New Delhi, June 24
The three Gujjar youths allegedly responsible for carrying out the sensational 'honour killings' of their two sisters and brother-in-law in the Ashok Vihar area of north-west Delhi were arrested by the UP police in Ghaziabad district this evening.

According to UP police, the accused Mandeep Nagar (23), Ankit Chaudhary (22) and Nakul Khari (21) were arrested around 3 pm from the Garhmukteswar area while they tried to cross a police picket during routine vehicle check. According to Raghubir Lal, SSP (Ghaziabad), the three have confessed to their crime and a Santro car used by them has been seized.

The three had been on the run after allegedly killing Ankit's sister Monica, her husband Kuldeep, and Mandeep's sister Shobha, who had eloped with a man belonging to a different caste. All three were shot dead within three hours of one another on Sunday night.

According to Lal, the accused have revealed that they first killed Shobha and then Kuldeep while Monica was the last one to be shot inside her house.

"Shobha was shot in the head from behind as she sat on the front seat of the car. Later, they shot Kuldeep thrice, reached his house and shot Monica," said Lal while addressing a press conference.

According to him, the three had escaped to Dehradun, Mussourie and Rishikesh after the murders. Regarding the weapon used in the crime, Lal said that the accused disposed it of in the Ganga in Rishikesh.

However, when the mediapersons earlier asked Ankit for the reasons of the killings, he denied having done anything.

"We have not killed anybody. Only you and police are saying it. We had gone to the hills and police arrested us today," said Ankit adding that they were being framed for the murders.

Ghaziabad, June 24
A Loni youth has approached the SSP of Ghaziabad, seeking protection from her wife’s parents who have allegedly threatened to kill him and his wife if he did not give them their original marriage certificate and photographs till Friday.

The youth has also requested the police to get his wife released from her parents’ custody, saying that they forcibly took her away few days ago because they did not approve of their relationship.

The SSP has said that police protection will be given to the boy’s family and a police team has been sent to find the girl.

A resident of Garhi village in Loni Ajit Singh and Sangeeta Singh of Noida were in a love relationship. On June 19, the two eloped and got married at an an Arya Samaj temple in Delhi’s Yamuna Bazar.

The same day, they approached the Tis Hazari court for legal registration of their marriage.

Ajit then took Sangeeta to his relative’s home at Nebli village in Bagpat. But in the night, around a dozen persons from Sangeeta’s family came to the house and tried to abduct them. Ajit somehow escaped, but the attackers took Sangeeta away at gunpoint.

According to Ajit, Sangeeta’s family even came to the panchayat of his village and announced that they did not accept the marriage. They told him to give them the original marriage certificate and marriage photographs till Friday, failing which they will kill him and his family members.

They also threatened to kill Sangeeta.

New Delhi, June 24
After several studies pointing at the significance of Nucleic Acid Testing (NAT) for safe blood transfusion, the Delhi government is going to introduce NAT for screening blood donors in seven government hospitals: Guru Tegh Bahadur, Deen Dayal Upadhya, Lok Nayak Jai Prakash, Gobind Ballabh Pant, Dr Hedgewar Arogya Sansthan, Baba Saheb Ambedkar and Sushrut Trauma Centre.

Under the present system, enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) is used to screen people who come for blood transfusion against five diseases. But, given the widely proved inefficacy of the testing procedure, NAT is being considered an additional component of safety to ELISA.

In ELISA, the antibody screening may give out negative result during the ‘window period’—the time required for viral infection and its detection—which even stretches up to six weeks, and thus exposing patients to the risk of infection.

“As part of PPP model, the Delhi government is trying to rope in parties for bringing NAT into the blood screening system,” said Dr Bharat Singh, director of State Blood Transfusion Council.

However, even the combined modality is not a foolproof test to detect HIV, HB and HC viruses, believe blood transfusion experts.

Sources from the National AIDS Control Organisation, which takes care of blood safety, consider that NAT would do no value-addition to the present scaling system, given the inability of the test to rule out the window period or suggest complete elimination of the visuses and secondly, the sophisticated test fails to fit into the country’s health budget due to its exorbitant cost.

Nonetheless, Delhi has geared up for the safety of its citizens and the selection for the private party is on. The expression of interests was floated in May and either Roche or Novartis could be considered for the job. It would take another three-four months, said Dr Singh.

