New Delhi, December 3
Adding to the infamous list of building collapses in the national capital, yet another building in west Delhi fell today, killing four persons.

Three women and a child lost their lives as a four- storey building in B-Block, Uttam Nagar, collapsed this morning.

The incident was reported around 11.45 am.

Construction work in the basement of a nearby tenement is being seen as the reason for the collapse.

The tragedy comes just three months after a building collapsed in Chandini Mahal at Old Delhi in September. The building that collapsed today is feared to be an old structure, just like the ill-fated building in Chandini Mahal.

Additional deputy commissioner of police Krishi Paal said, "Three women and a child have been killed in the incident."

More people could be trapped in the debris, according to the police.

As soon as the building collapsed, neighbours rushed to rescue those trapped under the debris. Men of rescue forces of the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD), police and the fire department soon reached the spot.

The deceased have been identified as Richa Sharma (27), Jai Sharma (2), Rupraani (63) and Savita Sharma.

According to residents of the area, eight members of two families lived in the ill-fated building. A tenant named Pushpendra, who also lived in the building, is injured, said the police.

The house, spread over 70 yards, had a basement that was being used as a parking lot.

The house was registered in the name of Ramesh Sharma, Savita's husband. Ramesh, a businessman, lived there with Savita and their 25-year-old son Vivek on the second and third floors. He had sold the ground floor to Gagan Sharma around five years back.

Gagan lived with wife Richa, son Jai Sharma, daughter Vanshika and mother Ruprani. He runs a private company in Uttam Nagar. He was not present at home when the incident occurred. On learning about it, he rushed to the spot and tried to search for his family members in the debris. But on learning that this mother, wife and son had died, Gagan fell unconscious. Neighbours helped him come to senses. Completely broken, Gagan said the culprits should be brought to justice.

"The building collapsed due to the construction of basement in the neighbour's house. I have lost my entire family because of someone's carelessness," he said.

Noida, December 3
The farmers sitting on dharna in Sector-74 have agreed to end their protest after a meeting with the CEO of Noida Authority. They agreed on 10 per cent land being reserved for them out of which 5 per cent land will be given to them in the first phase.

The farmers said they would not stop work on any builder's project now. By December 16, the Abadi problem in Sorkha village, compensation and other issues will also be resolved.

Leading the farmers' agitation, Saresh Yadav, pradhan of Sorkha village, said after meeting the CEO Rama Raman, they have decided to end the dharna. The authority officials claimed to have issued a roster to resolve the Abadi problem of all the villages.

The meeting with CEO Rama Raman started at 3 pm on Friday when the farmers demanded resolving of issues like 10 per cent land, 64.7 per cent hiked compensation and Abadi land.

The CEO said 10 per cent land has been reserved for farmers who have given their land for acquisition and 5 per cent land will be allotted to them in the first phase along with hiked compensation. The Abadi land issue will also be resolved by December 16.

The farmers had stopped builders' work on Monday to pressurize the authority to fulfill their demands. They stopped construction work at a dozen of construction sites in Sectors 74, 75, 76, 77 and 78.

New Delhi, December 3
The Delhi government seems sympathetic to private power distribution companies that say that the Delhi Electricity Regulatory Commission (DERC) should look into the tariff issue so that the companies could sustain their operation.

A few weeks ago, the discoms sought hike in power tariff on the pretext of getting power at higher rates from other states. But the DERC opposed this.

A senior government official said, "The power problem in Delhi is not because of the government but due to the failure of the regulator. The regulator wants to lower the tariff. We are facing a crisis as the tariffs have not been raised."

The DERC last week had served notices on two Reliance Infrastructure-backed discoms BYPL and BRPL asking why their licences should not be suspended for failing to pay huge dues to generation and transmission companies.

The DERC served the notices following a communication from Delhi government which asked the regulator to take urgent steps to ensure uninterrupted power supply in Delhi as various generation and transmission companies had threatened to stop electricity supply to the two discoms as they owe around Rs 3,000 crore to these companies.

The BYPL and BRPL were not satisfied with the 22 per cent hike in power tariff made in September. They want 50 per cent hike in the power tariff that will be too much, the sources said.

The DERC has given time till December 7 to the two discoms to reply to the notices.

The proposed law on communal violence has become a subject of discussion among Muslim intellectuals. Most of them feel that the law would go a long way in checking such violence.

Jamiat-Ulema-e-Hind chief Arshad Madani initiated a debate at the India Islamic Cultural Centre recently.

