Power fine for gadget damage

New Delhi (PTI): The Delhi Vidyut Board has been asked to pay compensation of Rs 50,000 for the damage caused to the electronic equipment of a hotel due to erratic power supply and voltage fluctuation after the Delhi state consumer commission found the board guilty of ?deficiency in service?.

The power board admitted voltage fluctuation, but said it was due to hooking by people residing in slum adjacent to the hotel.

?Whatever may be the reasons, the registered consumers have been put to disadvantage and left high and dry merely because the electricity agencies find it difficult to check the menace of theft of electricity by the unauthorised elements,? the commission said.

Hotel Jageer Palace in Mansarovar Garden had repeatedly complained to the board authorities about persistent power fluctuation and erratic power supply resulting in massive damage to its deep freezers, motors, refrigerators, tubes and chokes. The hotel approached the consumer commission on not receiving any response from the power board.

The consumer commission pulled up the board for ?not taking effective action? and displaying helplessness and said it cannot shy away from its ?liability of compensating the consumers for deficiency in service?.

‘Sati’ tag sparks protests

Jaipur (PTI): The naming of a township here after a sati evoked strong protests from two women’s organisations on Sunday. The organisations alleged that it amounted to glorifying the banned practice and is against the Sati Prevention Act, 1987.

?It is ridiculous that the BJP government has approved the scheme and its local self and civic minister Pratap Singh Singhvi will inaugurate the scheme tomorrow,? Vividha and Mahila Punarwas Samooh Samiti said following publication of newspaper advertisements on the sale of residential plots and the setting up of a private township named Shree Rani Sati Nagar.

The proposed colony will be built near the planned film city and the Jaipur Development Authority has approved its plan.

The two women’s organisations have also written separate letters to the chief secretary, home secretary and the development authority commissioner, asking them to ensure that the name is dropped.

Two held for shooting blast

Mumbai (PTI): The director and the producer of a film have been arrested after four persons were injured in an explosion during shooting at Dahisar.

An actor, an assistant, a labourer and an onlooker were injured when explosive material used in the shooting of Siyasat burst on Saturday, police said.

Collision deaths

Sonebhadra (PTI): Eight people, including two children, were killed and five injured when the jeep in which they were travelling collided with a truck here on Sunday, police said. The jeep hit the coal-laden truck coming from the opposite side near Parvadh village in Uttar Pradesh.

Train numbers

Mumbai (PTI): Central Railway has decided to renumber four long-distance trains with effect from July 1. The revised numbers are: Lokmanya Tilak Terminus-Bhubaneshwar Express ? 2145/2146, Lokmanya Tilak Terminus-Howrah Samarasta Express ? 2151/2152, Dadar-Chennai Express ? 2163/2164, and Dadar-Nagpur Sewagram Express ? 2139/2140.

Rebel surrenders

Rajahmundry (PTI): A deputy commander of a Maoist group surrendered to Andhra Pradesh police on Saturday. The female rebel leader, Kadabala Lakshmi alias Vanaja, was part of the guerrilla squad that raided Chodavaram police station in 2003.

Rapists convicted

Sonepat (PTI): A court has sentenced four youths of Juan village to 10 years’ imprisonment with a fine of Rs 10,000 each for gangraping a woman on April 16, 1998. The judge observed that the victim belonged to the Muslim community and the case was just like the Best Bakery murder case.

Official booked

Mumbai (PTI): A state secretariat cashier has been booked for alleged misappropriation of funds of over Rs 50 lakh. The cashier prepared fake documents and submitted them as originals, police said.

The Brahma Temple in Pushkar has been declared a protected monument of national importance. The 14th century shrine is the world’s only temple dedicated to Brahma.