New Delhi, September 6
Thanks to the tightening grip of dengue on the national Capital-with 75 fresh cases of the disease surfacing--many hospitals here have begun recharging their sanitation measures.

Dr Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital (RML) today launched a sanitation drive to ensure a clean environment.

The All India Institute of Medical Sciences has already begun the campaign.

The step, which is also expected to bring down the cases of hospital-acquired infections, comes in line with the Union health minister's direction on holding a two-week cleaniness campaign in the wake of concerns raised by the international sporting community.

"We have taken up a sanitation drive and for 14 days, it would be carried on intensively. For the work, the hospital has been divided into nine sections, including the OPD(out patient department) and the ICUs (intensive care units) and there would be be teams comprising four persons each from the sanitation, nursing and security departments along with the area doctor, which would be overseeing the work daily," said Dr T S Sidhu, the medical superintendent of RML.

In addition to the daily monitoring, there would be a weekly review to keep the hospital environment clean. For the purpose, most of the grade-C sanitation employees, who have undergone a 150-day training on good health practices, have been deputed.

"Instructions have been given to the sanitation supervisors and other staff to keep the hospital clean. Large heaps of junk have already been cleared in the last few days and the process would continue even after two weeks," added Dr Sidhu.

The work would be under strict surveillance of the medical superintendent with a control room recording every activity on campus through nearly 90 CCTV cameras.

Among other hospitals, Safdarjung Hospital, which recorded a fatality due to dengue on Saturday, is focusing its attention on sanitation set-ups and also held a meeting in this regard this evening.

New Delhi, September 6
Even as Delhi recorded one dengue death today, the domestic breeding checkers (DBC) employed by the MCD went on an indefinite strike.

Around 3,200 DBCs, who undertake door-to-door surveys to check mosquito breeding, did not report for work, demanding regularisation of their jobs by the civic body.

The total number of dengue cases so far has reached 1,370 with 75 fresh cases registering on Monday.

"We will remain on a mass strike till the MCD regularises our jobs. The civic body has given us several assurances but it never keeps its promise," said Ashok Chaudhary, president, DBC Association.

Chaudhary said that the strike would continue tomorrow as well. "We met the additional deputy commissioner, health, today to put forth our demands. He has asked us to give them three days for deciding their course of action. Though he assured us, but we want it in writing. We also staged a dharna outside Town Hall, MCD's headquarters," he said.

However, taking a tough stand, the MCD has warned the DBCs, saying that those who do not return to work may face termination of services.

"We will suspend those who do not come to work. Their demands are baseless and will not be paid any heed," said Mayor Prithviraj Sawhey.

"We can terminate the services of DBCs as they are contract workers. We are appealing to them to not stop work at such a time when the city is facing a dengue outbreak. We can easily appoint new DBCs as we have a long waiting list of applicants," said Leader of MCD House Subhash Arya. He also said that the civic body does not have funds to regularise the services of the DBCs.

Meanwhile, chairman of MCD's public health committee, V. K. Monga, said around 50 per cent of the total DBCs have struck work. "We will wait for another day to allow them to return to work,” he said.

New Delhi, September 6
The Delhi police is likely to take over all the Commonwealth Games venues tomorrow and start putting its comprehensive security mechanism in place.

Though there are no specific threats to the mega sporting event starting from October 3, an international spectacle like this would be a possible target of terror outfits, the police believe. The Delhi police had to take over the Games venues on August 31, but it was delayed as different civic agencies could not finish their work.

"We would do a security check and mock drill at all the venues which will be sanitized completely," an official said.

Apart from around 80,000 Delhi police personnel, over 17,500 paramilitary personnel, 3,000 commandos and 100 anti-sabotage check teams will be deployed across the city. The Army has also been asked to be alert.

Union home minister P Chidambaram will review the arrangements on September 15, once the security overlays are put in place, sources said.

Heli-borne snipers, four-layered security cordon around the venues and exclusive lanes for the Games vehicles were among the components of the security plan.

The agency has also planned to deploy snipers on rooftops, commando teams and expert groups to tackle any attack.

Air Force will provide surveillance from the skies. Heli-borne assault teams will also be deployed to thwart any terror strike.

There will be four-layered security cordon. At the outer cordon, the traffic will be stopped and access-controlled. At the middle cordon, security staff will channel the spectators to their designated seats while in the inner cordon, the barcode reading of tickets will take place and the spectators' photos captured.

There will be an exclusive zone at centre which is in the 30-metre radius of the stadium, where spectators will have to go through door-frame metal detectors and X-ray scanning besides manual searching.

