New Delhi, January 27
The Delhi High Court today ruled that the schools in the city could admit three-year-old children for two years of pre-primary education, but could not burden them with homework or textbooks.

A Bench comprising Acting Chief Justice AK Sikri and Justice Rajiv Sahai Endlaw also ruled that all children admitted at the pre-primary level should be allowed to have their primary and subsequent education in the same schools without forcing their parents to go through any fresh admission drill at the class I level.

The curriculum at the pre-school level should be aimed at generating interest in children for pursing education and should not be treated as part of formal education, the Bench clarified.

The HC delivered the 71-page judgment while disposing of a PIL filed by a civil rights group, Social Jurist, seeking, among other things, implementation of a 2007 Delhi government order under which four is the minimum age for taking admission in school.

Explaining the reason for letting 3-year-old children go to school, the HC said early childhood care and education (ECCE) had been globally recognised as critical for human resource development.

"This period, from conception to the age of 8, presents a developmental continuum and the pre-school care and education have to be treated as part of this developmental continuum."

The pre-first standard schooling could be treated as nursery, montessory, kindergarten or playschool. For ECCE, the guiding principles should be play as the basis of learning, art as the basis of education and recognition of specific features of children thinking etc," the HC said.

"We do not find any proper reason or rationale to keep pre-school apart and segregated from the regular schools where pre-school facilities exist and admission starts from that stage. It is in the interest of all stakeholders that in such schools, pre-school is treated as the entry level," the court held.

The HC also rejected a plea against allowing schools to have admission criteria, observing that that it is totally impractical. 

New Delhi, January 27
Two-year-old baby girl Falak, who is comatose and battling for life for the past 10 days at the AIIMS Trauma Centre, may not be a victim of sexual abuse as per the clinical diagnosis conducted today. But the trauma following the physical assault she suffered has pushed her survival to uncertainty.

The baby is believed of having been abandoned or kidnapped prior to her being brought to the hospital in a bruised and battered condition by a minor girl on January 18.

She was removed from ventilator support today.

A woman claiming to be her relative (mausi) reported at the hospital this afternoon.

"A woman reached the hospital with a photograph and said that she was a relative of the child, who was kidnapped three months ago. But, it needs to be ascertained," said assistant professor and neurosurgeon Dr Deepak Aggarwal.

"The child didn't seem to be sexually abused. But, the matter is still under investigation," added Dr Aggarwal who is heading a team of 13 doctors and huge nursing staff in treating the child.

The police is struggling to get any headway in the case.

The baby was brought in an inhuman condition - smashed skull, fractured arms, face bearing hot iron marks and assault marks (human bite) all over the body She is in the ICU and has suffered two cardiac arrests.

The minor girl, who was apparently in a trauma herself following years of torture and abuse on the hands of her father after her mother's death, told the hospital authorities that she was the baby's mother. She said the injuries to the baby were caused due to fall from the bed. But, unconvinced by the claim, the hospital authorities reported the matter to the police and the minor girl was later produced before the Child Welfare Committee, Lajpat Nagar.

It was only after the matter surfaced through reports in a section of media, a case was registered.

"The girl had eloped last year with a taxi driver, Raj Kumar and was staying in Sangam Vihar. The baby brought to her by Kumar was with her for about 20 days before she went to AIIIMS," said a police official from Vasant Kunj station on condition of anonymity.

The National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) sought status reports from the ministry of women and child welfare department.

The Delhi government today assured of all possible help for the child. "The government will extend all possible support to the child," said Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit.

New Delhi, January 27
With the municipal elections to be held in April, the Sate Election Commission today released the list of reserved municipal wards for various categories. Fifty per cent seats are reserved for women candidates.

Of the total 272 municipal wards, 136 are reserved women candidates, said Rakesh Mehta, State Election Commissioner.

With the trifurcation of the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD), the civic body has been divided in three parts - North Delhi MCD, South Delhi and East Delhi MCD.

The North Delhi has a total number of 104 wards. Of them Narela, Bakhtawarpur, Burari, Timarpur, GTB Nagar, Adarsh Nagar, Libaspur, Jahangirpuri - II, Rithala, Vijay Vihar, Begumpur, Karala, Nilothi, Nithari, Mangolpuri North, Sultanpuri South, Nangloi East, Rohini South, Mangolpuri West, Rohini Central, Naharpur, Pitampura North, Shalimar Bagh South, Pashchim Vihar North, Saraswati Vihar, Rampura, Sawan Park, Ashok Vihar, Rana Pratap Bagh, Shastri Nagar, Deputy Ganj, Majnu Ka Tila, Chandni Chowk, Bazar Sita Ram, Idgah Road, Qasabpura, Model Basti, Baljit Nagar, New Ranjit Nagar, Mansarowar Garden, Karampura and Pusa. All seats are for women of general category.

