New Delhi, June 29
The national Capital, which is gearing up to stage the Commonwealth Games four months from now, was today stinking of heaps of garbage at different crossings and colonies, thanks to the protesting sanitation workers.

The workers, who are on strike for the past nine days, today held agitation across the Capital, demanding permanent jobs and timely release of their wages and arrears.

The associations of the sanitation workers held demonstration and protests outside the Municipal Corporation of Delhi's (MCD) offices and also tried to dirty the premises by throwing filth and animal corpses. Many MCD offices, including the central zone offices, were therefore closed for the day.

The south Delhi colonies were the worst affected as the protesting workers threw piles of garbage in colonies like Hauz Khas, Green Park, CR Park, Kalkaji Extension and Gulmohar Park.

The sanitation workers associations yesterday held a meeting with the Lieutenant Governor. The municipal commissioner and Mayor were also present at the meet.

"The LG had asked the MCD to address the problems of the workers on a priority basis. The Mayor had also given directions to the commissioner to take immediate steps. But the workers still went on strike, which is unreasonable," said Subhash Arya, Leader of House in MCD.

However, the sanitation workers said they couldn't understand the message that their demands had been addressed and the strike was unintentional.

"We did not want to observe the strike, as according to the directions of LG, the MCD had promised to meet our demands. But we could not spread the word among the workers," said Radhe Shyam Tang, president, Akhil Bhartiya Safai Mazdoor Kalian Sangh.

On the issue of bogus attendance, the workers said it was for the corporation to ensure 100 per cent presence.

"We cannot point towards any particular worker. It is for the MCD to make sure that workers do their job properly," he said.

The MCD officials also said that it would expeditiously settle the issue of regularisation of sanitation workers from 1994 onwards. The payment of arrears will also be taken care of. 

New Delhi, June 29
More and more young people are getting afflicted with heart problems. Doctors point out that bad eating habits coupled with increasing stress are the primary reasons behind it.

According to Dr Upendra Kaul, dean, cardiology in Escorts Heart Institute, three among 10 adults in metros like— Delhi suffer from hypertension due to improper eating habits and diets rich in salt and cholesterol. About 80 per cent of sodium consumed can be attributed to fast and packaged food items.

But the trend is not limited to the adult population, with more and more kids and youngsters visiting doctors these days. “People as young as 25 years of age come with heart problems and in over two decades the age of people afflicted with cardiac arrests has come down to 25 to 30 years,” said Kaul, who has been awarded the Padma Shri.

“Childhood obesity is on the rise. Globally, one in six children is overweight and over one billion adults are overweight, with at least 300 million of them obese,” said Dr Praveen Chandra, chairperson of division of interventional cardiology in Medanta Heart Institute.

Going by a study published in The New England Journal of Medicine, cutting the intake of salt by 3 grams a day, one could reduce the risk of cardiac diseases. “In the past two decades, people living in metros like Delhi have increased sodium content in their daily diet by 50 per cent. On an average a person consumes 10 grams of salt a day. If controlled, it would improve health by reducing one-third cases of chronic heart disease, stroke and heart attack,” said Kaul.

According to the city doctors, hypertension is a silent killer and over a period of time it leads to heart, kidney or neurological ailments. Though the common symptoms are headache, dizziness, palpitations, epistaxis, pain in chest, most of the times, the ailment remains undetected with the problem remaining absolutely asymptomatic showing no complains at all. This further causes damage to other vital organs.

A large number of school-going children in Delhi, as pointed out by several studies, have been found hooked to feasting outside even at the cost of their routine meals. This leads to overweight and obesity. If regulation starts at a tender age, the benefits would be visible. 

New Delhi, June 29
To ensure two-time nutritious meal to the poor, the Delhi government has launched ‘Jal-Ahar Yojna’. As per the scheme, a person will have to pay Rs 15 per meal.

The meal apart from being healthy and delicious will have 1,000 calories nutritious value.

