New Delhi, June 6
Two people were run over in north Delhi by a speeding car which later rammed into a crane, also killing the driver of the car and his companion, the police said today.

Bhagwan Das, 30, and his nephew Rajat, 5, were run over by a Honda city car being driven by a minor while they were on their way to a temple on the Murthal Road.

After crushing the two, the car rammed into a crane.

“Ankur and Prince (the occupants of the car, both minors) died in the crash. The driver of the crane received minor injuries,” a police official said. It was not clear who was driving the car, tne official added.

According to eyewitnesses, the car had a Delhi police sticker on its front windscreen. However, police denied it. — IANS

New Delhi, June 6
Thanks to the traces of rain that hit the Capital today, Delhi saw a considerable drop in the mercury levels. The maximum temperature settled at 38.2 degree Celsius against yesterday’s 39 degree Celsius and also three degrees below the average temperature for this time of the year.

After the light drizzle in some parts of the Capital, the weatherman has predicted that the city is likely to witness a further drop in mercury levels in the days ahead.

The minimum temperature today was recorded three degrees below average at 25.4 degree Celsius.

“For tomorrow, the maximum temperature is expected to settle around 38 degree Celsius, while the minimum is expected to hover around 25 degree Celsius. The city will see a generally cloudy sky tomorrow. There is a possibility of rain which will further reduce the impact of dust haze. If rains occur, the impact of dust haze will minimize,” said an IMD official.

“Rains in the neighboring states like Punjab and Himachal Pradesh have also brought moisture and cool breeze, giving a perfect weekend to the city. The decrease in the temperature can also be attributed to the activity in neighboring areas,” he added.

The humidity levels oscillated between 67 per cent and 25 per cent.

New Delhi, June 6
With rains expected to hit the national Capital by the last week of this month, the city's traffic police is anxious about the ordeal that lies before it in wake of water-logged roads and heavy jams-- a routine during the rainy season.

The traffic police believes that problems during the season may further compound this time around due to the ongoing construction work for the Commonwealth Games and Delhi Metro. The flyovers and underpasses being constructed are causing pits and blockades in various parts of the Capital.

The traffic police has identified 279 roads from where water-logging and jams are reported the most and has sent letters to various civic agencies.

"We have identified 279 roads that are responsible for jams due to water-logging. If these are mended, traffic can be easily handled during rains. We have requested the civic agencies concerned to send senior officials and engineers to the roads identified under their jurisdiction and rectify the situation for the convenience of all," said a traffic police official adding that the identified stretches lead to water-logging in just a few minutes of downpour.

According to sources, the letter was sent around two weeks ago to the Delhi Development Authority (DDA), Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD), Public Works Department (PWD), New Delhi Municipal Council (NDMC), Delhi Cantonment Board and even the National Highway Authority of India (NHAI).

"Of the 279 roads, 141 fall under the ambit of the MCD, 72 under the PWD, 48 under the NDMC, 14 under the NHAI and 2 each under the DDA and the Delhi Cantonment Board. We are sure the concerned civic agencies would take the matter on priority," said the official.

According to the Delhi traffic police, snarls created by rains during the monsoon are aggravating year after year owing to increased vehicular flow and carelessness on the part of the civic agencies. "While the increasing vehicle population is a fact, some times a roadside pit is left unfilled by a civic agency after the work is done. It could lead to major snarl on a particular road. Besides, accidental injury or death is always a possibility," said a traffic police official.

New Delhi, June 6
The tax exemptions to entertainment and hospitality industry in view of the Commonwealth Games are going to record a loss of Rs 65 crore to the state government.

A senior government official said that out of the total budget of Rs 15,000 crore of the CWG, the Delhi government will lose between Rs 60 and Rs 65 crore in the form of tax waivers to entertainment and luxury industry.

The chief secretary Rakesh Mehta said that the government has decided to waive 15 per cent entertainment tax on Games ticket sales at stadiums. Therefore, it will likely to lose about Rs 35 crore as entertainment tax from the sale of 17 lakh tickets and the luxury tax waiver on hotels will lead to a loss of Rs 30 crore. It has also decided to waive 10 per cent luxury tax for three months from September.

The luxury tax waiver for hotels will remain in force during September, October and November.

However, Mehta said these are small sacrifices if the government has to make the Games a big success. There will be 17 lakh tickets with rates ranging from Rs 50 to Rs 1,000 for various sport events.

