Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal (PTI Photo)Delhi-NCR news Highlights: The Delhi government Tuesday launched a “one-time settlement scheme’ to provide relief to the public by settling huge pending arrears bills. Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, announcing the scheme, said that around 7 lakh consumers will get relief under this scheme. “Pending water bills increased in large numbers. This happened following the covid pandemic, when the water meters could not be read on a regular basis. Either the meters were not read properly or people got the wrong bills with huge pending. There are around 27.6 lakh domestic metres, of which 11.7 lakh people have huge arrears. Rs 5,737 crore arrears is pending. The scheme will be launched from August 1. People will get new bills. People who will not pay their bills from August, they will have to pay the full arrear amount,” Kejriwal added.
Meanwhile, Gurgaon District Collector and Chairman of District Disaster Management Authority Nishant Kumar Yadav has ordered residents of Chintels Paradiso in Sector 109 to vacate Tower G within the next 15 days. This comes following an IIT-Delhi audit report declaring the tower unsafe and unfit for habitation. Legal action will be taken against those who violate these orders under section 188 of the IPC and sections 51 to 60 of the Disaster Management Act, 2005, said the order from the DC. There are nine towers in Chintels and four of these have been declared unsafe so far — E, F, D and G.
In other news, an earthquake of magnitude 5.7 on the Richter scale occurred 30 km southeast of Kishtwar in Jammu & Kashmir, according to the European-Mediterranean Seismological Centre(EMSC). Mild tremors were felt in parts of the National Capital Region (NCR) on Tuesday afternoon. According to the National Centre for Seismology, the epicentre of the earthquake was in J&K’s Doda.
RK Gupta, general manager at Garg Armoury, a gun house set up in 1949, told The Indian Express: “In the 90s, gun houses, with an elaborate clientele and dozens of employees, used to line Church Road... but now all we do is stare at the weapons, something that once used to be a prized possession.”
In a bid to rid the city of dark spots, keep a tab on functioning streetlights and save power, the Public Works Department (PWD) is planning to replace existing lights as well as old halogen lights with smart LED ones across the city.
According to officials, the street lights will have smart sensors while the light poles will be geo-tagged using a centralised software system.
This, officials said, will help identify non-functional lights and undertake immediate repairs quickly. They will be maintained under an Energy Service Company (ESCO) model. Read more here.
With rising temperatures, Delhi’s peak power demand crossed the 7,000 MW-mark for the first time this summer.
The city’s peak power demand, however, has been significantly lower as compared to last year because of frequent western disturbances bringing rain to the city at regular intervals.
The average temperatures in April and May were also lower than the average. Read the full story here.
The Delhi government plans to inaugurate the first set of food truck hubs on December 15.
According to officials, approval for the food truck policy from the Cabinet is expected by the end of August.
The trucks will be operated by concessionaires, who will be selected through a bidding process. The concessionaires will operate and maintain the Food Truck Hubs and a License fee along with profit sharing model will be worked out based on the commercial potential of the selected areas. Read more.
Delhi Police has written to wrestling federations across five countries seeking information in connection with the sexual harassment allegations levelled by female wrestlers against former Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) chief Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh, senior officers said.
A senior police officer said that in the notices sent by the Delhi Police to the five countries, investigators have sought photos and videos of the tournaments as well as CCTV footage of the places where the wrestlers stayed during their matches.
The notices, officers said, have also sought details regarding the players who participated in the tournaments in a bid to gather more witnesses. Read more here.
Delhi University will announce admission schedule, policies, new courses and other details about its common entrance portal on Wednesday at 11:30 am.
The Delhi government Tuesday launched a “one-time settlement scheme’ to provide relief to the public by settling huge pending arrears bills. Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, announcing the scheme, said that around 7 lakh consumers will get relief under this scheme.
“Pending water bills increased in large numbers. This happened following the covid pandemic, when the water meters could not be read on a regular basis. Either the meters were not read properly or people got the wrong bills with huge pending. There are around 27.6 lakh domestic metres, of which 11.7 lakh people have huge arrears. Rs 5,737 crore arrears is pending. The scheme will be launched from August 1. People will get new bills. People who will not pay their bills from August, they will have to pay the full arrear amount," Kejriwal said.
