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Pipeline burst causes
jams around ITO
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Drilling of borewells banned in Gurgaon
15% water not potable: MCD
Higher cut-offs at St Stephen’s; Eng most popular
Ballabgarh market shut to protest police failure
Delhi Assembly
Hundreds slapped with trade tax notices
Woman plots robbery of jewellery
Ex-MLA held for cheating
4 more cases of H1N1
Heroin worth Rs 8.5 lakh seized, 1 held
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Pipeline burst causes
jams around ITO
Traffic jams reported all around in New Delhi area, with 5-minute run stretching to 60 minutes. As a result of pipeline disruption, south Delhi area likes Greater Kailash, Kalkaji, Ashram, Siddharth Extension, South Extension did not get water supply in the evening.
New Delhi, June 17 Thousands of people returning home after work were stuck in snail-paced traffic movement on the roads in and around India Gate, resulting in five-minute drive during normal times stretching to hours. As a result of the repair work, the Bhairon Marg and Ring Road joining East Delhi with South had to be blocked for the traffic movement resulting in massive traffic jams all around. As per traffic officials, about 8 to 10 lakh vehicles make their movement during the office hours on roads in New Delhi area comprising Connaught Place, India Gate roundabout, ITO intersection. “Even by conservative estimates, there are about eight lakh vehicles struggling for space on roads in and around India Gate roundabout at the moment,” said a traffic official when asked about the estimated vehicles on the road at 8 pm. Although, the repair work was completed around 7.30 pm and the roads opened thereafter, the traffic spill by that time had led to clogging of roads all around. To the harried commuters on the road on there way home after a hard day’s work, those were the most torturous hours of the day. “I have been stuck on the road for almost an hour now. I started from my office at Rafi Marg around 6 pm and I am not even half way to ITO,” said Sekhar Kumar, a government employee over the mobile. Similar tales of woes were heard from a group of youngsters boarding a bus from CP on their way to east Delhi. “We do not even know what’s happening. Had one been prepared for it, we could have coped with it, but the wait now is irritating,” said Sanjay Rana. Although traffic police tried its best to manage the smooth flow of vehicles, the end of office hours made things difficult for them. Extra traffic policemen were deployed and diverted the vehicles to different routes but no solace seemed in sight. “What can we do? The roads are limited but the traffic flow is increasing,” said helpless traffic policemen. The senior traffic officials said that Bhairon Marg was blocked, as it was imperative to carry out smooth repair work. “We did look for an option of having not to block the roads but then the repair work would have suffered. The engineering team could not have done their work,” said traffic official. |
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Drilling of borewells banned in Gurgaon
Gurgaon, June 17 The decision in this regard was taken in the meeting of advisory committee constituted under deputy commissioner R.K. Kataria for taking regulatory measures to maintain water table here today. It was decided that henceforth no borewell would be drilled and if any person faced shortage of drinking water, he could apply for digging borewell to the technical committee who would seek report from HUDA and water supply and sanitation department. Only after verifying that the applicant actually faced drinking water problem, he would be given permission for digging borewell. The decision of the advisory committee would be sent to Central Ground Water Authority for approval. The HUDA officials said that drinking water up to 180 LPCD was being supplied in the urban areas. Similarly, the water supply and sanitation department officials maintained that adequate drinking water was being supplied in rural areas and there was no shortage of drinking water in the district. The deputy commissioner observed that since maximum area in the city was covered with buildings, there was no percolation of water into the earth and the evaporation rate was higher. Moreover, the exploitation of ground water was on higher side and the people were not adopting rain water harvesting system. So looking into the future demand, the committee found it necessary to curtail the practice of digging borewell. The hydrologist apprised the committee that in August 2008, a notification was published by the Central Ground Water Authority in which it was stated that a person facing shortage of drinking water could dig four inches wide borewell to meet the water requirement provided he had rain water harvesting system on his premises. It was made mandatory for the person to intimate the district administration about digging borewell. After this notification, a number of borewells were drilled in district Gurgaon. The officials from Central Ground Water Authority informed that on an average, the water table depletion was 0.7 to 1 meter annually. |
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15% water not potable: MCD
New Delhi, June 17 Water contamination has been detected from various zones of the city like central zone, civil zone, Karol Bagh and south zone. Out of the 765 samples taken to test the purification level of drinking water, 90 samples came out to be unfit. In south Delhi, the contamination is highest with 50 per cent of the samples declared polluted. A total of 50 samples were tested, 25 of which were unsuitable for drinking. BJP leaders in the corporation alleged that the increasing percentage of contamination in drinking water is due to improper functioning of the DJB. They demanded that the board be brought under the ambit of the civic agency. “According to the test carried out by the MCD, 15 per cent of the water was found to be unfit for drinking, which is quite a big number. This shows the inefficiency of the DJB,” said Ramkishan Singhal, standing committee chairman “This is serious as water contamination can lead to serious diseases. We would demand from the government to transfer the management of DJB to the corporation,” he added. In contrast to the MCD’s report on drinking water, the DJB has found just three samples to be contaminated. The samples were taken from the areas of Sadar Pahargunj zone. Whereas, the contamination level was 10 per cent in Delhi last year. “The water being supplied to residential areas has impurities. Water supply pipelines in the city often run parallel to and across sewage pipelines. When high pressure suction occurs, it allows sewage to be pushed into the water supply system,” said a health official of MCD. |
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Higher cut-offs at St Stephen’s; Eng most popular
New Delhi, June 17 The college released the list of minimum percentage required for appearing in interviews for 11 courses. This time its cut-off percentage is higher than the previous year.
