New Delhi, September 13
‘Yeh Divali kharab kerenge’ was the reaction of shopkeepers in Bengali Market as the news of the serial blasts spread across the city created panic and concern among Delhiites. 

Bengali Market being one of the busiest markets in the evening and very close to the site of other blasts, there was strong reaction from the shopkeepers and the police here.

Within minutes of the reports of the blasts, the police was out in most of the markets scanning through everything that was suspicious. However, that could not prevent two more blasts in the Greater Kailash area.

Policemen were seen instructing shopkeepers and those on the footpaths to be careful and keep an open eye.

While most women doing shopping urged the shopkeepers to hurry up as they had to rush home, one middle-aged woman was actually shouting at her driver trying to find out where he was. She told him that there had been a blast at Ghaffar Market and instructed him to turn the car for home.

There was immediate reaction, especially in the Central Delhi, which was rocked by three blasts. The exodus from the markets all over the city was immediate and there was sudden rush of traffic on all roads leading out of Central Delhi leading to massive jams in South, West and East Delhi.

While the policemen grappled with the panic in markets urging shopkeepers to advise customers to stay clam, they had another problem of handling jam at crossings as they got blocked since the panic-stricken people tried to reach the safety of their homes.

The mobile phones also jammed with friends and relatives calling up the loved ones to check on their well-being. There were also frantic calls from the parents of students who attend classes in the vicinity of the areas close to the blasts.

While their teachers took over the roles of advisor, telling them not to panic, the parents sought to know the routes from friends from where they could reach their children.

One such parent, whose 20-year-old daughter was attending chartered accountancy classes just behind Rivoli cinema, very close to M Block and Palika Bazar in Connaught Place, called a friend to know which would be the safest place where they could ask their daughter and her friends to reach from where they could pick them up.

This is not the first time that Delhi has been struck by serial terror, but the panic was writ large over every face in the city. There was natural concern for the loved ones

People reacted by saying that the terrorists will achieve nothing by such blasts.

The resilient Delhi would be back on its feet tomorrow after getting over the initial shock of these terror blasts. However, they urged the government to take strong action against the “terror men” and not spare anyone.

New Delhi, September 13
Anuj Aditya Singh (25), who was seriously injured after a speeding BMW car rammed into his motorcycle in the wee hours of Thursday in south Delhi lost battle with life in the morning today at AIIMS where he was undergoing treatment. The victim, whose cervical spine and brain stem were badly damaged in the accident, was placed on a life support system since yesterday. Anuj’s friend Mrigank Srivastav, who too was injured in the accident and was hospitalized with multiple fractures is, however, responding to the treatment and is out of danger.

The BMW car was being driven by Utsav Bhasin (19), son of industrialist Naresh Kumar Bhasin, who was arrested yesterday and later let off on bail

The body of Anuj, a budding journalist, was taken to his house in Ghaziabad in the morning today where a number of relatives and local residents had gathered to bid last farewell to the deceased. He was cremated around 2 pm at Brij Ghat in Garh Mukteshwar. Resident of G-152, Pratap Vihar, Anuj has an elder brother Shitij Chauhan and his father Rajender Singh is a doctor.

The family of Anuj is perturbed by the fact that nobody from the accused family came to offer condolences in this hour of grief. Singh’s family is now demanding that the accused, Utsav Bhasin, who was given bail be put behind bars again.

His grieving mother said, “Had there been any sign of sympathy or apology from the accused’s end, we would have weighed the circumstances differently.” She added that before Utsav, she wants his father, industrialist Narendra Kumar Bhasin, to be arrested and punished for giving his young son a car that he was driving recklessly.

Anuj’s uncle Tejas Chauhan told the media that the family would take the case to its logical end. Jeetu, a childhood friend of Anuj, who lives just across his house in Pratap Vihar said that the family is going through a traumatic time. The future course of action will be decided only when the family gets over the shock of this death. “This is not the time to ask about the future course of action. The family is mourning and we have just returned from cremation. We surely would like a severe punishment to the accused,” said Jeetu. 

Anuj and Mrigank were returning home after watching a movie when the BMW car driven by Utsav rammed into their Pulsar motorbike in a service lane between Moolchand Hospital and Petrol Station around 2.30 am on Thursday. Utsav had fled from the spot leaving behind the bleeding Anuj and Mrigank who were later taken to the hospital by the PCR vehicle after an autorickshaw driver alerted them. 

