Brave heart Rickshaw Puller Chased Attackers; threw stones at them

We Salute the Brave heart rickshaw Puller who Show the Spirit of the Country

Salim, a 26-year-old rickshaw-puller, didn’t cower in fear when he saw the two assailants open fire. He picked up a stone and hurled them at the attackers, turning into an unlikely hero.

He was dropping a passenger at Gate No. 3 when he noticed the two gunmen opening fire on the tourist bus. Seeing Salim charging towards them, the two men panicked and dropped a magazine at the spot. He was also the one who alerted the cops nearby after which the police started chasing them. One of the constables, Pramod, posted at the gate, tried to chase the men.

Both Pramod and Salim have given investigators leads on which the probe will progress. Pramod said the two men were wearing helmets and the pillion rider was armed. Salim, meanwhile, told a famous English Daily that ‘‘one man had the bike’s engine running while the pillion rider had just finished firing the shots. He tried threatening me with the gun, but when he saw that I had a stone in hand, he panicked and dropped several live cartridges on the ground. Before I could reach them, they zoomed off.’’

‘‘I was talking to a customer when I heard the shots and saw the men escaping. My father, who was sitting nearby, told me these were gunshots and that’s why I ran to see what had happened. The men were on the bike and disappeared in a matter of seconds,’’ said B K Srivastav, who owns a shop near Gate No.3.

Other eyewitnesses said a policeman tried to follow the assailants on foot but bent down to pick up the live cartridges instead. Some other policemen reportedly followed the attackers but eventually lost the trail. The eyewitnesses also claimed that the attackers fired a shot in the air near Gate No.5 to get away without any hassle. ‘‘I saw the men zooming past my shop. They were on a Passion Plus bike and the pillion rider was wearing a green shirt while the rider was wearing black. They appeared clean shaven and were quite tall and well-built,’’ said Imran, who owns a shop near Gate No. 5.

‘I heard the shots and at first thought they were Chinese crackers that can be found in the market. It was only later that we realized what had happened,’’ said Abdul Qavi, who lives near Gate No. 5.

It Seems the God of Rains Do Not to Have Games Successful

The month’s wettest day, with heavy rain in the morning and an incessant drizzle thereafter, made Sunday the coldest September day in Delhi in at least five years. The maximum temperature crashed to 23.6 degrees Celsius 10 degrees below normal barely 0.5 degrees above the minimum temperature. The city saw 56.2mm rain till 8.30pm; most of it came between 8.30am and 11.30am.

Records show this is the wettest monsoon in Delhi since 1978. Rainfall since June 1 has touched 949mm, just a shade lower than 965.1mm recorded during the monsoon of 1978. Sunday’s rain also took Delhi’s rainfall during September to 250.6mm, the highest since 1998 when 280.4 mm was recorded.

With heavy rains in northwest India, Delhi faces possibly its worst flood threat this season. The Hathnikund barrage increased its releases from 7pm on Saturday, reaching almost 6.92 lakh cusec on Sunday.

Terrorist Try to Spread Fear But Cannot Wipe Games Spirit

In a strike clearly aimed at creating fear and uncertainty ahead of the Commonwealth Games, two motorcycle-borne assailants opened fire on a group of Taiwanese nationals outside Jama Masjid on Sunday morning. Two tourists were injured in the attack, triggering a clampdown by the Delhi government.

The timing of the attack the anniversary of the Batla House shootout and an email by Indian Mujahideen claiming responsibility, indicate that the planners had focused on sending a ‘message’ rather than inflicting huge damage. It pointed to the continuing strategy of terrorists of picking soft targets like foreign nationals at public places.

More than two hours after the shooting, a Maruti 800 parked close to the site mysteriously caught fire. Later, the bomb disposal squad found a pressure cooker fitted with a crude device, which could be an explosive or an inflammable substance, on the rear seat.

The two Taiwanese victims, Ze-Weiku (35) and Chiang Ko (38), were rushed to Lok Nayak Hospital.

Ze-Weiku had a miraculous escape as a bullet grazed his head while Chiang Ko was hit in the right abdomen. Despite surgery, he is still stated to be critical.