“We conduct interviews after releasing the cut-off list. There are Supreme Court guidelines for inviting candidates for interviews. There is only a particular number of students that you can invite depending on the number of seats offered,” said Nandita Narain, spokesperson of St Stephen’s College. “The cut-offs go higher each year as more students apply to the college,” she added. English (hons.) is the most popular course at St Stephen’s for which students from humanities stream need 92.5 per cent to appear for interviews. Students from science and commerce need 96 and 97 per cent respectively, in the best four subjects. Besides, students require a minimum of 80 and 90 marks in elective and core English respectively. The requirement is common for students from all three streams. Students who have applied for economics (hons.) need to have maths as a compulsory subject in Class XII and must have scored at least 80 in the subject to appear for the interview. Students from commerce stream need 97 per cent to appear in the interviews for economics (hons.). Candidates from science and humanities require 95.75 and 95 per cent respectively, in best four subjects. There has been a steep increase in the cut-off for economics. Its cut-off was 94 per cent last year. The cut-off for philosophy (hons.) went 7 per cent higher this year. Students from humanities require at least 85 per cent to appear in the interviews. While candidates from science and commerce need 84 and 96 per cent respectively, in the best four subjects. For BA programme, students from humanities need 88 per cent in best four subjects. Science and commerce students require 94 and 96 per cent in best four subjects. Last year, the cut-off was 79 per cent. Commerce students who have applied for maths (hons.) require at least 94 per cent. Students from humanities and science need 82 and 94.33 per cent respectively. The best four subjects in this case must include maths and one language. Candidates who have done business maths are not eligible for the course. In sanskrit (hons.) the college has fixed its cut-off at 63 per cent in the best four subjects for all three streams. The college has set its cut-off at 94.33 per cent for physics (hons.). For chemistry (hons.), students require 92.33 per cent. Students need 93.33 per cent in the best three for B.Sc (physical sciences) with computer science. In B.Sc (physical sciences) with chemistry, science students need 89 per cent in the best three. Students can add either chemistry or computer science in the best three subjects for these two courses. Candidates, who meet the requirements, would be called for an interview with the principal on June 20. “Candidates belonging to reserved catagories should visit the college website tomorrow or contact the college’s tutor for admissions,” said
Narain. |
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Ballabgarh market shut to protest police failure
Ballabgarh (Faridabad), June 17 The shopkeepers did not open shops till noon. They, however, relented when the DSP, Ballabgarh, and the SDM concerned assured them that three persons have been arrested. The shopkeepers, joined by some local political leaders, took out a procession in the market. They also blocked the road passing through the market. A score of persons attacked Prem Khattar and his sons while they were in the shop, ready to wind up the day’s business. The assailants were allegedly armed with lathis, chains and other weapons. Two sons of Khattar received serious injuries. They were admitted to Civil Hospital and then referred to Sarvodaya Hospital. They were discharged later. Along with Khattar and his sons, Subash Mittal, who runs a shoe shop near Khattar’s shop was also the target of the attack. According to reports, some youths from nearby village, Munjedi, had come to purchase shoes from the shop of Mittal. There was altercation between Mittal and the youths over some issue. One of Khattar’s sons had then intervened. The youths were alleged to be bearing a grudge against him ever since. |
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Delhi Assembly
New Delhi, June 17 Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit said this during the question hour in the Assembly today. She said this responding to a question raised by Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MLA Harsharan Singh Balli. Dikshit said that the government has taken the decision in view of the 2010 Commonwealth Games. Dikshit said that the government has launched two schemes – golden and silver — under its bread and breakfast policy to decide the rate of items and other things for those who would run restaurants under the scheme. However, she avoided to announce the rates as it would take time to begin the scheme. Responding to a question raised by another BJP MLA Satprakash Rana about the development of old havelis in villages near airport which would run paying guest accommodations during Commonwealth Games, she said the government would try to develop the villages. Meanwhile, the tourism department does not have any paying guest policy as of now. When asked about the development of villages for tourism purpose, the Chief Minister said the government had identified 300 water bodies in rural areas. Of them 178 were revived last year. She added that she would ask