Utsav was arrested next day and was let off on two bail sureties of Rs 20,000 each from the Lajpat Nagar police station, where a case under Indian Penal Code (IPC) Sections 279 (rash and negligent driving) and 337 (causing hurt and endangering life) was registered against him. However, now with the death of Anuj, Section 304 of IPC (culpable homicide not amounting to murder) too may be added to the case though Utsav has a valid driving licence. 

New Delhi, September 13
New Delhi railway station that wore a deserted look for the past few days is back to normal as remodelling work at the station is almost complete.

September 15 was the deadline for the completion of the work.

The completion of remodelling work will lead to a rise of 33% in platform handling work at the station.

A relay interlocking 1,278 routes has been installed and would be operational from September 16. It will help trains to reach stations faster without any signal problem.

Mumbai-Rajdhani Express passed from the new interlocking system today. It became the first train to pass from the system.

Six trains, including three Shatabdis, resumed services to New Delhi railway station two days ahead of schedule, as two-thirds of the remodelling work is complete.

These trains have been terminating at various satellite stations in the Capital instead of New Delhi railway station for about a week to facilitate the upgradation of infrastructure at New Delhi railway station.

“Eighty trains will start tomorrow from New Delhi railway station. As of now we don’t have the orders to start trains but we have the capacity to run more trains,” said Rajiv Saxena, Chief PRO, Northern Railway.

The remodelling work involved a series of operations as resetting triangle area of Delhi yard at the New Delhi end, dismantling 34 turn-outs, casting 16 foundations, erection of masts/posts, linking and insertion of 21 turn-outs and signals telecommunication, said a Northern Railway official.

Two platforms out of the four have been constructed and the other two will be ready in a few days. New Delhi railway station has enough capacity to run more trains, confirmed Geetanjali, PRO, Northern Railway.

New Delhi, September 13
An eye for an eye makes the whole world go blind. Many Delhi residents, even those who have been at the receiving end of the city’s killer Blueline buses, are against harsh punishments like the death penalty for erring drivers. Instead, they suggest, the licences of such drivers should be taken away and the officials responsible for putting them on road should also be punished.

The debate began afresh after Tota Ram, father of Ranjeet Kumar who died under the wheels of a reckless Blueline on Monday while trying to save his colleague, demanded that its driver be awarded the death penalty.

“We can understand Tota Ram’s state of mind. But do you think by hanging 100 Blueline bus drivers, we would solve the problem? We need to find out what is the real problem and who is actually responsible for the accidents,” said Sanjay Kaul, who floated the Blueline victims association last year.

The Capital’s 4,000-strong privately run Blueline bus fleet, notorious for mowing down people and getting away with it, is being phased out but many say this is nothing but an election gimmick as Delhi is due for polls in November.

“We have jokers running the transport department. The main culprits behind these killings are Chief Minister Sheila Dikisht and transport minister Haroon Yusuf for allowing Blueline buses to run amok on city roads. They only decided to phase out these buses at a time when they could make them an election issue,” Kaul said.

Tempers are running high against the Blueline buses once again. They have claimed 80 lives this year, with the victims in many cases contributing to the meagre incomes of their families.

For instance, Tota Ram’s son Ranjeet Kumar was the only educated member of his family. All of 22, he had just joined Barclays Finance and was eagerly looking forward to receiving his first salary which was due on Wednesday. However, his life was rudely cut short.

On Monday morning, as Kumar was on his way to work with colleague Shalu Pandit on his bike, another bike came and hit them from behind. As Pandit fell down, Kumar, who had lost his balance, rushed to help her. Just then, a Blueline bus came speeding by and crushed him to death in the Hazrat Nizamuddin area.

These buses, whose drivers often have little training and learn on the job, have maimed many in the Capital over the years.

Rajesh Verma, who lost a hand and a leg in such an accident three years ago, said awarding the death sentence was not a solution. “Blueline bus drivers don’t kill a person intentionally. In my opinion laws should be made tougher so that they don’t get out on bail in 24 hours,” Verma said.

“They should be booked under Section 304-2 (culpable homicide not amounting to murder and not in the routine 304-A (death due to rash and negligent driving) that fetches a maximum sentence of two years,” he added.

This bus fleet is crucial to Delhi’s public transport. The Delhi Traffic Police statistics said that almost every Blueline bus was fined at least 20 times for offences like rash driving and over-speeding last year, but this failed to make drivers mend their ways.

More than 120 people lost their lives in Blueline bus accidents in 2007.

Most people said that corrupt officials and bureaucrats should also be hauled up.

“These incidents of people being crushed under the wheels of the killer fleet show an institutional failure. But by giving the death penalty, we are putting the entire blame on the drivers when the people who put them on roads in the first place should share equal blame,” said Sanjukta Chatterjee, a writer.

