We provide you hand - picked New Delhi News: February 2010

Saturday, February 20, 2010

Centre Asks UP to fix NREGS glitches

The meeting on Bundelkhand on Saturday saw representatives of the Centre and the UP government taking divergent positions on implementing central programmes in some parts of the region.

The meeting took place in Jhansi and it was called by the Centre to discuss the possibilities of converging centrally sponsored schemes in the part of Bundelkhand that falls in UP.

Bundelkhand is a region that covers parts of south-central UP and north-eastern Madhya Pradesh. The UP government on Saturday stated that Chief Secretary Atul Kumar Gupta was not invited to the meeting.

According to sources, Union Joint Secretary (Rural Development) Amita Sharma referred to a report that pointed out anomalies in implementing the National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (NREGS) in Mahoba and Gonda districts of UP. She said the UP government should take action on the report.

The NREGS is a Rs 40,000- crore social security scheme of the Centre, and is being implemented by the states. Mahoba falls in Bundelkhand but Gonda is outside it. The district magistrate of Gonda was, however, present at the meeting. UP Special Secretary (Rural Development) B.L. Agarwal talked about what the state government had done to set right the implementation of NREGS.

Union Rural Development Secretary B.K. Sinha said UP should develop model villages. Central officials expressed concern about the low participation of women in the NREGS and other schemes. Union Minister for Rural Development Pradeep Jain Aditya said corruption remained a major challenge in implementing schemes.

There was discussion about NREGS beneficiaries not being paid in about six districts. Rural development commissioner Sanjiv Kumar and the district magistrates or chief development officers of 13 districts (including seven of Bundelkhand) were present.

The central team asked the state to update the database so that information on NREGS implementation was available online.
Centre asks UP to fix NREGS glitches

Umesh Raghuvanshi

letters@hindustantimes.com

Lucknow

The meeting on Bundelkhand on Saturday saw representatives of the Centre and the UP government taking divergent positions on implementing central programmes in some parts of the region.

The meeting took place in Jhansi and it was called by the Centre to discuss the possibilities of converging centrally sponsored schemes in the part of Bundelkhand that falls in UP.

The central team asked the state to update the database so that information on NREGS implementation was available online.

Two Succumb to Injuries, Pune Toll Touches 13

A Navi Mumbai resident who were injured in the Pune blast have succumbed to their injuries, taking the death toll to 13.

Amjed-Al-Gozoly, 26, was a student of Wadia College in the city. Atul Anap, 30, was a Reliance Communication employee. Atul and wife Rita had come to Pune to meet relatives. His wife was also
injured.

Had Amjed kept his appointment with his friend at 6 pm last Saturday, he might have lived. “We had decided to meet at 6 pm for studies as an examination was scheduled on Monday. I was waiting for him when I suddenly got phone calls, first about the blast and later about Amjed,” classmate Bona Malul Atak said.

Amjed was an ace volleyball player and had participated in several volleyball and football competitions. He went to German Bakery with Anas AlFaith, another student from Sudan and a football player, and both were injured. Pune has a large number of students from Sudan. Officials from the Sudan consulate came down to Pune three days ago to review the situation.

The group Youth For Peace has planned a peace march on Sunday in five Indian cities, including Mumbai and Kolkata. It is being organised by friends of blast victims Anindyee Dhar, Ankik Dhar and Shilpa Goenka.

“We wanted to do something that would be concrete and a nationwide protest, after losing our friends,” said Abhimanyu Singh, a Pune student.

Pune police have asked residents, especially women, not to cover their faces while driving two-wheelers. The directive, issued on Saturday, will remain in force for next 15 days, traffic chief Manoj Patil said.

Request to Shift EFR Camp Ignored

A senior official of the Eastern Frontier Rifles (EFR) blamed the district police and administration for the Maoist attack on an EFR camp in West Midnapore on Monday.

Covering his face with a black bandana as he faced TV cameras at the EFR headquarters at Salua, West Midnapore, Special Inspector General (EFR) Benoy Chakraborty vented his ire at the district police and administration.

It is not clear why he had masked himself.

On Monday, 25 people were killed by Maoists in an attack on an EFR camp at Silda in West Midnapore, about 170 km west of Kolkata.

“Higher officials in charge of the district knew that the camp was not safe. The SP, West Midnapore, was repeatedly told that the camp should be shifted, but he paid no heed,” said Chakraborty.

“Several radio messages requesting the SP to shift the camps went unanswered.”

However, another Inspector General of the state police said on condition of anonymity: “How can an officer criticise his own colleague in front of the media when the government had ordered an inquiry into the massacre?”

Meanwhile, two of the 14 people whose release the Maoists asked for as a condition for letting go Dalbhumgarh Block Development Officer Prashant Layek were on Saturday granted bail by a court in Ghatsila.

Additional District Judge M.M. Singh granted bail to Jasmi Mardi and her father, Bahadur Mardi.

A police outpost, with additional forces, has been set up at Phulwaria-Korasi village in Naxal-affected Jamui district in Bihar. At least 12 persons were killed and an equal number injured in a Maoist attack on Thursday morning.

NOBODY LIKES THEIR KIDS TO BE GAY

“We cannot allow the campus to be a cradle of wanton behaviour like homosexuality,” declared P K Abdul Azis, vice-chancellor of Aligarh Muslim University, defending the recent suspension of a professor for being gay.

