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Monsoon session begins today
Mosquitoes at Games sites give officials sleepless nights
Road caves in at Lutyens’ Delhi
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Kindergarten fee: Parents pay through the nose
DJB tanker crushes boy filling water
Kidnap offence continues till last ransom call: SC
Parents of accident victim get over Rs 3 lakh relief
Students not getting aid as online data yet to be updated
Property seized to ‘prevent riot’
311 vacant doc posts in city hospitals
Tallest Akshardham station close to Games Village
Rs 8.09 lakh fake notes seized
Highway robber held
Discoms caution people
Power co to buy 2.5 lakh meters
Chatterati
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Monsoon session begins today
New Delhi, August 16 The CWG has been making news for all the wrong reasons and the BJP has gone on to the extent of filing a police complaint against the organizers and as such will take up the issue in the Assembly. BJP sources said completion of projects, quality of construction, removal of waste material and financial bungling would be among the issues they would highlight. The leader of opposition, Vijay Kumar Malhotra, BJP MLA Sahib Singh Chauhan and Congress MLA Subhash Chopra have moved a motion in this regard. Sahib Singh Chauhan said that the saffron party might move an adjournment motion against the Sheila Dikshit-led government exposing its lackluster stance in preparation of the mega event. Construction work is lagging behind as it was started late. Chauhan regretted that the work is now being done speedily, but the quality is not up to the mark. The roof of Yamuna Sports Complex was damaged in a storm. There was seepage in Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium. Meanwhile, the Delhi cabinet met today to finalise the government's strategy to counter the opposition. "We are ready to face the opposition. We have nothing to hide," said a senior minister. However, the Speaker Yoganand Shastri said not only the opposition, but the ruling party members also sought discussion on the CWG. Among other things, the assembly secretariat has received notice for "the Delhi tax on luxuries (Amendment) Bill, 2010". Besides, price rise, irregularities in MCD, inordinate delay in providing underground parking, approval issue of unauthorized colonies will also be discussed.
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Mosquitoes at Games sites give officials sleepless nights
New Delhi, August 16 "There is problem of mosquitoes at the stadiums, but the agencies are taking measures to deal with it," said OC vice-chairman Randhir Singh. The officials said that the mosquitoes in and around the stadiums were not getting affected with the normal anti-mosquito sprays. "These mosquitoes do not die with the sprays used by the local bodies," said Singh. The problem was revealed during the OC's top brass' visits to various stadiums to review their readiness. "We have taken rounds of all stadiums and found them above the satisfactory level," said Bhanot, secretary general, OC. The civic agencies are concerned about mosquito breeding as the city will host the Games in October, a month which witnesses high prevalence of the vector-borne disease. Since dengue is a viral illness with cyclical trend of increase in cases after every three-four years, which coincides with the Games this year, it calls for an urgent need to take adequate precautions against it. The Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) had recently said that the Games Village site is prone to mosquito breeding. The civic body had also challaned ten CWG sites for breeding mosquito. A team comprising officials from the MCD, Delhi government and Central government had inspected the Games Village to check for the factors responsible for high mosquito breeding in and around the Village and possible preventive measures. "The problem is graver because of the low-lying area between the Games Village and railway track and environmental factors like low temperature and high humidity during and post-monsoon period," said V.K. Monga, chairman, health committee. Pragati Vihar, a government colony near Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium has also witnessed a large number of dengue cases in the recent past, with heaps of garbage and clogged water being common scenes in the area. In the previous years, the number of dengue cases and deaths reported from the city are as follows: 1,153 and 3 (2009), 1,312 and 2 (2008), 548 and 1 (2007) and 3,366 and 36 (2006).
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Road caves in at Lutyens’ Delhi
New Delhi, August 16 According to information, the commuters had a harrowing time reaching India Gate due to long queues of vehicles on the affected road. "I was stuck in the jam for about half an hour," said Rajeev Singh, a government official. The jam further lead to traffic snarls in several adjoining roads in the Lutyens’ Delhi. According to traffic police officials, men were deployed to manage and divert traffic immediately and things ran smooth thereafter. Meanwhile, south Delhi witnessed jams in several parts as a result of morning rains. According to the traffic police, snarls were seen on Ring Road, Moolchand flyover, Lajpat Nagar and AIIMS roundabout. "There were traffic snarls in certain parts of south Delhi but traffic ran smooth after the peak hours in the morning," said a traffic police official.
