New Delhi, November 30
A 50-year-old man who claims to be a journalist shot at two people, when his i-10 car hit the rear of their Esteem car at Vasant Kunj today.

Jagbeer Singh Malik (60) and Sunder Singh (65) were heading to Kishangarh village, when their Esteem car was hit by an i-10, which was driven by Arun Kumar Pandey. The accident infuriated Arun who brandished his licensed pistol and fired three rounds. One of the bullets hit Jasbeer's seat belt and the second bullet brushed past the arm of Sunder.

Arun revealed to the police that he had fired a third round in the air.

Deputy Commissioner of Police Chhaya Sharma said that Arun was heading towards Andheria Mor. His car hit the Esteem car when he was trying to take a U-turn near Church Road in Vasant Kunj about 2 pm today. The two parties started an argument. Arun fired three rounds, two of which hit the Esteem car.

The police was informed about the incident and nabbed Arun. He confessed to the police that he fired his gun to prevent an assault by Jagbeer and Sunder. The police registered a case against Arun under IPC section 307 (attempt to murder).

Jasbeer revealed to the police that he was heading to Kishangarh Village, Vasant Kunj, for his daughter's engagement. He also told the police that Arun aimed the gun at him and fired it. But the belt buckle saved him.

According to the police, there was a bullet mark on the buckle and burn injuries on Jasbeer's body. The police found only three bullet cartridges from the accident spot.

The police called Singh, a resident of Gurgaon in Haryana, for questioning. Singh said he came to Vasant Kunj for his daughter's pre-wedding ceremony and while taking a U-turn his car brushed against Pandey's, which led to an altercation and the firing.

He said Pandey aimed at him but it was his belt buckle that saved him. In fear he fled the spot. "We found enough evidence that shows that a bullet hit the buckle. There is a proper dent mark on the buckle and burn marks on Singh's body," said Sharma.

The police also verified Pandey's claim that he fired thrice. The police found only three used cartridges from the spot.

"We have booked Pandey under Section 307 (attempt to murder) of the Indian Penal Code," she added.

The police is trying to probe the circumstances that made Pandey fire over such a minor issue.

Pandey is lodged behind bars at the Vasant Kunj police station and will be presented in court tomorrow.

New Delhi, November 30
The first day of the special session of the Delhi Assembly called to clear the Bill for the trifurcation of the Municipal Corporation of Delhi today witnessed stormy scenes right from the start.

Speaker Yoganand Shastri had to adjourn the proceedings for tomorrow when BJP MLAs rushed to the Well of the House, demanding the withdrawal of the recent hike in the power tariff and a discussion on allowing foreign direct investment (FDI) in retail trade.

As soon as the proceedings began, the Leader of the House Vijay Kumar Malhotra along with other BJP MLAs demanded a rollback of the hike in the power tariff and a discussion on allowing FDI in retail trade, claiming that it would destroy local traders.

The proceeding was adjourned first time for 20 minutes and for 15 minutes the second time.

Finally, third time, it was adjourned for tomorrow.

The Speaker rejected the demand of the BJP for a discussion on the FDI issue, saying that it was an issue of Parliament. On power tariff, the Speaker said the issue was discussed at length during the last session and the minister concerned had given his statement also.

When the House assembled after the second adjournment, urban development minister Raj Kumar Chauhan tabled the Bill on MCD trifurcation amid noisy scenes.

Accepting the long-standing demand of Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit, the home ministry last week approved the proposal of the Delhi government to trifurcate the MCD ahead of the civic polls in April next year.

Once the Bill is passed in the House, it will be send to President Pratibha Patil for her assent through the Lieutenant Governor of Delhi.

As per the proposal, the new civic bodies in north and south Delhi will have 104 wards each while the civic body in east Delhi will have 64 wards. A directorate of municipal services would be set up to coordinate the functioning of the three bodies.

The North Delhi MCD will consist of Narela, Civil Lines, Najafgarh, Rohini, Sadar Paharganj Zone and Karol Bagh Zone. The South Delhi MCD will have Najafgarh West and South, Central Delhi and the East Delhi MCD will consist of Shahdra South and North Zones.

The Centre has also approved the proposal for increasing the reservation for women in the civic body to 50 per cent from the current 33 per cent.

New Delhi, November 30
Major markets of Delhi will be closed tomorrow in support of all-India bandh call given by the Confederation of All India Traders (CAIT) and other trades' associations in protest against the union government's decision to allow the Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in retail sector.

