25 students fall ill after consuming mid-day meal
New Delhi: Over 25 students fell ill after consuming mid-day meal at a government school in Delhi’s Narela area and were rushed to a hospital, the police said. “We have received information that about 26 students were taken ill after consuming mid-day meal. They have been taken to Satyawadi Raja Harish Chandra Hospital,” a senior police official said. According to hospital authorities, the children had complained of abdominal pain. “All students are stable and likely to be discharged soon,” a senior doctor told PTI. This is second such incident within a week. Two girls were taken ill after having mid-day meal on Saturday at a Delhi government school in East Delhi’s Khichdipur in which a dead lizard was allegedly found. (PTI)
Delhi Traffic Police’s Twitter handle hacked, probe initiated
New Delhi: The Twitter handle of Delhi Traffic Police was hacked for a few minutes last night, following which it was restored and a probe was initiated in the matter, a senior police officer said on Wednesday. Around 11.30 pm on Tuesday, a couple of messages were posted from the Twitter handle of the traffic police. One of the messages read: “Message me at Twitter.com/justinformentin if you’d like to know how to fix this! (sic).” Another message read: “Not a Traffic Alert. Justin Forementin is tweeting on the Delhi Traffic Police Twitter. Hey guys! (sic).” The officer said the Twitter handle was hacked for a brief period but the password was changed within minutes and it was restored. “We have forwarded a complaint to the deputy commissioner of police, Cyber Cell and they have launched a probe to identify the hackers,” he added. (PTI)
CRPF inks MoU with IRCTC for easy rail e-ticket booking
New Delhi: The nearly three-lakh personnel strong country’s largest paramilitary CRPF on Wednesday inked a deal with the IRCTC to usher in the easy and fast e-booking of railway tickets system for its jawans and officers by replacing the age-old warrant system. CRPF Director General (DG) R R Bhatnagar signed the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with IRCTC Chairman and Managing Director M P Mall at the forces’ headquarters here, a senior official said. “The fresh e-ticketing solution will replace the earlier system of railway warrant which was cumbersome. The new system will also help in cost saving for the organisation and it is in line with the e-governance policy of the government,” he said. Till now, the paramilitary personnel had to carry a paper ‘warrant’ (rail travel authority document) and queue up before a railway reservation counter to book tickets for their travel that was a time consuming affair, he said. The jawans and officers of the Central Reserve Police Force will now be able to book a railway ticket at the click of a mouse from an official portal. “This e-ticket booking initiative with the help of the IRCTC (Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation) will act as a welfare step for the personnel. We will soon roll this out across all our formations in the country after Wednesday’s launch at the headquarters,” the DG said. (PTI)
Delhi cabinet approves hiring consultant to run 1,000 e buses
New Delhi: The Delhi government today approved hiring a consultant to run 1,000 electric buses, a move Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal termed a big step towards modernising transport and reducing pollution. The decision to hire the consultant was taken at a Cabinet meeting of the Delhi government. “Cabinet approves hiring of consultant to run 1000 electric buses in Delhi. A big step in modernizing Delhi’s transport sector and reducing pollution,” Kejriwal tweeted. The procurement of e buses was discussed in the cabinet meeting yesterday as well but it was deferred to Transport department over some “technical” queries. Earlier this month, Supreme Court had questioned the Delhi government over its proposal to procure low-floor e buses and about the time required to set up charging stations for the fleet. The court had also directed the government to explore the possibility of using hydrogen fuel cell powered buses that are considered more cost-effective than e buses. (PTI)
Women prisoners making eco-friendly sanitary napkins in jail
New Delhi: The women inmates of the Nagpur Central Jail have started making eco-friendly sanitary napkins under a rehabilitation plan aimed at their skill development and empowerment, said a National Commission for Women official on Wednesday. The 150-year-old jail has several programmes aimed at developing the prisoners’ skills to equip them with livelihood options after their release from the jail, said NCW member Alok Rawat, who led today a two-member team to inspect the women inmates’ activities in the jail. The low-cost sanitary napkins made by the inmates are sold at subsidised rates at the prison and the profit earned on them are put in the inmates’ bank account to be used after their release, said Rawat, the first male member of the NCW. A few spinning wheels too have been installed in the jail through which the inmates produce handlooms, he added. (PTI)
Railways to export six DMU train sets to Sri Lanka
New Delhi: Indian Railways is all set to establish its footprint in Sri Lanka with the export of six DMU (diesel multiple units) train sets consisting of 78 modern coaches worth Rs 600 crore. The first DMU train set comprising 13 coaches will be shipped out to the island nation in September while the rest will follow by year-end, as per the delivery schedule finalised by the two countries. DMU train sets do not require separate locomotives as the engines are incorporated into one or more of its coaches.All train sets would be equipped with state-of-the-art technology and manufactured at the Integral Coach Factory (ICF) in Chennai for which the order is a big boost in its export business. There will be three different type of coaches — AC Executive Class, Second and Third Class — and, as per the Sri Lankan requirement, they will only have seating facility.”The design of coaches is being finalised as per the customer’s choice and ICF has fully geared up to meet the export order in time,” a senior Railway Ministry official involved with the manufacturing process told IANS. The first rake shipment will take place in September after which it will be put on trial run on Sri Lankan rails. (IANS)