|
|
|
|
Stampede victims look for kin, belongings
At 45.4°, hottest May day in 8 years
|
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Property registration fee hiked
Thieves beat traders to death as cops look on
Hashimpura Massacre
DU admin invites teachers for talks today
Games
Sreedharan resumes work
30 kids rescued from dhabas
Three Asha Kiran kids
escape in three days
BJP chief asks CM to clear Guru’s file
Constable hangs self
Newly-wed hangs self after tiff with husband
Deranged woman torches house, kills sons
|
|
Stampede victims look for kin, belongings
New Delhi, May 17 The victim’s father, Anil Rai, of Begusarai was also injured in the stampede and was recuperating in a hospital till he decided to see Govind this morning. According to the police, it was a heart-rending scene when Rai was brought to the Lok Nayak Jai Prakash Hospital mortuary to identify his son. “Rai was prepared for the worse. He had in fact given us the description of his son, which matched Govind’s. However, when he faced his dead son today, even we could not bear the sight,” said a police official. Describing another case, the official said that two-year-old Sonam recuperating at the Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital was initially taken to be dead by the police. “We thought that she was dead. However, the girl was lucky when a doctor examined her and found signs of life. She was immediately rushed to the hospital. She is fine now,” said the official. Apart from Govind, 35-year-old Soni died in the stampede triggered by a last minute change in the platforms for Bihar-bound Saptkranti Express and Vikramshila Express. More than 30 people were injured in the incident, of which nine have been admitted to various hospitals in the city. A day after the tragic incident, many injured persons, their relatives and friends thronged the station today looking after their lost belongings and kin. The station police said that the belongings of the passengers who had come to board the trains had been kept safely and they were being returned their belongings. “A man had come inquiring about his wallet and thankfully it was with us. We gave him the wallet after his photo was found inside it,” said a police official from the police station. While the police claimed to be managing the luggage that was left behind, several people coming in search of their belongings left disappointed. “I had come looking for a friend’s briefcase. However, the police has no suitcase of that kind,” said Ranjit. ‘ Even as people are smoothing from yesterday’s tragedy, the police at the railway station got on with its regular job. “I don’t know about the luggage or the deaths. We are engaged in the security duty as Abu Salem is being brought to the city from Mumbai today to be presented at the city court. He would be going back in the evening and we are busy. Why can’t they get him on the plane?” said another police official.
|
|
At 45.4°, hottest May day in 8 years
New Delhi, May 17 “The last time the temperature crossed the 44-degree mark in Delhi in May was in 2006. That year, May 7 recorded a high of 44.5 degrees,” the official added. These temperatures of the Capital have been measured by the Met department at Safdarjung. However, conditions were worse in Palam, where the maximum touched 47.6 degree Celsius. In the national capital region, Gurgaon saw the maximum temperature at 46.4 degrees while the area in Ghaziabad near Hindon touched 45.9 degree Celsius. The maximum temperature of the national Capital today was four degrees above normal for this time of the year. The minimum temperature was recorded as 28.2 degrees Celsius, a notch above the average for this time of the season. According to the IMD, tomorrow, the maximum temperature is expected to hover around 44 degrees Celsius and the minimum around 30 degrees Celsius. “The Capital can expect partly cloudy sky and possibility of dust and thunderstorm in the second half of the day tomorrow,” the IMD official added. What is worse is that the metrological department has warned the city residents to prepare themselves for another hot week with heat wave conditions and maximum temperatures hovering over 45 degrees. “There will be no respite from the heat in the coming days. The heat wave conditions will prevail for the next few days. The humidity levels will also be high,” said an Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) official. With no respite from the scorching sun and hot winds, city residents had a tough time in the sweltering heat. The roads of the city wore a deserted look with people preferring to stay indoors. “I got sun burns on my face. I felt like I was completely toasted today. It was unusually hot. It was better during the past couple of days as at least the sky was partly cloudy, but today the sun and the hot winds were unbearable,” said Pratishtha, a Delhiite standing outside Andhra Bhawan.
