New Delhi, February 6
Two-year-old battered Falak's mother herself is a victim of human trafficking. The police found her mother Munni Khatoon in Jhunjhunu, Rajasthan, after she was sold as a bride to another man.

The police yesterday arrested two women, Laxmi Devi and her accomplice, Kanta Chaudhry for duping Munni and then selling her.

Munni told the police that she was married in 2006 to Mohammed Shah Hussain and lived with him at Muzaffarpur in Bihar. She was then 16 years old. They have three children, including a five-year-old boy and two girls. One of the girls is presently battling for her life at the AIIMS Trauma Centre.

Munni's husband became involved in criminal activities, which caused strained relations in the family. He is absconding, according to the police.

Alone and responsible for nurturing three children, Munni desired a secure life.

"One day her son was bitten by a dog. She was taking him to hospital in Muzaffarpur. At the railway station, she met a man, Shankar and they struck up a conversation. They would often talk over the phone. Shankar convinced her of getting a job in Delhi. He spoke to a woman, Laxmi Devi about the girl. They all met in Muzaffarpur, where Munni was asked to get remarried," said a police officer.

Later, Munni stayed with Laxmi in her residence at Uttam Nagar in Delhi. Meanwhile, Laxmi's accomplices, Saroj and Kanta Chaudhry found a man in Rajasthan, who himself was searching for a bride. After the marriage, the man was coerced into paying Rs 3 lakh to them, added the officer.

Munni married the man in Haryana and started living with him in Jhunjhunu, Rajasthan.

Before her second marriage, Munni had left her three children with Laxmi in September last year.

Sources said that her son was given to a man named Guddu. Her daughter who is three and a half years old has been found by the police.

Laxmi kept the youngest daughter with her and

then gave her to an acquaintance Manoj and his wife, Pratima in mid-October. Manoj entrusted the baby to Rajkumar, who brought her home. Meanwhile, Rajkumar started living with a 14-year-old girl who was allegedly forced into prostitution.

On January 12, Rajkumar placed the baby under the care of the girl. He told her that his son who was in Mumbai was not well and had to be treated. Rajkumar left for the city the next day.

Meanwhile, Munni recognized her child after seeing her photograph. And after a harrowing journey, the two will meet each other tomorrow.

New Delhi, February 6
The major concern for the doctors attending to Falak is the infection in her brain.

"Falak is still critical and there has been no major change in her vital parameters. Her cerebrospinal fluid is still reporting infection that is a cause of concern. One good thing is that she has responded well to treatment and blood is free of it," AIIMS Trauma Centre chief Dr MC Misra said.

While a new antibiotic will be added to fight the infection diagnosed in the brain fluid, her lungs are coming back on line and her respiratory condition has bettered, said doctors during a press briefing today at the hospital.

"We are avoiding keeping her continuously on ventilator support as that increases the chances of infection. If a patient is on ventilator for a long period, the chances of getting respiratory-associated pneumonia goes up. It becomes difficult to control then as the bacteria that causes pneumonia becomes resistant. Therefore, we have been intermittently putting on and off the ventilator," added Dr Misra.

Falak is recuperating for over two weeks now after she was brought to the AIIMS Trauma Centre in a battered condition on January 18.

New Delhi, February 6
The Delhi Cabinet today approved the proposal to double the scholarship amount for students of the Scheduled Caste (SC), Scheduled Tribe (ST) and minorities. It has also increased monthly pension being released to the aged persons and widows in respect to the SC, ST, and minorities.

In order to provide more help to the widows at the time of marriage of their daughters, the cabinet has also taken a decision to enhance the existing financial assistance amount.

These decisions were taken today at a cabinet meeting chaired by the Chief Minister, Sheila Dikshit.

While talking to mediapersons after the meeting, Dikshit stated that her government was fully committed to uplift the poor families, including weaker sections such as the SC, ST, OBC and minorities.

