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Lack of fire safety measures, old high-rise buildings at risk
Fewer buyers in foreign pavilions, exhibitors allege poor promotion
BJP, Cong leaders visit Chhath ghats to woo Poorvanchalis
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DUTA condemns cancellation of leaves
Withdraw cases against Manjit, SAD (B) appeals to LG
All-India Police Games Championship
Teen bikers die in road mishap
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Lack of fire safety measures, old high-rise buildings at risk
New Delhi, November 19 The incident has raised concern over old high-rise buildings which do not cater to fire safety norms laid by the Fire Service Act. The building, Himalaya House, was also built before 1984 and was not in accordance with the Delhi Fire Prevention and Fire Safety Act, said the firefighters who spent more than five hours with 32 fire tenders to control the flames. The fire department had to manage fire systems from far-off places like Janakpuri, Moti Nagar, Naraina, Hari Nagar, Nehru place, Bicajicama Place, etc. "We face such problems in old buildings as these are not built keeping in view the risks from fire and don't have any firefighting systems like fire alarms, sensors, etc.," said one the fire officials on the spot. The firefighters had to face a tough time dousing the flames during the morning hour rush. People from adjacent buildings were also evacuated and the traffic towards KG Marg from outer circle of CP was barricaded to assist smooth flow of the fire tenders. "I am horrified to see this fire. My office is on the fourth floor. It would have been almost impossible to escape had we trapped there," said one woman who was taken by surprise when she reached outside the building at 9 in the morning. "We got a call reporting about the incident around 6 am. It was a major fire as we had to manage additional tenders to control the situation. A total of 32 tenders had to be called to normalise the situation. The fire was completely under control by 11 am," said a fire official. People witnessing the five-hour ordeal said that there was thick cloud of smoke emanating from the building. The reason behind the fire is yet to be ascertained while the fire department has been mulling that a short circuit may have caused the incident. The fire that started on the third floor of the building soon spread through the window to the seventh floor. The building was under renovation and there was a huge wooden and synthetic material scattered inside the building, said senior fire officials. "There were two main reasons behind the quick spread of the fire. One was mainly the large amount of wooden and synthetic material that was lying on the floors and second, the electrical shaft through which fire passed on immediately," said AK Sharma, Director of the Delhi Fire Service. Jai Baghwan, who was believed to be sleeping when the fire broke out, got trapped by the flames. He charred to death. One guard, Raj Kumar, who was on duty at 11th floor, had a narrow escape while Shiv Kumar was at sixth floor received burn injuries, said the police official. |
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Fewer buyers in foreign pavilions, exhibitors allege poor promotion
New Delhi, November 19 Several among those who had been regular participants at the annual trade extravaganza were of the view that this edition didn't take off on a good note with the first five days, resulting with just a handful business deals and fewer sales. An exhibitor from Bangkok in hall No. 18 designated for the international pavilions showcasing variety of gems, crystals, home furnishings from Thailand, Kelly said, "This time the sale until the sixth day has dipped significantly and vis-à-vis other times, it can be averaged at 20 per cent." According to her, people in Delhi do not have a fine taste for fancy products and bargaining naturally comes to them. "They are not ready to spend for products which they otherwise will not be able to find in India normally. It looks the India Trade Promotion Organisation (ITPO) has not promoted and planned the fair properly this time," said Kelly. This view echoed from several exhibitors of the Thailand and Vietnam pavilions. "The response has been poor and something seems to have gone wrong with the advertising this year at the ITPO. Six days have almost passed but buyers have not picked up. They say the prices are high but even the revenues have gone up," said Avi who had put up a wide range of articles on display at stall No. 44, 55 and 07. All among the 22 foreign countries present at this edition of the fair didn't seem to be sharing the view as Sangte at the same pavilion, who had sold over 80 bags, purses and several other