Delhi News Highlights: Delhi reports 299 new Covid-19 cases; HC grants bail to 8 persons arrested for vandalism outside CM Kejriwal’s house

Jawaharlal Nehru University Vice-Chancellor Santishree Dhulipudi Pandit on Wednesday said that the university doesn't impose food choices on students and stressed that they can debate and agitate but should not indulge in violence. Her comments came days after two groups clashed allegedly over the serving of non-vegetarian food in a hostel mess where a puja had been organised by some students on the Ram Navami festival.     

"It is very unfortunate that the university is being identified because of some fringe groups. I am as nationalistic as anyone else and they are all nationalists," she told reporters to queries on university students being called "'anti-national" by certain sections after some controversial incidents. Talking about April 10 violence, she said that there are 17 hostels in the university and in 16 of those, everything went on peacefully with the iftar and the Ram Navami puja being organised together. (PTI)

Two members of a gang were arrested on Wednesday for allegedly killing a man who had refused to pay them "protection money" of Rs 50 lakhs, police said. The accused have been identified as Mohd Ladla (24) and Laxman (23), both members of Kala Jathedi and Rishi Surakhpuria gang, they said.    

The police said on April 3, four men barged into the house of Mahavir Enclave-resident Amit who was a bootlegger, and demanded protection money of Rs 50 lakhs. When Amit refused to pay them, the accused, three of whom had pistols, fired two rounds inside the house to scare him and make him pay protection money on a regular basis, police said. They also robbed cash and ornaments worn by victim and his wife at gun point, police said. (PTI)

Delhi reeled under a heatwave on Wednesday despite the India Meteorological Department predicting a brief respite from sweltering condition. The maximum temperature at the Safdarjung Observatory -- the capital's base station -- settled at 40.6 degrees Celsius, five notches higher than normal. Another spell of heatwave is predicted to hit Delhi next week, starting April 18, the IMD said.

A heatwave scorched the capital for five days on the trot before cloudy weather brought the mercury down to 39.5 degrees Celsius on Tuesday. The maximum temperature in the city is predicted to remain below the 40-degree mark on Thursday. Thereafter, it will gradually increase to 42 degrees Celsius by April 18. The IMD had earlier said the maximum temperature in Delhi is predicted to remain below the 40-degree mark till Friday. It will gradually increase to 42 degrees Celsius by Monday. No heatwave is predicted in the national for the next five to six days, it had said. (PTI)

A civic official has been suspended for wrongly sealing a shop in east Delhi, the area's mayor alleged on Wednesday. The office of East Delhi Mayor Shyam Sunder Aggarwal in a statement issued on Wednesday said he has a "zero-tolerance policy" against corruption.    

According to the statement, a shop in Old Govindpura was sealed by an official who was found guilty in a probe of wrongly sealing the shop. Aggarwal was quoted as saying in the statement that he had written to the municipal commissioner to have that shop de-sealed and to take action against the official. (PTI)

The Delhi Transport department has towed away over 50 vehicles and fined their drivers with Rs 500 fine each for parking their vehicles in the lanes designated for buses. Besides this, 97 drivers of the DTC and Cluster buses have been fined with Rs 10,000 each under the lane discipline drive launched on April 1, a senior transport department official said.     

The department has so far imposed fines of over Rs 11 lakh on the violators of the bus lane norm. The extreme left lane of a road is reserved for plying of the buses only. "Further, we have started towing away smaller vehicles obstructing designated bus lanes and found parked there unauthorisedly. Besides, issuing a challan of Rs 10,000, teams of Transport department and traffic police are also realising towing away charges from the violators," the official said. (PTI)

Delhi reported 299 new Covid-19 cases on Wednesday with positivity rate at 2.49%. The national capital reported zero deaths and 173 patients recovered from the infection in the last 24 hours.

