Furniture traders lifting items from the main road amid fears of anti-encroachment drive in Shaheen Bagh. (Express Photo by Gajendra Yadav)Delhi Live News: After mayor of the South Delhi Municipal Corporation announced that an anti-encroachment drive is likely to be carried out in Shaheen Bagh, Delhi Police Thursday said it is not possible to provide manpower for the drive. “It is requested that prior intimation of at least 10 days may be given to fix the date for encroachment removal drive in the area of Police Station Sarita Vihar so that sufficient staff may be given to assist the SDMC staff,” Delhi Police told SDMC.
In another slight uptick in cases, Delhi Wednesday reported 1,367 fresh Covid-19 cases as compared to 1,204 infections recorded on Tuesday, the city’s health department said. The capital witnessed one related fatality with a positivity rate recorded at 4.50 per cent. Delhi started recording an increase in the positivity rate, going over 1 per cent from April 4 onwards, soon after the masking mandates were removed in the state.
In other news, amid a spike in daily Covid cases during the examination season, the Delhi University administration has given colleges permission to reschedule practical examinations for students with the virus.
Delhi-NCR is in the midst of another heatwave, with the maximum temperature at some weather observatories likely to hit 45 degrees Celsius on Thursday. This is the third heatwave spell the city is witnessing this summer.
Heatwave conditions remain on the forecast for the next five days in parts of Delhi, Haryana, Chandigarh, Punjab, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, western Uttar Pradesh and Vidarbha.
In Delhi, the forecast for the Safdarjung weather observatory, which serves as a marker for the city, indicates that heatwave conditions are likely to persist on April 29 and 30, and May 2. The maximum temperature at Safdarjung is likely to be 43 degrees on Thursday, and could rise to 44 degrees Celsius on April 29 and 30. Read Full Explained
The Delhi Police Crime Branch on Thursday arrested one of the most wanted accused of Jahangirpuri communal riots from West Bengal, sources said. The accused has been identified as Farid alias Neetu, they said.
"He was very actively involved in the communal riots and played a major role. Our several teams who have been deployed in West Bengal arrested him on Thursday from his aunt's house in Tamluk village. He is being brought to New Delhi via flight today," one of the sources said.
The accused had fled from the spot after the riots. Since then, he had been changing his locations and moving across West Bengal, sources said. He has six cases registered against him, including that of robbery, snatching, burglary and under the Arms Act, since 2010 and he is a history-sheeter in the Jahangirpuri area, they said. (PTI)
The Delhi Pollution Control Committee (DPCC) has slapped a fine of Rs 50 lakh on the North Delhi Municipal Corporation for being negligent and not taking proper steps to prevent the fire at the Bhalswa landfill, officials said on Thursday.
Environment Minister Gopal Rai had earlier asked the anti-pollution body to probe the incident and submit a report within 24 hours.
'The North MCD did not take proper steps to prevent and contain the fire. As per the standard operating procedure, the MCD should have kept water tankers on standby to deal with such a situation,' an official said.
As part of a state-wide drive against loudspeakers that are not in compliance with court orders and pollution board norms, the Noida Police has, since the last few days, taken down more than 140 speakers.
In Noida zone, 35 speakers were removed while volume of 61 speakers was reduced. In the Central zone, action was taken against 48 speakers while volume of 59 speakers was reduced. In Greater Noida, 59 speakers were brought down and 335 speaker owners were asked to lower the volume. Read more
After mayor of the South Delhi Municipal Corporation announced that an anti-encroachment drive is likely to be carried out in Shaheen Bagh, Delhi Police Thursday said it is not possible to provide manpower for the drive. “It is requested that prior intimation of at least 10 days may be given to fix the date for encroachment removal drive in the area of Police Station Sarita Vihar so that sufficient staff may be given to assist the SDMC staff,” Delhi Police told SDMC.
Two more persons have been arrested in connection with the communal clashes that took place in northwest Delhi's Jahangirpuri area early this month, police said on Thursday.
