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Thunderstorm catches by surprise
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AK 47-armed cops to guard EVMs
Three schoolgirls go missing
Over 65 per cent vote in repoll
Environmentalists up ante A view of the Yamuna Bank Metro station that opened for public in New Delhi on Sunday. Tribune photo: Manas Ranjan Bhui
Metro crane falls on car, family survives
Give brave DTC staffers promotion: HC
Courage, grit keep single mothers going
Candidates give EC doctored figures of expenses
Engineer kills self
Man crushed to death
Couple hurt in kitchen fire
Youth catches fleeing thief
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Thunderstorm catches by surprise
New Delhi, May 10 “Sudden, but brief, thunderstorm hit the Capital, and a hailstorm was also reported in some parts. The change in weather was triggered by the western disturbance in Jammu and Kashmir and cyclonic circulation over Rajasthan,” said an official of the Indian Meteorological Department. The thundershowers occurred at 3.32 pm and 11.2 mm rain was recorded. “The minimum temperature on Sunday was 20.6 degree Celsius, four notches below the normal. The maximum temperature was 40.2 degrees Celsius,” the official said. “During the next 24 hours, sky will remain partly clouded with a possibility of more thunderstorms and rain,” the official added. The brief hailstorm brought traffic to halt at many places. “I got stuck in the hailstorm at Ring Road. As the result of hail and wind, branches of the tree snapped and blocked the main roads. Traffic jams were also caused as two-wheeler riders stopped due to hail,” said Rohit Sharma, a commuter. A few people decided to avoid the duststorm by not stepping out. “Going by the pleasant weather this morning, my husband and I decided to go to Nehru Park in the evening, but there were loud thundershowers in the evening so we had to decide against it,” said Neera Gupta, a homemaker. —
IANS |
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AK 47-armed cops to guard EVMs
New Delhi, May 10 According to information, more than 100 policemen have been deployed at every counting centre where the EVMs are kept till the counting begins on May 16. “The EVMs were sealed and kept in the strongrooms at seven different places across the city where the counting will take place in the morning on May 16. Till the seals are opened and counting ends peacefully, the EVMs remain our responsibility,” said a Delhi police official. He added that at least 10 men with AK 47 and other sophisticated weapons are keeping a vigil on the counting centres. The counting of votes for the seven parliamentary seats in Delhi would commence at 8 am. The EVMs have been kept at seven different counting centres, constituency-wise across the city. The centres have been identified at Vivek Vihar, Gole Market, Pritampura, Sector-9 Dwarka, August Kranti Marg, GT Karnal Road and Nand Nagari. The counting of votes for the Rohtas Nagar assembly constituency would be held at Nand Nagri counting centre. Apart from the regular police officials, men from Delhi Armed Police (DAP) and Home Guards are also guarding the EVMs. The CCTV cameras have been installed at all the centres and the movement of every man entering the buildings is being checked. “Besides the CCTVs, we would also barricade the roads leading to these centres a day before the counting. The security staff would also be increased to 500 men who would report at 5 in the morning the day counting commences,” said the police official stressing that if the EVMs are found fiddled with, the entire exercise of the past month would be wasted. |
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Three schoolgirls go missing
New Delhi, May 10 Keeping the identity of the girls confidential, police claimed that they had received lead about the whereabouts of the girls and would bring them back very soon. The police is tightlipped and refused to disclose if the girls were lured away by somebody. The three minor girls are close friends, studying in a government school in the area. According to the police officials, "The girls are residents of DDA Janta flats in the Vikas Puri area of West Delhi. After attending the tuition classes at 6 pm on Saturday, none of them returned home." Police claimed that the girls were still in the Capital and that one of the girls even called her parents to tell that she was all right. While father of one of the girls is an engineer, the other two girls belong to a businessman and a shopkeeper. |
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Over 65 per cent vote in repoll
New Delhi, May 10 “Voting was peaceful and turnout of 65.42 per cent was registered,” said J.K. Sharma, the deputy chief of state election commission. In polling booth numbers 64 and 64 A, the assistant returning officer had reported 98.5 per cent turnout on Thursday. Upon close inspection, it was found that 100 per cent of the registered male voters had cast their ballot. The official said that 38 voters had cast their votes in both the polling booths. While polling booth 64 had 718 listed voters, 908 people were eligible to cast their vote at 64 A. The poll panel observed “duplicate polling” in the booths and ordered a re-poll. Voting on Sunday began at 7 am and concluded at 5 pm. The poll panel has ordered an inquiry into the “duplicate voting” and has suspended 10 election officials who were present on duty on Thursday. — IANS |
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Environmentalists up ante
