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Forest brigang Veerappan chronology leading to death in encounter

CHENNAI, Oct 19: Following is the chronology of forest brigand Veerappan, leading to his death in an encounter last night.

July 1987: A Tamil Nadu forest officer Chidambaram is kidnapped and lynched.

Jan 1989: Five members of a rival gang are kidnapped and killed.

Aug 1989: Three forest personnel of Begur forest range of Tamil Nadu are killed. Their mutilated bodies are recovered 19 days later.

Jan 1990: A sub-Inspector and a head constable are shot by Veerappan gang, following gunning down of two of his members by Tamil Nadu police.

Apr 1990: In the first direct attack, Veerappan ambushed and mowed down three sub-Inspectors and a constable, including Dinesh, an officer, who had been "hot on his trial".

May 1990: Special task force constituted to nab the poacher.

Nov 1990: R Srinivas deputy Conservator of Forests is shot and beheaded. Srinivas was blamed for the death of Mari, Veerappan’s sister. Head is traced three years later.

Feb 20,1992: Son of a granite quarry owner kidnapped in Karnataka and Rs one crore ransom demanded. Quarry owner pays Rs 15 lakh as ransom.

May 20, 1992: Swoops down on Ramapura police station, killing policemen and taking away a cache of arms.

June 15, 1992: STF kills four of Veerappan’s gang in Nellur village. Veerappan sends a note, saying ‘I will finish all of you’.

Aug 14, 1992: Veerappan traps STF SP, Harikrishna and 27 police personnel. Bombed Harikrishna, Ahmed and four others.

Apr 1993: A bus carrying Tamil Nadu police personnel is blown up near palar killing 22 personnel including civillians, SP ‘Rambo’ Gopala Krishnan hurt in the attack.

May 1993: Attacks Karnataka SP, Gopal Hosur and party at M M hills, killing six policemen.

July 1993: BSF begins operations in the forest area, nabs 19 members of the gang.

Aug 1993: Series of encounters with BSF and Veerappan gang claim lives of 18 gang members and three policemen. Few months later, Veerappan sends audio cassette, seeking amnesty.

Dec 1994: DSP, Directorate of Vigilance and anti-Corruption Chidambaranathan and two companions kidnapped from Coimbatore district. They escape on Dec 31 after 27 days, under the cover of STF onslaught.

Veerappan’s brother, Arujunan and two gang members Ayyadyrai and Rangaswamy, surrender.

Nov 1995: Three forest officials kidnapped in the Anthiyur forest in erode and a ransom of Rs five crore sought. Hostages set free 20 days later after Rs 3.5 lakh is paid unofficially.

Dec 1995: Veerappan attacks TN STF, two personnel killed. The attack is to avenge the death of Arjuna and Rangaswamy who had consumed poison in STF custody.

Jan 1996: Attack on Tamil Nadu SP, Tamilselvan and party, killing a constable and injuring the SP.

Apr 1997: After a lull of nearly one year, the bullet ridden body of Veerappan’s heir apparent ‘baby’ Veerappan is found in the forests.

July 1997: Ten forest personnel are kidnapped. One is sent back with a surrender offer on a cassette. On Aug 5 another hostage reaches Chennai with the Tamil magazine ‘Nakkeeran’ editor, R R Gopal. Others are released later.

Dec 21 1998: Veerappan and gang attack Vellitiruppur police station in TN, decamped with nine guns, ammunition after this major operations, Veerappan with reduced strength of his supporters lies low, seeks amnesty and holds negotiations with Tamil Nadu Government.

Apr 28 1999: Another major attack, three forest officials are kidnapped near Hogenekkal in TN’s Dharmapuri district. Letters and audio cassette are sent to the district collector.

July 30 2000: Sensational abduction of Kannada matinee idol Rajkumar and four others from Doddagajanur guest house. One of the hostages, Nagappa escapes from their clutches.

Aug 25 2002: Former Karnataka Minister H Nagappa is abducted. Body found after some days. (PTI)

CM impasse: NCP rejects Congress’ alternative proposals

NEW DELHI, Oct 19: The impasse over the post of Chief Minister continues to haunt the victorious Congress-NCP alliance in Maharashtra for the third day today with the NCP rejecting all the alternative proposals put forward by the Congress which is also in no mood to relent.

