New Delhi, May 23
Delhi girls have excelled in the CBSE Class XII examination with as many as 3,636 girls scoring over 90% as compared to 2,845 boys this year.

Private and government schools across the capital declared their results today and each school has declared its own toppers. Students could be seen celebrating though there were a few sombre faces as well.

Aditya Grover topped Delhi Public school, RK Puram, with 97.4% marks in the science stream. Grover says, "Of course, I am thrilled that I have topped and I must say my success has been due to the careful guidance of my teachers and parents. This result has come as a surprise to me I did not expect to top. I have worked hard and was confident that I would do well but not even in my wildest dreams did I think that I would top. This is definitely an encouraging sign for the future."

On his plans for the future, Aditya informed candidly, "This result has encouraged me, it has always been my ambition to get an engineering degree from IIT and I hope I manage this. This is all I have planned right now. As for the rest, the future will take care of itself."

Saumya Kansal is the topper at Apeejay School in Saket. He has scored 95% in the science stream. Saumya informs, "The result is completely unexpected, I never thought I would top, but it is definitely a pleasant surprise. I have worked hard steadily for the past two years but still I never expected to top. I owe this result to the guidance of my teachers at school and the encouragement and understanding my parents have showed."

Saumya informs that he plans to pursue engineering. "I hope to study towards an engineering degree, ideally at IIT, but any other good institute will also do. These are my plans as of right now."

An unusual success story this year is that of Farheen Naseem, who topped with 84% from an Anglo-Urdu medium school near Jama Masjid. Farheen is a teastall owner's daughter.

Farheen said, "My father and mother are thrilled with the result. My mother is busy distributing gulab jamuns across the mohalla. I am thrilled about my result and have topped my school. I never thought this could happen. I have so much work to do both at home where there are so many chores and in the market where I help at my father's stall. I studied only at night after the day's work was done. I was only thinking of managing to pass, but this result is amazing, I never dreamt of topping my school. My father says I will be able to go to a good college now."

On her ambition, Farheen says, "I want to study to be a doctor. I will sit for the medical entrance. I am not particular where I get admission as long as I get it."

Mohini Budhiraja is the commerce stream topper from Apeejay School, Saket. She scored 95.4% in the class XII examinations.

"I am rather satisfied with my result, this has been a very stressful year for me and I am amazed it has got me such a good result," informs Mohini. "I am really grateful to my teachers who were with me every step of the way and also my parents were extremely helpful. I could not have done this without them," he adds.

New Delhi, May 23
The Delhi High Court today gave the go-ahead to the Delhi Electricity Regulatory Commission (DERC) to fix the power tariff for 2010-11, lifting curbs imposed on the process by the state government.

Chief Justice Dipak Misra and Justice Sanjiv Khanna held the Delhi government and private electricity distribution companies responsible for delay in fixing the fresh tariff.

The commission had approved the tariff, but before it could announce the new rates the Delhi government directed it not to release the final order.

The government totally misdirected itself at the instance of the distribution companies, the court said.

The court was hearing a plea filed by petitioner Nand Kishore Garg.

In February, the court told the DERC not to pass a fresh tariff order without its permission. It said the government had no business to interfere with the functioning of the power regulator and it could not issue any "directive" to the commission.

The court pulled up the commission today in its 68-page order and said: "We emphasise on intellectual integrity and transparent functionalism as we are totally dissatisfied with the way the commission has proceeded with the manner of determination (of tariff)."

"The notings on the files by the commission don't constitute an order under the DERC Act," the court said.

"The commission under the 2003 (Electricity) Act is required to deal with the aspect of tariff determination with intellectual integrity, transparent functionalism and normative objectivity and not act in a manner by which its functioning invite doubt with regard to its credibility," said the bench.

The court said if chaos and anarchy has set into the commission, the government was also responsible for it by "unjustifiably intruding and encroaching on the functions of the commission".

The petitioner said that the tariff order prepared by the DERC was stalled after the government, traversing beyond its statutory powers, wrote to the DERC in May 2010 asking it not to issue a tariff order.

Former DERC chairman Berjinder Singh approved the tariff for 2010-11 before he retired in September 2010.