holder artifacts made from Thai silk and mango wood. "The response has been good and we have enjoyed every time, this being our third visit. People here do prefer handmade products and we have such stuff to offer as per their taste," she remarked. Also, there were others such as Sally whose aim was to cease the opportunity this being her first appearance at IITF and return with good sale. Displaying fancy jewellery made of stones, replica of pearls, ruby, emerald, etc., she and her team had been enjoying attending the visitors. "Every year I look forward to this trade fair and visit three-four times. It is a great chance for people to buy things from various corners of the world. “This time, today is my first day and I have picked spices from Pakistan pavilion, a hot favourite in my family and quite few items from Sikkim and Gujarat," said Retu Uppal, a resident of Green Park. |
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BJP, Cong leaders visit Chhath ghats to woo Poorvanchalis
New Delhi, November 19 Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit and her ministerial colleagues also joined the puja and visited various ghats to monitor the arrangements. Leader of the Opposition in Delhi Legislative Assembly VK Malhotra and Delhi BJP chief Vijender Gupta also visited various Chhath Puja ghats, expressing solidarity with the people from Bihar and eastern Uttar Pradesh for whom Chhath is a major festival. Chhath Puja which offers an occasion to worship Sun has been nurturing social and cultural values of Poorvanchalis settled in the capital city. This festival also helps in cementing social bonds apart from disseminating message of brotherhood, co-existence and mutual cooperation, said Dikshit. The Delhi government has developed more than hundred ghats for Chhat Puja. This year ghats have been developed at India Gate also where a large number of people were seen celebrating the puja. Thousands of people thronged the ghats developed at the bank of Yamuna which led to traffic jam at ITO Bridge. Same was the situation at Waziarbad. |
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DUTA condemns cancellation of leaves
New Delhi, November 19 The administration has issued letters to the teachers, asking them to evaluate papers of the semester examinations on all days of the week, including Sundays and public holidays and leaves during the evaluation process, including those sanctioned earlier, will now stand retrospectively cancelled. This action, the DUTA says, is yet another instance of its anti-faculty attitude highlighting the Vice-Chancellor's (VC's) attempt to clamp down on its ongoing collective action which has brought to light the growing disconnect between the university administration and the academic fraternity. "These letters are the latest example of all that has been going wrong in the university in recent times. They not only amount to a brazen violation of teachers' service conditions, but also express the callous attitude and the animosity that VC harbours towards teachers," said DUTA president Amar Deo Sharma. Many teachers, who had earlier enrolled for the upcoming Refresher and Orientation Courses in view of their career advancement and professional growth, are now left nowhere as these courses clash with the evaluation schedules. "These teachers are not being relieved to join these mandatory courses. It is as if they have declared an "emergency" on the university and also the manner of coercion clearly shows that the VC has lost the confidence of the teachers and has no moral right to continue in office," he remarked. While teachers continue the protest, which was today joined in by representatives from PGDAV and Kirori Mal College, DUTA refused to buckle under the administration's "pressure tactics" while condemning the university's move to deduct salaries of teachers who are sitting on hunger strike on off days or leaves. |
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Withdraw cases against Manjit, SAD (B) appeals to LG
New Delhi, November 19 The delegation also demanded that the DSGMC election should be held before December 31 as directed by the court. The delegation briefed the LG that Manjit Singh (GK) and other leaders of the Badal group were invited by the general secretary of the
DSGMC, Gurmit Singh Shunty, to attend the executive board meeting of the DSGMC on November 15. When Manjit reached the gurdwara committee office he was attacked by swords and sticks. "The Delhi police is working under the pressure of the Chief Minister" that is why no action is being taken against those who attacked him, said
Manjit. He alleged that "A task force constituted illegally has taken shelter in Gurdwara Bala Sahib for the past seven months. Lakhs of rupees are spent on the task force from gurdwara
