New Delhi, February 12
With many schools releasing their second list of selected candidates, girls appear to have taken away a big slice of the nursery admission pie in the national Capital, but parents are disappointed and complain that schools have flouted rules.

The results show that on average over 70 per cent girls have managed to make into the lists in many schools, while the ratio is more than 95 per cent in a reputed school in Dwarka.

The list of about 430 selected children available on the website of St Thomas' School in Dwarka shows that fewer than 10 boys have been able to make the cut.

"There's hardly any boy on the list. Being a co-ed school it should have been fair with both the genders," said Mandeep Kapoor, who has applied in the school for his son's admission.

"If not, they should have mentioned it earlier, so that we would have not wasted our time in applying in the school," said another parent, not wishing to be named.

"My son has been selected in the school, but I am just reluctant to send my child to the school," she told PTI.

When asked, the school's admission coordinator Neebha said, "We preferred girl children for admission into nursery. The few boys whose names appeared in the list were actually decided by the school management." The other reputed schools in the city that have given undue preference to girls included Birla Vidya Niketan, Pushpa Vihar; Heritage School, Vasant Kunj, G D Goenka Vasant Kunj among others.

Experts attribute this skewed girl-boy ratio to faults in the points system being followed by schools this year.

"The roots of the problem stem from the defects in the points system. Many schools gave points separately under 'girl child' and 'first child', which have given an edge to girls over boys this year," says Sumit Vohra, founder of online parents' forum Admissionsnursery.Com.

"Giving incentives to girls is not bad. But it is needed more in rural set ups not in metros like Delhi," he said.

Ashok Ganguly, the former CBSE chairman who devised the points system for Delhi schools in 2007, pointed out that lack of a uniform points system is the key reason behind this problem.

"Unless a uniform selection procedure is being followed strictly across the board, such problems are likely to surface every admission season," he said. The lists released by schools in the second round had very few names, adding to parents' disappointment.

"There are some schools which have given points under sibling as well as first child. How on earth is it possible that a first child can get points for being a sibling," he said, adding that, the Directorate of Education needs to take such complaints seriously.

Ganguly, however, said all the chaos and controversies being witnessed today arise from "the skewed demand and supply ratio." "The government needs to strengthen its schools to address this problem," he added.—PTI

New Delhi, February 12
With the launching of the scheme for improvement and up gradation of water supply in Mehrauli, the residents can now hope better supply, efficient service delivery in respect of metering, billing and redressal of consumer complaints.

The scheme was launched by the Chief Minister, Sheila Dikshit. The scheme is a part of the project prepared by the Delhi Jal Board (DJB) for improvement of water supply services in the Mehrauli area, taking into consideration the existing and future population projections. The scope of work includes construction of five underground reservoirs and pumping stations with a total storage capacity of 18.290 million litre, along with replacement of old pipes with new ones in a total length of 33,000 meter. The new network will have about 35,000 water connections, fixed with quality water meters.

The scheme will be carried out at a total cost of Rs 145.60 crore, approximately. The project is likely to be completed in two years' time after the award of work.

"The proposed contract for the scheme is based on performance indicators, which will have to be met by the firm within target dates. The entire network will be upgraded in the period of two years and the firm will maintain the same for 10 years while sustaining the service level efficiency as indicated in the key performance indicators," said Dikshit.

"The ancient town of Mehrauli will have a new network of water supply system after 21 months, resulting in a permanent solution to existing problem of acute shortage of water. People will not have to lose sleep for water," said the Chief Minister.

Exhorting people not to waste water, Dikshit also asked the citizens to install water meter on their premises to help the DJB regulate the water distribution network in an efficient way.

"We must conserve and make rational use of all natural resources, including water which is precious and has no substitute," she said.

Dikshit, who is also chairperson of the DJB, said on completion of the project, people in Mehrauli and adjoining areas would get water supply twice daily instead of twice a week currently.

New Delhi, February 12
The Delhi High Court has set aside a trial court judgement awarding 18 months jail term to a DTC driver, accused of mowing down a man here in 2009, saying the prosecution failed to prove that the driver's act was "rash or negligent".

The court acquitted Ishwar Singh of the charge of rash and negligent driving in Nangoli here. Naveen Kumar died during the incident on February 17, 1997.

"The chain of evidence connecting the driver to the alleged accident is not complete. The only basis on which the prosecution has tried to implicate him is because he was driving the offending vehicle as per the duty slip.

"Driving the offending vehicle has not been denied by Singh, however, the same does not prove that the accident had taken place due to his negligence or rash driving. The prosecution has not been able to establish its case beyond reasonable doubt against Singh," Justice Mukta Gupta said.

The court allowed the appeal of the driver who had sought setting aside of judgements of the Magistrate and the Sessions Court which had awarded 18 months jail term, besides a fine of Rs 5,500 on him.

Acquitting Singh, the high court noted that in the present case none of the witnesses identified the driver as the person by whose negligence the accident took place.

