New Delhi, March 27
Amidst strong opposition from teachers, it seems that the Delhi University administration is most likely to succeed with introducing the semester system in all the undergraduate courses.

Currently, sociology and history are the prime departments which have not agreed to the semester system.

One after the other, the departments are giving in to the pressure of submitting the new bifurcated syllabus within slotted deadlines. Just two days back, commerce, one of the largest departments, agreed to switch to the semester system in its meeting of committee of courses. Music and statistics departments followed the league.

"Whether we like it or not, semester system will be introduced from the coming academic session 2011. In a worst case scenario, English (Hons), sociology and history may be among the few courses which are left out this year. But beyond that, there is no hope of rolling back of the decision of semesterisation. The university wants to speed up the process, ignoring many factors involved which might not be their matter of concern today, but it will soon show in the performance of the students," said one of the English faculty members at Ramjas College.

Most teachers, including those who staunchly oppose the semester system, say that they know that given the university's attitude, semesterisation is now inevitable. However, the process could have been much less "messy" had the teachers and courses committees been kept in the loop from the beginning.

"The departments are expected to furnish flawless course details at the earliest which is not possible, given the queries and problems that teachers seem to have with the system. Even the departments which have submitted their syllabus have many flaws. A lot of details have been just assumed and not paid attention to. The real picture will be clear to the university when the students will start complaining about the system," said Nandita Narayan, member of Joint Action Body, the umbrella body under which teachers continue to protest against the semester system.

Meanwhile, the picture regarding all the social sciences courses will be clear in the coming days when the faculty will meet for another meeting in the coming week.

In its last meeting, the faculty did not pass even a single course, however, a university statement the following day said that many departments from social sciences were already in the process of semsterisation.

Vice-Chancellor Dinesh Singh on the other hand, doesn't seem to be unperturbed by the objections and is hopeful that "good sense" will prevail.

"I believe the university will be semesterised by 2011. And good sense will prevail. It's almost done. We have made a huge progress," said Singh.

New Delhi, March 27
Delhi State Industrial and Infrastructure Development Corporation (DSIIDC) organised a loan mela in association with Delhi Finance Corporation and cooperative banks to facilitate the allottees of industrial plots at Bawana-II Industrial Area developed by the government.

The mela that started yesterday will continue up to March 30, except on Sunday, at Udyog Sadan, Patparganj Industrial Area in east Delhi.

The mela intends to benefit about 2,500 allottees of Bawana-II in availing financial assistance toward the cost of the plots allotted to them for relocating their industrial units from residential areas to the allotted plots at Bawana.

The DSIIDC issued demand letters to over 4,000 allottees of Bawana-II in September 2010. The last date of payment of the cost of plot has been extended from March 31, 2011, to June 30, 2011, on the demand of allottees. About 1,600 allottees have, so far, paid the cost of plot. The remaining allottees have been requesting individually and through their associations also to facilitate availability of loan.

DSIIDC in this regard, made arrangements with Delhi Finance Corporation and a few reputed cooperative banks to facilitate the allottees.

New Delhi, March 27
Is alcoholism a disease or obsession and what does it take to leave it?

"For 20 years I could not stay away from alcohol even for 15 minutes. And now, it's been five years that I am away from it. It is still unimaginable," said Rajinder proudly (name changed) while speaking at a meeting of 'recovering alcoholics' with the fellow members clapping at his triumph as if setting example for the new comers.

It was also the day of celebration, as another member had completed 15 years of being 'sober', the term used for staying away from alcohol.

If you seem to be having a similar trouble with your drinking or if your drinking has reached the point where it worries you a bit, you may be interested in knowing about a group that works anonymously in the city, famously known as Alcohol Anonymous (AA) that help people recover from the obsession through a 12-step programme.

AA is not an NGO, its members say, not even a reformer or religious denomination. AA is a fellowship or a group of people with international presence, who are either suffering or have recovered from alcoholism.

"We have no wish to dry up the world. We do not recruit new members, but welcome them," said Sudhir, a fictitious name of the secretary of one of the groups called 'Jagriti'. Anonymity is the first principle of the fellowship.

AA has various groups which hold regular meetings in the evenings all across Delhi to maintain their soberness and help their new alcoholic members undergo a programme of recovery from alcohol.

"If there is one thing that helps our members leave alcohol, it is a physic change that is bought in the person through a programme. It takes him towards spirituality and makes him do a self-analysis. It teaches him to become honest with nobody, but him," said another member of Jagriti group which holds meetings on every Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday at St. Columbia's School.

Alcoholism, as the group believes, is a disease, which cannot be cured but which, like some other diseases, can be arrested.

"We live for 'today'. Instead of 'swearing off forever' or worrying about whether we will be sober tomorrow, we concentrate on not drinking for just one day and that is 'today'," explains Sudhir.

"We cannot afford to look into the past which has been devastated by our alcoholism nor can we look into the future as that is uncertain and at times scary. So we make efforts keeping in mind the day we have in hand," he said.

However, the fellowship strongly believes that an alcoholic will remain so if exposed to alcohol. "An alcoholic possess a tendency to fall back into the obsession if cuts himself off from the spirituality and honesty. The results then would be worse than before," added Sudhir.

Rang, bhang and masti is what Holi is all about in Delhi. We have the annual Holi bashes in town like that of Vineet Jain, MD of the Times Group which becomes grandeur every year. New people are added to the list every year that are younger, more energetic and of course good looking. This is an invitation that everybody longs for in town.

