New Delhi, March 2
A 60-year-old woman and her grand nephew were today murdered allegedly by their domestic help during a robbery bid in a plush locality here, raising fresh concerns about attacks by servants and the safety of senior citizens in the Capital.

Mithilesh, who allegedly knifed to death Surjeet Kaur, a relative of retired Colonel Amanpreet Singh and his 11-year-old son Karan at their posh Vasant Kunj residence in South-West Delhi, was nabbed by locals while he was fleeing after the day-light robbery.

According to police, the shocking incident happened this morning when Karan’s father, who works in a private firm in neighbouring Gurgaon, and his mother, a teacher, were not in the house.

Mithilesh, a native of Bihar, allegedly stabbed to death the elderly woman, hailed from Jalandhar in Punjab, and the boy before robbing cash and gold ornaments, the Deputy Commissioner of Police (South-West) Ravinder Yadav said in a press conference.

He also knifed Karan’s 15-year-old sister Meher, injuring her, when she tried to stop him from fleeing with the stolen booty.

The teenager, however, raised an alarm and the assailant, who is in his early 20s, was nabbed after a long chase by her neighbours and a private security guard Bhupender appointed by the Residents’ Welfare Association of the area, the police added.

Shocked Amanpreet Singh told police that Mithilesh was like a family member and very trustworthy. He used to stay in the house itself and with the family for more than five years.

Delhi Police Commissioner has announced a reward of Rs 5,000 for the security guard and decided to recommend the teenaged girl’s name for a bravery award. 

Gurgaon, March 2
The flyovers at IFFCO and South City junction of national highway No 8 (Delhi-Jaipur Highway) in Gurgaon were opened to the public today by the Haryana Chief Minister, Mr Bhupinder Singh Hooda, and the Union Minister of Shipping, Road Transport and Highway, Mr T.R.Baalu.

Union Minister of State for Defence Rao Inderjit Singh also accompanied the two on the occasion.

Responding to queries during the inauguration ceremony of IFFCO junction, Mr Hooda expressed satisfaction that the construction of the flyovers on the highway in Gurgaon has been completed in satisfactory timeframe.

He also said that the government is seized of the traffic problem due to congestion at Hero Honda Chowk on the highway.

According to him, efforts are being made to decongest the highway.

Later, Mr Balu dwelt on the issue saying that an underpass will be constructed at Hero Honda Chowk and 50 per cent of the cost on the project will be borne by Haryana Urban Development Authority (HUDA), an agency of the Haryana government.

With dedication of the two flyovers today, all the flyovers which were part of the project-expansion of the highway in Gurgaon have become accessible to the commuters.

The official version was that the completion of the only remaining flyover at Rao Tula Rao-Palam intersection in Delhi was also being expedited and was targeted to be completed by September this year.

With the opening of these flyovers, the stretch between 15,000 km and 34,000 km of NH-8 in Gurgaon, would provide smooth ride to the commuters. The general perception is that it would take approximately 15 minutes only to cover this stretch as compared to the earlier 45 minutes of bumper-to-bumper traffic

New Delhi, March 2
Establish suitable transportation linkages between hubs of economic activities to Metro stations so as to enhance occupancy in Metros run by Delhi Metro Railway Corporation (DMRC), which currently is highly under utilised to the extent of 75 per cent, according to the Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India (ASSOCHAM).

The occupancy factor currently during off peak hours is about 25 per cent of Metro capacities and this is so because linkages to fetch commuters have yet to be established between DTC Depots and Metro stations. The commuters in majority of cases prefer to take buses to reach their destinations rather than opting for Metro travel, which is much more convenient, pleasant and cheaper, besides being comfortable, the ASSOCHAM says.

The unutilised land that is in the possession and under ownership of DMRC, which is in such a plenty, should also be suitably utilised for commercial purposes like putting up of Restro, motels, smaller hubs, malls & multiplexes to earn revenue for railways and extent facilities and convenience to its commuters.

Eating points, lodging and rest rooms should also be put up in and around such Metro stations for end users in places like Khyberpass, Vishwavidyalaya, Seelampur, Rohini West, Subhash Nagar, Pratap Nagar, Rithala, Dwarka, Najafgarh, Inderlok, Wazirpur, Kashmiri Gate, Kohat Enclave and Pitam Pura.

The effort should be to augment the public transport system to make it comfortable and commuter-friendly so that lesser number of private vehicle ply on the Delhi roads to keep the city environmentally clean and user-friendly. This will also create sufficient parking place and help remove the congestion and air pollution.

