New Delhi, June 23
Following last night's incident at Khajoori Khas in east Delhi where 22 people were injured after a high-tension wire fell in a residential area, the city government has shown its helplessness regarding the removal of such wires from the residentail areas.

Reacting to the accident, chief secretary of the government, PK Tripathi, said, "High-tension power wires passing through unauthorised colonies cannot be removed due to lack of alternative space," he said.

"High-tension wire poles were installed on government lands when the nearby areas were not so populated. But with the passage of time, people have encroached upon the lands and constructed unauthorised buildings. Now, the government does not have land to shift the poles," he said.

According to a fire services official, a 1,000-metre-long high-tension wire melted and fell on houses in Khajoori Khas.

"As it fell, people sitting outside their houses got injured, clothes hanging outside caught fire and parts of their houses got burnt. It caused panic and people ran to protect themselves," the fire official said.

The injured were admitted to Guru Tegh Bahadur Hospital.

VP Datta, director, operation, Delhi Transco Limited, who visited the spot, said, "The earth wire snapped. The incident tripped a 220-KV line between 400-KV substation at Mandolla and 220-KV substation at Wazirabad."

"A kite with a metal-coatstring was found entangled in the tower. It appears that the string came into contact with the live and earth wires and caused heavy sparks, resulting in the melting of the earth wire. Just beneath the line that snapped, residents had kept some bamboos which also caught fire," Datta added.

He said that Delhi Transco Limited (DTL) had served several notices to the owners of all unauthorised constructions falling under its lines.

The latest notice was served on June 3, 2011 against carrying out any constructions in the way of its lines. Whenever DTL finds any encroachment within the right of way, it gets it removed with the help of land owing agencies, he added.

The DTL has frequently written to the land owning agencies, including the MCD, PWD, DDA etc, to remove the unauthorised constructions in the line of high-tension wires. It has also launched media campaigns to educate the public about not carrying out construction in the vicinity of these lines and not to fly kites near the high-tension lines as it not only creates obstacles in the smooth supply of power, but can also result in injuries or deaths, he said.

New Delhi, June 23
A popular option for girl students with lower percentages, Delhi University's Non-Collegiate Women's Education Board (NCWEB) has come up with many changes this year. The board received up to 35,000 forms this year and the first cut-off list declared today

Last year, the NCWEB received 28,000 applications for the 4,500 seats available at the undergraduate level.

The NCWEB offers two courses - BA and BCom for which classes are held on weekends.

The second cut-off for the board will come out on July 8.

The courses have been gaining popularity over the years. The students, who want a DU degree but can't enroll in a regular college, have started to make a beeline for these options.

This year, not only has the board decided to make attendance compulsory for the students, it has also decided to do away with the old system of examination.

"Under the new guidelines, all students would be required to have a compulsory 66 per cent attendance. Also, the exams for the NCWEB students will be conducted with regular college students," said NCWEB director Arti Saxena.

The changes have been introduced to bring students of the NCWEB close to the system of regular colleges. "We have the same syllabi and the faculty. Our students get above 90 per cent marks. It is just that the classes are held on Saturdays and Sundays. If our students can get 90 per cent with just one session in a week, I think they will perform better under the new guidelines," she added.

Saxena said, "Earlier, the exams were held with the School of Open Learning (SOL). As a result, the papers were also checked with SOL papers. From now, the students of NCWEB would have their exams with the regular college students and the papers would also be checked with regular college students."

The board's decision to follow a regular college timetable for the exams comes with a view to set in place the entire academic cycle.

"Earlier, the results used to get delayed. But once the papers are getting checked with the regular college papers, the result would be out in time and we would be able to start our academic session. Though we used to start the session in August, there were lesser students and faculty members. Also, it will help save time and infrastructure that was going waste due to students' absenteeism in the classrooms," said Arti.

New Delhi, June 23
A poor ailing woman today approached the Delhi High Court alleging that the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) had denied her treatment on the ground that she could not bear the cost of liver transplant.

Manju Devi, 40, suffering from chronic liver disease, approached the court for a direction to the hospital that she should be provided immediate medical aid and assistance.

Her lawyer Rakesh Prabhakar said, "The petition will come up before the court on June 24."

The married woman from Bihar was first admitted to hospital on May 31, 2010. But despite being below the poverty line, she was told to bear the medical expenses, the petition said. -- IANS

New Delhi, June 23
Everyday is a struggle for an old mother and her three disabled children here. They are hardly able to make their daily ends meet with a meagre Rs 20 to Rs 60 earned by selling envelopes apart from Rs 1,000 given occasionally by the woman's eldest son.

Their one square meal is hardly one or two slices of bread or "roti" with pickle or some curd. This has been their way of life for a decade after 56-year-old Rajrani Bansal lost her husband, who was an employee at a grocery shop in Kalkaji.

Life was never easy for her, with one of her five children, Neeta (36 years) being hit by polio since birth and two of her sons - Sonu (28 years) and Deepak (22 years) also limping and complaining of pain in their legs. Matters became worse, when Rajrani had an accident 13 years ago. She now walks with the held of a walker.

"My daughter has been disabled due to polio and two of my sons are unable to lift anything or do any work. They used to go to school earlier, but now they can't move out on their own. We earn a living by making envelopes with newspapers," said Rajrani.

