New Delhi, February 23
Seven members of a family, including a woman, were today sentenced to life imprisonment by a Delhi court for rioting and brutally murdering a man with swords over being asked by him to remove the debris they had disposed outside his house.

The court also imposed a fine of Rs 35,000 on each of them.

"I am of the considered view that the prosecution has proved its case beyond reasonable doubt that the accused have committed rioting and they were members of unlawful assembly which was armed with deadly weapons and the common object was to commit the murder of Ajay (victim)", Additional Sessions Judge (ASJ) Bimla Kumari said.

The ASJ rejected the Delhi police's prayer for death penalty to the convicts, observing that the manner of commission of offence did not fall in the category of "rarest of rare" case.

The prosecution case was that Anil, Anar, Raj, Shailendra, Anand, Dharampal, Ashok and his wife Asha, all residents of north Delhi, had on September 3, 2005, confronted their neighbour Ajay after he asked them to remove the debris lying in front of his house, causing inconvenience.

The eight persons, armed with swords and iron pipes, reached Ajay's house where Ashok gave a blow with a sword on his head. Upon this, Asha exhorted Anil to give another blow. Ajay's wife Meenu was pushed aside when she tried to intervene while his sister-in-law Vimla was also attacked. The convicts kept exhorting that they would not leave Ajay alive.

Ajay's minor son, who was on the roof of his house when the incident was happening, narrated the episode in the court and identified all the accused.

He also said that during the incident, he kept screaming at the accused not to kill his father.

The court held Ajay's son's testimony as trustworthy and reliable. — PTI

New Delhi, February 23
Several projects of the Delhi government that were held up due to paucity of land will now be able to see light of the day.

The Delhi Urban Shelter Improvement Board (DUSIB) has decided to provide land to the Delhi government for the purpose of building hospitals and schools. The decision to allot plots to the government and government agencies for construction of schools and hospitals was taken in the sixth meeting of the DUSIB chaired by the Chief Minister, Sheila Dikshit.

"The government has been looking for plots of land for its various projects. It has been approaching the DDA for this purpose. Due to non-availability of land in the city, the related projects had to be put on hold," said Dikshit.

She said that it had been decided to make use of land available with the DUSIB for the purpose. The Chief Minister stated that allotment of land for schools, hospitals and other projects of public interest infrastructure would be allotted on the basis of circle rates circulated by the city government from time to time.

"Such allotment will only be restricted to the government and its agencies," she said.

The board has also appointed a committee under the chairmanship of chief secretary PK Tripathi to consider the issue of grant of freehold rights to the allottees and occupants of 44 JJ resettlement colonies. These colonies comprising about 2.5 lakh plots of 25 to 40 sq yards, each were developed in 1970s by the erstwhile slum and JJ department of the DDA.

Informing on low-cost houses, Dikshit said that the board had given its green signal for the award of construction of 9,780 low-cost houses under the JNNURM with an aim to speed up the work of relocation of JJ clusters.

Out of 9,780 low-cost houses, 4,060 are to be constructed at Savda Ghevra, phase-II, 3,560 at Savda Ghevra, phase-III, 980 at Sector 16 B Dwarka and 1,180 at A-3, Sultanpuri.

The projects are to be completed within 18 months after award of the work.

New Delhi, February 23
The DDA was today directed by the Delhi High Court to expedite the process of issuing completion certificates to the flats in the Commonwealth Games (CWG) Village on the flat owners' plea to give them possession.

Justice Hima Kohli directed the DDA to expedite the process to the flats housed in 30 towers at the earliest and keep four towers separately in the village.

The court also made it clear that the compounding charges have to be calculated on the basis of Master Plan 2021 and Building byelaws and also no contractual demand should come in the way of issuing the certificate.

Taking a serious view that the agency was discriminating in issuing certificates to the flats and choosing towers arbitrarily for itself, the court directed the land owning agency to keep four towers 5 and 15 (Emaar MGF share) and 26 and 29 (DDA's own share) out of total 34 towers to allot them to flat buyers in case some flats were demolished due to violation of building bylaws. The court passed the order after DDA's Standing Counsel Ajay Verma submitted it has started the process of issuing completion certificate to the builder and so far issued certificates to four towers--1, 3, 4 and 9.

The lawyer also submitted it would shortly issue certificates to other four towers after the builder clears all due.

Justice Kohli also allowed the DDA's plea to initiate formalities to auction 110 flats but said the auction cannot be done by the DDA without the court's permission. — PTI

New Delhi, February 23
The Supreme Court in its decision regarding the clash at Ramlila Maidan on the day Ramdev held his hunger strike in June last year, has mentioned that the police did not order its personnel to use lathicharge against the crowd.

