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COMMONWEALTH GAMES
Focus on killing pests in hotels
PS for foreigners
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Denied funds, Noida stops work for CWG event
Prime land in Gurgaon given away for a song
Community leaders to meet CM over quota inclusion issue
Chatterati
Narela-Bawana dumping
site gets Centre’s nod
4 held for extortion bid
Husband, others acquitted
in dowry death case
HC: Docs, not hospitals, guilty in negligence deaths
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COMMONWEALTH GAMES
New Delhi, August 8 The Delhi government has written a letter to the Union ministry of road transport and highways to issue registration number of same series to 2,000 taxis that would be used for dignitaries and others VIPs during the mega-sports event. There will be a separate call centre for these taxis. They will be parked near hotels where dignitaries would stay. A dignitary can hire a taxi from the stadium to his hotel. More than one person can hire a taxi at one time. The government will recruit English-speaking drivers for these taxis which will be equipped with global positioning system, sources said. According to sources, the government has signed an agreement with an Allahabad-based company for battery-operated rickshaws. The design of the rickshaw has been finalised by an engineer, Alam. These rickshaws will lighter than normal rickshaws and will have enough space to accommodate the luggage of commuters. Commuters would be provided with juice, water bottle and newspapers in the rickshaws. The charges of these things will be included in the rickshaw fare. But, as of now, it has not been decided as to how much fare would be charged from commuters. These rickshaws will be deployed at Chandni Chowk, Karol Bagh, railway stations and ISBTs to cover small distances. |
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Focus on killing pests in hotels
New Delhi, August 8 According to a government official, the Delhi government has asked the Pest Control India Ltd to take the responsibility as the newly-constructed rooms have a large number of rats and lizards. "It would be embarrassing if we can't check rodents," the official said. Also, with much of Delhi dug up for construction purpose and rains adding to the rise in dengue cases in the capital, attention is also being paid to fogging in all stadia. The official said the MCD has been given the responsibility of launching aggressive fogging in the stadia during the games regularly to keep a check on mosquito
breeding. — IANS |
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PS for foreigners
New Delhi, August 8 The official added that the police station was likely to start functioning by the end of this month. Police personnel having good command over spoken English would be deployed at the station. They will ensure the safety and security of foreign tourists throughout the year. "Unlike others, personnel selected for this police station will have a good command over English. They will be specifically trained to cater to the needs of tourists," said a senior official. "This police station is not just for the Commonwealth Games. It will cater to the needs of tourists even after the Games are over. It is going to be a permanent one," he added. Explaining the need of such a police station, the official said tourists visiting the Capital encounter many problems. With this, we can address their problems at least in this area. With this station, the Delhi police will now have a total of 171 police stations in the Capital. |
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Denied funds, Noida stops work for CWG event
Noida, August 8 "The Authority has strictly written to the CWG Organizing Committee that work has been stopped at the site as till date not a single penny was received from them," said C.B.Singh, deputy chief executive officer. The total cost of the project was around Rs 28 crore. Initially, the organizing committee had agreed to pay Rs 15 crore which was later reduced to Rs10 crore. The rest of the amount was being funded by the Noida Authority itself. The Noida Authority has completed 80 per cent of the work projected to be done by it. The CWG Organizing Committee too was scheduled to start work in August but has not been able to start work. A site office has been constructed but no staff is present at the site. On October 13, the cycling event of CWG is scheduled to be held on the 20-km stretch of Noida Expressway. Cycling event trials are scheduled from September 23 to October 12. Works which are yet to be done are the installation of some watch towers, CCTV cameras, view cutter, media and VIP lounge, sportsmen's gallery.and resurfacing of 20-km stretch of the Expressway. |
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Prime land in Gurgaon given away for a song
Gurgaon, August 8 The prime chunks of land thus given away for a song include a 25-acre plot in Sector 29 City Centre, a 17-acre plot in Sector 52 and another 16-acre plot in Sector 52 of Gurgaon. While the local HUDA officials and other authorities concerned are tightlipped over the issue, all-out efforts are being made to hand over the said chunks of prime public land to the private player. So much so that a road passing through one such chunk of land is being covered with loose earth to facilitate the beneficiary. Alarmed at the gravity of the matter, a joint front comprising the local Federation of Residents Welfare Associations (FORWA) and Gurgaon Citizens Council (GCC) has written a letter to the top state authorities, including the Chief Minister and Chief Secretary, asking them to intervene in the matter and get the aforesaid deals cancelled in public interest. In an interaction with the media here today, representatives of the joint front of residents' bodies, including FORWA chairman Dharam Sagar and GCC president R.S.Rathee categorically alleged that the land allotted in the name of amusement parks had caused a loss to the tune of Rs 2,950 crore to the state exchequer. The front leaders maintained that the 25-acre plot in Sector 29 had been given on a 33-year lease at a nominal price of Rs 56.25 crore, as against the prevailing market price of Rs 2,016.67 crore for the purpose. "Similarly, the 17-acre plot in Sector 52, which could have been leased out for 33 years at Rs 548.53 crore as per the prevailing market price, has been given away for a meager Rs 38.25 crore," they asserted. The representatives of residents' bodies further pointed out that the 16-acre plot in Sector 52, which could have fetched Rs 516.27 crore (base auction value), had been leased out for Rs 36 crore. "We have learnt with deep dismay that prime public lands in Gurgaon have been allotted to private parties at throwaway prices for setting up amusement parks," sates the letter, copies of which have also been sent to the Chief Administrator of the Haryana Urban Development Authority (HUDA), Principal Secretary to the Chief Minister and the Financial Commissioner of the state's Finance Department. All this has caused a huge loss to the state exchequer to the tune of 95.77%, amounting to a whopping 2950.97 Crore. It is respectfully urged that this whole matter be investigated, and all three deals be cancelled in public interest. |
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Community leaders to meet CM over quota inclusion issue
Faridabad, August 8 Batra, who was here regardingthe issue, said he would also meet Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda shortly to demand the inclusion of Punjabis, Brahmins, Vaishyas
(Banias) and Rajputs in the Other Backward Castes (OBC) bracket so that they were covered under the reservation policy. A joint delegation of leaders from the Punjabi community,
Rajputs, Brahmins and Vaishyas would soon meet the Chief Minister on the issue.
