New Delhi, June 7
The Delhi police today seized the recordings of CCTV cameras which had been installed at Ramlila Maidan where yoga guru Baba Ramdev was holding his anti-corruption fast. These are likely to be the most neutral evidence of the night when the police forcibly evacuated Ramdev and his supporters from the ground.

While Ramdev and his supporters opine that the footages have been seized to destroy evidence against the police, the Delhi police has come up with its own explanation.

"The organising committee installed the CCTVs in co-ordination with the police as a safety measure. As a part of investigation we have seized them," said Rajan Bhagat, Delhi police spokesperson. The cameras were installed at the site on police's insistence only, he added.

Hundreds of police personnel swooped down on the Ramlila grounds on the intervening night of June 4 and 5 and forcibly evacuated Ramdev and his supporters from the venue. After the Supreme Court took suo moto on media reports and issued notice to the Delhi police to explain its position, the police is working over drive to prepare itself.

"The footages are crucial pieces of evidence and we seized them to see not what we have done but to identify the miscreants who were first to attack the police with stones and sticks. We, too, need evidence to show. Besides, we have also asked all the news channels to provide us whatever footage they have of that night," said a senior police official.

New Delhi, June 7
At a time when costs of surgical infrastructure is skyrocketing, a low-cost indigenous balloon is being used by the doctors of All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) for repairing hernia laproscopically.

In the procedure, the doctors of the premier institute are also mooting to switch to better mesh fixation device used in the procedure. Dr MC Misra, chief of Jai Prakash Narayan Apex Trauma Centre, AIIMS, said this would bring about better treatment outcome by cutting down on the problems such as chronic pain and infection faced by patients.

"We have devised a sterile surgical glove for fixing hernia. There are two standard techniques for it and in the first - the totally extraperitoneal (TEP) repair: a space is created outside the abdominal cavity with the help of the balloon and then the mesh is put in the space. In the other method - transabdominal preperitoneal repair (TAPP) - space is made inside the peritonium for the mesh after the repair," added Dr Misra.

For the above procedure, a high-cost dissector balloon is generally used and the commercially available balloon costs nearly Rs 10,000. "In view of the high surgical costs that actually shot up the treatment even in the government set-up, we substituted it with custom-based surgical gloves, costing just Rs 10. The surgical balloon is also good for young surgeons who are in learning phase. Also, the new mesh fixation device we have is absorbable vis-a-vis the existing ones and is better," Dr Misra added.

Due to the high cost of the surgical set-up, the treatment becomes expensive and in the private sector, a case of hernia repair incurs a cost of Rs 3 to 4 lakh against Rs 50,000 in the government facility, just due to the use of such simple innovations.

Though in urban areas, like Delhi laproscopy has been in frequent use, majority of the hernia cases are still managed through the open or the conventional surgery, say experts.

At AIIMS, while hernia repair is being done laproscopically for the past 15 years, the low-cost glove usage was introduced for groin eight years ago. "Each year, we carry out 1, 000 hernia repairs and 400-500 incision hernia (seen when the cavity protrudes out through a scar of a previous operation) and ventral hernia (occurring in front of the abdomen, above or below the naval) taken together," said Dr Misra.

Further, the first type of hernia is more common in men while the other two is common in women, with two-third of cases of incision hernia being those who have had gynaecological surgeries in the past, he observed.

New Delhi, June 7
The Delhi Metro Rail services were disrupted today for nearly an hour on the 45-km line number two connecting Jehangirpuri to HUDA City Centre in Gurgaon after trains stopped on tracks due to tripping of power supply. Thousands of commuters stranded at the stations.

This is the longest corridor on the Metro network.

The problem began around 3 pm when trains stopped on tracks on the predominantly underground corridor and persisted till around 4 pm.

Rajiv Chowk and Central Secretariat stations had a huge rush of passengers. These are the two major interchange stations on the network.

"Metro services on Line 2 were affected today because of the tripping of power supply from the Gas Turbine Power Station of the Indraprastha power generation company which provides power to this corridor at New Delhi Metro sub station," DMRC spokesman Anuj Dayal said.

The gas turbine is owned by the Delhi government.

He admitted that non-availability of the power supply led to partial disruption in Metro services for about 40-50 minutes after which the services were restored, he said.

