New Delhi, November 25
The sale of application forms for the Delhi Development Authority (DDA) Housing Scheme 2010 in various part of Delhi was launched today as people rushed to several government and private banks to purchase the brochure.

The DDA's housing scheme will not have any concession for SC and ST applicants, said a senior DDA official.

Several measures have been taken to make the scheme more transparent. The applicants would have to show that the money deposited is from their own bank accounts. Besides, the applicants from the handicapped quota cannot sell their flats.

The housing scheme offers maximum of one-bedroom flats that is 10,125 out of the total 16,000 flats. Prices of these flats range from Rs 9 lakh to Rs 19 lakh and most of them are located in Rohini Sectors 18, 28 and 29 and Dwarka Sector 14.

The Commonwealth Games two-bedroom flats, 548 in Vasant Kunj, are priced between Rs 51 lakh and Rs 96 lakh. The three-bedroom flats, 876 in total, are available in Vasant Kunj for Rs 1.10 crore to Rs 1.12 crore.

In order to apply for a DDA flat, a person should have PAN card and bank account number. Those willing to apply for the flats can get the forms from various branches of Axis Bank, ICICI Bank, IDBI Bank, HDFC Bank, the State Bank of India and the Union Bank, apart from DDA's main office. The forms can also be downloaded from the DDA's website.

The flats are spread over various areas, including Dwarka, Rohini, Vasant Kunj, Motia Khan, and Mukherjee Nagar.

Out of the 16,000 flats, around 51 two-bedroom flats are available in areas like Kalyan Vihar, Jahangirpuri, Pitampura, Sarai Khalil, Vasant Kunj, Narela and Rohini.

New Delhi, November 25
With Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit's reply after a motion on full statehood in the Delhi Assembly today, the difference between her and Lieutenant-Governor Tejendra Khanna has come out in the open.

The motion was moved by Congress MLA Mukesh Sharma, demanding full statehood for Delhi so that the government could function effectively.

This is in reaction to the Lieutenant-Governor who had returned the Cabinet proposal of circle rate to the government twice, asking it to make certain changes in the rate. The proposal was sent back to him for notification.

The Chief Minister said that Khanna had been interfering in the administrative work of the elected government in Delhi which affected the development work. Still, the government continued with its projects successfully and Delhi had become the best city in the country. It has the best roads in the world.

She said Khanna took benefit of one line of the Union home ministry which stated, "The Delhi government means, government of L-G".

She urged the Union government, "Do not clip our wings. Give us wings and space to fly to fulfill the aspirations of people who have elected the government not only once but thrice, consecutively."

She said that when there was any crisis, the city government was held responsible. Either it is the Commonwealth Games preparations, or the house collapse incident in which 70 people were killed. Though the construction of Games village was the DDA's work, but when it failed to complete it on time, the Delhi government was given its responsibility. When law and order problem arises, people come to the government, though the Delhi police is under the Centre.

Expressing anger against the Centre, she said, "If it is L-G's government, why we are called to all works?"

Giving reply of the motion, the Chief Minister said, "We are in favour of special statehood for Delhi, as it is national Capital and the Union government also functions from here. The city government is not competent to handle security aspects related to diplomats and VVIPs."

"We will not like our rights to be encroached upon. In a democracy, only duly-elected government is known as a government in all respects. As far as an administrative order of 2002 issued by the Union home ministry is concerned, it is creating obstacles in the proper functioning of the city government. Our demand for special statehood under Article 239 (AA) of the Constitution is justified," she added.

All committees -- Balakrishnan Committee, Virendra Prakash Committee, Administrative Reforms Committee, headed by Veerappa Moily, and Ashok Pradhan Committee -- constituted on this issue have justified a feasible and practicable set up for Delhi. They have clarified that with the present set-up, the functioning in Delhi will never be smooth.

While reiterating the Cabinet's authority, Dikshit said that any decision of the elected government was liable to be modified only by the Cabinet, government and the Assembly. The constitutional head can call any minister or Chief Minister for consultation, if there is any difference of opinion on any decision.

"We have been stressing to have authority on land, law and order minus security and local bodies in the ambit of the state government under special statehood," she said. 

New Delhi, November 25
Given the loss of lives due to unavailability of organs and sporadic cadaver organ transplants, the government has given the go-ahead to the proposal of having a centralised organ donation network for which Delhi would be the pilot ground.

The new system would entail organising a system of organ procurement and transfer processes by building linkages with organ retrieval centres and transplant hospitals via IT-enabled centres.

