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Discoms to pay compensation for delayed connections
Mourning processions mark Mohurram
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101 couples tie the knot at mass marriage event
6 vehicle thieves arrested in Noida
Woman seeks Rs 61 lakh for disability caused as signboard falls on her
No change in green cover in 5 Delhi districts
2 held for staging kidnapping
Two held for raping
15-year-old girl
Big rush in DTC buses likely today as inspections on
Stadium construction disturbs DU teachers
Minor fire breaks out at Indira Gandhi airport
Mystery shrouds girl’s death
Truck driver found strangled
Constable found drunk, suspended
20 hurt as bus rams into truck 30 kids among new flu cases
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Discoms to pay compensation for delayed connections
New Delhi, December 28 According to the regulations, the discoms will have to give compensation if they fail to provide new connection to an application in the stipulated timeframe. “As per our revised regulation, if a licencee or a power company fails to provide a new connection to an applicant within the specified period, he will be liable to pay compensation to the applicant,” said a senior DERC official. However, if the compensation is not paid by the discom of its own accord, the amount will then be Rs 5,000 or five times of the earlier compensation. “If the compensation is not paid by the discom and the affected consumer has to approach the company again for claiming the compensation, the reimbursement in that case will be Rs 5,000 or five times the compensation,” he said. The companies will have to conduct an inspection of the premises within seven days. Making the laws more stringent for the power companies, the DERC said that licencee will have to inform the applicant in writing in case there are any insufficient documents, any additional amount required to be deposited or any other kind of discrepancy found during the inspection, within five days of the receipt of the application or from the date of inspection. “The application will be considered correct only after all the deficiencies are removed, about which consumer will be informed within five days of submission of application, or else it will be deemed to have accepted as completed by the licencee,” said the officer. He also said that the time taken by the applicant for removing the flaws and time taken for payment of necessary charges will be excluded for reckoning the period of 30 days for release of the new connection. For a correct and complete application, a company can take 30 days to supply the power. Though, the regulation also states that the power company will not be held responsible for delay on account of reasons over which the discom does not have any control like acquisition of land, road-cutting etc. provided they are informed to the applicant. |
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Mourning processions mark Mohurram
New Delhi, December 28 Dressed in black clothes and holding flags, men and women, mainly belonging to the Shia sect of Muslims, went in processions, crying and beating their chests in the ceremonial ‘matam’ or mourning to observe Youm-e-Ashura - the 10th day of Mohurram, the first month of the Islamic calendar. Special prayers were also offered at various mosques across the Capital to mark the day. Considered a day of bereavement, many Muslims observe a fast, give to charity and pray in remembrance of Hussain who was martyred around 1,400 years ago at Karbala in Iraq. It was during the month of Mohurram in 680 AD, soldiers of the ruling caliph Yazid surrounded Hussain, his family and some followers at Karbala. In the days that followed, they were denied food and water and many of them were killed in the clash that lasted till the 10th day of the month. “We observe matam (mourning) in the memory of the killing of Prophet Mohammed’s grandson and his family. After taking part in the procession, we will distribute food to the poor,” said Qazim Abbas, a resident of Okhla. According to the Delhi police, over 300 processions will be taken out on Monday across the city. Most of the processions will culminate at Karbala in Jor Bagh in south Delhi. The police has issued guidelines for commuters to take different routes as traffic will be affected. — IANS |
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101 couples tie the knot at mass marriage event