|
|
Property registration fee hiked
New Delhi, May 17 The revision of fee has been made after 45 years and the fee was just Rs 100. According to revision, the registration fee will be one per cent of the total cost and that will be up to Rs 20 lakh. For a property worth Rs 20 lakh, a buyer has to pay Rs 20,000. However, a fee of Rs 50,000 would have to be paid for property worth more than Rs 20 lakh. The decision will come into force after the issue of notification, said the Chief Minister. The move is likely to fetch the government revenue of Rs 100 cr. In case of registration of wills, the authorities have to levy Rs 500 for each instrument. For registration of all other documents, it will be Rs 1,000 for each instrument. For making an inquiry about any property, the fee has been increased up to 10 per cent. Talking to media after the meeting, the Chief Minister stated that rates remained unchanged since June 27, 1964. All fees for registration of documents under this Act are payable on the presentation of documents concerning the property. Rates in Delhi are very nominal and much lower than the rates in the neighbouring states of Haryana and Uttar Pradesh. The prevailing rate in Delhi for registration of documents such as conveyance deed, sales deed, gift deed, partition deed, settlement deed, etc. is just Rs 100. In Haryana, the rate varies according to the value set forth in the document. The new rates in Uttar Pradesh came into effect on December 1, 2009, whereas in Haryana, the new rates came into force on November 6, 2006. The new rates of fee in Delhi for registration of documents—conveyance deed, sales deed, gift deed, etc. relating to immovable property–will be one per cent of the consideration amount.
|
|
Thieves beat traders to death as cops look on
Greater Noida, May 17 One of the traders died on the spot while the second succumbed to his injuries in a hospital on Sunday. SSP A.K. Singh has suspended in-charge of the Chhapraula police post and two other policemen for dereliction of duty. The police has arrested some accused. The incident happened in the industrial area of Badalpur, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati’s parental village. The victims were brothers— Prem Prakash Tyagi and Anil Tyagi. The family of the victims has alleged that the criminals were demanding extortion money from them. The Tyagi brothers have a brick and tile factory. A man was caught red-handed while stealing on the factory premises on Friday. The factory workers had beaten him up in the presence of Prem and later handed him over to the police. But the thief was let off by the police. The next day, he along with a few companions attacked Prem. The criminals thrashed Prem in front of some policemen. When Anil came to Prem’s help, he too was thrashed mercilessly. While Prem died on the spot, Anil succumbed to his injuries on Sunday evening in the Yashoda Hospital at Ghaziabad. The police has arrested two key accused, Gandhi and Ravinder. Third accused, Yoginder, was also subsequently nabbed. The SSP visited the spot and suspended Chhapraula police post in-charge K.P. Singh and two other policemen— Radhakishen and Vijay Singh— for dereliction of duty.
|
|
Hashimpura
Massacre
New Delhi, May 17 Additional sessions judge Manu Rai Sethi recorded the statements of Sirajuddin, Abdul Gaffar, Abdul Hamid and the then officer on special duty (OSD), law and order, G.L. Sharma, who narrated the brutal incident. “We were asked to come out of our houses and then made to sit on the main road. Aged people and children were asked to move to another side. Later, people were picked up and loaded in a truck,” said Sirajuddin while recoding the statement, adding that he managed to escape. Sirajuddin, while being cross examined by special public prosecutor S. Akbar Abdi, also said that communal riots had taken place in the area around three to four days prior to the incident. Abdul Gaffar and Abdul Hamid deposed that they were beaten up on the fateful day by PAC personnel after being asked to come out of their homes. On May 24, 1987, several PAC men came to Hashimpura and randomly picked up around 50 Muslim men, mostly weavers and labourers, and packed them in a truck. According to the prosecution, they were picked as a congregation of 500 Muslims had gathered outside a mosque there. The truck was then taken to Murad Nagar near Ghaziabad where some men were shot dead in cold blood and their bodies disposed of in the Upper Ganges Canal. The truck was then driven to Hindon Canal where the PAC shot several others. The FIRs in this regard were filed by the survivors of the two massacres at two different police stations. A total of 42 persons were declared to have perished in the massacre, the FIRs alleged. The trial is against 16 PAC men who have been charged with various sections of the IPC relating to murder, conspiracy to murder, attempt to murder and tampering with evidence. Surprisingly, even after 23 years of the incident, out of the 164 prosecution witnesses, only 65 have been examined so far. The delay has left many victims wondering if they would get justice in their lifetimes.
