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Traders do good business as 1 lakh visitors throng fair
Women pickpockets active at trade fair
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Abandoned girl gets US parents
Errant driver assaults cop
4 currency exchange cheats held
Rs 1-cr theft: Suspect help’s aide nabbed
Laptops, shoes thief arrested
BJP assures free legal help to building collapse victims
BJP seeks probe against Sheila
No need of new voter ID in case of address change
New parking plan for Noida, Gt Noida in the offing
Dial 2343434 for radio autos
Chatterati
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30,000 sweat it out in half marathon
New Delhi, November 21 The marathon was flagged off by Lieutenant-Governor Tejendra Khanna at Central Civil Services Cultural and Sports Ground. Actor Rahul Bose and industrialist Anil Ambani were also present. Around 30,000 participants, including 45 best runners of the world and leading national athletes, ran for the whopping prize money, in what is now one of India's most prestigious sports events. Mutai, on his maiden visit to India, clocked 59 minutes 38 seconds to come best in the 21-km race. Lelisa Desisa of Ethiopia stood second by finishing the run in 59 minutes and 39 seconds, while Yacob Yarso, also from Ethiopia, came third. Yarso completed the do in one hour seven seconds. The 21-km race created a pulsating rhythm among the Capital's running fraternity. "I thank god for this win. The weather was just perfect today. I feel I could have pushed myself more. Before I came here, everyone told me that Delhi will be extremely hot, but this has come as a pleasant surprise," said Mutai. On his race strategy, Mutai said, "I started slow to accelerate after 10 kms. I lost rhythm in the mid of the run, as a lot of local residents were running on the same track. But I somehow managed to pull it off in the end." The Kenyan was tipped to win the race, after two-time champion Deriba Merga of Ethiopia pulled out at the last minute. Mutai took home prize money of $10,000, while the first and the second runner-ups were richer by $15,000 and $10,000, respectively. In the women's event, Aselefech returned with a bang after missing the last year's edition. She completed the run in one hour, eight minutes and 35 seconds. "I am happy to win the race. That is all English I know," Aselefech blushed. Another Ethiopian, Merima Mohammad, clocked one hour eight minutes and 36 seconds to rank second. Yimer Wude of Kenya recorded the same time, but settled at the third position, after a photo finish. Indian athletes also got the opportunity to showcase their skills in the world's richest half marathon. Irappa D. Akki, with a timing of one hour, four minutes and 32 seconds, was the fastest among the Indian runners. |
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Traders do good business as 1 lakh visitors throng fair
New Delhi, November 21 While the large number of visitors left traffic police apprehensive of congestions on roads, it was the traders at the fair who cashed in on the crowd the most. Most stalls and pavilions that had not made even a single sale till yesterday, were seen handling a large number of customers today. Most pavilions called it a profitable day, adding that today's sales had definitely perked up their hopes for the coming week. Many traders like Ali Bashir at the Pakistan Pavillion almost ran out of stock today as he got orders of glass paintings from more than 38 customers. "I had many smaller paintings and a couple of larger ones to show to the visitors. Most of them got picked up and I also got orders for 53 more paintings, all of them ranging between Rs 5,000 and 25,000. It was a brilliant day. Apart from the sales, many people also came to enquire about the paintings," said Ali. Savita and her husband Joy Das have been participating in the trade fair for the past 10 years. Her wooden accessories in affordable range are hit among the city girls. "We recorded brilliant sales today. From neckpieces, anklets, bangles and earrings to fancy hair pins, everything had takers today. It was a happy day at work as I got many compliments for the jewellery. Most of these pieces have been made by me and my husband only," said Savita at the West Bengal Pavilion. One of the major attractions at the fair was the International Stall which had 28 participant countries and the CSIR Technofest. Madhuri Sharma, a businesswoman from south Delhi, said, "I visit the trade fair every year. But I particularly like the CSIR stall because the prototypes on display are extremely interesting. I love the dosa- maker that can make 400 dosas in an hour. I also liked the ceramic hair iron-cum-blow dryer is something that is not generally used in Indian parlours." Even the cosmetics pavilion seemed to be grabbing enough public attention, with perfumes and branded lotions available at prices much lower than the market rates. "All the parking lots around Pragati Maidan were full today. People were advised to park their vehicles at the Ashpond parking lot near the Rajghat park-and-ride facility," a traffic official said. |
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Women pickpockets active at trade fair
New Delhi, November 21 "On the weekends they have a field day, with over one lakh people thronging the fair and many carrying cash. It is becoming difficult for us to keep a tab on them," a police officer said. On Sunday, the fair saw a record footfall of over 1.5 lakh. A senior police officer at the fair venue, Pragati Maidan, said most thieves and pickpockets were women, and they worked in a well-organised and systematic manner. According to police sources, while three to five complaints are brought before them every day, it is possible that many cases go unreported -- one reason being the theft is discovered only after reaching home. Some victims blamed police laxity for the menace. "I caught two women red-handed stealing the purse of my daughter on Wednesday. When we went to policemen, no one bothered to help us. But we gave a complaint at the Tilak Marg police station," said Naresh Kumar, a visitor. Denying laxity, Menakshi Sharma, a duty officer at the temporary Pragati Maidan police station near Gate 5, said that around 5,000 police personnel were on duty on Sunday. "About 25 police personnel are deployed in each pavilion in civil dress," she said.
