New Delhi, April 17
A training programme that will educate the officers of the local police station in dealing with cyber crime, improving their skills to collect evidence in such cases and thereby ensuring quicker response time, will be started by the HDFC Bank.

The two-day training programme called "Secure Banking--Cyber Crime Training for Law Enforcement Officers" will commence at the Seemapuri Police Station in Delhi from tomorrow for 65 personnel of the North-East Delhi Police district. These officers rank from Sub-Inspectors to Additional Deputy Commissioners of Police.

According to Vishal Salvi, the Chief Information Security Officer of the HDFC Bank, the training programme will educate these officers on what should be the immediate response from them; the new trends emerging in cyber crimes; methods used by criminals; and the case studies on crimes such as phishing, cloning and email spam.

"We have to improve the ecosystem to address the cyber security problem and so it is imperative that the law enforcement agencies are aware of this problem. With the help of this programme, a police officer on the ground will know what a cyber crime is and will respond faster to it, because he will have knowledge of such cases. Speed is the essence," said Salvi at a press conference held here today.

Additional Commissioner of Police (North-East District), V V Chaudhary, who was also briefing the media, said presently the local police officers face a problem in collecting forensic evidence in cyber crime cases. "When a case becomes technical, such as finding an IP address, then it becomes difficult," he said.

On the other hand, he said that most of the cyber crime cases are sent to the Delhi Police's Economic Offences Wing. "But the EOW is a small wing. They are hard pressed, so those that are of less priority are left out," he explained.

Chaudhary was questioned on the procedure for dealing with cyber crimes that are committed outside India. He replied, "The only method of dealing with international crime is approaching the Interpol through the CBI. And if a crime happens, for instance in Dubai or Africa, we are helpless."

"That means conviction does not happen," asked a reporter. "That is why we have to start somewhere. This (training programme) is a start," he said.

Chaudhary said that the programme will help the police officers in collecting evidence in cyber crime cases and linking it to a person. One such example of collecting evidence is tracing an IP address through different technology.

He said that 65 Delhi Police officers were selected for the programme after taking note of their aptitude for it. "This will help in empowerment at the local police station, where a complainant comes," he said.

According to Salve, the programme has been created by the HDFC Bank and the training will be imparted by the Mahindra Special Services Group (MSSG). He said that other Delhi Police districts and departments will be covered under the programme.

"We will use this experience to launch nationally. We may train the police of Bangalore, Mumbai and Hyderabad. We will have four to six such programmes this year and based on our success, we will take it forward," he said.

When asked if two days were enough for police officers to become aware of a complex issue such as cyber crime, Salvi replied, "Two days is good enough to cover the basic concepts." 

New Delhi, April 17
The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) has sought action against the guilty officials of Tihar Jail for death of two undertrial prisoners in judicial custody. It also asked for monetary relief of Rs 1 lakh to the next of kin of each deceased-Prakash and Devi Ram.

According to NHRC statement, Prakash died on April 9, 2010 and Devi Ram died on December 11, 2010.

The NHRC has asked the Chief Secretary of the Delhi government to send a compliance report within six weeks along with proof of payment and report on the action taken against the officers found guilty of human rights violation of the victims in the jail.

During the course of enquiry and the material provided on record by the authorities concerned, the Commission found that Prakash died while undergoing treatment in Rajan Babu T.B. Hospital. He had been lodged in Central Jail No. 3, Tihar since November 25, 2009. The magisterial enquiry report held that he expired due to disease. However, there was negligence on the part of the doctors of Tihar Jail in providing timely treatment. The Board of Doctors opined that pulmonary tuberculosis is a curable disease.

The Commission has asked the Chief Secretary, Government of NCT of Delhi to initiate disciplinary action against the doctors found negligent in their duty.

In the case of Devi Ram, the Commission found that there was unnecessary delay on the part of the jail authorities in sending him to Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Hospital where he was declared brought dead. The undertrial prisoner was having breathing problems and the magisterial enquiry report had mentioned that delay of 50 minutes in carrying him to hospital proved fatal and there was no explanation provided for this unnecessary delay.

