New Delhi, May 3
In the wake of the radioactive radiation disaster in Mayapuri that claimed one life and injured seven persons, the Delhi government today issued guidelines for hospitals, health centres, nursing homes, diagnostic centres and other health facilities dealing with radioactive wastes.

The guidelines are based on the Atomic Energy Regulatory Board’s (AERB) Atomic Energy (safe disposal of radioactive wastes) Rules, 1987, and Atomic Energy (Radiation Protection) Rules 2004, said health minister, Kiran Walia.

The guidelines have been issued after an advisory report of the ASSOCHAM (Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India) appealed to the Delhi, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh governments to have a policy for disposal of radioactive wastes in the national capital region (NCR).

According to the guidelines, a medical establishment or any other agency dealing with radioactive substances will have to apply to the AERB through one Form ‘A’ for authorisation to perform specified activities connected with disposal of radioactive wastes.

The guidelines further say that there should be a post called radiological safety officer in each hospital. The officer would be responsible for the communication with the AERB for safe disposal of radioactive wastes.

The guidelines say that no person can dispose of radioactive wastes unless he/she has obtained an authorisation from the AERB. Further, the authorised person will have to maintain records of disposal of such wastes.

Further, according to the guidelines, if need be, routine inspection can be carried out by competent authorities any time.

If a radiation installation or any radiation-generation equipment ceases to be in use, the authorities concerned should ensure its decommissioning. No employer can decommission any such equipment without prior approval of the competent authority.

The health minister said if any private hospital was found not adhering to the guidelines, its license would be cancelled, and in case of government hospitals, the officer concerned would be punished.

The health minister said that so far Delhi had no guidelines for radioactive wastes. What happened at DU is totally due to negligence and irresponsible attitude of the authorities, she said.

When asked about the disposal of cancer machines in government hospitals of the city, she said the machines would take years to get outdated.

New Delhi, May 3
The Delhi Pollution Control Committee has issued notices to Guru Tegh Bahadur Hospital, Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Hospital and Lok Nayak Jaya Prakash Hospital after it found several deficiencies in their waste management system.

Most of the government hospitals in Delhi reportedly don’t have proper systems to dispose of wastes as required under the Biomedical Waste (Management and Handling) Rules, 1998. The hospitals fail when it comes to carrying the disposal work in an organised manner, especially at the segregation stage, resulting in hospital-acquired infections and communicable diseases.

The DPCC has asked the hospitals to offer explanation about their unsatisfactory waste disposal mechanism.

“After the biomedical waste is collected, it should be segregated into three parts—autoclavable, incinerable and those that fall under the inert category. It is very important for the hospital staff involved in the task to know how to do it. Trainings for the same are conducted on a regular basis,” said a senior DPCC official.

According to the standard guidelines, after segregation, plastic materials like syringes, saline bottles and hand gloves should be transferred to the autoclave machine, where the waste are disinfected at high temperatures (between 120 degree Celsius to 140 degrees).

Biological parts like cancerous organs, limbs and tissues are treated in incinerators at extremely high temperatures.

In Delhi, 9,000 metric tonne of bio-medical waste is generated annually. However, there are just 17 incinerators in government hospitals. So, most of the public hospitals have outsourced their waste management to biomedical operators— Biotech Solutions, Metro Biocare and Synergy Waste Management Ltd.

New Delhi, May 3
The members of the Coordination Committee (CoCom) of the Commonwealth Games (CWG) today expressed their disappointment over the ongoing construction work at S.P. Mukherjee Stadium during a conference held to review the progress of various Games projects in Delhi.

The S.P. Mukherjee Stadium is an important competition venue for swimming events.

According to sources, the project engineers of the stadium were pulled by CoCom members. They were reprimanded for running behind the schedule and missing deadlines.

The committee, chaired by its president Austin Sealy, had held the conference to evaluate the progress of the various construction projects going on in Delhi for the Games.

“The members of the committee were a bit disappointed with the way the work is being carried out at the stadium. The engineers have been given a deadline of May 31,” said a senior officer.

The members said that many stadiums had been inaugurated despite the fact that a lot of work still needed to be done.

A total of six sports complex have been inaugurated along with three stadiums.

However, on the other side, the committee showed immense satisfaction over three stadiums of the Delhi government— Thyagraj, Chattrasal and Ludlow Castle wrestling training venue.

