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Rains, Metro glitch throw traffic out of gear
Rains derail heritage works
for CWG
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Aug 31 Deadline Games Village behind schedule
12 new Metro trains before CWG
NHRC raps MCD, asks it to pay staffer
25,000 relief for delaying pension, PF
Explain denial of admission to girls, HC asks schools
HC for talks on semester
‘Killer’medico nabbed moments before take off to Almaty
2 cops held for extortion bid
2 held for Gzb honour killing
Promising jobs abroad,
6 dupe people of crores
Illegal PGs get notices
Lecture on dharma today
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Rains, Metro glitch throw traffic out of gear
New Delhi, July 27 The ongoing construction work in every nook and corner of the busy Connaught Place in central Delhi brought traffic to a standstill and traffic officials' effort to ease the situation by diverting the outer circle traffic to Barakhamba Road was of little use. Roads connecting Connaught Place to ITO were absolutely blocked. Other parts of Delhi were also seriously affected. Places where commuters faced most inconvenience were Ring Road, Dhaula Kuan crossing and Delhi-Noida Expressway. Traffic crawled at less than 2 kms/ hr in Khanpur, Hauz Khas, Indraprastha Estate, Munirka, Ashram and Naraina during rush hours. As traffic was thrown out of gear in the afternoon, Metro services were affected on line 2 (Central Secretariat-Jehangirpuri) for about an hour from 1:40 pm to 2.40 pm due to repeated tripping of an overhead electric system, a Metro release said. After flashes were noticed on the rear pantograph of a train at Rajiv Chowk, coming from Central Secretariat to Jehangirpuri at 1:40 pm, the staff used an emergency trip system to disconnect power supply to it. The train was evacuated at Patel Chowk and service was stopped on the line. Services were restored at 2:42 pm. Commuters were stopped from entering Rajiv Chowk Metro station for over 90 minutes due to the glitch. Massive jams were noticed at Ashok Road, Minto Road, Gol Dakhana, Kasturba Gandhi Marg, Patel Chowk and Pragati Maidan. It took more than an hour for a motor cycle rider to get out of the jam at Ashok Road, after traffic at Tolstoy Marg was diverted. "I wonder what the city's conditions would be during the Commonwealth Games. I hope there are no rains then," said Nishant Rastogi. In the morning too, the traffic was adversely affected. Commuters who had set off for their offices in the morning had to battle waterlogged roads, non-functional traffic signals, vehicle breakdowns and serpentine queues of cars, buses, two-wheelers and auto-rickshaws. The disorder reigned on the streets almost throughout the day. The pending beautification work for the CWG has added to the problems. Traffic at Copernicus Marg and Rafi Marg came to a standstill for around one and a half hours around 6 pm, said Meenakshi Jha, an NGO worker.
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Rains derail heritage works
for CWG
New Delhi, July 27 Since the beginning, history experts felt that due to the Commonwealth Games focus was more on popular monuments, as out of more than 1,200 monuments in the Capital just 55 or 60 were picked for conservation. And, surprisingly, even work on them has come into question on grounds of quality and timely completion of work. The Archeological society of India (ASI) undertook the task of sprucing up 46 heritage sites in the Capital, work on most of which still continues. The intermittent rains have added to the delay at Tughlaqabad Fort, Safdarjung Tomb and Qutub Minar, among other places. Out of the 46 monuments, 13 had to be illuminated. Just five have been lit up as of now. They are-- Safdarjung Tomb, Red fort, Purana Qila, Qutub Minar and Humayun's Tomb. The remaining eight will not be illuminated as the authorities feel that there is not enough time. These eight monuments include Najaf Khan Tomb and Badi Puthi Gumbad, among others. Apart from this, mandatory facilities like parking, toilets, caféterias and small souvenior shops may also get delayed. It was just two weeks ago that the tender for world-class public toilets was approved for the Humayun's Tomb. "Bathrooms are under process. The main retaining walls of the toilets are also not completed. It's a bad situation when it comes to parking. It's a known fact that the entire Pragati Maidan stretch gets jammed on days when there are more visitors to the Purana Qila and zoo. Parking is a problem at the Qutub Minar as well. Parking at the Red fort is under planning since the last two years and is likely to stay the same during the Games as well," said a heritage conservalionist from the city. The state archeological department on the other hand had teamed up with INTACH to conserve 14 smaller sites in the city which are in proximity to Commonwealth Games venues. While work on most of them is complete, the landscaping is stuck due to rains. "Even today we could not do any work. There is no point to work on rainy days as the material gets diluted. The moisture also harms the plaster at times. We have heard that the city might see heavy rains towards the beginning of August. If that happens, work may get more delayed. Illumination will come, once everything else is taken care of," said a state department official. Most heritage conversationalists, ASI, state department and NGOs feel that if the work continues on optimum speed without any more hiccups, most of it can be done within the deadline. "The deadline given to us is August 31. We should be able to wind up most of the work by that time. However, weather plays a big part. Moreover, issues like encroachments have also delayed the process. We are hoping for the best," said a senior ASI official. |
