|
|
|
|
COMMONWEALTH GAMES
Weightlifting auditorium opens
|
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
CWG Security
Metro gears up for CWG traffic
Cashless cure facility restored in arbitrary manner: IMA
Various out-of-the-box study options on offer
DTU set to welcome new batch today
Drunk youths hit truck with Volkswagen
CA who had been cheating people for 15 yrs held
Chatterati
Kanwarias flood NH-58 to Haridwar
Pak singer faces police complaint
Labourer kills guard over loaned money
|
|
COMMONWEALTH GAMES
Noida, August 1 Plant load factor of other 490 MW unit which was made operational in January has crossed 100 per cent and it
was 103 per cent in June," Dadri plant head said. "Union power minister Sushil Kumar Shinde had inaugurated this plant through remote control on Friday from Delhi. With this, the total capacity of the Dadri plant has risen to 2649 MW," said T.S. Rajput, deputy general manager. "The foundation stone of these two power plants of total capacity of 980 MW was laid on June 15, 2007 by Shinde in the presence Delhi Chief Minsiter Sheila Dixit and UP power minister Ramvir Upadhayay. These projects were planned in view of the Commonwealth Games. The project and was funded by the Delhi and Central governments,"said Rajput. "NTPC's Dadri project has the distinction of being the country's only three-in-one project. Beside a coal based project consisting of 840 MW under Stage-I and 980 MW (490MW X 2) under Stage-II and a gas-based station having 829 MW gas-based modules, it has 1,500 MW HVDC converter station (owned and operated by PGCIL since October, 1993)," said Rajput. "The Dadri plant has the largest switchyard in the country with a power handling capacity of 4,500 MW,"said Rajput. As per the agreement 90 per cent power from these plants were projected for Delhi and 10 per cent for Uttar Pradesh as Dadri where the plant is set up lies under Uttar Pradesh's district Gautam Budha Nagar (Noida). The total project cost of these two plants is around Rs 5,300 crore. |
|
Weightlifting auditorium opens
New Delhi, August 1 Other dignitaries present at the occasion were sports minister M.S. Gill and Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit. The auditorium, located inside the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium, will serve as a venue for weightlifting events of the Commonwealth Games. Presenting a grim picture of government's preparation for the mega sporting event, lose tiles, grills, iron rods and tons of debris were seen scattered on the sides of the stadium. The fresh spell of rains had spoiled the view of the auditorium, with water clogging its entry and exit gates. The auditorium has been built inside the recently- inaugurated Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium. The stadium was constructed during the 1982 Asian Games. The work has been executed by the Central Public Works Department (CPWD) and the arena will also be used as a convention centre-cum-opera house later. The auditorium has a seating capacity of over 2,100 spectators and has been built at a cost of Rs 80 crore. According to officials, it is one of the largest auditoriums in India. The arena has a two-level basement parking. On being asked about the not-so-good condition of the auditorium, the minister gave bizarre explanations, saying that the stadium had been designed like this. "The roof of the stadium has a very complex design. It's technology and design is different from other stadiums," said the minister. The sports minister said that all stadiums were of international standard. "The infrastructure being developed for the Games is world class and this auditorium is one of them. The roof of this arena has a very complex design, something not seen before in India. There is no defect in the roof as reported by many," Gill said. The auditorium is a green building as it has features like thermal insulation, gypsum board partition and wall panellings, double-glazed tinted glasses for external glazing, rain water harvesting, energy-efficient chillers, etc. The stadiums for the CWG are being developed mainly by two agencies-- CPWD and Sports Authority of India. Though August 1 was the deadline for handing over all the stadiums to the Organising Committee (OC), some venues are still far from completion. |
|
CWG Security
New Delhi, August 1 According to the Delhi police, tourists coming to the city during the Games are likely to use rail transport for visits to nearby places like Agra, Jaipur or Dehradoon and so, it makes it imperative to secure the railway stations, not only to avert any terror incidents, but also petty crimes like pick-pocketing and cheating. According to a Government Railway Police Force (GRPF) official, at New Delhi Railway Station, more than 360 CCTV cameras along with 20 baggage X-ray machines and other security gadgets are being fitted. "There are 10 railway stations in the Capital, but New Delhi Railway Station, Old Delhi Railway Station and Hazrat Nizamuddin Railway Station are high on our priority. We will see that all the tourists coming to the country during the Games feel secure," said a railway police official. According to information, there are about 50 CCTV cameras currently operating at New