New Delhi, April 25
The semester syllabus for all the undergraduate courses at Delhi University was finally passed today at the university's Academic Council meeting. In a seven-hour meeting today, syllabi of 22 courses were passed which included 18 honours courses and other disciplines.

Another major agenda passed today at the meeting was to empower the vice-chancellor to decide on the "remaining courses still left to be bifurcated".

After this agenda being passed, for the first time ever, the VC will have the authority to take action regarding the semesterised syllabus in all the courses wherein no breakthrough has been possible yet.

Out of the 26 elected members of the AC, many have sent four dissent letters expressing their disapproval on this move.

"What is the significance of the Academic Council and other statutory committees if the decision is to be made just by the vice-chancellor (VC). On any request or any dissent, the VC will have the veto power. The syllabus is to be taught by the teachers and should be left to them. This is one of the most disappointing times in DU," said one of the AC members after the meeting, requesting anonymity.

What was interesting was that unlike the normal code wherein changes in courses follow after the statutory AC and EC have passed necessary ordinances, the 13 undergraduate science courses wherein semester was introduced last year, had its ordinances passed today.

Even last year at the Academic Council (AC) and Executive Council(EC) meetings, the former vice-chancellor Deepak Pental had used his emergency powers for passing the new syllabus for many courses including BSc (H) Botany and BSc Electronics.

Later in the day, the Executive Council also met for a meeting and passed all the agendas tabled by the administration.

However, in the courses such as English, Germanic studies, history, sociology and economics, whose teachers were resistant to the switch from the annual system, the university will take a call only after the high court hearing.

Sources said that the varsity wanted to pass the courses for the semester system before April 28, when a petition related to semester is due for a hearing in the Delhi High Court.

New Delhi, April 25
A Delhi court has acquitted a man of the charges of kidnapping and raping a 21-year-old girl from Panipat in Haryana after finding that the girl had eloped with him and married him on her own sweet will.

Additional sessions judge B.S. Chumbak acquitted Vishal, on the basis of the deposition of the priests who had solemnised the marriage and told the court that the girl had performed all rituals of the marriage ceremony happily and showed no sign of duress.

Before acquitting Vishal, the court also examined the photographs of the marriage, performed at an Arya Samaj temple in the national Capital, and noted that there was no sign of any pressure on the girl.

"The physical appearance of the prosecutrix (victim) coupled with the fact that she on her own left her house while taking extra clothes and other daily-use items with her goes to show that she went on her own," the court said.

The court also let off Vishal's younger brother Lokesh, alias Sunny, who was accused of assisting him in kidnapping the girl.

The girl, a resident of Panipat in Haryana, had told the court that she had first met Vishal in 2006 at a computer centre in Haryana and they used to talk on telephone.

She added that she was called by Vishal on November 25, 2009 on the pretext of providing her a job. She reached Shahdara Metro station, where she was received by Vishal and Lokesh.

The two, however, took her to their house, where Vishal raped her, she said.

She further stated that Vishal solemnised the marriage with her at Arya Samaj Mandir, Yamuna Bazar by threatening her.

The court, however, discarded her testimony after hearing priest's deposition and seeing her photographs taken at the time of the marriage.

The court also noted that on the day of the incident, the girl had left her house with extra pair of clothes and articles of daily use showing that she left her house to join Vishal.

It also took into account that the girl was about 21 years old at the time of the incident and was competent to take decision with regard to her marriage. — PTI

Greater Noida, April 25
"We will utilise the infrastructure created for the Commonwealth Games to provide accommodation to the visitors of Formula 1 Racing event scheduled to be held at the track being developed along the Yamuna Expressway near Dankore," said Manoj Gaur, chairman, Jaypee Group while launching the logo of Buddh International Circuit (BIC), the Indian racing arena.

The ceremony was held at Integrated Sports Stadium. This site is 25 km from the Sports City in the Dankore area where Formula 1 racing track is being developed.