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Aug 31 Deadline Games Village behind schedule
New Delhi, July 27 As you enter the Village in Akshardham, you see that the work on the parking lot near the left side of Ahluwalia Construction Company, one of the sub-contractors of the Games, has only begun and at present, the land is being leveled. The boundary wall on the right side has developed a crack, causing fresh concerns among the engineers. Further, the swimming pool near Block 3 is only half constructed. A senior official said handing over the Village in a complete condition to the committee by August 31 would be a herculean task. "At the best, the Village will be in a workable condition," he said. The rains have made the site muddy and the entire garden inside the Village is in a bad shape. Stagnant water could be seen at many places. The painting of the flats is still going on. In the beginning, there were 400 painters, but now, only 60 are at work. The painters said that the flats were still not complete. In some of the flats, tubs are yet to be fixed in the bathrooms. The work has to be completed within the given time, but in this situation, the quality of the work will not be good, the painters said. Further, an official said that floor work in some parts of the Village was still not complete. A security guard at the site said that there was no proper security arrangement at the site. Some electronic gadgets for security purposes should have been installed at the site, but nothing has been done so fa, he said. "We do not have latest equipment to check the vehicles going inside," he said. Many plants brought from abroad to beautify the area are dying as their roots have been damaged in the movement. About 24 plants have died till now, said labourers working at the site.
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12 new Metro trains before CWG
New Delhi, July 27 Currently, Metro carries about 6,75,000 people everyday on these lines. But with the addition of 12 new trains, the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) will be able to carry more than 8,70,000 people. With the commissioning of the new trains , the total number of trains available for services will increase to 64. Currently, 52 trains make about 566 train trips a day on these lines. After the new trains, the DMRC will increase the number of trips to 725 everyday. Four new trains manufactured by Bombardier Transportation are already under trials at the Yamuna Bank depot. In fact, DMRC plans to introduce two new trains every week on these corridors from now on. The Dwarka Sector 9 to Noida City Centre Metro corridor (Line 3), also known as the blue line, is the longest corridor of the Delhi Metro network at 47 kilometres. The Yamuna Bank-Anand Vihar corridor (Line 4) is 6.25 kilometre long and connects with Line 3 at Yamuna Bank.
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NHRC raps MCD, asks it to pay staffer
25,000 relief for delaying pension, PF
New Delhi, July 27 Though the MCD paid the employee her dues during the hearing of the matter before the NHRC, the commission imposed a fine of `25,000 on the civic body and asked its commissioner to pay the amount to Usha Girdhar, a retired headmistress, for violation of her human rights to live with dignity. The commission today sought a compliance report from the MCD along with the proof of payment within six weeks from the date of receipt of this recommendation. Girdhar retired from MC Girls Primary School, Mukherjee Nagar, Old Delhi, on August 31, 2003. She complained to the NHRC on July 1, 2004 after her several representations to the director of education and the MCD commissioner failed in getting her pension and GPF benefits released. The NHRC said after its intervention and several notices, including conditional summons, it was told that Girdhar's retirement benefits, which is `6,62,774, were given to her on May 9, 2006, 28 months after her retirement. But the commission observed that the department took more than two years to reconstruct her duplicate service records even after an order in this regard was passed by the public grievances cell of the Delhi government on April 21, 2004. The process for payment of superannuation benefits to an employee is supposed to be started six months before his/her retirement. If she had got her dues in time, it would have earned her a decent interest as well, the commission said. When a showcause notice was issued to the MCD as to why the commission should not recommend payment of nominal compensation of `25,000 to Girdhar, MCD had opposed it on the ground that the delay in processing of Girdhar's papers was caused due to non receipt of her service records from her previous employer. Disagreeing with the contention, the commission said had the process been started in the right earnest, the duplicate service records of the complaint could have been prepared much earlier. |