When told that homosexuality is no longer unlawful in India, he responded with a question: “Would anybody like his/her child to be gay or lesbian?”

On February 10, S R Siras, an AMU professor, was suspended for performing alleged homosexual acts in his official residence, although rights activists pointed out that gay sex was no longer a crime.
The university asked Siras, who headed the department of modern Indian languages, to vacate his official residence.

“I am 64 and in fragile health. The charge of active homosexuality levelled against me is absurd,” Siras said. “When the high court has decriminalised homosexuality, how can the university level such a charge?”

The suspension order against Siras, who was due to retire this year, came seven months after Delhi HC decriminalised adult consensual intercourse.

But Azis said since AMU has its own tradition of moral values, “I had to take preliminary action. Or, it would have sent a very wrong message.”

He said Siras’ alleged homosexuality could not be termed a private affair as the act was committed in the house allotted to him inside the campus.

Opposition Demands Debate on Price Rise - Pawar to Face Flaks

New Delhi: With just two days left for the budget session in Parliament to begin, almost all political parties have decided to corner the government on the issue of price rise and have demanded discussion on the issue on the first day.

Not Just MEA, Cabinet also Part of Foreign Policy: Krishna

External Affairs Minister S M Krishna said there is no turf war between the Prime Minister’s Office and his ministry, and maintained that foreign policy is “the totality” and it is not being made “simply by the foreign affairs ministers” — but the cabinet.

In an interview with Vir Sanghvi on CNBC-TV18, the veteran Congress leader also said his induction into the cabinet was the biggest surprise of his political life.

“Foreign policy will not be made simply by the foreign affairs ministers or external affairs minister. It is the totality. It is the cabinet. For day-to-day carrying on of the ministry of external affairs there is total freedom and there is no interference from the PMO and I have the greatest respect and regard for the PM and it is amply reciprocated.”

The minister said, “With the PMO, I have an excellent rapport, with the PM himself I have an excellent rapport.”

On media reports on a turf war, the minister said the “media speculations and these media engineered assessments don’t bother” him at all.

The minister, unlike his deputy, Shashi Tharoor, doesn’t post messages on the micro-blogging site Twitter.

On being asked whether ministers should tweet, he said, “I think there we will have to draw the line. I think making policies is too serious a business and then it cannot be tweeted. I think it needs deliberation, it needs discussion, it needs contemplation and then ultimately it has to come out in the shape of a policy.”

But he maintained that it was up to the ministers to decide whether they should tweet or not.

After J&K, PC says ready to Help Sikh Youth Returned

On the lines of the offer made to Kashmiri militants, Home Minister P Chidambaram on Saturday said the government is ready to facilitate the return of Sikh youths who took political asylum abroad during militancy in Punjab provided they give up violence.

“If Sikh youths want to return, having given up militancy, given up violence, given up the demands of Khalistan... We will certainly facilitate the return of Sikh youths,” he said.

Chidambaram’s remarks come two days after Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal slammed the Centre for leaving Sikh youths out of the ambit of its proposed move to facilitate the return of Kashmiri militants who have crossed over to PoK if they shun the path of violence.

The Home Minister said, “If the government of Punjab wishes to draw up a scheme. I will be very happy to consider that.”

He was speaking after laying the foundation stone of the country’s first integrated check post, which will provide support facilities to ensure smooth movement of people, goods and transport across the border.

“When the country is one, what is the harm in giving general amnesty to Sikh youths who want to shun violence and join the mainstream,” Badal had said.

After J&K, PC says Ready to Help Sikh Youth Returned

“If Sikh youths want to return, having given up militancy, given up violence, given up the demands of Khalistan... We will certainly facilitate the return of Sikh youths,” he said.

The Home Minister said, “If the government of Punjab wishes to draw up a scheme. I will be very happy to consider that.”

“When the country is one, what is the harm in giving general amnesty to Sikh youths who want to shun violence and join the mainstream,” Badal had said.

Student Fire Burns Andhra

A student set himself ablaze in the Osmania University campus even as Andhra Pradesh police stopped hundreds of students from marching towards the assembly in Hyderabad on Saturday.

More than 300 students were arrested at different places in the city as they tried to defy prohibitory orders and take out a rally to the assembly.

The student, S Yadaiah, set himself afire by pouring kerosene to protest the delay in carving out a Telangana state. The 19-year-old suffered 70 per cent burns and his condition is stated to be critical.

In a suicide note, Yadaiah, a student of the city’s Noble College, wrote that he was taking the extreme step because the government was unresponsive to the aspirations of the people.

Tension prevailed in Osmania campus after the news of the self-immolation spread. Students gathered in hordes and tried to come out on to the main roads. But the police pushed them back into the campus.

Earlier in the day, students chanting ‘Jai Telangana’ marched to the assembly, but were stopped by the police near Vidyanagar. Some were arrested.

Angry protesters then set three buses on fire at the Jamia Osmania railway station near the university.

The students also vandalised Vice-Chancellor Tirupati Rao’s car when he tried to persuade them not to take out a rally, and instead hold a peaceful protest within the campus.

