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MCD chief heckled over demolition drive
Dismiss ‘callous’ Railway officials: HC
Court orders eviction of illegal occupants of govt houses
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‘School violating right to equality’
Bus stop hoardings lit by stolen power
Backward class CNG bus operators to get interest subsidy
Illegal overseas phone exchange busted
New treatment for emphysema patients
HC declines to stay demolition drive
Govt to decentralise procedures for new units
Demand to check role of ‘education mafia’
BJP to join strike against demolitions
National integration camp at Jamia Millia
Blast accused to undergo narco-analysis test
School holds adventure camp
Target buildings of influential people: Soni
Academy owner arrested for cheating
LG asked to reconsider ban on LCVs
Guru Purab celebration
Checking of BPO cabs to be enforced
Shutdown of piped gas supply for maintenance
Silver jubilee celebrated
Air traffic normal as fog disappears
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MCD chief heckled over demolition drive
New Delhi, December 26 Soon after the MCD House was adjourned after passing obituary references, a group of councillors stormed Nigam’s office alleging that officials were “blackmailing” people and demanding money from them for not demolishing their unauthorised constructions. The slogan-shouting councillors also entered the Mayor’s office to lodge their protest. Both Congress and BJP Corporators also trained guns at the administration for “inept handling” of the case in the High Court leading to the order of demolition of over 18,000 unauthorised constructions in the Capital. Talking to reporters, Opposition Leader in the House Subhash Arya alleged that MCD officials were hand-in-glove with builder mafia and were following “a pick and choose” policy when it comes to demolition of illegal structures. “The officials are taking action in connivance with builder mafia and that is why big illegal constructions are being left out deliberately,” he said. Interestingly, the BJP leader’s assertion was supported by Leader of the House and Congress councillor Jitendra Kochar and Chairman of the Standing Committee and Congress member Mukesh Goyal. “The officials had taken money for abetting illegal constructions and now they are demanding money for not demolishing the structures,” Kochar said while Goyal noted that the administration’s handling of the case in High Court was not up to the mark. Mr Arya said if the corporation was bent upon taking action against such constructions, it should demolish MCD’s office located in Ambedkar Stadium where Municipal Commissioner also sat as this was unauthorised. In Town Hall, no construction can be done as this is a heritage building, but constructions have been done in its corridors which should also be demolished. Vikas Minar which houses DDA offices is also unauthorised, he claimed. Besides, unauthorised constructions have taken place in Sales Tax buildings and Police Headquarters, he alleged. BJP corporator Vijender Gupta alleged that even while the MCD was on a demolition drive, unauthorised construction is still going on in a farmhouse on Mehrauli-Gurgaon road. In November, the then Municipal Commissioner Rakesh Mehta in a written order to the Zonal Deputy Commissioners said “unauthorised construction is going on in connivance with the zonal staff and vigilance department. The relevant papers of such constructions are available with the zonal staff as well as vigilance department but these are not put up to me”. He said, “there is serious nexus between some staff of the vigilance department, building department of the zone and owner or builder of the properties”. Following the protests by councillors, a high-level meeting of the Corporation decided to remove on-going unauthorised structures first. The meeting attended by Mayor Satbir Singh, Leader of the House Jitendra Kochar, Opposition leader Subhash Arya, Chairman of the Standing Committee Mukesh Goyal, MCD Commissioner A K Nigam and senior officials decided to give priority to demolish illegal structures under construction. In another development today, the Delhi Cabinet proposed forming a ‘core committee’ to study the housing needs of the Capital’s denizens. While the demolition of unauthorised constructions and need for review of building norms in the Capital dominated the Cabinet meeting chaired by Chief Minister Ms Sheila Dikshit, Urban Development Minister A K Walia said the government was planning to form a core group to study the issue. “This core group will study the various aspects of the issue and its inputs will be helpful when a committee is formed on the lines of the V K Malhotra Committee to recommend changes in building norms,” Dr Walia said. The core group is expected to be formed within ten days. Noting that migration into Delhi and the resultant increase in the Capital’s population was putting pressure on the housing infrastructure, Dr Walia said there was a need relax the building norms. He also said that “multiplicity of authorities” in the Capital, as Delhi did not enjoy full statehood, was posing problems in tackling the problem of unauthorised construction. Reacting to media reports that a clinic owned by him in an east Delhi area violated housing norms, Dr Walia