New Delhi, October 27
A Blueline bus in the national Capital crushed a minor boy to death on Saturday, taking the toll to 100 this year.

Tushar, a class four student of South Delhi, died on the spot when the bus plying on Route No 460 between Badarpur and Minto Road, ran over a motorcycle on which he was travelling along with two others.

The incident took place in the Badarpur area, where seven people were crushed to death by a Blueline bus earlier this month.

“The accident happened at around 2.25 p.m. While Tushar died on the spot, two others - a minor girl and Ajay, who was riding the bike, have suffered injuries,” said a police official.

“The driver fled from the spot but we are hopeful of arresting him soon. The bus has been impounded,” the official added.

The Capital’s nearly 4,000 Blueline buses, forming a crucial part of the city’s public transport, are facing public uproar because of rash and negligent driving.

The ‘killer run’ of these buses continues in spite of the action from authorities and repeated assurances from Blueline operators.

On Thursday, a Blueline bus plying on Route No 182-A between Sukhveer Nagar and Kashmiri Gate knocked down two bicycle-riders at Avantika Chowk in northwest Delhi. The deceased was identified as Ram Kumar, 32.

After Thursday’s accident, an infuriated mob blocked the traffic and torched the bus forcing the police to resort to mild baton charge. — IANS

New Delhi, October 27
The Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) will soon start a regular metro feeder bus service in the Capital.

The DMRC received the first batch of specially customised nine metro feeder buses yesterday. Their trial run on the Capital’s roads began today.

According to the DMRC spokesperson Anuj Dayal, around 120 buses will operate on 36 routes in a phased manner.

Control centres for the service will be established at Welcome, Kirti Nagar, Dwarka Sector 9 and Rohini East. The minimum fare will be Rs 5 and the maximum Rs 8.

The first of the two routes will be the M5, Shastri Park metro station- DDA sports complex Vasundhara Enclave. The Shastri Park metro station 15-km route will include Geeta Colony road, Akshar Dham Temple, Noida Link Road, Mayur Vihar, Phase- 1, Mayaur Vihar, Phase -1 extension, Chilla Sarda Bangar, Dharamshila Cancer Hospital and Vasundhara Enclave.

The second route will be the M15, Pitampura metro station- Rohini/Rithala. The Pitampura metro station 13-km route will include Durga Mandir, Rohini Sector 7and 8, Xing, Sector 7A, Part1, Naharpur village, Ayodhya Chowk, Vikram Chowk, Rithala Mor, Rajiv Gandhi Cancer Hospital, Rithala metro station, Rohini Sector 11, Ambedkar Chowk, Rohini Sector 15 and 16, Sardar Colony, Pocket B2.

Each bus will have seating capacity for 18 to 20 persons and standing for 10. These eco-friendly Tata vehicles have been fit with CNG engine Bharat Stage -III.

Initially, 120 buses are being made for the Delhi Metro though the STA has permitted the DMRC to procure 419 Buses. DMRC chief E. Sreedharan inspected the prototype of bus on June 27. He had suggested certain modifications such as lowering the height of the buses at the entry step.

The DMRC has also floated tender for the operator, which would be in position within a month. The STA has made the DMRC a licensee for these buses and the DMRC will enter into an agreement with the operator for running these.

Feeder buses will have the global positioning system (GPS) equipment for the real time tracking and online alerts. Control centers will be set up to monitor the movement of vehicles and will have traffic managers, traffic inspectors and controlroom operators.

Besides this, the driver’s photograph will be displayed in each bus. Every driver will have an authorised license and a public service vehicle badge. The driver will wear a uniform and will be given regular training, including, refresher courses. The operator will be responsible for the cleanliness of the bus. The operator found wanting on this count could be fined by the DMRC up to Rs 5,000.

Each bus will have a complaint book and the operator will have to submit a performance security of Rs 2 lakh, which can be encashed for poor performance. The speed limit of the buses will be 35 to 40 kph on city roads and 45 to 50 kph on roads with 3 to 4 lanes.

The buses would have fire-retardant plywood flooring and would be similar to the flooring in metro trains. Each bus will have a public address system, fans, first-aid box and fire 
extinguisher.

New Delhi, October 27
A reclusive man, whose decomposed body was found on Friday from his house in South Delhi, had died of starvation, revealed the post-mortem report today.

“His (Maninder Singh Bhander) autopsy reports show that he had eaten very less in the past few days and was starving. He had died a couple of days back,” said a senior police official.

Bhander’s body was recovered on Friday, when policemen barged into his house in the upscale Greater Kailash-II, after his neighbours complained of a foul smell emanating from the house.

After receiving no response despite knocking on the door for a few minutes, the police decided to break the door open and found his body on the floor, near the main entrance, covered with insects.

According to the police, Bhander, 44, was unmarried and staying alone for the past few years, ever since his mother, a school principal, died.

He had no regular income. He is survived by a sister, who is an actor by profession.

“His neighbours informed us that he was last seen two weeks ago and had completely isolated himself from others.”