"We have got the clearance from the health ministry to start the network of organ donation and we would take it up in phases. The system would be developed in Delhi and then the model would be replicated in other parts of the country in the next year," said the director-general health services, Dr R K Srivastava.

In the Capital and NCR, seven hospitals have been identified as the networking centres even as the new system is awaiting the clearance from Parliament after the Parliament sub-committee approved the amendments suggested to the Transplantation of Human Organs Act, 1994 this year.

An important amendment to the Act is to maintain a registry of ICUs of hospitals as organ retrieval centres, whether or not the hospital is equipped for organ transplantation.

At present, very few government and private hospitals perform transplants in the country with 85 per cent transplants being done in private hospitals. As many as 95 per cent kidneys and livers come from live donors even as the demand for hearts is met from deceased donors.

"There is a big gap between the demand and supply of organs, with millions of patients dying for want of organ transplant and the global solution reached is encouraging deceased donors rather than live donors," Dr Srivastava underlined.

Stressing the need to promote cadaver organ transplant, the DGHS further said, "A complete and organised infrastructure having list of persons declared brain dead has to be made available and a law for putting in the system in place."

Looking at the current organ transplant scenario, each year the organ requirement is nearly 1,75000 for kidneys, 50,000 for hearts and livers transplantation as against 5000 kidney transplants in 180 centres, 400 livers in 25 centres and 10-15 hearts in very few centres being done annually.

According to the head of nephrology department of AIIMS, Dr Sanjay Agarwal, the low turnout of donors is primarily attributable to the lack of awareness among people even as India is one of the nations where fatalities due to road accidents, potential source for organ donation, are significantly high. Only one in 100 people meeting accidents come forward for donating organs, he stated. 

New Delhi, November 25
Under the leadership of Venkaiah Naidu, Vijender Gupta and Vijay Kumar Malhotra, a large number of BJP workers staged 'Virodh March' from the Red Fort to Delhi Legislative Assembly.

They were protesting against the financial bungle in the Commonwealth Games allegedly by the Delhi government.

However, the march was stopped near Chandagi Ram Akhara on Ring Road and marchers were detained by the police before they could reach the Assembly. They included Venkaiah Naidu, Vijender Gupta and O.P. Kohli. They were released later.

While marching from the Red Fort, the BJP activists raised slogans like "Commonwealth mein bhrastachar, Sheila Dikshit hai zimmedar"; "Mahenga rashan, mahenga tel, Congress ka dekho khel".

The march turned into a big rally near Chandagi Ram Akhara.

Addressing the protestors, in-charge of Delhi affairs M. Venkaiah Naidu said that AICC chairperson Sonia Gandhi, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit are directly responsible for the corruption in the Games. Kalmadi is only a pawn.

The intentions of government are not good as the CBI is taking action against Kalmadi, Mahendru, T. S. Darbari and Jaichandran only.

He said the UPA government has turned the CBI into a political weapon. The people of Bihar have shown that the country has understood the game of Sonia, Rahul and Manmohan.

Vijender Gupta claimed that the fate of the Sheila government will be like that of Lalu Yadav. The Chief Minister allowed her favorites in the Games loot. A new bungling of Rs 1,100 crore has also come to light in the Games.

New Delhi, November 25
Amongst many hits at the ongoing trade fair, the cosmetic pavilion has turned out to be a favorite among the female visitors. Be it young girls or married women, the pavilion has something for everyone. In fact, some men can also be spotted at the pavilion, enquiring about fairness products.

"These are the times when be it men or women, everyone is beauty-conscious. Everyone wants to take care of their hair and skin problems. While some seek brands, others seek herbal solutions," said Kirti Dave, handling Shehnaz Hussian's Beauty Products at the pavilion.

Be it facial kits, mega-sized pedicure, manicure shampoos, jumbo body lotion kits for women or perfumes and shaving kits for men, the pavilion has it all.

The moment one enters the pavilion, a special discount stall greets all that is giving "1 plus1" offer on every purchase. Further in, one can learn all about make-up at the special make-up stall. From the brushes used for eye shadows to the right kind of hair brush, the sales staff help you.

One visit to the pavilion will ensure that you have all you need to pamper yourself without shelling out money at expensive parlours. Spa treatment kits, diamond and gold facial kits, hair colour treatments are selling like hot cakes at the pavilion.