The meal at subsidised rate will be available at seven Jal-Ahar Kendras at— Asaf Ali Road, Lal Park Dev Nagar, Chabi Ganj Kashmere Gate, Azadpur Fruits Mandi, Azadpur Subzi Mandi, SP Mukerjee Marg and Priyadarshini Colony Yamuna Bazar. 

Launching the scheme, Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit said it would deter people coming from weaker sections of society from taking food at unhygienic shops on the roadside.

The Chief Minister said the scheme would be implemented in association with women organisations and NGOs having experience in cooking and providing healthy food to large number of people. 

NGOs like— Bharat Ratna Dr Bhimrao Ambedkar Dalit Uthan Shiksha Samiti, Waruda, Rewards, Stri Shakti, Bal Vikas Evam Pryavaran Sanrankshan Sanstha and Jan Chetna Jagriti Evam Shaikshanik Vikas Manch have been approached to operate the centres. 

Dikshit said a weekly menu had already been prepared by the Nutrition Council of India and an expert from St Stephen Hospital. They have also prepared a day-wise menu for both the meals. The meal will include puri, chapatis, dam aloo, seasonal vegetables, sambhar, rajma, kari, rice and halwa as per the prescribed menu for each day.

However, the BJP said that by launching the yojna the government was trying to divert people’s attention from rising prices. To offer subsidised meals to the poor is like adding insult to injury. The Leader of the opposition in Delhi assembly, Vijay Kumar Malhotra, said a couple of years ago a similar scheme “Aapki Rasoi” was launched. But now only a handful of rasois were operational, he said. 

New Delhi, June 29
The Delhi police's claim to reach the crime spot within five minutes of a call to the PCR was proved wrong today when five armed men barged into a house in the Saraswti Vihar area and committed robbery even as the police failed to reach the spot despite being called by the victim in time.

According to victim businessman Om Prakash, his father had called the PCR when robbers were still in the house but the police called back after 15 minutes to know where Saraswati Vihar is located and reached after another 20 minutes when the robbers, after robbing around 15 women present in the house, had decamped with jewellery and cash worth lakhs of rupees.

The incident took place around 12.30 pm in house number D-820 of Saraswati Vihar, located about 2 km from Madhuban Chowk. "A condolence meeting was going on in the said house in which around 20 people were present when five armed men barged into the house. They put on mask and goggles on entering the house and after pulling out their guns held the women hostages and demanded their gold jewellery and cash. Though the loss is yet to be estimated, it is worth lakhs. The robbers managed to flee soon after and about 15 women have been robbed," said a police official.

According to Om Prakash, his grand father had died few days ago and a condolence meet was being held at the house with several relatives and neighbours present at the time of robbery. "They were five men and while two entered from main gate, the other three used the side gate. After entering the drawing hall where about 10 to 15 women were present, they masked their faces and pulled out their guns. The women present got scared and obliged with their demands," said Om Prakash. He further revealed that the robbers were smart enough to call in the visitors who came in knocking the gates and then robbed them.

"I came to the house and was wondering where everybody was as I did not see anybody. Then one of the boys addressed me as aunty and invited me inside. As I walked in they robbed me of my gold bangles and chain," said Abha goyal, one of the victims.

Om Prakash revealed that police was lax in responding to their SOS call and had the PCR reached the house in time the robbers could have been caught redhanded. "My father managed to push aside the robber and locked himself in another room from where he called the police. Even as he was expecting the police within minutes, he received a call from the police after 15 minutes asking where Saraswati Vihar is. After telling them the location, it took them about 20 minutes more to reach our house. It is total failure of the police," alleged Om Prakash, adding that his brother who was in Karol Bagh and was called by his father as well managed to reach the house before the police. 

New Delhi, June 29
In a major breakthrough in the Ashok Vihar triple murder case, the Delhi police has recovered the pistol allegedly used by the three accused for killing their relatives for marrying outside the caste.