The medical officer also observed that his life could have been saved if he had reached hospital in time. It was also revealed that the jail authorities and Delhi Armed Police could not coordinate well in transporting the patient in a private vehicle in the absence of a government vehicle.

The Commission has observed that whether it was the carelessness of the jail authorities or Delhi Armed Police authorities, Devi Ram lost his life due to delay in sending him to the hospital.

The city government is liable for the negligence of its employees and therefore it has to pay relief to the next of kin of the deceased.

New Delhi, April 17
The Supreme Court yesterday said Delhi Lt. Governor Najeeb Jung was not fettered by any time limit to revisit the presidential proclamation placing the Delhi Assembly under suspended animation and make a fresh recommendation revoking it.

A bench of Justice R.M. Lodha and Justice Kurian Joseph said this as it recorded a clarification by Additional Solicitor General K.V. Vishwanathan that neither the Governor nor the Lt.Governor were constrained by any time limit under Article 356 of the Constitution or Section 50 (1) of the Government of National Capital Territory of Delhi Act, 1991, to reconsider the presidential proclamation for making fresh recommendations on the fate of the state assembly.

While under Article 356 the duration of the President's rule in the states is six months, the same under Section 50(1) of the Delhi Act is one year.

While recording the clarification by Vishwanathan which was supported by almost all the counsel, including one representing the Bharatiya Janata Party, the court said that it "shall not be construed as direction to any authority or anyone" thereby implying that it was not a direction to Jung.

However, the position was resisted by senior counsel K. Parasaran, appearing for the Congress, who said that there should be a minimum cooling period of two months before presidential proclamation is revisited or its validity challenged before the court.

Questioning the relevance of a cooling period, Justice Lodha wondered if it was to facilitate the "Aya Ram-Gaya Ram" (defection and horse-trading) brand of politics.

"...should not Aya Ram Gaya Ram be eliminated. Nothing should be done Aya Ram becomes Gaya Ram and Gaya Ram to become Aya Ram," he said.

Parasaran, however, argued that if a cooling period was not insisted upon then such a situation may arise every two-three months.

While making the clarification on the powers of the Lt.Governor to make fresh recommendations, the court declined to ask Jung to call the BJP and know its stand as sought by Prashant Bhushan who appeared for the Aam Aadmi Party.

The entire issue is rooted in the BJP's affidavit which said that after then Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal submitted resignation of his government in February, the Lt.Governor never called them to inquire if they wanted to explore the option of forming an alternate government.

The BJP said that had they been called, then they would have spelt their position.

On the other hand, the Congress said that it had no intention of staking any claim to form the government.

Both the BJP and the Congress stated their position after the apex court asked them whether they are inclined to stake claim to form government after the exit of Kejriwal.

The court is hearing the AAP's plea challenging the decision to place the Delhi Assembly under suspended animation and not to dissolve it as recommended by the Kejriwal government. — IANS

New Delhi, April 17
Congress party women councillors of East Delhi today held a demonstration outside the residence of BJP leader Subramanian Swamy for allegedly making derogatory statements against Priyanka Gandhi.

The demonstration was led by the opposition leader in East Delhi Municipal Corporation, Varyam Kaur. Among the demonstrators was a five-year-old girl, who broke her kitty-bank savings to donate Rs 500 for the treatment of Dr Swamy's "mental imbalance".

Shouting slogans against Dr Swamy, the agitating women councillors warned him against making derogatory statements against the Congress leadership. They also hung bangles outside the doors of his house.

The women workers shouted slogans such as "Dr Swamy hosh me aao, apna demagi elaj karao, elaj karao; apni juban par lagam lagao, lagam lagao, etc".

Addressing the demonstrators, Varyam Kaur said if Dr Swamy did not stop using indecent language, he would be taught a lesson. Kaur made it clear that though today's demonstration was a peaceful affair, if Dr Swamy did not apologize for his derogatory statements, women would not allow him to come out of his house.