CCTVs didn’t work, removed Installed after 2006 Blasts, the Cameras Didn’t Function; Metal Detectors at Jama Masjid Too Are Faulty

Jama Masjid is located in a congested and sensitive area and should be top priority for security measures, but Sunday’s attack has exposed many lapses on part of the cops.

The historic monument which witnessed two blasts on April 14, 2006 no longer has the 20 CCTV cameras that were installed soon after that incident. The cameras were removed just 15 days ago since they had stopped functioning. The metal detectors installed at the gates are not working properly and the number of policemen deployed at the monument has also thinned down as most of the cops have been put on Commonwealth Games duty.

The two attackers on Sunday fired several times at the tourists in front of Gate No.3 and managed to escaped though the police station is located barely a few hundred metres away. Due to the heavy footfall of foreigners and locals, cops says they find it impossible to scan each and every individual. The traffic congestion and narrow lanes near the mosque make it more vulnerable to such attacks.

After the incident on Sunday, the cops were seen removing vendors from the road, but the damage was already done.

The Shahi Imam of the mosque, Ahmed Bukhari, claimed that the CCTV cameras were installed after ‘‘Delhi Police asked Delhi the wakf board to step up security. Despite repeated requests to the wakf board to make the cameras work, nothing happened. Finally, we got them removed 15 days ago and sent them back to the board,’’ claimed the Imam.

Police said most of the doorframe metal detectors were not working and hence hand-held detectors were used. ‘‘On rush days, it is impossible to check each and every visitor. We have a strong police presence in and around the mosque and all the gates are manned by policemen round the clock,’’ said a police officer.

Meanwhile, the mosque authorities claimed they have been requesting the Union home ministry orally and in writing to increase security measures at Jama Masjid. The Shahi Imam had in May this year written to home minister P Chidambaram seeking upgrading of security at the mosque. He had suggested measures like installation of CCTV cameras and deployment of CRPF personnel. Bukhari said highly trained personnel were needed to man Jama Masjid as it had been targeted by terrorists in 2006.

Syed Yahya Bukhari, the Imam’s younger brother and president of Jama Masjid United Forum, claimed the metal detectors were only for show and could be easily bypassed by people entering the mosque as the police personnel deployed there were not present always. ‘‘Even if some higher authority comes to check whether security measures are in place, the personnel are tipped in advance and they are there on duty when the checking takes place. This doesn’t help anybody,’’ he said.

According to Health Officials Dengue will peak around Games

Delhi may be in the throes of a dengue outbreak but the worst is yet to come. And it will coincide with the Games.

The disease, according to health officials, will peak after September 15 which means that the Games are all set to happen in peak dengue season. The situation, experts say, could have been avoided had the MCD and the Delhi government worked in tandem to preempt it rather than start fire-fighting when it becomes a menace and also trade blame.

The shortcomings were driven home once more on Tuesday when an alarmed Union health ministry asked the city government to step up dengue control measures even as 74 new cases were confirmed, taking the total tally to 937. ‘‘Dengue situation in the capital is alarming. The health secretary is monitoring the situation. We don’t want a dengue scare during the Games,’’ said a health ministry official.

MCD blames massive construction work and the rains for the spurt but does not have answers about why four years after the last outbreak it did not have a game plan to tackle these factors — none of which are unprecedented — in a more effective way. In fact given the cyclical nature of dengue, an outbreak was almost due, doctors say.

‘‘Almost all Games related projects are behind the schedule and the entire city is dug up. The disease will reach its peak after September 15,’’ said Dr V K Monga, chairman of health committee, MCD.

It is the usual blame game with Delhi government putting the onus on MCD and MCD alleging they did not receive enough funds from the city government. ‘‘MCD started awareness drives in July when dengue had already started happening,” said a senior government doctor. Sources said that of the Rs 80 lakh sanctioned for creating public awareness, MCD has spent only Rs 25 lakh.

