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Rs 1,000 cr for Games 2010
Union Budget
Mixed response from Delhiites
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HJC (BL) faction to contest all assembly seats
Monsoon’s dry spell continues in Delhi
MCD agrees to take back sacked library staff
Weekend MBA course for NCR professionals
AIIMS top gainer
Pranab allocates Rs 500 m to IGNOU
Govt says private schools too should give paternity leave
12-year-old crushed to death, residents ransack police post
Road accidents claim 3 lives
Wife, lover held for killing
husband
Couple who abducted child gets bail
Rs 39 lakh looted from wine shop workers
Man convicted of harassing colleague
CM mourns death of SC lawyer
Rs 8.43 b more for police
TV scribe found dead
Creditor kills debtor
Realtor shot dead in Noida
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Rs 1,000 cr for Games 2010
New Delhi, July 6 While in the previous Budget, the Delhi government had allocated Rs 400 crore for the CWG, this time it is Rs 1000 crore that is 150 per cent more than previous year. Delhi Chief Minister, Sheila Dikshit described it as a development-oriented and pro-poor Budget which will take the country forward. It reflects the commitment of the union government to fulfil promises made to the ‘aam aadmi’, she said. It would result in an inclusive growth. An adequate provision has been made for housing and road sectors. The Chief Minister expressed her pleasure over an increase in the Central Plan Assistance. She added that a substantial increase has been made for JNNURM and other sectors directly related to welfare of the people. She further expressed confidence that the union government would provide an additional amount for Delhi whenever required. The Delhi finance minister, Dr A. K. Walia, expressed gratitude to the Pranab Mukherjee for the hike in Central Plan Assistance (CPA) in 2009-10 general Budget of the union government. He also welcomed hike in allocation under special grant for Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM). The CPA which was Rs 841.56 crore (actual) in 2008-09 has been increased to Rs 2495.68 crore in 2009-10 budget, which amounts to an increase of 197 per cent that is Rs 1654.12 crore. There has been an increase of Rs 76.99 crore over provision of Rs.2418.69 crore announced in interim budget for the year 2009-10. Special grant for the JNNURM has been enhanced by Rs 975.91 crore. The figure for 2008-09 was Rs 153.91 crore, which has been increased to Rs 1129.82 crore. The increase comes to be 634 per cent over last year. There has been an increase of Rs 676.27 crore (403 per cent) under urban infrastructure and governance and Rs 299.64 crore (1852 per cent) under basic services to the urban poor. The provision for Old Age Pension has been increased from Rs 53.27 crore to Rs 83.71 crore. Dr Walia further stated that the city government would stress upon the need of another Rs 1000 crore in the head of CWG. He expressed confidence that union government would favourably consider this reasonable requirement of Delhi government keeping in view the importance of ensuing games. |
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Finance minister Pranab Mukherjee today increased the annual budgetary outlay for the national capital by over 200 per cent to about Rs 2,500 crore (Rs 25 billion). The city will get more funds for housing, infrastructure and basic services for the urban poor, a move Chief Minister Shiela Dikshit welcomed. The total allocation for Delhi stands at Rs 2,495.68 crore for this fiscal budget, a whopping 207 per cent higher from the last Rs 812.80 crore. The national capital territory got a greater grant for investing in infrastructure and improving services to the urban poor. The grant for the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM), one of the flagship programmes of the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government, has been enhanced by Rs 975.91 crore to Rs 1,129.82 crore for this fiscal as compared to Rs 153.91 crore in 2008-09.
