New Delhi, January 23
There has been a marked improvement in the utilization of the total Plan outlay during the first nine months of the present financial year 2011-12 as compared to the corresponding period of the last financial year.

An amount of Rs 6,194 crore that is 54 per cent of the total outlay was utilized last year whereas the figure had gone up to 65 per cent of the total Plan outlay of Rs 14,200 crore during April-December 2011.

The better utilization became possible due to the constant monitoring of the outlay, said Chief Minister, Sheila Dikshit, who also holds the portfolio of planning and finance.

Chief Minister Sheila Dikshitmade it clear that the trend of utilization of amounts at the end of the financial year would not be appreciated.

The Chief Minister stated that Delhi had taken several reformatory steps. These include a revamped procedure for Economic and Finance Committee (EFC) approval, timely release of grant and loan amounts, and the introduction of a multilevel monitoring system.

These measures are intended to ensure timebound and targeted implementation of the major infrastructure projects as also the welfare programmes being implemented by various departments and agencies of the government.

As a result of the various measures, Rs 9,210 crore, which is 65 per cent of the total Plan outlay, has been utilized during April-December 2011.

In the remaining three months of the financial year, 35 per cent of the outlay is to be utilized and the government expects to utilize the entire outlay of Rs 14,200 crore.

Recognizing the need to deepen and widen the reach of the socio-economic infrastructure, several initiatives have marked the implementation of welfare programmes.

The city government has already released Rs 443 crore during the first three quarters of the current financial year, as financial assistance of Rs 1,000 per month to 3.73 lakh senior citizens, 21,000 persons with disability and 80,000 women in distress.

Greater Noida, January 23
The construction activity at Noida Extension projects may start only after four months as National Capital Region Planning Board (NCRPB) member secretary said it will take around four months for the approval of the Greater Noida's Master Plan 2021.

Noida Extension flat buyers under the banner of Noida Extension Flat Owners & Members Association (NEFOMA) today met the member secretary in Delhi and asked for an early approval of the Master Plan 2021 so that construction at their projects may start.

"Naini Jayaseelam, member secretary of NCRPB, was quite sympathetic with the buyers' problems. She was keen to solve them," Shweta Bharti, general secretary, NEFOMA, told The Tribune.

"She told us that NCRPB received the Master Plan 2021 in January 2012, and the delay is on the part of the UP government. The first Greater Noida Master Plan 2021 will be tabled in the planning committee, and if approved, it will be tabled in the Board meeting, then only it will be finalized," said Bharti.

"She said it will be done within 3-4 months. This period is very long for the buyers who are losing patience," said Bharti.

She added that NEFOMA president Abhishek Kumar along with four other members today filed an RTI report with NCRPB. The information sought is: What is the procedure of Greater Noida Master Plan 2021 approval and how much time it will take? What is the exact position of this case? What are the reasons for the delay?

New Delhi, January 23
The ongoing students' agitation at the Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) stepped up a notch today with the students calling for an indefinite strike, demanding the dates of the elections be announced at the earliest.

Students' bodies had called for an indefinite hunger strike earlier and have intensified their protest today. Fifteen students are sitting on the strike for the past four days.

Students in large numbers today responded to the protest and observed a total strike in the schools and participated in a protest demo at the administration block later.

Just a couple of days back, the administration had come forward and stated clearly that it was completely in favour of students' elections and that the delay was just to make sure that the order of the Supreme Court is followed to its last word.

According to the Lyngdoh Committee Guidelines, the elections should be conducted within six weeks of beginning of the new academic session. The administration was of the view that if elections are conducted in the current semester and then again in September, it will contradict with the guidelines. However, the cordial step by the administration failed to relieve the student community, and termed it as a "delay tactic".

"Today's successful strike and massive protest demo is a clear warning to the JNU administration that the students will further intensify the struggle until the grievance redressal committee is constituted and elections are held within the first week of February as per the mandate of the January 9 under general body meeting. Along with the constitution of the grievance redressal committee, the autonomy of the election committee of the students should also be maintained," said president of the SFI Zico Das Gupta today.

