CMYK

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DELHI, MONDAY, MAY 11, 2015

Printed at Chennai, Coimbatore, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Madurai, Noida, Visakhapatnam, Thiruvananthapuram, Kochi, Vijayawada, Mangaluru, Tiruchirapalli, Kolkata, Hubballi, Mohali, Allahabad and Malappuram

Regd. DL(ND)-11/6110/2006-07-08 RNI No. TNENG/2012/49940 ISSN 0971 - 751X Vol. 5 No. 111 CITY EDITION 20 Pages Rs. 8.00 www.thehindu.in

PERSPECTIVE | PAGE 9

A BOOST TO TIESThe ratification of the India-BangladeshLand Boundary Agreement will help toexpand bilateral ties, writes retireddiplomat Jayant Prasad in a specialarticle for The Hindu.

NATIONAL | PAGE 11

ACTOR ALLEGES ATTACKANANTAPUR: Actor Neetu Agarwal,accused of involvement in thesmuggling of red sanders, hasaccused a man of attacking her.

NATIONAL | PAGE 11

LION NUMBERS UP IN GIRGIR: The number of Asiatic lions in the Gir sanctuary and thenearby areas has gone up to 523 from 411 in 2010.

SPORTS | PAGE 15

ROSBERG REIGNS SUPREME BARCELONA: Nico Rosberg endedLewis Hamiltons winning streak inFormula One in a near-flawlessvictory in the Spanish Grand Prix.

OPEN SECRET EXPOSED Analysis of data reveals engineering colleges across the country share faculty

BURNPUR (WEST BENGAL): Ob-serving that eastern Stateshave remained neglected,Prime Minister NarendraModi, on the second day ofhis visit to West Bengal onSunday, said these Stateshave to be strengthened ifIndia is to progress.

He also emphasised thatwithout Team India, Hin-dustan cannot progress.

Team Indianeeded forprogress: ModiIndrani Dutta

CALLS FOR FEDERALISM | PAGE 10

NEW DELHI: The BJP-led NDAgovernment is set to moveforward on the question ofgranting citizenship to Hin-du immigrants from Bangla-desh and is expected tosubmit a policy document tothe Supreme Court soon.

The document, being for-mulated by the Home Minis-try, will decide the fate of

thousands of BangladeshiHindus living in 18 States.

The Centre is expected tosubmit the document in re-sponse to a case filed in 2012by two NGOs, Swajan and Bi-malangshu Roy Foundation,which pleaded that Hindusand persons of other minor-ities from Bangladesh mi-grating to India to escapereligious persecution mustnot be bracketed with illegalmigrants and sent back.

According to the AssamAccord, all persons whocrossed over from Bangla-desh after 1971 are to be de-ported.

Refugee status

The petitions demandedgrant of refugee status tothese persons, which could

later be converted to citizen-ship. It was made clear thatthe focus of the case was onAssam where animosity to-wards refugees from Bangla-desh is a strong politicalissue.

However, in July 2013, theSupreme Court made thecase into a national issue the Bench hearing the casemade 18 States a party to it,observing that the problem of

religious minorities comingfrom Bangladesh to India wasnot confined to Assam alone.The UPA government wascareful to go slow on the casesince it involved the questionof granting rights on the basisof religion. The files showthat since 2012, the govern-ment had not filed any offi-cial response to the petitionand had not even sent a law-yer to attend the hearings.

Since the NDA came topower in May last year, it hasproactively followed the caseand, in the words of one ofthe lawyers involved, madeemphatic assurances that itwould resolve the matter.

Will submit policydocument soon toSupreme Court

Jayant Sriram

Govt. set to grant citizenshipto Hindus from Bangladesh

The previous UPAgovernment wentslow on the case as itinvolved the questionof granting rights onthe basis of religion

EXCLUSIVE

HOME MINISTRY UNCLEAR OVERGUIDELINES | PAGE 10

NEW DELHI: It has long been anopen secret that engineeringcolleges share faculty mem-bers to meet official norms;now there is data to prove it.Official data from eight majorStates shows that over 90 percent of engineering collegeshave at least one teacherwhose name also features onthe rolls of another college,and there are at least 50,000such duplicate teachers.

All accredited engineeringcolleges must submit to the AllIndia Council for TechnicalEducation (AICTE) the namesof their faculty members, andcolleges are not supposed toshare faculty.

Open data campaigner Ra-kesh Reddy Dubbudu and histeam at the public data websiteFactly downloaded facultydata from the AICTE site foreight States and searched themfor duplicates. They sharedtheir findings with The Hindu.

In Andhra Pradesh and Te-langana, nearly 8,000 nameswere repeated across more

than one college, Mr. Dubbuduand his team found, whichmeant that a quarter of the to-tal engineering faculty in theStates consisted of duplicatenames. In all, nearly 90 percent of the over 1,500 accred-ited engineering colleges in theStates had at least one dupli-cate teacher on their faculty.

8,000 repeats in TN

In Tamil Nadu, over a fifth ofall faculty names were repeat-ed and over 8,000 teachers

seemed to be working in morethan one college. In Maharash-tra, over a quarter of all facultynames consisted of repetitionsand over 95 per cent of colleges

had at least one such dupli-cate teacher. In all, nearly8,000 teachers in the Statewere present in the lists ofmultiple colleges faculty lists.

In Uttar Pradesh, over halfof faculty names consisted of

repetitions, while in Odisha itwas 40 per cent. Every engi-neering college in the twoStates had at least one suchrepetition. Over 2,500 facultymembers in Odisha and over8,000 in U.P. were named inmultiple colleges.

In Gujarat, over 2,000teachers names were found inmore than one college, while inKarnataka had 3,000 such 'du-plicate' teachers. Over 97 percent of colleges in Gujarat hadat least one duplicate name

while in Karnataka it was over92 per cent.

AICTE silent

Neither the colleges nor theAICTE could offer an explana-tion. Despite phone calls andan emailed questionnaire, noAICTE official responded toThe Hindus questions.

Even accounting for theprobability of some peoplesharing the same name, the da-ta, Mr. Dubbudu said, showedthat norms were being fla-grantly violated. If people likeus can find these trends usingdata on AICTE website, I amsure it is far easier for AICTEto find this out if they are will-ing to, he said. The findingsbuild a case for greater publicaccess to official data, he said.

In Tamil Nadus Kanyaku-mari district, KNSK College ofEngineering at Therekalputh-oor and NSK Polytechnic Col-lege at Chenbagaramanpudurshare 11 faculty members. Yet,Dr. K. Thanappan, chairman ofthe Vellalar Trust running theinstitutions, says it is a falseallegation.

(With inputs fromR. Ravikanth Reddy in

Hyderabad, S. SandeepKumar in Vijayawada and R.Arivanantham in Nagercoil)

Eight majorStates werestudied bycampaignersRukmini S.

Names of over 50,000 teachers figure on rolls of more than one institution

INVESTIGATION

COLLEGES AT A LOSS | PAGE 10

REPORTS ON PAGE 11

METRO PLUS 4 Pages

MUMBAI: Shashi Kapoor anactor par excellence, the manwho brought Hollywood andHindi cinema closer, a direc-tor who was always affable onthe sets and yet a stickler fordiscipline.

Tributes flowed for the vet-eran actor-filmmaker, whoreceived the Dada SahebPhalke award from Union In-formation and BroadcastingMinster Arun Jaitley at thePrithvi Theatre here on Sun-day. Ill-health had preventedKapoor from attending theofficial ceremony in Delhi.

Applause filled the PrithviTheatre when the 77-year-old actor came to the dais onwith children Sanjana andKunal.

Fellow actors, includingnephew Rishi Kapoor and su-perstar Amitabh Bachchan,shared their memories. TheUnion Minister led the gath-ering in showering tributeson the thespian who began asa child artist in the 1940s.

Shashi Kapoor is un-

doubtedly a versatile person-ality Indian cinema has everproduced, said Mr. Jaitley.

Mr. Rishi Kapoor said hisuncle was the third in the Ka-poor clan to receive the

Phalke award after PrithviRaj Kapoor and Raj Kapoor.This prompted Mr. Jaitley toquip: The way the family isproducing talent, I am surethis is not the last one.

Shubhomoy Sikdar

Third Phalke for the Kapoor family

UTSAV TIME: Shashi Kapoor poses for a selfie with actors Neetu Singh, Karisma Kapoor, RanbirKapoor and Rekha after receiving the DadasahebPhalke Award in Mumbai on Sunday. PHOTO: PTI

NEW DELHI: The Aam AadmiParty-led Delhi Governmentcame under strong criticismfrom political parties here onSunday after it gave its De-partments the go-ahead toseek legal recourse againstnews items with defamatoryimputations against the ChiefMinister.

Terming the circular, is-sued by the Directorate of In-formation and Publicity(DIP) on May 6, a result ofrepeated exposures bymedia of the Arvind KejriwalGovernments misdeeds, theBharatiya Janata Party (BJP)accused the Chief Minister ofbeing a hypocrite.

He talks about unfetteredfreedom of speech but hewants everyone elses throatto be throttled. This is theheight of hypocrisy, BJPspokesperson G.V.L .Narsim-ha Rao said.

Delhi Congress chief AjayMaken termed the circularvirtual censorship, addingthat it was not only an attackon the media but also ondemocracy.

As soon as his party cameto power, he had stoppedmedias entry in the building(the Delhi Secretariat). Heshould not have a problemwith the media as his partycame to power with theirhelp, Mr. Maken said.

According to the circular, if

as per the opinion of the Di-rector (prosecution), an of-fence of defamation is madeout in relation to any newsitem whether aired or pub-lished, the Principal Secreta-ry will refer the matter to theLaw Department and obtainthe sanction under Section199 (4) of the Criminal Proce-dure Code (Cr.PC).

After the sanction is ob-tained, the Home Depart-ment will forward the case tothe public prosecutor formaking a complaint underSection 199(2) of the Cr.PC.The move comes days afterthe Delhi Government issuedan order for close monitoringof all news channels.

There are laws that punish

defamation, but to start a spe-cial drive against the media isa subtle intimidation. Inde-pendent and active media isessential for democracy, andthe media knows that irre-sponsible reporting can leadto a loss of credibility forthem, said D Raja, CPI leaderand Member of Parliament.