When Congress leaders Pranab Mukherjee, Ghulam Nabi Azad, Ahmed Patel and Maharashtra Chief Minister Sushilkumar Shinde met NCP supremo Sharad Pawar last night, the latter made it very clear that nothing short of the post of Chief Minister would satisfy his partymen.

"Mr Pawar had rejected all the alternative proposals suggested by the Congress leaders," NCP’s senior general secretary T P Peethambaran told UNI here today.

"It is for the Congress to see reason," he said, adding that: "Mr Pawar had again made it known in clear terms that the NCP should rightfully get the post of CM in its capacity as the single largest party. If the Congress is no mood to relent and unwilling to see reason, the ncp will support its Government from outside in Maharashtra."

Mr Peethambaran said if the NCP did not head the Government in Maharashtra, it tantamounts to rejecting the will of the people. "We cannot treat the desire of the people lightly. We have our own commitment to the people."

"Whatever happens, there is going to be no change in the stand of the NCP. Our stand will remain the same."

On if the NCP would accept the system of rotating the post of Chief Minister, as in the case of Jammu and Kashmir, Mr Peethambaran said "we want only to adopt the 1999 formula that we have followed in Maharashtra after the last Assembly elections. Under the formula, we readily agreed to the Congress heading the Government because it had the largest number of seats."

Congress sources said here today that the four leaders of the party suggested the system of rotating the Chief Ministership with the first choice going to the Congress to head the Government for two and a half years.

"Such alternatives are not acceptable to us," Mr Peethambaran said, pointing out that in Kashmir the chance to head the Government

was first given to the PDP though it is a junior partner in the coalition.

Meanwhile, the Congress sources said it was not ready to buy the suggestion to follow the 1999 formula. The situation in the current election was not the same as in 1999. Both the Congress and the NCP this time fought as an alliance with the former being recognised as the major partner. But the coalition was formed after the elections in 1999. "We should respect the pre-election alliance," sources added.

Sources maintained that the Congress actually had a strength of 74 members because the three winning members of the CPI(M) and two independents should also be added to its tally as they fought from those seats that the Congress had given from its share of 164. At the same time, the ncp now has only 72 seats, including the one independent who won from the seat given from its share of 124.

With both the sides refusing to budge an inch from their known positions vis-a-vis the post of Chief Minister, it is likely that the Government formation in Maharashtra will be delayed for a few more days. (UNI)

EC directs special revision of electrol rolls in TN

NEW DELHI, Oct 19: The Election Commission today directed the Tamil Nadu Government to carry out a special intensive revision of rolls with house-to-house enumeration taking January 1, 2005, as the qualifying date in six big cities — Chennai, Salem, Coimbatore, Tiruchirappalli, Madurai and Tirunelveli — covering 33 Assembly constituencies.

In the remaining 201 Assembly constituencies of the state, a special revision of summary nature should be carried out with the same qualifying date.

The Commission also asked the election officials of the state to undertake a preliminary exercise to correct the house numbers of all electors to make them consistent with the new house number scheme in the remaining 102 municipalities in 201 Assembly segments.

The existing supplements of the electoral rolls will be integrated with the mother roll prior to the publication of the draft rolls so that all members of one family can be brought together in consecutive serial numbers with correct house numbers.

The special revision of electrol rolls and correction in large Assembly segements was ordered following recommendation of P J Thomas enquiry committee report, which has pointed out large-scale displacement of electors from one polling station to another creating confusion in the minds of electors at the time of general election in April/May early this year.

The Commission, which received large number of complaints regarding omissions and deletions of names in electrol rolls in Tamil Nadu, had asked Kerala’s Chief Electoral Officer P J Thomas to look into the problem. The enquiry committee was also asked to enquire into special complaints and representations from political parties, individual electors as well as to ascertain the circumstances and reasons for deletions/omissions of names and fix responsibility for lapses by officials.

The committee was also told to suggest steps for improving the content and quality of the electrol rolls in Tamil Nadu for the next round of revision.

During the course of enquiry, the Thomas committee verified individual complaints, complaints recieved from political parties and through other channels and found three major problems that led to displacement of electors from one polling station to another.

The committee identified that in the Municipal Corporation areas the house numbering scheme, with both old and new house numbers being used simultaneously, led to errors with enumerators not following one scheme uniformly.

It noted that omissions of many of existing householders at the time of intensive revision of electrol rolls carried out in 2002 was on account of failure of the enumerating and supervising staff and data entry operators, who could not record the names of electrate properly.