The amount of scholarship to the minority students in Class XI and XII has been increased up to two fold. Such students, scoring marks between 55 per cent and 60 per cent, are being released Rs 1,620 as per annum scholarship. The amount has been increased as of Rs 3,000 as per annum scholarship.

The students scoring 60 per cent and more in Class X are being released an amount of Rs 2,040 as annual scholarship. Henceforth, such students scoring 70 per cent and more in Class X examination will be getting an amount of Rs 4,500 per annum as scholarship.

The decision will benefit 70,000 students and the government will bear an amount of Rs 25 crore on this head.

As far as monthly pension for widows and senior citizens is concerned, at present Rs 1,000 is given. Now it has been increased to Rs 1,500 per month. This will also be applicable to monthly pension of all abandoned SC, ST and minority women.

Hence, financial assistance for marriage of widow's daughter has been increased from Rs 25,000 to Rs 30,000. The government has been working in the direction of providing assistance to all vulnerable sections of the society with an aim to bring them closer to well-off families.

The BJP said that the decision was taken in view of the municipal election to be held in April. Now people understand the tactic of the Congress and cannot be fool them.

Noida, February 6
Though Uttar Pradesh Technical University was bifurcated in 2010, more than 5,000 UPTU degrees have been lying undelivered at Lucknow office.

"Uttar Pradesh Technical Institutions Foundation has appealed today to the colleges to take the degrees from the university and get them delivered to students," said foundation president Atul Kumar Jain.

"Around 5,500 degrees of MBA, MCA, B.Tech. are lying undelivered on campus. We have sent circulars to the colleges to take the degrees after submitting the students' ID and fee receipts," said Kripa Shanker, vice-chancellor, GBTU.

He was the VC of UPTU at the time of bifurcation and now he is the VC of GBTU. UPTU records are being maintained by GBTU.

"For the year 2007-08, around 50 per cent degrees of 20 colleges are pending; for 2008-09, around 70 per cent degrees of 12 colleges are pending; while more than 80 per cent degrees of 32 colleges are pending for the year 2009-10," said Shanker.

He said, "It is the responsibility of colleges to take the degrees and deliver them. Students don't care either. Though they spend lakhs of rupees on courses, they simply use provisional certificates to get jobs and later forget to take the degrees."

"The management should take all the degrees from the university and keep them at colleges. I had suggested that the colleges should call the students on weekends to collect the degrees. At times, colleges misplace the degrees and claim that they have been lost. We reprint thousands of degrees so that students do not suffer," Shanker added.

New Delhi, February 6
The Delhi Cabinet has decided to bring the non-judicial stamp papers under the ambit of e-stamp mode.

The Chief Minister, Sheila Dikshit, said that Delhi would become the first state to issue e-stamp papers in all denominations as the cabinet had decided to bring the non-judicial stamp papers of Rs 500 denomination and below under the ambit of e-stamp mode. The complete switch over to e-stamp mode would prevent all fraudulent practices in this field.

The government earlier implemented e-stamping of non-judicial stamp papers of denominations of Rs 501 and above with effect from April 1, 2008, through Stock Holding Corporation of India Ltd (SHCIL) by signing an agreement with it which has been providing this service through its offices and authorised collection centres. It has been providing the services to the satisfaction of the department and this period of three and a half years has been evolution of e-stamping and its acceptance by public at large in a very smooth manner.

She said that presently e-stamp collection was being deposited in the government accounts in the range of Rs 200 crore within two days per month. Even review audit had established that e-stamping mechanism was satisfactory. The non-judicial stamp papers of denomination of Rs 500 and below were being sold in physical form. These papers on receipt from security press at Nasik are kept and stored in the Delhi treasury. The papers are purchased by various licensed stamp vendors on day-to-day basis and on the basis of limit set on their license.

