Keeping in mind the weather and the comfort of the people, electric and air-conditioned buses have been purchased, the CM said. (File)Delhi News Highlights: Among various issues discussed during the Cabinet meeting on Wednesday, the Delhi government has decided to extend the free ration scheme till September 30, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal said during a press briefing. Further, keeping in mind the national capital’s weather and the comfort of the people, electric and air-conditioned buses have been purchased, the CM said and added that the government has agreed to purchase 1,950 more buses.
Delhi logged 1,109 Covid-19 cases with a positivity rate of 5.87 per cent and one fatality, according to data shared by the health department on Wednesday. Delhi had reported less than 1,000 single-day infections in the last two days. With the fresh infections, Delhi’s case tally climbed to 19,34,009. The death toll due to the infection rose to 26,261. On Tuesday, Delhi had recorded 874 fresh Covid-19 cases and four fatalities due to the infection, while the positivity rate was at 5.18 per cent.
The Shahi Imam of Jama Masjid on Wednesday condemned the Udaipur murder, calling it “an act against Islam, unlawful and inhuman”. In a statement, Shahi Imam Syed Ahmed Bukhari said: “The inhumane incident of the murder of a man named Kanhaiya Lal by two persons named Riaz and Ghous, and that too in the name of the Holy Prophet, is not only an act of cowardice but an act against Islam, unlawful and inhuman. I, myself, and on the behalf of Muslims of India, with all the vehemence at our disposal, condemn this act.” Meanwhile, a march called by the Delhi BJP leaders Wednesday at the Jantar Mantar to protest against the killing in Udaipur was called off after they were denied police permission “in view of the current communal situation in Delhi”, the police said.
Many districts in Delhi have improved their scores in the school education system over the past two years, according to the data released by Union Education Ministry’s Performance Grading Index (PGI) for the districts of India. The reports for 2018-2019 and 2019-2020 released Monday evaluate the performance of the school education system at the district level by creating an index for comprehensive analysis on different parameters.
Each district is allotted scores out of a total of 600 points across 83 indicators which are grouped under six categories: Outcomes, Effective Classroom Transaction, Infrastructure Facilities & Student’s Entitlements, School Safety & Child Protection, Digital Learning and Governance Process.
Interestingly, the districts in Delhi fared better in the Digital Learning category, compared to other states. In the 2019-2020 report, as many as 180 districts scored less than 10 per cent on digital learning, 146 districts scored between 11% and 20%, while 125 districts had scores between 21% and 30%. All of Delhi’s districts scored over 25 out of 50 in this category. The digital leaning category includes parameters such as the percentage of schools with computers and internet for pedagogical purposes, and the percentage of teachers trained in using computers and teaching through them. Read More
Tripura MLA and former Tribal Welfare Minister Mevar Kumar Jamatia has been accused of molesting a woman at Tripura Bhawan in New Delhi, police said Wednesday, adding that they have sent him a notice and booked him under sections of sexual harassment.
The alleged incident took place on Tuesday and a call was made to the police at night. The woman, a student staying at Tripura Bhawan, alleged she was molested and sexually harassed by the MLA. Based on the complaint, the police detained Jamatia for questioning and later released him.
Amrutha Guguloth, DCP (New Delhi), said, “The complaint is of molestation at Tripura Bhawan. A call was made around 2.35 am by the complainant. We served a notice under section 41A (appearance before police officer) CrPC to the accused.” Read More
Preparation to bring down the Supertech twin towers in Noida has entered its final stage. The demolition of the towers, located in Sector 93A, was initially supposed to take place on May 22. The Supreme Court had, on August 30 last year, directed the demolition of the towers Apex and Ceyane in Supertech’s Emerald Court for violating the minimum distance requirement between the two buildings.
On May 17, the apex court extended the demolition date, and fixed it on August 21, with a cushion period that ends on August 28. Edifice Engineering, a Mumbai-based firm, is overseeing the demolition process.
“The process is nearly 95% complete. The buildings are ready for the demolition process. What is left is the implementation of surrounding safety features, which includes putting containers in Emerald Court’s basement and filling the basement with debris, and safeguarding the gas pipelines,” a source said. Read More
Stating that the Delhi government had announced during its budget session that it will promote urban farming, Chief Miniser Arvind Kejriwal said: "We will teach small-scale farming to those people who have space on their balconies and terraces. We will give them some seeds and other help."
