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Family defends ‘honour killer’ sons
New Delhi, June 23
The gruesome act of killing their sisters and the husband of one of them in the name of honour might have shocked the civlised society, but many from Wazirpur village from where the accused Ankit Nagar and Mandeep Nagar hail today defended their heinous crime. Some even went on to call it as a “lesson” for others.
The Delhi police on Wednesday released photographs of the three accused in the suspected honour killing case The Delhi police on Wednesday released photographs of the three accused in the suspected honour killing case. Tribune photo

Hindu’s delayed cut-off list out
Gap between OBC and general categories goes up to 10 per cent
New Delhi, June 23
After days of confusion, Hindu College finally came out with its first cut-off list late on Tuesday night. The college had to delay the announcement of the list because its teachers, who are boycotting the admission process to protest the introduction of semester system in the university at the undergraduate level, had refused to compute the list.
Admission seekers check the first cut-off list at a college Admission seekers check the first cut-off list at a college. Tribune photo


EARLIER STORIES



Many take admission, but wait for 2nd list
New Delhi, June 23
Admissions are on in full swing at DU as students who have got through the first cut-off list queued up today to get admitted. Jubilant students were seen casually dressed chatting in groups or standing around on the campus. Girls could be sighted sporting jeans and colourful shirts.

New ranking system creates trouble for AIIMS
New Delhi, June 23
The new system of ranking introduced by the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) based on the undertakings given by candidates before the post-graduate AIIMS entrance test does not seem to have struck the right chords.

Delhi ki Garmi: Tourists, dressed in summer attires, walk through Janpath Market in New Delhi
Delhi ki Garmi:
Tourists, dressed in summer attires, walk through Janpath Market in New Delhi on Wednesday. Tribune photo: Manas Ranjan Bhui

Record-setting summer creates record-breaking power demand
New Delhi, June 23
The summer of 2010 is all set to go down in history as the hottest year ever. According to reports, the first four months of the year have been the hottest on record in the past 100 years in North India. At 46.5 degree Celsius, June 20 was the warmest day in Delhi in years.

Want GPS? Pay for it, auto drivers tell govt
“Overcharging by auto drivers can be controlled easily if the government checks policemen who take bribe from them”
New Delhi, June 23
Delhi auto and taxi union has opposed the government policy to charge auto drivers for the installation of global positioning system (GPS) and maintenance of the monitoring centre.

UK firm to help improve BRT corridor
New Delhi, June 23
The Delhi Integrated Multi-Model Transit System (DIMTS) has decided to take help from a UK-based transport research laboratory (TRL) to improve the bus rapid transit (BRT) corridor in Delhi.

Drug Trafficking Case
Mother of polio-afflicted son gets lighter term
New Delhi, June 23
A Delhi court has sentenced a woman to a milder punishment in a drug trafficking case on the grounds that the woman has a physically challenged polio-afflicted son, who has nobody to look after him.

Driving license racket busted, two arrested
New Delhi, June 23
With the arrest of two persons— Karnail Singh (25) and Yogesh Bhatia (24), the south district police has busted a gang involved in making forged driving license and PAN cards.

Blueline mows down 2
New Delhi, June 23
Two men were allegedly crushed to death while one person sustained injuries after their scooter was hit by a speeding Blueline bus near Moolchand Hospital flyover in south Delhi this morning.

Murder: Girlfriend held
New Delhi, June 23
A 30-year-old man was allegedly beaten to death in the Ambedkar Nagar area of south Delhi last night. The victim, Javed, was killed in a park where he had gone to meet a girl named Alisha Anthony, said a police official.

Foreigner found dead
New Delhi, June 23
A 50-year-old foreign national who had come to India 12 days ago was found dead at YMCA Hostel in New Delhi district this morning. According to the police, the victim, Albertis Gritargan, from the Netherlands had checked into YMCA Hostel near Connaught Place on June 11 and was staying in room number 263.

Fire at Noida factory
Noida, June 23
A devastating fire broke out at a hosiery complex factory in Noida, today. There was no casualty, but goods worth lakhs of rupees were reportedly destroyed in the fire. According to the fire station officer, A. B. Pandey, the fire broke around 4 am and it took three hours to control it.





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Family defends ‘honour killer’ sons
Sandeep Yadav
Tribune News Service

New Delhi, June 23
The gruesome act of killing their sisters and the husband of one of them in the name of honour might have shocked the civlised society, but many from Wazirpur village from where the accused Ankit Nagar and Mandeep Nagar hail today defended their heinous crime. Some even went on to call it as a “lesson” for others.

