New Delhi, March 31
A 26-year-old man was killed while three people, including his minor brother, were injured after a fight between two groups of people celebrating India's victory in a cricket match with Pakistan last night in the Krishna Nagar area of east Delhi.

According to the police, the victim has been identified as Gaurav, a driver with the power company BSES. The incident took place around 11 pm in Gali number 4 at Shankar Nagar.

"Gaurav was attacked by a sharp-edged weapon while his brother Abhisekh (17), Kuldeep Tomar and Akshay (29) were injured and admitted to GTB Hospital and Hedgewar Hospital. Gaurav died at GTB Hospital at night. We have arrested three people in this connection," said a police official, identifying the arrested accused as Rajesh, Mahadev and Lala.

The incident took place last night when people were out on the road following India's victory--dancing and burning crackers. Gaurav and his friends were in a group. They asked Rajesh and Mahadev, who were passing by on a motorcycle, to join them in dance and celebrations.

"However, when the duo refused to do so, someone in the group abused them. The duo went ballistic and returned with several of their friends. They attacked Gaurav and his friends. Gaurav was hit by a sharp-edged weapon which led to his death," said a police official. 

New Delhi, March 31
The national capital is the most densely populated city in the country with 11,297 people living in its every square kilometre, according to the latest Census data. The figure was 9,340 in 2001.

The national Census report released today said that Delhi's population soared to 1.67 crore over the last 10 years which is an increase of 29 lakh while the sex ratio has gone up to 866 per 1,000 males from 821 in 2001.

Of the 11 districts in Delhi spread over 1,483 sq km, the northeastern part of the city has the highest number of dwellers, the Census said.

Delhi is followed by Chandigarh with 9,252 people per sq km.

The least densely populated state in the country is Arunachal Pradesh with 17 people per sq km, followed by the union territory of Andaman and Nicobar Islands with 46 people per square km.

Dibang Valley in Arunachal Pradesh is the least densely populated district in the country with one person per square kilometre, followed by Samba district in Jammu and Kashmir with two people per square kilometre.

With 26,903 people per square km, Chennai is the most densely populated district.

The sex ratio of 866 in the national Capital is the fourth lowest among all the states and Union territories. Daman and Diu has the lowest sex ratio of 618 females per one thousand males followed by 775 in Dadra and Nagar Haveli and 818 in Chandigarh.

The literacy rate in the city is 86.34 per cent against 81.67 per cent in 2001. The literacy rate of males is 91.03 per cent while female literacy rate is estimated at 80.93 per cent. The population up to six years of age is counted at 19.70 lakh.

An estimated 2.7 million officials had fanned out across the country to undertake Census 2011, costing the government Rs 22,000 million.

The decadal exercise-the 15th headcount of India's population since 1872 -- is undertaken to create a database on demography, economic activity, literacy and education, housing and household amenities, urbanisation, fertility and mortality, social structure, language, religion and migration.

New Delhi, March 31
Thousands of auto-rickshaw drivers of the city today went on strike demanding the government to pay for the GPS instrument to be installed in their autos.

The government has made installation of GPS mandatory for all autos, but the drivers say its cost is prohibitive and they cannot afford it, asking the government to pay for it. The system, which will keep a tab on the location of the autos, is supposed to curb fleecing of passengers by the drivers.

A big chunk of the auto-rickshaws remained off the roads. A few of them plied, but mostly on short distances.

Office goers, who rely on autos, were in for a tough time in the morning as most of them were caught unawares by the strike.

"I usually take an auto for the nearby Metro station as buses are overcrowded. However, today, I had no option but to take a bus," said Ashish Shukla, an employee of a private firm in Patparganj.

Various unions representing tens of thousands of auto-rickshaws in the city have reluctantly supported the installation of the GPS instrument, but are united in their demand that the government should pay for it.

"A vast majority of us are honest. If the government wants to check overcharging or cheating by a few among us, we welcome it. But we can't pay Rs 15,000 and even more for it," said Munna Sharma, an auto union member in east Delhi.

Auto drivers also feel that the government is pushing them into buying the GPS instrument of a particular company, which is more expensive than the instrument of other companies.

Shamra said the instrument is available for anywhere between Rs 3,000 and 5000 in the open market, but the government wanted them to buy the more expensive version.

The drivers have threatened of more comprehensive strikes in coming weeks if the government did not show flexibility in its approach.

However, the official version of the issue is that the auto unions have always opposed the government's attempts to bring reforms for the benefits of the passengers.

"They used to oppose meters. Now, they are opposing the GPS instrument," an official said. He added that good-quality instrument, which was tinker-proof, was a bit costlier.

He said the GPS instrument would have a "panic button" which the passengers could press if they did not feel secure. 

New Delhi, March 31
The much-hyped local area development fund of over Rs 1.55 crore that was announced by the ruling BJP as the bonanza for municipal councillors for the financial year 2010-11 seems to have gone underutilized as the last date for booking the amount expired today.

The Standing Committee chairman Yogender Chandolia today said that due to the difficulty being faced by the server, the money could not be applied for by many councillors. The councillors have earlier also complained of facing the same problem. The matter was raised in the meeting of Standing Committee today by VP Panday of BJP from Rohini zone where he asked about the details of the funds.

While, Chandolia expressed disappointment for not being able to release the amount, the engineer-in-chief, Ravi Das said that the matter will be examined in three days.

"We will try to get complete details within next three days," said Das.