Police closed the gates of Nizam College near the assembly and City College near the high court to prevent students from coming out. Both colleges had announced support to Osmania students.

Authorities also stopped several trains on the Hyderabad-Warangal route, apparently to prevent students of Warangal’s Kakatiya University from reaching the city. Police, however, claimed that trains were stopped after a hoax bomb call.

South Central Railway cancelled almost all local trains in Hyderabad and Secunderabad.

In Delhi, the Justice B N Srikrishna committee issued a notice seeking views and suggestions from the public, political parties and local organisations on Telangana.

The notice, published in major English dailies in Delhi and in Telugu, Hindi, English and Urdu newspapers in Andhra, said the suggestions should be sent within 30 days.

Real Estate Carnival Gets Good Response

The three-day real estate carnival, which is a part of the month-long Delhi Shopping Carnival, organised by HT City, is fetching an overwhelming response. People from all walks of life have been frequenting the nine malls and eight markets in Delhi which are hosting the carnival.

Added attractions on weekends like a food festival, fashion shows and kids’ carnival have made the event more attractive.

Anjali Malhotra, says even her five-year-old daughter Aditi enjoys coming to the place as she has a nice time relishing the popcorns and enjoying the added attractions at the carnival.

The real estate carnival concludes on February 21.

CBI's Uphaar Report Sent to Senior Judge

A Delhi court today again refused to decide a legal question whether it is empowered to take cognisance of CBI's probe report giving a clean chit to former IPS officer Amod Kanth in 1997 Uphaar fire case and referred the matter to the senior most district judge.

District and Sessions Judge S P Garg, to whom the matter was referred for taking a decision, said he would not decide on the issue.

“I am sending the case to G P Mittal, the seniormost District and Sessions Judge at Tis Hazari,” Garg said.

RWA Compels NHAI to make agreement public

Dwarka residents have won an year-long battle against the National Highway Authority of India (NHAI) and made it to agree to upload the agreement it entered into with Jaypee-DSC for the construction and operation of the Gurgaon Expressway on its official website.

With this, the agreement would now be under public scrutiny.

Running into 400 pages, the voluminous agreement between NHAI and Jaypee DSC Ventures Limited was signed on April 18, 2002 for the construction of 27.7 km long 8/6 lane Gurgaon Expressway, between Rao Tula Ram Marg (Delhi) and village Kherki Daula (Gurgaon) on National Highway No. 8.

Costing about Rs. 1000 crore, the project was awarded on built-operate-transfer (BOT) basis.

“Action has already been initiated to up load the agreement on the website of NHAI,” read an email from V K Rajawat, deputy general manager (Technical), NHAI to Rejimon CK, president of Dwarka Forum, the residents’ body that has been fighting for the cause of the commuters of Gurgaon Expressway for a long time

Delhi, NCR Schools Shine at Gobar Times National Awards

"This is the time not to know, but to do what we know, on the ground,” said Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit during her address at the awards ceremony of the Gobar Times Green Schools Programme, an initiative of the Centre for Science and Environment, on Saturday.

And that is exactly what the CSE attempts to achieve through the Green Schools Programme–to sensitise schools across the country about the need to protect the environment by managing water, air, land, energy and waste optimally.

On Saturday, 25 schools across the country that excelled in this objective in 2009 were felicitated in 37 categories.

The 20 national award winners included St George’s, Alaknanda; Ramjas School, Pusa Road; Salwan Public School (Morning), Old Rajinder Nagar; Salwan Public School, Gurgaon; Evergreen Public School, Vasundhara Enclave and the Pinnacle School, Panchsheel Enclave. Schools from eight other states were among the national winners.

Under the programme, schools prepare audit reports on their performance vis-a-vis environmental benchmarks.

Explained Sumita Dasgupta, who is coordinating the programme, “For instance, we urge schools to ensure optimal usage of drinking water. If they can maintain the government-recommended consumption of water, it is taken as a positive point. However, if the per capita consumption of water is above the limits prescribed, they get negative markings.”

This year, the awards ceremony was held in collaboration with the Delhi Government. Five thousand schools from across the country had vied for the national awards this year.

He's on a Green Drive, Literally

One hundred and thirty two. That’s 122 cars more than what Dinesh Kumar was to look for in his neighbourhood as part of a school project on vehicles without Pollution Under Control (PUC) certificate.

“I devoted an hour daily during my summer vacation. So, instead of finding 10, I prepared a list of 132 cars,” he said. Kumar was in Class IV then.

Since then, his interest in environmental issues has grown. Kumar, now 21, is studying engineering at Bharti Vidyapeeth’s College of Engineering, and working on a carpooling portal.

“Most students drive to college. The idea is to prepare a database of students, the route they take and when they travel. Those interested in carpooling can get in touch with those who take the same route at the same time,” he said talking about his portal ‘Share your wheels’. Kumar expects the portal to be online in the next couple of weeks. About 82 students have already registered with him. The idea is among the 52 entries shortlisted for the Hindustan Times – Brightest Young Climate Leaders

However, this isn’t his first initiative. Over the last eight months, he has worked on sensitising people on waste segregation, which could not have been possible without his “green crew”, a group of eight like-minded friends he found through Facebook.