"The tempo with which the bus is stated to have collided has no marks or any fresh damages on its body as stated by the mechanical inspector who examined the said tempo. Had the bus collided with the tempo and crushed the deceased as alleged by the prosecution there would have been some marks on the body of the stationary tempo," it observed. — PTI

New Delhi, February 12
The helpline 102 may be helpful in reaching out to CATS emergency moving facility in the national Capital, but the same three-digit number may not be the designated number for the emergency service elsewhere as believed and even taught to all--right from the school stage.

More so, while the real concept of a standardised ambulance is still missing in India, the status of emergency healthcare services system, especially the component of pre-hospital care, is worryingly dismal even as a life is lost every minute owing to road accidents in the country.

In view of this, experts underlined the need for having a defined system of emergency medical services and response during the First International Congress on Emergency Medical Services (EMS 2012) organised by the AIIMS' department of the hospital and administration here.

As believed in the crucial "golden hour", nearly 50 per cent of trauma patients die because of mismanagement at the first two stages of the accident-mishap-site and the second absence of first-hand responders in the form of trained personnel.

In this regard, the government's multi-disciplinary working committee group on emergency care chaired by the HoD of the AIIMS' hospital administration HoD Dr Shakti Gupta has proposed a defined national emergency care network while spelling out the basics of emergency care which have to be worked out in tandem with three ministries, road transport and highways, health and family welfare and telecommunications.

The recommendations, submitted to the National Planning Commission last month after a series of meetings, include putting in place a national toll-free helpline facility (102) and a "national ambulance code" besides minimum qualifications for paramedics.

"In India, the basics of emergency medical systems are yet to be met. For ambulance, any vehicle such as a van could get itself registered and thus so many players coming up with tenders without any specifications. We do not have a fixed protocol to check these low-quality vehicles. Also, there is no notified national helpline for ambulance, thus making service delivery further difficult," pointed out Dr Angel Rajan Singh, senior resident administrator at AIIMS.

According to experts, inadequate road safety measures-people travelling without helmets, seatbelts--have caused increasing loss of lives. The Global Status Road Safety reveals that an estimated two million people are left to survive with disability resulting from accidents. 

New Delhi, February 12
A 22-year-old seven-month pregnant woman was allegedly raped by a 19-year-old boy, when he and his two friends dragged her inside his house at Ranhola on Friday night.

The victim has been staying with her parents for the past few weeks. Her husband lives at Paharganj and is a labourer.

He had sent her to her parents' home till the delivery of her child.

The main accused, Sanjay (19) is the victim's neighbour. On Friday, she was returning to her house after meeting a relative staying nearby.

According to the police, she was passing by Sanjay's house about 9.30 pm. Sanjay with the help of his friends Rinku (19) and Rahul (20) pulled her inside his house. Sanjay raped her, while the other two held her. He then threatened her with dire consequences if she reported the incident to anyone.

The victim informed her family about the incident, who then reported it to the 
police. Initially, she said that the three youths pulled her inside Sanjay's house and molested her.

According to her, they had pulled her clothes and passed lewd comments, but she managed to flee. Later, she alleged that Sanjay had raped her.

After she gave the police her statement, a case of attempt to rape, registered initially, was changed into a case of rape and wrongful confinement.

The main accused Sanjay is still at large, while his friends, Rinku and Rahul, have been arrested.

New Delhi, February 12
Two vehicle thieves shot at two youths and injured one of them, before fleeing with their motorcycle that was parked near Okhla Tank last night. The youths, Rajkumar and Rajveer, work as delivery boys for a Domino Pizza outlet in Sarita Vihar. Rajkumar is a resident of Faridabad and Rajesh resides at Harkesh Nagar in Kalkaji.

They were returning home on a Hero Honda Splendour motorcycle and stopped to take a break at the side of a road near Okhla Tank.

Around 9 pm, when they were slightly far from their motorcycle, the two thieves grabbed the opportunity. As they were fleeing with the motorcycle, the youths tried to stop them.

One of the robbers brandished a pistol and fired at Rajkumar and Rajveer. The former was shot at in his right arm.

Rajveer who escaped unhurt rushed his friend to the AIIMS Hospital. Meanwhile, the two thieves fled with the motorcycle. Rajkumar's condition is stable, according to sources.

A case of attempt to murder and robbery has been registered at the Sarita Vihar police station.

The police is searching for the accused. The motorcycle was recovered from Abul Fazal Enclave this morning.

New Delhi, February 12
The new Delhi Metro Rail Corporation's chief, Mangu Singh, plans to focus on cleanliness at the stations. Ordering the staff to carry out regular cleanliness drives to ensure that the premises are kept tidy, Singh also stressed the need for proper maintenance of parking lots at various stations in the Capital and specifically instructed the officials to ensure that the areas are well-lit for commuters during night hours.

The matter was discussed during a meeting last week which was held to review the performance of the organisation in January, the first after Singh took over as the managing director on January 1, 2012, after E Sreedharan retired.

The Metro officials said Singh was of the view that non-core areas of stations like their peripheries were being ignored and pitched the need for them to be kept clean.

