New Delhi, June 16
Despite the controversy over the "irrational cutoff lists", the first day of admission at DU today saw a maddening rush. It was a full house with many colleges already admitting more students than their capacities.

Sri Ram College of Commerce (SRCC) topped the chart, filling 94 per cent of its BCom seats.

Expectedly, SRCC, which was yesterday criticised for sidelining science and arts students by fixing the cutoff for them at 100 per cent, did not see even one non-commerce student.

"At SRCC, we are left with only 15 general category seats for Bcom (hons). Out of total 252 seats, 237 were filled today. In economics (hons), 51 of the total 62 seats have been taken," said SRCC principal PC Jain.

Miranda House had the most hectic day with 65 per cent of its seats already taken. A worried Pratibha Jolly, principal of the college, said, "We have already admitted more students than our capacity. We have taken 40 students in economics against 31 seats, 37 in political science against 27 seats and 47 in maths against 53 seats. Even after increasing the cutoff for science courses by up to 8 per cent, 26 of 31 seats in chemisty (hons) and 20 of 35 seats in physics (hons) have been taken," said Jolly.

"We attended to students till 6.30 pm. I am clueless as to how will we accommodate the extra students. Out of 500 general category seats, we have already filled 321. One-fourth of the OBC seats are also booked," she added.

After doing away with the pre-admission form, even though the colleges brought out an "unrealistically high" cutoff list, 50 per cent of the seats in many colleges were booked on the first day itself.

Lady Shri Ram College filled 25 per cent of its seats. Out of total 700 seats, 200 were booked today. The college witnessed a rush mainly for pyschology, history and polictial science streams and not many students turned up for BCom and economics.

The college expects more students to turn up in coming days and is happy with the turnout this year.

At Hindu College, 205 of 700 seats were filled. The college that had kept 99 percent cutoff for admission to BCom (hons) admitted more than 40 students. It has 62 seats for the course. Thirty students were admitted for economics (hons).

Hanraj College also saw a good turnout. Out of total 200 seats in B com (hons), 40 were filled today itself. Almost 25 per cent of the seats in life sciences and economics have been filled.

"I think that though many colleges will end up admitting more students than their capacities as per the first cutoff list, many students may move to other colleges after the second and third cutoff lists are announced," added Jolly.

New Delhi, June 16
The Leader of the Opposition in the Delhi Assembly, Vijay Kumar Malhotra, said today that the union and the city governments were responsible for the chaos in the Delhi University colleges where students did not get admission to the courses of their choice.

The government should open more colleges for the students of Delhi schools.

Malhotra said Delhi University was a central university and Sibal had been an MP from Delhi for the past seven years and the minister-in-charge of education as well.

It's a well-known fact that even students with over 90 per cent marks do not find a place in the DU colleges of their choice and many do not get the courses they want.

Instead of summoning the vice-chancellor, Sibal should summon the Chief Minister who has not bothered to open even a single government-run college in the past 13 years of her continuous tenure in Delhi, alleged Malhotra.

It is because of shortage of the colleges that the students have to leave their residences and go to other states for studies, he added.

On the other hand, the union government by decreeing Jamia Milia Islamia a minority institution has terminated the SC quota and the weight of this is also being borne by the DU colleges now.

The union and the city governments should jointly issue orders to start a second shift in the DU colleges and start new colleges so that students passed out from Delhi schools get admission to the courses of their choice.

"Scrapping the centralised admission process was a mistake. Our cutoffs were realistic and we have ended up admitting more students than our capacity on the first day itself — MH principal Pratibha Jolly

"We did not see much rush today. We expect to see more students once other colleges are full. However, our science courses had many takers — Hansraj principal VK Kwatra

"Tomorrow, we will definitely end up admitting more students than our capacity. Today, many students had to return due to lack of complete forms — Media coordinator, Hindu College, Anju Srivastava

New Delhi, June 16
The Delhi Electricity Regulatory Commission (DERC) today said it was in the process of fixing the new power tariffs and that these would be finalised only after a public hearing on the tariff-related petitions.

PD Sudhakar, chairman of the DERC, said the public hearing would be held in the first week of July in which all stakeholders would be invited.

"We invite all the parties, including the distributors, transmission companies and public representatives, for the hearing. There are some non-government organisations, resident welfare organisations and other bodies that take part in the hearing every year," said Sudhakar.

