New Delhi, May 20
Even as the government has threatened to take strict action against the auto drivers, a majority of the autos were off the road today, making commuting difficult for those depending on three-wheelers.

However, the government has stuck to its decision on the global positioning system (GPS) device in the autos. Those who fail to follow the government order, their permits would be cancelled, said a senior officer of the transport department.

Except in some outer areas, autos were not seen plying on roads. A few auto drivers tried to ply in the Kalkaji area, but were stopped by the union members.

People were seen waiting for autos at railway stations, ISBTs and major markets. The office goers suffered most due to the strike. They had to travel by bus or their own vehicles.

Reena, a resident of Mansarowar Garden, who took her cousin to the Ganga Ram Hospital, said that she could return home in the evening only as there was no auto on the road.

First she tried to get an auto, but in vain. Then she travelled half the way by Metro and covered the remaining distance by bus. Some of the taxi drivers also refused to go.

Ahsan Siddiqui who tried to get an auto from New Delhi Railway Station said there was no auto at the prepaid booth of traffic police.

The autos parked at the stand also refused, saying that there was strike.

Their vehicles would be damaged by other striking drivers.

President of Bhajpa Transport Prakoshth, Anand Trivedi said the strike was successful today still the government refused to accept their demands. It will continue till the government accepts their demands, he added.

When asked how the poor auto drivers will meet their daily expenses, he said that the issue would be settled within three to four days.

A spokesman of the transport department said that the government would consider their demands, but the auto drivers should first get the GPS device installed in their vehicles.

New Delhi, May 20
Delhi is ranked third among states and UTs in respect of per capita income at current prices, said Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit today releasing a report of Estimated State Domestic Products of Delhi for the year 2010-11 with base year 2004-05.

As per advance estimates, per capita income will be Rs 1,35,814 with the annual growth rate of 16.19 per cent over the previous year. As per quick estimates for the year 2009-10, per capita income of Delhi at current prices is Rs 1,16,886 with the annual growth rate of 15.29 per cent over the previous year as compared to a growth rate of 14.5 per cent at the national level.

The Chief Minister said per capita income estimated for the year 2009-10 at national level was Rs 46,492. It was Rs 1,32,719 for Goa and Rs 1,20,912 for Chandigarh. It showed that Delhi was at third place after Goa and Chandigarh which were too small in comparison to Delhi. Hence, it became the highest among all major states. However, it attributed to the fact that the minimum wages in Delhi were the highest in the country.

Giving break up of yearly income, she said per capita income over the years in Delhi at current prices had been going up from Rs 61,560 in 2004-05 to Rs 1,01,381 in 2008-09, Rs 1,16,886 in 2009-10 and Rs 1,35,814 in 2010-11.

The trend reveals that satisfaction level of all Delhiites has gone up. Per capita income in Delhi has always been around 2 and half times than per capita income at the national level.

Dikshit added that Delhi was at ninth position among all the states and UTs as far as total GSDP was concerned. The GSDP of Delhi was Rs 2.17 crore at current prices that was higher than Haryana, which was placed at 11th rank with GSDP estimates of Rs 2.16 crore. The size of GSDP of Delhi was about 62 times higher than the GSDP of Sikkim and was about one fourth of the highest rank state of Maharashtra.

Percentage growth of the GSDP of Delhi for the year 2009-10 over previous year reveals that the economy of Delhi is going forward on the path of economic growth in a considerable manner with a pace of 18.10 per cent growth during the year as against 16.1 per cent growth at the national level.

However, as per the advance estimates for 2010-11, the GSDP of Delhi is likely to attain a level of Rs 2.58 crore with an annual growth of 18.80 per cent over the previous year.

Dikshit further stated that share of primary sector (agriculture and forestry) in the GSDP at current prices for the year 2009-10 and 2010-11 had decreased to 0.72 per cent and 0.61 per cent in the base year 2004-05. The reason for this was that land had been acquired for other purposes.

New Delhi, May 20
As the online submission of forms for admission to the journalism course of Delhi University began today, the course saw 90 registrations even as the DU website was hit by over 1,000 candidates. DU has collaborated with 176 other websites that lead to the journalism course registration page.

Unlike past years, the university is holding a common entrance exam, CJET (Combined Journalism Entrance Test) this time.

For the first time, all the five colleges in DU offering Journalism (H), including Delhi College of Arts and Commerce, Kalindi, Kamala Nehru, Lady Shri Ram and Maharaja Agrasen, will hold a common entrance test on June 19. Starting today, the forms will be available online till June 5.

Maharaja Agrasen College will be conducting the test this year. The eligibility criterion for the entrance this year is a minimum of 70% in Class XII and 60% in English. More than 5,000 applications are expected this year for the BA (Hons) journalism course.

"Till last year, colleges received about 3,000 applications in all. Since the whole process has been made online this year, the number of applications should go up. However, the total number of seats in all the five colleges adds up to just 181," said Sunil Sondhi, principal, Maharaja Agarsen College.