There were performers at the gate from Mathura doing a traditional dance and the theme was Raas Leela of Radha Krishna. Gulaal, tubs were filled with colour where invitees were picked and thrown into.

Sangeeta Bijlani, Koel Purie, Meher Bhasin arrived in white, but were all wet and multicoloured by the time they left.

The other Holi bash which has become famous over the years is L.K.Advani's where even politicians shake a leg with their water balloon fights, and gulaal in every possible colour. Here the crowd varies from Rajnath Singh to Navin Jindal, dancer Sonal Mansingh and industrialists to media people. It is shero shayari and classical music to Bollywood numbers. Kamala Advani and family do make good hosts while making sure every guest tastes the Holi special mithai 'Gujhiya'.

There are many farm houses in Delhi where the carnival of colours was celebrated with jam sessions full of gulaal, bathing in beer and gulping down bhang lassi while shaking a leg to live music. The dhol walas dished out popular Bollywood numbers and then there were different kinds of kebabs to pastas to choose from.

The other political annual Holi bashes which take place with great gusto is the one in the Sheila Dikshit's home.

Ram Vilas Paswan's Holi bash is also a yearly affair.

Couple exchanges garlands in ropeway cars

Publicity and fun is what everyone seems to be after in this wedding season. Some pay over the top for Bollywood and some for Ghazal singers from across the border. It was excitingly different as a couple got married 40 feet above the ground. The groom travelled in a ropeway car from one side while the bride travelled in a similar ropeway car from the other way. Both met in the centre and the couple exchanged the garlands. Thousands of people who had collected there gave them a standing ovation. Of course, the remaining rituals were later performed on the ground.

The elder brother of this groom had got married in 2009 in a hot air balloon. Marriages like this obviously cost a lot of money and attract a lot of uninvited guests. These arrangements are done by special event management companies who especially fly in from abroad to make such weddings happen.

New Delhi, March 27
A six-and-a-half-year-old boy has become the youngest recipient of an Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU) degree, passing the exam for the certificate in craft and design programme, a university official said.

Divya Prakash Pandey, a resident of Delhi, cleared the exam held under the School of Engineering and Technology with 76 per cent marks and was felicitated by the university, the official said.

"He is not only the youngest student of IGNOU, but also the youngest student ever admitted in any university. A class II student of Kendriya Vidyalaya, Vigyan Vihar in east Delhi, Pandey was interested in craft and design," the official said.

He has crafted wonderful creations with clay, besides designing different patterns and creating innovative ideas in craft and design, added the official. — IANS

New Delhi, March 27
"A Meaning - Making Capacity" - ongoing exclusive painting exhibition by renowned artist Manu Singh at Lalit Kala Akademy is finding many takers from the city.

Inaugurated in presence of Dilip Singh Judeve (Member of Parliament), Rameshwar Broota (famous painter and head of the department of Triveni Kala Sangam), the event will go on till March 28.

This is Singh's first solo exhibition. Singh studied art at Triveni Kala Sangam, New Delhi. She joined the University of Geneva, Switzerland, as a student support. Her works have been selected in the annual exhibition of AIFACS in 2009 organised by Camlin in 2009 and 2010 and Switzerland Contemporary Design and Art Fair in 2011.

"Every painting has its own meaning. Out of the 11 paintings that have been displayed, most of these are based around women's lives, their struggle for their identity, their spot in the society," said Singh.

"When you start painting, many a time you don't have a set theme. But in the process, the colours, the canvas and the brushes speak to you and guide you along," she added.

New Delhi, March 27
With the arrest of six men, the south district police has claimed to have foiled a robbery attempt on a businessman who was on his way to deposit a large amount of money in a bank.

According to the police, the accused have been identified as Nadeem (28), Mohd Ashif (25), Noor Alam (24), Mohd Mukeem (26), Mohd Nasim (27) and Sohaib (22).

"With the arrest of six accused, we have foiled an attempt to rob a businessman who was going to deposit a large amount of cash in a bank near PVR Saket yesterday afternoon. He was accompanied by a guard and a driver," said a police official, adding that a loaded countrymade pistol, five knives and a motorcycle have been recovered from their possession.

According to the police, Nadeem, the leader of the gang is a declared bad character and was involved in at least four cases of robbery in the past. One Hussain, a contact of the gang, tipped Nadeem on the specific movement of the businessman and the quantum of cash carried by him.

He also helped the gang members to do a survey of the area on Friday, said the official.

Similarly, a secret source informed the police about the plans of the gang and accordingly, a trap was laid, leading to the arrest of the six accused.

The gang admitted to have committed around four robberies in the northeast Delhi area in which they robbed three goods carriers and one container of sugar and sold the articles to one Kamal of Usmanpur and a resident of Loni.

In these incidents, they waylaid the drivers and dumped them in an isolated area and later disposed of the carrier.

New Delhi, March 27
An eight-month-old boy was electrocutedin the Bhalsawa Dairy police station area of northeast Delhi this afternoon.

According to the police, Maqsood was electrocuted when he put his finger in a power point plug in the house while playing.

“His father Mohammad Aslam was not at home while his mother was busy in some domestic chores when the inccident took place. He was taken to Babu Jagjivan Ram Hospital where doctors declared him brought dead," said a police official.