At a market in New Delhi amid the Covid-19 pandemic. (Express Photo by Abhinav Saha)Delhi Live News: Reporting slightly lower cases than yesterday, Delhi on Saturday recorded 1,520 fresh infections at a positivity rate of 5.10 per cent, taking the cumulative caseload to 18,83,075. With one more fatality reported, the death toll rose to 26,175. The number of active cases climbed to 5,716. The city had reported 1,607 Covid-19 infections and two fatalities at a positivity rate of 5.28 per cent on Friday.
Delhi BJP workers Saturday protested against the state government and Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal over “not reducing VAT on diesel”. According to the police, they gathered on the road leading up to Kejriwal’s residence around 11.30 am and reached the first barricades around 12.15 pm. After almost an hour of trying to get through, they were dispersed by security personnel around 1.15 pm from the first barricades. This comes weeks after protesters from BJYM, the BJP’s youth wing, had managed to reach and damage Kejriwal’s front door.
Meanwhile, Delhi continued to reel under a heatwave on Saturday as the maximum temperature settled at 43.5 degrees Celsius, five notches above the season’s average, the India Meteorological Department said. The IMD, however, predicted dust and thunderstorm on Monday and Wednesday which is likely to give some respite to residents from the scorching heat. According to the weather office, city’s minimum temperature was recorded at 25.7 degrees Celsius, two notches above the normal on Saturday morning.
Four unidentified men allegedly broke into a 68-year-old woman’s house in South Delhi’s Anand Lok, robbed her jewellery worth Rs 4 crore at knife point, and tied her legs before fleeing, said police on Saturday. No arrests have been made yet.
The incident took place around 3.30 am on Saturday. DCP (South) Benita Mary Jaiker said, “We received a PCR call in the morning from a house in Anand Lok, Defence Colony. The complainant, Ritika (68), said she and her five-year-old granddaughter were sleeping on the ground floor while her children and other family members were on the first floor. Around 3.30 am, she found four persons in her room. They were looking for her almirah. When they saw she was awake, they asked her to keep quiet.” Read More
With coronavirus cases rising steadily, the South Delhi Municipal Corporation has decided to provide one month's advance medicines to non-Covid patients visiting its health facilities with chronic diseases, officials said Saturday. "If they get medicines in advance, they will not have to go to hospitals owing to which there will be less chances of Covid infection in them," a senior official said.
The officials also said the civic agency has made elaborate arrangements at its hospitals and health centres for Covid patients including setting up separate registration counters, waiting rooms, queues, dedicated lab testing facilities.
The officials said an order in this regard has also been issued by the civic body. "Senior citizens visiting our health units should be attended on priority as they are most vulnerable group of people. Non-Covid patients especially suffering from chronic ailments, visiting SDMC hospitals and dispensaries, should be issued at least one month medicines," the SDMC said. (PTI)
The Delhi government Saturday provided Covid relief assistance of Rs 1 crore to families of four frontline workers who lost their lives during the pandemic. So far, families of around 34 frontline workers have received the ex-gratia assistance, said officials.
Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia met the family of Dr Aabha Bhandari, who worked as a senior medical officer at the Delhi government dispensary on Chamelian Road and died of the virus. Handing over the cheque, Sisodia said, “The Delhi government will never forget Dr Bhandari’s sacrifice and will always support her family.” Read More
A court on Saturday directed Delhi Police to hand over copies of the FIR and certain other documents to two accused in a case related to Jahangirpuri violence here.
Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Deepika Singh passed the order on a plea moved by both the accused - Zafar and Babuddin - but said the FIR should not be made public and its content should not be posted on social media.
The court also extended the judicial custody of both of them till 13 May after they were produced before it through video conferencing. The accused told the court that police was not supplying them the copies of the FIR and remand applications, which was required for preparing the defence in the case, and it was their fundamental right. (PTI)
Fire fighting operations are still going on to douse the blaze that broke out in north Delhi's Bhalswa landfill site earlier this week, officials said on Saturday. Five fire tenders are still working on the spot to douse the flames, they said.
A massive fire broke out at the site on Tuesday evening. Several videos showed the blaze churning out dense plumes of smoke and turning the sky hazy grey.
Local residents on Wednesday said the thick smoke was choking them. The cause of the fire is yet to be ascertained. (PTI)
Four people were hit by a cluster bus in southeast Delhi's Jangpura area on Saturday morning with one of them now in critical care, police said.
According to police, they received information at 7.10 am regarding an accident near Nizamuddin bus terminus in Jangpura.
Police reached the spot and found that one cluster bus, route number 804, going to Khayala from Nijamuddin Railway Station, had hit a scooty rider and injured three more standing near a shop on a footpath, a senior police officer said. (PTI)
A project to develop a park and recharge the lake at Rohini with treated wastewater from the nearby Rohini sewage treatment plant (STP) is set to be completed in around eight months, according to the Delhi Jal Board (DJB).
