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Protest over oil price hike
New property owner has to clear power arrears: HC
DU biased against SCs, says yuva sangathan
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Theatre tax hike on cards
‘Proud to be Indian and gay’, virtual world celebrates
Sex workers oppose ruling on gays
Humidity makes Delhiites sweat
IM suspects declared POs
BSES to appeal against withdrawal
of CISF cover
Wall collapse
Online registration of voters soon
Stamp papers, cash looted from vendor in Dadri
Noida to pay Rs 22 cr to Metro
3 killed in mishaps
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Protest over oil price hike
New Delhi, July 3 Condemning the hike, they said it was a disregard to democratic laws. The budget session would start a day after and the issue was kept away from discussion. Demanding immediate withdrawal of the hike, the protestors said it would add to the woes of people who were already reeling under the burden of high prices of essential commodities. In fact, the Congress-led central government’s declaration of doing away with the oil subsidy and deregulating oil price just after it made a comeback underlines the government’s anti-people intention. It hints that the government is planning to privatise essential industries. They said though 40 per cent crude oil was produced domestically, people were forced to pay higher prices to Reliance and ONGC. Urging people to join the protest against hike in prices of petroleum products, they said a collective effort could only make the government roll back the price rise. Later, they submitted a memorandum to the Prime Minister on the matter.
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New property owner has to clear power arrears: HC
New Delhi, July 3 A bench headed by Chief Justice Ajit Prakash Shah said, “If there are electricity dues against the premises’ previous owner who transfers it to a new owner, the new owner applying for a fresh electricity connection can be compelled by the distribution company to pay the arrears...and the distribution company can refuse to supply electricity to the premises on account of such non-payment.” “Electricity is a public property and hence the law protects public property and wants everyone to respect public property,” the bench noted. The court also slapped a fine of Rs 25,000 on Saurashtra Color Tones Private Ltd, which was opposing the plea filed by BSES Rajdhani Power Ltd. The case deals with one Dev Arora, who was the original allottee of an industrial shed in Nangloi in northwest Delhi and was using more electricity than sanctioned. The supply was disconnected and the property transferred to the other company which asked for power supply to be resumed. On this, the BSES stated that the new owner has to clear the arrears on the previous connection. Saurashtra Color Tones Pvt Ltd then approached the court and the court ruled in their favour in 2005, stating the BSES has no power to claim arrears from the new owner of the property. After this, BSES filed an appeal in the court. The court while giving relief to the BSES said, “Whenever a person purchases a property, it is his duty to find out whether there are outstanding electricity dues in relation to the premises or not, and he cannot be allowed to say later that he was unaware of the fact that there were electricity dues of the previous owner.”
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DU biased against SCs, says yuva sangathan
New Delhi, July 3 The students complained to chairperson Buta Singh about “arbitrary, irregular and autocratic functioning of DU regarding the SC-ST admissions in graduate courses.” With the second admission list of SC-ST students coming out tomorrow, the students alleged that a huge number of SC students were facing blatant discrimination at the hands of the university authorities. “The SC-ST students have to show class XII marksheet and caste certificate to avail the registration form. However, there is no such compulsion for the general category students,” said Alok Kumar, convener, KYS. The representatives also alleged that the university prospectus mentioned that if sufficient number of SC-ST candidates were not forthcoming, the seats reserved for the category would be filled by other candidates, which was gross violation of UGC guidelines. The memorandum consisted of ten points that highlighted the “irregularities” in the admission process. The KYS said the chairperson took cognisance of the issue and asked the university to submit their report on it. |
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Theatre tax hike on cards
New Delhi, July 3 According to sources in the MCD, theatre tax is levied by the local body on cinema halls in the city. It would be increased from Rs 10 to Rs 1,000 per show. “We will make some amendments in the proposal that was sent to the Delhi government over five years ago. We are thinking of increasing theatre tax from Rs 10 to a maximum of Rs 1,000 per show,” the Mayor said. However, it does not mean that the tax would be increased to Rs 1,000 per show. The MCD has been levying a nominal tax of Rs 10 on cinema halls since 1957. Cinema halls were divided into two categories — cinema halls in category A had to pay a tax of Rs 10 per show, while cinema halls falling in category B had to pay Rs 7 per show. The categories have been done away with in the proposal. Theatre tax are also be imposed on theatre , circus and concerts. While cinema halls are charged per show, these entertainment activities are charged on a daily basis. |
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‘Proud to be Indian and gay’, virtual world celebrates
