New Delhi, October 11
Two Delhi University students were killed and one was critically injured when they fell from the trolley of a tractor they were riding after losing their balance at the road between Mitraon village and Kair village this morning. The three students along with two more girls had taken a lift in the tractor from Mitraon Chowk to their college in Kair, near Najafgarh.

A police official said that the two deceased were identified as Anjali Jha (18) and Preeti Sharma (18). Their friend, Deepika (18) was critically injured.

They are students of Bhagini Nivedita College, Delhi University.

“The three girls had taken a lift from Mitraon Chowk in Mitraon Gaon at about 9.15 am today. They were sitting with two more girls on the trolley. The accident happened at a turning on the road between Mitraon and Kair villages. Anjali, Preeti and Deepika had lost their balance and fell from the tractor and came under a tyre of the trolley. The accident occurred at about 9.40 am outside the gates of Auxillium Farmhouse. The tractor was only half a kilometre away from the college,” said the official.

Anjali and Preeti were taken to the Rao Tula Ram Memorial Hospital, where doctors declared them brought dead.

“Anjali and Preeti sustained internal bleeding. Blood was oozing from their noses and mouths. One of them had a leg fracture. Deepika was initially taken to the Rao Tula Ram Memorial Hospital, but she was transferred to the Ram Manohar Lohia (RML) Hospital,” the official said.

The post-mortem of Anjali and Preeti has been completed and their bodies have been cremated by their families,” added the official.

The official said that out of the five girls sitting in the trolley, one ran away and the remaining person gave a statement to the police.

“She had told us that the tractor was overspeeding when the accident occurred. According to her, the three girls had fallen from the trolley, because they lost their balance. She said that the accident was caused due to the negligence of the tractor driver,” said the official.

Sources said that the driver, Virendra, a resident of Bahadurgarh in Haryana, was arrested and a case of negligent driving registered against him.

Anjali was a second year B.Com student and resident of Suraksha Vihar in Vikas Nagar. Preeti was a second year Bachelor of Arts student and lived at West Sagarpur. Deepika is a first year BA (programme) student and resides in Vikas Vihar.

New Delhi, October 11
A Noida-based realtor firm, facing probe for allegedly duping its customers, has been ordered by a Delhi court to refund Rs 35.32 lakhs to its three customers for its failure to deliver them the flats and plots booked with it.

Additional District Judge Nivedita Anil Sharma also asked Green City Build Tech Ltd to refund its customers the money with an 11 per cent interest on the booking amount from the date of the filing of the petition.

ADJ Sharma passed the orders on three separate civil suits filed by the two investors who alleged that despite the money paid in advance, the Noida-based builder neither gave them the property nor refunded the money.

"In view of the facts and circumstances of the case, a decree of Rs 15.25 lakh under provisions of Civil Procedure Code along with future interest at the rate of 11 per cent per annum from the filing of the suit till the realisation is hereby passed in favour of the plaintiff and against the defendant," the ADJ said passing identical orders in two other suits for Rs 15.26 lakh and 4.81 lakh.

Delhi resident Atul Chander Paul had filed two cases through his son and daughter in whose name he had invested Rs 15.25 lakh each and another suit was filed by Gurgaon resident Indra Mathur who had invested Rs 4.81 lakh for the plots at Bhiwadi and Dharuheda on the Delhi-Jaipur highway.

The petitioners said they had invested the money after the company's assurance that the project would start soon and in case of any delay their money will be refunded with interest.

They said none of them, however, was either delivered the plots despite a lapse of several months or paid back their money even after repeated requests and legal notices.

In their civil suits for recovery of their money, the three customers said the Noida-based developer had advertised in June 2006 about the sale of plots in a project in Daruheda and Bhiwadi and several hundred people had invested in the project.

Later, the investors alleged Green City did not have the licence to develop the township and it had been selling the land illegally, prompting Economic Offences Wing of Delhi police to lodge criminal cases of cheating and forgery etc against the firm on complaints by its duped customers. — PTI

Gurgaon, October 11
A call centre manager, whose husband is an officer with auto makers Suzuki, committed suicide allegedly after a fight over house finances. Her husband was apparently not getting his salary in the wake of the continuing strike in Manesar plant of Maruti Suzuki India Ltd, the police said.

Ritu Sharma, 27, was working with GE Money. She allegedly consumed poison. She has left a suicide note blaming no one for her extreme step.

Ritu, associate manager with a BPO, was living with her husband Vikram in a rented accommodation in Sector 40, Gurgaon.

Ritu's parents stay in the Sagarpur area, Delhi, while Vikram belongs to Bhiwani district, Haryana. He works in one of the three plants of Suzuki in Gurgaon as assistant manager sales (planning).

"Vikram was without salary possibly due to the on-going strike in Maruti Suzuki India Limited (MSIL) Manesar plant," said Rakesh, a relative.

Anil Munjal, vice-president of Suzuki Motorcycles, the employer company, refused to comment on the issue.

