The Tribune, Chandigarh, India - Delhi and neighbourhood

	Another 80 cases of dengue, death toll 19 CM visits hospital, says no cause to panic Tribune News Service New Delhi, October 7 Delhi chief minister, Ms Sheila Dikshit, today visited GTB Hospital to see dengue patients and assured them that the government would provide all possible help to them. She also claimed that there was no need to panic on this count. The chief minister instructed senior officials of the health department to organise blood donation camps to meet the blood and platelets requirements. However, she also claimed that the situation was under control and there was enough blood and platelets to meet the demand. Around 2400 volunteers have been deployed in various parts of Delhi for fogging the affected areas. Elaborating on the measures taken up to prevent the spread of dengue, the chief minister said that the Centre had provided anti-larva chemicals to Delhi to kill dengue-causing mosquitoes. School students have been advised to wear full length uniforms so as to avoid Aedes mosquito bite. A Twenty-four hours round-the-clock control room has been set up by the MCD and 60-70 three-wheelers have been hired to create awareness about dengue, she said. She instructed senior officials of the health department present to depute young doctors at various hospitals to monitor dengue patients regularly. The CM also visited the general ward and the children’s ward of the hospital during her trip. She was accompanied by her son, East Delhi MP, Mr Sandeep Dikshit. Meanwhile, a news channel today reported about the death of a patient when the chief minister was visiting the hospital, accusing the hospital staff of failing to pay attention to the patient due to the VIP visit. However, the Medical Superintendent of the hospital claimed that the deceased, Shivanand (62), who was suffering from Septicemia, was hospitalised yesterday evening in a ‘critical condition’ and it was just a coincidence that he succumbed to it this afternoon. Meanwhile, the Municipal Health Officer today said that with 85 new cases of dengue reported from various hospitals in the Capital, the total number of patients had risen to 825, even as one more person died of the disease early today. The disease has so far claimed 19 lives in the Capital. Of the total patients admitted to various hospitals, 536 are from Delhi, while the remaining are from the neighbouring states. Of the 85 fresh cases reported since Friday, 44 were from the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS). Usman Ghani (42), a resident of Gandhi Nagar in east Delhi, succumbed to the disease early today at AIIMS. Dengue, caused by the bite of the Aedes aegypti mosquito that breeds in clear stagnant water, is marked by high fever, skin rashes and a sharp drop in platelet counts that can prove fatal. St. Stephen’s Hospital is treating 188 patients, Deen Dayal Upadhaya Hospital 129 cases and Lok Nayak Jai Prakash Hospital has 124 patients admitted for dengue infection.
	Residents blame Noida Authority for dengue outbreak Our Correspondent Noida, October 7 The Noida drain running from Sector-15 through a number of sectors, long recognized as a breeding ground for various mosquito-borne diseases, has become a great cause of worry due to the spread of dengue in the area. Polluted water of the Noida drain is home to diseases like malaria. According to the RWA secretary, Sector-15, the obnoxious smell emanating from the drain, flowing into Noida from Delhi, has made the life of residents of the sector miserable. Added to this nuisance are the overflowing drains in the sector. President of 15-A Sector, retired senior IAS officer Vijender Sahai says there is no remedy for this drain which is not regularly cleaned by Noida Authority. According to H.K. Garg, president of Sector-27, RWA, “Our complaints remain buried in the files in Noida Authority office. If increasing waste and pollution are not attended to early in the town, the diseases will assume epidemic proportion in Noida.” “Two drains have become sorrow of Noida” says Mrs Kalpana Sharma, president of Sector-14 RWA. The weekly market in Ashok Nagar also adds to the area’s pollution, filth and unhygienic state. At least twice a week, the Noida Authority should have it cleaned,” she adds. Meanwhile, two dozen cases of dengue have reportedly come to light. Eight patients from a single village in Dadri have been admitted to different hospitals here.