While some schools in Noida and Ghaziabad have temporarily moved online after students tested positive for Covid, schools in Delhi say that they want to avoid closing the whole school in case of such an eventuality and will focus on monitoring and isolation. At least three schools in Noida and Ghaziabad have suspended physical classes temporarily after cases were detected. Delhi’s schools have been operating in full swing from April 1, with completely offline teaching-learning, and at full capacity. Multiple school administrators say that in case their students test positive, they will avoid shutting down the entire school.

Delhi University's St Stephen's College has said that admissions to the minority institution will be based on 85 per cent of the CUET scores and 15 per cent of the interview marks for all categories of applicants, as opposed to what they have been directed for by the varsity. In an admission notice posted on its website on Tuesday, the college also said that it reserves the right to proceed with admissions as per its own admission policy guaranteed to it as a minority institution.      

The college reserves 50 per cent of its seats for general candidates and remaining for Christian students. DU Vice-chancellor Yogesh Singh had recently said that for the general seats, the college should solely take the Common University Entrance Test (CUET) scores into consideration, while for minority seats, it can hold interviews and assign a weightage of 85 per cent to CUET scores and the rest to interviews. (PTI)

An invitation to BJP national spokesperson Guru Prakash Paswan to speak to students of Lady Shri Ram College on Ambedkar Jayanti (April 14) was rescinded following opposition by some members of the student community.

Along with being a spokesperson for the BJP, Paswan is also Assistant Professor of Law at Patna University and advisor at the Dalit India Chambers of Commerce and Industry. He has also co-authored the book Makers of the Modern Dalit History with Sudarshan Ramabadran. Speaking to The Indian Express, Paswan called it “intolerance of the highest level”. Read more

The Delhi High Court Wednesday observed that the court is not a platform to propagate any religion and asked lawyers to desist from taking names of any religion. The court made the point clear while hearing a batch of pleas by several account holders challenging their suspension and deletion by the social media platforms.

"Let one thing be very clear. This (court) platform is not for propagating any religion. This is only to deal with the law. You please desist from using words like Hindu," the judge said when a counsel for one of the petitioners started arguing his case and mentioned the name of 'Hindu' religion. The court asked the counsel for all the parties to complete their pleading and file written submissions and listed the matter for further hearing on April 28. (PTI)

The Delhi government’s transport department has so far collected Rs 11.20 lakh through fines under its ‘bus lane enforcement drive’, said officials.

A 79-year-old retired pilot allegedly fell to death from the balcony of his fourth floor apartment on Wednesday, police here said. They said the deceased was trying to fix a wind chime when he lost his balance and fell. Sarabjit Singh Brar was a resident of Laburnum Apartments in DLF Phase 1 and was with his wife when the incident happened around 10 AM, they said. 
     

He was up on a ladder to fix the wind chime resting his one foot on balcony grill, when he lost balance and fell, they said. His wife raised an alarm after he fell drawing attention of the guards, who rushed him to a hospital, where he died, said police. "It was unfortunate. The retired pilot succumbed to injuries. His body was handed over to his family after a post mortem," said ASI Sandeep Kumar, the Investigating Officer. (PTI)

Students of Jamia Millia Islamia held a protest at the university’s campus Tuesday to protest against the violence that took place at Jawaharlal Nehru University days earlier.

A Delhi court will decide on April 16 a CBI plea challenging an order directing the probe agency to withdraw the Look Out Circular (LOC) issued against the chair of Amnesty International India Board Aakar Patel and apologies to him in connection with a case of an alleged violation of the Foreign Contributions Regulation Act (FCRA). Special Judge Santosh Snehi Mann, who was scheduled to pass the order on CBI's revision petition on Wednesday, deferred it, saying she has received the written submissions from the CBI on Wednesday and needed time to go through it.     

The court had reserved the order on Tuesday after hearing arguments from the CBI and the counsel appearing for the accused on the agency's plea seeking revision of the magisterial court's decision. The judge had also extended the stay on the magisterial court's order till the final decision of the revision petition. The judge had on April 8 directed Patel not to leave the country without the court's prior permission while it stayed the order of the magisterial court in the case relating to the alleged violation of the FCRA. (PTI)

Members of the Jawaharlal Nehru University Students' Union met vice-chancellor Santishree Dhulipudi Pandit on Wednesday and demanded that a panel headed by a retired High Court judge probe the clash between two groups of students on April 10. The delegation, comprising six JNUSU members, met Pandit and were informed that a proctorial inquiry will be initiated in the matter.    

