Cops save 2 men from burning car

NEW DELHI: Two men trapped in a burning car had a close shave on Monday evening. All thanks to the presence of mind and courage displayed by two traffic constables who worked in tandem to rescue the passengers. While Laxmi Narain (24) pulled the men out of the car, Ashok Rai (43) regulated traffic to ensure the rescue operation could be carried out smoothly. Names of the cops, posted with the Kalkaji traffic circle, have been recommended for a cash prize and a commendation roll.

The incident was reported around 7pm when the cops were on duty at Maa Anandmai Marg crossing near Nehru Place.

While manning traffic, the constables saw a Hyundai Accent coming from the Lal Quan side. Smoke was coming out of the car and two men aged 30-35 were seated inside, said cops.

"The driver, Pitul, was having difficulty in opening the door. Narain opened the door and helped him get out," said a senior traffic police officer. At the same time, Rai, who was regulating traffic at the intersection, halted the movement of vehicles from all sides.

The other occupant of the car, Naveen Basnet, deputy general manager at a private firm in Gurgaon, was also rescued later. "Narain ensured that there was no other person trapped inside the car. Soon after the occupants stepped out, the vehicle was completely damaged," added the official.

"The effort by the traffic cops is commendable. They acted swiftly and called the fire officials. Pitul was unable to get out as he couldn't unlock his seatbelt but the traffic officer saved him just in time," said Naveen.

Lauding the cops for their efforts, joint commissioner of police (traffic) Satyendra Garg said, "The two constables showed presence of mind and saved two people from the burning car. For their excellent work, their names are being forwarded to Delhi Police commissioner for reward.

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DUSU executive council election on October 15

NEW DELHI: Delhi University's office of the chief election officer has released the list of nominations for the executive council of the Delhi University Students' Union. Tuesday was the last date for filing of nomination papers and withdrawals will be accepted till October 10.

The nomination papers of a total of 22 candidates have been accepted by the election office but the final list will be declared, after withdrawals, on Wednesday. Letter of withdrawal has to be handed over "in person" as the press statement says, and at the time of submission, the withdrawing candidate should be able to produce his/her identity card issued by the college.

The election itself is on Monday, October 15, from 10 am. to 12:30 pm at the Conference Centre. Counting of votes, in this case, will begin immediately after polling.

There are a total of eleven posts in the executive council of DUSU. Members are elected from among the members of the central council. Two of the 11 seats have to go to women.

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Alert DTC driver saves lives as bus brakes fail near Batra Hospital

NEW DELHI: An alert Delhi Transport Corporation (DTC) driver risked his life and showed presence of mind to save several lives near Sangam Vihar's Batra Hospital here on Tuesday.

DTC driver Hari Kishan, who realized that the brakes of his bus had failed, asked the conductor to ensure that everybody clinged to seats and windows.

Seconds later, he rammed into the nearest hurdle, a tree, near the Batra Hospital and the bus came to a halt.

"The brakes of my vehicle suddenly failed near Batra Hospital. I shouted that the brakes of the vehicle have failed. The red light near Batra Hospital was very crowded. So, I hit my vehicle on the neem tree to save the people and sustained a major accident," said Kishan.

"A few people, who sustained minor injuries, have been taken to the AIIMS Trauma Centre. Nobody was severely injured in this accident," he added.

Delhi Police later rushed to the site to inspect the exact cause of accident of the DTC bus with the number: DL-1P B 6765.

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Citibank asked to pay Rs 15 lakh by a Consumer Forum

NEW DELHI: The Delhi State consumer forum has asked the branch manager of a bank to cough up Rs 15 lakh for divulging confidential information of an account holder.

The customer, Amit Mittal, filed a complaint with Delhi State Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission against the branch head of Citibank, Punjabi Bagh, Hemant Kumar, and all business head India N Rajashekaran. Rajashekaran was let off on the grounds that being in charge of the country's operations, his relation to the incident was "too remote to invite liability for any such mischief or negligence". Kumar, however, was told to pay the compensation.

While deciding the quantum of compensation, the forum observed that "despite all considerations the amount has to be somewhat arbitrary in character". "It must be realized that in cases of this nature, the amount of compensation has to include an element of fine, and while fixing the amount, it has to be borne in mind, that the amount should be such that it deters other financial organizations from any such performance, and to be more vigilant and watchful," read the order by the bench of commission members.

Mittal, holder of three Citibank credit cards, accused the bank officials of "illegally" leaking and "supplying copies" of his credit card statement to a third party. Mittal claimed that this confidential information, between November 2003 and January 2009, was produced during a private dispute pending with an unnamed party, and asked for a compensation of 30 lakh.

The allegations were denied by both parties in separate written statements, saying they had not rendered any service to the complainant in their individual capacity. The bank officials argued their case on various grounds. Their foremost argument was that Mittal was unable to disclose the particulars of the third party and the civil court case.

They also argued that the copy of the account statement filed by Mittal was on a plain paper sheet, whereas an account statement provided by the bank is on the "stationery of the bank".

