Arvind Kejriwal files RTI for details of tariff order

NEW DELHI: Continuing his offensive against Delhi's power tariff, India Against Corruption (IAC) activist Arvind Kejriwal on Tuesday filed an RTI plea demanding disclosure of the controversial April-May 2010 draft tariff order. The order had recommended 20% reduction in domestic tariff because Delhi's power distribution companies had made a profit of Rs 3,000 crore.

Kejriwal also sought to know if any DERC members or their families were related to the Tatas or Reliance. Discoms NDPL and BSES are owned by Tata and Reliance respectively. The activist also asked whether it was true that then DERC chairperson and a member had approved the order. He also sought access to all files and related correspondence between DERC and Delhi government between April 1, 2010 and March 31, 2011.

In his RTI plea, Kejriwal said, "DERC has mastered the art of dodging RTI applications by asking people to specify file numbers or order numbers. How does DERC expect ordinary people to know specific file numbers? It raises suspicion in minds of people about intentions of DERC. Under RTI Act, it is the duty of DERC to assist people in drafting applications. DERC knows quite well which order are we asking for. We would urge DERC to now provide us a copy of that order.'' Kejriwal has in the last two months attacked Delhi government for scrapping the order asking for a reduction in tariff.

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Corporations need permission for pruning

NEW DELHI: The municipal corporations can no longer carry out pruning in the city without permission from the forest department. The department has also put a condition: only those trees will be considered for pruning that have the mandatory 6ft x 6ft space, or as much deemed necessary, left around them.

In a meeting, chaired by the conservator of forests, with horticulture officials from civic agencies, four committees were set up to formulate guidelines on de-tiling, tree census, pruning and survival of new plantations. The committees have been given time till after Diwali to submit their proposals.

"It recently came to our notice that the civic agencies were carrying out pruning without permission from the forest department. There was some misconception that if light pruning was to be carried out, the forest department did not have to be consulted. That is not the case. The horticulture departments have assured us they will stop pruning altogether. They will apply to us only for trees where pruning is necessary, and we will carry out inspection before allowing it," said A K Shukla, conservator of forests, Delhi.

With these rules, the department hopes to tackle both illegal pruning and cementing around trees, which are against the urban development ministry guidelines. Sources said despite several reminders to the corporations for carrying out de-tiling around trees, no action had been taken, and in fact, no care was being taken to ensure that cementing was not done around trees under new projects. "The horticulture departments said they have been writing to their engineering wing responsible for this work. We have asked them to submit proof that such letters have in fact been written, and if we are satisfied that they did not respond, we will have a meeting with the engineering department and UD ministry," said an official.

The issue of a citywide tree census was also discussed. Shukla said after the success of the tree census at Sarvodaya Enclave, plans were afoot for a similar exercise across the city with the help of RWAs. "The committee concerned will chalk out an action plan. We need the census to get a realistic idea of the city's greens, their numbers, etc," said a source.

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Life term for man who cried 'hijack'

CA given life term for creating hijack scare in 2009

NEW DELHI: In a first, chartered accountant Jitender Kumar Mohla was on Tuesday sentenced to life imprisonment by a trial court for triggering a hijack scare aboard an aircraft. Mohla was on a Goa-Delhi Indigo flight in 2009 when he told the crew he had been involved in the Kandahar hijack and was carrying infected needles.

Mohla, recently convicted under Section 3(1)(d) of the Suppression of Unlawful Acts against the Safety of Civil Aviation, was sent to jail for life by district judge I S Mehta, who said punishment under the law was aimed at curbing offences on board.

"The Suppression of Unlawful Acts Against Safety of Civil Aviation Act 1982 was passed by Parliament of India to give effect to the Montreal Convention and teeth to curb offences on board," the court said while also imposing a fine of Rs 7,000 on Mohla.

Son of a retired Indian Air Force commodore, 45-year-old Mohla had sparked panic among the crew on February 1, 2009 by claiming he was one of the accused in the hijacking of an Indian Airlines plane in 1999, and was carrying needles with which he would "infect" others if they resisted him.

During the arguments on quantum of sentence, Mohla pleaded that a lenient view should be taken as he was the sole earning member of his family. He also said that there was nobody to take care of his mother, a cancer patient, and father, who has a heart ailment.

Rejecting Mohla's plea, the court explained that the special Act under which he was convicted only provided for life imprisonment as punishment. "The plain language of the Section shows that the convict is to be awarded life imprisonment and is also liable to a fine," the court said while referring to various Supreme Court judgments.

It further observed that the purpose of interpreting a statute was to ascertain the intention of Parliament and this Act was clear in its intentions. "One of the well recognized canons of construction is that the legislature speaks its mind by use of correct expression and unless there is any ambiguity in the language of the provision the court should adopt literal construction if it does not lead to an absurdity," the judge added.

The court, which had also convicted Mohla under sections 336 (endangering life or personal safety of others), 506 (criminal intimidation) and 170 (impersonating a public servant) of IPC, awarded him varying jail terms which were set off against the period spent by him behind bars since his arrest on February 2, 2009.

Mohla's behaviour had forced the pilot of the Indigo flight to send a hijack alert, leading to panic at the Indira Gandhi International (IGI) Airport. The plane made an emergency landing and was kept in isolation for two-and-a-half hours.

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Young Indian researchers felicitated at the Indo-German Urban Mela

NEW DELHI: The German Embassy, New Delhi and the German Research Foundation (DFG) have announced the winners of the Indo-German Grand Science Slam held on October 27, 2012 at the Indraprastha Millennium Park to mark the inauguration of German House for Research and Innovation in New Delhi (DWIH New Delhi) and the Indo- German Urban Mela.

Young doctoral and post-doctoral researchers were required to condense their knowledge and research into five-minute lively talks in a simple, fun and creative format to engage with the audience.

This was followed by a five minutes Q&A session for each finalist with the jury and the audience. Vikas Shabadi from Technische Universitat Darmstadt won the eminent Jury Award. He presented on the theme, "Nano-electronics, Spintronics, Multiferroics," in the engineering/ informatics, physics/ mathematics/ geosciences category. Japleen Kaur Pasricha of Jawaharlal Nehru University won the Audience Award. She presented in the humanities and social sciences category and her topic was "Contemporary German Pop literature: Christian Krachts 'Faserland'."

Both Shabadi and Pasricha were felicitated by Dr Emily Haber, state secretary, ministry of foreign affairs, Federal Republic of Germany along with professor Ing Matthias Kleiner, president, DFG. While Pasricha received a fully paid learning opportunity to work for three months in the research group of an eminent researcher in Germany, Shabadi was awarded conference participation opportunities worth a matching amount, since he is already part of a research group in Germany.

Debdoot Sheet from the Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur, who presented in the engineering/ informatics category on the theme ultrasonic histology, bagged the Fraunhofer Application Award, which was given away by Ambassador Satinder K Lambah, president of Federation of Indo-German Societies in India (FIGS). Elaborating on the award, professor Ing Hans-Jorg Bullinger, past president of the Fraunhofer Society, stated that Sheet is invited to Germany on a week-long exposure visit to the Fraunhofer Institute of Integrated Circuits in Erlangen in Bavaria.

This is the very institute which invented the MP3 on whose bases many more new technologies have been developed. The other young finalists who also presented their research at the Indo-German Grand Science Slam included Dr Sajad H Ahanger from the Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology, Hyderabad on the theme "uniting boundaries and dividing the empire," in the medicine/ physiology category, Ahan Dalal from University of Hyderabad on the theme, "can a plant biologist make a farmer smile?" in the Green Life Sciences category and Bidus Kanti Das of Indian Institute Of Technology, Kharagpur speaking on "don't waste a 'waste" in the chemistry and process engineering category. All participating finalists received a citation and a gift hamper. Ambassador Michael Steiner said: "The inauguration of the DWIH, the Grand Science Slam and the nine day 'science menu' at the Indo-German Urban Mela are the best ingredients for a prosperous Indo-German science cooperation.

Research and innovation needs bright young minds and interaction beyond borders. That is exactly what the DWIH, the Science Slam and the Mela are about." Congratulating the winners as well as the other finalist participants, the official coordinator of DWIH New Delhi and the director of DFG India Office), Dr Torsten Fischer, said: "It has been an absolute joy to see such an exciting and overwhelming response to the first ever Science Slam organised under the banner of DWIH New Delhi. Selecting the best six finalists out of the nearly 50 applications was not easy, and impressing our Jury in Germany to make it to this Science Slam was in itself no mean feat, so congratulations to you all. While only three of you took away the prizes, it is, at the end, research and innovation that has really won, and that is the spirit we aspire to take further with the setting up on DWIH New Delhi. From now on, we will be organising many more such events round the year to encourage more such bright young minds."

Earlier, as part of a rigorous selection process, as many as 46 young Indian researchers from top institutions all over India had submitted their applications for the Science Slam, including fellows from the Delhi University, Jawaharlal Nehru University, Tata Institute of Social Sciences, IIT Kanpur, IIT Hyderabad, IIT Patna, IIT Roorkee, IIT Kharagpur, IIT Madras, Manipal University, Anna University Chennai, Bangalore University and University of Hyderabad, among others. The Grand Science Slam also received entries from Indian researchers of prominent universities abroad such as Technical University Darmstadt, University of Oxford, University of Hohenheim-Stuttgart, Rheinische Friedrich -Wilhelms -Universitat Bonn and Cluster of Excellence-South Asia Institute Heidelberg. The audience also got a chance to hear the first-ever DWIH Lectures in India by eminent scientists including Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz Prize Winnerand DFG vice president Dr Frank Allgower from the Institute for Systems Theory and Automatic Control, University of Stuttgart, Padma Shri awardee professor N K Gupta of Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi, and Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize recipient professor Sandeep Verma of Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur.

As one of the highlights of the "German Year in India 2011/ 2012," DWIH New Delhi is an initiative of the German Government with the support of the Federal Foreign Office (Auswartiges Amt - AA) and the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (Bundesministerium fur Bildung und Forschung - BMBF) for increasing cooperation between German and Indian academic and scientific communities. DWIH is a 'one-stop-shop' for students, researchers and potential partner institutions on higher education, research landscape and funding sources in Germany. Four DWIH have already been established in Sao Paolo (Brazil), Moscow (Russia), New York (USA) and Tokyo (Japan).

