New Delhi, October 1
The Queen's Baton for the Commonwealth Games was today taken around Delhi on the 98th day of its India tour.

The city in its early morning shade presented a fabulous impression of the baton as the rally started at 7 am from Vijay Chowk and passed through some of the famous monuments of the city. The event took the officer-goers and general public by surprise as they stopped to watch the historic moment.

The Queen's Baton Relay (QBR) traversed several parts of the Capital, including landmarks like India Gate, Teen Murti Bhawan, Qutub Minar and Lotus Temple.

The baton was welcomed at Vijay Chowk by Suresh Kalmadi, chairman, organising committee, along with Gen. S.P.S. Dhillon, joint director-general, and other dignitaries.

Many athletes, politicians and students also joined hands in carrying the baton.

"I am feeling very proud about the baton. It has come all the way from London till here, covering a distance of 1,90,000 km without a blemish. People have organised it very well. I must be thankful to them," said Kalmadi.

The band of the Indian Armed Forces welcomed the baton with patriotic tunes.

At the India Gate, it was received by Olympic silver medalist shooter Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore.

"Now when everything is under control, there are positive reports about the Games. The Games would be good and our athletes will win a lot of medals," said Rathore.

From India Gate, the baton travelled to Teen Murti Bhawan, where it was received by many paralympic athletes. It reached the Qutub Minar at 11.30 am and Lotus Temple at 12.20 pm.

Tomorrow, the baton will travel to Gurdwara Rakab Ganj Sahib, St Columbus School and the Games Village.

The 1,90,000-km relay across 71 countries will end on October 3 at the opening ceremony in the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium.

The baton relay symbolises the unity and shared ideals of the CWG nations. It carries a message from the head of the Commonwealth nations, currently Queen Elizabeth II .

The baton has the ability to capture images and sound as it travels through the nations. With global positioning system (GPS) technology, its exact location can always be tracked.

The QBR commenced its journey at London's Buckingham Palace on October 29, 2009 and visited 70 Commonwealth nations and territories across six regions of the globe. It entered India from Pakistan through the Wagah Border in Punjab on June 25, 2010, and since then, is travelling across India on a100-day journey.

New Delhi, October 1
The Queen's Baton received a spirited reception in the Delhi Secretariat today and politicians seemed quite excited to get their picture clicked with it. The MLAs were seen jostling to pose with it.

The Secretariat was full of ministers, MLAs, other politicians and senior officials. First, they tried to strike a pose with the baton. When they did not get chance, they tried to have a glimpse of it.

Schoolchildren were also there to receive the baton.

Receiving the Queen's Baton, Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit said, "We are very happy. It is a sign of peace and prosperity. We have showed that India is better than many other countries."

She expressed her gratitude towards all, particularly the officials who devoted time to make the event a success. Their sincerity has made the impossible turn possible.

Dikshit received the baton from S.P.S. Dhillon, joint director general (CWG Organising Committee), at the Secretariat.

The baton reached the national Capital after crossing various states. It entered the Capital from Haryana and reached Qutub Minar.

"This is a happy day for everyone. The baton which started its journey in London last year finally reached the Capital where the mega event will be held. It has gone across the world and has finally come to the Secretariat," the CM told reporters.

New Delhi, October 1
The army today handed over the makeshift Bailey foot overbridge to the civic authorities for use. The army built the bridge in five days after the original one, which was much swanky, collapsed on September 21.

The 3rd engineering regiment of the army raised the bridge at the southern end of the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium. It connects the parking lot for spectators with the other side of the road.

Close to 1,000 army personnel were summoned to build the 260-ft long and 11-ft wide bridge following an SoS by the Delhi government after it learnt that the civic authorities would not be able to repair the damage in time.

The original bridge built by PNR Infra, a Chandigarh-based private firm, at the cost of Rs over 10.5 crore came down due to apparent faulty work (an enquiry report is yet to be submitted), injuring 27 labourers, four of whom are critical.

However, it is still not clear if the bridge would remain there after the Games.

New Delhi, October 1
Just two days ahead of the Commonwealth Games, the Delhi police today added three sophisticated Light Armoured Troop Carrier (LATC) to its armoury, enhancing its combat ability in terror attack situations.

The LATCs were flagged off by Y.S. Dadwal, commissioner of police, in the evening at the police headquarters.