Established in October 2007, Jaypee Sports International Ltd. is on its way to completing the construction of India's premier motorsports destination-Buddh International Circuit (BIC) which will host India's first-ever F1 Grand Prix in October 2011.

In addition to F1, the track is expected to host other top-level international motorsports events from 2012 onwards.

BIC will be a part of Jaypee Sports City, which is spread over 2,500 acres. This facility will include a cricket stadium that is being developed in two phases and will have a seating capacity of one lakh people.

There will also be a hockey arena, a sports training academy and infrastructure for other sports.

The 5.14-km-long Buddh International Circuit has been designed by world-renowned German architect and racetrack designer, Herman Tilke, who has also designed race circuits in many other countries.

New Delhi, April 25
A team from Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) is likely to arrive in Delhi tomorrow to discuss the funding of Phase-III of Delhi Metro.

"We had doubts whether Japan would fund the third Phase of Delhi Metro after the country was struck by a major earthquake recently," a Delhi government official said.

The Delhi Metro Phase III will cover 103.5 km of new lines and is expected to be completed by March 2016.

In the first and second phases of Delhi Metro, JICA had funded 55 per cent of the project cost. — IANS

New Delhi, April 25
The Delhi government has agreed to make some adjustments to its proposal of dividing the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) into five smaller bodies and increasing number of wards from 272 to over 400 in the face of stiff opposition from a section of the ruling Congress.

The issue of splitting the MCD was discussed in detail at a meeting that Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit had with her cabinet colleagues today, most of whom favoured minor tweaking in the proposal to placate those opposing the move.

A minister, after the meeting, said the government had decided to go ahead with splitting of the MCD, but it was ready to keep the number of wards at 272.

"We are ready to make some adjustments. The number of wards may be increased after next year's municipal polls," the minister said, adding that the decision was taken as some of the party MLAs and councillors were opposed to increasing the number of wards.

Dikshit has been under attack from a section of her own party over the proposal to split the civic body.

The Congressmen, who are opposing the move, had even criticised Dikshit at a DPCC meeting last week for not holding consultation with party MLAs and councillors before the cabinet approved the proposal.

However, unfazed by the criticism, Dikshit had said she will go ahead with the proposal.

The Delhi cabinet earlier this month had decided "in principle" to split the MCD into five smaller bodies ahead of the 2012 municipal polls.

The cabinet had accepted the recommendations of a high-level committee, headed by health minister A.K. Walia, which suggested splitting the civic body into five smaller municipalities. The committee had also suggested increasing the total number of wards from current 272 to around 408.

Dikshit had said the government would reserve reserve 50 per cent seats for women if number of wards was increased to over 400.

The minister today said it won't be possible to reserve 50 per cent seats for women if number of wards was not increased. The MCD has 92 women councillors at present, which is 33 per cent of the total strength. — PTI

New Delhi, April 25
Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU) is heading for a paradigm shift in its research policy and research facilitation processes, vice-chancellor V.N. Rajasekharan Pillai said on Monday.

"The shift would be in the context of the global scenario of full-time research, part-time research and systemic research under the open university and distance education systems," said Pillai.

According to Pillai, the varsity has a research project scheme and paid research study leave, in addition to the sabbatical leave scheme, available to teachers and academics.

Participation in national and international research conferences is facilitated by travel grants.

"IGNOU has a faculty strength of over 1,000 with doctoral and post-doctoral qualification who are occupying permanent full-time positions as assistant professors, associate professors and professors or equivalent academic positions as assistant directors, deputy directors and directors," said Pillai.

About 800 teachers and academics with Ph.D. and higher-level research qualifications are working in the university.

An exclusive research unit was created in the university recently to coordinate research activities, added Pillai. — IANS

New Delhi, April 25
With the maximum temperature touching 40 degree Celsius on Monday, Delhiites got a taste of the scorching summer in store.

According to the Met office, Tuesday will be hotter.