— IANS |
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Abandoned girl gets US parents
New Delhi, November 21 "It will be in the welfare of the minor child if the prayer of the petitioners is allowed," said the court while permitting the adoption. The couple had pleaded that they have two sons, but needed a daughter to complete their family, as Mahiba can no more bear a child. The couple also submitted that being of Indian origin, they were in a better position to protect the interest of the child. The couple produced the 'no objection' certificate issued by the Central Adoption Resource Agency (CARA) for inter-country adoption of the child. The child was found abandoned by officials of Kalawati Hospital here on May 2009 and was handed over to Welfare Home for Children at Sarita Vihar. After medical examinations, the minor's date of birth was assessed to be April 12, 2009 and was declared an abandoned child by the child welfare committee. The court appointed the couple as the guardians of the child after an official of Welfare Home for Children Lata Nair deposed before it that they had no objection to the couple adopting the child. |
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Errant driver assaults cop
Noida, November 21 When a traffic circle officer (CO) of DSP rank waved at him to stop the vehicle at Chilla Regulator Border, the driver behaved in a rude and insulting way with the DSP. The driver was taken to the Sector 20 police station. Circle officer Kuldip Singh had noticed that the car had tinted windows, which is against the traffic rules. As the driver stopped the car, Singh tried to pull out the ignition keys from the steering rod. But the driver allegedly started the car. As a result, Singh was dragged with the car and sustained injuries. Other policemen, however, managed to overpower the driver. When the driver was challaned, he allegedly created a scene. He was taken to the Sector 20 police station in a police vehicle, while policemen drove his car to the police station. His friends and relatives allegedly created ruckus outside the police station. The driver has been booked for breach of peace and assaulting policemen on duty. |
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4 currency exchange cheats held
New Delhi, November 21 According to the police, the accused have been identified as Johrul Haq, Rajjat (from West Bengal), Razzak from Bihar and Firoza from Kalamerta district of Bangladesh. According to Sharad Aggarwal, DCP (west), the gang used to target owners of chemist and mobile shops. One of them used to visit shops on the pretext of buying re-charge coupons, SIM cards or medicines. The accused would then induce the owner to exchange dollars for Indian currency at very cheap rates by pretending that one of their close relatives was in dire need of rupees and wants to exchange dollars. "Firoza used to develop friendship with chemist shop owner by frequently purchasing medicines from him and then luring him to buy dollars at cheap rates," Aggarwal said. The gang used to prepare a packet of dollars by placing dollars on both sides of the bundle and newspaper cuttings in between. After striking the deal, they used to collect Indian currency from the victim and handed over the packet of dollars to them. The arrest came two days ago after Haq was caught by one Rajesh Verma, working at a clinic in Nangloi, who handed him over to the police. Verma told police that one Raja, who was later identified as Haq, tried to cheat him. Haq allegedly told Verma that his aunt had some dollars and she wanted to exchange it for Indian currency as she is in dire need of money for her daughter's marriage. Haq told Verma that he would give the currency at lower rates. "Haq was to give USD 1,100 to Verma for Rs 50,000. Verma was asked to meet Haq at Park Hospital in Khyala. Haq and his two friends were with him and he handed over the "packet of dollar" to Verma. But when Verma checked the packet, he discovered the fraud. On being caught, all the three accused started running. Verma chased them and ultimately with help from public nabbed Haq," Aggarwal said. The accused are allegedly involved in two more similar cases in which they made about Rs 3
lakh. |
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Rs 1-cr theft: Suspect help’s aide nabbed
New Delhi, November 21 On November 14, Kishore, a domestic help with a Greater Kailash-based builder Sunil Kumar Bedi (40), fled with Rs 1crore when the Bedis had gone to a relative's marriage. "The main accused is still on the run. Efforts are on to arrest him," the official said. Kishore (25), who was working with the Bedis for the past five years, is being suspected as he ismissing since the theft. The Bedis had not done Kishore's police verification. The incident came to light when Bedi was informed by his two other servants about an almiraha in the house being broken open. The two servants also told the police that they saw Kishore going out with a bag. |
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Laptops, shoes thief arrested