"These vehicles are bullet, explosive, fire and bomb proof and will act as a force multiplier for the special weapons and tactics (SWAT) team," said Dadwal.

The officer believes that the vehicles will increase the response capability of the Delhi police in case of any terror attack.

According to information, the Rs 54-lakh LATC can carry ten commandos armed with AK-47 and MP-5 pistols. The vehicle can run even on flat tyres.

Thirty commandos have been deployed in the three armoured vehicles which would be parked at strategic locations during the Games and move as per requirement.

"The commandos were given a three-month training followed by three-week specialised training on firing, room intervention and bus intervention," said a senior Delhi police official, adding that these vehicles will be helpful in case of terrorist attack on hotels or buildings.

"We have Mumbai attacks in our mind when terrorists entered hotels and buildings. In such a situation, these vehicles will help in deploying crack team and if need be, they can enter the lobbies or the atrium of the building," the official said.

Similar armoured vehicles are presently being used by the Mumbai police.

New Delhi, October 1
Many Commonwealth Games' (CWG) volunteers are not reporting to duty at various venues, after claiming the Rs 12,000 volunteer kit at the accreditation centre. But what's surprising is that even the authorities concerned are not quite perturbed as the number of estimated guests has also fallen. Hence, the requirement for volunteers has also reduced.

According to the CWG accreditation department whcih is responsible for the accreditation of volunteers, media persons and others, nearly 18,500 volunteers have been accredited till this afternoon. However, a large number of volunteers has gone missing, with just one day left for the opening day of the Games.

According to the estimates, 10,000 volunteers have not reported for duty. This drop is due to a combination of reasons like -- random allocation of responsibilities, relatively unglamorous projects and lack of proper training and motivation.

Others speculate that the volunteers have vanished with the Games uniform which they might have found good.

"Each participating volunteer was to be provided with an experience certificate, a kit worth Rs 12,000 that comprised a smart set of clothes and free meals during work hours. Most have registered themselves, taken the kit but not reported to duty," said one of the volunteers at the accreditation department.

In the accreditation department alone, 600 volunteers were appointed. It is one department where volunteers have reported on time, owing to the relaxed nature of the job.

"We put in a shift of 5 to 6 hours. We have to sit in AC rooms. Most of the day is not even hectic. It is quite comfortable here. Duties on other venues and the Games Village are much more challenging. This may be one of the reasons that volunteers backed out. Moreover, there was no clear instruction till the last moment. Even we did not know how to address queries about duty rosters, food and travel arrangements," said Shirali (name changed), a senior volunteer at the accreditation counter, Pragati Maidan.

New Delhi, October 1
When Ranjana Devi left her husband who had complained of chest pain at the Lal Bahadur Shastri Bal Chikitsalaya on September 15 morning, little did she know that she would find him next in the hospital's mortuary with his body passed off to that of an unidentified man.

Ranjana Devi has now gone to the police accusing the hospital administration of callousness in treating her husband Devender Jha (40), a private security guard and father of four daughters.

The doctors not only failed in recognising the urgency of Jha's condition, but were insensitive. They sent his body to the mortuary without making any attempt to look for his family members thus, taking him as unidentified.

"My husband has died due to the negligence of the hospital and they must be punished. If he was so serious, why did not the doctors admit him in the emergency? They gave him the wrong medicines and must be punished," she said.

When she returned to the hospital on the fateful day, nobody was there to tell her the whereabouts of her husband, she said as she searched everywhere for him. It was only hours later that a hospital employee told her that an unidentified body was in the mortuary and she should check it.

A senior hospital official said they would look into the matter and cooperate with the police probe. However, he did not wish to be identified.

After Jha complained of chest pain, Ranjana took him to the hospital's casualty. The doctor on duty after examining him prescribed a couple of medicines. They evidently did not realise that his condition required attention and asked her to bring him for a review in the next OPD. Ranjana left him there and went to fetch the medicines from a chemist store. In less than half-an-hour she returned with the medicines. By that time, Jha had died. He had reportedly started bleeding from the mouth.

Already registered with the Kalyanpuri police station as an unidentified body (MLC 10398 and case registration number 57102), as confirmed by the area's police, the body was recognised by desperate Ranjana around 3 pm. She was allowed to take the body only late in the night, after the postmortem.

