New Delhi, July 21
A large number of BJP workers led by Delhi state president Dr Harsh Vardhan were arrested this afternoon at ITO while they were on their way to the Delhi Secretariat to 'gherao' the Chief Minister to protest against the alleged power distribution scam.

The BJP workers and Dr Harsh Vardhan were later let off after a token 'arrest' by the police, sources said.

The arrests were made after the protestors, who started from Ferozshah Kotla grounds carrying placards and shouting anti-government slogans, reached ITO crossing.

A BJP spokesman said, "The demonstration was to seek Sheila Dikshit's resignation over the power distribution scam in which the Congress government had been indicted by the comptroller and auditor general and the public accounts committee".

"We had planned to 'gherao' the Chief Minister and seek her resignation on the issue," he said.

New Delhi, July 21
A 19-year-old was arrested today for allegedly posing as an Al Qaeda activist and threatening to blow up Parliament during the Presidential election. The police claimed to have ascertained his mental health.

The boy, Minto Kumar, called up the emergency number 100 on Thursday and threatened to blow up Parliament. "We arrested Minto from his house in Panchsheel Enclave. He had claimed to be a part of the terror outfit Al Qaeda," said Alok Kumar, DC of special cell.

The boy had allegedly phoned the police and challenged them to stop him from committing the 'crime'. "It was difficult to arrest him as he switched off his mobile phone but we still kept it on surveillance," said Alok.

According to the police, the phone set belonged to his brother and he had used his friend's SIM card to make the call. "The boy looks fit but he would be sent for medical examination. It seems he did it to create sensation," said Alok.

Greater Noida, July 21
Dankore police have arrested the mother-in-law of the woman who was 'hanged' after she had been severely beaten up by her husband and a neighbour on Friday morning.

Five, including husband of the deceased, have been named in the case registered by the police. All other accused are absconding.

Hawildar, resident of Sheyorazpur village under Surajpur police station, had married his daughter Murti to Om Pal Singh, son of Nathu Singh of Garhi Dankore in 1987. Murthi, mother of a son and two daughters, was not being treated well by her husband who used to beat her up almost daily.

On Thursday, Om Pal Singh had again beaten up Murthi. His neighbour was also involved in the beating. It is alleged that Murthi was hanged in a room later and the room was locked.

Incidentally, Murthi's sister is married to the younger brother of her husband. The sister who had tried to come to Murthi's help was also locked up in the room. On Friday, Murthi's sister had informed her parents of sister's death on phone. In the meantime, all members of the family of in-laws fled the house.

The Dankore police reached Om Pal's house and on a report by Murthi's brother, Moninder, registered a murder case against Om Pal, mother-in-law Jaggu, father-in-law Nathu, a brother-in-law Om Veer and neighbour Giri Raj.

New Delhi, July 21
Delhi urban development and public works department minister Dr A. K. Walia has said that a new reduced structure of stamp duty will come into force very soon.

The Delhi government and the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) both have agreed on reduction of stamp duty for registration of properties in the Capital.

It had become imminent to reduce stamp duty to avail funds for boosting infrastructure development under Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM) scheme of the Union government.

The reduction in stamp duty was also expected after formulation of a structure of circle rates in the Capital city which were recommended by the Delhi Cabinet and are awaiting a formal notification after approval of the Lt. Governor.

The Delhi government and the MCD have also agreed to a formula of equally sharing collection of stamp duty henceforth. The decisions were taken at a meeting presided over by Dr A. K. Walia.

The Standing Committee chairman Vijender Gupta and municipal commissioner A. K. Nigam, among others attended the meeting.

Addressing the media after the meeting, Dr Walia stated that a new structure of stamp duty for registration of properties was being referred to the Union government for its concurrence.

Henceforth, registration of properties in the name of males would attract six per cent stamp duty instead of the present eight per cent whereas in case of females, it would attract four per cent instead of the present six per cent.

The government has, in principle, agreed to bring down rate of stamp duty at an average of five per cent, which would enable it to claim funds.

New Delhi, July 21
The Delhi government's order to keep the Blueline buses off road has become curse for the daily commuters in the national capital as the Delhi Transport Corporation (DTC) does not have enough buses to carry the passengers.

The commuters had to face a tough time and reached their destinations hours late. Only 2,800 DTC buses were on road today which were seen jam-packed during the day.

Women and old people could not travel due to the rush of passengers. All 4,200 Blueline buses were off road.

These buses are being checked at 10 DTC depots. Apart from checking speed governors and CNG safety equipment, tyres are also being checked.

The bus owners are using old truck tyres, sources said.

According to the sources, a total of 393 buses were produced before the checking staff. Of them hardly 170 buses were found fit.

Technical checking of the buses will be done on Sunday also.

Jagdish Singh, a resident of Hauz Khas, said, "I have been waiting for bus for two hours but I cannot manage to board it as most of the DTC buses are packed. It is very difficult to travel in this situation.

The government should make alternative arrangement. Though Saturday and Sunday are weekly off days, all offices are not closed.

Most private offices function on Saturday also which resulted in the rush of commuters," he said.

Rita Sharma, a resident of Uttam Nagar, said, "Until the transport situation is improved, the government should direct private offices also to close on Saturday. Commuters are seen hanging on footboards and it is very difficult for women and girls to travel in packed buses."

Gurgaon, July 21
Gurgaon will have three world-class bus terminals, said Randip Surjewala, Haryana minister for transport.

