New Delhi, January 25
Of the total 109 Padma awardees this year, 15 are from Delhi. There are five Padma Vibhushan, 27 Padma Bhushan and 77 Padma Shri awardees. Of them, 19 are women.

From Delhi, TV Rajeswar, former civil servant and the governor of Uttar Pradesh, has been selected for the Padma Vibhushan Award in the category of civil services.

Jatin Das, famous painter and sculptor, and Mira Nair, film director and producer, have been selected for the Padma Bhushan in the art-painting and art-cinema categories, respectively.

Padma Shri awardees from Delhi are veteran theatre artist Joy Michael in the art-theatre category; Laila Tyebji, chairperson of the Dastkar Society of Crafts in the art-handicrafts category and social worker Dr Uma Tuli in the social work category.

Delhiites to receive the Padma Shri are Reeta Devi for social work, Pravin H. Parekh for public affairs, Dr Krishna Lal Chadha for science and engineering agriculture, Prof Virander Singh Chauhan for science and engineering, Priya Paul in the trade and industry category, the late Dr Jugal Kishore in the medicine (homoeopathy) category, Geeta Dharmarajan in the field of literature and education, Ajeet Bajaj for sports- skiing and Prof Ravi Chaturvedi for sports commentary.

The awards will conferred on them by the President of India at a function to be held at the Rashtrapati Bhawan in March or April.

The awards are announced on the occasion of Republic Day every year.

The Padma Vibhushan is awarded for exceptional and distinguished service, the Padam Bhushan for distinguished service of high order and the Padam Shri for distinguished service in any field.

New Delhi, January 25
Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit today said not a single child in Delhi would be denied admission to school as the city government had been making all efforts to implement the Right to Education Act in its true spirits. The education department had been instructed to ensure admissions under the EWS quota, Dikshit said.

She said this while addressing the gathering at the Chhatrasal Stadium where the state-level Republic Day celebrations were held today. She unfurled the national flag on the Republic Day for the 14th consecutive time.

Dikshit inspected the parade and took salute from the marching contingents.

While addressing the gathering, Dikshit referred to the pre-1999 era as the era of chaos with regard to electricity and water supply and the condition of roads.

"There has been a sea change and people are satisfied with the present state of water and power supplies.

The generation on power in Delhi had started after a long gap of 15 years," she said.

"The government is concentrating on improving the water supply and developing unauthorised colonies. Delhiites can boast of wide and fine roads and infrastructure in the city," she said.

The Metro network would become 320 km in the next few years after the completion of the third phase. The city government had also decided to introduce monorails in Delhi, she said.

Dikshit also talked about the infrastructure development during the Commonwealth Games.

"Not only the games went well, but the city got applause for perfectly hosting the international sports event," Dikshit said.

She described the trifurcation of the Municipal Corporation of Delhi as a historical and significant decision which would bring municipal administration close to people. Delhi had become the first city to offer 50 per cent seats to women in the local bodies, she added.

Diskshit further said, "We want Delhi to become a world heritage city as it is a historical place with a composite culture and unique blend of modern and ancient architectures."

After concluding the speech, the Chief Minister released colourful balloons in the sky and individually met every troupe of children who attended the function to complement them on their grand performance.

New Delhi, January 25
Several officers of the Delhi police and the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) will be awarded for their distinguished services at the Republic Day Parade tomorrow.

Twenty officers of the Delhi Police have been rewarded for their services to the force. Three officers have been conferred the President's Police Medal for Distinguished Service and 17 others have been awarded the Police Medal for Meritorious Service on the eve of Republic Day.

Joint Commissioner of Police Balaji Srivastava, Additional Commissioner of Police (New Delhi District) Kesav Chandra Dwivedi and Sub-Inspector Baljit Singh have been conferred the President's Police Medal for Distinguished Service.

Joint Commissioner of Police TN Mohan, Deputy Commissioner of Police Arun Kampani, Assistant Commissioner of Police Jagpal Kaur, Inspector Dinesh Tiwari, Sub-Inspector Ramesh Chander and Assistant Sub-Inspector Kanwal Singh are among those who have been bestowed the Police Medal for Meritorious Service.