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Youth camp for cultural bonding

NEW DELHI: In order to build greater understanding and cultural bonding among youghs of different backgrounds , the International Youth Fellowship, a worldwide youth organization, is holding the IYF World Camp at Thyagaraj Sports Complex from November 4 to 7.

The IYF, says the press statement, "Is a worldwide youth organization... working towards this goal for more than a decade. This has been done through various activities like exchange programmes, educational programmes, cultural activities, and community service programmes for the development of youth."

The camps involve students, professors and leaders from diverse educational fields gathering to share their experiences. The second world camp in India, it is expected to host to 2000 students from all over India and 300 from abroad.

"The aim is to bring about challenge, change and cohesion through cultural programmes that include music, folk dances, 'Mind lectures' about understanding each other, and even fun and games like scavenger hunts and a marathon on the last day. Above all, the meet will attempt to inculcate disciplined and healthy living that will broaden the outlook of the mind and the heart," says the statement.

The IYF has held 35 meets in different countries this year and hopes to have another four in November. It was founded by Pastor Ock Soo Park, in 2001.

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Cops bear brunt of road rage in 2 cases

NEW DELHI: Policemen were at the receiving end of road rage in the past two days as erring car drivers attacked cops when merely told to follow the law.

Asked to stop flashing indicator lights needlessly, three men in a car battered a constable with hockey sticks and rods in Ranhola, west Delhi, on Saturday. Constable Samandar Singh was heading home after work when he was attacked. Policemen rushed from a nearby picket but two of the trio fled.

Two days ago, head constable Rama Rao was abused and thrashed after he chased a speeding car in sector 15 of Rohini. The accused, who were drunk, manhandled him and tore his uniform, before police teams reached the spot.

Cop hit with hockey sticks in west Delhi

On Saturday, a constable was allegedly attacked while he was heading home in his Swift car after work. He was in Ranhola when he spotted a WagonR going straight at high speed with its right indicator on. The cop drove towards the car, occupied by three men, and signalled them to turn off the indicator. This angered the occupants, who cornered his car and forced him to step out, police said. They then attacked him with hockey sticks and rods, cops added.

The cops' cries for help alerted his colleagues at a nearby picket. They tried to pin down the accused, but two of them managed to free themselves, police said. While the third occupant Sunil Kherwala, a resident of Ranhola, was arrested, a hunt is on for the other two.

In the second incident, which took place on Thursday, two traffic cops were attacked when they flagged down a speeding car in Rohini. Head constable M Rama Rao and Krishna were deployed near Bansal Bhawan and were monitoring traffic going towards Sector 17, when they spotted a Zen being driven at high speed and in a zigzag manner.

"I motioned the car to stop, but it jumped the signal instead and sped towards Sector 17. Krishna started his bike and we started chasing the car. We managed to intercept the car after a kilometre-long chase. We then asked the driver to show the vehicle's documents and started issuing a challan for jumping the lights," said the complainant.

The cops said the three occupants of the car started abusing them. The fight grew ugly with the accused thrashing them and even tearing off their uniforms. Police teams soon reached the spot and apprehended the men. They were arrested and a medical examination proved they were in an inebriated condition.

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10-year-old raped, killed; body left in garbage bin

NEW DELHI: A 10-year-old girl was allegedly raped and then bludgeoned to death by her neighbour who dumped her blood-soaked body in a garbage bin in Pul Prahladpur area of southeast Delhi on Saturday night.

The victim's body was discovered when her brother and other residents of the area followed a trail of blood from her house to the garbage dump. Police have arrested the neighbour, Gopal, who is understood to have confessed to the horrific crime.

Gopal, a construction worker, told the cops he had raped the girl when she was alone in her house and knocked her out with a rolling pin when she threatened to inform her brother. He then dragged her to the garbage bin, killed her with a stone and hid the body in the refuse, additional commissioner of police (south-east) Ajay Chaudhry said.

The cops are waiting for the autopsy report to confirm if the girl was sexually assaulted. The victim, who belongs to Katihar district in Bihar, had come to Delhi for treatment around 45 days ago and was staying with her brother in the slums of the Railway colony.

Accused had rape case against him in Bihar

A senior cop said that Gopal, a father of three, and girl's family were from the same village in Bihar. The girl's brother, too, was a construction worker. Both Gopal and the victim's brother lived alone in the capital before the girl came to stay with the latter, Chaudhry said.

On Saturday morning, the duo had left for work around 7am. The accused came back at 5pm while the girl's brother returned around 7pm and found his sister missing. "When I entered the room, I saw blood everywhere. I got scared and began to look for my sister. There were blood stains on the ground which led outside. I came out and raised an alarm," the victim's brother said in his complaint.

Trailing the blood spots, the brother found a piece of cloth lying near the garbage area. He and other residents began to look through the garbage and found the girl lying in a pool of blood. She was rushed to a hospital by police but was declared "brought dead".

The cops have registered a case of murder. Initial questioning of the area residents revealed that Gopal, who was seen in the evening, had gone missing. It also came to light that Gopal had been charged with rape and molestation in Bihar. Chaudhry said after the accused became the prime suspect, a team led by Ambedkar Nagar ACP Dharmveer Joshi was formed. Cops were deployed at railway stations and bus stands while other teams began to look for Gopal at his friends' and neighbours' places.

Gopal was arrested from the Tughlakabad railway station in the early hours of Sunday while trying to board a train to Bihar, a police officer said.

He told the cops that he had tried to rape the girl earlier but did not succeed. On Saturday evening, he had alcohol with his friend and went to the girl's house on the pretext of watching TV. He allegedly molested her while watching TV and when she resisted, he raped her. The girl began to cry and threatened to reveal the matter to her brother after which Gopal picked up a rolling pin and hit her on her head.

The accused also said that he smashed her head against the wall after which he dragged her to the garbage dump and hid the body. He collected his luggage and wanted to flee to Bihar.

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10-year-old raped, killed; body left in garbage bin

NEW DELHI: A 10-year-old girl was allegedly raped and then bludgeoned to death by her neighbour who dumped her blood-soaked body in a garbage bin in Pul Prahladpur area of southeast Delhi on Saturday night.

The victim's body was discovered when her brother and other residents of the area followed a trail of blood from her house to the garbage dump. Police have arrested the neighbour, Gopal, who is understood to have confessed to the horrific crime.

Gopal, a construction worker, told the cops he had raped the girl when she was alone in her house and knocked her out with a rolling pin when she threatened to inform her brother. He then dragged her to the garbage bin, killed her with a stone and hid the body in the refuse, additional commissioner of police (south-east) Ajay Chaudhry said.

The cops are waiting for the autopsy report to confirm if the girl was sexually assaulted. The victim, who belongs to Katihar district in Bihar, had come to Delhi for treatment around 45 days ago and was staying with her brother in the slums of the Railway colony.

Accused had rape case against him in Bihar

A senior cop said that Gopal, a father of three, and girl's family were from the same village in Bihar. The girl's brother, too, was a construction worker. Both Gopal and the victim's brother lived alone in the capital before the girl came to stay with the latter, Chaudhry said.

On Saturday morning, the duo had left for work around 7am. The accused came back at 5pm while the girl's brother returned around 7pm and found his sister missing. "When I entered the room, I saw blood everywhere. I got scared and began to look for my sister. There were blood stains on the ground which led outside. I came out and raised an alarm," the victim's brother said in his complaint.

Trailing the blood spots, the brother found a piece of cloth lying near the garbage area. He and other residents began to look through the garbage and found the girl lying in a pool of blood. She was rushed to a hospital by police but was declared "brought dead".

The cops have registered a case of murder. Initial questioning of the area residents revealed that Gopal, who was seen in the evening, had gone missing. It also came to light that Gopal had been charged with rape and molestation in Bihar. Chaudhry said after the accused became the prime suspect, a team led by Ambedkar Nagar ACP Dharmveer Joshi was formed. Cops were deployed at railway stations and bus stands while other teams began to look for Gopal at his friends' and neighbours' places.

Gopal was arrested from the Tughlakabad railway station in the early hours of Sunday while trying to board a train to Bihar, a police officer said.

He told the cops that he had tried to rape the girl earlier but did not succeed. On Saturday evening, he had alcohol with his friend and went to the girl's house on the pretext of watching TV. He allegedly molested her while watching TV and when she resisted, he raped her. The girl began to cry and threatened to reveal the matter to her brother after which Gopal picked up a rolling pin and hit her on her head.

The accused also said that he smashed her head against the wall after which he dragged her to the garbage dump and hid the body. He collected his luggage and wanted to flee to Bihar.

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Kalindi Kunj ghat need immediate attention

NEW DELHI: The municipal corporations had to clean all the ghats after the idol immersion but the heap of garbage lined up on the ghats speaks volumes about the neglect. The Kalindi Kunj Ghat, after several complaints to South Corporation, was cleaned by residents and Durga Puja committees along with corporation officials on Friday after strongly protesting against it. More than 65 truckloads of waste were fished out of the shallow water of the Kalindi Kunj ghat.

People are still coming with idols and immersing them. The flood and irrigation department officials had to clean the river and garbage had to be picked up from the ghats by the respective corporation. But the officials never come and the filth was piling up. We had earlier, too, many times complained to the corporation but they would pass the buck on to flood and irrigation department. Taking the matter in our hands, we asked the corporation to provide us with equipment, residents will personally help in getting the ghat cleaned rather than wait for officials to wake up to the situation, said Virender Kasana, CR Park councilor, who manually picked up the waste and helped in the cleaning process along with residents.

Over 38 sanitation workers, fiver JCB machines, 20 trucks and 25 auto-tippers were used to remove the waste from the ghat. aœThe condition of the ghats and the river is getting worse with each year. The government is spending money for the cleaning of the river but we don't see it happening. We have asked them to clean the shallow water near the ghat so that we can pick up the waste and clean the ghat. Even the residents have been complaining but we are helpless,a said a South Corporation official present on the ghat.

