New Delhi, November 29
Assuring a commission for the welfare of migrants living in over 860 slums in Delhi, national president of the BJP Rajnath Singh and chief ministerial candidate Harsh Vardhan today said that Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit has time and again insulted the migrants from Poorvanchal and Uttarakhand by describing them as burden on the city.

"All election promises will be fulfilled in the city in a time-bound manner," he said, added that the BJP's word and deed will never differ.

Stating the report of UNESCO on social inclusion of migrants, Rajnath said, "One third of the population living in the cities have migrated from villages and towns. Migration always occurs due to the wrong policies of the government at the Centre and states. The BJP treats the migrants a big asset."

"They live in inhuman conditions in big cities and contribute about 10 per cent to the GDP. The BJP is of the view that the migrants do not deprive the permanent citizens of their jobs but they perform risky and lower level jobs for the development of the cities," said Rajnath.

Singh also tried to woo villagers and residents of unauthorised colonies by promising that the new BJP government in the city will work hard for their welfare. He also talked of giving compensation to slum dwellers before their rehabilitation.

"All the villages of Delhi shall be changed into modern villages. They shall be provided with all the facilities which are available to the residents of planned urban colonies," he added.

He promised to push for the amendment of the Delhi Land Reforms Act 1954, to make it more farmer-friendly. He said a commission for migrants will be formed in Delhi soon after the BJP government is formed.

"The commission will make recommendations to the government on issues related to humane treatment, housing and employment of people living in unauthorized colonies, slums, rehabilitation colonies, villages, and those living in the open sky. Harsh Vardhan has decided to start the Atal Bihari Vajpayee Punarvas Yojna for the welfare of these people," said Rajnath Singh.

New Delhi, November 29
Mounting pressure on the government and political parties, the National Association of Street Vendors of India (NASVI) today sent petitions to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi, Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation Minister Girija Vyas and the heads of 11 political parties, urging them to ensure that the Street Vendors Bill is passed by the Rajya Sabha in the upcoming winter session of Parliament.

The Bill was passed by the Lok Sabha in the last session, but it could not be passed in the Upper House.

In the petitions, sent to the Congress, BJP, JD (U), Samajwadi Party, Bahujan Samaj Party, CPI (M), CPI, RJD, TMC, AIADMK, DMK and TDP, NASVI national coordinator Arbind Singh has said, "We have time and again stated that an inclusive central legislation in favour of street vendors is the critical socio-political need of the urban India. The cities are changing and several opportunities are coming up, but the working poor like street vendors are being deprived of these opportunities. Millions of street vendors face barriers and onslaughts of the municipal bodies and the police across the cities and towns of the country. We strongly believe that a comprehensive central legislation would put brakes on such barriers."

The petition adds, "The integration of street vendors in the city planning and development processes would change the face of the cities."

NASVI is a network and advocacy platform of more than 740 street vendor organisations, community-based groups and NGOs across 23 states in the country.

New Delhi, November 29
AAP candidate from Rajender Nagar Assembly seat today filed a police complaint against a retired police official for offering him Rs 5 lakh under the pretext of donation to his party fund.

The candidate Vijendra Garg filed a complaint with Inderpuri police station alleging that Devendra Kumar, who retired as ACP in Delhi Police "offered a brown envelope" to him by repeatedly saying "loudly" that it contained Rs 5 lakhs which he should accept as party fund.

"He had been calling me for the last three four days on my mobile number. Today he again called me from his mobile and insisted on meeting me briefly. As I was heading towards Naraina for some election-related work, he insisted on catching up with me on my way. I meet all known and unknown people and hence agreed and met him on my way towards Naraina near the Naraina Loha Mandi Red light at around 12:15 pm today," Garg said in his complaint.

During the meeting, he started to act suspiciously and surprising he started forcibly offering a brown envelop to me telling repeatedly and loudly that it contains Rs 5 lakh which I should accept as a party fund, he added.

