New Delhi, January 31
Activists of the Nationalist Congress Party have gone on a 24–hour fast from today. They are insisting the Central government to implement the recommendations of the Sacchar committee in toto.

They handed over a memorandum about their demand to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. The memorandum said that the report had found the social, economical and educational condition of Muslims which was almost equal to that of Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes and worse than the backwards of the country. The delay in implementation of the report was causing concern to the Muslims.

The memorandum also said that the National Minorities Financial and Development Corporation was without its Chairperson and required funds to meet welfare of the minorities.

National Chairman of minorities department, NCP, Zafar Akhtar said that the report was submitted to the union government in 2006 but so far nothing had been done. If its is not implemented, spending so much money in preparing the report will go waste, he said.

National Vice Chairman of the minority department Faiz Ahmed Faiz demanded from the government to implement the report immediately. If the demand is not met, the NCP activists will go on indefinite hunger strike.

The Sacchar Committee was constituted by the Prime Minister himself to get correct report of Muslims’ actual condition.

Earlier Muslim leaderships have been clamouring for pathetic economic condition of the community. But the government did not believe. Now the governments constituted committee has given the same report.

If its is implemented, it will clear that government has no intention to improve condition of the Muslims, Faiz said.

New Delhi, January 31
Over 20 doctors and support staff led by senior cardio-thoracic surgeon Anil Bhan have resigned from the leading super-specialty hospital Max Devki Devi Heart and Vascular Institute in the Capital.

“Yes, I have resigned from Max. There was some management issue,” Bhan told IANS on Thursday.

“At least 21 members of my team, including doctors and support staff, have resigned from the hospital. I have not joined any hospital so far and things would be clear in a couple of days,” he added.

Bhan resigned from the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) three years back and joined the privately-run Max hospital in Saket in South Delhi.

“I started the cardio-thoracic department at Max and now am leaving. I put my papers on Tuesday,” the doctor said cryptically.

Among others who have resigned are Sushant Srivastva, Dinesh Mittal, A. Pandey (all cardio-thoracic surgeons) and V. Mahajan (paediatric surgeon). Srivastva too was earlier working with the AIIMS.

These doctors and support staff are likely join leading cardiologist Naresh Trehan’s Medicity project, coming up in Gurgaon.

“There is a very bright chance of we joining the Medicity project. It will be functional in another seven-eight months time but we will help them come up nicely,” said one of the doctors who quit Max.

Trehan last year left Ranbaxy-promoted Escorts hospital after a conflict with the management.

He along with over 20 doctors and staffs later joined Indraprastha Apollo Hospitals, another tertiary care hospital in the Capital. — IANS

New Delhi, January 31
Chairman, Standing Committee, Vijender Gupta, today strongly criticized the recommendations of the third Delhi Finance Commission (DFC) as being put by the City government for acceptance before the cabinet.

He said that the government violated the basic aim of the constitution of finance commission that sought to strengthen local self-government.

If implemented, share of the MCD in finance given by the state government will be reduced. The civic body will fight tooth and nail against the gross injustice met out to it in the report.

It is ironical that the recommendations were grossly in favour of the New Delhi Municipal Council (NDMC), Vijender Gupta said.

The Standing Committee chairman highlighted that the DFC has recommended share of the MCD on the basis of the 1991 census.

However, on the basis of 2001 census the proportion of the MCD share in finance is manifold more than the NDMC due to population of the area.

But the Congress government in Delhi is playing politics by reducing civic body’s share. The MCD is being ruled by the BJP.

The Chairman pointed out the fact that the DFC has itself admitted that the acceptance of their recommendations have the negative effect on the present sharing of the MCD to the tune of more than 26.41 per cent.

The negative effect will further be increased to 0.85 per cent annually as the sharing basis has been taken on 1991 census and not the 2001.

On the contrary, the DFC was required to suggest the measures needed to improve the financial position in the interests of sound finances of the Corporation.

In view of the DFC recommendations, the Standing Committee passed a resolution that the global sharing should be on the basis of the 2001 census and not the 1991 census of Delhi.

New Delhi, January 31
South Asia’s biggest prison, Tihar Jail, is making millions from the biscuits, pickles, pottery, furniture and other items made by its inmates.

Earnings from these products are set to double to Rs.60 million by the end of March. “We expect to double our revenue to Rs.60 million by the end of the current fiscal year,” said B.K. Gupta, director general of police (Prison).

“Last year we had earned Rs.30 million through the sale of our products. We have kept Rs.12 million as the sales target of bakery items (which is supplied to schools and government institutions) as against Rs.8.5 million in the previous year,” Gupta said at a press conference here Thursday.

Gupta said the state government had also increased the wages being paid to prisoners four times.

“The prisoners were earlier being paid Rs.10, Rs.12 and Rs.16 for unskilled, semi-skilled and skilled labour ,respectively, which has now been raised to Rs.40 and Rs.44 and Rs.52 per day,” he said.