The idols, which were fished out from Kalindi Kunj ghat, were re-immersed in the low-lying area near the site, and the flowers and sari, the ruined ones, were all sent to the landfill site in Okhla.

While the residents efforts spurred the corporation into action but other ghats are waiting to be cleaned. The ITO ghat and Civil Lines ghat are still in filthy state with waste strewn all over the place and the stench is making it unbearable for locals to visit the place. The corporation can only remove the garbage. But it has been piled up on the ghat as to dry it before taking it to the landfill site. Once the waste has dried, the ghats will be clean as earliest, said YS Mann, director, Press and Information of North and East Corporations.

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Joint stamp to commemorate 20 years of Indo-Israel diplomatic relations

NEW DELHI: To commemorate 20 years of diplomatic relations between India and Israel, the two countries are all set to launch two stamps on a common theme. The limited editions stamps will be launched here at an event on Nov 19 and will be in circulation in India by December.

Themed on the "festival of lights", one stamp depicts the Jewish festival of Hannukah with a row of candles. The other, depicting the Hindu festival of Diwali, features diyas. The two stamps will also be available in Israel later this year. They have been designed by Indian artist Alka Sharma and Israeli artist Ronen Goldberg.

India and Israel have long shared strategic relations in military and defence. Israel is among the largest arms supplier to India. An impending Free Trade Agreement between the two countries is expected to triple the current volume of trade between them. The negotiations for the trade have been on for roughly three years. "We just concluded the fifth round of discussions on the FTA. We are looking forward to finalizing it and it's definitely on the top of our agenda,"says David Goldfarb, spokesperson, Israeli embassy in India. The FTA is expected to be finalized next year.

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Crooks clone Ghaziabad resident’s debit card, shop for Rs 1L

NEW DELHI: Three unique incidents of bank fraud have come to light in the recent past, including one in which a person had his debit card with him but still received messages indicating transactions being made by someone else.

In another case, a man was given conflicting directions when he went to deposit cash at his bank branch in Safdarjung Enclave. While one person told him to go Bhikaji Cama Place, another person claimed he could get the money deposited there by simply filling in a few forms. He, however, fled after taking the cash.

In a third instance, a person who had applied for a home loan was duped by some people who took his signatures using a magic pen and siphoned off money from his account. They had visited his house on the pretext of collecting 'cancelled cheques' and documents.

In all the incidents, police have registered a case and started the probe. In the first case, filed by Ghaziabad resident Ravinder Kumar Pathak, money was illegally withdrawn from his savings account at his Mandir Marg bank last week. Cops said somebody had cloned his debit card and shopped for goods worth Rs 1 lakh. All this while, he kept receiving messages about the transactions.

In the second incident, one Mayank, who stays in Arjun Nagar, had gone to deposit a VAT amount of Rs 2 lakh in a bank in Safdarjung Enclave area. He was told by a bank employee, Sanjeev Kumar, to visit either the Sarojini Nagar or Bhikaji Cama Place branch for depositing the amount. "While leaving Mayank was told by a person that it is possible to submit the money; he took his ID proof along with the cash and made like he was going to the counter. He, however, slipped out with the money," said a cop.

In another case, one Naushad of Welcome area in northeast Delhi agreed to a home loan offer, whereupon two people visited him and asked for the documents along with two blank cheques with 'cancelled' written on them. Naushad later found that Rs 4.8 lakh had been withdrawn from his account. Cops suspect that the accused had used a magic pen while taking his signatures.

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Open drains to make way for eco corridors

NEW DELHI: Think of the drain behind your house, the eyesore of the colony which is usually lined with garbage, stray cattle and dogs, and stinks so much that one would not venture near it. Now imagine a tree- lined canal, an open public space that has people walking and cycling along the gently gushing water. The idea may sound ambitious but the Delhi government has plans to convert several of the city's larger drains into eco-corridors: areas that will be used extensively as non-motorized stretches and connect colonies to the BRT corridor, Metro stations and bus stops.

The non-motorized transportation (NMT) eco-corridor project will be incorporated into DDA's master plan and has been prepared by UTTIPEC. The project has two components — developing areas along drains as recreational public spaces and developing a road network that includes special corridors for cycling and walking. "We have to shift focus from traffic planning to mobility planning. However, the development of recreational areas is entirely dependent on the cleaning of the drains. The project has been around for ages but if it has to work the government needs to take a holistic view of it and carry out all works together," said an official.

The project aims to tackle open drains and bring down traffic congestion, which is the prime reason for Delhi's rising pollution problems. "Among the proposals we have already mulled are connecting Nizamuddin Railway Station and ISBT to Jungpura Metro Station. The existing open drain behind Nizamuddin that passes by Jungpura is an ideal location to develop NMT. The other stretch is from Sheikh Sarai to Moolchand Metro station. This will also provide connectivity from the Saket malls to GK-I. The project along the Barapullah drain is the most extensive and will provide an interface with existing modes of public transport," said UTTIPEC director Ashok Bhattacharjee. "We have a cycle sharing system along the BRT corridor but one reason it failed was the insufficient number of stations to park. Development of sufficient infrastructure is a priority. A sizeable number of cycle parking points, convenient hiring systems, accessible locations and dedicated paths even along the main roads need to be put in place. The cycle tracks need to become transit routes, between colonies, within colonies and between colonies and public transport points," said a source.

The environment department, too, has been promoting the project. "By encouraging walking and cycling, we will be able to tackle congestion, bring down pollution , create open public spaces and deal with the problem of untreated sewage," said an environment department official.

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Covering drains is a worse move: Ashok Bhattacharjee

NEW DELHI: DDA has been on a drain covering spree, but UTTIPEC says space utilization has been the worst. Instead , developing it aesthetically , treating the sewage and creating cycling and walking paths along the drains would be a much better approach.

"Covering drains opens up some space and covers up an eyesore, but a better utilization would actually happen if the sewage was treated. Once the drain is covered up, the civic agencies are likely to forget about the problem. Also, sewage undergoes natural treatment through sunlight and aeration in an open drain. Once it is covered, the chances of it raising a stink actually go up," said UTTIPEC director Ashok Bhattacharjee .

UTTIPEC's Non-Motorized Transportation Eco Corridor plan says, "Concrete slab effectively stops groundwater recharge and the slab cover over the nullah shall aggravate the 'heat island' effect ." Water has a natural cooling effect on its surroundings : an advantage that will be lost during Delhi's searing summer.

The project also says desilting the drains once they are covered would become an expensive and cumbersome task. Such cleaning, it says, will "require super suction machines" since cranes etc would no longer be able to access the sewage. "The sewage shall be deprived of sunlight and oxygen, creating septic conditions, increase the river's pollution load," it adds.

Officials suggest the sewage should be treated and the channel reused as a parkway. "Instead of making everything into a concrete jungle, the area could be developed as a green belt and a linking route for NMT users from one public transport point to another ," said a source.

The Defence Colony drain, on which work is still on, has left residents quite unhappy. "Since work on covering the drain has started, sewage has started backflowing in our bathrooms. The stench has also increased," said AP Singh, a resident.

Implications of covering drains

Environmentally bad decision as the problem gets 'out of sight out of mind' and situation worsens The concrete slab effectively stops groundwater recharge The slab cover over the nullah shall aggravate the 'heat island' effect The siltation in the drain shall become difficult and more expensive to manage and would require specialized super suction machines The sewage being carried by the drain shall be deprived of sunlight and oxygen, creating septic conditions and effectively increase the pollution load on the river

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Minor girl murdered, body dumped in bin

NEW DELHI: An 11-year-old girl, missing from her house, was found dead and stuffed in a dustbin near her house here, police said on Sunday. A sexual assault before the killing has not been ruled out.

The body of the girl, who had come to Delhi from Bihar a month and a half ago, was found in south Delhi's Pul Prahladpur neighbourhood around 10 pm on Saturday. There was an injury mark on her head.

"The victim, who had been living with her brother, was missing from her house since Saturday evening," said a police officer.

"Her brother discovered the body in the dustbin and informed police. There was an injury mark on her head and her clothes were found torn," he said.

"It seems that she was raped before her murder. But, it will be too early to say anything before the post-mortem report," said the officer.

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Man jailed for 30 years for sodomising, murdering grandson

NEW DELHI: A man has been sentenced to 30 years in jail by a Delhi court for strangulating his minor grandson after sodomising him.

The court awarded rigorous life imprisonment to convict Raju for murdering the 10-year-old child, while making it clear that he would not be considered for any remission till he serves 20 years of jail term.

It also sentenced the convict to 10 years in jail for committing the offence of sodomy, stipulating that both the sentences would be served one after the other.

The court also imposed a fine of Rs 1.10 lakh on Raju and said, if recovered, Rs one lakh should be given to the victim's family as compensation.

The court, while sentencing the convict, said the case cannot be put on the same pedestal as other ordinary murder case and it falls in the category of rarest of rare case with alternative options of punishment.

"The offence has been committed by a person who is a maternal grandfather in relation to the child. This is nothing short of betrayal of trust, the child must have reposed in the convict...

"This category of perpetrators of crime, if not removed from the circulation in society, would destroy it," Additional Sessions Judge Kamini Lau said.

According to prosecution, the incident took place in May last year when the victim's father had gone to market to buy household necessities leaving the child in the custody of the accused who was residing in their house at Azadpur in North West Delhi for some days as guest.

Raju had taken the boy to a park where he sodomised him and after strangulating the child, threw his body in bushes.

When the child's father Acchey Lal returned, he did not find the boy at home and the minor's body was found in bushes at a nearby park the next day.

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High court for widening ambit of probation

NEW DELHI: The benefit of release on probation after being convicted in a criminal case cannot be restricted to only "sick or old or infirm" persons and others may also avail the relief, the Delhi high court has clarified.

Due regard has to be given to the age, character, antecedents of the offender as well as the circumstances in which the offence was committed before the benefit of probation can be granted to the convict, Justice Manmohan said in a recent order.