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Kindergarten fee: Parents pay through the nose
New Delhi, August 16 The fee has risen from Rs 1,500 per month to Rs 4,000 per month in many kindergarten schools across the Capital. Not only has the fee hike been astronomically high but the security deposit has also gone up from mere Rs 10,000 in 2005 to Rs 25,000-30,000 by 2010. This information was revealed in a recent survey conducted by the Assocham Social Development Foundation. While schools continue to demand high fee, parents suffer as they attempt to get their children into the fashionably correct playschools in the Capital. So far there has been no regulation from the government to check this trend of high fees. An official, Directorate of Education, said, "It is not that we are not aware of high fees being charged in playschools across the city, but the DOE has been busy enforcing regulations to streamline nursery admissions in schools. Once this is taken care of, we will definitely try to organize the kindergarten sector as well." In the Assocham survey, over 6,000 parents were interviewed across the country and some 70% demanded regulations from the authorities to help curb the fee hike in kindergarten schools. Shalini Singh, a parent, said, "My child studies at one of the well-known play schools in the city and the fee is nothing less than Rs 55,000 a year. I consider this sum ridiculously high for a child in kindergarten. Consider also the fact that the child is in school for mere four hours." Another parent Sahir Bhatia said, "My son studies at Magic Ears and the fee is pretty high. Some check should be imposed by the government on playschools and also the admission process should be regulated by the government." Currently, there are no regulations governing playschools and just anyone can start one. Moreover, the investment required to set up a playschool is comparatively low. In the organized sector, the major players are Kidzee, Shemrock, Tree House, Kangaroo kids, etc However, a number of playschools proliferate in the unorganized sector where just about anyone with the minimum investment can start one literally out of a room. Playschools in India are highly unorganized without a standard curriculum, infrastructure and quality.
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Khushwant smiles his thanks
New Delhi, August 16 At a gala function in the Ambassador Hotel today, Khushwant Singh's latest book was released amongst the who's who of the Capital. Even though Khushwant Singh did not address the gathering, he did take a moment to thank everyone who made it to the event and have been party to his endeavours in his life. Speaking on the occasion, renowned journalist and author MJ Akbar said, "He writes on happiness, faith and honesty and for the first time, about his successes and failures, his strengths and weaknesses, his highs and lows. He tells us what makes him tick and the secret of his longevity; he expresses his deepest fears and what he holds dear. It's about sex, marriage, worship and death; about people he's admired and detested. With personal anecdotes and rare photographs, Absolute Khushwant is uncompromising, moving and straight from the heart." The book, co-authored by city-based columnist and freelance reporter Humra Quraishi, tells the story about Khushwant Singh's life, his loves and work. Speaking about her experience of working on the book, Humra said, "He is an honest man and the reader will be able to see through Khushwant Singh through this book. He is a dedicated writer. All the time that I ever met him, he is either reading or writing. He doesn't have another passion. It was a worthwhile experience getting to know India's grand old man." Also present on the occasion were Member of Parliament Shashi Tharoor, former union minister and Indian diplomat Mani Shankar Aiyar, Gursharan Kaur, among others. "Born in 1915 in pre-partition Punjab, Khushwant Singh has been witness to almost all the major events in modern Indian history and has known most of the figures who have shaped it. In a career spanning over six decades as writer, editor and journalist, his views may have been provocative and controversial for some, but they have also been profound, deeply perceptive and always compelling. He is indeed one of the best that the country has seen," said Mani Shankar Aiyar at the occasion.
