New Delhi, December 17
Absolute chaos took over Jantar Mantar today as hundreds of supporters of the All-India Confederation of SC/ST Employees Associations took to the street violently, vandalising vehicles on the middle of the road.

“Around 1.30 in the afternoon today, the supporters blocked the road (Jantar Mantar) and stopped three cars and completely smashed the windows with wooden logs,” said a teastall owner at the street.

Reportedly one car belonged to a mediaperson and the other to some minister’s relatives.

Confederation president Udit Raj, who is on fast unto death, said it wasn’t their supporters but some “anti-social” elements who had infiltrated the crowd

However, onlookers maintain that it was largely the confederation supporters who unleashed rage on roads in order to attract attention.

“If we had to resort to violent means, why would I have been on fast on unto death? This is totally contradictory.” said Udit Raj. He has been on fast unto death demanding reservation in the private sector since the last two days.

“The government seems to have turned a deaf ear to our demands. Our supporters were very agitated, but with some unruly elements mixing along, the crowd soon took the shape of a mob and hence the violence. But we assure that this would not happen again,” he added.

Several mediapersons were also caught in the uproar as cars were stopped on the road and their windowpanes smashed.

There were at least 200 to 300 supporters present at Jantar mantar when the incident took place.

The confederation as well as the Indian Justice Party have been staging a dharna since November 19 in Delhi for speedy implementation of the quota, particularly completing the backlog.

“Not a single MP thought of this issue and political parties have not felt it as an issue to be responded. This acted as a catalyst today,” said Dr Udit Raj.

Meanwhile, no case was registered nor any arrest was made by the police.

According to S. Dash, DCP (New Delhi), some cars were damaged by unruly people, but in the absence of any witnesses, the police could not make any arrests.

“We did not receive specific complaints by people whose cars were damaged nor did any witness come forward to pin-point the mischief-makers,” said DCP Dash. 

New Delhi, December 17
In their bid to save the tradition of the 128-year-old institution, the teachers of St. Stephen’s college have declared a war against the “intimidatory and authoritarian interference” of church in the college.

The protesting teachers got support from the alumni who came out to guard their emotional stakes in one of the most prestigious educational institutes of India.

“The bishop of Delhi, Sunil Kumar Singh, has been interfering in the financial and administrative affairs of the college in a reckless manner,” said senior faculty member Nandita Narayan, releasing a five-page document on the Stephen’s crisis, today.

The teachers said the church was trying to blackmail the protesting teachers by setting up an arbitrary inquiry into the demonstration that took place outside the governing body meeting.

Recounting the history of the encroachments of the church in the academic affairs of the college, Narayan said it all started when the supreme council came up with new guidelines for admission interviews and appointments of teachers on religious grounds.

The teachers alleged that principal Vilson Thampu was asked for a donation of Rs 1 lakh from the college funds by the church, and when he resisted, he was put on probation by the bishop, who is the chairman of the governing body.

“We understand that the church do have a role to play in running a minority institution, and so far the balance between academics and administration was working perfectly,” said Sanjeev Grewal, faculty member from the economics department.

He said the church wanted to take the money matters of the college in its hands, and for the purpose, a bursar, who was not proposed by the college principal was appointed recently.

“The church has not put in a single paisa in the college account for the past many years, but is only withdrawing money from it,” said Grewal.

The teachers alleged that the nominees of the chairman in the governing body of the college have no academic merit, and were making unconstitutional appointments. “The appointments are being made against the Delhi University (DU) ordinances, andis leading the college to a situation where the Union Grants Commission (UGC) would stop all grants to it, hence stopping the salaries of the teachers,” said Vijay Tankha, a teacher of the philosophy department.

The alumni also registered their opposition to the “growing interference of church in college affairs”.

“The bishop is doing a dangerous thing. We do not want to see the college going down,” said an alumnus.

The only neutral member of the governing body Bhairabi Sahu, representative of DU, alleged that a few senior members of the body were dragging the prestigious institution to a path that promises only chaos.