"Benefit of Section 360 CrPC (which deals with order to release on probation of good conduct or after admonition) is to be given only after accused has been found guilty of having committed a crime.

"Section 360 CrPC requires that due regard has to be given to the age, character, antecedents of the offender and circumstances in which the offence was committed before benefit of probation can be granted to the convict. However, the convict does not necessarily have to be sick or old or infirm to avail the benefit," the HC added.

The court's remarks came while dismissing a revision petition filed by Surjeet Kaur and her son against a trial court judgment where the court had released an old woman on probation.

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Dengue on the rise in Delhi, 39 fresh cases

NEW DELHI: There is no end to the dengue outbreak in the city. With 39 new cases reported on Friday, total number of such cases has reached 835, up from last year's 641. Two patients confirmed positive for the mosquito-borne viral infection have died so far. The outbreak witnessed over last two months has also led to a verbal duel between the state health department and the municipal corporations with the former accusing the latter of adopting lackadaisical approach in the beginning.

"The household checking, anti-larval operations and fogging activities which are needed to check mosquito-breeding have to be planned strategically and must be carried out well in advance. The corporations have clearly failed in this, which is why we have dengue outbreak situation every year," said state health minister A K Walia. He said that mosquito-breeding checks, prevention and notification of diseases like dengue, malaria and chikungunya was the responsibility of the corporations.

"Multiplicity of authority is a big problem here. The health department can issue directions, suggest measures but the implementation is the civic body's responsibility," said a senior official, directorate of health services.

The municipal corporations, on the other hand, claim they were doing their best to check mosquito breeding. "In North Delhi, mosquito breeding checks have been carried out in 1.23 crore houses and 22,310 of them were issued legal notices, besides initiating prosecution action against 2,828 houses," said Yogender Chandolia, chairman standing committee, North Delhi Municipal Corporation. He added that in the last 14 days, about 11 lakh houses were checked for mosquito breeding and two lakh houses were covered for focal spray and fogging. Officials of the other municipal zones too claim to have taken similar steps.

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CM Sheila Dikshit inaugurates new under ground reservoir at Chattarpur

NEW DELHI: Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit inaugurated a 3.2 million gallon capacity Under Ground Reservoir (UGR) at Chattarpur on Saturday.

Speaking on the occasion. At present, water in the command areas of Chattarpur UGR is supplied by Delhi Jal Board through tubewells and tanker services. The area has 325 tubewells which are used to meet meet the water demand of this area.

The new UGR and Booster Pumping Station, Inlet and peripheral mains lines of 36 kilometers have been constructed at a cost of about Rs 70 crore and will provide filtered water supply through pipe lines to about 4 lakh people.

In the initial phase, water from Chattarpur UGR will be supplied in the command areas on alternate days in order to maintain sustainability in the system. Two of the three peripheral water mains are being commissioned at present. The third one will be commissioned by March 2013.

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Bio-remediation to treat Palam drain

NEW DELHI: The Palam drain, which contributed to the city's most polluted channel, the Najafgarh drain, is set to get a facelift. Conservation body INTACH will help Delhi Development Authority implement a cleaning programme that will use four bio-remediation techniques to improve water quality in the drain.

These include use of bacteria, sedimentation, fish and water plants. Bacteria treatment has already started and has reduced biochemical oxygen demand, an indicator of pollution, from over 100 mg/lt to less than 30 mg/lt. In 2007, DDA covered a 2.3 km stretch of the drain and converted it into a road.

That only aggravated the problem of odor as aeration was not possible. The over 6-km long drain originates in Delhi Cantt and is fed by untreated waste from several unauthorized settlements in and around Dwarka before it joins the Najafgarh drain. The principal advisor of environmental projects in the natural heritage division of INTACH, Manu Bhatnagar, said that bacteria dosing was started 3-km upstream of the drain at three points on June 13. Within a week, residents said that foul odor emanating from the drain had reduced drastically. "We have selected natural bacteria that breed in waste waste. The best strains have been selected and are being introduced in large numbers into the drain.

These are anaerobic and work by breaking down compounds. Once the drain emerges from the covered zone, the hyacinth section will begin. This helps in removal of heavy metal traces from the sewage. A sedimentation tank also needs to be created at this point as part of the treatment process," said Bhatnagar. Once the sewage has cleared these processes, it will be exposed to large quantities of daphnia. These are small , between 0.2 and 5 mm in length and help by eating microscopic plants and organisms. Eventually, they will become part of the foodchain as they will become food for bigger organisms. The daphnia will be cultivated along the banks of the drain.

The last section of the process will include the fish zone in which carps will be released into the water. A restraint net will be put up at the point where the Palam drain empties into the Najafgarh drain to prevent the fish from entering the bigger channel.

"Civil work will start by October 1. Once the process is fully implemented, it will take barely a few months for the water quality to improve drastically. The capital cost for the project is around Rs 12 crore while operation and maintenance will be around Rs 3 crore per year. The project will be implemented by DDA while INTACH will monitor and advise on the project," said sources.

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World's fifth German House for Research and Innovation inaugurated in Delhi

NEW DELHI: The German government announced the inauguration of the German House for Research and Innovation in New Delhi (DWIH New Delhi) on Saturday, at a function held at the German House in Chanakyapuri which will also serve as the provisional office of the consortium.

DWIH New Delhi is the fifth focal point for enhanced German academic and research cooperation, along with Sao Paolo, Brazil, Moscow, Russia, New York, USA and Tokyo, Japan.

DWIH New Delhi is one of the major pillars of the "Research and Academic Relations Initiative", jointly sponsored by the German Federal Foreign Office (Auswartiges Amt - AA) and the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (Bundesministerium fur Bildung und Forschung BMBF), and is aimed at creating more synergy and joint initiatives with Indian partner organisations and universities for enhancing the academic and research cooperation between the two countries.

Member of Parliament and president of ICCR, Dr Karan Singh, was the chief guest on the occasion, who inaugurated DWIH New Delhi along with Dr Emily Haber, state secretary, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Federal Republic of Germany. DWIH New Delhi's 14 member organisations whose senior representatives were in India to attend the inauguration and pledge their support to the cause included Alexander von Humboldt Foundation (AvH), Deutsche Gesellschaft fur Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ), Fraunhofer Gesellschaft (FhG), Free University Berlin, Forschungszentrum Julich GmbH, German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD), German Research Foundation (DFG), Heidelberg University - Heidelberg Center South Asia, Indo - German Chamber of Commerce (IGCC), Max Planck Society (MPG), RWTH Aachen - Technical University, Technical University Munchen, University of Cologne and University of Gottingen.

According to a press statement, speaking on the inauguration, professor Ing Matthias Kleiner, president, DFG, said: "Amongst all the five German Houses for Research and Innovation in the world, the New Delhi endeavour has attracted the highest number of German research organisations to be an integral part of it. Indian and German researchers have together been at the helm of the most advanced research. One such example is professor Herman Kulke who has been part of research teams that have worked on several aspects of Orissa in a DFG funded project with India partners from humanities, social sciences and other areas. In recognition of his achievements, the Indian Government has awarded him the order of the Padma Shri in 2010. There are countless such examples where India and Germany researchers are together creating wonders. In fact, Germany is the most productive collaborative research partner with India in science and technology, after the USA, and nearly 13% of all Indian publications in international collaboration have been shared with authors from Germany."

According to an analysis recently published by the DFG in cooperation with the renowned Indian researcher in bibliometrics Dr B M Gupta, the overall Indo-German scientific collaboration during 2004-2009 has grown at a remarkable annual average growth rate of 6.8%. Dr Torsten Fischer, the official coordinator of DWIH New Delhi, and also director of the German Research Foundation (DFG India Office) said: "Germany is a hotbed of cutting edge research with its almost 400 universities of which more than half are universities of applied sciences which offer students a more practice-oriented education based on scientific research. In addition, Germany has numerous non-university institutes, companies and Federal as well as State-run, or Lander, institutions. All in all, there are approximately 750 publicly-funded research institutions in Germany, besides the research and development centres run by industrial corporations. With initiatives such as the 'Internationalisation Strategy', the 'High-Tech Strategy 2020' and the 'Excellence Initiative', the Federal Government of Germany is investing more in globalising R&D now than ever before. On the other hand, India has some of the finest research talent in the world. With the inaugural of the DWIH New Delhi we are going to celebrate another milestone for the further enhancement of Indo-German research collaboration."

Meanwhile, professor Jorg Hacker, president of the German National Academy of Sciences and Foreign Fellow of the Indian National Science Academy (INSA) added, "The fact that Germany has been India's long-standing partner in research cooperation is well regarded in the academic and scientific communities. Yet there is a need to create awareness among the common public on the exciting great innovations taking place in Germany. You all know about CERN's role in inventing internet and the research on God particle, but how many of you know that Germany is the largest funding contributor and a founding member of CERN? Or that your favourite audio format, MP3, was invented at a German institution?

The Max Planck Society (MPG) has produced as many as 17 Nobel Prize winners. The world's most sophisticated polar research and supply vessel, Polarstern, which has completed more than 50 expeditions to the Arctic and Antarctic, is also from Germany. With the inauguration of DWIH, New Delhi now becomes part of the 'ivy league' of German science cooperation." The DWIH New Delhi inauguration was followed by the Indo-German Grand Science Slam at the Millennium Indraprastha Park, Sarai Kale Khan, New Delhi, where the audience got a chance to listen to scientific talks by DFG vice president, professor Frank Allgower from Institute for Systems Theory and Automatic Control, University of Stuttgart along with Padma Shri professor N K Gupta of Indian Institute of Technology Delhi and Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize winner professor Sandeep Verma of Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur.

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6-year-old among 4 killed in accidents

NEW DELHI: Four people, including a six-year-old girl, were killed and seven injured in separate road accidents in the capital in last 24 hours.

In the first incident, a 50-year-old auto driver was killed after a speeding Alto, driven by a youth in an inebriated condition, crashed into his auto on Vikas Marg. Police said the deceased has been identified as Surender Mahto. The incident took place around 11pm near Lakshmi nagar traffic signal.

