New Delhi, May 10
Giving yet another blow to the implementation of semester system at the undergraduate level in Delhi University (DU), the mathematics department unanimously rejected the new syllabus today.

The modified syllabus in sync with the proposed semester system was presented at the Course Committee of Mathematics for adoption. However, around 50 teachers of the department’s graduate and postgraduate courses unanimously turned it down amidst a lot of drama inside and outside the meeting venue. The office-bearers of Delhi University Teachers Association (DUTA) stood outside the mathematics department in an effort to convince other colleagues to vote against the proposed syllabus.

“The teachers were overwhelmingly against the implementation of semester system at undergraduate level, so they did not accept the new syllabus. There won’t be any semester system in B.Sc. mathematics course,” said Nandita Narain, spokesperson, Delhi University Mathematics Teachers’ Association (DUMTA).

According to the university guidelines, it is mandatory for any new proposed syllabus to be approved by the course committee of that subject comprising both postgraduate faculty and college teachers.

Only after receiving a nod at the course committee, the proposed syllabus is sent to the Academic Council of DU for acceptance.

“After being rejected here, the syllabus should not be passed at the AC if the administration goes by the laid-down rules,” said Rajib Ray, executive committee member.

Besides the syllabus for mathematics courses, the committee also unanimously rejected the contents of mathematics papers which are being taught as part of other science courses.

“There is an element of mathematics in other science courses and we are against the proposed changes in those papers as well,” said Narain, head of mathematics department at St.Stephen’s College.

The DU administration has focused on implementing the semester system in merely science and commerce undergraduate courses from the upcoming academic year. Though after failing at getting the mathematics syllabus approved, it would be difficult for the DU administration to go ahead with the implementation even in science courses.

The core course of science B.Sc.(programme) has two compulsory papers of mathematics and unless the mathematics department cleared the divided syllabus, it could not be introduced.

Similarly, other science courses like B.Sc. (applied sciences) and B.Sc. (mathematical sciences) could not be divided into semesters without the consent from mathematics department.

“After the faculty rejected the proposed syllabus, it could not be taken up at the AC meeting, but in the past administration has tried bypassing guidelines to facilitate implementation of semester system,” said Sanjay Chaudhary, vice-president, DUTA.

The teachers said if the vice-chancellor tried to push the new syllabus, it would only make DUTA’s case stronger and show the desperation of administration.

Meanwhile, most decisions regarding the semester system and revised syllabus would be taken at the AC meeting scheduled for May 13. The agenda for this would be set by a standing committee meeting tomorrow.

New Delhi, May 10
The charm of riding a horse cart to survey the chaotic yet majestic streets and architecture of old Delhi has long been a signature attraction for tourists, especially foreigners. But the fun will now soon fade into some nostalgic past, and you won’t find any tonga, as they call it fondly, in coming weeks in Delhi.

Municipal Corporation of Delhi said they have begun the process of phasing tongas out. Some reports said tongas would not be allowed to ply from Tuesday but officials clarified that they would not enforce the ban till the tonga-wallas are rehabilitated as per plan.

Despite the old world charm associated with it, government and citizens alike believe that time had come to remove tongas from Delhi roads, already crowded with motor vehicles and presence of slow-moving tongas only added to the chaos.

The Municipal Corporation of Delhi had decided last year to phase out the horse carts as it had become a liability rather than an attraction.

Close to 250 of them were still plying and tourists hired them to take a trip into the city’s historical past when kings and their courtiers rode on them.

The MCD has given tonga-wallas tehbazari licence which means they would now sell wares on Delhi streets. Those with more than one tonga licence have been promised financial assistance to buy a CNG-run auto.

All tonga-wallas are not happy as many of them were used to running tongas and liked it as well.

“I am almost 60 and the only thing I have done in my life is to run tongas. Now they want me to shout with hundreds of other street vendors to sell my wares. I don’t think I can do it,” Mohammad Hanif of Chandni Chowk said.

MCD officials say any new idea does face teething problems, but it will be a smooth changeover. They opine it was high time tongas were removed from Delhi roads and nobody should complain about it.

New Delhi, May 10
The south district police has arrested two persons found in possession of an antique, about 600-year-old Lord Nataraj idol worth Rs 5 crore in the international market.

According to police, the accused Bhuwan Chand Joshi (54) and Pradeep (27), both residents of Haryana, were arrested from near Vikas Sadan in south Delhi’s Kotla Mubarakpur yesterday after the police received a tip-off on their efforts to sell off the rare idol.