The Delhi police has launched a manhunt for the three youths—Ankit, Mandeep and Nakul— wanted in the murder of Monica (24), her husband Kuldeep (26) and Shobha (21).

However, neither the villagers nor the family members of the accused persons are ashamed of the brutal deed committed by them.

Speaking to the media outside his residence in Wazirpur village, Mandeep’s uncle Dharamvir claimed that the family did not justify the killing, but was quick to add that it would set an example for girls in maintaining the social fabric of the village.

“Children of the village are considered brothers and sisters and marriage within residents is not acceptable. We don’t believe in inter-caste marriage too. These girls had set bad examples and we do not regret their deaths,” said Dharamvir.

He, however, denied the involvement of Ankit, Mandeep and Nakul wanted by the police for the triple murder.

While Ankit is Monica’s brother, Shobha was Mandeep’s sister and Nakul is Ankit’s and Mandeep’s friend who lives in the neighbourhood. “Though our children have not killed any one, but they have set a good example,” maintains Dharamvir.

However, he claimed that he did not know the murderers but said that the murders were committed by ‘youths’.

When asked as to who could have been responsible for the murders, Dharamvir said it was for the police to investigate. However, when reminded that the police was looking for the trio, Dharamvir retorted that it was easy for the police to blame the ‘children’. “Who is saying they have killed? Only the police no? Why does the police not question a relative of Kuldeep who had loaned his i10 car to Ankit,” questioned Dharamvir hinting that there could some bigger conspiracy against them.

Mandeep’s cousin Nitin also shared similar sentiments and denied the involvement of his brother in the murders.

Angry with the media and the police for branding “their children as murderers even without trial”, the gujjar community in the village did not even offer water to some mediapersons when they requested for it. Elders of the village asked some journalists to leave the village as their youths were very angry. They said they would not be responsible if some of them were beaten up.

Reward announced; pictures released

The Delhi police today announced a reward of Rs 1.5 lakh for any one who informs it about the whereabouts of the absconding accused men. Confirming the award, DCP (north-west) N.S. Bundela said attempts were being made to arrest the absconding accused. “Any one who helps us nab these accused would be rewarded. A reward of Rs 50,000 has been announced for each of the three accused. We have also released their pictures today,” said Bundela.

Meanwhile, another police official said since Sunday night, the police had raided more than 18 places in the city but without any success. “About 12 police teams are working to trace them. Police tems have been even sent to western UP and Haryana,” he said. It has also come to light that all three murders were planned and took place within three hours on Sundaybetween 7:30 pm and 10:30 pm.

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Hindu’s delayed cut-off list out
Gap between OBC and general categories goes up to 10 per cent
Charu Singh
Tribune News Service

New Delhi, June 23
After days of confusion, Hindu College finally came out with its first cut-off list late on Tuesday night. The college had to delay the announcement of the list because its teachers, who are boycotting the admission process to protest the introduction of semester system in the university at the undergraduate level, had refused to compute the list. And the principal of the college was reluctant to do what other colleges facing the same problem have done— declare the list on the basis of the last year’s cut-offs.

An official at Hindu College said, “The cut-off list has been delayed because of the chaos caused by the teachers of the college. It could be prepared after the high court ordered the teachers to complete their duties.”

The cut-offs in both, humanities and commerce subjects, have seen a substantial rise.

The cut-off for B. Com (H) is 95.25 per cent, which is 5 per cent more than the last year’s cut-off. Similarly, the cut-off for economics (H) has been fixed at 93 per cent, which is 4 per cent higher than last year. The cut-off for English (H) at 84.88 per cent is 2 per cent higher than last year’s cut-off.

However, as expected, the science cut-offs are comparatively lower than humanities and commerce. But even they have registered a hike as compared to last year.

The cut-off for physics is 94 per cent, which is 3 per cent higher than last year. Cut-offs for chemistry and zoology have been fixed at 90 per cent, which again is 4 per cent more than last year.

Meanwhile, the cut-offs for OBC (other backward community) have also come out, and many colleges have increased the gap between the general and the OBC categories.

Majority of the colleges have attempted to fill maximum number of seats in the OBC category in the first cut-off list itself.

Last year, despite attempts by the colleges, many OBC seats remained vacant.

