New Delhi, October 9
Nearly a thousand cases of dengue have been reported in Delhi and the NCR this year according to the National Vector Borne Disease Control Programme (NVBDCP).

More than 50 fresh cases have been reported in the national Capital over the last 24 hours, with as many as 41 dengue patients admitted to the AIIMS alone. Around 173 people are already undergoing treatment for the viral disease in the institute.

Twenty-two people have so far succumbed to dengue in the Capital this year.

The Delhi Health Secretary confirmed that 50 fresh cases of dengue have been reported in the Capital.

He said that Naveen Chandra, a resident of Delhi, died last evening of the disease. He was admitted to the hospital on October 5.

As the dengue deluge continued in AIIMS, the management today announced a contingency plan under which 100 additional doctors and 50 interns have been put on duty in the dengue ward. Some private wards have been converted into the general dengue ward to accommodate patients.

The contingency plan was decided at a meeting of heads of departments, which was chaired by the AIIMS Director. The meeting also decided to form a supervising committee of two resident doctors – Dr Anil Sharma and Dr Binod Patra – which will work as an interface between patients and the administration.

“The committee will ensure proper coordination between the patients, the blood bank, administration and the laboratory. It will supervise the dengue operation at AIIMS,” Dr Sharma said.

He said an automatic platelet counting machine would also be installed in the laboratory to expedite test results. Dr Sharma said more private wards would be converted into general wards if required.

He said the Union Health Ministry must ensure that other hospitals in the city were also pressed into service to handle the dengue deluge. “Health Minister Anbumani Ramadoss is not aware of the ground situation.... Dengue should be declared an epidemic. We will get more resources then. We are running shot of blood and platelets,” he added.

The AIIMS has set up a 24-hour dengue helpline.

MCD officials said 886 cases were reported in Delhi till yesterday morning of which 538 were from the Capital.

Two MPs – Bihar JD (U) president Rajiv Ranjan and Rajya Sabha member Virender Malik – are already admitted to the AIIMS for dengue treatment. They have been admitted to the private ward, doctors said. “Both have tested positive for the viral disease,” they added.

The worst affected areas from dengue in Delhi are Central Zone, Najafgarh and Shahadra (North) which have reported 74, 70 and 68 cases, respectively. 

Noida, October 9
A woman died of dengue here last night, while four new cases of dengue have been confirmed.

Of the four confirmed dengue cases, two patients are from Noida, while the other two are from Ghaziabad, according to Addl. Chief Medical Officer.

Suman (45) from Khora Colony, admitted to a private hospital on October 3, died late last night.

Several patients with dengue symptoms were admitted to private hospitals even yesterday.

There are 46 dengue patients from Noida, 31 from Ghaziabad, and 20 from Delhi undergoing treatment in various hospitals in Noida.

The medical officer said that dengue suspected patients with serological test reports were being admitted to private hospitals. The dengue cell in district hospital had not kept a record of the patients, he said.

In rural areas, the cases of dengue and malaria are on rise. For the past eight months, stock of insecticide and pesticide has been lying unused in the CMO’s office. Following a direction from the administration, a budget of Rs 50,000 has now been released for sprays in Dadri, Dankore and Javer blocks.

The medicines have not been used for spray in the town or rural areas. Senior officers have now ordered immediate spraying of chemicals, insecticides in view of dengue and malaria scourge in the area.

For the first time, insecticide was sprayed and fogging done on a large scale on Sunday in Dadri town. No fogging has yet been carried out in the rural areas, however, where the dengue menace continues to hold people to ransom.

Suspected dengue patients from rural areas continue to pour into hospitals where about two dozen malaria patients are already under treatment. Doctors in local hospital promptly refer patients with dengue symptoms to hospitals in Delhi, Noida and Ghaziabad.