Gurgaon District Collector and Chairman of District Disaster Management Authority Nishant Kumar Yadav has ordered residents of Chintels Paradiso in Sector 109 to vacate Tower G. This comes following an IIT-Delhi audit report declaring the tower unsafe and unfit for habitation.
The DC issued notices to the residents of Tower G to vacate the tower within the next 15 days. Legal action will be taken against those who violate these orders under section 188 of the IPC and sections 51 to 60 of the Disaster Management Act, 2005, said the order from the DC.
There are nine towers in Chintels and four of these have been declared unsafe so far — E, F, D and G.
An earthquake of magnitude 5.7 on the Richter scale occurred 30 km southeast of Kishtwar in Jammu & Kashmir, according to the European-Mediterranean Seismological Centre(EMSC). Mild tremors were felt in parts of the National Capital Region (NCR) on Tuesday afternoon.
According to the National Centre for Seismology, the epicentre of the earthquake was in J&K’s Doda.
Alleging that the none of panic buttons installed in the buses, autos and taxis work, BJP MLA Ram Vir Singh Bidhuri said that a delegation of BJP leaders including the state chief will meet the Delhi L-G and demand a probe into the matter.
"Arvind Kejriwal is playing with the safety of women. They have collected crores of money for the installations of mandatory panic buttons in buses, cars and auto rickshaws. But, none of the panic buttons are working. Who is managing this panic button, where is the control room? Nothing... Around one lakh taxis have panic buttons but are they working?," Bidhuri said.
He also said that the BJP leaders will also hold a sit-in protest outside the Delhi CM's residence at Civil Lines.
"The Kerjiwal government took Rs 9,000 from taxis and Rs 22,000 from the bus every year for the panic buttons. Since 2019, they have received around 700-800 crore. Where has this money gone now? I demand the DCW to issue notice to Kejriwal and ask the government about the status of the amount collected in the following years.
The Supreme Court on Monday stayed the Delhi High Court direction permitting bike-taxi aggregators like Uber and Rapido to continue operations in the National Capital and directed that no coercive action should be taken against them till the Government of the National Capital Territory of Delhi (GNCTD) came out with policy guidelines on the matter.
Hearing appeals filed by the Delhi government, a vacation bench of Justices Aniruddha Bose and Rajesh Bindal stayed the May 26 order of the high court. (Read More)
Secretary Naresh Kumar yet again; this time, for non-submission of action taken reports (ATRs) with regard to issues such as OPD counters at government hospitals and condition of senior citizens homes and mohalla clinics.
According to the communication sent by the Assembly, Kumar had been directed to take “appropriate action” on recommendations by the committee within 30 days of the adoption of three interim reports, which pertained to “subject matters of public importance” and directly affecting the “health and well-being of the citizens of Delhi”. (Read More)
A 38-year-old man was stabbed multiple times with scissors after he objected to a man smoking a cigarette inside a barber’s shop in Southwest Delhi’s Kishangarh, police said.
On June 11, the police received a PCR call reporting a stabbing near a shop in Kishangarh. The complainant, identified as Abhay Kumar, told the police, he was at a barber shop in Kishangarh when 22-year-old Mohit Mahlawat came to the shop. Allegedly, Mahlawat started smoking a cigarette while being under the influence of alcohol. (Read More)
A fire broke out at Ghazipur landfill site in east Delhi on Monday, officials said. A call about the incident was received around 1.30 pm, they said.
A total of 13 fire tenders were rushed to the spot along with a robotic machine to control and douse the blaze, a senior official of the Delhi Fire Service said. (PTI)
With Cyclone ‘Biparjoy' expected to make landfall in Kutch district of adjoining Gujarat on June 15, the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) has deployed two additional teams in Mumbai as a precautionary measure, an official said on Monday.
The NDRF teams, in addition to three already deployed in the metropolis, have been stationed at Andheri and Kanjurmarg areas in the western and eastern suburbs, respectively, he said.
"We have deployed two teams in addition to the three that are already available in Mumbai as a precautionary measure," the official said, adding teams of the disaster response force based in Pune have been kept on standby. (PTI)
The Supreme Court Monday put a stay on Delhi High Court’s order that allowed bike-taxi aggregators to operate in the national capital till such time as a final policy was notified.