That apart, he has also contributed content for a children’s workbook on environmental issues called Project Search. “Ten per cent of the Green House gases are due to improper waste management. We have held workshops in schools to sensitise students about how to segregate waste at the house level itself,” he said.

'Be Accurate in Narration of Facts'

A number of readers have been asking me for information on consumer courts, particularly on the correct way to file a complaint and seek redress.

I must clarify that even though these are popularly known as consumer courts, the redressal agencies constituted under the Consumer Protection Act are quasi-judicial bodies.

They follow simple, summary procedure. So you need not hire a lawyer to file your complaint.

However, you must ensure that your complaint is backed by adequate proof.

The documentary evidence could be receipts for payments made, contracts or agreements between the service provider and you, letters of complaint written by you or affidavits of persons confirming or supporting your allegation, expert opinions, case laws that support your case, even articles in newspapers and specialised journals.

Once you have put together all your documents, be accurate in narration of facts and be clear on the relief that you seek.

Begin by mentioning the District Forum before which you will file the complaint and provide space for the Forum to put the complaint number.

Next, give your full name and address as the complainant and the full name and address of the respondent.

Log on to www.fcamin.nic.in and click on the icon of ‘Department of Consumer Affairs’ to access the “Form for Complaint”.

This form should be of help to you in filing the complaint.

In Real Life Copying Gets You Expelled From The College

Aamir Khan as Rancho in the film 3 Idiots managed to go scot-free after helping steal a question paper from the college principal’s room.

In real life, Naresh Malhotra (name changed), a second-year B Tech student was not so lucky. His college — Indraprastha Institute of Information Technology — expelled him and Delhi High Court upheld the decision.

On the night of April 23, 2009, Malhotra and two other students stole into the room of the coordinator of exams and got hold of the test paper on Theory of Computation, to be held the next day, from a computer.

Malhotra claimed innocence before the college. “I wanted to report the matter but never had the guts to do so,” he said. But the college was not convinced.

After an internal inquiry, the college senate recommended expulsion of all three on April 28 and gave them the option to withdraw from the college. The others withdrew, but Malhotra decided to challenge the expulsion.

“(Malhotra) stood guard when the others were copying and thus was an equal participant,” a bench of acting chief justice M B Lokur and justice Mukta Gupta.

Music doesn't hit the high notes anymore

“There was a time back in the ’80s and ’90s when an artiste just wasn’t allowed to suck too badly... The fans would leave them. Now, I don’t think the fans really know the difference. Or they just don’t care.”

Much like his songs, the angst firmly echoes in singer Richard Marx’s words. Only this time, it is directed at the present music scenario and not the subject of one of his songs.

The rock balladeer, popular a decade ago, performed in the city on Friday night. This was Marx’s second time in India but his first major concert tour.

On his last trip to Mumbai in 2008, he didn’t get to see much but was amused, or rather thrilled, to shoot his video log. “From Bombay in India, can you believe it? We call it Bombay but here in India they call it Mumbai,” he says in the log.

But what he did get during his first trip to India was a sense of his following in the country. “I found out that many people in India knew my music. So I’m very anxious to come and perform there,” he told HT just before he started for India.

Allergic to smoke, he has ensured that his crew, as well as the entire Saket Sheraton floor on which he is staying, are strictly smoke-free. In stark contrast to the erstwhile boys and now men from Backstreet Boys, Marx’s down-to-earth demeanour charmed everyone from the hotel staff to mediapersons, who he even sang for on Friday.

Apart from the adults who were at the concert with a heavy shot of nostalgia, Marx had an eager bunch of teenagers in his audience.

The singer feels that the audience today just “doesn’t really care”. That, he says, makes music from then and now beyond compare.

“Everything is different. What music sounds like, what it music looks like and even where you can get it. I think the biggest difference now is that thanks to shows like American Idol, the public has a much lower expectation of talent. For those of us who pride ourselves on singing in tune and our music, this is pretty lame. There are popular artistes out there who can barely sing at all. But the public doesn’t really care.”

Marx started his career when he was a teenager and Lionel Richie, the popular ’80s singer, heard one of his demo tapes.

“When I was 18, I recorded a few songs and a friend of a friend knew Lionel and gave him the cassette. He liked what he heard, and my number was on the cassette, so he just called me. It blew my mind. ”

In keeping with the current trend of self-publishing, the 47-year-old digitally released his latest album Emotional Remains. “There was no major label interested in signing me, and I didn’t need anyone to fund my record, so I just did it myself.”

Missing: Vendors and Charm

The ice-cream vendors were conspicuous by their absence. And so was the weekend buzz on Rajpath.

The stretch between India Gate and Rashtrapati Bhavan had clearly lost a bit of its charm for its habitual visitors on Saturday.

“Most of us don't come here to soak in the heritage, but for the vibrancy this area represents," said Satyapal Singh (25), a regular and an engineer.

Rajpath is to Delhiites, what Chowpaaty is to Mumbaikars. The road, apart from India Gate, witnesses a huge rush of families and youngsters on weekends.

“The safety paranoia is excessive and completely destroying the wonderful places of Delhi,” said Ravi Sundaram, a fellow at Centre for the Study of Developing Societies.

The vendors were ousted from Rajpath by Delhi Police earlier this week, as they are perceived as a traffic hazard. They are now confined to the bit of Shahjahan Road leading up to India Gate.

