SKM said that it will hold a meeting at Singhu Border tomorrow (file)Delhi News Updates: SKM issued a statement on Wednesday saying that a consensus has been reached to accept the governmentâs draft proposal and a meeting will be held on Thursday to decide on calling off the protests.
A statement issued by SKM reads: “Samyukta Kisan Morcha confirms to have received a revised draft proposal from the Government of India and that a consensus has been arrived at within SKM, accepting the proposal. Now, a formal communication signed on the Government’s letterhead is awaited. SKM will meet again tomorrow at twelve noon, at Singhu Border, to take a formal decision thereafter to lift the morchas.”
Earlier, Yogendra Yadav said, âIn the new draft proposal of the government, sarkar se saath saari maangon par purn sehmati ban gyi hai. Another SKM meeting has been called for 12 pm tomorrow. Agar ye sabb aupcharik tareeke se mohar lag kar kal aa jaega, tab future course decide karenge.â
In other news, patients at several Delhi hospitals were forced to return as emergency and other services were shut due to resident doctors at Centre-run hospitals boycotting work in protest against the delay in NEET-PG 2021 counselling. The health crisis in the city could aggravate further as doctors under the North Delhi Municipal Corporation have also threatened to stage a stir.
Resident doctors of three Centre-run hospitals boycotted routine and emergency services starting Monday over delay in NEET-PG 2021 counselling.
Meanwhile, the air quality in Delhi improved with light rainfall. The India Meteorological Department (IMD) has predicted a gradual fall in minimum temperature by around 2 to 4 degree Celsius over most parts of northwest, central and east India during the next four to five days. The cityâs 24-hour average AQI stood at 255 on Tuesday, in the âpoorâ category, according to the Central Pollution Control Board.
Manori at her home, which was rebuilt after being set ablaze during the riots. (Express photo)
The national capital reported 65 coronavirus cases and one fatality in a day while the positivity rate rose marginally to reach 0.11 per cent, according to data shared by the health department here on Wednesday.
Delhi has recorded two deaths due to the viral disease in December so far. Seven fatalities were reported in November, four in October and five in September.
With the new cases, the Covid infection tally in the city climbed to 14,41,514. Of this, over 14.16 lakh patients have recovered. The death toll was 25,100. (PTI)
Five people, including a cab driver and a goldsmith, were arrested here in a case in which people were offered lifts and then robbed of their valuables, police said on Wednesday. One of them, Vijay Kumar, used to offer rides to single passengers to their destination at a nominal price and then loot them after travelling a short distance from the pick-up point, they said.
Besides Kumar, a resident of Mangolpuri, Shahnoor and Arif, both residents of Khajoori, and goldsmith Sunny Verma, and Sazid were also arrested, police said. Verma and Sazid have been released for now, they said. (PTI)
Authorities here on Wednesday issued show-cause notices to Air India and Vistara for not complying with passenger boarding guidelines issued by the Centre following the emergence of Omicron variant of the coronavirus.
They said four international passengers, one in Air India and three from Vistara, were allowed to board flights without filling their self-declaration forms (SDF).
According to the guidelines issued by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare on November 30, airlines are directed to allow boarding to only those international passengers who have filled up their personal details on Air Suvidha portal and uploaded the negative RT-PCR test report.
The Vasant Vihar sub-divisional magistrate under New Delhi district has asked the deputy general manager of Air India and the airport manager of Vistara to respond to the show-cause notices within 24 hours "without fail". (PTI)
The Delhi University has sought Rs 100 crore from the University Grants Commission (UGC) for starting three BTech programmes -- Computer Science, Electronics and Communications and Electrical Engineering -- under its Faculty of Technology for setting up infrastructure facilities.
According to a proposal submitted by the university to the UGC, it has requested that positions for teaching and non-teaching staff be sanctioned at the earliest so that the programmes can be initiated.
"In order to implement this initiative and further the cause of implementation of the National Education Policy (NEP) through introduction of the Btech courses mentioned above, the university would require Rs 100 crore as financial support to set up infrastructure facilities in terms of state-of-the-art laboratories, classrooms and other attendant facilities.
