New Delhi, July 29
The Delhi police is grossly underreporting cases related to missing children, with close to 800 cases going unrecorded.

Information under RTI shows that though the Delhi police claims it recorded 1,260 cases pertaining to missing children (of them 835 FIRs and 403 plain recordings in daily diaries) from January to April this year, the Delhi police information website lists only 468 cases, including 380 FIRs and 88 daily dairy recordings.

The difference in the two sets of information under the same agency comes to about 800 - raising doubts about the children safety-related claims of the police which itself seems unclear as to the number of actual missing children in the recent months. Simply put, the missing record of 800 children in 10 districts of the capital casts doubts over the effectiveness of the law enforcing system at a time when the ghost of Nithari is still haunting the capital.

The RTI, filed by Child Rights and You (CRY), an alliance of NGOs, points out at the apathy prevalent among the police and mere assurances, coming again from various agencies during a public-hearing held today here have in no way come down as solace to the families of such missing children, with majority of them still untraceable.

Hapless parents of many kids, who have either been recovered or found dead, expressed their anguish against the police's insensitiveness, starting right from the registration of FIR to following-up the case.

Among many such heart-rending testimonies, one was that of a resident of Kalyanpuri, Banwari Lal, still lives in the hope of meeting his nine-year-old son Chetan while his son's abductors are being tried on charge of murder in one of the city courts.

"The person lodged in the Tihar Jail has stated in the court that his son is still alive and the body declared as his son's was somebody else's. But the police isn't cooperating and hasn't tried to look for my son," said Lal.

"The casualness is apparent at the first stage, evident from the Zonal Integrated Police Network not putting forth the actual scenario. Among the 10 districts, eight didn't respond and others show an increasing trend in the first four months of this year. Still the response of the police hasn't improved," Yogita Verma, the director of CRY said.

An outcry that caught the attention of all present during the hearing was the bias reflected in police's promptness in acting on cases backed by corporates, very often referred as the VIP-push. Most of the affected families belong to the marginalised and migratory population, living on the fringes of the city.

Last year, according to the official data accessed through RTI filed by CRY, the total figure of missing children stands at 2,160, of which 15,00 were recovered and rest have no information as of date. Five such parents from Rohini zone with their kids still missing for last year accused the police of inaction.

"The FIR was registered in one case after a month of the matter being reported to the police. We have been running around from the police to ministers, but no result has come out," they added.

New Delhi, July 29
Nine days into the new academic session at Delhi University (DU), and teachers and students are struggling to get into the semester system mode.

While there are some subjects like history, economics and social sciences for which the syllabi for all six semesters have not yet been prepared, teachers of most courses are struggling with timetables.

"One week into the new session and we are still struggling with timetables. Classes have still not begun in several colleges," said Vineeta Chandra, an English teacher and a member of the academic planning committee at Ramjas College.

Anita Mathur, who teaches mathematical economics at Sri Ram College for Commerce, said, "The college has admitted 150 per cent more students than its capacity. For economics, the syllabus for only one semester has been prepared.

“We have three sections with up to 55 students each as opposed to two sections with 40 students each earlier.

“Earlier, we used to have three classes for a paper in a week, but now, we have to take five lectures per week. The classes run into seven or eight periods on an average. However, it is still early to say how the new system will unfold. The picture will get clear only by mid-August. But yes, there are a lot of problems.

“Because though the number of students is higher this year, we still have the same infrastructure."

Teachers say that the students are very anxious and are asking questions like what readings to prepare or what guide to refer to.

"Students are also suffering in the extra curricular activities. Due to the new academic calendar, we are expected to finish our course before November 18 for the first semester exams. Earlier, students used to give auditions for joining different societies, and then after elections in early September, the preparations for competitions used to begin.

“But this year, I am getting requests to hold elections as early as possible, so that the student can have enough time to study later," said a dramtacis society faculty member at LSR.

"Students have become overcautious. They come to us with numerous queries, but even we don't have all the answers because we have no written communication from the university on many matters," she added.

Greater Noida, July 29
To reach a settlement with the farmers of Noida Extension, the chief executive officer of the Gretaer Noida Industrial Development Authority (GNIDA), Rama Raman today visited Kherpur village and attended a panchayat.

Raman assured the farmers that the issue of abadi land would be solved soon. He also promised to give 5 per cent developed land to the framers.

"Had the Authority solved the ababdi land issue, we would not have moved the court. But now when the court has ruled in the favour of the farmers by quashing the land acquisition, it would be hard to strike a deal between it and the farmers," said a farmer.

About a hike in the land compensation, Raman said that the decision was beyond his jurisdiction. He, however, assured the farmers that he would forward their demand to the state government.

Several farmers said they would wait for the National Land Acquisition Policy of the central government before allowing reacquisition of their lands.

At Noida, a 'kisan panchayat' was held at Hoshiyarpur in Sector 51, today.

The Kisan Sangarsh Samiti representatives said Authority chairman Balwinder Kumar had invited representatives from 54 Noida villages for a meeting tomorrow. Local MP Surindera Singh Nagar will also attend the meeting.

The panchayat has accepted the invitation and decided to take further action only after seeing the response of the Authority.

"If the Authority gives us a written assurance about solving the issues of abadi land and developed plots, we may defer the agitation," said Samiti spokesperson Mahesh Awana.

New Delhi, July 29
The health department of the MCD has sought support from the education department for raising awareness on preventing mosquito breeding.

Nodal teachers in all MCD schools have been designated to ensure implementation of all measures for prevention and control of vector-borne diseases in the schools.

To increase the involvement of schoolchildren and rope in the education department for the prevention of vector-borne diseases, a meeting was convened today by VK Monga, chairman, medical relief and public health committee, along with the chairman of the education committee. The meet was attended by senior officers of the health department.