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DJB tanker crushes boy filling water
New Delhi, August 16 Asgar Ali, a class VI student of a government school in Saket, died after he fell from the top of the tanker and came under its wheels near the Indira Camp locality on MB Road in Saket, a senior police official said. The incident took place in the morning around 7.45 am when the locals were rushing towards the tanker on its arrival. The area faces severe water shortage and water tankers are the only source of water for the residents here. So as soon as the tanker reached the locality, some children, including Ali, jumped on top of the tanker to collect water. However while the people were still collecting water, the driver of the tanker, seeing the huge rush, allegedly started moving the vehicle without warning the crowd. As a result, Ali lost balance and fell down. He was crushed under the rear wheels, the official said. He was rushed to the AIIMS Trauma Centre, where doctors declared him brought dead. A case of causing death due to rash and negligent driving has been registered against the driver, who fled the spot after the incident. The tanker has been seized, officials said. |
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Kidnap offence continues till last ransom call: SC
New Delhi, August 16 A Bench comprising Justices Altamas Kabir and Mukundakam Sharma also clarified that any minor involved in a kidnap would lose the advantage and benefit of being tried by a juvenile board if he made the last ransom call after attaining 18 years of age. The apex court made the clarifications in a verdict in a kidnap-murder-ransom case. The accused, Vikas Chaudhary, was a minor at the time of kidnapping a boy on January 18, 2003 from Delhi's Ashok Vihar and had attained the age of 18 when he made the last ransom call to the boy's father on March 11, 2003. Vikas had in fact killed the boy immediately after kidnapping him and thrown the body into a drain after partly burning it, but continued to make ransom calls as the police, which recovered the body one day after the kidnap, could not identify it because it was charred. Accepting additional solicitor general Mohan Jain's contention, the Bench said there was no escape from the fact that ransom calls continued though the victim had been killed. It pointed out that Jain had also submitted that this was one of those rare cases where the offence initially committed must be held to be continuing on account of its nature and the manner in which it was committed. "If Section 364A IPC (kidnapping for ransom) and Section 472 CrPC (continuing offence) are to be read together, it has to be held that even after the death of the victim every time a ransom call was made a fresh period of limitation commenced. "Accordingly, it would be the date on which the last ransom call was made i.e. 11th March, 2003, which has to be taken to be the date of commission of the offence, and accordingly, the Juvenile Justice Act was no longer applicable to the petitioner, who had attained the age of 18 years by then," the apex court ruled, dismissing the appeal filed by Vikas challenging a Delhi High Court ruling.
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Parents of accident victim get over Rs 3 lakh relief
New Delhi, August 16 After holding the driver of the offending vehicle Manjeet Singh guilty, presiding officer of Motor Accident Claim Tribunal Gurvinder Pal Singh awarded Rs 3,25,000 relief to the parents of the deceased, Annu. "Annu's parents have proved that he had sustained fatal injuries due to the driver's rash and negligent driving. The driver is found guilty," the presiding officer said. The court added that the awarded sum be paid along with 7.5 per cent interest per annum from the date the petition was filed. On September 21, 2002, while Annu was crossing the road near Hiran Kudna Road, Nangloi, a Maruti car being driven in a rash manner hit him. Annu fell on the road and was taken to the Sanjay Gandhi Memorial Hospital where doctors declared him brought dead. The court termed the driver's act as negligent. "A driver of a mechanically-propelled vehicle is bound to observe the necessary caution to avoid striking other vehicles and persons on road. Having failed to observe such caution, he was negligent," the presiding officer said. The court also relied on the postmortem report which sated hemorrhagic caused injury to vital organs. In the petition filed before the court, Annu's parents had claimed a compensation of Rs 20 lakh under sections 166 and 140 of the Motor Vehicles Act.
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Students not getting aid as online data yet to be updated
Greater Noida, August 16 "The last date of submission of fee is August 16. The college is not accepting the part fee. The social welfare department says money has not been received yet from the state government for my account. Non-payment of fee will lead to cancellation of my admission," said Gurwar Purwar, a general category applicant. SC/ST applicants too were facing problems. "The college management says without payment, they cannot give admission as they have dues of lakhs of rupees under the past scheme. From where should I arrange the huge fee amount," said P. Kumar, an SC student. Social welfare officer Krishna Kumar said, "The problem is we are not able to verify their details as the online data is still not updated. By post, it will take more than a month." "Moreover, we have issued direction to colleges not to cancel admissions for non-payment of fees of such applicants. The social welfare department will pay the amount in the next few months when funds are received. However, we are still getting complaints that colleges were sending students back on non-payment," Kumar said. "As per the welfare scheme, financial aid is provided to the children of families whose annual income is less than Rs 1 lakh. SC/ST students get Rs 70,000 for engineering studies at private college, but general candidates get Rs 25,000," Kumar added.