“The university would require Rs 25 crore annually for next four financial years with effect from 2021-22," according to the proposal. (PTI)
Delhi's INA fruit and vegetable market becomes the first market to be certified as the 'clean and fresh fruit and vegetable market' in the national capital by the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI), said an official statement.
The FSSAI 'Clean and Fresh Fruit & Vegetable Market' aims to revolutionise fruit and vegetable markets by promoting availability of safe and hygienic fruits and vegetables to consumers.
"INA fruit and vegetable market is the first market to be certified "clean and fresh fruit and vegetable market" by @fssaiindia as the hard work of FSD team South East bore fruit. @LtGovDelhi @MoHFW_INDIA @CMODelhi @SaJa_Office @DelhiDfw @msisodia @KumarBibhav @vinodtweets007," tweeted the Delhi government's Food Safety department on Tuesday.
To get the certification, a pre-audit of the market was carried out wherein the food business operators (FBO) of INA Fruit and Vegetable Market were jointly inspected by the state regulatory authority and FSSAI empanelled auditing agency, it said in a statement. (PTI)
Two alleged sharpshooters of Kala Jathedi gang were arrested from northwest Delhi's Bharat Nagar area, police said on Wednesday. The accused have been identified as Ankit (18), a resident of Jaunti village, and Aashu (18), a resident of Kutubhgarh village, they said.
Police made the arrests on Tuesday during a patrol in Sangam Park area. When they were passing through the underpass road, near Gufa wala Mandir around 7.30 pm, they saw two persons coming on a motorcycle without number plate, a senior police officer said.
When the accused saw the police, they tried to flee but were intercepted, said Deputy Commissioner of Police (northwest) Usha Rangnani. Two semi-automatic pistols along with four live cartridges were recovered from their possession and their bike was also found stolen from Adarsh Nagar area, the officer added. (PTI)
A statement issued by SKM reads: "Samyukta Kisan Morcha confirms to have received a revised draft proposal from the Government of India and that a consensus has been arrived at within SKM, accepting the proposal. Now, a formal communication signed on the Government's letterhead is awaited. SKM will meet again tomorrow at twelve noon, at Singhu Border, to take a formal decision thereafter to lift the morchas."
Yogendra Yadav says, “In the new draft proposal of the government, sarkar se saath saari maangon par purn sehmati ban gyi hai. Another SKM meeting has been called for 12 pm tomorrow. Agar ye sabb aupcharik tareeke se mohar lag kar kal aa jaega, tab future course decide karenge.”
The Delhi High Court on Wednesday sought response from AAP leader Raghav Chadha and Delhi Jal Board (DJB) on BJP leader Ramvir Singh Biduri's challenge to the summons issued to him on their defamation complaint and stayed the trial court proceedings in the case. The case was heard by Justice Manoj Kumar Ohri who listed it for further hearing in March.
The Leader of Opposition in the Delhi Assembly contended in his petition that the defamation complaint and proceedings against him are an abuse of process of law. The complaint, filed jointly by DJB vice chairperson and Chadha, claimed that Biduri and other BJP leaders indulged in a malicious campaign to tarnish their reputation.
The complaint had alleged that on January 21, a press conference was held by the accused persons who levelled allegations of corruption against DJB and Chadha. According to the complaint, the accused had deliberately made defamatory statements in spite of knowing that such allegations were false and would tarnish the image of complainants. (PTI)
A Delhi court while dismissing a suit on trademark infringement earlier this month borrowed from poems written by American poets, and a verse from the Bhagavad Gita.
The District Judge (Commercial Court) at Tis Hazari court, Man Mohan Singh, passed the order on December 1, ruling in favour of the defendant, Hiveloop Technology Private Ltd, which was taken to court by the plaintiff, TTK Prestige Ltd, a kitchen appliances manufacturer, for allegedly selling its products without consent.
The court passed a summary judgment in which it decided the issue without ordering a trial. However, to substantiate the need to “save precious time by focusing on the areas of actual dispute”, the court relied on the poems. Read more
SKM meeting at Singhu border about to begin. AIKS president Ashok Dawale says, “After the SKM meeting yesterday, we submitted our objections in the draft proposal to the government. Today morning, the government sent a revised draft addressing some of those concerns. We will discuss them in the meeting and take a call on the future course of the agitation."