A senior Government offi-cial, however, said the circu-lar was a reiteration ofexisting rules. The said cir-cular is an internal communi-cation and is not a new rule orlaw which has been enactedby the Government; there isnothing more to be added toit, said a spokesperson.

Parties slam AAP Govt. over circular Staff Reporter

MORE REPORTS | PAGE 5

NEW DELHI: A 42-year-old Del-hi Transport Corporation(DTC) bus driver died afterbeing mercilessly thrashed bya motorcyclist in an apparentcase of road rage reported inWest Delhis Mundka on Sun-day morning.

The police said the assaultwas triggered after the moth-er of the accused suffered in-juries when the motorcyclewas hit by the bus.

The incident led to angrybus drivers and conductorsstaging protests in the cityand threatening a strike onMonday.

According to the police, theaccused motorcyclist pound-ed the bus driver, identified asAshok Kumar, with his hel-met.

Road rage:DTC driverbeaten to deathStaff Reporter

DETAILS | PAGE 3

NEW DELHI: Around four yearsago, Lakshya Kaura, then aClass VII student, wouldspend hours browsing vid-eos on YouTube just likeother children his age.

Unlike most childrenhowever, Lakshya was spe-cifically looking for videosshowing chemistry experi-ments conducted in a funway.

Despite his mothers con-cerns about damage and hismarks, he formed a chem-istry club in his neighbour-hood. Under the guidance ofa mentor, the club met everyweekend to conduct experi-ments and learn.

The I-Cube Science Clubsoon turned into a socialventure that reached out toschools in semi-urban andrural areas of Haryana andKarnataka.

In 2013, the club caughtthe attention of Block Ele-mentary Education officerAnita Sharma, who allowedit entry into all the primaryschools under her.

The club now trainsteachers and students in 49primary schools and 24 mid-dle schools in Ballabgarh

block of Faridabad district.The club reached Karna-

taka when Lakshya receivedan invitation from the Stateto train teachers from vari-ous districts. So far, 50teachers each from 14 dis-tricts of the State have beentrained.

The Haryana State Boardhas published Lakshyas ex-periments in a book titledNanhe Kadam Vigyaan Ki

Or for the academic year2014-15.

Expanding its reach, theclub is currently conductinga 10-day training session for17 teachers and trainersfrom Afghanistan.

Speaking about their ex-perience, the trainers fromBamiyan Province of Af-ghanistan said the hands-onteaching process is sure tointerest students learn sci-

ence at a time when it is achallenge to get them to at-tend school as parent feelthe children are better ofworking to support thefamily.

The training was conduct-ed with the help of a trans-lator and simpleexperiments were conduct-ed using easily available ma-terials that will helpchildren grasp conceptseasily.

The gathering had a lot offun using dry ice, and pausedbefore and after every ex-periment to deliberate theprocess.

On being a trainer thoughhe is just a Class XI student,Lakshya said he often trainsteachers who are uncom-fortable being taught by himas they feel they know bet-ter. However, once they seehim conducting some exper-iments, they realise hisprocess can be a fun way ofteaching children.

Talking about the infras-tructure available, Lakshyasays many schools either donot have laboratories orhave laboratories that arenot well-stocked and hencenot used to conduct experi-ments while teaching.

My experiments with learning chemistry the fun wayI-Cube Science Club trains teachers to make learning interesting

Class XI student and I-Cube Science Club founderLakshya Kaura training teachers and trainers fromthe Bamiyan Province of Afghanistan.

Practical methods using low-cost materials we hope willchange the attitude in schoolstowards science and encouragemore students to attend schoolto conduct experiments anddevelop interest.

HALEEMATrainer from Afghanistan

We have a theory-intensivemethod of teaching science.This will take out equations andmake chemistry an interesting,exciting activity.

ALI KARIMITrainer from Afghanistan

It is a challenge to getteachers to realise thatalthough their method iscorrect, learning through thescientific method is more funand experiments engage thestudents to learn better.

LAKSHYA KAURAClass 11 student and trainer

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CITY2 THE HINDU MONDAY, MAY 11, 2015

NOIDA/DELHI

Major blaze erupts at factory A footwear factory in North West DelhisKeshavpuram was gutted early on Sundaymorning: Page 4

Leopards seek a safe havenAs many as six leopards, including an eight-month-oldcub, have been reported dead in Gurgaon in less than ayear: Page 4

DIFFERENT SHADES OF SUMMER

The Capital continued to sizzle on Sunday, with the maximum temperature settling at 42.3 degree Celsius or three notches above normal. (From left) Some men beat the heat by taking a splash in a fountain in theafternoon. A mirage on Rajpath near India Gate. A child cools down with an ice cream. PHOTOS: SANDEEP SAXENA & SHIV KUMAR PUSHPAKAR

NEW DELHI: He was a terroraccused for about a decadeand then a convictcondemned to be hangedtill death. Now, he is anauthor.

Thats how 52-year-oldMufti Abdul Qayyumintroduces himself. He isone of the six accused inthe 2002 Akshardhamterror attack case, whowere acquitted in May lastyear by the SupremeCourt.

The Apex court pulledup the Gujarat authoritiesfor framing the accusedand non-application ofmind, Qayyumspecifically mentions,adding that he washonourably acquitted bythe Court. Qayyums bookEleven Years BehindBars was effectivelybanned by the Gujaratauthorities without anyofficial notice orexplanation.

Qayyum puts in a minorclarification.

The book has not beenbanned officially but ineffect it is almost like that.The authorities have madesure that my book doesntget released in Gujarat. Wehave not been gettingpermission to release it inthe first place, he says onthe sidelines of his bookrelease function in theCapital on Saturday.

In this book I havedocumented 11 years of mylife since the day I waspicked up. It is a story oflies and fabrication. It isalso a story of a helplessman expressing regretover what he lost in those11 years his father,

childhood of his twochildren and sanity of hiswife, he adds withmoistened eyes.

He makes it a point tosay that the 300-page bookis not meant to be arevenge against thepolice or the authorities.

I am a peaceful and anoptimistic man! I onlywant the authorities andthe police to be fair toinnocents. There is a longway between being anaccused and proven guiltyand convicted. Thatdifference should not becompromised, he says.

Being innocent, I knewI will get justice. I alwayshad full faith in thejudiciary. My lawyers andthe judges at the SupremeCourt, all of them wereHindu, maintainsQayyum for whom writingthe book was also aprocess of coming to termswith the torturousexperience of the 11 years.

Eleven years is a lot oftime. Writing the bookhelped me to move onfrom the mental state ofbeing imprisoned tosomebody who can try tobuild his life again fromscratch, howsoeverdifficult it may appear tobe, he says on aconcluding note.

Unofficially banned inGujarat, released in Delhi

Staff ReporterWriting the bookhelped me to moveon from the mentalstate of beingimprisoned tosomebody who cantry to build his lifeagain from scratch

EXCLUSIVE

Jaideep Deo Bhanj

NEW DELHI: Before gaming consoles,computers and smart phones changedthe way we play indoor games, boardgames were the perfect way to unwindduring hot summer afternoons orwhile waiting for dinner.

In fact, the entire family could playclassic games like scrabble, chess,pictionary, taboo and Monopoly asnobody outgrew them. While boardgames for children continued to getmore and more innovative, thesegment for adults in India continuedto offer tried and tested game.

Games that needed a certainamount of intellectual applicationcontinued to be manufactured in theforeign markets. However, thesenever reached Indian shores as theywere priced between Rs.5,000 andRs10,000.

Looking at this as an opportunity, agroup of friends who would meet upregularly to play high-end games foradults decided to stock these gamesand start a rental service so thatDelhiites too could have fun playingthem.

Games on Wheel co-founderEklavya Girotra says these gamesprovide a mentally stimulatingexperience and gamers need to readthe brochure a couple of times beforeplaying.

The games are not popular in Indiaas they are very expensive. Even if oneorders them online, they will cost a lot

more once delivery charges areincluded, he said

Some of the games the rentalservice stocks are Settlers of Catan,Ticket to Ride, Dominion, Dixit, 7wonders and Camel. These gamesbelong to different genres likestrategy, card, historical, tactical andeven a party-card game. They arecouriered to you once you signup ontheir website and a nominal fee ischarged for renting them. Memberscan rent games for two, four or sevendays, and prices vary according to howpopular the games is.

The rental service plans to start a

board game cafe soon, where peoplecan meet over a cup of coffee and testtheir skills with other players.

Gaming consoles had removed themulti-player experience of spendingtime over a game, negotiating,planning and even talking about otherthings as the game progressed. Whatthese games do is provide thatnostalgia with newer and morechallenging games to master, saysEklavya.

Two-day rental costs, includingcourier costs, is between Rs.200 andRs.350, while the maximum for aseven-day rental is Rs.700.

ROLL THE DICE

You wont get bored playing these board games A service allows you torent games for adultsthat are challenging,but expensive to buy

Jaideep Deo Bhanj

Games on Wheel allows you torent board games for adults likeSettlers of Catan, Ticket to Ride,Dominion, Dixit, 7 wonders andCamel for two, four or sevendays. The prices, includingcourier charges, vary accordingto how popular the games are.