New Delhi, November 21 According to senior police officials, Rajesh Sharma, a resident of
Burari, was apprehended from near Sheela Cinema on a tip-off. "Sharma, a DU science graduate, recently stole laptops from India Habitat Centre in Lodhi Colony and
AIIMS. Two stolen laptops have been seized from him. He has admitted to have stolen laptops from Jagannath Temple at Green Park and India Islamic Culture Centre on Lodhi Road," said a police official. Sharma in his statement told the police that he wanted to lead a lavish life and believed that stealing was an easy way. Sharma was previously involved in 15 cases of fake currency circulation, cheating and laptop thefts. |
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BJP assures free legal help to building collapse victims
New Delhi, November 21 Delhi BJP chief Vijendra Gupta said that a team of lawyers would fight the cases of the victims free of cost. "This is to ensure that the case will not weaken in court and the victims will get justice," Gupta said. He alleged that the building's owner Amrit Singh had the support of some Congress leaders and the police. "As there is connivance among the Congress leaders, the local police and officials of several departments, efforts will be made to weaken the case in court," Gupta alleged. The BJP leader claimed that due to the ineffectiveness of the Congress government and a nexus between politicians and the police, rules were not being followed in the construction of buildings, thus, making Delhi into a slum. He alleged that the Delhi government was not regularising about 1,700 colonies in the national Capital due to its vested political interests. "Because of this, the BJP has decided that the case would be monitored in court and in police investigation throughout. The party will also look into the relations between Amrit Singh and Congress leaders," Gupta added. |
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BJP seeks probe against Sheila
New Delhi, November 21 In a letter to PM Manmohan Singh, Delhi BJP chief Vijendra Gupta alleged that there was favouritism in contracts and Dikshit had misused her position. He stated that there was a need for a high-level, impartial and time-bound inquiry into the matter. "The Prime Minister should himself issue orders for a CBI enquiry into all 77 projects completed by the Delhi government," Gupta said in the letter. Gupta alleged that Dikshit restricted the powers of finance minister
A.K. Walia and assumed more powers to aid corruption."Only the finance minister could award contracts up to Rs 50
crore, but the Chief Minister also awarded contracts," he alleged. He said that in the matter where a contract of Rs 260 crore for streetscaping was to be awarded in Delhi, Dikshit awarded contracts worth Rs 160 crore in one lump sum to a firm named Satya Prakash & Sons. |
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No need of new voter ID in case of address change
Greater Noida, November 21 To exercise the right of voting at the new place, all that a voter will have to do is fill in Form No.6 and get his or her name included in the voters list of the new place of residence. The person will not be required to fill Form No. 001 again. In past, in case of a change in the address, a person had to apply for a fresh voter ID cars, which used to increase the workload of the election offices. According to district magistrate and district election officer, Gautam Budh Nagar, Deepak Agarwal, earlier, even if a voter needed to change his polling booth in the same district, he had to get a new voter ID card made to get his name included in the new voters list. But now, it is no longer needed. According to latest guidelines of the Election Commission, once a voter gets a voter ID card, he/she does not have to get a new card in case of a change in his/her residence to another town. The decision will also cover the students going to other states for higher studies, the DM said. |
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New parking plan for Noida, Gt Noida in the offing
Gt Noida, November 21 A podium is a raised platform. Additional CEO of Greater Noida Authority Y.K. Bahl said that for creating adequate parking space, podium parking of three to four floors could be permitted. It will be allowed on a minimum plot area of 10,000 sq metre. Adequate sprinklers, exits, ramps and firefighting provisions as per the NBC 2005 directives will be made, while structural safety measures as per BIS codes will be ensured. Basement parking norms have been relaxed too. They may be used only for parking and services like -- fire rooms and storage of non-hazardous materials. On plot sizes of 1,000 sq metre and above, mechanised parking will be permitted, Behl said. The company which is going to carry out the work will have to ensure proper maintenance and structural safety of equipment. Extended basement, within the setback, all around the plot boundary shall also be allowed for parking purpose. It will be permitted, after leaving a minimum setback of 7.5 metre for the movement of fire engines. The roof shall be designed to take the load of the fire engine with mechanised ventilation, he added. |
