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Bomb Scare: Three Saket malls evacuated
Perjury law must have teeth: SC judge
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5 cops injured in protest against cow slaughter
Green belts in Noida not so green
Bandit shot in encounter
Jeweller robbed, killed in Tilak Nagar
Man held for duping hundreds
Hotter days forecast
2 hurt in shop fire
Mosque extension angers residents
Noida to have Lok
Adalat, family court soon
‘Power crisis could disturb law and order’
Vehicle thieves held
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Bomb Scare: Three Saket malls evacuated
New Delhi, April 25 According to police, a search operation which started around 1.30 pm ended after 3 hours around 4.30 pm when the malls were cleared safe for people and normal business ensued. The incident was reported from the three adjacent shopping malls—DLF, Select City and Metropolitan Malls. According to Rajeev Duggal, CEO, DLF mall, the premises were cleared of people in less than 6 minutes. “After the police and bomb disposal squad reached here and asked us to vacate the mall, a public announcement was made and it took hardly 6 minutes for the people to vacate the entire premises,” said Duggal. Meanwhile, the senior police officers of the district termed the whole exercise as a result of the hoax call. “It was nothing but a hoax call. Nothing was found at the malls and it seems somebody has played a prank. The investigation into the source of this information is on,” said HGS Dhaliwal, DCP (South). However, according to a police source from Saket police station, information to the police was conveyed by the personnel of a news channel to the police. Close to 60 policemen, bomb disposal squad and sniffer dogs were involved in the search operation. Meanwhile, the exercise caused a lot of inconvenience. It being Sunday, the malls were packed with people who had come for shopping and watching movies. The malls entertain the most posh crowd of south Delhi. “We were coming out of the cinema hall when the announcement was made requesting the people to evacuate the mall. We got scared and immediately left the premises,” said Sumedha Mahajan, who had gone to the mall with friends. The parking area was also sealed off while hundreds had to wait outside the malls waiting for the search to end. “Everyone was apparently panicked. We came out of the mall, but could not leave the place as the police was not allowing access to the parking area,” Viabhav Srivastav, who had gone to the malls with his parents. The vendors around the malls stood moot witnesses to the search operation. “It is a day of good sale on Sunday and other holidays but it seems the search operation would go on the whole day,” sighed Raj Singh, a betel shop owner. Today’s hoax call came a day after the police remained on its toes the entire day yesterday as it received a series of anonymous calls about bombs being planted at various locations in the Capital, including a New Friends Colony hospital, Indira Gandhi International Airport and New Delhi Railway Station. However, all of them turned out to be hoax calls. |
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Perjury law must have teeth: SC judge
New Delhi, April 25 Alam said, “In the intricacies of legal provisions, the victim becomes a forgotten entity in the criminal justice system.” He also mentioned various high-profile cases of perjury in the history of Indian law. Justice T Gopala Krishna of the Andhra Pradesh High Court opened the debate on the adversarial system of criminal justice which is followed in India and is focused on ‘the quest for truth’. Senior advocate V. Tankha argued, “Perjury is an anti-national act and cannot be taken lightly. It has to be dealt with effectively.” He pointed out the hypocrisy in everyday Indian life that legitimizes perjury, thus making it a civil as well as a criminal wrong. Tankha rejected the proposal for summary trial in cases of perjury and stressed that a fair and detailed, albeit long, trial should be followed in cases of perjury. Prof. Manjula Batra from Jamia Millia Islamia presented a paper on entrenchment of perjury in judicial matters of recent times. While stressing the absence of mechanism to counter the loopholes in laws that lead to perjury, Batra pointed out that the study of the laws relating to perjury did not figure in the curriculum and syllabus of law schools across the country. She also highlighted the dilemma of witnesses and witness protection laws in the country. Laying stress on the pain and injustice that the common man has to suffer as result of false testimony, she said, “False testimony is a reality in our courts that people may choose to ignore but there is no doubt that it exists and till a solution is found to this problem, people will continue to suffer injustice and unnecessary mental and physical stress.” The concluding session of the seminar was titled “The Road Ahead: The Need for Reform”. K.K. Rai, senior advocate who chaired the session, stressed the fact that perjury is a concern for civil as well as criminal law. He felt that perjury should be treated as a societal ill and be addressed similarly. Rai said, “Summary trial is the only way that perjury could and should be addressed.” Bringing in perspectives from civil society, Prof. Ranjan Mohpatra brought in a systemic perspective on perjury and sought to address it in a holistic manner rather than a problem independent of the legislative system and civil society. Mohapatra drew attention to the fact that if perjury was dealt with effectively, the number of pending cases across the country would be reduced drastically. |
