New Delhi, March 13
The Congress-ruled Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) today cleared yet another list of 355 new roads for notification as commercial or mixed-land use, ignoring allegations by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) that the move was in violation of the model code of conduct.

The list, approved by the all-powerful Standing Committee of the MCD in a brief meeting, will now be sent to the Government of the National Capital Territory of Delhi for notification.

"We are in the process of identifying new roads for notification," leader of the House, Mr Jitender Kochar said.

However, roads in the walled city area have not been included in the list.

BJP's Vijender Kumar Gupta, meanwhile, alleged that the latest list violated the model code of conduct. "It is an eyewash, a step taken in haste. And it violates the model code of conduct," he said.

Countering the charge, standing committee chairman J.K. Sharma said, "We are recommending the list to the state government. It will be up to them to notify it.

The model code of conduct has not been violated." 

New Delhi, March 13
The president of BJP's Delhi unit, Dr Harsh Vardhan, today demanded a public apology from the Congress for "making false announcements on providing relief to the people of Delhi through Master Plan 2021".

He said that due to the 'defective' Master Plan, sealing is set to resume in Delhi from tomorrow, while the demolition of houses in unauthorised colonies is continuing even today.

"The Congress is unable to save the shops already running on 2,183 notified roads even after declaration of the new Master Plan. Now after coming into force of the election code of conduct, the Standing Committee of the MCD is convening meetings to change the land use of 1,053 new roads. The Election Commission is

aware of this meeting. This election stunt of the Congress may have adverse effect on the people of Delhi," he said

"Union Urban Development Minister S. Jaipal Reddy, Union Minister of State for Urban Development Ajay Maken, Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit claimed that they had saved the people of Delhi from sealing and demolitions. These three leaders have announced again and again that now there would be no sealing in Delhi whereas sealing is going to start from tomorrow. 

New Delhi, March 13
Metro services between the busy Barakhamba Road and Indraprastha station were adversely affected for about two hours this morning due to a 'technical snag' in the signal system.

The frequency of the service was disrupted because of the malfunction and trains did not run as per schedule between the two stations on Line Three, which connects Dwarka with Indraprastha in the heart of the city.

Trains ran at an interval of 15 minutes instead of the normal 5 minutes between Barakhamba Road and Indraprastha from 10:32 am to 12.29 pm, Metro officials said. —TNS

Gurgaon, March 13
The continuous rainfall during the last few days has exposed the poor civic amenities and inefficient infrastructure facilities in the 'millennium city'. Inundated low-lying areas, pot-holed roads, abrupt power supply, and heaps of garbage could be seen at most of the city.

As a majority of the city roads have no drainage system to take the rain water to a pre-defined destination, water got logged on the pathways. A number of vehicles were marooned and went out of order causing traffic jams.

The level of stagnated water reached even three feet at one of the important entrances for Industrial Development Colony (IDC), on Mehrauli Road. Low lying areas at North of the railway crossing witnessed a miserable position following the rains. "There are more than twenty colonies such as Rajender Park, Vishnu Garden, Surat Nagar, Parkesh Puri, with a population of around 50,000 persons which are completely neglected by the district administration," alleged a resident Mr Ramesh. Gandhi Nagar, Hira Nagar, Laxmi Garden, Shakti Nagar, Model Town, 4/8 Marla, Madan Puri, Subhash Nagar, Arjun Nagar, etc are some of the badly hit colonies in the city where water logging affected the work of people during the last two days.

Even the VIP roads, outside the residence of Gurgaon Range Commissioner, Deputy Commissioner, Inspector General of Police, etc witnessed the same situation.

The abrupt power supply added to the citizens' woes. Even the calls to the electricity department's customer care department gave no satisfactory response, claimed another resident Sunil Kumar.

Heaps of garbage were seen on roads and at various dumping grounds. Taking the plea that the scavengers could not remove the garbage over-night, the concerned officials claimed that the sweeping works were being executed despite the rain. Garbage dumps having mixed with water have started stinking causing inconveniences to the people of nearby areas. 

New Delhi, March 13
While there has been a welcome drop in temperature due to the unseasonal rains lashing the Capital over the last two days, the problem of waterlogging that is usually synonymous with the monsoons have made life miserable for people in many areas.

A large number of people complained of waterlogging in their areas thanks to the bad condition of the roads and large-scale digging for sewers.

In many places, people had to wade through ankle-deep water while on their way to the office.

The rains, which in some places were even accompanied by hailstorms, are likely to continue for the next 24 hours. 

New Delhi, March 13
As per the groundwater resource assessment of the National Capital Region, carried out jointly by CGWB and the state recently, seven out of nine districts in Delhi are over-exploited and have shown significant decline of more than 20 cm per year in groundwater level.

This was as per information given by Minister of State for Water Resources Jai Prakash Narayan Yadav in response to a question in the Rajya Sabha today. —TNS

Noida, March 13
The Inspector General of Police, Meerut Zone, Mr KND Diwedi, has told the cops of Gautam Budh Nagar to pull-up their socks and brace themselves for the challenges lying ahead.

