Page 38 - Delhi

Delhi becoming crime capital, need to maintain public order: Sisodia to LG

In view of a murder incident in Baljit Nagar, Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia on Sunday wrote a letter to Lieutenant Governor VK Saxena appealing to him to take cognisance of his constitutional duty of maintaining public order. In the letter, he said the crime graph in the city has increased and it seems that Delhi has become the capital of crime. He also mentioned the worsening law and order situation in Delhi. "The constitution has given the responsibility to maintain law and order in Delhi to you (LG) and the police directly reports to you. I request you to kindly pay some attention towards this," Sisodia said in the letter. "If you dedicate some time in streamlining the deteriorating law and order situation in the city then it will benefit the general public of Delhi," he added. Sisodia also listed a number of recent crime incidents that took place in the city. He said two days back some goons battered a youth to death in broad daylight in Baljit Nagar similarly last wee

Interpol event to affect Traffic in central Delhi from Oct 18-21: Police

Vehicular traffic on Janpath, Ashoka Road and Barakhamba Road, among other roads in central Delhi, will remain affected from October 18 to 21 as the city will host the 90th Annual General Assembly of the Interpol at Pragati Maidan, police said on Sunday. Delegations from 195 countries will attend the event, they said, adding that Prime Minister Narendra Modi will inaugurate it on October 18 and Union Home Minister Amit Shah will address the valedictory function on October 21. The traffic police said the commuters travelling in the vicinity of New Delhi district could encounter delays and may wish to consider alternative routes during the period specified. According to the traffic advisory, the delegates will stay in seven hotels -- The Lalit, The Imperial, Shangri La, Le Meridien, The Oberoi, Hyatt Regency and The Ashok -- and travel to Pragati Maidan, the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium and the airport. Various traffic measures will be put in place to ensure smooth transportation for the

Karnataka CM Bommai to visit Delhi amid possibility of cabinet expansion

With Assembly elections just months away Karnataka CM Basavaraj Bommai said that he would be visiting Delhi to discuss the cabinet expansion with BJP National President JP Nadda and other leaders

Spike in Dengue cases across India, October most vulnerable month

Delhi and many other states including Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal have seen a sudden spurt in dengue cases in the last couple of days

Over 10,000 bottles of illicit liquor destroyed in Delhi: Excise dept

The Delhi government's Excise department on Saturday destroyed more than 10,000 bottles containing 5,516 litres of smuggled liquor seized by its enforcement teams in the recent months, officials said. According to the Excise department, 3,267 litres of illicit liquor was destroyed in Mayur Vihar, 1,285 litres in Sarita Vihar and 964 litres in Tilak Nagar. A large number of liquor bottles were spread on concrete stretches and a road roller was used to crush them, they said. "Seizure of liquor smuggled into Delhi and its destruction is a routine exercise," said a senior Excise department official. The enforcement activity by the department will pick up further once Delhi Police personnel are deputed at its Excise Intelligence Bureau (EIB), the officials said. Thirty nine police personnel deployed at EIB were repatriated to Delhi Police in August. The move came on the heels of a CBI probe recommended by the LG VK Saxena into alleged irregularities in implementation of now scrapped Ex

Delhi: CAQM advises implementation of air pollution norms, warns of action

Intensifying its actions in the battle against air pollution in Delhi-NCR in the coming days, the Commission for Air Quality Management in NCR and Adjoining Areas (CAQM) urged all concerned including Industries and Project Proponents of Construction and Demolition (C & D) sites to strictly follow the statutory directions issued by the Commission, said the officials on Saturday.The general masses have also been advised to strictly follow the steps highlighted in the Citizen Charter in each stage of the Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP) in the coming days.The 40 inspection teams/ flying squads constituted by the Commission are under directions to intensify inspections, supervise and rigorously monitor enforcement and compliance of statutory directions issued by the Commission to ameliorate the air quality of Delhi-NCR.These flying squads will conduct surprise inspections and field-level incognito checks at industrial units, C & D sites, commercial/ residential units, air ...