In a popular course like B. Com (H), Deshbandhu College has kept a difference of 10 per cent between the cut-offs of the general and the OBC categories. Gargi College has kept a 7 percent gap for physics (H) and 5 per cent each for chemistry, botany and zoology honours. Hansraj College has maintained a margin of 4 per cent for physics (H), chemistry (H) and computer science. The college has kept a difference of 5 per cent each for zoology and botany courses. Zakir Husain College has a gap of 4 per cent for all courses. Surprisingly, Deen Dayal Upadhayay and DCAC have offered a 10 per cent margin between the OBC and general category.

Delhi University in its last phase of the implementation of the OBC reservation is offering nearly 14,000 seats to OBCs in its 60 colleges.

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Many take admission, but wait for 2nd list
Tribune News Service

New Delhi, June 23
Admissions are on in full swing at DU as students who have got through the first cut-off list queued up today to get admitted. Jubilant students were seen casually dressed chatting in groups or standing around on the campus. Girls could be sighted sporting jeans and colourful shirts.

Dean of DU student welfare Gurpreet Tuteja said, “Admissions are on in full swing at the university. A large number of students gathered on the campus today. We expect more turnover once the second list is announced and the cut-off reduce.”

Many turned up in the morning to secure admission. Neha Mehta, a student, said, “I have made it to English honours at Miranda House and have just got admission. It’s very exciting. Not only have I got the course of my preference but also the college I wanted.”

Many out-station students also got admission today. Kapil Garg from Jabalpur shared, “I have been admitted to Hansraj College for B.Com (H) programme. But I will wait for the second list to see if I get this course at SRCC.”

However, the university authorities have advised students to take admission in colleges where they have got through and not depend on the second list. A university official said the stress should be on the course and not on the college. Many students are ready to sacrifice on their course and hope that they can get the college of their choice when the cut-off lowers after the second list is released.

Tuteja said, “Students should immediately secure admission where ever they get it. The stress should be on the course rather than the college.”

Often students who have decided to pursue a particular career give weightage to courses over college but this is not the case with all.

Geeta Mishra, a student, said, “My focus has always been on the course rather than the college. I want to pursue a career in commerce so I prefer B.Com (H) programme. I have already taken admission at Ramjas College but am waiting for the second list to see if I get through SRCC.”

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New ranking system creates trouble for AIIMS
Ananya Panda
Tribune News Service

New Delhi, June 23
The new system of ranking introduced by the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) based on the undertakings given by candidates before the post-graduate AIIMS entrance test does not seem to have struck the right chords.

The step taken by the premier institute’s administration has prompted some OBC students move the Delhi High Court which issued notices to the AIIMS. The institute today submitted a counter affidavit in the high court.

Under this system, those who have opted for the reserved categories have not been included in general category. One of the petitioners Saiprasad Shinde who has ranked 13th under the OBC category has alleged that he has been deprived from appearing under the unreserved category.

Shinde had secured a provisional seat in nuclear medicine on the first day of counselling held on June 18. He decided to leave the course yesterday, as he wants to go for MD in medicine, which he feels he could have got if allowed to appear under general category.

Further, a sense of dissatisfaction prevailed among those taking admissions in less preferred courses via the OBC category. They rued that the AIIMS had allotted only six to seven per cent of the total MD/ MS seats to OBC candidates till date. The seats reserved for them remained at 20 even after two to three sessions of phase-by-phase implementation to achieve the 27 per cent quota mark.

Sub-dean of the institute Dr Sunil Chumber said, “In post-graduate courses, it was supposed to be done in a phased manner. But due to several administrative glitches and lack of infrastructural development, seats have stuck at the same number. The government has to order for increase in seats and infrastructure.”

For ensuring that the OBC reservation does not affect the prospects of students belonging to the general category, all central academic institutions are supposed to increase the seats’ strength in proportion to the number of seats allocated to OBC students. Since 2008, only 41 seats have been added at the post-graduate level, which brings down the percentage going to the OBC candidates to just six to seven per cent.

While the hearing on allowing preference-based counselling has been scheduled for July 7, with two to three petitions being filed by students of the said category; the AIIMS has closed all post-graduate seats. But in the event of a judgement favouring the petitions filed against the premier institute, the institute might have to conduct a recounselling with a fresh list.

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Record-setting summer creates record-breaking power demand
Tribune News Service

New Delhi, June 23
The summer of 2010 is all set to go down in history as the hottest year ever. According to reports, the first four months of the year have been the hottest on record in the past 100 years in North India. At 46.5 degree Celsius, June 20 was the warmest day in Delhi in years.