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Property seized to ‘prevent riot’
New Delhi, August 16 This follows the case registered on August 11, after Sardar Preet Pal Singh informed that a large number of scriptures related to the Guru Granth Sahib were lying in water on the basement of 13, Hargovind Enclave in Anand Vihar. The city police has issued an order today, saying that it has taken possession of the property as a group was "bent upon trespassing and destroying the property or forcibly taking it into possession by converting it into place of worship". Additional DCP (east) I.B. Rani said the property, which lay unattended, belonged to Sardar Trilochan Singh, Jaishree and Satram Vatwani and no one had come forward to claim it. "There is a likelihood of grave disturbance to peace, if this property is allowed to be forcibly converted into a place of worship. In the prevailing circumstances, it is necessary to take expedient measures to prevent a riot and grave disturbance to peace and to seal and take possession of the property," said Rani.
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311 vacant doc posts in city hospitals
New Delhi, August 16 The NGO, Digvijay Yagya, says 349 teaching and 410 non-teaching posts are vacant. Such crisis of doctors could be telling at a time when government is trying to optimise its health facilities in the light of the Commonwealth Games. The reply said the Delhi government, in 1996, ordered immediate recruitment of GDMO under the teaching and non-teaching cadres by temporarily forming a Delhi health cadre. But the health cadre body is yet to be formed. According to the 2006 orderk, the government was supposed to incorporate CHS and non-CHS under the Delhi health cadre. However, the government never initiated any talk with the doctors , it said. |
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Tallest Akshardham station close to Games Village
New Delhi, August 16 Just a walking distance from the Akshardham Metro station, the Commonwealth Village has 34 towers with 1,168 flats. The station will also give close access to the famous Akshardham Temple. It was specifically designed to match the look of the sprawling temple nearby. The station also has Akshardham artwork, including information about the temple. As the Games get nearer, signage, feeder bus services and other directives will be made available at the station. "Dholpur stone was used on the exterior of the station, which was also used in the temple. The station also gives a perfect view of the temple from the upper ground and concourse levels of the station," said a Delhi Metro Rail corporation spokesperson. During the Games, the DMRC doesn't expect a significant jump in the daily passenger traffic as the CWG village houses the athletes. With 10 counters, the station sees an average crowd of 10,000 to 15, 000 people per day. With six levels, standing 16.5 metres above ground level and 21 metres from the basement, the station has a total 14 automatic fare collection gates, including 8 entry and 6 exits. The station has a separate entrance for the handicapped. "The station has separate entry and exit points towards Akshardham Temple and the Games Village," the DMRC spokesperson said. The six levels are basement, lower ground, ground, upper ground, concourse and platform connected by seven escalators and four lifts. The station also houses a 4,000 sq feet parking lot that can accommodate more than 500 cars and 600 two-wheelers. |
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Rs 8.09 lakh fake notes seized
New Delhi, August 16 According to the police, the notes, which are in the denomination of Rs 1,000 and Rs 500, are excellent imitation of the Indian currency and have been traced to Malda in West Bengal. According to Neeraj Thakur, additional commissioner (crime), the accused-- Ram Prasad (40), Vikas Chowdhary (45) and Kripa Shankar Sharma (45)-- were apprehended recently from the Capital and UP's Mathura on a tip-off. "We have traced the origin of the counterfeit to Malda. It was found that the fake notes were being smuggled into the country through the porous Indo-Bangladesh border in West Bengal," Thakur said, adding that the residents of Malda have easy access to the Indo-Bangladesh Border and this was being exploited by the racketeers to smuggle in fake notes into the country. According to Thakur, Ram Prasad was the first one to be arrested from Sultanpuri on August 5 with the help of a decoy customer. Prasad was allegedly involved in 15 cases of circulation of fake currency and came out of jail on bail in December 2008. His interrogation led to the arrest of Chowdhury from Mathura the next day and Sharma on August 7 from near the Red Fort. |
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Highway robber held
New Delhi, August 16 The accused has been identified as Satender, alias Amit (24) of Haryana. He was arrested on August 8 near Sarojini Nagar railway station. Amit was arrested after the police got information that he frequently visited Mehrauli and Sarojini Nagar areas to meet his relatives. "We have arrested six members of the gang over the past two months. Their interrogation revealed some information about him on the basis of which we succeeded in arresting him," said deputy commissioner of police (South) H.G.S. Dhaliwal. The police has recovered two luxury cars and a mobile phone from his possession. The modus operandi of the gang, which has around 20 members, is to stop the targeted vehicle pretending that it had hit their car. Once the vehicle stops, five to six gang members get down from their vehicle and overpower the victim at gunpoint. After taking possession of the vehicle, they used to tie the hands and legs of the occupants of the vehicle, dump them at a lonely place and escape with the vehicle, Dhaliwal added. |
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Discoms caution people
New Delhi, August 16 "Public should stay away from electrical installations like poles, sub-stations, transformers, streetlights," said CEO of BRPL Gopal Saxena. BYPL CEO Ramesh Narayanan suggested people to keep an electrical tester at home.
