Govt felicitates children who will be awarded for bravery
NEW DELHI: Lauding them for their exemplary courage, the Delhi government on Thursday felicitated children who have been chosen for the National Bravery awards this year.
25 children — 12 girls and 13 boys — have been selected for the prestigious award, which they will receive from the Prime Minister on January 23 and thereafter participate in the Republic Day parade.
Among the posthumously awarded children include Payal Devi of Jammu and Kashmir, who lost her life when she jumped into 17-20 ft deep water in Ramban during the flash floods in the Valley to save three students but all of them were washed away.
The winners were felicitated at a ceremony at the Delhi Secretariat attended by Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia and Delhi Health Minister Satyendar Jain.
“These children saved lives without any expectations, which makes their bravery selfless. What these children have done, sometimes even adults fail to do. I salute the way parents have brought these children up by making them fearless and courageous,” Sisodia said.
The President and several other dignitaries will also host receptions in the honour of the chosen children. NEW DELHI: Delhi High Court on Thursday asked the Centre to spell out its policy regarding private schools running on land alloted to them by government at concessional rates across the country.
Justice Manmohan issued notice to the Ministries of Human Resource Development and Urban Development seeking their replies on whether there was any neighbourhood criteria for admission in schools.
The court wished to know the Centre’s stand during the hearing of pleas challenging the Delhi government’s notification that made 298 private schools, built on DDA land, accept admission forms based only on the neighbourhood or distance criteria.
The court also sought to know the stand of Delhi Development Authority (DDA) and Land and Development Office here, on the neighbourhood criteria set by the AAP gov- ernment under which admissions have been restricted to the area where these institutions are located.
It said the authorities would have to clarify their stand as the land to the private schools were given by them.
The court had in its interim order on January 13 allowed parents to fill up application forms of various schools based on the criteria set by them as well as the AAP government.
The court had said it was passing the order to ensure that admission was “not hampered” and that scrutiny of the application forms would be subject to further orders.
Meanwhile, the court on Thursday commenced arguments on pleas by parents, schools and forum, who have challenged a condition in the letter allotting DDA land to them under which admissions have been restricted to the institutions’ locality.