"golak". |
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Frisbee — new sport on the block
New Delhi, November 19 Smith, who's called the Sachin Tendulkar of Frisbee, felt that the game had a great potential for growth in the country, now that a corporate biggie like Usha International has stepped in to sponsor it. "Play with air" jells with the tag-line of Usha's motto, and hence it's decision to adopt Frisbee. Frisbee is a simple sport with simple rules, which can be played with a synthetic disc, with seven players on either side, including two girls. Points are scored by passing the disc to a player in the rival zone, similar to an end zone in American football, or the in-goal area in rugby. Players cannot run with the disc, and must keep a pivot while holding the disc. It's basically a no-body contact sport, and the goals and fouls are decided by the teams themselves, as there are no on-field umpires/referees. Pull, thrower, marker, handler, cutter and stall count are some of the technical jargons used. The game is played until an end condition is reached, typically a time limit, or when one team reaches a certain number of points. And each game lasts 60 minutes, with a 10-minute interval. The sport is known for its "spirit of the game", sportsmanship, respect and fair play. Highly competitive play was witnessed in the national championship today, between teams from Chennai and Bangalore, but never at the expense of the bond of mutual respect between players who fully adhered to the agreed upon rules of the game. "We have chosen to promote the game of 'Ultimate Frisbee' because of its positive attributes though traditionally, we have been sponsoring golf and the highly popular Mawana Marathon," said co-chairman of Usha, Siddharth Shriram. The popularity of the game has surged in Delhi after Smith conducted clinics in 32 schools, and 16 teams participated in this national championship. He said this was the best amateur championship held anywhere in the world, though 50 countries now play in the world championship. "India has skilful players, and the country will be ready to host the amateur world championship in four years," he said. He came to India after popularising the sport in Australia, Italy, England, Japan, Ireland and Canada. His next stop will be China. Though Frisbee is a simple sport, the players need to have supreme athleticism, as they have to run, turn, bend, jump and slide to become good players. |
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All-India Police Games Championship
New Delhi, November 19 In the men's finals, the Punjab police topped the list with 23 points while the ITBP and the BSF were behind on 12 points. In the men's free-style wrestling, the CRPF annexed three gold and two silver medals, while the BSF and the Haryana police won one gold each. Ramji Yadav (CRPF) struck gold in 81 kg while Hardeep Singh of the Haryana police (66 kg) and Navdeep Chana (73 kg) of the ITBP also cantered away with gold medals. The Greco-Roham wrestling event was largely dominated by BSF when Laxmi Narayan and Rishi Pal struck gold in the 55 kg and 96+ kg, respectively. Shamsher Singh (CRPF) bagged gold in the 74 kg category. But in free style, the CRPF called the shots when Pawan Kumar (55 kg), Chand Ram (74 kg) and Narender Singh (84 kg) won gold medals. Mandeep Singh of the BSF and Naveen Mor of the Haryana police lifted gold medals in the 60 kg and 96+ kg, respectively. In weightlifting, the CRPF yet again proved their mettle by winning four gold medals through Vikram (56 kg), Rajesh Singh (62 kg), Tej Singh (77 kg) and K. Hara Gopal (85 kg). Rajkumar Parihar of the Uttarakhand police (69 kg) and Navjeet Singh of the Punjab police (94 kg) also hit the golden trail with consummate ease. After the completion of 41 events, the CRPF lead the medal table with 17 gold, 14 silver and 18 bronze medals. Punjab (seven gold, 12 silver and 15 bronze) and Haryana (seven gold, two silver and two bronze) clinched the second and third positions, respectively. |
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Teen bikers die in road mishap
New Delhi, November 19 "Preet and Satyam were close friends and were on Hastsal bus stand road around 12.30 pm, when the tempo, which was carrying
construction material, hit the motorcycle forcefully from behind. The locals called the PCR van
and they were taken to Deen Dayal Upadhayay Hospital immediately by the police where they were declared brought dead by
the doctors," said a senior police official. The bodies have been handed over to their families after
the postmortem. The police has impounded the tempo, while the driver fled the spot. A case has been registered. |
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