New Delhi, June 1
At least two people were killed and 11 injured when an under-construction multi-storey building collapsed this afternoon in the Sadar Bazar area, police said.

According to Delhi Fire Service officials, a call was received by them at around 12:55 pm, after which five fire tenders were rushed to the spot.

"Two people were killed and 11 injured when an under-construction multi-storey building collapsed in Sadar Bazar's Gali Barna area," Deputy Commissioner of Police (North) Sindhu Pillai said.

While one body was pulled out of the rubble, another person died while being rushed to hospital, he said. The injured have been admitted to the Sushruta Trauma Centre at Hindu Rao Hospital and Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital. "One of the injured is stated to be critical," the police officer said.

The police said three JCB excavating machines have been sent to the spot to remove the debris.

"The identities of the deceased were yet to be established. The injured were mostly labourers working there," said the police.

The police and fire officials were still carrying out rescue operations at the site, and they said more people are feared trapped in the debris.

As it was an under-construction building, most of the victims are labourers. Work was going on there on the second and third floors, said the police.

New Delhi, June 1
Delhi University gears up to welcome its second batch of students under its Four Year Undergraduate Programme (FYUP) even as those demanding its roll-back , including "Save DU" campaign, DU Students' Union and ABVP, have planned simultaneous protests in and around the university premises and outside 18 centres where admission forms will be available from tomorrow.

Determined to make the second round of FYUP admissions process a success, the varsity administration has made changes to make the process smoother. Much to the relief of aspirants of DU, all colleges this time around will not be imposing any additional qualifying criteria for admission to its undergraduate courses as instructed by the varsity ahead of the admission process.

This is not all as the university has reintroduced the old format of forms wherein students will have choice of college as well as courses unlike last year's when they had just the course option.

Centralised optical mark recognition (OMR) admission forms will be available both online and offline from June 2 to June 16, the last date of submission of application forms.

"There is one change in admissions to four year undergraduate courses. No college can announce any additional eligibility criteria. The university has set a fixed formula - best of four as followed previously-one language, one honours and two other academic and elective subjects," said Prof JM Khurana, Dean of Students' Welfare.

The move is going to open up prospects for students who had one/ two/ three vocational courses along with a language paper.

New Delhi, June 1
Working on a revival strategy to win back support of people who had deserted Congress, the party state president and MLA Arvinder Singh Lovely today stated that the senior leaders themselves were responsible for their defeat in the Lok Sabha polls.

The local unit recently dissolved 14 district and 140 block committees in the city as part of efforts to rebuild the party. The decision was announced after Lovely's meeting with party president Sonia Gandhi.

Refuting charges of anti-incumbency factor and lack of strong central leadership, Lovely said, "There should be no blame game and we should accept the people's verdict humbly. We have to think, analyse and find out the reasons for the defeat."

He said that the local unit needed much-awaited structural changes. The people who are working at ground level as well as youngsters would now be given opportunities.

The three former Union Ministers Kapil Sibal, Ajay Maken and Krishna Tirath were relegated to the third position in the polls.

Lovely said Ajay Maken was a two-term MP and has been a cabinet minister as well as AICC general secretary. "If he cannot manage to win his own seat, how the high command is responsible," he said.

He uttered similar views about Kapil Sibal and the rest of the leaders. "He (Sibal) had been a cabinet minister for ten years. Krishna Tirath was a two-term MP and was also made a cabinet minister. Sandeep Dikshit was a two-term MP and is son of the longest-serving Chief Minister of Delhi. If they are unable to win their own seats, then who are responsible," said Lovely.

He also attacked Milind Deora and Priya Dutt for their critical comments on 'Team Rahul'. "How can they hold anybody responsible for their defeat? Priya Dutt was also a spokesperson. These are the people who enjoyed power," he said.

Infighting among the senior Congress leaders in Delhi was visible before the Lok Sabha polls. Unlike the BJP that had made the local party office as its pivotal point for all the candidates, Congress veteran leaders rarely visited the local party office and were separately running the show from their own houses. There was a complete lack of co-ordination among the leaders and workers.

New Delhi, June 1
The concerns about depleting green cover and increasing air pollution in the national Capital have made the Delhi Forest Department launch a massive plantation drive soon.

The drive will witness plantation of 7.5 lakh saplings in the current financial year, besides free distribution of four lakh saplings.

The focus of the department is to restore the green cover besides controlling the pollution levels due to the rapid urbanisation.

Explaining the impact of urbanisation on green cover, A.K. Shukla, Chief Conservator of Forests, said, "It is a major challenge to carry on with the developmental work and maintain the green cover simultaneously. The increasing population demands development and urbanisation, putting pressure on the green cover. Although the department is doing the required plantation, it cannot ensure that they are provided with land."

The growing pollution is also a threat to wildlife, said a forest department official. "There are more than 200 species of migratory birds and 10 species each of animals comprising Nilgai, mongoose, jackal, hyena, porcupines, etc., in the national Capital," he said.

Green cover in Delhi has reduced by 3.58 sq km between 2009 and 2011. It decreased to 296 sq km in 2011, as compared to 2009 when it was 299.58 sq km forming over 20 per cent of the total geographical area of approximately 1,483 sq km total area. However, in 2011, the green cover shrank to 19.97 per cent, said a Forest Survey of India report.