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Rs 10,000 cr for Games in Noida
Metro mishap: Engineer sacked
Malhotra blames Cong for poor water supply |
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Congress denying ticket to poor-performing MLAs?
JNU poll: SFI, AISF break
Boy survives after iron rod pierces through his chin
Electrician stabbed
Murder accused injures 6 prisoners in court lock-up
Officer held for harassing wife for dowry
Call centre executive
found murdered
2 held for extortion
Man crushed under wheels of Blueline bus
DTC bus kills woman at bus stand, injures 4
Dasmunsi shifted to Apollo
Young designers do good biz at WIFW
Fire at insurance office in Karampura
Stone of Vasant Vihar rainwater harvesting laid
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Rs 10,000 cr for Games in Noida
Noida, October 20 Most of the projects on sports have already taken off. A series of discussions has also taken place between officials of Noida and Greater Noida authorities and the senior officers of union sports ministry. Besides Delhi, Commonwealth Games have a great significance for Noida and GNIDA. It will be a good opportunity for Noida to build a favourable image internationally. With the green signal from the state government, Noida and Greater Noida are learnt to have drawn up detailed plans for projects costing Rs 10,000 crore. The officers concerned are confident that all the projects will be completed well in time for the 2010 Commonwealth Games. Yamuna Express Highway Industrial Development Authority is also expected to co-operate. A few meetings between Rahul Bhatnagar, joint secretary, union sports ministry and GB Nagar district magistrate and officers of the Noida and Greater Noida authorities have already taken place. According to the chairman of the three development authorities–Noida, Greater Noida and Yamuna Expressway, Lalit Mohan Srivastava, Commonwealth Games have great importance for the whole of NCR. Even the Haryana government is also focussed on making preparations for the Games. “We will do our best to make the stay of foreign sportspersons and guests comfortable,” said Srivastava. Various projects with expected outlay
Air traffic heliport will be completed by 2009 at an estimated cost of Rs 50
crore. Noida metro link is expected to be completed up to Sector-35, Noida by mid-2009 at a cost of Rs 2,000 crore. Traffic plan—roads, flyovers, and underpasses to be completed at a cost of Rs 1,200 crore by 2010 making transportation and driving in Noida smooth. Two super hospitality centres in Noida and Greater Noida are being developed at a cost of Rs 1,000 crore. Top level doctors and health specialists with the latest equipment will be made available for tourists. Entertainment—OCP Ansal Plaza, Cine Plex to be built at a cost of Rs 5,000 crore in Greater Noida for entertainment of sportspersons and foreign guests. Building an international- standard tennis court and golf course at Rs 350 crore are also on the cards. Besides, 20 lakh trees and saplings are being planted to beautify the entire area at Rs 25 crore. These will include ornamental shrubs and fruit trees. This green belt will give a tremendous boost to environment and also check pollution. |
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Metro mishap: Engineer sacked
New Delhi, October 20 According to DMRC spokesperson, a jr. engineer at site has been suspended while project manager and dy. project manager of the contractor have been removed from all DMRC works. A fine of Rs 10 lakh has been imposed on the contractor M/s Afcons and further action against the contractor will be decided on completion of the enquiry. “There are 24 launchers working in various parts of the city in Phase II. All of them will be subject to very detailed inspection today and only after they are again certified as completely safe will launching operations recommence. Each launcher will be checked in detail to ensure proper maintenance, proper bolt tightening, anchoring, availability of safety railings, proper access, handrails, proper lighting on top of the launcher, load testing, checking of pins,” says the spokesperson. The chief project managers have been directed to increase the number of traffic marshals at all Metro launching sites and provide more training to all the marshals. The public is advised to follow the directions of traffic marshals at all times. There will be more night inspections at all launching sites. For those persons who have been very grievously injured in yesterday’s incident, an ex gratia payment of Rs 2 lakh has been announced while for whose with minor injuries Rs 10,000 will be paid. Rs 5 lakh are to be paid as ex gratia for the deceased apart from the compensation which they will receive under the Workman Compensation Act. Every launcher will work under the supervision of an assistant engineer of DMRC at all times who will ensure complete safety. The high-level technical committee consisting of S.N. Sinha, professor IIT, Delhi, Des Charnock, international safety expert, General Consultants to DMRC and Rajan Kataria, chief engineer/Design, DMRC appointed to review yesterday’s accident has begun work today and it is excepted that enquiry would take about 10 days. There are indications that some mechanicalfailure/material failure of the launcher caused the imbalance and toppling. During today’s recovery work – 10 cranes which can carry loads from 40 to 150 tonnes have been deployed at the site in Shakarpur. Fifteen trailers, 5 hydras and 20 cutting sets are being used for the removal of debris at the site. Twenty-five traffic marshals and 60 DMRC personnel have been at the site round the clock for the activity. Five segments have been removed already and remaining 7 segments will be removed within 2 to 3 hours. Ninety % of debris of the launcher has already been removed. The entire road will be opened to the public from both the sides for traffic from tomorrow 6 am onwards as per discussion with the traffic police.