Batra said the demand for including the Punjabis and above-mentioned caste groups under the cover of reservation policy was in the wake of demand from some quarters in Haryana for including some communities other than them under the reservation policy. According to him, already there was a policy to provide more than 53 per cent reservations to various groups, inclulding 22 per cent for the
SCs, 27 per cent for the BCs and 3 per cent for ex-servicemen. In case the demand for granting reservation for other communities was accepted, the opportunity of jobs for the Punjabis,
Rajputs, Brahmins and Vaishyas would further diminish. According to him, the Punjabis accounted for about 33 per cent of the demography of the state and the Brahmins form 11 per cent. The Rajputs constitute about 6 per cent and the Vaishyas account for more than 8 per cent.
Batra asserted that the people of Haryana have great hope from Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh on account of his "secular credentials and justice orientation". |
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Chatterati
This was supposed to be a private affair at the hotel Hyatt with the CWG Organizing Committee members and some friends. The guests for the evening were having a jolly good time and were quite excited about how the mega sporting event is just 60 days away. It's very difficult when everyone is gunning for you and you are still in a jovial mood through the evening. While Suresh Kalmadi and his wife Meera were dancing to Hindi classical songs, it was Farooq Abdullah who danced through the evening keeping everyone on their feet. Jagdish Tytler seemed quite amused by all this and sat chatting with Ramesh Sharma and Umagajpati Raju. Surprisingly, the two main guests of the evening were missing from the party scene. Sitting in a room, they were having a quiet dinner with Olympic chief Randhir Singh in the same hotel. The others present were dancer Shovana Narayan, Member of Parliament K.P.S. Deo along with some designers and the Page 3 lot. Well, it's good to see that the Organizing Committee of Commonwealth Games may be in the soup, but their spirits are still up and about. Big sharks frying the small fish
Delhi is embarrassed about the Commonwealth Games now that the can of worms closed and putrid, has finally been opened. But as is usual, the big sharks are frying the small fish to try and cover up the scam worth thousands of crores. The story has dominated the front pages of papers and hogged TV headlines for over two weeks; a record of sorts. Suresh Kalmadi and company are most definitely on the run now with their own senior Congress colleagues attacking them in public. Both sports minister Gill and Mani Shanker Aiyer have not spared the boss of the CWG. Of course, there are other culprits to boot, but for the moment the main target remains the Organizing Committee which has spent money from the public exchequer in a manner that cannot even be described as merely irresponsible. Surely the price is paid for toilet paper and garbage bags will exceed any international measures of public profligacy. Now it remains for the culprits to try and save their skin by making a plea to save the Games. Their point, India's prestige is at stake. It's certainly, but with the scale of loot this time there is certainly more at stake than national pride. We have become a laughing stock of the world. Love life of Tharoor
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Narela-Bawana dumping
site gets Centre’s nod
New Delhi, August 8 This was a long-pending demand of the MCD, after the existing sites in north-west Delhi-- Bhalswa-Jehangirpuri, Ghazipur in east and Okhla in south district- exhausted their capacity. The dumping ground in Bhalswa-Jehangirpuri has been developed to a green area. The MCD had to close the Ghazipur landfill site as it was full and the butchers who work in an abattoir adjacent to the dumping ground demanded its closure. Therefore, there was no place to dump the city's garbage which generates about 8,000 solid waste per day. The proposed dumping ground at Narela-Bawana will be enough to accommodate the city's waste for the next 20 years. It will be developed in collaboration with a Hyderabad-based company that specialises in environment, an MCD official said. A senior official of the MCD said the site would be scientifically developed, keeping in view the environmental norms to prevent groundwater contamination, and would be insulated from human habitation. The MCD will also plant trees around the site. |
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8 arrested for trespassing
New Delhi, August 8 “We have detained eight persons, including Rashtravadi Shiv Sena chief Jai Bhagvan Goel,” said a police official. This morning, Goel along with some local residents went to the spot and entered into a scuffle with other residents. He along with his supporters allegedly razed the boundary wall of the plot. They entered the plot as they wanted to conduct some ‘jalabhishek’, said a resident of the locality. The residents informed the police. And only after the police intervened, the situation was brought under control. The owner of the plot had recently won a legal battle to construct a boundary wall around the 3,500-sq yard plot. “Earlier, Ramlila was organised there. The residents wanted the plot to be left open to serve the needs of the community. However, the land owner had built a boundary wall after procuring a court order,” a official added. Goel and his associates allegedly set two chairs on fire, besides damaging a vehicle of the caretaker, officials said. A case of rioting and house trespass has been registered. |