The officials also pleaded that the information could have been received by the party that is the add-on holder of the cards. To this, the commission remarked that the bank could have supplied an application or a record that information was provided to the party.

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DU student jumps from Metro station

NEW DELHI: Tense over his one-sided love affair, a 22-year-old Delhi University student attempted to commit suicide by jumping down to the road from an elevated Metro station here Wednesday afternoon, police said.

Chetan, resident of north Delhi's Mahendra Park, is pursuing B.Com from Swami Shraddhanand College of DU.

"Today (Wednesday) at around 1.40 p.m., he went to north Delhi's Jahangirpuri Metro Station and jumped on the road from there in a bid to commit suicide," said a police officer.

Chetan was rushed to Babu Jagjivan Ram Memorial Hospital from where he was further referred to Saroj Hospital. He is now out of danger, the officer said.

Preliminary investigations suggest that Chetan was tense over his one-sided love affair with a girl, the officer added.

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Sessions court to try Kazmi on October 12

NEW DELHI: A trial court on Monday sent to a sessions court the case against journalist Syed Mohammad Kazmi, an accused in the Israeli diplomat attack case.

Chief metropolitan magistrate Vidya Prakash committed the case to the sessions court for trial and the next date of hearing is October 12. Meanwhile, Delhi Police again failed to file the sanction to prosecute Kazmi under the Explosive Substances Act.

In the last hearing, Prakash had granted police more time because the police said the delay was caused due to an ongoing process of transferring district magistrates' power to grant sanction for prosecution to district deputy commissioners. The police said the process would take another 15 to 20 days.

Kazmi's counsel Mehmood Pracha said "sufficient time and opportunities have already been given to the prosecuting agency for filing the requisite sanction and his client, who is in custody, is being denied of his right to expeditious trial". The court asked police to file the sanction on record "positively" on or before October 8.

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30-second signal traps BRT commuters in nightmare

NEW DELHI: The right turn from Nehru Place towards Moolchand at Chirag Dilli, into the BRT corridor, has become an ordeal for commuters. The signal length is just 30-35 seconds and most people have to go through at least three and at time even seven cycles to clear that bottleneck. The road next to the flyover is narrow and the wait agonizing, day after day.

The reason is quite simple - believe it or not, the signal lengths do not take into account this traffic volume! According to the final report submitted by CRRI on the corridor, an average of 50,000 vehicles (moving in three directions) approach the Chirag Dilli intersection from Nehru Place daily while around 15,000-20,000 (moving in three directions) approach the intersection from the IIT side. The Delhi Integrated Multi-modal Transit System (DIMTS) iself says that around 11,359 vehicles take the right turn from Nehru Place to Moolchand everyday. Yet, the signal length for both right turns is just 30 seconds (35 in peak hours).

"The signal cycle is based on the traffic volume of the main radials of the intersection," said a DIMTS official. The signal length reflects this, with the longest green light signal being assigned to the motor vehicle (MV) traffic moving from Ambedkar Nagar to Moolchand and Nehru Place and for buses going from Ambedkar Nagar to Nehru Place - 100 seconds in the morning hours and 85 seconds in the evening.

Compare this to the movement in other directions - 40-55 seconds for both MV and bus lanes from Moolchand to Ambedkar Nagar, Nehru Place and Panchsheel.

The shortest signal length is for vehicles from the IIT side - only 25-30 seconds - and for the right turn from Nehru Place to Moolchand - 30-35 seconds. This is despite the fact that this arm of the intersection has vehicles coming from Nehru Place, Greater Kailash II, Chittaranjan Park, Alaknanda, Kalkaji and even Tughlaqabad.

The solution is simple: increase the signal length to at least a minute. That can avoid a lot of inconvenience being caused to commuters. "I take the turn for Moolchand everyday, and have to wait for at least three signal cycles before I can cross the traffic light," said Darpan Singh, who lives in Nehru Enclave. "It's the only route available to me., so I can't even avoid the intersection."

DIMTS, however, says changing the cycle is not feasible as it will affect the entire cycle length. "During peak hours, the manual signal length reflects the traffic volume. It's during off-peak hours that the waiting period may go up," admitted an official.

Experts say a few changes may ease the congestion. As the intersection is asymmetrical, - the four arms are not perpendicular to each other - the crossover is too long. The snarl at this intersection leads to a 900m tailback from Sheikh Sarai to Chirag Dilli almost everyday. The short amber time at the intersection means the vehicles are halfway through the crossing when the light suddenly turns yellow, and then almost instantly becomes red. Drivers have no option but to cross half of the intersection during the red light, clashing w ith vehicles from the opposite end, which starts moving at the green signal. The lack of synchronization holds up traffic from both sides.

Further, two-wheelers should also not be allowed to cross the stop line and crowd the intersections while waiting at the red light. They slow down traffic moving on opposite arms and vehicles waiting behind them. Left turns should also be made free at each intersection to clear the traffic faster. None of the intersections on BRT has pedestrian lights, forcing them to sprint across the road, slowing down traffic.

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Influenza scare at AIIMS as doctors

NEW DELHI: AIIMS may be staring at a potential outbreak of influenza-like illnesses. Most doctors at All India Institute of Medical Sciences have refused to take the preventive vaccination against the influenza virus as, they claim, the vaccine is outdated and ineffective.