Ticket rates for the opening ceremony are ranging from Rs 1,000 to Rs 50,000 and for the closing ceremony from Rs 750 to Rs 50,000 for the mega event. If all the tickets are sold, then we have to forgo Rs 35 crore as entertainment tax, the official said.

New Delhi, June 6
There would be an integrated system of health care for the athletes and technical officials of Commonwealth Games, with the traditional ayurvedic massage therapy being a significant component of the comprehensive treatment.

Nearly 150-200 ayurvedic masseurs from Kerala and West Bengal would be here during the Games to be held from October 3-14.

Even as the city health department is moving ahead in a consolidated manner for meeting the medical diagnostic and equipment demand along with manpower identification and training, as of now about two-thirds of the work has been completed, as confirmed by the Delhi health minister Kiran Walia.

“Around 400 students from medical colleges like Maulana Azad Medical College and University College of Medical Sciences affiliated to Delhi University have been identified. These students, called volunteers, would be imparted pre-hospital care training, including first aid in a week or so,” said sources.

During the CWG, a total of 400 doctors and paramedics and 1,000 St John’s volunteers besides medical students would be designated for the first aid centres at various competition and non-competition venues and stadia.

Further, well-upgraded four hospitals—Delhi government’s G B Pant Hospital and centrally managed Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital along with the under-construction Sports Injury Centre and All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS)’ Trauma Centre have been earmarked for providing treatment. All designated hospitals would have a 30-bedded ward each, including ICU and emergency care unit.

“Separate arrangements have been made for athletes and delegates of the CWG Federation, with special wards and emergency set-ups in place in the four identified treatment centres. Each hospital would have a nodal officer and for the venues, medical officers have already been identified. Currently, we are in process of identifying medical forces for each of the stadium, which would be attached to one of the designated hospitals,” said Dr S Bhattacharjee, director health services, Delhi government.

Depending upon the location, the earmarked hospitals would be attending to cases coming from various training and sports venues, for instance a person injured at Games Village would be taken to G B Pant Hospital and an injured from Siri Fort Complex would be taken to AIIMS Trauma Centre.

The medical personnel deputed for the task at all Games venues and in designated hospitals would be there round the clock.

“The Delhi government has gone in for a wet lease with a private company and by July-end, we should have it. The private operator would maintain the facility and the agreement might remain as a legacy for 10 to 15 years, as decided by the government. It would be a complete networking system, which would replace the extant mobile services,” said an official of city health department.

Before the mega event, the Delhi health department would carry out a recce to ensure that the city is fully geared to take on any eventuality.

New Delhi, June 6
The Delhi government has been asked by the centre to make amendments in the Land Titling Bill for the registration of property.

The Bill drafted by the Delhi government would have digitised mechanism for registration of property instead of the archaic system existing now.

The city government had decided to introduce the new system of property registration to prevent fraudulent transactions. The system will have an online database of all genuine properties. Though the state government officials said that the Bill was prepared after discussions with experts and other stake holders for the last three years, the Centre has again sent it back for further examination.

“We were asked by the Centre to examine the Land Titling bill 2010 prepared by the Union rural development ministry before finalising our Bill,” chief secretary Rakesh Mehta said. He said the Delhi government would finalise the draft of the Delhi Urban Property Registration and Titling Bill within a month.

New Delhi, June 6
Two labourers, including a woman, were crushed to death by a speeding truck in a south district area in the wee hours today.

The incident was reported from the Fatehpur Beri area around Mehrauli around 4:30 am.

The deceased have been identified as Sita (30) from Rajasthan and Kailash (40) of Madhopur in Jharkhand.

"The trolley was loaded with soil and Sita was sitting on it, while Kailash was pulling the trolley. A truck hit the trolley. The impact was such that the two fell off the trolley and sustained severe injuries," said a senior police official.

Kailash died on the spot, while Sita succumbed to her injuries during treatment at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) Trauma Centre.

A case of rash and negligent driving has been registered against the truck driver who fled abandoning the truck.

According to the police, the driver has been identified and a hunt is on to nab him.

Ghaziabad, June 6
A man was allegedly shot dead by his friend in Pilkhua village here as he failed to return the amount that he had borrowed from the latter.

The victim has been identified as Shadab, alias Chhotu, of Ashok Nagar in Pilkhua. Shadab went out with his friend Soldu, alias Nitish Tomar, of Rampura on Friday night. When he did not return home till late night, his family started looking for him.

Soldu was caught by a police patrolling party while he was trying to dispose Shadab’s body.