"We did not order our personnel to use lathicharge and this fact has been mentioned by the Supreme Court. Two to three of our officials might have used lathicharge. We will investigate the matter," said Delhi police commissioner BK Gupta.

According to the police, certain officials did not discharge their duties appropriately. They did not follow the proper procedure and norms.

The commissioner added that the police will study the judgement of the Supreme Court. Based upon evidence, cases would be registered against the police personnel, members of the public and followers of Ramdev, if they have damaged public property during the clash. The police will have three months to register the cases and submit a report to the court.

"We will abide by the decision of the court. We will also implement its directions," said Gupta.

The commissioner pointed out that the Supreme Court upheld the power of the police to regulate permission for conducting protests. The court also supported the police's direction to any protesting group to give a written undertaking that it will abide by the lawful instructions.

New Delhi, February 23
Moved by the plight of two-year-old girl child Falak, Indians and foreigners alike have approached doctors requesting their desire to adopt her.

According to doctors attending on Falak who is still battling for life at AIIMS here more than a month, over 50 people, including citizens from Canada and USA have written to them expressing their desire to adopt her.

"We have received e-mails from people within the country and outside requesting for adoption (of Falak). Mails have come from foreigners residing in USA and Canada also wanting to adopt her despite her miserable state that she is in," Dr Deepak Agarwal, a neurosurgeon with the hospital who is treating on her, said.

"They have also said that they are constantly monitoring updates on her condition. We have replied appreciating their desire and have said that our prime interest is to get her out of the critical state and all issues related to adoption are not in our hands."

Falak was brought to the hospital 37 days back with severe head injuries, broken arms, bite marks all over her body and cheeks branded with hot iron.

Even after undergoing five life-saving surgeries since January 18, the child continues to remain unconscious and is on ventilator support till now.

Doctors attending on the girl child are now contemplating all options to gradually wean her off the ventilator so that she can start breathing on her own again.

"It has been over a month and she cannot breathe on her own. Being on artificial respiration for a long time is not a good sign.

“With the injuries suffered by her and the infection that has followed, we cannot predict a normal future for her when she recovers," Dr Agarwal said. — PTI

New Delhi, February 23
Making a passport will now be a matter of few minutes, said the officials at the inaugural ceremony of new passport office, at Herald Building, ITO. It was inaugurated today by External Affairs Minister SM Krishna.

The new office has been built keeping in mind the changing needs of the city on an area of 16,000 square feet with 30 swanky counters.

After two passport offices, one in Shalimar Place, Pitampura and the second in Udyog Vihar, Gurgaon, the new Passport Seva Kendra (PSK) at the ITO will be the third in Delhi and the NCR region. "This is an important milestone. The setting up of Passport Seva Kendras is part of the government's commitment to deliver passport services to the citizens in an efficient way," said Krishna, dedicating the 50th such facility across the country.

He said that the government would set up smaller PSKs in North Eastern states to facilitate prompt passport services.

Krishna said that the applicant will not have to spend more than 45 minutes in filling in and submitting the application form. The office has been set up in collaboration with TCS.

Apart from applying manually for the passport, applicants can also register through the Internet by uploading the required documents. The PSK will then give an appointment for the verification of the documents. An applicant will also have the option of choosing the time slot in a day. The new PSK, one of the largest in the country, will be able to process nearly 1,000 applications per day.

Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit, Minister of State for External Affairs Preneet Kaur, senior Congress leader Motilal Vohra, Foreign Secretary Ranjan Mathai and TCS CEO and Managing Director N Chandrasekaran were among the dignitaries present on the occasion.

"We now are in a position to issue passports, both fresh and renewal cases, in three days after police verification or where police verification is not needed. Passports under the Tatkal Scheme will be issued in the next working day if you leave out the day of the submission of the application," Mathai said.

Noida, February 23
Ahead of the February 28 polling, the police has tightened the noose to check violation of the Election Commission norms against use of liquor by political parties and the contestants.

Strict action is being taken against bootleggers who supply alcohol from neighbouring states.

So far 6,133 litres of liquor has been seized since December 24. The seized liquor was supposed to be distributed among voters.

The police is not leaving any stone unturned to stop illegal supply of alcohol from Haryana and Delhi.

The suppliers earn more profit due to a huge difference in the prices of foreign-made liquor in the two cities, especially during the elections when the demand is usually high.

"We have seen a rise in illegal trade of liquor to Noida. Large consignments have been busted by the police. The smugglers are also becoming innovative by hiding bottles in shoe boxes and inside the seats of cars," said a senior police official.

Two dedicated teams of eight members are active on the Delhi-Haryana boarder to keep a check on smuggling of liquor.

