Greater Noida, January 16
At least 20 persons were injured in a pile-up of 15 vehicles on the Noida-Greater Noida Expressway, today morning. According to reports, the mishap, which took place around 9 am, was caused by dense fog.

According to superintendent of police, S.K.Verma, the collisions took place near the Nalgarha area when a Scorpio car rammed into a stationary dumper truck. The vehicles coming behind the car did not get time to apply brakes and they rammed into each other.

The injured were rushed to local hospitals. However, all of them were discharged by late evening.

The names of some of the injured are Ashish, Bindi, Ramia, Ninia,Nidhi and Vishwajt.

This is not the first fog related mishap in the district. Dense fog has claimed over two dozen lives in the past 10 days. Recently, ten persons had died on the expressway.

The Noida police has appealed to people to maintain a low speed and use anti-fog lamps while driving in fog.

The 23-kilometre stretch of the expressway has open areas on both the sides and so is engulfed by heavy fog during winters and hence becomes prone to accidents.

New Delhi, January 16
South Delhi residents would be connected to the Delhi Metro network in May with the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) opening the Central Secretariat-to-Qutab Minar line.

Talking to The Tribune, Metro officials said there were two parallel Metro lines that would connect the South Delhi areas on the Qutab Minar and Badarpur sides.

“The South Delhi lines would ease out the traffic to major extent as the residents of the posh localities own maximum cars in the city,” said a Metro official.

He added that the much wider streets would be returned to traffic once the construction work was over. The areas around the main roads encroached by shop owners were cleared by the DMRC before starting construction work.

While the DMRC has scheduled the opening of Qutub Minar line for May, the 20-km long Central Secretariat-to-Badapur line would only open in September along with the opening of the Airport Expressway.

DMRC officials said more than 90 per cent work was over on the Race Course-to-AIIMS section. The four stations on this section are Race Course, Jor Bagh, INA and AIIMS.

The important stretch on this section is the The Green Park-to-Qutab Minar line on which more than 95 per cent work has been reportedly completed. “This is the section that is blocking the main road around AIIMS and we realise that work there has to be finished on priority,” said a source in the DMRC, adding that efforts were made to ensure minimum inconvenience for the road traffic.

The five stations on this section are Green Park, Hauz Khas, Malviya Nagar, Saket and Qutab Minar. Out of these stations, three stations where only 80 per cent work has been done yet are Green Park and Saket.

Parallel to this line would be DMRC’s Badarpur line which would connect areas like Khan Market, Lajpat Nagar, East of Kailash, Kalkaji, Jasola and Sarita Vihar.

This stretch is almost 20 km long and the trial runs are likely to be scheduled for August here. With the opening of this line, the travelling woes of the residents of areas around Greater Kailash would be addressed.

These are the areas for which even the Ministry of Urban Development had a lot in mind. Highly placed sources in the ministry said several levels of underground parking facility would be created in areas around GK so that the swanky vehicles owned by the residents of this area could just go underground after the Metro services were started.

Separately, for the second time in the history of Delhi Metro, trail runs its line would be formally inaugurated on the Qutab Minar-to-Gurgaon line. It is known that Haryana chief minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda had specially asked the DMRC to arrange for a flagging off ceremony before any Metro train started for Haryana. Generally, the DMRC holds an inaugural ceremony only after getting the final nod from the commissioner after holding trail runs on the line.

The first trail run ceremony was organised when the Metro started its first trial run ever in 2002.

New Delhi, January 16
After a long gap Delhi saw a nice sunny day on Saturday, resulting in much cheer among the people on the first day of the weekend. This even as the city woke up to a rather foggy morning that once again led to disruption of air, road and railway movement.

With visibility reducing to nearly 100 metres, the dense fog also gave a hard time to early morning commuters. However, the fog soon gave way to sun, lifting the temperatures and also spirits of the people. The national capital experienced a clear day with the daytime temperature settling at a comfortable 20.6 degrees Celsius.

Delhi residents were able to enjoy a clear sunny day after many days of foggy, cold weather. According to the weather department, the mercury levels for the minimum settled at 6.6 degrees Celsius, normal for this time of the year.

“The day-time temperature touched 20.6 degrees Celsius. After many days the maximum temperature remained at the average level for this time of the year,” an India Meteorological Department official said.

The train schedule, however, suffered due to the poor visibility and a collision in the neighbouring Uttar Pradesh earlier in the day. Spokesperson of Northern Railways said that 25 trains had to be cancelled.

“At least 24 trains were rescheduled and 49 were running late by three hours or more because of the fog. In addition, over 25 trains have been cancelled because of the weather conditions,” he said.

New Delhi, January 16
The Mandal units of Delhi BJP will observe an anti-price spiral week from January 18 to 25, said its president Prof. Om Prakash Kohli.

Claiming to take up cudgels for the common man, Kohli said that during the week, programmes such as padyatra, torch procession, signature campaign and corner meetings would be organized. It has been directed that all the councillors and legislators should take part in the protests against the wrong economic policies of the government.

