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Two charred to death in scrap shop
Fire engulfs Fbd factory
Opposing MCD split, Cong MLAs meet Sonia
Mayoral poll: BJP rebel withdraws candidature
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SBI centre agent flees with Rs 9 lakh
Engineering college owner shot in Gzb
CMO held for drinking in public
Youth held for snatching purse of Libyan envoy’s wife
BSF man held for murdering colleague
Mom-son shot at for refusing to give donation
195 challaned for drunken driving
Rain expected in some parts today
GDA cancels allotment of plots to 30 MLAs Train robbery
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Two charred to death in scrap shop
New Delhi, April 16 According to information provided by the fire department, a call was received at 2.24 am about the fire in a scrap shop located in Kapashera. "We used seven fire trucks in the operation and it took about 40 minutes to control the flames. However, two persons were charred to death in the fire before the fire officials could reach them. They probably woke up too late to save themselves from the fire," said a fire official. He added that they suffered more than 95 per cent burn injuries and were declared brought dead at Safdarjung Hospital. The cause of fire is believed to be shortcircuit of wires, but the police refused to confirm it saying that the matter is being investigated. Scrap worth lakhs of rupees was also destroyed in the fire. |
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Fire engulfs Fbd factory
Faridabad, April 16 The unit produces plastic trays used in refrigerators, and air conditioners etc. The incident occurred in the morning and nearly 50 labourers were working in the factory at that time. The security guard of the factory spotted the fire and alerted the workers who managed to escape from the site in time. According to the labourers, the fire occurred due to short-circuit on the factory premises. In fact, some of the workers and the guard claim to have seen the short-circuit that triggered the fire. The fire services department was informed and fire tenders reached the spot in a few minutes. However, since the factory had highly inflammable plastic materials, the fire spread very fast. Even while the first tenders were at work there were billows of flame and smoke in the factory complex. The flames were so strong that they leapt several feet in the air, eyewitnesses said. According to the district fire officer, Faridabad, D.N. Sharma, 12 fire tenders, including all the eight belonging to the government, were pressed into service. A tender of the local Air Force station was also pressed into the operation. Each tenders had to refill water at least thrice during the operation and the blaze could be tamed after four hours. |
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Opposing MCD split, Cong MLAs meet Sonia
New Delhi, April 16 The MLAs, led by senior city Congress leader and MLA from Kalkaji Subhash Chopra, today met Sonia Gandhi to complain that the division of the civic body would severely affect the party's prospects in the municipal polls next year. The MLAs complained about Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit's style of working and strongly opposed the plan to split the civic body. They spoke to the Congress chief for around half an hour. "We told madam that the party will suffer very badly in the municipal election early next year if the MCD is split. We also told her that the matter was never discussed in the party before the government took an in-principle decision last week to divide the MCD," said an MLA after the meeting. Besides Chopra, the delegation included Uttam Nagar MLA Mukesh Sharma, Kasturba Nagar MLA Neeraj Basoya, Mustafabad MLA Hasan Ahmed, Timarpur MLA Surinder Pal Singh and former MLA Ashok Singh. In a politically-sensitive move, the Delhi cabinet last week decided to split the MCD into five smaller bodies ahead of the 2012 municipal polls. Apparently, several top officials of the Delhi Pradesh Congress Committee, including its chief J.P. Aggarwal, and most of the 74 Congress councillors in the MCD have strong reservations about the move. A section of the city Congress had expressed its reservations, saying that the issue should have been discussed at the party forum before taking a final decision. Sensing opposition, Dikshit on Wednesday held a Congress Legislature Party meeting. Most of the MLAs who attended the meeting supported the division of the civic agency, but opposed increasing the number of wards from the current total of 272 to 408, as suggested by a high-level committee. The cabinet had accepted the recommendations of the high-level committee, headed by health minister A.K. Walia, which suggested splitting the civic body into five smaller municipalities. The committee had also suggested increasing the total number of wards from current 272 to around 408. The Delhi government, which has been critical of MCD's functioning under the BJP, had appointed senior BJP leaders V.K. Malhotra and Jagdish Mukhi to the high-level committee, but both of them had resigned from it just ahead of the first meeting, accusing the government of trying to divide the MCD to gain political mileage. |
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Mayoral poll: BJP rebel withdraws candidature
New Delhi, April 16 The election would be held on April 20. The BJP councillor Narain Singh, who had filed nomination against the party's official nominee for the post of the city mayor, has withdrawn his candidature after talks with the Delhi BJP leadership. The councillor from Bawana had filed his nomination as a rebel candidate against Rajni Abbi. "After cordial talks with the Pradesh president Vijender Gupta, Singh withdrew his nomination voluntarily," said senior party leader. The election of Mukherjee Nagar councillor and Delhi University law professor Rajni Abbi is nearly certain as the BJP has an overwhelming majority in the 272-member MCD House. If elected, she will be the second woman mayor in the BJP's five-year term in the corporation. Arti Mehra was the mayor of Delhi for two years in succession from 2007. Abbi said her priorities will be to work on a mission mode to ensure a clean Delhi, improve the image of the MCD and strongly oppose its proposed division into five parts. "We are against the Delhi government's proposal to split MCD and we will also send our own report to the Union home ministry so that it can take an informed decision," she said. She said the party will take an appropriate decision in case of indiscipline shown by anyone. The BJP has also decided to retain Yogender Chandolia as chairman of the Standing Committee. His tenure ends in April. |
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DELHI DIARY
Rare calligraphic sheets and priceless historical letters were some of the rather generous gifts that were received by Jamia Millia Islamia recently.
