New Delhi, June 7
A 32-year-old mother of a girl killed her husband in the Rohini area of Outer Delhi. The accused Sunita stabbed her husband Naveen Kumar twice in the neck on the intervening night of June 5-6 and later told her father about it.

The incident took place in house A-3/99, Sector 16, Rohini, where the couple had been living for about a year. The Prashant Vihar police has arrested the accused and recovered the knife along with the blood-stained clothes of the accused.

According to information, Sunita's husband forced her to consume alcohol and later beat her up on Friday night. As a result, she was overcome with strong feelings of hatred and decided to get rid off the problem once and for all. "Sunita first hit Naveen with a chakla (article used to make chapatti) and when he became unconscious, she stabbed her in the throat with a kitchen knife. When the first knife got twisted, she took another knife from kitchen and slit his throat, killing him," said Atul Katiyar, DCP (Outer District).

Thereafter, Sunita went to her parental house nearby and while she told her father that she had had a fight with her husband, she kept making plans to cook up a story about Naveen's death. However, in the morning she decided to tell the truth to her father Chandoo Lal who dutifully reported the matter to the police.

In her confessional statement, Sunita alleged that her husband was a drunkard and used to beat her for money and other issues almost every day. Sunita is a graduate from Laxmi Bai College, Delhi, and has three sisters and a brother. She was working in a beauty parlour at Pitampura in 2000 when she came in contact with the deceased who also worked in the same parlour.

"Sunita's financial condition was not good and she could not get a suitable match. She became friendly with Naveen and got married with the permission of their families in 2001," said the police.

Initially, Sunita along with her husband shifted to her in-law's house at Panipat and a child was born in December 2002.

However, soon the problems started in the family and she had to shift to Delhi as her husband used to drink a lot and did not earn much to run the household.

Sunita even tried to commit suicide by consuming sleeping pills two years back.

New Delhi, June 7
A large number of people today ransacked the office of a businessman, who allegedly duped a large number of people of crores of rupees, here and took away furniture and other articles from his office.

According to information, people entered the office of Stop Loss Commodity Ltd in Nangloi and broke the windowpanes and damaged the office after it came to light that Subhash Aggarwal, its managing director, had disappeared with crores invested by Delhiites. Protestors were seen taking away revolving chairs and tables from the office.

Aggarwal is absconding for the past few days and a number of investors have approached police complaining about him.

The police has transferred the case to Economic Offences Wing, which is probing the matter.

A senior official said Aggarwal was settled in the Aman Vihar area.

Aggarwal hails from Rohtak and came to the capital four years ago, the official said adding that he started the firm where one Naresh Lapada was the director. He allegedly lured people to invest Rs 10,000 for which he promised Rs 1,000 as interest every month. Rumours are doing the rounds that he had garnered more than Rs 1,000 crore from the gullible people even as police neither corroborate nor reject the figures.

"We have no estimates but it is possible. We are investigating the matter," said an official close to investigation.

Some complainants claimed that Aggarwal promised profits of Rs. 10,000 every month if they paid him an amount of Rs 1 lakh. "There are the maximum people who doled out lakhs of rupees in greed of fat interests," said the official.

According to information, Aggarwal invested crores in property with the help of one Satpal, a property dealer. "He built an empire of his own along with Satpal," he said.

The official said he sought fixed deposits and give post dated cheques to all investors to gain their confidence.

However, on May 19 when some investors went to bank to collect money, the cheques bounced, the official claimed. After unsatisfactory replies, the investors started complaining to the police. 

New Delhi, June 7
The Public Works Department of Delhi government hopes to complete all works related to Commonwealth Games by June 2010, well before the hosting of Games in October-November.

The list of projects of PWD includes the work on Barapulla Nulla elevated stretch from the Games Village up to Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium.

The project at the cost of Rs 498 crore is being executed after the Delhi government failed to get approval of the Delhi Urban Arts Commission (DUAC) for its ambitious tunnel project linking the Games Village with JLN Stadium.

"The Barapulla Nulla elevated stretch will be completed by June 2010. This stretch will run parallel to the Barapulla drain and terminate at the upcoming municipal parking near the JLN Stadium, while running through the Sarai Kale Khan on the Ring Road," said a senior PWD official.