These stadiums are among the first few Commonwealth Games stadiums to be inaugurated.

The members said that the stadiums were clean and above expectation.

“They were extremely happy with the progress of all the three stadiums so much that they did not even ask any question about these venues.

The members inspected the stadiums on Sunday and found them satisfactory,” said Anil Pundit, chief engineer of the three stadiums.

The seven-member CoCom delegation had reviewed Delhi’s preparation for the mega sports event during their three-day visit in December.

“I have toured the venues, including the main press centre and broadcasting centre, and found them good,” said Sealy while praising the efforts of Kalmadi and his team.

Sindhushree Khullar, secretary, ministry of sports, informed CoCom members that all government agencies were working for timely completion of work at remaining stadiums.

“We are taking all steps to ensure that the event happens successfully. The group of ministers (GoM) has unanimously supported the OC chairman in his efforts to make this event the best,” Khullar said.

Greater Noida, May 3
Though construction work is in full swing on the Yamuna Expressway— the flagship project of the UP government, it appears to be racing against time.

The project being implemented by J.P. Infratech Ltd envisages the construction of 165-km expressway between Greater Noida and Agra at Rs 10,000 crore. More than half of the money has already been spent on the project.

Additional CEO of Yamuna Expressway Authority Y.K. Bahl said that travel time on the stretch from Greater Noida to Agra would be less than 2 hours.

A visit to the site shows that about 95 per cent of the construction work has been completed. It is expected that the road till Agra would be fully completed by March 2011.

Chief Minister Mayawati is personally monitoring the progress of the project.

World-class facilities like — motels, restaurants, petrol pump, workshops and rest rooms shall be developed along the expressway for the benefit of commuters.

The construction of Yamuna Expressway has opened new avenues of development for the area. Bahl said the process of development would bring more facilities, employment opportunities and prosperity to people of the area.

Sports City is being implemented under the development plan of Yamuna Expressway Industrial Development Authority (YEA) for which 1,000 hectares has been transferred to JPSK as special development zone (SDZ). The developer has already started the construction of Formula –1 (F-1) racing track, the first of its kind in India. It will be completed in September 2011 as the first international F-1 race in India is scheduled for October 2011.

A cricket stadium, multi-purpose sports grounds, hotels and residences are other facilities are also being developed in the zone.

Approximately 1,500 hectares, comprising land parcel of Noida and YEA area, has been handed over to the developer.

New Delhi, May 3
After opening the phase II lines in the capital city, Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) is looking forward to becoming a part of international organisation of some of the best Metros in the world, CoMET.

CoMET is a programme of international railway benchmarking. It is made up of a consortium of some of the largest metro systems of the world. Global cities which are part of the network presently are Beijing, Berlin, Hong Kong, London, Mexico City, Madrid, Moscow, New York, Paris, Santiago, Shanghai and Sao Paulo.

While celebrating their 16th Founders’ Day today DMRC’s director of finance R.N.Joshi said the organisation was lloking forward to become a member of the group of best metro systems in the world after the completion of phase II.

“The basic prerequisite to apply for the registration under CoMET is that the network should operate in atleast 180 kilometers and we would cross that by the end of phase II,” said Joshi.

With the DMRC becoming part of the international group it would be able to share technology information and strike ties with the global leaders in the Metro system.

On its Founders’ Day, DMRC presented the award for “Metro man of the year” to R.K. Raghav, group station manager of Central Secretariat and Patel Chowk Metro stations. The Dilshad Garden Metro station was adjudged the ‘Best Metro Station’.

Chairman DMRC and secretary at the Ministry of Urban Development M Ramachandran presented the awards in the presence of director (electrical) DMRC Satish Kumar.

During the last year, DMRC added a record 42 km to its network, which is the highest addition in any single year since the metro’s inception.

Another major highlight for the year was Delhi Metro’s extension to the satellite township of Noida in Uttar Pradesh. More than a lakh residents of Noida are now being benefitted by this service. Trial runs are already in progress on the Qutub Minar to Gurgaon corridor and services will commence on that corridor soon as well.

Delhi Metro also continued to introduce new technologies like first standard gauge metro corridor from Inderlok to Mundka.

