In a major relief for the parents in Delhi, fed up with lofty donation demands from schools in lieu of admission of their tiny tots, the nursery admissions will begin under fresh guidelines from Tuesday.

In what is set to deal a heavy blow to unaided private schools, the 20% management quota has been scrapped under the fresh guidelines which were issued by Delhi Lieutenant Governor Najeeb Jung on December 18.

According to reports, in case the schools were caught demanding donation, they will have to pay a fine ten times more the amount.

The good news for the parents came after a Delhi High Court turned down a plea by unaided private schools seeking to stay the fresh guidelines.

In its order granting nod to the new guidelines for nursery admissions, a Delhi High Court bench comprising Chief Justice NV Ramana and Justice Rajiv SahaiEndlaw said that the new norm will not be delayed as it would create “confusion and would be detrimental to the interest of children and parents”.

In their plea, the group of unaided private schools (Action Committee Unaided Recognised Private Schools and Forum for promotion of quality education for all) wanted the court to stay the guidelines for the session 2014-15, adding that it encroached upon their autonomy in selecting the students.

According to the fresh norms as issued by the Lieutenant-Governor Najeeb Jung, 70 points will be accorded to those children living within 8-km distance from the school, under neighbourhood criteria.

Besides these, the applicants who have sibling studying in the same school will get 20 points.

Also, the 20% management quota has been scrapped, leaving behind a 5% quota for girls in theco-ed schools 25% seats reserved for economically weaker sections.

The Delhi Police on Monday said the autopsy report of SunandaPushkar indicated that the 52-year-old died of a drug overdose.

Quoting its sources in Delhi Police, NDTV reported on Monday that Union minister ShashiTharoor was given a clean chit in his wife Sunanda’s death based on a witness testimony.

The theory had been a subject of great speculation since Sunday, when sources said investigators had recovered three empty strips of the sedative alprax (0.5mg) from the hotel room where Sunanda had died.

Medical experts say that consumption of alprax – a medicine that should only be sold when prescribed by a doctor – in large quantities at a time hampers the functioning of the brain, and can cause a person to slip into coma.

A three-member AIIMS team had performed the post-mortem examination on Sunanda, the wife of junior HRD Minister ShashiTharoor, on Saturday. Following preliminary tests, team member Dr Adarsh Kumar had revealed to the media later the same day that her death was “sudden and unnatural”.

The final report was submitted to subdivisional magistrate (SDM) Alok Sharma on Monday. Refusing to talk about the findings, Sharma said: “The report is sealed, but I will submit my report to the police by tomorrow (Tuesday) afternoon.” The police, however, said the report ruled out the presence of alcohol in Sunanda’s system.

Sunanda, who married Tharoor in 2010, died on Friday at a luxury hotel in the Capital’s Chanakyapuri area. Her body was discovered by her husband around 8.30pm on his return to the hotel after attending an AICC event.

Sunanda’s death came after a very public spat with her husband that saw her accuse him of having an affair with Pakistani journalist MehrTarar. In a series of scathing tweets, the businesswoman had also hit out at Tarar for “stalking” her husband, sparking an ugly exchange between the two women.

Meanwhile, Home Minister SushilkumarShinde has asked the Delhi Police to conduct an expeditious probe into the Sunanda’s death.

Referring to the letter Tharoor wrote him on Sunday, Shinde said: “He (Tharoor) has written to me and sought an expeditious probe. I have already talked to the persons concerned and they are doing it.” In his letter, Tharoor had expressed horror at the “reckless speculation rampant in the media” regarding the circumstances preceding his wife’s death.

On Monday, the former UN undersecretary general and Sunanda’s only son Shiv, 21, visited Hardwar to perform the final ritual of cremation – the immersion of her ashes in the Ganga.

Sri Lankan Navy on Tuesday arrested 25 Indian fishermen for allegedly poaching in the country’s waters, officials said.

Naval spokesman KosalaWarnakulasuriya said 25 fishermen have been arrested north of Jaffna’s Delft island during the wee hours of today. Their six trawlers were also seized.

The fishermen are to be handed over to the police at Kankesanturai harbour.

The arrests followed talks between Agriculture Minister SharadPawar and Sri Lankan Minister of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources RajithaSenaratne in New Delhi last week on the thorny issue of fishermen.

Both countries decided free all fishermen in their custody and release their vessels after the talks.

The arrests come ahead of a meeting scheduled for January 27 between a committee appointed to work out a joint mechanism.

Haryana Roadways employees went on a four-day strike from today against the Haryana government’s proposal to issue permits to private bus operators. The strike will continue till January 23.

The Haryana Roadways Employees Coordination Committee who has called the four-day strike, has opposed privatisation, outsourcing, contract or PPP system, claimed that the strike was complete on the first day. Passengers were reduced to a harassed lot as all the 34 Volvo buses and more than 300 non-AC buses — run by Haryana Roadways — remained off the roads. Passengers who had booked tickets in advance had to get their tickets cancelled.

Those passengers who had to visit Delhi and other places in Haryana had to opt for buses operated by Chandigarh Transport Undertaking (CTU) or Punjab Roadways, which were overcrowded. YogeshKhari and Kapil, who came from Delhi and had to return today only, said: “We did not have any idea that there would be a strike. We wanted to travel by Volvo, but were told that no buses from Haryana Roadways will ply today.” Another passenger, Pawan, who came to Chandigarh for an official work said: “I have to reach Delhi urgently. But none of the buses of Haryana Roadways are plying and the buses of Punjab Roadways were so crowded that I could not board them. Now, I am stranded.”

All the passengers who had tickets in buses operated by Haryana Roadways had to shift to those run by Punjab, which led to the overcrowding.  Temzing, who came from Dharamshala in Himachal Pradesh and had to go to Indira Gandhi International Airport in Delhi, said: “My brother is coming from USA and I have to meet him. I had a booking in a Volvo bus, but after reaching here I came to know that there will be no buses plying today. Now I am going to railway station and will check if I can get a ticket in some train.”

Passengers at the Panchkula bus station also faced lots of problem due to the strike. VijitHooda, a Class XI student of a government school in Sector 19 Chandigarh, travels daily from Ramgarh to his school. With no intimation about the strike, Vijit said had to travel by CTU bus “that was heavily crowded”. Then, he took an auto to reach school.

Around 11 Haryana Roadways buses were found parked at Sector 14 police station. Sources told Newsline that the bus staff had planned to run the buses post midnight along with police security. However, the drivers never turned up till morning. Police officials, however, claimed that the buses had been standing there as the drivers wanted to safeguard the buses from any possible violence during the strike.

Meanwhile, private buses took advantage of the situation to earn extra money and minimise the effects of strike by running their buses on long routes against their permitted short routes.