said when the area where the building is located, earlier an unauthorised locality, was regularised, so was the building. “In the last 25 years, no alterations have been made in the building. It does not violate any norms,” he said. Commenting on the issue, Ms Sheila Dikshit assured equal treatment of all denizens under the ongoing demolition drive. “This is a matter of court and everybody is equal in the eyes of the law,” Dikshit told reporters when asked for her comments on reports about alleged illegal constructions belonging to Delhi Congressmen. The Chief Minister also said she has asked MCD Commissioner Ashok Kumar Nigam to publish the entire list of 18,000 illegal structures, which as per the Delhi High Court’s order have to be pulled down within four weeks, on the corporation’s website so that the people know if their property is unauthorised and take necessary steps. Dikshit, however, refused to comment on allegations that the MCD was adopting a “pick and choose” approach in the demolition drive. “It is for them to decide how they will do it,” she said. The MCD’s demolition drive, meanwhile, continued at a snail’s pace with the civic body taking action against 39 illegal structures today. MCD officials demolished, either partly or fully, 39 unauthorised structures at nearly 15 places in 11 zones of the Capital, taking the total number of illegal constructions against whom action had been taken in eight days to cross 270. The civic body pulled down 24 residential properties, including 17 in Rohini area, and 15 commercial establishments. Thirteen residential properties were fully demolished while 11 houses and 13 commercial establishments were partly pulled down amid the now-common sight of slogan shouting and protests by affected people.
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Dismiss ‘callous’ Railway officials: HC
New Delhi, December 26 Refusing to condone the delay for filing the belated appeal, a Division Bench of Chief Justice Markendaya Katju and Justice Madan B Lokur dismissed the application seeking condonation of the delay as well as the appeal filed against an order of the Labour Court. A Labour Court had earlier in October 2003 passed an award in favour of a Railway employee Kameshwar Dubey granting him relief to the tune of Rs 42,919. However, Railway officials who wanted to appeal against the order failed to file the same within the three months limitiation period. Railway Counsel B S Rajesh Agrajit submitted that the delay occurred as the file pertaining to the appeal proposal kept circulating among different departmental heads between October 2003 and July 2005. It was contended that the delay was precipitated due to the typical bureaucratic style of raising queries and counter queries in total disregard of the limitation period before which an appeal has to be filed. Ironically, even after the Railway authorities decided to file an appeal, the original file pertaining to the whole issue was “lost”, compelling the officialdom to file a “Letter Patent Appeal” without most of the crucial document. “In our opinion the cause shown is clearly not sufficient for condoning the delay; rather it calls for reprimand and censure of the persons concerned for the manner in which the whole matter has been treated by the authorities concerned,” the Bench observed. The Bench noted that the delay was obvious as the officers concerned are not going to lose anything from their pockets even if the appeal is dismissed on the ground of limitation or other reasons as they have no personal interest at stake. “We direct the appellant (Railways) to identify the officials responsible for this delay at the earliest and strong departmental action be taken against them if necessary, including their suspension and dismissal in accordance with the law,” the Bench directed while dismissing the appeal along with the plea for
condonation.
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Court orders eviction of illegal occupants of govt houses
New Delhi, December 26 “It has been noticed that many flats in Gulabi Bagh have not been occupied by original allottees but let out to strangers and whenever crime is committed, these suspects are not located as they live for a short period due to which crime is on the rise,” Metropolitan Magistrate Ajay Goel said while hearing a robbery case from the area. Expressing “concern” at the “brazen violation” of government rules, the court sought a report from the executive engineer of the area and secretaries of Resident Welfare Associations by January 3, the next date of hearing. The court has asked them to apprise it as to what action they have taken and how far they succeeded in getting the order complied. Earlier, a committee comprising executive engineer of the area and superintendent (allotment) of PWD was formed to deal with the law-breakers but they could not make much headway. The Assistant Housing Commissioner had also submitted that they had conducted a detailed survey but the court said “it was not satisfied with the process”. The order came when the police, who were on the look out for a man involved in a vehicle theft, told the court that the accused was living in a government accommodation as a tenant of the original allottee but now some other tenant was occupying the house as he had vacated the place.