According to the officials of discoms (power distribution companies), to cater to the ever-increasing power demand in their respective areas during April and May this year, BSES Rajdhani Power Limited (BRPL) and BSES Yamuna Power Limited (BYPL) had to purchase 18 per cent and 15 per cent more million units (MUs) of power, respectively, in comparison to the corresponding period last year.

The national Capital created history on June 21, 2010 when the electricity demand touched 4668 MW, the highest-ever recorded in Delhi. This was 25 per cent more than the power demand (3712 MW) this day last year, said the officials.

In fact, Delhi’s power consumption today is 37 per cent more than the combined power consumption of Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir and Chandigarh, the officials said.

“This unprecedented heat wave has a direct bearing on Delhi’s power consumption and therefore, electricity bills are growing exponentially and setting new records every other day,” said senior officials of BSES.

“For April, BRPL and BYPL purchased 25 per cent and 23 per cent more power than the corresponding period last year. For April and May 2010, BRPL and BYPL purchased 2142 MUs and 1244 MUs of power, respectively. Corresponding figures for last year were 1809 MU and 1061 MU, respectively,” he said.

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Want GPS? Pay for it, auto drivers tell govt
“Overcharging by auto drivers can be controlled easily if the government checks policemen who take bribe from them”
Tribune News Service

New Delhi, June 23
Delhi auto and taxi union has opposed the government policy to charge auto drivers for the installation of global positioning system (GPS) and maintenance of the monitoring centre.

General secretary of the union, Rajender Soni, said it was not the duty of the auto rickshaw union to pay for the installation of GPS. It is the requirement of the government, and so it should do it on its own, he said.

Soni further said that the GPS monitoring centre was a government department and auto drivers paying for its maintenance seemed illegal and unethical.

The government has asked auto drivers to pay Rs 1,500 every month for the maintenance of GPS system and the monitoring centre.

There are 55,000 autos in Delhi and if each of them pay Rs 1,500 to the government every month, the state will earn a total of Rs 82,500.

Soni said before getting the GPS installed, the government should educate auto drivers about it, and if it benefits the customers, its expenses should be borne by the government.

Soni also said that the installation of GPS was not possible within six months because six months would be needed to adjust the auto meters according to the new rates and GPS could be installed only after that. The government should give at least one year’s time for this, he said.

As far as overcharging by auto drivers is concerned, it can be controlled easily if the government checks policemen who take bribe from auto drivers at railway stations and ISBTs, Soni added.

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UK firm to help improve BRT corridor
Tribune News Service

New Delhi, June 23
The Delhi Integrated Multi-Model Transit System (DIMTS) has decided to take help from a UK-based transport research laboratory (TRL) to improve the bus rapid transit (BRT) corridor in Delhi.

A memorandum of understanding has been signed between DIMTS chief, S.N. Sahai, and TRL chief Sue Sharland to enable future collaboration and knowledge sharing about BRT.

The BRT has drawn a lot of flak since its beginning because of several accidents and jams on its roads. The government has not started any of the BRT projects after the Ambedkar Nagar - Moolchand corridor due to these apprehensions.

Besides Ambedkar Nagar - Moolchand BRT corridor, other projects in the pipeline are BRTs from Games Village to Jehangirpuri, Shatri Park to Akshardham and Bhajanpura to Shastri Park.

With this partnership, TRL will assist DIMTS in developing solutions not only for the intelligent transport system (ITS) that is being implemented on the bus rapid transit (BRT) corridor, but also help develop future ITS projects that may be carried out both, within Delhi as well as in other states.

DIMTS and TRL may also explore the provision of training bus drivers.

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Drug Trafficking Case
Mother of polio-afflicted son gets lighter term
Tribune News Service

New Delhi, June 23
A Delhi court has sentenced a woman to a milder punishment in a drug trafficking case on the grounds that the woman has a physically challenged polio-afflicted son, who has nobody to look after him.

Additional sessions judge Sanjiv Jain held 55-year-old Gullo Devi guilty under the various provisions of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act for possessing 10 kg marijuana (ganja) and awarded six-month prison term to her. The court also imposed a fine of Rs 30,000 on her.

While pronouncing the punishment, the court said that taking in account the fact that there was no one to look after her physically-challenged son, six- month prison term is awarded to the convict.

However, Devi walked free as she has already undergone the jail term as judicial custody during her trial. She was arrested on May 30, 2006 for allegedly possessing 10 kilograms of ganja, a controlled drug under the NDPS Act.

