New Delhi, February 18
Several bus operators' associations in Delhi are up in arms against the new permit conditions framed by the Delhi transport department and have threatened to go on strike from March 1, which will take more than 10,000 chartered, including 4,200 school buses, off the roads.

In a meeting with the Delhi Transport Commissioner, the associations have placed several objections to the new permit conditions that were included in the Motor Vehicle Act in the backdrop of brutal gangrape of a paramedical student on a moving bus in December last year.

The new permit conditions that will be mandatory from March 1 include clauses like cancellation of permit if any private bus is involved in one fatal accident, no grant of permit if involved in more than two fatal accidents, only local drivers can be recruited, the driver should be 12th pass and conductors 10th pass, and buses should have pressure gates.

"All the operators strongly object to the said conditions as some of them are beyond the vehicle owner's control. An accident can occur due to several reasons. It is not always bus driver's mistake. It is contrary to the norms of transportation and also against public interest," said Shyam Lal Gola, general secretary, STA Operators Ekta Manch, which operates around 1,900 stage carriage buses.

The operators have objected to the rules of recruiting only 12th pass drivers and 10th pass conductors. They are not sure of getting enough local drivers either.

"Why a 12th pass person from Delhi would like to become a driver, as academically, he would be superior to a graduate from any other state. Also, if we look at Delhi Transport Corporation buses, 90 per cent of their drivers are not qualified enough and they belong to the neighbouring states," said Harish Sabarwal, general secretary, Delhi Contractor's Bus Association.

"How many politicians who run the nation are 12th pass," he asked.

The transporters will take their demands to the Delhi Transport Minister tomorrow and then may take the final call on taking the buses off the roads.

New Delhi, February 18
Responding to an agitation of the North Campus students, the Delhi University administration today agreed to look into the recently hiked prices in campus canteens.

Students, along with activists of the ABVP, sat on a hunger strike, demanding a drop in the food rates. "If our demands are not met, the agitation will intensify. However, university officials today assured us that our demands will be looked into. We have been promised that within a week's time, the hiked prices will be rolled back," said ABVP state secretary Rohit Chahal.

Last year when the scholars and hostellers had written to the university regarding high rates in hostel messes and college canteens, the officials promised a solution by opening canteens to be run in collaboration with the Indian Railways.

However, the new IRCTC canteen on North Campus opened earlier this month received a lukewarm response due to a limited menu and high prices.

"The earlier Spic-macay canteen was the best. The rates were almost one-third of the new railways canteen. Simultaneously, many other college canteens and hotel mess have decided to hike the prices. The dishes are a bit expensive and out of my budget. If compared with canteens in universities such as JNU and even DU South Campus, this lags behind," said Kirti, an SRCC student.

New Delhi, February 18
Following the footsteps of foreign universities, Delhi University is also in the process of publicizing its own journals. Three online journals on humanities, social sciences and creative writing are expected to be up on the university website by October this year. While usually, one has to pay some subscription charges to access online journals, DU journals will be freely accessible.

The highlight of this initiative is that even undergraduate students will get the opportunity to have their articles published. Currently, most DU colleges have their own college magazines. The journal supervisors are now planning to pick the best student written articles from college magazines and using them for a creative writing journal.

"The journals are not restricted to research papers. We also encourage the creative aspirations of students. A separate journal for creative writing called "DU-Vidha" will function bi-annually both in English and Hindi. As the name signifies, the literary genres or vidha is an avenue for writers to express their dilemma while "negotiating what to say and just how to say it," said a note on the university website.

Explaining the concept behind the initiative, Avinash Khare from Department of Physics and Astrophysics said, "Most reputed universities have a journal of their own and we felt that even we should start something on the same lines so as to credit the amazing research works that are undertaken across 70 DU colleges each year. Researchers usually publish their articles in various other journals, both within the country and abroad. However, with the university's own journals, both the researchers and the university will gain prominence. It will be a sure platform for the numerous works which go unnoticed usually."

The other two journals on natural sciences and humanities and social sciences will be research-based and will be published once a year. The articles will be selected through a peer-review process. An editorial board comprising experts in a particular subject, even those from outside the university, will go through the papers. They will write their comments and the articles might be sent back to the author for clarification. If the panel is satisfied with the article, it will be selected. University officials have decided to keep the journal online and not to have print editions available.

"While papers for the creative writing journal need to be submitted by the end of February, the deadline for the other two journals is the end of May. Papers from outside the university have also been invited," he added.

New Delhi, February 18
Four persons, including a juvenile, have been arrested for allegedly raping a 25-year-old woman at Shahbad Dairy on the outskirts of Delhi, police said today.

The accused named Pawan, Praveen, Bheel and the boy belong to Haryana's Sonipat district. The police said Pawan had been having a relationship with the victim for the last five years.

The four were arrested after a gangrape case was registered at the Shahbad Dairy police station, based on the victim's complaint.

The victim belongs to Sonipat and stays at Ranjit Nagar. She alleged that Pawan and others raped her on February 11.

She claimed that Pawan had borrowed money from her, which he was not returning. On February 11, Pawan asked her to meet him near Khera Khurd canal on the pretext of returning the money.

"She went there and found Pawan with the other three in a car. She sat in their car. Soon an argument broke out between them after which the woman made a call to the police," the officer said.

The call to the Police Control Room (PCR) was about a quarrel, but when the police reached the spot, the woman alleged that she was raped by the four persons, who had abandoned their car and fled.

Later, they were apprehended.

In another incident, a 60-year-old labourer was arrested today for allegedly raping a four-year-old girl at her home in southwest Delhi's Naraina. The accused, named Sachendra, lived in rented accommodation in Naraina.

According to the police, the incident came to light on Sunday night after the girl's parents approached the Naraina police station and alleged that their daughter was raped by Sachendra.

The police said the victim's parents alleged that they had hired Sachendra for whitewashing their house. On Sunday evening, they had gone out for some work leaving their daughter alone. The accused then raped her and fled.

The girl was crying when her parents returned. She told them the incident after which they rushed her to a nearby hospital. Meanwhile, the police was informed about the matter.

The medical examination of the victim allegedly confirmed the crime. A rape case was then registered. Sachendra was apprehended late at night. He was arrested and produced before a city court that sent him to judicial custody.

New Delhi, February 18
Delhi today registered a 50 per cent decline in the number of positive cases confirmed by the city health department, though there were 37 fresh cases surfacing. No deaths were reported, according to health officials.

With this, the official cases of the influenza infection now stand at 397 and nine deaths.

The H1N1 nodal official said, "The number of H1N1 cases have come down with just 37 cases of being reported today and no deaths. The cases will now reduce with the season change."