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Interim Budget
2009
Cabinet waives Rs 50 lakh loan of defaulters
No end to JNU crisis; huge rush at prospectus counter
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Parents and friends of Mohd. Ahmed who was allegedly killed in Nithari, shout slogans during a demonstration demanding a CBI inquiry into the incident at Jantar Mantar in New Delhi on Monday.
Tribune photo:Manas Ranjan Bhui
Teachers warn of fresh stir
MCD to engage private agencies for upkeep of toilets
Girl poisons lover on
V-Day
Two hundred traffic motorcycles that were flagged off by Delhi police commissioner
Y.S. Dadwal in New Delhi on Monday. Tribune photo: Mukesh Aggarwal
12 MCD officials arrested for graft
Delhi trader shot at, robbed in Ghaziabad
Senior citizen murdered
Man dies in fire
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Rs 1,000 cr for C’wealth Games
Delhi govt gets Rs 1,359.27 cr for development schemes Syed Ali Ahmed Tribune News Service
New Delhi, February 16 The minister said while Rs 10 crore had been given for the All-India Tennis Association, the preparation for teams had been allotted Rs 100 crore, upgradation and creation of venues Rs 60 crore, overlays (SAI, AITA and Indian Olympic association) Rs 194.42 crore and the remaining money had been given for other heads of the games which had not been mentioned. This amount has been given to the Delhi government as games preparations are being done under the supervision of the state government. Last year it was given Rs 600 crore. Besides, the Delhi government has been given Rs 1359.27 crore under the plan for various development schemes. Giving the break-up, Mukherjee said that an amount of Rs 1045 crore had been earmarked for Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM) schemes, which includes an amount of Rs 478.52 crore for sub-mission on urban infrastructure and governance. Besides, Rs 274.37 crore for urban infrastructure development for small and medium towns, Rs 199 crore for sub-mission on basic services to the urban poor and Rs 93.12 crore for integrated housing and slum development. Apart from this Rs 199.62 crore has been given for normal assistance, Rs 83.71 crore for assistance for national social assistance programme, Rs 1.77 crore for nutrition programme for adolescent girls, Rs 9 crore for NEGAP, Rs 20.16 crore for rashtriya krishi vikas yojna. While delivering the budget speech, the union finance minister said thate government of Delhi was usually not provided any central assistance for meeting the non plan gap in resources as it had a positive balance of current revenues. It is provided the central assistance for financing the plan scheme. Delhi finance and planning minister A. K. Walia, while reacting to the interim budget proposals, stressed upon the need of immediate approval of various JNNURM schemes related to Delhi.
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Cabinet waives Rs 50 lakh loan of defaulters
New Delhi, February 16 The Cabinet also discussed issue of exemption from property tax to those who had paid 10-year tax in advance in lumpsum and proposal regarding enacting a community participation law, namely “Nagar Raj Bill”. Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit said the department of industries granted loans up to Rs 10,000 per unit to existing registered cottage and small-scale industrial units and up to Rs 5000 for establishing new units under the scheme of block loan in the year 1952. Out of the granted loan of Rs 6,49,45,825 a sum of Rs 5,99,67,253 has been recovered till March 2008 and a balance of Rs 49,78,572 is outstanding from 2686 defaulter loanees. Dikshit stated that the block loan scheme was very old. Meagre amounts of Rs 5000 to Rs 10,000 per loan were given. Further the department has made sincere and earnest efforts for the recovery of the outstanding loan dues and all the avenues for the recovery has been explored and exhausted. The loanees and their surety holders are poor. The government has felt that in case further notices are issued for recovery it will only result into an extra expenditure on a futile exercise. Hence it has been decided to waive Rs 49,78,572. She stated that the city government has reviewed the matter of the anticipated shortfall in receipts and has decided to reiterate economy instructions to rationalise the expenditure. The Cabinet has approved certain guidelines on expenditure management and economy. Proposals for foreign visits, for purchase of vehicles and equipment will be considered strictly on merits. Expenditures on various heads including advertisement would be rationalised. Obsolete and condemned vehicles, equipment and materials may be allowed to dispose. The guidelines would also include simplification and speeding up the transactions through electronic fund transfer. The departments are being instructed to reprioritise their proposals by giving priority to the completion to the ongoing projects and works as well as Commonwealth Games projects. The Cabinet has given its nod to a proposal for study on improvement of water supply in Delhi by the Delhi Jal Board (DJB) through grants-in-aid by Japan International Corporation Agency (JICA). This study will be done in 21 months. The study would include water audit programme, development of supervisory control and data acquisition system in the entire water supply network and preparation of Master Plan of water supply in Delhi. The Cabinet has taken a view to request the MCD to identify those properties where change in use and structure has been effected during last four years and has further stressed upon the need of implementing this proposal by passing a resolution in the MCD. The Cabinet felt that there was need for delegation of control over the MCD by the Home Ministry to Government of Delhi. |