"The maximum temperature was three notches above average and the minimum was 22.9 degree Celsius, average for this time of the year," an official of the India Meteorological Department (IMD) said.

The humidity levels wavered between 69 and 16 per cent, added the official.

According to the IMD, Tuesday will be a hot day with clear sky and bright sunshine.

"The temperatures tomorrow (Tuesday) will hover around a maximum of 41 and minimum of 24 degree Celsius," added the official. — IANS

New Delhi, April 25
A one-and-a-half year-old child has been allegedly kidnapped by his maid from south Delhi, the police said today.

"Ishan was kidnapped by Seema, 19, from Maharani Bagh in south Delhi on Sunday. An FIR was registered the same day," a police officer said.

"The maid, hailing from Jharkhand, took the child for a walk and did not return thereafter. The parents were at home at that time," the officer said.

Giving descriptions of the two, the official said the child is round-faced, fair, has golden hair, and was wearing a bright red-coloured shirt and a pair of shorts when last seen.

The maid is of medium built, round-faced, has a pale complexion and is five feet two inches tall.

New Delhi, April 25
The incidents of children going missing from the Capital are showing an increasing trend this year with statistics showing that five minors disappear every day compared to three last year.

So far this year, a total of 541 children were either kidnapped or went missing from the Capital. This month alone, 164 cases were registered while last month the figure was 166.

The latest case was that of one-and-half-year-old Ishaan, son of a businessman, who was allegedly kidnapped by the family's domestic help Seema yesterday.

"Last year, an average of three such incidents were recorded on a single day. But this year, it has risen to five per day. Alarmingly, the number of girls are around 60 per cent in such cases," a senior police official said.

The number of children going missing could rise over last year's figure of 1,179 if one goes by the rate of such incidents this year.

"We are investigating all the cases. We don't see any pattern in this and there is no organised gang operating in the city," the official said.

According to the Delhi police statistics, the crime branch registered the most number of such cases (118) followed by southwest Delhi (94), northeast (69) outer (65), southeast (63), west (62), east (60), northwest (45), central (19) and New Delhi (8).

Last year, northwest district had registered the highest number of missing children cases with 250 followed by southwest district (154) and east district (121).

On January 27, parents of around 50 children who had gone missing in the past few years had approached police commissioner BK Gupta seeking a better police intervention in their cases.

Gupta have assured them all help in tracing the children.

The ministry of women and child development has taken up with the city police the issue of missing children in Delhi and alerted them about some vulnerable areas of the national Capital, from where girls are regularly abducted for trafficking.

Kirari in northwest Delhi and Sultanpuri in outer Delhi are identified by the ministry as the most vulnerable areas in this regard. — PTI

Gurgaon, April 25
Two children were today charred to death and over 50 huts were gutted, when a fire broke out in slums located near Ambedkar Colony of the district, the police said.

Bindas (10) and Vikrant (4) were killed in the accident, the police said.

Nine fire engines were used to extinguish the fire which broke out in the jhuggis located in Chakkarpur village of the district, said fire officer Hanuman Sihag.

Fire engines had to struggle hard to reach the spot as the jhuggis are located in narrow lanes, said Sihag, adding that they had to use long water pipes to throw water.

The cause of the fire is still not known, said the fire officer. — PTI

New Delhi, April 25
National-level volleyball player Arunima Sinha who had undergone a surgery on her amputated leg to reduce infection is responding well to the treatment, doctors at the AIIMS said today. On April 22, doctors at AIIMS Trauma Centre carried out a one-hour-long surgery on Sinha's amputated leg to bring down the bacterial load.

"She is responding well to the treatment. She has undergone two rounds of surgery for reducing the infection load of her amputated leg. Tomorrow, we will perform surgery for other injuries that she has suffered," Trauma Centre head M.C. Misra said.

Arunima, 23, who lost her left leg after being pushed out by robbers from a running train near Bareilly in Uttar Pradesh on April 11, was shifted from a Lucknow hospital to AIIMS Trauma Centre on April 18 after she developed an infection in her amputated leg.

