Delhi News Highlights: Police recovers phones destroyed by Parliament breach ‘mastermind’ Lalit Jha from Rajasthan

Union Minister Smriti Irani expressed skepticism about the effectiveness of the Arvind Kejriwal-led Delhi government during her address to the 'Naveen Shahdara Jila Karyakarta Sangam' in Delhi, stating, "It is better not to expect anything from the Arvind Kejriwal-led Delhi government."

"The person who has already sent half of his Cabinet to jail, there is no guarantee on how long he (Arvind Kejriwal) will stay out," she said.

VIDEO | "It is better not to expect anything from the Arvind Kejriwal-led Delhi government. The person who has already sent half of his Cabinet to jail, there is no guarantee on how long he (Arvind Kejriwal) will stay out," says Union minister @smritiirani, addressing the 'Naveen… pic.twitter.com/JdSGeJFdZm

— Press Trust of India (@PTI_News) December 17, 2023

VIDEO | Union minister @smritiirani attends 'Naveen Shahdara Jila Karyakarta Sangam' in Delhi. pic.twitter.com/V16WgfODra

— Press Trust of India (@PTI_News) December 17, 2023

A Delhi court has sought a report from Tihar authorities regarding the reported shifting of Lava International Managing Director Hariom Rai, arrested in a money-laundering case against Chinese smartphone maker Vivo, to a separate jail in Tihar here.

Additional Sessions Judge Kiran Gupta issued notice to jail authorities concerned on December 16 on an application moved by Rai's advocate, who questioned his shifting and raised the issue of his safety, and directed the officials to file the report by December 18.

Advocate Nitesh Rana, appearing for Rai, submitted before the court that there were concerns regarding the safety of the accused.
"The grave threat continues to persist and there is a continual threat to the life and security of the applicant," Rana told the court. (PTI)

Delhi Lt Governor V K Saxena has sanctioned the prosecution of 11 people allegedly involved in cases of obtaining passports by furnishing false and forged documents, Raj Niwas officials said on Sunday.

With this, the LG has granted prosecution sanction against 69 people whose names have figured in 46 FIRs under the Passports Act, 1967 that have been sent to him since April this year, they added.

The sanction for prosecution was sought by the home department under Section 15 of the Passports Act for the offences enlisted in Section 12 of the act for obtaining passports and travel documents like visa etc. on the basis of false, fabricated and forged documents, an official said. (PTI) 

A massive fire broke out at a paper warehouse in Chilla village area of East Delhi's Mayur Vihar Phase 1 on Sunday afternoon.

According to Delhi fire services officials, after receiving information about the fire, a dozen fire tenders were sent to the spot and the operation to control the situation was started.

#WATCH | Fire broke out in a paper warehouse in Chilla village of Mayur Vihar Phase 1. Around 12 fire tenders are present on the spot: Delhi Fire Service More details awaited. pic.twitter.com/n6SGlqpwVn

— ANI (@ANI) December 17, 2023

Delhi Police Crime Branch has busted a fake medicine factory in Delhi's Ghulabi Bagh area and arrested its owner, officials said on Sunday.

The fake factory was involved in production of an anti-itching gel, Bentnovate-N, police said, adding the illegal unit was being run in Ghulabi Bagh's industrial area.

A huge quantity of medical equipment and products for manufacturing the gel have been recovered, the officials said adding further investigations were on. (PTI)

Days after the Delhi government took the matter to the Supreme Court, Lieutenant Governor Vinai Kumar Saxena accused Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal of seeking to blame him for the AAP Delhi government’s “failure” to keep the Farishtey welfare scheme for road accident victims on track.

Hitting back, Delhi health minister Saurabh Bharadwaj said the L-G was being “misinformed by his officers” with regard to the scheme. He said government officials had not done the needful or complied with his instructions to clear pending financial dues related to the scheme despite being directed to do so.

Read the full story here

A year after the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) won the MCD election following a campaign that repeatedly pointed to the city’s three landfills, over 180 lakh tonnes of unprocessed waste, unabated dumping of fresh waste, and the absence of a standing committee in the civic body continues to stand between it and its goal of making Delhi “landfill-free” in 2024.

While Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal had said in March this year that the landfill at Okhla — the city’s smallest — could be cleared by December, 36.62 lakh tonnes of waste remain at the site, going by figures with the Delhi Pollution Control Committee (DPCC).