The Delhi High Court Tuesday said its confidence in the administration of Jamia Millia Islamia was “severely shaken” and slammed it for taking an ambiguous stand on the admission policy of its schools. By the end of the day, the university apologised to the court, withdrew its December 1 policy and submitted a new policy before it.
Jamia Millia Islamia runs Mushir Fatima Nursery School, Jamia Middle School, Jamia Senior Secondary School and Syed Abid Husain Senior Secondary School. A petition before the court accused the university of engaging in “nepotism and favouritism” in admissions to the paid category seats of Syed Abid Husain Senior Secondary School. The varsity termed the allegation vague and baseless. Read more
Actor Jacqueline Fernandez on Wednesday appeared before the ED here for a fresh round of questioning in a money laundering investigation involving alleged conman Sukesh Chandrashekhar and others.
The agency will record the statement of the 36-year-old actor under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), officials said.
She has been grilled by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) earlier at least twice in this case during which she was also confronted with Chandrshekhar. Read more
The air quality in Delhi is likely to be in the ‘poor’ to ‘moderate’ category on Wednesday, the Air Quality Early Warning System forecast informed.
AQI between 201 and 300 is considered ‘poor’, while that which falls in the 101 to 200 range is categorised as ‘moderate.’ On Tuesday, the 24-hour average AQI for the city was 255. Read more
For over three decades, 67-year-old Manori called a two-storey building in Northeast Delhi’s Bhagirathi Vihar her home.
Since February 2020, however, the structure has undergone a makeover, with the red bricks outside giving way to a coat of blue and saffron flower patterns adorning the walls. Underneath the fresh coat of paint, though, are old scars — of her home being set ablaze during the riots.
On February 25, a mob of over 100 barged into the house and set it ablaze. Manori escaped with her daughter and two grandchildren, and spent the next month in a relative’s home. Read more
A Delhi court has framed charges of rioting and attempt to murder against Shahrukh Pathan, who had allegedly pointed a gun at a police officer during the 2020 Delhi riots, while rejecting his plea seeking discharge.
A photograph of Pathan pointing a gun at Delhi Police Head Constable Deepak Dahiya had surfaced on social media during the communal riots last year. He was arrested on March 3, 2020, and is currently lodged in Tihar Jail.
While framing the charges, additional sessions judge Amitabh Rawat said it was quite apparent that Pathan led a group of rioters, attempted on Dahiya's life, obstructed and used criminal force on a public servant on February 24, 2020.
The judge charged Pathan under sections 147 (punishment for rioting), 148 (rioting armed with a deadly weapon), 186 (obstructing public servant in discharge of duty), and 188 (disobedience to order duly promulgated by public servant) of the IPC. ---PTI
Dismissing a man’s plea challenging the payment of maintenance to his estranged wife, a Delhi court said an aggrieved woman needs economic support and that every able-bodied man is bound to maintain his wife and not give excuses.
Principal District and Sessions Judge Ramesh Kumar passed the order on December 2 observing, “It is settled law that the appellant, being the husband of the respondent, cannot escape from his moral duty of providing maintenance to his wife. The Domestic Violence Act, 2005, is aimed at strengthening the economic independence of a woman.” Read more
"It is not entirely clear when when all our demands will be met. If we go back and the government delays, then it will be a problem for us. We will not move till all our demands are met" said BKU chief Gurnam Singh Charuni at a meeting held in New Delhi today.
The Delhi transport department and the traffic police have impounded as many as 1,882 diesel cars older than 10 years and petrol cars older than 15 years between November 17 and December 6, data from the environment department of the Delhi government has revealed.
The enforcement drive was ramped up following the deterioration in air quality in the national capital. Read more
Four more international travellers were sent to the Lok Nayak Hospital in Delhi on Tuesday to test them for the presence of the Omicron variant of novel coronavirus. Thirty international travellers are currently admitted at the hospital and among these, 25 have tested positive for Covid-19 and five are suspected cases or contacts of those who tested positive.
There has been only one confirmed case of the Omicron variant in Delhi. Genome sequencing reports of around 18 people are awaited. Read more
An urgent meeting of the SKM 5 member committee will be held at 10 am at the All India Kisan Sabha (AIKS) office at KG Marg in Delhi.