“A few members of the governing body appointed an interim bursar when the principal was out of town,” said Sahu, adding that the move was unlawful.

New Delhi, December 17
Lack of timely medical intervention and clarity in diagnosis in Safdarjung Hospital (SH) may cost 55-year-old Bimla Devi her leg.

After an accident at Azadpur Chowk on November 27, Bimla was shuttled between four hospitals and four departments of SH and currently doctors in the general surgery department (GSD) of SH are yet to decide whether Bimla would have to live her remaining life on crutch.

After a truck hit Bimla’s right leg 20 days back, she suffered a severe crush injury, extending from mid-thigh to ankle joint. “I was conscious and in pain for more than an hour before being taken to hospital in ambulance,” she said.

In CATS ambulance, Adarshpur police took Bimla initially to Babu Jagjivan Ram Hospital from where she was referred to Hindu Rao Hospital, which further shunted her to Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital (RMLH).

Finally, she was referred to Safdarjung as there was a degloving of skin, with both muscles and bones exposed and the treatment involved grafting for which Safdarjung is known for in the city. Further, she was highly anaemic and hence she was in urgent need of blood, but RMLH has no blood bank and had no proper back-up to handle the case.

The same night, Bimla was taken to the casualty and then to the emergency of the ortho department of SH where her family was told to show Bimla in the out patient department (OPD) of the plastic and burns department of SH as there was no need for active ortho intervention.

However, on the request of the patient’s family she was admitted to ward no 28 in the emergency of the ortho department and then discharged on November 30. The same day till late afternoon, the patient, despite being a case of septicemia remained unattended and instead shooed away by hospital staff saying the OPD session is over for the day.

Tinku, son of Bimla, said after much persuasion a doctor in the plastic department examined her wound and asked him to bring her the next day in the OPD, following which she was called again on November 5 (Saturday) in OPD. However, the same day, the patient was debrided in the general surgery department as the infection in her leg had aggravated.

According to senior resident surgeon Saurav Singh, who had operated on Bimla he had told the family before the surgery that the patient’s leg might be amputated.

“During an emergency operation late in the night, we removed the necrotic tissues and we also transfused four units of blood as her blood platelets count was very low. Currently, she is on heavy antibiotics and we have saved her,” he remarked.

Even though, Bimla’s platelet count was just seven, the concerned doctors of the treating unit under Dr S V Arya, senior general surgeon were asking the family to arrange three units of blood.

However, till Tuesday the doctors were still unclear of the prognosis, and whether the leg has to be amputated or not

Family poor

The patient’s family, with an income of just Rs 7000 per month, is living in uncertainty, while being compelled to take a loan of

Rs 25,000 to bear the expenses of the treatment, which includes daily injections costing over Rs 700.

New Delhi, December 17
The security consultants to the Delhi police’s special security wing, constituted for the Commonwealth Games, have raised serious concerns over the inadequate safety arrangements for the Games, especially in case of a terror attack.

According to the consultants, no arrangements are being mulled upon important security aspects like reducing the impact in case of a blast.

“The police has no arrangements for tacking disasters like blasts. Disaster management for them only means handling natural calamities,” said one of the consultants on the condition of anonymity.

“There have been recent incidents of blasts in Pakistan where vehicle-driven explosives were used. We should also be equipped enough to deal with similar kind of situations,” said S.K. Gupta, the managing director of BCL secure premises and a consultant to the Delhi police.

He said 100 per cent security might not be possible in some cases, but the extent of destruction can definitely be minimised by using technologies like mass evacuation systems, blasts hardenings and light step system.

The technologies are already present in foreign countries. “During a blast, the maximum damage is done by glasses of windows and doors. As most of the designer buildings use huge amount of glass, they should be blast-hardened but unfortunately none of the buildings in Delhi has used this technology,” said Gupta.

He said there was a technology called mass evacuation system used in foreign countries during blasts. “The system is a kind of external wireless lift used to evacuate the premises in case of fire or blasts. The organisers will have to think on such lines if they want to make Delhi safe for the Games,” said Gupta.