Mustahsan Hamid Khan, a resident of Hattingen, Germany, and former student of Jamia donated this historical treasure to the
university.
The treasure gifted by Khan includes a letter written in Urdu by Mahatma Gandhi, 22 letters written by former Prime Minister Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, former President Zakir Hussain and Vijaylakshmi Pandit among others. Also, there are eight other letters written in Urdu by Dr Zakir Hussain to Mustahsan Hamid Khan's father, late Hamid Ali Khan, who was the director of Maktaba Jamia Islamia in 1928. Mustahsan Hamid Khan had come in possession of this heritage after the death of his father. Asked what prompted Khan to gift these to Jamia, Khan said, "I wanted to return the nation's heritage back to Jamia, where it belonged to. I feel Jamia is the true custodian of this historical treasure and so I have donated it to
Jamia." Cong rift over MCD division
The vertical split in the Congress on the issue of dividing the MCD into five bodies has finally come out in the open. Apprehending its loss in the municipal elections next year, the Congress councillors have voiced their opposition to their party-led state government's decision. A group of 65 Congress councillors had also recently met Chief Mminister Sheila Dikshit to apprise her of the possible adverse fallout of this move on their electoral prospects. According to the party, it invariably lost power whenever the number of wards was increased. In 2007, the wards were increased from 134 to 272 and the party had to bite dust at the hustings. Lokayukt drive catches on
The campaign launched by the Delhi Lokayukta to make it popular among the citizens of the Capital has paid off. The Lokayukta has received hundreds of complaints against public functionaries. But a number of them were not considered for action as these were beyond its jurisdiction. In some cases, complainants did not attach documents to prove their allegations. Sometimes they submit evidence after being called by the Lokayukta office and on occasions, they just fail to turn up. Consequently the cases are rejected. Will it help disaster professionals?
The 2011 edition of Sphere Handbook, designed to assist disaster professionals in helping affected people post-disaster, has failed to generate interest among the target readers, owing to the thick volume running into 393 pages. On its launch day here, when panelists moderating one of the sessions asked for feedback from the participating professionals representing NGOs and allied agencies, the need for a concise version came up for discussion. The session anchors, however, felt that any effort at reducing the size would dilute its utility value. It remains to be seen whether the handbbook would serve its purpose or meet the same fate as its previous editions, with people even associated with Sphere India seemed to be ignorant about the content. (Charu Singh, Himani Chandel, Syed Ali Ahmed, Ananya Panda) |
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SBI centre agent flees with Rs 9 lakh
Noida, April 16 A large number of account holders deposit less than Rs 10,000 each in the Inco Centre. The SBI branch manager has assured the people that their money will be returned. A report for cheating was registered in Sector-58 police station on a complaint by Rahul Das, incharge of the branch of Inco India Pvt. Ltd. One of the victims of forgery, Shyam Narain Tiwari said, "Whenever we come to the SBI branch in Sector-62 to deposit less than Rs 10,000, we are directed to Inco Centre in Mamura village. The SBI branch officials used to say Mamura centre was a bona fide and legal branch where they could deposit the cash. Hundreds of persons had deposited their cash in Mamura branch between April 08 and 10. But the centre in-charge Dhanjay Pandey fled with the whole cash. As soon as the depositors got a wind of it, they protested at the centre in Mamura village and later held a demonstration in front of the SBI branch in Sector-62 Noida. The depositors raised slogans against the bank and demanded their money back. SBI branch manager Rajinder Singh assured them that their cash will be refunded to them on verification of the deposit slips. The manager distributed claim form to the depositors. The State Bank of India had started this arrangement a year ago. There are dozens of such Inco centres functioning in the Noida area. |
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Engineering college owner shot in Gzb