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Malhotra blames Cong for poor water supply
New Delhi, October 20 In a statement issued here today, Malhotra has attributed the cause of this failure to the half-hearted arrangements to carry the water to the treatment plants in a smooth manner, resulting in the loss of half of the untreated water on the way. During the Bharatiya Janata Party rule, a plan was introduced to bring the water made available by the Bhakra Beas Management Board to Delhi, for which a payment of about Rs 125 crore was made to the Haryana government. But strangely enough, the Congress government enjoying power for the last 10 years in Delhi has not been able to strengthen the water-carrying canal with concrete, the statement said. The expenditure on strengthening the canal is said to have now shot up to Rs 500 crore. This payment will have to be made from the taxes collected from the people of Delhi. The pockets of leaders, bureaucrats and contractors will of course be lined from this inflated amount. In the meantime a large quantity of water share for Delhiities will continue to be lost in transit. Malhotra has said that though Sheila Dikshit has been the Chief Minister and chairman of the Delhi Jal Board for the last 10 years, the population of Delhi has been crying for a few drops of potable water to meet their daily needs. Even in the 21st century, about two-thirds of the people of Delhi are deprived of the clean drinking water. Whatever quantity of water is made available, its quality is so poor that many people are falling prey to various ailments. The incapacity of the present government can be judged from the fact that the Delhi Jal Board was provided with the financial assistance of Rs 1606.59 crore during the financial year 2006-07 as compared to Rs 130.91 crore during the previous year, but the achievements of the board in practice are stunningly scant to the point of a farce. Another point worth mentioning is that Nangloi water treatment plant set up with the expenditure of several crores of rupees has not been functioning to full capacity due to the non-supply of raw water. Had this plant been fully used, the water needs of the western and south-western parts of Delhi could have been met to a great extent, the statement said. |
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Congress denying ticket to poor-performing
MLAs?
New Delhi, October 20 It was confirmed today after the screening committee meeting when names of candidates for only 48 seats were cleared and the others adjourned for tomorrow, sources said. There is confusion for a few seats like Jangpura being represented by Tarwinder Singh Marwah; Hauz Khas represented by Prof Kiran Walia, Naraina, Greater Kailash, Jafrabad and a few others. According to sources, senior Congress leader Tajdar Babar is asking ticket for Jangpura as her constituency, Minto Road, has been merged in other assembly constituencies by the delimitation committee. She claimed that majority areas of her constituency had been merged in to Jangpura and if she was given ticket she could win. On the other hand, Marwah claimed that he had nurtured this constituency for the last 10 years. Sikh and Punjabi voters are in majority in the constituency. The same is the case with Kiran Walia’s constitunecy, Hauz Khas. Delhi health minister Yoganand Shastri claimed ticket from Hauz Khas, saying that a major area of his constituency has been merged in Hauz Khas by the delimitation committee. However, party sources said that Shastri was being pressurised to contest the election from Narela. Two local heavy weights, former Mayor Jaishree Panwar and former leader of the House, MCD, Jitender Kochar, alias Jitu, are asking tickets from Greater Kailash. This is a cosmopolitan constituency consisting of four MCD segments – Greater Kailash, Chirag Dilli, C. R. Park and Shahpur Jat. Sources said that those who have a good connection with the Chief Minister and party high command would be given ticket.