After Singh's retirement, the other two members of the DERC wrote to the government that the former chairman's proposal to lower the tariff was his "personal opinion".

"The personal opinion of the former chairman indicated that the discoms (distribution companies) had a surplus of about Rs 300 crore per month, and were overcharging consumers. But there is no such surplus and the reality is that consumers in Delhi have actually been paying less than what they were obliged to...," the DERC wrote.

"The chairman and the members are required to act within the parameters of the statute following the paradigm of a regulatory body," the court said.

The court said a regulatory body was not expected to create confusion. "In this entire scenario one thing is singularly clear that there is enormous chaos and confusion," the court added.

"We have already held that the state government has no power to restrain the commission in the manner it has done. This is not in the fitness of things. This court hopes and trusts that the commission and the state shall remain within their boundaries and function within the statutory parameters."

The petitioner challenged the government's interference with the functioning of the power regulator, calling it illegal. -- IANS

Noida, May 23
At a board meeting of the Noida, Greater Noida and Yamuna Expressway authorities held today, some very important and far-reaching decisions were taken. The authorities decided to build elevated roads, underpasses, flyovers, a network of new roads, Metro linkages, green belts and a leisure lake in three years.

According to the chairman of the three development authorities, Mohinder Singh, the compensation rates of non-ancestral land have been increased from Rs 957 per sq mt to Rs 1,080 per sq mt. For the ancestral land, the rates have been revised from Rs 1,100 to Rs 1,240 per sq mt, which is an increase of Rs 83 and Rs 140, respectively.

The compensation package for Abadi land will be 7 per cent. Twelve to 13 per cent of the acquired Abadi land will be returned to the farmers as developed land. Further, farmers can use 50 per cent of this land for commercial activities or trade.

Singh said the land compensation package in Noida was substantially better than the compensation being given to farmers in any other state.

At the meet, a decision was taken to link all major Noida routes with the Metro rail network. The Metro rail will connect City Centre in Noida to NH 24 via Sector 71. A Metro line will link Sector 71 to the Bodaki railway station via Sector 121. Still another extension will be laid from Botanical Garden in Sector 38 to Kalindi Kunj, while Sector 94-124 will be linked to Sector 142 via Sector 44.

These new Metro lines will vastly improve the connectivity between Noida and Greater Noida, Singh said.

According to another decision, an elevated road is proposed to be built from Sector 14 and 14-A at the Noida entrance to Kalindi Kunj via Sector 95 along the Shahdara drain, which is seen as a sore point in Noida's development. It will remove the traffic bottlenecks between Noida and Delhi and will also help reduce the volume of traffic on the expressway. The construction of the road will cost Rs 525 crore.

According to another decision, all roads in the old Noida city from Sector 1 to 11 will be rebuilt with cement, which will make them more durable and also give them a better look. This project will cost Rs 50 crore.

To resolve the problem of solid waste in Noida, the Noida Authority, after studying the Hudco report, has approved its 'request for proposal'.

Also, a leisure park will be developed on an area of 29 acres along a 45-metre wide road between Sector 91 and 85. The park will have high-class fountains, open theatres, pedestal pathways, huts, a lake on 3 acres, parking lots, grass mounds and a large variety of ornamental plants.

The world-class park will be set up at an estimated cost of Rs 20,000 crore, the chairman said. 

New Delhi, May 23
A shoddy probe by the police has led a Delhi court to acquit a city-based gynaecologist of the charges of killing a woman unintentionally while aborting her pregnancy.

"Incompetent, inefficient and shoddy investigation conducted by the investigating officer comes to the rescue of the accused and she deserves to be acquitted," additional sessions judge Virender Bhat said, acquitting Dr Shakuntla Singh of the charges of culpable homicide not amounting to murder under Section 304 of the Indian Penal Code.

The court pulled up investigating officer (IO) sub- inspector Manjeet Tomar for the shoddy probe as he had not even seized the register and her other medical records from the maternity home.

