4-year undergradute prog: DU teacher ends hunger strike
New Delhi: Prem Singh, a Delhi University teacher who undertook a hunger strike at Rajghat here seeking the withdrawal of the four-year undergraduate programme, has ended his fast. The fast, which began on Wednesday, concluded on Friday evening. Prem Singh pleaded with authorities to consider deferring the four-year undergraduate programme which is to begin at Delhi University this academic year. A number of members from civil society of Delhi and teachers from the university supported the fast. Vice president of Delhi University Teachers Association (DUTA), Harish Khanna, opposing the four-year undergraduate programme, said that the members who are against the programme have appealed to the authorities and would continue to oppose the hasty implementation of the programme this year. In a statement, Khanna said: “All the members against the four-year course have issued an appeal to the authorities and have also resolved that all efforts would be made to oppose the hasty implementation of the highly debated four-year undergraduate programme in DU this year.” The University Grants Commission (UGC) has set up a five-member committee to track the progress of the programme and to suggest corrective measures. (IANS)
Inspector stabbed to death,constable serious
Chandigarh: A police inspector died after being stabbed while a constable was seriously injured when a youth allegedly attacked them after he and his woman accomplice were questioned for their suspicious movement in the wee hours here on Saturday. Inspector Sucha Singh, who sustained multiple stab injuries, succumbed at the Post-Graduate Institute of Medical Education and Research (PGIMER) this morning while another cop Jatinder Singh, a police constable, was still in the hospital after being critically injured in the attack, police said. The incident took place at around 3 am when the cops, who were on night patrol, questioned the couple for roaming near the district court complex here, police said, adding that the policemen decided to take them to a nearby police station after they were unable to give satisfactory answers. It was then the youth attacked the inspector and the other cop with a sharp-edged weapon, leaving them profusely bleeding on the road, they said. The couple managed to escape from the scene of crime in the police vehicle, they added. Meanwhile, a senior police official said they were treating a suspended cop of Chandigarh Police Basant Kumar alias Bunty as a possible suspect in the case, who is on run and was allegedly involved in a murder case.(PTI)
Haryana court gives death to rape, murder accused
Faridabad: An accused for the rape and murder of a minor girl here was sentenced to death by a local court here on Friday. Inder Saini was convicted for raping and murdering a nine-year-old girl who lived in his neighbourhood in old Faridabad. The victim’s family belonged to Munger in Bihar. The accused had raped and murdered the girl when she went to his room to give him food. After the girl did not return, her father searched for her and saw blood marks in the room of the accused. He later saw the accused throwing a gunny bag out of the house. The body of the minor girl was found in the gunny bag. Police arrested Saini and registered a case of rape and murder against him. (IANS)
Encephalitis claims five
kids in Bihar
Patna: Five children died of encephalitis in Bihar’s Muzaffarpur district since Friday, an official said on Saturday. Muzaffarpur civil surgeon Gayan Bhushan said five more children succumbed to encephalitis since Friday in state hospitals. “So far, 23 children died of encephalitis this year,” he said. Over half a dozen children were warded in government hospitals and in private nursing homes in Muzaffarpur, about 70 km from here. Bhushan said over telephone that till date, 77 encephalitis cases have been reported across the state. The symptoms of this mosquito-borne disease include high fever, irritation and swelling in the brain. Bihar Health Minister Ashwani Kumar Choubey blamed the deaths on the sudden rise in mercury in the last few days, following rains in north Bihar, and humid weather. Last year, the disease killed nearly 240 children in Muzaffarpur and Gaya districts. (IANS)