Delhi

The Delhi High Court will on Thursday hear a plea filed by Subha Kumar Dash, the suspended administrative officer of St Stephen’s College here.

Justice Hima Kohli before whom the matter was listed on Wednesday, however, recused herself from hearing the matter as she had studied in the college.

The matter will come up for hearing in another court today. Dash challenged the suspension order, saying it was illegal as it had been passed without the approval of the college’s governing body.

Over 1,500 students from different government schools will on Thursday pay tribute to the Pakistan terror attack victims.

The students from Delhi government and New Delhi Municipal Corporation (NDMC) schools will gather at Central Park in Connaught Place at around 2 pm and pray for the 148 people, including 132 children who were shot dead by Taliban terrorists in Pakistan’s Peshawar city on Tuesday.

According to an NDMC official, the students will light candles and lay white flowers at the base of the largest national flag in the country flown at the Central Park.

Security at a Delhi school was very strict Wednesday, with policemen frisking everyone entering the premises, a day after a school was attacked in Pakistan’s Peshawar city. Pupils said the principal and teachers advised them to be careful, and immediately inform them if they find anything suspicious.

“Soon after the morning assembly prayers, our principal addressed us with the opening line that we should not fear such acts,” said Arjun Narula, a student of Modern School in central Delhi, where police increased security.

The cabbie, who allegedly raped a 27-year-old woman here on Friday night, has been arrested in Mathura even as questions were raised over security measures provided by Uber, the US-based cab firm which used his taxi service.

Shiv Kumar Yadav, the 32-year-old driver and a native of Mathura who was living in rented premises here, has been arrested, according to DIG (Agra Range) Lakshmi Singh.

To rein in the menace of overspeeding in the national capital, Delhi Traffic Police on Wednesday launched eleven new interceptor vans which can track speeding vehicles through laser-based cameras not just during the day but also in the night.

With these interceptors which can also operate in the night unlike its predecessors, the police hope to double the number of challans in the national capital and also bring down road fatalities. As many as 1.2 lakh challans have been issued for overspeeding this year so far.

The operation of some flights and trains were affected in the national capital on Wednesday, as the visibility was reduced to 700 meters due to fog.

According to Northern Railway around 14 Delhi bound trains including Mahananda express, Lichchavi expresss, Purushottam express and Mahabodhi express are reported to be running late due to foggy weather condition.

Due to late arrivals of trains the Railway had to rescheduled the departure time of some trains.

—ANI

A 40-member team comprising US security advisers, representatives of the two houses and journalists visited the Taj Mahal in Agra to access security arrangements and logistics, ahead of the US President Barack Obama`s India visit Jan 26.

The US president is expected to visit the Taj Mahal in Agra, said officials, adding that the date for Agra visit was not yet final.

The US security team landed at the Kheria airport Tuesday afternoon and interacted with senior police officials and the Archaeological Survey of India officials.

No further details were given out to the media.

A man has been acquitted of the charge of raping a woman after intoxicating her by a Delhi court, which refused to rely on her testimony saying she was “not a credible witness” and it could be a “consensual affair”.

Additional sessions judge Virender Bhatt absolved Delhi resident Ajay of the charges of raping the woman after giving her stupefying substance and also let off his cousin Santosh, who was accused of blackmailing and extorting money from her.

The Delhi High Court Bar Association (DHCBA) called for a strike for Wednesday to protest Law Minister DV Sadananda Gowda’s decision to table a bill to enhance the pecuniary jurisdiction of the district courts in Parliament this week.

Calling for “total abstention from work” Wednesday in protest against the decision, the DHCBA said: “It is a matter of regret that such a unilateral assurance has been given without even affording an opportunity of hearing to the principal stakeholder – the DHCBA.”

Uttar Pradesh and Delhi have agreed to work on a plan to develop areas on the border of the two states, an official said on Wednesday.

This was decided after a meeting between Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav and the Delhi Lt Governor Najeeb Jung in the union capital on Tuesday.

An official told a news agency that it was decided to have encroachment free and planned development in the Yamuna region. The official also said that land allotment for extension of educational institution campuses was also discussed by the Delhi government.

The Delhi High Court Bar Association (DHCBA) called for a strike a for Wednesday to protest Law Minister D.V. Sadananda Gowda’s decision to table a bill to enhance the pecuniary jurisdiction of the district courts in parliament this week.

Calling for “total abstention from work” Wednesday in protest against the decision, the DHCBA said: “It is a matter of regret that such a unilateral assurance has been given without even affording an opportunity of hearing to the principal stakeholder – the DHCBA.”

In the wake of a terror attack on a school in Pakistan’s Peshawar city in which over 100 students were killed, Delhi Police have sounded an alert to keep watch on schools in the capital city.

Delhi police have sent a message to all 160 police stations in the city to keep a check on the schools falling in their jurisdiction.

“We have asked all eleven (police) districts’ heads and station house officers of the capital to keep a check on the schools and colleges falling in their area,” a police officer told IANS.

Autorickshaw and taxi unions have threatened to go on a two-day strike from January 5 in favour of their demands including removal of GPS and toll tax on private taxis. “Installation of GPS in autorickshaws has failed to serve its purpose. In the name of GPS, we are being harassed by the government. Autorickshaw drivers are forced to pay the annual maintenance fee and SIM renewal every year, which is unfair,” general secretary of Delhi autorickshaw sangh, Rajendra Soni, said.