New Delhi, July 3 Apart from blogs of gay rights activists, several members of social networking sites like Facebook and Orkut are celebrating the decision as a triumph of Indian democracy. In his blog ‘Rainbow Rays’, Nipul Goyal, a writer and gay rights activist from Bhopal, wrote: “I am proud to be both Indian and gay. The high court judgment has made one thing clear that India was founded and continues to be based on the values of freedom and equality. With this ruling, India has become the largest democracy in the world to decriminalise homosexuality.” “Today is the biggest turning point in the Indian gay liberation movement. Religious groups like the Muslim Personal Law Board have threatened to move the Supreme Court. But this time we are more confident and united. We shall continue our struggle... it is a new beginning!” said Goyal, founder of various gay rights communities on Orkut. Another blogger Abhishek Saha said: “I cannot express how thrilled I am with the decision. The high court has given millions of Indians the right to be the way they are without facing harassment.” “At last we are being noticed. Congratulations everyone,” wrote Mumbaikar Atul, on a discussion forum for the Indian Gay Liberation Movement, an Orkut community. Meanwhile, blogger Parthapk called the ruling “a bold decision”. Netizen “RTM” from the capital and member of ‘Happy to be Gay’ community on Orkut said: “...I always had a faith in the constitution and the judiciary. Our rights have finally been recognised. I hope the government (considers) the HC’s recommendation to implement reforms...” As news of the decision came in on Thursday, messages of support and celebrations flooded the discussion boards of the site’s communities - even those outside India expressed their support. Rishi Agarwal from Toronto wrote: “Congrats to India and (thanks to) the Delhi High Court... Delhi zindabad!” Joseph Antony from New York, a member of the Make Homosexuality Legal in India group on social networking site Facebook wrote: “A very big social change for a conservative, developing country. My heartfelt gratitude and congratulations to all the activists, bloggers, and national and international organisations that generated enough will to make this happen. — IANS
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Sex workers oppose ruling on gays
New Delhi, July 3 The Bharatiya Patita Uddhar Sabha (BPUS), an organisation active in 10 states, said, “We oppose the move. If the law ministry does not take care of our view, we will be forced to appeal to the the Supreme Court.” BPUS chief Khairati Lal Bhola said, “In our country, millions of women are earning their livelihood through flesh trade and have been demanding legal sanction for the trade for years. Now, people practising unnatural sex have been decriminalised.” “Why is the government so apathetic towards sex workers?” questioned Bhola. India has nearly 2.5 million prostitutes operating out of nearly 3,00,000 brothels in 1,100 red light areas across the country. The Delhi High Court on Thursday ruled that gay sex among consenting adults was no crime. In a packed courtroom Chief Justice Ajit Prakash Shah and Justice S. Muralidhar read down Section-377 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), saying it violated Article-21 of the constitution which promises equality for all citizens before law. — IANS
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Humidity makes Delhiites sweat
New Delhi, July 3 The weather condition was, however, declared normal by the Safdarjung Meterological Department. According to weather officials, the coming days are likely to remain more or less same, and the showers are dependent upon the nature of disturbance along with the speed and direction of the movement of the winds above the sea level. Meanwhile, fruit and vegetable sellers and juice-vendors across city markets prayed for an immediate downpour that would bring down the spiralling prices of fruits at the wholesale markets. “I pray that one or two heavy rains hit the city so that the prices of fruits go down, ” said Rehman, a fruit vendor at ITO. Meanwhile, tomorrow the city sky will be partly covered with clouds, which may result in one or two spells of rain, said the weathermen. The maximum and minimum temperatures are expected to settle at 37 and 26 degrees Celsius, respectively, they added. |
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IM suspects declared POs
New Delhi, July 3 “The accused Ariz Khan and Shahjad Ahmed are hereby declared as proclaimed offenders,” additional chief metropolitan magistrate Navin Arora said. Ariz and Shahjad, both from Azamgarh in Uttar Pradesh, engaged in a gunbattle with policemen on September 19 last year at Batla House in the Jamia Nagar locality. They later gave police a slip. Police inspector Mohan Chand Sharma was killed in the gunbattle as was Atif Ameen, the prime accused in the September 13 serial blasts, and co-accused Sajid. Mohd Saif was the sole Indian Mujahideen suspect to be caught alive, the police said. The police has so far failed to nab the two, who carry rewards of Rs 1,00,000. |
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BSES to appeal against withdrawal
of CISF cover
New Delhi, July 3 “The order in fact tantamount to violation of a 2004 Supreme Court directive, which orders state and central governments to provide necessary police protection to officials of the NDPL and the BSES as may be required by them in their anti-power theft drives,” said a BSES spokesperson. The CISF cover was provided to Delhi Discoms in 2006-07 for five years after incidents of attacks on enforcement teams were reported. As per the order, the state and the central governments were duty bound to provide necessary police protection to officials of the NDPL and the BSES in their anti-theft drives and measures for detection of offences, carrying out raids. “The BSES will appeal against the order. It is a huge setback to the success of public-private-partnership (PPP) in Delhi’s power sector,” he said. “Earlier, we were told that the CISF cover was being withdrawn on a temporary basis till the elections were over. The decision has shocked us. This will affect our drive against power theft. It may undo all good work done by the BSES on tracking power theft in the last two to three years. We may not be able carry out raids in many power theft areas,” the spokesperson added. The Delhi Discoms started getting the CISF services from June 2006. BSES Yamuna Power Limited (BYPL) became the first Discom in the country to get the service in August 2006. BRPL and NDPL followed suit in May 2007. |
