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MCD Budget
Blueline phase out begins today
Now, you may pay more for power also
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Session begins on a stormy note
MPs fail to make their mark in ‘ecotarian’ test
Accident compensation only to
genuine heirs, says court
MCD allocates Rs 1,005 cr for Games
Imported sugar exempted from VAT
Con couple face the music
Cash, jewellery worth Rs 15 lakh seized, 4 arrested
Dowry death
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Property tax hike mooted
Tribune News Service
New Delhi, December 9 The budget was announced at a special meeting of the Municipal Corporation of Delhi’s standing committee. The MCD has proposed five per cent hike in property tax in all categories and imposition of 20 per cent commercial tax on rented non-residential property and high-end non-residential property like hotels, malls, air-conditioned gymnasiums and clubs having swimming pools. The corporation has also proposed a new tax, ‘professional tax’, to be levied on the people earning more than Rs 30,000 per month. They may have to pay Rs 100-200, said the commissioner while announcing the new tax proposals. “The MCD can levy such a tax under the discretionary tax system. It will be applicable to all people who are in a profession, trade or employment,” he said, adding the tax rates may vary from Rs 100 to Rs 200 a month. The civic agency will focus on the Commonwealth Games-related infrastructure and parking projects in the coming year, for which an additional sum of Rs 1,005 crore has been allocated, the commissioner said. He also proposed to allow display of advertisements on cycle-rickshaws as part of revenue-earning measures. “By a ruling of the Supreme Court, permission has been granted for advertisements on cycle-rickshaws. This will help the corporation earn Rs 6 crore a year,” he said. He added that the MCD has already allowed display of advertisements on radio taxis, buses and trucks. Advertisements on upcoming 200 government-to-citizen kiosks, LED screens in markets and wall wraps in private property will also help bring revenue to MCD.
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Blueline phase out begins today Our Correspondent
Noida, December 9 At present, over 250 Blueline buses ply on the Noida-Delhi route. Most of the Blueline buses connect Noida from ISBT, Bhajanpura, Mehrauli and New and Old Delhi railway stations. These buses will be replaced by around 100 to 150 DTC buses. The crew of the Blueline buses is notorious for blocking DTC buses, beating up their drivers and conductors and delaying their trips. The officials in the transport department were very upset with the high handedness of the Blueline staff on this route, and thus decided to withdraw them. According to sources, the government aims to phase out the entire fleet of Blueline buses from Delhi and the NCR region before the start of the Commonwealth Games in October next year.
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Now, you may pay more for power also
New Delhi, December 9 With power discoms in the process of submitting their annual revenue report
(ARR), the power is expected to get expensive in the coming year. ARR is a document submitted by the discoms to the Delhi Electricity Regulatory Commission
(DERC) disclosing their annual revenue and expenditures. According to sources, power discom NDPL in its ARR report has asked for a 10 per cent hike in electricity rates. Reliance-backed power discom
BSES, which is yet to file its ARR, may also call for a similar power hike. The NDPL had submitted its ARR on November 26. “We presented our ARR in the stipulated time period and nothing can be said before the DERC reviews it,” said one of the senior officials with the
NDPL. The final approval lies with the DERC who would draw the strategy after reviewing the reports filed by all the
discoms. According to sources, the NDPL in its report has shown a revenue gap of Rs 600 crore in the financial year 2009-2010 and Rs 100 crore in 2008-09. The company has targeted to lower down the revenue gap to 250 crore in 2010-11. It is learnt that to cover up the revenue gaps, the company has proposed a 10 per cent increase in the power rate. The report also says that the power purchase rate in 2009-10 was Rs 3.34 per unit and Rs 2.90 in 2008-09. The power experts said that no electricity tariff hike has taken place in the past four years. The last time power rates were increased was during the financial year 2004-05. Early this year, the power in Delhi got costlier when the state government withdrew the 10 per cent subsidy given by it. The electricity rates in Delhi have increased by 26 per cent in the past seven years. However, it is learnt that the power consultants to the Delhi government has suggested 40 per cent hike after every five years. |
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Session begins on a stormy note
New Delhi, December 9 The BJP MLAs also demanded the resignation of Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit. They raised slogans, “Withdraw hike in prices and provide water and power to each citizen of Delhi. Sheila Dikshit hai hai; jo sarkar nikammi hai, wo sarkar badalni hai.” They continued to sloganeer for nearly 20 minutes. Observing the din created by the BJP members, the Speaker appealed to them to carry out the proceedings peacefully and adjourned the House for half an hour. When the proceedings of the House started again, the BJP MLAs, including Karan Singh, Kulwant Rana, Jagdish Mukhi, Mohan Singh Bishth and Subhash, came to the well of the House and protested against the Sheila Dikshit government. Leader of the Opposition Vijay Kumar Malhotra said that his party would continue raising its issues in the House. The Speaker’s appeal to MLAs to maintain silence went in vain. They continued making noise and the question hour passed. The Speaker has asked them to raise issues under Rule 280 of the Delhi Assembly Act. In spite of the din created by the opposition members in the House, Veer Singh Dhingan, Surender, Surender Pal Singh Bittoo and Anil Bhardwaj read their proposals. But nothing could be heard. The Speaker said that the saffron party MLAs they proposed discussion on rising prices. But instead of discussing the issue, they continued making noisy protests in the House. Malhotra said the opposition had registered its protest against inflation on the first day of the winter session. He added that the citizens of the Capital were the major sufferers. He added that the party would not protest in the House from tomorrow. He said so far it had not been decided when the no confidence motion would be tabled before the House.