The annual sale of the physical non-judicial stamp papers is about Rs 60 crore. With bringing e-stamp papers of Rs 500 and below under the ambit of e-stamp mode, the city government will save a huge amount on account of payment of printing charges to the Government of India Press, Nasik, and transportation expenditure from Nasik to Delhi and further loading and unloading charges.

On the other hand, commission at the rate of 0.65 per cent to SHCIL for the generation and issuance of e-stamp will be too less as compared to commission being paid to stamp vendors and expenses mentioned above.

The e-stamp papers are temper proof, secured electronic payment gateway to the government, authenticity of the certificate is easy to be checked, the papers will have a unique identification number, specific value e-stamp will be generated, the human interface to the public will be reduced and online stamp duty certificate will also be generated within minutes on across the counter sale basis, the Chief Minister said.

New Delhi, February 6
A 24-year-old youth was arrested for allegedly murdering his friend after he sent "defamatory" SMSes regarding her character, the police said today.

Sumit was arrested yesterday after the police alleged that he along with his accomplice Devvart killed his friend Rohit in a car on the intervening night of Friday and Saturday.

Sumit and Rohit were friends and Rohit had been teasing Sumit, saying that his wife was having an illicit relationship with his brother-in-law Manish.

Sumit attended a party on Friday and returned to have drinks with his friend Devvart when he received an "obscene" SMS regarding his wife from Rohit.

"After receiving the SMS, Sumit got upset and told Devvart that he wanted to kill Rohit. They both went to the village and parked Sumit's Swift car near Rohit's house," a senior police official said.

Later, Sumit and Rohit came to the car in which Devvart was already sitting in the driver's seat.

"After sitting in the car, Sumit fired from a point blank range from his pistol at the back of Rohit's head. Then Devvart came out of the car and attacked Rohit's face with the same pistol," the official said.

Then, the duo dumped the body in an open area near their house and left the place. — PTI

New Delhi, February 6
The Delhi High Court has acquitted a 47-year-old woman serving life term in jail for 'killing' her husband in 1995 while expressing surprise on how a well-built man could be at her mercy.

"The prosecution has not explained how a well-built man like the deceased could be at the mercy of the appellant and receiving repeated blows with iron rod that was heavy and unwieldy as a weapon," a Bench of Justice S Ravindra Bhat and Justice SP Garg said while setting aside the contention of the police that the man was killed by his wife "mercilessly".

The high court set free Kiran, a resident of Bhagirathi Vihar in east Delhi, who had challenged the trial court order of 1997 convicting and awarding her life imprisonment for "murdering" her husband.

"Surely initial attack would have altered him to defend himself or to take the weapon from his wife. This creates suspicion regarding the prosecution story, there is complete lack of explanation by the prosecution," the court observed.

Brushing aside the prosecution submission, the Bench observed that on the day of incident, the deceased as well as the appellant had cordial terms and had gone for a movie "which casts a doubt on the prosecution story which the trial court, in our opinion, ought not to have ignored." The police had claimed that on intervening night of October 4 and 5, 1995, Kiran had killed her husband Sukhbir Singh, an east Delhi property dealer.

The police had then lodged the case on the deceased's father's statement. The father had reached the spot after one of the tenants in the same building had informed him about a quarrel between the appellant and her husband in the early hours of the day.

Challenging her conviction and life sentence, Kiran had pleaded to the high court that the tenant, who was the most vital witness in the case, was not examined by the trial court. - PTI

New Delhi, February 6
To ensure better convenience for the commuters of the Airport Metro Express, Reliance Infrastructure, the concessionaire company, today said that a multi-level car parking lot would soon come up near the Shivaji Stadium Metro station in central Delhi.

"To be operational in a month's time, the parking lot will be close to Connaught Place. A multi-level car parking lot is already operational at the New Delhi Airport Metro station," said a Reliance Infrastructure spokesperson.

"The parking lot will have a capacity of over 1,400 cars. It will increase customers' convenience and connectivity with the Airport Metro," he added.

Even non-Metro commuters can park their cars at the parking lot and enjoy the retail experience at these stations.

