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Tax on guesthouses, hotels up 100%
MCD to charge Rs 100 per cattle
JNU professor accused of tampering with grades
Delhi remains foggy
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Villagers stall gas pipe work
DU sponsors 25 teachers for studies abroad
Shoaib seeks CBI probe into disputed property case
Visa-seeking couple land in jail for false claim
Married woman hangs self
Minor girl rescued from brothel
Woman raped in front of son
Honour Killing
Delhi liver hospital gets Rs 389 cr for expansion
School for slum children
Dikshit for use of bio fuels
4 hurt as scooter rams into MCD van
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Tax on guesthouses, hotels up 100%
New Delhi, January 18 The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led civic body hiked the taxes while finalising the budget for 2010-11 in its standing committee meeting today. The tax on residential properties in A and B category has been increased by 30 per cent, whereas tax on properties under C, D, E and F, G, H category has been raised to 20 per cent and 16 per cent respectively. However, the increased taxes will come into effect only after the proposals are passed by the House, said an MCD leader. “The MCD looks after nearly 95 per cent area of the Capital. The area under the MCD has been divided into eight categories — A to H. Category A stands for upscale and posh areas,” said an MCD official. Tax on lands and buildings used for non-residential purposes in A and B category has been increased by 50 per cent, in C, D and E category by 30 per cent and by 20 per cent in F, G and H category. Farm houses used for residential and non-residential purposes will now have to pay 50 and 33 per cent more tax respectively. While public school buildings and nursery and pre-nursery schools will have to pay 20 per cent more tax the last year. The budget estimates were finalised by MCD’s standing committee chairman Ram Kishan Singhal. |
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MCD to charge Rs 100 per cattle
The BJP-led Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) today proposed a tax of Rs 100 per cattle brought into its area from neighboring states. The agency collecting toll tax will collect the tax.
Congress, the opposition party in the House, said instead of levying new taxes on people, the civic body should concentrate on exploiting existing resources like property and advertisement tax. “The proposal for increasing taxes should be turned down. The corporation should focus on covering more properties in the tax net and ensure better collection from advertisements, outdoor publicity and remunerating projects,” said Jai Kishan Sahrma, leader of the opposition in the MCD. While passing the budget for financial year 2010-11, MCD officials said that properties of the Delhi Jal Board (DJB) and power companies would be considered commercial as these organisations charge the MCD for their services provided to it. Banquet halls, lawns and farm houses would be charged Rs 5,000 per month as sanitation tax as they host marriages and other functions. As this would amount to Rs 60,000 a year, Sharma said the imposition of sanitation charges on banquet halls would be passed on to the public. The annual registration fee of banquet halls varies from Rs 20,000 to Rs 1,00,000. However, the introduction of professional tax was scrapped today. In December 2009 the tax was proposed on those who work under MCD’s jurisdiction and have an income of more than Rs 30,000 per month. But the civic agency’s standing committee has cancelled it. |
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JNU professor accused of tampering with grades
New Delhi, January 18 A teacher with the Centre of Indian Languages in the university has allegedly tampered with the grades of two students enrolled in M.Phil. course. The teacher, Ranjit Kumar Saha, is an associate professor at the Centre. It was alleged that Saha had changed the grades of a girl student to B + in the Research Methodology paper when she was actually marked absent. The sources in the centre said another case of tampering was identified after a thorough investigation was made into the grades. It was found that another girl student's grades in the Theories and Methods of Translation paper were tampered with. "The chairperson of the Centre was on leave when the alleged tampering took place, apparently in connivance with the acting in-change," said a source in JNU. When contacted, the chairperson of the Centre, Prof Chamanlal, refused to comment on the issue. According to sources, the alleged tampering happened in December when the results were being made. However, the teacher's involvement was established in January when the student turned up for registration for new semester. The sources reported that the faculty was surprised that the girl, who could not clear the exam due to her marriage, turned up for registration. "It was then that the Centre decided to re-examine the results," a source said. Meanwhile, the Centre has asked the JNU administration to set up a high-level committee to look into the matter and take a decision regarding the teacher. The students, meanwhile, have raised doubts about the authenticity of the final grades. "The results of the students enrolled in post-graduate courses are almost entirely formulated by the teachers. After this case, a student might think twice before taking his grades as the final assessment of his performance," said an M.Phil. student. |