Other officers who have been awarded for their meritorious service are Inspectors Pankaj Sood, Anil Chhatwal; Sub-Inspectors Ganeshan, Ramesh Chandra, Kushal Pal Singh, Mahinder Singh, Ram Sarup, Rajinder Prashad Kaushik, Shayam Adhar Kaushk, Kanchan and; Assistant Sub-Inspectors Satya Narain and Kanwal Singh.

Further, six officials of the CBI have been awarded the President's Police Medal for Distinguished Service and 18 officials have been conferred the Police Medal for Meritorious Service by the President of India on the eve of Republic Day.

CBI officers Rajiv Kumar Tandon, Prabodh Kumar, N.P. Rajeevakshan, Karnail Singh, besides Inspector Jagdish Prasad and Assistant Sub-Inspector Kishore Singh have been awarded the President's Police Medal for Distinguished Services.

Police Medals for Meritorious Services have been awarded to CBI officers S.K. Palsania, Binita Thakur, Narasimha N. Komar, K.M. Varkey, S.S. J.S. Emmanuel, B.K. Pradhan, N.G. Khamrang, Mahesh Chand Kashyap.

Inspectors B.M. Chonkar, Brij Mohan Pandit, Ajay Kumar Pandey, P. Rajendiran have also been conferred the same award.

In addition, sub-inspectors Navin Chandra, Anil Kumar; ASIs Haridas Das and Head Constables Kamal Kishore Thapliyal and Mohammad Jakaria Khan have also been conferred the same award.

Meanwhile, the Vishishth Sewa Medal has been conferred on Ranjan Mukherjee, an Indian Air-Force officer. He has been working for the past four years as Officer on Special Duty (OSD) of the Lt-Governor of Delhi. He is with LG office in Delhi on deputation.

New Delhi, January 25
India geared up for its 63rd Republic Day celebrations with the security apparatus firmed up across the nation for a tight vigil.

The capital, which will witness the main event of the celebrations tomorrow, has been kept on high alert with authorities tightening the ground-to-air security to thwart any untoward incident, home ministry sources said.

Checking and frisking at Metro and railway stations and bus terminals has been increased and security beefed up at the Delhi airport.

Sources said over 25,000 security personnel, including from police, paramilitary and National Security Guard sharpshooters, have been deployed in the city in the run-up to secure the Republic Day parade which will have Thailand Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra as the chief guest.

The Delhi airspace will be closed for an hour tomorrow from 11.15 am, source said.

Besides, sharpshooters armed with sniper rifles have been deployed at high-rise buildings to keep a tight vigil on the movement on the 8-km Rajpath-Red Fort route.

The route from where the parade passes displaying India's military might and its cultural diversity has also been dotted by 160 CCTVs.

The sources said Delhi Police commandos have been deployed on the Republic Day parade route.

Helicopters of the Indian Air Force will give aerial cover to the parade. — IANS

New Delhi, January 25
A woman has been arrested by the crime branch for allegedly posing as an official on special duty (OSD) posted at the Prime Minister's Office (PMO) in order to seek an appointment with the director general of civil aviation for a commercial pilot, suspected to be involved in fraudulently obtaining a flying license.

Joint commissioner of police (crime) Sandeep Goel today said that this was the fourth known attempt of 51-year-old Sumangali Francina Easther Charles, alias Suman Singh, to dupe people. Till date she had been arrested four times.

After completing her bachelors in commerce from Reddy's Women College in Hyderabad, she came to Delhi and tried her hand at politics. She first married Charles Ravi Chandran in 1987, but later in 1990 she took a divorce, according to the joint CP.

In 2002, she married Jagmohan, a Delhi-based transporter. As she was used to a lavish lifestyle, she started duping people by impersonating as an IAS officer and an OSD in the PMO, according to the police.

The anti-extortion cell of the crime branch arrested Suman from Indira Gandhi International Airport on January 24.

She had arrived to the national Capital from Chennai. The arrest was made following the investigations into a complaint by EK Bharat Bhushan, director-general of civil aviation. He said that on December 20, he received a telephone call from Suman, who posed as the OSD at the PMO. She had requested Bhushan to give an appointment to a pilot, captain Amar Singh.

The next day, Bhushan met Amar and discovered that he has been debarred from flying on grounds of being involved in a suspected fraud in obtaining a license.