Read the full report here.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has termed the December 13 security lapse in Parliament as “sad and worrying” and said that it was important to know the elements behind this incident and their intentions.

Speaking to Hindi news daily Dainik Jagran, PM Modi said, “The gravity of the incident in Parliament should not be underestimated at all. Therefore, Speaker Sir is taking the necessary steps with full seriousness. The investigating agencies are investigating strictly. It is equally important to go into depth as to what are the elements and intentions behind this.”

Picture a road in a European city, with separate lanes for vehicles and bicycles and wide pavements for pedestrians. Nine months ago, this is what the Delhi government promised — a “world class” transformation in the way the city commutes — while presenting its annual budget. Fast forward to today and the ground reality is much more of a bumpy ride, filled with cracks and numerous potholes.

Why can’t the government agencies carry out repairs, one may ask. According to Public Works Department (PWD) officials, their hands are tied by budgetary constraints and fund crunch. The government, however, blames it on bureaucracy’s “inflexible” and “obstructionist approach” ever since the GNCTD (Amendment) Act, which has granted control of services to the Lieutenant Governor, was passed.

Read today's Hardlook here.

Delhi Police on Sunday recovered cellphones destroyed by Lalit Mohan Jha, held in connection with the Parliament security breach case, from Kuchaman City in Rajasthan. Jha had gone to the spot and allegedly set fire to 4-5 cell-phones.

#JUSTIN:Delhi Police found Lalit Mohan Jha,held in connection with the Parliament security breach,went to Kuchaman City where he along with Mahesh allegedly destroyed 4-5 cell-phones, putting the devices on fire. Police have recovered burnt cellphones from the spot.@IndianExpress pic.twitter.com/5LIf6MjOie

— Mahender Singh Manral (@mahendermanral) December 17, 2023

From additional schooling facilities and the maintenance of roads to rejuvenating the Yamuna and providing potable water to unauthorised colonies – the AAP Delhi government has made additional allocations of over Rs 1,700 crore for visible, citizen-centric schemes for the remainder of the current financial year.

While a slew of such projects constitutes the lion’s share of additional allocations in the run-up to the Lok Sabha elections, the government also overshot its target of tax revenue under four out of five heads – barring excise.

Delhi recorded a minimum temperature of 6.5 degrees Celsius, two degrees below normal, on Sunday morning. The maximum temperature is expected to be around 25 degrees Celsius today.

The Arvind Kejriwal government is working on a cabinet note to strike an understanding with the NCRTC for the construction of Delhi-Alwar and Delhi-Panipat Rapid Rail Transit System, or RRTS, corridors, officials said on Saturday.

The Transport department of Delhi government has floated a draft cabinet note for an amendment to the Delhi-Shahjahanpur-Neemrana-Behror, or Delhi-SNB, corridor – a stretch of Alwar corridor - seeking comments from Planning, Law, and Finance departments, said a senior government officer.

The signing of an MoU with the National Capital Region Transport Corporation (NCRTC) on the two corridors can be taken up after the projects are approved by the Cabinet, he said. BJP MLA Vijender Gupta had on Friday raised the issue of Delhi-Panipat and Delhi-Alwar projects in the winter session of Delhi Assembly, and accused the AAP government of making excuses to obstruct these projects. Gupta had also in October written to the Lt Governor raising the matter.

In reply to Gupta's letter, the Transport department said that the implementation of Delhi-Gurgaon-SNB corridor was approved by the Cabinet in 2019 with the Delhi government's share towards the project to be met from the Environment Compensation Charge (ECC) fund.

However, the Supreme Court in its order on August 5, 2019, directed the Delhi government to make contributions from its own funds saying the ECC fund could not be used for that purpose.(PTI)

Delhi recorded a minimum temperature of 5.5 degree Celsius Saturday, three notches below the season's average, the India Meteorological Department said. The highest temparature recorded was 24.7 degrees Celsius, which was two notches above the season's average, according to the weather department.

The national capital is likely to witness shallow fog tomorrow and temparatures may vary between 7 degree Celsius and 25 degree Celsius. The 24-hour Air Quality Index (AQI) in the national capital was recorded at 354 at 4 pm which comes under the "very poor" category. 