A march called by the Delhi BJP leaders Wednesday at the Jantar Mantar to protest against the killing in Udaipur was called off after they were denied police permission “in view of the current communal situation in Delhi”, the police said.
Observing that the accused cheated The Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI) and thousands of students, a Delhi court has convicted a former principal of DAV Public School and two others in connection with the leak of the Common Proficiency Test (CPT) exam in 2007.
Metropolitan Magistrate Paras Dalal convicted the three accused — former DAV school principal Bhawna Malik, centre superintendent Diksha Dhingra and one Sudesh Kumar, who provided invigilators.
Malik and Diksha Dhingra were convicted for the offence under sections 420 (cheating and dishonestly inducing delivery of property) and 120(B) (punishment of criminal conspiracy) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC). The accused Sudesh Kumar, who provided invigilators for the examination was also convicted under section 120(B) on June 27. Read more
BJP leaders said Wednesday they will stage a march at Jantar Mantar in Delhi to protest against the killing of a tailor in Rajasthan’s Udaipur.
“We will gather at Jantar Mantar against the massacre in Udaipur and pay tribute to Kanhaiya Lal ji and resolution march for the destruction of terror,” said BJP leader Kapil Mishra.
Delhi BJP spokesperson Tajinder Bagga said that he would also take part in it. Read more
Delhi BJP MP Manoj Tiwari on Wednesday gave a tour of the government-run mohalla clinic in Chauhan Patti in North East Delhi to a delegation that has arrived in the national capital from Gujarat.
Express Photos by Gajendra Yadav
Expelled Delhi BJP spokesperson Naveen Kumar Jindal claimed that he received multiple death threats Wednesday morning, a day after a tailor was brutally murdered by two men in Rajasthan’s Udaipur.
Jindal said he has approached the police. He was expelled from the BJP, while another party leader, Nupur Sharma, was suspended last month over their alleged remarks against the Prophet.
A fire broke out in a godown stacked with shoe cleaners in Raj Park area of northwest Delhi early Wednesday morning, officials said. No casualties have been reported.
Fire officials were informed about the blaze at at 3.04 am following which 24 fire tenders were rushed to the spot. The fire later spread to two adjacent factories, but it was contained by 6:50 am.
Deputy Commissioner of Police (outer) Sameer Sharma said the fire broke out due to a short circuit.
Some chemicals used to clean shoes were stored in the godown, he said, adding, only the watchman of the godown was present at the spot when the fire broke out. (PTI)
A day after arresting Mohammed Zubair, co-founder of fact-checking website AltNews, over a 2018 tweet, officers at the Delhi Police’s Cyber Crime Unit say they plan to look into his bank transactions and laptop.
On Tuesday, DCP (Cyber Crime) KPS Malhotra claimed, “We have found transactions over Rs 50 lakh in Zubair’s account. These were made in the last three months. We don’t know the source yet but they could be donations from questionable organisations. We are looking into this.”
AltNews co-founder Pratik Sinha denied the police claim: “Absolutely lies. Police is linking donations received by Alt News to Zubair. All the money that Alt News receives goes to the organisation’s bank and not any individuals. The bank statement of Zubair’s personal account of which I have a copy debunks this falsehood.” Read more
With elections in Gujarat scheduled towards the end of this year, politics from the state has reached the national capital. A 17-member BJP delegation from Gujarat is in Delhi on a two-day visit to assess the ground reality of Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal’s “so-class world model”, said the party’s Gujarat vice-president Virender Sachdeva. He said the team will be visiting some schools on Tuesday and Wednesday.
To this, Deputy CM Manish Sisodia, who also holds the education portfolio, tweeted that he had learnt from the news that a Gujarat BJP team plans to visit Delhi’s schools and mohalla clinics. “We have made a team of five MLAs to welcome this team from Gujarat and show them schools and mohalla clinics,” he said.
AAP MLA Atishi also tweeted: “A BJP delegation from Gujarat has come to Delhi to visit our government schools and mohalla clinics. We are at the AAP office to welcome (them); those who want to visit school, hospital or mohalla clinic, we will take them there.” Read More
Dedicated bus bays, pre-paid auto and taxi booths and parking areas to reduce congestion are some of the features envisaged for the Kashmere Gate ISBT as part of the AAP government's plan to make it a ''world class transit hub".
Delhi Transport Minister Kailash Gahlot on Tuesday inspected the Inter State Bus Terminal (ISBT) at Kashmere Gate and reviewed the ongoing improvement plan to provide direct access to intra city government buses, closer to the ISBT main entrance itself, said an official statement.