Surjewala, who was here for an interactive session with the captains of industry organised by Gurgaon Chamber of Commerce and Industry (GCCI), on transport network in Gurgaon, said that the proposed bus terminals would be built on “Built, Operate and Transfer” (BOT) basis with the involvement of private players. The three terminals would be in Sector 29, Rajiv Chowk and one somewhere between Gurgaon and Manesar.

The minister made the policy announcement while responding to suggestions made by the former president of PHD Chamber of Commerce and Industry (PHDCCI) and founder president of GCCI, P.K.Jain.

Summing up the mood of the commoners of Gurgaon, Jain suggested extension of Metro rail link in Gurgaon, introduction of Light rail transit system and low-floor buses of international class.

The minister responded that personally he was against extension of the Metro rail link and in favour of exploring other sources of public transport system.

To this effect, he espoused the cause of Mono Rail, even though he was positive to the suggestion of light rail transit system,

With regard to Metro link, he said that the government will pay more than Rs 703 crore to bring the Metro line from Qutab side in Delhi to Gurgaon. The government is making moves to link up Gurgaon with Metro rail from Dwarka side in Delhi.

He added that the advisable thing would be not to go in for further extension of the Metro project in Gurgaon considering the scale of economy.

He lamented that since the past 24 years, Haryana has not revised its agreement with other states with regard to the movement of their buses in the state.

The buses from other states do not pay anything to the state. But the government will now streamline the process and things would now be regulated.

According to him, the government will set up three driving schools in Haryana. The three would be in Rohtak, Panipat and Kaithal. Two of the schools would be attached with Maruti Udyog and one with Ashok Leyland.

He further said that the government has decided to recruit 3,000 employees consisting of 2,000 conductors and 1,000 drivers. This was before the proposed introduction of a large number of buses in the state.

According to him, there is a plan to revamp the Haryana Roadways Engineering Corporation so that it gets equipped with the necessary expertise to construct new designed buses.

He said that the old fleet of buses would go in a phased manner. Five hundred new buses would be introduced ever year.

Faridabad, July 21
A total of about 85,681 persons in the district have been receiving a monthly pension ranging between Rs 300 and Rs 600 from the social welfare department of the state government.

An amount of over Rs 2.83 crore was disbursed as pension among these beneficiaries last month. The beneficiaries include as many as 51,093 residents aged 60 years and above, who are entitled to old age pension.

The state government has also started pension for the dwarfs and eunuchs recently.

According to district authorities, an amount of over Rs 1.53 lakh was disbursed as old age pension to about 51,093 persons last month. This included the arrears of the beneficiaries.

The state government has reserved a budget of about Rs 18.30 lakh under this head for the district. The local authorities hold a meeting every month to entertain fresh applications and finalize the new beneficiaries. The applicants should be aged 60 years or above for this and be a domicile of Haryana.

The second major category of pensioners is of widows and destitute women, who were eligible to get a monthly pension of Rs 350. As many as 29,656 persons have been listed so far in this category in the district. The applicant should not have an annual income of more than Rs 10,000 and she should be aged 18 years or above.

The department has earmarked a budget of over Rs 12.08 crore for this purpose for the current financial year. A total of 292 fresh applications were received by the department last month under this head.

The department has also released an amount of Rs 24.40 lakh as monthly financial aid to about 5,932 persons registered under the handicapped category in the district.

Meanwhile, the duo standing at some distance tried to escape but the police team apprehended both of them.

Ghaziabad, July 21
Hundreds of young men had reportedly got recruited as cops in UP police on the basis of forged educational certificates of matriculation and intermediate qualifications as also without meeting the medical and physical fitness standards.

Irregularities and forgeries on a large scale have been found in scrutiny of basic educational certificates in Meerut, Barielly, Varanasi and Allahabad, it is learnt.

Over 6000 educational certificates of police recruits are under scrutiny in regional police office in Allahabad. Among 825 certificates verified, some 280 educational certificate have been found to be bogus. Another 155 certificates were found to be forged.

As a direct fallout of this finding, strong action is being contemplated against the guilty cops and officers involved, it is learnt.

Most of the cops who have secured jobs in police department hail from Bijnore, Barabanki, Mainpuri, Etawa, Saharanpur, Ferozabad, Shikohabad, Kanpur, Lucknow, Allahabad, etc. it is stated.

It may be recalled that the state government had recruited over 22,000 cops in police during 2005-06. At that time also, it was alleged that recruits from a particular caste had been given preference while merit and suitability had been given the go-by.

New Delhi, July 21
Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit today inaugurated six ‘porta cabins’ for community centres in Delhi Imperial Zone (DIZ) area, Gole Market in the presence of Parimal Rai, Chairman, NDMC.

Speaking on this occasion, Sheila Dikshit said that new porta cabins would help in making RWAs more strong and effective so that it could serve residents in a more co-ordinated manner. The porta cabins would be installed in all localities of Gole Market.

Three to four porta cabins would also be installed in these locations to provide space for sale of items of daily needs for which residents are forced to go to far off places and cross busy roads. This would curb coming up of shabby jhuggies for sale of daily need items, she added.

She said that an action plan for development of all parks in Gole Market area and increasing electricity load of residential quarters was being implemented.

The Chief Minister said that high mast lights would also be installed in the area.

"With transfer of cleanliness and maintenance of roads and parks from Central Public Works Department to the NDMC, there is bound to be more improvement, which would make the entire NDMC area a well managed planned zone in the Capital.," Dikshit said.

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