Mismatch between manuscripts prepared by registration officers and the subsequent computerisation of the same also resulted in confusion.

The poll panel, in its six-page order, said the detailed programmes for taking up the intensive revision as well as summary revision of electoral rolls were being issued separately but asked the public in general to remain vigilant at the time of preparation of electrol rolls.

The Commission said that the house numbers, which are integral to preparation of electrol rolls and its accuracy, will be streamlined to remove the confusion prevailing on account of simultaneous use of old and new house numbers in municipal areas.

The Commission has also asked that in areas where intensive revision will take place, a family identification tag will be created in the data-base to enable all electors of a family to be placed together in the main roll.

The Commission also favoured the involvement of resident welfare associations, local committee, Panchayats and Gram Sabhas in rural areas as well as post-offices.

The Commission also asked the election officers of the state to put draft rolls on display on the internet with search facility to enable electors to obtain their detail. "A system for submitting applications through the internet will also be incorporated in this design," the panel said.

The Commission said the computerisation aspects relating to preparation of the rolls will be revised to improve the management of the data and the services of national informatics centre will be utilized both at the District and Chief Electoral Officer levels.

The Commission said that the scheme of capturing Electors Photo Identify Card (EPIC) number in the electoral rolls will be streamlined in both intensive and summary revision areas to update the data on electors already possessing EPIC. (UNI)

Govt criticised for vacancies in KVs, asks to fill it soon

NEW DELHI, Oct 19: A Parliamentary panel has expressed grave concern over a large number of vacancies in Kendriya Vidyalayas and asked the Government to ensure filling them on a priority basis so that studies of the students were not affected.

Not convinced by the department of secondary and higher education’s argument that vacancies could not be filled due to absence of its regular commissioner for the last six months, the Parliamentary standing committee on human resource development said in its 150th report that it might have been accumulated over a long duration.

"If admissions can go on, why not recruitment? It appears that there is no institutionalised mechanism for recruiting the teachers in KVs," it observed and recommended that there should be a permanent machinery for recruiting teachers.

About transfers in KV’s, the panel hoped that the new policy put in place would be implemented with human face.

Pointing out that of 902 KVs, 371 did not have permanent buildings which was "highly undesirable", the panel directed the department to complete the construction of permanent buildings within a definite time frame. It asked the department to approach the Planning Commission or Finance Ministry to get one time grant for this purpose.

Lauding the scheme of model Kendriya Vidyalayas under which 448 Vidyalayas have been converted till March 31, 2001 and provided additional funds for setting educational technology, science labs and other infrastructure facilities to provide quality education and pace setting centres, IT , however, criticised that ministry for not giving funds for the conversion of additional KVs.

It asked the ministry to allocate more funds to KVs so that they could evolve as centres of quality education for those who could not afford it.

Expressing scepticism over the efficacy of computer literacy programme of KVs unless adequate number of computers were given to each KV in view of the high number of students, the panel said that computers be given to schools in the ratio with the number of students.

It asked KVs to explore possibility of getting help from other avenues like Information Technology Ministry in this regard.

The panel appreciated that KVs have emerged as an excellent centre of good and affordable education and become a suitable alternative to public schools. The performance of KVs in X and XII CBSE exams have been improving every year and their pass percentage in Delhi was better than many of the reputed public schools.

Since KVs are maintaining uniform standards of good education across the nation and have become the symbols of national integration, there was an overwhelming demand for opening of KVs from different parts of the country including Jammu and Kashmir, the committee pointed out.

The panel directed the Governemnt to revise the existing rules and guidelines so that atleast one KV was established in each of 244 districts which still do not have these schools.

It also urged the Government to provide more funds in the coming years to KVs so that more and more new schools could be opened and infrastructure improved in the existing ones. (UNI)

HAFED launches new funding scheme for farmers

CHANDIGARH, Oct 19: The Haryana Cooperative Supply and Marketing Federation (HAFED) has decided to launch a special funding scheme under which the farmers would not have to wait to get funds till the actual sale of their stocks of agricultural produce.

Addressing a press conference here HAFED Managing Director Devender Singh that under the scheme the farmers would get funds equal to 50 to 80 per cent of the value of their agricultural produce stocked in the warehouses of the hafed, at a confessional rate of interest which would be eight per cent per annum.