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JNU poll: SFI, AISF break 11-yr coalition
New Delhi, October 20 The decision that would be announced in SFI’s general body meeting late tonight was taken after rounds of meetings between the two organisations in the last three days. SFI claimed that AISF could not give any substantial candidate for one of the four central panel seats, which as per their understanding, is reserved for its candidate. “We could not arrive at a consensus on the name of the AISF candidate. The name they were proposing was not agreeable and we made it clear to them,” said Rohit, state secretary, Delhi SFI. There were speculations that AISF proposed the name of their girl activist Latika for the post of general secretary, but her credentials did not appeal to the SFI leadership. SFI leaders, however, said that they were not averse to the idea of fielding two girl candidates in one panel. “We do not fear even fielding all four girl candidates if they are potential activists. But this particular name would have invited unnecessary anti-campaign,” said a senior leader. CPI backed AISF and CPM backed SFI have been fighting the JNUSU elections together for 11 years in a row and many more years overall, with one out of the four central seats reserved for an AISF candidate. “We have a strong bonding with AISF and we share a glorious past in JNUSU and we acknowledge that. This year also we have asked them to fight the school-level JNUSU elections for the councillors with us. We have a problem with their central panel candidate only,” said Rohit. While it is clear that SFI enjoys much more support than AISF in JNU, AISF’s candidates have been getting almost the same number of votes as SFI’s candidates. After decades of ruling the JNUSU, the SFI, last year lost all the four central posts to the ultra left CPI(ML) backed AISA. However, this year SFI is playing its cards carefully to win lost ground. “This election is very important for us and we are not going to take any risks,” said Robert, state president, Delhi SFI. Meanwhile, SFI would announce its central panel candidates in tonight’s general body, which will be as follows: Roshan Kishore for president, Abdul for vice-president, Anand for general secretary and Akanksha for joint secretary.
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Boy survives after iron rod pierces through his chin
New Delhi, October 20 Shiv Dutt, a Class VIII student of the Thomson Public School in West Delhi’s Uttam Nagar, was rushed in a police control room (PCR) van to the Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Hospital where doctors performed a surgery to remove the rod.
According to doctors, there was no damage to his eyes and his condition was stable. In the morning Dutt, living in the school hostel, had ventured out on a newly built portion on the top floor of the two-storey building to collect the clothes that he had put out for drying. While stepping on a wooden staircase, he slipped down and the rod pierced through his chin. According to school principal Kamlesh Dutt, the boy stands first in his class. He and his younger sister Seema stay in the school hostel. Shiv Dutt, whose family lives in Wazirabad, took admission in the hostel three years ago.
“We would bear all costs of his treatment. I wanted to shift him to a private nursing home but the police want treatment to continue in the same hospital. We are thankful to god and wish he gets well soon and returns to the hostel,” said Kamlesh Dutt. The victim’s father Tulsi Das was relieved after the operation.
“God has saved his eyes and doctors say my son is out of danger,” he said. But deputy commissioner of police (West Delhi) Shard Aggarwal said they had registered a case of negligence and were investigating the matter. “We have sought explanation from school authorities how the victim reached the top floor without being noticed by anyone,” he said.
— IANS |
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Electrician stabbed
New Delhi, October 20 The body of Shiv Prasad, who was missing from his Mangolpuri home since Sunday, was found with stab injuries in the chest near a drain in L-Block of Paschim Vihar around 7.40 am. His body was taken to Sanjay Gandhi Hospital for post-mortem. The police said Shiv Prasad’s family had a filed a missing person complaint on Sunday evening after the high commission officials asked them why he was absent. “Shiv Prasad was identified from the high commission identity card and a telephone bill found on him. Initial investigations suggest that he was stabbed directly in the heart,” said investigating inspector Jai Bhagvan. “The family of the deceased said he had been working with the Canadian High Commission for the past six or seven years as an air conditioner electrician and did not have any enemies,” he added. The police said a case of murder has been registered and investigations were |
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Murder accused injures 6 prisoners in court lock-up
New Delhi, October 20 The fight started amongst the prisoners in the court lock-up and Vijender, an accused in a murder case, hurt six other prisoners with the surgical blade, the police said.