The committee members will deliberate on the amendments to the draft proposal of the Centre and wait for a response from the Government, before heading to Singhu border for SKM's meeting at 2 pm.
The Delhi Police Special Cell arrested three men including a professional disc jockey and a wrestler for allegedly smuggling illegal arms into Delhi and other states. Police said the accused were caught with more than two dozen semi-automatic pistols.
According to officials, two Special Cell teams — North and New Delhi Range — caught two arms suppliers, Pankaj Kumar and Jitender, from Rohini on Monday.
Police found the duo were carrying arms and were waiting to deliver them.
“The team had been looking for illegal arms traders in the area. Around 1 pm Monday, we found the accused were in the Rohini area. They were caught in a car with 15 pistols,” said Rajiv Ranjan Singh, DCP (Special Cell).
The Samyukta Kisan Morcha, an umbrella body of over 40 farm unions, said it has replied to the government's proposal seeking an end to its protest demanding clarification on certain points, including on the precondition set for withdrawal of "fake" cases against farmers.
Farmer leaders said they will hold another meeting at 2 pm on Wednesday on the issue.
The government sent a proposal, it was discussed and presented before all members of the Samyukta Kisan Morcha (SKM), farmer leader Balbir Singh Rajewal said.
The government's proposal said that it will form a committee to look into the demand for a legal guarantee on minimum support price (MSP) and the panel will include farmer organisations outside the SKM, government officials and representatives of states, he said. (PTI)
Ahead of SKM's meeting on Tuesday at Singhu border, Ashok Dhawale, who is part of the five-member committee formed on Saturday to discuss pending demands with the Central Government, said that it was quite unfortunate that in the last three days, the government had not reached out to the committee.
'They (government) had asked for a smaller committee, which has been constituted. If the government refuses to talk, then we will ramp up and intensify the agitation. In today's meeting, we will decide on the strategy and future course of action,' he said.
The Delhi Police has arrested a 29-year-old man from Bhalswa Dairy in Outer-North district for allegedly killing his three-month-old son after his wife asked him to look after the infant while she prepared food.
The complainant, Nisha, told the police that she works at Azadpur Mandi while her husband stays at home and looks after their child. “The incident took place on December 3 when Nisha, after returning home, found her husband Ravi consuming liquor. He asked her to make food and she told him to look after their child, but he got irked and started abusing her,” a senior police officer said. Read more
A Delhi court on Monday discharged the vice principal of a private school based in Delhi Cantt for allegedly making casteist remarks against an employee of the school noting that the complainant failed to reveal that there was an intentional insult with an intent to humiliate the victim at a place within public view.
Additional Sessions Judge Dharmender Rana discharged the accused, who is a woman, under sections of SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act noting that the investigating officer of the case tried to “fill up the lacunae” in the case by filing a supplementary chargesheet. Read more
Delhi BJP president Adesh Gupta has written to mayors of municipal corporations and asked them to conduct a survey to ensure that no liquor shop is allowed to operate in violation of municipal or master plan guidelines.
“It has been brought to my knowledge by residents welfare associations from across the city that liquor shops and bars are being opened in non-conforming areas like mixed land use streets, in residential areas, in close vicinity to schools and religious places and rural areas where the opening of liquor shops is not permitted, not only under municipal guidelines but the Delhi Master Plan 2021 guidelines as well,” he said in the letter. Read more
Over-admission has not been limited to prominent Delhi University (DU) colleges this year as several lesser-known colleges have also seen more students joining than the number of seats on offer, a DU panel report that assessed multiple undergraduate programmes reveals.
The most staggering case is that of BA (Honours) History at Dyal Singh College. With a capacity of 77 seats, the college had set a relatively low cut-off at 94 per cent for unreserved seats. The report records 327 admissions to the programme, more than four times the number of seats. Read more
The air quality in Delhi is likely to improve to be in the ‘poor’ category on Tuesday, according to the Air Quality Early Warning System.
On Monday, the capital had an AQI of 322 which was in the ‘very poor’ category. On Sunday, the AQI had reached 305, as per the Central Pollution Control Board.