Kohli said that the common man is suffering badly due to skyrocketing prices. The union government seems to be helpless in curbing the price spiral. Sometimes it holds the state responsible while on another occasion, it blames global recession. Ministers of the UPA government are issuing contradictory statements in this regard.

According to the Arjun Sen Gupta Committee constituted by the Union government, the daily income of about 77 per cent citizens in the country is Rs 20 only. How can a common man purchase flour at the rate of Rs 20 to 30 per kg, milk at Rs 30 to Rs 35, Arhar dal at Rs 100 and sugar at Rs 50 to 70 per kg. The price of almost all the vegetables is around Rs 50 per kg, Kohli said.

He claimed that the wrong economic policies of the Centre are responsible for inflation and agricultural production is falling due to these policies. Farmers are not getting proper price for their products.

The policies of the government are benefiting only the big traders and sugar mill owners. Forward trading in grain has also played a big role in increasing the prices. Hike in the prices of diesel and petrol is also one of the causes of inflation.

According to the data based on the wholesale price index, inflation has crossed 17.5 per cent, Kohli added.

Ghaziabad, January 15
Many colonies in Ghaziabad are losing whatever green cover they had and turning into concrete jungles - all in the name of development, residents of the city say.

According to residents, funds meant for developing roads and horticulture are being spent by authorities on laying thick and wide interlocking tiles all along the roads that would block any seepage of rainwater into the ground, thus affecting water supply and destroying the green cover of the area.

The residents say that the Ghaziabad Development Authority (GDA) has diverted much of the Rs 24-crore fund meant for re-carpeting of roads and developing horticulture into turning the colonies into barren jungles by cutting or uprooting trees for laying “useless” interlocking tiles.

The GDA has laid such tiles along almost all major roads of colonies like Raj Nagar, Kavi Nagar, Nehru Nagar and Ashok Nagar. The agency has also left no scope for any plantation activity to be undertaken in future.

“This is a deadly destruction forced by GDA upon us and nature. It is an irreversible change... Rainwater will not permeate under ground and the area is bound to go without water in just a few years,” said Sanjeev Sharma, a resident of Sector 6 in Raj Nagar.

Ghaziabad Residents Welfare Association chairman T.P. Tyagi, said: “The GDA has no planning of any kind. While carrying out the work, it never bothered to ask residents what they wanted.”

“The funds should have been spent on re-carpeting roads, developing horticulture and installing proper street lights in Raj Nagar and Kavi Nagar,” he added.

Officials carrying out the project said the concrete interlocking tiles were laid in order to prevent residents from encroaching upon public land by developing kitchen gardens outside their homes.

Vinod Bansal, a Raj Nagar resident, however pointed out: “Kitchen gardens are just a way of maintaining greenery. This does not mean public land is being encroached upon. We are educated people. If at all the area is encroached, as they claim, then it can be taken back at any time by the GDA. All their claims are baseless. It was just an exercise to make money.”

GDA chief engineer Anil Garg, who is steering the project, said: “It’s all part of development. Nothing is wrong in that.”

GDA vice-chairman Narendra Kumar Chaudhary added: “Interlocking tiles are being laid to prevent any encroachment in the area. They also look good. There is no harm in making the area concrete.”

The Delhi High Court issued notices to the Delhi and central governments recently against concretising the city due to which many trees get uprooted even during minor storms. — IANS

New Delhi, January 16
Giving parenting a high-tech shove, a new social networking site provides a virtual platform for mothers in the city to interact with each other, make friends and get their questions answered — whether it is on teething troubles or where to get a good babysitter.

The website ‘Delhimoms.Com’ was set up as it was felt that mothers today were increasingly turning to the Internet for finding answers to every problem.

It can help mothers with a range of issues like locating a good doctor, a tuition centre or even good recipes.

The website will also have a multitude of other tools for mothers such as a list of all schools in Delhi with reviews, pregnancy checklists, parenting information, vaccination chart, tips for kid’s online safety and so on.

Mothers can also post their views on the website.

“I just joined the networking site a coupe of months ago. When I was surfing the Internet for a good babysitter, I chanced upon this site. I got to interact with people of my own age with similar problems and I found what I was looking for,” says Shanthi, a chartered accountant, who is a member of ‘Delhimoms.Com’.

The concept was first started in Chennai by a young Bhawani, who had just returned from the United States and was unable to locate a good school for her child.

“I thought of creating a site like this one since many women are turning to the net for help. Thus ‘Chennaimoms.Com’ was born,” she says.

After a great and successful year of running the Chennai site, ‘Delhimoms.Com’ was rolled out.

“Here mothers can ask questions, help other moms by posting their advice and express themselves on the blog,” says Sanjeeta Katiyar Durga, who has taken over the mantle of nurturing the Delhi community. Speaking about privacy, she says, “We have a public profile and personal profile. Nobody can view other’s personal profile. A mom can view the public profile only when they both are friends. They need to request for friendship just like any other social networking site. If they want they can exchange private messages as well”.

