Experts to brainstorm steps for better transport
New Delhi, July 30
In order to deal with increasing traffic, road accidents and vehicular congestion, the Delhi Government has decided to prepare a blueprint to bring about necessary improvement in the public transport system of the city.

BJP slams DJB for water surcharge
New Delhi, July 30
Ignoring the provisions of the Delhi Cooperative Societies Act, 2003, the Delhi Jal Board imposed surcharge along with water bills on the residents of the group housing societies though Section 51 of the Act grants exemption from certain taxes, fees and duties to the residents living in the societies, said a spokesperson for the BJP. According to the BJP, levying of surcharge, along with water bill, will affect lakhs of families living in group housing societies.

Drive to promote wearing of helmet among women
New Delhi, July 30
When a road accident continues to be one of the largest causes of deaths in India, here is a short films campaign promoting wearing of helmets among female two-wheeler commuters in the national Capital.

Members of the Delhi Goods Transport Association shout slogans during a protest against the Sale Tax Department at ITO in New Delhi on Tuesday. Tribune photo: Manas Ranjan Bhui

Metros on Airport line to run for longer hours
New Delhi, July 30
Tuning itself in accordance with the feedback received from the commuters of the Airport Express Line, the trains on this route will now operate for longer hours with better frequency from August 1, said an official of the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC).

CBSE students to take health lessons now
New Delhi, July 30
From this academic year, students of the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) are going to take lessons on healthy lifestyles and grooming of body. In this regard, the CBSE has collaborated with VLCC under the government's National Vocational Education Qualification Framework (NVEQF) programme in order to provide health education to CBSE-affiliated schools.

Many DU colleges still offer seats
New Delhi, July 30
Finding it difficult to fill up the seats in several courses, Delhi University today has reopened admission for many courses, which were earlier closed in the ninth cut-off list. The varsity administration has issued deadlines to colleges to fill up their seats by July 31.

Experts to brainstorm steps for better transport
Government plans blueprint to bring about necessary improvement
Himani Chandel
Tribune News Service

New Delhi, July 30
In order to deal with increasing traffic, road accidents and vehicular congestion, the Delhi Government has decided to prepare a blueprint to bring about necessary improvement in the public transport system of the city.

Experts from varied fields, including Delhi Integrated Multi-Modal Transit System (DIMTS), Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC), Indian Institute of Technology, Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB), Centre for Science and Environment (CSE), Unified Traffic and Transportation Infrastructure (Plg. & Engg.) Centre (UTTIPEC), RITES, etc. have been invited to give their opinions on the matter.

A seminar dedicated to the safe and easy transport system will be organized by the government where these experts will help prepare the proposal. The experts will give their opinions on making public transport popular, safe and efficient.

Even as the construction of lines under the third phase of Delhi Metro is being done on fast-track basis, the Delhi Government has realized the need of making transport system friendlier and easier for daily commuters. The decision on blueprint was taken in a recent meeting called by the Delhi Transport Minister.

The seminar will focus on the connectivity of the National Capital Region to minimize road accidents and vehicular pollution. Comprising five sessions, the first session of the seminar will discuss the improving of connectivity of different modes of transport and regions, in which DMRC director (Operation) Sharat Sharma and the chairman of NCR Planning Board, Naini Jayaseelan will give lectures.

The second session will be on integrated planning for transport in Delhi. The focus of the next session will be on reduction in road fatalities and injuries.

Anumita Roy Chaudhary, Director CSE and Member Secretary, CPCB, will speak on curbing air pollution in Delhi in the subsequent session.

BJP slams DJB for water surcharge
Tribune News Service

New Delhi, July 30
Ignoring the provisions of the Delhi Cooperative Societies Act, 2003, the Delhi Jal Board imposed surcharge along with water bills on the residents of the group housing societies though Section 51 of the Act grants exemption from certain taxes, fees and duties to the residents living in the societies, said a spokesperson for the BJP.

According to the BJP, levying of surcharge, along with water bill, will affect lakhs of families living in group housing societies.

The BJP said that inflated bills ranging from Rs 3 lakh to Rs 15 lakh as surcharge levied retrospectively from 2004 have been sent to housing societies all over Delhi.

This hefty surcharge is levied in addition to regular water bill. These bills have been raised without any basis.

The Delhi Government has notified the last date of making the payment of surcharge as July 31.

The Confederation of Group Housing Societies of east Delhi said that the surcharge is unjust and unfair. Uptil now, the societies were paying water charges on the basis of bulk meter. The DJB now wants ordinary members to pay surcharge on the basis of per dwelling unit, although they have no individual water meter connection. The group housing societies are arranging water supply to individual flats and maintain all necessary infrastructure themselves by raising money from its members.

Now the members are sought to be charged by the DJB also on account of fixed charges or surcharge although they provide no such services. This is in addition to the regular water bills being paid by entire housing society, according to the Confederation of Group Housing Societies.

Drive to promote wearing of helmet among women
Tribune News Service

New Delhi, July 30
When a road accident continues to be one of the largest causes of deaths in India, here is a short films campaign promoting wearing of helmets among female two-wheeler commuters in the national Capital.

