New Delhi, February 8
The Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) is likely to be trifurcated by the Delhi government before the municipal elections to be held next year.

A committee constituted by the city government yesterday under the chairmanship of urban development minister A. K. Walia will look into its structure besides its functioning, sources said.

The sources said that the Chief Minister had submitted a proposal to the Union government in this regard. The centre accepted the proposal, thereafter the city government constituted the committee yesterday.

The purpose behind the division of the corporation is to take it under the Delhi government.

The municipal corporation may be divided into three parts - Trans Yamuna, South and West.

The executive wing of the each corporation will be headed by a municipal commissioner that will be under a principal municipal commissioner.

A senior politician said this is an old issue raised a few years ago. It was also discussed in the Delhi Assembly. Private member bill was also tabled in the Assembly, but it was defeated. Corporation members also opposed the move of the government, saying that the division of MCD was unconstitutional.

It is a constitutional body created by an Act of Parliament. No change can be made in its structure without amending the Act.

The Delhi government has taken over major works of the MCD like water, transport, rural development board and slum wing. Primary education, primary health, civic amenities and a few other works are under the MCD.

New Delhi, February 8
The Municipal Corporation of Delhi today appealed the Centre to reject the Delhi government's proposal for its trifurcation .

Chairman of the standing committee Yogendra Chandolia wrote a letter to Union Home Minister, demanding the rejection of the Delhi government's proposal to divide the functioning of the MCD. Slamming the Congress-ruled Delhi government, the civic agency demanded the dismissal of the state government following the allegations of corruption against former chairman of the Commonwealth Games Organising Committee Suresh Kalmadi and a case must be initiated against those found guilty. He said the government was knowingly making mockery of the Indian Constitution.

The Delhi government, which has been critical of MCD's functioning under the BJP, yesterday setup a high-powered committee to examine possible division of the civic body into a number of 'workable units' to enhance its performance. The government had in the past setup various

administrative committees to recommend re-organisation of the civic body, but this is for the first time that a committee comprising political leaders has been formed.

On the other side, keeping the blame game on, the opposition Congress in the MCD has accused BJP-led Corporation of diverting education funds for buying laptops, paying salaries to its employees and other works. "The MCD used the money given to it by the Delhi government as grant-in-aid for purposes like paying salaries, buying heavy vehicles, refrigerators, laptops, etc.," said Congress councillor and former Mayor Farhad Suri. He said the Education Department failed to utilise the grant for providing better facilities at the MCD schools.

He said the grant of about Rs 500 crore as meant for education purposes, including construction of more school buildings and staircases, installation of water tanks and arrangements of fire safety in the MCD schools. "Yet a big chunk of the funds was spent on things that have no relation to the education," he said.

He also accused the BJP of fiscal mismanagement and misguiding people by giving a "false budget". In the budget estimate for 2011-12, the BJP-led MCD has almost doubled its grant-in-aid for education from Rs 537 crore to Rs 1,107 crore.

Greater Noida, February 8
A class 6 student of a private school has alleged that he was beaten up by the teacher. His father has lodged a complaint at Surajpur police station today.

"Neeraj who studies at Um Public School at Surajpur was reportedly beaten up by a teacher. He suffered minor injuries and was rushed to a local hospital by his parents," said Ajay Choudhary, SHO, Surajpur.

"He told his parents that he was sitting quiet in his classroom while other students were making a noise. The teacher thought he was making a noise and came to him. Noticing that he was not wearing a tie, the teacher thrashed him with a stick," said Choudhary.

"While he was returning home, he fell unconscious on road. Some passers-by took him to hospital," said the SHO.

District Inspector of Schools Jyoti Prasad said, "If the student complains, action will be taken against the teacher if allegations are proved. As the victim is class 6 student, he has to file a complaint with Basic Shiksha Adhikari."

"As per the Supreme Court ruling, corporal punishment is banned. Teacher cannot slap let alone beating with a stick. Any punishment which leads to physical torture attracts action against the teacher which may be suspension or even dismissal from the service depending on the nature of injury," said 

New Delhi, February 8
The Delhi government is considering a web-based parking solution to overcome control of parking lots by mafias and encroachment on non-parking areas in the Capital.