"Singh instructed the officials to soon launch special drives to maintain cleanliness in the areas around the Metro stations. He also instructed the operations and maintenance personnel of DMRC to rope in the other civic agencies for these drive," an official said.

Singh also asked the officials to give priority to cleanliness in the areas around the stations and directed them to undertake special drives.

On the parking lots, Singh said they should be kept clean with proper lighting as people, including women, use them even during night hours.

Now the parking lots are being cleaned every Saturday on a regular basis, the official said.

A majority of the Metro stations in the NCR have parking lots and they are used by thousands of people who leave their vehicles before taking Metro.

Delhi Metro carries over 2 million passengers a day and now covers over 185 km of the Capital. The Phase-III would connect another 103 km of the Capital and when the Phase-IV is completed in 2021, it would surpass the London Underground.

New Delhi, February 12
Even though the minimum temperature today remained below normal, Delhiites experienced a warmer Sunday after days of cold waves that were blowing in the Capital following spells of snowfall in the parts of northern region.

The minimum temperature for today was recorded at 9.2 degree Celsius, which is one notch below average for this part of the season, said officials of the Indian Meteorological Department.

The maximum temperature settled at 26.1 degree Celsius, which is three degrees above normal.

The weather for tomorrow is also expected to remain warmer with the officials predicting minimum temperature around nine degrees.

"Shallow fog in the morning with warm day, the maximum and minimum temperature will be around 22 and 9 degree Celsius," said the official at the IMD.

The maximum humidity recorded at 8.30 am was 69 per cent, with 200 meters visibility.

Saturday's minimum temperature was three notches below average at 6.6 degrees Celsius while the maximum was 21.8 degrees, a notch above average.

New Delhi, February 12
The Delhi government's ambitious project, Bawana power plant, which has been running on and off due to unavailability of natural gas, is set to put its power generation on a smooth track as the state government decides to seek intervention of the Centre.

The production has to be suspended for five-six days after operating it for some days due to shortage of gas.

The senior Delhi government officials revealed that the intervention of finance minister Pranab Mukherjee would be sought soon to facilitate supply of natural gas to Bawana plant. Mukherjee heads an Empowered Group of Ministers on gas allocation. The power production at the plant has been severely affected due to shortage of fuel.

The Delhi government has already invested Rs 4,500 crore in setting up the plant. "We were allocated 1.564 (million metric standard cubic metres per day) mmscmd of gas against our requirement of 2.4 mmscmd to operationalize the first module. From March, we will require a total of 4.8 mmscmd of gas when the second module will be operationalized," said the official.

Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit is likely to take up the issue with Mukherjee, said the sources. "We have decided to seek intervention of finance minister Pranab Mukherjee who is heading an EGoM on gas allocation and pricing as power production at the plant has been affected due to shortage of gas," said government officials.

Though, the oil ministry had allocated 1.564 mmscmd gas to the plant in October last year for generation of 750 mega watt of power out of its capacity of 1,500 mw, it has been going through periodic shutdown due to cut in fuel supply.

Appropriate supply of gas will help in ensuring the commissioning of the second module of the power plant, which is slated for March. It is expected to take the production capacity at the plant to its optimum level.

The plant faced an uncertain fate early last year after Reliance Industries Ltd refused to supply gas following delay in its commissioning. The state government then approached the PMO seeking its intervention in getting gas for the plant.

The plant is crucial to augment the power supply in the city as demand has been on the rise in the last few years. It touched an all-time high of 5,028 MW on August 2.

Currently, Delhi's power demand ranges from 3,700 MW to 5,100 MW, depending on the weather conditions. The city gets 2,400 MW from central quota, while nearly 1,000 MW is produced by Delhi's own electricity generating stations. As per the projection by the Central Electricity Authority, the power demand will jump to 8,700 MW by 2017.

New Delhi, February 12
After two-year-old battered baby showed signs of breathing problems, she was put back on ventilator support, but she remains in critical condition, said doctors at the AIIMS Trauma Centre on Sunday.

During the week, the baby's health had marginal improvement with the infection in the chest and the blood gradually clearing out following antibiotics, but the infection of brain fluid is still a point of concern, according to doctors here.

"The baby developed some difficulty in breathing on Saturday. Her septicemia was controlled by strong antibiotics. She remains critical though stable as we are closely monitoring her," said neurosurgeon Dr Deepak Agarwal at the AIIMS Trauma Centre.

The baby, who was brought to the hospital in a battered condition on January 18 by a teenager who is currently in a child rehabilitation home, has been a crucial point in reaching out to the accused involved in a human trafficking and flesh trade racket.

The mother of the toddler who has been comatose for over three weeks is a victim of this interstate racket and now trying to meet the baby, but the authorities are yet to grant her the permission.

Meanwhile, the south district police probing into the case has arrested nine people, including the prime accused Rajkumar Gupta who handed over the baby to the teenager who remains in a juvenile home to recover from the trauma--her father's beatings and later the prostitution racket.