the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) to develop Bhalsawa Jahangirpuri landfill site as green patch as it would increase the beauty of the area. When former leader of opposition Jagdish Mukhi asked about the proposed Delhi Haat in Janakpuri, Dikshit said the Delhi Haat constructed in Pitampura had not been completed yet. Once it is done, the Janakpuri and East Delhi Haat would be constructed. She said there was a lack of space in East Delhi for more colleges to be constructed. Talking about the admission problem faced by students, Mukhi said the problem could be solved if the existing colleges in the area organised morning and evening classes. Congress MLA Surender Kumar said there was acute water shortage in DDA colonies of Rohini. When DDA cannot make arrangement for potable water, it should have not allotted the flats to people. |
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Hundreds slapped with trade tax notices
Noida, June 17 While the traders and commercial tax advocates have resented these notices, the departmental sources say these tax returns were to be filed in March 2009. But the department has not received returns. Traders who do business of over a crore of rupees annually fall within the ambit of the trade tax net. Almost all the traders in town are transacting business of over a crore annually, according to the department sources. Dy commissioner of zone 10, G C Mishra has reportedly sent the maximum number of notices, in which the traders have been asked to send their replies within a fortnight. Similarly, the deputy commissioners of all other zones have also sent these notices to thousands of traders who are likely to be slapped with a penalty ranging from Rs 10,000 to Rs 50,000 each. But traders and commercial tax advocates allege that the department’s computer system is not functioning properly. The server of the system remains down for such a long time that it is difficult to file a return on it. Complaints to this effect have been lodged with senior officers of the department also. Sending return on the present system invariably results in deparment slapping pernalties on traders, it is alleged. Only recently joint commissioner (Range), BY K Agnihotri had taken a meeting with traders and advocates to sort out this problem. |
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Woman plots robbery of jewellery
New Delhi, June 17 As per the details provided by the Rajouri Garden police station, Rekha, a resident of Subhash Nagar, had taken a loan of Rs 3.60 lakh from her neighbour Savita Lamba a few months back and pledged her jewellery as security for the loan. However, Savita was in need of money recently and she asked Rekha to return it and take back the jewellery. On June 12, both went to Prince Jewellers for weighing the jewellery, but the shop was closed. As they were returning home on foot, two motorcycle-borne boys snatched the polythene bag containing the jewellary near 5/18 Subhash Nagar. The matter was reported to the Rajouri Garden police station which took up the investigation. “Savita raised doubts about the conduct of Rekha and even we found several discrepancies in her statement. Rekha was running a boutique where we interrogated some workers leading to confession by one Nabi Hasan,” said R K Jha, ADCP (west). Nabi revealed that Rekha was in financial crisis and as Savita was pressing her hard for the money, she plotted to snatch the gold jewellery from her. Consequently, she convinced Nabi Hasan and asked him to arrange for some boys who could do this work for her. She promised to pay them handsome amount in return. |
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Ex-MLA held for cheating
New Delhi, June 17 Police said that Ranbir was arrested from Haryana. He is an accused in a chit fund scam and is said to have decamped with more than Rs 100 crore belonging to hundreds of people in west district. Kharab had launched a company by the name of Jyoti Fair Finance in 1998 and his chit fund company gained popularity as he became the area MLA. The other equal member in the company was his wife Anita Devi, also an accused in the case. Police stated that people invested their money in the Dalmill Road office in Uttam Nagar. “Almost the entire village in the area and even the neighbouring villages joined in to get quick returns. But around 2002-2003, when the people started asking for their money back, Ranbir shut the office and disappeared overnight, stated the police. His modus operandi was similar across the Capital. He promised to double people’s money in three years. |
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4 more cases of H1N1
New Delhi, June 17 Among them are a 10-year-old boy who came from Canada transiting from Amsterdam and arrived in Delhi on June 14 and a mother-son of 35 years and 6 years who came from Chicago by AI flight 102 and reached Delhi on June 11. The fourth case is that of a 17-year-old whe came from Washington via Doha and reported at a health facility on June 14. |
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Heroin worth Rs 8.5 lakh seized, 1 held
New Delhi, June 17 The accused Prahlad Meena was arrested yesterday with 1.7 kg heroin worth Rs 8.5 lakh from Ram Lila Ground near Turkman Gate. He had come to deliver a consignment. |
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