Under the awareness drive which targets school and college-going girls and is said to cover as many as 45 colleges in Delhi and NCR, students themselves have an opportunity to participate in short films with messages encouraging safe riding which would later be screened in all such colleges.

The campaign, basically a Corporate Social Responsibility initiative of Steelbird Helmets, in its first phase is targeting girls' colleges such as Delhi University's Kamla Nehru College, Maitreyi College, Bharti College and Gargi College on South campus where the first such audition took place today.

According to the company's spokesperson, the campaign would also be an opportunity for young college girls to showcase their acting prowess through short films for which the company has collaborated with a social filmmaker.

"We wish to create awareness about the necessity of wearing helmet and to start with we are focusing on girls. Students themselves would be the front face of the campaign. We will hold auditions on campuses and for this we have selected various themes and topics which are the need of the hour today to educate the common man on safe riding, wearing quality helmets and various other safety-related issues," he said. "Once the campaign is over, we will hold a short films festival where all these 45 shorts films will be screened to the public and the best one will be awarded," he added.

Metros on Airport line to run for longer hours
Tribune News Service

New Delhi, July 30
Tuning itself in accordance with the feedback received from the commuters of the Airport Express Line, the trains on this route will now operate for longer hours with better frequency from August 1, said an official of the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC).

The first train service from both the terminal stations, Dwarka Sector 21 and New Delhi, will start at 4.45 am instead of the present time of 5.30 am at New Delhi and 5.15 am at Dwarka Sector 21. The last train will, however, continue to depart from the New Delhi station at 11.30 pm and from Dwarka Sector 21 at 11.15 pm.

This change in schedule will tremendously help the passengers of the Shatabdi Express trains which depart from New Delhi railway station early in the morning and reach back late in the night.

"Now passengers of the Shatabdi Express coming from the airport or the nearby areas will be able to take the early morning services of the airport link and reach the New Delhi railway station," the official added.

Similarly, the passengers arriving by the train at New Delhi late in the night, with the intention of going to airport will be able to take the last airport link service from New Delhi. All Shatabdi Express trains reach New Delhi by latest 11.05 pm. However, the Airport Express services will wait for maximum15 more minutes up to 11.45 pm in case of any delay in these trains.

The frequency of the trains during peak hours will also be revised to 10 minutes and 30 seconds instead of the existing 15 minutes from the August 1. During off peak hours, it will remain 15 minutes as before. As a result, the daily train trips will increase to 180 from 146 at present, said the official.

The morning peak hours are from 7.30 am to 12 noon while the evening peak hours are from 3 pm to 7.30 pm. The peak hours have been decided keeping in view the timings of the arrival and departure of flights at Indira Gandhi International Airport (Terminal 3).

The operating speed of the trains on the Airport Express Line will also be increased to 80 km/ph from the existing 70 km/ph.

After taking over the operations of the line from July 1, the DMRC had sought the feedback of the commuters in order to further improve the quality of the services.

CBSE students to take health lessons now
Tribune News Service

New Delhi, July 30
From this academic year, students of the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) are going to take lessons on healthy lifestyles and grooming of body. In this regard, the CBSE has collaborated with VLCC under the government's National Vocational Education Qualification Framework (NVEQF) programme in order to provide health education to CBSE-affiliated schools.

Keeping in mind the importance of physical fitness, the special training meant for Class XI & XII students is to be provided in 4,500 schools all over the country. The course, launched by the Ministry of Human Resource Development, would encompass beauty, wellness and nutrition training for the students on various parameters.

It is being designed jointly by CBSE and VLCC.

"Instead of starting with mothers, we think we need to educate children first about the benefits of nutrition and health. Wanting to look, feel good and healthy should ideally begin early, with the schoolchildren," said the founder of VLCC, Vandana Luthra.

With increasing stress and lifestyle imbalances, creating resonance between a healthy body and mind is highly crucial.

"Young people today don't believe in only studying well, they also want to be smart as. To have a social presence along with academic presence is a must for every student.

“In such a scenario, it becomes essential for the Board to consider possibilities of fulfilling students' needs. It is in this light that we developed the Wellness training module," explained Vineet Joshi, chairman of CBSE.

Many DU colleges still offer seats
Tribune News Service

New Delhi, July 30
Finding it difficult to fill up the seats in several courses, Delhi University today has reopened admission for many courses, which were earlier closed in the ninth cut-off list. The varsity administration has issued deadlines to colleges to fill up their seats by July 31.

While for commerce, around 14 colleges have reopened admission due to withdrawal at some colleges, there were a few others which invited applications for popular courses such as economics and English. Among those who have reopened commerce, economics and English for admission in the tenth list are College of Vocational Studies, Zakir Husain College, Sri Aurobindo College, Sri Venkateswara College, Sri Guru Nanak Dev Khalsa College, Maharaja Agrasen College and Kalindi College. Commerce is also available both for general and OBC applicants at Acharya Narayaan Dev and Bharti Mahavidyalaya.

Even colleges like Shri Ram College of Commerce have reopened their admission process of commerce for OBC and differently abled candidates with the cut-off for OBC candidates being issued at 93.75-95.75, while that for differently abled students, it stood at 74.25-91.25.

Colleges like Hansraj, Hindu College, Rajdhani College and Zakhir Hussain are the ones which have vacant seats in science courses for the general category candidates.