	Public participation needed to control dengue: Walia Our Correspondent New Delhi, October 7 Exhorting Delhi citizens to join hands with the government in fighting dengue, the Delhi Finance Minister, Dr A K Walia, has said that public participation was a must to check its spread which had claimed several lives and was threatening to become a menace. Resident Welfare Associations, youth and students must join in the campaign to create awareness in containing the spread of dengue, he said on Friday while addressing the media about the forthcoming ‘Perfect Health Mela’. Admitting that lack of cleanliness, which, he claimed, was not being affected properly by the Municipal Corporation of Delhi, was also causing the spread of dengue, he said, “Responsibility has to be fixed if we are sincere in what we say and act.” “Action needs to be taken against those who do not work. However, we are taking action whenever something comes to our notice,” he said. On the fair, Dr Walia said the ‘Health Mela’ would offer a common platform for all systems of medicines - whether allopathic, homeopathic, ayurvedic, naturopathy etc that would be available at a single place. The October 10-16 ‘mela’, being held at Sheikh Sarai MCD Park would have 350 stalls and specialist doctors of all hues. The 7-day event, being organised by the HCFI and MCD jointly, along with other government departments, will offer free medical tests, consultancy and expert opinion to visitors who are expected in over five lakhs in number.
	UGC asks DU to fill teaching posts for reserved section Move will ensure non-recruitment from general category for years to come Smriti Kak Ramachandran Tribune News Service New Delhi, October 7 The University Grant Commission (UGC)’s direction to the University of Delhi to first fill all the teaching posts earmarked for the reserved sections, if accepted, means there will be no jobs for the general category candidates for years to come. The UGC instruction entails that recruitment of teachers in the general category in all colleges and departments will be stalled till the University clears the ‘backlog’ created by non-recruitment of SC/ST candidates. Aggrieved by the UGC’s ‘Guidelines for Reservation Policy in University and Colleges 2006’, the University says the Commission has ‘bulldozed’ its way in by altering the reservation policy itself. “The University began to have the 22.5 per cent reservation for teachers from 1996 based on the 100 points rooster system, wherein every 7th, 14th …post is reserved in each department. If we were to fill the backlog, then it will not only take years, but will severely hamper the job prospects of the general category candidates,” said the University officials. They said, “The UGC has conveniently changed this system, instead of taking departments as a unit for reservation, they want us to take college and subjects as a unit. The Commission wants that the reservation policy which was hitherto applicable only for the post of lecturer should now be extended to post of reader and professor as well.” It was pointed out that the University could seek reprieve from the directive on the grounds that it is “technically impaired”. “There is a Supreme Court order that says that different disciplines cannot be combined unless they are interchangeable. There are not such disciplines in the University, a Physics teacher cannot teach Chemistry. The DoPT, too, has ruled that there cannot be a combined rooster of reservation for services of any group,” Dr S.S. Rathi, former DUTA President, pointed out. A meeting to thrash out the issue was called by the University Vice-Chancellor, Mr Deepak Pental, with the principals of various colleges, sources said. “The government must understand that while we believe in social justice and are doing our bit, we are not responsible for the vacant teaching slots in the reserved category. In our college, despite advertising, we did not receive a single application for the teaching posts meant for the reserved category candidates,” said the principal of a reputed college. Claiming that the college has a duty to provide its students teachers who meet a certain minimum standard, the principal said, “Colleges should be allowed to maintain their standards of excellence built over years. If the vacancy arises because there are not enough qualified SC/ST candidates, then it is in everyone’s interest to have adhoc teachers from the general categories”. The decision to bar the recruitment of general category candidates as adhoc against posts reserved for SC/STs, too, has been dubbed ‘irrational’. “If there were enough suitable SC/ST candidates who could be hired on adhoc basis, wouldn’t they then have been hired as permanent faculty,” said a senior university official.
