New Delhi, March 26
The Delhi Assembly today passed the Budget for the fiscal year of 2013-14 with the highest priority focused on social sector. The Budget proposal was tabled in the House on March 19.

Replying to the questions raised by the members of the Opposition on the Budget debate, Delhi Health Minister A.K. Walia (in the absence of the Chief Minister the Speaker gave authority to Dr Walia to reply on the behalf of the government) stated that while giving final touches to the proposals the government had taken care of all sections of the society.

Describing the Budget a forward looking, Dr Walia refuted the allegations of the Opposition that the government has presented an election Budget. It is just a Budget presented in an election year. The government has not levied or hiked any fresh tax, he said. While taking the ground realities into consideration the government has just decreased VAT on number of items. The social sector and the service sector received the highest priority in terms of budgetary allocation under the plan and an outlay of Rs 10,359 crore with a share of about 65 per cent of the total Budget.

The differently abled and women in distress will get a pension of Rs 1,500 per month. For the first time a fund of Rs 5 crore has been kept for the welfare of journalists. The government would procure 100 more ambulances in 2013-14.

It has decided to commence the construction of seven new hospitals and nine new dispensaries during 2013-14. The income limit of the persons eligible to get financial benefit under Dilli Arogya Kosh has been increased from Rs 2 lakh to Rs 3 lakh. Financial assistances to be provided to the needy for cancer treatment, organ transplant and cardiac intervention in recognized private hospitals with the relaxed norms.

The amount of award to the best teachers in each zone has also been increased.

Talking on employment issue, the minister said that the government was concentrating on skill development programme and hence, decided to set up a world-class skill development centre in collaboration with the Singapore government.

As a major relief to small traders, the threshold limit for registration under VAT has been raised from Rs 10 lakh to Rs 20 lakh.

He further refuted the allegation of the Opposition that non-plan expenditure has been reported more in the Budget. He added that non-plan expenditure should not be seen as unproductive expenditure.

Dr Walia also refuted the allegation leveled by the Opposition that the city government is liberal in opening liquor shops. The number of liquor shops per lakh population in Delhi is very low as compared to other metropolitan cities. The figure for Delhi is 3.8 shops against one lakh population, whereas for Gurgaon it is 19.28, for NOIDA it is 34.26, Chennai 28, Chandigarh 14, Hyderabad 11 and Bangalore it is 7.

New Delhi, March 26
Women hostellers at Delhi University (DU) demanded to ban the procession taken out by some men hostellers on Holi every year. So far, the administration, along with the Delhi police, has promised to regulate the procession rather than enforcing a complete ban on it.

Today, women students residing in various hostels on Chhatra Marg of the North Campus submitted a signature petition to the Proctor Office, DU, as well as to the ACP (North) and assistant SHO, Maurice Nagar.

The women students objected to the "offensive rally/procession" taken out by postgraduate men hostellers (belonging to Mansarovar, PG Men's, Gwyer and Jubilee Hall), on Holi.

"Drunk and desirous of creating a ruckus, some students from these hostels have made a tradition to take out a rowdy Holi procession from their hostels to the women's three hostels on Chhatra Marg i.e. Miranda House Hostel, PG Women's Hostel, DUWA and Meghdoot Hostel," the students said in their memorandum to the police and proctor, demanding a complete ban on the procession.

"To add to the verbal harassment, they make fun by showing inappropriate gestures to the extent of being sexist. These kind of distasteful activities cause much offense and humiliation to women students who happen to be in the hostel for Holi. The procession is usually accompanied by the police, but despite requests in the past as well, the procession has never been properly banned. Even today when the women students submitted their petition, they were informed by the officials of the Maurice Nagar police station that at the most, the boys will be closely watched and accompanied by a heavy police deployment, one of the complainants today.

“The women students, however, believe that the Proctor's Office should issue direct instructions for a complete ban on such processions, which the police would be bound to enforce. The Proctor's Office, meanwhile, promised the women students that it would communicate their concerns to the DCP, but that implementation of the ban would be the police's responsibility," she added.

The women students also apprised the Proctorial Committee of the police inaction when it came to balloon throwing. They have requested both the police and DU officials to assist victims of balloon throwing to file written complaints, instead of trying to amicably settle students' complaints.

"It is a fact that a large number of women students and tenants living in colonies around DU are made victims of balloon throwing almost a month before Holi, and calls to the police generally end up in no concrete action. Many such incidents happen when speeding cars or motorcyclists attack women students on various roads or chowks situated in the campus area. In such conditions, the woman student is often left stranded, and the culprits easily get away. We even plan to approach higher authorities in the government on the issue," she added.

New Delhi, March 26
As the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader, Arvind Kejriwal's health dipped on the fourth day of his fast to protest against the pinching costs of water and electricity, he refrained from speaking much and also chose to address his supporters twice at Nandnagri.

By the evening, the medical team looking after him said, he has lost 5 kg in the past four days and at evening his BP remained at 114/70, pulse was 75 and sugar was 85. "I may have become physically weak but my spirits have not dampened," he said while addressing the gathering.

Meanwhile, earlier during the day residents of Sunder Nagari lighted a huge pyre of inflated bijli-pani bills and on the eve of "Holika dahan", hundreds of people would assemble near F-Block in Sundar Nagari, said AAP workers.

They said, that the non-cooperation campaign called by Kejriwal against the Congress- run Delhi government has received support from as many as 1,86,697 people who have also signed protest letters to Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit, pledging that they would not pay the inflated bills of power and water.

Further, AAP workers said that the general secretary of the Delhi Resident Welfare Association Federation - an association of 51 RWAs under its fold - DC Prajapati has extended support to the indefinite fast for people's cause. He assured that he would be getting the protest letters addressed to Dikshit signed by people living in these areas.