The monitoring stations that continued to record a 24-hour average AQI in the ‘very poor’ category on Tuesday morning included Anand Vihar, Shadipur, NSIT Dwarka, RK Puram, Punjabi Bagh, Nehru Nagar, Dwarka Sector 8, Jahangirpuri, and Dr. Karni Singh Shooting Range. Read more
The Delhi Metro Rail Corporation on Monday told the Delhi High Court that it was not in a position to pay the entire amount of the 2017 arbitral award, pertaining to the Delhi Airport Metro Express Line, to Anil Ambani-led Reliance Infrastructure-promoted Delhi Airport Metro Express Pvt Ltd (DAMEPL).
The Supreme Court in September upheld the 2017 arbitral award favouring DAMEPL.
DAMEPL has now filed a petition before the HC seeking enforcement of the arbitration award, saying that it is in a huge financial crisis and is unable to make repayments to banks and other financial institutions. Read more
In the first conviction in a Northeast Delhi riots case, a Delhi court Monday convicted a man accused of trespassing into a woman’s home and setting it on fire on February 25, 2020.
Additional Sessions Judge Virender Bhatt convicted Dinesh Yadav under sections of rioting and arson of the IPC. A detailed order is awaited.
Arguments on sentence will be heard on December 22. The convict is facing two other riot cases. This is the second judgement passed in a riots case — the first was passed in July in which the court acquitted a 27-year-old man accused of looting a shop, thinking it belonged to a Muslim man. Read more
Kanta Prasad Pal’s wife Monolata lay on a stretcher outside Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital, waiting for someone to treat her. The couple, who are visually impaired, had come from Noida’s Sector 68. “She is a dialysis patient, and her condition is worsening; she has had fever for two days. I can’t afford private treatment; I lost my job during Covid. We waited for an hour and are now returning as we have been refused admission,” said Pal, 40.
Like Monolata, patients at several Delhi hospitals were forced to return as emergency as well as other services were hit due to resident doctors at Centre-run hospitals boycotting work in protest against the delay in NEET-PG 2021 counselling. Read more
A 58-year-old man, who was returning to his home after duty, died allegedly after an unidentified vehicle hit his bicycle in northwest Delhi's Mahendra Park area, police said on Monday.
Ramyash, resident of northwest Delhi's Siraspur area, was a machine operator at a cold storage in Azadpur area, they said.
According to police, the accident took place on December 4 at around 10.30 pm when the victim was on his way home from work. He was taken to a nearby hospital where he was declared brought dead, a senior police officer said. (PTI)
Delhi Skill and Entrepreneurship University began a three-day orientation programme for its inaugural batch on Monday.
According to officials, the university has received an overwhelming response to its 11 flagship courses, including Digital Media and Design, Medical Laboratory Technology and Data Analytics.
DSEU vice chancellor Neharika Vohra told the students, "You all are now a part of the skill revolution of Delhi. With DSEU, our aim is to bring in a change to the higher education system, making it up-to-date to the present needs of the market. This is an important long due step towards revolutionising the education system of Delhi. We are happy to provide the youth of Delhi the opportunity and means to attain skills and expertise in the domain of their choice." (PTI)
Three more international travellers -- two COVID-19 positive and another suspected case -- were admitted on Monday to the Delhi government-run Lok Nayak Hospital's special facility for isolating and treating those infected with the new variant Omicron, officials said.
"There are a total of 26 people -- 19 positive cases and 7 suspected cases -- in the facility at present. Of the three international travellers who arrived today, two have been found COVID-19 positive. All three are Indians and have come from Dubai, France and the UK," Medical Director Suresh Kumar said.
Delhi reported its first case of Omicron on Sunday -- a 37-year-old fully vaccinated man who arrived in Delhi from Tanzania. (PTI)
The New Delhi district authorities on Monday issued a show-cause notice to Etihad Airways for allegedly violating the Centre's guidelines for international passenger arrivals at the IGI airport here, amid concerns over the Omicron variant of coronavirus.
A reply to the notice has been sought from the station manager of the airlines within 24 hours.
The notice by Vasant Vihar sub-divisional magistrate stated the norm of random testing of two per cent passengers was "not followed" in two flights of Etihad Airways from Abu Dhabi that landed at the Indira Gandhi International (IGI) airport in Delhi on Sunday and Monday.