According to the administrative officer of Dadri municipal committee, it had undertaken fogging operations and insecticide sprays at Railway Road, Bhagat Singh Marg, Badshah Nagar, G.T. Road, Jamaipura, Balmiki Mohalla, Thakran Mohalla, Pratap Vihar and Gagan Vihar. Kerosene oil has also been poured into water bodies, drains etc. It is clear, however, that this is a case of too little, too late. If the fogging had been carried out earlier, the crisis situation created by dengue could have been controlled by now, say residents.

Gurgaon, October 9
The National Institute of Communicable Diseases (NICD) today confirmed three more dengue cases raising the total number of cases to 20.

As per the latest figures, the number of suspected dengue cases has risen to 143, out of which 20 have already been confirmed.

Meanwhile, the health department continues to take up measures to prevent the spread of dengue in the city. Also, the authorities are keeping a tab on the areas from where other forms of viral infection are being reported, officials said.

According to reports, all the private hospitals are flooded with patients with high fever and other symptoms of dengue in the past one week. However, a majority of them seems to be gripped with viral infection, rather with dengue virus. 

New Delhi, October 9
Thousands of schoolchildren took part in a dengue awareness rally from Red Fort to Fatehpuri here today.

The Union Minister for Science and Technology and Ocean Development, Mr Kapil Sibbal, Delhi Health Minister, Mr Yoganand Shastri, Standing Committee Chairman, Mr Jai Kishan Sharma and Appointment and Promotion Committee Chairman, Mr Brij Mohan Sharma, led the rally.

The Deputy Commissioner, City Zone, the Municipal Health Officer, other senior officials and a large number of citizens also joined the rally.

Mr Brij Mohan Sharma said that 15 schools situated in the area participated in the rally. The children carried banners and placards in the rally aimed at creating awareness with regard to prevention of dengue. The residents of the areas, where the rally passed through, welcomed the rallyists on either side of the roads. They were given publicity literature with regard to dengue awareness.

The participating schools included Presentation Convent School, Indraprastha School, S.D. Public School, Jain Girls School and Laxmi Kanya Senior Secondary School, besides a number of government schools.

Mr Kapil Sibal administered an ‘oath’ to the children and citizens present on the occasion that they will ensure that water does not collect in an around their premises to prevent mosquitogenic conditions. They also took ‘oath’ that they will do their best to make Delhi dengue-free.

Addressing the rally at the conclusion at Fatehpuri, Mr Jai Kishan Sharma claimed that the MCD had pressed vehicle-mounted fogging machines into service. In addition, it has 370 fogging machines for indoor purposes. Five fire tenders have also been used.

Addressing the rallyists, Mr Brij Mohan Sharma pointed out that dengue was not an incurable disease. “We can find complete control over the disease by adopting simple precautions,” he said.

Noida, October 9
Panic gripped the residents of Gautam Budh Nagar after the detection of a new polio case in the area. The confirmation of 8-year-old boy from Surajpur being a polio case was received here from World Health Organisation (WHO) late on Saturday night.

This is the fifth polio case in the past 45 days in GB Nagar, which had the distinction of being a polio-free district for the past two and a half years since August 2004. All the five children detected with polio had reportedly been administered polio drops regularly.

According to sources, the sample of the boy was sent to the WHO head office in Delhi for testing a month ago. Later, a sample was sent for examination in Mumbai’s Entro Virus Lab. The lab reports have confirmed the boy to be a polio patient.

A 13-month old boy in Dankore Block was the first case of polio detected in the district. Thereafter, an 18-month-old girl from Mehdipur village, two-and-a-half-year-old girl from Javer Block, and three-year-old boy in Phalaunda village in Dadri were found to be gripped with the disease.

All the children belong to the same community and all had been given polio drops regularly. According to officials, all polio cases have been detected from high risk areas.

The authorities of health department have again resorted to routine immunisation programme. A special one-week vaccination campaign is being launched from October 9 in all the blocks of the district. This special campaign will particularly focus on leftover children. Giving VCG, DPT injections, polio and measles vaccination and special examination of all pregnant women will be the highlight of this special campaign.