ENGLISHPLAY NIGHT COOL: PVR(Plaza, Rivoli, Saket, Citywalk),DT (Saket, Shalimar Bagh,Vasant Kunj), Spice (Noida).HINDIPIKU (New Release: AmitabhBachchan, Deepika Padukone,Irrfan Khan): Delite Diamond,Milan, Cinemax, Eros One, MCinemas, Batra Reels, G3S(Rohini), PVR (Plaza, Rivoli,Saket, Priya, Citywalk, Naraina,Vikaspuri, Prashant Vihar, EDM,Mahagun, Opulent), M2K (Rohini,Pitampura), FUN (Moti Nagar,Pitampura, Laxmi Nagar,Karkardooma), Movie Time (RajaGarden, Pitampura), DT (Saket,Shalimar Bagh, Vasant Kunj),Satyam (Patel Nagar, Janakpuri,Nehru Place), BIG (Odeon,Noida, Vaishali, Kaushambi),Wave (Raja Garden, Noida,Kaushambi),SRS Cinemas, Spice(Noida), MMX, M4U, JAM Shipra,Galaxie, Star X (Vaishali),Chaudhary (Ghaziabad), MovieWorld and Silver City(Ghaziabad), Inox and QCinemas (Faridabad).KUCH KUCH LOCHA HAI (NewRelease: Sunny Leone, RamKapoor, Evelyn Sharma ):Abhishek Cineplex, Amba, Delite,Regal, Aakash, Gagan, Supreme,Seble, Suraj, G3S (Rohini), PVR(Plaza, Rivoli, Priya, Saket,Citywalk, Naraina, Vikaspuri,Prashant Vihar, EDM, Mahagun,Opulent), M2K (Rohini,Pitampura), FUN (Moti Nagar,Pitampura, Laxmi Nagar,

Karkardooma), Movie Time (RajaGarden, Pitampura), DT (Saket,Shalimar Bagh, Vasant Kunj),Satyam (Patel Nagar, Janakpuri,Nehru Place), BIG (Odeon,Noida, Vaishali, Kaushambi),Wave (Raja Garden, Noida,Kaushambi), SRS Cinemas,Galaxie, Star X (Vaishali), Spice(Noida), MMX, JAM Shipra,Movie Palace, Movie Magic,Chaudhary (Ghaziabad), MovieWorld and Silver City(Ghaziabad).GABBAR IS BACK (AkshayKumar, Shruti Haasan, PrakashRaj, Kareena Kapoor): Shiela,Golcha, Batra, Liberty, Ritz,Samrat, Vishal, Amba, BatraReels, G3S (Rohini), Cinemax,Batra Reels, M Cinemas, PVR(Plaza, EDM, Mahagun, Opulent),M2K (Rohini, Pitampura), FUN(Moti Nagar, Pitampura, LaxmiNagar, Karkardooma), MovieTime (Raja Garden, Pitampura),DT (Saket, Shalimar Bagh,Vasant Kunj), Satyam (PatelNagar, Janakpuri, Nehru Place),BIG (Odeon, Noida, Vaishali,Kaushambi), Wave (Raja Garden,Noida, Kaushambi), SRSCinemas, Galaxie, Star X(Vaishali), Spice (Noida), MMX,M4U, SM World, JAM Shipra,Movie Palace, Movie Magic,Chaudhary (Ghaziabad), MovieWorld and Silver City(Ghaziabad).(BOOKING ENQUIRIES: PVR51513391; Spice Gold012043890000; Satyam Cinemas25797385; Delite 23272903;Wave 51832222)

CINEMA

NEW DELHI: French sculptorChristine Margotin has revi-sited childhood in her recentworks of life-sized bronzesculptures, that are on exhibitin a show titled Being aChild.

The artist, who has beenliving in Delhi since 2009 andworks both from her studio inDelhi and from Jaipur, whereshe gets her bronze piecescast, is mainly a self-taughtsculptor.

She has divided her worksinto three categories chil-drens games, childrens atti-tude and childrens message.Through these, she remindsthe viewer of carefree child-hood memories that arebound to fade away with timeor are suppressed somewherein our sub-conscious minds.

The artist, in her realisticsculptures, has explored thedialectics between childhoodand adulthood, and has evenmade sculptures of people en-gaged in actions that inspirejoy, compassion or reverie.

The childrens games cat-egory has a series of sculp-tures showing childrenplaying games and a childsability to be happy withoutneeding a reason to be.

She has used colour-paint-ed bronze to create theseworks.

The childrens attitudeseries has been created as aresult of various attitudes theartist observed over time thatare the signs of the under-lying qualities of children.These include qualities liketrust, goodness, and playful-ness.

Childrens messages is a

group of artworks made oncanvases bring forward mess-ages about childhood.

The exhibition is on at theHungarian Culture Centre,Janpath A-1, near ClaridgesHotel, till May 15 between 10a.m. and 6 p.m.

Revisiting childhoodStaff Reporter

An exhibition of Frenchsculptor ChristineMargotins life-sizedbronze sculptures, titledBeing a Child, is on atthe Hungarian CultureCentre till May 15.

CMYK

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3THE HINDU MONDAY, MAY 11, 2015NOIDA/DELHI

CITY

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ROAD RAGE: DTC DRIVER BEATEN TO DEATH

NEW DELHI: A 42-year-old DelhiTransport Corporation (DTC)bus driver died after being mer-cilessly thrashed by a motorcy-clist in an apparent case of roadrage reported in West DelhisMundka on Sunday morning.The police said the assault wastriggered after the mother ofthe accused suffered injurieswhen the motorcycle was hit bythe bus.

The incident led to angry busdrivers and conductors stagingprotests in the city and threat-ening a strike on Monday. Ac-cording to the police, theaccused motorcy-clist pounded thebus driver, iden-tified as AshokKumar, with hishelmet.

The bus in-volved in the in-cident operateson an inter-Stateroute between Karampura inWest Delhi and Bahadurgarh inHaryana, where it was headingto at the time of the incident.The victim is a native of Jhajjarin Haryana.

The motorcyclists mother,who was riding pillion, felldown. Eyewitnesses claim thatthe accused was mad with rageafter seeing his mother fall, asenior police officer said.

The biker , who, according topolice sources, is suspected tobe a minor, fled before the po-lice could reach. He has, howev-er, been identified on the basisof the motorcycles registrationnumber.

There were no external in-juries on Ashok. His autopsy re-port is awaited to ascertain the

precise reason behind hisdeath. The incident occurred at9:40 a.m. on Mundka-RohtakRoad. The bus conductor, onwhose statement a case of mur-der has been registered, toldthe police that the motorcyclistsuddenly changed his lanewhich led to the two-wheelerbeing hit by the bus.

Seeing his mothers fall, themotorcyclist allegedly flung hishelmet at the windshield of thebus, shattering it in the process.

An argument broke out be-tween the motorcyclist and thedriver which soon turned vio-lent. Before the bus passengerscould react, the accused had

landed severalblows on theface and chestof the driver.He also at-tacked himwith his hel-met which thepolice suspectcaused his

death. Some eyewitnesses alsoclaimed that the accused usedthe bus fire extinguisher to as-sault Ashok, but the police saidthat is yet to be confirmed.

Senior officers said state-ments of the bus conductor andother eyewitnesses ruled outthe role of any other person.

Scores of DTC employeesstaged a protest at the Rohini-III DTC depot on Sunday eve-ning, demanding immediate ar-rest of the accused. They alsoblocked Peeragarhi Outer RingRoad for a few hours.

K C Malik, spokesperson ofthe DTC Mazdoor Mahasabha,said they would sit on protestagain on Monday. We will seeka compensation of at least Rs. 1crore for his family, he said.

Jatin Anand

Eyewitnesses claimbiker was mad withrage after seeing hismother fall when thebike was hit by bus

NEW DELHI: Lets face it. Weve all had thatmoment. It could have been that crucial in-stant when someone stole your parking spotat a mall or when someone knocked you downwhile rushing to the Metro or when someonejumped the queue at a caf.

You want to scream and curse. You clenchyour fist and grit your teeth. Though most ofus manage to control our anger in such sit-uations, Delhi gets a rap as an aggressivecity. This is a city where news of petty fightsturning serious and violent road rage caseshit the headlines.

As per the Delhi Police data, while thePolice Control Room has received over twolakh calls pertaining to quarrels this year, lastyear, it recorded 10.22 lakh calls. As of March31, 26 road rage cases have been reported.

The numbers have only increased with astring of incidents in the last one month. OnApril 5, Mohammad Shahnawaz was beatento death after his motorcycle grazed a car atTurkman Gate. On May 3, 35-year-old Amar-jeet Singh was assaulted in Rohini when heasked a fellow driver to make way for his car.On May 5, a 24-year-old was bludgeoned todeath at Bharat Nagar, following a drunkenbrawl with friends.

Whats up?

While it may not be evident to native Del-hiites, migrants like 32-year-old DeepakMartolia, who moved to Delhi from Dehra-dun in 2008, feels that Delhiites tend to bebullies. As a motorcyclist in Delhi, I see afight almost every day on the roads. Manypeople I come across are loud and aggressive,though I have never had a fight. Living inDelhi, Ive noticed that I get angry too. Youcant help it, he says.

Is there something up with Delhi? Psychia-trist Sandeep Vohra thinks so. Delhi is like aticking time bomb. Apart from multiplestress-inducers of a hectic lifestyle, Delhiitestend to be egotistic and ambitious. So fightsover perceived hostility or negativity breakout often, says Dr. Vohra.

He says the fast-paced lives in metropoli-tan cities, coupled with long commutes andlack of adequate sleep, make matters worse.

Slow down

We need to slow down, tune out fromwork for at least one day a week. Many a time,people get angry on the roads if they are late.So, keeping the traffic in mind, leave 15-20minutes to avoid getting stressed, says Dr.Vohra. However, senior law enforcement of-ficers dont think theres anything wrong withDelhi per se. Rajan Bhagat, Deputy Commis-sioner of Police (Crime), says, Its not rightto paint everyone with the same brush. Roadrage cases should be seen in the perspectiveof ever-increasing cars and stagnant roadlength.

Delhiites have a quick temperDamini Nath

NEW DELHI: He was a herowhen it came to dressing up,but a darpoke (coward)when he had to confront, saysNoor Jahan about her sonMohammad Shahnawaz, whodied on April 5 in an incidentof road rage.

He never got into fights asa youngster. Once, he left hishouse and came to ours be-cause the neighbours upstairswere indulged in a fight andthe police were called. He be-lieved in living a peacefullife, she says, wiping tears asher grandchildren, Shahna-wazs children, enter theroom.

Just over a month after theincident, Noor Jahan recallshow her world fell apartthat day. The family had justhad dinner at their residencenear Turkman Gate in OldDelhi.

Shahnawaz decided toleave for his home on MataSundari Road with his wife

and two sons around 11.15p.m. He first dropped his wifeand then came back for thechildren.

While on his way home, hismotorcycle grazed an i20 car.With his sons, 14-year-old Fa-had and 11-year-old Kaif, rid-ing pillion, Shahnawaz wasstopped and mercilessly bea-

ten by the occupants of thecar and a scooter that was fol-lowing it.

While the attackers beatFahad and Shahnawaz, Kaifran to the policemen in thearea. Kaif says, Abbu [father]managed to dial 100 and tellthem that five people werebeating him and that he was

outnumbered. But, no helpcame.

The boys then ran back totheir grandparents house toget help.

I was sitting at the samespot where I had given my sondinner just 15 minutes ago.The children came yellingthat he was unconscious,says Mrs. Jahan.

Shahnawaz offered to payfor the damage, but the mencontinued to beat him. Itmakes no sense why they kepthitting him, she says.