“Earning from the non-conventional sources like commercial advertisements inside and outside the train, renting out spaces, etc., should also be planned,” said Mr D S Rawat, Secretary General, ASSOCHAM.

ASSOCHAM has also suggested that Delhi Metro should also have a separate Delhi Metro Police Force, which should be deployed by the Delhi Police for the security of the Metro passengers.

Mr Rawat also suggested that Metro facilities should also be laid in other large town and larger cities like Chennai, Bangalore, Hyderabad, Patna, Chennai, Lucknow and Chandigarh. “In these cities, the population and the congestion, both are rising to an alarming proportion and Metro facilities will ease out and decongest the cities besides reducing noise and air pollution,” he said.

Noida, March 2
The incidents of assaults on traffic policemen, are increasing in Gautam Budh Nagar.

In the latest case, a traffic cop was thrashed by the drivers and other occupants of two cars yesterday when he tried to stop them from jumping the red light at NTPC crossing. Some repair work was in progress at the crossing. The constable was thoroughly thrashed after which the assailants sped away in their cars.

The Sector-58 police have booked eight unidentified persons for assaulting a cop on duty. But nobody has been arrested so far.

The state government had decided recently that the drivers guilty of violent acts should be sent to jail straightaway.

The Noida police, responsible for safety and security of the citizens is not able to protect members of its own force who are at the receiving end by the rowdies.

On February 26, a policeman Satish was thrashed by an imposter in Sector-58. On Thursday Nand Kishore of Sector-24 police was on duty at NTPC crossing when driver of Maruti car No DBB 2502 tried to drive his car forcibly through the road, partly closed for traffic due to repair work. When Nand Kishore tried to stop the car, five inmates came out of the car and beat up the cop.

A short while after this, an Ambassador car No. KLR 1677 had also jumped traffic signals. When stopped, three inmates of this car also beat up the traffic cop. Nand Kishore later registered complaints in police station after these two incidents.

On February 28, the state government had decided in a meeting of police officers in Lucknow to send the violent drivers to jail straightaway. The latest incident happened a day later. No arrest is made yet.

New Delhi, March 2
A thick blanket of fog enveloped the national capital territory of Delhi since early morning today disrupting air traffic for about nine hours.

The runway visibility range (RVR) fell to 75 metres at one point of time in the early hours today affecting the arrival and departure of many domestic and international flights, airport officials said. The fog descended on the Capital at around 12:30 am and the sky got cleared only by 9:30 am, the Met office said.

During this period, 20 flights, including 16 international services, were diverted to other destinations. 20 international and domestic services flights were also delayed, airport sources said.

The minimum temperature for the day was recorded at 11 degree Celsius, the Met office said adding the general visibility was also reduced to less than 75 meters during the foggy hours.

Humidity in the atmosphere increased because of rains and cooling in the upper strong winds led to the formation of fog in the atmosphere, said Met officials.

The Met office has also predicted foggy conditions tomorrow. The maximum temperature will be around 25 degree Celsius. Yesterday, the minimum temperature was 12 degree Celsius which was one degree below normal temperature reported during the season. The Met department has recorded rains at .2 mm yesterday. 

Ghaziabad, March 2
Over 11,500 sq mt land reserved in revenue record for a police post in Makanpur is just not traceable on the spot, though the administration officials are trying to locate it, according to sources.

It may be mentioned that Indirapuram has been developed on the land of Makanpur village. A police station was set up in Vasundhra as the land requited for it was not available in Indirapuram, it was said. Though as per the government records, considerable land is still available.

At the time of consolidation of holdings in Makanpur village, some 11,500 sq mt land was earmarked for a police post and it was also listed in revenue records as ‘land for the proposed police post”.

The land marked for police post falls in Khasra No. 82, 83, 90 and 104/1. But strangely neither the police nor the district administration knew about it.

Recently when the land record was examined, it came to light that 11,500 sq mt land of Makanpur village, which falls under Indirapuram, is earmarked for setting up a police post. But when efforts were made to locate this piece of land, it just could not be traced. The land is simply not available, sources said.

New Delhi, March 2
The Convenor of Pragatisheel Morcha, Mr Ramvir Singh Bidhuri, today claimed that his party had made inroads in the vote banks of Congress as well as the BJP, alleging that residents of the national Capital were fed up with both the parties.

“Policies being adopted and formulated by the two parties are anti-citizens. The Morcha will act as a third front in Delhi,” he alleged.