“Now if I have to eat something, I will have to walk all the way down to India Gate for this," said Kamal Kumar, a student.

MCD's Hawk Eye on Hawkers

The Municipal Corporation of Delhi's latest “sanitation drive” is aimed at people.

A number of VIP areas are set to be highly sanitised, with the MCD deciding to disallow hawking and squatting at the main roads there.

Early this week, Delhi police chief Y S Dadwal had directed that hawkers who vend by roaming on Rajpath be removed. However, according to New Delhi Municipal Council (NDMC), all licensed hawkers can vend anywhere in NDMC area.

“If they have a license they can vend anywhere in NDMC area while roaming,” said P K Sharma, Medical Officer of Health, NDMC.

After the report was carried in HT, Delhi Police issued a statement clarifying move was initiated to maintain the sanctity of Rajpath.

“For safety reasons, it is essential that no vendor should be allowed on the road,” said Rajan Bhagat, spokesman, Delhi police. “However, vendors often come to Rajpath and park their vends in an unauthorised manner. No tehbazari (license) has ever been given by the NDMC to any vendor for parking and selling goods on Rajpath.”

The VIP areas which MCD targets include New Friends Colony, Defence Colony, G K-I, Ring Road, Outer Ring Road, Aurobindo Marg, Mathura Road among others.

“These areas were identified in consultation with the Delhi traffic police," said Deep Mathur, director Press and Information, MCD.

“We are planning to approach the court over this matter as removing hawkers in such a manner is hitting their constitutional right to earn a living,” said activist Madhu Kishwar.

More than one lakh vendors who vend by roaming in the city. The civic agency has given license to 16,400 vendors. “We are yet to come up with a rehabilitation policy,” said Anand Tiwari, spokesperson, NDMC.

Mindless Cheeps on Twitter

Mindless cheeps on Twitter Hindustan Times ePaper Two years ago, our daughter bought a tarted-up spiral notetarted-up spiral note- book and turned it into a diary. We discovered the thing the other day.

'Unrecognised Schools won't have to Match Government Salaries'

Union Minister Kapil Sibal’s statement on giving private schools the freedom to decide their teachers’ salary structure once the Right to Education (RTE) Act is implemented is not applicable to all unaided institutions in the Capital.

This prerogative will be limited to schools with insufficient funds to conform to the government salary structure, Sibal said on Saturday. The Delhi State Education Act (DSEA), 1973, makes it mandatory for all recognised schools in the Capital to pay salaries as per the Sixth Pay Commission.

The Right to Education (RTE) Act to be implemented across all states from April 1 — is silent on this issue and thus the provision of the Delhi education act should ideally prevail.

But Sibal feels an exception will have to be made for the unrecognised unaided schools once RTE comes into effect.

“An unrecognised school with inadequate funds will be forced to close down if it’s asked to pay teachers according to government standards,” he said. “Such institutions have a lot of poor kids and have to be protected.”

“The RTE does not aim to further marginalise the poor. Closing such schools is not an option. In fact, we will give them three years to conform to the infrastructure and teaching standards in the Act,” he added.

Sibal will meet CM Sheila Dikshit on Monday and then the other state heads to discuss this. “There are hurdles in implementing the RTE as each state has its own legislation on education. Between now and April 1, we will meet all state governments to build a consensus,” he said.

Woman Shot in Thigh Outside Taj Mahal

Bangladesh-resident Farazi Vinti Ferdos’ visit to the Taj Mahal on February 14, Valentine’s Day, with her husband wasn’t quite as romantic as she expected.

A bullet hit Ferdos inside the Taj Mahal complex, one of India’s best-protected monuments. Almost a week later, security forces are clueless about where the bullet came from.

Ferdos was sitting on the lawn outside the Taj with her husband and child when something stung her thigh, making it bleed. She showed it to the security forces posted at the Taj Mahal, they advised her to get it dressed at a local hospital.

An X-Ray showed something embedded in her thigh, which the hospital advised her to get removed before dressing the wound.

In Delhi, Ferdos went to Indraprastha Apollo Hospitals on February 15, where an X-ray revealed an embedded bullet.

“We found a bullet in her thigh above the left knee. It had created a 1.5 cm wound but had not fractured or shattered the bone, which makes us suspect it had ricocheted off something before it hit her,” said orthopaedic surgeon Dr Yash Gulati, Indraprastha Apollo Hospitals, who did the surgery.

A medico-legal case was registered. Ferdos was discharged on Friday, February 19. Ferdos has left Delhi.

Rs 15 Lakh Burgled From Three DDA Flats

Three neighbouring DDA flats were burgled within half an hour on Friday night in a West Delhi locality.

The police said cash and jewellery worth Rs 15 lakh were stolen. The incident took place in Inderlok, Sarai

Rohilla.

A police officer said one Mohammed Salim had invited his neighbours, Haji Abdul Sattar and Mohammed Ashraf to his daughter’s wedding at the DDA ground near Inderlok Metro station. They had left around 10.30 pm and were informed about the burglaries at 11.30 pm. “A neighbour called up the police control room,” a senior police officer said.

Police have registered a case of burglary in Sarai Rohilla police station and investigations are on.