Extra care is also taken to keep the site safe for mothers. Cell phone verification is needed to send messages to mothers. A trusted seal is also given to mothers who have verified themselves in person. — PTI

New Delhi, January 16
Providing a much-needed fillip to e-learning in educationists at Delhi University, Maitreyi College is organising a three-day national workshop on “Quality Assurance through Blended Learning” from January 19-20. This workshop has been organized for the benefit of teachers and sponsored by the University Grants Commission (UGC).

The workshop is being organized to acquaint teachers with the mechanism of quality assurance and enhance their capacity in higher education. It aims at providing a platform to understand the importance of blended learning for enhancing the effectiveness of teaching.

This workshop will help the teachers to learn how to design online courses and assignments using different interactive techniques that will ensure uniformity and quality in delivering the e-content.

Dr Savita M Datta, principal and convenor of the workshop at Maitreyi College, said, “The workshop is being held to equip teachers with skills required in quality assurance and e-learning and this will in turn enhance their capacities in higher education. We expect that this workshop will be a major asset for the teachers of Delhi University, many of whom will be attending it.”

Eminent speakers will participate in the workshop. They include Sally Goggin, director education, British Council India and Sri Lanka, Prof. H.A. Ranganath, director, NAAC, Dr Renu Batra, joint secretary, UGC, Dr Savithri Singh, principal, ANDC, Prof. R. Sreedhar, director, CEMCA, to name a few.

Dr Anil Aneja, vice-president, All India Confederation of the Blind will throw light on the benefits and challenges of the e-learning process.

The workshop will begin with an introduction to e-learning. Other topics to be discussed include, quality assurance in India, transnational mechanism of quality assurance, introduction to VLE, development of course content, method of online course design, usage of online resources, quality assurance in online learning, introduction to online assessment and lastly, the hands-on session.

New Delhi, January 16
People’s cooperation, especially of the rich class of society, is very important to make the anti-beggar policy of the Delhi government successful, said Haji Mian, a social worker who interacts with beggars sitting in front of hotels in the Jama Masjid area.

He said that hundreds of beggars can be seen sitting in front of the mosque and dhabas located in the streets of walled city.

He said teams of the Delhi government visited the historical place twice in December to catch beggars, but they could not do so as the beggars had vanished in the narrow streets. The government should have taken the local people into confidence to make the drive successful.

He said that rich people in the vicinity encourage beggars. They feel that by serving food to beggars, God will be happy. They even give money to dhaba owners to serve food to them. Lines of beggars can be seen in front of each dhaba.

Haji Mian regretted that people also give money to the beggars sitting on the stairs of the Jama Masjid. The same story is repeated in front of the Hanuman Temple where the rich serve food to the poor.

He pointed out that the government is focusing on New Delhi which is a VIP area. Beggars are rarely seen here. The social welfare department should concentrate in the walled city and nearby religious places.

Delhi social welfare minister Mangat Ram Singhal admitted that the government’s focus was on New Delhi due to the Commonwealth Games.

“We have 12 squads to catch beggars. Each squad consists of two magistrates. Only professional beggars are caught and kept at Sewa Kutir in Mukherjee Nagar. By mistake if a poor man is caught, he is left immediately,” the minister said.

He added that at present the department is facing problems in the medical check-up of beggars. There medical check-up is necessary just after they are caught, but the department does not have this facility. It is planning to appoint doctors at Sewa Kutir, he pointed out.

Beggars may not be seen in the New Delhi area, but at night, a number of beggars are visible at Janpath and traffic light signals, averred the minister, though he could not give the exact number of beggars caught.

Greater Noida, January 16
A 20-year-old high school student allegedly raped a 15-year-old girl at his relative’s house, last night.

The accused, Anil Jatav, a resident of Banjarpur village under Dankore police station, has been arrested. However, his female relative, Pinki Jatav, who allegedly helped him in the crime, was absconding till late evening today.

“Both, the victim and the accused, are Jatavs (Dalit) by caste. The victim has been sent for medical examination,” said Ramakant Chaturvedi, station house officer, Dankore police station.

“Victim’s family had gone to Ghaziabad yesterday. Her neighbour, Pinki, who is a distant relative of Anil, called the victim to her home and sent her to a room where Anil was already sitting. Thereafter, she locked the door from outside. Anil raped the victim for three hours. Then Pinki opened the door and allowed the victim to go home, but threatened her not to tell about rape to her parents,” said Chaturvedi.

“Late night, when the victim’s parents reached home, she informed them about the incident. An FIR was lodged against Anil and Pinki by the victim’s father,” said Chaturvedi.

Ghaziabad, January 16
Four youths robbed cash and jewellery worth over Rs 15 lakh from a house in the posh Raj Nagar area of Ghaziabad at gunpoint on Friday, the police said.

The youths came to the B-30, Sector-7, Raj Nagar house of businessman Vinod Anand around 2 pm. While two of them maintained vigil outside the house, the other two knocked on the door and as Ritika Anand opened it, they pushed her inside and brandished a revolver at her. The two threatened Ritika they would kill her one-month-old baby if she dared open her mouth.

The two took away all the cash and jewellery kept in the house.

“The exact value of the robbed items could not be ascertained. The family is still preparing an inventory of the items. We are investigating the matter,” said police chief Akhil Kumar. — IANS