New Delhi, October 27
The Capital was immersed in sparkling lights and sound of crackers and people seemed to be carried away in the Divali fervour, but it was work for many, including the cops and doctors on emergency duty at the various hospitals in the city.

Those on guard on the city’s streets could feel the atmosphere at least, but for the doctors at the casualties, it was another day aloof from the festivities. Still it was some relief for them this festive night as the number of patients reporting to hospitals following mishaps related to fireworks was not so high compared to previous years.

Meanwhile, two women in their middle ages brought last night to Safdarjung Hospital’s burns casualty succumbed to their extensive fire injuries during treatment.

Barring a few tertiary hospitals, Lok Nayak Jai Prakash Hospital (LNJP), Guru Tegh Bahadur Hospital apart from Safdarjung Hospital (SH), where the cases were higher than the normal figures, the situation at most of the hospitals’ casualties seemed to be within control.

At the SH’s emergency of the burns, plastics and maxillofacial department, a total of 17 consultants and 30 resident doctors besides the nursing staff were stationed while patients, mostly young adults, started trickling in around 9 pm. A total of 132 patients were attended, besides the few routine cases.

“Until 9 this morning, we got a total of 142 patients, of which 132 were those who came with injuries related to firecrackers and we admitted eight such patients. We also admitted five other patients and among all those admitted, four patients with 80-90 per cent burns died. Among the casualties, included two injured due to firecrackers and two who suffered burns in other accidents,” said Prof R P Narayan, acting HoD of the burns department.

While extra staff was deputed at most of the government hospitals in anticipation of the usual upsurge in burn cases, most of the hospitals received fewer cases.

Further, Baba Rao Ambedkar Hospital saw 25 cases this time while Lok Nayak Jai Prakash reported 15 cases until this afternoon.

Similarly, several private/trust-based hospitals, such as Moolchand saw four patients and at Sir Ganga Ram Hospital (SGRH), the figures were quite low.

Dermatologist and surgeon Dr Rohit Batra at SGRH, said this time the hospital received seven patients, including two admitted with deep burns.

“Depending on the part of body involved and extent of injury, the treatment is done on the basis of “the rule of nine” and the two patients would require admission for at least two weeks,” he said.

New Delhi, October 27
Even as the national Capital celebrated a safe Divali, the city's fire department received more than 200 calls last night.

A fire department official said that a total of 210 calls were received at Divali yesterday since morning till late at night. However, no major fire incident was reported, except for a blaze at a restaurant in south Delhi's Hauz Khas and an incident in Rohini where a house caught fire, leaving seven people injured.

"In Hauz Khas, the blaze was reported from a four-storeyed building where Prayag Restaurant is located. The fire spread soon after its owners held Divali puja on the premises. However, no one was injured in the incident as the restaurant was closed. Twelve fire engines were rushed to the spot and the fire was controlled," said the official.

"We received nearly 85 calls till 8 pm yesterday. The rest of the 125 calls came in after 8 pm over the next eight hours. Between 6.00 pm and 8.00 pm alone last evening, there were close to 25 calls," he added.

Director, Delhi Fire Service, A K Sharma said, "We have received more calls this year. Last year we received 170 calls; while this time about 210 calls have been registered."

Sharma said that 900 fire brigade officials were on duty, with more than 125 fire brigade vehicles, 10 bikes, five Innovas. There were more than 10 helpline numbers managed by 6 different officials. On an average, the department receives close to 60 calls.

New Delhi, October 27
Three days after the JNU administration issued a "show cause" notice to Jitendra Yadav, a PhD student of Centre of Indian Languages, for circulating a religiously "offensive" poster during Durga Puja on campus, Yadav is now planning to file a legal case against the university in the matter.

Yadav who was supposed to file a reply today had asked for more time and has been granted an extension for three days by the varsity.

The controversial poster in question was picked up from an article, 'The Dalit viewpoint of Durga-Mahishasura' in the Forward Press magazine.