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Delhi remains foggy
New Delhi, January 18 The minimum temperature today was recorded at 8.2 degrees Celsius, one degree above average for this time of the season, while the maximum temperature was recorded at 8.9 degree Celsius, two degrees below the season’s average. “There will be fog till noon tomorrow. Foggy conditions will persist for the next few days. On Tuesday, the maximum temperature is expected to hover around 18 degrees Celsius and the minimum is expected to be around 8 degrees Celsius,” an official of the India Meteorological Department (IMD) said. Train services were disrupted due to thick fog in the neighbouring regions of the national Capital. Delays and cancellations due to dense fog continued to trouble passengers as the Railways today cancelled about 50 trains and rescheduled 34, even as about 50 of them reached Delhi several hours behind schedule. The flight operations, however, were normal at the Indira Gandhi International Airport. “Flight operations went on smoothly despite a shallow fog in the morning as the visibility remained over 1,500 metres at the main runway, while it was over 1,200 metres at the new runway,” an airport official said. The runway visibility remained over 1,000 metres for main runway throughout last night and this morning, though the visibility dipped to a low of 400 metres on the new runway, it was for just half-an-hour and did not cause any delay, he said, adding that the operations during the day remained smooth. |
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Villagers stall gas pipe work
Gt Noida, January 18 The gas pipeline was being laid between Haryana and National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC). The pipeline is to pass through several villages in the district, including Ladpura, Salempur, Ghangola, Niana, Bisaich, Imaliya, Daduputr and Amarpur. Pradhan of Amarpur village, Ravinder Singh, said the villagers were not paid land compensation. “We will not allow the work to proceed till we get the money,” he added. However, additional district magistrate, Manmohan Choudhary, said the land of these villages was yet to be acquired and the authority would give compensation to these farmers when it is done. He added that the pipes were being laid deep in the earth and the work was not affecting the agriculture work. |
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DU sponsors 25 teachers for studies abroad
New Delhi, January 18 The teachers are being sent abroad for a Master’s degree. The funding for this enterprise comes from a grant of Rs 15 crore from the union government that has been awarded to DU to train teachers in the emerging areas. Some of the universities where the teachers will be sent out as students are the University of Nottingham, the University of Edinburgh, University of Glasgow and Kings College, London in the UK and the University of British Columbia in Canada. Dean of international relations, Prof B.P. Sahu said, “To facilitate interaction between our teachers at DU and teachers abroad as also to help our teachers upgrade their knowledge base in their specialization subjects, we are sending some of our teachers to the British and Canadian universities. This is a first-time venture and mostly young teachers will be beneficiaries. Since the teachers are being sent out for a master’s programme, our idea was to send out younger teachers.” Only faculty members under the age of 35 years were invited to put in their applications and application forms were received by the last week of December. Currently, the university administration is finalizing the list of selected candidates. Teachers specializing in certain areas have been given preference which includes subjects like international accountancy, finance, economics, financial economics, investments, systems biology, probioinformatics, financial mathematics, acturial mathematics and mathematical statistics. The university will bear expenses of board and lodging and the fees of candidates selected for this programme. |
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Shoaib seeks CBI probe into disputed property case