The victim was rushed to the hospital where he was declared brought dead. Three youths who were in the car sustained injuries. Medical tests confirmed they were under the influence of alcohol. A case of causing death and rash driving was registered.

In the second incident, a 60-year-old woman was killed after being hit by a vehicle while crossing the road in Moti Bagh area of south Delhi.

In the third accident, one person was killed while four others injured after their Santro car rammed into a truck in Alipur area of outer Delhi.

In another incident, a sixyear-old girl died after being run over by an RTV in Dabri area of southwest Delhi on Thursday. The deceased, identified as, Gulfasa, was on her way home from the market with her mother, police said.

The RTV driver, Anil, has been arrested and charged with causing death due to negligence and rash driving.

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Digging to start at Mandi House

NEW DELHI: Work on the extension of the Central Secretariat Metro line to Kashmere Gate seems to be getting back on track. On Thursday, the Delhi Metro lowered the tunnel boring machine at the Mandi House construction site, a fillip for the corridor which has seen work slowed down due to the controversy over the Akbarabadi mosque.

"This tunnel boring machine will be assembled beneath the ground before beginning the tunneling towards the upcoming ITO station on the 9.37km long Central Secretariat - Kashmere Gate corridor. The length will be 700m," said the DMRC spokesperson.

The tunnel will open in front of the proposed ITO station, said officials. Work on the heritage line, as the extension is popularly called, has been delayed. Construction of some of stations like Delhi Gate, Jama Masjid and Kashmere Gate is yet to start. The Akbarabadi mosque controversy prevented DMRC from carrying out preliminary work at the site, said officials. Sources said DMRC was hoping the land would be returned to it for construction once the controversy had been settled. "It's a long process, and internally, timelines have already been altered," added the source.

Meanwhile, construction in the Kashmere Gate station is also pending the approval from NMA. Sources said that the expansion of the existing metro station here would be taken up once the entire heritage line gets approval.

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North Corporationn to announce holiday on Chhath

NEW DELHI: After East and South Corporation, the North Corporation is also planning to declare holiday on November 19 on the occasion of Chhath Puja."Keeping in mind the sentiments and population of the Poorvanchalis in the city we are planning to declare holiday on Chhath Puja," said Mhender Nagpal, leader of the House, North Corporation.

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East corporation to set up integrated office complex in wards

NEW DELHI: The East Delhi Municipal Corporation has decided to set up integrated ward level office complex in each of its 64 municipal wards. A representative of every department will be available in the office complex.

"The new offices would have two advantages. While on one hand the ground level staff would now have a place to assemble and report to work, residents in the colonies would also benefit from it as they would not have to visit the zonal offices even for menial jobs," said SS Yadav, Commissioner, East Delhi Municipal Corporation.

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Power 'feeder' for city highrises soon

NEW DELHI/ GURGAON: Haryana will soon launch two key reforms in power distribution in urban areas. The state-owned electricity discoms are to kick off "reliable feeders" for electricity supply to condominiums, other residential and commercial zones in urban areas, particularly in Gurgaon and Faridabad. The second plan is "bulk supply" of power to RWAs at the entry point of residential areas and in this case the residents' bodies would be responsible for internal distribution and bill collection.

While the first proposal is being mooted by the two state-owned discoms, the second one has been proposed by the state electricity regulator. Sources said that the discoms would soon submit their views on this proposal. "Since power distribution infrastructures are already laid inside condominiums and the residents' bodies maintain them, it won't be a bad idea to supply them power from a feeder at the entry points. The billing would be at the bulk supply level and the associations responsible for bill collection cannot charge more than the tariff fixed by the power regulator," a senior Haryana government official said.

Inthe case of "reliable feeder" scheme, chairman and managing director of two state-owned discoms, Devender Singh, said that the average unit cost would be higher by, say, around Rs 7 or Rs 8 per unit. "But there would be at least 95% reliability so far as power supply is concerned. This high cost would be much less than the cost of electricity generated from gensets or even with inverter back-up," he claimed.

At present, some of the condominiums in Gurgaon and Faridabad charge as high as Rs 14 per unit for back-up power supply. Failure on the part of discoms to ensure assured supply would invite penalty. "We have already got requests from residents' welfare associations located on Sohna Road and in South City. Those going for open access scheme would also opt for this," a senior DHBVN official said. Open access scheme means a bulk consumer can purchase power directly from any part of the country and can use the distribution network by paying a certain fee.

Singh said the discoms would take this proposal to the Haryana Electricity Regulatory Commission (HERC) and would invite suggestions and objections from consumers.

He added that after the proposal of handing over power distribution to a private franchisee at the city level failed to take off, now the discoms have prepared a plan to try "feeder level franchisee" where two models would be tried. In the first case, the private players or cooperative societies can take up the entire responsibility of distribution and revenue collection of a particular feeder for a certain years. The second model would only be handing over the responsibility of revenue collection from consumers. "In both the cases, our aim is to reduce losses," Singh said.

At present, while each unit of electricity costs about Rs 7 to the discoms, the average revenue per unit is Rs 4.5.

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JNU’s backward students plan ‘Mahishasur Day’

NEW DELHI: The victory of Goddess Durga over Mahishasur may truly capture the spirit of Vijay Dashmi, but a group of students from Jawaharlal Nehru University believes in a different story. It is planning to observe the 'martyrdom' day of the demon. Despite being served a notice by the university last year and opposed by a right-wing students' body, All India Backward Students' Forum (AIBSF) is planning to observe Mahishasur Day on October 29. Posters are already up.

According to Hindu mythology, demon king Mahishasur was slain by Durga. Students belonging to the forum, however, say that Mahishasur was the ancestor of the tribal, dalit and backward communities in the country and was killed by Aryans with the help of the goddess. They want to launch a campaign against Dussehra, claiming that it amounts to celebrating their ancestors' death.

"We have put up 30 big posters across the campus highlighting that asurs (demons) are still a tribe in Jharkhand. The posters also carry an interview with former Jharkhand chief minister Shibu Soren, who says that he is proud to be an asur," said AIBSF president Jitendra Yadav. But, according to the Forum members, the posters in front of the library and at KC Market Complex were torn for which they blame Hindutva politics. "We will raise the issue before the administration," says Yadav. "This is a free-thinking campus and JNU should not tolerate such intolerance." It was, however, the JNU administration which had served a notice on Yadav last year as other student groups had claimed that he had hurt their religious sentiments.

ABVP's Rashmini Koparkar denies that they had a hand in tearing the posters but adds that they will approach the administration if their religious sentiments are hurt. "If you don't believe in God, that doesn't mean you will hurt others' belief."

Authors, journalists and activists are likely to be a part of the event at JNU on October 29. "Students from Lucknow University and Bhimrao Ambedkar University, Bihar, will join us. Observing the day is a part of the battle for cultural liberty of the Bahujans of India and an expression of their respect for their ancestors," says Yadav. About the date, he adds: "Asurs had mourned King Mahishasur's death on a full moon night and so we have decided to observe his martyrdom day on Sharad Purnima across the country."

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Timely medical aid critical for hit-and-run victims

Over 50 per cent of pedestrian deaths in Delhi this year have been found to be hit-and-run cases.

NEW DELHI: Over 50 per cent of pedestrian deaths in Delhi this year have been found to be hit-and-run cases. Till October 15, three hundred and thirteen pedestrians had died in such cases out of a total of 619 pedestrians deaths. Doctors say that many of these victims could have survived had they been rushed to hospital immediately, but people chose to let a person die, afraid of getting into a legal wrangle.

Cops and hospital authorities, however, insist that those helping accident victims are not harassed.

"While there has been a 20 per cent decline in the number of pedestrians dying in road accidents this year over last year, a large number have died because the car owner chose to run away without attempting to help the victim. Even in cases of other fatal accidents, a sizeable portion - over 37 per cent - comprises hit-and-run cases," said joint commissioner of police (traffic) Satyendra Garg.

About 152 bikers have lost their lives in hit-and-run cases out of 514 people dying this way. As a result, there is a delay in trauma care, which marks the difference between life and death.

"Many of these hit-and-run episodes are at night when there are fewer eyewitnesses and people feel they are free to not take responsibility for their actions," added Garg.

"We have received several accident cases in which there has been considerable delay in hospital admission that has proved fatal. These patients have not arrived within the so-called golden hour when they could have survived. Victims in at least 15 per cent accident cases would survive if there was no such delay," said Dr M C Misra, chief of AIIMS Trauma Centre.

Hospital officials say people who rush accident victims to hospitals are not asked to divulge their details. "We merely ask where the victim was found so that it is easier to identify the patient. People are free to leave after they hand over the victim," said Dr Misra.

Cops, too, insist they don't harass such people. "We advise people to take care of road accident victims and they are not harassed," said additional DCP (crime) and Delhi Police spokesperson Rajan Bhagat.

Times view

Much has been done in terms of changes in rules and procedure to encourage good Samaritans to help accident victims. Unlike in the past, a person taking such a victim to a hospital no longer needs to reveal his or her name and other details. If the fear of getting entangled in needless court cases or bureaucratic hassles at hospitals still remains a dominant theme, it can only be because of lack of awareness about these changes. The police must take note of this fact and launch a sustained campaign to inform citizens about them. Considering that the benefits will be in the form of lives saved, the effort would be well worth it.

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Aya Nagar pond buried under garbage, muck

NEW DELHI: The sight is far from pleasing. Household waste and sewage water have amalgamated into a huge pile of garbage on a two-acre plot. This isn't the description of a landfill site. It's a pond in Aya Nagar that has turned into a dumping ground, owing to continuous neglect on the part of civic authorities. At a time when the capital is witnessing a surge in the number of dengue cases, the area is serving as a breeding ground for mosquitoes.

"It's not really a pond. It's a dumping site. Even sewage water is making its way into it. Three cows died here last week after being trapped in the swamp. We have repeatedly complained to civic authorities but no action has been taken. When we approached South Delhi Municipal Corporation but the agency refused to take responsibility for the mess. Officials said DDA is responsible for the pond's maintenance," said Ved Pal, president, Aya Nagar RWA.

