New Delhi, November 8
The Delhi Metro services were hit today and hundreds of passengers were stuck on a newly introduced train for over two hours due to power failure on the Dwarka-Yamuna bank line, the police said.

The incident was reported between the R.K. Ashram Marg and the Rajiv Chowk Metro stations around 3.15 p.m.

“Power failure led to non-functioning of signals and the train was halted on the slip track,” a police officer told IANS.

“The passengers were removed through emergency doors and during that some might have suffered sprains. We are not sure about the number, but some have been taken to a nearby hospital,” the officer added.

Officials said some passengers themselves opened the emergency gates located on both sides of the train and started walking on the track towards the stations. This led to difficulties in conducting rescue operations.

The R.K. Ashram Marg is an elevated station while the Rajiv Chowk station is underground.

According to Metro officials, around 3.45 pm the next train, which was immediately following behind and was at the Rajiv Chowk station, was cleared off passengers. It was used as a rescue train after getting track clearance around 4.20 pm.

After 25 minutes, the affected train was coupled to the rescue train and brought back to the Yamuna Bank Depot for maintenance.

In the meantime, three trains were provided between the Dwarka, Sector 9, and the Karol Bagh Metro stations. Train services could only be normalised after one hour, 41 minutes.

“The rescue operations got delayed substantially, as some passengers did not follow the instructions given by the train operator of the affected train. He made repeated announcements to the passengers to remain calm, but some passengers opened the emergency exit doors,” Delhi Metro spokesman Anuj Dayal said.

“This hampered the relief and rescue operations as the rescue train could not move from the Rajiv Chowk station till the track was fully cleared of passengers. We advise all passengers to follow the instructions given by the train operator and Metro staff in any such situation to avoid mishaps,” he added.

The Central Industrial Security Force (CISF), which provides security cover to the Delhi Metro, had to shut down the Rajiv Chowk Metro station for some time.

“Since the train movements were delayed due to the fault, the crowd swelled inside the station. The situation was like a stampede, so our men had to shut down the doors of the station for some time to manage the crowd,” a senior CISF official said.

On Sundays, the Rajiv Chowk station receives maximum footfalls of passengers as it is centrally located and connects to other lines of Delhi Metro.

The Delhi Metro authorities were yet to explain what caused the power breakdown.— IANS

New Delhi, November 8
Commemorating 25 years of the 1984 riots, the Shiromani Akali Dal today organised blood donation camps and candle light vigil around the city.

Punjab Chief Minister and Akali Dal chief Parkash Singh Badal offered prayers at Gurdwara Sri Guru Singh Sabha in Greater Kailash here today.

A blood donation camp was organised by the Delhi State Akali Dal Tejab Mill in Shahdara.

Around 100 persons donated blood on the occasion, including Jathedar Manjit Singh, and municipal councillor Jatinder Singh Shunty.

While speaking at a seminar organised on the occasion, Manjit Singh said the areas in east Delhi were the worst affected during the riots.

He added that though justice should be provided, the 1984 massacre could not be forgotten by the Sikh community.

“Several governments have set up commissions of inquiry, with a promise of justice to the victims, but no tangible results could be achieved.

The Supreme Court should suo-moto direct the Central government to book the culprits at the earliest so that such events do not recur and communal harmony prevails in the country,” he said.

A candle light march was also taken out at India Gate.

New Delhi, November 8
Delhi will continue to experience foggy mornings and a rise in temperature during the week ahead, the weatherman said on Sunday.

“The temperature will continue to rise with probability of fog till noon,” said an Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) official.

Meanwhile, providing respite to air and rail travelers, Delhi saw a clear morning today with small patches of smog.

Like Saturday, the weather was fairly warm on Sunday and the minimum temperature recorded around 8.30 a.m. was 16.2 degrees celsius, which is three notches above the average temperature for this time of the year.

Sources in the meteorological department said there was light mist over the city in the morning.

The maximum is expected to hover around the past average of 29 degrees Celsius.

For the next two days, the minimum temperature has been predicted to be around 18 degrees Celsius.

The next two days would also be partly cloudy causing decreased visibility.

New Delhi, November 8
To minimize inconvenience to passengers and ensure continuity of operations at Indira Gandhi International Airport (IGIA), several proactive measures are being undertaken.

These measures are being implemented on the city side, inside the passenger terminals as well as on the airside.

The airport authorities assured the air travelers that IGI Airport was the best-equipped airport in India to handle fog conditions.

Informing the media about the measures undertaken Delhi International Airport Limited (DIAL) spokesperson said with the growing fog the airport authorities were expecting more cancellation and hence added rush at the airport.