New Delhi, January 18 Shoaib said, “I will get a case registered against the Delhi revenue minister Raj Kumar Chauhan and additional commissioner for bringing my name in the construction of the building in collaboration with a Dubai-based company.” He pointed out, “The ownership case of the property, 913-914, located in front of the Jama Masjid is before the court of law. The actual owner of the property, Fatima Bi (84), had filed the case in 1993 when the government claimed that the property belonged to it under the Enemy Property Act 1968.” Shoaib said that one part of the building is occupied by the Delhi police and the other is by Haji Mian who runs a hotel, Haji Hotel. Fatima Bi has also filed a case against the Delhi police for increasing rent, he said. “How can I make a building at a controversial property,” he asked. Delhi revenue minister Raj Kumar Chauhan said that the government had 200 properties under the Enemy Property Act. However, he denied levelling allegations against Shoaib Iqbal. Haji Mian, who has been tenant in the building since 1938, said the owner of property, Sheikh Mohammad Ilyas, husband of Fatima Bi, had died in India after the Partition. The ownership was then changed in the name of his wife. Now this property is being looked after by her eldest son Mohammad Ibrahim. Meanwhile, officer on special duty in Lieutenant-Governor, Tejendra Khanna’s office, Ranjan Mukherjee said that the director general of custodian properties in Mumbai made a complaint that some hotelier was constructing a building on the property No 913- 914. |
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Visa-seeking couple land in jail for false claim
New Delhi, January 18 According to information, Jess Kurien (26) and Sibbi Thomas (24), a Delhi-based nurse in a private hospital, applied for a visa in the German embassy on December 27. The couple were called for an interview on January 7 whereupon along with other papers, they had submitted a copy of their bank statement to the embassy officials. According to police, the duo submitted a bank statement from Federal Bank in Rajapura, Kerela, saying that they had Rs 6.2 lakh in their account. “The German embassy officials sent an email to the bank inquiring about the money in their account. While the bank replied that they have a joint account, it was revealed that there were about Rs 700 in the said account,” said a police official. The embassy then lodged a complaint in this regard with the Chanakya Puri police station. At the behest of police, the embassy officials called Jess and Sibbi to the embassy on Friday. As the couple arrived, a police team arrested them for forging and furnishing false statements. In their statement to the police, the couple said that they had no other motive than wish to enjoy the snowfall in Germany. “Both of them were sent to Tihar on orders of the court on Friday itself,” revealed a police official. While Jess lives in Kerela, Sibbi works as a nurse in a private hospital in the Badarpur area of southeast Delhi. |
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Married woman hangs self
New Delhi, January 18 According to information, Shashi was rushed to Suchitra Kirplani Hospital where she was declared brought dead. While police said that no suicide note was found, the Prasad Nagar police station is investigating the cause of suicide. “We are not sure what led to the suicide. Her husband Rajender says that he had some argument with her over some trivial issue. Investigations are on,” said a police official. Gang of robbers smashed
With the arrest of three robbers of the Gulfam gang: Sonu (23), Sajid (22) and Nadeem (21), the northwest district police has busted a gang of notorious robbers and recovered Rs 70,000 apart from silver and artificial jewellery at their instance. According to police, they would rob people after offering seats in an auto in connivance with the TSR driver. They were arrested from near Alpana Cinema, Model Town last night. They disclosed that they used to target passengers carrying bags and valuables at various railway stations and bus stands and offer them seats in their TSR. On the way, they robbed the passenger at an isolated place at knife-point. |
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Minor girl rescued from brothel
New Delhi, January 18 According to information, the complainant, who is a resident of 24 Pargana in West Bengal, had informed the police that his minor sister had been forcefully taken to kotha number 40 on GB Road. The police team immediately raided the said brothel and rescued the girl, aged about 15 years. The girl told the police that she was a resident of village Pani Khali, 24 Pargana, in West Bengal and was brought to Delhi by a person on the pretext of arranging her marriage with her boyfriend. However, instead, he sold her to the brothel manager. “One person forced her to get into prostitution, and when she refused, he threatened her at knife-point. The girl alleged that all the prostitution work was done under the supervision of Shehnaj who collects money from the girls. On the basis of her statement, a case was registered at the Kamla Market police station,” said a senior police official from the district. Further investigation is under progress and efforts are being made to apprehend other accused involved in bringing the girl to Delhi. |
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Woman raped in front of son
