New Delhi, August 8
The CBI today registered six cases against 33 officials of the Delhi Jal Board (DJB) for allegedly favouring two private companies-Nath Envirotech Engineers and Pacific Marketing Engineers--for clearing their exorbitant bills without any services or product being delivered.

The agency also conducted raids at 19 places in Delhi, including officials and residential premises of the accused. The cases were registered on the basis of complaints received by the CBI and findings during investigation, sources said.

According to the CBI sources, the 33 DJB officials involved in the cases were junior engineers and executive engineers. The cases registered against the private company officials were Siddarth Gupta of Nath Envirotech and Pramod Sanwal of Pacific Sanwal of Pacific Marketing Engineers. A few unknown persons were also involved.

According to the sources, during 2011-12, a total of 78 work orders were allegedly issued by the DJB to these two firms in various areas of the Capital. The officials-- junior engineers and executive engineers of various zones --allegedly conspired with the private companies and abused their official position to clear their exorbitant bills, they said.

These officials cleared bills of Rs 3.63 crore without getting the actual supply of products and renovation works being done by the companies, the sources said.

During investigation, the CBI found "the officials falsely verified the bills submitted by these companies without obtaining purchase vouchers and released payments. They also overlooked exorbitant bills submitted by these companies," the sources added. 

New Delhi, August 8
In order to implement various schemes and projects fast, Lieutenant Governor Najeeb Jung today constituted a high-powered committee chaired by Chief Secretary SK Srivastava and having members as Principal Secretary (Finance), Secretary (PWD) and Secretary of the department concerned.

The committee was formed in the review meeting of projects announced by the Union Finance Minister in its Budget for 2014-15. This is the second such review within a week.

The committee will have all the powers to take decision on the projects and schemes for their immediate implementation. While ordering constitution of the committee, the LG said that the Secretary of the department will be responsible to ensure timely implementation of the projects.

Besides the committee, a project implementation unit has also started functioning in the LG's Secretariat chaired by the Principle Secretary to the LG and having representatives of power distribution companies, Delhi Transco Limited and Power Department.

"The project implementation unit will monitor implementation of the ongoing projects as well as projects going to be implemented in the current financial year as per allocations made in the budget 2014-15.

“It will also facilitate getting of land expeditiously for various projects, facilitate permission for right of way, road cutting, facilitate clearances from other agencies like Environment and Forests, Archaeological Survey of India, etc," said a senior government official.

He said that the LG will conduct monthly reviews of the implementation of projects announced in the Budget and the departments whose projects were reviewed today include Urban Development, Power, Transport, Food Supplies and Consumer Affairs, New Delhi Municipal Council, PWD and the Delhi Jal Board.

New Delhi, August 8
In its centenary year the Delhi Medical Association (DMA) has resolved to make Delhi "tobacco-free" and as a first step it today circulated advisories related to quitting tobacco to medical colleges, resident doctors' associations and medical students' unions.

Reinforcing the anti-tobacco campaign, it is also planning an awareness programme with focus on preventive measures for universities, hostels and public places, including high-risk zones such as railway stations and bus stands among others. Henceforth, doctors in the city will be advised to prescribe "No smoking, no tobacco" to every patient who comes for treatment. "Advice from a doctor will make a difference," said DMA president Anil Goyal.

The DMA will begin a pilot project under a new initiative "Healthy India, Prosperous India" to assess the status of health of the city with focus on non- communicable diseases with an aim to have Delhi-specific scientifically validated data for reference.

It is this campaign along with "no tobacco" drive to be launched on August 10 will mark the beginning of celebration of its 100th year inception (on August 14). "Fifty per cent of preventable diseases related to heart, lungs and cardiovascular region are due to smoking or tobacco chewing or both. Due to this we lose significant hours of productivity," noted Dr Goyal.

New Delhi, August 8
A 25-year-old woman sustained burns injuries in an alleged acid attack at northeast Delhi's Nand Nagri locality area late on Thursday night.

The woman who was rushed to a nearby hospital is out of danger. The police have arrested one of the two accused, Golu.

The incident was reported to the police at about 11.30 pm on Thursday when the woman identified as Pooja was admitted to the Guru Teg Bahadur Hospital in Delhi.

According to the police, Pooja had suffered 10 per cent burns mostly on her right arm.

A police officer privy to the details of the case said that the victim had intervened in an argument between the two accused and her uncle on Thursday. The accused, identified by the police as Golu and Kalia, allegedly threw acid on Pooja before fleeing the spot.

According to the victim's family, one of the two accused was carrying the bottle of acid with him and had hidden it in his pocket.

"The accused are the victim's neighbours. They had entered into an argument with the victim's uncle due to a domestic issue after which they attacked her. We have arrested one of the accused from his residence while the other is absconding," said the officer.

The police learnt that in the past, the accused had been in similar fights with the victim's uncle, who has a business of cleaning jewellery in Nand Nagri.

"Golu, one of the accused, during interrogation claimed that he did not attack the woman with acid but hospital authorities in their report mentioned that the woman did sustain burns injuries," said the officer.

The police have registered a case under the appropriate sections of the Indian Penal code in regard to the incident.