Delhi Police no to Jantar Mantar venue for Anna’s fast
NEW DELHI: Delhi Police have made it clear that Jantar Mantar is out of bounds for Anna Hazare’s fast for a “strong” Lokpal Bill later this month, saying the venue has “little capacity” and no single organisation can be allowed to “usurp or lay exclusive claim” to it.The Hazare team, in turn, suggested four other places where they could sit in for protest from August 16, including Boat Club, Rajghat, Ramlila Maidan and Shaheed Park near ITO.In a letter to Team Hazare, police said, “it is imperative for the duration of the dharna to be specified as no single organization can be allowed to usurp and lay exclusive claim to the place meant for holding demonstration or protest for an indefinate period of time.”This space has to be shared equitably with others intending to hold peaceful protests and there are many claimants from all over India seeking to hold demonstration at Jantar Mantar site… This venue has little capacity and it would be difficult to accommodate the huge crowds expected by you and otherwise anticipated by the media,” the letter said.(PTI)Countering this, the Hazare team wrote to police commissioner BK Gupta asking why they were being denied permission when a three-day protest organised by another activist Medha Patkar at the same venue had been given a nod.(PTI)
Delhi Metro records highest ridership
NEW DELHI: Inching towards its projected ridership of 20 lakh by this year-end, Delhi Metro recorded its highest-ever ridership on Monday with 18 lakh people opting for the modern transport system in the national capital.On Monday, 18.30 lakh people took the Metro from 6am to 11pm on all its six operational corridors with the Noida/ Vaishali Line alone registering a ridership of 7.30 lakh, officials said.Monday’s ridership broke the previous record of 17.71 lakh registered on July 25.”Within six days of registering its highest ever ridership, the Delhi Metro has broken this record also on Monday when over 18 lakh people travelled on the Metro throughout the day,” DMRC spokesman Anuj Dayal said.From its initial figure of 82,000 in December 2002, Metro’s ridership is increasing steadily since 2009 after the Noida, Gurgaon and other small corridors were thrown open to public.Since January this year, the increase in ridership is significant with almost 2.5 lakh passengers being added to the system.Delhi Metro has projected its ridership to touch 20 lakh by the end of this year.DMRC is registering an increased ridership on each of the working days for the past two months. (PTI)
MiG-21 crashes in Bikaner,pilot dies
BIKANER: A MiG-21 fighter aircraft on Tuesday crashed soon after taking off from Naal airfield in Rajasthan’s Bikaner district killing the pilot.”The pilot ejected but died due to injuries sustained by him,” defence spokesperson S D Goswami said.The MiG-21 ‘Type-96’ aircraft was on a routine sortie and crashed near the airfield, which is about 15 km from Bikaner city, he said.This is the second crash of a MiG series fighter aircraft this year. On February 4, an IAF MiG-21 ‘Bison’ fighter plane had crashed apparently due to an engine problem while on a routine sortie in Madhya Pradesh’s Sheopur district but the pilot had ejected safely.In 2010, a total of 10 IAF aircraft crashes took place including four MiG-27 and two MiG-21 planes.(PTI)
Chiranjeevi expected to join Congress formally on August 7
HYDERABAD: Congress president Sonia Gandhi has invited Praja Rajyam Party president and Tirupati MLA K Chiranjeevi to New Delhi to meet her anytime between August 7 and 10 to formally take primary membership of the Congress party.The PRP has already technically merged with the Congress party in Andhra Pradesh but a public meeting could not be organised as planned to formalise the amalgamation. The current political uncertainty in the state over the bifurcation issue has jeopardised Chiranjeevi’s plans to organise a grand meeting with Sonia or Rahul Gandhi to formalise the merger of his outfit with the ruling party.In the given circumstances, the Congress high command suggested that Chiranjeevi complete the formalities without any pomp and accordingly he agreed to take membership of the ruling party in the presence of Sonia Gandhi. Accordingly, Sonia Gandhi is said to have called Chiranjeevi over phone on Tuesday and invited him to New Delhi, PRP sources said. The actor-turned-politician is expected to visit Delhi on August 7 and formally join Congress, the sources added. Subsequently other leaders of PRP, including the MLAs, will complete the formalities in the AP Congress headquarters here. (PTI)