Anamika who travels from Rajiv Chowk to Gurgaon every day said that when she reached the station, there was unusual rush. When she made an enquiry, she was told that train was not coming for 40 minutes. When the first train reached, she could not enter as people were pushing one another to entre the coach. She had to leave three trains to reach Gurgaon.

Shabnam who had to catch a train for Central Secretariat from Jehangirpuri said that this was her first experience of such an incident when Metro rail was not available for nearly an hour. It was due to power failure, she said.

She said that the Metro staff were so uncooperative that nobody at the station was ready to inform the passengers the reason for disruption of the services.

New Delhi, June 7
With the arrest of three youths, the Delhi police has worked out the murder case of Trilok Singh Tokas, a swimming coach who was shot dead on the night of June 2 in Baba Ganganath Sports Complex of Munirka in south Delhi.

According to the police, the accused have been identified as Rohan Chauhan (25), Mohit Chauhan (23) and Monu Singh (22), residents of Ghaziabad (UP).

According to information, Tokas was shot dead by them after he had slapped Mohit during argument which started after the former found him in the complex in late hours and asked him to leave the premises. "Mohit, who lived as a tenant with his brother Rohan at Munirka village, immediately rushed to his room and narrated the incident to his brother. Both the brothers, along with Monu, went back to the complex with loaded firearms in the midnight. They argued with Tokas and when he again slapped, the trio fired at him," said a senior police official from the district. Tokas died on the spot.

Gurgaon, June 7
A 25-year-old girl was allegedly molested and then thrown out of a moving car near a mall in Gurgaon last night, police officials said.

The police would conduct a medical examination to verify if the girl was raped. A manhunt has been launched for the accused who reportedly belongs to a rich family from Gurgaon.

According to officials, the girl works with a property dealer in Gurgaon and had gone with the accused in his car to show him a flat in Delhi's posh Vasant Kunj area.

The accused had come to property dealer Bharat Bhushan last evening seeking a flat, following which Bhushan asked the girl to accompany the man to Vasant Kunj.

The police said the accused had approached Bhushan several times earlier for the flat.

"Bhushan asked his assistant (the girl) to sit in the car and take him (accused) to the Vasant Kunj flat and few other flats in Gurgaon. The accused misbehaved with the girl while driving and when she resisted, he turned violent," said a senior police officer.

The police said it was not known how the girl fell from the car, but that she alleged she was thrown from the moving vehicle.

The girl was admitted at the Gurgaon civil hospital with several injuries. — IANS

Greater Noida, June 7
Today, a full month after the infamous violent clashes between farmers and the police at Bhatta- Parsaul village in Greater Noida, silence still rules the streets and 'chaupal' of the twin village.

The women, children and the aged of the village are still waiting for their men folk, who have either fled the village fearing police prosecution or have been sent to jail by the authorities, to return home.

The authorities and the police have lately appealed to the farmers to return home without any fear, but the people here are under such morbid fear that the pleas of ministers, leaders and officials do not assure them.

Even the visits of Congress general secretary Rahul Gandhi, UP agriculture minister Laxmi Narain Singh, state home guard minister Ved Ram Bhatti, leaders from the BJP, SP and Rashtriya Lok Dal and officials of the National Women Commission and Human Rights Commission, who all came to the village to hear the woes of the residents, have not lessen the pain of the villagers.

The villagers have in one voice demanded that their men folk be freed from jails.

There are 22 farmers of the village who are still languishing in jails.

This has left the households without a bread-winner and an atmosphere of gloom persists in the villages.

Ninety-year-old Allauddin has five members of his family in jail.

Similarly, Rewti Sharma said he had nothing to do with the agitation as not an inch of his land had been acquired, but still eight members of his family had been sent to jail.

Many houses in the village have locks hanging on their main gates and there is no one to look after the family cattle.

Ghaziabad, June 7
Even after three and a half decades of its existence, New Ghaziabad Railway Station lacks the basic facilities, with the result that thousands of passengers who use it daily have to go without drinking water and seating facilities and wait for trains without a shed to save themselves from sun, rain and harsh winter.

The railway authorities appear to have chosen to ignore the pleas of the commuters who crave for a semblance of basic amenities which are available at any railway station.

At sunset, goons take over the platforms and the station becomes a haven for criminals, drunkards, gamblers and other anti-social elements.

