|
|
|
|
|
On holi, traffic challans worth Rs 7,88,300
|
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Engineer’s prosecution for letting mosquitoes breed upheld
Dengue makes early entry
HC slams SDM for lapses in child workers’ rescue
Delhi best metro city: Sheila
Traffic cops rope in Kirti Azad for safety drive
Illegal colonies to get DJB water
Serve at temple, drunk driver told
Friend killed over liquor
Pedestrian killed near INA Market
Mercury likely to soar now
Tremors in Delhi
DVAT (Amend) Act passed
|
|||||||||
|
11 die in holi accidents
New
Delhi, March 21 In the most tragic incident of the day, a 26-year-old insurance agent and his young wife were killed in the Mukarba Chowk area of Jehangirpuri when they were hit by a speeding tempo. According to the police, Vinay Rai and Deepa lived with their two daughters in Rohini, Sector 24 and were on their way to Deepa's house in Seemapuri on a motorcycle when the accident took place. They were taken to Babu Jagjivan Ram Hospital where they were declared brought dead. "All the four were on a motorcycle when they were hit by a tempo filled with cement near Mukarba Chowk. While the couple died, their younger daughter Drishti (5) received injuries on hands and legs while elder daughter Shubi is fine," said the official, adding that the tempo driver was arrested from the spot. The sole earning member of the family, Vinay is survived by ailing parents and two young daughters. Five other persons were killed in the four accidents reported from Dabri, Mongolpuri, Neb Sarai and Punjabi Bagh. While two men died when their motorcycle crashed into a divider in Dabri, an unidentified man met with death in a similar fashion in Mongolpuri. A 45-year-old woman was killed when she was hit by a car in Neb Sarai and a 20-year-old man was crushed to death by a motorcycle in Punjabi Bagh. Apart from the road accidents, two teenagers drowned in the Yamuna yesterday after they ventured into water to wash off the colours. According to fire officials, 18-year-old Ajit drowned in the Yamuna close to the Timarpur area while 15-year-old Vicky drowned near Nanaksar Gurdwara in Sonia Vihar when he was bathing in the river. A labourer and a Bajrang Dal activist were killed in two different incidents reported from the Ranjit Nagar area of central Delhi and Vijay Vihar in outer Delhi. According to information, Sanjeev, a 21-year-old labourer was stabbed in the Ranjit Nagar area after a fight between some drunk friends. "The argument between Sanjeev and some other labourers led to a scuffle wherein he was stabbed. He was declared brought dead at the hospital while the accused has been arrested," said a police official. In yet another incident reported from Vijay Vihar, a 28-year-old Surender was found dead in a drain with head injuries. A Bajrang Dal activist, Surender was hit with a rod by his friend after a scuffle. The accused Birpal has been arrested. |
|
On holi, traffic challans worth Rs 7,88,300
New Delhi, March 21 According to Satyender Garg, joint commissioner of police (traffic), Rs 7, 88, 300 has been collected as fine during holi. A total of 624 people were challaned for drunken driving, 154 for dangerous driving and 1,702 for jumping red-lights. Other violations for which challans were issued are: triple riding (815 challans), driving without helmet (2,686 challans), driving cars with tinted glass (163 challans) and driving vehicles with defective number plates (133 challans). According to traffic police officials, this year, the number of accidents was the lowest in the past 10 years. |
|
Engineer’s prosecution for letting mosquitoes breed upheld
New Delhi, March 21 Additional sessions judge Virender Bhat dismissed the contention of Digvijay Singh, the accused engineer, that he could not be prosecuted without a prior sanction of the competent authority as he was a government official. The judge said a sanction was required when a public servant does something wrong while discharging his duty. "But his negligent conduct and attitude could in no case be termed as a part of his official job," the court said. Singh was charged by the Municipal Corporation of Delhi for offences punishable under the Malaria and Mosquito-borne Diseases (MCD) bylaws after an inspection of the site by its officials found widespread breeding of mosquitoes there. The inspection had come before the start of the Commonwealth Games, as officials and athletes of many participating countries had expressed concerns over the rising numbers of dengue cases during that period. Last year, the number of dengue case in the Capital breached the 6,000-mark. A magistrate hearing the MCD cases had on November 10 last year accepted the corporation's chargesheet against the engineer and dismissed his application for protection from prosecution. The allegation against Singh was that he was in charge of the maintenance of the court complex, but did not take adequate steps to stop mosquitoes from breeding there. The inspection team had found aedes mosquitoes, which cause dengue, breeding in several containers lying at the site. Five judges reportedly fell prey to dengue and family members of around 15 judicial officers also reported positive to the vector-borne disease. |