He said that HAFED was also planning to tie-up with the commodity exchange for accreditation of its godowns where commodities traded in the commodity exchange would be stored and delivered.

Singh said that since the launch of commodity exchange, like the stock exchange, with the permission of forward market commission about a year ago, the commodity exchange, in association with the banks, had been able to introduce demat account system for commodities.

Efforts were being made to convert warehouse receipts into a negotiable instrument. Also, electronic display boards would be put up in mandis, warehouses and headquarters of cooperative marketing societies, in association with the commodity exchange, to display future prices of commodities in an on-line manner, he added.

The accreditation would facilitate the farmers to sell their produce at a time when they would get remunerative price, he said adding that the selling system would be transparent.

Singh said that the concept of commodity exchange would help in sale of commodities in future on the advice of the farmers and their account would be updated. This scheme would help the farmers to sell their produce at an appropriate price in future and also meet their immediate requirement of funds.

He said that HAFED had also initiated public-private partnership for running nine out of 13 rice mills of the HAFED.

He said that the cumulative milling capacity of 13 rice mills of hafed was 30 tones per hour. The rice milling activity of HAFED would yield a profit of Rs one crore per annum because of its milling infrastructure, availability of low cost finance, expertise in procurement operations for the last 35 years and presence in all the mandis of the state.

He said that HAFED had also decided to launch a programme to educate the farmers about balanced diet for cattle. Detailed discussions held with experts of the department of animal husbandry, Dairy Development Federation of Haryana, National Dairy Research Institute and other such institutions provided vital information that 80 per cent of the farmers did not give balanced feed to the animals.

He said that this was resulting in nutritional imbalance, thus affecting the yield and fertility of the animals and income of the farmers. Dairy farming being one of the major allied agricultural activity, it was decided that a massive educational campaign be launched in collaboration with Animal Husbandry Department and State Dairy Federation to educate the farmers on this aspect.

Referring to the marketing of various products of HAFED, Singh said that there was a plan to introduce steamed basmati, par-boiled basmati, sharbati rice and graded broken namely tibar, dubar and mongra in Mumbai and other markets.

Singh said that steps had been taken to establish the products like Kachchi Ghani mustard oil Agmark Grade-I in West Bengal market, which was a major consuming area for this product.

Similarly, efforts were being made to establish HAFED’s basmati rice in the market of Mumbai, he added.

He said that the turnover of consumer products of hafed had increased by 73 per cent during first six months of the current financial year as against the overall increase of 26 per cent in sales over the previous year. The up gradation of technology at the HAFED’s oil mills had resulted in reducing the processing cost by Rs 15 per quintal of the crushed seed, he added.

He said that hafed was expecting a profit of Rs 40 crore during the current financial year as against the profit of merely Rs 16 crore during the last financial year.

He said that HAFED had exported 17.30 lakh metric tones of wheat and rice amounting to Rs 1050 crore to Bangladesh, Malaysia and Middle East countries during last financial year under the policy of the Government.

He said that HAFED had its own storage capacity of 15 lakh tones. There was a plan to construct godowns with a capacity of 1.02 lakh metric tones and appoint HAFED’s franchises in those villages where mini-banks were not functioning. About 300 franchises had already been appointed, he added. (PTI)

Veerapan’s three-deacde old reign of terror comes to an end

COIMBATORE, Oct 19: The nearly three-decade old reign of terror spread by sandalwood smuggler Veerappan in the jungles bordering Karnataka and Tamil Nadu came to an end when special task force sleuths shot dead the forest brigand last night.

Veerappan, whose name sent a chill down the spine of many, had killed over 150 people, including several police and forest offcials, over 2,000 elephants ruled the forest belt bordering the states of Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Kerala.

The Bandit, who joined a gang of poachers at the age of 18, had been defying a hunt by security forces for nearly two decades and carried a reward of crores of rupees on his head.

Operating with a ‘possessive vengence’ to teach lessons to the Government and forces, Veerappan came out successful in almost every operation but the STF operation last night proved to be his nemesis.

His mysterious escape from the Boodipada forest guest house in Karnataka in 1986 proved a turning point for both Karnataka and Tamil Nadu Governments.

Hailing from Gopinatham village in Kollegal Taluka of Karnataka, Veerappan shot to fame at the age of 18 with his shooting abilities and joined a gang of poachers and took over the reins after "voluntary retirement" of the gang leader.

Veerappan made money killing tuskers for ivory and extended his activities in the field of sandalwood smuggling.

