New Delhi, June 23
Director General of the CRPF Pranay Sahay has announced that officers and men of the CRPF will donate their one-day salary to the Prime Minister's Relief Fund for Uttarakhand flood victims. The amount will be over Rs 18 crore, a statement said.

The CRPF deeply commiserated with the victims . There has been a large-scale destruction of property and loss of lives in this disaster. "The victims are our own brethren," said the statement. — TNS

New Delhi, June 23
Keeping in view the assembly election in Delhi, the BJP has for the first time played a minority card by unveiling an agenda for the development of Muslims in the city at a convention, "Muslims for Development", organized by the party's Minority Morcha at Talkatora Stadium today.

Addressing the convention, party president of Delhi unit Vijay Goel said, "The Congress governments have duped Muslims in the past by running campaigns against the BJP and raising the bogey of secularism while keeping the Muslims backward. The BJP believes that Muslims must have an equal share in the development process and it can only be done by addressing the real issues concerning the Muslim population in the city." "Our slogan is 'Daraar nahin, Pyar" (no rift, only love)," said Goel.

The party agenda for the Muslims include upgrading education facilities for them, greater employment opportunities through skill development, training and credit facilities, adequate share in housing schemes meant for economically weaker section, overhauling of infrastructure in areas with minority concentration and professional management of the Wakf Board, Delhi Haj Committee, Urdu Academy and the Minority Development Financial Corporation, he added.

"Urdu needs to be introduced as an optional subject in the Delhi Government and NDMC schools. All vacant posts of Urdu teachers must be filled up," he added.

New Delhi, June 23
A 22-year-old married woman allegedly committed suicide by hanging herself from a ceiling fan at her home in the Mehrauli area last night. The police have identified the deceased as Anshu. She lived with her husband Akash, who works as a conductor with the Delhi Transport Corporation.

Last night, when Akash returned home, he found the door bolted from the inside. When his wife did not open the door even after the repeated knocks, he peeped inside through a window and found her hanging from the ceiling fan.

He immediately informed the police. They broke the door open and rushed Anshu to a nearby government hospital, where she was declared dead. Her body has been kept in the hospital mortuary.

Anshu's family suspects foul play and has reportedly blamed Akash for instigating her to commit suicide. He was allegedly demanding dowry.

The police are questioning Akash to ascertain the motive of his wife's suicide. Investigators have not found a suicide note.

New Delhi, June 23
With the city becoming increasingly inhospitable towards its environment in the run-up to infrastructural development, nature enthusiasts have raised concerns on the receding green cover around their neighborhoods.

The number of trees in the residential areas of the city has been reducing owing to massive expansion of roads, flyovers, shopping malls, etc. In the past five years, lakhs of trees in the residential areas have been sacrificed to pave the way for several projects be it the laying down of the Delhi Metro lines or building stadiums for the Commonwealth Games.

East Delhi alone has shown a decline of 0.29 sq km of green cover because of felling of trees, as per the India State of Forest Report 2009. People who have been in constant connect with nature in and around their localities have complained of poor maintenance of the existing green cover.

"The planting of trees in New Delhi district or Lutyens Zone was carried out somewhere between 1912 and 1930. Many of them fell down every year due to both natural and unnatural causes and we see no re-plantation being done there. On Lodhi Road also, old trees seem to be approaching their end," said Kavita Prakash, a nature admirer who studies the environmental aspects of a particular colony by examining the trees in that area, their age and upkeep.

"We already had lots of trees around us and their maintenance was the only thing required. Most of the trees alongside the major roads in south Delhi have been covered with concrete in order to make footpaths. They are dying a slow death as a result," said Kavita.

The Delhi Government's Wildlife Department maintained that a ratio of 1:10 is followed under the Forest Act, which makes it mandatory to plant 10 trees in place of every single tree cut down.

"Every tree in the city is accounted for and we plant no fewer than 10 trees for every single tree cut down. In this year's plantation drive, the department will plant 15 lakh saplings," said Chief Conservator of Forest A.K. Shukla.

However, the government's attempt to maintain the ecological balance by planting trees on the outskirts of the city has not convinced people who say that it would fail to serve the purpose.

"Trees are most needed in the residential areas. They make sure that the air around you is fresh and also help maintain the water table. What is the point of planting trees on the outskirts of the city?," asked Kavita.

The Capital has a forest cover of 11.91 per cent of the total 1483.01sq km geographical area. It comprises 6.76 sq kms of very dense forest, 49.84 sq kms of moderately dense forest and 119.98 sq kms of open forest. New Delhi district has the highest forest cover--46.60 per cent of the geographical area, followed by south Delhi (31.46 per cent) and southwest Delhi (10.08 per cent).