|
|
DU admin invites teachers for talks today
New Delhi, May 17 The university vice-chancellor Deepak Pental wrote a letter to the AC members today urging them to call off their protest and discuss issues with him. It is the first time when Pental has taken a note of events revolving around implementation of semester system in DU. In his long letter to the council members,
Pental said the semester system would not have any “feasibility” or “desirability” issues if the teachers were ready to put in hard work. Making a case against DU Teachers’ Association (DUTA), the vice-chancellor has clearly stated in the letter that the association is a non-statutory body. It has no business in interrupting the formulation of new course by disrupting meetings of the Course Committee which is a statutory body. “The vice-chancellor thinks it is illegal for representatives of teachers’ association to go and participate in meetings of the Course Committee,” said sources from the AC. It has been indicated several times in his letter that intimidating tactics were not going to work and dialogue should take place in an “aggression-free manner”. He has called the teachers to meet him tomorrow at 3 pm in his office. In a passing reference to yesterday’s tiff, Pental wrote that “I had a taste of such intimidating tactics when I went to address aspiring students and their parents”. He has mentioned that most teachers wanted to speak to him. Only some of them were aggressive. On the statement of teachers that the DU community should sit and resolve its issues as a family, the vice-chancellor wrote that DU was an institution and not a family. The AC members have decided to reply to the vice-chancellor’s invitation for dialogue. Though they have not yet decided whether to call off the sit-in. “A reply to his letter would be sent to him. We are ready to talk but it has not been decided if we would call off the sit-in,” said Vijaya Venkataraman, AC member. Around 13 members have been sitting inside the Council Hall of DU for the last four days after Pental declared the semester system implemented in 12 science courses. While teachers have been camping inside the hall, work on admission schedules in different departments has been lying pending as most members hold key positions in their departments. Meanwhile, teachers from different colleges gathered outside the vice-chancellor’s office in solidarity with AC members. |
|
Games
New Delhi, May 17 Ghalib while mentioning the ancient relations between India and Indonesia, remembered the association of two great leaders Jawaharlal Nehru and President Sukarno. He described India as a cultural super power where democratic values are being further strengthened. Trade between two countries will cross $10 billion this year. |
|
Sreedharan resumes work
New Delhi, May 17 Popularly known as the Metro man, Sreedharan reached the Metro Bhawan at 8.30 in the morning and after meeting his colleagues, resumed work. “A meeting of the head of the departments is held in his office every week. The meeting happened today as well and he attended it as usual,” said DMRC sources. Metro officials said Sreedharan, who looked perfectly healthy, went through all the work taken up by the DMRC in his absence. |
|
30 kids rescued from dhabas
New Delhi, May 17 Acting on the complaint registered by NGO Bachpan Bachao Andolan (BBA), the Delhi Task Force on Elimination of Child Labour conducted the raid and rescued kids in the age bracket of 9-14 years. Nine-year-old Raja (name changed) said he came here for education, but was shocked as he was left with no choice than to live at the mercy of his employer. "In my village, I went to school. A villager told my parents that in the city I can have better education. Once here, I was forced to work in dhaba for more than 16 hours a day and all I got was food twice a day. I didn't know how to cook, but I was forced to work. I have bruised my fingers while cooking. I want to go home and join my school back," said Raja. Further, in the absence of remuneration, he had been selling empty bottles so that he could arrange money for his return ticket. The conditions are the same for many other children working in roadside eateries even though in 2006, Child Labour Regulation and Prohibition Act 1986 was amended to bring child labour in roadside eateries under the ambit of hazardous industries. According to the ministry of labour and employment, an estimated 1,85,595 children are employed as domestic helps and in cities like Delhi, a most of them are trafficked by placement agencies operating in states like Orissa, Jharkhand, Uttar Pradesh and Bihar. "These roadside eateries must be earning more than Rs 20,000 every day, but they avoid employing adults to escape giving minimum wages to them. We have prosecuted 13 employers and filed cases under Bonded Labour System (Abolition) Act and Child Labour Regulation and Prohibition Act 1986," said V.P. Singh, SDM Kalkaji.
|
|
Three Asha Kiran kids
escape in three days
New Delhi, May 17 Tthe Delhi government has ordered an enquiry into the incident and suspended three caretakers of the observation home. Three
caretakers—Saraswati, Babli and Sanjeev Kumar— were suspended after the government prima facie found loopholes in the security of the juvenile home. The government sources confirmed that an enquiry would be conducted into the matter while the security of the building as already been beefed up.