The Government came to know of his involvement only in the mid-eighties, when his gang kidnapped a Tamil Nadu forest officer and axed him to death in 1987.

Six months after the incident, the Veerappan gang kidnapped and butchered some members of a rival gang signalling the start of his reign in the entire belt. The gang, comprising about 40 members, indulged in killing and kidnapping.

In August 1989, the gang kidnapped three forest personnel of Begur forest range in Tamil Nadu, whose bodies were found in mutilated condition after a fortnight.

The following year, both the Karnataka and Tamil Nadu police launched their first offensive and were able to gun down two gang members.

Veerappan immediately retaliated by killing a sub Inspector and a constable, prompting both Governments to reactivate their operations.

The Bandit reportedly had a ‘robinhood-like’ image among villagers in the area adjoining Gopinatham who acted as a cover to the brigand’s activies and informed him about police movements in the forests. They also supplied necessary ration and clothing to his gang.

After police allegedly set afire huts of his supporters, Veerappan, seeking revenge, looted a Panchayat office and a cooperative society and also set ablaze two state buses.

In the first direct attack on the police in April 1990, the poacher and his gang killed three sub-Inspectors and a constable from Karnataka.

Following more murders and demand from opposition parties, the then Karantaka Chief Minister Veerendra Patil set up a Special Task Force (STF) to nab Veerappan.

In November 1990, veerappan beheaded a Karnataka deputy Conservator Srinivas alleging his involvement in the suicide of his sister.

In a renewed operation, the Karnataka STF headed by SP Harikrishna, arrested many of Veerappan’s supporters, forcing the brigand’s sympathisers to flee from the forest.

The gang abducted the son of a granite quarry owner and demanded Rs one crore as ransom and was released after 10 days on a payment of Rs 15 lakh.

In May 1992, Veerappan attacked a police station in Ramapura, killing five policemen and fled with arms and ammunition.

In retaliation, after a fortnight, the STF combed the entire area and shot dead four gang members in Nellur village.

Perhaps his most brutual strike was when the bandit murdered STF officers Harikrishna and Shakil Ahmed, along with four constables in August. They were enticed to enter forest in Malai Madeshwara (MM) hills through an informer.

The STF party of over 25 personnel were attacked with hand grenades and country made bombs, while bullets were pumped into Harikrishna by Veerappan.

The then Chief Minister S Bangarappa announced the deployment of para-military forces to nab Veerappan.

At least 22 persons in a bus from Tamil Nadu, including some police personnel were killed in a landmine blast in April 1993. Veerappan attacked Karnataka special SP Gopal Hosur and his party at MM hills, inflicting severe head injuries to the officer and killing six policemen.

The Tamil Nadu Government, which "resisted" deployment of BSF, finally requisitioned the force.

The BSF, with the assistance of STF, managed to arrest about 20 gang members in a series of encounters, in which about six gang members and three policemen were killed.

But Veerappan remained elusive.

With no results emerging, the BSF was finally withdrawn and in a surprise move, Veerappan made known through a cassette his desire to stop his activities, if given amnesty.

With no response from Karnataka, Veerappan kidnapped Chidambaranathan, deputy Superintendent of Police from Tamil Nadu, and his two relatives and demanded Rs 1000 crore in cash as ransom.

Forced by his vexed gang members, the brigand initiated talks with the then Tamil Nadu STF SP Sanjay Arora in August. Even as the talks were on, Veerappan unilaterally broke it off and went into hiding again.

Veerappan then had said that he would surrender, but only if he was assured of general amnesty. The hostage episode ended when the DSP and his relatives escaped from the bandit in the midst of a joint STF operation by Tamil Nadu and Karnataka.

Veerappan again raised the demand, when he took hostage three forest department personnel in Anthiyur in November, but fell off and released them unconditionally, after 20 days.

The bandit’s brother Arjunan, who was sent as an emissary to negotiate, was held along with two other associates.

After a lull, Veerappan again struck, by killing a police informer in April 1996 and three months later, butchered 10 tribals in the area, to show contempt to the arrest of his sympathisers by the STF under TADA.

Arjunan and two associates committed suicide by consuming cyanide when they were being taken for interrogation to the MM hills.

Following the death of his brother, Veerappan attacked and injured Tamil Nadu SP, Tamilselvan and party, killing one constable in the process.