Faridabad, October 1
To boost the agricultural community's economic and social status, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) today called for a national policy wherein farmers would get loans at an interest of 3 per cent.

Inaugurating a three-day meeting of the national executive of Bharatiya Kisan Morcha, BJP's frontal organisation, here today, the party's national president Nitin Gadkari said the policy was in vogue in BJP-ruled states of Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh and Chattisgarh. He said the farming community had suffered the most and their plight continues even after 63 years of independence. He attributed this to "bad governance and faulty economic policy" of the Congress governments at the Centre. Farmers, considered to be the backbone of the polity, must get loans at low interest rates, he added.

He said his party was preparing a national vision document-2014, especially to improve the condition of the farming community in the country.

The BJP has talked of shifting irrigation, which is presently in the state list of the Constitution to concurrent list so that both the Centre and the states could improve the system.

Gadkari demanded for a separate national budget for agriculture like that of railways and finance.

He said once agriculture sector contributed about 15 per cent to the GDP, but it had now dwindled to about 2 per cent.

New Delhi, October 1
It has not rained for over a week, yet dengue cases have maintained the season's high. Experts say the trend will continue owing to the one-and-a-half- month survival period of the disease caused by aedes mosquito.

The number of cases confirmed today by the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) was 86. The infection has claimed two lives in Sir Ganga Ram Hospital and one in Ram Manohar Lohia (RML) Hospital.

The positive cases of the vector-borne disease that the Capital has reported this season has reached to 3,383, nearing the 2006 figure when 3,336 cases were reported. The cumulative fatalities in the Capital stand at seven, with the RML's death yet to be counted by the MCD.

Friends of Pradipta Sethi (35), a resident of Katwaria Sarai who gave in to the virus on Wednesday, said, "He was admitted to the RMLH on Saturday with reduced platelets and, later, started bleeding. He was found to be a diabetic and died on Wednesday night."

The mortality is said to be low this time due to the prevalence of mild sub-type of the viral strain, but October is going to be the trouble-month when the cases are said to rise. The reasons are obvious. With the city's corners, across Sonia Vihar to Chilla Village and Okhla Barrage to Bawana having accumulated water, notwithstanding the gap in rain; mosquitoes tend to thrive for over one and a half month.

"Waterlogging is still found in several parts of the city. Though it has not rained for over seven days, mosquitoes continue to remain. After the breeding of the larvae, the mosquitoes' life-cycle is one month after the last rain. Moreover, once the mosquito bites, the disease shows up after five or seven days. So, the disease would stay here for some time," said Dr V.K. Monga, chairperson of MCD health committee.

Also, the Yamuna has been receding and in course has left pockets across its beds and areas in the vicinity, which are active grounds for breeding.

To combat the situation, the Commonwealth Games organisers and civic authorities have accepted that anti-larval measures have been concentrated in and around the Games Village and venues, but denied neglecting other areas.

"We have stepped up fogging and spraying exercise. We have been using fire bridge tenders for deep-pressure spraying and boats for areas between NH-24 and Nizamuddin Bridge. As a result, 95 per cent of the Games Village has been cleared from any breeding possibility and the basement, which had the problem of sub-soil seeping, has been taken care of," said Dr Monga.

Noida, October 1
Over two dozen patients with viral infections and pneumonia are coming to each hospital in Noida and Greater Noida daily these days.

Of every 100 patient, coming to the government hospital in Noida, at least 20 are suffering from pneumonia, most of them children.

According to doctors, this rush of patients is due to the change in weather and a little negligence on the part of parents. Special attention needs to be paid to kids, who can easily be affected from pneumonia.

Chief medical officer Dr Meena Mishra says in this weather, parents should not treat cough and cold lightly, else this can cause pneumonia. Children should be promptly rushed to doctors and in no case old medicines lying in homes should be given to them.

In Greater Noida too, out of 100 to 200 patients who come to the OPDs of hospitals daily, the maximum number is of viral and pneumonia patients.

Incessant rains in September have left water pools everywhere which serve as the breeding ground of mosquites causing malaria and dengue. The number of patients in Sharda, Kailash and Navin hospitals has doubled in these days. All beds in OPD wards are occupied and most beds have more than one patient on it.

Dr Alok says people should avoid cold and stale food and should not use ACs and coolers at night.

In the government hospital, the number of daily patients has increased from 919 on September 24 to 1,178 on September 30.