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Union Budget
Gurgaon, July 6 Minda appreciated the union government’s initiative of hiking the infrastructure investment to over 9 per cent of the GDP by 2014. He further said increase in allocation in Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM) scheme by 87 per cent was an appreciable step towards developing basic infrastructural facilities in the country. Minda also welcomed the initiative of allocating Rs 2,000 crore for rural housing fund under National Housing Bank. In view of the slowdown in the economy, he appreciated that the government had decided to increase public expenditure dedicated to strengthening the infrastructure by focusing on construction activities that would create additional job opportunities. CII also welcomed the elimination of the fringe benefit tax (FBT) and commodity transaction tax. However, increase in minimum allocation tax (MAT) received mixed reactions from the industry. L. K. Jain, vice-chairman, CII Haryana State Council, said introduction of goods and services tax (GST) is a long awaited commitment which would address the issue of multiplicity of taxes. He also appreciated the government’s support in promoting businesses by maintaining the earlier lower rates of excise and service tax. Meanwhile, the Gurgaon chamber said the budget was on expected lines, reflecting the government’s commitment of satisfying the aspirations of the common man even while striving to revive growth in the economy and address the problem of fiscal deficit. “On the positive side, the budget has provided a bold agriculture and rural thrust. There is a jump in expenditure in agriculture, which is critical for improving farm productivity and rev up purchasing power of the rural populace. Similarly, a step up in investment in both physical and social infrastructure would go a long way to stimulate demand in the economy. A fillip to Bharat Nirman would address the problem of rural infrastructure. We welcome the announcement of full interest subsidy against loans of higher education and over Rs 2,000 crore for IIT and NIT,” it said. |
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Mixed response from Delhiites
New Delhi, July 6 Housewives are not particularly happy with the budgetary recommendations as the government has reportedly done nothing to control the inflation. “It is very difficult to manage kitchen on the current salaries of government and other employees,” said Talha Malik. She added, “The prices of LCD TV and cooker have been reduced but this hardly helps. Moreover, reducing the cost of LCD TV is useless as it is out of the budget of a common man. The government has not taken any step to curb the rising prices of pulses, rice and vegetables. There is no relief to the housewives.” On the other hand, Arun Kanodia, engineer in HCL, said, “I believe the recommendations will help in flourishing the IT industry as no new taxes have been levied.” K. K. Kapila, president, Indian Buildings Congress (IBC) also spoke well of the budget. “The finance minister has done well by giving greater flexibility to India Infrastructure Finance Company (IIFCL), which will take care of asset, liability and free up capital to finance new projects and increase incremental lending to infra sector. As per the Budget, the IIFCL will finance 50 per cent of projects, involving a total investment of Rs 1 trillion. Public investment in infra will get a big boost.” There is also an undercurrent of dissatisfaction towards the recommendations. V.M.Trehan, chairman, Mekaster Group, said, “The budget is not up to the mark. We were expecting much more. I think the Budget should have focused more on mechanization of construction as it would help in speeding up infrastructure projects and save heavy costs of delayed projects.” Alumni of Indian Institute of Technologies (IITs) have welcomed additional allocation in the Budget to the tune of Rs 2,000 crore for the department of higher education and technical education for expansion of IITs and NITs. “The government proposes to set up eight new IITs. The allocation of additional funds will help in improving basic infrastructure in new and existing IITs as well as attracting good faculty,” said Y. P Suri, founder member, IIT Alumni Foundation. Ritesh Dewan, a student doing mass communication from Delhi University, said, “There is nothing for the general public in the budget. It is totally pro-politician. Earlier, income tax was exempted for the income of Rs 1.50 lakh per annum. Now the annual income for exemption of income tax has increased up to Rs 1.60 lakh. Increasing Rs 10,000 for exemption from the tax will not give relief to salaried people.” The student added, “The finance minister has done nothing on the issue of fee hike. People are tired of making protests in this regard. I think the government has not touched the basic issues related to the common man.” |
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HJC (BL) faction to contest all assembly seats
Faridabad, July 6 Hooda, who was here to canvass support for the proposed meeting of workers of HJC (BL) at Jind on July 12, said that his party will contest the election under the leadership of former home minister of Haryana and interim president of the HJC (BL). The party will project Batra as the next Chief Minister of Haryana. He said that the expulsion of Kuldip Bishnoi from the party and ratification of Batra as the new president of the party would be the main agenda of the workers’ meeting at Jind. He said that Batra was getting good response from all sections of society. According to him, Batra was the most senior non-Jat leader and highly respected figure, especially among the Punjabis. If Bhajan Lal, whose Bishnoi community comprising only half per cent of the state’s population, could thrice become Chief Minister of Haryana, Batra, whose Punjabi community comprises more than 33 per cent of the total population of the state, could also become the Chief Minister, he added. He said that he and Batra were illegally expelled from the party by Kuldip Bishnoi as they had opposed undemocratic practices in the party. They also opposed Bishnoi and Bhajan Lal’s “hobnobbing” with the Congress. When pointed out that Bishnoi’ charge was that Batra was close to Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda, he shot back saying that it was the case of the “pot calling the kettle black”. He challenged Bishnoi to deny whether Bhajan Lal had not tried to get into the Congress. They are also close to senior Congress leaders like Moti Lal Vohra, Mohsina Kidwai, R.K.Dhawan and Salman Khursheed. It was the Congress president, Sonia Gandhi, who shot down the move for their re-entry into the party, he added. Hooda alleged that Bhajan Lal always tried to identify himself with the non-Jats, but always stifled their political growth. Hooda’s statements against Bhajan Lal and his son Kuldip Bishnoi assume significance as he had been the family’s trusted man for the past about 30 years. Besides, both Hooda and Batra are from Rohtak, the home district of Chief Minister, Bhupinder Singh Hooda. |