'Ticking' parcel sparks bomb scare in post office

A parcel that suddenly started ticking spread alarm at a post office in South Delhi on Saturday afternoon.

Opened by the Bomb Disposal Squad, the item in the parcel turned out to be a toy.

According to the police, the sender mentioned on the parcel feigned ignorance about the toy, and the person to whom it was addressed was out of town.

A police officer said the parcel was addressed to one Harish Kumar of Trilokpuri, East Delhi. The sender was one ‘Dolphin’ company.

A man had dropped the package at Lajpat Nagar-III post office at 1.55 pm. After a while, the package started ticking and a staff member informed seniors.

“Post master Ved Prakash inspected the package and called up Dolphin Company,” a senior police officer said. “Officials from the company told Prakash they had not sent it. This triggered panic in the post office and Prakash called the Police Control Room at 4.09 pm.”

SI Run Over: NSA Charge on Youth

Greater Noida, Feb 19 (PTI) In an act of revenge, six youngsters allegedly ran over a Sub Inspector of UP Police shortly after they were released on bail for drunken driving in this satellite township of the national capital. Sub Inspector John Peter, who booked them for drunken driving on Wednesday night and sent them to police station, is battling for his life at a hospital here, a senior police official said today.

Peter and other police personnel were carrying out routine checking when they found the youths in a drunken state. They challaned them and sent the youths to police station where they later got bail.

"While going out of the police station, they saw Peter on a motorcycle and ran over him," the official said. According to Senior Superintendent of Police (Noida) A K Singh, the youths were stopped again and told that they were being constantly checked.

"Earlier, we did not know why they were in police station. Later we got to know that they were the same boys who were booked for IPC 290 (creating public nuisance) and later got bail," he said.

The youths were arrested again for attempted murder of a public servant. Peter''s daughter said he was on his way to work when some people in a car hit him.

She said Peter fell on the road and then the accused allegedly drove over him, fracturing both his legs and right hand. Peter, who hails from Uttarakhand, is presently in ICU..

COP STABBED TO DEATH

Asked to move vehicle off main road, rickshaw-puller kills constable

Stabbed on his head by a rickshaw-puller he had pulled up for crowding the main road, Constable Dinesh Kumar gave chase as the assailant tried to flee. He succeeded in catching up, when another scuffle ensued: this time, the assailant managed two strikes on his chest with the ice pick Constable Kumar used to puncture tyres of illegally parked vehicles.

It proved fatal. Kumar, 38, was declared dead on arrival at GTB Hospital in East Delhi’s Dilshad Garden.

The assailant is absconding, the police said.

The incident occurred in Bhajanpura, Northeast Delhi, around 4 pm on Saturday when Constable Kumar who was with the Delhi Police for the past 16 years, was on his beat, clearing illegally parked vehicles on the main road to decongest it.

BRITISH WOMAN FILES DOWRY CASE AGAINST INDIAN HUBBY

The Faridabad police have filed a case of dowry harassment against the husband of a British woman on Friday.

Vijayantimala, the British national, said she met and married Anil Nagar of Buapur village, Faridabad, during her visit to India in 2005.

After the marriage, both Vijayantimala and Anil went to London and Anil stayed there for nearly two years, she said .

Anil, who served in a hotel in London, returned in 2008. He claims that he got an ex-parte divorce from a local court here in May 2009. Subsequently, Anil married a local girl Poonam a few months back.

“I did marry Vijayantimala, a British national, knowing well there was a huge age difference, but I know it was a contractual marriage meant for only two years,” Anil Nagar said. “Her behavior in London was not good, nor did we share a husband-wife relation,” Nagar said.

“It is a fact that I married a local Indian girl a few months ago,” Anil said, claiming that “Vijayantimala tried her best to create hurdles when we were preparing for the post-wedding party.” “I am fighting for justice. Anil used to take money from me and claims he has divorced me,” Vijayantimala said on phone.

The Tigaon Police registered an FIR under Section 498A of IPC on Friday on the basis of Vijayantimala’s complaint. Police has started investigation. “It seems to be a case of matrimonial dispute between the two. We have to hear both sides,” PK Agrawal, Commissioner of Police, Faridabad, said.

In sexcapades, villagers top city slickers

More youngsters in villages have sex before marriage than their urban counterparts, reports a study of 58,000 men and women released by the Health Ministry on Saturday.

One in six (17 per cent) men in rural areas has sex before marriage compared to 10 per cent men in towns and cities, found the study by Mumbai’s International Institute for Population Sciences and the Population Council, New Delhi. For women, 4 per cent in villages had pre-marital sex against 2 per cent in urban areas.

Almost all sexually active young people in both cities and villages reported unsafe sex with multiple partners, prompting Union Health Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad to underline the need for sex education and allied services such as condoms and contraceptives.

“Data shows more than 8 per cent people below 19 have experimented with sex. In our changing society, the unmarried definitely need information and counselling,” said Azad, who released the report with Amartya Sen.

Men and women between 15 and 29 years were polled in six states between 2006 and 2008 for the survey.

UK's Request: Diplomat Visas for Partners

Britain has taken up with the Ministry of External Affairs the matter of diplomatic visas for the same-sex partners of “some” of its officials in India.