President of the Delhi unit of CAIT Narender Madan said majority of the trades' organisations had supported the bandh call. Major business establishments would be closed tomorrow.

The traders' association activists will start appealing the shopkeepers to down their shutters form the morning as this is in their benefit.

Wholesale and retail markets in Walled City, Sadar Bazar, Kamla Nagar, Chawri Bazar, Connaught Place, Karol Bagh, Khan Market, Kashmere Gate, Tilak Nagar, Rohini and Krishna Nagar among others will remain closed, he added.

General secretary of the CAIT Parveen Khandelwal said if the FDI was allowed, local traders would become employees of the foreign investors. Their policy was to finish the local businessmen. Wherever they have gone, they have first attacked local business by having anti-local businessman policy.

He said the India retail sector was being run successfully by the indigenous capital at the rate of 15 per cent and contributing near 10 per cent of GDP, so no FDI was required.

"The foreign retailers can open in big cities, but they will source from mandis across rural India and small towns. With their money and power over time they can corner the supply of produce and dominate out-sources side," he said.

Noida, November 30
Hundreds of farmers under the banner of Sorkha Farmers Sangarsh Committee stopped work at builders' projects in Sectors 74, 75, 76, 77 and 78 and turned down the SP City's proposal that they should take recourse to talks with the authorities. With a sizeable presence of the police and the PAC, farmers were persuaded to sit on a peaceful dharna.

About 20,000 flats are being constructed in Sectors 74, 75, 76, 77 and 78 where top real estate companies have projects. Construction up to the 6th floor has been done where investors have reportedly sunk Rs 8,000 crore.

The farmers who had assembled at 8 am sat on dharna till late in the evening in Sector-74 on Tuesday. They said their agitation would continue and the work on builders' projects would be stalled till the authority accepts their demands.

The agitating farmers refrained from damaging anything. Their main demands are that they should be given hiked land compensations and the Abadi land should be left on "as is where is" basis.

About a dozen projects, including those of Superteck, Ajnara, Antriksh, Prateek, ARB, Amarpali, Gaurson, JM Developers, Mohagum and Sikka Karnik, were affected.

The decision to stop work was taken late on Monday evening in the panchayat held in Sorkha village.

Gram Pradhan Naresh Yadav said, "The authorities do not listen to their grievances unless they agitate. They would ensure that work is stopped at sites in different sectors."

New Delhi, November 30
For the chord that he struck with children with his film 'Tare Zameen Pe', actor Aamir Khan was today announced the new Unicef ambassador in India to promote nutrition for children.

"Every second child in India is suffering from malnutrition, which is alarming," said Khan at the signing ceremony held here.

In his new role, the Padam Bhushan awardee actor will work to create a better life for millions of children in India.

The 46-year-old actor, who will work towards solving the problem of malnutrition among children less than two years of age, said he was honoured to be a part of the Unicef family.

Talking about his plans to campaign in remote areas of the country, Khan said the focus would be on spreading the message through different mediums of communication, rather than visiting the places personally. He said he would reach out to people in the rural areas through television, radio, posters, wall paintings etc.

"Visiting a particular place restricts the campaign to that place. So, we will use different mediums to put across the point of malnutrition and how it can be dealt with from the time a child is born till he attains at least two years of age," said Aamir.

The actor said it was a big responsibility to be a part of Unicef.

"We have been working on this for the past one and a half years. I do not take it as a burden, but responsibility, as I connect to these things emotionally. I think I still have a lot to contribute," he said.

Khan said that many people in India didn't even know about malnutrition.

"I was surprised to know how many children suffer from the disease and how little is being done about it. It has to be a collective effort by all of us. I am sure it will yield good results," he said.

Aamir is the third Bollywood actor after Amitabh Bachchan and Priyanka Chopra to represent Unicef in India.

New Delhi, November 30
Miffed by overflowing dustbins and garbage piling up near schools and roads, residents of Dwarka have resorted to Gandhigiri to solve the matter.

Annoyed over poor sanitation of one of the largest housing areas of Delhi, the residents for the past one week have been sending "thank you" and "get well soon" text messages to the two sanitation supervisors of the MCD posted in the area.

