|
|
|
|
City wears curfew-like look
|
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Enthused crowd queues up for CWG tickets
MP loses CWG pass to impersonator
Games gift: Metro reaches JN Stadium
Thumbs up for Metro ladies’ coach
Use public transport, advises police
Games Security
Unauthorised firearm recovered from foreign official
Dengue Players told to carry health records
Chatterati
NRI woman beaten by brother over property
Sisters held for cousin’s abduction
Friends rob traders of
Rs. 1.5 lakh
|
|
City wears curfew-like look
New Delhi, October 3 Roads were deserted, all the markets closed and traffic was a fraction of what Delhi roads see on normal days. The only source of outdoor fun for people was cineplexes which were open at many places. However, not many knew that they were open. People thought that they would be closed like all the other commercial establishments, as ordered by the government. Cops, who patrolled streets and scanned vehicles, were seen forcing shops to close. In the vicinity of the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium, streets resemble a city under curfew and many returning to their residences had to face questions from the police in order to verify their identities. It was unprecedented security cover which stood out in the city on an otherwise-pleasant Sunday. With over 3,000 CCTV cameras installed at various points across the city, a tight security arrangement had been made by the city police. To cap it all, helicopters were keeping a vigil. Unmanned aerial vehicles have scanned the ground. A multi-layered, multi-dimensional security blanket has covered the city. We have a higher security matrix for the Games compared to other events held in the city, said police commissioner Y.S. Dadwal. A security plan has also been prepared for the mega event to keep an eye on any kind of chemical, biological, radio-active or nuclear attacks. Armed personnel have been deployed across 41 areas, including 12 competition venues, while heliborne-snipers of the Indian Air Force are providing cover. Several vehicles carrying policemen in plain clothes have spread across the Capital, a senior police official said. "In certain places, we want our presence not to be noticed. So vehicles without even police stickers have been spread out with armed men in plain clothes," he added. As many as 28,387 personnel of the Delhi police have been deployed at Games venues along with 195 companies (around 20,000 men) of paramilitary personnel while some 15,000 personnel guarded the nearby localities of the venues. Besides, security arrangements have been made at hotels with watch towers, CCTV surveillance and access control. The food prepared and served for the Games guests in hotels is being sorted by security personnel and tasted by food experts, confirmed a senior official. Keeping in mind the large number of athletes, officials and tourists reaching the city, security has been tightened at Indira Gandhi International Airport. |
|
Enthused crowd queues up for CWG tickets
New Delhi, October 3 The entry for the opening ceremony started at 2 pm -- five hours before the function -- but hundreds came two or three hours earlier and waited at the entry gates. For some, the entry to the stadium was a smooth ride while it was a problem for some as they had to walk nearly 3 km to the gates and there was nobody providing information. There was a huge rush of people looking for tickets near the stadium's gate number 16, close to the Metro station. But Arun Rai, a resident of central Delhi, said he had no trouble entering the stadium. Saurabh Gupta, a class V student, said: "I was so excited for the ceremony that I came here at 12 noon and waited for two hours at the gate. I did not want to miss anything as there were some pre-ceremony events planned." "Some people, however, were complaining that there was nobody to provide information about the entry gates. "I took the Delhi Metro and had to walk 3 km to reach Gate number 3. More than that, nobody gave me any directions," said 80-year-old Fredrick, a British national. The tickets for the opening ceremony were priced at Rs 50,000, Rs 25,000, Rs 5,000 and Rs 1,000. Snapping up
commandos
Gun-toting commandos have been one of the surprise hits at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium. Before the Games opening ceremony began, many spectators made a beeline for the handsome security personnel on duty. They could be seen clicking photographs of the commandos or even posing with them for the cameras. "They look so smart and reassuring," said Amar Jain, 25, who got a picture taken. "And they are handsome too," he added enviously.
— IANS |
|
MP loses CWG pass to impersonator
New Delhi, October 3 Speaking on phone from his Palakkad constituency in Kerala, Rajesh said he learnt about the fraud today. He also said he will complain to Lok Sabha Speaker Meira Kumar against the Organising Committee for issuing his pass to another person without his consent. Rajesh said the Organising Committee has informed him that they would file an FIR on Monday. He said the person who collected his pass had also secured a spouse pass in his name.
