New Delhi, August 2
The problems seem to be increasing for the Commonwealth Games (CWG) organizers with the each passing day.

Around 10 CWG construction sites have been found to be dengue-prone by the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD). The civic body has also issued challans to the related bodies on the issue.

The sites that have been issued challans include Indira Gandhi Stadium, RK Khanna sports complex, Delhi Development Authority (DDA) sports complex, CWG Village, Yamuna sports complex and Hansraj College. These places have been detected for rampant breeding of mosquitoes.

The rising cases of dengue have become a major concern for the civic agencies as only 61 days are left for the Games while thousands of athletes and foreigners are scheduled to land in the national Capital. Till date, the MCD has recorded 61 cases of dengue. There were only two cases of dengue in the city at this time of the season last year.

According to the municipal officials, they have raised the alarm on the matter. The officials said that they had also written a letter to the heath minister on the water-borne diseases.

"We wrote a letter to Kiran Walia on July 17, requesting her to call a meeting of all officials concerned of different agencies so that a common plan could be chalked out," said VK Monga, chairman, Health Committee, MCD.

The officials said there has been waterlogging in the pits near various stadiums, including the Games

Village, and there is lack of any outlet for drains. The recent rains have worsened the situation with the surroundings of the stadiums submerged in water.

"Thousands of tourists are expected during the Games and it becomes the responsibility of the Delhi government and the Organising Committee to ensure a safe environment for the tourists," the officials added.

The MCD has hired 280 anti-malaria inspectors as rains are likely in October as well.

New Delhi, August 2
Foreigners and other visitors will not see Blueline buses during the Commonwealth Games as the Delhi government has decided to divert them from the routes which touch the Games venues.

This is being done to present a favourable picture of the public transport in the national Capital.

Delhi transport minister Arvinder Singh Lovely said that as many as 1,300 Blueline buses would be diverted from the South Delhi and New Delhi areas from September 15 to October 30. Most of the Games venues are located in both the districts.

This was announced today at a meeting held with the Blueline bus operators.

However, the minister said the decision was not taken in view of the CWG. The government has a policy to remove the Bluelines from Delhi in a phased manner. In the first phase, these buses were removed from Noida.

The minister said that now the transport department had sufficient number of buses. At present, there are 2,800 Blueline buses in Delhi though the court has issued a stay order on their removal. Once the stay order is vacated, all these buses will be removed in a phased manner.

Earlier, Delhi had 6,000 buses, including Blue line. Now DTC alone has 6,000 buses, including 2,000 of old model. By the end of this month, it will have another 700 buses.

The minister said that if RTV and stage carriage buses were included, Delhi would have 10,000 buses enough to cater to the needs of daily commuters. This is the first time that the DTC has such a large number of buses.

Blueline bus operators' union president Shyam Lal Gola said bus operators offered to change the colour of their buses and impart special training to drivers and conductors for CWG. But the transport minister asked them to drive these buses in rural areas.

Ghaziabad, August 2
A Dalit man was allegedly lynched by seven higher caste youths over a minor altercation in Ghaziabad, the police said today.

The incident occurred on Sunday night in the Chitaura locality of this city.

According to the police, the man, Surendra, 45, went to Hapur to buy a cow and was returning home in Noorpur with the purchase along with his wife and daughter when he was accosted by seven youths near the Chitaura locality on the Upper Ganga canal.

The seven youths asked him why he had a cow with him. Surendra ignored their persistent questions and kept walking.

Angered by his behaviour, the youths started beating him mercilessly. His wife Dharmawati and daughter tried to intervene, but were unable to save him.

When the youths saw that Surendra had died, they hung his body from a tree and fled. Before escaping, they warned his wife and daughter not to report the incident and threatened them with dire consequences.

The woman rushed to the police station and narrated the incident and took the police with her to the spot of crime. The police found Surendra hanging from a tree.

Dharmawati filed a complaint with the police and named the seven youths. They were identified as: Gaurav, Bhure, Nitin, Debu, Amit, Girish and Pinki. The police arrested five of them and is conducting raids to arrest the others, said superintendent of police, Rural, M.M. Beg.

"The accused belonged to the Chitaura locality and were from the dominant Jat community of the area while the victim was a Dalit of the nearby Noorpur locality," the official added. — IANS

New Delhi, August 2
A 26-year-old woman and her three-year-old daughter reportedly drowned to death after their car fell into Paschimi Yamuna canal in the Bawana area of outer district last night.

According to the police, the incident was reported around 9:15 pm. The victim has been identified as Manju and her daughter Isha. Manju's husband Amit Singh was driving the car. While Amit managed to jump out of the car, Manju and Isha fell into the canal. Their bodies were fished out from several kilometres away from the accident spot this afternoon.

According to the police, Amit Singh of Daryapur village in Bawana is an MCD official. He was returning home after a long drive with his wife Manju and daughter Isha when he met with the accident.

"Amit was returning in his Esteem car with his family. When he reached Yamuna canal near Hanuman Mandir at Daryapur village, he lost balance due to the sudden appearance of another vehicle and his car fell into the canal," said a police official, adding that a search for Manju and Isha was launched with the help of fire brigade officials but their bodies were found only in the afternoon.

