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4 perish in Sultanpuri factory fire
Councillors slug it out over graft
HC seeks govt response on adulteration
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Surprise check exposes PWD loopholes
Amity, NTPC get notices on illegal parking
Khemchand’s music lives on
Crime File
Man’s bike stolen, SHO refuses to lodge FIR
Rohini murder solved within a day
Mother of 2 hangs self
1 dead as truck rams into kiosk
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4 perish in Sultanpuri factory fire
New Delhi, July 22 Fire fighters said the incident took place at around 4:30 a.m. at G-Block of Krishan Vihar in Sultanpuri. It took more than an hour to bring the situation under control. “We received the call at 4:45 a.m. Ten fire engines were rushed to the spot. We managed to douse the flames by 5:55 a.m. However, four persons died in the incident,” said a fire official. The firemen took another two hours to clear the debris and take out the four charred labourers. A police official investigating the matter said that two persons were working in the factory, whereas the other five were sleeping when the incident took place. The deceased have been identified as Rambir (22), Gopal (25), Sunil (18) and Sat Narayan (45). Rinku, Sanjay and Vijender have sustained injuries. The official said there was a blast after a drum containing chemicals caught fire. “It was a single-storeyed building. The labourers tried to get out through the door, but it was blocked. Three men pushed open a window and jumped out to safety, while four got trapped inside. A passer by called the fire department at around 4:30 a.m. By the time situation was brought under control, four persons were already charred to death,” a senior police official said. He added the bodies have been sent to the Sanjay Gandhi Hospital for postmortem. Ram Gopal whose son Rambir died in the mishap was inconsolable. He also works in the same factory. “I work in the morning shift and had left after my shift. My son worked during the night shift. A friend called me on my mobile and told me about the incident. I rushed here to identify my son — charred beyond recognition,” said Ram Gopal. Jeetu, whose brother Gopal died in the incident, said that his brother usually returned by 5 a.m. But when he did not return even after 10 a.m., he came to the factory to enquire about him and learnt that Gopal had died in the fire. Locals said that the factory was operating illegally and there were many other such plants operating in the area. Meanwhile, case of causing death due to negligence has been registered against the owner of the footwear factory, Ram Kumar, who is reportedly absconding.
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Councillors slug it out over graft
New Delhi, July 22 The opposition Congress alleged the MCD was being recognised as the ‘most corrupt department’ in the city. The Congress councillors protested against the ruling BJP for giving rise to corruption. As a result, the chairman had to adjourn the meeting. The party said building, house tax, land and estate and licensing departments were the most corrupt branches in the civic agency. The row between the councillors of both the parties went to an extent where they abused and manhandled each other. The Congress talked about some cases of corruption in the meeting. “Few shops located in the area of Lajpat Rai Market near Gauri Shankar Mandir and Old Delhi railway station, were illegally allotted to people,” said Jai Kishan Sharman, opposition leader in the corporation. He said that the officials of land estate department take bribe from the shopkeepers who come to the corporation to deposit their lease. “The inspectors appointed to collect lease and rent from the properties of the corporation are so corrupt that they refuse to take the lease without getting bribe,” Sharma said. However, the standing committee chairman Ramkishan Singhal refuted such charges against the civic body.
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HC seeks govt response on adulteration
New Delhi, July 22 A Bench headed by Chief Justice Ajit Prakash Shah issued notice also to the Delhi police on the petition filed by advocates Sugriva Dubey and Namita Roy. According to the petition, ghee is adulterated with animal fat derived from carcasses of stray cows, buffaloes, horses and donkeys, while khoya, the demand for which goes up from 200 tonnes a day to 2,000 tonnes during the festival season, is mixed with synthetic substances. Animal fat is available for Rs 20 a kg while ghee costs over Rs 200 a kg. Similarly, khoya is sold for Rs 130 kg and the synthetic substance is much cheaper. “Synthetic khoya is mainly brought from Meerut, Aligarh and Ghaziabad” and “even from Haryana and Punjab,” the petition said. The Delhi government has only 29 drug inspectors to keep a tab on as many as 14,000 medical shops. Further, it has only 27 food inspectors, whose number should be increased to not less than 100, the petitioners prayed to the court. Turmeric is adulterated with lead chromate and pickles contain copper salt, while starch is found in milk products. |
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A date with solar scene