New Delhi, May 10 The Indraprastha to Yamuna Bank extension of phase II of the Delhi Metro was opened to commuters from 6 am. This station is an important interchange station as the Anand Vihar to Inter State Bus Terminal (ISBT) corridor and the Noida corridor, in east Delhi, will diverge from it. Environmentalists and activists have time and again raised concerns about “irreparable damage to the ecology” as a result of the construction work on the river banks. The 37-hectare Yamuna Bank station and extension is located very close to the river. Environmental activist Vimlendu Jha claimed that the opening went against the Delhi High Court’s December 2005 order calling for a stay on all construction in the 300 meter periphery of the river. “To construct in the 300-meter zone from the river is illegal according to the court-appointed Usha Mehra Commission. There is a stay on construction in this area. The DMRC depot station and lines are in this area and opening this defies the stay,” said Jha. Jha, whose NGO Swecha - We for Yamuna - has run several campaigns to protect the Yamuna from ecological hazard, said he had written a letter of concern to Lieutenant Governor Tejendra Khanna over the opening of the extension to which he had received no response. Jha is hopeful that the high court hearing scheduled later this month would look into this matter. DMRC managing director E. Sreedharan inspected the Yamuna Bank station soon after it was opened to the public. He said he “did not understand” how the construction of the stretch had any ecological impact. “I don’t understand how ecology is factored here. All the structures of the metro line are on water harvesting designs. No pollutants are being released. There is no degradation of the environment,” Sreedharan told reporters. Jha, however, held that concreting the area along the riverbed is in itself causing lasting damage. He also said the water used for construction for the extension along the river bed was “exploited from the ground reserve” which too had its implications as it messed up the ecology of the river. By DMRC’s own submission, water for construction in this stretch comes from “borewells” which they claim has “nothing to do with the river”. Another issue is the under-construction metro colony for DMRC staff. Jha claimed that this construction also goes against the stay. But DMRC maintained that the allotted land for these staff quarters was further away from the river and has the high court’s nod for construction.
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Metro crane falls on car, family survives
New Delhi, May 10 Shashi Dharan along with his wife Saly, daughter Shruthi and niece Gisha was returning in his Honda Civic car from Connaught Place to their home when the accident took place around 10 pm. Police has registered a case under Section 336 (negligence) of IPC at Lodhi Road police station. According to Shashi Dharan, the family was fortunate that the crane did not completely smash the car as there was a footpath at the side due to which it just stopped inches before smashing the car completely. Shashi works as the MD of Bharti Exhibitions company. |
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Give brave DTC staffers promotion: HC
New Delhi, May 10 The court on Friday expressed displeasure over the way the courage of the staff members was ignored by the DTC and ordered that the conductor and driver be promoted to the ranks they were promised. According to a petition, conductor Budh Prakash and driver Mahipal were on duty on a DTC bus going to Saharanpur in Uttar Pradesh on September 8, 1998 when four armed robbers attacked the vehicle. Despite suffering bullet injuries, both confronted the robbers and snatched their guns. Filing the petition, Prakash said that additional superintendent of police in Saharanpur had recommended November 5, 1998 that they should be suitably rewarded for the bravery and saving the lives of the passengers. DTC had then hiked their salaries from Rs. 4,800 to Rs.5,000 per month, saying this was an advance increment but after that no promotion has come so far. “We are shocked to know about the manner in which the corporation has handled their cases and deprived them of the promotions,” said Chief Justice Ajit Prakash Shah and Justice Neeraj Kishan Kaul. — IANS |
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Courage, grit keep single mothers going
New Delhi, May 10 For Kalpana Dhar, 50, separating from her husband was the only option especially after difference of opinion gave rise to regular arguments and confrontations. “I took this step at a very late stage of my marriage. But I had to do this because of my only son. He was suffering and I had to take a stand,” said Dhar, a banker. “Living in a society that is male-dominated is very tough, especially for single women, but if you are not happy then there is no point wasting your time in complaining. You have to make a decision . You need to have willpower to face the world and everything will fall into place,” she added. Living with the single tag is not easy as it comes with a baggage of dual responsibilities. Ritu Gupta, 50, (name changed) lost her husband on the war front when she was 30. She had two sons. “After his death, I knew I had to be both mom and dad to them. Hence I took a job and acted like a dad and like a mother while I used to cook for them. I taught them driving and swimming, the jobs their dad would have done. We used to go for outings, picnics and movies together,” said Gupta, a manager in a government firm. “Today we share a relationship of friends. We share everything, be it about their girlfriends or office gossip. The important thing for any single mother is to make things systematic. It is hectic and tough to be a single mother but anything for my kids,” she added. Surbhi Muwar, 30, lost her husband when she was just 24 but she refused to re-marry because of the fear that her son might get step-fatherly treatment from her new husband. “Now my life is completely dedicated to my son. I do not want to take any chance. I do not want to re-marry as there are so many implications attached to it and I don’t want my son to feel left out,” said Muwar, a music teacher. Muwar will appear on the TV show ‘Zindagi Live-Single Mothers’ to be aired on IBN 7 on Sunday at 8 p.m. Neera Chopra, 43, mother of Miss India World Pooja Chopra, is a single mother