New Delhi, March 26
In a daring incident, a man allegedly killed his 29-year-old wife when he opened fire at them at the entrance of the Karkardooma Metro station in east Delhi this afternoon. His father-in-law, who was also present at the spot, got injured in the incident.

The accused identified as Pawan is yet to be apprehended. His wife Deepti was undergoing divorce proceedings with him. She stayed with her parents at Chirag Dilli in south Delhi.

The police said that Deepti and her 55-year-old father Bishan Das were returning to their home after hearing in their case at the Karkardooma Court.

Deepti and Pawan reportedly had a quarrel after the hearing, following which she and her father left for the Karkardooma Metro station in a rickshaw. Pawan followed them in his Maruti Alto car.

A police official said, "Pawan was aware of the routine of the father and daughter. He waited outside the station. He followed them and opened fire at them when they were on an escalator on the ground floor of the station at 12.10 pm."

Pawan fled after allegedly shooting Deepti and Bishan from behind. A police control room vehicle took the victims to Hedgewar Arogya Sansthan in east Delhi, where Deepti was declared brought dead.

Bishan was later taken to Deepak Memorial Hospital in Preet Vihar, where he is undergoing treatment. His condition is stated to be critical.

The police has recovered five shells and a .12 bore double-barrel rifle from the spot. Pawan's car was also found parked outside the station. Eyewitness said that Pawan was seen running away from the parking lot of the station.

Bishan told the police that Deepti and Pawan were married for over nine years and have two children. They had filed a divorce case two months ago. Pawan used to run a small-time business, which failed and was presently unemployed.

A Delhi Metro spokesperson said that passenger services were not affected by the incident.

New Delhi, March 26
Delhi Power Minister Haroon Yusuf today condemned the irresponsible attitude of the North Delhi Municipal Corporation which resulted in two-hour dis-connection of streetlights in some areas of Rohini, Keshavpuram, Civil Lines and Wazirpur yesterday between 6 pm and to 8 pm, causing great hardship to the residents.

He stated that adequate funds are available with the NDMC which includes the revenue received as e-tax from Tata Power Delhi Distribution Limited (TPDDL).

He said that the NDMC has not cared to release payment of just Rs 44.01 crore, including Rs 22.5-crore tariff difference from September 2011 to February 2013, in spite of intervention by the Chief Secretary.

He said that on March 8, the NDMC agreed to clear the difference of tariff amount after receiving e-tax from the TPDDL. But it avoided the payment. This indicates complete lack of concern on the part of the NDMC to the welfare and convenience of general public, said the Power Minister.

New Delhi, March 26
Hypertension or High Blood Pressure - the World Health Day theme this year - affects every third person above the age of 18 and the proportion increases with age, from one in 10 people in their 20s and 30s to five in 10 people in their 50s, as per the World Health Organisation (WHO).

With the numbers expected to steadily rise, what is worrying experts is that hypertension also known as silent killer remains undiagnosed for years until the disease aggravates manifesting as a serious heart threat.

The reasons as to why hypertension has become a growing concern are many, especially in cities like Delhi and all thanks to the unhealthy sedentary lifestyles with majority of people as said by doctors reporting late after subsequent damage is done in the form of attacks, strokes and kidney troubles.

"A large proportion of the population is found to be ignorant that they are suffering from high blood pressure, until they come for a routine check-up may be for any other disease and in course get diagnosed. People in fact fail to realise the extent of the problem and so don't heed until they have a heart attack or stroke," Dr Rohit Sobti, region physician from Regional Medical Services, WHO said.

Experts said that as spike in blood pressure may not come with warning signs it is important to check your BP at regular intervals.

New Delhi, March 26
The shortage of staff in the Municipal Corporations of Delhi has become more acute after the trifurcation of the corporation last year as more than 5,300 posts have been vacant in the corporations, severely affecting their daily functioning as well as the implementation of various government schemes.

As per official figures, the number of posts remaining vacant in the North Delhi Municipal Corporation (NDMC) stands at 877 out of 5,025 sanctioned posts, while 2,828 posts are vacant out of 4,492 in the South Delhi Municipal Corporation (SDMC).

A total of 1,690 posts are unfilled out of 2,766 in the East Delhi Municipal Corporation (EDMC), bringing the number to 5,395 vacant posts out of 12,283 sanctioned posts across the three civic bodies.

"This has severely affected the working of the corporations. Not only does it impact the provision of services to the people, which is our main aim, it also overburdens the existing staff," said BJP councillor in the NDMC Vijay Prakash Pandey. "The problem existed before that, but once the trifurcation happened, it has suddenly become all the more glaring," he said.

Pointing out that the Delhi Subordinate Services Selection Board has not conducted recruitment for these posts for the past several years, EDMC Commissioner S.S. Yadav said, "While at the Group A level, the number of officials is enough, at levels B and C, the situation is not good."

The situation on the ground can be assessed from the latest figures provided by the civic bodies. In the NDMC, 258 posts of lower division clerk (LDC) and 122 posts of upper division clerk (UDC) remain vacant. Fifty-three account assistants, 21 administration officials and 125 posts of chowkidar remain unfilled. Five out of eight superintendent engineer posts also remain vacant.

In the EDMC, 158 UDC and 291 LDC posts are vacant, while as many as 458 posts of peon and 697 of chowkidar are yet to be filed.

Similarly, in the SDMC, only 1,664 posts out of 4,492 are filled. The shortage is of 12 administrative officials, 15 superintendents, 48 head clerks, 192 UDCs, 398 LDCs, 889 peons and 1,086 chowkidars.