Meanwhile, the non-coopeeration between the STF of both the states came to the fore, with Tamil Nadu opposing the entry of Karnataka STF into the state’s forests.

Since September 1996, Veerappan did not carry out any significant attacks. But in April 1997, the bullet ridden body of ‘baby Veerappan’, considered to be his heir apparent, was found in the jungles.

However, Verappan and gang attacked Vellitirupur police station in Tamil Nadu and decamped with nine guns and ammunition.

With reduced strength of his supporters, Veerappan lay low, sought amnesty and held negotiations with the Tamil Nadu Government.

In another major attack, three forest officials were kidnapped near Hogenakkal in Dharmpuri district on April 28, 1999 and letters and audio cassettes were sent to the district collector.

Veerappan, after lying low, had a prize catch when he abducted Kannada matinee idol Rajkumar and four others from Doddagajanur guest house on July 30, 2000.

However, one of the hostages, Nagappa, managed to escape from Veerappan’s clutches after a few days.

After negotiations through ‘Nakkeeran’ editor R R Gopal and leaders like P Nedumaran, the actor was released after 100 days.

STF and police personnel from three states, including Kerala, intensified search operations after the episode.

Veerappan and his gang were reportedly spotted near Chinnampathy area, bordering Kerala and Tamil Nadu. In an exchange of fire, the gang fled and some bags with medicines and a few arms were also recovered from the place.

The BSF under DIG Vijayakumar was summoned to assist STF in catching the brigand. However, due to tension along the Indian border, the force was gradually withdrawn.

The STF was revamped under former DGP W J Dawaram and the search was intenfisifed in the forest areas of erode, Salem, Nilgiris and Coimbatore districts. Many gang members, aides and accomplices were arrested from various places and huge amounts of cash recovered from them during the operations.

Then came the abduction of former Karnataka minister, H Nagappa from his residence on the night of Aug 25, 2002. Though cassettes were sent putting forward his demands, the outlaw set a deadline in the fifth cassete for the release, seeking Kolathur Mani as emissary.

The deadline was never met by Karnataka, following a problem in seeking bail for Mani. Nagappa’s body was found after some days. Veerappan is history now. (PTI)

Kalam’s 5 point agenda for developing good educational model

NEW DELHI, Oct 19: President A P J Abdul Kalam today spelt out a five-point agenda for developing a good educational model which was the need of the hour to ensure that students contribute towards the economic growth of a nation.

Speaking at the first convocation of Guru Gobind Indraprastha University here, he said these five were education and health care, agriculture and food processing, information and communication technology, infrastructure development and self-reliance in critical technology.

"For participating in the nation building tasks, the capacities required to be built among the students in their formative years by the educational institutions are: The capacity for research or inquiry, the capacity for creativity and innovation, particularly the creative transfer of knowledge, the capacity to use high technology, the capacity for entrepreneurial leadership and the capacity for moral leadership," the President said.

He said with economy becoming knowledge driven and not industry driven, there was need for building and nurturing special capacities among students. "Many of them have to be entrepreneurs instead of mere employees in Government or big industries," he said.

With 540 million youth below 25 years in the population of a billion people, Kalam said "the nation needs young leaders who can command the change for transformation of India into a developed nation embedded with knowledge society."

The President said one of the important ingredients for success of the vision of transforming India into a developed nation by 2020 is the evolution of creative leaders.

He suggested that ingredients for capacity building must be embedded right from the beginning of the students’ life.

"When the students come out of university, certain capacities are required to be built in them for enabling them to face the challenges in the real world, in their professional career and also facilitate their participation in the task of national devleopment," he said.

Kalam said the aptitude for entrepreneurship should be cultivated right from the beginning and in the university environment.

"We must teach our students to take calculated risks for the sake of larger gain, but within the ethos of good business. They should also cultivate a disposition to do things right. This capacity will enable them to take up challenging tasks later," he said.

"Mission of Guru Gobind Singh Indraprastha University is to build capability of creative leadership among students which will generate many young entrepreneurs for participating in the transformation of India into a prosperous, happy and strong nation," the President said.

Among those who attended the convocation were the lt Governor of Delhi, B L Joshi who is also Chancellor of the University and Delhi Chief Minister Shiela Dikshit.

The Vice Chancellor Prof K K Aggarwal presented a copy of the report to the President and highlighted the achievements of the university.

Over 100 students received their degrees including doctorate. (PTI)