The Hindu : New Delhi News : Around the City

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Thursday, Apr 27, 2006

New Delhi

New Delhi

Around the City

Court asks Govt. to ban plastic bags

NEW DELHI: The Delhi High Court on Wednesday directed the Delhi Government to ban use of non-biodegradable plastic bags for all purposes in the Capital or state the reasons for not extending the ambit of the law.

A Division Bench of the Court comprising Justice M.K. Sharma and Justice Reva Khetrapal issued the direction on public interest litigation by TAPAS, a non-government organisation, seeking the Court's directions to the city Government to notify the Delhi Plastic Bags (Manufacture, Sale and Usage) and Non-biodegradable Garbage (Control) Act for all purposes.

The Bench directed the Government to notify the Act extending the ban on use of non-biodegradable plastic bags in the city for all purposes.

At present, the law is applicable to only five-star hotels, 100-bed hospitals and restaurants with 100 seats.

The Bench gave the Government time till May 17, the next date of hearing, to implement the law banning use of plastic bags for all purposes or file an affidavit stating the reasons for enlarging the ambit of the law.

Panic on Metro train

NEW DELHI: A mischief monger created panic on the Delhi Metro on Wednesday when he operated a fire extinguisher inside a running train between Janakpuri West and Uttam Nagar East stations on the Barakhamba Road-Dwarka Metro line. As foam gushed out of the extinguisher that had been provided for emergency use under the seats, passengers got jittery and tried to operate the emergency exit on their own as a result of which emergency brakes were applied.

The Delhi Metro Rail Corporation said it all happened at 2-10 p.m. Though the train was not very crowded at that time, the incident caused quite a flutter and there was a delay of 21 minutes. Subsequently, the train was withdrawn from service and taken to the Metro Depot at Najafgarh for maintenance.

Though DMRC staff and security personnel responded to the situation quickly, the person who operated the fire extinguisher managed to escape. DMRC has announced a reward of Rs. 25,000 to anyone giving details about the passenger who operated the fire extinguisher as this is an offence under the Metro Operation and Maintenance Act.

School girl dies

NEW DELHI: Dimpy, the Class XII student of Father Agnel School who allegedly jumped from the third floor of the school building at Yusuf Sarai in South Delhi on Tuesday, succumbed to her injuries at the All-India Institute of Medical Sciences on Wednesday. Her body was handed over to her family after post-mortem.

The police, who are conducting investigations into the incident, said it had been learnt from the school authorities that Dimpy's parents had separated a few years ago and she used to live with her mother, Suman Mitra, here in Kalkaji. She had not been attending school since March 28.

Subsequently, police sources said, the teachers had threatened to raise the matter with her mother during a parent-teachers meeting. On Tuesday, Dimpy was also taken for a counselling session. However, the session did not do her any good and instead she was reported to have slit her wrist during the interaction. Thereafter the school authorities had summoned her mother. Ms. Mitra reached the school and tried to sort things out, but the girl leapt off the third floor window at around 12-30 p.m.

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