The positivity rate is now at 6.37%. (Express photo by Amit Mehra)Delhi Live News: Delhi on Sunday reported 3,674 fresh Covid-19 cases and 30 more deaths. The positivity rate is now at 6.37%. On Saturday, Delhi had reported 4,483 fresh Covid-19 cases and 28 deaths.
Meanwhile, Delhi’s air quality was in the “poor” category as the Air Quality index (AQI) at 9.05 am on Sunday was 259, the Central Pollution Control Board data showed.
The AQI in its neighbouring areas like Faridabad stood at 282, Ghaziabad (229), Greater Noida (216), Gurgaon (226) and Noida (212). 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.
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In a bid to help police personnel lodge FIRs and update case diaries easily, the Delhi Police introduced a phonetic keyboard with a voice-typing feature that records Hindi and Urdu words.
Police said the feature will help personnel and complainants, who use Hindi, record their statements and facts. The feature has been added to the Crime Criminal & Networking Systems (CCTNS) software that is used by police to file FIRs, write case diaries and submit chargesheets. Read more
The Delhi Police Crime Branch has arrested a 47-year-old broker who allegedly cheated around 50-100 home buyers on the pretext of selling them luxury apartments in Delhi-NCR and fled with their money five years ago. According to police, the accused, Sanjeev Kumar Mavi, operated more than seven shell companies in Delhi. Read more
Delhi on Sunday reported 3,674 fresh Covid-19 cases and 30 more deaths. The positivity rate is now at 6.37%.
Gurgaon records 1,267 cases at a positivity rate of 18.88%. Three deaths were also recorded.
The fitness test of auto-rickshaws and taxis is expected to get easier and less time-consuming as the Delhi government's transport department will set up 10 automated inspection and certification lanes at its Burari facility, officials said on Sunday.
After mooting the proposal seven years ago, the department has now floated a tender for setting up the automated lanes at its vehicle inspection unit in Burari. The system will be in place in the next few months as the bid opens in March, a senior transport department official said.
Automation will improve the accuracy of the fitness tests as various components such as brakes, clutches, headlights and suspension among others will be checked and evaluated through machines and computers, the official said. (PTI)
School administrators have sharpened their stance on reopening schools and have requested for a delegation to discuss the issue with the Lieutenant-Governor.
The Action Committee Unaided Recognised Private Schools — a large umbrella body of private schools in the city — wrote to the L-G’s office Sunday, pushing for schools to open and requesting a meeting with him. Read more
The revision of reserved seats by the state election commission (SEC) for the municipal corporation elections has made parties as well as candidates to re-think their strategy. The main challenge is for sitting councillors, whose seats may now fall in the category reserved for Scheduled Castes or women. This also includes the three sitting mayors.
The elections for 272 wards in the North, South and East civic bodies, currently ruled by the BJP, is scheduled for April.
According to the order issued on Tuesday, 15 of 104 wards in the South Corporation, 20 of 104 in the North and 11 of 64 wards in East have been reserved for Scheduled Castes, based on the 2011 Census. And, 50% of seats have been reserved for women. Read more
The South Delhi Municipal Corporation (SDMC) has removed the condition of producing acceptance letter from councillors to apply for a license under the ‘Atal Aahar Yojana', which aims to provide subsidised food to the poor, it said on Sunday. A proposal in this connection was approved by the SDMC's standing committee on Friday.
Under the scheme, nearly 40 food kiosks having inbuilt kitchens will be set up to provide food at “extremely cheaper prices”. People will get a thali (food plate) at a subsidised rate of Rs 15.
Standing Committee Chairman B K Oberoi said this scheme was first implemented on pilot basis in 2018-19 but was put on hold due to Covid.
He said the corporation wants to restart the scheme with certain modifications like allowing anyone to apply for a license unlike earlier when only municipal workers could do so. “Applicants will no longer have to procure a consent from the local councillor to get a licence under the scheme. We have on Friday removed this condition,” Oberoi said. (PTI)
The Centre is likely to inform the Delhi High Court on Monday whether it wishes to withdraw its earlier affidavit in which it had submitted that marital rape cannot be made a criminal offence as it could become a phenomenon which may destabilise the institution of marriage and an easy tool for harassing husbands.
A bench of Justices Rajiv Shakdher and C Hari Shankar, on January 28, had asked the Centre's counsel to take instructions on whether it wants to withdraw its 2017 affidavit.
The bench, which has been conducting marathon hearings on a batch of petitions seeking criminalisation of marital rape, will also hear rejoinder submissions on behalf of petitioners on Monday.
Advocate Karuna Nundy, representing petitioner NGOs RIT Foundation and All India Democratic Women's Association, has sought a clarification as to whether she shall address the written submissions and affidavits filed by the central government so far or they are withdrawing it.
This assumes significance as the Centre, in its affidavit filed in August 2017, had said the Supreme Court and various high courts have already observed the rising misuse of Section 498A (harassment caused to a married woman by her husband and in-laws) of the Indian Penal Code. (PTI)
Municipal buildings have been decked up with thematic murals, metro pillars decorated with images of various dance forms of India and martyrs' memorials beautified in Delhi to mark the 75th year of India's Independence. The three civic bodies in the national capital -- North, South and East corporations, have come up with a host of activities as part of the ongoing Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav celebrations.
From school buildings to hospital structures and parks to public roundabout, thematic decorations have been done to mark the occasion. "To commemorate 75 years of progressive India and Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav, SDMC has beautified corporation buildings, metro pillars, schools, parks and roundabouts with murals and other artworks," a senior official said.
The civic agency is making the city more beautiful and cleaner through 'Swachhta' campaigns, they said.
