New Delhi, February 8
It looks the concerns raised over the procedural lapses in clinical drug trials conducted in India is back to haunt the government as the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) today issued a notice to the secretary of Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare and the centrally-managed Safdarjung Hospital over the deaths of 8,200 children, including 3,000 newborns, in five years (2008-12) with a complaint alleging that many of these deaths occurred during illegal drug trials.

This comes a day after the ministry was issued another notice over fresh allegations of children being subjected to such trials without the consent of the parents in the country's some of the leading hospitals, including Kalawati Saran Hospital, Lok Nayak Jai Prakash Hospital and Safdarjung Hospital.

It was on the complaint of R.H. Bansal of Human Rights Observer, an NGO, based on his RTI replies received between October and November 2012, from the three hospitals on the number of children deaths and status of paediatric care facilities in the hospitals during 2008-12, the NHRC issued these notices seeking a response from them within a month.

According to the replies from the three hospitals, the number of children who died during clinical trials was 2,056 in Safdarjung Hospital, 1,023 in Kalawati Saran Hospital and 400 in Lok Nayak Hospi Lok Nayak Jai Prakash Hospital and in his petition to the NHRC, Bansal alleged that parents' approval was not taken for subjecting their children to clinical trials.

"As got the information under the RTI and the condition of all three hospitals is really bad. The rights of children are being violated by putting them on drug trials without giving them proper information about the dangers in course," said Bansal who filed the RTI on October 23, 2012, with almost all the government hospitals in Delhi.

Adding that both the institutional care and critical facilities for children in these hospitals has been unsatisfactory he said, the most disturbing is the status in Safdarjung Hospital where in five years 8,209 children have died of whom many are said to have given in during drug trials (for effective treatment of sepsis).

When asked Safdarjung Hospital medical superintendent Dr BD Athani said, "All clinical trails in the hospital are supported by the Indian Council of Medical Research and the Department of Science and Biotechnology. They have been conducted after clearance of the ethical committee which comprises some doctors of the hospital and others drawn from outside. The children who die here fall under various categories, with causes, including prenatal. But we are yet to receive any notice from the NHRC."

New Delhi, February 8
Water released from Hathnikund Barrage in Haryana washed away drums meant for pontoon bridge in Yamuna near Wazirabad today.

Flood and Irrigation Minister A.K. Walia said that Haryana released 27,000 cusecs water from Hathnikund that washed away the drums of pontoon bridge. There were total 62 drums. Of them, 21 were washed away. Two of them crossed the ITO Bridge while 19 were still stuck under the bridge.

According to the sources, drums of pontoon bridge were lying loose in the river. The water current washed them away. The water also entered in the clusters that were on the bank of the river.

An official of the Irrigation and Flood Department said that water left by Haryana subsided and within one or two days it would become normal.

Executive Engineer, Irrigation, Haryana government, Rajiv Verma said that due to heavy rains on hills there was much water in the river that had flowed to Delhi also. Haryana did nothing to flood water in Delhi. He said that drums of the pontoon bridge were lying loose that was the reason the water current washed them way.

New Delhi, February 8
Over 17.3 lakh consumers of south and west Delhi will now have to pay their electricity bills on monthly basis. Starting March 2013, BSES Rajdhani Power Limited (BRPL) will be adopting monthly billing for all its single phase consumers, domestic and non-domestic, industrial who are currently being billed bi-monthly.

Explaining the rationale behind monthly billing, Gopal Saxena, BRPL CEO said, "Providing 12 bills in a year instead of six will make it easier for consumers in south and west Delhi to better manage their monthly expenses and electricity consumption."

Consumers will continue to get all the benefits they are presently enjoying with bi-monthly billing. "For instance, they will continue to get 15 days before the due date to pay their electricity bills and those eligible, will also continue to get subsidy and slab benefits as before," added Saxena.

He said that it will help consumers to better align their electricity bills with other bill schedules like that of cable, DTH, credit card bills, landline, mobile bills, loan repayments, etc. "It will provides consumers with frequent and timely information, enabling them to moderate usage to bring about energy conservation.

Also, consumers will be able to pay their electricity bills on all Saturdays between 9 am and 3 pm at cash payment counters of the BRPL and on all seven days, between 8 am and 8 pm at the automated bill kiosks of the company.

A senior BRPL official said that the decision is based on extensive feedback from consumers and also incorporates the current international practices. "It gives due importance to consumer priority as every household plans its budget on a monthly basis, so this initiative will help our consumers streamline their monthly budgets," said BRPL spokesperson.

New Delhi, February 8
At the call of Sambhavana Organization, a large number of disabled from Delhi University, Jawaharlal Nehru University and various other institutions gathered at Jantar Mantar today, to seek rights to equitable education and employment with dignity.