Devi was convicted under Section 20(b)(ii) of the NDPS Act, which carries a maximum punishment of five years, besides the fine, said her counsel.

During the arguments on the quantum of sentence, Devi submitted, “I have the responsibility to bring up five children. They all are dependent on me, as I am the only bread-earner of the family. Moreover, my eldest son is a polio victim and is dependent on me for even answering the nature’s call.”

”Keeping in view the special circumstances and the pathetic condition of Devi and her children and the fact that after the said incident, she is not involved in trafficking of drugs and has rehabilitated herself, I am not inclined to incarcerate the accused further,” the judge said.

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Driving license racket busted, two arrested
Tribune News Service

New Delhi, June 23
With the arrest of two persons— Karnail Singh (25) and Yogesh Bhatia (24), the south district police has busted a gang involved in making forged driving license and PAN cards.

According to the police, the duo was arrested yesterday near INA Market with 19 driving licenses, including those of different persons having the same license number. Six PAN cards, including two PAN cards bearing the photograph of one woman in different names and serial numbers, have also been seized .

According to the police, one monitor and CPU, one scanner/ printer used for preparing forged documents, sample driving license and PAN cards, more than 200 passport size photographs, cheque books of different banks issued in different names and stamps have also been seized.

The accused told the police that Karnail used to run a hardware shop and Yogesh worked at a stationery and document shop near Tilak Nagar Motor Licensing Authority. “Yogesh used to work as a tout and allure people who wanted to get a license made while Karnail used to do all computer-related work, including scanning, forging, preparation of document and printing. Yogesh would then laminate the printed material. The name and address of the person would appear on the license as desired by the customer,” said HGS Dhaliwal, DCP (south), adding that they used to charge anywhere between Rs 500 to Rs 1,000 for getting a license or a PAN card made.

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Blueline mows down 2
Tribune News Service

New Delhi, June 23
Two men were allegedly crushed to death while one person sustained injuries after their scooter was hit by a speeding Blueline bus near Moolchand Hospital flyover in south Delhi this morning.

According to the police, the incident took place around 9:40 am. Two persons were declared brought dead at the hospital while the third person who has suffered fractures is recuperating at the AIIMS Trauma Centre.

"The deceased have been identified as Puran (23) and Dinesh (18). They were on a scooter that was hit by a Blueline bus plying on route number 507 from Okhla to Munirka. The driver managed to flee leaving behind the bus," said a police official.

The injured man has been identified as Laxmi Narayan. He told the police that the errant bus driver hit their scooter while they were on their way to INA Market where all three worked. The deceased were resident of the Badarpur area of south-east Delhi.

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Murder: Girlfriend held
Tribune News Service

New Delhi, June 23
A 30-year-old man was allegedly beaten to death in the Ambedkar Nagar area of south Delhi last night. The victim, Javed, was killed in a park where he had gone to meet a girl named Alisha Anthony, said a police official.

The police has detained Alisha. "Alisha has told us that she was seeing Javed who had come to meet her in a park around 12 am. After they had started talking, four men came there and beat up Javed. They then killed him," said the official, suspecting the role of Alisha's family in the entire episode.

Alisha is Christian while Javed is a Muslim. "It is doubtful that she is not aware of the person involved," said the official.

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Foreigner found dead
Tribune News Service

New Delhi, June 23
A 50-year-old foreign national who had come to India 12 days ago was found dead at YMCA Hostel in New Delhi district this morning. According to the police, the victim, Albertis Gritargan, from the Netherlands had checked into YMCA Hostel near Connaught Place on June 11 and was staying in room number 263.

"After taking his breakfast on June 21, he locked his room from inside and put a 'do not disturb' board on his room's door. After that day, he was not seen by any hostel staff. The staff informed us after a foul smell started emanating from his room today," said a police official from the Parliament Street police station.

The police broke open the door and found Gritargan lying naked in the room. The body has been sent for postmortem. No injury mark was found on the body.

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Fire at Noida factory
Our Correspondent

Noida, June 23
A devastating fire broke out at a hosiery complex factory in Noida, today. There was no casualty, but goods worth lakhs of rupees were reportedly destroyed in the fire. According to the fire station officer, A. B. Pandey, the fire broke around 4 am and it took three hours to control it.

Three small LPG cylinders kept at the workers room of the factory also exploded and added to the fire.

Eight fire tenders were pressed into operation.

Goods worth lakhs of rupees were reportedly destroyed in the fire. The factory has remained closed for the past few months.

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