New Delhi, July 22 In Delhi the first contact of moon and sun was not visible due to a shady horizon and delayed sunrise but nothing could keep away the enthusiasts from the rare rendezvous with nature. The partial eclipse and breathtaking celestial extravaganza left everyone spellbound. Scores of people, including kids, parents, students and teachers, started flocking to the National Science Centre (NSC) since 4:30 a.m. And in half-an-hour nearly 300 anxious spectators registered a berth for themselves to get a glimpse of the much awaited solar sight. Celestial connoisseurs were seen purchasing solar filters from the NSC till midnight. Rakesh Tripathi, education assistant in NSC, said, “As it was first-come-first-service, people had started coming much ahead of time. Informal talks and apprising sessions went on till 6 a.m. when we started distributing goggles.” He said, “Visitors had taken their positions to have the best view. However, due to clouds, the eclipsed sun was not visible till 6:25 a.m., though the phenomenon had started at 6: 12 a.m.” The fear of missing the miraculous sight left many like Smarika Shukla disheartened. “Thinking that it would not be visible I and my friends had started coming down. But we could finally see it. It was just amazing! I called up my dad and described the solar scene,” said Smarika. Curious schoolchildren went on gazing skywarda to capture the sun in all its splendour. Manesh Narayan, student of Mother Teresa Public (MTP) School in Preet Vihar, said, “After witnessing the event, I have realized that astronomy is magnificent. It offers every astro-enthusiast an endless world to study.” The event has left an indelible imprint on Deepanshu, student of MRVM School. He said those who could not view the phenomenon have missed a golden opportunity. Rakesh informed the eclipse lasted for over one and a half hour in the Capital. But the sun with the crescent was visible just for over half-an-hour. “The spectacle was the most captivating during the eclipse of maximum intensity (87 per cent) from 6:26 to 6:28 a.m. The last contact of the moon and the sun was noticed at 7:24 a.m.,” shared Kailash Chandra, education officer, NSC. Besides, NSC and Nehru Planetarium had organised sessions to dispel myths associated with celestial events. T.R. Sheshadri, HoD, physics and astrophysics in Delhi University, believes there is no base to myths like one should not witness the sight or carry out daily habits as it is just a natural phenomenon. Rakesh said people were shedding superstitions gradually. He said, “Earlier, I believed in eclipse-related myths. But after astronomical study, my beliefs have become rational.” Moreover, spectators like Sudha, a physics teacher, had positioned themselves on their terraces to view the celestial romance. Sudha not only prepared and served breakfast to her family during the event, but also dared to witness the eclipsed sun with naked eyes. Meanwhile, many took dips at the two ghats in Delhi. Several mosques had asked devotees to observe ‘namaz-e-sunnah’. In ‘namaz-e-sunnah’ hymns from the Koran are recited. Devotees believe it can lessen the pain endured by the sun.
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Surprise check exposes PWD loopholes
New Delhi, July 22 He has asked the concerned officials not to remove the old lights till the new ones start working well. He has warned the executive engineer of the electric division and the company concerned of strict action if the lights were not installed in time. He asked the officials to repair the footpath on priority basis. He advised the officials to rent shops in subways to NGOs or companies so that the department could earn revenue from them.
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Amity, NTPC get notices on illegal parking
Noida, July 22 Most of the organisations have parking lot on their premises. The notices mention that the companies have violated the building by-laws of the Noida Authority. If an organisation does not park its vehicles as per the rules, it can be served with a notice. According to Noida Authority sources, notices have been issued under the high court orders. Initially, 12 organisations were issued notices in March. But after the Lok Sabha elections, notices were sent 16 organisations in June. Under Section 10 and 14 of the UP Industrial Development Act 1976 apart from wrongly constructed basements and setbacks in buildings, questions on illegal parking on public spaces in the neighbourhood of the building/ plots has also been raised. |
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Khemchand’s music lives on
New Delhi, July 22 Pran Nevile said, “Khemchand Prakash was one of the greatest music composers in the Hindi film industry. Despite his early death, he left a varied selection of music that has left its mark on Hindi film music for all times.” Nevile added, “Khemchand’s earlier years were interesting and offer insight into his latest development into a musical genius. He was born in Rajasthan and came from a musical background. His father was a dhrupad singer and a kathak dancer in the royal court and the boy Khemchand got his first training of music and dance from his father. In his teens, he joined the Bikaner royal court as a singer performer and later moved to the royal court of Nepal but destiny had more in store for him and landed him in Kolkata. He joined New Theaters in Kolkata as an assistant of Timir Baran. He was assistant to Timir Baran in Devdas (1935).” Nevile pointed out, “It was really with Street Singer (1938) that he got a chance to face the camera due to his kathak skills in a comedy dance song. He gave breaks to artistes like Naushad, Khursheed, Kishore Kumar and Lata Mangeshkar. The film Ziddi featured a very beautiful song by Lata. Mahal made Lata a common household name across India. Unfortunately Khemchand Prakash could not survive for long to see the success of Mahal and also the shaping up of the golden era of Hindi film music of the 50s and passed away on August 10, 1950, at a relatively young age of 42,” concluded Nevile. The talk was followed by clippings from many films in which Prakash’s music had figured. The evening was rounded off with a concert performance by Jyotsna Rana and her students.