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MPs fail to make their mark in ‘ecotarian’ test
New Delhi, December 9 Over the last two days, students from six Delhi schools went around the residences of parliamentarians to ask them questions about carbon emission and make them aware of the dangers of climate change. Some of the young MPs joined the students today to extend their support to the movement of awareness launched under the umbrella of Centre for Legislative Research and Advocacy (CLRA) in the light of the Copenhagen climate change summit. Young parliamentarian P.Rajeev from CPM said he was getting late for Parliament yesterday when a group of students arrived at his residence. “United efforts on the part of students and government are required to put pressure on developed countries which are reluctant to cut down their carbon emissions,” said Rajeev. National spokesperson of BJP, Prakesh Javadekar said he was part of the group of parliamentarians, who discussed issues related to environment before any major summits. “In India, we are bringing about changes by cutting down individual consumption, but most western countries do not want to give away their lifestyles,” said Javadekar. Another young parliamentarian Anurag Thakur from BJP informed the students that his state Himachal Pradesh would be the first state to be carbon-neutral in the country. “I myself did not know most of the facts related to climate change that students talked to me about,” he said. The parliamentarians said that the developed countries were doing on the issue of climate change. “It is always the poor who have to bear the implications of overuse of resources by the rich the same way that America is not ready to sign any legal document even the Kyoto Protocol,” said MB Rajesh from CPM. Rajesh added that he was climbing more stairs than using the elevators after the interaction with the students. Member of Rajya Sabha Nazma Heptullah scored a remarkable nine out of ten in the “ecotarian” report card. “Along with cutting down our carbon emission, we should make sure that we also put a check on population. It is important to cut down the number of people who are using the given resources,” she said. The delegation of students knocked at 115 doors over two days. “Though we did not meet the parliamentarians to get to know more about their lifestyles and ideology, it was good to see the parliamentarians from left parties lived a very simple life and used public transport to Parliament,” said Ambika from Sanskriti School. The students seemed disappointed with the people in power. “I have written several times to the environment minister along with trying to get an appointment with him, but he has not responded even once,” said Vatsal, a student working on several students’ initiatives. Purvi from Sanskriti School said many parliamentarians slammed their doors on the students. “Many slammed the doors and some were not honest while answering the questions, but it was a good experience,” she said.
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Accident compensation only to
genuine heirs, says court
New Delhi, December 9 In a case, presiding officer, motor accident claims tribunal, Swarana K. Sharma, initiated criminal proceedings against the parents and the brother of a man - Devashish Asthana - who died in a road accident, for allegedly giving false evidence by claiming that he was not married. In reality, the victim’s 21-year-old wife was not only fighting for the compensation amount in the court, but was also trying to prove that she is the legitimate wife of the deceased. The court said, “Even being a litigant , if one is dishonest while coming to the court, misleading it and deliberately keeping away either old parents or young wife and children from getting compensation, he/she will face criminal cases.” The court awarded Rs 13.78 lakh to Ritu Asthana, wife of Devashish Asthana, 22, who died on January 1, 2004, in Chennai after his taxi was hit by a lorry while going to Meenampakkam Airport. The court took a serious note of the stand taken by Sangeeta Asthana, mother of the deceased, Dalip Asthana, his foster father and brother Manish, that Ritu was not married to Devashish. Ritu had to produce witnesses like priest, who had solemnised her marriage at an arya samaj temple, and her landlord to prove that she was the wife of the deceased. Observing the fact that the victim’s widow has been in a state of trauma, the court said, “It is a very unfortunate case where the young widow, who is dealing with the emotional trauma of having become widow at an age of 21 within six months of her marriage, not only had to fight for compensation but also prove that she is the legitimate wife of the deceased,” it said. The court also awarded a separate sum of Rs 5.90 lakh to the mother of the deceased. |
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$500 m for AIDS control
New Delhi, December 9 “We are now assured of assistance up to 2016 and can reach out to an additional four lakh people by increasing the ART (Anti Retroviral therapy) centres and other services,” said Dr Damodar Bachani, deputy director general of NACO (National Aids Control Organisation). The announcement of support for India by Taufiqur Rahman, regional leader of the Global Fund for AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria (GFATM), an international financing organisation, came during one of the largest-ever gatherings of HIV positive people in Delhi today. “This puts an end to the uncertainty over continuation of India’s ART programme as the current phase of funding comes to an end in six states next March,” said a relieved Dr BB Rewari, NACO’s national programme officer for ART. He said the government’s target now is to scale up to 375 ART centres from the present 227 that are currently giving treatment to 2.8 lakh people with the help of 256 community care centres and 204 Link ART Centres. Commending India, Rahman said political commitment, positive people’s network and the corporate sector had helped the country reach its target well in advance. Globally, he said, the incidence of HIV/AIDS is coming down and in the next five to six years, India could hope to see a reversal . However, the challenges remain of following up all those who are dropping out of treatment and greater involvement of the private sector. KK Abraham, general secretary of the Indian Network for People Living with HIV (INP+), one of the partners in the PFI/Global Fund programme, pointed out that district-level networks of positive people have been a key to the success in treatment.