	Minister says law against child labour to be enforced soon Ravi S. Singh Tribune New Service Gurgaon, October 7 The Haryana’s Minister of Finance, Labour and Employment, Mr Birender Singh, today made out a strong case for strict implementation of the laws enacted for the security and welfare of labour class in all sectors. Mr Singh, who was the chief guest at a seminar organised by the Labour Department, said that although there were laws relating to the welfare of the labour class, they were not implemented effectively. The thrust of the speakers on the occasion was prohibition of child labour as the Minister promised action against those who violated the law. The penalty for employing child labour as domestic labour in contravention of the notification and the Act is Rs 10,000 to Rs 20,000, besides provisions for other penalties. In fact, the seminar was also part of the Labour Department’s campaign to sensitise the public on the issues related to labour, including child labour. According to Mr Singh, the Child Labour Act will be enforced with an iron hand in Haryana from October 10. Hence, he made a strong plea not to employ children up to the age of 14 as labour. He said that from October 10, the Building and other Construction Workers (Regulation of Employment and Condition of Services) Act, 1996 and the Building and Other Construction Workers Welfare Cess Act, 1996 will also be implemented. The builders in the field of construction business will have to deposit one per cent of the total cost of their project to the Haryana Building Construction Workers Welfare Board in the interest of workers in construction business. Under the law, the welfare board provides for a pension scheme, advance for housing, disability pension, medical assistance, finance for marriage and loan for tools, etc to the workers. The minister rubbished the bogey raised by the industrialist on the Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) whenever there was talk of reforms in the labour laws. He said that the experience worldwide has amply demonstrated that there was no decrease in FDI in implementing the welfare laws. Industrialists and representatives from other sectors, including the Delhi Metro Rail Project, took part in the seminar.
	Noida Authority fails to honour RTI Act ‘Officials change land use in favour of commercial establishments’ Parmindar Singh Noida, October 7 People alert to their rights have started seeking replies to questions from different government departments on various issues under the Right to Information Act. But the government departments or organizations like Noida Authority have been found wanting in furnishing satisfactory replies under the RTI Act within the given timeframe. Taking one specific example, some 25 questions were raised by the residents about public park between H and N block in Sector-25. The place is being commercially used now. The residents asked as to why the place is not being allowed to continue as a park and why the area is being used commercially. First it was made known that the shops will be constructed on the spot, but later approval for a park was accorded by shifting the shops to Sector-25 market. But some unscrupulous people had occupied the land and started some commercial activity on it right under the nose of Noida Authority. It may be mentioned that some 101 residents had sent complaints to Noida Authority on April 21, 2004 signed by all of them. This was followed by reminders, but of no avail. Now the residents have taken up the matter under Right to Information Act. Some 25 residents have individually sought information on the issue from Noida Authority. They have asked as to what action has been taken on the issue. They asked: Who are the officers, their names and designations, dealing with this complaint and the date on which they had received the questions? Has any action been taken against the officials for not taking any action in the mater and lastly by what date some action will be taken on people’s complaint. But there was no reply from the Authority officers within the mandatory period allowed. It may be added that the issue was first raised during April 2004 when Mr Malhotra was CEO of Noida authority. After that three CEOs, Mr Avaneesh Awasthi, Mr Deo Dutt Sharma and Mr Sanjeev Saran have come, but the question is still unanswered by the Noida Authority officials, the residents say.
	MCF’s demolition squad forced to retreat Tribune News Service Faridabad, October 7 The demolition squad of the Municipal Corporation, Faridabad (MCF) had to face the fury of the residents of a colony in Old Faridabad here today after the team reached there to demolish some unauthorized structures and seal commercial establishments. While three shops were pulled down by the squad in Om Enclave Part-II, located in Palla area, the agitated residents set fire to the official car of the MCF’s Joint Commissioner, Old Faridabad. The fire was soon controlled and there was not much damage to the vehicle, said the police. However, the officials had to return without accomplishing the task, however. A member of the Municipal Corporation claimed that several shops were owned by him and alleged that the demolition action was carried out at the behest of a senior politician belonging to the Congress. He claimed that the demolition or sealing had been illegal as the court had provided a stay on these structures. Several vehicles of the police force were sent to gain control over the situation, said a local resident. It is claimed that dozens of acres had been either illegally occupied or sold in the area bordering Delhi at the behest of some senior political persons of the district.