A presentation on the IT-enabled parking management system was today made before the Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit in a meeting attended by the chief secretary Rakesh Mehta, MCD commissioner K.S. Mehra, NDMC chairperson Parimal Rai, secretary (IT) Savitur Prasad, joint commissioner of police (Traffic) S.P. Garg and other senior officers of transport and other departments concerned. The presentation was given by a private company.

The Chief Minister instructed to constitute a core group under the chairmanship of the chief secretary with the commissioner (Transport), commissioner (MCD), chairman (NDMC), secretary (IT), joint CP (Traffic), project director (Survey of India) and a representative from the National Innovation Council as members to study the proposal and submit comments.

The proposal which has been submitted relates to development of a web-based parking system which will eliminate human intervention.

The payments will be facilitated with the use of mobile phone. On-line availability of parking space will also be displayed on mobile screen. It is proposed to develop two pilot projects at Bhikaiji Cama Place and GK-II initially.

The city government will take appropriate action after getting comments from the core group. 

Gurgaon, February 8
Haryana Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda has asserted that the social evil of female foeticide could be wiped from society out by creating mass awareness on the significance of having the girl child.

Hooda was addressing the gathering as the chief guest at the 10th Annual Kelvinator Great Women Awards-2011 function organised late last evening.

Women achievers from various fields were presented with awards in 31 categories, including lifestyle, films, entertainment, medicine, beauty, fashion and style, music, advertising, corporate and entrepreneurship, at the function organised by Anu and Shashi Ranjan.

A special presentation of 'Beti'- Anu Ranjan's campaign against female foeticide, was also made on the occasion. Union minister for information and broadcasting Ambika Soni was awarded for her contribution in politics for 41 years.

Nimmi Raza, a noted Hindi movie actress of the 1950s, was presented with the Kelvinator Lifetime Achievement Award amidst the screening of her popular song "Jiya bekarar hai, baghon mein bahar hai…"

Bollywood actress Rani Mukherjee got the Kelvinator Actress of the Decade Award, while Raveena Tandon Thadani bagged the award for supporting the girl child.

Swati Ravindra Paradkar, president of Shri Mahila Griha Udyog Lijjat Papad, got the Kelvinator Great Women's Award for Social Service, while Dr Nandita Palshetkar received the award for her contribution to medicine and healthcare. Ulka Gupta was presented with Young Achiever Award for her lead role in the TV serial 'Jhansi Ki Rani'. The first woman Air Marshal, Padma Bandopadhyay, was also awarded for her achievement. Stand-up comedian Bharti Singh entertained the spectators.

The Chief Minister highlighted the steps taken by the state government to give the girl child her due status in society.

He mentioned the 'Laadli' scheme, under which a sum of Rs 5,000 is given for five years to a family in which a second daughter. Similarly, a sum of Rs 500 is given to the mother or father, whoever is elder, from the age of 45 years onwards if the family has only daughters.

Hooda further stated that the tuition fee of girl students had been waived and the Haryana government had also reserved 25 per cent seats for girls in the Industrial Training Institutes of the state. The women candidates had also been given 33 per cent reservation in teachers' recruitment, he added.

The Chief Minister also presented a cash award of Rs 1 lakh to two sisters Pratibha and Joly who have prepared a one-minute short film titled 'Every Adam needs an Eve' with the message to stop female foeticide. 

New Delhi, February 8
The CBI today insisted before a special court at Ghaziabad, which is hearing its closure report, that Aarushi Talwar's father Rajesh Talwar was the only suspect in her unsolved murder case.

Special magistrate Preeti Singh adjourned her ruling on the case till tomorrow.

The CBI's counsel RK Saini told the court that the agency had no other option than to file the closure report as it had not found any substantial evidence to file a chargesheet. He said Rajesh and his wife Nupur Talwar did not cooperate with the probe.

Saini said the agency had found fingerprints on a blood-stained wall, but forensic lab could not verify it. He said the agency could not ascertain either the motive behind the crime and the sequence to events leading to the murder of Aarushi and family servant Hemraj.

Talwars' counsel, Satish Tamta, opposed the CBI plea and urged the court that the closure report should not be accepted as the agency had not submitted complete facts and evidence.

He said the agency should be asked to explore all scientific options to pursue the case.Aarushi, 14, was found murdered in the Noida residence of her parents on May 16, 2008. The body of their domestic help Hemraj, who was initially suspected for her murder, was found on the flat's terrace a day later.