Sisodia calls for adopting Delhi electricity model across country

Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia on Friday called for adopting the Delhi electricity model across the country, observing that focus should be on providing affordable or free supply to people, an official statement said. Participating in the state power ministers' meet at Udaipur, Sisodia said making electricity prices flexible like that of petrol and diesel will prove to be harmful for the people and power tariff will never come under control, it said. "If the electricity rates fluctuate on the basis of prices of other commodities in the market, this step of the central government can prove to be dangerous and all the burden will come on the common people," the statement quoting Sisodia said. In the 21st century, electricity is a basic necessity and in such a situation, the government's focus should be on providing 24-hour power supply at affordable rates or for free to the poor public, he said. People pay taxes to the government and expect good education, health, electricity,

Delhi BJP leaders hold protest outside AAP HQ against Gopal Italia

Delhi BJP leaders and workers including its Mahila Morcha activists staged a protest outside Aam Aadmi Party headquarters here on Friday, asking for removal of the AAP's Gujarat chief Gopal Italia. The AAP leaders have crossed all limits of decency as was exemplified by Italia through his "abusive" language targeting the Prime Minister Narendra Modi, alleged Leader of Opposition in Delhi Assembly Ramvir Singh Bidhuri. "AAP convener Arvind Kejriwal should remove such leaders from the party and apologise to the countrymen for their foul language," Bidhuri said. Delhi BJP vice presidents Virendra Sachdeva and Rajan Tiwari, Mahila Morcha president Yogita Singh, incharge of the Morcha Barkha Singh and other leaders of the party participated in the protest. Italia was on Thursday detained here for nearly three hours by the Delhi Police after he appeared before the National Commission for Women (NCW) in connection with his alleged comments against Modi amid protests by AAP members outside

Delhi Excise policy case: ED raids 25 new locations in national capital

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Friday raided at least 25 locations in the national capital as part of its ongoing money laundering investigation into the now-scrapped Delhi Excise policy, officials said. The premises covered under the search operation belong to private entities linked to liquor dealership and distributorship, they said. The federal agency has conducted multiple raids in this case till now and had also arrested Sameer Mahandru, a liquor businessman and managing director of liquor manufacturing company Indospirit, last month in the case. The money laundering case stems from a CBI FIR that had named Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia as an accused among others. The scheme came under the scanner after the Delhi LG recommended a CBI probe into the alleged irregularities in the implementation of Delhi's Excise Policy 2021-22. He had also suspended 11 excise officials in the matter.

CP smog tower has noticeable impact on Delhi air pollution: Gopal Rai

The smog tower at Connaught Place here has a noticeable impact on air pollution up to a distance of 300 metres, Delhi Environment Minister Gopal Rai said on Friday. Within a radius of 50 metres, the giant air purifier is able to cut down air pollution by 70 to 80 per cent. It reduces pollution levels by 15 to 20 per cent beyond 300 metres, he told reporters. Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal inaugurated the over 24-metre-high smog tower at Connaught Place on August 23 last year. The city government had formed a team of experts from the Delhi Pollution Control Committee, IIT-Bombay, NBCC and Tata Projects to study its impact over two years. Officials had earlier said the Rs 20 crore smog tower can purify the air in a one-km radius at a rate of around 1,000 cubic metres per second. Rai said the construction of more smog towers in the capital would depend on the success of the pilot project. The smog tower at Baba Kharak Singh Marg has 5,000 coarse filters and 5,000 fine filters develo

Delhi govt allocates Rs 25 cr for Chhath Puja celebrations at 1,100 sites

The Delhi government has made grand preparations for Chhath Puja at 1,100 sites and allocated Rs 25 crore for the festival, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal said on Friday. Chhath will be celebrated on October 30 and 31. During a digital media briefing, the chief minister said his government has made preparations such as washrooms, ambulances, first-aid and power backup at the sites. He stressed that the Delhi Police was fully supporting in the security aspect and CCTV cameras would be installed at various locations. "For the last two years, the festivities were affected due to the pandemic. Since the formation of our government in 2014, the celebrations have become bigger. Earlier before we came to power, the government would allocate Rs 2.5 crore for making preparations at 69 sites, but now, the budget has grown to 25 crore and the sites to 1,100," Kejriwal said. He urged people to pray to Chhathi Maiyya not just for themselves but for the country for relief from the coronavirus.

Moderate air quality in Delhi with min temperature at 19 degrees Celsius

Delhiites on Friday woke up to clear sky with the minimum temperature settling at 19 degrees Celsius. The weather office has predicted the maximum temperature is expected to settle at 31 degrees Celsius. The relative humidity was recorded at 84 per cent at 8:30 am. The minimum and maximum temperature readings on Thursday were 18.5 degrees Celsius and 30.3 degrees Celsius respectively. The air quality index (AQI) of Delhi was recorded in the moderate (128) category around 9:15 AM, data from the SAFAR showed. An AQI between zero and 50 is considered good, 51 and 100 satisfactory, 101 and 200 moderate, 201 and 300 poor, 301 and 400 very poor, and 401 and 500 severe.