The PWD will also commission 24 flyovers in all before the Commonwealth Games. The department has already made four of such flyovers operational, including Geeta Colony, Mukarba Chowk, Mangolpuri and Road Number 3 on the Outer Ring Road.

"Eight flyovers will be made operational this year, while the remaining 12 will be opened for the public by June 2010. Among the ongoing flyover works are the IIT-Munirka link and Naraina flyovers. The IIT-Dhaula Kuan stretch will become signal-free this year," said the official.

The PWD is also carrying on works at three stadia, namely Tyagraj (cost Rs 300 crore), Chhatrasal (Rs 97 crore) and Ludlow Castle (Rs 15 crore).

"Seventy per cent work at Tyagraj Stadium is complete, including the new administrative building. The rest of the work will soon be finished. The PWD is also building a new stadium at Chhatrasal Stadium, which will be the training venue for the Games. The Ludlow Castle stadium is altogether new work, which will be completed by December 2009," said theofficial.

The PWD has also been assigned the work of the streetlighting on 394-km-long road networks under its jurisdiction at the cost of Rs 197 crore. 

New Delhi, June 7
One person was killed and 18 others were injured when a fire broke out in a paint factory in the wee hours today in southeast Delhi. According to police, the fire broke out around 2.30 am after a boiler exploded in the factory situated at E-48 in Okhla Phase II.

"Eighteen people were injured in the incident and rushed to the Safdarjung Hospital, one of whom was pronounced dead later," said a senior police officer.

The identity of the deceased could not be established till late evening.

According to fire officials, the fire could only be controlled at daybreak.

"A minor blaze broke out initially which soon spread to a chemical tanker parked in the factory leading to a huge explosion. Since chemical in the factory was spread around, the firefighting became an onerous task. However, we were able to control it in a few hours," said fire officials adding that the fire also spread to nearby buildings causing heavy damages.

The debris of the factory was being removed till the evening.

The exact cause of fire is not yet known and the police is investigating the matter.

The dead and the injured are mostly the labourers sleeping on the premises. Six of the injured were admitted to AIIMS Trauma Centre and seven to the burns unit of Safdarjung Hospital, including three in the ICU with serious injuries.

Some of the injured were let go after the first-aid. 

New Delhi, June 7
Keeping in view the convenience of admission seekers, DU has started using all the communication means to make students aware of the admission procedure. Apart from the websites, helplines, and open day session, the varsity has also started using community radio DU 90.4 FM to reach out to DU aspirants and their parents.

The DU 90.4 FM transmits 30-minute live phone-in programmes on Monday, Wednesday and Friday at 4 pm to interact with aspirants and parents. A one-hour phone-in programme at 10 in the morning on all days excluding Sunday has also been initiated .

Queries by aspirants and parents about admission are answered by faculty members and senior officials of the university.

"Most of the students ask about admission process, whether the common pre-admission form is enough to register for the admission to a particular college. They also ask about the best college, the best course, and entrance examinations for different programmes," said Dr Dinesh Gupta, reader in the Hindi department, who handles the functioning of the radio.

The DU community radio has a radius of 10 km.

New Delhi, June 7
The Delhi Fire Service has declared the brand new departure terminal 1 D at the Capital’s Indira Gandhi International Airport (IGI) unsafe. According to the information accessed by IANS under the Right to Information Act (RTI), Delhi Fire Service chief R.C. Sharma has refused to provide a no-objection certificate (NOC) for terminal 1D, citing many shortcomings during the two inspections conducted by his team in the past few months.

In his last report on May 13, Sharma cited six shortcomings. He said the ventilation system in the VIP lounge, baggage area and the office area was yet to be completed. Further, he stated, the exit route in the retail area should have a separate staircase or passage.

“In some places sprinklers are hidden in the false ceiling, which should be brought down. Some of the restaurants are under construction and are using wooden material. The wood works need to be painted with fire retardant chemicals. Necessary fire alarms or sprinkler system should be extended to these areas,” Sharma noted in his report.