At least 20 students were injured after clashes broke out between two groups on April 10 allegedly over serving of non-vegetarian food at the Kaveri Hostel mess. After the meeting, JNUSU president Aishe Ghosh said the delegation strongly put forth their points and asked why the administration did not anything when the meat vendor was not allowed in Kaveri Hostel on the day of the clashes. (PTI)

The Delhi Police have arrested a nurse and her husband for allegedly stealing cash and jewellery worth Rs 2.4 crore from Bollywood actor Sonam Kapoor and her husband Anand Ahuja’s New Delhi residence. The police said that the nurse worked as a caretaker at Kapoor’s house located near Amrita Shergill Marg. Ahuja’s family reported the theft on February 23 at Tughlak Road police station. The family members alleged that cash and jewellery worth Rs 2.4 crores were missing and the police registered a case. Read more

The Directorate of Education has asked all private and government schools in the capital to furnish a report on the status of installation of rain water harvesting system in their premises. The schools have also been asked to make necessary arrangements for inspection by the Rain Water Harvesting Cell (RWH) of the Delhi Jal Board.     

"All heads of schools are directed to submit report about the status of installation of rain water harvesting system. The schools should also provide necessary arrangements to facilitate the technical team of DJB's RWH cell to inspect these schools," DoE said in a communication to schools. The NGT had in 2017 directed all Delhi government and private schools, as well as colleges, to install rainwater harvesting systems in their premises within two months at their own cost. (PTI)

At least 28 people, including children, were hospitalised after allegedly consuming a drink laced with a sedative at a fair near a temple in Haryana’s Gurugram district Tuesday night, said the police. According to the police, the accused had offered people the drink claiming it as ‘prasad’ in Mubarikpur village in Farrukhnagar. They added the victims were rushed to the civil hospital, where their condition is stable.

Harmel Dhiman, the BJP’s national executive member and the party’s leader from Himachal Pradesh for 30 years, joined the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) along with his supporters Wednesday, saying the policies of those in power alienated him.

The AAP will hold a protest outside the residence of the Delhi BJP president Adesh Gupta on Wednesday against the alleged "vandalism" by saffron party leaders at Delhi Jal Board's Sonia Vihar underground reservoir (UGR).

Delhi Water Minister Satyendar Jain had on Tuesday alleged that BJP MP Manoj Tiwari forcibly entered the Delhi Jal Board's Sonia Vihar UGR with around 300-400 people and created a ruckus there.

The BJP leader, however, denied the allegation and termed it "fake news".

"The Aam Aadmi Party will gherao the residence of BJP state president Adesh Gupta today at 4 pm in connection with vandalism at Sonia Vihar underground reservoir (UGR)," the AAP said in a statement Jain had inaugurated the Sonia Vihar UGR of 2.68 crore litres capacity on March 2. (PTI)

Delhi Transport Minister Kailash Gahlot on Wednesday flagged-off 80 new air-conditioned low-floor CNG buses from Rajghat Cluster Bus Depot here.

According to officials, these newly-inducted buses are equipped with modern facilities like panic button, GPS and are disable-friendly.

Flagging-off the buses, Gahlot said these are modern and environment friendly vehicles and will help in reducing pollution in the city.

With the induction of these 80 low-floor AC CNG buses, the public transport bus fleet size has grown to 7,080, the highest in Delhi so far, officials said. (PTI)

The Delhi High Court has granted bail to eight people who were arrested in a case related to the protest and the vandalism outside the residence of Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal in March.

The court noted that the accused have been in custody for 14 days and the evidence collected, so far, is of such nature that they cannot tamper with it.