Noida, December 28 Twenty five members from each of the couple’s family were invited by the Parishad. The families stayed at the Aggarwal Dharamshala in Sector 33. Brides’ families were given the ground floor and bridegrooms’ families the first floor. Bridegrooms were selected by the family of the brides. The mehandi rituals were performed by the family of the brides at the community centre in Sector 19. The mass marriage procession of the bridegrooms was taken out on a series of chariots which passed through the city and reached the marriage site at Sector 27. The Parishad had also hired beauticians from several beauty parlours for the brides. “I had never thought of such a grand marriage. Even hiring a beautician was beyond our means. When my make-up and hairdo were complete and I looked at myself in the mirror, I could not believe it was me. I was thrilled with joy,” said Anita, one of the brides. “I felt on top of the world when I was asked to sit on a horse-driven chariot. I am so poor that I cannot even think of hiring a band party for marriage. Had I not been selected by the Parishad for the mass marriage, I would have married in a temple before some of the relatives,” said Rajinder, one of the bridegrooms. “The couples were given televisions, sewing machines, cycles, utensils, beds and other household items needed to start their new life,” said Parishad member T. N. Chaurasia. Those who graced the occasion included district magistrate Deepak Aggarwal, MLA Sativir Gujjar, MP Surindera Singh Nagar, social worker Mahesh Sharma and other dignitaries of Noida. Some of the couples who tied the knots included Kuldeep-Priti, Rohit-Reena, Ramaashish-Suman, Om Narayan-Neelam, Santosh-Seema, Sushil-Pooja and Ranjit
–Shaloo. |
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6 vehicle thieves arrested in Noida
Noida, December 28 “The accused have been identified as Raju Thapa, Sonu Thapa, Prem Thapa, Ashish Kumar, Mukesh Kumar and Sanjay Singh. The first three are residents of Nepal. Fake driving licences bearing stamps of the Assam transport authority were also recovered from them,” said V. C. Tripathi, deputy superintendent of police. “Their modus operandi was very unique. Two members of the gang would surround the targeted vehicle as soon as it was parked. Other two members followed the vehicle owner and kept a watch on his movements. In the meantime, the remaining two members opened the lock with duplicate keys and steal the vehicle. The gang used to smear the number plate with cow dung making some of the numbers unreadable. Thereafter, they immediately took the vehicle out of the city to neighbouring areas. From there, the vehicles were sent to Siliguri for sale. They took just 10 minutes to steal vehicles and within half-an-hour the stolen vehicles were taken out of the city. So by the time the theft was detected, all the accused had left the city,” said Tripathi. “The accused have confessed to have committed over two dozen vehicle thefts in the area. A police team has been dispatched to track all the stolen vehicles,” said
Tripathi. |
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Woman seeks Rs 61 lakh for disability caused as signboard falls on her
New Delhi, December 28 On May 26, 2008, a signboard of Rohini Court complex fell on Harinder Kaur when she had gone to attend her matrimonial dispute case in a magistrate’s court, there. She ended up with 70 per cent disability. Filing a petition through her mother, the victim held responsible the in-charge of additional district and sessions court in Rohini, the Delhi government (through chief secretary) and the public works department of the city government for negligence. Justice Sanjeev Khanna has issued notices to all of them and sought their response by March 22, 2010 on Harinder’s petition for compensation. The victim’s counsel Pankaj Batra argued that the district court besides the city government and PWD department were liable to pay compensation for the physical and mental suffering of Harinder. The counsel said, “The court is also responsible to see, check, supervise and ensure the proper execution of the works carried by various agencies and is vicariously and strictly liable for any dereliction of duty ... Any incident in the said premises as owner/occupier of the building”. Seeking compensation of Rs 61.13 lakh, the lawyer said “the petitioner, a post-graduate, has no means of livelihood and her deplorable conditions warrants the personal care and attendant for her rest of life for taking care of her personal daily needs”. “The petitioner suffered due to the dereliction of the duty on part of Respondent no 1 (Rohini Court), 2 (Delhi government) and 3 (PWD department) for improperly fastening the signboard of Rohini District Court Complex on the court complex,” the counsel argued.