Jitendra Yadav who is the president of All India Backward Students Forum (AIBSF) today defended himself and said, "The controversial posters did not bear my signatures and hence I feel that I alone cannot be held responsible for circulating them. It was the organisation that had circulated the poster and they cannot single me out. I am currently in the process of seeking legal advice on the matter and I plan to file a case against the university, especially against the proctor, who has issued notice."

The university's notice three days ago had asked Yadav to explain "his misconduct and serious indiscipline" and found him guilty for releasing an "offensive" poster depicting a deity "in a derogatory manner that led to violent incidents between students.

Almost three weeks ago, the university saw an uproar after a section of Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) and All India Backward Students' Forum (AIBSF) had clashed over these 'blasphemous posters on campus that hurt religious sentiments'. An FIR was also lodged at the Vasant Kunj police station and that is when the university had stepped in and called for an enquiry.

Meanwhile, The Forward Press magazine also defended its article titled -- 'Kiski Puja Kar Rahe Hain Bahujan?' that was published in its October edition, saying that these allegations were "undesirable".

Editor Pramod Ranjan in a statement today said, "Forward Press mainly emphasizes the evident and new facts that prove India's oppressed Bahujan`s society`s history, culture and tradition."

Across the campus, student political outfits are angry with the administration's move on issuing a notice to Yadav. The AIBSF and United Dalit Students Forum (UDSF) today jointly condemned the show cause notice and threatened to launch a protest if the university punishes him.

The groups said in a statement that the university was acting with "an intention of revenge" against them and demanded that a fresh enquiry be conducted into the incident with representatives of all the student bodies like AISA, SFI, SFR and NSUI included in the panel.

New Delhi, October 27
As the national Capital gears itself to host the country's first-ever Formula 1 (F1) race, the country's anti-polio campaign today got a fillip with the two-time world champion Fernando Alonso joining the drive.

"Every child deserves the right to run, to play and live a healthy life without polio," said Alonso, also the UNICEF's brand ambassador, on his visit to the government-run Chacha Nehru Bal Chikitsalaya (CNBC) here. In run-up to the visit of the Spanish Ferrari racer, the hospital had made special arrangements and today the staff at the hospital also seemed to be busy for his visit.

Having come for the Indian Grand Prix, Alonso stressed the need to work towards completely eradicating the crippling disease. He came to the hospital this morning and spent almost an hour with the children undergoing treatment for paralysis in the hospital's Child Development Centre. He distributed Divali gifts to them.

The Spanish speed wizard also administered oral polio drops to five infants.

This year with just one case from Howrah reported on January 13 vis-à-vis 39 cases last year, Alonso lauded the initiatives taken up by India towards wiping out polio.

"Polio is a terrible, crippling disease of children, which we can and should be eradicated from the planet," he said.

In this regard, the World Health Organisation also stated two days ago that this year would be crucial for the country for eradicating the disease. Importantly, two states Uttar Pradesh and Bihar, which are the main contributors towards the country's polio figures, have managed to sail this year even as the Union health minister Ghulam Nabi Azad said that there is no room for complacency.

On World Polio Day last Sunday, the health minister said, "We are close to our goal, but not taking any chances. Efforts will be intensified in the country to stop residual polio virus circulation."

New Delhi, October 27
Though air pollution declined in Delhi this year on the night of Divali festival, in some areas like R.K. Puram and Civil Lines, it was higher in comparison to last year. Noise level was slightly higher due to bursting of more loud crackers, said Secretary, Environment, Delhi government, Keshav Chandra.

He said that bursting crackers was not the reason for rise in air pollution in R. K. Puram and Civil Lines. It was the vehicular traffic that is the main reason of air pollution.

The Delhi government has set up five places - R. K. Puram, Mandir Marg, Punjabi Bagh, Civil Lines and IGI Airport - to monitor air pollution and the Central government has installed instruments to check air quality at 12 places. Data released by the Delhi government and Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) showed that air pollution, particularly levels of pollutants in the air, was much lower this Divali compared to last year.

Keshav Chandra said that respiratory suspended particulate matter (RSPM) values yesterday ranged between 416 and 635 microgram per cubic metre as compared to 704 and 1350 microgram per cubic metre during Divali last year. This is an effect of sustained campaign launched by the government. The Chief Minister personally appealed to the citizens and children for saying 'no' to crackers.