— TNS |
|
|
BJP chief asks CM to clear Guru’s file
New Delhi, May 17 However, Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit said that her government did not have his file and Gupta’s demand was absurd. Gupta claimed in a press conference that Guru had filed a mercy petition before the President of India after the Supreme Court had convicted and sentenced him to death in the case that had taken place in 2001. The petition was sent back to the Delhi government through the ministry of home affairs (MHA) for comment. The MHA has again written a letter to the CM asking her to explain what the government is doing about Guru’s mercy petition. Dikhsit said that her government had nothing to do with the case and Gupta’s claims were fictitious. Gupta said if the Chief Minister did not take the final decision soon, BJP activists would gherao her residence. Addressing a conference, he said that by delaying Guru’s death sentence, the Chief Minister was playing vote politics. The Congress was in power in Delhi as well as at the Centre and deferring the issue was creating doubts in people’s mind. In reply to a reminder sent by the Centre to the Delhi government, it promised to communicate its opinion after the elections but the state government was evading the matter, he said. He said union home minister P. Chidambaram’s promise to protect the country from terror was proving hollow as Guru’s mercy petition was pending for over two years. |
|
Two held with Rs 1-cr heroin
New Delhi, May 17 The accused have been identified as Rahul Kumar (26) of Siliguri in West Bengal and Lucky (30) of Amritsar. DCP (central) Jaspal Singh said that the two were arrested near Chawri Bazar metro station around 10 pm on Saturday. “They were stopped by a police party on a tip off. The men were held with 1006 grams heroin worth Rs 1 crore in the international market,” said Singh. They disclosed that three months ago they came in contact with one Symond at a guesthouse in Pahar Ganj. Symond had allegedly supplied heroin to them. According to the police, Symond lives in Meerut or Ghaziabad and used to talk to the accused men from PCO. He used to meet them at different places in Delhi. “Efforts are being made to ascertain their source of supply and places of sale,” said Singh. Rahul Kumar comes from a middle-class family and worked as an attendant in different hotels/ guesthouses in the area of Karol Bagh and Pahar Ganj. Three months ago, he had come in contact with Symond who deals in narcotic drugs. Lucky, a driver, dropped passengers to various hotels in the areas.
|
|
Constable hangs self
New Delhi, May 17 “Chandran was rushed to a nearby hospital where the doctors declared him brought dead. The body has been preserved in the Subzi Mandi mortuary and his family has been informed about the incident,” said a police official, adding that a suicide note has been recovered from his possession taking blame of his death. The police suspects family problems could be behind the suicide. According to his colleagues, Chandran was depressed for the past one week. He hailed from Kerala. He joined the Delhi police in 1982. Demolition drive triggers violence
A demolition drive by the Delhi Development Authority (DDA) in a south Delhi locality triggered violent protests prompting the police to use force to control the mob today morning. According to information, a DDA team had gone to Jaitpur village this morning with a large contingent of police to demolish encroachments in the locality. “As the team reached the village, the locals blocked the main road by placing trees on the middle of the road. The officials then got out of their vehicles and started walking, but were confronted by angry protesters who asked the officials to halt the drive. Thereafter some people started pelting stones and the police had to use force,” said a police official from the district. A case of rioting has been registered. DDA officials said the drive would continue as planned and that they had sought more police presence in the area. Today, the team demolished the outer walls of at
least three farmhouses. Three illegal buildings were also brought down. |
|
Newly-wed hangs self after tiff with husband
New Delhi, May 17 According to the police, the victim, Dolly (21), got married to Chetan in January this year. Chetan found her hanging in the bathroom of their house at Budh Vihar around 6 am today. He rushed her to a nearby hospital where she was declared brought dead. The police said that domestic dispute appeared to be the reason behind Dolly’s taking to the extreme step. A case has been registered and an enquiry by a sub-divisional magistrate has been ordered. Man found dead
A 30-year-old battery maker was found dead in the Bindapur area of south-west Delhi. Karan Singh was found dead by his wife near their residence. His wife then informed their relatives. The police said that some wound marks were found on Singh’s body. It appeared that he had been attacked with a knife. His body has been to the Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Hospital for postmortem. A case has been registered and investigations are on. |
|
|
Deranged woman torches house, kills sons
Ghaziabad, May 17 The police has sent their bodies for postmortem. On Sunday, the woman’s husband Om Veer Singh, a tanker driver at a milk dairy, was informed that his house was on fire. When he reached the spot, flames were emanating from his house and all doors were locked. His neighbours saw from their house’s terrace that his son Goldy (12) was lying unconscious in a pool of blood, while the youngest Golu (9) lied half burnt. Both rushed to a nursing home where they were declared brought dead. Later, the police found Singh’s wife Mukesh and his eldest son Sonu charred to death. Mukesh had been mentally ill for the past 10 months. Even her brother has told this to the police. |
|
| HOME PAGE | |
Punjab | Haryana | Jammu & Kashmir |
Himachal Pradesh | Regional Briefs |
Nation | Opinions | | Business | Sports | World | Letters | Chandigarh | Ludhiana | Classified Delhi | | Calendar | Weather | Archive | Subscribe | Suggestion | E-mail | |