The seats reserved for women of scheduled caste category are : Alipur, Malka Gnaj, Samaypur Badli, Nangloi Jat West, Sultanpuri East, Mangolpuri East, Nimri Colony, Inder Lok Colony, Ram Nagar and East Patel Nagar.

Besides, Bhalswa Jahangirpur, Jahangirpuri - I, Sahibabad Daulatpur, Kirari Suleman Nagar, Peeragarhi, Shakarpur, Sangampark, Kucha Pandit, Dev Nagar, Inderpuri are reserved for scheduled caste category candidates.

In South Delhi MCD : Raja Garden, Punjabi Bagh, Tagore Garden, Khyala, Nangal Raya, Subhash Nagar, Tilak Nagar, Vikaspuri East, Janakpuri South, Sitapuri, Hastsal, Mohan Garden, Uttam Nagar, Dabri, Sagarpur West, Kakraula, Roshanpura, Dichaon Kalan, Raj Nagar, Palam, Mahavir Enclave Daryaganj, Lajpat Nagar, Kotla Mubarakpur, Amar Colony, Village Hauz Rani, Hauz Khas, Munirka, Lado Sarai, Kishangarh, Chhatarpur, Sangam Vihar, Dakshinpuri Extension, Madangir, Tughlakabad Extension, Sangam Vihar Central, Chiragh Delhi, Shahpur Jat, Sri Niwaspuri, Kalkaji, Pul Pehlad, Jaitpur, Molarband, Okhla and Sarita Vihar are reserved for women of general category.

Besides Madipur, Manglapuri, Khera, Bhogal, Vasant Kunj, Tigri, East of Kailash and Badarpur are reserved for women of scheduled caste. Apart from this Vikaspuri, Chhawla, Kapashera, RK Puram, Aya Nagar, Ambedkar Nagar and Harkesh Nagar are reserved for the candidates of scheduled caste candidates.

In East Delhi : Mayur Vihar Phase - I, New Ashok Nagar, Kondli, Vinod Nagar, Patparganj, Laxmi Nagar, Pandav Nagar, IP Extension, Krishna Nagar, Ghondli, Gandhi Nagar, Raghubar Pura, Vivek Vihar, Dilshad Garden, Sundar Nagari, Ram Nagar, Chauhan Bangar, New Usmanpur, Bhajanpura, Yamuna Vihar, Kardampuri, Babarpur, Saboli, Karawal Nagar East, Mustafabad, Tukhmir Pur and Sonia Vihar are reserved for women of general category.

Besides Dallopura, Mandawli, Dharmpura, Nand Nagri, Ghonda, Shiv Vihar are reserved for women of scheduled caste. Apart from this Kalyanpuri, Vishwas Nagar, Shahdra, Durgapuri and Gokalpur wards are reserved for scheduled caste category. 

New Delhi, January 27
In the fourth placement drive at Tihar Jail today, 142 candidates were selected for employment with six companies, underlying the corporate-social responsibility an attempt to rehabilitate inmates and change the mindset of people towards them.

Tarun Yadav, welfare official of the jail, said, "A total number of 175 candidates, including women, appeared for interviews with the companies. One hundred and forty two have been selected and three inmates, Mohammed Asif, Hemant Kumar and Sahil Gulati, have been offered jobs with the highest salary of Rs 30,000. Some have been employed with the minimum salary of Rs 7,000."

The companies that arrived for the selection process are Ikaya Global, Carrier Crafts, Future Mission, Frontline, Resco India, and the organiser, Vedanta for jobs such as tower technicians, housekeeping, tele-calling and security.

The placement drive was organised by the Vedanta Foundation. The business group had previously organised three more such drives last year on February 25, July 16 and November 15.

Sudhir Kumar Jha, territory manager of the Vedanta Foundation said, "The criteria for selection during this placement are that the candidate should have a good conduct and he or she has to be either an under-trial or one who will be released from prison within six months. Their educational qualifications are also necessary for their selection. The inmates who are short-listed for applying in the companies are selected by the director general of Tihar Jail, who provides them a certification letter of their conduct.”