Vijender also hurt himself with the surgical blade. On the complaint of the injured prisoners, a case has been lodged against Vijender under Sections 307 (attempt to murder) and 324 (voluntarily causing hurt by dangerous weapons) of the Indian Penal Code. The six injured are Vijat, Sunil, Deepak, Khalid, Vakil and Aalam. All are accused in different murder cases and trials are pending against them. The injured prisoners were taken to hospital. After receiving first aid treatment, they were discharged and sent to jail.
— IANS |
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Officer held for harassing wife for dowry
Ghaziabad, October 20 Manoj Kumar, posted at Meerut Development Authority (MDA), was arrested from his Lohia Nagar residence in Ghaziabad on Monday morning, the police said. “Kumar was arrested after his wife Ranju Kumar filed a complaint of dowry harassment,” superintendent of police Vijay Bhushan said. The two were married in 1998.
— IANS |
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Call centre executive
found murdered
Noida, October 20 According to SSP, R.K. Chaturvedi, the police had received an information about a man found dead in the church guesthouse at C Block, opposite Cambridge School in Sector-27. The body was found lying on the floor in a pool of blood.” “It was in all probability a friendly entry as the doors were opened for the visitor from inside and no sign of any kind of resistance was visible in the room. The killer is a clever man because he, after committing the murder, sprayed room freshener in the room to avoid tracking by sniffer dogs,” added Chaturvedi. The SSP, however, ruled out the possibility of the incident being related to recent attacks on the Christian community in some parts of the country. “We are investigating all possible angles including love affair and old enmity, said Chaturvedi. He added that only one assault mark, which had pierced victim’s heart, was found on the body. Some pointed object was used in the attack. “The intention of the assailant was to kill him. Only his mobile phone was missing from the room. Xavier had withdrawn Rs 300 from the ATM on Saturday and Rs 180 was found in his purse. Xavier lived on the ground floor and Dhiraj, a cook, who works in a church in Sector-34, lives on the second-floor. It was Dhiraj who first saw the body in the morning and had informed the police. Dhiraj claimed he had seen Dominic sleeping when he returned home in a drunken state on Saturday night. The police is interrogating Dhiraj also. |
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2 held for extortion
New Delhi, October 20 The complainant received a threatening call from the alleged accused on October 13 asking him for money. After receiving the complaint, the police said that a team was constituted and the alleged accused were tracked down from Seelampur metro station. According to the sources, Ashwini was an employee at the complainant’s firm and he knew about the affluence of the businessman. One countryside pistol, two live cartridges, one stolen motorcycle, two mobile phones and four sim cards were recovered from the alleged accused. |
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Man crushed under wheels of Blueline bus
New Delhi, October 20 Nadeem Khan came under the rear wheels of a Blueline bus, operating on route number 405 between Badarpur and old Delhi, while he was getting down from the bus around 2.40 pm near Golcha Cinema, the police said. Khan, a resident of Daryaganj, died on the spot, the police added. “We have impounded the bus and a search is on to nab the driver. The family of the victim has been informed,” said a police officer. The victim is survived by a wife and two children. More than 70 people have been killed this year under the wheels of Blueline buses. Last year, at least 120 people were run over by Blueline buses. — IANS
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DTC bus kills woman at bus stand, injures 4
New Delhi, October 20 Gyan Kaur, 54, was waiting for a bus to Chandigarh. According to the police, the driver of the bus, coming from Mori Gate, lost control and hit the victims in full speed. The injured were rushed to the nearby hospitals. Meanwhile, the police said the driver of the bus was arrested right after the incident for negligent driving. The bus would also go through inspection, as the driver claimed that the brakes of the bus failed to work.