In the Capital, currently AIIMS, Ram Manohar Lohia and Apollo Indraprastha hospitals have started using NAT technique for screening antibodies in the event of blood transfusion. Safdarjung Hospital has already issued of tenders for the purpose. 

New Delhi, June 24
Delhiites got some respite from the hot and muggy weather today as a spell of light showers in the city brought the temperature down.

The maximum temperature settled at 41.4 degree Celsius, two notches above normal while the minimum was recorded at 31.4 degrees, three notches above normal. The humidity level remained high. The maximum and minimum settled were at 64 and 35 per cent respectively. Metrological department said that the amount of rainfall was too less to be measured though it did have a cooling effect. Many people were seen soaking up the drizzle and enjoying themselves.

“Initially around 3:45 pm, it was drizzling but after 4:30, it rained for about 5 to 10 minutes. We scurried for cover for about five minutes,” said a couple at Nehru Place.

At Connaught Place too, youngsters enjoyed the rains. A group of five college boys said, “It was so hot during the afternoon. Nobody thought it would rain, but it was a pleasant surprise. We danced in the rains after years.”

“I hope this was a pre-monsoon shower and that monsoon will arrive soon. It has been scorching,” said an MNC employee, Saloni Khanna.

Met department has forecast delay of a few days in the arrival of south-west monsoon in the region. While people in some parts of the city enjoyed the rains, some said that there was no rain.

“My friend told me that it was raining. I thought he was joking, but later I heard the news on the radio. I felt bad as there was not a single drop of water in my area,” said Gaurav Dhakre, a resident in Badarpur.

The weatherman has forecast partly cloudy sky with thundershowers tomorrow. The maximum temperature is expected to settle around 42 degrees while the minimum could settle around 31 degree Celsius.

New Delhi, June 24
The task force constituted by the health department to check sale of impure water today decided to conduct raid at units suspected to be running illegal water bottling plants, said Delhi health minister Kiran Walia.

Walia said that the task force would have full rights to check the quality of the water being packed in bottles at the water bottling plants and in case of any violation, it will seal the plant and register a case against the defaulters.

The decision was taken at a meeting held today. The meet was attended by senior officers of the prevention of food adulteration wing, deputy commissioners of police of various districts and other senior officers. The DCPs have been requested to help in conducting the raids because most of the water plants are located in outer Delhi's unauthorised colonies where officials alone cannot take action.

These illegal bottling units supply water in 20-litre bottles to offices and institutions. These bottles generally bear the name of reputed mineral water companies. The health department has learnt that impure water is being sold in pouches in slums and industrial areas also.

The task force has been constituted after a direction issued by the Delhi High Court while hearing a writ petition concerning the Bottle Water Processors Association and Union of India.

Walia said that the department was facing a lot of difficulties in picking the samples of packaged drinking water since the exercise required the services of other departments too. 

News Service, June 24
The Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) has set up 24 special counters in central zone to facilitate the payment of conversion and parking charges for mixed land use.

Its building department has also deputed technical officials to answer the queries from the general public on the mode of payment.

The officials said that the department is expecting more people during the last days of payment.

According to the Master Plan-2021, premises under mixed use shall be liable to mixed use charges every year.

"The properties which are under mixed use will have to deposit conversion and parking charges as applicable every year and the last date is June 30,”said an MCD official.

The official added that the civic body was expecting more footfalls during the last days.

The central zone has recovered Rs 275 crore so far on account of conversion and parking charges.

"About 700 people visited the office and deposited about Rs 160 lakh in the last two days,”said the official.

Till June 30, more people are expected to turn up for payment, so the number of counters has also been increased, he added.

New Delhi, June 24
Students are the sufferers as both the ECA and sports trials are thrown out of gear at Delhi University due to the teachers’ non-cooperation with the university administration.

All the colleges keep 5% of their seats for students who are good at sports or extra-curricular activities. On a yearly basis, it is teachers who conduct the trials of these students.

While teachers have carried on their protest arising from the imposition of the semester system, many students at the varsity are thrown into confusion on account of the ECA and sports trials.

Principals of several colleges have decided to put the ECA trials on hold. Some of the colleges badly affected are Miranda House, Ramjas, Kirori Mal, Motilal Nehru and Hindu.

Miranda House principal, Dr Pratibha Jolly said, “The ECA trials are simply not happening yet. We don’t have the teachers to hold the trials. The staff cannot sit in judgement of students during their trials. This requires the cooperation of teachers. I am aware of the stress that students are undergoing. We are trying to sort out this problem.”

