1 critical among 5 affected by radioactive radiation

New Delhi, Apr 9 (UNI) Condition of the scrap dealer, who along with other four others was exposed to radioactive material in Mayapuri area of west Delhi, is stated to be critical due to deficiency of blood cells.

The scrap dealer, Deepak Jain, was admitted to Apollo Hospital after he was exposed to radiation from Cobalt-60 that was kept at his shop, hospital officials said today.

They stated that Mr Jain's bone marrow was significantly suppressed leading to reduced blood cells.

''He is presently in the ICU and a multi disciplinary team of doctors is monitoring his progress. His condition is serious,'' an official said.

Panic had gripped Mayapuri Industrial area last night when after coming in contact with the material, Jain and four of his employees showed allergic reactions and started vomiting. The skins of two of them turned completely black. They also had burn injuries and rashes all over their bodies, a senior police official said.

He said a team of experts was sent to the incident site last night and this morning, who collected and isolated the ''mysterious shining object'' from the shop in the congested industrial area and sent it for further investigations.

''The team included scientists from the Bhaba Atomic Research Centre (BARC) and Narora Atomic Power Station (NAPS). They have identified the material as Cobalt-60,'' the official noted.

Cobalt-60 is a radioactive isotope of Cobalt, which is a hard, lustrous and grey metal. It is used in making colours and pigments for jewellery and paints.

The experts scanned the whole area also to check if there was any other source of radiation emission in the vicinity.

After the incident had come to light, police cordoned off the area around the shop as a precautionary measure.

All the injured were sent to the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS).

Reportedly, the scrap material was brought from a city hospital and was kept in an almirah inside the shop.

Police suspect that more people residing or working in that area could have been affected.

Investigations into the incident were on.

India's 1st online Community College launched

New Delhi, Apr 6 (UNI) Bringing about a revolution in providing skill-based education, India's first online Community College was launched here today that promises gainful employment to country's youth, especially the rural population.

The digital institution has been launched by Gurukul Online Learning Solutions Academy (GOLS) under the Community College scheme of Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU).

IGNOU Vice-Chancellor Prof V N Rajasekharan Pillai, the Chief Guest on the occasion, emphasised that in the country, although several million people were working, only five per cent of them have quality and eligible certification.

''This online Community College will enable teachers and trainers to reach the masses in a better way, enhancing the quality of learning process,'' Prof Pillai said.

Terming it as misconception, the Vice-Chancellor said reaching out to rural India was not as difficult now as it was earlier.

''A number of institutions, including the government, have taken up several measures to enable the reach of internet to our villages. One of the biggest examples is setting up of the Community Service Centres,'' Prof Pillai said.

After pursuing a course of at least six months in this online college, students would be able to obtain either certificate level qualification or higher. The interested candidates can visit the academy's website ''http://ignou.golsacademy.com''.

''One of the best features of the college is that the students can take a break from the course at any time and resume it later by obtaining credits of what he or she has already achieved, with the maximum duration being six years,'' GOLS CEO Shailesh H Mehta said.

Talking to UNI, he said over 30 certificate, diploma and associate degree programmes have been initially started under this scheme.

''The duration of these programmes varies between three months to two years and are priced at between Rs 2,500 to Rs 25,000,'' Mr Mehta said.

Referring to students' placement, he said talks regarding collaboration with various companies were in process. ''We are sure to join hands with many and provide employment to many of our students,'' he said.

India's 1st Standard Gauge takes Delhi Metro to Mundka

New Delhi, Apr 2 (UNI) Marking a milestone in the country's transport infrastructure, India's first Standard Gauge Metro line reached Mundka today with the Delhi Metro inaugurating its new green corridor from Inderlok here.

The 15.15 km-long line was flagged off by Minister for Urban Development S Jaipal Reddy in presence of Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit, Union Women and Child Development Minister Krishna Tirath, Delhi PWD and Revenue Minister Raj Kumar Chauhan, DMRC Managing Director E Sreedharan and other dignitaries who took the
inaugural ride from Inderlok to Paschim Vihar (East) station.