He said opening of a new departure terminal 1D has raised the capacity of IGIA to serve more than 26 million passengers per annum. The terminal also has multiple food and beverage outlets, rest and recreation options which would minimize any inconvenience caused together with a large amount of comfortable seating.

Terminal 1C Domestic Arrivals was extended recently to provide additional capacity together with external large canopy area encompassing pharmacy, ATMs and souvenir shops.

The spokesperson said a new car park has been inaugurated at the domestic terminal which augments the airport’s capacity to cater to additional vehicles. Roads have been re-surfaced on the city side and the approach road to the International Terminal is being widened.

“DIAL has deployed additional customer service staff inside and outside the terminals to assist the passengers throughout the winter season,” he said.

Further, Extensive Flight Information Displays have been installed inside and outside the terminals to keep the passengers updated on flight status. He added that the IGI Airport Call Centre was being augmented with additional staff to provide information to passengers. Live flight status is also available on the airport’s website www.newdelhiairport.in

To make sure the flights were landing properly even during low visibility conditions IGIA has two parallel runways with Category IIIB Instrument Landing System. IGIA is the only airport in the India to feature CAT IIIB ILS which allows compatible aircraft and trained pilots to land even when the Runway Visual Range (RVR) is up to 50 m.

Around 55 parking bays including 36 at the domestic apron have been provided with CAT III compatible lighting systems. Additions carried out over the recent past have provided additional number taxi routings to ease aircraft movement and prioritise the movement of CAT III enabled aircraft.

Special booklets with information on fog and do’s and don’ts for passengers and airline numbers are also being circulated. Booklets with special operating instructions for vehicle drivers on the airside are also being issued.

New Delhi, November 8
With the meteorological department spelling partly cloudy and smoggy conditions in the city during the next few days, doctors caution those with underlined cardiac and pulmonary ailments from venturing out.

Due to the prevailing weather, the emergency medicine department of the All-India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) saw an increase in the turnout of people with bronchial asthma.

The head of the medicine department, Dr Randeep Guleria, said: “The number of asthmatic patients with worsening conditions, like shortage of breath, fluctuating blood pressure, have gone up.

In around past 48 hours, the emergency has registered about 20 per cent rise in people with chronic heart and lung diseases vis-a-vis the normal days.”

Dr Randeep further said the prevailing smog, which might become less dense with increasing temperature, affected many others, who complained of redness of eyes, sore throat, irritating cough etc.

As per environmentalists, the sudden increase could also be attributed to the pollution levels recording new highs in terms of respiratory particulate matter, oxides of Nitrogen and Carbon as suggested by the two automatic monitoring stations of the Central Pollution Control Board at ITO and Siri Fort.

At various parts of the city, particularly where the work for the Commonwealth Games is going on, the level of particulate matter has shot up.

Anumita Roychoudhury of Centre For Science and Environment said yesterday the city was engulfed by a thick blanket of fog and the phenomenon was the result of a combination of low-level inversion atmospheric layer due to increase in humidity, followed by the wind speed coming down drastically.

The chief of Heart Care Foundation of India, Dr K.K. Aggarwal: “Whenever any of the components among fog, humidity and temperature moves 10-degree northwards, chances of asthma attack also go up. The co-relation is simple; every 10 degree rise in any of the above can precipitate airway obstruction. If it’s reversible airway damage, its asthma, and if irreversible, it is chronic obstructive airway disease.”

While there have been speculations that the latest Jaipur inferno might have triggered the current change in weather here, it is yet to be assessed by the meteorological department. According to Dr Aggarwal, he received many calls yesterday from people seeking advice, but today with the clearing of smog and increase in temperature, he didn’t receive any such complaint.

New Delhi, November 8
The Delhi High Court is likely to hear on Monday a plea seeking transparency in the appointment of a new chief information commissioner of the Central Information Commission (CIC) and urging that bureaucrats should not be first choice for the post as “an essential safeguard”.

The petition was filed by Krishna Rao and six others, demanding that the government advertise the post of CIC chief widely and give equal opportunity for submitting candidatures to those who are eligible.

The petition filed last week through advocate A. Rasheed Quereshi submitted that “the function of information commissioner is to act as transparency of public administration, so appointment of those who have held key positions and high offices in the public administration violates the principles of natural justice and creates a constant threat of conflict of interest.”

“It is undesirable that bureaucrats are first choice for appointment to the CIC, in fact non-bureaucrats should be the first choice for CIC commissioner. This is necessary for providing an essential safeguard,” the petition states.