While at present, 500 messages have been sent to each supervisor, the residents are now gearing up to increase this number to 5,000. They are in talks with 20 market associations in this regard and all the 300 societies, along with 55 DDA pockets of Dwarka, have decided to work collectively on this issue. The members of the Resident Welfare Association (RWA) said once all stakeholders join hands, they will send texts to the MCD commissioner as well.

"We have been complaining to the civic agency since 2010 about the pitiable sanitation conditions in Dwarka. The dustbins at every corner are overflowing and garbage is piling up near schools and roads. Nothing much has been done for the area," says Rejimon CK, president of the Dwarka forum.

In June, the residents of Lajpat Nagar III had also resorted to Gandhigiri to get their work done.

In Dwarka, the residents are taking heart in the fact that Gandhigiri had worked in their favour in October too.

The residents were unhappy with the way some speed breakers were built on the Dwarka-Palam flyover and were requesting the DDA to sort it out. When their request reached deaf ears, they resorted to sending bulk messages to DDA officials until they finally consented to fixing it.

With an approximately 15-km radius and 5,648 hector area and 396-km road length, Dwarka have over 300 CGHS and over 52 DDA pocket RWAs. The DDA handed over the sanitation of entire sub-city to the MCD on April 21, 2005, by paying Rs 11.56 crore.

"The MCD has been neglecting Dwarka even as it stands top in the revenue of the civic agency for property tax due to density and flat-type buildings spread in 15-km radius," said a resident of the area.

However, on record, the MCD claims to have appointed 361 safai karamcharis for this area. "With so much of karamcharis, why there is any problem then. Everyone in this area knows about the ground reality and the fact about municipal 'ghost employees'. The department of environment management services claims to have disclosed the name of karamchari list on the website but the data is empty," he said.

New Delhi, November 30
Irked by the government's inaction over the long-pending demands of upgradation of cadre and formation of an independent central physiotherapy council, physiotherapists have embarked on a 'sweeping satyagraha'.

Following in Anna's footsteps, they staged a two-day protest under the banner of the Indian Association of Physiotherapists (IAP) at Jantar Mantar here where its representatives were seen sweeping the ground today.

The community has been pushing for a regulatory council like the Medical Council and Dental Council, demanding protection of their professional status through revision of recruitment rules, upgradation of pay scales and creation of specialty posts in government sector. The demands are not new, but the mode of expression this time is different, with many of them even observing hunger strike.

According to the IAP president Prof Umasankar Mohanty, the discipline of physiotherapy has been sidelined for years resulting in brain drain.

As per the World Health Organisation guideline, there should be one physiotherapist for a 100-bed hospital.

"In the country, there are 65,023 physiotherapists treating almost seven lakh patients every day. While there are just 250 posts of physiotherapists in the government sector, those completing their physiotherapy bachelors are moving aboard. What's more, out of the total 260 colleges offering courses of physiotherapy, 100 are on the verge of closure," said IPA general secretary Dr Sanjiv Kumar Jha (PT).

"The demands have remained unanswered and due to lack of support from the government, the profession is dying. The latest umbrella Bill has combined the physiotherapist wing with rehabilitation, but we are not rehabilitation professionals," said Rajeev Aggarwal, head of the physiotherapy in-charge at the neuro-sciences centre of AIIMS.

New Delhi, November 30
Reckoning that radio can be an effective means of distance education due to its low cost, Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU) and experts from Deutsche Welle (DW), an international broadcaster of Germany, are working together to device new ways for an effective radio communication.

The director general of DW, Erik Bettermann, recently visited the IGNOU campus. Bettermann had a detailed discussion with the vice-chancellor of IGNOU, M Aslam, on the need to explore new areas of collaboration.

During the visit, the German delegation interacted with students of journalism, electronic production and media management. Bettermann addressed students across the country through a teleconferencing session telecast live on Gyan Darshan. He spoke on "Education and Public Service Media" and stressed the significant role of educational and public service media.

The two global institutions have already signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to conduct training programmes in online journalism, training methodology and media management.

The DW Akademie is one of the premier institutions of media education and training in Europe. It also offers a foreign language traineeship in Germany for young journalists.

New Delhi, November 30
A retired driver of the Indira Gandhi International (IGI) Airport was found murdered with 25 stab wounds at his residence at Masoodpur in Vasant Kunj on Sunday.

The victim, Dharam Singh (72), lived with his four daughters and a son.

A police official said Singh had retired from his job 25 years ago.