"Obviously, I refused his offer and left the spot but the said incidence has left me with high suspicion that aforesaid act of Devendra Kumar, was a deliberate act arising out of mala fide to malign and tarnish my image. He also might be carrying a spy camera to doctor a sting which can hamper my chances of victory into the upcoming elections," Kumar said

However Devendra said, "I have known him since I was SHO Naraina and a couple of days ago, he approached me and said I should use my influence and arrange meetings with some people in the area. On his request, I met him today for the same but I don't know why he is using such tactics to project a clean and honest image. It remains a question why he complained after two hours."

New Delhi, November 29
Experts have recommended setting up a digital library platform that countries can adopt globally while discussing the challenges and opportunities in having digital libraries at the three-day International Conference of Digital Libraries which concluded here today.

In his special address, V Srinivas, Joint Secretary, Ministry of Culture, said, "ICDL 2013 is a huge success as it has pioneering recommendations with regard to taking the digital library movement forward."

The conference organised by The Energy and Resources Institute proposed that developing countries should undertake a survey of digital libraries to assess the status of development in all areas of digital library technologies such as information infrastructure, technology applications, library research, etc.

In India, such a survey may be undertaken in collaboration with the Ministry of Culture, National Mission on Libraries, and Department of Information Technology.

The Chief Executive Officer of Prasar Bharti, Jawhar Sircar, said, "Having such a variety of experts can yield results only if post-conference, relevant recommendations are sent to those who need to work on them."

Experts also suggested that the current act in place in a country be suitably amended, or if necessary, a new legislation for legal deposit of digital publications is brought in for guaranteeing permanent free access to the national digital collection of the country.

New Delhi, November 29
Students who have taken the Students Global Aptitude Index (SGAI) of the Central Board of Secondary Education will start receiving assessment reports of November SGAI 2013 from the fourth week of December 2013 through their schools.

This will be much ahead of their entry in Class XI. The SGAI is an optional activity and interpretation is not mandatory, however, it is expected to give enough insight to a school, student and parents to make informed choices in conjunction with assessment from other sources.

Based on the individual responses, the assessment report indicates a student's aptitude, interest and motivation which, if considered, may facilitate subject choices in Class XI. The SGAI aims at initiating a dialogue on effective career planning and academic choices among various stakeholders, besides empowering students who are often directed by parents' expectations, peer pressure, social prestige and many other external factors.

Developed as a paper-pencil test by a team of field experts, the SGAI is customised to suit the Indian context. 

New Delhi, November 29
A woman contingent will march with Beretta and X-95 assault rifles on the 48th BSF Day that will be held in Delhi on December 1.

The contingent will consist of a woman officer, Dr Shafina Sawhney, two staff officers and 42 women constables. "While marching, the constables will carry the Beretta Rifle and the contingent commanders will carry the X-95 rifles. They will be dressed in combat dress," said a BSF officer.

Woman contingents of the BSF have earlier marched on the force's Raising Day. But this will be the first time that they will march with assault rifles, explained the officer.

New Delhi, November 29
Schoolchildren of urban India look to be heading towards an unhealthy lifestyle as a recent survey shows that the generation next displays an alarming lack of fitness even as general awareness on fitness indicates an upward trend.

The survey which covered 77,669 children in 176 schools across the country reveals that two in five children do not have the right Body Mass Index (BMI) levels, a measure of body fat based on height and weight.

For the fourth edition of the "Edusports Annual School Health and Fitness Survey", the fitness parameters that were measured over a period of 24 months included anaerobic capacity, flexibility, lower and upper body strength, abdominal strength and BMI.

Also, girls have outdone boys in terms of BMI scores with a comparative analysis showing 66 per cent of girls having healthy BMI scores as compared to 59 per cent of boys. The primary causes for higher BMI are sedentary lifestyles, unhealthy eating habits and little or no play. High BMI is a direct indicator of the onset of obesity, which can lead to several health problems, including type2 diabetes, heart ailments and high blood pressure.