A vacation bench of Justices Aniruddha Bose and Rajesh Bindal granted liberty to the two aggregators to request urgent hearing of their pleas by the Delhi HC. The court, however, ordered that applications for licensing of bike taxis be dealt with expeditiously once a policy is finalised by the Delhi government. (Read More)
A man from Delhi lost Rs 18,000 after he got drunk with a man who later drove off with the complainant’s car along with his laptop and phone in Gurgaon on Friday night.
An official said that the car was recovered along with laptop and phone alongside a road that falls under Sector 65 police station area. “We are looking for the accused as the cash has still not been recovered. The car is in the police station now,” he added. (Read More)
Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal Monday claimed that BJP workers and supporters participated in the AAP's rally held here a day ago since they were unhappy with the Centre's ordinance on control of services in Delhi.
The BJP, however, claimed even AAP supporters did not attend the rally despite being allured by the ruling party in Delhi. "Even people from the AAP did not come for the rally, the situation was that the chairs were empty. Despite giving them Rs. 500, cars on rent and food there was no one to listen to your fraud. The people also know that there has never been anyone more cunning, shameless and hypocritical than you."
A 24-year-old man drowned to death while bathing in the Yamuna river in outer Delhi's Alipur area on Monday, police said.
The incident occurred early Monday morning when the victim, identified as Manush Malik, visited the riverbank with his five friends, they added.
While taking a bath, Malik slipped into deep waters and drowned eventually, the police said. A team of divers and the fire department fished out his body from the river, a senior police officer said. (PTI)
Atishi’s press conference comes in the background of the ruckus at the inauguration of the East Campus of the GGSIP University last week, where speeches by both the Chief Minister and the L-G, along with others, were interrupted repeatedly by both AAP and BJP members sitting in the audience. While it was the L-G who inaugurated the campus, Kejriwal had been invited as a guest of honour. The AAP government accused the L-G of taking credit of the work done by it, while the office of the L-G said that work on the building was started in 2014 — when there was President’s rule in Delhi — and the foundation laying ceremony was attended by Minister Meenakshi Lekhi. The L-G office also said that it was the L-G who had been called upon by the university authorities to inaugurate the building.
Read the Indian Express report here...
Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal and Education Minister Atishi inaugurated a new building of a government school in west Delhi's Uttam Nagar, on Monday. "Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal Inaugurated a grand new school building in Uttar Nagar. The new building has 41 rooms spread across three floors. The school started in 1985 and was running from tin sheds and porta cabins. Successive Congress and BJP governments but none of them gave a permanent building to the 1,500 girls studying in the school," said Atishi in a press conference.
"In January 2021, the foundation of the school was laid By the AAP government And the building was ready within 1.5 years. The building was inaugurated today. I asked the L-G VK Saxena to come and take credit of the work done by the Kejriwal government if he wanted to," she said.
"We waited for Vinay Saxena ji for a long time and because he did not come, the goons that accompany him did not come either. The inauguration went off without a hitch. I want to tell the L-G that we are going to inaugurate another school building in 2 weeks, if we wants to come there and take credit for it, he is welcome to," she said.
Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal inaugurated a new building of a government school in west Delhi's Uttam Nagar, on Monday. Here is what he said:
? "This school was constructed in 1985. The governments of (BJP and Congress) came to power. But education was not on their agenda.
? "Neither the BJP nor the Congress spoke about providing education. But our politics is dependent on education," the chief minister said.
? He said his government is just the "means to educate children", adding "probably God was waiting for the AAP to come to power and improve the condition of schools".
? "Earlier, girls used to have this feeling that they were going to government schools while their brothers studied in private schools. But now the government schools in Delhi are providing good education. Some more government buildings are left to be renovated," he said. (PTI)
According to news agency PTI, the traffic on Delhi-Chandigarh National Highway is disrupted as farmers have gathered there after holding maha panchayat in Haryana's Kurukshetra district to press for Minimum Support Price for sunflower seed.
Days after the tussle between Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and Lieutenant Governor V K Saxena during the inauguration of a college campus, Education Minister Atishi trained her guns at both the L-G and Prime Minister Narendra Modi as she subtly renewed the Aam Aadmi Party’s (AAP) “fourth class pass King” rhetoric against Modi.