The Transport Department has been trying to reshape and reorganise the existing transit hub and develop an improvement plan to ensure convenience to passengers and reduce congestion in the area. (PTI)
The Editors Guild of India and the Press Club of India on Tuesday described the arrest of Alt News co-founder Muhammad Zubair on charges of hurting religious sentiments as "extremely disturbing" and demanded his immediate release.
Both the media bodies pointed out that the action against Zubair came on a day when India joined G7 and four other countries to protect free speech, "online and offline".
"It is apparent that Alt News' alert vigilance was resented by those who use disinformation as a tool to polarise society and rake nationalist sentiments," the guild said in a statement.
The Press Club of India said: "The action by the Delhi Police in hastily arresting Muhammad Zubair showed the blatant violation of the country's commitment on the global platform given by none other than the prime minister himself." (PTI)
The arrest of journalist Mohammed Zubair in Delhi is pettiness, vengeance and repression let loose on a society once aspiring to be free. It is also a distillation of the way in which the Narendra Modi government draws energy from a thorough contempt for liberty, decency, constitutional values, and the opinion of the international community. The arrest comes just as the PM was singing paeans to Indian democracy in Munich, milking the Emergency way past its political expiry date and signing protocols on free speech. It is a reminder to the world that with this regime, you have to vigilantly watch what it does and not be duped by what it says. Pratap Bhanu Mehta writes
As Delhi gets ready to welcome monsoon in a few days, authorities have made elaborate plans to allay fears of waterlogging in the newly opened Pragati Maidan tunnel like constructing underground sumps and installing automatic pumping system to collect and swiftly drain storm water during heavy rains.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi had on June 19 inaugurated the city's first 1.3-km long tunnel and five underpasses as part of Pragati Maidan Integrated Transit Corridor Project that aims to ease connectivity between central Delhi with eastern part of the city and satellite towns of Noida and Ghaziabad.
Officials of the Public Works Department (PWD), the agency that has constructed the tunnel, said since the facility is located in close proximity of the Yamuna flood basin, a new drainage network of wider pipes with high water discharge capacity has been laid there. (PTI)
Delhi government will set up 175 camps for kanwariyas to ensure that they are not inconvenienced during the upcoming Kanwar Yatra, officials said on Tuesday.
The yatra is scheduled to be held from July 14 to July 26 this year after a gap of two years due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Kanwariyas (devotees of Lord Shiva) collect water from Ganga river at Haridwar, Uttarakhand to offer at Shiva temples in their areas as part of the yatra.
According to officials, a meeting of various departments of the Delhi government was held here on Tuesday. It was decided that steps be taken to ensure the safety and comfort of the kanwariyas. (PTI)
Condemning the arrest of Alt News co-founder Mohammed Zubair, a group of activists on Tuesday said it was "absolute hypocrisy" of the government that his arrest came on a day India committed at the G7 Summit to defend democratic principles and protect the freedom of expression.
Criticising the arrests, All India Progressive Women's Association member Kavita Krishnan alleged it was "absolute hypocrisy" of the prime minister to "use the Constitution of India as window dressing" while he is acting in revenge against activists and journalists who is holding his party accountable.
"I expect more from leaders of world democracies and the international media. When Modi goes to an international stage, he should be asked about his treatment of journalists and activists in India. I find it wrong if he is given a free pass and talk about democracy in India...," she told PTI.
The BJP on Tuesday lashed out at opposition parties, especially the Congress, for protesting against the arrest of activist Teesta Setalvad and Mohammed Zubair, co-founder of fact-checking portal Alt News, alleging that they were working as part of a "poisonous ecosystem" where one offender protects another if anyone is caught.
Slamming the Congress for joining the protest against Setalvad's arrest, BJP spokesperson Gaurav Bhatia accused it of supporting and opposing judicial actions as per its convenience and asked if the opposition party has any faith in the judiciary or not.
Noting that the Gujarat Police action against her was following the Supreme Court's strong denunciation of her and others for "keeping the pot boiling" and levelling false charges against people, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi, over the 2002 riots in the state, Bhatia alleged that she had been acting at the behest of the Congress to end Modi's political career. (PTI)
Harassment and arbitrary arrests of human rights defenders for tirelessly seeking truth and justice have become alarmingly commonplace in India, Amnesty India said on Tuesday, demanding immediate and unconditional release of fact-checking website Alt News co-founder Mohammed Zubair.