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Dial 2343434 for radio autos
Gurgaon, November 21 RC Dubey, AGM (sales) of the TVS Motor Company, handed over 50 TVS King three-wheelers to Sulabh Mehra, head of operations at Radio Tuk Tuk, at a launch ceremony organised here today. "The underlying idea behind the launch of the service is to provide a safe and reliable commuting facility, especially for the women, children and the elderly," Dubey and Mehra said while speaking with mediapersons. Sumit and Amit Choudhary of Choudhary Motors, who coordinated the launch of the service, said all Tuk Tuk autos would be fitted with safety devices like GPS and emergency push-buttons, besides mobile-phone chargers. The facility will be available from November 22 and the residents can dial 0124-2343434 to call an auto. The managers claim that the auto would reach the caller within 20 minutes and the charges would be Rs 50 for the first 3 km, in addition to Rs 8 for every subsequent
kilometre. |
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Chatterati
This year, it seems there is a craze for Bollywood stars performing at Delhi weddings. There is also a demand for Pakistani gazal and sufi singers. Recently, we had the 'not so busy' star Ameesha Patel performing at a shaadi. Singer Sunidhi Chauhan in fact acted pricey and so arrogant at a sangeet, even though she had charged a hefty amount. At last, the host had to ask her to leave without performing. The gutka weddings in town were paying approximately Rs 25 crore for stars like -- Katrina Kaif, Salman Khan and Shah Rukh Khan. But the designers who dress the bride and the groom also get richer by lakhs. Work of real crystals and gold embroidery is done on their trousseau. It is not rare in Delhi for the bride to be wearing a lehnga worth Rs 10 to 15 lakh. The card for such a wedding itself costs between Rs 15,000 to Rs 20,000. It is amazing that while the rich have so much to spare, the poor in India can hardly afford one decent meal a day. Witnessing all this, India is on an economic-rise. I would support the Indira Gandhi regime for serving four kinds of potatoes and simple marriages with limited baraaties. Builders’ jungle raj
This is not the first time that a building has collapsed in Delhi and that blame game has started between the Delhi administration and the Municipal Corporation of Delhi. It is unfortunate and extremely sad at the way lives are lost and people are left handicapped for life. India may be emerging as a large economic power in the world, but we have immense poverty. A six-storeyed building housing 200 people collapsed, killing 80. The occupants were mainly migrants from West Bengal and Bihar. Some had dozens living in one single room. There is no way you can stop these migrants, as they throng to the national Capital in search of work and better life. We are aware that unauthorised buildings and illegal constructions crop up everywhere. As a result, accidents happen, leaving behind orphaned kids and widows. Is there any way to stop all this? The answer to it is -- stop bribing officials concerned and punish the guilty. Officials are bribed to pass the plans, not to visit the site, or check the material being used. One wonders what the officials concerned do while unauthorised floors and constructions are carried out. Corruption is so deep-rooted in our system that we all have in a way given in. It is high time that the 'Jungle Raj' of these builders is stopped. At this time, when the Prime minister and the Supreme Court is on a cleaning spree of the corrupt tribe, stern action should be taken against the killers. We are proud of the country's growth rate, but such incidents indicate towards a systematic failure of governance, planning and regulation. Farooq,
the star
The evergreen energetic leader from Jammu and Kashmir, Farooq Abdullah, is clearly the flavour of the season. He was the chief guest at the Godfery Phillips Bravery National Awards ceremony. This ceremony is held every year to honour the bravehearts of our society. Abdullah is the star at any do that he attends. The evening was anchored by actor Kabir Bedi. Abdullah had a special word for each winner. He applauded and appreciated each one of them. Besides, last week, there was a musical recital in the Capital where Abdullah was in tune with the singers and was the star even there. He had everybody amused by his great sense of humour. His party MPs swear by him and claim that he is the best in the crowd and the vote puller for them. He clearly is the man who is popular with all classes of people and yet humble and grounded. He is one politician who can be said of not being a hypocrite because his life is an open book and he has his views clear. |
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The shaadi season is always a fun time for Delhities. Delhi being a cosmopolitan city, we have all kind of weddings here. The expenditure of a wedding can vary from a thousand rupees to crores. Elaborate and over-the-top is an understatement here.