— PTI |
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Chilly morning greets Delhiites
New Delhi, December 28 “The minimum temperature recorded was 5.7 degree Celsius, at least one degree below average,” said an official of the India Meteorological Department (IMD). The maximum temperature will hover around 23.7 degree Celsius, one degree above normal. The minimum temperature yesterday was recorded to be 5.5 degree Celsius. Met officials report that the northwesterly winds blowing over north India and snowfall in higher reaches of Kashmir and Himachal Pradesh have resulted in cold conditions in the national Capital. A thin layer of fog also enveloped the sky in the morning bringing the visibility level down to 500 metres, though it did not disrupt the movement of flights. Delhiites are enjoying the change in the temperature. A group of youngsters roaming in Connaught Place said, “We love chilling in winter and the sudden downfall in the recent days has brought a lovely time to hang out and chill with friends.” During the past week, the temperature in the city has been oscillating between 5 and 21 degree Celsius. In 2008, the lowest minimum of the month was 6.4 degree Celsius recorded on December 26 while in 2007, it was 3.9 degree on December 29. The all-time minimum temperature was recorded on December 26 of 1945 when the mercury dipped to 1.1 degree Celsius. |
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No change in green cover in 5 Delhi districts
New Delhi, December 28 North-east and north Delhi districts added 0.39 sq km and 0.04 sq km, respectively, to the forest cover from 2005 to 2007 owing to plantations, the Forest Survey Report 2009 said. However, there was no change in the green cover in central, south, west, south-west and New Delhi. East Delhi has shown a decline of 0.29 sq km because of tree felling. Overall, the Capital has recorded a gain of 0.14 sq km of forest cover during the period. Of the total 1,483 sq km of geographical area, the recorded forest area in Delhi is 85 sq km including reserved and protected forests which constitute 91.76 per cent and 8.24 per cent of the total forest cover, as per the data. New Delhi has the highest green cover as far as percentage in comparison to geographical area is concerned with 46.60 per cent (total area 35 sq km) followed by south Delhi (31.46 per cent of 250 km of geographical area). The report says that area-wise, south Delhi ranks first having 78.64 sq km followed by south-west Delhi (42.45 sq km) and north-west Delhi (16.41 sq km) of forest cover. North-west Delhi, New Delhi, south-west Delhi and south Delhi can still claim to have “very dense forest”, while central Delhi, east Delhi, west Delhi and north-east Delhi seem to have lost all such cover with report showing no data for these districts. There is only one wildlife sanctuary, Asola-Bhatti forest, spread over an area of 1,991 hectares in the Capital. — PTI
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2 held for staging kidnapping
New Delhi, December 28 According to the police, Pawan’s girlfriend wanted to go to Macau for New Year celebrations and hence he, along with a friend, staged his own kidnapping to extract ransom from his father to finance the trip. Pawan was yesterday evening arrested from Dwarka while collecting the ransom money. According to Jaspal Singh, DCP (central), Ram Sahay Verma, who runs an optical shop in Gaffar Market, had on Saturday reported that his son Pawan, who owns his own separate shop nearby, had been kidnapped. Verma told the police that when he called on Pawan’s mobile around 5 pm that day, some other person picked up the phone and demanded Rs 20 lakh for his son’s release. During investigation it was learnt that instead of making calls, the kidnapper was communicating through text messages. “The kidnapper was demanding ransom through SMS’s and so we also did the same. At the time of delivering the money, the kidnapper kept calling the delivery party, consisting of Ram Sahay Verma and inspector Adesh Tyagi (who was hiding in the car), to different locations in Delhi. However, they did not take the delivery until the next day,” said DCP Singh. Yesterday evening, the kidnapper again sent an SMS directing Verma to deliver the money in Dwarka. This time, another son of Verma, Puneet, was given the responsibility to deliver the money. “He was asked to drop the money bag in the bushes in front of City Walk Mall, near Sector-9, Dwarka Metro station. Around 6 pm, a tall young man wearing a black jacket came there and picked up the bag. The police team, positioned nearby, immediately caught hold of him. A stunned Puneet identified the bag picker as his brother Bunty,” DCP Singh said. During interrogation, Pawan revealed that he was under heavy debts due to his luxurious lifestyle. “He is fond of keeping girlfriends, luxury cars, playing bowling, and visiting expensive discotheques and bars. His new girlfriend wanted to celebrate the New Year Eve in Macau. So he hatched a plan to kidnap himself. He roped in his friend Himanshu who worked with Domino’s in Gurgaon,” DCP Singh said. Himanshu was apprehended from his house at Sita Puri, Delhi. |
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Two held for raping
15-year-old girl
