New Delhi, August 11
The crowd at Ramlila Grounds may have thinned on Baba Ramdev's third day of fast here, but the enthusiasm among his supporters has not dipped or so it seemed as they are ready to continue the agitation and even take to the streets.

Nothing appeared to have deterred their spirits, not even today's rains that saw many makeshift tents collapsing, making it difficult to move around.

"We'll stand here even as it rains and make the government listen to our concerns and demands," said Ram Kishen, who had come with scores of others from Bhiwani.

Natwar from Gujarat feels that relying on the government will be unwise and it is time to declare a revolution against all the corrupt political parties and the current government. "The government has kept us in the dark and cheated us for years. It has given many false assurances and gone back on them several times. But this time, if the government doesn't respond to Baba's ultimatum by the evening, we'll protest everywhere," he said.

Baba Ramdev had set a three-day ultimatum-ending tonight--to the government to address the issues raised by him when he launched his fast on August 9.

Among the gathering comprising farmers and the wealthy class of businessman from Punjab, Haryana, Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, etc, it was a feeling of anger and dissatisfaction that echoed.

A farmer from Bihar's Banka, Pankaj Chaudhary said that despite 65 years of the country's Independence, his village Patwara still lacks the basic amenities of drinking water and electricity.

Farmers' voice of resentment grew louder today as they demanded the abolition of Land Acquisition Act in its present form, common minimum wages and reasonable minimum support prices for their produce.

"Farmers suffer as middlemen exploit them by buying the crops at lower prices and then later selling them at higher prices to big companies. We want our right to a better living," Mahipal Singh, a farmer from Bulandshar, said.

New Delhi, August 11
Travel on Delhi Metro and its feeder buses just got more easier today with the launch of common mobility card 'More Delhi', which can also be used in DTC buses and taxis across the national capital in the coming months.

'More Delhi', a card which aims at making travel in Delhi cashless, can be used by commuters for travel on Metro trains and select feeder buses to start with.

In the next six months, the card, which will slowly replace the Delhi Metro's most-famous Smart Cards, can be used on Delhi Transport Corporation buses, taxis and parking lots in the capital.

'More Delhi' is part of the Union Urban Development Ministry's long-term plans to come out with a single card for travel across the country.

Launching the card, Union Urban Development Secretary Sudhir Krishna said in the Phase-II, the 'More Delhi' card can be used anywhere across the country for travel on Metro trains.

Existing smart card users can also travel on feeder buses using their contact-less cards, which automatically becomes a smart card.

"Eventually, we will be selling 'More cards' and not 'Smart cards'," Delhi Metro chief Mangu Singh said.

Sixty-five per cent of the 18 lakh metro passengers are estimated to use smart cards every day.

Krishna said talks with the Delhi government on the issue of allowing 'More cards' on their buses are on. "We expect that these cards would be used on buses in the next five to six months," he said.

The feeder buses and other vehicles which will accept the card will have hand-held devices which have been developed with a dedicated software at a low cost for the purpose

Singh said the Delhi Metro was planning to introduce topping up of 'More' and 'Smart' cards through credit card and debit cards and that talks with banks are on in this regard.

Krishna admitted that the delay in development of software and high-cost of hand-held devices were some of the reasons for the project seeing the light of the day after it was announced last year.

The 'More card' can also be used at the Rapid Metro of Gurgaon, Singh said. — PTI

New Delhi, August 11
A 23-year-old youth was arrested for allegedly posing as a doctor and committing thefts in duty rooms of doctors at the AIIMS and Safdarjung Hospital, police said today

Deputy Commissioner of Police (South District), Chhaya Sharma said Amandeep Singh wanted to become a doctor, but could not due to family problems. He was working with a private company at Nehru Place. 

“He wanted to live a lavish lifestyle and started committing thefts,” Sharma added. Amandeep was nabbed after Dr Vijay Mishra of the Safdarjung Hospital’s burns and plastic surgery department approached the police, claiming that his mobile phone had been stolen. “Dr Vijay also informed us that Amandeep claimed to be working as a junior resident in his department. But upon verification, Amandeep’s name was not mentioned in the hospital’s records,” Sharma said. A police team was formed to track his movement. “After a tip-off, we apprehended him, while he was wearing a doctor’s uniform,” she added. At his instance, his associate and receiver of stolen property, Jitender, was also arrested and 21 stolen mobile phones were recovered.

New Delhi, August 11
Four petrol pump employees were shot at and robbed of Rs 63 lakh by four motorcycle-borne men at Vivek Vihar in East Delhi on Saturday morning.

Three of the victims sustained bullet injuries and are presently undergoing treatment at Max Balaji Hospital in Patparganj.

One of the injured, Jagmohan Singh, is the cousin of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) councillor from Jhilmil, Jitender Singh Shanty.

According to the police, the victims--Jagmohan, Bansal, Puneet and Vinod--work with Vicky Filling Station in Dilshad Garden. They were going to submit cash at a Canara Bank branch in Vivek Vihar when the incident took place at 10.30 am.

The police said that the victims were travelling in a Maruti Alto car, carrying cash in two blue bags. When they reached ITI pass, two motorcycle-borne men intercepted their vehicle.

The assailants were followed by their two accomplices, who were carrying countrymade pistols. They demanded the victims to open the car door and immediately fired at the front window of the car.

The assailants fled with the blue bags containing the cash. A passerby raised the alarm and telephoned the police. Jagmohan who was shot at in the incident reportedly drove the car, but collapsed after passing the ITI underpass and rammed the vehicle into a street vendor.

Later, the four victims were taken to the Guru Teg Bahadur Hospital. Jagmohan reportedly sustained a bullet injury on his chest, Vinod on his chest and hand, and Puneet on his hand. They were later shifted to the Max Balaji Hospital in Patparganj.

The police suspects that the robbers knew about the route taken by the victims. There is also a possibility that they were aware of the money flow.

The police has impounded a motorcycle that was left behind at the site by the robbers. They are verifying the registration number.

A case under relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code and Arms Act has been registered against unknown persons at Vivek Vihar police station.

New Delhi, August 11
The national Capital today received heavy rainfall, giving relief to the residents from the humid weather that had been troubling them for the past few days .

The rains started at 12. 15 pm and continued for a little more than an hour. Most of the roads were waterlogged, bringing the traffic to a halt at intersections in ITO and Laxmi Nagar.

The MeT department said that the rain gauges indicated 17.2mm of rainfall from 8.30 am to 5.30 pm.

Today the maximum temperature was recorded at 35.1 degree Celsius, which is two degrees above normal. The minimum temperature was recorded at 27.8 degree Celsius, which is one degree above normal.

According to the MeT department, the humidity was between 64 per cent and 95 per cent. The rainfall has been erratic in the city since June.