The participants were of the opinion that the provisions of the Bill would help create peace and harmony among various sections of society, while the minorities would have a sense of security.

The Bill received support of Union ministers Farooq Abdullah and Ghulam Nabi Azad, and MPs AkhileshYadav and Sita Ram Yechuri. Prominent personalities Abdul Aziz, vice-chancellor of Aligarh Muslim University and Delhi Minorities Commission chairman Safdar Khan also supported the Bill.

New Delhi, December 3
With accessibility at all levels still remaining an issue for differently able people, the larger cause of the section has not changed even as the focus of the World Disability Day (December 3) here was primarily on the people living with hearing and speech impairment.

The concerns haven't changed, echoed an estimated 4000-5000 hearing impaired who came out under the banner of Disabled Rights Group in one voice today at India Gate to press for their demand of recognising sign language as an official Indian language.

"We have an invisible disability and are an invisible part of the crowd. People generally don't take us seriously and consider us fake. People have to be taught about sign language. The government has also neglected the section and due to which hearing impaired do not have enough special educators. If we have the official sign language, the interpreters will have a good future," said Zorian Singhla, the president of National Association of the Deaf.

The national status would come down as an assurance towards having parity and enjoying rightful place within educational institutions and at employment places for the section.

This would address the severe dearth of interpreters and special educators - 250 odd for nearly 18 million hearing impaired population from the total 70 million differently able - that the country is facing.

To address the appalling gap of interpreters, recently the Delhi High Court has passed an order that all public places, such as railway stations, police stations, hospitals, post offices, passport office, should have interpreters within a timeline of three months.

Considering this as the first step towards societal acceptance, the section gathered today to celebrate it, amidst people signing and dancing to musical beats.

According to the director of the National Centre for Promotion of Employment for disabled People (NCPEDP), Javed Abidi, the undermined status of the language is pronounced when in comes to in the dismal picture at the education, especially after Class X and in job opportunities for hearing impaired.

"The 3 per cent reservation mandated for the disabled, is filled with people who are visually impaired and orthopaedically challenged. Say from 100 posts, only 5 per cent goes to the hearing impaired. This points out at the gross neglect that the section has been facing since years," Abidi said.

The demand has been put forth for the past five years and written representations have been sent to the ministry of social justice and empowerment and the home ministry consistently, he added.

"Even this time we have submitted our demands and if not considered seriously it would be taken up in the form of a big campaign," he said.

New Delhi, December 3
Delhi Tourism (DTTDC) along with Indian National Trust for Art and Cultural Heritage (INTACH) Delhi Chapter is inviting city residents for a walk along the "Phool Waalon Ki Sair" trail at Mehrauli.

Phool Waalon Ki Sair or the "procession of florists" is an annual celebration by the flower sellers of Delhi. It is a weeklong secular festival with Hindus and Muslims joining in the celebrations.

This festival involves a procession, led by shehnai players and dancers, to Yogmaya Temple through Mehrauli bazaar. It reaches the Dargah of 13th century Sufi saint, Khwaja Bakhtiar Kaaki.

Also known as Sair-e-Gul Faroshan during the three-day festival, the flower sellers pray for a better flower season in the coming year by offering big fans or pankhas, embroidered with flowers to both the shrines.

The effort comes as a part of the process of encrypting Delhi on UNESCO's list of World Heritage Cities wherein INTACH Delhi Chapter is reaching out to the citizens of Delhi through numerous heritage walks.

The participants offer a floral chaddar and a pankha at Dargah Khwaja Qutbuddin Bakhtiar Kaaki and a floral pankha at Yogmaya Temple. Nowadays, along with the pankha, a chhatra (canopy) made of flowers is also offered at the temple. The pankha has become a symbol of communal harmony and also national integration. The walk on Sunday would start from Yogmaya Temple, cover Dargah Khwaja Qutbuddin Bakhtiar Kaaki, Jahaz Mahal and possibly Jharna and Hauz-E-Shamsi.

Usha Kumar, the present general secretary of Anjuman Sair-E-Gul Faroshan which organizes the Phool Waalon Ki Sair, will be leading the trail.

"The effort will help the residents relate to the rich history of the city. When the idea was conceived, the Mughal emperor was its patron, these days the festival has the Prime Minister its main patron. Jawaharlal Nehru revived and inaugurated the festival in 1962 and all the premiers have equally participated in it so far. Another tradition is to offer a floral pankha to the President of India, Delhi Chief Minister and also the Lt-Governor," said a senior project manager at INTACH.