New Delhi, October 9
Determined to bring a Bill for controlling the use of ground water in the Capital, Delhi Government today circulated a draft of the proposed legislation among members of the Delhi Jal Board and sought their inputs.

At a meeting of board members, attended by Chief Minister, Ms Sheila Dikshit, the members sought a time of two to three days to go through the Bill and gave their views on it, the DJB CEO said.

The Chief Minister had directed that members study the draft Bill on a priority basis and come up with their suggestions at the earliest, he said.

The Board would again take up the matter within a few days – possibly October 14 – and the suggestions of members would be incorporated, he added.

The Bill is based on the model, which was sent by the Central Ground Water Authority to Delhi and other states. Some of the states have already passed a legislation to this effect.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had also written to the Chief Minister seeking adoption of the model bill at the earliest. The members also sought a draft of the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU), which the DJB is set to sign with the CISF to provide security to its plants.

The board has also decided to take development charges from unauthorised colonies where pipelines are supposed to be laid only when the actual construction work begins.

“Earlier, the development charges were taken in installments. Now we will impose the charge only when we can provide the services,” the DJB CEO said.—PTI

Faridabad, October 9
The three thermal power units run by the Haryana Power Generation Corporation (HPGC) here may have been contributing about 165 MW of power daily to the state, but they are facing several problems resulting in not only frequent breakdowns but also in contributing to the ever-increasing pollution level in this industrial township.

In fact, the units have been served a notice by the Pollution Control Board to check the emission levels from the plant or face action in case of failure to abide by the guidelines connected with the pollution.

Though all the three units here commissioned in various years have already completed the prescribed life of 25 years, the state power department had been continuing with the power production work due to the power availability crisis.

The three units here had been commissioned in 1974, 1976 and 1982 and had the initial capacity to generate a power of 65 MW from each of the unit, but this capacity got curtailed down to 55 MW each in the past few years as the machinery got outdated and the plants required more funds and renovation due to constraints owing to their design and quality of the raw material.

Besides the plant being quite old and its technology being nearly outdated, the quality of coal and water supplied to it for producing power has constantly got degraded, leading to severe ‘side affects’ which include higher pollution level and frequent breakdowns in the machinery coupled with lower Plant Load Factor (PLF), which tells the efficiency level of any plant, regarding the production, claim sources in the department.

The equipment for these units had been supplied by Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited (BHEL) of a design imported from Czechoslovakia in the 1970s. The plant has been getting raw water supply from Gurgaon canal supported by water release from Agra canal, but the quality of the water has been getting poorer by the day due to mixing of sewerage water and other pollutants in it, say sources, which is largely responsible for many problems regarding production. It is stated while the silage and the waste particles mixed in the water chokes the machinery, it required more efforts to clean this water, and the thermal plant has no proper sized tank of its own to store or and clean it with good cooling towers.

Moreover the quality of the coal supply from sources like Jharkhand and Chhatisgarh has got degraded from grade B and C to D and E of late, affecting the over all performance and efficiency levels.

“The PLF rate has got down to 46 and 47 per cent owing to these factors,” Mr K.S. Dahiya, Superintending Engineer of the Plant, conceded. He said while all efforts were being made to keep the emission level under control, the poor quality of raw material including water was a major cause of problems. This matter has been taken up with the concerned authorities, he said.

The pollution department has expressed concern over the rise in the SPM level in the area due to emissions from the plant. The plant offiials have, however, asked the MCF and the water supply department to improve the quality of water supplied to the plant. 

New Delhi, October 9
In an attempt to support research and teaching of higher education and to promote quality faculty in universities and colleges, the UGC has expanded its fellowship program substantially for the Central and state universities, for general category students and those from socially disadvantaged groups.