Mr Reddy said, ''This line of the Delhi Metro has initiated the establishment of Standard Gauge in the country. From now onwards, only this gauge would be used on the tracks.''

Referring to the Metro networks under construction in Bangalore, Mumbai, Chennai and Hyderabad, the Union Minister said they all would be constructed over Standard Gauge.

Being on the Standard Gauge rails measuring four feet and 8.5 inches, as against Broad Gauge used for Phase one, the tracks on this line will be narrower and speed of the trains better.

With the commissioning of this line that will be opened to public from 0600 hrs tomorrow, the total Metro network has increased to over 111 km and 97 stations.

The Chief Minister expressed hope that the ongoing widening of the Metro network in the country would continue.

The line, forming a part of Phase II of the Delhi Metro, has 14 stations namely Inderlok, Ashok Park Main, Punjabi Bagh East, Shivaji Park, Madipur, Paschim Vihar East, Paschim Vihar West, Peera Garhi, Udyog Nagar, Surajmal Stadium, Nangloi, Nangloi Railway station, Rajdhani Park and Mundka.

It is expected to receive a foot-fall of over one lakh commuters everyday, along with reducing the crowd on the existing system, DMRC spokesperson Anuj Dayal said.

The section has joined two existing Delhi Metro lines -- Line one (red line) and Line three (blue line) -- together in the middle to cut the travel time. Line one is joined at Inderlok station while Line three will be joined at Kirti Nagar station later this year.

Initially, 10 trains would be running on this line with a peak hour frequency of six minutes and one extra train has been kept as standby for emergency use.

The time taken to travel from one end to the other end of the line will be 29 minutes only.

Talking about the facilities available at the new stations, Mr Dayal said a new type of Automatic Fare Collection (AFC) gates have been introduced on this line.

''It will allow faster passage for commuters and improve passenger management. These gates will also have a provision for return of tokens from the AFC gates,'' he said.

A total of 91 AFC Gates have been provided on this line comprising 33 Entry, 44 Exit and 14 Disable Friendly AFC Gates.

In addition, the stations have all other facilities like lifts and escalators, Ticket Office Machines or Token Counters, Customer Care Centres and toilets. Parking is available at 10 of the 14 stations of this line.

Delhi women join protest against price rise

New Delhi, Apr 1 (UNI) Hundreds of women in the national capital today took to the streets in protest against the sky-rocketing prices while blaming the Congress-led state government for playing fraud with people.

Wearing garlands made out of vegetables around their neck and holding placards against price rise in their hands, women from various walks of life, including both housewives and working ladies, assembled at the famous Jantar Mantar and proceeded
towards Parliament Street.

''It is we who have to manage the house expenses. We become the biggest sufferers when the prices increase,'' Sujata Sharma, a houswife said.

All the protestors expressed their anguish over the increased price of LPG cylinders, along with other essential commodities, affected after the announcement of Delhi Budget 2010-11 recently.

''Proposing heavy increase through the Budget and making small concessions afterwards is like playing fraud on the people of Delhi by the Congress Government,'' BJP Mahila Morcha Delhi Pradesh President Sarita Chaudhary alleged.

The demonstrators were accompanied by BJP Delhi Pradesh President Om Prakash Kohli, Leader of the Opposition in the Legislative Assembly Vijay Kumar Malhotra, National General Secretary Vijay Goel and many others. Many party councillors had
also joined in.

They alleged that the government usually takes the excuse of Commonwealth Games to cover up its failure to curb the price rise and sometimes revenue deficit.

''Why does not the government control administrative expenses and desist from wasting money on advertisements?'' they asked.

Mamata flags off 3 Duronto services, double-decker coach prototype

New Delhi, Mar 31 (UNI) Pleased over fulfilling her commitment of adding new trains to the current fleet of Northern Railways, Railway Minister Mamata Banerjee flagged off three more Duronto services from here to the state capitals of Orissa, West Bengal and Jammu and Kashmir and also unveiled a prototype of newly designed double decker coach today.

