New Delhi, January 11
The Delhi government informed the Delhi High Court today that the cut-off date for the calculation of age of a child seeking admission to a school should be March 31 of the year of admission. A child should have completed four years on or before March 31 of the year of admission to be eligible for admission to pre-primary, or nursery, it added.

"A child should have completed a minimum of five years on or before March 31 of the year of admission to be considered eligible for gaining admission to Class 1," the affidavit said.

The Delhi government said its department of education will establish a monitoring mechanism in each district to ensure that all recommendations were effectively implemented.

"While one-year class of early childhood education would be offered by all recognised schools immediately prior to Class 1, the schools which have infrastructural facilities may be allowed to open pre-school classes for children below the age of four years," the government said.

"However, these pre-school classes will not be part of the main school nor shall these be treated as feeder school to pre-primary class of the school," the government said.

The government said that the children in pre-school should be from the immediate neighbourhood. "There should be no school bag for carrying any prescribed books in all such pre-school classes," the affidavit said.

The court was hearing a petition filed by parents and rights group Social Jurist's lawyer Ashok Agarwal, who contended that the guidelines issued by the Delhi government December 15, 2010 and by the central government November 11, 2010 were contrary to the right to education law and violated the fundamental rights of a child.

The government cannot violate its own provisions and formulate another set of rules to favour some people for commercial benefits, Agarwal added. — IANS

New Delhi, January 11
In protest against the Delhi Sikh Gurdwara Management Committee (DSGMC) president's decision to celebrate Parkash Utsav on January 5, the Sikh community is divided in two parts.

One part is supporting the Kendriya Shri Guru Singh Sabha (KSGSS) and Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) (Delhi-UK) alliance while the other is in favour of the Shiromani Akali Dal (Delhi), ruling party in the Delhi Sikh Gurdwara Management Committee.

This was obvious at a nagar kirtan and Parkash Utsav procession on the occasion of birth anniversary of Guru Gobind Sahib Ji organised jointly by the KSGSS and the SAD (Delhi-UK) where one member of the ruling party of DSGMC Rajinder Harmohan Marwah, Rajinder Singh Gandhi who had recently joined the SAD (Delhi-UK) many presidents of Guru Singh Sabha Gurdwaras, president Delhi Sewadar Committee Raja Singh Sethi, various other activists of DSGMC who avoided to disclose their names to the media, activists of SAD (Badal) were also present, but they kept low profile.

Besides, various other dignitaries, former Union Home Minister Boota Singh, wife of Vice-President Hamid Ansari, Oskar Fernandese, east Delhi MP Sandeep Dikshit, Rajya Sabha MP Parvez Hashmi, former Rajya Sabha MP Tarlochan Singh, Delhi Chief Minister's sister Rama Dhawan, Pushpinder Singh, minority commission member, three Delhi government's parliamentary secretaries Surender Kumar, Anil Bhardwaj and Tarwinder Singh Marwah, Naseeb Singh and SAD (Delhi-UK) chief Jasjit Singh.

SAD (Badal) president Manjit Singh (GK) said the party had welcomed the procession at Jangpura. When asked that the procession was taken out by the KSGSS and the Akali Dal (Delhi-UK) Manjit said Parkash Utsav was celebrated on the direction given by Shri Akal Takhat Sahib, supreme power of the Sikh religion. Every Sikh across all parties is duty bound to welcome it.

KSGSS president Tarwinder Singh Marwah led the procession of the Parkash Utsav from Gurdwara Damdama Sahib at Nizamuddin to Gurdwara Balasahib on Ring Road.

New Delhi, January 11
A Gurgaon-based BPO was today sent a notice after its cab driver flouted a Delhi police order by not dropping a woman staffer at her doorstep on late Monday, the police said. The cab driver too was arrested in west Delhi.

According to deputy commissioner of police (west) V. Renganathan, the cab driver was caught by the police patrol team which keeps a check on all call centre vehicles to ensure that no rule is flouted.

"It's the BPO's prime responsibility to ensure the safety of its women staffers. The cab driver had dropped the woman at Uttam Nagar chowk at 8.30 pm although she was a resident of Bindapur, which is several kilometres away from the dropping point," Renganathan said.

