HC wants police to install CCTV cameras in vulnerable areas within one year

Agencies
December 20, 2018

New Delhi, Dec 20: The Delhi Police on Thursday told the Delhi High Court that the CCTV cameras it plans to install in vulnerable areas of the city will record hi-definition videos and will have facial recognition and number plate identification features. 

Taking note of the submission, the High Court directed the police to ensure that CCTV cameras are procured and installed in the 44 vulnerable areas within one year as against the time line of 18 months given by the law enforcement agency.

A bench of justices Sanjiv Khanna and A J Bhambani asked the Delhi Police to simultaneously carry out steps of floating tenders for procurement of cameras and getting necessary approvals from land owning agencies to install them, so that overall time required for the project is reduced.

"You (police) have to expedite the procurement process. We hope the entire process would be completed in a much shorter period, preferably one year," the court said.

The suggestion from the bench came after the police, represented by Delhi government standing counsel Rahul Mehra and additional standing counsel Rajesh Mahajan, told the court that it would take 18 months to install around 6,500 to 7,000 cameras in 44 vulnerable locations in the city.

They also told the court that these cameras would be of the latest technology having hi-definition video capture capability with facial recognition and number plate identification features and would cost around Rs 404 crore.

By comparison, the 1.4 lakh closed circuit television (CCTV) cameras that the Delhi government proposes to install across the national capital would cost Rs 550 crore as they would not be of such high specifications, Mehra told the court.

He also said that the cameras to be installed in vulnerable areas would not have audio recording facility and all video data recorded would be wirelessly sent to a centralised location and stored there.

The bench, thereafter, asked the Delhi Police to file a status report by the next date of hearing indicating progress in installing CCTV cameras in vulnerable areas and police stations in the city.

The Delhi government was asked to file a status report on the issue of lighting up the dark and vulnerable areas of the national capital and listed the matter for further hearing on February 15.

The court was hearing a PIL initiated by it in 2012 after the horrific December 16, 2012 gang rape of a young woman in a moving bus. The woman later succumbed to the injuries.

Apart from that, the court was also hearing a plea by social activist Ajay Gautam alleging that there have been several deaths inside police stations in the city this year and the presence of functional CCTVs could act as a deterrent.

In both the matters, the court has been from time to time issuing directions with regard to increasing the number of police officers in the city, installation of CCTV cameras in police stations as well as vulnerable or crime prone areas, reducing delay in testing of samples in FSLs and ensuring speedy disbursal of compensation to victims of sexual assault.

Last week it had directed the Delhi government and the police to abide by the respective timelines given by them for filling up vacant posts in FSLs and installing CCTV cameras in police stations.

On the last date, police had told the court that cameras have been installed and are functional in 91 of its stations.

In 54 police stations, CCTVs would be installed by December 15 while in the remaining 57 police stations and 53 police posts, the work would be completed by January 15, the court was told.

The bench, thereafter, had asked the Delhi Police Commissioner to ensure the timeline indicated is adhered to.

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Agencies
January 4,2020

Washington D.C: One of the greatest spectacles of modern art is still thriving in the Australian outback as confirmed by satellite imagery of NASA. The Marree Man is a massive geoglyph depicting an aboriginal hunter, that spans over 2.6 miles in the Southern Australian region.

Discovered by a pilot in 1998, its origin still remains a mystery even to this date.

The Marree Man was given a new lease of life in 2016 when a group of people from the neighboring town of Marree plowed its lines to avert its fading due to erosion.

After NASA shared the image of the art-work that was taken in June, the efforts of the good samaritans turned out to be a total success, reported CNN Travel.

The restoration team believes that the refurbished Marree Man would last longer than its original version.

According to NASA, "They [the team] created wind grooves, designed to trap water and encourage the growth of vegetation. They hope that eventually, the man will turn green."

In a previous article, CNN reported that an entrepreneur by the name of Dick Smith took upon himself to unravel the geoglyph's mystery in 2016. His team combed through all the available evidence but couldn't find anything conclusive.

In 2018 he even offered a 5,000 Australian dollar reward for anyone who knows the identity of its creator.

Nobody turned up with an answer but it was speculated that unknown artist lives in Alice Springs or even might be an American.

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Agencies
May 10,2020

In the wake of the gas leak at a factory in Visakhapatnam, the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) has issued detailed guidelines for restarting industries after the lockdown and the precautions to be taken for the safety of the plants as well as the workers.

In a communication to all states and union territories, the NDMA said due to several weeks of lockdown and the closure of industrial units, it is possible that some of the operators might not have followed the established standard operating procedures.

As a result, some of the manufacturing facilities, pipelines, valves may have residual chemicals, which may pose risk. The same is true for the storage facilities with hazardous chemicals and flammable materials, it said.

The NDMA guidelines said while restarting a unit, the first week should be considered as the trial or test run period after ensuring all safety protocols.

Companies should not try to achieve high production targets. There should be 24-hour sanitisation of the factory premises, it said.

The factories need to maintain a sanitisation routine every two-three hours especially in the common areas that include lunch rooms and common tables which will have to be wiped clean with disinfectants after every single use, it added.

For accommodation, the NDMA said, sanitisation needs to be performed regularly to ensure worker safety and reduce the spread of contamination.

To minimise the risk, it is important that employees who work on specific equipment are sensitised and made aware of the need to identify abnormalities like strange sounds or smell, exposed wires, vibrations, leaks, smoke, abnormal wobbling, irregular grinding or other potentially hazardous signs which indicate the need for immediate maintenance or if required shutdown, it said.

At least 11 people lost their lives and about 1,000 others were exposed to a gas leak at a factory in Andhra Pradesh''s Visakhapatnam on May 7.

The incident took place after it restarted operations when the government allowed industrial activities in certain sectors following several weeks of lockdown.

The lockdown was first announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on March 24 for 21 days in a bid to combat the coronavirus threat. The lockdown was then extended till May 3 and again till May 17.

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Agencies
June 24,2020

New Delhi, Jun 24: The Centre has made it mandatory for sellers to enter the 'Country of Origin' while registering all new products on government e-marketplace (GeM).

The e-marketplace is a special purpose vehicle (SPV) under the Ministry of Commerce and Industry which facilitates the entry of small local sellers in public procurement, while implementing 'Make in India' and MSE Purchase Preference Policies of the Centre.

Accordingly, the ministry said the move has been made to promote 'Make in India' and 'Atma Nirbhar Bharat'.

The provision has been enabled via the introduction of new features on GeM.

Besides the registration process, the new feature also reminds sellers who have already uploaded their products, to disclose their products' 'Country of Origin' details.

The ministry further said that failing to disclose the detail will lead to removal of the products from the e-marketplace.

"GeM has taken this significant step to promote 'Make in India' and 'Aatmanirbhar Bharat'," the ministry said in a statement.

"GeM has also enabled a provision for indication of the percentage of local content in products. With this new feature, now, the 'Country of Origin' as well as the local content percentage are visible in the marketplace for all items. More importantly, the 'Make in India' filter has now been enabled on the portal. Buyers can choose to buy only those products that meet the minimum 50 per cent local content criteria."

In case of bids, the ministry said that buyers can now reserve any bid for a "Class I Local suppliers. For those bids below Rs 200 crore, only Class I and Class II Local Suppliers are eligible to bid, with Class I supplier getting purchase preference".

In addition to this, the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) has reportedly called for a meeting with all e-commerce companies such as Amazon and Flipkart to display the country of origin on the products sold on their platform, as well as the extent of value added in India.

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