New Delhi, August 2
The Delhi Cabinet has decided to increase the monthly pension of freedom fighters from July. It has also approved the creation of 99 posts in different scales for Saket District Court and 29 posts for family courts.

Briefing the media after the Cabinet meeting, Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit said the government would release hiked pension to 650 freedom fighters in Delhi from July. The pension has been increased from ` 3,500 to ` 4,500 per month.

Last time, the pension was increased in October, 2004.

Dikshit said the city government would bear ` 78 lakh per annum due to hike in the monthly pension to Delhi-based freedom fighters. The pension was first introduced by the government in April, 1998.

She said to ensure speedy justice the city government had been strengthening various district courts. The District Court Complex at Saket is a full-fledged office consisting of various branches and has acquired a set-up for main ministerial functionary to assist the district judge. Hence, it has been decided to create 99 posts in different scales to streamline the functioning of the district court.

Keeping in view the large number of pending cases, the government has decided to set up family courts.

The family court at Dwarka and four others have started functioning at Rohini. Apart from these, five other courts will start at Janakpuri, Dhirpur, Saket, Viswas Nagar and Rouse Avenue by end of this year. The Cabinet has decided to sanction 29 posts for family courts in different scales, the Chief Minister said.

New Delhi, August 2
The National AIDS Control Organisation today launched the third phase of Condom Social Marketing Programme (CSMP), with focus on low-prevalence states of Punjab and Haryana.

NACO is launching the new phase to reinvigourate the programme after the National AIDS Control Programme-III failed to score much by way of behavioural changes among high-risk groups through the use of condoms.

"The campaign has to be renewed in the high-prevalence states, recording a small decline in cases of HIV/AIDS. This time, the focus would be on bettering the reach in rural areas," announced K Chandramouli, launching the programme here at India Habitat Centre.

Among sections vulnerable to sexually trasmitted infections, truckers' population constitutes a major chunk in the low-prevalance states and NACO is in talks with truckers along with other high-risk groups, including female sex workers, homosexuals and drug-injecting users across the identified districts with a view to increasing the demand of condoms.

As per NACO's behavioural surveillance survey, the regular use of condoms stands at a low 41.8 per cent even though condom awareness is believed to be as high as 81.8 per cent in the general populace. Further, going through some of the specific high-risk groups like clients of sex workers, the use of condoms registered a worrying 13.4 per cent despite awareness about safeguarding oneself from HIV infection.

For ensuring consistent condom usage, the CSMP III would concentrate on bettering condom availability and access, especially in rural areas, which would have 4.45 outlets, said NACO joint secretary Aradhana Johri.

Besides, out of the eight lakh outlets selling condoms at subsidised costs, five lakh would be non-traditional outlets like grocery shops, beetle shops, auto workshops, etc, she added.

Over a period of time during 2002 and 2007, there has been a decline in the number of people living with HIV/AIDS from 27.3 to 23.1 respectively while the number of adults diagnosed with it has dipped from 0.45 per cent to 0.34 per cent during the same period.

Given the fact that acceptance is still a problem in many of the areas, multi-media messages and campaign would be a significant bet to augment the figures of adoption of safe practices.

The CSMP II managed to achieve the target sales of 32 crore condoms within the stipulated year (2009-2010) and the well-performing states include Karnataka, Tamil Naidu, Maharashtra, and Andra Pradesh to a lesser extent.

New Delhi, August 2
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) activists staged a dharna at Jantar Mantar today in protest against the bungling of crores of rupees in the preparation of Commonwealth Games with the alleged connivance of the union and the Delhi governments.

Delhi unit chief of the BJP, Vijender Gupta said that after the Games are over, the tainted people would have to go to jail. The BJP would compel them to account for every paisa of the public money.

The BJP wants the Commonwealth Games to be organized in a manner so that the prestige of the country increases and the Indian culture makes a lasting impression. The BJP is going to expose the financial bungle in the Games. The Congress not only causes price spiral but also earns commission in every work related to the Games, Gupta alleged.

He said the CVC, CAG, CBI and many ministers in the government are admitting to grave irregularities in the construction work of the Games projects. While Jaipal Reddy was inaugurating the stadium, water was seen leaking from the roof of the stadium. Nobody has seen like this in the entire world, regretted the BJP Delhi unit chief.

New Delhi, August 2
Delhi Technological University opened today to colourful crowds of students who were making their way to classes or standing around in groups. Most freshers were dressed in their best on the first day. The academic session began with an orientation for the students of B. Tech. and M. Tech. courses.

Vice-chancellor P.B. Sharma said, "Despite all fears on the upgradation of DCE to DTU, the varsity has done well over the last one year and has been ranked among the top engineering institutes by Outlook, Zee News DNA, India Today and Competition Success Review."

He also informed that the graduating batch of DTU had received 683 job offers from some 138 companies.

During the orientation, Prof G.L. Verma, the dean, said, "The university is implementing its new syllabus from this academic session which has been designed at par with international curriculum after consulting the experts from IITs, reputed universities and the industry."