With this, nearly 30 people, including two juveniles, have been held in the case. Read more
Nearly 30 hours after a massive fire broke out at the Bhalswa landfill in North Delhi, fire officials were still trying to control the blaze Thursday, according to authorities. Officials said the fire is still raging in parts of the landfill and a thick cloud of smoke has covered the area.
The incident took place around 6 pm Tuesday and 10 fire tenders were called to the spot. As the fire spread to other garbage mounds after some time, more teams and excavators were called in to help control the fire. As many as 80 men worked at the site on Wednesday to control the fire but now small fires break out in mounds. Read more
Delhi University (DU) vice-chancellor Yogesh Singh has constituted a committee to look into the “shortfall” in enrolment of Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe students in the past years, and come up with recommendations to address the issue.
Until last year, DU used to conduct its undergraduate admissions through cut-off lists based on Class 12 marks with separate and usually lower cut-offs released for reserved categories. However, SC and ST enrolment has been a problem in DU. Despite special drives, the university has struggled to fill these seats, with ST seats, in particular, seeing low enrolment. Read more
To increase Covid-19 vaccination coverage among children between the ages of 12 and 14, Delhi districts have been working on increasing the number of camps in schools and vaccination sites that remain open till 4 or 5 pm, said officials. The uptake of the second dose in this age category has been slower with schools reopening fully for offline classes from the beginning of April. Read more
The much-delayed Benito Juarez Marg underpass will be opened to the public from next month, Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia said after he inspected and reviewed work on the stretch near South Campus.
Presently, commuters travelling to and from Gurugram and the airport have to take Dhaula Kuan route to reach AIIMS and Central Delhi. Once the underpass is ready, these commuters can take Outer Ring Road via the underpass to reach AIIMS and Moti Bagh, said officials. Read more
The Centre has started the process of evicting artises who had been allotted government bungalows on rent in Asiad village in the 1970s. These include several Padma and Sangeet Natak Akademi awardees.
Among them is 91-year-old Odissi dance exponent Guru Mayadhar Raut, who was awarded a Padma Shri – the country’s fourth highest civilian honour – in 2010 by the President for his significant role in giving Odissi its classical status. On Tuesday afternoon, the certificate signed by the President was lying on the road along with his other belongings as he was evicted. Read more
Aam Aadmi Party MLA Atishi will speak on the Delhi government policies at the United Nations General Assembly in a meeting on the ‘New Urban Agenda’.
The UNGA has convened a high-level meeting on implementation of the New Urban Agenda on April 28. The stated objectives of the meeting are to “assess the progress in the implementation of the New Urban Agenda and facilitate an ongoing exchange of experiences among the member states, local and regional governments, and other constituencies of the New Urban Agenda such as professional associations, grassroots organisations, and business leaders”. Read more
The AIIMS administration Wednesday told the Delhi High Court that a committee will be constituted to examine the grievances of members of its nurses’ union, who had gone on strike on Tuesday morning.
The strike was called off Tuesday evening after the court asked the union to ensure that its members and nursing officers resume their duties forthwith. Read more
Work is set to begin on 10 hectares of land in the Central Ridge to remove vilayati kikar, an invasive species, and restore the natural biodiversity of the region in a pilot project, according to Environment Minister Gopal Rai.
“In the initial phase of this experimental project, work will begin on 10 hectares of land. The department has set a target to plant local species of plants by eradicating the vilayati kikar (Prosopis juliflora) growing in Delhi. The exercise of removing the invasive tree species will be done by the canopy lifting method,” Rai said after a visit to the Central Ridge on Wednesday. The canopy lifting method means the branches of the tree are pruned. Read more
In another slight uptick in cases, Delhi Wednesday reported 1,367 fresh Covid-19 cases as compared to 1,204 infections recorded on Tuesday, the city’s health department said. The capital witnessed one related fatality with a positivity rate recorded at 4.50 per cent. Delhi started recording an increase in the positivity rate, going over 1 per cent from April 4 onwards, soon after the masking mandates were removed in the state.