Work underway on Delhi's stretches marked for redevelopment, beautification

The Delhi government has identified several stretches of roads for redevelopment and beautification under its streetscaping project

Air quality likely to worsen in next few days due to stubble burning

Now that the rains and strong winds have stopped, the national capital will witness air pollution rising, said Dr Ravi Kant Pathak

SC refuses urgent hearing on plea against firecracker ban in Delhi

The Supreme Court on Thursday refused to accord urgent hearing to a plea against an order banning storage, sale, and use of all types of firecrackers in the national capital till January 1, 2023. A bench of Chief Justice U U Lalit and Justice Bela M Trivedi asked the lawyer, who mentioned the matter seeking urgent hearing, to approach the Delhi High Court. "Let the high court decide, we will not get into this," the bench said. The lawyer, who sought the urgent hearing, submitted before the bench that the high court has taken a view that the matter is pending before the Supreme Court and listed it on October 18. The Delhi High Court had earlier deferred hearing on the plea of green cracker merchants against an order banning storage, sale, and use of all types of firecrackers till January 1. The petitioners contended that the absolute ban by the Delhi Pollution Control Committee is in contravention of the orders of the Supreme Court and the National Green Tribunal, which never provi

Delhi sees season's first fog; air quality enter poor category by weekend

Delhi reported the season's first episode of fog on Wednesday morning which lowered visibility levels to 350 metres in some parts of the capital. The city recorded a minimum temperature of 20.2 degrees Celsius, a notch below the normal. The maximum temperature settled at around 31 degrees Celsius. Senior scientist at the India Meteorological Department (IMD) R K Jenamani said the increased moisture content in the air due to a prolonged spell of rain and low temperatures led to the formation of moderate fog in Delhi. "This is the capital's first fog of the season," he said. According to the IMD, very dense fog is when visibility is between 0 and 50 metres, 51 and 200 is dense, 201 and 500 moderate, and 501 and 1,000 metres shallow . Another IMD official said visibility at the Safdarjung Observatory, Delhi's primary weather station, had dropped to 600 metres and to 350 metres at the Palam weather station at 8.30 am. This improved to 2,100 metres at Palam by 9 am and at Safdarjung

Delhi govt schools top India School Ranking; Kejriwal lauds education team

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Wednesday congratulated the education team and said two government schools in the national capital have topped the ranking for state government day schools in the country. Kejriwal in a tweet said, "Proud of my Team Education. Once again, Delhi Govt schools top the Education World School Rankings, with the best state govt school in India." The government-run Rajkiya Pratibha Vikas Vidyalaya, Sector 10, Dwarka secured the first rank and Rajkiya Pratibha Vikas Vidyalaya, Yamuna Vihar came second in the ranking released by Education World (EW), a portal for educators, teachers and parents which comes out with rankings for schools every year. Five schools in the top 10 are from Delhi, he said. Congratulating the Education team of the Delhi government, he termed the "achievement" an "amazing feat".

MCD brings auto approval for name addition in birth certificate up to 4 yrs

The Municipal Corporation of Delhi on Tuesday announced that the name of a child can be added to the birth certificate online up to four years after birth and it will be approved automatically. Earlier, the online process took 7-10 days, a senior official said. "Now, parents or guardians can get names added in birth certificates of children online up to four years after their birth, and the process will be approved automatically," he said. Many parents approached the civic body saying they needed to submit documents in schools for admission of their children and due to longer waiting time for approval from the civic authorities, they were facing hassles, the official said. "The Municipal Corporation of Delhi has taken an important step for the convenience of citizens and simplification of system. In order to empower citizens in the process of registration of birth, by providing auto approval for online name addition of a child, up to four years after child birth," the MCD said in a

Bollywood stars, corporate bosses fire up Mumbai, Delhi luxury house mkts

Experts attribute the trend to stamp duty cut by Maharashtra govt, reduction of prices by developers saddled with unsold inventory

CCTV cams, panic buttons: Features of newly inducted cluster buses in Delhi

Pink seats for women, CCTV cameras and panic buttons with hooters -- these are some of the features in the 50 new cluster buses flagged off by Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal here on Tuesday. The buses, flagged off from the Rajghat depot here, are Bharat Stage VI emission standard compliant and are equipped with Intelligent Transportation system (ITS), CCTV cameras and panic buttons with hooter for safety of women passengers. The low-floor buses have pink seats for women and the live feed from the vehicles will be streamed to the Central Command and Control Centre (CCC), officials said. The buses are equipped with GPS and have Heating Ventilation and Air Conditioning (HVAC) System along with Fire Detection and Suppression system. These buses will operate from the newly constructed bus depot at Bawana's Sector-5 and is aimed at improving rural connectivity. As on date, cluster buses operate on 360 routes. These buses will operate on six additional routes. The new routes include Baw