New Delhi, July 22
The Bharatiya Janata Party MLA from Geeta Colony in East Delhi, Harsh Vardhan got a complaint registered against five persons, associated with the Congress party, for preventing him from inaugurating a park in Shastri Nagar in his constituency.

He said his complaint was against ex-councillor Ramesh Pandit, Neeraj Khullar, Yugal Kishore, Surender Bhola and Anil Bharti.

Harsh Vardhan said a group of outsiders gathered in the park before the function. When he reached there, a few of them asked him that the inauguration of the park should be done in presence of the local MP Sandeep Dikshit.

However, he stood his ground and inaugurated the park by reciting "Gayatri Mantra". While he was leaving the place, one of the spectators flung a slipper on his car, the BJP MLA said.

When Harsh Vardhan reported the matter to the area police, he was asked to give the complaint in writing. Those whose names were written in the complaint were present in the park, he said.

He said that the incident exhibited jealousy of the Congress workers. This park had never been developed. After the delimitation of assembly constituencies, Shastri Park has been attached with the Geeta Colony constituency which is being represented by him. Now the park has been developed with his efforts.

The BJP MLA said that he would pressurize the police to take action against those who tried to prevent him from inaugurating the park and flung the slipper on his vehicle.

New Delhi, July 22
The west district police has arrested a domestic help along with her husband for the murder of a 68-year-old woman who was found strangulated inside her residence in Rajouri Garden on July 17.

According to information, after killing Rajinder Kaur, the duo managed to flee with jewellery and cash worth Rs 12 lakh.

"Rubi Begam (35) and her husband Rakesh Mehra (27) were apprehended yesterday from Gopal Nagar in Punjab's Jalandhar city where they had been hiding," said Sharad Aggarwal, DCP (west).

According to Aggarwal, Rubi was primary suspect in the case as she had been missing ever since the murder.

"We had been working to trace her and finally found her in Jalandhar along with her husband Rakesh. They have confessed to the crime," said the officer, adding that Rubi hails from Assam and came to Delhi about 20 years ago.

Rakesh, an electrician, is her third husband.

"Rubi was in the habit of stealing things from the houses she worked in. One day, she happened to see gold and diamond jewellery in Kaur's house and conspired with her husband to rob the jewellery. On the fateful day, Rubi ensured that Kaur was sleeping and after sending her employer's mentally challenged son to a nearby shop, she called in her husband. Rakesh killed the woman and then the duo escaped with the jewellery," said Aggarwal, adding that the jewellery has been recovered from the accused.

New Delhi, July 22
The excise department of the Delhi government has prepared draft of a Bill to prevent the rising cases of piracy which have hit the collection of entertainment tax, it is learnt.

A senior officer of the department said though the government already had a law "Indian Copy Right Act" to deal with piracy cases, it was not effective. The government has decided to make stringent laws on the lines of those formulated and enforced by the Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu and Karnataka governments. It is known as the Goonda Act which is effective in these states, he said.

If piracy, a major and flourishing industry in Delhi, is stopped, entertainment tax collection of the city government could increase up to 40 per cent, official sources said.

The tax from the sale of movie and music CDs and DVDs makes up about 54 per cent of the total entertainment tax and of this, the government collects Rs 40 to 42 crore from film and cable TV distributors.

Bollywood has been lobbying with the government to put in strict laws to curb piracy. The government has also constituted a committee comprising the principal secretary (Home), principal secretary (Excise), secretary, Film Division of the union government, additional commissioner, Delhi police and association members of film distributors.

The committee held its meeting today which was attended by CM Sheila Dikshit, finance minister A.K. Walia, chief secretary Rakesh Mehta, additional commissioner of police (Economic Offences Wing) and director of Film Division.

The draft of the Bill has been submitted to the home department to study whether it can be feasible for the Capital. The department will also go through the report to be prepared by the committee. Once finalised, the Bill’s copy will be tabled before the Assembly in the coming session.

New Delhi, July 22
After Delhi University (DU) colleges welcomed freshers yesterday, the uncertainty over semester system has surfaced again— leaving science students a confused lot.