Also in demand are skin problem solutions for acne-prone, dry or scarred skin. Be it hair fall, dandruff, split ends, dry or oily hair, one visit to the pavilion will ensure that the customers get the best deal. A couple of make-up counters are also holding demonstrations for consumers.

"We have already run out of stocks today. We will be back with more tomorrow. Apart from regular customers, we have bagged contracts from some parlours and spa centres in Delhi. To our surprise, men are also turning up in big numbers to purchase and enquire," said Meeta Ganguly at the Ayur Herbal stall.

New Delhi, November 25
Students and teachers across Delhi University are greatly relieved after the administration postponed the first semester exams for the 13 undergraduate science courses this year, which will now be held from January 4 to 13, 2011.

Students are especially happy as the exams will now be conducted after a good winter break which will give them a lot of time to study. The preparation leave and the winter vacation start from December 25, and ends on January 2.

Every student is now focusing on reaping the maximum benefits out of the revised exam schedule.

Most colleges which suffered loss of classes by repeated strikes are now confident of finishing the course on time. Many colleges, including Zakir Hussain College, Kirori Mal College and Acharya Narendra Dev College had written to the university on the infrastructural shortcomings and feared that with exams overhead, these issues will not be addressed. However, with the delay in exam schedule, colleges and authorities are now planning to work in harmony and address such issues like lack of classrooms, labs and practical equipment.

The delayed schedule has come as a breather for students who were busy preparing for the practical exams.

"Our practical exams were supposed to begin yesterday, but at the last moment we were told of the possibility of delay in exams. We will have our practical exams on December 14 which will end on December 24. We have more days to prepare for exams now. We have been told that extra classes will be held on weekends and the winter break will also be cut short," said Pratima Dey, student Acharya Narendra Dev College.

Earlier, the examinations were to be held from December 6. The revised schedule comes after the High Court's decision on November 15, upholding the semester system in undergraduate courses.

Classes for both the second semester and annual mode resume from January 14, and the last working day will be April 27. Practical examination for the second semester as well as the annual mode will be held from April 14 to 27. The study leave will begin from April 27 to May 2, and the examinations for both the semester and annual mode start from May 3 to 28.

The summer vacations will begin from June 8 and end on July 20.

New Delhi, November 25
Over 40 schools in the Capital that claim to be Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) schools have allegedly been functioning without recognition for the past few years. These schools have been not been recognised by the MCD yet, thereby, duping both students and parents.

Chairman of the MCD's educational committee Mahendra Nagpal said, "There are institutes in areas like -- Karol Bagh and Paharganj which have been functioning as MCD schools, but they have not been recognised by the civic body yet. Almost all schools have applied for recognition, but they have been denied recognition as they fail in the provision that requires them to have 800-sq km land." Most of these schools have only 200-sq km land.

He said, "These schools have failed in some provision or the other of the Master Plan. So, they have been denied recognition. Despite this, they continue to function as full-fledged schools."

As per a provision of the Master Plan 2007, only those schools are granted recognition by the MCD which have an area of 800 sq km.

Nagpal said, "We have written to the urban development ministry, but have not received any reply. Keeping in view the benefit of students and parents, we will allow schools in certain zones where the Master Plan does not apply to function, for the time being."

The principal of a school in Paharganj that has not been recognised said, "We have applied for MCD recognition, but have been denied as of now. The process is underway and we are confident that it is only a matter of time. The school has some 500 sq km of land and we are trying to purchase more land to adhere to the MCD's provision required for recognition. Meanwhile, the school functions as any other school. The results are good and parents are satisfied."

New Delhi, November 25
In a first-of-its-kind initiative, Delhi University (DU), Centre for Professional and Technical Training and Hero Mindmine Institute Ltd (HMIL) have jointly launched a certificate course in sales and relationship management, assuring jobs for students in the banking, financial services and insurance sector (BFSI).

Both past as well as present DU students can apply for the course.

"This is the first time that such a program is assuring 100 per cent placement. We at Hero Mindmine have been providing end-to-end services, including competency mapping, resourcing, recruitment assessment, pre-process training, leadership development workshops and train-the-trainer programs, to large corporate houses for years. This partnership with DU will go a long way in ensuring employment for the youngsters," said Akshay Munjal, chief operating officer, HMIL.

Savita Datta, director, Campus of Open Learning, University of Delhi, said, "I am sure this programme will benefit students in finding gainful employment. This is a pioneering endeavour to provide employment-focused education-- an objective that most educational institutions in our country have not been focusing on."