Bhushan, thereafter, enquired about Suman from the PMO and learnt that there was no such person with that name. When he contacted her she asked him to meet her at the PMO. Suman later disconnected her phone and stopped responding to Bhushan's calls, when he revealed the facts to her.

The investigations revealed that Suman was earlier arrested in a similar case of cheating in 2003.

"Suman had impersonated as the additional private secretary to the Deputy Prime Minister. She had then asked the commissioner of customs, New Custom House in New Delhi, for a personal favour in a particular case. Later, during the trial of the case, she jumped bail and was declared as an absconder in October 2011," said the joint CP.

In April, Suman was arrested by the central crime station, Hyderabad, in a cheating case based upon a complaint lodged by a city landowner, Mohammed Kaisar.

She had posed as an OSD at the PMO and cheated Kaisar of Rs 50 lakh by convincing him that she could help him get a compensation of Rs 40 crore in a custodian land case.

Suman showed him her forged OSD visiting card to portray herself as a credible source.

After collecting Rs 50 lakh, she would also be given Rs 1 crore later. But, Kaisar complained to the police when she could not be contacted.

"Suman had used a car with a red beacon in Hyderabad. 'Government of India' and the Tricolour were embedded in the car's number plate. She had reportedly attended some programmes as a chief guest in the capacity of senior government officials. We are investigating whether more people are involved with her. It is possible that she could have duped more people," added the joint CP.

New Delhi, January 25
After a week-long deadlock between the administration and the student community at Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) on the students' union elections issue, the students today called off their indefinite hunger strike.

Students' political parties had called for an indefinite hunger strike last week after the administration cited legal delay in the announcement of the election schedule for this semester.

Today, at a meeting between students' representatives and the administration, concrete assurances were given to the students. The administration made it certain that the date of elections will be notified immediately after consultations with its legal counsel in order to hold elections in this semester. The opinion of the legal counsel is expected to be available in next two-three days.

Initially, the administration had made the notification of elections contingent on clarification from the Supreme Court and was of the opinion that a petition be filed on this matter.

Today, students said that they felt that if the university had not changed its stance, the notification of the JNU students' union elections would have been further delayed, because of the uncertainty regarding the disposal of this petition in the Supreme Court.

But now following an assurance from the university, both the SFI and AISF have demanded that according to the January 9 general body meeting mandate, the election process must be completed by February 9.

"The overwhelming support extended by the students to the indefinite hunger strike and the university strike has asserted that the students cannot wait any longer for the conduct of elections. The collective struggle of the students has forced the administration to address our demands in concrete terms," said Durgesh, AISF secretary, JNU.

On the demand for upholding the autonomy of election committee, the administration agreed that the autonomy of the committee will be upheld. On this, the initial position of the administration was to implement DU model code of conduct and control the election process. The collective pressure of the students forced the administration to change its initial position.

The committee comprising dean of students, Prof BS Chimni and Prof KJ Mukherjee is examining all aspects of the issues involved in the implementation process and to prepare a model code of conduct as per the Supreme Court verdict for both students and election administrators. The report of this committee can be shared with anybody interested in it and the election committee would be involved in the preparation of the model code of conduct.

On the demand of the constitution and composition of the grievance redressal committee (GRC), the administration has assured that the GRC will be formed along with the notification of elections. Regarding the student representation in the GRC, the administration has assured that the accountability of the students' representatives will be maintained.

"In the light of these developments, the joint struggle committee has decided to call off the strike. While this is definitely a partial victory for the students, it is all the more important that extreme vigilance and consistent pressure be maintained to ensure that the administration doesn't backtrack from its commitments," said Zico Dasgupta, president of the SFI.

New Delhi, January 25
The city government was ticked off today by the Delhi High Court for running a school here in a tent in the midst of the current cold wave and was ordered to replace it with portable cabins.

A bench of Acting Chief Justice AK Sikri and Justice Rajiv Sahai Endlaw asked the relevant authorities to provide all infrastructures and safety measures for 390 students studying there.

"It is torturous for students and also the teachers as the construction of building will take substantial time, the government is advised to set up porta (portable) cabins immediately," the bench said.