|
Dengue makes early entry
New Delhi,
March 21 Last year, the first case was reported in June and the disease continued to affect people till mid-December. Dr Anoop Singh, a PG student of the AIIMS, was admitted to the hospital after he complained of fever, besides headache and body pain. He tested positive on March 3. Singh is supposed to have contracted the disease in the doctors' hostel, said V.K. Monga, chairman, municipal health committee. "It is surprising that the first case has been reported early in the summer," he said. A doctor from Ghaziabad, Dr Umakant, also tested positive for the disease after he was admitted to the AIIMS on March 3, Monga said. He said that almost every year, the first and the last cases of dengue are reported from within the AIIMS premises. "This calls for proper sanitation in the residential areas of resident doctors and medical students. We have decided to write to the AIIMS administration to work with the NDMC and CPWD to stop the spread of the disease," he said. "People should be conscious of their surroundings and check mosquito-breeding. While cleaning their coolers, they should wipe the walls well so that no egg is left in the cooler," Monga said. Last year, the city reported 6,229 dengue cases and eight deaths due to the disease. Eight cases of dengue were reported in December, despite the onset of winter, leaving medical experts and health officials worried, as mosquito breeding normally subsides by mid-November. |
|
HC slams SDM for lapses in child workers’ rescue
New Delhi, March 21 Volunteers of NGO Bachpan Bachao Andolan were attacked by local goons while rescuing the child labourers from the unit in the Jheel Khureji area on March 17. The court said the SDM did not communicate the plan to the police before the raid. Directing the police to arrest all absconding attackers, Chief Justice Dipak Misra and Justice Sanjiv Khanna ordered action against the owners of factories and establishments employing children. The court said: "The SDM was supposed to be a responsible officer but he did not communicate the plan to the police before conducting the raid to rescue the children from different units which has resulted in this disaster." "They should have approached positively... the rescue of children. The officials have not done the rescue work in an informative way," said the court. "The mafias had come with a purpose to take away the children and created furore among the rescuers. They were able to succeed in their purpose," said the court. SDM V.P. Singh informed the judges that he had gone to the raid spot in his official car while the NGO volunteers, along with four policemen, had gone there in two private vehicles. "After the rescue of 22 children, who were brought to the labour office, a huge crowd surrounded the vehicles and then assaulted the volunteers," said Singh. The court was hearing a plea filed by the NGO. Volunteers from the Bachpan Bachao Andolan, along with the SDM, raided different east Delhi units and rescued 22 children on March 17. Another 20 child workers could not be rescued due to the attack by goons. Delhi police chief B.K. Gupta, who was present in court along with officials from the Delhi government, said that the SDM had not informed the area deputy commissioner of police about the rescue operation.The SDM did not seek additional police force at the time of rescue operation, Gupta said. Assuring the court of providing adequate number of personnel for such operations in future, the police chief suggested preparatory meetings between the area SDM, social workers and police before conducting such raids. Appearing for the police, additional solicitor-general A.S. Chandhiok said eight people allegedly involved in the attack were arrested and more were likely to be held. The court asked the police commissioner and a senior labour department official to submit a status report on the incident. The judges also told the government to comply with its previous order and constitute a steering committee headed by the chief secretary in compliance with a scheme framed by the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights to stop such incidents.