New Delhi, December 28 The accused had been apprehended by the police after medical examination of the victim confirmed rape. The incident was reported on Sunday afternoon after girl’s parent informed the police in this regard. According to the police, Radha, a student of Class VIII, was on Sunday afternoon taken by one Ravi to an isolated place where he raped her. “After raping the girl, he called his friend with the same name (Ravi), who too raped the girl. After the deed, the duo fled the spot leaving behind the unconscious girl,” said an official from the Ranholla police station. Later, the girl reached home and told her mother about the incident and identified the two men. Radha’s parents informed the police and a case was registered after medical examination confirmed rape. The two accused were arrested and produced before the court today. 22-yr-old hangs self
A 22-year-old man allegedly committed suicide by hanging himself from the ceiling of his room in the Burari area of north Delhi, last night. According to the police, it received a call in this regard today morning. “Anuj Tyagi was found hanging inside his house in Pradhan Enclave, today morning. He probably committed suicide some time last night. No suicide note was recovered from the room,” said the police. A case in this regard has been registered at the Burari police station and investigations are on. “It seems to be a case of love gone sour, but we are yet to reach any conclusion. As of now, the family could not throw much light on the cause behind the incident,” added the police. College student shot at
A 21-year-old college student was shot at and injured by some assailants in the Rohini area of outer Delhi, last night. According to information, Ravi, a student of BA IInd year, was fired upon while he was returning home in his car. “The incident took place near a CNG filling station near a Kali mandir on outer Ring Road in Rohini. Ravi had stopped there for gas where some men on bike shot at him from close range. He received two bullet injuries and is hospitalised in a critical condition,” said the Mangolpuri police station sleuth. Ravi was rushed by the police to a private hospital in Rohini, Sector -3. He stays with his family in Sultanpuri. An attempt to murder case has been registered and the police is investigating the matter. |
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Big rush in DTC buses likely today as inspections on
New Delhi, December 28 Re-opening of offices after an extended weekend would put extra pressure on the buses. However, DTC officials say that there will be no such problem as special arrangements have been made to meet the extra load. “Additional 150 old buses will be added to the existing fleet to cover-up the shortage created by the low-floor buses that will remain off roads for examination,” said Amit Kumar, information officer, ministry of transport. Kumar said only four-five years old simple DTC buses would replace the low-floor buses. “These 150 additional buses would be distributed equally on all the routes,” he said. For the routes with extra rush, the buses would do extra rounds. “Instead of increasing the number of buses on busy routes, we have decided to increase the ferry, if required,” said Kumar. Taking note of the recent incidents of fire in low-floor DTC buses, the corporation has decided to send these buses for thorough check over the next 45 days. The DTC has decided to examine 300 buses in a day. At present, 950 low-floor Tata buses ply on Delhi roads. The figure includes the 650 buses delivered to the DTC in 2007. According to sources, these buses have not undergone proper maintenance since their arrival. Though the DTC has promised that the commuters would face no problems because of the inspection, the fact that hundreds of Blueline buses are already off the roads is bound to create difficulties for bus travellers in Delhi. |
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Stadium construction disturbs DU teachers
New Delhi, December 28 As the construction work completes more than a year now, the university faculty and students have raised a storm of protests. And the reasons are many. Besides disturbing the otherwise-peaceful surroundings of the area with round-the-clock construction work, the digging up of the road outside the sports complex has made DU’s School of Open Learning inaccessible by vehicle. More than two lakh students enrolled there are hit hard by this work. The residents of the university said they have had enough of disconnected phone lines and Internet connections. “Our landlines have not been working because of which the Internet connections go off anytime,” said Dr Shaswati Mazumdar, a resident of Cavalry Lane. To occupy more space for extending the boundary of the stadium, almost 700 trees have already been cut in the area. “The noise pollution has got worse after the cutting of hundreds of trees and there is no plan of re-plantation either,” said Anubhuti Maurya, a DU faculty member. The residents have also started complaining of health-related problems. “The surroundings have become quite unhealthy for those who suffer from breathing problems,” said Dr Vijaya Venkataraman from DU Arts Faculty, who has had an asthma attack recently. “I was on my way to the Metro