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DIVALI ALERT New Delhi, October 23 This year too, the medical fraternity has come out with a tedious list of dos and don’ts, cautioning grown-ups and children about the dangers that lurk in the smoke bombs. Doctors also warn that cacophonous crackers can cause permanent hearing loss. This apart, the chemicals used in the manufacture of the crackers can damage both skin and eyes. There is, therefore, heightened stress this year on keeping the noise level down, to avoid health hazards. Doctors warn that crackers with ear splitting sounds can cause noise induced hearing loss (NILH). It is pointed out that a study conducted by Widex India, pioneers in digital hearing technology, revealed that one third of all cases pertaining to loss of hearing are caused by excessive noise. This apart, the studies carried out by National Physical Laboratory and the Defence Institute of Physiological and Allied Sciences have revealed that people within two meters of a cracker face a definite risk of hearing loss. “If proper care is not taken, loud noises generated by firecrackers can endanger one’s general health and well being”, points out Dr. Ashok Vaid, Director, Max Health Care. Health experts point out that problems like mental stress, fatigue, irritation and anger are common among those exposed to high decibels of noise. Further, cases of high blood pressure, heart attacks and sleep disorders surface during the season. The noise and the smoke aggravate the trauma of those with respiratory disorders and cause anxiety in small children, pregnant women and even pets and stray animals. “It is also important for people to wear proper clothes while bursting crackers. Silks, nylon and other synthetic material should be avoided and cotton clothes should be worn. Clothes that flow around or are layered should also be avoided. Hair must be kept out of the face while burning lamps”, say doctors. Among the other precautions to be followed are using ear plugs, staying at least four meters away from the crackers, supervising children while bursting crackers and bursting crackers in open surroundings. |
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Watch your step on lunarscape Faridabad, October 23 Although the Municipal Corporation Faridabad (MCF) had begun filling up the craters and the pot-holes, by fits and starts, the quality of work done so far is pathetic. While the MCF is yet to make public the amount set aside for patchwork, according to estimates, an expenditure of at least Rs 10 crore has to incurred, if the work has to be satisfactory. However, sources in the MCF indicate that the civic body has no funds for such work. It is reported that the authorities had allocated Rs 20 to Rs 25 lakhs for the purpose, which is just a drop in the ocean. Moreover, the patching done thus far has been selective and not all roads have been covered, revealed the sources. The elected members of the MCF, which is the largest civic body in the state, had met recently and demanded immediate repairs and release of the required funds. The top officials of the MCF had also assured members that they would take the necessary steps. Faridabad district has an extensive network of roads, say, about 1,000 km. Nearly all of these have developed potholes and the surface has been inundated. The irregular surface hampers the movement of traffic and is also a major cause of road mishaps. Despite the obvious dangers, there is no sign of the authorities addressing the problem, said S S Choudhary, a resident of Sector 14 here. The roads in his locality, which incidentally boasts of a leading public school, were the worst in the state. The authorities should immediately re-lay all those roads which cater to heavy vehicles, he added. A half-km patch on the dividing road of sector 9-10 is just not negotiable, it is pointed out. For the past three months there has been no sign of the repair men either, said L R Jagar, a resident of Sector 9. The senior Deputy Mayor, Mr Shiv Charan Lal Sharma, admitted that paucity of funds was a major impediment. He said the issue had been taken up in the last meeting of the MCF; it was felt that a special grant was required to put the roads back into shape. Good roads were necessary not only for residents but also for business. |
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MDU to add production centre
to pharma dept Gurgaon, October 23 Talking with the NCR Tribune here today, the Vice Chancellor of MDU, Major