The park and the Rohini lake will together cover an area of 80 acres in Rohini’s Sector-25. “Eight lakes will receive and recharge 68 MLD (million litres per day) of treated water from the STP…”, Water Minister Satyendar Jain said on Saturday. The project is expected to help recharge groundwater and reuse treated wastewater. Read More
Around 70-80 homeless people staying at the Haj Manzil, a temporary shelter home, have been asked to vacate the premises by May 1, after the Delhi government issued a notice citing arrangements for Hajj. The inhabitants mostly include senior citizens abandoned by their families.
Four persons were injured after a speeding cluster bus hit a scooter and rammed into shops near Nizamuddin bus stop, Jangpura Saturday morning. Police said one of the injured persons is critical while others have been discharged. The bus driver has been apprehended.
Heatwave conditions and clear skies are likely in Delhi on Saturday, according to the India Meteorological Department (IMD) forecast.
With the maximum temperature likely to be around 44 degrees Celsius, the IMD has issued an ‘orange’ alert or ‘severe heat alert’ for Saturday. It warns of the increased likelihood of developing heat-related illness in people who are exposed to the sun for a long time. It also points to a “high health concern for vulnerable people”, including those with chronic illnesses, the elderly and infants. Avoiding exposure to heat is advised. Read more
The Police Friday arrested a property dealer for allegedly threatening and trying to extort Rs 10 crore from a businessman.
According to the police, on April 27, a Gurgaon-based property dealer lodged a written complaint stating that an unknown person had been calling him from different numbers, asking for Rs 10 crore and threatening him of dire consequences if he didn’t pay. The police added that a First Information Report (FIR) was registered under Section 386 (extortion by putting a person in fear of death or grievous hurt) of the Indian Penal Code at Sector 65 police station. Read more
The Delhi government has agreed to take over the debt-ridden Raisina Bengali School in CR Park and has also asked the Comptroller & Auditor General to conduct a financial audit of the institution, according to a submission made before the Delhi High Court.
“The government has given consent to take over the school in the interest of the education of children. The government has also requested the CAG to conduct the audit and after the audit, if it is found that the money has been siphoned off or diverted to somewhere else from the school account, very strict action will be taken against the concerned person or authorities in the management of the school,” said the Delhi government’s standing counsel Santosh Kumar Tripathi. Read more
An Integrated Election Complex (IEC) equipped with 36 specially designed vaults for storage of Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) and Voter-verified paper audit trails (VVPATs) was on Friday inaugurated by Chief Election Commissioner Sushil Chandra in North West Delhi’s Bakhtawarpur area.
“Envisaged by the Election Commission of India, and built under the aegis of Chief Electoral Officer, Delhi, the Integrated Election Complex is a landmark project for the modernisation of EVM & VVPAT storage and management. Spread over an area of 12,865 sq m, it is a towering testimony to our collective belief in democracy,” the EC said in a statement. Read more
Seven men were arrested from northwest Delhi’s Shakurpur area for allegedly assaulting each other and injuring two passers-by, police said Saturday. While locals alleged the men were involved in stone-pelting and spreading communal hatred, senior Delhi Police officers denied the allegations saying it was a fight over a petty issue. Read more
The number of fresh Covid-19 cases in the national capital shot past the 1,500-mark, with 1,607 cases recorded in Friday’s health bulletin, officials said. Not just the absolute number of cases, the positivity rate – proportion of samples tested that return positive – also went over the 5% mark even with more than 30,000 tests. Read more
In Covid-related news, Delhi Friday recorded 1,607 fresh Coronavirus infections and 2 fatalities with a positivity rate of 5.28 per cent, according to data shared by the city's health department. The total tests conducted on Friday stand at 30,459, while the capital's active case load is at 5,609.
Days after two labourers died while four others sustained injuries after a three-storey house under renovation collapsed on them in South Delhi’s Satya Niketan, police arrested the contractor from Bihar’s Araria district on Friday.
According to police, the accused, Md Raees (46), had hired the workers, who also hailed from Araria, to renovate the house. They were paid around Rs 300-Rs 350 per day. Read more
A lemonade seller was beaten to death in Ghaziabad on Wednesday over payment issues, said police, adding that an e-rickshaw driver was arrested in connection with the incident on Thursday. The victim has been identified as Gaurav Kashyap. Police said the accused, Bobby, along with two persons, stopped at Gaurav’s stall in Raj Nagar Extension to buy lemonades. Read more
Amid India’s ongoing power crisis, Delhi Power Minister Satyendar Jain Friday said there is a shortage of coal at some power plants, urging the Centre to ensure its availability. Jain said the stock will last only a day. Meanwhile, Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal said the city has “somehow managed”, adding that the situation is grave in India. “We have to find a solution to this quickly. It is necessary to take quick measures to deal with the problem,” Kejriwal tweeted.