— IANS |
|
Delhi best metro city: Sheila
New Delhi, March 21 The vote of thanks was passed with a voice vote. Referring to a recent survey report conducted by the Market Research Firm, the Chief Minister said that Delhi had been regarded as the best metro city, providing a large number of employment opportunities. She refuted the allegation levelled by the opposition that there is substantial unemployment in Delhi. "If employment opportunities are not available in the city, why migration is taking place," she stated. As per employment parameters, Delhi scored 36 marks whereas Mumbai with 34, Chennai with 21 and Kolkata with nine marks were lagging far behind. The Chief Minister also said that the city is safest according to security parameters. Delhi scored 38 marks whereas Kolkata scored just 13 marks in connection with security. In respect of public transport, the Delhi score was 45, Chennai 17, Kolkata 13 whereas as per education parameters, Delhi scored 43 and Kolkata just 8 marks. Delhi is, in fact, the first state in the country to set up Child Rights Protection Commission which solved 13,775 cases. The minimum wages are the highest among all the states in the country. Unskilled labour is getting Rs 6,084 per month, semi-skilled Rs 6,734 and skilled Rs 7,410. Despite the annual migration of five lakh persons in the Capital, it continues to have the highest per capita plan outlay, that is Rs 7250. The hospitals in Delhi provide the best healthcare and attract around 40 per cent patients from the neighbouring states. The Chief Minister refuted the allegations levelled by the leader of the opposition that the two DTC depots - Millennium and Rajghat--have been running in losses. She stated that Millennium Depot earned Rs 1.13 crore while Rajghat Depot Rs 97 lakh during February 2011. |
|
Traffic cops rope in Kirti Azad for safety drive
New Delhi, March 21 It was the turn of Kirti Azad, a member of the 1983 World Cup-winning squad and Member of Parliament at present, today to draw some cricketing analogy to offer traffic lessons to bikers and car drivers. Azad manned the traffic near the ITO today as part of police's road safety programme. He asked a doctor driving a car without wearing seat belt that he could be hit for a sixer to the other world for his mistake in the same way a bowler was hit if he did not stick to a good line and length. Azad gently rebuked a biker for not strapping his helmet properly, a common trend among riders who wear helmets more to escape challan rather than protect their heads. Joint commissioner of police, Traffic, Satyendra Garg said Kapil Dev and Maninder Singh would be joining them in the coming days while dashing batsmen Virender Sehwag and Gautam Gambhir would offer safety lessons after the World Cup was over. Bishen Singh Bedi, former captain and spin maestro, would man traffic at the IIT tomorrow while Madan Lal, a former all-rounder and key member of the 1983 team, would join the programme at Laxmi Nagar on Wednesday. Azad along with senior police officials distributed pamphlets among the people. He asked them to concentrate while driving in the same way Sachin Tendulkar does while
batting. |
|
Illegal colonies to get DJB water
New Delhi, March 21 Terming it as a major challenge, the DJB CEO Ramesh Negi said that the rationalization will help in supplying water to over 700 colonies. "The board needs to increase its reach in the city besides rationalising the distribution of the precious commodity," he said. The unauthorized colonies in Delhi do not get water and it was important for the board to increase its reach to such areas. He said that it can be done by equalizing the supply. "We need to reduce the supply to areas that are over supplied and increase the supply to under-supplied areas," he said. The DJB is in the process of setting up water supply network in unauthorised colonies which were given provisional regularisation certificates in 2008 by the city government, which has started the process of regularising over 1,200 such colonies. "We should save water the way we save our money. If every person saved just 10 litres per day, it would make a huge difference," he said, emphasising the need to preserve water. The average demand of potable water in the city is around 1,100 million gallon per day (mgd) and currently the DJB supplies around 800 mgd (one gallon = 3.7 litres). Negi's remarks came in the backdrop of Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit indicating that the Capital is to see reforms in the water distribution system. Dikshit said the next challenge was to bring in efficiency in the water distribution system on the lines of the successful power sector reform.Last year, the city government initiated reforms in water billing and installation of meters. The government introduced electronic system of billing to plug the loopholes. In the next stage, the government may hand over maintenance of the water distribution network to private entities. |
|
|
Serve at temple, drunk driver told