They have also raised a demand of dedicated cadre for security which should be particularly trained in handling equipment of latest technology.

The police is learnt to have floated tenders to purchase 200 X-ray machines and approximately 350 door frame metal detectors from an international agency. The procurement of machines will start in June 2010.

“The mere decision of procuring latest technologies for security purpose is not going to help in any sense unless there is a trained cadre to use them. A person has to use the equipment for at least three months to ensure its hundreds per cent accuracy. We don’t have sufficient time to wait for so long for the machinery,” said one of the security consultants to the Delhi police. 

New Delhi, December 17
With nursery admissions announced, schools have made their criteria clear which may vary from one school to another. Even as schools get ready to deal with the parent rush, anxious parents across the Capital are busy answering questions on the admission forms or preparing themselves for the informal interaction with the school faculty.

Most schools are awarding points to candidates with siblings already studying in the school, or to parents who are alumni of the school. Another factor which counts in the criteria is the location and distance factor. Some schools are awarding points to single parents as well.

The spokesperson for DPS R.K. Puram, Dr Saini said, “We are awarding points for parents who are alumni of the school, then for siblings already admitted to the school. The distance factor is also being taken into account. Points will also be given for how parents fare in the informal interaction.”

The Amity International School at Noida is also awarding points for alumni, siblings, location as well as for what comprises parents’ vision of a good school. Marks will also be reserved for the informal interaction with parents.

Ameeta Mulla Wattal, principal of Springdales School, said, “The admission criteria for our school depend largely on alumni, on the child having siblings in the school and also on the distance factor. Besides, points are being reserved for the informal interaction and the questions on the Springdales admission form carry 20 points. Our school is not going to make profession of parents or their education a factor. We are sticking to the DOE guidelines.”

On the other hand, Shri Ram School is giving weight to the informal interaction with parents.

A teacher from Shri Ram said, “This time there are marks for the informal interaction. We will be having an interactive group discussion for parents and they will be judged on the basis of their performance. The kind of questions parents ask, the issues that come up for discussion and their responses will decide the marks given. Besides, factors like location, siblings and alumni will count.”

As schools begin examining forms, nervous parents prepare themselves for the informal interaction which will play a decisive role.

Swati Ahuja, a parent, said, “My first choice is Springdales and I hope my son makes it. I have already filled in the admission form and submitted it. There were a few tricky questions.

Let’s hope I got them right. I believe alumni and sibling factors are going to count. I already have an elder son in class III.”

Another parent Rakesh Mittal said, “My first choice is Sri Ram School, Vasant Vihar and then Vasant Valley. I have yet to submit the admission form. My son has no siblings in the school, but we live in Vasant Vihar and this should count.”

Ghaziabad, December 17
The Ghaziabad police has claimed to have solved the mystery of the murder of a trader who was killed after being robbed of Rs 80,000 in Kavi Nagar, about one-and-a-half month ago.

The Kavi Nagar police, after an encounter, nabbed three criminals in connection with the murder. One country-made revolver and two daggers were recovered from them. According to the police, the criminals are auto drivers who rob lonely passengers. One of the accused is still at large.

The police team involved in the arrest has been awarded Rs 10,000 by SSP Akhil Kumar.

Kumar said the criminals were nabbed with a three-wheeler after an encounter near Sai Upawan. They have been identified as Gulfam, Ullauddin and Akhtar. All the three are residents of the Kallu Garhi area in the Mussori police station.

The criminals told the police that on the evening of November 1, 2009, they robbed trader Pankaj Jain of Rs 80,000 and later killed him. Jain was on his way to his residence. They said they had pre-planned the loot, as Allauddin worked in the market and knew that Jain was carrying cash.

When he saw Jain closing his shop, he called Allauddin and other accomplices— Akhtar, Gulfam and Naimuddin— on phone to come over in their three-wheeler.

The accused said they killed Jain because he recognised Allauddin. They strangulated him with a rope and threw his body in the Kallu Garhi area.

The accused took Rs 20,000 each from the booty.

Kumar said the police would soon nab absconding Naimuiddin.