Stressing that advertising for the CIC commissioner’s post is necessary, the petition says: “The process of issuing advertisements is part of international best practices. Since CIC’s position is quasi-judicial in nature, so it cannot be filled up through the closed process of in-house selection from within the public authorities over which it is expected to exercise jurisdiction.”

The present selection process is done by a committee comprising the Prime Minister, Leader of Opposition and a union minister nominated by the Prime Minister.

The activists have pleaded before the court that the government select such candidates for quasi-judicial posts whose occupational backgrounds make them “predisposed to conflicts of interest”.

The petition also states that since the government does not advertise or make efforts to get independent, talented and qualified persons from other walks of life, they deprive the citizen the right to be served by well-qualified second appellate authorities in matters of Right to Information (RTI).

The CIC chief commissioner Wajahat Habibullah has resigned to take up his new appointment as Jammu and Kashmir Information Commissioner. His resignation is yet to be accepted. — IANS

New Delhi, November 8
With Delhi accorded the status of partner state at this year’s India International Trade Fair (IITF), the Delhi State Industrial Infrastructure Development Corporation (DSIIDC) that manages Delhi Pavilion on behalf of Delhi government, has planned four cultural events that will showcase India’s cultural diversity.

The annual November 14-27 event will see a variety of cultural programmes that would include Rajasthani folk dance, Manipuri, Dandia, Mayur Nritya from Uttar Pradesh and Gidda from Punjab, said Chetan Sanghi, managing director, DSIIDC.

The Prince Dance group of Odisha, which recently won a competition organised by a private entertainment channel, will take part in two programmes on different days. Prominent Punjabi singer Ashok Masti and noted qawals Aslam Sabri and Ehsan Bharti will also be part of the festivities.

Sanghi said the Delhi government would also organise three seminars on the occasion. One will be on the Commonwealth Games that Delhi will host in 2010, another on Delhi as the Knowledge Capital of India. The third seminar would be on Environment and Forests.

For a city famous for its food, Delhi will also host a separate food court “Dilli ka Khana” where popular chaat, sweets and parathas will be on offer.

The themes of this year’s Delhi pavilion, one among the most sought after pavilions at IITF, will include the Commonwealth Games and the Services sector for which the city is well known.

New Delhi, November 8
If a sari by Sabyasachi Mukherjee or a lehenga by Manish Malhotra seems out of reach, try visiting the crowded lanes of Chandni Chowk in Delhi’s old quarter. The replicas there promise to jazz up every woman’s bridal wardrobe even as they give nightmares to designers.

Anarkali Bazar, squeezed between an array of shops offering colourful bridal wear in Delhi’s old quarter of Chandni Chowk, is one such outlet. The mannequins on display proudly flaunt designer labels.

Go inside and ask the owner, Ashok Arora, whether the lehengas are actually designed by these top-notch designers, and he candidly shakes his head.

“They are copies. We copy the original designs and offer them to our customers at much cheaper prices. Not everyone can afford these expensive designers, so we are the solution,” said Arora.

“You can get any design from the net and my in-house designer team will give you an exact replica of the same design. It would be so close to the original design that it would be difficult for you to differentiate between the copy and the original,” he added.

Asked if he was not afraid of copyright violation, Arora said: “I am not the only one. The most important thing is that the designs they create are out of the common man’s reach. A middle class woman also dreams of wearing a designer lehenga but it is so expensive that she can’t afford it.”

“This is how the idea came. To make the dreams of bride-to-be come true. We have our in-house designers and even if you get your own picture, I will copy that perfectly in a dress - that is the level of perfection we have,” he added.

The cost of these lehengas ranges from Rs 40,000-Rs 1,00,000 - half or even one-third of the price of the original creations.

Poonam Darswal, 25, who is getting married next month, has bought a replica of her favourite designer Manish Malhotra’s lehenga and is excited about wearing it on the big day.

“I had loved this lehenga by Manish. I couldn’t afford it, but then I got made an exact replica of the same design. It looks just perfect. I won’t mind saying to my relatives that it is an original Manish Malhotra!” she said.

Ace designer Ritu Kumar, who has been in the fashion industry for over 40 years, says these copies do hamper the sale of the designer bridal wear but the only solution is to be innovative and creative.

“This fake business is a lot in the market and you just can’t stop people from doing it. The best thing would be to copyright your designs and if you find people selling it, sue them,” said Kumar.

“The best thing though would be to be creative and innovative enough with your designs and keep on improving,” she said.

Kumar also noted that the quality of these lehengas can’t match the original designs.

