika building but he left her one year ago. Since then, she had been staying in a jhuggi here and was working as a maid in nearby houses. The police said marks had been found on her neck which showed that she might be strangled, but it is waiting for the postmortem report. According to the sources, the woman might have been strangled after rape by unknown assailants, who had then thrown her body.
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Students’ stir against AMU closure reaches Delhi
New Delhi, November 2 Accusing the vice-chancellor of suppressing their “peaceful” agitation, the students of AMU said since the university had been closed for indefinite period, they were forced to come to Delhi to register their protest. “Since the past two years, the vice-chancellor, who is already under scrutiny for large-scale corruption, has unleashed a virtual terror rule on the campus,” said Abdul Hafiz Gandhi, former president of the AMU Students’ Union and a student of Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU). He said the vice-chancellor was responsible for random fines, indiscriminate raids in hostels, including women’s hostels, assaulting students and gagging all space of dialogue and debate and ban on students’ union elections. On the night of October 25, Shahnawaz, a final year B.Sc. (biochemistry) student, was murdered by a local goon when he went out to take his dinner at a dhaba just outside the AMU campus. “The student had to go outside the campus to eat as the vice- chancellor has recently passed an order to shut down all canteens inside the campus after 10 pm, though libraries remain open till 2 am. Clearly, the AMU administration, which has created such uncalled for inconvenience for the students by shutting down the canteens, cannot escape the moral responsibility of this tragic incident,” said Sandeep, president, JNU Students’ Union, that has extended support to the AMU students. Two days ago, the administration closed the university for an infinite period, asking the students to vacate hostel rooms within 48 hours. AMU students said protests were the expression of accumulated anger against the “daily highhandedness and terror tactics of the AMU administration, particularly the vice-chancellor, the proctor and the dean”. Supporting the protests of the AMU students, JNU students recollected the times when they were asked to vacate hostels within hours and hundreds of students were rendered roofless. “We condemn the draconian act and demand an intervention from the ministry of human resource development in ensuring immediate normalcy at AMU,” said Shephalika Shekhar, vice-president, JNUSU. Meanwhile, Hafiz Gandhi said the students would continue to protest at Jantar Mantar till the time their demands were met.
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New Delhi, November 2 Processions — known as Prabhat Pheri — were taken out early morning by various gurdwara committees in which many people from the Sikh as well as non-Sikh community participated. Devotional songs were sung and prasad or consecrated food was distributed among the devotees. Gurpurab is celebrated by the Sikh community across the world with kirtans where devotional songs are sung, and langar where food is distributed to all. Guru Nanak was the first of the 10 gurus who founded Sikhism. Harpreet Kaur, a resident of north Delhi, said the festivities had actually begun on Sunday evening and will continue till late Monday. “On Sunday night, that is on the eve of Gurpurab, our gurdwara here was all decked up with lights. Kids burst fire crackers and there were long queues of devotees waiting to go inside the gurdwara and offer their prayers,” said Kaur. “As dawn broke, devotees were back at the gurdwara, cleaning it and doing other voluntary work (kar serva) and preparing for the festivities ahead,” she added. According to Harpal Singh, a resident of Karol Bagh, food is distributed free not only in gurdwaras, but many people do the same at their homes. “On Gurpurab, we distribute food like halwa, puri and sabzi to everyone for free. So it’s not uncommon to see long queues of people in several places waiting for a plate full on this day. This is like a ritual,” he said. Added homemaker Nalini Kaur: “We cook so much food for the occasion that we can eat it for days altogether. Although there is no particular delicacy that is made, we ensure that we first feed some needy people and then sit down for our feast.” As the evening approaches, Harpal Singh said candles will be lit in their homes and in the gurdwara and fire crackers would be burst. “Gurpurab is a very important festival for us and we don’t leave any stone unturned to enjoy it. We make others join in the festivities too,” he added. — IANS
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Wanted criminal held
New Delhi, November 2 A country-made pistol and one cartridge were recovered from his possession. During interrogation, Lucky disclosed that he entered the world of crime in 1999 after his uncle Sunda Sarpanch of Mandauthi village was murdered by his political rival Sukhbir sarpanch. He said he took to crime to avenge his uncle’s murder.
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Woman, grandson die in building collapse
New Delhi, November 2 The three-storeyed building collapsed at Guru Nanak Dev Nagar in west Delhi last evening, in which three persons were injured. The police has arrested building contractor Harpreet Singh. Kamal Devi and her grandson Akshit (3) were killed in the incident. “They were on way to market to buy milk when the building came down crashing. Parts of concrete fell on them and they died,” a senior police official said. The police said the cause of the collapse was to be ascertained yet. A case has been registered, the official added
—PTI
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Mock drills at Games venues
New Delhi, November 2 The mock drills will take place at all training and competition venues by the National Disaster Management Authority and results will be audited by the Army. The Delhi Disaster Management Authority is also looking at the opportunity to train thousands of Civil Defence Force personnel. “We have chalked out a plan to hold mock drills at all Commonwealth Games venues, including the places where atheletes and officials will be putting up. The mock drills will continue up to the mega event and will check the preparedness for manmade and natural disasters,” stated a senior Delhi government official. “A large number of Civil Defence Force has been transferred to the state disaster management authority and they need to be trained by us. They will be deployed in the mock drill as well as during the Commonwealth Games at various venues,” added the official. “We will stick to the normal mock drill practice and threat of chemical warfare will not be covered, as that will remain under the purview of the armed forces,” stated the official. The mock drills will be conducted at all the stadiums and their surrounding areas.
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Court for gender equality in mishap relief
New Delhi, November 2 Additional district judge Swarana Kanta Sharma expressed anguish that the contribution of an earning female member to the family’s income was not duly recognised by the society while deciding compensation in case of her death.
“Death of man or woman is equal in the eyes of God and Law,” the court said.With these comments, the court rejected the contention of an insurance company regarding the compensation for the death of a working woman in a road accident. The insurance company had claimed that the family of the deceased was not dependent on her because her husband was also employed and was drawing a handsome salary.“It is unfortunate that in case of the death of a man, his financial contribution is accepted without any objection, but a woman’s financial contribution is objected to repeatedly. It shows the bias of the society, which, as a judicial officer, I cannot allow,” the magistrate said. He added “Any argument by any party that the family does not depend on the working woman is contrary to today’s social reality where a woman is not only a homemaker, but also works hard to go out and earn for better living of the family.”
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New Delhi, November 2
