The Hindu : New Delhi News : Briefly

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Thursday, May 20, 2004

New Delhi

New Delhi

Briefly

Magic show presented

NEW DELHI MAY 19. To celebrate International Museum Day, well-known magician B. Kamesh presented a unique magic show at the National Museum premises on Tuesday. Organised by the National Museum, the show was attended by the Joint Secretary in the Department of Culture, K. Jayakumar, and the Director General of National Museum, K.K. Chakravarty.

Though his magic show, Prof. Kamesh drove home the point that ancient monuments need to be preserved.

Draw for DDA flats held

NEW DELHI MAY 19. The Delhi Development Authority today held the draw for the Narela Housing Scheme 2004 and allotted flats to 2,211 applicants who had applied for allotment. In all about 3,500 flats were on offer under the scheme which was open from February 23, 2004, to April 15 but drew a lukewarm response despite carrying a 30 per cent inbuilt discount for most of the flats.

The allotment was done through a computerised draw in the presence of judges at the DDA headquarters in Vikas Sadan. All the applicants of all categories except some of HIG and EHS have been allotted flats and it is expected that demand-cum-allotment letters will be issued within the next 30 days.

Besides the general public, flats were also allotted to reserve categories such as physically handicapped, SC/ST, war widows and government employees.

DTC staff donate blood

NEW DELHI MAY 19. The Transport Commissioner of Delhi, Rajiv Talwar, and the Chairman and Managing Director of Delhi Transport Corporation, A.J.S. Sahney, along with 68 other officers and employees of the DTC today donated blood at a camp organised by the Rotary Blood Bank in the DTC headquarters.

As for the camp, which was conducted from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., the Blood Bank had placed only one van on duty and the number of units it could carry was limited, only 70 units of blood was collected. Incidentally, this was the first blood donation camp to be conducted by DTC during the tenure of Mr Sahney, who would be reaching superannuation in June 2004.

Bank profit jumps up

NEW DELHI MAY 19. The Central Bank of India's total business has crossed Rs. 80, 000 crores. According to a press release, the bank's operating profit has jumped by 65 per cent to reach Rs.1528.93 crores, while its net has leapfrogged by 102 per cent to attain Rs.618.11 crores.

The Chairman and Managing Director of Central Bank of India, Dalbir Singh, said ever since the introduction of C4C- Concept Centralities for Customers there has been an all-round growth in the bank. So far, 1622 branches of the bank have been computerised, covering 88 per cent of business and data transmission. After a tie-up with the Life Insurance Corporation of India, the bank has also been selling insurance policies.

Court directive to Centre

NEW DELHI MAY 19. The Delhi High Court today directed the Union Government to file a reply to a joint petition by the parents of five students of Amity Business School, Noida, who had drowned in the Arabian Sea near a tourist beach in Goa last year.

Asking the High Court Registry to list the petition as a public interest litigation before a Division Bench on July 26, Justice Mukul Mudgal asked the Government to file its reply to the petition within four weeks.

The petitioners sought compensation and exemplary damages as well as publicity of safety measures which people required to be aware of for swimming in a sea and dangerous beaches across the country.

Athav Shah, Hitesh Chandiramani, Agraj Maheshwari, Jawaid Iqbal and Saurav Charan had drowned near Candolim beach in Goa on August 25 last year. They were on an excursion.

Suicide case

NEW DELHI MAY 19. A 27-year-old Kazakhstan national allegedly committed suicide by hanging in his house at Vasant Vihar in South-West Delhi today. He was apparently depressed after being jilted by the woman he was in love with in his native country.

According to the police, the Police Control Room was informed in the afternoon that there was no response from his house at A-Block in Vasant Vihar. The police broke open the door only to find his body hanging from the shower in the bathroom with the help of a belt. He was later identified as Wilio William, a Kazakhstan national. While no suicide note was recovered from the house, the police came across letters suggesting that Wilio, a lower level employee of a private airlines of Kazakhstan, Atarwa, was unhappy for the past sometime.

Meanwhile, the Kazakhstan Embassy officials have been informed about the incident. A case has been registered at the Vasant Vihar police station and further investigations are on.

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