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‘School violating right to equality’
New Delhi, December 26 To the question seeking the rationale behind indicating castes, the school administration’s reply is this, “we often get queries from the Department of Education asking us to furnish details of those who belong to the OBC category or are Muslims or from other reserved categories. So we have put up the charts that give us the figures without having to look for them”. Pasting these charts on the walls may save the school’s principal time spent otherwise to scan the figures that should normally lie buried in files, but the practice is sure to have an adverse effect on the students. “Even as we are trying to bring down the walls of caste, practices as this will reinforce discrimination. What impact are these charts going to have on the psyche of a child? Instead of enhancing their knowledge, such charts will poison their young minds; castes instead of other values will become the benchmark for distinguishing,” said Advocate Ashok Agarwal, Convenor, Right to Education Task Force. He added, “this school is only a case in point, the practice is followed in most other schools as well and is totally in violation of the right to equality”. However the school’s principal sees the charts only as a means of providing official data. “There are scholarships and free uniforms that the DoE provides to the students from the reserved castes and minority community, so to help us identify these students we have put up the charts,” he says. The implications of segregating students on the basis of their caste is not the only worry. Stakeholders are as concerned about the abysmally low percentage of students from reserved categories in the state run schools. They point out that it is imperative to understand why poor students from marginalised backgrounds are not in school in greater numbers, because that pertains to real discrimination.
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Bus stop hoardings lit by stolen power
New Delhi, December 26 It is generally believed that power theft is the main reason behind the woes plaguing Delhi, be they frequent load shedding, local area faults, or increasing electricity tariffs. It is estimated that about 30 per cent of the power in Delhi is stolen. This includes flashily lit bus shelter hoardings get power. Almost all the bus shelters in the national Capital territory of Delhi are reportedly indulging in direct theft (hooking from overhead LT Wires) to light their fancy hoardings. The annual loss to BSES is over Rs 8 crores on account of these. DTC has over 2,000 bus shelters in Delhi. The total outstanding dues from these backlit hoardings are over a whopping Rs 13 crores. BSES wrote to the DTC chairman on December 15, 2004 to inform him that the total connected load in 2,215 DTC bus shelters in the city was 4430 KW. A ‘Provisional Assessment Bill’ of Rs 86 crore was subsequently sent to DTC. DTC replied in February, 2005 clarifying that since it had given all the rights of advertisements on these bus shelters to various advertisers, it was their duty to secure legal connections. “As per the terms and conditions signed between DTC and the advertiser, they have to install the electrical connections on their own. DTC will not provide then an electric connection. If you find any hoarding/Bus Q Shelters fixed with electricity, but without electric meter, you are free to take action as per your rules,” the DTC wrote. As per the list of advertisers provided by DTC, there are a total of 50 advertisers, who have been contracted by the DTC. These advertisers owe BSES over Rs 13 crores in electricity dues as 800 of the over 2,000 bus shelters in Delhi are electrified. Each typical bus shelter has a load of more than 3 KW (56 tube lights) and runs for around 12 hours. The average electricity bill per shelter is around Rs 6,325 per month. The outdoor advertising agencies, which charge anywhere between Rs 80,000 and Rs 2.5 lakh as rental are, however, reluctant to pay these charges for some reason. BSES has been following up with them over the past few months, but in vain. According to sources in BSES, the company is planning to launch a massive drive against these illegal connections in the coming days and plans to book these advertisers for direct theft. If convicted, they are likely to face stiff penalties, including jail.
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Backward class CNG bus operators to get interest subsidy
New Delhi, December 26 The decision was taken here today in a meeting chaired by Chief Minister Ms Sheila Dikshit. Addressing the media, she said that the amount of Rs 2.05 crore would be released as subsidy immediately by Delhi Government in order to provide a timely relief to the beneficiaries and to safeguard them from accumulated interest, including penal interest and an equal amount would be recouped as soon as the requisite amount is released by the Supreme Court as the subsidy is to be paid out of the penalties collected by the Transport Department from the defaulting diesel bus operators and deposited with the apex court. Ms Dikshit said that the new scheme envisages a grant of interest subsidy at 4 percent on the loan taken by the identified beneficiaries for purchase of CNG buses through the Delhi Financial Corporation. The Transport Department had earlier filed an affidavit requesting the Apex Court to pass an appropriate order for release of the amount from its treasury but the matter could not be taken up in the last two hearings. The amount is being released to give relief to transport operators belonging to SC/ST/OBC. The amount of interest subsidy varies from Rs 2.44 to 2.61 lakhs, it was mentioned.
