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Cylinder blast injures 27
Stadiums to have inbuilt fire safety
INTACH pitches for world heritage status for Delhi
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Two radiation victims serious
Cops making sketch of man who delivered parcel bomb
Preventing Fire
Youth falls to death
Custodial Death
DMC calls off award event as members bicker
Mobile court draws flak for verdict on beggars
2 students held for smuggling liquor
MCD to deseal Tata mobile towers
Slight drop in temp, but no respite
Lajpat Nagar Blast
BJP rally against price rise on April 21
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Cylinder blast injures 27
New Delhi, April 13 According to information, about 30 shanties were destroyed in fire which took place around 8:30 am in the slum cluster near Premwari Bridge at AO-Block in Shalimar Bagh. “Some people were illegally transferring gas from one cylinder to another in the morning when fire caught. While the local police is investigating the cause, the residents said that somebody lit a match for smoking when the leaking gas led to fire and blast in the cylinders,” said a fire official. According to him, seven fire trucks were rushed to the spot and it took an hour for the firefighters to douse the flames. The injured have been rushed to Babu Jagjivan Ram Hospital from where about seven people were referred to LNJP Hosptial. “The condition of seven people, including two children and three women, is serious. The children are critical with about 80 per cent burn injuries and include a two-year-old as well,” said a police official adding that the investigation about the person indulging in gas transfer is being conducted. Close shave for 60 patients
Around 60 patients of Batra Hospital in south Delhi had a narrow escape today as power supply room on the first floor of the hospital caught fire. A fire officer said that the incident was reported around 6.56 am. “The incident took place in uninterrupted power supply (UPS) and battery room, which is attached to the operation theatre on the first floor of the hospital building,” said the fire officer. The officer stated that five fire engines were pressed into service. The smoke spread panic and about 60 patients, who occupied rooms near the operation theatre, were shifted to another room. “The fire engines managed to douse the blaze in 30 minutes,” said the fire officer. 150 jhuggis burnt
In yet another incident of fire, as many as 150 slum dwellings were destroyed in a fire that broke out in southeast Delhi this morning. No casualties have been reported in the incident. “We received a call around 11.27 a.m. and four fire engines were rushed to the slum area of Shaheen Bagh,” said a fire official. As many as 150 slum dwellings were destroyed in the fire, which was brought under control after one and a half hours. |
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Stadiums to have inbuilt fire safety
New Delhi, April 13 According to R C Sharma, director, Fire Department, there will be an inbuilt fire system in each stadium in which firefighters will be spread across the facility to douse fire and help evacuate people in case of an emergency. “We would have a three-tier firefighting plan. Besides the in-built fire safety system with three fire trucks, the second layer would comprise deployment of rescue workers with firefighting equipment in a backpack while the third layer will have standby mobile teams outside each stadium,” said Sharm. Fire incidents
on the rise
Incidents of fire are surging in Delhi with each passing year. As per fire officials, 423 deaths due to fire were reported from April 2009 to March 2010 compared to 380 last year. “As many as 423 deaths were reported in the city due to fire while 2,598 people were injured in such incidents during April 2009 and March 2010,” said R C Sharma, director, Delhi Fire Services. 19 new fire
stations
Delhi would get 19 more fire stations in the XIth Five Year plan. “Sites have already been acquired for construction of fire stations and many more are in the process. At nine sites, work is in progress and ten are in final stages of completion,” said Sharma. |
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INTACH pitches for world heritage status for Delhi
New Delhi, April 13 Speaking to the media ahead of the international conference on conservation of Shahjahanabad, which is now effectively a slum with its historical grandeur lost under the weight of shanties, and Lutyens’ Bungalow Zone, Menon said all the conservation schemes and renovation work in the Capital would reap rewards if Delhi is recognised as a world heritage city. Both Shahjahanabad and Lutyens’ Bungalow were recognised amongst the six heritage zones in the Capital in the last master plan. INTACH chairman L.K. Gupta said Delhi has never applied for the world heritage city status, but INTACH is in talks with the ministry of culture to fill in the application and demand this status. “Out of the 221 heritage cities in the world, not one is Indian. The Commonwealth Games have led to considerable changes in the Capital. But the process of getting Delhi the status of a world heritage city is much larger and will reap enormous benefits, monetarily and historically. Delhi has its own history. Currently, the city is more of a drop spot for tourists for Agra or Jaipur,” regretted Menon. “Conserving heritage is not just about saving a structure or a monument. The local people should know the importance of the street they walk on today or when a particular monument was made and by whom and so on,” pointed out Pooja Joshi from Shahjahanabad Redevelopment Corporation who was also present at the meet. |
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Two radiation victims serious
New Delhi, April 13 Rajendra, with alarmingly low blood counts, has been transfused six units of platelet but his state remains the same. At AIIMS, the patients are closely being monitored by a team of doctors under the guidance of the treating doctor A B Dey from the department of medicine. “All the patients have been kept in an isolated sterile unit as they are prone to acquire infection given their reduced level of immunity. The patients continue to have low leucocyte and platelet count. They are being managed as per the standard guidelines,” said Dr Dey. Meanwhile, through biological dosimetery, experts of Babha Atomic Research Centre are trying to assess the amount of radiation exposure each of the six has been subjected to and for this they have collected blood samples of the patients. Delhi health minister Kiran Walia said all the patients are still critical. |
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Cops making sketch of man who delivered parcel bomb
New Delhi, April 13 The police is yet to record the statement of the 45-year-old victim, Mohd Uzair, as he is still recuperating in hospital. “We are preparing the sketch of the suspect with help from Ijaz, a relative of Uzair. Ijaz had collected the parcel from the unknown person and handed it over to Uzair,” a senior police official said.
