Page 187 - Delhi

Delhi pvt liquor shops to close from tomorrow, 300 govt vends to take over

Private liquor shops will be a thing of the past in the capital as they will be replaced by over 300 Delhi government vends from Thursday owing to the switch over from the Excise Policy 2021-22 to the old regime, officials said on Wednesday. Nearly 250 private liquor vends, licensed under now-withdrawn Excise Policy 2021-22, are running currently in the city. Some of the private vends having stocks saw crowd outside as they offered schemes like buy one to get one free. The Excise department had already notified the private licensees that they will not be allowed in retail liquor sale beyond August 31. People thronged a vend near Welcome Metro station to avail the buy one get one free scheme. According to officials, the rebates and schemes offered earlier under Excise Policy 2021-22 will not be available as liquor stores will be opened by government undertakings from Thursday. The six shops at domestic terminal of IGI airport run by private operators will be shut on Thursday, hamp

Delhi court summons Jacqueline Fernandez on Sept 26 in extortion case

A Delhi Court issued summons to actress Jacqueline Fernandez to appear before it on September 26 in an alleged extortion case involving conman Sukesh Chandrashekhar

Co-living startup Settl. to double capacity to 4,000 beds by June 2023

Co-living operator Settl. on Wednesday said it will double its capacity to 4,000 beds by June next year across Delhi-NCR, Bengaluru and Hyderabad as it is witnessing higher demand from working professionals. The company said the co-living segment has started to recover from the disruptions caused by the pandemic. Settl. said it also plans to raise further funds to expand and grow the business and has started a preliminary round of discussions with potential investors. "We are witnessing a surge in demand for managed rented homes from working professionals. Most of these employees are working on a hybrid model and they need quality space for living and work purposes," Settl. Co-founder Abhishek Tripathi said in a statement. Started in 2020, the company has 2,000 beds across 40 properties in the three cities and it aims to touch 4,000 beds by June next year. The company plans to add at least 1,000 beds in the National Capital Region (NCR) alone. "We take properties from builders an

Delhi CM Kejriwal launches virtual school for students across the country

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Wednesday launched a virtual school and said students from across the country will be eligible for admission. The application process for the Delhi Model Virtual School (DMVS) began on Wednesday. The school is for classes 9-12. "The admission to the schooling platform will be open for students across India and they will also be prepared by experts for entrance exams like NEET, CUET and JEE along with skill-based training," Kejriwal said at an online media briefing. The chief minister said the first virtual school in the country will prove to be a milestone in the education sector. "There are many children who cannot go to school since there are issues like the school being far away or other obstacles. Many parents do not get their daughters educated since they don''t want to send them out. "We are starting this virtual school to ensure they get educated. This school is inspired by virtual classes that had been necessitated due to the Covid-

Delhi pvt liquor shops set to be replaced by 300 govt vends from Thursday

Private liquor shops will be a thing of the past for the national capital as they will be replaced by over 300 Delhi government vends from Thursday due to the switch over from the Excise Policy 2021-22 to the old regime, officials said on Wednesday. Nearly 250 private liquor vends, licensed under now-withdrawn Excise Policy 2021-22, are running currently in the city. The Excise officials said the liquor supply will improve from first week of September due to opening of more shops. "Currently, there are nearly 250 private shops that will be replaced by over 300 government vends. So there will be more shops and the number will grow further in the coming days as 500 shops are planned to be opened by four Delhi government undertakings," said a senior Excise department officer. A mobile app mAbkaridelhi developed by the Excuse department will become operational from September providing consumers information about location of liquor stores in their neighbourhood and shop timings. Severa

Delhi: Dry end to August; not much rain predicted in 1st week of September

With a spell of rain unlikely on Wednesday, August is set to end with the lowest rainfall recorded in Delhi in at least 14 years. The Safdarjung Observatory, Delhi's primary weather station, recorded a minimum temperature of 25.9 degrees Celsius. The maximum temperature is likely to settle around 35 degrees Celsius. Though Delhi will see cloudy skies over the next five to six days, a good spell of rain is unlikely. Weather experts attribute the lack of rainfall this month to the development of three low-pressure areas over the northwest Bay of Bengal which pulled the monsoon trough over central India and did not let it move to the north for a long period. The India Meteorological Department (IMD) said the monsoon activity over northwest India will remain subdued for the next five days. According to the IMD data, the Safdarjung Observatory has recorded a paltry 41.6 mm of rainfall against a normal of 233.1 mm so far this month. Normally, the city gauges 247 mm of precipitation in