“In this new wages scheme, the provision for a Victim Welfare Fund has also been made and 25 per cent of the wage earned by a prisoner would be credited to the fund,” Gupta added.

Tihar officials are also heaving a sigh of relief, with the overcrowded jail recording a reduction in the number of inmates for the first time in past 20 years.

A total of 11,605 prisoners (both male and female) were lodged inside the jail in 2007 as against 13,436 in 2006 and 12,580 in 12,717. The jail has a sanctioned capacity of only 6,250 inmates.

“The launch of the plea-bargaining concept in July last year has helped reduce the number of inmates. A total of 664 inmates were released under this scheme,” the DGP said.

Gupta said they were taking various measures to ensure the security of the jail and address issues related to prisoner health and welfare.

“We are installing 258 closed circuit television cameras across the 400 acres of jail land. A control room would be set up in all 10 jails along with a master control at the prison headquarters.”

“The work is expected to be completed by mid February. Mobile jammers would be installed in the next six months,” Gupta said, adding that these measures were taken in the wake of increasing terror threats to blow up the jail, which houses parliament attack convict Mohammed Afzal and many terrorists.

Gupta said a new jail complex was being constructed at Mandoli and land would also be acquired for the purpose at Narela, Ghitorni and Baprola. — IANS

Gaming piracy has rapidly increased over the years especially with the incessant technological improvements and easy accessibility.

New Delhi, January 31
The amendments in Article 127 of Delhi Co-operative Societies Act ,2003 will benefit 6000 members of 48 cooperative societies waiting for allotment of flats in the Capital.

Delhi Cooperative Minister Rajkumar Chauhan said this today and appealed to the members to furnish their details, through the chairman or manager of their societies, to the Registrar, Cooperative Societies so that their cases, after scrutiny, could be sent to the DDA for final draw. The members can submit relevant documents during February 8-9 and 15-16 .

The minister further informed that the government would soon provide necessary information to the members in this regard through newspapers. He also said that all the societies have been divided into four categories.

New Delhi, January 31
Leader of Opposition, Delhi Legislative Assembly, Prof. Jagdish Mukhi, has said that the Delhi government and Union Ministry of Urban Development had made tall promises to Delhities regarding regularization of un-authorized colonies, but the Supreme Court yesterday totally exposed it.

During the discussion on the petition of the Delhi government before Chief Justice K.G. Balakrishnan, it was revealed that the Delhi Development Authority (DDA) had not filed its viewpoint before the court.

Prof. Mukhi said that the before assuring the citizens for regularisation of unauthorised colonies, the government should have filed the reply before the Supreme Court.

Had it been keen on regularisation, the DDA would have prepared the development plan and would have placed it before the court. The assurances are being made with an eye on the elections of the Delhi Assembly.

Prof. Mukhi said that the Urban Development Ministry was wasting money on the advertisements. The DDA was showing dreams to Delhities that by 2021 they will construct 90 lakh houses.

Agra, January 31
Just 500 metres from the Taj Mahal, there’s a centre that very few people know about - one that has changed the life of many a leprosy patient in India.

The Japanese-founded Jalma Centre for Leprosy Treatment, being run by the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), has completed more than four decades of service, treating hundreds of thousands of leprosy affected who are traditionally ostracised in India.

It’s a great success story scripted here, just as important as the eradication of small pox, says Jalma director Vishwa Mohan Katoch.

“Since 1982, we have been working on leprosy control and today we have successfully contained the disease to almost 97 percent,” Katoch told IANS in an interview.

“The total number of leprosy cases in the country had sharply declined. People now come early for treatment and respond well to the drugs and disease management programmes. And since they come early there are no longer any deformities as was the case earlier.

“The stigma attached to leprosy has largely gone and the rehabilitation is easier. Within two to three months even the patches on the skin disappear because the treatment is so effective,” said Katoch.

In 2005, India claimed it had achieved the leprosy elimination level. As per the health ministry, there were 97,918 leprosy affected in the country at the end of 2007.

As a public health programme, the success of leprosy eradication is a fulfilment of Mahatma Gandhi’s dream, Katoch said with a sense of pride. The incidence in India has come down to just 0.6 per 10,000, a tremendous achievement.

“Till Jalma began work here, the problem was gigantic, people were ostracised, confined to isolated clusters and not allowed to mix around. We used to get as high as 60,000 patients a year. Now we treat and diagnose around 30,000 of which most are safe, not afflicted with the disease.

“Because of the high credibility and the image of this institution which continues to nurture the original Japanese culture of selfless service and devotion, people from all over North India come to us to be sure that they do not have the symptoms of the disease,” Katoch said.

With just one shot of medicine, 99 percent of leprosy bacteria is finished, but there are pockets in the country where it is still transmitted and we are investigating this area of concern, he added.

Katoch said the Japanese who originally funded the centre at the request of India’s first prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru left behind a legacy and culture “that we continue to nurture and promote”.