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Dasmunsi shifted to Apollo
New Delhi, October 20 “The minister’s vital organs were stable and other parametres like heart beat, blood pressure and respiration, were being maintained. There has been some improvement in his condition since last Monday,’’ he added. However, the Indraprastha Apollo sources have informed that the minister is very critical and continues to be on life support. The senior Congress leader was admitted to AIIMS last Monday when he complained of breathlessness, due to lung congestion and the left ventricle of his heart stopped functioning. The relatives of Dasmunsi informed that earlier he had undergone an angioplasty in Kolkata after suffering a heart attack on July 6. |
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Young designers do good biz at WIFW
New Delhi, October 20 Though figures on the business generated at the five day event (October 15-19) are still being collated, it is expected to be in the region of Rs 800 million, considering that 160 buyers, 70 of them from overseas, attended the show. According to Sunil Sethi, the president of WIFW organiser Fashion Design Council of India (FDCI), the event received an overwhelming response. “This time, we witnessed maximum number of buyers and the response was overwhelming. I am not saying this because I am the president of the FDCI, but this is what I have been hearing from all designers. Be it a debutant or an established designer, everyone is happy,” Sethi said. Most of the young designers who participated saw a successful reception for their outfits from the buyers, who were predominantly from the Middle East. Some designers felt that buyers from the US and Europe were apprehensive about investing heavy amounts due to the recession in their economies. However, according to Sethi, “the creativity of the FDCI designers bloomed despite the gloom in the global economy”. Designer Amit G.T. was extremely upbeat, saying he had orders for 1,500 outfits mainly from Middle East buyers. “My business has been much better this time. In fact, it’s almost seven-eight times higher than before. Middle East is buying a lot of my long gowns but due to the recession in the international economy, US and Europe do not want to buy expensive stuff,” said Amit, whose stall was packed with buyers from day one. Abhishek Dutta, who retails his outfits under the ADnormal label, participated in WIFW for the first time and garnered encouraging profits. “I’ve got two buyers each from Saudi Arabia and Europe and one from Kuwait, to whom I am selling around 15 designs that have three different sizes and two pieces each, which makes good business for me,” Dutta said. The designer, in his 20s, was expecting “much better business” from European and US clients since his collection was “subtle to suit their tastes”. “I never thought I will get a good response from the Middle East buyers as they prefer bling, which I didn’t use,” he said. Delhi-based designer Nida Mahmood also got around five to six buyers from the Middle East, apart from one from New York, and she has sold around 70-80 pieces of her works to them. Parvesh of designer duo Parvesh and Jai, who specialise in resort wear, said they had managed to get overall orders of around Rs 3,00,000.— IANS
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Fire at insurance office in Karampura
New Delhi, October 20 No one was reported injured in the fire, which was brought under control after a grueling battle by the Delhi Fire Service personnel trying to prevent it from spreading to other floors. In all, 25 fire tenders were deployed to douse the flames. The police said that the fire was detected a little after mid-night when most of the offices were closed. While the cause of the fire was being investigated, the possibility of an electric short circuit having caused the fire was not being ruled out. Till late this evening, the insurance office personnel were making an estimate of the damages, which included charred furniture, paper and some computers. |
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Stone of Vasant Vihar rainwater harvesting laid
New Delhi, October 20 The Lt-Governor was inaugurating rainwater harvesting project organized by Vasant Vihar Government Servants Co-operative House Building Society at Lok Kalyan Kendra, Pashimi Marg, Vasant Vihar here. He said rainwater harvesting is a simple and eco-friendly technique of preserving every drop of water by guiding the rainwater that falls to wells and pits through pipes. He reiterated that all citizens should work together to overcome the problem of water scarcity in the Capital by harvesting water. Crucial efforts are to made in this direction and for that dedicated services by NGOs become crucial as citizen-based efforts are necessary to provide basic inputs from micro level, he said. As a part of the rainwater harvesting project at Vasant Vihar, two new recharge pits with bore-wells have been made and two existing RWH structures that had become dysfunctional have been revived. The combined recharge capacity of all these structures is approximately 70,00,000 litres per year. With minimal maintenance these structures, which have been made as per Central Groundwater Authority specifications, can continue to recharge groundwater for at least 25 years. The total cost is about Rs 4.7 lakh out of which the Vasant Vihar Government Servants Co-operative House Building Society has paid 40% and the remaining 60% by Coca-Cola India. It has been conceptualized and implemented by Force, an NGO dedicated to the cause of water conservation.
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The DMRC has dismissed
