Indian toll 21 in Bahrain
boat tragedy
New
Delhi: The number of Indians who died in Thursday`s
boat tragedy off the coast of Bahrain has risen to 21, and
it includes five women. Of the Indians who died in the mishap,
seven were from Kerala, three from Tamil Nadu, two each
from Andhra Pradesh, Delhi, Goa and Karnataka, and one from
Bihar. The details about two other Indians were not yet
known, a spokesman of the Indian embassy in Manama, Bahrain,
was quoted as saying on Saturday. He said arrangements were
being made to send the bodies to the victims` homes, in
consultations with their relatives and the Bahrain authorities.
Meanwhile, the condition of three injured Indians, being
treated at a government hospital in Manama is stated to
be satisfactory. In all, 57 people of various nationalities
were killed when the overloaded wooden boat on a dinner
cruise capsized off the coast of Bahrain, about one kilometre
from a causeway connecting two islands in the Gulf state.
Sixtyseven people were rescued.
Following
is the list of the Indian nationals who died in Thursday`s
boat tragedy. Kerala: Sikhil Babu, Abdul Latif Abdul Wahab,
Santosh Chakra Puthenpurackal, Kuthyil Mohammad. Majeed,
Arby Mathews, Basant Kumar and Siru Arby Tamil Nadu: Saravanan
Kumar Murugesan, Chellappan Thirugnam and Muthukumar Murugan
Andhra Pradesh: Nag Bhushan Pilla and Mrs. Nag Bhushan Pilla
Delhi: Alok Kumar Verma and Mrs. Kirit Verma Bihar: Mohammad
Hassnein Goa: Clarence William and Maryan Vyland Karnataka:
Sayeed Farooq Syed Ahmed and Mrs. Rabiah Farooq Maharashtra:
Saur Suhas Thorar.
Dwarka sub-city metro
opens for public (Go
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New
Delhi: The extension of Delhi Metro Barakhamba Road-Dwarka
line within the Dwarka sub-city in south-west Delhi will
be open for public use today. The new section has six stations
in Dwarka. These are Sector 9, 10, 11, 12, 13 and 14. The
last station in the section is at Sector-9. With the addition
of the new section, 6.5 km is added to the Delhi Metro network
that is now covering over 62 km. Earlier, the distance between
two stations on the network was 40.5 km from Rithala to
Dwarka, but now, it is now 47 km from Rithala to Dwarka
Sector-9. A unique feature of the metro stations in the
Dwarka sub-city is that the stations are just 6.7 m high,
compared to the 12-12.5 m height on other elevated sections.
The frequency of metro trains to the sub-city will be every
ten minutes. According to the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation
sources, there will be no hype in fares, though the distances
to be covered by the train have increased. There will be
no change in the fare structure much to the relief of the
passengers. The minimum fare will remain Rs 6 and the maximum
will continue to be Rs 22, even for the additional stations.
From Sector 9 to 14, the journey will cost Rs 9. At present,
the only mode of transport inside the sub-city is the rickshaw.
This journey costs about Rs 20 on rickshaw. Sector 9 to
Uttam Nagar East will be Rs 12, till Kashmiri Gate ISBT
Rs 19 and just Rs 18 till CP. Metro is expecting an increase
of about 25,000 in its ridership. At present, the ridership
of the entire system is about 4.5 lakh. Even work was also
set to begin on further extension of the Metro beyond Sector
9, to Dwarka Sector 22, towards the international airport.
The Metro service yesterday was flagged off by Outer Delhi
MP Sajjan Kumar. The Delhi Metro started operating on December
24, 2002, becoming one of Asia's newest rapid transit systems.
RAF
to rein in striking Delhi traders (Go
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by Chandrika
Jain
New
Delhi: The Government of Delhi on Saturday ordered the
deployment of the elite Rapid Action Force (RAF) in key
markets of the capital, as traders and shopkeepers refused
to relent and stop their protests against a drive by the
Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) to seal their business
establishments in line with a high court order. Hundreds
of traders came out on to the roads in Kapashera, an area
lying between the states of Delhi and Haryana to protest
against the sealing drive. Ravinder Arora, a shop owner
in Karol Bagh, said: "The earnings from this shop is the
only source of earning of me, and therefore I had to open
it today. If the MCD's demolition drive continues, we will
again go on strike". The shopowners and traders of Karol
Bagh have been on a 48-hour strike since Thursday. Due to
the strike called by traders even the daily buyers had to
suffer. Shouting slogans, traders of the marble market in
Rajouri Garden surrounded the MCD office and locked its
gates. They claimed that the sealing drive was unwarranted
as their shops were not causing pollution or traffic jams.