Currently, the UGC offers about 1,600 Junior Research Fellowships under NET in Humanities and Social Sciences and Sciences, another 50 in Engineering and Technology. As per the expansion in the Central Universities, the UGC will institute fellowships for students pursuing M.Phil and Ph.D. The fellowship amount would be provided under development grant to be placed at the disposal of the Vice-Chancellors of the Central Universities.

For the State Universities, the Commission has decided to institute at least 3,000 fellowships for Ph.D scholars, of these about 1,500 will be for Science Education based on the recommendation of the Empowered Committee.

These Ph.D. Fellowship for Science will be located with the Department of Special Assistance and the Centre of Advanced Studies in Sciences in State Universities, with State Universities with the Potential for Excellence and 12 identified State Universities with specific thrust areas.

The remaining 15,000 fellowships will be provided for Social Sciences also, for which further details are being worked out.

The UGC is also implementing the Rajiv Gandhi Fellowship for SC/ST students pursuing their PhD. Under this scheme, about 2,000 fellowships, 1,333 for SC and 667 for ST will be awarded.

Post-Graduate scholarships for professional courses for SC/ST candidates in Engineering and Technology, Management, and Pharmacy in universities and colleges will also be introduced.

The UGC will also institute post-doctoral fellowships to commemorate the birth centenary of Professor D. S. Kothari and post-doctoral fellowships for SC/ST candidates to enable them pursue advanced studies and research in Science, Engineering and Technology, and in Humanities and Social Sciences in universities, institutions and colleges. 

New Delhi, October 9
Delhi chief minister, Ms Sheila Dikshit, today said that the government schools in the Capital were striving to acquire excellence in the field of imparting purposeful education to children.

The performance of government schools was much better today than the well-established and famous public schools, as the results of the government schools had shown a remarkable improvement during the last two years, she said while speaking at a function at Tehkhand, where she inaugurated a new school building.

Ms Dikshit said Delhi government had implemented the decision taken by the state Cabinet earlier to engage government agencies other than Public Works Department for construction and maintenance of government schools in Delhi.

The construction of pucca and semi-pucca structures, the work of maintenance and upgradation of all existing government school buildings had so far been the responsibility of the PWD.

Ms Dikshit said a decision had been taken to augment the pace of civil work by involving multiple government agencies to work in tandem for better educational infrastructure and facilities.

She said her government would open more schools in different parts of Delhi for the benefit of the students. She also said Delhi Government had decided to open five new Pratibha Vikas Vidyalayas to groom the budding talents.

The chief minister claimed that the government was committed to provide more facilities in the schools to equip them with modern facilities so that they excel in studies.

The Education Minister, Mr A S Lovely, added that the state government had improved the quality of education in the city. He said that quality education supported by required infrastructure for children in the Capital had been a professed goal of the government. The school building was constructed at the cost of Rs 1.25 crore and the work had been completed within a year. 

New Delhi, October 9
Nine boys who were forced to work as child labourers have been rescued from embroidery factories in Badarpur area.

The boys, aged between 10-13 years, were rescued on Friday by a team comprising the Delhi Labour Department’s Assistant Labour Commissioner and personnel from the local police.

The raid team, acting on a complaint by NGO Social Jurist, found the children employed in Usha Embroidary and M.D. Anwar Zari Arts, both embroidery factories in Meethapur village in the Badarpur area. The rescue operation lasted for four hours.

“These children were made to work every day for 12 hours continuously under most undesirable conditions. Five children belong to Dharbhanga district of Bihar, whereas the other four children belong to Nepal,” said Mr Ashok Agarwal of the Social Jurist.

He said these children claimed that they were brought to the Capital to work as child labourers by middlemen.

The Labour Department has booked the employers under the Child Labour (Prohibition and Regulation) Act, 1986 and Factories Act, 1948. It was pointed out that the employers can be punished under these laws with imprisonment for a term that may extend to two years or with a fine up to one lakh rupees, or with both.

“As per a Supreme Court decision in 1996, those employing child labourers are also liable to pay Rs 20,000 per child to the government to be used for the welfare of families of the rescued children,” Mr Agarwal claimed.