In various representations to Delhi University, University Grants Commission, Union Ministry of HRD (MHRD), the organization has raised various pertinent issues concerning the educational and employment related rights of disabled. "We are deeply anguished to find that despite our representations and reminders, none of these authorities has taken any concrete measures (or announced any measures) that may bring relief to disabled. We had informed the MHRD about the situations that disabled students and teachers are facing in DU which compelled them to go for a one-day peaceful demonstration on the campus last month. About 250 disabled had assembled in this demonstration. We had therefore appealed the ministry for its timely intervention in the matter in order to protect our rights. However, we received no communication or any other clue of its intervention," said Vikas Gupta, member of the organization.

"The situation worsened to the extent that 28 disabled students and seven teachers, along with a large number of supporters, were compelled to sit on a one-day hunger strike on January 18. Neither the MHRD nor the university paid any heed to their demands even when they were sitting on hunger strike in heavy rain. Similarly, a delegation of the organization had met the previous Union Minister for Social Justice and Empowerment, Mukul Wasnik, in May 2012 and submitted a comprehensive representation on various issues concerning the disabled. Despite all friendly gestures and promises, nothing was actually done. Therefore, we decided to mobilize disabled for the redressal of our issues," he added.

New Delhi, February 8
The Delhi Transport Department has decided to launch a special drive against e-rickshaws violating the provisions of the Motor Vehicle Act, 1988.

The drive would be launched on February 15 onwards. "It has been observed that some battery-operated rickshaws are being plied in various parts of the city. These are not only running illegally, but are also dangerous for passengers. They do not have any certification from any of the authorized agencies and hence are very prone to accidents which can result in fatal injuries or even death of any passenger," said Transport Minister Ramakant Goswami.

The department has decided to launch drive against such battery-operated e-rickshaws. The e-rickshaws other than having a statutory certificate of half an hour power of the motor to be less than 250 W and maximum speed of the vehicle to be less than 25 km/h would be considered as motor vehicle to be penalized and impounded under the Motor Vehicle Act.

New Delhi, February 8
A 73-year-old criminal lawyer has been arrested for allegedly being involved in more than 90 cases of cheating, forgery and vehicle theft in Delhi, Haryana and Rajasthan.

The accused has been identified as Dhani Ram Mittal, who is a resident of Jahangirpuri. He belongs to Bhiwani district, Haryana.

The police has recovered a stolen car with two number plates, including one with a sticker of "office of the Union Home Ministry".

Additional Deputy Commissioner of Police (Outer) Mohammad Akhtar Rizvi, "Mittal said that his modus operandi for vehicle theft was parking his car near the targeted vehicle. He used master keys and if he was caught red handed, he would apologize on the pretext of old age. He used to concoct stories that it happened by mistake and showed his parked car."

Mittal was arrested with a stolen car during a vehicle checking drive at Shafiabad Road in Narela yesterday. The police found that the engine and chassis number of the car were different from the ones mentioned in the registration certificate.

When Mittal was questioned, he threatened the police personnel with suspension. He tried to escape by leaving the car, but was apprehended. Upon further verification, the police learnt that the car was stolen from Civil Lines in north Delhi.

"Our investigations revealed that he is involved in 92 cases of cheating, forgery and motor vehicle theft," Rizvi added.

Dhani did BSc from Vaish College at Rohtak and a diploma in hand writing and graphology.

He started working as a munshi to advocates and further graduated in law from Sri Ganganagar in Rajasthan in 1970. He started his practice at a Rohtak court.

New Delhi, February 8
The MDMK party chief, Vaiko, and his 134 supporters today courted arrest in Delhi when they attempted to march towards Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's residence to protest against the visit of President of Sri Lanka Mahinda Rajapaksa to India.

Vaiko, who is the founder of the Marumalarchi Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (MDMK), was kept at the Parliament Street police station, after his arrest. Twenty minutes later, he and his supporters were granted bail. At the police station he told reporters that Rajapaksa is allegedly responsible for the atrocities that the Tamils living in Sri Lanka have faced. He alleged that he has submitted documents and CDs with the UN Human Rights Council, which detail the brutalities faced by the Tamils.

The UN council's upcoming meeting will be held in March this year.

New Delhi, February 8
Rest house for Ticket Takers (TTs) at New Delhi Railway Station located adjacent to Sainik Rest House stinks. Authorities concerned do not take any action even after getting registered complaints a number of times, said a group of TTs who stayed there.

They alleged that there is no proper maintenance in the rest house. There is no room for TTs of 13 trains of the Northern Railway. Each room has six beds. Each train has three-ten TTs. Four hundred TTs arrive daily to stay there, though the rest house has only 306 beds.

Sources in the railways said that having seen the difficulty of the TTs earlier, Divisional Railway Manager (DRM) had planned to construct a dormitory of 36 beds but the project is still pending.

A few months back the DRM had visited the rest house to monitor the maintenance. He has reported about the condition but so far nothing has happened. Northern Railway spokesperson Ajay Micheal said, "If there is any problem, it will be worked out soon".