— TNS |
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Power co to buy 2.5 lakh meters
Faridabad, August 16 Dakshin Haryana Bijli Vitran Nigam (DHBVN) managing director Sudhir Rajpal said this today. He said the DHBVN had empanelled nine meter manufacturers for sale in its area or jurisdiction. He added that old transformers having more than 100 per cent load would be replaced within one month. More than 40 overloaded transformers in Faridabad have already been replaced. |
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Chatterati
This is not the first time that someone has painted a portrait of one of the family members of the Gandhis and Nehrus. The famous artist Sanjay Bhattacharya's portrait of Rahul Gandhi was the highlight at an art show in the Capital last week. The art show was called 'India Imagined in the Present'. The oil painting of the AICC general secretary titled 'Let the Flowers Grow' measured 6/4 feet.
In 1994, the same artist had painted a portrait of the former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi titled 'Landscape of a Man'. The background of both the Gandhis is of 'Kashmir'. Kashmir, it is a well-known fact, is a soft spot with the first family. In Rajiv's painting, the flowers symbolized his children Rahul and Priyanka, but in Rahul's painting, the flower symbolizes youth. The canvas was picked up at the very beginning for Rs 25 lakh by an unknown buyer even as Sheila Dikshit inaugurated this exhibition. There were many other pieces which had Indian heroes from Gautam Buddha to Guru Nanak to film star Amitabh Bachchan. It was clearly a successful exhibition as within an hour, 24 art pieces were sold. The Delhi Chief Minister was her graceful self and praised all the artists at the show. Walls become a canvas for artists
Not discouraged by the mess in Delhi thanks to the Commonwealth committee officials, the citizens are quietly doing what they can for the Games. Delhi walls have become a canvas for six artists. They are going to make the walls more "alive and interactive". This is to show the visitors a more positive and young side of Delhi. This initiative has been taken by six young artists - two designers, a photographer, a PR professional and a restaurant owner. They meet every Sunday at a spot to paint the wall, working 10 - 14 hours at a stretch. Their work has nothing political about it and they don't want to hurt anyone's religious sentiments. In the beginning, the authorities were a bit apprehensive, but now have allowed this group to paint some walls in Hauz Khas Village and Khan Market. Delhiites will now have artistic and colourful walls rather than political sloganeering, posters and communal graffiti. The response has been great and they always have the general public gathering to encourage them onto their self-appointed efforts. Sonia set to make record Sonia Gandhi is all set to create a record in the Congress party's history for being its longest-serving chief. Her re-election as the Congress president, though postponed, is just a formality. Sonia is the only Congress chief who has been in office for 15 years, breaking the party record in general and the existing Gandhi family record in passing. Sonia was elected party president on December 9, 1998 at the party's Kolkata conference. Now after re-election for another three-year term, she would at that time have had an uninterrupted 15 years. The rest of the organizational elections are now likely to be completed by December after the Bihar polls. Sonia's re-election need not wait till December and any 10 Pradesh Congress Committee (PCC) delegates can propose her name. Rahul Gandhi's desire to bring in transparency in the organizational elections has resulted in delay on his turf. Rahul is trying hard to bring internal democracy in the Indian National Youth Congress and the National Students' Union of India by holding the organizational elections. But the bid to democratize the party has not fructified as complaints of bogus voters clog some states and low enrolment is a problem in others. Rahul made photo identity a must for enrolment of new members. There was resistance and as photographers were not available in some villages and women were camera-shy in others. Several bogus members were enrolled too, to impress the High Command but the mandatory photo ID resulted in a dip in the enrolment. At least the available members seem to be genuine now. Rahul is interested in going to the grass roots and create this new cadre base. He wants to ensure transparency in organizational elections. So the enrolment of new members may be less but he insists it should be genuine. We will see the results of these moves in the next few weeks or months. |
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