— IANS |
|
Games gift: Metro reaches JN Stadium
New Delhi, October 3 Spectators were allowed a free ride. The beginning of the line marks another milestone in the fast-expanding Metro services as the stadium was connected to the Central Secretariat-Sarita Vihar line. Many people parked their vehicles outside the Metro stations and boarded the standard gauge train, the second in Delhi Metro, for a smooth ride till the stadium. Long queues were seen outside different Metro stations on the route as people lined up to ride the train. The head of the Delhi Metro, E Sreedharan, also travelled in the Metro in its maiden journey along with his family to watch the opening ceremony. The trains were packed and an overwhelming number of passengers disembarked at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium station. There were delays and some minor glitches on the inaugural day, but people did not complain much about that. Many people expressed happiness, saying they were spared much hardship and money by the Metro services. "I reached the stadium in almost 10 minutes from the Cabinet Secretariat and it used to cost me a lot of money earlier going to the stadium a few times every day," a volunteer said. Officials said the beginning of the service would boost the spectators' attendance to the Games as the JN Stadium is hosting most of the sporting events, they said.
|
|
Thumbs up for Metro ladies’ coach
New Delhi, October 3 "It is a relief to get inside a crowded coach and not brush against a man. However, there were a few stations where men entered the ladies coach, some intentionally, some unintentionally," said an elated Shelja Jathar, working with an MNC in Connaught Place. "There should be more coaches reserved for women to ease out our travelling woes and guards standing on the platforms should not allow any man to get inside the exclusive coach," Jathar said. The first coach of every Metro train is reserved for women. It can seat 43 passengers and has standing room for at least three times more. Boys up to 12 years, the elderly and the physically challenged are also allowed in this coach. However, the move is not enjoying popularity among the male commuters. Fuming men were seen giving envious looks to their female counterparts as they jostled to adjust in the unreserved coaches. A few women passengers complained that security guards and volunteers deployed to inform people about the new arrangements were nowhere to be seen and men kept entering the forbidden coach despite the "women only" sign on the platform and repeated announcements on the public address system. A DMRC spokesperson had earlier said around 450 women commuter facilitation agents will guide passengers and platforms have been marked with stickers to indicate the location of the reserved coach. — IANS
|
|
New Delhi, October 3 The audience watched as 1,000 drummers stirred up a thumping beat, puppets danced in the air and thousands of children gathered at the packed stadium to sing a welcome to the world. After the Indian national anthem was sung which set the mood for the much awaited sports event with electrifying energy. With the welcome over, it was the turn of the athletes parade. — IANS
|
|
Use public transport, advises police
New Delhi, October 3 Officials said those travelling in their private vehicles would be facing hardships and that's why the Delhi Metro and DTC have made elaborate arrangements by increasing train frequency and opening focal points from where buses will be available. A senior official of the transport department said that the DTC had identified 32 focal points all across the National Capital Region from where low-floor buses would be operated providing direct destination-oriented service to Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium for opening and closing ceremonies. The focal points include Shahdara, Anand Vihar, Seemapuri, Uttam Nagar, Dwarka Sector-10, Azadpur, Najafgarh, Shahbad Dairy, Vasant Kunj, Mukherjee Nagar, Mehrauli, Faridabad, Gurgaon, Ghaziabad, Bahadurgarh, Greater Noida and Noida Sector-62.
|
|
Games Security
Greater Noida, October 3 When the police did not allow them to use the Expressway, the farmers from Momenathal village exchanged arguments with the cops. Later, DSP Shailender Lal persuaded the villagers to return home. However, Gajraj Singh of Momenathal villages said that dozens of villages like Shafipur, Nalgarh, Kondli, etc, have been flooded recently with the result hundreds of people are down with viral fever. He pointed towards the women with sick children in their arms squatting on roadsides, hoping that they would be allowed to go to hospitals. "The seriously ill have to be taken to hospitals in emergency for which they have to go via Expressway. At least two persons from each village should be given a pass to enter the Expressway which was totally closed," villagers pleaded. Police officials said issuing passes was not in their hands.
|
|
Unauthorised firearm recovered from foreign official
New Delhi, October 3 The official is from the Singapore High Commission and had come here to see his team housed in the hotel, official sources said. The police recovered a small firearm from the person during the security check as he was about to enter the Ashok Hotel where a number of foreign officials are staying. He was carrying a diplomatic pass, but was not authorised to carry any arms, said a senior official. Security agencies detained the person, questioned him and later let him off, the police said. Meanwhile, after the incident, hotel officials said that instead of getting worried, the tourists and athletes being present there were happy with the security arrangements. |
|
Dengue Players told to carry health records
New Delhi, October 3 "Delhi is fully equipped to attend to any medical emergency and there are no reasons to worry as our hospitals are upgraded with all kinds of drugs and other modalities. As far dengue, there is no reason to panic as the strain that is prevalent this time is a milder one," said Dr Narender Saini, president of DMA. Saying that cases of the vector-borne disease may shoot up, he advised people to take precautions. "All the players and tourists should feel safe and know that the city has got the best of the medical set-up as that of any developed country," he added. Some to mention are: use of bottled water, well-cooked hot food, washing hands, wearing full-sleeved clothes and keeping the doors and windows shut during daytime.An official of the Indian Lawn Bowls team was admitted to hospital on October 1 with symptoms of dengue. |