Investigators are also talking to Uzair’s family and relatives to ascertain whether he had enmity with anyone. —
TNS |
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MCD to remove shops in slums
Tribune News Service
New Delhi, April 13 MCD standing committee chairman Ram Kishan Singhal today said that the civic body had directed the municipal commissioner to take action in this regard. "We have asked municipal commissioner K.S. Mehra to ensure that commercial activities are not run in slum and JJ clusters," said Singhal.The decision has come in the wake of increasing fire incidents in slums. "Till the time inhabitants of slums and JJ clusters are not rehabilitated, these should be exclusively used for residential purpose," he said. He expressed concerns about the major fire incident involving more 20 children that took place this morning in the Shalimar Bagh where scrap and kabad shops were being run in JJ cluster. "We had urged the Delhi government to remove inhabitants of slums in Shalimar Bagh to a safer place, but of no effect. There are JJ clusters on the sides of the Ring Road but has no safe passage to escape," he said.
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Youth falls to death
New Delhi, April 13 According to the police, Manoj Kumar (20) hailed from Etah in UP and was taking coaching classes for merchant navy examination in a merchant navy coaching institute in Uttam Nagar. The police is investigating whether Manoj fell accidentally or he committed suicide or was pushed by some one. |
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4 cops suspended
Our Correspondent
Ghaziabad, April 13 A criminal case has been registered against the four policemen. The policemen have been charged with negligence in duty. The double-murder accused, Dharmendra Singh (32), was found hanging from a window grill inside a lock-up of the Bahadur Garh police station, the police said. On March 19, Dharmendra along with his accomplices had allegedly taken the lives of two persons in a case of honour killing. SSP Raghubir Lal said that one of the victims, Rakesh Kumar (45), had illicit relations with Dharmendra’s sister. Besides, Kumar had allegedly made sexual advances towards his daughter. “Infuriated with this, Dharmendra planned the murders. On March 19, he strangulated Kumar and his friend with the help of his four accomplices. Their bodies were found on March 27,” Lal said. On Monday, Dharmendra’s family members protested outside the Bahadur Garh police station, alleging foul play in his death. They alleged that Dharmendra was killed in police lock-up and had not committed suicide, as some injury marks had been found on his body. SSP Lal, however, said that the postmortem report had not been received yet.
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DMC calls off award event as members bicker
New Delhi, April 13 The DMC had recently constituted this award and was to present it on April 12, the death anniversary of Maulana Azad, for the first time this year. However, its chairman and two other members clashed over their choices of speakers for the function, forcing the chairman to call off the event. Sources said both the members wanted that there should be one speaker each from three minority communities, Muslim, Sikh and Christian, while the chairman wanted senior Congress leader and minister Salman Khursheed, National Minorities Commission chairman Mohammad Shafi Qureshi and Deputy Chairman, Rajya Sabha, K Rehman Khan, all of whom happen to be from one community. Kamal Faruqui told The Tribune that Maulana Azad was a great leader of the country and a function dedicated to his memory deserved knowledgeable speakers. He said the issue of speaker’s community should never have been a criterion for their selection. “I suggested these three as they have in-depth knowledge about Maulana. Rehamn is an authority on him and the other two persons are all well-known,” he said. However, he declined to comment over the specific reasons behind the cancellation of the event. Sources said the DMC had decided to confer the award on six teachers—two of each community, including three women. Each teacher was to be awarded a memento and Rs 5,000. According to sources, the chairman had agreed to organise the function and was keen to do it in a big way but when the members suggested that speakers should be of different minority communities, he had different ideas. |
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Mobile court draws flak for verdict on beggars
New Delhi, April 13 “Despite the fact that there is enormous awareness about freedom, liberty and dignity of individuals, the criminal justice system appears reluctant to break away from the pattern of institutionalization. The problem becomes acute when a poor person gets involved. To add insult to the injury, under some laws they are prosecuted and punished not for what is done by them but for what they are. One such law is the Bombay Prevention of Begging Act,” said additional sessions judge Santosh Snehi Mann, while acquitting the alleged beggars, who were convicted by a mobile court. The court made these remarks on April 12 in its observation over the manner in which the mobile court gave its verdict against three young illiterate women, belonging to Rajasthan. They had filed an appeal in the sessions court. Quashing the order of the mobile court against the three, the judge acquitted appellant Bulli Bai (20), Bhuri Bai (28) and Sunita (19) after getting a bond from each of them that they would refrain from begging. Taking a sympathetic view of their humble background, they were not asked to furnish any surety. On March 22, the special metropolitan magistrate of a mobile court had ordered detention of the three women, along with two children of two of these women, in a certified institution for one year under Bombay Prevention of Begging Act. The judge pulled up the mobile court for exercising the discretion to put them in an institution ignoring their age, social circumstances and interests, which were bound to be considered while passing the order. “The impugned order does not speak as to why the appellants could not be released after due admonishing…the order is too harsh and is not in proportion to the conduct of the appellants as there is no previous involvement of the appellants in similar offence,” Mann said. Though the order passed by the mobile court mentions that the arguments on sentence were heard, the court did not believe it and said that considering the social profile of the appellants and that they were not represented by any counsel, the opportunity of being heard cannot be believed to be duly availed by them. Even in the most heinous offences, accused are provided a defence counsel to ensure fair trial…it is a matter of concern as the appellants were denied the right to be represented through a counsel. |