This isn't the only pond in the city dying a slow death. Water bodies across the city are fast disappearing and municipal corporations haven't taken any steps to maintain them despite a high court on the issue. "It is not the corporations' job to maintain water bodies. Either the Delhi government's flood and irrigation department or DDA looks after them," said Mukesh Yadav, director, press and information, South corporation. Interestingly, the erstwhile MCD had earmarked Rs 50 lakh for the upkeep of water bodies in last year's budget.

HC had instructed DDA to take action against private parties which had connected sewer lines to the pond. But, DDA and the corporations have been passing the buck as far as the maintenance of water bodies is concerned. DDA says that all areas which contain water bodies have been transferred to the corporations. "Only lakes fall under DDA's ambit. Smaller water bodies have been given to the corporations," said DDA spokesperson, Neemo Dhar.

Recently, health department officials of one of the corporations found mosquito larvae breeding at a Najafgarh pond. "Many areas lack a proper drainage system. Since sewage enters water bodies they turn into breeding grounds for the insects," said a source.

Times view

The MCD has for a few years now been very meticulous in sending out squads to check for mosquito breeding in private homes. Perhaps it should focus more on ensuring that public spaces are kept free of the menace. Water-logged public spaces and open drains are too common a sight to excite any comment from the capital's residents, but they do provide fertile breeding grounds for all kinds of health hazards. A civic authority that insists on individual citizens maintaining cleanliness in their homes and neighbourhoods carries little credibility if it itself has such a poor record of sanitation.

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Youth jailed for seven years for shooting at rickshawpuller

NEW DELHI: A youth has been sentenced to seven years in jail by a Delhi court for trying to kill a rickshawpuller by opening fire at him for demanding fare.

District judge (DJ) JR Aryan also imposed a fine of Rs 5,000 on northeast Delhi resident Furkan after holding him guilty of attempting to murder 33-year-old Ashok, who died later during the trial of the case.

"Victim (Ashok) in the present case was a rickshawpuller and firearm bullet injury was caused to him by accused (Furkan) when victim demanded rickshaw fare for having carried accused and other two boys in his rickshaw.

"The offence is grave and circumstances in which it has been committed also suggest a depraved brain committed to criminal activity," the court said.

Ashok was shot at his head and was rushed to a hospital from where he was discharged a few days later after his condition turned stable. He was taken to his native place in Uttar Pradesh where he died later during the trial.

The court, however, absolved the accused of the murder charges for want of the evidence that the victim died of the gunshot injury.

"As regards charge under section 302 of the IPC, we do not have any evidence if gunshot suffered by the victim (Ashok) was an ultimate cause for his death as came to be referred from medical reports ... None of the medical reports suggest that condition of the victim had became vulnerable," the judge said.

According to the prosecution, Furkan, along with his two associates, had shot at Ashok in January 2009 after the victim had demanded fare from them for carrying them on his rickshaw.

The court, in its judgement, relied upon the statement of a prosecution witness, who was also an eye-witness to the incident and had told teh court that Furkan along with his two accomplices had shot Ashok in his head and had fled the spot.

The police told the court that one of Furkan's associates, who was a juvenile, was apprehended on the basis of a tip off and during the interrogation he said that he along with Furkan and one of his friends had committed the crime.

Furkan was apprehended by the police in February 2009 in some other criminal case and in the test identification parade (TIP), the eye witness of the incident identified him as the assailant who had shot at Ashok.

During the trial, Furkan denied the allegations against him and said he was picked up by the police from his house and was falsely implicated in the case.

The court, however, after going through the evidence and statement of the prosecution witnesses, convicted him for the offence punishable under section 307 (attempt to murder) of the IPC.

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Youth gets life imprisonment for raping mother

NEW DELHI: A youth has been sentenced to life imprisonment by a Delhi court for raping his mother with the judge saying that he tried to destroy the distinction between a man and an animal with his "heinous" act.

Convict Nand Kishore earlier faced the trial for murdering his father but after he was acquitted of the charges and came out of the jail, he raped his mother early this year, the court noted while sentencing him.

It said the convict does not deserve any mercy and any leniency shown to him would be misplaced as the Supreme Court too has held that any leniency in matters of sexual offences is not only undesirable but also against the public interest.

"Abominable offence committed by the accused (Kishore) is the gravest immoral act and accused deserves no leniency as he had tried to obliterate the line between a man and an animal," additional sessions judge (ASJ) Vijay Kumar Dahiya said.

The court also imposed a fine of Rs 20,000 on the convict and said the amount, if recovered, should be given to the victim as compensation.

According to the prosecution, Kishore had entered his mother's house in an inebriated state on May 3 this year and when she asked her to go away, he said he would also live there and teach her a lesson.

He then raped her and also threatened to kill her if she raised an alarm, the prosecution said adding that later the woman locked Kishore in her house and called the police.

The woman told the court that Kishore, her younger son, had earlier been sent to jail for allegedly murdering her husband and when he was released from the jail, she had not allowed him to stay in her house.

She also said Kishore was addicted to alcohol and drugs and his wife had also left him due to harassment done by him.

Kishore had sought leniency on the ground that he was young and has two children to look after and was also the sole bread earner for his family.

The prosecutor, however, had sought maximum punishment for him saying he had raped his own mother and if he is given a lesser sentence, it will lead to deterioration of moral values in the society.

While sentencing Kishore, the court said the offence committed by him is "too heinous" and he does not deserve any leniency.

"The offence committed by the convict is more serious in nature and he, in total disregard to moral and social values, went on ruining her life by committing immoral act of the highest order.

"It is evident that the convict treated the victim (his mother) only as an object to fulfil his sexual desire," the court said.

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Winning themes celebrate culture, sport

NEW DELHI: As Delhi prepares to bid farewell to the goddess , the festive spirit lingers on . The past four days saw communities from all parts of the capital come together to celebrate Maa Durga's victory over evil .

Durga Puja festivities this year coincide with renowned Bengali painter Jamini Roy's 125th birth anniversary , and organizers of the Milani Cultural and Welfare Association , Mayur Vihar , chose to pay tribute to him through their pandal .

A majority of Jamini Roy's works , inspired by the Kalighat patachitra style of painting , have been replicated inside the pandal ; these include women figures with children , animals , excerpts from Ramayana , Mahabharata and many other mythological stories . Some of the paintings have been made on sara (earthen plates ) and the idol too has been depicted on a sara . The pandal is a replica of his residence at Beliatore in Bankura which has now been converted into a museum .

"It took us about a month to do the paintings . We chose this theme because even though Jamini Roy's paintings reflect the real spirit of rural Bengal , his birth anniversary has not been celebrated widely . We have tried to emulate his signature style of making large eyes that almost seem to come out of the frame on both human and animal figures ," said Aniruddha Sarkar , one of the artists , adding that it took six professional painters to make the pandal and idol. Organizers also said the pandal is one of two in the country that are dedicated to Jamini Roy , the other one being in Kolkata .

The end result is a vibrant pandal that celebrates Bengali culture , and judges for TOI's best pandal contest , Durga Devi Namastute , awarded it the first prize after visiting 21 of the city's best pandals over Saptami and Ashtami . The judges - artist Sudip Roy and cartoonist Udayshankar - gave the second prize to Matri Mandir (Sarbojanin Durga Puja Samity ) in Safdarjung Enclave , and the third prize to Sarbojanin Puja Samiti in D Block, CR Park . The winner got a prize of Rs 1 lakh , first runner up Rs 31,000, and second runner up Rs 21,000.

The Matri Mandir pandal has adopted a theme which is based on 2012 London Olympics ,and celebrates India's best-ever Olympic performance . At the entrance are models of the five winners with their medals , and inside are cutouts of Olympic sports and the five rings , and a mini version of Tower Bridge . The D block pandal themed theirs on the interiors of Bengal and Tripura , and used material like wicker , ice cream spoons , and eco friendly paints to decorate .

Apart from naming the three best overall pandals , the contest also awarded the best zonal idols - Vasundhara Enclave Puja Samiti from east zone including Ghaziabad and Noida , Bangiya Parishad from Gurgaon , Paschim Vihar Bengali Association from west zone, Suraj Kund Bagiya Samaj from south zone including Faridabad , and Delhi Rohini Puja Samiti from north zone .

Amid big and elaborate idols, the ones at Gurgaon stood out for their minimalism . Since the entire pandal was inspired by a village setting , the organizers said they wanted to extend that simplicity to the idols as well. On the contrary , the Surajkund idols stood out for the 3D effect they had created .

The prize for the best green pandal went to Co-operative Ground Durga Puja Samity in CR Park , which was based on the primitive art of bamboo painting from Bankura . Organizers brought in artists from the region to paint men in turbans , and women figures on bamboo , who took about 25 days to complete . All the zonal idols winners , and the green pandal winner received a prize of Rs 11,000. Many smaller pandals recreated the warm atmosphere of a home puja (barir pujo ) and had traditional idols in Ek chala with sholar saaj (thermocol decoration ) and daker saaj (silver foil decoration ).

There is, however , more to Durga Puja than the beautifully decorated pandals , and like any festival , it is incomplete without food. Apart from the bhog offered at pandals , they all had a separate area where many food chains set up their stalls - Mughlai dishes like biryani, tikkas, and kebabs; mutton , chicken , paneer , and egg kathi rolls ; sweets like kulfi and kala khatta; pakodas and fish cutlets; and even simpler fare like dal and chholey could be found at the pandals . People were seen eating phuchkas (golgappas), jhalmuri (puffed rice ) and gorging on traditional Bengali sweets like rosogolla and sandesh.

Adding to the festivities were cultural programmes , competitions for children , and games like charades and antakshari .

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Storm brings down effigies before D-Day

NEW DELHI: It will take some serious shelling to slay the Dussehra demons today . While Tuesday's storm and rain weakened the newly hoisted rakshasa warriors - discolouring , disfiguring and even maiming them - they also made them proof against the fiery attacks of Rama and Lakshmana . Worried Ramlila organizers had to call in firepower reserves - dry grass and more crackers - to ensure that the Dussehra finale does not turn into a washout .