New Delhi, March 21 The court of additional sessions judge Virender Bhat ordered Sandeep Kumar to offer community service at a Chhatarpur temple for two months, saying that the purpose of punishment is to reform a criminal. Kumar was convicted by a magistrate for driving his motorbike in a highly inebriated state. The magisterial court had sentenced him to seven-day prison term and imposed a fine of Rs 1,100 on him. The convict deposited the fine, but appealed against the prison term. "The purpose of a sentence is and should be to reform a criminal and convert him into a law abiding citizen. It is seen that the sentence of imprisonment, sometimes hardens a first-time offender and instead of reforming, makes him a hardened criminal," the court said. The judge released him on probation and asked him to serve devotees at Aadi Katyani Shakti Peeth Mandir in Chhatarpur. He has been directed to work at the temple for three hours every Friday evening and eight hours every Sunday for two months. The court asked him to obtain a certificate from the managing committee of the temple after completing the service. The lawyer of the accused contended that his client's imprisonment would jeopardise his future and leave a permanent scar on his life. Kumar was arrested by the police for drunken driving. At the time of arrest, alcohol content in his blood was detected to be 499 mg per 100 ml against the permissible limit of 30 mg. |
|
Burgle and burn gang strikes at 2 shops
New Delhi, March 21 According to the police, the incident was reported from two mobile shops selling-high end mobiles and located in KI block of C R Park. The owners have claimed a loss of over Rs10 lakh in the burglary and fire. "The incident took place early today when two shops selling Blackberry mobile phones were gutted while the other, Spice Hotspot shop, was partially destroyed. The forensic team took the samples from the spot and we are investigating the matter," said a police official. According to Gurmeet Singh, owner of the Spice Hotspot shop, the burglars not only fled with the mobiles but also the CCTV cameras installed in the shop. "The burglars were well aware of cameras and they took them away as well as the recording system. We have no images of what happened here. Besides, when they could not break open the safe kept in the shop, they carried it away," Singh told mediapersons. |
|
Friend killed over liquor
New Delhi, March 21 Meanwhile, the police has arrested Birpal, a guard at the gas agency who hails from Etah in Uttar Pradesh, and has claimed to have solved the case. During investigation, a large number of persons were questioned for any clue about the accused and the motive of the murder. In the process, the police got information that the murder was committed by Birpal and that he was hiding in Avantika Park. A team then raided Avantika Park and apprehended Birpal. According to Chhaya Sharma, DCP (outer), Birpal has confessed to have committed the murder. Birpal had been working as a guard with Pratap Jyoti Gas Agency for the past one and a half years. "On the intervening night of March 19 and 20, Birpal was consuming liquor in the complex of the gas agency. Around 3 am, Surender, who was known to him, came there and asked for liquor, which Birpal refused. On this, Surender told Birpal that if he would not give him liquor, he would not allow him to drink there. This infuriated Birpal and he hit Surender with an iron rod on the head. Surender became unconscious, after which Birpal dragged his body and dumped it in a drain," said Sharma. Since the jacket worn by Birpal and a bedsheet lying nearby had got bloodstained, he threw them also into the drain. Birpal then hid the bloodstained iron rod and liquor bottle inside the guard room. Then, he washed the ground to erase the marks of dragging Surender's body. At Birpal's instance, the weapon of offence, a bloodstained iron rod, and a liquor bottle have been recovered by the police. |
|
Pedestrian killed near INA Market
New Delhi, March 21 Moti, from Kaityar (Bihar), was returning from the airport and had landed in the city this morning. "Moti was carrying a bag which had a tag of a Gulf airline. We believe that he landed at the international airport and was on his way home when hit by some vehicle," said a police official, adding that the man was found dead about 30 meters from a bus stand. A case has been registered and further investigation is on. |
|
Mercury likely to soar now
New Delhi, March 21 The India Meteorological Department (IMD) has said it now expects the mercury levels to soar. "The maximum temperature is expected to settle at 32 degree Celsius, the minimum is likely to hover around 16 degree Celsius," said an IMD official. |
|
|
Tremors in Delhi
New Delhi, March 21 It was epicentred at 36.5 degree North latitude and 70.9 degree East longitude. "Slight tremors were felt here due to the quake in Hindukush region," a MeT official
said. — PTI |
|
|
DVAT (Amend) Act passed
New Delhi, March 21 This envisaged disposal of all the pending appeals within the next five years. However, the period was extended from 2010-11 . With the adoption of the DVAT (Amendment) Act, 2011 by voice vote in the Assembly, the period stands extended from April 2011 to March
2012. — TNS |
|
| 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 | |