Even as none in the family managed to complete the higher secondary education, the eldest son who owns a grocery shop in the locality bought a house.

The hapless family is waiting for a helping hand in the form of widow pension (Rs 1,000, a responsibility of the city's Social Welfare and Women and Child Department), besides the disability certificates for Sonu and Deepak, who started facing trouble in movement and physical activity as they developed skeletal deformities, thin and unequal legs, at the age of 12.

"When I was at school till Class VII, I used to do a lot of work. But now I can't even stand up without the help of the door or wall. At the age of 12, I developed weakness in the muscles of my legs and couldn't lift heavy objects with my hands. The doctor asked for Rs 3,000 for tests and X-rays when I had gone to him some years ago. But I could not afford the fees. Since then, I have been living with it. My brother Sonu also suffers from the same disability," said Deepak.

Neeta managed to get a disability certificate with the help of neighbours from Safdarjung Hospital and she wants to work under the government's aanganwadi scheme.

New Delhi, June 23
The students across the Capital are busy completing piles of projects assigned by the schools in summer vacations.

However, the real sufferers as far as school projects is concerned are not groaning students but their beleaguered parents who rush to balance completing exhaustive school projects with the office and home responsibilities.

The parents and kids from a number of CBSE as well as ICSE schools complain that the teachers overburden the students with as many as eight to 10 projects for their summer break. Consequently, the students are hampered in studying their text books for their exams.

Samit Dayal, a student of Ahlcon Public School, said, "I am a Class X student and for my summer vacations I have 10 projects to complete. At the end of the break, we have half-yearly exams, there is just no way that I can finish all the projects on my own and study for the exams. My dad is helping my doing the projects."

Samit's father Vijay Dayal said, "I think it is utterly senseless how these students are overburdened with the projects. They have exams at the end of the vacations. Is my son going to finish his syllabus for the exams or is he going to do the projects? The projects are by no way easy, I am helping him with the project work, in fact, I have half my office staff working on it and I can tell you these are tough. I really don't know how much good this CCE is doing. It is all very well to taper off the Class X exams, but the overburdening the students with 10 projects is totally senseless."

Another student, Shalini, a Class X student of Springdales School said, "I have nine projects for my summer break, one each from all my subjects. There is no way I can manage all of these on my own, my mom has been really working on the projects. I simply do not have the time. We have half term exams in mid August. I can either prepare for the exams or do the projects. So, it's my mom who is working on the projects while I study and attend tuitions."

Shalini's mother Kiran Singh said, "There is no way my daughter can work on all her projects alone. So, I have been working on these. I don't think teachers know what they are asking a child to do, nine projects with half-yearly exams following soon when school opens. I feel school education needs to be better planned then it is right now. What is the point of overburdening the students with the projects that parents end up doing?

New Delhi, June 23
It was a hot and muggy day for Delhiites today. But there's relief in store as the Met office has predicted rains for Friday.

According to the India Meteorological Department (IMD), the maximum temperature on Thursday was recorded at 38.7 degrees Celsius while the minimum touched 30 degrees, both two notches above the average for this time of the season.

The humidity levels fluctuated between 76 and 52 per cent.

"The sky is likely to remain partly cloudy on Friday and there is a possibility of rain and thundershowers in the Capital," said an IMD official.

"The maximum and minimum temperatures will hover around 37 and 29 degrees, respectively," he added. -- IANS

Greater Noida, June 23
The state government has decided to have its third sports college at Dadri in Greater Noida. The first two sports colleges of Uttar Pradesh are already functioning in Lucknow and Gorakhpur.

The government has approved the third sports college in Dadri.

The sports department has requested the local authority to provide 100 acres of land for the purpose. The budget of the project is likely to be Rs 200 crore, sources said.

"The department had allotted the third college to the district more than a year ago. We have been asking for land from the local development authority, but the allotment has not yet been done. We hope to resolve the matter soon," said a sports official in Noida.

The state has produced legendary international sportspersons, including Dhyan Chand, KD Singh Babu (hockey), Syed Modi, Jaspal Rana, Mohammed Kaif, Suresh Raina and Rudra Pratap Singh.

"Setting up another infrastructure in western UP will give a great boost to the sports in the state," said Subhash Sharma, a cricket coach.

Apart from the existing two sports colleges - Guru Gobind Singh Sports College, Lucknow, and Veer Bahadur Singh Sports College, Gorakhpur, there are 35 sports hostels. The one in Gorakhpur was the brainchild of late Chief Minister Veer Bahadur Singh. It has not done too well in providing professional training in eastern UP.

New Delhi, June 23
Power demand in the Capital today touched an all-time high of 4,909 MW, which resulted in massive outages in several areas.

Several areas in east, south and south-west Delhi experienced power cuts for several hours.

As the mercury and humidity soared, the power demand shot up to 4,909 MW at 3.35 pm, which is the highest for the city. The previous highest power requirement in the city was recorded on May 18 this year when it touched 4,823 MW.

Last year, the power demand had soared to 4,720 MW on July 1,

"The power load today was the highest ever demand met in Delhi," a Delhi Transco spokesperson said.

In north-east Delhi, snapping of 220 KV Transmission Line at Sri Ram Colony and Khajoori Khas localities resulted in power woes for long hours. - PTI