Mobile quick reaction teams will be deployed on the outer perimeter of the venues besides a close watch through CCTV surveillance.

The Games Village will also have elaborate security arrangements. The boundary of the village will have a three-metre-high wall, a 1.5-metre-high iron grill on top of it, mobile QRTs and CCTV surveillance system.

Arrangements are also made for the entry of athletes and vehicles into the village. After entering the village following a thorough check, the athletes can freely move around the residential and dining halls.

For vehicles, there is a boom barrier and it will be opened only after the vehicle clears the radio frequency checking. But if somebody tries to forcefully enter, there will be a tyre-killer and even if the vehicle clears it, the road-blocker will check the vehicle.

At the hotels, there will be watch towers, CCTV surveillance and access control.

"All food prepared for guests will be checked by security personnel and tasted by food experts," added the official.

New Delhi, September 6
Shalini Mehra, who stayed with the body of her mother for over three months at their Saket home before the spine-chilling incident came to light yesterday, was mentally ill and had received psychiatric treatment in the past, the police said today.

A senior official connected to the investigation of the case said there seemed no criminal dimension to this tragedy and blamed Mehra's mental state for the shocking development.

Cops said they had questioned Mehra regarding the death of her mother Vinodini Gupta, 81, but it was of little help.

"She was not normal. She apparently believed the body was not of her mother," one official said.

Mehra, who had separated from her husband almost two decades back and lived with her aged mother alone, was in a state of denial when confronted by the police.

It was only when her other relatives, including her elder sister Yogmaya Gupta, who lived with her family in Hauz Khas Enclave, arrived that the police got help in its probe. Mehra's daughter Rehana Mehra is an MBBS student living in Bangalore.

Experts believe that Mehra's mental condition has only worsened as she has been leading a lonely life with a corpse in recent months. "Solitude often worsens the mental infirmity of a patient. She started living in an illusory world and there was no one there to take care of her," said Dr Akash Mehra, a psychiatrist in a hospital.

Gupta's postmortem report has not come yet, but the police said there was no external evidence to suspect anything foul.

"We are considering it a case of natural death and proceeding under relevant Section (174) of the CrPC. However, our probe is not over yet," an official said.

Mehra was a recluse and even the security guard in the house, Harsukh Lal, had little idea of the happenings inside.

He said Mehra's only interaction with the outside world was delivery boys who brought pizza and other food items ordered by her on phone once in a while.

Gupta's death was discovered after a Delhi Jal Board employee smelt the foul odour emanating from her house when he had gone there to check the meter. He alerted the neighbours who in turn called the police.

Neighbours said the Guptas were once a happy and rich family.

Purshottam Lal Gupta, husband of Vinodini Gupta, settled in Saket after selling off his business in London in the 70s. They had two daughters. He died in 2000. The family had sold a portion of their house and had been living off it.

Greater Noida, September 6
Over 2,000 farmers of around 35 villages decided not to give land for private builders.

The decision was taken at the Maha Panchayat held at Bisrakh on Sunday. The Congress, Samajwadi Party and BJP leaders attended the panchayat. The farmers came from Bisrakh Patwari, Milk Lachhi, Khairpur, Ithera, Tusiana and other villages.

"Villagers had sold the land to Authority for industrial development and not for selling land to private builders," said Virender Dhada, former chairman of District Panchayat and a Congress leader.

"The panchayat has decided not to sell land for private builders. The authority should acquire the land and develop housing projects on its own. If the allotment is to be done to private builders, they should be allowed to buy land directly from farmers," added Dhada.

Though farmers appeared satisfied with the policy of land acquisition announced recently by the UP government, they wanted some amendments. They wanted a share in private builder profit and the right to sell land directly to builders. They also demanded that the abadi land be left from land acquisition process.

New Delhi, September 6
Keeping in view the Commonwealth Games, the city government has chalked out a programme of art, culture, cinema, heritage, cuisines, etc. during the next two months under 'Delhi Celebrates'.

Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit along with the secretary, Union ministry of culture, J. Sircar, today released a calendar of 'Delhi Celebrates'.

This is one of the special programmes planned for visitors during the Commonwealth Games 2010.

Releasing the calendar, the Chief Minister said that it is going to be an iconic festival in the history of culture. Delhi will disseminate a mixture of the past and present culture during October and November. The programme will be organized across the city to ensure dominance of the feel and fervour of 'Delhi Celebrates'.

Delhi will come alive during with presentations of Nat Sankirtan of Manipur, choreographic works of Kathak Kendra repertory, dances of India, Jashn-e-Bachpan, festival of India, international festival, mask and puppet performances, Bhakti Utsav, book exhibition, etc. Baba Kharak Singh Marg in Connaught Place is all set to offer different cuisines of the country during the Games.