"The couple had some dispute regarding earning and expenses with regard to their salaries. On Monday night, they had a spat on the same issue, after which Ritu consumed poison," said investigative officer Pawan Kumar.

Ritu had been working with the BPO for the past five years. Vikram, 30, marred Ritu in November 23, 2010.

Ritu's father Murari Lal said, "After their marriage, the couple was very happy. I don't know how and when their problems occurred. Even yesterday, when I met Ritu, she was happy and didn't show any sign of taking this extreme step."

The police found one-page suicide note in which Ritu had written: "I am ending my life and no one is responsible for that."

The officer said: "We have registered a case against Vikram under Section 306, IPC (means forcing someone to commit suicide). No arrest has been made so far. After the autopsy, the body has been handed over to her parents.

The viscera has been sent to the forensic laboratory and a handwriting expert's report is awaited.

"We are investigating the case thoroughly and looking at the possibility of foul play," said DCP (east) Maheshwar Dayal. - IANS

New Delhi, October 11
The national Capital, reeling from the shortage of power supply for over a week, has belied all the claims made by the Delhi government that the power available to the city is more than required.

Even though the increased power tariff by Delhi Electricity Regularity Commission (DERC) came into effect from September 1, the city has not been receiving sufficient supply due to the ongoing blockage in the coal and water supply to the power plants.

As a result of which several parts of the city are witnessing frequent outages lasting between one and eight hours. The officials from the power distribution companies like NDPL and BSES said they are facing a shortfall of around 200 MW to 800 MW daily and if the situation persists, similar outages would be unavoidable.

Meanwhile, Delhi power minister Harun Yusuf today said that the situation has become difficult for Delhi as UP overdraws power in the range of 1100-2,000 MW from the Northern Grid, which is forcing the city to resort to loadshedding.

The areas most affected by the power cuts were parts of east Delhi, including Geeta Colony, Shakarpur, Preet Vihar and Laxmi Nagar, where outages lasted between two and six hours. The situation was no better in south, west, north and northwest Delhi, where the outages mostly happened on rotational basis.

Some of the localities which suffered long power cuts included Defence Colony, Janakpuri, Greater Kailash, South Ex, Rajouri Garden, Civil Lines, Ashok Nagar, Mukherjee Nagar, Lajpat Nagar and Hauz Khas.

The state’s power supply has been hit by three major blows. The coal shortage to the central power plants, including NTPC’s Dadri I and II plants, increasing water shortage at power stations within Delhi state due to a temporary closure of the Agra Canal and the shutdown of power plant in Andhra Pradesh due to the Telangana agitation.

New Delhi, October 11
The Delhi Transport Corporation has decided to open its pass section on holidays also as a large number of people do not get time on working days when there is a rush of students.

A senior official in the DTC said that there are 36 pass centres in Delhi which are not enough for a population of 1.5 crore people.

Now senior citizens have also been given concession in the buses so the old people prefer to get the facility with the result that the pass centres are crowded.

The DTC has decided to increase the number of pass centres. The official said that this decision was taken after a number of complaints were received about the lack of centres from various parts of the Capital.

At present, a majority of the centres are near educational institutes. The new centres will be opened at some other locations.

The DTC has also decided to increase the frequency of the buses on the roads where there are fewer buses.

For instance, passengers face difficulty in getting the bus from Indraprastha Power House to Ashram as most of the buses terminate at Millennium Park.

At times, passengers have to wait for an hour to get a bus.

This came to be known during a drive launched by the DTC to regulate its services. During the campaign, the drivers were also instructed to stop the bus on every stop.

New Delhi, October 11
There is a strong possibility that Delhi's potable water has got contaminated with toxic dyes after the immersion of idols on Durga Puja last week and earlier during the Ganesh festival.

"Many idols are immersed upstream in the Wazirabad area, from where Delhi gets its drinking water supply, and water treatment plants are not efficient enough to treat dyes and other chemicals," Ravi Aggarwal of NGO Toxics Link told IANS.

According to environmentalists, the immersion guidelines issued by the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) in June 2010 are openly flouted by puja committees. To make matters worse, there is nobody to check it.

According to the CPCB, after immersions, they collect water samples to study the impact. "We will be collecting samples from the Yamuna and the results will be declared," CPCB chairman S.P. Gautam said.

Aggarwal believes that all these chemicals-having arsenic, cadmium and lead-get mixed in potable water and can be harmful even in dilution. Besides, these chemicals reduce the dissolved oxygen level in the river, affecting aquatic life.

The Yamuna enters Delhi at Palla village bordering Haryana, about 15 km upstream of the Wazirabad barrage, which acts as a water reservoir for Delhi, and exits at the Okhla barrage, covering a total stretch of 40 km.

Toxics Link, along with Yamuna Jiye Abhiyan and many other NGOs, has been running a campaign for cleaning the Yamuna.

"I have been visiting banks of the Yamuna during the last one week to gauge the situation and it is totally filthy and littered with leftovers of festivities," Aggarwal said.