General (Retd) B. S. Suhag, said that the project was still in a conceptual stage, but he was hopeful of making it work on the ground, thereby notching a first of a kind on this front. Major General Suhag, who was here to preside over the third foundation day function of the National Law College, said that the MDU was one of the few universities in the country which had already got accreditation from the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India. Following the accreditation, the university can run insurance-related courses. Also, he cited the BBA Industry Integrated course, which was started in the previous academic year, under which business houses sponsor students. The students draw a stipend ranging from Rs 1,800 to Rs 4,000 and are later absorbed by the sponsoring units. This year the course has been a big draw. Given the trend, the university is sure to extend this arrangement to other courses, especially in engineering streams. According to the Vice Chancellor, the Academic Council of the MDU is also considering a proposal to start an Ayurveda and Bio-Technology Research Centre. The university’s focus would be on research works in various walks of life, he added. He expressed satisfaction at the overall discipline on the campus. However, he lamented that more than extraneous factors, internal bickering was a cause of concern. Major General Suhag completed three years of his term in June this year. When he took charge, the MDU was placed in ‘C’ category by the University Grant Commission (UGC). Now, it is in the ‘B++’ category. Speaking at the function, he said the National Law College would soon have an auditorium and a bigger library. |
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JUSTICE, AT LAST New Delhi, October 23 Additional Sessions Judge S N Dhingra sentenced the sub-inspector to a six-year jail term and his subordinates to five years’ RI. He also imposed a fine of Rs 25,000 on the Sub Inspector and Rs 10,000 each on the constables. The deceased, Zakir, was picked up by the Malviya Nagar Police and taken to the Pushp Vihar chowki on May 12, 2001, on the charge of possessing equipment for facilitating burglary. Later, he was taken to a hospital where he was declared brought dead. The post-mortem report listed 20 injuries on his body. The prosecution examined 18 witnesses in the case. SI in the dock Ghaziabad: Chief Judicial Magistrate Mangal Prasad has ordered that a case be registered against 11 persons, including Sub Inspector Manju Badhorya, who had illegally detained an employee of the district courts and beaten him up. On October 19, Mani Ram was abused and assaulted. His daughters were allegedly teased and insulted. When Mani Ram tried to file a report, Sub Inspector Manju Badhorya also abused and insulted him.
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2 women succumb to dengue in
Karol Bagh New Delhi, October 23 Director of Health Services, Dr. K. N. Tiwari, disclosed that two patients succumbed to dengue this morning. The first victim, Ms. Promila, was a resident of Regarpura, who breathed her last at Jassa Hospital. The second patient was Ms. Poonam, a resident of Bapa Nagar, who died in Ram Manohar Lohia hospital. Both the areas had been cleaned by the MCD and there is no water logging in these areas, he pointed out. It is apparent that residents do not adopt preventive measures. Both Promila and Poonam were hospitalised in the last stage. In the beginning, they were getting treated from the local doctors. When the fever did not come down, they were hospitalised, but by then it was too late as their platelet count had plummeted. |
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ACADEMIA Sonepat, October 23 Though two of the colleges, Hindu College and Gita Vidya Mandir Girls College, have already applied to the UGC, other colleges may follow suit. Under the scheme, which aims at reducing the dependence of the college on the university, minimising the workload of the universities and making the colleges self-dependent, the colleges selected by the UGC will be given financial grants ranging from Rs 35 lakh to Rs 1 crore and the status of a self-governing body. The UGC has sent letters to the colleges, asking the college authorities to apply for getting the benefits of the new scheme. The colleges have been asked to send the information about the college staff, college profile, teaching valuation, research and extension activities along with management and organisation. Besides, the colleges are also to submit the details of their future five-year plan for improving the educational standard in the college. The colleges can apply till December-end. According to the standard procedure laid down for processing the applications of the colleges, the applications would be forwarded to three committees for inquiry and verifications of the claims made by the colleges in their forms. The first committee will be the standing committee with one member of the UGC, two vice-chancellors and five experts to be nominated by the UGC. This committee will verify the application forms and make recommendations of the colleges. After this, the visiting committee comprising the members of the standing committee, experts and UGC’s representatives, will visit the colleges for verification