When the family reachedthe spot near Turkman Gate,Shahnawaz was bleeding pro-fusely. He was later declareddead at the hospital. He leftbehind a 37-year-old wife,two sons, and a four-year-olddaughter.

The attackers were lateridentified as local residentsAmeen Pehalwan, Atif, Shah-dab, Saleem and Wasim. Theywere arrested by the DelhiPolice, which is yet to file achargesheet.

A month on, justice nowhere in sightPolice yet to file chargesheet in the death of Shahnawaz, a victim of road rage

Damini Nath

WAIT PROLONGS: Parents and children ofMohammad Shahnawaz say he believed in living apeaceful life. FILE PHOTO: SANDEEP SAXENA

NEW DELHI: Transport MinisterGopal Rai announced an im-mediate compensation of Rs. 5lakh from the Chief MinistersRelief Fund for the family ofDTC driver Ashok Kumar,who was beaten to death in aroad rage incident at Mundkaon Sunday. The Minister alsopromised a permanent job inthe Transport Department forone member of the family.

Rs. 5 lakh fordrivers family Special Correspondent

Biker thrashed him with helmet

after the bus hit him at Mundka

In In 2014, of 586 murder cases, 115were cases ofmurder from sudden provocation

In 2015, of 165 murder cases, 23were cases ofmurder from sudden provocation (Till April 30, 2015)

In 2014, the PCR received 10,22,861 callsrelated to quarrels

In 2015, the PCR received 2,00,591 calls relatedto quarrels (Till May 7, 2015 )

In 2014, 93 cases of road rage were reported

In 2015, 26 cases of road rage were reported (Till March 31, 2015 )

DELHI BULLY

Source: Delhi Police

CMYK

ND-ND

4 THE HINDU MONDAY, MAY 11, 2015NOIDA/DELHI

CITY/NCR

The decision of the Aam Aadmi Par-ty government to monitor newschannels might have come as a surprisefor many, but a few years ago, a similaridea was mooted by the Sheila Dikshitgovernment.

But, the idea was dropped after seri-ous consideration, largely due to thelogistics involved in the process andresource crunch.

TV drives news through the day. Soit was considered important to keep atab. However, with so many news chan-nels having proliferated over the pastfew years, one needs to set up an exclu-sive team to follow and document ev-erything going on air all day long. Itseasier to sort out the related devel-opments in print. Even a small teamcan scan and make a le of paper cut-tings within a few hours. Therefore, theidea was shelved after being discussedat the highest levels, an official said.

Not only farmers, but even media-persons failed to take note ofDelhi BJP chief Satish Upadhyays at-tempts to gain political mileage byholding Gramin Mahasampark Pra-vas, a rural contact mission, demand-ing timely compensation for farmerslast week. Sources in the party said the initiative

yielded lukewarm response from thefarmers. The media hardly covered the eventdespite the fact that in an unprece-dented move, the PR department ofthe Delhi BJP kept informing thejournalists that vehicles were ready atthe party office to take them to thedifferent venues for the two-dayevent.By Vishal Kant

Monitoring news makes headlinesThe idea may not be viable due to proliferation of news channels in the past years

DEATH

DEATH

ANNIVERSARIES

Please contact: 011-43579797from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m

GURGAON: As many as six leop-ards, including an eight-month-old cub, have been re-ported dead in Gurgaon in lessthan a year.

While two cases pertain toroad accidents wherein thebig cats were hit by speedingvehicles, the remaining fourcarcasses found near a golfcourse in Manesar are sus-pected to be cases of poison-ing and the matter is pendingin the court.

The Aravalli Range, the nat-ural habitat of these big cats,is the oldest fold mountains inIndia. The northern end of therange continues as isolatedhills and rocky ridges into Ha-ryana, ending in Delhi.

The undulating hills of Ara-valli not only provide unbe-lievable natural ambience,but also act as lungs for thewhole National Capital Re-gion.

Beside support to humanpopulation, the range alsosupports the important andalready exhausted faunal di-versity (as established bywildlife census report 2012which found seven carnivoresspecies on Aravalli Range).

According to wildlife ob-servers, leopards are very shyand are the most adaptable ofthe large cats and typify wild-life that lives outside forests.Leopards have always livedoutside forests, be it tea gar-dens, fringes of forests, in cro-plands and they have beenreported even from urbanareas.

A ban on mining by the Su-preme Court a few years agoin the Aravalli area led to animproved habitat which is theprimary factor for leopardsurvival.

The importance of this areais also increased by the factthat it is surrounded by AsollaBhatti Wildlife Sanctuary onDelhi side and a continuousAravalli chain in Rajasthanwhich extends up to SariskaNational Park.

The Aravalli area, whichhas a good leopard habitat andis rich in oral and faunal di-versity, is also exploited byhuman greed, mainly becauseof its proximity to Delhi.

As many as four roads, in-cluding two highways, passthrough the Aravalli range bi-furcating the natural habitatof the leopard. And two moreroads Kundli-Manesar-Pal-wal Expressway and Dedicat-ed Freight Corridor passingthrough the mountain rangeare in the pipeline. Neitherthe departments concernedhave provided safe passages tothe animals to cross these

roads nor have signages beenput for the motorists to driveslow in this area. Ideally, bar-ricades should be put on bothsides of roads at those pointswhere the possibility of thesewild animals crossing theroads is more, said a sourcein the forest department.

Though States such as Guj-arat and Rajasthan have de-clared national parks in theAravalli Range to protect thewildlife, wildlife activists de-mand for a sanctuary in Ha-ryana has long beenoverlooked.

Over the years, severalfarmhouses have come up inthe range and large chunks ofland has been bought by thebuilders who are now waitingfor the change in the deni-tion of the forest to commer-cially exploit the area.

There was a lot of hue andcry over the recent directionsof the Haryana forest depart-ment reversing its earlier or-der and asking officials not todesignate lands in the Aravallirange as forests, other thanthose formally recorded assuch.

Vivek Kamboj of HaryaliWelfare Society, a non-gov-ernment organisation, saidthat the instruments of thepresent regime were no differ-ent from those of the previousgovernment. The presentHaryana government seemskeen to ensure that the landsharks nally succeed in de-vouring the last remaining

Aravalli forest of native spe-cies that has stood safe forthousands of years. If this isnot a forest, how come thereis a leopard death? Therehave been several such in-stances in the recent past thatclearly demonstrates that we

are encroaching on forestlands and forcing these ani-mals to move out and getkilled. The area from Asola toSariska is a wildlife corridor.We demand that this shouldbe declared as a sanctuary, hesays.

Six big cats have died in Gurgaon in less than a year

Ashok Kumar

Leopards seek a safe haven

Two highways, passing through the Aravalli range,bifurcate the natural habitat of the leopard

No safe passage for animals to cross roads andno signage for motorists to drive slow

A ban on mining by theSC a few years ago inAravallis led to animproved habitat whichis the primary factor forleopard survival

PHOTOS: MANOJ KUMAR

NEW DELHI: The quality of lifeof mothers and children inthe urban slums of IndiasCapital is one of the worst inthe world and the health in-equity between the rich andthe poor stark. This wasstated in Save the Childrens16th annual State of theWorlds Mothers (SOWM) re-port titled The Urban Disad-vantage which was releasedrecently.

The report further addsthat in the age group 0-5years, the urban poor are 3.2times more likely to die com-pared to the urban rich inDelhi.

For babies born in manyof the worlds fast-growing ci-ties, it is survival of the rich-est. The young children aredying in city slums today even where lifesaving caremay be a stones throw away represents the saddest ex-pression of urban health sys-tem failure and the everydaymisery faced by millions ofothers, noted the report.

The report asserts thatthere is an urgent need to

close the gap in life chancesfor mothers and children sothat no matter where theylive everyone has a fairchance to survive and fulltheir potential.

The survival of millions ofchildren in cities should notbe a privilege for the rich butguaranteed for all, the reportnoted.

A section of the SOWM re-port examines the urbanchild survival gap betweenthe rich and the poor urbankids in 36 developing coun-tries.

The Save the Children re-port is aimed at highlightingthe need for appropriate ac-tions based on the urgent pri-orities to bring about lastingchange.

The report ranks countrieson ve key factors: risk of ma-ternal death, under-ve mor-

tality rate, educational status,economic achievement andpolitical status.

This year, the SOWM re-port also looks at the mater-nal and child health gapbetween the rich and poor liv-ing in some of the major citiesin the world.

For the rst time in histo-ry, more than half of theworlds population lives in ur-ban areas. People are oftendrawn to cities by the pros-pect of a better life for theirchildren, but many citiesaround the world are unableto keep up with breakneckgrowth, leaving hundreds ofmillions of mothers and chil-dren in cities without accessto essential health servicesand clean water they need tosurvive and stay healthy, ob-served Dr. Sudeep Gadok, di-rector of programs, Save theChildren.

The 10 countries showingthe greatest survival dividebetween wealthy and poor ur-ban children are: Rwanda,Cambodia, Kenya, Vietnam,Peru, India, Madagascar,Ghana, Bangladesh andNigeria.

Bindu Shajan Perappadan

Survival of kids not a privilegeUrban poor childrenare 3.2 times morelikely to die comparedto the urban rich inDelhi

NEW DELHI: A footwear factoryin North West Delhis Kesh-avpuram was gutted early onSunday morning, the DelhiFire Service (DFS) said.Though there were no casu-alties, products and machinesworth several lakhs of rupeeswere burnt and permanentlydamaged.

The re department saidthey had to dispatch 28 retenders to control the blaze.It took the re ghters overtwo hours to completelydouse the ames.

Short-circuit is suspectedto have started the re. How-ever, nothing could be saidwith certainty and variouspossibilities are being lookedinto, said a police officer. It isalso being checked if the fac-tory had the necessary licens-es to operate and whetherthey were complying with there safety norms, the officeradded.

The DFS received a call ataround 6.15 am that a foot-wear factory in Keshavpu-rams Lawrence Road hadgone up in ames. The restarted on the ground oor ofthe two-storey building andquickly spread to the rstoor.

Since the re broke outduring the morning hours,there were no employees atthe factory. A security guardnoticed the re and raised analarm. The combustible rawmaterials used in manufac-ture of footwear helped the

ames spread quickly. Earlier this week, a 62-

year-old man was charred todeath and seven members of afamily suffered burn injuriesin two separate incidents ofre.