The rescued children have been produced before the Child Welfare Committee and given shelter in a Children’s Home.

“The children were happy and were taken care of by the Children’s Home. They want to go back home immediately and have promised to study,” Mr Agarwal said.

He also said that the NGO was planning to file a petition in Delhi High Court for directions to the state of Bihar and a request to the Nepal government to approach the CWC and take these children back to their native places and to ensure education for them and rehabilitation for their parents. 

Gurgaon, October 9
There is good news for the devotees of Shree Sai Baba of Shreedi who is worshipped by millions of persons cutting across religions and sects, as three new cassettes of ‘bhajans’ by Paras Jain is to hit the market in a month’s time.

Mr Jain of ‘T-Series’ fame and a devotee of Sai Baba, yesterday made a record of sorts in Delhi by recording 25 bhajans to be released in three cassettes under the banner ‘Sai Music’ (SM pvt Ltd) firm. He has come all the way from Shreedi for the recording. The firm has already released a series of bhajan songs dedicated to Sai Baba. Some of the bhajans, including the titles ‘Sai Durbar’ and ‘Sai Jeevan Dhar’ are considered to be making waves in the country.

A native of Rajasthan, Mr Jain was here today to meet Shree Kumar Anand Ranjan-his Guru and well-known devotee of Sai Baba. He says that he set up business and residential base in Shreedi after getting inspiration from Sai Baba. Also, the musical creations, especially bhajans, were due to the inspiration from Sai Baba.

His account of connections with Sai Baba are ecstatic and borders on mysticism, especially to the uninitiated in the revered Saint’s fold.

According to him, as an eight-year-child, he had gone to Shreedi to meet his paternal aunt. He visited Sai Samadhi complex where an inner voice commanded him to render a bhajan in honour of the saint. It was the first display of his skill in public. From then on, there was no looking back and he was gradually acclaimed as a notable bhajan singer relating to the saint. He attributes his ascendancy in life from ‘zero to hero’ singularly to the blessings of Sai Baba.

New Delhi, October 9
The Delhi Government today released a draft roll of the wards of Delhi Sikh Gurudwara Management Committee (DSGMC) for which elections are due this year.

In a release issued here, an official from the State Directorate of Gurudwara Elections said, “Draft rolls of 46 Gurudwara Wards have been displayed by the respective zonal registration officers for inviting claims and objections.” The last date for filing suggestions and objections is October 16, said the release.

Meanwhile, Shiromani Akali Dal (Badal) has sought delimitation of the wards of the Delhi Sikh Gurudwara Management Committe (DSGMC) on the line of legislative assemblies, which were recently redrawn in the national Capital.—PTI

Noida, October 9
The police here are still in the dark about the identity of the killer of a gynaecologist, Dr Renuka Khanolkar (64), who was savagely done to death in her flat in Sector 21 on Saturday.

Her throat had been slit with a kitchen knife and her head smashed with a blunt object.

The district SSP, who has constituted three teams to investigate the murder in a ‘posh area’, said it appeared to be the work of an insider as a kitchen knife had been used for slitting her throat. No valuables were found missing from the house

The family as well as neighbours said the doctor couple — Dr Renuka and her husband, Wing Commander (retd) Dr Nandan Khanolkar — were very social and helpful. The gruesome murder has once again highlighted the vulnerability of elderly residents in the NCR.

The residents complained that the city police had done nothing for the safety of senior citizens despite their repeated requests and reminders.

New Delhi, October 9
In a first ever case of repatriation of a prisoner from Tihar Jail, a British national serving 10 years rigorous imprisonment will be sent back to the UK soon.

Breath Makinson is serving the jail term in a drug abuse case. He was arrested from South Delhi in 2003 under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act and later convicted by a local court.