With this, 117 more trains have been added in the Northern Railway.

''Today is the last day of financial year and we have fulfilled our commitment made in the last budget. The Railway family deserve the 100 per cent credit for it,'' the Union Minister said.

She added that not only this, the Ministry has also provided various concessions it had promised.

Of the services to be introduced, the trains are Delhi Sarai Rohilla-Jammu Tawi tri-weekly Duronto Express, New Delhi-Howrah bi-weekly Duronto Express and New Delhi-Bhubaneswar weekly Duronto Express trains.

In addition to these new services, Duronto services are available to seven other destinations from New Delhi and Hazrat Nizamuddin Railway Stations of Delhi area. They are services to Sealdah, Chennai, Pune, Lucknow, Allahabad, Ernakulum and
Secundrabad.

Referring to the 128-seat double-decker coach, Ms Banerjee said it had 70 per cent more passenger capacity than normal trains.

''This coach will run on trial basis along with other coaches for next two months to have customer feedback,'' she said.

Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit, who was also present on the occasion, expressed her pleasure over the addition of new trains leading to better connectivity of the national capital with three more state capitals.

''I am sure Delhi will become the best junction in all over the country in the long run,'' the Chief Minister said.

Doctorate for CM, Infosys Chief Narayana Murthy

New Delhi, Mar 30 (UNI) Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit was today conferred with honorary doctorate in recognition of her leadership and service in public and community life by Hamdard University during its 19th convocation here.

Chancellor of Jamia Hamdard, Hamdard University, conferred DSc, Honoris Causa on the Chief Minister.

Expressing pleasure, Ms Dikshit said, ''I am overwhelmed on receiving the doctorate. Although I do not know how much I deserve this, to work for the society has always been my passion.''

The doctorate was also conferred on Founder-Chairman of Infosys Technologies N R Narayana Murthy, who was present on the occasion.

''Spurred by encouragement, we assure to continue to work harder to make this country a much better place for our future generations,'' he said.

Union Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee also graced the occasion.

All the dignitaries paid rich tributes to the founder Padmashree late Hakim Abdul Hamid Sahib, who led to the setting up of the institute.

A total 1,340 students were awarded degrees for various courses, out of which 46 were PhD degree holders and 60 were gold medalists.

Pranab 'da' inspires youth towards skill development

New Delhi, Mar 30 (UNI) Union Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee today talked about his vision of transforming India from a ''degree seeking'' system to a ''skill acquiring'' system and encouraged the country's youth to contribute largely towards attaining it rapidly.

''Skill development is a key factor for the economic and social growth of the country. Although many initiatives have been taken by the Government in this regard, they have to be multiplied for a rapid transformation,'' Mr Mukherjee said.

Referring to Prime Minister's Council on National Skill Development, the Finance Minister said it has a mission of creating 50 crore skilled people by 2022.

''A beginning has been made with approval of three projects by National Skill Development Corporation, a public and private sector partnership initiative to create 10 lakh skilled manpower at the rate of one lak per annum,'' he said.

Mr Mukherjee was speaking at the ninth annual convocation ceremony of Jamia Hamdard, Hamdard University here.

Calling it an exciting phase of India's growth story, he emphasised that issues, including strenghthened food security, improved educational opportunities and better health facilities, needed to be addressed and have to be brought forth at household
level, both in urban and rural areas.

''These issues require significant resources and we have to find those resources,'' Mr Mukherjee said.

The Union Minister further said quick revert to the high GDP growth path of nine per cent and then finding the means to cross the 'double digit growth barrier' have also to be taken care of.

In addition, weaknesses in government systems, structures and institutions at different levels of governance also needed attention.

''Our system of governance including economic governance must work towards economic empowerment and make growth human-specific,'' he said.

Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit, Founder-Chairman of Infosys Technologies N R Narayana Murthy and Chancellor of Jamia Hamdard Saiyid Hamid also graced the occasion with their presence.