The station was built in 1975 to ease the rush of daily passengers at Old Ghaziabad Railway Station. But during the past 36 years, there has been no improvement in the situation at the station.

The Daily Commuters' Association has been demanding solutions to the problems at the station from the DRM, but the pleas appear to fall on deaf ears, says MB Dubey, secretary of the association.

"Over 20,000 passengers use the station daily and some 20 trains pass from here every day, but they have a very short stoppage time at this station".

The daily commuters have been asking the authorities to start EMU trains between New Ghaziabad Station and New Delhi and Delhi junctions, but to no avail. The commuters also complain that the lone booking clerk at the station fails to cope with the rush and they often face difficulties in getting tickets in time.

The DMR has repeatedly been acquainted with the grievances and demands of the passengers, but no one has tried to solve them for over three decades, says Dubey.

Greater Noida, June 7
Seven hundred people were allotted a house each in the U-3 residential scheme in Greater Noida, the results of which were declared in a draw on Monday. Even the house numbers were announced at the time of the draw.

Out of a total of 4,691 applicants, 700 were the lucky winners of a house with an area of 35.96 sq meter each.

The GNIDA officials claimed that the allottees would be given the possession of the houses within a year.

The draw was televised by a local TV channel and CTTV cameras had also been fixed at a number of places to ensure transparency of the draw. The draw of the scheme launched in February this year was to be conducted on June 30, but it was advanced by about 24 days by the authority officials.

The draw was conducted under the supervision of Dy CEO Akhlesh Singh of Greater Noida authority. The slips of the names of the applicants were kept in one box and the numbers of the houses in another box. Children from three public schools were invited to take out a slip each from both the boxes.

Though 17.5 per cent houses were reserved for the farmers, only two had applied from this category.

The Dy CEO said that a list of the winners has been put on the web site of the GNIDA and also on its notice boards.

New Delhi, June 7
With the monsoon season around the corner, the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) has intensified its drive against vector-borne diseases.

The civic body today said it would organise events like seminar, lecture, exhibition, and public awareness initiatives in every ward, beside sanitation drives in each of the 12 zones simultaneously.

In the series, Delhi Mayor Rajni Abbi today launched an awareness programme against dengue and malaria and an exhibition on vector-borne diseases at a community centre in west Mukherjee Nagar.

The Mayor said the MCD implemented strategies for the prevention and control of vector-borne diseases as per the guidelines envisaged under the National Vector-Borne Disease Control Programme .

"Awareness is the key to fight vector-borne diseases, and therefore, the MCD is doing its best to reach out to maximum people through information, communication and educative programmes," said Abbi. She appealed to the citizens to keep their surroundings clean before the onset of monsoon so that stagnation of water does not become a problem during the season as ades mosquitoes breed in such circumstances.

"By doing so, the spread of diseases such as dengue, malaria and chikungunya could be checked. If these small, but vital things are taken care of, Delhi will witness no cases of dengue, malaria and chikungunya ," said Abbi.

A total of 6,259 cases of dengue were reported last year from the city, while four cases have been reported so far this year.

VK Monga, chairman of the health committee of the MCD, said there was a need to check stagnation of water in houses and in areas surrounding habitations and work places. He also appealed to the representatives of RWAs and market associations and citizens to join the MCD's fight against vector-borne diseases.

New Delhi, June 7
The Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) said today that an allocation of Rs 27.20 crore had been made for the improvement of sanitation services in the city.

The Leader of the House in MCD, Subhash Arya, said the allocation included the provision of Rs 10 lakh for each ward for the purpose.

He said the MCD's special sanitation-cum-cleanliness drive would continue till June 19.

"We have requested the councillors to make full use of the allocation to improve sanitation condition of their areas during the on-going drive," said Arya.

He said the MCD would review if the present drive was required to be extended for better results.

He said the amount of Rs 10 lakh per ward had been made under head of the account 89/1062. The allocation could be spent in unauthorised colonies also.

"Each councillor can use this amount on sanitation services, including hiring of trucks, tippers, loaders etc. We have appealed the councillors to ensure that with fresh allocation, their ward is made free of garbage," added Arya.

He urged the councillors to actively involve the RWAs, traders associations, market federations, etc. in achieving the desirable results.