South Delhi Municipal Corporation has carried out beautification drives in all its four zones. South Zone of has also portrayed the national bird peacock through art on the wall of a six-storey building of SDMC'S House Tax department in R K Puram, the official said. (PTI)
A Delhi court has dismissed the bail application of Niraj Bishnoi, the alleged creator of the Bulli Bai app, saying his offence was not only against the essence of womanhood but was also designed to disturb communal harmony.
Additional Sessions Judge Dharmender Rana denied the relief to the accused on January 29, noting that the allegations against him were serious in nature and the investigation was at a nascent stage.
Several complaints were received by police stations in the country regarding the listing of Muslim women for "auction" on the 'Bulli Bai' mobile application with photographs sourced without permission and doctored. It has happened for the second time in less than a year.
The app appeared to be a clone of 'Sulli Deals' which triggered a similar row last year. (PTI)
Gurcharan Singh (82) often remembers the morning of 1952 when, on a walk to the market in Kalkaji, he heard a lot of excitement about some kind of inauguration. Just 12 at that time, he enthusiastically followed the crowd to sneak into the celebration and get hold of sweets and cold drinks being distributed. It was much later that he discovered that the then minister of education, Maulana Abul Kalam Azad, had graced his neighbourhood to inaugurate a first-of-its-kind college.
Deshbandhu College, as it came to be named after freedom fighter Deshbandhu Gupta, had been established by the Ministry of Rehabilitation in the refugee colony of Kalkaji, with the specific purpose of educating children of those displaced by the Partition. Read more
A fresh plea has been filed in the Supreme Court on the alleged use of Israeli spyware Pegasus, seeking that the court take cognisance of a New York Times report on it and order a probe into the 2017 defence deal with Israel.
The media report claiming India bought Pegasus spyware as part of a USD 2 billion defence deal with Israel in 2017 has triggered a major controversy with the Opposition alleging that the government indulged in illegal snooping that amounted to "treason".
The plea filed by advocate ML Sharma, who is one of the original petitioners in the case before the top court, said the deal was not approved by Parliament and, therefore, needs to be cancelled and money be recovered. (Read more here)
The Cyber Cell of Delhi Police arrested a journalist for allegedly creating a fake email id, posing as Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath and sending forged letters to public sector companies.The accused, Manoj Kumar Seth (41), has been arrested from Bhubaneswar, Odisha.
According to the police, they received a complaint from the chief minister’s office in 2016 against unknown persons who created a fake email id in the name of Yogi Adityanath and sent emails to the Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC), Gas Authority of India Ltd (GAIL), the Power Grid Corporation of India, etc seeking advertisements for local newspapers. Read more
Children with disabilities in government schools can start going for face-to-face therapy from next week even as schools remain closed across the national capital.
In August last year, Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia had launched the first phase of 14 resource centres in government schools which provide facilities such as physiotherapy, occupational therapy, speech therapy and behaviour modification for children with special needs studying in government schools. When schools shut due to the Covid surge, such services stopped for these children.
A recent directive by the Education Department to schools states that though the therapy takes place in educational institutions, it qualifies as a “para-medical” activity and hence may be resumed from February 3.
To promote Indian art and culture’ and beautify Lutyens’ Delhi, the New Delhi Municipal Council (NDMC) is planning to install theme-based sculptures at 12 major roundabouts and other prominent places in the New Delhi area under the Centre’s ‘Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav’ — an initiative to celebrate 75 years of independence.
The sculptures, six to eight feet tall, will be made by renowned artisans and installed in collaboration with Sahitya Kala Parishad.
NDMC vice-chairman Satish Upadhyay said: “The purpose is to create a ‘Sculpture Camp’ in the NDMC area. Around 12 different sculpture artisans will carve out 12 black marble stone sculptures which will be displayed at different locations in the New Delhi area.”
Delhi's air quality was in the poor category as the Air Quality index (AQI) at 9.05 am on Sunday was 259, the Central Pollution Control Board data showed whereas the AQI in its neighbouring areas like Faridabad stood at 282, Ghaziabad (229), Greater Noida (216), Gurgaon (226) and Noida (212). 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.
Delhiites woke up to a sunny Sunday morning with the minimum temperature settling at 7.5 degrees Celsius, a notch below the season's normal, the India Meteorological Department said. According to the weather department, strong surface winds are expected during the day time and the maximum temperature is likely to settle around 22 degrees Celsius. The humidity at 8.30 am was 85 per cent.
Delhi on Saturday reported 4,483 fresh COVID-19 cases, a positivity rate of 7.41 per cent and 28 deaths, according to data shared by the city health department. The positivity rate recorded on Saturday was the lowest after January 3, when the corresponding figure had stood at 6.46 per cent. With 4,4483 fresh cases logged on Saturday, the national capital's cumulative case count has increased to 18,23,815 and the death toll to 25,797, the latest health bulletin stated.
The number of COVID-19 tests conducted a day ago was 60,532, it said. On Friday, Delhi recorded 4,044 cases with a positivity rate of 8.60 per cent and 25 deaths. The day before, on Thursday, it recorded 4,291 cases with a positivity rate of 9.56 per cent and 34 deaths. On Wednesday, it had logged 7,498 cases with a positivity rate of 10.59 per cent and 29 deaths.
Delhi Chief Secretary has directed departments to set up cells to strengthen their mechanism for addressing grievances. In an order issued earlier this month, all the heads of departments of Delhi government were directed to ensure putting up of display boards at prominent places in office premises.
"All HODs shall arrange to furnish Action Taken Report in respect of complaints/cases in prescribed pro forma which has already heen forwarded by Public Grievances Commission, within the stipulated time," said the order issued by the Administrative Reforms department.