New Delhi, December 28
The Urban Development Minister, Arvinder Singh Lovely, today distributed LPG cylinders, gas burners and other accessories among the 30 BPL families belonging to his Gandhi Nagar Assembly Constituency under the Kerosen Free City Scheme.

He said that a total number of 1,450 BPL families of the Gandhi Nagar area would be benefited under the scheme and all the above families would get the LPG gas connection and cylinder shortly. Officials from the Food and Civil Supplies Department would go to the residence of the BPL families to facilitate them at door step to avoid any hassle.

Lovely said that the Kerosene Free City Scheme is a very ambitious scheme of the Delhi government to facilitate the poor, especially the women of the families as cooking with kerosene oil was dangerous for their health.

After the successful implementation of the scheme, the city would become pollution free, he added.

New Delhi, December 28
After an affirmative nod from the Academic Council and Executive Council, Delhi University, the administration has geared up for finalising the details of the course structure, admission process and other feasibilities.

The Executive Council had decided that all teachers who are members of course committees and faculties should perform their duties in preparing the course syllabi in accordance with course structure approved by the Academic Council and that too in a time bound manner.

"We have introduced 11 foundation courses that will be compulsory for all students and will give them a broader perspective. These include courses on governance and citizenship, language, literature and creativity, geographical and socio-economic diversity, psychology communication, life skills and culture and civilization," said a member of the task force which had prepared the proposal.

Explaining further about the approved structure of the course, he said, "This four-year long course will also allow interdisciplinary work. For example, a student of physics (H) will be allowed to opt for political science as a minor discipline. The curriculum will also include extra-curricular activities and sports.

For the foundation courses in Hindi and English, the same pattern will be followed. For other foundation courses there will be two lecture classes and student presentation class and one tutorial per week. For the discipline courses as well, the system of tutorials will remain the same as now. In the fourth year, students will study courses only in their major discipline. This will include a subject specific paper in research methodology as well."

"The Executive Council has given the Vice-Chancellor the power to constitute department wise teams who will make the syllabus that will be put forward to the course of committees. Going forward, we are now in the process to set up a committee of college teachers to prepare the course structure. The syllabi will then be prepared by the course committees of the respective courses. The courses will be placed in the Academic Council again for approval," said a senior DU official.

Apart from standard courses, professional courses such as BBA, BBE and bachelors of financial investment and analysis will also be restructured to fit in the new programme," he added.

New Delhi, December 28
Jamia Millia Islamia will now initiate translation of works by Rabindra Nath Tagore in Urdu.

The Ministry of Culture has granted a two-year project for Rs 96 lakh to the Department of Urdu, Jamia, to translate and publish 10 books comprising Tagore's important writings as well as writings on Tagore for Urdu readers.

"It has been decided in the research committee meeting of Tagore Research and Translation Scheme to translate Tagore's selected poems, fiction, essays, articles, plays, important letters, interviews and travelogues. In this connection, a workshop of Tagore Research and Translation Scheme of Department of Urdu of Jamia was held earlier this month to translate Tagore's fiction, poems including Gitanjali and The Gardener and important essays and articles," said an official spokesperson for the university.

"A five-day workshop was organized from December 17 to 21 for the purpose of translating Tagore's work into Urdu. The inaugural session was presided over by eminent Urdu scholar, Prof Shamim Hanfi, along with Prof Afaque Ahmad, Prof Ateequllah and Prof Khalid Mahmood, HoD of Urdu, Jamia," the spokesperson further said.

In this regard, a meeting of the advisory committee of Tagore Research and Translation Scheme of Department of Urdu chaired by Vice-Chancellor Najeeb Jung was also held on December 19.

"There was a time when Tagorism had become a literary jargon and it has had a great impact on Urdu prose writers," said Prof Hanfi. Prof Mahmood said, "It was a matter of great pride that the translation of Gitanjali and The Gardener and other poems has being taken up. I am hopeful that translations done under the Tagore Research and Translation Scheme will become a part of Jamia's history."

New Delhi, December 28
Punjab province of Pakistan Minister Chaudhary Abdul Ghafoor Khan, who attended a function in Adarsh Public School at Vikaspuri today, stressed upon the need for people to people relations in two neighboring countries.

He praised the functioning of democracy and sense of secularism in India, particularly in Delhi, said Mukesh Sharma, Parliamentary Secretary of the Delhi Chief Minister.

While addressing the function, Khan said that he is greatly impressed with the development taken place in Delhi during last decade. He has yet to visit a city developed like Delhi where one can find wide roads, spread out Metro network, flyovers and vast greenery. The Chief Minister of Punjab province in Pakistan will take up developmental projects in Lahore on the lines of Delhi.

He further stated that Punjab province government in Pakistan would feel honoured in inviting Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit and her Parliamentary Secretary to Lahore. Delhi has, no doubt, become a world class city, he added.

New Delhi, December 28
A 50-year-old principal of an MCD school allegedly committed suicide at the institute located in Narela, outer Delhi, this morning.

A suicide note purportedly written by him reads that he was depressed, because his relatives did not return Rs 50 lakh that he had loaned to them.

The man is identified as Joginder Saroha. He stayed with his family at Punjabi Colony in Narela.

For the past two years he was the principal of the MCD primary school located at Pocket 2 in Narela. According to the police, he was found hanging from a ceiling fan at his office inside the school premises today.

The suicide note reads, "I am depressed, because a couple of years ago, I had loaned Rs 50 lakh to four of my relatives. They have not returned my money."

The police said that Saroha had loaned the amount to his relatives five years ago. He had sold his ancestral land at Haryana to give the money. He had repeatedly asked them to return it. Investigators will question Saroha's family.

A case under Section 306 (abetment of suicide) of the Indian Penal Code has been registered.

The police is probing the alleged culpability of the four relatives.

The incident came to light at 6.45 am when a security guard of the school found Saroha hanging from the ceiling fan. He informed the police, which rushed Saroha to the hospital. The authorities declared him brought dead.

The body has been sent to Babu Jagjivan Ram Hospital, where the postmortem will be conducted.

His family has been informed.

New Delhi, December 28
A youth allegedly stole Rs 4.5 lakh from the bag of a cash management employee at a bank in Kasturba Gandhi Marg yesterday afternoon. The bag contained a total amount of Rs 10.83 lakh.

A case of theft was registered at the Barakhamba Road police station. Sources said that the incident was covered in a CCTV camera installed at the bank, which has helped the police make a sketch of the culprits.

The victim, Lokesh Kumar (26), allegedly informed the police that he has been working with CMS Securitas' Jhandewalan Extension branch for the past five years.

According to the police, Kumar is responsible for depositing cash from banks to other banks. Yesterday, he had to deposit money at IDBI, HDFC and Axis Bank.

Kumar with his colleagues Raju, Ajay and a security guard, Vijay Pal, left their office in a Tata Sumo car. They first deposited some money at IDBI Bank. They reached Surya Kiran Building at Kasturba Gandhi Marg at 2.30 pm. Kumar went inside the bank with a bag containing Rs 10.83 lakh. Kumar said that he was standing near a counter when an unidentified youth started talking to him. He became aware that money was stolen from his bag when he found Rs 4.56 lakh missing. He later deposited Rs 6.26 lakh and informed his senior colleagues.