New Delhi, August 30
The Delhi government has decided to spread awareness on illegal adoption of children as the number of adoptions crossed more than 2,000 in the past six years, with 300 of them done this year.

Women and Child Development Principal Secretary Satbir Bedi said a state advisory committee has been set up to promote, implement and monitor the in-country and inter-country adoptions.

The government has set up a State Adoption Resource Agency (SARA) under the Integrated Child Protection Scheme (ICPS) to regulate the adoptions in a transparent manner.

The department of the Women and Child Development through this agency has arranged the adoption of 300 children this year, while it arranged the adoption of around 1,900 children in the past five years.

"The department is ensuring proper monitoring of the adoptions and also supporting the Central Adoption Resource Authority (CARA) in Delhi," she said.

"The SARA started functioning in 2011 and has done a commendable work in the field of adoption as per the law. At present, 12 specialized agencies are recognized under Section 34 and 41 of the Juvenile Justice Act 200," she said.

"Of the 12 specialized adoption agencies, eight are recognized by CARA," said Bedi.

New Delhi, August 30
A girl studying in a private school attempted suicide by drinking an antiseptic liquid after her family learnt she was being raped by her tutor, police said on Saturday.

The victim, 13, attempted suicide on Thursday when her parents, residents of Mandawali in east Delhi, came across lewd text messages sent on WhatsApp — a mobile messaging application — by her tutor.

Deputy Commissioner of Police Ajay Kumar confirmed the incident and said the accused teacher has been arrested. However, the official refused to divulge any further details to protect the victim's identity.

Police sources, however, said the accused was identified as Johnson, 25. He had allegedly been sexually exploiting the victim, a class VII student, for the past two years.

"The victim got scared when her parents posed questions. She locked herself in her room and attempted to kill herself by drinking a bottle of Dettol," said another police official.

"The victim was saved as her parents managed to admit her in a hospital in time," he added.

After the victim's medical examination, which confirmed rape, the accused tutor was arrested.

Since the accused used to impart tuition to other girls also residing in the area, the police are examining whether he was sexually exploiting others also. — IANS

New Delhi, August 30
With the arrest of two accused, including a woman, the Crime Branch of Delhi Police today claimed to have busted a trafficking module which allegedly kidnapped children and sold them to childless couples.

The accused were identified as Guljar Singh, alias Guljari, and Surender Kaur, alias Peeri. They had kidnapped a child from Delhi Cantonment railway station in April and sold him to a childless couple at village Khayala in West Delhi.

According to the police, a couple along with their two children had come from Alwar and were living at Delhi Cantonment railway station. On April 1, the children were playing and had gone out of sight of their parents. The accused then offered food laced with sedatives to the children who became unconscious. They took the boy along with them and left the girl at the railway station.

When she regained consciousness, she narrated the story to her parents who reported the matter to the police. During the case investigation, the police came to know that the accused would arrive at the Janakpuri Metro station. They were arrested after a tip-off by a police informer.

During interrogation, the accused admitted that they were involved in kidnapped the child and had sold it the landlord of Surinder Kaur in Khayala village. The landlord is issueless, the police said.

New Delhi, August 30
Keeping in view the people of poor economic strata, the DSGMC today decided to start the second shift in about five branches of Guru Harkrishan Public School (GHPS) located in different areas of the Capital. Tuition fee and other charges in these schools will be lower than those in the morning shifts.

The decision was taken at a meeting held under the chairmanship of the DSGMC president Manjit Singh (GK).

In order to face legal hassles in starting the second shift, Manjit has directed the education and law committee of the DSGMC to find a wayout.

The second shift would be started in Fateh Nagar, Loni Road, Nanak Piao, Kalkaji and Dhakka Dhirpur branches of the GHPS.

The second shift would be started from the next session. Tuition fee and other charges would be 60 per cent less than those in the morning schools. — TNS

New Delhi, August 30
In a crackdown on illegal sand mining on the banks of the Yamuna by the SDM Gandhi Nagar, 18 bullock carts full of sand were seized today from different places.

RD Sharma, SDM, Gandhi Nagar, said that a number of complaints were received regarding the illegal mining of sand from the Yamuna.

Therefore, a team was constituted which included 12 civil defence volunteers along with the quick response team of East district and raids were then conducted in the wee hours today, said the SDM.

"During the raids, two bullock carts extracting sand from the Yamuna managed to escape in the dark after throwing the sand in the river," Sharma said.

The SDM said that on completion of the operation, the bullock carts were handed over to the local police for safe handling and initiation of legal proceedings against the offenders under the Environment (Protection) Act 1986 and the Mines and Minerals (Regulation and Development) Act 1957.

New Delhi, August 30
The Jawaharlal Nehru University Students Union (JNUSU) election will be held on September 12, a member of an election body said on Saturday.

The candidates will have to fill in their nomination papers by Tuesday and the poll campaign will start from Wednesday, one of the members of the election body said here.