(With PTI inputs)

Delhi LG VK Saxena has accused Arvind Kejriwal government of "shirking responsibilities" in 'Farishtey' scheme, expressing surprise that it filed a case in the Supreme Court alleging he was responsible for the stopping of the scheme.

In his letter dated December 14, Saxena wrote to the Delhi Chief Minister "at the outset, I would like to put on record the very fundamental and generic fact that the scheme under question and the operationalisation thereof is under the departments of Health and Finance, which are fully transferred subjects as per the constitution and totally under the control of you and your ministers." 

The LG referred in his letter to news reports, according to which, the Delhi government counsel attributed the stopping of the Farishtey scheme meant for road victims to him before the Supreme Court.

"Any attempt at attributing the failures of schemes, etc under such departments that are 'transferred', to anybody else, to say the least, the Lt Governor, is nothing but a pre-meditated exercise of hubris, aimed at shirking responsibilities and blaming others for your own failure," Saxena said. (PTI)

A woman succumbed to injuries in a hospital Saturday after her clothes got entangled in metro train at Inderlok Metro station on December 14, DMRC confirmed. The Commissioner of Metro Railway Safety (CMRS) will conduct an inquiry into the incident.

Delhi Police has sought CCTV footage of the incident from DMRC and launched inquest proceedings under 174 CrPC. If any negligence is found, a case will be lodged, a senior official said. The victim, Reena Devi (35) was taken to Safdarjung hospital on Thursday. According to the neurosurgery department she passed away due to severe head injuries and chest trauma at 4:20 PM Saturday.

On Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla's letter, Union Minister and Leader of House in Rajya Sabha, Piyush Goyal told ANI, "...All the MPs should rise above party line and worry about Parliament's security and its functioning. It requires our collective participation...To ensure this is our collective responsibility. The letter also says that such incidents had occurred earlier too, and most of them occurred when there was a Congress Government or Opposition in power...But this was never politicised, it was probed and action was taken against those responsible for it...Suspension of the MPs has nothing to do with this incident. Both the issues are unrelated..."

Watch video:

#WATCH | On Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla's letter, Union Minister & Leader of House in Rajya Sabha, Piyush Goyal says, "...All the MPs should rise above party line and worry about Parliament's security and its functioning. It requires our collective participation...To ensure this… https://t.co/vmCmOIVL6a pic.twitter.com/iqV8e8ClGO

— ANI (@ANI) December 16, 2023

"The Lok Sabha Speaker has held an all-party meeting (over Parliament security breach case). He gave a chance to the representatives of all the parties to express their views (over the issue). As an MP, I feel it is our duty that the proceedings of the House are not disrupted," Union Minister Smriti Irani told media.

VIDEO | "The Lok Sabha Speaker has held an all-party meeting (over Parliament security breach case). He gave a chance to the representatives of all the parties to express their views (over the issue). As an MP, I feel it is our duty that the proceedings of the House are not… pic.twitter.com/CAeIL8S6EU

— Press Trust of India (@PTI_News) December 16, 2023

In connection with Parliament security breach,  Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla has written a letter to all MPs. The letter reads, "...A high-level inquiry committee has been constituted for an in-depth investigation of the incident...I have also constituted a High Powered Committee which will review various aspects of security in the Parliament Complex and formulate a concrete action plan to ensure that such incidents do not recur..."

Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla writes to all the MPs over Parliament security breach matter.

The letter reads, "...A high-level inquiry committee has been constituted for an in-depth investigation of the incident...I have also constituted a High Powered Committee which will review… pic.twitter.com/hYnhuDIEqD

— ANI (@ANI) December 16, 2023

The parents of Neelam Azad, one of the accused in the Parliament security breach incident, moved an application in the Patiala House Court requesting permission to meet her. They also sought to get a copy of the first information report (FIR) lodged in the case.

Additional Sessions Judge Hardeep Kaur issued a notice to the Delhi Police on the request.

According to the plea, Azad’s parents had on Friday visited Sansad Marg police station to get a copy of the FIR and to meet her. They also mentioned that when they reached the office of the Delhi Police Special Cell, they were told that Azad was unavailable. The parents added that they had to wait for five hours and were still not allowed to meet the accused. (Read the full report here)

Delhi's Patiala House Court sent the sixth accused Mahesh to 7-day police custodial remand in connection with the Parliament security breach case. Police claimed that along with others he wanted to create anarchy in the country so that they can compel the government to meet their unjust and illegal demands, news agency ANI said in a post on X.