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Disaster management campaign to be launched
New Delhi, April 25
It was held to create awareness on disaster management. Around 500 students participated in this event organised by the New Delhi district. It has planned a weeklong programme to involve people and make them aware about the consequences of disasters. Dikshit called upon people to take note of tips which will prove to be useful during difficult times and also help in saving precious lives and property. The region of Delhi is in seismic zone-IV which is vulnerable to earthquake of 5.5 to 6.7 on Richter scale. Delhi being at high risk to earthquake faces serious challenges in the management of emergencies because of its large population, large number of unsafe buildings, key administrative and historical installations, non-engineered structures and large span of unplanned areas. “Such areas are highly vulnerable to chemical and industrial fire, flood and even terrorist attacks. A disaster can cause unprecedented and colossal damage to Delhi,” she said. Dikshit said that that a number of hospitals and other buildings are being constructed as per quake-resistant norms apart from retrofitting. The city government has taken steps to include a topic on disaster management in school curriculum. Besides, mock drills are being organised and people being trained to meet any exigencies. “The government has come out with a ready reckoner for home dwellers during quakes. This is a compilation of all precautionary measures. A toll-free disaster helpline 1077 is also functional in the Capital city,” she said. During the weeklong campaign, street plays, puppet shows, essay writing competitions, quiz competitions will be organised and useful material distributed at various public places. |
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Metro builds Asia’s highest train-washing plant
New Delhi, April 25 The washing plant in the Sultanpur depot on the under-construction Central Secretariat-Gurgaon Metro corridor has been strategically built on a ramp at a height of 6.7 metres from the ground level. “No other Metro system in Asia is known so far to have built such a plant on ramp at such a height,” Delhi Metro spokesperson Anuj Dayal said. The plant is designed to carry out automatic washing of the Metro trains. The water used in the process is re-circulated in the system after cleaning the train. It would take about five minutes to wash eight cars of a Metro train at the plant. The depot has 14 stabling lines that can accommodate 28 four-coach trains at a time. Apart from this, the depot has a test track, two train inspection bay lines, two shunting necks, a filtration plant with pump-house and borewell, and an electric sub-station to meet its power requirements, among others. “Constructed at a cost of Rs 45 crore, Sultanpur depot will serve as a maintenance depot for the Central Secretariat-Gurgaon Metro corridor. The construction work of the depot began in July 2008 and is now almost ready for providing its services,” Dayal said.
— IANS |
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5 cops injured in protest against cow slaughter
New Delhi, April 25 The protestors claimed that it was the third such case in the last fortnight. They raised slogans against the administration and demanded suspension of the SHO. According to a senior police office, “The crowd started gathering around 7 in the morning after which they started blocking roads. They also pelted the police with stones.” The police called for an additional force and resorted to lathicharge. “We had to resort to lathicharge as the protest had turned violent. Several people responsible for violence have been detained. In all, 15 people were injured, including five policemen,” the officer said. “Patrolling in the area has been increased and we are looking for those responsible for slaughter. The locals have alleged that it is work of some slaughterhouses operating illegally in the area. It is being looked into,” the officer said. |
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Green belts in Noida not so green
Noida, April 25 But the biggest jolt to green belt was in the central park of sector 26, once touted to be the biggest park in Noida residential sector. This park today has two hospitals, two temples, one of them built on encroached land, one school up to XII and a public sector housing complex. The rest of the park land is taken up by a club. As a result, there is not even a 500 metre land which could be called a green park. “Till some years back, the area in sector 31 had at least some trees. But then the Nithari case happened and while cleaning the drain, the Noida Authority removed all the plants,” says Sector-31 resident, Mohan Parihar. “The Noida Authority never thought of any plantation thereafter and left this area as such. In fact, even the wall of the drain that broke during the cleaning process has not been repaired till now,” puts in another resident, R.R. Singla. “Moreover, that was perhaps the first time this drain was cleaned. They are perhaps awaiting another big scandal,” says Parihar. “While every month the Noida Authority announces a fogging schedule, no fogging is done in this area,” says M.K. Mittal of Ram Vihar, opposite Sector-31. Even the service lane in this sector is missing for the most part. Along the main road opposite Sector-25, automobile mechanics and some vendors have occupied the area. The service road in Sector-30 has been usurped by a private school for parking its buses. |
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Bandit shot in encounter