“Others who had been identified in photos have been issued notices under Section 41A (of the) CrPC and are also participating in the investigations. Thus, the continued custody of the applicants (accused) in jail is not called for only because some investigations are still going on,” Justice Asha Menon said in an order passed on Tuesday. (PTI)

The Delhi government’s transport department has so far collected Rs 11.20 lakh through fines under its ‘bus lane enforcement drive’, said officials. Read more

The body of a man was found at the New Mandoli Industrial Area in northeast Delhi's Harsh Vihar on Wednesday morning. The identity of the man is yet to be ascertained, the police said.

Information about the body at the industrial area, under the Harsh Vihar police station, was given by beat officers around 7:15 am and It seems, the man died form an injury to his head, according to the police.

Missing persons reports, even from other police stations, are being looked up, and footage from CCTV cameras is being examined to ascertain the identity of the man and the sequence of events that led to his death. (PTI)

The Delhi Skill and Entrepreneurship University (DSEU) has launched a fully-funded residential course in software programming for women. The programme is a 20-month advanced diploma course that has been launched with the first batch of 80 students from DSEU’s Dwarka Campus. Read more

The South Delhi Municipal Corporation (SDMC) has issued 144 notices to various government departments after it found mosquito breeding on their premises, an official statement said. Read more

The maximum temperature in Delhi is predicted to remain below the 40-degree mark till Friday. It will gradually increase to 42 degrees Celsius by Monday. No heatwave is predicted in the national capital for the next five to six days, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) said.

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Tuesday said his government will send senior citizens living in old age homes in the capital on pilgrimage free of cost.
   
The chief minister inaugurated the capital's fourth old age home "Baba Sahab Dr Bhim Rao Ambedkar Senior Citizen Home" at Kanti Nagar in East Delhi here.
 
"We hope our elderly never have to leave their home. But even if they have to due to some reason, we will do our best to make them happy. We will give them a homely environment here," he said.
 
He said Delhi has four old age homes now and five more will be ready soon. Altogether, these nine facilities will be able to accommodate 1,000 senior citizens, the chief minister said.    
 
"The Delhi government sends senior citizens on 'tirth yatra'. The yatra could not be held in 2020 and 2021 due to the pandemic outbreak. But it has restarted now. We will send all senior citizens from old age homes on tirth yatra," he said. (PTI)

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Tuesday said that his government is keeping a close watch on the situation of Covid-19 in the national capital. “No need to panic now. All steps will be taken if need arises,” he said, according to news agency PTI.

A Gurgaon police head constable has been arrested for allegedly demanding and taking bribe from a friend of an accused in a cheating case. Officials of the state vigilance department said that head constable Shakti Singh, who is posted at Kherki Daula police station, was caught red-handed while receiving a bribe worth Rs 1.5 lakh on Sunday night. Read more

Following continuous protests by cab and taxi drivers over the hike in fuel prices, cab aggregator service Uber has decided to hike the trip fares in Delhi-NCR by 12 per cent. Read more

The maximum temperature in Delhi Tuesday is likely to remain at 42 degrees Celsius, and heatwave conditions also remain in the forecast, according to the weather bureau. The minimum temperature recorded in the early hours of Tuesday was above normal at 22.5 degrees Celsius, which is two degrees above the normal for this time of the year. Read more

First-year students of Jamia Millia Islamia Monday began a boycott of online classes demanding the complete re-opening of the campus. While the university has opened for final-year students, those in their first year or intermediate years have still not been asked to return to campus for offline classes. Read more

The Delhi Development Authority (DDA) has said its advisory council has reviewed the draft Master Plan for Delhi-2041 and the document will be placed before the urban body’s authority in a meeting in the coming weeks, which will be chaired by Lieutenant Governor Anil Baijal. Read more

A fire broke out at the auditorium of Delhi’s Ram Lal Anand College on Tuesday morning. Delhi Fire Services said that they received a call at 9 am and that five fire tenders have been deployed at the spot to douse the fire. No casualties have been reported yet.