"You can see a reddish-blue film over the Yamuna and the banks are strewn with polythene bags, ornaments, flowers and coconut husks, which could soon be washed into the river," he added.

The CPCB guidelines say that idols should be made from natural materials-traditional clay for idol making rather than baked clay or plaster of Paris. Besides, non-toxic natural dyes and water soluble colours should be used.

Flowers and plastic or paper materials used to bedeck idols should be removed before immersion. Biodegradable materials should be separated for recycling or composting while non-biodegradable materials should be disposed of in sanitary landfills.

Manoj Mishra of the Yamuna Jiye Abhiyan feels that the problem lies with implementation of guidelines and awareness among the people.

"In 2008, we campaigned on the Hazrat Nizamuddin bridge and stopped people from throwing flowers, coconut and other materials directly into the river. Believe me, 90 per cent were ready to hand over puja leftovers when convinced of safe disposal," Mishra told IANS.

"The authorities should run a campaign before such festivities, apprising the people and artists involved in making idols about non-toxic dyes to be used for colouring and means to dispose them of in eco-friendly ways," Mishra said.

"In some villages of Uttar Pradesh, people do not immerse idols but bury them and such practices should be encouraged," Mishra said, referring to an unverified practice.

Environmentalists worry about the scale of pollution caused by immersion in other rivers, including the Ganga.

"This is a common problem whether it is the Yamuna or the Ganga and these things are repeated year after year and several NGOs have been campaigning for eco-friendly immersion ways but to no use," Hemant Dhyani from Ganga Ahvaan told IANS.

New Delhi, October 11
Personal attacks between St Stephen's College and an alumni society of the college seem to be getting harsher by the day.

After one of the founder members of the alumni society, MP Sandeep Dikshit, publicly criticised St Stephen's principal Valson Thampu, the media co-ordinator of the association and another Stephen's alumnus Ashish Joshi has raised serious objections on Thampu's appointment as the principal.

Joshi has written to vice-chancellor, Delhi University, Dinesh Singh and Rt. Rev. Sunil Kumar Singh, chairman of the supreme council and governing body of St Stephen's College, along with support signatures from other 1,000 Stephen's alumni.

"I have confirmed from DU through an RTI that the appointment of principal Thampu has not been approved by the university," said an official statement by Joshi.

The governing body of St Stephen's College, in its meeting held on December 3, 2009, took note of the falling standards and affairs of the college. The body decided that a committee comprising Fr Ian Weathrall, Dr Sudhir Joseph and Rev. Suresh Kumar would make terms of reference and appoint a suitable judge as an inquiry officer to probe into the affairs of the college. However, no action has been taken in this regard," Joshi added.

New Delhi, October 11
The crime branch of the Delhi police has arrested two notorious criminals who were involved in a case of firing in a residential area of the Shahdara area of east Delhi on October 4.

According to DCP (crime) Ashok Chand, both the accused Rashid (31) and Gufran (26) are also involved in attempt-to-murder cases under various police stations of Delhi. "Rashid and Gufran were arrested yesterday from near the Shahdara Metro station. Earlier, both of them were sworn enemies. The Shahdara police had arrested Rashid for attempting to kill Gufran. But later, they became good friends," said Chand.

The present case relates to October 4 when Rashid, along with his friends, went to a discotheque in Cross River Mall, Anand Vihar, where the owner of the discotheque, Sonu, objected to his activities and forced Rashid to leave the premises. Rashid felt insulted and in order to avenge his insult he, along with Gufran and another associate Javed, went to Sonu's house at Old Post Office Gali, Chhota Bazar in Shahdara and fired wantonly from their firearms and fled.

A case was registered.

New Delhi, October 11
With the arrest of three accused, the South District police has worked out a case of robbery that was reported on September 14.

The accused were arrested from Saket.

They were identified as Khurvesh, alias Pappu (32), Karan, alias Lokesh (30), and Rajbir, alias Changa (42).

Their accomplice Bhim is absconding.

They had robbed Rs 8 lakh and two mobile phones.

The police said that a .9 mm pistol, two countrymade pistols with seven live cartridges, two motorcycles and a part of the cash amounting to Rs 85,000 have been recovered from their possession.

The police said that a businessman of east Delhi, Naresh Singhal reported to the police on September 14 that four unidentified persons armed with pistols entered his office in

Khajuri and robbed Rs 8 lakh and two mobile phones.

While a team of the police was investigating a case of robbery in Saket, it noticed three motorcycle-borne persons moving around in suspicious conditions.

The police team members interrogated the suspects.

During interrogation, the trio revealed they had committed the robbery at the office of a paper merchant in Khajuri a few days ago.

They disclosed that their accomplice Bhim, who had earlier worked in Gandhi Nagar Market, knew that the victim used to transact heavy cash and could be an easy target. Bhim had also told them that since most of the money could be unaccounted, no criminal case would be registered against them.

On September 14, they took two motorcycles and reached the victim's office.

Bhim, who had given the information, remained outside the office while others entered the office and committed the robbery at gunpoint and escaped, the police said.