Ghaziabad, April 25 The other one gave the cops the slip. It is a coincidence that the trader has been robbed more than ten times earlier also and most of the criminals involved in the loots shot dead similarly, police said. The slain bandit has been identified as Majid, alias Bhura, son of Shahid of village Salapur under Dhaulna police station area. SHO of Dhaulna Kotwali and a constable were also wounded in the encounter. According to SSP Ghaziabad, Raghuvir Lal, around 4 am on Saturday, a junk dealer from Delhi, Isarat Jalal Khan, was going to his parents’ house in Faridabad from Shalimar Garden, Ghaziabad, in his Qualis car. Near K.A.S Jain Institute on Modi Nagar-Hapur Road, he saw a bike lying across. A man was also sitting nearby. As Isarat Jalal stopped his car, the man lying on the road sprang up to his feet, put a pistol on Isarat’s temple. Another bandit, hiding in bushes, joined him. Both robbed the trader of Rs 45,000, a cell phone and the car keys. Pushing him into a ditch, one of the criminals drove away in his car towards Hapur, the other sped away on the bike. The victim informed the SSP from his other cell phone. The SSP flashed the loot message on wireless. Soon Bhojpur Kotwali SHO, Piyush Dixit sped towards the site and spotted the Qualis on Modi Nagar Hapur Marg. As police signalled the bandits to stop, they started firing on the cops. The SHO and a head constable were wounded in the firing. One of the bandits was then killed. His accomplice fled . The slain bandit was carrying a reward of Rs 15,000 on his head and was wanted in 20 criminal cases. A 9 mm pistol was also seized from him. |
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Justice Shamim: Bring babus under Lokayukta
In a report submitted to the Delhi government, Justice Shamim contends that no politician in power could indulge in corrupt practices without the connivance of bureaucrats, who are the real executors of official works. Experts from different walks of life in the past have made a similar argument and Shamim’s report will provide more ballast to it. In fact, politicians, who have nothing to lose, have been largely supportive of the idea of widening the Lokayukta’s net to include bureaucrats. And it is just a testimony to the grip of babus over the system irrespective of the party in power that such reports have made little impact, many politicians lament. Blackouts
belie claims of surplus power
You can always trust the government to exacerbate the matters when you thought they could not get worse. Delhi ministers and officials usually make tall claims that power shortage is a thing of the past and the coming summer will in fact see surplus of power. And this year was no different, as far as the claim or the reality goes. No sooner the summer heat set in, the frequent blackouts followed suit, angering residents over official mendacity. Embarrassed power officials called a press conference and insisted that they still have adequate power. Overdrawing by other states from the grid was causing the trip, they claimed. Even as the explanation was being advanced, the conference room was plunged into darkness due to some problem. In that merry darkness, silence prevailed as shutterbugs went clicking amidst popping flashbulbs, trying to capture some embarrassed faces. History over a
cup of coffee
Tourists visiting the national Capital during the Commonwealth Games in October will be able to enjoy their cup of coffee while touring various monuments. The Red Fort and the Qutub Minar will be among the four monuments in Delhi which are all set to have cafes before the Games. The other two of the four monuments identified by the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) to have cafeterias are the Humayun Tomb and the Purana Qila. A senior ASI official said they were making all-out efforts to upgrade tourist amenities at 11 monuments, including these four, by the time the mega event was kicked off. There is also a proposal to provide souvenir shops in six most-visited monuments, which include the Jantar Mantar and the Safdarjung Tomb besides the four. Dogs have a day at JNU
On a campus full of animal lovers and liberal activists fighting for the right to “live and let live”, Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) campus has been divided over the issue of how to deal with the booming population of dogs. A recent signature campaign started by some students asked for eviction of the canines from the campus. The increasing number of dogs has even the teachers worried as two of them were bitten by dogs while they went out for their morning stroll. One physically challenged student was left trembling after a skittish dog gave him a chase. However, the other group believes that biodiversity on campus should be left untouched. Last heard, the status quo remains and dogs have their day on campus. Glad
tidings for board students
Things have been getting easier for board examinees of late and National Network of Education has given them more reasons to cheer. The NNE has come with an initiative through which students can get their result and marks-sheet delivered directly on their e-mail account. A simple registration at www.examresults.net, a web portal dedicated solely to the announcement of exam results, is the only requirement for students to avail themselves of the facility. Registration will also help them use other offerings like Q and A, search for institutes, edupal, groups, newsletters etc. All this facility is available free of cost. (Contributed by Syed Ali Ahmed, Himani Chandel, Jyoti Rai, Akhila Singh and Charu Singh) |