"It is only after every party has put across its suggestions that the tariff is finalised. The parties can view the annual reports filed by the power distribution companies (discoms) on our websites," he said.

"We have not yet made up our mind about the quantum of hike in the rates," said the chairman.

However, he indicated that to fill the gap between the expenditure and revenue of the power distribution companies, some hike might be introduced.

"Besides seeing the interest of the common man, we also have to ensure a healthy functioning of the distributors. We have to make sure that at least their expenditures are met," he said.

After the Delhi High Court directed the DERC to issue a fresh tariff for 2011-12, the discoms are looking forward to a hike in the rates and are sure that the revised rates would be cost-reflective and will fill in their expenditure-revenue gaps.

New Delhi June 16
They watched in astonishment as the night sky gobbled up the moon for about an hour. Telescopes trained, munching on snacks, a clutch of Indians, including many children, witnessed the darkest lunar eclipse of a century that ended in the wee hours of Thursday and left them with memories of a lifetime.

The moon gazing was a feast in more ways than one - there was a plate full of food to break a myth that causes many Indians to avoid eating during an eclipse. A clutch of around 35 people were at the terrace of NGO SPACE Foundation's office in west Delhi's Janakpuri for the celestial spectacle.

"This is the first time I have come to watch an eclipse. I never thought it would turn out to be this exciting and so amazing," said Kashish Chawla, a first year college student.

"I am planning to go to villages over the weekends and educate people about astronomy and myths associated with lunar eclipse," he added.

It was at 10.55 pm on Wednesday that the excitement started to soar as the first phase of the eclipse began. It was to last till 3.32 am on Thursday.

The total eclipse though was from 12.55 am to 2.30 am.

As Bollywood songs praising the beauty of the moon played in the background, watching in awe were many school and college students.

Before the sky captured all the attention, a satirical 'play' on breaking myths during an eclipse was screened by the organisers, the Science Popularisation Association of Communicators and Educators (SPACE).

"I had always heard that pregnant women should never watch the eclipse. The play helped break that belief - to some extent," said Satviki Dua, 26, a married woman.

As the sky wore an orange tint and the moon looked lost in a cloud cover, the telescopes began zooming in to get a closer look of the late night wonder.

"We are photographing each phase of the moon and our live webcast has received over 10,000 viewers from across the world. The beauty of astronomy has a charm of its own that attracts young minds," said Vikrant Narang, president of Eclipse Chasers Athenaeum.

Then the total eclipse began.

"This is the rare phase. It is the longest, and is forecast to occur after 47 years," added Narang.

The enthusiasts looked confused and curious as they continued their efforts to relocate the moon through the telescope.

Of course, during the total eclipse, the moon was not visible.

"We managed to get a glimpse of the eclipsed moon through the telescope, but what leaves you awestruck is when the moon reappears bigger and brighter," said Chawla.

The countdown to bid goodbye to the eclipse began at the crack of dawn.

"I will carry blissful and unforgettable memories for a lifetime. This is rare, totally magical," gasped 15-year-old Akriti Arora. — IANS

Greater Noida, June 16
The district court of Gautam Budh Nagar has issued a warrant against the police circle officer (CO) of Greater Noida, Rahul Kumar, for the contempt of court.

Kumar was to appear in the court of the Chief Judicial Magistrate, JS Pundheer, in connection with a case of wrongful claim of land compensation of Rs 4 crore.

He was entrusted with the probe into the case of usurping compensation for the land of Yamuna Expressway Industrial Development Authority.

The court had issued summons to the CO to appear in the court along with the case diary and the progress in the case, but the officer did not attend the court or send any reply.

Special judge HS Yadav on May 25 had ordered that a case be registered against the CO for negligence and causing inordinate delay and not appearing in the court in spite of notices issued to him repeatedly.

Lalit Mohan Gupta, advocate of complainants Yashpal and Som Dai, said his clients had a piece of land at Mirzapur village which had been acquired by the Yamuna Expressway Industrial Development Authority.

Yashpal and Dai were to get compensation of Rs 4 crore which was claimed fraudulently by someone else.

On the court order, Yashpal and Dai had lodged a case against Surinder and six others for having received the land compensation which was due to them.

Faridabad, June 16
Two former ministers of Haryana and senior Congress leaders AC Chaudhary and Subhash Batra have raised the issue of further empowerment of the Punjabi community in the state.