These partners of diplomats mostly stay in India on tourist visas, which restrict them in many ways. For instance, they cannot always travel with the diplomats.

In addition, India’s changed visa rules — which have made a two-month cooling off period between visits to the country mandatory — is coming in the way of their continued stay, the British have hinted at, according to sources.

Ministry officials said that as per existing rules, diplomatic visas are given only to spouses and financial dependents. And, there is no legal recognition for gay marriages in India.

Commenting on the problem, Dan Chugg, spokesperson for the British High Commission in New Delhi, said: “Same-sex relationships don’t have the same status as opposite-sex couples in Indian law. This relates to the Article 377 case (decriminalisation of homosexuality) going on in courts. We are watching this case.”

The British system allows same-sex partners for its diplomats.

SC clash over Gay Verdicts set to Snowball

Using fresh arguments that range from imperiling India's defence to making its people delusional, 14 new organisations have joined the final legal battle against the decriminalisation of homosexuality.

On Saturday, the number of petitioners in the Supreme Court - challenging the July 2009 decision of the Delhi High Court to strike down an anti-sodomy law - stood at 16 from the original two.

Two Christian church coalitions, three Muslim NGOs, two Hindu astrologers, a disciple of yoga guru Baba Ramdev, an NGO run by a former Delhi police officer, and an environmentalist, will be among those in the Supreme Court when it hears an appeal next month against the overturning of the Indian Penal Code' section 377.

Only one person, film director and Rajya Sabha MP Shyam Benegal, has quietly joined the original petitioner, Delhi NGO Naz Foundation, in support of gay rights in the Supreme Court.

With the government saying it will not oppose the Delhi High Court judgement, which experts consider legally strong, the new opponents are readying a range of fresh arguments:

· "Medical opinion" that only the vagina has the muscles required for sex, not the anus (Utkal Christian Foundation, Cuttack)

· Expanding the constitutional right to non-discrimination to include sexual orientation could lead to demands for job reservations (Apostolic Churches Alliance, Thiruvananthapuram)

· Indian cultural morality maybe ready for homosexuality in "50 or 100 years", not today (Raza Academy, Mumbai)
Chairman of the Jammu and Kashmir Panthers Party, Prof Bhim Singh, said in his petition that the Delhi High Court ruling would be "a disaster for the Indian defence forces and the security of the country… in deserted areas".

"Seedlings of homosexuality developed among the (European and US) soldiers during the first and the second world war when they had to stay back in the forests and the hills for years without having any access to meet their sexual desires," said Singh, whose party otherwise fights for the reorganisation of J&K.

"My challenge of the (Delhi) high court judgement is that it should not have relied on foreign judgements," said Mushtaq Ahmed, counsel for Mumbai's Raza Academy, a 32-year-old Islamic advocacy group. "We can't impose a foreign cultural morality today."

From Cuttack, B D Das, counsel for the Utkal Christian Foundation, a coalition of Orissa churches, said the decriminalisation of homosexuality had already led gay couples to request church marriages.
"Of course we have not given permission," said Das, referring to homosexuality as a "biblical sin".

"Earlier, it (gay marriage) was criminal, so they would not dare to ask."
Recognising these widespread sensitivities, normally vocal gay, lesbian and transgender activists are staying under the radar. They will stick to the high court's stress on constitutional rights of an individual over public morality and not expand arguments to subjects like marriage and employment.

"Our energies are focused on safeguarding the decision in the Supreme Court," said Gautam Bhan, spokesperson of "Voices against 377", a coalition of gay rights organisations.

The old arguments, made by former right-wing Member of Parliament B.P. Singhal and an NGO called the Joint Action Council, Kannur (in Kerala), have been reformulated as well. These focus on the religious opposition to homosexuality, threat to "public morality" and what opponents argue is its "unnatural" nature.

"(The) High Court decision will protect consensual unnatural sexual acts even when they are obtained by fraud, deceit, misrepresentation, causing fear, intoxication or due to unsoundness of mind," argued S K Gupta, a disciple of yoga guru Ramdev, and representative of Delhi's Patanjali Yogpeeth.

The Delhi Commission for Protection of Child Rights (DCPCR), run by former police officer Amod Kanth, said the high court had not considered adoption of children by homosexual couples and the concept of family and parenthood.

"The judgement will cause 'value disorientation' and torment children," said DCPCR secretary R C Gupta, "leading to identity crisis, social physical and psychological maladaptation in society."

"It is an established medical theory that AIDS spread in human beings through monkeys in African countries. Though not established, there are certain theories that state that unnatural sex with animals can be one of the causes.

"It is submitted that unnatural acts always come with curse from nature, as AIDS in the present form and therefore it deserves to be curbed with strong hands (sic)."

Against

Apostolic Churches Alliance
All India Muslim Personal Law Board
S K Gupta, Patanjali Yogpeeth
B Krishna Bhat, environmentalist
Delhi Commission for Protection of Child Rights
Utkal Christian Council
Krantikari Manuvadi Morcha Party
Tamil Nadu Muslim Munnetra Kazhagam
Suresh Kumar, Mukesh Kumar Koushal, astrologers
(does not include all petitioners)

For

Naz Foundation
Shyam Benegal, film director

Active Maoist Student Body in Delhi: Police

The Maoists have an active students’ body in Delhi, says the chargesheet filed by the Delhi Police against CPI (Maoist) leader Kobad Ghandy in a city court on Friday.