With the new online system, the applicants don't have to worry about mistakes made in the form. In the new application process, the applicants will secure a login ID and a password on registration and then be able to fill in their form. In case they make a mistake, they can log in again and correct it but only before the last date of submission.

"In case they have completed the application form and paid the fee, they can contact college help lines to correct mistakes. Students can also call the colleges offering the course for any queries," said Sangit Ragi, who teaches at Maharaja Agrasen College and is the coordinator of the exam this year.

The application fee can also be submitted online if the applicant has a credit or debit card. Otherwise the fee can be submitted at branches of Axis Bank, the details of which are also on the website.

"The online submission of forms has been introduced this year as applicants and families would have to come weeks before the admissions to the city for filling in the forms. The move intends to benefit the outstation students mainly," said Ragi.

The colleges have decided to give 50% weight to the entrance test score, 35% to Class XII marks and 15% to the personal interview. The C-JET result will be out on June 29 while interviews are likely to be conducted between July 2 and 8. Final results will be out by July 11.

Bulandshahr, May 20
A tantrik allegedly strangled a 17-year-old girl after raping her in Bulandshahr yesterday. He was treating her for some ailments.

He dumped the body about 100 metres from the victim's residence.

The accused, Fammuddin, a resident of Meerut, who is also the father-in-law of the victim's elder sister, is absconding after the crime.

He allegedly enticed the girl to flee with him on April 26. Her mother had lodged a report with the city police station about her daughter having gone missing.

Shaina, a resident of Shanti Nagar Colony, said her elder daughter Afsana was married at Baksar village in Meerut. Her younger daughter Ruksana had become sick six months ago.

They had taken her to Fammuddin as the girl was thought to be possessed by an evil spirit. Under the garb of giving her treatment, he established physical contact with Ruksana, Shaina alleged.

When the family opposed it, he threatened to destroy the entire family.

On Wednesday morning, she said, they found the body of Ruksana lying about 100 metres from their house with signs of a rope noose around her neck.

Afsana said Fammuddin used to experiment black magic on her family members and most of his patients were women.

SP (city) Ajay Sehdev said the fact would be known only after the postmortem report.

A case has been registered against the accused. The police has set up two teams to nab Fammuddin.

New Delhi, May 20
The Delhi police has arrested two notorious carjackers — Kamal Kishore and Ravi Thakur.

A Swift car, one Verna car and a Pulsar bike has been recovered from their possession. One pistol .315 bore with two cartridges, two pan cards, two driving licenses, three ATM cards, two RCs, four number plates, 11 mobiles and 11 SIMs have also been recovered.

An FIR and a case under the Arms Act PS Special Cell has been registered and investigation taken up.

Interrogation of the two revealed that the Swift car recovered was robbed by them at gunpoint during night about six months back from Uttam Nagar. Detailed verification of the recovered documents, SIM cards and mobile phones is going on.

Both the accused persons disclosed that they along with their other two associates had participated in the robbery and later they sold the car to one receiver of stolen property in Meerut.

They revealed that about two years ago they had taken a new Verna car from a showroom in Gurgaon Haryana for a test ride but they pushed away the employee of the showroom and robbed the car at gunpoint. This robbed car was sold by them in Punjab.

Further investigation is in progress and the two are in police custody.

Ghaziabad, May 20
In a raid on a Shaheed Nagar godown in Sahibabad, the police has busted a gang of criminals manufacturing fake cell phone batteries late on Thursday night.

The seized goods could be loaded in five to six trucks and were worth crores of rupees in the market, the police said.

Besides, 20 machines were seized from the site. Labels and stickers of well-known manufacturers of cell phone batteries were also recovered.

The police said that the network of the manufacturers could be spread in various cities and even other countries in Asia.

The SHO, Sahibabad police station, Sunil Kumar said that the batteries were manufactured in the godown and later sold in the market. It seems that the people connected to the gangs could be spread in many cities and countries of Asia.

The Sahibabad police received a tip-off late on Thursday night that one Jabbar in Shaheed Nagar was manufacturing cell phone batteries in his godown. Soon a raid was conducted in which 10 persons were nabbed and goods worth crores seized.

The arrested included Shahid Ali, Mohd Shaqil, Nadim, Sarfraz, Mohd Asgar, Ramesh, Kamraj, Rais, Basu and Tahir. The proprietor of the godown is absconding. The police has constituted two teams to nab the owner and other absconding persons.

New Delhi, May 20
The Delhi police arrested a man who used to cheat unemployed youths on the pretext of giving them jobs in Delhi Metro Rail Corporation and Indian Railways. The suspect has been identified as Sudipto Ghosh. He was arrested from the Sunlight Colony area of southeast Delhi.

A stamp of DMRC, bank depository slip, cheque book and pass book were recovered from his possession, the police said.

The police said the case came to light when Saurabh Sharma, a resident of Uttam Nagar got a complaint registered, saying that Sudipto Ghosh took Rs 1.50 lakh from him for a job.