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Crime File
New Delhi, July 22 It is alleged that the man, a resident of Gurgaon, was engaged in the theft of credit card data of the customers of American Express Banking Corporation. He used the said data for making unauthorized online purchases for himself and others. Information has been received that data of more than 17 credit cards has been misused leading to loss of lakhs of rupees of the customers, many of them belong to Delhi. According to CBI officials, searches were conducted at the residence of the accused in Gurgaon yesterday. “Incriminating documents such as 37 credit cards, 4 pan cards with different date of birth and father’s name, 11 sim cards, 12 bank accounts, 12 rubber stamps, etc. have been recovered from the possession of the accused,” said a CBI official. Further investigation is in progress. ECM thieves held
With the arrest of one Ramesh (23) and Moin (43), both Delhi residents, the Central District police has busted a gang of notorious thieves involved in theft of ECM (Electronic Computer Module, a costly device used in operating the MPFI auto engines) and distributor from Maruti vans. Twenty-nine ECMs and two distributors of Maruti van have been recovered from their possession and eight cases of ECM theft from Maruti vans have been solved. Fire in factory
Property worth several lakhs of rupees was destroyed in a fire that broke out in a cardboard factory in Jawala Nagar area of east Delhi last night. It took seven fire engines and two hours to put out the flames. Residents alleged that the factory was running illegally in the area and despite their repeated complaints to the councillor of the area, no action was taken. There was, however, no loss of life in the incident. |
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Man’s bike stolen, SHO refuses to lodge FIR
Gurgaon, July 22 It pleases the police, but is certainly not taken well by the public. The latest is the case of Delhi-based Ravi Soni. He had lost his bike recently in the city but the SHO of Civil Lines police station refused to lodge his complaint, maintaining that it had not been stolen from here and he was lying. Ravi is a resident of Sultanpuri in Delhi and is working as a surveyor in an insurance company. On July 9, he came here for a survey and parked his Pulsar bike in front of Krishna Automobiles on new railway road and went inside. But when he returned, he found that his bike was missing. He immediately called up at 100 number and the Civil Lines SHO Devinder Singh reached the spot, but he refused to register an FIR. "He clearly said that the bike had not been stolen from the city and he would not lodge my complaint," Ravi affirmed. The guy kept on visiting the police station for the registration of the case, but in vain. "I visited the police station four to five times but was shown the door," he clarified. However, his bike was recovered on Tuesday by the crime branch of Pachim Vihar, Delhi, who called him up to identify his bike, but he had no proof that his bike had been lost. It was only through the chassis number that the crime branch got his name and address. And now it became necessary for the SHO to register the case, that too on the interference of the commissioner of police S.S. Deswal. Ravi was called by the Civil Lines police station today and his FIR was then lodged. It happens many times when the complaints are not registered by the police officials. DCP West Rakesh Kumar Arya told The Tribune that he had asked the SHO to give explanation why the case was not registered. "Devinder Singh will be visiting my office in the evening and will clarify the matter. We have asked him to reply in writing," he said.
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Rohini murder solved within a day
New Delhi, July 22 The police said Virender was killed by a woman and her three other accomplices. The accused have been identified as Shiela Gupta, Sushila Choudhary, Yogesh Dagar and Jitender. The police had received a PCR call around 1:20 a.m. on July 22 regarding a quarrel at a house in Sector-16, Rohini. The police reached the spot and took the injured Virender to the BSA Hospital where doctors declared him brought dead. The police found Virender was having relations with Shiela and helped her financially. On the fareful night, there was some altercation between them. Shiela called her friend Sushila for help. Sushila reached Shiela’s place with her acquaintances Yogesh Dagar and Jitender. They then attacked Virender who succumbed to his injuries. About the motive behind murder, police said that Virender Singh had stopped financial help to Shiela and started demanding back the money he had spent on her. |
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Mother of 2 hangs self
New Delhi, July 22 The victim Parul Malhotra’s mother-in-law found her hanging in her room around 2 p.m. today. “No suicide note has been found,” said a police official. Meanwhile, Parul’s family members have alleged that she was murdered. They said her in-laws tortured her. “We are probing the matter from that angle too. Prime facie, it does not look like a murder. We have detained Parul’s husband,” he added. Parul’s husband was not in the house when the incident took place. Man jumps
to death
A man committed suicide by jumping from a dome in the Jama Masjid premises today. The identity of the man could not be confirmed till late evening and the body has been kept in the LNJP Hospital. |
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1 dead as truck rams into kiosk
New Delhi, July 22 The driver Dharmender lost control of the truck and drove into a kiosk before hitting the shanties nearby. The deceased has been identified as Mohammed Shamim Alam (38), who had come to the kiosk. The injured were identified as kiosk owner Dhani Ram, his wife and two residents, Shyam Singh and Naresh. They were discharged from the hospital after medication. Dharmender, who had fled after the accident, has been arrested and a case of rash and negligent driving registered. |
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New Delhi, July 22