Admission procedure: The application form can be downloaded from the website http://col.du.ac.in or www.du.ac.in.

Eligibility: All final year students and graduates of Delhi University are eligible to apply. Students of School of Open Learning (SOL) and Non-Collegiate Women's Education Board (NCWEB), University of Delhi, will be given preference.

Fee: Rs 18, 000.

Duration: 130 hours of classes (3 months)

Selection procedure: The selection procedure includes a written examination that tests the logical reasoning, numerical ability and English comprehension of the candidates. The exam is followed by a personal interview.

New Delhi, November 25
Anish Sarkar belongs to the growing list of authors to have come out of IITs and IIMs. Like Chetan Bhagat, the bestselling author of 'Five Point Someone' who is also an IIM graduate, he seems to draw from his days in the hallowed precincts of this institution to enrich his book.

Sarkar's debut novel 'Benaami' was launched here yesterday. With the world of Indian writers in English finding an increasingly larger audience, Sarkar joins the bandwagon with his tale of a software engineer who is visited by flashes from his past.

Sarkar says it took him over four years to write the book and expects his novel to be liked by readers.

The launch was attended by Gursharan Kaur, wife of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, and their daughter Daman Singh, who is also an author, among others.

The book spans two eras. One part of the story is set in the 19th century, during the 1857 mutiny, while a modern-day conspiracy is at the heart of the other part.

The book is already in the bookstores and also available online.

Ballabgarh, November 25
The Municipal Corporation of Faridabad (MCF) today razed more than half a dozen unauthorised commercial structures, most of them allegedly owned and supported by politicians and councillors.

The demolition squad headed by the MCF's joint commissioner of Ballabgarh zone and sub-divisional magistrate Inder Kumar Bishoi swooped on the structures around 7 am. The operation, in which seven JCBs were pressed into service, continued for about two hours.

Anticipating public backlash at the instance of the councillors concerned, over 100 police personnel under the commissioner of police (Ballabhgarh) were deployed for the squad's security. However, the operation was peaceful.

According to the MCF, many structures in the heart of the city and at other prime locations had allegedly been constructed without any authorisation. The builders allegedly did not pay heed to the objections raised by the civic body. Besides, the office of MCF commissioner Mahtab Singh Sehrawat was getting numerous complaints from the public about these unauthorised constructions.

The MCF commissioner has issued a directive to joint commissioners of all three zones of the civic body to come down hard on illegal constructions and encroachments in their respective areas of jurisdiction.

The councillors whose structures have been demolished are Rao Ram Kumar, Kamal Yadav and Rajinder Aggarwal. All three are from Ballabgarh.

Rao Ram Kumar and Kamal Yadav are considered close to Sharda Rathore, chief parliamentary secretary of Haryana Vidhan Sabha and Congress MLA from Ballabgarh. Rajinder Aggarwal is considered close to Haryana minister for urban and local bodies Mahender Pratap.

While construction of some structures was completed, some were near completion. The structures ranged from four-storeyed building to a huge basement-cum-ground floor and shops.

New Delhi, November 25
The case of the sensational murder of a 68-year-old man in his Ashok Vihar house, during the night between November 18 and 19, has been solved and the police said today that a maid who had earlier worked for him, her husband and his friend killed him. All of them have been arrested.

DCP, northwest district, NS Bundela said their probe team had suspected a friendly entry into the house. Even the neighbours corroborated it and said they had heard "male and female" voices from the house of Ram Avtar Gupta at night.

He said they made a list his acquaintances and it included the maid he had employed. "We learnt that he would frequently change his maid servants and during investigation, it came to notice that one maid had come to the house of the deceased in the evening on November 18," he said.

Bundela said they questioned suspect Sangeeta and she confessed that she, her husband Anoop and his friend Vinay Kumar, alias Babloo, had killed Gupta as they had hoped to find good money from his house. As he was old and stayed alone, he was a vulnerable prey.

Gupta's murder came to light when the police found a Swift car abandoned at Bhadola. Its search threw up telephone numbers of his son Bijender who said he had given the car to his father. He along with his brother Surender then rushed to his father's house and called up the police after finding the latch of the main door closed from outside while a lock was lying nearby.

The police found Gupta in a pool of blood.

Sangeeta said she had gone to his house on November 15, looking for a job and learnt that he had recently returned from Sri Lanka. She and her husband went to him again with Vinay. Gupta was drunk, the police said, and they easily overpowered and killed him.