But MCD officials said funds were not enough. ‘‘We had asked for Rs 79 crore, but they sanctioned only Rs 22 crore of which only Rs 11 crore has been released. We could not hire more domestic breeding checkers and failed to pay salary to existing DBCs,’’ said an official.

Health minister Kiran Walia sang the same tune. ‘‘Our hospitals are ready. But as for preventive measures, the health department can only assist the civic agencies. MCD has been given adequate funds,’’ Walia said.

‘‘The cyclic nature of the disease is responsible for more number of cases every four years, but it should have been uniform. NCR region is not reporting so many cases. Of the 937 cases just 21 odd cases have been reported from outside Delhi,’’ said a senior doctor with National Vector Borne Disease Control Programme.

Now Games Merchandise on Sale from tomorrow

There’s yet another deadline for the merchandise launch. Now, top sources in the organizing committee (OC) of Commonwealth Games 2010 say the Games merchandise will be available from September 2. The products will be available at the store being set up at the OC headquarters on Jai Singh road, opposite Jantar Mantar.

Said a senior OC official, ‘‘The launch has been earmarked for September 2, with the store offering around 25 types of various Games merchandise.’’ The earlier manufacturing company, Premier Brands is back, and is planning to set up a slew of stores before the Games start. Said Suresh Kumar of Premier Brands Limited (PBL), ‘‘In the beginning, we will start with the single store in the OC headquarters, as well as four mobile vans that will take the merchandise to the doorsteps.’’ The vans, which will visit schools, residential areas and shopping malls, will be offering a range of products — from T-shirts and mugs to key-chains, wrist bands, pens and several other memorabilia. The product prices will range from Rs 20-300. Kumar said no product will be priced more than Rs 300 in the first phase of the merchandise launch.

In the second phase, around 5-6 new stores will be set up in the next fortnight in various parts of the city for the sale of merchandise. On September 30, over 65 stores will be opened at all the venues for the sale of Games products, informed Kumar. Meanwhile, PBL also plans to launch a high-end range of products from September 15 for the foreign delegates and players. The products will be the same but of higher quality, and of a higher price range, said Kumar.

The royalty agreement between the OC and PBL remains the same, claimed OC officials, though ‘‘certain concessions’’ have been made to PBL for the late launch, admitted sources. Officials, however, were unwilling to talk about these discussions. Earlier this month, PBL had pulled out of the deal with the OC citing loss in revenue due to the delayed launch for merchandise.

Home Minister Admitted funds for SC/ST Used for Infrastructure Development

Union home minister P Chidambaram on Tuesday admitted in the Rajya Sabha that the Delhi government had erred in diverting funds earmarked for SCs/STs to develop infrastructure for the Commonwealth Games.

Chidambaram made the remark while replying to questions raised in the Upper House over the diversion of over Rs 678 crore from the funds which were to be used for programmes for SCs/STs.

‘‘In my view, prima facie, using Rs 678.91 crore out of Scheduled Caste Sub Plan (SCSP) to contribute for CWG appears to be wrong,’’ home minister P Chidambaram said.

Responding to demands made by MPs, he said this money spent from the SCSP would be brought back to the welfare fund. The minister at the same time maintained that the fund is given to states under two categories divisible and indivisible and the diversion of the fund from indivisible category has been happening in many states.

The minister said the Planning Commission was aware of the matter. Chidambaram said the Planning Commission has constituted a committee headed by one of its members, Narendra Jadhav, to re-examine how the guidelines of the Plan panel on the SCSP Tribal Sub Plan can be implemented properly.

Last Thursday, the government had admitted that over Rs 670 crore meant for SC welfare projects were diverted by the Delhi government for Commonwealth Games, triggering protests in the Rajya Sabha from BJP, BSP and Left.

Between 2006-07 and the current fiscal, out of Rs 7,062.76 crore (under indivisible funds), Rs 678.91 crore was given for the Games projects, Chidambaram had said in the Rajya Sabha on Thursday.

Elevated Road at Barapullah Nullah Shows no Sign of Completition

After missing several deadlines, a semblance of completion of the elevated road on Barapullah Nullah is now being turned into a PR exercise. The last segment all set to be launched on Wednesday afternoon in the presence of PWD minister Raj Kumar Chauhan. There is, however, still no clarity about the actual completion date or when trial runs can start.