Soldu told the police that he had lent Rs 1,600 to Shadab. Shadab was not returning the amount.

As Shadab was addicted to liquor, he decided to kill him by bringing him under the influence of liquor.

Soldu had taken Shadab to a tubewell near Anwarpur where they consumed liquor.

After consuming liquor Soldu shot Shadab.

He was arrested while he was taking the victim’s body on his motorcycle. Soldu was reportedly driving towards a high way. He wanted to present that Shadab had died in an accident.

When the police intercepted him, he dumped Shadab’s body on road and tried to flee. The revolver used in the murder has been seized.

The murder angered residents of the area who gheroed the police station. Taking note of the tension, police personnel and PAC staff have been deployed in the area.

New Delhi, June 6
Flashing on LCD screens in college canteens will be live sports events of the Commonwealth Games, job opportunities and even entertainment programmes - the Delhi University's soon-to-be launched television channel is all set to revolutionise life on the campus.

The internet-based Delhi University Television Network (DUTN), which was conceptualised about five months back, will take the help of students and staff - especially of the mass communication department - to bring all the latest happenings and news of the university to the students, without depending on other forms of media.

A.K. Bakshi, director of Delhi University's Institute of Lifelong Learning (ILL) that will handle the operations of the channel, said: "It has been long felt that there is a need to bring together over three lakh students of the university scattered all over Delhi in over 80 colleges and ensure a free flow of information among them."

"Three or four LCD screens will be there in every college - in the canteen, in the students' common room and the staff room, where the students and staff will be able to access the network feeds. The project should take off in the next two-three months," he added.

"There is so much happening in the university - in terms of new courses, sporting events, convocations, talks, placements - that there was a need to have our own medium.

"Admissions, for instance, is one time when a lot of information is floating around. It needs to be captured in one place for the benefit of all," he added.

According to Bakshi, there will be three main types of programmes on the channel - education, entertainment and information.

"Under education, there can be programmes on new courses that are being launched and cut-offs during admission time. In entertainment, we can showcase some short films that students of mass communication make as well as events during the college festivals," he said.

Information about which companies are coming to the campus for placements, discussions and talks by various dignitaries and even live and recorded feeds of the sporting events during the Commonwealth Games are some of the programmes that DUTN may telecast.

It may even show programmes on physical fitness.

"We are still in the process of drafting the policy framework for DUTN. Initially, it will be available only in 12 colleges of the north campus, but later we will increase the bandwidth to include other colleges too," Bakshi said.

"One must change with the times and use technology for one's benefit. Abroad, may universities have their own local television channel. This channel is an effort in the same path," Bakshi 
said. — IANS

New Delhi, June 6
It was an absolute treat for literature and theatre lovers in the Capital, when renowned Punjabi author and playwright, Dr Atamjit conducted the theatrical reading of his new play, Gadar Express, in the Capital today.

Based on the courage and determination of those who fought in the revolt of 1913, the play’s theatrical reading at Bhai Vir Singh Sahitya Sadan in the Capital saw active participation of the theatre community in the city.

Sculpting script and doing direction of over 30 plays in India and abroad, Dr Atamjit is also a Sahitya Akademi Award winner (Punjabi) for 2010  for his book “Tatti Tavi da Sach” which is a historical drama documenting the sacrifice of Guru Arjan Dev.

Speaking about his play, Dr Atamjit asserted that the fighters in the 1913 revolt have been forgotten.

“These people and their sacrifices are forgotten. Though 5,000 people suffered directly or indirectly, not even 5,000 Indians are aware of it. This revolt is often confused with the revolt of 1857,” he said.

Elaborating on the play’s story line, he said, “The play elucidates the Gadar movement that broke out in 1913 in Sacramento, California. This struggle was initiated by Punjabi Hindus and Sikhs who happened to get a whiff of freedom while working or studying abroad. They soon chose to come back to their motherland and inspire their fellowmen to get rid of the foreign force in India.”

“The stars of this revolt, Kartar Singh Sarabh and Lala Hardayal and several others, unswervingly stood by their mission and visited Indian army camps in India to rebel against the British rule. The kind of hardships experienced by those who were associated with this struggle deserves to be told. As many as 145 people were hanged, 250 imprisoned for life and 100 bore indefinite imprisonment,” he added.

The evening saw the presence of literary stalwarts and renowned Punjabi writers, including Darshan Gill from Vancouver, Canada, (honoured with the Shiromani Sahityakar award by the Punjab government), Dr Mohanjit and Dr S S Noor, Dr Savrajbeer, Dr Harcharan Kaur, Prof Chaman Lal from Jawaharlal Nehru University  and Harwinder Kaur from the National School of Drama.