Monitoring was carried out at Lajpat Nagar, Mayur Vihar (Phase-II), Pitampura, Kamla Nagar, Dilshad Garden, East Arjun Nagar, Ansari Nagar, Connaught Place and ITO between 6 pm and 12 am. Air pollutant levels were found to be lower as compared to Divali last year.

Noida, October 27
The safety of the passengers alighting at Delhi or New Delhi railway stations and travelling alone to Noida and Ghaziabad in three-wheelers or taxis has again become a matter of concern after an elderly resident of Noida was drugged and dumped at the bustling ITO on Tuesday.

It has also raised questions about the authorities' failure to formalize the cross-border movement of taxis and autos in the NCR.

A retired senior manager of GAIL, Siddharto Sen, 60, reached Delhi by the Duronto Express from Kolkata on October 25 in the morning. Shortly afterwards, he boarded an auto outside New Delhi Railway Station for his residence in Sector-63, Noida. The auto driver and his accomplice drugged Sen and then dumped him near a bridge at ITO.

Sen was found unconscious many hours after the incident by a police control room vehicle and admitted to LNJP Hospital.

His worried family came to know about his whereabouts only around 1 am on Tuesday, 13 hours after the incident. Sen was then moved to Fortis Hospital in Noida.

Meanwhile, the crime and railway wings of Delhi police are scanning the phone records to nab the robbers.

Sartaki, Sen's son, who works with an MNC in Gurgaon, said his father remembered having taken water offered by the auto driver and his co-passenger.

"My father spoke to me around 10.15 am. He told me he would reach home soon. However, when he did not return till 3 pm, I began searching for him. Every time I rang his mobile, someone disconnected the call. I approached the Noida PCR and finally traced father at 1 am. We then shifted him to Noida, where he had to be admitted to the ICU of Fortis Hospital. He is now out of danger," he said.

The surprised policemen said the robbers generally operate at night, but the fact that they carried out the crime in the morning and that, too, at ITO intersection shows their audacity.

Police officials said people should not travel with strangers or accept any eatable from them. Travellers should also keep their relatives informed of their whereabouts and communicate the number of the taxi they have boarded.

A lot many people travelling between Delhi and Noida, and the other NCR towns, are harassed and have brushes with criminals every day. Passengers pay exorbitant fares and also travel on drivers' terms, such as accommodating strangers. Autos in UP and Delhi do not go across the state border, and if they do, they would just charge double the fare.

New Delhi, October 27
With the aim of clearing extra rush of passengers during the Chhat festival, Northern Railway has decided to run 74 trips of special trains.

Patna-bound trains will be departing from New Delhi, Old Delhi and Sarai Rohilla stations from here.

New Delhi-Patna-New Delhi unreserved special train, Old Delhi-Darbhanga-Old Delhi special train, Old Delhi-Patna-Old Delhi tri-weekly superfast special, Delhi Sarai Rohilla-Patna- Delhi Sarai Rohilla triweekly special train (via Moradabad and Lucknow) and Delhi Sarai Rohilla-Darbhanga Biweekly Express are being pressed into service to clear the festive rush, said a senior Northern Railway official.

Railways have also decided to run Ludhiana-Saharsa-Ambala unreserved Express, New Delhi-Lucknow-New Delhi Shatabdi Special and Lucknow-Delhi-Lucknow Express Special trains to clear extra rush during this time.

New Delhi-Patna unreserved special train will make total five trips from today to October 31 from New Delhi station at 2.50 pm to reach Patna at 9.50 am, the next day.

In the return direction, the Patna-New Delhi unreserved special will make five trips departing from Patna at 12.50 pm from October to reach New Delhi at 11.25 am, the next day.

The special train with 16 general second class and sleeper class and luggage van coaches, will stop at Ghaziabad, Kanpur, Allahabad, Mughalsarai, Baxur, Ara and Danapur stations en route in both directions.

The Delhi-Patna triweekly Superfast special will depart every Monday, Wednesday and Saturday from October 26 to November 14 from Old Delhi at 00.15 (midnight) to reach Patna at 5.35 pm, the same day.