Though the university administration had reminded college principals about the implementation of semester system across 13 science courses a couple of days ago, the situation on ‘Day 2’ today was nowhere close to this.

The science department teachers have decided to teach topics common to both the semester syllabus and the earlier syllabus till the Delhi University Teachers’ Association (DUTA) and the university administration reach a consensus.

But the process has the left students greatly confused who do not know what to make of the situation. Most outstation students fail to understand the problem, completely.

“I am worried about the exams and unnecessary waste of time. Teachers do not have an answer to our questions. Everything seemed fine when we came for admissions, but there is a lot of uncertainty,” said Kirpal, a botany student at Ram Lal Anand College.

“We keep hearing that the DUTA may go on protest again, which will affect us as most teachers will not take classes. What if the matter is not resolved and is further heated up. In science courses, we anyways have a hectic schedule with a lot of practical assignments. If it goes this way, the situation can be very bad towards the exam time,” said Meghna Jishtu, a life sciences student from Gargi College.

“There is no point discussing it with the first-year students as most of them are not even aware of the conflict between teachers and the university. We are telling them that their studies will not have to bear losses. The situation will be clear in the next few days,” said Aditya Narayan Misra, president, DUTA.

“We are holding lectures according to the annual system only. Any delay in classes would have meant substantial loss for science students. Besides, we are waiting for some clarity on the issue. Things were different when the university was closed, but the matter is sensitive now with students on campus,” said Monica Sharma, zoology department professor, Acharya Narendra Dev College.

In most science department orientations yesterday, neither was there any mention of which syllabus (old or new) to be taught, nor was any timetable given to students.

Till the issue gets resolved, teachers across most colleges are planning to stick to teaching topics common to the annual and the semester syllabus. The matter is sub judice and the opposing parties have been involved in mediation sessions since Saturday, which have not resulted in any breakthrough yet.

Meanwhile, the next date of hearing in the Delhi High Court is on July 26.

New Delhi, July 22
Hotel management and catering technology as a subject will now be available for class 11 and 12 students from the academic session 2010-11, bringing vocational studies to the schools across the country. This was decided by the CBSE after it signed an MoU with the National Council for Hotel Management and Catering Technology (NCHMCT).

The MoU was signed between CEO of NCHMCT, Devesh Chaturvedi and CBSE chairman Vineet Chaturvedi. Urban poverty alleviation minister Kumari Selja and HRD minister Kapil Sibal were also present during the signing.

This MoU is a modest beginning for an initiative that will eventually grow into a comprehensive strategy for vocational education in schools.

Under the MoU, 25 chosen schools will initially impart hospitality education as a full-scale vocational option at the plus two level. These schools will act as a model and guide other schools for at least 4-5 years. During this period, vocational stream would become a self-sustaining model available in most schools.

The course curriculum for class 11 has already been designed by the council and the class 12 curriculum will soon be available. The CBSE is currently considering incorporating a chapter on tourism and catering for middle school.The idea is to sensitize students on the importance of tourism, maintaining public hygiene and cleanliness.

New Delhi, July 22
A large number of Shiromani Akali Dal (Badal) workers today demonstrated near the Delhi Sikh Gurdwara Management Committee head office in protest against the allegation of financial 'waste' made by its president Paramjit Singh Sarna against H. S. Phoolka who had been fighting the case of 1984 anti-Sikh riot victims.

The demonstrators courted arrest when they tried to break the barricade erected by the police.

The demonstrators chanted slogans "Sajjan-Sarna bhai bhai". They urged the Akal Takht to take stern action against Sarna, alleging that he had always tried to sabotage the 1984 cause.

The demonstrators were led by Delhi unit chief of Shiromani Akali Dal (Badal), Manjit Singh GK. Prominent leaders among those who participated in the demonstration were former deputy leader of opposition in MCD, Onkar Singh Thapar, Avatar Singh Hit, Amarjit Singh Pappu and Paramjeet Singh.

Meanwhile, Justice RS Sodhi, former judge of the Delhi High Court, has asked Phoolka to render the accounts of expenses paid to him by his clients during the Nanawati Commission proceedings.