Delhi police, after the gangrape of a BPO employee in the Capital last November, issued safety norms for companies where women staffers work late.

As per the norms, women employees have to be dropped by the office vehicle at their doorstep. The cab must also have a global positioning system (GPS) installed.

"The cab driver was nabbed by the police patrol team and a case has been registered under Section 144 of the CrPC (Criminal Procedure Code). The company-- American Express Banking Corporation-- has also been booked and a notice is being sent today. The cab also did not have GPS installed in it," Renganathan said.

"This is the first case registered after the safety norms were issued by the Delhi police," he added.

On the night of November 23, a 30-year-old BPO staffer-- a native of Mizoram-- was abducted by five men and gangraped in a moving goods carrier in the Capital.

She was abducted soon after she and another woman were dropped 100 metres from her home by her office vehicle in the Dhaula Kuan area of south Delhi late at night. The men then drove all the way to Mongolpuri in north Delhi and dumped her there after raping her.

A huge public outcry raised after the incident forced the Delhi police to issue the safety guidelines and gear up measures to ensure safety of women in the city. — IANS

New Delhi, January 11
Two girls were killed and two other minors seriously injured in a wall collapse incident in Jyoti Nagar of north Delhi this afternoon. According to the police, the incident took place at 12.30 pm.

Four girls came under the impact of the falling wall, while Himanshi (3) was declared brought dead at the hospital, Parul (7) succumbed to her injuries later. The injured - identified as Moni (4) and Khushboo (10) were admitted to the hospital in critical condition.

New Delhi, January 11
Angry over being refused a screwdriver, four persons allegedly stabbed a 17-year-old boy to death while injuring his brother in the Jaffarabad area last night. According to the police, the incident took place at a mobile shop in lane No. 4 of the Chauhan Bangar area of Jafrabad around 9 pm. The victim, Bilal, and his elder brother Afzal, 22, were at their mobile shop when four persons entered and asked for a screw driver. "Afzal denied them as he did not have one, following which an argument ensued leading to stabbing of both the brothers. Billal was declared brought dead at the hospital," said the police. Condition of Afzal, too, is critical and is at GTB Hospital.

No arrest has been made in the case so far.

New Delhi, January 11
The timing could not have been more ironical. Just when a moving "No One Killed Jessica" was reminding everyone about the ruthless murder that took place in 1999 over a peg of liquor, Capital rage has reared its head again, with two men being killed over trivial incidents.

Both point to the cheap value of human life in the capital.

In probably the capital's first brush with road rage this year, a man was mercilessly crushed to death Tuesday. The incident saw an airline pilot, drive over a restaurant manager four times. The victim's crime? His car scratched past the airline pilot's speckless Ford Ikon.

In an equally astonishing incident, four people killed a 17-year-old man Monday after he denied them a screwdriver at a shop.

And this is not the first time there has been a flare-up over a trivial issue; the history of rage and Delhi goes a long way.

Just last month, a plate of chicken tikka claimed a young life. A software professional in Rohini was shot dead in cold-blood after he accidentally knocked down a plate of chicken tikka.

In another monstrous crime last year, a 42-year-old driver of a chartered bus was mercilessly stoned to death because a restless bunch in a Qualis could not overtake the vehicle.

If that didn't leave you disgusted enough, there's more.

According to Delhi Police statistics, a number of murders in 2010 were committed over frivolous issues.

The reasons are as stupid as they come. They range from denial of a cigarette to not getting a particular brand of liquor. It doesn't matter how silly the reason may sound, Delhi went for the kill every time.

Some other issues included filling water from community taps, objecting to urinating in front of someone's house and bursting fire crackers at a marriage party.

At a local cricket match, things flamed up so much that it cost someone his life in Mangolpuri. In two other shocking cases, murders were committed over a bidi and over refusal to part with a cigarette.

In August 2007, a doctor is east Delhi was thrashed by two men as his car accidentally banged into their car.

In April last year, an engineer was badly beaten up because he refused to make way for a Mercedes in Delhi's posh Vasant Kunj. — IANS

New Delhi, January 11
The Delhi police has arrested two persons, including a teenager, for allegedly stalking and abusing a 34-year-old Russian woman, the police said.

The accused have been identified as Pradeep and Ravi (name changed), both taxi drivers.