|
Chatterati
Varun Gandhi gets set to marry his sweetheart Yamini Roy in December, if all goes well. At the moment, the Singh family is a worried lot. Maneka's mother Amteshwar, who has virtually brought up Varun, is not well, so Maneka wants the wedding as soon as possible. Coincidentally, both the cousins Rahul Gandhi and Varun Gandhi are anxious about the health of their maternal grandmothers. Rahul's grandmother is in America undergoing treatment. The Gandhi family had all visited her last month. But one person who is happy and relieved about Varun being preoccupied is Nitish Kumar. The Bihar Chief Minister doesn't like the prospect of a hawkish Varun campaigning in Bihar. Bihar elections have a lighter side too. The BJP can hardly find any candidate for its share of seats as Nitish seems to have taken all the winning candidates. The Congress is also worried. At the AICC office at Akbar Road, some cheeky fellow had plastered a fictitious 'rate list' of leaders as a road map to secure tickets. The Congress leaders soon realized that this was the cause of rush of ticket seekers for the Bihar assembly polls. It was a surprise because it is a known fact that the Congress is not going to fare that well. Unusual clean look now
As the Games lanes opened in the Capital, it was chaos for the locals. As many as 1,600 buses have been removed. The Blueline buses have been stopped till the Games. With the roads shrinking due to lanes for only CWG cars, traffic jams are there for hours. But the city has an uncanny clean look now. The poor have disappeared; beggars have been rounded up and confined to shelters. A society called 'City Makers' has appealed to other civil society networks to come and help with ration supplies which can be distributed to shelter homes. The police is also busy asking hawkers and vendors to pack up. Illegal dhabas are being removed as part of a hygiene drive. So your neighborhood sabzi wala is no more there till the Games are on. No flower shops either on streets. The police claims they can be a security threat. Wish the government had been so finicky about hygiene and security in the Games venues too. It would have saved the Indians a lot of embarrassment. If by chance your office is anywhere near the Games venues, you are not allowed till you have an ID card. Silence of the Thackerays Salman Khan, the Dabangg cop, has created a stir. In one of the interviews for the promotion of his film, he put his foot in his mouth on a Pakistani TV channel. He said that 26/11 attack in Mumbai shook the world because it was an attack on the elite. This is the first time in many years that Shiv Sena and Raj Thackeray have supported the same person. Never in the last couple of years Raj Thackeray has missed an opportunity of making a mountain out of a molehill if that has anything to do with Maharashtra, but here as Raj Thackeray and Uddhav Thackeray are friends of Salman, they have both kept quiet. Sometime back, both these cousins had attacked Shah Rukh Khan for his statement that Pakistani cricket players should be allowed to play in the IPL. |
|
NRI woman beaten by brother over property
Noida, October 3 The woman, Minita, alleged that on September 29, her brother had pushed her into a room in her sister's sector 37 house and had kicked and punched her all over. Though she had lodged a complaint at the sector 39 police station, the police has taken her complaint into account. Her brother has not even been arrested. Minita, originally from Agra, said they are four sisters and one brother. She alleged that her brother Sanjay wanted to wrest all the family property. On September 29, Minita had gone with her mother to meet her sister Ritu to her sector 37 house in Noida, where Sanjay also dropped in. Sanjay had an altercation with their mother Leelawati over some family property. When Minita countered Sanjay's arguments, he started beating her. She had lodged a police complaint, but she alleged that the police did not show any interest in the matter. She said she was a US citizen and was thinking of complaining to the US embassy in Delhi.
|
|
Sisters held for cousin’s abduction
Ghaziabad, October 3 The two sisters, aged 17 and 18, allegedly abducted the boy from his home in Rafiqpura. Firdaus' boyfriend Abdul Qadir and Anisa's husband Akram were also roped in by the duo for the crime. Qadir and Akram were also arrested, police said. "One of the girls, a resident of Garima Garden in Sahibabad, had on September 29 gone to Rafiqpura to meet her maternal uncle, Ziauddin. There she hit upon the idea of kidnapping her uncle's son, Anis," district police chief Raghubir Lal said. Anis was abducted and first kept at Akram's home in Seemapuri in Delhi. Later, he was shifted to the other sister's Garima Garden home. Ziauddin, a construction contractor, was contacted on phone by the abductors who demanded Rs 3 lakh for the boy's release. On receiving a complaint, police tracked down Qadir by his phone which was used to make the ransom call and Anis was rescued.
— IANS |
|
Friends rob traders of
Rs. 1.5 lakh
Greater Noida, October 3 Delhi-based traders Mohammed Ali and Surinder Rathore had become friendly with Imran from Rabupura. Imran and his friends had invited the two to buy gold at cheap rates in Rabupura. Mohammed Ali and Surinder Rathore alleged that when they reached Rabupura on Saturday evening, Imran and his companions robbed them of ` 1.5 lakh at gunpoint. They allegedly threatened them of dire consequences, if they went to the police. The police is investigating the matter. |
|
| HOME PAGE | |
Punjab | Haryana | Jammu & Kashmir |
Himachal Pradesh | Regional Briefs |
Nation | Opinions | | Business | Sports | World | Letters | Chandigarh | Ludhiana | Classified Delhi | | Calendar | Weather | Archive | Subscribe | Suggestion | E-mail | |
New Delhi, October 3
New Delhi, October 3