While in the return direction, the Patna-Delhi triweekly superfast special will depart from Patna every Monday, Wednesday and Saturday from October 26 to November 14 at 8.10 pm to reach Delhi at 2.15 pm, the next day.

Delhi Sarai Rohilla-Darbhanga unreserved special train will depart from Delhi Sarai Rohilla at 10 am on October 27, 29 and 30 to reach Darbhanga at 12.05 pm the next day.

In the return direction, the Darbhanga-Delhi Sarai Rohilla special train will depart from Darbhanga at 3 pm on October 28, 30 and November 2 to reach Delhi Sarai Rohilla at 4.50 pm, the next day.

The New Delhi-Lucknow special train will depart from New Delhi at 1.50 pm on October 28 and 30 to reach Lucknow at 10.20 pm the same day.

In the return direction, the Lucknow-New Delhi special will depart from Lucknow at 5.50 am on October 29 and 31 to reach New Delhi at 2.25 pm, the same day. — PTI

Greater Noida, October 27
The police has lodged an FIR more than five months after the securitymen allegedly raped women in Bhatta-Parsaul, during the farmers' agitation over land acquisition.

However, according to the complainants, "a bigger battle awaits them".

"It's not a verdict. We moved the chief judicial magistrate (CJM) when the police did not register a case. We know the police will do everything to prove that the charges are bogus. The real battle for justice begins now," said a complainant on whose complaint the CJM ordered an FIR be lodged against 16 policemen.

"When we first went to Dankaur police station to register the FIR, we were turned away. We then moved the CJM court and got an order. The police challenged the order in the district court as well as the high court, but the two courts rejected their petitions," said Ved Prakash Sharma, complainant's lawyer.

The rape allegations pitched the Mayawati administration against Rahul Gandhi ahead of the UP assembly elections, when the Congress general secretary visited area soon after the clashes and alleged that policemen burnt farmers alive and raped women.

"On May 12, we told the NCW that policemen raped us. We approached the National Commission for Scheduled Caste (NCSC), which asked the police to register the case, but nobody did anything," said another alleged victim.

New Delhi, October 27
With the arrest of two desperate killers, Amir and Khem Chand, the South District police has worked out a sensational case of murder of a UP police constable and another case of autolifting.

A blood-stained dagger, one semi-automatic pistol (made in Italy), one stolen motorcycle and Rs 5,000 have been recovered from their possession.

On sustained interrogation, the accused confessed that they along with their accomplices committed the murder of a UP police constable in Sahibabad and robbed him of Rs 40,000, one mobile phone and a motorcycle.

They disclosed that while they were trying to steal a vehicle at Shiv Chowk near Ganesh Puri, UP, constable Jitender tried to nab them. So, they killed him with a dagger.

They also disclosed the names of their accomplices as Nadeem and Monu who helped them in the crime. Efforts are on to nab the absconding accused.

The 21-year-old Amir has previously been involved in two cases of Arms/Gangster Act and robbery in Sahibabad.

He completed his primary education and presently studying in 10th class. Khem Chand (24) has been involved in nine cases of theft.

New Delhi October 27
Several Resident Welfare Associations (RWAs) and activists have strongly criticised the Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit's recent statement on another power tariff hike in the Capital, terming it totally anti-people.

"Just a few days before the earlier power tariff hike, she had similarly hinted and suggested a power tariff hike before the public hearing by Delhi Electricity Regulatory Authority (DERC). The electricity rates were then hiked by more than 22 per cent by the regulatory body, ignoring the major points raised by the RWAs in the Capital. I don't understand the purpose of conducting hearing when they do not take cognisance of the people's opposition to tariff hike," said Anil Bajpai , president RWA Federation, East Delhi.

"It seems Delhi Chief Minister has become a mute spectator to residents' problems and is more interested in representing and protecting the interests of the private power distribution companies which are fully exploiting the customers," said Muzibur Rahman, president, Jama Masjid Aman Committee of the walled city.