The blaze that left one deadwas reported from north Del-his Civil Lines area duringthe wee hours of Thursday.The victim Narendra SinghRawat lived alone in a singleroom on the third oor of aresidential building. Rawatworked as a domestic help atthe home of one of the resi-dents of the building.

In another blaze, apparent-ly caused by a leaking gas cyl-inder, a woman and her sixchildren were injured in out-er Delhis Narela.

All the injured children,that include four girls and

two boys, are aged betweenve and 15. The only injuredadult is their mother Nazre-en. Her husband Ayyub es-caped as he was out of homeat the time of the accident.

The victims told the policethat the blaze was ignitedwhen Nazreen lit a candle inthe kitchen. It is suspectedthat a small cooking gas cylin-der in the kitchen had beenleaking all the while and light-ing the candle helped ignitethe ames.

The ames immediatelyspread through the house,leaving the woman and herchildren injured. The DFS ar-rived at the scene to controlthe blaze and rescue the vic-tims. They were rushed toMaharshi Valmiki Hospitalfrom where they were re-ferred to Lok Nayak Hospital.

Shoe factory gutted

Staff Reporter

Products and machines worth several lakhs of rupees were burnt at a footwear factory inKeshavpuram in North-West Delhi. PHOTO: SUSHIL KUMAR VERMA

GURGAON: Nirvana Country,an upscale residential colonyin Sector 50 here, is all set tobecome the citys rst solarcolony.

A rst-of-its-kind Memo-randum of Understanding(MoU) was signed betweenPower Grid Corporation ofIndia Limited (PGCIL) andNirvana Country ResidentsWelfare Association in thisregard.

As per the MoU, the PGCILhas been appointed as a solarconsultant for Nirvana RWAfor solar generation, integra-

tion and energy efficiency. The PGCIL will also help in

creating the detailed projectreport, preparation of a biddocument, invitation of bidsas well as nalisation ofcontract.

Ideal for solar energy

With large buildings andenough number of sunnydays, Gurgaon is ideallyplaced to exploit the good-ness of solar energy.

The new solar policy by theHaryana government an-nounced in September 2014promotes the growth of solarenergy in the State.

Staff Reporter

Gurgaon gets solar colony

NEW DELHI: A Delhi court hasacquitted a canter driver in aroad accident case as the onlyeyewitness, the victimsbrother, evidenced that hehad not seen the manner inwhich the accused was driv-ing the vehicle.

Besides the evidence by theeyewitness, MetropolitanMagistrate Manisha KhuranaKakkar of the Saket districtcourts also took note of theplace and time of the occur-rence while acquitting ac-cused Rajesh Kumar Bhagatin the case.

According to the complaintlodged with the Defence Col-ony police in South Delhi, theaccident had taken place inthe wee hours below an un-derpass near the MoolchandHospital in 2012.

The victim was accompa-nying his brother, HodalSingh, who was driving a wa-ter tanker on the day of theaccident.

The tanker had brokendown below the underpass.Mr. Singh was repairing it,while the victim was standingbehind him. Suddenly, thecanter came from the Ashramside and hit the tanker driv-

ers brother from behind,causing serious injuries tohim. Later, he succumbed tohis injuries at the AIIMStrauma centre.

The magistrate allowed aplea by counsel for the ac-cused that the accident takenhad place not due to rash andnegligent driving but owingto the poor light in theunderpass.

However, turning hostileby the victims brother putpaid to the case as the prose-cution had no other evidenceto prove that the accused wasdriving the vehicle in a rashand negligent manner.

Mr. Singhdeniedthathe-hadseenthedriverdriving-thesaid canteratahighspeed. He further stated thathe was in fact repairing thetanker and, therefore,did-notsee in manner in whichhe was driving the vehicle.

Thus, keeping in view theplace of occurrence and thetime of the accident and inthe absence of any cogent evi-dence to show rashness andnegligence on the part of theaccused, benet of doubt hasto be extended to the ac-cused, the magistrate saidwhile acquitting the canterdriver.

Court acquits man of rash driving Nirnimesh Kumar

GHAZIABAD: A four-year-oldboy, who was allegedly kid-napped from Dasna Mussoo-rie Main Gate market on May6, was rescued on Sunday, po-lice said.

An FIR was lodged by thefather of the victim, AbdulGafoor. A resident of Masjidwali Gali in Dasna town, hestated that his son Adnan has

been abducted by some un-known miscreants, DistrictPolice Chief DharmendraSingh said.

The child was rescued bytwo police teams on Sundayfrom Gang Nehar bridge. Aransom amount of 14 lakhwhich was handed over by fa-ther to the kidnappers was al-so recovered from them. - PTI

Kidnapped boy rescued

GREATER NOIDA: A team of theUttar Pradesh Special TaskForce on Sunday arrestedeight persons. It claimed tohave busted a gang involvedin cheating people throughfake holiday packages andmobile tower rentalagreements.

Following the arrest, theteam sealed two call centresin Delhi from where callswere made to gulliblepersons.

Eight persons have beenarrested today. Gang leaderHarvinder Singh was arrest-ed from near Yamaha cross-ing. The companys office islocated at Laxmi Nagar inDelhi. Two call centres therehave been sealed and docu-ments seized for scrutiny,Triveni Singh, Additional Su-perintendent of Police,UPSTF, said on Sunday.

Sixty four call centreswere their channel partners.These call centres are locat-ed in Delhi, Gurgaon andNoida. Around fty per centof these call centres are inDelhi and 30 percent in Gur-gaon and the rest in Noida,Agra, Etah and other towns,he said.

Teams will scrutinise re-cords of all the 64 call centresto ascertain their involve-ment and to calculate themagnitude of the scam, hesaid.

So far Rs 14 crore trans-actions have been detected.Further investigations areon, he said. - PTI

8 held for sellingfake holidaypackages

CMYK

ND-ND

5THE HINDU MONDAY, MAY 11, 2015NOIDA/DELHI

STATE

NEW DELHI: To tackle spaceconstraint, the Delhi MetroRail Corporation is settingup elevated depots for park-ing trains that would be op-erational on the upcomingcorridors under Phase-III.

Two of Delhi Metros up-coming depots will havemany of their major compo-nents constructed on elevat-ed decks for better spacemanagement, officials said.All the existing eight metrodepots have been construct-ed at grade level.

A metro train depot gen-erally requires about 2.5lakh square metres space forthe setting up of stablinglines, inspection bays, work-shops, washing plants, etc.However, for both the up-coming Vinod Nagar andKalindi Kunj depots, thespace available was limitedand inadequate.

Therefore, a decision wastaken to construct their vitalcomponents on elevateddecks for better utilisationof the space, an official said.

Stabling lines

For the Kalindi Kunj de-pot, a 1.3-kilometre long and30-40 metre wide deck for

stabling lines is being con-structed at Jasola Viharnear Kalindi Kunj on an ele-vated deck about 13 to 14metres from the ground,where the trains operatingon this section would bestabled.

In the main depot area atKalindi Kunj, the auto wash-ing plant, for the cleaning ofthe trains, would also be setup at on an elevated deck foreffective space manage-ment. A similar facility hadearlier been set up at theSultanpur depot in Phase-IIdue to space constraints, ametro spokesperson said.

This facility will be able toaccommodate 27 trains andthe inspection bay would beable to hold six to eighttrains at a time.

In addition, another ele-vated deck for stabling addi-tional trains in the future isalso being planned.

The depot at Vinod Nagarfor the Majlis Park-Shiv Vi-har corridor has a drain anda road in between the allot-ted area and the site is frag-mented into two parts.

One side of the site is atthe ground level and can ac-commodate 11 stabling lineswithout any roofing. Theother side comprises a dou-

ble deck structure to cater to20 stabling lines.

Out of the 20 lines, ninelines will be at ground leveland 11 lines would be on thedeck.

In addition, four lines willbe for the inspection bayand two lines will be dedi-cated to the workshop, aspokesperson said.

Both the depots will havedepot control centres, ef-fluent treatment plants,sewage treatment plants, in-spection bays, workshops,auto train washing plants,etc.

The construction workfor both the depots has beenstarted.

The Delhi Metro is con-structing six new depots atKalindi Kunj, Mukundpur,Vinod Nagar Badli, Ghazia-bad and Faridabad, in thepresent phase of construc-tion to meet the require-ments of the new trainswhich are underprocurement.

At present, the DMRC haseight depots for its existingcorridors at Shastri Park,Khyber Pass, Najafgarh(Phase-1), Yamuna Bank,Mundka, Sarita Vihar, Sul-tanpur and Dwarka Sector21 (Phase-II).

Metro to come up with elevated train depotsThis will enable better space management Special Correspondent

NEW DELHI: Drawing flak fromthe National Green Tribunalfor its failure to check wasteburning, the New Delhi Mu-nicipal Council (NDMC) hasdecided to adopt a zero toler-ance policy on burning ofleaves, plastic and garbage inopen areas.

No lenient view will nowbe taken regarding such inci-dents. We have decided toadopt a zero tolerance policytowards burning of leaves,plastic or garbage in open ar-eas, and the officials have beeninstructed about the same, asenior NDMC official said.

Two teams have been con-stituted which conduct fieldinspections and keep a checkon such incidents in order tocurb air pollution, he said.

Last month, the Tribunalhad come down heavily on theNDMC over its failure tocheck burning of nearly onetonne of leaves in Lodhi Gar-den. Imposing a complete banon burning of wastes, includ-ing garbage, leaves, plastic andcrop residues, in the open ar-eas, the NGT had said viola-tors will be fined Rs.5,000.

The residents are also beingencouraged to register theircomplaints at the NDMC callcentre if they find anyoneburning waste in the open,and stringent action will betaken against the violator, hesaid. PTI

Waste burning:NDMC says yesto zero tolerance

NEW DELHI: Launching a sharpattack on the Arvind Kejriwalgovernment over its contro-versial circular threateningaction against the media forany defamatory news, theBharatiya Janata Party lead-ers on Sunday called the Del-hi Chief Minister ahypocrite.

The Delhi unit of the partyhas decided to launch an ag-itation over the issue till theAAP government withdrawsits circular.

Delhi BJP chief Satish Up-adhyay termed the circulardraconian and a veiledthreat to the media to stopdoing stories exposing mis-deeds of the Arvind Kejriwalgovernment.