He further said systems at the new departure terminal could not be checked due to passenger movement and asked for arrangements to test the systems whenever possible.

But so far the Delhi International Airport Ltd (DIAL), a joint venture between the state-run Airports Authority of India and a consortium led by infrastructure major GMR, has not made any arrangements for the inspection of the systems.

In his report, Sharma concluded that “terminal 1 D cannot be considered safe from the safety point of view till safety arrangements are fully completed.”

Terminal 1 D, which is spread over 33,000 sq m, has replaced 1 B, the old terminal. It was opened for operations on April 19. Kingfisher, Kingfisher Red and IndiGo, Jet Airways, JetLite and Spice Jet are operating from the new terminal, while GoAir, Air India and others are operating from terminal 1 A.

According to the airport officials, around 200 flights operate daily from the new departure terminal, which has been built at a cost of Rs 500 crore ($100 million). The terminal is able to handle 10 million passengers annually and is equipped with 72 check-in counters. It was inaugurated by civil aviation minister Praful Patel.

The airport authorities had first invited the Delhi Fire Service officials on April 8. At that time, the fire service wrote in its report that fire pumps and the fire control room were yet to be fully operational and that the sprinkler line was not charged with water at many places.

DIAL sent a report to the fire department on May 4, stating that measures suggested had been complied with. The fire department again conducted an inspection and highlighted fresh shortcomings.

When asked why necessary clearance was not sought before the new terminal came into operation, DIAL spokesman Arun Arora said the terminal was absolutely safe for operations and for passengers.

“DIAL is very much alive to the required fire safety norms. We have been following all fire safety norms (domestic as well as international) for all equipment and procedures,” Arora said.

“All necessary documents have been submitted to the fire department and inspections have been carried out by the Delhi Fire Service officers. All observations and suggestions made by them were carried out by DIAL. The suggestions made by them during their subsequent visit to terminal 1 D are also being carried out,” he added.

Arora said to ensure fail-proof fire safety, DIAL has taken many initiatives.

“We have deputed 18 well-trained firemen who keep patrolling all areas of the terminals—like the check-in area, airline ticketing areas and security holds. More than 50 fire hydrant outlets have been deployed inside and outside the terminal for greater safety,” Arora said.

Though DIAL has been running the new terminal without fire safety clearances, the Delhi Fire Service was silent on why no action was being taken against the airport authorities. As per the powers conferred upon the fire department, it can cut electricity and water supplies to a building or even shut it down if the fire safety norms are not met.—IANS 

New Delhi, June 7
Delhi University is a preferred destination for youngsters from the northeast for higher studies. But many find themselves singled out for their looks, attire and diction. For them, there is help at hand.

Student clubs, volunteers and colleges in the varsity are stepping in to ease their troubles.

“Students face problems of accommodation and discrimination. The first step—and most significant now—is to help them fill up forms and ease the admission process,” Rover, a member of the Naga Students Union, said.

Many such student clubs, set up by students from the northeast who are already enrolled in Delhi University and those who have set up base here, are extending help to fresh entrants in whatever way they can .

The Manipur Students Union and the Arunachal Pradesh Students Union have also emerged as support groups for students from their respective states, helping youngsters fill up admission forms and get reliable paying guest accommodation.

“Discrimination is an issue. People think we are from some different world! A lot of people need to get their history and geography right. They think we are from oriental countries like China and Japan—but we belong to the same country,” said Thomas, a member of the Kuki Students Union.

The North East Support Centre helpline (9818314146/9868184939) has also been receiving a lot of complaints from female students facing eve-teasing, molestation, harassment by landlords and in some cases even sexual abuse and rape.

The helpline has been functioning since October 2007 and actively helping out students in case of discrimination. There are 49,000 seats in Delhi University.

“When students call our helpline, in some cases we help them get in touch with the police and provide them legal assistance,” said Lansinglu Rongmei, an active member of North East Support Centre and lawyer.

The Delhi University Students Union (DUSU) as well as the varsity’s administrative office is trying to link new students and university aspirants to senior students and teachers from the northeast.

Gurpreet Singh Tuteja, deputy dean, students’ welfare, said, “We have set up help desks where teacher counsellors who hail from the northeastern states help out students. Our student counsellors also pitch in.”