of the claims of the colleges. Finally, the monitoring committee which will include the standing committee members and four experts will review the efforts being made by the college in improving the educational standard in the five years. According to the scheme, the colleges are to be divided in three categories for advancing financial grants by the UGC. The non-autonomous and non-accredited colleges are put in the first category and if all formalities are completed, such colleges are given a grant of Rs 35 lakh. In the second category are those colleges which are either autonomous or accredited and are entitled to getting a grant of Rs 60 lakh for improving the educational standard. A grant of Rs 1 crore is provided to the third category colleges which are autonomous as well as accredited. As per the other details of the scheme, the college availing the grant will finalise the syllabus and prepare the question papers for the examinations. And after evaluating the answersheets, the results would be sent to the university and certificates would then be obtained from the university. To begin with, according to information, as many as 100 colleges in the country would be selected by the UGC under this scheme. The principals and the teaching staff of the colleges are of opinion that after implementation of the scheme, the dependence of the colleges on the universities would be minimised and the staff and the students would not be required to make frequent visits to the universities for one work or the other. It is a revolutionary scheme and will prove quite helpful in improving the educational standard and creating a new atmosphere of education, they remarked. Meantime, a three-member NAAC team has been visiting the rest of the colleges to assess the existing facilities there for according gradation of the UGC for the last five days and so far inspected three colleges—Kanya Gukrukul College, Khanpur Kalan, Tikaa Ram
College of Education, Sonepat and Hindu College of Education, Sonepat. |
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PEC gives Sonia carte blanche
to name candidates New Delhi, October 23 The PEC, which met on Thursday, also decided that each member of the PEC would submit his choice of candidates in all the 70 Assembly constituencies to the Screening Committee Chairman Moti Lal Vora, member of the Screening Committee Oscar Fernandes and observers. Delhi Pradesh Congress Committee (DPCC) president Prem Singh chaired the meeting. Besides All India Congress Committee (AICC) secretary Anil Shastri, the meeting was attended by Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit, her Cabinet colleagues Mahinder Singh Saathi, Dr AK Walia and Raj Kumar Chauhan, Jagdish Tytler, and Sajjan Kumar among others. Meanwhile, a delegation led by DPCC president Prem Singh, met with the deputy election commissioner and handed over a memorandum addressed to Chief Election Commissioner JM Lyngdoh. The memorandum sought the intervention of the Election Commission (EC) to halt the politically motivated and anti-people steps of the BJP-led NDA Government, particularly its decision to convert the Doordarshan’s entertainment channel Jagdish Tytler, Sajjan Kumar, JP Agarwal and Kiran Chaudhary accompanied Prem Singh. The delegation also sought the EC’s intervention to stop the BJP-led NDA Government from using fictitious NGOs for routing money that was eventually used for the propaganda against the Indian National Congress. |
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Jat Samiti to oppose INLD in Rajasthan Sonepat, October 23 The activists of the samiti will go to the various Assembly segments and campaign against its candidates. In a press statement issued here recently, the convenor of the samiti, Mr Tata Chand Mor, stated that Mr Chautala would return ‘empty hand’ from Rajasthan, as was the case in Uttar Pradesh. Mr Chautala came to power in Haryana by making ‘false promises’, including that of favouring reservation for Jats in government services, he added. Mr Mor said that Mr Chautala had promised that if reservation was provided in Rajasthan, it would also be implemented in Haryana. However, while the Jats have already been included in the OBC category in Rajasthan, Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh and Himachal Pradesh, Mr Chautala has backtracked on his promises, he pointed out. The activists of the samiti will apprise the people of Rajasthan about the deteriorating law and order situation in the state, anti-farmer policies being pursued by the government and the resentment prevailing among the people against the government, he added. |