The BJP has always main-tained that Mr. Kejriwal andhis circus is extremely doublefaced having no faith in de-mocracy, constitutional insti-tutions, freedom of speechand moral values. For Kejri-wal and his coterie, thesewere just electoral points,said Mr. Upadhyay, addingthat Kejriwal was a dictato-rial anarchist and that fol-lowing his 67-seat victory, histrue colours are now for thepeople and the media to see.

New Delhi MP Meenakshi

Lekhi accused Mr. Kejriwal ofplaying shoot and scoot poli-tics.

As far as suing is con-cerned, anybody and every-body has the right to sue. But,filing false cases and incorrectcases is an offence. The peo-ple should take him to thecleaners for making defama-tory statements about others,which he has done in the past.Its shoot and scoot, becausehe would make a statement,run away and get the benefit,Ms. Lekhi said.

BJP terms AAP circular draconian Special Correspondent

Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwals relationship with the media has of lateturned sour. PHOTO: PRASHANT NAKWE

NEW DELHI: After havinginitiated penal proceed-ings against close tothree dozen Govern-ment officials on the ba-sis of direct complaints,the Anti-CorruptionBranch (ACB) now aimsto pre-empt corruptionacross departments of-fering public services.

According to a seniorGovernment official,the ACB would, over thecoming days, step up in-teraction and feedbacksessions with officialsacross the hierarchy ofDepartments involvedin direct communica-tion with the residentsof Delhi requestingthem to reduce both thetime-frame required todeliver on their servicesas well as the gap be-tween the former andthe latter.

This, sources said,was in addition to gen-eral instructions encou-raging officials to comeforth with complaints ofgraft against co-workersand colleagues as andwhen these came totheir notice.

Corruption seeps inwhen services whichshould be time-boundare not delivered withindeadlines and whentouts and agents are al-lowed to fill the gap thatshould not exist be-tween members of thepublic and Governmentofficials appointed todeal with them, said asenior Governmentofficial.

Just like the concept

of ease of business, theconcept of ease in deliv-ery of services is veryimportant when itcomes to the relation-ship between the Gov-ernment and thegeneral public. We haveasked officials to be assensitive to the latter aspossible, the officialadded.

Several Departmentswhich directly dealtwith the public on a dai-ly basis, according to a

source, were already un-der the watchful eyes ofthe ACB for any proce-dural discrepancies;more would be added tothe list over the comingdays.

The official said whilearrests under the Pre-vention of CorruptionAct served their purposeas deterrents againstgraft corruption wouldnot be allowed to takeroot if the ACB itselfcontinued to function ina transparent mannerwhen it came to dealingwith the public at large.

Although the 1031helpline and severalother avenues exist toreport instances ofgraft, efforts to encour-age more and moremembers of the publicto step forward and getin touch with the ACBwith complaints per-taining to it will be pur-sued to addressprocedural lacunae inthe delivery of time-bound services, the of-ficial added.

Now, ACB looks atweeding out corruptionJatin Anand

The ACB will encourage officials to comeforth with complaints of graft against co-workers and colleagues. FILE PHOTO

NEW DELHI: The Editors Guild of Indiaon Sunday deplored the controversialcircular issued by Delhi Governmentregarding defamatory news, calling ita crude attempt to still mediacriticism and demanded its immedi-ate withdrawal.

The Guild said it is shocked by thecircular asking public officials to re-port defamatory imputations relat-ing to the Chief Minister, ministersand public officials in respect of theirconduct in relation to their publicfunctions for the purpose of launch-ing criminal defamation proceedingsagainst the media, thereby enthron-ing intolerance as official policy.

The Guild said that it is strangethat a Chief Minister and a party thatrode to power on a popular democrat-ic platform should turn intolerantwhen in office.

It is doubly ironic that Mr Kej-riwal who in the Supreme Court haschallenged the constitutional validityof the criminal defamation provi-sions of the Indian Penal Code whenused against him should direct hisgovernment to use the same provi-sions against the media, it added.The Guild called upon Mr. Kejriwaland the Delhi Government to with-draw the circular and also ensure freeaccess to its offices. PTI

Editors Guild slamsDelhi Government

on the basis of which teamsled by DCP Rajan Bhagat wereconstituted to affect arrests.In the first incident, informa-tion entailed that one Ali Sher,who resides in South East Del-his Jaitpur, was into sale andsupply of heroin in the DelhiGate and surrounding areas,said Mr. Yadav.

According to the police,based on the tip-off, a trap waslaid below the Ranjeet Singhflyover and Sher was arrestedwhen he reached the area tosupply a consignment of hero-in to one of his local contactsand 300 gm of the narcoticwas recovered from his

possession.In the second incident, the

police said, information wasreceived on May 7 that Sha-heen, who resides in villageKarala with her brother, wasselling heroin.

Information further en-tailed that Shaheen wouldcome near the City Park Re-sort on Rohtak Road to supplya huge quantity of heroin tosomeone. A trap was laid andShaheen was arrested with300 grams of heroin, Mr. Ya-dav said.

During interrogation, thepolice claimed, Shaheen re-vealed that she took to drug

trafficking after her secondhusband, one Javed, met twolocal drug runners Danny andKusum.

Police records revealed thatJaved, too had been arrestedby the crime branch in 2014after he was found with 500grams of heroin.

After his arrest, Shaheentook over the drug businessand started procuring heroinfrom his source Rashid of Fa-ridpur, Bareilly and selling thesame in Karala and adjoiningareas to her customers tomake easy money. Further in-vestigation is in progress,added Mr. Yadav.

NEW DELHI: Two alleged drugtraffickers, including a wom-an, were arrested in separateincidents by the Delhi PoliceCrime Cranch with heroin val-ued at more than Rs.60 lakh inthe international market, thepolice said.

Identified as Ali Sher Shefai(55) and Shaheen (55), theywere arrested with 600 gm ofthe narcotic, said RavindraYadav, Joint Commissioner ofPolice (Crime).

We received informationabout two separate heroinrings operating in the Capital

Two held with heroin worth Rs. 60 lakh Staff Reporter

NEW DELHI: In what will be amove that saves trees and cutscosts, Delhi University is likelyto do away with the printing ofits prospectus from the up-coming academic session.

The varsity, which enrolls54,000 students every year invarious undergraduate coursesbeing offered at its over 75 col-leges, sells over 2.5 lakh pro-spectuses every year.

The prospectus, priced atRs. 100, used to be printed atthe varsitys press. However, ithas been recommended thisyear that there will be no print-ing of prospectus and the uni-versity will be able to save theprinting cost, a member of theadmission committee said.

The DU prospectus will beavailable for download on thevarsitys website.

The initiative has already

been adopted by Jamia MilliaIslamia University, whichclaims that it has saved onprinting costs running intolakhs of rupees.

DU earlier used to sell theprospectus along with the cen-tralised OMR form but, in caseof online registrations, the feewas supposed to be paid on-line.

The colleges used to selltheir separate prospectuses,priced anywhere between Rs.100 and Rs. 250.

Though the colleges will befree to decide whether theystill want to continue with theprinted prospectuses, theyhave been directed to sell themonly to those students whomthey have enrolled and shouldnot compel the seat aspirantsto buy the same, the officialsaid. PTI

No printing of prospectusat DU likely this year

NEW DELHI: Over 55 people of-fered to donate their organsin the future at the 24th DehDaniyon ka Utsav organisedby the Dadhichi Den DanSamiti. Union Minister HarshVardhan chaired the event asthe chief guest and requestedall present to support Dadh-ichi Den Dan Samitis initia-tive for organ donation. Hedeclared that he had alsosigned a document to donatehis organs so that it may ben-efit medical students and oth-ers in need.

The event was organised atthe All India Institute ofMedical Sciences (AIIMS).

Organ donormeet heldStaff Reporter

NEW DELHI: In order to motiva-te its employees, the Delhi JalBoard has constituted anEmployee of the Monthaward for its work force. TheBoard has also decided tohold Karamchari SamparkSabhas every three months.

The Board has decided toconstitute a committee whichwill examine the issue of in-troduction of a new perform-ance related incentivescheme for the employees. Inaddition to this, yardsticksare being prepared for assess-ing the performance of theemployees to declare a bestperformer as the Employeeof the month, a DJB state-ment said.

DJB constitutes

award for staffSpecial Correspondent

NEW DELHI: Delhi Congress hasstrongly criticised ChiefMinister Arvind Kejriwal forwhat they referred to as hisanti-democratic attitude inrelation to a circularregarding media.

Kejriwal is losing hisground very fast. He is beingexposed on many issuesWhen there is criticism

against the government, whenthe wrong-doings of thegovernment are exposed, heobjects. That shows his anti-democratic attitude,Congress Delhi in-charge PCChacko said.The partys DelhiChief Ajay Maken asked, TheGovernment will launchproceedings against newsitems, which the Director ofProsecution finds defamatory;but who appoints the DP?

Congress flays KejriwalStaff Reporter Corruption seeps in

when services, whichshould be time-bound, are notdelivered withindeadlines, and whentouts and agents areallowed to fill thegap that should notexist between thepublic and officials

CMYK

ND-ND

6 THE HINDU MONDAY, MAY 11, 2015NOIDA/DELHI

NORTHERN REGION

EDUCATIONAL

EDUCATIONAL EDUCATIONAL

I, MOHAMED Hussain, Son of ThiruK.K. Mohd Abdullah, born on 22ndJanuary 1933 (Native District:Thiruvarur), residing at No.79,New No.75, Omar Street, At-tikadai, Thiruvarur613 702, shallhenceforth be known as K.M.MohdHussain. Mohamed Hussain.

www.australianacademy.in after school programme Ph:9176820418,9962107191.

CHANGE OF NAME

LEGAL NOTICE

LEGAL NOTICE

PACKERS

EDUCATIONAL

SITUATIONS

VACANT

GENERAL

EDUCATIONALEDUCATIONAL PERSONAL

PATNA: A dilapidatedbridge across the Gangain Patna, the MahatmaGandhi Setu, needs a se-nior IPS officer, 300 po-licemen equipped withwireless sets, a separatepolice station, one craneand scores of CCTVcameras to clear the pe-rennial traffic jams onit. At least, the Bihargovernment believes so.

