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New Year starts on bitterly cold note
Fails to dampen spirits
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Gurgaon to have cameras at important places
Over 20,000 shops sealed in 2006
Cycle rickshaws in residential areas only
Last year, people remained victim of false assurances: BJP
Do not overlook winter allergies
‘Safety Clinics’ for women organised
Improper diet, stress lead to disorders: Report
Radio cab services launched in Delhi
Militants now prefer sea routes to mitigate risks
DPCC chief turns 52
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New Year starts on bitterly cold note
New Delhi, January 1 Fog, which had descended over the Capital last night bringing the visibility down to near-zero levels, continued through most of the day as the maximum temperature was recorded at 14.6 degree Celsius, which is seven degrees below normal. The forecast looked bleak, with the met department saying foggy conditions would continue tomorrow as there has been no wind to clear the fog. Last night, the Capital experienced the most dense fog of the season so far, especially over the IGI airport, reducing the visibility and runway visual range (RVR) to 50 and 150 metres, respectively. Airport was mostly closed last night with air traffic operating only using the CAT-IIIB instrument landing system. The situation improved only slightly during the day today, but low visibility conditions continued with the visibility maxima and TVR maxima rising to 400 metres and 800 metres, respectively, Mr R K Jenamani, Director (Incharge) of Met department at the IGI airport, said. The moisture level was very high at 95 per cent, he said. While 16 domestic flights were cancelled, 11 were rescheduled and 36 others, including 12 international flights, were diverted to other cities, an airport spokesman said. The RVR improved to 900
metres in the evening, but the airport continued to keep IVP operational. While the maximum temperature was several notches below
normal, the minimum was recorded at 8.7 degree Celsius, which was two degrees above the normal temperature for this time of the year. Over a dozen trains are running late, many of them 8-10 hours late, a railway official said noting that at least 10 trains were rescheduled. On roads, fog lamps on vehicles were on as people found it difficult to drive as normal visibility range was very low causing the normal traffic to be affected. |
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Fails to dampen spirits
New Delhi, January 1 Despite the winter chill and the fog, people thronged multiplexes, discotheques and other haunts with a major attraction in Delhi being the brightly-illuminated Connaught Place, the shopping arcade that celebrated its platinum jubilee. A lot of other people chose to visit hotels, pubs and discos. As the clock struck to bring in the New Year, mobile and landline subscribers had an uphill task speaking to their relatives and friends or sending messages due to network overloading. Private networks and state-owned Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited faced heavy traffic rush making it difficult for people to make calls or send messages. In Delhi, Connaught Place and areas around India Gate were made out of bounds for vehicles by the police which kept a check on drunken driving and eve-teasing. Police teams, armed with breath analysers, stopped motorists for random checks against drunken driving. Celebrities like A R Rahman, Nelly Furtado, Himesh Reshamiya and Mallika Sherawat participated in various shows, many of which were telecast live, to usher in the New Year. Traffic police had installed CCTV cameras to keep a watch on revellers while newly-acquired mobile CCTV vans manned other crucial spots. |
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Gurgaon to have cameras at important places
Gurgaon, January 1 Gurgaon police would also soon have wireless sets based on latest technology of digital trunking systems. The Inspector General of Police, Gurgaon Range, Mr Mohinder Lal, told The Tribune that these two projects would cost the department more than Rs 11 crore initially. Gurgaon would become the first district in the entire country with such electronic surveillance facilities, claimed the IGP. The broad band out door surveillance system with latest technological features: soft switch and high resolution IP cameras to ensure video, voice and data communication would be installed at important places. The system is a fusion of ground-based optical fibre network and broad band wireless system to provide better clarity and coverage of the entire district, Mr Lal added. All commercial malls had already been directed to install close circuit television (CCT) in their premises for better supervision of the premises, he added. The district court campus had been equipped with electronic surveillance, revealed the officer. Initially, fixed cameras and PTZ dome cameras would be installed around bus stand, all main markets, all important intersections at National Highway no 8 passing Gurgaon district, all commercial complexes, malls, corporate buildings, leading parks, around leading multi-national