"We cannot allow the school to run like this. Even schools having nice buildings remain closed during the cold in December. What will happen to these children?" the court asked.

The bench passed the order after an NGO, Social Jurist's counsel Ashok Aggarwal pointed out that despite this court's earlier order to all the MCD and government schools not to run classes in tents, the Government Co-Ed Secondary School at Sundar Nagari is running in a tent.

Only the boundary wall is under construction, while the completion of building with 32 classrooms will take at least two to three years leaving the students to suffer, the counsel added. — PTI

New Delhi, January 25
An antique Lord Mahavir idol that dates back to the period between 14th and 15th century and is worth Rs 7.5 crore has been seized from two persons. The idol was allegedly stolen from Rajasthan and brought to Delhi for sale.

The idol is 21.5 cm tall and 16.5 cm wide. It is made from ashtdhaatu, a combination of eight metals (gold, silver, copper, zinc, lead, tin, iron and mercury).

The accused were arrested on January 19 at CTC Mall in Maharani Bagh. They have been identified as Shiv Taj Singh (54), a resident of Begumpur, and Sanjay Kumar (31) of Mundka.

Singh is a taxi driver in Delhi. About five to six months ago, he had gone to Palwal in Haryana in search of a unani doctor for the treatment of his daughter. There, he met doctor Moulvi Mohammed Saheed. After the two got well acquainted with each other, Saheed told Singh that he had stolen the antique idol from Rajasthan and wanted to sell it.

"Saheed thought that since Singh was a taxi driver, he would have contacts with tourists and be able to arrange a buyer. Saheed promised to pay Singh 50 per cent share in the booty," said additional deputy commissioner of police (crime), Sanjay Bhatia.

But before handing over the idol to Singh, Saheed asked for some "token money". The latter agreed, but since he did not have money, he disclosed the matter to his friends, Manoj and Sanjay, according to the police.

Manoj and Sanjay arranged Rs 1.80 lakh for Singh who then took the idol from Saheed. He later struck a deal of Rs 7.5 crore for the idol. The deal was to be executed on January 19 at Maharani Bagh. However, Sanjay and Singh were apprehended before they could strike the deal.

The police is searching for Manoj and Saheed. The crime branch has contacted the antiquity cell of the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) of Jaipur, besides the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) and the National Crime Record Bureau.

Noida, January 25
A Delhi-based trader was allegedly shot at and robbed by three motorcycle-borne men at Nithari village here, the police said today.

The incident occurred last night when Lokesh Kumar, a resident of Mayur Vihar, Delhi, who runs an electronics shop at Nithari, was returning home after closing his shop.

Three assailants on their motor-cycle assaulted the trader when he was trying to get into his car.

They later shot at Kumar injuring him before fleeing the spot with a bag having Rs 10,000 and some documents.

An FIR has been lodged in this regard by the victim's father Dalip Kumar Kriplani.

The incident comes a day after a timber trader Tarun Raheja was robbed of Rs 25,000 and a laptop from Sector 9, Noida.

In a separate incident, a domestic maid, along with her accomplice, overpowered her master, an elderly woman, in Sector 37, Noida, and robbed her of Rs 40,000 cash and jewellery. — PTI

New Delhi, January 25
Giving a clean chit to all leading milk suppliers here, the city government today told the Delhi High Court that no sample of milk was found having material injurious to health.

"No sample of milk was found having detergent, added urea, neutraliser or any other material injurious to health," said Delhi government counsel Zubeda Begum to the bench of Acting Chief Justice AK Sikri and Justice Rajiv Sahai Endlaw.

Claiming that milk suppliers have followed the prescribed standard under the Prevention of Food Adulteration Act, the counsel added "no survey sample of milk in Delhi lifted and analysed by the Food Safety Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) was found deficient in fat or solid not fat as prescribed by the Act."

Earlier this month, taking suo motu cognisance over a news report that 70 per cent of milk samples lifted from the national capital were found contaminated, the bench had sought the city as well as central government's response.

In its reply, the lawyer told the court that the department of prevention of food adulteration had held a meeting with the suppliers, including Mother Dairy, DMS, Amul, Paras and other dairies, which have assured the government to take all steps not to supply substandard quality milk in the market. — PTI