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Jeweller robbed, killed in Tilak Nagar
New Delhi, April 25 According to police, the incident took place around 5.40 pm at DD Jewellers located near Chand Nagar Gurudwara. The deceased Ashok (35) was attacked by a knife on the neck and hand when he tried to resist the robbery attempt. “There were five men who used two bikes for the robbery. While others waited outside, three men went inside the shop and demanded the jewellery at knifepoint. When Ashok resisted their attempts, he was attacked by one of the robbers. They managed to flee after taking jewellery which is estimated to be around Rs 80 lakh,” said a police officer from the Tilak Nagar police station. According to information, Ashok was rushed to a nearby hospital in a critical condition by the other shopkeepers. “He was critical and doctors tried their best to save him. However, now we get the information that he has succumbed to his injuries,” said a police official from Tilak Nagar police station. Police is investigating the matter. |
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Man held for duping hundreds
New Delhi, April 25 The accused was arrested on Friday from near the Main Post Office in the area of Karkardooma Institutional Area, Delhi. On interrogation, the conman confessed to having cheated several persons on the pretext of providing them with jobs abroad. He would charge a facilitation fee ranging from Rs 30,000 to Rs 2 lakh. He chose illiterate people mostly from rural areas who would not come forward and make complaints against him. After operating in one city for a few months, he would shift to another undisclosed location in search of more victims. He has cheated hundreds of people so far and was wanted in the five such cases of cheating in Delhi and had been declared a Proclaimed Offender by the courts,” said Neeraj Thakur, Additional CP (Crime). |
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Hotter days forecast
New Delhi, April 25 “The maximum temperature today was 39.7 degrees Celsius, two degrees above average. Monday could be hotter as we are expecting that the maximum and minimum temperatures will both rise. The maximum would be around 41 degrees Celsius,” an India Meteorological Department (IMD) official said. While the minimum temperature today was three degrees above average at 24.7 degrees Celsius, the IMD expects this figure to hover around 26 degrees tomorrow. The IMD said that the sky would be clear in the morning, but may get cloudy in the evening although no rain is expected. “There will be mainly clear skies over the next two days,” the official further added. |
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2 hurt in shop fire
New Delhi, April 25 “While Akhilesh has suffered 40 per cent burn injuries, Hanif is admitted to Safdarjung Hospital with around 60 per cent injuries. The cause of the fire is yet to be ascertained, but there seems to be some kind of CNG leakage in the shop which led to the fire,” said a fire officer. Akhilesh hails from UP, but was staying in a rented accommodation in Hari Nagar while Hanif stays in
Nizamuddin. |
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Mosque extension angers residents
New Delhi, April 25 According to police, the residents protested this morning around Madni Mosque located in the Aravali Apartments complex, alleging that the mosque authorities had begun illegally constructing a room yesterday that was intruding into the residential premises. This, they said, was in violation of court restrictions. The local police reached the spot and as per police officials, the construction was stopped for the time being. “It was a minor incident and things are fine now. However, the construction work has been stopped for the time being,” said police. |
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Noida to have Lok
Adalat, family court soon
Noida, April 25 “There is a huge backlog of cases in courts at every level. The mounting arrear not only delays disposal of cases, but adds to the expenses of the litigants. Besides, the quality of judgment also suffers. It is therefore important that the judiciary should dispose of the cases as fast as possible. It is here that family courts and permanent Lok Adalats can help ” said Lala. District and sessions judge of GB Nagar, H.S. Yadav, said Javer tehsil had dozens of towns and 92 villages which are inhabited by 50,000 people, all of whom will be benefited by the setting up of civil court at Javer. |
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‘Power crisis could disturb law and order’
Ghaziabad, April 25 Over the past few days, angry residents have been taking to the streets and sitting on dharnas against prolonged power cuts. The agitators even gheraoed the officers of the UP Power Corporation (UPPC) and held one of them captive for some hours. The UPPC has already expressed its inability to improve the power situation in the city. Superintendent engineer of the UP Power Corporation, Ghaziabad, P. K. Mittal said the orders of power cuts had come from Lucknow. |
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Vehicle thieves held
New Delhi, April 25 The accused are well qualified. Reagan is BE and W Kanan is BSc in zoology. It has been revealed that some of the stolen cars are being used by influential people in Manipur.
— TNS |
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Former Delhi Lokayukta Justice Mohammad Shamim has asked for bringing bureaucrats under the purview of the Lokayukta, whose mandate is now restricted to looking into the omissions and commissions of politicians.