Ghaziabad, April 16 Suresh Chander Gupta, 58, proprietor of Sunder Deep Engineering College lives in B-142 in Model Town near Vidyarthi College. According to the police, Suresh Chander Gupta was returning home from Nav Yug Market late in the evening in his Wagon R car. As Gupta reached his residence, two bike-borne bandits coming from behind pumped bullets in Gupta's waist from pointblank range as a result, Suresh Chander Gupta slumped on the ground in a pool of blood. The driver immediately drove him to private hospital in Nehru Nagar. Gupta was reportedly talking to someone on mobile phone at the time he was shot. The deceased was also running a pipe business. |
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CMO held for drinking in public
New Delhi, April 16 According to information, Dr Manoj along with his two friends was drinking at Bawana Industrial Area and created a ruckus. After the complaint from the locals, when the Bawana police station officials reached the venue and told Dr Manoj that he was breaking the law, he allegedly misbehaved with the police officials and challenged them to stop him. "Dr Manoj and his two friends were drinking and creating a ruckus after which we took them to Maharishi Valmiki Hospital for a medical test. They were arrested, but since it was a bailable offence, they were allowed to go," said a police official on condition of anonymity. According to information, Dr Manoj was on duty at emergency ward and it seems he was partying while awaiting any emergency call. Hospital authorities have been intimated by the police and action is likely to be taken against him. |
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Youth held for snatching purse of Libyan envoy’s wife
New Delhi, April 16 The crime took about a week ago when Tawfiq S. Elfaghy, PS to ambassador of Libya, Ramadan Eid Elbhbah reported that a purse containing about Rs 8,000 and a Nokia mobile were snatched from Fatehia Harhor, wife of ambassador, while she was moving with her children at C Block market. According to information, four boys on two motorcycles came there and one of the pillion riders snatched the purse from the shoulder of Fatehia Harhor and fled. According to Dhaliwal, efforts of a police team bore fruit when Jaswinder, alias Raja, was arrested this morning from near Gurudwara C Block, Defence Colony. One Nokia mobile phone make 6120-C was recovered from his possession. During interrogation, Jaswinder told the police that he along with his accomplices Bunty and Pappiya had snatched the purse and mobile phone of the ambassador's wife. Jaswinder was earlier arrested in a similar case by the Kirti Nagar police. His involvement in other cases is being verified. Raids are also being conducted to apprehend the absconding accused. |
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BSF man held for murdering colleague
New Delhi, April 16 He was wanted by the Rajasthan Police in the murder case and was residing in Rohini to evade arrest, S.S. Yadav, additional commissioner of police (north), said. Dinesh and the victim Bhiwani, both wrestlers, were serving in the BSF. "Singh used to keep his family with him at the place of his posting. While their posting at Silchar in Assam in 2009, Dinesh got intimate with the wife of Singh and relation between the two friends got strained due to this. "In May 2010, Dinesh along with his associates went to Taskola at the behest of the victim's wife Meena Kanwar and shot dead Singh with his licensed rifle," Yadav said. Meena and other co-accused were arrested for entering into criminal conspiracy to kill Singh but Dinesh was still at large.
— PTI |
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Mom-son shot at for refusing to give donation
Ghaziabad, April 16 Three persons came to the house of Pratibha in the Char Dabba area and asked for donation for setting up an ashram for the poor. However, she refused, following which they shot at her and her 19-year-old son Mohit, SP (rural) A K Mishra said. The injured were rushed to Yashoda Hospital here where they are stated to be in a critical condition, he said.
— PTI |
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195 challaned for drunken driving
New Delhi, April 16 A three-hour-long drive was conducted at 50 locations of the Capital. "The offenders of drunken driving will be appearing in court with punishment in fines, driving licence suspension and jail term," Garg said, adding that apart from drunken driving, 35 were prosecuted for dangerous driving, 60 for no-entry restrictions and 17 for other violations. There were 59 HTVs, 25 LGVs, 72 cars, 151 two-wheelers involved in offences. As many as 64 vehicles were impounded. |
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Rain expected in some parts today
New Delhi, April 16 The humidity levels remained between 75 and 35 per cent, according to the weather department. “There is a possibility of thunder squalls in some parts of the city on Sunday. The sky will remain cloudy throughout the day,” said an official of the department. |
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