Public transport hit in Delhi due to nationwide strike

Commuters in the city today faced hardships as a section of auto-rickshaws and taxis remained off the road in support of the two-day nationwide strike called by 11 trade unions.

School children and office goers suffered the most as most auto-rickshaw and taxi drivers either refused or overcharged. Passengers at major railway stations and bus stands remained stranded or had to shell out more to reach their destinations.

"I had to pay Rs 180 for a ride from Moti Bag to Central Secretariat to an auto driver. The fare for the stretch in a normal day is around Rs 80," said Ajeet Singh, a government official.

Five major auto-rickshaw and taxi unions have announced that they will join the strike to demand a hike in auto and taxi fares.

Although Metro services were not affected by the strike, bus services were partially hit by the strike as a number of bus unions, including a section of Delhi Transport Corporation] employees, have also extended support to the strike.

Long queues were seen at Metro stations and bus stands as they remained the only viable option for people to commute. "I had to stand in the queue at INA Metro station for around 45 minutes as most people decided to take the metro following the strike. By the time I reached office, I was late]by an hour," said Shikha Tiwari who works at an airline company at Connaught Place.

To tackle the strike, Delhi government has cancelled leave of all DTC employees and asked senior officials of the corporation to be at bus depots from early morning to ensure asmooth running of the DTC bus service.

Delhi Transport Minister Ramakant Goswami had said that around 1,000 RTV (rural transport vehicles) and tourist buses will ply on DTC routes for the next two days.

"These buses have been allowed to ply on DTC routes under special service. The buses would display DTC route numbers and charge DTC fares," he said.

Source:http://www.indianexpress.com/news/public-transport-hit-in-delhi-due-to-nationwide-strike/1076949/0

Students dance to portray agony of women gangraped

The infamous Delhi gang-rape along with several stories voicing the anguish and agony of victims of sexual violence were portrayed in a moving dance performance by students of Delhi University.

"Ab Bas" (Enough Now), a choreographic act mirroring the pain and pathos of a woman, recalling tale of the harrowing December night last year when a 23-year-old was gang-raped here, as well as many other days and nights of suffering that

go unnoticed was enacted late last evening.

A troupe of about 20 students from Kamla Nehru College under the Delhi University gave the rendition as part of a two-day inter-college media festival 'Vox Pop 2013' hosted by the India Institute of Mass Communication at their campus.

Dressed in a matching ensemble of flaming orange reminiscent of moving fire, the group in a carefully co-ordinated moves and gravity-defying acrobatics embedded

with social narrative set the stage literally ablaze.

The ten-minute theatrical dance act enacted the horrors that women go through in their daily lives, both in public and in private. The artists also paid homage to the paramedic student who was gang-raped in a moving bus in December last

and who eventually died of her injuries while undergoing treatment in Singapore on December 29.

"When we perform it we feel both the joy that we as performers give to the audience but also the immense pain that we emote to them. But it's an excruciatingly painful experience for us as we empathise with these victims as women ourselves," Anmol Bansal, a member of the troupe said, her eyebrows covered with sweat and her eyes laden with moisture after the performance.

The dance choreography has been performed at IIT-Bombay fest 'Mood Indigo' and other college festivals. "For us the travails of a woman was more important, which we wanted to draw the attention to," says Surbhi Kapoor, who leads the

dance troupe.

Noted journalists, social activists, ad gurus as well as student politics leaders also participated in the student festival

Source:http://www.indianexpress.com/news/students-dance-to-portray-agony-of-women-gangraped/1071446/0

Italian marines to be under SC custody in Delhi

New Delhi: The two Italian marines facing charges of killing two Indian fishermen, will be shifted to Delhi from Kerala and be under the 'custody' of the Supreme Court till the Centre constitutes a special court to hold their trial.
Special court to try Italian marines: SC
   
Clarifying its order hours after it passed the verdict on the plea of Italy government rejecting their claim that Indian courts have no jurisdiction in the case, the Supreme Court said that marines will remain in Delhi and they will report to Chanakyapuri police station till the special court is set up.
   
It also said that their passport, which is under the custody of Kerala Court, will be handed over to the Ministry of Home Affairs.
   
A bench headed by Chief Justice Altamas Kabir said that Italian Embassy will arrange for their stay and it will monitor their movements. It said that all the conditions imposed on them by the Kerala court, while granting them bail will remain till special court is set up.

Delhi gang rape: Plea seeking juvenile accused be considered as an adult admitted

The Supreme Court on Friday admitted a plea seeking the juvenile accused to be considered as an adult.

The court also issued notice to the Centre and the Delhi Police in this regard.

The plea was filed by a lawyer from Chandigarh, Salil Bali, who pleaded before the court to taken into consideration the mental age of the accused and not his physical age especially keeping in mind the gravity of the crime committed by him.

One of the six accused involved in December 16 Delhi gang rape, which took place in a moving bus, is said to be below 18 years of age and he is likely to be awarded less severe punishment and legal expert believe that a minor (below 18-year age) can get a maximum punishment of three years for any of the crimes committed by him or her.

The juvenile accused and his five other accomplices in the brutal gang rape of 23-year old paramedical student was arrested by Delhi police on December 21 after which he has been kept in juvenile home situated at Lajpat Nagar area of New Delhi.

Plea for mental test of juvenile accused

The Supreme Court also issued notice to the Central Government on a petition seeking that the juvenile accused in Delhi gang-rape case be kept in special custody if he was a psychopath and a threat to society and women.

A bench of Justice K.S.Radhakrishnan and Justice Dipak Misra issued notice on the plea contending that the heinous act of the juvenile accused points to wide possibility that he was psychologically an abnormal person.

The petitioner - Delhi-based Shilpa Arora Sharma - has pleaded for the appointment of a panel of national and international criminal psychologists to examine the juvenile to determine whether he was psychologically abnormal and a threat to society and women if allowed to be free.

It sought that if the juvenile accused is found to be so, he should not be released and kept in a place of strict detention as such a person poses grave danger to society and especially women.

The petitioner has also urged the court to strike down Section 16 of the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of children) Act, 2000, under which the juvenile accused would get released without punishment despite most "grisly act" committed by him.

This provision of the Juvenile Act, the petition said, was "irrational, unreasonable" and not based on the "fundamental principle of public policy" and thus should be declared null and void as it was in conflict with Article 21 of the constitution.

The petition has also sought "proper and detailed" investigation by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to determine the correct age of the juvenile accused.

Such an inquiry, the petition said should not be limited to examining the school documents but detailed enquiry at the place of his birth and birth records.