Ghaziabad, February 8
The National Commission for Scheduled Castes has demanded an investigation into the murder of a Dalit teenager here.

The deputy chairman of the NCSC Raj Kumar Virk has asked the police to heed to the demands of the girl's family, who suspect the killing to be a case of "human sacrifice" rather than murder.

Virk had visited the Jadopur village last evening where the young girl was allegedly murdered after being raped.

The girl's father Chet Ram, who had earlier lodged a case of rape and murder, now suspects his daughter was offered as human sacrifice by his neighbour Jagdish.

The incident happened on February 4 when a 16-year-old Dalit girl was found dead in a jungle near Pilakhwa village here.

Though rape has not yet been confirmed in the postmortem report, the vaginal swabs of the victim have been sent for laboratory test in Agra, SSP Raghubir Lal said. While the police has arrested four suspects in connection with the case, Jagdish is still at large.  - PTI

Greater Noida, February 8
You must have heard wife beaten by husband, but at Dadri, a woman has been arrested today for beating and injuring her husband. The injured man is still at the ICU of hospital in Ghaziabad.

Deputy superintendent of police Ambesh Tyagi said, "Three days ago, a woman assaulted her husband with a stick. It hit his head. He got critically injured and was rushed to a local hospital at Dadri. From there, he was referred to Yashoda Hospital in Ghaziabad."

"Initially when the police asked the victim Bhave Singh, he tried to save his wife. He told the police that he had fallen from the stairs and got injured. His condition was serious this evening. He is a retired defence official," said Tyagi.

"Last evening, his mother Mahinderi Devi lodged an FIR against his wife Sunita Devi (42). The mother alleged that Sunita often beat him," said the DSP.

"The accused has been arrested. The couple has two children who too informed the police that their mother used to beat their father," saidthe DSP.

New Delhi, February 8
The Delhi police has arrested a proclaimed offender wanted in several heinous cases, the police said today.

The offender has been identified as Jitender, alias Golu (24).

On February 6, while the police was patrolling in the Sultanpuri area around 10:15 pm, three boys were found to be consuming liquor in the park.

On seeing the police, the trio tried to run away, but they were overpowered by the patrolling party.

On inquiry, they revealed their identity as Jitender, Vikas, alias Boby (21) and Madan Lal (21).

One countrymade pistol and two live cartridges were recovered from the possession of Jitender.

On interrogation, the accused disclosed that in order to evade arrest, he shifted along with his family from Jawalapuri to JJ Colony, Wazirpur.

"He is booked under several cases, including rape, murder and snatching," said a senior police official.

New Delhi, February 8
The crime branch of the Delhi police has arrested four persons, including a commerce graduate from Delhi University, for allegedly duping people on the pretext of arranging a Canadian work visa for them.

The accused have been identified as gang leader Harvinder Singh (commerce graduate), Harish Kumar (41), Pawan Kumar (40) and Anil Arora (57), a property dealer.

The arrest came after investigation was taken up on a complaint filed by one Mandeep Singh. Mandeep had stated that he had fixed a deal of Rs 8 lakh with Harvinder, who had met him as R.K. Sethi, for a Canadian work visa.

"Mandeep had paid Harvinder Rs 60,000 and had given him his passport for getting the visa affixed. He was supposed to pay the remaining money after the work was done," said Mandeep's complaint.

However, Harvinder delayed Mandeep's work and threatened him that if he did not pay the remaining money, he would destroy his passport.

On February 4, the police apprehended Harvinder along with his accomplices, Pawan and Harish, from Connaught Place.

Subsequently, Anil Arora was also arrested.

The police has seized four passports having fake Canadian visa and forged documents purported to have been issued by Canadian Embassy, four fake Canadian visa stickers, two Santro cars and seven mobile phones from the accused.

"The accused adopted a unique method to entice victims. Harvinder used to send messages to random phone numbers in Punjab. If anyone reverted, he would entrap the person into dealing with him," officials added.

He would ask the victim to come to Delhi and meet him at various restaurants in Connaught Place. He would introduce Harish as an official of Canadian Embassy. They would then strike a deal for Rs 7 to 8 lakh for a Canadian visa.

Later, he would take advance money and the passport of the victim, officials said.

According to the police, the accused have cheated at least 15 persons.

On interrogation, Harvinder disclosed that he took to cheating to make up for the losses suffered by him in stock market.