Dr Singh of Shakuntla Clinic and Maternity Home at Vaishali near Dabri in southwest Delhi faced trial on charges of causing the death of pregnant Mullai Kodi, wife of Dabri resident V.S. Murugan due to a botched-up medical termination of pregnancy (MTP) procedure performed on her in June 2003.

The court let off the doctor noting that even though the victim's autopsy revealed that she died of severe blood loss owing to an inefficiently performed abortion, the police failed to prove if she had been admitted at all to the maternity home of the accused doctor for the operation.

Quoting the autopsy report, prepared by a board of three doctors, the court said, "The MTP was conducted in an absolutely inefficient and incomplete manner. The cause of death was hypovolemic shock as a result of severe blood loss, which was occasioned due to gross mishandling of MTP."

The judge said had the IO seized medical records of the medical centre, it would have been easy for the prosecution to establish that the deceased was admitted in the said clinic and had undergone the MTP there. But he did not record even the statements of the clinic's employees.

"He (IO) had just prepared the site plan of the clinic and did not conduct any further investigation. I wonder what this site plan proves and of what help is the same either to prosecution or to this court," the court said.

"In view of the same, the charge against Shakuntla falls flat on the ground. She is liable to be acquitted and is hereby acquitted," the judge said.

A case of culpable homicide not amounting to murder under Section 304 of IPC was registered against Dr Singh at Dabri police station on a complaint by the victim's husband who had told the police that he along with his wife had gone to the doctor on June 1, 2003 for abortion of her pregnancy.

Shakuntla gave the required medical assistance to the victim and discharged her the same day, Murugan said.

He said that after a few hours, his wife developed some complications and they again rushed to the clinic.

Shakuntla allegedly, without giving Mullai any treatment, took them to DDU Hospital in her car and left them at the hospital's gate advising him to get his wife admitted there, Murugan said, adding that doctors in the hospital, however, declared her as 'brought dead'. — PTI

New Delhi, May 23
For both surgeons and patients, computer-assisted surgery (CAS) has come up as a boon as it involves increased invasive precision, far less tissue damage than manual surgery, along with reduced blood loss, thus leading to early recovery.

The real-time imaging helps doctors to make quick decisions during operation to achieve precise bone cuts and most importantly the balance of the joint to be replaced.

According to Dr Jitendra Maheshwari, orthopaedic surgeon, Sitaram Bhartia Institute of Science and Research, New Delhi, computer-assisted knee replacement surgery gives the surgeon a real-time opportunity to check the fitting of the implant right there in the operation theatre.

"Every successive surgical step is guided by the computer, thus reducing the chances of mistakes. We know that the life of the artificial knee depends upon how accurately it has been fitted. No judgment can surpass the accuracy of a computer," he said.

Though the surgery takes a little more time comparatively to manual surgeries, seeing the surgical-outcome it doesn't count. "For me as a surgeon, it is a treat to look at my post-op x-rays, as if they are coming from an assembly line of a car manufacturing unit - just the same every time," he said.

It is courtesy CAS, Naman Rawat (50 years), a government employee, is back to work without pain within a short period after the operation, say doctors at Sitaram Bhartia Institute.

Experts say that an increasing number of patients are opting for CAS, especially for knee replacement. The benefits of CAS are many, doctors say, in the minimally invasive surgeries, the computer reproduces three-dimensional knee joint picture of the patient being operated during the surgery.

New Delhi, May 23
The wife of a doctor has been arrested in the national capital for cheating people of Rs 3.5 crore by selling them the same property, the police said. Usha Johri, 41, resident of Jeevan Park in east Delhi, allegedly sold her property in Janakpuri to several people. The accused told the police that she committed the crime to fund her sons' education abroad.

Complainant Mayur Jain purchased the property in Janakpuri for Rs 1.64 crore from Usha and her son Yash Johri. But when he came to visit the place it was occupied by another family, a police officer said.

The family had been sold the same property by Usha.

Police probe revealed that the house had been sold to five people.

Usha was arrested yesterday from rented accommodation in Uttam Nagar in west Delhi.

"Usha mortgaged her property to the banks and sold it to several people by executing the sale deed. She took about Rs 3.5 crore from the victims. She did this for her sons' education who are doctors practising abroad," said the official.— IANS