#WATCH | Parliament Security Breach | Delhi: Mahesh Kumawat, the sixth accused arrested in the Parliament security breach case produced in the Patiala House Court pic.twitter.com/vCLzxy4vQm

— ANI (@ANI) December 16, 2023

Mahesh Kumawat, the sixth accused in the Parliament security breach, who was arrested earlier today, has reached the Court. Mahesh will be presented before Hardeep Kaur's Court in the next 5 minutes. Mahesh had connected with the main accused Lalit Mohan Jha and the others via a Facebook group called ‘Bhagat Singh Fan Page’.

#ParliamentSecurityBreach : Mahesh Kumawat, 6th accused, reaches court

Read: https://t.co/0m8RZ7ftN3

Watch: pic.twitter.com/3K4k0kBv2l

— The Indian Express (@IndianExpress) December 16, 2023

Rajya Sabha MP Raghav Chadha has been appointed leader of the AAP in the Upper House in the absence of Sanjay Singh: party sources

Slamming Prime Minister Narendra Modi over Parliament security breach, Congress leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury told PTI, "The security breach (in Lok Sabha) has shown that PM Modi's tall claims about security were mere talks. He has not spoken a word over such a big incident." 

VIDEO | "The security breach (in Lok Sabha) has shown that PM Modi's tall claims about security were mere talks. He has not spoken a word over such a big incident," says Congress leader @adhirrcinc. pic.twitter.com/EVhNfqQOjR

— Press Trust of India (@PTI_News) December 16, 2023

The parents of Neelam Azad, accused in Parliament security breach, have requested the Court to let them meet her. They have also requested for a copy of the FIR. Following which, the court of Judge Hardeep Kaur has issued a notice to Delhi Police. The matter will be heard next on December 18.

From someone who would post revolutionary quotes on social media advocating “war” as a means of achieving “peace” to a low-key and soft-spoken tutor in Kolkata neighbourhoods, the persona of Lalit Jha (37), the alleged mastermind of Wednesday’s Parliament security breach, is a study in contrasts.

Jha (37), a native of Bihar’s Darbhanga district who has been residing in Kolkata for nearly two decades, wrote in an Instagram post on November 24 a couplet attributed to a lesser-known poet, Bikram Singh ‘Narayan’, “Param priya rakhiye shanti ko hi, magar yudh se rakhiye nahi gurej; woh utna kuchla jata hai is desh mein, jo jitna adhik karta hai parhez (Make peace your beloved, but don’t hesitate from war. It is those who refrain from fighting get oppressed the most).” Read more

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Saturday attributed rising prices and unemployment behind the December 13 Parliament security breach.

Speaking to reporters after a poll preparedness meeting with leaders of the Congress' Gujarat unit in New Delhi, Gandhi said the security breach happened in Parliament but youngsters are not getting jobs due to Prime Minister Narendra Modi's policies.

"There has been a security breach in Parliament. But why did it happen?" he asked. "The biggest issue in the country is that of unemployment, which is boiling all over the country. The country's youth are not getting employment due to the policies of Modi ji," he said. (PTI)

Tucked away behind Sant Parmanand Hospital near Nigambodh Ghat, a group of 10 men sit crouched around a dying fire pit. Having finished a hard day’s work, they rub their hands over the embers, drinking cups of tea and wait till it’s time to retire to their beds in the homeless shelter nearby in Dandi Park.

The shelter is comparatively bigger than others in the city, with a large airy courtyard and a mohalla clinic on its premises. However, the shelter has been barely getting by since the floods inundated the area in July this year.

Upasika Singhal reports.

The Haryana government has proposed a soaring hike in circle rates for areas falling near Dwarka Expressway to Golf Course Road. The draft of the proposal is up for public feedback.

Circle rate is the minimum price fixed by the state government below which property cannot be sold.

The Delhi Commission for Women has issued a notice to the city government over "missing streetlights" at the Lalita Park bus stand and several other places in the national capital, the women's panel chief Swati Maliwal said on Saturday.

Maliwal said the commission conducted a surprise inspection at several locations and found those engulfed in darkness due to the streetlights being non-functional.