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Chautala hauled up for Sampla assault Rohtak, October 23 The party has decided to hold a rally at the village on October 28, which would be addressed by RLD chief and former Union Minister Ajit Singh, a staunch rival of Mr Chautala. In a statement here today, the Haryana RLD president, Mr Swami Indervesh, said that the while the recent incident of assault on a Swiss woman in the national Capital had put pressure on the Union Home Ministry to improve its functioning, the Haryana Chief Minister had been keeping mum on the incident of police atrocities against women here. He said the women here had been assaulted in the native village of the veteran farmer leader, Sir Chhotu Ram, who struggled for the upliftment of women. He demanded a CBI inquiry into the incident and suspension of the erring policemen. He visited Naya Baans, Bhainsru Khurd, Samchana, Morkheri and Bhainsru Kalan villages in Hassangarh Assembly constituency today to garner support to punish the guilty. He said the proposed rally would make a dent in the support base of the ruling party in this constituency presently represented by the INLD district president in the Haryana Assembly. RLD has planned to garner the support of the people of the area by constituting seven teams, including one headed by Swami Indervesh himself. The team members would visit the villages and ask them to attend the proposed rally in large number. |
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Chautala opens Rs 1.23 cr power substation Sonepat, October 23 According to a report, as many as 3,700 consumers of 11 villages: Jhundpur, Tanda, Jagdishpur, Khewra, Palri Kalan, Palri Khurd, Palra,
Baroli, Jajal, Basodi and Garh Mirakhpur which included 748 tubewell consumers will be benefited by this substation. Speaking
on the occasion, Mr Chautala stated that the INLD government has taken a series of measures to generate more power to meet the demand of the consumers. After the completion of the work on the seventh and eighth unit of Tau Devi Lal Thermal power plant at Panipat, the state would not only become self-sufficient in power generation but would also be able to supply power to other states, he added. Mr Chautala also disclosed that the consumers were being provided with 576 lakh units of power every day on an average as compared to 367 lakh units provided during 1998-99. The capacity of power, he said, had been increased to 802 mw which was the biggest achievement of his government. Referring to the launching of new irrigation schemes in the state, Mr Chautala disclosed that a Rs 320-crore scheme has been launched to provide more canal water to the farmers, construct new watercourses, repair of present watercourses and improve the supply of canal water in the state. He said that his government had made every effort to provide irrigation water to the tailend of minors and distributaries. He said that a sum of Rs 1,741 crore had been spent by the state government during the past three and a half years to strengthen the irrigation mechanism. Mr Chautala also inaugurated the waterworks built at a cost of Rs 77.30 lakh at Kohla village for the benefit of 4,000 people who would be supplied with 55 litre water per head per day. The Chief Minister also laid the foundation stone of an office building and shopping complex of the civic body at Gohana town. The two-storeyed office building would be constructed at a cost of Rs 44.20 lakh and the shopping complex would be built at a cost of Rs 27 lakh. |
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SPECIAL FOCUS
ON ROHTAK Rohtak, October 23 Mr Gupta conducted raids late on Wednesday evening at the stalls selling crackers in the makeshift market in the ITI grounds and Sector-1 and seized fireworks banned by the District Magistrate under Section 144 CrPC. He cautioned that the administration would not allow use or bursting of crackers beyond 10 pm and before 6 pm. He also said that the sale and use of firecrackers generating noise level exceeding prescribed limits would not be allowed. During a tour of the town, it was observed that there was no sale of fire crackers from residential houses. It seemed that the shopkeepers appeared to have seriously taken the prohibitory orders issued by the District Magistrate. Mr
Gupta said that the administration was strictly implementing and monitoring the time schedule for the sale of crackers. The District Magistrate had ordered that fire-crackers would be sold from only between 8 am and 8 pm. The SDM also inspected the factories manufacturing fire-crackers to ensure that safety norms were being observed by these manufacturers. There are three such factories located on the outskirts of the town. A fire had occurred in 1994 in a cracker manufacturing factory here in which nearly 23 persons, mostly labourers from South India, had been killed. Mr Rakesh Gupta said that 108 temporary licenses for selling and storage of crackers had been issued by the administration. The administration had been liberal in granting temporary licences as it wanted to check the illegal and harmful sale of crackers in the area. A survey of the market indicated that the sale of firecrackers is on a low key. It indicated that people are gradually awakening to the fact that firecrackers are a source of environmental pollution, besides loss of money and property. Shopkeepers said that while in the past they sold fire crackers to the tune of Rs 30 to 40 lakh during the