"We have increased the number of firecracker bombs used to burn the effigies from 6,000 to 10,000. Also, lots of dry grass is being stuffed into the giant structures so that they burn easily . There will be no problem at all ," said Arjun Kumar , president of the Luv-Kush Ramlila Committee near Red Fort .

The storm brought down giant effigies of Ravana at many places on Tuesday . In some cases , embellishments , including crown , armour and dress , of the 80-90 feet tall 10-headed demon were lost.

Kumar said Ravana's nose blew off during the dust storm , and his clothes made of cardboard , colorful paper and sacks got disfigured at some points . "There are still 24 hours left for the final celebrations and we are confident that things will be in order by then ," he said .

Ravi Jain , press secretary of Dharmik Lila Committee in Subhash Park , where the finale will be attended by the President and PM, among others , said one of the effigies had tilted in the dust storm . "It's a minor problem . We will sort it out."

In Subhash Nagar , west Delhi, also an effigy listed and cranes had to be called in to provide support . Rajiv Behel, head of the puja committee in Subhash Nagar , said the storm tore off the arms of the effigy .

"The bamboo scaffolding of the 90-foot structure also tilted completely and we had to provide it support . Despite that , it fell down and now we are waging a war to get it up for Wednesday's celebration ," he said .

Similar problems were reported from scores of other committees planning grand Dussehra celebrations .

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Squall hits traffic, more jams today

NEW DELHI: Massive jams were reported from many areas on Tuesday evening after a brief squall enveloped the city, followed by heavy rain. Vehicles crawled on waterlogged roads in south Delhi and other places. More congestion is expected on Dussehra because of Ramlila and Durga Puja processions.

Office goers took longer to reach home on Monday evening as vehicular movement was affected at major intersections. Traffic cops advised commuters to avoid Outer Ring Road stretches near CR Park and Greater Kailash due to the large number of devotees visiting these areas. Jams lasting three hours were reported from East of Kailash, Kailash Colony, towards Modi Mill, Ashram, CR Park, Greater Kailash and Mool Chand in south Delhi. Even Nigambodh Ghat area, ISBT, Karol Bagh and New Delhi railway station area witnessed snarls.

On Wednesday, traffic congestion is expected around Red Fort grounds, Parade grounds, near Old Delhi Railway Station, Wazirabad Sur Ghat, Chhath Puja Ghat at IP Estate and the eastern side of Yamuna pustas and thokars. "Several traffic diversions will be in place when the processions are heading towards Yamuna ghats," said JCP (traffic) Satyendra Garg.

Shri Ram Lila Committee of Ramlila Maidan will start the procession around 4pm from Ram Mandir at Ramchandra Dehlvi Marg to Ramlila ground via Dariba Kalan, Gurdwara Sisganj, Chandni Chowk Nai Sarak, Chawri Bazar, Ajmeri Gate and Asaf Ali Road. The Joint Durga Puja Procession Committee of Kali Bari Mandir will take idols for immersion to Qudsia Ghat on the Yamuna near Kashmere Gate ISBT. The procession will pass through places in central Delhi.

Processions from CR Park, RK Puram, GK-II and other south Delhi colonies will assemble at Nehru Place and move towards Kalindi Kunj via CR Park, Okhla flyover, Mathura Road, Apollo Hospital and Sarita Vihar. Other vehicles will not be allowed to use Netaji Subhash Marg, Nishad Raj Marg, JLN Marg and Turkman Gate during this time, said cops.

"No goods vehicles will be permitted to ply on Ring Road between Wazirabad and Nizamuddin Bridge from 11am to 10pm," said Garg.

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Immersion of idols continues on choking Yamuna

Statistics say at least 200 idols are immersed from Kalindi Kunj.

NEW DELHI: Hundreds of idols of Goddess Durga were Wednesday immersed in Yamuna river from a bank near a bird sanctuary and park in the national capital, choking the dying river further and raising concerns over upsetting the area's ecological balance.

Since afternoon of Mahadashami -- the final day of the five-day Durga Puja -- more than 100 trucks, packed with devotees, had lined up along the riverbank in Kalindi Kunj to immerse idols of Goddesses Durga, Laxmi and Saraswati and Lords Ganesha and Kartik.

The clay idols were being towed towards the river by three cranes at strategic locations on the river's edge. Beats of drums and cries of "Jai Mata Di" rented the air. Throngs of devotees smeared with coloured powder were dancing in a frenzy.

Several checks such as recycling projects and removal of polluting waste from the clay idols had been put in place to stop the flow of effluents into the river. But nothing seemed enough.

Kalindi Kunj is near a bird sanctuary and a park full of trees overlooking a river choking with chemical foam and sedimented islets.

Statistics say at least 200 idols are immersed from Kalindi Kunj.

The capital has three more such immersion sites for 760 registered Durga idols -- Geeta Ghat, Kudsia Ghat and Jagatpur.

"Multiply the 760 with four idols of Goddess Durga's children and you have nearly 3,000 idols going into the river in a day," said Madhumita Puri, who collects ceremonial flowers from the sites under a 'Trash to Cash' recycling project.

"This year, the administration has erected two enclosures to collect floral and non-biodegradable waste for recycling. We have thrown all the flowers, pots, textiles clothing and accessories of the idols there," Arun Chowdhury Thakur, a member of the Mayur Vihar Phase III Durga Puja committee, told IANS.

He pointed to a red marquee along an elevated ledge on the bank littered with rotting flowers and ritual waste.

Chowdhury Thakur is alarmed by the sight of the frothing river and its toxic overload.

"We are not eco-friendly. We immerse the idol as it is with the bamboo frame. This has been the tradition for 13 years," he said.

N.K. Thakur of the Palam Vihar Durga Puja committee, said: "Something must be done to save the river. We do not want to immerse the bamboo frames henceforth".

Shankar Roy Chowdhury from Dakshin Puri said the immersion points have to be relocated further down the river outside the city limits.

"We have approached the government for new immersion points, but it is sitting on the demand," he told IANS.

A government estimate says 19 sewer channels drain urban waste into the river at various points in the capital and NCR.

A study of The Energy and Resources Institute says toxins from the river have entered the groundwater along the riverbank and affected vegetation.

This year, the environment ministry and irrigation ministry have told the municipal corporations to clean up Kalindi Kunj within a week of immersion, Assistant Commissioner of Police Vipin Kumar Nayyar said.

"There are four rescue boats, 300 policemen and four watch-towers to monitor activity at the immersion point," he told IANS.

But it is a tough task to clean up the river, he said, looking at the polluted river amid the show of faith.

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New age Ravana wired up to meet fiery end at finale

In the end , Ravana always goes out like an oil depot on fire - bam , bam , bam - without a show of suffering. But this time , the demon's end will be markedly more human , and satisfying, with cries , shrieks and a frame writhing in the agony of death . Some of the bigger Ramlilas in town have managed to turn the traditional 'effigy' of the last few thousand years into a robot fit for the 21st century using electronics and some mechanical engineering .

"As soon as the arrow hits Ravana's stomach , flames will burst out of his mouth , his eyes will spin and drip tears of milk . Both ears will also move ," says Arjun Kumar , president of the Luv-Kush Ramlila Committee , adding , "The sword in his hand will also move with the arm and the gemstones around his neck will change colour . All these effects will be accompanied with a loud screaming ." To produce the special effects, the 120-foot effigy has been wired up to a computer and an audio player while ball bearings have been used in the construction for the first time . Some gizmos have also been used in the effigies of Kumbhkarna and Meghnad that stand 100 and 80 feet tall .

Kumar said around 10,000 crackers will have to be fitted in the effigy to make it burn completely . Former President Pratibha Patil and human resources development minister Kapil Sibal are likely to attend the Luv-Kush Ramlila Committee's celebrations .

Ravi Jain , press secretary of the Shri Dharmik Lila Committee that organizes a Ramlila opposite Red Fort grounds said President Pranab Mukherjee , PM Manmohan Singh and UPA chief Sonia Gandhi are likely to attend their celebrations .

Satyadev Goyal , president of Shri Ramlila Committee , Punjabi Bagh said the burning of effigies in their area will be preceded by a procession in which actors playing Rama , Ravana and Sita will participate . Ten music bands , horses and elephants will accompany them .

"When the procession reaches the main ground around 4pm, there will be a Rama-R avana battle . After that , we will burn the effigies . Lord Rama will aim his arrow at Ravana , and when he pulls the bowstring , a button will switch on . Ravana will burn on being hit by the electric arrow ," he said .

Preparations across the city were hit by rain and strong winds on Tuesday . Some of the effigies required serious repairs . But the organizers claimed everything will be in order on Wednesday .

At IP Extension , the organizers have selected conspicuous consumption as the fourth demon by voting . "From FDI in retail , corruption , showing off and electricity bills, most respondents (32%) picked showing off as a new age Ravana ," said an organizer

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West Delhi businessman's son kidnapped, cops suspect help

NEW DELHI: The eight-year-old son of a west Delhi businessman was reported kidnapped on Sunday afternoon. Police said the family had received six ransom calls by Monday noon, and the kidnappers were demanding Rs 50 lakh for the child's safe release.

The businessman's domestic help (name withheld), who is also missing, is the prime suspect, police say. A male friend of the help is also suspected. The man is learnt to have a criminal record and met the help at her sister's residence in Noida. The maid has two children but is reportedly separated from her husband.

Several teams are working in tandem, raiding places in Uttar Pradesh to rescue the child. Senior officers have refused to comment on the case.

Sources said the businessman had employed a maid without police verification a few weeks ago to take care of the child, a student of Class III in a private school. As the child warmed to the maid, the family also came to trust her. Her verification was not done as her mother had earlier worked with the family.