“Punish not only the driver for the accident but also the corrupt transport officials, the bus owners and the tribe of politicians, many of whom are themselves Blueline bus owners and therefore are not willing to reform the system,” Chatterjee said.

Chatterjee went on to say that there should probably be fast track courts to deliver justice in such cases.

Similarly, Pragya Vats, a social activist, said giving the death penalty to erring drivers for killing people on the roads is not the solution.

“The erring driver’s licences should be cancelled so that their means of livelihood stands uncertain and they realise what the kin of victims are going through,” Vats said. — IANS

New Delhi, September 13
Munna Singh (50), a property dealer, was shot dead last night in Rohini area of northwest Delhi for reportedly objecting to the relations of his paramour’s daughter with a young man.

According to police, Munna Singh, resident of Rohini, was shot in the chest and shoulder by a motorcycle-borne assailant, identified as Robin Sharma (28). Singh was rushed to Baba Saheb Ambedkar Hospital where he succumbed to his injuries.

Singh was married and had four children, but was also in a relationship with a divorced woman Renu Saini (50). “Munna would spend most of his time at Renu’s Sector-17 home in Rohini and both the families had no objection to the relationship,” said a police official. Renu Saini has a 25-year-old daughter, Bhawana who was seeing one Robin. This relationship was not approved by Munna Singh and he often objected to her meeting with Robin. He often told Bhawna not to meet Robin and also stopped her from communicating with him. This had offended Robin and he was trying to eliminate Munna. Renu’s son Chintan is an eyewitness to the murder. Police has registered a case against Robin under Section 302 of IPC and search is on to nab him. 

New Delhi, September 13
Farmers on a sit-in here for the past six months seeking enhanced compensation for land acquired by the Delhi government today threatened to intensify their agitation. The current market price of the land is over 15 times what they were offered in 2005, they say.

Farmers from several villages, including Kanjhawala, Karala, Sultanpur Dabas, Put Khurd, Tikri Khurd and Tikri Kalan in northwest Delhi have been staging the sit-in outside the local deputy commissioner’s office.

They said that the Congress government in Delhi, besides mentioning the issue in the assembly, had done little to address their woes.

“We have been on a peaceful dharna for the last six months, but the government has not done anything. Nearly 60,000 people in this region have been affected by the government’s decision to give less compensation in comparison to the market price,” said Balraj Dabbas, secretary of Bharatiya Kisan Union (BKU), Delhi.

BKU is spearheading the farmers’ agitation with Jan Sangharsh Vahini and National Alliance of People’s Movements, Delhi.

“We have come to know through the media that there is a government meeting on September 18 on this issue. We will wait till then and after that if our demands are not addressed, our agitation would be intensified,” Dabbas said.

The Delhi government, through a notification, acquired 1,450 acres of agricultural land in North Delhi on August 25, 2005.

The government revised the compensation rates from Rs1.57 million to Rs1.75 million per acre within four days of the notification. — IANS

Noida, September 13
The general body meeting of the Residents’ Welfare Association and Culture Society of Sector-26, Noida, which met last week, decided to build a community centre in the sector.

Sector-26, one of the elite sectors of Noida, will soon have a community centre of its own. Though Club-26 has been built in the sector which is well known in the town, the need for a good community centre has always been felt by the RWA.

According to Manmohan Singh Dhami, president of RWA & CS, the residents “had unanimously reposed the confidence in his team by giving an extension of one year” to continue the good work. Many old problems of the sector have been solved by the new team of RWA & CS within a short span of time, he said.

Dhami said it has been unanimously agreed to build a community centre in the main central park of the sector in which the president of Club 26 and the Noida Authority have assured all help. The Club 26 has assured the RWA & CS financial assistance for the construction of the centre in the sector.

The president of Club-26 had publicly committed a financial help of Rs 70 lakh for the centre. It will be constructed on 3000 sq ft plinth area. The building will have basements, a conference room, a library and other facilities for the residents, Dhami added.

New Delhi, September 13
A six-year-old student of a West Delhi school, who had gone to drink water during school hours on Friday, was found dead in the school water tank, the police said here today.

Class II student Vibhuti Nath Sharma’s body was found on Saturday afternoon in the water tank of Kendriya Vidyalaya in Vikas Puri.

“The school authorities told us that the boy went out of his class during the seventh period (at around 11.30 a.m. on Friday) for drinking water and going to bathroom. But he never returned,” a police official said.

“School authorities said that when he didn’t return, they looked for him everywhere. However, when they were unable to find him, they informed the family and the police about it in the evening,” the official added.