Aakar Patel, chair of board for Amnesty International India, said the Indian authorities are targeting Zubair for his crucial work to combat the rise in fake news and disinformation and call out discrimination against minorities.
"The arrest of Mohammed Zubair shows the danger facing human rights defenders in India has reached a crisis point," Patel said in a statement. (PTI)
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Tuesday lashed out at the BJP-led Centre over the arrests of Alt News co-founder Mohammed Zubair and social activist Teesta Setalvad for "trying to expose the truth" and wondered how those who spread hatred among communities are roaming free.
Addressing a party meeting in Asansol in Paschim Bardhaman district, Banerjee also attacked the Centre over the Agnipath defence recruitment scheme, calling it a “major scam and another example of Jumla politics” ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha polls.
“Why have you arrested Mohammed Zubair and Teesta Setalvad? What wrong have they done? Does speaking out the truth or exposing the truth a crime? Those who are speaking out against this government are either harassed by using agencies or are arrested,” Banerjee said. (PTI)
The Prosecution further argued that Zubair's "deliberate act is there on record which is outraging the religious sentiment." "He is not an anonymous complainant. We have his details. We have to recover those laptop and instruments by which he posted these posts. There is a requirement of his police remand. This is the first time it came to our knowledge that these posts were posted by him."
Rebutting Zubair's arguments, the Prosecution said: "All applications are deleted from his (Zubair) mobile phone. He threatened the investigating officer. His parents have laptop from which data will be deleted, he said. He came with a blank phone."
Advocate Grover further said that "if it was an anonymous Twitter handle that chose to create mischief, then that has to be investigated. My client is being targeted. He is maybe someone who challenges people who are powerful and that can't be the reason for his arrest."
Zubair's lawyer further told the court that the police was 'abusing it's power.' 'Today, my laptop and phone is a storehouse of my personal information. They want my laptop because I am a journalist. Our laptops contain sensitive information. A fishing enquiry begins when the laptop is seized. That tweet cannot withstand any legal scrutiny. I have been challenging people who are speaking certain things. Will that deprive me of my liberty?' Grover told the magistrate court.
Further arguing, Zubair lawyer said: "This is an image of a Rishikesh Mukherjee film. Not a place of worship. This is a joke on the Honeymooners. Where is the damage? Prima facie where is the case? Yes, I am journalist, have a Twitter following and speak my mind in an Independent country."
Grover added that the "tweet does not make out 295 A." "If this intention is that this man has to be harassed, the law has to be abused, then yes the police are doing their job."
"Where does my tweet insult any religion? From 2018 to 2022, these tweets have not created a flutter. The people of this country have gone on with their life. There is nothing in my tweet," Zubair's counsel further said.
Advocate Vrinda Grover, appearing for Zubair, has argued before the Delhi magistrate court that he is a fact-checker and journalist. She added that Zubair calls out people who post fake news and videos and therefore, they don't like him.
The police has sought five-day custody of Mohammed Zubair in connection with the ‘objectionable’ tweet case.
Delhi Police taking Mohammed Zubair, the co-founder of fact-checking website AltNews, to a Delhi Court.
The Editors Guild of India (EGI) on Tuesday condemned the arrest of fact-checking website Alt-News’ co-founder Mohammed Zubair, saying that the organisation’s “alert vigilance was resented by those who use disinformation as a tool to polarise the society and rake nationalist sentiments”.
Zubair was called to Delhi Police’s Cyber Crime Unit office in Dwarka on Monday afternoon for questioning in a 2020 POCSO case but was soon arrested for a tweet that he had posted in 2018. The tweet in question is a photo of a hotel with its board reading ‘Honeymoon hotel’ repainted to ‘Hanuman hotel’. It was recently quote-tweeted by a user who alleged his religious sentiments were hurt. Police booked Zubair under sections 153 A (promoting enmity between different religious groups) and 295 A (malicious acts, intended to outrage religious feelings) of the Indian Penal Code. (Read More)
The southwest monsoon is likely to hit Delhi between June 30 and July 1, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) said on Tuesday.
The ‘normal’ onset date of the southwest monsoon in Delhi is June 27. Last year, the onset was delayed with the monsoon hitting the city on July 13.