Recently, Chief Min-ister Nitish Kumar helda high-level meeting ofofficials to chalk out astrategy to tackle the re-current traffic snarls onthe bridge. Later, heasked the Chief Secre-tary and the Director-General of Police toconstitute a dedicatedteam led by an IG [In-spector-General of Po-lice] rank-officer for thetask.

Following the ChiefMinisters instruction, aspecial team is beingformed, said AnjaniKumar Singh, the StateChief Secretary.

It is learnt that thegovernment has decid-ed to form a contingentof over 300 policemenwith wireless sets tomonitor the trafficround the clock on the5.575-km bridge. A sep-arate traffic police sta-tion will also be set up atthe northern end of thebridge. Scores of CCTVcameras will be in-

stalled to screen themovement of about75,000 vehicles thatcross the bridge daily.

Besides, a cranewould be stationed per-manently on the bridge.The bridge would be di-vided into three partsby the monitoring po-licemen for the smoothmovement of vehicles.

Ive also instructedthe officials to explorethe option of construct-ing two pontoon bridges[makeshift boat bridge]flanking the MahatmaGandhi Setu which canbe used by small vehi-cles, said the ChiefMinister.

Dilapidated state

Inaugurated by thethen Prime Minister,Indira Gandhi, in May1982, the MahatmaGandhi Setu (also calledGanga Setu) is the life-

line connecting northand south Bihar. How-ever, its dilapidatedcondition today hasearned it the epithet thehanging bridge ofBihar.

With incompletemaintenance work go-ing on for several years,the two-lane bridge be-comes just one lane atsome points. Passingvehicles set of violentvibrations.

Earlier, the State gov-ernment had made sev-eral plans deployingsenior policemen forthe smooth movementof traffic but they wereactive only during VIPmovement. Traffic jamson the Ganga Setustretch not just forhours but for days.

If we cross GangaSetu without gettingcaught in a traffic jam,we feel blessed and

lucky. We shiver andstart praying every timewe cross, Dr. Atul Ver-ma and his wife Dr.Jaishree Shekhar toldThe Hindu.

The doctor-couplehave their clinic in Haji-pur across the bridgeand use the bridge ittwice a day.

To the wedding, ontime

During the weddingseason, a group of bik-ers can be seen sta-tioned at both ends ofthe bridge who ferrybridegrooms caught inthe traffic jam. They callthemselves bridge bik-ers for the marriageseason.

We take the bride-groom and a few of hisrelatives on our bikesthrough the traffic snarlon the bridge for Rs.700-800 so that theywont miss the auspi-cious time, Pappu Ku-mar, a biker fromHajipur, told The Hin-du. Every marriage sea-son, we earn a decentamount through this, headded.

Patients often die inambulances trapped inlong jams on the GangaSetu. The nightmarecontinues despite gov-ernment assurances,rued Manoranjan Pra-sad, whose wife died re-cently on her way to ahospital in Patna fromHajipur.

Amarnath Tewary

Vehicles move across the Mahatma GandhiSetu, built over the Ganga, in Patna. PHOTO:REUTERS

A bridge too long: 300 copsto man Patnas crucial link

MUMBAI: A day after two firemenwere killed and two others, in-cluding the citys fire brigadechief, were injured while trying todouse a massive fire that broke outin Kalbadevi here, Chief MinisterDevendra Fadnavis ordered aninquiry.

Expressing condolences overthe deaths on Twitter, Maharash-tra Chief Minister Devendra Fad-navis made the announcement onSunday. Pained to know that our2firefighters lost their lives in Kal-badevi fire. I salute their fightingspirit & commitment towardsserving people, tweeted Mr.Fadnavis.

Another tweet posted on the is-

sue read: State govt will fully sup-port their families. Praying forspeedy recovery of injured offi-cials. Directed BMC Commission-er for in-depth enquiry. ACommittee is formulated to en-quire Gokul House Fire Incident.

Consequent on the Chief Minis-ters instructions, a seven-mem-ber-committee has been setup.Preliminary inquiry has re-vealed that the fire at Gokul Niwasstarted from the electricity meterroom on the ground floor around4.30 p.m. and spread quickly andeven led to the collapse of thebuilding. Firemen -- assistant di-visional officer SW Rane and sta-tion officer MN Desai -- foundthemselves trapped in the build-ing, which proved fatal for both.

Fadnavis orders probe into blazeShubhomoy Sikdar

DEHRADUN: Abida Hasan, the daughterof Uttar Pradesh Labour MinisterShahid Manzoor, is feared drownedin the Ganga at Phoolchatti in Pauridistrict.

Search operations were carriedout at the place of the accident, buther body was not found [till Sundayevening], Pauri SP Ajay Joshi said.Abida, who is a student of medicine ata college in Meerut, went to the banksof the Ganga in Rishikesh, which shewas visiting with a few other friends,when she slipped and fell into theriver.

U.P. Ministersdaughter feareddrownedStaff Reporter

CMYK

ND-ND

7THE HINDU MONDAY, MAY 11, 2015NOIDA/DELHI

SOUTHERN REGION

KOCHI: While the newly-in-ducted Russian-origin air-craft carrier INSVikramaditya is undergoing ashort refit at the Naval ShipRepair Yard at its homeportin Karwar, the Navy is weigh-ing docking options withinthe country for the 45,000tonne carriers underwaterrefit, due by the end of nextyear.

A top source in the Navysaid the choice would be be-tween Pipavav Defence andOffshore Engineering Com-pany and the public-sectorCochin Shipyard, which hasbeen maintaining the under-water package of the outgo-ing carrier INS Viraat.

While Pipavav boasts of adry-dock large enough to takeon Vikramaditya for hull-in-spection and underwatermaintenance, Cochin Ship-yards dry-dock too fits thebill. It will only require a bitof dredging at the mouth ofthe dry-dock to take the ves-sel in, he said.

This would be the onlytime the Navy would have todepend on a shipyard for un-derwater repairs of the carri-er, as construction of a navaldry-dock big enough for ves-sels of the dimensions of Vik-ramaditya was expected to becomplete by 2017-end orearly 2018, he said.

As previously exclusivelyreported by The Hindu, flyingoperations from the deck ofVikramaditya had taken a hit

after some 30 engines(RD-33MK engines) power-ing the twin-engine MiG-29Kfighters of the Black Panthersquadron packed up aftersustaining foreign objectdamage (FOD).

There were some issueswith the runway at the navalair station INS Hansa wherethe squadron is based. We arenow addressing this and therunway is being resurfaced,said a senior officer.

Flying operations arescaled up in a phased mannerand clearance has not beengiven for single-engine land-ing so far. The Russian testpilots are addressing this,the officer said. The vital sin-gle-engine landing capabilitywould be tried and perfected

on the shore-based test facil-ity (SBTF) at INS Hansa be-fore it is replicated on thecarrier.

As part of its ongoing shortrefit at INS Kadamba, the car-rier would be equipped withself-defence systems such asthe AK-630 close-in weaponsystem (CIWS) and the Barakmissile defence both dis-mantled and overhauledfrom the frigate INS Godava-ri, due for decommissioningshortly.

The Navy was originallyplanning to fit the under-de-velopment long-range sur-face to air missile (LR-SAM,also called Barak 8) on theVikramaditya. The maidenshort refit of the carrierwould be over in July.

S. Anandan

INS Vikramaditya, India's third aircraft carrier,can carry 24 MIG-29 fighter aircraft and 10helicopters. PHOTO: VIVEK BENDRE

Navy mulling docking optionsfor repair of vessel

KALPETTA: P.K. Jayalakshmi,34, the youngest and solefemale Minister in theUnited Democratic Frontgovernment, got married onSunday to her fathers grandnephew C.A. Anil Kumar, 36.

The function was held asper the traditional rituals ofthe Kurichiya tribesmen at aspecial stage set for thepurpose at Palottutharavadu, Ms.Jayalakshmis ancestralhouse, at Mambayil, nearValadu. Priests from theSree Rajarajeswari temple atPaingattiri nearMananthavadi solemnisedthe marriage ceremony afterthe traditional tribal ritualsheld at the family temple inthe early morning.

Mr. Anil Kumar is afarmer and belongs toCheruvadi Kurichiya

tharavadu at Kambalakkaduin the district. Though themarriage was fixed nearlyseven years ago, it waspostponed following Ms.Jayalakshmis appointment

as Minister.Ms. Jayalakshmi, who

holds the charge of Welfareof Scheduled Tribes, Zooand Youth Affairs, is an acearcher and a silver medallist

in State-level competitions.She won the election on

her debut in 2011 from theMananthavadi Assemblyconstituency.

VIPs galore

A large array of VIPs,including Chief MinisterOommen Chandy, Leader ofthe Opposition V.S.Achuthanandan, Speaker N.Shakthan, Finance MinisterK.M. Mani, and HomeMinister RameshChennithala attended themarriage.

Around 6,500 peopleincluding peoplesrepresentatives, seniorofficials of variousdepartment and public alsoattended the function. T.V.Thomas, K.R. Gouri,Oommen Chandy are amongthe Kerala legislators whogot married while they wereMinisters.

Kerala Minister ties the knot with farmerE.M. Manoj

Kerala Chief Minister Oommen Chandycongratulating State Youth Affairs Minister P.K. Jayalakshmi and her husband C.A. AnilKumar after the marriage.

COIMBATORE: Renowned waterconservationist RajendraSingh strongly felt that effec-tive water management wasthe solution for water crisis.

The Stockholm WaterPrize and Magsaysay Awardwinner was addressing thegathering at a function orga-nised by the Rotary Club ofCoimbatore on Saturday tobestow the AmruthavarshiniAward to Siruthuli.

Doubting if Karnataka andTamil Nadu would reachterms for the Cauvery waterdispute, resulting in TamilNadu getting water from theriver, he stressed the need tosave water. We should iden-tify the source of water, thepath in which it flows andclear the blockages disturb-ing the natural course offlow, he said.

Mr. Rajendra Singh saidthat opportunities should bemade for seeping water to theground. More tanks shouldbe built to save available wa-ter. He observed that in manyplaces storage points for pre-

ciously saved water had alsoturned out to be a collectingpoint for sewage.

He pointed out that 80 percent of water in River Gangawas used for irrigating sugar-cane fields. He added that

good water could be used fordrinking while sewage couldbe used for irrigation. Theconservationist alsostressed on the need to de-pend on indigenous knowl-edge that is rich in India

to solve water relatedproblems.