The child’s body was found on Saturday afternoon in the school water tank, the official said.

However, Vibhuti’s family, which lives in Dwarka of South West Delhi, refuted the claims of the school authorities.

“The school authorities didn’t inform us. Instead the cab driver, who used to bring him back, informed us,” said Vibhuti’s father, Jaitant Sharma, who works as an assistant in Defence Research and Development Organisation.

“This is a serious case and is clear negligence on part of the school authorities. The water tank is very close to the principal’s office,” he said.

The water tank is around 10 feet deep and is at a height of five-and-a-half feet from the ground. The police is trying to ascertain how a child managed to climb on to a water tank which is almost twice his height.

The police has sent Vibhuti’s body to Deen Dayal Upadhyay Hospital for a postmortem examination. — IANS

New Delhi, September 13
Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MLA Dayanand Chandela who represented Khayala constituency yesterday resigned from the party and the House.

He said, “I have resigned from the BJP as well as from the Assembly. But the Assembly did not accept my resignation due to certain reasons,” he said.

He had contested the Assembly elections from Khayala as an independent candidate in 2003 and had joined the party later.

Chandela said that the saffron party’s lacklusture attitude towards development issues made him take such a decision.

He alleged that the party did not share cordial relationship with the officers who could be helpful in carrying out development works. Besides, it did not coordinate with the MLAs also.

He said that when nomination for elections is filed, an oath is given before the election commission that the candidate would not make any difference on grounds of caste, colour and religion. But the BJP is totally communal. It differentiates among people in the name of religion, he alleged.

He did not reply as to which party he would join now. But he confirmed that he would contest the Assembly elections from the Rajouri Garden constituency. Earlier, he used to contest from Khayala but after delimitation the constituency had vanished.

Chandela said that with his resignation the BJP would lose two seats – one of Rajouri Garden and the other of Tilak Nagar from where one of his supporters would contest the elections.

Leader of Opposition in the Assembly Jagdish Mukhi said that Chandela resigned because he was denied party ticket for assembly elections. For the last few months he was involved in anti-party activists. He resigned in the House just to get publicity. If he wanted to resign, he should have resigned before head of the party, he said.

New Delhi, September 13
The 16th global conference on mysticism is being organised by Sawan Kirpal Ruhani Mission at Kirpal Bagh near Nanak Piao Gurudwara from September 13 to 18 and at Sant Darshan Singh Dham, Burari, from September 19 to 21.

Sant Rajinder Singhji Maharaj, President of World Council of Religions will preside over the conference.

Such conferences aim at promoting global human unity and peace through mysticism.

Sant Rajinder Singhji Maharaj had organised the first global conference on mysticism in 1990 in Delhi, which created the platform for religious understanding, and realisation of spiritual unity of man, a spokesman of the Mission said.

During the conference there will be spiritual discourses and seminars on topics Darshan-Angle of Love, Meditation for a Peaceful World, Meditation - A Tool for Eternal Bliss and Illumine yourself with Love.

On this occasion a meditation workshop, a free cataract operation camp, a blood donation camp and distribution of appliances to the physically challenged will also be organised.

Among others Delhi Lieutenant Governor Tejinder Khanna, Shankaracharya Swami Adhokjanand Teerath ji and Dr Karan Singh, Rabi Ezekiel Issac Malekar would address the conference.

Noida, September 13
The incidence of dengue, malaria and typhoid cases have increased in the National Capital Region (NCR), including Noida.

After two persons died of dengue and malaria in Delhi and six more dengue cases were confirmed in Faridabad. Besides, cases of malaria are rapidly increasing in Noida.

In Noida district hospital alone, four malaria cases have been confirmed. Typhoid cases have also been reported. All this is due to mosquito breeding.

According to Dr Renu Agarwal of district hospital, over three dozen malaria patients have been admitted in the hospital.

Besides 11 cases of typhoid and 12 of viral fever have also been reported.

In Kailash Hospital also, patients suffering from dengue and malaria have been admitted. Fifteen malaria patients were admitted to Surbhi Hospital in Sector-37 from September 1 to 10, said Dr Vima Chauhan. 

New Delhi, September 13
An MoU was today signed between Delhi and Yerevan in the Republic of Armenia at Delhi Secretariat.

Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit signed the MoU on behalf of Delhi whereas Mayor of Yerevan Yervand Zakharyan signed it on behalf of the Municipality of Yerevan.

The MoU would promote friendship between the two cities. It would develop cooperation between the two cities in the fields of local self-government, economy, trade, science, technology, culture, sports, education and the environment.