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Illegal overseas phone exchange busted
New Delhi, December 26 During a search at Agrim Apartment, Sushant Lok Phase-1, the agency recovered several state-of-the-art gadgets powering the exchange, including Voice over Internet Protocol Gateway cum Channel Bank having 360-line capacity, 123 fixed cellular terminals, antenna, computers, routers, EPABX sysem etc. The accused had installed the illegal set up to avoid Access Deficit Charge (ADC) which is paid to the government by International Long Distance (ILD) operators to get permission to receive and carry incoming international calls within the domestic network and terminate the same in the network of the called operator. He thus caused a loss of crores to the government besides putting national security at risk. After the seizures, the Cyber Crime cell of the CBI has registered cases under various sections of IPC and the India Telegraph Act of 1885. The accused has been produced in a city court and is in police remand now. The CBI said it will apply for further remand of the accused tomorrow.
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New treatment for emphysema patients
New Delhi, December 26 The LVRS aims to remove the least functional part of the lungs in order to improve airflow, diaphagram and chest wall mechanics and alveolar gas exchange in the remaining portion of the lungs. The diseased part of the lungs can be accessed by various techniques including median
sternotomy. This latter procedure involves cutting through the sternum to open the chest. This video-assisted procedure involves making a number of small incisions in both sides of the chest to allow the insertion of instruments into the chest between the ribs. The surgery targets at reducing the volume of each lung by 20-30 per cent. This is carried out by a surgical stapling device to cut and seal the tissues, laser ablation to shrink lung volume or a combination of both. Once the tissue has been removed, the lung is re-inflated and the chest closed. This surgery, the
LVRS, has been successfully attempted by the hospital on a patient. The patient, a 53-year-old gentleman with smoking-related emphysema, was extremely breathless at rest despite maximum possible medical treatment. He was evaluated by Dr R.K. Mani and found suitable for
LVRS. At the institute, this patients case was handled by Dr Sabhyasachi Bal, a pioneer in LVRS in India. Within four days of the surgery, the patient was off oxygen, his breathing was comfortable and his walking distance had increased by 100 meters. He was discharged after four days and is expected to improve further over a period of 3-6 months.
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HC declines to stay demolition drive
New Delhi, December 26 Making a special plea in the form of a PIL before the vacation bench of Justice R C Jain and Justice Sanjeev Khanna, city legislator Prahlad Singh Sawhney, through counsel A Maithri, claimed that if the present application is not entertained at this stage, great injustice would be caused to the public at large. The petitioner pleaded that the court defer the order till the government takes
a decision in respect to the proposed amnesty scheme and draft Master Plan 2021. The legislator also asked the court to grant permission to be impleaded in the ongoing proceedings on the demolition issue being dealt with by the Division Bench of Justice Vijender Jain and Justice Rekha Sharma. “How can we interfere at this stage? Let this matter be taken up before the Division Bench which has ordered the demolition,” the vacation bench observed, while refusing to pass any interim orders.
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Govt to decentralise procedures for new units
Gurgaon, December 26 Entrepreneurs seeking to set-up units involving an expenditure of up to Rs five crore in Haryana will get the clearance at the district headquarters. Addressing a meeting of the Gurgaon Industrialists Association, the Irrigation and Revenue Minister, Capt Ajay Singh Yadav, said here today that industrialists need not rush to the state headquarters at Chandigarh for clearance. Capt Yadav said a decision in this regard would be taken very soon by the state government. This would further simplify the clearance procedure and would save time, he added. The minister said the government was also simplifying the ‘Change-of-Land-Use’ (CLU) procedure for the benefit of the industrialists. If an individual does not get the CLU certificate within a stipulated time administrative action would be taken against the erring government official, he said while referring to the likely changes that are being contemplated in the procedure.