companies, in mini secretariat, etc, added the officials. More than 250 cameras would be installed initially in the district. There would be a centralised control room with big screen to monitor each and every nook and corner falling in the cameras’ view with one month record facility, informed Mr Lal. The electronic surveillance system would be capable of 24x7 application for the following purposes (A) traffic monitoring, (B) law and order, (C) disaster response, (D) special events like public gatherings, processions, etc and (E) surveillance of sensitive areas, added the officer. A video surveillance system would also have a close watch on the police personnel and thereby significantly improve the effectiveness of the security operation, and would enable it to be more proactive, claimed the IGP. Besides, Gurgaon police would be equipped with wireless sets based on digital trunking system. This system ensures that the policeman sitting at control room can speak to an individual staff (like mobile phone), a group of staff (eg a SHO wants to speak to all his subordinates) or to all police personnel of the district at one time, added the officer. Presently, Gurgaon police had the system where control room broadcast the message and every policeman carrying the wireless set listened to it, the IGP lamented. All police vehicles including all PCRs (four wheelers and two wheelers) would also be equipped with global positioning system (GPS) so that they can be supervised more effectively, added the officer. Then, the SHOs, PCRs or senior officials would not be able to bluff their locations to their seniors, revealed the IGP. Gurgaon citizens would also have a state of art police control room which would be interactive. Residents can dial the number and seek information about the actions taken on their lodged First Information Report (FIR), status of their passports and other verification, complaints and position of pending license, etc on telephone itself. This exercise would be executed first time in the country, claimed the IGP. Its software had already been prepared and its trail run, and training for the staff were being conducted presently, added the officer. |
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Over 20,000 shops sealed in 2006
New Delhi, January 1 The MCD sealed 20,581 shops last year during the drive which were disrupted twice, once after the enactment of a legislation enforcing a moratorium on sealing for one year in May and then after violent protests in September. Interestingly, the Minister of State for Urban Development, Mr Ajay Maken told Parliament that Congress-led NCT government had no authentic information regarding the impact of sealing drive, which dogged the limelight of the nation. During the first phase of sealing, which started on March 29 and ended on May 19 a day before the moratorium was enforced, 14,460 businesses were sealed. A total of 2,314 shops were sealed in 20 days during the second phase of the drive which began on September one after the Supreme Court rapped the government for bringing in the moratorium. This time, the drive was disrupted due to violence on September 20 during traders’ bandh, which claimed five lives in police firing in Seelampur. The drive was resumed on November 8 after a showdown between MCD and the monitoring panel in which the later emerged victorious. The MCD faced the ire of panel for its snail pace in carrying out action against erring shopkeepers though 3,807 shops were sealed. While 69 shops where sealed on the first day of sealing, the final day of sealing last year saw 45 businesses being closed. |
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Cycle rickshaws in residential areas only
New Delhi, January 1 The planners have proposed that the cycle rickshaws should ply ‘within residential areas only and not on major roads’ as it was an unsafe mode of travel in the fast moving traffic. They say that the safe travel on a bicycle could be risky for the rider and use of rickshaws are ‘not feasible and desirable’ given the mixed type of traffic on Delhi roads. “An important fact also pertains to the unlimited and unrestricted use of this mode has a direct relationship with migration into the city and the phenomenon rise in the number of JJ clusters and slums,” the proposed Master Plan for Delhi 2021 (MPD 2021) says. In order to regulate the rickshaw flow, fully segregated cycle tracks are being envisaged along selected traffic corridors with provision for safe parking in park and ride lots. In new areas and urban extensions, cycle tracks should be provided on sub-arterial and local level roads and streets, the draft document said. A ‘consciously’ planned system for cycle rickshaws along with
‘pedestrianism’ should be developed for areas like the Walled City, Chandni Chowk, Sadar Bazar, Karol Bagh, Lajpat Nagar and trans-Yamuna where a lot of cycle rickshaws and cycles are
used as a mode of transport. |
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Last year, people remained victim of false assurances: BJP
