New Delhi, October 7
With the coal and water shortage problem continuing at various power plants, the power supply to the city today fell to as low as 900 MW. This led to fluctuations in the supply throughout the day, said senior officials from power distribution companies (discoms).

The officials said they had no option, but to carry out load shedding on a rotational basis.

"The shortage has reduced the availability of power to the discoms in Delhi, forcing them to overdraw heavily from the northern grid. Also, NTPC's power plants at Dadri I and II, Singrauli, Rihand II, Farakka and Kahalgaon I and II are generating and supplying significantly less power than their capacities," he said.

"Heavy rains and the ongoing festival season in the mining areas of the east have affected the mining and loading of coal, leading to a shortfall in its supply," said the official.

On the other hand, the shortage of water due to the temporary closure of the Agra canal owning to technical snags, the generating stations in Delhi were also cumulatively supplying around 310 MW less power to Delhi that the normal supply of around 1,100 MW, said a senior Transco official.

The affected areas include parts of Rajokari, Naveen Place, Vinoba Enclave, Surakhpur, CRPF Camp, PTC, D-Block Rajouri Garden, Hari Nagar, Sangam Vihar, Okhla Ph-III, Paschim Puri, Shiv Puri, Asola village, Shani Dham, Fatehpur Beri, Jonapur, Gadaipur, Babu Camp, parts of Chirag Delhi, Collage of Pharmacy, Pushp Vihar, parts of Mehrauli and Mahindra Park.

Meanwhile, due to a maintenance activity to be carried out by BSES Rajdhani Power Limited at critical grid substations and distribution substations in south and west Delhi over the next few days, the power supply will remain affected in some parts of the city.

New Delhi, October 7
Victims of the Delhi High Court bomb explosion and their families do not wish to remember the tragic blow that changed the course of many a month ago, but several among them chose to offer prayers for the lives lost at the blast site, where the remnants of the blown pass-counter send a chilling reminder of the terrible day.

Among the kin of the deceased, present at the High Court today were many, including the elder brother of Mridul Bakshi and Ratan Lal's son and daughter along with the family members of Amanpreet Singh Jolly.

Finding it difficult to come out of the shock, life stands at the same point for many, even as a few of them are struggling to cope with the hard fact that has become a traumatic part of their memories.

Madan Mohan Sharma (55), who had to undergo knee amputation, looked oblivious of things happenng around.

He lay on the bed number 22 at the Dr Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital's Trauma Centre's ortho unit on the fourth floor.

"He is still in shock and keeps thinking all the time. He is not in a position to do anything as the doctors said his leg may be further amputated. He feels for his children's future and one of his sons doesn't even know that he is in this state," said Rekha Sharma, wife of Madan Mohan whose TV repair shop at Dilshad Garden is shut after the blast. She has one daughter and three sons.

Similarly, 60-year-old Janakrani Devi, mother of one Mukesh Arora (33) whose right leg has been pulled through, is ignorant about his son's condition.

At RML Hospital, there were two other injured-Harish Kumar (41) surviving after the removal of left leg and Rashid Ali (23) sleeping on bed number 20 with a thickly bandaged right hand which had suffered arterial damage.

New Delhi, October 7
Still recuperating with grievous injuries, 60-year-old Radheshyam, a victim of September 7 Delhi High Court blast, is prepared for a life on support (prosthesis) as the doctors of the plastic and burns department have indicated that his right lower limb is virtually incapacitated below the knees.

Radheshyam at RML Hospital in New Delhi. Tribune photo

Doctors at Dr Ram Manohar Lohia (RML) Hospital are planning an amputation next week. When Radheshyam's elder son Amit Goel told him about it, he was a little disturbed, but soon gave his approval and said, "I had to choose this. Life doesn't stop here," he said smilingly.

"He is a positive-looking person and this is nothing in comparison to the pain that he has been through on the day of the blast. It has not been easy for the family, but when he is ready for it, we stand by him. We just want him back home," said his daughter-in-law Anu Goel looking at Radheshyam's wife who sat next to his bed in the recovery and resuscitation room of the RML Hospital's Trauma Centre.

The victim, having a shop in Malkanganj, has been in the RR since the first day when a high-intensity bomb at Gate No 5 of Delhi High Court left scores maimed and many others pushed to lifelong trauma.

All this while, his younger son has been sitting at the shop and the Goels, who reside at Roshanara, Arya Road near Kamla Nagar, have hoped just for the day when the head of the family would return home.

After a month, this old man readily came up for amputation when we told him the status of his injuries, according to senior orthopaedic surgeon Dr Anil Mehtani, leading the team of doctors attending to the blast patients.

The decision has been taken on the basis of the evaluation of plastic surgeons who maintained that the limb cannot be reconstructed to a survival extent as there are no blood vessels and soft tissues to support it.

"The bone in his right leg is totally exposed and there has been no recovery. If we do not amputate it below the knee now, he would have to drag himself for three-four years and undergo multiple surgeries. Still there is no certainty that his limb would be functional. Knowing it he is ready to have it removed and live on an implant," explained Dr Mehtani while he was attending to four other blast-injured patients admitted to the orthopaedic section on the fourth floor of the same building.

New Delhi, October 7
A week after the arrest of two high-ranking members of outlawed People’s Liberation Army (PLA) of Manipur, the Delhi police today revealed that the group is working towards forming a 'Strong United Front' in association with Maoists and J&K-based terror outfits.

