New Delhi, January 27
Amidst soaring religio-political sentiments, the Delhi Sikh Gurdwara Management Committee (DSGMC) election came to an end with 42.28 per cent of the 4,15621 lakh voters choosing their representatives for the 46-member panel.

Though many among them expressed dissatisfaction over the way the gurdwara religious affairs have been politicised -disapproving the open tussle between the political parties for securing the reins of the country's second richest Sikh body.

In South Delhi's two major wards - Lajpat Nagar and Defence Colony - voters' support looked to be divided between the two main political parties, the ruling Shiromani Akali Dal (Delhi) headed by Paramjit Singh Sarna and Manjit Singh (GK)-led Shiromani Akali Dal (Badal) even as people's views in the areas reflected a general disenchantment with the whole process of gurdwara elections.

"Elections are irrelevant for the gurdwara committee, but here in the name of religion, various political parties are just playing with the people's feelings. We have come here to vote, but know that there would not be much change after the polls. We want development, not politics," said senior citizen Jasbir Singh who was accompanied by his wife to the Nigam Pratibha School (Girls).

From Lajpat Nagar ward SAD-Badal's candidate Vikram Singh, who was confident of a thumping win, said, "In Delhi, the fight is against Akal Takht and the Sarna group. There is a lot of anger in the public and people want to oust the Sarna group."

According to DS Tuli, an engineer, who had come with his whole family to cast his vote at Dayanand Colony, people want development, not politics. "The current committee lacks planning and distribution of funds. It is eventually the development of the community that counts and not faces,” he said.

New Delhi, January 27
Two policemen were injured while chasing miscreants at Kanjhawala on the outskirts of Delhi early this morning.

Head constables Udaybhan (47) and Satbeer (58) were patrolling the area in a police control room (PCR) vehicle.

They were injured when the Accent car they were chasing rammed into their vehicle.

The policemen noticed that the car was overspeeding and moving in a zigzag manner. They directed the car to stop, but it sped away.

The policemen started chasing the car and came abreast with it. "The car driver rammed into the side of the police vehicle, causing it to hit a road-divider," said a police officer. The car then sped away.

The police control room received a call informing it of the incident.

Another PCR vehicle then reached the site of the incident and rushed the injured policemen to the Sanjay Gandhi Memorial Hospital located on the outskirts of Delhi.

"The policemen are out of danger. They wrote the registration number of the car," said the officer.

A case in regard to the incident has been registered at the Kanjhawala police station. A search has begun for the car and its occupants.

New Delhi, January 27
A businessman's employee, who wanted to start his own business, allegedly stole Rs 11 lakh and a cheque for Rs 2 lakh from him.

The employee, Vijay Kumar (27), had allegedly stolen the money on January 18, when his employer, Arsh Kumar, had sent him to deliver it to two different parties at Gaffar Market and Mukherjee Nagar.

According to Additional Commissioner of Police (Central District) Devesh Chandra Srivastva, Vijay was arrested from a bus stop in Aligarh, Uttar Pradesh, on January 25. The police recovered Rs 5 lakh from him.

His friend Jasbir Singh (27), a resident of Bapa Nagar in Karol Bagh, is also allegedly involved in the crime.

He was arrested from his house yesterday. Jasbir deals in mobile phones.

The police recovered the remaining Rs 6 lakh and the cheque from his house.

Arsh deals in a business of mobile accessories at Regar Pura in Karol Bagh. Vijay was working under him for the past 10 years and was tasked to collect and deliver Arsh's money to different parties.

On January 18, Arsh gave Vijay Rs 11.51 lakh for delivering it to a party at Gaffar Market and the cheque was to be given to Indra Vikash Company at Mukherjee Nagar.

Devesh Chandra Srivastva said that on January 19, Arsh came to know that Vijay didn't deliver the money to the parties concerned.

He tried to contact Vijay, but found his mobile phone to be switched off.

A case under Section 308 (criminal breach of trust by clerk or servant) of the Indian Penal Code was registered at the Karol Bagh police station.

The police investigations revealed that Vijay was moving in and around Mathura and Aligarh in Uttar Pradesh. The police conducted raids at different areas of the two cities.

By using mobile surveillance, the police arrested him from a bus stop in Aligarh and the Rs 5 lakh was recovered from him.

He confessed to his crime. He said that he had given the remaining cash and cheque to his friend Jasbir.

New Delhi, January 27
Two persons were arrested for allegedly kidnapping the two-year-old boy of a jawan and demanding a ransom of Rs 15 lakh, said a police official today.

Krisham Kumar Sharma and Sahib Singh, both working at a call centre of a leading mobile firm, were arrested yesterday after Lance Naik Shokender complained to the police that his son has been abducted.

He also said in the complaint that the abductors had asked for Rs 15 lakh for the child's release and gave the mobile number from which he had received the call.

The police traced the number and zeroed-in on Krishan, who lives near the jawan's house in Lodhi road in south Delhi.

"He was apprehended while he was trying to escape. He admitted his involvement in the crime and said that after kidnapping the child, he had handed over him to Sahib Singh," DCP (South) Chhaya Sharma said.

The police raided Singh's house and rescued the boy from there. Since they were facing financial problems, they planned the kidnapping in order to make quick money.

"Krishan was residing in Lodhi Road Complex with his maternal aunt where he came in contact with the boy and became friendly with him," Sharma said.

On Friday, Krishan kidnapped the boy and went to his house at Naraina village.

He then later handed him over to Singh. — PTI

New Delhi, January 27
Experts representing the People's Budget Initiative (PBI)--a coalition of 400 civil society organisations from 23 states--said that lack of transparency in the flow of funds and investment at the district and sub-district level are some of the major concerns that have hit the implementation of the government's flagship programmes such as the National Rural Health Mission, Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan.

They called for greater people's participation in the budgetary process and accountability on the part of the government and urged the Centre to review the fund-flow mechanisms in their programmes and increase the outlay for the health sector.

In most of the central schemes, the budget allocations bypass the state budgets, thus raising doubts on the utilisation of the funds for various schemes.

"The funds given by the central government are not routed through the state treasury but to the bank accounts of societies or autonomous bodies which the CAG cannot audit," said Subrat Das, executive director of the Centre for Budget and Governance Accountability.

Flagging the issue, the consortium met Union Finance Minister P Chidambaram on January 14 and put forth a charter of demands for the Union Budget 2013-14. The demands include raising the outlay on health services from one per cent of the GDP to three per cent for realisation of the Millennium Development Goal of making health care universal. It also stressed the need to make budgetary allocation gender-responsive.

In both its terms, the UPA came up with robust policies, but failed to make requisite budget allocation towards the realisation of those goals and even failed to allocate adequate funds for essential medicines, said Ravi Duggal, the programme officer of the International Budget Partnership.

In the current fiscal, the Union Budget for health is 1.12 per cent of the GDP which is even less than some of the well-performing states on health indicators, such as Mizoram (4.3 per cent of the state's GDP), Puducherry (3 per cent) and Goa (2.5 per cent).

For the increased allocations, the consortium urged the government to step up the country's tax-GDP ratio in the Union Budget 2013-14 by reintroducing the suspended Inheritance Tax etc.

"There is a need to increase the direct taxes and reduce and rationalise the existing gamut of tax exemptions particularly those meant for the corporate sector and also to allow space for greater public engagement," said Das.