"After receiving complaints, a surprise inspection was conducted at Lalita Park bus stand and many other places last evening (Friday). During inspection, it was found that there was complete darkness at and near many bus stands. Very unsafe for women," Maliwal said in a post on X. "Issuing notice to Delhi government department in this regard," she added. (PTI)

The minimum temperature in Delhi was recorded at 5.5 degrees Celsius, three degrees below the normal. Clear skies, maximum temperature of 25 degrees is on the forecast for the capital today. Yesterday, the national capital’s minimum temperature dropped below five degrees, making it the coldest day of this season.

Gurgaon police have started cracking down on lane driving violators using drones, traffic police said. The campaign was flagged off from Sirhaul border to Khedki Daula toll plaza on Friday to enforce discipline on the roads and ensure that heavy vehicles only operate in the designated lanes, allowing fast-moving vehicles to travel without interruption.

Initiated by traffic police, DCP Virender Vij said that changing lanes on roads often leads to accidents, resulting in the loss of many lives, and the traffic police is making efforts to prevent such incidents by consistently conducting challan campaigns.

“We will get another drone on Monday,” Vij said. Police issued 412 challans for lane change violations using drones on Friday with a total fine amount of Rs 3,12,000. From December 1, 2023, to December 15, 2023, Gurugram police took strict action against lane change violations, issuing 6,866 challans, including 5,797 for trucks, 518 for passenger buses, and 211 for school buses. The number of drones for conducting such challans will be increased from next week. ENS

Delhi Assembly Speaker Ram Niwas Goel on Friday alleged that attempts were being made to undermine the legislative body's financial and administrative autonomy by the finance department. Chairing the Winter Session of the Delhi Assembly, Goel said that he sent a note to the chief secretary on December 5, urging him to direct the departments concerned to abide by the law department's stand that administrative and financial matters of the House should be processed by the assembly secretary. 

"The finance department is persistently trying to sideline the existence of the legislative assembly secretary and operate the assembly's functioning through the law secretary," he stated in the House. The finance department indicated in its letter on March 22, 2023, that the functions of the legislative assembly secretary and the department head will be executed by the law secretary, he said. However, the law department in a letter on December 1 stated that the files related to administrative and financial functions and proposals of the legislative assembly secretariat should not be sent to it and the existing system should be maintained, Goel said. (PTI)

The Delhi High Court Friday asked the Delhi government’s forest department to take steps to protect the Ridge forest, while observing that the department’s affidavit on declaration of land as reserved forest was “totally unsatisfactory”. On November 8, the HC had directed Delhi government’s Chief Secretary to issue notification declaring un-encroached forest land as reserved forests within two weeks, failing which the official will be liable for contempt action. A single-judge bench of Justice Jasmeet Singh Friday said that in compliance with the November 8 order, an affidavit had been filed “which is totally unsatisfactory”. Read more here

The MLA Local Area Development (MLALAD) fund for each Delhi legislator has been raised from Rs 4 crore to Rs 7 crore, Urban Development Minister Saurabh Bharadwaj said in the Assembly on Friday. Replying to a question on MLALAD funds, Bharadwaj said that an amount of Rs 110 crore has been provisioned in the revised estimates of budget 2023-24. The remaining 100 crore will be allocated in the budget for the next financial year, he said. (PTI)

A Delhi court on Friday sent Lalit Jha, the key accused arrested in connection with the Parliament security breach case, to seven-day police custody for in-depth interrogation to unearth the entire conspiracy. Special Judge Hardeep Kaur remanded Jha in Delhi police’s custody after Public Prosecutor Akhand Pratap Singh said the accused has “confessed” that he is the “prime conspirator” in the case and that Jha was required to be taken to various states to recover evidence. Singh further stated that his phones need to be recovered to uncover the conspiracy. Read more

The Delhi High Court Friday refused to entertain a petition by a lawyer seeking urgent and time-bound implementation of the women's reservation law to ensure 33 per cent quota for women in the Lok Sabha elections next year. Observing that the petitioner has no "personal interest" in the matter, Justice Subramonium Prasad asked her to file a public interest litigation (PIL) instead.