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Monsoon’s dry spell continues in Delhi
New Delhi, July 6 According to the Indian Meteorological Department, the maximum for the day was a northward departure of five degrees Celsius, which was primarily due to the sizzling hot waves blowing from the deserts of Rajasthan. With the skies of the Capital remaining deprived of clouds, the prevailing hot-humid conditions kept Delhiites uneasy. The weather officials say that the increasing moisture levels suggest that the monsoon showers would hit the Capital back after a few days. However, the forecast of the Met department hardly gives relief to the aggrieved vegetable and fruit vendors, who are just praying for a good spell of rain. For with this, the prices of fruit and vegetables at the two wholesale markets in the Capital would take a dip. Jamshed, a juice vendor at ITO, said, “The spiralling prices of fruit at the wholesale markets have really made things difficult. The price of pineapple is Rs 17 per kg, but it would come down by Rs 4 to 5 with a couple of showers.” Hopefully, the poor sellers would get some respite in another two days, for the Met department’s forecast says that Wednesday might spell out some monsoon time for Delhiites. Meanwhile, the weather is likely to remain the same tomorrow and the high and low temperature has been predicted to hover around 41 and 27 degree Celsius respectively. |
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MCD agrees to take back sacked library staff
New Delhi, July 6 On June 25, the civic body struck off 799 library employees from its rolls following the recommendation of an inquiry commission looking into alleged irregularities in their appointments. Soon after their termination, around 400 protesters barged into Town Hall here, damaged the Mayor’s car and smashed windowpanes of the heritage structure by throwing flower pots and stones. Counsel Venu Gopal said before Justice Siddharth Mridul that the MCD would withdraw the decision to terminate the employees and would make a copy of the inquiry report available to all of them. The court was hearing a plea filed by 111 sacked employees seeking quashing of their termination and payment of outstanding salary since April 2007 with interest. After the MCD’s stand, the court disposed off the petition saying, “Nothing further needs to be decided and the petition has become infructuous.” However, the court granted liberty to the MCD to further pass an order on the inquiry report in accordance with law. The employees were sacked after G.P. Thareja committee said that appointments made were “illegal and void.” According to Thareja’s report, the posts for 799 employees were not there but had been created afresh. It also noted that there was no budgetary provision to finance their salaries. The report also said there was no proper scrutiny of applications before selecting the candidates for the job.
— IANS |
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Weekend MBA course for NCR professionals
Gurgaon, July 6 MDU has issued the admission notice for Master of Business Administration (MBA) - Executive (weekend programme) to be conducted at the Gurgaon campus of the university. A university spokesperson said the admission to this course would be made on the basis of academic merit. Admission brochures and application forms course will be available at the publications cell of MDU and at the Institute of Law and Management Studies, Sector- 40, Gurgaon, on payment of requisite fees. Application forms can also be downloaded from the university website www.mdurohtak.com. The last date for the submission of application forms is July 28. Application forms have to be submitted at the Institute of Law and Management Studies, Sector 40, Gurgaon. |
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AIIMS top gainer
New Delhi, July 6 India’s health budget has gone up by nearly Rs 4,000 crore to Rs 21,113.33 crore with finance minister Pranab Mukherjee giving special emphasis to rural healthcare. Of the total health budget, AIIMS got a major chunk as it was allocated Rs 677 crore, up from last fiscal’s Rs 573.42 crore. The Delhi-based institute is among the top 10 medical colleges in the world, and caters mostly to the underprivileged people that flock to it from all over the country. It has over 2,200 beds. The Newsweek magazine described it as an “oasis of the poor”. Among the seven medical institutes receiving budgetary funds, the Safdarjung Hospital, in the heart of Delhi, was allocated Rs 226 crore in 2009-10 as against Rs 238.37 crore in the last fiscal. The Vardhaman Mahaveer Medical college, which shares its campus with the Safdarjung Hospital, too has received 25 per cent less budgetary allocation than the last financial year. It has been allocated Rs15 crore in 2009-10 as against Rs 20 crore in the previous fiscal. The Post Graduate Institute of Medical Education and Research (PGIMER) of Chandigarh has been allotted Rs 385 crore as against Rs 268.04 crore in the last fiscal. Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital will get Rs193.3 crore as compared to Rs 164.61 crore in the last fiscal. The Lady Hardinge College has been allocated Rs 155 crore as against Rs.121.87 crore in the previous year. The Kalawati Saran hospital, which caters specifically to children, has got Rs 40 crore in budget funds as against Rs 41.27 crore last year.
