A health worker administers Covid-19 vaccine dose to a beneficiary at Matasundri college in New Delhi. (Express File Photo)Delhi Live News: Delhi on Sunday recorded zero Covid-19 fatalities and 37 fresh cases with a positivity rate of 0.06 per cent. As per official data, only four deaths have been recorded so far this month — once each on October 2, October 10, October 19 and October 22.
In other news, while Delhi has enjoyed a relatively cleaner pre-winter period (September 1-October 15) this year compared to previous years, as per an analysis by the Centre for Science and Environment, experts attributed this to the extended rainfall as well a delayed paddy harvest in Punjab and Haryana. With paddy stubble burning expected to rise in the next few days, pollution too is expected to go up.
Meanwhile, a day after a five-year-old girl was allegedly raped and murdered in a village in Gurgaon, the police have booked at least 28 people, who, in the aftermath of the incident, allegedly pelted stones at the police and blocked a road outside the police station on Sunday, demanding that the accused be handed over to them.
"The law as it stands, either with or without 'Navtej Singh Johar' case (which decriminalised homosexual sex), the law is settled, personal law is settled...marriage which is contemplated is between a biological man and biological woman. Spouse means you should be either wife or husband", the Solicitor General of India Tushar Mehta submitted Monday, before the Delhi High Court during the hearing of the petitions praying for recognition and registeration of same-sex marriages.
A division bench of Chief Justice D N Patel and Justice Jyoti Singh have listed the case for hearing on November 30.
Delhi University colleges will be releasing their special cut-off today for their undergraduate programmes.
While the cut-offs will be declared today, students can apply for admissions against it on Tuesday and Wednesday. Colleges can complete approvals of admissions till 5 pm on Thursday. Friday is the last day for approved candidates to make their payment to the colleges. If seats still remain vacant, a fourth list will be released on Saturday, October 30.
Students who have taken admission to any course or college in the first three lists will not be eligible for admissions against the special cut-off. Read more
Laugh Out Loud
Comedian Harsh Gujral spares no one in his standup act. Right from his hometown Kanpur, to his folks, everyone is fair game for this young standup comic. Gujral is known to find humour in the most mundane things in daily life. He regularly turns to the audience to feed into his set. The standup artiste will perform at Four Points by Sheraton on October 27, 7.30 pm. Tickets available on Bookmyshow.
Lines of Thought
An exhibition titled “Sketching Silence” at Vadehra Art Gallery in Delhi brings together 89 drawings by SH Raza. On till November 9, the showcase features works from 1950 to 1960, followed by 2010-2011. The artist who passed away in 2016 was one of the leading modernists of India and a founding member of the formidable Progressive Artists’ Group.
Italian Soiree
Watch Le Notti di Cabiria, an Italian drama film directed by celebrated Italian master Federico Fellini. The film centres around Cabiria, an optimistic, romantic, poor young woman who lives off unscrupulous men. On one particularly despairing day, she goes to church to pray. She begs God for a miracle to change her life. The film is her journey of attempting to find redemption. It is being shown in collaboration by Istituto Italiano di Cultura, and will be introduced by film critic Murtaza Ali Khan. At Stein Auditorium, India Habitat Centre, October 29, 7.30 pm.
Check out more events in Delhi this week here.
Three Tihar jail inmates were allegedly assaulted by fellow prisoners inside the prison complex on Saturday night after they suspected the victims of conspiring with jail authorities, said the police on Monday. A case of attempted murder was registered after the three inmates were found severely injured inside their cell. The police said the accused allegedly attacked the victims with blades and other sharp weapons.
The injured were identified as Pinku (24), Sunil Sherawat (32) and Sunny (32). The police received their MLCs and were called to DDU hospital on Saturday.
The accused four inmates — Rohit Kapoor, Rajesh, Sandeep Dalal and Sehrawat — have been booked under IPC sections for attempt to murder and voluntarily causing hurt. Sehrawat also received injuries during the fight. Read more
A day after a five-year-old girl was allegedly raped and murdered in a village in Gurgaon, the police have booked at least 28 people, who, in the aftermath of the incident, allegedly pelted stones at the police and blocked a road outside the police station on Sunday, demanding that the accused be handed over to them.
After the incident was reported around 12 pm on Sunday, police had rushed to the village to arrest the accused, who had been caught by the villagers while trying to escape. Police said a group of people had beaten up the accused and prevented them from taking him into custody initially. An hour later, several people had gone to the police station and blocked the Sohna-Gurgaon road by parking their motorcycles, demanding that the police hand over the accused to them. Read more
The Delhi Development Authority (DDA) has decided that its parks can be booked for hosting art and cultural events by common people, educational institutions, private firms, NGOs, residents welfare associations.