Justice Prasad allowed the petitioner to withdraw the plea with liberty to file a PIL as per the applicable rules. The central government lawyer said the issue of implementation of the law was already pending before the Supreme Court. Officially known as Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam, the the bill envisaged reservation of one-third of the seats in the Lok Sabha and all state assemblies for women. After presidential assent on September 29, the bill became law. (PTI)

Consequent to recent Parliament breach, the Delhi Assembly was placed under a heavy layer of security on Friday with curbs on movement and a thorough checking of vehicles and passes. The passes were issued after proper authorisation and verification through the Directorate of Information and Publicity.

"Adequate number of Delhi Police and para military personnel were deployed. They were monitoring movement of people and vehicles outside the Vidhan Sabha. The passes for visitors as well as mediapersons were also issued after proper authorisation and verification through DIP. An Assembly official vetted the passes issued to mediapersons and security personnel frisked them before entry into the Assembly premises," a senior officer said. (PTI)

Delhi Environment Minister Gopal Rai said on Friday the national capital has the largest green belt at 23.6 per cent among big metro cities, and asserted that pollution levels in the city have reduced since 2014 through sustained efforts. Rai responded to a query by an MLA about the number of trees planted and the decrease in pollution levels in the last five years in Delhi during the ongoing Winter Session of Delhi Assembly.

"Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal had made a resolve and promised the people during last polls that in five years two crore new trees will be planted. And in four years that target has been met," Rai informed the Delhi Assembly. On the issue of pollution, Rai shared the data on PM10 and PM2.5 levels, saying on average there has been a 31 per cent reduction in pollution levels since the formation of the AAP government. (PTI)

Arguments between the Aam Aadmi Party and Bharatiya Janata Party started over pollution and weather conditions in Delhi. BJP alleged that over 203 people in the capital have died due to the weather conditions due to the lapse of the Delhi Government.

Four BJP MLAs marshalled out

The Delhi State Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission has recently directed automotive manufacturer Hyundai Motors to pay Rs 2 lakh in compensation to a man whose vehicle’s rear tyre and rim got detached within a month of purchase while driving, due to which his i10 car met with an accident.

“…it is clear that the appellant/complainant got delivery of the car on 04.09.2009. Thereafter, the car suffered accident due to the tyre alongwith its rim came out of the shaft which shows poor workmanship on part of the respondents (Hyundai) on 03.10.2009 i.e. on the first month of the purchase of the car,” said Justice Sangita Dhingra Sehgal and Pinki (judicial member) of the consumer court on November 24, while passing the order.

Read more.

Delhi Police Special Cell has received permission to question human rights activist Gautam Navlakha in connection with the Newsclick case. 

A Delhi court has given them permission. Navlakha is presently under house arrest.

On Friday, Delhi saw its coldest morning of the winter so far with the minimum temperature dropping to 4.9 degrees Celsius, four degrees below the normal.

With this, the national capital was colder than some locations up in the mountains in Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand, like Shimla, which recorded a minimum temperature of 6.8 degrees Celsius this morning, and Mussoorie, where a minimum temperature of 6.2 degrees was recorded. At Dharamshala in Himachal Pradesh, the minimum temperature was 8.2 degrees early on Friday, going by data with the India Meteorological Department (IMD).

Read on.

A “cavity” cut out in the soles and a “thick rubber layer” to support it — The Delhi Police has in its First Information Report (FIR) into the Parliament security breach detailed how intruders Sagar Sharma (25) and Manoranjan D (35) modified their shoes to fit the canisters into it.

The FIR also mentions the colour and make of the shoes and socks they wore, the canisters they had in their possession, and details of the pamphlets found with “a picture of fist in tricolor and a slogan in Hindi” and “a slogan in English on Manipur issue”.

Read full story.

Full body scanners are expected to be installed at the Delhi airport by May 2024, a senior official said on Friday.

The Bureau of Civil Aviation Security (BCAS) Director General Zulfiquar Hasan also said that due to some provisioning issues, the deadline for installing full-body scanners and CTX scanners at certain airports will be extended.

The deadline is to end on December 31.

Once CTX (Computer Tomography X-ray) scanners are in place, passengers will not have to remove their electronic gadgets from baggage during security checks at airports.

(PTI report)

The Delhi MLA Local Area Development (MLALAD) fund for each lawmaker has been raised from Rs 4 crore to Rs 7 crore, Urban Development Minister Saurabh Bharadwaj said in the Delhi Assembly on Friday.

The two-day Winter Session of the Delhi Vidhan Sabha began this morning.