Bhander’s neighbour O.P. Dewan said, “We never saw him interacting with others. He was a quiet man and preferred to live in his house alone. We never saw any house-help working there. Many believed that he was apparently not mentally stable.”

Bhander’s death was the second such case in two months.

In August, the police along with neighbours had rescued two starving sisters - Dolly, 43, and Poonam, 41, living with the dead body of their 30-year-old younger sibling Neeru, who had died of starvation, from their Kalkaji house.

The three Bali sisters, battling unemployment and poverty, had gone foodless for two weeks. Their travails might have gone on but for a neighbour’s call to police.

The neighbours along with the police had rushed the surviving sisters to a private nursing home.

After two months of counselling and medical treatment the surviving sisters are limping back to normal life. — IANS

Ghaziabad, October 27
Authorities at the Chaudhary Charan Singh District Jail, Meerut were shocked beyond their belief when they discovered a 40 ft long and 10 ft deep tunnel in the prison compound on Friday.

Such a long and deep tunnel had been dug up in the district jail compound for the first time in its history. If it had been dug up for another three ft, some 140 inmates, including dozens of dreaded and hardened criminals would have managed to escape, emptying the entire prison.

A case has been registered against some 140 prisoners of barrack No. 17 and 18 while three security personnel on duty have been suspended. Viewing the matter seriously district authorities have designated Additional District Magistrate, Alka Tandon to hold a magisterial inquest into the matter.

Authorities of district jail had got reports that some earth had been dug up in barrack Nos. 17 and 18. When the spot was inspected, a dug up a full fledged 40 ft long and 10 ft wide tunnel was found to have been dug up by the prisoners for their escape.

District Magistrate Roshan Jacob and SSP Jyoti Narayan jointly told the press that a 40 ft long and 10 ft deep tunnel dug up from barrack No. 17 and 18 up to the main gate of the district jail had been unearthed which was just two and half feet short of the main gate on Meerut University side. The tunnel is 3.5 ft wide from inside.

Three cops guarding the barracks – Chander Bhanu Khushwaha, Sushil Pandey and Ram Babu Tiwari have been suspended and a case registered against them. An inquiry had also been ordered, it was mentioned. The inmates are learnt to have started working on their plan a long time ago.

The digging of the tunnel had been started from inside a bath room. The plan was to enable some notorious criminals lodged there to flee out of the jail.

These criminals were serving their sentences in the district jail.

Strangely, the jail authorities did not get a wind of the fact that a 40 ft long tunnel had been dug in the jail obviously it was not done in a day or one night.

When jail staff was quizzed about it, all of them expressed their ignorance. Authorities have accepted that it is a sure case of negligence and culpability.

DIG (Jail) A.K. Pandey admitted that prima facia it was a case of irresponsibility on the part of prison staff and that is why he will personally probe this case.

Some questions like from where did the inmates get the tools to dig such a big tunnel and how the dug up earth was disposed off still remains unanswered. 

Ghaziabad, October 27
The Ajmer police arrested the suspect, Atik, involved in the recent Ajmer Sharief bomb blast, from Moradabad yesterday.

Atik was arrested from Karule under the Katdhar police station area. However, his involvement in the case is not yet proven.

According to sources, Moradabad is directly linked to the Ajmer blast. Three Hizbal terrorists were arrested in 2002.

One of the foreign intelligence agents, who was arrested in Gwalior, had a driving licence made in Moradabad.

New Delhi, October 27
The BJP Delhi Pradesh president Harsh Vardhan has demanded from the Delhi government that it should ensure the installation of global positioning system (GPS) in Blueline buses till an alternative plan is formulated to discipline them.

These buses are killing innocent citizens almost on a daily basis, even after the measures being initiated by the Government. The Blueline fatality rate has gone up to 100 this year.

“These buses are neither obeying the orders of the government nor, are they worried about the orders of the court,” he said

Harsh Vardhan alleged that the faulty policies of the government were responsible for these mishaps. He has suggested that complaint books should be kept in the buses so that in case of misbehaviour and goondaism, the passengers may be able to enter their complaints. The drivers and conductors should be issued photo identity cards, so that in case of accidents they may be identified and punished. 

After the installation of the GPS, the government will be able to monitor the buses and drivers may not be able to cross the speed limit.

“When complaint books are kept in the railway and government buses, why these books are not kept in the blue line buses,” he said

A control room should also be provided for these buses, so that in case of any difficulty, the passengers may be able to lodge their complaint by making a telephone call to the control room and they may get immediate relief. 

New Delhi, October 26
Lasts year’s Bollywood blockbuster “Dhoom 2” and actor Hrithik Roshan bagged eight awards at the star studded MTV Lycra Style Awards 2007 here.

Amid a galaxy of stars and a stage with industrial backdrop, befitting the commercial capital of the country, the gala awards night blossomed at the Andheri Sports Complex Thursday night.

The blockbuster film was conferred the Most Stylish Film Award and Hrithik walked away with the Most Stylish body and new look awards.