Gurgaon, January 18 "The 26-year old victim was coming on a bus from her parents' house in Alwar on Friday afternoon with her husband and seven-year-old son. As they reached the Rampur area at Gurgaon border, her husband saw his employers and asked them to drop his wife and son to their village," a senior police official. Ashok is a driver and works for Rambeer and Karmveer, who are Gurgaon-based transporters. "Rambeer and Karmveer agreed to give a lift to the woman and asked Ashok to bring a vehicle from their office. On their way to Kota village in Gurgaon, both allegedly raped her on the back seat while her son was sitting on the front seat," the official said. The two then dropped them to their village and the victim informed her family members. "A panchayat was called to sort out the matter but the victim was insisting on registering a case," the official said. According to the police, the victim came to them on late Saturday night. "After taking her statement, we conducted her medical examination which confirmed the rape. Both the accused are residents of the same village and a hunt is on to nab them," the official said. — IANS |
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Honour Killing
Ghaziabad, January 18 On Sunday, Praveen had come to meet a relative of her husband who lives near her parents’ house. Her father Haroon was furious to see her. He allegedly assaulted her with iron bars at the house of Taahir’s relative. Haroon then went to the police station and surrendered. “It is a case of honour killing. The accused said that he felt insulted when he saw his daughter for the first time after she had eloped with a man and married him. Her step had damaged Haroon’s reputation. His family was not able to move in society because of Parveen’s action,” said Ashok Rana, SHO, Loni. In another such case reported in March 2009, a 16-year-old girl was burnt alive in Bhojpur’s Teori village. Four men had allegedly forced their way into the victim’s house and beat her up. They then allegedly set her on fire. Before her death, the victim had identified the four accused. The accused persons were later arrested. According to villagers, honour killings have been taking place in rural areas but most of them are given the appearance of suicide. |
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Delhi liver hospital gets Rs 389 cr for expansion
New Delhi, January 18 What has come as a pleasant surprise to many is that the amount sanctioned today is much more than the Rs 223.29 crore decided by the cabinet in a meeting in July last year. ILBS has 50% of its total 155 beds dedicated to emergency services. The helicopter service is also special as only few city hospitals have emergency air services. Government believes that equipping the institute at Vasant Kunj would boost medical tourism and so its allotment has been hiked. Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit said the expansion of ILBS, which would cater to liver, biliary and hepatitis patients, would be completed by December 2011. She said the number of beds would be increased to 353. “The work for the second phase of expansion has been assigned to the Delhi Metro. Rs 112 crore has already been released for it and another Rs 150 crore will be released in 2010-11. The remaining amount will be released in 2011-12,” the CM said. With accreditation from the University Grants Commission, the institute would be functioning on autonomous lines and will develop a specialised state-of-the-art facility with treatment amenities, research and advanced training in the field of the liver and biliary diseases. |
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School for slum children
Noida, January 18 Expressing his joy at the opening of the school in the area, Mahadev, a jhuggi resident, said, “School will provide education to our children. My son wants to study, but I was not able to send him to a school. But now, when we have a school inside the jhuggi cluster area, there will be no problem in sending children to school.” Children were also jubilant. “Main doctor banana chahta hoon. Kya pardne se ban sakta hoon,” asked Balu, one of the slum children. |
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Cadets share R-Day camp experiences
New Delhi, January 18 She said the cadets have earned reputation of maintaining discipline and contributing in nation building. 5,000 cadets would be deployed for CW Games.
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Dikshit for use of bio fuels
New Delhi, January 18 The Chief Minister said the country had huge potential to produce bio fuel in the waste land. She stated that her government had been offering 30 per cent subsidy on purchase of battery-operated vehicles. Apart from this, the government had been concentrating on conservation of electricity and water, she said. |
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4 hurt as scooter rams into MCD van
New Delhi, January 18 The police said the accident took place around 7.55 am near Amrit Vihar bus stand in the Natthupra area. “The victim, Tahir, was on his way to drop his three children— Aftab, Mehtab and Arman— to their schools. When Tahir reached near Amrit Vihar bus stand, due to dense fog his scooter rammed into an MCD delivery van loaded with mid-day meal. Some packets of the meal fell on the road which caused the accident. The victims were rushed to the Babu Jagjeevan Ram Hospital. |
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