Delhi News Highlights: Delhi government seeks deferral of fuel ban on old vehicles citing system glitches

Delhi Environment Minister Manjinder Singh Sirsa on Thursday has requested the Commission for Air Quality Management (CAQM) to suspend its recent ban on fuel supply to old vehicles (ELVs), citing serious operational flaws in the enforcement system. The ban, effective from July 1, restricts fuel for petrol vehicles over 15 years old and diesel ones over 10. Sirsa highlighted issues with the ANPR camera system, including faulty sensors, incorrect placements, inability to detect vehicles without High Security Registration Plates, and lack of integration with NCR state data. He warned of unfair burden on Delhi and potential public discontent due to technical glitches. Until the system is fully functional and NCR-integrated, Sirsa urged the CAQM to delay implementation.

A government employee away on a vacation to Europe with his family was dismayed when he received a call from his domestic worker that his house had been robbed. According to the FIR registered by the police, the officer and his family had left the country on June 13 and were supposed to return on June 29. However on the day of his return, while the officer was in transit in Abu Dhabi, he reportedly received the call regarding the robbery.

During the call, the domestic worker and the housing society's guard were given permission to go inside the house and report back on what was missing. "On my instruction over the phone they entered the house and explained that one safe is broken, almirahs are open, and cash and jewellery have been stolen," the FIR read. The officer and his family arrived home a few hours later and discovered that approximately 202 grams of gold jewellery were missing along with 4-5 lakh rupees in cash and 18,000 Thai Baht.

The district police's crime team along with a forensics team soon arrived at the scene and lifted a plastic bag and the house's broken lock as evidence. The police have taken the nearby area's CCTV footage and have questioned the neighbours regarding the incident. An FIR under Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita section 331(3) (house trespass or house breaking) and 305(a) (theft in any building, tent or vessel used as a human dwelling) has been registered in Tughlak Road police station.