Around 194 shops were sealed on Thursday. The Supreme Court
of India had asked the MCD to seal all commercial establishments
operating from residential areas in the national capital
in violation of the Master Plan. According to the trade
bodies, the order would affect over 500,000 people directly
making a living through this.
UPDC
post not one of profit: Amar Singh (Go
To Top)
New
Delhi: Replying to the Election Commission's notice
in connection with holding an "office of profit", Samajwadi
Party leader Amar Singh said on Saturday that the Uttar
Pradesh Development Council (UPDC) is not a government body.
Singh, who is the Chairman of the UPDC, said that the council
was registered under the Societies Act and it was not a
government body. He said that the Election Commission had
also misinterpreted the case of former Rajya Sabha member
Jaya Bachchan, whom the commission had disqualified on the
ground that her chairpersonship of the UP Film Development
Council was an office of profit. The Election Commission
had issued notice to Singh on March 10 on a petition seeking
his disqualification from the Rajya Sabha on the ground
that he held an office of profit and asked him to file a
reply by 31st March. He will send a detailed reply later,
the sources said. The Uttar Pradesh State Assembly had on
March 30 passed a UPDC Bill 2006 to accord institutional
status to the Council, with retrospective effect from October
15, 2003. As per the provisions of the new bill, the chairman
of the UPDC would be appointed by the state government and
would enjoy five years term. Chief Secretary of the state
has been designated as the convener of the council. Besides
the state government would have the authority to nominate
12 members from the Indian corporate world, who would also
have a five years term. The government has also reserved
the right to appoint special invitees to the council. State
Governor TV Rajeshwar is yet to give his consent to the
Bill. The UPDC was set up as a society under the Firms and
Societies Act on October 10, 2003. Apart from Bollywood
icon Amitabh Bacchan, who is also the brand ambassador of
UP and Well-known industrialist Anil Ambani, the council
includes Kumarmanglam Birla, former Hindisutan Lever chairman
M S Banga, Adi Godrej, M V Kamath, and Subrato Roy. Anil
Ambani recently quit his Rajya Sabha membership following
the office of profit controversy. Ambani was elected to
the Upper House as an independent candidate with the SP's
support in 2004 along with Bachchan.
Third phase of Bengal
polls (Go
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Kolkata:
The Election Commission today issued a notification
for the third phase of the assembly elections in West Bengal,
slated for April 27. Polling will take place in 77 assembly
constituencies in Kolkata, North 24-Pargans and South 24-Parganas
Districts. Twenty-one constituencies are in Kolkata and
28 constituencies each in North 24-Parganas and South 24-Parganas
districts, said West Bengal's Chief Electoral Officer, Debasish
Sen. Nominations for the third phase of election have begun
and would continue till April eight, Sen said, adding that
the scrutiny of nominations for the third phase poll would
be held on April 10. The last date for the withdrawal of
nominations is April 12. Sen said that the Election Commission
is monitoring the activities of political parties to ensure
that they remain within the bounds of the Model Code of
Conduct that came into force on March 1 this year.
MEA official summoned
from Brazil (Go
To Top)
New
Delhi: Senior diplomat Rakesh Kumar has been asked to
cut short his visit to Brazil and return to New Delhi to
answer CBI queries regarding his alleged role in a human
trafficking case. Kumar, who is expected in the capital
sometime today, is in Brazil attending the India-Brazil-South
Africa (IBSA) forum meeting. Kumar, Special Secretary (Economic
Relations) in the Ministry of External Affairs, has been
asked to report here to help in the probe, sources said
here on Friday. Kumar was part of the Indian delegation,
led by Minister of State for External Affairs Anand Sharma,
at the meeting scheduled for March 29-31. The Indian delegation
was scheduled to return late tonight or in the wee hours
of Sunday. Kumar, a 1972 batch ifs officer, faces allegations
of criminal conspiracy, cheating and forgery, in a CBI case
pertaining to trafficking of nine individuals to Berlin
during his tenure as Director General of Indian Council
for Cultural Relations (ICCR) in September last. He is likely
to be questioned by CBI soon after his arrival.
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