The officials also denied any possibility of extending the last date of applying for the development fund.

However, the BJP while announcing the funds had said that the money will be available over the next few months also if it is booked before March 31.

The fund was announced in February by the ruling BJP at the time of finalizing the budget estimates for the year 2011-2012.

Since, the fiscal year ends on March 31, councillors were asked to submit their estimates from February 14 onwards so that the amount is booked before the last date. The money was in addition to the Rs 50 lakh that the councillors have already received in the 2010-11 financial year.

However, the opposition Congress had accused the BJP of fraud by promising a fund of Rs 1.5 crore for development work by councillors.

"We have been saying from the beginning that releasing the fund in remaining two months of this financial year was not possible while the BJP insisted that the money will be available over the next few months if it is booked now," said JK Sharma, Leader of the Opposition.

New Delhi, March 31
Demanding dismissal of Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit and public works minister Rajkumar Chauhan and stern punishment to the guilty of CWG bungling, senior leaders of the BJP held a public meeting at Jantar Mantar and marched towards the Prime Minister's house today.

However, they were stopped near Jantar Mantar. The agitated workers of the BJP were raising slogans: Congress ka hath, ghotalebajon ke sath, ab to yah spasht hai, Congress bhrasht hai, mukhyamantri hatao, Delhi bachao, etc.

Addressing the public meeting, member of Parliament Syed Shahanwaj Husain said corrupt people get benefit during the UPA rule. Sheila Dikshit allowed bungling and now she is raising questions on the working of the Shunglu Committee.

The Leader of the Opposition in the Delhi Assembly Vijay Kumar Malhotra said until the Chief Minister is removed and the guilty sent to jail, BJP will continue its movement and public awareness campaign.

Prominent among those who attended the meeting are Madan Lal Khurana, Vaini Tripathi, Arti Mehra, many district presidents, councillors and senior workers. 

New Delhi, March 31
The house tax collection, a major source of income for the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD), seems to be not yielding much revenue to the debt-ridden civic agency. The house tax has come under criticism from the citizens who allege harassment by the MCD tax inspectors.

The matter was brought to light in the meeting of Standing Committee today when two MCD councillors themselves admitted to have failed to pay their house tax 'since the officials could not locate their files.'

In the meeting, the two councillors Avtar Singh and Mohamed Imran Ismail, both leaders of BJP-led civic agency, announced their inability to conform to the law and submit their house taxes since the officials could not locate their files.

"I am at a loss to understand the working of this department. If the department can't locate the file of an MCD councillor, I can only imagine the plight of a common man," Mohammed Imran said in the meeting. He was backed by his colleague Avtar Singh who also claimed to have faced the same situation.

Elsewhere also, residents have complained of getting notices, asking them to produce house tax receipts for the last 10 years or face severe penalties or property attachment. While some officials admit that the notices shouldn't have been sent, a few residents said that they were harassed by MCD's tax inspectors who demanded bribes to settle the issue.

"There are several elderly people living in our area. They were harassed by tax inspectors who promised to waive their tax of the last few years for a small sum of money," said Anil Bajpai, president of East Delhi RWA Federation.

New Delhi, March 31
With the arrest of five Uzbekistani girls, including a pimp, the crime branch of the Delhi police today claimed to have busted a call girl racket operating from the Udai Park area of south Delhi.

According to Ashok Chand, DCP (crime), the girls and the pimp were living in a rented accommodation and paid Rs 35,000 per month.

"They came to India around two years ago on multiple-entry visas and had been living in the Capital since then. The girls and pimp used to operate from south Delhi, but kept changing their accommodation to give cops the slip. They had been living in Udai Park for the past six months," said Chand.

He added that the accused were arrested red-handed with the help of a decoy customer.

The decoy, a police official, struck a deal with the pimp. The pimp demanded Rs 50,000 in advance and asked the policeman to come to Udai Park for payment. As soon as the decoy made the payment to the pimp, a police team, that was stationed there, arrested her.

According to information, each girl in the gang made over Rs 1lakh per month. They had a selected clientele and a new customer was entertained only on the reference of a trusted client.

New Delhi, March 31
Unidentified burglars decamped with cash over Rs 35 lakh from a cloth shop in the Dabri area of south-west Delhi last night. According to the police, the burglary came to light today morning around 9.15 am when the shop owner Khusiram Tayal found one of the walls broken and cash missing from a safe kept inside.

The Dabri police is investigating the matter.

The burglary was reported from Tayal Cloth House at KJ1 Block in the Rajapuri area of Dabri.

According to information, apart from Rs 35 lakh in cash, a 35 gram gold chain is also missing.

"Khusiram Tayal's three sons look after the cloth shop and their property dealing business from the two shops adjacent to one another. Today morning, they found that the wall near the staircase had been broken allegedly by the burglars to get inside the cloth shop. They have reported a loss of Rs 35 lakh in cash and a 35 gram gold chain kept in the safe," said a police official.

The cash was kept there to make payment for a property they were planning to buy. The burglars managed to find the keys of the safe kept inside the shop and easily opened the safe.

The brothers - Rajesh, Ravi and Kamal - had left the shop around 11 pm last night for their residence in Vijay Vihar, Uttam Nagar. The shop had also witnessed a theft of Rs 60,000 around seven years ago.

Rajesh, the eldest son of Kushiram Tayal alleged that police was only doing a formality and was not serious about catching the culprits.