"Our struggle is at a crucial juncture, as the strike enters its fifth day tonight. The ongoing struggle needs to be further intensified to get a reaction out of the administration. But till date, the administration continues to persist with its logic of seeking clarification from the Supreme Court. This is nothing but a clear attempt to delay the elections further. In fact, the vice-chancellor even refused to meet the student delegation and the protesters, said Gupta.

Instead of expressing concern about the health of the protesters, the administration should better address the concrete demands of the student community, he added.

Students' political parties like the SFI, AISF and others have called upon the students to continue with the indefinite university strike tomorrow on its second day and stand in solidarity with the ongoing indefinite hunger strike.

Students' bodies have now also approached the teachers' union on the issue and asked for their support to build more pressure on the administration. The joint struggle committee has also called for a solidarity public meeting of the teachers on January 25.

New Delhi, January 23
After days of nerve-chilling cold and dense fog, the national capital today witnessed a pleasant day with the day temperature settling marginally above the normal levels for this time of the year.

Even as the day began on a chilling note, a brightly shining sun changed the scenario pretty soon as the cloudy skies soon turned clear.

The day temperature today was recorded at 22.7 degree Celsius, one degree above the average from this time of the year. Just yesterday, the maximum was recorded at 18 degrees celsius.

Icy winds towards the early morning hours managed to drag down the minimum temperature once again two degrees below normal levels.

It was recorded at 5.6 degree Celsius, down from yesterday's 6.8 degrees.

"There was no fog today; the visibility levels also remained perfectly fine. However, the city may see mist tomorrow morning with light fog. The maximum and the minimum temperatures are likely to oscillate between 19 and eight degrees Celsius, respectively," said an official of the India Meteorological Department.

New Delhi, January 23
A 43-year-old man has been sentenced to life imprisonment for raping his minor daughter for over three years with the court terming his offence as "too heinous" and "committed in total disregard to moral and social values."

Additional Sessions Judge Anju Bajaj Chandna also imposed a fine of Rs 30,000 on convict Tek Bahadur against whom his teenaged daughter herself had lodged the FIR in March.

"The offence committed by the convict is more serious in manner that he did not even spare his own daughter. Instead of protecting the prosecutix being the biological father, the convict in total disregard to moral and social values went on ruining her life by committing immoral act of highest order.

"It is evident that convict treated prosecutrix only as an object to fulfil his sexual desires. The offence committed by convict is too heinous and, therefore, he does not deserve any leniency," the judge said.

The court sentenced Bahadur to life imprisonment and fine of Rs 25,000 for the offence under Section 376 (rape) and jail for five years and fine of Rs 5,000 for the offence under Section 506 (criminal intimidation) of the IPC. The court said both sentences would run concurrently.

The girl had, on March 21, informed the police that her father had been committing rape on her repeatedly for about two to three years.

She said her father raped her under the influence of liquor and alleged he "assaulted and threatened" her not to reveal the incident to anyone. Bahadur, who was arrested a day after the lodging of the FIR, pleaded innocence before the court, saying he was falsely implicated in the case by her daughter and his in-laws due to a family dispute.

The court, however, rejected his claim, saying, "The plea of the accused for false implication has no merit or substance as no daughter would put her honour as well as honour of her family at stake".

The court said in "sensitive" cases like rape, evidence of the victim is enough for conviction.

"It is well-settled legal position that if the statement of prosecutrix is credible and trustworthy, it requires no corroboration and conviction can be recorded on the sole testimony of the prosecutrix," the judge said.

The court noted the girl "has convincingly and confidently stood through the test of cross­examination and there was nothing on record to contradict or disprove her statement".

Awarding life term to the convict, the court said, "The offence complained is that of rape and most painful part is that the prosecutrix is daughter of the accused.