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MCD allocates Rs 1,005 cr for Games
New Delhi, December 9 MCD commissioner K.S. Mehra said most projects were likely to be completed well in time, but maintained that it was a challenging job. However, the MCD has not been able to complete even a single parking project under its jurisdiction. It is supposed to build 24 manual and 16 automated parking lots. The seven railway under bridges (RUB) and railway over bridges (ROB) are also far from completion. Mehra said the work on bus parking sites over Sunehri, Kushak and DPS nullah near the main Games venue at Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium was expected to be completed by March 2010. He added that the work of upgrading and streetscaping 20 roads would be over by June 30, 2010. In the streetscaping work, government-to-citizen (G2C) kiosks, phone booths, benches, tree guards, garbage bins and public utilities would be included, he said. |
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Imported sugar exempted from VAT
New Delhi, December 9 Imported sugar used to attract 12.5 per cent VAT, but now it is free of tax. According to sources, sugar is available at Rs 40 per kg. After the implementation of the decision its rate would reduce. A few days ago it was rumoured that prices of sugar and other essential commodities would be increased after the Delhi government would levy 5 per cent VAT. Reacting to the decision, former leader of opposition Jagdish Mukhi said in stead of exempting VAT the government should find out the reason of inflation. The government should find out gap between the rate of sugar cane and sugar processing. There is huge gap between them, he pointed out. |
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Con couple face the music
Greater Noida, December 9 The police promptly detained a jeep on which “Rapid Action Force” was written and arrested its occupants —a couple and their son. According to Surajpur police, the couple had set up a fictitious organization, “Bank Recovery Rapid Action Force” and were wearing a police uniform. They were engaged in false recovery acts, police said. City magistrate, Noida, Sanjay Chauhan was on way to his residence from office at Collectorate in Surajpur late on Tuesday evening. A blue Gypsy with “Rapid Action Force” prominently written on it was coming from Surajpur at a high speed, loudly sounding its hooter. A woman in uniform, a man and a young man were sitting in the vehicle. Finding something fishy, Sanjay Chauhan stopped their Gypsy and enquired about their identity. The man introduced himself as an inspector general while the woman in uniform said she was chief circle officer. The city magistrate smelt a rat and informed the police. Cops reached the scene soon, seized the vehicle and arrested all the three occupants. DSP Greater Noida, Shailender Lal identified the trio as Dr J.N.K. Tomar, Madhuri, alias Meena Tomar, and Sarwan Kumar, residents of Alfa-I Greater Noida.
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Cash, jewellery worth Rs 15 lakh seized, 4 arrested
New Delhi, December 9 The accused have been identified as Santosh Ram (25), Santosh (32), Radhey Shayam (20) and Rahul Amin (28). Rs 18,600, 800-gm gold and diamond jewellery and 1.5-kg silver jewellery worth more than Rs 15 lakh has been seized. The gang had on November 29 allegedly looted cash and jewellery worth around Rs 15 lakh from the house of a businessman in Najafgarh. The four had allegedly looted cash and jewellery worth Rs 15 lakh from a businessman’s house in Najafgarh. The arrests came following a tip off that the four would assemble near Dwarka Sector-9 Metro station yesterday and go to Palam market to dispose of the stolen material. Three of them were arrested from Dwarka Sector-9 Metro station, while Amin was arrested from Dwarka Sector-1. Amin is wanted in two criminal cases and has been declared a proclaimed offender. Santosh Kumar is allegedly involved in a case of attempt to murder. “The four had allegedly burgled the businessman’s house with the help of the victim’s former driver Ajay,” said a police official.
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Dowry death
Noida, December 9 The victim Deepti's parents have alleged that her in-laws had killed her for more dowry. However, the Sector-24 police has registered a dowry death case and is trying to nab Deepti's in-laws. Deepti Sharma of Pali village in Surajpur was married to Umesh Sharma in Chaura village on April 27 this year. Deepti had completed her M.A. and had been preparing for B.Ed exam. Her husband runs a computer shop in the village. |
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On the first day of the winter session today, Delhi Assembly Speaker Dr Yoganand Shastri had to adjourn the House twice as Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led opposition members protested in black clothes against the rising prices of essential commodities.