The police on Tuesday arrested Nand Kishore Balmiki, the prime accused in the alleged forced religious conversions that took place in Agra last week.

Earlier, in a bid to nab Balmiki, the police had reportedly carried out raids at the RSS offices in Madhav Bhawanin area and in Jaipur House colony in Agra where he was believed to be hiding.

Last week, around 200 people were reportedly converted to Hinduism in a ceremony in Agra by groups linked to the BJP’s ideological mentor RSS.

A man allegedly tried to rape a nine-year-old girl living in his neighbourhood in Nasripur village here after which he was arrested, police said on Monday.

The accused has been identified as Ajay.

Ajay allegedly lured the girl on some pretext, took her to his house and tried to rape her. However, the girl started crying and on hearing her cries, the parents and some locals gathered there, police said.

They then nabbed Ajay and beat him up before handing him over to the police.

It was a chilly, foggy Tuesday morning here, delaying nearly 20 trains coming to the city.

The Met Office said the the visibility dropped to 800 meters at 8.30 a.m. According to the Northern Railway, nearly 20 trains were delayed, though the flights were not disrupted by the fog.

The minimum temperature in the morning settled a notch above the season’s average at 9 degrees Celsius.

“The sky will be mainly clear in the day,” said an India Meteorological Department official.

The day’s maximum temperature is likely to hover around 20 degrees Celsius.

A 27-year-old man from Kerala, who worked as technician at a private school, allegedly committed suicide at his residence in east Delhi’s Seemapuri area.

Rajesh Shankar had been staying with his parents in a rented accommodation in Dilshad Colony. The family hailed from Adoor in Kerala.

Shankar got married a month ago and his wife, a nurse, had later left for Iraq.

He hanged himself on Saturday night.

Security was beefed up in the national capital today, especially at public places like malls, in the wake of the hostage crisis in Australia’s Sydney where an Iranian-origin gunman held about 15 people hostage.

According to a senior police official, security has been stepped up in popular malls and areas which have clusters of cafes and restaurants as it was a popular cafe which was targeted in Sydney.

“All the necessary steps have been taken to ensure security in Delhi,” said Delhi Police Commissioner BS Bassi.

On a cold, rainy Sunday night, two policemen in khaki uniforms and fluorescent yellow jackets stand among commuters at a bus shelter in the Indian capital, occasionally stepping out to stop passing buses and climbing on board to conduct inspections.

A white police car halts to check in with the men stationed at the bus stop. Some minutes after, two other constables walk past on their night patrol which they say runs from 8 p.m. to 4 a.m. daily.

Union minister Giriraj Singh today alleged that Aam Aadmi Party leaders were “bahurupiyas (impostors)” like Mareecha in the epic ‘Ramayana’, who are out to “cheat the people of Delhi again”.

Addressing a street-corner meeting in the Rithala assembly constituency in Northwest Delhi, Singh said, “AAP leaders are betraying the people of Delhi. They are like Mareecha of ‘Ramayana’ having different faces. They are ‘bahurupiyas’ who will cheat the people of Delhi again.”

A bill was introduced in Lok Sabha Monday to provide for extension of time to protect certain forms of “unauthorised developments” from punitive action in Delhi.

The National Capital Territory of Delhi Laws (Special Provisions) Amendment Bill, 2014, was introduced by Urban Development Minister Venkaiah Naidu, seeking extension of the existing act of 2011 for three years from Jan 1, 2015.

With international crude oil rates slipping towards $60 a barrel, state-run oil marketeers Monday cut petrol and diesel rates further each by Rs.2 a litre in Delhi, effective midnight.

Allowing for local levies, the prices of transport fuels will decrease correspondingly in other states, Indian Oil Corp said in a statement here.

“The prices of petrol and diesel were last revised downwards w.e.f. 1st December’14 by Rs. 0.91/ litre and Rs. 0.84/ litre respectively (including state levies at Delhi) on the back of declining international oil prices,” it added.

Cold conditions prevailed in the national capital today a day after rains pulled down the mercury.

The Safdarjung observatory, considered the official for Delhi, registered 13.3 mm rainfall in the last 24 hours as the Lodhi Road observatory recorded 11.2 mm, Palam 17.3 mm, Ridge Area 21.8 mm and Ayanagar 27.6 mm, Met department officials said.

The maximum temperature settled seven notches below the season’s average at 16 degrees Celsius and the minimum was recorded at 11.8 degrees Celsius, three notches above normal.

The Delhi High Court today sought a response of a Delhi University (DU) professor on former Vice Chancellor Deepak Pental’s plea seeking a stay on the trial court proceedings in a case of alleged plagiarism, cheating and forgery filed against him.

Justice V P Vaish sought the reply of DU Professor P Pardha Saradhi who had accused the former vice chancellor (VC) and his student of plagiarising his paper on biotechnology and publishing it as their own.

The court asked Saradhi to file his response within four weeks and listed the matter for further hearing on February 20, 2015.

Aiming at regularisation of unauthorised colonies and rehabilitation of slum dwellers and Jhuggi-Jhopri (slum) clusters in Delhi, a bill was introduced in Lok Sabha today.

The National Capital Territory of Delhi Laws (Special Provisions) Amendment Bill 2014, was introduced by Urban Development Minister Venkaiah Naidu, seeking extension of the existing Act for a period of three years from January 1, 2015.