"A sub-section (2 per cent of the total flight passengers) will undergo post-arrival testing at random at the airport on arrival. The 2 per cent of such travellers in each flight will be identified by the concerned airlines (preferably from different countries)," the notice stated.
"It has come to notice that the above directions were not followed by you," it said citing the two flights from Abu Dhabi. (PTI)
The Delhi High Court on Monday asked the Centre and Army to explain how an independent sports body was functioning from the land belonging to the defence forces at Delhi Cantonment.
The court was hearing a petition filed by Rajasthan Equestrian Association with regard to its disputes against the Equestrian Foundation of India when it came across the address showing that the latter was functioning from ‘B Squadron, 61 Cavalry, Cariappa Marg, Delhi Cantt’. Read more
Close to a week after new guidelines came into effect at the Delhi airport against the backdrop of a new Covid variant, international passengers continued to complain of chaos, crowding, and long wait times to get tested. Several passengers who arrived early on Monday also called the airport a potential ‘Covid hotspot’ and claimed there are no provisions for food, water or charging points.
While the central government and airport officials have ramped up services and deployment to deal with rising Omicron cases, incoming passengers, especially those from ‘at-risk’ countries, said they are forced to wait at least three-six hours. Read more
Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Monday urged people not to panic in the wake of detection of a case of the Omicron variant of coronavirus in Delhi while appealing them to adhere to social distancing and use face masks to protect themselves from the viral infection.
The situation emerging following the detection of the latest variant of SARS-CoV-2 was being monitored closely and adequate arrangements for beds and medicines would be made, he said at a briefing.
Delhi reported its first case of the Omicron variant on Sunday. A 37-year-old man who arrived in Delhi from Tanzania tested positive for Omicron. According to officials, he has been admitted to the Lok Nayak Jai Prakash Hospital and has mild symptoms.
"Omicron has entered the country and its cases have been found at many places, including Delhi. I want to appeal to the people not to panic and maintain social distancing and use a facemask," he said. (PTI)
Six more deaths due to dengue have been reported in the national capital, taking the total number of fatalities due to the vector-borne disease reported in Delhi this year to 15, according to a municipal report released on Monday. The number of dengue cases jumped to over 8,900.
Till November 29, the official dengue death tally, maintained by the South Delhi Municipal Corporation, had stood at nine. These nine victims included a three-year-old girl and a minor boy.
According to the civic body's report on vector-borne diseases released on Monday, a total of 8,975 dengue cases and 15 deaths have been recorded this season till December 4. (PTI)
A Delhi court refused the request of a northeast Delhi riot accused, facing trial for pointing a weapon at a policeman, to be produced in court in a separate jail van, observing that “he cannot dictate anyone how he should be brought in the court”.
Sharukh Pathan is facing trial for the attempt to murder of a Delhi Police Head Constable during the northeast Delhi riots. Read More
Amid concern over Omicron cases, Delhi Health Minister Satyendar Jain said on Monday that there is no possibility of a lockdown as of now. “No possibility of a lockdown in Delhi right now. We will implement a graded response action plan if cases rise,” he said.
The Delhi High Court has asked the Centre to consider on “priority” the option of deputing a judicial member from the subordinate judiciary as a stop-gap arrangement in Debt Recovery Tribunals (DRTs) here till appointments are made to fill up the vacancies.
The high court said considering the fact that there is no judicial member presently occupying any of the DRTs in Delhi and even Debt Recovery Appellate Tribunals (DRAT) are headless, the Union of India should consider this option on priority.
“We have put it to Mr. Ravi Prakash (Central government standing counsel) that another option available to the respondent no.1 (Department of Financial Services, Ministry of Finance) is to, as a stop-gap arrangement, that is, till the appointments are made in pursuance of the selection process is undertaken, request the High Court to depute a judicial member from the subordinate judiciary,” a bench of Justices Vipin Sanghi and Jasmeet Singh said.
The bench added, “There are past precedents in this regard, however, in the past, the posts were advertised against which judicial member of the subordinate judiciary had applied to serve in the DRTs on deputation.”
