New Delhi, May 7
While the Academic Council of Delhi University today cleared syllabi of 28 discipline I, II and application courses under the proposed Four-Year Undergraduate Programme (FYUP) until 9 pm, the resentment from protesting teachers and students continued all through the day.

In the meeting which will reconvene tomorrow, there were six dissenters in a house of 92 members of the Academic Council, said DU registrar Prof Alka Sharma while confirming that a total of 28 courses in science and all languages have been passed.

A four-member delegation among the protestors today approached the Human Resource and Development (HRD) Minister and the secretary with their concerns.

They sought their intervention as the Academic Council remained in process of granting sanctions to the courses under the new FYUP, however, the HRD Ministry is learnt to have absolved itself citing the university's autonomy as a plea for not intervening.

This indicates that the Vice-Chancellor (VC) is not the man behind the move of FYUP but the top authorities sitting at the Centre and the Congress-led government is behind it, said protesting academicians and activists who today held protests outside the VC's office and Shastri Bhawan.

They have resolved to reach out to schools and colleges across the country as the university's move according to them could be a precursor for a larger restructuring of the entire education system, said a PhD scholar of DU Maya John.

"The HRD Ministry is shirking its responsibility not realising the harm it will do to the future of 54,000 students who will enroll themselves. The DU administration in turn has been functioning arbitrarily by getting the courses sanctioned without proper debate," faculty from DU's Germanic and Romance Studies Vijaya Venkatraman remarked.

New Delhi, May 7
Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) today recorded clean sweep in the bye-elections of two seats of the East and North Municipal Corporations.

Renu of the BJP defeated Congress leader Ramesh Devi by 4,758 votes in Nangloi East ward of the North Delhi Municipal Corporation. Renu got 15,887 votes while Ramesh bagged 11,129 votes.

In east Delhi's Yamuna Vihar, BJP leader Asha Tayal won the battle by 4317 votes defeating Congress's Sushila Aggarwal who had got 8806 votes in comparison to 13,123 bagged by Asha.

Congratulating the leaders, Leader of the Opposition in Delhi Assembly, Prof. Vijay Kumar Malhotra, said that the Congress has lost people's trust.

He said that the Nangloi seat was won by the Congress just one year before but this time the BJP has won the seat with thumping majority of around 4,800 votes.

"The people of Delhi have expressed their anger and anguish against the state and Central governments for increased water and electricity bills, unprecedented and rampant corruption cases, complete breach of trust of people and atrocities being meted out against general public and poor," he added.

Prof. Malhotra said that the Delhi government cannot cover up its corruption and inefficiency by spending crores of rupees on advertisements, hoardings and costly newspaper advertisements propagating its false achievements.

New Delhi, May 7
To prevent the "nuisance" created by inebriated passengers, the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) will introduce alcometers, a device used to determine the alcohol level in a person's blood, at Metro stations that are located near pubs and liquor stores.

The alcometer will be used against suspected inebriated passengers and to prevent them from entering the Metro stations. The device, which is also known as a breathalyser is used for estimating the blood alcohol content from a breath sample. "The main purpose of using these devices is for the safety of women. Inebriated passengers have been involved in cases of eve-teasing inside the Metros. There are chances of them accidentally falling on the tracks before an oncoming train. We also speculated about the possibility of passengers committing suicide after getting drunk," said a CISF officer.

The CISF will use the alcometers at the 134 Metro stations in Delhi. "We have asked the Delhi Traffic Police to train us in using them," said the officer.

The alcometers will initially be used at the Metro stations which are located near pubs, malls, discotheques and liquor stores. Some of these stations are at MG Road, IFFCO Chowk, Rajouri Garden, Naraina, Jahangirpuri and Shahdara.

"Although it is easy to notice a drunk commuter, but one of the reasons of using the devices against them is for gaining proof. Most of them start arguing with the CISF security staff, asserting that they are not drunk.

“Once we start using the alcometers, we can show them the proof of a high alcohol level in their blood and then push them out of the Metro station. This will help us in focusing our attention on other duties such as frisking passengers, rather than trying to stop inebriated persons from becoming a nuisance," said the officer.

The idea of using alcometers was discussed following a meeting between the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation and the Delhi Police two months ago, on prohibiting passengers from bringing liquor inside the Metro stations.

"Alcohol was prohibited inside the stations, keeping in view of the security scenario. There are chances of people starting a fire inside the Metros by using the alcohol. The liquor bottles can be broken and converted into a sharp weapon," said CISF sources.