Taking to Twitter on Monday to share an invite to the inauguration of a school that the chief minister is scheduled to inaugurate in West Delhi’s Uttam Nagar, Atishi said Saxena was welcome to the event to “take credit.” (Read More)
While the agenda of AAP’s ‘maha rally’ was the Centre’s ordinance, the party has also kick-started its campaign for the 2024 Lok Sabha elections. The party will now hold more such rallies in the city as well as other states with national convenor and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann as speakers.
As per a senior party official, AAP is planning to contest all 543 Lok Sabha seats, even in states with zero cadre: “More rallies will be held and the tagline will be the ordinance, but key focus will be on the Lok Sabha and state assembly polls in other states.”(Read More)
Get your water bottles ready: Delhi is likely to endure a heatwave for the next three days until June 15, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) said in its Monday bulletin.
The big point: Heatwave conditions are expected to prevail over south Haryana-Delhi, and south Uttar Pradesh during June 11-13. Several other parts of the country, including Gangetic West Bengal, Odisha, Sub-Himalayan West Bengal, Vidarbha, Chhattisgarh, and Telangana are also predicted to experience extreme heat in the coming few days.
The details: Delhi will see a maximum temperature of around 40° C on Monday, as per the IMD forecast. Temperatures are expected to breach the 40° C mark in some areas, including Delhi University, Narela, and Pitampura. (Read More)
The Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) began an encroachment removal drive at Lal Qila and Chandni Chowk metro stations on Monday. The drive will continue till June 17.
DMRC officials said that the drive was necessitated by vendors, rickshaws, autos and selling carts crowding near metro stations gates, making it difficult for passengers to navigate the area. The corporation also plans on conducting similar encroachment removal drives at other metro stations in the coming days, a statement said. (Read More)
A day after the Aam Aadmi Party’s (AAP) ‘maha rally’ against the Centre’s ordinance regarding control of services in Delhi, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal claimed that “many people from BJP” were also in attendance. Taking to Twitter, he wrote, “BJP people are also saying – Modi ji did not do the right thing by bringing this ordinance.”
Delhi experienced a warm morning on Monday with the minimum temperature settling at 28.8 degrees Celsius, a notch above the season's average.
The relative humidity recorded at 8.30 am was 53 per cent, it said The weather department has predicted strong surface winds during the day and the maximum temperature is expected to hover around 41 degrees Celsius.
Delhi can expect hotter days ahead with the India Meteorological Department predicting clear skies and dry weather over the next few days.
Though the Met office has not predicted a heatwave for at least a week, such conditions may occur at isolated places.
On Sunday, the national capital witnessed a partly cloudy sky and the maximum temperature settled a notch below the season's average at 38.5 degrees Celsius. (PTI)
Delhi’s Arts, Culture and Languages Minister Atishi on June 9 visited the ongoing “Masti Ki Pathshala’ summer camp at Rajkiya Pratibha Vikas Vidyalaya in Dwarka Sector-19, to interact with the children participating in the summer camp.
Delhi government is organising the “Masti Ki Pathshala” summer camps at 150 locations throughout the city. These summer camps offer a wide array of engaging activities aimed at fostering creativity, cultural awareness, and the holistic development of children.
Read more
Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, during a rally at Ramlila Maidan over Centre’s ordinance that effectively grants control of running the government to the Centre through the L-G, had a warning for the states ruled by Opposition parties.
“What does the ordinance say? Modiji’s ordinance says there will be no democracy in Delhi. There is dictatorship. The people are not supreme, the L-G is. It doesn’t matter who the people choose, I will run Delhi, Modiji says… Don’t think that this is happening to only Delhi. I have heard they are planning to bring a similar ordinance for the rest of the country as well. An ordinance like the one for Delhi is like the declaration of dictatorship. It will be brought in Maharashtra, Rajasthan, Punjab, Madhya Pradesh,” the CM said.
Read more
Two women, Mamata (40) and Bharti Devi (74) died after a massive fire broke out in a building in the Lal Bagh Colony of Ghaziabad’s Loni area. According to the fire department, eight people were rescued from the building. A fireman was injured during the rescue operation. The fire department was alerted about the fire around 5:58 am on Monday morning, it said.
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