A prominent research scholar from a central university and a human rights activist (names withheld) have been described as sympathizers of the outfit.

Police said so far they have identified the two students who head the Maoist body here and are on the lookout for the remaining members. “There are three active couriers of the Maoist outfit. We are looking for these men,” said an officer.

One of them has been named as Arvind Joshi. He is said to be a PhD scholar and is accused of giving shelter to Ghandy at his rented accommodation in Molarband Extension near Badarpur in southeast Delhi, police said. However, the police have been unable to find his name in Delhi University rolls.

The day of Ghandy’s arrest in Delhi (September 20, 2009), Joshi, a native of Haldwani in Uttarakhand, fled with Rs 5 lakh, a laptop and several CDs, police said. The police are conducting raids to arrest him.

The outfit also has sympathisers with trade unions in Okhla Industrial Area and a person named Sudhir heads it.

When contacted by HT, the civil rights activist named in the chargesheet said it was a move to silence them. “I have met Ghandy in jail and it is there in the records. They (police) can level allegations, I have never met him before his arrest. It is their chargesheet, they can say whatever they want. Let them prove it if they have evidence,” the activist said.

PC for unity in Naxal Fight

"Your officers presented a case for inter-state operations on the Bihar-Jharkhand border. They also sought additional Central forces and other assistance for intra-state operations in Bihar. We have since examined these requests and reached certain tentative conclusions.

"You will kindly appreciate that before the tentative conclusions are translated into decisions and implemented, it is necessary to be assured that your government fully endorses the plan presented by the Home Secretary/DGP of Bihar.

"It is also necessary to be assured that the State Governments (of Bihar and Jharkhand) and the Central are on the same page before commencing the inter-state operations on Bihar-Jharkhand border.

"Hence, I invite you to visit Delhi with your senior officers as early as possible so that we may follow up on the Kolkata meeting and formulate a plan of action," the Minister said.

A 19 year old student set himself afire at Osmania University in Hyderabad on Saturday

The 19-year old student who set himself ablaze yesterday died here this morning.

Fresh round of protests have erupted since the morning after the boy's death. His body has been handed over to his family. The boy has also left a suicide note stating futility of his life as he wasn't a good student.

Osmania University exams have been postponed and Telengana is on the boil once again.

There was high drama and tension in the Osmania University campus yesterday when the Class XII student immolated himself in support of a separate Telangana state.

S Yadagiri alias Yadaiah from Nagaram village in adjacent Ranga Reddy district, had come to the university campus to take part in the students' agitation in support of Telangana.

Setting himself afire, Yadaiah ran in the ball of fire shouting pro-Telangana slogans in the campus. Police personnel on duty in the campus doused the fire and rushed him Apollo hospital. The youth suffered 85 per cent third degree burns on his body except the face, doctors said.

The incident had sparked off tension at the university area, where police sealed off the campus to prevent students from participating in the ''assembly muttadi'' (siege) announced by the Osmania University Students Joint Action Committee.

Irate students who were locked up in the university forced away barricades put up at Vidyanagar end. Two state corporation buses were damaged, while a private bus was burnt by some unidentified persons near Jamai Osmania railway station, police said.

Poor Schools Need Not Match Government Pay

Asked to move vehicle off main road, rickshaw-puller kills constable

It proved fatal. Kumar, 38, was declared dead on arrival at GTB Hospital in East Delhi's Dilshad Garden.

The assailant is absconding, the police said.

The police said Kumar lived in Gokulpuri — less than three kilometres from the spot where he was killed.

According to eyewitnesses, Kumar was trying to move six or seven rickshaws from the main road when one of the rickshaw-pullers got into an argument with him. "The policeman pulled out an ice pick, apparently to puncture the rickshaw's tyres, but the rickshaw-puller snatched it from him," Vikas Singh, a vendor at the crossing, said.

"He stabbed the constable once and started running."

Singh and other eyewitnesses said the constable ran after the rickshaw-puller to nab him and as he caught up, the assailant stabbed him twice on the chest.

Outside GTB Hospital in the evening, Kumar's cousin Puneet said his wife, four children and parents survive the constable. His wife and parents have not been informed yet, Puneet said.

"We are still wondering how to break the news to them," he said.

"We have not even informed most of his friends or relatives, for we do not want them to crowd the hospital."

Kumar's eldest child, Deepak, is 15, and his father is a retired Armyman, Puneet said.

CAR RESULTS BY FEB-END

Change in the system of examinations could be the reason for delay, says IIM-A official

The Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad (IIM-A), announced today the “CAT 2009 results declaration has been deferred to end of February 2010”, drawing hundreds of comments criticising the exam process on various online forums for MBA students and aspirants.

IIM-A’s corporate communications manager Ishita Solanki said the announcement was made to keep communication channels open, and the initial tentative timeline of the third week of February has been shifted to the following week.

No dates have been set, and no date has been finalised as yet either, Solanki said, adding the “change of the system of examination” could have been part of the reason, without elaborating further.

CAT 2009 was the first online CAT examination conducted in India, and about 2.15 lakh candidates had appeared for it.

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