New Delhi, June 6
The newly elected Mayor has expressed apprehension about the three landfill sites of the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) as they are already full beyond their capacity.

The Mayor, P.R. Sawhney, said the corporation was facing space crunch and did not have place for disposing garbage. “We are trying to achieve Zero Waste Management level. The emphasis is on developing engineered sanitary landfill sites to keep the environment undisturbed,” said Sawhney.

He said one of the biggest challenges being faced by the civic body was to ensure not only the inclusion but also the reduction of the quantum of solid waste reaching the three landfill sites at Bhalasva, Ghazipur and Okhla.

“Delhi produces nearly 6,500 metric tonne of solid waste every day. Therefore, recycling of garbage is imperative to cope with the ever-increasing quantity of garbage,” he said.

Talking about the approach adopted by the MCD for protecting the environment, he said the corporation was promoting waterless urinals to ensure minimal damage to environment through liquid waste. He added that vermiculture in parks and gardens was also being promoted.

“Being the largest municipal body of the country, the MCD is committed to ensure that collection, transportation and disposal of solid waste causes least impact on environment and climate,” he added.

Visitors walk past a CPWD board that warns of danger due to construction work at the India Gate in New Delhi on Sunday. Tribune photo: Manas Ranjan Bhui

She herself expressed ignorance about the event even as Vijay Kumar Malhotra, BJP’s leader in the Assembly, shared the dais with Kalmadi. As the Games draw closer, grapevine is that Kalmadi, who has got bad media for delayed CWG projects, does not want to share the spotlight with her. Many state Congress leaders and a couple of MPs from Delhi are also said to be egging him on.

Theta healing

A new type of therapy has caught on in the city — theta healing. Theta Healing’s marketers are pushing it as an antidote to negative thoughts and phobias, mental maladies which are affecting more and more people recent times. It claims to cure your inner being and heal from within. Rachna Mehra, who runs theta healing classes, says it connects the subject to their natural intuition and soothes their scarred minds. Some may dismiss her as another purveyor of another mumbo-jumbo, but as long as curious “patients” are lining up outside her classes for enrolment, her fraternity would not mind.

Physically challenged not interested in DU

The number of Delhi University aspirants outnumbers the actual seats by some lakhs. However, seats reserved for physically challenged students go abegging every year and officials say lack of awareness among the students is the primary reason why these coveted seats go unfilled. Out of around 1000 seats reserved under the PH category last year, more than 50 per cent seats were vacant till the end of admissions. This year, the university has 1600 seats reserved for physically challenged students, which it is trying hard to fill. Besides, students admitted under PH category are offered hostels on a preferential basis. In many cases, their families are also over-protective of them and do not want them to live in hostels.

Valiant or foolish?

A head constable of New Ashok Nagar police station in east Delhi was seriously injured when two bike-borne youths, whom he was chasing on his motor cycle, allowed him to come near them and then kicked him. His bike skidded along the road for some distance and the poor cop landed up in a hospital with many injuries. His heroics might have earned him some applause had he managed to catch the erring youths, but in hospital he received as much admonishment as praise. “They were accused of minor offences. Why to endanger one’s life for catching them which would not have got him anything anyway,” a colleague intoned. Even if the department awards him, it would not be more than a few hundred rupees, another said.

(Contributed by Syed Ali Ahmed, Akhila Singh, Rashi Agarwal and Sandeep Yadav)

Greater Noida, June 6
A man running a sports centre in Greater Noida has been cheated of Rs 30,500 by someone who posed as an agent of the HDFC bank. The victim has given a written complaint to the Kasna police station.

Dharminder Singh, who runs a sports centre at Gama Sector-1 in Greater Noida, was being approached on phone by Krishanlal for opening a bank account. Krishanlal had been posing as an agent of the HDFC bank.

On June 3, Krishanlal met Dharminder in the sports centre when the latter agreed to open an account. The caller showed Dharminder his identity card also. He collected the necessary documents and a cancelled cheque for Rs 3.

It is alleged that by erasing the writing on the cancelled cheque by chemicals, the cheat withdrew Rs 30,500 from Dharminder’s account on Friday. He is also accused of withdrawing Rs 4,800 from the account of Dharminder’s friend Yash Pratap Singh sometime back.

The Kasna police has yet to take any action.