He said the strength of the police was being evaluated for increased staff deployment.

Significantly, the IG said he had issued strict instructions to SOs in-charge of police stations to write the FIRs of all those who approach them in the police station. In case, they refused or hesitated to register the reports, they would be perceived to be siding with the criminals and treated as such.

He also claimed that he had made police circle officers (DPSs) aware of their responsibility that they had to write the character rolls of the SOs in-charge of police stations. Though this provision had been in existence for past six years, only a few COs were actually discharging this responsibility, he said.

He hoped these two steps would improve the law and order situation in the zone.

The IG feels that following the registration of FIR, the investigations should not be delayed. If second officer is not available, SO should himself initiate the investigations immediately. Attitude change was the most important and urgently needed change in the police force, Mr Diwedi said.

He strongly urged the police personnel to be always available in their respective police stations.

The IG police advised the police force to be fully prepared to perform their duty efficiently and impartially in the coming assembly elections. "Trouble-shooters should be identified and dealt with a strong hand," he said.

The IG also requested the media not to sensationalise the news and to bring to his notice any important or serious happening that took place. Mr Diwedi also sought cooperation from the media in highlighting the 'good work' done by the police which, he felt, would help boost the morale of the force.

However, later when questioned about the recent cases of Dalit girl's rape and murder in Bagpat or the reports of trailing former PM V.P. Singh by UP police sleuths, the IG sounded evasive and unwilling to share the facts with the media.

New Delhi, March 13
The West district police today claimed to have arrested one illegal arms supplier, Parvinder Singh (26), from Nangloi area. Three foreign-made pistols loaded with seven live cartridges and a stolen Hyundai Accent car were recovered from him. aWhen his car was signalled to stop near Peeragarhi Chowk on Rohtak Road, he tried to flee, but was overpowered. Illegal firearms were recovered from his possession. On verification, the car was also found to be stolen from Janak Puri. During interrogation, he allegedly revealed that he was planning to supply the consignment for the forthcoming MCD elections, said a police officer.—OC

New Delhi, March 13
With the arrest of Mohd Kasim (50) and his accomplices - Sajid (28), Abdul Rehman (45) and Sarafat (24) - the Crime Branch of Delhi Police today claimed to have worked out a murder-cum-robbery committed in Hari Nagar area and recovered the entire looted jewellery worth Rs 20 lakh.

Two pistols and two motorcycles stolen from Lajpat Nagar and Panipat, which were used in the crime, have also been recovered.

Another sensational case of armed robbery of Rs 9 lakh from a copper factory in Mandoli area has also been worked out with their arrest, the police claimed.

The gang had wreaked havoc in Punjab, Delhi, UP and Haryana by committing a series of daylight armed robberies over the last one decade. They were on the most wanted list after the Hari Nagar incident in which a a jeweler, Vinay Jain, was targeted by the gang.

The arrests came about following a tip-off that the gang would cross through Kashmere Gate. A silver-coloured Indica car was intercepted near Hanuman Mandir and the gangsters held after a brief shootout, the police 
claimed. 

Greater Noida, March 13
Two heinous murders, including one of a young girl who was raped before being killed, have sent shock waves in Greater Noida area.

A youth was brutally cut to pieces with axe and sword after he was kidnapped in Birondi village under Surajpur police station. His body was then put in a sack and dumped in septic tank away from the scene of murder by the killers.

The Surajpur police have registered a murder case against four members of a family, three of whom have already been arrested. After recovering the body, police have also recovered the axe and sword allegedly used in the murder at the instance of the accused.

S.P. Rural, Sudhir Kumar Singh said Gulveer alias Gullu, a resident of Rasoolpur village under Tappal police station in Aligarh, was working as a mason in Greater Noida. He was living in Birondi village in one Tara Chand's house as a tenant along with six other persons of his village.

Gulveer reportedly had an affair with the daughter of their neighbour, Roshan. When the girl's family came to know about it, they allegedly counselled Gulveer to desist from it. But he did not change his ways.

Gulveer was later abducted from his house allegedly by Roshan and his three sons, Manoj, Subhash and Hari Babu who took him to their own house. Roshan and his sons allegedly murdered Gulveer with an axe and a sword.

Then they packed the body parts in a sack and took it in a car to Mathurapur Gol Chakkar where they dumped it in a septic tank.

The next morning, Gulveer's friends Jay Prakash, Than Singh, after they failed to trace him, reported the matter to the police post in the industrial area. During investigations, the police learnt that Gulveer was having an affair with Roshan's daughter.

Roshan and his sons had absconded in the meantime. On Monday, the police were able to arrest Roshan and his sons Manoj and Hari Babu who allegedly confessed to having committed the murder.

In the second incident, a young girl who had gone to look after the garden in Kharoli Bhav village was pounced upon by some criminals, who, after raping her, had strangled her to death. The naked body of the girl was recovered from bushes, the next morning.

Hundreds of angry villagers marched to Rabupura police station demanding immediate arrest of the guilty persons.

The girl's family suspected the involvement of some persons of the same village, the police said.