station situated behind my residence when I had an asthma attack,” she said. The faculty said there were larger threats posed by the construction of the rugby stadium. The stadium would feature artificial grass field called Astro Turf. To keep this turf from melting, water has to be sprinkled over it continually. “The water table of the area would automatically go down when they frequently pump in water over it,” said Maurya. The DU north campus is a heritage area and to protect it, the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) had to spend extra to keep the Metro line underground. “With this imposing structure built right under the nose of the protected Vice Regal Lodge, the aesthetics of the area would be compromised,” she said. Some faculty members said the situation became worse during the last few weeks, as the whole stretch has been lying dug up. “It has already been so long and nobody knows how much longer it is going to take for the work to be completed. Someone should at least inform us,” said Majumdar. Even though the construction work would get over in time, its effects would take much longer to vanish. “We have faced a lot of harassment due to the construction of this stadium. How is the organising committee going to compensate us,” asked
Maurya. |
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Minor fire breaks out at Indira Gandhi airport
New Delhi, December 28 According to a fire services officer, the fire had broken out inside the basement, which is near terminal 3. “We were informed about the fire around 4:30 pm. Three fire engines were rushed to the spot which took around half-an-hour to extinguish it,” said the officer. The officer further stated that the fire was caused when some batteries kept in the basement of the under-construction building caught fire. Meanwhile, the police said that no one was reported injured in the incident and that it is investigating the cause of the fire. |
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Mystery shrouds girl’s death
New Delhi, December 28 According to police, the deceased Divya had gone to take a bath but when she did not come out of the bathroom for almost an hour, her mother Kaushalya knocked the door, but she got no response. Later, the door was broken open with the help of Divya’s father Ram Kishan Sharma and they found her unconscious. She was rushed to Jaipur Golden Hospital where doctors declared Divya brought dead. Police was informed about the incident around 11 am. It is believed that Divya might have suffocated to death as smoke was coming out of geyser installed in bathroom. “There was not a single window in the bathroom. A forensic doctor told the police that after inhaling the smoke from geyser, she might have fallen and as there was no window, she was suffocated to death,” stated a senior police officer, adding that there seemed to be no foul play. Divya worked for an insurance company in Connaught Place while her father owns a printing press in Naraina. Her post-mortem report is awaited. |
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Truck driver found strangled
New Delhi, December 28 According to the police, it was informed about the incident around 9 am by a passerby. The body was laying inside the truck which was parked near Kaushik Enclave. The deceased was identified as
Santosh Tiwari. “Tiwari’s hands were tied with a rope which indicates that the assailants probably wanted to kidnap him along with the truck. But as the truck developed some technical problem, they had to abandon it. Some cash was missing from Tiwari’s possession,” said a senior police officer. Tiwari, a native of MP, worked with Delhi-Bihar Transport Company and used to deliver sacks of JP Cement in Delhi from Sonipat. “Santosh used to park his truck near Sanjay Gandhi Transpot Nagar. But it was found around one kilometre ahead, which indicates that murderer had kidnapped him along with the truck, but their plan foiled when the Axil of the truck broke down. Before fleeing, they robbed and strangled Tiwari. Murderer could be known to the deceased,” stated the senior police officer. A case has been registered. |
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Constable found drunk, suspended
Greater Noida, December 28 “Around 10 last night, I was returning after alighting staff at NTPC complex when suddenly a Maruti car rammed into my jeep. It was not my fault. Car occupants were drunk. One of them was constable. They came to me and assaulted me for none of my fault. When I objected, they even fired from the pistol. Luckily, it misfired,” said Rahul Singh, jeep driver. “When we heard firing and noticed the clash, we went to driver’s rescue, but we were also assaulted by the drunk men,” said another driver Vinod Kumar who along with two other drivers happened to be at the complex at the time of incident. “Constable Jasvir Rana has been suspended. Eyewitnesses told us that the constable was only drunk and not involved in firing or assault. An FIR under IPC section 307 (attempt to murder) against Ajay Kumar, Bhagat Singh and one other person has been lodged at Jarcha police station on the complaint of the driver,” said Rahul Kumar, deputy superintendent of police. |
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