At Ramjas too, the ECA trials have been postponed. The trials were earlier scheduled for June 22-25, but due to the non-availability of teachers, they had to be postponed.

The principal at Ramjas, Rajendra Prasad said, “How can you have trials without teachers? Teachers should not let their protest affect the admission process. This is not fair. Students will simply have to wait till we can arrange for teachers who can assist in the trials.” If college principals are left in the lurch wondering from where they will get the required teachers, students are also wondering how long this “wait” will last.

Kriti Desai, a student, said, “I have been waiting for the classical dance trials. No one at Ramjas seems to know when the next dates are. It is not fair on the part of teachers to carry out their protest right now in the middle of admissions.”

However, teachers are firm on carrying forward their disassociation with the admission process.

Prof K Verma said, “The High Court order is not going to induce us to return and assist in the admission process. We have heeded to the call of DUTA and will continue our disassociation. The vice-chancellor has been behaving in an arbitrary manner, signing ordinances from his home. This has to be checked.”

Meanwhile, there is confusion regarding sports trials. Several colleges have not sent their list of students for the trials. Daulat Ram College has not sent its list to DU Sports Council while the list sent by Kirori Mal College has been rejected.

Further, Kamla Nehru College sent its list too late and as a result, its students missed the centralized trials. Many students spread across several colleges have missed their trials as colleges either fail to send in their lists or send them too late. 

New Delhi, June 24
If you are looking for a well-skilled driver, want to get driving license or pay challan without suffering the trouble of running around transport or police officials, the Automobile Association of Upper India could be the right address for you.

The city-based NGO, which has its office in Qutab Institutional Area, has come up with a “mini employment exchange” for drivers where they can get themselves registered free of cost and find an employer among the 1lakh members of AAUI. “Industrial and corporate action is happening more than ever in the city and the Commonwealth Games will push up the need of drivers in a big way. We thought this was the right time to open an employment exchange for drivers,” said AAUI president T.K. Malhotra.

The facility, he said, would be available for its members across Delhi, NCR and other north Indian states. But the big chunk of demand is sure to come from the Capital, which would host the CWG in October. Any person owning a motor vehicle can become its members.

The AAUI used to provide part-time drivers to its members, but without any guarantee. However, now, one can hire drivers on a day-to-day basis or employ a full-time driver.

“We are just facilitators. We are not making any profit,” Malhotra said.

The organisation provides a driver for Rs 300 for eight hours and the money goes to the cabbie.

All the drivers registered with it would undergo special training to test and upgrade their skills.

New Delhi, June 24
The Municipal Corporation of Delhi today undertook demolition action in the areas of South Extension and Sarita Vihar. Six properties were demolished : three in South Extension Part-1 and three in Sarita Vihar, said an official.

Tthe building department, central zone, has undertaken 49 demolition actions in June. So far the drive includes razing of seven properties yesterday: three in South Extension Part-1, one in Sangam Vihar, three in Tughlakabad Extension, he said.

“This is going to be extensive drive against unauthorized construction across the Capital. The unscrupulous builders will not be spared,” said a senior MCD official.

The officials said that they might also contemplate demolition action in respect of non-recovery of parking and conversion charges.

Ghaziabad, June 24
In a bizarre case reported from Ghaziabad, a 70-year-old man died of heart attack after he received his fake cremation slip by post. The man got the post on Tuesday and he died on Wednesday.

Ghaziabad SSP, Raghubir Lal, while expressing surprise over the case has ordered an investigation into it.

The man, Than Singh, ran a dairy in Ghaziabad. He had three sons who ran a flour mill. On Tuesday, a registered envelope reached Singh’s house. To the surprise of the family members, the envelope contained a cremation slip of the Hindon crematorium issued in the name of Singh. The slip mentioned Singh’s death date as June 17.

As per the slip, he was cremated on June 18 on platform number 5 of the crematorium.  

Also, Singh’s name, address and telephone number mentioned on the slip was correct. 

The incident left Singh tensed and he died the next day. His family members allege that the fake cremation slip caused heart attack to Singh and he died.

Investigations revealed that the cremation slip was not issued by the Hindon crematorium.

It was created by some miscreants using an old slip. The police is trying to find out the sender of the slip.