The Airport Express Link, a showpiece project of the DMRC, is nearing completion. For the first time, sophisticated track technology called RHEDA has been implemented for the airport line which will allow the trains to run at a speed of 160 km per hour.

New Delhi, May 3
The transport department of the Delhi government has decided to launch a circular bus service to ease traffic in Connaught Place and areas near Central Secretariat, CGO Complex and other government offices.

This is being done keeping in view of the Commonwealth Games, said transport minister Arvinder Singh Lovely.

Lovely said that initially only two buses would be deployed for the service. If the department gets a positive response, the number of buses will be increased, he added.

The circular bus service will start from Central Secretariat and take a round of Connaught Place and CGO Complex.

There are parking problems in these areas. With this service in place, the officials can park their vehicles in outer areas and board the bus to reach their offices, the minister said.

The fare for the circular bus service has not been decided so far.

The minister said that the circular bus service and the express bus service, which was launched yesterday on the lines of chartered service being provided by the private sector, would discourage the use of private vehicles.

When told that the fare of the express bus service was high, the minister said that it still was cheaper than driving a car. The fares of the bus are Rs 20 and 30, which is not costly, he said.

New Delhi, May 3
Delhi has decided to set up an appellate authority to provide an opportunity to those senior citizens who feel dissatisfied with the ruling of the nine tribunals already functioning in Delhi under the Maintenance and Welfare of Parents and Senior Citizens Act, 2007. 

Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit, while chairing a meeting of the newly-constituted Senior Citizens Council, reiterated her government’s commitment to sincerely implement the act to ensure social security for senior citizens. 

The Chief Minister directed the department of social welfare to come out with a guide containing all information about facilities and opportunities being offered to the senior citizens under various schemes. 

The government has decided to increase the number of beneficiaries under its old age pension schemes from 2.5 lakh to 3.5 lakh. 

The government has been providing a monthly pension of Rs 1,000 to the senior citizens of the city, which is highest in the country, the CM said.

New Delhi, May 3
Two persons were killed today due to a fight at a wedding ceremony in central Delhi. The fight broke out over bursting of crackers, the police said.

While a youth was stabbed to death, a middle-aged man died due to heart attack while taking the former to a nearby hospital.

The deceased have been identified as Altamus (23) and Syed Abdul, who is in his early fifties.

The incident took place in the Kamla Market area where Altamus had gone to attend a marriage function. There, he entered into a fight with one Salman over bursting of crackers, the police said.

Salman had objected to Altamus bursting crackers and this led to a fight between them. Salman allegedly took out a knife and stabbed Altamus, said a senior police official. Soon after the incident, Salman fled the scene while locals, including Abdul, took Altamus to a nearby hospital.

On the way, Abdul suffered a heart attack and died.

A case has been registered and efforts are on to nab Salman.

New Delhi, May 3
A Delhi court today dismissed the bail plea of the president of the Medical Council of India, Ketan Desai, who has been accused of taking Rs 2 crore as bribe to grant recognition to a Punjab-based private medical college. The court also rejected the bail plea of an alleged middleman in the case J.P. Singh.

Rejecting the bail plea of Desai and Singh, additional sessions judge O.P. Saini said, “Considering the nature of the offence and the fact that the probe is still in the initial stage, both bail applications are dismissed,”

The court accepted the plea of the CBI prosecutor, who submitted that the accused were influential and capable of influencing witnesses who came forward to inform the probe agency about them.

The prosecutor said, “The accused did not cooperate in the probe and the evidence has been collected by the CBI by putting in its efforts.”

The counsel for Singh while arguing said, “The investigation, including the recovery of the alleged bribe amount, is over and the accused, a respectable businessman, should be released.”

Earlier, the court had sent Desai, Singh, and two other accused— Kulwant Singh and Sukhwinder Singh, of Gyan Sagar Medical College in Punjab, — to 13-day judicial custody after the CBI said their interrogation was no more required.

They have been booked under the Prevention of Corruption Act that deals with inducing a public servant to accept bribe, criminal misconduct and payment of money.

According to the CBI, Desai was arrested after the agency conducted searches at his office following information that he along with Singh was allegedly demanding a bribe to recognise a college in Punjab.

The investigating agency laid a trap following a complaint and caught Singh allegedly with Rs 2 crore, which was to be delivered toDesai.

The probe agency also conducted raids in Punjab, Delhi and Gujarat to trace Desai’s other accomplices.