The MCD has launched a dengue homework card scheme. The teachers will ensure that the cards are distributed to all children.

Every Saturday, the class teacher will check the cards. Every month, the teacher will submit the cards to the district health officer (DHO) of the school health scheme through the principal. The officer will examine the cards for any remarks given by the parents. The DHO will then submit the report to the additional DHO and the zonal DHO.

The remarks given by the parents will be discussed at the parents-teachers meeting.

The nodal teachers will form a team of 10 children who will go around on the premises of the school and check for any mosquito breeding, a spokesman of the MCD said.

New Delhi, July 29
A 64-year-old woman was robbed and murdered inside her house in Hari Nagar of west Delhi this afternoon.

According to the police, the call in this regard was received at 3 pm and the victim has been identified as Pavittar Kaur, a resident of west zone block in Meenakshi Garden.

"Pavittar was alone in the house at the time of the incident. Her husband Kawaljeet Singh and son Sunit Singh were away at work at Roshnara Road while her daughter-in-law Anupreet Kaur had left for her school in Pitampura. Pavittar’s grandchildren came back home from school and found her lying in a pool of blood in the kitchen," said a senior police official.

The family members said Rs 50,000 kept in a drawer was missing along with two gold bangles which the woman was wearing.

Preliminary investigation has revealed that there was a friendly entry inside the house and half-empty glass of water was found on the dining table.

The domestic help employed in the house for the past two months was on leave today, sighting an urgency to get a voter ID card made. The police is investigating the fact.

New Delhi, July 29
A 35-year-old former manager of a reputed textile plant was arrested here for fleeing with a luxury car from a showroom in west Delhi, the police said today.

He has been identified as Saurabh Deb Bhatnagar, a resident of Gurgaon.

"He is a highly educated person with good knowledge of computers and has done a diploma in textile engineering. He has been working as a manager in a reputed textile plant in Kolkata for the last 10 years with a good package of Rs 50,000 per month.

"But due to some personal problems, he left the job one month back and was in search of a job in some other textile industry. He planned to cheat some car dealers and by this way he could easily make money. He used the computer to prepare two forged demand drafts and also used the SIM No obtained with fake identity to cheat," V Renganathan, ACP (west), said.

His arrest came following investigations into a complaint filed by a car dealer in Punjabi Bagh that a person who introduced himself as Akash Ghosh showed interest in buying some luxury car and visited his shop twice. He gave two demand drafts amounting to Rs 7.30 lakh and asked for test drive of the car.

"After sitting in car for test drive he fled away with the car and the demand drafts given by him found to be fake by the bank," Renganathan said.

He said the phone record of the accused was checked and a raid was conducted at his house from where Bhatnagar was arrested and two mobile phones with SIM and the car were seized. The car was bearing fake number plates.

"He has made search of second-hand car dealers through the Internet via website and contacted the complainant on phone," he said. — PTI

New Delhi, July 29
It was a dream come true for 17-year-old Pranav Aggarwal, an ardent fan of crime novels and television shows, as he today got a rare opportunity to lay his hands on a fingerprint analysis kit at the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) headquarters here.

Aggarwal was one of the 55 students from Modern School, Barakhamba Road, who attended an interactive workshop with the premier investigative agency and were sensitised on the issue of corruption. The visit also gave them an insight into the CBI's working.

"I was always inquisitive about these things, but today got a chance to experience it first hand. I'll cherish this for a long time," Aggarwal, who is the president of his school's Interact Club.

The first interactive workshop was organised last Friday for the students of Sanskriti School and Friday's trip was the second of its kind for school children.

Students from Delhi Public School and Kendriya Vidyalaya will be visiting in the weeks to come, said a CBI official.

"We had a lively debate and the students were thrilled to come here. We want the next generation to be aware and alert to the happenings in the society," said CBI deputy inspector general (DIG) Sujeet Pandey.

For Class XI student Pranay Lekhi, it was the working of the polygraph machine which left him captivated.

"I never knew that results from a polygraph test could not be used as evidence in a court of law. This trip has been enlightening," said Lekhi.

Sporting bright yellow badges with "Let's kill corruption" imprinted on them, the students were given inside information at the CBI gallery on several historic cases, right from the fodder scam to the Rajiv Gandhi assassination.

"It was chilling to know that in the 1993 Mumbai blasts, bombs were hidden in cars and scooters. But I don't think that we give the agency its due credit," said Sarthak Khattar, a Class XII student. — IANS

New Delhi, July 29
Minister of social welfare Kiran Walia today said the city government was committed to uplift and ameliorate the condition of the women in the Capital by launching several programmes.

The minister said this while inaugurating a training centre--Surya Kiran-- in the complex of Nirmal Chhaya at the Tihar jail. The centre will impart technical and occupational training to the female inmates of the complex. It will be operated by Sun Foundation, an NGO.

"The Delhi government is committed to empower women by imparting occupational and technical training to women so that they can start their small ventures. In the newly opened centre at Nirmal Chhaya, the girls will be trained in tailoring, stitching, needle work, embroidery and other related trades," the minister said.

Walia said the government had already opened 22 centres for women in Delhi's various resettlement colonies wherein trainings in cutting-tailoring, beauty culture, hair and skincare are imparted. Besides short- stay homes for women in distress, a widow home for destitute and an after-care home for destitute girls are also run by the government.

KKThe government would open nine more shelters for destitute and pregnant women, one in each district of the Capital, the minister said. Two such homes, one in Jehangirpuri and another in Sarai Rohilla, had already been opened, the minister added.

Walia further said to save them women from domestic violence, the city government had appointed 17 women protection officers. These officers can be contacted on cell phones.