"On November 27, around 6.30 am, we found his body at his home", the official said.

According to the postmortem report, the body had 25 stab wounds.

"We have handed over the body to the family and are investigating the case. Till now, we have not arrested anyone," he added.

The family members were unwilling to speak to the media.

A neighbour, who didn't want to be named, said, "I heard Singh was stabbed at home. He had been living in this locality for a long time and I knew him closely."

Singh owned three shops near his house, according to a tenant, Amit.

Noida, November 30
Two employees of an NGO have been booked for allegedly trying to cheat the organisation of several lakhs of rupees. The case was registered under Section 420 of the Indian Penal Code on Tuesday against two employees of Aroh Foundation-- Kiran Pal Giri and Kumar Gaurav.

While Kiran Pal worked as an accountant of the NGO, Kumar Gaurav was a field officer. The NGO has its office in Sector 8.

On November 11, Kumar Gaurav went to the Sector 1 branch of Punjab National Bank where the NGO has an account. There, he presented a cheque for Rs 7.35 lakh before for clearance. Bank staff sensed something wrong and called up the president of the company, Neelam Gupta. Gupta said she had not issued any such cheque.

"Both the employees are absconding," the police said.

New Delhi, November 30
As many as 15 children, who were held as bondage in the capital for labour, were rescued shoe and wood cutting industries located in Nangloi in northwest district of Delhi this morning from.

In the raid, while one employer was arrested, the police detained two other men and three factories were sealed. Most of the victims, engaged into forced labour like stitching of the upper part of the shoe or in the wood cutting unit and that too without wages, were trafficked from Bihar.

Ravi (name changed), 12, was brought here one year back in the name of job by a fellow villager who placed him here and since then he was working for almost 14 hours a day without wages. Apparently, he was told by his employer that he is on training period and thus will not get any wage.

"Numerous such children are working as child labourers in Delhi. Due to the indifference of the government, such criminal activities continue to remain disguised. We are working for the freedom and rehabilitation of such children since 1980 and will continue to do so until it is completely eradicated from the country and the world," said chairperson of Bachpan Bachao Andolan, an NGO, RS Chaurasia.

New Delhi, November 30
A man, held guilty of killing her sister-in-law by setting her ablaze for not vacating his house, has been sentenced to life imprisonment by a Delhi court on the basis of the victim's dying declaration.

Additional sessions judge Surinder Kumar Sharma sentenced north-east Delhi resident Gopal Chand, holding him guilty of burning Sangeeta to death.

"It was Gopal Chand who poured kerosene on Sangeeta and set her on fire as a result of which she sustained 90 per cent burn injuries, which later resulted in her death," the judge said.

The court treated the statement made by Sangeeta before her death as dying declaration and held that since they were reliable and voluntary, they needed no corroboration.

Sangeeta was rushed to the hospital with 90 per cent burn injuries on September 28, 2010.

In her statement, recorded by the SDM, Sangeeta had said she was the second wife of Chand's younger brother Kisan. They got married nine years ago. Kishan's first wife was mentally disturbed and lived in their native village.

She and Kisan shifted into Chand's house four years before the incident.

But Chand had been pressurising them to vacate the house.

She added that on the day of the incident, Chand came back home from work and asked her why she had kept water tub near her room. He then started abusing her and before she could realise, he threw kerosene on her, set her ablaze and fled the scene.

Sangeeta succumbed to her injuries on October 6.

On Chand's contention that Sangeeta had herself poured kerosene, the court said the same pointed towards his presence at the spot.

Since the accused did not try to extinguish the fire when he saw Sangeeta burning, the court held that the dying declaration made by Sangeeta had to be believed. — PTI

Ghaziabad, November 30
Two members of the Narender Bhatti gang were today arrested for the Sahibabad shootout case where four persons were killed when two rival gangs attacked each other during a marriage ceremony.

Acting on a tip-off, the police nabbed the kingpin, Amit Kasana, and his shooter Jitender Lal Kunwa in the Kavi Nagar area today, SP (city) JK Shahi said.

Four people died and five others were injured when members of the Narender Bhatti and Sunder Bhatti gangs fired at each other at the New India Wedding Place banquet hall in Sahibabad on November 18.

Kasana told the interrogators that Sunder Bhatti had allegedly killed his uncle Narender Bhatti in Noida three years back. — PTI