Mr. Rajendra Singh andpresident of the Rotary ClubG. Karthikeyan handed overthe Amruthavarshini Awardto Siruthuli.

More tanks should be built to save available water: Rajendra Singh

Staff Reporter

Siruthuli chairman S.V. Balasubramaniam (fifth right) and managing trusteeVanitha Mohan (fourth right) receiving the Amruthavarshini Award frompresident of Rotary club of Coimbatore G. Karthikeyan (fourth left) in thepresence of water conservationist Rajendra Singh (third left) in Coimbatore onSaturday. PHOTO: S. SIVA SARAVANAN

Effective water managementimmediate solution for water crisis

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: TheUnited Democratic Front(UDF) leadership is likely toagree to rescheduling thegovernments fourth anni-versary political campaignslated for May 19 in the lightof the Kerala Congress (M)sdemand to defer the dates inview of its party chairmanand Finance Minister K.M.Manis inconvenience.

Chief Minister OommenChandy and Mr. Mani, whoheld a round of discussion onthe issue in Wayanad whenthe two met soon after YouthAffairs Minister P.K. Jaya-lakshmis wedding ceremonyon Sunday, sought to playdown the KC(M) demand,but the purportedly minorissue only served to show upthe trust deficit of the leadersof the two parties.

The UDF had decided toorganise four regional ralliessimultaneously on May 19 onthe occasion of its fourth an-niversary and for a politicalcampaign to counter the cor-ruption allegations thatsome of the ministers, in-cluding Mr. Mani, were fac-ing. The decision on theregional rallies was taken atthe UDF meeting. But theKerala Congress (M), whichwas a party to the UDF deci-

sion, sought postponementof the Central Kerala leg ofthe rally citing Mr. Manispersonal inconvenience asreason since he was listed toinaugurate the rally.

Mr. Mani, it is learnt, hadsecond thoughts about theadvisability of participatingin a rally when he was facinga probe in the bar briberycase. Mr. Mani strongly be-lieves that without gettinghis name cleared by the Vigi-lance, participating in therally does not have anymeaning. In the initial roundof discussion, Mr. Mani wasbrought around to droppinghis demand, but Kerala Pra-desh Congress Committee(KPCC) president V.M. Sud-heerans statement that theCongress was opposed to res-cheduling the rally appearedto have complicated mattersa bit, with Mr. Mani becom-ing insistent on changing thedate. Mr. Sudheeran also ex-pressed the view that chang-ing the date would send awrong message to the electo-rate.

Responding to questions,Mr. Chandy said differenceswere minor enough to besorted out through discus-sions.

The leaders would meetformally on May 12 and takea decision, he said.

Mani softens stand;UDF may reschedulecampaign datesGirish Menon

HYDERABAD: Talks between theCabinet Sub-Committee andRTC employees union failedto achieve breakthrough,with the union leaders insist-ing on a 43 per cent pay hikeand resolving to continue thestir.

The Cabinet Sub-Commit-tee, comprising Finance Min-ister YanamalaRamakrishnudu, TransportMinister Sidda Raghava Raoand Labour Minister AtchanNaidu, appealed to the unionleaders to call off the strike,seeking three weeks to re-solve the issue in an amicablemanner. Meanwhile, union

leaders promised to holdtalks with the management ina couple of days.

Speaking to reporters, Mr.Atchan Naidu said the unionleaders were told that theirdemands could not be metimmediately, and that thegovernment would considerthem sympathetically. Headded that the strike hadcaused gross inconvenienceto people, even though 62 percent of services were operat-ed in AP on Sunday.

Mr. Naidu maintained thatthe employees demand for 43per cent hike was not dis-cussed and reiterated that theAPSRTC management wascommitted to its earlier offer

of 27 per cent hike in salary. The Ministers also told the

union leaders that their de-mands needed to be examin-ed in-depth. TheSub-Committee membersand the management willmeet the union leaders dur-ing the next three weeks toarrive at a settlement.

APSRTC EmployeesUnion general secretary K.Padmakar said the union hadsubmitted a representation tothe government that if 43 percent pay hike was granted,employees would strive to in-crease the corporations reve-nues without hiking bus fares.

He said implementing apay hike of 43 per cent would

only put an additional burdenof Rs. 300 crore annually onthe management, adding thatif suggestions of the employ-ees union were implement-ed, an additional Rs. 2,000

crore could be netted. Mr.Padmakar said curbing illegaloperation of private buseswould yield an additional in-come of Rs. 1,000 crore forthe management.

Special Correspondent

Talks fail, RTC employees to continue strike

MYSURU: Thousands of chil-dren in Mysuru district mayhave to sit under trees andtake their lessons in the newacademic year, as over 344classrooms, which were de-molished recently are yet tobe re-constructed. Just over20 days are left for the begin-ning of the academic year andthe authorities have failed totake any action. Officials ofthe department are in a quan-dary over where to conductthe classes.

The Education Depart-ment is yet to meet ChiefMinister Siddaramaiah to re-

quest him to release the re-quired grant to re-build theclassrooms. The departmenthad appealed to the presidentof the Mysuru Zilla Pan-chayat, Pushpa Amaranath,and Chief Executive OfficerP.A. Gopal to appeal to theChief Minister on its behalfduring his next visit to Mysu-ru.

Over 488 classrooms inseveral schools in the districtwere identified as being inbad condition and unfit foruse. The department had in-structed the Block EducationOfficers to impress upon theSDMCs to demolish theclassrooms. Of these class-

rooms, 344 were demolished. The SSA officials are refus-

ing to release grants for thepurpose saying that therewas no provision to givefunds for re-construction ofclassrooms. So the next stepis too appeal to the ChiefMinister.

Even if the grants are re-leased soon, at least six toeight months are needed tore-build the classrooms. Thedepartment has a rough planto conduct classes on shiftbasis or in community hallstill the classrooms are ready.The last option is to holdclasses outdoors, under theshade of a tree.

344 classrooms razed but yet to be rebuilt in the district

H.S. Narasimha Kumar

No other option but to holdclasses under trees?

KOZHIKODE: Leader of the Op-position V.S. Achuthanan-dan and Janata Dal(United) [JD(U)] State unitpresident M.P. Veerendra-kumar had a one-to-onemeeting at the GovernmentGuest House here on Sun-day afternoon.

The meeting lasted 40minutes. However, neitherof them divulged any detailsof the meeting.

Mr. Veerendrakumar,who termed it as a friendlymeeting, said that Mr.Achuthanandan had want-ed to call on him as he wasnot well for sometime now.

Our conversation wasconfined to matters ofhealth, Mr. Veerendraku-mar told mediapersons.

VS calls on

Veerendrakumar

Staff Reporter

HASSAN: The episode of a se-nior geologist of the Minesand Geology Department inHassan, H.C. Divakar, seekingvoluntary retirement fromservice, has brought to thefore the pressure that officialsface when tackling illegal sandtransporters.

The officer is said to havecited pressure on him to workin favour of illegal transpor-ters as the reason for volun-tary retirement.

During his recent raid ontrucks carrying excess load ofsand above the prescribedlimit, he reportedly receivedphone calls asking him to re-

lease the trucks. He expressed his disap-

pointment over the non-coop-eration of police officialsduring such raids and allegedthat they did not provide secu-rity to officers conducting theraids.

Speaking to The Hindu over

telephone from Bengaluru, asenior colleague of the officersaid at least 70 per cent of theofficers in the departmentwere planning to quit becauseof work pressure and harass-ment by external forces. Ninedepartments are involved inhandling sand mining activ-

ities. But whenever somethinggoes wrong, officers of theMines and Geology Depart-ment are held responsible.The department is alreadyshort of staff. We cannot takethis pressure. A few others toohave sought VRS, the officersaid on condition ofanonymity.

Hassan district has wit-nessed such incidents earlier.In January 2014, H.L. Nagara-ju, the then tahsildar of Chan-narayapatna, had filed acomplaint against a lorry driv-er for allegedly trying to runover him and his staff. Thishappened when he was fol-lowing trucks carrying illegal-ly extracted sand.

Pressure on officials engaged in tackling illegal sand transporters

Sathish G.T.

Focus on Hassan sand mafia

CMYK

ND-ND

MONDAY, MAY 11, 2015

8 THE HINDU MONDAY, MAY 11, 2015NOIDA/DELHI

EDITORIAL

Close to seven decades after Independence, in

many villages of India the nature of certain

social equations has not changed from what

they have been for centuries. Such villages

continue to remain what Dr. B.R. Ambedkar called

sinks of localism, dens of ignorance and narrow-min-

dedness. How else could one see certain recent in-

cidents reported from Tumakuru in Karnataka about

village barber shops denying haircuts for Dalits, temple

festivities remaining out-of-bounds for Dalit families,

and other forms of prevalent discrimination? By all

accounts these are not isolated incidents. Discrimi-

nation against Dalits is widespread and ingrained in the

psyche across India, in rural settings in particular. In

some places it takes the form of violent oppression, in

others it is disguised yet omnipresent. To be fair, when

the incidents in Tumakuru came to notice, the adminis-

tration took corrective steps immediately. This sug-

gests responsiveness on the part of the state to issues of

social justice at least in some cases. But recurring acts

and persisting practices against the Dalit community

beg the question whether state response and constitu-

tionalism alone are enough to overcome longstanding

social injustice and prejudices in Indias villages.

In other words, has political justice achieved in

some respects over time by means of affirmative action

managed to overcome social injustice at all? The

alacrity shown by state authorities in the Tumakaru

cases reflects to some extent the political power gained

by Dalits in India and the efficacy of the rule of law.

After all, the Constitution guarantees the right to equal-

ity of all citizens and affirmative action for Dalits. Years

of following the policy of affirmative action has yielded

a high degree of participation and representation of

Dalits in politics and in governance. But without pro-

gressive social consciousness permeating society at

large, constitutionalism, state actions and political

equations simply do not suffice. It would help if the

political actors who have accommodated Dalits among

their party and governance structures, due to the their

sheer weight of numbers as a representative section,

also believed in and worked as conduits for social trans-

formation. Perhaps if Dalits were not merely accommo-

dated but were accorded leadership roles in parties, that

could aid this process of social activism. A recent study

pointed out that barring exceptions such as the Bahujan

Samaj Party, the leadership of major political parties

suffered from a clear diversity deficit, with Dalits being

severely under-represented in the leadership across

parties. Being made part of the political leadership

one way of being among the elite i