because she had to make a choice between her husband and two daughters as her husband was not happy with the fact the she could not bear him a son. “I saw him going around with many girls but I kept mum because of my family. He was not happy with me because I could not give him a son. But when things became really difficult, I knew I had to make a choice and I chose my daughters over him,” said Chopra. “After this incident I started hating men and never thought of marrying again. My world was my two little daughters and I did everything to give them whatever I could afford. It was because of them I am alive, because they were in this world because of me and it was my duty to look after them properly,” she said. These mothers are the role models for their kids, who appreciate the amount of hardships and toil their mothers put in while bringing them up. “For me, she is the woman of substance and being a single mother is not at all easy; she has sacrificed a lot. Yet she did her best to give us right values,” Pooja Chopra said. These women are unfazed when others raise eyebrows. “I don’t care at all, it is my life and I want to live it my way. Society is changing but the change is so slow that at times you feel suffocated,” Dhar said. — IANS
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Candidates give EC doctored figures of expenses
Greater Noida, May 10 Though each candidate is known to have spent crores of rupees, their statements sent to the Election Commission are incorrect. Going by their versions, none of the candidates has spent more than Rs 20 lakh. Bahujan Samaj Party’s candidate leads in election expenses. Party candidate Surender Nagar has so far incurred expenses of Rs 11,11,619 only. The second place is claimed by BJP’s Mahesh Sharma who has spent Rs 7,04,660. But if one looks at the campaigns and expenses of each candidate, everyone has incurred crores of rupees. All of them had spent a packet on providing liquor to voters besides arranging transport for people’s participation in election rallies. Each candidate is known to have used from 150 to 200 vehicles in the Lok Sabha constituency for about two months. In addition, all candidates had transported voters to polling centres in a clandestine manner. One of the contestants had deployed 40 cars in the Dadri area alone. Singers and dancers were arranged to attract crowds in election rallies. Huge pandals erected for holding rallies also cost lakhs of rupees. The son of a candidate was caught distributing cash among voters. Every candidate had employed chartered accountants to tailor expense accounts within the permissible limit.
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Engineer kills self
New Delhi, May 10 According to police, the body of Prerna Kumari, trainee engineer with North Delhi Power Limited (NDPL), was found hanging in her hostel room at the training centre in Rohini Sector 11. Although no suicide note was found , the police thinks it to be a case of suicide. TNS |
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Man crushed to death
New Delhi, May 10 It is reported that a woman, Sita Devi, runs a tea stall on a vacant plot in the area. The stall remains open till late night. Labourers from a nearby factory often come there. The driver of the truck which bears Uttar Pradesh registration number fled after the incident. The police has impounded the vehicle and is on the lookout for the driver. |
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Couple hurt in kitchen fire
New Delhi, May 10 According to information, the incident took place around 8 in the morning in the house number A-341 where one Laxman stays with his wife Pinky and three daughters Mamta, Chandni and Mala. “Pinky had gone to the kitchen when the burst caused fire. When her husband Laxman tried to help her, he too was caught in the fire which was spreading fast. The two were badly burnt and taken to Ram Manohar Lohia ( RML) Hospital in a serious condition,” said the police. The fire which spread to the other areas of the house was doused with the help of two fire trucks. According to fire officials, a neighbour of the couple, Yogender, also received injuries when he tried to help the couple. The daughters of the couple are reported to be safe. Man hacks wife
to death
A medical attendant at the Air Force Hospital allegedly hacked his wife to death in Mehram Nagar village near the Palam area of south-west Delhi, said the police today. According to information, Vijender Singh (55), allegedly an alcoholic, working at the Air Force Hospital, attacked his wife Shyamvati (50) with an axe following a quarrel between the two last night. Shyamvati bled to death before medical help could be provided. “The incident came to light after the couple’s children informed one of the neighbours who in turn tipped the police,”said the police. The police added that Vijender has been absconding ever since . The couple has four sons. The police has registered a case and launched a hunt for the accused. |
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Youth catches fleeing thief
Noida, May 10 During interrogation, the arrested criminal confessed to having robbed over a dozen people in Noida and Ghaziabad. According to the police, the youth is Guddu Singh, a resident of House No.50 in Noida’s Sector-37. He works as a cable operator. Guddu was walking while talking on his phone when suddenly a bike-borne man came from behind and snatched his phone. However, Guddu, instead of panicking, chased the miscreant and ultimately caught him. As the bike fell, Guddu’s hand got injured, but he did not let go off the criminal. Seeing a police patrol gypsy, he then raised an alarm after which the criminal was arrested. The arrested man has been identified as Ravi. The police has recovered five mobile phones from him. He told the police that he operated alone and snatched phones and jewellery from women. |
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New Delhi, May 10