Divali festival, it would be difficult to cross even Rs 15 lakh this year. |
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Religious channel to counter cultural chaos Panipat, October 23 To be launched by the Ashirwad Cable TV Network, a franchisee of the Zee Network, the channel, ‘Shraddha’, which would be shown for fixed hours in the morning and evening to begin with, would try to wean away the youth from the western influences, the managing director (MS) of the Ashirwad Network, Kanwar Ved Pal, told reporters last night. The channel will not be religion-specific as the programmes of all the religions will be telecast live free of cost. Besides, the recordings of the prominent saints from all religions would be telecast on the channel, which would be converted into a 24-hour channel in due course of time. When asked how the channel differed from other religious channels, Mr Pale Ram, director, and Mr Surinder Sood, managing partner said, besides propagating the message of universal brotherhood, the channel would help promote the Haryanvi culture and traditions. Interview-based programmes on traditions and festivals such a ‘Teej’ and ‘Sanji’ would be telecast. The organisers claimed that the local channel would be a resounding success since Panipat was a major religious centre with hundreds of temples, mosques and
gurdwaras and even a couple of churches dotting the city. The religious leaders of all faiths congregated in the city and delivered sermons. Since the channel was local in nature, the running cost would be recovered by way of the advertisements, the organisers reasoned. The Ashirwad Network also planned to start a 24-hour news channel exclusively for Haryana, Kanwar Ved Pal added. |
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Footpaths cleared of encroachments Sonepat, October 23 According to a report, this action followed the complaint lodged by the Sonepat Municipal Council pleading the removal of encroachments on the footpaths by the shopkeepers. As many as 52 persons, including women and children had lost their lives in the devastating fire which had broken out in the main bazaar of this area on the eve of Divali on November 6, 1999.
Old woman killed in
Subhash Chowk accident An aged woman was killed by a truck while she was crossing the road in Subhash Chowk area here last evening. According to a report, the police have seized the body and sent it for the postmortem examination. The truck driver, however, escaped after the accident. The police have registered the case against him and a hunt is on to apprehend him.
Demo in front
of DC’s office Residents of Lehrara village held a massive demonstration in front of the Deputy Commissioner’s office here last evening to register their protest against the failure of the irrigation department authorities to fill up the pond with canal water. According to a report, the DC has asked the authorities of the department to fill the pond with canal water on priority basis.
Man missing
for six months The police have failed to achieve any breakthrough to trace Paras Ram, a resident of Shiv Colony on Dewru Road who has been missing for the past six months.
Bajra lying in open At least 3,000 tonnes of bajra is lying in the open on account of non-packing into the gunny bags by the officials of the procurement agencies in the grain markets at Kharkhauda in the district. According to a report, the shortage of gunny bags has led to the stoppage of the auction of bajra marketed by the farmers of area. This has caused resentment among the farmers who have to spend the night in the market for the safety of their produce. Many farmers alleged that the authorities concerned are reluctant to purchase the bajra on account of the shortage of the gunny bags and the ‘arhtias’ were exploiting them on one pretext or the other and they are being forced to sell their produce at a throwaway price. They also pointed out that most of the paddy growers were diverting their produce to the nearby Narela market where they were getting much more price than prevailing in the markets of this district. |
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Career consultation programme organised Rohtak, October 23 Dr Satpal Wadhwa, who organised the programme, said that the students were informed about the various traditional and non-traditional courses, including CA, ICWA, CS, Hotel Management, Tourism and Travel Management, e-commerce, World Trade, Insurance, Banking and Hospitality Management. He said the pattern of examination such as UPSC, HPSC and SSC were also discussed in the meeting.