"Some of the inmates, who are selected for employment, suffer from an inferiority complex after they are discharged. Most of them don't want to work for the companies who selected them. We accordingly counsel them to make the right choices in order to be mainstreamed in society," added Sudhir.

He quickly remarked that the number of candidates who apply for the placement drives have been increasing.

"In the first one, only 42 inmates attended interviews with the companies. The second event had 125 candidates applying for jobs, while the third one witnessed more than 160 inmates," said Sudhir.

Sashant Yadhuvanshi, a 19-year-old inmate was the first one to be selected among other candidates.

"The Vedanta Group of Institutions and Aircel have selected me. The job with Vedanta has been guaranteed, but I am eager to work with Aircel, because they have hired me for the communications department," he said.

Sashant was pursuing BTech in engineering from Inderprastha Engineering College at Sahibabad, Ghaziabad. He will be discharged in the first week of February.

A former inmate, Virender Yadav was released about 20 days ago and he came back today to apply for the job. "When I was discharged from prison a friend and me went to some companies for placement. I was selected, but because my friend was desperate for a job I told him to take it. And I have come back today to apply for a job," he said.

New Delhi, January 27
Passengers of a DTC bus were saved when the driver in an attempt to avoid a major accident swerved the vehicle and rammed it into a cemented wall after the brakes of the bus malfunctioned at Rajinder Nagar, central Delhi, today.

The bus was plying from the Central Government Offices (CGO) complex towards Avantika. The accident occurred around 10.30 am on Shankar Road.

"When the driver realised that the brakes were not working he swerved the vehicle into a one-lane road where there was light flow of traffic. With his presence of mind he rammed the bus into a wall and saved the lives of 20 passengers," said a police official.

The driver, Sanjay (35), had reportedly told his passengers to be seated towards the rear of the bus before the collision.

Sanjay and three passengers - Rajneesh (24), his wife Sonam (22) and Manish - sustained minor injuries. They were rushed to Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital. Sanjay was questioned at the Rajinder Nagar police station, but was later released after the passengers didn't want to file a complaint against him. The police tried conducting an inspection of the brakes, but was unable to do it because the vehicle was severely damaged.

A DTC official, however, said that the brakes of the bus were functioning normally when it left the depot.

In another accident, two MBA students were injured when their Lancer car rammed into an electric pole at the BRT corridor near Andrews Ganj, south Delhi.

The injured, Javed Ahmed Bhat (25) and Hamad (25), belong to Srinagar and are studying at IIPM. Today around 4.30 am, the victims and two other friends planned to go out to eat.

New Delhi, January 27
The west Delhi police along with the crime branch today made three arrests in connection with the sensational murder-cum-robbery case of an 88-year-old senior citizen, Rajender Singh, a Punjabi Bagh resident.

Two of the accused-Imran (21) and Rafiqul (20) -- were arrested by the crime branch team this afternoon. A laptop, a portable hard disk, mobile phones, house-breaking equipment and two metal blades were seized from them. The third accused, Farooq, was arrested in the evening and a wrist watch belonging to the victim was seized from him.

The murder was reported on January 24 by Rajinder Singh's son Inder Pal Singh. He told the police that he had heard his father cry for help in the early morning hours. Inder told the police that Rajinder Singh had knocked at his door and shouted that four people had entered his bedroom, tied him and robbed him of his gold ring, cash, laptop, and watch. Inder said his father had somehow managed to free himself. Inder had then rushed his father to Maharaja Agrasen Hospital where he was declared 'brought dead'.

Sensing the gravity of the case, various teams of te Delhi police swung into action. Investigations revealed that that a gang headed by Imran, who had recently come out from jail, was behind the crime.

On a tip off, Imran along with his accomplice Rafiqul was arrested from near Shivaji Park Metro station, where they had gone to sell the booty.

During questioning, they reveled that they had entered the victim's house by breaking the window. They had overpowered Singh and tied him with his turban. They had then ransacked the room for valuables and decamped with gold ring, cash, laptop, hard disk, watches and much more.

Farooq was arrested from near Samrat Cinema at Sakurpur, A blood-stained shirt was seized from him.

The police said Imran and Rafiqul had been arrested earlier also in a case of burglary and theft in Keshav Puram and Safdarjung Enclave, respectively. Farooq has also been arrested earlier by the Faridabad police for a case of burglary, according to the police.