Sources in Delhi government said that the minister will launch the lifting of the last segment and the engineers would need three hours to fix it. Chauhan confirmed that he would visit the spot. ‘‘This is a crucial project and we will complete the fixing of all segments on Wednesday. The project will be completely ready by September 14,’’ the minister said.

PWD officials said that by Tuesday night lifting and fixing of 447 of the 448 segments would have been completed. ‘‘The last one will be fixed tomorrow (Wednesday) over the railway tracks. So with this we will complete the main work within the given deadline. It will take another fortnight to complete the finishing work including illumination of the entire stretch,’’ said a senior PWD official.

No decision has yet been taken on the final date for the trial run of the elevated corridor which connects Ring Road near Sarai Kale Khan with Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium. It is supposed to provide seamless transportation for sportspersons and Games officials and as such will be completely taken over by Delhi Police by September 15 as per the set security drill.

Officials say that for the past few weeks several top babus have visited the site along with people from the chief minister’s office. The pace of work on the road has been a major cause for concern and things had for a while seemed headed for the worst when the contractor asked for additional payment for use of launchers. Inspection after inspection has since happened including one by cabinet secretary K M Chandrasekhar and the road kept missing deadlines. It continues to do so even as the PWD minister looks for some publicity out of being present at the launch of the “final” segment after the many inspections that he has carried out there.

The Rs 550 crore project was originally scheduled to be completed in June this year.

Failed MCD Now Seeks People Help in Cleaning Debris

Having failed to clean the city before Commonwealth Games, MCD has now sought public participation. The civic body, along with voluntary organization Let’s Do It Delhi, on Tuesday announced a ‘Clean Delhi Challenge’ to be held on September 11.

The idea is to include community groups, educational institutions and corporate in a special sanitation drive-cum-contest across the city on that day. Mayor Prithvi Raj Sawhney said the initiative will be open to all organizations, residents’ welfare associations, companies, colleges, NGOs and government departments.

‘‘All groups entering the contest will get a certificate from MCD and there will be special winners’ certificates for groups based on the volume of litter collected as well as how clean they have made an area,” Sawhney said.

‘Let’s Do It Delhi’ programme director Anita Bharghav gave the example of Estonia where 50,000 people cleaned up the entire country, collecting 10,000 tonnes of garbage, in five hours. ‘‘We can play our part in improving sanitation conditions in the city. Everybody can join. Let’s do it,’’ she said.

For the challenge, participants will have to choose a location of at least half-a-square kilometer, get their own volunteers or hire cleaners. The litter collected will be taken away by the civic agency later. The winners will be chosen from 12 MCD zones by a panel of judges.

After Poor Games Show Now Tourists have no Interest in CWG

It’s not just the Queen of England uninterested in coming to Delhi for the Commonwealth Games. Ticket sales by the Commonwealth Games Associations (CGA) show that even spectators from Commonwealth countries are not buying tickets for the Delhi Games 2010. As per sales figures, only 16,000 tickets have been sold so far by the 70 CGAs in-charge of selling the tickets in their respective countries. Interestingly, the Jamaican CGA, headed by the Commonwealth Games Federation (CGF) president Michael Fennell, has not been able to sell a single ticket till date.

As per an agreement with the CGF, the organizing committee (OC) of the Delhi Games 2010 has booked 10 per cent of the total ticket allocation for the CGAs, making around 1.7 lakh tickets available to them. Of these, 78,000 are for the spectators. However, only 16,000 tickets, worth around Rs 4 crore, have been sold till now by the CGAs, say sources. What makes the sales figures even more alarming are the fact that CGAs have time till September 5 to sell these tickets, after which, they would revert to the OC. However, with sales being so slow, sources admitted that the chances of more tickets being sold in Commonwealth countries are negligible. Said a source, ‘‘The feedback has been extremely dismal. Till now, at least 50% of the tickets should have been sold.’’