Arunima had also got fractures on her right leg and spine and suffered head injuries in the incident. — PTI

Greater Noida, April 25
Surajpur Bird Sanctuary in Greater Noida, spread over 330 hectares, will soon have 52,000 additional plants of new varieties. Efforts are afoot to develop large green belts in the sanctuary.

All the new plants would be bird-friendly, sanctuary officials say.

The Greater Noida Authority (GNA) would spend Rs 60 crore to revamp the bird sanctuary.

A large number of existing plants have dried up so the need for replacing them with new plants of different varieties is urgent, say the officials.

The motive for this beautification of the sanctuary is to promote tourism in the area.

According to GNA officers, a new approach road has been built from Devla village to the sanctuary. About 300 notice boards and signages are being put up in the area for guiding the visitors about which birds could be viewed in which area.

In all, 11 lakes will be developed in different parts of the sanctuary.

In fact, some of the lakes have already been completed. Project co-ordinator of the World Wildlife Federation (WWF), (India) Asgar Nawab said Surajpur Bird Sanctuary was being developed over an area of 330 hectares.

As per a survey conducted by the WWF (India) and the forest department, birds of 133 different varieties along with 150 typesof cattle and wild animals are found in the sanctuary.

After the completion of the project, Surajpur Bird Sanctuary would become a major attraction for the Delhi-NCR region, claimed Greater Noida Authority officials.

New Delhi, April 25
With the help of global positioning system (GPS) installed in the vehicles, a stolen car was recovered and a gang of interstate car jackers, who used to rob luxury cars and then used to dispose them of to various buyers in Haryana and UP, was busted.

The suspects were identified as Sanjay, Kushal, Raja Singh, Subhash, and Babloo. They were arrested from Panipat, the police said.

The police received a complaint from a cab driver Rajender Yadav in the night of April 23 that while he was going from Gurgaon to Paharganj in Delhi in his Innova Taxi (HR 55FT-9619), three young persons signalled him to stop near Rajokari.

When he stopped his taxi, the youths told him that they wanted to go to Delhi. He agreed with the fare of Rs 25 each. The cab belonged to Wheel Tour and Travel Company located in Gurgaon.

When they reached Karol Bagh near Hanuman statue around 3.30 am, they forced him to stop the car. As soon as the driver opened the door of the taxi, they pounced upon him and put him inside the taxi. They gagged his mouth with hospital bandage, tied his hands and feet and drove the car towards GT Karnal Road.

They also put knife on his neck and snatched his mobile phone, driving licence and a little cash.

The criminals threw him near Mukarba Chowk and fled away with his taxi and belongings.

The taxi was fitted with the GPS system. When the system was activated, the taxi was noticed at a village in district Panipat. Later, it was recovered and the suspects were arrested.

The modus operandi of the suspects was that they would hire a taxi and then would rob it in a deserted place.

They also brought with them hospital bandage by which they gagged the mouth of the victim and tied their hand and feet, the police said.

New Delhi, April 25
The Delhi police has arrested three persons involved in duping ATM card users, especially PNB ATM card holders, on the pretext of facilitating them to withdraw money from ATM machines.

The police said Kunal used to lead the team with two of his associates. It has seized a mobile phone, Rs 30, 000 in cash and two ATM cards of PNB from their possession.

Jawahar Sahu, a resident of Jhahangir Puri, made a complaint on April 24 that a boy approached him pretending to facilitate money withdrawal and exchanged his card with another card. The complainant realised the cheat only when he approached another ATM machine as the card was not operative due to different PIN.

Immediately, he approached the bank and came to know that this exchanged card belongs to one Harbans Kaur, a resident of Patel Nagar.

While investigating the case the police came to know that amount from the complainant's account was transferred to some other accounts.

The gang revealed to have duped six persons within a span of one week. The Kunal has already been involved in similar crime, said the police.