DUSU member Tejeswar Parida said, “DUSU introduces them to our members who are from the northeast so that there is no hesitation. We also keep in touch with individual organisations from these regions.”

Individual colleges are also pitching in.Sri Venkateswara College, a college in the south campus, has taken steps to make students feel at home.“The college plans to help students from the northeast take up houses on rent. Students will also be asked to submit a report on their stay in their rented houses so that we will know if they face any kind of harassment from landlords,” said Nirmal Kumar, admissions convener.

“In some cases, if required, a person from the administration would be appointed for the student concerned to help him or her interact with police,” Kumar added.

Thumlity Monsang, who hails from Manipur and is a student of journalism at Kalindi College, said: “Racial discrimination against us takes place within the boundaries of our country. We constantly have to prove that we are Indians. Why?”—IANS 

New Delhi, June 7
There was no respite on Sunday for Delhiites as they continued to experience hot and humid weather with the day temperature touching the 40 degrees Celsius mark. The national capital recorded a maximum temperature of 40.1 degrees Celsius while the minimum settled at 27.6 degrees Celsius. The humidity was recorded at 64 per cent.

There will be no respite from the scorching heat in the coming days as the temperature will remain around the 40 degrees Celsius mark, said an official at the Safdarjung met office.

The officials have forecast clear sky with the maximum temperature hovering around the 40 degrees Celsius mark.

Due to the heat, the residents of Delhi mostly remained indoors during the day.

The weather was so hot that I decided not to step out despite it being a weekend. Even in the evening, I could feel the heat, said Sangita Singh, a financial consultant.—IANS 

Noida, June 7
Noida Authority has launched a scheme for group housing societies. The societies already registered can apply for the two-plot scheme. Under the scheme, two plots measuring over 5000 sq mt each have been offered in Sector 56 and Sector 110. The plot in Sector 56 measures 5903 sq mt while the Sector 110 plot is 5430 sq mt in area.

Applications can be submitted by June 23, 2009 up to 12 p.m.with a registration fee of Rs 2 crore, but the payment terms could be a little flexible after the allottment of plots. The reserve price of allotment is fixed at Rs 28,800 per square metre for the plot in Sector 56 while the price of the plot in Sector 110 is fixed at Rs 20,400 per sq mt.

A process fee of Rs 2 lakh will also have to be paid which is non-refundable. Builders, for the first time, have been exluded from applying for a group housing scheme and only registerd group housing socities are eligible to apply. The forms have been priced at Rs 5 lakh.each.

According to official sources, the technical bids will be opened at 3 p.m. on June 23 while application forms could be deposited up to 12 noon the same day. The societies applying for plots should have a networth of Rs 2.5 crore on March 31, 2009.

The succesful group housing societies will have to deposit 10 per cent of the total amount of the plot within 30 days. The balance amount could be deposited after 24 months.

The societies will be allowed to construct up to floor area ratio of 2.75 while maximum ground coverage of 35 per cent will be permissible, Noida officials said.

New Delhi, June 7
The decomposed body of a 30-year-old man was found inside a car in Jahangirpuri area of northwest Delhi this afternoon. According to police, the deceased has been identified as Satish Kumar, a construction agent. He is believed to have died 36 hours earlier. The cause of death is not clear and the body has been sent for the postmortem.

"We are questioning his family members and acquaintances to gather details in the case and find out how he died," a police officer said. Kumar, a resident of Rohini, is survived by his wife and a five-year-old daughter.

Businessman shot at

In yet another incident of robbery last night in the Capital, a businessman was shot at and his car taken away in Dwarka area of southwest Delhi. The businessman who was shot in the chest is undergoing treatment at DDU Hospital.

"A 30-year-old Sukhram was shot around 1 pm near Mahalaxmi Apartments at the intersection of Sector 1 and 2. They left him bleeding outside the car and escaped with it," said the police. According to them, whether Sukhram was carrying cash is not known. "We would know about it only when he gives the statement. As of now he is in the ICU and very critical.

A case of attempt to murder has been lodged at Dwarka Sector 6 police station and further investigations are on.