According to police sources, the pistol was recovered yesterday by the police team which had taken the three accused-- Ankit, Mandeep and Nakul-- to Rishikesh for collecting evidences related to the case. "The murder weapon, a pistol, has been recovered and it has been sent for forensic examination. The recovery of the pistol is a big success and would make the police case stronger," said a police official from the north-west district.

The accused were arrested by the UP police on June 24. They were absconding after killing their two sisters-Monica and Shobha-- and a brother-in-law, Kuldeep, in Ashok Vihar on June 20.

During interrogation, the trio had confessed to killing their sisters and brother-in-law for "sullying" the family name.

The youths said that the villagers insulted them by saying that their sisters had married outside the caste and that they could not take the humiliation.

Meanwhile, as per sources, the police is collecting evidences to reconstruct the chain of events of the case. They have also taken the fingerprints of the accused to match them with those lifted from the house of Monica as well as the car in which Shobha's body was found. The police is also examining the phone records.

Meanwhile, the fourth accused in the case has surrendered himself. 

New Delhi, June 29
Quite a few films have followed this script successfully and it continues to inspire the baddies in real life.

The Delhi police has arrested a history-sheeter who had allegedly burnt a man alive and left his own identity documents in the victim's pocket, hoping that the police would believe him to be dead and close all cases against him.

The accused, Karma Agarwal (32), who hails from Fatehgarh Sahib in Punjab and has many criminal cases against him, would have almost pulled it off, but to his misfortune and the police's luck, he was seen by a few persons after "death".

The police has arrested him and one of his accomplices, Satnam (20), for allegedly strangulating and burning an unidentified man. The accused found the man in a drunken state and killed him near Bhalswa Dairy lake in north-west Delhi on May 22, DCP (north-west) N.S. Bundela said. They set his body on fire after murdering him. Karma put his wallet and identity documents in the victim's pocket. Even Karma's family members identified the deceased as their kin.

However, probing into his death, the police learnt that Karma was seen by some people after the day of his 'death'. "Information was received that Karma Agarwal was seen with his associates roaming around Gurdwara Bhalswa Dairy. The police raided the spot and nabbed Karma and his associate Satnam Singh," said Bundela.

Agarwal told the police that he had several cases pending against him in Punjab and he wanted to get rid of them to avoid jail. He along with Satnam plotted to fake his death. "As per the plan, they came to Delhi and saw a drunk man sleeping on a pavement near Burari. They loaded the man on their scooter and brought him to a deserted area near Bhalswa Dairy lake and strangled him before setting him on fire," said Bundela adding that the accused put his own clothes on the victim and left his wallet containing the photocopy of voter ID card and three photographs.

Agarwal was found involved in four cases of drug peddling in Punjab and Haryana, while Satnam is his friend. Satnam had taken his matriculation exam from Punjab. He has been working with Karma for the last 4 to 5 months and has no criminal record.

Noida, June 29
While Delhi’s super thief Bunty, after serving sentence is planning to start his business and claims that he will never resort to criminal activity again, other thieves are so inspired by his crime that they call tehmselves Bunty.

One such thief Bunty, along with another thief, was arrested by the Noida Police last night.

“The Sector 49 police arrested two thieves from Kesar Garden area last night after a brief encounter. One of them gave his name as Bunty and the other as Sudesh. Both are resident of Uchagaon Bulandshahar. They had committed theft at Bulandshahr royal fort over a month ago. R.P.Singh from the royal family had lodged theft case at Bulandshahar police station.,”said Rajesh Kumar Singh, deputy superintendent of police.

“Stolen silver utensils and other goods were recovered from them. They confessed they had committed theft at the fort thrice in the last few months. Last night they had come to Noida to sell the stolen goods along with two other accomplices who had managed to escape in the cover of darkness.,”said Singh.

“Over the years, the name Bunty has become popular among thieves. They feel proud to be called Bunty thief,”said Singh.