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2 students held for smuggling liquor
New Delhi, April 13 "Phool Kumar, alias Rahul (23), and Shiv Kumar (21) were arrested yesterday from Alipur with a 7.65 mm pistol and three robbed cars-- Hyundai Accent, Hyundai Verna and Ford Fiesta. They used luxury cars to smuggle liquor into Ahmedabad," said Neeraj Thakur, additional CP. While Phool is a final year student of BSc at DU, Shiv is a BA first year student. "Phool has also contested college elections. He bought a pistol from UP and about six months ago started smuggling liquor into Gujarat along with Shiv Kumar," said Thakur. "The accused used to transport liquor in luxury cars. They used to rob medium-segment cars with single occupants. They preferred cars which were spacious, fast and less prone to suspicion at police check-points. They robbed the cars because they found it difficult to steal them," the officer revealed. |
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MCD to deseal Tata mobile towers
New Delhi, April 13 The MCD has sealed around 300 towers that were found violating the new mobile tower policy. The municipal officials said the civic agency would deseal the towers of Tata Tele Services Ltd only. “We will follow the court’s direction and deseal towers only of the said company. If other companies also appeal in court, the matter would be looked into,” said Deep Mathur, spokesperson of MCD. The company, whose 35 towers have been sealed, had filed a petition saying that the civic body had no authority to seal mobile towers and the act violated the Telegraph Act. The MCD started the sealing drive after it found that most towers were set up without its approval. It had postponed the sealing of mobile towers for over a month thus, providing time to mobile service providers get them registered with the MCD as per the new policy. The sealing was said to resume after April 16. On April 20, the MCD will organise a camp for the regularisation of existing unauthorised mobile towers. There are 5,364 towers in the city. Of these, 2,412 have taken the MCD’s permission, while around 2,952 are functioning illegally. The MCD had issued showcause notices to 1,532 cellular operators to either apply for regularisation or remove the towers. |
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Slight drop in temp, but no respite
New Delhi, April 13 “The hot winds have become a regular feature of the afternoons now. Any dip in temperature was hardly felt. It was as tough on roads today as it was yesterday,” said Nisha, a college student. The Capital recorded a minimum of 25.4° Celsius, five degrees above the average. For tomorrow, while the maximum is expected to slide to 39° Celsius, the minimum temperature is also expected to drop to 23° Celsius with clear skies during the day, an IMD official said. |
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Sentence on April 17
Tribune News Service
New Delhi, April 13 Seeking death penalty for four convicts, additional public prosecutor S.K. Dass said, “Keeping in view the fact that 13 persons lost their lives in the blast, the four convicts do not deserve any leniency. They should be awarded the severest punishment that is death penalty.” He added that Farooq Ahmed Khan and Farida Dar convicted under the Explosive Substances Act and the Arms Act too should be given the maximum punishment. However, Farida Dar’s counsel Aman Lekhi argued, “The convicted lady has been acquitted of severe charges pertaining to murder and conspiracy. There is no allegation against her. Therefore, no case lies against her. Punishing her just for the sake of awarding punishment would amount to following the retribution theory, a thing of the past.” Meanwhile, the counsel for the other five convicts, Khalil Ansari, said, “As the case does not fall under the rarest of rare category, capital punishment should not be awarded. The court should take a humane approach while awarding punishment to the convicts as almost all of them were teenagers at the time of the incident.”
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BJP rally against price rise on April 21
New Delhi, April 13 The participants will reach the national Capital in buses, trucks and by trains and assemble at Ram Lila Grounds. After the rally, they will march to Parliament, said Delhi BJP president Prof O. P. Kohli. Besides Nitin Gadkari, L. K. Advani, Rajnath Singh and other senior leaders will address the rally. The party has made arrangement at New Delhi, Old Delhi and Nizamuddin railway stations to receive the participants coming from other states. The arrangement for their board and lodging has been made. Prof Kohli appealed to the trade organizations and others to close their establishments for a day to attend the rally and make it successful. He also appealed to the school managements to close schools as there might be traffic jams. At least 60,000 people are expected from Delhi to attend the rally. |
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Twenty-seven people were injured in a freak mishap this morning when a slum cluster in west Delhi caught fire.
New Delhi, April 13