Accusing the Central Government of deceiving people, he alleged that “Recently, the Union Urban Development Ministry had announced for regularisation of unauthorised colonies, but so far no notification had been issued in this regard.”

“Inflation will be a major issue in the forthcoming municipal elections. The prices of essential commodities have gone so high that the poor people are now unable to bear the burden of their daily expenses,” Mr Bidhuri claimed.

The price rates of vegetables and pulses were too high, but the government was doing nothing to control it, he alleged.

Mr Bidhuri said that Pragatisheel Morcha was doing its level best to fight from all the wards of the MCD. “Decision on the selection of candidates for the polls are being taken,” he said. 

New Delhi, March 2
The Delhi High Court has acquitted three persons, sentenced to life imprisonment in a more than two decade-old murder case, after accepting the alibi of the prime accused that he was not arrested from the place as claimed by the police.

“We are of the view that the plea of alibi taken by Piara Singh stood established from the prosecution evidence itself and the trial court findings cannot be sustained,” a bench of Justice R S Sodhi and Justice P K Bhasin said, acquitting prime accused Piara Singh, his brother Kewal with co-accused Resham Singh in a murder case.

Reversing the trial court judgment, the bench rejected the prosecution’s plea that Singh was arrested from Dasayu village in Punjab, where he along with the co-accused had fled after committing the murder on April 22, 1983.

In its verdict on the appeal filed by Singh, the court said, the trial court had relied on the CFSL report which says that some pages in the daily diary register of April, 1983 including the one containing the entry of arrest of Singh, were different from other pages and appeared to have been inserted after tearing from the original pages.

The trial court, however, has not returned any finding as to who had changed the pages of the DD register and the prosecution had also not led any evidence to show as to who was the custodian of that register, the court observed terming the entry of arrest of Singh in the register as false.

All the three accused were awarded life imprisonment eight years ago.

New Delhi, March 2
Rejoicing in the colours of spring after the passage of somber winter chills, Holi comes as a festival that greets the spring season, which is considered to be a season of fun and celebration.

However, the festivities of delight can often degenerate into hooliganism, the traditional safe colours replaced by synthetic ones causing health problems.

Today, what follows is the heightened use of hazardous and unnatural pigments in colours that can lead to rashes and allergies and at times to serious situations posing a risk to life.

There are times when these rashes on the skin take longer than usual to subside since the colours remain on the skin for long. Certain colours contain mica and chemicals that are used in dyes, obviously not meant for the skin, and hence the burning effect and swelling of the fragile skin, stresses Dr Anil Kumar Malik, Consultant Dermatologist, G M Modi Hospital.

These days gulaal contains acids, lead oxide, engine oil, diesel, chromium iodine and copper sulphate, which cause skin irritation and even blindness in cases of extreme exposure. Unless a person is careful, it can impair general health to a great extent. Hence, be cautious while purchasing regular gulaal.

Doctors have also cautioned Holi revellers against the use of synthetic dye-based, colours saying their prolonged application can even cause cancer. The director of the World Cancer Care Foundation, New Friends Colony, Dr Hari Krishna said here that a majority of colours used in Holi were simply synthetic dyes of non-food commodities such as textile, paper and leather.

Dr Tanang Krishna of the centre claimed long term application of such synthetic colours could have carcinogenic effect (cause cancer). “These dyes can also cause temporary blindness, since eyes are the most delicate body organ.”

Gurgaon, March 2
The district police have failed miserably in checking vehicle theft, which is on the rise in the city, registering a jump of around 30 per cent since the past two years.

The police had taken various measures to control the theft of two-wheelers and four-wheelers but were still unable to plug the root cause of the menace, conceded Senior Superintendent of Police Hanif Qureshi.

In January and February, the police lodged 217 cases of vehicle theft whereas 180 cases were registered last year in the corresponding period. The district police had nine police stations last year while seven new police stations were made functional from January.

Despite Gurgaon getting seven new police stations, vehicle theft had increased, lamented senior advocate Kulbhushan Bhardwaj. He suggested the police must do something to improve its shortcomings.

Last year, the local police registered 1580 cases of vehicle theft while the figure was 1,070 in 2005.

The SSP claimed incidents of vehicle theft had increased but if one made a comparison with the increasing number of vehicles in the district the rise in cases of vehicle theft was nominal.

The vehicle registering authority, the SDM, Mr Jai Singh Sangwan, informed around 38,000 new vehicles were registered in 2005 and 40,000 in 2006.