New Delhi, April 17
Delhi BJP demanded continuance of battery-operated rickshaws and appealed to the Lieutenant Governor of Delhi, Najeeb Jung that he should present the case of Delhi government before the High Court for continuance of service of lakhs of rickshaws so that the attempt of some vested interest might be foiled.

In a letter written to the LG, Delhi BJP president Dr Harsh Vardhan said that the service of battery-operated rickshaws started about two years ago.

At present, there are one lakh battery-operated rickshaws on the roads.

Some vested interest and corrupt persons in the administration do not want this service to continue.

For this purpose, they have moved the High Court to ban the operation of such rickshaws.

They have hatched a conspiracy to deprive livelihood of lakhs of families by presenting fabricated facts before the court, he said.

Battery rickshaw has the capacity to seat four persons. Many battery rickshaws also carry goods in Delhi.

The greatest advantage is that it does not add to pollution which is a boon to the polluted city like Delhi.

In Delhi, Metro rail, local rail, DTC buses, Metro feeder buses, RTVs and autorickshaws are the means of public transport. After the introduction of battery rickshaws, the public transport system has become more convenient, the letter said.

The arguments against the service of battery rickshaws are that these are being run without registration and without paying the VAT.

According to the outdated laws of Transport Department, only those vehicles are registered which are of more than 250 watts battery.

Even the Delhi traffic police want that the operation of battery rickshaws should be stopped.

Vardhan has requested the Lt. Governor that he should look into this matter from a humanitarian point of view and its potential to create employment in Delhi.

The laws are framed for the convenience and welfare of the people.

Any law which deprives any person of his livelihood should be amended in view of the ground reality, said the Delhi BJP president.

New Delhi, April 17
It was a pleasant Thursday in the national Capital as the maximum temperature was recorded five notches below the season's average at 31.6 degree Celsius. Light rain is expected on Friday, the Met office said.

"The sky will be partly cloudy on Friday with the possibility of one or two spells of light rain or thunderstorms in some areas," said an official of the India Meteorological Department.

The maximum and minimum temperatures are likely to hover around 30 and 20 degree Celsius, respectively.

Thursday's minimum temperature settled at 20.2 degrees Celsius, a notch below the season's average.

Wednesday's minimum temperature was 19.8 degrees Celsius, while the maximum stood at 34.2 degrees Celsius. — IANS

New Delhi, April 17
Three armed men allegedly stabbed a chartered accountant's driver and stole his car at south Delhi's Vasant Kunj area on Thursday night.

The chartered accountant identified as Alok Kumar, who is based in Gurgaon, had left for Delhi in his Hyundai Verna car. The car was being driven by his driver, Vishnu. While the car was crossing Nelson Mandela Marg, Kumar saw a hotel and instructed Vishnu to park the car by the side of the road. Kumar went to the hotel to eat dinner, while Vishnu waited for him in the car.

Ten minutes later, Vishnu heard a knock on the car and rolled down the window. "Three men were standing outside the car. One of them trained a gun on Vishnu's head and ordered him to get out of the car. Vishnu tried to roll up the window and start the car, but the men overpowered him," said a police officer.

The three men allegedly dragged Vishnu out of the car, stabbed him with a knife and left him by the side of the road. They left with the car.

A passerby saw Vishnu lying injured on the ground and called the police. Kumar also heard the commotion while returning to the place where his car was parked. He saw Vishnu lying on the ground and the car missing.

Vishnu was rushed to the AIIMS Trauma Centre, where his condition is stable. The police are waiting for him to recover so that they can get the details on the appearance of the assailants. A case under relevant sections of the IPC has been registered at the Vasant Kunj North police station.

The police are checking vehicles at spot, but the stolen car was not found. CCTV camera footage of the nearby areas and of the roads leading to Gurgaon is being checked for clues.