— IANS |
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Pranab allocates Rs 500 m to IGNOU
New Delhi, July 6 The Union Budget 2009-10 proposals said that IGNOU, which has been in the forefront of distance education, has been provided an allocation of Rs 900 million that also includes Rs 400 million for grants to state open universities. The allocated fund of Rs 500 million will be used “for implementation of various approved schemes in IGNOU itself”. IGNOU is the world’s largest open university, with over 300 courses catering to more than two million students in India and abroad through distance education. Last week, the varsity started 100 community colleges to bring a “learning revolution” among under-privileged students across the country.
— IANS |
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Govt says private schools too should give paternity leave
New Delhi, July 6 The court was hearing a petition by Chandramohan Jain, who had opposed his salary cut by Bagrodia Public School when he was on paternity leave as his wife had given birth through a Caesarean operation in December 2008. After the delivery, both the mother and the child remained hospitalised for some days. The school deducted his salary on the ground that it had no provision for paternity leave. In his petition, Jain said that every unaided school in the Capital was bound to provide paternity leave for a fortnight within 60 days before or after delivery under the Delhi Education Act and Rules. The act says unaided public schools shall give salary, allowances, leave and other benefits equivalent to their counterparts in government schools. Justice Sunil Gaur after hearing out the Delhi government issued fresh notice to the school and asked it to appear before September 1. The central government had in 1999 notified that all its employees would get paternity leave for a fortnight. Following this, the Delhi government also notified that its employees will also be entitled for the same. — IANS |
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12-year-old crushed to death, residents ransack police post
Ghaziabad, July 6 The accident took place around 2 p.m. near Tila Mor police post in the Sahibabad area of Ghaziabad. “Checking was being carried out at a police post, when a tractor trolley suddenly took off in a bid to escape the check. The tractor trolley ran over a 12-year-old boy, who was returning from school. The boy died on the spot. The driver managed to get away,” superintendent of police (city) Rahul Yadvendu said. The victim was identified as Shakeel, a resident of the Faruque Nagar area of Ghaziabad. Locals alleged that the police had helped the tractor driver in getting away. They blocked the Loni-Ghaziabad road, barged into the police post, damaged police motorcycles, office furniture and a police Gypsy patrol car. They also held a sit-in at the spot for more than three hours. The crowd dispersed only after an assurance from senior police officials that action would be taken against the erring policemen. “Apart from the concerned policemen, action will also be taken against the rioters,” Yadvendu said.
— IANS |
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Road accidents claim 3 lives
Noida, July 6 In Noida, a biker was crushed to death and his brother seriously injured by a truck near Hoshiarpur village. The truck had hit their bike from behind. The truck driver was caught by some people who handed him over to the Sector 49 police station after thrashing him. The deceased was identified as Jaswant of Khora colony. Jaswant and his brother Surinder were going to Sector-37. On G.T. Road in Dadri, a tanker running at high speed knocked down a biker, Bhajan Lal of Hapur. Lal died on the spot. Tanker driver managed to flee the spot with his vehicle. In Vijay Nagar, Ghaziabad, a couple on a Moped was hit by a tractor. The woman was killed on the spot while her husband was seriously injured. The husband has been identified as Ram Mehar Sharma. A resident of Shivpuri, Sharma and his wife were returning to his house in Ghoshala. The driver of the tractor Chhotu has been arrested. |
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Wife, lover held for killing
husband
Ghaziabad, July 6 Rajpal Singh Patwari of Ram Shyam Enclave here was murdered on June 23. The arrested persons have been identified as Jyoti, Vijay Kumar and Rambir. Patwari’s second wife Jyoti had allegedly planned the murder with the help of her lover Vijay Kumar. Vijay hired some contract killers for Rs 50,000. Rambir has confessed to the crime. However, the police has not yet caught hold of the main accused — Sanjay, an MBA student. Patwari’s body was found in the safety tank of Ram Shyam Enclave. He had been shot in the stomach. SP (city) Rahul Yaduvendra said the accused were nabbed with the help of electronic surveillance. The police suspected Jyoti’s involvement in Patwari’s murder and arrested her. She admitted her involvement in her husband’s murder. She said she was in a relationship with Vijay before her marriage. Even after marriage, they continued to meet at her in-laws’ place. Her husband objected to this. Jyoti said she along with Vijay decided to eliminate Patwari. SP (city) said Vijay hired contract killers to murder Patwari after being convinced by Jyoti. The killers had called Patwari to Ram Shyam Enclave on the pretext of showing him a plot. Vijay was also with them. All three then murdered Patwari. Rambir and Vijay were arrested from Vijay Nagar, SP (city) said. But the main accused Sanjay is still at large. The police has recovered the revolver used in the crime and large number of live cartridges. The SSP has recommended an award of Rs 2,500 for the police team that which solved the murder case. |