The Jalma leprosy centre, now under the ICMR and funded totally by the central ministry of health, is doing pioneering work in tuberculosis (TB) and AIDS management, apart from leprosy control .

Nehru laid the foundation stone of the Jalma centre near the Taj Mahal in December 1963. Till 1976, Japanese doctors ran the hospital and thereafter the ICMR took over and developed it as a key centre of research.

The Jalma today is one of the most modern, hi-tech research centres focusing on leprosy and TB. It has successfully developed new generation immunological and molecular diagnostic tools and methods, evolved the mapping of TB through DNA printing which can deliver a test report in just one day as against up to two weeks earlier.

The Jalma centre has built a formidable reputation through research and investigation in several critical areas like AIDS, drug metabolism, drug resistance and leprosy. — IANS

New Delhi, January 31
Their lives are constricted by the high walls and iron bars, but their dreams soar high. Unfettered by their surroundings, the children in the kindergarten inside the capital’s Tihar Jail dream of being doctors, cricketers and policepersons.

While their mothers serve jail time for various crimes ranging from murder to petty theft, the tiny kindergarten in Tihar is where 61 children - 26 boys and 35 girls - get their first lessons in life. Learning their ABCs, how to wield a pen on paper, a bat on the field and how to think big.

Running around the spacious crèche full of books and toys and painted a sunshine yellow with its walls plastered with paintings by the children is a young six-year-old boy, who was born in jail to a mother charged with murder. She is undergoing life imprisonment.

He holds his bat and introduces himself: “Uncle I am Sachin.” When the visitor looks confused, a jail official adds helpfully: “He means Sachin Tendulkar. He insists on everyone addressing him by the name and watches all the matches on television inside his mother’s cell.”

The young boy wants visitors to play cricket with him, and when some oblige, the day lights up.

Also in the big room is a three-year-old girl who has splashed paint on her frock and pullover, the blue reflecting in her soulful eyes.

“My mummy tells me stories related to doctors. She says I will become a doctor when I grow up,” she stammers.

But her five-year-old friend has no such inhibitions. “Mai policewala banuga aur sab ki pitai karunga (I will become a policeman and beat up everybody),” screams the son of an undertrial who is in jail on charges of cheating and theft.

Holding toys tightly close to their chests and dressed in yellow uniforms are many other children biding their time till they are six and sent to a boarding school in nearby Noida with the help of various NGOs.

They chatter happily, unaware of the abnormality of their lives. What they hate is spending so much time away from their mothers, who work for eight hours a day weaving, tailoring and making envelopes and candles.

The unskilled women labourers get Rs.40 (nearly $1), the semiskilled Rs.44 and the trained Rs.50 for an entire day’s work.

According to jail spokesperson Sunil Gupta, the children stay with their mothers and are only allowed to come out when the cell gates open at 7 a.m. Their mothers leave them at the crèche after breakfast.

“We have made special arrangement for the children’s food. They are given milk and butter. Every aspect of their health is taken care of and jail doctors regularly monitor them,” Gupta told IANS.

Jail officials say two inmate teachers hold lessons and then leave the children to play. Their mothers meet the children after their eight-hour jail job. The day might go well, but the discontent runs deep.

A young undertrial would like her daughter to stay with her husband or relatives. But her rickshaw puller husband is an alcoholic and her relatives are not ready to keep the child.

“My daughter doesn’t even know it is a prison. She thinks it’s her house and now she is so familiar with things here,” says the mother.

Another undertrial says her two-year-old daughter is a source of strength and succour. “I draw inspiration to live more from my daughter when I see her face every morning.”

Says jail superintendent Swatantar Pahawa: “We encourage children to at least take up one hobby. They are as talented as those in the outside world.” — IANS

New Delhi, January 31
A minor fire was reported this afternoon at Vayu Sena Bhawan on Rafi Marg in the New Delhi district.

However, no injuries have been reported. According to a fire brigade official, a minor fire was reported at about 1550 hours, which was brought under control by 1610 hours. Eight fire tenders were rushed to extinguish the fire.

According to sources, the fire began at the garbage dump on the ground floor of the multi-storey air headquarters building. — UNI

New Delhi, January 31
State education minister Arvinder Singh Lovely has directed deputy directors of all grievance cells to be present in their offices from 9:00 am to 10:00 am on all working days, to address the complaints of parents regarding admission of their wards in pre-primary classes in public schools.

The directorate of education has constituted grievance cells in nine districts of the Capital. A deputy director heads the grievance cell.

Each deputy director will visit public schools in his respective area to ascertain whether the admission criteria, as declared by a public school, is in conformity with the instructions issued by the directorate of education.

He will also ensure that each school follows the admission criteria, which it declared while inviting applications for admission in pre-primary classes. Strict action will be taken against the erring public schools.

She assured that full quantity of ration to the card holders would be available from public distribution system.