The varsity is also offering a number of courses in emerging areas, including engineering physics and nano-science, bioinformatics.

Excited freshers could be seen assembling for the orientation. Gaurav Yadav, a fresher in B.Tech. (Electronics), said, "I am quite excited to be here today having made it to DTU. I am a little worried about ragging though we have been informed that the varsity has a zero-tolerance policy on this issue. Still, we have to watch out for ourselves."

Another student Nandini Balarajan said, "I have just joined the B. Tech. programme and am glad to have made it. I have come a long way to study here as my house is in Madras. The university is taking all care to ensure that there is no ragging. Though there are special squads to keep discipline, there may be some light ragging."

Sunil Aggarwal, a student from Delhi itself, said, "I've just joined B.Tech. (Computer Science) and look forward to studying here. We are going to study the new syllabus prepared by a panel of experts. It should be interesting. My elder brother also studied here. I am also relieved that the varsity has a strong anti-ragging policy."

After the orientation programme, students were taken around the campus to visit the library, computer centre, science block and various other departments.

New Delhi, August 2
The Delhi High Court today awarded compensation of Rs 5 lakh to the family of a retired bureaucrat who died last year after falling into a pit left uncovered by a negligent civic contractor outside his south Delhi home.

A division bench of Chief Justice Dipak Misra and Justice Manmohan directed the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) to pay the compensation, holding it accountable being a principal employer.

Trilok Nath Makan, 78, who retired as additional private secretary to former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, stayed in Shivalik near Malviya Nagar.

The court said that though the incident could have occurred because of recklessness of the contractor, the MCD being the principal employer was primarily accountable for the loss of life and had to first shell out the damages which could later be recovered from the contractor.

"Every citizen in this country has an unimpeachable right to life. Remember, the age of a person is not the only factor in deciding the compensation and we will consider other factors too," Justice Misra said while hearing the case.

A suit was filed on the behalf of NGO Criminal Justice Society seeking Rs 1 crore as damages for Jai Rani, wife of Makan, and Rs 10 crore as punitive damages.

On August 28 last year, Makan went for an evening walk at 7 pm, but did not return. Makan's body was found in a ditch by a grocer.

The police later registered a negligence case against Deepak Saxena, director of the company which had undertaken the project on behalf of the MCD. — IANS

New Delhi, August 2
A city court today acquitted a man, his parents and elder brother of the charges of beheading and stabbing to death his wife after she 'failed' to bring sufficient dowry.

Saying that the prosecution has failed to prove the charges against the accused, additional sessions judge S.K. Sarvaria acquitted Ashok, the victim's husband; his elder brother Vinod and parents Bigha Ram and Vidya.

"The accused have been acquitted as the prosecution has failed to prove their guilt," said the judge.

The accused were charged of murder, dowry harassment, destruction of evidence and group liability under the Indian Penal Code.

According to the prosecution, On January 20, 2005, Ashok along with the other accused allegedly beheaded the victim Rekha was stabbed her several times at her parents' home in Sangam Vihar here.

Before pronouncing the statement, the court said that though the offence was committed, the prosecution had failed to prove that it was Ashok and his relatives who had committed the crime, hence they were being acquitted.

Ashok, the complainant in the case, was later made an accused, after investigations by the Delhi police, following a public outrage over the issue.

Initially, Rajender, a relative of Ashok, was made an accused and the police also recorded his statement in which he allegedly confessed his involvement in the offence. Later, Rekha’s parents told the police it was the complainant (Ashok) who along with others killed their daughter as she did not bring sufficient dowry. Consequently, Ashok and others were arrested.

M.S. Khan, the counsel for accused persons, opposed the submissions of the prosecution saying, "The postmortem report did not support the time of offence as alleged in the chargesheet. The accused Rajender, who later became a prosecution witness, also did not support the case."

The statement of Rajender was recorded by the police soon after the offence and then he was produced before a court. However, he later testified that he was unconscious for over two months after being hit by Ashok, added khan.

New Delhi, August 2
The Delhi police has arrested a 27-year-old man from Gujarat for allegedly throwing acid on his former wife and four others which led to the death of her two-and-a-half-year-old son in the Bharatpur area of north-west Delhi.

According to the police, the incident was reported on June 24. The accused Md Ahmed Hussain, a resident of Sitamarhi district in Bihar, was apprehended from the Ishanpur locality in Ahmedabad.

According to DCP (north-west) N.S. Bundela, Hussain is married to Afsana, the younger sister of his former wife Salma Khatoon. He had divorced Salma seven years ago. Afsana was untraceable for some days and Hussain suspected that Salma had hid her.

"On June 24, Hussain went to Salma's house in Wazirpur. Enquiring about his wife Afsana, he entered into a heated argument with Salma. Thinking that Salma knew Afsana's whereabouts and was not telling her, Hussain threw acid on five persons, including Salma and her two children. Later, Salma's two-and-a-half-year-old son, Gulab, died during treatment," said Bundela.

Bundela added that Hussain was running a small business of zari and embroidery at Ahmedabad. Earlier, he was doing business in Delhi.