Delhi and Old Delhi railway stations and work is on to install another 100 CCTV cameras at these two stations. "We would have about 360 CCTV cameras at the three stations, including the Hazrat Nizamuddin station, before the Games. While there would be 150 each at New Delhi and Old Delhi stations, there would be about 60 cameras at the Hazrat Nizamuddin Railway Station. Besides, we would have about 20 baggage X-ray machines at these three stations, with six each at Old Delhi and New Delhi railway stations and four at the Hazrat Nizamuddin station," said the police official, adding that a baggage X-ray machine has already been installed on the Paharganj side of New Delhi Railway Station. According to him, the money for the same is being provided by the Northern Railway and the entire paraphernalia would cost about
Rs 25 crore. The money would also be used for putting up grills and boundary walls around these stations and buying hand-held metal detectors and door frames. Apart from the equipment, the Delhi police would also increase the number of its personnel at these railway stations. "Currently around 70 police personnel man New Delhi Railway Station, but we would have more men here during the Games. Either Delhi police personnel or men from other paramilitary forces, whoever could be spared at that time, will be posted there," said the official. |
|
Metro gears up for CWG traffic
New Delhi, August 1 The Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) has shortlisted 23 stations that are likely to have a higher footfall during the Games. Focus is more on Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium Metro station, as the heaviest traffic is expected at the stadium on the opening and the closing days. The other shortlisted stations are-- Rajiv Chowk, Central Secretariat, Udyog Bhawan, Qutub Minar, Kashmere Gate, Rithala, Patel Chowk, Ram Krishna Ashram, Chandni Chowk, Netaji Subhash Place, Model Town, Pitampura, Akshardham, Jangpura, Pragati Maidan, Indraprastha, Tuglakabad, AIIMS, INA, Hauz Khas, Anand Vihar and Vishwavidyalaya. One of the measures taken by the Metro to help thousands of foreign spectators is training customer relation associates (CRA) at Metro stations in English. There are some other provisions as well-- "A special CWG booklet: It will be made available to commuters on all Metro stations, which will provide them with all necessary information during the Games. The booklet will not only carry information about the various corridors and stations, but will also have details about various tourist attractions of the city along with their Metro connectivity, including the city's hotels, markets, railway stations and emergency numbers. "First aid kiosks: First aid kiosks at the 23 prominent stations will be put up to provide prompt medical services to Metro commuters. Teams of four qualified 'first aiders' will be on duty on each station. Also, ambulances will be available at strategic locations so that they can reach the commuters quickly. "Handicraft kiosks: In association with the ministry of textiles, DMRC is setting up 40 handicraft kiosks which will highlight India's handicraft and culture to foreign visitors. The prototype of one such stall has already been set up at Rajiv Chowk Metro station. "Deployment of Volunteers: The DMRC has tied up with Bharat Scouts and Guides who are going to provide volunteers to the Delhi Metro for the Games. These volunteers will be deputed at Metro stations to cater to the increased traffic. Volunteers of Metro Citizens' Forum will also provide their services to commuters during the Games. "Special arrangements at Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium Metro station: Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium Metro station will be able to cater to 4,000 passengers per minute in peak time and the station has been designed to accommodate a total traffic of 80,000 persons per hour with a platform area of 1,800 sq metre. The station will have five entries and exits for easier access along with wider staircases to accommodate maximum number of commuters. There will also be four escalators, connecting the concourse with the platform. In view of heavy traffic at the stadium, there will be 20 automatic fare collection (AFC) gates in stead of eight AFC gates, normally at most stations. |
|
Cashless cure facility restored in arbitrary manner: IMA
New Delhi, August 1 The Indian Medical Association (IMA) has criticised what it called the "pick- and-choose" policy and the arbitrary way of deciding on the contentitious cashless cover under the public sector mediclaim policy to bracket emergencies-involving ICU treatment, trauma care and certain occasions of cardiac cure, demanding the abolition of the third-party administrators (TPAs)'system. There are 630 private hospitals and nursing homes approved by the Delhi government and of them, only around 80 have been empanelled and graded to extend the cashless service for 46 procedures without any known set of criteria, as per the IMA. "Under the current system, the TPAs (there are eight in Delhi), run by people without any medical background, have given approval to 81 hospitals and nursing homes, based on norms and criteria best known