UN Day celebration Maharshi Dayanand University will celebrate UN Day on October 24 with a talk on “United Nations and its role in the present scenario”. Organised jointly by the Students’ and Youth Welfare Office and Sociology Department of the university, Prof A. K. Kaul, Law Department, University of Delhi, would be the guest speaker. |
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Mahila Samiti for speedy justice in rape cases New Delhi, October 23 The Mahila Dakshna Samiti said if conviction took a long time in such cases, the victim became demoralised but the criminals, emboldened. It said while the media had played a role in highlighting such cases and moulding public opinion, they had also harmed the cause by projecting women as a commodity. The Mahila Dakshna Samiti demanded that the civic and the police authorities ensure proper lighting in public places to make them safe for women. Meanwhile, activists of the Mahila Sanskritik Sangathan staged a demonstration at Jantar Mantar to protest against crimes against women in the Capital. |
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Labourers up in arms against proposed
flyover near Moti Nagar New Delhi, October 23 The members of the Welfare Association of Traders and manufacturers of Shivaji Marg will be uprooted from their existing place, which is the first authorised industrial unit in Delhi. They have decided to observe a black Divali this year and will wear a black band on the occasion to mark their protest. |
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DELHI DIGEST New Delhi, October 23 As per the Act, the Labour Welfare Fund was to be created and the employers were required to contribute Rs 1.5 per worker every six months and 0.75 paise contribution by worker every six months. In this way, Rs 9 per worker will be deposited in the Labour Welfare Fund. Taking the contributions from all the three sources, the corpus comes to around Rs 4 crore per year. “The Act was extended to NCT of Delhi in 1986 but the Indian National Congress did not notify it. The BJP notified the Act and framed the rules for its implementation,” Mr Mukhi told media persons. The Labour Welfare Fund is used to run welfare centres, education of adult workers, creches for their children, etc. Mr Mukhi referred to the Delhi High Court judgement in the Anil Sirohi vs Government of NCT of Delhi.
Sardar Matharoo clarifies on ICP function Sardar Harbachan Singh Matharoo, general secretary of the Delhi Sikh Gurdwara Management Committee (DSGMC) today claimed that he had attended a function at Ranjit Nagar organised by the International Council of Punjabis (ICP) and not by the Delhi Congress as reported in a section of the press recently. In a written statement, Sardar Matharoo claimed that the function was organised to felicitate the Delhi Chief Minister, Mrs Sheila Dikshit, for according second language status to Punjabi in the National Capital Territory of Delhi. He said that he was a member of the Sarna-led
Shiromani Akali Dal Delhi (SADD) and would continue to remain so.
Vaish Aggrawal
Samaj seeks tickets The Vaish Aggrawal Samaj has sought from the Indian National Congress (INC) tickets for its representatives in the December 1 Assembly election in the NCT of Delhi. It is eyeing 16 constituencies that have a sizeable population of voters belonging to the community. In the last election, three of the four candidates from the community won on the INC tickets. In the civic polls last year, the INC had allotted 19 tickets to the community. Sixteen of the 19 candidates had won. Three candidates from the community had won on the BJP tickets. |
Militant seeking to set up base for contract killers held New Delhi, October 23 Raj Kumar was also detained in 1992 under TADA by the Punjab Police. The accused remained active in the Babbar Khalsa along with Twinkle, alias Pepsi. Raj Kumar, who was financially down, decided to move to Delhi and set up a base for contract killing. He told the sleuths that he was scouting for some active outfits, so that they could facilitate his nefarious activities. |
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Fake driving licence racket busted Jhajjar, October 23 According to information, a Havildar of the CIA, Mr Rajbir, nabbed a person identified as Kashmir Singh, resident of Sunaria village in Rohtak and recovered a fake driving licence from him. On further investigation, the accused disclosed that one Jabbar Singh of Jhajjar had asked him to prepare a driving licence for his relative, identified as Dharamender of Paharipur. Jabbar Singh had provided him with all the necessary documents. However, in alliance with some clerks of SDM office, the accused had prepared a fake licence and pocketed the money paid by Jabbar Singh. He told that police that the four employees involved in the racket from the SDM office were Rajender, Biloo, Sunder Ahlawat and Ratender of Mokhara. The accused was sent to police remand till October 10. |
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Three held for robbing TSR driver New Delhi, October 23 On reaching the Sangli Mess, the robbers whipped knives and seized Rs 510, driving licence, identity card and other documents. When the driver started shouting for help, the policemen on patrolling duty came to his rescue and caught the fleeing robbers.
396 bottles of illegal liquor seized The Crime Branch has claimed to have seized 396 bottles of illegal liquor of Mastana and Bonnie Scot whisky when they conducted a surprise check in a house in Sangam Vihar. The police arrested a woman Rani, who disclosed that she used to get this liquor from a supplier in Anangpur, Haryana. |
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