New Delhi, January 1 “This is not going to stop in the year 2007 because the new Master Plan has come with a noose around the neck of Delhiites,” he added. The people of Delhi could not sleep peacefully even for a day during the last year due to the sealing and demolition drives. All the assurances given by the Congress in its manifesto remained unfulfilled, he alleged. “Delhi has not been provided the status of a full state. Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit could not divide the MCD during the last eight years and now when the elections are going to be held she wants to postpone the elections by proposing to double the number of wards,” he alleged. The BJP Delhi Pradesh President said that the Chief Minister had claimed that she would provide good governance, transparency, accountable and corruption-free government in 2007. She repeated her assurance to make Delhi heaven by presenting many attractive and misleading datas, Dr Harsh Vardhan alleged, adding that the reality was, however, that all the government departments are completely corrupt. “Dozens of Congress councillors have been caught red-handed while accepting bribe. One woman councillor has been sentenced to life imprisonment and another women councillor’s election was cancelled for the act of forgery,” he claimed. Criticising the new Master Plan, he claimed that if the plan was implemented in its present form, then all the 1500 unauthorised colonies would be demolished and 364 villages would vanish. All the historical markets of Delhi would be shifted out of Delhi. Dr Harsh Vardhan appealed to the people to be ready to fight the “corrupt and anti-people Congress government”. |
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Do not overlook winter allergies
New Delhi, January 1 Another reason is that winter allergies are less common than other types of seasonal allergies, says Dr Atul Mittal, Consultant ENT, G M Modi Hospital. “While most people don’t think of winter as an allergy season if you are allergic to dust or more accurately to the environmental fungi (Mold), pollen, mites and insect parts that tinger in dust-winter can be the worst time of the year. While you may dismiss your symptoms as just mild cold; but continued exposure to cold for days if you are allergic, can leave you feel unrest for weeks or may be months,” Dr Mittal said. Worst of all the winter allergies is Allergic Fungal Nasal Polyposis (AFNP) which is a allergic reaction that is triggered by environmental fungi (Mold) that is finely dispersed into the air. This condition can occur in anyone who is devoid of his good immune system. Patients diagnosed with AFNP relate to a history of allergic rhinitis. Thick fungal debris and mucin (a secretion containing carbohydrate-rich glycoproteins) are developed in the sinus cavities and must be immediately removed through a surgery so that the inciting allergen is no longer present or the condition can be worsen, medical practitioners believe. According to Dr Mittal, “Several decades ago, fungal disease in the nose and Para nasal sinuses was represented as an invasive deadly disease”. Commenting further he states that clinically patients with AFNP are normally present with signs and symptoms of nasal airway obstruction, allergic rhinitis, or chronic sinusitis that includes nasal congestion, purulent rhinorrhea, postnasal drainage, or headaches. Development of nasal airway obstruction may have been so gradual that the patient is normally unaware of its presence. The range of physical findings on examination typically is broad, from nasal airway obstruction resulting from intranasai inflammation and polyposis to gross facial disfigurement and orbital or ocular abnormalities. However, the treatment plans are addressing its multiple contributing factors. If all fails, there still are effective medical treatments. So if you feel that you have a simple cold all winter long, then consult your doctor and run through few allergy tests to see if you need something more than chicken soup. |
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‘Safety Clinics’ for women organised
Faridabad, January 1 Claiming these camps as a unique experiment, the president of the association, Mr Trilok Chand Gupta, said that several accidents and mishaps occurred every year due to lack of awareness in this sector. Speaking at one of the meeting organised at Government Girls Senior Secondary School in Palwal, he said while almost all of the urban residents were using LPG gas, but majority of them did not know how to handle the situation in emergency or any accident. The organisers of these camps claimed that hundreds of teenaged girl students, who often do kitchen work, were apprised of the measures and the precautions needed to be taken while using the LPG. Various problems confronted by the consumers of LPG including the delay in supply, less weight of cylinders, problems while getting new connections, forcible sale of accessories and rude behaviour of the agency people, were discussed in the programme attended by the Senior Sales Officer of Hindustan Petroleum, Ms Anita Kumar. Some of the residents complained that there had been several incidence of short-filling of cylinders. The consumers have even found water in cylinders at several occasions in the past. They asked the company management of the gas agencies to take a strict action, including heavy penalty and termination of the dealership, if there had been more than a stipulated number of complaints during a period. |