The reasons for the slow sales are varied, said OC sources. From the negative buzz surrounding the Delhi Games 2010 to the lack of appeal of India as a sporting destination, all have been trotted forward to explain the phenomenon of no foreign sales. Officials say while India may have an attraction as an exotic destination, the concept of Delhi as a sports haven hasn’t exactly caught on abroad. The fact that many of these Commonwealth countries also have a small population has also been suggested as a reason. Said an official, ‘‘Some of these countries have a really small population, so expecting a large spectator turnout from these countries is not realistic.’’

Thankfully for the OC, ticket sales in the country have picked up meanwhile. Sources said 79,000 tickets have been sold maximum for the ceremonies. While the opening ceremony has sold over 10,000 tickets, the number is slightly over 5,000 for the closing ceremony. Interestingly, around 117 tickets costing Rs 50,000 each have been sold till now, while 203 tickets of Rs 25,000 each have been taken off the shelf.


As per agreement with the Commonwealth Games Federation, 10% of the tickets have to be given to CWG Associations for sale in Commonwealth countries With the organizing committee (OC) planning to sell 17 lakh tickets, around 1.7 lakh tickets were given to CGAs After deducting sponsors and other tickets for distribution by CGAs, 78,000 tickets for spectators to be sold by CGAs Ticket sales by CGAs till date 16,000 Total sales in India (till Sunday) 78,900 Opening ceremony 10,350 Closing ceremony 5,750 Rs 50,000 (category A) tickets sold 117 Rs 25,000 (category B) tickets sold 203 Rs 5,000 (category C) tickets sold 3,500 Rs 1,000 (category D) tickets sold 5,900 Most tickets sold for hockey 16,000 Least tickets sold for lawn bowl 555

Central Secretariat to Qutub Minar Metro line to be Opened on September 3rd

The much-awaited Central Secretariat to Qutub Minar Metro line will be opened to public at 3pm on September 3. With this, Delhi Metro’s existing Line 2 Central Secretariat to Jehangirpuri will get linked to the Gurgaon section, from Qutub to Huda City Centre, making it the longest Metro line in the city. With trains running at a frequency of three minutes, commuters will be able to cover the 45-km distance in just an hour and 20 minutes at a fare of only Rs 29.

The new section was inspected by the commissioner of metro rail safety (CMRS), RK Kardam, on Monday and Tuesday. He has given the necessary safety clearances. ‘‘The Central Secretariat-Qutub Minar Metro corridor will be inaugurated by Union UD minister S Jaipal Reddy and Delhi CM Sheila Dikshit on September 3 at Udyog Bhawan station. The section will be opened to public at 3pm the same day. A formal clearance of the section from CMRS is expected shortly,’’ said a DMRC spokesperson.

However, even as the opening date for this line was announced, the stations on the underground line appear far from ready. The entry points to the Metro stations are unpaved and dug up at important locations such as AIIMS, Green Park, INA, etc. The way things stand, those headed to the stations will not be able to access them easily.

According to Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC), it has handed over the roads to New Delhi Municipal Council (NDMC) and the pavements outside stations are being redone as part of streetscaping for the Commonwealth Games. ‘‘The digging is part of streetscaping work on the roads, which we have already handed over to the concerned road-owning agencies such as NDMC. The line and stations are totally ready,’’ said a DMRC spokesperson.

Officials revealed that even DMRC is skeptical about the ongoing work outside stations and expects it to be wrapped up before the line is opened on Friday. NDMC, meanwhile, couldn’t be contacted for a response. The opening of the line was slightly delayed after DMRC submitted the necessary documents to CMRS, but had to later provide more documents before a date could be set for the inspection.

The underground Central Secretariat-Qutub Minar section has 11 stations — at Udyog Bhawan, Race Course Road, Jor Bagh, INA, AIIMS, Green Park, Hauz Khas, Malviya Nagar, Saket and Qutub Minar. DMRC plans to run 40 trains on the line at a frequency of three minutes. In all, there will be 34 Metro stations on the line of which 20 are underground and 14 elevated. A total 3.6 lakh commuters are expected to use the section by 2011.