"The Delhi government led by Sheila Dikshit is unaware of the problems confronting the people or it has been sold out to the private power distribution companies. The RWAs oppose the power tariff hike till the auditing of accounts of the private power distribution companies by the CAG. The government is depriving people of their right to live by raising the prices of commodities of daily use and utilities," said Sandeep Vij of GH 14 RWA, Paschim Vihar.

"We have consistently said that the power privatisation model in Delhi is flawed, corrupted and designed to profit private companies at the cost of honest consumers. DERC which has been set up through the Electricity Consumers Advocacy Committee (ECAC) is depending on Discoms' own performance standards," said Manmohan Mehra of Kiran Vihar RWA.

"The entire process of inviting public consultation by DERC was a farce and Delhi Chief Minister had hinted at power tariff hike even before the public hearing. When everything had already been decided, why call public hearing," added Anil Bajpai of RWA Federation, East Delhi, which plans to burn effigies of power tariff hike and Delhi government on various crossings across the Capital.

New Delhi, October 27
Slamming police investigators, the Delhi High Court today set aside the life term awarded to a man for the 1996 dowry death of a woman, who claimed to be his wife.

"There is no cogent proof on record to prove valid marriage between the deceased (Rajni) and the appellant (Lalit)," said the division bench of Justice Pradeep Nandrajog and Justice S.P. Garg today while quashing the sentence.

It had come on record that earlier the deceased woman was married with Ikram and her marriage with him continued for about four years. Her valid marriage with Lalit could not be proved, the court said.

"In the alleged dying declaration, the deceased has attributed motive to the appellant that he used to force her to indulge in prostitution. There is no material on record to substantiate this version of the deceased," the court said.

Striking down the verdict of the trial court against Lalit, the judges said: "The impugned judgment and order on sentence of the trial court cannot be sustained and the same are accordingly set aside."

The trial court convicted Lalit under penal provisions related to murder and the husband or relative of the husband of a woman subjecting her to cruelty.

Lalit appealed against the trial court verdict and challenged the reliability of Rajni's dying declaration, pointing out inconsistencies in the prosecution case.

The high court judges said that Lalit was able to pinpoint a number of inconsistencies in the recording of the dying declaration of the deceased, which forced them not to believe it.

"There is considerable delay in recording the dying declaration of the deceased which has remained unexplained. The burning incident took place on the evening of June 21, 1996, at the parents' house of the deceased. The deceased was removed to RML Hospital by the appellant himself. At that time, the deceased Rajni was conscious," the court said.

Rajni never disclosed to the doctor preparing the medico-legal case (MLC) if Lalit had set her on fire. It was merely mentioned in the MLC that it was a case of burns, the court said.

Parents of the deceased never lodged any complaint with the police attributing any motive to Lalit for setting Rajni on fire, it observed.

The bench, while pulling up police, said that the investigative officer (IO) did not make sincere efforts to record the statement made by Rajni before dying. The police have presented two dying declarations, which cannot be relied upon.

"The IO did not bother even to cite parents of the deceased as witness before the court," said the bench. — IANS

New Delhi, October 27
A youth facing trial on charges of raping a girl after kidnapping her with help from his sibling in 2009 has been let off by a Delhi court after the alleged victim stated that he had had married her early this year and the accused did not commit any wrong act with her.

While acquitting East Delhi resident Imran of the rape and kidnapping charges, Additional Sessions Judge Sanjay Sharma also let off his brother Irfan of the charges of helping his brother in committing the crime.

The court let off the two brothers after the girl deposed that her parents had implicated them in false case as they were opposed to her marriage with Imran.

"It is to be noted here that she is now married to accused Imran which fact she stated in her statement while adding that neither Imran nor Irfan (his brother) committed any wrong act with her," the court said.

ASJ Sharma also rejected the prosecution argument that the girl was only about 14 years old at the time of alleged incident, saying, "When the girl had not made any allegation that either she was kidnapped or raped by the accused, the age factor would not be of any consequence."

As per the prosecution case, the girl's parents had told the police on September 12, 2009 that Imran and his brother had kidnapped their daughter a day earlier.

They added two days later that she was also raped by Imran in captivity. — IANS