to them. The arbitrary method has put hospitals with 50 beds and above in the same category snd many a time the cost of certain surgical procedures have varied without any justification to it," the IMA president, Dr Narendra Saini, told The Tribune. About two weeks back, the medical body had communicated its concerns to Delhi finance minister A K Walia and he is learnt to have said that all approved hospitals would be graded as per their infrastructural strength. But, until now, nothing significant has evolved and no response has come to ensure that the patient's money is not laundered, given the fact that the TPAs secure about 7-to-10 per cent of the billed amount, said Dr Narendra. "The grading system has to be transparent and the information relating to the standards of selection, price of traetment etc should be made available on the public domain. All approved hospitals should be given the cashless facility to treat patients. We are ready for a dialogue with the parties concerned, including the ministry, insurance companies, hospitals etc, but as no response has come yet, we would file an RTI," said Dr Narendra. According to many doctors, "emergency treatment" appears to be subjective, just as in the case of a person having an abdominal pain, he/she may or may not be sufferng from appendicitis, but based on the clinical observation, it depends upon the individual doctor to decide for an operation. On July 1, the public sector general insurance companies-New India Assurance, National Insurance, United Insurance and Oriental Insurance-capturing nearly 80 per cent of the insurance market, had declared the removal of about 150 hospitals from the list of Preferred Provider Network (PPN) owing to several occasions of alleged overbilling of the hospitilisation charges. In the country, from a cumulative nine crore insurance card holders, about six crore have availed themselves benefits of the mediclaim health facility controlled by the public sector. |
|
Various out-of-the-box study options on offer
New Delhi, August 1 For instance, for students who want to work in the BPO sector, Delhi University
(DU) on Monday launched a course on global business foundation skills.
DU and the National Association of Software and Services Companies (NASSCOM), recently signed a memorandum of understanding
(MoU) for the course. The course that has been designed by NASSCOM with contributions from BPO companies like
Genpact, Accenture, Convergys, Deloitte, Dell and IBM and also DU will help students hone their skills to work in the BPO industry. The course will be deployed as an 'add-on' course for undergraduate students across the university. It will be available to all final year students across streams on a first-come-first-serve basis. The course, covering five modules-- industry awareness, business communication skills, customer management skills, PC and data skills and campus to corporate--, will help students acquire basic foundation skills for the BPO industry. Students who apply for the course will first have to go through a NASSCOM assessment of competence diagnostic
(NAC) test that will help them assess their current skill levels. Once a student completes the training module, he/she will be required to take the final test which will judge their skills and competencies. Another course with a difference is being offered by Indira Gandhi National Open University
(IGNOU). The course is post-graduate diploma in rehabilitation psychology.
Hemlata, director, National Center for Disability Studies, says, "This post-graduate diploma in disability psychology will help learners to understand the psychology of the disabled persons better and help them provide effective re-habilitation to them. The right to education laws will soon see an increased number of disabled students going to school, which will require more teachers trained in disability psychology. This creates numerous career opportunities for students of this course." On completion of the course, students will get registration with the Rehabilitation Council of India, after which they would be entitled to work in the special education field. The programme currently has 20 seats. The admission will take place till July 31. Yet another interesting course on offer is a post-graduate diploma in international business management. The course is being offered by Indian Institute of Foreign Trade
(IIFT). The programme has been designed for working managers with less than five years of experience. The program will be offered in three semesters spread over 18 months. For admission, aspirants will have to take an entrance exam followed by an interview. The program will cost
Rs 3,00,000 for the general category and ` 1,50,000 for SC and ST categories. |
|
|
DTU set to welcome new batch today