The court asked the authorities to explore this option as a stop-gap arrangement, till appointments are made through the selection process which is underway, and directed it to file a status report before the next date of hearing on December 15. (PTI)
Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) Monday told the Delhi High Court that it would deposit within 48 hours Rs 1,000 crore in an escrow account towards an arbitral award of over Rs 4,600 crore in favour of Delhi Airport Metro Express Private Limited (DAMEPL).
DMRC also suggested taking over the Reliance Infrastructure subsidiary's debt to the extent of the award money.
Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, representing DMRC, stated that since the corporation was facing a “financial crunch”, undertaking a “sudden liability” would impact public interest and authorities were therefore working out a solution.
The senior law officer also said that as per their calculation, the amount liable to be paid was approximately Rs 5,000 crore which was lesser than DAMEPL's claim.
“We are working out possibilities etc. Even if we have to pay, we may have to borrow (from banks). If it can be looked into, we can take over your (DAMEPL) debt (and) we will take care of the banks. DMRC can take over the debt and we will deal with the banks,” the Solicitor General told Justice Suresh Kumar Kait who was hearing DAMEPL's plea seeking execution of the arbitral award against DMRC. (PTI)
Actor Kangana Ranaut, who had been asked to appear before the Delhi Assembly Peace and Harmony Committee for comments that could allegedly invoke violence and were derogatory against Sikhs, has sought more time for her deposition. According to committee chairperson Raghav Chadha, she cited personal and professional reasons while seeking an extension. "The Committee will take cognizance of her request and will notify a new date for her appearance," Chadha said.
The Delhi High Court on Monday directed the police to state on record whether there was any prohibition on providing accommodation to the foreign nationals who had come on valid passports and visas to attend the Tablighi Jamaat congregation in March last year. Pulling up the Delhi Police for not answering the court’s queries properly, it said that no investigation has taken place in the cases. “Then your officers don’t deserve to be investigating officers,” Justice Mukta Gupta said after the police failed to answer about the date of arrival of the foreigners in India. (Read Sofi Ahsan's report)
A 25-year-old Nigerian national and his partner were arrested from Delhi’s Uttam Nagar for allegedly cheating hundreds of people online on the pretext of sending them gifts from foreign countries. The duo posed as celebrity managers and mainly targeted “men from Kerala and Tamil Nadu”. The accused, identified as Chinedu (25) and his partner Radhika (24), were arrested by the Kerala Police on Sunday. Cops suspect that the accused managed to earn more than Rs 1.5 crore in the last two years. Read More
"The Omicron variant has entered the country and the city but there is no need to panic. I am monitoring the situation continuously. I request you all to maintain social distancing and wear masks. Wearing masks is very important... In review meetings, we have worked on the availability of beds, medicine and oxygen. There is no need to panic," said Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal.
A meeting titled ‘Gaurakshon ki mahapanchayat’ was held at a Shiva temple in Ghaziabad’s Loni on Sunday protesting against alleged cow-slaughter incidents taking place in the region and demanding the imposition of the National Security Act against those who are accused of slaughtering cows. A group named Gau Raksha Hindu Dal organised the meeting and submitted a memorandum to the district administration seeking the reinstatement of a policeman suspended following the arrest of alleged cow traders and action against Dhaulana MLA Aslam Chaudhary of Samajwadi Party for allegedly threatening Loni MLA Nand Kishor Gurjar of the BJP. Read More
With the first case of Covid cause by the Omicron variant being detected in Delhi, Health Minister Satyendar Jain said the Centre should stop flights coming from countries where the variant has been detected so far. He was reiterating the demand of Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, who has appealed to the Prime Minister on two occasions in the past, asking that flight from these countries be stopped to make sure the new variant does not spread in the country. Read More
Fresh applications for another round of economically weaker section (EWS) admissions in Delhi’s private schools open on Monday.