The repatriation could be possible following India signing a repatriation treaty with UK a few years ago, jail sources said.— PTI

New Delhi, October 9
A young couple, on their way to get married, was shot at and seriously injured when one of their relatives chased their vehicle and shot them from close range in Punjabi Bagh area of West Delhi this afternoon.

The police said that the alleged assailant, Raj, said to be cousin of the girl, was accompanied by six other people when he shot at her and her fiancé Bhupinder at about 2 p. m. The couple — Raj and Bupinder — travelling in a car were reportedly chased and overtaken by the attackers who had an argument before the shooting incident.

Raj fled the scene immediately after the incident. The injured have been admitted to the Deendayal Upadhyay Hospital in a critical condition, he added.

Sources said the girl’s parents were against the proposed marriage.

The police said that a case had been registered and efforts were being made to trace the suspect and his accomplices. 

New Delhi, October 9
A minor street-side argument over fetching water from a tube-well turned nasty in a South-West Delhi locality when one person threw acid over a crowd, injuring at least 13 of them.

The incident happened last night in Chilangi village near Sarojini Nagar after the accused Pradeep Kumar, who runs a carpet cleaning shop in the locality, entered into an argument with his neighbours.

Kumar, who lost his temper after the prolonged verbal duel, went to his shop and came back with a can of diluted acid, and threw at others, police said here.

At least 13 persons suffered minor burns in the attack and were taken to hospital and all of them were discharged after administering first aid, they added. Kumar has been arrested and booked under Section 324 (voluntarily causing hurt by dangerous weapons or means) of the IPC.—OC

New Delhi, October 9
With the arrest of four persons – Premveer (32), Rajesh (29), Om Prakash (28) and Jitender ( 32) – the South district police today claimed to have solved 74 cases of murder, dacoity, robbery, kidnapping, car jacking in Delhi, Haryana and UP. A car suspected to be robbed from UP, Rs 22,000 in cash and two pistols with ammunitions have allegedly been recovered from their possession.

On a tip-off, when the police team tried to intercept a car coming from Faridabad side near Meethapur on the bank of Agra Canal, one member of the gang, Premvir, allegedly opened fire at the police party. After a brief exchange of fire, he, along with his three of his accomplices, were arrested by the police team.

According to police, 60 criminal cases were allegedly registered against the gang leader Premveer.—OC

New Delhi, October 9
The mother-in-law and brother-in-law of a woman, who allegedly committed suicide by setting herself on fire after being ‘harassed’ for dowry in a North-East Delhi area, have been arrested following the intervention of the Delhi Commission for Women (DCW).

The victim, Kusum (21), was admitted to LNJP hospital with severe burns on September 27, where she succumbed to her injuries, a DCW spokesperson said.

But in her dying statement, she had allegedly accused her mother-in-law Khimia and brother-in-law Hemant of torturing her for dowry, due to which she had taken the extreme step, she said.

Alleging that the police, despite the dying statement, did not take any action in the matter, Kusum’s mother Shanti Devi approached the Commission on October 6, following which the DCW Chairperson took up the matter with the police. After DCW’s intervention, the police registered a case of dowry harassment against the two. 

New Delhi, October 9
Ten underground cables consisting of one cable of 2,000 pairs, seven cables of 1200 pairs and two cables of 800 pairs have been stolen in Saket area from the manhole near the PTS bus stand on Aurbindo Marg due to which services of around 3,000 MTNL subscribers in Saket Block A to L and Press Enclave have been affected.

Restoration work has been started and is likely to be completed within three days.—TNS

New Delhi, October 9
The Crime Branch of Delhi Police today claimed to have arrested a notorious criminal of the Susheel Mooch gang of UP, Deepak (20), from Madhuvan Chowk, Rohini. He was wanted in many sensational murder and attempt to murder cases.

On a tip-off, he was allegedly apprehended while he was going to make a call from an STD both near his residence in Rohini. During interrogation, he allegedly confessed to having involved in many murder and attempt to murder cases, the police said.