"The offence of rape involves ravishment of a woman, not only in terms of her body and emotions, but it also amounts to ravishing her soul. The sanctity and dignity of a woman is degraded by this immoral act and the trauma travels throughout her life," the judge observed. - PTI

New Delhi, January 23
The family members of a Delhi University (DU) employee, who was mowed down by a speeding tractor five years ago, have been given nearly Rs 20 lakh as compensation by a road mishap tribunal here.

Motor Accident Claims Tribunal (MACT) Judge DK Malhotra directed the New India Assurance Company, with which the offending vehicle was insured, to pay Rs 19.73 lakh to victim Narender Singh's family, which included his wife, three minor children and parents.

The tribunal, in its order, said the trauma and the suffering Singh's family members went through could not be assessed in terms of money.

"The petitioners (Singh's kin) must have suffered mental trauma, shock, pain and suffering due to the death which cannot be assessed in terms of money and even crores of rupees are not able to fill up the void created by his death," it said.

Singh, 42, was hit by a tractor near the Kanjhawala area here when he was on his way back home from office on his motor-cycle on January 10, 2007.

His family members told the court he was rushed to a nearby hospital but was declared "brought dead" there.A criminal case was registered against tractor driver Naresh Kumar, who denied he was driving the vehicle in rash and negligent manner. - PTI

New Delhi, January 23
A man from Africa was arrested at the Delhi airport allegedly with 200 grams of cocaine valued around Rs 2 crore, police said today. The contraband was concealed in his shoes.

Paul Dika Acquah, 32, resident of Accra in Ghana, was arrested near the parking area at Indira Gandhi International Airport on Friday.

"Acquah was coming from Mumbai to meet his contacts in Delhi. A total of 200 grams of cocaine concealed in two packets of 100 grams each in the sole of his shoes were recovered from his possession," said additional deputy commissioner of police Sanjay Bhatia.

Acquah revealed that in 2010 he visited India on a business visa. "Before coming in contact with Timoti, a suspected drug trafficker from Ghana, he was involved in export of clothes and shoes in Mumbai," said Bhatia.

"He trafficked cocaine by concealing it in his shoes while travelling by air to avoid detection," said Bhatia, adding that efforts were on to arrest Timoti. - IANS

New Delhi, January 23
A 32-year-old man who had allegedly been depressed by his prolonged sickness committed suicide by hanging himself from a ceiling fan this afternoon at his residence in Greater Kailash, southeast Delhi.

A police officer said, "We were told that a man had committed suicide at house number R-31, GK."

The police later identified him as Manav Kapoor. He was rushed to a nearby hospital, where doctors declared him brought dead.

Manav is the only son of electronic goods manufacturer, Deepak Kapoor.

He left a suicide note beside his bed.

"The note read that he was responsible for his action. He had written that he was suffering from an ailment and had undergone an unsuccessful surgery for his neck. He was frustrated because of this and wanted to end his life," added the officer. 

New Delhi, January 23
An accident claimed the lives of two youths when a speeding vehicle rammed into their motor-cycle at Ashram Chowk, south-east Delhi, last night.

The victims, Jeevan Sharma (25) and Rohit Sati (21), were returning to their homes after attending a friend's birthday party at Noida.

Sharma was driving Sati home when the accident took place around 8.45 pm at Ashram Chowk.

"Sharma was driving his Yamaha FZ while Rohit the pillion rider. Rohit was not wearing helmet. Witnesses said that they both fell on the road when a speeding vehicle rammed into their bike from the rear. Before they could get up another vehicle ran over them," said a police official.

They both were rushed to the AIIMS Trauma Centre, where doctors declared Sati as brought dead on arrival. Sharma later succumbed to his injuries.

After a post-mortem examination, their bodies were given to their families this evening.

A case under appropriate sections of the law has been registered at the Sunlight Colony police station.

The police is searching for the culprits.

Sharma's father said that he was at his residence when Sati telephoned him in the afternoon.

After a while, Sharma left with his motor-cycle. He told his father that he was going to attend his friend's birthday celebrations in Noida, according to the police.

Sharma lived with his family at Jaitpur Extension, Badarpur and Sati stayed at New Prem Nagar in Kotla Mubarakpur.