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Explain denial of admission to girls, HC asks schools
New Delhi, July 27 Justice Rajiv Sahai Endlaw asked the government to explain by August 5 why it failed to admit the girls in its schools. The girls residing in different areas in east Delhi approached the court when they were refused admission by the schools on frivolous grounds. Some of the reasons cited by the schools for denying them admission were that they belonged to a different state, they were overage and that being dropouts they could not be re-admitted in school. All the girls moved the court complaining that the government schools had violated the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act, 2009 (RTE Act, 2009) by denying them admission on one pretext or the other. As per the petition, Gulafshah and Nisha Parveen were denied admission in Class 6 in Sarvodaya Kanya Bal Vidyalaya, Babarpur, on the ground that they were from Uttar Pradesh. Firdosh was denied admission in Class 7 in Government Girl Senior Secondary School, Khajuri Khas, and Rabia was denied admission to Class 8 in Rajkiya Sarvodaya Kanya Vidyalaya, Khajuri Khas, on the ground that there were no seats available in the schools. Uzma Bano and Samreen Bano were denied admission in Class 9 and 6, respectively, by Government Girls Senior Secondary School, New Ashok Nagar, alleging that they were overage. Rakhi Jain and Ritika Jain were denied re-admission in Class 8 and 9, respectively, in Government Sarvodaya Kanya Vidyalaya, Gokulpur, alleging that dropped out students could not be re-admitted. Ashok Agarwal, counsel for the girls, argued before the court that the denial of admission to these girls by Delhi government schools was illegal and unconstitutional. "These cases of the girl students are only few instances, government schools are invariably denying admission to thousands of students on false and illegal grounds," he said. "Government schools are the only hope for the children of the masses and if these schools deny them admission, where would they go," said Agarwal.-- IANS
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HC for talks on semester
New Delhi, July 27 Justice Aruna Suresh asked the university to consult the students' union to end the stand-off on the issue. DU's counsel pointed out that DUTA had appealed to teachers not to go ahead with the semester system and teach as per the annual system only; however, the semester system was in the implementation stage now. To this, the court said teachers' and students' "desirability" was a major factor. At the same time, it asked both the parties not to forget about the "life and career" of students. |
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‘Killer’medico nabbed moments before take off to Almaty
New Delhi, July 27 A coordinated operation of the south Delhi police and FRRO, Delhi, took officials inside an international flight all set to fly to Almaty, a city in Kazakhstan. Khan (25), who is studying MBBS in Russia, had managed to board the flight and was sure that he was out of the hands of law, the police said. He panicked and lost nerves when the FRRO officials caught hold of him and de-planed him before handing him over to us, the police said. He was scheduled to take a connecting flight to Moscow from Almaty, the police added. DCP, south Delhi, H.G.S. Dhaliwal said the police had seized his passport and that he had confessed to his crime, which, at most, could jail him for two years. Khan said on the night, he had taken the car from his maternal uncle for a joyride. He told the cops that on the night, he and his cousins had consumed 12 bottles of beer. He said that after the accident, he escaped to Haryana (Mewat). When he learnt that many persons had died in the accident and the police was hunting for him, he decided to leave the country. Dhaliwal said Khan came to India on June 24 on a vacation and was supposed to go back later this month or in the first week of August. His father is a property dealer in Rajasthan. The police said it was informed that Khan could fly out of the country and so it alerted the FRRO. The police got his photographs from a social networking website. Around 1.30 am yesterday, a Honda City car being driven by Khan and occupied by two of his cousins ran over a group of labourers working at roadside near Safdarjung flyover. Four of them died while four others are being treated at hospitals.
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2 cops held for extortion bid
New Delhi, July 27 The accused have been identified as Mukesh and Parveen. They were posted at the Neb Sarai police station in south Delhi. On Monday around 10 pm, the accused had reportedly gone for dinner to Jameel Muslim Hotel in Sangam Vihar. After dinner, they went to the counter and in stead of paying the bill they allegedly showed knife to the manager and demanded Rs 50,000 as 'hafta', said a worker in the hotel. The hotel owner Jameel agreed to pay Rs 20,000. However, in the meantime, a worker of the hotel informed the police control room (PCR). Some policemen reached the place within a few minutes and arrested the constables. Now, the police is interrogating the constables, an official said.