The MCI recommends recognition or de-recognition of medical institutions of India.

New Delhi, May 3
Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) students did not get any respite even today as the Supreme Court went ahead with the ban on students’ union elections. While not lifting the stay on polls, the Bench decided that the matter could be taken up for discussion in July.

Considering the unique character of youth politics in JNU, the SC proposed to make two exceptions in the Lyngdoh Committee recommendations.

However, even after the exceptions, the students have refused to conduct the elections as per the Lyngdoh guidelines.

According to sources, in today’s hearing, amicus curiae Gopal Subramanium submitted to the court that the age limit for contesting elections should be increased to 30 and a candidate should be given three chances to contest elections.

In March 2010, counsel for Joint Struggle Committee (JSC) of JNU students Sanjay Parikh had moved an interim application for vacating the stay on JNUSU elections. However, the matter came up for discussion only today.

In November 2008, when the Supreme Court had banned the JNUSU elections for “non-compliance” with the Lyngdoh recommendations, the courts had taken suo moto notice of two points. Firstly, the age limit for candidates contesting is 28 years. Secondly, a candidate could contest only twice for a concillor’s post and once for the central panel of office-bearers.

In their submission to the court, the university students had pointed out that the JNUSU constitution allowed democratic participation of students without any restriction. Further, there were a number of other issues on which the Lyngdoh recommendations came into conflict with the JNUSU constitution, including curbs on public meetings and pamphlets and the role of the administration in conducting polls.

Faridabad, May 3
The power authorities in Haryana have appealed to the public not to waste electricity and has cautioned of cracking the whip against culprits if they did not abide by the rules.

Managing director of Dakshini Haryana Bijli Vitran Nigam Sudhir Rajpal, who reviewed the power scenario in Faridabad, said that the main reason of overloading was unauthorised extension of load on part of consumers. He urged consumers to go for extension of load by adopting legal procedures.

He cautioned that under the Electricity Act 2003 unauthorised extension of load was tantamount to theft and invited strict legal action. The unauthorised extension of load led to unscheduled power cut.

A large number of consumers in Haryana use power much more than the sanctioned load. The authorities distribute power as per the sanctioned load. The increased burden of load leads to collapse of transformers.

Besides, the unforeseen increase in demand makes the department’s planning based on the available data of consumers and meters go topsy-turvy.

The department’s reformative steps and smooth power supply was made unattainable due to theft and lack of civic sense among consumers.

The situation has reached the point where the public and the department are accusing each other of mismanagement and lack of duties.

Meanwhile, the authorities find it hard to figure out the load required for each area so that the exact quantity of power could be supplied to feeders and transformers. Besides, they find it difficult to figure out the capacity of transformers. Low-capacity transformers often get jigged and burst due to excess load.

Rajpal said that about 75 MVA capacity was likely to be added to the entire transmission system in Faridabad during this week by energising additional transformers at five sub-stations. The officers of Haryana Vidyut Prasaran Nigam informed that transformers of 26/31 MVA capacity each have been set up to augment the capacity of 66 KV sub-station of A-5, Hydrabad, A-2, NH-3 and 66 KV sub-station, Palla.

The capacity of 66 KV sub-stations, including at Bhagola and Aurangabad, were recently augmented by commissioning a transformer of 16 MVA capacity at each sub-stations.

New Delhi, May 3
Three persons have been arrested for allegedly being involved in a robbery-cum-murder case. The accused have been identified as Pawan Kumar, Parveen Kumar Gupta and Vijay. Two knives and blood-stained T-shirt have been seized from them.

On April 30, the Khyala police received information that a thief had allegedly attacked someone with a knife. The police found some blood stains on the spot. Thereafter, the police reached the DDU Hospital. Two persons Jaipal and Rakesh Kumar were found admitted there.

Rakesh told the police that he was going on his cycle rickshaw to Keshopur Subzi Mandi to buy vegetables. His colleague Jaipal was following him on another cycle rickshaw. When they reached near Vishnu Garden, three persons tried to rob him.

Jaipal raised an alarm and tried to catch one of the assailants. One of them assaulted Rakesh and Jaipal with a knife.

In the meantime, some other vegetable sellers reached there and informed the police.

Pawan Kumar was arrested with Parveen Kumar Gupta and Vijay on a tip-off.