The incident took place on Sunday night when the victim, a manager at a renowned south Delhi night club in Saket mall, was driving to her home in Defence Colony in her Tata Safari car when she was chased by two persons in a white Toyota Innova near the BRT corridor.

The accused followed her for around 30 minutes and hurled abuses at her.

Meanwhile, the victim called up the Police Control Room(PCR) at 11.30 pm in the Greater Kailash area of south Delhi, but as nobody was able to understand English, they could not help her.

It was only after she moved to a petrol pump where she asked a man to talk to the police in Hindi and through him communicated with the police and told them about the accused.

At this, the accused also parked their vehicle opposite the petrol pump and kept making obscene gestures.

The police took almost 20 to 25 minutes to reach the spot and took the accused in custody.

Till then, the victim had to lock herself inside a shop, to avoid the accused.

On sustained interrogation, it came to light that the accused were taxi drivers and were doing overtime.

The woman had been staying in Delhi for the past 12 years.

New Delhi, January 11
The Delhi government today failed to keep up its promise of providing onion at a subsidised rate of Rs 35 a kg in the over 400 Safal outlets run by Mother Dairy. And things may only turn worse for the common man tomorrow, as onion traders at Asia's biggest vegetable mandi in Azadpur today said that they would go an indefinite strike from tomorrow to protest against the "coercive" raids of the income tax department yesterday.

The only outlets where subsidised onion was available today were those run by the National Agricultural Cooperative Marketing Federation of India Limited (Nafed). But there too, the quantity of onion was very few to offer any comfort to most of the families.

The Safal outlets saw an unusually large crowd today morning, as people turned up to purchase cheap onion, as announced by the Delhi government yesterday. However, they had to return disappointed. "It's such a shame. They can't keep up their yesterday's promise. How we can trust the government," said Rama Devi, a Mayur Vihar resident.

The Safal outlets were selling onion at the prevailing rate of Rs 50 and that too of a substandard quality.

The additional managing-director of Nafed, Jagmohan Bhanot, said Nafed would procure ten truckloads of onion and distribute them across the city at a subsidised rate. He said the agency would prefer Safal outlets and the resident welfare associations (RWAs).

"The RWAs could contact us and we would deliver subsidised onion at their doorstep," he said.

However, the plan may go awry as onion traders at Azadpur would be going on strike from tomorrow. Traders at Okhla, Gazipur and Keshvpur mandis could also join them.

"The IT raids were nothing but harassment for us and we would protest against them by going on strike," traders said.

According to them, not only IT officials, but different government bodies are checking their accounts, apparently suspecting hoarding.

Government officials, meanwhile, were learnt to be persuading the traders to call off the strike. Traders in Nasik, one of the biggest onion-producing states in country, had also called for a strike against the IT raids, but called it off after government's assurance.

New Delhi, January 11
The Shiromani Akali Dal (Badal) today asked the Delhi government to check the accounts and other documents of all the branches of Guru Harkishan Public School (GHPS) where teachers had not been paid salaries for the past four-five months and the gratuity and provident funds of the school staff had been allegedly transferred to the accounts of the gurudwara committee for purchasing gold.

The president of the Delhi unit of the Shiromani Akali Dal (Badal), Manjit Singh (GK) said the schools took Rs 2,000-Rs 4,000 from its students on the pretext of giving enhanced salaries to the teachers as per the recommendations of the sixth pay commission. But so far, the recommendations have not been implemented in the Delhi gurudwara committee schools, particularly GHPS.

Also, the provident fund and gratuity of GHPS staff have been transferred to the accounts of the gurudwara committee for purchasing gold for Gurdwara Bangla Sahib, Singh claimed.

Further, the schools are overstaffed. Many schools have 90-100 teachers when actually only 60-70 are needed. Many teachers and other staff members are not even qualified for the posts that they are holding, Singh claimed.

"There is a clear case of nepotism despite the fact that the rules say that blood relatives of the members of the gurudwara committee cannot be appointed to work with committee schools, alleged Manjit.

"Not just this, the stationery in gurudwara schools is costlier as compared to other schools. Instead of the NCERT books, which are cheaper, books of private publishers are studied in gurudwara schools. And this is because private publishers give commission to chairmen of the school committees for using their books," claimed Manjit.