A source said the businessman's son threw a tantrum for a carrom board on Sunday morning and the maid took him out with his parents' permission to the market but never returned. By afternoon, the worried parents started a search around the house and in the market with the help of their relatives and neighbours. All attempts to call the maid were in vain. The police were informed and they launched a search on the basis of information provided by the businessman.

Later, the businessman received a call from an unidentified man who claimed to be holding the child and demanded Rs 50 lakh for his safe release. He threatened to kill the child if police were informed.

A case of kidnapping has been registered at the Janakpuri police station and 12 teams have been formed for the search. Police have asked the parents to buy time and negotiate with the kidnapper so that the location of the phone can be pinpointed. The cell phone's location has been determined as a town in Uttar Pradesh and several police teams have rushed there.

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RWAs: Not much to gain from move

NEW DELHI: The power regulator's attempt to appease consumers by slashing the 0-400 unit slab has failed to impress many. Unhappy with the new order, many RWAs continued to demand a complete rollback of the tariff hike and a CAG audit into discoms' accounts.

Terming DERC's decision ridiculous, an activist from Greater Kailash, M K Gupta, said it would only bring relief to a handful of consumers. "Only a small section of people who consume between 201and 350 units of electricity will be benefitted. For those with more usage, the the percentage decrease in bills will be too insignificant," he said.

Akriti Anand from East of Kailash said that by increasing the slab rate for the 201-400 unit category from Rs 4.8 to Rs 5.5, DERC has nullified the benefit that consumers would have gained with the restoration of the original slab system. "This looks like a conciliatory move. There is not much to gain," she said.

Social groups and RWAs have been demanding a rollback in the power tariff hike since it was announced in June. GK-I RWA member Rajiv Kakria called the move DERC's "clumsy attempt to rectify its mistake". "It's time to wind up DERC. Money thus saved, alone, will give more relief to the consumers reeling under the impact of arbitrarily hiked tariffs over the past 10 months," said Kakria.

Calling the order an eyewash, Atul Goel of URJA, a social group, said, "If power thefts have gone down drastically why does tariff have to be increased. We were told that the tariff won't go up after privatization and discoms will make money by recovering losses. But tariff is consistently being increased," rued Geol.

A protest against the tariff hike had turned ugly on October 8, the day DERC decided to hold a public hearing to discuss the matter. While political activists had held DERC chief P D Sudhakar hostage for an hour, RWA members had waived black scarves at members of the Commission.

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Victory 'partial', India Against Corruption not satisfied

NEW DELHI: Terming DERC's power tariff adjustments "nominal" and "cosmetic", Arvind Kejriwal-led India Against Corruption on Monday announced a door-to-door campaign for a complete rollback from November. Although it described the tariff announcement as a "partial victory of the people's agitation", IAC promised to keep up the pressure on the government.

The main opposition party, BJP, too, will hit the roads to intensify its agitation against the government on the issues of power tariff, inflation and corruption.

"People of Delhi have been fighting against the tariff hike. This tariff adjustment is a partial victory for them. The struggle will go on as part of the Bijli Satyagraha till the tariff is rolled back to the old rates," Kejriwal said.

"The tariff adjustment shows the government seems to have given in to the pressure of the people. But at the same time, it seems to be under more pressure from the discoms as the tariff adjustment is best described as nominal and cosmetic," Kejriwal said, adding members of the ward committees being constituted by the IAC will go door-to-door to inform people about tariff related issues.

IAC member Manish Sisodia said the DERC order was just a pacifier. "We want chief minister Sheila Dikshit to order a CAG audit into the power issue. Till the state seeks an audit, CAG cannot take up the matter."

Delhi BJP president Vijender Gupta said the adjustment in tariff is hardly a relief. "We have been protesting against the tariff hike and will now intensify the agitation. On Dussehra, we will burn effigies of power bills, inflation and corruption under the Congress-led governments at the Centre and the state. Our protests on power will continue till November 30."

Former union minister Vijay Goel alleged the CM was using DERC to mislead the people of Delhi. "The tariff adjustment is an eyewash and offers little relief to consumers across the board. The BJP has decided to step up protests, and RWAs and the people of Delhi will join hands to demand a rollback," Goel added.

Distancing herself from the tariff adjustment order, the chief minister said the tariff was decided by the DERC and not Delhi government. "It is always DERC which sets the tariff. Anyone can go to DERC and give their views. Even India Against Corruption could have gone to DERC," said Dikshit, reacting sharply to allegations by BJP and IAC that the state government was the key player in tariff fixation.

Refusing to comment on the contents of the order, she said, "We are still to see the order and will react only after thoroughly examining it. Let us see what DERC has said. The government will take action accordingly."

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Thunderstorm, heavy rains in Delhi

NEW DELHI: Darkness engulfed the capital this afternoon as thunderstorm and squall followed by heavy rains caught commuters, hoping to reach home early, off-guard.

Earlier sun shone brightly during the morning hours, but a little after 2.30 PM it gave way to darkness. Drivers turned on vehicle headlights and people began running for cover from the thunderstorm.

The squall and thunderstorm were followed by rains affecting vehicular movement in major intersections and delayed the departure of many people who were planning to get home early to celebrate Dussehra.

The MeT department attributed the sudden rains and thunderstorm to the western disturbance and said the development was on expected lines.

"This was due to western disturbance and we had forecast the development. There will be rains. This development is not sudden," a MeT department official said.

The Weather office forecast says the western disturbance as an upper air cyclonic circulation over eastern parts of Jammu and Kashmir has moved away northeastwards.

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Juvenile justice in Manipur suspended because of corruption

NEW DELHI: The Asian Centre for Human Rights (ACHR) in its latest report, 'Manipur: Juvenile justice suspended' released on Monday claimed that juvenile justice has been suspended in Manipur by the ministry of women and child development because of corruption and misuse of the resources. The State government of Manipur claimed that the Juvenile Justice Boards (JJBs) have been set up in all nine districts and the project approval board (PAB) for the Integrated Child Protection Scheme (ICPS) of the ministry of women and child development in its 14 thmeeting on February 22, 2011 approved grants for nine JJBs. However, as the state government failed to establish the JJBs, the PAB in its 35 thMeeting held on January 17, 2012 had no other option but to stop funding to the JJBs for the current Financial Year 2012-2013.

"The service delivery for institutional care is an astounding case of total misuse of resources. For the first year grant under the IPCS i.e. for 2009-2010, the complete grant was shown to have been utilized by the government even though no staff has been appointed to State Project Support Unit, State Child Protection Society (SCPS) etc. The officials of the state government informed that 'equipment has been purchased in advance". It is clear that the funds provided for providing services to children have been diverted for equipments! If that was not enough, the entire grant received under ICPS for 2010-11 too has been claimed to be utilised, even though no staff has been appointed to SCPS, district child protection units (DCPU) and State Adoption Resource Agency (SARA)," said Suhas Chakma, director of ACHR.

The Manipur Government claimed that there are more than 3,000 children in the State who are affected by armed conflict, ethnic clashes, orphan children and children living with HIV/AIDS. The situations of the Children Homes are far from being satisfactory. Given that no Inspection Committee has been set up as required under the JJ (C&PC) Act, the situations in the homes established under the Act remain deplorable.

In a press statement, ACHR stated that the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act prevails over any other national security legislation including the Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA), 1958. However, the Central security forces do not have any knowledge about the JJ(C&PC) Act and children have been regularly apprehended, detained and subjected to torture while many were killed in fake encounters in clear violations of the JJ(C&PC) Act. The report cited 14 cases of extra-judicial execution of children by the Central and the State security forces.

In the entire state, there is only one Government run observation cum special home at Takyelpat in capital Imphal whereas the Army and para-military forces are deployed all over the State. This indicates that children who are apprehended by the Army and para-military forces are not produced before the Juvenile Justice Boards and Observation Homes but detained in their camps and in the best circumstances sent to the police lock up or prisons. NCHR observed that the state government has constituted Special Juvenile Police Units only on paper, as their functioning remained confined to mere notification.

There are reports of ill treatment of children in the Children Homes. On September 15, 2011, eight inmates of Destitute Children Home run by Leprosy Patients' Welfare Society (LEWS) at Chingmeirong Lei-Inkhol in Imphal East district fled after allegedly being subjected to ill treatment by owner of the Home. The inmates, all under 12 years, fled in the wee hours, as they could not bear the ill treatment. The government confirmed to the ACHR that the inmates of this Home were transferred to a government institution due to a complaint lodged against the Home. But no action under the JJ(C&PC) Act was taken against the accused.

Further, in the absence of adequate Homes, children in need of care and protection have to be kept in a building attached to the observation cum special home at Takyelpat in Imphal. Presently, at least 21 children in need of care and protection have been kept in a separate building in the Government Observation cum Special Home at Takyelpat in Imphal until further arrangement is found for them. These children in need of care and protection were shifted from the Children Home in Imphal East district.

ACHR in its report recommended to the state government to issue a direction to the Army and para-military forces who are legally bound to operate in aid of and under the civil administration to ensure full respect and compliance with the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2000 while dealing with children; operationalise the existing Special Juvenile Police Units, Juvenile Justice Boards and the Inspection Committees in letter and spirit and provide updated information on the website of the Social Welfare Department to ensure transparency, accountability and accessibility; provide adequate human and financial resources to the JJBs and Inspection Committees and the Child Welfare Committees; register a case under the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2000 with respect to ill-treatment of children at Children Homes' including in the Destitute Children Homes run by the Leprosy Patients' Welfare Society (LEWS); establish at least one Juvenile Observation Home and one Special Home in each district of Manipur; and conduct training programme for the judges appointed under the State Judicial Services on the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2000.

ACHR also recommended to the Ministry of Women and Child Development to conduct an inquiry into the misuse of resources for purposes other than stipulated including non-appointment of the staffs under the IPCS; develop guidelines to provide that the IPCS funds are "not diverted and non-lapsable"; conduct a field investigation following submission of reports by the state government about the constitution of the Juvenile Justice Boards before approval of further grants; direct the state government to establish at least one Juvenile Observation Home and one Special Home in each district of Manipur; and direct the state government to conduct training programme for the judges appointed under the State Judicial Services on the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2000.

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