"As the taxes on liquor are high in Noida, these smugglers trade it from neighbouring states. Country-made liquor comes 50 per cent cheaper in Haryana, while foreign-made liquor costs 33 to 40 per cent cheaper. The maximum numbers of offenders are from Haryana," said MP Singh, district excise official.

The Noida police has also requested the Election Commission and the neighbouring states to keep the liquor shop closed on February 27 and 28.

Round-the-clock checking will be in place to ensure no illegal alcohol and weapons are brought in Noida.

Random checking will be conducted to seize illegal arms, alcohol and unaccounted money, said the police official.

Noida, February 23
The G.B. Nagar district administration has registered 25 cases of violation of model code of conduct from the three constituencies - Noida, Dadri and Jewar - in the run-up to the sixth phase of Assembly elections in Uttar Pradesh on February 28.

However, the incidents of violation of the code have been minimal as compared to the neighbouring districts of Bulandshahr and Ghaziabad, according to G.B. Nagar district officials.

"In all the cases where complaints had been received for violation of the code of conduct, prompt action was taken by the officials after conducting investigation," said ADM (Finance), Gautam Budh Nagar, Saravjeet Ram.

"So far, 25 people have been booked for violating the code. There have been very few incidents of posters, banners, etc being put up without permission," said Ram who keeps tabs on the code of conduct.

In comparison, the violation of poll code has been rampant in Ghaziabad. The administration of Ghaziabad has so far removed 9,000 acts of defacement like hoardings, posters, etc in the eight Assembly constituencies of the district, it is learnt.

In Bulandshahr too, the district administration has so far removed more than 3,200 hoardings from the public property in the seven Assembly segments.

"Thirty-three cases of violation of the code have been recorded in the district so far and the administration has filed 34 FIRs in all," said DM of Bulandshahr, Kamini Chauhan Ratan.

"A large number of FIRs have been filed in the eight constituencies of Ghaziabad," said ADM (City), Ghaziabad, Atal Kumar Rai.

"We are trying our best to bring the violators to book," said Rai, who is in charge of the code of conduct in Ghaziabad district.

Ghaziabad, February 23
The map of a three-storey structure has not been passed by the Ghaziabad Development Authority (GDA), yet it has been offered for sale in an apparent disregard to rules, an RTI application has found.

Assistant registrar at Customs, Excise and Service Tax Appellate Tribunal S K Verma had asked from GDA for an ongoing construction B-373, Swarnajayantipuram, next to his house in the same locality.

The RTI reply revealed that the map of the ongoing construction next to his house has not been passed.

"Construction can only be carried out till 10.50 meters with maximum of three-storeys. But flats or floors cannot be constructed. The Authority does not allow construction of flats on single storey houses in Swarnajayantipuram area," the reply from GDA said.

Armed with the reply, Verma has sought demolition of the said illegal construction from the GDA.

"A lot of illegal construction is going on in the area. This building is offered as independent floors for sale. The GDA has given under RTI that such an act is not permitted so I have requested the authority to demolish it. This is just one case. There are number of other such activities going on in the area," Verma said. — PTI

New Delhi, February 23
The Delhi Metro Rail Corporation today installed Automated External Defibrillator (AED) at its two biggest interchange stations--Central Secretariat and Kashmere Gate--to help save the life of anyone suffering sudden cardiac arrest (SCA).

"These accessible and easy to use AEDs will be of great use in a crowded station in case a commuter suffers sudden cardiac arrest. As the heart stops functioning in such a case and without cardiopulmonary resuscitation from someone, brain damage or death can occur in just four to six minutes. The most effective emergency treatment for SCA is the use of public access defibrillation or AEDs to resuscitate a victim's heart until medical help arrives.

These AEDs send an electric shock to the heart and allow it to return to a normal rhythm. AEDs can be used even by non-medical personnel," said a Delhi Metro Rail Corporation spokesperson.

"The installation of these AEDs will be followed by certified training for a group of core staff members of DMRC. This is the first time that an AED is being installed on the Metro premises to save its commuters from sudden cardiac arrest. With an AED in the vicinity, millions of commuters who use these stations can breathe easy that they are in a heart-safe environment," he added.

These Powerheart AEDs were presented to DMRC by Opto Circuits (India) Limited at a ceremony organized at the Central Secretariat Metro station today.

Delhi Metro has now joined the league of several developed countries like the USA, England and Japan where public access AEDs are widely installed.

At present, Delhi Metro carries over 1.8 million passengers every day and the average footfall of Central Secretariat and Kashmere Gate Metro stations itself is 2 lakh and 3 lakh respectively.