Conditions are favourable for the further advance of the monsoon into remaining parts of Bihar, parts of Uttar Pradesh and some parts of Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh and Jammu and Kashmir during the next 24 hours, the IMD said on Tuesday. (Read More)
Partly cloudy skies and the possibility of thunder are on the India Meteorological Department (IMD) forecast for Tuesday for Delhi. Tuesday is likely to be another warm day for the national capital with the maximum temperature set to hit 41 degrees Celsius.
The minimum temperature, usually recorded at night, also settled a few degrees above normal at 30.8 degrees, which is three degrees above the long period average for this time of the year.
The IMD is yet to confirm the possible date of onset of the southwest monsoon in Delhi. The normal date of onset is June 27. (Read More)
More than two months after dacoits had allegedly robbed Rs 96.32 lakh at gunpoint after throwing chilli powder in the eyes of two employees of a private cash transportation company in Gurgaon, the police have arrested the main accused, said officials Tuesday.
The accused, Jitender alias Jeetu, was arrested on Monday from Subhash Chowk by a team of Crime Branch Sector 40, said the police.
The police have so far recovered Rs 78.4 lakh cash, three cars, four mobile phones, a gun, four live cartridges, and a fake number plate in the case and arrested seven accused—Neel Kamal, Gulab, Jony, Kulbir, Javed, Diwankar, and Jitender. (Read More)
Justice Satish Chandra Sharma has been sworn in as the Chief Justice of Delhi High Court by Delhi Lieutenant Governor Vinai Kumar Saxena.
The FIR against Mohammed Zubair, the co-founder of fact-checking website AltNews who was arrested by the cyber unit of the Delhi Police on Monday, was registered a week ago, according to officials Tuesday.
The complainant in the case is sub-inspector Arun Kumar, who works with the Intelligence Fusion & Strategic Operations Cell (IFSO) which functions under the Special Cell and handles cases of cybercrime and cyber forensics. The FIR was registered on June 20 under Sections 153-A (promoting enmity between different groups) and 295-A (malicious acts, intended to outrage religious feelings) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) after a complaint from Kumar.
Kumar was on duty as the emergency duty officer of the social media monitoring cell and came across a tweet by a Twitter handle Hanuman Bhakt @balajikijaiiin, the FIR stated. (Read More)
A wanted man and his associate were arrested from Delhi’s Shahdara Monday by the Economic Offences Wing and handed over to the CBI, said the police. The men were identified as the main accused Pradeep Paliwal, 70, and his associate Vinayak Bhatt.
The police added that Paliwal was wanted in four cases registered in the EOW, CBI, Karol Bagh, and Gurugram’s Udhyog Vihar jurisdiction respectively. They added that Bhatt was wanted in another CBI case.
A senior police officer said, “Paliwal along with his associate used to cheat people and banks on the pretext of getting money to invest in a granite mining business. He did this by getting loans on forged papers against properties that had already been mortgaged.” (Read More)
The national capital witnessed a warm morning on Tuesday as the minimum temperature was recorded three notches above normal even as the weather office predicted possibility of thunder or lightning later in the day.
The city's minimum temperature on Tuesday morning was recorded as 30.8 degrees Celsius.
“The city will witness generally cloudy sky with possibility of development of thunder or lightning on Tuesday,” an official of the India Meteorological Department (IMD) said.
According to weather experts, Delhi will receive a fresh spell of rain from June 29.
The monsoon is just a few days away from Delhi and is expected to yield good rainfall in the first 10 days, weather experts said.
The IMD official said the maximum temperature of the day will hover around 41 degrees Celsius. (PTI)
The Intelligence Fusion and Strategic Operations (IFSO) unit of the Delhi Police, a specialised team under the Special Cell, has been making “significant” arrests and has registered cases against several political leaders and activists in the last year, citing an aim to prevent cyber crimes, online abuse and communal disharmony.
On Monday, the IFSO team arrested fact-checking website Alt-News’ co-founder Mohammed Zubair for allegedly hurting religious sentiments by a tweet from 2018.
Zubair was produced in front of a magistrate late at night and sent to one-day police custody. (Read More)
Police have arrested two people and recovered 64 kilogram of marijuana (ganja) from their possession.
Police said on June 25, Inspector Ajay Malik, SHO Bilaspur police station, received a tip-off that a truck carrying 64 kg 380 grams of narcotics was on its way to Delhi from Maharashtra and will be passing from Dharuhera.
Preet Pal, ACP crime, said that acting on the information, police set up a barricade near the old toll plaza in Bilaspur and the truck was stopped for checking. (Read More)