Over 9,000 deaths due to respiratory diseases in Delhi, overall mortality rate goes up
New Delhi (PTI) The national capital recorded 9,211 deaths due to respiratory diseases in 2024, up from 8,801 in 2023, continuing an upward trend seen over the past few years, according latest official data released by the Delhi government.
Common types of respiratory diseases include asthma, pneumonia, lung cancer and Tuberclosis, often causing breathing related issues.
Circulatory diseases were found to the top most cause of death in 2024, followed by infectious and parasitic diseases. The overall death rate in the national capital also showed a rise.
The total number of deaths in Delhi rose to 1,39,480 in 2024, compared to 1,32,391 deaths recorded the previous year. Of these, 85,391 were males, 54,051 were females, and 38 were classified under other genders. Of these, 90,883 deaths were medically certified.
The national capital has slightly improved on Infant Mortality Rate (IMR), which was recorded at 22.4 per 1000 live births which was 23.61 in 2023. IMR is a measure of deaths of infants under one year old.
According to the latest data, 21,262 deaths were due to circulatory disease -- common types include choked artery, stroke and heart failure. In 2023, this number was 15,714.
The second most common cause of death in the national capital at 16,060 was infectious and parasitic disease, usually spreading due to bacteria, virus and fungi, often via contaminated food and water. Such type of deaths saw a drop from the previous year recorded at 20,781.
A total of 3,06,459 live births were recorded in the city in 2024, which was 8,628 less than the previous year, the documents added.
The birth rate in 2024 was recorded at 14, down from 14.66 in 2023, while the death rate has increased from 6.16 in 2023 to 6.37 in 2024, the data showed. Birth and death rates are counted per 1,000 persons of a given place.
Delhi's population is projected to rise to 2.65 crore in the next 10 years by 2036. According to data, 99.1 per cent of people under five years of age have a birth certificate.
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Dileep case: Advocate representing survivor alleges Judge favoured actor
Thiruvanthapuram: A month after Malayalam film Actor Dileep was acquitted in the the case pertaining to abduction and rape of a famous Malayalam actress, Advocate T B Mini, the survivor's counsel in the case has accussed the Ernakulam Principal Sessions Court Judge Honey M Varghese of favouring Actor Dileep in her petition to the Chief Justice of the Kerala High Court, reported On Manorama.
In her petition(accessed by Onmanorama), Mini has sought contempt of court proceedings against Honey Varghese alleging that the trial court judge made derisive remarks about her, including claims that she would doze off during court proceedings and was lax in handling the actress assault case.
Mini, who described the comments as false, contemptuous and defamatory, alleged in her petition that Honey Varghese had unduly favoured Dileep, the actor and producer who was the eighth accused in the case.
In the verdict delivered in December last year, Judge Honey Varghese acquitted Dileep and three other accused while sentencing six convicts to imprisonment.
The ruling drew major uproar, while Mini had refrained from making any public remarks against the judge at the time, stating only that the verdict was disappointing, now she has levelled serious allegations against the judge as the High Court is set to begin hearing the bail pleas filed by the six convicts on February 4.
Furthermore, Mini has stated in her petition that since the very first stage of the trial, the Judge Honey Varghese passed derogatory remarks against the survivor and behaved discourteously towards the prosecution, which eventually led to the resignation of two Special Public Prosecutors. According to Mini, the undue favour shown by Honey Varghese to Dileep resulted in a serious miscarriage of justice and brought disrepute to the judicial system.
She stated in the petition that it was a regular practice of Honey Varghese to pass derogatory comments about the survivor as well as the prosecution witnesses.
Mini also alleged that on several occasions, the Special Public Prosecutor was compelled to remind the judge that such conduct was in violation of the Supreme Court’s directions.
Mini also questioned the manner in which Honey Varghese conducted the inquiry into the illegal access of the memory card containing visuals of the sexual assault.
The memory card, a vital piece of evidence kept in the custody of the Sessions Court, was unlawfully accessed and tampered with, leading to a change in its hash value.
According to the report, an examination by the State Forensic Science Laboratory found that the card had been accessed on January 9, 2018, December 13, 2018, and July 19, 2021, while it was under the safe custody of different courts.
Mini stated in the petition that the memory card was illegally accessed for nearly half an hour in July 2021 while it was in the custody of the court presided over by Honey Varghese.
After the survivor approached the High Court citing a breach of privacy, the HC directed Honey Varghese to conduct an inquiry. Mini alleged that the judge carried out only a perfunctory inquiry, in violation of the High Court’s directions.
Mini has sought legal action against Honey Varghese, stating that when a lawyer is defamed in open court through false allegations, the judge is liable to face proceedings before the High Court. She noted in the petition that although she had a very limited role in the trial as the survivor’s counsel, she regularly attended the proceedings from November 2022 onward.