There are around 800 parks under the jurisdiction of DDA like Aastha Kunj Park, Coronation Park as well as parks across Delhi, including in areas like Hauz Khas, Mayur Vihar, Vasant Kunj, Lado Sarai.
Any Indian citizen, schools, colleges and universities, cultural and educational societies registered under Societies Registration Act 1860, registered non-government organisations, companies registered under the Companies Act 2013, and residents welfare associations duly registered under the Societies Registration Act, 1860 or DDA Management and Disposal of Housing Estates Regulations, 1968, can make a booking, officials said. Read more
Police arrested four associates of deceased gangster Jitender Gogi with three pistols in Rohini. The accused are involved in recent cases of murder, gang wars and robbery, and were planning to kill members of rival Tillu Tajpuriya gang, police said.
DCP (Rohini) Pranav Tayal said, “They were carrying illegal weapons and were riding on a stolen bike in Rohini. We received an input that they are in the area and sent teams…”
Seven months after he was held for allegedly molesting a minor girl and later released on bail, police have arrested a 20-year-old man from Haryana’s Kalanaur for allegedly abducting and raping a seven-year-old girl.
DCP (Central district) Shweta Chauhan said, “The accused has been identified as Suraj Shah. He was arrested by the operations teams of central district from Kalanaur in Rohtak. He was earlier arrested on charges of molestation.” A police officer added, “He was arrested in March for allegedly molesting a minor and sent to Tihar. He was released on bail four months ago during the pandemic. He came to Delhi on October 22 for a court hearing, but found it had been postponed. He was in the Central range when he found the girl and allegedly raped her.”
Police said the incident took place Friday when the girl was playing outside her home and was approached by the accused, who offered to buy her sweets. Read more
The South Delhi Municipal Corporation Sunday inaugurated an automated multi-level puzzle car parking in Adhchini village, which has a capacity to accommodate 56 vehicles.
Mayor Mukesh Suryan said the move will facilitate parking for people in both rural and urban parts as it has been constructed on lesser space than traditional parking lots. The total plot area of the parking lot is 467.83 sqm and a total of 56 vehicles can be parked at a time. Read more
A five-year-old Dalit girl was allegedly raped and murdered in a Gurgaon village on Sunday morning. Police have detained her neighbour, a 22-year-old labourer from Bihar, for the crime. Police said that during preliminary questioning, he allegedly confessed that he committed the crime under the influence of alcohol.
Police said that a group of locals beat up the accused and prevented them from taking him into custody. Another group pelted stones at a police vehicle and blocked a road, demanding that the accused be handed over to them to ‘deliver swift justice’.
Police said the incident took place around 10 am when the accused took the girl out on the pretext of taking her to a shop to eat. Instead, he took her into the bushes behind her house and allegedly sexually assaulted her before killing her. Read more
Efforts are on to help farmers switch to the Pusa bio-decomposer, developed by the Indian Agricultural Research Institute (IARI) to aid the decomposition of crop residue, which is being touted as a cleaner alternative than setting fire to fields. The Delhi government has begun spraying the solution on harvested paddy fields, covering 4,000 acres out of a total of nearly 14,000 acres under paddy cultivation.
However, only a small section of farmers will be using the decomposer, said Harinder Singh Lakhowal, General Secretary, Bharatiya Kisan Union, Punjab.
Moreover, Assembly elections and ongoing protests against the three farm laws also mean that action against farmers who set their fields on fire will be elusive. A senior administrative officer in Amritsar said with elections due in a few months, they cannot take any stringent action against farmers. Read more
While Delhi has enjoyed a relatively cleaner pre-winter period (September 1-October 15) this year compared to previous years, as per an analysis by the Centre for Science and Environment, experts attributed this to the extended rainfall as well a delayed paddy harvest in Punjab and Haryana. With paddy stubble burning expected to rise in the next few days, pollution too is expected to go up.
The contribution of stubble burning to PM 2.5 levels in Delhi hit a high of 14% on October 16 this year, having remained below 5% till then. “The fire counts are taken and the area where these counts are is determined before we develop an emission inventory due to these fire counts. Then we run the model to figure out what the contribution from the fire counts is,” said Gufran Beig, founder project director, SAFAR. Read more