He said not rendering the account amounts to professional misconduct.

In response to Sodhi's statement, the then general secretary of the DSGMC under whose tenure the Nanawati Commission proceedings took place, has issued a statement that no money was paid to Phoolka. Whatever expenses Phoolka spent were not reimbursed to him by the committee and he spent from his own pocket, he said.

New Delhi, July 22
Friends and family members of a 17-year-old student who allegedly poisoned himself to death after being scolded by his girlfriend's father, today staged a protest outside the girl's house in the Pitampura area, demanding action against her father.

The victim, Samarth Gupta, of class XII allegedly committed suicide on Sunday by consuming poison at his residence after his girlfriend's father reprimanded him and asked him to concentrate on studies rather than the friendship he shared with his daughter.

Shouting slogans against the girl's family and the police for not taking action against the girl's father, the protestors stood outside the girl's residence for about four hours.

They alleged that the police had not taken any action even after five days had passed since the incident took place.

Noida, July 22
A woman's paramour killed her son at jhuggi clusters in sector 18 last night. The accused has been absconding till late this evening.

Gira Devi was living with her husband and children at jhuggi clusters. Her neighbour Rajinder developed illicit relations with her. Last night, her husband was not at home. Rajinder came and quarrelled with her over some issue," said Arun Kumar Singh, SHO, sector 20.

"He became furious and pulled her son Monu and threw him up in the air. The child hit the wall. Then he caught hold of boy's legs and started banging his head on the ground. Rajinder then ran away," said the SHO.

"Her neighbours took the injured child to hospital, but he died on the way. The woman has lodged an FIR against Rajinder," said Singh.

New Delhi, July 22
The over 10,000 employees of AIIMS are still waiting for a decent cafeteria on the premier institute's premises. The proposal to build it was first mooted almost four and a half years ago.

Sources say the plan for the cafeteria was first discussed in 2005 in a meeting of the cafeteria management committee, headed by its chairperson and then AIIMS' administration deputy director Debasis Panda, but the NDMC rejected the proposal as it did not have the institute's master plan.

The proposal kept gathering dust even as the equipment for renovating the cafeteria, including huge refrigerators, had been procured in 2008.

"Goods have already been purchased for building cafeteria and the suppliers are still waiting for their payments, which could be made only after the equipment is installed. The execution doesn't seem to be on the cards due to lack of interest of the administration," said an administrative staff member.

Staff lament that the existing staff canteen is shabby, lacks proper ventilation and there is no sitting arrangement.

The old AIIMS cafeteria, functional since 1972 and registered in 1983 with the director of canteens, was orginally designed to cater to 4,500 employees. Since then, the canteen has not seen any infrastructural enhancement even though the staff strength has gone up to 10,000. As per the plan, a multi-storey structure with modern facilities would come up in place of the current single ground building.

New Delhi, July 22
The BSES power distribution company today said that five men posing as its officials have been arrested for demanding Rs 15,000 from a gullible customer.

"We have come across a few incidents of forgery and misrepresentation where impostors, posing as its officials, have succeeded in extorting thousands of rupees from the customers," said a senior BSES official. He said that one such incident happened recently in south Delhi's Zakir Nagar area.

"Five impostors posing as BRPL Enforcement officials came for inspecting the meter. They declared it to be tampered with and convinced the customer to settle the case at Rs 15,000 rather than pay a hefty penalty to BRPL," he said.

A police case has been filed against the accused at the Jamia Nagar police station. During interrogation, the police recovered Rs 10,000 of the deal money along with forged and expired identity cards of an agency.

"BSES urges customers to guard against unscrupulous elements out to make a quick buck in this manner. Do not get intimidated by their threats and false assurances. All commercial payments are to be made only at the designated BSES offices," said the official.

House burgled
Our Correspondent

Ghaziabad, July 22
Burglars struck in a house at Sihanigate and decamped with jewellery, cash and goods worth lakhs.

The incident took place at trader Virender's house at Gali No 4, Sewa Nagar.

He along with his family was sleeping on roof when the burglary took place. They could not hear any sound.