The Haryanvi Punjabi Sabha headed by Chaudhary yesterday met at his residence and demanded that the government accord the status of freedom fighters to the Punjabis who migrated to India at the time of the Partition. It also demanded the empowerment of the community, especially at the political level, in proportion to its strength. The sabha put the present strength of the community in Haryana at 35 per cent of the total population.

Chaudhary said many leaders who spoke at the meeting expressed dissatisfaction with the present government's attitude towards the welfare of the community.

Chaudhary said he would tour the state to assess the mood of the community. He courted controversy in the last Lok Sabha elections when as a Congress leader he allegedly supported a Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) nominee in the Sonepat parliamentary constituency. Chaudhary further said that it was decided at the meeting that Punjabi leaders across party lines should demand empowerment of the community in their respective parties.

On the other hand, former home minister of Haryana Subash Batra said though there was always a room for improvement, the present Congress government was secular and had taken measures to politically empower the community. He said former chief minister the late Bhajan Lal who claimed to be a "non-Jat leader" used the community to be in power for about 13 years, but did not advance its cause.

He asserted that the present Congress government had given satisfactory political representation to the community. Shadi Lal Batra had been made a Rajya Sabha MP and Bharat Bhusan Batra, Congress MLA from Rohtak, had been made the chief whip of the party in the HaryanaVidhan Sabha. Further, important ministries had been given to HS Chatha and Paramveer Singh and Vinod Bhawana had been made the chief parliamentary secretary of the Haryana Vidhan Sabha, he added.

He, however, said the government should give more opportunities to the community members in jobs.

New Delhi, June 16
Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) managing director Dr E Sreedharan today inspected the Anand Vihar ISBT-Vaishali Metro section and expressed satisfaction about the completion of work on the stretch.

This Metro extension of the presently operational Line-4 (Yamuna Bank-Anand Vihar ISBT) up to Vaishali will take the Metro for the first time inside Ghaziabad in Uttar Pradesh. The two stations of Kaushambi and Vaishali are expected to cater to about 40,000 people daily.

Sreedharan travelled on the corridor in a Metro train along with other senior officials and inspected the station structures as well as all other vital sections of the corridor. The necessary papers for the inspection by the commissioner for Metro Rail Safety (CMRS) are being prepared now and will be sent to the CMRS shortly.

The construction work of the 2.57-km-long stretch has been completed and finishing touches are being given. The CCTV cameras have been installed and Metro staff has already been mobilised to manage the stations.

The MD also inspected the parking lots of the Kaushambi and Vaishali stations and said the parking contracts would be finalised by the end of the month.

While the Vaishali station will accommodate approximately 110 cars and 140 two-wheelers, besides cycles, buses and autos, the Kaushambi station will have space for about 74 cars and 130 two-wheelers.

These stations will also have an integrated traffic management system where there will be dedicated parking bays for autos, buses, cars and rickshaws.

The stations have been decorated with special artwork. The DMRC has also written to the Ghaziabad Development Authority (GDA) to arrange for feeder buses to cater to the nearby residential areas of Vasundhara and Indirapuram.

Greater Noida, June 16
A race seems to have begun between the state government and the Centre for providing relief to the farmers of Bhatta and Parsaul villages affected by the violence on May 7.

The Centre yesterday gave financial help to 65 more farmers of the two villages, taking the total number of beneficiaries to 175.

Union minister of state for rural development, Pradeep Jain and member of Parliament Depinder Huda visited the Bhatta and Parsaul and presented relief to the affected farmers on behalf of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.

Sixteen seriously wounded farmers were given Rs 50,000 each and 49 farmers with minor injuries were given cheques for Rs 10,000 each.

The government has opened bank accounts for all the farmers who have received financial help from it. The minister and MP also gave the bank passbooks to the farmers.

Earlier, an officer in the PMO, Narayan Sami, had handed over cheques to 110 farmers.

Till now, the Centre has provided Rs 40.81 lakh to 175 farmers, including the payments made yesterday, while the state government has issued financial relief amounting to Rs 48 lakh.

New Delhi, June 16
A 10-year-old boy was sodomised and killed by an unidentified person yesterday in the Jaitpur area of south-east Delhi.

Hira Singh, personnel on duty at Jaitpur police station, said in the beginning the boy's parents got registered a case of abduction. But in the evening his body was recovered from nearby the police station and a case of murder was registered.

The autopsy of the body confirmed that it was a case of sodomy.

The victim's father is a rickshaw-puller.

The police said a number of family friends and other suspects were being questioned to nab the culprit.