However, girls have scored lower than boys in other fitness parameters (anaerobic capacity, flexibility, upper body strength and abdominal strength), which is indicative that they are still short on overall fitness.

The survey revealed that is a heightened reduction in physical activity (for example, children take the bike to the local shop instead of walking), shift in food consumption patterns towards processed, fast foods which prove to be unhealthy in the long term, leading to critical health issues like childhood obesity and poor health.

Another worrying trend is the emergence of virtual gaming which is eating away valuable playtime as children spend less time outdoors and indulge in little or no physical activities/play, the survey says.

The survey points out that though awareness, especially among the young corporate segment, is seeing an upward trend, it does not translate into better fitness levels of children.

Unhealthy urban lifestyles are taking a toll on children's physical performance and health across all ages. In view of this, the survey underscores the need to have a structured sports or physical education programme to improve fitness parameters while observing that schools providing more playtime produce fitter children.

According to the latest survey, geographically children in all the five regions of the country were deemed equally unfit with unhealthy BMI scores of 37 per cent (central), 39 per cent (east and north), 37 per cent (south) and 38 per cent (west). Non-metros score higher than metros in terms of BMI levels and fitness.

Children in non-metros (44,560 children in 84 schools) performed marginally better than their counterparts in six metro cities (33,109 children in 92 schools) in four of the six fitness parameters. Additionally, children in non-metros demonstrated better flexibility and a higher overall BMI score.

New Delhi, November 29
Three persons, allegedly being members of an international drug syndicate, were arrested for supplying heroin in Delhi. The police claimed to have recovered six kgs of heroin worth Rs 25 crore from them.

The accused have been identified as Vinod Kumar (37), Ummar Farook Badaje (22) and Moosa Koya (28). The police were tipped off that Kumar had allegedly collected a bag containing heroin from his contact in Srinagar. He was to deliver it in Delhi.

Kumar was staying at a hotel in Old Delhi, according to the police. He had allegedly booked a bus to Rajasthan.

A police team laid a trap for him near Mori Gate in Old Delhi, where he had arrived to board the bus.

"We missed catching him at Mori Gate. The bus had left for Udaipur. We followed the bus and intercepted it near the RTR flyover. Kumar was arrested and the bag containing heroin was recovered from him," said DCP (Special Cell) Sanjeev Kumar Yadav. 

New Delhi, November 29
Five people, including two women, were arrested on Thursday for allegedly kidnapping a seven-year-old boy and demanding a ransom of Rs 7 lakh from his family.

According to the police, the mastermind of the kidnapping, Ravinder Kumar, alias Ravi Gujjar is allegedly a maternal uncle of the boy.

Investigators said that Gujjar with his friends, Sandeep and Anil, and two women, Anjali and Babita, made the plan for kidnapping.

"Ravinder needed money to overcome his financial crisis. He with Anil and Sandeep hatched a conspiracy to kidnap the boy.

“They told the police that the victim's family was capable of paying Rs 5 lakh and he being the relative of the boy, it was easy for him to kidnap," said Additional Commissioner of Police (Crime) Ravindra Yadav.

The accused had allegedly planned to kill the boy and arranged a bag to dispose of the body.

On November 24, the boy was playing at a park near his house when Ravinder allegedly approached him and took him on the promise of giving him sweets. They held the boy hostage in the Badarpur area, according to Yadav.

Two days after the boy went missing, the kidnappers called his parents and demanded a ransom of Rs 14 lakh. The ransom amount was brought down to Rs 4 lakh.

The Delhi Police Crime Branch investigation revealed that Ravinder, the boy's maternal uncle could be behind his kidnapping.

"We were monitoring the movement of Ravinder and his associates and we learnt that the kidnapped boy was kept in Badarpur," said Yadav.

The police raided the address in Badarpur and rescued the boy. Babita and Anjali were arrested from the house.

Sandeep, Ravinder and Anil were later arrested from the Badarpur border.