The DSGMC is not worried about the deteriorating performance of the students. This year, 369 students of GHPS, Punjabi Bagh, appeared for the senior secondary school examinations, and out of them, 101 students failed and 80 got compartment. A few years back, 3,200-3,500 students were enrolled with the school, but now, only 900 students are there, Manjit added.

At present, the Comptroller and Auditor General of India has decided to study the accounts of India Gate, Vasant Vihar and Loni branches of GHPS.

Singh said he would write a letter to the President of India, Prime Minister, Chief Minister and Lt. Governor of Delhi, appealing them to order an enquiry of the accounts of all GHPSs.

New Delhi, January 11
The Delhi police has arrested four persons and has busted an inter-state gang of car thieves who were involved in the 
murder of a sales tax officer in Rajasthan, the police said today.

The accused have been identified as Jagdish Meena, alias Chottu, Subhash Kumar (25), Banwari Lal Meena, alias Jacki, (26) and Khalil, alias Guddu, (25).

The police has recovered a Hyundai Verna, a Santro car, and two motorcycles from their possession.

With the arrest of the accused the police has solved murder case of sales tax officer in Rajasthan, an abduction and rape case of Rajasthan, three cases of highway robberies with hurt in Rajasthan, one case of robbery in Rajasthan, two cases of motor vehicle theft in Delhi and one motor vehicle theft in Harayna.

Their arrests were made after an investigation was taken up on the increasing cases of vehicle thefts.

Intelligence was developed and on January 7, while a police team was on checking duty, they signaled a car to stop for checking. The driver stopped his car on the road side and tried to escape.

He was apprehended after a short chase and was identified as Subhash Kumar.

On sustained interrogation, accused broke down and disclosed that he, along with Jagdish (a proclaimed offender and absconder involved in over 10 cases) and others, had stolen the said car from Roop Nagar.

He confessed his involvement in several car thefts with his associates.

The police also apprehended all other gang members, at his instance. And registered a case against the accused.

New Delhi, January 11
After several rounds of inspection, Rajkumar, director (operations), Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC), has presented several ways to deal with the glitches that have been repeatedly marring the proper functioning of Metro over the past couple of months.

Since yesterday, trains between AIIMS and INA stations have been running on a restricted speed due to some technical faults. While much of the problem was solved last night, the rest would be done tonight, Metro officials said.

"Currently, services between AIIMS and INA are running on caution speed. Normally, the journey between the two stations takes two minutes, but currently it is taking three and a half minutes. However, the train makes up for the lost time by the time it reaches HUDA City Centre," he said.

Speaking about the problems in the overhead electrification (OHE) wires, Rajkumar said, "Certain faults had been found in some neutral areas on the corridors related to OHE. To address them, an insulator has been replaced at New Ashok Nagar, which is a neutral area on the Dwarka- Noida corridor. Another such insulator will be replaced near the Guru Dronacharya station on Line 2.

The problem occurs generally when the power supply source is switched over from Delhi to UP at New Ashok Nagar and from Delhi to Haryana at Dronacharya station. Fluctuations in voltage and occasional delays are usually heat up the wires. The insulators will now help and prevent any such occurrence in future."

On the issue of the problems in Bombardier trains, Rajkumar explained that a software anomaly was shutting down the power system of the trains repeatedly. The problem has been diagnosed and addressed, he said.

"There was an incident related to the applying of parking brakes in a train in the last week of December, 2010. The drivers have now been given specific trouble-shooting instructions. Initially, the Bombardier trains were facing the problem of voltage fluctuation. This was because voltage fluctuation is very less in other countries. As per the international standards, the voltage fluctuation rate is half a cycle per second, but to comply with the Indian conditions, the fluctuation tolerance rate has been increased to 48.5 cycles per second," he said.

In the last one year or so, for more than 10 times, trains had piled up on the routes due to the loss of the train IDs , but finally the Delhi Metro has come up with a solution for the problem.

"On Line 3 (Dwarka -Noida), communication shutdown was resulting in the loss of train IDs. The problem was monitored for six to seven months, and now the problem has been rectified. Also, soon Metro stations are likely to have medical counters which will provide immediate medical help to patients in emergency cases. The DMRC is currently in talks with two hospital groups (private/public)," said Rajkumar.