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Couple who abducted child gets bail
New Delhi, July 6 Additional sessions judge S.P. Garg allowed the bail plea of accused Rekha and Jugal Kishore on personal bonds of Rs 10,000 each. She (the victim) was not recovered from the custody of any of the accused. No harm whatsoever was caused to the child by the accused after her alleged kidnapping, the court said, adding that the penal provision relating to kidnapping was not prima facie applicable against them. Earlier, a magisterial court had dismissed their bail application saying the probe in the case was in an initial stage and their plea was devoid of any merit. The couple, who hail from Raghubir Nagar here, were arrested for allegedly kidnapping Yashasvi, alias Gungun, from the lawns of India Gate on June 18 evening when she had gone for an outing with her parents. They were remanded in judicial custody till July 8. The girl’s father Vijay Kumar found the child at a temple 40 hours after the incident. Police suspect the couple let the child free as they got frightened by the media attention in the
case. — IANS |
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Rs 39 lakh looted from wine shop workers
Gurgaon, July 6 According to the police, Jaswant, Ajay, Gaurav and Jai Narayan were going to a bank in a car to deposit cash when four persons in a Fiesta car stopped them midway and asked about the money. When they opposed, the robbers shot at Jaswant’s hand and injured Ajay’s foot with a knife. All the four victims work at Ramesh Khurana’s wine shop in Sector 17. |
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Man convicted of harassing colleague
Noida, July 6 The court has sentenced the man to four years’ rigorous imprisonment and has slapped a fine of Rs 10,000 on him. He will have to serve additional imprisonment in case of non- payment of the fine. According to the prosecution, the victim Anita, employed in Hotline Switch Gear company was being harassed by her colleague Nitin. This allegedly made her take the extreme step. Anita had gulped poison on May 11, 2006, on the company premises. She later died at the Kailash Hospital. |
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CM mourns death of SC lawyer
Gurgaon, July 6 Choudhary, 59, who was an advocate at the Supreme Court, died due to cardiac arrest and is survived by his wife Kamlesh, three daughters and a son. Choudhary’s younger brother Surender Tonk retired as a Brigadier from the Army; second younger brother Dr Rajender is head of the department of VIP clinic at Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital, Delhi; and the youngest brother Bijender is a civil engineer in the USA. Gurgaon MLA Dharamvir Gauba, local improvement trust chairman Rao Shiv Narayan and president of district Congress committee (urban) Madan Lal Grover also condoled Choudhary’s death. |
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Rs 8.43 b more for police
New Delhi, July 6 A total of Rs 400 million has been earmarked for developing traffic and communication network in the NCR. However, the money for upgradation and modernisation of the Delhi police remained the same at Rs 1.22 billion. Police sources said most of the additional money would go towards paying salaries of policemen and the rest would be utilised in preparations for the 2010 Games and purchase of other logistics. — IANS |
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TV scribe found dead
New Delhi, July 6 The body of Durgesh Shrivastava, who worked with Sahara Samay, was found near a canal in the New Ashok Nagar area. His bike was found mangled near his body. “Prima facie it seems that Durgesh died after he met with an accident. It seems he had hit a divider and sustained severe head injuries,” a police officer said. Durgesh’s parents, however, alleged a foul play into the incident and told the police he was kidnapped and killed.
— IANS |
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Creditor kills debtor
Faridabad, July 6 The victim, Rinku, a resident of Dabua colony here, had reportedly borrowed Rs 60,000 from accused Bura to start a shop. The shop was not doing well and so Rinku could not pay the interest regularly. Yesterday night, Bura allegedly called Rinku to his own shop. The two had heated exchange of words over the non-payment of interest. Thereafter, Bura and his friends allegedly beat Rinku. Later, Bura fired at Rinku’s temple portion from a close range. Rinku died on the spot. The police has registered a case, but the accused are absconding. A manhunt has been launched to arrest them. |
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Realtor shot dead in Noida
Noida, July 5 Anshu Tiwari, who operated his real estate business from Barola locality under the Sector 49 police station, had gone with his associate Manoj to Greater Noida, the police said. “Anshu Tiwari was found with bullet injuries in an abandoned car outside the Kailash Hospital here. He was declared dead by the doctors,” superintendent of police A.K. Tiwari said.
— IANS |
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