New Delhi, May 10
A group of students from Delhi University and Jawaharlal Nehru University today staged a protest here over the arrest of DU professor G N Saibaba by Maharashtra Police for his alleged links with Maoists.

Demanding immediate release of the professor, around 50 to 60 students staged a demonstration outside Maharashtra Sadan on K G Marg, a senior police official said.

The Delhi University professor was arrested yesterday morning on charges of allegedly being a member of a banned organisation (CPI-Maoist), providing logistics and helping in recruitment for the group, Deputy Inspector General (DIG) of Gadchiroli, Ravindra Kadam had said.

The demonstrators also handed over a memorandum to the Resident Commissioner of Maharashtra Sadan, which was addressed to the Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan.

In the memorandum, the student said that the arrest is an attempt to "frame him up" and condemned the "illegal" detention.

The name of Saibaba cropped after the arrest of Jawaharlal Nehru University student Hemant Mishra who had claimed before the probe agencies that he was acting as a courier between the professor and Maoists holed up in Abujmad forests in Chhattisgarh, official sources said. — PTI

New Delhi, May 10
The BJP has demanded a transparent fee policy in private schools in view of the report submitted by Justice Anil Dev Singh Committee. The party has also urged the Lieutenant Governor to issue orders to the schools on refunding the increased fees recovered from the parents.

Delhi unit president of the BJP, Dr Harsh Vardhan said that the LG should ensure that the private schools do not exploit parents in the name of fees, development charges, donation and other such items.

Vardhan said that in the name of implementing the 6th Pay Commission report, the private schools had increased fees by 150 per cent and the names of children whose parents refused to pay such high fees were struck off. The Parents Federation had filed a petition in the High Court, challenging the hike in fees. During the hearing of petition, the High Court had formed Justice Anil Dev Singh Committee in August 2011 to examine the legality behind this hike.

Submitting its report to the bench of Justice G. Rohini and Justice Rajiv Sahai today, the committee headed by Justice Anil Dev Singh has revealed that by implementing the Pay Commission report in 2009, the private schools have recovered increased fees in an arbitrary manner. Many schools have also taken donation as part of fees. The committee has found that this was unjustified and the management should refund the hiked fees with interest.

There are 1,172 private schools in Delhi, out of which the committee has examined 755 schools. It was found that 320 schools are guilty of recovering excess fees. Fifty-four schools recovered increased fees, but they did not give the benefit to the teachers. It was also found that 26 schools did not require hike in fees.

Thirty-nine schools submitted dubious documents to increase the fees for which a criminal case should be filed, according to the committee. 

New Delhi, May 10
Forty per cent students of Class IX at Guru Harkrishan Public School, Nanak Piao, managed by the Delhi Sikh Gurdwara Management Committee, failed this year causing tension in the parents.

On the condition of anonymity, a parent said that low standard of education in the school was the cause of poor result and a large number of students in Class IX could not go through.

There are 220 students in Class IX. Of them, 40 per cent could not pass the annual examination.

Principal of the school R.S. Ghuman held the education system responsible for the poor result. He said under the new system the entire session has been divided in to six parts - FA1, FA2, FA3, FA4, SA1 and SA2. The half yearly examination is known as SA1 and the final examination is known as SA2. Under the new system of the CBSE, the students have to secure at least 25 per cent marks in SA1 and SA2. If they do not get, they cannot be promoted to Class X.

He said at Nanak Piao School, 40 per cent students could not secure 25 per cent marks in SA1 and SA2. This is not only in Nanak Piao. The almost same result can be seen in other school also. Having seen this, the CBSE has asked the school administration to conduct the exam again in July of the students who could not go through. If they do well in re-examination, they will be promoted to Class X.

A spokesperson of the DSGMC Parminder Singh said that according to the new education system, students from Class I to VIII are promoted without appearing in any examination. In Class IX, the question paper is prepared by the CBSE and proper marking is done. In such a situation a large number of students are unable to qualify the papers prepared by the CBSE.

He said that the authorities concerned should review the new education system. 

New Delhi, May 10
A fire broke out at a factory in Mayapuri, West Delhi, this morning.

No casualties or injuries have been caused by the fire, according to a Delhi Fire Service (DFS) official.

The fire broke out at a factory located at B-23 in Phase-I of Mayapuri. The DFS received a call at 8.20 in the morning.

"Twenty-nine fire-tenders were sent to the site of the incident. The fire was doused at about 2 pm, but the cooling operation continued," said a DFS official.

The cause of the fire is currently unknown.

A view of the fire at a plastic factory in Mayapuri, West Delhi on Saturday. Tribune photo

New Delhi, May 10
In order to spread awareness of a safe journey for the commuters, the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) has uploaded a series of short films on the Internet.

Seven such films have been made available on the home page of DMRC official website. The films, available both in English and Hindi, deal with various topics related to the convenience and safe journey of the commuters such as boarding, deboarding, commuter etiquette, security, etc. They have been made in a humorous way with attractive titles such as "Lallan Khilawan, Mr Sahi and Mr Galat and Kimti Lal", so that the viewers also get entertained while getting vital information.

Besides, there are films on other aspects such as DMRC's corporate culture, eco-friendly initiatives to conserve the environment, completion of its 10 years of Metro operations in 2012, etc.

"These films are easily downloadable in nature. They are also compatible for viewing on mobile phones and sharing on social media as well as networking platforms. The viewers are requested to share these films as much as possible so that the important messages conveyed through these films reach the maximum number of people," said DMRC spokesperson.

In the future, many more films on topics such as disaster management, emergency response in crisis situations are proposed to be uploaded. The Delhi Metro intends to screen these films at the Metro stations in the days to come.

"Internet today is a powerful medium to convey important messages as well as information. A large section of Metro commuters use it regularly. Keeping this in mind, these films have been uploaded on the popular video streaming website like YouTube and the interested viewers can also directly log in to YouTube to watch these films," he said.

In recent times, the Delhi Metro has taken a series of initiatives to provide the commuters with Internet-based facilities. 

New Delhi, May 10
Former Director General of Directorate of Advertising & Visual Publicity and CBI spokesperson G Mohanty today joined the BJP.

Mohanty was admitted into the party by the senior BJP leader and national general secretary J.P. Nadda during the official briefing at its national headquarters here.

Mohanty said he had been influenced by the ideals of BJP for a long time, but as he was bound by the service rules of the government, he could not fulfil his political aspirations. — TNS

New Delhi, May 10
A 32-year-old man has been arrested from Delhi for allegedly murdering his sister-in-law in Bihar because she was having an affair with his elder brother.

The accused has been identified as Mohammad Khursheed, who belongs to Ladania District in Madhubani, Bihar. He was arrested by the Crime Branch of the Delhi Police at Samaipur Badli in  Delhi yesterday.

According to the police, Khursheed said that his sister-in-law, Afsana Khatoon, was married to his younger brother, Mohammad Nazir. "After Nazir's death, Afsana developed an illicit relationship with his elder brother, Mohammad Hakim, who is based in Mumbai. She kept telling Hakim to divorce his wife, disown his sons and marry her," said Ashok Chand, Additional Commissioner of Police (Crime).

Afsana stays at Ladania district of Bihar. After learning about her relationship with his brother, Khursheed went to Bihar.

"He with his family hatched a conspiracy to kill her. On the night of April 25, they stabbed her to death with knives and cleavers. Khursheed then fled to Nepal. He had arrived at Delhi about three days ago to meet his wife and children," said Chand.

Khursheed lives at a slum in Inderpuri with his family. He works in a private company.