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Demand to check role of ‘education mafia’
Faridabad, December 26 In a memorandum submitted to the Chief Minister and the Governor the Manch has alleged that private education in the state was being controlled by ‘education mafia’ in collaboration with the official machinery and the politicians. It said that hundreds of schools in each district were violating all norms required to run an educational institution. It also called upon the government to spare the teachers from non-educational duties. A ‘Mahapanchayat’ held here adopted 11 resolutions, including the demand to improve the standard of education in government schools.
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BJP to join strike against demolitions
New Delhi, December 26 During the protest, an effigy of the Delhi CM will be burnt demanding her resignation as she failed to stop the demolition of unauthorised buildings. It was unanimous view in the BJP meeting that Congress Councillors, officers of corporations, engineers and police had earned heavily by helping in illegal constructions. President of the Delhi BJP, Mr. Harsh Vardhan said that the only way to avoid illegal construction in future was a total planned development of the entire national Capital region. The NCR Board, DDA, Central Urban Development Ministry and Delhi Government should take concrete steps for this purpose. He said that registration of all the builders working in the Capital should be made compulsory as they will be caught if any building is constructed illegally.
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National integration camp at Jamia Millia
New Delhi, December 26 The objectives of the camp include the promotion of national integration through informal discussion and cultural exchanges. The NSS volunteers are expected to share their diverse experiences and help formulate plans to promote communal harmony. Participants will also be encouraged to perform ‘Shramdan’ under the ‘Clear the Yamuna Awareness Campaign’ in the localities adjoining the Yamuna river close to the JMI campus. In addition, an environment awareness rally will be held. A number of group discussions is planned on subjects such as ‘Media and Social Awareness,’ ‘New Millenium Challenges and Opportunities,’ ‘Role of Youth in Spreading Harmony,’ ‘e-Governance,’ ‘HIV-AIDS’ and ‘Youth for Disaster Management.’
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Blast accused to undergo narco-analysis test
New Delhi, December 26 Dar, Rafiq Shah and Mohammad Fazil were produced before Duty Magistrate Ajay Goel who extended their remand by four days after the Special Cell officials sought time for probing further into the earlier statements of the accused. During the narco test, the accused is put in a semi-conscious state by injecting him with a chemical Sodium
Pentothal, or ‘truth serum’, which prompts him to give spontaneous answers without manipulating them. On November 25, Dar had admitted before the court that he was associated with ultras and transferred hawala money on commission basis but denied any role in the explosions. He also admitted that it was he who had called up a news agency to deny Lashkar’s role in the blasts, which killed 60 people and injured 200 others, on being asked by a friend who was an activist of the outfit. On December 12, the police again produced Dar and Rafiq inside the chamber of Chief Metropolitan Magistrate and recorded their statements regarding their role in the blasts. Dar, an official with Johnson and Johnson company, was accused of coordinating and financing the blasts which took place on the eve of Divali. Police are now probing the possible role of Rafiq in handling the bombs and claims to have proof that it was he who planted the explosive in a bus in
Govindpuri. Initially, police was of the view that Rafiq was only instrumental in arranging funds for carrying out the blasts.
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School holds adventure camp
New Delhi, December 26 Day two of the camp was devoted exclusively to hot air ballooning. Under the expert guidance of qualified and experienced instructors, the children showed keen interest in performing challenging and adventurous activities like para-gliding, rock climbing and treasure hunting. Speaking on the occasion, the principal Ms Swapnaa Das said, “after looking at the enthusiasm and energy of these young ones we have decided to include more adventurous and challenging activities for them to enjoy in the coming sessions. These are vital lessons of character building and personality shaping which cannot be taught within the confines of the classrooms and we are thankful to the parents for extending their whole-hearted support. The hope of another fun-filled camp next year, has made the children happy and cheerful
again”. — TNS
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Target buildings of influential people: Soni
New Delhi, December 26 “Whenever such an order is to be followed, care should be taken that the unauthorised buildings of the influential people, who may have violated the law and not followed the rules, should be targeted first,” Soni told a TV channel. “This way, the common man, who feels he can’t exert any pull or pressure, will not feel that injustice is being done to him,” she said. Soni, who was asked about names of local Congress leaders appearing in the media as having violated building norms, however, refused to react to the reports. “How far the reports are correct or not, I don’t have any information on that. I don’t want to comment on that,” she said.