New Delhi, February 23
Delhi's Institute of Liver and Biliary Sciences (ILBS) becomes India's first super-specialty government institute to have the accredited status. The National Accreditation Board for Hospitals and Healthcare Providers (NABH) certification comes to the country's flagship hospital for liver diseases within two years of it being operational.

And with this, the national Capital has four public hospitals which have been recognised by the autonomous body Quality Council of India's with the national accreditation, with the Chacha Nehru Bal Chikistsyalaya being the first one in the country to have it followed by Maulana Azad Institute of Dental Sciences and Institute of Human Behaviour and Allied Sciences, which had it recently.

The honour was conferred at a function organised last evening on the premises of the institute in Vasant Kunj.

According to chief secretary PK Tripathi, other hospitals in government and private sectors should follow the example of quality care set by ILBS and ILBS director Dr SK Sarin, dedicated the award to "team ILBS."

While securing the quality certification for three more hospitals, GB Pant, Delhi State Cancer Institute and Prevention of Food Adulteration Laboratory is under consideration, the city government targets the feat for all government hospitals, said minister of state for health Dr AK Walia on the occasion.

"The government is upgrading the infrastructure, equipment and facilities in all government hospitals to ensure quality in delivery of healthcare services. Efforts have to be put in towards quality services as accreditation benefits all stakeholders. Patients' satisfaction is regularly evaluated, monitored and enhanced by way of regular feedbacks and corrective actions," said Dr Walia.

The chief secretary underlined that the medical fraternity, especially the surgical team, must follow the prescribed procedure because even a small oversight can be prove costly to the patients and his family, besides the society as a whole.

According to QCI secretary general Dr Girdhar J Gyani, accreditation builds learning culture in the hospital. "NABH accreditation provides framework for healthcare providers to practice patients' safety and deliver quality healthcare. NABH standards facilitate hospital to establish systems processes and more importantly it helps hospitals to monitor and measure clinical outcome. NABH standards have more than 600 objective elements, of these 70 per cent elements concern clinical practices and the rest 30 per cent focuses on managerial functions. Once NABH standards are established and institutionalised wasteful practices are eliminated and the hospitals begin to improve on economic terms," Dr Gyani observed.

New Delhi, February 23
The Sitaram Jindal Foundation today honoured 27 outstanding individuals and organisations rendering exceptional services for the welfare of the citizens here.

Spiritual leader Sri Sri Ravishankar honoured the awardees at the ceremony while Tejinder Khanna, Lt-Governor of Delhi, presided over as the guest of honour.

Prizes of Rs 1 crore each were bestowed upon Dr. A P J Abdul Kalam for science and technology , Justice N Santosh Hegde for social development, Dharmasthala Veerendra Heggade for health - including drugless healing , DHAN Foundation, Madurai, for rural development and poverty alleviation and Rishi Valley Education Centre, Chittor (AP) for education - with moral upliftment.

The S R Jindal Prize (Honorary) was awarded to Lala Mange Ram Agarwal for his selfless service to society.

Five S R Jindal prizes worth Rs 25 lakh each for rural development and poverty alleviation were bestowed on Anna Hazare; Sankara Eye Care Institutions India, Coimbatore; Utthan, Allahabad; Ramakrishna Vivekananda Mission, Barrackpore; and jointly to Dr. G. Gopal Reddy, agriculture scientist, Nalgonda, and Lok Biradari, Prakalp (Started by Baba Amte on 1973).

Nine S R Jindal Prizes for Crusade against Corruption worth Rs 10 lakh each were given to Tehelka (Manish Sisodia), Dr Rajinder K. Singla, Chandigarh, Manjunath Shanmugam (posthumous); Ramesh Verma, Hissar, Shehla Masood (posthumous), Bhopal; jointly to Dr Ashok Khemka, IAS, Chandigarh, and Mr Sanjiv Chaturvedi, IFS, Haryana; jointly to Rajnikant Borele, Maharashtra, and. Ajay B Bose, Central Railway, Mumbai; and jointly to Pawan Kumar Chaudhary, Patna and Atul Kumar, Kolkata.

Three gallantry awards were also posthumously given to Tuka Ram Omble, Mohan Chand Sharma and Major Sandeep Unnikrishnan for their supreme sacrifice in the fight against terrorism.

Together Jindal & S R Jindal Prizes had attracted close to 2000 nominations in the first year of its launch. The nominations were invited from across India and abroad through advertisements in print and electronic media as well as the website of Jindal Foundation. They were adjudicated by juries comprising eminent persons through a process independent of the working of the foundation.

The Sitaram Jindal Foundation announced that the nominations for Sitaram Jindal Prize - 2012 are now open. Sitaram Jindal Prize 2012 will be bigger with seven prizes of Rs 1 crore each. The last date for the receipt of nominations is April 16, 2012.