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Nithari: Kin brace up for HC battle
Noida, February 16 “Check out the farmhouses around Delhi. Caretakers and servants of these farmhouses do things without telling their employers. Is my father responsible for what Koli might have done?” asks
Karandeep, clearly distancing his father from the killings. According to him, if checked, similar skeletons might be found in numerous farmhouses in South Delhi
also. Karandeep, 25, wants to hire the “best lawyer in town” to challenge his father’s death sentence in Allahabad High Court. Karandeep reportedly left his graduation in political science from Canada’s Windsor University midway, to stand by his family. “I have to stay in the right frame of mind and body in order to save my innocent father,” said
Karandeep. On the other hand, at victim Halder’s residence in Nithari village, there is both a sense of joy and determination. Her family “ate more and enjoyed the food like never before on Friday night,” said Ripma’s father Anil
Halder, an auto rickshaw driver. “I am now planning as to how to handle the case further. Pandher’s son will challenge the verdict in the high court, but I will arrange money to oppose it,” he said. “Till now I have spent Rs 2.5 lakh on the case and will fight till the death sentence is executed,” Anil added. |
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No end to JNU crisis; huge rush at prospectus counter
New Delhi, February 16 Giving a call for complete university strike, the JNU Students Union (JNUSU) had yesterday given 48 hours to the administration to concede to its demands. “We haven’t been called for any negotiations as yet. This is another example of the vice-chancellor’s high-headed attitude,” said Shephalika, vice-president, JNUSU. JNU observed 100 per cent strike today with even the students of life sciences keeping away from their classes for the first time. The sessional exams of several centres were also postponed. “These are very tense times we are witnessing on the JNU campus. Students are disgruntled and they are participating in the agitation in huge numbers,” said Roshan, secretary, Students Federation of India (SFI). He added, “The administration is not taking note of this widespread unrest. Our struggle is against the notion of limiting higher education to those sections of the society, which can afford it.” The students said they did not want to do anything extreme, but the administration was not leaving them with any other option. “This agitation started almost a month ago. The administration could have spoken to us lots of times in between, but they decided against it,” said Roshan. In the last 24 hours of their deadline, the JNUSU is gearing up to mobilise both students and faculty of the university. Campaigns have pitched up in the hostel messes and rooms. “A huge march would be taken out tomorrow night that would culminate in a sit-in at the administrative block. After that no faculty or administrative staff would be let inside the building. We are thinking of a complete gherao and total stop on the activities of the university,” said Shephalika. Meanwhile, people rushed to the administrative block today to collect the JNU prospectuses as the gherao is expected to put a halt on the university admission process. |
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Teachers warn of fresh stir
New Delhi, February 16 Aditya Narayan Misra, president, FEDCUTA says, “The UGC has become a non-facilitator of higher education. Even if it has no authority to supersede government’s order, the UGC has created a constitutional crisis by going against it. If it is not withdrawn immediately then the entire teaching community will be forced to agitate against their wish.” The MHRD notification based on the union cabinet decision and subsequently reported in Parliament clearly stipulates that all those who have already become reader / lecturer in selection grade by facing a selection committee would be redesignated as associate professor after completion of three years in service. The confusion created by the UGC has caused strong resentment in the university teaching community. FEDCUTA has taken exception to the so-called modalities devised by UGC on assistant professor, associate professor and professor. FEDCUTA has demanded a complete review of this new system before its implementation. Even for movement from one AGP to higher AGP in the PB-3, the UGC’s recommendations of going through screening and evaluation committee is totally against the government rule. FEDCUTA has demanded a complete review of the draft regulation in accordance with the MHRD notification otherwise it has warned of an agitation. Following this decision, DUTA has convened an emergency meeting of its executive committee scheduled for Tuesday on this issue. Teachers had earlier termed the pay commission’s recommendations as highly satisfactory and this had put an end to months of agitation and strike by FEDCUTA and DUTA. However, this move of the UGC has created unrest among the teaching community and put them right back into the agitation mode.