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Improper diet, stress lead to disorders: Report
New Delhi, January 1 The director of the center, Ms Seema Goal, said it was very sad that most people take their food habits very lightly while it could make a big affect on their health. It has established from the survey that using junk food can even produce baldness. Precisely, due to intake of junk food by children, baldness disease was being seen even in school going children these days, she pointed out. Dr Monica Chopra, coordinator of this survey, said regular use of fast food could cause a deficiency of essential protein and vitamins in body, which could invite to many diseases, baldness was one of them. “However with the advancement of medical science, it is no longer a matter of worry. Through micro wefting, weaving and bonding techniques, it can be cured permanently,” she said. |
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Radio cab services launched in Delhi
New Delhi, January 1 All 250 of the Easycabs radio taxi services are fully equipped with international standard facilities and will be available on the number ‘43434343’ anywhere in the Delhi NCR area 24 hours a day. The cars are fitted with GPRS technology, digital fare meters and thermal printers for issuing bill and receipt etc. The chauffeurs for EasyCabs have been recruited after conducting four verifications (which included police, bank and two personal verifications). Also the chauffeurs had to undergo a multi-step process which included various tests such as written, spoken, attitude, psychology, road knowledge and behaviour. Additionally, they will be in uniform and will be conversant in English and Hindi. The client will be billed from the point of pick up till the drop point and the billing will be on a per kilometre basis as fixed by the Delhi Government, the current rate being Rs 15 per km. Easycabs is positioned at the airport, metro stations, railway station and Inter-State Bus terminals, besides this being available at major hotels, tourist spots, hospitals, prominent shopping malls, cinema halls and other important locations. |
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Militants now prefer sea routes to mitigate risks
New Delhi, January 1 This startling information came out through the confession of two Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT) militants arrested last evening by the Special Cell of Delhi Police. Both the militant Ali Mohamad and Samaiullah Sheikh had visited Chennai about one month ago allegedly to receive LeT militants coming from the sea route. They have allegedly been trained in handling GPS (Global Positioning System) device to safely receive LeT militants on sea coasts without any hindrance and risk. They were assigned the job to visit Chennai via Delhi in Andaman Express by a militant named Tahir. However, they were apprehended at the New Delhi Railway Station on exit gate of Paharganj side. According to the police, they have allegedly confessed that most of militants coming by sea routes were armed with sophisticated satellite phones and GPRS system, an instrument which indicate proper location of a place. They usually use small boats for their journey to mitigate risks. |
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DPCC chief turns 52
New Delhi, January 1 Hundreds of Congress workers, municipal councilors, MLAs, MPs and other senior leaders of All India Congress Committee (AICC) participated in the function. A 51 kg cake was cut on the occasion of his 52th birthday. On the occasion, he reiterated his strong stand to the cause of the people of Delhi. Apart from this, various programmes were organised in all districts by the officials and active members of DPCC to mark the occasion. |
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Wanted criminal killed in encounter
Noida, January 1 The man and an associate allegedly stole a car from
a trader in Rabupura in the satellite township and were intercepted by the police in Dankore area, police said. In an exchange of fire, the man was killed but his accomplice managed to flee, they said. They said the wanted criminal was allegedly involved in more than 30 cases of robbery and murder in Muzaffarnagar and was carrying a reward of Rs 20,000 on his head. He escaped from
police custody there in 2005. — PTI |
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Three auto-lifters held
New Delhi, January 1 They had allegedly confessed to having been involved in several vehicle theft cases from trans-Yamuna area in past two month, said a police officer. |
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Seven new police stations inaugurated
Gurgaon, January 1 The stations are Civil Lines, Sector 10 A, Badshahpur, Palam Vihar, Sector 40, Sector 56 and DLF Phase-II. The
police authorities maintain that the entire city will now be amply covered and
the pressure of workload on the earlier station units will also be eased. |
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