“Police recovered the antique statue of Lord Nataraj in the car in which they were moving around looking for a prospective buyer,” said HGS Dhaliwal, DCP (south).

The idol weighs around 15.5 kg and has a length of 19 inches.

According to Dhaliwal, the joint statue of Lord Shiva and Lord Vishnu is made of Ashtadatu (eight metals) and is worth more than Rs 5 crore as certified by experts of Archaeological Survey of India (ASI).

During the interrogation, Pradeep revealed that the idol had been kept in his residence at Nimana village of Jhajhar (Haryana) for several years and his family was not aware of its value.

“Sometime ago, Joshi visited Pradeep’s residence and noticed the idol. He told him that it is an antique piece and could fetch a handsome price. He lured Pradeep to sell it and picked up the idol. For the last 15-20 days, they had been trying to sell it to a suitable buyer,” Dhaliwal said.

A case under the relevant sections of Antiquities and Art Treasurers Act 1972 has been registered. The idol has been sent to the Archeological Survey of India to find out its age.

New Delhi, May 10
Leader of opposition, Delhi Legislative Assembly, Prof Vijay Kumar Malhotra and chief whip of the BJP, Sahab Singh Chauhan demanded discussion on the draft of Delhi Police (Amendment) Bill 2010 in the Assembly before it is introduced, considered and passed in Parliament.

A few weeks back, the Bill was discussed at Delhi Secretariat by ministers, senior IAS, IPS officers and retired judges.

They said that though the law and order was not a state subject and this Bill was to be passed by Parliament, Delhiites were affected by it. So, its draft should be brought before the Assembly for discussion.

Malhotra and Sahab Singh said that Master Plan of Delhi 2021 was also a subject of the union government.

But it was discussed in the Assembly and the suggestions and recommendations of the members were sent to the Central government.

The draft of the Delhi Police Amendment Bill 2010 should also be brought for discussion in the Assembly, they demanded.

The chief whip has written a letter to the Chief Minister in this regard.

Both the leaders demanded that law and order, traffic licensing, security and other such activities of the police should be entrusted to the Delhi government.

New Delhi, May 10
A 48-year-old man was killed while his son was injured when motorcycle-borne robbers fired at them in an attempt to rob a bag of money the duo was carrying in the Keshavpuram area of north-west Delhi today afternoon. One of the robbers was chased and caught by the public while the other managed to flee.

According to the police, K.K. Bansal, an accountant, and his son, Nitin Bansal (22), were returning from a bank after withdrawing money when the incident took place around 12 noon close to their office in Trinagar's Narang Colony.

"The father-son duo was returning after withdrawing money from the Peetampura branch of Axis Bank. They were intercepted by the robbers on motorcycle close to their office. The robbers tried to snatch their bag, but Bansals resisted. Taken aback by the resistance, the panicked robbers opened fire at the duo. While K K Bansal was shot in the stomach, Nitin received a bullet injury in his right hand," said a police official.

The duo shouted for help, whereupon the people managed to catch one of the robbers.

Bansal and Nitin were rushed to the Maharaja Agarsen Hospital where Bansal succumbed to his injuries. The doctors say Nitin's condition is stable.

"The arrested robber has been identified as Anil, a resident of Bahadurgarh. He was chasing the father-son duo from the bank itself. There is no rivalry or any other angle involved," said the officer, adding that the weapon used had been recovered.

Bansal stayed with his family in the Shanti Nagar area of Keshavpuram.

A case in this regard has been registered at the Keshavpuram police station.

New Delhi, May 10
The police today lodged an FIR against four police officials— a station house officer, traffic inspector, assistant sub-inspector and head constable— for allegedly confining a man at the R.K. Puram police station for daring to lodge a complaint against them.

The action was taken on the directions of a Delhi court, which on May 7 ordered registration of an FIR against the policemen.

The metropolitan magistrate, S.P. S. Laler, directed the police to lodge a case against SHO of R.K. Puram police station Manmohan Ralhan, traffic inspector Vishwanath, assistant sub-inspector Sribhagwan and head constable Prem Singh. The magistrate also directed the deputy commissioner of police (DCP) concerned to refer the case for investigation to an officer higher in rank than the SHO.

“A perusal of the complaint and documents discloses the commission of a cognisable offence and investigation by police is required to find out the truth behind the allegations, which included corruption as well,” the court said.

Complainant, Munish Kumar Gaur, a Class I officer, filed a complaint before the court that the four policemen had entered into a criminal conspiracy and caused hurt to him after wrongfully confining him in the police station because he wanted to lodge an FIR against them for allegedly indulging in corruption.