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Online registration of voters soon
Gurgaon, July 3 Singh said during his earlier visits, the deputy commissioners of Gurgaon and Faridabad had demanded an online registration of voters. The form would bear digital signatures of the electoral registration officer (ERO). The applicant would be able to check the status of his application on the internet and the information about rejection or acceptance of his application on line would also be available. He said that even after the introduction of online system, it will take about 15 days for registration because certain facts are to be verified before registering any person as voter. The CEO asked the officials to keep the names of voters belonging to a family in one polling station. Referring to the complaints received during the parliamentary elections from Gurgaon, he said that a special campaign should be started to make the voters’ lists of Badshahpur and Gurgaon assembly segments error-free. During this campaign, a house-to-house survey is a must and the senior officials of the administration should check the survey randomly. Singh affirmed that the name of any voter should be deleted only after verification by a senior officer and added that the district administration should persuade the political leaders here to appoint booth-level agents (BLA) for assisting the booth-level officers (BLO). In the urban areas, the volunteers nominated by resident welfare associations (RWAs) should be associated with the BLA and BLO. He said that for registration as voter, one has to fill up the form and the RWAs have been given authority by the commission that they can submit the registration forms in bulk. Regarding the registration of persons coming from Bihar, UP and other states in Gurgaon, the CEO said that the ERO concerned should ask the applicant to prove that he is Indian citizen ordinarily residing in Gurgaon. Answering a query about the wrong addresses, Singh replied that the applicant could be asked to attach a self-addressed envelope along with the application and the voter I-card. Meanwhile, the district election officer-cum-deputy commissioner Rajender Kataria has appointed ADC Parveen Kumar as nodal officer for Gurgaon assembly segment.
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Stamp papers, cash looted from vendor in Dadri
Greater Noida, July 3 Four criminals had come on two Pulser motorbikes and snatched the briefcase containing money and stamp papers. The failure of the police to reach the spot on time enraged the tehsil advocates, who gheraod Dadri SDM Somya Srivastav in his office and later created a ruckus at the city police station. Furious protestors also jammed the G.T. Road in Dadri. According to the police, Ashok Sharma, a resident of Jarcha Road, is a stamp vendor at Dadri tehsil. He was returning home around 5 pm after closing his chamber. Near the tehsil gate, four criminals on two bike put a pistol on his earpit and snatched his briefcase containing Rs 65,000 and stamp papers worth Rs 4 lakh. When some people tried to nab the bike-borne criminals, the bandits sped away towards Ghaziabad firing shots from their guns. Meanwhile, the police did not reach the scene of the loot even after half-an-hour. This annoyed the advocates and others. Neeraj Sharma, an advocate said he had promptly informed the police about the loot, but still the police took so long to come. The irate advocates then gheraoed the Dadri SDM. It was only after the SDM telephoned the police that it finally woke up from its inertia.
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Noida to pay Rs 22 cr to Metro
Noida, July 3 The rate of plots allotted by Noida Authority during financial year 2009-10 will be maintained as such during 2008-09. According to Noida’s chief executive officer, Mohinder Singh, the board decided that in view of economic recession, allottees of institutional plots will be permitted to keep a second or third tenant by paying a cess on total area of the building. For example, if annual area tax is currently Rs 100 per sq mt, the allottee will be allowed to keep a second tenant by paying 10 per cent, i. e. Rs 10 per sq mt tax and for the third and fourth tenant, the tax component will be Rs 2 per cent. This tax payment has been approved up to December 31, 2009. The Authority Board had allowed car parks to be built under public parks with an area of 5000 sq meters. Now the board has decided to allow car parks to be built under public parks with smaller area also. This has been done in view of the scarcity of parking facilities in the town as well as keeping in view the the requirements of traffic in Noida. The CEO informed that co-oporative societies which have been allotted plots for group housing have now been allowed by Noida Board not to pay tax for delay during the current financial year up to March 31, 2010. This has been done keeping in view the hardships caused to allottees by economic recession.
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3 killed in mishaps
Noida, July 3 Her husband Neel Rattan Sinha and family members Shashankand and Sharad Sinha sustained injuries. The family was returning to Gurgaon after attending a marriage in Noida. In the second accident that took place in Sector-37, Amarjit Singh was knocked down by an unidentified vehicle while crossing the road. He was rushed to a district hospital where he succumbed to his injuries. While the third accident took place late last night near Sector-14. A mini truck knocked down a biker. The biker, identified as Nitin Gaur of Mandavli in New Delhi, was taken to a district hospital where succumbed to his injuries. He was employed in an ice factory in Noida. His brother Deepak Gaur has filed a complaint against the truck driver in police kotwali Sector-20. |
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