New Delhi, August 1 In this session, the university is implementing a new and innovative curriculum for all undergraduate and postgraduate courses. To encourage inter-disciplinary education and strengthen scientific base of modern engineering, DTU is offering courses in emerging areas, including engineering physics, nano-science and technology, bioinformatics, software engineering, microwave and optical communication, and VLSI design and embedded system. The curriculum of these courses has been developed with view to integrate advancements in science and engineering, besides incorporating industry-relevant technologies. DTU has also completed its faculty recruitment cycle recently. Of the 59 newly-recruited lecturers, 34 have already joined the university and the remaining 25 are expected to join shortly. An orientation programme for the newly-recruited faculty members was also held recently. The university is setting up various clubs like music engineering, yoga engineering and a centre for ethics and professional mortality among other initiatives. On the innovation fronts, the student innovation teams have successfully designed and developed unmanned aircraft system, UAS, all terrain vehicle (ATV), formula student car and have participated in international competitions during 2009-10. Another student team is working on an innovative design of solar car, Solaris-2010 and yet another on a low-cost fuel cell for automotive applications. DTU has constituted a university-level anti-ragging committee and anti-ragging squads comprising senior faculty members to prevent any untoward incident and ensure DTU as a 'zero-tolerance zone for ragging'. |
|
Drunk youths hit truck with Volkswagen
New Delhi, August 1 According to a senior police official, no one was injured in the incident which took place near Andrews Ganj around 2:30 am. The youths were coming from the side of AIIMS and were going towards Defence Colony. According to eyewitnesses and media personnel, the youths were under the influence of alcohol. However, the police official refused to confirm it. The police has arrested one of the youths, Havneet Singh (24), who was driving the imported car at the time of the accident. Singh, a resident of west Delhi's Punjabi Bagh, was arrested in the afternoon. "The car was speeding and it hit a truck from behind. The truck, parked on the roadside, was engaged in clearing debris from the road. After the accident, the youths started arguing with the truck driver," the official said. According to media personnel who reached the spot after hearing about the incident, the girls picked up an argument with them as well and threatened them of dire consequences if they did not switch off their cameras. "We were only doing our job, but the girls, who were high on alcohol, did not like our cameramen recording the incident. They wanted us to switch off the cameras, but when we refused, they threatened us with dire consequences and used abusive language. Even the police official present at the spot did not stop them," alleged a reporter from a Hindi news channel who was present at the spot. According to him, the girls and the boys later called another friend of theirs and left the place leaving behind the car. |
|
CA who had been cheating people for 15 yrs held
New Delhi, August 1 According to the police, Brij Bhushan Aggrawal, a resident of Pitampura, was apprehended a few days ago following investigations into a complaint from a man who claimed that Aggarwal Rs 12.5 lakh from him on the pretext of providing him a contract to run a canteen at the office of Reliance Energy Ltd. in Agra. According to Neeraj Thakur, additional commissioner (crime), Aggarwal was arrested from near his house in Pitampura on July 28. "He used to dupe people by promising them loans from foreign banks and also business opportunities," Thakur said, adding that Aggarwal has been declared a 'proclaimed offender' in a similar case registered against him by the economic offences wing of the crime branch. In this case, he had taken Rs 2.5 lakh from a man promising him a loan of Rs 25 crore from a foreign bank. In 1996, he allegedly cheated a businessman of Rs 15 lakh by posing as an NRI and promising to help him in his rice export business. |
|
Chatterati
Affectionate Samy
Can you guess who is the most wanted and popular among Opposition and non-UPA leaders? It's V.Narayanaswamy. He is affectionately called 'Samy'. Any disruption in the Lok Sabha, the three Yadavs - Lalu, Mulayam and Sharad - summon 'Samy' to their seats and convey their sentiments to the treasury benches. Samy loves the attention, but he does decline. Even leader of the Opposition Sushma Swaraj has been heard calling him during disruptions to drive home a point or two. Narayanaswamy is an easy person, so gets along with everyone. He talks less, but is a good listener. Even in the A.I.C.C. headquarters, he is popular because of his easy access and humour. Also known for his hospitality, he remarked to someone who wanted 'Badam Milk', "I can serve you tea, but this milk is too expensive for me." Love commandos for couples
Delhi is full of surprises. We now have a special commando force in the city. This force has been set up to lend a sympathetic ear to lovers. The members of the force are over 2,000 professionals ranging from lawyers, teachers, human rights activists and media persons. This is a step taken by civilians to try and curb the rising number of dictators from Khap Panchayats. We have had a number of honour killings in the Capital posing a threat to young lovers. There is a 24-hour helpline to help the harassed couples who are threatened by their family or community. The love commando will contact a lawyer providing legal help and also organize counselling sessions for the couple to face up to the upcoming challenges. Well, after getting a lawyer and a counsellor, they will also provide a pandit who will perform marriage. But there should at least be one relative. The police will help them as long as it is done within the confines of the law. |