300 liquor stores, 4 microbreweries: Host of changes for tipplers in Delhi

Delhi is set to return to the old liquor excise policy regime, which includes opening 300 new liquor shops, and four microbreweries in the city

4 microbreweries to start in Delhi from Sep; mobile app to give more info

Four microbreweries serving draught beer will start operations in Delhi from September first week while a mobile app has been developed to provide information on dry days, liquor brands and their availability, officials said Tuesday. The mAbkaridelhi mobile app will be available in Hindi and English and can be downloaded from Google Play Store from September. The iOS version will be made available shortly, officials said. It will provide a host of information, retail vends in a locality, their timings and also enable searching vends in alphabetical order. The app also has the option to submit feedback, they said. Delhi government agencies are slated to take over the retail liquor business in the city from September 1 following the withdrawal of the Excise Policy 2021-22 after Lieutenant Governor V K Saxena recommended a CBI probe into alleged irregularities in its implementation. Earlier, two microbreweries operated in Delhi one in Connaught Place and another at a five-star hotel

Only 37% of trees transplanted in last 3 yrs survived in Delhi: Forest Dept

Only 37 percent of the trees transplanted in the national capital in 2021-22 have survived despite the implementation of the Delhi tree transplantation policy, according to forest department data. A senior forest department official said, "The policy has made the tree transplantation process more scientific but we are yet to study its impact as it was implemented just a year-and-a-half ago". The forest department data showed that only one-third (33.33 percent) of the 16,461 trees transplanted in Delhi over the last three years survived. Only 1,521 of the 4,162 trees transplanted in the city in 2019-20 survived. Just 2,001 (28.57 percent) of the 7,003 trees survived in 2020-21 and 1,965 (37.10 percent) of the 5,296 trees transplanted in 2021-22 are alive, the data showed. According to the Delhi government's tree transplantation policy notified in December 2020, agencies concerned have to transplant a minimum of 80 percent of the trees affected by their development works. The bench

Delhi BJP MLAs decide to hit the streets alleging corruption by AAP govt

BJP MLAs on Tuesday decided to "halt" their protest at the Delhi Assembly but said they will hit the streets and continue their agitation against the alleged corruption of the AAP government. The BJP MLAs were marshalled out of the House for the third day amid multiple adjournments and sloganeering by the leaders of both the ruling AAP and BJP. Leader of Opposition in the Assembly Ramvir Singh Bidhuri had earlier said the MLAs will sit on a night-long protest for the second consecutive day to demand a probe into various scams by the Delhi government. Later in a statement, BJP MLA Vijender Gupta said they are "halting" their dharna inside the Delhi Assembly premises. "The BJP MLAs have vowed to continue their agitation demanding reply in serious cases of financial irregularities emerging in the Excise Policy 2021-22 and construction of classrooms," he said. He said CM Arvind Kejriwal along with his deputy Manish Sisodia cannot evade people's questions for long. "There is irrefuta

Zomato launches 'intercity legends', now order from anywhere in India

Order popular, authentic dishes from anywhere and have them delivered to your doorstep

BJP using Anna to target me: Kejriwal on Hazare's remark on liquor policy

Hours after Anna Hazare wrote to Arvind Kejriwal reminding him his own lines from book 'Swaraj' over Delhi's liquor policy, Kejriwal claimed that he (Hazare) is being used by the BJP to target him

Delhi reports 382 new Covid cases, 5 deaths; positivity rate at 2.85%

Delhi on Tuesday reported 382 fresh COVID-19 cases with a positivity rate of 2.85 per cent, while five more people died due to the infection, according to data shared by the city health department here. The new cases came out of 13,382 tests conducted the previous day, the department said in its latest bulletin. With the fresh cases and fatalities, Delhi's infection tally increased to 19,99,240 and the death toll climbed to 26,467, it said. Delhi on Monday reported 214 COVID-19 cases with a positivity rate of 3.77 per cent, along with four deaths. The city on Sunday logged 397 COVID-19 cases with a positivity rate of 3.05 per cent and five fatalities. The health department did not issue the daily bulletin on Saturday. On Friday, Delhi recorded 620 COVID-19 cases with a positivity rate of 3.74 per cent and two fatalities. It logged 702 cases on Thursday with a positivity rate of 4.49 per cent and four fatalities. The number of active COVID-19 cases in Delhi stands at 2,226, down

Hit on revenues from alcohol to dent Delhi govt's revenue balance

The projected revenue from alcohol estimated at the time of presenting the Budget constituted around 20 per cent of the state's expected own tax revenue and 15 per cent of its total receipts.