"Reliance Metro, which currently attracts an average footfall of 20,000 everyday, expects an increase in the ridership with the opening of the parking facility," said the spokesperson.

Built at a cost of Rs 5,700 crore, the 23-km Airport Metro Express Line has six stations: New Delhi Railway Station, Shivaji Stadium, Dhaula Kuan, Delhi Aero City, Indira Gandhi International Airport and Dwarka Sector 21.

New Delhi, February 6
Delhi Mayor Rajni Abbi today sought permanent status for the ad hoc employees of the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD).

In a letter written to the municipal commissioner, Abbi has asked to regularise all municipal employees working on an ad hoc basis from the dates they had been holding the posts.

She said since the trifurcation of the MCD had been notified and the civic agency would soon be split into three corporations, uncertainty had set in among municipal employees regarding job security and promotional avenues.

"Considering their dedication and loyalty to the MCD, their services should be regularised from the date they had been entrusted the responsibilities," said Abbi.

The Mayor said it was not the fault of employees that they could not be given regular appointments by the MCD.

She said if they fulfill the recruitment rules of the posts they are working on, the municipal employees working on current duties should be given the scale of ad hoc posts that they had been holding since the date of entrustment of the charge.

"The corporation should grant one-time relaxation to all such municipal employees. If the commissioner feels the necessity of bringing a proposal, it could be tabled in the House through the standing committee," added Abbi.

Noida, February 6
For three Assembly seats of Noida, Dadri and Jewar under Gautam Budh Nagar district today, 11 candidates have filed nominations. Election staff was given training at Noida Phase II Phool Mandi.

BSP candidate from the Noida Assembly seat, Om Dutt Sharma took blessings of religious leaders at Sector 29, Nithari and also paid homage to Dr Bhim Rao Ambedkar Park at Sector 37. He garlanded the Ambedkar statue as well. He then went to Baraula and addressed the public meeting attended by a few thousand persons. From there, he went to the collectorate and filed his nomination papers.

For the Noida Assembly seat, 10 candidates have filed nominations. These are Sunil Choudhary, Samajwadi Party; Mahesh Kumar Sharma, Bharatiya Janata Party; Chander Bhan Singh, Communist Party of India; Ashish Kapur, Independent; Sudhir Kumar Mittal, Independent; Anoop Khanna, Lok Satta Party; Vipin Singh, Rashtriya Lok Manch Party; Bharmpal, Rashtriya Janata Party; Yogendra Sharma, Jankranti Party; Omdutt Sharma, Bahujan Samaj Party.

For Dadri constituency, the candidates who have filed nominations, included Rinki, Rashtriya Janata Party; Raj Kumar, Samajwadi Party; and Jasveer, Rashtriya Lok Manch. Of these, two nominations were filed today.

For Jewar Assembly seat, seven candidates have filed nominations so far. They are Nathi Ram Sharma, Bhartiya Communist Party; Savita, J&K National Panthers Party; Veer Singh, Lok Jan Shakti Party; Ved Ram Bhatti, Bahujan Samaj Party; Bijendra, Samajwadi Party, Dhirendra Singh, Indian National Congress; Ranbeer, Rashtriya Jan Adhikar Party. Of them, four have filed nominations today.

New Delhi, February 6
Two people allegedly committed suicide in Karawal Nagar, northeast Delhi. In the first incident, a 24-year-old married woman, Sarita allegedly committed suicide by hanging herself from a ceiling fan in her residence last evening. She lived with her husband, Rajkumar at Shiv Vihar, Gali number 4.

She was married to him about 11 months ago.

Sources said that a suicide note was recovered. The note read that Sarita didn't hold anyone responsible for her action.

The postmortem would be conducted at the Guru Teg Bahadur Hospital.

In the second incident, a 25-year-old married man, Neeraj allegedly committed suicide by dousing himself with an inflammable liquid and then setting himself on fire on Saturday.