New Delhi, December 3
A 49-year-old assistant sub-inspector of the Delhi police suffocated after a fire broke out in his three-storeyed house in east Delhi at midnight on Sunday.

The incident occurred on the ground floor of the house at Ram Nagar in Mansarover Park where Manoj Gaur along with his family members lived on the first floor.

While he was asleep, fire broke out on the ground floor where there was a shop, said the police.

Hearing about the incident, Gaur along with his family members woke up. He rushed to the ground floor to douse the fire. A call was also made at around 12.45 am to the fire department, said a police official.

"Two fire tenders were sent to the spot and it took around half an hour to extinguish the fire. The cause of the fire was shortcircuit. It started from an electronic appliance and soon engulfed the entire floor," said the official.

Meanwhile, fire officials noticed that Gaur was trapped on the second floor. They went up to rescue him and found him lying unconscious on the floor. They rushed him to the nearby Guru Tegh Bahadur Hospital where doctors declared him brought dead, said the police official.

The doctors said that Manoj died due to suffocation as no major burn injuries were found on his body. "Manoj was posted with the wireless communication department of east Delhi as an ASI," said the official.

The police said that Manoj is survived by his wife and three children, including two daughters. His wife, identified as Geeta, used to run a boutique on the ground floor while the family lived on the second and third floor.

New Delhi, December 3
In order to improve the condition of night shelters, the city government has constituted a joint apex advisory committee under the chairmanship of the Chief Executive Officer of the Delhi Urban Shelter Improvement Board (DUSIB), Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit said.

She said that as many as 150 night shelters are fully functional across Delhi to provide shelter to the homeless during the winter season.

While taking stock of the functioning of night shelters, the Chief Minister instructed the DUSIB to upgrade night shelters, wherever necessary, to ensure a proper stay for homeless people.

She also instructed the DUSIB to publicise the facilities available in the night shelters with the help of NGOs.

She underlined the need to ensure maximum utilisation of the capacity available in 84 temporary and 66 permanent shelters. This would go a long way in overcoming the hardship to the homeless.

Out of 84 temporary night shelters, 70 are in porta cabin structures while 14 are in Basti Vikas Kendras. Sixty-six permanent shelters are functioning in concrete buildings. They are under the management of the DUSIB.

She also instructed the officials not to charge any entry fee now.

Last year, an entry fee of Rs 6 was charged from the users.

New Delhi, December 3
The 27th Indian Engineering Congress, which will be inaugurated by the President, Pranab Mukherjee, and expected to witness more than 1,000 engineers from various fields from across the country will focus on preventing corruption in infrastructure sector.

An exhibition showcasing a myriad of key and emerging products, technologies and prototypes covering 15 engineering divisions will be a major highlight of the Congress which will be held in Delhi, organised by the Institute of Engineers, Delhi State Centre, along with the Ministry of Urban Development and the Delhi government on December 13.

"The congress is being organised with an objective to provide the engineers with newer and better horizons to operate in their respective fields of expertise and a common forum where they can meet and interact with their 
counterparts from other organisations and indulge in knowledge and information sharing.

This will definitely result in enhancing both national and international cooperation in ensuring sustainable development of engineering," said R.N. Rajput, chairman of the congress and Institute of Engineers, Delhi State Centre.

"The delegates from various engineering disciplines attending the congress with the theme "Vision 2025: Engineering for Sustainable Development and Inclusive Growth" will be discussing emerging and future areas of engineering, changing climate, engineering ethics, engineers against corruption, preventing corruption in the infrastructure sector, role of engineers in poverty reduction and role of engineers in social commitments," said Rajput.

New Delhi, December 3
Two persons, including a Class VIII student, were killed in separate road accidents in the national Capital during the past 24 hours.

In the first incident, a 22-year-old man was crushed to death by an unidentified speeding vehicle last night in the Begampur area, outer Delhi.

A police official said that the victim has been identified as Rakesh.

"He was walking down to his house when he was crushed to death. The police got the information late at night. He was rushed to the Sanjay Gandhi Memorial Hospital where doctors declared him brought dead," said the official.

In the second incident, a 15-year-old Class VIII student of Ekta Public School, Ankit, was killed when he was returning home at Khajuri in northeast Delhi on his bicycle after buying milk from a nearby market last evening.

When he reached near his house, a speeding motorcycle hit him, the police said.

The motorcyclist, identified as Deepak, (22), also got injured in the accident. The police took both of them to the Guru Teg Bahadur Hospital where Ankit was declared brought dead and Deepak in critical condition," said the police.

Ankit's family members were informed about the incident.

After postmortem, the body has been handed over to his parents.

Deepak is still unconscious. "We are waiting for his statement. Meanwhile, a case has been registered," said the police.

New Delhi, December 3
An accused in a case of kidnap and rape of a minor girl was arrested from Jaipur yesterday, said a police official today.

The accused has been identified as Subhash. He was arrested in 2007 for kidnapping and raping a minor girl in Kapashera and was remanded in judicial custody. Later, he got bail but never appeared before the court.

"He stopped appearing in the court and deposited the surety amount in the court due to his non-appearance. Subsequently, a death certificate of the accused was produced in the trial court by his relatives with a declaration that the accused who had gone to Nepal after bail had died there," the police said.

"During investigation, it came to notice that the family of the accused comprising his mother and brother had vacated their house in Jhajjar village, Haryana. The mother was traced to Sidhmukh village in Churu, Rajasthan and brother Virendar was found living with his wife in Hari Nagar," the official said.

"On a tip-off, the police was sent to Jaipur from where Subash, living with a new name, Monu, was arrested," said Additional Commissioner of Police, (southwest district) Anil Kumar Ojha.

New Delhi, December 3
Five cars were destroyed in a fire incident that occurred late last night at Bijwasan village in Kapashera, southwest Delhi, said a police official today.

The fire that was reported around 12.30 am, spread from one of the car to several others. According to fire officials, four fire tenders were rushed to the spot and the fire was doused within half an hour.

The police official said that the fire stared from one of the cabs of Meru Cab Service that was parked in a vacant plot of A-Block in Bijwasan.

Soon, the fire spread to other cabs and five vehicles were gutted in the incident.