“There has to be some difference for sure. One just can’t get a heavily embroidered lehenga for mere Rs 40,000. They just can’t match the original work,” she said.

Another designer, Leena Singh of Ashima-Leena duo, was taken aback when a shopkeeper in Chandni Chowk offered her a fake version of her own design.

“I was shocked! He was offering me a copy of my own design and he had copies of other designers as well,” she said.

“Nowadays it has become very easy for these shop owners because they can copy our designs from the internet. We are just helpless. It is not possible to register each and every design,” Leena added. — IANS

Greater Noida, November 8
Unsatisfied with the distribution of father’s property between him and his brothers, a man yesterday allegedly shot dead his father in Greater Noida. He then even set the father’s body ablaze.

The victim, Mangat Ram (80), had distributed lands among his three sons—Ramesh Chand, Suresh Chand and Mahesh Chand. But Ramesh, the eldest son, was unsatisfied with the distribution and was asking for a land along the road, which Mangat refused. This made him furious.

Ramesh shot his father in the fields around 8 am. Later, his wife Kamla Devi poured kerosene over the injured old man and set him ablaze.

The police was informed about the incident by eyewitnesses.

“When we saw the old man burning, we informed the police, who, with help of villagers, doused the fire. However, by then the old man had died,” said an eyewitness and a resident of village Kanarsi.

“Ramesh and Kamla have been charged with murder and attempt to destroy the evidence. Till late evening today, both the accused are absconding,” said, Pramod Panwar, station house officer, Dankore.

New Delhi, November 8
After Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit intervened in the matter, three persons have been arrested by the Delhi Police for allegedly beating two Naga students in the Kotla Mubarakpur area.

An official statement from the chief minister’s office said yesterday: “Delhi chief minister’s office has been informed that three youths have been arrested in connection with beating of two Naga students on November 5.” It said Yun Sun, a student of Dayal Singh College, and Nuito Chisi, a student of Vardhman Medical College, were beaten up with sticks and bricks, by around five persons after an argument.

The duo was taken to a nearby hospital.

Dikshit’s office intervened requesting a speedy investigation.

“Three youths, Shahrukh Khan, Sumit and Suresh, have been arrested. They are in the age group of 19-20 and reside in the Ravi Dass Nagar area at Kotla Mubarakpur,” the statement said.

“A senior officer from the CM’s office has spoken to one of the office-bearers of Naga Students’ Union, Lucky Mukato, and has assured of all support. He has also taken up the matter with the police to ensure proper protection,” the statement added.

Office-bearers of the North-Eastern Students’ Union (NESU) along with three members of parliament, Oscar Fernandes, Takom Sanjoy and Thokchom Meniya, met Dikshit earlier this week. Dikshit said all measures would be taken to provide security to them.

Recently, the students from the north-eastern states held a demonstration against the rising crime against the community in the Capital.

While there have been several cases of molestation against them, the protests were triggered by the murder of a Naga woman a few days ago. — IANS

New Delhi, November 8
City-based college Netaji Subhas Institute of Technology won the grand finale of the Sweden India Nobel Memorial Quiz 2009, held at IIT Delhi yesterday. Beating more than 50 colleges, the college has claimed a week long trip to Sweden.

The competition was inaugurated by counsellor of science and technology of Swedish Embassy Stefan Jonsson.

The semi-finals quiz brought together quizzers from reputed colleges and technical institutes for an inter-collegiate Quiz. Srinjoy Chowdhury, author of a series of quiz books by Penguin Publishers was the quiz master for the finale.

For the finals which followed the winners of semi-finals from Pune, Mumbai, Bangalore and New Delhi competed with each other to win the champions trophy and the grand prize of an all-expenses paid, weeklong trip to Sweden where the winners will get to visit renowned Swedish technology companies like Ericsson, Volvo Cars, Volvo Trucks, Securitas, Atlas Copco and Sandvik.

As per the criteria for the quiz only one team from each college was allowed. The quiz was divided into the preliminary and final round. The preliminary round included closed circuit, written and objective questions whereas the final round saw the qualifying teams on the stage with the quiz master. The second round had direct as well as indirect questions in the form of slides, audio and video.

In its third edition, the Sweden India Nobel Memorial Week 2009, a weeklong celebration hosted by the Embassy of Sweden, has moved outside of New Delhi and to Pune, Mumbai, Bengaluru and Chennai as well.

The Sweden India Nobel Memorial Week are strung together by the Nobel thread around the broad themes of creativity and innovation and envisages helping build closer relations between the citizens of the two countries.