Delhi most unsafe for senior citizens among Indian metros: NCRB data

Delhi is the most unsafe for senior citizens among all metropolitan cities in India accounting for over 27 per cent of total crimes committed against people aged 60 years and above in these cities, according to the latest NCRB data. Moreover, the national capital has also witnessed a 28.69 per cent surge in crime against senior citizens in 2021 as compared to the previous year with 1,166 cases registered by the police, the data of the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) showed. In 2020, 906 crimes against senior citizens were reported in the national capital. The charge sheet rate in cases involving such people is also quite low in Delhi at 31.5 per cent. After Delhi, Mumbai also reported a high number of crimes against senior citizens (987). As many as 4,264 cases of various crimes against senior citizens were reported in 19 metropolitan cities in 2021. Among the crimes against senior citizens, theft is the most common with 659 cases reported in Delhi in 2021, followed by cheatin

Anna Hazare writes letter to Kejriwal, slams Delhi govt's new excise policy

Social activist Anna Hazare has written a letter to Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, slamming his government's new excise policy and said it seems the CM has "sunk in the addiction of power." Hazare also said it seems the new policy will encourage liquor sale and consumption and spur corruption. Last month, Delhi Lt Governor V K Saxena recommended a CBI probe into the alleged irregularities in the implementation of Delhi's Excise Policy 2021-22. Hazare, while citing the complete liquor ban in his village Ralegan Siddhi in Maharashtra's Ahmednagar district, reminded former associate Kejriwal about the latter's book 'Swaraj' which favoured liquor ban. The activist, who had penned the book's foreword, said he has written a letter to Kejriwal for the first time since he became CM and that it pains him to read reports about the Delhi government's new excise policy. "You wrote several idealistic things in the book. Everyone had hopes from you but it seems that after becoming the CM

Why states are unwilling to take lessons from Delhi liquor excise saga

The controversy in Delhi reflects the enduring importance of this revenue source for state exchequers

Delhi Assembly Secretariat bans entry of MPs in premises after MLA protests

In view of the tense situation due to the overnight protest at the Assembly premises by MLAs of the ruling AAP and opposition BJP, the Assembly Secretariat on Tuesday issued an order banning the entry of MPs and political party leaders in its premises. BJP leader and South MP Ramesh Bidhuri, however, arrived at the Assembly reception and also told reporters that all his party MPs will take part in the session, irrespective of the Secretariat order. He was stopped at the gate. The deputy speaker has observed that as members from the ruling and opposition parties are staging protests inside the Assembly complex, security arrangements should be tightened in and around the Assembly complex to ensure no untoward incidents take place, the order read. It said only one visitor, accompanied by an MLA, will be allowed to enter the Assembly complex after identity verification. However, Members of Parliament or political party leaders shall not be allowed to enter the Assembly complex keeping i

IMD records drop in mercury levels, light rain in parts of Delhi today

Mercury in the national capital fell by a few notches as the minimum temperature on Tuesday settled at 24.6 degrees Celsius, even as the weather office has forecast cloudy sky with light rain later in the day. The city recorded a relative humidity of 82 per cent at 8:30 AM, according to data shared by the India Meteorological Department (IMD). The minimum temperature on Monday was recorded at 26.9 degrees Celsius, while the maximum temperature stood at 35.9 degrees Celsius, a notch above normal. Rains lashed parts of Delhi on Monday. Tuesday's minimum temperature of 24.6 degrees Celsius is two notches below normal, the IMD said. The MeT office has forecast generally cloudy sky with light rain later in the day, with the maximum temperature expected to settle around 35 degrees Celsius. The minimum and maximum temperature readings on Wednesday are likely to settle at 26 degrees Celsius and 35 degrees Celsius, respectively, according to IMD forecast. The air quality index (AQI) of D

Cyber crime rate in Delhi increased over 100% during 2020-21, shows data

The national capital in 2021 witnessed a 111 per cent increase in the cyber crimes as compared to the previous year with the NCRB data citing sexual exploitation to be the motive behind maximum number of cases. According to the National Crime records Bureau data for the year 2021, most of these cases involved online fraud, online harassment, publication of explicit content etc. The increase comes despite the Delhi Police having a separate wing for cyber crime as well as a social media centre Over 356 cases of cyber crime were reported last year in which most of the offenders were booked for publication and transmission of sexually explicit content. An analysis of the data showed that common motives for the crimes were fraud, sexual exploitation, and extortion. Most of the complainants were women or minors aged between 12-17. We have been registering more cases online after COVID. We have seen an increase in financial fraud and sextortion cases, Deputy Commissioner of Police (Cybe