This will be the third round of the centralised draw of lots for admissions to these schools at their entry-level classes for students from the EWS, disadvantaged groups (DG) and children with special needs (CWSN) categories. The second draw of lots had been conducted on December 3 against applications invited in April, months after only approximately 32,000 students had been allotted schools in the first draw of lots in June. There are around 45,000 such seats across schools in Delhi. (ENS)
The East Delhi Municipal Corporation (EDMC) has intensified its drive against commercial property tax defaulters, like banquet halls, baraat ghars, and hotels and have started sending them notices to seal their properties. A senior EDMC official said several commercial properties have not paid their taxes. Notices have been issued to 12 property holders and more than 25 units have also been sealed, he added. Read More
Around 140 sites have been inspected so far by ‘flying squads’ constituted by the Commission for Air Quality Management (CAQM), to ensure compliance with the Commission’s directions to control air pollution. Sources at the CAQM said that data was not yet available on the action taken against any violations found at these sites. Read More
With the Delhi government’s focus on getting everyone vaccinated before a possible third Covid wave hits, an average of 1.10 lakh people have got vaccinated every day for the past week. On Sunday, 1.6 lakh people got vaccinated, with around 1 lakh getting the second shot. Officials said the government’s focus is now on getting everyone vaccinated with at least one shot by mid-December. Last week, in a meeting with DDMA officials, strategies such as lotteries, cash prizes were discussed to encourage vaccination. Read More
Resident doctors at three Centre-run hospitals in the city will boycott routine and emergency services starting Monday, as protests over delay in the NEET-PG 2021 counselling continue across the nation. Services at the RML Hospital, Safdarjung Hospital and Lady Hardinge Hospital will be affected because of the protests. The Federation of Resident Doctors’ Association (FORDA) has written to Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya, complaining that since no admissions have taken place this academic session yet, healthcare institutions are running short of an adequate workforce. Read More
Delhi has recorded over 50 cases three days in a row since Friday with 63 cases being added to the tally on Sunday. The positivity rate was 0.11 per cent as over 55,000 tests were conducted in a day. The daily case count on Sunday was the highest in four months — since August. The active case count at 370 is the highest since mid-November. There were 54 cases reported on Friday and 51 on Saturday. The city, however, has not seen any Covid deaths in December so far. Seven people died of Covid in November while four died in October. Read More
India’s fifth Omicron case was detected in Delhi as a Tanzania returnee tested positive for the strain. Delhi health minister Satyendar Jain said the patient is currently undergoing treatment at Lok Nayak Hospital. Meanwhile, Punjab Congress chief Navjot Singh Sidhu on Sunday joined the protest of Delhi government schools’ guest teachers, demanding regularisation, outside the residence of CM Arvind Kejriwal. Here are all the events in pictures.
With the first case of Covid caused by the Omicron variant being detected in Delhi, Health Minister Satyendar Jain said the Centre should stop flights coming from countries where the variant has been detected so far.
He was reiterating the demand of Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, who has appealed to the Prime Minister on two occasions in the past, asking that flight from these countries be stopped to make sure the new variant does not spread in the country. Read more
Delhi Development Authority (DDA) officials held a meeting with residents of Sultanpur Dabas village in outer Delhi on the land pooling policy on Sunday.
To address the problem of housing, the DDA has prepared the land pooling policy with the aim to acquire land from owners living in rural areas of the national capital, according to an official statement.
"Moving a step forward in this direction, the DDA's Land Pooling Department today held a meeting with the residents of Sultanpur Dabas village of outer Delhi. The DDA officials told the villagers that they can submit their documents with the DDA till December 24, 2021 to become part of the land pooling exercise," the statement added.
According to Home Multi State Cooperative Housing Society Ltd. chairman Satish Kumar Aggarwal, DDA officials addressed the problems and issues of the villagers related to the land pooling policy. (PTI)
As part of its crackdown on those violating anti-pollution norms, the Delhi Traffic Police issued 108,004 challans in the last two months for related offences as the city continues to battle high air pollution levels, officials said on Sunday.
The crackdown was undertaken to execute the Delhi government's Winter Action Plan against rising air pollution.
According to the data shared by the Delhi Traffic Police, 32,343 of the total challans in the last two months from October 1 to November 30 were issued to owners of vehicles found without valid pollution under control (PUC) certificates. A total of 1,866 challans were issued and 1,104 old vehicles impounded for those found running beyond the permitted 10 years (for diesel vehicles) and 15 years (for petrol-run vehicles).
Joint Commissioner of Police (Traffic) AK Singh said strict action will be taken against those not having PUCC and also those still plying old age petrol and diesel vehicles beyond the specified number of years. (PTI)