"World Health Organization (WHO) issues the guidelines after an extensive research each year on the potential strains of virus that can cause pandemics and the type of vaccine to be used. The recommendation for 2012-13 is a trivalent vaccine which covers three potentially pandemic causing viruses giving maximum protection. However, AIIMS has been using only the outdated monovalent vaccine, pandyflu, from 2010 that covers only one type of virus," said Dr Deepak Damodaran, vice-president of the AIIMS Resident Doctors' Association. He said the vaccines were reformulated each year due to the changing strains of the virus.

Delay in tendering could be the reason behind the non-availability of latest vaccines. "We have written to the director about this and he has forwarded our complaint to the medical superintendent," Damodaran said.

AIIMS spokesperson Dr Y K Gupta said the administration was getting the matter examined by experts. "We provide vaccines which are given to us by the Union health ministry," he said.

Influenza is a contagious respiratory illness caused by viruses. It can cause mild to severe illness and can prove fatal in some cases. Swine flu, caused by H1N1 influenza virus, was declared an epidemic in India in 2009.

AIIMS doctors said some residents were already down with the infection. "Our biggest fear is that critically-ill patients may get infected with the virus if they come in contact with a doctor who has contracted the disease. It could prove fatal in some cases, for example elderly patients suffering from kidney failure or cancer patients," a doctor said.

Health experts say preventive vaccination, though recommended for health professionals, is not practised in most hospitals. "Few of our staff member take it. We cannot force anyone to get vaccinated," said a senior administrative official at Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital.

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Man convicted for sexually abusing girl

NEW DELHI: A man who tried to sexually assault a mentally challenged girl inside the JNU campus in September,1997 has been convicted by the Delhi high court.

The victim being unstable and unable to depose, Justice P K Bhasin relied on eyewitness accounts of four persons to hold Jaibeer guilty under section 354 of the IPC. The convict had come to HC in appeal against the decision of the trial court to convict him for the offence.

In his appeal, Jaibeer claimed the trial court had ignored discrepancies in the statements of the four witnesses who failed to corroborate each others version.

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Delhi bank heist: Cops left clueless as informers turn to crime

NEW DELHI: The recent Rs 5.25 crore cash van heist at Defence Colony has again brought to the fore a problem faced routinely by the Delhi Police — that of police informers taking to crime. Sources say when this breed of shadowy men, referred to as 'dial zeroes' in police circles, takes to crime, it's often a 'near perfect' operation.

In the cash van robbery, the city's biggest, longtime police informers Vijay Nahar Singh and aide Ranjit were allegedly involved. Informers have earlier been linked to some of Delhi's toughest-to-crack crimes, such as the murders of Soumya Vishwanathan and Jigisha Ghosh. The Bunty biker gang chief himself was once an informer.

Delhi cops say they are hamstrung in preventing their 'dial zeroes' from crossing the line because unlike their Mumbai counterparts, they do not have a monthly system of paying these men. Informers, they argue, have to pick up the tab for living what is often a double life.

Informers are often considered more efficient than the sharpest cop on the beat. They command good money for tip-offs about a possible robbery or a murder. If they bring news about a terrorist and his movements — the booty can shoot above Rs 5 lakh.

"Informers are often petty criminals who take to crime to survive. The only reason they help us solve a case is because they know we pay them handsomely. But with the home ministry increasingly hesitant to release 'source money', we are finding it difficult to pay our sources," said a top officer.

Sources in the crime branch and special cell point to the "disoriented" manner in which informers are being treated in the capital. "In western countries — and also in Mumbai — an informer is treated as an important tool to stop major crimes. Nowadays in Delhi, it's the other way round. We contact our sources only after a crime takes place," said an officer.

He added that these men were still a great source of information. "But then, with seniors asking for quick results, we often end up ignoring a vital process in the set up — understanding the vested interest that our source has in getting the accused arrested. Our informers often add masala to their stories in order to negotiate a higher price," said a police source.

The same officer said the force cannot do without informers. The young police officers were relying too much on technology to solve cases, he felt.

"This trend is taking its toll. The human source is often treated as the last resort in cracking a case. His inputs are not taken seriously. There are now just a handful of cops who share a healthy relationship with their sources. They know when to embrace these men and when to draw the line," the officer said.

He added that major cases in the recent past — the busting of an IM module, the Radhika Tanwar and Niranjani Pillai (NRI from South Africa) murders — were solved with the help of informers. "The specialized units like special cell, crime branch or the south Delhi special staff depend heavily on human sources," he said.

Senior officers accept that the "human source line is depleting". "Among the changes now prescribed worldwide to improve the policing is to introduce an informant file system that not only maintains personal, descriptive and criminal information about informants, but also clearly establishes informants' credibility and reliability. Information by most credible sources needs to be verified. One of our cops died in Meerut while he was with his source. Two of our other cops were caught in a kidnapping case along with our informers. The checks and balances are thus necessary to ensure we have a credible system," a top crime branch officer said.

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