The police has also learnt that the PLA had provided logistics, training, weapons and communication system to the CPI (Maoist) and twice trained its cadre in the jungles of Jharkhand and Orissa in 2009 and 2010. Two more training camps for Maoists are scheduled for the next year.

The revelations come after the interrogation of N Dilip Singh (51), a captain and the chief of the external affairs of the PLA, and Arun Kumar Singh Salam, alias Willow (36), a lieutenant with the PLA. They were arrested from a Paharganj hotel on October 1.

According to PN Aggarwal, special commissioner (special cell), both the accused are residents of Imphal in Manipur and had been given the responsibilities of discussing the modalities regarding providing logistics, arms, ammunition and communication training to CPI (Maoist) groups and setting up joint training camps of the CPI (Maoist) and PLA in Myanmar.

"Dilip Singh, along with his cadre, imparted trainings to Maoists of Orissa, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka in 2009 and 2010 in basic military tactics, guerrilla warfare ambushing and wireless communication. The trainings were held in the jungles of Jharkhand and Orissa. Two more such training programmes were scheduled for 2012. They also provided weapons and communication equipment to the CPI (Maoists) in lieu of a huge amount of funds," revealed Aggarwal. He added that acting on the information given by Dilip and Arun, the Manipur police has arrested three other PLA militants -- Sinam Bankim, Sinam Sophia Chanu and Elangbam Subachandra-- in Imphal.

New Delhi, October 7
Three persons, including a woman, were critically injured when the Chevrolet Cruz car they were travelling in rammed into a tree on a pavement at Sunder Nagar, in the wee hours of today.

A police official said the victims were returning from a party at Shangri La Hotel around 3.25 am. They were heading to Chittaranjan Park.

"The doctors said they were not intoxicated at the time of the accident," said the official.

The victims have been identified as Satender Gupta (31), who was driving the car; Aditya Kunda (28) and Shruti Sodi (29). They were rushed to the AIIMS Trauma Centre. Sources said Shruti was discharged after first-aid.

A friend of Gupta, who did not want to be named, claimed that his condition was stable.

"He has been removed from the ventilator. Doctors say that he has received a serious injury on the left leg. If the wound does not show signs of improvment in the next two days, the doctors will have to amputate the leg," he said.

According to an eyewitness, the impact of the accident was so powerful that the driver got stuck between the steering wheel and seat and was pulled out of the car with great difficulties. Gas cutters had to be used to cut parts of the car to rescue him, according to the eyewitness.

Aditya's father, Hemant Kundu, said his son had told him that he was going out with friends. "He left the house for a party around 10.30 pm. We received a call about the accident around 4.30 am. Aditya's shoulders have been dislocated," said Hemant.

Aditya works for a bank. Satender is a builder. He is married and has a three-year-old son. 

Noida, October 7
Thanks to the fat amounts of land compensation and the value of property in the area which have enormously shot up, incidents of children thrashing and even killing their parents appear to be on the rise.

A 75-year-old woman was allegedly thrashed by her two sons over a property dispute. This is the second such incidence in the past one week.

Virma Devi, a resident of Harola, was allegedly beaten up by her sons - Rajinder Singh and Ratan Singh - on Wednesday.

In her complaint lodged at the Sector-20 police station of assault and death threat, the woman has stated that they wanted to grab a piece of land from her.

The victim, whose husband died three years ago, alleged that her sons had often been physically and mentally torturing her.

In the second incidence, Sushila Devi, 60, was assaulted by her son Pravin Kumar at her Sector-20 residence on October 1. The woman, whose husband died last year, had lodged a complaint stating that one of her two sons assaulted and threatened to kill her.

The elderly woman lives on the ground floor of the building, while her son and daughter-in-law on the first floor.

The victim alleged that her son wanted to abandon her and grab the house.

Rakesh Shukla, representative of the All India Women Conference, said, "We hear about half a dozen such cases every month. Most cases go unreported. Even those reported are withdrawn by the victims as they do not want to hurt their sons."

General secretary of the Greater Noida Senior Citizens' Society Hari Chand Gupta, said, "We have demanded implementation of the Maintenance and Welfare of Parents and Senior Citizens Act, 2007, in Uttar Pradesh. We have written to Chief Minister Mayawati and the social welfare department for the implementation of the act."

New Delhi, October 7
Watching Ramlila celebrations from atop a water tank kept on the rooftop cost an 18-year-old boy his life when he lost his balance and fell over an iron-rod in the Mangolpuri area of outer Delhi last night.

According to the police, the incidence was reported from P-Block, Mangolpuri, and the deceased has been identified as Pawan.

"Pawan has got up on a water tank kept on the rooftop of a government school to watch the Ramlila celebrations. However, while he was getting down, he was known to have come in contact with some electric wire resulting in his losing the balance and fell on an iron rod which pierced through his body. He was taken to nearby Sanjay Gandhi Memorial Hospital where he succumbed to his injuries," said a police official.

Pawan was a student of Class X and lived with his mother and brother in Mangolpuri.

Pawan is the sixth person to die yesterday in the Dussehra and Durga idol immersion celebrations. While four youngsters were drowned in the Yamuna at Wazirabad ghats in north Delhi, a seven-year-old girl was killed when a wooden plank from Ravana effigy fell over her at Ramlila Maidan yesterday.