Mr Pradeep Kumar, whose Scorpio was stolen, mourned his vehicle was stolen from outside his residence in Sector 5 despite being fitted with central locking and gear locking.

Mr Ajay Jain, whose Maruti 800 car was stolen from outside his residence at Palam Vihar recently, said local citizens were so much in dread of vehicle theft that they woke up at night to check on their vehicles. He added 17 vehicles had been stolen in the past two months in Palam Vihar area alone.

The local police had failed to trace any vehicle. Out of the 217 cases registered in 2007, just 17 cases had been solved, informed an official.

The Inspector-General of Police, Gurgaon Range, Mr Mohinder Lal, said a special separate team had already been constituted to check vehicle theft and trace the stolen vehicles. Police personnel had been deployed in plain clothes at sensitive places so that thieves could be arrested red-handed, added the IGP.

The IGP further claimed a number of professional criminals, expert in stealing vehicles, came from nearby states like Delhi, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh. They took the vehicles to their native places, making it difficult for the local police to trace them.

Ghaziabad, March 2
A young man was done to death with sharp- edged weapons under Bhojpur police station area of Modinagar on Thursday night. The police have recovered his body from the tank of a tubewell.

As the news spared in nearby villages, a large number of villagers reached the police station and created a ruckus, demanding that killers be immediately arrested. Police said the youth appeared to have been killed following a love affair.

Amit, 20, son of Bir Singh, a resident of Jahangirpur, had reportedly received a phone call at 10.30 pm from someone, after which he immediately left home. Next day at noon some villagers saw the body of a youth in the tubewell tank of Nathu Ram in Jahangirpur jungle.

The discovery of a blood-soaked body had created a panic in the area. Soon police reached the spot and Amit’s body was identified by his family members. The police said there were numerous wounds on his body and he appeared to have been killed by a sharp-edged weapon.

The lived villagers reached the police station and demanded the immediate arrest of the culprits.

Assuring the crowd that the killers would soon be nabbed, police have sent Amit’s body for autopsy.

New Delhi, March 2
A 70-year-old woman, who had failed to comply with two undertakings given to the court, has been slapped a fine of Rs 35,000 by the Delhi High Court for contempt of court.

The court fails to appreciate the conduct of Ms Savitri Goenka in remaining defiant in not complying with the undertakings given by her by way of affidavits on two occasions, Justice S Murlidhar observed.

The fact that Ms Goenka is a 70-year-old lady cannot possibly excuse her from complying with solemn undertaking given by her to this court, the court said.

In an order passed last week, the court asked Ms Goenka to pay the amount for causing unnecessary delay in complying with the undertakings given by her to the court.

The woman in her two undertakings had promised to vacate a flat of one A M Bhalla, located at Hailey Road here. The order came after the woman failed to appear in person before the court on a contempt petition filed by Bhalla.

Ms Goenka, in December, 2003 and again in January, 2004 had in two separate affidavits had stated that she would vacate the flat. After, she did not vacate the flat as promised, Bhalla moved a contempt petition before the court.

Ghaziabad, March 2
An engineering student allegedly committed suicide in Noida today by consuming poison, police said.
Pawan, a B.Tech third year student in JSS College, Noida, was today found in an unconscious state at his home in Sector 12 and was rushed to a hospital. He was declared dead on arrival.

Pavan was staying in the college hostel and had gone home for Holi, they said. His body had been sent for postmortem.—PTI

New Delhi, March 2
The Chief Minister of Delhi, Ms Sheila Dikshit, today hosted a reception in honour of an eminent Hindi writer from Mauritius, Abhimanyu Anat and a well-known Urdu poetess from Pakistan, Ms Fahmida Riyaz.

The reception was jointly organised by Hindi and Urdu Academies of Delhi Government at the residence of the Chief Minister.

Ms Dikshit presented publications of both the academies to the visiting writers. Speaking on the occasion, the Chief Minister said that both Hindi and Urdu literature had been disseminating human values.

She called upon writers of India, Mauritius and Pakistan to come forward and inculcate sense of harmony, co-existence and cooperation.—TNS

New Delhi, March 2
This year, International Fools Day will be celebrated on Sunday, the 4th March, at Murkh Chowk Bhagirath Palace, Chandni Chowk, here to coincide with the festival of colours, Holi.

A big function is being organised at Murkh Chowk which will be followed by a procession passing through important areas of the walled city. Maha Murkh and Murkh Raj will be crowned during the function.—TNS