During the session, the Delhi minister also said that an amount of Rs 100 crore has been provisioned in the revised estimates of budget 2023-24.

The remaining amount will be allocated in the budget for the next financial year, he said.

MLALAD funds are alloted to MLAs for carrying out development projects in their constituencies.

(PTI report)

Industry body Digital Infrastructure Providers Association (DIPA) has flagged "critical issues" faced by telecom infrastructure players in securing permissions for deploying infrastructure in Uttar Pradesh, particularly in Noida and Ghaziabad.

DIPA has urged the Uttar Pradesh Government to clear all the pending applications at the earliest for faster rollout of 5G services in the state.

Raising the issue, DIPA's Director-General T R Dua said that telecom infrastructure providers are unable to get permissions for deploying infrastructure in the state, especially in Noida and Ghaziabad.

This, despite applying over the online portal 'Nivesh Mitra', the single window system, providing all the necessary documents and depositing the application fee, the association said. (PTI report)

The Enforcement Directorate on Friday conducted fresh searches at about a dozen locations in the Delhi-NCR and Punjab as part of a money laundering investigation against a Chandigarh-based pharmaceutical company and its promoters linked to an alleged bank fraud, official sources said.

The first round of searches in this case against the company, Parabolic Drugs, were carried out in October.

The central agency had earlier arrested Parabolic Drugs promoters Vineet Gupta (54) and Pranav Gupta (56), who are also the co-founders of the Sonepat-based Ashoka University, and CA Surjeet Kumar Bansal (74) under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).

(PTI report)

The Delhi Police has arrested two women and a man for allegedly stealing iron baskets and other equipment used to beautify the streets in the Mandi House area for the G20 summit.

The police said an FIR was lodged after a complaint from a supervisor of the New Delhi Municipal Council’s (NDMC) horticulture department. In the FIR, the official said that the department was responsible for all the pots and equipment around Mandi House Chowk.

Read full story.

Delhi Mayor Shelly Oberoi announced on Thursday that auto tippers will be sent even at night to pick up garbage from wards that are facing a waste collection issue. The decision was taken during a meeting with Shahdara South Zone councillors at the Civic Centre.

“The councillors informed the mayor about the problems in their ward… that garbage remains scattered…,” the mayor’s office said in a press statement. “Through this, it will be ensured that garbage is not lying anywhere,” Oberoi said.

Continue reading.

The Delhi Police Special Cell has questioned two more persons in connection with Parliament Security breach case, an official source said on Thursday.

The two persons – one of them from Rajasthan — were picked up by the Special Cell's Counter Intelligence unit late Thursday night, said the person.

They had helped Lalit Mohan Jha -- alleged to be the brain behind the plan -- hide after he went absconding, the source said.

Jha, who had been on run since Wednesday when four people breached security protocol inside and outside Parliament, walked inside a police station in the New Delhi district Thursday night and is now being interrogated by a counter intelligence team, the police source said. (PTI report)

Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya on Friday said the number of CGHS Wellness Centres in the country will be increased from 80 at present to 100 in the coming days.

"Earlier, private hospitals would give the last priority to CGHS beneficiaries due to various reasons, including delayed payment from the government. Now, due to the timely resolution of the issues regarding their pending payments, CGHS beneficiaries are getting top priority," he said.

Mandaviya inaugurated three Central Government Health Scheme (CGHS) Wellness Centres and a robotic surgery unit at the National Institute of TB and Respiratory Diseases in Delhi on Friday. (PTI report)

VIDEO | Union Minister of Health and Family Welfare @mansukhmandviya inaugurated CGHS Wellness Centres and Robotic Surgery Unit at NITRD, in Delhi, earlier today. pic.twitter.com/kUh9OGR3gc

— Press Trust of India (@PTI_News) December 15, 2023

Delhi High Court is set to hear cases concerning green cover and well being of city's ridge area today. (PTI report)

The Winter Session for the Delhi Legislative Assembly will start from today at 11 am, and conclude on December 18 after three days of deliberations.

As temperatures dropped to 4.9 degress celsius in the early hours of Friday, the nationa capital observed the lowest temperature yet this winter season. As per IMD reports, the maximum temperature is likely to be around 24 degrees Celsius today, with partly cloudy skies; while over the weekend, temperatures will drop to a minimum of 6 degrees.

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