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MCD to engage private agencies for upkeep of toilets
New Delhi, February 16 It has decided to engage private agencies for maintenance of 463 municipal toilets in various parts of Delhi. The agencies will take over the toilet blocks, carry out the necessary repairing work and ensure maintenance, said Subhash Arya, Leader of MCD House. The firms will be compensated by way of revenue from advertisements put up at the blocks. The issue was raised by Leader of Opposition Jai Kishan Sharma. The Standing Committee of the MCD had also recently discussed the problem of non-functional toilet blocks in the city, a large number of which need immediate repair. However, private agencies are being handed over only one-third of the total toilet blocks and the civic body is planning to take help of residents’ associations and other local-level groups for the repair of the rest, said Arya. The councillor’s area development fund can be used for the purpose, he said. Earlier, Sulabh International had been maintaining the MCD toilet blocks but the civic body took them back in May 2006. The MCD has a total of 1,544 community toilet complexes (CTCs) operated by the Department of Environment Management Services (DEMS) free of charge in Delhi. In addition to this, there are another 193 CTCs maintained by
MCD. |
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Girl poisons lover on
V-Day
Ghaziabad, February 16 The accused,
Mamta, has confessed to the crime. She had allegedly invited her lover Kim Gupta, 28, to her house and poisoned him. The body of Kim Gupta was found from her Vaishali residence in Delhi. Her father Surinder Kumar
Garg, an accounts officer in CDA office, said that he along with his wife Manju and son had gone to CSD canteen to buy some eatables. His daughter Mamta was alone at home. When they returned after an hour they found the youth’s body in Mamta’s bedroom and informed the police immediately. Meanwhile, Mamta and her parents have been arrested. As there was no injury mark on Kim’s body, the cause of death could not be immediately ascertained. On Sunday, SSP
(Meerut) Ajay Anand said that Mamta, who was pursuing M.Com from D.N. College, was having an affair with Kim for the past four years. Mamta was infuriated and felt cheated when Kim told her that his marriage had been fixed somewhere else a few days ago. According to
Anand, Mamta called Kim to her house in absence of her parents on Saturday. She asked him to close his eyes and open his mouth, as she him to taste something. She had allegedly said that it was a surprise Valentine’s Day gift for him. As he opened his mouth, she forced some sulfas in. Later she cleaned the bloodstain with the help of her parents when they returned, SSP added. |
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Traffic bikes doubled
New Delhi, February 16 The already existing fleet of 210 motorcycles and 50 multi-tasking PCR vans has been almost doubled. Two hundred more bikes and 50 more PCR vans have been added. Delhi police commissioner Y.S. Dadwal flagged off the fleet today afternoon from the Police Headquarters. These motorcycle-borne traffic policemen will chase and challan any traffic offender who speeds off after committing an offence. Besides, they will also assist during jams and respond to emergencies.
“The motorcycle-borne ‘chase and challan’ team has been lauded since its inception. Now with the addition of another 200 bikes and 50 multi-tasking PCR Vans, its efficiency would further increasae,” said Dadwal after flagging off the new batch. He also sought public cooperation for making travel a pleasant experience on Delhi roads. |
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12 MCD officials arrested for graft
New Delhi, February 16 “We have arrested 12 officials in the last four days in different cases,” said additional commissioner of police Dilip Kumar. “They were arrested for embezzlement of official funds, corruption, bribery and forgery,” said Kumar, who heads the ACB. Junior engineer Jagbir Singh was arrested on charges of allowing illegal constructions on over a dozen properties falling under his jurisdiction at Karol Bagh in Central Delhi. Kumar said more officials were likely to be arrested in the case in coming days. In a separate case registered about five years ago, retired sanitary superintendent Baldev Prasad Sharma and retired chief sanitary inspector Heera Lal Gupta were arrested for introducing fictitious names in the muster rolls to inflate the number of workers and siphon off money from the exchequer.
— IANS |
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Delhi trader shot at, robbed in Ghaziabad
Ghaziabad, February 16 Fakruddin, who was running a contract business in Ghaziabad, was approached by Feroz, a carpenter who had earlier worked for him with a request to be re-employed. Fakruddin agreed and was taking him to the site of the work in Vaishali, when Feroz allegedly took out a pistol and shot at Fakruddin. Local residents rushed to the spot on hearing the shot, but Feroz had fled with Fakruddin’s bag containing Rs 1,75,000 and some documents. The injured Fakruddin was rushed to a local hospital where doctors said his condition was critical as the bullet had hit him in the chest. Superintendent of police (city) Anant Dev said Feroz had an old enmity with Fakruddin and, under the pretext of requesting him for work, came in contact and shot him after finding an opportunity.
— IANS |
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Senior citizen murdered
New Delhi, February 16 Aarjoo’s body was found by a milkman near a hand pump outside her Karadampuri house in the morning. Her body bore blunt injury marks around the neck. However, the killers left the jewellery on her body untouched. “According to people in the vicinity, the victim used to fetch water every day from the hand pump. She lived alone. We have registered a case of murder and are probing the angle of personal enmity,” said a policeman.
— IANS |
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Man dies in fire
New Delhi, February 16 The fire officials received a call around 2:52 a.m. that a three-storey building in the street opposite to Central Bank had caught fire. Four tenders were rushed to the spot.
— TNS |
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