Some of the biggest names in their fields will perform in the line-up to various events which are scheduled to happen till November 4.

The Qutub Minar will come alive to the strains of music and songs during the Qutub Festival from October 4 to 13. Some of the renowned singers will enthral the audiences. A calendar of events during 'Delhi Celebrates' can be accessed at www.delhitourism.gov.in.

New Delhi, September 6
Around 2,000 media houses, including over 800 foreign media houses, will cover the Commonwealth Games (CWG) in October.

The organising committee (OC) officials said the 2006 Melbourne Games were covered by 1,562 media houses.

Main Press Centre (MPC), the key operation area for media, can be used for 14 hours a day from September 23 to September 30. It will be open round-the-clock from October 1 to 15.

The MPC has 600 work stations for the press and photo areas with Wi-Fi and high-speed broadband connection, Games info service, two conference rooms, two interview rooms, high-definition live feed area, rate card offices for agencies as well as a media lounge.

Six hundred volunteers have been deployed to assist media personnel at all competition and non-competition venues.

The volunteers having journalism and mass communication background have been selected for the purpose. They have already completed their training. Thirty volunteers from Sheffield Hallem University, UK, will be joined by 50 sports volunteers from the Media School of Panjabi University, Patiala.

New Delhi, September 6
With the start of nursery admission process not far away, parents across the Capital are a worried lot. They find the exercise of doing the rounds of schools to pick out the best for their child a tedious and time-consuming effort.

But a solution to their problem has come in the form of the unique educations fairs being held across Delhi and the national capital region (NCR). At these school fairs, parents can interact with the representatives of different schools.

A two-day fair of this kind ended today. The fair was organised by AFAIRS Exhibitions and Media Pvt. Ltd. At the fair, the parents interacted directly with the school authorities, collected information about schools and were guided about the admission process. The parents also collected school brochures and application forms.

"This fair should prove to be a boon for parents. Not only do they get to know about the major schools in the region, but also their admission procedures. This helps to simplify the admission process. I have been telling parents to encourage their children about adjusting in school. This is a very important process and along with teachers, parents also have to play a role," said Shailaditya, a former vice-principal and representative of Shri Ram School at the fair.

Nidhi Singh, a parent with a daughter due for admission in nursery, said, "This fair has proved to be very helpful for me. I got to know about the admission procedures of schools in Delhi and Gurgaon. Now, I can plan my daughter's admission with a more informed mind. I am interested in admitting my daughter in Sri Ram School and have spoken to the representatives of the school here. I have also made a list of middle-rung schools where I can apply in case my daughter does not get admission at Sri Ram."

A similar fair was recently held in Gurgaon. It will be held at Noida later.

New Delhi, September 6
The Delhi police has cracked the case of the murder of one of its retired officials. The victim was found dead on August 24 near a Hanuman temple in Ghaziabad.

The Ghaziabad police, which was investigating the case, had earlier believed that Ram Kumar died in a road accident, but began a probe after the postmortem report stated that he was stabbed.

However, the Crime Branch of the Delhi police outsmarted its Ghaziabad counterparts by lifting the veil over Kumar's murder and arrested four persons, including two women, this morning.

The police said Raju and his wife Vandana lured in their friends Suraj and his wife Seema in their conspiracy to bump off the former cop as they were reluctant to pay him Rs 2.15 lakh that Raju owed to him.Raju ran a chaat shop.

Kumar had been pressurising Raju to return his money. As he was a former cop, Raju knew that he could not keep him at bay for long and decided to kill him, the police said.

After roping in his friend, to whom he offered a bait of Rs 50,000, Raju and Vandana offered Kumar sedative-laced drinks on August 23 evening when he visited their house. He was joined by the other conspirators who put him in their van and stabbed him to death at an isolated place at Babugarh in Ghaziabad.

The police said they were apprehended today near the Red Fort.

Noida, September 6
Four people sustained serious injuries when an overspeeding car being driven by a 16-year-old hit two motorcycles and a pedestrian in Noida on Sunday night, the police said.

The teenager first hit a motorcycle and a pedestrian near the Sector 12 intersection and then crashed into another motorcycle, said SHO of Sector 24 G.K. Jayant.

The person riding the bike that was hit has been identified as Divya Kumar. He sustained critical injuries and was taken to Surbhi Hospital. The other injured people were also taken to local hospitals, the police said. As the people raised the alarm, a PCR van stationed some distance away chased the car and intercepted it after a short chase. According to sources, the teenager is the son of a businessman living in Sector 12. — IANS