Choreographed by Shaimak Davar ‘Crazy kiya re...’song of “Dhoom 2” was the Most Stylish Song of the year and style guru Anaita Shroff Adjania the Most Stylish Bollywood Designer.

The same movie gave Aishwarya and Hrithik Roshan the Most Stylish female and male awards respectively. The pair also bagged the viewers’ choice Most Stylish Couple (on-screen) award.

The glittering evening hosted by Sagarika Ghatge of ‘Chak De! India’ fame and popular MTV VJs Cyrus Broacha and Cyrus Sahukar, saw Shah Rukh Khan receiving the Maha Style Icon award.

While Karan Johar got the Most Stylish Person award on TV, Atif Aslam won the Most Stylish Person in Music, award.

The return of actor turned parliamentarian, Govinda, to filmdom gave him the Most Stylish Comeback award.

The extravaganza themed ‘Its My Style’ kick-started with a collection titled ‘Universe of the young’ by Lycra’s brand partners - Lifestyle, Park Avenue and Lee Cooper.

Aimed to forecast the trends and looks youngsters will sport in 2008 the line was put together by ace designer Jatin Kochhar.

Style gurus Manish Malhotra, Abhishek & Nandita and Vikram Phadnis showcased - Retro, Uniform and Gang - three interpretations of this year’s theme through their collections, during the event.

The fourth interpretation ‘My Tee’ was presented by fashion-designing students under the aegis of Vikram Phadnis.

For setting the ramp ablaze models Joey Mathew and Ignetius Camello won the Most Stylish Female and Male model on ramp award respectively.

Designer duo Abhishek Gupta and Nandita Basu of label Fightercock won the Breakthrough Designer of the year award.

The awardees were selected by a panel of judges including Farah Khan, Neha Dhupia, Raghavendra Rathore, Ramona Narang, Sheetal Malhar, Rohit Bal, Prahlad Kakkar, Manoviraj Khosla, Ambika Pillai, Narendra Kumar Ahmed and Mickey Contractor.

The high-voltage event was marked by electric performances by Shreyas Talpade and Atif Aslam.

Raghu Dixit of renowned group The Raghu Dixit Project, Shafqat Amanat Ali of hit number ‘Mitwa also performed.—IANS

New Delhi, October 26
Exhausted with too much media ado about beau John Abraham and rumours of splitsville between them, actor Bipasha Basu says that media governs the personal lives of actors.

“We are puppets in the hands of media, especially when it comes to our personal lives. Media decides when our (John-Bipasha) relationship starts going through a rough patch and when it mends,” Bipasha told IANS.

The tinsel town has been abuzz with rumours of their long-time relationship souring and later their reunion. “In this industry it happens. However, for me it is a great pride to be myself. I will never conduct myself in a way that I have to be ashamed of, later,” she maintained. “I also understand the pressures media works under. The world is extremely competitive. You have to sell news, if one channel has it the other wants it too.”

The dusky beauty was in the Capital on Wednesday evening to launch her friend and favourite designer Rocky S’ couture line at fashion store Aza.

Sporting a sunset orange sari teamed with a golden embroidered blouse, she left her hair in trademark style — long and straight — “specially for Rocky’s show”.

Asked how much time she spends on shopping, she said, “Now, I don’t get much time to shop. Life has become a little luxurious with more help at home, as the work has increased. Designer friends like him (Rocky) design clothes for me, when I am sitting at home. As far as jewellery is concerned, I love wearing my mom’s jewellery.”

As the evening blossomed, models decked in bridal wear, including lehngas (skirts), mermaid skirts, cholis (blouses), saris, kurtas teamed with salwars and churidars, sashayed across the ramp.

The colour palette ranged from deep reds, strawberry pinks and aqua to creamy pastel shades of peach, apricot, old rose, honey and olive.

An eclectic mix of brocades, georgettes and net organza was used to create the outfits, which were adorned with ribbon appliqué, gota, thread, stones and crystal embellishments.—IANS

New Delhi, October 27
Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit launched the pulse polio campaign in the Capital today. She along with Delhi health minister Yoganand Shastri administered anti-polio drops to children between the age group of 0 to 5 years at her residence.

Shastri informed that 7,500 booths would administer polio vaccine to children from 0-5 years of age group from tomorrow onwards. Around 30,000 employees of the health department would be deployed at major public places from 9:00 am to 4:00 pm to ensure the maximum reach of the vaccine.

Besides, a door-to-door weeklong survey would be conducted under the campaign. Around 17,000 workers in 8,600 teams would visit different colonies including, JJ clusters.

New Delhi, October 27
Harmony Senior Citizens Run is being organised tomorrow by the Harmony for Silvers Foundation. It will start from Vinay Marg at 6.15 am.

Around 3000 senior citizens are expected to participate in the third consecutive four kilometer Harmony Senior Citizens Run. This isbeing held as part of the Vodafone Delhi Half Marathon 2007.

Leading cine stars like Priyanka Chopra and Gulshan Grover are expected to attend the event.