||
|
Met predicts more rains
New Delhi, August 1 "The rains may be heavy in some parts of the city," said an Indian Metrological Department (IMD) official. The maximum and the minimum temperature tomorrow are likely to oscillate between 32 degree Celsius and 25 degree Celsius," the official said. "Delhi had recorded 62.7 mm of rain in the past 24 hours till 8.30 am today. From 8.30 am to 5.30 pm, 8.1 mm rain was recorded," said the official. While the maximum temperature today settled at 32.8 degree Celsius, one degree below the average, minimum was recorded at 24 degree Celsius, three degrees below average for this time of the year. The humidity level ranged between 97 and 61 per cent. Meanwhile, the city residents expressed some relief from the horrible traffic situation created by the rains on Saturday. "The situation on the roads was better today. Not like yesterday, when all the roads were choked," said Mattu Kishan, a JNU
student. |
|
Kanwarias flood NH-58 to Haridwar
Ghaziabad, August 1 The traffic of the highway has been diverted to Hapur and Garh Mukhteswar on National Highway-24. According to the new traffic plan, commuters coming from Delhi will now have to go to Hapur via UP Gate and from Hapur, they can either go to Meerut directly or via Garh Mukhteswar. From Meerut, the commuters will have to go to Haridwar and Dehradun via Bijnor. From Meerut onwards, the highway has been kept for kanwarias. The commuters going to Haridwar and Dehradun will have to go via Hapur or Garh Mukhteswar, said Jai Prakash, superintendent of police, traffic. The Uttar Pradesh Roadways State Roadways Corporation (UPSRTC) has also fixed new rates due to the longer routes. "Due to the lengthy route, the UPSRTC is forced to increase the fares from `31 to ` 71 since the distance to Meerut via Garh Mukteswar works out to 112 km. The fare up to Haridwar would be ` 214, since the distance would be 323 km on the new route," said Sandeep Agrawal, assistant regional manager, UPSRTC.
— IANS |
|
Pak singer faces police complaint
Gurgaon, August 1 "The show was scheduled in sector 29 and the tickets were sold. The organisers got to know on Friday that the singer could not come to perform as he did not get the visa. And they filed a complaint," said a senior Gurgaon police official. "We are looking into the complaint and will see what action can be taken," the official added. The singer's manager has also been named in the complaint, the police said. The organisers, Trzy Events, was forced to call off the concert due to the singer's unavailability. "We have suffered a huge loss. As many as 3,000 tickets were sold," said one of the organisers. The tickets were priced at ` 2,000, 1,500 and 1,000. The organisers have decided to return the money to the audience. Sources said the singer called the organizers on Friday evening and said he won't be able to make it. "He said that his travel permission was till Mumbai only and he could not come to Delhi," a representative of the organisers
said. — IANS |
|
Labourer kills guard over loaned money
New Delhi, August 1 "Mishra killed Jai Singh on the night of July 28 inside a farmhouse Kunj in Vasant Kunj," said DCP (South) H.G.S Dhaliwal, adding that the police zeroed in on Mishra as the victim was last seen with him. According to him, Mishra was nabbed after the police received a tip-off that he was found roaming near a church in Vasant Kunj. "Mishra told the police that he knew Singh as he had worked with him earlier. He used to meet him often and the two used to have liquor and dinner. On July 28, he came to meet Singh and they both had liquor and dinner together. "While they were drinking, Mishra had a quarrel with Singh over `1,500 that Singh had taken from him and was now refusing to return. This angered Mishra and he decided to kill Singh. He returned to the farm in night and killed Singh," Dhaliwal said. |
|
| 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 | |
The most wanted model today in Bengal is 'Didi'. The Railway Minister Mamata Banerjee was furious with the manufacturers of the 'Ajanta Hawai Chappals' for publishing an advertisement using her photograph. She was seen in this picture wearing Hawai chappals. Undoubtedly, Mamata is the most wanted model in Bengal today by leading manufacturers of cotton saris. The cotton jhola that Mamata carries on her shoulder is now fast becoming a fashion statement in Bengal. The small-time traders think that they can make a fortune now by marketing these cotton bags as Didi's first choice. The combination of hawai chappals, cotton saris and the jhola is the Railway Minister's cultivated image for her common people. She never realized that her style would be used by businessmen to promote their products. But with Mamata now having lost her cool with the 'Ajanta Shoe Company', the other jhola and sari guys are thinking twice.