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4 held for extortion bid
New Delhi, August 8 The accused have been identified as Rahul Goel (24), owner of a plastic pipe manufacturing factory; his cousin Ashish Aggarwal (26) who runs a call centre in Shahbad Dairy, Vinod Arora (42) and a 21-year-old woman. Goel, Aggarwal and the woman were arrested yesterday near Rithala Metro station, Rohini. They had come there to collect the first installment of the extortion which was Rs 50,000. While Vinod was arrested at Goel's instance. The accused were arrested following a complaint filed by a businessman who owns a plastic granule factory in the Mangolpuri Industrial Area. "The accused girl lured the businessman to a hotel and videographed him with her in a hotel room. Then the girl and her associates demanded Rs 30 lakh for not making the video public," said additional commissioner of police (crime) Neeraj Thakur. Goel, the alleged mastermind, had lost money in investments and betting on cricket matches. He knew the girl for many years. He also roped in Aggarwal and they plotted to trap the businessman. They bought a spy camera and asked the girl to lure the victim to the hotel, Thakur added. One day, the girl called the victim on his mobile phone. After that, they started talking regularly. They started meeting and within a week, she managed to lure the businessman to a hotel in Prashant Vihar. She used the spy camera to videograph them together, Thakur said. Later, she allegedly sent him a mobile phone wrapped in gift paper. The phone contained their video clipping. Then, she along with Goel and Aggarwal allegedly demanded Rs 30 lakh for not making the video public. Goel's friend Vinod Arora, who runs a mobile phone accessories shop at DDA market in Paschim Vihar, allegedly arranged for the SIM cards on fake documents, Thakur said. The police has seized a hidden camera that was fixed in a key chain, a laptop, mobile phones, SIM cards, the video recording and other documents related to the purchase of the SIM cards. |
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Husband, others acquitted
in dowry death case
New Delhi, August 8 "The prosecution could not prove that Sahana (the victim) died under unnatural circumstances. On the contrary, it has been established that she was suffering from asthma. The allegations of harassment were an afterthought," said additional sessions judge S.C. Rajan while pronouncing the order. The court acquitted Md Farid, Sahana's husband; and his family members-- Yamin, Farukh and Vakila of the charge of killing Sahana on August 27, 2007, at her parents' house at Sangam Vihar here. Sahana was married to Farid on April 13, 2005. According to the prosecution, the accused had tortured her at her parents' house and was demanding a Maruti car and Rs 25,000 as dowry. The woman was declared brought dead at a hospital here on August 27, 2007. The court examined 15 prosecution witnesses in the case. |
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HC: Docs, not hospitals, guilty in negligence deaths
New Delhi, August 8 However, the court held that the management of the hospital would be liable in case of administrative negligence and failure to provide basic infrastructure to patients. Justice Shiv Narayan Dhingra passed the order on a petition filed by Indraprastha Medical Corporation Ltd challenging a metropolitan magistrate's order for registration of an FIR against it for alleged medical negligence resulting in the death of a patient in 2007. Setting aside the trial court order, Dhingra said: "The hospital or company cannot be held liable for the personal negligence of the doctor in giving wrong treatment." "If there is an administrative negligence or a negligence of not providing basic infrastructure, which results into some harm to an aggrieved person or such negligence which is impersonal, the hospital can be held liable," Justice Dhingra said.
— IANS |
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Despite all the flak and as the Games panel begins to fry the small fish, Suresh Kalmadi and his team are partying hard. Kalmadi recently hosted a cocktail dinner party for the visiting British Secretary of State for Culture, Olympics, Jeremy Hunt and the UK track legend Sebastian Coe in Delhi.
The love life of politicians rarely dominates the 'official' Delhi scene. It's whispered about and whimpered around. But rarely is it defined in public view as in the case of Sunanda-Sashi serial. Played out between Delhi's elite drawing rooms and even massive 'Shani' temples around the country, the frenzy is building. Even though the wedding will take place on Kerala day, faraway in Kerala, Delhi's political chattering classes are amazed at how voluntarily visible this courtship has been. Though neither is a newbie to marriage having been around the block a couple of times, the intensity of PDA (public display of affection) has left even blasé Delhites gasping for air. Tharoor's ambition, once he has made Sunanda his bride, is seriously Kerala-centric which explains the choice of wedding dates and venue. This also means that he will spend more time traversing the state, Delhi may then be deprived of its current source of eye candy.