New Delhi, March 22
The Delhi government today allowed the registration of sale in transfer of properties that come up on private lands of unauthorized colonies.

This was announced by the Urban Development and Revenue Minister, Arvinder Singh Lovely, while replying to a question in the House meeting of the Delhi Assembly.

The government had last week issued a notification paving the way for sale and purchase of properties in unauthorised colonies. While making a statement in the House, Lovely apprised the members of the notification allowing sale and purchase of properties which came up on private land.

The decision to allow sale and purchase will bring relief to lakhs of residents of the colonies as the government had restricted sale and purchase in the settlements after issuance of provisional regularisation certificates in 2008.

"We have already issued the notification. All the formalities are being completed. The actual registration of properties will start in two weeks," he said.

The registration will be allowed for properties that came up on land notified for acquisition but where no financial compensation has been awarded. He said that the registration will also be allowed for properties on gaon sabha land which is in possession with the private owners.

He said that the government was also considering allowing sale and purchase of properties that came up on government land in unauthorised colonies. "The government would issue a detailed land status of unauthorised colonies, outlining khasra-wise private and government lands in the unauthorised colonies which were regularised recently," he said.

During a discussion on unauthorised colonies, Chief Minister Shiela Dikshit came down hard on the three BJP-ruled civic bodies, accusing them of failing to implement various schemes due to their "lethargic approach".

She accused the civic bodies of not carrying out the developmental works, prompting a sharp reaction from the opposition party. "There is no dearth of money in the municipal corporations. But there is a lack of intention to work. They do not want to work," Dikshit said.

The BJP members accused Dikshit of trying to shift the blame on the civic bodies to shield the government from "people's ire for failure" on various fronts.

New Delhi, March 22
The North-East Forum for International Solidarity (NEFIS) today organized a massive demonstration against the imposition of Hindi/Modern Indian Languages (MILs) from the coming academic session when Delhi University (DU) is going to introduce a new syllabus for the four-year undergraduate programme.

According to the new syllabus, it would become compulsory for students of all courses to do a foundational course during the first year of their graduation. In the course they would be required to opt for a language which would either be Hindi or one of the MILs.

"For us, most of these languages are alien. It is our opinion that the compulsory imposition of Hindi and other MILs would cause immense hardships for the students who belong to communities that speak neither Hindi nor any of the MILs. There would be problems even for the communities that speak MILs because the faculty strength for these languages is too small to be able to cover the whole of university, said Chinglen Khumukcham, member of the NEFIS.

Hundreds of students gathered at the Vivekananda Statue, Faculty of Arts, and held a public meeting. This was followed by the raising of slogans and a procession was taken out up to the front gate of Faculty of Arts where it was stopped by the policemen. The dean and the proctor also stepped in trying to dissolve meeting.

Students allege that the deputy dean present on spot passed a racist remark which enraged all present. "The gathering then refused to submit a memorandum and send a delegation to the university administration until they apologized for the racist remark. After two hours of active sloganeering, the deputy dean finally came and apologized to the students. After this, we sent a 10-member delegation consisting of representative of many communities of the northeast. The administration gave assurance that they would look into the matter and asked us to come again on Monday," said Khumukcham.

New Delhi, March 22
A 35-year-old man allegedly killed his wife before he committed suicide in their house in Vikaspuri on Friday.

The police has found a suicide note purportedly written by the man, Shyam Kumar. In the note, he has mentioned his suspicion that his wife, Jaspal Kaur (29), was involved in an extra-marital affair. Kumar was a battery-operated rickshaw driver, who stayed with wife and two sons, aged 10 and six years.

The incident came to light when Jaspal's elder sister Jasbeer Kaur came to the house at 10 am. She saw Kumar hanging from a ceiling fan, while Jaspal was lying on the bed. She informed the police. Jasbeer said that she had made several calls on Kumar and Jaspal's mobile phones, but they didn't answer the calls. She feared that something was amiss and she came to the house.

"The door was locked from inside, so I peeped through a window and saw the body of my sister on the bed and her husband hanging from a ceiling fan," she said.

Jashpal's family claims the couple often argued over Kumar's reluctance to work. Kumar had stopped working for the past few days, which further strained their relations.

Kumar reportedly beat Jaspal, but she did not report the matter to the police fearing that it would jeopardise their already strained marital life.

Shyam and Jaspal had married in 2002.

New Delhi, March 22
A businessman (55) was shot at during a robbery bid in Model Town this morning.

The victim, Darshan Lal Arora, stays in Vijay Nagar. He was on his way to his shop in Roop Nagar in north Delhi.

About 11 am, two men on a motorcycle came near Arora and tried snatching his bag that contained Rs 2 lakh. When he resisted the robbery, the pillion-rider opened fire at him.

The bullet hit him on his chest. Arora is out of danger.