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2 held for Gzb honour killing
Ghaziabad, July 27 The police arrested Sonu and Rajendra-- both residents of Balwapur locality in the Garh Mukteshwar area -- for murdering their friend Monu, 20, since he had an affair with the former's sister. According to the police, Monu was pursuing a computer course at a training academy in Meerut. He received a call on his mobile on July 7 while he was inside the institute and was asked by the caller to come outside the building. After this, he went missing. The police handed over the details to the Meerut police, who obtained the call detail report of Monu's mobile phone on the basis of which the two were arrested. "On interrogation, the two confessed to having murdered Monu. They told us that Monu was having an affair with Sonu's sister," a police officer said. The couple studied together in school and developed a relationship. Sonu had objected to the affair and had even clashed with Monu over the same, around a year back but that did not deter the couple. "Finally, Sonu hatched a plan with Rajendra to kill Monu. They sought the help of a third friend from J.P. Nagar. The accused took Monu to Jharine village in J.P. Nagar, where they chopped him to death and threw the pieces in Ganga river," the officer added.
-- IANS |
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Promising jobs abroad,
6 dupe people of crores
New Delhi, July 27 The accused -- Umed Singh Saini (56), the gang leader; Jayesh Desai (44), Avinash Bhatia (34), Sujit Kumar (42), Aman Jeet Singh (36) and Ved Prakash Gaur (32)-- were apprehended on Monday around 8 pm near District Centre in Janakpuri. Tampered passports bearing fake visas of Canada, refusal stamp of Schengan country, counterfeit blank bio data page, fake security cover engraving Government of India, three fake rubber stamps of different passport offices have been seized from them. Ved Prakash Gaur works as a loader at Indira Gandhi International Airport. The gang has allegedly duped hundreds of over crores by promising them jobs abroad. They also promised easy passage to countries. Most of the victims are from Gujarat, Punjab, Haryana, Delhi and UP, a senior police official said. The most favoured destinations are the USA through Mexico and Guatemala and European countries via Slovakia. The gang allegedly arranged fake visas from the Slovak embassy in Bangkok and tampered with Indian passports. They chargeed between Rs 7 and 15 lakh per person, additional commissioner of police (crime) Neeraj Thakur said. The gang was wanted in criminal cases registered in Delhi. In Delhi alone, the gang had taken money from at least 10 persons for arranging their travel to Europe via Slovakia. Out of the 10 persons, only four managed to reach their destinations. The rest were caught and deported midway. Desai, Bhatia and Sujit Kumar allegedly used to lure prospective passengers from Gujarat, Punjab and Haryana. While Bhatia allegedly used to arrange the visa from Bangkok through his source there, Gaur facilitated easy passage to the airport and charged between Rs 25,000 and Rs 50,000 per passenger. |
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Illegal PGs get notices
Greater Noida, July 27 The women representatives were speaking at a function held at sector Beta community centre today. Samiti president Rupa Gupta said, "Several unauthorised paying guest accommodation are running in residential sectors. Anti-social elements in the guise of students gain entry into these residential areas. They have been creating nuisance." The authority too has initiated steps to check eve-teasing and other crimes against women. "The authority has served show cause notices to allottees from whose houses unauthorised paying guest accommodation were being run. Their allotments will be cancelled if they continue to operate without proper license and RWA permission," said P.C. Gupta, deputy chief executive officer, Greater Noida Authority. "Besides, biker gangs strike every now and then and snatching chains and purses of women. Even shopping at block-level markets is not safe," said Aarti Sharma, an activist. House theft is another cause of concern for residents. "On Saturday, 11 persons belonging to respectable families were caught drinking from the Alpha Commercial area. One Mercedes car, two Honda City cars and one WagonR car were seized. They were passing lewd remarks on girls," said Shailendra Lal, deputy superintendent of police.
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Lecture on dharma today
New Delhi, July 27 Gurcharan Das, an author, will speak on “'Dharma in the Public Place: Morality Tales in a Rising India.” |
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New Delhi, July 27
New Delhi, July 27