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Academy owner arrested for cheating
New Delhi, December 26 Ashok Kumar Sharma, owner of Lakshya Academy, was arrested from his Hari Nagar official address following a complaint by a woman, according to the police. The accused had duped the complainant of Rs 75,000 for getting her admitted to the B.Ed. course in Chaudhary Charan Singh University in Meerut. Investigations are also on to ascertain the role of his father who is the principal of a school, police added.
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Exhibition on human rights
New Delhi, December 26 The Union Minister, Mr Kapil Sibal, was the chief guest while the former Chief Justice of India, Mr Ranganath Misra, was the guest of honour. Mr Sibal praised the school for spreading awareness about human rights among its students. It was also emphasised that ending hunger and poverty were important as a hungry person will not understand the language of human rights. A colourful cultural programme was also organised on the occasion.
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LG asked to reconsider ban on LCVs
New Delhi, December 26 If the ban was considered necessary, the LCVs may be allowed to ply after 7 p.m. He said that Delhi was a big commercial centre and thousands of people from within the country and foreign countries came to Chandni Chowk,
Paharganj, Karol Bagh, Gandhi Nagar to purchase goods. These areas have narrow streets and
CNG-run commercial three-wheelers are plying there. Banning on these vehicles would encourage the use of
‘bailgarhi’, ‘thelas’ and cycle rickshaws which ultimately led to traffic jams, he said. He suggested that for smooth flow of traffic, ban should be imposed on commercial vehicles entering in Delhi from neighbouring areas. There are 20, 000 commercial three wheelers registered in Delhi.
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Guru Purab celebration
New Delhi, December 26 A recitation from the Sukhmani Sahib and Nitnem was organised at Gurdwara Mata Sundari. ‘Asa Di Vaar’ along with Shabad Kirtan was performed by Bhai Avtar Singh and Gurcharan Singh. A langar was also organised for the devotees.
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Checking of BPO cabs to be enforced
New Delhi, December 26 “In view of the incident that took place recently, we have issued instructions that the checking of the call centre taxis should be intensified, that the papers of the drivers be checked properly,” Transport Minister Haroon Yusuf told reporters here today. He said instructions had also been issued that the vehicles should be impounded immediately if the documents were not in order. A young woman employee of a call centre was raped and murdered in Bangalore by the driver of a pick-up vehicle recently.
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Shutdown of piped gas supply for maintenance
New Delhi, December 26 The shutdown activities have been scheduled during the night between 10.00 p.m. (Tuesday) and 6.00 a.m. the next day, a statement from Indraprastha Gas Limited said here. PNG supply to households and commercial establishments in areas such as Kaka Nagar, Bapa Nagar, Pandara Road, Pandara Park, Sunder Nagar, Khan Market, Sujan singh Park, Golf Links, Nizamuddin (East and West), Shahjahan Road, Aurangzeb Road, Kali Bari Marg, Baba Kharak Singh Marg, Ashoka Road, K G Marg, Janpath, Bangla Sahib road would be affected.
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Silver jubilee celebrated
New Delhi, December 26 The head of the Mission, Baba Hardev Singh Ji blessed the students and the staff on the occasion. He asked the teachers to spread love and compassion so that the children could imbibe the same qualities. The meritorious students, alumni and those enrolled in other schools, but part of the Nirankari Samagam, were felicitated by Baba Hardev Singh Ji on the
occasion.—TNS
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Air traffic normal as fog disappears
New Delhi, December 26 Air traffic at the Indira Gandhi International Airport, which had been disrupted over the last few days, was normal today. However, efforts at clearing the backlog caused due to heavy fog yesterday and Saturday led to some flights being delayed, they
said. — TNS
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Man held at airport for rowdiness New Delhi, December 26 Manish, a visitor escorting a passenger booked on Air Deccan flight from Delhi to Guwahati, was arrested at the airport for forcing his way through the security hold area and manhandling the airlines staff, according to sources. — TNS
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