He had stated that he saw the police officials accepting illegal gratification while performing their duties.

According to Gaur, he was detained at the R.K. Puram police station for 9 hours on the intervening night of April 29 and 30 by SHO Manmohan Ralhan. In his complaint, he stated that on the morning of April 29 while hen he and his wife were going to their office, he saw that head constable Singh and ASI Sribhagwan signalled a Blueline bus to stop, after which the bus driver applied brake suddenly as a result of which his car almost crashed into the bus. The sudden stopping of the bus also caused a traffic jam, he said.

Gaur claimed when he and his wife requested the police personnel to chase the private bus, they started abusing them.

He further alleged that when he and his wife went to the police station to lodge a complaint against the traffic police personnel, the police officer first refused to listen and instead lodged a harassment case against him.

On April 30, he approached the Patiala House courts.

Noida, May 10
To capture the management committee of Noida’s main Sanatam Dharm Mandir in Sector-19, workers of the BJP and the BSP turned the premises into political arena on the occasion of annual general meeting of the shrine yesterday.

BSP workers alleged that in spite of accepting their applications and fees, they had not been given membership. They demanded new members should be enrolled before the meeting was called to order.

It was opposed by the BJP faction. The city magistrate and the police circle officer had to intervene and declared the meeting over to pacify both the factions.

The meeting of general body had been called at 11 a.m. on Sunday to fix the date for election of new management committee. The president of the management committee, Chaudhary Nepal Singh, had proposed that the number of members be increased from 125.

But BJP’s Dr Mahesh Sharma, Sanjay Bali and other opposed it. They said there was a ban on inducting new members in the executive committee. Hence, the elections should be conducted as per the present strength of members. This was resented by BSP group comprising Mukesh Kakar, Raj Kumar Chaudhary, Bikram Singh and others.

Both the factions argued their cases for 3 hours. When things went out of control at 1.30 pm, city magistrate Raja Ram and police circle officer (DSP) R.N. Mishra concluded the meeting.

New Delhi, May 10
A former college principal allegedly involved in several criminal cases like murder, embezzlement of college funds and cheating and on the run for the past 12 years has been arrested by the crime branch of the Delhi police from his residence in east Delhi.

The police said Pradyuman Singh was apprehended from east Delhi’s Vinod Nagar.

According to Neeraj Thakur, additional commissioner (crime), Singh is a doctorate and was the principal of Budha Post Graduate College in UP’s Kushi Nagar for 10 years from 1989 to 1999. His wife, Gyanti Singh, was a lecturer in the same college.

Thakur said Singh had allegedly employed several people in the college using unfair means and also misappropriated college funds to the tune of Rs 50 lakh in collusion with a professor of the college, Subhash Rao.

“When an associate professor, J.N. Singh, came to know of their activities, Singh and Rao decided to eliminate him. After the murder of J.N. Singh, a case of murder was registered against the duo,” Thakur said, adding that while Rao was arrested, Singh’s services were terminated.

However, when legal pressure started mounting, Singh absconded along with his wife and children and was declared a proclaimed offender by a UP court.

New Delhi, May 10
A 50-year-old man was last nigh killed when a wall collapsed due to a cylinder blast in the kitchen of his tenants. The incident was reported from the Harsh Vihar area of east Delhi.

According to the police, Rajpal was buried under the debris of the wall that collapsed following a cylinder blast. Apart from one death, six persons, including the tenant couple, were injured in the incident that took placeat 10.30 pm.

According to fire officials, the incident was reported from a house in the B block of the Pratap Nagar area.

Rajpal’s family said that couple had taken the house on rent only about a week ago and were cooking when the cylinder blast took place.

Noida, May 10
The Noida police has arrested two persons for alleged theft attempt at an ATM booth in Sector 12 here on Friday.

“The accused have been identified as Vineet Rana and Vivek Garg. They were employed at a call centre in Gurgaon, but lost their jobs a month ago due to drug addiction,” said A.K. Singh, SSP.

The police zeroed in on them after going through the CCTV footage of the camera installed at the ATM booth and their call details. Their mobile locations showed that they had inspected the area around the ATM booth a night before their theft attempt. Both have confessed to their crime.

The theft was planned by Vineet and Vivek was his partner in the scheme.

On Friday night, a police team found the two inside the ATM booth in Sector 12. When asked, they misled the police by saying that some robbers had pushed them in and downed the shutter. They had claimed they had come to withdraw cash.

It was further learnt that on May 5, Vineet had stolen a gold chain and pendant of his mother and taken a loan by mortgaging the jewellery.